pear the
_staggering bob_, a calf only two days old, delicately dressed;
hodge-podge, a soup answering to that of Scotland; colcannon, a mixture
of potatoes and greens, seasoned with onions, salt, and pepper, finely
braided together after boiling; and a sea-weed sauce, either laver or
some other, the name of which we do not happen to remember. Potatoes,
fish, (fresh and salted) eggs, milk, and butter-milk, form the principal
support of the inferior class, of Irish; and whiskey the national ardent
spirit of Ireland and Scotland, is but too often, as is gin in England,
the sole support of a host of besotted beings, who drop into untimely
graves, from the _habit of intoxication_.

(_To be continued_.)

* * * * *

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_.

* * * * *

NUPTIALS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

At Susa, Alexander collected all the nobles of the empire, and
celebrated the most magnificent nuptials recorded in history. He married
Barcine, or Stateira, the daughter of the late king, and thus, in the
eyes of his Persian subjects, confirmed his title to the throne. His
father, Philip, was a polygamist in practice, although it would be very
difficult to prove that the Macedonians in general were allowed a
plurality of wives; but Alexander was now the King of Kings, and is more
likely to have been guided by Persian than Greek opinions upon the
subject. Eighty of his principal officers followed his example, and were
united to the daughters of the chief nobility of Persia.

The marriages, in compliment to the brides, were celebrated after the
Persian fashion, and during the vernal equinox. For at no other period,
by the ancient laws of Persia, could nuptials be legally celebrated.
Such an institution is redolent of the poetry and freshness of the new
world, and of an attention to the voice of nature, and the analogies of
physical life. The young couple would marry in time to sow their field,
to reap the harvest, and gather their stores, before the season of cold
and scarcity overtook them. It is difficult to say how far this custom
prevailed among primitive nations, but it can scarcely be doubted that
we still retain lingering traces of it in the harmless amusements of St.
Valentine's day.

On the wedding-day Alexander feasted the eighty bridegrooms in a
magnificent hall prepared for the purpose. Eighty separate couches were
placed for t