purchase.

DUELLING IN FRANCE.

Different versions of the following anecdotes, respecting Mr. G—— (an English officer), may be abroad, but we give them as detailed to us:—

Mr. G——, a young English militaire of fashion and spirit, not a great while since, had the fortune to fight a couple of duels in Paris, under circumstances rather curious. He was acquainted with a French gentleman, whom nature had endowed with more tongue than with discretion and good principles;—in fact, it came to the ears of Mr. G——, that the loquacious Gaul was a revolutionist in politics, a professed atheist in religion, and (how could it happen otherwise?) a man devoid of the most ordinary principles of honour, probity, and social decencies. He was in the habit of slandering and vituperating, in the most violent manner; and, in the well-thronged cafés and salons of the French capital, not only his bon ami Mr. G——, but everything and everybody English, until our young officer, provoked by his insolence beyond all patience, taking the advice of a friend, challenged him. The Gaul, affecting to be highly irritated, at first protested that "he would never consent to degrade himself by fighting any of the d—d English;" and, with horrid imprecations, parodied Caligula's memorable malice, by wishing that "all the cursed members of that infernal nation were but one body, which he might destroy at a shot!" However, that no imputation might rest on his courage, he consented to meet his adversary—for whom, by the way, he expressed the most thorough contempt—next morning, at the Bois de Boulogne. They met; and this miserable man received the reward of his perfidy and malice, by a ball through his heart!

Some days after this affair, Mr. G—— being grossly insulted by another French gentleman—a notorious duellist, and, if we mistake not, an ally of the deceased—felt himself obliged to notice the affront in a similar manner. Monsieur —— treated the challenge with supreme contempt, begged to assure Mr. G—— that he was a dead man if they met, but professed himself much at his service if he was really bent on quitting this world, and thought the most appropriate spot for so doing would be the Champs d'Elysées. Thither next morning the parties repaired. Mr. G—— found his antagonist already on the ground, and amusing himself by firing at a mark: viz.—his glove, attached to the branch of a tree, which he shot at with such precision as to send his bullet, at every successive trial, through the aperture in the glove made by the first. Monsieur was, in truth, a splendid and formidable marksman. Mr. G——, in preparing for the duel, happening to cast his eyes on his adversary, perceived that he had slily placed his arm in such a position, as must ensure, on the honourable gentleman's fire, the fulfilment of his vaunt to make him "a dead man." No time was to be lost; the young Englishman's life depended upon dispatch; and, instantly firing, he proved himself as good a marksman as Monsieur ——, by sending his ball, with the utmost precision, through the wily manœuvrer's elbow, from whence it passed into his side; and he dropped down, disabled, if not dead. Thus did British spirit twice humble, in a remarkable manner, French insolence and presumption!

A DISTINCTION.

"La-a-dy * *," exclaimed a certain Colonel, in that very original Scotch brogue which a long acquaintance with the world has not tended in any degree to diminish, "alloo me to introduce you to my brother, Carnal M—— ——." "What!" asked the lady, "are you both Colonels?" "Oo—ay—La-a-dy * *, that are we, in troth; but the daff'rence is this, my brother, you see, is Carnal" (Lieutenant-colonel he intended to express), "and I—am fool Carnal!"

M.L.B.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

PETER PENCE

Were an ancient levy, or tax, of a penny on each house throughout England, paid to the Pope. It was called Peter-pence because collected on the day of St. Peter ad vincula. By the Saxons it was called Rome-feoh—i.e. the fee of Rome; and also Rome-scot, and Rome-pennying, because collected and sent to Rome;—and lastly, it was called Hearth-money, because every dwelling-house was liable to it, provided there were thirty-pence vivæ pecuniæ belonging to it;—nay, and every religious house, the Abbey of St. Alban's alone excepted.

This Peter-pence was at first given as a pension, or alms, by Ina, king of the West Saxons, in the year 727, being then in pilgrimage at Rome; and the like was done by Offa, king of the Mercians, throughout his dominions, in 794; and afterwards by Ethelwulph, through the whole kingdom, in the year 855.

It was not intended as a tribute to the Pope, but chiefly for the support of the English school, or college, at Rome. The popes, however, shared it with the college, and at length found means, to appropriate it to themselves.

At first it was only an occasional contribution; but it became at last a standing tax, being established by the laws of King Canute, Edward the Confessor, the Conqueror, &c. The bishops, who were charged with the collecting it, employed the rural deans and archdeacons therein.

Edward III. first forbade the payment; but it soon after returned, and continued till the time of Henry VIII., when Polydore Virgil resided here as the Pope's receiver general. It was abolished under that prince, and restored again under Philip and Mary; but it was finally prohibited under Queen Elizabeth.

WALTER E.C.

POPISH RELICS.

Ere the bright dawn of the Reformation lighted upon England, the furniture of churches appears, from ancient records, to have been of a splendid description; and vast sums are stated to have been lavished upon the images of saints, &c. Great Saint Mary's Chapel, Cambridge, is in the possession of an inventory of the goods and chattels possessed by that ancient edifice in the 19th year of Henry VII., of which the following is a transcript:—

"Item—A coat of tawney damask, purfled with velvet, appertaining to our Lady.

"Item—A coat for her son, of the same satin, purfled with black velvet, and spangled with gold.

"Item—A relic, called a box of silver with the oil of St. Nicholas.

"Item—Another little box of silver, with a bone of St. Lawrence.

"Item—A shoe of silver for the image of our Lady, and a piece of a penny, weighing in all two ounces in a box.

"Item—An image of our Lady and her Son, of copper and gilt, with a chrystal stone.

"Item—A collar of gold for to hang about our Lady's neck, of nine links in the collar.

"Item—A cap of black velvet, with fine pearl, for our Lady's son.

"Item—Two maces for St. Edmund.

"Item—Three small crowns for St. Katherine.

"Item—A cross and staff for St. Nicholas."

The orthography of this extract has been modernized, but the idiom (if any) has been retained.

JUVENIS.

ANCIENT CHAIR.

This curious relic is traditionally called the Prior's Chair, and belonged to the priory of Southwick, which formerly stood near Portsmouth, in Hampshire. It is made of oak, its several parts being fastened together with small wooden pegs. On the back of the chair, within a square panel, is carved an animal somewhat resembling a buck, which was probably the armorial bearing of the prior; as it was anciently, and is now, the custom to carve or paint on chairs placed in halls or other conspicuous places, the crest or arms of the proprietor. Above the panel are