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at seeing so many men, women, and children with weapons in their hands ready to strike him, kept begging the captain to spare his life, saying he was a mason, and he would build him a fine large stone house, or do any work for him that he should please. "I seek your life," cried the chief to him, "and don't talk now of building houses!" But the poor fellow still insisted, begging and praying to the captain, who at last finding his exhortations vain, and fearing the consequences, turned his back upon him and would not hear him any longer. Our mason now began to run, but received many a hard blow, one of which nearly brought him to the ground, which, if he had fallen, would at once have decided his fate. He how ever reached the goal, not without being sadly bruised, and he was besides bitterly reproached and scoffed at all round as a vile coward, while the others were hailed as brave men, and received tokens of universal approbation.

TO THE SKELETON OF A FOOT. THE following beautiful stanzas, which would not disgrace the pen of a Byron, appear to have been written on seeing the articulated bones of a female foot, in the window of a fashionable bootmaker (Mr Dowie), to whom they were sent anonymously :-

O fleshless fragment of some female form!

Of Nature's workmanship the last and best-
Which once with Life's mysterious fire was warm;
What impious hand disturb'd thy place of rest,
And in a glassy slipper thee attired,
Loath'd by the many, by the few admired?
The calm observers of the works of God

In thy anatomy His wonders trace
With purer pleasure than, when silken-shod,

The smirking fool beheld thy mincing pace,
And faultless symmetry, which made him sigh,
Though from thee now he turns his ogling eye.
Let those whose folly seeks to draw a line

Of broad distinction between dust and dust,
Thy plebeian, or thy noble caste divine!

They cannot:-God, immutable and just,
Alike to all his heavenly image gave;
"Tis man that makes the monarch and the slave.
Perhaps thou once wert cushioned in high state
Amidst the circle of the drawing-room;
But no! the bodies of the proud and great

Are wont to rot in vault and marble tomb,
As if the bones of self-s yled noble forms
Should be reserved for better sorts of worms!
Perhaps thou trod'st some humbler walk of life,
And wert from truth and virtue led astray
By one who promised thee the name of wife,
And praised thy symmetry but to betray
The soul, confiding, innocent, and young,
That readily believed his flatt'ring tongue.
Thy perfect mechanism may have served

Some opera dancer, fraught with every grace-
Save modesty and with that courage nerved
Which quickly sears a young and blushing face,
When oft submitted to the searching gaze
Of thousand eyes 'midst thousand lights' full blaze.

And where's the soul that o'er thy frame once shed
The "poetry of motion?" Who can tell
Into what realm the immortal part hath fled?
Or if in misery or joy it dwell?
Or if each thought of all its earthly ties
Fades from the memory when the body dies.

Miscellaneous.

THE TREE WASP OF INDIA.-Societies of tree wasps, as of bees, consist of three different classes of inhabitants-males, females, and neuters. The females, which are much larger than the others, are the large breeding wasps which appear in the spring. The neuters, or imperfectly developed females, are the common wasps which infest our houses and gardens, and form the majority of the colony. The males, about the size of the neuters, have longer antennæ, a more slender form, and are destitute of a sting. The females, which alone survive the winter, early in the spring, having fixed on a suitable place for a nest, form a few cells, in which they lay the eggs of neuters only. Each nest is the work of a single female. The nests are often suspended from the beam, of a shed, from the eaves of a house, from the branch of a young tree, or in a thorn hedge. The nest consists of from ten to sixteen layers of a paper-like substance, procured principally from firwood, and disposed one over the other in such a manner that each sheet barely touches the next. The structura enables it to resist the heaviest rains. In its earliest state it does not exceed an inch in diameter, and contains five or six cells only. It is formed of two semicircular layers of the paper, the upper one projecting a little over the other, so as to shoot off the rain, a hole being left at the bottom large enough to admit the female wasp. As soon as the first workers quit their cells, they begin the task of enlarging the nest and of adding fresh layers of cells, in which the female immediately deposits more eggs. Mr Bigge states that the nest is enlarged from one inch to twelve in diameter, and considers that Leach is in error when he affirms that wasps build two nests in the year. The egg is hatched in eight days, and then assumes the form of a grub. It is then fed by the female for thirteen or fourteen days, when the grub covers the mouth of its cell with a silky substance. It remains in this state for nine days, and then eats its way through the covering, and joins the rest in the labours of the nest. As soon as the neuters are hatched, the care of feeding the larvæ devolves upon them. The males appear to employ themselves in cleaning and preparing the cells for successive broods. Mr Bigge has never found, in any single instance, a male larva in the cells appropriated to females.

AN ANCIENT INCOME TAX.-In the year 1187, at a general assembly of the nobles and people of the kingdom of Jerusalem, with the consent and approbation of the king, it was determined, in the imminent necessity of the time, to have recourse to a property and income tax. Assessors were:

appointed to estimate the property and income of each person in the realm; measures were taken to insure individuals against surcharge and afford them the power of appeal; the assessors were bound by oath not to reveal the secrets of any man's fortune, which they might discover in the execution of their duty; and the lower class were in some degree protected against the pressure of the tax. The impost was fixed at one per cent. upon property, and two per cent. upon income derived from ordinary revenues.

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LIFE REFUSED. In such horror was transportation to so distant a place as Australia held when our settlement in New South Wales was first established, that about the year 1789, six females convicted of capital felonies refused a commutation of the punishment. They were, however, again brought up, when five of them changed their minds, but one woman, named Sarah Crowder, still held out. She was then admonished by the Recorder, and told that if she persevered he should report her case to his Majesty, and give directions for her execution. The wretched creature still peremptorily refused, and was ordered from the bar to prepare for death. The humanity of Mr Garrow, the late judge, interposed. He left the court, accompanied by another counsellor, reasoned with her, and after a short absence returned and entreated that the convict might once more be permitted to come into court, where at length she expressed contrition and submitted to be saved.

The Gatherer.

Licensers of the Press.-In the days of Queen Elizabeth no book was allowed to be published without the permission of licensers, who were, for the better protection of literary property, only to give one licence for the same book. These persons, however, were tampered with by the booksellers to furnish half a dozen authorities to different persons for the same work. In Queen Anne's reign the office of licenser to the press was abolished.

Noble Titles.-The title lord is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon hlaford, after wards written loverd, and lastly lord, from hlaf, bread (hence our word " 'loaf"), and ford, to give; lord therefore means the giver of bread-lady is in like manner derived from hlaf d'ian, to serve.

A Thug's Respectability.-In conversation we often wound the feelings of others without intending it. Mr Davidson, talking with a Thug on the subject of a clever robbery, tells that "the lively, nay, ultraprofessional joy which illuminated his countenance tempted me to exclaim, rather unguardedly, 'Perhaps you were employed in that little affair yourself, or it may have

been executed by some of your agents?' His manner immediately changed from lively to severe,' and with a look that might have frozen a less innocent querist, he exclaimed with a sneer, 'No, sir! murder, and not robbery, is my profession!"

Luxuries of Montezuma.-This Mexican monarch, who was put to death, indulged in great profusion. He had a multitude of wives; he never put on the same apparel a second time, but gave it away to his attendants; his meals the emperor took alone. The well-matted floor of a large saloon was covered with hundreds of dishes. Frequently his steward indicated those which he preferred, and were kept hot by means of chafing-dishes. The royal bill of fare comprehended, besides domestic animals, game from the distant forests, and fish which the day before was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico! They were dressed in manifold ways, for the Aztec artistes had penetrated deep into the mysteries of culinary science. Among the dainties served at the Emperor's table we find enumerated a "fricassee of young children."

How to preserve a Fine Complexion.-Lady Eg, the Nino d'Enclos of the last century, retained a beautiful complexion till her death, at the age of 91. This she effected by periodically washing her face with sow's grease.

Age of the Saviour.-It has generally been supposed that Christ passed thirtythree years in this world, but Irenæus declares he was about fifty years old at his crucifixion. Irenæus was a disciple of Polycarp, who was a disciple of St John.

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Cato at Oxford. When Addison's awfully dull tragedy was first acted at Oxford, so enormous was the attraction "that," says the manager, our house was in a manner invested, and entrance demanded by twelve o'clock at noon; and before one it was not wide enough for many, who came too late for their places. same crowds continued for three days together, an uncommon curiosity in that place; and the death of Cato triumphed over the injuries of Cæsar everywhere."

The

The Railways in Danger.-At present our railway proprietors deem the monopoly perfectly safe, but the French papers announce that a composition has been made which will reduce to a mere trifle the price of rails for railroads. Kaolin clay (that used for making pottery and china) combined with a certain metallic substance, gives a body so hard as to wear out iron, without being injured by it in turn. Two hundred pounds of this substance will cost less than 12s., and would furnish two and a half métres of rail. This being the case, we may see a cheap railway formed, and shares reduced to half or a third of those now claimed.

Fungi. The botanic term fungi (a word

which has now become almost naturalized to our tongue) is particularly expressive of the functions they perform, whether it be immediately derived from funus and ago, as indicative of their office, the removal of the dead, or intermediately from fungor, to discharge or execute a duty. The natural history of these plants is one replete with interest, and, notwithstanding the little attention they commonly excite, they are constantly labouring for the general advantage. The quickness of their growth is astonishing, and the rapidity of their increase all but past belief. The Bovista or Bull-puff Ball has been computed to grow at the rate of many million ells per minute, upwards of a million per second. Blacks not inferior in Intellect to Whites. Mr L'Instant, a native of Haiti, whose 'Essay on the Prejudices against the Colour of the Africans' obtained the prize from the French Anti-Slavery Society, in his learned and philosophical examination of the source of the prejudices which stigmatize the Negroes as an inferior race, shows that similar prejudices have been nurtured wherever an ascendency has been established. The Spartans, the Athenians, and the Romans regarded their slaves with the same contempt and the same hatred, generated by fear, which the Turks evinced towards the Greeks, the Normans towards the Saxons, the Franks towards the Gauls, and the American planters towards their Negroes.

Republican Republication. The whole twenty parts of 'Martin Chuzzlewit' will be published by the Messrs Harpers, with fourteen well-executed plates, for fortyfour cents; less than the cost of two numbers in England, and the edition is as good as that of Ballantyne's 'British Novelists,' in double columns.

A Question not easily Answered.-Lord Brougham considers that the tenderest part of a man's character is the virtue, not the vice, for which he is the most distinguished. A man of notorious bravery is, according to him, most piqued by being branded with cowardice! Junius, in a private note to Woodfall, proposes to make a charge of cowardice upon George the Third. Lord Brougham observes-"I need hardly add that the utter falsehood of such a charge was admitted by all parties, even in the utmost heat of factious conflict; but this writer, with the malignity of a fiend, frames his slander in order to assail with certainty the tender point of his victim. According to this the tender point of Aristides was his honesty; of Joseph, his continence; of Howard, his humanity; of Hampden, his public spirit. We should be at a loss, upon this principle, where to have Lord Brougham-which is his "tender point?"-Athenæum.

Advertisement from the Half-moon Tavern, Cheapside, April 13, 1747.-o Paan.-"His

Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland having restored peace to Britain, by the ever-memorable battle of Culloden, fought on the 16th of April, 1746, the choice spirits have agreed to celebrate that day annually by a grand jubilee in the moon; of which the stars are hereby acquainted, and summoned to shine with their brightest lustre, by six o'clock on Thursday next in the evening."

Italian Taste.-One thing is peculiarly delightful in Italy. It is the deep admiration for the fine arts cherished by the humblest and poorest of her children. An Italian guide does not hurry you from painting to painting and chatter an unintelligible jargon. No! they linger delightedly themselves, they point out every touch that bespeaks the master's hand, and their own eyes light up if you do but admire enough; they ask no words, they mark the fixed attention, the look of love, the blush of surprised admiration, and they are satisfied. If, on the other hand, the visitor gallop from room to room, talk of the weather, put up a glass, and inquire what is the hour, the guide will draw coldly aside, and merely observe, “A Titian-a Tintoret, -a Veronese."

Trickery of Alderman Boydell.-After the plate of the Death of Wolfe' had become entirely his own property, by his purchasing shares of deceased proprietors,-after it had delivered thousands of impressions, and been repeatedly retouched,—yes, after all this, Boydell fraudulently erased the inscription beneath and printed off apparent "proofs," to the defamation of Woollett, who had been the foundation of the Alderman's fortune, and the gross deception of that liberal public who had relied on his honour.-Letters on Art-Unions.

Anecdote of George IV.-The herring fishery had been of little account till about the year 1788, when its importance was recognised. Dining with the Prince of Wales, Admiral Rodney, perceiving some herrings on the table, complimented his Royal Highness on his patronage being extended to a branch of industry which would be likely to add 20,000 men to the English navy. "Such praise," replied the Prince, "is not my due; these herrings, I am sorry to say, were not cured by British hands. But henceforward I shall order a plate of British cured herrings to be purchased at any expense, and to appear a standing dish at this table-we shall call it a Rodney."

ERRATUM.-In the Noble House last week, line 3, for "Heads" read "Bucks."

LONDON: Published by JOHN MORTIMER, Adelaide Street, Trafalgar Square; and Sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen.

Printed by C. REYNELL, 16 Little Pulteney street, and at the Royal Polytechnic Institution.

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Original Communications.

THE EEL-PIE HOUSE, TWICKENHAM ISLAND.

In the happiness of a nation were to be estimated by the increasing magnitude and splendour of houses of public entertainment in or near the capital, England, it might fairly be inferred, is "very blest." Most of the places of any note in the suburbs, within ten or twenty miles of London, have swelled, during the last quarter of a century, from mere ale houses into noble taverns. The Shepherd and Shepherdess, in the City road, has grown from a respectable public house into a gorgeous palace and theatre; the Angel, at Islington, and the Elephant and Castle, have been transformed from hovels into magnificent inns; and the dingy wooden cottage which stood on Twickenham island, has vanished to make way for the inviting and commodious edifice represented in our cut.

To the Eel-pie Tavern many joyous wedding parties hie in the summer seaNo. 1194]

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Palmer's Glyphography.

son; here the gentle angler loves to repair, to torture worms, frogs, and flies; to cheat fish and talk sentimentally; and those. who have no relish for such sports, still rejoice in gazing on the varied objects of beauty which nature has profusely spread around this highly favoured spot.

The traveller cannot approach it by water so economically or so expeditiously as he may places more remote from London down the river. But if ascending the stream his voyage should extend to three hours, or be even longer, it is difficult to conceive how, where pleasure not business is the order of the day, he can be more delightfully engaged than floating on the transparent wave, smooth as glass and as bright, while an endless series of picturesque views present themselves in succession to his admiring eye, that he may all the incomparable charms

"Of grove, of lawn, of mead survey,

Whose turf, whose shade, whose flowers among,
Wanders the hoary Thames along,
His silver winding way."

And here, within view of this spot our readers need hardly be reminded stood the [VOL. XLIIL

villa of Pope. "Here he planted the vines and the quidcunx which his verses mention;" here he formed the grotto "from which he endeavoured to persuade his friends and himself that cares and passions could be excluded." Here, too, as"Poets themselves must fall like those they sing," exactly at this period of the last century, this bard and satirist, who had acted so distinguished a part on life's stage, was seen preparing to "shuffle off his mortal coil." It was at Twickenham that he still fondly lingered while, as he expressed it, he felt himself "going down the hill." There, in his last days, he received the visits of Lords Bolingbroke and Marchmont, and there were those noblemen joined by the poet's favourite, Martha Blount, with the cold exclamation, "What, is he not dead yet?" Yes, there the last melancholy days of Pope's decline were witnessed, and he had to lament that "he could see things but as through a curtain," that "he was incapable of thinking;" and there it was that that proud intellect, overthrown by sickness, was startled by unreal objects, as when he "one day, in the presence of Dodsley, asked what arm it was that came out of the wall?" He died May 30th, 1744, and his remains repose in the church which has also a place in the engraving.

A host of recollections not less interesting press on the visitor. Twickenham, in the language of Mr Robert Bell, is really "crowded with remarkable personalities;" and in addition to all its ancient attractions, a new church, a new park, and almost a new village in their vicinity, all well worth seeing, diversify the enjoyments of a day given to explore its animated and lovely plains and meadows green."

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ADVANCE OF CIVILIZATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

RECENT accounts from New Zealand give favourable representations of the natives, who generally accommodate themselves, with great complacency, to the state of things established since it became an English colony. They are active, and for the most part frank in their manner, and to be depended upon.

Almost all seem desirous of gaining European knowledge, and many of the useful arts they acquire with great facility. They are, generally speaking, inclined to be tall; rather larger than Englishmen, broad-chested, and muscular. Occasionally that ferocity for which, they were formerly distinguished bursts out with deadly violence, but association with Europeans must gradually induce gentler habits than had formerly obtained among them. A kooky, or slave, who should neglect to watch his master's field, would now be likely to receive a milder

punishment than being killed and eaten.
It is to be hoped that with this improve-
ment in their habits they will preserve their
former horror of intoxication. " Why will
you make yourselves mad?" was the pithy,
sensible, but satirical question which these
savages put to their English visitors.
The late accounts, we are sorry to see,
mention rather a serious collision, in which
some of the Wakefields, with which New
Zealand seems rather amply supplied, are
concerned. From the 'New Zealand Jour-
June 19th, the following particulars :
nal' we collect, under date Wellington,

"It appears that Mr Cotterell having been interrupted at the surveyor's station at the Raupero (one of two chiefs opposed to the Wairoa by a party of natives, headed by Europeans), and his hut burned down, he dispatched information of the event to Captain Wakefield, who proceeded with Mr Thompson, the police magistrate, and a party of about fifty, by the government brig Vic toria,' to Cloudy Bay, and arrived on Friday last at the scene of the outrage, Mr Thompof Raupero. They found the natives enson having a warrant for the apprehension number about 200. They were posted on a camped near the spot, and all armed, in hill, and Mr Thompson showed his warrant and attempted an explanation of its nature, which they either did not, or would not, understand, but continued to remain together in a body. There was a small stream or gulley separating the two parties, over which Mr Thompson and his party made a movement to pass in a canoe; while this was taking place, a gun from one of the Europeans accidentally went off, which the natives mistaking for a signal of attack, immediately replied to by a general volley. This was returned, and several fell on both sides; the natives being in greater numbers, and con cealed by the fern, in which they lay down and reloaded, had the advantage; and after a while, the English party were obliged to retreat up a steep hill, exposed to the fire of their opponents. Mr Tuckett, with about twelve others, and two men severely wounded (one whose arm has been since amputated), made their escape back to Cloudy Bay, and embarked on board the government brig, which arrived here on Saturday night, at twelve o'clock. A meeting of the inhabitants took place at nine o'clock on Sunday morning, and about seventy individuals readily volunteered to accompany Mr M'Donough, our police magistrate, and Colonel Wakefield, in the brig to Cloudy Bay. They embarked yesterday about twelve o'clock, but remain still in the harbour, having been obliged to put back by a violent gale from the S.E., which continues. It is much to be feared that both Captain Wakefield and Mr Thompson had fallen into the hands of the natives, although not clearly ascertained, as the brig who escaped with him got on board. Nor put off immediately. Mr Tuckett and those am I able to communicate with certainty the name of any individual on our side who has been actually killed, although several must have been severely wounded."

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