For the honor of human nature I trust, that many, very many years have gone by, since any such atrocities were practised, upon the sea-coast of New England. The late Dr. Holbrook, of Milton, related an incident, which occurred, during the last war with Great Britain, extending not beyond mere pilfering; and which, in the case of one individual, at least, had rather an amusing termination. A vessel was wrecked, on Nantasket beach; and, her cargo was broken up, and scattered along the shore. On the following day, Dr. Holbrook was hastily summoned, to visit a patient, who was thought to be dying. He was thoroughly exhausted, and had vomited, through the whole day, a substance, in no degree offensive, but, on the contrary, exceedingly aromatic and agreeable. Nevertheless, he was sinking from exhaustion. Dr. Holbrook could not prevail upon the patient to admit, that he had partaken of any other, than his customary diet. His wife stated, that he had been absent the preceding night, and had not told her, in what manner he had been engaged. At last, the doctor gravely informed him, that it was folly to practise such deception; that, unless a physician knew the nature of the poison, he could not easily prescribe an antidote; and, that, if he persisted in his folly, death might be the consequence. At this, the fellow, who, with others, had been pilfering from the wreck, became thoroughly frightened; and, with an expression of great terror, confessed, that he feared he had _eaten rather too heartily of nutmegs_. No. CIII. In the Transcript of August 14, I notice an editorial criticism, upon the recent employment of the word _catafalque_. In primitive strictness, I believe that criticism to be perfectly correct; and that, in its original signification, _catafalque_ cannot be understood to mean a _funeral car_. In the _grand Dictionaire_, by Fleming & Tibbins, _catafalque_ is thus defined--"_decoration funebre qu'on eleve au milieu d'une église pour y placer le cercueil ou le representation d'un mort a qui l'on veut rendre les plus grands honneurs_." Herse is defined, by the same lexicographers, "_un cercueil, une biere, voiture pour porter un mort au tombeau, un char funebre, corbillard, pierre tumulaire provisoire_." Thus, while _catafalque_ seems to signify an ornamental structure, erected in the middle of a church, to support the coffin or the effigy of the dead, whom it is intended to honor--_herse_, at the present day, is understood to mean a coffin, a bier, a carriage to bear the dead to the tomb, a funeral car, a van, a temporary mausoleum or gravestone. _Herse_, whose etymology, according to Johnson, is unknown, imported, three hundred years ago, a temporary structure, in honor of the dead; such also is the meaning of the word _catafalque_; of this, there cannot be the slightest doubt. In this sense, herse was employed by Shakspeare, in his Henry IV.: