descend to vilify them for the sake of making them their own? It cannot be injurious, and is certainly more honourable, to adopt them as they stand. Those to whom such sentences are known, if they possess well regulated minds, will receive them with that reverence every thing connected with religion acquires from age; while, it is possible, from being placed in a new light, or receiving some additional emphasis from the preacher, they may be led to obey in future, what before they had only admired. Nor is it correct that those who cannot, have not, or will not read, should be debarred from hearing what good books contain, by which they may be as much benefited as by any thing the minister could of himself advance.

If this reasoning is correct it will appear, that if the most able and learned is the most popular preacher, it is the most "skilful splicer and dovetailer" of the expressions of his ancestors; that the practice, so far from being blameable, is praiseworthy; and that the circumstances of action, time, and place, conspire to cast odium on the censurer; to whom the minister should have replied, "Judge not, least you also be judged," for he did not "as he would be done by." Such a sermon could only deserve censure, was it published without the due acknowledgments; to make them from the pulpit would be tormentingly pedantic; and the frequent interruption of "as" one says, "as" another "argues," "as" a third "expresses it,' would, by disturbing the ideas, interrupt the argument, and greatly diminish the effect of the whole. Whereas if, when considered in the aggregate, such discourse contains sound doctrine, clearly expressed, and properly applied, it is the duty of the audience to rule their lives accordingly, and not to criticise.

FRENCH BOOTS.

66

J. A.

MR. EDITOR,-The enormous size of the heavy boots worn by the French postillions, is scarcely credited by many English; nor could I have believed the strength of these tremendous things, had I not been an eye witness to a laughable instance of it, which I take the

liberty of communicating through the medium of your valuable little work, if you deem it worthy of insertion.

During last summer, I was travelling with a friend on my way to Spain through the south of France, a part particularly noted for the largeness of the postillions boots. We had just left Poitiers, and were about half way to Croutelle, the next post, when we were met by another chaise on its return to the former place; our driver requested permission to change horses with his friend, which would save him some trouble, by allowing his return to Croutelle. As this could be no disadvantage to us, our consent was readily given, and they set about changing immediately. Our's being a regular cabriolet, had but two wheels, and as my friend, myself, and all our baggage were within, it of course was rather heavy. Our lad was fearful of putting the shafts upon the ground, as that might perhaps throw us out, and the other one was too much engaged to assist him, he therefore stood for some moments in thought; at length he seized one of his boots, and placed it in an upright situation immediately under the shafts of the cabriolet: and thus did one of these things support the weight of myself, my friend, and all our luggage, until the horses were put to. This unexpected manœuvre was a subject of mirth for us during the greater part of our journey. I remain, Sir, your constant reader, and obedient servant,

ESSAY ON SOME NON-DESCRIPTS.

SIR, Notwithstanding the great height at which the science of natural history is arrived, there are many subjects which, though particularly within its bounds, are as yet but imperfectly known to the students of animated nature-subjects of which Buffon has taken no notice, and of which Linnæus has not written one word. There is one circumstance which concurs to render this omission, if possible, more striking-it is that the names of the animals in question are frequently

employed in conversation; and another, that increases the glaring culpability of their negligence, is, that the animals themselves are every where to be seen in common life. That I may not, however, detain the attention of your readers from the more important matter of this essay, I shall proceed to describe these hitherto unnoticed beings; premising, indeed, that as they are all natives of England, and that, as I am writing for the information of the English reader, I shall not describe them in contracted Latin words, nor give those who may honour this essay with their perusal an opportunity of doubting whether it is a physician's prescription, or a Rosicrucian recipe for the philosopher's stone.

To commence then, Sir-the animals of which I am about to speak, are birds-birds which, although constantly in the habit of living amongst men, are yet neither domestic, useful, nor agreeable. The first, and by far the most formidable, of these non-descript monsters is the gallows bird; an animal which possesses more rapacity than the eagle, more obstinacy than the ostrich, and in fact more bad qualities than all the rest of the winged creation combined together. For a long time I was seriously at a loss to discover the order to which this strange bird belongs. From its rapacity I at first conjectured it must be a condor, which, as we are informed by credible authors, is in the habit of carrying of sheep and lambs in its talons; wherein, by the bye, its example is closely followed by the subject under consideration; but, on more minute inspection, I found many circumstances which forbad my placing him under that genus. In fine, Sir, without mentioning my various doubts and hesitations on this important affair, I hasten to display his characteristic properties.

The outward appearance of the gallows bird presents the reverse of every thing agreeable; his head is usually rugged, patched, and plastered, in consequence of the many combats in which he is engaged with his diabolical companions; his eyes are red and glaring, his mouth slimy and filthy, and his breast, legs, feet, &c. &c. are almost always torn, dirty, and disfigured-so that he may literally be considered as a true emblem of profligacy and misery.

Nor are the habits of this hitherto undescribed bird less worthy of consideration. His voracity is amazing. Condamine relates, as a sort of miracle, that the condor of Peru will fly away with a deer, and even a young calf; but how trifling does this wonder appear when an animal is discovered which generally carries off at once a herd of cattle or a whole flock of sheep. Nor is his rapacity confiued to sheep and oxen; gold, plate, and precious stones are particularly welcome to him. And indeed, such is his desire of appropriating every thing to himself, that there is nothing which he is not eager to obtain. These spoils when seized he usually conceals in certain bags and pouches with which he is furnished; and when he has obtained complete possession of any article, by a faculty which distinguishes him from every other bird hitherto discovered, he metamorphoses it into food and gin, a liquor with which he is particularly delighted. Like the cuckoo, this bird has no nest of its own, and like the magpie, and various others of the feathered tribes, he takes the greatest pleasure in robbing the nests of his fellow creatures. Although possessed of the qualities of many classified birds, it would be futile to attempt to ascertain the order to which this extraordinary animal belongs. He cannot boast of sufficient courage to claim affinity with the eagle or the condor; he is too keen and active to rank with the vulture; and, although his cunning and his propensity to robbery seem to associate him with the pies, yet his constant residence among men naturally refers him to the order of domèstic birds, and indeed his common appellation would persuade those who have not inspected him, that he is the Phasianus Gallus which, like himself, is seen wandering among filth, and searching every corner for prey; and, like himself, is often beheld stretching his neck upon high places. But many distinguishing marks in shape and habits overrule this surmise; the haunts of the gallows bird for the most part are low ale-houses, alleys, and places of similar description, and wherever beheld, his presence is considered extremely ominous. Instances are not wanting to shew that, after this disgusting being has been observed lurking near a house, or other repository of valuables, on the very following

night, and even sooner, the dwelling has been gutted by thieves, or the passengers near the spot have been forced to stand and deliver. Some persons even go so far as to assert that his appearance portends work for the hangman. The gallows bird, like the owl, usually seeks for prey during the night, yet he does not appear to possess the peculiar conformation of the eyes that distinguishes that nocturnal depredator. Another extraordinary circumstance connected with the gallows bird, which will no doubt excite the curiosity of foreign tourists, is that those who devote their lives to hunting him, frequently acquire large fortunes in the pursuit, although his corse when killed is of no service to them; in fact, it is usually presented to a certain famous inquisitor, who, after dissecting it and pronouncing many hieroglyphical and mystical words over its different parts, presents them as offerings, after the manner of the Egyptians, to several animals which he preserves in niches in a temple near Blenheim steps.

The gaol bird is evidently but a species of gallows bird, as his form, manners, &c. &c. are exactly the same; or at least they merely differ inasmuch as he is inferior in strength and courage to the animal we have just described. In fact, I almost venture to doubt whether the gaol bird be in reality a distinct species, or whether he is only a variety of the gallows bird. Thus far is certain, that the gaol bird does sometimes so increase in power and fierceness that he is taken for the gallows bird, and treated accordingly.

Having now treated on these terrible animals, we will turn our attention to another, which although infinitely more valuable, yet held in almost as much contempt. The mud lark differs from all others of the same denomination, for while the sky lark finds its greatest delight in soaring to the clouds, the mud lark places its principal enjoyments in nuzzling in the mire. In appearance he is, as may easily be imagined, dirty and filthy in the extreme: yet, by clearing the streets of their feculencies, he is evidently of infinite service to the community.

When I began this essay, I intended to have discoursed largely on certain other animals which are hitherto unnoticed; the bug bear, the bugabo, and the humbug,