rather an ecclesiastical structure than a private mansion; but the truth is that an abbey formerly occupied the spot, and a portion of it has been built into or included in the present mansion, which retains the old name. A priory of canons regular of St. Augustin was founded here in the reign of Henry the Third, and valued at 781.13s. 4d. The buildings of this priory were destroyed by fire, and the present mansion was built on its site.

The estate came into the family of the Norths by the marriage of Francis, Lord Keeper Guilford, with Lady Frances Pope, sister of fourth and last Earl of Donne. The greater part of the present structure was erected by Sir William Pope, afterwards Earl of Donne, in the year 1618. The building is of an ornamental and interesting character, though it was not completed according to the original design, as an intended wing on the south side was never commenced. The Lord Keeper made some additions, and the late Earl of Guilford erected an

elegant library, after a plan by Smirke. The chapel is a fine room, beautified by the first Earl of Guilford. Among the pictures deposited in this mansion are many ancient portraits of the families of North and Pope. Among the latter is an original of Sir Thomas Pope, founder of Trinity College, Oxford, and uncle of the first Earl of Donne. Of the Norths there is a complete series of portraits, from Edward, the first lord, created in the reign of Philip and Mary, to the present Earl of Guilford. "The whole of Wroxton Priory," says Mr. Brewer, "is creditable to the taste of the noble owner. Every improvement introduced (and many have been effected) is rendered subservient to the ancient baronial character of the edifice. The gardens and pleasuregrounds will be viewed with particular interest, as no innovating hand has robbed them of their monastic fea

tures."

The only remains of the original abbey (or priory, as it would seem to be more correctly called) are an arch, which was probably a door of entrance, and a small portion of the passages, communicating with offices in the lower division of the building.

Mr. Nash has, in one picture, represented the porch of Wroxton Abbey, which is an elegant specimen of the Italian decorated entrances, so frequently attached to buildings of this date. Another plate is devoted to the hall. This hall is handsome, though plain, and is remarkable for the screen, which is richly carved and supported on columns, leaving the space beneath the musicgallery open. The pendant in the centre of the ceiling is likewise a curious feature, and has a light and elegant effect. The stags' heads introduced into the wall are also peculiar and striking ornaments.

JEOPARD not the loss of many things for the gain of one thing; neither adventure the loss of one thing certain for many things doubtful.-SIR THOMAS SMITH.

THE heart may be sad, without the eye being wet.-LOVER.

ADVERSITY is like the period of the former and of the latter rain, cold, comfortless, unfriendly to man and to animal; yet from that season have their birth, the flower, and the fruit, the date, the rose, and the pomegranate.-SIR WALTER SCOTT.

AFFLICTION appears to be the guide to reflection; the teacher of humility; the parent of repentance; the nurse of faith; the strengthener of patience, and the promoter of charity: while of those upon whom affliction is thus sanctified to the purifying of the soul, and its improvement in Christian graces; of those, who study to convert it with the blessing of their merciful Father, to their spiritual and eternal welfare, that they "may become partakers of his holiness;" of those who welcome it as the means whereby they may "learn the statutes" of the Lord: of such persons it may be truly affirmed, as the royal Psalmist acknowledged of himself, that "it is good for them to be afflicted."-BisuoP MANT.

HUNGARY WATER.

Doctors or Teachers they of Physick are,
(Whether by pen they do it, or in chair

With lively voyce,) that teach the way to know
Man's nature, health, and sickness, and do show
Diseases, cause, and cure: but they who spend
Their life in visits, and whose labours end
In taking fees and giving paper scrowls,
Factors of physick are, and none but owls
Po court such doctors, that no Latin know,

From whence that name did to our language flow.

THUS wrote William Rowland, the coadjutor of Culpeper in some of his numerous works on medical subjects; and from the tone of satire in which the lines are written, the reader would naturally suppose that this Rowland was a genuine "doctor," and not a mere "factor of physick." Yet we are tempted to smile when we see what were the ideas of such men respecting the effects of medicines on the human body, and how strangely they mixed up astrology with the medical art. If we select almost any simple herb,-rosemary for instance,--we shall find that they attribute to it virtues which would very much gladden the hearts of invalids, could we only believe them to be true. Rosemary, Culpeper tells us, will cure, or at least "help" cold diseases, rheum, swimming of the head, drowsiness, stupidity, dumb palsy, lethargy, falling sickness, tooth-ache, bad breath, weak memory, dim sight, yellow jaundice, pestilence, cough, ptisick, consumption, benumbed joints, and a host of other personal evils, both internal and external. He also informs us that "the sun claims privilege to it, and it is under the celestial Ram."

These whimsicalities would be calculated merely to amuse, were it not that uneducated persons are often disposed, by the perusal of the works, or the popular dissemination of the opinions, of such men as Culpeper and Rowland, to form a very erroneous estimate of the comparative state of medical knowledge in past and present times. The reputed properties of any particular herb or medicament, however astounding they may be, are laid down by our old herbalists in such positive and undoubted terms, that many readers fear it would be a kind of presumption to doubt the truth of what is asserted. This is an evil, since it is difficult, and often impossible, to bring the mind into a fit state for the reby doctrines which partake of the marvellous, and ception of truths recently discovered, if it is pre-occupied which are, principally on that account, eagerly caught up by the multitude.

We could easily collect numerous examples of medicinal herbs, which are now used for the most simple purposes only, but which were once lauded for curative properties almost innumerable. Some preparations, formerly much vaunted, are now utterly unknown, while others, although still admitted into the healing art, occupy a far humbler station than that which they once filled. There is a curious history respecting the subject of HUNGARY WATER, a preparation from Rosemary, which will illustrate some of the remarks offered above, and will show that persons moving even in the highest circles were once not exempt from the belief in medicines and remedies of a marvellous character.

Hungary water is spirit of wine distilled upon rosemary, and therefore imbued with its oily and strongly scented essence. It used to be brought principally fr m France, particularly from Beaucaire, Montpellier, and other places in Languedoc, where rosemary grew in great abundance. The name by which it is known,— l'Eau de la reine d'Hongrie,-seems to imply that it was first known or used in Hungary, and such appears on investigation to have been the case. Several books been written on the subject, in which it is stated that the receipt for making this medicine was given to a queen of Hungary by a hermit, (some say by an an el,) who appeared to her in a garden, all entrance to which was shut. One writer says that this queen was Queen

ave

St. Isabella, but another states it to nave been Elizabeth,
wife of Charles Robert, king of Hungary, daughter of
Uladislaus II., king of Poland, and he goes on to say,
that by often washing with this spirit of rosemary, she
was cured of gout and lameness, at the age of seventy
years; that she lived to the age of eighty, and became
again so renovated in youth and beauty, through the
effects of this wonderful preparation, that she was ad-
mired by the king of Poland at that time, who was then
a widower, and who wished to make her his second wife.
Many indistinct allusions were made by different
writers to a book, or breviary, containing a receipt,
written by the queen of Hungary, in letters of gold, for
the preparation of this famous medicine. But the first
clear account of it was given by John Prevot, in a medi-
cal work published about two centuries ago. The sub-
stance of his information on this point was as follows:-
In the year 1606, Prevot happened to see, among the
books of Francis Podacather,- --a man of noble family
with whom he was intimate,-a very old breviary, which
Podacather held in high veneration. This breviary had
been given by Elizabeth, queen of Hungary, to one of
the ancestors of Podacather, as a testimony of the friend-
ship that existed between them; and at the beginning
of it is the following entry, in the queen's own hand :-
I, Elizabeth, queen of Hungary, being very infirm, and
much troubled with the gout, in the seventy-second year of
my age, used for a year this receipt, given to me by an ancient
hermit, whom I never saw before nor since, and was not only
cured, but recovered my strength, and appeared to all
so remarkably beautiful, that the king of Poland asked
me in marriage, he being a widower and I a widow. I,
however, refused him for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ,
from one of whose angels I believe I received the remedy.
The receipt is as follows:-

Take of aqua vitæ, four times distilled, three parts, and of
the tops and flowers of rosemary two parts: put these toge.
ther in a close vessel: let them stand in a gentle heat fifty
hours, and then distil them. Take one dram of this in the
morning, either in your food or drink, and let your face and
the diseased limb be washed with it every morning.

:

It renovates the strength, brightens the spirits, purifies the marrow and nerves, restores and preserves the sight, and prolongs life.

If we were to judge of this strange document, taking the tone of modern opinion as a standard, we should be inclined to doubt its authenticity; but when we consider the character of the times (about the year 1380), and the allusions made to it by so many writers, we may admit its truth, by supposing the queen to have been a woman of a vain and rather weak mind.

An account of the mode of preparing Hungary water was published by Zapata, in 1586, in his Mirabilia, seu Secreta Medico-Chirurgica*. The writer commences by alluding to the wonderful cures performed on one Anaxagoras by the use of this Hungary water, and then describes the mode in which it was prepared by Arnold of Villa Nova: "Take some good must, such as yields a ley of his own accord, before the grapes are bruised. Put it into a vessel, and add the sprouts and leaves of rosemary, of each ten parts; and when it has steeped in spirit, let it be shut up in a perforated vessel, in order that it may effervesce, and extract the virtues of the rosemary. When the process has been thus far conducted, let some more must and rosemary be put into a glass cucurbit, and distilled five times: when it boils let the result of the fifth distillation be drawn out; and after it shall have been distilled in the other vessel of must and rosemary, (in which fermentation has been going on,) both are to be added together. Then add a small quantity of the fifth distillation, or quintessence, so that the must may be developed from it more frequently and efficaciously. . . . . It must be confessed that a modern practitioner would be somewhat perplexed to have to produce Hungary water by such a description as this.

*This was a book which treated of "the wonders or secrets of the medical and surgical profession,"

The time has now gone by when Hungary water was deemed a specific against severe diseases; and it has taken its rank among the simpler preparations from vegetable bodies. In preparing this liquid, the leaves and tops of the rosemary yield their fragrance, in a great degree, to the ardent spirit, leaving behind the greatest share both of their flavour and pungency. The mode of preparing it usually adopted is, by distilling one gallon of proof spirit of wine, in which a pound and a half of fresh rosemary-tops have been placed. In order to make it in perfection, the spirit must be very pure, and the leaves at their full growth, gathered without bruising. If the flowers are suspended in the retort, and a gentle heat applied, just sufficient to raise the spirit in the form of vapour, this vapour, by lightly percolating through them, is said thereby to increase the fragrance. The custom used to be, in order to produce Hungary water of the finest kind, to distil the spirit several times with the rosemary; but the commoner sorts were often nothing more than cheap brandy, with a little of the essence or the oil of rosemary added to it.

Hungary water is now regarded as nothing more than an agreeable perfume, possessing nearly the same qualities as the simple herb from which it is produced. The wondrous properties attributed to this liquid by the queen of Hungary, as well as the equally marvellous virtues attributed to rosemary itself by the herbalists, are now known to have had their chief foundation in the operation of the human mind. The gradual developement of truth makes sad havoc in glowing and highlycoloured descriptions, whether of medicinal cures or of any other subject in which the public is deeply interested.

An article has appeared in some of the daily journals, in which the volcano of Kiraueh, (there called Kireca,) in the island of Hawaii, or Owhy hee, is spoken of as a newly formed crater. It was, however, visited many years since by Mr. Ellis; and the following account given by Mr. Douglas, corresponds so closely with its present state, as recently laid before the Geographical Society, that it may not be uninteresting to our readers.

THE VOLCANO OF OWHYHEE.

THE late Mr. Douglas, who visited Kiraueh in 1833, has described the scene presented by the interior of its crater as singularly awful and magnificent. He descended to a ledge at the depth of 1062 feet in this fearful pit; where a space about five miles in diameter, was covered with lava, the whole of which had apparently been recently in a state of fusion, though some portion was at that period hardened. This igneous mass appeared, in the process of cooling, to have been rent into pieces of every form and size, from gigantic rolls, like enormous cables, to the finest threads. Over this part of the pit were dispersed numerous small cones, or chimneys, which continually emitted smoke; and besides these little cones there were three remarkable pyramidal masses, measuring about 900 feet at the base, and being from 20 to 25 feet in height. These cones had lateral openings, like the doors of a baker's oven, to which they the ledge it was possible to peep into these openings, and to altogether bore a close resemblance. By kneeling down on witness "a terrific vacuity, a red-hot atmosphere," varied only by the occasional ejection of volcanic matter through a lateral opening. The remaining portion of this pit consisted of two lakes of liquid lava: one about 900 feet in diameter, and the other above 3000 feet in length, and nearly 2000 feet in width. Both these lakes of fire flowed in a continued stream towards the south end of the pit, at which point was exhibited one of the most appalling and magnificent spectacles in nature, a vast cauldron of lava, in furious ebullition, rolling and tumbling in fiery waves, sometimes spouting up to the height of 60 or 70 feet, and rapidly hurrying along, until it precipitated itself through an arch about 400 feet in width, and 40 feet in height, into a yawning chasm of unknown depth. From this tremendous, but unseen, laboratory of nature, immense masses were thrown back with great violence, and literally spun into minute glass-like filaments, which were carried by the wind in all directions. The sound issuing from this archway baffles all description: "that of the whole steam-engines in the world," says Mr. Douglas, "would be a whisper to it."-MISS ZORNLIN'S Recreations in Physical Geography.

THE Turkish government has many peculiarities that distinguish it from European states, and foremost of these is the administration of its provinces by means of Pachas. This institution, though in its principle perhaps not very different from that of the suzerainties of the feudal system, presents such a systematic course of extortion, bribery, and rebellion, and is, as a whole, so little like anything that the history of Christendom offers to our notice, that it is of itself sufficient to impress upon the country a distinct character, and without some acquaintance with the system, any account of Turkey must be but imperfectly comprehended. We accordingly furnish a sketch of the career of a Turkish pacha, the substance of which we borrow from Colonel Napier.

The Sultan, seldom removing from Constantinople, is there surrounded by a cabinet, termed the Divan, which appoints as the governor of a distant province, that one among the numerous class of the Sultan's personal attendants, who either bribes, or promises to bribe, them most largely. The government is sometimes not even vacant when the post is sold, but should the pacha have become obnoxious to the sultan or his government, a messenger is despatched to bowstring him and bring his head to Constantinople; this, if the governor be weak or taken by surprise, is often accomplished without difficulty: but in other cases, the messenger is waylaid and murdered, and the event only serves to wring a bribe from the intended victim. The purchaser then has to wait an indefinite time till further steps are taken, which he very patiently does, well-knowing that the bowstring would be the reward of any other conduct.

When he at length gains possession, his first measure is to solve what is said to be the grand problem of Turkish government, namely, how far he may plunder his subjects without occasioning a rebellion too formidable for him to put down. This point settled, his tribute remitted, and his promised bribes to the Divan punctually paid, with a handsome additional sum as a retaining fee, the new pacha is generally allowed to go on peaceably, as far as regards the Porte, for a few years. Then similar

|

means to those tnat procured his rise are employed to work his downfall. His subjects have from the first preferred complaints against him, and now that he is presumed to be rich, these are regarded. His government is in the market, and he, aware of the fact, endeavours to meet the danger by bribing more largely than before. At length, having reached the point of endurance, he atttempts to conciliate his people by relaxing somewhat of his extortions; and these, knowing that the arrival of a new governor is invariably followed by greater oppression than ever, are sometimes induced to make common cause with him. His bribes now become less than before; his government is sold, and a messenger despatched for his head, who, however, not unfrequently loses his own. Next comes the new pacha, with an army, if he can raise one; and then follows a war, which usually ends by one party outwitting the other, and putting him to death, with circumstances of treachery and cruelty of which European readers can form no adequate conception.

This matter premised, we may now proceed to the description of Joannina, once the capital of Ali Pacha, whose eventful life, of which we may one day give a sketch, well exhibits the blood-stained and checkered career of a Turkish governor.

THE PASHALIC OF JOANNINA. JOANNINA is the chief town in a pashalic of the same name, situated in Albania, a province near the northwest boundary of European Turkey. It owes nearly all the celebrity which it has attained, to the power and influence of Ali Pacha, who made it his residence. The town is not far from the eastern shore of the Adriatic, and is in the immediate vicinity of some of the Ionian Islands.

At a distance of about sixty miles north-west of the Morea, a small gulf branches out from the Adriatic, called the Gulf of Arta; at the entrance of which is a commercial town of some importance, called Prevesa. Forty miles northward of Prevesa stands the town of Joannina, the approach to which, from the south, is

described by travellers as being very beautiful. Dr. Hol land thus describes the scene which presents itself, when the traveller has approached within two miles of the city.

The length of the lake, on the borders of which the town of Joannina is situated, is about six miles, and its greatest breadth two; but at the point where the peninsula juts out into the lake, the breadth of the latter is very small. The city extends along the greater part of the western shore of the lake, and stretches, in width, from the lake to a row of low eminences, about a mile and a half distant from it. The interior aspect of the town is said to be rather gloomy, except at some particular spots. The streets are very tortuous, so as to give a stranger a great deal of embarrassment in rea hing any destined part of the town; and those in which the lowest classes of the inhabitants dwell, contain little but wretched mud-built cottages, and are in the outskirts of the city. The habitations of the middle ranks make a nearer approach to comfort, being constructed of wood, with a small open gallery under the projecting roof; altogether dissimilar to the cottages of Switzerland. The dwellings of the higher classes, both Greeks and Turks, partake more of an Oriental character, being quadrangular structures surrounding an open court, and having wide galleries running round the sides: the construction of these houses is such as to be extremely convenient in a warm climate; but, externally, they have more the appearance of prisons than of houses, for they present little more to the eye than lofty walls, with massive double gates, and windows (if any) at the top of the building.

The bazaars form, in Joannina, as well as in other Turkish towns, the most bustling and attractive feature in the place. They consist of ten or twelve streets, intersecting each other at irregular angles: they are narrow, and are rendered rather dark by the low projecting roofs, and by the large wooden booths in which the goods are exposed for sale. Each bazaar is appropriated to the sale of one particular class of goods; for instance, there is one occupied by those who deal in jewellery, and other ornamental articles; a second, by the dealers in pelisses, Turkish shawls, and other articles of dress; a third, by the retailers of common cotton goods; a fourth, by the dealers in grocery, tobacco, dried fruits, &c.; a fifth, by those who sell hookah and Meerschaum pipes, wooden trinkets, &c.; a sixth, by the dealers in coloured leather, and Turkish slippers; and one or two others. Some of these bazaars, especially those in which jewellery and articles of dress are sold, are richly and abundantly furnished. Joannina contains sixteen mosques, each standing on an open space of ground, and generally surrounded by large cypresses. There are also about seven or eight Greek churches, Joannina being the seat of a Greek archbishop.

The seraglios, or palaces of the pacha, are very large and important buildings. The chief one is lofty in itself, and situated on the most lofty spot in the city: it is

posed in long rows underneath; and walls richly decorated with paintings, occasionally landscape, but more generally what is merely ornamental, and without any uniform design. The entrance to the seraglio is very mean, being under a broad wooden gateway, within which is a large irregular area, two sides of which are formed by the buildings of the seraglio. On crossing from which an entrance leads into a long and lofty this area, a dark stone staircase leads to an outer hall, apartment, contiguous to the audience chamber of the pacha. This last mentioned apartment is decorated in a somewhat gaudy style, the prevailing colours, as well of the walls and ceiling as of the furniture, being crimson, blue, and yellow. The ceiling is divided into squares by woodwork very curiously and delicately carved, the interior of each square being decorated in crimson and gold. Pilasters are arranged at equal distances round the walls, and on these are hung sabres, daggers, pistols, &c., all profusely ornamented with gold and jewels. A carpet covers the floor; and round three sides of the room are ranged divans, or platforms, about fifteen inches high, and covered with cushions of crimson satin. A hearth, for burning wood fuel, is situated at one side of the room, and over it is a projecting chimney, rising in the form of a conical canopy, superbly ornamented with gilding. This description of the style of decoration in the audience chamber, will serve to convey a general idea of all the state apartments, in which a strange mixture of gaudiness and barbarity is observable, but very little real taste.

Perhaps the most beautiful structure in the town is the pavilion of the pacha, situated in the northern suburb. This pavilion is in the middle of a garden, and consists of a great saloon, two hundred and forty feet in circumference: its outline is not a perfect circle, but is formed by the curves of four separate areas or recesses, which are all open to the great circular area that occupies the centre of the building. The curve of each recess contains nine windows; and there are two also at the entrance into the pavilion. The pavement is of marble, with a large and deep marble basin in its centre: in the midst of this basin stands the model of a pyramidal fortress, mounted with numerous cannon, from each of which a jet d'eau issues, meeting the other jets from cannon on the outer circumference of the basin. Attached to one of the pillars of the pavilion is a small organ, which plays while the water is flowing.

The peninsula, of which we have before spoken, widens as it advances into the lake, and is terminated by two distinct promontories of rock; on one of which stands a large Turkish mosque, its lofty minaret, and extensive piazzas, shaded by the cypresses surrounding it. On the other promontory is situated the old seraglio of the pachas of Joannina, inhabited by them previous to the erection of the one which we have described, but now chiefly inhabited by officers and soldiers of the pacha's guard The whole of the peninsula is fortified,

so as to form a little town in itself, insulated from the rest of the city by a lofty stone wall, and a broad moat which admits the waters of the lake.

The banks of the lake are studded with numerous objects of a picturesque nature, such as the Great Seraglio, which seems to rise directly from the shore; a painted kiosk, projecting over the water, below the rocks of the old seraglio; a convent of dervishes, shaded by trees, towards the north. But the most attractive object is one which owes nothing to the hand of man, viz., the mountain ridge which backs the city, and which rises to a height of nearly three thousand feet: this range forms a continuous boundary to the valley in which the lake is

situated, rising from the water's edge, in the part opposite to Joannina, with an abruptness and majesty of outline which has much of the sublime in it: its precipitous

front is intersected by the ravines of mountain torrents, the borders of which, expanding as they approach the lake, are covered with wood, and form the shelter to many small villages.

The lake is rather inconsiderable in depth, and is terminated at each extremity by low marshy land; there is, an outlet towards the north, by which the water of the lake flows to another small lake about six miles distant from the city. The water which thus flows from one lake to the other, after having passed through the second lake, suddenly enters a subterranean passage underneath some limestone hills, and appears again at a considerable distance. The supply of water to both lakes, is derived from springs, and from the various mountain torrents which descend into them.

There is a considerable amount of trade carried on at Joannina. The chief article of importation, is cloth of French and German manufacture: this reaches them by way of Leipsic, and the demand for it is very considerable, since all the rich Greeks and Turks, not only in Albania, but also in parts of Roumelia, and the Morea, purchase at Joannina the cloth for their loose robes and winter pelisses. Within the last few years, English cloths have also found a market at this place. The articles of exportation are, oil, wool, corn, and tobacco, for the Italian ports; and for inland circulation, through Albania and Roumelia, spun cottons, stocks of guns pistols mounted in chased silver, embroidered velvets, stuffs, and cloths. Large flocks of sheep and goats, and droves of cattle and horses, are collected from the Albanian hills, and sold at an annual fair held near the town: the horses are generally sold again to inhabitants of Albania; but the cattle, sheep, and goats, usually go to

the Ionian Islands.

and

In concluding this slight description of Joannina, we must remark that the town was the scene of desmany perate conflicts between the Turks and the Albanians, during the latter part of the life of Ali Pacha, and that these contests have probably made some alterations in the buildings and arrangement of the town; but as there have been very few recent travellers to that part of Turkey, we are not exactly in a position to state what these changes or alterations may have been. Everything relating to the natural beauties of the spot, must, however, be nearly or quite the same as they were before, whatever be the turmoils and strifes of ambitious men: the palaces and houses made by men, may be destroyed by them; but the mountains and valleys remain, enduring witnesses of the power of the Great Creator who formed them.

LOVE OF HOME.-Whatever strengthens our attachments is favourable both to individual and national character. Our home, our birth-place, our native land! Think for a while what the virtues are which arise out of the feelings connected with these words; and if thou hadst any intellectual eyes, thou wilt then perceive the connection between topography and patriotism. Show me a man who cares no more for one place than another, and I will show you in the same person one who loves nothing but himself. Beware of those who are homeless by choice! You have no hold on a human being whose affections are without a tap-root. Vagabond and rogue are convertible terms; and with how much propriety, any one may understand who knows what are the habits of the wandering classes, such as gipsies, tinkers, and potters.-The Doctor.

ON CHESS.

I. ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE GAME.

THE origin of the game of Chess has been the subject of very laborious research and warm argument; and, although the results are by no means satisfactory, yet the inquiry has afforded a good deal of valuable and amusing information; a selection from which will probably be interesting to the general reader, as well as to the amateurs of this noble and scientific game.

Some historians have referred the invention of chess to the philosopher Xerxes; others to the Grecian prince Palamedes; some to the brothers Lydo and Tyrrhene; and others, again, to the Egyptians. The Chinese, the Hindoos, and the Persians, also prefer their claims to be considered as the originators of chess, but the testimonies of writers, in general, prove nothing except the very remote antiquity of the game.

In examining the testimonies of various writers, on a subject so obscure, we must always make considerable allowance for that prejudice in favour of certain opinions which habit and local circumstances apart from sound reasoning have tended to confirm. Thus, a historian who has passed much of his time in India, studying the manners and customs of the native tribes, tracing out their history, translating their legends, and copying their monuments, would almost unconsciously support against any other, the claims of such a people to any remarkable

invention.

The same remark applies to the historian of the Chinese, of the Egyptians, of the Greeks, and other ancient nations; and, accordingly, we find that each of these nations has its advocate in English literature.

The first writer that we shall mention, is Mr. James Christie, who has written a quarto volume, entitled, An Inquiry into the Ancient Greek Game, supposed to have been invented by Palamedes, antecedent to the Siege of Troy. It is, however, generally agreed that the claims of the ancient Greeks to the invention are unfounded. Palamedes lived during the Trojan war, and was so renowned for his sagacity, that almost every early discovery was ascribed to him. The whole of the claim of Palamedes rests upon the definition of the game of pebbles, Terрeia, as played by the Greeks. This game was played with white and black pebbles, and was invented by Palamedes, as appears by a line in the first book of Homer's Odyssey.

The claim of the Romans is equally unfounded: a game, something like dice, is spoken of by their writers, which has been mistaken for chess.

Mr. Irwin, in a letter to the Earl of Charlemont, published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, supports the claims of the Chinese, in whose Concum, or Annals, appears the following passage:

Three hundred and seventy-nine years after the time of Confucius, or 1965 years ago, Hung-cochu, king of Kiangnan, sent an expedition into the Shen-si country, under the command of a mandarin, called Han-sing, to conquer it. After one successful campaign, the soldiers were put into winter quarters; where, finding the weather much colder than what they had been accustomed to, and being also deprived of their wives and families, the army, in general, became impatient of their situation, and clamorous to return home. Han-sing, upon this, revolved in his mind the bad consequences of complying with their wishes. The necessity of soothing his troops, and reconciling them to their position, appeared urgent, in order to finish his operations in the ensuing year. He was a man of genius, as well as a good soldier; and, having contemplated some time on the subject, he invented the game of chess, as well for an amusement to his men, in their vacant hours, as to inflame their military ardour,-the game being wholly founded on the principles of war. The stratagem succeeded to his wish. The soldiery were delighted with the game; and forgot, in their daily contests for victory, the inconveniences of their post. In the spring, the general took the field again; and in a few months, added the rich country of Shen-si to the kingdom of Kiang-nan. Hung-cochu assumed the title of emperor, and Chou-payuen put an end to his life in despair.