fugitive, when the elephant rushed amongst them with the utmost fury, trampled some of them to death, dashed others to the ground with her trunk, and put the rest to flight. She then placed her master, who was wounded in the contest, upon her back, and conveyed him to a place of security. There are numerous well-attested anecdotes of similar instances of the affection of elephants towards their owners. If elephants meet with a sick or wounded animal of their own species, they afford him all the assistance in their power. Should he die, they bury him, and carefully cover his body with branches of trees. During a war in the East Indies, an elephant, that had received a flesh-wound from a cannon-ball, was conducted twice or thrice to the hospital, where he stretched himself upon the ground to have his wounds dressed. He afterwards always went thither by himself. The surgeon employed such means as he thought would conduce to his cure; he several times even cauterized the wound, and although the animal expressed the pain which this operation occasioned him, by the most piteous groaning, yet he never showed any other sentiments towards the opera tor than those of gratitude and affection. The surgeon was fortunate enough to completely cure him. There is a further anecdote of this animal's gratitude. A soldier at Pondicherry, who was accustomed, whenever he received a portion that came to his share, to carry a certain quantity of it to an elephant, having one day drank rather too freely, and finding himself pursued by the guards, who were going to take him to prison, took refuge under the elephant's body and fell asleep. In vain did the guard try to force him from this asylum: the elephant protected him with his trunk. The next morning the soldier recovering from his drunken fit, shuddered to find himself stretched under the belly of this huge animal. The elephant, which, without doubt, perceived the embarrassment of the poor fellow, caressed him with his trunk, in order to dissipate his fears, and make him understand that he might now depart in safety, It should not be forgotten that the poet of "The Seasons" refers to the sagacity of the elephant, his seclusion in his natural state, the arts by which he is ensnared. the magnificence of his appearance in oriental solemnities, and his use in war fare: Peaceful, beneath primeval trees, that cast Project thrice happy! could he 'scape their guile, Or with his towery grandeur swell their state, The pride of kings! or else his strength pervert, On the 27th of September, 1763, captain Sampson presented an elephant, brought by him from Bengal, to his majesty, at the queen's house. It was conducted from Rotherhithe that morning at two o'clock, and two blacks and a seaman Thomson rode on his back. The animal was about eight feet high. The zebra, now well known from its being frequently brought into this coun66 stranger try, was at that time almost a in England." One of them having been given to her late majesty queen Charlotte, obtained the name of the " queen's ass,' and was honoured by a residence in the tower, whither the elephant was also conveyed. Their companionship occasioned some witticisms, of which there remains this specimen. EPIGRAM anus in his "Stratagems," says, On the Elephant's being placed in the fenced with an iron coat of mail, bu same stable with the Zebra. On the occasion of captain Sampson's present to the king, several accounts of the elephant were written. One of them says, that "the largest and finest elephants in the world are those in the island of Ceylon; next to them, those of the continent of India; and lastly, the elephant of Africa." The Moors, who deal in these animals throughout the Indies, have a fixed price for the ordinary sort, according to their size. They measure from the nail of the fore foot to the top of the shoulder, and for every cubit high they give after the rate of 100l. of our money. An African elephant of the largest size measures about nine cubits, or thirteen feet and a half in height, and is worth about 9007., but of the breed of Ceylon, four times that sum." Tavernier, in proof of the superiority of the elephant of Ceylon, says, "One, I will tell you, hardly to be believed, but that which is a certain truth, which is, that when any other king, or rajah, has one of these elephants of Ceylon, if they bring them any other breed in any other place whatever, so soon as the other elephants behold the Ceylon elephants, by an instinct of nature, they do them reverence, by laying their trunks upon the ground, and raising them up again." Though Cæsar does not mention the fact in his commentaries, yet it is certain that he brought elephants with him to England, and that they contributed to his conquest of our predecessors. Poly large turret on it, and putting up bowro and slingers, ordered them to pass 1 into the stream. The Britons were mayed at the sight of such an unkno and monstrous beast, (ἀοραίον κ' ύπερος Onpiov) they fled, therefore, with th horses and chariots, and the Roma passed the river without oppositio terrifying their enemies by this sing creature." In 1730, or 1731, some workmen dig ging the great sewer in Pall Mall, ovel. against the King's Arms tavern," discovered at the depth of twenty-eight feet, several bones of an elephant. The strata below the surface were ten or twelve feet of artificial soil; below that four or five feet of yellow sand, varying in colour till they came to the bed wherein the bones were found, which consisted of exceedingly fine sand similar to that dug on Hampstead heath. About eighteen years previously, elephants' bones were discovered in digging in St. James's-square; and about fourteen years before that some were found in the same place. These various animal remains in that neighbourhood lay at about the same depth. In 1740, the remains of an elephant were discovered by some labourers while digging a trench in the park of Frances Biddulph, esq. at Benton, in Sussex. those of a skeleton usually do. It was The bones did not lie close together as evident that the various parallel strata of the earth had never been disturbed; it was concluded that these animal de posits had remained there from the period they had been conveyed and there, left, of the deluge, when it was presumed that on the subsidence of the waters. In 1756, the workmen of a gentleman, digging upon a high hill near Mendip for ochre and ore, discovered, at the depth of 315 feet from the surface, four teeth, not tusks, and two thighbones with part of the nead of an elephant. Remains of the same animal have been at periods discovered at Mersey Island in Essex, at Harwich, at Chartham near Canterbury, at Bowden Parva, in Norfolk, Suffolk, Northamptonshire, and in various other parts of Great Britain and Ireland. Elephant's teeth were discovered at Islington, in digging a gravel pit. Shakspeare, in "Troilus and Cressida," compares the slowness of Ajax to that of the elephant; and in the same play he again compares him to the same animal, and afterwards continues the comparison. There is reason to believe, that the Is best to lodge: I will bespeak our diet, NATURALISTS' CALENDAR March 10. Benjamin West. A few anecdotes of this eminent painter, who died on the 10th of March, 1820, are related in vol. i. p. 346. By the favour of a gentleman who possesses letters from him, the reader is presented with Mr. West's Autograph. Beng." "Westy Another gentleman, an artist, has obligingly made a drawing from the bust by Mr. Behnes, in sir John Leicester's gallery, and thrown in some touches from intimate acquaintance with Mr. West, in his last illness, to convey an idea of his friend's last looks. Benjamin West, Esq. The elegant volume descriptive of sir John Leicester's gallery, contains an outline of Mr. Behnes' bust; the outline of that delineation is preserved in the preceding sketch, because it is familiar Mr. Behnes conveys to us the apostolic simplicity of West's character, and the present engraving may be regarded as inviting the admirers of the genius of the late president of the royal academy,who have not seen the marble, to In "The Examiner" of the 10th of March, 1816, there are some lines, too beautiful in sentiment to be passed over on any day. PROVIDENCE. From the Italian of Filicaia. Just as a mother with sweet pious face Takes this upon her knees, that on her feet : To this a look, to that a word dispenses, And whether stern or smiling, loves them still: So Providence for us, high, infinite, Makes our necessities its watchful task, Hearkens to all our prayers, helps all our wants; Or seems but to deny, or in denying grants. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. March 11. Newark Custom, FOUNDED ON DREAM. To the Editor of the Every-Day Book. A curious traditional story of a very extraordinary deliverance of alderman Hercules Clay, and his family, by a dream, is at your service. I am, &c. On March 11, every year, at Newarkupon-Trent, penny loaves are given away to every one who chooses to appear at the town-hall, and apply for them, in commemoration of the deliverance of Hercules Clay, during the siege of Newark by the parliamentary forces. This Hercules Clay, by will dated 11th of De cember, 1694, gave to the mayor and aldermen one hundred pounds, to be placed at interest by the vicar's consent for his benefit, to preach a sermon on the 11th day of March, annually, and another hundred pounds to be secured and applied in like manner for the poor of the town of Newark, which is distributed as above-mentioned. The occasion of this bequest was singular. During the bombardment of the town of Newark, by the parliament army under Oliver Cromwell, Clay (then a tradesman residing in Newark market-place) dreamed three nights successively, that his house was set fire to by the besiegers. Impressed by the repetition of this warning, as he considered it, he quitted his house, and in the course of a few hours after the prediction was fulfilled. CHRONOLOGY. 1727. March 11. The equestrian statue of king George I., in Grosvenorsquare, was much defaced; the left leg torn off, the sword and truncheon broken off, the neck hacked as if designed to cut off the head, and a libel left at the place." • British Chronologist. NATURALISTS' CALENDAR. Mean Temperature. . . 40 60. March 12. 1826. Fifth Sunday in Lent. CHRONOLOGY. On the 12th of March, 1808, died, at West Ham, in Essex, George Gregory, D. D. vicar of that parish. He was descended from a respectable family, originally from Scotland, a branch of which was settled in Ireland. His father, who had been educated in Trinity-college, Dublin, held, at the time of his son's birth, the living of Edernin, and a prebend in the cathedral of Ferns. Dr. Gregory was born on April 14, 1754, but whether in Dublin or in Lancashire, of which county his mother was a native, is uncertain. When twelve years of age, at the death o. his father, he was removed to Liverpool, where his mother fixed her residence, desiring to place him in commerce; but a taste for literature being his ruling propensity, he studied in the university of Edinburgh, in 1776 entered into holy orders, and his first station in the church was in the capacity of a curate at Liverpool. His attachments were chiefly among the liberal and literary. In conjunction with Mr. Roscoe, and other congenial spirits, Dr. Gregory had the merit of publicly exposing the cruelty and injustice of the slave trade in the principal seat of that traffic. In 1782, he removed to London, and obtained the curacy of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, which, on account of the weight of its parochial duty, he left in three years, though by a general invitation he was recalled as morning preacher in 1788; and on the death of the vicar in 1802, a request was presented to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's, signed by every inhabitant, that he might succeed to the vacancy. In the mean time he pursued with indefatigable industry those literary occupations, which, in various ways, have benefited the public. Dr. Gregory was a useful writer who, without aiming, except rarely, at the reputation of original composition, performed real services to letters, by employing a practised style, an exercised judgment, and extensive information, in works of compilation or abridgement, adapted to the use of that numerous class who desire to obtain knowledge in His publica a compendious manner. tions were successfully planned and ably executed. He served at different times the curacy and lectureship of St. Botolph, the lectureship of St. Luke's, and a weekly lectureship of St. Antholin's, and was elected evening preacher at the Foundling hospital, which the state of his health obliged him to resign. The bishop of London presented him with a small prebend in the cathedral of St. Paul's, which he relinquished on receiving the rectory of Stapleford, Herts. In 1804, he was presented by Lord Sidmouth (then Mr. Addington) with the valuable living of West Ham, in Essex, when he resigned every other clerical charge except that of Cripplegate, to which parish he was attached by warm feelings of gratitude. At West Ham he passed four years, discharging with fidelity his duties as a clergyman and a magistrate, and occupying his leisure with literature. Life was endeared to him by domestic enjoyments in the bosom of an amiable and affectionate family, and by the society of many friends, whom he was much valued for his perpetual readiness to serve and oblige, and the unaffected cheerfulness of his conversation. Without any decided cause of illness, the powers of his constitution suddenly and all together gave way; every vital function was debilitated, and after a short confinement, he expired with the calm resignation and animating hopes of a christian. Among his numerous works are, "Essays, historical and moral," a "Translation of Lowth's Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews," a "Church History," from which he acquired celebrity with the inquiring, "The Economy of Nature," and a wellknown 66 and Dictionary of Arts Sciences." |