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s of diminutive size. Thus ended our love adventures at the University. Our heroine we have never heard of since, and we have resisted the most tempting offers from the loveliest of her sex; and in spite of sighing heiresses and compassionate old maids, we are still a bachelor; and a bachelor, in defiance of all their machinations, we are firmly determined to remain.--_Blackwood's Magazine._ * * * * * MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. * * * * * CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS IN THE NETHERLANDS. (_For the Mirror_.) Many singular customs are observed in the Netherlands at Christmas, and as they materially differ from those known in England, a brief notice of _one_ of them may probably prove acceptable to the readers of the MIRROR. In almost every Dutch town, and in every considerable village, the following custom prevails:--At a little after two o'clock in the morning of Christmas-day, a number of young men assemble in the market-place, and sing some verses suited to the occasion. One of the young men bears an _artificial star,_ which is fixed to a pole, and elevated above the heads of the people; it is very large, and is rendered beautifully transparent when a light is placed in the inside. This artificial luminary is intended to represent the star of the east, which directed the wise men to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ. At a little distance, the appearance is exceedingly brilliant, for there is no other light among the populace to diminish its lustre, and the whole scene is singularly picturesque. The resplendent light issuing from the star strikes powerfully upon the countenances of the principal actors, while those more remote receive only a faint and subdued gleam. The silvery effulgence of the moon, the sombre and deserted look of the buildings around, and the general stillness that pervades every object, save the scene of action, might inspire the mind of a Rembrandt, or introduce to the mere casual beholder feelings at once new and poetical. After parading through the town, the youths repair in a body to the residence of some opulent inhabitant, where their arrival is welcomed with shouts and clapping of hands, and where they are entertained with a plentiful repast. G.W.N. * * * * * THE JEWS. Their present actual numbers may, perhaps, not exceed six millions--numbers, however, probabl
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