chase;" adding, with emphasis, "I would be content to ruin myself. ANECDOTE OF THE REV. S. WESLEY. MR. WESLEY had a clerk, who believed the rector, his master, to be the greatest man in the parish, if not in the county, and himself to be the next to him in worth and importance. He had the advantage and privilege of wearing out Mr. Wesley's cast-off clothes and wigs, for the latter of which his head was far too small. The rector finding him particularly vain of one of those canonical substitutes for hair which he had lately received, formed the design to mortify him in the presence of that congregation before which John wished to appear in every respect what he thought himself. One morning before church time Mr. W. said," John, I shall preach on a particular subject to-day, and shall choose my own psalm, of which I shall give out the first line, and you shall proceed as usual." John was pleased, and the service went forward as it was wont to do till they came to the singing, when Mr. Wesley gave out the following line : "Like to an owl in ivy-bush." This was sung; and the following line John, peeping out of the large canonical wig in which his head was half lost, gave out with an audible voice and appropriate connecting twang, "That rueful thing am I!" The whole congregation, struck with John's appearance, saw, and felt the similitude, and burst out into laughter. The rector was pleased, for John was mortified, and his self.conceit followed. This is the same man who, when King William returned to London after some of his expeditions, gave out in Hepworth church, Let us sing to the praise and glory of God, a hymn of my own composing : King William has come home, come home, The hymn that's calle Te D'um.' grounds for precedence. First the goes church, then the law. The captain of a volunteer corps takes the pas of the lieutenant; and Mrs. Colonel Pattypan is mortally offended if she is not handed out before Mrs. Major Sturgeon. A mer. chant or a banker looks down with infinite disdain upon the richest member of the Stock Exchange, and expects to go before him; and an attorney claims precedence of a retail tradesman. In ball-rooms it is still worse: red-elbowed misses, and their mammas, fret, and fume, and jostle each other, for their place in the dance; and God help the poor townswoman who has the presumption to mingle among the de majorum gentium of estated and county rank. All this is very laughable when it does not end in duelling and blood. shed; and it forcibly reminds one of the chimney-sweeper, who, when under the gallows, and on the point of undergoing the sentence of the law, being desired by his punctilious partner in calamity to move farther off, replied with an angry "I shan't I've as much right here as you."-Monthly Magazine. DINNERS. IT has been said, perad venture correctly, that England is the land of dulness; a fact which, however true, is yet neutralized by the saving circumstance of its being also the land of dinners. Nothing can be here done without a dinner. It is John Bull's Utopia, or Fairy Land; his "Paradise of dainty devices," where his fancy, feeling, wit, and good-humour keep pace with his appetite, and are, by a logical consequence, exhaustless. Is he low-spirited? he flies instinctively to a consolatory sirloin, or to the first aborigi nal cut of a fillet of veal, (weighing, say eight pounds, exclusive of the skewer and stuffing.) Is he rapt, like master Stephen, in a graceful melancholy? ne bids it evaporate during the process of carving. Is he uninformed on any particular topic? he applies for information to a joint of meat, or a bottle of elderly port, by whose joint assistance he contrives to obtain the requisite edification. In public life, a Clarke's Memoirs of the Wesley Family. good dinner-that is to say, a jollification ETIQUETTE. THERE is no country in Europe where etiquette is more burdensome in society than in England, because vanity and pride are more closely put to their shifts to escape from the equality of republican institutions. A private party cannot sit down to dinner without as much marshalling as at a coronation-feast; and as the great must be imitated at all costs, the unqualified are sometimes puzzled to find made up of what Justice Greedy, with appropriate felicity, would call "the substantials"—is still more immediately serviceable, inspiring alike the poet and the philanthropist, the peer and the peasant, the divine and the diplomatist. It is a sort of 'vantage-ground on which all par ties stand-sit, we should say with equal advantage to themselves and satisfaction to the universe.-Ibid. THE General Infirmary may rank amongst the most important monuments raised to benevolence in the town of Hull. The want of a public hospital for the recovery of the sick and lame poor had for some years been apparent in this place, when a few charitable individuals assembled, in 1781, and opened a subscription for erecting and supporting a house, where the skill of the ablest practitioners might be united to the advantages of pure air, and proper food and medicine in effecting the recovery of the objects of their bounty. A proposal so laudable could not fail to meet with supporters, and a sufficient fund was soon raised to furnish a house for a temporary infirmary, till a suitable and more permanent building could be prepared. This temporary establishment was opened on the 26th of September, 1782. In the mean time a field of two acres, situated within a short distance from the town, on the Beverley road, at the end of the street now called Prospect-street, was purchased at a cost of 5501., and buildings erected upon it, which swelled the amount to 4,1267. The accommodation thus afforded allowed of the reception of 70 in-patients. In the construction of the building great attention was paid to the interior arrange ment, and no hospital in the kingdom has a freer circulation of air, or more complete provision in every respect for the objects of its care. The principles of the establishment are the most liberal and humane; not only are all the distinctions of sect and party disregarded, but locality itself gives no peculiar privileges, and the recommendation of a governor, at all times easily obtained by a proper object, forms a passport into the house, and a claim upon all its healing benefits, as well to the sick natives of the Ganges or the Nile, as to him who drew his first breath upon the Humber, and to none of them is any recommendation necessary when the case does not admit of delay. The building is of brick, ornamented with stone; it is situated on an open and healthy spot, and presents a neat and handsome appearance. The average expenditure of this infirmary is about 1,4007. per annum; and the number of in-patients nearly 300, and out-patients 800, exclusive of the vaccine cases. Since the first opening of the house in 1782, to the 1st of January, 1826, no fewer than 26,848 patients have been admitted, of whom 20,584 have been cured, and 3,187 greatly relieved; and the total number of persons vaccinated here up to January, 1826, was 15,276. Three physicians and three surgeons give their attendance gratis. T. C SS. SPIRIT OF THE Public Journals. SONNET. MARK ye yon rosebud, drooping in the shade, Mingling its notes with sweets that never cloy. Pure beams of loveliness, such may not now O'er widow'd hearts diffuse a brighter sun; When ruin sits enthron'd, whose with ring brow ANTICIPATION. A LETTER. TEN thousand blessings on that man's head who invented letters! and twice twenty more on his head who invented writing. Familiar advantages are generally understood: thus it is with writing; it is such an optional and common thing, that we never pay it the respect of pausing to admire the pleasures and gratification which it imparts. What can be imagined (when we revolve the matter) more delightful than our capability to cheat distance of separation and absence of forgetfulness? What more convenient than to fold up our minds in a sheet of paper, and send them for the inspection of those friends, to whom thousands of intervening miles prevent our personally unfolding it? Letters are our ambassadors: they represent ourselves— aye, and in the noblest way too. Through then we hold a correspondence with the Nabobs of India; we may travel the world by their conveyances; hint to distant uncles the propriety of securing a will; blow up a well-bred scoundrel, and supply our families with jokes sufficient to keep them laughing till our return. The rag-man, the goose, the ink-merchant, the post-office, postman, the mailcoachman, &c., &c., it is true, conspire in our service with these letters themselves, and all deserve a separate meed of praise; but let them wait, I cannot now bestow it. “There is a letter in the candle" for the next week, I anticipate. From whom will it come? from what part of England? what will it contain? good or bad news? -It is impossible for me to answer these questions, and hence my mind will experience a constant jolt between hope and dread. How will the sound of the postman's distant rap thrill all my nerves, and startle up my cogitations! I throw down my book, pull out the small drawer of my writing-desk, unburden my purse of a shilling, approach the window, and strain my sight in vain down the crooked street, to catch a blessed view of the postman's red coat-pshaw! he has left my street for another. By and by comes the town postman, half-splitting my street door with the short duplicate of his thundering memento; full of the idea of the general post, I gently open the door of my study, prick up my ears to hear the servant's approach-she is not coming it seems I give my bell an awakening touch that sets half a dozen more to ac company its chiming ding ding. The domestic drops her spoon in her dripping pan, terrified at the sounds, treads on a kitten's tail as she flies through the door way, gallops up stairs like one of Ducrow's horses, bruises her shins over the coal scuttle on the landing place, and then opening my door with a face writhing like a clown's, moans out" Did you ring, sir ?"_"Where's my letter ?" "Your letter, sir, 'twas the taxgatherer!" Oh! oh! Maddened with disappointment, and still more maddened at my unnecessary anger, I turn round on my chair, mutter "dn the taxgatherer," ferret the hobs with my shoes, and whistle, by way of mockery, at my own caprice," Go to bed, Tom." Has the reader ever realized this, or any thing like it? Happier he if he has not! "It Of course, while anticipating a letter, the eagerness to receive it, increases as the disappointment lengthens. Fancies pile on fancies, and suspicions conjure themselves into a shadowy existence. Perhaps the person from whom you expect it, is dead and buried-drowned or suffocated—or, what you think almost as mortifying, he has forgotten you. is very strange I don't hear from him," is the usual family speech at meal-time. Your sisters, if they are partial to teasing, will not fail to pat you on the shoulder, and say with soft impertinence"Poor boy, he SHALL have a letter;" while your father will lay his knife and fork down very ceremoniously, fix his eyes steadily on your face, and then gravely remark, "I tell you what, Bob, since you are so anxious to have a letter, why not write one to yourself?" How then will his eyes be half-concealed with the merry motion of their lids at this juvenile sally ?-Poor disappointed man, I pity you, for let the would-be stoics prate as they please, "These little things are great to little men.” I can easily imagine you continually listening to the sound of the street door knocker, putting eternal meaningless questions to all the servants, and seizing hold of every bit of paper, that at the room's length appears in the corresponding shape of a letter. With what feverish anxiousness do you await the postman's hours, fancy the clink of each heel on the pavement to be his, and open your sittingroom door at the least sound in the passage! Perhaps you will enjoy "a brown study" for the first hour after breakfast; the second in measuring your room with 66 - Bombastes-like strides and then the =postman's hour is arrived.-Well, you are in your arm-chair, and your watch is this moment making its appearance from your fob" Fifteen minutes past onesurely I have made a mistake-the time must be past." What a dreadful hub bub your bell has created below: I can almost hear it dinging in my ear: but here's the footman- "Pray, Thomas, is the postman gone by yet ?""The postman!" replies Thomas, with a stare."Yes, the postman." You growl in a lion-rage. Is the postman gone by, I say?" Thomas stares still more widely; then answers with a soft voice, mingling E anger at your anger, with triumph at your disappointment--" This hour ago, sir!" Now, my dear sir, after this excruciating endurance, if I were by you, I should recommend a cold bath, if it were summer, or a walk in your garden at any time of the year.--Woe be to dog or cat that you meet as you descend your stairs! 66 This continuance of "the hope defer. ed," which maketh the "heart sick," will perhaps last a few days longer. At last, on a certain day, after you have walked the streets in a demi-sulky gloomi. ness of thought, and flung envious glances at every letter you behold in a casual stranger's hand, you will return home little improved in temper-knock impatiently at the door-Thomas is shaving in his garret-knock harder-here he is, quite out of breath, and his eyes anticipating your anticipation:-"There's a letter for you, sir, up stairs." Yes, I can see you plain enough; the letter is come at last, and now, as you walk with attempted composure up stairs, you feel an approaching shame for betraying such anxiety for a letter. Thus you determine not to evince much perturbating delight in the presence of your family. That's right-you shut the door with much philosophical composure. What! even your gloves off, and no demand for the letter! Why, if I were there, I should read it with my hat on.-Oh, now I hear you, with some trepidation, say, "Anne, where's my letter?" "Your letter, Bob! Oh, by the by, there is one for you. The servant took it in: I have it not." Poor sufferer! you will lose your letter, now, if not very scrutinous. After a half-an-hour's search in every corner of your domain, your temper begins to rise, and with somewhat tumid cheeks, you persist in telling your said sister, that you are certain she has your letter: with one sweep you unload the table of all her silks, ruffles, and serpent-winding ribbons; in performing this angry opera tion, you fortunately upset her work-box, and there, under its pressure, has calmly slumbered your epistle!! "Tush," you will remark-" tush." And there you are, seated on your sofa, with your back shaped into an inclined plane, your eyebrows fitfully knitting and relaxing, and your fidgetty fingers puzzled with the seal. Stili methinks you are disappoint. ed with the hand-writing; however, the letter is opened-your mother has laid aside her spectacles, hoping to hear its contents-your playful sister's needle is stuck contentedly in her muslin, and she too hopes to know its contents." No good news, I fear: let me see-A bill, as I am a sinful descendant of Adam :Robert Imagination, Esq. To Timothy Wellfit. For three pair of Wellington Boots £. s. d. 600 120 0 10 6 £7 12 6 Timothy Wellfit having a bill to make up early next week, will feel obliged to Mr. Imagination by an immediate settlemeut. And so this is the letter!!-What a consummation to all your far-travelled dreams and fancies!! Don't think me hard-hearted. Really, if I were by, I should laugh, or do as Esop's frog did. Pray do not bite your lips for rage. I inclined to join with me. see your sister, yonder, is provokingly Your bewil dered mother has taken her spectacles again; and the best recipe I can propose for you is, to retire to your study, bury yourself in that comfortable morninggown, lolling on a chair's back, and read Boaden's Life of Mrs. Siddons, or Southey's Tales of Paraguay-and a quiet sleep will infallibly be the result. Need I describe the anticipation of a love-letter? The lover's restlessness, hope the window-vigilant eye, the oft repeated question, the everlasting lookout, and more eternal pull at the watchchain? I have only time to remark, that when a lover is anticipating a letter from his mistress, pens, ink, and paper begin then to be duly estimated; the post-office is a mundane Elysium, and the postman a perfect male-houri !—Ibid. ON HEARING THE ROAR OF THE SEA AT NIGHT. VOICE of the mighty deep, Piercing the drowsy night, Thou scarest the gentle sleep, Whose pinions will not light Where thou intrudest busy thought, With depths dark as thy secrets fraught. Thy mystic sounds I hear, The hollow music rings, Its notes borne wild around the world, Oh, no, I cannot sleep, Thou vast and glorious sea! While thou dost thus the vigil keep Of thy great inajesty, I think God's image near me is, Thou art a spirit, Ocean, thou ' Giant of earth and air, Spanning the universe; and now, Thy arm that shakes me here Thunders upon the shore Of North, and South, and central sphere, From flaming Equinox to frigid Pole, Engulphing mountains at a sweep Or raising islands from the deep Or murmuring sweet round Scian isles, 'Tis midnight !-earth and air Are hush'd in lair and nestThy energy from thy long birth Hath never needed rest: Thou dost not tire-thou feel'st not toil,- Why dost thou thunder so? What in thy deeps profound, Thus as a strong man with his foe, Gives out that angry sound On earth no foe can ever be, Age thou hast never known Thou shalt be young and free, I will not grudge my sleep Upon thine own vast shore, The Selector, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF MANNERS OF THE TURCOMANS THEIR Women, who are in general fair, uddy, and handsome, neither disfigure themselves by blue stains, nor veil them. selves, after the manner of the Arabs. The jealousy of the men, regarding their honour, is, however, still stronger. Mr. Mayseyk, who, should be added, is a Dutch merchant of the highest respectability, and has resided at Aleppo for forty years, and made journeys through every part of the surrounding country, told me an instance in proof of this, which I should scarcely have believed, if I had not heard it from his own mouth. Two young persons of the same tribe loved each other, and were betrothed in marriage; their passion was open and avowed, and known to all their friends, who had consented to their union, and even fixed the period for its celebration. It happened, one evening, that they met, accidentally, alone, but in sight of al! the tents: they stopped a moment to speak to each other; and were on the point of passing on, when the brothers of the girl perceiving it, rushed out, with arms in their hands, to avenge their disgrace. The young man took to flight, and escaped with a musket wound; but the poor girl received five balls in her body, besides being mangled by the daggers of her own brothers, who had aimed to plunge them in her heart; and, when she fell, they abandoned her carcass to the dogs! The young man gained the tent of a powerful friend, the chief of another tribe, encamped near them, and told his story; begging that he would assist him with a troop of horse, to enable him to rescue the body of his love from its present degradation. He went, accompanied by some of his own people, and found life still remaining. He then repaired to the tent of her enraged brothers, and asked them why they had done this? They replied, that they could not suffer their sister to survive the loss of her honour, which had been stained by her stopping to talk with her intended husband, on the public road, before her marriage. The lover demanded her body for burial; when her brothers, suspecting the motive, exclaimed, "What, is she not yet lifeless ?-then we will finish this work of death;" and were rushing out to execute their purpose, when the youth caused the troop of horsemen, sent to aid his purpose, to appear, and threatened instant death to him who should first stir to interrupt his design. The young girl was conveyed to his tent, and, after a series of kind attentions, slowly recovered. During her illness, the distracted lover, now expelled from his own tribe, came, under cover of the night, to see her; and, weeping over her wounds, continually regretted that he had been so |