The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 20, No. 578, December 1, 1832 by Various
page 54 of 56 (96%)
page 54 of 56 (96%)
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to Zoffani, in the Gallery, was much pleased with his performance, and
asked him his name; and on hearing it, inquired what countryman he was, when he answered, "An Englishman."--"Why," said the Emperor, "your name is German!"--"True," returned the painter. "I was born in Germany, that was accidental; _I call that my country where I have been protected!_" He was a member of the Royal Academy, and died in 1808. P.T.W. * * * * * _Watching for the Soul._--Margaret of Valois, Queen of Navarre, being present at the death-bed of one of her maids of honour, continued to fix her eyes on the dying person with uncommon eagerness and perseverance till she breathed her last. The ladies of the Court expressed their astonishment at this conduct, and requested to know what satisfaction her majesty could derive from so close an inspection of the agonies of death. Her answer marked a most daring and inquisitive mind. She said that having often heard the most learned doctors and ecclesiastics assert, that on the extinction of the body the immortal part was set at liberty and unloosed, she could not restrain her anxious curiosity to observe if such separation were visible or discernible; that none had she been able in any degree to discover. She was suspected of Hugonotism, and was so devout as to compose hymns. _Harvest-home._--This custom a Correspondent believes to be exclusively English; and its rapid disuse in many parts of England cannot be but a source of regret to those who study the moral enjoyment of the labouring classes of society. The social meal is now recompensed by a trifling sum of money, which is either the resource of drunkenness |
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