splendid coffin with deep awe, and thought | But the reproach comes with an ill grace

from England. When we can forget Butler's fate-Otway's loaf—Dryden's old age, and Chatterton's poison-cup, we may think that we stand alone in the iniquity of neglecting pre-eminent genius. I found myself at the brink of the poet's grave, into which he was about to descend for everthere was a pause amoung the mourners as if loath to part with his remains; and when he was at last lowered, and the first shovel

of the gifted spirit which had lately animated the cold remains, others regarded the whole as a pageant or a show, got up for the amusement of the idle and the careless, and criticised the arrangements in the spirit of those who wish to be rewarded for their time, and who consider that all they condescend to visit should be according to their own taste. There was a crushing, a trampling, and an impatience, as rude and as fierce as ever I witnessed at the theatre;ful of earth sounded on his coffin-lid, I lookand words of incivility were bandied about, and questions asked with such determination to be answered, that the very mutes, whose business was silence and repose, were obliged to interfere with tongue and hand between the visitors and the dust of the poet. In contemplation of such a scene, some of the trappings which were there on the first day were removed on the second, and this suspicion of the good sense and decorum of the multitude called forth many expressions of displeasure, as remarkable for their warmth as their propriety of language. By five o'clock the people were all ejected-man and woman—and the rich coffin bore tokens of the touch of hundreds of eager fingers-many of which had not been overclean.

ed up and saw tears on many cheeks where tears were not usual. The volunteers justified the fears of their comrade by three ragged and straggling volleys. The earth was heaped up, the green sod laid over him, and the multitude stood gazing on the grave for some minutes' space, and then melted silently away. The day was a fine one, the sun almost without a cloud, and not a drop of rain fell from dawn to twilight. I notice this-not from my concurrence in the common superstition-that "happy is the corpse which the rain rains on," but to confute a pious fraud of a religious Magazine, which made Heaven express its wrath at the interment of a profane poet, in thunder, in lightning, and in rain. I know not who wrote the story, and I wish not to know; but its utter falsehood thousands can attest. It is one proof out of many. how divine wrath is found by dishonest zeal in a common commotion of the elements, and that men, whose profession is godliness and truth, will look in the face of heaven and tell a deliberate lie.

The multitude who accompanied Burns to the grave went step by step with the chief mourners; they might amount to ten or twelve thousand. Not a word was heard; and, though all could not be near, and many could not see, when the earth closed on their darling poet for ever, there was no rude impatience shown, no fierce disappointment A few select friends and admirers followexpressed. It was an impressive and ed Lord Byron to the grave—his coronet mournful sight to see men of all ranks and was borne before him,and there were many persuasions and opinions mingling as bro-indications of his rank; but, save the asthers, and stepping side by side down the sembled multitude, no indications of his gestreets of Dumfries, with the remains of nius. In conformity to a singular practice him who had sang of their loves and joys of the great, a long train of their empty and domestic endearments, with a truth carriages followed the mourning coachesand tenderness which none perhaps have mocking the dead with idle state, and impesince equalled. I could, indeed, have wish-ding the honester sympathy of the crowd ed the military part of the procession away with barren pageantry. Where were the --for he was buried with military honours-owners of those machines of sloth and luxbecause I am one of those who love simpli-ury-where were the men of rank among city in all that regards genius. The scarlet whose dark pedigrees Lord Byron threw and gold-the banners displayed-the mea- the light of his genius, and lent the brows sured step, and the military array, with the sound of martial instruments of music, had no share in increasing the solemnity of the burial scene; and had no connexion with the poet. I looked on it then, and I consider it now, as an idle ostentation, a piece of superfluous state which might have been spared, more especially as his neglected and traduced and insulted spirit had experienced no kindness in the body from those lofty people who are now proud of being numbered as his coevals and countrymen. His fate has been a reproach to Scotland.

of nobility a halo to which they were strangers? Where were the great Whigs? Where were the illustrious Tories? Could a mere difference in matters of human belief keep those fastidious persons away? But, above all, where were the friends with whom wedlock had united him? On his desolate corpse no wife looked, and no child shed a tear. I have no wish to set myself up as a judge in domestic infelicities, and I am willing to believe they were separated in such a way as rendered conciliation hopeless; but who could stand and look on his

4 The three indispensibilities of poetical language-purity, copiousness, and ease. 5. Three things that ought to be well understood in Poetry-the great, the little, and their correspondencies.

pale manly face, and his dark locks which early sorrows were making thin and gray, without feeling that, gifted as he was, with a soul above the mark of other men, his domestic misfortunes called for our pity as surely as his genius called for our admira- 6. Three things to be avoided in poetrytion. When the career of Burns was clo- the mean, the obscure, and the extravagant. sed, I saw another sight-a weeping widow 7. Three things to be chiefly considered and four helpless sons; they came into the in poetical illustration--what shall be obstreets in their mournings, and public sym-viously seen, what shall be instantly adpathy was awakened afresh; I shall never mired, and what shall be eminently characforget the looks of his boys, and the com- teristic. passion which they excited. The poet's life had not been without errors, and such errors, too, as a wife is slow in forgiving; but he was honoured then, and is honoured now, by the unalienable affection of his wife, and the world repays her prudence and her love by its regard and esteem.

Burns, with all his errors in faith and in practice, was laid in hallowed earth, in the churchyard of the town where he resided; no one thought of closing the church gates against his body, because of the freedom of his poetry, and the carelessness of his life. And why was not Byron laid among the illustrious men of England, in Westminster Abbey? Is there a poet in all the Poet's Corner who has better right to that distinction? Why was the door closed against him, and opened to the carcasses of thousands without merit, and without name? Look round the walls, and on the floor over which you tread, and behold them encumbered and inscribed with memorials of the mean and the sordid and the impure, as well as of the virtuous and the great. Why did the Dean of Westminster refuse admission to such an heir of fame as Byron? If he had no claim to lie within the consecrated precincts of the Abbey, he has no right to lie in consecrated ground at all. There is no doubt that the pious fee for sepulture would have been paid and it is not a small one. Hail! to the Church of England, if her piety is stronger than her avarice.

LITERARY VARIETY.

Poetical Triads.-Mr. Owen Pugh, the Welsh bard, being called upon for his opinion of the requisites of a Poet, wrote on the spot the following parody on his Bardic Triads :

1. The three primary requisites of poetical genius:-An eye that can see nature: a heart that can feel nature: and a resolution that dares follow nature.

2. The three final intentions of poetry.-Increase of goodness, increase of understanding, and increase of delight.

3. The three properties of a just imagination-what may be, what ought to be, and what seemingly is to be.

8. The three dignities of poetry-the true and wonderful united, the union of the beautiful and the wise, and the union of art and nature.

9. The three advantages of poetry-the praise of goodness, the memory of what is remarkable, and the invigoration of the affections.

10. The three purities of poetry-pure truth, pure language, and pure conception.

11. Three things that poetry should thoroughly be-thoroughly learned, thoroughly animated, and thoroughly natural

'Genius,' says Buffon, 'is Patience;' or, (as another French writer has explained his thought,) 'La Patience, cherche et le Génie trouve;' and there is little doubt, that to the co-operation of these two powers all the brightest inventions in this world are owing;--that Patience must first explore the depths where the pearl lies hid, before Genius boldly dives, and brings it up full into light. There are, it is true, some striking exceptions to this rule, and our own times have witnessed more than one extraordinary intellect, whose depth has not prevented their treasures from lying ever ready within reach. But the records of Immortali ty furnish few such instances; and all we know of the works that she has hitherto marked with her seal, sufficiently authorizes the general position, that nothing great and durable has ever been produced with ease; and that labour is the parent of all the lasting wonders of this world, whether in verse or stone, whether in poetry or pyramids."

Perhaps no incident, in the fortunes of men, occasions a more painful contrast of feeling than the tamed and subjected state of mind with which an adventurer revisits the scenes of his youth, whether his career has been prosperous or unfortunate; for among all the truths which experience teaches, there is none more manifest than this, that mankind universally set out in life with a false estimate of that world into which they are entering. This is so apparent, that even the most inattentive observe it; and those who are least in the practice of moralizing, cannot help sometimes making it the subject of their remarks. Every man, however

Simon De Colines and Francis Stephens were the next proprietors of the Stephanine press. The device of the latter was an altar with a closed book laid upon it, surmounted by a tripod vase, holding a vine-branch with fruit. On the base of the altar is written 11λsov hai divs, with a Latin translation as above-Plus olei quam vini.

The device of Simon De Colines was a

his station, who has encountered the shock the world the edition of the Stephanine and contention of active life, must be sensi- Classics, was born in 1470. His device was ble that he now views mankind, and their a rude upright wood-cut of a tree, putting condition, in a very different light from that out leaves, flowers, and fruit, under the inin which he once saw them; and, however fluence of rain, snow, and hail; which are unable he may be at first to describe to him- represented as falling from the clouds,fand self the nature of the change, he feels that it having their names in Latin, in rude Roman is real and important, and knows thas it is ieters, placed beside them. the result of his experience. Let him examine himself more closely, and he will find it to be this, he has discovered the world to be a much more serious, trying, and difficult scene; and those who live in it, a more severe, rigorous and unfriendly set of beings than he was previously aware of, or could have at all imagined. This ungrateful lesson is indeed gradually learned, and seldom without a degree of indignant surprise, and a painful revulsion of former feelings.figure of Time, formed like a Satyr, moving The ingenuous mind of youth struggles long on the summit of a broad pedestal, above with the unwelcome information; which are shewn flowers and grass cut down. admits it slowly and unwillingly; and often Behind the figure is the word "Tempus," wholly rejects it as false, before it finally and upon the pedestal is the motto "Virtus adopts it as too certain to be any longer sola aciem retundit istam." doubted. There is, indeed, something in the situation of a young man, who has just taken upon himself the direction of his actions, we had almost said hard, if any thing could be justly called so which is the necessary result of the natural constitution of man and of society, The contrast betwixt his confidence and his inexperience, his security and his danger, is striking and affecting. Accustomed to be guided and directed in all things by the judgment of his parents; to receive from their hands the supply of his wants, and to fly to their affectionate bosoms for refuge and consolation in his little distresses: to suffer only a slight and unwilling chastisement for his most serious offences, and to be immediately restored to more than After the defeat at Solway Moss, King former favour-he cannot for a long time James the Fifth, struck with mortification, conceive the vast weight of responsibility shut himself up in the palace of Falkland which he takes upon himself by becoming his bed of sickness, the news of the birth of and was seized by fever. While he was on his own master; nor convince himself of the hard necessity that rules in the world. a daughter (the unfortunate Mary) was Habituated from his earliest years to conbrought to him. "Whereupon," says Sir nect safety and protection with the attach-James Balfour, "the King turns himself to ment of his friends, he is unable to disjoin the wall, and with a grievous groan says, ideas so firmly linked together, and, with Scotland did come with a lass, and it will the liberty of a man, continues to act with go with one-devil go with it,' and so, withthe unthinking security of a child; not re-out any more words to a purpose, departs flecting that every man is constituted by nature his own sole protector, and can have no other safe-guard than his individual firmness and prudence, nor observing, what he may one day feel, that in all the most essential points of buman interest, he stands as much alone, as entirely separated from all effectual support, as the most friendless and destitute

of mankind.

DEVICES.

Henry Stephens, (Henri Etienne) the founder of the learned family which gave to

Robert Stephens, the second son of Henry, used the following devices:-First, a fruit tree, with a branch broken and falling to the ground, with this motto printed beside it, "Noli altum sapere sed time." The second was a similar tree, with three engrafted branches, and an old man in the garb of a philosopher standing on the right of it, and pointing upwards to the motto,-" Noli altum supere," which is placed between his head and the tree: of this there are variations. The third device consisted of a serpent twined round a lance, with an olive branch curled in the same direction, so as to fall betwixt the folds.

this life."

Longevity. It is remarkable that some familes are favoured with the peculiar privileges of longevity: while others soon ripen and prematurely decay. Those whose minds and bodies evolve slowly, are oftener long lived than those who astonish us by an early vigor, and energetic spirit. Early and astonishing acquisitions of very young men, in different arts and sciences, seldom lead to acknowledged excellencies in more advanced age. Sanguine temperaments are said to be generally longer lived than the bilious

COPY OF A PETITION

Governor General Hastings, in behalf of her husband, whom the Governor had sentenced to death.

or melancholic; but this leans upon a dreadful theory. Very tall, or very short people, From the Princess ALI CHAN, in the East-Indies, to seldom it is said, reach to a great age: but a person rather short than tall, rather thin than fat, muscular, firm, and with a full chest, has apparently the fairest claim to longevity. An active life with little uneasiness, a dry, free air, early hours, a mind regularly engaged but not exhausted, a cheerful disposition, frequent changes from country to town, a diet, regular rather in time than in quantity, with moderate passions, and a temperate use of the good things of life, chiefly contribute to an extended, healthy, old age.-Med. Intel.

Most Mighty Sir-May the blessings of thy God ever wait on thee. May the sun of glory shine round thy head; and may the gates of plenty, honour, and happiness, be always open unto thee and thine. May no sorrow distress thy days, may no grief disturb thy nights, may the pillows of peace kiss thy cheeks, and the pleasures of imagination attend thy dreams; and when length of years makes thee tired of earthly things, and the curtain of death gently closes the last sleep of existence, may the angels of God attend thy bed, and take care that the expiring lamp oflife shall not receive one rude blast to hasten its departure. O hearken then to the voice of distress, and grant the petition of thy servant. Spare,

Poets. It is not generally supposed that Poets are fit men of business for the practical affairs of the world. The poets of the olden time, however, were much entrusted with bustling employments, Edward III. made Chaucer comptroller of the customs spare the father of my children, my husfor wool, wool-fells, and hides; and in the band, my all that is dear. Consider, O grant was a proviso, " that he should perso- Mighty Sir! that he did not become rich by nally execute the office, and keep the ac-inheritance of a long line of flourishing aniniquity, and that what he possessed was the counts with his own hands." He is represented to have discharged the duty with great vigilance, diligence, and integrity. The King was so well satisfied with the poet's habits as a man of business, that he gave him a grant of a pitcher of wine daily in the port of London, to be delivered by the butler of England.

THE DON COSSACKS.

cestors, who, in those smiling days, when the

thunder of Great Britain was not heard on the plains of Indostan, reaped their harvest in quiet, enjoyed their patrimony unmolested. Think, O think that the God whom thou worshippest delights not in the blood of the innocent. Remember thine own commandment:-Thou shalt not kill, and obey the orders of heaven. Give me back my Almas Ali-Chan, and take all our The Kosaks of the Don, as well as other wealth, strip us of our jewels and precious tribes of Kosaks, may be reckoned to form a stones, of our gold and our silver, but take kind of military colonies, and perhaps gave not away the life of my husband. Innothe idea of the present system of military co-cence is seated on his brow, and the milk of lonization which is carrying on in the south human kindness flows around his heart. of Russia. They are a pastoral and mili- Let us go wandering through the deserts, tary people, who, besides guarding their let us become tillers and labourers in those own territories, are scattered over va- delightful spots, in which we once were rious parts of the empire, and especi-lords and masters, but spare! O spare, ally where a mixed civil and military duty is required, as about the public institutions, prisons, custom-houses, barriers, &c., of the capitals and towns. They also form piquets and guards in the Caucasus and Georgia.

Many contradictory accounts have been given as to the courage and utility of the Kosaks. By some they have been described as formidable warriors, by others as miserable cavalry. They seem to be well fitted for guarding the frontiers of an enemy, their vigilance and activity being beyond all question. But it is generally believed that they cannot stand a charge of infantry, nor even resist that of cavalry. The Russian officers in the Caucasus will seldom entrusts themselves entirely to the protection of the Kosaks in passing any dangerous defile, while they have no fear in doing so when guarded by a few Russian infantry.

Mighty Sir, his life. Let not the instrument of death be lifted up against him, for he has committed no crime. Accept our treasures with gratitude, thou hast them at present by force. We will remember thee in our prayers, and forget them. My children beseech for the author of their existence, by that humanity which we have been told glows in the breast of European loveliness, by the tender mercies of the enlightened souls of Englishmen, by the honour, the virtue, the honesty, and the maternal feeling so dear to her, the miserable wife of this prisoner, who beseeches thee to save her husband's life, and restore him to her arms. Thy God will reward thee, thy country will thank thee, and she, now petitioning, will ever pray for thee, if thou grantest the prayers of thy most humble vassal.

ALMAS ALI CHAN.