"My life on't, said Yansen, tis the very lad I saw this day, walking up and down in front of the Exchange, who appeared half out of his wits: looking anxiously for some particular object, yet shunning general observation: his person answers the description." "That's fortunate," said the merchant, 'you must devote the morrow to search for him: bring him to me, if possible, and I'll do my utmost to serve my excellent friends Bennett and Ford of London." Early next morning, Yansen went to the Exchange, and kept an anxious watch for many hours in vain: he was returning hopeless, when he saw the identical youth coming out of the door of a Jew moneychanger he brushed hastily past him, exclaiming, "The unconscionable scoundrel! seventy per cent. for bills on the best house in England!" Yansen approached him. "Young gentleman," said he in a very mild tone, "you appear to have met with some disappointment from that griping wretch, Levi. If you have any business to transact, my house is close by; I shall be happy to treat with you." Willingly," replied the youth, "the sooner the better. I must leave Hamburgh at daybreak." The clerk led him to the house of the merchant, and he entered it by a small sidedoor, desiring the young man to be seated, whilst he gave some directions. In a few minutes he reappeared, bringing Von Kapell with him. The worthy Hamburgher having no talent for a round-about way of doing business, said bluntly, "So, Mynheer! we are well met; it will be useless to attempt disguise with me; look but at this! and he put into his hand the letter he had the night before received. Overwhelmed with consternation, the young man fell at his feet. "Oh!" he cried, "I am lost for evermy father-my indulgent-my honourable father is heart-broken and disgraced by my villany. My mother-!" here he became nearly inaudible, and he hid his face with his hands-66 66 you," he continued, spared all participation in the agony your wretched son is suffering." are "Boy, boy-" said the merchant, raising him, and quite melted at this show of penitence, "listen to me-are the bills safe? if so, you may still hope-" "They are," eagerly exclaimed the youth :" "how fortunate that I did not listen to the offers of that rapacious Jew. Here, Sir, take them, I implore you," pulling from his breast a large pocket book; "they are untouched-Spare but my life, and I will yet atone-Oh! spare me from a shameful death." There was a pause, broken at last by Yansen saying significantly to his employers as per margin." The merchant turned to the unhappy young man. "Take heart," said he, "Wenn die noth ist amgroszten die hulfe ist am nachsten."*-There's an old German proverb for you! Sit down, and hear what I have to say: I think myself not a little fortunate in so soon being able to fulfil the wishes of my English correspondents; your natural alarm did not suffer you to finish their letter: you will perceive how generously they mean to act; the credit of their house is saved, and they intend not to punish you. Read, read, and a bottle or two of my old Heidelburgh hock :-trouble always makes me thirsty three glasses, my good Yansen." Again the young Englishman hid his face, and sighed convulsively, "I do not deserve this lenity," said he, "my excellent father! this is a tribute to your virtue." Von Kapell left his guest's reflections undisturbed, till a servant entered, who placed refreshments on a well-polished oak table. When she retired, he resumed— "And now what tempted you to play the runaway?" swallowing the term he had intended to use-"was it for the wenches, or the dicing tables?" "Spare me, most kind and worthy sir, I entreat you to my father I will make full confession of all my faults, but he must be the first to know the origin of my crimes." "Well, well, take another glass of wine, you shall stay in my house till we can find a passage for you. It was but last night my good ship Christine sailed for Batavia, and-" "Under favour," interrupted Yansen, "she has not left the harbour, the wind blew too fresh for her to venture on crossing the sand-banks at night, and it is now only shifting round a point or two." "You are lucky, youngster," quickly added the merchant; "the Christine has noble accommodations, and you shall go on board this evening. Put these in the chest, good Yansen," handing him the bills,— "count me out the two hundred louis d'ors the boy is to have. Come, man, finish your meal; for I see," said he, regarding a vane on the gable of an opposite house," you have no time to lose." The meal was finished-the money given -the worthy merchant adding as much good advice as the brief space would permit. The Briton was profuse in his expressions of gratitude, promised amendment, and returned the warm grasp of Von Kapell, unable to speak for his tears. Yansen accompanied him on board, gave the owner's inost particular charge to the skipper, to pay his passenger every attention on the voyage. The vessel cleared the harbour-was in a few hours out of sight-and the next morning, Mynheer Von Kapell wrote to London a full account of the transaction, returning the bills he had so fortunately discovered. * * In less than a fortnight, the good old German received the following letter: "Sir-We have to inform you, that we never lost the bills sent in your last favour every one of which is fabricated, and our acceptance forged. Our cashier has no son, nor has he lost a wife. We are sincerely grieved that your friendly feeling towards our house should have led you to listen to so palpable a cheat. "We remain, with great respect, yours, "BENNETT, FORD, & Co." "P. S. If you should ever again hear of the person you have at your own expense sent to Batavia, we shall be glad to know." CURIOUS FACTS RESPECTING THE CUKOO. THE CUCKOO never builds a nest for herself, but drops her eggs into the habitation of another, to whom it confides the care of bringing forth its progeny. This kindness, it was formerly, and in many places is still believed, the young cuckoo repays by devouring its fostering mother. But this certainly is an error. The disappearance of the foster-nestlings from the nest in which a cuckoo is hatched, is more satisfactorily accounted for by the observations of the late Dr. Jenner, to whom the world was indebted for the inestimable discovery of vaccination. "On the 18th of June, 1787," says he, "I examined the nest of a hedge-sparrow, (accentor modularis) which then contained a cuckoo's, and three hedge-sparrows' eggs. On examining it the day following, the bird had hatched; but the nest then contained only a young cuckoo and one hedge-sparrow. The nest was placed so near the extremity of a hedge, that I could distinctly see what was going forward in it; and, to my great astonishment, I saw the young cuckoo, though so lately hatched, in the act of turning out the young hedge-sparrow.The mode of accomplishing this was very curious: the little animal, with the assistance of its rump and wings, contrived to get the bird upon its back, and, making a lodgment for its burden by elevating its elbows, clambered backwards with up the side of the nest till it reached the top, where, resting for a moment, it threw off its load with a jerk, and quite disengaged it from the nest. It remained in this situation for a short time, feeling about with the extremities of its wings, as if to be convinced whether the business was properly executed, and then dropped into the nest again. With these, the extremities of its wings, I have often seen it examine, as it were an egg and nestling before it began its operations; and the nice sensibilities which these parts seem to possess, seemed sufficiently to compensate the want of sight, which as yet it was destitute of. I afterwards put in an egg, and this, by a similar process, was conveyed to the edge of the nest, and thrown out. These experiments I have since repeated several times, in different nests, and have always found the young cuckoo disposed to act in the same manner. climbing up the nest, it sometimes drops its burden, and thus is foiled in its endeavours; but, after a little respite, the work is resumed, and goes on almost incessantly till it is effected. The singularity of its shape is well adapted to these purposes; for, different from other newly-hatched birds, its back, from the shoulders downwards, is very broad, with a considerable depression in the middle. This depression seems formed by nature for the design of giving a more secure lodgment to the egg of the hedge-sparrow, or its young one, when the young cuckoo is employed in removing either of them from the nest. When it is about twelve days old, this cavity is filled up, and then the back assumes the shape of nestling birds in general." In "It sometimes happens (which disproves Pliny's statement) that two cuckoos' eggs are deposited in the same nest, and then the young produced from one of them must inevitably perish. Two cuckoos and one hedge-sparrow were hatched in the same nest, and one hedge-sparrow's egg remained unhatched. In a few hours afterwards, a contest began between the cuckoos, for the possession of the nest; which continued undetermined until the next afternoon, when one of them, which was somewhat superior in size, turned out the other, together with the young hedge-sparrow and the unhatched egg. The combatants alternately appeared to have the advantage, as each carried the other several times to the top of the nest, and then sunk down again, oppressed by the weight of the burden; till at length, after various efforts, the strongest prevailed and was afterwards brought up by the hedgesparrow.-Architecture of Birds. sequently 37 degrees. The prevailing wind is south-west; and the direction of the wind during the three Decembers, collectively, has been south-westerly 274 days; westerly 17; north-westerly 143; easterly 8}; northeasterly 8; southerly 6; northerly 5%; and south-easterly 5. METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. THE mean temperature of December was 43.65 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The maximum, which was 56 degrees, occurred on the 1st, when the direction of the wind was south-westerly; and the minimum of 33 degrees took place on the 28th, with a north-easterly wind. The range of the thermometer was 23 degrees, and the prevailing wind south-west. The direction of the wind has been south-westerly 114 days, westerly 6; north-westerly 33; northerly 3; southerly 2; north-easterly 2; southeasterly 1; and easterly. Rain has fallen on 16 days, and 9 have been accompanied with wind. Fog was noticed on the 8th, 9th, 27th, and 28th, and hoar frost on the 16th, 19th, and 20th; on the latter morning some slight icy efflorescences were observed on the windows which had a northern aspect. The evening of the 2d was distinguished by a very severe storm of thunder and hail, which was accompanied with a violent gale from the south-west on the 1st the thermometer rose to 57 degrees, and on this day it stood at 55 degrees about noon: the storm did considerable mischief in its passage over Wapping, Stepney, Bromley, Greenwich, and Deptford. In Blackwall Reach, the lightning struck the mast of the Jubilee, a Gravesend sailing vessel which was coming up the river, and shivered it to pieces, it also carried away a great portion of the bulwarks: the passengers were fortunately below, and no one was hurt. The lightning also struck the new church which is building at Leytonstone, in Essex. A very considerable gale from the south-west was noticed on the 25th; on the evening of the 26th a faint appearance of the Aurora Borealis was seen; rime frost occurred on the morning of the 28th; and snow was first observed this season on the morning of the 31st. The mean temperature of December, from the observations of 1830, 1831, and 1832, is 40.9 degrees. The maximum of 56 degrees was noticed on the 9th in 1832, and also in 1831; and the minimum of 19 degrees was observed on the 25th in 1830: the range of the thermometer is con "He taught us how to live; and, oh, too high "COME, sister spirit, quit the house of clay!" Το Say, warriors, who on honour's bed repose, In cov'nant love! when dust returns to dust? Ye rove in prayerful musing, mourn the loss Weep, Africa! for thou hast lost a chief He made your cause by sympathy his own, Watson, whose life and writings gave delight, Made more symphonious in his ravish'd ears ALONE he sat, and wept. That very night -But there was war within him, and he sighed- With kindling brow he trod - God spake again, when Age had shed its snows Closed in around his heart-strings. The poor clay BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST. RICHLY array'd, in gorgeous robes of state, And now, behold, the hall is fill'd with guests; W. MARSHALL. BEAUTIES OF NATURE. I love to climb that lofty rock I love to range along the beach I love to walk that lonely dell, Or, in yon shady wood to be, Or, poring o'er yon river's brink, And may I ever useful prove, L. R. HEAVEN. BY W. P. SPARKS. THERE is a land-a happy land, How pure its light, how deep its joy, A peaceful clime,-a Sabbath shore, A place of holiness and love,- A land of hills and valleys green, A land of sun and summer air, Where flowers unfading blow, A land where wearied ones may meet, A land where sorrow never comes, The mother there may meet her child, The bands of friendship strengthen there, A land where sickness is unknown, A land where beauty is unstain'd, Death and the grave are dark no more, For Jesus is its living Head, Its time eternity! 'Tis there Immanuel has gained An everlasting throne; His face, the sun which beams to bless- 'Tis he who bought that land for us, IMITATION OF POPE'S ODE ON SOLITUDE. HAPPY the man whose wish and care, Who with the hungry shares his bread, Who pours the holy light of truth On dark'ned and benighted minds; Labour with study, who combines, Thus walking with his God, he binds So may I live-for kindness known; F. AFFECTION. (A FACT.) On the lone couch secure, young Melville lay, Which princes feel, nor mighty monarchs can revoke. REVIEW.-The Works of Robert Hall, A. M., with a Brief Memoir of his Life. By Dr. Gregory; and Öbservations on his Character as a Preacher; by John Foster. Vol. VI. 8vo. pp. 690. Holdsworth and Ball. London. 1833. No other volume in this excellent series either excited so much expectation on its announcement, or afforded so much gratification to the reader on its appearance, as this that is now before us. These effects have in no small degree been produced by the nature of its contents, for every one feels an interest in what is detailed in narrative, and is pleased to behold a development of intellectual character. Of this large volume, the latter portion comprises twenty-one sermons, delivered on various subjects and occasions; but as in their general character they bear a strong resemblance to many others already presented to the public, they display nothing to arrest particular attention. In every one, the same commanding eloquence, the same expansion of intellectual power, the same acuteness of investigation, and the same fervour of piety, are alike conspicuous, and fully entitle them to a place among the works of their celebrated author. The former part, however, which comprises a biographical sketch of Mr. Hall's life, may on this account be expected to excite a deeper interest, as every person wishes to behold the portraiture of a man who shines in all his compositions with such distinguished lustre. It would appear from some prefatory observations, that the development of Mr. Hall's intellectual character, had been consigned to the well-known talents, and elegant pen of Sir James Mackintosh, and in this expectation the public were fully satisfied to confide. The imperious hand of |