Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

to the king . " The account , as given by Bro . Oliver , is very interesting , ancl might have been appropriately quoted by Mr Andrews ; for the sanctuary of Beverley proved much more potent to Holland than that of Gibeon did to Joash . There are also some passages hi Bro . Oliver ' s rival historian , Poulson , worthy of quotation . But Mr . Andrews probably was pinched for space . The abstract he gives of the Beverley Sanctuary Register at pages 11 ancl 12 is very interesting . The history of sanctuary in England , down to its final abolition seven years after the death of Shakspere , is yet to be written .

Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon , the great American naturalists , are names that will ever be clear to all who really wish to make the hidden mysteries of nature ancl science their especial study ; ancl yet Wilson was a Scotsman , who woidd not have left his native land if he could have made a bare existence by his apprenticed trade of handloom weaving , his adopted vocation of pedlar , or ( what ought , perhaps , as poor Walter Orel once remarked to me , to be above all pecuniary recompense ) the

hig her position of a . poet , which his " Pack , " his " Watty ancl Meg , " ancl many other of his poems , proved him to be not entirely unfitted for . Par below the eagle fli ght of our inspired Brother , Robert Burns , was that of Alexander A \ ilson ; yet a man may be a good portrait painter without being a Walter William Auless ; ancl the Paisley poet deserved a better fate than being literally " starved out , " ancl compelled to seek across the broad Atlantic that bread—even simple oatmeal porridge would have sufficed—ivhich

his native land denied . But niggard Scotland , ivhich erects monuments withbut number to her gifted children , generally puts them well through the discipline of poverty whilst alive . Audubon , on the other hand , was a Erenchman , born in Paris , about thirty years ancl nine months after Wilson ' s birth in the Seedhills of Paisley , ancl enjoyed that careful parental training which to poor Wilson was denied ; besides , Wilson had bravely acted as a pioneer before him , though it is said that on the Scotsman calling

upon the Frenchman when soliciting subscribers for his famous book on natural history , Audubon only gave'him the cold shoulder . I see the Henderson Reporter , one of the old Kentucky papers , ' gives the following interesting particulars of the latter naturalist ' s life there threescore years ago , which I am anxious to place on permanent record for the instruction and improvement of Craftsmen who really make the liberal arts and sciences their study : —•

" As near as we can learn , Mr . Audubon moved to the Bed Banks , or Henderson , about the year 1810 or 1 S 12 . He married Miss Louisa Bakcivell , of Louisville , who bore him two sons . Mrs . Audubon and tho two sons accompanied Mr . Audubon to his new homo , and they all lived here until about the year 1822 or 1823 . He was a I ' rencliman , and , possessed of all tho energy , fire , aud vim so characteristic of thc French people , he soon embarked in business . His first enterprise was to open a grocery and dry goods store in a little one-story log house which stood upon thc corner of Main and First Streets . He lived with his family in a little one-story brick building , just in the roar of whore the Oddfellows' building standsJust where thc Post Office is located

- now . now was a pond , in which he used to catch one or more turtles every day , ivhich he used in making into his favourite dish , turtle soup . Shortly after this ho operated a very large corn and ( lour mill at the foot of Second Street . This mill was of very large capacity for those days ; iu fact , it would be regarded as of very respectable size those times . In this mill , upon thc smooth surface of timbers , wore to be found thc most life-like paintings of birds , fowls , and animals of every description which inhabited this country at that time . Mr . William X . Barret has now , it is said , thc first painting Audubon ever Made of the woodpeckerTho bird is represented sitting the limb of old tree and listen

. as upon an - ing to the familiar call of its partner . So perfect is the picture that persons have frequentl y mistaken it for a genuine stuffed hird . "While Mr . Audubon was engaged in the milling business it ivas his custom to bathe in thc Ohio . This he continued until he became the most noted of all thc swimmers who indulged in that delightful pastime . It is said of him that when the first steam-boat landed at the town , some of her machinery had become disarranged , and the boat had to remain here for several hours making miht bo occasion thisthe le

necessary repairs . As g expected upon so extraordinary an as , peop turned out en masse to see something new under the sun—the steam-boat . A number of country visitors imagined the thing had life in it . Mr . Audubon and other citizens were among tho visitors , and . during the time they were on board concluded they would indulge in their favourite amusementswimming . They undressed and began to dive from tho side of the vessel . Several members of the swimming party made successful dives from the inside of the vessel next to the bank , coming up on the outside . This was regarded as wonderful , Mr . Audubon walked to thc bow of thc boat , sprang