lved, in case of Horne Tooke's rejection
by the House as member for Old Sarum, that he would bring in his own
black footman. This report he resented and denied, sending a letter to
the newspapers, of which this is a fragment:--

"A report, as preposterous as unfounded, has lately found its way
abroad, stating that I meditated a gross and indecent insult upon
the dignity of the legislature, by using an influence which I am
supposed to possess, for the purpose of introducing an improper
character into the formation of its body.

"It becomes me to set the public right, by solemnly assuring them,
that no such idea was ever in contemplation for one moment; and
that I am at a loss to discover how the rumour originated; as, so
far from being capable of harbouring a wish to add to the
embarrassments of an unhappy and dejected people, it would be the
pride and glory of my heart, if I had the power to place such
persons in situations of responsibility, as, by their talents and
integrity, might preserve our Laws and Government and
Constitution."

The eccentricities of the unfortunate Emperor of Russia have come to
even a more rapid end than I had expected. A courier has just arrived
with the startling intelligence, that the Czar was found dead in his
chamber. The whole transaction is for the moment covered with extreme
obscurity; but it is to be feared that what the Frenchman, with equal
cleverness and wickedness, called the Russian trial by Jury, has been
acted on in this instance, and that the Russian annals have been stained
with another Imperial catastrophe.

How natural and magnificent are Shakspeare's reflections on the
anxieties that beset a crown--

"Oh, polished perturbation! golden care,
That keeps the ports of Slumber open wide
To many a watchful night: O Majesty!
When thou cost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit
Like a rich armour worn in heat of day,
That scalds with safety."

If Voltaire's definition be true, that swindling is the perfection of
civilization, and that the more civilized, the more subtle we become,
England may boast of a swindler that seems to have brought the art to
its highest perfection. She is a female, not at all of the showy order,
which beguiles so many understandings through the eyes--an insignificant
and mean person, with an ordinary face, not at all exhibiting manners
superior to her appearance, yet ce