a music-master, whilst very young, invented the scale or gamut of C
notes, which was then esteemed miraculous.[4] Happily for him the matter
took this turn; for otherwise he would have suffered death. The
religious superstition was so strong, that any unusual effects of human
nature were attributed to diabolical operations; and, in such instances,
the reputed authors were either beheaded or burnt. Such was the fate of
an unhappy wretch who had discovered the secret of making glass
malleable. This sublime genius made a goblet of this glass; and, being
conducted into the presence of Henry, in 1022, he threw it on the
ground, when, instead of breaking, it bent, and suddenly resumed its
original shape. The ignorant emperor, believing him to be possessed with
the devil, ordered him to be beheaded.--_Life of Gregory VII. By Sir
Roger Greisley, Bart._

[4] Erycius Puteanus (Vander Putten,) added the seventh note to
complete the octave, in the sixteenth century.

* * * * *


ODD DISPUTE.


During the coronation of Conrad II., Emperor of Germany, in 1204, a
dispute arose between a Roman and a German for a vile ox's hide. It
began with blows, proceeded with stones, and ended by an appeal to arms;
and, after a stout resistance on the part of the Roman people against
the German army, the former were obliged to fly, and were almost totally
massacred. The remainder, although humbled, and in a wretched condition,
were constrained the next day to pass barefooted before the