which this history was taken) to the cruel torture | were decorated with very pretty transparencies. of having hot earthen plates bound to his temples, If you shut your eye for a minute, they seemed and his neck was then twisted by fanatic men to open on fairy land rather than reality. The till his eyes started from their sockets; they also hushed scene, the stillness of which was only drew several of his teeth. He now said that he broken by the pattering feet of some religious had returned to the Greek faith in consequence maiden approaching the shrine, shawled and mysof the advice of an Englishman; which so ap-terious, even here, had something very quaint peased the Turks, that they offered him a pipe, and fanciful in it. I could have stopped there and wanted to dismiss him. But he soon broke all night watching them as they passed, dropping out again, and asked for the sacrament. He also buttons (substitutes for small coin given in churchasked for some soup. Both were given to him, es) into the salver of a dingy priest, who sat in the Turks offering no opposition to the adminis- the aisle, tablet in hand, to receive orders for tering of the former. When, however, he once masses to be said for the sick or the dead. I liked more began to curse and revile the prophet, some to watch the business manner in which he raised fanatic proposed that he should be shortened by his reverend hand to get the light well upon his having an inch cut from his body every time he tablet, and adjusted his spectacles as he inscribed blasphemed, beginning at his feet. The Cadi shud- each new order from the pilgrims. At last, howdered, and interposed, saying, that such a proceed- ever, he gathered up his buttons and money, tying ing would be contrary to the law; which provid- them in a bag; and glancing round once more in ed that a renegade should be at once put to death, vain for customers, he went his way into the sacthat the faith of Islam might not be insulted. risty. I followed his waddling figure with my Then the mob got a cord to hang him. Like eyes till the last lock of his long hair, which many other things in Turkey, this cord does not caught in the brocaded curtain, had been disenseem to have been fit for the purpose to which tangled, and he disappeared. Then, as the active it was applied; and the struggles of the maniac | individual in rusty black, whom I have mentioned were so violent that it broke. But they did hang as so busy in the ceremony of the morning, seemhim at last; thus completing the title to martyr-ed desirous of having a few minutes' conversation dom with which he has come down to us. For three days his hanging body offended the daylight, and the simple country folk cut off bits of his clothes for relics. After a while he was carried away and buried with a great fuss; the Turks having too profound a contempt for the Greeks to interfere with their doings in any way. Then, after a while, application was made to the Patriarch of Constantinople to canonize the mad housepainter; and canonized he was. His body was disinterred, and mummified with great care. It is wrapped up in cotton, and the head is inclosed in a silver case. Both are shown to the devout on the anniversary of his martyrdom. The cotton sells well, for it is said to have worked many miracles, and to be especially beneficial in cases of epilepsy. with me, I indulged him. It was not difficult to perceive, from the tenor of his discourse, that he was desirous of receiving some token of my esteem in small change. It cost little to gratify him; and then, as the church was quite deserted, we marched off together. A NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERMAN. OME twelve years ago, a desolate, dread, and ominously-named locality in Newfoundland had, among its other occupants, George Harvey, a worthy of sixty years' standing, born and bred on the spot, who may still be one of its living tenants, as he was then a hale and hearty man. The particular site to which we refer is toward the south-west extremity, between the settlement of La Poile and Cape Ray, where there is a clus The anniversary of the Martyrdom of St. The-ter of small, low, rocky islets, separated from the odore occurred on the same day as his brother's funeral. I asked if the reputation of the saint had any thing to do with the honors paid to his brother? "Yes," was the answer; "the relatives of the saint are naturally anxious to keep up his reputation, which is like a patent of nobility to them. None dare to offer them injury or wrong, for fear of the martyr's anger." For the rest, the festival of St. Theodore was as pretty a sight as I would wish to see. His body was enshrined in a neat temple of green leaves, and was placed in the centre of the church. The pilgrims arrived at dead of night to pray there. They were mostly women, and seemed earnest enough in what they were about. I did not like to see them, however, buying those little bits of cotton which lay mouldering round the mummy, and putting them into their bosoms. The church was well lighted; for Mitylene is an oil country. Innumerable lamps hung suspended from the roof every where, and some main land by a narrow channel. They are called the Dead Islands, Iles aux Morts of the French maps, but are portions of the dominions of Queen Victoria. The isles and the main shore are composed of mica-slate and gneiss, the latter being intersected with enormous granite veins. Their superficial aspect is the most rugged and broken imaginable, grooved in every direction by small valleys or ravines, and covered with round hummocky knobs and hills with precipitous sides. Mosses, low bushes, and berry-bearing plants partially cover the surface; and a few dwarf firs appear huddled together in sheltered nooks, where sufficient soil has been lodged to form a support for the roots. But the majority of the isles are bare rocks, frequently in the shape of a low dome, with a tuft of bushes growing at the summit. Sometimes, when the breeze is blowing from the east, the fog which pours over the great bank is driven to this neighborhood, and adds to its uninviting aspect. The few inhabitants, along with those thinly distributed on the adjoining main, are chiefly the descendants of British settlers, occupied with the inshore fishery. They are located in the coves, in the general proportion of two or three families to each. Formerly, when there were no clergy or magistrates except at St. John's, they married by signing papers before witnesses, binding each party to have the ceremony performed as soon as opportunity offered a mode of proceeding equivalent to the Scotch law. They are simple, honest, industrious, and hospitable-the virtues of almost all hardy races exposed to the toils and dangers of an adventurous life-intensely eager after news, and placing a high value upon trifling articles of intelligence, like most people in secluded positions. distress, and mitigating the calamities of shipwreck, than George Harvey. He had a large family of sons and daughters, mostly grown up. On one occasion, during a heavy gale, the brig "Dispatch," full of emigrants of the poorer class, struck on a rock about three miles from his house. Though the sea was running high, the old man put off in his punt to the rescue, accompanied by a gallant girl of seventeen and a brave lad of twelve. By dint of great exertions, they succeeded in successively bringing away the whole of the crew and passengers, amounting to one hundred and sixty-three persons. This was as heroic an action as that which excited such general admiration in England, when Grace Darling adventured on the stormy deep, with her father, off the coast of Northumberland. Harvey hospitably entertained the shipwrecked emigrants according to his means, and shared his provisions with them, till tidings could be sent to La Poile, and a vessel arrived to carry them away. They remained more than a fortnight, and so completely exhausted his stores, that the family had neither bread, flour, nor tea through the whole winter, but subsisted chiefly on salt fish. Sir T. Cochrane, then governor of the island, on hearing of his conduct, properly rewarded him with a hundred pounds, and an honorary medal. A few years afterward, the ship "Rankin," of Glasgow, struck on a rock, and went to pieces, the crew hanging on to an iron bar or rail that went round the poop, when he fetched them off by six or eight at a time to the number of twenty-five, braving a heavy sea in his punt. Harvey's knowledge of the animal kingdom was somewhat singular. He was intimately acquainted with the inhabitants of the waters, from the huge finned whale to the beautiful little capelin. He knew well enough the black bear, gray The melancholy name of the Dead Islands is supposed to be derived from the number and fatality of shipwrecks in the neighborhood. George Harvey was accustomed to relate, among other incidents of his life, that he had been employed for five days, along with some others, in digging | graves and interring dead bodies cast ashore on one of these sad occasions. Two vast and differently tempered sea-streams blend their waters on the great bank and its vicinity—a polar current from the cold regions of the arctic zone, and the gulf-stream from the warm latitudes of the tropics. It is to the meeting of these currents, charged with such different temperatures, that the fogs are chiefly due, while the numerous and powerful eddies caused by their junction render the navigation perplexing and somewhat perilous. The danger is increased by the boundaries of the currents being indefinite. They advance further north and south at one time than another; and of course the minor streams dependent upon them vary in power and extent, according to circum-wolf, and splendid caribou; and was familiar with stances. Hence, along a coast unguarded by the osprey, ptarmigan, eider duck, and great northlighthouses, in dense fogs, or when a driving gale ern diver. But frogs, toads, snakes, and other has been blowing by night, the mariner has often reptiles he had never seen, there being none in found himself ashore, while thinking of ample the island, though no legend is current there how sea-room. Evidence of such casualties being fre- St. Patrick "banished all the varmint." One of quent was in former days to be found in connec- the commonest domesticated quadrupeds also in tion with almost every dwelling, in the shape of the empire was equally unknown, except by reold rigging, spars, masts, sails, ships' bells, rud-port, till on a visit to some settlement in Fortune ders, wheels, and other articles on the outside of the houses, with telescopes, compasses, and portions of incongruous furniture in the interior. At that period, there was obviously no nice observ-ish invaders. The people wished, he said, to perance of the distinction between thine and mine. suade him into mounting on its back, but "he Infractions of the rights of property were com- knew better than that," though one fellow did mon on the occurrence of disasters by sea and ride it up and down several times. It was a feat fires on land, the parties loosely reasoning that too daring for the bold fisherman, who would the goods they appropriated to themselves were sooner have mounted in his boat the stormiest much better disposed of than by being left for billow that ever rolled. His description of the the flames to consume or the billows to devour. size and appearance of the wonderful creature In some cases, this reasoning was legitimate, as highly interested his family on his return. Mr. when a vessel, deserted by the crew, came ashore, Curzon has recently told the story of a Levantine and neither her name nor that of the owners could monk who had never seen a woman-a relation be ascertained. Public sentiment and feeling have strange, but true. Yet, had we not the fact on improved upon this point in Newfoundland, as equally respectable authority-that of Mr. Jukes elsewhere, and few persons have more nobly dis--it would seem incredible, that only a few years tinguished themselves in helping the stranger in | ago, there were subjects of Queen Victoria, of Bay, he for the first time encountered a horse! His emotions at the sight were akin to those of the Mexicans on beholding the steeds of the Span British descent, speaking the English language, | dreds, which are swept off, perhaps, by the next in the oldest of our colonies, to whom the horse was a strange animal. above the waves, reflecting the light of the moon from their silvery surface; and legions of capelin hurrying away to seek a refuge from the billow, or fall an easy prey to the women and children, who stand ready with buckets and We have said that Harvey was a fisherman; barrows to seize upon the precious and plentiful and fishing, or some process connected with it, is booty. On a fine moonlight night, the appearthe occupation of almost every man, woman, and ance of a secluded cove, or broader expanse, is child in the country. Out of St. John's, either often very remarkable, and even splendid. fish, or some sign of the finny tribe, visible or There are whales rising and plunging, throwing odoriferous, is met with wherever there is a pop-up spouts of water; cod-fish flirting their tails ulation. At a distance from the capital, in the small settlements, the fishermen live in unpainted wooden cottages, scattered in the coves, now perched upon rocks or hidden in nooks, the neigh-monsters of the deep. Toward the beginning borhood showing small patches of cultivated garden ground, and copses of stunted wood. Each cabin has its fish-flake, a kind of rude platform, elevated on poles ten or twelve feet high, covered with a matting of sticks and boughs, on which the fish are laid out to dry. At a convenient point on the shore is a stage, much more strongly constructed, jutting out over the water. It forms a small pier, made in front to serve the purpose of a ladder, at which a landing frequently is alone possible on the steep and iron-bound coast. On returning from the fishing-ground, the boat is brought to the stage with the cargo, and, striking a prong in the head of each fish, they are thrown upon it one by one, in much the same manner as hay is pitched into a cart. The operations of cutting open, taking out the entrails, preserving the liver for oil, removing the backbone, and salting, are immediately performed upon the stage, in which the younger branches of the family are employed, males or females, asing dogs; at least Harvey had one of this class, the case may be. The drying on the flakes is the last process. It is the in-shore fishery that is prosecuted by the British, not extending generally more than a mile or two from the harbors, that of the Great Bank being abandoned to the Yankees and French. of August, the capelin leave the shores, and are succeeded by the small scuttle-fish, which are followed in September by the autumnal, or “ fall herrings," the last shoal, when the summer fishery closes. On some parts of the shores, where the water is shallow, seines and other kinds of nets are employed in the capture of the cod; or when the fish are so gorged that they refuse all baits, jigging is resorted to. A plummet of lead, armed with hooks, is let down, and moved rapidly to and fro, by which the fish are caught. But, notwithstanding every way, hooking, netting, and jigging, and the enormous annual destruction, the seas swarm with undiminished multitudes of cod-fish every recurring season. This is not surprising, when Leewenhoek counted 9,384,000 in the spawn of a single individual of medium size, a number that will defy all the efforts of man to exterminate. The island has not only its fishermen, but fish who had not been taught the craft, but took to it of his own accord, and followed it apparently for amusement. The animal was not of the breed distinguished as the Newfoundland dog, so celebrated for beauty, sagacity, and fidelity; but one of the short-haired, sharp-nosed Labrador race, The seas swarm with almost every variety of the most abundant dogs in the country, not handfish in its season. There are incredible shoals some, but intelligent and useful. When not of lance, a small, elongated, silvery, eel-like wanted for the service of his master or the famcreature; vast armies of migratory herrings; ily, the dog would take his station on a projectand hosts of capelin, slight and elegantly-ing point of rock, and attentively watch the water, shaped, with a greenish back, silvery underneath the body, and some scales of a reddish tinge. These are the small fry. They serve as food for the omnivorous cod, and are followed by their rapacious enemy with gaping mouth and helter-skelter movement, through all the sinuosities of the coast. The cod, the great object of attraction to the fishermen, is just as actively pursued by his human foes. Early in May, the work of preparation commences, laying in provisions, arranging hooks, lines, nets, and the rigging of boats. Between the middle and close of the month, the spring herrings, or the first shoal, arrive, and are caught in nets to be used for bait. About the middle of June, the capelin come in, crowding to the shores in countless myriads to spawn, They remain about a month, and, being the favourite food of the cod, the fishery is now at its height. In such numbers are they, that wherever there is a strip of beach, every rolling wave strews the sand with hun where it might be from six to eight feet deep, the bottom being white with fish bones. Upon a fish appearing, easily discovered over the whitened ground, it was immediately "set" by the dog, who waited for the favorable opportunity to make a plunge. This was upon the fish turning its broadside toward him, when down he went like a dart, and seldom returned without the struggling prey in his mouth. The animal regularly conveyed his capture to a particular spot selected by himself, and on a summer day would raise a fish-stack at the place, consisting of fifty or sixty individuals a foot long. To pass from fishermen, fish, and dogs to steamers is an abrupt transition. But it may be mentioned as of importance in Newfoundland history, that in 1497, the first ship, "Caboto," visited its waters; in 1536, the abundance of cod was discovered; and in 1840, the first steam-vessel reached the shore. This was H.M.S. "Spitfire," which entered the harbor of St. John's, to land a few troops from Halifax. Great was the as-order myself, as I did when I received the comtonishment and admiration of those who had mands of the gentleman who ordered this very never been out of the island. Some boatmen off parure, I think, last February;" and, with the the Narrows were so completely bewildered by greatest unconcern, he proceeded to search his the spectacle, that they were nearly run down by ledger, to ascertain which of the workmen exethe huge novel craft. cuted it, and what the date of its delivery. ΟΝΕ IMITATION PEARLS AND DIAMONDS. NE of the most curious sights in Paris, or indeed in the whole world, is afforded by a visit to the vast atelier of M. Bourguignon, situated at the Barrière du Trone, where the whole process of transforming a few grains of dirty, heavy-looking sand into a diamond of the purest water, is daily going on, with the avowed purpose of deceiving every body but the buyer. The sand employed, and upon which every thing depends, is found in the forests of Fontainebleau, and enjoys so great a reputation in the trade, that large quantities are exported. The coloring matter for imitating emeralds, rubies and sapphires, is entirely mineral, and has been brought to high perfection by M. Bourguignon. He maintains in constant employment about a hundred workmen, besides a number of women and young girls, whose business it is to polish the colored stones, and line the false pearls with fish-scales and wax. The scales of the roach and dace are chiefly employed for this purpose, and form a considerable source of profit to the fishermen of the Seine, in the environs of Corbeil, who bring them to Paris in large quantities during the season. They must be stripped from the fish while living, or the glistening hue which we admire so much in the real pearl can not be imitated. It is, however, to the "cultivation" of the diamond that M. Bourguignon has devoted the whole of his ingenuity; and were he to detail the mysteries of his craft, some of the most singular histories of "family diamonds" and "heir-looms" would be brought to light. A few months ago a lady entered his shop, looking rather flushed and excited, and drawing from her muff a number of morocco cases of many shapes and sizes, opened them one after another, and spread them out on the counter. "I wish to learn the price of a parure to be made in exact imitation of this," she said; "that is to say, if you can imitate the workmanship with sufficient precision for the distinction never to be observed." Bourguignon examined the articles attentively, named his price, and gave the most unequivocal promise that the parure should be an exact counterpart of the one before him. The lady insisted again. She was urgent overmuch, as is the case with the fair sex in general. Was he sure the imitation would be perfect? Had he observed the beauty and purity of these stones? Could he imitate the peculiar manner in which they were cut, &c. Soyez tranquille, madame," replied Bourguignon, "the same workman shall have the job, and you may rely upon an exact counterpart of his former work." The lady opened her eyes in astonishment and trepidation, and M. Bourguignon, with unconscious serenity, added, by way of reassuring her: "I will attend to the VOL. IX.-No. 49.-H Not only, however, is domestic deception carried on by means of M. Bourguignon's artistic skill, but he has often been called upon to lend his aid to diplomatic craft likewise. Numberless are the snuff-boxes, "adorned with valuable diamonds," which issue from his atelier in secret as the reward of public service, or skillful negotiation; innumerable portraits, "set in brilliants," which have been mounted there, to gladden the hearts of chargés d'affaires, attachés, and viceconsuls. The great Mchemet Ali, like all great men who, when they commit little actions, always do so on a great scale, may be said to be the first who ever introduced the bright delusions of M. Bourguignon to the unconscious acquaintance of the children of that prophet, "who suffered no deceivers to live." The wily old Mussulman, who knew the world too well not to be conscious of the value of an appearance of profusion on certain occasions, had announced that every pasha who came to the seat of government, to swear allegiance to his power, would return to his province laden with presents of jewels for his wives. It may readily be imagined that, under such conditions, the duty became a pleasure, and that there needed no second bidding. Meanwhile, Mehemet, with characteristic caution, had dispatched an order to his envoy, then sojourning in Paris, to send him forthwith as many of the diabolical deceptions of the lying Franks, in the way of mock diamonds, as he could collect. Bourguignon undertook to furnish the order, which was executed in due course, and duly appropriated, no doubt, causing many a Mashallah! of delight to fall from the lips of the harem beauties of Egypt, and many an Allah Hu! of loyalty from those of their husbands, at sight of so much generosity. A visit to Bourguignon's shop will inspire the mind with wonder to behold the perfection with which art can be made to imitate the most exquisite productions of nature. The lustre of the diamond; the richness, the double reflection of the ruby; even the caprice and deviation in the form and color of the pearl, escape not the cunning eye of the artist. Some of the parures are valued as high as five or six thousand francs. The workmanship, however, is as tasteful and costly as any produced by the first jewelers in the world. The setting is always of real gold, and the fashion of the newest kind. A tiara from the shop of Bourguignon, of the price of six hundred francs, will rival in effect and delicacy of finish its neighbor which may have cost twenty times as much; none can tell the difference but those who have been allowed to handle it, and breathe upon it, and touch it with the tongue, and apply an acid to it, in order to see whether or no it becomes tarnished. SEVE Monthly Record of Current Events. THE UNITED STATES. cited a good deal of interest throughout the country; especially as rumors at the same time, received from Madrid through the British press, attributed to Mr. Soulé, our Minister in Spain, very peremp tory demands on the Spanish government for redress for injuries sustained by American interests at Havana. These rumors, however, all lack con amples to be followed. A debate followed the EVERAL topics of considerable public import-receipt of the Message, in which its positions were ance have been discussed in Congress during sustained by the Democratic Senators, and opposed the past month, but no decisive action has been by the Whigs.-Mr. Gwin, on the 4th, moved to taken upon any. The controversy on the Nebraska take up the Pacific Railroad Bill-saying that he Bill, and the issues connected with it, has to some should consider the vote on that proposition deciextent disorganized both the great political parties, sive of the fate of the bill at the present session. and seriously interfered with practical legislation. The Senate refused to take it up, by a vote of 23 The most important measure of the Senate has to 20.-On the 1st, Senator Slidell introduced been the ratification of the treaty negotiated with a resolution authorizing the President to suspend Mexico by General Gadsden, though this was not the operation of our neutrality laws so far as Spain effected until the treaty had undergone some very is concerned, whenever, in his judgment, such a important modifications. The extent of territory measure should be expedient. He supported the to be acquired was reduced one half, the portion resolution in an extended speech, in which he cited purchased including a route for a railroad to the various facts to prove that the Spanish government, Pacific. The sum to be paid to Mexico is reduced acting under the advice and protection of England from twenty to ten millions of dollars, and the and France, was taking steps to abolish slavery in eleventh article of the treaty of Guadalupe, by the island of Cuba-a measure which, in his judgwhich the United States agreed to protect Mexico ment, would be so hostile to the interests of the from the incursions of the Indians on her frontiers, United States that it ought to be forbidden and is abrogated. The treaty does not embrace any prevented by our government. The repeal of our stipulation for the satisfaction of American claims, neutrality laws, he thought, would compel Spain but it recognizes, and to some extent protects, the to desist from the policy on which she has entered. grant for a railroad route across the Isthmus of Te. He urged the proposition, also, on the ground that huantepec. These modifications in the treaty must it would aid in the emancipation of Cuba, and her of course be submitted to the Mexican government ultimate annexation to the United States. The for its approval.-On the 2d of May a Message resolution was referred to the Committee on For was received in the Senate from the President, giv-eign Relations. The movement of Mr. Slidell exing at length his reasons for withholding his signature from a bill which had passed both branches of Congress, appropriating ten million acres of public land to the several States, for the relief of the indigent insane within their limits. The President objects that the Constitution does not confer upon the General Government any power to make such appropriations, and that its assumption would be afirmation. very dangerous precedent, and would lead to the com- In the House of Representatives the Nebraska plete reversal of the true theory of the government, Bill has been the principal topic of discussion, alwhica regards the Union as merely the creature of though debate upon it has been mainly incidental, the several States. He fears, moreover, that if and while other subjects were before the House. Congress were thus to assume the offices of charity On the 25th of April, Mr. Benton spoke against it, which properly belong to local authorities, the sev- the first part of his speech being a vehement protest eral States, instead of relying on their own resources against the practice of citing the opinions of the for such objects, would become suppliants for the President with a view to influence legislation, bounty of the Federal Government, and that the which, he said, was unconstitutional, inasmuch as fountains of charity would thus be dried up at home. there was only one way in which the President The faith of the government is pledged also, by the can properly communicate his opinions to Congress; acceptance of that portion of these lands ceded by namely, by message. Col. Benton also denounced the older States, to dispose of them exclusively for the newspapers employed to do the public printing, the common benefit of all the States; and by the act for assuming to dictate to Congress; and proceeded of 1847 they are still further pledged for the pay-to resist the proposition to repeal the Missouri Comment of certain portions of the public debt. On promise, on the ground that it was one of the three grounds, therefore, both of right and of expediency, great measures by which the Union had been formthe President is opposed to the principle of the ed and its harmony preserved-the first being the bill. He refers to the fact that previous donations ordinance of 1787, and the second the Federal Conof land for educational purposes, for the construc- stitution. He said he came into public life on the tion of railroads, etc., will probably be cited as Missouri Compromise, and he intended always to precedents to justify the appropriation proposed in stand upon it, even if he should stand alone. It this instance. But in these cases, he says, the partook of the nature of a contract, and could not government merely acted as a wise proprietor, and be repealed now without a violation of good faith. gave away part of its lands in order to enhance the It had given peace and harmony to the country, value of the rest. The only cases in the history of and its repeal would inevitably involve us in usethe country which can be properly cited as prece-less and mischievous agitations. Not a petition dents, are an act passed in 1819, granting a town- for its repeal had come into Congress from any ship of land to the Connecticut Asylum for the ed-quarter. The Slave States had nothing to gain by ucation of the Deaf and Dumb, and another passed in 1826, making a similar grant for a similar purpose in Kentucky. Both these cases he is inclined to consider warnings to be shunned, rather than ex passing it; the pretense that it was necessary in order to carry out the principle of non-intervention, was utterly fallacious; and on every account the bill ought not to pass.On the 7th of May, a motion |