ally commenced a museum upon glean- complete an Retrospective Gleanings What shall now snow you the best of it. As a naturalist, I am tempted to air and exercise, and possess in consequence robust health. Look at these beautiful shells; those snails are necessary to complete an order in my cabinet. Here are some cases of insects; perhaps you are not aware that entomologists value a complete set of our British ones only, at above five hundred pounds. My birds will speak for themselves; but some of my rarest plants have been collected where the poet and the painter, in their refinement of soul, would never have ventured. A larger field is opened for my profit and delight than for theirs, since both are yielded me from the barren heath and mountain, the stone wall, the chalk and the gravel-pit, the decaying tree, and the green dank pool. I cannot walk without being interested in something, from the skies above me to the pebbles under my feet; and is not this charming for one whose profession obliges him to reside constantly in the country?" Of course I assented; at the same time offering, if he would allow me a room in his house for my chemical operations, to blow him up in my search for the philosopher's stone. My good-natured uncle smiled. "That stone," said he, "I have found. is it but the art of happiness? the power of transmuting into purest gold things trivial and even base; and each and every man does or might possess it. Yes, my dear M-, that which gilds life, sweetens the bitter portion of it, softens the harsh, and brightens the dark, is the truest, best, and only philosopher's stone. So now you may spread these sea-weeds if you please, or even arrange my study; though, by the bye, it is now just the thing for a painter, and you might copy a worse subject." So saying, my worthy uncle marched off, carrying away with him basin, plate, and snails, and I went to work with alacrity upon the sea-weeds, plainly perceiving that the arrangement of them was a less hopeless task than that of putting in order a philosopher's study; besides, my uncle was accustomed to its present appearance; his dearest associations, perhaps, depended upon it; and I considered the slightest alteration in the disposition of its contents would be absolutely disarranging what had meaning and connexion in their very disorder. In conclusion, I shall merely state, that on an inspection of my relative's museum, where shells, birds, minerals, fossils, insects, reptiles, botanical specimens, and various zoophytes were arranged and ticketed in scientific order, I was very near pursuing the same line of instructive amusement with himself, and have actu PSALM CXXXVII. On the proud banks of great Euphrates' flood, Our harps that now no music understood, While unhappy captive we, Lovely Sion! thought ou thee. They, they that snatch'd us from our country's breast Would have a song carv'd to their ears, Sing play! to whom, ah! shall we play, Ah thee Jerusalem! ah! sooner may Of music's dainty touch, than I Which when I lose, O may at once my tongue On my dry pallat's roof to rest No, no, thy good, Sion, alone must crown The head of all my hope-nurst joys! But, Edom, cruel thou! thou cry'dst down, down, Sink Sion; down and never rise Her falling thou didst urge and thrust, And haste to dash her into dust! Dost laugh? proud Babel's daughter! do, laugh on, 'Till thy ruin teach thee tears, Even such as these; laugh till a venging throng Laugh till thy children's bleeding bones NATURAL EOLIAN LYRE. (For the Mirror.) NEAR Tryberg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, there is a chasm in a mountain, not only remarkable for the romantic nature of the scene, but from the extraor dinary sounds which issue from it. The latter peculiarity was first observed at the end of the 17th century by some soldiers on the adjoining heights, who heard melodious tones resounding from the tops of some fir-trees, which grow beside a waterfall in a neighbouring wood. The current of air ascending and descending through the chasms receive a counter impulse from an abrupt angle of rock, and acting on the tops of the trees and shrubs, forms a natural Eolian harp, the tones of which are accompanied by the neighbouring waterfall. The religious spirit which was prevailing at that peculiar time, led the soldiers to regard the phenomena as the result of supernatural agency. On approaching to the spot whence the music issued, they found affixed to the tallest of a group of fir-trees, a wooden image of the Virgin Mary holding an infant Jesus in her arms. This image was fixed up in the year 1680, by Fred. Schwab, a citizen of Tryberg, as a memorial of his having been cured of leprosy by the water of the mountain-spring. The soldiers, however, conjectured that the image had been brought thither by angels, and that the ærial music which had attracted them to the spot was the celestial choir in praise of God, (the mother of.) They placed a tin capsule over the image, and inscribed it with these words-Sancta Maria, patrona militum, ora pro nobis. Near the image was placed a box, for the reception of offerings, which soon became sufficiently numerous to defray the expense of erecting a wooden chapel on the spot. H. W. DEWHURST. SONNET. MY LANDLADY'S NOSE. (For the Mirror. HAVE you not seen a full-blown, deep, red rose, first was a select council, to which none but those the king had a particular esteem for were admitted; here all affairs were first debated that were to be laid before the second council, which consisted of bishops, earls, viscounts, judges, and some of the principal thanes, afterwards called barons; these resembled the present privy council; none belonged to it but those the king was pleased to appoint. The third was a general council or assembly of the nation, called, in Saxon, Wittenagemot, to which quality and offi ces gave a right to sit independent of the king. In these three councils we behold the origin of the cabinet and privy coun. cils, and the antiquity of parliaments; but the term cabinet council, is of a much more modern date, and according to Lord Clarendon, originated thus:-The affairs of state, in the reign of Charles I., were principally managed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Earl of Strafford, and the Lord Cottington; to these were added the Earl of Northumberland for ornament, the Bishop of London for his place, being Lord Treasurer, the two secretaries, Vane and Windebank, for service and intelligence; only the Marquis of Hamilton, by his skill and interest, meddled just so far and no farther, than he had a mind. These persons made up the committee of state, reproachfully after called the Junto, and enviously then in the court the cabinet council. I am most respectfully your's, ANCIENT MODE OF CONVEYING WATER TO LONDON, &c. (For the Mirror.) WATER has been quaintly called the blood of London. It was first conveyed to London by leaden pipes, in the reign of Henry III., 1236, from Tyburn. The first cistern of lead, castellated with stone was called the Great Conduit, in West-cheap, in 1285. The tun.upon Cornhill was erected, in 1401. Fresh Origins and Inventions. supplies of water were conveyed to the No. XXV. ORIGIN OF CABINET COUNCILS. (To the Editor of the Mirror.) SIR,-An English cabinet council (to the formation of which the attention of Europe has lately been most anxiously directed) is of very early origin. The great and wise Alfred, to whom we are indebted for many excellent institutions, so arranged the affairs of the nation, that all resolutions relating to the public should pass through three several councils; the city from the springs near Perilouspool, Hackney, Muswell Hill, Hampstead Heath, and Saint Mary-le-Bone; and in 1546 new conduits were erected in Coleman-street and Lothbury :-" The brook at Tybourne (says Pennant) furnished nine conduits for supplying the city with water. Here the Lord Mayor had a banquetting-house, to which his lordship and brethren were wont to repair on horseback, attended by their ladies in waggons; and after viewing the conduits, they returned to the city, where they were magnificently entertained by the Lord Mayor." In 1582, Thames water was conveyed into the houses of the citizens by an artificial forcer standing near London-bridge, and was made by Peter Maurice. It conveyed the water over the steeple of the church of St. Magnus, and thence into several houses in Thames-street, New Fish-street, and Gracechurch-street, up to Cornhill, by the north-west corner of Leadenhall, then the highest ground of all the city. Here the water from the main pipe rising into a standard, rushed out again through four spouts, viz. one running each way at every tide. This not only supplied the inhabitants in a plentiful manner, but in some degree inundated the streets. The principal conduits were at Aldgate, Leadenhall, by the stocks, Cornhill, Downgate, London-wall, Cripplegate, Paulsgate, Old Fish-street, Oldbourne, Fore-street, Fleet-bridge, &c. The conduit at Fleet-bridge, (says Stowe) was garnished with images of St. Christopher on the top, and angels round about lower down, with sweet sounding bells before them, whereupon, by an engine placed in the tower, they divers hours of the day and night chymed such an hymn as was appointed. Burton tells us, that in West-Smithfield there was a pool called horse-pool, and another in St. Giles's, and divers fair wells and springs by which the city was served with sweet water. The conduits continued till the dreadful fire in 1666. Among the ancients, the fountains, or sources of rivers, were held sacred, and even worshipped, as a kind of divinities. It was a point of religion not to disturb, or make muddy these waters, in washing or bathing. P. T. W. SONNET TO (For the Mirror.} THOSE dark, black eyes, so shining bright, S. B. M. A COMPARISON OF MODERN AND ANCIENT WEALTH. (For the Mirror.) If we may credit the historical accounts handed down to us, of the amazing riches possessed in ancient times, not merely by whole nations, but even private individuals, we must frankly admit that, in comparison, the "monied men" of modern date dwindle into absolute paupers. It would seem that, from about the time of King David to the thousand years subsequent, the vast mines of Arabia had such a continued "run" upon them, that they at last became quite exhausted; nor (as the barbarians utterly wasted the gold and silver within their grasp) have all the treasures of South America ever yet replaced the store. Let us recur to a few instances, and those by no means solitary ones, to prove that many of the ancients had very ample purses. Pythias, the Lydian, possessed in hard gold and silver nearly five millions sterling. Marcus Crassus, the Roman, feasted the whole population of the city at ten thousand tables; distributed a largess of wheat to every citizen sufficient for three months; made many noble presents to the chief patricians, and then found his estate to be worth a million and a half. The Roman Senator, Lucullus, for years, once in three months gave a 'public supper to the principal nobles and citizens, at an average expense of fifty thousand denarii, (or about 1,4007.) It is computed, that in the temple of Belus, at Babylon, the value of the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, including also some other smaller idols, utensils, drinking vessels, &c. was about thirty-four millions. The proverb, "As rich as a Jew," was even in very remote ages strikingly forcible. The Israelites, shortly after their escape from Egyptian bondage, offered for the tabernacle gold and silver to the amount of one hundred and seventy millions. (Exodus, chap. xxxviii.); much of this was probably the "small borrowings" from their late oppressors. In the time of David, the people contributed for the sanctuary nearly seven millions, who, by the way, at his decease, had scraped together for that object, the trifling sum of about eight hundred and ninety millions! (1 Chronicles, chap. xxii.) Solomon overlaid the holy place (about 30 feet square) with gold, which exceeded thirtyeight millions in value, independent of the immense treasures expended upon other parts of the temple. These valuations are estimated in round numbers, which is sufficiently accurate without fractional niceties, computing (according to Dr. Arbuthnot,) the Mosaic talent of gold at 5,4751. sterling, and that of silver at 3421. It is right, however, to observe, that some learned critics have conjectured that either the transcribers of the originals made some palpable blun able anomalies occasioned them, at first thought, perplexity and disappointment. Who can tell what parts of the human body are exercised in dreaming? Why do we sometimes, but not always, dream? In short, why do we dream at all? go, at midnight, into a bedchamber, where all is silent except the ticking of a watch: I gently draw aside the dusky drapery of the bed, and there is disclosed to me the figure of a man-pale, noiseless, motionless- closely hugged in the embraces of death's mimic-in a word, asleep. I examine him more narrowly; it is evident that his senses-those inlets to the understanding-are closed; and, consequently, can convey to the mind no information from without. I touch him rather roughly; but he is insensible of the contact. I whisper-I speak loudly: he hears me not. The light of my candle flares on his eye-ball, through the halfopened lid; but his powers of vision are not roused into exertion. His powers of smell are not excited on exposure to fragrant, or even stimulating odours; and though, of course, the experiment would be rather difficult, I may fairly infer, that his organs of taste, for awhile, forego their operation. I gaze on this strange figure a man cut off, pro tempore, from all intercourse with the external world-a substantial abstraction; and may I not well be amazed, when, on suddenly awakening the subject of my speculations, he peevishly exclaims, "Why did you disturb me? I have been dreaming gloriously! You have plucked me from a paradisiacal scene of fruits, and flowers, and golden sun-lightfragrant odours, bewildering melodyfrom throngs of playful sylphs and houris;-why did you wake me?" I do insist upon it, that this circumstance dreaming-affords a very powerful evidence of the soul's immortality. and The youth, the smile, the music of the year HOWEVER the festivities with which our In the woods there is a bright azure gleam of Myosotis sylvatica, a species of Forget-me-not, and of those truly vernal flowers called, by botanists, Scilla nutans; by poets, blue bells; and by country folk, cuckoo's stockings. The ferns too are pushing forth their russet scrolls amongst the forest moss and dead leaves. In pools (and none of our indigenous The Masque of the Seasons. plants can rival the aquatic ones in elegance and delicate beauty) are this month found that lovely thing the water-violet, (Hottonia palustris,) and the buck-bean, (Menyanthis trifoliata.) like a fringed hyacinth. The gorse is glorious on heaths and in lanes, and so is also the "bonny broom," which has won another wreath in the following original SONG. OH! the broom, the bonny, bonny broom, 1 had rather see the bonny broom I never thought so small a thing It minds me of my native hills Clad in the heath and fern; It minds me of dearer things than these,- Of humble faith on bended knees; It minds me of that blessed home, |