V. I asked Brusus, why he takes such pains, 259 CAPUCHIN RECIPE. The following curious recipe for the present health of the body and eternal salvation of the soul, is copied from a paper which was posted on a door leading to the physical room in a convent of Capuchin Friars at Messina. "Pro presenti corporis et âtærnæ animæ salute.” RECIPE. Radicum fidei Rosarum charitatis Agarici satisfactionis Ana quantum potes: Misceantur omnia cum syrupe confessionis; Solvantur in aqua lachrimarum ; Coquantur in igne tribulationis; et fiat potus. MANUSCRIPTA ATHEISTICA. At the diet of Grodno in 1688, the bishop of Potsdam, accused Cassimir Liszinski a Polish gentleman, of atheism; and an order was given to search his house for proofs in support of the accusation. Some manuscripts were found, in which, among other extraordinary propositions was the following:God is not the creator of man, but man is the creator of a Liszinski endeaGod whom he has made out of nothing." voured to excuse himself by saying, that he had set these things down only for the purpose of refuting them. This pretext however could not save him; he was condemned to death as an atheist, and on the 30th of March, 1689, was burnt alive; and his ashes, being put into a cannon, were dispersed in the air. VILLAINAGE. IN the township of Porthaethwy, the power of a feudal proprietor, to sell his vassals or villains, as well as his cattle, was exemplified to so late as the reign of Henry the seventh, as appears from the following translated document : 66 Edfryed Fychan ap Ednyfed, Dafydd ap Griffydd, and Howell ap Dafydd ap Ryridd, free tenants of our Lord the King, in the township of Rhandirgadog, have given and confirmed unto William ap Griffydd ap Guilym, Esq. free tenants of Porthmael, seven of our natives, viz.-Horsell Matto, and Llewellyn ap Dafydd dew; Dafydd and Howell ap Matto, ap Dafydd dew; Llewellyn ap Evan goch, and Jevan ap Evan ddu, with their successors procreated, and to be procreated, and all their goods," &c. Dated at Rhandirgadog, June 20th. Hen. VII. EPITAPH FOR A CARD-MAKER. His card is cut-long days he shuffled through MISJUDGEMENTS. Henderson, the Comedian.-When Henderson, the celebrated comedian, first made application to Garrick, and gave him " a specimen of his quality," the Roscius assured him, that he could not possibly convey articulate sounds to the audience of any theatre. Foote said nearly the same thing. Colman at length took Henderson by the hand; and such was the success of the man, who could not possibly convey an articulated sound, that during the first thirty-four nights of his performance at the Haymarket, the receipts were computed at no less a sum than £4500! Burns." Mr. John Home, the celebrated author of Douglas," says an evening paper of 6th Nov. 1789, "was lately asked his opinion of the poems of Robert Burns. His answer was, The encouragement that fellow has met with is a perfect disgrace to the nation.' This anecdote is genuine, and the majority is satisfied the remark is just. His reputation is vastly faded!" ROMAN WIVES. THE coldness of the ancient Romans towards their wives, and the reserve with which they spoke of their merits, are singularly exemplified in the epitaphs which they inscribed on their tombs. The following examples, selected from the pages of Gruter and Muratori, are arranged in an ascending order, from indifference to tenderness and enthusiasm ; the instances of the latter however are so few, that they may rather be regarded as exceptions to a general rule. 1. Conjugi bene-merenti. 2. Cum quâ vixit annis xxxv. sine ullâ querella. 3. C. Martiæ conjugi meæ bene meritæ. multis sudoribus maturâ ætate vixit, virtuose. 4. Cum quâ vixi ann. xxv. sine bile. Quæ cum 5. Dulcissimæ conjugi, cum quâ vixit ann. XV. sine discordiâ. 6. Conjugi carissimæ, cum quæ vixi ann. xii.-In die mortis gratias agi maximas, apud deos et apud homines. 7. Cum qua vixit ann. xxxv. optans ut sibi potius superstes fuisset, quam se sibs superstitem reliquisset. 8. Conj. piissimæ de quâ nihil aliud dolitus est, nisi mortem. 9. Conj. rarissimi exempli, cum quâ vixit ann. xxxii. sine ullâ animi læsurâ. 10. Fabiæ Januariæ omnium fœminarum castissima. 13. Thisbe conj. incomparabili-frugi, integra, fideli. The seventh of these examples has been imitated by Shenstone in his inscription for an urn at the Leasowes. Quanto minus est cum religius versari quam tui meminisse !" Pope too in his lines on the honourable S. Harcourt, seems to have had the eighth in his eye. 66 And never gave them grief but when he died." Some successful imitations of the Roman lapidary style be found among modern inscriptions. Of the following, the first is by sir Kenlm Digby; the second by G. Sandys. may 1. Uxorem vivam amare voluptas, defunctam religio. 2. Digna hæc luce diuterniore, nisi quod luce meliore digna. LOVE IN THE WILDS. LATE in the autumn of 17-, some gentlemen were making a tour of the western part of the state of New York, a journey executed at that time with difficulty, and in many places scarcely practicable. The scites of those beautiful towns and villages, which now line the road through which the traveller passes, were then covered with impervious woods, which few men had beheld, and fewer yet had thought of making the scene of their habitations and their homes. Tedious was then the route which now affords such pleasure; men hurried from a spot, where social intercourse scarcely existed, and where the solitary Indian hunter still reigned undisturbed lord. Towards the close of a delightful autumnal day, as they were gently entering in a boat the beautiful lake of Oneida, and had just emerged from the embouchure of Wood Creek, the languid strokes of a distant oar caught the ear of our travellers; it sounded nearer and nearer, and they soon found it proceeded from a small canoe, rowed by one solitary individual. As it approached alongside, they asked him whither he was destined? He sullenly answered, he was bound to Oneida Castle. His appearance excited the attention of the party; his garments were faded, though not in tatters; his face such as a Salvator Rosa would have loved to pourtray; his accent bespoke him of French descent. He passed on, as if wishing to hold no further converse; and our travellers had scarcely ceased wondering at the incident, before his canoe was far behind them. The boat slowly proceeded on. The sun had sunk below the horizon, and the shades of night were thickening fast, when an island of considerable extent appeared before them. Although the party had heard of its existence, and the name by which it was known by the boatmen of the lake, yet no person was known to have ever before visited it, or landed on its shores. The boatmen called it "Hoger Bust;" in English, "High Breast," a Dutch appellation, which its appearance and situation rendered apt and appropriate. The nearer they approached, they were surprised at perceiving marks of cultivation; convinced that it must be inhabited, they shouted loudly, but no one answered to their call. They then landed, and notwithstanding the night had set in, with lights which they struck in the boat they traced their way through a short wood, and suddenly entered at the end of it upon an avenue of shrubbery, and twigs of trees interwoven in the form of lattice work, lining each side of the walk; at the termination of which, a rude hut was visible. They knocked at the door, and it was opened by a female, who accosted them in French; they informed her of the cause of their visit, and then asked her if she was not disturbed by the noise and cry they made? She told them she was not, for she thought it occasioned by the Indians, who were her friends. Our travellers beheld her with surprise; she was clothed in coarse and uncouth attire, had no shoes on her feet, and her long hair hung in wild luxuriance down her back; her air and mein were, however, those of a person educated and accomplished. She seemed scarcely twenty; her size was small, and her interesting appearance was heightened by an eye full of intelligence and expression. On informing her of their wish to remain on the island during the night, she politely requested them to make use of her house; this, however, they, with many thanks, declined, but pitched their tents near it, whilst the bargemen slept on the shore, near the boat. Next morning, they paid their respects to the interesting recluse, and received from her the following particulars of her history. The man whom they met on the lake was, she said, her husband, who had gone to the Castle of Oneida to procure provisions. They had been sometime inhabitants of this solitude, though not always on the island they now occupied; they had resided for months in the Castle of Oneida, among the Indians; she described them as mild and unoffending; that she had formed friendships there, which had even to that day been of service to herself and husband; and, as the Indians had not forgotten them, they occasionally left at their secluded settlement, on a return from their hunting excursions, a portion of their game. She had herself, she said, learned to fish and fowl; had often swam from one island to another; and employed her gun with great success in the destruction of wild fowl. Such was all that the fair stranger was pleased to disclose of a life evidently of no ordinary cast, and the travellers not wishing to embarrass her by questions as to the cause of her seclusion, intimated their intention of leaving the island immediately. On hearing this she flew, with an eager avidity to oblige, to the garden, and with her own hands dug up vegetables from the ground, and presented them to her guests. Before they departed, they selected some wines out of their stores, and other articles which would be luxurious for her in this comparative wilderness, and left them where she was sure to find them, considering it an indelicacy to make her a direct offer of them. They then left the island, uttering an inward prayer for her welfare. On their way back, they stopped at a settlement some miles down the lake, and having related their adventure to some of the settlers, were informed that the lady had been once a nun in France; that she had been taken |