the volcano in the island of Lipari to be mor agitated than usual.*

CCXI. COLOURS.

The ancients did not possess the secret of oil painting, which was invented by John of Bruges, but their colouring is beautiful and durable. Ours fades considerably in the course of a century. This is said to be the fault of the Dutch, who adulterate the chemical compositions required; or perhaps of the Indians, who are as great cheats as themselves. It is said that M. Colbert did everything in his power, but without effect, to procure better materials. The evil, it seems, is general; for the colours in Italy are as bad as our own.

CCXII. YOUNG CARDINALS.

The two youngest Cardinals on record, are Odet de Chatillon, who afterwards became a Calvinist, and the Cardinal Infant. The first was only eleven years old, the second some months younger.

CCXIII. COINS.

It is singular, that, notwithstanding the general circulation of such coins, particularly the latter, no medal of Herod the Great, nor a Daric of Darius, has yet been found. We should be much indebted to chance, which discovered 200 coins of Seleucus at Vandoeuvre, if she would disclose to us as many coins of Herod or Darius.

CCXIV. LOUIS XIV.

Fureteriana. A valet de chambre of Louis XIV., who was holding a candle in his hand as the

• We suspect the facts on which this theory is founded are more than doubtful.

+ Antoine Furetiere, born 1628, died 1688. Author of the Universal Dictionary of the French Language.

King was retiring to bed, imprudently allowed a drop of boiling wax to fall upon his Majesty's foot. The King merely observed mildly, “I think you might as well have dropped it on the ground as on my foot."

CCXV. LOUIS AND THE PORTER.

A porter of the Park at Versailles, who had been told that the King was to pass by the gate which he kept, happened to be out of the way when his Majesty came up. All the courtiers hurried to seek him, and he soon made his appearance, running as fast as possible; when every one began to scold him severely for keeping the King waiting. "Gentlemen," said the King," why should you scold the poor man? I am sure he is sorry enough already at having made me wait."

CCXVI. GREAT EATERS.

Theodoret relates, that a woman of Syria was in the habit of eating thirty fowls a-day without being satisfied. A person named Phagon, in presence of the Emperor Aurelian, is said to have devoured a boar, a sheep, and a pig. The Emperor Claudius Albinus eat, one morning at breakfast, five hundred figs, a hundred peaches, ten melons, a hundred becaficos, forty oysters, and a large quantity of raisins. The Emperor Maximian became so fat in consequence of excessive eating, that his wife's bracelets only served him for rings.

CCXVII. THE KING OF SIAM'S PAVILION.

The King of Siam has, in one of his country seats, a pavilion of a very extraordinary kind. The tables, chairs, and cabinets, with which it is furnished, are of crystal; the walls, roof, and sides, are formed of glass, an inch thick, and a fathom in breadth, and so finely united with mastic, as trans

parent as glass itself, that not a drop of water can penetrate the building. There is but one door, which closes so exactly, that it is as impervious to water as the rest of the building. A Chinese engineer constructed the pavilion in this manner, as a certain remedy against the insupportable heat of that country. It is twenty-eight feet in length by sixteen in breadth; and is placed in the midst of a large basin, paved and covered with marble of different colours. The basin can be filled with water in a quarter of an hour, and emptied as rapidly. When those who are to occupy the pavilion have entered, the gate is shut, the seams stopped with mastic to prevent the entry of water; and the sluices being opened, the large surrounding basin is immediately filled to the top, so that the whole pavilion is placed under water, with the exception of the top of the dome, which allows the passage of air for the respiration of those within. Nothing, it is said, can be more delightful than the agreeable coolness enjoyed in this delicious pavilion; while all around is scorched and burnt up by the intolerable heat of the sun.

CCXVIII. BAPTISM AND MARRIAGE. Ducatiana. On the 18th October 1609, the daughter of the Count de Crequi, aged nine, was married to the Marquis de Rohan, the son of the Duke de Sully. The minister, Dumoulin, seeing the bride approach, said, "Do you present this child to be baptized ?"

CCXIX. A LEGAL AIM.

An advocate of the King, in pleading, used to

Jacob Duchat, born at Metz 1658, died at Berlin 1735.

put his arms in such a position that he seemed to be levelling a musket at the court. The President, a man of humour, tired of this eternal gesture, said to him one day, "Raise your piece a little, sir; you will hurt somebody."

CCXX. FRANCIS I.

Francis I. was one day playing at tennis, when a Monk, who was playing on his side, by a successful stroke, insured the victory to the King's party. "Well done," said the King; "a brave stroke for a Monk !" "Sire," replied the Monk, your Majesty can make it the blow of an Abbé when you please." Some days afterwards the Abbacy of Bourmayen became vacant, and the King presented the situation to him.

CCXXI. BENOISE AND HENRY III.

Segrasiana.*-Benoise, secretary of the cabinet under Henry III., having one day left his portfolio in the cabinet of the King, the King opened it, and found a piece of paper, on which Benoise, in order to try his pen, had written, "Treasurer of my privy purse." The King took up the pen, and added, " Pay to the Sieur Benoise, secretary of my cabinet, the sum of 1000 crowns ;" and then signed it. Benoise, on his return, to his great surprise, found the order, and made his acknowledgments to the King so gracefully, that the King, thinking the sum too little, asked him for the order, and added a cipher to the 1000, making the gift 10,000 crowns.

CCXXII. CONDÉ.

In the council of war which was held before the

• Jean Renauld de the Princess of Cleves.

Segrais, the author of Zayde, and
Died in 1701.

battle of Rocroi, the Prince of Condé having stated all the advantages of fighting in the event of victory, the Marechal de Gassion replied, "But if we lose, what is to become of us?" "I never

think of that," said the Prince; "I shall be dead first."

SERIOUS AND COMIC ANA.*

CCXXIII. BOSSUET.

M. Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux, at eight years of age, preached with grace; he delivered a sermon at that age at the Hotel de Rambouillet. It was nearly midnight when he closed, and Voiture, who was present, remarked as he rose to go, "I have never heard a sermon so early-or so late.”

CCXXIV. A BORROWED COUNTENANCE. A Gascon officer, demanding his salary from the minister of war, maintained that he was in danger of dying of hunger. The minister, who saw that his visage was full and ruddy, told him his face gave the lie to his statement. "Ah! sir," said

L'Art de Desopiler la Rate. A general Collection of Ana, Serious and Comic, in 2 vols.