plied with alms for your support by your credulous people?-buy ribbons, perhaps, for your concubines?" Here one of the Capuchins would have spoken, probably to rebut the charge, but Frederick, with flashing eyes, cried, "Silence! If it is not you, it is your religious, or rather the irreligious and impious monks under your authority. They do it, I know. If you know it, you are guilty; if you know it not, you are equally so. I ought to put a stop to the public scandal by punishing you, but this time I will spare you. But, beware! Depend upon it you shall be narrowly watched ; and woe betide you if anything of the kind should happen again! I would have all your beards shaved off. Now march !" Trembling beneath the lightning of the king's eye and the thunder of this harangue, the Capuchins retired, and they were prudent enough not to repeat the offence.

The joker joked:

When his sister, the Duchess of Brunswick, was at Berlin, Frederick one day made a present to Count Schwerin, his grand equerry, of a snuff-box, on the lid of which was painted an ass. No sooner had the count quitted the king than he sent his valet to Berlin with the box, and directions to get the ass taken off, and the king's portraft put in its place. Next day, at dinner, the count affected to leave his box carelessly on the table, and the king, who wished to amuse the duchess at the expense of the grand equerry, spoke of the box which he had given to him. The duchess asked to see it. The box was handed to her; she opened it, and exclaimed :- "Bless me, what a likeness! the resemblance is perfect! Upon my word, brother, this is one of the best portraits of you I have ever seen.' The king was quite disconcerted, and thought that the joke was carried too far. The duchess handed the box to her next neighbour, and it was passed from one to another round the table, every one joining in admiration of the resemblance. The king knew not what to think of the matter, till the box, coming at length under his inspection, he discovered the trick, and joined in the laugh.

The retort direct:

In the early part of his acquaintance with Frederick, when Quintus Icilius still went by the title of aulic councillor (Hofrath), he was taking a ride one day with the king, when they chanced to meet a clergyman mounted on a fine spirited horse, which he sat uncommonly well. "Only see, Quintus," said Frederick, how consequential yon parson looks on his bit of blood. Go to him and humble his pride a little.” Quintus did not need bidding twice. He rode up to the clergyman. "How is it, sir,” said he, “ that you are riding such a fine horse, while your lord and master was content with an humble ass ?”—“ So should I be too," rejoined the witty son of the church, "only his majesty has since made all the asses aulic councillors, so that now there is not one to be got."

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ART. XI.-Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in the East, an Overland Journey from 'India, Visit to Athens, &c. By C. R. BAYNES, Esq. Longman.

MR. BAYNES belongs to the Madras Civil Service; but illness made him seek a different climate. The Cape of Good Hope, being held to fall within the company's bounds, was the place where he first alighted and sojourned. Here he remained eighteen months, and thought himself quite restored to health. This result may have operated to the production in some degree of his enthusiastic pictures of Arcadian life among the Boers; for in his pages, the Cape is the Land of Promise-it is a paradise, and the people are nearly as innocent as were our first parents in the garden of Eden. We infer, however, that the Rambler did not find his health thoroughly confirmed, after leaving the Dutch Boers; for he betook himself afterwards to Ceylon, and made an incursion to a part of the island where the climate resembles that experienced in his native land. Nor did his wanderings terminate here, for we are led by him to Bombay, waiting for a steam-conveyance to England. He lightened the voyage by proceeding via Cairo, Athens, Venice, and the Rhine; a route which he strongly recommends to travellers, the expense of time and of money being pretty nearly equal.

There was nothing of course novel in these Rambles, so far as the places visited were concerned, although every observant and new traveller will discover fresh points or throw a freshness around what is old and to the careless eye threadbare. It is to this circumstance that the title Reflections refers, Mr. Baynes fancying that the novelty in his Notes arises less from the facts alluded to, and the scenes described, than from the ideas and thoughts which have been suggested to his mind. Nor is he mistaken with regard to his consciousness of this sort of newness, for whether right or wrong, his notions are his own, and his speculations take a wider range than a less independent and more poorly furnished mind could possibly think of or carry out. He not only writes well and with earnestness, but he has stored himself with reading, and has cherished a habit of comparing and criticising with closeness the things which arrest his attention. For example, his disquisition on the cave and sculptures of Elephanta is elaborate, searching, and conducted with a knowledge of the religious systems of the East. We are not, however, prepared to go along with him to the full extent of some of his theories; neither do we feel ourselves sure against stumbling and error when following him in sundry of his notions about less obscure points of belief.

With regaid to his more recondite speculations, such as that the figures sculptured at Elephanta represent the mystery of the Trinity, man's fall, and the final triumph of Adam's seed over the serpent,

the reasoning is ingenious and the illustrations striking; but then the conclusion would lead us this length, that far more of the light which has been shed by the Evangelists and Apostles had reached the distant East long prior to the appearance of Christ, than was vouchsafed to the writers in the Old Testament, or at least, than can be confidently and clearly discovered in their inspired books. It must be obvious at the same time, we repeat, that a traveller who has the learning and cultivates the habits of Mr. Baynes, cannot fail both to detect points which would escape a less accomplished and diligent observer, but to invest what may have been noticed by a superficial person with rich gatherings drawn from many and remote sources. Still, a guard is to be set against the enthusiasm of an ardent temperament, such as is manifested by the Rambler when he pictures the Dutch Boers at the Cape as coming nearer our imaginative ideas of the innocent and primitive specimens of humanity than any he had ever met with, or that we have heard of. Nor, in spite of all his overflowing descriptions, though backed and buttressed by many notices of manners and disposition of a highly attractive kind, of little incidents and traits that are winning, tending to show that they are the most quiet and good-natured people on the face of the earth, are we to overlook the fact, that not far distant from the period that our author's book appears, we actually have advices from the Cape, of a sort of insurrection on the part of these Boers against the British government of the settlement, with the view of establishing an independent republic, and with the aid too of the excited native tribes. It is needful, therefore, to pause before yielding implicit assent to all that our author has imagined; and the more so that he is such an agreeable, persuasive, and clever writer; his talent in this respect being happily combined with mental power and acquirements of a superior order.

There is always pleasure and profit in the notes and reflections of an intelligent traveller; even though he may be given to speculation, and easily moved to enthusiasm, clearness of style, force of view, and independence of idea can hardly be absent from his narrative and descriptions; and when these are subservient to pure principles and right sympathies, the moral and the sentiment conveyed will be impressive, whatever the theme or the occasion. How then does such an observer as Mr. Baynes report of a slave-ship which he saw at Simon's Town?

The “slave-deck" was about three feet and a half high; of course an upright posture was out of the question; the area did not admit of the number taking a recumbent one, and the miserable wretches were reduced to a cramped position, in which, seated on the floor, the knees were drawn up towards the chin. I obtained from unquestionable authority an account of the discipline observed on board. Each morning, the fore-hatchway being opened, the slaves are made to ascend one by one; a man standing at the

hatch gives to each as he passes a mouthful of vinegar and water to wash his mouth; he passes on to the waist, where a bucket of cold water is thrown over him; and after being roughly wiped with a coarse cloth, he descends by the main hatchway to the infernal pit from which he emerged, having received his cleansing, his exercise, his air, for the day!

The reader beholds the ship with the slave-deck in this brief description; and is made to participate in the writer's deep sympathies. Our next specimen is powerful, not merely as conveying a picture of the severe and haughty warrior's method of measuring man's efforts and works, but as a graphic and adequate report of what passed on the occasion.

An Arab chieftain, one of the most powerful of the princes of the Desert, had come to behold, for the first time, a steam-ship; much attention was paid to him, and every facility afforded for his inspection of every part of the vessel. What impression the sight made on him it was impossible to judge. No indications of surprise escaped him; every muscle preserved its wonted calmness of expression; and on quitting, he merely observed, "It is well; but you have not brought a man to life yet."

While talking of steam-ships, we may observe, that in the Indian seas this sort of vessel must be introducing much that is novel, and that will continually for years to come furnish scenes for fresh observation. Let us approach Ceylon for an illustration.

We steamed into the roadstead, going scarcely four knots an hour; and from having no sail set, we appeared, as I can easily imagine, a thing of magic to the wondering natives, who were darting about in all directions in their singularly-shaped canoes. One of them, as if to prove whether or not we were really progressing against the wind without any visible mover, steered his little bark directly across our bows, and narrowly escaped paying dearly for his rash experiment, for we with difficulty avoided running him down. While I am on the water, I must mention the Cingalese canoe, peculiar, I believe, to the island. It is very long and narrow; frequently nothing but a single large tree, slightly hollowed, shaped similarly at both ends, and having a couple of boards fixed on lengthways as a sort of gunwale; from its side protrude two curved arms, or booms, at the extremities of which is a log about one-third of the size of the canoe itself, and much of the same shape, but not hollowed. This outrigger has the effect of steadying the frail vessel under all possible circumstances, and of making it one of the safest boats that can be placed upon the waters. They spread to the wind an immense sail of very thin cloth, which they keep constantly wetting to make it hold the breeze. If the wind blow from the side on which is the outrigger, it is evident that it must act as a counterpoise to the leverage of the mast, which, in high winds, would otherwise speedily upset the crank vessel. Suppose this force to be so great, which it frequently is, as to lift the outrigger out of the water, one of the crew immediately goes out upon it, running along the boom; if his weight be insufficient to produce the desired effect, another follows, and another, and so on till they attain the re

quisite equipoise; if, again, the wind come on the side opposite the outrigger, its use is equally evident; it must force the large block completely under water before it could upset the canoe. Thus armed against all contingencies, they fearlessly encounter the roughest weather; of which they often get good specimens off the coast of Ceylon, and an accident very rarely happens. A similar principle is also applied to some of their larger vessels of many tons burden.

For a moment we return to the Cape, to which Mr. Baynes would have emigration to be conducted on a large scale. Hear this travelled writer, this man of the world yet considerate philanthropist, relative to the subject just mentioned, and the provisions of the poor-law.

Political necessity convinces me that I must, Christian charity teaches me that I ought, to contribute, according to my means, to the support of the sick and aged poor, or to assist them under temporary pressure arising out of passing circumstances: but neither on the one account nor the other do Ỉ feel bound to maintain, year after year, in idleness, those who, if they chose, might earn their own livelihood in a country where there is food and work for them, instead of obstinately staying in one destitute of both. This is, perhaps, felt as a grievance, more especially by those who, acting differently themselves, have left their native country, and on their return find themselves called upon to contribute a large portion of their hard-won earnings to feed those who would perhaps deliberately refuse to take the same means of acquiring independence. Why should not a parish in England hold land in the Colonies, and be allowed to say to applicants for work, “Yes, we will give it to you on our farm at the Cape of Good Hope?" No owner of an estate would allow his labourers to dictate to him in which particular field they should work, or permit them all to crowd into one, to the neglect and ruin of the rest; and why should Great Britain not have the power of employing her labourers in whatever field of her immense estate is found most convenient to her?

We are away to the land of Pharaoh for an anecdote illustrative of right English feeling and resolution.

Among the curiosities of Cairo, not the least was our landlady; for we took lodgings in preference to remaining at the hotel. An Englishwoman by birth, she had, in years gone by, married a Greek; and since the death of her husband Madame Vassalachi has earned for herself a somewhat precarious subsistence by letting lodgings to strangers, for whom, to use the technical language of the profession, "she does," in a very comfortable manner. Though from her little green turban sort of head-dress, Madame Vassalachi might be pronounced decidedly foreign, she retains a spirit truly English: in proof of which, during the late uncertain position of affairs in Egypt, when a formal declaration of war with England was expected in Cairo, Madame Vassalachi, of importance to herself, and therefore, as she argued, to the Pacha, anticipated an attack upon her house as the residence of an Englishwoman, and prepared for her defence by barricading her door, and VOL. I. (1843) No. III.