king not of many yeares, and that (non de jure sanguinis, sed jure electionis, imò novitèr electus) may happilie leaue him vninformed of that course, wch his father and auncestors haue taken with us, and wch, peraduenture, shal be obserued by those that shall liue to come after him; and, as for you, (saied she to the ambass',) although I perceaue you haue redde many bookes, to fortifie your arguments in this case, yet am I apt to beleeue, that you haue not lighted upon the chapter, that prescribeth the forme to be used between kings and princes; but, were it not for the place you hold, to haue so publickly an imputation thrown upon our justice, wch as yet neuer failed, wee would aunswer this audacitie of yours in another style; and, for the particulars of y' negotiations, wee will appoint some of our counsell to conferre with you, to see upon what ground this clamor of yours hath his fundation, who haue showed y'self rather an heralde, than an ambassador.' I assure your LP, though I am not apt to wonder, I must confesse before the liuing Lord, that I neuer heard her (when I know her spirits were in passion) speake with better moderation in my lyfe.

"You will think it strange that I am thus idle, as to use another bodie's hand: I assure you, I haue hurt my thumme at this hower, and because the queene tould me, she was sorrye you heard not his Latin and hers, I promised her to make you partaker of as much as I could remember, being, as I knew, the worst you would expect from her, and yet the best could come from any other; yf, therefore, this my lettre finde you, and that you write backe, I pray you take notice that you were pleased to heare of her wise and eloquent answer."

ANCIENT VALUE OF BOOKS.

IN the year 1471, when Louis XI. borrowed the works of Rasis, the Arabian Physician, from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, he not only deposited in pledge a considerable quantity of plate, but was obliged to procure a nobleman to join with him as surety in a deed, binding himself under a great forfeiture to restore it. When any person made a present of a book to a church, or a monastery, in which were the only libraries during several ages, it was deemed a donative of such value, that he offered it on the altar, pro remediá anima sua, in order to obtain the forgiveness of his sins.

ROMANTIC HIGHWAYMAN.

IN a letter to Mr. Mead, preserved among that gentleman's papers in the British Museum, and dated February 3, 1625, there is the following account of a singular high

wayman:

"Mr. Clavell, a gentleman, a knight's eldest son, a great highway-robber, and of posts, was, together with a soldier, his companion, arraigned and condemned, on Monday last, at the King's Bench bar: he pleaded for himself that he never had struck or wounded any man, never taken any thing from their bodies, as rings, &c. never cut their girths or saddles, or done them, when he robbed, any corporeal violence. He was, with his companion, reprieved; he sent the following verses to the king for mercy, and hath obtained it.

"I that have robb'd so oft, am now bid stand;
Death and the law assault me, and demand
My life and means: I never us❜d men so,
But, having ta'en their money, let them go.
Yet, must I die? and is there no relief?
The King of Kings had mercy on a thief!
So may our gracious king too, if he please,
Without his council, grant me a release.
God is his precedent, and men shall see
His mercy go beyond severity."

THE SPECTATOR.

THE origin of some of the numbers of the "Spectator," is not a little curious, and shows with what singular talent the admired authors of this best of British Essays converted the most trifling subjects into articles of interest. Number 71, which contains "the epistle of an enamoured footman, in the country to his mistress," and signed "James," originated in the following circumstance:

In the year 1711, James Hirst lived servant with the honourable Edward Wortley. It happened one day, that in delivering a letter to his master, he, by mistake, gave him one which he had written to his sweetheart, and kept back Mr. Wortley's. He soon discovered his error, and immediately hurried to his master in order to retrieve it; but unfortunately, or rather we may say fortunately, for poor James, it happened

to be the first that presented itself, and, before his return, Mr. Wortley had perused the enamoured footman's love story. James intreated to have it returned: "No," said Mr. Wortley, "No, James; you shall be a great man; this letter shall appear in the Spectator."-It was accordingly communicated to Mr. Steele, and published in James's own words, "Dear Betty," &c.

It is generally believed, that the papers in the Spectator written by Mr. Addison, were distinguished by the initials C. L. I. O. but critics are not agreed as to their actual signification. Some attribute them to the vanity of the author, presuming that Addison intended to personify himself with the first of the muses, Clio; others are of opinion, that the letters stand for the initials of the places whence the different papers were dated, as Chelsea, London, Islington, and Oxford, during his stay at the several towns. This supposition is certainly the most probable, and it may be strengthened by transposing the letters (for there is no absolute rule by which their order should be fixed) into the Latin word loci, or " at the place" where he might have resided at the time he wrote the respective papers. At all events, this is as fair a presumption as that of imputing vanity to a man, in the whole of whose writings there does not appear the slightest tincture of that foible, and whose sole object was to instruct and admonish, and by such means to correct the follies and vices of his time.

FORSON'S MACARONIC VERSES.

NOTHING is perhaps more amusing than the vagaries of a man of genius; those effusions of literary relaxation in which they sometimes indulge. Swift was a great trifler in this way, but many of his pieces are too gross for "ears polite." This, however, is not the case with the following jeu d'esprit, written by Professor Porson, during the alarm of French invasion:

66

Lingo drawn for the Militia.

Ego nunquam audivi such terrible news,

At this present tempus my sensus confuse;
I'm drawn for a miles-I must go cum marte,
And, concinus ense, engage Buonaparte.

"Such tempora nunquam videbant majores,
For then their opponents had different mores:
But we will soon prove to the Corsican vaunter,
Tho' times may be chang'd-Britons never mutantur.

"Mehercle! this Consul non potest be quiet,
His word must be lex-and when he says fiat,
Quasi Deus, he thinks we must run at his nod;
But Britons were ne'er good at running, by G-.

"Per mare, I rather am led to opine,

To meet British naves he would not incline;
Lest he should in mare profundum be drown'd,
Et cum alga, non laurâ, his caput be crown'd.

"But allow that this boaster in Britain could land,
Multis cum aliis at his command:

Here are lads who will meet, aye and properly work 'em,
And speedily send 'em, ni fallor, in orcum.

"Nunc, let us, amici, join corda et manus,
And use well the vires Di Boni afford us:
Then let nations combine, Britain never can fall
She's-multum in parvo-a match for them all."

;

LETTER FROM OLIVER CROMWELL TO GENERAL FLEETWOOD. "DEAR CHARLES,

"I thank you for yo' loving re; the same hopes and desires upon yo' planting into my family were much the same wth me that you expresse in yo's to me, however the dispensacion of the Lord is to have it otherwise for the p'sent; and therein I desire to acquiesce, not being out of hope, but that it may lie in his good pleasure in his time to give us the mutual comfort d' relaçon, the want whereof he is able abundantly to supply by his own p'sence, wch, indeed, makes up all deserts, and is the comfort of all o' comforts and enjoy

ments.

66

Salute yo dear wife from me; bid her beware of a bondage spirit; feare is the natural issue of such a spirit,the antidote of love. The voyce of feare is: if I had doun this, if I had avoyded that, how well it had been wth mee.' I know this hath beene her vaine reasoninge.

"Love argueth on this wise: what a Christ have I! What a father in and thorough Him! What a name hath my father,mercifull, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth; forgiving injustice, transgressions, and sins! What a nature hath my father! He is love! What force in it, unchangeable, infinite! What covenant between him and Christ

for all the seed, for every one, wherein he undertakes all, and the poor soule nothinge. The new covenant is grace to or upon the soule, to weh it is passive and receptive. "I'll do away theire sins. I'll write my law," &c. "I'll put itt in their hearts-they shall not depart from itt," &c.

"This is the love of God; it's Christ dying for men, without strength for men whilst sinners and enemies. And shall we seek for the roote of our comforts within us? What God hath doun, what he is to us in Christ, is the roote of our comfort; in this is stability; in us is weakness. Acts of obedience are not perfect, and therefore yield not perfect peace; fayth as an act yields it not, but, as it carries us unto him, who is our perfect rest and peace, in whom wee are accounted of and ordained by the Father even as Christ himselfe this is our high callinge. Rest ever here and here only.

"Commend mee to Harry Cromwell; I pray for him that hee may shine and improve in the knowledge and love of Christ. Commend mee to all the officers; my prayers, indeed, are daily for them. Wish them to beware of bitterness of spirit, and of all thinges uncomely for the Gospell. The Lord give you abundantly of wisdom and fayth, and patience! Take heed also of your natural inclination to compliance: pray for me. I committ you to the Lord, and rest your loving father, O. CROMWELL." "For ye Rt Honble Lt Genlle Fleetwood, Command' in Chiefe of the Forces in Ireland. These."

Dr. Birch's MSS. vol. 4165.

THE FISH AND THE BOOK.

IN 1626, a fish was brought to Cambridge-market with a book in its maw. Of the fact there seems little doubt, but, from the importance that was attached to the circumstance, there is strong reason to believe that it was not purely accidental. Mr. Mead, in a letter to Sir M. Stuteville, in the British Museum, gives the following account of this singular circumstance:

"Christ's Church College, June 24th, 1626.

"But I will now tell you of an accident here at Cambridge, rare, if not strange, whereof I was, yesterday morning, an eye-witness myself. A book in decimo sexto, of the bigger size, found in the maw of a cod-fish, then opened in our fishmarket in the presence of many. In the same were two pieces