usurper, Oliver Cromwell, styled Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland; with the original dyes for the medals struck in honor of his victory at Dunbar, &c., &c., are now exhibiting at No. 5 in Mead Court, Old Bond Street (where the Rattlesnake was shown last year). A genuine narrative relating to the acquisition, concealment, and preservation of these articles to be had at the place of exhibition. -Morning Chronicle, March 18, 1799.

Cromwell died at Hampton Court in 1658, giving the strongest evidence of his earnest religious convictions and of his sincerity as a Christian. After an imposing funeral pageant, the body having been embalmed, he was buried in Westminster. On the restoration of the Stuarts he was taken up and hung in Tyburn. Afterwards his head was cut off, a pike driven up through the neck and skull, and exposed on Westminster Hall. It remained there a long while, until, by some violence, the pike was broken and the head thrown down. It was picked up by a soldier and concealed, and afterwards conveyed to some friend, who kept it carefully for years. Through a succession of families, which can easily be traced, it has come into the possession of the daughter of Hon. Mr. Wilkinson, ex-member of Parliament from Buckingham and Bromley.

The head is almost entire. The flesh is black and sunken, but the features are nearly perfect, and the hair still remains. Even the large wart over one of the eyes-a distinctive mark on his face is yet perfectly visible. The pike which was thrust through the neck may still be seen, the upper part of iron, nearly rusted off, and the lower or wooden portion in splinters, showing that it was broken by some act of violence. It is known historically that Cromwell was embalmed; and no person thus cared for was ever publicly gibbeted except this illustrious man. It is a curious keepsake for a lady; but it is carefully preserved under lock and key in a box of great antiquity, wrapped in a number of costly envelopes. And when it is raised from its hiding-place and held in one's hand, what a world of thought is suggested!

POPE'S SKULL.

William Howitt says that, by one of those acts which neither science nor curiosity can excuse, the skull of Pope is now in the private collection of a phrenologist. The manner in which it was obtained is said to have been this :- -On some occasion of alteration in the church, or burial of some one in the same spot, the coffin of Pope was disinterred, and opened to see the state of the remains. By a bribe to the sexton of the time, possession of the skull was obtained for the night, and another. skull was returned instead of it. Fifty pounds were paid to manage and carry through this transaction. Be that as it may, the skull of Pope figures in a private museum.

WICKLIFFE'S ASHES.

The Council of Constance raised from the grave the bones of the immortal Wickliffe forty years after their interment, burned them to ashes, and threw them into a neighboring brook. "This brook," says Fuller, "conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean; and thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." "So," says Foxe, "was he resolved into three elements, earth, fire, and water, thinking thereby utterly to extinguish both the name and doctrine of Wickliffe forever. But as there is no counsel against the Lord, so there is no keeping down of verity. It will spring and come out of dust and ashes, as appeared right well in this man; for, though they digged up his body, burnt his bones, and drowned his ashes, yet the word of God and truth of his doctrines, with the fruit and success thereof, they could not burn. They to this day remain."

Cardan, and Burton, the author of the Anatomy of Melancholy, who were famous for astrological skill, both suffered a voluntary death merely to verify their own predictions.

Life and Death.

ALL death in nature is birth, and in death appears visibly the advancement of life. There is no killing principle in nature, for nature throughout is life: it is not death that kills, but the higher life, which, concealed behind the other, begins to develop itself. Death and birth are but the struggle of life with itself to attain a higher form.-FICHTE.

I came in the morning,-it was spring,

And I smiled;

I walked out at noon,-it was summer,
And I was glad;

I sat me down at even,-it was autumn,
And I was sad;

I laid me down at night,-it was winter,
And I slept.

BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS OF LIFE.

What a fine passage is that of Bishop HEBER, which is said to have suggested to COLE his justly-famed series of paintings, entitled The Voyage of Life!

Life bears us on like the stream of a mighty river. Our boat at first glides swiftly down the narrow channel, through the playful murmurings of the little brook and the windings of its grassy borders: the trees shed their blossoms over our young heads, and the flowers on the brink seem to offer themselves to our young hands; we rejoice in hope, and grasp eagerly at the beauties around us; but the stream hurries us on, and still our hands are empty.

Our course in youth and manhood is along a wider and deeper flood, and amid objects more striking and magnificent. We are animated by the moving picture of enjoyment and industry that is passing before us; we are excited by some short-lived success, or depressed and rendered miserable by some shortlived disappointment. But our energy and dependence are alike in vain. The stream bears us on, and our joys and griefs are left behind us: we may be shipwrecked, but we cannot

anchor; our voyage may be hastened, but cannot be delayed; whether rough or smooth, the river hastens toward its home; the roaring of the waves is beneath our keel, the land lessens from our eyes, the floods are lifted up around us, and we take our last leave of earth and its inhabitants, and of our future voyage there is no witness save the Infinite and the Eternal!

THE ROUND OF LIFE.

From the Aphorisms of Dr. Horne, Bishop of Norwich :-
Some are serving, some commanding;
Some are sitting,-some are standing;
Some rejoicing,- —some are grieving;
Some entreating,-some relieving;
Some are weeping,-some are laughing;
Some are thirsting,-some are quaffing;
Some accepting,-some refusing;
Some are thrifty,-some abusing;
Some compelling,-some persuading;
Some are flattering,-some degrading;
Some are patient,-some are fuming;
Some are modest,—some presuming;
Some are leasing, some are farming;
Some are helping,—some are harming;
Some are running,-some are riding;
Some departing,-some abiding;

Some are sending,-some are bringing:
Some are crying,-some are singing;
Some are hearing,-some are preaching;
Some are learning,-some are teaching;
Some disdaining,-some affecting;
Some assiduous,-some neglecting;
Some are feasting,-some are fasting;
Some are saving,-some are wasting;
Some are losing,-some are winning;
Some repenting,-some are sinning;
Some professing, some adoring;
Some are silent,-some are roaring;
Some are restive, some are willing;
Some preserving,—some are killing;

Some are bounteous, some are grinding;
Some are seeking,-some are finding;
Some are thieving,-some receiving;
Some are hiding,-some revealing;

Some commending,-some are blaming;
Some dismembering,-some new-framing;
Some are quiet,-some dispu ing;
Some confuted and confuting;
Some are marching,-some retiring;
Some are resting,-some aspiring;
Some enduring,-some deriding;
Some are falling,-some are rising.
These are sufficient to recite,

Since all men's deeds are infinite;

Some end their parts when some begin;

Some go out, and some come in.

RULES OF LIVING.

From Rev. Hugh Peters' Legacy to his Daughter.

London, A.D. 1660.

Whosoever would live long and blessedly, let him observe these following rules, by which he shall attain to that which he desireth :

The great American philosopher and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, drew up the following list of moral virtues, to which he paid constant and earnest attention, and thereby made himself a better and happier man :—

Temperance.-Eat not to fulness; drink not to elevation. Silence.-Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.