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"1. You that in ringing take delight,

Be pleased to draw near;

These articles you must observe,

If you mean to ring here.

"2. And first, if any overturn

A bell, as that he may,

He forthwith for that only fault

In beer shall sixpence pay.

"3. If any one shall curse or swear

When come within the door,

He then shall forfeit for that fault

As mentioned before.

"4. If any one shall wear his hat

When he is ringing here,

He straightway then shall sixpence pay

In cyder or in beer.

"5. If any one these articles

Refuseth to obey,

Let him have nine strokes of the rope,

And so depart away."

BILL OF SALE FOR A NEGRO IN 1770.

"Know all Men by these Presents, That I, Elizabeth Treat, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, widow, in consideration of the sum of £25 13s. 4d. to me in hand, paid before the ensealing hereof by Samuel Breck, of Boston aforesaid, merchant, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have granted, bargained, and sold, and by these presents do fully and absolutely grant, bargain, and sell unto the said Samuel Breck, my Negro man named Harry, aged about forty years, with his apparel, to have and to hold the said Negro man Harry, with his apparel, unto the said Samuel Breck, his executors, administrators, and assigns, to his and their only proper use, benefit, and behoof for ever; And I, the said Elizabeth Treat, for myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators, do covenant, that at the time of ensealing, and until the delivery hereof, I am the true and lawful owner of the said Negro man, and that he is free from all former sales, charges, and incumbrances whatsoever, and that I will warrant and defend the said Negro man unto the said Samuel Breck, his heirs, and assigns for ever, against the lawful claims and demands of all persons whomsoever.

"Witness my hand and seal, this tenth day of October, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and seventy, in the tenth year of His Majesty's reign.

"Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of us.

"Thomas Melville.

"Mary White.

"Elizabeth Treat."

THE AZTEC CHILDREN.

THE AZTEC CHILDREN, AS EXHIBITED IN ENGLAND.

Among the animated curiosities which are occasionally exposed to the gaze of the wonder-loving public, we may prominently notice the Aztec Children—two singular Lilliputians who were recently exhibited throughout the kingdom. Maximo and Bartolo (for by these names the two Aztec children have been baptized) are by some medical men supposed to be of the respective ages of twenty-two and sixteen. Professor Owen, stated them to be ten or twelve, and seven or nine in 1853. The height of the boy (the elder is about three feet, and the girl does not reach quite two feet six inches). Their limbs, though slender, are proportionate and well formed, and the general development of their figures is remarkably graceful. The cranium is peculiar, being narrower than that of any other races of beings known to the world; and though the face is somewhat prominent, the features are regular and the countenances agreeable, and, after a short acquaintance, highly interesting. Each has a beautiful head of jet black hair, which flows gracefully in curls. They are lively and intelligent, showing considerable aptitude for mental training, and have already learned to give utterance to several expressions which can be readily understood by visitors.

Since the arrival of these prodigies from the United States, they have been the objects of curious ethnological speculations. Dr. Latham does not consider them as a new species of the genus homo. Professor Owen regards them as instances of impeded development, and Dr. Conolly was struck with their resemblance to idiots.

NOTICES TO TAR AND FEATHER.

The original handbills of the committee for Tarring and Feathering subjoined, are of singular interest, as they were the earliest emanations of the spirit that led to England's losing her American colonies, and the consequent rise of the United States:—

To the Delaware Pilots.

The Regard we have for your Characters, and our Desire to promote your future Peace and Safety, are the Occasion of this Third Address to you.

In our second Letter we acquainted you, that the Tea Ship was a Three Decker; We are now informed by good Authority, she is not a Three Decker, but an old black Ship, without a Head, or any Ornaments.

The Captain is a short fat Fellow, and a little obstinate withal.—So much the worse for him.—For, so sure as he rides rusty, We shall heave him Keel out, and see that his Bottom be well fired, scrubb'd and paid.—His Upper-Works too, will have an Overhawling—and as it is said, he has a good deal of Quick Work about him, We will take particular Care that such Part of him undergoes a thorough Rummaging.

We have a still worse Account of his Owner;—for it is said, the Ship Polly was bought by him on Purpose, to make a Penny of us: and that he and Captain Ayres were well advised, of the Risque they would run, in thus daring to insult and abuse us.

Captain Ayres was here in the Time of the Stamp-Act, and ought to have known our People better, than to have expected we would be so mean as to suffer his rotten TEA to be funnel'd down our Throats, with the Parliament's Duty mixed with it.

We know him well, and have calculated to a Gill and a Feather, how much it will require to fit him for an American Exhibition. And we hope, not one of your Body will behave so ill, as to oblige us to clap him in the Cart along Side of the Captain.

We must repeat, that the SHIP POLLY is an old black Ship, of about Two Hundred and Fifty Tons burthen, without a Head, and without Ornaments,—and, that CAPTAIN AYRES is a thick chunky Fellow.—As such, Take Care to avoid THEM.

Your Old Friends,

The Committee for Tarring and Feathering.

Philadelphia, December 7, 1773.

To Capt. Ayres, of the Ship Polly, on a Voyage from London to Philadelphia.

Sir,

We are informed that you have, imprudently, taken Charge of a Quantity of Tea; which has been sent out by the India Company, under the Auspices of the Ministry, as a Trial of American Virtue and Resolution.

Now, as your Cargo, on your Arrival here, will most assuredly bring you into hot water; and as you are perhaps a Stranger to these Parts, we have concluded to advise you of the present Situation of Affairs in Philadelphia—that, taking Time by the Forelock, you may stop short in your dangerous Errand—secure your Ship against the Rafts of combustible Matter which may be set on Fire, and turned loose against her: and more than all this, that you may preserve your own Person, from the Pitch and Feathers that are prepared for you.

In the first Place, we must tell you, that the Pennsylvanians are, to a Man, passionately fond of Freedom; the Birthright of Americans; and at all Events are determined to enjoy it.

That they sincerely believe, no Power on the Face of the Earth has a Right to tax them without their Consent.

That in their Opinion, the Tea in your Custody is designed by the Ministry to enforce such a Tax, which they will undoubtedly oppose; and in so doing, give you every possible Obstruction.

We are nominated to a very disagreeable, but necessary Service.—To our Care are committed all Offenders against the Rights of America; and hapless is he, whose evil Destiny has doomed him to suffer at our Hands.

You are sent out on a diabolical Service; and if you are so foolish and obstinate as to compleat your Voyage; by bringing your Ship to Anchor in this Port; you may run such a Gauntlet, as will induce you, in your last Moments, most heartily to curse those who have made you the Dupe of their Avarice and Ambition.

What think you Captain, of a Halter around your Neck—ten Gallons of liquid Tar decanted on your Pate—with the Feathers of a dozen wild Geese laid over that to enliven your Appearance?

Only think seriously of this—and fly to the Place from whence you came—fly without Hesitation—without the Formality of a Protest—and above all, Captain Ayres let us advise you to fly without the wild Geese Feathers.

Your Friends to serve The Committee as before subscribed. Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1773.

B. FRANKLIN'S CELEBRATED LETTER TO STRAHAN.

As a sequel to the foregoing notices, we give Dr. Franklin's celebrated letter, written in the actual heat of the first outbreak.

Philadelphia, July 5, 1775.

Mr. Strahan,—You are a member of Parliament, and one of that majority which has doomed my country to destruction. You have begun to burn our towns, and murder our people. Look upon your hands! They are stained with the blood of your relations! You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and

I am, yours,

B. Franklin.

HENRY II. STRIPT WHEN DEAD.

1189. Immediately upon his death, those that were about him applied their market so busilie in catching and filching awaie things that laie readie for them, that the king's corps laie naked a long time, till a child covered the nether parts of his body with a short cloke, and then it seemed that his surname was fulfilled that he had from his childhood, which was Shortmantell, being so called, because he was the first who brought short clokes out of Anjou into England.

TRANSPLANTATION OF HAIR.

The Signor Dottore Domenico Nardo addressed a letter to the Academy of Padua, in 1826, on the subject of the growth of hair after death, and even after its separation from the body. The latter property had been previously observed by Krafft. The Signor Nardo recounts the results of experiments made on his own person in the transplantation of hair, and relates, that by transplanting quickly a hair, with its root, from a pore of his head, into a pore of his chest, easily to be accomplished by widening the pore somewhat with the point of a needle, introducing the root with nicety, and exciting within the pore itself, by friction, a slight degree of inflammation, the hair takes root, continues to vegetate, and grows; in due season changes colour, becomes white, and falls.

ANCIENT CANNON RAISED FROM THE SEA.

A fisherman of Calais some time since, drew up a cannon, of very ancient form, from the bottom of the sea, by means of his nets. M. de Rheims has since removed the rust from it, and on taking off the breech was much surprised to find the piece still charged. Specimens of the powder have been taken, from which, of course, all the saltpetre has disappeared after a submersion of three centuries. The ball was of lead, and was not oxidized to a depth greater than that of a line.

COFFEE-HOUSE ATTRACTIONS IN 1760.

The great attraction of Don Saltero's Coffee-house was its collection of rarities, a catalogue of which was published as a guide to the visitors. It comprehends almost every description of curiosity, natural and artificial. "Tigers' tusks; the Pope's candle; the skeleton of a Guinea-pig; a fly-cap monkey; a piece of the true Cross; the Four Evangelists' heads cut on a cherry-stone; the King of Morocco's tobacco-pipe; Mary Queen of Scot's pincushion; Queen Elizabeth's prayer-book; a pair of Nun's stockings; Job's ears, which grew on a tree; a frog in a tobacco-stopper;" and five hundred more odd relics! The Don had a rival, as appears by "A Catalogue of the Rarities to be seen at Adams's, at the Royal Swan, in Kingsland Road, leading from Shoreditch Church, 1756." Mr. Adams exhibited, for the entertainment of the curious, "Miss Jenny Cameron's shoes; Adam's eldest daughter's hat; the heart of the famous Bess Adams, that was hanged at Tyburn with Lawyer Carr, January 18, 1736-7; Sir Walter Raleigh's tobacco-pipe; Vicar of Bray's clogs; engine to shell green pease with; teeth that grew in a fish's belly; Black Jack's ribs; the very comb that Abraham combed his son Isaac and Jacob's head with; Wat Tyler's spurs; rope that cured Captain Lowry of the head-ach, ear-ach, tooth-ach and belly-ach; Adam's key of the fore and back door of the Garden of Eden, &c., &c." These are only a few out of five hundred others equally marvellous.

A WOMAN TAKES THE LIGHTED MATCH FROM A BOMB.

During the siege of Gibraltar, in 1782, the Count d'Artois came to St. Roch, to visit the place and works. While his highness was inspecting the lines, in company with the Duke de Crillon, they both alighted with their suite, and all lay flat upon the ground, to avoid the effects of a bomb that fell near a part of the barracks where a Frenchwoman had a canteen. This woman, who had two children in her arms at the time, rushed forth with them, and having seated herself, with the utmost sang-froid, on the bomb-shell, she put out the match, thus extricating from danger all that were around her, many of whom witnessed this courageous and devoted act. His highness rewarded this intrepid female by bestowing on her a pension of three francs a day, and engaged to promote her husband after the siege; while the Duke de Crillon, imitating the generous example of the prince, ensured to her likewise a daily payment of five francs.

THE SUMMERS MAGNET, OR LOADSTONE.

Among the great naval officers of Elizabeth's reign must be ranked Sir George Summers, the discoverer of the Bermudas, often called the Summers Islands from that circumstance. Here is a representation given of what the descendants of Sir George Summers call the "Summers magnet, or loadstone." It is in the possession of Peter Franklin Bellamy, Esq., surgeon, second son of Dr. Bellamy, of Plymouth. The tradition in the family is that the admiral before going to sea used to touch his needle with it. The stone is dark-coloured, the precise geological formation doubtful. This curious stone, with armature of iron, was probably an ancient talisman.

SWALLOWING LIZARDS.

Bertholin, the learned Swedish doctor, relates strange anecdotes of lizards, toads, and frogs; stating that a woman, thirty years of age, being thirsty, drank plentifully of water at a pond. At the end of a few months, she experienced singular movements in her stomach, as if something were crawling up and down; and alarmed by the sensation, consulted a medical man, who prescribed a dose of orvietan in a decoction of fumitory. Shortly afterwards, the irritation of the stomach increasing, she vomited three toads and two young lizards, after which, she became more at ease. In the spring following, however, her irritation of the stomach was renewed; and aloes and bezoar being administered, she vomited three female frogs, followed the next day by their numerous progeny. In the month of January following, she vomited five more living frogs, and in the course of seven years ejected as many as eighty. Dr. Bertholin protests that he heard them croak in her stomach!

IMMENSE SEA SERPENT.

A species of sea-serpent was thrown on shore near Bombay in 1819. It was about forty feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides, in which situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely that not a vestige of bone remained.

THE ROYAL TOUCH.

For many ages one of the regal prerogatives in this country was to touch for the cure of regius morbus, or scrofula; a disease too well known to need any description. At different periods hundreds of persons assembled from all parts of the country annually to receive the royal interposition. Lists of the afflicted were published, to afford a criterion for determining as to its success; and from Edward the Confessor to the reign of Queen Anne, its efficacy appears to have obtained a ready and general belief.

The ceremony was announced by public proclamations; one of which we copy from "The Newes," of the 18th of May, 1664. "His Sacred Majesty" (Charles II.) "having declared it to be his royal will and purpose to continue the healing of his people for the Evil during the month of May, and then to give over until Michaelmas next, I am commanded to give notice thereof, that the people may not come up to town in the interim, and lose their labour."

An extract from the "Mercurius Politicus" affords additional information. "Saturday," says that paper, "being appointed by His Majesty to touch such as were troubled with the Evil, a great company of poor afflicted creatures were met together, many brought in chairs and flaskets, and being appointed by His Majesty to repair to the banqueting-house, His Majesty sat in a chair of state, where he stroked all that were brought unto him, and then put about each of their necks a white ribbon, with an angel of gold on it. In this manner His Majesty stroked above six hundred; and such was his princely patience and tenderness to the poor afflicted creatures, that, though it took up a very long time, His Majesty, who is never weary of well-doing, was pleased to make inquiry whether there were any more who had not yet been touched. After prayers were ended, the Duke of Buckingham brought a towel, and the Earl of Pembroke a basin and ewer, who, after they had made obeisance to His Majesty, kneeled down, till His Majesty had washed."

This sovereign is said to have touched nearly one hundred thousand patients.

With Queen Anne the practice was discontinued. But so late as the 28th of February, 1712, little more than two years before her death, the following proclamation appeared in the "Gazette":—"It being Her Majesty's royal intention to touch for the Evil on Wednesday, the 19th of March next, and so to continue weekly during Lent, it is Her Majesty's command that tickets be delivered the day before at the office in Whitehall; and that all persons shall bring a certificate signed by the Minister and Churchwardens of their respective parishes, that they have never received the royal touch." Dr. Johnson, when an infant, was brought, with others, for this purpose; "and when questioned upon the subject, confessed he had a faint recollection of an old lady with something black about her head."

A religious service, of which Dr. Heylin, Prebendary of Westminster, in his "Examen Historicum," has given us the particulars, accompanied the ceremony; which, as a document of pious interest, we transcribe:—"The first Gospel is the same as that on the Ascension-day, Mark xvi. 14, to the end. At the touching of every infirm person these words are repeated: 'They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' The second Gospel begins with the first of St. John, and ends a these words: (John i. 14:) 'Full of grace and truth.' At the putting the angel about their necks were repeated, 'That light was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.'

"'Lord, have mercy upon us.'

"'Christ have mercy upon us.'

"'Lord have mercy upon us. Our Father, &c.'

"'Minister.—O Lord, save thy servants:'

"'Response.—Which put their trust in thee.'

"'M.—Send unto them help from above:'

"'R.—And ever more defend them.'

"'M.—Help us, O God, our Saviour!'

"'R.—And for the glory of thy name sake deliver us: be merciful unto us, sinners, for thy name sake!'

"'M.—O Lord, hear our prayer:'

"'R.—And let our cry come unto thee.'

"'The Collect.—Almighty God, the eternal health of all such as put their trust in thee, hear us, we beseech thee, on the behalf of these thy servants, for whom we call for thy merciful help; that they receiving health, may give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen.'

"'The peace of God,' &c."

PEG TANKARDS.

The pegging, or marking the drinking cups, was introduced by St. Dunstan, to check the intemperate habits of the times, by preventing one man from taking a larger draught than his companions. But the device proved the means of increasing the evil it was intended to remedy; for, refining upon Dunstan's plan, the most abstemious were required to drink precisely to a peg or pin, whether they could soberly take such a quantity of liquor or not. To the use of such cups may be traced the origin of many of our popular phrases. When a person is much elated, we still say, "He is in a merry pin;" and, "He is a peg too low," when he is not in good spirits. On the same principle we talk of "taking a man down a peg," when we would check forwardness.

NORMAN CAPS.

There is nothing more amusing to the traveller on the continent, than to observe the extraordinary variety of those head-appendages, many of them heirlooms for generations in some families, all more or less prized according to the richness of materials employed upon them, and the peculiarity of shape. There is no article of dress more important to the Normande, whatever may be her means, than the cap which so jauntily and triumphantly asserts the dignity of the wearer. The wives of fermières who can afford such luxuries as expensive lace and trimmings, spend a little income in the decoration of their caps. Many cost upwards of three thousand francs for the materials and manufacture; and these, as we have before observed, are handed from mother to daughter through successive years, and are highly prized.

In the primitive villages of Normandy, on some holidays, it is a pleasing sight to see the dense army of caps, with flaps fanning the air, and following the gesticulatory movements of their talkative and volatile owners. When the weather is doubtful, the cap-wearers take care to be provided with a red umbrella of a clumsy construction, remarkably heavy, and somewhat similar, perhaps, to the original with which Jonas Hanway braved the jeers of a London populace in first introducing it.

NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN WAR DESPATCH.

The following is a facsimile of a gazette of a tribe of North American Indians, who assisted the French forces in Canada, during the war between France and England:—

Explanation of the Gazette, giving an account of one of their expeditions. The following divisions explain those on the plate, as referred to by the numbers:—

1. Each of these figures represents the number ten. They all signify, that 18 times 10, or 180 American Indians, took up the hatchet, or declared war, in favour of the French, which is represented by the hatchet placed over the arms of France.

2. They departed from Montreal—represented by the bird just taking wing from the top of a mountain. The moon and the buck show the time to have been in the first quarter of the buck-moon, answering to July.

3. They went by water—signified by the canoe. The number of huts, such as they raise to pass the night in, shows they were 21 days on their passage.

4. Then they came on shore, and travelled seven days by land—represented by the foot and the seven huts.

5. When they arrived near the habitations of their enemies, at sunrise—shown by the sun being to the eastward of them, beginning, as they think, its daily course, there they lay in wait three days—represented by the hand pointing, and the three huts.

6. After which, they surprised their enemies, in number 12 times 10, or 120. The man asleep shows how they surprised them, and the hole in the top of the building is supposed to signify that they broke into some of their habitations in that manner.

7. They killed with the club eleven of their enemies, and took five prisoners. The former represented by the club and the eleven heads, the latter by the figures on the little pedestals.

8. They lost nine of their own men in the action—represented by the nine heads within the bow, which is the emblem of honour among the Americans, but had none taken prisoners—a circumstance they lay great weight on, shown by all the pedestals being empty.

9. The heads of the arrows, pointing opposite ways, represent the battle.

10. The heads of the arrows all pointing the same way, signify the flight of the enemy.

RECEIPTS FROM ALBERTUS MAGNUS.

If thou wylt make a Carbuckle stone, or a thyng shyning in the nyght.—Take verye many of the lyttle beastes shyninge by nyghte, and put them beaten smale in a bottel of glasse, and close it, and burye it in hoate horses doung, and let it tarye xv dayes, afterwarde thou shalte destyll water of them Peralembicum, which thou shalt put in a vessel of Christal or glasse. It giueth so great clearnesse, that euery man may reade and write in a darke place where it is. Some men make this water of the gall of a snale, the gal of a wesel, the gall of a feret, and of a water dogge: they burie them in doung and destyll water out of them.

If thou wylt see that other men can not see.—Take the gall of a male cat, and the fat of a hen all whyte, and mixe them together, and anoint thy eyes, and thou shalt see it that others cannot see.

If the hart, eye, or brayne of a lapwyng or blacke plover be hanged vpon a mans necke it is profitable agaynste forgetfulnesse, and sharpeth mans vnderstanding.—"Albertus Magnus." Black Letter: very old.

ADVERTISEMENT OF ROAST PIG IN 1726.

"On Tuesday next, being Shrove Tuesday, there will be a fine hog barbyqu'd whole, at the house of Peter Brett, at the Rising Sun, in Islington Road, with other diversions.—Note. It is the house where the ox was roasted whole at Christmas last."

A hog barbecu'd is a West Indian term, and means a hog roasted whole, stuffed with spice, and basted with Madeira wine. Oldfield, an eminent glutton of former days, gormandised away a fortune of fifteen hundred pounds a-year. Pope thus alludes to him,—

"Oldfield, with more than harpy throat endu'd,

Cries, 'Send me, O, gods, a whole hog barbecu'd!'"

DYING OF OLD AGE AT SEVENTEEN YEARS.

March 19th, 1754, died, in Glamorganshire, of mere old age and a gradual decay of nature, at seventeen years and two months, Hopkins Hopkins, the little Welchman lately shown in London. He never weighed more than seventeen pounds, but for three years past no more than twelve. The parents have still six children left, all of whom no way differ from other children, except one girl of twelve years of age, who weighs only eighteen pounds, and bears upon her most of the marks of old age, and in all respects resembles her brother when at that age.

"WE HAE BEEN."

In Ayrshire there is a tradition, that the family motto of De Bruce—"We have been," originated from a lady named Fullarton, married to a cadet of the family of Cassilis. They had been gained to favour England during the chivalrous achievements of Wallace, and still continued zealous partisans of Edward. Before Bruce avowed his purpose to emancipate his country, he came, disguised as a palmer, to acquaint himself how far he could rely on aid from the people. A storm compelled him, and a few faithful adherents, to take shelter on the coast of Ayrshire. Extreme darkness, and the turbulence of the billows, deprived them of all knowledge where they landed; and as, in those unhappy times, the appearance of a few strangers would create alarm, the chiefs dispersed in different directions. Bruce chanced to go into the house of Mr. Kennedy, where the servants treated him with great reverence. The lady had gone to bed, and the prince wished they would not disturb her, but permit him to sit by the fire till day; however, one damsel had given her immediate notice of the visitor. He was ushered into her presence. She eyed him with scrutinizing earnestness. "We hae been—we hae been fause," said she, in the Scottish dialect, "but a royal ee takes me back to haly loyalty. I seid ye, mes royal de Bruce, I ken ye weel. We hae been baith untrue to Scotland, but rest ye safe: and albiet a' that's gane, Meg Fullarton wad dee in your cause."

ORIGIN OF THE PENNY POST.

The penny-post was devised in 1683, by one Mr. David Murray, an upholder in Paternoster Row. It soon became an object of attention to Government; but so low were its profits that one Dockwra, who succeeded Murray, had a pension of only £200 a year given him in lieu of it. This occurred in 1716.

A RAFFLE IN 1725.

May 8. The following copy of an advertisement, in the Newcastle Courant of this date, may be considered curious:—"On Friday in the race week, being the 28th of May, at the Assembly House, in Westgate, will be raffled for, 12 fine Fans, the highest three guineas, the worst 5s., at half a Crown per Ticket. Note: the lowest throw is to have the second best Fan, value £3, the other according to the height of the numbers which shall be thrown. There will be an assembly after for those who raffle."

A VISIT TO THE RESIDENCE OF DR. JOHNSON, IN INNER TEMPLE LANE, LONDON.

In one of the dreary, old-fashioned houses leading from the arched entrance to the Temple, which almost every passenger through Temple Bar must have remarked, whether he is a stranger, or a resident in the metropolis, Dr. Johnson, who occupies one of the most distinguished positions in the literature of our country, resided for several years.

DR. JOHNSON'S RESIDENCE IN INNER TEMPLE LANE.

It was in this place that Dr. Johnson became acquainted with his future biographer, Boswell, who thus describes their first meeting:—

"A few days afterwards I called on Davies, and asked him if he thought I might take the liberty of waiting on Mr. Johnson at his chambers in the Temple. He said I certainly might, and that Mr. Johnson would take it as a compliment. His chambers were on the first floor of No. 1, Inner Temple Lane, and I entered them with an impression given me by the Rev. Dr. Blair, of Edinburgh, who described his having found the giant in his den. He received me very courteously; but it must be confessed, that his apartment, and furniture, and morning dress, were sufficiently uncouth. His brown suit of clothes looked very rusty; he had on a little, old, shrivelled, unpowdered wig, which was too small for his head; his shirt neck and knees of his breeches were loose, his black worsted stockings ill drawn up, and he had a pair of unbuckled shoes by way of slippers;—but all these slovenly particulars were forgotten the moment he began to talk."

The "den" in which the "giant" lived, the staircase leading to it, and indeed the whole appearance of the locality, has recently undergone demolition, and its interesting features knocked down to the highest bidder, to be, let us hope, preserved in some museum or other place of safety.

OLD STAIRCASE IN THE RESIDENCE OF DR. JOHNSON.

Dr. Johnson resided at various times in Holborn, the Strand, and other places, and died, as it is well known, in No. 8, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, in 1784. His remains were placed in a grave under the statue of Shakspere, in Westminster Abbey, and near the resting-place of his friend and companion, David Garrick.

ORIGIN OF THE STUFF BALL AT LINCOLN.

During the want of employment in the manufactories in 1801, Mrs. Chaplain, of Blankney, in Lincolnshire, formed a patriotic institution for the encouragement of the local trade of the district. A ball was given at Lincoln for the benefit of the stuff manufactory, at which ladies were admitted gratis, on their appearance in a stuff gown and petticoat, spun, wove, and finished within the county, and producing a ticket signed by the weaver and dyer at Louth, one of which tickets was delivered with every twelve yards of stuff. The gentlemen were required to appear without silk or cotton in their dress, stockings excepted. The impulse thus given to trade, was of the most signal service in relieving distress, and at the same time promoting habits of industry.

STEVENS'S SPECIFIC.

In the reign of Charles II., Dr. Jonathan Goddard obtained 5,000l. for disclosing his secret for making a medicine, called "Guttæ Anglicanæ." And in 1739, the Parliament of England voted 5,000l. to Mrs. Stevens for a solvent for stone.

The celebrated David Hartley was very instrumental in procuring this grant to Joanna Stevens. He obtained also a private subscription to the amount of £1,356, published one hundred and fifty-five successful cases, and, by way of climax to the whole, after eating two hundred pounds weight of soap! David himself died of the stone.

AN IMPOSTOR.

From the Testament of Jerome Sharp, printed in 1786:—"I entered," says the narrator, "with one of my friends, and found a man resembling an ourang-outang crouched upon a stool in the manner of a tailor. His complexion announced a distant climate, and his keeper stated that he found him in the island of Molucca. His body was bare to the hips, having a chain round the waist, seven or eight feet long, which was fastened to a pillar, and permitted him to circulate out of the reach of the spectators. His looks and gesticulations were frightful. His jaws never ceased snapping, except when sending forth discordant cries, which were said to be indicative of hunger. He swallowed flints when thrown to him, but preferred raw meat, which he rushed behind his pillar to devour. He groaned fearfully during his repast, and continued groaning until fully satiated. When unable to procure more meat, he would swallow stones with frightful avidity; which, upon examination of those which he accidentally dropped, proved to be partly dissolved by the acrid quality of his saliva. In jumping about, the undigested stones were heard rattling in his stomach."

The men of science quickly set to work to account for these feats, so completely at variance with the laws of nature. Before they had hit upon a theory, the pretended Molucca savage was discovered to be a peasant from the neighbourhood of Besançon, who chose to turn to account his natural deformities. When staining his face for the purpose, in the dread of hurting his eyes, he left the eyelids unstained, which completely puzzled the naturalists. By a clever sleight of hand, the raw meat was left behind the pillar, and cooked meat substituted in its place. Some asserted his passion for eating behind the pillar to be a proof of his savage origin; most polite persons, and more especially kings, being addicted to feeding in public. The stones swallowed by the pretended savage were taken from a vessel left purposely in the room full of them; small round stones, encrusted with plaster, which afterwards gave them the appearance of having been masticated in the mouth. Before the discovery of all this, the impostor had contrived to reap a plentiful harvest.

PERUVIAN BARK.

In 1693, the Emperor Kanghi (then in the thirty-second year of his reign, and fortieth of his age) had a malignant fever, which resisted the remedies given by his physicians; the emperor recollected that Tchang-tchin, (Father Gerbillon), and Pe-tsin, (Father Bouret) two jesuit missionaries, had extolled to him a remedy for intermittents, brought from Europe, and to which they had given the name of chin-yo (two Chinese words, which signify "divine remedies;") and he proposed to try it, but the physicians opposed it. The emperor, however, without their knowledge took it, and with good effect. Sometime afterwards, he experienced afresh several fits of an intermittent, which, though slight, made him uneasy; this led him to proclaim through the city, that any person possessed of a specific for this sort of fever, should apply without delay at the palace, where patients might also apply to get cured. Some of the great officers of his household were charged to receive such remedies as might be offered, and to administer them to the patients. The Europeans, Tchang-tching, (Gerbillon) Hang-jo, (Father de Fontenay, jesuit) and Pe-tsin, (Bouret) presented themselves among others, with a certain quantity of quinquina, offered it to the grandees, and instructed them in the manner of using it. The next day it was tried on several patients, who were kept in sight, and were cured by it. The officers, or grandees who had been appointed to superintend the experiment, gave an account to the Emperor of the astonishing effect of the remedy, and the monarch decided instantly on trying it himself, provided the hereditary prince gave his consent. The prince, however, not only refused, but was angry with the grandees for having spoken so favourably of a remedy, of which only one successful trial had been made; at last, after much persuasion, the Prince reluctantly grants his consent, and the emperor takes the bark without hesitation, and permanently recovers. A house is given by the emperor to the Europeans, who had made known the remedy, and through the means of Pe-tsin (Father Bouret) presents were conveyed to the King of France, accompanied with the information, that the Europeans (that is, the French jesuits) were in high favour.—Histoire Generale de la Chine, &c. tome xi. p. 168, 4to. Paris, 1780.

WHITE CATS.

In a number of "Loudon Gardener's Magazine," it is stated that white cats with blue eyes are always deaf, of which extraordinary fact there is the following confirmation in the "Magazine of Natural History," No. 2, likewise conducted by Mr. Loudon:—Some years ago, a white cat of the Persian kind (probably not a thorough-bred one), procured from Lord Dudley's at Hindley, was kept in a family as a favourite. The animal was a female, quite white, and perfectly deaf. She produced, at various times, many litters of kittens, of which, generally, some were quite white, others more or less mottled, tabby, &c. But the extraordinary circumstance is, that of the offspring produced at one and the same birth, such as, like the mother, were entirely white, were, like her, invariably deaf; while those that had the least speck of colour on their fur, as invariably possessed the usual faculty of hearing.

A WOMAN DEFENDS A FORT SINGLY.

Lord Kames in his "Sketches of the History of Man," relates an extraordinary instance of presence of mind united with courage.

Some Iroquois in the year 1690, attacked the fort de Verchères, in Canada, which belonged to the French, and had approached silently, hoping to scale the palisade, when some musket-shot forced them to retire: on their advancing a second time they were again repulsed, in wonder and amazement that they could perceive no person, excepting a woman who was seen everywhere. This was Madame de Verchères, who conducted herself with as much resolution and courage as if supported by a numerous garrison. The idea of storming a place wholly undefended, except by women, occasioned the Iroquois to attack the fortress repeatedly, but, after two days' siege, they found it necessary to retire, lest they should be intercepted in their retreat.

Two years afterwards, a party of the same nation so unexpectedly made their appearance before the same fort, that a girl of fourteen, the daughter of the proprietor, had but just time to shut the gate. With this young woman there was no person whatever except one soldier, but not at all intimidated by her situation, she showed herself sometimes in one place, sometimes in another, frequently changing her dress, in order to give some appearance of a garrison, and always fired opportunely. In short, the faint-hearted Iroquois once more departed without success. Thus the presence of mind of this young girl was the means of saving the fort.

INDENTURE OF A HORSE-RACE BETWIXT THE EARLS OF MORTON AND ABERCORN AND THE LORD BOYDE.

As indicating the state of the English language amongst the nobility of Scotland in 1621, the following is curious:—

"Ane Indentour of ane Horse-raise betuix my Lords Mortoun, Abercorne, and Boyde.—The erle of Mortoun obleissis himselff to produce George Rutherfuirdis Barb Naig: The erle of Abercorne obleissis him to produce his gray Naig: My lord Boyd obleissis him to produce his bay horse; Upone the conditions following. Thay ar to run the first Thursday November nixtocum, thrie mett myleis of Cowper raise in Fyff. The waidger to be for euery horse ten dowbill Anegellis. The foirmest horse to win the hail thretty. Ilk rydare to be aucht scottis stanewecht. And the pairtie not comperaud, or refuisand to consigne the waidger, sall undergo the foirfaltour of this sowme, and that money foirfaltit salbe additt to the staik to be tane away be the wynner. Forder, we declair it to be lesum to ony gentilman to produce ane horse and the lyk waidger, and thay salbe welcum. Subscrybith with all our handis, at Hammiltoune the fyfteine day off August 1621. Morton, Abercorne, Boyde."

EARLY USE OF CHOCOLATE.

An advertisement in "The Public Adviser," from Tuesday, June 16th, to Tuesday, June 23d, 1657, informs us that "in Bishopsgate-street, in Queen's-head-alley, at a Frenchman's House, is an excellent West India drink, called Chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade, at reasonable rates."

MATTHEW BUCKINGER.