ladies in England term notability, are deemed by her "frivolous vanity," &c. &c. &c. She has learnt chemistry, and she distils vexation and bitterness from every person and every event-geometry, and she can never measure her deportment to circumstances-algebra, merely to multiply the crosses of all whose fate makes them parallel with her-navigation, and she does but tack from one absurdity to another, without making any way-mathematics, and she never calculates how much more agreeable a little good-nature would make her than all her learning-history, and that of her own heart is a blank-perspective, without ever learning to place self at the 66 vanishing point"-and all languages, without ever uttering in any one of them a single phrase that could make the eyes of the hearer glisten, or call a glow on the cheek of sympathy. Every body allows that Mrs. Aurelia Sparr is very cleverpoor, arid praise, what is it worth? Wine. EWART'S OLD PORT. To J. C-Y, Esq. N. ON RECEIVING FROM HIM A PRESENT OF This life, dear Cy,-who can doubt?- When first the ruby drops flow out, So free from ev'n a shade,-that some That darker drops would ever come. But soon, alas, the tide runs short; Each minute makes the sad truth plainer; Till Life, like Ewart's crusty Port, When near its close, requires a strainer. This, Friendship, can, alone, supply,- At least, unclouded, through the glass. Nor, Cy, could a boon be mine, Of which this heart were fonder, vainer, Than thus, if Life be like old wine, To have thy friendship for its strainer! E. * A vender of capital of Port in Swallow-street. For many years the goodness of Mr. Ewart's old Port has been duly appreciated by his private friends. The preceding verses, in The Times of Monday, (March 5, 1827,) have disclosed "the secret," and now, probably, he will "blush to find it fame." The knowledge of his "ruby drops" should be communicated to all who find it necessary to "use a little wine for their stomach's sake, and their often infirmities." Can the information be conveyed in more agreeable lines? Beauty. A NATURAL COMPLIMENT. As the late beautiful duchess of Devonriage, a dustman, who was accidentally shire was one day stepping out of her carstanding by, and was about to regale himself with his accustomed whiff of tobacco, caught a glance of her countenance, and instantly exclaimed, "Love and bless you, my lady, let me light my pipe in your eyes!" It is said that the duchess was so delighted with this compliment, that she frequently afterwards checked the strain of adulation, which was constantly offered to her charms, by saying, "Oh! after the dustman's compliment, all others are insipid." PERSIAN SONG OF HAFIZ. BY SIR WILLIAM JONES. Sweet maid, if thou wouldst charm my sight, And bid these arms thy neck infold; That rosy cheek, that lily hand, Would give thy poet more delight Than all Bocara's vaunted gold, Than all the gems of Samarcand. Boy! let yon liquid ruby flow, And bid thy pensive heart be glad, Whate'er the frowning zealots say :Tell them their Eden cannot show A stream so clear as Rocnabad, A bower so sweet as Mosellay. O! when these fair, perfidious maids, In vain with love our bosoms glow: Speak not of fate -ah! change the theme, Talk of the flowers that round us bloom: 'Tis all a cloud, 'tis all a dream : To love and joy thy thoughts confine, That ev'n the chaste Egyptian dame A youth so lovely and so coy! Whom long experience renders sage) While music charms the ravish'd ear; While sparkling cups delight our eyes, Be gay; and scorn the frowns of age. What cruel answer have I heard! And yet, by heaven, I love thee still: Can aught be cruel from thy lip? Yet say, how fell that bitter word From lips which streams of sweetness fill, Go boldly forth, my simple lay, Like orient pearls at random strung: The nymph for whom these notes are sung. "OUR LIVES AND PROPERTIES." BY MR. WILLIAM HUTTON, F. A. S. S. If we survey this little world, vast in our idea, but small compared to immensity, we shall find it crusted over with property, fixed and movable. Upon this crusty world subsist animals of various kinds; one of which, something short of six feet, moves erect, seems the only one without a tail, and takes the lead in the command of this property. Fond of power, and conscious that possessions give it, he is ever attempting, by force, fraud, or laudable means, to arrive at both. Fixed property bears a value according to its situation; 10,000 acres in a place like London, and its environs, would be an immense fortune, such as no man ever possessed; while 10,000, in some parts of the globe, though well covered with timber, would not be worth a shilling-no king to govern, no subject to submit, no market to exhibit property, no property to exhibit; instead of striving to get possession, he would, if cast on the spot, strive to get away. Thus assemblages of people mark a place with value. Movable property is of two sorts; that which arises from the earth, with the assist ance of man; and the productions of art, which wholly arise from his labour. A small degree of industry supplies the wants of nature, a little more furnishes the comforts of life, and a farther proportion affords the luxuries. A man, by labour first removes his own wants, and then, with the overplus of that labour, purchases the labour of another. Thus, by furnishing a hat for the barber, the hatter procures a wig for himself: the tailor, by making a coat for another, is enabled to buy cloth for his own. It follows, that the larger the number of people, the more likely to cultivate' a spirit of industry; the greater that industry, the greater its produce; consequently, the more they supply the calls of others, the more lucrative will be the returns to themselves. It may be asked, what is the meaning of the word rich? Some have termed it, a little more than a man has; others, as much as will content him; others again, the possession of a certain sum, not very small. Perhaps all are wrong. A man may be rich, possessed only of one hundred pounds; he may be poor, possessed of one hundred thousand. He alone is rich, whose income is more than he uses. Industry, though excellent, will perform but half the work; she must be assisted by economy; without this, a ministerial fortune will be defective. These two qualities, separated from each other, like a knife from the handle, are of little use; but, like these, they become valuable when united. Economy without industry will barely appear in a whole coat; industry without economy will appear in rags. The first is detrimental to the community, by preventing the circulation of property; the last is detrimental to itself. It is a singular remark, that even industry is sometimes the way to poverty. Industry, like a new cast guinea, retains its sterling value; but, like that, it will not pass currently till it receives a sovereign stamp: economy is the stamp which gives it currency. I well knew a man who began business with 15007. Industry seemed the end for which he was made, and in which he wore himself out. While he laboured from four in the morning till eight at night, in the making of gimlets, his family consumed twice his produce. Had he spent less time at the anvil, and more in teaching the lessons of frugality, he might have lived in credit. Thus the father was ruined by industry, and his children have, for many years, appeared on the parish books. Some people are more apt to get than to keep. Having explained the word riches, and pointed out the road to them, let us examine their use. They enable a man with great facility to shake off an old friend, once an equal; and forbid access to an inferior, except a toad eater. Sometimes they add to his name, the pretty appendage of Right Honourable, Bart. or Esq. additions much coveted, which, should he happen to become an author, are an easy passport through the gates of fame. His very features seem to take a turn from his fortune, and a curious eye may easily read in his face, the word consequence. They change the tone of his voice from the submissive to the commanding, in which he well knows how to throw in a few graces. His style is convincing. Money is of singular efficacy; it clears his head, refines his sense, points his joke. The weight of his fortune adds weight to his argument. If, my dear reader, you have been a silent spectator at meetings for public business, or public dinners, you may have observed many a smart thing said unheeded, by the man without money; and many a paltry one echoed with applause, from the man with it. The room in silent attention hears one, while the other can scarcely hear himself. They direct a man to various ways of being carried who is too idle to carry himself; nay, they invert the order of things, for we often behold two men, who seem hungry, carry one who is full fed. They add refinement to his palate, prominence to his front, scarlet to his nose. They frequently ward off old age. The ancient rules of moderation being broken, luxury enters in all her pomp, followed by a group of diseases, with a physician in their train, and the rector in his. Phials, prayers, tears, and galley-pots, close the sad scene, and the individual has the honour to rot in state, before old age can advance. His place may be readily supplied with a joyful mourner.* * History of Birmingham. A MUSICAL CRASH. The Rev. Mr. B-, when residing at Canterbury, was reckoned a good violontinguished for his expression on the instrucello player; but he was not more disment, than for the peculiar appearance of the adagios of Corelli or Avison, the mus feature whilst playing it. In the midst of cles of his face sympathised with his fiddlestick, and kept reciprocal movement. sight, being dim, obliged him often to snuff His the candles; and, when he came to a bar's rest, in lieu of snuffers, he generally employed his fingers in that office; and, lest this dirty. trick, he used to thrust the he should offend the good housewife by spoils into the sound-holes of his violoncello. A waggish friend resolved to enjoy himself" at the parson's expense,' ,, as he termed it; and, for that purpose, popped a quantity of gunpowder into B.'s instrument. Others were informed of the trick, and of course kept a respectable distance. The tea equipage being removed, music became the order of the evening; and, after B-- had tuned his instrument, and drawn his stand near enough to snuff his candles with ease, feeling himself in the Vanhall's 47th. Bmeridian of his glory, he dashed away at came to a bar's rest, the candles were snuffed, and he thrust the ignited wick into the usual place;" fit fragor, bang went the fiddle to pieces, and there was an end of harmony that evening. FASHIONABLE RELIGION. A French gentleman, equally tenacious of his character for gallantry and devotion, went to hear mass at the chapel of a favourite saint at Paris; when he came there, he found repairs were doing in the building which prevented the celebration. To show that he had not been defective in his duty and attentions, he pulled out a richly decorated pocket-book, and walking with great gravity and many genuflexions up the aisle, very carefully placed a card of his name upon the principal altar. A POLITE TOWN. Charles II. on passing through Bodmin, is said to have observed, that "this was the politest town he had ever seen, as one half of the houses appeared to be bowing, and the other half uncovered." Since the days of Charles, the houses are altered, but the inhabitants still retain their politeness, especially at elections. Ancient British Pillar, Valle Crucis Abbey, North Wales. Who first uprear'd this venerable stone, once belonged to the lords of Dinas Brân. After the murder of the two eldest sons of the last lord, the property had been usurped by the earl of Warren, and that nobleman, who, appears to have been seized with remorse for his crime, instead of plunging deeper in guilt, procured from Edward I. a grant of the territory to the third son, from whom the fourth in descent was the celebrated Owen Glyndwr.* In this valley, about a quarter of a mile from Valle Crucis Abbey, Mr. Pennant His quarrel with Howel Sele forms an article in the Every Day Book, vol. ii. p. 1021-1032, found the present monument. It was thrown from its base, and lay in the hedge of a meadow. He figures it by an engraving of the pillar in an upright position, showing the fracture of the lower part as it then appeared in relation to the square socket-stone, its original supporter. Mr. Pennant calls it the "remainder of a round column, perhaps one of the most ancient of any British inscribed pillar now existing;" and he thus proceeds : "It was entire till the civil wars of the last century, when it was thrown down and broken, by some ignorant fanatics, who thought it had too much the appearance of a cross to be suffered to stand. It probably bore the name of one; for the field it lies in is still called Llwyn-y-Groes,' or the Grove of the Cross, from the wood that surrounded it. It was erected at so early a period, that there is nothing marvellous if we should perceive a tincture of the old idolatry, or at least of the primeval customs of our country, in the mode of it when perfect. "The pillar had never been a cross; not withstanding folly and superstition might, in later times, imagine it to have been one, and have paid it the usual honours. It was a memorial of the dead; an improvement on the rude columns of Druidical times, and cut into form, and surrounded with inscriptions. It is among the first lettered stones that succeeded the 'Meinihirion,' 'Meini Gwyr,' and 'Llechau.' It stood on a great tumulus; perhaps always environed with wood, (as the mount is at present,) according to the custom of the most ancient times, when standing pillars were placed' under every green tree.' "It is said that the stone, when complete, was twelve feet high. It is now reduced to six feet eight. The remainder of the capital is eighteen inches long. It stood enfixed in a square pedestal, still lying in the mount; the breadth of which is five feet three inches; the thickness eighteen inches. "The beginning of the inscription gives us nearly the time of its erection, Concenn filius Cateli, Cateli filius Brochmail, Brochmail filius Eliseg, Eliseg filius Cnoillaine, Concenn itaque pronepos Eliseg edificavit hunc lapidem proavo suo Eliseg.' "This Concenn, or Congen, was the grandson of Brochmail Yseithroc, the same who was defeated in 607, at the battle of Chester. The letters on the stone were copied by Mr. Edward Llwyd: the inscription is now illegible; but, from the copy taken by that great antiquary, the alphabet nearly resembles one of those in use in the sixth century. "One of the seats of Concenn and Eliseg was in this country. A township adjacent to the column bears, from the last, the name of Eglwyseg; and the picturesque tiers of rocks are called Glisseg for the same reason. The habitation of this prince of Powys in these parts was probably Dinas Brân, which lies at the head of the vale of Glisseg. Mr. Llwyd conjectures that this place took its name from the interment of Eliseg." Mr. Pennant continues to relate that "There are two ways from this pillar: the usual is along the vale, on an excellent turnpike road leading to Ruthyn; the other is adapted only for the travel of the horsemen, but far the more preferable, on account of the romantic views. I returned by Valle Crucis; and, after winding along a steep midway to the old castle, descended; and, then crossing the rill of the Brân, arrived in the valley of Glisseg; long and narrow, bounded on the right by the astonishing precipices, divided into numberless parallel strata of white limestone, often giving birth to vast yew-trees; and, on the left, by smooth and verdant hills, bordered by pretty woods. One of the principal of the Glisseg rocks is honoured with the name of Craig-Arthur; another, at the end of the vale called Craig y Forwyn, or the Maiden's, is bold, precipitous, and terminates with a vast natural column. This valley is chiefly inhabited (happily) by an independent race of warm and wealthy yeomanry, undevoured as yet by the great men of the country." The "Tour in Wales was performed by Mr. Pennant in 1773; and his volume, containing the preceding account of the "Pillar of Eliseg," was published in 1778. In the following year, the shaft was reared from its prostrate situation on its ancient pedestal, as appears by the following inscription on the column, copied by the artist who made the present drawing of the monument. QUOD HUJUS VETERIS MONUMENTI DIU EX OCULIS REMOTUM TANDEM RESTITUIT DE TREVOR HALL A. D. M.DCC.LXX.IX. |