The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 281 | Page 2

a small family, unfurnished, may be had for 14 l. a year; and the most elegant in the city, in the best situation, for 60 l., including coach-house, stable, cellar, &c. A horse may be kept well for 14 l. a year. The wages of a coachman are 8 l., a housemaid 8 l., a noted cook 16 l., and a lady's-maid 10 l. The price of a chicken is 7-1/2 d.; a partridge 1 s.; a hare 2 s. 6 d.; a duck 1 s.; a turkey 2 s. 6 d.; the best bread 1-1/2 d. per lb.; common ditto 1 d.; a bottle of wine 3 d.; brandy is sold by the lb. of 16 oz. and costs 6 d.; grapes 1/2 d. per lb.; meat 3 d.; butter 4 d.; cheese 6d; 50 lbs. carrots 10 d.; other vegetables at the same rate. A dozen very fine peaches now cost a halfpenny; pears 3 d. a dozen; labourers, who work from sunrise to sunset, are fed by the proprietor, and have 6 d. per day, which, in this part of the country, will go further than three times the sum in England. The horses and oxen used about the farms are fed chiefly on straw, and do not consume more than 3 d. a day. The labouring people make a very nourishing diet from maize flour, which is fried with grease; and this, with beans, forms the principal part of their food. They neither use nor wish for meat; but at this season they have figs and grapes almost for nothing--Original Letter.
MOHAMMEDAN SUPERSTITION.
The eastern, and all Mohammedan people, considering Alexander the Great as the only monarch who conquered the globe from east to west, give him the title of "the two horned," in allusion to his said conquests. They likewise believe that Gog and Magog were two great nations, but that, in consequence of their wicked and mischievous disposition, Alexander gathered and immured them within two immensely high mountains, in the darkest and northernmost parts of Europe, by a most surprising and insuperable wall, made of iron and copper, of great thickness and height; and that to the present time they are confined there; that, notwithstanding they are a dwarfish race,--viz. from two to three feet in height only--they will one day come out and desolate the world. As Lord Mayor's Day is just approaching, perhaps some of the visiters of Gog and Magog on that occasion may decide this matter. It is almost akin to our nursery quibble of the giants hearing the clock strike, &c. &c.
PERSIAN BARBER.
The Khas-terash (literally, personal shaver) of the present sovereign has, in the abundance of his wealth, built a palace for himself close to the royal bath at Teheran. And he is entitled to riches, for he is a man of pre-eminent excellence in his art, and has had for a long period, under his especial care, the magnificent beard of his majesty, which is at this moment, and has been for years, the pride of Persia.--Persian Sketches.
LIVING IN GENEVA.
The vicinity of Geneva appears peculiarly eligible for the permanent residence of an English family. There is perhaps no town on the continent where greater facilities are afforded for a man of literary and scientific pursuits to indulge his taste or to increase his knowledge. The city is close built, and consequently not an agreeable place to live in; but its immediate environs abound with delightful spots.
The costume of the Genevese assimilates much with that of the French; but the better class of females are partial to the English fashions. The language of the country is French, but its habits and religion are widely different. Not only does the Protestant faith find here the salutary prevalence of a kindred faith, but the members of our own ecclesiastical establishment are enabled to join each other every Sabbath day in the worship of God, and at stated seasons to receive the holy sacrament according to the pure and apostolic ritual of the church of England.
The expense of a house, with a garden and piece of land, within a mile of the gates, including also the keeping of a caleche and pair of horses, for a gentleman, his lady, two children, and three servants, does not exceed 300 l. a year; and with this he is enabled to receive his friends occasionally, and in a respectable style. To proceed from a family establishment to a bachelor's pension, "I," says Mr. Seth Stevenson, in his Continental Travels, "was told that a person at Petit Saconnex has a sleeping-room to himself, and his breakfast, dinner, tea, and supper with the family, for 500 francs (20 l. 16 s. 8 d.) per annum."
The taxation of Geneva is described as very trifling. There is a sort of income-tax,