rities we say, "Gentlemen, you are all equally right, hapless mortal, who, struggling with the “res angustæ," for, in sooth, you are all completely wrong." is impelled by a resistless vocation to letters, and would fain bequeath to posterity a lofty memorial of the mindmust e'en content himself with the pristine privations of Grub Street, or lower his aspirations, and perpetrate whack. Philosophy deduces a lesson of wisdom from such disputations. Here we have a question that admits of the simplest elucidation, puzzling some of the longest heads in Europe. A Whack is the child of a British printing-office. compositor, we believe of Milesian parentage, gave birth to it. The sons of green lerne are familiar with Paddy Whack, who, it cannot be doubted, was a broad-shouldered, harum-scarum, never-care-a-curse sort of monstrosity. By an easy association, Patricio's cognomen was transferred to the cumbrous mass of metal piled together by a hard bout at the composing-stick. From the printing-office, whack was transferred by some stenographical compositor to the gallery of the House of Commons. The Parliamentarian reporter who wendeth his way from St Stephen's to the Strand, or Printing-house-square, burdened with the massive oratory of the "Collective Wisdom," exulteth in the magnitude of his whack, when, on the ensuing day, he points to a brace of columns in the Morning Chronicle or Times, as the product of notes taken in the short period of three quarters of an hour. In a literary point of view, the title of whacker, or writer of whacks, does credit to the Parliamentary reporters. To attain it, is the condition of their bond-the stamp of their utility. But they must beware of perpetuating it in their after-avocations. They must not talk whack, like Horace Twiss or Poulett Thomson, nor publish it, like divers of their quondam associates, whom it were invidious to particularize. We now arrive at the system which "whack" has enabled us so fully to characterize. The matured productions of the mind are waxing rather scanty of late; and literature, pretending to permanency, is travelling down a plane of very abrupt inclination. Opinions vary as to the cause; we place the saddle nowhere. Sufficient to us is the fact. The bulkier periodicals are vast depots of whack. In a first-rate magazine, ten masterly pages, like the articles by Kit o' the North, will float a whole whach-berg. The Quarterly Reviews, having an unrestricted privilege of coping with the entire range of solemn stupidity, perform their revolutions by the sheer dint of the vis inertiæ. Their readers are much to be pitied; their editors more. The Libraries and Annuals must also be quoted as imposing registers of whackiana. Gentlemen who exchange authorship for whackership are not without their plea. The former is a pedestrian, the latter a cab-driving trade. The magicians of the Row, or of New Burlington Street, order a work from a conscientious slave of the lamp. They demand, within the space of six weeks, the biography of a sage, a textbook of science, an historical guide. The slave demurs as to time; is cashiered, and a whacker substituted, who works the work, and bears away the glory. The age calls itself enquiring, and countenances the traffic in printed paper. The voracity of a "reading public" is gratified, as the undiscriminating maw of the hog is appeased by the swineherd. In the estimation of those who cater for it, its taste is like that of the Irishman, who was indifferent whether his whisky were good or bad, provided it made him drunk. more whack!" they cried "Give us "It will be all one an hour hence." Literature in England is as poorly remunerated as science. Its endeavours meet with few grateful distinctions or seasonable aids. The intellect of the country is seldom invited to join the national councils, or to preside at official bureaux. It is treated either as an alien, or as a beggar; it is either neglected or pensioned. For a solitary Wordsworth, enabled humbly to walk in the verdant shades of independent privacy, how many thickskulled dragoons are coronetted into legislators! The FRAGMENTS-AN INDIAN BATTLE. By S. C. Hall, Editor of the "Amulet," &c. FROM THE DESCRIPTIONS OF AN EYE-WITNESS. THEY call'd me from my restless bed, Over a human victim, dead, An old man knelt, and call'd it prayer. But first he summon'd them around * 'Twas night-the ambush'd warriors lay Crouch'd near a path their foes must pass; Summon'd the mists from the morass; They laugh'd, and they rush'd on their prey. They met like the wave when the ocean winds roar, I saw an old man fighting there, And, although time had blanch'd his hair, The white scalp from the old man's head; And laugh'd at all they did or said. In his extremity of ill. But once he shrunk, when the hot sun And came o'er his skull where the wound was fresh, There was a chief among the dead, And those who cursed him, deem'd him so. Ooze gently o'er his sable skin. To watch him-still they fear'd him-die. When to the ground his foe was thrown, The remnant of the broken bone, TO THE AURORA BOREALIS. BANNER of midnight-vagrant light- Yet, as we gaze on thee to see The future pictured as of old, Lo! thou shut'st up our destiny In many a quick and antic fold! Say, comest thou rushing with wild wing, For still belief will fondly cling, When nought remains of prophet-skill! Yes o'er the peaceful front of heaven Methinks the charging squadrons fly! Look! o'er yon steep battalions driven ! Hark to the missiles hurtling by! 'Tis past the rustling strife is o'er, But 'thwart the broad expanse of blue, Where madly flicker'd light before, Now spreads a silent, holy hue. And, folding like the radiant wings Then let me, as our fathers did, In thee behold the coming time! The future may not all be hid— And oracles have spoke in rhyme ! When the brief strife of MIGHT and RIGHT, They perish not!-Thou melt'st in light, While they in bliss but merge away, Exhaled in all that's pure and bright, As thou by yonder coming day! Glasgow, December 12, 1830. STANZAS. By Laurence Macdonald. I NEVER more on aught will place my heart And love the Muse's haunts, the bard's retreat, And though, at times, my vision doth survey And there be here some stainless beings too, Gemming the wilds of nature, like yon star, Ruling men's destinies: ye make or mar THE LONDON DRAMA. Regent's Park, London, Monday, Dec. 20th, 1830. As we happen to know that the managers of Covent Garden long considered it an event rather to be wished for than expected, that Miss Paton's place, as the representative of Cinderella, and the singer of Rossini's “La Cenerentola" music, would speedily, if ever, be adequately supplied, the very unqualified success of their fair debutante, Miss Inverarity, in that truly difficult part, is a matter of no slight congratulation, as regards either the interests of the theatre, or the gratification of the public. As the attempt was arduous, however, so the success bas been most complete; and with the requisite allowances for the nervous trepidation of a first appearance, certainly her first in London, her performance as a singer was the | which, though characterized by our defunct Right Hon. best it has been our good fortune to witness for many years past; as an actress, it was more than promising; and we are so fully borne out in our very favourable opinion by two unusually crowded audiences, that there can be little hazard in predicting Miss Inverarity's rapid advances to the highest honours of her profession. When to this, we add that she is young, graceful, and goodlooking, it is scarcely necessary to say more in her favour, and it would be manifest injustice to her to say less. The character of the Prince was played for a first time by Mr Wilson, who certainly never either played or sung so well before; and, represented as the whole opera now is, there is every prospect of its revival fully rivalling its original popularity. "The Omnibus" nightly continues to "send the hearers laughing to their beds ;" and Miss Kemble's Lady Townley and Calista, with a new Altamont, Mr G. Bennet, vice Mr Parry, have filled the house each evening of her performance. Mr Macready's adaptation, or rather, we believe, his compression, of Lord Byron's" Werner," was at length produced on Wednesday last, at Drury Lane, with the most triumphant success,-the three leading characters of Siegendorf, alias Werner, Ulric, and Gabor, being all admirably sustained by Macrady, Wallack, and Cooper; who, in the last act particularly, on the discovery of the murderer of Stralenheim, were most powerfully effective, and amply atoned for the notorious defects of the tragedy as an acting drama, in the earlier scenes. It was announced for repetition amidst the most enthusiastic cheering of a very full house; and, while thus supported, we cannot doubt of its continued popularity; on which deserved success we very sincerely congratulate the managers. As Mr Morton commenced his career of dramatic authorship by writing farces, so it would appear he now means to close it in the same manner; and after having ascended from two acts to three, and then from three to five, he has since descended again to two, and at last to one !—the "anecdote," as he terms it, of "A King's Fireside," being an extremely slight translation from the French, by the author of "A Cure for the Heartach" and "Speed the Plough." Farren, as Henri Quatre, dressed the character, as he invariably does every character, most minutely accurate, though we cannot greatly eulogise his acting, which certainly was not so. Prince Louis was played passablement bien by Mrs Waylett, and two very juvenile hopes of the family, Gaston and Henrielta, by Misses Poole and M. A. Marshall, who were incontestably the best actors in the piece. The plot of this petit drama turns on the French custom of drawing a bean out of a plumcake on New-Year's day, the fortunate holder of which becomes king for the next hour, during which sixty minutes' sovereignty, Louis, who is the lucky holder of this regal distinction, conducts himself right royally in two rather difficult dilemmas, and the piece concludes with the clock striking the termination of his reign. “Henri en Famille" may possibly have been popular, but we neither expect nor wish for it very great longevity here; since its writing, acting, and reception, all partook of that mediocrity which is acceptable to neither gods, men, nor columns." As a hint to those whose duty it is to know better, we may observe, that the pronunciation of the common word Dauphin, by all the characters, was as un-French-like as the most confirmed Cockneyism could make it; and that calling the young prince Mister Louis! was certainly any thing but selon la règle at Fontainbleau! On Thursday evening, Lord Glengall's "Follies of Fashion" was played to the worst"and that's a bad word"-the very worst house of the season; though the new farces of "Turning the Tables," and "The Jenkinses," made some amends, by attracting a tolerable half-price. And now, enlightened readers of this best of all possible periodicals, the EDINBURGH LITERARY JOURNAL, we must crave your kind attention to a very few words on a subject friend, Lord Byron, as one on "which all men are fluent, and few agreeable-self;" yet would our personal fair fame be so perilled by our own silence, that we are compelled to break through all the trammels of our modesty, and thus defend ourselves. There is, as to our annoyance we have indeed long seen, placarded on old walls, a certain doer of doggerel for minor theatres about town, yeleped Mister C. A. Somerset, and very judiciously designated by our learned colleague," OLD CERBERUS," as "a blockhead,” for whom, from the similarity of our names, WE, alas! have been, and perchance may again be, mistaken. Tendering our spotless reputation, therefore, far too highly to run the slightest risk of being even suspected to have any connexion with an individual, of whom we in reality know nothing beyond what we have told; thus publicly do we disown all dramas; and, to leave the world without an excuse for ever relationship with the disfigurer of Ducrow's classical again imagining that we two are one, our future critical lucubrations will invariably be signed at full length, Peregrine Somerset. LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES OF ROYAL SOCIETY. Monday, 20th December. Dr Duncan read a paper on Mudar, and the remarkable properties of its active principle Mudarine, which he illustrated by experiments performed before the Society. A paper by Mr Stein was read, giving an account of the improved method of distilling, by exposing the mash, in shomers, to the action of steam. The essay was illustrated by a series of beautifully executed diagrams. THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD-HIMSELF-His Bard of the wilderness, Sweet be thy matin o'er moorland and lea! sketches of eminent living persons are bad. They are either We never write descriptions of people. All personal not honest, and consequently not worth a farthing; or they are honest, and consequently impertinent. None but an inferior mind ever thinks of publishing to the world a literary portrait of a literary friend. He who does so, is commonly actuated either by self-interest or vanity, or both ;— self-interest, that he may make money by the curiosity of mankind, and vanity, that he may prove himself to be on an intimate footing with one to whom the world looks up. From the indulgence of such motives nothing good can be expected. The man truly capable of appreciating the genius of another, is the last man capable of chronicling, for the amusement of the mob, all the petty peculiarities of character he may have it in his power to observe. Nevertheless, the anxiety which prevails to know as much as can be learned concerning the babits and manners of persons who have made their minds familiar to us through the medium of their works, is not only natural, but praiseworthy. It evinces the sympathy we feel for them, in return for the power they possess over us. Towards none is this sympathy more strongly experienced than towards those whose compositions address themselves more particularly to our national and patriotic associations. Such compositions consist, as it were, of a series of rallying points, on which we know that we are all agreed. This remark applies with peculiar emphasis to songs. The ancient sage thought ballads more influential than laws; and he was not far wrong. They gather us together, inspire us with the same emotions, and link themselves with all our associa- | living-John Watson Gordon. It is, in all respects, a true tions of home and country. The popular song-writer, there- and life-like representation of James Hogg-full of characfore, has in all ages and nations been loved and respected. ter and spirit. There he sits before us, with his plain, but Who lives so much in the hearts of the people of Scotland manly, and not unexpressive features, ample brow, and strong as Robert Burns? He is gone, and his place is not yet alto-wiry hair, with its natural swirl, once dark, but now grey, gether supplied; but one man has made a near approxima- yet still bushy and vigorous. There he sits, not altogether tion to it, and that man is James Hogg. unlike Sir Walter Scott, with an eye in which lurks the same suppressed humour, and a mouth which, though not regularly beautiful, evidently looks as if it were made to say good things. There he sits, with his border plaid about him, a editating perhaps some border ditty, which we may yet hear him sing before the Christmas days are over, when his eye will sparkle into light, and his hand will strike upon the table, until all the glasses dance. Well, there he sits-seded sedet, aternumque sedebit ;-he looks what he is-the Master-shepherd of Scotland,—a poet, now in his sixtieth year, healthy in body, and lively in imagination as ever. Could there be any more appropriate frontispiece to the fourth volume of the LITERARY JOURNAL than the portrait of one who has been, from first to last, one of its most constant, efficient, and esteemed contributors? As all the world knows, Mr Hogg has had numerous difficulties to contend with; and not the least of these is the circumstance of his having lived after Burns, and the danger he for some time ran of being confounded with the common herd of vulgar poetasters, whom the genius of the author of "Tam O'Shanter" called into existence. For a period the country was quite saturated with self-taught poets, and every lady who gave a soirée, was miserable unless she could introduce her friends to some rural lion, whose roar was very soon discovered to be little better than a bray, and who was therefore speedily sent back in disgrace to "snuff the caller air" at the tail of his plough. A few clever persons began to see the absurdity of all this pretended patronage of low-born genius, and from one extreme they passed suddenly to another, denying very flatly that there was ever any such thing as a bard of Nature's own making. The Ettrick Shepherd had to bear much silent obloquy of this kind. Well-educated critics bent their brows and past him by in silence; the aristocracy looked at his mountain plaid, his blue bonnet, and his thick-soled shoes, and pronounced him vulgar. But the Shepherd quailed not before the critic's frown, nor doffed he his blue bonnet because a titled combination of legs and arms liked not to see it betwixt the wind and his nobility. He sang bis songs to his own hills; and whether they were good or whether they were bad, he cared not. They sparkled up from his own soul, and came spontaneously to the surface, like foam-bells in a fountain. Some of them passed away into thin air, and were forgotten, even as are the carols of the lark in the sky of summer; but many of them remained, and one by one spread themselves over the land, and now they are sung far and wide,- -on our streets and in our cottages,-at the social board, and by the peasant girl as she winds down the glen in the joyousness of her own innocent heart. us; Several very judicious and excellent people have said to "You would surely never compare Hogg with Burns?" We have replied that comparisons are odious, but that if Hogg be not the successor of Burns, he has no successor living, and that if he has not written many strains worthy of Burns, we are no judges of song-writing. This The Shepmatter may be brought to the test very soon. herd is about to publish a selection of all his best songs, and we shall see whether the book be not entirely successful. He has written about five hundred songs altogether, but the work he is bringing out will contain only about one hundred and forty. To most of the songs he has prefixed short introductions, written with great naïveté, and not a little humour, and particularly valuable, as tending to exhibit the real character of the author. themselves, though their leading features be entirely Scottish, are of all sorts,-grave, gay, pathetic, comic, patriotic, and amatory. Of course, they are unequal; but many of them are admirable, full of genius, and moist with the natural dews of poesy. They will establish Mr Hogg's title to a lasting popularity, for they prove that, whatsoever the covering of his outward man, there beats within a heart delicately susceptible to many of the finer impulses of the external world, and capable of seeing those sights, hearing those sounds, and tasting those delights, which only the nicer senses of a poet can enjoy. The songs Interested, then, as all admirers of native genius must be, in our Ettrick Shepherd, we are sure our readers will receive with pleasure the spirited likeness of him which we this day publish, excellently engraved by his old friend, William Archibald, after the admirable portrait of him painted at our request by the first Scottish portrait-painter LITERARY CHIT-CHAT AND VARIETIES. THERE is preparing for publication, in Edinburgh, "Ane rychte queire and mervoulious buik, compilit be Maister Hougge." Allan Cunningham has nearly finished his Lives of British Architects, which will appear soon. We understand that the contents of the forthcoming Number of the Westminster Review will be pretty nearly as follows:-1. Defensive Force of a People-O.ganization of a National Guard-2. South Sea Islanders-5. Hannibal's crossing the Alps-1. Webster's Dietionary-5. China Trade-6. Character of George IV.-7. Scottish Reform-8. Heiress of Bruges-9. Maxwell-10. Belgium Revolution -11. Cobbett's Italy-12. Bruce's Travels-13. Machinery Breaking, and State of the Country-14. Tennyson's Poems-15. Wellington's Fall-16. State of Europe. The No. is to be published in January, Mr Thomas Stephen has in the press a History of the Rise and Progress of the Church of Scotland, from the Reformation till the year 1617. OUR STUDY TABLE.-As we have benevolently abstained from any reviews of new works to-day, we think it right merely to mention the books which have been laid on our table this week, most of which we shall notice more fully hereafter. There are Le Keepsake Francais, and the Talisman, two elegant Annuals, with the same plates in each, but the contents of the one have been contributed by living French authors of eminence, while those of the other are selected from the popular fugitive literature of England ;-Sir Walter Scott's new series of Tales of a Grandfather, being stories from the history of France, in three neatly embellished little volumes, well suited for a Christmas present; -Grant's Beauties of Modern British Poetry, as elegant a book as any of the Annuals, and reflecting much credit on the provincial press of Aberdeen ;-Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, Part VIII., a highly useful work now drawing towards a close, as the next part is to be the last ;-The Pulpit, vol XV., a good selection of some of the best sermons of living divines, not to be met with any where else -The Emperor's Rout, a kind of Butterfly's Ball, ingeniously illustrated with coloured plates;-Odd Sketches, by William Anderson, a little work of very respectable pretensions. These, together with others, await our more detailed verdict. CHIT-CHAT FROM EDINBURGH.-Our gaieties have now pretty fairly commenced. Christmas and New-year's day parties are the order of the day, and we have ourselves, for some evenings past, been sorely tormented with two species of devils-printers' devils and devilled turkeys, both good in their way.-Our public Assemblies are to commence early in January; and it is expected that the circum. stance of there being now a Queen's Assembly, will give them an additional fillip.-Music is also progressing among us. ner of the Harmonists' Society took place a few days ago, and was numerously and respectably attended. In the course of the evening a number of beautiful songs and glees were sung.—Mr Yaniewicz announces two morning concerts of instrumental music, on the d and 29th of January next, which will no doubt be well attendedAnd in the second week of January, we learn that Nicholson, the ce lebrated flute player, and Madame Stockhausen, are to give several concerts, under the patronage of the Duchess of Hamilton. hausen made so great an impression when she was last here, that The annual din Stock her songs were constantly on the counters of the music shops for two months afterwards.-Teachers of elocution, it would appear, are multiplying among us. Besides Knowles and Jones, there are Roberts, M'Donald, and Russell. The two last gentlemen gave lectures and recitations in the Hopetoun Rooms this week. Knowles has gone to lecture to his friends in Belfast during the holydays.-On Thursday last the annual dinner of the Royal Medical Society took place in the Hopetoun Rooms. It was numerously attended, and many of the Professors were present as guests. The evening passed over exceeding ly pleasantly.-Some more of the old crown jewels of Scotland have been added to the Regalia now in the Castle. They were sent down from London by the King, under the charge of Sir Adam Fergusson -Martin's large picture of the Fall of Nineveh is on its way to Edinburgh, and is to be exhibited, we believe, in the Calton Convening Room.-Macdonald has finished his bust of Professor Wilson, and it is one of the most spirited he has yet executed. He is about to visit Abbotsford for the purpose of taking a bust of Sir Walter Scott, and we understand that the Lord Advocate is also to sit to him. The monthly meeting of the St Luke's Club takes place next Tuesday, and will, in all probability, be numerously attended.-While on the subject of the Fine Arts, it is proper to direct the attention of our readers to the three Chinese pagodas, which the three rival teashops have erected over their doors within the last few weeks. Each is larger and more showy than the other, and the one last put up would bury fifty people in its ruins were it to fall.-The Ettrick Shepherd is at present in town, in excellent health and spirits, superintending the publication of his songs. Mr James, the author of "Darnley," &c., is also residing in Edinburgh. M. CHIT-CHAT FROM PARIS, Dec. 17.-In consequence of a letter received from Saxe-Weimar of the 30th November, considerable anxiety was manifested in the literary circles here, from its giving an account of the alarming illness of the celebrated poet Goëthe; but the accounts two days later describe him again as in a convalescent state. -There are two subjects that engross the whole of Paris at present, and furnish abundant matter of discussion to all the petit maitres of he Café's and gardens-the trial of the ex-Ministers, and the death of Benjamin Constant; and would it be credited—yet such is the nature of the Parisians-that the latter occurrence engages far more attention than the former? The last words of Constant were what few revolutionary heroes can boast of. "After twelve years of a popularity justly acquired,-yes, I can say justly acquired," and he died pronouncing acquired, without being able to finish his sentence. Gois, a celebrated modelist, has taken a cast from his face, as it is the intention of the Parisians to erect a monument to his memory, in furtherance of which a subscription has been opened at the office of the Temps newspaper. He was buried on Monday, and, to use a Parisian phrase, "tout Paris ya assisté." At the grave, Lafayette pronounced an oration over his body, calling to mind his virtues, his struggles in the sacred cause of freedom, the scenes he had partaken of, and especially those of July. After him there was a Pole, in the national uniform, of the unpronounceable name of Czapseki, who addressed the people, and finally the president, "des amis du peuple," | when the crowd dispersed quietly, and, from the remarks we heard, as we mixed among them, we know that the scene has not been lost upon them. The publication of the “ Memoires de M. de Maubreuil," which has been so much retarded on account of the measures of the old court, will shortly appear.-A work is advertised to be out in a few days, under the title of " Proces des Ministres Anglais accusés de haute trahison, et traduit devant les Parlements.”—The address from the students of Glasgow to the students of law and medicine, was read at a meeting of the union to the students by the dean; and received with the most rapturous applause: it has been translated, and cop into all the newspapers.-The drama of "Napoleon" continues to draw great crowds to the Porte St Martin; its increasing popularity is no trifling proof of the respect still paid to Napoleon's memory, and the interest the nation takes in every thing connected with the Emperor.-Jouffery commenced his course of lectures on the history of philosophy, on Wednesday, at the Sorbonne, before a numerous assembly.-On Sunday last, we had at the Theatre Francais the first representation of " Don Carlos, ou l'Inquisition," a tragedy, in five acts: it was well received, except towards the end of the fourth act, where some scenes of torture disgusted the public-but, with a few alterations, it will have a very good run. CHIT-CHAT FROM ABERDEEN.-Mrs Blackwell's prize for the best Essay on "The Relation between the phenomena of Electricity and Magnetism, and the consequences deducible from these relations," has been gained by William Dyce, Esq., A. M., a rising young Edinburgh artist, and son to Dr Dyce, physician in Aberdeen.-The first meeting of the Aberdeen Society for promoting the Religious Principles of the Reformation, was held in the East Church, on Thursday the 9th inst., when Captain Gordon, R.N., and the Rev. Mr Armstrong, were present, as a deputation from the British Reformation Society, and detailed the progress of the parent institution's proceedings in Ireland. The Society afterwards held public meetings lin Trinity Chapel of Ease, Ship-row, for the purpose of discussing Roman Catholic doctrines and the rule of faith, to defend which Roman Catholic elergy and laymen of respectability were invited. None, however, appeared. The chapel was crowded to excess every day.The Aber deen press, besides a number of anti and pro Popery pamphlets, has lately produced the following publications, viz. :-1st, A new edition of a Description of the Chanonry, Cathedral, and King's College of Old Aberdeen, in the years 1721-5, by William Orem, Town Clerk of Old Aberdeen. 2d, The sixth edition of a Correspondence be tween Dr James Kidd, of the Church of Scotland, (minister of Gilcomston Chapel of Ease, and Professor of Oriental Languages in Marischal College, Aberdeen,) and the Rev. Charles Fraser, of the Church of Rome, (at present lecturing in St Peter's Chapel, Aberdeen,) concerning a public discussion of those points of doctrine respecting which Protestants and Romanists are at issue. 3d, The Widow and her Son, a borough tale of 1782, in four cantos, by John Milne, 4th, The Layman's Preservative against Popery, No. I., by William Fergusson, A.M. 5th, The Beauties of Modern British Poetry systematically arranged, by David Grant, embellished with heads of Byron, Moore, and Scott, with fac-similes of their handwriting, engraved by Lizars, dedicated by permission to the Hon. Mrs Grant of Grant. And 6th, The Aberdeen Almanack and Northern Register, for 1851.-A public meeting for petitioning in favour of Parliamentary and Burgh Reform, was held on Saturday last, in the Court House, Castle Street, Alexander Bannerman, Esq. in the chair. The first Assembly of the season took place in the Public Rooms, Union Street, on the 22d.-Mr Ryder has opened the TheatreRoyal for the winter campaign, and Miss Jarman, from Edinburgh, is to make her appearance on Monday next.-The Misses Isabella and Eliza Paton have announced a concert in Aberdeen on the first Monday of January.-Mr Calvert has commenced two courses of lectures, one upon Elocution and Oratory, which he delivered last summer before the University of Cambridge, and the other on the British Classics, in his lecture-room, Aberdeen Academy.—A number of gentlemen belonging to the county and city of Aberdeen have resolved to invite Mr Menzies of Pitfodels to a dinner in the County Rooms, as a mark of their respect, before he leaves this part of the country for Edinburgh.-Our ingenious townsman Mr George Innes, astronomical calculator, has lately published, in Edinburgh, the eleventh annual Number of the Aberdeen, Dundee, Leith, and London Tide-Tables, for 1831.-The Robert Gordon's Hospital Club held their anniversary dinner last week, in the Lemon Tree Hotel, at which their old and much-respected friend and master, the Rev. Mr Thom of Nigg, who so long and ably conducted this valuable institution, was present. CHIT-CHAT FROM OLD ABERDEEN.-Viscount Arbuthnot has been unanimously re-elected Lord Rector of King's College, by the Senatus Academicus of the University.-Our new Bridge, of five arches, over the river Don, is at length completed. The expense of this granite structure has been defrayed from the accumulated savings of an annual sum of L.2, 5s. 8d. sterling since the year 1605, left by Sir Alexander Hay, one of the Clerks of Session, for keeping the old bridge in repair.-Engravings of King's College, as originally built by Bishop Elphinstone, taken from a painting by the celebrated Jameson, and a geometrical elevation of the west front, as rebuilt in 1826, illustrate and embellish the new edition of " A Description of the Chanonry, Cathedral, and King's College of Old Aberdeen, in 1724-5, by William Orem, Town Clerk of Old Aberdeen," which has lately been published.-The Report of the Royal Commissioners upon the Universities of Scotland, is now anxiously looked for here. CHIT-CHAT FROM DINGWALL.-A report is in circulation, that Charles, the ex-King of France, has applied for Brahan Castle, the property of Mr Mackenzie of Seaforth, as a residence. Brahan Castle is beautifully sequestered in the Highlands of Ross-shire, within a moderate drive of Inverness, and at a convenient distance from our good town of Dingwall, the celebrated mineral Spa of Strath Peffer, and the beautiful and highly romantic waterfalls of Beaully and Kilmorack.-The decision of the great Dundonell cause, before the Court of Session, in Edinburgh, is now anxiously looked for in the North. We are to have a county meeting here on the 24th, to petition Parliament for Burgh and Parliamentary Reform.-Mr Beattie, of the Royal Academy, Tain, has issued proposals for publishing, by subscription, "The History of the Patriarch Joseph," a metrical composition, with other original Poems. Theatrical Gossip.-Victor Hugo's "Hernani," which no long time since split the dramatic world of Paris into two furious factions, has been brought out on the Munich boards, and laughed off the stage.-Marschner, leader of the orchestra to his Saxon Majesty, is on the eve of bringing out a new opera, under the title of the "Falconer's Bride."-Miss Stephens has been at Brighton for some months, but has refused all offers of an engagement.-Young has been performing at the Plymouth Theatre, and among other characters, that of Werner, in Lord Byron's tragedy.-Miss Mitford's tragedy of " Ines di Castro," which has been written for several years, and has been in the hands of each of the managements, but for some reason delayed from time to time, is at length to be produced soon after Christmas-Mr Kemble and his daughter playing the chief male and female characters.-Mrs Glover has withdrawn from Drury-Lane, and is engaged by the new managers of the Tottingham Street Theatre, Messrs W. Farren and Winston. The reason of Mrs Glover quitting Drury-Lane, is stated to be the levying of a fine upon her for refusing to play Lady Bountiful, in the "Beaux Stratagem." We do |