traction rise before us in almost endless succession. If the nature of our publication admitted, we could fill column after column with extract. As it is we can venture to present only a few brief and isolated passages.

Of Daisuljee, the present Rao, or Prince of Cutch, of whom a whole length portrait is given, we are told that he

"is not more than twenty-two years of age, having been elected on the formal deposition of his father, Rao Bharmuljee, a prince long rendered infamous by his public and private crimes. The manners of the young Rao are peculiarly urbane and amiable; the personal attachment of his dependants is a proof of his benevolence and kindness of disposition; and the respect he observes in public towards his unhappy father, evinces the delicacy and tenderness of his character." * * "In person the Rao is remarkably stout, with peculiarly fine eyes, and a benevolent and agreeable expression of countenance, although unfortunately disfigured by the small-pox. His dress is unusually rich, well arranged, and strikingly picturesque. On state occasions it consists of a most magnificent Kinkaub turban, of the usual stupendous size worn by the Rajpoots, ornamented with strings of pearl, and jewels of great value, with immense earrings of gold wire set with precious stones. Over the muslin ankrika (body cloth) worn by all natives of respectability, his Highness has a sort of body armour of thickly-wadded purple velvet embroidered with gold; a pair of rich satin trowsers, also embroidered, or rather embossed with gold; and crimson velvet slippers, curved upwards at the front, and decorated with pearls and coloured silks."

The Rao is conversant with English literature and science. Tender and affectionate in all the relations of life, he has declared that he will do his utmost to abolish the horrible crime of infanticide, which, with reference to females, prevails to an astonishing extent in Cutch. It has been calculated, that, in the province, a thousand lives are sacrificed annually by this crime; and that, amongst eight thousand of the Jharrejah tribe, the number of women did not exceed thirty.

It is surprising what numbers of eastern customs are found to assimilate with those of Europe in former times. For instance, the holding of lands by feudal tenure, in Cutch, is precisely in accordance with the old Norman system. Trial by ordeal, also, is yet in full force in Cutch, and in various other parts of India.

Wits, it is said, jump; and so do, occasionally, the tastes of whole communities. Lord Chesterfield's aristocratic feeling was opposed to the acquirement of music as an accomplishment. If you want a fiddle,” said he to his son, "pay a fiddler." The inhabitants of Cutch, particularly the ladies, seem to have taken lessons from his fiddle-faddle Lordship : "Few of the natives study music as an art;

and the practice of it is restricted chiefly to hired minstrels. Wealthy persons generally retain such men; and the poor are content with the wandering worship. Women of character never practice any minstrels, and the sonorous clamour of their religious branch of the fine arts, as it is considered incompatible with morality and good breeding."

We must mention two or three of the more remarkable customs of the natives. It is known that rats and fish are regarded as fit objects of worship; and that the Hindus consider the preservation of all animals to be a work of peculiar merit.

"Near the gates of the residency of Anjar is a Hindu temple, supposed, at one period, to have sheltered five thousand rats, bona fide rats, who were under the care of an old Gosein [religious devotée] of the establishment, whose custom it was to summon them all three times a day, by means of a little bell, to a repast of grain scattered for their use on the floor of the temple." "Near another temple adjacent to the large tank, is a smaller one filled with fish, which I have seen regularly fed by the Brahmins with bread; the finny mendicants arising duly expectant to the surface at the appointed time."

*

Here is a mendicant of a different class :"He is a spare, active, old Brahmin, who has been dumb from infancy, and gains a living, which would be but precarious in a civilised country, by his reputation for holiness. When I first observed him, he was receiving grain in a little copper vessel, from the pitiful store of a poverty-stricken and palsied old woman surrounded by a troop of naked and laughing grandchildren, to whom he was mowing and pointing with a vain attempt at articulation. In return for his grain, he fastened a small yellow thread round the His cummerbund was filled with similar fragments of woman's wrist, as a preservative against the Evil Eye. like salutary effect; and his neck, arms, and chest, were burthened by immense balls made from the wood of the Tulsi, and other sacred trees, and strung into necklaces and bracelets. These he bestowed more sparingly, and I believe made them an article of trifling barter.”

To the above the following may serve as a pendant, illustrating at the same time the extraordinary and even horrible nature of the penances to which Hindu devotees subject themselves to propitiate and prove their faith in their senseless idols.

"A wretched fanatic, now in Bombay, took a little slip of the Tulsi tree, planted it in a pot, placed it in the palm of his left hand, and held it above his head, in which position it has remained for five years. The Tulsi has grown a fine shrub; the muscles of the arm which support the nails of the fingers have grown out, and they curl it have become rigid and shrunken; spirally downwards to a great length; yet the wretched devotee sleeps, eats, drinks, and seems quite indifferent to his strange position, having lost his remembrance of pain in public applause."

Other instances of the comparative insensibility to physical pain amongst the natives of

tar of Venus. The pledge of bliss. The pledge of faith. The pledge of love. The seal of bliss. The seal of love. Sin's earnest penny. The melting sip. The stamp of love."

If the above prove acceptable, Mr. Editor, I shall have the pleasure of transmitting some further illus

trations.

Yours, &c. Ꮎ

SCRAPIANA.

Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto.

VIRG.

Dr. Parr and Dr. William Bennett, Bishop of Cloyne.

Possessing the Scrap Book of the late Dr. Bennett, Bishop of Cloyne, from which, as well as from a variety of other sources, we intend to draw for this department of THE Aldine Magazine, we offer, by way of introduction, the following eulogium upon that prelate, by the learned Dr. Samuel Parr :

"Among the Fellows of Emanuel College, who endeavoured to shake Mr. Homer's resolution, to preserve to him his academical rank, there was one man whom I cannot remember without feeling that all my inclination to recommend, and all my talent for commendation, are disproportionate to his merit. From habits, not only of close intimacy, but of early and uninterrupted friendship, I can say, that there is scarcely one Greek or Roman author of eminence in verse or prose, whose writings are not familiar to him. He is equally successful in combating the difficulties of the most obscure, and catching, at a glance, at the beauties of the most elegant. Though I could mention two or three persons who made a greater proficiency than my friend in philological learning, yet, after surveying all the intellectual endowments of all my literary acquaintance, I cannot name the man, whose taste seems to me more correct or more pure, or whose judgment upon any composition, in Greek, Latin, or English, would carry with it higher authority to my mind.

"To those discourses which, when delivered before an academical audience, captivated the young, and interested the old, which were argumentative without formality, and brilliant without gaudiness, and in which the happiest selection of topics was united with the most luminous arrangement of matter, it cannot be unsafe for me to pay the tribute of my praise, because every hearer was an admirer, and every admirer will be a witness. As a tutor, he was unwearied in the instruction, liberal in the government, and anxious for the welfare of all who were entrusted to his care. The brilliancy of his conversation, and the suavity of his manners, were the more endearing, because they were united with qualities of a higher order because in morals, he was correct without moroseness-and because in religion he was serious without bigotry. From the retirement of a college, he stepped at once into the circle of a court; but he has not been dazzled by its glare, nor tainted by its corruptions. As a prelate he does honour to a patron

who was once his pupil, and to the dignity of his station where in his wise and honest judgment upon things, great duties are connected with great emoluments. If, from general description, I were permitted to descend to particular detail, I should say, that in one instance, he exhibited a noble proof of generosity, by refusing to accept the legal and customary profits of his office, from a peasantry bending down under the weight of indigence and exaction. I should say, that, upon another occasion he did not suffer himself to be irritated by perverse and audacious opposition; but blended mercy with justice, spared a misguided father for the sake of a distressed dependant family, and provided, at the same time, for the instruction of a large and populous parish, without pushing to extreme his episcopal rights when invaded, and his Universities produce such scholars, they will indeed episcopal power when defied. While the English

deserve to be considered as the nurseries of learning and virtue. While the Church of Ireland is adorned by such prelates, it cannot have much to fear from that spirit of restless discontent, and excessive refinement, which has lately gone abroad; it will be It will gain fresh security and fresh lustre from the instrumental to the best purposes by the best means. support of wise and good men. It will promote the noblest interests of society, and uphold, in this day of peril, the sacred cause of true religion.

"Sweet is the refreshment afforded to my soul by the remembrance of such a scholar, such a man, and such a friend, as Dr. William Bennett, Bishop of Cloyne."

The Soldier's Wife.

"Who comes there?" said a sentinel to a person coming near his post. "A friend," softly said a timid voice. "Advance, and give the parole." The same soft, timid voice said, "Love." "Love," said the sentinel, “is not the parole, and you cannot pass. It is more than my life is worth to permit you to pass." "Indeed, this is cruel, not to allow a serjeant's wife to pass, to take perhaps her last farewell. I beseech you to let me pass; ere the morning's battle takes place, let me spend this night in his company. I have travelled forty miles to see him." "Pass, friend: all's well." It proved her last farewell.

A Bishop's Potation.*

There was nothing remarkable in our entertainment, but the most episcopal way of drinking that could be invented. As soon as we came into the great hall, where stood many flaggons ready charged, the bishop called for wine to drink the king's health; they brought him a formal bell of silver gilt, that might hold about two quarts, or morehe took it, pulled out the clapper, and gave it to me, whom he intended to drink to, then had the bell filled, and drank it off to his Majesty's health! then asked me for the clapper, put it again into the bell, and rang out a loud peal, to show he had played fair! This jolly peal was rung by every gentleman in the hall, myself excepted, who could never in my life manage more than one quart of wine at a draught.

* As recorded by Sir William Temple, in a letter to his brother, written on his embassy to the Bishop of Munster.

The Poet's Pen.

(From the Greek of Menecrates.)

I was a useless reed; no clusters hung
My brow with purple grapes; no blossom flung
The coronet of crimson on my stem;

No apple blushed upon me, nor-the gem
Of flowers-the violet strewed the yellow heath
Around my feet, nor jessamine's sweet wreath
Robed me in silver: day and night I pined
On the lone moor, and shivered in the wind.
At length a poet found me. From my side
He smoothed the pale and withered leaves, and dyed
My lips in Helicon. From that high hour

I SPOKE! my words were flame and living power;
All the wide wonders of the world were mine,
Far as the surges roll, or sunbeams shine;
Deep as earth's bosom hides the emerald;
High as the hills with thunder clouds are palled.
And there was sweetness round me, that the dew
Had never wet so sweet on violets blue.
To me the mighty sceptre was a wand;
The roar of nations pealed at my command;
To me, the dungeon, sword, and scourge were vain,
I smote the smiter, and I broke the chain;
Or, towering o'er them all, without a plume,
I pierced the purple air, the tempest's gloom,
Till blazed th' Olympian glories on my eye,
Stars, temples, thrones, and gods-infinity.
Lord Chesterfield.

When the celebrated Lord Chesterfield was extremely ill, he was walking one day with a very handsome woman. Suddenly the lady exclaimed, "I am as cold as death!" "If so," answered his lordship," I shall have no objection to his embraces."

The Eagle.

Why does the eagle bend his flight To meet the sun's meridian height With such exulting glee?

'Tis not, as poets have averr'd, Because he is the regal birdIt is, because he's free.

NOTICE OF NEW BOOKS,
ENGRAVINGS, &c.

Forget Me Not;
a Christmas, New Year's,
and Birthday Present, for 1839. Edited by

Frederick Shoberl. Ackermann and Co. OUR dear old friend, the Forget-Me-Not! The Alma Mater of all the race! Not only was the Forget-Me-Not the first but, so far as editorship is concerned, it has been invariably the best of its class. And, after a successful career of eighteen years, here it still is, flourishing in all the freshness and vigour of youth, presenting, indeed, all the admirable qualities of adolescence and maturity combined. At such a point of his labours, most grateful to the feelings of Mr. Shoberl must it be, to lay his hand upon his heart and exclaim-" We are not aware that the work contains a single expression or senti

ment whichwe could wish expunged!" The embellishments of the present volume are upon the whole, superior to those which have been given for some years past. Almeria, by Parris, illus trated in the Belle Sauvage Plot, by Miss Lawrance; the Genius of Wealth, by Mrs. M'Ian, which has called forth a glowing eastern tale from the pen of that prince of story-tellers, Dr. Macginn; the Princess of the West, by Middleton; a Highland Gillie, by A. Cooper, R.A.; Alice Lee, (a little too black,) by Nash, illustrated by a sweet Poem from L. E. L., now Mrs. M'Clean, of whose safe arrival at Cape Coast Castle we are most happy to hear; the Parting Wreath, by Miss L. Adams; Margate, by Jennings; and Il Palazzo, a lovely sunlighted view, by Barrett, are all more or less deserving of praise. The literary contributions at least sustain their usual standard of merit. One little poetic gem we transfer to our own page, not because it is the most brilliant in the volume, but because it demands little space, and is in perfect accordance with our own feelings. Here is The Flag of England, by Charles Swain, Esq. :

"When whirling flames round Moscow rose,
And fetters bowed the pride of Spain;
When Austria, chased by Gallic foes,
Fled from Marengo's fatal plain;
When Italy and Egypt knew

The woes their dread Invader hurled,
Then high the flag of England flew,

And carried Freedom to the World!

Then honoured by the Flag that bore
The light of Triumph o'er the sea,
That burst the bonds which Europe wore,

And made the Homes of millions free!
May peace her laurelled reign prolong,
Whilst Beauty crowns each valliant name;
And be the Poet's noblest song

The Union Flag of England's fame."

Heads of the People. Taken off by Quizfizzz. Nos. I. and II. Tyas. 1838. LIVING under a mixed, though royal, loyal, and aristocratic form of government, it is impossible that we should not entertain due respect for the

Heads of the People." We venture to opine, however, that in the neat and clever little publication so named, the heads are the heads of, or form, only the middling, or, as some would style them, the inferior classes of that many-headed animal, the people. Thus, in No. I. the subjects are the Dress-maker, the Dinner-out, the Stock-broker, and the Lawyer's Clerk. Of these, speaking with reference to the designs, the first is a pleasing sketch of an industrious young needle-woman; the second, though sufficiently dandyfied and sensual, is deficient in the veritable air of the table voluptuary; the

third reminds us rather of a Jew money-lender than of the cosy, kind-hearted, and really generous character described; the fourth is so graphically forcible that it must be a portrait: there, with his lank, attenuated figure, attired in his 66 office coat" with its sixth pair of sleeves, sits that truly pitiable object, the "copying clerk," all but alive. The literary illustrations, by Leman Rede, is intensely painful, and so is the head itself. Seemingly not at all aware of the essential difference which exists between the Stock-broker and the Stock-jobber (though the two are not unfrequently united in the same individual), we here find an amusing description of the latter under the designation of the former. Mr. Jerrold (we beg pardon, Henry Brownrigg, Esq.) illustrates the Dinerout, and also the Dress-maker. The Diner-out was not a happily chosen subject, it had been so repeatedly and so admirably "served up" before still, it is well done". "done to a turn.

66

"The Diner-Out must have a most passionate love for children. He must so comport himself that when his name shall be announced every child in the mansion shall set up a yell, a scream of rapture-shall rush to him, pull his coat tails, climb on his back, twist their fingers in his hair, snatch his watch from his pocket; and, whilst they rend his super-Saxony, load his shoulders, uncurl his wig, and threaten instant destruction to his repeater. The Diner-Out must stifle the agony at his heart and his pocket, and to the feebly-expressed fears of the mamma that the children are troublesome,' the Diner-Out must call into every corner of his face a look of the most seraphic delight, and with a very chuckle assure the anxious parent that the little rogues are charming !'" Gallantry apart, however, the little Dressmaker is our favourite in all respects. The general description is, alas! too true; but it is written in the best and kindliest spirit, and calculated to prove extensively beneficial to an unfortunate, though useful and meritorious class of women. The linen-drapers' assistants and others have obtained a reduction of their hours of labour: the Dress-makers, it is said, meditate a general "strike," with the same desirable object in view: we most cordially wish them success.

No. II. has reached us at so late an hour, that we can only say its four heads-The Fashionable Physician, The Medical Student, The Lion, and The Servant of All-work--are in every respect superior to those of its prede

cessor.

The Principles of Punctuation, preceded by a Brief Explanation of the Parts of Speech. By George Smallfield. Smallfield and Son. 1838. THIS is an excellent little book, chiefly founded upon the best book that ever was written upon

the subject-CECIL HARTLEY'S Principles of Punctuation. How is it, that several of Cecil Hartley's admirable volumes have been suffered to get out of print? In the work before us, Mr. Smallfield, whose "attention has been almost incessantly drawn to the subject of punctuation, for upwards of twenty years, by his profession as a printer," has offered some new and useful rules, and his remarks on French accentuation, and on the mode of preparing manuscripts for the press, &c. will be found extensively serviceable.

The Natural History of the Sperm Whale: its Anatomy and Physiology, Food, &c. To which is added, A Sketch of a South Sea Whaling Voyage. By Thomas Beale, Surgeon, Demonstrator of Anatomy to the Electric Society of London, &c. Post 8vo. Van Voorst, 1809.

In this handsome, though closely printed volume, Mr. Beale has conferred a weighty obligation upon the scientific, as well as upon the commercial world. In his anatomical description of the sperm whale, and also in his illustration of the nature and habits of that stupendous creature, he has left all former zoologists far behind.

Con

One of the remarkable circumstances connected with the history of this species is, that whilst the full-grown male attains a length of upwards of eighty feet, with bulk in proportion, the full-grown female averages not more than one-fifth of the size of her magnificent partner; than which she is also more slenderly and more gracefully formed, and consequently more agile in her movements. trary to what has been generally asserted and understood, the sperm whale is one of the most inoffensive, and most timid animals in the creation. It is another exceedingly curious fact, that sperm whales have a mode of intercommunicating ideas peculiarly their own: they all "have some method of communicating by signals to each other, by which they become apprised of the approach of danger; and this they do, although the distance may be very considerable between them, sometimes amounting to four, five, or even seven miles." The males make from sixty to seventy expirations, while at the surface for ten or eleven minutes; they then descend, and remain below, at an unfathomable depth, from an hour to an hour and twenty minutes: the females make about thirtyfive or forty expirations during the period they are at the surface, which is about four minutes, and they remain below about twenty minutes. These are only a few of the peculiarities of this extraordinary animal.

The second part of Mr. Beale's book—" A