Bernard, that he proposed to go out himself, and make [that is, darkness], which is still practised at Rome, inquiries. "No, my dear boy," said Dufour, "there appears to be a modification of this custom. Upon a is a possibility, though a slight one, that the duel may triangular frame, fifteen candles are arranged, seven have been no pretext. The truth will soon come to yellow ones at each side, and a white one at the top. light. For the post, let it go; it may be made up." The fourteen yellow candles represent the eleven The last words had an amazingly and mysteriously apostles, the Virgin Mary, and the women that were strong effect on Raymond. He remained within doors, with her at the crucifixion; the white one at the top and from the long and seemingly interesting conver-represents Christ. Fourteen psalms are sung, and at sations which he held with Amenaide, it is probable the end of each one of the yellow candles is put out. that he found not the time heavy on his hands. This Then, the light on the altar being extinguished, the state of things came to a close with the appearance, white candle is taken down and hid under the altar. on the second day, of M. Bernard. His face was joy- The putting out of the fourteen candles denotes the ful when he met M. Dufour; that of the latter was flight or mourning of the apostles and women, and the hiding of the white candle denotes that Christ is in the sepulchre. Then a noise is made by beating the desks and shuffling with feet, to represent the earthquake and the splitting of the rocks. In St Peter's church, on this day, the hundred lights usually kept burning on St Peter's tomb are extinguished, and an illuminated cross is suspended under the dome, where it appears as if self-supported. grave. "The affair is arranged, then?" said the old merchant. "What affair do you speak of?" asked Bernard. "The duel of Raymond, certainly," was the reply. Bernard had probably hoped that this matter, or at least the details of it, would never reach the ears of the Dufours. He coloured slightly, as he replied, "Bah! it was all nonsense-a jest which his simplicity led some wags to play off upon him. His opponent was never hurt. But see, M. Dufour; while the silly fool has run away into exile, I have been prudent enough to secure his proposed place. And now, I think I may venture to ask your daughter's hand without delay." "And I refuse my hand," said Amenaide, entering from the open door of another room, leaning on the arm of Raymond. "You, sir, have treacherously abused this gentleman's confidence; you artfully forced his inexperience and good nature into delays to take advantage of them; and you finally conspired with accomplices to remove him from your path. It was here, happily, that he found a refuge. For what you have done you have your chosen reward. M. Raymond here receives my hand in recompense, the sole condition attached to it being that he leaves you to the punishment which your own selfishness will attach to your reflections on the subject." ENGLISH POPULAR FESTIVALS. GOOD FRIDAY. GOOD FRIDAY,* as the presumed anniversary of the day of the Crucifixion, has for ages been solemnly observed throughout Christian Europe, the only exceptions being in Presbyterian countries, such as Scotland. In Catholic times, the observances of the day in England were of the same character with those which are still maintained in many parts of the Continent. It is still a solemn festival of the Church of England, and the only one besides Christmas which is honoured by a general suspension of business. Strict church-of-England people abstain from any kind of animal food, even from cream to tea; such, we are informed by Boswell, was the custom of Dr Johnson.+ The churches are well attended, and it is considered proper to appear there in black clothes. The religious usages of old times were generally more remarkable for the earnestness which prompted them than for their rationality or good taste. One of those appropriate to Good Friday appears in modern eyes of an unusually grotesque character. The priests took an image of the crucifix, which they carried with doleful hymns round the altar. Then stripping the figure of its coat, they laid it down before the steps of the altar, upon Turkey carpets, and with pillows to support the head. They and the people then crept along the ground in succession towards the crucifix, where they kissed the feet of the image, with marks of the greatest tenderness and devotion, many shedding tears. This was called "Creeping to the Cross." An old book containing the ceremonials observed by the English monarchs, directs the usher to lay a carpet on this day for the king "to creepe to the crosse upon." The queen and her ladies were also to creep to the cross. On the same day, the king hallowed rings to be distributed amongst the people, as a preservative against cramp and falling sickness. This was a custom which took its rise in the supposed virtue of a ring which had been given by King Edward I. to a poor person who asked him alms for the love of St John the Evangelist, and which, having found its way to Palestine, was afterwards brought back to the king by some persons returning from that country. On account of the healing power believed to reside in it, it was kept for centuries in Westminster Abbey with great veneration; and the king was presumed to be able to impart its virtue to other rings, by means of the ceremony of consecration. These were called cramp-rings, and received and sent abroad with an implicit faith in their power to cure fits. In some parts of England, the common people are still found to put some faith in what they call cramp-rings. Another of the strange religious rites practised on Good Friday was a representation of the burial of Christ. A figure representing the dead Christ, wrapt in grave clothes, was carried along amidst the acclamations of the people, who knelt and beat their breasts before it, and deposited in a receptacle designed to represent the sepulchre, where it was allowed to rest till Easter day. The service called Tenebrae *Good Friday occurs, this year, on the 25th of March. In Ireland, many of the common people eat only a crust of bread on Good Friday, and, in some places, sucking infants are withheld from their ordinary sustenance. EASTER SUNDAY. Easter (from the Saxon oster, rising, referring to the Resurrection) is observed with much ceremonial, not only throughout Catholic Europe, and in the countries where the Greek church is established, but in Turkey and the Mahommedan countries along the coast of Africa. The festival is an engraftment upon the Jewish Passover, the name of which (pascha) is still applied to it in almost every country besides England. The Catholic observances of Easter are of an elaborate character. At Rome, the Pope is carried in state to perform high mass in St Peter's, from the balcony of which he afterwards blesses the people assembled in the piazza below-perhaps one of the most imposing religious spectacles which the world any where presents. In England, before the Reformation, the Catholic observances of Easter were as fully enacted as in any other country. Early in the morning, a sort of theatrical representation of the Resurrection was performed in the churches, the priests coming to the little sepulchre where, on Good Friday, they had deposited the host, which they now brought forth with great rejoicings, as emblematical of the rising of the Saviour. In the course of the day, the clergy had a game at ball in the church, a custom of which it is now difficult to believe that it ever could have existed. A ball being brought in, the dean began a chant suited to Easter day, and then, taking the ball in his left hand, commenced a dance to the tune, others of the priests dancing round, hand in hand. At intervals, the ball was handed or tossed by the dean to each of the choristers, the organ playing music appropriate to their various antics, until it was time to give over, and retire to take refreshment. Eggs and apples are curiously connected with Good Friday. A Protestant writer in Elizabeth's time notes the Popish custom of "creeping to the cross with eggs and apples." Probably they were used as offerings. Another writer, of the same age, says that the Roman Catholics, on Good Friday, "offered unto Christ egges and bacon, to be in his favour till Easter day was past." "To holde forth the cross for egges on Good Friday," occurs among the Catholic customs censured by John Ball, a Protestant writer, in 1554. A French writer of a later age speaks of a custom of preserving all eggs laid on Good Friday, as good for extinguishing fires into which they may be thrown. In England, no kind of eatable but one, soon to be adverted to, remains in association with the day. At present, in large seats of population, Easter SunWe find that, in the time of the civil war, the puri- day is distinguished by little besides the few peculiaritan severity relaxed itself on this day upon a prin- ties of the service, and the custom of going to church ciple of contradiction. A "zealous brother" is thus in attire as gay as possible. But in rural districts described in 1631:-" He is an Antipos to all church- there still exist a few vestiges of old superstitions and government; when she fasts, he feasts: Good Friday customs connected with the day. It was once a geneis his Shrove Tuesday. He commends this notable ral belief, and probably still is so in a few out-of-thecarnal caveat to his family-Eat flesh upon days pro-way places, that on Easter morning the sun danced hibited, it is good against Popery." In old times, Good Friday was distinguished in London by a sermon preached at Paul's Cross (a wooden pulpit mounted on stone steps, and surmounted by a cross, which stood till the time of the civil war, in the open air, near the north-east corner of St Paul's Cathedral). The sermon was generally on the subject of Christ's passion. Connected with it, two or three others were preached on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, in Easter week, at the Spital in Spitalfields, where the Lord Mayor and all the most eminent persons in London generally attended. Spital sermons" are still kept up, but take place in St Bride's Church. The 66 The eatable above alluded to is the famous Hot Cross Bun. All England still eats hot cross buns on Good Friday. These are small cakes, slightly spiced, sometimes of a round shape, and sometimes long and tapering at both ends, but always marked on the top with an indentation in the form of a cross. In London, as well as in almost every other considerable town in England, the first sound heard on the morning of Good Friday is the cry of" Hot Cross Buns !" uttered by great numbers of people of an humble order, who parade the streets with baskets containing a plentiful stock of the article, wrapped up in flannel and linen to keep it warm. The cry, which is rather musical, is strictly Hot cross buns One a-penny, buns-two a-penny, buns ; Hucksters of all kinds, and many persons who attempt no traffic at any other time, enter into the business of supplying buns on Good Friday morning. They make a stir on the streets, which lasts till church time, and it is resumed in the afternoon. About a century ago, there was a baker's shop at Chelsea, so famous for its manufacture of excellent buns, that crowds of waiting customers clustered under its porch during a great part of the day. The buns were brought up from the oven on small black tin trays, and so given out to the people. The king himself had stopped at the door to purchase hot cross buns, and hence the shop took the name of the Royal Bun-House. As always happens in London when any thing original and successful is struck out, the royal bun-house soon obtained a rival, and was obliged to advertise as the Old Original Royal Bun-House. The wars of these two houses, like those of York and Lancaster, have long since been hushed to rest, and we find it stated in a recent work that neither of them is now distinguished for this article above the other bakers' shops of Chelsea. small consecrated loaves which are distributed by the Hot cross buns appear to be identical with the church in Catholic countries to those who, from any impediment, could not obtain the host. These loaves are made of the dough whence the host is taken, are marked with a cross, and are kissed before they are eaten. It is remarkable that the bread of the Greeks was marked by a cross on the upper surface, and that they gave such loaves as offerings to the gods, under a name which in the accusative case is B (boun). The prophet Jeremiah also speaks of cakes used in Pagan worship. Two small loaves, marked with a cross on the top, were found in Herculaneum. or played immediately after his rising. People rose early and went into the fields to see this supposed phenomenon. Suckling, in his ballad on a wedding, alludes to it "But, Dick, she dances such a way, No sun upon an Easter day And Sir Thomas Browne, in denying it in his "Vulgar Errors," uses language which shows how intertwined with religious feeling the notion had become “We shall not, I hope," says he, "disparage the resurrection of our Redeemer, if we say the sun doth not dance on Easter day." In some places, it was considered necessary, in order to realise this spectacle, to go to the brink of a fountain, and observe the reflection of the sun upon its surface, which of course would reduce the miracle to a natural fact. On Easter day, it was customary to adorn the churches with flowers, and there was in some places a custom called Clipping the Church, which was thus acted. The children came one after another to church, where they arranged themselves with their backs against the walls on the outside, taking hold of each other's hands, until so many were assembled that they formed a complete cincture round the exterior of the building-the people looking on, and shouting joyfully. The viands appropriate to Easter day in the old times were, first and above all, eggs, then bacon, tansy pudding, and bread and cheese. The origin of the connexion of eggs with Easter is lost in the mists of remote antiquity. They are as rife this day in Russia as in England. There it is customary to go about with a quantity, and to give one to each friend one meets, saying, "Jesus Christ is risen," to which the other replies, "Yes, he is risen," or, "It is so of a truth." The Pope formerly blessed eggs to be distributed throughout the Christian world for use on Easter day. In Germany, instead of the egg itself, the people offer a print of it, with some lines inscribed. Formerly, the King of England had hundreds prepared to give to his household in a roll of the expenses of Edward I., there occurs, in the accounts of Easter Sunday, in the eighteenth year of his reign, "Four hundred and a half of eggs, eighteenpence." The custom is supposed to have been originally Jewish. : At this day, the Easter eggs used in England are boiled hard in water containing a dye, so that they come out coloured. In some instances, this colouring is variegated or figured, by tracing over the egg with a candle end. The boys take these eggs, and make a kind of game, either by throwing them to a distance on the green sward, he who throws oftenest without against each other in their respective hands, in which breaking his eggs being the victor, or hitting them case the owner of the hardiest or last surviving egg gains the day. Even in Scotland, where holiday's and holiday observances are almost unknown, Paste (that is, Pasch) eggs are regularly prepared by the boys, and thrown in the manner here described, but generally on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. When the eggs are broken, the children make a feast of the contents, keenness of digestion making up, it is to be supposed, for the hardness to which they have been boiled. It was customary to have a gammon of bacon this day, and to eat it all up, in signification of abhorrence of Judaism. The tansy seems to have been introduced a red into Easter feasts, as a successor to the bitter herbs used by the Jews at their passover. It was usually presented well sugared. Aubrey tells us that, in his time (the seventeenth century) the first dish brought upon table at Oxford on Easter Sunday was herring riding away upon horseback," that is, a herring placed somewhat after the manner of a man upon horseback, in a corn salad. Throughout England, the fire was allowed to go out on Easter Sunday, after which the chimney and fireplace were completely cleaned, and the fire once more lighted. It was a custom in the thirteenth century to seize all ecclesiastics found walking abroad between Easter and Pentecost, and make them purchase their liberty with money. This was an acting of the seizure of the apostles after Christ's passion. We have still what appears to be a relic of this fashion in a custom which exists in various parts of England. A band of young men goes abroad, and whatever female they meet they take hold of her, and pull off her shoes, which are only returned to her upon her paying some trifling forfeit. In Durham, it is done by boys, who, on meeting any woman, accost her with, "Pay for your shoes, if you please." The trifling sums which they thus collect are spent in a feast at night. At Ripon, celebrated for its manufacture of spurs, travellers riding through the town are stripped of those articles, which in like manner they have to redeem. On Easter Monday, the women make a return by going abroad in groups, and causing the men to redeem their shoes. The White Tower was originally built by William the Conqueror about 1078, and was, for several centuries subsequent to its erection, used, along with some other buildings now pulled down, as a royal residence -the unsettled state of the nation rendering security indispensable for crowned heads; and even with such precautions as were resorted to for protection, the said heads were not always allowed to repose on the shoulders of their kingly owners. How little, my dear Jane, are we, who live in blessed peaceful times, able to estimate the amount of human suffering, physical and mental, which has been endured within these walls! How many of the wise and good, of the gay and beautiful, have been here confounded with the actually vicious, terminating perhaps years of hopeless imprisonment by violent disgraceful deaths or by secret assassination! The apartments appropriated to the use of state criminals are principally confined to this quadrangular building; and here, in 1305, William Wallace was imprisoned previous to his execution. In the following reign, David of Scotland and several lords of his court were confined here; followed, in 1359, John King of France and his son. From that period the Tower was the scene of many of those dark tragedies consequent on the struggles amongst the various branches of the Plantagenet family for the supreme power. A gloomy, long-arched gateway thrown across the walk which leads to the inner ward or court, is called the entrance to the Bloody Tower; and in a room over this "Lifting at Easter" is another old custom, which entrance it is said the young princes Edward V. and may be presumed to have originated in a design of his brother, the Duke of York, were murdered; but dramatising the events connected with Christ's passion. this cannot be authenticated. However, at the bottom It consisted in hoisting individuals up into the air, of a staircase which leads into this arch, a quantity of either in a chair or otherwise, until they relieved them- human bones were found in the time of Charles II., selves by a forfeit. A curious record makes us aware who had them collected, placed in an urn, and deposited that, on Easter day, in the eighteenth year of the in Westminster Abbey, under the impression that reign of Edward L., seven ladies of the queen's house- they were the remains of those hapless children. hold went into the king's chamber, and lifted him, for Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, and her equally which fourteen pounds appears to have been disbursed unfortunate husband; Sir Thomas More, and Sir as a forfeit. The men lifted the women on Easter Walter Raleigh; were successively sacrificed here, beMonday, and the women claimed the privilege of lift-sides many victims, more or less distinguished, if not ing the men on the ensuing day. Three hoists were in their lives, at least by the manner of their deaths. always given, attended by loud huzzas. A gentleman Queen Elizabeth, before she acceded to the throne, and named Loggan thus described the ceremony, as per- while she was an object of dread to her sister Mary, formed in his own case in 1799:-"I was sitting alone suffered imprisonment in one of the towers. The last Easter Tuesday, at breakfast in the Talbot in council-chamber and chapel, and several of the apart Shrewsbury, when I was surprised by the entrance of ments, are now used as offices for records and stateall the female servants of the house handing in an papers; but none of these rooms, nor those formerly arm-chair, lined with white, and decorated with rib- occupied by prisoners, are now shown. Queen Elizabons and favours of different colours. I asked them beth's apartment is now the governor's wine-cellar. what they wanted. Their answer was, they came to heate me. It was the custom of the place on that morning, and they hoped I would take a seat in their chair. It was impossible not to comply with a request very modestly made, and to a set of nymphs in their best apparel, and several of them under twenty. I wished to see all the ceremony, and seated myself accordingly. The group then lifted me from the ground, turned the chair about, and I had the felicity of a salute from each. I told them I supposed there was a fee due upon the occasion, and was answered in the affirmative; and having satisfied the damsels in this respect, they withdrew to heare others." fair representation of the appearance of one of those strange military enthusiasts who sought to redeem the Holy Land from l'agan domination. After Edward there is a gap till the middle of the fifteenth century, by which time the plate armour or mail had come into fashion. As specimens of the armour of that age, we have, first, thie imbecile Henry VI., next his overthrower Edward IV.-the first being furnished with a curious saddle of bone work, and the horses of both arrayed in housings of velvet, richly embroidered. The next in order is Henry VII. (1508), in a tilting suit of steel, enveloping the entire figure, rendering the wearer, one would suppose, invulnerable. The horse, too, is equipped in a kind of mail. Ile is followed by his son Henry VIII. (1509), wearing an entire suit, with breastplates, and backplates, armplates, gauntlets and braces, all inlaid with gold, and authentic as being the armour of Henry. The next is the Duke of Suffolk (1520), in a suit of plate armour; followed by the Earl of Lincoln (1535), in a suit very richly gilt. Early in the sixteenth century, defensive armour is considered as having attained its perfection, both as to ornament and strength. There were instances in that age of battles between small but well mailed armies, which would last a long day, and be attended by scarcely any bloodshed or damage of any kind, except a vast deal of fatigue to the metal-covered knights, and perhaps a few deaths by suffocation. We thus become prepared for the elegant and very complete specimens afforded by the figures of Edward VI. (1552), the Earl of Huntingdon (1555), the Earl of Leicester (1560), Sir Harry Lee, champion of England (1570), and Elizabeth's favourite hero, the Earl of Essex (1555). After this period, armour became more ornamental, or a matter of dandyism, than useful; and such is the character of a few of the next ensuing figures, including the gentle King James himself, who, you know, is said to have been unable to bear the sight of a drawn sword. The finest specimen of this age is presented in the figure of Henry Prince of Wales (1612), son of James, in a splendid suit of highly finished mail, engraved and gilt in the most elaborate manner. He is followed by the court favourite of the period, George Duke of Buckingham (1618), in a plain suit; next to whom is Charles Prince of Wales (1620), in a rich suit of armour, engraved and gilt; this figure is that of a youth, apparently of twelve or fourteen years of age. Next to him is the Earl of Strafford; and then comes Charles again, as king (1640), in a suit of gilt armour presented to him by the city of London. He is succeeded by his son James II. (1685), whose armour is only partial, there being now little worn but breast and back plates. This is the last in the centre row; but in a recess on the opposite side of the room is another representation of Henry VIII., which, I would say, is by far the most superb figure in the room. The armour, which is said to weigh 112 lbs., was a present from the Emperor Maximilian I., on the occasion of the marriage of Henry with his first wife, Catherine of Arragon. Visiters wishing to be shown through the various places open for inspection, must make their way to a kind of office or chamber guarded by yeomen in scarletlaced coats; and here they wait until a certain number assemble, when, escorted by one of the yeomen as a guide, they are conducted first to the Horse Armoury, which I was surprised to find a comparatively recent erection, though close under the White Tower. It may be described as a museum of ancient arms and armour, in which character it throws a light on the middle periods of English history. Formerly, the ideas that prevailed about armour were very confused. Near to this, in the same recess, is a small figure in A painter forty years ago, representing a Norman a full suit of armour, said to be that of Charles Prince knight of the army of William the Conqueror, would of Wales, when three years old. I presume it was nehave clad him in plates of steel, though no such thing|cessary to accustom the body to the use and weight of mail from the period of early youth, at least occasionally, otherwise the enormous weight must have been insupportable. LETTERS FROM A LADY IN LONDON TO HER existed for ages after. A hundred years ago, Dutch NIECE IN THE COUNTRY. THE TOWER. MY DEAR JANE,-In my last letter I mentioned some of those places which appeared to me particularly interesting in passing through the city; and now I wish to conduct you along with me on a visit to the Tower, a large government establishment on the bank of the Thames, at some distance eastward from London Bridge, and in the midst of that great line of wharfs and shipping which distinguish this as the commercial end of the town. On emerging from some confined streets, and descending a little towards the river, we come upon an open space called Tower-hill, in the midst of which the Tower is situated, on the north bank of the Thames, from which it is separated by a broad platform or quay, communicating with thoroughfares leading past each end of the building. A moat or ditch surrounds the entire area, which comprehends a space of upwards of 12 acres; the ditch measuring nearly 140 yards in circumference, and in some parts extending to the width of nearly 50 yards. The appearance of this moat, at the time of my visit, forcibly convinced me of the state of desuetude to which this once formidable place of defence had been reduced, by the happy and peaceful times in which we live; but I fancied that an enemy would still find it a fearful slough of despond, being a deposit of mud, &c., left by the evaporation of the water; but by opening sluices in connexion with the river, the water can be supplied at a minute's notice. Crossing this moat by a stone bridge, we entered through four different gates on the west side, this being the principal entrance; and instead of a tower, I imagined myself entering a small fortified town, so spacious are the walks and so numerous the houses all around. The principal object in the vast cluster of buildings is the White Tower or Keep, a large edifice of a square form, 115 feet long by 96 feet in width, and upwards of 90 feet in height, consisting of three distinet storeys, surmounted by battlements, and each corner finished by a round tower and vane. painters, depicting scenes in the life of Christ, thought it quite proper to invest the Roman soldiers of Herod in the armour of the sixteenth century. All this is now reformed, in consequence of careful inquiries into the history of armour, a branch of antiquarian knowledge in which there is none more eminent than Dr Meyrick, who has published a splendid work on the subject. Now, you must understand that the armour in the Tower was till lately arranged without the least regard to historical truth. Figures of certain kings were made up in armour which did not perhaps exist for a hundred years after their time. A few years ago, Dr Meyrick gratuitously undertook to arrange it correctly, so that it now illustrates our history with some degree of distinctness. Imagine an apartment a hundred and fifty feet in length and between thirty and forty feet in breadth, with a division down the centre, formed by graceful Gothic arches or stalls, divided each from the other by a single pillar. Each of these stalls is occupied by a mailed figure on horseback, representing several of the kings of England in the costumes of the respective periods of their reigns, each surmounted by a banner, bearing the name and date of the supposed figure. Amongst these chivalrous knights-twenty-two in number-are many names which occupy a conspicuous place in the records of past ages; and in contemplating the objects before me, I could not help giving way to the feeling that I was in the actual presence of those personages whose virtues or crimes had rendered them distinguished. I learned, however, that only one half of the number of suits were really worn by the parties named, the rest being a selection, arranged as nearly as possible in accordance with the known period assigned them in this collection. In a different part of the gallery there is another equestrian figure in a suit of chain mail, said to have been worn in the time of Stephen, 1140. This is extremely curious; and from its great age, it is now almost black in appearance. But we have all this time been so much taken up with these gentlemen of the olden times, that scarcely a look has been bestowed upon the room itself, which is well worthy of notice, being decorated in the most tasteful and curious manner with weapons and arms of all sorts. The ceiling is divided into compartments, bordered with muskets, pistols, cutlasses, pikes, &c., arranged with the utmost order and precision; the walls also are graced with similar devices, and gracefully disposed groups of ancient weapons occupy other parts of the room. We were next conducted from this by a staircase through one or two outer rooms to a part of the White Tower, where we were shown a long apartment filled with all kinds of interesting objects in the shape of weapons, instruments of torture, &c. It was exceedingly curious to notice the ingenious devices practised by mankind for the destruction or annoyance of their fellow-creatures; and I could not help feeling, that, had the same degree of labour and skill been applied in the promotion of objects of professed utility, we should have been much farther advanced in civilisation and happiness than we even now are. We had in this room an opportunity of observing the progressive improvements in arms, offensive and defensive; and could not repress astonishment at the muscular strength of our ancestors, in the facility with which they wielded swords, lances, &c., which a modern fine gentleman would fail to move. The The first figure is that of Edward I., bearing date small wicked-looking instruments of torture, called 1272, and exhibiting a specimen of the chain armour the thumbikins, are here shown, as also a ring for enwhich had till then been prevalent, namely, a kind of closing the neck, which, being moved by means of a shirt composed of metal rings, capable of resisting the screw, may be supposed to have produced the most blow or thrust of a sword. Edward, you will remem- exquisite torture. The block and axe used at the ber, distinguished himself at that early period of his execution of the unhappy Anne Boleyn, are objects of life in Palestine-so that, on the authority of Dr Mey-painful interest, from which we gladly turn to a kind rick, we may look with some confidence on this as a of theatrical representation of Queen Elizabeth on horseback, in a fac-simile of the dress worn by her when she made a progress to St Paul's to return thanks for the defeat of the Spanish Armada. This dress is embroidered with tinsel beads &c., very much tarnished by time. On the right-hand side of this room, a small dark apartment is shown, said to have been the sleepingroom of Sir Walter Raleigh; this, I suppose, is doubtful; but only a few years ago his handwriting was visible on the walls, but it has since been obliterated by whitewash. Descending again, and passing through the Horse Armoury, we were conducted towards the Grand Storehouse, or Small Arms Armoury. This forms part of what is called the Inner Ward, which consists of rows of buildings or offices on the north and east sides of the spacious court, the White Tower conspicuously occupying the centre. The Grand Storehouse is a long brick building of handsome construction, faced with white stone, and surmounted by a clocktower rising in the middle of the roof. Its erection was begun by James II. and completed by William III., for the purpose of storing arms available in the ser vice. On entering, a new scene opened up. The large apartment on the ground floor was filled with cannon, some of them of very peculiar construction; two or three pieces raised from the wreck of the Royal George attracted special notice. The wooden carriage of one of them was perfectly entire, but the cannon and the other carriages were very much decayed by their long immersion in the water. There were numerous curious pieces of ordnance, which have figured in their day; and some interesting remains of vessels amongst others, part of Nelson's ship the Victory-the steering-wheel, I think. From this we ascended by a staircase, branching off to the right and left from the first landing, to the Small Arms Armoury, a magnificent room, 354 feet long, the floor occupied from the base to the ceiling by square kind of racks, all detached one from the other with passages between, and sustaining muskets to the number of nearly 200,000; some of these were of inferior value, not having the latest improvements which have been made on fire-arms, but they were gradually undergoing repair, and a great proportion of them were in first-rate order, with percussion barrels, caps, &c. The sides and ends of this noble apartment were ornamented in all imaginable shapes and forms with every variety of weapons, forming suns, stars, scrolls, serpents, &c., arranged with as much elegance and taste as if the materials had been perfectly flexible. Opposite the door, an open space is reserved, supported on pillars, twisted round with a wreathing composed of pistols, daggers, &c., the capitals formed also of pistols, both ends standing out in relief. The centre of this space was occupied by a very beautiful piece of cannon, which our guide informed us was a present from the Pope to Napoleon, and taken from the French in the last war. This elegant piece of ordnance was of elaborate workmanship; the wheels of the carriage on which it rested represented the sun. In a glass-case near this was shown the sword-belt and sash of the late Duke of York, presented by the late king. In the staircase the greatest degree of ingenuity was exhibited; the rails and balustrades being entirely composed of fire-arms of various descriptions, and above the first landing was a splendid military device, formed with swords, cutlasses, &c.; in this the kettle-drums taken by the Duke of Marlborough at the battle of Blenheim, occupy a prominent place, as also the guns taken at Waterloo. The walls at each side were graced by two enormous stars, also made up of arms. These ornaments were all the work of Mr Stacey, queen's decorator. presented by the city of Exeter to one of the monarchs | dimly, lighted by perforations in the dome above; I have thought it necessary, my dear Jane, to put "NOTES OF A HALF-PAY IN SEARCH OF person with a piece of hemp, very much like a ship's HEALTH."* CAPTAIN JESSE, the writer of this agreeable sketchy Going to Constantinople, he could not, as an old Indian, avoid taking a bath, according to the Turkish method. "The principal Hummums in Stamboul are situated in the pipe bazaar, the entrance being on the right in going up the street; but there is nothing to indicate the approach to so large an establishment. The undressing-room, about twenty paces square, was The last place exhibited was the Jewel Room, where lighted by an open lantern in the dome above; a a portion of the crown jewels were deposited for secu- fountain played in the centre, and fresco arabesques rity. This is called the Jewel Tower, and is on the (though indifferently executed) gave an air of finish north-east side of the inner ward. We entered by a to the apartment. A platform, elevated about three passage to a small vaulted room, lighted with lamps, feet from the ground, and built round the walls, was there being no access for daylight. The lamps, how-covered by loungers and divans. Though at the early ever, threw a strong light upon the jewels, which were hour of six in the morning, the place was full of bathplaced within an iron railing. This recess was lined ers, and I soon found myself sitting next to a sedatewith crimson cloth, the background filled up with the looking Turk, on the platform before mentioned. It large gold plate used at the communion, and in front was tenanted by many others, some, like myself, preof these were cups, flagons, &c., richly chased, for the paring for the operation; others, wrapped in hot linen same sacred purposes. The shelves were occupied by that on their heads being elegantly arranged like a several crowns, one of which the exhibitor declared turban-were enjoying the greatest luxury of the to have belonged to Anne Boleyn; but this is very bath, the pipe and sherbet after it. My inability to doubtful. It was very small, and composed only of a converse I found decidedly unpleasant; however, I rim, or fillet of gold, set with precious stones, the cap was soon undressed, and having thrown a cotton towel being of crimson velvet. The crown of her present round my loins, and placed my feet in a pair of majesty was the most dazzling object in this valuable wooden pattens, not particularly comfortable, I hobcollection, and was placed at one side on a revolving bled through a small passage which led me into the stand, so that it could be seen all round. It was made murky atmosphere of the tepidarium. Here I saw one from the crown of George IV., which was remodelled of the assistants rubbing down an old and bearded from that of Charles II, and is certainly a brilliant descendant of the prophet, with a head like that of composition of all that is rich and rare. The band, Michael Angelo's Moses, and so motionless, that he or circlet, is of gold, studded with gems; the front might have been the very statue itself. No jockey being graced by a sapphire of inestimable value, of the ever strapped a hunter with such force; it was a redeepest and most intense blue, two inches long, and peal of the union between the skin and flesh, for every one inch in breadth. In the other side of the rim is stroke of the hair-glove brought away a considerable the ruby worn by the King of England at the battle portion of the former. To me this appeared a violent of Agincourt, of great size and beauty. The top of the measure, but he submitted very quietly, and I entered crown is formed by four arches, covered with brilliants the caldarium a little more reconciled to my fate. and pearls, the arches uniting in supporting a ball and There was nothing remarkable in the room I had left, Maltese cross, composed entirely of diamonds. The but the one I was now in struck me greatly: it was cap is of crimson velvet. On the opposite side, also circular, and about twenty-five paces in diameter, on a revolving stand, is a model of the White Tower in gold, ornamented with precious stones. This was * London: Madden and Co. 2 vols. Captain Jesse spent a considerable time at Odessa, from which he proposed to travel through the Crimea, but was delayed and vexed in no ordinary degree by the Russian functionaries, who rule over the passport establishment. We let him describe the scenes which occurred on this occasion. "The following day I was again at my post. My papers lay duly arranged upon the table, but the man in green paid no attention to me; and though many applicants were successful, the crowd around him appeared to increase rather than diminish. I soon saw how matters stood; and feeling certain that, unless I followed the example of those who had retired, I should again be desired to 'call again to-morrow,' I put my hand in my pocket, a signmanual which this purveyor of signatures perfectly understood, and we effected an amicable exchange. Handing me the papers, he pocketed the silver with the most perfect sang froid, telling me, as he dropped the 52-copeck pieces into his pocket, that the imperial salary would not keep him in boots.' I was now enabled to pass the sentry who guarded the entrance to the sanctum of the Chef de Police. His office, like most other public ones in Russia, consisted of four bare walls, with a brick stove reaching up to the ceiling in one corner, and was furnished with a deal table and a few chairs. Though a civil functionary I found him in full uniform, and, as usual, radiant with orders. The table was covered with papers, and in the centre stood the palladium of the place. This extraordinary affair, which is to be seen in the principal room of every public office in Russia, is made of copper or iron, gilt, and, though much larger than a Metronome, and having three sides instead of four, is not unlike one; the imperial eagle crowns the apex. On this singular instrument of office is engraved a variety of instructions, addressed to those intrusted with the administration of the laws, and suitable advice respecting the great sin of bribery and corruption. This public monitor is said to have been devised by Peter the Great, whose anxiety on the subject appears to have been well founded. The person in the present instance had accumulated a fortune that his net salary for one hundred years would never have amounted to. But his is not a solitary case, for the from his chair, and with one blow laid the luckless But to return to my passport. The signature I had so long waited for was duly affixed, and I left the office, but not in possession of that document, for my three days of apparently pas perdus' had merely procured me a certificate that I was not in debt, which happily I knew before. I had now to proceed to the office of the military governor, where two or three more bribes were administered, and another triangle or two propitiated, before I could obtain it. Then it was of no use to me as a final measure, for as I intended to travel post, I had still to present it at another office to get a padaroshna, or order for posthorses. There I was again obliged to show my certificate from the police that I had no debts; and two days more were consumed before I received the document which at length set me at liberty to start." We hear much of the far-sightedness and excellence of character of Nicholas, but either he is unduly eulogised, or is kept in ignorance of the infamous treatment of travellers, of which the above is an example. The account of a dinner-party at St Petersburg is as follows:-"My first introduction to Russian society was at a dinner-party, at the Countess T's. We were invited for four o'clock, the usual hour, and, on our arrival, found the party already assembled in the drawing-room; the ladies were in morning dress. A tray was shortly after brought in, with caviare, herring, and other et ceteras-a perfect epitome of an Italian warehouse. This was followed by another, with 'votka' (rum) and liqueurs; the ladies, as well as the gentlemen, partook slightly of both. Dinner was then announced, and on entering the dining-room, we found only the dessert on the table; there was nothing but the glass and plate on the sideboard. The fresh fruit and flowers had a much more pleasing effect than roast joints, fricandeaux, and curry. A slice of black bread, a white roll, and a decanter of vin ordinaire, were placed for each guest. The dinner was composed of the best French and English dishes, which were handed round in rotation, with wines at intervals, by free servants out of livery, well dressed and well trained. This, however, is the case only in the best houses; the generality are serfs, equipped in liveries made in the house by their fellowslaves. These wait without either glove or napkin; and as the pump in the yard is their jug, and the trough under it their only wash-hand basin, their hands are not agreeable objects to the eye, and certainly not in keeping with the unnecessary quantity of plate and glass which is frequently displayed, or the taper and jewelled fingers of the ladies of the party. Quass was to be had if asked for; but this is avoided in company, as beer is amongst some of the soi-disant select in England. I have, however, seen many exceptions to this in Russia; and sometimes sat next to a countess, who regularly emptied a decanter of this execrable beverage. After dinner, it was exceedingly disagreeable to make use of a mild term-to see every one rinsing his mouth heartily, and expectorating copiously into his finger-glass. This operation over, the conversation suddenly ceased, apparently by mutual consent; the company rose, crossed themselves, and having bowed to the noble hostess and to each other, all round the room, returned to the salon in the same order as they left it. Coffee was then brought in; and in about half an hour, almost every one had retired. While musing on this circumstance, and admiring the ingenuity with which the eight decorations of an acquaintance were arranged-for they were all suspended from a small gilt sword, similar to those sold in London under the denomination of Prince Albert's toothpicks'-he came up to me, and whispered in my ear, Captain, it is time to go. Where to? said I. 'Home,' replied my friend. Home! why, I did not order the carriage till ten! Ah, indeed, that is unfortunate; but such is our custom, and it will be thought very odd if you remain. In less than a quarter of an hour after this, I found my wife and self trudging home on foot, our evening costume attracting no little attention from the promenaders on the boulevard; and we regained our hotel, much amused at being, according to our habits, civilly turned out of doors. This was a good specimen of a Russian dinner, where, with the exception of the misuse of the finger-glasses, there was nothing to offend a person of the most fastidious taste. In Russia, however, polished manners, nay, even the decencies of life, are often forgotten in the violence of temper fostered by the possession of irresponsible power; and scenes sometimes occur which would not be met with at the tables or in the society of any other European country. At a large dinnerparty, at which a friend of mine was present, one of the servants, in handing a wine-glass, had the misfortune to let it fall. The master of the house, a general, totally oblivious of the presence of ladies, rose IRISH SERVANTS. [The very beautiful work of Mr and Mrs Hall, descriptive of last the same interest and tasteful illustration of natural character tions of both an English and Irishwoman-in manner English, of this national attachment, in her description of Irish domestic servants, a portion of which we take the liberty of laying before sys there can be no separate maintenance" without evil arising. Let the servant have her money free of her maintenance; that is one step towards establishing a better order of things. Remunerate her for her labour honestly. Pay her enough to enable her to be always clean and decent in appearance. We hope these comments will not be considered dull, and, still more earnestly, that they may not be taken as offensive. The subject is one of very vital importance; doing essential good to both the employer and the doand in directing attention to it, we may be the means of mestic. Unless truths are conveyed in plain and direct terms, they have usually little weight. The unselfish attachment, ready industry, willingness to labour, and fidelity, of the Irish servants, are appreciated even where their careless, unformed, and uneducated habits, militate against them; and it is unquestionable that a more careful training, under a better order of things, would render them infinitely more valuable auxiliaries to a household, either in Ireland or in England. But this branch of our subject let us illustrate by an anecdote. Mrs L. was a lady in London, who, when she advertised for a housemaid, added the very unamiable, but by withstanding, a very decent, pretty, and respectableno means unfrequent, P.S. No Irish need apply." Notlooking young Irish woman did present herself in the lady's drawing-room as an applicant for the situation. "I told you," said Mrs L. that no Irish need apply." "It was on the paper, I know, ma'am," answered the girl; "but I thought if I had a good character, and could do my work well, that no lady would refuse me bread because of my country." Mrs L. was a young housekeeper, and she had worded her advertisement by the advice of friends; persons who cherish a prejudice as if it were a perfection, and, forgetting altogether how frequently they have had idle, dirty, careless, and dishonest English servants, pour out the vial of their wrath upon the Irish, from whom they withhold the power of exhibiting their advantages by contrast. Fortunately for Kitty Gallagher, however, Mrs L. was considerate as well as just. She looked into the poor girl's open and honest countenance as she stood with the flush of humble indignation on her cheek, inquired carefully into her character, and examined her three or four written discharges, which of course "went for nothing," but subsequently called on two persons who had known her; and the result was her engagement. Mrs L. was the wife of a highly-respectable mercantile mistrust of the Irish people; their methodical and busiman; one of a class who, of all others, entertain great ness-like habits preventing them from making allowance for the volatility and heedlessness of their mercurial neighbours. Mrs L. had consequently to encounter the of her husband. "astonishment" of her aquaintances, and the warnings tolerably clean and very active, Kitty found she had so With every desire to do right, and habits that were much to learn that she frequently cried herself to sleep; as she told us herself, it was not the hard work that overcame her she could do ten times as much and think nothing of it--but "the particularity "the necessity for spotless stairs and carpets, for stoves polished like mirrors, for a total absence of dust everywhere; for a manner, staid, silent, smileless, and of distant respect; for a noiseless step, and a voice never heard except in the most soft and brief reply; then the getting up fine things: she could have washed, to make like snow, tablecloths, sheets, and dresses, but the difficulties of small-plaiting and clear-starching, the very clock-like regularity of the house, " broke her heart"--there was a place for every thing, and every thing must be in its place. Then her fellow-servants would set her wrong instead of right, and sneer at her afterwards; they ridiculed her country, and wondered she could eat any thing but potatoes, like all her people. Though loving to laugh, she did not relish being laughed at, and between her desire to do well in all things, and her national sensitiveness, poor Kitty had enough to encounter during the first twelve months of her servitude. On the other hand, Mrs L. more than once fancied she had acted imprudently. Kitty was not only blamed by the other servants for what she did, but for what she did not: her eagerness to please frequently occasioned blunders and mistakes; her phraseology was perplexing; and her foot was not as light, nor her "manner" as fully formed, as that of a London servant. But then her habits were very inoffensive. She was ever cheerful-willing to assist in every one's work; no matter how late or how early her services were needed, she was always ready. By degrees she blundered less, and absolutely dusted both corners and skirtings without "following." Then she was so humble when reproved, so happy when praised! At first, a sort of womanly spirit prevented Mrs L. from confessing she was wrong in her judgment, and by degrees-slow, but sure degrees THE greater number of Irish servants employed by the Catherine established herself in her mistress's good in England, of all grades and classes. No instance has opinion. We have observed a great number of the Irish ever occurred within our knowledge where they failed in attaining their object, except by being drawn off from it to run after something else; when they really persevere, when they add to their native energy a singleness of purpose, we never knew them fail. Kitty, in her humble way, was evidence of this; she felt deeply grateful to her mistress for having made an exception in her favour; she had good sense enough to understand that she had bettered her condition, and to feel that in England girls "with two or three hundred a-piece" were not ashamed to go to service. She resolved to master the difficulties mother over the children; at her request, no stranger smoothed their pillows or aided her exertions; what she lacked in skill she made up in actual tenderness, and her quickness and attention never wearied; in time, the children recovered, but they had become so attached to their Irish nurse that they intreated their mamma to let her remain with them, and the former nurse took Kitty's place. When Kitty was a girl, there were no National Schools, and at that time she was so ignorant of "book learning" that she did not know her letters; but she managed to learn them from the children, and concealed her deficiency so well, that Mrs L. told us it was not until Catherine could read, that she confessed how entirely uninstructed she had been. During a period of five years, she continued in her place, unspoiled by much kindness; and frequently did her mistress boast to her acquaintances of the treasure she possessed in an Irish nurse; it was quite true that Catherine's accent was anything but correct, still her mistress declared it to be "her only fault," and one for which her fidelity and good conduct amply atoned. Love now somewhat interfered with her duties; a master carpenter paid his addresses to the kind Hibernian; her mistress was too just to prevent her settling respectably, and as her intended husband had formed an engagement to go to New York the following spring, Kitty decided on remaining with her darlings" until within a week of his departure, when she was to exchange the guttural of "Gallagher" for the more euphonious name of Miller. Hitherto, Mr and Mrs L. had enjoyed in life uninterrupted sunshineevery thing prospered which the merchant undertook; but a few eventful months made a terrible change in their circumstances; loss followed loss with fearful rapidity, until at last their house was advertised to be sold, and Mrs L., firm and patient in adversity as she had been cheerful and considerate in prosperity, placed Kitty's quarter's wages in her hand, and told her that, for the future, she must herself attend to her children; her voice faltered as she thanked the poor Irish girl for the care and tenderness she had bestowed upon them; and she added a wish, that as the time had arrived when Kitty was to be married, she would inform her of her prospects after she and her husband had been some time in New York, and rely upon Mr L. to remember her faithfulness, if ever he had the power to serve them. We quote Mrs L.'s own words. "Catherine," she said, "stood without replying until I had done speaking. I was more agitated at parting with her than with all my other servants: she had evinced more affection towards me and mine in an hour than the others had shown in a year." "Is it to leave you, ma'am, you want me, and to leave the young master and miss! Ah, then, what have I done, to make you think I've no heart in my bosom? I'll be no burden to you, but I'll never leave you. Leave you in your trouble? Sure, it's neither peace nor rest I'd have by day or night, to think it's my two hands you'd be wanting, and they not in it. And as to Robert Miller, it will be better for him to be by himself for the first two or three years; and so I told him this morning when we parted. I'll never leave the mistress in her trouble, Robert,' I said; and if it's any bar, why, I'll give you back your promise;' and he would not hear of that, but took on a good deal at first; only it's all over-time and distance are nothing to true hearts, and if he does forget me, why I'm doing my duty still. I'll never leave you in your trouble." "Her devotion, so simple, so perfectly unaffected," added Mrs L., "drew more tears from my eyes than my own sorrows. I had nerved myself for them, but this overpowered me; the children became wild with joy when they found Kitty was to remain with them; and she certainly was the good spirit of comfort in our humble cottage. But this was not all: she had saved in my service about fifteen pounds, and every farthing of this money she spent in buying in, at the auction which finished the desolation of our once happy home, such small things as she believed me most attached to; these she had conveyed to our dwelling secretly, and then, with a delicacy which must be innate, she intreated me to forgive the liberty she had taken, and endeavoured to persuade us she had but returned to us our own. I often think that my husband's proud spirit would have been bowed even to breaking, but for the true nobility of Catherine's heart; toiling as she was in all capacities for our sakes, I never saw a shadow on her brow. She was an existing proof (amid much that led us to believe the contrary) of the disinterested generosity of human nature; she taught us the value of usefulness-she made us ashamed of our prejudices, and never did she once make us feel that she had sacrificed a pin's worth to our interests." This is no romance it is simple and unvarnished truth; both the mistress and the servant are intimately known to us; we have not added an iota to the story as the former told it to us. Kitty's generosity of character did not effervesce; during a period of three years she remained firm to her purpose, because Mrs L. needed her services. At length a distant relative of Mr L.'s died, and as next of kin, Mr L. inherited a very comfortable property; then, indeed, Mrs L. found Kitty more than once weeping over the letters she could hardly read, but which, nevertheless, she knew by heart. It was not, however, until she had succeeded in training "a cousin of her own," whom her mistress not only consented, but was happy to receive, that Kitty performed her promise, and rewarded her lover for his constancy. How many other examples of devoted and disinterested attachment of Irish servants to their employers we might add to this, and yet record only cases entirely within our own knowledge! May we not hope that the prejudice against them in England, so rapidly diminishing, will be, ere long, altogether gone; and that when their advantages-of faithfulness, industry, and willingness to labour, in all ways and on all occasions-have been considered and appreciated, they will acquire those, perhaps, equally essential, habits of neatness and order, into which they have hitherto not been properly disciplined, because kept far too much away from opportunities of improvement? THE BRITON'S FIRESIDE. 'TWERE vain to seek on foreign shores the comforts of a "home," That name is less familiar as farther on we roam; No other clime can boast the peace, the calm and tranquil pride, A Briton feels when all is mirth around his fireside! 'Tis there the old forget their age, and gambol with the young, To mingle in the merry dance, or join the social song; Oh! if from thought thou'd'st turn away, some rankling care thou'd'st hide, Go, imitate the Briton's lot, and learn his fireside. Yet not alone in gayer hours this social peace is known; It lives and blooms when all the sweets of passing mirth have flown: Yes! there the father mildly checks the faults he cannot chide, And chains the feelings of his child to that dear fireside! Say, who can view the happy few, in innocence and mirth Assembled round the very hearth which sparkled at their birth; Who, launched upon life's troubled sea, have struggled with her tide, And not proclaim the blessings of a Briton's fireside? Long may the hand which guards our isle avert the luckless day, When from her shores such happy scenes must fade and pass away! atlantic steam-vessels? When will they be ready to commence their voyages? Are the great sacrifices offered by the government in promotion of this affair to be for ever without result? It is scarcely credible, that the gratuitous gift of steamers, and the formal promise of an allowance of more than a million of francs annually, has not yet induced the people of Havre, our first port, and within fifty leagues of the capital, to form a company for the service of the line to New York. THE BAROMETER. We extract the following from "Observations on a Meteorological Diary," published by A. Abraham and Co., Opticians, Glasgow: Long still may Britons boast their peace, and feel an honest pride, quired attention to the actual cause of fluctuations in That they alone of all the earth possess a fireside! W. H. THE STEAM NAVIGATION OF GREAT BRITAIN. in use. [From the Journal des Debats, December 1841.] ENGLAND is increasing in an extraordinary manner her means of communication with every part of the world. On March 20, 1840, a contract was entered into between the government and the Royal Mail Steam Navigation Company, by which the latter engaged to organise a line of steam-packets between England and the Gulf of Mexico. In less than twenty months from the signing of the contract the running of these vessels has commenced. should build fourteen large steamers, each of 400 horse The conditions imposed on the company were, that they power, and capable of carrying the heavy artillery now All these vessels were to be completely found in every respect. From the time the company should be prepared to commence the running of these vessels, they were to dispatch, at equal intervals, twice in a month, a steamer, which should first carry the mail to the island of Barbadoes, and from thence into the Gulf of Mexico; and the company were bound to take measures for the landing and receiving mails at all the different points at which they were to touch, in an interval of not exceeding twenty-two days (except in case of accident) from their arrival at Barbadoes to their departure from Samana, in the island of Hayti, on their return to Europe. The government, on its part, engaged to pay to the proportions, every quarter. company an annual sum of L.240,000, payable, in equal Not twenty months have elapsed since this contract was signed, and already eight of those stupendous vessels, ready for sea, have assembled at Southampton, which is to be their point of departure. These vessels are said to be magnificent; and in the trial trips to which they have been submitted, have shown their amazing powers, none of them performing less than twelve knots an hour, and one of them, the Clyde, fifteen. The remaining six vessels will be at Southampton by the 15th of next month. One of these fine vessels started last week for her voyage, and will be the first vessel that has made the run between Europe and the Gulf of Mexico by steam power alone. Others will follow in regular succession. This activity does honour to the directors of the company; but it is not only to the continent of America that the English direct their attention. In the other hemisphere they evince no less efforts to unite their Indian possessions with England by means of rapid and regular communications. The port of Bombay has become one of the most important points of the globe for steam navigation. Her steamers regularly ply to the mouths of the Indus, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Suez, where they every month transport the correspondence from India, China, and the Indian Archipelago, carrying back in exchange the correspondence of Europe with Asia. The last courier which came by that route was the bearer of no less than 50,000 letters for Europe. This is not all. The presidencies of Calcutta and Madras would also have their direct communication with the mother country, without being compelled to make use of the Bombay line; and have, therefore, established a separate line of steamers, which, from next month, will run to Suez, touching at Ceylon, Madras, and Calcutta, to take and carry passengers from and to those different ports. Four steamers of 500 horse power each are already ready for this service. In the mean time, every exertion is making at Bengal for the extension of steam navigation on the magnificent river Ganges; in a short time the voyage from Calcutta to Benares, which cost the unfortunate Jacquemont so much labour and time, will be performed as easy as the voyage from Paris to Havre. Steam navigation will shortly establish regular communications between the different points of the magnificent empire which the genius of England has founded in the south sea. A steamer has already commenced running between Sydney, Port Philip, and Van Diemen's Land. It is announced that other vessels will soon arrive to form a rapid communication with all those points by which England has attached the great continents of Australia, Van Diemen's Land, Norfolk Island, and the island of New Zealand. It is talked of, and it is an idea which will be eventually realised, of establishing a regular line of steam-packets between Sydney and Ceylon, or Calcutta, that is to say, to place Australia at a distance of from seventy or eighty days' run from Europe, whilst hitherto the voyage from the coast of Europe to that antipodean continent has seldom been less than from five to six months. "The barometer indicating the most minute variations of atmospherical pressure, when correctly observed in connexion with other meteorological phenomena, various changes of weather may be deduced; hence the instrument derives its familiar appellation of the weather-glass. By ordinary observers, too much importance is attached to the words invariably engraved on the scales of barometers-fair, change, rain, &c., without paying the rethe mercurial column. The changes of weather are not indicated by the actual height of the mercury, but by the change from a given point. If, for instance, the mercury has rapidly fallen from 30 to 29 inches, or from the words fuir to rain, and the result, as indicated, has been a storm, probably, after a short interval, the mercury gradually rises, accompanied by fine weather; by the casual observer the instrument would be deemed imperfect, beand the sun shining brilliantly-the farmer perhaps waitcause the mercury stood one or two tenths above rain, ing anxiously for the mercury to rise to fair, would thus risk the loss of a favourable opportunity of reaping his produce. Again, if the mercury be at the word fair, and gradually descending, and rain the result, the barometer is condemned as useless. To prognosticate changes in the weather by the action of the barometer, the changes of the mercurial column should only be attended to. The barometer being an instrument for determining the weight of the air, and influenced in its action by variations of atmospherical pressure, if placed at a considerable elevation, would stand proportionably lower than one at the level of the sea; the mercurial column falls one-tenth of an inch for every ninety feet of perpendicular ascent-hence its value for determining altitudes; if, then, the words on the scale are only referred to, corresponding changes of the weather could seldom occur at the summit and base of a hill. In our climate, the fluctuations of the barometer are influenced in a great measure by the direction or force of the winds. In serene and settled weather, the mercury generally ranges about 30 inches at the level of the sea; and previous to, or during storms, it falls below 29. The following rules for predicting the changes of the weather, as indicated by the barometer, are from the best authorities : cates the advance of fine weather in summer, and in 1. The gradual rising of the mercury generally indiwinter of continued frost, more particularly if accompanied by a north or north-east wind. 2. A gradual descent of the mercury denotes rain in summer, and snow in winter; westerly winds most generally prevail during the fall of the mercury, a south-west wind indicating a longer continuance of rain. If the fall has been very rapid, it invariably portends stormy weather, the surface of the mercury presenting a very uneven and jagged appearance; after stormy weather, the mercury generally rises very rapidly. 3. In sultry weather, the sudden fall of the mercury indicates thunder showers; during frosty weather, a thaw, and a sudden rise in winter, usually high winds and snow. 4. If, during summer, the mercury is low, with a beautifully clear sky, the atmospheric appearance must yield to the barometer-rain and sudden changes will soon approach; if the mercury has been low for two or three successive days, with the wind veering from north-west to south-west, heavy showers, with squalls of wind, are usually indicated. 5. Whatever change of weather suddenly follows any change in the barometer, its continuance will be of short duration: thus, if fair weather immediately attend the rise of the mercury, or reverse, if rain, a fall of the mercury. 6. If fair weather continue for several days, during which the mercury is gradually descending, a long succession of foul weather will most probably ensue. 7. If no change in the barometer is indicated in the wheel form by the motion of the hand, or in the vertical by a visible change in the mercurial column, by gently tapping the former, a slight movement of the hand will indicate its tendency to rise or fall; and by observing the surface of the mercury in the latter, if concave, falling; convex, rising. 8. If the mercury fluctuates considerably, alternately rising and falling, the weather will prove generally very unsettled and changeable; if the mercury falls gradually very low from a given point, it portends a heavy and long continuance of rain. 9. A sudden and extreme change in temperature, either from heat to cold, or reverse, rain generally follows within twenty-four hours. Some of the preceding barometrical denotations occasionally occur without the anticipated results visiting the immediate locality of observation, although experienced at a distance." 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