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Suppose, for instance, an astronomer were to compose a perfect treatise on astronomy, so simple that the meanest capacity could comprehend it, and yet so profound that the most penetrating genius could find no fault with it, it is evident he would be the last that would rise to fame and fortune by the profession of that science; nay, such a treatise would deprive many of the means of procuring a sub

mitive signification. It is a well-known fact
that a small number of persons get a perfect
insight into the grammar of our tongue. until
they know that of the Greek or Latin. These
two monuments of antiquity are justly made a
part of polite education. But the poor au-
toinstructor, whose reading is confined to his
native language, has few inducements to
undertake a task, in every step of which he
is exposed to difficulties. In the country asistence, unless they were competent to under-
man is ever wishing for the instructions of a take some other profession. But supposing
tutor, for access to a public library, for literary an individual of this other profession were to
acquaintance; these are in a great measure write a treatise equally perfect in its kind,
attainable in a town. But I do not at all wish to there would be an excess of professors in this
be understood as condemning in toto the coun- profession again, and so on ad infinitum. The
try, nor holding up town society above its true teachers or professors of these sciences would
character. I have found in the former men of not be the only sufferers by such works. What
the greatest talent and the soundest judgment, would become of the whole race of quill and
assiduous readers, and deep thinkers; men paper manufacturers, printers and booksel-
who would confer honor on any assemblage of lers?
And what would become of "The
genius; while it must be allowed that in the Hermes," and similar publications, provided
Latter, though a higher polish may sometimes every subject were so thoroughly illustrated
exist, yet we too often find knowledge super- as to leave nothing unsaid which could be
ficial, and business predominant; the major said! I have before me just now several
part of even the superior classes being too works, on different subjects, of considerable
much engaged in ephemerals, to give up the celebrity. On the Law of Nature and Na-
mental powers to literature and science. Ations, I have Puffendorff, Cumberland, Vat-
smattering, a dipping into authors, must neces-
sarily be common, and amongst the readers of
novels or of poetry, a number will be found
advancing to travels-history, and the lighter
branches of science; some will search the
store-houses of history,-the languages; and a
few attach themselves to the dry and cheek-
bone-projecting, yet valuable study, of the
Mathematics. Where there are so many read-
ers, some must excel; but in a large town so
many things call off the attention, that an ex-
traordinary zeal is necessary in him that would
go on and prosper. Often may the student
exclaim with the satirist,

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tel, &c.; on Moral Philosophy-Paley, Char-
ron, &c.; on the Evidences of the Christian
Religion-Paley, Grotius, Le Clerc, and the
works of about twenty other authors; on the
Mind, &c.-Reid, Locke, &c.; on Govern-
ment-De Lolme, De Witt, &c.; on the Bi-
ble-Dr. A. Clarke, Horue, Junius, Tremel-
lius, Wesley, Locke, Stackhouse, &c.

On looking at the prefaces to several of
these works, I find that each author, after
praising the labors of his predecessors, goes
-"But what? I will
on to say, "but
help him out, and give my readers in plain
English what I suppose he "reasoned within
himself." "So and so writes well upon the
whole, but his style is inelegant, his ideas on
incorrect;" or, "his work is too much
tinctured with party or sectarian spirit, &c.;
I will supply this defect, and then I think all
will be said on the subject which can be de-
sired." Thus every man that blames his neigh-
bor, fancies he is free from that defect which
he attributes to him.

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It is the imperfection of any single work, upon any given subject, that renders it necessary to consult various authors; and the necessity of consulting various authors is a means of affording employment to thousands. If man had kept his original state, there would have been no need of resorting to so many artificial means of procuring a livelihood, for each individual having food and raiment, would therewith have been content.

SIR,-A few days ago I took a pen in hand, to write a letter to a friend, on the origin of The apparent imperfection in the Book of Polytheism. Being fully aware that the sub- the highest authority in the world, is, in my ject had been treated upon by men of the first opinion, a perfection; for had the inspired eminence; and having an intention of advanc- penmen supplied us with all those particulars, ing something new, I very naturally exercised the absence of which we too often regret, the my wits in making an apology for presuming sacred volume would have been swelled to a to imagine, that I had any thing to communi- very inconvenient size. The poor man could cate which had not already been done by have known nothing of its contents but from 'abler pens. It would be tedious for you to hearsay, and but a very small portion of the read, and me to copy, the whole of this apo-world could have known any thing of it at all. logy; I shall only acquaint you with the wonderful discovery I made. I found out, that even the omissions and mistakes of celebrated writers have beneficial effects. Indeed, Mr. Editor, I went so far as to insinuate, that the most favored of the sons of wisdom are not permitted to render their works so complete, as to exclude the necessity of future speculation.

Had the Bible been as voluminous as a mo-
dern Encyclopedia, those laudable exertions
of the Bible Society could never have taken
place; it would have been vain to think of
supplying the world with Bibles; and as vain
to send missionaries, who could not carry in
their pocket that book which is of such exclu-
sive authority in matters of religion.

I am sensible that the obscurity of the Scrip

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The old times had wags as well as the new.
Letter of Sir Anth. Absolute to Hermes
Richard is himself again.-Shakspeare.

I hate quotations, but when they come upon me as thick as thistles in a Scotch church-yard, or flint stones among the Appennines, I mast give them vẹnt; ere they pour down their mighty hosts like a torrent the multifar ons cogitations of a fruitful brain. I upon the vale of my understanding, and sweep away have many grand ideas, Sir; Newton never soared higher among his planets, nor Goldsmith penetrated deeper among the variegated strata of the earth, than I often do.

I told you before that I experienced some of those peculiar sensations which are attached to our nature, every Saturday morning previous to my receiving your tidy journal; these pleasant sensations were increased lately, on perceiving that my worthy uncle, Sir Anthony Absolute, bad commenced his luerary

career at all events, that Ire had enrolled himself
among your numerous correspondents. One Satur
day morning-
-one evential morning, did I, Dicky
Pomposity, behold the verbose epistle of Sir Anthony
Absolute-read it-again and again-smiled-bit
my lip-grinned my teeth-rolled my eyes;-did
you but see me, I looked like "Surprise sitting on a
monument smiling at Consternation!"--Damocles
under the suspended sword, or the Roman on the
Tarpian Rock, was nothing to me. I was chagrined
to think that I was blamed for exposing our family
secrets, when he himself gives a tedious list of do-
mestic occurrences; and under a particolar figure of
speech, exposes those things he apparently wishes to
hide. But old people, in general, have some pecu-
liarity or other by which they can show their
sense,
," even in depicting the simplicity and virtue of
the "good old times,"I thank thee, jew---uncle, I
should say, for that word. Every point and shade of
virine and good conduct are thus taken away from
the " good new times," and imputed to the
old times." I will give you a specimen of the old
times the old school. I remember when my grand-
mother (peace to the matronal tutor!) first put the
hornbook into my hands-

good

good

-"in all tongues the hornbook is the same,
Taught by the Grecian master or the English dome.
No greasy thumb thy spotless leaf can soil,
Nor crooked dogs'-ears thy smooth corners spoil;
In idle pages no errata stand,

To tell the blunders of the printer's hand !”—

Critical career for me. Suppose my grandam sitting in the old arm chair, with her reverend silver speriacles clasped firmly round her aged bead, nødding periodically, as if in token of submission to Somnus, who paid her regular visits during the time of teaching her "clever grandson, Dicky;"-suppose me. I say, sitting at her knee, on a little three-legged stool, after the hornbook lesson was completed, take a slate and pencil, and adding up an addition sum from the learned and venerable Cocker-he wrote an excellent treatise on arithmetic in the old times!-I proceedyou proceed, of course, with me as I relate it;—well, I say 2 and 3 are 7-" very well, Dicky; good child, Dicky;" says she, "go on, boy."-7 and 4 are 9— very well again, Dicky; clever Dicky."-9 and 8 I stop, being at the end of the line.Suppose me are 19-" quite correct, my dear; go on.”—But here now, dear Hermes, looking up wistfully in my grandmother's face, asking her, very earnestly, what I should put down?" Put down the 10 and carry the 9, Dicky;"-done-"That's a clever boy; excellent Dicky, clever Dicky!"—After this, I turn to my hornbook again, if her nap was over; or else

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to some other similar classbook—Puss in Boots, the
Golden Apple, or Little Red Ridinghood. I con-
mence, to show the depth of my erudition, in the so-
lemn elocution of spelling "words of three syl-
Jables."

"Great A I gravely roar'd; the important sound
The empty walls and hollow roofs resound:
The nodding matron raised her drooping head,
And thank'd her stars that Dick had learn'd to read."

53

Cur conversation became general, as is the case in records was some time ago produced in evidence, in a law. all parties; and Miss Flipflap commenced a long Tallics, or cleft peces of wood, in which the notches are eut suit at Winchester. barangue on Danish literature. My uncle, whose The mode of keeping accounts by correspondence with Denmark is very considerable, by the creditor, and the other by the debtor, is st 11 practised on one piece conformably to the other, one part being kept hegan with an elaborate speech on the unnecessary length of his Danish correspondents' letters,-they there upon loans; hence the origin of the Teiler, or Talley in many parts of England, in particular cases. A Tally con tinues to be given by the Exchequer, to those who pay money are generally three folio sheets, with the same old, writer of the Exchequer; and also of the phrase to tally, to dll, stupid, routine of expression; even Sir An- fit, to suit, or answer exactly......The word Bible, which Often, amid those painful and never-to-be-forgotten exhausted at the perusal of a letter from Van Dul-signified the inner bark of a tree. The word Book is also thony's patience, which is exemplary, has often been means, by way of eminence, the Book, is derived from the avocations, has she told me that I should shine at kensteen, of Rotterdam; but your Danish---your derived from the Saxon Boe or Bocce, the beech tree, proGreek word Biblos, or Byblos, a book, but which originally some future time; and so I will, Sir, I hope, notwithstanding the exertions of Uncle Absolute to pre- eyes, business lethargy, or something worse-- O the Danish correspondent will give you the ennui, sore bably from tablets or leaves of that tree having been used vest my genius from exercising its native energy. letter of Mr. Von Wolfenstukenbergen, describing for writing upon.-Pp. 28, 29, 30, 43. What! cramp my genius over an old dusty ledger the grandeur and variety of a Frankfort fair, or the and tattered journal, mewed up in an old counting-price of a Danish pickle !---My uncle says that he is house, keeping a beggarly account of rabbit-skins and long by name, by body, and certainly, to judge from tobacco pipes!-no, no, it will never do better see myself reflected in your journal—that is, journalised his production, natu e has given him a very long in a literary-like manner in your paper-that's pride! away whenever my uncle begins to read a Danish mind, though not a very bright one. Fanny runs that's ambition! I will only continue the literary letter, fearing that she should fall asleep ere he half fame of our family-O the various branches of the reads it---she hates Denmark for that very reason--Pompositys! Why I had a granduncle, a school waster, in London, who is said to have walked across O Von Wolfenstukenbergen: the school with strides of two ells long-he read pompously-spoke pompously-and, if all be true, walked pompously; that is, he was in every thingabsolute pomposity.

I bad another relation, a grand cousin, who was so great a naturalist, that be wrote eight quanto volumes on the anatomy of a butterfly; contending with a greater blockhead than himself, that the tendons and ligaments of this creature were not of a resilient nature, and that the intercostal sinews were red, not white! The wags of the time used to call him, emphatically, the “musical hayrick." Poor man, he was killed one day, running after one of his favorite insects! You ask, where are his books ?-they died with him!-the huge volumes died with the huge disordered brain that compiled them.

64

I

"That old vertigo in thy head,

Will never leave thee till thou'rt dead !”

embrace the present opportunity, as my uncle is

out of town, but I have no fear of his troubling you
a second time, though you are really a great favo-
rite of his---would you believe it? he takes a
Hermes exclusively for himself, and allows it to be
among his bills and money in the safe press. Fanny
says it is all correct, for knowledge should not be in-
separable from riches and business!

I am, dear Hermes, your most potent ally,
DICK POMPOSITY.

Original Kebiew.

occasioned by the Dioclesian persecution, the author
observes, p. 125,
Concerning the obstacles to scripture literature

an account of the persecution of the third century, in these
"Our ancient chronicler, Robert of Gloucester, has left

old rhymes:

Twei emperoures of Kome, Byoclician,
And an other, ys felaw, that het Marimian.

Here bothe at on tyme, the on in the Est ende,
And the other in the Mest, Cristendom to schendé*
For the luther, Maximian&Westward hider sogte,
And Cristenemen that he fonde to strong deth he

brogte.

Chirches he fel al a doun, ther ne moste nonstonde,
he wolde lete hem berne echon amid the hey strete,
And al the bokes, that he mygte fynde in eny londe,
And tho Christenemen al sle. and none o libe lete.
Seth God was y bore, ther nas for Cristendom
In so lute stond y do so grete martirdom,
For ther were in a moneth sebentene thousante
and mo

martired for our Lorde's lobe.

• schende, spáil, destroy. + luther, cruel, wicked. NICA, in which it is copied from the Harleian MSS The following is from Lyson's MAGNA BRITANthe British Museum:

The Pompositys are not the only pedants on earth:
I know one of those pedants that really belongs to
the old school;" not a classic, but a mathematical
pedant-I mean Mr. Perpendicular. Your Sir Roger
de Coverley and General Wagtail, pedants of old,
are nothing to him. Think for a moment, our family
sitting quietly at home, Sir Anthony brushing a pair
of silver buckles-mother knitting-sister Fanny
peeping at the "Reticule of your paper, smiling oc-
casionally, as if she met with “
The author of this learned and very laborious work,
it--(she says she'll write you)-1, poring at a parcel dered a great service to the literary world in gene-
something good" in which has been some time before the public, bas ren-
of old dusty Scotch ballads; when-knock-knock ral, and to the Biblical student in particular. He has
comes to the door-the next sound that reached my collected the information contained in many valuable
anricular organs, is, "is Sir Anthony at home?"-
yes-walk in. How d'ye do. Sir Anthony?" Very most readers.
and scarce books, which are beyond the reach of
well, I thank you, Mr. Perpendicular-sit down."
We believe, that amongst the works
The mathematical diary sits-for such I call him;
on Biblical Literature, with which we abound, there
then follows a long conversation between the old pu- Sacred Scriptures, except indeed in a kind of bird's-
are none that attempt to convey the history of the
pils of the old school.
Mr. Perpendicular is one of those mathematical life-eye glance. Mr. Townley has treated his subject in
rati, who, when taken out of their proper element (cir-
a masterly manner.
cles and tangents), cannot speak three words on any
general subject. The reason is obvious: they are
like their own circles, turning round and round from
every subject, till they find the centre of conversation
to be purely mathematical. Mr. Perpendicular is an
old men now, for he says himself that his Grecian pro-
boscis makes an angle of seventy degrees with the
point of his shoe; "but I remember the time," con-
tinues he, 64
when, forty years ago, I walked as
straight as-as-as-a perpendicular!" But I re
serve the conversation of Sir Anthony and bis-suffice
it to say, that although they met twenty times a day,
the old mode, the same words and gestures, are gone
through: "How d'ye do, Sir Anthony ?" "Very well,
1 thank you, Mr. Perpendicular."

Illustrations of Biblical Literature, exhibiting
the History and Fate of the Sacred Writ-in
ings from the earliest Period to the present
Century. Including Biographical Notices
of Translators and other eminent Scholars.
By the REV. JAMES TOWNLEY, Author of
"Biblical Anecdotes." 3 vols. 8vo. Lon-
don, 1820.

We had a tea party lately, and, O how pleased my mother looked, when introducing her dutiful son Dick to the young ladies. Miss Flipflap, my son Dicky Dicky, my dear, Miss Flipftap. Mrs. Goodfornothing, my son---- Richard, Mrs. Goodfornothing

and so on, so on.
There was a smile of self-satisfac-
tion on my mother's countenance, as she beheld me
eyeing the young creatures!-delightful task, to assist
their little wants, and attend their little caprices!!

subject. Much interesting matter is to be met with For deep research, his volumes are to be equalled by few modern productions on any in this work, which the title does not lead us to anticipate. The origin of writing and printing; the various methods of writing in use among the ancients; and dark ages; have considerable light thrown upon the state of literature in our own country during the them. The following are extracts:

It was an ancient practice, to write upon thin smooth planks or Tables of Wood. Pliny says, that table books of wood were in use before the time of Homer............The original manner of writing among the ancient Britons, was by cutting the letters with a knife upon sticks, which were most commonly squared, and sometimes formed into three three lines. (See Ezek. xxxvii. 16.) Several sticks, with sides; consequently a single stick contained either four or frame, which was called Peithynen or Elucidator, and was writing upon them, were put together, forming a kind of so constructed, that each stick might be turned for the facility of reading, the end of each running out alternately on both Pamber, near Basingstoke, in Hampshire. The Court-leet, sides of the frame........A singular custom still prevails at small piece of ground called Lady-Mead, which belongs to holden annually for that manor, is opened sub dio, in a the tithing-man for the year. Thence an adjournment is the court are recorded on a piece of wood, called a Tally, made to a neighbouring public-house. The proceedings of uished every year by the steward. One of these singular about three feet long, and an inch and a half square, fur

"NOE AND HIS SHIPPE.

wife except, the arke must be borded founde aboute and upon
"Then Noe shall goe into the arke with all his familye his
the bordes all the beastes and fowles hereafter rehearsed
must be painted that there wordes may agree with the pics
tures,"
Noe.

"Wiffe come in, why standes thou there
Thon arte ever frowarde I dare well sweare."
Noe's Wife.

"Yea sir, set up your sayle
And row forth with evill haile,
For withouten faile I wille not out
Out of this towle;

But I have my gossippes every eich one,
One foote further I will not gone;
The shall not drowne by St. John,

And I may save there life;

But thou wylt let them into that chiest,
Else row forth Noe where thou list,
And get thee a new witle."
The good Gossippes.
"The flood comes flitting in full fast,
One every syde that spreadeth full farr;-
For feare of drowning 1 ame agaste,
Good gossippes let us draw neer;
And let us drinke or we departe,
For oft-ty mes we have done soe,
For at a draught thou drinkes a quarte,`
And soe will I due or I goe;

Here is a pottell full of Malmeseye gode and strouge
Yt will rejoice both hart and tonge;
Though Noe thinke ns never so longe,
Yet we will drinke alike.

Japhat.

"Mother, we pray you all together,

For we are here your owne children;

Come into the shippe for feare of the weather.".

Noe's Wiffe.

"That will I not for all your call,

But I have my gossippes all."
Sem.

"In fayth mother yet thou shalt
Whether thou wylt or not.”
Noc.
"Welcome wiffe into the boat."
Wiffe.

"Have thou that for thy note

[She gives him a box on the sar.] "Ha! ha! marye; that is hott,

It is good for to be still;

A! children methinkes my boat remeves,
Our tarrying here highly me grceves;
Over the lande the water spreades,
God doe as he will."-

-Pp. 421-2

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"Scot-Ales. The nature of these compotations will be best understood by the two following constitutions; the first by Edmund Rich, archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1236; the latter by Simon La gham, archbishop of Canterbury, A. D. 1367. See Johnson's Collection of Ecclesiastical Laws, II. sub. dn.

"6. We wholly forbid Clergymen the ill practice, by which all that drink together are obliged to equal draughts, and he carries away the credit who hath made most drunk, and taken off the largest cups: therefore we forbid all forc ing to drink: let him that is culpable be suspended from office, and benefice, according to the statutes of the council," (of Lateran, 1216, ch. xv.) "unless, upon admonition from his superior, he make competent satisfaction. We forbid the publication of Scot-Ales to be made by priests. If any priest, or clerk, do this, or be present at Scot-Ales, let him be canonically punished."

"9. When a multitude of men, exceeding ten in number, stay long together in the same house for drinking sake, we declare them to be common drinking bouts. But we mean not to comprehend travellers, and strangers, and such as meet, (though in taverns) at fairs and markets, under this

prohibition. Detesting those common drinking bouts, which, by a change of name, they call Charity Scot Ales, we charge that the authors of such drinking bouts, and they who publicly meet at them, be publicly solemnly denounced ex

communicate, till they have made competent satisfaction for

it, and have merited the benefit of absolution."-Pp. 456-7.

These extracts will be sufficient to show the va ried contents of Mr. Townley's publication. With respect to the style of composition, it has no higher

charms of sober sense, and the treasured sweets of
literature. But are we in a smaller, graver party?
then,

"Stir the fire and close the shutters fast,
Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa round,
And, while the bub ling and loud hissing urn
Throws up a steaming column, and the cups,
That cheer, but not inebriate, wait on each,
So let us welcome peaceful evening in."
The old man's elbow-chair is saugly placed, and he
rubs his knees in verry ecstacy. At no season of the
year is he so pleased to see his friends; and he tells
his oft-told tale, and reads his lecture to young heads,
with a deep pathos, quite in keeping.

There is not a being under the sun more consolatory
to look upon than a pleasant old man.

Of men in the country, the sportsman contrives to make the most of this season of the year; and very pleasantly so. He has his gun; and when the scent will lie, his hounds--health in the chase, and social,

80.

though rather noisy, companions, to keep his fireside
warm and cheerful. We need not feel surprised,
therefore, that he does not go to Town much before
the meeting of Parliament; for, in truth, the true
sportsman is not a little out of his element there, and

delights of the fireside and the fireirons; and we are told that Louis XIV. and Father La Chaise, once bad a serious dispute concerning which of them should hold the tongs.

Then while we can have a good fire, and good coals to replenish it, a set of fireirons and an easy chair, let us envy no man's station in life, be it ever so exalted; for though his pleasures may be more varied than ours, he cannot boast of enjoying any superior to that of sitting by the fire and stirring it.

JEREMIAH SNUG.

Profane Swearing.

The following extract from an American work, which, as a contemporary would say, "has never been published on this side the Atlantic, and probably never will be, to most of our readers will have all the charms of novelty."-HERMES.

To this siu, it is generally acknowledged, there is hardly any temptation. Wickedness here assumes the character of disinterestedness; and the sin is committed from the pure love of sinning. Yet how immensely extensive is this evil practice! The heathen and the

pretensions than to that of simple narrative. The frequently longs, as he strolls round Grosvenor-square, Mohammedan, the Jew and the Christian,

nature of the subject is such that, as our readers will anticipate, great use has been made of the labors of other authors; yet to most it will have all the charms of originality. We conclude with observing, that "Illustrations of Biblical Literature" ought to bave a place in every library. It is one of the most amusing and instructive works we have ever seen.

ANALECTA LITERARIA.

Coming on of Winter.

"Thus in some deep retirement would I pass
"The Winter glooms, with friends of pliant soul,
"Or blithe, or solemn, as the theme inspired."
THOMPSON.

The days are fast drawing in, and those who are fond of Summer, its green fields and its sunshine, and

to whistle around him his favorite hounds---half

resolving, in his dull uneasy moments, to resign the
unpalatable honors of "M. P.," and leave the family
borough to his younger brother.

of amusements.

But Winter evenings are not pleasant only where
"the city swarms intense," and presents its variety
In the quiet spots about our coun-
try, they are turned to good and gay account. I say
nothing of Christmas and its long-continued revels,
which the refinements of moderu days have not quite
put down,--but I can speak, with fond remembrance,
of the general comfort and heartfelt joys of the village
Winter evening. As the Poet says-

"Meantime the village rouses up the fire:
While, well attested and as well believed,
Heard solemn, goes the goblin story round,
Till superstitious horror creeps o'er all.
-Rustic mirth goes round,-

The simple joke-the long, loud laugh sincere."

professing widely different views, in other respects, concerning the Ruler of all things, quietly unite in profaning his awful name. Men of all ages and characters, however discordant, otherwise, harmonise here. The sage and the blockhead; the gentleman and the clown; the prince and the peasant, join their voices in unison; and form one great chorus, not for the praise, but for the dishonor of God. The prince swears on his throne, and the beggar on his dunghill; the child lisps out the imperfect curse, and the tongue of the man of gray hairs trembles beneath the faltering blasphemy. From California to Japan, the general voice of mankind rises up to heaven, not as the odor of sweet incense, but as one vast exhalation of impiety, immensely ungrateful, immensely wicked, and infinitely disgraceful

to our reason.

Lord Mayor.

The word mayor, if we adopt the etymology of Verstegan, comes from the ancient English maier, able or potent, of the verb may or can. King Richard I A. D. 1189, first changed the bailiffs of London into Mayors; by whose example others were afterwards appointed.

And even with us bachelors, Winter has its pleawho rejoice in the golden ripeness of Autumn, are he-sures--its soul-satisfying enjoyments. We begin to ginning to deplore the change in the season. In the look at many of our books which, through the sumcountry, the "leaf incessant rustles from the mournmer months, have lain unopened on our shelves: ful grove;" and the decaying, yet still interesting, now we are driven to look within ourselves; and as face of nature, wears the sober look of age. The there is little sun to cheer us ont of doors, we stir rainy days prevent our pleasant strolls, and the umour solitary fire, and renew the valued acquaintance brella is taken out with us, as a regular and matterwith "the good, the great, the wise of other days," of-course companion. When perchance a fine day with nothing to break the silence of our chamber, glads our countenances, and invites us to a ramble, save the undisturbing music of the cricket. the falling foliage of the trees, in all its varied hues Then, who is there who does not like to stir the of decay, reads a moral lesson to our hearts, and fire? What a host of speaking reflections rush upon points to the ripeness of our days, the feeble step, the with either leg upon the hob of the grate; the head one's memory while seated in an easy elbow-chair, reclined upon the band, and the other employed in adjusting the coals with the poker according as the fancy directs? Delightful occupation! Enviable post! Delectable listlessness! Moments of bliss, in which none but the most agreeable occurrences of our lives dare intrude themselves upon our minds; in which the airy dreams of our youth present themselves before us in the same glowing colors, and with the same magic influence, that they possessed in former days--who can be insensible to the tranquillity ye be-ed. stow, and to the golden visions ye create ?

fullness, and the tomb.

Let Winter come! since it does not visit us without a smile; or throw its frost around us, without a genial consolation.

" Winter!

I love thee-all unlovely as thou seem'st,
And dreaded as thou art.

I crown thee King of intimate delights,
Fireside enjoyments, homeborn happiness,
And all the comforts that the lowly roof
Of undisturbed retirement, and the hours
Of long, uninterrupted evening, know."
There is, then, a cordiality in frost and snow; it
surely softens down the asperity of our nature, and
gives a kinder, a more liberal tone to our feelings.
We all know how devotedly fond an Englishman is of
his fireside; even in Summer, his favorite chair is
near the fireplace; and it would seem that he ac-
knowledged for ever the superior sociability of the
Winter evening. And now the round of parties has
commenced, an early tea, chitchat for the old folks,
and the dance for the young; with now and then the
timorous plaintive ditty from Miss Julia Spriggs, and
the riddle from her brother, We owe these things
to thee, Winter! and many, many more. Nor are
thy evenings always trifling, even with the young;
for though, between quadrilling, we have the riddle
and the joke, they are not unaccompanied by the

The head is never so full of ideas, the imagination is never so fertile, as while enjoying the comforts of a good fire, and the indefinable pleasure of fiddling with the poker. A philosopher seated by his fireside, and making his tea, observed the lid of the teapot to rise up after he had closed it, and this simple circumstance causing him to reflect upon the force of the evaporation from boiling water, enabled him to discover the steam engine. Montgolfier, in all probability, conceived the idea of compressing smoke, and of giving it a certain form, from seeing a piece of burnt paper carried up the chimney by the force of the smoke while stirring his fire; and hence, perhaps, the discovery of the balloon.

Kings as well as commoners have yielded to the

The Bar.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men."

known for having borne up against adverse fortune, The present Lord Chancellor, Eldon, is well and persevered to the end; and his Lordship tells with pleasure of the difficulties with which, in his early days, he was surrounded, and over which he triumph.

We give an account of his early success, as he the Chancellor," and I borrowed thirty pounds to go related it himself at table to a friend :--" Yes," says borrowed another thirty, but met with no return. the northern circuit, but I got no briefs. And, Sir, I After some time at this game, I had determined to friend to try again, and I did so. borrow no more; when I was prevailed on by a junior brief, and Davenport, then a leading counsel At York, I had a on the circuit, was to state the case to the jury. The cause was called on in the morning, and Davenport cellor, "begged the judge to postpone it ;" but he was engaged in the Crown court; I," says the Chanreplied, "you must lead, Mr. Scott." And I did so: it was an action for an assault: two Yorkshire ladies them was turned off her chair on to the ground; this had quarrelled at cards, a scuffle ensued, and one of

was the nature of the assault; it happened," proceeds the Chancellor, "that I set the court into a roar of laughter, and succeeded for my client; retainers began to flow in, and the prospect brightened. On proceeding to Carlisle, a fortunate circumstance occurred :-I had retired early to bed the night before the assizes, when I was aroused by a knock at my door; on getting up, I found Mr. the solicitor, with a large brief in his hand; he observed that a cause was coming on in the morning, and the leading counsel were all too much engaged to read so large a brief : you must take it, Mr. Scott:' I hesitated, as Davenport and others had declined it, and expressed doubts of being able to accomplish the task. He pressed me, and by the little light, as the attorney put the brief (it was a thick brief,) into my hand, I saw written on it, Mr Scott, twenty guineas.' This was not to be refused, and I said, Well, I'll promise to read your That's all we want,' brief, and state its substance.' replied the solicitor; so I dressed myself and read it the next day I succeeded in the cause, and never wanted briefs again."

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Miracles.

St. Gregory the Great aflirms, and who will doubt him, that a little monk got into such a habit of working miracles, that, at length, the prior forbade him to exercise his supernatural talent. The monk conformed to the order; but one day seeing an honest bricklayer falling from the roof of a house, he hesitated betweeu monastical obedience and charity, in saving the poor man's life; and only ordered him to remain in the air till he ran to acquaint the prior with the case. The prior gave him absolution for the sin of beginning a miracle without his leave, and allowed him to go through with it, but never to do the like again!

Persons of the Apostles.

On Swearing.

I've started, crewhile, from a horrid dream,
And felt my frame with perspiration teem,
Whilst fancied furies round my bed,
With threatening looks still hovered.
I've travelled forests when my vagrant mind
Would conjure sprites and murderers behind;→
And in my study pored by candle light,

Till my pen's scratch has seem'd a groan,
My scaling-wax a dead man's bone,
And my own finger's shadow would afflight.
I've stared death in the face,
Along the craggy base

Of Hastings' giant cliff,
When, like some feeble skiff,
The equinoctial winds would sweep
Huge piles of rock into the deep,
And croaking ravens flutter'd o'er the place.
And I have walked, alone, the dreary road,

At twilight-hour, o'er Aber's strand,
When the flood-tide o'erspread the sand,
And miles around a liquid surface show'd,"
On Snowdon's top and rugged Penmyn-mawr,
I've listen'd to the cataract's dinning roar,
And look'd their gaping cavities upon,
Frightful as fabled Acheron,

When one false step upon the slippery snow
Would have precipitated me below,
And dash'd to atonis on the flinty stone.
And I have met the king of storms
In his most fearful forms,-

At dark December's latest hour,
When earth, and sky, and ocean,
With simultaneous motion,
Own'd his destructive power;
When mountain-waves, breaking upon the deck,
Have threaten'd with an instantaneous wreck
Our leaky ship; when, from my hammock tost
By shelfy contact, all was thought as lost.-
And these were truly seasons which defy
The strength and courage of humanity.
Yet all these I could bear,
Rather than live to hear

A mortal man, a worm, a wretch profane,
Insult his GOD, and take his name in vain.
"Tis criminal to mention without need,
But, O! presumptuous, rash, malignant deed,
That awful, only character Divine
With impions subjects impiously to join.
Pause, wretch! nor dare invoke upon thy head,
The vengeance of that power
Which could this very hour,

This very instant, speak thee damn'd and dead. Liverpool.

Nicephorus, an author of the fourth century, describes the person of St. Paul as tall, thin, and upright; his face long and pale, his eyes black, his nose long, but rather flat than pointed. The Epistle of St. Thecla, which although not canonical, is of the first century, thus describes St. Panl: "Short in stature, bald, with crooked thighs, and thick legs; his nose aquiline, his eyebrows joined --full of the grace of God." The sketch of St. Peter is in a great degree attended to by Raphael and other pain-ther ters; that of St. Paul being less favorable, the ideal is preferred.

Thracian Custom.

On the birth of a child among the ancient Thracians, it was customary to make great mourning and lamentation; and, on the contrary, on the death of any of their people, it was usual to rejoice and triumph, and to celebrate the funeral with sports, pastimes, and feasting, according to the rank of the party deceased; and these customs were founded on the belief, that our birth is but an entrance into a troublesome world; whereas death is not only a release from those troubles, but an introduction to a better and more permanent life.

ORIGINAL POETRY.

Sonnet To Bespair.

I know thee Despair thou destroyer of peace!
Thou blood-sustain'd monster! thon murd'rer of joy!
I know thy enclotted wild looks and thine eye
So horribly bursting with pain from its sphere;

I mark thy damn'd anguish that never must cease,
And fain wouldst thon blast the fixed hopes that are here;
I know thy ensanguined hands and thy cry
'Gainst heaven for the tortures thon canst not destroy.
But ne'er will I yield thee, though fortune may frown,
And harshly demolish the joys which I prize;
Then seek not, thou vile one, my soul's bliss to drown,
Which spurs thy dominion and looks to the skies;
Then hence to thy hell, and thy tempting forego,
Nor lure my firm bosom thy torments to know.

W.

J.

At Aber, in North Wales, the sands extend three miles from the bed of the river to the outer shore, and at low water are entirely bare. From the flatness of the strand, the floodtide overruns it in a very short time, rendering it extremely dangerous for travellers to pass after low-water. If the weabe hazy, and the day advanced, when the sands are covered, the prospect to a strange passenger, is inconceivably awful.

· On the Death of Percy Bysshe Shelly.

List to that voice that swells upon the deep;
It rides upon the billow's roar-
It comes from Spezzia's rocky shore,
Whispers from where a poet's ashes sleep.
In the dead silence of the night

It murmurs from the ruffled wave:
Mark!--who would with rash daring slight
A warning from a poet's grave?
That speaks, laid in a watery bed,
To thee a lesson,-from the dead:
"Art thou a votary to the tuneful muse?
Does feeling,-pathos,-breathe in every line?
Send up thy laurels to a purer shrine
Than was my choice! 'twas my rash fate to abuse
Rich gifts, shower'd on me, by a Hand divine;
Did poisonous weeds amongst sweet flames infuse,
And hellish vice in luring gari enshrine!
See, now, how blasted lic those withered bays
That ne'er were won in virtue's nobler praise!
What my mad hand has penn'd; O would it were

forgot,

Erased from memory's page, the foul, the erring blot!
Know loathsome vice-it never can repay
One soothing hope, in sorrow's blighted day;
Nor reckless guilt,-but maddens in the brain,
And tears its victim with unceasing pain:
To memory leaves a name, unloved,-forlorn,-
For some to pity,-others hold in scorn!—
That spirit now recedes again,
Flits swiftly back to whence it came,
Now hovers o'er its deep-sea den,
And plays above that earthly keep,
Where, aye unmoved by praise or blame-
Disturb them not!-a poet's ashes sleep!
J. N******.

My Father's at the Helm.

The following lines are from the pen of the incomparable Montgomery, and, we believe, have never bejore aps peared in print.

Twas when the seas with awful roar

A little bark assailed,

And pallid fear's distracting power
O'er each on board prevailed.

Save one, the captain's darling child,
Who stedfast viewed the storm,
And cheerful with composure smiled
At danger's threatening form.
Why sporting thus,-a seaman cried,→
While sorrows overwhelm?

Why yield to fear?-the boy replied,—
My father's at the helm !
Christian, from hence be duly taught,
How groundless is thy fear,
Think on the wonders God hath wronght,
Thy God in danger near.

Safe in his hand and happy lay,
Tho' swelling surges rise,
He'll turn thy darkness into day,
And brighten gloomy skies.

Still upward look, howe'er chastised,
Till Jeans brings thee home,
To the fair port of endless rest,
Where tempests never come.

The Beparture.

There are moments in life when the full cup of sadness,
Comes welcomed and hailed as the dawning of light,
When the pleasures of joy and allurements of gladness
But torture that bosom they used to delight!
When the tear, as it waters the pale cheek of sorrow,
Brings a solace unknown to the cheerful in heart,
When joys, like the visions which fade with the morrow,
Beguile, but to heighten the strength of the smart!
Such moments are these when the spring-tide, returning,
Must break through each union most dear to the heart,
When friendship's bright flame in our sad bosom burning,
But serves to remind us, "For ever we part.”
Farewell to thee, England! thou country of peace,
May joy and tranquillity o'er thee remain!
May discord, dissention, and quarrelling cease,
And freedom and happiness every where reign!
Farewell to thee, England! thou bright land of glory,
On land, as on sea, may thy sons ever rule;
May thy daughters, long matchless, shine foremost in story,
Farewell to thee, England! thou land of John Bull!
And ah! tho' all other long dear recollections

May fade, like youth's dream, from this hosom of mine,
Yet, England, thou, placed in my fondest affections,
From time's weary round but the brighter shalt shine..
Yet dear as these ties which to England have bound me,
A still dearer tie at my heart shall be worn;
And strong as the bonds which must ever surround me,
A still stronger bond shall for ever be borne!
For 'twas here that, whilst life's early pulses were beating,
I imbibed those pure joys which from learning can flow,
And 'twas here that our hearts in pure sympathy meeting,
I first joyed with those friends, I must ever forego!
Ah! little thought we in our moments of gladness,
When we felt friendship's flames thus in unison burn,
So soon to lament, in the accents of sadness,

Those moments so fleet, which can never return! But oh! though our days may in sorrow be wasted, Though our course may be various, in pleasure or pain, Tho' our young budding hopes by life's frost may be blasted Yet the joys of remembrance shall ever remain. Ah! then will it sooth us, when joys are departing, When the sun-set of life calls our days to their close, That tho' storms may obscure the bright eve of our parting, Yet cloudless and radiant our morning arose. Farewell then, my friends; may no blessings be wanting, To secure you those joys which in friendship can dwell, Till my breast with the last throb of nature is panting, Ye friends of my bosom, for ever farewell!

• In plain English,-I am a man of profound eradition.

Kemembrance.

There is a name at which my tears Can never cease to flow,

Yet 'tis the sweetest sound my ears Can ever-ever know.

There is a form, whose beauties lie Low mould'ring into clay,

Yet seems to me more sweet and fair
Than brightest beams of day..

There is a hope, and that alone,
Can cheer my aching breast,
That I shall meet that form again
In realms of endless rest.

SCIENCE.

Georama.

Of the Georama, a new mode of teaching Geopraphy, which has been lately discovered at Paris, the following is a description in the words of the anthor, with which we have been favored previous to publication:

"The Georama consists of a large hollow globe, forty feet in diameter, lighted from above, in which is the arctic pole; in the interior of the globe the spectator is placed upon circular stages, surrounded with a balcony, to which he ascends by means of a spiral staircase, which rises from the antarctic pole, and reaches to the centre of the globe. On the interior of the globe is painted, with the greatest exactitude, a map of the world, according to the latest discoveries; and upon the edges of the balcony is a sort of small telescope for those who are short-sighted."

Suggestions to the Gentlemen:

"O Britons! O my countrymen, beware:
........ the Romans once were free,
Were brave, were virtuous."

Of all the animate creation Man ranks pre-eminent; he,
like a towering oak of the forest, stands in majesty and
glory, paramount lord of the minor trees, which occupy a
more humble and retired station around him; and, as if in
the apparent consciousness of frailty, shrink from the vio-
lent assaults of that tempest which would injure and destroy,

did not its spreading foliage protect, and in the mightiness
of strength receive unimpaired from Boreas, those attacks
which would otherwise transform a scene previously lovely,
smiling, and sportive, to one of desolation, waste, and

dreariness.

Man, therefore, as universal governor and protector is this nether world, has received from the bountiful hand of his Creator that power and authority which qualify him for sus

The author enters into a long detail of the advan-taining so exalted a character; nevertheless, there is a tages of his invention, which, to do him justice, would certainly tend to facilitate the study of Geography; but the enormous expense of erecting the globe and appendages is, we think, sufficient to prevent its general application. This expense he esti-mates at two thousand guineas.

Lithography.

boundary, whereon is inscribed, "Hitherto shalt thou go,
and no farther;" and he who presumptuously attempts, in
the confidence of imagined superiority, to pass beyond that
precinct, places himself in the situation of one who, in en-
deavoring unduly to exert his strength, receives not only a
defeat, but sinks in weakness proportionate to his unjustified
aim. I would therefore caution the gentlemen to avoid this
quicksand, which has already engulfed, and even now, in
regard to many, threatens to drown this their prerogative.

Of late a strange anomaly has been witnessed; one of no
less magnitude than the descent of a portion of these master-

We are beginning to enjoy the fruits of the litho graphic process in this country, as they have long done in Germany and France. One great merit of this style is its cheapness, which renders, its pro ductions accessible to every class of the people, and must lend, to a certain degree, to disseminate a love of the Arts. The connoisseur may smile at this opinion, but considering, as we do, every humble dignity, and is disgusting in its display. approach to this desirable sentiment to be an approach to refinement in civilisation, and kindly and good feeling, we confess that we have looked with pleasure even at the poorest finery of stuccoed dolls, and rudest of all outlines of prints which often adorn the lowly chimney-piece of the cabin and shed.

THE RETICULE.

"In man or woman, but far most in man,

.......................................... in my sont 1 loathe
All affectation. Tis my perfect scorn;
Object of my implacable disgust."

a young female possessed of many elegant accomplishments,
and every quality requisite to form a "good wife." Her
great misfortune, however, is in making love a mere specula-
tion, and in encouraging the addresses of different gentlemen
at the same time, to all of whom she evinces the strongest
marks of affection. Indeed, for six months past I paid her
every assiduity, in full expectation, from the hopes she held
forth, of gaining her hand; but the disclosure of my future
prospects to a friend, showed me how much I had been de-
ceived; as he, from her declarations of love, had supposed him-
self the favored one. This denonemcat awoke us from our

reverie, and we have declined our pretensions in favor of
other suitors. When any of these appear, she is overjoyed
to see him, and expresses her delight by a thousand follies.
She however upbraids his negligence, and tells him how
chagrined and disappointed she felt, at seeing him pass her
widow yesterday without looking up. When she con-
verses, her accents are soft and winning, the tone of her
voice pathetic, her bosom will heave with a sigh, her eyes
are wishful and languishing, and sometimes they glisten with
a tear. If the word love is accidently named, she becomes
tremulous and perplexed, and her cheeks suffuse with crim.
son. Sometimes she is pensive and gloomy; at commani the
color will fly from her cheeks, and teave her pale and agitat-
ed. She then reproaches her lover with infidelity, and bursts
his bosom. Mr. Editor, what young man of feeling is capable
into an agony of tears, taking care to recline her head upon
of withstanding such bewitching arts, and who could imagine
that this is all dissimulation? But such is the case, and Valeria has
practised her seducing wiles on numerous wooers, who have
fortunately just perceived their danger when on the verge of
the precipice. As yet she has been unsuccessful;
but disap-

pieces of creation from their pristine height to an affectation
of female mauners, relinquishing manliness, (ia which word pointment quickens the vigilance of Valeria; she is con-
brave) and establishing that feminine softness which in a
is comprised all that is noble, energetic, magnanimous, adstantly spreading her net to entangle some unwary youth,
and as she has every passion at command, and is an adept in
the knowledge of human character, but few escape the power
woman is ornamental, because it is the gift of nature, but
of her fascinating charms. Those however who are aware of
which, when assumed by man, highly derogates from his
her subtlety, treat her with a semblance of the profoundest
admiration and esteem; and this tenderness she returns with
her affected devotedness, and is thus left the mere jouet of
our society, and a dupe to her own infatuation. Her rapa
city has blighted her prospects; for instead of being satisfied,
and retaining what she already possessed, she has grasped a
lengthened shadow and lost the possession of the real ty.--
I do not wish to extend the sketch of Valeria's character
further, or I might fill volumes. I will only remark, that
her case is not a solitary one; and that there are many of the
same temper among the ladies, who may, with much pro-
acquirements as too valuable to be allowed to remain quies-priety, be denominated “General Lover..”. ADONIS.
cent in the shade; and whilst the attention of surrounders
is taxed, in listening to the half-uttered, nintelligible words
which proceed with a feigned non-chalance from their lips,
the arm is extended in a numberless variety of positions, to

It is much to be lamented, that these degenerate sons of Adam, in competing with the ladies, do not combine retiredness with effeminacy. Alas! they court publicity, and are always to be seen as prominent figures in those companies which condescend to receive them, e teeming their recent

We presume it is hardly necessary to say, that this de-'
partment of our paper will be devoted exclusively to
subjects more especially belonging to the ladies, as, the
Fashions, Housewifery, &c. We shall be happy to re-
ceive suitable communications from the Reticules, Port- display the fair appendage at the extremity, garnished with
folios, and Secretaires of our jemale friends.

Matrimony.

Upwards of three centuries ago, the busband thus addressed his wife on taking her, as now, by the right hand: "I, N. undersygne the N. for my wedded wyfe, for beter, for richer, for porer, yn seknesse, yn helthe, tyl deth us departe, ( not us do part,' as we have erroneously rendered it; the ancient meaning of 'departe, even in Wickliffe's time, being separate,) as holy churche bath ordeyned, and thereto I plygth the my trowthe." The wife replies in the same form, with an additional clause, "to be buxom to the tyl deth us departe." So it appears in the first edition of the Missal for the use of the famous and celebrated church of Hereford, 1502." In what is called the Salisbury Missal "to be bonere and buxom in bedde and at the horde." Edit. Wayland, 1554, 4to. Dibdin's Biographical Decameron.

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* Bonav. French; whence our English debonair, which sometimes means genteel, at others cheerful, agreeable, good-tempered.

Buxom, blythe, and debonair." Or, debonair always implies a cheerful gentility. Johnson overlooks the second meaning of the term, and erroneously represents the French original as being spelt debonnaire.

brilliants; and it is from the obtrusive gaze of these petit-
maitres, that the vermeil-tint is frequently caused to dwell
in painful confusion on the cleek of beauty.

To this class of character I do sincerely advise a reform,
for, is it admiration they seek? From whom will they ob-
tain it? From the ladies? No; for they co temn both the
spirit and the practice of these copyists. Is it, then, to gain
the praise of their own sex? That cannot be; for the more
sensible and intelligent of these must regard them in the light
of deserters from that standard which it is their ambition to
maintain, and whose personal adherence to it conveys a
tacit reproof to the conduct of those who have meanly fled."
Is self-approval, then, the recompense for which they look?
This is a rich reward:-

"One self-approving hour whole years outweighs
Of stupid starers, and of lond huzzas!"

But I would intreat them to guard against receiving a coun-
terfeit praise, which is coined by vanity, for that genuine
commendation which emanates from a consciousness of right,
from reason, and good sense.

EMILY.

General Lovers among the Ladies.

DEAR HERMES,-I observe in your last number severe restrictions on our sex, by some fair hand, I will not say unmerited, but which appear to me equally and perhaps more applicable to women. The subject to which I allude is a profession of attachment where none exists. Of this I will. adduce an example in support of my statement. Valeria is

The Herms.

FRIDAY, TWO o'clock.
CLERICAL CRITIQUE. We promise MANCUNIENSIS to
visit his native torn shortly; meantime shall be
glad of any perticulars relative to the gentlemen he
mentions. Our Methodist friends will also receive
a visitation immediately. The next sketch will be
from the establishment.
PRIZE ESSAY AND POEM.-W ́e have received two porms
on THE LATE CALAMITOUS STORM. Our young
friends are again invited to come forward; for
whose information we re-state the conditions. The
best paper on the moral tendency of the dramatic
representation of TOM AND JERRY, and the best
LINES ON THE LATE STORM, to have 26 and 13 weeks'
copies of the Hermes. The Poem to be from 20 to 50,
and the Essay from 70 to 200 lines in length, and
sent within three weeks.

JOHN WILLIAMSON's fragment, and the lines of Junius,
have not enough of interest for our columns.
F. H.-J. N*****.—P. N.—and CLO, in rescrve.
A letter waits at our Office for OBSERVATOR.
M. E. S., and the second cunto of Dermod, next week.
We shall be glad to see our friend M.

It is our intention to indulge PUZZLE-PATE and other
young folks with a jew bagatelles during the holidays,
and we shall be glad of orig nal enigmas, charades,
&c. if accompanied with solutions. We assure P. that
we are not such "austere beings" as "sume hace
inferred from the general tone of the Hermes." We
know that there is "a time to be merry," but it
is wise to know also when and where to ecase from
mirth.

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