debouched from their retreat, and, rising, covered the heavens with their legions; thence, directed by an unerring guide, they took their trackless way. On the morning of their going, when they ascended from their temporary abode, they did not, as they had been wont to do, divide into different columns, and take each a different route, but went off in one vast body, bearing to the south. It is said that they would have gone sooner, but for a contrary wind which had some time prevailed; that on the day before they took their departure, the wind got round, and the favourable breeze was immediately embraced by them. On the day of their flight, they left behind them about a hundred of their companions; whether they were slumberers in the camp, and so had missed the going of their troops, or whether they were left as the rear-guard, it is not easy to ascertain; they remained, however, till the next morning, when the greater part of them mounted on their pinions, to follow, as it should seem, the celestial route of their departed legions. After these a few stragglers only remained; these might be too sick or too young to attempt so great an expedition; whether this was the fact or not, they did not remain after the next day. If they did not follow their army, yet the dreary appearance of their depopulated camp and their affection for their kindred, might influence them to attempt it, or to explore a warmer and safer retreat." " NATURALISTS' CALENDAR Mean Temperature. . . . 50 00. October 4. CHRONOLOGY. On the 4th of October, 1749,* died at Paris, John Baptist Du Halde, a jesuit, who was secretary to father Le Tellier, confessor to Louis XIV. Du Halde is celebrated for having compiled an elabo rate history and geography of China from the accounts of the Romish missionaries in that empire; he was likewise editor of the "Lettres edifiantes et curieuses," from the ninth to the twenty-sixth collection, and the author of several Latin poems and miscellaneous pieces. He was born in the city wherein he died, in 1674, re • Gentleman's Magazine. On Sunday evening, ine 6th of October, 1823, a lad named George Davis, sixteen and a half years of age, in the service of Mr. Hewson, butcher, of Bridge-road, Lambeth, at about twenty minutes after nine o'clock, bent forward in his c air, and rested his forehead on his hands. In ten minutes he started up, fetched his whip, put on his one spur, and went thence to the stable; not finding his own. saddle in the proper place, he returned to the house, and asked for it. Being asked what he wanted with it, he replied, to go his rounds. He returned to the stable, got on the horse without the saddle, and was proceeding to leave the stable; it was with much difficulty and force that Mr. Hewson junior, assisted by the other lad, could remove him from the horse; his strength was great, and it was with difficulty he was brought in doors. Mr. Hewson senior, coming home at this time, sent for Mr. Benjamin Ridge, an eminent practitioner, in Bridge-road, who stood by which time the lad considered himself him for a quarter of an hour, during stopped at the turnpike gate, and took sixpence out of his pocket to be changed; and holding out his hand for the change, the sixpence was returned to him. immediately observed," None of your nonsense that is the sixpence again, give me my change." When threepence halfpenny was given to him, he counted it over, and said, "None of your gammon; that is not right, I want a penny п.ore; He A General Biographical Dictionary, Hunt and Clarke,) vol. ii. making the fourpence halfpenny, which was his proper change. He then said, "give me my castor," (meaning his hat,) which slang terms he had been in the habit of using, and then began to whip and spur to get his horse on; his pulse at this time was one hundred and thirty-six, full and hard; no change of countenance could be observed, nor any spasmodic affection of the muscles, the eyes remaining close the whole of the time. His coat was taken off his arm, his shirt sleeve stripped up, and Mr. Ridge bled him to thirty-two ounces; no alteration had taken place in him during the first part of the time the blood was flowing; at about twenty-four ounces, the pulse began to decrease; and when the full quantity named above had been taken, it was at eighty, with a slight perspiration on the forehead. During the time of bleeding Mr. Hewson related the circumstance of a Mr. Harris, optician in Holborn, whose son some years before walked out on the parapet of the house in his sleep. The boy joined the conversation, and observed he lived at the corner of Brownlow-street. After the arm was tied up, he unlaced one boot, and said he would go to bed In three minutes from this time he awoke, got up, and asked what was the matter, (having then been one hour in the trance,) not having the slightest recollection of any thing that had passed, and wondered at his arm being tied up, and at the blood, &c. A strong aperient medicine was then administered, he went to bed, slept sound, and the next day apperaed perfectly well, excepting debility from the bleeding and operation of the medicine, and had no recollection whatever of what had taken place. None of his family or himself were ever affected in this way before.* prodigiously. Houses were not only unroofed, but in several places overturned by its fury.-Stacks of hay and corn were entirely swept away.-Trees without number torn up by the roots. Others snapt off in the middle, and scattered in fragments over the neighbouring fields. Some were twisted almost round; bent, or split to the roots, and left in so shattered a con dition as cannot be described The change in the herbage was also very surprising; its leaves withered shrivelled up, and turned black. The leaves upon the trees, especially on the weather side, fared in the same manner. The Evergreens alone seem to have escaped, and the grass recovered in a day or two. I agreed, at first, with the general opinion, that this mischief was the effect of Lightning; but, when I recollected that, in some places, very little had been taken notice of; in others noue at all; and that the effect was general, I begun to think of accounting for it from some other cause. I immediately examined the dew or rain which had been left on the grass, windows, &c. in hopes of being enabled, by its taste, to form some better judgment of the particles with which the air had been impregnated, and I found it as salt as any sea water I had ever tasted. The several vegetables also were all saltish more or less, and continued so for 5 or 6 days, the saline particles not being then washed off; and when the moisture was exhaled from the windows, the saline chrystal sparkled on the outside, when the sun shined, and appeared very brilliant. This salt water, I conceive, has done the principal damage, for I find upon experiment, that common salt dissolved in fresh water affected some fresh vegetables, when sprinkled upon them, in the very same manner, except that it did not turn them quite so black,-but particles of a sulphurous, or other quality, may have been mixed with it. I should be glad to see the opinions of some of your ingenious correspondents on this wonderful phenomenon ;-whether they think this salt water was brought from the sea,+ and in what manner. CONJUGAL INDIFFERENCE. On the 7th of October, 1736, a man and his wife, at Rushal, in Norfolk, having some words," the man went out and hanged himself. The coroner's inquest found it "self-murder," and ordered him to be buried in the cross-ways; but his wife sent for a surgeon, and sold the body for half a guinea. The surgeon feeling about the body, the wife said, "He is fit for your purpose, he is as fat as butter." The deceased was thereupon put into a sack with his legs hanging out, and being throw. upon a cart, conveyed to the surgeon's.* OLD TIMES AND NEW TIMES. In a journal of 1826,† we have the following pleasant account of a similar publication ninety years ago. A curious document, for we may well term it so, has come to our hands-a copy of a London newspaper, dated Thursday, March 24, 1736-7. Its title is, "The Old Whig, or the Consistent Protestant." It seems to have been a weekly paper, and, at the above date, to have been in existence for about two years. How long it lived after, we have not, at present, any means of ascertaining. The paper is similar in size to the French jour nals of the present day, and consists of four pages and three columns in each. The show of advertisements is very fair. They fill the whole of the back page, and nearly a column of the third. They are all book advertisements. One of these is a comedy called "The Universal Passion," by the author of "The Man of Taste," no doubt, at that time, an amply sufficient description of the ingenious playwright. The Old Whig" was published by "J. Roberts, at the Oxford Arms, in Warwick. lane," as likewise by "H. Whitridge, bookseller, the corner of Castle-alley, near the Royal-exchange, in Cornhill, price two-pence!" It has a leading article in its way, in the shape of a discourse on the liberty of the press, which it lustily defends, from what, we believe, it was as • Gentleman's Magazine. little exposed to, in 1786-7, as it is in 1826-a censorship. The editor apolo gises for omitting the news in his last, on account of "Mr. Foster's reply to Dr. Stebbing!" What would be said of a similar excuse now-a-days? The following epigram is somewhat hacknied, but there is a pleasure in extracting it from the print, where it probably first appeared : "As we were obliged to omit the News in last week's paper, by inserting Mr. Foster's auswer to the Rev. Dr Stebbing, we shall in this give the few articles that are any way material." "Cries Celia to a reverend dean, What reason can be given, That there is none in Heaven?' They cannot find a priest !" The miscellaneous part is of nearly the same character as at present, but disposed in rather a less regular form. We have houses on fire, and people burnt in them, exactly as we had last week; but what is wonderful, as it shows the great improvement in these worthy gentlemen in the course of a century, the "Old Whig" adds to its account-"The watch, it seems, though at a small distance, knew nothing of the matter!" There is a considerable number of deaths, for people died even in those good old times, and one drowning; whether intentional or not we cannot inform our readers, as the "Old Whig" went to press before the inquest was holden before Mr. Coroner and a most respectable jury. We still tipple a little after dinner, but time by the forelock, and began their our fathers were prudent men; they took convivialities with their dejeune. The following is a short notice of the exploits of a few of these true men. It is with a deep feeling of the transitory nature of all sublunary things, that we introduce this notice, by announcing to our readers at a distance, that the merry Boar's Head is merry no more, and that he who goes thither in the hope of quaffing port, where plump Jack quaffed sack and sugar, will return disappointed. The sign remails, but the hostel is gone. "On Saturday last, the right on the Lord Mayor held a wardmote at St. Mary Abchurch, for the election of a common councilman, in the 100m of Mr. Deputy Davis. His lordship went sooner than was expected by Mr. Clay's friends, and arriving at the church, ordered proclamation to be made, when Mr. Edward Yeates was put up by every person present; then the question being asked, whether any other was offered to the ward, and there being no person named, his lordship declared Mr. Yeates duly elected, and ordered him to be sworn in, which was accordingly done; and just at the words 'So help you God,' Mr. Clay's friends (who were numerous, and had beer. at breakfast at the Boar's Head Tavern, in Eastcheap) came into the church, but it was too late, for the election was over. This has created a great deal of mirth in the ward, which is likely to continue for some time. The Boar's Head is said to be the tavern so often mentioned by Shakspeare, in his play of Henry the Fourth, which occasioned a gen lemn, who heard the circumstances of the election, to repeat the following lines from that play : "Falst. Now Hall, what a time of day is it, lad ?' "P. Hen.- -What a devil has thou to do with the time of the day? unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons,""&c. The above account gives a specimen of the sobriety of our fathers; another of their virtues is exemplified in the following: "By a letter from Penzance, in Cornwall, we have the following account, viz. That on the 12th instant at night, was lost near Portlevan (and all the men drowned, as is supposed), the queen Caroline, of Topsham, Thomas Wills, master, from Oporto, there being some pieces of letters found on the sands, directed for Edward Mann, of Exon, one for James La Roche, Esq. of Bristol, and another for Robert Smyth, Esq. and Company, Bristol. Some casks of wine came on shore, which were immediately secured by the country peop'e; but on a composition with the collector, to pay them eight guineas for each pipe they brought on shore, they delivered to him twenty five pipes; and he paid so many times eight guineas, else they would have staved them, or carried them off."" The order maintained in England at that time was nothing compared to the strictness of discipline observed on the continent. "They write from Rome, that count Trevelii, a Neapolitan, had been beheaded there, for being the author of some satiri al writings against the Pope: that Father Ja cobini, who was sentenced to be beheaded on the same account, had obtained the favour of being sent to the gallies, through the interces sion of cardinal Guadagni, the pope's nephew, who was most maltreated by the priest and the count." These were times, as Dame Quickly would say, when honourable men were not to be insulted with impunity. We sometimes hear of a terrible species of mammalia, called West India Planters, and there is an individual specimen named Hogan, or something like it, whose wonderful fierceness has been sounded in our ears for some ten or twelve years. But what will the abolitionists say to the extract of a letter from Antigua? Compared with these dreadful doings, Mr. Hogan's delinquencies were mere fleabites. 15, 1736-7: We are in a great deal of "Extract of a letter from Antigua, January trouble in this island, the burning of negroes, hanging them on gibbets alive, racking them on the wheel, &c. takes up almost all our time; that from the 20th of October to this day, there has been destroyed sixty-five sensible negro men, most of them tradesmen, as carpenters, masons, and coopers. I am almost dead with watching and warding, as are many inore. They were going to destroy all the white inhabitan's on the island. Court, the king of the negroes, who was to head the insurrection; Tomboy, their general, and Hercules their lieutenant-general, were all racked upon the wheel, and died with amazing obstinacy. Mr. Archibald Han.ilton's Harry, after he was condemned, stuck himself with a knife in eighteen places, four whereof were mortal, which killed him. Colonel Martin's Jemmy, who was hung up alive from noon to eleven at night, was then taken down to give information. Colonel Morgan's Ned, who, after he had been hung up seven days and seven nights, that his hands grew too small for his hand-cuffs, he got them out and raised himself up, and fell down from a gibbet fifteen feet high, without any harm; he was revived with cordials and broth, in hopes to bring him to a confession, but he would not confess, and was hung up again, and in a day and night after expired. Mr. Yeoman's Quashy Coomah jumped out of the fire half burnt, but was thown in again. And Mr. Lyon's Tim jumped out of the fire, and promised to declare all, but it took no effect. In short, our island is in a poor, miserable condition, that I wish I could get any sort of employ in England." " The following notice is of a more pleasing character : "In a few days, a fine monument to the memory of John Gay, Esq., auther of the Beggar's Opera, and several other admired pieces, will be erected in Westminster-abbey, at the expense of his grace the duke of Queensberry and Dover, with an elegant in scription thereon, composed by the deceased's intimate and affectionate friend, Mr. Alexander Pope." There are two more observations which we have to make; 1st. "the Old Whig," as was meet, was a strong Orangeman; and 2d. the parliament was sitting when the number before us was published, and one line of yet it does not contain debate! NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. October 8. ANCIENT MANNERS. Elias Ashmole, the antiquary, enters thus in the diary of his life :-" 1657, October 8. The cause between me and my wife was heard, when Mr. Serjeant Maynard observed to the court, that there were 800 sheets of depositions on my wife's part, and not one word proved against me of using her ill, nor ever giving her a bad or provoking word." The decision was against the lady; the court, refusing her alimony, delivered her to her husband; "whereupon," says Ashmole, "I carried her to Mr. Lilly's, and there took lodgings for us both." He and Lilly dabbled in astrology; and he tells no more of his spouse till he enters "1668, April 1. 2 Hor. ante merid. the lady Mainwaring my wife died." Subsequently he writes" November 3. I married Mrs. Elizabeth Dugdale, daughter to William Dugdale, Esq. Norroy, king of arms at Lincoln's-inn chapel. Dr. William Floyd married us, and her father gave her. The wedding was finished at 10 hor. post merid.” Ashmole's diary minutely records particulars of all sorts:-" September 5, I took pills; 6, I took a sweat; 7, I took leeches; all wrought very well.-December 19, Dr. Chamberlain proposed to me to bring Dr. Lister to my wife, that he might undertake her. 22. They both came to my house, and Dr. Lister did undertake her." Though Dr. Lister was her undertaker on that occasion, yet Ashmole records—“ 1687, April 16, my wife took Mr. Bigg's vomit, which wrought very well.--19. She took pulvis sanctis ; Death in the afternoon she took cola It is to be regretted that Ashmole's life, NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. October 9. ST. DENYS. This name in the church of England calendar is properly noticed in vol. i. col. 1370. On the celebration of this saint's festi val in cathclic countries he is represented NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature ... 52 · 62. • Misa Plumptre. |