CURIOUS NARRATIVE.

In "Corry's History of Bristol," the following remarkable anecdote is related. Prince George of Denmark, the kingconsort to queen Anne (the same station now held by prince Albert to queen Victoria) in passing through Bristol, appear ed on the exchange attended only by one gentleman, a military officer, and remained there till the merchants had pretty generally withdrawn, not one of them having sufficient resolution to speak to him, as perhaps they might not be prepared to ask such a guest to their houses. But this was not the case with all who saw him, for a person, whose name was John Duddlestone, a bodice-maker, went up and asked the prince if he was not the husband of the queen? who informed him he was. Duddlestone then told the prince, that he had observed with a great deal of concern that none of the merchants had invited him home to dinner, adding, it was not for want of love to the queen or to him, but because they did not consider themselves prepared to entertain so great a man ; but John said, he was ashamed to think of his dining at an inn, and requested him to go and dine with

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him, and bring the gentleman along with him, informing him that he had a piece of good beef and a plum pudding, and ale of his dame's own brewing.

The prince admired the man's hospitality, and though he had bespoke a dinner at the inn, went with him; and when they got to the house Duddlestone called his wife, who was up stairs, desiring her to put on a clean apron and come down, for the queen's husband and another gentleman were come to dine with them. She accordingly came down with her clean blue apron, and was immediately saluted by the prince. In the course of the dinner the prince asked him if he ever went to London? He said, that since the ladies had worn stays instead of bodices, he sometimes went to buy whalebone ; whereupon the prince desired him to take his wife when he went again, at the same time giving him a card to facilitate his introduction to him at court.

In the course of a little time John Duddlestone took his wife behind him to London, and with the assistance of the card found easy admittance to the prince, and by him was introduced to the queen, who invited them to an approaching dinner, informing them they must have new clothes for the occasion, allowing them to choose for themselves. Each therefore chose purple velvet, such as the prince then had on, which was accordingly provided for them; and in that dress they were introduced by the herself as queen the most loyal persons in the city of Bristol, and the only ones in that city who

had invited the prince her husband to their house; and after the entertainment the queen, desiring him to kneel down, laid a sword on his head, and, to use lady Duddlestone's own words, said to him, 'Ston up, Sir Jan.'

Sir 'Jan' was offered money, or a place under government, but he did not choose to accept of either, informing the queen that he had fifty pounds out at use,' and he apprehended that the number of people he saw about her must be very expensive. The queen however made lady Duddlestone a present of her gold watch from her side, which 'my lady' considered as no small ornament, when she went to market, suspended over a blue apron.

A gentleman of Boston has lately translated from the German a small volume of beautiful poems called "Five Little Stories for my Sister," which is printed by the Publishers of this Magazine as a christmas present for little readers. We insert one of the stories below.

STORY

OF THE LITTLE BOY THAT WISHED TO HAVE
SOMEBODY CARRY HIM EVERYWHERE.

ONLY THINK! a little boy one day
Went out in the meadow-grounds to stray;
But there he grew tired sore,
And said: "I can no more;
Would but something come near,
And take me from here !"

Now a little brook came flowing on,
And took up the little boy anon;

As on the brook he sits with joy,

"I am well off here," says the little boy.

But what's the matter? The stream was cold, And this full soon to his cost was told.

It began to freeze him sore,

And he said, "I can no more;

Would but something come near,
And take me from here!"

Then a little ship came sailing on,
And took up the little boy anon;
As in the ship he sits with joy,
"I am well off here," says the little boy.
But do you see? the vessel was small;
The little boy thinks, "I shall presently fall;"
He begins to tremble sore;
And says, "I can no more ;
Would but something come near
And take me from here!"

And now a snail comes creeping along ;
And takes up the little boy anon;
In the snail's round house he sits with joy ;
"I am well off here," says the little boy.
But think! the snail is no good steed,
And her steps were very slow indeed;
He begins to fidget sore,
And says
"I can no more;

Would but something come near,

And take me from here !"

And behold! a horseman came galloping on,
And took up the little boy anon;

And behind the rider he sat with joy ;
"I am well off here," said the little boy.

But look! like the wind he scoured along ;
For the little boy it was quite too strong;
He was bump'd about, gall'd sore,
And said, "I can no more;
Would but something come near,
And take me from here !"

At last a tree that was standing there,
Caught up the little boy by the hair;
High he swings at the end of a bough,
And there the poor boy is kicking now.

The child asks,
"Did the boy die then ?"

Answer:

"No; he is kicking still!

Tomorrow let's go and take him down "

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OLD PROVERB.

when a pope has demanded the names of some priests of their order, that one might be raised to a cardieal, they have sent those names written circularly, that they might not seem to recommend one more than another. Sailors are the only people who preserve this very ancient custom in its purity, for when any remonstrance is on foot among them, they sign it in a circle, and call it a round robin.

OLD PROVERB.

"AN ounce of mother wit is worth a pound of learning," seems exemplified in the following dialogue from the German. Hans, the clergyman's son, said to the farmer's son Frederick, as they were walking together of a fine summer evening, 'How large is the moon which we now see in the heavens ?'

Fred. As large as a baking-dish. Hans. Ha, ha, ha! As large as a baking-dish? No, Frederick, it is full as large as a whole country.

Fred. What do you tell me? As large as a whole country? How do you know it is so large?

Hans. My tutor told me so.

While they were talking, Augustus came by, and Hans ran laughing up to him and said, Only hear, Augustus! Frederick says the moon is no bigger than a baking-dish.'

thedral seems like a very little ball; and yet it will contain three sacks of corn; and the moon must be a great deal higher than the dome.'

Now which of these three little philosophers was the most intelligent? I must give it in favour of the last; though Hans was most in the right through the instruction of his master. But it is much more honorable to come even at all near the truth by one's own reasoning, than to give implicit faith to the sayings of another.

Mr. Parley,

Philadelphia, Nov. 19, 1840.

WELL, here I am, back again, in the 'city of brotherly love,' and as you were so kind as to publish my two letters I sent before, I thought I would give you another chapter. I left Boston with my cousin on Tuesday afternoon, in the fine steamer Massachusetts, and next morning found ourselves in Newyork, amidst a snow-storm, and just in time to miss the Philadelphia boat; consequently we had to wait till the afternoon line, which you know goes the whole way by rails. At 4 p. m. we crossed over to Jersey city to take the cars, anticipating a pleasant and speedy ride, notwithstanding the storm. We shut ourselves up close in the cars, and were as comfortable as if in our own parlors. The fatigue we had undergone soon put us fast asleep, and we did not wake for a long time, and when my cousin looked at his watch and saw it was ten o'clock, we concluded it was not worth while to go to sleep again

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as we must be very near the city; but we overheard the passengers talking about never get there,' ' run off,'' only to Princeton,'' snow on the rails,'' nearly stopped,' and sundry other exclamations, from which we gathered that the storm had impeded the progress of our firehorse' so much that we had only performed half our distance. We heard our huge iron horse puffing and blowing to get to his stable, and we would willingly have got out and given him a good snow balling, if that would have helped him on any faster. But we thought what can't be cured must be endured, and so resigned ourselves to our fate. We did not reach Philadelphia until nearly four o'clock next morning. Just think! 12 hours from city to city; but that would have been thought flying,' fifty years

ago.

Well, we got here at last, and were snugly housed, and asleep in ten minutes after we got to bed. In the morning we started out for a ramble; my cousin had not been here before, but I knew the way pretty well, and I found there had been some new things since I was last here.

The first thing that struck our attention was a very large circular building, which had painted over the entrance the word COLISEUM. Here, we thought, is something new under the sun, and accordingly went in to see what was meant by this appellation; and we found that it was an exhibition of two splendid panoramic paintings, one of Thebes and the VOL. IX. JANUARY, 1841.

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other of Jerusalem. The arrangement of the building is admirably adapted to the purpose for which it is used. The pictures are arranged round the outside, and the visiters stand in the centre and look down; and the illusion is so complete, that you seem almost to be within reach of the roofs of the houses. The paintings are both magnificent, and will well repay an hour's visit to them.

On leaving these, we walked down Chesnut street, and when we got to the statehouse, we saw people entering the Hall of Independence, and we went in to see the inside of this sacred and glori ous chamber. We there found several models by different artists of a statue to be erected in honor of the Father of his country in Washington Square. One of the models is very beautiful indeed ; it represents Washington mounted on his charger, directing the army's movements, and is intended to be made of iron manufactured with Pennsylvania anthracite coal. This monument has long been talked of, but nothing more has been done than laying the corner-stone, which was done several years ago, but which has shown as yet no signs of sprouting above ground. It would do honor to Philadelphia if such a work was executed here; and such interest has been exerted in its behalf already as promises to insure its success, but not I fear in less time than eighteen months or two years. My sheet is full, and I must defer further remarks till another time. Yours, &c. S.G.W.