him so near death, they thought it best to spare his life for the sake of future ransom. They agreed, therefore, to let him return to the Christians. His life was for some time despaired of; but through the kind attention he received, he was rescued from the threatened dissolution. His recovery was concealed, for fear of his being demanded back to work; and a few months after, the Spanish peace of 1784 being concluded, a ransom was accepted by the Algerines for this suffering family, and they were set at liberty.'

MAGNANIMOUS CRIMINAL.

His

Mr. Ryland, the artist, who was executed in 1789, for forgery, so conciliated the friendship of the governor of Tothill Fields Bridewell, where he was confined, that he not only had the liberty of the whole house and garden, but when the other prisoners were locked up of an evening, the governor used to take him out with him, and range the fields to a considerable distance. friends, anticipating the consequences of a trial at this time, concerted a plan by which Ryland was to effect his escape in one of these excursions, and which was to have been executed in such a manner, that the exoneration of his guardian must have followed of course. But probable as it appeared, when mentioned to the unfortunate man, he was so far from acceding, that he protested that if he was at that moment to meet his punishment, he would embrace it with all its terrors, rather than betray a confidence so humanely given. He was deaf to remonstrance and entreaty, and ultimately preferred the risk of death to a breach of friendship.

PRISONERS AT OLMUTZ.

When the Marquis de la Fayette and several general officers quitted the French army, then in insurrection, after the famous 10th of August, they were seized by the King of Prussia; from him transferred to the custody of Austria; and long confined in the castle of Olmutz. To the honor of Madame de la Fayette, she desired and obtained leave to share the captivity of her husband, but other wives were less fortunate.

To maintain some intercourse with his family, M. de Pusy, one of the imprisoned party, concealed a tooth-pick, and mingling his spittle (and often his tears) with soot, he contrived to write in the blank pages and margin of some pious works, which he hired from a bookseller in the town, such information as he desired should reach his wife. That the bookseller had weighty reasons for tolerating the destruction of his treatises, need not to be doubted.

But a much more remarkable circumstance attended this imprisonment, and which displays a singular instance of ingenuity. Although each of the prisoners was kept solitary, yet their apartments were so constructed, that they were within hearing of each other, when standing at the windows of their respective chambers. To improve this advantage, they thought of the following plan. There is at Paris a number of

tunes, called airs of the Pont Neuf, or those popular ballads that were sung at corners of the streets, and at other public places. The words belonging to these airs were so well known, that to strike up a few of the notes, was to recall to memory the words that accompanied them. The captives at Olmutz gradually composed for themselves a vocal vocabulary, by whistling these notes at their windows; and this vocabulary, after a short time, became so complete, and even rich, that two or three notes from each air formed their alphabet and effected their intercourse. By this means they communicated news to each other concerning their families, the progress of the war, &c.; and when by good fortune, one of them had procured a gazette, he whistled the contents of it to his partners in suffering.

Among the magistrates who were immolated in France during the sanguinary power of Robespierre, was the great and virtuous Malesherbes. He was seized in the rural retreat to which he had retired from the miseries of his country, along with his daughter and his little grandchildren. When he was brought to Paris, and conducted into the common hall of the prison, where all the prisoners were assembled, they were struck with astonishment, and all rose respectfully to support his steps as he approached: he was shown to the only seat which the room contained. Malesherbes looked around, and said with a smile," the arm chair is due to age; I am not sure of my title to it: I see another old man who must take it before me." He was condemned to death with his whole family.

MORE PROVOKING THAN PAINFUL.

Where the number of electors is so small as in a Scotch borough, much room is afforded for intrigue and foul play. Carrying off a delegate, is nearly as common a prank as carrying off an heiress in another country; and it has not unfrequently happened to a decent Scotch baillie, to find himself gathering cockles on the Norway shore, when he should have been voting for a representative to the great council of the nation in the Town Hall of his native burgh.

An amusing affair of this sort is related, in which the once noted Lady Wallace, sister of the late Duchess of Gordon, figured as the gay entrapper. General Skreene was appointed delegate for a borough, in an interest opposed to that of a party whose success had Lady Wallace's best wishes. On the eve of the election, she sent an invitation to the general to partake

of a tête-à-tête collation. The bait was tempting; the general went; and when he expected to be ushered into her ladyship's presence, he found himself very suddenly locked up in a suite of apartments, where there was everything convenient for supping, sleeping, &c.; but no means of egress, except for a Trenck, or a De la Tude. Lady W. amused herself in the interim in an anti-chamber, where she stood sentinel, with writing the following lines:

"Ah! heavy my heart, and deep my remorse is, The woes of this gallant gay hero to note, Commander in chief of His Majesty's forces,

In durance detain'd, and depriv'd of his vote! Hark! how on the pannels he kicks and he scrawls! With lily-white hands he batters the panes out; In accents of anguish for succor he bawls, Heav'n grant that in fury he beat not his brains

out!"

AFRICAN LOVERS.

Among the unfortunate victims of the frightful traffic in slaves, brought to Tripoli, in 1788, were a beautiful black female, about sixteen years of age, and a young man of good appearance. They had been purchased by a Moorish family of distinction. They were obliged to be watched night and day, and all instruments kept out of their reach, as they were continually endeavoring to destroy themselves, and sometimes each other. Their story will prove that friendship and fidelity are not strangers to the negro race. This female, who had been the admiration of her own country, had bestowed her heart and her band on the man who was then with her. Their nuptials were going to be celebrated, when her friends one morning missing her, traced her steps to the corner of an adjacent wood, immediately apprehending that she had been pursued, and that she had flown to the thicket for shelter, which is the common and best resource of escape from those who scour the country for slaves.

The parents went directly to her lover, and told him of their distress. He, without losing time to search for her in the thicket, hastened to the sea-side, where his foreboding heart told him he should find her in some vessel anchored there for carrying off slaves. He was just easy enough in his circumstances not to be afraid of being bought or stolen himself, as it is in general only the unprotected that are carried off by these hunters of the human race. His conjectures were just he saw his betrothed wife in the hands of those who had stolen her. He knelt to the robbers who had now the disposal of her, to know the price they demanded for her. A hundred mahboobs (nearly a hundred pounds) was fixed; but, alas! all that he was worth did not make him rich enough for the purchase. He did not hesitate a moment to sell his little flock of sheep, and the small piece of ground he possessed; and lastly, he disposed of himself to those who had taken his companion. Happy that they would do him this last favor, he cheerfully accompanied her, and threw himself into slavery for her sake. This faithful pair, on their arrival at Tripoli, were sold to a merchant, who determined on sending off the female with the rest of the slaves,

to be sold again, she having, from her beauty, cost too much money to be kept as a servant. The merchant intended to keep the man as a domestic in his own family. The distressed pair, on hearing they were to be separated, became frantic. They threw themselves on the ground before some of the ladies of the family, whom they saw passing by; and finding that one of them was the daughter of their master, they clung around her, and implored her assistance; nor could their grief be moderated, until the humane lady assured them that she would intercede with her father not to part them.

The black fell at the merchant's feet, and entreated him not to separate them, declaring that if he did, he would lose all the money he had paid for them both; for that although knives and poison were kept out of their way, no one could force them to eat; and that no human means could make them break the oath they had already taken in the presence of the god they worshipped, never to live asunder.

Tears and entreaties prevailed so far with the merchant as to suffer them to remain together, and they were sold to the owner of a merchant vessel, who took them with several others to Constantinople.

ADOPTED SON.

At the battle of Freehold, during the first American war, a young English officer, closely pressed by two Abenakis Indians, with upraised hatchets, no longer hoped for life, and only resolved to sell it dearly. At the moment when he expected to sink beneath them, an old Indian armed with a bow approached him, and prepared to aim an arrow; but having adjusted it, in an instant he dropped his bow, and ran to throw himself between the young officer and his assailants, who immediately retired with respect

The old man took his prisoner by the hand, encouraged him by caresses, and conducted him to his cabin. It was winter, and the Indians were retiring home. Here he kept him for some time, treating him with undiminished softness, and making him less his slave than his companion. At length he taught him the Abenakis language, and the rude arts in use among that people. They became perfectly satisfied with each other, and the young officer was comparatively happy-except at times when his heart was wrung, to perceive the old man intently fix his eyes on him and shed tears.

At the return of spring the Indians returned to arms, and prepared for the campaign. The old man yet sufficiently strong to support the fatigues of war, set out with them, accompanied by his prisoner. The Abenakis made a march of more than two hundred leagues across the desert, till at length they arrived within sight of an English camp; the old Indian pointed it out to the young officer, at the same time contemplating him wistfully. "Behold thy brothers!" said he to him; "behold where they wait to give us battle! Hear me; I have saved thy life; I have taught thee to make a canoe, bows, and ar

number of persons returning back to prison, after sentence was passed on them to be guillotined the next morning, were tied together by the hands, two and two, with a cord, and were escorted by a guard. In their way, they were met by a woman, who, with loud cries, declared that her husband, who was one of the party, was a good citizen, and had been unjustly condemned. The judge who had condemned them, passing at the moment, ordered the man to be unbound, and after examining him, directed him to be set at liberty on the spot.

This affair having brought a number of people together, the prisoners became mixed with the crowd, when the companion of the man liberated finding himself single and unobserved, thrust his hand with the cord round it into his breast, and hastened to the port, which was not far off. He jumped into a boat, and ordered the boatman to row in all haste to the other end of the port. He had no money, and could only give the rope by which he had been bound to the boatman for his fare, which he accepted. The liberated victim then walked off to a friend's house in the neighborhood, where he remained concealed for the rest of the day. In the night he made his escape from the town, and in a few days was in perfect safety out of France.

RASP HOUSE OF AMSTERDAM.

The celebrated Mr. Howard illustrates the good effect of a system of labor in prison by the following anecdote: "I have heard that a countryman of ours, who was a prisoner in the Rasp House at Amsterdam several years, was permitted to work at his own trade, shoe-making; and by being constantly kept employed, was quite cured of the vices that were the cause of his confinement. My informant added, that the prisoner received at his release a surplus of his earnings, which enabled him to set up his trade in London, where he lived in credit; and at dinner commonly drank, 'Health to his worthy masters at the Rasp House.'"

A DEAD SLEEP.

A tradesman of Lyons, of the name of Grivet, was, during the reign of terror in France, sentenced to death. He was brought into the cave of the condemned, where there were several others, who, with him, were to suffer the next morning. On his arrival they pressed round him, to sympathize in his fate, and fortify him for the stroke he was about to encounter. But Grivet was calm and composed. "Come and sup with us," said they, "this is the last inn in the journey of life; tomorrow we shall arrive at our long home." Grivet accepted the invitation, supped heartily, and then, retiring to the remotest corner of the cave, buried himself in the straw, and went to sleep. The morning arrived; the other prisoners were tied together and led away to execution, without Grivet's perceiving anything, or being perceived. He was fast asleep. The door of the cave was locked, and when he awoke,

he was astonished to find himself in perfect solitude. Four days passed without any new pris. oners being brought in, (a rare occurrence !) during which, Grivet subsisted on some provisions which he found scattered about the cave. On the evening of the fourth day the turnkey brought in a new prisoner, and was thunderstruck on seeing a man, or, as he almost believed it, a spirit in the cave. He called the sentinels, and having interrogated Grivet, found that he had been left in the cave four days ago. He hastened to the tribunal to excuse himself for what had happened. Grivet was summoned before it. It was a moment of lenity with the judges, and Grivet was set at liberty.

MIDNIGHT.

When the unfortunate Duke d'Enghien was awakened in his cell at Valenciennes, to be led to the place of execution, he asked the officer who brought the order, "What do you want?" The officer made no answer. "What o'clock is it?" "Midnight," answered the officer with a faltering voice. Midnight!" exclaimed the prince; "Oh, I know what brings you here; this hour is fatal to me-it was at midnight that I was taken from my house at Ettenheim-at midnight the dungeon at Strasburgh was opened for me at midnight again I was taken out to be brought here- it is now midnight, and I have lived long enough to know how to die!"

SINGULAR COMMITTAL.

In 1717, the following singular commitment to the Bastile was made out by order of the Duke of Orleans, Regent during the minority of Louis XV. of France. "Laurence d'Henry, for disrespect to King George I. in not mentioning him in his Almanac as King of Great Britain." How long this unlucky Almanac-maker remained in prison, is unknown. The Register of the Bastile, when examined at the revolution, afforded no information on the subject.

SLAVERY IN PERSIA.

The slaves in Persia are not numerous and cannot be distinguished by any peculiar habits or usages from the other classes, further than that they are generally trusted and more favored by their superiors. "The name of slave," says Sir John Malcolm, in his History of Persia, "in this country, may be said to imply confidence on one part and attachment on the other. They are mostly Georgians, or Africans, and being obtained or purchased when young, they are usually brought up in the Mahommedan religion. Their master, who takes the merit of their conversion, appropriates the females to the service of his wives; and when the males are at a proper age, he marries them to a female slave in the family, or to a free woman. Their children are brought up in the house, and have a rank only below relations. In almost every family of consequence, the person in whom the greatest trust is reposed.,

is a house-born slave; and instances of their betraying their charge, or abusing the confidence that is placed in them, are very rare."

PANGS OF REMEMBRANCE.

An English gentleman travelling on the Continent, took refuge from a storm in the house of a countryman, near Aix-la-Chapelle. The incident brought him into company with another gentleman who had taken shelter there from the same cause; he was a man somewhat advanced in years, yet still preserving all the stronger lines of a fine person and noble countenance. owner of the house had a pointer dog chained up in the apartment in which the strangers were sitting; and the Englishman observed that whenever the dog rattled his chain, his fellow sojourner turned pale, and appeared moved even to agony.

The

"The noise of the dog seems to affect you, sir," observed the Englishman. "It does," replied the stranger, feelingly, "and had you, my good sir, been as long confined by a chain as have been, you would I believe be as much affected as I am, whenever the rattling of a chain sounded in It is a weakness, I conyour ears. fess; but, alas! what else than weakness has the cruelty of his enemies left to poor Trenck?" An exclamation of surprise burst from the Englishman. "Yes," continued the stranger, "I am that Baron Trenck, of whom the world has heard so much." The Englishman owned the great satisfaction he had in meeting him; and after expressing in lively terms the sympathy which he felt for his misfortunes, intimated an earnest desire to know some of the particulars of his melancholy story; for as yet the narrative with which the public have since become so familiar, had not been published. The baron very courteously complied, and left the Englishman no cause to regret the accidental detention, which thus procured him the gratification of hearing one of the most interesting narratives of captivity in modern times, from the mouth of the heroic sufferer himself.

VOLUNTARY CONFINEMENT. Some time after the Eddystone Lighthouse was erected, a shoemaker engaged to be lightkeeper. When in the boat which conveyed him thither, the skipper addressing him, said, "How happens it, friend Jacob, that you should choose to go and be cooped up here as a light-keeper, when you can on shore, as I am told, earn halfa-crown and three shillings a day in making leathern hose (leathern pipes so called;) whereas the light-keeper's salary is but £25 a year, which is scarce ten shillings a week?" "Every one to his taste," replied Jacob promptly. "I go to be light-keeper, because I do 'nt like confinement." After this answer had produced its share of merriment, Jacob explained himself by saying, that he did not like to be confined to work.

At first there were only two light-keepers stationed on this solitary pile; but an incident of a very extraordinary and distressing nature, which

occurred, showed the necessity of an additional hand. One of the two keepers took ill, and died. The dilemma in which this occurrence left the survivor, was singularly painful. Apprehensive that if he tumbled the dead body into the sea, which was the only way in his power to dispose of it, he might be charged with murder, he was induced for some time to let the dead body lie, in hopes that the attending boat might be able to land and relieve him from the distress he was in. By degrees the body became so putrid, that it was not in his power to get quit of it without help, for it was near a month before the boat could effect a landing; and then it was not without the greatest difficulty that it could be done when they did land. To such a degree was the whole building filled with the stench of the corpse, that it was all they could do to get the dead body disposed of, and thrown into the sea; and it was some time after that, before the rooms could be freed from the offensive stench that was left. What a situation for the solitary survivor to have been left in! What a price did he pay for an innocent reputation! The tale is a rival even to that of Mezentius.

ARRESTED FLIGHT OF LOUIS XVI. AND FAMILY.

When the royal family of France were arrested in their attempted flight, and were on their return from Varennes to Paris, the Dauphin having remarked on the buttons of M. Barnave, one of the deputies appointed by the National Assembly to attend the royal prisoners, the device, "To live free, or die," turned to his mother, and said, "Mamma, what does that mean, tơ live free?" "My child," replied the queen, "it is to go where you please." "Ah, mamma!" rejoined the infant quickly, " then we are not free!"

SOLACE OF READING.

Among the sufferers from the capricious despotism of Henry VIII. was Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. One of the articles brought against the duke was, that he had complained that he was not of the privy council; and that his majesty loved him not, because he was too much loved in the country. In his petition to the lords, from the Tower of London, he requests to have some of the books that are at Lambeth; "for," adds he, "unless I have books to read ere I fall asleep, and after I am awake again, I cannot sleep, nor have done these dozen years. That I may hear mass, be bound upon my life not to speak to him who says mass, which he may do in the other chamber, whilst I remain within. That I may be allowed sheets to lie on; to have license in the day time to walk in the chamber without, and in the night be locked in as I am now. I would gladly have license to send to London, to buy one book of St. Austin, de Civitate Dei; and one of Josephus, de Antiquitatibus; and another of Sabellius, who doth declare, most of any book that I have read, how the Bishop of Rome, from time to time, hath usurped his power against all princes, by their unwise sufferance"