But don Torribio ought not to be discouraged at this proof of his justice; as he might learn by that, what he had to expect when his turn arrived, which should certainly be the first opportunity. This anecdote concerning the ancient obligations of the archbishop, the magician had the goodness to believe, and rejoiced, as much as he was able, that his interests were sacrificed to those of don Ferdinand.

Nothing was now thought of but preparations for their departure to Compostella, where they were to reside. These, how ever, were scarcely worth the trouble, considering the short time they were destined to remain there; for at the end of a few months one of the pope's chamberlains arrived, who brought the archbishop a cardinal's cap, with an epistle conceived in the most respectful terms, in which his holiness invited him to assist, by his counsel, in the government of the Christian world; permitting him at the same time to dispose of his mitre in favour of whom he pleased. Don Torribio was not at Compostella when the courier of the holy father arrived. He had been to see his son, who still continued a priest in a small parish at Toledo. But he presently returned, and was not put to the trouble of asking for the vacant archbishopric. The prelate ran to meet him with open arms, My dear master," said he, "I have two pieces of good news to relate at once. Your disciple is created a cardinal, and your son shall-shortly-be advanced to the same dignity. I had intended in the mean time to bestow upon him the archbishopric of Compostella, but, unfortunately for him, and for me, my mother, whom we left at Badajos, has, during your absence, written me a cruel letter, by which all my measures have been disconcerted. She will not be pacified unless I appoint for my successor the archdeacon of my former church, don Pablas de Salazar, her intimate friend and confessor. She tells me it will occasion her death" if she should not be able to obtain preferment for her dear father in God. Shall I be the death of my mother?"

66

Don Torribio was not a person who could incite or urge his friend to be guilty of parricide, nor did he indulge himself in the least resentment against the mother of the prelate. To say the truth, however, this mother was a good kind of woman, nearly superannuated. She lived quietly with her cat and her maid servant, and scarcely knew the name of her confessor. Was it likely, then, that she had procured

don Pablas his archbishopric? Was it not more than probable that he was indebted for it to a Gallician lady, his cousin, at once devout and handsome, in whose company his grace the archbishop had frequently been edified during his residence at Compostella? Be this as it may, don Torribio followed his eminence to Rome. Scarcely had he arrived at that city ere the pope died. The conclave met all the voices of the sacred college were in favour of the Spanish cardinal. Behold him there. fore pope.

Immediately after the ceremony of his exaltation, don Torribio, admitted to a secret audience, wept with joy while he kissed the feet of his dear pupil. modestly represented his long and faithful services, reminded his holiness of those inviolable promises which he had renewed before he entered the conclave, and instead of demanding the vacant hat for don Benjamin, finished with most exemplary moderation by renouncing every ambitious hope. He and his son, he said, would both esteem themselves too happy if his holiness would bestow on them, together with his benediction, the smallest temporal benefice; such as an annuity for life, sufficient for the few wants of an ecclesiastic and a philosopher.

During this harangue the sovereign pontiff considered within himself how to dispose of his preceptor. He reflected he was no longer necessary; that he already knew as much of magic as was sufficient for a pope. After weighing every circumstance, his holiness concluded that don Torribio was not only an useless, but a troublesome pedant; and this point determined, he replied in the following words:

"We have learned, with concern, that under the pretext of cultivating the occult sciences, you maintain a horrible intercourse with the spirit of darkness and deceit; we therefore exhort you, as a father, to expiate your crime by a repentance proportionable to its enormity. Moreover, we enjoin you to depart from the territories of the church within three days, under penalty of being delivered over to the secular arm, and its merciless flames."

Don Torribio, without being alarmed, immediately repeated the three mysterious words which the reader was desired to remember; and going to a window, cried out with all his force, "Jacintha, you need spit but one partridge; for my friend, the dean, will not sup here to-night."

This was a thunderbolt to the imaginary pope. He immediately recovered from the

TO THE RHONE. For the Table Book.

trance, into which be had been thrown by the three mysterious words. He perceived that, instead of being in the vatican, he was still at Toledo, in the closet of don Torribio; and he saw, by the clock, it was not a complete hour since he entered that fatal cabinet, where he had been entertained by such pleasant dreams.

In that short time the dean of Badajos had imagined himself a magician, a bishop, a cardinal, and a pope; and he found at last that he was only a dupe and a knave. All was illusion, except the proofs he had given of his deceitful and evil heart. He instantly departed, without speaking a single word, and finding his mule where he had left her, returned to Badajos.

Phrenology.

For the Table Book,

"You look but on the outside of affairs."

KING JOHN.

Oh! why do we wake from the alchymist's dream
To relapse to the visions of Doctor Spurzheim ?
And why from the heights of philosophy fall,
For the profitless plans of Phrenology Gall?
To what do they tend ?

What interest befriend?

By disclosing all vices, we burn away shame,
And virtuous endeavour

Is fruitless for ever,

If it lose the reward that self-teaching may claim.

On their skulls let the cold-blooded theorists seek
Indications of soul, which we read on the cheek;
In the glance-in the smile-in the bend of the brow,
We dare not tell when, and we cannot tell how.
More pleasing our task,

No precepts we ask ;

'Tis the tact, 'tis the instinct, kind Nature has lent,
For the guide and direction of sympathy meant.
And altho' in our cause no learn'd lecturer proses,
We reach the same end, thro' a path strew'd with roses.
'Twixt the head and the hand, be the contact allow'd,
Of the road thro' the eye to the heart we are proud.
When we feel like the brates, like the brutes we may
show it,

But no lumps on the head mark the artist or poet.
The gradations of genius you never can find,
Since no matter can mark the refinements of mind.
'Tis the coarser perceptions alone that you trace,
But what swells in the heart must be read in the face.
That index of feeling, that key to the soul,
No art can disguise, no reserve can control.
Tis the Pharos of love, tost on oceans of doubt,
'Tis the Beal-fire of rage-when good sense puts about.
As the passions may paint it—a heaven or a hell.
And 'tis always a study—not model as well.

Thou art like our existence, and thy waves,
Illustrious river! seem the very type
Of those events which drive us to our graves,
Or rudely place us in misfortune's gripe!
Thou art an emblem of our changeful state,
Smooth when the summer magnifies thy charms,
But rough and cheerless when the winds create
Rebellion, and remorseless winter arms
The elements with ruin! In thy course
The ups and downs of fortune we may trace-
One wave submitting to another's force,

The boldest always foremost in the race:
And thus it is with life-sometimes its calm
Is pregnant with enjoyment's sweetest balm;
At other times, its tempests drive us down
The steep of desolation, while the frown
Of malice haunts us, till the friendlier tomb
Protects the victim she would fain consume!

Upper Park Terrace.

ADVICE.

B. W. R.

Would a man wish to offend his friends? ➡let him give them advice.

Would a lover know the surest method by which to lose his mistress?—let him give her advice.

Would a courtier terminate his sovereign's partiality?—let him offer advice.

In short, are we desirous to be universally hated, avoided, and despised, the means are always in our power.—We have but to advise, and the consequences are infallible.

66

The friendship of two young ladies, though apparently founded on the rock of eternal attachment, terminated in the following manner : My dearest girl, I do not think your figure well suited for dancing; and, as a sincere friend of yours, I advise you to refrain from it in future." The other naturally affected by such a mark of sincerity, replied, "I feel very much obliged to you, my dear, for your advice; this proof of your friendship demands some return: I would sincerely recommend you to relinquish your singing, as some of your upper notes resemble the melodious squeaking of the feline race.”

The advice of neither was followed-the one continued to sing, and the other to dance-and they never met but as enemies.

For the Table Book.

Tommy Sly, whose portrait is above, is a well-known eccentric character in the city of Durham, where he has been a resident in the poor-house for a number of years. We know not whether his parents were rich or poor, where he was born, or how he spent his early years—all is alike "a mys. tery;" and all that can be said of him is, that he is "daft." Exactly in appearance as he is represented in the engraving,he dresses in a coat of many colours, attends the neighbouring villages with spice, sometimes parades the streets of Durham with "pipe-clay for the lasses," and on "gala days" wanders up and down with a cockade in his hat, beating the city drum, which is good-naturedly lent him by the corporation. Tommy, as worthless and insignificant as he seems, is nevertheless

put out to use:" his name has often served as a signature to satirical effusions; and at election times he has been occasionally employed by the Whigs to take the distinguished lead of some grand Tory procession, and thereby render it ridiculous; and by way of retaliation, he has been hired by the Tories to do the same kind office for the Whigs. He is easily bought or sold, for he will do any thing for a few halfpence. To sum up Tommy's character, we may say with truth, that he is a harmless and inoffensive man; and if the reader of this brief sketch should ever happen to be in Durham, and have a few halfpence to spare, he cannot bestow his charity better than by giving it to the "Custos Rotulorum" of the place-as Mr. Humble once ludicrously called him-poor ToмMY SLY.

EX DUNELMENSIS.

The abbey-church of Westminster may be safely pronounced the most interesting ecclesiastical structure in this kingdom. Considered as a building, its architecture, rich in the varieties of successive ages, and marked by some of the most prominent beauties and peculiarities of the pointed style, affords an extensive field of gratification to the artist and the antiquary. Rising in solemn magnificence amidst the palaces and dignified structures connected with the seat of imperial government, it forms a distinguishing feature in the metropolis of England. Its history, as connected with a great monastic establishment, immediately under the notice of our ancient monarchs, and much favoured by their patronage, abounds in important and curious particulars.

the long aísles and enriched chapels, the interest is not confined to the customary recollections of sacerdotal pomp: ceremonies of more impressive interest, and of the greatest public importance, claim a priority of attention. The grandeur of architectural display in this building is viewed with additional reverence, when we remember that the same magnificence of effect has imparted increased solemnity to the coronation of our kings, from the era of the Norman conquest.

At a very early period, this abbey-church was selected as a place of burial for the English monarchs; and the antiquary and the student of history view their monuments as melancholy, but most estimable sources of intelligence and delight. In the vicinity of the ashes of royalty, a grateful and judicious nation has placed the remains of such of her sons as have been most eminent for patriotic worth, for valour, or for talent; and sculptors, almost from the earliest period in which their art was exercised by natives of England, down to the present time, have here exerted their best efforts, in commemoration of those thus celebrated for virtue, for energy, or for intellectual power.*

St. David's Day.

THE LEEK.

Written by WILLIAM LEATHART, Llywydd. Sung at the Second Anniversary of the Society of UNDEB CYMRY, St. David's Day, 1825.

AIR-Pen Rhaw.

I.

If bards tell true, and hist'ry's page
Is right, why, then, I would engage
To tell you all about the age,

When Cæsar used to speak;
When dandy Britons painted,-were
Dress'd in the skin of wolf or bear,
Or in their own, if none were there,

Before they wore THE LEEK. Ere Alfred hung in the highway, His chains of gold by night or day; And never had them stol'n away,

His subjects were so meek. When wolves they danc'd o'er field and fen; When austere Druids roasted men ;But that was only now and then,

Ere Welshmen wore THE LEEK.

*Mr. Brayley; in Neale's Hist. and Antiq. of West

II.

Like all good things-this could not last,
And Saxon gents, as friends, were ask'd,
Our Pictish foes to drive them past

The wall:-then home to seek,
Instead of home, the cunning chaps
Resolv'd to stop and dish the APs,
Now here they are, and in their caps
To day they wear THE LEEK.
Yet tho' our dads, they tumbled out,
And put each other to the rout,
We sons will push the bowl about;-
We're here for fun or freak.
Let nought but joy within us dwell;
Let mirth and glee each bosom swell;
And bards, in days to come, shall tell,
How Welshmen love THE LEEK.

THE WELSH HARP.

MR. LEATHART is the author of " Welsh Pennillion, with Translations into English, adapted for singing to the Harp," an eighteenpenny pocket-book of words of ancient and modern melodies in Welsh and English, with a spirited motto from Mr. Leigh Hunt." The Ancient Britons had in them the seeds of a great nation even in our modern sense of the word. They had courage, they had reflection, they had imagination. Power at last made a vassal of their prince. There were writers in those times, harpers, and bards, who made the instinct of that brute faculty turn cruel out of fear. They bequeathed to their countrymen the glory of their memories; they and time together have consecrated their native hills, so as they never before were consecrated."

According to the prefatory dissertation of Mr. Leathart's pleasant little manual, "Pennillion singing" is the most social relic of ancient minstrelsy in existence. It originated when bardism flourished in this island; when the object of its members was to instil moral maxims through the medium of poetry, and the harp was then, as it still is, the instrument to which they chanted. There is evidence of this use of the harp in Cæsar and other Latin writers. The bards were priest and poet; the harp was their inseparable attribute, and skill in playing on it an indispensable qualification. A knowledge of this instrument was necessary, in order to establish a claim to the title of gentleman; it occupied a place in every mansion; and every harper was entitled to valuable privileges. A "Pencerdd," or chief of song, and a "Bardd Teulu," or domestic bard, were among the necessary appendages to the king's court,

The former held his lands free, was stationed by the side of the "judge of the palace," and lodged with the heir presumptive. He was entitled to a fee on the tuition of all minstrels, and to a maiden fee on the marriage of a minstrel's daughter. The fine for insulting_him was six cows and eighty pence. The domestic bard also held his land free; he had a harp from the king, which he was enjoined never to part with; a gold ring from the queen, and a beast out of every spoil. In the palace he sang immediately after the chief of song, and in fight at the front of the battle. It is still customary for our kings to maintain a Welsh minstrel.

One of the greatest encouragers of music was Gruffydd ap Cynan, a sovereign of Wales, who, in the year 1100, summoned a grand congress to revise the laws of minstrelsy, and remedy any abuse that might have crept in. In order that it should be complete, the most celebrated harpers in Ireland were invited to assist, and the result was the establishing the twenty-four canons of music; the MS. of which is in the library of the Welsh school, in Gray's Inn-lane. It comprises several tunes not now extant, or rather that cannot be properly deciphered, and a few that are well known at the present day. A tune is likewise there to be found, which a note informs us was usually played before king Arthur, when the salt was laid upon the table; it is called "Gosteg yr Halen," or the Prelude of the Salt.

The regulations laid down in the above MS. are curious. A minstrel having entered a place of festivity was not allowed to depart without leave, or to rove about at any time, under the penalty of losing his fees. If he became intoxicated and committed any mischievous trick, he was fined, imprisoned, and divested of his fees for seven years. Only one could attend a person worth ten pounds per annum, or two a person worth twenty pounds per annum, and so forth. It likewise ordains the quantum of musical knowledge necessary for the taking up of the different degrees, for the obtaining of which three years seems

to have been allowed.