and a man suspended by the ribs from a gibbet, with the inscription—
"I move, without knowing whither;
I wonder I am so tranquil."
ORIGIN OF EXCHEQUER BILLS.
In the year 1696 and 1697, the silver currency of the kingdom being by clipping, washing, grinding, filing, &c., reduced to about half its nominal value, Acts of Parliament were passed for its being called in and recoined, and whilst the recoinage was going on, Exchequer bills were first issued to supply the demands of trade.
ANCIENT ETRURIAN BUST.
If we look backwards to the most remote times of Greek industry, we find that long before fire-casting became customary, almost every kind of work was carried out by the simple means of the hammer and tongs, wielded by skilful hands. Even products of art were created in this manner; and as statues, vases, and the like could not be put together by the process of soldering, nails were used for the purpose, as we learn not only from ancient writers, but even from monuments which have lately been discovered in Etruria, and the most important specimens of which are now possessed by the British Museum. In one of the tombs belonging to the vast necropolis of Vulci were discovered, about twenty years ago, a great many bronzes of this very ancient workmanship; one of them represents a bust placed on a basement covered with thin copper plates, and adorned by a row of figures, which are likewise chased; long curls fall down over the neck and shoulders, and these parts especially are formed in the most simple manner: one would be tempted to call it child-like, did not the whole composition show a certain character which enables the experienced eye of the art-philosopher to distinguish in these rude attempts at plastic metal work the very germ of those wonderfully-styled productions of a later period. The engraving here annexed, giving a side view of this remarkable, and as yet unique monument, is intended to show the arrangement of the hair, which, in spite of its simple treatment, presents as a whole some trace of grace, and principles of fine proportions. We perceive that the curls are formed by rolling and twining together small strips of bronze plate, connected with the head itself by the mechanical means we have alluded to. There is no trace of soldering; and we may be sure that we possess in this figure a good specimen of those hammer-wrought sculptures of old which were spoken of by the Greeks themselves as belonging to a fabulous period.
THE HAIRY WOMAN OF BURMAH.