VARIETIES. 323 



known him best can add to our unpretending remarks. Sure we are 

 they will be glad to speak of this gentleman in terms of just admi- 

 ration and honest praise; and this too without intending to detract 

 from the merits and reputation of his contemporaries. 



TITLES OF BOOKS. Many a valuable work has been injured in its 

 circulation, through the folly or affectation of the writer, in giving 

 it a quaint name, not at all indicative of its contents. " The Diver- 

 sions of Purley !" Who could ever have supposed that this was a 

 most elaborate philological work, probably the most valuable ever 

 offered to the world? Surely no human being. One of the most 

 interesting books I have ever read on Indian affairs remained for a 

 long time unnoticed and neglected, from the quaintness of its title. 

 It is called " Indian Recreations.'' Numbers, probably, as well as 

 I, supposed it to be an account of the diversions of the Hindoos. 

 Whereas, it is an account of their manners, customs, government, 

 policy, and population ; and possesses an uncommon degree of merit, 



VARIETIES. 



The first paving in London was in Holborn, " a deep and perilous 

 road," for which two ship loads of stones were ordered to be provided, 

 in 1117. 



During a storm the inhabitants of Chauffour, in the Seine-et-Oise, 

 had the imprudence to ring the bell of the church, whereby the 

 lightning was attracted, the bell melted, and the roof burnt. Fortu- 

 nately the ringer escaped unhurt. The passengers of a diligence, 

 dining in an adjoining room, were more or less affected by the 

 shock. About fifteen persons who had taken refuge in the church 

 were thrown down ; one old woman was rendered totally deaf, ano- 

 ther paralysed, and the face, head, and body of a child, were pierced 

 all over with small holes. 



During repairs at the theatre of Valenciennes, the following ex- 

 traordinary discovery was made :---A cannon ball thrown from the 

 imperial batteries during the siege, in 1793, fell upon the roof of the 

 theatre, and lodged in the ceiling of the audience part of the build- 

 ing, where it was sustained by two laths ! Thus for forty-two years 

 has this mass of iron remained suspended, like the sword of Da- 

 mocles, over the frequenters of the pit, ready to fall upon their heads 

 had any accident deprived it of its frail support. 



The Societe ^Emulation of Abbeville have opened the Tumulus 

 called the Butte de St. Ouen, at Noyell-sur-Mer, near the mouth of 

 the Somme. It was found to contain about 600 skulls, piled one upon 

 another in the form of a cone. The lower jaw remained attached to 

 all; and as there were no other parts of the body, it is evident that 

 they were interred just as they were struck from the body. The 

 tomb is probably Celtic, and the heads those of prisoners or slaves 

 sacrificed to the manes of some chief. The search is to be continued, 

 in the hope of finding the remains of the chief, or the rest of the 

 victims. 



