Scaliger could not drink milk; Cardan was disgusted at the sight of eggs; Chesne, Secretary to Francis I., bled at the nose if he was shown an apple; King James could not endure the sight of a drawn sword; Ambrose Paré mentions a gentleman who fainted at the sight of an eel. Surely these people must have been possessed of a devil, or troubled with an evil spirit.

The peculiarity of the devil is occasionally as to events: Napoleon anticipated the 20th of March;—we know an officer to whom all the principal events of his life are remembered by a number corresponding with that of his regiment. A few stray instances of this kind of taste lie before us, and we shall enumerate them.

Charles V. loved the 24th of February (St. Matthias): on that day he was elected emperor, on that day crowned, on that day he took King Francis prisoner, through his lieutenants. Bransôme, who records the above, says that the emperor also was born on that day, that in 1527 his brother (on the 24th February) Ferdinand was elected King of Bohemia, and that on that self-same day in 1556 he abdicated his throne.

On the 1st of January Francis I. was born; he lost his father on that day, and became king; his daughter was married on that day; and Charles V. made his entry into Paris on the 1st of January.

Sixtus was born on a Wednesday (13th December 1521), became a Franciscan friar on a Wednesday, was promised to be elevated to Cardinal, and was elected Pope, on Wednesday, and exalted to the latter dignity on the following Wednesday.

Louis XIII., who died on a Thursday (14th May 1643), was very anxious to live till the Friday, as he had always gained his victories, and been fortunate, on that, generally considered, unlucky day.

Soame, in his "Anglo-Indian Church" (p. 255), says that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on Friday, and died on a Friday.

Saturday was the birth-day of Harold, and on that day he fought his unsuccessful battle, terminating in his death, with William the Conqueror.

Having now delivered ourselves of

a few facts we have drawn together from various reliable sources, we may as well add a few more instances, taken from the popular works of that eminent writer and antiquarian, Mr. Timbs, who, in the space of a few volumes, has provided the most interesting encylopædia of varied information to be found under the sign manual of any one author. To him on any emergency we may refer, with the certainty of obtaining a wrinkle, a new fact, or an appropriate statement, to assist us.

In his "Curiosities of History," we find that in a pamphlet entitled "Day Fatalities" (printed in 1679), several instances of "days lucky and unlucky" are brought together. The writer affirms, that the 6th of April, Alexander the Great was born; upon the same day he conquered Darius won a great victory at sea, and died on the same day.

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"Neither was this day less fortunate to his father, Philip, for on the same day he took Potidea; Parmenio, his general, gave a great overthrow to the Illyrians; and his horse was victor at the Olympian games.

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Upon the 30th September, Pompey the Great was born; upon that day he triumphed for his Asian conquest, and on that day he died."

From the Norfolk Beacon, a United States paper, our antiquary quotes the following:-"On Friday, August 21, 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed on his great voyage of discovery; on Friday, October 12, 1492, he first discovered land; on Friday, January 4, 1493, he sailed on his return for Spain-which, if he had not reached in safety, the happy result would never have been known, and which led to the settlement on this vast continent; on Friday, March 15, 1493, he arrived at Palos in safety; on Friday, November 22, 1493, he arrived at Hispaniola, on his second voyage to America; on Friday, June 13, 1494, he, though unknown to himself, discovered the continent of America. Friday, March 5, 1496, Henry VIII., of England, gave to John Cabot his commission, which led to the discovery of North America. This is the first American state paper in England. On Friday, September 7, 1565, Melendez

On

founded St. Augustine, the oldest town in the United States by more than forty years. On Friday, November 10, 1620, the May Flower, with pilgrims, made the harbour of Province Town, and the same day they signed that august compact, the forerunner of our present glorious constitution. On Friday, December 22, 1620, the pilgrims made their final landing at Plymouth Rock. On Friday, February 22, George Washington, the father of American freedom, was born. On Friday, June 16, Bunker Hill was seized and fortified. On Friday, October 7, 1777, the surrender of Saratoga was made, which had such power and influence in inducing France to declare our cause. On Friday, September 22, 1780, the treason of Arnold was laid bare, which saved us from our destruction. On Friday, October 19, 1781, the surrender of York Town, the crowning glory of the American arms, occurred. On Friday, July 7, 1766, the motion in congress was made by John Adams, seconded by Richard Henry Lee, that the United States colonies were, and of right ought to be, free and independent. Thus, by numerous examples, we see, that however it may be with foreign countries, Americans need never dread to begin on Friday any undertaking, however momentous it may be."

Some curious remarks will be found on the 14th of February, the birthday of James II., in a volume of odd information, Howe's "Every-day Book," p. 1319, for 1841, too lengthy for extraction.

We trust, in ending this paper, no reader will exclaim, that to write it we must have been "6 possessed of a devil"!

ONLY A VOLUNTEER!

AN

10 P. M. The lady Isabella's watch, indeed, affirmed it to be only 9.30but the lady Isabella's watch was Geneva, and wrong. Having established this fact beyond a doubt, I shall now introduce you to the apartment where the said watch was-reposing on an elegant dressing-table, and, I think, in the neighbourhood of a very pretty pin-cushion. [I cannot vouch for the correctness of this latter statement, because, don't you see, the pin-cushion might have been removed to another table before the period when my story begins.] To soar again. In a comfortable lounging-chair, with her maid brushing out her luxuriant tresses, the lady Isabella was sitting-deep in`a reverie. [I should have said "transfixed in thought," but that would have been an ungraceful posture for a lady.] Where are the lily lady's thoughts travelling to, I wonder? To yon sapphire sky, where the bright mistress of night queens it so royally, amid the porphyrean stars-or to that resplendent scene of lustre, where the noise of dance and mirth was heard but yesternight? To the latter, I ween: for had not the lady Isabella been the belle of that brilliant rout-had not she whirled in the mazy dance no less than five times with that charming Lieutenant FitzSnooks? Ah, Adolphus! felicitous individual!-Was it for this that thou trimmedst the incipient moustache, and wouldest have none of those odoriferous cigars I proferred thee yester-eve? Before proceeding further, it is necessary for me to disclose somewhat about the pedigrees &c. of the personages in my story,-though biographical sketches are a nuisance.

I

might be said to be the old gentleman's hobby, it was his military ardoura passion that had taken deep root in his breast from that eventful evening when the late Duke of Wellington, at a Lord Mayor's dinner, had, on being introduced to Mr. DeSmythe, politely expressed a wish that trade was thriving. The Alderman himself declares that the Duke's affability extended as far as the inquiry of how much candles were a pound-but the exuberance of the honest tradesman's delight may have led him to exaggerate somewhat. Any how, the military ardour was planted in the tallow-chandler's bosom, and grew amazingly; so much so, in fact, that when our friend retired from business, there was scarcely a question you could put to him on the military history of Continental Europe, but what he would answer it at once with the greatest readiness and accuracy. A genius like his was lost in the ignoble path of peaceful pursuits, and it was a subject of serious anxiety to the Alderman's friends whether the world would ever afford him an opportunity of displaying his talents. At last, a crisis arrived. The men of England were called upon to rise and form as riflemen; and nobly as they responded to the call, there was no one among them more proud, puffy, and patriotic than Ensign DeSmythe, of the X-shire Rifles. The corps the Ensign had joined was in truth a magnificent one- -the dress a splendid

But I am anticipating, and must go back to the lady Isabella, who is having her hair brushed in the boudoir. Ah, Isabel!-forgive me if I pass by the description of your surpassing beauties for what pen, in sooth, could pourtray them? My Pegasus is winged by a shot from those bright eyes of thine, and I can only exclaim, turning my dazed eyes earthward-Oh, beautiful as lovely, and lovely as beautiful! But I know your heart's intent, my darling! -you have sworn, is it not so, dear? -didn't I hear you say it to your looking-glass the other day-those pretty wilful words-"I will never marry any but a military man"? Matrimony, my sweet one-thinking of it again in that large easy chair?" I wonder if he will call tomorrow!-will he go to

Mrs. Y's on Thursday? Well, there's one thing that must be said of him-he certainly has the most beautiful eyes!"-Oh Adolphus, Adolphus !

A word remains to be said about the young gentleman lately apostrophised. He was a clerk in a Government, office, -not a good office, either, I am sorry to say, with regard to the gentlemanly demeanour of its officials; but then Adolphus Harduppe FitzSnooks, notwithstanding the beautiful eyes, was as poor as a rat, and consequently obliged to swallow whatever he could get. Neither was he a model young man— if the statement of his lodging-house keeper can be believed,-inasmuch as he was apt to sit up later than his mamma or the doctor wished him to do, and to frequent public-houses and other low places of entertainment. But there was hope for Adolphus, was there not? He, too, was a member of a Rifle Corps, -Lieutenant in the "Royal Middlesex," and would henceforth have some ennobling employment for his leisure hours; and oh ye stars and Cupids!his roving eye had already anchored upon the incomparable Miss DeSmythe, and his heart, in those happy dances, had swelled with joy unutterable. And now, as the lovely object of his thoughts was (as I have said before) having her hair brushed, and weaving dreams of love, wherein he figured pretty considerably, he, too, was thinking of her, and going over in his mind the conversation of yesterday evening: “Mr. Fitz Snooks," he had heard her say"I believe you are in the Rifle Brigade, are you not ?" He remembered that he had had the assurance to inform her that he was in "the Rifles." "I believe it is a very distinguished corps," the lovely Isabella had continued-" but I wish it had not such a dark black-looking uniform-I prefer scarlet infinitely." ["Scarlet" was Isabella's hobby.] Unwittingly the young man had replied-"But ours is a scarlet jacket." "How can that be ?" says the keen-witted charmer: "I know the Officers of the Rifles whom I met at Mrs. M's ball the other evening wore a dark uniform!" Adolphus had extricated himself from the difficulty by replying that those Officers perhaps belonged to "the other battalion," and the keen

witted charmer had been credulous, because love-smitten. And so the young man departed from the way of truth-which was wrong; but then he wanted to marry the rich Miss DeSmythe, who he knew had the greatest contempt for all but the "Regulars." Nevertheless, it was wrong.

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II.

Ir has been stated, that the lovely Isabella had no great feeling of approbation for that gigantic body of men, who, however laudable and patriotic their endeavours might be, were still in her mind witheringly contemplated as Irregulars." It was strange that she should entertain this aversion so strongly, seeing that her Papa was a distinguished ornament of this "rabble of ephemeral soldiers," as she was pleased to designate them, and had excited the universal admiration of Parliament by his eloquent speeches on the subject of Riflemen, form! Perhaps the antipathy may be accounted for by the fact that Miss DeSmythe had flourished as a ball-room belle in the days when Napoleonic diplomacy had not presented so friendly an aspect as to bid the men of England look well to their Enfields. Not that I wish to insinuate that the young lady was at all passée-for she was but two-and-twenty, and still in the zenith of her bloom ;-I would merely account for the difference that existed between father and daughter on that one particular point. On other topics, the daughter was wont to think Papa both sound and reasonable; indeed, she even made allowances for his infatuation with regard to this one, on the score of his being an elderly gentleman: and elderly gentlemen, in her opinion, were a race privileged to make Guys of themselves as much as they pleased, provided the younger ones were not induced to follow their example. Regret as I may the unfortunate sentiments that obtained in Miss DeSmythe's bosom, I cannot help observing that they did honour to her sense of maiden propriety; for, however appropriate and becoming it may be in a gentleman to become an "Irregular" in certain emergencies, I am sure we should all wish the young ladies of England to banish from their innocent little hearts anything that

may savour of an "irregular" predilection. Calling upon the school-mistresses of Albion to bear me out in my assertion, I proceed to detail what took place on the morning after the evening when the lady Isabella had her hair brushed in the boudoir.

The affectionate girl had scarcely descended from her bed-room to be the presiding goddess of the break fast-table, before she was greeted by the following exclamation from her enthusiastic sire: 66 Bless my life and soul !—there's going to be a devil of a grand Review [Papa, I am sorry to say, was sometimes unparliamentary in his language when out of the House] next month ;—twenty thousand Volunteers, they say. By Jove, how magnificent!"—and the ensign of Rifles glowed with a wonderful admiration. It was annoying that his daughter did not sympathise more fully with his feelings, but met his triumphant exclamation with a cold "I dare say it will be a fine sight.' "Of course it will; and I tell you what, Bel—we'll have a ball in the house to celebrate the review !"—says mine ancient veteran. "Capital, papa!" says miss Bel-" it will be a grand occasion." And straightway the artful damsel prattles of Volunteers with hypocritical admiration, and warms the paternal heart with praises of the gallant X-shires. Ah, Isabella ! so independent and sincere as but now thou seemedst to be, hast thou then stooped to wile and simulation? I fear me, maiden, that thy penchant for the Regulars is on the wane! Perish the thought!everything is fair in love or war, you know; and my young lady only pocketed her sincerity for a while, as fancy conjured up the charming FitzSnooks engaged to her for ten dances on the night of the prospective ball. She did not talk to her father about Adolphus, for Isabella had divined, by those mysterious means that ladies possess, that her sweet lieutenant was by no means as rich as she knew her father expected a suitor of hers to be. But, like a true romantic girl as she was, she determined that "Come weal, come woe," ""love should still be lord of all"; for the furtherance of whose dominion she judged it expedient to enshrine the young gentleman in her breast, and to refrain

:

Breakfast being finished, and Mr. DeSmythe having set off for the city, Isabella sat down to her crochet, keeping a watchful look on the window between whiles-to prevent the spiders building cobwebs across it, I suppose. Possibly for another reason; for presently there came a knock and a ring at the doorbell, and a gentleman left a card-nay, he was even good enough to come upstairs, and pay the mistress of the house a visit. Oh! mistress of the house,— why so pale? Who is this terrible gentleman that maketh thee tremble-is it fierce brigand or seedy bailiff ?-or,and let me whisper it low in thine ear— is it him-I mean to say "he"? It was he he had called on his way to office [he didn't tell her this, you may be sure], to hope that Miss DeSmythe had recovered from the fatigues of the night before last. He had enjoyed himself amazingly the floor was so good--the band kept such excellent time, &c., &c.,-and altogether he didn't know when he had passed such a pleasant evening. The lady said "Amen" to each of these little sentences, and gradually the conversation waxed interesting in the extreme. Did she walk in the Park? She had not been given to walking much, but that was no reason why she shouldn't begin. Did she ride? Alas! she was too timid--notwithstanding her military penchant for prancing steeds. He had a little grey mare, the quietest creature in the world, on which he should be very happy to mount her. [Oh Adolphus! that little grey mare is in Curricum's stables, and you know you'll have to pay a guinea a day for her.] She was very much obliged to him, but really she couldn't trust herself, &c. And so they went on in tender strain, until Adolphus remembered a "sudden engagement" [his office], which, like most sudden engagements, was cruel, and called him away. But not before he had ascertained that it would not be the most surprising thing in the world if her walking excursions in the Park commenced the next day.

And where was Alderman DeSmythe all this time? Had his business in the city been very pressing, and detained

VOL. I.-36

No he

had finished that, and was now speaking at a meeting assembled for the purpose of bringing before Parliament a motion to the effect that" Whereas, it hath been found by scientific inquiry that the motive power generated in the Enfield Rifle by Volunteer handling causeth it to propel projectiles with greater accuracy and velocity than the said weapon is capable of in Regular manipulation, this Meeting is of opinion that it would be conducive to the well-being of the realm, the destruction of Red Tape, and the amplification of the Furlough Regulations of Her Majesty's Indian Forces, if that portion of Her Majesty's subjects known by the comprehensive term Army' be disorganised, and fused into the ranks of Her Majesty's Volunteer Rifles."

Ah! Alderman DeSmythe,-all very well to agitate "scientific inquiry," and toil for the good of your country; but why not keep that parental eye of thine upon Isabella, the sole representative of thine ancient house--and the prop (along with thy military ardour) of thy declining years?

III.

LOVE had grown apace.-Adolphus FitzSnooks was the affianced suitor of the rich Miss DeSmythe. Not openlyI wish it were so,-for Papa knew nothing about it. Consequently, like the young man's former departure from truth-it was wrong. And yet, good sooth, they were happy-those two loving hearts: as the following conversation between them, on the evening before the Grand Volunteer Review, betokeneth. In the garden they were, cooing tenderly, while Papa snoozed within over his port. "Hast thou fixed on any bright particular star, Adolphus, which shall be to thee as a casket of crystal holding the mirror of thy future destiny?" "No, dearest," replies Adolphus. "By Jove, an excellent idea, -I'll do so at once: which shall it be ?" "Seest thou yon bright luminary, which glisteneth near bright Orion ?" said the fair one, pointing with taper finger to the one in question.