shall the lovers of that study, then, find less favour in the eyes of a Christian prince?" His Majesty then waved his hand; and after a pause of some minutes said, "Heaven forbid that the reign of Matthias should be stained with the blood of the innocent! I have listened to the accuser and the accused, and I find that Thomas Sainvitz is innocent-that he has been unmercifully persecuted, and my order is, that he be sent back to his regiment, under a safe guard, appointed for that purpose." There was a dead silence for some minutes; I fell on my face, and thanked the father of his people. The monks and lawyers sneaked away. The old general received me with transports of joy: his Majesty settled a pension, on me, and ordered that I should be provided with a number of mathematical instruments and books; so that I now, thank Heaven and my prince, pass my days in ease and tranquillity.

I inquired about the steward, and learnt that he had been beheaded by order of his lord, for attempting to poison the family. I never could gain any tidings of my dear friend, to whom I am indebted for the rudiments of all that I know. I thought it my duty to write this small pamphlet in justification of my own character; I cannot conclude it, however, without saying, that there are many worthy monks in Hungary,

but

but the generality of them prefer the sound of the dinner-bell to the sound of the bell that invites to prayers: as to the secular clergy of the catholic and reformed churches, I am much obliged to them; they have taken my part on all occasions, and I am not a little indebted to their communication on several branches of science.

THE PRAYER OF ORPHEUS.

BY THE REV. MR. EVANS.

MR. Evans was born in the state of Connecticut, in America; he was educated in Yale College, where his genius outstript his years. His intense application to study impaired his health at a very early period of life: he died in the twenty-seventh year of his age. He left several poetical pieces behind him, which his friends. collected after his death, and published in a slender volume. This little garland has been enriched by some verses to his memory, composed by different hands.

Sad monarch of the world below,

Stern guardian of this drowsy shade,
Through thy unlovely realm I go,

To seek a captive thou hast made.
O'er Stygian waters have I pass'd,

Contemning Jove's unjust decree;
And reach'd thy sable court at last,
To find my lost Eurydicé.

Of

1

Of all the nymphs, so deckt and drest,
Like Venus of the starry train,
She was the loveliest and the best,

The pride and glory of the plain.
O, free from thy despotic sway,

This nymph of heaven-descended charms, Too soon she came this dusky way,

Restore thy captive to my arms.

As by a stream's fair verdant side
In myrtle shades she rov'd along,
A serpent stung my blooming bride,
This brightest of the female throng:
The venom hast'ning through her veins,
Forbid the freezing blood to flow;
And thus she left the Thracian plains,
For these dejected groves below.

Even thou mayst pity my said pain,
Since love, as ancient stories say,
Forc'd thee to leave thy native reign,
And in Sicilian meadows stray;
Bright Proserpine thy bosom fir'd,

For her you sought th' unwelcome light,

Madness and love in you conspir'd

To seize her to the shades of night.

But if, averse to my request,

The vanish'd nymph, for whom I mourn, Must in Plutonian chambers rest,

And never to my arms return,

Take Orpheus too; his warm desire.

Can ne'er be quench'd by your decree;

In life or death he must admire,

He must adore Eurydicé

ICE

ICELANDIC WITCHES.

OF the witches, and the estimation in which they were held among the Danes and AngloSaxons, we have some curious notes in Erin's Rauga Saga, and other Icelandic annals. One of them is thus described: "There was an old woman named Heida, famous for her skill in divination, and the arts of magic, who frequented public entertainments, predicting what kind of weather would be the year after, and telling men and women their fortunes. She was constantly attended by thirty men servants, and waited on by fifteen young maidens." These venerable hags were all old women; for age among our ancestors was always connected with an idea of wisdom; and princes and great men were desirous to invite them to their houses, to consult them about the success of their designs, the fortunes of themselves and families, and ture event which they desired to know. occasions, they made great preparation for their honourable reception, and entertained them in the most respectful manner. The description of the witch Thorbiorga, in Rauga Saga, and her interview with Earl Thorchill, are curious. She is represented as the only survivor of nine sisters, all witches or fortune-tellers, who were famous for their knowledge of futurity, and who frequented

VOL. I.

H

any

fu

On these

frequented public entertainments, when invited. Earl Thorchill, in order to be informed when a sickness or famine would cease, which then raged in the country, sent for, and made proper preparations for the reception of Thorbiorga. On her arrival in the evening, she was dressed in a gown of green cloth, buttoned from top to bottom; about her neck was a string of glass beads, and her head was covered with the skin of a black lamb, lined with that of a white cat; her shoes were of calf's skin, with the hair on tied with thongs, and fastened with brass buttons; and on her hands were a pair of gloves, of white cat's skin, with the fur inward; about her waist she wore a Hunlandic girdle, at which hung à bag, containing her magical instruments; and she supported herself on a staff, adorned with many knobs of brass. On her entrance, the whole company rose and saluted her, and Earl Thorchill advancing, took her by the hand, and conducted her to the seat prepared for her, on which was a cushion of hens' feathers. After some ceremony, and refreshment was set before her, Thorchill, humbly approaching the prophetess, requested to know what she thought of his house and family, and if she would be pleased to tell them what they desired to know? She answered, next day she would fully satisfy them; accordingly, on the morrow, having put her in

struments