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BARBAROUS MODES OF PUNISHMENT IN PERSIA.

MANY barbarous modes of punishment now in use in Persia are of ancient institution. Rebels were burned alive, or sawed in two. The victims of political differences had their eyes put out, or their ears, noses, or hands cut off. These were amusements for the ancient, as they are for the modern sovereigns of this country. During the civil contests which followed the death of Kerim Khan, Zachee Khan, who usurped the government, coming to the town of Yezdikhast, made a sudden demand on the magistrates for a sum of money due to the government, which he accused them of secreting. They denied the arrears, asserted they had no money concealed, and it was out of their power to collect the sum he required. On finding the unhappy citizens firm in their declarations, he, without more ado, ordered a certain number of the most respected characters in the town to be taken to a rock, near the window where he sat, and immediately hurled to the bottom of the precipice, where they lay a mangled spectacle of horror. One of the wretched victims still survives, a circumstance which, to those who look at the height of the rock, appears miraculous. The present rulers are of a more benignant character, but the infliction of punishment is still often too

summary.

Robbery is treated with the utmost severity. One of the princes, having, in a journey, found a band of niountaineers in the act of dividing their plunder, caused their bodies to be frightfully mutilated, and sent them to their friends and neighbours, to warn them of the consequences which that crime would be sure to bring after it in Persia.

How different this from the institution of regular trials, which, by the delay and deliberation they imply, accustom the offended, however powerful, and however justly indignant, to repress the acts which flow from their hasty resentment !—Mr. Kinneir tells us, that he saw two thieves built up in a wall, where they were left to perish.-MALte Brun.

THE BLOOD-FISH, OR CARIBITO. OUR Indians caught with a hook the fish known in the country by the name of Caribe, or CARIBITO, because no other fish has such a thirst for blood. It attacks bathers and swimmers, from whom it often carries away considerable pieces of flesh. When a person is only slightly wounded, it is difficult for him to get out of the water without receiving a severe wound. The Indians dread extremely these Caribes; and several of them showed us the scars of deep wounds in the calf of the leg, and in the thigh, made by these little animals. They live at the bottom of rivers; but if a few drops of blood be shed on the water, they arrive by thousands on the surface. When we reflect on the number of these fish, the most voracious and cruel of which are only four or five inches long; on the triangular form of their sharp-cutting teeth, and on the amplitude of their retractile mouth, we need not be surprised at the fear which the Caribes excite in the inhabitants of the banks of the rivers Apurê and the Oroonoko. In places where the river was very limpid, and where not a fish appeared, we threw into the water little morsels of flesh covered with blood. In a few minutes a cloud of Caribes came to dispute the prey. The belly of this fish has a cutting edge, indented like a saw; its body towards the back is ash-coloured, with a tint of green; but the under part, the gill-covers, and the pectoral fins, are of a fine orange. The Caribito has a very agreeable taste: as no one dares to bathe where it is found, it may be considered as one of the greatest scourges of those climates, in which the sting of the mosquitoes, and the irritation of the skin, render the use of baths so necessary.-HUMBOLDT.

THE HONEY-GUIDE. In the travels of Sparrman in the Hottentot country, the following interesting description is given of a bird, which is called the honey-guide. It is rather

THE HONEY-GUIDE.

larger than a sparrow, is very fond of honey, and it points out in the most sagacious manner the nests of the bees to the bears. When these brutes destroy a nest of bees, this bird feeds voraciously upon the honey which is spilt. As soon as it has discovered a nest of bees, it looks out for some companion to attack it. It entices a bear by its piercing cries, and conducts it to the vicinity of the nest. The bird flies before it, and rests at intervals, awaiting its companion in the chase, and exciting it, by fresh cries, to follow it. But, in proportion as it approaches the nest, it shortens the space of its stations, and its cry becomes less frequent. If, sometimes impatient of arrival at the nest, it has left its companion far behind it, it returns to him, and appears, by its redoubled cries, to reproach him for his slowness. Having arrived at the nest of the bees, it alights, and rests quietly on a neighbouring tree or bush, awaiting the end of the expedition, and that part of the booty which belongs to it. The Hottentots never fail to leave it that portion of the comb which contains the eggs and young, of which this bird is more voracious than of honey itself. M. Sparrman having offered to the Hottentots who accompanied him an ample recompense of tobacco and glass beads, if they would assist him in catching a honey-guide; they rejected his proposal, saying that this bird was their friend, and they would not betray it.

Ir is particularly worth observation, that the more we magnify, by the assistance of glasses, the works of nature, the more regular and beautiful they appear; while it is quite different in respect to those of art: for when they are examined through a microscope, we are astonished to find them so coarse, so rough and uneven, although they have been done with all imaginable care by the best workmen. Thus God has impressed, even on the smallest atom, an image of his infinity.ŠTURM.

WHENEVER, (said Dr. Johnson,) whenever chance brings within my observation, a knot of young ladies busy at their, needles, I consider myself as in the school of virtue; and though I have no extraordinary skill in plain-work or embroidery, I look upon their operations with as much satisfaction as their governess, because I regard them as providing a security against the most dangerous insnarers of the soul, by enabling them to exclude idleness from their solitary moments, and, with idleness, her attendant train of passions, fancies, chimeras, fears, sorrows and desires.

LONDON:

JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND.

Ir may justly be feared, that those persons never grieved PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, for their own sins who can rejoice at other people's.

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LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL. THE early history of the Sce of Llandaff is involved in considerable obscurity. Godwin adverts to the rumour, that the church was founded by King Lucius about the year 180; but as he could not discover that any bishop sat there before Dubritius, it is probable that he had no predecessors, since the memory of his successors is so carefully preserved. According to Fuller, Dubritius was consecrated Bishop of Llandaff by Germanus and Lupus in the year 426, and sat sometimes at Caerleon and sometimes at Llandaff. Usher, Godwin, and other authorities, state that he was not appointed Archbishop of Caerleon till 490, and that he held the two sees till 512, when he resigned Llandaff to his disciple, St. Teilo. In 519 he resigned Caerleon to his successor, St. David, (who removed the metropolitan see from Caerleon to Menevia,) and retired to Bardsey Island, on the coast of Carnarvonshire. His bones were removed from thence to Llandaff in 1120, and deposited before the high altar, where stood a monument attributed to him.

In 1717 Mr. Wotton gives a detailed description of the cathedral to Browne Willis. He notices the Duke of Bedford's, or north-west tower; the southwest tower," seeming to be as old as the church;" the nave and side aisles, 110 feet in length from the west door to the screen; the choir, with its stalls; the bishop's throne, erected by Bishop Marshall in Edward the Fourth's reign; the altar-screen, also the work of Bishop Marshall; the organ-loft over the stalls on the north side of the choir, with some shattered remains of an organ, given after the Restoration of Charles the Second by Lady Kemeys, of Cefn Mabley; the Chapter House, and the Lady Chapel. He enumerates various monuments, and adds, that the roof of the nave and choir was of timber, and that there was no painted glass in the windows.

The cathedral had been much injured during the great Rebellion. In 1697, Bishop Bull, Archdeacon of Llandaff, observes, in writing to a friend, "I have a true desire to see you, and discourse with you, especially about our sad and miserable church at Llandaff. Tremendous storms in 1703 and 1720 damaged the battlements, and expedited the ruin of the nave and choir. * In 1723 a large portion of the roof of the nave fell in, and the choir becoming useless, the service was removed to the Lady Chapel.

St. Teilo, to whom several churches in Wales are dedicated, (as Llandilo,) lived in great repute for sanctity till his death in 540. A ring was found on opening a tomb in the cathedral in 1764, supposed to be the episcopal ring of St. Teilo, a large, dull, heart-shaped amethyst, set in gold, and ornamented with enamelled leaves, probably of Italian workmanship; it was in the Strawberry Hill collection.

St. Teilo was succeeded by St. Odoceus, and it is said by Godwin, "that during these three bishops' times, so much riches had been bestowed on Llandaff, that if it enjoyed the tenth part of that which it has been endowed with first and last, it would be one of the wealthiest churches in Christendom, whereas it has now hardly sufficient to repair itself." The date of the death of Odoceus is uncertain. Bishop Urban may fairly be considered as the founder of the present church. He was consecrated in 1108. He found the old cathedral (a structure of small dimensions), in a ruinous state; in 1119 he exerted himself to obtain funds for the projected edifice, which was commenced on the 14th of April, 1120, and dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. The west front, (with the exception of the north-west tower, which was built by Jasper, Duke of Bedford, about the year 1485,) and the Lady Chapel, with its roof of groined stone, are favourable specimens of early English architecture; the south-west tower, which is in the same style, was tolerably perfect in 1787.

There are three circular enriched doorways in the nave; over that to the west is a small statue of St. Dubritius.

Among the individuals who have filled this see, we may also notice John de Monmouth, consecrated in 1296, who was recommended to the Pope by Archbishop Peckham* for his skill in the Welsh language. Nor should Bishop Morgan be passed over in silence, termed by Wood a very learned man," and the translator of the Bible into Welsh. He was consecrated in 1595. His successor, Godwin, compiled the catalogue of the Bishops of England, " a work," says Wood, in his Athene Oxonienses, "which will ever be admired and read by all true lovers of antiquities." Within the last seventy years, the See of Llandaff can boast of the distinguished names of Shipley, Barrington, Watson, Marsh, Van Mildert, Sumner, and last, though not least, of Copleston, the talented and munificent prelate who at present presides over this diocese.

Cole MSS. Brit, Mus.

Strenuous exertions were made by Bishops Clavering and Harris, and the Chapter, to procure subscriptions for the restoration of the cathedral. In 1737, £2000 had been expended, and about £1500 more was required. It would be superfluous to observe, that the worst taste is exhibited in these reparations. The greater part of the nave was suffered to remain a ruin. A Grecian façade deforms the entrance to the present nave and choir, while the Gothic windows and pointed arches in this part of the original building are unaltered, except the two eastern arches. The clerestory windows, and those over the altar and west door, are Grecian. The cumbrous screen, stalls, bishop's throne, and pulpit, as well as the stuccoed ceiling and cornices, are in the same style; the old screen, stalls, altar-screen, and Bishop Marshall's throne having been destroyed; but a portion of the painting on the latter representing the bishop on his knees, addressing the Virgin in the clouds, was discovered a few years ago, on the removal of the heavy Grecian portico erected over the altar: Bishop Harris, in a letter to Browne Willis, written in 1736, says that the "conceit of this portico" was taken by Wood the architect, "from a description in Josephus."

To the east of the choir stands the Lady Chapel, seventy feet in length. It has sustained but little mischief from the devastating hand of renovation; a large Grecian window has replaced the pointed one at its eastern extremity. The circular arch which separated this chapel from the choir, is worthy of notice, from the peculiarity of its form.

The monuments suffered severely during these operations. A beautiful monument of Sir William Matthew, and Jenette his wife, which stood in the old nave, was taken to pieces, and deposited in the chapter-house. Sir W. died in 1500. Various tombs of bishops changed their position, but the elaborate monuments of Christopher Matthew, who died in 1500, and Elizabeth his wife, to the north side of the Lady Chapel; that of Christian Audley, of the time of Henry the Fourth, to the south of the same; and that of David Matthew, in Edward the Fourth's reign, at the end of the north aisle;

remain untouched.

In the modern nave is a massive monument,

erected by public subscription to the memory of Benjamin Hall, Esq., M.P. for the county of Glamorgan, who died 1817; it is a fac-simile of the well-known sarcophagus of Hadrian, executed in gray marble.

The celebrated "Peter Bell," now in Exeter Cathedral, once hung in a tower, (now destroyed,) not far from the present Cathedral at Llandaff, and to the S.W. of the churchyard. The bell weighs 12,500 pounds; it was removed to Exeter about the year 1484, and was recast in 1676.

In conclusion, may we be allowed to express a hope, that the zeal evinced by the laity in the restoration of York Minster and the Cathedral of Peterborough, may at no distant period- be extended to Llandaff; so that we may no longer exclaim, on viewing the beautiful relics of this temple of God,"thy servants look upon her stones, and it pitieth them to see her in the dust." CYMRO.

Ir belongs in truth to the church of God to suffer blows, not to strike them. But at the same time let it be remembered, that the church is an anvil which has worn out many a hammer.-Beza,

THERE is no quality of the mind, by which men, even good men, are more apt to be misled than zeal; particularly zeal in religion, "zeal of God," as St. Paul terms it. Where the object is good, the quality is of high value: “it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing;" and beyond controversy, no object can be better than the promotion of God's glory, and the furtherance of his religion. But it ought not to carry us beyond the bounds of moderation. It ought to be regulated by a correct knowledge of the nature and character of the religion which we profess, and which we are desirous of furthering; and it ought to be brought into subjection to the dictates of that religion: a religion, not furious, fiery, implacable, cruel; but "peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." They who act for the furtherance of that religion, in a manner inconsistent with its dictates, show that however sincere be their “zeal of God," it is "not according to knowledge;" or, "that they know not what manner of spirit they are of." Every deviation from the rules of charity and brotherly love, of gentleness and forbearance, of meekness and patience, which our Lord prescribes to his disciples, however it may appear to be founded on an attachment to him and zeal for his service, is in truth a departure from the religion of Him, "the Son of Man," who "came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them."-BISHOP MANT.

Ir is impossible to estimate the amount of evil which
mankind would experience in their civil capacity, were the
Scriptures no longer considered of divine origin, nor con-
stituted the ultimate standard of all moral and political
obligation. All reverence for the laws would cease, for the
lawgiver would have only his own authority, or the mere
glimmerings of the law of nature, to enforce his commands;
while those who had to obey the laws would soon have
every just and equitable principle banished from their
minds, and every sacred feeling obliterated from their bo-
soms. The whole fabric of society would soon go to pieces,
if men were removed beyond the sphere of the public and
private sanctions of scriptural morality.-BLAKEY.
WHAT I have done is worthy of nothing but silence and
forgetfulness; but what God hath done for me is worthy
of everlasting and thankful memory.-BISHOP HALL.

BETTER to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than
ruined by too confident a security.—BURKE.

A WORD OF ADVICE TO THE DISCONTENTED.

HOSPITAL FOR ANIMALS.

I VISITED at Surat, (in the East Indies,) a place called the Pinjra Pol, which is appropriated for the reception of old, worn-out, lame, or disabled animals. At that time, they chiefly consisted of buffaloes and cows; but there were also goats and sheep, and even cocks and hens; some of which latter had lost their feathers, and here, shorn of their plumes, walked

about the courts without molestation.

This establishment is supported by the Hindú Banians of Surat; and is situated in that part of the suburbs of the city called Gopipura, between the inner and outer walls. Animals of every description, and from all parts, are admitted to the benefits of this institution; as with their number, the Banians conceive they increase the general happiness, and their own reputation.

The establishment occupies a court about fifty feet square; to which there is a large area attached, to admit of the cattle roving about: it is strewed with grass and straw on all parts, that the aged may want neither food nor bedding. There are cages to protect such birds as have become objects of charity, but most of them were empty: there is, however, a colony of pigeons, which are daily fed.

By far the most remarkable object in this singular establishment is a house on the left hand on entering, about twenty-five feet long, with a boarded floor, elevated about eight feet: between this and the ground is a depository where the deluded Banians throw in quantities of grain which gives life to and feeds a host of vermin, as dense as the sands on the sea-shore, and consisting of all the various genera usually found in the abodes of squalid misery.

The entrance to this loft is from the outside, by a stair; which I ascended. There are several holes cut in different parts of the floor, through which the grain is thrown: I examined a handful of it which had lost all the appearance of grain: it was a moving mass, and some of the pampered creatures which fed upon it were crawling about on the floor-a circumstance which hastened my retreat from the house in which this nest of vermin is deposited. The Pinjra Pol is in the very midst of houses, in one of the most populous cities in Asia; and must be a prolific source of nightly comfort to the citizens who reside in the neighbourhood; to say nothing of the strayed few who manage to make their way into the more distant domains of the inhabitants.

It did not appear that there was any regular period for feeding the vermin; many Hindús being in the habit of throwing in handfuls of grain, at different times, as suits their notions of duty. It is an annual custom in Surat to convey to this place the refuse of all the Banians' granaries in the town; and, at all times throughout the year, to dispose of such grain as may have become unfit for use, in this manner. The house of which I have now been speaking is exceedingly warm; and has a most disagreeable closeness, which I attributed to the quantity of decayed vegetable matter that must have been accumulating for many years, as the people them

selves are not aware at what time this establishment was first founded. There are similar institutions to the one I have just described, at almost every large city on the western side of India, and particularly at those places where the Banians or Jains reside. They have their origin, it is well known, in the great desire which possesses the minds of these people to preserve animal life; and though it is comprehensible to a native of Europe why aged cows and horses are preserved, from the circumstance of their having ALEX. NICCHOLES. 1615. done their owners some service, still there can be no

There's discontent from sceptre to the swain,
And from the peasant to the king again.
Then whatsoever in thy will afflict thee,
Or, in thy pleasure seem to contradict thee,
Give it a welcome as a wholesome friend,
That would instruct thee to a better end.
Since no condition from defect is free,
Think not to find what here can never be.

stronger instance of human caprice than to nurture a noxious and offensive mass of vermin, which every other race but themselves are anxious to extirpate and destroy. The great body of Hindús do not protect and preserve animal life as the Banians do; but it is a very common practice among them to feed with regularity pigeons, and even the fish in rivers. I have seen too, at Anjár, in Cutch, an establishment of rats, conjectured to exceed five thousand in number, which were kept in a temple, and daily fed with flour, which was procured by a tax on the inhabitants of the town!!

[From a paper by LASUTENANT BURNES, in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.]

STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF

VEGETABLES.

size of the trunk, but it increases gradually until the tree reaches maturity; after that period, it again diminishes in volume, and in extreme old age completely disappears. The structure of this portion of the plant is cellular; the cells in the outer part being circular, and those in the centre of a hexagonal form (six sided.) The celebrated Linnæus, endeavoured to discover some analogy between the pith in a tree, and the brain and spinal chord in man, but it has been since proved to be an organ of secondary importance, and not by any means necessary to the life of the plant. Surrounding the pith, we find the heart-wood, this is the portion of the tree that has been formed in previous years, and may be considered as dead wood, the fluids contained in its pores not being in active circulation. A series of circular marks of a lighter colour than other portions of the wood are likewise visible; these have the name of the spurious grain, and their number indicates the age of the tree, one circle being formed every year; other lines are also seen branching out from the centre in all directions; these constitute the silver grain. The next great circle is the alburnum or sap-wood; it is white, and full of moisture, and consists of innumerable tubes of various forms, through which the sap rises and falls, or is conveyed to different parts of the plant. The alburnum in the birch, contains so much sugar and mucilage, that it is sometimes cut into junks, and used as bread by some of the inhabitants of the north of Europe. The following figures are supposed to represent the Fig. 1. different forms of Fig. 2. the tubes or organs of

ALTHOUGH vegetable life is considered inferior to animal life, and although the structure of a vegetable is far from being equally complicated, still, it consists of an infinitely greater series of organs, than is in general imagined. A vegetable has not, it is true, the power of moving from place to place, nor that of voluntary action, but every arrangement necessary of voluntary action, but every arrangement necessary for its growth and nourishment, and for the perpetuation of its species, is to be found in the most insignificant production of the vegetable world, as perfectly formed, and as beautifully arranged, as in the most elevated being in the scale of nature.

If we make a horizontal section of the trunk of a tree, or shrub, we shall find the parts of which it is composed, arranged in circles round a common centre.

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Alburnum.

PORTION OF A SECTION OF THE BRANCH OF A TREE.

'The annexed engraving represents the magnified appearance of a small portion of a horizontal section of a tree, showing the cut ends of the vessels that convey nourishment to the various parts.

In the centre, at c, is seen the pith, which in very young plants is small, in proportion to the

nourishment.

The simple tubes, fig, 1, contain the resinous and oily fluids which are found in various plants; the porous tubes, fig. 2, are filled in the same manner, and are supposed to convey these fluids into the sap,

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to produce new changes; the trachee and the

false trachea, fig. 3

and 4, are generally

filled with thin wa

tery liquids, and probably, carry off the superfluous mois

ture, and allow the harder parts to become more solid. The outermost portion of the tree is called the bark,

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and is itself composed of three parts; the innermost, formed by the cortical layers, is of a fibrous texture, and contains canals or tubes, running in various directions; the cortical layers are surrounded by the parenchyma, which is a soft substance, consisting of cells filled with fluid, and generally of a greenish colour. The functions of these last two parts are of great importance. The tubes of the fibrous parts appear to be the organs that receive the sap, the cells seem destined for the elaboration of its parts, and for the exposure of them to the action of the atmosphere, and the new matter is annually produced in the spring immediately on the inner surface of the cortical layer of the last year."

The third, or outermost part of the bark, is the epidermis or cuticle, and varies much in different

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