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N Abyffinia, when the prifoner is

not again remitted to prifon, which is thought cruel, but he is immediately carried away, and the fentence executed upon him.

The capital punishments in Abyffinia are the crofs. Socinios first ordered Arzo, his competitor, who had fled for affiftance and refuge to Phineas king of the Falafha, to be crucified without the camp. We find the same punishment inflicted by Artaxerxes upon Haman, who was ordered to be affixed to the cross till he died.

The next capital punishment is flaying alive. That this barbarous execution ftill prevails in Abyffinia is proved by the fate of the unfortunate Woofheka, taken prisoner in the campaign of 1769, while Mr. Bruce was in Abyffinia; a facrifice made to the vengeance of the beautiful Ozoro Esther, who, kind and humane as she was in other refpects, could receive no atonement for the death of her husband.

Lapidation, or ftoning to death, is the next capital punishment in Abyffinia. This is chiefly inflicted upon frangers called Franks, for

have been stoned to death, and their bodies lie ftill in the ftreets of Gondar, in the fquares or wafte places, covered with the heaps of ftone which occafioned their death by being thrown at them. There are at the church

of Abbo, all covering Franciscan friars; and, befides them, a fmall pyramid over a boy, who was stoned to death with them, about the first year of the reign of David IV. In Perfia we find, that Pagorafus (according to Ctefias) was ftoned to death by the order of the king; and the fame author fays, that Pharnacyas, one of the murderers of Xerxes, was ftoned to death likewife.

Among capital punishments may be reckoned likewife the plucking out of the eyes; a cruelty which Mr. Bruce had but too often feen com mitted in the short stay he made in Abyffinia. This is generally inflicted upon rebels. After the flaughter of the battle of Fagitta, twelve chiefs of the Pagan Galla, taken prifoners by Ras Michael, had their eyes torn out, and were afterwards abandoned to starve in the valleys below the town. Several prifoners of another rank, noblemen of Tigré, underwent the fame misfortune; and, what is wonderful, not one of them died in the operation, nor its confequences,

The dead bodies of criminals flain for treafon, murder, and violence, on the highway at certain times, are feldom buried in Abyffinia. The ftreets of Gondar are firewed with pieces of their carcafes, which bring the wild beafts in multitudes into the city as foon as it becomes dark, fo that it is fcarcely fafe for any one to walk in the night. The dogs ufed to bring pieces of human bodies into the house, and court-yard, to eat them in greater fecurity.

ANECDOTES. [Tianfmitted by our old and good Correfpondent at Faversham.]

1.

PARENTAL EXULTATION.

CORNELIA, the daughter of the great Scipio, and wife of the conful Sempronius, was one day in the company of fome Roman ladies, who were fhewing their trinkets, and admiring their jewels, and whofe minds feemed wholly occupied about their drefs. At last, obferving that Cornelia fat filent among them, they asked her to fhew them ber jewels. Upon which, with a true maternal pleasure, the called her children to her, and, prefenting them to the company, faid, "Thefe, ladies, thefe are my ornaments; thefe are my jewels, whom I have endeavoured to educate for the good and glory of their country.'

II..

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age and infirmities, had not been able to attend this pious ceremony; that this omiffion gave her the most lively forrow, not fo much on ac count of the honour the empress did her, as that fhe was not able to come and fee a fovereign whom all her fubjects adored. The princess, affected by this addrefs, went herself to the village where the old woman lived, and entered her miferable cabin, where the lay on a bed of straw, confined by the maladies of age. "You have been unhappy that you could not fee me," faid the benig nant emprefs; "comfort yourself, my good fifter; I am come to fee you." The poor old creature, furprized at the prefence of her fovereign, and overcome with the benevolence of her addrefs, wept aloud; and could fcarce be prevented, feeble as he was, from rifing, and throwing herself at the empress's feet. This truly great princefs, however, appeafed her overflowing paflions, confoled, and converfed with her for a confiderable time; and, when the retired, left a fum of money, that enabled her to live with comfort, and to die with de

cency.

ANECDOTE OF COLUMBUS.

THIS celebrated navigator, after having difcovered the western hemifphere, was, by order of the Spanish king, brought from America in chains. The captain of the hip, however, who well knew his true character, and the value of his abilities, offered to take off his fetters, in order to render his paffage the more agreeable. But Columbus, to the great furprize of the captain, firmly answered" Sir, I thank you; though I cannot accept your offer. Thefe chains are my honours and rewards, from a king whom I have faithfully served; Ĭ cannot, therefore, part with them,

they

they fhall accompany me, even to pearance of his antagonist, feized

the grave!"

MUSIC.

THAT cruel prince, the fultan Amurath, ordered thirty thousand Perfians to be put to death, after the capture of Bagdad, notwithftanding they had fubmitted. In the melancholy lift, was a mufician, who earnestly begged that his execution might be deferred till he had fpoken to the emperor. The officer granted his request, and introduced him to the fultan; when his only prayer was, that he might be permitted to fhew a fpecimen of his art, in the royal prefence. This alfo being granted, he took a pfaltery, which fomewhat refembles a lyre; on this he played, finging at the fame time, a fong expreffive of the recent victory. This, added to the pathetic tones, and exulting founds, of the inftrument, foftened the native fierceness of Amurath; and, contrary to his first intention, he faffered the muficiaà to proceed. Thus encouraged, he redoubled his exertions to pleafe; and that harmony which at first fufpended, now overcame, the wrath of the fultan; he not only pardoned the mufician, but the whole of that vaft number which he had devoted to his cruel vengeance,

ANECDOTE

OF MARSHAL SAXE.

WHEN this celebrated commander was in London, he hap.. pened one day to offend a fcavenger, who was cleaning the streets near Charing-crofs, and who chal lenged the marfhal to box with him. The count, relying on his own uncommon ftrength, accepted the propofal, and the fcavenger began to ftrip; but he had fcarce taken off his fhirt, when the marhal, perhaps defpifing the puny ap

him by the arms, to the great aftonishment of the fpectators, and threw him, with the fame ease as if he had been a trufs of ftraw, into his own cart, where he struggled for fome time, and narrowly escaped being ftifled with the mud; while the marshal walked off with the most perfect compofure.

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difficult march, Frederic generally DURING war, when on any went a foot-pace in the midst of his foldiers, whom he encouraged by entering into familiar converfation with them. Once, when the army were greatly fatigued, he made them continue their march early in the morning, în a heavy rain mixed most impaffable. Difcovering, by with fnow, and through roads althe faces and the filence of the foldiers, that they were not too well fatisfied with him, he himself at put their head, and proceeded at the fame pace with them. After marching thus in filence for a few minutes, he fuddenly turned about to his foldiers, and exclaimed, "Come along, my friends; march! If we were a fet of effeminate mifcreants, we might now be fitting in our night gowns by a warm flove; but, remember that we are men, we are foldiers. March!".

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SIBERIAN SORCERY, [From Count Benyowsky's Travels.] DURING the count's exile in Kamchatka, he undertook a journey to Lopattka, having for this purpofe obtained the governor's confent. "I continued my route,' ," "" as far as Tfekawka, where fays he, we flept at the houfe of the tajon. Here we found a fchaman, who called himself a forcerer, and who, according to the opinion of the natives, had dealings with the devil. I was defirous of being a witness of the manners of thefe impoftors, and therefore preffed the tajon to bring the fchaman to me, that he might tell my fortune the tajon accordingly ufed his endeavours to perfuade him to gratify my expectations; and a prefent of fix roubles fecured his compliance. Here follows an account of the manner in which the forcerers of Kamchatka exhibit their artifices

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"He first caused all the women to go out of the yourth, after which he ftripped himfelf entirely naked, and washed his whole body with his own urine. He then cloathed himself in a long garment made of dogs fkins, tanned; upon his head he placed a capuchin with two horns, and lastly he faftened a drum to his belt. Thus equipped he placed himself in the center of the yourth, turned round once, cried out, Kutti, kutui, kutuchta,' and drew a bottle out of his budget, part of the contents of which he drank. He then threw himself on the ground, where he remained motionlefs for ten or fifteen minutes. At the expiration of this time he began to howl and cry, and foon after got up and beat the drum with all his might, and without any intermiffion, except at intervals to give more efficacy to his howlings, His motions were fo violent that he fcreamed out with all his force, and at last, his mouth, eyes, and all his limbs, became convulfed in a manner truly fhocking to behold. When an hour had thus paffed, during which he made every imaginable contortion, the fchaman fat down on the ground, and began his prophecy with a hoarfe and feeble voice. The following is what he faid, word for word; Thou art come to demand thy fate of my fpirit; he will fecond thy efforts to avenge the death of the fpirits of our fathers whom the Ruffians have cut off. It is Kutuchta who is with thee. Thou fhalt behold the blood of thine enemies, thou shalt be happy in thy voyage; but afterwards, when thou fhalt fpill blood and thine own shall flow, thou shalt be dear to the fpirits of our fathers. After these words he fell asleep, and the tajon caufed him to be carried into a feparate yourth.

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"Upon my enquiry refpecting the liquor this pretended forcerer had drank, the tajon informed me

that

that it was an infufion of muchomor, a kind of champignon, which has the power of intoxicating. He affured me that its force was fuch, that the fchaman fometimes flept three or four days after it; whence I concluded that the muchomor produced effects fimilar to thofe of opium."

METHOD

OF KILLING BEARS AT KAMCHATKA.

[From the fame Work.]

HAVING in our laft, at page 206, given an account of the Kamt Ichadale's manner of hunting bears, in which the following is not mentioned, we truft our readers will excufe our again adverting to the fubject.

"At fight of a bear, one of the hunters advances to begin the attack, which he does by prefenting his left arm to the animal, having previously fecured himself by thick pieces of wood, faftened lengthways upon the arm, in order that the bear may not break it at the first gripe. The moment the animal feizes the arm, the hunter ftrikes him with a lance within the left fhoulder. After this stroke, the other hunters continually run their lances into the body of the animal, who often breaks the weapons; and, if the first stroke be not effectual, throws down his opponent, and ftrangles, or at least maims him."

INSTANCES OF HUMANITY. [From Armstrong's Mifcellanies.] I AM naturally fond of strangers; and, where all other circumftances are equal, fhould find myself disposed to pay them more or lefs attention in proportion to their distance from home. Where all things elfe are equal, in performing any little duties of benevolence within my power, I fhould prefer a German to a Hollander or

Frenchman; a Greek, a Ruffian,

or a Turk, to a German; a Perfian, to a Turk; and fo on to the utmoft limits of the Eaft. Of all the people upon earth, the Afiatics ap pear to me the most amiable, noble, and generous; they feem the most poffeffed with that virtuous heroic enthufiafm which exalts human nature to its highest degree of fu blimity. One well-attefted inftance of their generous humanity may, perhaps, not be too tiresome to the impatient reader. The gentleman is but lately dead who favoured me with the following relation of a fact which deferves to be more generally known, and I give it in his own words.

In the year 1730, the Prince George, captain Crofs, from Bengal and Surat to Canton, was drove into Juncum bay, on the coast of China, in a hard gale of wind, of fuch force as to make the fupercargoes, Meffrs. Stephenfon and Har rifon, with Mr. Alexander Wedderburn, purfer, go ashore in the pinnace, in order to get a pilot, and fuch other help as their diftrefs then required. The wind all that night blowing fiercer, next morning they were told the fhip was loft, which they foon perceived to be too true. The mandarine of that district_im mediately ordered, that the forementioned gentlemen, with Mr. Barlow, fourth mate, who then acted as coxfwain of the pinnace, and the Lafcars, fhould be provided with lodgings and all proper accommodations; and that every part of the wreck, and all the goods that could be faved, fhould be carefully ga thered together, and put into a fe-. cure place for them; all which was faithfully performed. The generous mandarine's humanity did not end here, for he ordered a prefent of three hundred and fifty tale to Mr. Stephenson, three hundred to

*Three tale are equal in value to one pound fterling.

Mr.

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