about the centre thereof, when, on Tuesday night, April the 11th, about eleven o'clock, it was discovered that the said temporary bridge was on fire, and by four o'clock next morning was entirely consumed, together with the draw-bridge: the sad consequences of which must more or less affect every individual. But as the wind providentially blew the whole time at east (though all the day before it had blown strong from the southward) it did no damage to any of the houses.'

EARL OF MOIRA.

IT appears from many deeds and papers in the possession of se

veral gentleman within the county of York, that this family is of
great antiquity. Among those documents, is a title deed of the
estate, granted by William the Conqueror; part of which is still
enjoyed by the Earl of Moira. The following lines are extracted
from the original deed, written in the manner of those times,
I William Kyng, the third yere of my reign,

Give to the Paulyn Roydon, Hope and Hopetowne,
With all the bounds both up and downe;

From heven to yerth, from yerth to hel,
For thee and thyn, ther to dwel,

As truly as this kyng is myne;
For a crosse bow and an arrow,

When I shal come to hunt on Yarrow.
And in token that this thing is sooth,
I bit the whyt wax with my tooth.
Before Meg, Mawd, and Margery,
And my third sonne Henry.

ACCOUNT OF THE

MORAVIAN MISSIONARIES' ESTABLISHMENT

AT BAVIAN'S KLOOF, IN AFRICA.

[From Barrow's Travels.]

EARLY in the morning I was awakened by a noise of some of

the finest voices I have ever heard, and, on looking out, saw a group of female Hottentots sitting on the ground. It was Sunday, and they had assembled thus early to chaunt the morning hymn. They were all neatly dressed in printed cotton gowns. A sight so very different to what we had hitherto been in the habit of observing, with regard to this unhappy 'class of beings, could not fail of being grateful; and, at the same time, it excited a degree of curiosity as to the nature of the establishment. The good fathers,

who

who were three in number, were well disposed to satisfy every question put to them. They were men of the middle age, plain and decent in their dress, cleanly in their persons, of modest manners, meek and humble in their deportment, but intelligent and lively in conversation, zealous in the cause of their mission, but free from bigotry or enthusiasm. Every thing about the place partook of that neatness and simplicity which were the strongest features in the outline of their character. The church they had constructed was a plain neat building; their mill for grinding corn was superior to any in the colony; their garden was in high order, and produced abundance of vegetables for the use of the table. Almost every thing that had been done was by the labour of their own hands. Agreeably to the rules of the society, of which they were members, each had learned some useful profession. One was well skilled in every branch of smith's work, the second was a shoemaker, and the third a taylor.

These missionaries have succeeded in bringing together into one society, more than six hundred Hottentots, and their numbers are daily increasing. These live in small huts dispersed over the valley, to each of which was a patch of ground for raising vegetables. Those who had first joined the society had the choicest situations at the upper end of the valley, near the church, and their houses and gardens were very neat and comfortable; numbers of the poor in England have not so good, and few better. Those Hottentots who chose to learn their respective trades, were paid for their labour as soon as they could earn wages. Some hired themselves out by the week, month, or year, to the neighbouring peasantry; others made masts and brooms for sale: some bred poultry, and others found means to subsist by their cattle, sheep, and horses. Many of the women and children of soldiers, belonging to the Hottentot corps, reside at Bavian's kloof, where they are much more likely to acquire industrious habits than by remaining in the camp.

On Sundays they all regularly attend the performance of divine service, and it is astonishing how ambitious they are to appear at church neat and clean. Of the three hundred, or thereabouts, that composed the congregation, about half were dressed in coarse printed cottons, and the other half in the antient sheepskin dresses; and it appeared, on enquiry, that the former were the first who had been brought within the pale of the church; a proof that their circumstances at least had suffered nothing from their change of life. Persuasion and example had convinced them, that cleanliness in their persons not only added much to the comforts of life, but was one of the greatest preservatives of health; and that the little trifle of money they had to spare, was much better applied in procuring decent covering for the body, than in the purchase of spirits and tobacco, articles so far from

being necessaries, that they might justly be considered as the most pernicious evils.

The deportment of the Hottentot congregation, during divine service, was truly devout. The discourse delivered by one of the fathers was short, but replete with good sense, pathetic, and well suited to the occasion: tears flowed abundantly from the eyes of those to whom it was particularly addressed. The females sung in a style that was plaintive and affecting; and their voices were in general sweet and harmonious. Not more than fifty had been adınitted as members of the Christian faith, by the ceremony of baptism. There appeared to be no violent zeal on the part of the fathers, which is the case with most other missionaries, to swell the catalogue of converts to Christianity, being more solicitous to teach their trades to such as might chuse to learn them. Adopting the idea of the humane Count Rumford, their first great object seemed to be that of making men happy, that they might afterwards become virtuous-which is certainly much sounder philosophy than the reverse of the proposition.

It would be supposed that men like these, so truly respectable in their missionary character, and irreproachable in their conduct, would be well received and encouraged in any country; yet such is the brutality and gross depravity of the peasantry of this colony, that a party, consisting of about thirty, had entered into a confederacy to murder the three teachers, and to seize and force into their service all the young Hottentots that might be found at the place. These horrid wretches had actually assembled at a neighbouring house, on the Saturday evening, intending on the following day, in the middle of divine service, to carry their murderous purposes into execution. Luckily for the missionaries, they had intimation of what was going on through a Hottentot, who deserted the service of one of the intended assassins for that purpose. They had laid their apprehensions before Sir James Craig, who, in consequence, issued his injunctions, in a letter to the overseer of the post of Roete Melk valley, that no inhabitant should in any shape molest the Hernhüters, on pain of incurring the heaviest displeasure of the government. The letter arrived on the very day they were assembled, and the paltroons, on hearing it read, sneaked off each to his own home, and the missionaries since that time have continued to exercise their functions unmolested. The cause of the farmers' hatred to these people, is their allowing the Hottentots the use of their liberty, and the value of their labour, of which they had long been kept in ignorance.

SINGULAR

SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.

IN 1747 a man was broken alive on the wheel at Orleans, for a highway robbery: and not having friends to bury his body, when the executioner concluded he was dead, he gave him to a surgeon, who had him carried to his anatomical theatre, as a subject to lecture on. The thighs, legs, and arms of this unhappy wretch, had been broken; yet, on the surgeon's coming to examine him, he found him reviving; and, by the application of proper cordials, he was soon brought to his speech.

The surgeon and his pupils, moved by the sufferings and solicitations of the robber, determined on attempting his cure: but he was so mangled, that his two thighs, and one of his arms, were amputated. Notwithstanding this mutilation, and the loss of blood, he recovered: and in this situation, the surgeon, by his own desire, had him conveyed in a cart 50 leagues from Orleans, where, as he said, he intended to gain his livelihood by begging.

His situation was on the road side, close by a wood: and his deplorable condition excited compassion from all who saw him. In his youth, he had served in the army; and he now passed for a soldier, who had lost his limbs by a cannon shot.

A drover, returning from market, where he had been selling cattle, was solicited by the robber for charity; and, being moved by compassion, threw him a piece of silver. "Alas!" said the robber, "I cannot reach it--you see I have neither arms nor legs," for he had concealed his arm, which had been preserved, behind his back: so, for the sake of heaven, put your charitable donation into my pouch."

The drover approached him; and, as he stooped to reach up the money, the sun shining, he saw a shadow on the ground, which caused him to look up; when he perceived the arm of the beggar elevated over his head, and his hand grasping a short iron bar. He arrested the blow in its descent; and seizing the robber, carried him to his cart, into which having thrown him, he drove off to the next town, which was very near, and brought his prisoner before a magistrate.

On searching him a whistle was found in his pocket; which na turally induced a suspicion, that he had accomplices in the wood: the magistrate, therefore, instantly ordered a guard to the place where the robber had been seized; and they arrived within half an hour after the murder of the drover had been attempted.

The guard having concealed themselves behind different trees, the whistle was blown, the sound of which was remarkably shrill and loud and another whistle was heard from under ground, three men at the same instant rising from the midst of a bushy clump of brambles, and other dwarf shrubs. The soldiers fired on them, and they fell. The bushes were searched, and a de

scent

scent discovered into a cave. and a boy. The girls were kept for the offices of servants, and the purposes of lust; the boy, scarcely 12 years of age, was son to one of the robbers. The girls in giving evidence deposed, that they had lived three years in the cave; that they had been kept there by force from the time of their captivity; that dead bodies were frequently carried into the cave, stripped, and buried; and that the old soldier was carried out every dry day; and sat by the road side for two or three hours.

Here we found three young girls

On this evidence, the murdering mendicant was condemned to suffer a second execution on the wheel. As but one arm remained, it was to be broken by several strokes in several places: and a coup de grace being denied, he lived in tortures for near five days. When dead his body was burned to ashes, and strewed before the winds of heaven.

METHOD OF PRESERVING FRUIT,

Of different Kinds, in a fresh State, about Twelve Months; FOR WHICH A PREMIUM OF TEN GUINEAS WAS GIVEN BY THE DUBLIN SOCIETY TO SIG. IGNACIO BUONSEGNA.

IT is necessary to pull the fruit two or three days before you

begin the process.

Take care not to bruise the fruit, and to pull them before they be quite ripe.

Spread them on a little clean straw to dry them. This is best done on a parlour floor, leaving the windows open, to admit fresh air, so that all the moisture on the skin of the fruit may be perfectly dried away.

Pears and apples take three days-strawberries only twentyfour hours. The latter should be taken up on a silver threepronged fork, and the stalk cut off without touching them; as the least pressure will cause them to rot. Take only the largest and fairest fruit. This is the most tender and difficult fruit to preserve: but, if done with attention, will keep six-months: there must not be more than a pound in each jar.

Choose a common earthen jar, with a stopper of the same, which will fit close.

The pears and apples, when sorted, as before, must be wrapped up separately in soft wrapping paper. Twist it closely about the fruit. Then lay clean straw at the bottom, and a layer of fruit; then a layer of straw; and so on, till your vessel be full : but you must not put more than a dozen in each jar; if more, their weight will bruise those at the bottom.

Peaches and apricots are best stored up, wrapped each in soft paper, and fine shred paper between the fruit, and also the layers.

Grapes