last stanza of "Home, sweet home," I thought of my pillow and started, resolving in my way home, that as I flattered myself that I had not quite lost my credit, I would send you a sketch of the evening's amusement. Intreating your indulgence for the inaccuracies which currente calamo I may have crept into, I remain, Sir,

The Selector;

OR,

CHOICE EXTRACTS FROM NEW WORKS.

POLICE OF MOSCOW.

EACH of the twenty quarters of Moscow has a Chastnui Pristaf, or inspector, appointed to watch over his district. The duties of this office are not less extensive than important. Every inspector ought to have an exact knowledge of the inhabitants of his quarter, over which a sort of parental authority is committed to him: he is the censor morum of his

quarter; their out-goings and in-comings should be known to him, and his house must not be barred by night or by day, but is to be a place of refuge continually open to all that are in danger or distress; he ought not to quit the town for the space of two hours without committing the discharge of his office to some other person. The constables, and the watch men of his quarter, as well as the kvartalnik, or inspectors of the sub-divisions of his district, are under his command, and he is attended on all affairs of his office, by two sergeants. He has his own office, and together with a burgher, endeavours to settle disputes and affairs of minor importance.

The number of watch-houses in Moscow in 1805, was 352, and now amounts to 360. They are called butki, or butka in the singular. They are really small substantial wooden houses, furnished with stoves, and are inhabited by the patroles or watchmen. Three watchmen live in each butka, who keep the watch by night and by day, taking their turns alternately every four hours. By this calculation, the number of watchmen for the city amounts to 1,080, of which 360 are constantly on duty by day as well as by night, and the remainder ready to give assistance in cases of emergency.

The watch-houses are mostly placed at the corners of the streets, and in public situations. The watchmen are called butoshniki; are dressed in a coarse grey

fluence the whole watchmen of the butka are immediately summoned, and the disturber of the peace is lodged in safety at the watch-house till he becomes manageable, and in the morning his conduct is decided on..

The police takes cognizance of all persons in the capital; travellers who come and go are subject to certain formalities, which renderit extremely difficult to conceal the place of their abode, or their departure from the city. To this end, every householder and innkeeper is obliged to declare to the police the names of those who lodge with him, or what strangers have put up at his house. If a stranger or lodger stay out all night, the landlord must inform the police of it, from his house. The cautionary rule in at least on the third day of his absence regard to quitting the town are still more strict. Those who would leave, must publish in the newspapers their names, their rank in life, three several times, and produce the newspapers containing the advertisement, as a testimonial to the government, from which they then receive their passports, and without these it is next to impossible to get out of the empire. Lyall's Character of the Rus

sians.

RUSSIAN NOBILITY.

In the Spring of 1821, I resided at Serpuchof, a distinct town in the government of Moscow. The Maslenitsa, or butterweek, which precedes the Carnival, was distinguished as in the metropolis by balls and amusements, and even a wellmanaged masquerade. A sledge parade was announced for Saturday, and a déjeûner à la fourchette by Prince -- le Maréchal de la Noblesse; and I, among others, accepted the invitation. number of sledges was not great, nor the spectacle at all imposing. As the weather was cold, every individual present seemed to await the breakfast with impatience. After being tantalized till two o'clock, a shabby entertainment followed. Half of the ladies and gentlemen never sat down, but ate and drank whilst standing on their feet; some seized a icce of fsh

The

with a fork, put it upon a plate, and withdrew from the table; others, without ceremony, got hold of pieces of a pie, divided on purpose, and retired with them in their hands. Some got a dram of sweet Votki, others a glass of wine, &c. &c. All I could come at, in the universal scramble, was a little Votki and a bit of pie. A gentleman who had been more fortunate, and had partaken of two or three dishes, seemed to enjoy a triumph, when a servant approached him and demanded two roubles and a half—so much for each dish, and half a rouble for his dram. His astonishing wild state of surprize, fury, and indignation, and his hearty curses, I shall not readily forget. He paid the money, and the affair ended. Application was then made to some of the other guests, who absolutely refused payment. I was about to quit the grand hall, when a servant approached me and demanded a rouble and a half. I felt insulted, and while scolding, desired that Prince might be told that I had been present at a public entertainment, and that I should never pay a kopeck, and off I went. Every individual present understood that the paltry breakfast was given by Prince; and, indeed, a number of his favourites were not asked for payment. His steward was master of the ceremonies; his cooks prepared the dishes in the assembly-rooms of the town; his servants waited at table, and he himself acted as host during the entertainment. Deservedly he was abused by his countrymen for this acte éclatant.

A nobleman of the highest rank, now in his grave, invited his friends to an elegant dinner and splendid entertainment, in his fine gardens on the banks of the Moskva. The most distinguished personages of the metropolis were present. With surprise, one of the guests was remarked, as he most dexterously conveyed a silver spoon, which he had been using, into his pocket. Immediately after dinner, this noble left the party, and, attended by his livery servants, got into his carriage and drove home.

A prince of the northern empire having entered one of the magazines at Moscow, wandered up and down, passed a number of articles in review, and demanded their prices. Whilst the proprietors and their assistants were busily occupied in shewing a variety of wares to numerous purchasers, the said nobleman clandestinely, and, as he thought, without being seen, seized a gilded tea-cup and saucer, conveyed it under his cloak; commenced a general conversation; pretended to have forgotten something; ran cff with his booty; deposited it in his

carriage; re-entered the magazine; bought some trifling article; departed, and, followed by a couple of servants in gorgeous apparel, seated himself in his vehicle, and, no doubt, dwelt with complacency on his triumph, as he was hurled along the street to his own palace.—Ibid.

ON DEATH

A DEATH-BED is, indeed, a test of truth. Who ever heard of a man's rejecting the hopes of Christianity, and becoming a convert to infidelity, in his last dread hour?

Oh, no!-if ever he clings closely and solely to the Saviour, it is at of a Redeeming God, it is then! if ever he feels the influence of the Comforter, now is the time !-His good deeds alas! he estimates them now at their true worth; vitiated by alloy, their fairest light shaded by the mingling of worldly motives. He cannot rest there, he cannot extract hope from these. But he has he has made, the secular advantages he satisfaction in remembering the sacrifice has rejected, for the sake of Him who died on Calvary. To Him he looks— in Him he hopes to live eternallythrough Him his aspirations after mortality are legitimate. Ye infidels, and see how a Christian can die."Fatal Errors and Fundamental Truths.

that moment--if ever he realizes the idea

66 come

LETTER OF COWPER THE

POET. I HAVE at last read the second volume of Mr. -'s work, and had some hope that I should prevail with myself to read the first likewise. I began his book at the latter end, because the first part of it was engaged when I received the second; but I had not so good an appetite as a soldier of the guards, who, I was informed when I lived in London, would for a matter eat up a cat alive, beginning at her tail and finishing with her whiskers.

I send a cucumber, not of my own raising, and yet raised by me.

Solve this enigma, dark enough
To puzzle any brains
That are downright puzzle-proof,
And eat it for your pains.

- I raised the seed that produced the plant that produced the fruit, that produced the seed that produced the fruit I sent you. This latter seed I gave to the gardener of Terningham, who brought me the cucumber you mention. Thus you see I raised it that is to say, I raised it virtually by having raised its progenitor; and yet I did not raise it, because the identical seed from which it grew was raised at a distance.

...

Whoever means to take my phiz will find himself sorely perplexed in seeking for a fit occasion. That I shall not give him one, is certain; and if he steals one, he must be as cunning and quick-sighted a thief as Autolycus himself. His best course will be to draw a face, and call it mine, at a venture. They who have not seen me these twenty years will say, It may possibly be a striking likeness now, though it bears no resemblance to what he was time makes great alterations. They who know me better will say, perhaps, Though it is not perfectly the thing, yet there is somewhat of the cast of his countenance. If the nose was a little longer, and the chin a little shorter, the eyes a little smaller, and the forehead a little more protuberant, it would be just the man. And thus, without seeing me at all, the artist may represent me to the public eye, with as much exactness as yours has bestowed upon you, though, I suppose, the original was full in his view when he made the attempt.

We felt ourselves not the less obliged to you for the cocoa-nuts, though they were good for nothing. They contained nothing but a putrid liquor with a round white lump, which in taste and substance much resembled tallow, and was of the size of a small walnut. Nor am I the less indebted to your kindness for the fish, though none is yet come.

Cocoa-nut naught,
Fish too dear,
None must be bought

For us that are here.

No lobster on earth,
That ever I saw,
To me would be worth
Sixpence a claw.

So, dear Madam, wait

Till fish can be got

At a reas'nable rate,

Whether lobster or not;

Till the French and the Dutch

Have quitted the seas,
And then send as much
And as oft as you please.

I forgot to mention that Johnson uses the discretion my poetship has allowed him, with much discernment. He has suggested several alterations, or rather marked several defective passages, which I have corrected much to the advantage of the poems. In the last sheet ne sent me, he noted three such, all which I have reduced into better order. In the foregoing sheet, I assented to his criticisms in some instances, and chose to abide by the original expression in others. Thus we jog on together comfortably enough and perhaps it would be as well for authors in general, if their booksellers, when men of some taste, were allowed,

September 16, 1781. A noble theme demands a noble verse, In such I thank you for your fine oysters. The barrel was magnificently large, But being sent to Olney at free charge, Was not inserted in the driver's list, And therefore overlook'd, forgot, or miss'd; For when the messenger whom we dispatch'd Inquired for oysters, Hob his noddle scratch'd; Denying that his waggon or his wain Did any such commodity contain. In consequence of which, your welcome boon Did not arrive till yesterday at noon; In consequence of which some chanced to die, Now Madam says (and what she says must still And some, though very sweet, were very dry. Deserve attention, say she what she will) That what we call the Diligence, be-case It goes to London with a swifter pace, Would better suit the carriage of your gift, Returning downwards with a pace as swift; And therefore recommends it with this aim--To save at least three days,--the price the same; For though it will not carry or convey

For less than twelve pence, send whate'er you

may,

For oysters biea upon the salt sea shore,
Pack'd in a barrel, they will charge no more.

News have I none that I can deign to write,
Save that it rain'd prodigiously last night;
And that ourselves were, at the seventh hour,
Caught in the first beginning of the show'r ;
But walking, running, and with much ado,
Got home---just time enough to be wet through.
Yet both are well, and, wond'rous to be told,
Soused as we were, we yet have caught no cold;
And wishing just the same good hap to you,
We say, good Madam, and good Sir, Adieu!
Cowper's Correspondence.

The Sketch Book,

No. XVII.

THE DAY AFTER PAY DAY ON BOARD A MAN OF WAR.

FOR the first few days after a ship has been paid, or received prize-money, it bears the greatest resemblance between decks to one of the worst streets in a seaport town with the houses turned inside out. A fair is held on the main-deck; stalls are fitted out on each side, over which preside the most avid and the most abject of the children of Israel; sailors roll half-drunk, from stall to stall, with a watch-chain dangling from each pocket, and a harlot on each hand. At this time the ship is hemmed round with boats (as a beleaguered town is with tents) which are not suffered to approach within a certain distance under pain of being fired upon; for if it were otherwise, the ship would be entirely taken possession of by Jews and women. But at intervals some bolder one of these boats darts beneath a port-hole, and introduces unseen

its crew and cargo. The rest are only deterred by the pointed muskets of the marines, and between each attempt to advance they maintain an unintermitting course of unintelligible expostulation. Jews vociferate without, and Jews respond from within. Howl ship of Tarshish! It would seem as if all Israel and Judah had been gathered together from Dan to Beersheba to spoil the inhabitants of the Isles that pass over the great waters.

Rum is the great article of merchandise, which is absolutely but vainly forbidden to be brought on board. It is generally secreted in small bladders about the persons of the women, which are yet strictly searched by the master-at-arms and sergeant of marines,-officers, it may be, not proof against every sort of bribery. Female persuasion and bladders of rum, who can withstand? By these and other means, the vessel is fully supplied with spirits, and the throng of boats without gradually disperses for the day, as their crews become hopeless of admission for their cargoes. Within,-night and universal drunkenness come on together. Men fighting and swearing, women fighting and shrieking, Israel sorely oppressed by reason of their extortions uplifting the voice of lamentation, kegs of rum overturned upon the decks, hammocks cut down, men tumbling down ladders and hatchways, with all other disorders of darkness, drunkenness, and lewdness, from a scene of nautical festivity, which oppresses a novice with a feeling almost amounting to horror. The impressions of such scenes, it is true, wear off, or rather wear in, for they are not often repeated without some assimilation of the mind they indurate, and the delicate and elegant child who had left his little garden and his ponies, and his evening prayer, and his mother's good-night kiss, to seek adventures which never occur,this boy acquires the hardihood, and restlessness, and carelessness, which are the much boasted characteristics of a British sailor. Say whether this be loss or gain?

I wave the sufferings of the child and of the parents whilst the change is producing, and ask what they have got by it when produced.

The sketch I have given of the day after pay-day is not exaggerated, but unfinished. I had occasion to walk through St. Giles's one Sunday morning lately, and was reminded of it. Men and women half-drunk, sick-drunk, deaddrunk, vino sopiti, et vino sepulti (our own language stints the truth as well as the climax), lay or rolled (stand who can) about the street,-and there were others

enjoying the sight; a more abhorrent circumstance, because the drunkards may be only infirm of mind, the others are grievously corrupt. To this Sunday morning in St. Giles, may be compared the morning which succeeds this festal night in the paid ship. But it by no means closes the gaieties of the season. Morning is grey, indeed, and its aspect rather saturnine than jovial; but ere noon the fogs clear away, rum is poured down like rain-water, and nature is very naturally invigorated and refreshed. This night resembles the last, only that a few steady old quarter-masters and boatswain's-mates, now perhaps condescend to be only half-seas-over, and having procured, by a sort of spiritual influence over the master-at-arms, the indulgence of keeping in their light after eight bells, they smoak and soak with great gravity in a retired corner, whence their candle may not cast a ray up any hatchway, so as to be perceived by the officer of the watch-on-deck; and when he goes his rounds, it is concealed, without being extinguished, by the superinduction of a large tub which held the mess allowance of peas-soup. The comfortable composure of these veterans is as undisturbed by the yells and furious brawls without, as by the fluid which gradually percolates through every pore within. A shipmate falls down a hatchway, and is carried past to the surgeon's mate to have his leg set, or his shoulder wrenched back into joint;

they never take the pipes from their lips: a refractory woman, by the help of a rope made fast round her waist and rove through a block at the end of the mainyard, is hoisted up from deck to deck, pushed over the bulwark, and let down into a boat along-side-they curse her for making more noise than a marine in a gale of wind, and take up their yarn where they dropped it. It is generally three or four days before any attempt is made to restore the ship to its ordinary state of discipline, and few of the women leave her whilst she remains in harbour.