of the crowd, rendered it impossible that his voice should be heard. It was necessary, therefore, to address himself to the eye, and turning towards the queen, with that admirable presence of mind which never yet forsook him, and with that mingled grace and dignity which were the peculiar inheritance of the ancient court of France, he simply kissed her hand, before the vast multitude.

An instant of silent astonishment followed, but the whole was immediately interpreted, and the air was rent with cries of "long live the queen!" long live the general!" from the same fickle and cruel populace, that only two hours before had imbrued their hands in the blood of the guards, who defended the life of this same queen.

TICKNOR.

RUINS OF PÆSTUM IN ITALY.

FEW places combine, within such narrow limits, so rich a train of various meditation, for persons of whatever disposition or habit, as this city, upon the Gulf of Salerno. At a point removed from the sight of civilized life, surrounded with the relics of men who lived in the highest stage of luxury, he who can only admire the skill which raised an architrave, or he who has fancy enough to picture the living scene of a Grecian city, while sitting on its tomb, will find no other interruption than the rapid movement, now and then, of a beautiful lizard, which he has startled from basking in the sunshine.

The still sea, at a distance, and the dark moun. tains, upon the opposite side, are both so far away, that not even the dashing of the water, or the wan.

dering of the clouds, distract the soul from the present vision. The noxious Mal'aria* has thinned the region of its inhabitants, and left it to excite, by its solitude, an unbroken chain of musing, in one who, in his pilgrimage over Italy, pauses at this remote point.

It was from Pæstum, that I was to turn my face homeward. The eye, which is insatiable, had beheld the choicest wonders of the world; and it was suitable that the last object should be such a ruin, simple and majestic, like the Pantheonlasting as the Coliseum-and lonely as the trackless desert.

A journey in Italy may be compared, not unaptly, with the course of human life. The plains of Lombardy, and the vale of Arno, are rich and smooth and beautiful as youth; we come to Rome for the sights and experience and reflections which suit manhood; we return, after the bustle of life, to the comforts congenial to age, and which are provided in sunshine, and air, and the bounties of nature, as we find them at Naples; and we at last behold Pæstum, as the soberest evening scene, which shuts up our wearisome pilgrimage, and ends our toil.

The fate of empires, and cities, concerns us little, in comparison with our own destiny; for each man's bosom is a little world, and is all the world to him.

ANON.

*The Mal'aria, or bad air, is a state of the atmosphere, or of the soil, or of both, in different parts of Italy, producing in the warm season, a fever, more or less violent, according to the nature of the exposure; but generally fatal, where the exposure has been long continued, or the place amongst the more dangerous.-N. A. Review.

DEATH AND CHARACTER OF BECKET.

WHEN the suspended and excommunicated prelates arrived at Bayeux, where the king then resided, and complained to him of the violent proceedings of Becket, he instantly perceived the consequences; was sensible that his whole plan of operations was overthrown; foresaw that the dangerous contest between the civil and spiritual powers, a contest which he himself had first roused, but which he had endeavoured, by all his late negotiations and concessions, to appease, must come to an immediate and decisive issue; and he was thence thrown into the most violent commotion. The Archbishop of York remarked to him, that so long as Becket lived, he could never expect to enjoy peace or tranquillity: the king himself being vehemently agitated, burst forth into an exclamation against his servants, whose want of zeal, he said, had so long left him exposed to the enterprises of that ungrateful and imperious prelate. Four gentlemen of his household, Reginald Fitz-Urse, William de Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, and Richard Brito, taking these passionate expressions to be a hint for Becket's death, immediately communicated their thoughts to each other; and swearing to avenge their prince's quarrel, secretly withdrew from court. Some menacing expressions which they had dropped gave a suspicion of their design; and the king dispatched a messenger after them, charging them to attempt nothing against the person of the primate: but these orders arrived too late to prevent their fatal purpose. The four as sassins, though they took different roads to England, arrived nearly about the same time at Saltwood, near Canterbury; and being there joined by

some assistants, they proceeded in great haste to the archiepiscopal palace. They found the primate, who trusted entirely to the sacredness of his character, very slenderly attended; and though they threw out many menaces and reproaches against him, he was so incapable of fear, that, without using any precautions against their violence, he immediately went to St. Benedict's church to hear vespers. They followed him thither, attacked him before the altar, and having cloven his head with many blows, retired without meeting any opposition. This was the tragical end of Thomas à Becket, a prelate of the most lofty, intrepid, and inflexible spirit, who was able to cover to the world, and probably to himself, the enterprises of pride and ambition, under the disguise of sanctity, and of zeal for the interests of religion; an extraordinary personage, surely, had he been allowed to remain in his first station, and had directed the vehemence of his character to the support of law and justice; instead of being engaged by the prejudices of the times, to sacrifice all private duties and public connexions to ties which he imagined or represented as superior to every civil and political consideration. But no man who enters into the genius of that age can reasonably doubt of this prelate's sincerity. The spirit of superstition was so prevalent, that it infallibly caught every careless reasoner, much more every one whose interest, and honour, and ambition, were engaged to support it. All the wretched literature of the times was enlisted on that side: some faint glimmerings of common sense might sometimes pierce through the thick cloud of ignorance, or, what was worse, the illusions of perverted science, which had blotted

out the sun, and enveloped the face of nature: but those who preserved themselves untainted by the general contagion proceeded on no principles which they could pretend to justify: they were more indebted to their total want of instruction, than to their knowledge, if they still retained some share of understanding: folly was possessed of all the schools as well as all the churches; and her votaries assumed the garb of philosophers, together with the ensigns of spiritual dignities. Throughout that large collection of letters which bears the name of St. Thomas, we find, in all the retainers of that aspiring prelate, no less than in himself, a most entire and absolute conviction of the reason and piety of their own party, and a disdain of their antagonists: nor is there less cant and grimace in their style, when they address each other, than when they compose manifestoes for the perusal of the public. The spirit of revenge, violence, and ambition, which accompanied their conduct, instead of forming a presumption of hypocrisy, are the surest pledges of their sincere attachment to a cause, which so much flattered these domineering passions.

HUME.

CHARACTER OF RICHARD I.

THE most shining parts of this prince's character are his military talents. No man, even in that romantic age, carried personal courage and intrepidity to a greater height; and this quality gained him the appellation of the lion-hearted, cœur de lion. He passionately loved glory, chiefly military