sense of the word, were amused and happy-the balloon, the fireworks, the illuminations, the distribution of provisions, and the gratuitous opening of the theatres by royal command, made them participators in the common joy, and conduced to this auspicious result. Good order and harmless merriment reigned conspicuously throughout; and proved both the expediency and propriety of contriving that the populace should be sharers in every public show and festival. Among the external traits, there were some of a whimsical kind. One man earned a handsome sum by the employment of two ladders, enabling the multitude to overcome the Park wall, instead of encountering the pressure at the gates. He had a great run of business; but was beaten hollow by a clever old lady at the pump of St. Martin's church; who struck out an entirely novel mode of traffic,by placing herself at the spring with a towel or two, and as the "fat and greasy citizens" rolled on, refreshing them by slapping a wet cloth in their faces. This reviver cost only one half penny; and it was truly laughable to see the application of the oft-rinsed towel to the melting faces of broiling crowdsters. It was night ere the abluent dame retired upon a fortune, gained, like an admiral's honours, by the waters. We formerly alluded to the scene of confusion which was presented at the moment of his Majesty's departure from Westminster Hall, when, after the service of the second course, all those parties who had been extended in double lines down the Hall closed, en masse towards the foot of the steps leading to the royal platform. Among those thus marshalling as it were for a scramble, were several of the Peers' attendants, together with numerous ladies and gentlemen. At length his Majesty rose,and having passed through the avenue behind the Throne, accompanied by the Great Officers of State and his Royal Brothers, the gathering crowd of spoilers, by a simultaneous rush, in a moment surrounded the royal table. For a few seconds delicacy appeared to suspend the projected attack: but at last a rude hand having been thrust through the first ranks, and a golden fork having been seized, this operated as a signal to all, and was followed by a general snatch. The Lord Great Chamberlain, being alarmed by the confusion, returned to the Hall, and, by the greatest personal exertion, succeeded in preventing the extension of the supposed licensed plunder. The remaining part of the plate was then removed to Cotton Garden; and all apprehensions on this score having subsided, the marauders were left to the undisturbed exercise of their Coronation privileges in the body of the Hall, and thither they forthwith transferred their attentions. The individuals in the galleries, who had hitherto remained passive spectators to the operations beneath, and many of whom had, from some unfortunate omission in the regulations prescribed by the Lord Great Chamberlain, remained the whole of the day without refreshment, poured down the different stairs and passages to the festive board, which, having been vacated by the Peers, and other guests, who had long before satiated their appetites, was attacked with a vigour, only in propor tion to the actual exhaustion of the assailants. A raging thirst was the first want to be satisfied, and in a very few moments every bottle on the board was emptied of its contents. A fresh supply was, however, soon obtained from the cellarets; and all reasonable calls of this sort were readily complied with. From liquids the company proceeded to solids, and there the work of destruction was equally fierce: sweetmeats, pastry, and confectionery of all sorts, vanished with the rapidity of lightning. Groupes of beautiful women were scattered at the tables, and every effort was made to afford them that refreshment of which they stood so much in need: others, however, still pursued the work of plunder; and arms were every where seen stretched forth breaking and destroying the table ornaments, which were of themselves too cumbrous to remove, for the purpose of obtaining some trophy commemorative of the occasion. parties thus engaged satisfied their respective desires, they retreated by the As the north door to the platform, along which they were seen seeking their respective modes of conveyance, anxious to escape the scene of desolation they had left behind. This, however, was no easy task, and many hours elapsed before they were all enabled to quit the spot. New difficulties now arose from the time which necessarily elapsed before the carriages could arrive. All the rooms and passages around the House of Lords were filled with persons of the highest distinction, of both sexes, manifesting the greatest impatience to escape from a place which had now lost all its attractions, and which presented no object to cheer their drooping spirits. The unusually early hour at which they had risen in the morning, added to the labours and privations through which they had gone during the day, had reduced them to a complete state of exhaustion; and all the ordinary punctilios of society were of necessity forgotten. Peers and Peeresses, Judges and Privy Councillors, Knights of all orders, and Commoners of all degrees, were alike worn out by fatigue, and lay promiscuously, some on sofas, some on chairs, and a still greater number on the matted floors of the rooms and passages in which they happened to have sought refuge. Many, while in this situation, were overtaken by sleep, and in this happy state of forgetfulness, scenes were presented extremely at variance with the splendid and dignified spectacle which had been but a few hours before exhibited in the presence of the Sovereign, and in which these very individuals had borne so prominent a part. It was three o'clock in the morning before the whole of the company had de parted, and at that hour several of the ladies were so completely worn out, that it became necessary to carry them to their carriages. The timber-work of the Abbey, Westminster Hall, the Platform, and Barriers, was done by Messrs. Copeland, and the quantity of wood used was 60,000 square feet, or 1500 loads. The timber used in erecting theatres and stages indirectly connected with the Coronation, was estimated at 80,000 square feet. The matting used was 14,000 yards. Varieties. (English Magazines, September and October, 1821.) AEROSTATION. Ir is a fact interesting to science and important to the progress of aerostation, that the balloon in which Mr. Green ascended from the Park, on the day of the Coronation, was filled with ordinary coal-gas, or carburetted hydrogen, instead of gas prepared from sulphuric acid and zinc, or iron filings, by the usual tedious and expensive process. A pipe was laid on to the main which supplies the street-lamps, and the balloon was filled without solicitude in a shorter time than the same operation was ever performed before, and at the expense of £5. Taking the gas at 555, and the diameter at 32 feet, the power of ascension exceeded 7 cwt. Of course, the machine acted well, and the ascent was one of the most beautiful ever beheld since the first ascent of Lunardi, in 1785. MIRACLES IN 1821. It would appear that the newly-revived belief in miracles is not exclusive-" ly confined to the disciples of Prince Hohenlohe, at Bamberg. A French Journal relates the following marvellous stories. A young woman who had been for some time grievously afflicted with the tooth-ache, lately applied to a Limonadier of the Faubourg Saint Martin, who imagines he possesses the power of effecting cures by miraculous means, as well as any German Prince. The following dialogue ensued : "What is your pleasure, Mademoiselle ?"-"Ah, Sir, you see how my face is swelled, and how I am disfigured."-" You have the tooth-ache ?" "Yes, Sir, and your high reputation induced me to come to you."-" But you have somebody with you ?"" Oh Sir! he is my intended."—" You think The subjoined paragraph describes a miracle of a still more extraordinary kind, and one which is certainly the better entitled to credit, since a pretty woman is at once the heroine of the story, and the guarantee of its authenticity. As Madame de —, after a widow hood of two or three months, became more extravagant and more fond of pleasure than ever she had been in her husband's life. She was present at every new opera, every ball, and every place of fashionable amusement. tonished at this gay kind of philosophy, one of her female friends ventured to question her on the subject. "Well, I must let you into my secret," said the sprightly widow. "Know, then, that I join in all these fashionable follies, only in obedience to my husband's commands."—" How! did he order it so in his will "—" In his will! Oh no! come, I must tell you! Whenever I receive an invitation to a concert or ball, the first thing I do, even before I give an order to my maid, or my milliner, is to proceed to the burial ground of Pere Lachaise."-" Well, that's certainly a most singular preparation for a ball!""I kneel down before the tomb of my husband- " "Oh! I understand, you make a prelude to the pleasures of the evening, by the tears you shed in the morning! Well, that's a sort of compensation!"—" Nay, but hear me. I press my lips close to the marble, and I whisper, Dear husband, do not be angry if I go to-night to Madame -'s party,'-and he replies, you may go, my love."""What a droll idea! and you really fancy that you hear him say so?" "Yes! he speaks very softly, to be sure; but then I have such a delicate ear!"-" And do you ever ask him any other questions?"—"Oh yes! I sometimes consult him about my dress, and he gives me his advice; for I verily believe he reads the Journal des Modes as regularly as I do. It was he who advised me to buy this new Cashmere !”— "Ah! my dear friend, what a happy woman you are!--Your dead husband is ten thousand times better than my living one!" Natural History. REIN DEER. Mr. Bullock has succeeded in bringing specimens of the rein-deer to this country, which may perhaps lead to the colonization of our mountain-forests with this interesting animal. While on a tour in Norway he procured a herd of twenty, the whole of which were killed by eating a poisonous plant that grew upon a small island, on which they were placed for security previous to embarkation. He, however, was not to be driven from his object. He once more went into the interior, and bought another herd, twelve in number. These he not only succeeded in embarking in safety, but in bringing them alive and well to the Thames. Before relating the mishaps which befel them here, we may observe on the extraordinary sagacity they displayed in travelling. They of a leader or captain, who not only were completely under the command headed their march, but seemed, upon every difficulty, to issue his orders, which were promptly and implicitly obeyed. This was most remarkable when they came to the boat for embarkation. A new situation required a stronger exercise of instinct, approaching to reason, and of courage, than had previously been called forth. The herdsman, a Norwegian, got into the boat, and invited the captain of the deer to follow him. Generally obedient to his wishes, the noble animal approached, and put his foot from the pier into the vessel. It was the first unsteady ground he had ever trod, and he recoiled in alarm. Fresh invitations, and fresh investigations of the boat ensued; the whole herd looking on and watching these, to them, as well as to the human spectators, interesting proceedings. At last the captain felt assured; he entered the boat, and he trod upon and examined every plank. When fully satisfied, he uttered a kind of snort, and in three minutes the hitherto passive herd had bounded into and filled the boat. Nor was this all the wonderful display of animal intelligence: the vessel was overloaded, and, as he had intimated other things, he also intimated this to his followers; were we not assured of the fact we could hardly credit it; no sooner was this done, than the individual deer he appeared to address leaped into another boat. On arriving in the Thames, it unluckily happened that the Customhouse officer, at Gravesend, did not feel himself authorized to allow the deer to be landed. Before application could be made to the proper authorities in London, the majority of the poor herd fell victims to their confinement on shipboard. They began to die very fast, and eight of the twelve deer were thus destroyed. The remnant saved consists of a male and female, a fawn (since dead,) and a male which has been cut. The latter is the captain, and the largest of the animals, being about ten hands high, and proportionally stout. The others are a hand or two lower. Their fur is astonishingly thick, very fine, and delicately soft and warm. The horns branch in a singular and beautiful manner, and are entirely covered with a short fur. Those of the female form almost a perfect coronet, above a foot in height, and her head is of the most elegant shape. The captain's antlers are three feet in length; on one side branching from a single root, on the other having two branches bending forwards over the nose, issuing from the head with the main branch. The fawn has only two short protuberances. Their hoofs are very broad, and flexible between the divisions. This enables them to clamber up precipices and hang on rocks inaccessible to all other animals. Their speed is prodigious. They seem to be reconciled to hay as food; like brandy, which is administered as a medicine. Along with the deer Mr. B. has brought a native Laplander, his wife, and child. These beings are about four feet eight inches in height; the man being of the common size, the woman rather tall. The child is a curiosity in its way, and about five years old. ELEPHANT ROPE DANCING. The ease with which the elephant is taught to perform the most agile and difficult feats, forms a remarkable contrast to its huge unwieldiness of size. Aristotle tells us, that in ancient times, elephants were taught by their keepers to throw stones at a mark, to cast up arms in the air, and catch them again on their fall; and to dance not merely on the earth, but on the rope. The first, according to Suetonius, who exhibited elephant rope dancers, was Galba at Rome. The manner of teaching them to dance on the ground was simple enough (by the association of music and a hot floor;) but we are not informed how they were taught to skip the rope, or whether it was the tight, or the slack rope, or how high the rope might be. The silence of history on these points is fortunate for the figurantes of the present day; since, but for this, their fame might have been utterly eclipsed. Elephants may in the days of old Rome have been taught to dance on the rope, but when was an elephant ever known to skip on a rope over the heads of an audience, or to caper amidst a blaze of fire fifty feet aloft in the air? What would Aristotle have thought of his dancing elephants, if he had seen Madame Saqui? DANCING ASS. John Leo, in his Descriptio Africa, relates an account of an ass,which if true, proves that this animal is not so stupid and indocile as he is commonly represented. He says, "When the Mahommedan worship is over, the common people of Cairo resort to the part of the suburbs called Bed-Elloch, to see the exhibition of stage players, and mountebanks who teach camels, asses, and dogs, to dance. The dancing of the ass is diverting enough; for after he has frisked and capered about, his mas ter tells him, that the Soldan meaning to build a great palace, intends to employ all the asses in carrying mortar, stones, and other materials: upon which the ass falls down with his heels upwards, closing his eyes, and extending his chest, as if he were dead. This done, the master begs some assistance of the company, to make up for the loss of the dead ass; and having got all he can, he gives them to know that truly his ass is not dead, but only being sensible of his master's necessity, played that trick to procure some provender. Then he commands the ass to rise, who still lies in the same posture, notwithstanding all the blows he can give him; till at last he proclaims, that by virtue of an edict by the Soldan, all the handsome ladies are bound to ride out the next day upon the comeliest asses they can find, in order to see a triumphal show, and to entertain their asses TRAVELLERS IN AFRICA. with oats and Nile water. These words are no sooner pronounced, than the ass starts up, prances, and leaps for joy. The master then declares that his ass has been pitched upon by the warden of his street, to carry his deformed and ugly wife; upon which the ass lowers his ears, and limps with one of his legs as if he were lame. Then the master, alleging that his ass admires handsome women, commands him to single out the prettiest lady in company; and accordingly he makes his choice by going round and touching one of the prettiest with his head, to the great amusement of the company." Entelligence. Two expeditions for the interior of North Africa, are about to proceed, under the patronage of the British Government; one of them by the African Association. They take their departure from Tripoli, under the protection of the Dey, and with his recommendation to the black princes of the country. The two companies proceed in conjunction from Tripoli to Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. There they separate; the one directing their course eastward by the temple of Jupiter Ammon into Egypt; the other eastward to the Niger. Thus some of the grand problems of African Geography have a good chance of being speedily and satisfactorily solved. Mr. J. S. BUCKINGHAM will speedily pub lish his Travels in Palestine; through the Countries of Bashan and Gilead, east of the River Jordan: including a visit to the cities of Geraza, and Gamala, in the Decapolis; a more interesting work on these countries has not appeared. The celebrated painting of Moses striking the Rock, by Murillo, which is placed in one of the hospitals in Seville, is likely to be transferred to this country; the enormous sum of 4000 guineas having been of fered for it by a noble amateur, which, it is thought, will be accepted, We know not whether Rosario, a Tale, by NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, be truly attributed to the deceased Emperor, or not; nor is the question of much importance, as the story is not calculated to excite any interest and its mediocrity can reflect neither discredit nor praise upon the author. It is possible that Bonaparte may, as stated in the introduction, have narrated the outline of such a tale for the amusement of his private circle; and if that were the case, we have no doubt that the recital was as entertaining as the present imitation is crude and dull. But in fact our scepticism inclines us to exoner ate Napoleon from any share whatever in this posthumous publication; in which the title page would insinuate that he has an actual interest, it being somewhat comically stated therein that it is printed for the au thor-it may be so, but then the author is not Napoleon Bonaparte. Shortly will be published a new work, entitled the Duellist, or a cursory view of the with illustrative anecdotes from history, by Rise, Progress, and Practice of Duelling, the author of "The Retreat," &c. &c. In the press,by Mr.Percy Bysshe Shelley, Cornwall, will be published early in the next season. strel, a Poem in eight cantos. Dione, a Poem in eight cantos. Natural History. Professor Lapostolle of Amiens has discovered that straw possesses the quality of hail. Repeated experiments have convinserving as a conductor to lightning and ced him that straws united together serve equally well as the iron rods now fixed upon buildings for the former purpose; at the same time that they are not attended with similar inconveniences. In consequence of this discovery, the commonest buildings may be secured from the effects of lightning in the most economical manner, and even crops on the land may be protected from the ravages which they sometimes suffer from hail. The Professor treats of the important advantages that may be expected to result from the practical application of his discovery, in a publication entitled Traite des Parafoudres et des Paragreles en cordes de paille. |