down, and rebuilt at the cost of the Savoy consistory. Until 1734, the service was regularly and simultaneously performed in these three places the Savoy chapel, the Greek church, and that in Spring gardens; all under the same direction and control. At this time the Savoy fell into such dilapidation that it was obliged to be closed; and there were no funds for its repairs. In 1790 also terminated the occupancy of the Spring gardens' place of worship; and the French Protestant church was reduced to the single building in Crown street, Soho. King George III, on ascend ing the throne, renewed the grant of the Savoy; but their poverty compelled the French to cede their rights therein to the German Protestants in 1773. In 1822, the Greek church was given up for that now in use in Edward street, Soho, a place by no means remarkable for its fitness. It is narrow and gloomy, and on entering it the inhabitant of London is startled at seeing a large black clock with yellow figures, such as is commonly seen in the tap room of an old public house. Arrangements are making for placing the church in a better neighbourhood, and we are glad to see it mentioned in the Literary Gazette,' that the Eglise Protestante Episcopale Francaise de Londres is offered every facility in their power to accomplish this desirable object by her Majesty's Commissioners of Woods and Forests, and that a piece of ground is likely to be secured for a site in the space lately cleared at the south end of Charlotte street, Bloomsbury. DEATHS OF AGED PERSONS. THOUGH the winter just closed has not been very severe, it has proved most fatal to many old persons. Two remarkable cases we find in the last Berwick Warder.' "James Stuart, who called himself a descendant from royalty, and whose name has several times been lately brought before the public, breathed his last on Thursday week. He was born in the time of George I, or early in the reign of George II, for he had reached the great age of 116 years and three months. Even now, it is said, his time could scarcely yet be said to have come in the course of nature, for his death was the result of an injury in the hip joint, occasioned by a fall on Thursday last week. In his anxiety to get out of doors, to enjoy the recent sunny weather, his foot got entangled, and he was thrown down. Any injury, however slight, was almost sure to have proved fatal, and accordingly the utmost care and skill were unavailing." We are glad to learn from the respectable journal we have quoted, that the last days of the veteran were comfortable. He "On the Tuesday morning before his death his senses appeared perfectly acute and his appetite undiminished. called to his wife and asked in a gurgling voice for his breakfast, eating a little bread and treacle to his tea. Shortly after he had finished it he requested a gill of beer, which his wife went to purchase, and in her absence the old man gave vent to an expression of displeasure at her delay in bringing_it-saying he thought she had gone to Berwick for it. On Tuesday one of the last ordinances of the church to which he belonged were administered to him-after that morning, recollection and observation only recurred at fitful intervals. On Wednesday his son visited him and was recognised by the old man. He has three daughters living-one at Alnwick, one at Lowick, and another at Rennington. "It may be satisfactory to know, now that all poor Jamie's wanderings have ceased, that the fund, which the kindness of a few munificent individuals (including our gracious Sovereign, and several of the leading names in the land) had placed at the disposal of Mr Jaffray, bookseller, in Berwick, and ourselves, has amply sufficed to smooth the last asperities in his path; and the old man lately bestowed his blessing on Mr Jaffray, and said, ' That he hadna been sae weel aff this hunder year.' The most vigilant means were adopted of administering to him the comforts best suited to his peculiar case. And it must be stated that his wife, who is his junior by whole generations, tended and kept him with care and assiduity truly exemplary. He was buried on the afternoon of Sunday, the 14th inst. Above two thousand persons assembled at Tweedmouth churchyard. His coffin bore the inscription, James Stuart, aged 116.' According to his own statement he was born on Christmas-day, in the year 1728. The other death we have to mention took place at Dunbar, on the 6th instant, Mrs J. Reaburn, aged ninety-two. Mrs R. was a most rigid Cameronian, and retained in her possession the flag of the covenant, which was borne by her grandfather at the battle of Bothwell Brig. Although somewhat tattered, still all the emblems and inscriptions are perfectly legible. The old lady prized it beyond rubies, and has transmitted it as an heir-loom to her family. Many have heard, with much pleasure, Mrs Reaburn recite the events of that stern Presbyterian period, and fight all the battles of her ancestors o'er again with the most sincere and romantic enthusiasm, declaring that unless the stern principles of that eventful era were adopted her native country was in a state of heathenism, and would never prosper. Arms. Sa. a chev., or, between three stags' scalps and attires, ar. Supporters. On each side a lion, erm., collared, dau cettée, vert. Motto. "Prodesse quam conspici." "To do good rather than be conspicuous." THE NOBLE HOUSE OF SOMERS. Cocks, the family name of this noble house, was known in Kent early in the reign of Edward I. Its wearers were of importance in that county till their removal to Gloucestershire in the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas Cocks, Esq., of Bishop's Cleve, in the county of Gloucester, married Elizabeth, daughter of Holland, of Lancashire, by whom he had ten sons and three daughters, and was succeeded, at his decease, in 1601, by his second, then his eldest, surviving son, Richard. This gentleman purchased the estate of Castleditch, in Herefordshire, and settled there. He married Judith, daughter and co-heiress of John Eliot, Esq., of London, by whom he had two sons, Thomas and Richard; the former succeeded to his estates at his death. He married Anne, daughter of Ambrose Elton, Esq., of Ledbury, in the county of Hereford, by whom he had five sons and three daughters. On his decease he was succeeded by his eldest son, John, who, dying unmarried, the property came to his second son, the Rev. Thomas Cocks, of Castleditch, who died in 1724, leaving an only daughter and heiress, who became the wife of her cousin, John Cocks. The youngest of the five sons of Thomas Cocks, above mentioned, in 1692 represented the city of Worcester in parliament, and the borough of Droitwich afterwards,. He married Mary, daughter of John Somers, Esq., of Cliftonupon-Severn, in the county of Worcester, and sister and co-heiress of John, Lord Somers, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, whose honours expired at his lordship's death in 1716. The issue of this marriage was two sons and three daughters. The youngest daughter mar. ried Philip Yorke, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and created Lord Hardwicke. Mr Cocks was succeeded by his eldest son, James Cocks, Esq., of Bruckmans, in the county of Hertford, and M.P. for Ryegate, who married, first, in 1718, Lady Elizabeth Newport, eldest daughter of Richard, Earl of Bradford; but by that lady he had no issue. His second wife was Anne, youngest daughter of William, fourth Lord Berkeley of Stratton. At his death he was succeeded by his only child, James Cocks, Esq., who was killed at Cas, on the French coast, in 1758. He was unmarried, and in consequence the estate reverted to his uncle, John Cocks, Esq., of Castleditch, who had obtained that seat by marrying his cousin, Mary Cocks, above mentioned, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Cocks. Twelve children were the offspring of this marriage-ten sons and two daughters. Mr Cocks died June 24, 1771, when his eldest son, Charles Cocks, Esq., of Castleditch, succeeded to the estate. He was born June 29, 1725, represented Rye in parliament, and was created a baronet September 19, 1772, and raised to the peerage May 17, 1784, by the title of Lord Somers, Bart., of Evesham, in the county of Worcester. He married, first, August 2, 1759, Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Eliot, Esq., of Port Eliot, county of Cornwall, and sister of Edward, first Lord Eliot. She died January 1, 1771, leaving issue John Somers, the late peer, and Edward Charles, who was unfortunately drowned in the fourteenth year of his age, in 1781, while at Westminster school, and two daughters. By a second marriage, May 20, 1772, his lordship had another family of two sons and a daughter. His death took place January 30, 1806, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, John Somers, second baron, who was born May 6, 1760, and created Viscount Eastnor and Earl Somers, July 17, 1821. He was lord lieutenant of Herefordshire, recorder of Gloucester, and hig 1812. steward of Hereford. He married, first, March 18, 1785, Margaret, only daughter of the Rev. Treadway Russell Nash, D.D. This lady died February 19,41821, leaving issue three sons, Edmund Charles, John Somers, and James Somers. The first, born in 1786, was killed in the Peninsular war, at the assault of Burgos, October 8, He was unmarried. The second became the wearer of the title. The third, born January 9, 1790, is in holy orders. The Earl was married a second time, June 3, 1834, to his cousin Jane, daughter of James Cocks, Esq., and relict of the Rev. George Waddington. He died in 1841, when his son John Somers Cocks came to the title. The present peer married, February 4, 1815, Caroline Harriet, youngest daughter of Philip, third Earl of Hardwicke, by whom he has issue Charles Somers, born July 14, 1819, and three daughters. VEGETABLE DIET DEFENDED. A PAMPHLET has appeared by a Dr W. A. Alcott, of Boston, in the U. S. It is hardly enough to call it a defence of vegetable diet; the writer goes the length not merely of strongly insisting on the importance and value of it, but almost, if not wholly, denounces the use of animal food. The style of the Doctor is peculiar. Some of his Americanisms almost puzzle us to decide on their exact meaning; but not to dwell on trifles, we owe it to him to say his little book is written with a kindly feeling which gives it a claim to respectful consideration. He brings together a body of evidence in support of his theory. He shows that in some cases the advantages of flesh eating are illusory; that a stimulus is given for a time, which eventually fails, and leaves the balance of strength and enjoyment on the side of the man who is content with vegetable fare In many circumstances of difficulty and danger he maintains that vegetable food has preserved life. says: He "It is now pretty generally known that Howard, the philanthropist, was, for about forty years, a vegetable eater, subsisting for much of this time on bread and tea, and that he went through every form of exposure to disease, contagious and non-contagious, per fectly unharmed. And had it not been for other physical errors than those which pertain to diet, I know of no reason why his life might not have been preserved many years longer-perhaps to this time. "The Rev. Josiah Brewer, now a missionary in Smyrna, has been very much exposed to disease, and, like Mr Howard, to the plague itself; and yet I am not aware that he has ever had a single sick day as the consequence of his exposure. I do not know with certainty that he abstains entirely from flesh meat, but he is said to be rigidly temperate in other respects. Those who have read Rush's 'Inquirien' and other writings, are aware that he was very much exposed to the yellow fever in Philadelphia, during the years in which it prevailed there. Now there is great reason for believing that he owed his exemption from the disease, in part at least, to his great temperance. "Mr James, a teacher in Siberia, in Africa, had abstained for a few years from animal food, prior to his going out to Africa. Immediately after his arrival there, and during the sickly season, one of his companions who went out with him died of the fever. Mr James was attacked slightly, but recovered. "Another vegetable-eater-the Rev. Mr Crocker-went out to a sickly part of Africa some years since, and has remained at his station thus far in perfect health, while many of his friends have sickened or died. "General Thomas Sheldon, a vegetableeater, has spent several years in the most sickly parts of the southern United States, with an entire immunity from disease; and he gives it as his opinion that it is no matter where we are so that our dietetic and other habits are correct. "Mr G. McElroy, of Kentucky, spent several months of the most sickly season in the most unhealthy parts of Africa, in the year 1835, and yet enjoyed the best of health the whole time. While there, and on his passage home, he abstained wholly from animal food, living on rice and other farinaceous vegetables and fruits." Ancient history and modern experience he boldly arrays on his side of the question: "The Jews of Palestine, two thousand years ago, lived chiefly on vegetable food. Flesh, of certain kinds, was indeed admissible by their law; but, except at their feasts, and on special occasions, they ate chiefly bread, milk, honey, and fruits. "Laurence says that the Greeks and Romans, in the periods of their greatest simplicity, manliness, and bravery, appear to have lived almost entirely on plain vegetable preparations." "The Irish of modern days, as well as the Scotch, are confined almost wholly to vegetable food. So are the Italians, the Germans, and many other nations of modern Europe. Yet, where shall we look for finer specimens of bodily health, strength, and vigour, than in these countries? The females especially -where shall we look for their equals? The men even-the Scotch and Irish for example -are they weaker than their brethren, the English, who use more animal food ?" Nor does he stop here; the Doctor proceeds to show the moral evil resulting from the slaughter of animals, and would have the commandment, "Thou shalt do no murder,' regarded as applicable to depriving the brute creation of existence! living creatures unnecessary pain, we are The tenderness which would spare all disposed to applaud; but we cannot help thinking that if man have a right to exist himself, he has a right to take the lives of the inferior animals. The good Doctor is eloquent against the pain inflicted on the victims; but he does not show how this can be avoided. If all mankind were with one accord to refuse to eat flesh, he does not tell how the millions of animals which would soon over-run the land, are to be provided for, so that they could live and rejoice in living. Shockingly, we are free to admit, as man frequently abuses his high charge, we are by no means convinced that it would be better for the brute creation if he were away, or his habits wholly changed. To say nothing of the fury with which some would tear others to pieces, we would ask on what are they to feed? If told "on vegetables," taking it for granted that there would be plenty for them as well as for man, largely increased as his consumption would be in the case supposed, we would request Dr Alcott to look at some of these vegetables through a microscope, and then perhaps he will find them teeming with life, and discover myriads of living creatures, the denizens of that green world, who may be as capable, for aught he can know, of feeling pain as an ox or a sheep, and if so, how can animal destruction be spared? While we deprecate as hateful and odious anything like contempt for the sufferings of the brute creation, we still hold that were animals left to themselves their wars with each other, the horrors of famine to which they would be exposed at particular seasons, and the state of miserable helplessness which must be their doom in old age, are evils which, were they capable of reasoning on the subject, we should expect they would deem more dreadful than even the butcher's knife and all the horrors of the slaughter house. In spite of his weaknesses and vices he is of some use, and has not inaptly been called the "Con stable of nature." LAST MOMENTS OF REMARKABLE CHARACTERS.-No. IX. THE Prince of Condé, whose courage and success on the field of battle continue to be the pride of his country, passed a strangely chequered life. At Rocroi he became a renowned conquerer at an age when others only venture to aspire. Alternately the idol of the Parisians and the object of there bitterest hatred, the prop mainly depended upon to support the throne, and the denounced traitor, he experienced greater changes than it falls to the lot of most mortals to know. His course materially changed when he drew near the close of life. Though constantly exposed to the greatest dangers, he had for many years been indifferent to religious matters. He did not make him self the opponent of the Catholic faith, but from the doubts which arose in his mind he neglected its observance. In this state of mind he reached his sixty-fourth year, when he was called to the death-bed of his sister, the Duchess de Longueville. She had not led a most virtuous life, but after being long notorious for her gallantries, in her latter days her penitence and faith made her in the eyes of those about her such a model of piety, that dying they regarded as a saint soaring to heaven rather than a weak sinner sinking into the grave. Her admonitions, when she approached life's goal, made a deep impression on his mind, and her happy departure from the world completed his conversions. The change in his opinions is said to have produced but little alteration in his habits, as in him philosophy and benevolence had to a great extent done this work of religion. His health was declining when his grand-daughter, the Duchess de Bourbon, was attacked by the small pox. Condé visited her at Fontainbleau. The air of the sick chamber, added to grief and anxiety, was thought to have tended to shorten his days. He rapidly declined. Louis Joseph de Bourbon thus brings his story to a close : "The prince daily grew worse; he heard his approaching dissolution announced by one of the physicians, whom he had requested to speak openly, and without fear, and from that moment devoted himself to the duties of a good father and a pious Christian. He sent for his son and his nephew; the Duchess d'Enghien wished that the Duke de Bourbon might likewise be present, but he would not consent; alleging that he was an only son, that his days were precious, and that he ought not to be exposed to the contagion of bad air.' He dictated his will with his accustomed presence of mind. After having satisfied the duties of the father, the master, the prince, and the friend, Condé made a separate bequest fifty thousand crowns to Gourville. That faithful follower, however, when he had the act legally registered, omitted the legacy to himself; and when the prince, in the most friendly manner, reproached him for this omission, Gourville replied: "That he was overpaid by the excess of his master's kindness, and that he wished for no other benefit than the good will of the princes, his children.' Condé remembered the poor in his will; neither did he forget the provinces which had suffered by the civil war, though he had before befriended them; and he left fifty thousand crowns to build a parochial last will, he wished to write to the king, but church, at Chantilly. Having dictated his his weakness not allowing him, he dictated a letter, in which, after making protestations of constant attachment to his majesty, he earnestly solicited Louis to permit his nephew, the Prince de Conti, to return to court. The prince desired this letter should not be delivered till he should be dead: he then finished settling his affairs, and requested his son, whose tenderness and virtues he well knew, to supply any omission he might have made. Toward eleven o'clock at night he dozed in his chair about two hours; when he awoke, he asked for his confessor; but, as father Deschamps had not then arrived, he confessed to father Bergier. That jesuit, as is usual, exhorted him to pardon his enemics: "Ah!' said the great Condé, why speak of pardon; you know I never retained the slightest resentment against any man.' "Before he could receive the last sacraments, the Catholic religion required that he should make a public apology for the scandal his past infidelity had occasioned. Being too much exhausted to utter this apology himself, his confessor, at his desire, delivered it in the terms that were conformable to custom and Christian humility. He then received the last unction, and his piety was not disturbed by the loud sorrows of his afflicted family. "Almost immediately after this awful ceremony had taken place, the Duke d'Enghien arrived from Versailles, with the pleasing information that the king, out of respect to the great Condé, pardoned the Prince de Conti. The prince still continued alive to pleasurable emotion, and satisfaction beamed on his dying countenance. He told his son he could not have brought him more pleasing intelligence, and asked for the letter which he had dictated, that his grateful acknowledgments might be added. "His worldly and Christian duties being now fulfilled, the prince yielded without restraint to paternal tenderness; he soothed and conversed an hour with his son, to whom he had always been tenderly attached; he then asked for the Duchess d'Enghien, and, causing everybody to retire, exhorted the duke and his consort to always live in that harmony by which they had hitherto been united. After giving them advice, founded on the experience of an eventful life, he embraced his children with that touching effusion of sensibility which never dies in the virtuous and feeling heart; they kneeled at his feet, drowned in tears, and asked his blessing, which he bestowed. "When the prince said, 'My son, you will soon have no father,' the Duke d'Enghien, who was at his feet, overcome with tenderness and grief, swooned away; on his recovery he threw himself in his father's arms, and conjured the prince 'to forgive him any offence he might have committed.' You have been as good a son,' replied Condé, as I have endeavoured to be a father.' He then recommended his household to the duke they requested to see the prince for the last time. Condé did not shrink from the desolating spectacle; he suffered them to come; he was no doubt moved by the grief, consternation, and despair which his numerous attendants displayed, but nothing could shake the stoic fortitude of his soul. "The fatal moment slowly approached; he asked how long he might possibly survive?' and was told, that God alone could decide.' He was resigned, recited some prayers, and consoled his afflicted children; his soul was now absorbed in his family and his God. At this awful crisis the Prince de Conti arrived, and the great Condé had the happiness to see him before he died; he begged him to approach, and, embracing his nephew and son, exhorted them always to live united, and to be faithful to God and the king. Those around him, fearing that his sensibility would hasten his dissolution, turned his attention to religion; he dismissed his family, and conversed with father Deschamps, his confessor; but his children entreated to be again admitted, and he could not deny them. He gave directions concerning the manner of his burial to the Duke d'Enghien, renewed his paternal advice, embraced him for the last time, and then begged him to retire, as he felt his strength began to fail. From that moment he only thought of his salvation; he gave the noblest examples of piety and repentance, preserved his understanding to the last moment, and expired on Monday, December 11, at seven in the morning! "The Duke d'Enghien, who had retired into an adjoining apartment, alarmed by the movement he heard, wished to enter his father's room; he was, however, at first prevented, and conveyed to his apartments, but it was found impossible to retain him; he forced his way to the chamber, knelt at the bedside of his father, whose face was covered with a handkerchief, and exclaimed, while tears flowed in torrents, 'Oh God! is that my father? This is all, then, that remains of that great man!' It was with difficulty they could force him from the excruciating spectacle, which became more heartrending by the presence of the Duchess d'Enghien and the Prince de Conti.": ON THE SUCCESS OF GENERAL TOM THUMB. Great is illustrious Thumb's renown, To him all rivals must succumb, The London world beneath his Thumb. Pudding on the hills.-A country newsfrom Croly's 'Cataline.' It ought to have paper gave rather incorrectly a quotation run thus "She would stray, And gaze, when morn was budding on the hills, As if she saw the stooping pomp of gods." The b in the word budding had a p for a substitute, which caused it to read "When morn was pudding on the hills." The compositor excused himself by saying the type had been made all pie. Mechanics of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries.-Mechanism made considerable strides. Albertus Magnus made a speaking head, and an automaton human figure, which arose and opened a door when it was knocked at. Roger Bacon made a mechanical flying pigeon. |