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and hills around. It is delightful to see on fine days the greyheaded fathers of a city thus seated on these airy walks beneath their favourite limes, and enjoying their chat together over old times, while within a few steps of home their eyes can still wander over those distant scenes whither their feet no longer can carry them. If there be an old castle in the suburbs of any of their towns, it is not shut up, but its gardens, and its very walls, and courts, and fosses, are laid out in lovely walks, and the whole place is made the favourite resort and enjoyment of the whole population. There a coffee-house or cassino is sure to be found; and there beneath the summer trees, old and young, rich and poor, sit and partake of their coffee, wine, and other refreshment, while some old tower near is converted into an orchestra, and sends down the finest music for the general delight. He sees all sorts of gardens, even to the royal ones, and all sorts of estates, kept open for the public observation and passage through them; he sees the woods and forests all open to the foot and spirit of the delighted lover of nature and of solitude. He sees all public amusements and enjoyments, as theatrical and musical representations, the very highest of this kind, kept cheap and accessible to all. There are no operas there with boxes let at £300 per annum, with seats in the pit at half-a-guinea each. Twenty-pence is the price of gentility itself; and for five-pence may be heard, and in a good place, the finest operas performed by the finest singers in the country. For four-pence may be attended the finest out-of-door concerts of Strauss or Lanner in the capital of Austria itself. He sees education kept equally cheap in school and university, kept within the reach of all for the free use of all; and the school so systematised as to answer the various requirings of every varied class or profession. He sees the church kept cheap, and the churches open and free to one man as well as another, without pews and property, where all should be open, the common meetingplace of the common family before the common Father. He sees no church-rates imposed on stubborn and refractory consciences, but a voluntary contribution, left to the voluntary attender of divine service. He sees musical and singing societies encouraged amongst the people, where the working classes, when the labours of the day are done, can meet and enjoy a refining treat. He sees these civilising and refining influences extended over the open-air enjoyments of the Sundays and holidays of the common people in city and country."W. Howitt.

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Sam Sly's African Journal.-This entertaining vehicle of information, which we have often had occasion to quote, has no

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equal for sly humour in that quarter of the globe which has the advantage of publishing it. The following passages from a whimsical sketch of Cape Town, are very rich :-"Then the number of black faces and hands, and shoeless feet, or Images of God cut in ebony,' that bespoke an African soil, when in England we had only been accustomed to see a straggler now and then, out of his element at the road-side, sunning himself as well as he could, near a wall, or begging, or in the hall of some retired Bengal Indian, behind a carriage, or flourishing the drum-sticks over the big drum in St. James's Park. We were much amused at the incessant and universal crowing of cocks, in every direction, and at the uncommon quantity of curs, blinking in the sun, of every description, not two alike and none of a decided character, but all mixed and all mongrel-too idle and cowardly to fly at you, and too suspicious to wag their tails and make your acquaintance. It was strange to see so many heads in red kerchiefs and conical-shaped straw hats like funnels, or inverted whipping tops-to see such a number of Malay boys like little old men cut short, in the full complement of habiliments with their grandfathers. To see twenty oxen in one rudely-constructed waggon, with little or nothing in it, and a mere gipsy's tent at the end, or like an elephant linked to a mouse. It was strange to find uncovered ditches running up the principal streets, to hear no bells or music, and to mark the apathy and indifference of every one, in so bright a region. It was queer to perceive so many women and girls sitting on their haunches at doorways with nothing to do, and labour so much in request. It was laughable to see gentlemen and giants on horseback in green veils, and others on foot all in white in November, jike a miller powdered with his own flour.

The Gatherer.

Value of Solitude.-"A certain degree of solitude seems necessary to the full growth of the highest mind; and, therefore, must a very extensive intercourse with men stifle many a holy germ, and scare away the gods, who shun the restless tumult of noisy companies and the discussion of petty interests."-Novalis.

Consumption of Tea and Coffee.-One of the most remarkable facts in the diet of mankind, is the enormous consumption of tea and coffee. Upwards of 800,000,000 of pounds of these articles are annually consumed by the inhabitants of the world.

Too True. It was a saying of Mr. Fox's, that" truth requires time before it can soak into English heads;" a fact of which Ministers seem fully aware.

The Doctors of the Day-A poem in support of Hydropathy is preparing for the press. It opens with the following invocation, and compliment to the faculty:"Goddess of health, whose favour all implore, Whom all, except physicians, must adore; Thou, whom with more than common mortal state,

'Twas Lady Hamilton's to personate. Now lend a suppliant thy willing aid,

To sing how crime has flourished as a trade, How men as doctors have been raised to fame,

Who rather should have borne the butcher's

name.

How more expert than India's murd'rous Thugs,
They still have sold their life destroying drugs.
Teach me to paint the weakness of mankind,
Through countless ages obstinately blind.
Help me in proper light to show their case,
And wake to common sense the human race."

De Fellenberg's School at Hofwyl.-" As we returned from the garden with the pu pils, on the evening of the first day, we stood for a few minutes with Vehrli (the preceptor who has the charge of them), in the court-yard, by the shore of the lake. The pupils had ascended into the class rooms, and the evening being tranquil and warm, the windows were thrown up, and we, shortly afterwards, heard them sing in excellent harmony. As soon as this song had ceased, we sent a message to request another with which we had become familiar in our visits to the Swiss schools; and thus, in succession, we called for song after song of Nageli, imagining that we were only directing them at their usual hour of instruction in vocal music. There was a great charm in this simple but excellent harmony. When we had listened nearly an hour, Vehrli invited us to ascend into the room where the pupils were assembled. We followed him, and on entering the apartment, great was our surprise to discover that the whole school, during the period we had listened, had been cheering with songs their evening employment of peeling potatoes and cutting the stalks from the green vegetables and beans, which they had gathered in the garden. As we stood there they renewed their choruses till prayers were announced. We were greatly charmed in this school by the union of comparatively high intellectual attainments among the scholars, with the utmost simplicity of life and cheerfulness in the humblest menial labours. Their food was of the coarsest character, consisting chiefly of vegetables, soups, and very brown bread. They rose between four and five, took three meals in the day, the last about six, and retired to bed about nine."-Minutes of the Council on Education.

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to exist, was left to the Bodleian library by the late Mr. Caldecot. It is not a remainder of the first edition, but a distinct re-impression. Malone gave £25 for his copy of the first edition of 1593; it would fetch

seven times that sum now. A copy of the "Sonnets," of 1609, was sold at the same sale (title and dedication wanting, but supplied by Harris), for £33, a higher price than has been given before for a perfect copy. Garrick's copy of the first folio was knocked down for £86; bought at Garrick's sale for £34 2s. 6d., and by Garrick himself, when books were cheap, for £1 16s, or as many shillings. The original selling price was £1. A kind of cup or rummer made from Shakspeare's mulberry tree was sold on the same day for £30. This was "Tom Hill's" cup.

How to serve a Poor Friend.-"If your friend is in want, don't carry him to the tavern where you treat yourself as well as him, and entail a thirst and headache upon him next morning. To treat a poor wretch with a bottle of Burgundy, or fill his snuff-box is like giving a pair of lace ruffles to a man that has never a shirt to his back. Put something into his pocket."— Tom Brown.

THE PRIZE COMEDY AT THE

HAYMARKET.

The excitement which has lately been created by the prize comedy, “Quid Pro Quo," induced us with many others to go with the determination to be pleased, but we are sorry to say that we came away with the painful impression that if this "prize comedy" be indeed a prize, the ninety-seven rejected ones must have been more than blanks. It was the judgment of Mr. Farren, we believe, that led to the rejection from the Haymarket of Mr. Farren's admirable comedy of "Mothers and Daughters:" the imprimatur of Mr. Farren and his co-critics has led to this lamentable exhibition of a poor farce in five acts as a prize comedy. We shall return to this subject.

ON THE FAILURE OF MRS. GORE'S COMEDY.

(For the Mirror.)

The house was crammed-each box was full,
But sadly was the audience bored,
And mighty Webster found that Bull
Was rather wild from being Gored.

CORRESPONDENTS.

The conclusion of "Henry de Lorraine " arrived too late for the present number.

All communications to be addressed to the Venus and Editor, at the Office, 2, Tavistock-street, Covent

Literary Treasures.-A copy of the second edition of Shakspeare's Adonis," 1594, was sold on Wednesday week, at Messrs. Sotheby's, for £106. This edition was unknown to Malone and his contemporaries; the only other copy said

garden.

LONDON: Printed and Published by AIRD and BURSTALL, 2, Tavistock street, Covent-garden, and sold by all Booksellers and Newsmen.

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VIEW OF OLD LONDON.

The Surrey Zoological Gardens have lately changed hands, and under the new proprietor, Mr. Tyler, they have been greatly improved. Renovation appears in every part, and each step we advance, something strange or beautiful, or both, fails not to meet the eye.

But the grand feature of the present season is the picture or model of Old London. This was a happy thought: the beautiful site of these grounds offers the means of producing artistical effects, such as, perhaps, were never before attempted in any part of the world. When we look on the vast sheet of water found there, we have a representation of a river, more perfect than the noblest pencil could ever furnish. If, then, a tasteful arrangement be made on its margin, there is nothing to prevent a most animated representation being brought before us of all the principal cities in the world. The lake cannot fail to perform its part well; admired as the No. 1220.]

Tiber last summer, it is equally great in the character of old Father Thames in the present year. On its banks we see London, not the London of to-day, but the old city, such as it was before the great fire in 1666, with the ancient cathedral of St. Paul's, or Powles, as it was formerly called, with its square tower; with the bridge, sustaining a palace and numerous houses. So crowded and so irregular the erections seem, as here presented, that doubts may be entertained of the accuracy of the exhibition; but we have no reason to call it seriously in question, if Sir William D'Avenant be a good authority. Writing of London about the period intended to be recalled, he says:

"Sure your ancestors contrived your narrow streets in the days of wheelbarrows, before those greater engines, carts, were invented. Is your climate so hot that as you walk you need umbrellas of tiles to intercept the sun? or are your shambles so empty that you are afraid to take in fresh air, lest it should sharpen your stomachs? Oh! the goodly landscape of Old Fish Street, which if it had not the ill-luck to be crooked, was narrow enough to have been your founder [VOL. XLIII

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perspective; and where the garrets, perhaps not for want of architecture, but through abundance of amity, are so narrow, that opposite neighbours may shake hands without stirring from home. Is unanimity of inhabitants in wide cities better expressed than by their coherence and uniformity of building, where streets begin, continue, and end, in a like stature and shape. But yours look as if they were raised in a general resurrection, where every man hath a several design, differ in all things that can make a distinction. Here stands one that aims to be a palace, and next it one that professes to be a hovel; here a giant, there a dwarf; here slender, there broad; and all most admirably different in faces, as well as in their height and bulk."

The London Bridge represented in the Gardens, was erected in the year 1178. It is here copied from Hollar's well-known print. It remained covered with buildings till the year 1560, which overhung the river. These were, for the most part, occupied by pin-makers, the first of whom was said to have been a Spanish negro, who introduced the art. The remains of a draw bridge in the middle, protected by an ancient tower, were then still to be seen.

It is always interesting to contrast the past with the present. The London here imagined is no more. In the fullness of time must that on which we now gaze also pass away. Will a modern Isaiah heave a sigh, "How doth the city sit solitary that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary? The mountain of Zion is desolate, the foxes walk upon it." Or, will the fanciful imagining of a poet of our own time, be murmured over the sad reality,

"Here London stood, and gloried in her might,

And lived in peace and joy, and wealth and guilt: Where are thy merchants now, thy dearest pride? The great men of the earth ?''

"Their name is passed; Their arts have perished; and their land is wild, As it had never been a land of men !"

HENRY DE LORRAINE, THE LAST DUKE OF GUISE. (Continued from page 372.) The haughty spirit of Henry was mortified beyond measure at finding himself in such company, and the scene before him so different from that which had been described, and from all that he had imagined. Del Ferro's absurdities were every day more startling and extravagant. Not only was he an impostor, but he was so brutally ignorant of all which a real ambassador from France must have intimately known, that one day passing through the streets, he threw himself on his knees, as he said,

before the picture of the king, his master. While really bending before a portrait of Henry IV, with a long white beard, he supposed it to be that of Louis XIV, then a boy. On another occasion, this person, so fond of prostrating himself, acted a very different but not less ridiculous part. To give importance to a a procession in which the duke moved, he preceded him with a drawn sword, cutting at every one that came in his way, and wearing, wrote the Duke," a black perriwig, such as is worn in our theatres by furies, made of a horse's tail.”

The unutterable disgust thus inspired, was not slow in ripening into deep resentment, and crimes the most fearful suggested themselves to the inflamed mind of Guise. When so pitiable a being as Gennaro stood between him and his ambition, there were no means by which he could be effectually removed that the duke might not be brought to regard with complacency. The Spaniards hated the rebellious populace as well as the nobility, but the nobility hated the mob more than the Spaniards. For the middle classes-the merchants, lawyers, and thriving shopkeepers who were called the "black cloaks," they were sick of the revolution, but could not agree on the means of putting an end to its disorders. In short, there was no point of union. All was confusion and discord. The lower classes who furnished the only soldiers at his command, he described to be very proper for insurrections, but they committed so many outrages that it afterwards became necessary to offer their heads as a sacrifice to public hatred. He was for a time popular with all classes, but seems to have been heartily ashamed of his admirers.

At length the succours which he had been promised from France, arrived, and it was proposed by the commanding officer forwarded, not into the hands of Guise, but who brought them, to put the supplies now into those of Gennaro. This he attributed to the underhanded doings of that wretched person, against whose ignorance, brutality, and treachery, he now loudly exclaimed. He got a body of men some thirty or forty thousand strong, to call upon him to place himself at their head as their king. It was, however,necessary to compel Gennaro to resign. This he was soon bullied into doing. While hating Guise most sincerely, he pretended he was but too happy in surrendering the power he had been trusted with, into the hands of De Lorraine. When that was done, the latter assumed the title of "Duke of the Republic, Protector of the liberties, and Generallissimo of the armies of Naples;" that of king, though the object dearest to his heart, he did not dare to claim. Even the distinction of duke was too much in the eyes of his friends. The

French fleet withdrew after a contest with a Spanish squadron, and left him to deal with a discontented nobility and mutinous troops, as he might, without any means but his own, and no prospect of finding any. He met the dangers to which he was exposed, with characteristic determination. Those who opposed his authority, he got rid of expeditiously by slaying them with his own hand. On this desperate course he was admonished that it involved him in great danger, his answer was sufficiently arrogant. "Odi profanum vulgus. Naturally, I despise the mob. When God formed a man of my rank, he placed his stamp upon my features, that groundlings can only look upon me and tremble."

Yet still he lived in dread of assassination. One desperate man assailed him with a poniard, but failed in his object. An attempt was afterwards made to poison him, and thus the duke protector, with all his courage, found it no easy task to defend himself. Gennaro, who dared not to manifest hostility, did not scruple to plot his murder. This was his position, when one of his adherents, Augustino Mollo, waited on him one night, and said,

"I have brought you something that will relieve you from the designs of Gennaro for ever. Here is a vial apparently of clear

and beautiful water. Get him to swallow this, and it will carry him off in three or four days, without his having the least suspicion of his fate, as it is perfectly tasteless."

The duke was not above availing himself of the unworthy means suggested for dismissing the poor demagogue from life. On the following day, he contrived to get him to swallow the whole of the draught. It made him sick, but occasioned no other inconvenience beyond an illness of a few days' duration. The duke wished him dead, and had no conscientious scruples about the manner in which he should be disposed of; his sole anxiety was that it might be accomplished in such a way, that France should not suppose he had fallen the victim of attachment to her interests.

In this deplorable condition he remained for some time, the chief of a nation without power, supported only by the most desperate; who were likely to prove the most faithless of mankind. His army was composed of regiments formed of banditti. Of this force he numbered 3,500, the oldest of them was under forty-five years of age, the youngest about twenty. They were tall, with long curling hair, and had coats of Spanish leather, with sleeves of velvet or cloth of gold. Their lower garments were made of scarlet cloth, adorned with gold lace. They had each two pistols stuck in their velvet girdles, a cutlass, and a firelock, with a cap of cloth of gold or silver.

These men, though fierce in appearance were not to be depended upon. One of them, Paul of Naples, defied his authority, and plundered some of the citizens. Guise acted with his wonted resolution on this occasion. He caused the offender to be seized and put to the rack, when he confessed that he had plotted against the duke's life. He was thereupon condemned and executed.

Gennaro, the timid trembling Gennaro, had got the tower of the Carmelites filled with his friends. This gave De Lorraine great uneasiness, and he could find no means of disposing of a rival whom he scorned to recognise as such. He however believed that he was gradually conquering the difficulties of his situation, when a celebrated Italian astrologer, named Cucurullo, waited on him to solicit a passport, that he might leave Naples.

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Why, Curucullo," demanded the Duke, "would you withdraw?"

"The stars," replied the astrologer, "hitherto favourable to you, now, change their course, and are about to shine on the Spaniards, your foes."

"Show me your calculations?"

"Duke, they are here," said Curucullo, laying before De Lorraine a sheet of paper, and explaining the courses and the aspects of the heavenly bodies.

"Thou hast studied thy wits out of thy head," said Guise, and he then proceeded to show the astrologer from his own data, that the danger was past.

"In eight days," Curucullo solemnly replied, "thou wilt be a captive."

The duke affected to laugh at the warning, and gave the desired passport. Curucullo withdrew, and the duke, exulting in his growing power, conducted an expedition against Nisita, opposite Mount Pansilippo. He was thus engaged, when he read the following note from Augustino Mollo.

"Naples is worth more than a wretched shoal. Return, the city will be presently attacked."

Guise remained one night longer before Nisita. Before the dawn of another day, his kingdom had passed away. An attack on it was made by a sally from all the castles, April 6th, 1458, headed by Don Juan of Austria and the new viceroy, the Conde D'Onata, and all gave way before him. Guise attempted to retake Naples, but in verification of Curucullo's prediction, was made prisoner. The Spaniards threatened to execute him, but this was prevented by Don Juan. Gennaro was beheaded with little ceremony; Guise was sent to Spain, where he remained four years. Mademoiselle de Pons proved faithless. He eventually gave himself up to dissipation. As one of the gallants of the court of Louis XIV, he shone among the votaries of pleasure, and died in 1664.

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