“Ambition, a strong and sacred passion, has quenched in me all sparks of vain glory; I have but one step to take to the first of all thrones; but the step is a difficult, a decisive one; the moment for the trial is at hand. The Pope is dying; the Conclave will open, and the Pope who will go out from it will be myself, if you will aid me."

"I!" cried Anselm, with astonish

ment.

-"I am overcome this evening; but meet me to-morrow in my cell, after the Ave-Maria, and I will there reveal myself farther to you.

"I love you, Anselm, and esteem you more than any other. Of this I have just given you sufficient evidence. I have bound you to my fortune;-what do I say? I have placed myself at your mercy. A word from you can be my ruin; but this word you will never utter; you would rather aid me to ascend a throne than to descend into the tomb, for you are loyal and generous. Of a Prince of the church you might make the byeword of Rome; and hurl to the sepulchre, amidst the jeers of the world, an old man who entrusts to you his thoughts and his honour.

"That is what you can, but what you never will do; and in a month Rome, that now raises at our feet her palaces and cupolas, that miraculous Queen encircled by the desert, will have a new master, the bark of Saint Peter a new pilot, the Son of Man a new vicar; and that vicar, that pilot, that master, is before you: it is the Bastard of the Sicilian valet!"- Pronouncing these words, the Cardinal stretched out both hands towards Rome, as if to grasp it.

-"Ŏ Rome!" he added, in solemn accents, "Rome! honour of nations! O Vatican! star of the world! religion of the crucified sole object of my love and of my thoughts! O law of intelligence! and of progress! law of charity, magnificent instrument in the hand of God, you have civilized and regenerated earth; Eternal Church, I will be faithful to thee unto death! The sword and the sceptre shall again be abased before the crook of the shepherd; worldly diadem before the tiara! And you will have laboured with me in this great work, Anselm; and the church, retempered, and by us renewed in her youth, shall blend both our names in one eternal hymn of glory and gratitude!" A long silence succeeded to this burst of enthusiasm; it was broken by the Angelo pealing. All the bells in Rome joined in concert, as if Rome entire had

trembled with joy at the coming accession of the Bastard of Sicily.

At length twilight shrouded with her latent hues the Papal city and the Campagna; the purple of the distant moun. tains died away in the night.

-"To-morrow!" repeated the Cardinal, and he descended the path alone; his carriage was waiting for him beneath, and he rapidly crossed the Valle d'Inferno, and re-entered Rome by the gate Angelica and the square of the Vatican.

Anselm remained long motionless, entranced in a lengthened astonishment. He was subjugated, fascinated, carried away by the eloquence of the Sicilian. I have just heard (these were his thoughts) a fine poem; I have made a magnificent journey into the past. This man is a mighty magician; his wand has the gift to restore the dead to life; but he comes not the less for that too late, he links his fortune to a dead carcass. Anselm rose and returned to Rome by the Milvian bridge, in the direction that he had taken on coming.

What did the Cardinal want of him? What was the purport of so extraordinary a confidence? This was the problem Anselm had proposed to himself as he crossed the gate of the Temple, and he again resolved it as he re-crossed it.

(Continued at page 394).

NOTICE OF NEW WORKS.

A Few OBSERVATIONS on the NATURAL HISTORY of the SPERM WHALE, &C. By THOMAS BEALE, Surgeon.

UNDER this modest title, Mr. Beale has given us a pamphlet of some sixty pages full of interesting and curious matter respecting this monster of the deep. The gratification which we have received from its perusal, induces us to lay before our readers some extracts from this singular history of an animal whose habits are scarcely known to the naturalist. We should premise, however, that our author first favours us with an account of the six distinct species of whales, varying between 25 and 100 feet in length. He next minutely describes respectively,— The Anatomy,-habits (feeding, swimming, breathing, gambolling, and fighting),-the pursuit and capture, followed by a list of its favourite places of resort:

66 Notwithstanding his enormous size we find that the Sperm Whale has the power of moving through the water with

the greatest ease, and with considerable velocity.

"When undisturbed, he passes tranquilly along just below the surface of the water at the rate of about three or four miles an hour, which motion he effects by a gentle oblique motion from side to side, of the flukes, precisely in the same manner as a boat is sculled by means of an oar over the stern. When proceeding at this his common rate his body lies horizontally, his hump projecting above the surface, with the water a little disturbed around it, and more or less so according to his velocity; this disturbed water is called by whalers white water,' and from the greater or less quantity of it, an experienced whaler can judge very accurately of the rate at which the whale is going, from a distance even of four or five miles.

"In this mode of swimming the whale is able to attain a velocity of about seven miles an hour, but when desirous of proceeding at a greater rate, the action of the tail is materially altered; instead of being moved laterally and obliquely, it strikes the water with the broad flat surface of the flukes in a direct manner, upwards and downwards; and each time the blow is made with the inferior surface, the head of the whale sinks down to the depth of eight or ten feet, but when the blow is reversed, it rises out of the water, presenting then to it only the sharp cutwater-like inferior portion. The blow with the upper surface of the flukes appears to be by far the more powerful, and as, at the same time, the resistance of the broad anterior surface of the head is removed, appears to be the principal means of progression.

"This mode of swimming, with the head alternately in and out of the water, is called by sailors, 'going head out,' and in this way the whale can attain a

speed of ten or twelve miles an hour, and this latter I believe to be his greatest velocity.

"The tail is thus seen to be the great means of progression, and the fins are not used for that purpose, but occasionally; when suddenly disturbed, the whale sinks quickly and directly downwards in the horizontal position, which he effects by striking upwards with the fin and tail.

"It is difficult to conceive any object in nature calculated to cause alarm to this leviathan; he appears, however, to be remarkably timid, and is readily alarmed by the approach of a whale boat. When seriously alarmed, the whale is said by sailors to be 'gallied,' or probably galled, and in this state he performs many actions very differently from his usual mode, as has been mentioned in speaking of his swimming and breathing; and many also which he is never observed to perform under any other circumstances-one of them is what is called sweeping,' which consists in moving the tail slowly, from side to side, on the surface of the water, as if feeling for the boat, or any other object that may be in the neighbourhood.

"The whale has also an extraordinary manner of rolling over and over, on the surface, (see cut) and this he does, especially when fastened to,' which means when a harpoon, with a line attached, is fixed in his body; and in this case they will sometimes coil an amazing length of line around them."

We insert the following specimen of the engravings; it has been reduced from the beautiful print by Mr. Huggins, which was the first correct representation of the Sperm Whale published in this country. It exhibits the form of the boats, number and actions of the crews, and a correct view of the mode by which the animal is destroyed with the lance.

pearance; when seen from a distance, resembling large black rocks in the midst of the ocean: this posture they seem to assume for the purpose of surveying more perfectly, or more easily, the surrounding expanse. A species of whale, called by the whalers the Black fish,' is most frequently in the habit of assuming this position.

"One of the most curious and surpris. ing of the actions of the Sperm Whale is that of leaping completely out of the water, or of breaching,' as it is called by whalers.

·

"The way in which he performs this extraordinary motion appears to be by descending to a certain depth below the surface, and then making some powerful strokes with his tail, which are frequently and rapidly repeated, and thus convey a great degree of velocity to his body before it reaches the surface, when he darts completely out. The inclination his body forms with the surface, when just emerged and at his greatest elevation, forms an angle of about 45 degrees, the flukes lying parallel with the surface: in falling, the animal rolls his body slightly, so that he always falls on his side; he seldom breaches more than twice or thrice at a time, or in quick succession.

"The breach' of a whale may be seen from the mast-head, on a clear day, at the distance of six miles.

"6 Occasionally, when lying at the surface, the whale appears to amuse itself by violently beating the water with its tail; this act is called lob tailing,' and the water lashed in this way into foam is termed white water' by the whaler, and by which he is recognized from a great distance.

"The female whales are much smaller than the males, and are very remarkable for attachment to their young, which they may be frequently seen urging and assisting to escape from danger, with the most unceasing care and fondness.

"They are also not less remarkable for their strong feeling of sociality or attachment to one another, and this is carried to so great an extent, as that one female of a herd being attacked and wounded, her faithful companions will remain around her to the last moment, or until they are wounded themselves.

"This act of remaining by a wounded companion is called by whalers heaving to,' and whole schools' have been destroyed by dextrous management, when several ships have been in company, wholly from the whales possessing this remarkable disposition.

"The attachment appears to be reciprocal on the part of the young whales, which have been seen about the ship for hours after their parent has been killed.

"The young males, or 'young bulls,' also generally go in large schools,' but differ remarkably from the female in disposition, inasmuch as they make an immediate and rapid retreat upon one of their number being struck, who is left to take the best care he can of himself.

"All Sperm Whales, both large and small, have some method of communicating by signal to each other, by which they become apprised of the near approach of danger; and this they do, although the distance may be very consi. derable between them, sometimes amount. ing to four, five, or even seven miles,

"The mode by which this is effected remains a curious secret.

"The ships engaged in this pursuit are generally of from 300 to 400 tons burthen, having crews to the number of about 30 men and officers.

"Each vessel carries six whale-boats, which are the principal means used in the pursuit and capture.

"Each boat has a crew of six men, two of whom are called the Headsman' and Boatsteerer,' (see Plate). Four of these boats are generally used in the chase, and are under the command of the captain and their mates respectively.

"From the commencement of the voyage, men are placed at each mast head who are relieved every two hours, one officer is also placed on the fore topgallant yard-consequently there are four persons constantly on the look out from the most elevated parts of the ship. From the commencement of the voyage also all utensils and instruments are got ready, although the ships are frequently out six months without taking a fish.

"When a whale is seen by any of the look-outs, he calls, there he spouts,' and as often as it spouts afterwards, he cries, 'there again' it is impossible to describe the excitement and agitation produced by this welcome intelligence; the listlessness produced by the previous monotony of a long, and perhaps hitherto profitless voyage, is shaken off among all on board; from the highest to the lowest all is bustle and activity; some rushing up the shrouds and rigging, to observe the number, distance, and position of the whale, or whales; and if near hand, others eagerly leap into the boats, and pull with ardent emulation towards their intended victim.

"If the whales should be some dis

tance to leeward, endeavour is made to run the ship within a quarter of a mile of them, but if to windward, the boats are sent in chase; an arduous task. From hour to hour, for several successive risings of the whale, sometimes from sun rise to sun set, under the direct rays of a tropical sun, do these hardy men endure the utmost suffering and fatigue, unheeded and almost unfelt, under the eager excitement of the chase; for hope surports their minds.

"When in pursuit of the whale with boats, it occasionally happens that just at the moment the harpoon is about to be thrust into its body, the whale suddenly descends-its course, however, has been observed, and the boats are placed in a position to be near it when it again rises to breathe; the time, as has been before stated, when he will do this is known to a minute.

"But these enormous creatures are sometimes known to turn upon their persecutors with unbounded fury, destroying every thing that meets them in their course, sometimes by the powerful blows of their flukes, and sometimes attacking with the jaw and head.

"Numbers of unfortunate whalers and their boats have been destroyed in this way. It is, however, fortunate that the large whales seldom shew this violent disposition to defend themselves by assailing their enemies.

"Numberless stories are told of fighting whales, many of which, however, are probably much exaggerated accounts of the real occurrences.

"A large whale, called Timor Jack, is the hero of many strange stories, such as of his destroying every boat that was sent against him, until a contrivance was made, by lashing a barrel to the end of a harpoon, with which he was struck, and whilst his attention was directed to this, and divided amongst several boats, means were found of giving him his death wound. "In the year 1804, the ship Adonis being in company with several others, struck a large whale off the coast of New Zealand, which'stove,' or destroyed nine boats before breakfast, and the chase consequently was necessarily given up. After destroying boats belonging to many ships, this whale was at last captured, and many harpoons of the various ships that had from time to time sent out boats against him, were found sticking in his body.

This whale was called New Zealand Tom, and the tradition is carefully preserved by whalers."

Had we consulted only our own taste

in extracting from this little work, we know not what we should have omitted: there is such a charm of novelty in the subject, combined with unassumingness of diction and ability, that we trust it will not be long ere we again meet our author in print. We have never seen a work so full of interest on an object so far removed from continuous observation.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE ARTS AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

IN page 319, we gave an extract from Mr. Wilkinson's erudite work on ancient Thebes, respecting the military operations of the Egyptians as conveyed to us by extant paintings; we now give a few passages illustrative of their knowledge of the arts as seen on pictures in the catacombs of their kings:

"On the right hand wall are some very elegant vases, of what has been called the Greek style, but common in the oldest tombs in Thebes. They are ornamented as usual with Arabesques and other devices. Indeed, all these forms of vases, the Tuscan border, and the greater part of the painted ornaments which exist on Greek remains, are found on Egyptian monuments of the earliest epoch, even before the Exodus of the Israelites; which plainly removes all doubts as to their original invention. Above these are curriers, chariot-makers, and other artizans.* The semi-circular knife used for cutting leather is precisely similar to that employed in Europe at the present day for the same purpose, of which there are several instances in other parts of Thebes; and another point is here satisfactorily established, that the Egyptian chariots were of wood, and not of bronze, as some have imagined."

Another tomb furnishes some additional information respecting the mechanical skill of the Egyptians:

"The inner chamber contains subjects of the most interesting and diversified kind. Among these, on the left (entering), are cabinet-makers, carpenters, rope-makers, and sculptors, some of whom are engaged in levelling and squaring a stone, and others in finishing a sphinx, with two colossal statues of the

"Others are employed in weighing gold and silver rings, the property of the deceased. Their weights are an entire calf, the head of an ox, (the half weight), and small oval balls (the quarter weights). They have a very ingenious mode of preventing the scale from sinking, when the object they have weighed is taken out, by mean of a ring upon the beam. Vide Genesis xliii. 21. Our money in full weight.""

king. The whole process of brick-making is also introduced. Others are employed in heating a liquid over a charcoal fire, to which are applied, on either side, a pair of bellows. These are worked by the feet, the operator standing, and pressing them alternately, while he pulls up each exhausted skin by a string he holds in his hand. In one instance the man has left the bellows, but they are raised, as if full of air, which would imply a knowledge of the valve. Another singular fact is learnt from these frescos-their acquaintance with the use of glue-which is heated on the fire, and spread, with a thick brush, on a level piece of board. One of the workmen then applies two pieces of different coloured wood to each other, and this circumstance seems to decide that glue is here intended to be represented rather than a varnish or colour of any kind."

From an unfinished chamber in the tomb of the kings at Thebes, we learn the process used by the Egyptians in forming these bas-reliefs :

"In Egyptian bas-reliefs the position of the figures was first decided by the artist, who traced them roughly with a red colour, and the draughtsman then carefully sketched the outlines in black, and submitted them to the inspection of the former, who altered (as appears in some few instances here) those parts which he deemed deficient in proportion or correctness of attitude; and in that state they were left for the chisel of the sculptor. But the death of the king, or some other cause, prevented, in this case, their completion; and their unfinished condition, so far from exciting our regret, affords a satisfactory opportunity of appreciating their skill in drawing, which these figures so unequivocally attest.

A BROTHER'S MISERIES.

I am one of that unfortunate, persecuted, snubbed, neglected, tyrannized, be-petticoated class, brothers. I hear your sigh, Mr. Editor; I feel your gentle sympathy. The tears spring to my eyes at the imagination of the drops fast falling from your's. Yes, sir, we are a much-to-bepitied race: and what is worse, the world seems to be agreed in holding our sorrows as nothing in the scale of social evil. We come into the world predestined to grief; we are born to miserydoomed to wretchedness: there is no escape from our lot,-and we meet with no sympathy (save only among our illused selves), but are treated as though

we were the happiest of the happy! Little does the world dream of the sorrows that weigh down a brother's spirit-of the sleepless nights that he devotes to the furtherance of his several sisters' little whims; small credit does it grant him for the numberless sacrifices he is daily called upon to make, to satisfy the neverending whim-whams and crotchets of the Charlottes and Carolines, the Emmas and Emilies, who, under the idle pretext of relationship, cling to his skirts. When I see brothers going to balls, and plays, and races, and entering into scenes of gaiety and dissipation, I mourn over this striking proof of their wretchedness. "Frater sum, et nihil a me alienum puto!" I know the worm that is cankering within; I see through their motives; they seek but to fly the recollection of the griefs of home; they are in search of Lethe. What though they smile-'tis but the smile of misery: what if they laugh—'tis the very wantonness of grief: what if they marry-'tis but rushing in despair into another kind of woe; wearied of their own sisters, they try those of others.

Poor mistaken fellows!lambs hurrying to the sacrifice—victims crowding to the altar-types of suffering innocence, fated to fly from the vessel in which, into the element by which, we perform our culinary operations! Would that the recital of my griefs could act as an emollient to their wounds! Would that I could, in any way, call up a feeling of sympathy for our race in the public mind; and induce those opiniated persons, parents, to look with a regardful eye on the already overwhelming numbers of our female persecutors.

I am the last of six consumers of pap, and bread and butter: the first five were girls (I hear your groan); we are all alive; and consequently I struggle on in a painful existence, surrounded-no, preceded, by five sisters. There's Hetty, and Caroline, and Charlotte, and Susan, and Johanna; then I come, John. I pass over the periods of elecampane and hard-bake; of dessert and eight o'clock beds. I say nothing of the pushings and shakings I endured for a number of years (each of my sisters considering she had an undoubted right, as an elder, to command my implicit obedience when and where she chose). I allude not to the numberless mortifications I was made to feel in the daily eatings and drinkings (as the youngest, and a boy, I was always last served, and so got the worst portions; and my fingers were rapped if I complained, and I was told young ladies