QUEEN ELIZABETH.

HENRY IV. of France having given the order of St. Michael to Nicholas Clifford and Anthony Shirley, as a reward for the services they had done him during the war; these two gentlemen returning to England, the queen ordered them to be put in prison, and commanded them to send back the order, and to take proper steps that their names should be erased from the register. She said that, "as a chaste spouse should look only on her husband, so ought a subject to look up to that sovereign whom God has established to reign over him. I will not allow," said the queen, "that my sheep be marked with a stranger's mark, or that they follow the whistle of a foreign shepherd." This anecdote affords one proof, among hundreds, of the high prerogative, that is to say despotic, notions of our amiable, virgin queen, "the good queen Bess."

MAHMUD, SULTAN OF GAZNA.

A PERSON, one day, in great agony of mind, abruptly rushed into his presence, while the king was sitting at his tribunal, and called loudly for justice. Mahmud desired him instantly to state his complaint. He said, he was a man in but indigent circumstances, but blest with a handsome wife, whose beauty had unfortunately excited the passion of an omrah of great wealth and rank; that the said omrah, with armed attendants, came frequently, at midnight, to his house, and after severely beating him, turned him into the street, while he gratified, by force, his libidinous desires. Tears of resentment and compassion started from the eyes of Mahmud, and he severely reprimanded the poor sufferer for not sooner preferring his complaint. The man replied, that he had often attempted it, but could never gain admittance. "If," said Mahmud, "that omrah should ever trouble you again, let me hear it without a moment's delay." Then ordering the guard to admit him at any hour, however unseasonable, he dismissed him. The third night following, the former outrage being repeated, the complainant hurried to the palace; but the king having retired to the haram, he was re

fused admittance. Encouraged by the promises of Mahmud, he now set up the most violent outcries, in hopes that the noise would alarm the court, and reach the ear of the king. The attempt succeeded, and Mahmud snatching his robe in haste, followed the poor man to his house, attended by a part of his guard. When arrived thither, he immediately ordered the light to be extinguished, and cut the insolent omrah in pieces. After the execution, he commanded a flambeau to be lighted, and then looked earnestly on the face of the criminal; this done, he prostrated himself, returned thanks to God, and called for some refreshment. The house of poverty afforded no other than some barley bread and a little stale wine, which, however, the sultan was contented with: and, on the point of returning to his palace, was after the most fervent expressions of gratitude, humbly solicited by the avenged husband, to declare, why he ordered the light to be extinguished; why he prostrated himself after the death of the omrah; and, lastly, how the fastidious appetite of a great king could put up with so beggarly a repast? The sultan, with great condescension, replied, that, after his first complaint, he conjectured that none of his numerous subjects, except his own son, would dare to commit an act of such horrible enormity in the capital where he resided; that, determined to sacrifice so atrocious an offender to the justice of the laws, he ordered the light to be extinguished, lest compassion at the sight of so dear a relative should arrest his hand in the execution of that justice; that, finding it was not his son, he prostrated himself with great humility before God; and that he had eaten cheerfully of his repast, however humble, because he had, on the instant of hearing his complaint, made a vow not to eat or drink till he had avenged himself on the base adulterer.

CURE FOR SUPERSTITION.

MINERS are known to be a superstitious race. Their superstition, however, is sometimes made a pretext for idleness. Here is a recipe for curing this species of the disorder. In some extensive mines in Wales the men frequently saw the devil, and when once he had

been seen the men would work no more that day. This evil became serious, for old Beelzebub repeated his visits as often as if he had a design to injure the proprietor. That gentlemau at last called his men together, told them that it was very certain that the devil never appeared to any body who had not deserved to be so terrified, and that, as he was determined to keep no rogues about him, he was resolved to discharge the first man that saw the devil again. The remedy was as efficient as if he had turned a stream of holy water into the mine.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

IT is said that when the great Sir Isaac Newton had delivered an opinion, which any one chose to controvert, he never was at the pains to defend it, but contented himself with saying, "I believe, Sir, if you will be at the trouble of examining my opinion, you will find that I have very good reasons for it."

THE PLEASURES OF A NEWSPAPER. MR. CONDUCTOR,---EVERY man, when he awakes in the morning, finds that the reflections suggested by the preceding day have been, if not wholly obliterated, at least suspended by sleep; that new topics of conversation are wanting, and that surprise is on tip-toe for new calls; he is unwilling to recur to the business of the preceding day, because it has been exhausted; or ashamed to recollect it, because it has disappointed him. A family thus met together, would drink the tea of Lethe, and eat the toast of taciturnity, were they not happily relieved from torpor of thought, and im mobility of tongue, by the entrance of a newspaper.

It is possible, indeed, that the weather might furnish a brief subject of debate, but the wind must blow a hurricane, and the rain descend in torrents, to be worth more than a moment's conversation. When the newspaper appears, however, all Europe is united to refresh the languid memory, to quicken the dull thoughts, and to give expedition to the communicative tongue-.-. even the breakfast table is indebted to this lively guest,

The tea acquires a more odoriferous flavour, the toast is banded about with a quicker velocity, and the sugar and butter, though less sweet and white than could be wished, escape without censure, in the multiplicity of reflections which the newspaper suggests.

No publication surely was ever so fertile in sources of reflection to those who choose to think, or of conversation to those who prefer the humbler, though more noisy, business of talking. First, a long list of extensive amusements presents itself, fraught with every tempting inducement. Here it is important to observe how a play is cast, what great performers are concerned, and what farce or entertainment is to follow; if a concert, what pieces are to be performed, and by whom; if an opera, whether the divine Signora bears a part. From amusements there is a transition to works of charity, to subscription of names and sums of money for benevolent purposes; whether the arrangement here be judicious, or whether these ought not to precede amusements, I shall not stop to enquire. Perhaps the editor trusts to the good sense of his readers, that what he mixes heterogeneously, they will separate and arrange judiciously. Otherwise there would be a designed confusion in the advertisement part, which would not be easily reconciled to common sense, and would serve rather to perplex our reflections than to employ them to any purpose. Attentively observed, newspapers will be found very correct pictures of the times, and very faithful records of the transfer of property, whether by sale or fraud.

I hinted, that the arrangement was apparently confused. We see books and pills, estates and lap-dogs, perfumery and charity sermons, crowded together by one of those accidents by which we may suppose chaos would be produced. Here a disconsolate widow advertises that she carries on business as usual, for the benefit of her orphan family; and there a lady of quality offers five guineas for the recovery of her lap-dog, which answers to the name of Chloe. A person wants to borrow 50007. on undeniable security; and a stable keeper offers to sell a horse for one hundred guineas on his own word. Servants want places, in which 86 wages are no object ;" and a place under government

may be heard of where wages are the only object. Humphry Jenkins lost his pocket-book in coming out of the play-house; and Sarah Howson has eloped from her husband, who will pay no debts of her contracting, "as witness his mark.' In one place we have notice of a main of cocks; and just by it, the candidates for a vacant chaplainship are desired to apply. But of all persons "that on earth do dwell," the sick find the greatest relief in newspapers. Why it is that disease should prevail in spite of the infallible medicines that are, in a manner, thrust down the throats of the sick, is astonishing. It would appear that the only disorder patients are troubled with, is an incurable obstinacy, which prevents them from taking medicines that have "cured thousands who have been dismissed from the hospitals in a most deplorable state." Do we not find that in some cases, a single box of pills will effect a cure; and, in others, that the patient will be relieved by the smell only? Will not these medicines "keep good in all climates?" Is it not notorious that they perform their cures "without loss of time, or hindrance to business?" Why then do we hear of the sick and the dying? Why are not our hospitals turned into alms-houses for decayed physicians, and apothecaries who have no business?

Nor is the information respecting the preservation of health less important than the cure of disease. If we turn our eyes to the sales of houses and estates, we shall find that they are all situated in counties remarkable for the salubrity of the air, the fertility of the soil, and the purity of the water, charmingly sheltered, richly wooded, hill and dale, meadow and grove, where the east wind is not permitted to chill, nor the thunder to roll. These, it is true, are chiefly calculated for persons who can afford to pay rather extravagantly for the preservation of health; but this can be no object with those who know that health is the greatest of all blessings, and that in this way, it may be handed down to the latest posterity. The clergy, I must observe, are particularly interested in these advertisements. The rectories are all "situated in remarkably healthy spots," and the present "incumbent is nearly eighty years old." What greater encouragement to a man who wishes to