It has been a very ancient custom, on the night previous to the execution of condemned criminals, for the bellman of the above parish to go under Newgate, and, ringing his bell, repeat the verses beneath (which, by the above extract, it would appear, should be the duty of the clergyman), as a friendly admonition to the wretched prisoners: "All you that in the condemned hold do lie, Prepare you, for to-morrow you shall die! Watch all and pray, the hour is drawing near That you before the Almighty must appear: Examine well yourselves, in time repent, That you may not t' eternal flames be sent. And when St. Sepulchre's bell to-morrow tolls, The Lord above have mercy on your souls! Past twelve o'clock!" In the case of Stephen Gardener, who was executed at Tyburn, in 1724, the bellman chanted the above verses. This man, with another, being brought to St. Sepulchre's watch-house, on suspicion of felony, which, however, was not validated, they were dismissed. "But," said the constable to Gardener, "beware how you come here again, or this bellman will certainly say his verses over you;" for the dreaded bellman happened to be then in the watch-house.--Such proved to be the case, for the same man suffered the penalty of the law, for housebreaking, "the day and year first above mentioned." W.H.H. * * * * * The Contemporary Traveller. * * * * * NOTES OF A TOUR IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY. _By Alexander Sutherland, Esq. Member of the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh_. We lost sight of the Needles at sunset. There was little wind; but a heavy weltering sea throughout the night. Nevertheless, our bark drove merrily on her way, and at day-break the French coast, near Cape de la Hogue, was dimly visible through the haze of morning. At dawn the breeze died away; and as the tide set strongly against us, it was found necessary to let go an anchor, in order to prevent the current from carrying us out of our course. The surface of the ocean, though furrowed by the long deep swell peculiar to seas of vast extent, looked as if oil had been poured upon it. The vessel pitched prodigiously too; but neither foam-bubbles nor spray ruffled the glassy expanse. Wave after wave swept by in majesty, smooth and shining like mountains of molten crystal; and though the ocean was agitated to its profoundest depths, its convulsed bosom had a character of sublime serenity, which neither pen nor pencil could properly describe.