"Sons of honour, fed on praises, Brings us down to parent earth. "Learned sophs, in systems jaded, "Youths, though yet no losses grieve you, "Venerable sires, grown hoary, "Yearly in our course returning, "On the Tree of Life eternal, Man, let all thy hopes be staid, Which alone, for ever vernal, THERE is a Christmas custom here [RATZEBURG] which pleased and interested me. The children make little presents to their parents, and to each other; and the parents to their children. For three or four months before Christmas, the girls are all busy and the boys save up their pocket-money, to make or purchase these presents. What the present is to be is cautiously kept secret, and the girls have a world of contrivances to conceal it-such as working when they are out on visits and the others are not with them; getting up in the morning before daylight, and the like. Then on the evening before Christmas-day, one of the parlours is lighted up by the children, into which the parents must not go. A great yew bough is fastened on the table at a little distance from the wall; a multitude of little tapers are fastened in the bough, but so as not to catch it till they are nearly burnt out; and coloured paper hangs and flutters from the twigs. Under this bough the children lay out in great order the presents they mean for their parents, still concealing in their pockets what they intend for each other. Then the parents are introduced, and each presents his little gift, and then bring' out the rest one by one from their pockets, and present them with kisses and embraces. Where I witnessed this scene, there were eight or nine children, and the eldest daughter and the mother wept aloud for joy and tenderness; and the tears ran down the face of the father, and he clasped all his children so tight to his breast, it seemed as if he did it to stifle the sob that was rising within him. I was very much affected. The shadow of the bough and its appendages on the wall, and arching over on the ceiling, made a pretty picture; and then the raptures of the very little ones, when at last the twigs and their needles began to take fire and snap! O it was a delight for them! 2 On the next day, in the great parlour, the parents lay out on the table the presents for the children; a scene of more sober joy succeeds, as on this day, after an old custom, the mother says privately to each of her daughters, and the father to his sons, that which he has observed most praiseworthy, and that which was most faulty in their conduct. Formerly, and still in all the smaller towns and villages throughout North Germany, these presents were sent by all the parents to some one fellow who, in high buskins, a white robe, a mask, and an enormous flax wig, personates Knecht Rupert, the servant Rupert. On Christmas night he goes round to every house and says, that Jesus Christ his master sent him thither; the parents and elder children receive him with great pomp of reverence, while the little ones are most terribly frightened. He then inquires for the children, and according to the character which he hears from the parents he gives them the intended presents as if they came out of heaven from Jesus Christ, or, if they should have been bad children, he gives the parents a rod, and in the name of his master recommends them to use it frequently. About seven or eight years old the children are let into the secret, and it is curious to observe how faithfully they keep it.COLERIDGE, The Friend.' 1. The change in the verb from singular to plural is very inelegant, to say the least of it. 2. "The buskin was a kind of high shoe worn upon the stage by the actors of tragedy, in order to give them a more heroical elevation of stature."- PLINY THE LORD HELPETH MAN AND BEAST. DURING his march to conquer the world, Alexander the Macedonian came to a people in Africa, who dwelt in a remote and secluded corner, in peaceful huts, and knew neither war nor conqueror. They led him to the hut of their chief, who received him hospitably and placed before him golden dates, golden figs, and bread of gold. "Do you eat gold in this country?" said Alexander. "I take it for granted," replied the chief, "that thou wast able to find eatable food in thine own country. For what reason then art thou come among us ?" "Your gold has not tempted me hither," said Alexander, "but I would willingly become acquainted with your manners and customs." "So be it," rejoined the other; "sojourn among us as long as it pleaseth thee." At the close of this conversation two citizens entered as into their court of justice. The plaintiff said, "I bought of this man a piece of land, and as I was making a deep drain through it, I found a treasure. This is not mine, for I only bargained for the land, and not for any treasure that might be concealed beneath it and yet the former owner of the land will not receive it." The defendant answered: "I hope I have a conscience as well as my fellow-citizen. I sold him the land with all its contingent, as well as existing advantages, and consequently the treasure inclusively." The chief, who was at the same time their supreme judge, recapitulated their words, in order that the parties might see whether or no he understood them aright. Then after some reflection, said: “Thou hast a son, friend, I believe ?”—“ Yes !” "And thou" (addressing the other), “a daughter ?"—" Yes!” "Well, then, let thy son marry thy daughter, and bestow the treasure on the young couple for their marriage portion." Alexander seemed surprised and perplexed. "Think you my sentence unjust ?" the chief asked him. "O no," replied Alexander," but it astonishes me. "And how, then," rejoined the chief, "would the case have been decided in your country ?" "To confess the truth," said Alexander, should have taken both parties into custody, and have seized the treasure for the king's use." "For the king's use !" exclaimed the chief, now in his turn astonished. "Does the sun shine on that country?"-" O yes." "Does it rain there?"" Assuredly." "Wonderful! but are there tame animals in the country that live on the grass and green herbs ?" Very many, and of many kinds." "Ay, that must be the cause," said the chief: "for the sake of those innocent animals the all-gracious Being continues to let the sun shine and the rain drop down on your country."-COLERIDGE, The Friend.' 66 we THE PLACE OF TASSO'S CONFINEMENT. Visited. Confinement. Hospital. Eligible. WE visited the place of Tasso's confinement in the hospital of Santa Anna, at Ferrara―strange company for one of the mightiest intellects of that age of great minds! It is only a wonder how a man of such sensitive feelings, when so treated, was not speedily rendered eligible for life to such a residence. On one of the walls, just outside the door, we read the name of Byron cut deeply into the stone; and the custode informed us that he saw the bard carve the letters himself. He added that the noble poet had remained an hour and a half alone in the cell, where it is not unlikely he conceived the beautiful ‘Lament of Tasso'or more probably he may have framed those still more beautiful and indignant stanzas in 'Childe Harold,' in which he so justly gibbets the memory of the tyrannical Duke. Speaking of Alfonso's dynasty, he says:— "And Tasso is their glory and their shame. The insulted mind he sought to quench, and blend Where he had plunged it. Glory without end Of worthless dust, which from thy boasted line Thou formest in his fortunes bids us think Scarce fit to be the slave of him thou madest to mourn. " 1. Tasso, one of the greatest of Italian poets, was born in 1544. He early manifested a strong inclination to poetry, and produced at the age of seventeen an epic poem, which was received with great admiration. His celebrated work, the 'Jerusalem Delivered,' composed with great poetic fervour, was elaborated with extreme care. The latter years of Tasso's CAPTAIN HALL. life were clouded with misfortune. He was confined in a madhouse, for a considerable time, by order of his former patron and friend, the Duke of Ferrara, and treated with great cruelty. He died in 1595. The Jerusalem Delivered' appears in Knight's Weekly Volumes, as translated by Fairfax. NATURE, with most beneficent intention, conciliates and forms the mind to its condition; the ideas and wishes of man extend not beyond that state of society to which he is habituated. What it presents as effects of contemplation or enjoyment, fills and satisfies his mind, and he can hardly conceive any other mode of life to be pleasant, or even tolerable. The Tartar, accustomed to roam over extensive plains, and to subsist on the product of his herds, imprecates upon his enemy, as the greatest of all curses, that he may be condemned to reside in one place, and to be nourished with the top of a weed. The rude Americans, fond of their own pursuits and satisfied with their own lot, are equally unable to comprehend the intention or utility of the various accommodations which, in more polished society, are deemed essential to the comfort of life. Far from complaining of their own situation, or viewing that of men in a more improved state with admiration or envy, they regard themselves as the standard of excellence, as beings the best entitled, as well as the most perfectly qualified, to enjoy real happiness. Unaccustomed to any restraint upon their will or their actions, they behold with amazement the inequality of rank, and the subordination which takes place in civilized life, and consider the voluntary submission of one man to another as a renunciation, no less base than unaccountable, of the first distinction of humanity. Void of foresight, as well as free from care themselves, and delighted with that state of indolent security, they wonder at the anxious precautions, the unceasing industry, and complicated arrangements of Europeans, in guarding against distant evils or providing for future wants; and they often exclaim against their preposterous folly, in thus multiplying the troubles, and increasing the labour of life. This preference of their own manners is conspicuous on every occasion. Even the names by which the various nations wish to be distinguished, are assumed from this idea of their own pre-eminence. The appellation which the Iroquois give to themselves is, the chief of men. Caribbe, the original name of the fierce inhabitants of the Windward Islands, signifies the warlike people. The Cherokees, from an idea of their own superiority, call the Europeans nothings, or the accursed race, and assume to themselves the name of the beloved people. The same principle regulated the other Americans concerning the Europeans; for although, at first, they were filled with astonishment at their arts, and with dread of their power, |