* * * * *
_Toast of a Scotch Peer_.--Lord K--, dining at Provost S--'s, and being
the only peer present, one of the company gave a toast, "The Duke of
Buccleugh." So the peerage went round till it came to Lord K--, who said
he would give them a peer, which, although not toasted, was of more use
than the whole. His lordship gave "The Pier of Leith."--_Chambers's
Edin. Jour._
Caroline, Queen of George II. amused herself by reading Butler's
_Analogy of Religion to Human Nature_; a book which Hoadley, Bishop of
Winchester, said always gave him the head-ache, if he only looked into
it.
After George II. had ceased to visit the theatres, Macklin's farce of
_Love A-la-mode_ having been acted with much applause, he sent for the
manuscript, and had it read over to him by a sedate old Hanoverian
gentleman, who being but little acquainted with English, spent eleven
weeks in puzzling out the author's meaning!
_Ships_.--During the early part of the last century, as has been
remarked, almost all the towns of England were on the water (in the
navy.) Of the few persons who have been so highly esteemed as to have
their names given to men of war, are Dr. Franklin and Joan of Arc, who
were thus honoured by the French. In the English navy, the ships the
Royal George have been singularly unfortunate. The Great Harry also was
burnt in the reign of Queen Mary.
_Personal Ornament_.--The city of Kano, the great emporium of the
kingdom of Houssa, in Africa, is celebrated for the art of dyeing cotton
cloth, which is afterwards beaten with wooden mallets until it acquires
a japan gloss. The women dye their hair with indigo, and also their
hands, feet, legs, and eyebrows. Their legs and arms thus painted, look
as if covered with dark blue gloves and boots. Both men and women colour
their teeth a blood-red, which is esteemed a great ornament. T. GILL.
_A "Manager."_--Colley Cibber gives the following spirited description
of a famous theatrical manager in his day; "That he was as sly a tyrant
as ever was at the head of a theatre, for he gave the actors more
liberty, and fewer day's pay than any of his predecessors; he would
laugh with them over a bottle, and trick them in their bargains; he kept
them poor, that they might not be able to rebel; and sometimes merry,
that they might not think of it"
_Newton's Weather Wisdom_.--Sir Isaac Newton was once riding over
Salisbury Plain, when a boy, keeping sheep, called to him--"Sir, you had
better make haste on, or you will get a wet jacket." Newton looking
round and observing neither clouds nor speck on the horizon, jogged on,
taking very little notice of the rustic's information. He had made but a
few miles, when a storm suddenly arising, wetted him to the skin.
Surprised at the circumstance, and determined, if possible, to ascertain
how an ignorant boy had attained a precision and knowledge in the
weather, of which the wisest philosophers would be proud, he rode back,
wet as he was. "My lad," said Newton, "I'll give thee a guinea if thou
wilt tell me how thou canst foretell the weather so truly." "Will ye,
sir? I will then," said the boy, scratching his head, and holding out
his hand for the guinea. "Now, sir," having received the money, and
pointing to his sheep, "when you see that black ram turn his tail
towards the wind, 'tis a sure sign of rain within an hour." "What,"
exclaimed the philosopher, "must I, in order to foretell the weather,
stay here, and watch which way that black ram turns his tail?" "Yes,
sir," replied the boy. Off rode Newton, quite satisfied with his
discovery, but not much inclined to avail himself of it, or to recommend
it to others. W.G.C.
_Primitive Lamp_.--The inhabitants of the Landes, in the south of
France, being cut off from the rest of the world, have it not in their
power, except when once or twice a year they travel to the nearest towns
with their wool, to purchase candles; and as they have no notion how
these can be made, they substitute in their place a lamp fed with the
turpentine extracted from the fir-trees. The whole process is simple and
primitive. To obtain the turpentine, they cut a hole in the tree, and
fasten a dish in it to catch the sap as it oozes through, and as soon as
the dish is filled, they put a wick of cotton into the midst of the
liquor, and burn it as we do a lamp. W.G.C.
_Turning the Back_.--In this and all countries of Europe, to turn the
back upon persons of rank or in authority, is considered highly
improper; a striking instance of which may be seen in the mode in which
messengers from the Lords retreat along the floor of the House of
Commons. In the interior of Africa it is quite otherwise. There the
court assemble round the sovereign invariably with their backs to him.
T. GILL.
A gentleman having frequently reproved his servant, an Irish girl, for
boiling eggs too hard, requested her in future, to boil them only three
minutes by the clock. "Sure, sir," replied the girl, "how shall I do
that, for your honour knows the clock is always a quarter of an hour too
fast." W.G.C.
_Unhappy Fate of Camoens_.--Camoens the celebrated Portuguese poet, was
shipwrecked at the mouth of the river Meco, on the coast of Camboja, and
lost his whole property; but through the assistance of his black
servant, he saved his life and his poems, which he bore through the
waves in one hand,[4] whilst he swam ashore with the other: his black
servant begged in the streets of Lisbon for the support of his master,
who died in 1579. It is said that his death was accelerated by the
anguish with which he foresaw the ruin impending over his country. In
one of his letters (says his biographer) he uses these remarkable
expressions: "I am ending the course of my life; the world will witness
how I have loved my country. I have returned not only to die in her
bosom, but to die with her." He was buried as obscurely as he had closed
his life, in St. Anne's Church, and the following epitaph was inscribed
over his grave:--
"Here lies Lewis de Camoens,
Prince of the Poets of his time.
He lived poor and miserable, and died
such, Anno Domini, 1579."