M

ing that she had seen the ghost of a female servant who had lately quitted the family, but who was still living in London. In spite of all the expostulations and arguments used to remove this mental delusion, she persisted in declaring, that she invariably saw the same phantom on entering the same chamber, and the terror of its appearance had such an effect upon her nervous system, that it was feared her faculties would become disordered; and it was deemed expedient to consult Sir F After several ineffectual attempts to dispel the phantasy by which she was afflicted, he recommended that the servant, whose figure was thus presented to her, should be procured, and placed in the room, in the exact attitude described by the young lady, that by this means she might be convinced of her existence, and be satisfied that the fancied vision was only the coinage of her brain. This was accordingly done, and the young lady was conducted to the chamber, which she had no sooner entered than she uttered a piercing shriek, clasped her hands, and exclaiming, "Two ghosts! two ghosts!" fell on the floor in a convulsion fit, which in a few hours terminated her existence (Staffordshire Mercury.)

Song in "Time's a Tell-Tale."

SUNG BY MISS DUNCAN.

Little Cupid one day o'er a myrtle bough stray'd,
And among the sweet blossoms he wantonly play'd;
Plucking many a thorn from the leaves of the tree,
He felt that his finger was stung by a bee.

Little Cupid he whimper'd, he sobb'd, and he sigh'd, Then ran to his mother, and pettishly cry'd, "Ah Venus, dear mother! I'm wounded you see, "And I ask for revenge on the mischievous bee.”

His mother she laugh'd at the story he told,
O'er his forehead of snow strok'd his ringlets of gold.
Now, when you wound another, my lad, answer'd she,
"Ere your arrows are pointed-you'll think on the bee."

A lesson of love let the story impart,

Ere the beam of the eye light the flame of the heart.
Ye fair ones remember, while yet ye are free,
That the rose holds the thorn, and the myrtle the bee.

And what! though many a savage horde,

Like locusts, through your country swarm ;
Yet mighty is the freeman's sword,

And wing'd with death his warrior arm.

Swear by each Switzer's hallow'd shade,
To burst your ignominious chains,
Or else, in Freedom's ranks array'd,

To drain your life's blood from your veins.

Behold your fathers' spirits rise,

In grisly state round Uri's steep;
And bending from the low'ring skies,
On old Helvetia look, and weep.

"Vain your sighs, and vain your tears,"
(In deep astounding voice they cry ;)
"Grasp your swords, and point your spears;
Like Freemen live-or Freemen die !"

Your bosoms pant with patriot zeal,
Inspir'd by this no earthly spell;
Ye swear to end the wrongs ye feel;
Or fall, as erst your fathers fell!

Imitated from M. de Voltaire.

Of ringers, ah! sure, such a rascally band
Never yet did our patience perplex;

Would to heaven the ropes, which you hold in your

hands,

Were twisted full tight round your necks.

To the Printer.-Sir, Having in my former letter given an account of the festival of the Ass of Sens on Christmas day, I now beg leave to introduce to your notice the part acted by the cat in the town of Aix, in Provence, on the festival of Corpus Christi. On this occasion, the finest tom-cat of the country, wrapped in swaddling-clothes like a child, was exhibited to the admiration of the gaping multitude, in a magnificent shrine. Flowers were strewed before him; every knee bent as he passed; and the adorations he received unequivocally pointed him out as the God of the day: but the strangest circumstance attending this ceremony is, that it continued in all its splendour in the 18th century, and was not finally suppressed till about the year 1757!

But the clergy of Bruxelles, in their famous procession of Sablon, greatly surpassed their brethren of Aix. A bear was exhibited, clad in a surplice, and decked with ribbons, majestically sitting in a chariot, and playing on an organ. This, in itself no ordinary idea, was greatly improved, however, by the whimsical construction of the organ. The music was not produced by the air compressed in pipes, as in common instruments. Twelve cats were separately confined in narrow cells, so contrived in the organ-chest, that they could not turn any way; their tails were drawn through twelve small holes made at the top, and were fixed by ropes to the keys of the instrument. By this piece of machinery, whenever the bear laid his heavy paws upon the keys,

the cats, strongly pulled by the tail, mewed most horribly; and this melody was powerfully reinforced by the voice of the choristers, who performed with all their might a well-suited accompaniment !

At Paris there was a procession, called " the Fox's procession;" and at Rheims, on the Wednesday before Easter, the whole clergy went on a pilgrimage to St. Renie, each dragging after him a herring, fastened by a ribbon. The inhabitants of Corbie were for a long time highly delighted with a truly edifying dog, who always assisted at mass with them. On great festivals, the principal seat in the church was kept for him, and he never failed of conforming strictly to the several postures used during service; and so rigid was he in the observance of prescribed fasts, that neither hunger nor caresses would induce him to taste flesh-meat on the days on which it was forbidden. In many places the Curé would not have celebrated mass without having for assistant a hawk, or a kite, usually perched on a corner of the altar: and, not above twenty years ago, it was the custom in many villages to bestow a great deal of care on jays, magpies, and starlings, which were taught to sing anthems, and afterwards admitted into the choir.

It is indeed, a melancholy observation, that in such countries as are still under the influence of bigotry and popish power, those abominable deceptions which disgrace human nature are still practised with astonishing success, The remains