beauty, and fritter away the stamina of the human constitution. Although unseen in its flight, yet it never ceases to carry us forward, borne up upon its silken wing, till we plunge into unknown regions, where our fellow traveller accompanies us, bearing along with him the history of our unprofitable lives, inscribed in the characters of living light.--Maffilt. LIVING BY THE WITS. London abounds with sharpers who obtain licenses to become pawnbrokers, hawkers, and pedlars, and auctioneers; others who raise money by pretending to be discounters of bills and money brokers; cheats who set up gaming houses; and unlicensed insurers of lottery tickets; Jews who pretend to buy old clothes and metals; people who sell provisions and other articles by false weights and measures; swindlers who contrive to defraud tradesmen of goods; cheats who take genteel lodgings under false names; who personate tradesmen, servants, or gentlemen's footmen; who associate to make a prey of the ignorant; who at tend inns at the time coaches and wagons are loading and unloading; who go from door to door soliciting contributions to charitable societies; female sharpers, fortune tellers, and among the rest, female bankers. These last accommodate barrow women and others who sell fish, fruit, &c. with five shillings a day (the usual durable stock in trade) for the use of which twelve hours they obtain a premium of sixpence, when the money is returned in the evening, receiving thereby at this rate, about seven pounds ten shillings a year, on every five shillings they lend out. In contemplating this scheme of banking, trifling as it may seem to be, it is impossible not to be struck with the immense profits which arise from it. It is only necessary for one of these female sharpers to possess a capital of seventy shillings with fourteen steady customers, in order to realize an annual income of one hundred guineas. A TRICK.-One of the most eminent watchmakers in Paris became deranged, from prosecuting the idea of perpetual motion. His derangement was characterised by this singularity, he believed he had been guillotined, that his head had been mixed with those of some other victims, and that the judges, repenting of their cruel verdict, had ordered the heads to be replaced on their respective bodies. By some mistake, he conceived that the head of one of his unfortunate companions had been placed upon his shoulders; and this idea haunted him night and day. A convalescent, of a lively and jocular turn, was engaged to play the following trick upon the artist:-Their conversation was directed to the celebrated miracle of St. Dennis, who carried his head under his arm, and kissed it as he went along. The watchmaker vehemently maintained the possibility of the fact, and endeavored to con Johnson, have you heard, Sir, that Foote "Have you heard, Sir," said Boswell to Dr. has been kicked at the Coffee House in Dubnot heard it. It is a proof, Sir, that the fellow lin?" "Why, no sir," said the Doctor, "I had is rising into public notice---when he was here nobody thought him worth kicking." THE BEGGAR.---A beggar, asking charity of a gentleman, told him, that he was a poor tradesman. "I should rather think," said the gentleman, “you were a solicitor." A CORDIAL WELCOME.---A porter meeting good humored merry fellow) insisted on his goan old acquaintance one day, in the street, (a ing with him to take a glass of spirits. แ Ah!"" said the other, "you always give your friends a cordial welcome." A THANK ILL-PLACED.---" How do you do, sare?" said a Frenchman to an English acquaintance. "Rather poorly, thank you," answered the other. Nay, my dear sare,?' said the Frenchman, "don't thank me for your illness, I cannot help it." CHEAP PUBLICATION.---An Irishman seeing a work advertised, entitled "Endless Amusement," remarked, that it would be a cheap work to whoever could live long enough to read it. Pope's oath was, "God mend me,”—A link boy, to whom he had refused a penny looking at his diminutive crooked statue cried out, trouble to make a new one." "God mend you, indeed! it would be less Every man has in his own life follies enough -in his own mind, troubles enough-in the performance of his duties, deficiencies enough -in his own fortune, evils enough-without being curious after the affairs of others. If you never judge another till you have calmly observed him, till you have heard him, heard him out, put him to the test, and compared him with yourself and others, you will never judge unjustly, you will only repair whatever precipitately has escaped you. THE TALISMAN. WORCESTER, SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 1829. By speaking favorably of the western Souvenir, we do not intend to be understood as preferring it to all the other annuals published this year, nor as undervaluing the merits of others. We wish not to detract a single grain from the credit acquired by any hireling scribbler in other works of a like ephemeral nature. We are willing they all should enjoy, to the utmost, the paltry modicum of praise bestowed upon them by the public, and swell with the puffings of brother fools till their vanity is satisfied, if it be possible to satiate its cravings. We shall express our opinion of new works fully and decidedly whenever we think proper. Should we like a new publication, or dislike it, we shall say so, though the whole rabble of captious Zoiluses that the country contains, are arrayed in opposition to our opinion. the Blackstone Canal at Worcester. It Leather Stocking.-Simeon Kendall, ti puted prototype of Cooper's inimitable "L er Stocking" in the Pioneers, is said to be living in Ohio. The anecdotes related of || adventures, are said to be almost incredible The following persons were elected to officers of Worcester, on Monday last. Selectmen.-Pliny Merrick, Thomas Chai berlain, Benjamin Butman, Alpheus Merrifie Lewis Chapin. Assessors.--Silas Brooks, Thomas Chamb lain, and Frederick W. Paine. Town Clerk.--Benjamin Chapin. The Court of Common Pleas for the Marc term, commenced on Monday last. Judg Strong presided. There was a larger numbe of entries than has ever been known at an Married, In this town, the 2d inst. by Rev. Mr. Hoadly, Mr. Benjamin B. Hill, to Miss Laurelia Bingham. Another work by the author of Pelham, has been published, called "The Disowned." It previous Court in this County. is superior, we think, to its predecessor. We know of no late writer of novels who has embodied so much good sense, deep thought, intimate acquaintance of human nature, and clothed his ideas in more splendid language than the author of Pelham. A single chapter of Pelham or the Disowned, is worth, in our estimation, a library of such books as Zillah. In this last we found such an abundance of improbable circumstances, overwrought colorings, unnecessary episodes, and pedantic nonsense, as to disgust us with the work. The historical part of Zillah is accurate, and the description of Jewish and Roman manners, and customs, are correct, according to the best accounts we have, and these are the only redeeming traits about the work, and dull enough they are, in all conscience, as pourtrayed by the author. In Northboro', Feb. 25, Mr. Artemas Crawford, of Bolton, to Miss Lemira Whittemore, of the former place. In Newburyport, Mr. John S. Dodge to Miss Eunice Cheever. The sketch of the life of Roger Sherman, published in our last number, and credited to "The Iris," was an original article in the late Worcester Magazine," as we are informed by one of the editors of that work. ITEMS OF NEWS, &c. An Engineer is now engaged in surveying and taking the levels on the contemplated route for a Canal from Fitchburg, to intersect In New-York, Mr. William Clark, Printer, to Miss Mary Morris, both of N. York. Died, At her dwelling-house, London, on the 23d December, Mrs. Elizabeth Curtis, aged 103lived 67 years in the above mentioned dwel ling. At Northboro' Feb. 23, Mrs. Caty Newton. wife of Mr. Ephraim Newton, aged 46. This is the only death that has occurred in N. dur ing the last five months. In Sterling, February 21, Mr. Samuel Stuar aged 52.The patience and fortitude mar fested in his protracted illness, furnished gre. consolation to his surviving friends and afflic ed family. In Charlton, on the 16th ult. Mrs. Dil. wife of Daniel Bacon, aged 60 years. In Boston, Feb 26, Mr. Isaac Ridler, a 21. He was a member of the (Boston) Eng Company, No. 15.-His death was occasion Charlestown. He was the only support of by exposure and fatigue at the late fire widowed mother and numerous family, will severely feel his loss. POETRY. FOR THE TALISMAN. TO MRS. *** Shall I be left abandoned in the dust, THE INFANT AND THE ROSE. I look'd again, and Autumn's blast, THE Worcester Talisman. NO. 26. MISCELLANY. MARCH 21, 1829. THE ELECTION---A TALE. BY MISS MITFORD. A few years back, a gentleman of the name of Danby came to reside in a small borough town-whether in Wiltshire or Cornwall mat ters not to our story, although in one of those counties the aforesaid town was probably situ ate, being what is called a close borough, the joint property of two noble families. Mr. Danby was evidently a man of large fortune, and that fortune as evidently acquired in trade-indeed he made no more secret of the latter circumstance than the former. He built himself a large, square, red house, equally ugly and commodious, just without the town; walled in a couple of acres of ground for a kitchen garden; kept a heavy one-horse chaise, a stout pony, and a brace of greyhounds; and having furnished his house solidly and handsomely, and arranged his domestic affairs to his heart's content, began to look about among his neighbors; scraped ac quaintance with the lawyer, the apothecary, and the principal tradesmen; subscribed to the reading room and the billiard room; be came a member of the bowling green and the cricket club, and took as lively an interest in the affairs of his new residence, as if he had been born and bred in the borough. Now this interest, however agreeable to himself, was by no means equally conducive to the quiet and comfort of the place. Mr. Danby was a little, square, dark man, with a cocked up nose, a good humored, but very knowing smile, a pair of keen black eyes, a loud voluble speech, and a prodigious activity both of mind and body. His very look betokened his character, and that character was one not uncommon among the middle ranks of Englishmen. In short besides being, as he often boasted, a downright John Bull, the gentleman was a reformer, zealous and uncompromising as ever attended a dinner, at the Crown and Anchor, or made a harrangue in Palace yard. He read Cobbet; had his own scheme for the redemption of tithes; and a plan, which not understanding, I am sorry I cannot undertake to explain, for clearing off the national debt without loss or injury to any body. Besides these great matters, which may VOL. I. rather be termed the theorique than the practique of reform, and which are at least perfectly in offensive. Mr. Danby condescended to smaller and more worrying observances; and was, indeed so strict and jealous a guardian of the purity of the corporation, and the incorruptibility of the vestry, that an alderman could not wag a finger, or a churchwarden stir a foot without being called to account by this vigilent defender of the rights, liberties, and pur ses of the people. He was, beyond a doubt, the most troublesome man in the parish--and that is a wide word. In the matter of reports and inquiries Mr. Hume was but a type of him. He would mingle economy with a parish dinner, and talk of retrenchment at the mayor's feast; brought an action, under the turnpike act, against the clerk and treasurer of the commissioners of the road; commenced a suit in chancery with the trustees of the charity school; and finally threatened to open the borough-that is to say, to support any candidate who should offer to oppose the nominees of the two great families, the one whig and the other tory, who now possess the two seats in parliament as quietly as their own hereditary estates; an experiment which recent instances of successful opposition in other places rendered not a little formidable to the noble owners. What added considerably to the troublesome nature of Mr. anby's inquisitions was the general cleverness, ability and information of the individual. He was not a man of classical education, and knew little of books; but with things he was especially conversant. Although very certain that Mr. Danby had been in business, nobody could guess what that business had been. None came amiss to him. He handled the rule and the yard with equal dexterity; astonished the butcher by his insight into the mysteries of fattening and dealing; and the grocer by his familiarity with the sugar and coffee markets; disentangled the perplexities of the confused mass of figures in the parish books with the dexterity of a sworn accountant; and was so great upon points of law, so ready and accurate in quoting reports, cases and precedents, that he would certainly have passed for a retired attorney, but for the zeal and alertness with which, at his own expense, he was apt to rush into lawsuits. swore that Monsieur was a good fellow,and returned the compliment, after the English tashion, by sending him a haunch of vension the next day. But M. Le Grand was not the only admirer whom Rose met with at the dancing school. It chanced that Mr. Cardonnel also had an With so remarkable a genius for turmoil, it is not to be doubted that Mr. Danby, in spite of many excellent and sterling qualities, succeeded in drawing upon himself no small degree of odium. The whole corporation were officially his enemies; but his principal oppo. nent, or rather the person whom he considered as his principal opponent, was Mr. Cardon-only daughter, a young person, about the same nel, the rector of the parish, who, besides several disputes pending between them (one especially respecting the proper situation of the church organ, the placing of which harmonious instrument kept the whole town in discord for a twelve month) was married to the Lady Elizabeth, sister of the Earl of B., one of the patrons of the borough; and being, as well as his wife, a very popular and amia. ble character, was justly regarded by Mr. Danby as one of the chief obstacles to his projected reform. Whilst, however, our reformer was, from the most patriotic motives, doing his best or his worst to dislike Mr. Cardonnel, events of a very different nature were gradually operating to bring them together. Mr. Danby's family consisted of a wife-a quiet, lady-like woman, with very ill health, who did little else than walk from her bed to her sofa, eat water gruel and drink soda-water, and of an only daughter who was in a word, the very apple of her father's eye. age, bringing up under the eye of her mother, and a constant attendant at the professor's academy. The two girls, nearly of a hight, and both good dancers, were placed together as partners; and being almost equally prepossessing in person and manner, (for Mary Car donnel was a sweet, delicate, fair creature, whose mild blue eyes seemed appealing to the kindness of every one they looked upon,) took an immediate and lasting fancy to each other; shook hands at meeting and parting, smiled whenever their glances chanced to encounter; and soon began to exchange a few kind and hurried words in the pauses of the dance, and to hold more continuous chat at the conclusion. And Lady Elizabeth, almost as much charmed with Rose as her daughter, seeing in the lovely little girl every thing to like and nothing to disapprove, encouraged and joined in the acquaintance; attended with a motherly care to her cloaking and shawling: took her home in her own carriage when it rained; and finally way-laid Mr. Dauby. who always came himself to fetch his darling, and with her bland and gracious smile requested the pleasure of Miss Danby's company to a party of young people, which she was about to give on the occasion of her daughter's birthday. I am afraid that our sturdy reformer was going to say, No!-But Rose's Oh papa !' was irresistible; and to the party she went. After this, the young people became every day more intimate. Lady Elizbeth waited on Mrs. Danby, and Mrs. Danby returned the call; but her state of health precluded visiting, and her husband who piqued himself on firmness and consistency, contrived, though with some violence to his natural kindness of temper to evade the friendly advances and invitations of the rector. Rose Danby was indeed a daughter of whom any father might have been proud. Of middle height and exquisite symmetry, with a rich, dark glowing complexion, a profusion of glossy, curling, raven hair, large affectionate black eyes, and a countenance at once so sweet and so spirited, that its constant expres. sion was like that which a smile gives to other faces. Her temper and understanding were in axact keeping with such a countenanceplayful, gentle, clever and kind; and her acquirements of the very highest order.-When her father entered on his new residence she had just completed her fifteenth year; and he unable longer to dispense with the pleasure of her society, took her from the excellent school near London, at which she had hitherto been placed and determined that her education should be finished by masters at home. It so happened, that this little town contained one celebrated artist, a professer of dancing who kept a weekly academy for young ladies, which was attended by half the families of gentility in the county. M. Le Grand (for the dancing master was a little lively Frenchman) was delighted with Rose. He declared that she was his best pupil, his very best, the best that ever he had in his life."Mais voyez, donc Monsieur ?" said he one day to her father, who would have scorned to know the French for How d'ye do:'- Voy-most. ez, comme elle met de l'aplomb, de la forces de la netlate, dans ses entrenchants! Qu'elle est leste, et legere, et petrie de graces la petite ! And Mr. Danby comprehending only that the artist was praising his darling, The two girls, however, saw one another almost every day. It was a friendship like that of Rosalind and Celia, whom, by the way they severally resembled in temper and character-Rose having much of the brilliant galantry of the one fair cousin, and Mary the softer and gentler charm of the other. They rode, walked and sung together; were never hap py asunder; played the same music; read the same books; dressed alike, worked for each other and interchanged their little prop. erty of trinkets and flowers, with a generosity that seemed only emulous which should give At first Mr. Danby was a little jealous of Rose's partiality to the rectory; but she was so fond of him, so attentive to his pleasures, that he could not find in his heart to check hers and when after a long and dangerous illness |