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GOETHE

A medal, in commemoration of Goethe, has been struck at Berlin.  On one side is the portrait of the deceased, by the celebrated Leonard Posch, crowned with laurel, bearing the inscription Jo.  W. DE GOETHE NAT.  XXVIII AUG.  MDCCXXXXIX.  The likeness was taken a few years ago at Weimar, and has been universally admired for its accuracy.  On the reverse is represented the Poet’s Apotheosis.  A swan bears him on his wings to the starry regions, that appear expanded above, and to which the Poet, having a golden lyre in his left arm, extends his right arm with longing gaze.  On this side is the inscription AD ASTRA REDIIT D. XXII MART.  MDCCCXXXIL—­Ibid.

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THE GATHERER.

_ Wilkes’s Luckiest Number_.—­A rich farmer in Devonshire made a will, in which the following article was found:—­“I bequeath to John Wilkes, late member of parliament for Aylesbury, five thousand pounds sterling, as a grateful return for the courage with which he defended the liberty of his country, and opposed the dangerous progress of arbitrary power.”

Owen’s Alms-houses, Islington, were founded by Dame Alice Owen, in consequence of a providential escape.  In the fields, near this spot, in the reign of Queen Mary, the archers frequently exercised with bows and arrows.  Dame Owen walking with her maid, and observing a woman milking a cow, was desirous of trying to milk the cow herself, which she did, when on leaving the cow, an arrow pierced the crown of her hat, without doing her the least injury.  In gratitude for her escape, she built the school and houses.  For many years an arrow was fixed on the top of them.  SWAINE.

Origin of Tory.—­Our friend, Mr. George Olaus Borrow, who has devoted his attention specially to the Celtic dialect, suggests that the long-disputed etymology of the word Tory may be traced to the Irish adherents of Charles II., during the Cromwellian era.  The words Tar a Ri (pronounced Tory,) and meaning Come, O King, having been so constantly in the mouths of the Royalists as to have become a by-word to designate them.  Mr. Borrow’s paper on the subject has appeared in the Norfolk Chronicle.

Toast.—­May the man who wins a woman’s heart never be instrumental in breaking its peace.

          Progress of Life.

  When man full thirty years has spent,
    The road at times both rough and stony,
  To clear life’s vapour, and repent
    He seeks the stream of Matrimony!

Caught at last.—­Sir Jervis Elwayes, lieutenant of the Tower, being much addicted to gaming, used to say, in his prayers, “Lord, let me hanged, if ever I play more.”  He broke this serious prayer a thousand times, and at last was hanged on Tower Hill, in 1615, for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury.