Mr. Crawfurd, in his recent Mission to _Hue_, wished to visit the
mausoleum of the late king; "but," says he, "we were politely informed
that the king was always reluctant to permit the visits of strangers,
whose presence," he said, "might 'trouble the repose of the spirits of
his ancestors.'"
Dine with a march-of-intellect man, and only observe the downcast eyes
of his pale-faced, trembling wife--the knit brows of his sullen
sons--the sulky sorrows of his joy-denied daughters. All that comes of
your hard-hearted, hard-headed, music-painting-and-poetry-despising,
utilitarian, intellectual, all-in-all educationists, who know nothing so
admirable as a steam-engine, and would wish to see the whole world
worked by machinery.
"FASHIONABLE" NOVELS.
Here is a specimen of the _slip-slop_ with which so many thousand reams
of paper have lately been spoiled. "Tea was announced, and the ladies
adjourned to the saloon; Lady Harriet and Lady Charlotte, discussing, as
they went in together, the difficult question, whether it was or was not
an improvement in modern arrangements to have tea _en-buffet_. One of
its advantages the ladies were perfectly aware of, namely, that it
afforded a _point de reunir_, for both beaux and belles, which is always
so much wanted before the music begins; and calculating on this
important circumstance, Lady Charlotte possessed herself of the chair
which was the most accessible of the whole group. Miss Mortimer, with
equal foresight, stationed herself at the fire:--"Good generalship,"
whispered Lady Hauteville to the duchess, as the two experienced matrons
communicated together _sur les petites ruses_, which the actors fancied
were unperceived, &c."
Dr. Walsh, in his _Journey from Constantinople_, describes a species of
woodpecker, about the size of a thrush, of a light, blue colour, with
black marks beside the bill. "It entered my room," says he, "with all
the familiarity of an old friend, hopped on the table, and picked up
the crumbs and flies. It had belonged to the doctor's child, just
buried, and by a singular instinct, left the house of the dead, and
flew into my room. Its habits were curious, and so familiar, that they
were quite attractive; it climbed up the wall by any stick or cord near
it, devouring flies. It sometimes began at my foot, and at one race,
ran up my leg, arm, round my neck, down my other arm, and so to the
table. It there tapped with its bill with a noise as loud as a hammer.
This was its general habit on the wood in every part of the room; when
it did so, it would look intently at the place, and dart at any fly or
insect it saw running. Writers on Natural History say it makes this
noise to disturb the insects concealed within, so to seize them when
they appear."
At Brussels apartments are not to be procured for a shorter term than
six months.
In the prison at Ghent, spirits are sold, but pens and paper cannot be
obtained without a special application to the governor.
Mr. Brande, in his recent Lecture on Vegetable Chemistry, says, "Salt
has been very much extolled for a manure; I believe that a great deal
more has been said of it than it deserves; it certainly destroys
insects, but I do not believe what has been said of its value. We are
not to infer that because a manure is found to be useful on one soil in
a certain climate, that it shall prove equally useful in others;
experience must direct us in this particular."