Bridewell, and to furnish to the inhabitauts proper lessons of distributive justice.

TO THE PUBLIC.

The rapid progress of Scotland in some of the Fine Arts has long been evident, but hitherto our proficiency in engraving and printing has not been altogether so publicly manifested as many patriotic North Britons could have wished. The present publication will, it is hoped, exhibit to all the world such proofs of the taste, genius, and refinement of Caledonians, as must leave at an immense distance every puny competitor. The splendid publications of a neighbouring nation have been mostly confined to works of amusement,—in this we claim the honour of blending the utile with the dulce. Of the eminence of the artists to be employed, the public may be satisfied upon the words of the publishers. Of the subjects to be selected, they will judge for themselves from the following specimen of a few, and let the connoisseurs decide, whether they are not equally calculated to enforce and illustrate the ideas of the work, as those introduced into the new editions of Shakspeare and Hume.

1. A superb frontispiece, the idea taken from Æsop, the monkey deciding the property of an oyster, by giving each competitor a shell, and taking the meat for his own part.

2. An affecting representation of a bar-keeper shutting the outer-house door in the face of a writer's clerk, who has not paid him the dues.

3. Three lawyer's clerks boxing petitions.

4. A judge retiring to the water-closet.

5. A picturesque view of a lawyer putting on his gown,

and adjusting his wig.

6. A spirited sketch of the macer calling silence.

7. Young writers examining the suspension rolls.

8. Outer-house hearings interrupted by the ringing of the inner-house bell.

These are a few of the subjects of the plates intended to enrich this invaluable work. The public may be assured, that all the others are selected with equal taste, and exhibit subjects not less striking and interesting than those now specified.

XVIII.

SONG,

BY WILLIAM ERSKINE, ESQ. ADVOCATE.

William Erskine, afterwards Lord Kinneder, was the son of the Reverend William Erskine, Minister of Muthil, he was admitted Advocate in 1790, was appointed Sheriff-Depute of Orkney 6th June 1809, and promoted to the Bench, on the resignation of Lord Balmuto, on the 29th January 1822;-he died on the 14th of August following; he was the intimate friend of Sir Walter Scott, and author of several small poems, amongst which are Supplementary Verses to Collins' Ode on the Superstitions of the Highlands, which possess great poetical merit.

1.

O say not Cynthia, maid divine!
That vain our vows must ever prove,
That far from thee I still must pine,
For fortune is the foe of love,
And blissful dreams and visions bright.
Ah! yield not to the fiend despair,
Nor dash with shades of deepest night,
The scenes our fancy form'd so fair.
Far, far from hollow splendor flee,
And live with innocence and me.

2.

Come, view the vale, my peerless maid,
Where lost to all but thee I dwell,
Where nature's beauties deck the shade
That hides thy lover's lowly cell.

See, peace, the cherub, wanders here,
See, independence guards my store,
And truth, and hope, and love are here,—
My Cynthia can'st thou wish for more?
Then haste from hollow splendor flee,
And dwell with innocence and me.

XVIII.

PARODY ON THE PRECEDING,

BY GEORGE CRANSTON, ESQ. LORD COREHOUSE.

1.

O say not William, youth divine,
In vain your company I seek,
That far from me to-day you dine,
Tho' you were ask'd on Thursday week.
Your leisure hours, your eves of rest,
O give not to some stupid drone,
Nor be the dull Dunsinnan's* guest,
For you had better yawn alone.
Far, far from Lords of Session flee,

And dine with Thomson,† and with me.

* Sir William Nairn, Bart. Lord Dunsinnan, his Lordship was admitted advocate 11th March 1755, made a Lord of Session 9th March 1786, and of Justiciary, 24th December 1792. He resigned the latter appointment in 1808, the former in 1809, and died at Dunsinnan House on the 20th of March 1811. He was uncle of the celebrated Katherine Nairn, who was convicted, 14th August 1768, of being art and part guilty with her brother-in-law, Lieutenant Patrick Ogilvie, of the murder of her husband, Thomas Ogilvie of Eastmiln, as also of an incestuous intercourse with her said brother-in-law. She, (by her uncle's assistance, as was reported,) escaped from prison, and thus avoided the gallows; but her paramour was executed. In a Magazine for 1777 she is said to have taken refuge in a Convent at Lisle, "a sincere penitent."

†Thomas Thomson, Esq. Deputy-Clerk-Register, and one of the Principal Clerks of Session.

2.

Come, view the meal, my peerless blade,
Which Annie's gentle cares afford,

Two chickens from the Cowgate head,
To grace your George's simple board,-
And peas,-the pudding crowns my cheer,-
Potatoes purchas'd at the door,

And greens, and tarts, and ham, are here,-
My William can'st thou wish for more?
Then haste, from Lords of Session flee,
And dine with Thomson and with me.

XIX.

VERSES

TO GEORGE PACKWOOD, ESQ. BY GEORGE CRANSTON, ESQ. LORD COREHOUSE.

THE BARBER'S SONG.

Packwood's Paste, Sir, and Strop,

I adopt in my shop;

Hunting razors come as pat as they can:

Mark well the Cutler's fears,

When tailors whet their sheers

On Packwood's razor strop-he's your man!

What says the Cutler?" Humphry, lay aside the stone, this new invention may save us trouble of grinding." The counting-house penknife, whetted on one of Packwood's strops, will experience a positive proof of their superior excellence, and give a keen edge to a razor, to shave to admiration. Hunting razors secured with a guard, to prevent cutting. To prove their safety a gentleman has shaved with one of them on horseback,—an acquisition to timid shavers, or those troubled with a nervous complaint; Price £2, 12s. 6d. The razors are sold by Mr. Packwood, London, and Mr. Raeburn, Edinburgh, &c. &c.

Packwood was the inventor of a well-known strop for sharpening razors. Like the Warrens and Rowlands of the present day, the newspapers teemed with his puffs. He is said to have kept in his pay a poet, to chaunt his praises and sing poems in honour of the immortal strop. In 1796, he published a collected edition of these invaluable morceaux, under the title of "Pack.

wood's Whim, the Goldfinch's nest, or the Way to get Money and be Happy," containing a copious collection of his diverting advertisements, with useful observations, &c. to which he prefixed his portrait. Of the merits of this now rare production, one or two specimens may suffice.

EXTEMPORE,

On Packwood's Razor Strop.

Sans doubte, Mr. Packwood, your elegant Strops,

Are the best that e'er mortal invented:

We have nothing to do but to lather our chops,

The razor soon makes us contented.

Surely Magic herself has been lending her aid,

To assist in the brilliant invention;

And the fam'd composition you also have made,
Should assuredly gain you a pension.

PACKWOOD'S CONUNDRUMS.

Why is Packwood's paste unlike the stocks?

Because it never falls, but always rises in the public opinion.

Why is Packwood's shop unlike the present lottery?

Because every purchaser draws a prize.

ELECTIONEERING INTELLIGENCE.

George Packwood, Esq. we hear, is returned for the County of Strop, with very little opposition.

Manhood's honors on my chin,

Always rough, and tough, and black, would

Agonize my tender skin,

Till I'd heard of peerless Packwood.

Was adorn'd with cuts, my Packwood.

Torture me their razors blunt,—

Torture worse their ceaseless clack would,