| Sir.—Mons. Compigne, a Savoyard by birth, | a Friar of the order of Saint Benedict, |
| is the man who will present to you | as his passport to your protection, |
| this letter. He is one of the most | discreet, the wisest and the least |
| meddling persons that I have ever known | or have had the pleasure to converse with. |
| He has long earnestly solicited me | to write to you in his favor, and |
| to give him a suitable character, | together with a letter of credence; |
| which I have accordingly granted to | his real merit, rather I must say, than to |
| his importunity; for, believe me, Sir, | his modesty is only exceeded by his worth, |
| I should be sorry that you should be | wanting in serving him on account of being |
| misinformed of his real character; | I should be afflicted if you were |
| as some other gentlemen have been, | misled on that score, who now esteem him, |
| and those among the best of my friends; | wherefore, and from no other motive |
| I think it my duty to advertise you | that you are most particularly desired, |
| to have especial attention to all he does, | to show him all the respect imaginable, |
| nor venture to say any thing before him, | that may either offend or displease him |
| in any sort; for I may truly say, there is | no man I love so much as M. Compigne, |
| none whom I should more regret to see | neglected, as no one can be more worthy to be |
| received and trusted in decent society. | Base, therefore, would it be to injure him. |
| And I well know, that as soon as you | are made sensible of his virtues, and |
| shall become acquainted with him | you will love him as I do; and then |
| you will thank me for this my advice. | The assurance I entertain of your |
| Courtesy obliges me to desist from | urging this matter to you further, or |
| saying any thing more on this subject. | Believe me, Sir, &c., RICHELIEU. |
Passage through the Isthmus of Panama, Suggested Three Hundred Years Ago.
In the Town Library (Stadt Bibliothek) of Nuremberg is preserved an interesting globe, made by John Schoner, professor of mathematics in the gymnasium there, A. D. 1520. It is very remarkable that the passage through the Isthmus of Panama, so much sought after in later times, is, on this old globe, carefully delineated.
A False Conclusion.
Amongst the deliramenta of the learned, which have amused mankind, the following deserves a place:—
In 1815 a noted London professor occupied a window which overlooked the college garden. Amid the trees in the latter a number of rooks had taken up their abode. A young gentleman, who lodged in an attic opposite, frequently amused himself by shooting the rooks with a cross-bow. The professor noticed that the birds frequently dropped senseless from their perches, no sound being heard, no person being visible. It was a strange phenomenon, and he set his wits to work to account for the cause of it. At length he became fully satisfied that he had made a great ornithological discovery which would add vastly to his fame. He actually wrote a learned treatise, stating what he had seen, and declaring that it was a settled conviction in his mind that rooks were subject to falling sickness.
Posies from Wedding Rings.
Hamlet.—Is this a prologue, or a posy of a ring?
The following posies were transcribed by an indefatigable collector, from old wedding rings, chiefly of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The orthography is, in most cases, altered:—