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her before she perceived that her enemy pursued her; when, at the distance of two miles, she knew her enemy by the gate of a plundered town which he bore as a shield. Then spurred she swiftly her horse; and it flew from hill to hill, from rock to rock, over marshes, and through woods, till the trees on the forest cracked like stubble under its feet. Thus passed she over Thuringia, and came to the mountains of the Hartz. Often did she hear, some miles behind her, the snorting of Bohdo's steed, and goaded on her own courser to new exertions.

"At length it came panting to the brink of the precipice, which is now called, the DEVIL'S DANCING-PLACE, from the triumph there of the spirits of hell. Emma looked down in horror, and her horse trembled, for the rock stood like a tower more than a thousand feet over the abyss below. From beneath, was faintly heard the rushing of the stream in the valley, which here curled itself into a fright ful whirlpool. Above it, on the opposite side, rose another shelf of rock, which seemed scarcely wide enough to receive the fore-foot of her steed. Awhile she stood amazed and doubtful. Behind rushed the enemy more hateful to her than death; before lay the abyss, which seemed yawning to her destruction. Again she heard the snorting of her pursuer's horse, and in the terror of her heart, she cried to the spirits of her fathers for help, and, reckless, plunged her ell-long spurs into her courser's flank.

"And it sprang! sprang over the abyss of a thonsand feet, reached happily the rocky shelf, and drove its hoof four feet deep into the hard stone, till the sparks of fire flew like lightning around. There is the footstep still! Time has not bated aught of its depth, and no rain shall wear away the track.-Emma was saved! but her royal crown of gold fell, during the leap, from her head into the abyss below, Bohdo saw only his Emma, and thought not of the precipice; he sprang after her with his war-horse, and plunged into the

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whirlpool which still bears his name. There, changed into a black hound, he watches the Princess's crown, that no one may draw it from the gulph. A diver was once induced, by large promises, to make the attempt -he plunged in, found the crown, and drew it up till the assembled crowd beheld the golden points.Twice the burden escaped from his hands, and the people cried to him to renew the attack. He did so, anda stream of blood tinged the pool, but the diver came up no more.

“The wanderer passes through that vale with chilly horror, for clouds and darkness hang around it, and the stillness of death broods over the abyss-no bird wings its way over, and in the dead of night the hollow bellowing of the heathen dog is often heard in the distance."

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The Egyptians have the credit of being the inventors of beer; they called it the Pelusian liquor, because it was first made at Pelusium, a city at the mouth of the Nile, about 1200 years before the Christian æra. Porter, for which London has become so distinguished, was introduced about the year 1730*. Previous to that time, malt liquors in general use were ale, beer, and twopenny: it was then customary to call. for a pint of half-and-half, i.e. half beer and half twopenny; or else a piut or tankard of three-threads, meaning, a third of ale, beer, and twopenny. Thus the publican was obliged to draw from three casks, to serve one customer.

The Hive dates it at 1722.

To avoid this trouble and waste, a brewer, whose name was Harwood, conceived the idea of making a liquor, which should partake of the united flavours of ale, beer, and twopenny; this he called entire, or entire butt beer, meaning that it was drawn entirely from one cask or butt. It was soon discovered to be a very hearty, nourishing liquor, suitable for porters and other working people, whence it obtained the name of Porter. (Compare Nic-Nac, vol. i. p. 148.)

FRENCH ETIQUETTE,

UNDER THE ANCIENT REGIME.

"The dressing of the Queen was a CHEF D'ŒUVRE of etiquette; every thing was regulated. The lady of honour, and the lady D'ATOURS (or dressing woman), together, if they both happened to be together, assisted by the first woman and two ordinary women, performed the principal service; but there were distinctions between them. The lady D'ATOURS put on the jupon (the under-petticoat), and presented the robe. The lady of honour poured out the water for washing her hands, and put on the CHEMISE. When a Princess of the Royal Family was present at the dressing, the lady of honour ceded to her this last function, but did not cede it directly to the Princesses of the Blood; in this last case the lady of honour gave the CHEMISE to the first woman, who presented it to the Princess of the Blood. Each of these ladies observed scrupulously these usages, as being matters of right. One winter's day, it happened that the Queen being quite undressed, was on the point of having her chemise put on; I held it unfolded and ready; the lady of honour entered, hastened to draw off her gloves, and took the chemise. There was a tap at the door, it was opened, and the Duchess d'Orleans entered; her gloves were drawn off, she advanced to take the chemise, but it was for the lady of honour to present it to her; she gave it to me, I gave it to the Princess; there was another tap; it was the

Countess de Provence (the wife of the late King); the Duchess d'Orleans gave to her the chemise. The Queen stood, with her arms across her breast, and seemed suffering from the cold —Madame seeing her painful attitude, contented herself with throwing her handkerchief, kept her gloves, and, in putting on the chemise, pulled off the Queen's headdress, who began to laugh to conceal her impatience, after muttering several times It is odious-what importunity!-[Extracted from the Memoirs of the late Queen of France, by Madam Campan, one of her Maids of Honour.)-ALBUMANIA.

ON SLEEP.

"Tired nature's sweet restorer. balmy sleep." "Tis a law of Nature that animals must sleep. The insects, which have scarcely any brain, seem rather to rest only, or to be rendered torpid by cold, than really to sleep. In the la titude of Hudson's Bay, Ellis found on board his ship masses of congre gated flies; and on the banks of the rivers, frogs, frozen as hard as ice: on removing them to a warmer place, they recovered feeling and life: but if they were afterwards frozen, they could not be again recovered. obvious that this state was more like torpor than regular sleep. Man, on the other hand, cannot keep awake twenty-four successive hours without difficulty, and without involuntarily falling asleep. Most quadrupeds resemble him in this particular; but among the various species of them, we observe great differences in regard to the necessity of sleep.

It is

It is not (as some persons erroneously imagine) a matter of indifference to health where we sleep. In many houses the bed-rooms are those which are found unfit for any other purposes. The poor frequently sleep in holes, where they have not so much room and air as a dog that is chained to his kennel. Many people, in good circumstances, have bed-chambers which are so small, dark, and dirty, that they would be ashamed to shew them. This is an important error in

the conduct of life. As we commonly spend a third part of the twenty-four hours in our bed-rooms, it behoves us to take all possible care that we may enjoy pure air for so long an interval, especially as we cannot well renew it in the night time. To this end we ought never to sleep in the apart ments in which we live during the day; but choose for a bed chamber a spacious room exposed to the sun, that can be opened in the day for the admission of pure air, and the dispersion of the vapours collected during the night. The beds should be often shaken up, and these as well as the bed-clothes, exposed in the day to the action of the sun and air. It is necessary to observe these rules, if we would secure ourselves from the effects of a vitiated atmosphere.

Night is the best time for sleep: it is more quiet than the day; and it is better for us to be in bed than up, because the warmth of the bed protects us from the cold and damps of the night. It is also advisable to retire to rest before midnight. It is proverbially said, and with truth, that the soundest and most wholesome sleep is that which we obtain before twelve o'clock. If we remain up too long, we waste too much of our strength; hence result certain movements of the blood, which are a kind of consuming fever. The least degree of fever in the blood is well known to occasion restless sleep; and therefore it is never advisable to defer it till after midnight.

Great heat, severe exertion either of the body or mind, and hearty meals, sometimes dispose us to sleep in the day. It has been a subject of frequent discussion, whether sleep after dinner be wholesome or not. There can be no doubt but it is, when we feel heavy and disposed to sleep.

Boerhave was once of opinion that sleep after dinner is pernicious. Hippocrates, Galeu, and other eminent physicians, recommended bodily exercise before dinner, and a nap after it, with Felix Plater. The latter once attended a meeting of his colleagues, at which the question was debated:

every one condemned the practice, when Plater rose-"I am now seventy years of age," said he; "I have always taken my nap after dinner, and have never been ill in my life."

It is an important question, how long a person ought to sleep. Too long sleep overloads-too short, stints the animal nature. The best sleep should continue no longer than till we are satiated with it. This satiety depends upon a hundred different circumstances. A lively disposition does not require so much sleep as a phlegmatic temperament. We often hear people complain they cannot sleep at night, who nevertheless are hearty and lively during the day, and who merely err in going to bed too early, and lying too long. They retire to rest, perhaps, at ten o'clock, and awake at three or four. Conceiving that to sleep well, they ought to sleep the whole night through, they call that restlessness, which is but the effect of vivacity. They do not require longer sleep. Their force is recruited in a few hours; after which they ought to rise, anticipate the sun, and pursue their occupations. The same is the case with the indolent, whose head and hands are alike unemployed. For them, it were better that the day was twice as long, or that they made no difference between day and night. They should only lie down when they are sleepy, and rise as soon as they awake, and fall to some kind of work or the other. I know a person who has relieved himself from sleepless nights, by adopting this method: he rose as he awoke, be the hour what it would; employed himself for an hour, or till he grew sleepy, then lay down again and slept till morning. In a short time he could sleep the whole night through, especially after taking bodily exercise in the day.

The position of the body in sleep is a point of some consequence. The head ought not to be too low, and there should be nothing to obstruct the free movement of the chest and abdomen. For this reason, all nighte

clothes ought to be loose. The body ought to be equally covered, and none of the limbs should be in such a posture as to keep the muscles in action. If you fall asleep with your hands clasped, you find, on awaking, that your fingers are dead and have no feeling. If you lie with crossed legs, they either contract that sensation which is called being asleep, or you get the cramp in them. It is hurtful to sleep much sitting in a chair; if the legs hang down, they are apt to be swollen in the morning; and if they are laid upon another, this position compresses the abdomen. Some maintain that it is best to lie on the right side, that the heart may move with greater freedom.

Corpulent persons are, almost without exception, disposed to profound sleep; which may more justly be regarded as the forerunner of apoplexy, than the invigorator of animal life. Dionysius, the corpulent tyrant of Heraclea, slept so soundly, that to awake him, it was necessary to thrust pins through the fat into his flesh. Apoplexy at length carries off such drowsy persons; and as their sleep is an image of death, so death in them exactly resembles sleep. Too long watching also tends to promote unnatural drowsiness. Soldiers, after passing several nights without sleep during seiges, have been known to be so overpowered as to fall asleep on the batteries, amid the thunder of the bombs and cannon. Persons who have been cruelly prevented sleeping for several weeks, have, after the seventh week, become so insensible, as not to be roused from their stupor when beaten ever so severely.

It may not be amiss to warn the Reader against the introduction of the vapour of coal or charcoal into bed chambers. It produces restless and unrefreshing sleep, heaviness, stupor-nay, even death itself, according to the degree of its strength. For this reason, I cannot approve the practice of warming beds with burning coals. Care should be taken to

keep bed-rooms well ventilated, and free from damp or humidity: hence they should face the sun, and not be on the ground-floor of the house. Cold in the head and loss of hearing, are frequent complaints with persons who sleep in damp close rooms.

Among the surest and most innocent means of procuring sleep, wine and tobacco are to be preferred; but both must be used in moderation. A slight degree of exhileration is soon succeeded by drowsiness. We must avoid profuse suppers, by which the stomach is overloaded. Healthy persons may with safety eat moderate suppers; for fasting is found to prevent sleep. It is a bad habit to drink tea, coffee, or a great quantity of any thin beverage, before retiring to rest. Above all, avoid the use of opiatesshun them as a rock on which the soundest constitution must be wrecked.

THE

ALBUMANIA.

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Enteresting Varieties.

THEODORE, KING OF CORSICA.--Theodore Antony Baron Newhoff, more remarkable as one of the very few of his profession,-that of an adventurer,-who ever obtained a crown, than for his talents or qualifications, was born at Metz, about the year 1696. After a variety of intrigues, difficulties, and escapes, in many parts of Europe, and after having attained and lost a throne, he returned in 1748-9 to England, where he had been about ten years before. "I saw him," says Horace Walpole, 66 soon after his last arrival; he was a comely, middle-sized man, very reserved, and affecting much dignity, even when in the lowest ebb of his fortunes, and driven for subsistence to the humblest shifts of his industry and contrivance."

An instance of his unhumiliated pride and vanity appeared during his residence at Florence, to which city

he retired when he quitted Corsica and its kingly office. Some English gentlemen, seeing and pitying the extreme penury and privations to which he was there reduced, made a collection for his relief, with which, by permission, they waited upon him; when having only one chamber in a little miserable lodging, he squeezed his bed into one corner of the room, and placing one of the chairs under a canopy, received their donations in

state.

Soon after his second sojourn ment in this country, Theodore became involved in new debts, which, added to those he had contracted during his former visit, embittered the poverty he suffered, and excited the charitable commiseration of the Earl of Granville, the Countess of Yarmouth, and others; and after being arrested, some merchants in the city promoted a subscription for his support: but he was so addicted to intrigue and subtlety, played off such numerous artifices and chicaneries, and counterfeited so many bonds and debts, that the contributors resolved, in time, to withdraw their money; and he had to repent, too late, that he had overreached himself. An appeal to the public charity was afterwards made in his favour, in the periodical paper called The World; when he conducted himself with little more honour. Fifty pounds were raised by this means, and sent to his prison. He pretended to be greatly disappointed at receiving so small a contribution; declared that his debts amounted to fifteen hundred pounds; and sent in a few days to Mr. Dodsley, the publisher of The World, to desire the subscription might be re-opened. On this being refused, he had the confidence and ingratitude to send a lawyer to that bookseller, with the threat to prosecute him for the article that had appeared in his favour; which he did not scruple to affirm, had done him more injury than service;-Precibusque minas regaliter addit.

It was in May, 1756, that the extraordinary fact occurred, of a man who had occupied a foreign throne,

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