The Protestants of Ireland were saved from destruction in the reign of Queen Mary, by the fraternal affection and presence of mind of an inn-keeper's wife at Chester.

Dr. Cole, an intolerant bigot, was entrusted with this commission. In his way thither, he rested one night at Chester, where Elizabeth Edwards kept the inn in which he was entertained. The mayor waited on him, in his official capacity, and, during their conference, the Doctor unguardedly mentioned the murderous business which he had undertaken, and took out the commission, in the presence of his hostess, whose attention was excited by the solicitude she felt for her brother, who was a Protestant, and resided in Dublin.

When the mayor took his leave, Dr. Cole politely attended him down stairs. This was a moment not to be neglected: Mrs. Edwards adroitly took the commission out of the box, which had been inadvertently left open, and placed in its stead a pack of cards, with the knave of clubs on the top of it.

Unsuspicious of what had happened, the bloodthirsty zealot put up the box, and proceeded on his journey. On his arrival in Dublin, he presented it in form to the Lord Deputy and Privy Council. His lordship opened it; and the whole assembly were no less astonished than the commissioner himself at its contents. It appeared like the work of an enchanter. The Doctor gravely assured them, that it had contained a commission, nor could he divine by what means it was removed, and the cards substituted in its place.

Mortified and disappointed, he returned to the English court, in order to obtain a fresh commission; but Providence defeated his malevolent designs. Before he was able to reach Dublin, with his new ensigns of authority, the queen died, and her successor, Elizabeth, viewed the matter in a different light. The mystery was unravelled, and Mrs. Edwards rewarded by a pension for life, of forty pounds a year, for an action which, in the former reign, would most probably have brought her to the stake.

A recent occurrence, in one of our courts of justice, is an instance, in private life, of the same kind A person indicted for a capital crime, was released from the anxiety of nis situation by an inadvertant error of the judge; who dated the indictment 1007, instead of 1807, and by that flaw put an end to all further proceedings in the same cause, and set the prisoner free from the effects of the law, which he was accused of having violated.

Thus we see, that the fate of nations and the fortune of individuals often depend upon minute causes, which human foresight can neither retard nor advance. The agents on these occasions are sometimes ignorant of the consequences of their own actions, and unintentionally contribute to the prosperity or misfortunes of

others.

The heathens acknowledged a blind goddess, whom

they called Fortune, to whose influence they attributed events that turned upon causes apparently accidental. The vulgar, even in our day, talk of chance, good luck, and bad luck, as governing the fate of men. But, to persons of reflection, there is no meaning annexed to these terms. Nothing happens without an adequate cause and we, who believe in a superintending Providence, must acknowledge, that the issue of all things depends upon the government of the Ruler of the Universe, who sometimes effects his will by the meanest instruments, and from the most trivial circumstances produces consequences of the most important and lasting kind.

GROTTO OF ANTIPAROS.

THE beauties of nature are profusely scattered all over the surface of the earth. Animals and vegetables, as well as the glories of the sky, display an infinite variety of elegant forms, and most attractive colours. The motions of the former, their curious economy, the exact proportion of their strength and capacities to their mode of life; the progress of vegetables, from the seed to the perfect plant, yielding seed in its turn for the renewal of the species; have always attracted the admiration of mankind, and excited the highest love and gratitude to

the mighty Power that created them with such exquisite wisdom.

But these beauties are not confined to the objects that are always before us. We are told by those who have explored some of the interior caverns of our globe, that even there the same traces of a Divine architect are to be found, and that the sparry congelations, especially in some subterranean grottos, present the most elegant designs.

A friend of mine * lately returned from visiting the remains of antiquity in the Archipelago, spent the day with me yesterday, and gave me the following interesting account of his terrific descent into the celebrated Grotto of Antiparos, so named from the small island in which it is situated.

"Its entrance lies in the side of a rock, and is a spacious arch, formed of rough crags, overhung with fantastic wreaths of climbing shrubs. Our party were six, attended by the same number of guides, furnished with lighted torches. We presently lost every ray of day-light, but following our leaders, we entered into a low, narrow passage, lined on all sides with stones, that, from the reflection of the torches, glittered like diamonds, and displayed the colours of the rainbow. At the end of this passage, our guides desired us to tie a rope about our waists, and then led us to the brink of a frightful precipice. The descent was steep, and the place dark and gloomy. The exchange of the lane of diamonds, for this abyss of darkness, was very unwel

* Charles Saunders, Encyclopædia Brittannica.

come, but I had travelled far to gratify my curiosity, and I hazarded the event. The rope being held by the guides at top, I was first let down, and after dangling a minute or two, reached the bottom with my feet. My friends, encouraged by my example, followed, and we pursued our way under a roof of ragged rocks for thirty yards, hoping every moment to see the opening of the expected grotto; but our guides plainly told us we had far to go, and much to encounter, before wereached that, and those who wanted courage and perseverance had better return. None of us, however, would act so cowardly a part, though the sight of another precipice, much deeper and more formidable than the former, almost shook our resolution. By the light of the torches we could perceive that we were to plunge into a place encumbered with vast pieces of rough, rugged rocks,. and that we should be forced sometimes to climb over, sometimes to creep under them; and on the other side were numerous dark caverns, like so many wells, if one's foot should slip, that would swallow us up. Two of our guides went before us, and as we stood on the edge, we were terrified to see them go lower and lower, till they appeared at a frightful depth beneath us. When they were at the bottom, they hallooed to us, and we very reluctanty followed. In the midst of the way we came to a place where the rock was perpendicular, and a vast cavern on one side threatened destruction, whilst a wall of rugged rock seemed impassable on the other. Here again we hesitated whether to proceed or not; but the guides assured us that they had often gone the same