It was on this occasion that Catherine Douglas, one of the queen's attendants, thrust her arm into the stanchion of the door to serve the purpose of a bolt, and held it there till the savage assailants forced their way by shattering the frail defence. What times were those! Alas! the love of women, and the barbarity of men! THE GINEVRA AND ALESSANDRA STROZZI OF ARIOSTO. Ginevra signifies a juniper tree, which allusion the poet plays upon, after the manner of Petrarch, in one or two of his sonnets; and he likewise tenderly commemorates the name in the Orlando Furioso, by giving it to one of his most charming and interesting heroines, Ginevra di Scozia. Ginevra was the earliest object of his serious attachment. She was a young girl of the Florentine family of Lapi, residing at Mantua, where they first met; and this attachment lasted long, but her fate is not known. Her name, however, was usually connected with that of Ariosto, and has an enduring monument in his verses. The object of his subsequent, more celebrated, and more lasting passion, and the inspirer of his finest lyrics, was the beautiful golden-haired Alessandra Strozzi, the widow of Tito Strozzi, a noble Florentine, and famous Latin poet, whom he met at Florence, on his return from Rome in 1515, and afterwards privately married, it is supposed about 1522. The reasons which induced Ariosto to involve in doubt and mystery his union "Ay, ay, sir!" replied Isaac, in as gruff a voice as he could muster for the occasion. "What sort of craft is that to windward,—and how is she standing?" "It is a small black schooner, all legs and arms," replied Mr. Maintopgallant; "and she is bearing down for us under a press of sail! Now she runs up a flag, which you can make out from the deck with the glass; and, by the flash and the smoke she makes, she has just fired a gun!" Presently, a dull, heavy report came booming on the breeze, and a thundering sound echoed against the side of the ship. The glass was bent upon the approaching schooner, whose hull had not yet entirely risen out of the water. Her flag was found to be French! "Steward-call the captain!" cried the mate, in alarm : 'Forward, there!-call all hands on deck-stand by to put the ship about!" 66 every sailor Ay, ay, sir," echoed along the deck, and stood ready at his post for prompt action. Seth and Jethro now appeared on deck, wondering not a little at the uncommon stir on board, and surprised to find every man ready, whenever the word should be given, to put the ship on a new direction. "What does all this mean, mate ?" demanded the captain; "why wouldst thou change the course of the ship ?" with this admirable woman can only be conjectured, but "I did not intend to do so without your concurrence," the marriage itself is satisfactorily proved. Their inter- replied the mate; "but I thought it best to have every thing course was so carefully concealed, and the discretion and ready for prompt manœuvring. We have a suspiciousmodesty of Alessandra were so remarkable, that no sus-looking sail on our weather bow, and she shows French picion of the ties which bound them to each other existed colours. By the rake of her masts, I should not be surduring the life of the poet; nor did the slightest imputa-prised to find her a clipper, with a long-tom amidships; tion ever sully the fair fame of her he loved. Alessandra removed from Florence to Ferrara about 1519, and inhabited the Casa Strozzi, in the street of Santa Maria in Oude. The residence of Ariosto was in the Via Mirasole, at some distance. Both houses are still standing. She died in 1552, having survived the poet about nineteen years. LUCRETIA DONATI. "A noble lady, distinguished at Florence for her virtue and her beauty, and of the same illustrious family which had given a wife to Dante," is celebrated to fame as the poetical love of Lorenzo de Medici," the magnificent," but the wife chosen for him by his father, and to whom he was married at the age of twenty-one, was Donna Clarici Orsini, for whom it is believed (though their union was inauspiciously contracted) he exchanged for his earlier and more imaginative flame, a sincere and durable attachment. Lorenzo died in his forty-fourth year, in 1492,―t, r, p, n,—“ true pain." AN ADVENTURE AT SEA. A FRAGMENT. THE mate had been looking out with a spyglass, and observed a sail to windward. "Jump aloft, one of you who has good eyes, and tell me what you make out of that craft with the suspicious rake in her masts, on our weather bow!" "Ay, ay, sir!" they again sung out, in full chorus; and away several scampered up the shrouds, pell-mell. Among the rest was perceived the slight figure of the lad, who ascended with remarkable agility, and left the others far behind. The mate could scarcely credit what he saw, and gazed aloft in amazement. “Maintopgallant, there!" hailed the mate. for she has given us a gun already." "Rather a dangerous neighbour for us, surely," said the captain, " especially if she should prove one of those piratical rascals that sometimes cut up our commerce. Keep her away, and see if she follows us," continued he, lowering the point of his glass. Away went the Grampus with a free wind, snorting, as it were like a race horse, and ploughing handsomely through the seas on her altered way. The Frenchman steered for, and gained gradually and steadily upon, the Grampus; and the event was most anxiously looked for by all on board. The ship, deeply laden as she was with oil, was of great value, and, as Seth thought, eminently worth preserving. But the Frenchmen were determined she should change owners,-for they managed their little craft with great skill, and altered their course in chase, whenever Macy changed his. The breeze was brisk, and suited the schooner to a crack; while the laden ship, though the fleetest of her class, could not show her heels to advantage, without a stronger wind. Macy tried his vessel upon every tack-but escape was impossible-the wedge-like schooner gained upon him at every turn. "Now would I give the half of our cargo," said Macy, "for a few guns to speak to that saucy little scamp in his own language!" And then turning to Jethro, he said, rather bitterly, "Dost thou remember, friend Coffin, what I told thee about the six-pounders, before we left port? I fear thou wilt pay dearly enough for not taking my advice. There comes salute number two "" A gun at that moment was fired from the Frenchman, across the bow of the Grampus; but the shot went wide, and was most probably intended merely as a warning to heave to. Seth paced the deck in great agony of spirit, muttering, as he went, words that sounded very much like "damnation," and the like. The sound may have been equivocal to the ear of Jethro, for he forbore to put in his ́asual caution of “Swear not at all," as he was wont to do, whenever Captain Seth used obnoxious words. rove. the French pirate, and an earnest of what we may all expect, if taken!" "Yield thee, Seth, yield thee! The longer thou dost delay, so much the more hazard to the lives of the people." "Thou hadst better go below, Jethro-I must command here. Yield, indeed! the ship shall sink first!" muttered Seth, as Jethro began to descend. "Stand by there, men!" shouted the captain, in a voice that made every sailor start. It was evident to all that Seth had put off the Quaker, and that prompt obedience The Grampus was now kept off two or three points, and a foretopmast-studdingsail was about being set; but, in the hurry of the moment, by some mishap the tack got unA couple of hands were ordered aloft to rig in the boom, and reeve the tack anew. In an instant little Isaac, who had heard the order, put the end of the rope between his teeth, ran up the fore shrouds, crept out on the top of the fore-yard like a monkey, and then out upon the bare boom. But, before he had accomplished his task, the Frenchmen brought their long-tom, charged with small "Get the longboat ready to be launched at a moment's shot, to bear upon the yard, and let drive at Isaac; think-warning-clear away the quarter boats--and see all clear ing, probably that his labour might be the means of to lower them in an instant. Mate, take in all the small enabling the Grampus to escape. The little fellow was sails quickly!" not disconcerted by this terrible salute, although the balls whistled like hail around him. He fearlessly and deliberately went on with his work. "They are again charging the gun!" shouted English Bill. "Come down, my boy!-Creep in! Creep in! Seize one of the halliards, and let yourself down with a run!" "Ay, ay," cried Isaac, as he finished reeving the tack. He then quickly gathered a few fathoms in his hand, threw the coil down upon the forecastle, and the sail was immediately hoisted. The long-tom was again elevated, and the gunner was in the act of applying the match; but Isaac stopped not for the additional peppering: "The cords ran swiftly through his glowing hands, And quick as lightning on the deck he stands!" "Hah!-my little younker!-my eyes, but you are a brave 'un-You'll be an admiral yet-d'ye see!" exclaimed English Bill, as he joyfully hugged the stripling in his brawny arms. The prediction of Bill rang in the ears of Isaac for many a year afterwards. It was like the prophetic sound of the bells to the hearing of Whittington: "Turn again, Whittington- The hasty strides of Seth were again arrested by another shot, which passed through the sail over his head. He folded his arms-looked up at the rent sail-and drew up his form, as if some new purpose had taken possession of his despairing mind. By heaven!" said he, "I will not part with so fine a ship and cargo, without a deadly struggle!" "Swear not!" said Jethro; "it will not help us in our strait. We may better yield quietly to the necessity. Put down thy helm, Seth, and bring the ship to." "Yield quietly!--didst thou say?--and did I understand thee aright, when thou bid me to bring the ship to ?" The eyes of Seth glared wildly upon Jethro, and his nostrils distended like those of an infuriated wild bull at bay. "Put down the helm, indeed!-Pray, neighbour Jethro, who is the commander of the Grampus-thou or I?" demanded Seth, in high dudgeon. But he evidently availed himself of the first pretext to let off his anger, for he was waxing exceeding wroth. Jethro answered calmly," Thou, surely, art her captain-and I yield all to thy discretion. Save the ship, if thou canst; but thou canst not. We have no means of defence, and, if we had, it would not be justifiable to oppose with arms." "Jethro! My resolution is taken :-I will save this ship, or sink in her. What! yield to that little gadflythat gallinipper-that is scarcely larger than our longboat!" Another shot, better directed than the other, splintered a piece from the mainmast, and wounded one of the crew. "There, Jethro! there are some of the tender mercies of was necessary. The manner of Seth was somewhat wild, but resolute and determined; and the men and officers having done his behest, stood wondering what command would next be issued, and whereunto those would tend that had already been executed. The Frenchman was also at fault; for mistaking the manœuvring of Seth for an intention to give up his ship, the schooner was hove to, and seemed to await the lowering of the boat from the quarter of the Grampus -even as the conqueror awaits the approach of an enemy subdued, who comes to yield up his sword. In rounding to, the schooner had given the advantage of the wind to the ship; and while the French crew stood agape at the management of the larger vessel, which they already looked upon as a prize, Seth seized upon the helm with his brawny hand. The men, scarcely needing the cautioning word, anticipated his intention as he put the helm hard culiar tone, which was heard distinctly from stem to stern:up, and gave his impressive shout in a suppressed and pe "Let go all the braces and bowlines, slack off sheets and tacks, and square the yards quickly!" This was all done in the twinkling of an eye, and Seth shaped his course as though he would bring his ship under the lee-quarter of the privateer. After making this demonstration, which was intended to deceive the enemy, her direction was suddenly changed, and her head was brought to bear directly upon the hull of the Frenchman! The crew of the schooner now discovered, but too late, the design of the Grampus; and confusion and dire amazement agitated the people upon her crowded deck. In their haste to remedy their oversight, the Frenchmen failed altogether to avert the threatened disaster. "If thou dost intend to run her down," said Jethro to Seth, hurriedly, projecting his head for a moment from the cabin gangway, "if-nay, hear me, Seth, for the sake of humanity-if thou art determined to run her down, ease thy helm a little, and give them a chance for their lives." "Stand by to lower the boats!" vociferated Seth, stamping furiously upon the deck. A suppressed groan of hor ror escaped the crew, as they now more plainly conceived the design of their captain. "The boldest held his breath for a time!" The little schooner still lay to, in the trough of a deep sea, her people running backwards and forwards in frightened confusion, while the huge bulk of the Grampus mounted the last high wave that separated the two vessels. "Miséricorde !" exclaimed a hundred voices. A wild scream of despair-heard far above the noise of the element, and the dashing of the ship-burst from the poor doomed Frenchmen. Down came the Grampus, thundering upon the privateer, and striking her with her plunging bow directly amidships. The frail schooner was cut directly in two by the shock; and her heavy armament, together with the irresistible force of the severing blow, bore both parts of her hull, with all her ill-fated crew of a hundred souls, beneath the wave. "Down with the boats from the quarter-launch the longboat,”—shouted Seth. But the command, though it could not have been uttered nor executed sooner with safety, came too late. The aim of Seth had been too fatally sure. The boats reached the spot, and narrowly escaped being sucked into the vortex where the schooner had gone down. The French crew were all sent to their long account; and the next wave left not a trace of the wreck, nor a solitary human being to be saved from a watery death. Thy ship and cargo were dearly ransomed, Jethro Coffin: and, Seth, thou didst sacrifice a hecatomb of human beings for thy preservation. REMARKS ON ANIMALCULES. THOSE Creatures, the smallest with which we are acquainted, are called animalcules of infusion. They are thus named, because they are produced in infusions, and are such diminutive animals. For their production, nothing more is required, than to pour water on any animal or vegetable substance, and let this infusion stand four or five days in a moderately warm room, when a species of fermentation will take place in the liquor, a slimy skin will grow over it, and an immense multitude of these animalcules, visible only by means of the magnifying glass, will be found in the fluid. They may be obtained from different vegetable substances; but from some more, from others less. Of the numerous infusions, however, with which experiments have been made, none have afforded such multitudes as thyme. If you put as much thyme as may be taken up between the ends of the thumb and two fingers, into a wine-glass, fill the glass with pure water, and let it stand for four days, you will be truly astonished when you look at a drop of it through the microscope. Millions of animalcules swim about, and the celerity of their motion is so great, that it makes the eye almost giddy. The usual form of the animalcules, when at rest, appears to be spherical, or a little longish or egg-shaped. When they are in motion, their bodies are more or less elongated, accordingly as they swim about with more or less celerity. Some are seen darting along with great swiftness, the figure of which is nearly linear, or resembling that of a small worm. Nothing can be conceived more lively; the bustle of a nest of ants, or swarm of gnats, is sluggishness to it. They dart in all directions, like an arrow from a bow, across the field of the microscope, in straight lines, when their bodies are drawn out greatly in length. Sometimes they conceal themselves under the slime of the liquor, as if they were seeking their nutriment there: then they reappear, swimming in various directions, and dexterously passing each other when they meet. Sometimes they draw their bodies up together in a spherical form, and then stretch them out again, in the same manner as a leech. Now they appear to dive down towards the bottom of the drop, as only their hinder parts are visible; presently they spin round like a top, with incredible velocity. When one of these animalcules has entangled himself in a particle of slime, it is pleasing to see how he whirls himself round with it, in order to extricate himself. It is equally pleasing to observe the motions which they frequently make with the head or pointed fore-end. When they give themselves a spring to dart forward, they frequently turn the head quickly on one side, as if they were | biting at something, and swim forward with the head in this oblique direction. Curious readers will ask, how big the largest of these animalcules may be? An idea of their size may be given by observing, that upwards of two hundred of the largest may be contained in the space occupied by one of the smallest grains of sand. A little mite is to one of these animalcules, much the same as a turkey is to a sparrow. The longevity of these animalcules cannot easily be ascertained. Those that we contemplate under the microscope, do not die a natural death, but are destroyed by the evaporation of the fluid, which leaves thousands of their dead bodies on the glass side, in the shape of a little scarcely perceptible dust. It is observable, that in an infusion which has stood a week or more, they become smaller, and at length seem to disappear. Whether, however, these smaller animalcules are the same, which have gradually diminished in size, or whether they are a more diminutive species, which at last alone remains, cannot be ascertained.-Mavor's Natural History. LITERARY AND MORAL GEMS.-No. IV. SELECTED BY A LADY. LORD CHATHAM'S OPINION OF POLITENESS. Now as to politeness, many people have attempted definitions of it, but I believe it is best to be known by description. I would, however, venture to call it benerolence in trifles; or the preference of others to ourselves, in little, daily, hourly occurrences in the commerce of life. Bowing, ceremonious compliments, stiff civilities, will never be politeness; which must be easy, unstudied, manly, natural, noble; and what will give this, but a mind benevolent, and habitually attentive to exert that amiable disposition in trifles, towards all you converse and live with? THE WILL. The will is not blindly impelled by outward accidents, but selects the impressions by which it chooses to be governed, with great dexterity and perseverance.—Hazlitt. SUCCESS. There is a balance of power in the human mind, by which defects frequently assist in furthering our views, as superfluous excellences are sometimes converted into impediments........ The surest hinderance (to success) is to have too high a standard of refinement in our own minds, or too high an opinion of the judgment of the public. He who is determined not to be satisfied with any thing short of perfection, will never do any thing at all, either to please himself or others.-Ibid. SATIRE. The misfortune of general satire is, that few people will apply it to themselves, while they have the comfort of thinking it will fit others as well. It is therefore, I am afraid, only furnishing bad people with scandal against their neighbours.-The World. RESERVE OF CHARACTER. The locks which are most difficult to open, often guard the greatest treasures.—Advice to the Teens. There are some people who see any thing better than that which is under their eye, and like every thing better than that which is within reach.-Ward's De Lisle. I am ever disposed to suspect the temper of a perpetual company-smiler, till I have seen how he performs in his domestic circle. POETRY. HYMNS OF THE CHURCHYARD. WRITTEN IN HIS 19TH YEAR. [From the poems of a most interesting and remarkable Scottish peasant, the late John Bethune, collected and published by his brother, for the purpose of raising funds for the erection of a Tomb-stone to his memory.] AH me! this is a sad and silent city; Where are its children? where their gleesome play? Amid the wreaths of spring to gather flowers? The rich, the great, the glorious, and the wise? Where are the poor, the old, the weary wight, Who wept for morn, and sighed again for night? And mingled tears o'er those who answered not; Hath quailed to see its shadowy drowsiness; VARIETIES. HAPPINESS. Our life, it is true, has its bright and its dark hours, yet none are wholly obscured; for when the sun of happiness is set, the reflected moonlight of hope and memory is still around us. CHARITY. "I fear," said a country curate to his flock, "when I explained to you, in my last charity sermon, philanthropy was the love of our species, you must have misunderstood me to say specie, which may account for the smallness of the collection. You will prove, I hope, by your present contribution, that you are no longer labouring under the same mistake." STARS.-Byron beautifully designated the stars as "the poetry of night;" but to embody their language was a task far surpassing the creative power of his genius. The inimitable extent of" their numbers without number;" the mysterious mechanism of their embodiments; the grandeur and harmony of the orbits they circumscribe; the cycles of time they gild with their unknown glories; the curious chainwork which connects them with the field of interminable being; the process of their creation; the occupations of their inhabitants; their anthems; their music; their duration; and the end they are destined to fulfil: these are a history only to be written by that Omnipotence whose hand moulded their capacious fulness, and is reserved for the exhibition of that day when he will make all things plain. It is the Christian's transporting joy and consolation, when their sublime secrets shall be unveiled, to say-" I shall be there." Let a man have all the world can give him, he is still miserable, if he has a grovelling, unlettered, undevout mind. Let him have his gardens, his fields, his woods, his lawns, for grandeur, plenty, ornament, and gratification; while at the same time God is not in all his thoughts. And let another have neither field nor garden; let him only look at nature with an enlightened mind-a mind which can see and adore the Creator in his works; can consider them as demonstrations of his power, his wisdom, his goodness, and his truth: this man is greater, as well as happier, in his poverty, than the other in his riches. The one is but little higher than a beast, the other but little lower than an angel.-Jones, of Nayland. Advertising is to trade what steam is to the machinery, the grand propelling power; and yet there are some persons so blind to their interests as to ponder over an expenditure which yields them from a hundred to a thousand per cent. The boxes of the opera, splendid as they are, and splendid as the appearance of those in them is, do not breathe a spirit of enjoyment. They are rather like the sick wards of luxury and idleness, where people of a certain class are condemned to perform the quarantine of fashion for the evening.-Hazlitt. MRS. SIDDONS'S FIRST STUDY OF LADY MACBETH.—Mrs' Siddons thus describes the impressions made on her imagina. tion by her first study of Lady Macbeth ;-" It was my custom to study my characters at night, when all the domestic cares of the day were over. On the night preceding that on which I was to appear in this part for the first time, I shut myself up, as usual, when all the family were retired, and commenced my study of Lady Macbeth. As the character is very short, I thought I should soon accomplish it. Being then only twenty years of age, I believed, as many others do, that little more was necessary than to get the words into my head; for the necessity of discrimination, and the developement of character, at that time of my life, had scarcely entered into my imagination. But to proceed. I went on with tolerable com posure, in the silence of the night (a night I can never forget) till I came to the assassination scene, when the horrors of the scene rose to a degree that made it impossible for me to get further. I snatched up my candle, and hurried out of the room in a paroxysm of terror. My dress was of silk, and the rustling of it, as I ascended the stairs to go to bed, seemed to my panic struck fancy like the movement of a spectre pursuing me. At last I reached my chamber, where I found my hus band fast asleep. I clapped my candlestick down upon the table, without the power of putting it out; and I threw myself on my bed, without daring to stay even to take off my clothes." We have here the secret of the unrivalled power which Mrs. Siddons at a later period threw into her representation of Lady Macbeth. LONDON: W. BRITTAIN, PATERNOSTER ROW. Edinburgh: JOHN MENZIES. Dublin: CURRY & CO. Glasgow: D. BRYCE. Printed by J. Rider, 14, Bartholomew Close. |