my erroneous pocket clock. The last "OBADIAH B "Dated this second day of the week, commonly called Monday." GROWTH OF HAIR AFTER DEATH.The learned Honoratus Fabri (lib. 3, de Plantis,) and several other authors, are of opinion that hair, wool, feathers, nails, horns, teeth, &c. are nothing but vegetables. If it be so, we need not be surprised to see them grow on the bodies of animals, even after their death, as has frequently been observed. Petrus Borellus, Hist. et Obs. Med. Cent. I. Obs. 10, pretends that these productions may be transplanted as vegetables; and may grow in a different place from that where they first germinated. He also relates, in some of his observations on the subject, amongst others, that of a tooth drawn out and transplanted, which may appear pretty singular.-Annual Register, 1762, p. 70. Immediately following this article is another, entitled "Observations on the Hair of Dead Persons," being an extract of a letter from Bartholine to Jacks, inserted in the Arts of Copenhagen, and as it is not very long, while we have the work before us, we may as well transcribe it also:-"I do not know whether you ever observed that the hair, which, in people living was black or gray, often after their death, in digging up their graves, or opening the vaults where they lie, is found changed into a fair or flaxen colour, so that their relations can scarce know them again by such a mark. This change is produced, un doubtedly, by the hot and concentred vapours which are exhaled from the dead bodies." THE VALIENTE INDIANS." In the wet seasons," says Roberts, in his Travels in Central America, "which with the Valientes is a period of rest and enjoyment, they form parties for drinking weak preparations of cocoa, of which they take immense quantities. Their method of preparing it is extremely simple, it being merely bruised or crushed between two stones, and ground to a consistence of paste, diluted with warm water; and in this state passed round to the company in calabashes, containing each about a quart: some Indians drink eight or ten quarts at a sitting, which induces a state of sleepy insensibility." PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.-I examined, with strong curiosity, this man; great in genius, small in stature, almost bent down under the weight of his laurels and his long labours. His blue coat, worn out like his body, his long boots that went higher than his knees, his waistcoat stained with snuff, formed a singular and yet noble appearance.The fire of his looks showed that his mind had not decayed with age; in spite of his invalided appearance, it was seen that he could still fight like a young soldier; in spite of his small size, the mind still saw him greater than all other men." Memoirs of Count Segue. CATHARINE oF RUSSIA." She had an aquiline nose, and graceful mouth, ́ blue eyes, and dark eye-brows, a very gentle look, and when she wished it, an engaging smile. In order to disguise the corpulency of age, which effaces every charm, she wore a loose robe with long sleeves, a dress very much like that of the early Muscovites. The whiteness and beauty of her skin were the attractions which she preserved the longest." Tb. RUSSIAN POLICE." The following occurrence," says a recent writer on Russia, "witnessed one day in the street at Saint Petersburgh, by a friend of mine, serves to instance the dread entertained by the lower classes of getting under the power of the police. As he was passing the Isaac Bridge, a drooshka suddenly stopped before him, when the driver leaped down, and with every symptom of consternation. took his passenger from off the seat of the vehicle, and laid him on the road; he then hastily remounted his box, and drove away with all possible speed. The passenger had been seized with a fit, when, thinking he might die, the affrighted, but prudent Russian, took this method of getting rid of him, in order to avoid the trouble and expence the police would have imposed upon him, had he been found with the dead body." Varieties. SINGULAR MODE OF FISHING.-At the magnificent estate of Count Marnix, the Grand Veneur of the Netherlands, there are such immense decoys for wild ducks, that in winter time, during a hard frost, 1500 to 2000 couple of wild ducks are caught; and, in a favourable season, most of the towns within 100 miles of Bornheim are supplied with them at the rate of 1s. 2d. a couple. In the middle of this estate there is a lake about seven miles in length, which, many centuries ago, formed a branch of the Scheldt. Here a mode of angling, or rather of making ducks angle, is practised. To the legs of half a dozen tame ducks, short lines, with hooks and baits, are attached; the birds swim about, and as the lake is well stocked with fish, in a few minutes they are sure to bite; a struggle then takes place between the duck and the fish, the latter attempting to escape, and the bird endeavouring to get to shore, where, the instant he arrives, a good supply of food is given to him. The scene is truly ludicrous, and indeed cruel, when it happens that a large pike seizes the bait; the poor bird struggles with all his might to reach the bank, but is often pulled under water, and would be drowned, did not a person go out in a boat to his assistance. PERSIAN UNBELIEF.-"I have heard a report," said the Shah, "which I cannot believe, that your king has only one wife."-"No Christian Prince can have more," said the Eelchee."O, I know that, but he may have a little lady." "Our gracious king, George the Third," replied the Envoy, "is an example to his subjects of attention to morality and religion in this respect, as in every other."-"This may all be very proper," concluded his majesty of Persia, laughing, "but certainly I should not like to be king of such a country." ANECDOTE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.-One day, at Potsdam, the king heard from his cabinet a considerable tumult in the street; he called an officer, and told him to go and ascertain the cause. The officer went, and came back to tell his majesty that a very scurrilous placard against his majesty was fixed on the wall, but that it was placed so high that a great crowd pressed forward, and were pushing each other to read it. "But the guards," he added, "will soon come and disperse them." "Do nothing of the kind," replied the king, "fix the placard lower down that they may read it at their ease." ITALIAN PUN.-When Buonaparte made his first campaign in Italy, the French were deserted. Some Italians remarked that the French were all rascals, upon which a punster observed: Non tutti, mai Buona parte. Not all, but a good many of them. During the Chancellorship of Sir Anthony Hart, application was made for proceedings against a Trinity student, who had gone off with a wealthy heiress named Grace. The parties, however, became reconciled, and the matter dropped: Thus mighty Love the secret could impart, To catch a Grace beyond the reach of Hart! RETORT.-Tom Little was trying to speak Italian once, when he was interrupted by a nobleman who was acquainted with that language (though with nothing else worth knowing,) with the hackneyed truism, "a little learning is a dangerous thing;" to which the poet replied, "Then you must be in a very perilous condition, for you know less than little." We are sorry we cannot avail ourselves of the communication of T. F. His FIRST packet did not reach us. "The Silver Bell," by Roger Calverley, in our next. May we hope to hear again from E. S. Craven? Illustrated Article. a profusion of undisturbed verdure. On the right hand bank the town of Lo OLD STORIES OF THE RHINE rich formis the frontier of the Rheingau. CASTLES. By Roger Calverley. FOR THE OLIO. THE SILVER BELL. Like her to whom, at dead of night, The rock goats of Arabia clamber, As soon as the boat has passed the much dreaded whirlpool of the Bingerloch, the traveller sees before him the on the village of Ashmannshausen ; left hand bank the ivied wreck of Bauzberg Castle crumbles ghastily away; and the ruins of Konigstein and, a little lower down, the old towers of Falkenbourg present their mossy walls, among VOL. IX. It is hereabouts that the mountain entitled Kedrich, or the Devil's Staircase, buries its huge head in the clouds; and with this mountain our story has much to do. Not far from the town of Lorich you are shewn, even to the present day, the remains of an ancient chateau, which was formerly inhabited by Sibol van Lorich, a knight of distinguished valour, but of a disposition which was anything but amiable. It happened one night during very stormy weather, that a little old man with a long gray beard solicited shelter at the castle gate. The knight of Lorich having reconnoitred this singular figure through a loop-hole in the porter's lodge, refused him admission in a tone and manner sufficiently harsh. "Oh! just as you please! I will call you to an account for it, however," was the only reply of Father Graybeard, and with the utmost composure he pursued his journey. Sir Sibol paid no great attention to these words at the time, but 247 when at noon, the following day, he assumed his canopied seat at the high table in his baronial hall, the mighty bear's ham stood untouched, the savoury venison ceased to steam, the ruddy wine bubbles blinked and died on the goblet's gold-wrought brim, for Garlind, the only surviving pledge of his dead wife, Garlind, by turns the consolation and amusement of his widowhood-Garlind, a beautiful little girl, twelve years old, was waited for in vain! The vassals were immediately dispatched in every direction; and at last Sibol himself set forth to seek her. A young shepherd, from whom the distracted father made inquiries to that effect, apprised him that he had noticed a young girl in the cooler hours of the morning, on the side of the Kedrich mountain, employed in gathering the scarlet, yellow, and blue flowers, that variegate its green grasses in brilliant multitudes. A short time afterward, he saw a crowd of little men advance towards her, and finally carry her away up the craggy mountain as easily as if they were walking on a plain. "God forbid!" added the shepherd, crossing himself devoutly, "that they should have been those mischievous Gnomes who inhabit the interior of the mountain, and who are very easily provoked." Sir Sibol, seized with horror at this account, cast his eyes towards the summit of the Kedrich, and sure enough there he beheld his pretty little Garlind, who seemed to stretch out her arms to wards him for help. Sibol immediately assembled all his vassals, to see if there was not one among them who could scramble up to the top of the mountain, The enormous reward offered by the agonized father induced many to undertake the attempt, but not one succeeded. The first fell and broke his leg; another lost an eye; and a third, when near the summit, was dashed from crag to crag, till he lay a lifeless and mangled mass at the bottom. Sir Sibol then ordered them to prepare their tools for cutting out a road in the mountain. His commands were obeyed with the utmost promptitude, for Garlind was a general favourite; but the labourers had scarcely commenced their work, when, from the pinnacles of the mountain there was launched upon them such a multitude of stones, that they were compelled to consult their safety by flight. They, one and all, declared that at the same time they heard a voice proceeding apparently from the centre of the moun tain, which pronounced distinctly these words: "It is thus we return the hospitality of Sir Sibol van Lorich!" Sir Sibol had recourse to all manner of projects for the recovery of his darling from the power of the Gnomes. According to the superstition of the age, he made more than one vow, and distributed munificent largesses to the monastic orders and to the poor. But all was in vain: no one could give him good counsel as to the means to be pursued; and much less, after the frightful examples that had been made, durst any body offer his assistance in regaining poor Garlind. Days, weeks, months, thus flowed away, and the wretched father had no other consolation than the certainty that his child was still in life; for his first look in the morning, and his last at nightfall, rested on the summit of the Kedrich; and there he always saw Garlind, extending to her dear father her white arms in a manner that cleft his yearning heart in twain. It was at those periods alone that the Gnomes permitted her to be visible to his eyes; and, perhaps, it would be difficult to decide whether pleasure or pain predominated in the effects of this truly tantalean punishment. Meanwhile, the Gnomes took the utmost possible care of the little girl; fondling her with the most affectionate caresses, and endeavouring to win her young heart by the most lavish gifts and indulgences. In the most romantic and inviolate recesses of their domain, they built her a beautiful pavillion; the walls they encrusted with the most magnificently variegated shells, and the dome was of dazzling crystal. The softened lustre of the sun floated in upon its checkered marble pavement; and tall alabaster pillars, lightly curtained with pink and palegreen silks, disclosed the groves and parterres of a richly planted garden, from whence soft and sleepy zephyrs, swel ling the dainty draperies, wafted a thousand odours around the fluttering ringlets of Garlind. A large basin under the centre of the dome, entirely of coral, was surrounded with a little trellice of white, yellow, and red roses, clustering over a border of the most rare mosses, which were kept in perpetual verdure by the silver sprinklings of the fountain. The nightingale, the black bird, and the throstle, here lavished their most bewitching melodies; and the mountain spirits, by their art, pro hibited the approach of storm or rain. Their females also made up sumptuous dresses for Garlind, and gave her necklaces of emeralds, diamonds, and rubies. Her table was every day leaded with dainties, for which the four elements were put in requisition, and which were served up in gold and silver vessels of the most marvellous workmanship; and the Gnomes emulated each other in striving to enliven her with songs, ballads, legends, and fairy tales. There was, in particular, a little old woman, whom the others called Trud, who distinguished herself in fondling and indulging the pretty Garlind, she was for ever whispering in her ear: "Be of good cheer, my darling, my love; I am preparing a marriage dowry for you, which a king's daughter need not disdain!" Four mortal years had now rolled away from the fatal morning on which she was carried off to the Kedrich; and Garlind, from a little playful fascinating girl, had become a beautiful, blushing, graceful virgin-a prize for a summer day's tournament. The first sparkling beam of the morn, and the last tranquil crimson of the evening sky, still revealed to Sir Sibol de Lorich the form of his lost child, from the summit of the Kedrich; and with these momentary interviews, the unhappy knight began to think he must content himself for the rest of his miserable life. Affairs wore this aspect, when Sir Ruthelm of Konigstein, a young and valorous chevalier, and of an ancient family in the neighbourhood, returned to his ancestral castle, from Hungary, where he had gilded gloriously his maiden sword with Turkish blood, on the banks of the Danube. His romantic mansion, weaving like a garland its groves of beech-trees, amidst which its gray spires, and turrets, and burnished fanns glistened to the sun, might be descried from Sir Sibol's battlements. Ruthelm of Konigstein had no sooner learnt the affliction that had befallen his old neighbour, than he resolved to attempt the rescue of Garlind. He ac cordingly repaired to the castle of Lorich, where he found every thing me lancholy enough. On the great tower over the gateway waved a huge black banner, surging in the morning wind against the blue and sunny, as if it wished to blot out the resplendence of nature. The seneschal, attired in deep mourning, and without uttering a word, marshalled the young knight through deserted courts that drearily echoed to his clinking spurs of gold. A steep covered stair, hung with black, ascended from the low browed arch of the inner tower to the great hall; but the sun no longer gleamed upon its trophies of the battle and the chase. Its gorgeous arched windows no longer displayed the patrician or equestrian emblazonments of the family; its hearth smouldered in white ashes; a single cresset, swinging from the roof, made darkness visible; and, in the deep recess of the tall embayed oreille, skulked, like a hunted wild beast in its lair, what might once have been the fiery and indomitable knight of Lorich. His hair and beard were grown to a frightful length, his eyes gleamed, like decayed comets, over his ghastly cheeks; a long black robe enfolded his skeleton figure, and dust and ashes defiled his head and smeared his countenance. Ruthelm had prepared himself for a vehemence of sorrow in accordance with Sir Sibol's impatient spirit; but for such horrible tokens of deliberate despair he had not, he could not have looked; and the shock completely arrested his utterance. A gleam of something like satisfaction shot athwart Sibol's haggard features, as he recognised the son of his old brotherin-arms; but it was connected with something intolerably painful, for in the next moment, with an earthquake groan, the poor old knight was stretched senseless on the pavement., Ruthelm, in compliance with the usages of chivalry, had been brought up in Sir Sibol's castle; and an alliance between him and Garlind had always been a favourite topic with the two sires of Konigstein and Lorich. It was sometime ere the wretched old man recovered his senses; when at length he unclosed his eyes, and found himself supported in the affectionate arms of Sir Ruthelm, and read, in the sorrow of his handsome countenance, the profound sympathy he felt for his affliction, he wrung the young warrior's hand with warmth. "Ruthelm! my gallant boy! I am wretched! I would say curelessly wretched; but thou art here: I will not add to my sins by doubting that Heaven's providence hath sent thee to rescue my Garlind from those demons, and her poor father from a desperate grave!" That very day at sunset Sir Ruthelm repaired to the foot of Mount Kedrich, for the purpose of reconnoitring: but |