ploit three successive days, in each of which he descended twice and marched up once; the Jatter took him more than an hour, in which he exhibited many surprising achievements, as sitting unconcerned with his arms folded, lying across the rope upon his back, then his belly, his hams, blowing the trumpet, swinging round, hanging by the chin, the hand, the heels, the toe, &c.! The rope being too long for art to tighten, he might be said to have danced on the slack. Though he succeeded at Derby, yet in exhibiting soon after at Shrewsbury, he fell and lost his life:" Hutton. THE preceding instance of singular dexterity, was succeeded by another exhibition truly curious in itself, and equally well authenti. cated. A desire of gratifying the curiosity has induced me to add it; the account is not wanting in humour and will enliven the contents of the volume. "THIS flying rage was not cured till August, 1734, when another diminutive figure appeared at Derby, much older than the first-his coat was in dishabil no waistcoat-his shirt and shoes the worse for the wear-his hat worth three-pence, exclusive of the band, which was packthread bleached white by the weather, and a black string supplied the place of buttons to his waistband! He wisely considered if his performance did not exceed the other's he might as well stay at home, if he had one. His rope, therefore, from the same steeple extend. ed to the bottom of St. Mary's Gate, more than ន twice the former length! He was to draw a wheelbarrow after him, in which was a boy of thirteen. After this surprising performance an ass was to fly down, armed as before with a breast plate, and each foot with a lump of lead about half a hundred weight! The man, the barrow and its contents, arrived safe at the end of the journey, when the vast multitude turned their eyes towards the Ass, which had been braying several days at the top of the steeple for food, but, like many a lofty courtier for a place, brayed in vain. The slackness of the rope, and the great weight of the animal and his apparatus, made it seem, at setting off, as if he was falling perpendicular. The appearance was tremendous! About twenty yards before he reached the gates of the county hall the rope broke, from the velocity acquired by the descent he bore down all before him. A whole multitude was overwhelmed, nothing was heard but dreadful cries, nor seen but confusion. Legs and arms went to destruc. tion. In this dire calamity the unfortunate ass which maimed others was unhurt himself having a pavement of soft bodies to roll over. No lives were lost. As the rope broke near the top it brought down both chimnies and people at the other end of the street! This dreadful atastrophe put a period to the art of flying. It prevented the operator from making the intended collection, and he sneaked out of Derby as poor as he sneaked in "Hutton. A VIEW OF ROME FROM the tower of the capitol must give rise to interesting emotions; so superb a spectacle cannot be contemplated by the classic mind with indifference. "DURING my stay in Rome, (the Spring, 1806,) I twice ascended the tower of the Capi tol and indulged in the reflections which the views from its summit naturally excite. Hence we have a clear view of all the seven hills of the city, the remains of the Amphitheatre of Vespasian, and of the triumphal arches, the pillars, the temples, and the tombs of ancient Rome! No where can a spot be chosen more calculated to awaken the most profound reflections which, however, vary according to the opinion of the beholder. "View well these monuments of past ages," says the Stoic, "behold how fleeting is human grandeur, and remember that Virtue alone is permanent !" "View well these monuments of past ages," says the Epicurean," which, like ourselves are fast hastening to decay! Let us then consider that if life be so frail, if youth be so transitory, we should well enjoy the present hour and lose no part of so perishable an existence!" Perhaps in my future progress I may have occasion to note the general effect which these views produced upon myself. Meantime I leave to others the task of enlarging the numerous lists of pictures, statues, medals and vases, which this city contains. The Tyber, the Capitol, the Tarpeian Rock, and the most ancient monuments erected by the Romans, were the first objects of my curiosity! At the head of the second'may be placed the church of St. Peter, together with several other religious edifices, the public fountains, and the palaces. Having gratified my curiosity on these heads, I was fearful of entering too deeply into the ex amination of paintings and statues, to which I was aware there was no end. Yet how many master-pieces did I not behold in my hasty survey so many as to render Rome still the most attractive city in the world !"--Semple. THE PROUD MAN Is not too unfrequently met with in society, but he is an odious character, and his pride carries along with it its own punishment. "The Proud Man-see-he is sore all overtouch him--you put him to pain, and though of all others, he acts as if every mortal was void of all sense of feeling, yet is possessed with so nice and exquisite one himself, that the slights, the little neglects, and instances of disesteem, which would be scarce felt by another man, are perpetually wounding him, and oft-times. piercing him to his very heart! I would not therefore be a proud man, was it only for thisthat it should not be in the power of every one who thought fit to chastise me-my infirmities however unworthy of me, at least will not incommode, me-so little discountenance do I see given to them, that it is not the world's fault if I suffer by them-but here if I exalt myself I have no prospect of escaping-with this vice I stand swoln up in every body's way, and must unavoidably be thrust back-whichever way I turn, whatever step I take, under the direction of this passion, I press unkindly on some one, and, in return, must prepare myself for such mortifying repulses as will bring me down and make me go on my way sorrowing! It will ever hold good that-before honour was humility, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Sterne. HISTORY SHOULD be aided in her preservation of facts from oblivion by the monumental column; whose inscription would enlighten as well as impress the public mind. "OUR fathers have left us a rich inheritance, they have left us their experience-it has been accumulating from the creation of the world, and every day adds to the mass of knowledge. The voice speaks to us from the sepulchre of Ages, and bids us make their errors our wis. dom. But the Book of History is placed on the shelf of the student, and he is left to make those inferences in his study which should be forced upon the eyes of the public. Every spot that has been consecrated by a good action, or rendered notorious by being the seene of villainy, should be marked out, that the traveller reflecting on the past, might learn a lesson for the future. Not a church in England has been white washed in which the churchwarden of the year has not inscribed his name-not an old woman has left twenty shillings for a sermon, and half a crown for the clerk without being registered among the parish benefactorsyet there is no column in Smithfield, where so many good men endured martydom for their religion, and where the king and the subject might alike be instructed by the life and murder of Wat Tyler-Southey. |