Louis XVIII. A celebrated musician had the misfortune to be too fond of Madeira and Bordeaux. One day that he had performed at St. Cloud a piece of music, that had excited the admiration of the court, Louis XVIII. had him called in about two hours afterwards, when it happened that the performer was in a state little worthy of such talents. "Where do you come from in such a miserable state ?"-" Sire, I have been dining.”—“ Often dining in this fashion will ruin you."-" Not at all, your majesty; besides, I was very thirsty.""Mind what you are about, " observed the king," that thirst may starve you." H. M. THE GRECIAN MONUMENTS. AMONG the numerous monuments of Athens, (observes a modern traveller,) the first thing which attracts the admiration of the beholder, is their lovely colour; the clear sky, and brilliant sun of Greece, having shed over the marbles of Paros and Pentilicus, a golden hue, comparable only to the finest and most fleeting tints of autumn. The Athenians, who were a people far from rich, and few in number, have succeeded in moving gigantic masses; the blocks of stone in the Pyux and the Propyleum being literally quarters of rock; the slabs which stretch from pillar to pillar are of enor mous dimensions. The columns of the tem ple of Jupiter Olympius are above sixty feet in height, and the walls of Athens, including those which stretched to the Piraeus, extended over nine leagues, and were of that width, that two chariots could drive on them abreast. These chefs d'œuvre of antiquity, which travellers go so far to admire, owe their destruction chiefly to the moderns. The Parthenon was entire in 1687, the Christians at first converted it into a church, after which the Turks used it as a mosque. The Venetians, in the middle of the seventeenth century, having bombarded the Acropolis with red-hot shot, a shell fell on the Parthenon, which pierced the roof, and blew up some barrels of gunpowder, by which means a great part of the edifice was destroyed. As soon as the town was captured, Morosini, in the design of embellishing Venice with its spoils, took down the statues from the front of the Parthenon; and another modern has completed that which the Venetian had begun. The invention of fire-arms has been fatal to the monuments of antiquity. And the barbarians who overrun the Roman empire, been acquainted with the use of gunpowder, not a Greek or Roman edifice would have survived their invasion: they would have blown up the pyramids in the search for hidden treasures. W. G. C. Sports and Pastimes. DEATH OF THE FOX.* Now, when every startling sound is hushed in silence, when every hostile eye is closed in heavy sleep, "THE Fox" steals forth from his earthy den. In the broad glare of day invisible, he lives but for the night. Creeping through the still covert, when no chattering pie nor screaming jay give notice of his whereabout, and the wood-pigeon sleeps undisturbed on the bough above his path. he leaves the wood-he creeps along the shadow of the dark fence down the hill, into the home-field, close to the very house-under the very nose of Farmer Dobbins; and then, woe to the feathered slumberers of the henroost!-woe! to the quacking, cackling, waddlers of the farm-yard-to the well-furnished larder, woe! woe! woe! "A good fat hen, and away she goes." Reynard! thine is a devoted race-thine is, indeed, a sorry tale of sad injustice and unrenursled in a drain-hunted through the world lenting persecution. Born in a burrow,until thou art hunted out of it; thou hast no peace on earth. Abused, reviled, unfriended restless, and implacable; thy many talents -surrounded on all sides by foes, fierce, can avail thee nought; they are exerted but to fail thee at thine utmost need. The curling in heavy wreaths from close and co- anxiously. Again it comes- nearer-and now in echo to the music of the hounds; but Now ring the shouts of the excited hunters both soon weaken on his ear, for he has left them far behind. Again he seeks the covert, safety. Again the hounds are near, and there to stop and breathe awhile in fancied once again he flies for life. But flight is vain; he is out-numbered— Extracted from that entertaining periodical, The Sporting Review," No. 3. they press him, and he once more crosses the open country. His covert and his native earth are now in sight, but he is headed by old Farmer Dobbins's shepherd's dog, and forced to take another line. The dogs are close upon his brush. Each cunning shift is tried, each nervous sinew strained to the very utmost; but in vain. His strength is failing fast, and every moment now his savage enemies draw nearer to him. One last resource remains. He turns toward Farmer Dobbins's homestead, the very sanctuary which last night himself had violated; and, like the persecuted heroes of antiquity, seeks shelter in the stronghold of his bitterest enemy. The fowls run screaming to and fro, as their crest-fallen foe now totters panting past them; but Reynard's thoughts are not, of dainty feasting now. A broken window catches his quick eye, and in a moment he is housed within the sacred precincts of the dairy; but here he meets no welcome of a generous enemy. The door is locked, and pots and pans afford him no concealment from the angry eyes which glare upon him from the hole by which he entered, and cut off retreat. Shortly the place is filled with eager foes. He grapples with the foremost. There is a fearful clattering of copper-pansa crash of fallen pottery, cries of a death struggle, which last but for a moment, and then the ringing horn and echoing "warwhoop," proclaim The Death of the Fox. NATURAL ELOQUENCE AND TRUE The Gatherer. The method used by the Tartars, for the preservation of butter, consists in fusing it in a water-bath, at a temparature of a hundred and ninety degrees of Fahrenheit; retaining it quiescent in that state, until the gaseous matter has settled, and the butter become clear; it is then decanted, passed through a cloth, and cooled in a mixture of salt and ice, or spring water; after which it is put in close vessels, and kept in a cool place. It is stated that butter prepared in this manner, will keep for six months as good as when first made. W. G. C. The base measure all men's marches by their own pace.—Sir Philip Sidney. In Venice they have a law relating to bankrupts which is singularly severe-" If a member, of either council, become a bankrupt, he is immediately degraded, and from that noment is rendered incapable of holding any post under government, until he shall have discharged all the just demands of his creditors; even his children are subjected to the same disgrace, and no citizen can exercise any public employment whatsoever, while the debts of his father remain unpaid."Sketches of the Natural, Civil, and Political State of Switzerland. By Wm. Coxe, M.A. "At Basil, one of the Swiss cantons, they have a very singular custom, of keeping their clocks always an hour too fast-and so tenacious are they in maintaining this prejudice, that notwithstanding some of the inhabitants have more than once attempted to set them right, the magistrates were compelled to have the clocks set again as usual."-- Ibid A Sharp Frost in Holland, and the Effect of a sudden Thaw. "Tis said at a Kermes-or Dutch country-fair, betwixt 'em, With their oaths mix'd their prayers, that go always Like swallows at Christmas their words, strung WHEN Ireton, the commander of the Parliamentary forces, made large offers to James, Stanley, Earl of Derby, in order to induce him to surrender the Isle of Man, which he retained for the king, he sent him the following spirited answer, "I have received your. letter with indignation, and with scorn return you this answer: that I cannot but wonder whence you gather any hopes that I shall prove, like you, treacherous to my sovereign; since you cannot be ignorant of my former. actings in his late majesty's service, from which principles of loyalty I am no whit departed. I scorn your offers: I disdain your favour: I abhor your treason: and am so far from delivering up this island to your advantage, that I shall keep it to the utmost of my power to your destruction. Take this for your final answer, and forbear any farther solicitations, for if you trouble me with any more messages of this nature, I will burn the paper, and hang up the bearer. This is my immutable resolution, and shall be the undoubted practice of him who accounts it his chiefest glory to be his majesty's most loyal 143, Strand, (near Somerset House); and sold hu and obedient subject." In icicles hung, 'till the change of the weather; Macgreggor's Battle among the Busts. ture, frequently wandering to a fearful dis Man is a foolish and a short-sighted crea tance from the path of rectitude before he is even aware of having departed from it. C. S. LONDON: Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD all Booksellers and Newsmen.-In PARIS, by all the Booksellers.-In "FRANCFORT, CHARLES, JUGEL. THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL, AT GRANTHAM, Turnour, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in Ireland, in 1661; and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, 1671. Lincolnshire, WAS founded in 1528, by Richard Fox,* Bishop of Winchester, who endowed it with the revenues of two chantries, which, prior to the dissolution, belonged to the church of St. Peter, the endowment having been subsequently augmented by Edward VI.: the annual income exceeds £700, the surplus of which, after payment of the salaries to the masters, is appropriated to the establishment of exhibitions to Oxford and Cambridge, to which all scholars who have been two years in the school are eligible. Sir Isaac Newton, (who was born on Christmas-day, O. S. 1642, at the manor-house of Woolstrope or Woolsthorpe, about eight miles from Grantham,) received the rudiments of his education in this school. THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, AT ABINGDON, Berkshire, WAS founded by John Royse, citizen of London, in 1563, and endowed with a house and premises in Birchin-lane, London. The master, in addition to his salary, receives one guinea per quarter for each pupil instructed in writing and arithmetic, and is allowed to receive ten private pupils. William Bennet, in 1608, bequeathed lands which now produce £100 per annum, for instructing, clothing, and apprenticing six boys on this foundation. Thomas Teasdale, formerly a scholar here, bequeathed the glebe and tythes of the rectory of Ratley in Warwickshire, for the maintenance of an usher, whose duties are confined to the classical instruction of Ben net's six boys. The school is entitled to four fellowships and six scholarships of Pembroke College, Oxford, under the respective endowments of Thomas Teasdale and Richard Wightwick. Bennet's scholars have the preference, and in default of appli cations from free boys, the master's private pupils are eligible. Many eminent characters have been educated in this school. Among them are: Clement Barksdale;† Job Roys, a Presbyterian writer; and Sir Edward • This eminent prelate was born at Ropesley, near Grantham, about the latter end of the reign of Henry VI. He was promoted to the see of Exeter in 1487; trauslated successively to the sees of Bath and Wells, Winchester and Durham, and died in 1528, after having employed the greater part of his public life in the service of Henry VII., by whom he was sent on almost every mission of any importance into France, Germany, and Scotland. A native of Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire, and boru in 1609. He graduated at Oxford, and succeeded to the head-mastership of Hereford grammarschool; and died rector of Naunton, 1687-8. His works are, a "Life of Hugo Grotius," in 12mo. "Memorials of Worthy Persons," 12mo., 1661; Nympha Liboethris, or the Cotswold Muse," 12mo., 1651; and " Monumenta Literaria, sive obitus et elogia doctorum virorum," 4to., 1640. " THE FREE GRAMMAR-SCHOOL, AT EVESHAM, Worcestershire, WAS endowed originally by abbot Lichfield. Henry VIII., after the dissolution of the abbey at Evesham, for Benedictine monks, refounded this school, restoring only a part of its previous revenue. The charter which James I. granted to the inhabitants, remodelled the institution, when it was called the Free-School of Prince Henry. The master receives £10 annually from the crown, with a house, rent-free, and some minor emoluments. THE VARIETY OF THE PASSIONS.. AN elegant writer remarks, "The variety of the passions is great and worthy; and every branch of that variety is worthy of the most diligent investigation. The more accurately we search into the human mind, the stronger traces we every where find of his wisdom who made it. If a discourse upon the use of the different parts of the body may be considered as a hymn to the Creator, the use of the passions, which are the organs of the mind, cannot be barren of praise to him, nor unproductive to ourselves of that noble and uncommon union of science and admiration, which a contemplation of the works of infinite wisdom alone can afford to a rational mind; while refering to him whatever we find of right, or good, or fair in ourselves, discovering his strength and wisdom, even in our own weakness and imperfection, honouring them where we discover them clearly, and adoring their profundity where we are lost in our search. We may be inquisitive without impertinence, and elevated without pride; we may be admitted, if I may dare to say so, into the counsels of the Almighty, by a consideration of his works. This elevation of the mind ought to be the principal end of all our studies, which if they do not in some measure effect, they are of very little service to us.' The last Euglish abbot but one. The handsome isolated tower of the convent at Evesham, was erected by abbot Lichfield; it is a beautiful speci men of the later English style, and is one hundred and ten feet high, and about twenty-eight square at the base; the north side is plain, the other three sides adorned with tracery; strengthened with panelled buttresses, and crowned with open battlements and pinnacles. At the general demolition, it was purchased by the inhabitants. It is unknown when abbot Lichfield died; but he was buried in the convent here. His tomb was opened in 1817, but without furnishing any corroborative proofs, or supplying the means of enlarging the little information we have of this public-spirited abbot. (For the Mirror.) « SEEK me not in renowned halls, Nor at the gay and festive board; But meet me ere the pale moon falls, In twilight shades, the trees afford. Seek me not in the boist'ring crowd, But singly find me out alone; Nor mixed with gallants or the proud, But where the birds their young ones moan. Seek me not out where beauty dwells, Nor where the gay and thoughtless smile; But seek me where the blue stream swells, At uight-when all is hushed awhile. Oh seek me not in garden bowers, Where wanton beauty idly talks; But meet me where the cypress flowers, Or by the yew's sad shady walks. But if you seek me let it be, When none are by my vows to hear; Then seek me near the dark blue sea, And there" for me let fall a tear." Or seek me when the day is past, When winds stir not a single breath; But if you find me not at last, H. B. S. ON MAN'S MORTALITY. The gourd consumes,-and man he dies. THE ADVANTAGES OF GEOMETRY. A GEOMETER is a man who labours according to rule. He is always with a plummet and rule in his hands; he measures, he cal. culates, he draws lines, he acquires the habit of doing all things by rule; he looks upon nothing as clear that he has not calculated; and in as far as possible, proceeds with the same exactness in all other sciences. Geometry accustoms the mind to a regular process, to an exact calculation; and geometrical truths are always evident, as there is no rule without a clear proof. It is, therefore, highly proper for all young persons to endeavour to acquire a geometrical understanding, to make the best use of that natural geometry which God has implanted in the minds of all men, even to act upon certain and undoubted principles. THE ATMOSPHERE. A GREAT quantity of air, when looked through, has a coloured tinge; although a small quantity appears to be colourless; just as, in a pane of window-glass, we see no colour, unless we look at it edgewise; when, from the great thickness seen through, it has a blue. tinge. Hence "the sky" (meaning the atmosphere) is said to be blue. The atmosphere, in its elevated regions, is much more transparent than near the earth; on which account, when we ascend mountains, distant objects seem to be very near. It is of great importance to know precisely the constitution of the atmosphere; in order that subsequent observers may ascertain whether it degenerates in the lapse of ages. It consists principally of two gases,-oxygen and nitrogen; in the proportion of about twenty parts of the former, to eighty of the latter. It also contains carbonic acid (or "fixed-air," as it is called), and water, in the form of vapour. The quantity of the latter varies, at different times and places ;-being greatest in hot countries at hot seasons, and least in cold countries at cold seasons. It was once thought that the presence of the carbonic acid (which forms only about a thousandth part of the whole) was accidental; but it is found in the air taken from the greatest heights to which men have attained; as in some which was brought by M. Gay Lussac, from the greatest height which he attained in his balloon, which height was more than four miles. The air which is over a wet soil, contains less carbonic acid than air which is over a dry one; and contains more at night, when plants give it out, than during the day. Although carbonic acid is much heavier than the other gases which compose the atmosphere, yet rather more of it is found in the upper regions of the latter, than in the lower. This may be owing to much of it being absorbed by damp soil; for water has a great avidity for it. In some districts of the globe, the air is highly impregnated with it; owing, probably, to subterranean fires being at work there. If, when thus given out, it is confined in a cave, instead of being dispersed through the atmosphere generally, it is fatal to animals which enter. This is the case with a cave near Naples, called the Grotto del Cano, or "Grotto of the Dog"; because if this animal (or any other of a similar height) enters, it is suffocated. It is customary for guides to thrust into it fowls, tied to the end of a stick. They are soon stupified; and unless drawn out, would perish. A man may enter with impunity; because the foul air does not reach so high as his head. A traveller in India has lately given a graphic description of a valley, filled with similar deadly exhalations; in which he saw a great number of skeletons of |