sions of men in the decline of life, the glimmering rays of whose feeble star, beamed upon their intellectual fancy, just as it was falling beneath the horizon, and at a period too of their existence, when it would be absurd to suppose, that they were under the influence of the softer passions.

Therefore, Lauretta, you will pardon me, having necessarily been led to cite examples in defence of my sentiments in your opinion; and permit me to tell you, that I am the reverse of your conjectures, and boast of a calm equanimity of mind, built upon a thorough contemplation of the virtues and vices of mankind.

friendship offered up the sincerest supplications to providence for their protection, and happy deliverance from the storms and quicksands of life. But, alas! how soon was the brightest anticipation destroyed, and every hope enveloped in despair, for ever! No sooner had they in a manner become independent of their former friends, and forgetting the favors bestowed upon them, when they stood in need of favours now aloof from their admonition, and ungratefully despising that friendship which nourished them in the beginning of their career of prosperity-obliterating every consideration in selfishness and neglect. Intoxicated by pride and other inordinate vices which disgrace human nature so much-the sphere in which they moved must be enlarged-the avenues of pleasure become too confined, and are consequently thrown open to every species of profligacy, and the brightest hopes that ever shone of buman the prospect upon welfare destroyed forever! Such is the fate that will ever befal ingratitude, dissipation, and profligacy!!!

I have seen too, the pallid wretch, tottering under an enfeebled constitution, debilitated by a slavish indulgence of his passions, and in whose dark soul was seated every propensity that could possibly characterize a fiend, making his debut among men under that borrowed garb which the wicked so often assume, in order the more effectu

"ally to deceive and prey upon mankind. Apparently with the most unaffected candour he would solicit your friendship. It was a solicitation for the worst of ends-of rendering you subservient to his. base and iniquitous purposes, or be involved in inevitable ruin.Yet his schemes of perfidy remained not undeveloped. By an unlucky move of the juggler, the curtain was drawn. aside, and the unprincipled scoundrel "stood confessed." And now chased from the presence of society, he declaims against the deceptions of mankind and the precariousness of proffered friendship. Blasphemously imputes to a blind providence all his misfortunes, when in fact, he strenuously pursued his own destruction, which was finally the cause of his ruin.

Thus then we may reasonably conclude, that when a man falls under the weight of accumulated misfortunes, not directly derived from his own misconduct, the mild principles of religion and philosophy will support him in the trying hour of adversity. He can brook its peltings with that dignified serenity, so characteristic of the christian and the man. But when, by a perpetual series of bad conduct upon his part, he annihilates the good will of his friends, destroys the confidence of the world, and the tide of persecution sets in upon him, no wonder that he fails in his exertions to stem itno wonder that distraction seizes

Without any introduction, F give you my case as correctly as I am able to state it, and leave it at city in your useful Miscellany or your option either to give it publi

commit it to oblivion.

The principal intention of my parents is to make me afraid of the men, in which, I must acknowledge, they succeeded so well, for a time, that I durst not look in their faces, or be left alone with them in a parlour ; for I have been made to fancy, that no man ever. spoke but to deceive, or looked, but to allure-that the girl who suffered him that once squeezed,

BRUCE, THE TRAVELLer.

This gentleman was fond of shewing his visitors, at Kennaird, fac similes of the thirty different languages, that were spoken in the camp of one of the caravans, in which he had occasionally travelled on the continent of Africa.To spare the ears of the unlearned, he called these languages, with some humor, the red, blue, green, &c. according to the colors of its character. Upon his shewing || these manuscripts to a lady distinguished for the vivacity of her remarks, and informing her that the word KISS is to be met with, expressing the same idea, in some passages of his rainbow of languages, she pleasantly observed to him--" I told you, Mr. Bruce, that kissing is the same all the world over."

AN EXCELLENT LAW.

It was a law at Athens, that every man was excused from maintaining his father, if he had taught him no trade.

One of our Bond-street dashers, who had for convenience, taken up his residence at a certain secure house in street, and had run up a score there, absented himself from the ordinary. This enraged Lockit, who commissioned his wife to go and dun him; which Mr. hearing of, declared publicly, that if she came he would kiss her. "Will he,' quoth Mrs. Locket will he! Give me my bonnet, Molly, and I'll see whether

any fellow on earth has such impudence!" "My dear," cried the cooling husband, "pray don't be so rash; you don't know what a man may do in passion!"

London paper.

Ancient Welch Customs respecting Adultery and Seduction.

If a wife proved unfaithful to her husband's bed, the poor cuckold was obliged to pay his superior five shillings as long as he cydgyscu, (i. e. slept with her) but if he forebore cohabiting with her, and she cydgysgu'd with her gallant, the fine fell on the offending fair.

To cuckold the prince was expîated at a very high rate the offender was fined in a gold cup and cover, as broad as his majesty's face, and as thick as a ploughman's nail who had ploughed nine years, and a rod of gold as tall as the king, and as thick as his little finger.

To recompence a virgin, who had been seduced, and who complained that her lover had deserted her, it was ordered by the court, that she was to lay hold of the tail of a bull, of three years old, introduced through a wicker door, and shaven, and well greased. Two men were to goad the beast: if she could by dint of strength, retain the bull, she was to have it by way of satisfaction; if not, she got nothing but the grease that remained in her hands.

Maxim.How can the cat help it, if the maid be a fool.

On Wednesday last the Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal delive

ry, was opened in this city by Judge Yates. After the Grand Jury had been sworn, Judge Yates delivered a pertinent address to them, and recommended to their particular attention, the present abuses by lottery-office-keepers, and the indecent mode of bathing in the East and North rivers.

Joseph Whitfield, a boy of about 11 years old, was tried for setting fire to the house of Mr. John Moran, and found guilty.

There will be two trials for Murder in this court, and one for arson.

Maria Louisa of Austria.-The fol lowing article, copied from a London paper, places the origin of the matrimonial connection between Bonaparte and a Princess of the House of Austria, on a very different footing from what it has been heretofore viewed.

Extract of a private letter from Vienna,

"The world is widely mistaken in supposing that the young Archduchess Louisa Maria is about to be led like a lamb to the sacrifice. She was herself the prime mover of Napoleon's marvellous attachment, the whole ambition of her soul having been directed to enslave by her charms the Conqueror of the

Universe. She has succeeded to the extent of her ambition, and within a few days will be invested with an Imperial diadem. At this moment she is gay," even to wildness, but she can be affected by various passions. I have seen her weep; I have seen her frown; and in an instant become mild and amiably condescending; in these felicitous moments her voice is facinatingly melodious.—In figure she is a little below the middle size; gracefully formed in the neck and shoulders, with a complexion of the most delicate whiteness; a nose somewhat inclined to the Roman ; eyes of the most brilliant blue, and a profusion of flaxen hair, that reaches nearly to the ground; her hands and feet most delicately shaped; her lips are truly Austrian; however, when opened by a smile, they discover a set of teeth, most beautifully arranged, and exquisitely white. I remember to have seen her own lovely aunt taken from her mother in just such a transitory blaze of beauty, joy fully expecting to fill a long established throne, and afterwards I saw her fall the most degraded victim to her barbarian subjects--on a scaffold!" &c. &e

By his marriage, Bonaparte becomes related to almost all the royal families in Europe. Besides being son-in-law to the Emperor of Austria, and nephew to the Archduke Charles, he is great nephew to the Queen of Naples, first cousin, we believe, to Ferdinand VII. and to the Prince Regent of Portugal-he is also nephew to the daughter of Louis XV. the Duchess of Angouloume.

Mr. Houzette, a banker of Verdun, arrived last week in London, confirms the articles in the French papers respecting a duel between Capt. Alexander, of the marines, and Lieut. Baker, of the Hus. sar frigate, in which the latter was kill. ed. Capt. Alexander has been commit ted to prison under the new penal code,