Epigram.-On a Lady who beat her Husband.

Come hither, Sir John, my picture is here;

What think you, my love, don't it strike you Can't say it does, just at present, my dear,

But I think it soon will, it's so like you.

?

Stanzas on an old blind Horse, in the possession of the Bishop of Dromore.

What though the icy hand of time

Has cool'd thy ardour,, damp'd thy speed,
Yet still thou rear'st thy crest sublime,
Yet still thou stepp'st a comely steed.

Though now those orbs`are quench'd in night,
That sparkled once with youthful fire;
Yet cherish'd by instinctive light,
Thy noble spirit's still entire.

Thy symmetry remains complete,

Still graceful flows thy mantling mane,

Thy taper ears, thy well-set feet,
Their pristine beauty still retain.

That shining skin, so soft and sleek,
That trim tail's fashionable air,
Thy master's kind regard bespeak,
And show his servant's duteous care.

Old Steed! sure 'twas a lucky day

That brought thee first to such a birth;

While others drudge their lives away,
Thine flows in feasting, ease, and mirth.

And could a Poet's wish prevail,

When here thy vital race is run,

Thy form should still through ether sail,
A sprightly courser of the sun.

HAFIZ.

The poor Negro, Sadi.-A Fragment.

Ah! poor Negro, Sadi, what sorrow, what anguish,
Oppress the lone victim fate dooms for a slave;
What eye or what heart o'er those sorrows shall languish,
What finger point out the lone African's grave?

First torn like a wretch from his innocent dwelling,
And torn from Abouka, the wife of his soul;
Then forc'd, while his heart was indignantly swelling,
To bow his proud neck to the despot's control.

Think not, European, though dark his complexion,
Dark, dark, as the hue of the African's fate,
That his mind is devoid of the light of reflection,
And knows not distinctions of love or of hate.

And believe, when you see him in agony bending,
Beneath the vile lash, if he fainting should pause,
That pure are to Heaven his sorrows ascending,

And dear shall you pay for the torture you cause.

Mark! mark! the red blood, that, so eloquent streaming,
Appeals to the Godhead thou sayest is thine!
Mark! mark! the sunk eye, that on Heaven is beaming;
It calls-deep revenge on oppression and crime.
ROSA MATILda.

History of Malta.-The Maltese, though continually subject to different nations, have always preserved their original character: which sufficiently proves their descent, and, at the same time, shews that they have mixed very little with any of the people who have by turns governed their country.

Their countenances announce an African origin,

They are short, strong, plump, with curled hair, flat noses, turned up lips, and the colour of their skins is the same as that of the inhabitants of the States of Barbary; their language is also so nearly the same, that they perfectly understand each other.

It is, perhaps, as much owing to the situation of Malta, as to the different strangers who have visited and conquered the island, that the Maltese have become very industrious, active, faithful, economical, courageous, and the best of sailors in the Mediterranean. But, notwithstanding these good qualities, they still retain some of the defects generally attributed to the Africans; and are mercenary, passionate, jealous, vindictive, and addicted to thieving. They have likewise sometimes recalled the idea of the Punica Fides. They are fantastical and superstitious in the highest degree, but their ignorance does not unfit them for the cultivation of the arts.

The Maltese habit (excepting those of the ecclesiastics, lawyers, and trades-people, who dress in the French style, and are few, compared to the people at large), consists of a large cotton shirt, and a waistcoat likewise very large, with silver, and sometimes gold, buttons; to these are added a caban and cloak reaching rather below the small of the back, and a very long girdle twisted several times round the waist, in which they constantly carry a knife in a sheath: they also wear long and full trowsers, with a sort of shoe called korch; but they do not often make

use of the latter, having almost both legs and feet entirely naked. This kor ch is merely a leathern sole, with strings to fasten it round the leg. They never wear hats, but blue, red, white, or striped caps. People of easy fortune usually carry fans in their hands, and wear blue or green glass spectacles; for such is the excessive heat occasioned by the reverberation of the rays of the sun from the stones, and the white tufa, that, notwithstanding this precaution, there are many blind people; indeed the greatest number have very weak eyes.

The Maltese are remarkably sober; a clove of garlic, or an onion, anchovies dipped in oil, and salt-fish, being their usual diet.

There are no people in the world more attached to their country than the Maltese; and their constant hope is to end their days in what they dignify with the title of Fiore del Monde (The Flower of the World).

The Maltese women are little, and have beautiful hands and feet. They have fine black eyes, though they sometimes appear to squint, owing to their always looking out of the same eye; half of the eye being covered with a sort of veil made of black silk, called faldetta, which they twist out very gracefully, and arrange with much elegance. The women, even of the highest rank, unlike their husbands, constantly preserve their costume; and any one who should adopt the French fashion would make herself very ridiculous. They are extremely fond of gold and sil

ver ornaments, and it is not uncommon to see even the peasants loaded with trinkets of those two metals.

The Maltese either from a wish to imitate the oriental manners, the severity of which they had witnessed in the Arabs, or from the example of the jealous Spaniards, formerly kept their wives in the strictest retirement. The prudent inhabitants of the country constantly repeated to their children," that women should never appear but twice in public; the day they were married, and when they were buried." They were therefore always employed within doors, and never went out, except at a very early hour to church, when they were entirely covered by a long and large mantle. This costume came originally from Sicily, and reached from the feet: the forehead and eyes alone were visible; but the upper part of the mantle was cut in a different manner for unmarried women, the former wearing it round, and -the latter in a pointed form.

Someti:ne afterwards, when the fair sex was allowed a proper degree of liberty, and the desire of pleasing increased with the opportunity of inspiring admiration, the women threw off this heavy garment, which not only kept them concealed, but was extremely unpleasant: they however constantly wore veils, which, they conceived, decency required to be black, and the only colour they could with propriety wear when absent from their own homes.

Marriages in Malta were always entirely