There, as with throbbing heart, and steadfast

gaze,

I watch'd its quick ascent; methought it grew

A speck, within the empyrean blue, Fainter and fainter waned upon my sight, And melted in the lucid arch of night!

Dismay'd, discomfited, I kept mine eye

Fix'd on the space, where I had seen the last;

And gazing through the dim and empty sky, Stood statue-like, all silent, and aghast ;Sudden the clouds roll'd o'er the hemisphere; The sunshine was not, and an inky hue Blotted the stars, and heaven's serene blue; The lake rose up in madness loud and drear, Lashing to foam its huge and billowy tide, Heaving and sinking, dark and dim-descried. The forest with a melancholy sound,

Waved to and fro its wide umbrageous boughs,

Till the tall oaks fell crashing, and around As if of time I saw the final close; "Bright flash'd the lightnings, and the thunders spoke,

Awfully deep-I trembled, and awoke!

STANZAS TO A BEAUTY.

Transcendant being! say-ah! tell me where

From that bright region of etherial day, Come thy fair features-mild intelligence, Like a young Iris form'd by beauty's rayAnd uncompounded of our base material clay; Art thou a fairy vision from the sky, Sent down to cheer this gloomy world below?

Or Houri-from Elysian fields on high, The place where Musulmen desire to goWhere purest love abounds, and lasting raptures flow:

Ah, no! those dimpling smiles, that cheerful play

Around thy rosy lips and mantling cheek, That bosom's throb, those eyes that gazing slay,

Thee still a creature of our earth bespeakProclaim thee human still-and still as woman-weak.

Oh, thou art form'd, all tenderness and love, To be an helpmate to one here belowThough beauteous as angelic souls above To bid some mortal's cup of bliss o'erflowInspiring joys, alas! I perhaps may ne'er know.

Sensations still like dreams arise

Which fill my heart with gladness; Yet soon a pang will oft intrude,

And turns the whole to sadness.
For we were then, the happiest pair
That Love had e'er united!
Completely blest!-if such could be-
And each with each delighted.

With honest heart, and flame as pure,
My Edwin lov'd sincerely,-
However tender he might love,
Him did I love as dearly.

But, Ah! misfortune, direful foe!
Our scenes of bliss o'er-clouded;
The day that should have seen us blest,
Saw him, in coffin shrouded.

Yet still, I bathe his name with tears,
And think of joys departed.

And mourn my wretched destiny, 'Till almost broken-hearted.

EPIGRAM.

This world is a prison in ev'ry respect, Whose walls are the heavens in common; The gaoler is sin, and the prisoners men, And the fetters are nothing but women.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BABBLER Sir, If the following Moral Simile be worth your attention, inserting it in your work will much oblige A Constant Reader.

Near to the spot where early thought began
And learning first prepared for riper man, t
A peaceful brook its' gentle waters leads
Like me passed o'er by pedantry's proud
weeds:

Like me, it winds its course beneath the eye While tottering mounts like bloated pride stand by;

Along its banks the pendant willow weeps-
The hazle spreads and ragged bramble creeps-;
The vale beside, with rustic scene'ry delights,
While Philomel enchants the listening nights.
Here oft I love to wander and recall

My days of innocence and weep their fall.
One autumn's noon this fond retreat I sought,
Hard by the stream I mus'd, and read, and
thought

Of life, of immortality and man,

Precarious stay, unceasing state, and mortal

span;

The season, and the brook, each seem'd with

me

To cry portentous! each a simile;
The trees proud glories of the summers reign
Their honours blasted weep in vain.

Exposed their trunks, and naked branches high
To winter's tempests and infuriate sky;

To tottering age, in wither'd and decripid forms

Stands chill'd by Zephyrs and a prey to storms.
Prone from a cow'ring oak, whose ragged head
Peep'd o'er the vale and arch'd the watery bed,
An acorn ripen'd plunges in the stream
For ever sever'd from its native stem;
"Go guiltless acorn! seek such happy shore

Fulneck. Commonly called Tong-Beck. Night Thoughts.

There plant thee and produce ten thousand more, "Whose spreading honours thee, their parent hail,

"And time shall nurture in this rustic vale.
What shall an acorn teach the reas'ning soul
It bends incessant to some future goal?
That accident and time alternate wait
And unawares deciee the triflers fate?

Thy race vain man! wide branches o'er the
globe

Like some torn tree in autumn's woe fall'n robe, With mortals pendent, whom a blast anay shake In flow'ry streams of bliss or hells dark lake; Still stupid, one beholds the other sink; Himself age tott'ring on the awful brink Breathes a short sigh o'er natures sad remains, Then lifted by the storm waves anxious pains. But see yon blast that sweeps along the sky His fate for that reserved now thunders nigh,See the vex't tree with agitated fear

Send him and thousands more to claim a tear, That tear, humanity must shed to know

A wretch unthinking, deemed to endless woe. There down the stream he tides with gnawing pain

The banks despair, and Hell the utmost main;
No friendly arm, no monitor shall save
His guilt-black conscience from the burning

wave.

Incomprehensive time no moment shall assuage
His pain spent fury, still rekindling rage.
Then think thee man! thou child of life's short

scene

How blossoms fade, how blights the moulded

green

How summer in luxuriant strength array'd The thudn'ring tempest wrecks in blackening shade

How autumn's ripen'd fruits o'erspread the ground

'Ere winter's horrors strip the foliage round-
How wise then he, who from his tomb* surveys
In life a phantom of few number'd days;
His soul coelestial, and her fit abode
The Heav'n of angels, and the blaze of God;-
Long may misfortunes batter on his shield,
Or vice allure him to the carnal field-
Long may vexation strew his thorny way,
And scowling malice mark him for her prey;
He steps intrepid to the hopeful tomb,
And buries woe in earth's capacious womb;
See here he comes, while buoyant o'er the

of colour by which it is constantly accompanied. The progress, which the physical theory of light has made within these few years, will enable us, I believe, to connect the explanation of this curious fact with the law of interferences, discovered by Dr. Young.

This

According to the experiments of this illustrious philosopher, two rays of homogenous light, arriving at the same point of space by two ways little different add or neutralize themselves, according as the difference of the two ways has this or that value. The differences, which accord with the neutralization of rays of different tints are so sensibly unequal, that the result of the interference, or mixture of two white pencils of light, should always be accompanied by a manifest coloration. Experience has moreover shown us, that in seeking the place where two pencils are capable of influencing each other, it is not sufficient to consider merely the difference of the ways they have traversed. admitted, it is easy to demonstrate that the rays, omitted from the same place, collected in the focus of a small lens, vibrate in concert, or unite together, if they have all traversed medium of the same density, or equal refractive power; and the same mode of reasoning shows, that, on the contrary, an unequal refractive power must, according as we suppose it more or less considerable, occasion in the same focus, the neutralization of some class or other of coloured rays. If we apply these considerations to the twinkling of stars, we shall find that if all the rays of light, which arrive at the different parts of the pupil, constantly traverse atmospheric strata of equal density, the image of the star will always be equally intense, and of the same colour; while in the contrary supposition, its colour and brilliancy may vary every instant. The chances of twinkling will be much less numerous for a star at the zenith, under the same circumstances, than for one but little above the horizon. In our climates they will be less than under the tropics, where heat is more uniformly distributed in the strata of the atmosphere. The variations of intensity will be more easily perceived in stars of the first magnitude, when they will be attended with a change of colour more striking than in small stars; and in white stars, than in those which are naturally coloured.

Varieties.

Anecdote of the Duke of Kent.-That benevolence which so strongly characterized the disposition of his late highness, the Duke of Kent, is strongly illustrated by the following anecdote. While resident in Gibraltar, a soldier had a boat, in which, when off duty, he employed himself in fishing. One night, when at sea with his eldest boy behind the rock, a Levant gale came on, and they both perished. His widow, was far advanced in pregnancy, and this sad event plunged her in the deepest affliction. A subscription was set on foot in her behalf, and the third night after the catastrophe, while she was sitting weeping and bemoaning her cruel fate, a gentleman suddenly appeared, who made the kindest inquiries respecting her situation. He took the children on his knee and kissed them-consoled her-bid her dry up her tears, and putting twelve gold pieces in her hand, instantly departed. The following day he called again, and repeated his visit for several days successively. When her time grew near, he sent a doctor to attend her, and provided every article requi site for her comfort. The woman was filled with astonishment at the exalted benevolence of her unknown benefactor. She remained ignorant of the rank of the person who had thus befriended her, until some weeks after her delivery, when being at a review, she recognized in the person of the Duke of Kent, her hitherto unknown benefactor. A day or two after the Duke called again, but her eldest boy having mentioned his name, he never called more, but continued to send regular supplies of money to the widow. This philanthrophy which distinguished the noble disposition of the Duke, clothed in the humble garb of benevolence sufficiently proved him to have considered, that, "Let a benefit be ever so considerable the manner of conferring it is the noblest part."

Scythian Custom.--These people drank the blood of the first enemy they took, and presented to their king the heads of all those whom they had slayed in battle. If they brought the heads to him, all the booty was their own. Those who omitted the ceremony, or

could not discharge it, were not enti tled to the smallest share of the spoils of war. They are accustomed to tan the scalp of the head and use it as a towel. They tied it to their horse's bridle. It was the most honourable trophy. The valour of a Scythian was estimated according to the number they possessed of these towels. Many of the Scythians sewed together the skins of men instead of those of beasts, and wore them for clothes. The poorer people claimed the scull of the victims and covered it with leather. The rich added a gilding within, and both used them for caps. They used the skull of a friend in the same manner, if they had quarrelled with him, and had vanquished him in the presence of a king. When they were visited by respectable strangers, they shewed them these sculls. related to them the unfriendly treatment they had received from the persons whose sculls they exhibited,- and the particulars of the combat and victory, which they deemed the greatest glory of their life. Every governor of a province made an annual feast, at which he presented a cup of wine to each man who had killed his enemy. This mark of respect he did not shew to those who had not distinguished themselves by some exploit. They sat apart unnoticed They were therefore deemed ignomini

ous.

They

Those who had slain many enemies drank at once out of two cups.

Canova. This celebrated Sculptor is at Passagno, his native place, superintending the building of a beautiful Church, (erecting at his own expence), in honour of the Holy Trinity. It is said that it will in form resemble the. Pantheon of Rome and that, like the Parthenon of Athens, it will be ornamented with a portico, the pillars of which will be of the same dimentions as those of the Pantheon. The interior will be decorated with sacred sculptures of this great Artist, and will also contain a picture of his composition, representing a dead Christ. Passagno, at this moment, is a place of union for all foreigners. Canova is the father and benefactor of his native country, which (thanks to him) appears to have received new life. A short time ago Passagno had no place on the geographical charts, and now this same name owes the honour of being distinguished by particular marks in the charts of the State of

Venice, to the celebrity of the man to whom she gave birth. At a future period the magnificent monument which is now erecting will be celebrated in history, and draw from the most distant countries all that are friends to the Arts

and Religion. The population already increases, and people's minds become more cultivated and polished; even now, before the edifice is completed, a crowd of French and English flock from all quarters, struck with the novelty of the enterprise and the grandeur of the monument. They have been obliged to open two hotels here.

Curious Fact in Natural History.— A gentleman residing at Keswick, has published a letter in the "Sporting Magazine," in which he says, that one evening in the latter end of July last, he observed a rustling in a strawberrybed in the garden, and found that a toad had just seized a field mouse, which had got on the toad's back, scratching and biting to get released, but in vain. The toad kept his hold, and as the strength of the mouse failed, gradually drew the unfortunate little animal into his mouth and gorged him. Another correspondent in the same Magazine relates a wonderful instance of the verocity of stoats.-Some workmen removing a pile of faggots near a coppice, where it had lain about five months, found 63 rabbit-skins and 25 hare-skins; on removing a few more bundles, they found six stoats, four of which they killed, the other two escaped. It is generally supposed, that stoats suck the blood of these animals, but this fact proves that the opinion is

erroneous.

Receipt for Preserving Milk at Sea. -Provide a quantity of pint or quart bottles (new ones are perhaps the best), they must be perfectly sweet and clean, and likewise very dry before they are made use of. Instead of drawing the milk from the cow into the pail as usual, it is to be milked into the bottles; as soon as any of them are filled sufficiently, they should be immediately well corked with the very best corks, in order to

keep out the external air, and fastered tight with packthread or wire, as the corks in bottles which contain cider generally are. Then on the bottom of an iron or copper boiler spread a little straw; on that lay a row of the bottles filled with milk, with some straw betwixt each to prevent them from breaking, and so on alternately, until the boiler has got a sufficient quantity; then fill it up with cold water. Heat the water gradually until it begins to boil; and as soon as that is perceivable draw the fire; the bottles must remain undisturbed in the boiler until they are quite cold; then take them out, and afterwards pack them in hampers, either with straw or saw-dust, and stow them in the coolest part of the ship.

The reply Courteous.-There was not much wit, but there was some good humour, in the reply George II. made to a lady, who, at the first masquerade his Majesty was present at in England, invited him to drink a glass of wine at one of the beaufets; with this he readily complied, and the lady filling a bumper said, "Here, mask, the pretender's health;" then filling another glass, presented it to the king, who receiving it with a smile, replied, "I drink with all my heart to the health of all unfertunate princes."

Organic Remains. In a cavern of one of the marble quarries, at Oreston, on the eastern shore of Catwater, were lately found imbedded, fossil bones of the Rhinoceros, and portions of the skeletons of three different animals, all in perfect preservation. The cavity in which these bones were discovered, is 70 feet below the surface of the solid rock. Every side of the cave was solid rock; nor was there any external communication through the rock in which they were imbedded, nor any appearance of an opening from above, being closed by infiltration.

Dr. Cosin having heard the famous T. Fuller repeat verses on a scolding wife, was so delighted with them, as to request a copy; but Fuller told him a copy was needless, as HE had the original.