here drew from her huge pocket an immense pair of scissars, a jack knife, and a wooden pipe curiously carved, which she offered as a testimony of the promise, and which was sworn to as the property of Cuff, who subsequently had refused to fulfil the contract. Cuff admitted that he had made her a kind of promise, but it was conditional. "I told her, massa 'Squire, that she was a slave and a nigger, and she must wait till the year 27, then all would be free, cording to the new constitution; den she said, berry vell, I bill wait." Phillis utterly denied the period of probation; it was, she said, to take place "ben he got de new corduroy breeches from Cripplely Coon, de tailor; he owe three and sixpence, and massa Coon won't let him hab 'em vidout de money: den Cuff he run away to Varsing; I send Coon Crook, de constable, and he find um at Shaudakin, and he bring him before you, massa." The testimony here closed. The court charged the jury, that although the testimony was not conclusive, nor the injury very apparent, yet the court was not warranted in taking the case out of the hands of the jury. A promise had evidently been made, and had been broken; some differences existed as to the period when the matrimonial contract was to have been fulfilled, and it was equally true and honourable, as the court observed, that in 1827 slavery was to cease in the state, and that fact might have warranted the defendant in the postponement; but of this there was no positive proof, and as the parties could neither read nor write, the presents might be construed into a marriage promise. The court could see no reason why these humble Africans should not, in imitation of their betters, in such cases, appeal to a jury for damages; but it was advisable not to make those damages more enormous than circumstances warranted, yet sufficient to act as a lesson to those coloured gentry, in their attempts to imitate fashionable infidelity. The jury brought in a verdict of "Ten dollars, and costs, for the plaintiff.” The defendant not being able to pay, was committed to Kingston jail, a martyr to his own folly, and an example to all others in like cases offending. THE RETROSPECT. I have not heard thy name for years; That once for thy lov'd sake were shed. There was a time when thou didst seem The light and breath of life to meWhen, e'en in thought, I could not dream That less than mine thou e'er could be: Yet now it is a chance that brought The jasmine, round the casement twin'd, Caught mine eye in the pale moonlight; It broke my dream, and brought to mind Another dream-another night. As then, I by the casement leant; Beside me-I am now alone. The sea is now between us twain An influence on the other's part. Our paths are different; perchance mine My song has now a wider scope 'Tis but one destiny; one dream Succeeds another-like a wave Following its bubbles-till their gleam Is lost, and ended in the grave. Why am I sorrowful? "Tis not One thought of thee has brought the tear; In sooth, thou art so much forgot, I do not even wish thee here. Both are so chang'd, that did we meet We might but marvel we had lov'd: What made our earliest dream so sweet?Illusions-long, long since remov'd. I sorrow-but it is to know How still some fair deceit unweavesTo think how all of joy below Is only joy while it deceives. I sorrow-but it is to feel Changes which my own mind hath told:What, though time polishes the steel, Alas! it is less bright than cold. I have more smiles, and fewer tears; That once like rain and sunshine came. Happy in that fond trust it bore, Light word, light laugh, and lighter care; The dew and warmth of morning air. I would not live again love's hour; I would renounce the worldliness, Now too much with my heart and me; How much of happiness would be !- L. E. L.-Monthly Magazine. TIMBER IN BOGS. It is stated in the second report of the commissioners on the bogs of Ireland, that three distinct growths of timber, covered by three distinct masses of bog, are discovered on examination. But whether these morasses were at first formed by the destruction of whole forests, or merely by the stagnation of water in places where its current was choked by the fall of a few trees, and by accumulations of branches and leaves, carried down from the surrounding hills, is a question. Professor Davy is of opinion, that in many places where forests had grown undisturbed, the trees on the outside of the woods grew stronger than the rest, from their exposure to the air and sun; and that, when mankind attempted to establish themselves near these forests, they cut down the large trees on their borders, which opened the internal part, where the trees were weak and slender, to the influence of the wind, which, as is commonly to be seen in such circumstances, had immediate power to sweep down the whole of the internal parts of the forest. The large timber obstructed the passage of vegetable recrement, and of earth falling towards the rivers; the weak timber, in the internal part of the forest after it had fallen, soon decayed, and became the food of future vegetation. Mr. Kirwan observes, that whatever trees are found in bogs, though the wood may be perfectly sound, the bark of the timber has uniformly disappeared, and the decomposition of this bark forms a considerable part of the nutritive substance of morasses. Notwithstanding this circumstance, tanning is not to be obtained in analysing bogs; their antiseptic quality is however indisputable, for animal and vegetable substances are frequently found at a great depth in bogs, without their seeming to have suffered any decay; these substances cannot have been deposited in them at a very remote period, because their form and texture is such as were common a few centuries ago, In 1786 there were found, seventeen feet below the surface of a bog in Mr. Kirwan's district, a woollen coat of coarse, but even, network, exactly in the form of what is now called a spencer; a razor, with a wooden handle, some iron heads of arrows, and large wooden bowls, some only half made, were also found, with the remains of turning tools: these were obviously the wreck of a workshop, which was probably situated on the borders of a forest. The coat was presented by him to the Antiquarian Society. These circumstances countenance the supposition, that the encroachments of men upon forests destroyed the first barriers against the force of the wind, and that afterwards, according to sir H, Davy's suggestion, the trees of weaker growth, which had not room to expand, or air and sunshine to promote their increase, soon gave way to the elements. MODES OF SALUTATION. Greenlanders have none, and laugh at the idea of one person being inferior to another. Islanders near the Philippines take a person's hand or foot, and rub it over their face. Laplanders apply their noses strongly against the person they salute. In New Guinea, they place leaves upon the head of those they salute. In the Straits of the Sound they raise the left foot of the person saluted, pass it gently over the right leg, and thence over the face. The inhabitants of the Philippines bend very low, placing their hands on their cheeks, and raise one foot in the air, with the knee bent. An Ethiopian takes the robe of another and ties it about him, so as to leave his friend almost naked. The Japanese take off a slipper, and the people of Arracan their sandals, in the street, and their stockings in the house, when they salute. Two Negro kings on the coast of Africa, salute by snapping the middle finger three times. The inhabitants of Carmene, when they would show a particular attachment, breathe a vein, and present the blood to their friend as a beverage. If the Chinese meet, after a long separation, they fall on their knees, bend their face to the earth two or three times, and use many other affected modes. They have also a kind of ritual, or "academy of compliments," by which they regulate the number of bows, genuflections, and words to be spoken upon any occasion. Ambassadors practise these ceremonies forty days before they appear at court. In Otaheite, they rub their noses together. J 66 The Dutch, who are considered as great eaters, have a morning salutation, common amongst all ranks, Smaakelyk eeten ?""May you eat a hearty dinner." Another is, "Hoe vaart awe. "How do you sail?" adopted, no doubt, in the early periods of the republic, when they were all navigators and fishermen. The usual salutation at Cairo is, "How do you sweat?" a dry hot skin being a sure indication of a destructive ephemeral fever. Some author has observed, in contrasting the haughty Spaniard with the frivolous Frenchman, that the proud, steady gait and inflexible solemnity of the former, were expressed in his mode of salutation, "Come esta?"-"How do you stand?" whilst the "Comment vous portez-vous?" "How do you carry yourself?" was equally expressive of the gay motion and incessant action of the latter. The common salutation in the southern provinces of China, amongst the lower orders, is, "Ya fan?"-"Have you eaten your rice?" In Africa, a young woman, an intended bride, brought a little water in a calabash, and kneeling down before her lover, desired him to wash his hands; when he had done this, the girl, with a tear of joy sparkling in her eyes, drank the water; this was considered as the greatest proof she could give of her fidelity and attachment. Omniana. POETRY. For the Table Book. The poesy of the earth, sea, air, and sky, Though death is powerful in course of time With wars and battlements, will never die, But triumph in the silence of sublime Survival. Frost, like tyranny, might climb The nurseling germs of favourite haunts; the roots Will grow hereafter. Terror on the deep Is by the calm subdu'd, that Beauty e'en might creep On moonlight waves to coral rest. The fruits Blush in the winds, and from the branches leap Το mossy beds existing in the ground. Stars swim unseen, through solar hemispheres, Yet in the floods of night, how brightly round The zone of poesy, they reflect the rolling years. P. A BAD SIGN. During a late calling out of the North Somerset yeomanry, at Bath, the service of one of them, a "Batcome boy," was enlivened by a visit from his sweetheart; after escorting her over the city, and being fatigued with showing her what she had loudly at the door of a house in the Cres"ne'er zeed in all her life," he knocked cent, against which a hatchment was placed, and on the appearance of the powdered butler, boldly ordered "two glasses it." The man, staring, informed him he of scalded wine, as hot as thee canst make could have no scalded wine there 'twas no "Then dose thee head," public-house. replied Somerset, "what'st hang out thik there zign var." INSCRIPTION FOR A TOMB TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN HEWITSON, OF THE SHIP, TOWN OF UL VERSTON. By James Montgomery, Esq. Weep for a seaman, honest and sincere, Refitted in a moment, then shall he He only who is "noseless himself" will deem this a trifling article. My prime minister of pleasure is my snuff-box. The office grew out of my "liking a pinch, now and then," and carrying a bit of snuff, screwed up in paper, wherewith, some two or three times a day, I delighted to treat myself to a sensation, and a sneeze. Had I kept a journal of my snuff-taking business from that time, it would have been as instructive as "the life of that learned antiquary, Elias Ashmole, Esq., drawn up by himself by way of diary;" in submitting which to the world, its pains-taking editor says, that such works "let us into the secret history of the affairs of their several times, discover the springs of motion, and display inany valuable, though minute circumstances, overlooked or unknown to our general historians; and, to conclude all, satiate our largest curiosity." A comparative view of the important annals of Mr. Ashmole, and some reminiscent incidents VOL. I.-7. of my snuff-taking, I reserve for my autobiography. To manifest the necessity of my present brief undertaking, I beg to state, that I still remain under the disappointment of drawings, complained of in the former sheet. I resorted on this, as on all difficult occasions, to a pinch of snuff; and, having previously resolved on taking "the first thing that came uppermost," for an engraving and a topic, my hand first fell on the top of my snuff-box. If the reader be angry because I have told the truth, it is no more than I expect; for, in nine cases out of ten, a preference is given to a pretence, though privily known to be a falsehood by those to whom it is offered. As soon as I wear out one snuff-box I get another-a silver one, and I, parted company long ago. My customary boxes have been papier-maché, plain black: for if I had any figure on the lid it was suspected to be some hidden device; an > answer of direct negation was a ground of doubt, offensively expressed by an insinuating smile, or the more open rudeness of varied questions. This I could only resist by patience; but the parlement excise on that virtue was more than I could afford, and therefore my choice of a black box. The last of that colour I had worn out, at a season when I was unlikely to have more than three or four visitors worth a pinch of snuff, and I then bought this box, because it was two-thirds cheaper than the former, and because I approved the pictured ornament. While the tobacconist was securing my shilling, he informed me taat tne figure had utterly excluded it from the choice of every one who had noticed it. My selection was agreeable to him in a monied view, yet, both he, and his man, eyed the box so unkindly, that I fancied they extended their dislike to me; and I believe they did. Of the few who have seen it since, it has been favourably received by only one-my little Alice-who, at a year old, prefers it before all others for a plaything, and even accepts it as a substitute for myself, when I wish to slip away from her caresses. The elder young ones call it the " ugly old man," but she admires it, as the innocent infant, in the story-book, did the harmless snake, with whom he daily shared his bread-and-milk breakfast. I regard it as the likeness of an infirm human being, who, especially requiring comfort and protection, is doomed to neglect and insult from childhood to the grave; and all this from no self-default,but the accident of birth -as if the unpurposed cruelty of nature were a warrant for man's perversion and wickedness. Of the individual I know nothing, save what the representation seems to tell that he lives in the world, and is not of it. His basket, with a few pamphlets for sale, returns good, in the shape of knowledge, to evil doers, who, as regards himself, are not to be instructed. His upward look is a sign-common to these afflicted ones-of inward hope of eternal mercy, in requital for temporal injustice: besides that, and his walking-staff, he appears to have no other support on earth. The intelligence of his patient features would raise desire, were he alive and before me, to learn by what process he gained the understanding they express: his face is not more painful, and I think scarcely less wise than Locke's, if we may trust the portrait of that philosopher. In the summer, after a leisure view of the Dulwich gallery for the first time, I found myself in the quiet parlour of a little-frequented road-side house, enjoying the recollections of a few glorious pictures in that munificent exhibition; while pondering with my box in my hand, the print on its lid diverted me into a long reverie on what he, whom it represented, might have been under other circumstances, and I felt not alone on the earth while there was another as lonely. Since then, this " garner for my grain” has been worn out by constant use; with every care, it cannot possibly keep its serIvice a month longer. I shall regret the loss for its little Deformity has been my frequent and pleasant companion in many a solitary hour;-the box itself is the only one I ever had, wherein simulated or cooling friendship has not dipped. Garrick Plays. No. IV. [From "All Fools" a Comedy by George Chapman 1605.] Love's Panegyric. 'tis Nature's second Sun, Causing a spring of Virtues where he shines; Against the earth, begets all fruits and flowers ; So Love, fair shining in the inward man, such Love is like a smoky fire In a cold morning. Though the fire be chearful, ' Yet is the smoke so foul and cumbersome, 'Twere better lose the fire than find the smoke. Bailiff's routed. I walking in the place where men's Law Suits Are heard and pleaded, not so much as dreaming Of any such encounter; steps me forth Their valiant Foreman with the word "I 'rest you." I strait espied the whole troop issuing on me. |