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feelings; and to develope them well entails not only a great deal of thought and comparison, but much positive suffering, on the writer.

We are indebted to Mr. HORATIO TOWNSEND, an Irish barrister, for a singularly interesting account of the great HANDEL'S Visit to Dublin. The book is published by James McGlashan, the proprietor of our able and brilliant cotemporary, the Dublin University Magazine. No musical library should be without it. Its pages contain undoubted proofs that the Messiah was first performed in Dublin. This fact Mr. Townsend has placed beyond the possibility of doubt, and he has drawn together, with a judicious and sympathising hand, all that is of interest (and what is not) connected with the great high priest of music-the MILTON of sound. We might extract pages from this charming book, all tending to elevate HANDEL'S moral character and benevolent heart to the height of his genius; but we have said enough to create a desire to possess it; and we expect the thanks of our readers for showing where they can obtain so much pleasurable information at easy cost.

Those who desire to take note of the Irish superstitions, once so popular, but now passing rapidly away before the utilitarian spirit of the age, will be more than pleased with a volume-one of the Readings in Popular Literature-from the versatile pen of DOCTOR WILDE, of Dublin. He says truly, in his animated preface, that had not Shakspeare embalmed, in the Midsummer Night's Dream, the popular superstitions and fairy lore current in England at the time of Elizabeth, the present generation could form but a very faint idea of the ancient belief of our forefathers, in the witcheries of their sylvan deities and household gods. "No man in Ireland" was better able than the brilliant Doctor to gather these things together: his knowledge of, and well-known sympathies with, "the people" - his wanderings among them-his partisanship with whatever is quaint or peculiar - his national enthusiasm-his energy, and the terms of intimacy he has been on, at one time or other, with everybody who was anybody-rendered "Willie Wilde," as he is affectionately called in Dublin, the fittest of all chroniclers for these Irish Superstitions. He is "up to" fun and frolic, as well as to those graver disquisitions on all manner of things antiquarian, social, medical, and political-which are not half so pleasant to deal with as that which he has here so skilfully set forth. We shall endeavour to make room some day for an especial article on these superstitions-where all is not mirthful. Doctor Wilde is too true to his subject, and understands his country too well, not to mingle tears and smiles together.

Mr. MACREADY, whose early retirement from the dramatic world, will long be deplored by all who remember his exertions before, as well as behind, the curtain, to maintain the honour and purity of the stage, has given an eloquent lecture, at the Victoria Rooms, in aid of the Bristol Athenæum the subject was- On the Influence of Poetry as an Element of Popular Education. It was heroic in Mr. Macready, when poetry is at such a

fearful discount, to spring into the breach, and stand forth its champion. The Bristol Mirror has published the lecture, and we hope to see it in the second edition of a most valuable book, just given to the world by the Griffins, of London and GlasgowThe Importance of Literature to Men of Business; a Series of Addresses delivered at various popular Institutions.

They know how to honour great men in the United States. An "association" has been formed, with the view to erect a worthy monument to the memory of FENIMORE COOPER ; and not that only, a volume has been printed, which contains the tributary speeches and eloquent letters of a very large proportion of the "men of mark" of America-Bryant, Bancroft, Washington Irving, Webster, Emerson, Prescott, Dana, Longfellow, and others. Such "testimonials" are, truly and indeed, the best excitements to a career of "glory in letters." In England, perhaps, a triumphant soldier, or a successful sailor, might have as many from his contemporaries,-" brothers in arms;" but the writer of a hundred books occupies here a very different position from the victor in a hundred fights: it is much, if he go down to the grave glorified by half a dozen newspaper paragraphs to keep his memory green for a month.

We are glad to read the announcement of a THIRD edition of The Physician's Holiday, by Dr. FORBES. It is a charming and very useful work: it was literally the result of that rarity to the physician-a holiday; and it is so full of genuine nature, of the love of the beautiful and good, that the reader is continually tempted to regret that the excellent Doctor has not had his month's relaxation at least once a year. The name of Dr. Forbes is so intimately associated with so many Metropolitan Charities he is so well and so widely known for pure philanthropy-he has so many friends, because he is the friend of so many-that no wonder his book has obtained popularity: but it is valuable for itself; and if it had been written by an apprentice to virtue, instead of by one of its highest professors, it could not but have found favour with all who love the pure and the true.

THOMAS WRIGHT, M.A., F.S.A., has added another to the many useful and instructive books he has produced. It is entitled The Celt, the Roman, and the Saxon, and is published by Messrs. VIRTUE, HALL, and VIRTUE. To collect, condense, and render available for the uses of the general reader, the mass of scattered facts which have been given from time to time to the world through the explorations of the antiquary, and thus to construct a history of early Britain from the facts its relics adduce, was a worthy labour; it was more than usually necessary, inasmuch as it was avoided by the general historian, as the few pages devoted to this portion of the subject in ordinary histories of England will show; even this seanty detail generally abounding in errors which modern research has refuted. As a clever resume of all that has been done in this way for many years past, Mr. Wright's book is without a rival.

A LADY'S NARRATIVE OF CAPTIVITY AMONG ALGERINE PIRATES.

In the early part of the month of June, 1827, I embarked on board the trading brig, “Perseverance," to accompany its captain, my husband, in a voyage to Seville. Although we sailed at the commencement of summer, the weather proved boisterous and winterly in the extreme: continued heavy gales and incessant rain attended our progress. I have been a bad sailor under all circumstances, but upon this occasion I suffered even more than I usually do. My husband himself, though long inured to the exposure and hardships of a sea life, was not insensible to the unpropitious circumstances that attended the beginning of our voyage; for before we had been many days out of sight of English shores, he was attacked by a severe form of ague and fever, and the mate assured me that his master would not hold out long if the same dreadful fits persisted in returning daily. Aroused from the lethargy of sea-sickness by this alarming assurance, I betook myself to the medicine-chest, and learned from the book of directions accompanying the drugs, that powdered bark was the only remedy. On examining the contents of the bottles, I found, to my great relief, an abundant store of the precious substance. For twelve long days I gave the bitter dose, without the slightest sign of good resulting from its use: at the self-same hour, the chills, and then the burning heats, returned. But afterwards I had the exceeding joy to see the severity of the fits decline: at first they were slighter, and lasted a shorter time; soon they came but on alternate days, then the intervals lengthened, and at last my patient was his own strong self again.

During the progress of this cure, external circumstances were keeping pace with my inner experiences. We had now crossed the Bay of Biscay, and had done with its storms. The air was getting warm, the weather became gradually fine, and the adverse tempest was changed into a balmy and propitious breeze. On the 6th of July, the ship's officers conversed at breakfast regarding the beautiful sunrise they had witnessed over Cape Finisterre, then ten leagues east of us. The sunset proved as fine. Even now I can see, in fancy, the clearness of that evening atmosphere, the glory of its fleecy clouds with their crimson and gold fringe, and the fulness of the vast undulating waves, that swept, with their little load of rippling billows, onwards towards the circular

line that bounded the watery field. I felt lighter and better than I had done since we had left England. I remembered to have read somewhere of a king, who could only recal to his mind eight happy days out of a life of sixty years; and I thought, as I had already enjoyed three calm and peaceful sunsets in succession, how much more favoured I had been. But this state of pleasurable repose was not to be long continued. I was lying on the sofa in the cabin, about noon the following day, when I was suddenly startled by the report of a heavy gun. I felt the concussion as well as heard the sound, and in an instant I was on my feet. A second report followed, and then a third; at the same instant, my husband called to me down the companion not to be alarmed, as it was a French man-of-war that was firing the guns, and he supposed they wanted some information from him. I had just reached the foot of the cabin stairs, when a fourth explosion shook the vessel, and one of the sailors exclaimed, "That was a shot, sir, and pretty near us too." Creeping up the stairs, and looking out from the companionhatches, I saw all the ship's company gathered round their master, upon the quarter-deck, in consultation. Immediately afterwards, the carpenter, who had been eyeing our noisy neighbours suspiciously, shouted out, "They are Algerine pirates, sir, by ——— !”

How little can we tell beforehand how circumstances will affect us! As I stood there, a conversation of the previous day flashed across my memory, in which I had stated my belief that I should die of terror if we were stopped by pirates. I did not now die, however, when I heard the carpenter's exclamation; on the contrary, I was impelled by an anxious desire to gaze upon the object I had imagined I should so much dread to sec. Accordingly, I cautiously advanced under cover of the high rails, and peeped through a small aperture in the quarter-boards. There, close under our lee, I beheld a large brig of war, with crowds of strange-looking figures upon her deck. Most of them were of large stature, with dark copper-coloured, naked limbs, wearing long beards, and turbans and sashes of scarlet colour, after the Moorish fashion. Now, indeed, a sensation of sickening horror crept over me. Our brig had been lying-to from the time we were favoured with the third shot. The captain had taken his speaking-trumpet,

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and he now commenced a bellowing duet, in Italian, with the question, "What do you want?" A seven-foot high negro answered in the same language, "Send your boat on board."

I found that I had seen enough, and, during the little bustle occasioned by getting out and manning the boat, I made my escape to the cabin. The boat was placed under command of the chief mate, who was ushered, when he reached the stranger's deck, into the presence of a dignified Moor, reclining upon a couch, and surrounded by a staff of officers standing. This potentate managed by some means to make the mate understand that he was high admiral of the Emperor of Morocco's fleet, and he further told him, that he held a commission under the British Government, and examined all ships he fell in with to ascertain whether they had with them a proper Mediterranean pass. The mate's captain must, therefore, himself come on board, and bring his papers with him to be overhauled.

The boat came back with the mate, and then went again to the Algerine with the captain and his papers. Soon, however, the captain returned, and brought with him some of the Moors. They descended at once into the cabin, and entered upon a polite system of plundering. They requested the steward to oblige them by handing out his stores of tea, sugar, and vinegar, and they unceremoniously took possession of some articles of wearing apparel and a looking-glass. A few dozens of wine, and some fine salt and eggs, they considerately seized in the name of the admiral. I remained concealed in the state room until these unwelcome neighbours were again on deck; I then went out to my husband, who had remained behind them. He told me we were certainly in the hands of pirates, but that they seemed inclined at least to carry on their depredations civilly, and under the pretence of legal authority. They had not, however, done with us yet: he had returned merely for some document he had omitted to take with him the first time, and was going back with it to the Moorish vessel; the Moors on deck were waiting for him.

I know not how I passed the period of his second absence. I shut myself up in the state room, and knelt down and prayed fervently for divine protection. I then took a large draught of wine, and endeavoured to feel resigned and patient; but apprehension for my husband's safety, and lengthened suspense, were too much for me, and I was just going up on deck again, when the steward met me,

and told me that the captain was returning with what he called "a boat-load of Turks.” I looked out, and there I saw a larger second boat accompanying our own, with two-andtwenty Moors on board. The ship's company were gathered round the companion, and the second mate was detailing to them his knowledge of pirate proceedings. "First," said he, "they murder all on deck, then they go below."

When stout-hearted men quailed at the prospect which was before them, it was hardly surprising that a woman should find herself quite unnerved. Terrified and trembling, I hastened back to my hiding-place, and tried to collect my scattered thoughts and reason down my fears. I endeavoured to convince myself, that the Moorish admiral would not have taken so long to decide upon his proceedings if his purpose had been open violence and plunder.

The boats reached our ship just before sunset, and the Moors, as they jumped on board, performed their evening devotions, prostrating themselves, and bowing with their faces towards the east. The captain immediately came to me, to tell me how matters stood. The suspicious-looking ship he had left so recently was really in the service of the Emperor of Morocco, although under French colours when it stopped us. During the previous winter, the "Perseverance" had lain beside it at the Mole of Gibraltar, and its commander used frequently to cross our decks. Upon one occasion, he jestingly said to my husband, as he passed, that he should very much like to have his brig as a prize. My husband remembered his face the instant he entered his presence, and also recognised some of the surrounding officers. The Moorish ship had been fitted out in the Government dockyard of Gibraltar, but had been slightly altered in the appearance of her hull, by the substitution of two red streaks along the side for one white one. The selfstyled admiral, after pretending to examine the ship's papers presented to him, had held a long consultation with his officers, and then reprimanded my husband in a vehement tone for coming to sea without a formal Mediterranean pass. The captain answered as vehemently that he did not need any such license, seeing that he was bound to a port without the straits. The reply to this remonstrance was, that he had better not cause them any trouble, as his ship and crew were the rightful prize of the Emperor of Morocco, and he must, therefore, forthwith receive an officer, a prize-master, and twenty men on board the

brig, and proceed under their guardianship to the port of Tangier. This, then, was the meaning of the steward's "boat-load of Turks." My husband having put me in possession of these facts, next endeavoured to allay my fears. He told me he had no doubt we should fall in with a British ship of war on our way to Tangier, but that, if even we did not, we had no cause for dread, since England had a consul resident at that port. Prudence forbade all show of resistance on his part so long as no direct violence was attempted, seeing that the Moorish vessel was a ten-gun brig, manned by somewhere about 150 hands, while his own crew numbered but twelve men, and had only four small guns to serve. His wisest course was manifestly to temporise, rather than to give his antagonists the excuse, they might be themselves desiring, for open attack, and to make a virtue of necessity as far as he was able. He, therefore, had acquiesced in the arrangements with as good a grace as he was able to assume, and hoped soon to lose sight of the ugly-looking craft that was at present in such dangerous proximity. By the time I had comprehended all these particulars, the Moorish boat was on its way back to the gun-brig; and as soon as it had reached its destination, the high and mighty admiral of the piratical empire held on his honourable course. Our sails were then once again set, and our bows turned towards the coast of Africa. The "Perseverance" for once was untrue to her name. The thing I had feared so much had really come to pass: we were captives, and going towards the land of captivity.

The Moors, who had first come on board, were aware that our ship was soon to be entirely at the mercy of some, at least, of their messmates; they had, therefore, satisfied themselves with a very cursory examination of the cabin, and I had remained in the privacy of my concealment. As our second party of visitors had, however, unceremoniously established themselves in possession of our home, I saw that all further hiding must be useless. The prize-master had given notice of his intention of living at the captain's table, and sleeping in one of his state rooms. I therefore took the opportunity of making my debut in Moorish society during the evening meal. As I came forward, the Moor's eye fell upon me, and he started to his feet with an exclamation, extending to me both his hands. My husband placed himself between us, however, when he immediately recovered from his surprise, and endeavoured to make me under

stand that he was a good and benignant man, and would not injure us. I sat myself down opposite to him, and contrived at length to take a close survey of his person. He appeared to be between forty and fifty years of age, and was of middling size, with a narrow chest and stooping shoulders. His countenance was handsome, on the whole, but marked with a sinister and treacherous look, at least so I thought. I could not help fancying that I must have seen it before somewhere, its general aspect seemed so familiar to me. I afterwards remembered that it was its striking resemblance to the head of Judas Iscariot, in Rubens' painting of the "Last Supper," which I had recently seen at Antwerp, that had given me this thought. The man appeared to be very desirous of making himself sociable with me. He had only two English phrases in his vocabulary-"Sit down," "Never mind:" these he continued to repeat, and gave me his name, Allan Ruberice. He seemed greatly delighted when he heard that my name was Ellen, imagining that we both bore the same designation. His favourite beverage was English gin, which he constantly demanded in large quantities, and relished greatly, notwithstanding the prohibitions of Mahomet and the precepts of the Koran.

On the morning following our capture, Allan Ruberice told the captain, while at breakfast with him, that his mate must give up his berth to the chief officer of the Moors, who was sick. I saw by the flash of resolution and anger in my husband's eyes, that he would not submit to this, and feared it would be the signal for some desperate affray. He answered that this was an arrangement he could by no means allow, and that the sick officer must remain on deck where he was. The object of the dispute at this instant entered the cabin, and presented an apparition that I had never before even dreamed of, as possibly connected with the human form. Imagine a hideous countenance of a greenish-black hue, with the mouth extravagantly wide, all on one side, and unable to keep the huge projecting teeth hidden within its aperture; with the chin covered by a long black beard, and with large prominent dark eyes, overhung by a bush of coarse black hair: place this ugly head upon a pair of stalwart shoulders, and you will have a fair notion of the giant who was now introduced under the name of Abdallah. The captain immediately requested Abdallah to take himself off to the deck again, as he did not intend to permit more than one stranger to dwell with him below. Abdallah refused to go, and an angry

altercation ensued, consisting chiefly of vehement expostulation on one side, and determined refusal on the other. This alarming scene was at last terminated, by the captain telling the Moors firmly, that while he remained on board the ship he would be master of his own cabin; for, if they took his head off, he should still defy them, seeing that they could not put it on again. This, to my surprise, settled the matter, for the Moorish officers gave up their point, and Abdallah moved his huge body off to the deck again.

During this morning, Allan Ruberice partook very freely of gin, and, when he came to the dinner table, seized the mate by the collar and hurled him from his scat, that he might take possession of it himself. The mate had in some way affronted him on deck, regarding the steering of the ship, and, in his rage, he now said, that he had but to give the word and his people would murder the whole of us; we were entirely at his mercy, and he would punish us by taking the ship to Salee instead of Tangier, where our doom would be a sure

one.

When the captain came down this conduct was reported to him, and he at once determined that he would not go to Salee, if he could find any means of helping himself. Salee, in the kingdom of Fez, was everywhere known as a nest of lawless pirates, while Tangier was at least half civilised, and was the residence of a British consul, to whom we had all along been looking as our hope. The captain affected to feel drowsy in the afternoon, and at last pretended to be asleep. This was too agreeable an example to Ruberice, after his own heavy potations, to be long withstood; his head, therefore, soon declined, and he fell into a heavy sleep. The captain then rose lightly, and went forward among his own crew to impart to them his suspicions, and to sound their resolution. Rubcrice soon after awoke, and, missing the captain, went up on deck, and joined the little council of war that was sitting on the forecastle. He was now wide awake enough, for he dogged the captain's steps wherever he went, following him backwards and forwards from the deck to the cabin, and from the cabin to the deck, as he restlessly shifted his position in the hope of shaking him off. All was, however, to no purpose: the suspicions of Ruberice were evidently aroused, and the captain had no further opportunity of communicating with his men.

But where, all this while, was the giant Abdallah? The strong man was sick unto

death. His huge frame was extended upon a mattress we had sent to him, on the quarterdeck, and there he lay groaning and writhing with pain. When I heard this, I went to him, and took his hand to feel his pulse. I looked at his tongue, and then touched his head, his chest, and his side, making signs to express to him my desire to know where he suffered. At length he suddenly apprehended my purpose, and uttered some uncouth words; then, finding that Arabic was Greek to me, he pointed to his stomach. Upon this hint, I undertook the treatment of his disorder; administered some laudanum in hot brandy and water, and then had him carefully covered up with cloaks and the warm cabin carpet. My patient fell into a sound sleep, and from this time recovered so rapidly that, two or three days after, he was able nearly to starve his doctress, by watching the steward and seizing from him the larger portions of the little delicacies that had been prepared for her especial use. I had occasion, more than once, to wish that my remedies had not led to so rapid a restoration of the sick Moor's appetite.

Shortly after the day when Allan Ruberice had attacked the mate in his fit of intoxication, my husband found an opportunity to reproach him with his conduct, and told him he had made himself drunk. To this bold charge he coolly answered, that gin always made him feel brave, and on that occasion led to his using the language he had employed. But this had been merely done to frighten the mate; for the fact was, that he did not himself know our destination, as the admiral's instructions were in a scaled packet, which he had orders not to open until the ship had crossed the 36th parallel of north latitude. This, as well as all other dialogues that passed between the prize-master and the captain, was carried on in the Italian tongue; and, as neither spoke this language so that the other could understand it without a considerable amount of hesitation and guessing, I was always impressed with the idea that the stammering and gesticulating which I witnessed, boded some immediate outbreak of violence.

The vessel continued to hold on her proper course for Tangier. All on board, nevertheless, anticipated treachery, and were prepared to see the direction of her progress altered at any moment. Allan Ruberice had frequently sworn by his beard that he was going to Tangier; but notwithstanding this, he manifested constant fear lest we should fall in with some British cruiser. We were by no means surprised, therefore, when, at noon on the 15th of

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