he always affected to be a proud philosopher; and a Rhodian, who met him at Corinth, uporaided him with his miseries and spat in his face, observing, "Of what use, Dionysius, is all your boasted philosophy to you now?" "Of the very best use," (said the fallen tyrant) "for it enables me to bear even thy insults with patience."

AFFECTING CIRCUMSTANCE, Connected with the History of the Family of Burns, the Scottish Poet.

James Glencairn Burns, the youngest son of the poet, received a very liberal education, partly in Dumfries, and partly at an excellent seminary in London; and such were his application and quickness of parts, that during every successive step of his progress, he stood high in his classes, and equally high in the favour of his teachers. On completing his studies, he was appointed a Cadet in the Hon. East India Company's Service, and embarked for Calcutta in June 1811, on board the ship "Lord Castlereagh." This appointment he procured through the interest of Sir Jas. Shaw, a gentleman who has given numerous proofs of his attachment to Scotland, and who, however his modesty may conceal the fact, stands foremost in the ranks of the friends and patrons of the family of Burns.

It turned out that, after six years' exposure to the burning skies of Asia, he was fortunate enough to attract the notice of the Marquis of Hastings, then Governor-General of the mighty empire we held in the east, an empire which, in size, population, and every other geographical attribute, is so vastly superior to the parent state, as to afford the finest possible illustration of the difference betwixt moral and physical power. The character of Lord Hastings is well known: though not a Scotsman by birth, he is almost one by residence and alliance; the paternal seat of his Countess lies in that very county which has the honour of claiming Burns as a native; and it seems not improbable that "Loudon's bonny woods and braes," not less than those of "Ballochmyle,' contributed to imbue his youthful fancy with the deepest admiration of the beauties of nature. In these circumstances it was natural that the late Governor-General of India should wish to do something for the sons of the poet; and it is but justice to add, that he promoted James in 1817, and his brother William in the year following. Both now hold the rank of Lieutenant, in addition

to eligible appointments in the Commis sariat department; and though their early patron has retired from the scene, such has been their uniform good conduct, that they have every prospect of farther promotion.-As it is only, however, with the first that we have to do at present, we proceed to state, that he was married early in 1818, to a Miss Sarah Robinson, a young lady of beauty and accomplishments, and great amiability and sweetness of disposition. With her he lived in the greatest happiness till Nov. 1821, when she was suddenly snatched from him, after having given birth to three children-Jean, Robert, and Sarah. Robert, his second born, speedily followed his mother to the grave, and long before the afflicted father had ceased to grieve, and grieve deeply for one whose loss he must ever deplore, he was designed to mourn over a second bereavement. But Jeanie and Sarah still were spared to him, the one a mere infant, the other advancing to her fifth year; and these darling objects of a father's care he lost no time in removing to Surat, where a sister of their mother received the orphans with open arms, & watched over their health with unceasing tenderness up to the latest moment of their residence in India. There they remained till the spring, 1822, when it was deemed advisable to send them to Britain-to that happy home where two kind grandmothers were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the strangersMrs. Burns, of Dumfries, and Mrs. Robinson, of Sunderland. Every preparation was made for the voyage; the services of an experienced nurse were procured; the surgeon of the vessel cheerfully promised to exhaust the utmost resources of his art, in, warding off sickness, or mitigating its dreaded effects if it came; while more than one gentleman, about to revisit the scenes, the kindred, and the friends of their youth, contended for the honour of acting as the protector of the grand-children of Burns. But we need not pause to detail particulars. The children embarked-the nurse did her duty-the passengers were kind, and every thing promised a prosperous voyage, and a speedy arrival in Old England. The name and pedigree of the orphans were soon known to the whole ship, and as they occasionally took an airing on the quarter-deck, not only then officers, but the meanest sailors gazed on the innocents with a degree of interest which not even the offspring of princes could have excited. In the cabin, their prattle was a source of great amusement, and daily led to comments on the genius

and history of an author, who, though born a peasant, and bred a ploughman, Added to the lyre of heaven another string, Andrivall'd all but Shakspeare's name below. Every thing went on well until the fifth or sixth week of the voyage, when the eldest of the children became seriously indisposed. This circumstance threw a gloom over the whole company; for a vessel bound on a long voyage may be said to contain one great family, the members of which are all bent on the same object-who possess for a time every thing in common, and cling to one another with a degree of foudness which daily acquires fresh strength from the isolated nature of their situation, forming as they do, a living community, who have staked their all on the strength and safety of the gallant bark that glides on, and on-a speck in the measureless expanse of the ocean. And if this be a common feeling at sea, it was increased in the instance of Jeanie Burns. Night and day she was nursed with the tenderest care and anxiety; but death was in the cup, and human means were of no avail. The frame once so fair, soon became wasted and wan; the smile left the lips, the dimple the cheek to which they had given such sweetness and beauty; and before the lapse of many days the doctor announced that his patient could not possibly survive. Even the little sufferer herself, who was gifted with a ripeness of understanding beyond her years, knew, and felt, and declared that she was dying; and repeatedly requested to see her sister, that she might give her one embrace-one kiss more. Their last interview was so singularly affecting, that veterans were seen turning aside to weep, adown whose cheeks no tear had rolled for years. Sarab, from her youth, knew not, alas! the nature of the drama in which she acted so interesting a part; and sometimes her impatience of restraint, and fondness for play, excited in Jeanie a feeling of uneasiness. But the effect was transient; and the last time her arms were twined around her sister's neck, she invoked on her a blessing as well as she could, and consoled herself with the reflection "that they would yet meet and be happy in Heaven, whither mamma and brother had gone before." This duty performed, the poor little sufferer slumbered tranquilly away, to all appearance so free from pain, that the attendants could not tell the exact moment of her dissolution, On the fourth day after her decease, the corpse was inclosed in a mahogany coffin, and,

by way of distinction, slowly lowered And then was from the cabin window. witnessed one of the most affecting scenes that, perhaps, ever occured at sea. Officers, passengers, and men, were drawn up in regular order on the deck; some wore crape round the right arm, others were dressed in the deepest mourning; every head was uncovered: and as the lashing of the waves on the sides of the coffin proclaimed that the melancholy ceremony had closed, every countenance seemed saddened with grief-every eye moistened with tears. Not a few of the sailors wept outright; these, I believe, were natives of Scotland, who even, when far away, had revived their recollections of home and youth, by listening to, or repeating the poetry of Burns; to them the remotest kindred of the man was dear who had made Scotsmen proud of their native Country-who had given a warmer glow to their enthusiasm--a more romantic tinge to their national character; and, whether on land or the water, at home or abroad, nursed that flame of patriotic devotion, which achieved, and may achieve again. the glories of a Trafalgar, or a Waterloo.

To the above narrative we have only to add, that the youngest of the two travelfries, and though so delicate at first that lers arrived safely in the town of Dumher life was despaired of, is now a most thriving, interesting, little child. In a few years she will become companionable, and even as it is, adds not a little to the comfort of the poet's widow, who has no other relation near her to cheer the solitude of the domestic hearth.

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE

Mirror of the Times.

Folly's tinkling bells all chime,
Around the rolling wheels of Time.

Captain Parry's return, Mrs. Coutts's long-talked-of marriage, Mr. Booth, Dr. Moseley and his pupils (the Honourable A. Curzon and Frederick Mansell) were the meagre topics of last week. Scandal has been very quiet; no Gretna Green trips or crim. cons. (thanks to the cold weather) it will keep us tolerably virtuous till after Christmas, when the Argyle and Willis's rooms, the Bazaars, and Master Wright's masquerades will again be crowded, and the higher orders heated and squeezed, and shoved into immorality. Mrs. Coutts has returned to town still without a title, and the noble Duke is rusticating still without a

wife; some people say he has no more occasion for a wife than an ox for a side pocket; and a certain fashionable journal hints, that Mrs. Coutts is in doubt whether to have his Grace or Signior Velluti-the latter has certainly a title; and though it begins with an E, it is not an Earl; but then he is a noted nondescript, and both him and the Duke are of theatrical descent, If we believe reports, the marriage of the bankeress will come to nothing at last. It is said, that two years ago the Duke was going to be married all in a hurry to Lady Elizabeth Conyngham:-the wooing was over, the consent was given, the blushes cooled, the settlements drawn, the wedding clothes marked out, the ring purchased, the parson warned, the day named, when, all of a sudden, it was stopped-there was to be no marriage whatever. Nobody was able to conjecture the cause of this sudden change of resolution; it was known, however, that the objection to his Lordship came from " mamma"from the Marchioness herself, who will be admitted by every body to be a competent judge in such matters. She closetted Lady Elizabeth, and succeeded in a short time in pointing out to her the impropriety of the match, by some cabalistic arguments, which we cannot even conjecture: it must have been a potent one, for it wrought in a very short time; and as it has always been remarked, that hate follows close upon love, the exemplary young lady, who was all affection the day before for Lord Burford, would scarcely look at him the day after this wonder-working communication. She, among her friends, still shakes her head when his name is mentioned, and calls him "poor Burford," and hints that she had a lucky escape. We wonder why? And such is the pliancy and suppleness among courtiers, that although he was a favourite among the ladies at Court, no sooner had the breaking off taken place, than they, one and all, cut him, took to shaking their heads, call him ́“ poor Burford," and wonder whether ever he will get a wife! We quit a subject we cannot elucidate, in utter despair, and turn to a more dramatie one.

Junius Brutus Booth does not suit the temper of the times: he refused to come forward and receive the howlings of applause prepared for him by the one and two shilling mobs that nightly make the theatrical" welkin roar" with their vulgarities; and so he got hissed the second night, hooted the third, and then sat down and wrote a letter to the news

papers, or "a card," wherein he calls the writers of theatrical critiques "gin drinkers, frothy fellows, who praised Mr. Kean for the good "feeds" he gave them; and we presume he intends to be witty, when he says, he is not an imitator of Mr. Kean, but of Joey Grimaldi. This may be wit across th' Atlantic, Where vile new rum makes all men frantic ;" but it won't tel! here. Joey Grim. is a superior actor in his line to either Kean or Junius Brutus; the latter broke his faith with the British public, who never forget dishonourable conduct; he had to fly to that refuge of the unworthy, America, and has brought back less talent great, who are in the habit of patronising and more impudence. Amongst the those who

"Strut and fret their hour upon the stage," this has made some stir: an unfair op position has been raised against Mr. Warde, who, they say, should not betolerated, while Booth is unengaged. Mr. Warde is a much better actor, and has modesty on his side. There are two petticoat parties: Mrs. Cand Lady

Sh P -e favour Mr. Booth, and it is feared will compel one of the theatres to employ him; for a combination of fashion can make the managers yield to compulsion-more's the pity. Mr. Warde has Lady S- and Mrs. D

Gr to support him, and they have been the cause of "dressing the boxes" finely. Mrs. Ar E- -1. -s, they say, has seceded, and deems it very hard Mr. Booth should come "all the way from America" to be ill used-So that he has got

A promise now of future souls
In Brutus comes to kill us;

And fashion hastes to crown the whole
With Mistress Ar Es.

The whole reminds us of an epigram, with which we will close a subject scarcely worthy of reflection in our "Mirror of the Times."

DEAN SWIFT'S EPIGRAM, ON THE
DISPUTE BETWIXT BONONCINI
AND HANDEL.

Bononcini swears that Handel
Cannot to him hold a candle;
And Handel swears that Bononcini
Compared to him is a mere ninný.

'Tis strange there should such difference be
'Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee.

THE HON. Mr. CURZON, AND Mr. KLATORSKI, & Dr. MOSELEY.

Of late it has been made public, what was well known in private years ago, that wherever a schoolmaster has a young nobleman put under his care, be lets him do as he chuses, in order to en

sure his future interest, in getting himself, or one of his booby sons, into a snug benefice.

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If these young men commit any acts that bring them before a magistrate, their master, always a Doctor, vindicates their cause, and they are honorably acquited" of what would send a poor man's son to the tread-mill. The riot at Eton, where a poor sheemaker nearly lost his life and had his humble shed unroofed, ended in a polite police officer being sent out, who returned to say, the shoemaker had seen the master and was satisfied.So it is; the law, and justice must remain unsatisfied; and whether Lord Ybreaks the skulls of a dozen watchmen at Long's in Bond street, or the honourable Mr. Curzon beats a French teacher to a mummy with the but-end of an iron whip, it is of no consequence; it is all in the true spirit of noble blood; striking proofs of fun and fashion, and, an exact Mirror of the Times."

Dr. Mosely lives somewhere, and keeps an establishment for teaching young gentlemen mischief. Heaven preserve us! Mrs. Wood, Mrs. Throgmorton, and Mrs. Clive, have their separate establishments and ladies also; every barber and cobler puts, "establishment" over his door; the terms schools, shops, and warehouses, are banished: and if the King and Dr. Mosely have their establishments, so has "Jones," with oxcheek at twopence a plate, in Saint Giles's, and "Haycraft" with his sheeps heads in Field lane.

Dr. Mosely, high in every thing, as well as his charges, had a French and German teacher, a member of the legion of honour, who now may be seen daily on the benches in Saint James's Park, with a faded blue surtout, buttoned close under his chin, and a red ribbon in the button hole, with huge mustachios and nankeen trowsers, that like himself have seen better days; he is moreover more than two yards long, and seven inches wide, this is Monsieur L. G. W. K. C. Klatorski, a teacher of languages.

The youthful aristocrats, Messrs. the Honorable A. Curzon and Mr. Frederick Mansell, were under his tuition, and condescended to borrow from him all his loose cash. and then got him to send his broach and several etceteras to "my uncle's," at the three gilt balls; when the time came that the money was returnable the young gentleman took the liberty of belabouring him with an iron shod whip, for presuming to ask men of their rank and family for "paltry coin.' The man with many names made no effort at re

sistance: he was too old, and had got a wrong notion into his French head, that the English law would give him entire satisfaction.

He mentioned his intention of appealing to it to Dr. Mosely, who said, "if you do, I'll discharge you, and you'll get no good; for I'll write to Sir Richard Birnie, my intimate friend, on the subject." As Mr. Klatorski still felt sore, the doctor discharged him, and he did appeal to Sir Richard Birnie.

The parties attended, the doctor and his solicitor also. Sir Dick is what sailors term a "rough knot," and has, at times a stern way of administering justice, not at all agreeable to ig-noble-men and boxers; he scorned the intimacy of the doctor, and the idea that he would swerve from his duty because the culprit before him was the son of Lord Teynham; he gave his reverence a sound trimming, and held to bail the young gentlemen to answer at the sesions for the assault, this was as it should be, and Sir Richard's remarks upon the system pursued in academical establishments will make honest men pause before they send their children thither.

A paper which generally advocates the cause of all that are great, has been abusing the magistrate for doing his duty, and thinks it very hard that a young man of family cannot lay his whip upon an insolent servant in a school. without being

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pulled up" to Bow street and bound over to the sessions like a vagrant.There are no less than three caricatures out upon this sabject; and we are glad to see it attacked in this way. The lads are young, and will not be severely dealt with by the law. Ridicule may more powerfully affect them: for, no great family can be pleased to see their hopeful scions hung up in effigy in a caricature shop-window.

We do not approve of "buying off" Justice; but in this case a month's confinement would do no harm to one party, and a little money would evidently do the other a great deal of good.

LORD ROLLE AND THE SHOOTER.

His lordship has been called "an overbearing savage" by some of the papers, for (what must be confessed was a most unwarrantable outrage) taking a gentlemen by the nose in public company for daring to shoot two hares on his own estate. Some slavish ideot in a country paper gravely contends, that the insulted person (a Mr. Roberts) had no right to look for satisfaction, as he is not (like the Rolle) descended from a royal house,

Whence comes this sudden tenderness for the safety of the Devonshire hares? is it because they are on the ministerial side? We remember perfectly well when Mr. Roberts might have shot a Fox, without exciting any outrageous commiseration in the representatives of the princes of ancient Devon.

The Duke of Buckingham, it is said, has chartered the great ship the Baron of Renfrew, to carry him to India. She will not belong in fitting out, for when the Duke goes on board there will be not any occasion to take in "ballast."

The newspapers announce under the head of "Fashionable Intelligence,' that Monsieur Gouffe, the island ape, attracts crowded houses every nfght; and that Mr. Cross of Exeter 'Change has just imported a fine young Elephant.

GOLOWNIN's CAPTIVITY IN JAPAN, AND THE END OF AN APOSTATE.

Golownin's book teems with incident; the country he describes is in a manner new to Europeans, and yet his book is rotting on the shelves of its publisher. He was sent to Japan on a mission from the Emperor of Russia, to try and establish a commercial intercouse; but, by the intrigues of the Dutch factors, was seized and thrown into prison, where he remained five years; he once made his escape with 3 followers, but they were taken in the woods, nearly starved: the Japanese on this occasion shewed a feeling worthy of more civilized nations. Golowin acknowledged himself the principal in planning their escape, and exonerating his companions, prepared to meet his doom, which by the law was death. The Emperor of Japan pardoned him, observing man in a state of slavery had a natural right to do every thing to recover his freedom." After this they had more liberty, and in two years were permitted to depart.

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They made many observations-the country was rich in all the fruits of the earth beyond expression, the whole being a perfect garden, intersected in a thousand places with the most beautiful rivulets, but no where any navigable streams; grain of all kinds grew in abundance, and herds and flocks innumerable grazed over the ever green hills. Their towns were built with light elegance, betwixt the style of the Chinese and Hindoostanees. The markets plentifully supplied, and the great men living in a style of Asiatic luxury. There were no beggars, nor any person to be seen but

who was comfortably clad, and apparently content and happy.

The women had free liberty to go any where, but were always veiled; they administered, as the fair sex usually do, in every country however savage, to the wants and comforts of the Russians, with affectionate care and anxiety; they were in complexion a dark olive with sparkling black eyes, and of slender forms.All the towns were lighted with paper lamps, and had regular watchmen patrolling and calling the hour, they assembled in a large square, round a fire, and smoked their segars. A large bell instead of a clock, summoned them to their duty, the streets were paved with flat blue stones, and a spring of water ran along the centre of each. Their temples were low, on account of frequent earthquakes, and in shape not unlike the portico of our St. Martin's church in the Strand; they were plain inside; and the idol placed behind a black curtain, was a most hideous figure-half man, half beast, like the Centaur of the ancients, and twice a day every one crowded into the Temple to pay worship to this monster of the brain.

They did not exclude the Russians nor try to make converts of them; on the contrary, they seemed to hold in contempt him who apostatised from the faith of his country. Their vessels of war carried from 4 to 18 guns, and were rudely constructed, not unlike those we see pictured on old china. They had at a review, in the port of Nangasak, 50 sail of them, with dyed canvas sails, and a profusion of silk and satin flags, Captain Golownin never witnessed so splendid a sight. The Dutch long had, and still retain, the exclusive trade with Japan; they send six ships annually, who anchor in certain ports, and are permitted no intercourse with the shore beyond their stores, which are surrounded by a high wall; their cargoes are sent on board.

The tale of the Dutch practising the ceremony of trampling on the cross, is a fiction. The Japanese know not any thing of the cross, or of him from whose death that symbol is taken, and they are not likely ever to have insisted upon such a measure-shewing great respect

for

any one's religion. When they had explained to them the meaning of a crucifix with a saviour carved upon it, which Golownin wore round his neck, they called it his God, and respected him more than his comrades; when he read prayers to his companions, they crowded round and looked on in silence.