Sketches of Oratörs, (No. 14.)

ÆLIAN.

He

ELIAN, born at Proeneste, in Italy, was the auditor of Pausanius. He taught rhetoric at Rome, soon after the death of Adrian. For the sweetness of his speech he was called the honied word.' wrote of living creatures, of various history, and of military things. His writings were distinguished by an Athenian spirit, and his purity of the Greek tongue. Gesner, speaking as to his history, says, In Elian's books of living creatures, there is, I say, a certain temperament and harmony of either philosophy, moral and natural.' And another critic adds, In his narrations, what is there that is not egregious and excellent? What, not fit either to be known, or to imitate, or to be declined? What is there that is not neat, elegant, polite, and attic? Who shall give sweeter savour to the taste, or create morceaux more fit for mental repast? Like a hyblæan hive, his honey is inexhaustible.'

Science and Art.

AMERICAN MAGNIFYING POWER.

P.

A solar microscope is prepared for exhibition at Hartford, which is said to possess a magnifying power of 3,000,000, and may be raised to 4,000,000, if the room is sufficiently large, and the light strong. By its assistance, the white mealy particles on the surface of figs appear living objects of 2 feet in length; the sting of the common honey-bee appears 14 feet in length; and hundreds of snakes of the enormous extent of six to eight feet may be discovered in two drops of vinegar.-New York Paper.

METHOD OF CLEANING PICTURES.

To clean old pictures painted in oil colours, wash them well with a sponge dipped in warm beer; let them become very dry, and then wash them with liquor of the finest gum-dragon, steeped or dissolved in fair water; never use blue starch, which tarnishes, and eats out the colouring; or white of eggs, which casts a thick varnish over the picture, and only mends bad ones, by concealing the faults of the colouring.-New Mon.

Anecdotiana.

ANAXARCHUS.

Anaxarchus, the philosopher of Abdera, enjoyed the confidence of Alexander the

Great, and being one day at dinner with him, was asked by the conqueror, how he liked the entertainment? "It is excellent," replied the guest. "It wants but one dish, and that a delicious one, the head of a tyrant." If the philosopher meant the head of Nicocreon, he paid severely for his saying, for by the orders of the tyrant of Salamis, he was pounded in a mortar.

RELIEF OF DELHI BY AN ACTOR.

When Nadir Shah, the usurper of the Persian throne, lay before Delhi with a all the miseries that a want of food enpowerful army, the besieged endured tails. Within the walls famine began to rage every day more fiercely, but the Shah was deaf to the miseries of mankind. The public spirit of Tucki, a famous actor, deserves to be recorded upon this occasion. Touched with compassion for the sufferers, he exhibited a play before Nadir Shah, which so delighted the monarch that he commanded the actor to ask for what he most desired. Upon hearing the Sultan's words, Tucki immediately fell upon his face, and said, 'O King! command the gates to be opened, that the poor may not perish.' request was granted, and half the city poured into the country, and the place was supplied in a few days with plenty of provisions.

DR. BERKELEY.

His

As Berkeley, the celebrated author of the immaterial theory, was one morning musing in the cloisters of Trinity College, Dublin, an acquaintance came up to him, and seeing him wrapt in contemplation, hit him a smart rap on the shoulder with his cane. The Doctor starting, called out, 'What's the matter?' His acquaintance looking him steadily in the face, replied, No matter, Berkeley.’

GENERAL CHURCH.

THIS officer owed a thousand pounds to his tailor, who came to dun the General even in his tent. Unable to pay, and desirous of getting rid of an importunate creditor, General Church offered him a Captain's commission, promising to make him an aide-de-camp to a general officer. The tailor's vanity was greater than his avarice, he took the commission, and set out to join the army.

CURIOUS INSCRIPTION.

In a barber's shop window in a court in the neighbourhood of Whitechapel, is the following inscription. "Gentlemen shaved without incision or laceration."

chants in the Chepe) after giving a few preparatory hems, sung as follows:

Merrily, merrily drain the bowl,

If Care ye would not dree;
Here's Malmsey, Sack, and Hippocras,
Sherris and Burgundy.

Come, ye spiritless wights, who are wedded to scolds,

Those shrews who are match for the Devil, "Tis wisdom to flee from their music I trow, So join in our merrie revel.

And ye gallants, who scorch 'neath your maiden's dark glance,

Who swear that your souls are like tinder, O hasten away from such kirtle durance, If ye would not be burnt to a cinder.

"By this light!" exclaimed the student, "thou hast a marvellous proper voice, Ned; have ye no love tale to tell us? thou hadst once a store."

Marry, I have forgotten them; thou knowest my father likes not my travelling, so that I have small chance of hearing the adventures of love-sick damsels and gallant knights; but yonder sits a gentleman who has methinks seen service.

The person alluded to by the young

merchant was a stout hale man, about the middle age, whose bluff coat and broad belt, sustaining a sword and dagger of Spanish workmanship, plainly indicated his profession; he had lost an arm, and the empty sleeve of his doublet was fastened by a point to his breast.

"Gentlemen," said he, on being pressed to join the party, "I have, as you suppose, seen some service, and have left an arm in the low countries. I commanded a body of pikemen at the siege of St. Getrudenberg, in Brabant; 'twas there I became acquainted with an Englishman of good family, whose unhappy fate I shall ever lament. I will, with your permission, relate the history of our acquaintance, and his death."

To this the company gladly assented, and the Captain, emptying his glass, began as follows.

"On my arriving in Brabant, Prince Maurice was before St. Getrudenberg, which he had assaulted several times without success. The company under my command were picked men, and I was soon actively engaged, for the besieged made frequent sallies, and it re

quired some of the best troops to repulse them. In one of these sallies, I was posted, with my troop, to support the charge of a regiment of English pistoliers. The action was short, but bloody. The enemy's harquebussiers and cross-bowmen made sad havoc amongst our horse; at their first discharge full twenty saddles were emptied, and a fresh body of their bill-men rushing in, completed the overthrow of our cavalry-they broke ground and retreated. A desperate charge of the pikemen under my command checked the pursuit of the enemy. In the midst of the rout, I suddenly beheld a horse galloping by, and dragging its rider, who lay upon the ground, his foot having become entangled in the stirrup. I flew to his assistance, and with some difficulty succeeded in extricating the stranger from his perilous situation. He pressed my hand with great warmth, and thanked me a thousand times for my timely assistance. He had, luckily, received only a few slight bruises, from the effects of which he recovered in a few days, and a friendship was cemented between us, which nothing but death could terminate. I learnt that his name was Roland Stanley, and that he was the youngest son of a rich family in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

"I will not tire you, Gentlemen, with an account of the many affairs we had with the enemy, which were attended with various success. Near to the town of St. Getrudenberg is the little village of Steulo, in which was a fort of some consequence. Prince Maurice was resolved to get possession of it, as it commanded a weak quarter of the town. It chanced that Stanley's troop and my own were ordered upon this expedition, together with six culverins; but it totally failed: the enemy sallied out, and in spite of the most obstinate valour on the part of our troops, we were beaten back, with the loss of many men. Stanley's horse fell under him, pierced by a harquebuize shot, and he was seized and dragged into the fort by the enemy, while our shattered troops made good their retreat. Judge of the mortification and sorrow I felt at being thus deprived of my friend; indeed I had some fears for his safety, for the prisoners on either side oftimes experienced rough, and in many instances cruel, treatment, at the hands of their captors.

"The alarm we were kept in the few succeeding days diverted my melancholy; but the enemy, weakened by the continual checks we had given them, became less venturous, and kept within their walls, and I was again left to deplore the loss of my friend.

"One night, while sitting in my tent absorbed in thought, I heard the hasty challenge of the sentinel, and at the same moment Stanley entered. I am not naturally superstitious, but this sudden apparition of my friend, whom I had considered lost to me, staggered my senses. His dress was wet and disordered, and covered with green weeds, and his long dark hair was dripping with moisture. The warm pressure of the hand with which I was greeted, convinced me that it was he, and I eagerly inquired how he had escaped?

"We will talk of that anon,' said he; but first give me a cast of your clothes, for I have been playing the otter, and am wet to the skin.'

"I complied with this request, and when he had changed his dress, he gave me an account of his escape.

"Howard,' said he, 6 am not I a lucky wight, to make a conquest while a prisoner in yonder fort?'

"A conquest! echoed I, incredulously -What mean you?-I cannot solve your riddle.

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Marry, no less than this: the governor of that fort has a niece, as fair a maid as e'er set free a captive knight. Would'st thou believe it, while I lay this evening in my dungeon, mourning the loss of my freedom, and moreover my coat of mail and Bilboa blade, which those Walloon dogs have despoiled me of, the door opened, and that sweet girl entered my prison. She bore a small lamp, and was followed by a dwarfish figure, who carried a small basket.

"Stranger, said she, this conduct may seem to thee unmaidenly, but you are an Englishman, and will not judge me harshly for my rashness. You must hasten from this place, or your head will be set on the walls by sunrise, a sad spectacle for your gallant countrymen.'

"Had'st thou been there, my friend, thou would'st ha' thought me eloquent; for methinks I never poured out my thanks so freely-no, not even when I experienced thy kind and timely assistance. To be brief, she enjoined silence, and the dwarf was ordered to file the fetters which secured my legs, and in a few minutes I was free.

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Now,' said my fair deliverer, follow, but be silent-your life depends

upon it!'

"We passed from the dungeon with stealthy pace, and after passing through several passages, we ascended a flight of steps. Here the measured tread of a sentinel was audible. The dwarf was dismissed, and I neglected not to improve the opportunity. Short as it was, I suc