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Anecdote Gallery.

ANECDOTES OF CELEBRATED PERSONS.

(Translated from French Works.) Henri IV.—As his majesty was one day hunting in the Vendomois, he lost sight of his retinue, and was about to return alone, when he saw a peasant seated under a tree; "Well, and what are you doing here, my good man?" said the king. "Faith, I am waiting to see the king go by, sir.""Oh, is that all," replied Henri," then get up behind me, and I will take you somewhere where you will be able to see the king at your ease." The boor mounted, and held himself on the horse, by twining his arms round the monarch. "But, I say, sir, how shall I be able to know the king from the others ?""Very easily; he will be the only one who will not take his hat off." Presently they were discovered by the gentlemen of the suite, who all uncovered themselves, and paid their respects to the monarch. "Well, and who now is the king?" said Henri, mildly. "Why," replied the peasant, "it must be either you or I; for I don't see any but we two with our hats on."

At the time of the war with Spain, Henri thus wrote to Sully: "I am close upon the enemy, and yet I have not a horse worth mounting. My shirts are all gone to rags, and my doublets are out at elbows. For the last four or five days, I have dined here and there, for I have nothing wherewith to purchase food."

Gibbon. This celebrated man's prodigious bulkiness was no hinderance to his gallantry. One day, as he sat enjoying a most comfortable tête-à-tête with Mad. de Cronzas, it suddenly occurred to him, that the opportunity was one of the most favourable he could ever meet with, to make a declaration. Acting accordingly, the historian threw himself on his knees before the lady, and expressed his feelings in most glowing language. Mad. de Cronzas, somewhat surprised, replied in such terms as were, she thought, calculated at once to put an end to a scene so ridiculous. But, no, 'twas unavailing; and Gibbon remained on his knees, regardless of all injunctions. "Sir," said the baffled lady, "I beg you will rise."-" Alas! madam," replied the unwieldy suitor, "I cannot." His corpulency utterly prevented him from rising without assistance; Mad. de Cronzas, therefore, rang the bell, and upon its being answered, said, "Lift up Mr. Gibbon !"*

Voltaire.-The philosopher was exceed ingly disagreeable at table. He seemed to be in a continual passion, and called out to the servants at the top of his voice, which • Colman the Younger wrote some humorous verses upon the above incident.

was so loud as to repeatedly startle his guests. An Englishman, who was on his way to Italy, could in no wise prevail upon himself to pass Ferney without visiting him. He luckily chose a fortunate mo ment, and was received by the philosopher with every possible demonstration of respect and pleasure. This reception so highly delighted our Englishman, that in his exultation the next day, he declared his intention to spend six weeks at the castle. "You are not quite like Don Quixote," remarked Voltaire, "he mistook inns for castles, you mistake castles for inns."

Klopstock. The celebrated author of the "Messiah" desired to be introduced to me, and came. I was alone with my niece, when in came a little, lame, ugly man; I rose, and conducted him a to chair, in which he sat at first as if absorbed in deep thought; he then thrust himself comfortably into it, and assumed the appearance of one who was determined to make a stay of no short dura tion. With a loud, high-pitched voice, he then suddenly put me the question, " Which, madam, in your opinion, is the best prose writer, Voltaire or Buffon ?"

Scarron.-The wit thus addressed the

"I

king, in his preface to Don Japhet: will prove to your majesty, that far from doing yourself any injury by doing me more good, you will, on the contrary, much conduce to your happiness, likewise to that of the country at large. For then I should be a deal more light-hearted, and consequently write better plays. And if I wrote good plays, your majesty would be well entertained; so that, by being entertained, your majesty's money will not be wasted. By good plays, too, the people's admiration will be excited, and cause hosts of them to frequent the theatres; money will thus circulate, and there is no telling where the matter may not end."

historian was excessively susceptible of cold. Mezeray.-This celebrated old French A friend meeting him on a very frosty' day, asked him how he fared in this weather. "I am come to L," answered Mezeray, running home as fast as his legs could well carry him, that he might enjoy the delights of his fire-side. This riddle was for a long time inexplicable; till at last it was one day solved by a friend, who lived. on the most intimate terms with the eccentric historian. It appears that Mezeray had always a dozen pairs of stockings behind his chair, severally labelled from A to M. According to the number of degrees indicated by the thermometer, he put on a corresponding number of pairs of stockings; so that having this key to the enigma, it was evident that on the day above mentioned, the poor chilly Mezeray had come to the last degree.

Louis XIV-A robber, who had managed to effect his way into one of the royal apartments of Versailles, was in the act of placing a small ladder against the wall, to possess himself of a beautiful time piece, when the king came in and disturbed his plans. The robber, however, undaunted, made a low bow, saying, "I was going to take that time-piece down, but I am afraid the ladder will slip." His majesty, thinking the man had orders to repair the clock, offered his assistance, and held the foot of the ladder, while the fellow took it down. A few hours afterwards the general talk was of a most beautiful time-piece having been stolen, which the king happening to overhear, said, "Hush! I am one of the parties, held the ladder to help the man to get it."

Napoleon. He was in the habit of playing with his son as childishly as if he him

self were no more than a mere child six or seven years of age. Sometimes he would take the young king under the arms, and toss him up in the air, exciting his little majesty's delight to such a degree as to make him shed tears. Then he would carry him before a glass, making the most ridiculous grimaces imaginable; often, too, the poor little fellow would shed tears of actual pain, for the game became sometimes too rough; the emperor would then exclaim: "Oh! oh! a king crying! fie, fie! that is very ugly, very ugly!"

One day, when the prince was but a twelvemonth old, the emperor took off his sword, and fastened it on his son, completing the child's toilette by placing his three-cornered hat on its head; thus equipped, it may be supposed it found no little difficulty in keeping itself on its legs, and the care with which the emperor watched his every step, would have delighted any one to witness. At breakfast, the emperor made it a practice to dip his finger in wine, and make his son suck it; sometimes he would dip his finger in sauce, and spot the young king's

chin and nose with it: this amusement was among the most pleasing to the child.

H. M.

ORIGIN OF THE GRESHAM
LECTURES.

THE following account of the origin of the Gresham Lectures, is extracted from the introductory lecture of Mr. Palmer, who was appointed, in 1837, to the office of lecturer on Law, at this ancient foundation :

Sir Thomas Gresham, the founder of these lectures, was a merchant, who, with several others of the same name and kindred, belonged to the Mercer's Company; and his father and an uncle were successively Sheriffs and Lord Mayors of London. His father, Sir Richard Gresham, was foreign

agent to Henry VIII.; and Sir Thomas Gresham held that office under the three succeeding sovereigns, being received into especial favour by Queen Elizabeth, whom he chiefly served; and was often consulted by her, in political as well as commercial matters. By successful application to commerce, he amassed an ample fortune; and his family being well provided for, he resolved that his country should share his wealth. Having the benefit of a university education, which he received at Gonville Hall, in the University of Cambridge, and seeing no repugnance between the pursuits of enlightened commerce and the liberal arts, he determined to faciliate the obtaining of a similar benefit by the citizens of London, by establishing a college for the profession of the several sciences within the city.

the University of Cambridge, who previously On the news of his intentions reaching seem to have heard that Cambridge would be the seat of his bounty, a letter was written to him by the Vice-Chancellor and there. This letter, the original of which is Senate, urging him to establish his college written in elegant Latin, is dated March 25, 1575, and is addressed "To the most accomplished Sir Thomas Gresham, the best Mæcenas of good learning;" and, after various preliminary compliments, explains its objects in the following terms :-"A constant report, O most illustrious Gresham, has prevailed amongst us, that thou hast vowed to dedicate to the seven liberal sciences (as they are called) an excellent domicile, and one worthy of thyself, having promised the most illustrious wife of Cecil to erect a college for these arts, and to liberally endow it with most ample stipends. And we doubt not, indeed, but what thou hast sincerely promised thou wilt, with the utmost faith, perform; nor do we labour unnecessarily to spur thee on, who art already willing; we are only anxious to persuade thee to make Cambridge the seat of thy great bounty, of this excellent record, and most ample theatre for display of thy virtue. Nor would we prescribe the fashion of the building or the measure of the cost; let either of these rest with thy sovereign will and pleasure. One thing alone would we have of our choice: we would persuade thee to enrich the University of Cambridge with thy expenditure, rendering it famous by thy liberality, and blessed by thy work and bounty. In urging this alone, we would not so strongly, or so long contend, unless for the convenient fitness of the place, and for the wholesome state of the air, and usefully for the dignity of the state, and piously for the defence of religion, and fruitfully for the progress of virtue, and happily and fortunately for the advancement of learning, and splendidly as well as gloriously for thine own everlasting fame, thou mayest erect this college here,

rather than any other place. But, perhaps, of thy own accord thou mayst incline, or, not without show of reason, mayst be persuaded by others, to fix upon London, where thou wert born and bred; or upon Oxford, where the arts and sciences no less flourish, for the establishment of this most famous memorial of thy excellence and probity. Good indeed, and useful and magnificent will it be, wherever placed; but thou wilt not, we trust, establish it at London, to the detri. ment or almost ruin of either university; thou oughtest not to establish it at Oxford, for thou art ours, and a Cantabrigian, and every one must serve his own rather than a stranger university; and in any other place than these, thou neither wilt or ought to fix it, lest the fruit which thou desirest to be most ample, be lost to the state by the obscurity of the place; and thou thyself be dishonestly robbed of the praise and glory due to thy merit, and which is wont to attend upon actions rightly performed."

At the same time they wrote to Lady Burghley, the wife Lord Burghley, who was then their Chancellor, requesting her influence with Sir Thomas Gresham, for the same purpose, observing, that at her solicitation he had promised to found a college at London for the seven liberal sciences, and endow it with a rental exceeding six hundred pounds a year.

But all the rhetoric and compliments of the University of Cambridge could not divert Sir Thomas Gresham from his purpose of benefiting his fellow-citizens. After appropriating his own mansion in Bishopsgate Street to the uses of the intended college, he resolved to provide for its maintainance, as well as the salaries of the professors, from the rents of the Royal Exchange. According, by his will, which bears date the 5th of July, 1575, he gave the Royal Exchange, with all its shops and other buildings, on the determination of certain uses, which happened on the death of his widow, to the mayor and commonalty of the city of London, and to the wardens and commonalty of the mystery of mercers, in equal moieties, for fifty years, upon trust and confidence, and to the intent that they should perform the payments and other intents therein after limited. And he thereby declared that, so soon as the premises should come into their possession, and thenceforth, so long as by any title they should hold the same, the said mayor and commonalty of the city should yearly give, for the sustentation, maintainance, and finding of four persons from time to time, to be by them appointed, meet to read the lectures of divinity, astronomy, music, and geometry, within his own dwelling-house in St. Helen's, the sum of two hundred pounds, or fifty pounds to each, for their salaries and stipends, meet for four sufficiently learned to read the said lectures.

And as to the wardens and commonalty of mercers, he declared that, so soon as they should come into possession of the premises, and thenceforth so long as by any title they should hold the same, they should yearly pay for the finding, sustentation, and main tainance of three persons, by them to be chosen, meet to read the lectures of law, physic, and rhetoric, within the said dwelling-house, the sum of one hundred and fifty pounds, or fifty pounds each, for their salaries and stipends, meet for three sufficiently learned; that they should yearly expend on four quarterly dinners, for the whole company, the sum of one hundred pounds, or twenty-five pounds on each dinner. He gave his dwel ling-house or mansion in the parishes of St. Helen, Bishopsgate Street, and St. Peterle-Poor, to the City and Mercer's Company in equal moieties, for fifty years, upon trust and confidence that they should observe and perform his will and intent thereinafter expressed. And he thereby declared, that so soon as the premises should come into their possession, and thenceforth, so long as by any title they should hold the same, they should permit and suffer the seven persons to be appointed by them, meet and sufficiently learned to read the said lectures; to have the occupation of the said mansion-house, with all its gardens and other appurtenances, there to inhabit, study, and daily to read the said lectures; and further declaring, that no person being married should be chosen to read the said lectures; nor, after marry ing, be suffered to read them, or to receive any fee or stipend for so doing. He also enjoined the said city and company, that before the fifty years were expired, they should obtain proper licences, to hold the premises in perpetuity, on the above trusts; using no delay, as they would answer for the same before Almighty God; for should they neglect to obtain such licences, which could not be so chargeable, but that the overplus of the rents, would soon recompense them; nor so difficult, because to such good purpose in the Commonwealth, no prince nor council in any age, would deny or defeat the same, then the premises would revert to his heirs, whereas he intended them for the common weal. W. G. C.

(To be concluded in our next.)

THE UTILITY OF PENITENCE.*

Quem pœnitet, necesse pone est innocens.-SENECA.

A REPENTANCE of our misdeeds is half-way towards an amendment of conduct, and greatly diminishes the cause which set in jeopardy our innocence. And to manifest a real sorrow for our errors, is the token of From the Freemason's Quarterly Review, No. 21. Sherwood and Co.

a broken and contrite spirit, declaratory of our desire to make some reparation for any injury inflicted, and reinstate our names among the ranks of the innocent.

Because, as in the case of effects resulting from sudden anger, the truly elevated mind, when roused by some provocation to infringe the rules of propriety, on returning to cool reflection, justly reprobates its own indiscreetness as severely as the sternest moral 'censor; and anxiously desires to offer every becoming concession that might ameliorate the displeasure of the aggrieved party. Thus displaying a disposition that exhibits an innocence of natural character on the part of him who has been seduced to offer an offence of a more trivial description; and a justice of character on the part of him, who having committed a more serious and grievous wrong, seals the sincerity of his penitence by an act of retribution.

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Whereas, on the contrary, an unprincipled and ill-regulated mind will oftentimes rather endeavour to aggravate an injury or offence, by some fresh accession to a former fault or crime, than seek to redress the calamity it has occasioned, or restore the reputation it has lost or destroyed, by the confession of a penitent admission of guilt. This moral axiom distinguishes the utterly depraved from the accidental and unhardened offender.

A great mind, under circumstances of incitement or irritation, is like the expansive ocean, ruffled and swelled by a sudden tempest. When the storm has subsided, it again resumes its usual calmness and dignity of

motion.

The little mind is like a dirty puddle, collecting every rain-drop of the paltry passions of a party, and always continues a nuisance on the highway of society, till the advancement of the sun of science and mental culture absorbs its insignificant contents, and men, rejoicing in the progress of useful knowledge and sound morals, just remember that such things were.

"Repentance of an evil done

Implies, we will that evil shun."

One of the most remarkable instances of the utility of penitence, is that recorded in the Sacred Volume of the disciple Peter. Although for the moment seduced to renounce his divine Master by impious oaths, yet, at the simple crowing of the cock, he was warned of his error, and, with tears, immediately repented. The sincerity of his repen tance, foolish and profane as his previous action was, restored him to his divine Master's love and favour. Truly says the elegant Pliny in that trite apothegm

"Nemo mortalium, omnibus horis sapit."

Biography.

SIR HERBERT TAYLOR, G. C. B. AND G. C. H. THIS well-known gentleman entered the army at a very early period of his life; and was present at the sieges of Valenciennes and Dunkirk; also with the Duke of York dur ing the whole of the campaign in Holland. In May, 1795, he was appointed secretary to the commander of the British forces on the continent; and continued in the situation of Private Secretary and Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of York until June, 1805, when he was appoint d Private Secretary to his Majesty George III.; he received the rank of Colonel July 25, 1810. In March, 1812, he was nominated one of the trustees of the king's private property, and soon after (in consequence of the Regency,) Private Secretary to the Queen; the 4th of June, 1813, he obtained the rank of Major-General. November, 1813, he was ordered on special service to Holland; and a few days after his return from the army under Sir T. Graham; in March, 1814, was sent on a military mission to the Crown Prince of Sweden, to Sir Thomas Graham, and to the Hague. In December, 1818, he was appointed Master of Katherine's Hospital, Regent's Park, a situ ation he held till his death, which happened at Rome, March 20th, 1839.

1

EDMUND LODGE, ESQ., K. H.

Clarenceux, King of Arms, F. S. A.

In

THIS eminent biographer was born in Polandstreet, London, on the 13th of June, 1756. He became a cornet in the king's own regiment of dragoons, in 1772; having a pure taste for antiquities and literature, he left the army, and obtained the situation of Blue Mantle Pursuivant-at-Arms, 22d of February, 1782. He was promoted to be Lancaster Herald, on the 29th of October, 1793; Norroy, on the 11th of June, 1822; and Clarenceux, on the 30th of July, 1838.-Among his literary productions may be mentioned, "Illustrations of British History;"-" The Life of Sir Julius Cæsar ;"-" Memoirs of Illustrious Personages of Great Britain ;" and many others of the greatest merit, learning, and research.

Mr. Lodge died at his house in Bloomsbury-square, January 16, 1839, in his eightythird year.

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YEW TREE AT HARDHAM, SUSSEX. THIS beautiful specimen of an ancient English yew tree, stands in the church-yard of Hardham Church. Few trees of the kind have reached the gigantic dimensions this venerable relic has attained. Its trunk is capable of containing twenty-seven people its girth is twenty-three feet, and supposing the trunk were yet solid, it would contain not less that five hundred cubic feet of wood. About eighteen years ago the top of this tree was unfortunately blown down, and it is to be feared that in a very few years scarcely anything of this wonder of the vegetable creation will remain, so old and worn is the wood. No doubt can exist as to its being more than two thousand years old.

H.M.

SEPULCHRAL MONUMENTS IN

PERSIA.

THE reverence for tombs, or memorials of the dead, is common throughout Persia. In the plains of Sahraï-Sírwán-are many whitewashed obelisks of brick-work, varying from 10 to 15 feet in height, to be seen in all directions upon the skirts of the hills, the sepulchral monuments of the Lurish chiefs:

an interesting story attaches to one of tall graceful form and recent erection.-A chief from Písh-kúh was betrothed to the daughter of one of the Tushmáls (a master of a house); he came to celebrate his nuptials, but sickened upon the road, and died before he reached the encampment of his bride. The maiden raised this pillar to his memory, and, shaving her long tresses, hung them round the obelisk in token of her grief. Most of the pillars are thus decked with a coronal of woman's tresses, for it is a custom among the Lurish I'liyát, on the death of a chieftain, for all his female relations to cut off their hair, and hang their locks, woven into a funeral wreath, upon the tomb of their departed lord. A custom also prevails among the Lurish tribes, and indeed throughout Persia, of representing symbolically upon the gravestone, the sex, character, and occupation of the deceased; upon one tomb-stone, the following designs, all very rudely engraven, but sufficiently marked to denote their true signification. First-a chief, attended by a few followers, shooting a lion that has fastened on the haunches of a deer; secondlyhounds pursuing in full chase a herd of antelopes; thirdly-a falconer flying his hawk at

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