MISCELLANEOUS VARIETIES.

State of England, in the Year 1679.— Among the manuscripts of Locke, given to the public by lord King, we find the following curious intimations, seemingly intended as directions for the guidance of some foreigner who was on the point of visiting this country. The article, copied verbatim et literatim, is as follows:"The sports of England, which, perhaps, a curious stranger would be glad to see, are horse-racing, hawking, and hunting. Bowling-At Marebone and Putney he may see several persons of quality bowling two or three times a week all the summer; wrestling, in Lincoln's Inne Field every evening all the summer; bear and bull-baiting, and sometime prizes, at the Bear-Garden; shooting in the long-bow and stob-ball, in Tothill Fields; cudgel-playing, in several places in the country; and hurling, in Cornwall.

"London.-See the East India House, and their magazines; the Custom-House, the Thames, by water, from London Bridge to Deptford; and the King's Yard at Deptford; the sawing windmill; Tradescant's garden and closet; Sir James Morland's closet and water-works; the iron mills at Wandsworth, four miles above London, upon the Thames; or rather those in Sussex; Paradise by Hatton Garden; the glass-house at the Savoy, and at Vauxhall. Eat fish in Fish-street, especially lobsters, Colchester oysters, and a fresh cod's head. The veal and beef are excellent good in London; the mutton better in several counties in England. A venison pasty and a chine of beef are good every where; and so are crammed capons and fat chickens.Railes and heath-polts, ruffs, and reeves, are excellent meat wherever they can be met with. Puddings of several sorts, and creams of several fashions, both excellent, but they are seldom to be found, at least in their perfection, at common eating-houses. Mango and saio are two sorts of sauces brought from the East

Indies. Bermuda oranges and potatoes, both exceeding good in their kind. Chedder and Cheshire cheese.

"Men excellent in their Arts.-Mr. Cox, in Long Acre, for all sorts of dioptical glasses. Mr. Opheel, near the Savoy, for all sorts of machines. Mr.

for a new invention he has, that teaches to copy all sorts of pictures, plans, or to take prospects of places. The king's gunsmith, at the Yard by Whitehall. Mr. Not, in the Pall-Mall, for binding of books. The Fire-eater.

"At an ironmonger's near the Maypole, in the Strand, is to be found a great variety of iron instruments, and utensils of all kinds.

"At Bristol see the Hot-well; St. George's Cave, where the Bristol diamonds are found; Ratcliffe Church; and at Kingwood the coal-pits. Taste there Milford oysters, marrow-puddings, cockale, metheglin, white and red muggets, elvers, sherry, sack, (which, with sugar, is called Bristol milk,) and some other wines, which, perhaps, you will not drink so good at London.

At Glocester observe the whispering place in the cathedral.

"At Oxford see all the colleges, and their libraries, the schools and public library, and the physic-garden. Buy there knives and gloves, especially white kid-skin; and the cuts of all the colleges graved by Loggins.

"If you go into the north, see the Peak in Derbyshire, described by Hobbs in a Latin poem, called Mirabilia Pecci.

"Home-made drinks of England are beer and ale, strong and small; those of most note, that are to be sold, are Lambeth ale, Margaret ale, and Derby ale; Herefordshire cider, perry, mede. There are also several sorts of compounded ales, as cock-ale, wormwood-ale, lemonale, scurvygrass-ale, college-ale, &c.These are to be had at Hercules Pillars, near the Temple; at the Trumpet, and other houses in Sheer Lane, Bell Alley;

and, as I remember, at the English Tavern, near Charing Cross.

Foreign drinks to be found in Eng. land are all sorts of Spanish, Greek, Italian, Rhenish, and other wines, which are to be got up and down at several taverns. Coffé, thé, and chocolate, at coffee-houses. Mum at the mum houses, and other places; and Molly, a drink of Barbadoes, by chance at some Barbadoes merchants'. Punch, a compounded drink, on board some West India ships, and Turkish sherbet amongst the merchants.

"Manufactures of cloth, that will keep out rain; flannel, knives, locks and keys; scabbards for swords; several things wrought in steel, as little boxes, heads for canes, boots, riding-whips, Rippon spurs, saddles, &c.

"At Nottingham dwells a man who makes fans, hat-bands, necklaces, and other things of glass, drawn out into very small threads."

Comparing the present state of England with these curious hints of an observant philosopher, we may remark that both the fine and mechanic arts have made great progress since his time, and yet are not perfect; that luxury has also made great strides, and the love of pleasure is more predominant; and that, if morality has not been exalted or meliorated by the progress of time, refine ment throws a comparative lustre over the present habits of life and manners.

Superstition.-It might have been supposed that the follies of Joanna Southcott would have died with her: yet it appears that her doctrines are still cherished by many infatuated people. The wives of several tradesmen of Gravesend lately deserted their homes for Ashton-underLyme, there to meet and be present at the coming of the young Shiloh, who, as foretold by the Southcottian prophets, was to arrive there on a given day. These devout ladies, moreover, in order to make suitable presents to the Shiloh, took considerable supplies of money. Some of them left many children behind them; but we trust that they have by this time returned. If they have not, they deserve to be treated like mad women.

An Eccentric Divine.-The singularities of the late reverend gentleman, the earl of Bridgewater, formed a fréquent topic of conversation at Paris, where he had long resided. His house, at the time of his death, was nearly filled with

dogs and cats, which he had picked up at different places. Of the fifteen dogs which he kept, two were admitted to the honors of his table, and all were frequently dressed up in clothes like human beings. Sometimes a fine carriage, containing half a dozen of them, was seen in the streets drawn by four horses, and accompanied by two footmen. In his last days, when he was so debilitated as to be unable to leave his own grounds, he is said to have adopted a strange substitute for the sports of the field, to which he had been addicted. In the garden at the back of his house, there were placed about 300 rabbets, and as many pigeons and partridges, whose wings had been cut. Provided with a gun, and supported by servants, he would enter the garden and shoot two or three of those animals, which he ordered to be put upon the table as his sporting trophies!"

NOTICES AND OBSERVATIONS FOR

JUNE AND JULY.

June 10, 11.-Royal Dinner and Ball.— We are not in the habit of describing the splendors of courtly parade and hospitality; but, as a late dinner and ball given by his majesty were of the most pompous description, we are disposed to take cursory notice of them. Thirty-six of the nobility and gentry, chiefly the members of the Turf and Jockey Clubs, were invited to the banqueting-room at St. James' palace, before the commencement of Ascot races. This is a spacious and magnificent apartment: rich gilt framework decorates the sides; the ceiling is equally fine, and five splendid chandeliers are suspended from elegant rosettes. At the upper end is the sideboard, which is of very considerable magnitude; and on the occasion of this dinner it was laden with riches in an extraordinary way. Gold vases, shields, dishes, and jugs of great value and exquisite workmanship, were piled one above another, so that, from the sideboard almost to the roof, the wall was covered with plate. The table was splendidly arranged; the plateaux, vases, and stands, were of gold, the dishes and plates of silver.

When about 250 well-dressed beaux and belles were assembled for the ball, the effect of their appearance, combined with the surrounding ornamental grandeur, was as splendid as even his majesty, whose

taste is admired by all the frequenters of his court, could have desired. Quadrilles formed the chief species of dance, and they were kept up with great spirit, with some intervening waltzes and also a new dance called La Galonade, until one o'clock, when the company began to partake of a rich supper. The dancing was afterwards renewed, and continued until half past four; but the king retired at three.

24. The parliament was prorogued, not by the king in person, but by commission. The speech was not altogether evasive, because it touched upon the chief points in the present concerns of Europe; but it was unsatisfactory, because it left every thing (except the catholic question) unsettled. The announced renewal of diplomatic relations with the Porte promised nothing that could be effectual, unless greater spirit should be manifested than our ministers have shown since the battle of Navarino; and the hint of reconciling conflicting interests in Portugal may sound well, but it "signifies nothing."

The London University.-We are glad to find that this university makes considerable progress in the public estimation. On the termination of its first session, earl Grey presided at a meeting of the professors and students, and distributed the rewards, which consisted, not of money or medals, but of copies of books handsomely bound. The prizes had been awarded according to the merits of answers, in writing, to a series of questions printed for the classes of each professor, and delivered to each student

after he came into the examination room. Several prizes were given in each class, and certificates of honors to all whose answers displayed a certain degree of excellence beyond mediocrity or mere respectability. In the Latin class, the earl of Leicester and five other young men received prizes, and 33 were gratified with certificates of meritorious proficiency. In the Greek class, six were honored with prizes; in the English class only two; in the mathematical branch of study, six; in natural philosophy, two, one of whom was a son of the marquis Palmella. In the law, out of 144 students, only two were deemed worthy of distinction and reward.

July 3.-Intelligence arrived which excited an alarm in our cabinet. The ministry wished that the Russians might be so unsuccessful in the new campaign, as to be induced to agree to moderate terms of peace; but a victory obtained over the grand vizir, who fled from the field in dismay, inflamed the jealousy of the duke of Wellington, who dreads the ambition of the czar, and is shocked at the idea of the ruin of the Turkish power in Europe. It is not, we believe, from a sense of pure humanity, uninfluenced by politics, that his grace is disposed to extinguish the flames of war, for a thoroughpaced warrior has no strong feelings of that kind, but because he apprehends a subversion of the existing balance of power. He therefore continues to remonstrate with Nicholas, and to exhort him to spare the poor inoffensive barbarians, and take by the hand the mild and amiable Mahmoud, who, forsooth, is entitled to pity and protection!

Exhibition of the Royal Academy, third Survey. A melancholy subject is well depicted by Mr. Etty. Hero, the beautiful priestess of Venus, observing from her tower the body of Leander drowned upon the beach, throws herself headlong and dies upon his person. Her head is on his breast, with the face seeking his; one arm is thrown across the body, the hand resting upon his heart, while the other entwines the neck. The long black hair loosely floats over Leander's body. It is a very happy effort, but there are some inaccuracies in the drawing. The right leg of Leander appears too cold and unnatural, and the figure of Hero is too

long. Her feet rest on the bank, which is at a greater distance from the body of the drowned lover than could have actually been the case.

Mr. Clint's abilities appear to great advantage in his picture of Rubens and the philosopher. He exhibits the aged votary of a visionary philosophy with a diagram of a laboratory before him, listening with wonder to the artist, who points to his pallette and easel as the only way he had found of obtaining the most desirable of all metals. At the side of the painter is his lady, smiling at the visionary schemes of the alchemist; and behind her a little boy gives the concluding force to the in

cident, by blowing bubbles with a tobacco pipe, one of which settles over the head of the pretended philosopher. The com position and coloring are good; we observe, in the outlines and attitudes, great accuracy and beauty of drawing: and some drapery, paintings, and landscape, are pleasing accessories, and highly increase the finish of the piece.

Mr. J. W. Wright has manifested great skill in his representation of the chevalier Bayard and his noble hostesses of Brescia. The figure of the gallant knight is finely delineated, and the countenances and positions of the ladies are charming and graceful.

Mr. Witherington's Soldier's Wife is an interesting piece, borrowed, as we believe, from the following anecdote. The late duke of York, returning from a walk, observed a woman in tears sent away from his house. On asking who she was, he was answered, (6 a beggar, some soldier's wife."-" Well," exclaimed his royal highness, "give her immediate relief: what is your mistress but a soldier's wife?"

It

The Battle of Borodino, by Mr. Jones, is an excellent picture of its kind. not only conveys a correct general notion of the horrid scene, but gives such details as we might suppose only the most experienced military men could have devised.

Mr. Webster's Gunpowder Plot is an amusing substitution of the plot of a mischievous boy for the atrocious conspiracy of catholic bigots. It is, in fact, the blowing-up of an old woman's appleroasting apparatus.

An illicit whisky-still in the High lands" cannot be mentioned without praise. A shed is seen, roofed with turf, and goats are browsing on it A stern Highlander, who has returned from the chase, sits on his spoils, and holds an empty glass, while his countenance indicates displeasure toward a little boy near him, and a sweet timid-faced girl, who reclines against a water-butt opposite. By his side are his faithful dogs, and leaning against the side of the shed is a fine figure of an old woman, with large features, holding under her arm a keg of the true spirit, whence the hunter's glass has been filled, and watching with anxiety the stern character of his manly countenance. In the hut is the gloomy attendant on the stills, with a worm in his hand, and in the smoky space appear the VOL. IX.

requisite utensils. The accessories are numerous and well introduced; the drawing upon the whole is very good, and the coloring brilliant and well contrasted.

Mr. Callcot's Fountain is painted with great skill and effect; and his Dutch Ferry is a brilliant sea-view, with groupes happily introduced. Mr. Good's CoastScene is also very natural and correct, and the fishermen have found in him an able representative. A similar scene, by Mr. Collins, is greatly admired.-Mr. Barber's Morning has striking freshness and beauty; and the distant view of Wins chester, by Mr. Copley Fielding, is an elegant piece, in which a shower passing off is admirably represented.

The drawings are very numerous, and some are excellent. One which represents some foreign birds, by A. Pelletier,the delineations of fruit and flowers, by Mrs. Pope, Mrs. D. Dighton, and Madame de Comolera,-different species of cactus, by E. D. Smith,-roses by Miss Cecilia Gandy, and a flower-piece by V. Bartholomew, are executed with great neatness and skill. Madame Robin, in particular, has painted fruit and flowers with great beauty and delicacy, and with the strongest resemblance

to nature.

Among the best architectural designs are those of Mr. Buckler, Mr. II. Parke, Mr. Cockerell, and Mr. P. F. Robinson. Those of Mr. Soane are also specimens of talent; but they would be more worthy of inspection and of praise, if they were more practicable.

In the room appropriated to sculpture, we observe four of Chantrey's productions. His statue of Sir Edward Hyde East is a fine performance—the head, in particular, is executed in a masterly manner. His bust of the marquis of Stafford is likewise admirable, but his classical groupes in bas-relief are rather failures than proofs of excellence. Mr. Westmacott's figures of a Brahmin and a Moulah are well-designed, full of character and sentiment; but his girl with a fawn is more pleasingly tasteful. Mr. Gibson's Cupid is poetically conceived, and the form is elaborately finished. Of the bust of the princess Victoria by Behnes, and Turnerelli's bust of donna Maria da Gloria, we may say, with truth, that the resemblance is as faithful as the workmanship is exquisite.

Cosmorama.-The new views in this 3. D