Paragraphs. ORIGINAL ANECDOTES-LITERARY NEWS-REMARKABLE INCIDENTS, &C: MR. COUTTS, THE BANKER. Died, on Sunday, Feb. 26, 1822, at his house in Stratton-street, Piccadilly, aged 87, Thomas Coutts, esq. the oldest and most opulent banker in London. Mr.Coutts was a native of Scotland, where his father acted as a banker in Edinburgh, and placed his eldest son John as his agent in London, who began the great concern, of which the subject of this article was at the head. A few years after John took his younger brother Thomas into partnership, and the house has continued to rise gradually to its present state of opulence. This house enjoyed a peculiar advantage,for there was not then a banker west of Temple-bar, the house of Drummond commencing about the same time. The affairs of banking in London was begun by the goldsmiths, who having places of safety for their own valuable articles, persons were induced to send their notes, cash, &c. to them for safefy, and to draw as they wanted. The house of Coutts was never in that business. Mr. Thomas Coutts married a Mrs.Starkey,who, it seems, was his brother's servant, and this event was a temporary cause of shyness between them; which however soon vanished. By this lady he had three daughters, the eldest married to Col. North, eldest son of the minister, Lord North, who died Earl of Guilford; the second is the widow of the late Marquis of Bute, and the youngest is the wife of Sir Francis Burdett. On the death of his brother, Mr. C. became the head of the house, and succeeded to his fortune, which enabled him to give to each of his daughters £30,000 on the day of marriage. Mr. Coutts, altho' the very soul of the banking house, found time to take his three daughters on an excursion to Italy, at the time Mr. Burdett, eldest brother of Sir Francis, and Lord Montacute were on their travels. It was said,that the two travellers were to have married two of Mr. Coutts's daughters; but the tragical death of those two gentlemen at the falls of Schaffhausen put an end to these prospects, and one of the daughters has since been happily joined in wedlock to the surviving brother of Mr. Burdett. Mr. Coutts was for many years in habits of intimacy with Mr. Garrick, Mr. Smith, and other celebrated theatrical characters; and by frequenting the Green Room he became intimate with the amiable Miss Mellon, to whom he afterwards was attached. His first favour bestowed on this lady is said to have been a present of ten thousand pounds. The possession of such a sum of money enabled her to live in a manner so far beyond what her salary as a performer would allow, that her friends gave out that she had gained a prize of ten thousand in the lottery. She afterwards purchased property at Cheltenham and the es tate she has long enjoyed at Highgate. Whether any thing more than platonic love existed between them, cannot be determined, but the scandalous Chronicles began to whisper, and Mr. Coutts is said to have introduced Miss Mellon to his family as his natural daughter. In three days after his first wife died, he led Miss Mellon to the altar, whose benevolent and generous conduct, as Mrs. Coutts, is well known. Many years ago Mr. Coutts purchased the house at the corner of Stratton-street, which, when his eldest daughter, Lady Guilford, lost her husband, he much enlarged, so that she lived some time under the same roof with him. On his second marriage he began to exhibit the highest style of living; his present Majesty and the princes of the blood often visiting him. As a man of business Mr. Coutts was indefatigable, and at the age of eighty he conducted the chief correspondence of the concern himself. He had three gentlemen concerned with him, Sir Edmund Antrobus, Sir Coutts Trotter and Mr. Majoribanks; but he still would be the active man, and used to go to the banking house every morning at 9. and there employ himself until the business of the day was over. By an arrangement he made some time before his death, he left his share of the banking house to Mrs. Coutts, to whom he also left all his property, which it is said amounts to upwards of 700,0001. exclusive of a very large fortune which had been before settled upon her. This distribution of his property to the exclusion of his children has, of course, been much cauvassed, and many reports have prevailed which it is not our business to record. The lady is said by some to consider herself merely as a trustee with sole powers, while others relate that she has made offers of contingent advantages to the daughters, which they have judged it not proper to accept From our knowledge however, of her liberal character, we are persuaded that if a reaction of feeling does not take place, the results will be satisfactory and honourable to all parties. Be it as it may, the rise of an actress, the daughter of the post-master of Cheltenham to be the most wealthy female of her time, is a social phenomenon. NEW WORKS Life, Fashion, and Feeling a Tale; by Mary Anne Hedge, 3 vols. Constance: a Tale; by Isabel Hill. The Flatterer; or, False Friendship: a Tale; by M. A. Hedge. Original Tales of My Landlord; exemplifying the Force of Experience, &c.; by W. Gardner, with engravings on wood. The Wizard Priest, and the Witch: a Romance; by Quintin Poynet, esq. 3 vols. The Village Coquette; by the author of Such is the World, 3 vols. Illustrations of Shakspeare, are at this time in course of publication, from pictures painted expressly, by ROBERT SMIRKE, Esq. R. A. and engraved in the finest style by the most eminent historical engravers. A Voyage of Discovery into the South Seaand Beering's Straits, for the purpose of finding out a NorthEast Passage, undertaken in the Years 1815, 16, 17, and 18, in the ship Ruric, under the command of Otto Von Kotzebue. In 3 vols. 8vo. illustrated with numerous Plates and Maps. ing death, by the inhabitants of Aur, on whose shores they were cast, 1500 English miles west of the place whence they had originally set out. There is something very affecting in the history of this man; in his struggles between his gratitude to the people among whom he had found so kind a home, and his yearnings to return to his native country, which he thought he might accomplish, by means of Capt. Kotzebue, as he knew that vessels like his, and manned with white men, occasionally visited Ulle. His parting scene with the generous chief and the other inhabitants of Aur, is affectingly described by Capt. Kotzebue. All on board were grieved at his determination to remain among his old associates, which he could not impart to them without the utmost emotion, and many struggles with himself. Capt. Kotzebue parted with him with great reluctance,and with a degree of sorrow, which was the highest tribute possible to Kadu's virtues. The narrative increases in interest, in proportion as he draws nearer to the goal of his hopes. The dangerous voyage of Beering's Straits he was obliged to make with only one officer on board to relieve him in his arduous duty of keeping watch, as well as of commanding the vessel; being obliged to leave his second lieutenant at Kamtschatka on account of his health. On the morning of June 20th, 1815, they descried Beering's island, the high rocks of which, covered with snow, afford only an ungenial prospect to mariners. Thick fogs for the next seven days most vexatiously obscured the coast which they were so anxious to explore; but on the 27th they were enabled to land on an island called by the inhabitants Tschibocki. These people, who were very filthy in their dress and appearance, did not appear to have seen any Europeans before, but notwithstanding this they were inclined to welcome them very kindly; they embraced Captain Kotzebue one after the other, This voyage was undertaken under the immediate patronage and at the sole expense of Count Romanzoff. The vessel destined for the purpose was the Ruric, of 180 tons burthen only, which enabled it, from its small draft of water, to approach more in-shore, and observe the coast more minutely than a larger vessel would have done. It contained, notwithstanding, every thing that was desirable for the purposes of health and comfort; for of all the crew, including two naturalists, a physician, and a painter, only one died, tho' the voyage lasted 3 years. In the South Sea Captain Kotzebue had the pleasure of raising a monument to the fame of the promoter of his expedition, and also to the memory of his two brave countrymen Kutusoff and Suwarroff, naming after Count Romanzoff a beautiful island which he discovered in lat. 14. 57. 20. south, lon. 140. 20.30 west, and two groups of islands, which he discovered not far from the Penrhyn islands, after the military heroes. Of the inhabitants of some of these newly discovered islands, a most captiva ting picture is given, particularly of those of Radack, one of the chain of coral islands, the navigation of which is so dangerous, that it is to be hoped this consideration, added to its affording nothing of val- ́rubbed their noses hard against his, and ue to tempt the cupidity of Europeans, may long keep them in their present innocence and simplicity, untinctured by the vices incurred with the artificial wants by which attempts at what is called civilization are always accompanied. The inhabitants of Radack seem to resemble, in integrity and benevolence, the natives of the Pelew islands; their manners are strictly modest; their forms are slender and symmetrical; their dances extremely graceful: indeed to sing, to dance, to crown themselves with flowers, and sport upon the waves, seem the sole occupations of life with these happy islanders. From the island of Aur, the little society of the Ruric gained an interesting and valuable addition in the person of Kadu, a native of the island of Uile, belonging to the Carolinas. This man, along with three of his companions, after drifting about the sea for eighteen months in consequence of a storm which drove them out of their course, had been rescued from the most miserable prospect of the most linger ended their caresses by spitting in their hands, and rubbing them several times over his face. They then brought forth a wooden trough of whale blubber, which they seemed to esteem, and insisted on his partaking of it with them, after which one who appeared the chief ordered a dance. Accordingly, one of them stepped forwards and made the most comical motions with his whole body, without stirring from his place, making the most hideous grimaces; the others sang a song, consisting of only two notes, sometimes louder, sometimes lower, and the time was beat on a tambourine. If our space admitted of it, we could multiply extracts of great interest to our readers. NASTURTIUM. The blossoms have been observed to emit electric sparks towards evening, which was first noticed by the daughter of the illustrious Linnæus, who could not credit the account until he had seen the phenomenon. It is seen most distinctly with the eye partly closed. ERUPTION OF CARBONIZED WOOD AT NEW MADRID. During the earthquake which destroyed New Madrid on the 6th January 1812, and which was felt two hundred miles around, Mr. Bringier happened to be passing in its neighbourhood when the principal shock took place. The violence of the earthquake having destroyed the earthy strata impending over the subterraneous cavities existing probably in an extensive bed of wood, highly carbonized, occasioned the whole superior mass to settle. This mass pressing upon the water, which had filled the lower cavities, forced it out, and blew up the earth with loud explosions. It rushed out in all directions, bringing with it an enormous quantity of carbonized wood, reduced mostly into dust, which was ejected to the height of from 10 to 15 feet and fell in a black show er, mixed with the sand which its rapid motion had forced along: at the same time the roaring and whistling produced by the impetuosity of the air escaping from its confinement, seemed to increase the horrible disorder of the trees, which every where encumbered each other, being blown up, cracking and splitting, and falling by thousands at a time. In the mean time the surface was sinking, and a black liquid was rising up to the belly of Mr. Bringier's horse, which stood motionless, struck with panic and terror. These occurrences occupied nearly two minutes. The trees kept falling here and there, and the whole surface of the country remained covered with holes, which, to compare small things with great, resembled so many craters of volcanoes, surrounded with a ring of carbonized wood and sand, which rose to the height of about seven feet. The depth of several of these holes, when measured some time after, did not exceed 20 feet, but the quicksand had washed into them. Mr. Bringier noticed a tendency to carbonization in all the vegetable substances that had been soaking in the ponds produced by these eruptions. INSTINCT OF THE HONEY-EATER BIRD. Capt. Kotzebue mentions the following circumstance respecting these birds "The Hottentots, who have a very quick sight, try to observe a bee flying home with its honey, and pursue it but they often would not succeed in following the bee, were they not assisted by the honey-eater birds, which perceive the intention of the men. The bird now pursues the bee, and gives the Hottentots, who pursue both, a signal by a whistle where the honeycomb is, and when they have taken out the honey, they throw some to the bird as a reward for his service." SEA-SNAKE OF THE ALEUTIANS, NORWEGI ANS, AND THE HEBRIDIANS. Pontoppidan describes a monstrous seasnake said to appear occasionally on the coast of Norway and relations of a similar description are to be met with in the writings of other authors. Very lately, in the year 1808, the remains of a remarkable animal, answering in some degree to the description of Pontoppidan, was cast ashore on one of the Orkney Islands, and has been described by Dr. Barclay in the first volume of the Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural History Society. In the Memoirs of the same Society, there is an interesting notice by the Rev. Mr. Maclean of Small Isles, of an animal supposed to be of this tribe, which was observed near the island of Eigg, one of the Hebrides; and in the second volume of Kotzebue's late Voyage we have the following notice of a sea-monster, said to resemble a serpent: "M. Krinkoff's description of a sea-animal that pursued him at Beering's Island, where he had gone for the purpose of hunting, is very remarkable; several Aleutians affirms they have often seen this animal It is of the shape of the red serpent, and is immensely long; the head resembles that of a sea-lion, and two disproportionately large eyes give it a frightful appearance. It was fortunate for us," said Krinkoff," that we were so near the land, or else the monster might have destroyed us; it stretched its head far above the water, looked about for its prey, and vanished. The head soon appeared again, and that considerably nearer; we rowed with all our might, and were very happy to have reached the shore in safety. If a seaserpent has been really seen on the coast of North America, it may have been one of this frightful species." SHAKSPEARE. The following is copied from an Irish newspaper:-"There is a portrait of Shak speare in the possession of a gentleman of Dublin, which contains an inscription indicating that it was es nted by our immor tal bard himself to Ann Hathaway: and Major W. Stewart, of Lisburn, has favoured the Belfast paper with the following copy of an original letter also sent to this young lady by Shakspeare when he was 27, and she 19 years of age; she afterwards became his wife : "TO ANNA HATHAWAYE. "Deeresste Anna,-As thou haste alwaye founde mee toe mye worde moste trewe, soe thou shalt see I have stryctly kept mye promyse,-I pray you perfume thys mye poor locke with thy balmy kisses, forre thenne indeed shalle kynges themselves bow and pay homage toe it. I do assure thee no rude hand hathe knottidde itte, thye Willy's alone hath done the worke Neytherre the gyldede bawble that envyronnes the head of Majestie, noe norre honourres most mightee, would give mee halfe the joy, as didde thyse, my little worke for thee. The feelinge thatte didde neereste approache untoe itte, was that which commethe nygheste untoe God, meeke and gentle Charytye, forre thatte virtue, O! Anna, doe I love, doe I cheryshe thee inne mye hearte; forre thou art as a talle cederre stretchynge forthe its branches, and succourynge the smallere plants frome nyppynge winterre orr the boysterouse windes.-Farewelle, toe-morrowe bye tymes I will see thee; tille thenne adieue. Sweet love, thynne everre, "WM. SHAKSPERE.” SPIRIT OF THE ENGLISH MAGAZINES. BOSTON, JUNE 15, 1822. THA RAYMOND THE ROMANTIC, AND HIS FIVE WISHES. (European Magazine.) AT delightful old pastoral writer, Izaak Walton, the Virgil of Anglers, has recorded it of St. Jerome that he formed three grand wishes; namely ❝to have seen Christ in the flesh, to have heard St. Paul preach, and to have beheld Rome in her glory." My own desires were never sufficiently magnificent to match with these splendid conceptions, but still they possessed enough of singularity, to be in perfect consonance with my title of Raymond the Romantic. They were then, five in number, and of the following character. To descend to the bottom of the Sea in a Diving Bell: to ascend into the Air in a Balloon: to go down into the Earth in one of the deepest Mines to pass into the Crater of a Burning Mountain and to behold an Apparition! He who hath seen these, thought I, may boast of having seen somewhat; little imagining that it would ever be my fate to look upon them all, and still less that I should have to record the sight of them. Fifty years since, when my hair was black and my locks crisp, my form strong and handsome, and my heart as fearless as it was ardent, I was ever on the search for romantic adventures, in which any degree of danger was never worth consideration, provided it were counter balanced with adventures sufficiently wild, heroic, and out of the common course of daring enterprize. It is not 27 ATHENEUM VOL. 11. to be doubted, that in these expeditions I was frequently involved in the most imminent hazards: which however little they affected me at the time, never failed, in the moments of cool reflection, to make my very soul shudder even at the remembrance of the past danger. After ascending the rugged and perpendicular face of a rock with old Rosensköld, of Rona's Hill, in the Zetland Islands, I have lain the livelong night, bathed in perspiration, at the thoughts of what, when it existed in all its terrors, did not even awaken alarm. After rushing out to a wreck, when the waves frequently enveloped me in a glassy green shroud, and sometimes threw me back three feet for every one that I swam forward; when I have pierced down even to the hold of the sinking vessel, the very danger suspended both fear and feeling, but in a subsequent moment of rest, I have felt all the horrors of my former situation, and have passed hours in a terror of mind, that was worse than drowning. In like manner, did all my romantic adventures, and all the most awful tales to which I have listened with such delight, haunt me when they concluded; like spirits of a former age appearing to the men of the present. In many of my wild achievements, my early friend George Harvey was my most fearless companion; a similarity of disposition had united us, until the more serious employment of life, which breaks hearts, dissolves friendships, deadens the affections, destroys love, and entirely changes the whole soul, by its separations, called him to the Northern Regions, in the Fire-Drake of Lerwick, and detained me an inhabitant of the Zetland Isles. It will not be wondered at, as there was so strong a bond of unity between George Harvey and myself, that we jointly vowed at parting, not only to keep faith and friendship inviolate, to gaze on the heavenly bodies at the same hours, and exehanged charmed tokens to keep the magician Time from altering the heart; but also that we made each other a solemn promise that if either died, the survivor should, if possible, visit the body of the deceased, who, if permitted, should return that melancholy act of affection to his friend. This awful engagement, which might have been the cause of the gratification of one of my extraordinary wishes, was in fact, the procurer of satisfaction in another instance; and the circumstances connected with the fulfilment of this promise form the ground work of my first story. THE DIVING-BELL. O Lord! methought what pain it was to drown! Shakspeare. THE Fire-Drake of Lerwick, was one of those vessels, which daring men have launched at almost every period of the History of English Navigation, to venture towards the Black Rock and Four whirlpools of the Arctic regions, and the discovery of a North-West Passage. After a long and fatiguing voyage, in which death and privations had reduced the crew to half its original number, and had changed the rest to shadows of what they once were; in the middle of December, 17 --, the Fire-Drake was seen from the point of Lambaness, making sail for our Islands. The three latter months of the year in Zetland are uncertain in their weather, and frequently in direct opposition to the approaches of vessels from any quarter towards the land. Violent but changeable gales, torrents of rain, and storms of snow, are opposed to the skill of the mariner; although it be supported by the thought, that he is steering his bark homewards. As the vessel neared with a gentle gale from the North-West, for the Island of Unst, the wind suddenly shifted to the Westward, and blew with such fury, that though the sails were rapidly reefed, the Fire Drake was carried along through the rushing waters with the same velocity that a feather or a falling leaf is swept over a plain in Autumn. The sea began to heave and swell its bosom as if preparing for a coming storm, every wave rolling up a larger sheet of foam than the preceding, and the ocean changing its colour from a verdant green to a dark brown hue. Besides the swiftness with which the FireDrake was, as it were, swept through the waters, she no longer kept her course in a continuous straight line, but was carried up one side of the wave, and down the other, with a rush and a plunge, that to those who have felt them, are as if they would cause the very life to leap out of their bosoms. Under the influence of the encreasing gale, the ship scudded round the NorthEast point of Unst in a Westerly direction, towards North-Maven; where was my abode, and which, when the storm commenced, I was about to quit, in order to cross the Mainland to Lerwick to welcome my friend, on his return. But George Harvey I was des tined never more to see in the flesh, unless that sight which I afterwards had of him could be deemed such.— As it was, I rushed to the shore, which is about five miles from North-Maven, with most of the townspeople, regardless c the storm which raged piteously; but alas! all was in vain! the breakers ran too high to allow of our putting off to the assistance of the Fire-Drake, and we could only line the beach, and watch her destruction. The vessel was now drifted towards the vast holm or rock, known by the name of the Maiden Skerry. As this is a tall mural pile of granite which stands in the ocean, only about 150 feet from the precipitous ridge that forms the head of North |