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The following anecdote is related by Mr. Buckingham of Hadjee Ahmet Pasha of Acre, commonly called Jezzar, or the Butcher :—

"He was a man famous for his personal strength, his ferocious courage, his cruelty, and his insatiable avarice, as well as for the great power which the active exertion of all these qualities to gether procured from him. Some short time before his decease, he was conscious of the approach of death; but so far from showing any remorse for his past actions, or discovering any indications of a wish to make atonement for them, the last moments of this tyrant were employed in contriving fresh murders, as if to close, with new horrors the bloody tragedy of his reign. Calling to him his father-in-law, Sheikh Taha, as he himself lay on the bed of death, I perceive,' said he, that I have but a short time to live. What must I do with these rascals in my pri

sons? Since I have stripped them of every thing, what good will it do them to be let loose again naked into the world? The greatest part of them are governors, who, if they return to their posts, will be forced to ruin a great many poor people, in order to replace the wealth which I have taken from them; so it is best, both for their own sakes and for that of others, that I should destroy them. They will then be soon in a place where they will neither be permitted to molest any one, nor be themselves exposed to molestation. Yes, Yes! that's best!--dispatch them!' In obedience to the charitable conclusion of this pathetic apostrophe, twenty-three wretches were immediately added to the long list of the victims of Jezzar Pasha's cruelty; and, it is said, they were all of them thrown inte the sea together, as the most expeditious mode of execution."

Varieties.

(English Magazines, November 1821.)

SNUFF-TAKING.

To be continued.

writer flatter himself, that Rappee and

"When they talked of their Raphaels, Corregios, High Toast are so easily put down.

and stuff,

He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff."

I OFTEN take a pinch myself and though I never yet have carried a box, I know enough of the human nose, and its tendency after long indulgence, to exact as a matter of right what was originally granted as a favour, to make great allowances for those who do; I can, therefore, fully sympathise in the feelings of a numerous and respectable portion of the community, who complain with some indignation, of the uncharitable attack upon their private habits in a late Number of the New Monthly. Certain epithets, altogether unworthy a civilized Journal, are there levelled at a very antient and harmless custom; and though backed by the authority of an English peer, bear unequivocal marks of that radical spirit, which, as far as a hatred of tobacco is concerned, cannot be too vehemently reprobated. But let not the

• Article on Noses.

He may denounce our noses as "dustholes" if he will-but what precious dust!--what an aider of thought-what a solamen curarum—what a helpmate of existence, B aparyn as Plato said of the olive-what a soother of irritability, as Sir Joshua found it. Let this anti-nasal declaimer just step into Messrs. Fribourg and Pontets, and he'll soon see, in the formidable array of robust and well-battalioned jars, what an unequal contest he has undertaken to wage against one of the most popular usages of his country:-jars containing every modification of sternulatory materials, collected from every quarter of the globe, and sanctioned, many of them, in emblazoned characters, by the highest names in Europe, from Hardham's No. 37, for rough sneezers, down to the delicate and costly Maccabau, whose essence is so subtle and pervading, that like Desdemona's charms, it makes the

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aromatic, and best after dinner; Ma- countenance. Who, for example, ever sulapatam, its name and odour trans- heard of the freedom of a city being porting the fancy to the gorgeous East; presented in a splendid fiddle-case? or French Bureau, every grain of which a foreign ambassador, on the eve of degives a man a feel of business; The parture, requested to accept, as an esKing of Prussia's, compounded from pecial mark of Royal approbation, a Frederick's receipt, expressly for he- valuable soup-ladle, or a beautifully roes and statesmen; Fine Spanish, wrought cork-screw?-No such thing; with which Bonaparte gained all his the bare idea excites derision; but for victories; Mr. Vansittart's, usually ages past, both in England and other called for by writers and readers of European states, the snuff-box has been plans for paying off the National Debt; the favoured vehicle of privilege and Violet and a-la-Rose, for noviciates and honour; and it requires little argudandies-and, above all, the inimitable ment to shew, that a preference so long Lundy Foot, that master-spirit in established and acquiesced in, must sneezing matters, whose single genius have solid reasons on its side, that canhas done more for the human nose than not now be shaken by all the sophiscombined discoveries of every preced- tries of ridicule or abuse. I once asking tobacconist or amateur, and whose ed an ingenious friend," how the organ name, though he now is "laid in dust," of smelling had contrived to come in flourishes, and will flourish, as long as for all this honour ?"-His reply was: the world shall keep in view that car- "clearly because it is now considerdinal maxim, to establish which his life ed the seat of honour. The old Huwas devoted-that snuff in its perfec- dibrastic notion is exploded—at least tion should be taken dry. Nor let it if that noble quality dwells before, bebe supposed, that these and the many yond a doubt, its head-quarters are the others I might enumerate, operate sole- nose-pull it, even with the most cirly as physical excitants; no, the imagi- cumspect gentleness, and how incuranation comes in for its full share of the ble the insult. Now it being of the esenjoyment. When we take a pinch sence of honour, to be as alive to benefor instance of Napoleon's favourite, fits as it is sensitive to outrage, hence (fine Spanish above-mentioned,) how its visible dwelling-place has been made soul-stirring to feel that we are doing the subject of all these costly gifts, preprecisely what the hero himself did af- cisely on the principle of the pagan of ter the battle of Marengo. Again, ferings of old, at the shrine of some what a fund of delicious association is high-minded but irritable divinity.” thrown in, without any extra charge, in a fresh canister of Wellington's or Lord Petersham's-what a conscious community of tastes!-what a grateful levelling of distinctions, without disturbing the public peace, or Mr. Birnie! How cheering to our self-love to reflect that, however exalted above us these great men may be in other respects, their nostrils fare no better than our own. Let the libeller of noses think of this, and pause before he renews his unseemly vituperation. Let him further consider, that his invectives directly tend to bring into contempt some very venerable ceremonies, adopt ed after mature deliberation, for civic and state occasions, where, while, the other senses are disregarded, we see the pleasures of the noses elected as most worthy of public favour and princely

The writer whom I am refuting expresses extraordinary wonder at the continuing prevalence of snuff-taking. I recommend to his consideration two facts: First, it is equally a luxury of the rich and the poor, and almost the only luxury which the rich have not discarded, because the poor can afford to enjoy it. I put it to his candour, whether there be not here some proof, "that there must be a pleasure in snufftaking, which snuff-takers only know."

Secondly, it has ever been a favourite custom with men the most distinguished for genius in every department of intellect: I have already named a few, Sir Joshua, Frederick, Napoleon, and Mr. Vansittart; and it is generally considered, that without some such help the minds of those eminent persons, however naturally elevated, could

not have risen so high, or soared so long. I might multiply examples without number. In my own poor way, I have found what an aid it is to inspiration. A celebrated Irish writer of the present day, being asked, where he had got one of his most brilliant fancies, replied with equal truth and candour, where I got all the rest, in Lundy Foot's shop ;" and (to give one more contemporary instance) the frequenters of the Italian Opera cannot fail to observe, that the admirable leader of the band there, no sooner perceives a difficult Obligato coming upon him, than he invariably prepares his mind by a hasty pinch for that exquisite conception of his subject, which his tones and execution never fail to communi

cate.

But to go an inch or two deeper into the subject: when a man takes a pinch of snuff, he exemplifies one of the most remarkable principles of human nature -the love of excitation. Nature has given our blood and thoughts a certain rapidity of movement, but we find it more agreeable to set them going a little faster, or (the more usual case,) we jade them by excessive exercise, and must have recourse to artificial stimulants to restore their vigour-else we are the victims of ennui, Anglicé, the blue devils. We become harsh and testy; we torment our families, distrust our friends. If we are rich enough to travel, we fly from place to place, "seeking comfort and finding none." If we are poets, we write sonnets against the human race, magnanimously including ourselves. If the wars are raging, we long for the tumult of the camp; we somehow feel that cutting-off the heads of half a dozen Frenchmen, would prove a great relief. If it be time of peace, we stay at home and pine away; and unless some real calamity should fortunately step in to divert our thoughts, the chance is, that we call in the razor or the pistol to terminate the scene. This is an extreme case, though not an imaginary one, as every coroner can tell; but the intermediate degrees are felt more or less by all, and the application of powdered tobacco to the nose, is only one of the thousand methods that have been in

vented to satify the universal craving for excitement.

Were it possible for the mind to seize at a single view the occupations of all the inhabitants of the globe, it would be somewhat curious to behold the numbers that at any given point of time, are busily and solely employed in raising their animal spirits to the agree able point of elevation, and to compare the various artifices adapted for this purpose. Of the eight hundred mil lions, the computed number of the whole, we should have so many millions or thousands throwing off drams; so many sipping coffee; so many masticating opium, and other exhilarating extracts; so many dancing, singing, hunting or gambling, all to keep off the tedium vitæ. Some must have mimic scenes of bloodshed on the stage; some must see men kill one another in earnest; for others a mortal cock-fight is a sufficient stimulant. Some keep the vapours at bay by talking politics, oth ers by talking scandal, millions by talking of themselves. Some droop if the world neglects to praise them, and of these, some prefer a full draught of adulation at stated intervals, while others, among whom are authors, actors, crowned heads, and handsome ladies, must be tippling it from morning till night. Some take to the excitement of hot suppers; others to ghost stories; others to authentic accounts of earth quakes, murders, and conflagrations. But it were endless to proceed; moneymaking, money-spending; fanatical devotion; auto-de-fes; Indian torturing of prisoners; sight-seeing; last new novels; in a word, many of men's occupations and most of their amusements-what are they but the several ways of attaining the same end: and happy they who have so regulated their passions, as to require no other stimulant than a few diurnal sneezes to keep their minds in good humour with the world and themselves.

AEROLITE.

The Paris papers mention, that the stone which fell from the clouds on the 23d of

June, at Javinas, in the department of Ardeche, is now exhibiting to the public. Severa! amateurs have made proposals for purchasing this wonderiui stone, which has ralists, An English mineralogist has, we excited great speculation among the natu

understand, offered a considerable sum for it.

COWPER.

The residence of Cowper at Olney, in Buckinghamshire, has long been uninhabited, and is now in an advanced state of dilapidation. Some of the neighbours, however, on the day of the coronation, procured boughs and flowers from Cowper's favourite walk, at Weston-under-wood, and decorated the outside of the house with oak, laurel, and wreaths of flowers, to his memory.

A HIGHLAND ANECDOTE.

The field of Culloden and the scenes of cruelty which followed it, though fatal to the hopes of the Highlanders, who enthusiastically espoused the cause of Charles, yet did not utterly crush their hardy and predatory disposition. The clansmen re; tired, it is true, to the 1ocky fastnesses of their secret glens; but still they mourned their cottages burned, and their wives and children massacred at dead of night, or arrested in melancholy flight by death, amidst the snows of winter. Savage heroism was not altogether subdued within them by calamities calculated to bend less lofty souls to the very dust of subjection. With them the effect was like that produced by attempting to curb the mountain cataract, they were divided into smaller and less important bodies, and their power was no longer forcible in its native stream; but each individual portion seemed to gain a particular character and consequence of its own, by separation from the main body, where it had been undistinguished and unobserved. It was thus that, lurking in little parties, among pine-clad precipices, in caverns known only to themselves, they now waged a minor warfare,-that which had the plundering of cattle for its object. But let us not look upon those men, driven as it were to desperation, as we do upon the wretched cow-stealers of the present day. That which is now considered as one of the basest of crimes, was then, in the eyes of the mountaineer, rather an honourable and chivalrous profession Noth ing was then more creditable than to be the leader of a daring band, to harry the low country of its live stock, and, above all, it was conceived to be perfectly fair to drive "Moray-land, where every gentleman had a right to take his prey."

It was about this period, and, though it may surprise many, it was not much more than fifty years ago, that Mr. R. a gentleman of the low country of Moray, was awakened early in a morning by the unpleasing intelligence of the Highlanders having carried off the whole of his cattle from a distant hill, grazing in Brae Moray, a few miles above the junction of the rapid rivers Findhorn and Livie, and between both. He was an active man, so that, after a few questions put to the breathless messenger, he lost not a moment in summoning and arming several servants; and, instead of taking the way to his farm, he

struck at once across the country, in order to get as speedily as possible to a point, where the rocks and woods, hanging over the deep bed of the Findhorn, first begin to be crowned by steep and lofty mountains, receding in long and misty perspective. This was the grand pass into the boundless waste frequented by the robbers; and here Mr. R. forded the river to its southern bank, and took his stand with his little party, well aware, that if he could not intercept his cattle here, he might abandon all further search after them.

The spot chosen for the ambuscade was a beautiful range of scenery, known by the name of the Streens. So deep is the hollow in many places, that some of the little cottages, with which its bottom is here and then sprinkled,have Gaelic appellations, implying, that they never see the sun. There were no houses near them; but the party lay concealed amongst some huge fragments of rocks, shivered by the wedging ice of the previous winter, from the summit of a lofty crag, that hung half across the narrow holm where they stood. A little way further down the river, the passage was contracted to a rude and scrambling footpath, and behind them the glen was equally confined. Both extremities of the small amphitheatre were shaded by almost impenetrable thickets of birch, hazel, alder, and holly, whilst a few wild pines found a scanty subsistence for their roots, in midway air, on the face of the crags, and were twisted and writhed for lack of nourishment, into a thousand fantastic and picturesque forms. The serene sun of a beautiful summer's day was declining, and half the narrow haugh was, in broad and deep shadow, beautifully contrasted by the bril liant golden light that fell on the wooded bank on the other side of the river.

Such was the scene where Mr. R. posted his party; and they had not waited long, listening in the silence of the evening, wher they heard the distant lowing of the cattle, and the wild shouts of the reavers, reechoed as they approached by the surrounding rocks The sound came nearer and nearer; and, at last, the crashing of the boughs announced the appearance of the more advanced part of the drove, and the animals began to issue slowly from the tangled wood, or to rush violently forth, as the blows or shouts of the drivers were more or less impetuous. As they came out, they collected themselves into a groupe, and stood bellowing, as if unwilling to proceed farther. In the rear of the last of the herd, Mr R. saw, bursting singly from different parts of the brake, a party of fourteen Highlanders, all in the fall costume of the mountains, and armed with dirk, pistols, and claymore, and two or three of them carrying antique fowling-pieces. Mr. R's party consisted of not more than ten or eleven; but, telling them to be firm, he drew them forth from their ambuscade, and ranged them on the green turf. With some exclamations of surprise, the robbers, at

rest.

the shrill whistle of their leader, rushed forwards and ranged themselves in front of their spoil. Mr. R. and his party stood their ground with determination, whilst the robbers appeared to hold a council of war. At last their chief, a little athletic man, with long red hair curling over his shoulders, and with a pale and thin, but acute visage, advanced a little way beyond the "Mr. R." said he, in a loud voice, and speaking good English, though in a Highland accent, "are you for peace or war? if for war, look to yourself: if for peace and treaty, order your men to stand fast, and advance to meet me."-"I will treat," replied Mr. R.-" but can I trust to your keeping faith?"-" Trust to the honour of a gentleman!" rejoined the other with an imperious air. The respective parties were ordered to stand their ground, and the two leaders advanced about seventy or eighty paces each, towards the middle of the space, with their loaded guns cocked, and presented at each other. A certain sum was demanded for the restitution of the cattle: Mr. R. had not so much about him, but he offered to give what money he had in his pocket, being a few pounds short of what the robber had asked. The bargain was concluded, the money paid,the guns uncocked and shouldered, and the two parties advanced to meet each other in perfect harmony. "And now," said the leader of the band, " you must look at your beasts to see that none of them be wanting." Mr R. did so. "They are all here," said he "but one small dun quey."" Make yourself easy about her," replied the other, "she shall be in your pasture before daylight to-morrow morning." The treaty being thus concluded, the robbers proceeded up the glen, and were soon hid beneath its thick foliage; whilst Mr. R's people took charge of the cattle and began to drive them homewards. The reaver was as good as his word; the next morning the dun quey was seen grazing with the herd. Nobody knew how she came there; but her jaded and draggled appearance bespoke the length and the nature of the night journey she had performed.

Statistic Views.

CENSUS OF 1821.

THE population in Great-Britain, at the Census in 1811, was 11,800,000, exclusive of the army and navy, then about 50,000. From the returns, so far as published, under the present census, it appears the increase is about fifteen per cent. This will make the population of Great Britain at present to be 14,000,000 of souls. Ireland contains 6,500,000 people, making the population of the British dominions in Europe 20,500,000. The population of our North American possessions cannot be less than 1,500,000; the population of the West India

colonies, 900,000; Africa, about 130,000; in the Mediterranean, 150,000; colonies and dependencies in Asia, 2,040,000; and our other extensive territories in the East Indies, perhaps 70,000 of souls. The whole population of the British Empire will, at that rate, contain 95,220,000 of souls. The Russian, the next highest in the scale of civ ilized nations,contains 50,000,000; France, 30,000,000; and Austria an equal number. -The Roman Empire, in all its glory, contained 120,000,000, one half of whom were slaves. When we compare its situation with that of the British empire, in power, wealth, resources, and industry, in the arts, sciences, commerce, and agricul ture, the preponderance of the latter in the scale of nations and empires, is great and most remarkable. The tonnage employed in the merchants' service is about 2,640,000 tons for G. Britain; the exports 51,000,000, including 11,000,000 foreign and colonial; the imports, 36,000,000. The navy during the last war consisted of 1000 ships of war; the seamen at present in the merchants' service are about 174,000; the net revenue of the state £57,000,000. The capital of the empire contains 1,200,000 persons, the same number which Rome contained in the days of her greatest strength. The value fixed on landed property in Great Britain, as calculated by Mr. Pitt in the year 1797, £1,600,000,000, and it may now be fairly taken at £2,000,000,000. The cotton manufactures of the country are immense, and reach in the exports to £20,000,000, or one half of the whole. In short, taking every thing into consideration, the British empire, in power and strength, may be stated as the greatest that ever existed on earth, as it far surpasses them in knowledge, moral character, and worth. On her dominions the sun never sets; before his evening rays leave the spires of Quebec, his morning beams have shone three hours on Port Jackson, and while sinking from the waters of Lake Superior, his eye opens upon the Mouth of the Ganges.

A volume is in the press which is intend ed to match Prior's account of all the Voyages round the World, under the title of The Universal Traveller it will contain an abstract of the chief books of travels in all countries, and be illustrated with one hundred engravings.

Moses Samuel, Esq. of Liverpool, has presented to the Library of the Atheneum a Manuscript Pentateuch, or Sacred Law of the Jews. This curiosity is written on a roll of fine vellum, four inches wide, and upwards of forty-five feet long; it is attached at each end to an ivory roller, and the whole is enclosed in a splendid case of crimson velvet. A special meeting of the committee was summoned for the purpose of receiving this valuable present; and an ark was or dered to be prepared for its preservation, under Mr. Samuel's directions.

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