nastery, that is to say, two great the evil spirits might go further off ones, which he named Bartholomew to be clear of the sound. and Beladine; two of a middling size, called Turketullum and Beterine; two small ones, denominated Pega and Bega; he also caused the great bell to be made called Gudla, which was tuned to the other bells, and produced an admirable harmony not to be equalled in England." The bells used in the monasteries were sometimes rung with ropes having brass or silver rings at the ends for the hand; they were anciently rung by the priests themselves, afterwards by their servants, and sometimes by those incapable of other duties, as persons who were blind. Such was the general opinion respecting the efficacy of bells before the Reformation; but since that pe riod "it has been the usual course in the Church of England, and it is a very laudable one, that when any sick person lay drawing on, a bell should toll to give notice to the neighbours, that they might pray for the dying party, which was commonly called a passing bell, because the sick person was passing hence to another world; and when his breath was expired the bell rung out, that the neighbours might cease their prayers, for that the party prayed for was dead." It is now only tolled after death. The saint's bell was not so called from the name of the saint that was inscribed on it, or of the church to which it belonged, but because it was always rung out when the priest came to that part of the service, "Sancte, Sancte, Sancte, Domine Deus Sabaoth;" purposely that those persons who could not come to church, might know in what a solemn office the congregation were, at that instant, engaged, and so, even in their absence, be once, at least, moved, In the flourishing days of Popery, bells were actually baptized, and anointed with the chrism, or holy oil! They were also exorcised and blessed by the bishop, from a belief, that when these ceremonies had been performed, they had power to drive the devil out of the air, to calm tempests, and to keep away the plague. The ritual for these ceremonies is contained in the Roman Pontifical, and is still used in Roman Catholic countries, where it is usual to give the bells the name of some saint, as was formerly done in Eng-" to lift up their hearts to Him that land. made them." The exploded doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning bells is, that they have merit, and pray God for the living and the dead; secondly, that they produce devotion in the hearts of the faithful. "Bells," says Dr. Fuller, "are no effectual charm against lightning. The frequent firing of abbey churches by lightning, confuteth the proud motto commonly written on the bells in their steeples, wherein each intitled itself to a six-fold efficacy, viz. Men's death I tell, by dollfull knell, The passing bell was anciently rung for two purposes-one to bespeak the prayers of all good Chris-Lightning and thunder, I break asunder, tian people for a soul just departing, On Sabbath all, to church I call, the other to drive away the evil spi- The sleepy head, I raise from bed, rits who stood at the bed's foot, or The winds so fierce, I do disperse, about the house. Hence, perhaps, exclusive of the additional labour, was occasioned the high price demanded for tolling the greatest bell of the church, for that being loudest, Men's cruel rage, I do assuage. Yea, generally, when the heavens | are not exempt from this reproach; in tempests did strike fire, the stee--they all share it, though, of course, ples of abbeys proved often their in a somewhat lesser degree, with timber, whose frequent burnings the poorest villages, and the most portended their final destruction." solitary resting-places. It is to this "It has anciently been reported," circumstance that we may, in a observes Lord Bacon, "and it is still great measure, attribute the fact that received, that extreme applauses Spain has been comparatively so and shouting of people assembled in rarely visited by foreigners; the multitudes, have so rarified and account invariably given by every broken the air, that birds flying over traveller upon his return, of the have fallen down, the air not being hardships which he had experienced able to support them; and it is be- in his progress, was fully sufficient lieved by some, that great ringing of to deter any but the most enterbells, in populous cities, hath chased prising from attempting to follow away thunder, and also dissipated in his steps. It is curious, too, that pestilent air. All which may be scarcely any improvement has taken also from the concussion of the air, place throughout the greater porand not from the sound." tion of the country for the last 150 years; the accounts of recent writers exhibit nearly the same picture as those of travellers of a more remote date. Ever since the introduction of bells, the English have been distinguished for their proficiency in the art of ringing, and for their partiality to this amusement.-FAULKNER'S History of Kensington. WEIGHTS OF THE PRINCIPAL Empress Anne's, Moscow lbs.432,000 ish cannon 70,000 40,200 40,000 30,000 18,000 11,400 11,000 6,600 An "English gentleman," as he styles himself,-commonly said to be Mr. Bromley, who visited Spain towards the close of the seventeenth century, speaks somewhat pathetically of the sufferings which he endured in his tour:-" The miserable poverty in this country," he says, "and consequently very ill accommodation on the roads, makes travelling very uneasie. I had the misfortune to experience this, being forced to take up sometimes where neither bread nor lodging were to be had. I remember that late one night 10,400 I came to my inn, both cold and 6,600 wet, but could neither have bread 6,600 or wine, nor a bed to lye in, (the house affording only one poor sorry thing for the family,) no oyl for my lamp, no fewel of any kind to burn, nor any provision for our horses." And when he is about to quit, he takes his leave, hoping to meet with better entertainment in Italy than he found in Portugal and Spain, "for both their accommodation," he adds, "and the wicked vile tem SPANISH INNS. Or all the countries of civilized Europe, there is scarcely any one so notorious as Spain for the badness of the accommodation which it affords to travellers. Even its large cities, and the very capital itself, per of the people will soon tire any one, and make him give God thanks that he can say he hath with safety passed through these countries." When Mr. Swinburne travelled through Spain in the years 1775 and 1776, the state of things was scarcely improved. He and his party were obliged to journey with a complete waggon-load of baggage, carrying not only their own beds, but even their own provisionsbread, wine, meal, oil, and saltfrom one great town to another; for they seldom met with anything in the inns but the bare walls, and perhaps a few eggs, which were always sold at an unconscionable price. If they chanced to find a few unbroken chairs, they used to esteem themselves uncommonly fortunate; yet for this poor accommodation they always paid dearly. Their mode of proceeding is thus described:-" As soon as we arrive at one of these barns, called Ventas, our first care is to set up our beds. The kitchen is generally at one end, the mules stand in the back part, and our apartment is a partition run up against the wall to the street, with a hole or two for light, defended by three or four very useless iron bars, for a pigmy could not squeeze through the window. Next our cook takes his stand at the hearth, to warm our broth, which we carry ready made in a kettle behind our chaise; and if he can procure fuel and elbow-room, tosses up a hash, or some such campaign dish. Sometimes we are lucky enough to have an opportunity of setting our spit, or broiling a chop upon our gridiron ; but these are luxuries we are not to expect above once or twice in the course of a week." The Rev. Mr. Townsend, who performed his journey in 1786 and 1787, prefixed to it certain "Directions to the Itinerant in Spain," which contain a tolerably compre hensive list of the things requisite for one desiring to travel commodiously in Spain." A good constitution and two good servants are among them; the latter should be a Spaniard and a Swiss, and one of them should be sufficiently acquainted with the art of cooking, and also with the "superior art," as he terms it, of providing for the journey,-" which implies a perfect knowledge of the country through which he is to pass, that he may secure a stock of wine, bread, and meat, in places where these excel, and such a stock as may be sufficient to carry him through the districts in which these are not to be ob tained"-rather a respectable stock of qualifications. Moreover, in his baggage, for the transport of which three strong mules are to be purchased, he should have sheets, a mattress, a blanket, and a quilt, a table-cloth, knives, forks, and spoons, with "a copper vessel sufficiently capacious to boil his meat," which should be furnished with a cover and a lock; and lastly, each of the servants should have a gun slung by his side. The picture which recent travellers give us of the inconveniences attendant upon a journey through Spain at the present day, is scarcely more attractive than that drawn by their predecessors in former years. A partial improvement has, indeed, taken place on these lines of road, upon which, diligencias, or stagecoaches, similar to the well-known French diligences, have of late been established. Between Vittoria and Madrid the traveller may fare pretty well: Mr. Inglis says that he always found a clean bed and some thing upon the table, of which it was possible to make a tolerable meal. The diligence which runs between Madrid and Bayonne passes along that line of road; and preparations for the refreshment of the passengers. If any one of them does not partake of the dinner or supper which may be provided, he pays two-thirds of its price by way of indemnificacion to the master of the inn. This indemnification is looked upon by some as perfectly fair; without it the traveller by the diligencia could never count uponja meal at any posada, because it would not answer the innkeeper's purpose to incur the expense of preparation upon a road affording so few customers, without the certainty of some remuneration. are always made at fixed stations | city was threatened with an assault by surprise. The enemy was to begin the attack when the large clock of the tower, at one end of the bridge, should strike one after midnight. The artist who had the care of the clock, being informed that this was the expected signal, caused the clock to be altered, and it struck two instead of one; so the enemy, thinking they were an hour too late, gave up the attempt, and, in commemoration of this deliverance, all the clocks in Basil have ever since struck two at one o'clock, and so on. In confirmation of this story, "they show," says the Doctor, a head which is placed near to this patriotic clock, with the face turned towards the road, by which the enemy was to have entered. This same head lolls out its tongue every minute, in the most insulting manner possible. This was originally a piece of the mechanical wit of the clockmaker's, who saved the town. He framed it in: derision of the enemy whom he had so dextrously deceived. It has been repaired, renewed, and enabled to thrust out its tongue every minute for these four hundred years, by the care of the magistrates, who think so excellent a joke cannot be too often repeated." THE CLOCK OF BASLE. THE town of Basle was formerly distinguished by a singularity of rather a curious kind, and one which used to form a kind of standing joke with travellers of the last century. "I arrived," says Coxe, " at Basle, as I supposed about twelve o'clock at noon, but was much surprised to find that all the clocks in the town struck one; and, on inquiry, I was informed that they constantly go an hour faster than the real time." It was difficult to discover either the origin or the reason of this whimsical practice, to which the good people of the town adhered with the most scrupulous pertinacity. Some referred it to the period of the famous Council, and said that it was first resorted to with the view of bringing together, at a reasonable hour, the cardinals and other catholic dignitaries who attended that assembly, they having become rather too well disposed towards indolence and ease, and requiring to be thus cheated into an early attendance. The most popular story, according to Dr. Moore, the well-known author of Zeluco, and the father of the celebrated Sir John Moore, is, that about four hundred years ago, the This provoking head adorns the tower of the southern side of the bridge; but its tongue would seem to be now fixed in the ludicrous position which, in Dr. Moore's time, it assumed only every minute. According to Mr. Inglis, the origin of the figure is this:-"The Rhine divides the city into Great and Little Basil; and in former times these towns were not always in harmony with each other. It happened that Little Basil, which was not able to cope with Great Basil in open warfare, laid a scheme by which Great Basil was to be entered by stealth and surprised during the night; but the scheme being in some way | countrymen, in a past age, held the common notions upon witchcraft, but that thousands of poor, old, and innocent persons, mostly women, were condemned and executed for this alleged offence, in Great Britain alone! We say "alleged offence," when we consider the absurd stories told, and the many impostures which we know to have been contrived on the subject: at the same time, it may be well to remember the ob discovered, and the attempt frustrated, the inhabitants of Great Basil caused a figure to be placed above the archway, which looks over to Little Basil, with the tongue thrust out of the mouth, in derision of so contemptible an enemy. I have been told that the inhabitants of Little Basil would gladly have this insolent tongue removed; but the inhabitants of Great Basil still enjoy the jest, and insist upon keep-servation, of Sir William Blacking the tongue where it is." WITCHES. stone:-"It seems to be the most eligible way to conclude with an ingenious writer of our own, (Addison,) that, in general, there has been such a thing as witchcraft, though one cannot give credit to any particular modern instance of it." Too many reported cases, indeed, there are, which, from the monstrous na of the kind of evidence, and the revolting barbarity attending the last resort against the accused, were a disgrace to our ancient criminal calendars. Dr. Grey, in his notes to the poem of Hudibras says, that he had seen an account of between three and four thousand persons, who suffered death for witchcraft in the king's dominions, from 1640 to 1660. AMONG the spots and blemishes which defaced "Old England,”— -we mean England in the days even of good Queen Bess, King James, and our Charleses,-none appear of a darker dye than the evils of supersti-ture of the charge, the deep injustice tion. And of all the forms under which the superstition of our ancestors is presented to our view, the notion respecting the existence and power of witches is perhaps the most hideous and abominable. If the delusions of this kind had been so far harmless as to have kept within the minds of those persons whom they misled, we might, indeed, have wondered at such gross ignorance prevailing in the seats of learning, and amidst the bright periods of our literary history, like "the moping owl" in broad sunshine; and we might have classed them among such Vulgar Errors as those of "The philosopher's stone which should turn all to gold;""The hidden virtue in precious stones," or, "The geese, which were produced from the fish called Barnacles !" But the opinionsrespecting witches, were as cruel as they were false; and our feeling of the ridiculous is quickly turned into that of sorrow and pity, on finding not only that some of the most learned, and, generally speaking, humane of our It should be a cause of thankfulness to us, that owing to the vast, though gradual, spread of sound knowledge since that time, and more especially in consequence of the mild and pure light which is shed into almost every cottage by the Gospel, now that the Bible may be read by all in their native tongue, we are freed from these shameful and degrading fetters: except, indeed, in some few instances in distant villages. But to show that the evil once reached even to the highest, both in rank and knowledge, we quote a passage from a sermon preached before Queen Elizabeth, in 1558,by Bishop Jewel, in which the |