Well, said he, I guess you never saw a finer city than this New-York of ours, Blanchard, eh!

. Didn't I?' said I- Why, did you ever?' said he.

. Once or twice, I should think I have, my boy,' said I. ..Where?'

. Where!' said I, Why, where the devil do you think I should see such ?

Why, you don't mean Philadelphi, do you?' .. No,' said I, not Philadelphi.

"

Well, I calculate you mean your London, perhaps; for I know you English are mighty prejudiced. '—' I do,' said I. "Well, you are all of you awful fond of London, but is it as fine as New-York?'—' What do you mean by as fine?' «' Well, I mean is it as big as New-York, for one thing?' New-York!' said I; my dear boy, New-York is fine, very fine, I allow; but recollect it is New York. But if you were to take a piece the size of it out of the map of London, it would never be missed. That's what London is, my boy!

Well, you are a strange fellow,' he said, and off he walked (praise be given.)

-Of the written Bathos, an amusing instance is afforded in the published tour of a lady, who has attained some celebrity in literature. Describing a storm to which she was exposed, when crossing in the steam-boat from Dover to Calais, her ladyship says,-In spite of the most earnest solicitations to the contrary, in which the captain eagerly joined, I firmly persisted in remaining upon deck, although the tempest had now increased to such a frightful hurricane, that it was not without great difficulty I cou'd hold up my parasol!

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-As a worthy companion to the above, we copy the following affecting advertisement from a London newspaper. If this should meet the eye of Emma D-, who absented herself last Wednesday from her father's house, she is implored to return, when she will be received with undiminished affection by her almost heart-broken parents. If nothing can persuade her to listen to their joint appea!-should she be determined to bring their gray hairs with sorrow to the grave—

should she never mean to revisit a home where she has passed so many happy years-it is at least expected, if she be not totally lost to all sense of propriety, that she will without a moment's further delay,-send back the key of the teaciddy..

AGE OF ANIMALS.-A bear rarely exceeds twenty years; a dog lives twenty years; a wolf twenty; a fox fourteen or sixteen; lions are long lived, Pompey lived till the age of seventy. The average age of cats is fifteen years; a squirrel and hare seven or eight years; rabbits seven. Elephants have been known to live to the great age of four hundred years. When Alexander the Great had conquered Porus, king of India, he took a great elephant which had fought very valiantly for the king, and named him Ajax, dedicated him to the Sun, and let him go with this inscription: Alexander, the son of Jupiter, hath dedicated Ajax to the Sun. This elephant was found with this inscription three hundred and fifty years after. Pigs have been known to live to the age of thirty years; the rhinoceros to twenty. A horse has been known to live to the age of sixty-two, but avérages twentyfive or thirty. Camels sometimes live to the age of one hundred. Stags are long lived. Sheep seldom exceed the age of ten. Cows live about fifteen years. Cuvier considers it probable that whales sometimes live one thousand years. The dolphin and porpoise attain the age of thirty. An eagle died at Vienna at the age of one hundred and four years. Ravens frequently reach the age of one hundred. Swans have been known to live three hundred years. Mr. Mallerton has the skeleton of a swan that attained the age of two hundred and seven.

RATES OF SPEED ON RAILWAYS.

The following are the average rates of speed observed on seven of the principal English railways; London and Birmingham, 27 miles per hour; North Midland and Midland Counties, 29: Newcastle and Shields, and London and Brighton, 30; Great Western, 33; Northern and Eastern, 36.

-In a trial, where a German and his wife were giving evidence, the former was asked by the counsel, How old are you? I am dirty. And your wife! Mine wife dirtytwo. -Then, Sir, you are a very nasty couple, and I wish to have nothing further to say to either of you.

I wish to consult you upon a little project I have formed,» said a noodle to his friend. I have an idea in my head Have you? interposed the friend, with a look of great surprise; " then you shall have my opinion at once: keep it there! it may be some time before you get another. »

In a Shrewsbury Address to James I; his loyal subjects expressed a wish that he might reign over them as long as sun, moon, and stars should endure. — « I suppose, then, observed the monarch, they mean my successor to reign by candlelight."

"

-A wealthy tradesman having ordered a fish-pond at his country-house to be cleared out, the foreman discovered, at the bottom, a spring of ferruginous coloured water; and on returning to the house, told his employer that they had found a chalybeate. I am glad of it, » exclaimed the worthy citizen, " for I never saw one. Put it in the basket with the other fish, and I'll come and look at it presently. »

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Young woman, said a magistrate to a girl who was about to be sworn, why do you hold the book upside down?» I am obliged, Sir, because I am left-handed. »

-In the postscript to a letter a man hoped his correspondent would excuse faults of spelling, if any, as he had no knife to mend his pens.

-A man who had accused his neighbour of falsehood, was called on for an apology, which he gave in the following amphibological terms - I called you a liar,—it is true. You spoke truth I have told a lie..

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-To the pseudo-connoisseurs, who bring their own narrow professional feelings to the appreciation of a work of art, we recommend the following authentic anecdote :-A thriving tailor, anxious to transmit his features to posterity, enquired of a young artist what were his terms for a half length.. I

charge twenty-five guineas for a head, was the reply. The portrait was painted and approved, when the knight of the thimble, taking out his purse, demanded how much he was to pay. I told you before that my charge for a head was twenty-five guineas. I am aware of that,» said Snip; but how much more for the coat? it is the best part of the picture..

"

-We may admire the wit, without acknowledging the truth of the repartee uttered by a bachelor, who, when his friend reproached him for his celibacy, adding that bachelorship ought to be taxed by the government, replied, There I agree with you, for it is quite a luxury. »

PERMITTED TO BE PRINTED,

St. Petersburg, August 1st, 1842.

P. KORSAKOFF, CENSOR.

Printed at the Office of the «Journal de St. Petersbourg. »

A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY FROM HERAUT TO OUREN BOURG, ON THE CASPIAN, IN 1840, BY CAPTAIN SIR RICHMOND SHAKESPEAR,

[This is a narrative consisting of the journal taken by the author upon his route in 1840. Being a subaltern in the army of the Indus after the taking of Ghuznee, he was employed upon an important diplomatic mission, the object of which was to obtain the withdrawal of the Russian army, which was at that period advancing upon, and within three day's march of, the city of Khyva. Sir R. Shakespear, having marched from Heraut to Khyva, was successful in the arrangement of a treaty between the Khan of Khyva and the Russian General, the prominent conditions of which were, on the part of the latter, that he should withdraw the Russian army within the limits of the Russian empire; on the part of the former, that the Khyvans should restore to the Russians all the Russian prisoners who had been taken and held in slavery by the Muscovan subjects of the Khan of Khyva. The detention of these prisoners had always formed the pretext of Russia for its advance against the Khan's dominions; and, in order to destroy this effectually for the future, Sir R. S. guaranteed to the Russians the restoration of all the prisoners within the Khan's dominions and for this purpose, personally undertook to collect and march them in safety into Russia. He accordingly liberated and took charge of these prisoners, upwards of 500, and with the whole number crossed from Khyva to the Caspian. He left the prisoners at Ourenbourg, passed through Russia, being everywhere received with enthusiasm by the countrymen of the prisoners, and on his arrival at St. Petersburg obtained a ratification of the treaty from the Emperor, and had the honour of receiving his thanks publicly.

On his arrival in England, he received promotion and rauk for his services, and is now Military Secretary to the Commander in

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