IV. saw the price of a seat twopence once more. Here it seemed to have gravitated, and twopence was the price at the coronations of Richard III. and Henry VII. But those were days of trouble; and the wisdom of Englishmen was better occupied in preserving the few pence left to them by the York and Lancaster plunderings. The country grew opulent and curious again, and allowed fourpence for a view of Henry VIII.'s coronation. The same amount was upheld in the days of Edward VI., and even in those of bloody Queen Mary, who had, however, been popular, and had ascended her throne with an oath to preserve Protestantism. The nation exulted in Elizabeth's appearance, and, in their joy, disbursed a sixpence. The progress of liberality and loyalty were thenceforth rapid; for James I. and Charles I. each brought a shilling. Charles II. found the nation in a paroxysm of absurd joy, and was beheld at the expense of half-a-crown, the most rapid advance on record, and to be altogether attributed to the rapture of getting rid of the Roundheads. James II. obtained the same price; for it is observable, that, but in the single instance of Henry VI.'s tumultuous and overwhelming time, the prices once raised on popular folly have never fallen. William and Queen Anne saw the advance half-a-crown more, and they were worth it. The House of Brunswick came among us when we were a divided nation, and it was thought too formidable an experiment by the scaffold-makers to raise their prices, while the Jacobites were so fully determined not to see; the seats thus continued at a crown. Jacobitism was gradually giving way during the reign of George I. under a process of exile, starving among the Highlands, or chains in the English Castles; and at George 'II.'s coronation, loyalty spoke out, and bid up to half-a-guinea. The coronation of the late King found England without a disturber at home, and with nothing but triumphs abroad; the prices accordingly sprung up to an extravagance unparalleled. The front-seats in the

galleries in Westminster Abbey were let at ten guineas and upwards each. Seats in the street were from one guinea to ten; and every tile, from which a glimpse of the procession could be bad, was a place of eager canvassing and exorbitant demand."

LONDON AND SHEFFIELD CUTLERY.-When the town of Sheffield first became famous for the manufacture of cutlery, a very curious knife, calculated for a variety of uses, was executed with great care, and sent to the Cutlers' Company in London. On one of the blades was engraved the following challenge:

Sheffield-made both haft and blade;

London, for thy life, shew me such another knife.

The London cutlers, to shew that they were not inferior to their more northern brethren, finished, and sent down to Sheffield a penknife, containing only one tempered blade, in which was a cavity, and in the cavity a piece of straw, fresh and unsinged. Some lines on the blade, mentioning this fact, induced the Sheffield cutlers to break it, when they found the straw, and unable to account for the manner in which it was done, or to imitate it, they confessed themselves sur passed in ingenuity.

GEORGE III. AND AN ETON Boy.-Convulsions are common to every society. One of a serious nature took place some years back aty Eton. A real grievance either existed, or, what is by far more likely, the sons of Etona imagined one, and threw off all subordinat tion

and regard to rule. It was on a beautiful summer's day that this 78 young commonwealth, actuated by one of the above influences, thoughtTM proper to dismiss their administration, and take the reins of government into their own hands. The late Dr. Heath was the premier of

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the day, and by some means or other had incurred the high displeasure of the boys: the whole school entirely broken up, was scattered here and there in little knots and clusters throughout the town of Eton these, in close divan, were sapiently turning over the most dignified means of manifesting their indignation, when the late King, on horseback, attended by his usual cortége, passed along the boys of course shewed every demonstration of respect, and his Majesty rode on, until he reached a well-known spot in Eton-Barnspool Bridge; its sides were studded by many of the young malcontents, and as the King passed through their ranks they reverently doffed their hats. His Majesty, perhaps by the appearances foreboding some danger to his dominions, pulled up for a moment, and in his hurried way inquired—" Boys, boys, boys,-what's matter? what's matter? what's matter?" Pope (I think it is) somewhere sings

"Oh, 'tis the sweetest of all earthly things,

To talk to princes, and to look on kings."

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The young fry thus addressed, not being in the very frequent receipt of either of these enjoyments, felt themselves most exceedingly emis barrassed; there was an awful pause; no answer. Boy, boy,s boy," repeated his Majesty, pointing with his whip at one dismayed! wight-"What's matter?-what's matter?-holiday?—holiday?" "No, please your Majesty," at length replied the boy; "no-it'sit's—it's—a rebellion !”—“ Rebellion!" exclaimed the King, ready to choke with suppressed laughter; "rebellion!-rebellion !-rebellion !e -very bad very bad-very bad indeed!" The burst of risibility which followed, not only from his Majesty, but from all his attendants, il are in the liveliest recollection of the unlucky boy down to the present hour.) 197908 » 1.

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THE LATE DR. BEDDOES.-I have seen Dr. Beddoes (at Bristol, in 1797), who is a very pleasant man. His favourite prescription at present to ladies is, the inhaling the breath of cows; and he does not, like the German doctors, send the ladies to the cow-house; the cows are brought into the ladies' chamber, where they are to stand all night with their heads within the curtains. Mrs. M-, who has a good deal of humour, says the benefit cannot be mutual; and she is afraid, if the fashion takes, we shall eat diseased beef. It is fact, however, that a family have been turned out of their lodgings, because the people of the house would not admit the cows; they said they had not built and furnished their rooms for the hoofs of cattle.-Mrs. Barbauld's Letters.

GOOD KIND OF MEN.-These are a race of people that no one blames and no one praises with any great degree of warmth. They act in life with much honesty and equity, yet they do not gain many very ardent friends. To use an expression of the painters, their manner is hard; when they do a kindness, they mar the pleasure which the receiver would otherwise experience, by an appearance of unkindness, and press your faults upon you, whenever they have an opportunity, with an air of superiority. Whilst the head acknowledges the excellent qualities of such persons, the heart hesitates on the compulsory homage. In our intercourse with men, we wish to love as well as reverence our friends, and do not like, in the words of Falstaff, to give our reasons upon compulsion."

GEORGE BRUMMELL.-Mr. Brummell, when a boy at Eton, was as perfect an éxquisite as in the meridian of his dandy reign, and as, in all probability, he is at this moment.-It is reported of Louis XIV. that he never allowed any one to see him without his wig.-George

Brummell was never known to be dressed in a slovenly manner, and for dirt, as respected himself or any thing about him, it was, and most likely continues to be, non-existent; nay, it may be very questionable whether he was ever seen in the streets on a dirty day. Mr. Brummell commenced the part he purposed to play through life, at Eton, and was continually rehearsing :-the snow-white stock, with the bright gold button behind,—the exact delicacy of his dress,-the measured dignity of his step,-must still be remembered by all his contemporaries. Singular enough, Lord P―sh-m paid but little, if any attention, to the embellishments of apparel: Brummell was paramount, and his language and deportment were in perfect keeping.It happened, as was of frequent occurrence, that a dire contest took place between the Eton boys and the Windsor bargemen: one unhappy bargee fell into the hands of the exasperated boys, who, having been very roughly handled themselves, gave momentary way to passion, and were literally contemplating the throwing him over Windsor-bridge into the Thames; it might have been the throwing a fish into the water; but as the habits of all barge men, though amphibious, are not altogether piscatory, in the event of the poor fellow's not being a swimmer the consequences might have been fatal. In the midst of the uproar and hauling about, Brummell happened to pass by; and most likely, through a motive of good-nature, in the softest tones of remonstrance, addressed his incensed companions as follows:-" No, no, no, don't send him into the river: the man's evidently in a high state of perspiration, and it almost amounts to a certainty that he'd catch cold."—A finer instance of bathos seldom occurs from drowning to catching cold!-the thing was irresistible ! -the boys took it, and in an ebullition of laughter projected the bargeman right a-head, who darted from their hands like a shot, and as out of sight in a moment.