ander Selkirk, an English sailor, who, more than one hundred and forty years since, was left alone on the island of Juan Fernandez. This extraordinary man sought to beguile his solitude by rearing kids, and he would often sing to them, and dance with his motley group around him. His clothes having worn out, he dressed himself in garments made from the skins of such as ran wild about the island; these he sewed together with thongs of the same material. His only needle was a long slender nail; and when his knife was no longer available, he made an admirable substitute from an iron hoop that was cast ashore. THE END OF FEMALE EDUCA TION. THE chief end to be proposed in cultivating the understandings of women, is to qualify them for the practical purposes of life. Their knowledge is not often, like the learning of men, to be reproduced in some literary composition, and never in any learned profession; but it is to come out in conduct: it is to be exhibited in life and manners. A lady studies, not that she may qualify herself to become an orator or a pleader; not that she may learn to debate, but to act. She is to read the best books, not so much to enable her to talk of them, as to bring the improvement which they furnish to the rectification of her principles and the formation of her habits. The great uses of study to a woman are to enable her to regulate her own mind, and to be instrumental to the good of others. To woman, therefore, whatever be her rank, I would recommend a predominance of those more sober studies, which, not having display for their object, may make her wise without vanity, happy without witnesses, and content without panegyrists; the exercise of which may not bring celebrity, but will improve usefulness. She should pursue every kind of study which will teach her to elicit truth; which will lead her to be intent upon realities, will give precision to her ideas, will make an exact mind. She should cultivate every study which, instead of stimulating her sensibility, will chastise it; which will neither create an excessive nor a false refinement; which will give her definite notions; will bring the imagination under dominion; will lead her to think, to compare, to combine; to methodise; which will confer such a power of discrimination, that her judgment shall learn to reject what is dazzling, if it be not solid; and to prefer, not what is striking, or bright, or new, but what is just. That kind of knowledge which is rather fitted for home consumption than foreign exportation, is peculiarly adapted to women. There have not been wanting ill-judg ing females, who have affected to establish an unnatural separation between talents and usefulness, instead of bearing in mind that talents are the great appointed instruments of usefulness: who have acted as if knowledge were to confer on woman a kind of fantastic sovereignty, which should exonerate her from the discharge of female duties; whereas, it is only meant the more eminently to qualify her for the performance of them. A woman of real sense will never forget that, while the greater part of her proper duties are such as the most moderately-gifted may fulfil with credit-since Providence never makes that to be very difficult which is generally necessary; yet, that the most highly endowed are equally bound to fulfil them; and let her remember that the humblest of these offices, performed on Christian principles, are wholesome for the minds even of the most enlightened, as they tend to the casting down of those "high imaginations" which women of genius are too much tempted to indulge. For instance, ladies whose natural vanity has been aggravated by a false education, may look down on economy as a vulgar attainment, unworthy of the attention of a highly cultivated intellect; but this is the false estimate of a shallow mind. Economy, such as a woman of fortune is called on to practise, is not merely the petty detail of small daily expenses, the shabby curtailments and stinted parsimony of a little mind, operating on little concerns; but it is the exercise of a sound judgment exerted in the comprehensive outline of order, of arrangement, of distribution; of regulations by which alone well-governed societies, great and small, subsist. She who has the best regulated mind will, other things being equal, have the best regulated family.-Hannah More. 208 SACRED QUOTATIONS.-INTERESTING VARIETIES. SACRED QUOTATIONS. INTERESTING VARIETIES. LOPE DE VEGA printed 21 millions of lines, and S00 of his dramas were performed; while he wrote 1800, besides 400 for religious ceremonies. IMPRESSIONS on the eye are permanently continuous, which are repeated seven times in a second. On this is founded the toy called the Thaumatrope. MADRIGALS, for four or five voices, were very fashionable in the seventeenth century, when Marenzio, Este, Morley, and Wilbye, composed the still favourite ones. Catches are of the same age. TURNPIKE-ROADS were first established in the reign of Queen Anne; till then all roads were repaired by the parishes. One R. Phillips, in 1736, published the first tract on road-making. PYTHAGORAS is said to have invented harmonic strings, in consequence of hearing four blacksmiths working with hammers in harmony, whose weights he found to be 6, 8, 9, and 12, or rather by squares, as 36, 64, 81, and 144. THE Chinese read in columns from top to bottom of the page, and begin at the right-hand column. Hebrew and Arabic read from right to left. Some Greek inscriptions turn at the end of a line, and the lines alternate from right to left and left to right. The Europeans read from left to right. PREVIOUS to the printing of newspapers, London had its letter-writers, who sent written news for a subscription of £3 or £4 per annum. L'Estrange, in 1663, commenced his meagre Itelligencer once a week; and, in 1665, the London Gazette twice a week. In 1701, London had one daily paper, fifteen thrice a week, and two twice. BREWSTER shows, that the spheroidal lenses of fishes and birds are composed of cores, like meridianal lines on a globe, united at the surface by teeth. At the equator there are 2,500 fibres, and 12,500 teeth to each, while the fibres in the lens are five millions; the radius of the lens is two-tenths of an inch. Some vary in form and structure. PONTARLIER is the highest city in France, being 887 metres (2,736 feet) above the sea level. Gex is 667 (2,060 feet). The highest French mountains are the Arsines, in the Upper Alps, 4,105 metres (13,400 feet), and Pelvoux, in the Isere, 3,934 metres. Mont d'Or, in Auvergne, is 1,886, and Cantal, in the Cevennes, 1,935. Balon, in Vosges, 1,429. Lightning.-Many accidents may be avoided if the following simple rules are attended to during thunderstorms:-Sit or stand as near to the middle of the room as possible; avoid coming near the windows or the walls; place knives, scissors, &c., out of sight. Do not stand near any metallic bodies, such as lead pipes, iron railings, &c. Expose yourself to the wet in some open space, if caught in a storm, rather than go under trees for shelter, as such a course is highly dangerous. USEFUL RECEIPTS. To cover Jam Pots.-There is nothing more required than to moisten thin brown paper or silver paper with the white of an egg; it adheres most closely and perfectly excludes the air. I have low tried this receipt for many years, and find it most satisfactory.-M. L. J. A Word for Snuff-takers. -We see it stated that, if in places infested with mice, their holes be plentifully treated with snuff, they will be off like a shot. We have never tried it ourselves, but we hope it is true, as it will be putting the snuff at least to one good purpose. To Renovate a Black Coat.-Boil half a pound of log-wood and a little copperas chips in three pints of water, until reduced to a quart. When cold, strain it; and add a wine-glass full of gin, and half that quantity of spirits of wine. Mix well; apply it to the cloth with a nail-brush, and when dry, brush with a soft brush.T. SIMPSON. To clean Hair or Clothes Brushes. - Dissolve about the size of a walnut of washing soda, and an atom of soap in a basin quite full of warm water. Pass the hairs of the brush quickly for a few minutes on the surface of the water without wetting either the handle or back, which always loosens it and spoils the varnish brushes; if cleaned in this manner it will save great trouble and last a much longer time.-M. L. J. To clean White Kid Gloves.-Stretch them on a board, and rub the soiled spots with cream of tartar or magnesia. Let them rest an hour. Take a mixture of alum and fuller's earth, in powder, and rub it all over the gloves with a clean brush, and let them rest for an hour or two. Then sweep it all off, and go over with a flannel dipped in a mixture of bran and finelypowdered whiting. Let them rest another hour; brush off the powder, and you will find them clean.-A "FRIEND." Cheap Paint Impervious to Weather.--Dissolve eight pounds of glue in boiling water, and with this slack a bushel of quicklime until it becomes of the usual consistence of paint. Lay on three coats of this mixture with a painter's brush, taking care that each coat is dry before it is succeeded by another; over the third, dust sand or grey-stone dust from a dredger. By mixing ochire with the wash, any desired colour may be obtained. It may be made green by mixing common blue and yellow ochre, and applying them hot. This makes a cheap paint for palings. -J. T. T., Leeds. French Polish for Boots, Shoes, and Harness.—— Take two pints of the best vinegar and one pint of soft water; stir into the mixture a quarter of a pound of glue broken fine, half a pound of logwood chips, a quarter of an ounce of finely powdered indigo, a quarter of an ounce of the best soft soap, and a quarter of an ounce of isinglass. Boil for ten minutes or longer; then strain the liquid, bottle, and cork. When cold, it is fit for ase. Remove the dirt from the boots, &c., with a sponge and water. Then lay on the polish with a clean sponge. Should it prove too thick, hold it near the fire to warm a little, and the heat will liquefy it sufficiently.-J. MASTERS. To make Glue that will resist Moisture.-Dissolve gum sandarac and mastic, of each two ounces, in a pint of spirit of wine, adding about an ounce of clear turpentine. Then take equal parts of isinglass and parchment glue, and having beaten the isinglass into small bits, and reduced the glue to the same state, pour the solution of the gums upon them, and melt the whole in a vessel well covered, avoiding so great a heat as that of boiling water. When melted, strain the glue through a coarse linen cloth, and then put it again over the fire, adding about an ounce of powdered glass. This preparation may be best managed by hanging the vessel in boiling water, which will prevent the matter burning to the vessel, or the spirit of wine from taking fire; and, indeed, it is better to use the same method for all the evaporations of nicer glues and sizes; but, in that case, less water than the proportion directed, should be added to the materials.-J. MASTERS. A Drying Plants.-There are so many ways of drying plants, that almost every botanist has a plan of his own. The only points to attend to, are to dry specimens quickly, thoroughly, and beneath a pressure that will not crush them. If they are succulent or apt to cast their leaves, they should be dipped in boiling water previously to being placed under pressure. good method is to place each specimen within a sheet of brown paper, and to interpose several empty sheets between each that is filled; then to place them in a napkin press, and to press them gently for the first day or two, just enough to prevent the leaves and flowers from shrivelling. When the papers are quite damp, separate them, spread them on the floor of a room where they can become a little dry, and then gather them together, and place them in the press as before, rather increasing the pressure. This operation is repeated daily, till the plants are uite dry. A quicker and better, but more troublesome way, is to shift the plants daily out of their damp papers into hot and dry ones, immediately pressing them down; but this is more troublesome than the other.-J. M. T. To Clean Buckskin Gloves.-First wash in warm water and soap, until the dirt is removed; then pull them out into their proper shape, or stretch them on wooden hands. Do not wring them, but place one on the other, and press the water out. Mix a little pipe-clay, or pipe-clay and yellow ochre, according to the colour required, with vinegar or beer. Rub this over the outside of the gloves, and let them dry gradually in the shade; or if in the house, not too near the fire. When about half dry, rub them well, and stretch them on the hand or wooden mould; after they are rubbed and dried, brush them with a soft brush to get out the dust. Finally, iron the gloves with a smoothing iron moderately heated, taking the precaution to place a cloth or piece of paper over them, and they will look like new. Tanned gloves, commonly called Limerick, are genteel and economical in spring and autumn, as they do not soil so soon as white. The tan.colour is made by infusing saffron in boiling water for about twelve hours, and rubbing the stuff over the leather with a brush. The water should be soft, and never applied to leather in any case at more than heat.-M. PARLOUR AMUSEMENTS. To cause Fire to burn under Water. - You call for a pail of water, and having a certain composition in your hand, which you apply fire to, you throw it into the water, and, to the great astonishment of the company, it will burn under the water till quite spent. Explanation.-For the performance of this curious trick, by which many a wager has been won, take three ounces of powder, one ounce of saltpetre, and three ounces of sulphur vivum, beat and mix them well together; then fill a pasteboard or paper mould with the composition, and it will burn till entirely consumed, under the water. To cause a Stone to be in perpetual motion-This requires some hours' preparation, as may be seen by the explanation. When the necessary pains have been taken, the stone appears in a bottle continually moving Explanation.-Put very small filings of iron into aquafortis, and let them remain there until the water has taken off the iron requisite, which will happen in seven or eight hours. Then take the water, and put it into a phial an inch wide, with a large mouth, and put in a stone of lapis calaminares, and stop it up close; the stone will then keep in perpetual motion. RIDDLES. 1. Most frequently we're tall and straight, In olden time we show'd in state Now in long files we often stand, Some yeoman's dwelling near; From us are pluck'd, by many a hand, There is a land where we are born, Where our dependence we must mourn, Two spots the farthest in degree, Both cold, remote, and drear; A spot on you you cannot see, A badge of trade some people still A tax that brought both grief and ill- ANSWERS TO FAMILY PASTIME. Good "FRIEND," I like to puzzle out your oddities, And no enigma or charade despise; Here you produce a set of strange commodities, Letters assuming such a quaint disguise That few could recognise them; odd it is That such Protean power within them lies. But we will pass them quickly in rotation, And give their claims a due examination. A delays talent, for it makes wit wait, And B, though first in baldness, we rely on For Albion's cowardice. From this noble state Take it away, and there stands forth A lion. C makes that crooked which before was straight, Put it in line, incline you glance your eye on; And D and T give a death-like thrust, For 'tis their province to turn us to dust. E makes the last the least, F makes all fall, Therefore's a stumbling-block by sad fatality. When from regality the G we call, And only then, we look upon reality. H on a child has influence not small, Since it can make it hit. (Oh, sad morality!) Moreover it can much improve your cat As a companion, for it makes her chat. Young ladies surely patronise the I, Because the fairest maid is mad without it. K from a spar will cause a spark to fly; L makes a peasant pleasant-do not doubt it! Within the masses asses we descry, Thus M has masquerading power about it. N with confectioners will have a price While it retains its power to make ice nice. Your pen will O make open, have a care! Lest in its bounds your poultry will no tarry; And we must own a brewer P can spare, When he would make pale ale; the R will carry A mate in all respects for Polly fair, When it in proper place makes Mary marry; While S makes the team steam on any day, Therefore it may be like the sunny ray. Without T night is nigh, therefore the day Making ill will, it lights up discord's taper; Thus can our alphabet a moral tell, ague. rice. ENIGMA.-Chair. |