him be cautious how he exceed this, for man is weak, and his powers limited. It is but seldom that our kind Creator extends to any one the grace to be able to drink safely sixteen bottles, of which privilege he hath held me, the meanest of his servants, worthy. And since no one can say of me that I have ever broke out in causeless rage, or failed to recognise my household friends and relations, or neglected the performance of my spirital duties, I may, with thankfulness and a good conscience, use the gift which hath been intrusted to me. And you, my pious hearers, each take modestly your allotted portion; and, to avoid all excess, follow the precept of St. Peter- Try all and stick by the best.""-Edinburgh Literary Journal.

Singular Escapes of Archbishop Sterne. From Mr. Clark I had an account of two remarkable deliverances that Archbishop Sterne received when a boy; one, when with his comrade he run into a church's steeple to catch a daw's nest, which, being on the outside of the steeple, they got a board; one boy sat upon the end within the steeple, and he upon that out of the loophole; there proved but five, the boy demanded three; he justly thought the odd one his due because in the more dangerous service; the boy, in a pet, jumps off the board, and the bishop consequently falls to the ground, yet without damage. At another time, playing near a mill, he fell within the clow; there was but one board or bucket wanting in the whole wheel, but a gracious Providence so ordered it, that the void place came down at that moment, else he had been inevitably crushed to death, but was reserved to be a grand benefactor afterwards.-Diary of Ralph Thoresby, 1708.

Prince Leopold.-At the ball of St. Joseph, I saw a crowd of foreign princes, coveting the honour of a glance from Napoleon; among them were the Princes of Saxe-Cobourg, Mecklenburg, Schwerin, William of Prussia, &c. Prince Leopold, who was then very young and handsome, appeared to be excessively timid. He did not then foresee the high distinction that awaited him since. Perhaps he did not then dare even to hope for such a happiness. But be has lost it for ever. His disposition was mild. As I saw him almost every evening at the parties of a Russian lady of my acquaintance, I was enabled to appreciate the simplicity of his manners. There was nothing brilliant about him: nothing to indicate that he would fix the choice of the greatest princess in Europe. He rather seemed to be qualified for an honest "bourgeois," than for governing others. His brother, the reigning prince, assumed all the high birth and pride of his family. His fine countenance was dignified, cold, and imperious, and betrayed the habit of commanding; but I preferred the expression of

mildness in Prince Leopold's face.-Memoirs of the Empress Josephine.

Origin of the Present Royal Academy.While West was painting the Departure of Regulus, the present Royal Academy was planned. The Society of Incorporated Artists, of which he was a member, had grown rich by yearly exhibitions, and how to lay out this money became the subject of vehement debate. The architects were for a house, the sculptors for statues, and the painters proposed a large gallery for historical works; while a mean and sordid member or two voted to let it lie and grow. more, for it was pleasant to see riches accumulate. West, who happened to be a director, approved of none of these notions, and, with Reynolds, withdrew from the association. The newspapers of the day noticed these indecent bickerings, and the king, learning the cause from the lips of West, declared that he was ready to patronize any association formed on principles calculated to advance the interests of art. A plan was proposed by some of the dissenters, and submitted to his majesty, who corrected it, and drew up some additional articles with his own hand. Meanwhile the Incorporated Artists continued their debates, in total ignorance that their dissenting brethren were laying the foundation of a surer structure than their own. Kirby, teacher of perspective to the king, had been chosen president: but so secretly was all managed, that he had never heard a whisper in the palace concerning the new academy, and in his inaugural address from the chair, he assured his companions that his majesty would not countenance the schismatics. While West was one day busy with his Regulus, the king and queen looking on, Kirby was announced, and his majesty, having consulted his consort in German, admitted him, and introduced him to West, to whose person he was a stranger. He looked at the picture, praised it warmly, and congratulated the artist; then, turning to the king, said, "Your majesty never mentioned any thing of this work to mewho made the frame?-It is not made by one of your majesty's workmen-it ought to have been made by the royal carver and gilder." To this impertinence the king answered with great calmness, Kirby, whenever you are able to paint me such a picture as this, your friend shall make the frame."—" I hope, Mr. West," said Kirby, "that you intend to exhibit this picture?"

"It is painted for the palace," said West, " and its exhibition must depend upon his majesty's pleasure."-" Assuredly," said the king, "I shall be very happy to let the work be shown to the public." "Then, Mr. West," said Kirby, " you will send it to my exhibition."-"No!" interrupted his majesty, "it must go to my exhibition-to

that of the Royal Academy." The president of the Associated Artists bowed with much humility, and retired. He did not long survive this mortification, and his death was imputed, by the founders of the new academy, to jealousy of their rising establishment, but by those who knew him well, to a more ordinary cause, the decay of nature. The Royal Academy was founded, and in its first exhibition appeared the Regulus.-Family Library Lives of British Painters.

Sir Humphry Davy's Chemical Apparatus. -The apparatus essential to the modern chemical philosopher is much less bulky and expensive than that used by the ancients. An air-pump, an electrical machine, a voltaic battery (all of which may be upon a small scale), a blow-pipe apparatus, a bellows and forge, a mercurial and water gas apparatus, cups and basins of platinum and glass, and the common re-agents of chemistry are what are required. All the implements absolutely necessary may be carried in a small trunk, and some of the best and most refined researches of modern chemists have been made by means of an apparatus, which might with ease be contained in a small travelling carriage, and the expense of which is only a few pounds. The facility with which

chemical inquiries are carried on, and the simplicity of the apparatus, offer additional reasons to those I have already given, for the pursuit of this science. It is not injurious to the health; the modern chemist is not like the ancient one, who passed the greater part of his time exposed to the heat and smoke of a furnace and the unwholesome vapours of acids and alkalies and other menstrua, of which, for a single experiment, he consumed several pounds. His processes may be carried on in the drawingroom, and some of them are no less beautiful in appearance than satisfactory in their results. It was said by an author, belonging to the last century of alchemy," that its beginning was deceit, its progress labour, and its end beggary;" it may be said of modern chymistry, that its beginning is pleasure, its progress knowledge, and its objects truth and utility. I have spoken of the scientific attainments necessary for the chemical philosopher; I will say a few words of the intellectual qualities necessary for discovery, or for the advancement of the science. Amongst them patience, industry and neatness in manipulation, and accuracy and minuteness in observing and registering the phenomena they present, are essential.Sir Humphry Davy's Consolations in Travel.

M.

Machinery in France and England com-
pared, 56

Mackerel, migration of the, 145

Mahometans, various names and descrip-
tions of, 92

Malavolti, a Neapolitan story, 80

Mead, Dr., anecdote of, 250

Medical compound, remarkable phenomenon
in, 152

Medicine, mummeries of, 178
Messiah, the false one, 12

Mineral springs, 379

Mistakes of Foolee Fum Foola, 183

Moore's Life of Lord Byron, 153
More, Sir Thomas, 380

Morland, the painter, 285
Moths, 285

Motion, acidity produced by, 344
Mouse sauce, 344

Murder of James I. of Scotland, the, 394

Musical imitations, 334

N.

Napoleon, Bourrienne's Memoirs of, 313
377

Newton's madness, 11

Ney, Marshal, the death of, 150
Nine of diamonds, the, 185

North American forest scenes, 252

0.

Old coats, a chapter on them, 412
O'Neill, Miss, reminiscences of, 336
Optical amusements, 121
Oyster fisheries, 328

P.

Paganini's execution on the violin, 377
Paper currency, 251

Paris post-office, business of the, 152
Parliamentary anecdotes, 297

Patrons of extraordinary genius, hints to, 311
Paul of Russia, anecdote of, 312
Peel, Mr., 159, 169

Peru, traits of manners in, 378

remarkable altitudes of places in, 379
Pigeons, mode of decoying wild ones, in
America, 187

Plants, acclimating them, 389
Plantagenets, the last of the, 91
Platina, size of the grains of, 55
Play writing, 242

POETRY.

Am I to blame? 394
Death had been there, 144
Departing twilight, 54
The dream, 404

Sandwich islanders, posthumous letters of
the, 41

Sanscrit, compound words in, 312

Scott's, Sir W., first acquaintance with Lord
Byron, 167

Sea-plants, economical uses of, 375
Seeds, preservation of, 123
Sevi, Sabbathai, 12

Shell animals, terrestrial, method of carrying
them alive, 121
Sheridan, 171, 172

Ships, comparative view of, when equipped
for service, 151

Siamese twins, anecdotes of the, 57

Silver-paper, economical process for imi-
tating, 152

Slaves, galley, stratagems of the, 207
Snail-shell, singular, 219