and after a hearty meal made our arrangements to pass the night in our carriage.

We left Perdinone about six o'clock, and travelled very steady all night, changing horses and postillions at each post, which were nine or ten miles from each other, except one or two which were fifteen miles, or a post and a half. At each of these posts we found persons ready to receive us with lanthorn light; the horses were taken off and changed in a few minutes.

During the night we passed through Saule, Conegliano, Locidina, and Treviso, all small villages, except Treviso, which is a city of some consideration, and about nine o'clock in the morning arrived at Mestre.

Mestre is a large village on the borders of the Adriatick, or rather at the head of it, N. W. from Venice about five miles; this was our last stage by land, and we immediately embarked in a gondola for the capital. There is a broad canal leading into the heart of this village, and is a mile or more in extent. We were rowed down this canal, the banks of which were extremely pleasant; we passed some fine gardens, beautiful villas, and then opened into a smooth bay, across which the eye was immediately directed to the domes, palaces, and glittering spires of Venice. The morning was fine, the prospect around us highly interesting, and it was a pleasant transition from the noise and jostling of our carriage to the ease and pleasurable conveyance of a gondola.

As these gondolas are a kind of boat peculiar to Venice, are of great use and convenience here, and have something singular in their construction, and manner of manoeuvreing them, they may bear a description. Some thousands of them are employed in and about this city. They are in shape and form somewhat like an Indian canoe, very long, from twenty to twentyfour feet, terminating extremely sharp at each end, and both stem and stern turn up in a curve, and rise high above the water. The sides of the boat are low. The stern ends in a point, but on the stem is raised a steel plate three inches wide, which is erect about a foot, then turns forward, and its width is suddenly dilated to the size and shape of a large broad axe. There are five other flat pieces of steel of two inches wide that project forward from the stem horizontally, these are arranged one above another, with their planes vertical, and their ends forming a line with the edge of the broad axe above, which edge is straight and perpendicular. The uppermost of these five transverse plates goes through the one that rises from the stem, and projects aft as well as forward. I never could learn the origin or use of this figure. The turn in the upper part of it appears something like the neck of a stately bird, but whether or not it was meant to represent this or any other appearance of nature or art, I know not. The figure is however universal and invariable with these gondolas. The whole of this mass of steel is of con

siderable weight, and is always kept bright and polished. The boat is wide in the middle, and has a little coach-house erected in it, which will admit four persons to set comfortably, or six with a little squeezing. At each side there is a glass window, as in a coach, with blinds, shutters and curtains; the back is closed, and the fore part is the entrance, which is opened and closed by a door. The outside of this little cabin is always covered with black cloth, coarse or fine as the owner chooses to apply expense, and is ornamented with fringe, tags, and tassels of the same colour. The inside is lined with cloth, silk, or velvet, generally black also. There is a large cushion of down or feathers for the back seat, and stuffed stools for those at the sides. They are always kept extremely clean, and thus equipt they are certainly very pleasurable conveyances. Here you may lay, or sit at your ease, and amuse yourself with a book or your mistress, while you glide along the canals through the city, or take the fresh air on the bosom of the fine bay which surrounds it. On a summer evening a gondola is a tempting resort, and they are not unfrequently, it is said, converted to the purposes of intrigue, assignations, and secret amours. This may well be expected from the loose and dissolute manners of the Venetians; and the gondoliers, who have obtained the reputation of fidelity and inviolable secrecy, contribute their share also to favour and encourage the trade.

Although these boats are sometimes rowed with three or four oars, they are more frequently managed with one, and with one only they are managed with great dexterity. The man stands aft upon a little deck, which covers seven or eight feet of that part of the boat, and rows with his oar always on the same side, and it is surprising to see with what facility and exactness he guides his little bark to the right or left, with the same sweep of the oar which impels her forward. In passing along the canals, though they are continually meeting, they seldom touch each other; and when they are to pass a corner or turn into another canal, they call out, and are answered, if another happens to be coming that way; by this they avoid falling suddenly upon each other, and although they go rapidly along, each guides his bark so as to go clear.

When we embarked at Mestre our gondolier asked us what part of the city we would be carried to. We told him we should ledge at the Queen of England hotel, and he brought us to the very door, so that we stept out of the boat on one of the marble steps of the entrance to the house. This is a peculiarity at Venice; the city is built in the water, and the boats go to the doors of every house in it: in this manner you are transported about the town, you have only to call a gondola and it comes to your door to receive you, and carries you to the door you want

to enter.

And now behold us arrived in Venice. It is a noble city, and

the circumstance of its rising as it were from the bosom of the water, makes it curious and interesting. We have taken lodgings at the Queen of England hotel; the house is large, but as there is much company here we could not get a very handsome apartment. The best chamber unoccupied was offered us, and as we did not know where to look for a better, we accepted it. As soon as I had dined I was asked if I wanted a valet de place, and a man presented to me who offered his services. They are generally employed by gentlemen who visit here, and are useful and necessary, not so much to clean your shoes, or wait upon you in the house, as to attend you as a guide about the city. I did not hesitate to employ the first that was recommended, and as it happened he spoke good French and some English, so he is useful also as an interpreter. He charges a dollar a day; this is considered however, as high wages, lately they did not get half that amount; this increase is occasioned by the numerous company of strangers now collecting in Venice.

When we were a little refreshed by our repast, we dressed and took a turn into the city. We were conducted immediately to St. Mark's Place. This is a most superb view certainly! a very spacious square, inclosed on three sides by magnificent palaces, and the noble edifice of St. Mark's church on the other. The whole area, a square of two or three acres, is paved with marble, the surrounding palaces are marble, and directly in front, as we entered the square, the lofty tower of St. Mark's rears its stately head to the skies.

The tower of St. Mark's is three hundred feet high, and you may ascend to the walk in the belfry, not by steps, but on an inclined plane; it is quadrangular, each side perhaps thirty feet, and the inclined plane or walk winds up the sides within. The belfry is a handsome balcony with a marble balustrade. From this elevated station Gallileo frequently made his astronomical observations.

The fronts of the palaces on this square form colonnades of lofty marble columns, supporting galleries which project from the second story; the space within the columns, which is covered by the galleries, affords a spacious walk where company usually resort. Along these walks opposite the columns, on one side of the square, there are a range of rich and showy shops, principally watch-makers and jewellers; on the other side the square are coffee houses. We passed through this square on our way to the exchange, where I expected to find a gentleman to whom I had letters of introduction; we found him there,. and he received us with great civility. From him we understood that the emperour Napoleon was expected here in a few days, and that every body was occupied in making preparations to receive him. The spectacle on the water upon this occasion he said, would be highly worth seeing, as well as the theatrical entertainments, and he very politely assured us that he should

secure us places where we might enjoy both. Great numbers of boats with rich and shining ornaments are preparing to go out to meet the emperour and conduct him into the city. The Venetians are a kind of aquatic animals: they are born in the water, and as they have great pride as well as skill in preparing entertainments upon this element, we may expect that upon this occasion it will be brilliant indeed.

In coming to the exchange we past over the Rialto, the famous bridge so called, and which is the only one that crosses the grand canal; those that cross the other canals are very numerous. This is a very high arch of masonry, the chord of which is eighty-nine feet, being less than the width of the canal by the abutments. The walk on the bridge is paved, and there are a range of shops on each side of you as you go over it. This conceals the sight of the bridge from a passenger on it, but seen from the canal, it has a noble effect.

At the exchange, which is on the grand canal, we took a gondola and returned to our hotel. On our way we passed under the Rialto; it is a handsome piece of architecture, and we now had an opportunity of viewing all its beauties.

From every part of the grand canal you have a fine prospect; the sumptuous palaces which rise along its borders, the balconies which hang over it, their reflected images in the water, and the numerous boats which are passing swiftly along in every direction, render the scene extremely lively and beautiful.

[TO BE CONTINUED.]

SILVA, No. 54.

Et paulum silvae super his foret.

Hor. Lib. 2. Sat. 6. v. 3.

JOHN HUSS.

The following is the prophecy of Huss, which he is said to have pronounced to the council of Constance, who by a decree in violation of a safe conduct from the Emperor Sigismund, passed A. D. 1415, ordered him to be burnt....." You are now going to roast a Goose; (Hus is German for a goose) but in a hundred years a Swan (Luther in German is a Swan) will come, whom ye shall not be able to destroy."

JEWS HARP.

WHO invented this delectable instrument, and at what period its melody first vibrated on the ear; whether its origin is fairly ascribable to a descendant of Abraham, or to Vincentio Galilei, or Martianus Capella, or any other of the learned musicians of old de Lancaster, it is impossible to say. Cumberland has made the last mentioned character display vast erudition upon all sorts of harps, but no poetry. Let David Williams, or his successor, set to musick the following ode to a Jews Harp, which is probably the offspring of James Boswell's muse.

Sweet instrument! which, fix'd in yellow teeth,
So clear, so sprightly and so gay is found,
Whether you breathe along the shore of Leith,
Or Lomond's lofty cliffs thy strains resound;
Struck by a taper finger's gentle tip,

Ah softly in our ears the pleasing murmers slip!

Where'er thy lively musick's found,

All are jumping, dancing round :
Ev'n trusty William lifts a leg,

And capers, like sixteen, with Peg;

Both old and young confess thy pow'rful sway,
They skip like madmen and they frisk away.

Rous'd by the magick of the charming air,

The yawning dogs forego their heavy slumbers,

The ladies listen on the narrow stair,

And captain Andrew straight forgets his numbers.
Cats and mice give o'er their batt❜ling,
Pewter plates on shelves are ratt❜ling,

But falling down, the noise my lady hears,

Whose scolding drowns the trump more tuneful than the spheres.

DUTCHMEN.

Every one knows, that they burn peat or turf in Holland. The Dutch have been well compared to their own fuel, which it is very hard to get completely on fire, and which it is vain to attempt to hasten; but when once on fire, it holds its heat for ever.

WILLIAM NOY.

Howell says of Noy, that "with infinite pains and indefatigable study he came to his knowledge of the law;" but I never heard a more pertinent anagram than was made of his name..... I.Moyl in Law.