of so extraordinary a description, that the most credulous, who may not have witnessed similar instances of human weakness, would, if they were related, suppose they were stories invented for the mere purpose of amusing, and turning into ridicule the follies and affectation of those, who are apt to assume and encourage such monstrous absurdities.

However disinclined some may be to give credit to the tale, it is a well-known fact, that a certain Nobleman in the circle of a neighbouring court, who resided a few years back not a hundred miles from the Hague, had from his birth such an extraordinary antipathy to a thimble, that, at the mere sight of one, a most unaccountable qualm came over him, which it was not in his power to overcome, till the horrific instrument of industry was removed from his sight.

In short, his lovely and lively daughters, whenever they had a point to carry, or wished for a little recreation from their studies and embroidery; had only to pursue the simple stratagem of holding up their middle finger, and to threaten, as they frequently did with an arch smile, then to sit down quietly to work! Away with ye-away with ye ye little saucy baggages, if it must be so-any thing but the thimble," was usually the reply upon these occasions; and away the little ramblers scampered.

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In countries where nobles and plebeians unite their fate in one, and hold in contempt "the pomp

of heraldry," this extraordinary aversion might be attributed to the recollection of a thimble being added to the family arms, by a seamstress or a tailor; as some people, who can lay no claim to the ensigns of great achievements by descent, have been known to take for their crest the emblem of the trade or employment that they originally followed.

A pair of shears, for instance, is not unfrequently the armorial bearings of a tailor; a black's head the crest of a tobacconist; and, a goose's quill becomes the scribbler's pride. But, Batavian heraldry descends uncontaminated by plebeian quarterings; consequently no such reason could be assigned for the extraordinary aversion here alluded to.

NUMBER XX.

ON SELF-CONVICTION.

If you mention vice or bribe,

'Tis so put to all the tribe,

Each cries, that was levell'd at me.

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"THE errors and foibles of which human nature are guilty," says a celebrated moralist, frequently cause a man to identify himself in the form of another. Similarity in events brings him acquainted with himself, and he is apt to draw a parallel when he meets with a character bearing some resemblance to his own."

"It requires no great penetration to find out who is alluded to throughout this narrative," says one, " and it's plain enough that this is aimed at me," says another; "the self-sufficient heroes and assuming upstarts alluded to are no strangers to us," cries a third; "and in short, the whole concatenation of events throughout this drama cannot fail to bring us to a conviction of ourselves."

When conscience thus becomes its own accuser, let them fix the satire who feel they deserve it. Should the shoe press too hard upon a tender

nerve, they have only to blush at their folly and to cast it from them for ever; choosing a less dangerous path for the time to come, that they may walk on peaceably, without the fear of pain and torture.

But "No," say the incorrigible, "I am not the petulant and haughty ruler that I am taken for; but I'm for ever tormented with one or another setting forth a grievance; and as I cannot redress them all, the wisest plan is to pay no attention to any !"

"Nor am I the blockhead that I'm represented to be," exclaims another, "as the splendid provision bestowed on me at this moment testifies." And again," It is impossible that I can be the witless upstart so unmercifully railed at, being indebted to my own capabilities alone for the protection I have experienced! And if, as has been intimated, I have no brains of my own, I've at least had wit enough to make use of other people's, which has answered my purpose just as well. Nor am I the hasty avenger of fancied insults-the passionate barbarian, or the unfeeling perpetrator of crimes so odious as those with which I am charged;" continue a race of mortals whose consciences smite them to the quick for having acted with similar injustice and cruelty.

Witless cavillers! whether ye admit, or whether ye disclaim the charge, ye do but corroborate the evidence against you. The very denial betrays your guilt. Aware that you deserve the wound,

in turning to escape you betray yourselves; and in the very act of receding to avoid, receive the arrow that, perhaps, was levelled at a different object. The following occurrence may serve to illustrate the opinion that" He who has a conscience gives evidence against himself!"

An itinerant Jew, well known in one of the principal cities of the Netherlands, after committing a most daring robbery some years ago, inhumanly murdered the individual from whom he had stolen the property; and in order to elude the hands of justice, immediately after he had perpetrated the crime, flew for refuge to a neighbouring province. After an absence of ten or a dozen years, trusting that things were blown over, and that the affair was forgotten, he ventured to return to the place where he had committed the depredation; inquiring, when he came within the suburbs, if the person who had executed the horrid deed of so long standing, had yet been detected? Being answered in the negative, and perceiving that there was not even a surmise to deter him from proceeding, he entered the city, with his bag on his shoulder, crying-old clothes -old clothes-cot any old clothes to sell? But, alas! in one of his peregrinations, about a mile from the town, two or three days after his arrival, he by chance espied some officers of the police at a little distance; and feeling a qualm of conscience come over him, he kept looking back and quickening his pace, lest he should be overtaken. The

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