Mrs. Richard Shubrick.

Here was, indeed, a heroine to be proud of. Her eyes sparkled with feeling and vivacity, while her countenance so plainly bespoke her kindness and benevolence, that sorrow and misfortune instinctively sought shelter under her protection. There was an appearance of personal debility about her, that rendered her peculiarly interesting; it seemed to solicit the interest of every heart, and the man would have felt himself degraded who would not have put his life at hazard to serve her. Yet, when firmness of character was requisite, when fortitude was called for to repel the encroachments of aggression, there was not a more intrepid being in existence. The following is a noble instance of it. An American soldier, flying from a party of the enemy, sought her protection, and was promised it. The British pressing close upon him, insisted that he should be delivered up, threatening immediate and universal destruction in case of refusal. The ladies, her friends and companions, who were in the house with her, shrunk from the contest, and were silent; but, undaunted by their threats, this intrepid lady placed herself before the chamber into which the unfortu nate fugitive had been conducted, and resolutely said, "To men of honour the chamber of a lady should be as sacred as the sanctuary! I will defend the passage to it though I perish. You may succeed, and enter it, but it shall be over my corpse." "Indeed," said the officer, "if muskets were only placed in the hands of a few such women, our only safety would be found in retreat. Your intrepidity, Madam, gives you security; from me you shall meet no further annoyance." E

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Nor is this the only instance of her unconquerable fortitude. At Brabant, the seat of the respectable and patriotic Bishop Smith, a Serjeant of Tarleton's Dragoons, eager for the acquisition of plunder, followed the overseer, a man advanced in years, into the apartment where the ladies of the family were assembled, and on his refusal to discover the spot in which the plate was concealed, struck him with violence, inflicting a severe sabre wound across the shoulders. Aroused by the infamy of the act, Mrs. Shubrick, starting from her seat, and placing herself betwixt the ruffian and his victim, resolutely said, Place yourself behind me, Murdoch; the interposition of my body shall give you protection, or I will die :" then, addressing herself to the Sergeant, exclaimed, "O what a degradation of manhoodwhat departure from that gallantry which was once the characteristic of British soldiers! Human nature is degraded by your barbarity;-but should you persist, then strike at me, for till I die, no further injury shall be done to him. The Serjeant, unable to resist such commanding eloquence, retired. The hope, however, of attaining the object in view, very speedily subjected the unfortunate Murdoch to new persecution. He was tied up under the very tree where the plate was buried, and threatened with immediate execution unless he would make the discovery required. But although well acquainted with the unrelenting severity of his enemy, and earnestly solicited by his wife to save his life by a speedy confession of the place of deposit; he persisted resolutely, that a sacred trust was not to be betrayed, and actually succeeded in preserving it. When complimented at an after period on his heroic firmness, he asserted, that he was strengthened in his resolution by the recollection that a part of the

plate belonged to the church, and that he should have considered it as sacrilege, had he suffered it, through a weakness of disposition, to fall into the hands of robbers.

Miss Flint.

"Who is that gentleman walking with Miss Flint?" said a wag to his companion, as they walked along Prince's street. "Oh," replied the other, "that is a spark which she has struck."

Bannockburn.

Two English gentlemen visited the field of Bannockburn, so celebrated for the total defeat of the English army, by Robert the Bruce. A country blacksmith pointed out the positions of both armies, the stone where the Bruce's standard was fixed

during the battle, &c. Highly satisfied with his attention, the gentleman, on leaving him, pressed his acceptance of a crown-piece: "Na, na," said Vulcan, drawing himself up, and adding with emphasis, “ It has cost ye enough already.”

Pleasure and Pain.

The Hon. Thomas Erskine was one evening taken suddenly ill at Lady Payne's: on her expressing a hope that his indisposition might not be serious, he answered her in the following impromptu :

"Tis true I am ill, but I need not complain,

For he never knew pleasure who never knew Payne.

Pun upon Pun.

The Hon. Henry Erskine, observing a spot of grease upon a friend's coat, said, that he was at

present in the same situation with his horse. "How is that?" the gentleman asked. "Because," replied Mr. E. "you are greased." "Oh, Harry," said his friend," that wit is far-fetched." By no means," exclaimed Mr. E. "it is made upon the spot."

The British Lion.

In the commencement of the American revolution, when one of the British king's thundering proclamations made its appearance, the subject was mentioned in a company in Philadelphia; a member of congress who was present, turning to Miss Livingston, said, "Well, Miss, are you greatly terrified at the roaring of the British Lion?" "Not at all, sir, for I have learned from Natural History, that beast roars loudest when he is most frightened."

Os Tuum.

In the humanity class of Glasgow, it is a practice amongst the students to call out to any of their companions who leave the class-room door open,"Claude ostium, puer."

Once, during the time of Professor Muirhead, on a student being very forward in vociferating this injunction, the Professor exclaimed,—

"Claude os-tuum, puer!"

Staymakers.

The Hon. Henry Erskine being retained as counsel for a body of Shoemakers, in a question before the Court of Session, in Scotland, the cause was repeatedly called before the Lord Ordinary; after waiting a considerable time, the other

party's counsel not appearing, Mr. E. observed to his Lordship, "that the present was certainly a cause of stay-makers."

A poor Mouthful for a Gourmand.

It was once observed, in the Parliament House at Edinburgh, that a gentleman, who was known to have a pretty good appetite, had eaten away his senses. "Pooh!" replied Henry Erskine, "they would not be a mouthful to him.”

Accusation and Acquittal.

A person looking over the catalogue of professional gentleman of the Bar, with his pencil wrote against the name of one who is of the bustling order-"Has been accused of possessing talents."Another seeing the accusation, immediately wrote under the charge-"Has been tried and acquitted."

King James I.

Among the addresses presented upon the accession of that Solomon of Great Britain, James the First, was one from the ancient town of Shrewsbury, wishing his Majesty might reign as long as the sun, moon, and stars endured. "In troth, man," said the King to the person who presented it, "if I do, my son must reign by candle-light."

Anecdote of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Nothing galls the national pride of a true-blue Scot more than the liberties that have been taken with that article of the Union, which expressly declared, that Britain should be the only recognized