Ricaud said, that as he was the person insulted, he had the choice of weapons, and wished to fight with scissors. 'You know,' said Lambert, a corporal of a regiment, I have forgotten the name of, 'that I am unacquainted with the point, so that if we wish to fight on equal terms, let us draw the razor.' This sadly puzzled me,

for I had no idea of the matter. Ricaud was determined to have the scissors; Lambert would not give up the razors, so that they were forced to draw lots, when the latter gained his point.

He left us and returned in about a quarter of an hour with a pair of English razors. During his absence Ricaud had instructed me concerning the manner in which they were going to fight, and the kind of duels that daily took place at Cabrera. Sometimes they fixed the halves of scissors at the end of long sticks, and used them as swords; at other times they used knife blades, razors, and sometimes even awls and sailmaker's needles.

"We took two sticks about an inch thick, and three feet long, and prepared to fix the razors on them. But as we had not what was necessary for the purpose, we went to the bazaar to buy some articles. This was the market for the prisoners. It was situated at a spot honored with the name of the Palais Royal, surrounded by ten or twelve huts, and containing as many stalls, some in the open air, others with a slight covering, with one end fixed to the ground, and the other supported by two poles. Here were sold bread, some salt fish, scraps of cloth, thread, needles, wooden forks and spoons; the various produce of the industry of the prisoners; pepper, twine, and other articles in the smallest quantity, for one could buy a single thread, a scrap of cloth no bigger than one's hand, and even a pinch of snuff, three of which cost a sous. I remember a Polish officer who owed nine pinches, and the shopkeeper refused to give him any more credit.

"We bought two bits of twine, and after fixing on the weapons, we hastened to the cemetery. It was on a hill about a quarter of an hour's walk from the Palais Royal. Since the arrival of the prisoners at Cabrera, they had uniformly chosen this spot as a place of rest for those who had sunk under their misery, or who had fallen by the hands of their companions; it was there that they also met to settle their differences in single combat.

"When we reached the ground, I again, for form's sake, spoke about making the matter up. When I saw they were determined on fighting, I told them that as I was the first cause of the quarrel, it was for me to uphold it, and take Ricaud's place. Neither he nor his adversary would agree to this, and I saw myself forced at last to give them up the weapons, which I had carried till now. Ricaud threw off his waistcoat; and as Lambert had nothing but pantaloons on, he was soon ready. They put themselves in a fighting attitude, and both displayed great coolness and courage. Lambert was

much the stronger of the two, and my friend required all his skill to parry the thrusts that were aimed at him; the razor flourished round his head and shoulders without intermission, and struck him at last on the chin. He made a furious thrust in return, but fortunately it did not reach its object fully, though it made a pretty scratch on Lambert's nose. We rushed between them, when blood began to flow; we separated them, and made them shake hands; as their wounds were not of much consequence, we all returned to breakfast together in front of our hut.”

pp. 94-96. He soon built a hut and took possession of it with three other prisoners, who had agreed with him to attempt to escape from Cabrera as soon as an opportunity should offer.

My companions and myself took care to have always more than one day's provisions in advance, and this surplus we endeavoured to increase by every means in our power, so that we might have a supply in case we were so fortunate as to escape; and this hope made our privations less painful.

Meanwhile, every one was busy at Cabrera; we had tailors, shoemakers, public criers, artisans in hair, bones, and tortoise-shell, and some who cut out with their knives little figures of animals in wood; and about two hundred men, the wreck of a dragoon regiment, raised in Auvergne, were quartered in a cave, and made spoons of box-wood. The latter had only one pantaloon and one uniform among the whole corps, and these articles seemed ready to leave them very speedily, and were delivered successively to one of their number appointed to receive their provisions. All the articles I have enumerated were sold at low prices, to the crews of the brig and gun-boats, and to some Spaniards, whom our singular mode of life, or the hope of making a good speculation, attracted to our settlement.

"But the most abundant articles with us, were professors of all kinds. One half of the prisoners gave lessons to the other half. Nothing was seen on all sides, but teachers of music, mathematics, languages, drawing, fencing, above all, dancing and single-stick. In fine weather, all these professors gave their lessons at the Palais Royal, quite close to each other.. It was quite common to see a poor devil half naked, and who had often not partaken of food for twenty-four hours before, singing a very gay air of a country dance, and interrupting it from time to time, for the purpose of saying, with infinite seriousness of demeanour, to his pupil dressed in the remains of a pair of drawers, That 's right, keep time with your partner, wheel round, hold yourselves gracefully.' A little farther on, a teacher of single-stick was showing off his acquirements, and endeavoured to excite the emulation of his pupil by such phrases as, That will do; I am satisfied with you; if you go on with the

same success, in less than a fortnight you may show yourself in company.' A scrap of paper, about as large as one's hand, was placed as a sign, and the most eminent of all our professors had no better.

"I was also desirous of doing something; but I had no notion of either giving or receiving lessons. After reflecting a great deal, I thought that on account of the want of occupation in which many of the prisoners were placed, a theatre must be eminently successful, and I was astonished that no one had thought of it before. Indeed some scenes had been performed, but it was in the open air, and had not been thought of as an object of speculation. My ideas were quite grand compared to such things. I resolved on being at one and the same time, if necessary, author, actor, director, and machinist, and to make my companions partners in my labors and the fruits of it, which were to be employed in accomplishing our favorite object.

"I could not think of establishing my theatre in the old castle, which was shut every evening, and where in fact it would not have been allowed by the hypocritical Estebrich; I thought of a vast cistern that was falling to pieces, with the pipes long ago broken off, and part of the roof fallen in. I was lowered into it by means of a cord I had bought on purpose, and I found about a foot of water, or rather mud, at the bottom. The first thing to be done was to clear it away, and this was the most troublesome part of the whole business. I wished at first to make a pump, but I soon gave up the idea. I had still sixty francs, and prevailed on Señor Estebrich to get me four leather buckets from Palma; I made a ladder, hired four prisoners at two sous each per day, and got the cistern dry on the third day of our labor. To season it, I made a huge fire of pine wood, got sand and stones conveyed to it during a whole day, and made an elevation that extended about a third of the cistern, intended for the stage; I procured some ochre and red lead; I daubed the walls yellow, with a red border; hung all round garlands of leaves, which I also made use of as a screen between the stage and the spectators, and I finished my labors by writing, not indeed on the curtain, for I had none, but on the bottom of the stage, Castigat ridendo mores.

I had long before this fixed upon the play with which my troop was to commence their operation. It was the Philoctète of Laharpe. I had formerly played the character, and still remembered it, as well as fragments of a variety of plays. I wrote them out as well as I could, and when I forgot the lines, I filled up the vacancy in prose. Darlier engaged to play the character of Ulysses. Chobar that of Pyrrhus, and a pioneer of the line, with a stentorian voice, and no small portion of sense, assumed the character of Hercules. At length, a public crier went through the camp, and gave notice

that the same evening Philoctète would be performed, with the after-piece of Marton et Frontin. I had transcribed this little piece pretty correctly, and performed it along with Chobar.

"About three hundred persons could find room in my cistern, and as I had put the places at two sous it was completely crowded; the company descended into it by the ladder I had made; and a confidential man was placed on the first step to receive the money, which he put into a little cloth bag that was tied round his neck. The theatre was lighted up by torches of pine wood, borne at different distances by the attendants of the theatre, and they lighted fresh ones in proportion as the others were consumed. All the allusions to our situation in the tragedy were noticed, with a tact that would have done honor to the taste of a more brilliant assembly. At the début,

'Nous voici dans Lemnos, dans cette île sauvage,

'Dont jamais nul mortel n'aborda le rivage,'

we were covered with shouts of applause; and I thought they would bring down the roof of the cistern when I pronounced this line,

'Ils m'ont fait tous ces maux; que les dieux le leur rendent.'

I was obliged to repeat it, and to stop for some time, to allow the agitation of the audience to be calmed.

"Such a successful beginning was well calculated to encourage us; I labored incessantly, and wrote out several plays that I recollected, and we performed them all in their turn. Our funds increased amazingly, as well as our general comforts. We left half of our profits to the general fund, and divided the rest. Ricaud had already procured himself decent clothing. I had already bought a curtain for my theatre; I had obtained ropes, nails, a hammer, and even a hatchet, for which a Spaniard had made me pay a most exorbitant price; all these objects were intended to aid us in our theatrical arrangements, but they could also be of use in our grand project, which we had not lost sight of; every evening we carefully locked them up in our hut. I was very desirous also of obtaining some arms, a sabre at least, for each of us; but I tried in vain, and did not press this matter much, for fear of becoming suspected; so that our tragic heroes were forced to be satisfied with wooden sabres." pp. 104-108.

From Cabrera, after a while, he made his escape, and again joined the French army. He afterwards served in Russia; was taken prisoner at the battle of Borodino, and sent into Siberia. Here he remained till the fall of Bonaparte, when he was sent back to France. Upon the return of Bonaparte from Elba, he joined his standard; was exposed to many dangers from the royalists after his second fall; assisted Murat to escape from

Toulon to Corsica; accompanied him in his attempt upon the kingdom of Naples; returned, after its fatal issue, to Corsica; lived here, till he was tired of a quiet life, among the mountains; then surrendered himself to the garrison at Ajaccio; was tried by a court martial; acquitted; joined the French troops in Corsica; returned with them to France; was afterwards engaged in the French invasion of Spain; was discharged at its close, and returned to his native village. Our readers, we think, will be pleased with this book. The Serjeant's stories are told with a good grace, are amusing, and probably true.

The Canon of the Old and New Testaments ascertained; or, the Bible complete without the Apocrypha and Unwritten Traditions. By ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER. Princeton.

It is very gratifying to the friends of biblical literature to receive such frequent evidence through the press, that those, who, at our different universities, are appointed to preside over its interests, are not negligent of their charge. Cambridge and Princeton, and more especially Andover, have each contributed, through their several professors, in an eminent degree, to the advancement of theological science. They have produced original treatises, honorable to the country, on a variety of topics, and have reprinted many of the most valued works of the modern theology of England and Germany. Since the very correct and beautiful edition of Griesbach, from the Cambridge press, there has been a succession of valuable books, soliciting the attention of the student, and aiding him in his researches. Cambridge has given us, among others, the "Theological Repository," as creditable for the learning and talent displayed in it, as any book our literature has produced; a reprint of Gerard's Institutes of Biblical Criticism; Wakefield's Translation of the New Testament; Sparks's Collection of Tracts and Essays, in six volumes; Willard's Hebrew Grammar; Everett's Evidences of Christianity; Milton's Treatise on Christian Doctrine, &c. Princeton has sent out within a year or two, Hodges's Collection of Theological Treatises, on a plan similar to Sparks's; Dr. Alexander's book on the Evidences, and his late work on the Canon of Scripture. And Andover has performed its part in giving us a Hebrew Grammar, by Stuart; a translation of