his
life. He mounted guard at the Ducal Palace during an
interregnum, and bore the red standard before the new doge on
his inauguration; for which service his perquisites were the
Ducal Mantle, and the two silver basins from which the doge
scattered the regulated pittance which he was permitted to
throw among the people.--_Amelot de la Houssaye_, 79.

* * * * *

MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

* * * * *

CAMBRIAN SUPERSTITIONS.

We noticed the preparation of this work at p. 315 of our last volume,
and there gave a few anticipatory extracts. The author is Mr. W.
Howells, of Tipton, whose good fortune it has been to secure a list of
Subscribers to his work, of gratifying length and flattering rank. The
origin of the volume is curious enough, and is thus explained in the
Preface:

"My inducement for presenting to the public these tales of 'by-gone
days' was the advertisement of the very Rev. Archdeacon Beynon, which
appeared in the Carmarthen Journal, of _May_ 21, 1830, proposing
a reward of twenty guineas, with a medal value three guineas, for
the _best printed_ English Essay, 8vo. containing 500 pages, on
the Superstitions, Ghosts, Legends, &c. of _all parts_ of the
principality, to be delivered _before February_ 3, 1831. Now when
the limited period proposed for the collection of 500 pages of matter,
and the above little adjective _all_ is considered, it must appear
obvious that such an Herculean labour is not capable of being
accomplished by _one_ individual alone.--Imagining it, therefore,
to be a matter of impossibility to perform what the very reverend
gentleman requires, I cannot consistently with propriety offer myself
as a candidate, but will say--'_Palmam qui meruit ferat_.'

"I have had considerable trouble to collect the stories which appear in
the work, being also two years from attaining my majority, and having so
short a period to collect them, as the book is hastily ushered before a
discerning public, I trust they will overlook any imperfections which
may appear."

The production of the work is creditable to the enthusiasm of, legally
speaking, the infant author; and we should be happy to learn that our
insertion in the _Mirror_ of some of the pieces in this volume has
fostered its growth. We quote an interesting passage on

_Fairy Rings._

In the youthful days of an aged fr