Richard fell. His son immediately set off for the capital, and placed himself with a mason of great eminence, being about sixteen years of age. The gracefulness of his person and behaviour bespoke that parentage, which, however, he had the art and address carefully to disguise. The master quickly discovered the genius of his apprentice, whose skill and judgment he relied upon in the nicest and most difficult parts of architecture. Being engaged in some alterations and repairs in this ancient house, Richard's son was sent down to superintend the workmen, where his wit, not less than his ingenuity, was so engaging, that the owner of the seat retained him, to build on his estate a little mansion for his residence. He lived some years in this retirement, devoted to reading and contemplation, in great repute for his learning, piety, and modesty; and during that period, he wrote his life. At the approach of death, he gave the manuscript to his patron, with a request not to read it till after his decease. He recovered, but soon after died; and the aforesaid manuscript (inclosed as it is supposed, by his friend within the wall) was not known or discovered, till so late as 1768. It is now in the possession of the family of the Derings, to whom the lovers of history, and the public in general, would be greatly obliged for the publication.

PHILIP THE THIRD, KING OF SPAIN.

peace

WHEN Philip the Third, King of Spain, sent his ambassador to treat with the States of Holland, about their independency, he was shown into an anti-chamber, where he waited to see the members of the States pass by. He stood for some time, and seeing none but plain-dressed men with bundles in their hands, (which, as many of them came from distant provinces, contained their linen and provisions) he turned to his intrepreter, and asked him when the States would come. The man replied, "that those were the members whom he saw go by." Upon which, he wrote to the commanderin-chief of the Spanish army, to advise the King his master to make as soon as possible. In his letter was this remarkable passage:-"I expected to have seen in the States a splendid appearance: but instead of that, I saw only a parcel of plain-dressed men with sensible faces, who came into council with provisions in their hands. Their parsimony will ruin the King my master, in the course of the war, if it is continued: for there is no contending with people whose nobles can live upon a shilling a day, and will do every thing for the service of their country." The King, struck with the account, agreed to treat with them as an independent state, and put an end to the war.

LORD THURLOW.

ONE day, when Lord Thurlow was very busy at his house in Great Ormond Street, a poor Curate applied to him for a living then vacant. "Don't trouble me," said the Chancellor, turning from him with a frowning brow; "Don't you see I am busy, and can't listen to you? what Duke or Lord recommended you? ?The poor curate lifted up his eyes, and with dejection said, "he had no Lord to recommend him but the Lord of Hosts!""The Lord of Hosts," replied the Chancellor, "the Lord of Hosts! I believe I have had recommendations from most Lords, but do not recollect one from him before; and so, do you hear, young man, you shall have the living;" and accordingly presented him with the same.

IRELAND.

It was strange to observe, as it were in a bird's-eye view, the varied population which deformed that surface-there was every form and grade of human wretchedness, from the slave, who shivered in the breeze without a rag to cover him, up to the petty despot, who heartlessly despoiled him of all he had left to give-the pittance of his labour. Each were pitiable, and it was hard to say which was most so, the plunderer or the plundered— the one suffering from the penalty inflicted, the other from the anticipated reprisal. Though this outcast people are among the most patient that crawl under the canopy of Heaven, still that reprisal, at times, has taken place— terrible to both, and difficult of election-the one swinging in chains upon his gibbet, the other lying murdered in his shroud of silk. The fault of this is laid, and most unjustly, upon the savage disposition of the lower orders of the people. The Irish peasant is a maligned and misrepresented character. Described to strangers as naturally vicious, he is, in fact, only the victim of a system which is so. By nature, he is a generous, and even a noble creature-his errors are conventional, forced on him by a policy as unwise as it is unfeeling-and then by an argument as untrue as it is illogical-he is arraigned as the cause of evils, of which, in reality, he is but the effect. Driven by despair to deeds of horror, he is accused of cruelty-disheartened from industry by the denial of its rewards, he is accused of indolence-living in a country which he hears is free, he finds himself the bondsman of some hereditary absentee-belonging to a community which boasts itself Christian, he knows there is a penalty attached to his creed-he is condemned to hopeless misery in this world, and then impeded in securing a reversionary reparation in the next. Heaven is secured to him, and earth is made a purgatory. If the Irish peasant ventures upon a little farm, it is instantly visited by worse than the plagues of Egypt the non-resident landlord overloads it with rent-his petti-fogging agent requires a perquisite for forbearance-the Protestant parson takes its heterodox tithe-the Catholic priest gleans next in the name of God—and, last of all, comes some locust of taxation to lay it bare of every living thing except the litter of children who howl the mountain, echoes into hoarseness. What can be expected from such extremity of suffering? Nothing, except what actually does take place--periodical visitations of rape, massacre, and famine, succeeded by the stillness, not of peace, but of desolation!

"A population, uneducated, impoverished, and oppressed-a government vacillating and divided-an establishment gorgeously provided for the few, by the reluctant privations of the many-a system of rackrent, tithing, and taxation almost without equivalent, and apparently without end-a clergy preaching lowliness and professing poverty, yet wallowing in wealth and shouting ascendancy-an absentee aristocracy, without either sympathy or pity, through the veins of whose tenantry the blood of the land is sucked-power struggling for the retention of its monopoly-superstition burning for its aggrandisement-a selfish spirit of dissension in all, with scarce a redeeming quality of patriotism in any."

MINES IN MEXICO.

THE Mines of Mexico, equally productive as those of Peru, are not situated in a region so elevated as to injure the health of the workmen. Towns and villages have sprung up rapidly, in numerous instances, whereever mines have been opened in any district. The enormous masses of property acquired by mining, have, like the larger prizes in a lottery, been confined to a few individuals. M. Obregon, created Count Valenciana, with his partner, Otero, received, for many years, from the mine of that name, an annual income of £250,000 sterling. Don Pedro Terroros, Count Regla, one of the richest men in Mexico, drew from the mines of Biscaina, between the years 1762 and 1774, a net profit of more than a million sterling. Besides the two ships of war, one of one hundred and twenty guns, which he presented to the king of Spain, he lent to the government of Madrid five millions of francs, which he has never been repaid. The works erected on his mine, cost him more than four hundred thousand pounds sterling, and he purchased estates of vast extent besides, and left money to his family, in amount only equalled by the bequests of Count Valenciana. The Marquis del Assartado, at one period, within six months, extracted from his mine of Sombrerete, the enormous sum of £800,000 sterling; and though nothing approaching to that amount was afterwards drawn from it, it held its rank as a mine of the first class, till the troubles commenced. In these mining operations the greatest vicissitudes of fortune have been experienced. One of these is remarkable. A Frenchman, Joseph Laborde, came to Mexico very poor in 1743, and acquired a large fortune in a short time, by the mine of La Canada. After building a church at Tesco, which cost him £84,000, he was reduced to the lowest poverty, by the rapid decline of those very mines, from which he had annually drawn from £130 to 190,000 weight of silver. With a sum of £20,000, raised by selling a sun of solid gold, which, in his prosperity, he had presented to the church, and which he was allowed by the Archbishop to withdraw, he undertook to clear out an old mine, in which he lost the greater part of the produce of his golden sun, and abandoned the work with the small sum remaining: he once more ventured on another undertaking, which was for a short time highly productive, and he left behind him at his death, a fortune of more than one hundred and twenty thousand pounds.

BRESCIA.

BRESCIA is famous for the manufacture of Fire-arms, thence the Italian Proverb, "Tutta Brescia non armerebbe un Coglione;" all Brescia cannot give courage to a coward.

FEMALE WARRIORS.

In the arsenal of the palace at Genoa, are some light cuirasses, made purposely for some Genoese ladies, who intended to join a crusade against the infidels. These Female Warriors were at length persuaded to give up their design, by Pope Boniface the Eighth, who himself wrote a letter for that purpose.

THE MISANTHROPE.-A TALE.

DURING the autumn of 1817, being on a visit with a friend on the coast of Hampshire, I enjoyed the advantage of viewing the greater part of that truly picturesque county. There is, I think, scarcely another division of the kingdom where so many beautiful objects attract the attention, or where the scenery is so charmingly diversified. The mansion of my friend was situated a short distance from the sea, and a footpath led from his garden to the beach. It was to this spot I usually repaired when the evenings would permit, and delighted to roam free and unobserved along the trackless sands. On one occasion, I had reached my chosen spot; the day had been unusually fine, and the sun was just descending beneath the horizon, leaving the blue expanse over which he had journeyed unspotted with a cloud. I was tempted to extend my ramble; the almost horizontal sun-beams quivered upon the rippling waters, and seemed to scatter brilliants at my feet. 1 gazed for awhile on the vast domain; the eye searched in vain for an object on which to rest, and fell back, baffled and powerless, to find relief in the surrounding scenery. I felt a soothing melancholy whilst surveying the "billowy boundlessness" before me, and experienced that humiliating sensation which all must feel, who take a solitary evening walk by the seashore. I was startled from my reverie by an agitation of the water, which appeared suddenly to heave and swell, as if convulsed by some secret and powerful energy. The wind, which had hitherto scarcely dimpled the surface of the ocean, now stiffened to a breeze, and, ere I had retraced many steps, the sky was veiled in dark clouds, and the low muttering of distant thunder portended a violent storm. I was compelled to deviate from the beach to avoid the fury of the waves, and soon found myself in an extensive coppice, consisting principally of low trees and brushwood, which almost impeded me at every step. I despaired of discovering any path which might conduct me to an outlet of the wood, and had resolved to await the morning beneath a thickly-foliaged tree. Here I had not, however, rested many minutes ere I was startled by a sudden and loud crash; and 1 perceived at a short distance that the lightning, which now streamed with fitful motion around me, had struck a tall fir, and rent it to fragments, scattering some of the scorched pieces even to the spot where I stood.Warned by this occurrence, I sought the more open ground, and wandered for some time completely saturated with rain, uncertain where each step might conduct me, or in what direction to find my friend's house. length I accidentally reached the boundary of the wood, and instantly scrambled over the enclosure. I now found myself in a narrow pathway, which appeared considerably trodden; and, judging it might lead to some habitation, I pursued the track, and soon perceived through the gloom a slight glimmering; and hastening my steps, I discovered it to proceed - from the casement of a cottage. I knocked at the door, and listened for a moment with anxiety, but no sound of friendly footsteps reached my ear. I repeated the summons, yet all was silent within. Surely there must be an inhabitant, I said, or this building would not have displayed a light to invite me here. It was not an hour for delay: I placed my foot to the door, whose feeble fastenings yielded to a slight force, and left me at liberty to enter. The apartment in which I found myself was obscurely lighted by a small lamp, placed upon the hearth, and near which a few expiring embers were still perceptible; my eyes eagerly glanced round the room, in expectation of seeing some living creature; but I could only discover a few decayed articles of furniture, which, with the tattered and weather-worn casement, indicated the poverty of my shelter. The more distant corners YOL. I. 29.

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of the room, however, being thrown into deep shade, I lifted the lamp, in order to explore them, when I perceived a human figure stretched upon a pallet; his face appeared haggard, and preyed upon by sickness, and I thought he was at the moment eyeing me with close attention. I drew back, a little startled at first sight of this wan and spectre-like object; but, remembering I was now a trespasser in the house of a stranger, I thought it would be indecorous to remain silent. "The elements, sir," I said, "must plead my pardon for intruding on you. I have unfortunately missed my way, and this is a night when any ceremony used in gaining a refuge would be worse than weakness." "This is a night," he replied, raising his head, and his features, at the same time, assuming a scowl, "when God pours out his vengeance on the black vices of the world; and shall 1, poor solitary wretch! presume to intercept His wrath, or avert its proper destiny?" This was uttered with an emphasis that led me to think I was now in the house of an unhappy maniac; yet 1 could perceive the expression of fixed contempt in his countenance, which bespoke him some unfortunate individual, who had become disgusted with this world, and sought to hide himself in seclusion. "I presume, sir,” I said, “ you are not here alone; you appear unwell, and must need the attention and support of friends.' "Friends!" he exclaimed, fixing his moistureless eyes upon me; mention not the word-it is mockery to my ears. I once listened to the flatterings of pretended friendship, but I have ever found it the mask of villainy !" He then fell back, apparently exhausted from the exertion of speaking. I stood with my eyes involuntarily fixed upon him, and thought I could discover in his countenance the traces of intelligence, such as education and refinement always impart. I was awhile wrapped in conjecture, when a door at the extremity of the apartment, which I had not observed, opened, and a female form walked slowly to the bedside; her countenance was fixed on the ground, and expressed a settled gloom; as if unconscious of my presence, she did not once uplift her eyes. "Father," was all she said, and this was uttered in a plaintive and enquiring tone, whilst she gently composed his pillow, and then, kissing his wrinkled forehead, she retired. I was now more at a loss to account for the scene before me, and waited some time, anxiously hoping the sick man would again address me. "You are happy, sir," I at length observed, “in preserving a daughter, whose assiduities will repay all the vexations this world bave occasioned you." may "A daughter!" he said, raising himself on his shrivelled arms, and gazing at me : "I once, indeed, possessed a daughter, but”— Here his voice faltered, and he added in a stifled tone, "Alas! I shall never possess her again!" I ventured to enquire if it was not his daughter who had just left the room. "She was once," he replied, "the pride of my soul and the joy of my heart; but such a blessing was not long mine: the world, which had stripped me of all but this, envied my happiness, and snatched that sole remaining comfort from me." I could not help feeling pity for the man who had been thus a sport to the caprices of life, and felt a strong anxiety to know more of his history.— He appeared to anticipate my wishes, and added, "You have shown some sympathy, young man, for the fate of one who has long ceased to value it; but as you would be further acquainted with my misfortunes, the narrative shall be brief. At an early age I became entitled to a considerable fortune by the death of a father; and being an only child, and left to the care of an over-indulgent mother, I very soon overleaped all controul, and put myself solely under the direction of my own judgment. Being of a free and vivacious disposition, I formed numerous acquaintances, and very soon was proud of a large connection. In early life I married an attached and lovely female, and