120 
PRIVILEGES OF THE KING’S SMITH. 
The mystery being thus in some sort explained, Opay Mico 
bade farewell to the master of the great canoe, though not with¬ 
out amazement, when he considered the almost universal in¬ 
fluence of folly and superstition over the minds of the enlightened 
Europeans. 
“ Such is the wisdom,” he said, (C of the white men. They 
laugh at us for our credulity, in maintaining some scores of 
paw-was, to avert, by their howling and lacerations, the vengeance 
of the great evil being. They despise us for believing in our 
good and bad monetas , and paying a superstitious reverence to 
certain animals in the forests :—they call us rude, savage, and 
unenlightened, at the very instant when they themselves are 
putting their trust in old horseshoes ! 
Jonathan in England. 
Privileges of the King’s Smith. 
One of our historians observes that, immediately preceding 
the Conquest, the art of working in iron and steel had risen to 
such a state of improvement, that even the horses of some of the 
chief knights and barons were covered with steel and iron ar¬ 
mour. Artificers who wrought in iron were so highly regarded 
in those warlike times, that every military officer had his smith, 
who constantly attended his person to keep his arms and armour 
in order. The chief smith was an officer of considerable dignity 
in the court of Anglo-Saxon and Welsh kings, where he enjoyed 
many privileges, and his waregeld was much higher than that of 
any other artificer. In the Welsh court, the king’s smith sat 
next to the domestic chaplain, and was entitled to a draught of 
every kind of liquor that was brought into the hall—a privilege 
that many artificers of our own day will not be disposed to make 
light of.— Lardner’s Cyclopedia. 
TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
We must intrude on the forbearance of some valued Correspondents, 
whose communications shall appear in the next number. 
Mr. Jackson’s favour w as received, and shall appear in some form, but in 
its present one it is an advertisement. 
We perfectly agree with Mr. B—, that it w as unprofessional and shame¬ 
ful conduct. His letter shall appear with the names undisguised, or a mere 
outline of the affair shall be sketched : he w ill tell us which he prefers. We 
can have no squeamishness in such a business. 
Mr. Friend’s parcel has arrived, and is most welcome. He shall hear 
from us. 
