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diff --git a/10026-0.txt b/10026-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b90133a --- /dev/null +++ b/10026-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1508 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10026 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 10026-h.htm or 10026-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/0/2/10026/10026-h/10026-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/0/2/10026/10026-h/10026-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 268.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +HOSPITAL OF ST. THOMAS, CANTERBURY. + +[Illustration] + + +The subject of the above engraving claims the attention of the +antiquarian researcher, not as the lofty sculptured mansion of our +monastic progenitors, or the towering castle of the feudatory baton, for +never has the voice of boisterous revelry, or the tones of the solemn +organ, echoed along its vaulted roof; a humbler but not less interesting +trait marks its history. It was here that the zealous pilgrim, strong in +bigot faith, rested his weary limbs, when the inspiring name of Becket +led him from the rustic simplicity of his native home, to view the spot +where Becket fell, and to murmur his pious supplication at the shrine of +the murdered Saint; how often has his toil-worn frame been sheltered +beneath that hospitable roof; imagination can even portray him entering +the area of yon pointed arch, leaning on his slender staff--perhaps some +wanderer from a foreign land. + +The hospital of St. Thomas the Martyr of Eastbridge, is situated on the +King's-bridge, in the hundred of Westgate, Canterbury, and was built by +Becket, but for what purpose is unknown. However, after the +assassination of its founder, the resort of individuals being constant +to his shrine, the building was used for the lodgment of the pilgrims. +For many years no especial statutes were enacted, nor any definite rules +laid down for the treatment of pilgrims, till the see devolved to the +jurisdiction of Stratford, who, in 15th Edward III. drew up certain +ordinances, as also a code of regulations expressly to be acted on; he +appointed a master in priest's orders, under whose guidance a secular +chaplain officiated; it was also observed that every pilgrim in health +should have but one night's lodging to the cost of fourpence; that +applicants weak and infirm were to be preferred to those of sounder +constitutions, and that women "upwards of forty" should attend to the +bedding, and administer medicines to the sick. + +This institution survived the general suppression of monasteries and +buildings of its cast, during the reigns of Henry VIII. and the sixth +Edward; and after alternately grading from the possession of private +families to that of brothers belonging to the establishment, it was at +last finally appropriated to the instruction of the rising generation, +whose parents are exempt from giving any gratuity to the preceptor of +their children. + +Its present appearance is ancient, but not possessing any of those magic +features which render the mansions of our majores so grand and +magnificently solemn; a hall and chapel of imposing neatness and +simplicity are still in good condition, but several of the +apartments are dilapidated in part, and during a wet season admit the +aqueous fluid through the chinks and fissures of their venerable walls. + +SAGITTARIUS. + + * * * * * + + + +THE LECTURER. + + * * * * * + + +MINOR AFFECTIONS OF THE BRAIN. + + +Pain _in the head_ may arise from very different causes, and is +variously seated. It has had a number of different appellations bestowed +upon it, according to its particular character. I need not observe that +headach is a general attendant of all inflammatory states of the brain, +whether in the form of _phrenitis, hydrocephalus acutus_, or _idiopathic +fever;_ though with some exceptions in regard to all of them, as I +before showed you. It is often also said to be a symptom of other +diseases, of parts remotely situated; as of the _stomach_, more +especially; whence the term _sick headach_, the stomach being supposed +to be the part first or principally affected, and the headach +symptomatic of this. I am confident, however, that in a majority of +instances the reverse is the case, the affection of the head being the +cause of the disorder of the stomach. It is no proof to the contrary, +that _vomiting_ often relieves the headach, for vomiting is capable of +relieving a great number of other diseases, as well as those of the +brain, upon the principle of _counter-irritation_. The stomach may be +disordered by nauseating medicines, up to the degree of full vomiting, +without any headach taking place; but the brain hardly ever suffers, +either from injury or disease, without the stomach having its functions +impaired, or in a greater or less degree disturbed: thus a blow on the +head immediately produces vomiting; and, at the outset of various +inflammatory affections of the brain, as _fever_ and _hydrocephalus_, +nausea and vomiting are almost never-failing symptoms. It is not denied, +that _headach_ may be produced through the medium of the stomach; but +seldom, unless there is previously disease in the head, or at least a +strong predisposition to it. In persons habitually subject to headach, +the arteries of the brain become so irritable, that the slightest cause +of disturbance, either _mental_ or _bodily_, will suffice to bring on a +paroxysm. + +The _occasional_ or _exciting causes of headach_, then, are principally +these:-- + +1. _Emotions of mind_, as fear, terror, and agitation of spirits; yet +these will sometimes take off headach when present at the time. + +2. Whatever either increases or disorders the general circulation, and +especially all causes that increase the action of the cerebral arteries, +or, as it is usually though improperly expressed, which occasion a +determination of blood to the head. Of the former kind are violent +exercise, and external heat applied to the surface generally, as by a +heated atmosphere or the _hot bath_; of the latter, the direct +application of heat to the head; falls or blows, occasioning a shock to +the brain; stooping; intense thinking; intoxicating drinks, and other +narcotic substances. These last, however, as well as _mental emotions_, +often relieve a paroxysm of headach, though they favour its return +afterwards. + +3. A disordered state of the stomach, of which a vomiting of _bile_ may +be one symptom, is also to be ranked among the _occasional causes_ of +_headach_. + +These _occasional causes_ do not in general produce their effect, unless +where a _predisposition_ to the disease exists. This predisposition is +often hereditary, or it may be acquired by long-protracted study and +habits of intoxication.--_Dr. Clutterbuck's Lectures on the Diseases of +the Nervous System_. + + +HYDROPHOBIA. + + +There is no cure for this disease when once the symptoms show +themselves. A variety of remedies have from time to time been advertised +by quacks. The "Ormskirk Medicine," at one time, was much in vogue; it +had its day, but it did not cure the disease, nor, as far as I know, did +it mitigate any of its symptoms. With regard to the affection of the +mind itself in this disease, it does not appear that the patients are +deprived of reason; some have merely, by the dint of resolution, +conquered the dread of water, though they never could conquer the +convulsive motions which the contact of liquids occasioned; while this +resolution has been of no avail, for the convulsions and other symptoms +increasing, have almost always destroyed the unhappy sufferers. +--_Abernethy's Lectures_. + + +EFFECTS OF KINDNESS ON THE SICK. + + +Under all circumstances, man is a poor and pitiable being, when stricken +down by disease. Sickened and subdued, his very lineaments have a voice +which calls for commiseration and assistance. Celsus says, that knowing +two physicians equally intelligent, he should prefer the one who was his +friend, for the obvious reason that he would feel a deeper interest in +his welfare. Kindness composes, and harshness disturbs the mind, and +each produces correspondent effects upon the body. A tone, a look, may +save or destroy life in extremely delicate cases. Whatever may be the +prognosis given to friends, in all febrile cases, the most confident and +consoling language about the ultimate recovery should be used to the +sick, as prophecies not unfrequently contribute to bring about the event +foretold, by making people feel, or think, or act, differently from what +they otherwise would have done. Again, in chronic cases, as time is +required for their cure, by explaining to the patient this fact, we +maintain his confidence, we keep his mind easy, and thus gain a fair +opportunity for the operation of regimen or remedies; in short, the +judicious physician, like the Roman general, Fabius, conquers through +delay, by cutting off the supplies, and wearing out the strength of the +enemy. In large cities, where the mind is so much overwrought in the +various schemes of private ambition, or of public business, anxiety is +very frequently the grand opposing circumstance to recovery; so that +while the causes which produced it are allowed to operate, mere medical +prescription is of no avail. The effects of this anxiety are visible in +the pallid face and wasted body. But if the patient be possessed of +philosophy enough to forego his harassing pursuits; if he have not, from +the contact and cares of the world, lost his relish for the simple and +sublime scenes of nature, a removal into the country is of the utmost +efficacy. The deformity and conflict of the moral world are exchanged +for the beauty and calm of the physical world; and surrounded by all the +poetry of earth and heaven, the mind regains its peace, and the health, +as if by magic, is perfectly restored.--_Dr. Armstrong's Lectures_. + + +DIET. + + +Experience has taught us that the nature of our food is not a matter of +indifference to the respiratory organs. Diseased lungs are exasperated +by a certain diet, and pacified by one of an opposite kind. The +celebrated diver, Mr. Spalding, observed, that whenever he used a diet +of animal food, or drank spirituous liquors, he consumed in a much +shorter period the oxygen of the atmospheric air in his diving-bell; and +he therefore, on such occasions, confined himself to vegetable diet. He +also found the same effect to arise from the use of fermented liquors, +and he accordingly restricted himself to the potation of simple water. +The truth of these results is confirmed by the habits of the Indian +pearl-divers, who always abstain from every alimentary stimulus previous +to their descent into the ocean.--_Dr. Paris on Diet._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE MONTHS + + +The season has now advanced to full maturity. The corn is yielding to +the sickle, the husbandmen, + + "By whose tough labours, and rough hands," + +our barns are stored with grain, are at their toils, and when nature is +despoiled of her riches and beauty, will, with glad and joyous heart, +celebrate the annual festival of + + +THE HARVEST HOME. + +BY CORNELIUS WEBBE. + + + Hark! the ripe and hoary rye + Waving white and billowy, + Gives a husky rustle, as + Fitful breezes fluttering pass. + See the brown and bending wheat, + By its posture seems to meet + The harvest's sickle, as it gleams + Like the crescent moon in streams, + Brown with shade and night that run + Under shores and forests dun. + + Lusty Labour, with tired stoop, + Levels low, at every swoop, + Armfuls of ripe-coloured corn, + Yellow as the hair of morn; + And his helpers track him close, + Laying it in even rows, + On the furrow's stubbly ridge; + Nearer to the poppied hedge. + Some who tend on him that reaps + Fastest, pile it into heaps; + And the little gleaners follow + Them again, with whoop and halloo + When they find a hand of ears + More than falls to their compeers. + + Ripening in the dog-star's ray, + Some, too early mown, doth lay; + Some in graceful shocks doth stand + Nodding farewell to the land + That did give it life and birth; + Some is borne, with shout and mirth, + Drooping o'er the groaning wain. + Through the deep embowered lane; + And the happy cottaged poor, + Hail it, as it glooms their door, + With a glad, unselfish cry, + Though they'll buy it bitterly. + + And the old are in the sun, + Seeing that the work is done + As it was when age was young; + And the harvest song is sung; + And the quaint and jocund tale + Takes the stint-key from the ale, + And as free and fast it runs + As a June rill from the sun's + Dry and ever-drinking mouth:-- + Mirth doth alway feel a drowth. + Butt and barrel ceaseless flow + Fast as cans can come and go; + One with emptied measures comes + Drumming them with tuneful thumbs; + One reels field-ward, not quite sober, + With two cans of ripe October, + Some of last year's brewing, kept + Till the corn of this is reaped. + + Now 'tis eve, and done all labour, + And to merry pipe and tabor, + Or to some cracked viol strummed + With vile skill, or table drummed + To the tune of some brisk measure, + Wont to stir the pulse to pleasure, + Men and maidens timely beat + The ringing ground with frolic feet; + And the laugh and jest go round + Till all mirth in noise is drowned. + +_Literary Souvenir_. + + * * * * * + + +ARMORIAL BEARINGS AT CROYDON PALACE. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +Sir,--In No. 266 of the Mirror, _Sagittarius_ wishes to know the name of +the person whose armorial bearings are emblazoned at Croydon palace. + +From the blazon he has given, it is rather difficult to find out; but I +should think they are meant for those of king Richard II. Impaled on the +dexter side with those of his patron saint, Edward the Confessor. +Bearings that may be seen in divers places at Westminster Hall, rebuilt +by that monarch.[1] + + [1] Vide MIRROR, p. 98, Vol. iii. + +I have subjoined the _proper_ blazon of the arms, which is _azure_, a +cross patonce between _five_ martlets _or_, impaling France and England +quarterly, 1st. and 4th. azure three fleurs de lis. 2nd. _or_, 2nd and +3rd Gules, 3 lions passant guardant in pale, or. + +The supporting of the arms with angels, &c. was a favourite device of +Richard, as may be seen in divers antiquarian and topographical works. + +It is probable the hall of Croydon palace was built during the reign of +Richard, which will account for his arms being placed there. + +I am, &c. + +C. F. + + * * * * * + + + +DEATH OF MR. CANNING. + + +The lamentable and sudden death of the Right Hon. George Canning has +produced a general sensation throughout this country. At the opening of +the present year our nation deplored the loss of a prince endeared to +the people by his honest worth--but a short interval has elapsed and +again the country is plunged in sorrow for the loss of one of its most +zealous supporters--one of its chiefest ornaments--one of its staunchest +friends--and one of its most eloquent and talented statesmen! The life +of the late George Canning furnishes much matter for meditation and +thought. From it much may be learnt. He was a genius, in the most +unlimited sense of the word; and his intellectual endowments were +commanding and imperative. Of humble origin he had to contend with +innumerable difficulties, consequent to his station in life,--and +although his talents, which were of the first order, befitted him for +the first rank in society, that rank he did not attain until the scene +of this world was about to be closed for ever from him. It may be said +of this eminent man, that he owed nothing to patronage--his _talents_ +directed him to his elevated station, and to his intellectual +superiority homage was made,--not to the man. + +But, in other respects, the loss of Mr. Canning is a national +bereavement. He was one of the master-spirits of the age. His very name +was distinguished--for he has added to the literature of his country--by +his writings and his eloquence he has stimulated the march of mind; he +has seconded the exertions of liberal friends to the improvements of the +uneducated, and he has patronized the useful as well as the fine arts, +philosophy and science, of his country. To expatiate at greater length +would be superfluous, as we have in another place recorded our humble +tribute to his general character.[2] We have now, therefore, merely to +put together the melancholy facts connected with his death, and which +will convey to another generation a just sense of the value, in our +time, attached to a noble and exalted genius. The just and elegant +laconism of Byron, by substituting the _past_ for the _present_ tense, +may now be adopted as a faithful and brief summary of what _was_ George +Canning. + + [2] Biographical Memoir of Mr. Canning, with a Portrait, MIRROR, + Vol. iv. + +"Canning _was_ a genius, almost an universal one:--an orator, a wit, a +poet, and a statesman." + + * * * * * + +The king, with his usual quickness, was the first to perceive the +dangerous state of Mr. Canning. We understand, that almost immediately +after he had quitted him, on Monday, his majesty observed to sir William +Knighton, that Mr. Canning appeared very unwell, and that he was in +great alarm for him. On Tuesday, sir William repaired to town, at the +express command of his majesty, to see Mr. Canning. At the interview +with him, at the Treasury, Sir William made particular inquiries into +the state of his health. Mr. Canning was then troubled with a cough, and +he observed to Sir William that he almost felt as if he were an old man; +that he was much weakened; but had no idea of there being anything +dangerous in his condition, and that he trusted that rest and retirement +would set him to rights. Sir William sent Dr. Maton to Mr. Canning, and +on parting with him, he observed that, as he should not leave town until +Wednesday morning, he would call on him, at Chiswick, on his way home to +Windsor. Sir William found Mr. Canning in bed, at Chiswick. He asked him +if he felt any pain in his side? Mr. Canning answered he had felt a pain +in his side for some days, and on endeavouring to lie on his side, the +pain was so acute that he was unable to do so. Sir William then inquired +if he felt any pain in his shoulder? He said he had been for some time +affected by rheumatic pains in the shoulder. Sir William told him that +the pain did not arise from rheumatism, but from a diseased liver, and +he immediately sent for the three physicians, who remained with him, and +were to the last unremitting in their attentions. + +The disease continued to make rapid progress, in spite of all that the +first medical skill could do to baffle it, watching every turn it took, +and applying, on the instant, every remedy likely to subdue its +virulence, and mitigate his sufferings. + +On the following Sunday, August 5, bulletins were issued, stating that +Mr. Canning was in most imminent danger. The most painful interest was +excited in the public mind by subsequent announcements of his alarming +state, and on Wednesday morning, the following melancholy intelligence +reached town:-- + +_Chiswick, Wednesday, August_, 8, 1827, (A. M.) + +Mr. Canning expired this morning, without pain, at ten minutes before +four o'clock. + + * * * * * + + + +MISCELLANIES. + + * * * * * + + +BLACK BEARD. + + +There are few persons who reside on the Atlantic ocean and rivers of +North America who are not familiar with the name of Black Beard, whom +traditionary history represents as a pirate, who acquired immense wealth +in his predatory voyages, and was accustomed to bury his treasures in +the banks of creeks and rivers. For a period as low down as the American +revolution, it was common for the ignorant and credulous to dig along +these banks in search of hidden treasures; and impostors found an ample +basis in these current rumours for schemes of delusion. Black Beard, +though tradition says a great deal more of him than is true, was yet a +real person, who acquired no small fame by his maritime exploits during +the first part of the eighteenth century. Among many authentic and +recorded particulars concerning him, the following account of his death +may gratify curiosity:-- + +From the nature of Black Beard's position in a sloop of little draught +of water, on a coast abounding with creeks, and remarkable for the +number and intricacy of its shoals, with which he had made himself +intimately acquainted, it was deemed impossible to approach him in +vessels of any force. Two hired sloops were therefore manned from the +Pearl and Lime frigates, in the Chesapeake, and put under the command of +Lieutenant Maynard, with instructions to hunt down and destroy this +pirate wherever he should be found. On the 17th of November, in the year +1718, this force sailed from James River, and in the evening of the 21st +came to an inlet in North Carolina, where Black Beard was discovered at +a distance, lying in wait for his prey. The sudden appearance of an +enemy, preparing to attack him, occasioned some surprise; but his sloop +mounting several guns, and being manned with twenty-five of his +desperate followers, he determined to make a resolute defence; and, +having prepared his vessel over night for action, sat down to his +bottle, stimulating his spirits to that pitch of frenzy by which only he +could rescue himself in a contest for his life. The navigation of the +inlet was so difficult, that Maynard's sloops were repeatedly grounded +in their approach, and the pirate, with his experience of the soundings, +possessed considerable advantage in manoeuvring, which enabled him for +some time to maintain a running fight. His vessel, however, in her turn, +having at length grounded, and the close engagement becoming now +inevitable, he reserved her guns to pour in a destructive fire on the +sloops as they advanced to board him. This he so successfully executed, +that twenty-nine men of Maynard's small number were either killed or +wounded by the first broadside, and one of the sloops for a time +disabled. But notwithstanding this severe loss, the lieutenant +persevered in his resolution to grapple with his enemy, or perish in the +attempt. Observing that his own sloop, which was still fit for action, +drew more water than the pirate's, he ordered all her ballast to be +thrown out, and, directing his men to conceal themselves between decks, +took the helm in person, and steered directly aboard of his antagonist, +who continued inextricably fixed on the shoal. This desperate wretch, +previously aware of his danger, and determined never to expiate his +crimes in the hands of justice, had posted one of his banditti, with a +lighted match, over his powder-magazine, to blow up his vessel in the +last extremity. Luckily in this design he was disappointed by his own +ardour and want of circumspection; for, as Maynard approached, having +begun the encounter at close quarters, by throwing upon his antagonist a +number of hand-grenadoes of his own composition, which produced only a +thick smoke, and conceiving that, from their destructive agency, the +sloop's deck had, been completely cleared, he leaped over her bows, +followed by twelve of his men, and advanced upon the lieutenant, who was +the only person then in view; but the men instantly springing up to the +relief of their commander, who was now furiously beset, and in imminent +danger of his life, a violent contest ensued. Black Beard, after seeing +the greater part of his men destroyed at his side, and receiving himself +repeated wounds, at length, stepping back to cock, a pistol, fainted +with the loss of blood, and expired on the spot. Maynard completed his +victory, by securing the remainder of these desperate wretches, who were +compelled to sue for mercy, and a short respite from a less honourable +death at the hands of the executioner. + + +ISLANDS PRODUCED BY INSECTS. + + +The whole group of the _Thousand Islands_, and indeed the greater part +of all those whose surfaces are flat, in the neighbourhood of the +equator, owe their origin to the labours of that order of marine worms +which Linnaeus has arranged under the name of _Zoophyta_. These little +animals, in a most surprising manner, construct their calcareous +habitations, under an infinite variety of forms, yet with that order and +regularity, each after its own manner, which to the minute inquirer, is +so discernable in every part of the creation. But, although the eye may +be convinced of the fact, it is difficult for the human mind to conceive +the possibility of insects so small being endued with the power, much +less of being furnished in their own bodies with the materials of +constructing the immense fabrics which, in almost every part of the +Eastern and Pacific Oceans lying between the tropics, are met with in +the shape of detached rocks, or reefs of great extent, just even with +the surface, or islands already clothed with plants, whose bases are +fixed at the bottom of the sea, several hundred feet in depth, where +light and heat, so very essential to animal life, if not excluded, are +sparingly received and feebly felt. Thousands of such rocks, and reefs, +and islands, are known to exist in the eastern ocean, within, and even +beyond, the limits of the tropics. The eastern coast of New Holland is +almost wholly girt with reefs and islands of coral rock, rising +perpendicularly from the bottom of the abyss. Captain Kent, of the +Buffalo, speaking of a coral reef of many miles in extent, on the +south-west coast of New Caledonia, observes, that "it is level with the +water's edge, and towards the sea, as steep to as a wall of a house; +that he sounded frequently within twice the ship's length of it with a +line of one hundred and fifty fathoms, or nine hundred feet, without +being able to reach the bottom." How wonderful, how inconceivable, that +such stupendous fabrics should rise into existence from the silent but +incessant, and almost imperceptible, labours of such insignificant +worms! + +To buy books, as some do who make no use of them, only because they were +published by an eminent printer, is much as if a man should buy clothes +that did not fit him, only because they were made by some famous +tailor.--_Pope_. + + * * * * * + + +TO MY BROTHER, ON HIS LEAVING ENGLAND. + +By The Author of "Ahab." + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Wherever your fortune may lead you to roam, + Forget not, young exile, the land of your home; + Let it ever be present to memory's eye, + 'Tis the place where the bones of your fore-father's lie. + Let the thought of it ever your comforter be, + For no spot on this earth like your home can you see. + + The fields where you rove may be more fresh and fair, + More splendid the sun, and more fragrant the air, + More lovely the flowers, more refreshing the breeze, + More tranquil the waters, more fruitful the trees. + But home after all things--that dear little spot, + Tho' it be but a desert can ne'er be forgot. + + In the thoughts of the day, and the dreams of the night, + On your eyes like the kiss of your mother 'twill light, + Then the mist will disperse which long absence has spread. + And the paths you have trodden again you shall tread. + Then farewell, young exile, wherever you roam, + Oh! dear as your honour, your life, be your home. + +J.H.S. + + * * * * * + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +ORDERS FOR HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS IN 1566. + + + _Orders for Household Servantes; first deuised by John + Haryngton, in the yeare 1566, and renewed by John Haryngton, + sonne of the saide John, in the yeare 1592: The saide John, the + sonne, being then high shrieve of the county of Somerset._ + + Imprimis, That no servant bee absent from praier, at morning or + euening, without a lawfull excuse, to be alleged within one day + after, vppon paine to forfeit for eury tyme 2d. + + II. Item, That none swear any othe, vppon paine for every othe + 1d. + + III. Item, That no man leaue any doore open that he findeth + shut, without theare bee cause, vppon paine for euery time 1d. + + IV. Item, That none of the men be in bed, from our Lady-day to + Michaelmas, after 6 of the clock in the morning; nor out of his + bed after 10 of the clock at night; nor, from Michaemas till + our Lady-day, in bed after 7 in the morning, nor out after 9 at + night, without reasonable cause, on paine of 2d. + + V. That no man's bed bee vnmade, nor fire or candle-box + vnclean, after 8 of the clock in the morning, on paine of 1d. + + VI. Item, That no one commit any nuisance within either of the + courts, vppon paine of 1d. + + VII. Item, That no man teach any of the children any vnhonest + speeche, or evil word, or othe, on paine of 4d. + + VIII. Item, That no man waite at the table without a trencher + in his hand, except it be vppon some good cause, on paine of + Id. + + IX. Item, That no man appointed to waite at my table be absent + that meale, without reasonable cause, on paine of 1d. + + X. Item, If any man breake a glasse, hee shall aunswer the + price thereof out of his wages; and, if it bee not known who + breake it, the buttler shall pay for it on paine of 12d. + + XI. Item, The table must bee couered halfe an houer before 11 + at dinner, and 6 at supper, or before, on paine of 2d. + + XII. Item, That meate bee readie at 11, or before, at dinner; + and 6, or before, at supper, on paine of 6d. + + XIII. Item, That none be absent, without leaue or good cause, + the whole day, or any part of it, on paine of 4d. + + XIV. Item, That no man strike his fellow, on paine of loss of + seruice; nor reuile or threaten, or prouoke another to strike, + on paine of 12d. + + XV. Item, That no man come to the kitchen without reasonable + cause, on paine of 1d. and the cook likewyse to forfeit 1d. + + XVI. Item, That none toy with the maids, on paine of 4d. + + XVII. That no man weare foule shirt on Sunday, nor broken hose + or shooes, or dublett without buttons, on paine of 1d. + + XVIII. Item, That, when any strainger goeth hence, the chamber + be drest vp againe within 4 howrs after, on paine of 1d. + + XIX. Item, That the hall bee made cleane euery day, by eight in + the winter, and seauen in the sommer, on paine of him that + should do it to forfeit 1d. + + XX. That the cowrt-gate bee shutt each meale, and not opened + during dinner and supper, without just cause, on paine the + porter to forfet for euery time, 1d. + + XXI. Item, That all stayrs in the house, and other rooms that + neede shall require, bee made cleane on Fryday after dinner, on + paine of forfeyture of euery on whome it shall belong vnto, 3d. + + All which sommes shall be duly paide each quarter-day out of + their wages, and bestowed on the poore, or other godly vse. + + * * * * * + + + +THE NOVELIST. + +No. CVII. + + * * * * * + + +THE WOOD KING. + +_By Miss Emma Roberts_. + + +Already the pile of heaped-up fagots reached above the low roof of his +hut; but Carl Scheffler still continued lopping off branches, and +binding fresh bundles together, almost unconscious that the sun had set, +and that the labours of the day being over, the neighbouring peasants +were hastening to the skittle-ground to pass away an hour in sport. The +wood-cutter's hut was perched upon an eminence a little out of the +public path; but he heard the merry songs of his comrades as they +proceeded gaily to the place of rendezvous, at the Golden Stag in the +village below. Many of his intimate acquaintance paused as they +approached the corner of the road nearest to his hut, and the wild wood +rang with their loud halloes; but the call, which in other times had +been echoed by the woodman's glad voice, was now unanswered; he busied +himself with his work; his brow darkened as the joyous sounds came over +his ear; he threw aside his hatchet, resumed, it again, and again +casting it from him, exclaimed, "Why, let them go, I will not carry this +chafed and wounded spirit to their revels; my hand is not steady enough +for a bowling-match; and since Linda will doubtless choose a richer +partner, I have no heart for the dance." + +It was easy to perceive that Carl Scheffler was smarting under a recent +disappointment: he had borne up bravely against the misfortunes which, +from a state of comparative affluence, had reduced him to depend upon +his own arm for subsistence, fondly trusting that ere long his prospects +would amend; and that, at the return of the Count of Holberg to his +ancestorial dominions, he should obtain a forester's place, and be +enabled to claim the hand of Linda Von Kleist, to whom, in happier +times, he had been betrothed. But these dreams had vanished; the count's +bailiff having seen Linda, the flower of the hamlet, became his rival, +and consequently his enemy: he had bestowed the office promised to Carl +upon another; and Linda's father ungratefully withdrawing the consent +given when the lover's affairs were in a more flourishing condition, had +forbidden him the house. Buoyed up with the hope that Linda would remain +faithful, and by her unabated attachment console him under the pressure +of his calamities, Carl did not at first give way to despair; but Linda +was too obedient, or perchance too indifferent, to disobey her father's +commands. He sought her at the accustomed spot--she came not, sent not: +he hovered round her residence, and if chance favoured him with a +glimpse of his beloved, it was only to add to his misery, for she +withdrew hastily from his sight. A rumour of the intended marriage of +his perjured mistress reached his ears, and, struck to the soul, he +endeavoured, by manual labour, to exhaust his strength and banish the +recollection of his misery. He toiled all day in feverish desperation; +and now that there was no more to be done, sat down to ponder over his +altered prospects. The bailiff possessed the ear of his master, and it +was useless to hope that the count would repair the injustice committed +by so trusted a servant. The situation which above all others he had +coveted, which would have given him the free range of the forest, the +jovial hunter's life which suited his daring spirit, delighting in the +perils of the chase, and, above all, a home for Linda, was lost, and for +ever; henceforward he must relinquish all expectation of regaining the +station which the misfortunes that had brought his parents to the grave +had deprived him of, and be content to earn a sordid meal by bending his +back to burthens befitting the brute creation alone; to hew wood, and to +bear it to the neighbouring towns; to delve the ground at the bidding of +a master, and to perform the offices of a menial hireling. "At least not +here," cried the wretched young man, "not in the face of all my former +friends; there is a refuge left where I may hide my sorrows and my +wrongs. Fair earth, and thou fair sky, I gaze upon you for the last +time; buried from the face of day in the centre of the deepest mine, +I'll spend the remnant of my life unpitied and unknown." Determined to +execute this resolution on the instant, Carl hastily collected such +parts of his slender property as were portable; and having completed his +arrangements, prepared to cross the Brocken, and shaped his course +towards the Rammelsburg. The last rich gleam of crimson had faded from +the sky; but there was light enough in the summer night to guide him on +his way. A few bright and beautiful stars gemmed the wide concave of +heaven; the air was soft and balmy, scarcely agitating the leaves of the +forest trees; the fragrance-weeping limes gave out their richest scent, +and the gentle gush of fountains, and the tricklings of the mountain +springs, came in music on the ear; and had the traveller been more at +ease, the calm and tranquil scene must have diffused its soothing +influence over his heart. Carl, disregarding every thing save his own +melancholy destiny, strode along almost choked by bitter thought, and so +little heedful of the road, that he soon became involved in thickets +whose paths were unknown to him; he looked up to the heavens, and +shaping his course by one of the stars, was somewhat surprised to find +himself still involved in the impenetrable mazes of the wood. Compelled +to give more attention than heretofore to his route, he once or twice +thought that he distinguished a human figure moving through the darkness +of the forest. At first, not disposed to fall in with a companion, he +remained silent, lest the person, whoever he might be, should choose to +enter into conversation with him; then not quite certain whether he was +right in his conjecture--for upon casting a second glance upon the +object which attracted him, he more than once discovered it to be some +stunted trunk or fantastic tree--he became anxious to ascertain whether +he was in reality, alone, or if some other midnight wanderer trod the +waste, and he looked narrowly around; all was still, silent, and +solitary; and fancying that he had been deceived by the flitting shadows +of the night, he was again relapsing into his former reverie, when he +became aware of the presence of a man dressed in the garb of a forester, +and having his cap wreathed with a garland of green leaves, who stood +close at his side. Carl's tongue moved to utter a salutation, but the +words stuck in his throat, an indescribable sensation of horror thrilled +through his frame; tales of the demons of the Hartz rushed upon his +memory--but he recovered instantly from the sudden shock. The desperate +state of his fortune gave him courage, and, looking up, he was surprised +at the consternation which the stranger had occasioned: he was a person +of ordinary appearance, who, accosting him frankly, exclaimed, "Ho, +comrade, thou art, I see, bent on the same errand as myself; but +wherefore dost thou seek the treasures of the Nibelungen without the +protecting wreath?"--"The treasures of the Nibelungen?" returned Carl; +"I have indeed heard of such a thing, and that it was hidden in the +bosom of the Hartz by a princess of the olden time; but I never was mad +enough to think of so wild a chase as a search after riches, which has +baffled the wisest of our ancestors, must surely prove."--"Belike then," +replied the forester, "thou art well to do in the world, and therefore +needest not to replenish thy wallets with gold,--travelling perchance to +take possession of some rich inheritance."--"No, by St. Roelas," cried +the woodcutter, "thou hast guessed wide of the mark. I am going to hide +my poverty in the mine of Rammelsburg."--"The mine of Rammelsburg!" +echoed the stranger, and laughed scornfully, so that the deep woods rang +with the sound; and Carl feeling his old sensations return as the +fiendish merriment resounded through the wilderness, again gazed +stedfastly in his companion's face, but he read nothing there to justify +his suspicions: the fiery eye lost its lustre; the lip its curl; and, +gazing benignantly upon the forlorn wood-cutter, he continued his +speech, saying, "Then prithee take the advice of one who knows these +forests, and all that they contain. Here are materials in abundance for +our garland; advance forward, and fear not the issue;"--and, gathering +leaves from the boughs of trees of a species unknown to his new +acquaintance, he twined them into a wreath, and placed the sylvan diadem +on Carl's head. The instant that he felt the light pressure on his +temples, all his fears vanished; and he followed his guide, conversing +pleasantly through wide avenues and over broad glades of fresh turf, +which seemed to be laid out like a royal chase, till they came to a wall +of rock resembling the Hahnen Klippers, and entering through an arch, a +grey moss-covered tower arose in the distance. The ponderous doors were +wide open; and Carl advancing, found himself in a large hall well +lighted, and showing abundance of treasure scattered abroad in all +directions. He was conscious that he had lost his companion, but he +seemed no longer to require his instruction; and casting down his own +worthless burthen, he laded himself with the riches that courted his +touch. The adventurer was soon supplied with a sufficient quantity of +gold and jewels to satisfy his most unbounded wishes; and turning from +the spot with a light heart, he sped merrily along. The country round +about seemed strange to him; but on repassing the rocky ledge, a brisk +wind suddenly springing up blew off his cap. The morning air was cold, +and Carl, hastening to regain his head-gear, discovered that the wreath +had disappeared; and, as if awakening from a dream, he found himself +surrounded by familiar objects; he felt, however, the weight of the load +upon his back, and though panting with the fatigue it occasioned, made +the best of his way home. On approaching the hut, a low murmur struck on +his ear. He paused; listened attentively; and distinguishing a female +voice, he rushed forward, and in the next moment clasped Linda in his +arms. She had fled from the persecutions of the bailiff to seek shelter +in Carl's straw-roofed hut; and the now happy lovers, as they surveyed +the treasures which had been snatched from the Nibelungen, agreed that +they owed their good fortune to Riebezhahl the Wood King, who sometimes +taking pity upon the frail and feeble denizens of earth, pointed out to +their wondering eyes the inexhaustible riches of which he was the +acknowledged guardian. + +_London Weekly Review_. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +DRAFTS ON LA FITTE. + +COOKE. + + +Only upon one occasion did Cooke deviate from his resolution of not +apologizing to a provincial assembly, and that was at Liverpool. A +previous breach of decorum was visited one night by the fury of an +offended audience; confusion was at its height; the people were the +actors, and Cooke the audience: yet the sturdy tragedian remained +callous to the bursts of indignation which were heard around him, until +destruction became the order of the day; lamps _lighted_ on the stage; +benches betokened _mobility_; _pedal_ applications were made _forté_ to +the _piano_; _basely violated_ was the repository of the _base viol_; +and the property of poor Knight the manager gave every sign of that +being its last appearance. What popular rage had failed to produce, +consideration for the fortunes of his friend effected. At his +entreaties, the Caledonian was induced to advance to the front of the +stage (never was there a more _moving_ scene than that before it); +silence was obtained, and he condescended to express his sorrow for the +state in which some nights previously he had presented himself: adding, +"that _he_ never _before_ felt so keenly the _degradation_ of _his_ +situation." Equivocal as was the mode of extenuation, the audience +allied to _Mersey_ accorded the _mercy_ it possessed, and was or +appeared to be, satisfied; but not so the actor, and he as fully as +instantly avenged what he deemed his misplaced submission. As he +concluded his address, he turned to the gratified but yet trembling +manager, and (in allusion to the large share in the slave-trade then +imputed to Liverpool) with that peculiarity of undertone he possessed, +which could be distinctly heard throughout the largest theatre although +pronounced as a whisper, exclaimed, "There's not a stone in the walls of +Liverpool which has not been cemented by the _bluid_ of Africans." Then, +casting one of his Shylock glances of hatred and contempt on the mute +and astounded audience, majestically left the stage. + +On the first night of his performance at the Boston theatre, Richard was +the part he had adopted; and so strongly had he fortified himself for +the kingly task, that he deemed himself the very monarch he was destined +to enact. The theatre was crowded in every part: expectation was on +tiptoe: anticipation as to his person, voice, and manner, was announced +by the sibilating "I guess" heard around, and "pretty considerable" +agitation prevailed. The orchestra had begun and ceased, unheeded or +unheard; nor could one of Sir Thomas Lethbridge's best cut and dried +have produced less effect amongst the "irreclaimables." The curtain +rose, and amidst thundering plaudits the welcome stranger advanced, in +angles, to the front of the stage, and, as Sir Pertinax has it, "booed +and booed and booed;" but greeting could not endure for ever: well +justified curiosity assumed its station, and at length silence, almost +breathless silence, reigned around, such as attended Irving in his +Zoar, or Canning when he lately produced his budget. The hospitable +clamour was over; but instead of "Now is the winter of our discontent +made glorious summer by this sun of York" being given, Cooke, in a +respectful but decided tone, requested that "God save the King" might be +played by the orchestra prior to the commencement of the play. The +proposal at first but excited mockery and laughter, which, however, gave +way to far different feelings, on Cooke firmly and composedly declaring, +that, until his request was complied with, he was determined not to +proceed; and, should it be absolutely refused, he was resolved to +retire. The fury of the Bostonians was at its height: menace, +accompanied by every vituperative epithet rage could suggest, was +lavished on the actor; but he kept his station, calm and secure as his +own native island set in the stormy seas, until anger gradually subsided +through very weariness; and every effort having been ineffectually used +to wean "_the tyrant_" from his purpose, the political antipathies of +the audience began to yield to their theatrical taste; and, after much +argument and delay, the unpalatable demand was reluctantly assented to. +Cooke, however, whose nature it was, when opposed, only to become more +exigent, was not himself appeased; for, as the notes "unpleasing to a +_Yankee_ ear" were sounded, with a majestic wave of his hand he silenced +the unwilling music, and, "Standing, if you please," was as +dictatorially as fearlessly pronounced, to the consternation of the +audience. So much had, however, already been accorded, that it was not +deemed matter of much moment to concede the rest: and however +ungracefully the attitude of respect was assumed, the national hymn was +performed amidst grimace and muttering; Cooke beating time with his +foot,--nodding significantly and satisfactorily at "Confound their +politics;" and occasionally taking a pinch of snuff, as, in his royal +robes, he triumphantly contemplated the astonished and indignant +audience. It ended:--"Richard was himself again," and "_Now_ is the +winter of our _discontent_ made glorious summer" was given with equal +emphasis, feeling, and effect. + +At the time that _greater_ performer, the elephant, made his appearance +on the boards, his own _board_ became a subject of no trifling +consideration with the managers, particularly as the African had taken a +predilection for _rum_, which the new actor used to quaff with +extraordinary zest. On one occasion Cooke was missing from a morning +rehearsal, and all had been some time in waiting for the tragedian, +when the messenger whom Kerable despatched in search of him, returned +grinning to the green-room. "Where is Mr. Cooke, sir?" demanded Kemble. +"He is below _breakfasting_ with the _elephant_, sir!" was the reply. + +It was too much for Cooke, after having so frequently disappointed full +houses, to be obliged to play to an empty theatre. It was like playing +whist with _dummy_. However, towards the close of the O. P. war, (which, +by the way, excited more the attention of the Parisians than the +national contest in which we were engaged,) the public had adopted the +plan of never commencing operations until half-price, to the injury of +the manager's purse. It was during the earlier acts of "The Man of the +World," that Cooke, in performing to "a beggarly account of empty +boxes," was addressed by one of the actors, in accordance with the +scene, in a whisper; when the _elevated_ comedian, casting a glance +around, bitterly observed, "Speak out: there need be no secret. _No one +hears us._" Poor Cooke could not plead in excuse what an actor did on +being hissed for too _sober_ a representation of a _drunken_ part, +"Ladies and gentlemen, I beg your pardon: but it is really the _first +time_ I ever was _intoxicated_." + +His death was in singular accordance with his _taste_ through life. He +sought the banks of the _Brandywine_, and whether it were that the +composition of its stream so little responded to its title as to prey +upon his _spirits_, or from some other cause, there he "_drank_ his +last." + + +DICKEY SUETT. + + +I met with him once in a house situated on the very confines of _Beef +and Law_; on the line of demarcation between the theatres and Lincoln's +Inn; a sort of _debateable_ ground between the spouters and ranters of +the stage, and the eaters of commons, by either of which party it was +frequented. Around a large table in the parlour sat a motley group. +There were ragged wits, well-dressed students, new-fledged actors, a +hackney writer or so, an Irish barrister named Shuter, a Scotch +reporter, and a hodge-podge of most discordant materials congregated +under the amalgamating power of Suett, who seemed, by the incongruity of +his dress and diversified manner, to have studied the various tastes of +those he swayed, and to be the comprehensive representative of each of +the strange beings he looked upon, with all of whom he would +occasionally identify himself with so much ease, that it were hard to +say whether it was the result of labour or of tact, of calculation, or +the mere impulse of mother-wit. The _ropes of his face_, when drawn +_taught_, peculiarly commanded the attention of the Caledonian, while +the sly and humorous glance of his half-shut eye was acknowledged by the +Hibernian to whom it was addressed; the _snow drift_ of powder which lay +in patches on his long, straight hair, agreed with the taste of his +dramatic nursling; the far-extended cambric of white frill imposed upon +the students, while the unseemly rents in his coat at once compensated +to the wits for what there might be of gaudy or gay in his outward man. +We were received with equal courtesy and ceremony by the president; and +were just seated, when a ballet-dancer of Drury-lane entered. As he was +a Frenchman, it became a question of _national_ politeness: and Dicky +_chestered_ him to his dexter! and, as was befitting, condescended to +address him. "I am proud, sir," said Suett, with the formality of _Black +Rod_ himself, "to do the honours of my _country_ to the _representative_ +of a nation which held my _master_ Garrick in peculiar respect. He was a +great actor, sir; a wonderful man! Your Lekain, or any other _Cain_, +could not come up to him, for he was _Able_, Pardon the pun. Oh, +la!--but he was vain, sir; vain as a peacock; it could not be of his +person. Had he been, as Richard has it, _'a marvellous proper man'_ like +myself, one might have said something. He used to say, I was too _lean_ +for _Suett_. Oh, dear. _A votre santé, Monsieur,_ happy to see you on +this side the Channel. Never been to France yet, although in the +_Straits_ great part of my life, and not unfrequently _half seas +over_.--Well, sir, to return to Garrick. There was that man 'frae the +north,' who wrote the History of England and Roderick Random,--the +latter a true story, they say;--he who challenged Campbell the +barrister, for calling him _names_, _To bias_ the cause. Well, sir, Davy +refused one of his farces; but the wily Caledonian _pocketed_ the +affront, in coolly observing, 'that he had nearly completed another +volume of his history, and hoped he might be permitted to name _the +British Roscius_, the pride of his country, and all that sort of thing.' +It was a palpable hit, sir--the thing was settled--the _manager +managed_; and _Smelfungus_ retired, _without_ his manuscript, half sorry +he had not added _another_ scene to his farce. Well, sir, the story got +wind, and some days after Davy dined with a lawyer who had interested +himself vainly for a friend's comedy with him, when, in the course of +conversation, the barrister observed to Davy, before a large company, +that he had nearly compiled another volume of The Statutes _at large_ +(would they were all _at large_), and hoped he might be permitted to +name _the British Roscius, the pride of his country._ There was a roar +at the expense of Garrick. 'The galled jade' winced terribly:--he was +touchy as tinder, sir:--never was _Digest_ so ill-_digested_.'" + +It was when the meteor-like popularity of little Betty was at its height +that poor Suett fell ill, at what he termed his _town_ residence (a +second-floor in a low street), and the pigmy Roscius, having eaten too +much fruit, kept all London in intense agony for his fate at the same +moment. Bulletins were exhibited in Southampton-row several times +a-day, signed by numerous physicians. Had he died, how posterity would +have been befooled! Suett was then _actually_ dying, yet would he have +his joke, and his last moments were cheered by the horse-laugh of the +rabble assembled to _spell_ the bulletin suspended to "the second-floor +bell," attested by the _mark_ of the old woman who attended him. "You +shall be buried in Saint Paul's," said a friend. "Oh, la!" was the dying +ejaculation of the comedian. + +_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +AMERICAN TRAVELLING. + + +June 7th, at three in the morning, the steam-boat (which was of immense +size, and on the high pressure system) arrived at Albany, having come +one hundred and sixty miles in seventeen hours, including stoppages. I +found that, unluckily, the mail-coach had left the place just before our +arrival, so I booked myself in an accommodation-stage, which was to +reach Boston (a distance of one hundred and sixty miles) in three days, +and entered the wretched-looking vehicle, with a heavy heart, at eight +o'clock.... The machine in which I travelled was slow and crowded. The +proprietor had undertaken to let us rest at night on the road; but we +found that his notions of rest were very imperfect, and that his night +was one of the polar regions.--Having partaken of a wretched dinner at +Sand Lake, we arrived about one in the morning at Cheshire, where we +were to sleep. + +By dint of most active exertion, I secured a bed to myself, the narrow +dimensions of which precluded the possibility of participation, and +plunged into it with all possible haste, as there was not a moment to +be lost. Secure in "single blessedness," I was incredibly amused at the +compliments of nocturnal arrangement which passed around me among my +Yankee companions. They were nine in number, and occupied by triplets +the three other beds which the room contained. Whether it was with a +view of preserving their linen unrumpled, or of enjoying greater space, +I cannot tell; but certain it is, that they divested themselves of +clothing to a degree not generally practised in Europe. A spirit of +accommodation appeared to prevail; and it seemed to be a matter of +indifference whether to occupy the lateral portions of the bed, or the +warmer central position, except in one instance, where a gentleman +protested against being placed next to the wall, as he was in the habit +of chewing tobacco in his sleep! + +At four o'clock in the morning we again set off, and, as much rain had +fell in the night, the roads were in a dreadful state. The coach company +now consisted of nine passengers inside, one on the top, (which, from +its convex form, is a very precarious situation,) and three on the box, +besides the coachman, who sat on the knees of the unfortunate middle +man,--an uneasy burden, considering the intense heat of the weather. + +It matters little to the American driver where he sits; he is indeed, in +all respects, a far different personage from his great-coated prototype +in England. He is in general extremely dexterous in the art of driving, +though his costume is of a most grotesque description. Figure to +yourself a slipshod sloven, dressed in a striped calico jacket and an +old straw hat, alternately arranging the fragile harness of his horses, +and springing again upon his box with surprising agility; careless of +the bones of his passengers, and confident in his skill and resources, +he scruples not frequently to gallop his coach over corderoy roads, (so +called from being formed of the trunks of trees laid transversely,) or +dash it round corners, and through holes that would appal the heart of +the stoutest English coachman, however elated by gin, or irritated by +opposition. I was once whirled along one of these roads, when the +leathers, (barbarous substitutes for springs,) which supported the +carriage gave way with a sudden shock. The undaunted driver instantly +sprang from his box, tore a stake from a rail fence by the road-side, +laid it across under the body of the coach, and was off again before I +properly recovered the use of my senses, which were completely +bewildered by the jolting I had undergone. I can compare it to nothing +but the butt of Regulus, without the nails. When the lash and butt-end +of the whip fail him, he does not scruple to use his foot, as the +situation of his seat allows the application of it to his wheelers. + +We dined at New Salem at six, and arrived at Petersham, where we were to +sleep, at twelve o'clock at night, having been twenty hours coming sixty +miles. + +Though tired and disgusted with my journey, the prospect of a short +respite from this state of purgatory was embittered during the last few +miles by alarm at the idea of passing the night with one, if not two, of +my fellow-travellers; and I internally resolved rather to sleep upon the +floor. + +After a desperate struggle, I succeeded, to my great joy, in securing a +bed for myself, not, however, without undergoing a severe objurgation +from the landlady, who could not understand such unaccommodating +selfishness. Short were our slumbers. By the rigid order of the +proprietor, we were turned out the next morning at three, and pursued +our journey.--_De Roos's Personal Narrative._ + + +KANGAROO WAGGERY. + + +One of the largest tame kangaroos I have seen in the country is +domiciled here, and a mischievous wag he is, creeping and snuffing +cautiously toward a stranger, with such an innocently expressive +countenance, that roguery could never be surmised to exist under +it--when, having obtained as he thinks a sufficient introduction, he +claps his forepaws on your shoulders, (as if to caress you,) and raising +himself suddenly upon his tail, administers such a well-put push with +his hind-legs, that it is two to one but he drives you heels over head! +This is all done in what he considers facetious play, with a view to +giving you a hint to examine your pockets, and see what _bon-bons_ you +have got for him, as he munches cakes and comfits with epicurean _gout_; +and if the door be ajar, he will gravely take his station behind your +chair at meal-time, like a lackey, giving you an admonitory kick every +now and then, if you fail to help him as well as yourself.--_Two Years +in New South Wales._ + + +A MAGNIFICENT WATERFALL. + + +My swarthy guides, although this was unquestionably the first time that +they had ever led a traveller to view the remarkable scenery of their +country, evinced a degree of tact, as _ciceroni_, as well as natural +feeling of the picturesque, that equally pleased and surprised me. +Having forewarned me that this was not yet the waterfall, they now +pioneered the way for about a mile farther along the rocks, some of them +keeping near, and continually cautioning me to look to my feet, as a +single false step might precipitate me into the raging abyss of waters, +the tumult of which seemed to shake even the solid rocks around us. + +At length we halted, as before, and the next moment I was led to a +projecting rock, where a scene burst upon me, far surpassing my most +sanguine expectations. The whole water of the river (except what escapes +by the subsidiary channel we had crossed, and by a similar one on the +north side) being previously confined to a bed of scarcely one hundred +feet in breadth, descends at once in a magnificent cascade of full four +hundred feet in height. I stood upon a cliff nearly level with the top +of the fall, and directly in front of it. The beams of the evening sun +fell upon the cascade, and occasioned a most splendid rainbow; while the +vapoury mists arising from the broken waters, the bright green woods +that hung from the surrounding cliffs, the astounding roar of the +waterfall, and the tumultuous boiling and whirling of the stream below, +striving to escape along its deep, dark, and narrow, path, formed +altogether a combination of beauty and grandeur, such as I never before +witnessed. As I gazed on this stupendous stream, I felt as if in a +dream. The sublimity of nature drowned all apprehensions of danger; and, +after a short pause, I hastily left the spot where I stood to gain a +nearer view from a cliff that impended over the foaming gulf. I had just +reached this station, when I felt myself grasped all at once by four +Korannas, who simultaneously seized hold of me by the arms and legs. My +first impression was, that they were going to hurl me over the +precipice; but it was a momentary thought, and it wronged the friendly +savages. They are themselves a timid race, and they were alarmed, lest +my temerity should lead me into danger. They hurried me back from the +brink, and then explained their motive, and asked my forgiveness. I was +not ungrateful for their care, though somewhat annoyed by their +officiousness.--_Thompson's Travels in Southern Africa._ + + +SETTING IN OF AN INDIAN MONSOON. + + +The shades of evening approached as we reached the ground, and just as +the encampment was completed the atmosphere grew suddenly dark, the heat +became oppressive, and an unusual stillness presaged the immediate +setting in of the monsoon. The whole appearance of nature resembled +those solemn preludes to earthquakes and hurricanes in the West Indies, +from which the east in general is providentially free. We were allowed +very little time for conjecture; in a few minutes the heavy clouds burst +over us.... I witnessed seventeen monsoons in India, but this exceeded +them all in its awful appearance and dreadful effects. + +Encamped in a low situation, on the borders of a lake formed to collect +the surrounding water, we found ourselves in a few hours in a liquid +plain. The tent-pins giving way, in a loose soil, the tents fell down, +and left the whole army exposed to the contending elements. + +It requires a lively imagination to conceive the situation of a hundred +thousand human beings of every description, with more than two hundred +thousand elephants, camels, horses, and oxen, suddenly overwhelmed by +this dreadful storm, in a strange country, without any knowledge of high +or low ground; the whole being covered by an immense lake, and +surrounded by thick darkness, which prevented our distinguishing a +single object, except such as the vivid glare of lightning displayed in +horrible forms. No language can describe the wreck of a large encampment +thus instantaneously destroyed and covered with water, amid the cries of +old men and helpless women, terrified by the piercing shrieks of their +expiring children, unable to afford them relief. During this dreadful +night more than two hundred persons and three thousand cattle perished, +and the morning dawn exhibited a shocking spectacle.--_Forbes's Oriental +Memoirs._ + + +GRACE OF CARRIAGE. + + +This requires not only a perfect freedom of motion, but also a firmness +of step, or constant steady bearing of the centre of gravity over the +base. It is usually possessed by those who live in the country, and +according to nature, as it is called, and who take much and varied +exercise. What a contrast is there between the gait of the active +mountaineer, rejoicing in the consciousness of perfect nature, and of +the mechanic or shopkeeper, whose life is spent in the cell of his +trade, and whose body soon receives a shape and air that correspond to +this!--and in the softer sex, what a contrast is there, between her who +recalls to us the fabled Diana of old, and that other, who has scarcely +trodden but on smooth pavements or carpets, and who, under any new +circumstances, carries her person as awkwardly as something to the +management of which she is not accustomed. + +_Arnott's Elements of Physics._ + + +THE CAVALRY SCHOOL OF ST. GERMAINS. + + +Bonaparte frequently visited the school of infantry at St. Cyr, reviewed +the cadets, and gave them cold collations in the park. But he had never +visited the school of cavalry since its establishment, of which we were +very jealous, and did all in our power to attract him. Whenever he +hunted, the cadets were in grand parade on the parterre, crying, _"Vive +l'Empereur!"_ with all their young energies; he held his hat raised as +he passed them; but that was all we could gain. Wise people whispered +that he never would go whilst they were so evidently expecting him; that +he liked to keep them always on the alert; it was good for discipline. +The general took another plan, and once allowed no sign of life about +the castle when the emperor passed--it was like a deserted place. But it +did not take neither; he passed, as if there were no castle there. It +was _desesperant._ When, lo! the next day but one after I had spoken to +him, he suddenly galloped into the court of the castle, and the cry of +the sentinel, _"L'Empereur!"_ was the first notice they had of it. He +examined into every thing. All were in undress, all at work, and this +was what he wanted. In the military-schools the cadets got +ammunition-bread, and lived like well-fed soldiers; but there was great +outcry in the circles of Paris against the bread of the school of St. +Germain's. Ladies complained that their sons were poisoned by it; the +emperor thought it was all nicety, and said no man was fit to be an +officer who could not eat ammunition-bread. However, being there, he +asked for a loaf, which was brought, and he saw it was villanous trash, +composed of pease, beans, rye, potatoes, and every thing that would make +flour or meal, instead of good brown wheaten flour. He tore the loaf in +two in a rage, and dashed it against the wall, and there it stuck like a +piece of mortar, to the great annoyance of those whose duty it was to +have attended to this. He ordered the baker to be called, and made him +look at it _sticking_. The man was in great terror first at the +emperor's anger, but, taking heart, he begged his majesty not to take +his contract from him, and he would give good bread in future; at which +the emperor broke into a royal and imperial passion, and threatened to +send him to the galleys; but, suddenly turning round, he said, "Yes, he +would allow him to keep his contract, on condition that, as long as it +lasted, he should furnish the school with good white household bread, +_(pain de ménage,)_ such as was sold in the bakers' shops in Paris; that +he might choose that, or lose his contract;" and the baker thankfully +promised to furnish good white bread in future, at the same +price.--_Appendix to the 9th volume of Scott's Life of Napoleon._ + + +CENTRE OF GRAVITY, IN REFERENCE TO SEA-SICKNESS. + + +Man requiring so strictly to maintain his perpendicularity, that is, to +keep the centre of gravity always over the support of his body, +ascertains the required position in various ways, but chiefly by the +perpendicularity or known position of things about him. Vertigo, and +sickness commonly called sea-sickness, because it most frequently occurs +at sea, are the consequences of depriving him of his standards of +comparison, or of disturbing them. + +Hence on shipboard, where the lines of the masts, windows, furniture, +&c. are constantly changing, sickness, vertigo, and other affections of +the same class are common to persons unaccustomed to ships. Many +experience similar effects in carriages, and in swings, or on looking +from a lofty precipice, where known objects being distant, and viewed +under a new aspect, are not so readily recognised: also in walking on a +wall or roof, in looking directly up to a roof, or to the stars in the +zenith, because, then, all standards disappear: on walking into a round +room, where there are no perpendicular lines of light and shade, as when +the walls and roof are covered with a spotted paper without regular +arrangement of spot:--on turning round, as in waltzing, or on a wheel; +because the eye is not then allowed to rest on the standards, &c. + +At night, or by blind people, standards belonging to the sense of touch +are used; and it is because on board ship, the standards both of sight +and of touch are lost, that the effect is so very remarkable. + +But sea-sickness also partly depends on the irregular pressure of the +bowels against the diaphragm, as their inertia or weight varies with the +rising and falling of the ship. + +From the nature of sea-sickness, as discovered in all these facts, it is +seen why persons unaccustomed to the motion of a ship, often find relief +in keeping their eyes directed to the fixed shore, where it is visible; +or in lying down on their backs and shutting their eyes; or in taking +such a dose of exhilarating drink as shall diminish their sensibility to +all objects of external sense. + +_Arnott's Elements of Physics._ + + * * * * * + + + +FINE ARTS. + + * * * * * + + +THE BRITISH INSTITUTION. + + +The following gratifying report of the directors has just been +made:--"The funds of the institution consist at the present time of +12,500l. 3 per cent, consols. It is hoped that these funds may be +considerably increased by the exhibition of the beautiful collection of +pictures now on view at the gallery, which last year attracted such +general notice, and which his majesty, ever anxious to forward the +purposes of the institution, has again allowed the directors to offer +for the inspection of the public. The directors, finding that the two +institutions which have been established for the relief of decayed +artists, were not only founded upon the most humane principles, but +conducted in the most beneficial manner, have applied in the course of +the present year, 400l, to the purposes of those institutions; viz. +200l. to the Artists' Benevolent Fund, and 200l to the Artists' +General Benevolent Institution." The report next mentions two pictures +to be painted on the subjects of Lord Howe's and Lord St. Vincent's +victories, by Mr. Briggs and Mr. Jones, to be placed, "as well as those +which were exhibited this year in the gallery in commemoration of other +naval victories, in the hall of Greenwich hospital." It also confirms +the gift of Mr. Hilton's and Mr. Northcote's pictures to the new church +at Pimlico, built by Mr. Hakewill, and to the chapel built by Mr. +Cockerell, in the upper part of Regent-street. + + * * * * * + + + +ARTS AND SCIENCES. + + * * * * * + + +MUSICAL COMPOSITION. + + +A very valuable musical manuscript, by Guillaume de Machault, who was +_valet de chambre_ to Phillippe-le-Bel, in 1307, has been discovered in +the royal library at Paris. It contains several French and Latin +anthems, ballads, &c.; and concludes with a mass, which is supposed to +have been sung at the coronation of Charles V., in 1364; and which +proves, at that time they were acquainted with the art of composition in +four parts. + + +NOISY FISH. + + +M. Cuvier lately read a short paper to the French academy on the species +of fish called _pogonias_, in which he particularly adverted to the +noise by which they make themselves heard, even under water. However +difficult the explanation of this phenomenon, there can be no doubt of +its existence; the evidence of it adduced by M. Cuvier being perfectly +satisfactory. The silurus, a large and ravenous fish, which abounds in +the Danube, gives daily proof of it. + + +GEOLOGY. + + +A treatise on the great geological question, whether the continents now +inhabited, have or have not been repeatedly submerged in the sea, has +lately been read to the Académie des Sciences, by M. Constant Prevost. +M. Prevost maintains, contrary to the generally received opinion, that +there has been but one great inundation of the earth; and that the +various remains of plants, animals, &c., which have given rise to the +supposition of successive inundations, have been floated to the places +in which they are occasionally found. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + "I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's + stuff."--Wotton. + + * * * * * + + +A PUZZLE FOR THE CURIOUS. + + +At a town in Gloucestershire the relatives as below, recently surrounded +one dinner-table:--One great-grandfather, two grandfathers, one +grandmother, three fathers, two mothers, four children, three +grand-children, ore great-grandchild, three sisters, one brother, two +husbands, two wives, one mother-in-law, one father-in-law, two +brothers-in-law, three sisters-in-law, one son-in-law, two +daughters-in-law, two uncles, three aunts, one nephew, two nieces, and +two cousins. The whole party consisted of seven persons only. + + * * * * * + +THE ROMANCE OF WAR. + + +A French soldier, who accompanied the armies of Russia, concealed a +small treasure at the entrance of a village near Wilna, with a view of +taking it with him on his return. After the defeat of Moscow he was made +prisoner, and sent to Siberia, and only recovered his liberty at the end +of last year. On reaching Wilna he remembered his hidden treasure, and +after tracing out the spot where he had hid it, he went to take it away. +What was his astonishment to find, in the place of his money, a small +tin box, containing a letter addressed to him, in which a commercial +house was mentioned at Nancy, where he might receive the sum buried, +with interest, since the year 1812. The soldier supposed this was all a +hoax; he went, however, to the house pointed out, where he received his +capital, with twelve years' interest. With this sum he established a +small business at Nancy, which enables him to live comfortably; but he +has never been able, though he has taken some pains, to ascertain how +his money was taken away and restored to him. + + * * * * * + + Two lovely ladies dwell at ----, + And each a-churching goes; + Emma goes there _to close her eyes_, + And Jane to _eye her clothes_. + + * * * * * + +The death of Stanislaus, king of Poland, was occasioned in a singular +manner. Being much addicted to smoking, he generally every day finished +many pipes. In knocking out the ashes he set fire to his dressing-gown. +As no one was near him, the flames had surrounded him, when the officer +on guard, hearing his cries, ran to his assistance, and extinguished the +fire. He might have survived, but a singular circumstance accompanied +the accident. He had been devout during the last years of his life, and, +as a penance for his sins, had worn a girdle with points on the inside; +these became heated, and being pressed into his body while the flames +were extinguishing, caused a number of wounds, the discharge from which, +at his period of life, proved too much for his debilitated constitution. + + * * * * * + +Professor Porson was often in pecuniary difficulties. On one occasion he +came with a dejected air to a friend, and said he had been walking +through the streets of London all the morning, thinking how strange it +was that not one of all the crowds he met should know as much about +Greek tragic verse as himself, and yet that he could not turn his +knowledge into a hundred pounds. In these moments he often talked of +retiring forever to the wilds of America, where he formed a plan of +living in solitary happiness, without a book or a friend. + + * * * * * + +One evening, at the Literary Fund Club, Mr. Incledon having sung with +great effect Mr. T. Dibdin's ballad of "May we ne'er want a friend, or a +bottle to give him," an elderly gentleman whispered in Mr. T. Dibdin's +ear, "Ah! my dear sir, these are the true things of the old school; what +a pity it is no one living is found to write such ditties now!" + + * * * * * + + +_Printed and published by J LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) +and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10026 *** |