in praise of the city and the assembly present, and concluding with an oration, equally unpremeditated, in praise of ignorance. He then published another challenge; in which he declared himself ready to detect the errors of Aristotle, and all his commentators, either in the common forms of logic, or in any way which his antagonists should propose, of a hundred different kinds of verse. These acquisitions of learning*, however stupendous, were not gained at the expence of any pleasure in which youth generally indulges, or by the omission of any accomplishment in which it becomes a gentleman to excel. He practised in great perfection the arts of drawing and painting. He was an eminent performer in both vocal and instrumental music. He danced with uncommon gracefulness; and on the day of his disputation at Paris, exhibited his skill in horsemanship, before the court of France; where at a public match of tilting, he bore away the ring upon his lance fifteen times together. He likewise excelled in domestic games of less dignity and reputation: and in the interval between *The endowments of Crichton are rendered still more astonishing, if we consider the disadvantages which the scholars of the 15th century laboured under in their pursuits of literature; arising from the scarcity of books, such as dictionaries, grammars, and treatises, which tend so much to smooth the path to erudition; printing being then in an infant state. his challenge and disputation at Paris he spent so much of his time at cards, dice, and tennis, that a lampoon was fixed upon the gate of the Sorbonne, directing those who would see this monster of erudition, to look for him at the taverns. So extensive was his acquaintance with life and manners, that in an Italian comedy composed by himself, and exhibited before the court of Mantua, he is said to have personated fifteen different characters; in all of which he might succeed without great difficulty, since he had such powers of retention, that by once hearing an oration of an hour's length, he could repeat it exactly, and, in the recital, follow the speaker through all his variety of tone and . gesticulation. Nor was his skill in arms less than in learning, or his courage inferior to his skill. There was a prize-fighter at Mantua, who travelling about the world, according to the barbarous custom of that age, as a general challenger, had defeated the most celebrated masters in many parts of Europe; and in Mantua, where he then resided, had killed three antagonists. The duke repented that he had granted him his protection; when Crichton, looking on his sanguinary success with indignation, offered to stake. fifteen hundred pistoles, and mount the stage against him. The duke with some reluctance consented to this proposal; and the day being fixed, the combatants appeared. Their weapon seems to have been the single rapier, which was then newly introduced Into Italy. The prize-fighter advanced with great violence and firmness; while the other contented himself by calmly parrying his passes, and suffering him to exhaust his vigour by his own fury. Then Crichton became the assailant; and pressed upon him with such force and agility, that he thrust him thrice through the body, and saw him expire at his feet. He divided the prize which he had won among the widows whose husbands had been killed by his opponent. The death of this wonderful man I should be willing to conceal, did I not know that every reader will enquire curiously after that fatal hour which is common to all human beings, however distinguished 'from each other by nature or by fortune. The duke of Mantua, having received so many proofs of his various merits, made him tutor to his son Don Vincentio de Gonzago, a prince of loose manners and turbulent disposition. On this occasion it was that he composed the comedy in which he exhibited so many different characters with exact propriety. But this honour was of short continuance; for as he was one night, in the time of the carnival, rambling about the streets with his guitar in his hand, he was attacked by six men masked. Neither his courage nor his skill in this exigence deserted him: he opposed them with such dexterity and spirit, that he soon dispersed them, and disarmed their leader; who throwing off his mask, discovered himself to be the prince, his pupil. Crichton, falling on his knees, took his own sword by the point, and presented it to the prince: who immediately seized it, and-instigated, as some say, by jealousy; according to others, only by drunken fury and brutal resentment, plunged it in his heart! "Thus was the admirable Crichton brought into that state in which he could excel the meanest of mankind by only a few empty honours paid to his memory. The court of Mantua testified their esteem for him by a public mourning; the cotemporary wits were profuse of their encomiums; and the palaces of Italy were adorned with pictures representing him on horse-back, with a lance in one hand and a book in the other." SINGULAR DISCOVERY OF A MURDER. The godstake aim before they strike the blow; MARTIN LUTHER used to relate the following story: A traveller fell among thieves, who ferociously resolved to murder him. Whilst they were putting into execution their horrid resolutions, the unfortunate man lifting up his eyes to Heaven, observed a flock of crows which hovered over his head. Revenge my death" exclaimed the unhappy traveller, ye birds of luckless omen!" A few days after this inhuman transaction, the thieves entered a house in an adjoining town, when one of the party, who ob served a large collection of crows gathering round, said sarcastically, "Here they are come to revenge the death of the traveller whom we slaughtered some few days since." The servants of the house hearing these words, related them to the master, and he to the magistrate, and the villains soon suffered a punishment adequate to their crime. SIMILITUDE OF GREAT MEN. I FLATTER myself I shall ere long be in the way of becoming a great man, for have I not headachs, like Pope? vertigo, like Swift? grey hairs, like Homer? do I not wear large shoes, (for fear of corns) like Virgil? and sometimes complain of sore eyes, (though not of lippitude) like Horace? am I not at this present writing, invested with a garment, not less ragged than that of Socrates? Like Joseph the patriarch, I am a mighty dreamer of dreams; like Nimrod the hunter, I am an eminent builder of castles (in the air). I procrastinate, like Julius Cæsar; and very lately, in imitation of Don Quixotte, I rode a horse, lean, old, and lazy, like Rosinante. Sometimes, like Cicero, I write bad verses; and sometimes bad prose, like Virgil. This last instance I have on the authority of Seneca. I am of small stature, like Alexander the Great; I am somewhat inclinable to fatness, like Dr. Arbuthnot and Aristotle; and I drink brandy and water, like Mr. Boyd. I might com |