THE GIAOUR'S DYING CONFES BY LORD BYRON. Father! thy days have pass'd in peace, 'Mid counted beads, and countless pray'r; To bid the sins of others cease, Thyself without a crime or care, Save transient ills that all must bear, 'My days, though few, have pass'd In much of joy, but more of woe; 3 His death sits lightly; but her fate His doom was seal'd-he knew it well- near As filed the troop to where they fell!' The cold in clime are cold in blood, Their love can scarce deserve the name; But mine was like the lava flood That boils in Etna's breast of flame, If bursting heart, and mad' ning brain, Now leagu'd with friends, now girt by And all that I have felt-and feel foes, I loath'd the languor of repose; her beam.' 'I lov❜d her, friar! nay, ador'd— But these are words that all can use- Not mine the act, though mine the cause; Betoken love-that love was mine, ""Tis true, I could not whine nor sigh, THE WILL OF NATHANIEL Who died some Years since at Twicken- What I am going to bequeath, I pray ye fairly, my good will, Unto my nephew, Robert Longdon, Of whom none says he e'er has wrong done; Tho' civil laws he loves to hash, And to her children just among 'em, When lord and lady both did stray In seventeen hundred sixty-nine, In perfect charity with all mankind. [Continued from page 5.] Much time is consumed in combing and braiding the hair after bathing; and, at the greater festivals, in enriching and powdering it with small bits of silver gilded, resembling a violin in shape, and woven at regular distances. She is painted blue round the eyes; and the insides of the sockets, with the edges, on which the lashes grow, are tinged with black. The improvement of the mind and morals is not considered as a momentous part of female education at Athens. The girls are taught to dance, to play on the Turkish guitar and the tympanum, or timbrel, and to embroider, an art in which they generally excel. A woman skilled in reading and writing, is spoken of as a prodigy of capacity and learning. In the island of Mitylene, there still subsists two very singular institutions. The first is, that all estates, both real and personal, descend to the eldest daughter; whereby all the males, and the younger children of the female line, are disinherited. This custom is of very ancient date, and is said to have been consented to by the males, out of love to their sisters, and to procure better establishments for them. The other is, that in a small town about three days journey from the capital, every stranger, upon his arrival, is compelled to marry one of the women, even though his stay should be for a night. They generally present a maiden to him, whom he must espouse. Or, if he should prove to be a man of great property or importance, several females are presented, and he has the selection of them. Travellers of inferior rank have no choice, but must accept the lady offered to them, who, in that case, is generally the oldest and the plainest in the district. A priest then appears, who performs the marriage ceremonies with great solemnity; a nuptial feast is prepared, and the new married couple pass the night together. The husband may, if he please, depart the next morn. ing. If he have any money or valuable effects, and choose to make his ephemeral wife a present, it is received, and indeed expected; but if he should not, he may still proceed on his journey without molestation. The lady considers herself sufficiently obliged for being freed from the reproach of celibacy; which, in the first instance, cannot be got rid of except through the medium of a stranger, an alliance with a Mitylenian, until married before, not being deemed honourable. It is of no consequence whether her foreign husband remain with her or ever return. At the expiration of a year she may contract a new marriage with any man that presents himself; and should the former husband again appear, his legal claim is (as the lawyers would term it) voided. This custom is said to be of most ancient date; and the only alteration the teachers of the Christian religion have been able to effect is, that the cohabitation shall be preceded by a marriage according to the forms of the church now established there. By this compromise, the priest, the bride, and all parties, quiet the scruples of conscience. The beautiful Greek girls are the most striking ornaments of the Island of Scio. Many of these sit at their doors and windows, twisting cotton or silk, or are employed in spinning or needle work, and accost persons with familiarity, bidding them welcome as they pass. The streets on Sundays and holidays are filled with them in groups. They wear short petticoats, reaching only to their knees, with white silk or cotton hose. Their garments are of various colours; and their whole appearance so fantastic and lively, as to afford much entertainment. Near Canea, in the Island of Candia, is the convent of Acrotiri, a frightful solitude; in the environs of which nothing is seen but dreary rocks, and at their feet the wild thyme, briars, thyme with the odoriferous flowers, the laudanum, and a few strawberry bushes. The nuns here are not cloistered, and make no other vow than that of virginity. Each chooses a companion, and, thus coupled, they reside in small houses built round a chapel, to which a Greek priest comes to say mass. These couples perform all the mutual offices of friendship, assist each other, and possess in common an inclosure, more or less considerable, appropriated to the double cell. This is their garden and orchard, in which we find orange, almond, and olive trees. In their cells is neither sumptuous ness nor magnificence; we find only convenient utensils, and absolutely necessary furniture, which is kept neat and clean. In a word, these nuns, without being rich, enjoy a comfortable subsistence, for which they are indebted to their own industry. "Acrotiri (says Savary) contains within its narrow precincts the decrepitude of age, the vigour of riper years, and all the charms of youth. I have seen three of these females well deserving to employ the pencil of a skilful painter: a nun of a hundred and nine years old, another of thirty-six, and a novice of sixteen. To conceive a just idea of the latter's beauty, one must have seen her; the powers of description are totally insufficient to convey it. Unite in imagination all the charms which sometimes adorn the fairest of nature's works, in all their delicacy and perfection, in all their astonishing harmony and grace, and it will give but a feeble image of the novice of Acrotiri. Her features had uncommon animation, and her eyes sparkled with a lustre that seemed more than human, and which it was impossible to sustain unmoved. How indescribable must have been her smile, would this beauteous virgin have consented to smile. Transcendant as were her charms, her dress was of the most simple kind; yet it seemed as if no ornament might be added, that could embellish her. Every action, every attitude made her appearance still more lovely. Absolutely unconscious of her beauty, she waited with apparent pleasure on the nun, who she considered as her mother, and anticipated in all her desires. Her whole air and manner were free from the slightest tinge of affectation; she appeared absorbed in sublime ideas, and only aspired to be received among the nuns of Acrotiri. I cannot deny, that I was sensibly concerned at the thought of so many charms being for ever buried in the depth of a sad solitude; and that she, who seemed born to give the highest felicity to some favoured mortal, should be separated for ever from the society of man."With respect to their persons, the Cypriots are, in general, tall and wellmade; they have also a noble and agreeable air; and in their manner of living, are very sober and temperate. "The women," says Mariti," have nothing beautiful but their eyes; their features are destitute of delicacy, yet they have always been held in the highest estimation for their charms. In stature, they are like the men, very tall, of an amorous disposition, and much inclined to indolence and voluptuousness. They for the most part attain to a good old age; and it is no uncommon thing to see great grandmothers become tired of widowhood, and enter again into the bands of hymen. All the Greeks are fond of pleasure; but the Cypriots give themselves up to a degree of licentiousness, and consider the gratifying their inclinations as an act of religion." [To be continued.] FRENCH DANCERS. Marcellus, who had been but a secondrate dancer at the Opera, became one of the first dancing-masters in Paris, and when, weighed down by infirmities, he could no longer exercise his art himself, such was his knowledge of its theory, and he demonstrated it with so much facility and clearness, that it was impossible not to become perfectly acquainted with it in a few lessons. He taught particularly those dances of a grave and dignified nature, and the " reverences d'etiquettes" for the presentations at court; and without rising from a large sofa, where he was kept by the pains of the gout, he made his pupils execute before him all those movements which he explained to them with minute detail, and chid them with severity for the slightest deficiency in the execu tion. He solicited a pension from government, and the charming Mademoiselle d'Esc, one of his pupils, having, by the great credit of her family, obtained it for him, hastened, with as much rapidity as joy, to present him the patent, and she put it into his hands without any other pretension than that of giving him equally surprise and pleasure. Marcellus took the instrument, and, throwing it on the ground, a long distance from him, exclaimed, in a severe tone, "Is that the manner, Madam, that I have taught you to present any thing? Take up the paper, and bring it to me as you ought!" Mademoiselle d'Esc, humiliated by the tone which she ought least to have expected on such an occasion, took up the paper with tears in her eyes, and presented it to him with all the graces of which she was capable. "It is well, Mademoiselle," said the dancing-master to her, "it is well; I receive it; though your elbow was not sufficiently turned;and I thank you." Marcellus said that the French had too much fire for his art-the Spaniards too much ice—the Germans too much fat-the Italians too much ether-and that grave dancing was peculiarly suited to the English. He asserted, that he could discover, simply by his carriage, to what nation the man who presented himself before him belonged. A young foreign nobleman who wished to receive his lessons, and who was apprised of his predilection for the English, introduced himself as an Englishman. As soon as he had made his salute, Marcellus cried out in a disdainful tone, "You an Englishman! You born in the atmosphere of independence! I am not mistaken. You are only the titled slave of some little Northern Prince." And Marcellus was right: he was the son of the great chamberlain of the Prince de H. Vestris, the father, who allowed himself to be called "the God of Dancing," used to say openly, "I only know three great men in Europe-the King of Prussia, Voltaire, and myself." His ridiculous vanity surpassed his talents. He replied to some one who congratulated him on the happiness of obtaining the unanimous approbation of the public, "Ah! believe me, I do not always repose on roses. In truth, I must confess there are moments in which I would prefer the state of a simple captain of cavalry to my own." At that time it was well known that the first noblemen of France esteemed it an honour to obtain the command of a company of cavalry. ANECDOTE OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. The following anecdote of George the Fourth should be recorded by all the journals of the empire: it is worthy the humane and generous sovereign of a humane and generous people. A representation having been made to his majesty, that two men, (namely, William Nadin and William Daubney) sentenced at the last assizes for Nottingham to be transported for life, were innocent of the offence with which they had been charged, and had been mistaken for other characters, a gentleman holding a high official situation, was directed immediately to go on board the vessel in which the men were embarked, and which was waiting only for a fair wind to set sail for New South Wales, and make the necessary inquiries of the individuals themselves. The result, we are happy to say, proved so far satisfactory, that his majesty was induced, without a moment's delay, to grant them a free pardon. The governor, in announcing the pleasing intelligence to the men, told them that he had orders to give them a certificate of their good conduct, which had been such as to entitle them to every indulgence. He also presented each of them with a pair of handsome trowsers, being the only article of apparel they appeared to stand in need of. The clergyman on board the vessel, as a proof of his good opinion, likewise made each of them a handsome present. After bidding adieu to their late unhappy companions, the men proceeded to take a respectful leave of the governor, and to thank him for the many kindnesses they had received at his hands, when he informed them that he had a present to make them from their kind-hearted sovereign, and to their delight and astonishment presented each of them with three 1 1. notes to defray their expenses home. With streaming eyes and grateful hearts they received this unlooked-for favour, and when their feelings permitted them to speak, they both at the same moment exclaimed, “Almighty God bless King George the Fourth!" They arrived in Nottingham on Saturday, and after seeing their friends, waited upon the worthy mayor, to thank him for his kindness and humanity towards them. It gives us pleasure to add, that two respectable gentlemen in the town have taken them into their employ. - DOCTOR RADCLIFFE AND SIR GODFREY KNELLER. Sir Godfrey, who lived in the adjoining house to the doctor, had given him leave to open a door into his garden. The doctor's servants abused the privilege, and made a sad havock among Sir Godfrey's hortulanary curiosities; so that the person aggrieved found himself under the necessity of letting the doctor know by one of his servants, "That he should be obliged to brick up the door, in case of his complaints proving ineffectual." To this the doctor, who was very often in a choleric temper, and, from the success of his practice, imagined every one under an obligation of bearing with him, returned answer, "That Sir Godfrey might do what he pleased with the door, so that he did not paint it." Hereupon the footman, after some hesitation in the delivery of his message, and several commands from his master, to give it him word for word, told him as above. "Did my very good friend, Doctor Radcliffe, say so?" asked Sir Godfrey. "Go you back to him, and after presenting my service to him, tell him that I can take any thing from him but physic." ANECDOTE OF MARGARET LAMBRUN. The following anecdote of this heroine represents, in a striking manner, the force of attachment upon the female mind her husband having died of grief, occasioned by the death of his mistress, the ill-fated Mary Queen of Scots, Margaret formed the resolution to avenge the death of her husband and mistress upon Queen Elizabeth. To accomplish her purpose, she assumed a man's habit, and repaired to the English court: but as she was pushing through a crowd to get near the queen, she dropped one of her pistols: this being observed, she was seized and brought before Elizabeth, who examined her strictly; and Margaret replied, Madam, though I appear in this habit, I am a woman; I was several years in the service of Queen Mary, whom you have unjustly put to death; you have also caused that of my husband, who died of grief to see that innocent queen perish so iniquitously. Now, as I had the greatest affection for both, I resolved to revenge their deaths by killing you. I have made many efforts to divert my resolution from this design, but in vain ; I found myself necessitated to prove by experience the truth of the maxim, that reason cannot hinder a woman from vengeance, when she is impelled thereto by love." The queen heard this discourse with calmness, and answered: "You are then persuaded, that in this action you have done your duty, and satisfied the demands which your love for your mistress and your husband required from you; but what think you is my duty to you?" Margaret asked, if this question was put as a queen, or a judge; and on her majesty saying as a queen," Then," said Margaret, "your majesty ought to grant me a pardon." "But what assurance can you give me,” returned the queen, "that you will not repeat the attempt ?" "Madame," Lambrun rejoined," a favour which is granted under restraint is no more a favour; and in so doing, your majesty would act against me as a judge." The queen was so struck with her behaviour, that she gave her a pardon, and a safe conduct till she got out of the kingdom. ACCOUNT OF A WILD MAN. In the year 1774, a savage, or wild man, was discovered by the shepherds, who fed their flocks in the neighbourhood of the forest of Yuary. This man, who inhabited the rocks that lay near the forest, was very tall, covered with hair, like a bear, nimble as the Hisars, of a gay humour, and, in all appearance, of a mild character, as he neither did, nor seemed to intend, harm to any body. He often visited the cottages, without even attempting to carry off any thing. He had no knowledge of bread, milk, or cheese. His greatest |