hibits great variety of character, and knowledge of life and nature. No. 71. May Day. H. Collins.-In this picture, the artist has endeavoured to represent those points of low and familiar bumour which, however gross in their kind, are sure to please when delineated with fidelity and truth. Mr. Collins has attained to a very high degree of success in this picture. The characters are various and natural, and of all ages. The groupes are well distributed, and employed in a combined purpose, so that each severally assists the humour and action of the whole. There is great mellowness and richness in the bumour of the several faces; particularly in the countenance of the Drunken Chimney Sweeper. Upon the whole, this piece has more imagination, and shews greater knowledge of life, than the Weary Trumpeter by the same artist. VIOLATION OF CONJUGAL FAITH.-The various punishments which were inflicted upon adulterers in former times, shew us that the ancients had juster ideas of this crime than those which prevail at present. By the Jewish law, adultery in any of the sexes, was punished with death; and we learn from Strabo, that the same punishment prevailed in Arabia Felix. In Greece, adultery was regarded as a stain upon the husband's honour, that could only be effaced by the severest punishment or the death of the offenders. According to Pausanius, Hyetto, an inhabitant of Argos, was the first who instituted laws against this crime. Having slain Molurus, his wife's paramour, he fled to Orchonienas, a city of Boeotia. Being kindly received by the king, who bestowed upon him a part of his territories, he built the city Hyethus, and decreed severe punishments against adulterers. We find in Homer that adulterers were stoned to death. Hector, when charging this crime upon Paris, says "For these your crimes, you have been stoned to death."-At Athens, by the laws of Draco and Solon, adulterers caught in the act were at the mercy of the offended party, who might inflict upon them any arbitrary punishment. In other parts, adultery was severely punished. The Spartans, indeed, so far from deeming it a crime, laughed at those No. XXX. Vol. V—N. S. Thus who thought the violation of the marriage bed an unsupportable affront; allowed the same liberties to be taken with their own wives which they took with those of their neighbours, and even offered them to strangers as a token of respect. The Locrians deprived adulterers of their eyes. This punishment was strictly enjoined by the Legislator Zeleucus, who set them a remarkable example, by passThe young ing sentence upon his own son. man was beloved by the people, who earnestly implored Zeleucus to pardon him. The father, deaf to their entreaties, shewed them, that he regarded adultery as a crime which ought not to be forgiven, and yielded so far as to redeem one of his son's eyes by the loss of one of his own. Among the Romans, during the republic, the stated punishment of this crime is unknown. Some suppose it to have been capital by the laws of the Twelve Tables; but it seems rather to have been left to the discretion of the husband or parents of the offending female. The general punishment was cutting off the nose, ears, &c. By the Lex Julia de Adulteriis, instituted by Augustus, the of fenders were banished to separate islands, and condemned to pay a heavy fine. It was afterwards decreed by Antonius, that the charge of adultery, brought by a husband against his wife, could not be sustained unless he himself were innocent:-"Per in quum enim videtur esse ut pudicitiam vir ex uxore exigat quam ipsa non exhibeat." Constantine is though: to have been the first who declared it a capital crime. In the reign of Constantius, adulterers were burned, or sewed in sacks and thrown into the sea. But this punishment was greatly mitigated by Justinian towards females. The adultress was scourged, and shut up in a monastry; from which, if her husband did not take her within two years, she was shaven and confined for life. Theodosius instituted the abominable punishment of public construpatien, which was soon afterwards abolished. By the ancient laws of France this crime was punishable with death. In 1357 it was ordained in some districts, that the offender should run naked through the streets, and pay a heavy fine, Before the establishment of Christianity, the common punishment in Poland was emasculation. The adulterer was carried to the market X 1 3 grains of standard gold, but at the present nominal price it will purchase not quite 4 dwts. 4 grs.: its deficit is full 23 grs, and its consequent depreciation 3s. 84d. place, and nailed to a stake, where he was CURRENCY.-The following curious phe A guinea made of standard gold, weight A crown piece, made of sterling silver, A Bank dollar, weighing 2 dwts. less, A half-crown-piece of sterling silver, A Bank token, weighing 5 grains less, £. s. d. 156 .050 056 ON SUICIDE. It is remarkable that the scorpion is the only animal in the creation (man excepted) that commits suicide. This animal, when he finds himself inclosed, with out any avenue for escape, bends his tail round and stings himself through the head, prefering death to captivity, because that death has no horrors in prospect to appal or deter him. But man can plead no such excuse as thi, for wilfully dissevering the thread of his exist. ence, since his soul must be conscious, that for him there is an eternal hereafter. Were there any sorrow in this life of such a magnitude that patience could not alleviate its pressure, even then, like the soldier, on a forlorn hope, or the centinel posted on au important duty and not swerve from its performance, until our endeavours have been crowned with success, or we are permitted, by regular dis cipline, to quit our posts. Every man in society owes something to his friends, more to his relatives, but most of all to the public good, and he does an irreparable injury to the whole of these, who, pusillanimously sinking under present ills, subjects himself, by his own act, to the certainty of future evils, incalculably greater than any, even the very worst of those which he flies, and converts affliction solely meant to try his strength,into an instrument of damnation. For what purpose did the Almighty furnish man with a superior in0 2 6 tellect? Was it that he should be at liberty, in some rash moment, to disperse kis brains, in every direction, by the blast of a pistol? To what end has the genial current of life been appointed to circulate through his frame? Was it that he should rashly dare to shed the crimson tide ou the ground, and in his own gore, amidst the agonies of dissolution and despair or remorse, breathe out his last gasps as his own destroyer? For what purpose has he been provided with hands and feet? Was it that he should with the former fix the knot of strangulation, or with the latter rush over a precipice, to plunge into overwhelming waters? Ere the fatal act of suicide is com 030 The lesser Bank token of 18 pence, weighs these were first supposed to be the fruit, but upon being boiled, and finding them us. palatable, or rather nauseous, Raleigh was disgusted with his acquisition, nor thought any more of cultivating potatoes. Accident, however, discovered the real fruit, owing to the ground being turned over, through necessity, that very season, and to his surprise a plentiful crop was found under-ground, which being boiled, proved nourishing to the stomach and grateful to the taste. The utility of this plant being soon known rendered its cultivation pretty universal through Ireland, whence it found its way to this kingdom, by mere accident, where it was first planted on the western coast, owing, as it is reported, to a vessel being ship a village named Firmsby, in Lancashire; a place still famed for this excellent vegetable. ANECDOTE OF THE ARCHDUKE CHARLES. -This Prince was born at Florence on the mitted, let the unhappy being, who is depressed by temporary misfortunes, consider what a horrible spectacle he must present when his breathless body, gashed with wounds or black with suffocation, is found prostrate on that earth on which he was created to move erect! Let him fancy that he perceives his sorrowful friends, his affectionate relatives around the spot, where he dared hell! Perhaps an aged mother, a venerable father, whose whole support was dependant on his exertions, perhaps a pregnant wife, left alone to struggle in the world with a numerous offspring, perhaps helpless innocents, who in vain call for help on a self-murdered parent, are among the spectators! Can he mentally look on such a scene as this, and after-wrecked which contained some potatoes, at wards, under all its impressions, throw his life into the face of his Maker, who alone has a right to deprive him of the precious gift? If he can, then he must, indeed, be totally regardless of the infamy attendant on his character in this world, and have no fear of the punishment awaiting his crime in the next! By every tie that connects him with his Creator, by every thing that links him to his fellow-beings, by the possession of reason, and by the faith due to Diviue revelations, he is bound to submit bravely to every earthly adversity, to encounter and support every mortal peril, with a fortitude hardened by hope, and a resignation unalloyed by every complaint, and peaceably at his allotted period, to commix, as to his terrestrial part, with his native dust, in preference to incensing his God, damning his soul, and giving occasion to the passenger to exclaim, as he walks by the spot where a stake denotes the interment of his unhallowed remains-"Here lies a self-de stroyer!" POTATOES-Potatoes were first imported into Europe in the year 1565, by Hawkins, from Santa Fe, in Spanish America; they were planted for the first time in Ireland, by the great Sir Walter Raleigh, who had an estate in that kingdom. The natural history of the potatoe was so little understood, that a total ignorance of what part of the plant was proper food, had nearly ruined any further attention towards its cultivation.-For perceiving green apples appearing on the stems, 5th of September, 1771. As he had two brothers older than himself, his august pa. rents destined him for the church. He would bave had, in consequence, an Electorate or a rich Principality. A trifling circumstance occasioned his quitting this pursuit, to follow the career of arms. Joseph II. being in Italy, in 1776, visited his brother Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. To flatter the warlike spirit of the Emperor, the play-things of the young Princes received the addition of all the equip ments of soldiers, which particularly delighted the Archduke Charles, who was then five years old. The morning after the arrival of the Emperor, his Grand-master found the young Prince at his uncle's door, with a sword by his side, shouldering his musket, and drawn up with the body-guards. "What do you there, my Prince"" said the Grand-master. “I am guarding my uncle,” replied the Archduke, coolly. At this moment the Emperor Joseph came out of his chamber; he took his nephew in his arms, and said to him:-" Very well, my little friend, I cannot be better guarded than by my own relatives: however, I will reward your zeal; and, to make you one day a good" General, I give you the regiment Charles of Loraine, which is vacant at present." Since that moment, the Archduke has had that regiment, which is iufinitely attached to him. WORKS IN THE PRESS. Some Account of a Journey into Albania, Roumelia, and other Provinces of Turkey, during the years 1809 and 1810, by J. C. Hobhouse, is in the Press. Mr. J. Britton, is nearly ready for publica. tion. Professor John Leslie, of Edinburgh, has in the press a View of the Facts ascertained concerning Heat, and its relations with Air and Lord Byron's Satires, containing Hints from Moisture, in an octavo volume. Horace, and the Curse of Minerva. Mr. Quentin, the author of the New English Grammar, has in the press the second edition of his French Grammar. Miss F. A. Rowdon, the Author of the Pleasures of Friendship, will publish this month, the second edition of her Poetical Introduction to the Study of Botany, with seven Copperplate Engravings. Mr. Semple, author of two Journies in Spain, is preparing for publication, in a small octavo volume, a Sketch of the Present State of Caracas, which place he recently visited. The Fine Arts of the English School, a splendid volume consisting of twenty-four Engravings and an ample portion of Letter-press, edited by Mr. Wilson, of Magdalen College, Oxford, bas nearly ready for publication, the Isle of Palms and other Poemas. Mr. Fletcher, of Blackburn, will shortly pub lish Remains of the late Rev. E. White, of Chester, from papers in the possession of Mr. Spencer. A Poem entitled India, will make its appearance in a few weeks. Mr. Bisset, of Birmingham, intends opening in the course of the present month, a NEW PICTURE GALLERY and PROMENADE ROOM, at Leamington Spa. His Museum in the former place, continues open as usual. This Establishment will contribute towards the accommodation of the visitors, who have had hitherto no such species of amusement. INCIDENTS OCCURRING IN AND NEAR LONDON, INTERESTING MARRIAGES, &c. || || MR. W. POLE AND MISS LONG.-The long ried pair drove off with great speed for Blacktalked of matrimonial alliance, between Mr. Pole heath, intending to pass the night at that tasteful (now Wellesley) and Miss Tylney Long, took chateau, belonging to the bridegroom's father, place on the 14th of March. The parties met at and thence proceed to Wanstead House, in Essex, Lord Montgomerie's house in Hamilton-place, on the following day, to pass the honey-moon. Piccadilly, at five o'clock; and, about six, accom- The bride's dress excelled, in costliness and panied by some of their nearest relatives, they beauty, the celebrated one worn by Lady Morwent, in Lady Catherine Long's coach, to St. peth, at the time of her marriage, which was James's church, in Piccadilly. The Marquis of exhibited for a fortnight at least, by her mother Wellesley handed Miss Long out of the carriage, the late Duchess of Devonshire. The dress of and conducted her through the rector's house to the present bride consisted of a robe of real Brusthe altar of Hymen. There were present at the sel's point lace; the device a simple sprig; it was ceremony (which was performed by Dr. Glasse, || placed over white satin. The head was ornarector of Wanstead) Mr. Secretary Pole, Lady mented with a cottage bonnet, of the same mateCatherine Long, Miss Diana Long, and Miss || rials, viz. Brussels lace, with two ostrich feathers. Emma Long; the two latter were the brides She likewise wore a deep lace veil, and a white maids. The usual forms being gone through, satin pelisse, trimmed with swansdown. the happy couple retired by the southern gate, dress cost 700 guineas; the bonnet 150; and the which leads through the church-yard,into Jermyn-veil 200. Mr. Pole wore a plain blue coat, with Ilere a new and magnificent equipage was in waiting to receive them; it was a singularly elegant chariot painted a bright yellow, and highly emblazoned, drawn by four beautiful Arabian grey horses, attended by two postilions in brown jackets, with superbly embroidered badges in gold, emblematic of the united arms of the Wellesley and Tylney families. The new mar street. The yellow buttons, a white waistcoat, and buff breeches, and white silk stockings. The lady looked very pretty and interesting. On the following day the wedding favours were distributed among their numerous friends; the number exceeded eight hundred, composed wholly of silver, and unique in form; those for ladies having an acorn in the centre, and the gentlemen's a star; each cost a guinea and a half. The lady's jewels consist principally of a brilliant necklace and earrings; the former cost twenty-five thousand guineas. Every domestic in the family of Lady Catherine Long has been liberally provided for; they all have had annuities settled upon them for life: and Mrs. Tylney Long Pole Wellesley's own waiting woman, who was nurse to her in her infancy, has been liberally considered. The fortune remaining to Mrs. Tylney Long Pole Wellesley (after allowing for considerable sums given as an additional portion to each of the Misses Long, and an annuity to Lady Catharine Long) is eighty thousand pounds per annum. | principal part of the property which it had been understood the broker, for convenience, had left behind him. By good fortune it was discovered that he had invested £12,000 in the Navy 5 per cents, in the name of two trustees; informing them, that it was contracted; and that they would shortly be drawn upon from abroad in a name which he gave them, and requested that the drafis might be honoured. The trustees, who appear to have been innocently drawn in, on due consideration, have agreed to resign the whole of the stock, on receiving a proper indemnification against any claim made on them in future for the same by Fall. In addition to this property, £5000 worth of India Bonds have been traced to his late residence on the Wandsworth-road; and this being also claimed by the bankers, it is supposed that on the winding up of the business their loss will be only from 3 to £5000. DARING ROBBERY.-On Saturday, Feb. 29, Newcastle-street, in the Strand, was occupied by a desperate gang of robbers. About a quarter past six o'clock, a party of patrole observed four men ANOTHER BREACH OF TRUST.-We regret to opposite a linen draper's shop, at the corner of |