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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10719-0.txt b/10719-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75cb0c9 --- /dev/null +++ b/10719-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1597 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10719 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 10719-h.htm or 10719-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h/10719-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 349.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, AT ROME. + +[Illustration: The Arch of Constantine, at Rome.] + +"Still harping" on the Fine Arts--_Architecture_ and _Painting_. Of +the former, the above engraving is an illustration; and of the latter, +our readers will find a beautiful subject (from one of _Turner's_ +pictures) in a _Supplement published with the present Number_.[1] + + [1] The Second of "the Spirit of the Annuals," containing a fine + Engraving, after a celebrated picture by Turner, and a string of + POETICAL GEMS from the Anniversary, Keepsake, and Friendship's + Offering, with unique extracts from such of "the Annuals" as were + not noticed in the previous Supplement. + +The Arches of Rome were splendid monuments of triumph, erected in +honour of her illustrious generals. They were at first very simple, +being built of brick or hewn stone, and of a semicircular figure; but +afterwards more magnificent, built of the finest marble, and of a +square figure, with a large, arched gate in the middle, and two small +ones on each side, adorned with columns and statues. In the vault of +the middle gate, hung winged figures of victory, bearing crowns in +their hands, which, when let down, they placed on the victor's head, +when he passed in triumph. + +The _Arch of Constantine_, the most noble of all of these structures, +subsists almost entire. It was erected by the senate and Roman people, +in honour of Constantine, after his victory over Maxentius, and +crosses the Appian Way, at the junction of the Coelian and Palatine +Hills. Here it stands as the last monument of Roman triumph, or like +the December sun of "the world's sole monument." + +This building consists of three arches, of which the centre is the +largest; and has two fronts, each adorned with four columns of giallo +antico marble, of the Corinthian order, and fluted, supporting a +cornice, on which stand eight Dacian captives of Pavonazzetta, or +violet-coloured marble. + +The inscription on both sides of the architrave imports, that it was +dedicated "to the Emperor Cæsar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the +greatest, pious, and the happy; because by a divine impulse, the +greatness of his courage, and the aid of his army, he avenged the +republic by his just arms, and, at the same time, rescued it from the +tyrant and his whole faction." On one side of the arch are the words, +"Liberatori urbis," to the deliverer of the city; and on the other, +"Fundatori quietis," to the founder of public tranquillity. + +Although erected to the honour of Constantine, this arch commemorates +the victories of Trajan, some of the basso-relievos, &c. having +been pilfered from one of the arches of Trajan. This accounts for +the Dacian captives, whose heads Lorenzo de Medicis broke off and +conveyed to Florence, but the theft might not have been so notorious +to posterity, had not the artists of Constantine's time added some +figures of inferior merit. Forsyth says, "Constantine's reign was +notorious for architectural robbery;" and the styles of the two +emperors, in the present arch, mar the harmony by their unsightly +contrasts. + +Although the decree for erecting this arch was, without doubt, passed +immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, it appears from the +monument itself, that the building was not finished and dedicated till +the tenth year of Constantine's reign, or the year of Christ 315 or +316. + +The newly-erected arch opposite the entrance to Hyde Park is from the +Roman arch, though, we believe, not from any particular model. In the +View of the New Palace, St. James's Park, (in our No. 278,) the arch, +to be called the Waterloo Monument, and erected in the middle of the +area of the palace, will be nearly a copy of that of Constantine +at Rome. In the court-yard of the Tuilleries at Paris, there is a +similar arch, copied from that of Septimius Severus. This was formerly +surmounted by the celebrated group of the horses of St. Mark, pilfered +from Venice, but restored at the peace of 1815. + + * * * * * + + + +THE BEGGAR'S DAUGHTER OF BETHNAL GREEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + +The popular ballad of "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Greene" was +written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is founded, though without +the least appearance of truth, or even probability, on a legend of +the time of Henry III. Henry de Montfort, son of the ambitious Earl +of Leicester, who was slain with his father at the memorable battle +of Evesham, is the hero of the tale. He is supposed (according to +the legend) to have been discovered among the bodies of the slain +by a young lady, in an almost lifeless state, and deprived of sight +by a wound, which he had received during the engagement. Under +the fostering hand of this "faire damosel" he soon recovered, and +afterwards marrying her, she became the mother of "the comelye and +prettye Bessee." Fearing lest his rank and person should be discovered +by his enemies, he disguised himself in the habit of a beggar, and +took up his abode at Bethnal-Green. The beauty of his daughter +attracted many suitors, and she was at length married to a noble +knight, who, regardless of her supposed meanness and poverty, had the +courage to make her his wife, her other lovers having deserted her on +account of her low origin. Before entering, however, upon the ballad, +it may not, perhaps, be thought irrelevant to give a brief sketch of +the family of the De Montforts. + +Simon de Montfort, created Earl of Leicester by Henry III., was the +younger son of Simon de Montfort, the renowned but cruel commander +of the croisade against the Albigenses. This nobleman was greatly +honoured by Henry III., to whose sister, the Countess Dowager of +Pembroke, he paid his addresses, and was married, with the consent +of her brother. For the favour thus shown him by his sovereign, he, +however, proved ungrateful: his inordinate ambition, cloaked by a +pretended zeal for reform, was the cause of those rebellions which, in +the reign of Henry III., kept the kingdom in such a continued turmoil. +The different oppressions and successes of the confederate barons, +who at length got possession of the king's person, and the civil +wars which ensued, are so well known as to render any remark on the +subject superfluous; suffice it to say, that the disputes between +the malcontents and the royal party were at length terminated by the +battle of Evesham, which decided in favour of the latter. In this +field fell the Earl of Leicester and his eldest son, Henry de +Montfort. His death was followed by the total ruin of his family; +his titles and estates were all confiscated; the countess, his wife, +who had been extremely active in her designs against the royalists, +was banished, together with her sons, Simon and Guy, who afterwards +assassinated their cousin, Henry d'Allmane, when he was endeavouring +to effect a reconciliation between them and their uncle, Henry IV. +The head of the earl was sent as a signal of the victory by Roger de +Mortimer to the countess; but his body, together with that of his +son Henry, was interred in the Abbey of Evesham; thus leaving the +improbability of the legend without a shadow of doubt. + +As our limits will not allow us to quote the whole of the ballad,[1] +we must content ourselves with giving the song of the beggar, which, +as well as being the most interesting, contains the whole of the +legend concerning de Montfort:-- + + A poore beggar's daughter did dwell on a greene, + Who for her fairnesse might well be a queene: + A blithe bonny lasse, and a daintye was shee, + And many one called her pretty Bessee. + + Her father hee had noe goods nor noe land, + But begg'd for a penny all day with his hand; + And yett to her marriage he gave thousands three, + And still he hath somewhat for pretty Bessee. + + And if any one here her birth doe disdaine, + Her father is ready, with might and with maine, + To prove shee is come of noble degree-- + Therefore, ever flout att prettye Bessee. + + * * * * * + + Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one, + One song more to sing, and then I have done; + And if that itt may not winn good report, + Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport. + + Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall bee. + Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee-- + Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase, + Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race. + + When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose, + Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose-- + A leader of courage undaunted was hee, + And oft-times he made their enemyes flee. + + At length in the battle on Eveshame plaine + The barons were routed, and Montfort was slaine; + Moste fatall that battel did prove unto thee, + Thoughe thou wast not borne then, my prettye Bessee! + + Along with the nobles that fell at that tyde, + His eldest son Henrye, who fought by his side, + Was fellde by a blowe he receiv'de in the fighte! + A blowe that depriv'de him for ever of sight. + + Among the dead bodyes all lifelesse he laye, + Till evening drewe on of the following daye, + When by a yong ladye discover'd was hee-- + And this was thy mother, my prettye Bessee! + + A baron's faire daughter stept forth in the nighte, + To search for her father, who fell in the fight, + And seeing yong Montfort, where gasping he laye, + Was moved with pitye, and broughte him awaye. + + In secrette she nurst him, and swaged his paine, + While he throughe the realme was beleev'd to be slaine: + At lengthe his faire bride she consented to bee, + And made him glad father of prettye Bessee. + + And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye + We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye; + Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee-- + All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee. + + And here have wee lived in fortunes despite, + Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte; + Full forty winters thus have I beene + A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene. + + And here, noble lordes, is ended the song + Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong: + And thus have you learned a secrette from mee, + That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee. + + [1] Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178. + +At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of 1703, was +called _Bethnal-Green-House_, and which the inhabitants, with their +usual love of traditionary lore, assign as the "Palace of the Blind +Beggar." This house was erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by +John Kirby, citizen of London, and was, says Stow,[1] "lofty like a +castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knight, +the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into the +possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in 1669; of +late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The tradition of +the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of several of the +public-houses in the neighbourhood. + + [1] Strype's Stowe, vol. ii. p. 47, edit. 1755. + +S.I.B. + + * * * * * + + + +HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY OF WILLS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +According to Blackstone, wills are of high antiquity. We find them +among the ancient Hebrews; not to mention what Eusebius and others +have related of Noah's testament, made in writing, and witnessed under +his seal, by which he disposed of the whole world. A more authentic +instance of the early use of testaments occurs in the sacred writings, +(Genesis, chap. xlviii.) in which Jacob bequeaths to his son Joseph, a +portion of his inheritance, double to that of his brethren. + +The Grecian practice concerning wills (says Potter) was not the same +in all places; some states permitted men to dispose of their estates, +others wholly deprived them of that privilege. We are told by +Plutarch, that Solon is much commended for his law concerning wills; +for before his time no man was allowed to make any, but all the wealth +of deceased persons belonged to their families; but he permitted them +to bestow it on whom they pleased, esteeming friendship a stronger tie +than kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put every man's +estate in the disposal of the possessor; yet he allowed not all sorts +of wills, but required the following conditions in all persons that +made them:-- + +1st. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves, or foreigners, +for then their estates were confiscated for the public use. + +2nd. That they must be men who have arrived to twenty years of age, +for women and men under that age were not permitted to dispose by will +of more than one _medimn_ of barley. + +3rd. That they must not be adopted; for when adopted persons died +without issue, the estates they received by adoption returned to the +relations of the men who adopted them. + +4th. That they should have no male children of their own, for then +their estate belonged to these. If they had only daughters, the +persons to whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to marry +them. Yet men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed their children, +in case these happened to die under twenty years of age. + +5th. That they should be in their right minds, because testaments +extorted through the phrenzy of a disease, or dotage of old age, were +not in reality the wills of the persons that made them. + +6th. That they should not be under imprisonment, or other constraint, +their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to be reputed +voluntary. + +7th. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and +insinuations of a wife; for (says Plutarch) the wise lawgiver with +good reason thought that no difference was to be put between deceit +and necessity, flattery and compulsion, since both are equally +powerful to persuade a man from reason. + +Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put seals to +them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of trustees, who +were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some of the magistrates +were very often present at the making of wills. Sometimes the +_archons_ were also present. Sometimes the testator declared his will +before sufficient witnesses, without committing it to writing. Thus +Callias, fearing to be cut off by a wicked conspiracy, is said to have +made an open declaration of his will before the popular assembly at +Athens. There were several copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as +those of Aristotle, Lycon, and Theophrastus; whence it appears they +had a common form, beginning with a wish for life and health. + +The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made _vivâ voce_, +the testator declaring his will in the presence of seven witnesses; +these they called _nuncupative_ testaments; but the danger of trusting +the will of the dead to the memory of the living soon abolished these; +and all testaments were ordered to be in writing. + +The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being _inofficiosa_, +deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited or totally passed by +(without assigning a true and sufficient reason) any of the children +of the testator. But if the child had any legacy, though ever so +small, it was a proof that the testator had not lost his memory nor +his reason, which otherwise the law presumed. Hence probably (says +Blackstone) has arisen that groundless, vulgar error of the necessity +of leaving the heir a shilling, or some other express legacy, in order +to effectually disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though +the heir, or next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no _querela +inofficiosa_, to set aside such testament. + +Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express terms, +that it was just the English should be as free as their own thoughts. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE COSMOPOLITE. + +DANCING. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps +correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other +species of dancing--as + + -----------------for three long months + To _dance attendance_ for a word of audience: + +and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in pestilences, +the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the principal spirits." +The _Chorea S. Viti_, or _St. Vitus's Dance_ is another variation, +said to have once prevailed extensively, and to have been cured by a +prayer to this saint! whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It +may not be generally known that a person afflicted with this species +of dancing can _run_, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another +and a more agreeable species is to _lead the dance_, an unjust +usurpation which is practised in a thousand other places beside the +ball-room. + +According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and +nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, who +were _produced from rain_, first invented the dance to amuse the +infant Jupiter--with what success he danced we know not, for when a +year old he waged war against the Titans, and then his dancing days +must have terminated. + +A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few of its +eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, either as a +recreation or as a religious ceremony--held in contempt by some, and +in esteem by others. David danced before the ark; the daughters of +Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; and the Israelites, (good +judges) danced round the golden calf. + +The ancients had a peculiar _penchant_ for dancing, whether in person +or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all the wretched +efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. The attempts +of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the shade all the +peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and the Green Parks. +Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of _elephants_ in their time that +were taught to walk the rope, backwards and forwards, up and down, +with the agility of an Italian rope-dancer. Such was the confidence +reposed in the docility and dexterity of the animal, that a person +sat upon an elephant's back, while he walked across the theatre +upon a rope, extended from the one side to the other. Lipsius, +who has collected these testimonies, thinks them too strong to be +doubted--perhaps even stronger than the rope. Scaliger corroborates +all of them; Busbequius _saw_ an elephant dance a _pas seul_ at +Constantinople; and Suetonius tells us of twelve elephants, six male +and six female, who were clothed like men and women, and performed a +country dance, in the reign of Tiberius. In later times, horses have +been taught to dance. In the carousals of Louis XIII. there were +dances of horses; and in the 13th century, some rode a horse upon a +rope. All this eclipses the puny modern feats of Astley and Ducrow.[1] + + [1] Miraculous dancing is not, however, confined to animals; for + William of Malmesbury gravely relates an instance of 15 young + women and 18 young men who (by the anathema of a priest) continued + dancing a whole year, and wore the earth so much, that, by + degrees, they sunk midway into the earth! + +The Greeks and Romans were divided upon the propriety of dancing. +Socrates who held death in contempt, when a reverend old gentleman, +learned to dance of Aspasia, the beautiful nurse of Grecian eloquence. +The Romans forgot their loss of the republic and of liberty-- + + ------------------the air we breathe + If we have it not we die. + +in seeing Pylades and Bathyllus dance before them in their +theatres--an indifference of which we were reminded on hearing that +the Parisians sat in the _Cafés_ on the Boulevard du Italiens--sipping +coffee and sucking down ice, during the capitulation of the city, and +while the French, killed and wounded, were conveyed along the road +before them. + +Cato, _Censorius_, danced at the age of fifty-six. Cicero, however, +reproached a consul with having danced. Tiberius, that monster of +indulgences, banished dancers from Rome; and Domitian, the illustrious +fly-catcher, expelled several of his _members of parliament_ for +having danced. We are much more civilized, for such an edict as that +of Domitian would clear our senate-houses as effectually as when +Cromwell turned out the Long Parliament. + +Among the Italians and the French even there have been found enemies +to dancing. Alfieri, the poet, had a great aversion to dancing; and +one Daneau wrote a Traité des Danses, in which he maintains that +"the devil never invented a more effectual way than dancing, to fill +the world with ----." The bishop of Noyon once presided at some +deliberations respecting a minuet; and in 1770, a reverend prelate +presented a document on dancing to the king of France. The Quakers +consider dancing below the dignity of the Christian character; and an +enthusiast, of another creed, thinks all lovers of the stage belong to +the schools of Voltaire and Hume, and that dancing is a link in the +chain of seduction. Stupid, leaden-heeled people, who constantly mope +in melancholy, and neither enjoy nor impart pleasure, will naturally +be enemies to dancing; and such we are induced to think the majority +of these opponents. + +The French are inveterate dancers. They have their _bals parés_ and +their _salons de danse_ in every street; and as long as the weather +will permit, they dance on platforms out of doors, and a heavy shower +of rain will scarcely cool their ardour in the recreation. Some of +their stage _figurantes_ resemble aerial beings rather than bone and +blood, for flesh may almost be left out of the composition. But the +Italians are a nation of dancers as well as the children of song, and +they seem to have followed the noble example of old Cato, in this +respect, with better effect than they have studied his virtue. We are +also told upon good authority, that the American dancers equal any of +the European _figurantes_. + +The English people have always been lovers of dancing; and it forms +an accompaniment of almost all their old sports and pastimes. Witness +the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the grotesque +morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or military dance, and +described by Sir William Temple as composed of "ten men, who danced a +maid marian and a tabor and pipe." In the time of Henry VII. dancers +were remarkably well paid; for in some of his accounts in the +Exchequer, we find + + £. s. d. +Paid to a spye, in reward----------------- 2 0 0 +To Pechie, the fool, in rewarde----------- 0 6 8 +To Richard Beden, for writing of bokes---- 0 10 0 +_To the young dameysell that daunceth_---- 30 0 0 + +In Shakspeare's time, to _dance_ was an elegant accomplishment. Thus +in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," "What say you to young Mr. Fenton? He +capers, he _dances_, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses." Locke +thus alludes to the graceful motions which dancing lends to the human +frame: "the legs of the dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, +fall, as it were, naturally, without thought or pains, into regular +and admirable motions." + +It must be somewhat surprising to those who over-rate the +matter-of-fact character of the English people, that so great a +majority of them are attached to _dancing_. Among rank and wealth +this amusement admits of a finer display of beauty and artificial +decoration than almost any other recreation; for nothing can be more +splendid than a brilliantly illuminated and well-filled ball-room. +Dancing among the middle classes of society is equally mirthful though +not of so ostentatious a character, and it is a question whether the +latter, being free from the alloy of fashionable follies, are not more +exhilarated by sweet sounds than their wealthy superiors. But the +mushroom aristocracy and pride of purse often operate as checks to the +enjoyment of both these classes; and splendid dancing accommodations +sometimes put an end to the amusement. At Dorking, in Surrey, attached +to one of the inns is a ball-room, which cost the builder £12,000, and +here is one, or at most three balls during the year, while at scores +of places within our recollection, of less consequence, there are +monthly and even weekly balls; and we are inclined to think these +periodical recreations of great importance to the happiness of country +towns. But there is a species of intoxication sometimes arising +from them--that of dancing all night, to suffer from exhaustion and +rheumatism on the following day--an evil easy of remedy, by such +amusements being more frequent and less protracted. The influence +on the character of the people would probably be that of rendering +it more even, from the admixture or reciprocation of pleasure and +business being more proportional. This plan would get rid of much of +the ostentation and expense of a country ball, and would ultimately +prove the best antidote to the sins of scandal. + +As we have spoken of public dancing in the time of Henry VII., we will +show that the enormous sums paid to _artists_ have nourished their +conceit to an alarming height. Pitrot, the Vestris of his day, was a +consummate specimen of this effrontery. At Vienna, he chose to appear +only in the last act of the ballet. The emperor desired him to come +forth at the end of the first; Pitrot refused; the court left the +opera, and then Pitrot told the dancers they would have a hop by +themselves, which they did. However, this was forgiven; and, at his +departure, he was presented with the emperor's picture, set with +brilliants. Pitrot received it with _sang froid_, pressed his thumb +upon the crystal, crushed the picture to pieces, adding, "Thus I treat +men not worthy of my friendship." This fellow behaved equally ill +in France, Prussia, and Russia; but, at length, scouted by all his +patrons, and, after giving his thousands to opera girls, he wandered +about Calais in rags and poverty. Farinelli, after accumulating a +fortune in England, built a superb mansion in Italy, which he called +the _English Folly_.[1] + + [1] Here is a card "extraordinary" of one of our humble English + dancing-masters:--"As Dancing is the poetry of motion, those who + wish to sail through the mazes of harmony, or to 'trip it on the + light fantastic toe,' will find an able guide in John Wilde, who + was formed by nature for a dancing-master.--N.B. Those who have + been taught to dance with _a couple of left legs_, had better + apply in time, as he effectually cures all bad habits of the + kind." + +The oddity of some ideas of dancing is really ludicrous. The +Cambro-Britains, in a very late period, used to be played out of +church by a fiddle, and to form a dance in the church-yard at the +end of the service. But the ideas which the Chinese have of dancing +exceeds all others. When Commodore Anson was at Canton, the officers +of the _Centurion_ had a ball upon some court holiday: while they were +dancing, a Chinese, who very quietly surveyed the operation, said, +softly, to one of the party, "Why don't you let your servants do this +for you?" + + * * * * * + + + +FINE ARTS. + +SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION. + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + + +I beg to present you with a brief notice of the School of Painting at +the British Institution, Pall Mall; you may rely upon its correctness, +as I have been extremely cautious in making my notes, and in +ascertaining every particular relative to the subject. + +The students at this excellent institution have, for several weeks, +been arduously engaged in copying the fine pictures which were +entrusted to the directors by his majesty, and the nobility, for that +purpose. In general, the students have been very successful, and +deserve much praise; I must, however, in my prescribed limits, only +mention a few. + +Vandyke's _Duchess de St. Croix_ has been cleverly copied by Mr. Boden +and Mr. Faulkner; the latter gentleman has well imitated the color and +the beautiful finish of the original. Messrs. Frisk, Child, Howell +and M'Call have likewise made clever copies of this _chef d'oeuvre_ +of art. Many bold efforts have been made to copy Hobbima's large +_Landscape_; Mr. Laporte's is the most complete, though not quite +spirited enough in the handling. _The Spanish Gentleman_, by +Velasquez, has engaged the pencils of numerous artists, though they +have not all been so successful as could have been wished; Messrs. +Inskipp, Frisk, Morton and Child have produced the best _fac similes_. +The _Lime Kiln_, by the younger Teniers, has been carefully studied +by Mr. Gill, &c.; and Messrs. M'Call and Morton, have executed the +finest studies from _Innocent X._, by Velasquez. _The Embarkation_, +by Claude, is extremely well imitated in Mr. Cartwright's copy; and +the _Virgin and Child_, which is one of Julio Romano's best works, +has met with due attention from Mr. Farrier, and others. Mr. Novice +has executed the only copy from DeHooge's fine picture--_A Dutch +Family preparing for a Walk_; and Messrs. Foster and Earl display +considerable talent in their copies from the _Landscape and Cattle_, +by Cuyp. Other admirable works by Guido, Rubens, Bassan, Ruysdael, +Vanderneer, and Canaletta, have met with a host of imitators, from +whose talents we may anticipate, at no distant period, pictorial +excellency of the first order. I should discover a want of gallantry, +and, indeed, be most unjust, were I not to say that the ladies, in +nearly all their undertakings, have exerted their utmost to excel; +those especially, who have executed copies in water colours deserve +the highest recommendation. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY. + +THAXTED HIGHWAYMEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +The following incident led to the breaking up and dispersion of a gang +of desperate highwaymen, denominated the Thaxted gang, who about sixty +years ago used to infest the roads in the neighbourhood of Dunmow, +Thaxted, and the adjacent towns and villages:-- + +An opulent farmer of Thaxted, being one day at Dunmow market, received +a considerable sum of money, the produce of grain and other marketable +articles, which he had that day disposed of; and going to the inn +where he had left his horse, he ordered it to be saddled directly +for the purpose of returning home. In those times every tradesman, +salesman and a greater part of the publicans and innkeepers knew what +money each other received on a market day. The innkeeper at whose +house the farmer was in the habit of putting up at, said to him, "Why +you are not going home to-night, are you, with all that money about +you? You will stand a chance of getting a knock on the head."--"Let +them knock away," answered the farmer. "I have never yet been robbed, +nor do I think it likely I shall be to-night; so, Robert, get my horse +ready," calling to the hostler. "Well, but have you any weapons of +defence?" inquired the publican.--"No, nor none I want," responded the +farmer. The innkeeper pressed him to take a pair of holster pistols; +saying, "he might find them handy;" and after a great deal of +persuasion, he agreed to take _one_, the publican first loading and +charging it with ball. The farmer put the pistol in his great coat +pocket, and was on the point of departure when he recollected that he +had to get a pound of tea at a grocer's shop in the town, a few doors +from the inn. He instantly ran to the shop for the tea, and while the +grocer was serving him he made the same remark as the innkeeper had +done respecting his going home with so considerable a sum as he knew +the farmer had about him. The farmer made answer, "I am going home +to-night, but our friend the publican, has lent me a pistol; and if +any one interrupts me, I intend to blow his brains out."--"Do you +know," said the grocer, "I do not like that fellow. Will you let me +look at the pistol if you have it with you."--"O yes, look at it if +you like. I never fired a pistol in my life; however, should I be +stopped, I think I could manage it." The grocer took the pistol; drew +the charge; and found, to the great surprise of the farmer, it was +only loaded with horse-dung, and a large bullet at the top. "I thought +he was a rascal, and this confirms it." said the grocer. "Here is +evidently a plot; now leave your money with me; we will load this +pistol properly, and you can, if you like, proceed on your journey: +it may be the means of detecting some one." + +The farmer left his money in the hands of the grocer; went back to the +inn; mounted his horse, and rode off on his journey. About a mile +from Dunmow, he was stopped by a fellow, well mounted, who instantly +demanded his money. "I have not got any," replied the farmer, "but I +have a pistol, with which, if you do not instantly allow me to pass on +my way home, I will blow your brains out." "You have got money--and as +to the pistol, you may blow away--blow away, my fine fellow," said the +chuckling highwayman. The farmer instantly fired, and his assailant +fell off his horse to the ground with a groan. The farmer galloped +back to the inn, and inquired of the hostler where his master was. +"He has been gone out, on horseback, about a quarter of an hour," +the hostler replied. "Well, I will tell you what," said the farmer, +"you may find your master, with his brains blown out, in the road," +describing the place where he had had the encounter with the +innkeeper. + +From this time a number of persons resident in and about Thaxted and +Dunmow, left their places of abode, which circumstance created some +surprise among the remaining inhabitants; but it was afterwards +ascertained they formed the desperate gang that had so long and +successfully robbed, and sometimes murdered, their unsuspecting +neighbours and the different travellers who had occasion to pass the +roads on which these marauders were stationed. + +J.W.B. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. + +The village of Gotham, about seven miles from Nottingham, has been +rendered noted by the common proverb of "The Wise Men of Gotham." +It is observable that a custom has prevailed among many nations of +stigmatizing the inhabitants of some particular spot as remarkable for +stupidity. This opprobrious district among the Asiatics was Phrygia. +Among the Thracians, Abdera; among the Greeks, Boeotia; in England +it is Gotham. Of the Gothamites ironically called _The Wise Men of +Gotham_, many ridiculous stories are traditionally told, particularly, +that often having heard the cuckoo but never seen her, they hedged in +a bush from whence her note seemed to proceed, so that being confined +within so small a compass, they might at length satisfy their +curiosity; and at a place called Court Hill, in this parish, is a bush +called Cuckoo Bush. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + +MALLARD NIGHT. + +At All Souls' College, Oxford, the _Mallard Night_ is celebrated +annually on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a very singular +circumstance, viz. the discovery of a live and excessively large +mallard, or drake, supposed to have long ranged in a drain or sewer +of considerable depth. The only probable conjecture respecting its +extraordinary situation was, that it had fallen when young through the +bars or grating at the entrance of the drain, (which was of sufficient +width to receive it if very young,) but was found at a great distance +from it, on digging for the foundation of the college, (A.D. 1437.) A +very humorous account of this event was published some years ago by +Dr. Buckler, subwarden, from a manuscript of Thomas Walsingham, the +historian, and monk of St. Alban's. It is the cause of much mirth, for +on the day, and in remembrance of the mallard, many an old and merry +song is sung. + +E.T.S. + + * * * * * + +WELSH MARRIAGES. + +It appears to me a matter of no small surprise that so economical +a people as the English should not have adopted such a plan as the +following by the lower classes of the Welsh. When a young couple +intend offering themselves at the Temple of Hymen, if they are very +poor, they generally send a man, called the bidder, round to their +acquaintance and friends, who invites them, sometimes in rhyme, to +the wedding; but if they can afford it, they issue circulars. The +following is a copy of one:-- + +"_June 27, 1827._ + +"As we intend to enter the matrimonial state on Thursday, the 19th day +of July next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a bidding on +the occasion, the same day, at the Butchers' Arms, Carmarthen, when +and where the favour of your good and agreeable company is humbly +solicited; and whatever donation you may be pleased to confer on us +then, will be thankfully received, warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully +repaid whenever called for on a similar occasion. + +"By your most obedient servants, + +"JOHN JONES. + +"MARY EVANS." + +The persons so invited (if they accept the invitation) generally form +part of the procession to church, and are preceded by a harper or +fiddler. After the nuptial knot is tied, they veer their course to +the public-house mentioned in the bills, where they partake, not of a +sumptuous banquet, but of the simple, though not the worst, fare of +bread and cheese and kisses, at the expense of the new married folks. +After this, a large plate is placed on the table in the room, and they +proceed to receive the money which each person may be disposed to +give, whilst one keeps account of the sum and names. They frequently +receive 50_l._, and sometimes, though seldom, 100_l._; and they have +the privilege (by paying the duty) of selling the ale to the persons +assembled. It is to be observed, that the money so deposited cannot be +reclaimed by the persons who gave it until a similar occasion presents +itself in their family. By this means the new married couple are +enabled to procure furniture, and other things requisite for them. + +W.H. + + * * * * * + +CURIOUS FOUNDATION. + +At Spinney, in Cambridgeshire, was an abbey founded in the reign of +Henry III. near which was a church, built by Lady Mary Bassingburne, +and given to the Abbey of Spinney, on condition that the monks should +support seven aged men with the following allowance, viz. one farthing +loaf, one herring, and one pennyworth of ale per day, and two hundred +dry turves, one pair of shoes, one woollen garment, and three ells of +linen every year. Henry Cromwell, second son of Oliver Cromwell, is +buried here. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, + +AND + +LITERARY NOTICES OF + +_NEW WORKS_ + + * * * * * + + +ADVENTURES OF ALLAN-A-SOP. + +_By Sir Walter Scott, Bart._ + +The chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart, in the Isle of Mull, had an +intrigue with a beautiful young woman of his own clan, who bore a son +to him. In consequence of the child's being, by some accident, born in +a barn, he received the name of Allan-a-Sop, or Allan of the Straw, by +which he was distinguished from others of his clan. As his father and +mother were not married, Allan was of course a bastard or natural son, +and had no inheritance to look for, save that which he might win for +himself. + +But the beauty of the boy's mother having captivated a man of rank in +the clan, called MacLean of Torloisk, he married her, and took her +to reside with him at his castle of Torloisk, situated on the shores +of the Sound, or small strait of the sea, which divides the smaller +island of Ulva from that of Mull. Allan-a-Sop paid his mother frequent +visits at her new residence, and she was naturally glad to see the +poor boy, both from affection, and on account of his personal strength +and beauty, which distinguished him above other youths of his age. But +she was obliged to confer marks of her attachment on him as privately +as she could, for Allan's visits were by no means so acceptable to +her husband as to herself. Indeed, Torloisk liked so little to see +the lad, that he determined to put some affront on him, which should +prevent his returning to the castle for some time. An opportunity for +executing his purpose soon occurred. + +The lady one morning, looking from the window, saw her son coming +wandering down the hill, and hastened to put a girdle cake upon +the fire, that he might have hot bread to his breakfast. Something +called her out of the apartment after making this preparation, and +her husband entering at the same time, saw at once what she had been +about, and determined to give the boy such a reception as should +disgust him for the future. He snatched the cake from the girdle, +thrust it into his step-son's hands, which he forcibly closed on the +scalding bread, saying, "Here, Allan--here is a cake which your mother +has got ready for your breakfast." Allan's hands were severely burnt; +and, being a sharp-witted and proud boy, he resented this mark of his +step-father's ill-will, and came not again to Torloisk. + +At this time the western seas were covered with the vessels of +pirates, who, not unlike the sea-kings of Denmark at an early period, +sometimes settled and made conquests on the islands. Allan-a-Sop was +young, strong, and brave to desperation. He entered as a mariner on +board of one of these ships, and in process of time obtained the +command, first of one galley, then of a small flotilla, with which he +sailed round the seas and collected considerable plunder, until his +name became both feared and famous. At length he proposed to himself +to pay a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for many years; and +setting sail for this purpose, he anchored one morning in the Sound of +Ulva, and in front of the house of Torloisk. His mother was dead, but +his stepfather, to whom he was now an object of fear as he had been +formerly of aversion, hastened to the shore to receive his formidable +son-in-law, with great affectation of kindness and interest in his +prosperity; while Allan-a-Sop, who, though very rough and hasty, does +not appear to have been sullen or vindictive, seemed to take his kind +reception in good part. + +The crafty old man succeeded so well, as he thought, in securing +Allan's friendship, and in obliterating all recollections of the +former affront put on him, that he began to think it possible to +employ him in executing his private revenge upon MacKinnon of Ulva, +with whom, as was usual between such neighbours, he had some feud. +With this purpose, he offered what he called the following good advice +to his son-in-law:--"My dear Allan, you have now wandered over the +seas long enough; it is time you should have some footing upon land, +a castle to protect yourself in winter, a village and cattle for your +men, and a harbour to lay up your galleys. Now, here is the island +of Ulva, near at hand, which lies ready for your occupation, and it +will cost you no trouble, save that of putting to death the present +proprietor, the Laird of MacKinnon, a useless old carle, who has +cumbered the world long enough." + +Allan-a-Sop thanked his stepfather for so happy a suggestion, which +he declared he would put in execution forthwith. Accordingly, setting +sail the next morning, he appeared before MacKinnon's house an hour +before noon. The old chief of Ulva was much alarmed at the menacing +apparition of so many galleys, and his anxiety was not lessened by the +news, that they were commanded by the redoubted Allan-a-Sop. Having +no effectual means of resistance, MacKinnon, who was a man of shrewd +sense, saw no alternative save that of receiving the invaders, +whatever might be their purpose, with all outward demonstrations of +joy and satisfaction. He caused immediate preparations to be made for +a banquet as splendid as circumstances admitted, hastened down to +the shore to meet the rover, and welcomed him to Ulva with such an +appearance of sincerity, that the pirate found it impossible to pick +any quarrel which might afford a pretence for executing the violent +purpose which he had been led to meditate. + +They feasted together the whole day; and in the evening, as +Allan-a-Sop was about to retire to his ships, he thanked the Laird +of MacKinnon for his entertainment, but remarked, with a sigh, that +it had cost him very dear. "How can that be" said MacKinnon, "when I +bestowed this entertainment upon you in free good-will?"--"It is true, +my friend," replied the pirate, "but then it has quite disconcerted +the purpose for which I came hither; which was to put you to death, +my good friend, and seize upon your house and island, and so settle +myself in the world. It would have been very convenient, this island, +but your friendly reception has rendered it impossible for me to +execute my purpose; so that I must be a wanderer on the seas for some +time longer." Whatever MacKinnon felt at hearing that he had been so +near to destruction, he took care to show no emotion save surprise, +and replied to his visiter,--"My dear Allan, who was it that put into +your mind so unkind a purpose towards your old friend; for I am sure +it never arose from your own generous nature? It must have been your +father-in-law, old Torloisk, who made such an indifferent husband to +your mother, and such an unfriendly stepfather to you when you were a +helpless boy; but now, when he sees you a bold and powerful leader, he +desires to make a quarrel betwixt you and those who were the friends +of your youth. If you consider this matter rightly, Allan, you will +see that the estate and harbour of Torloisk lie as conveniently for +you as those of Ulva, and that, if you are to make a settlement by +force, it is much better it should be at the expense of the old churl, +who never showed you kindness or countenance, than at that of a friend +like me, who always loved and honoured you." + +Allan-a-Sop was struck with the justice of this reasoning; and the old +offence of his scalded fingers was suddenly recalled to his mind. "It +is very true what you say, MacKinnon," he replied, "and, besides, I +have not forgotten what a hot breakfast my father-in-law treated me to +one morning. Farewell for the present; you shall soon hear news of me +from the other side of the Sound." Having said thus much, the pirate +got on board, and commanding his men to unmoor the galleys, sailed +back to Torloisk, and prepared to land in arms. His father-in-law +hastened to meet him, in expectation to hear of the death of his +enemy, MacKinnon. But Allan greeted him in a very different manner +from what he expected. "You hoary old traitor," he said, "you +instigated my simple good-nature to murder a better man than yourself. +But have you forgotten how you scorched my fingers twenty years +ago, with a burning cake? The day is come that that breakfast must +be paid for." So saying, he dashed out his father-in-law's brains +with a battle-axe, took possession of his castle and property, +and established there a distinguished branch of the clan of +MacLean.--_Tales of a Grandfather--Second Series._ + + * * * * * + + + +ADVANTAGES OF A GOOD HEART, + +_A Fragment from the "Disowned," by the author of "Pelham."_ + + +"The next day, Sir Christopher Findlater called on Clarence. 'Let us +lounge into the park,' said he. 'With pleasure,' replied Clarence; +and into the park they lounged. By the way they met a crowd, who +were hurrying a man to prison. The good-hearted Sir Christopher +stopped--'Who is that poor fellow?' said he. 'It is the +celebrated'--(in England all criminals are celebrated. Thurtell was +a hero, Thistlewood a patriot, and Fauntleroy was discovered to be +exactly like Bonaparte)--'it is the celebrated robber, John Jefferies, +who broke into Mrs. Wilson's house, and cut the throats of herself and +her husband, wounded the maid-servant, and split the child's skull +with the poker.' * * * 'John Jefferies!' exclaimed the baronet, 'let +us come away.' 'Linden,' continued Sir Christopher, 'that fellow was +my servant once. He robbed me to some considerable extent. I caught +him. He appealed to my heart, and you know, my dear fellow, that was +irresistible, so I let him off. Who could have thought he would have +turned out so?' And the baronet proceeded to eulogize his own good +nature, by which it is just necessary to remark, that one miscreant +had been saved for a few years from transportation in order to rob and +murder _ad libitum_, and having fulfilled the office of a common pest, +to suffer on the gallows at last. What a fine thing it is to have a +good heart! Both our gentlemen now sunk into a reverie, from which +they were awakened, at the entrance of the park, by a young man in +rags, who, with a piteous tone, supplicated charity. Clarence, who to +his honour be it spoken, spent an allotted and considerable part of +his income in judicious and laborious benevolence, had read a little +of political morals, then beginning to be understood, and walked on. +The good-hearted baronet put his hand in his pocket, and gave the +beggar half-a-guinea, by which a young, strong man, who had only just +commenced the trade, was confirmed in his imposition for the rest of +his life; and instead of the useful support, became the pernicious +incumbrance of society. Sir Christopher had now recovered his spirits. +'What's like a good action?' said he to Clarence, with a swelling +breast. The park was crowded to excess; our loungers were joined by +Lord St. George. His lordship was a staunch Tory. He could not endure +Wilkes, liberty, or general education. He launched out against the +enlightenment of domestics. 'What has made you so bitter?' said Sir +Christopher. 'My valet!' cried Lord St. George; 'he has invented a new +toasting-fork; is going to take out a patent, make his fortune, _and +leave me_; that's what I call ingratitude, Sir Christopher; for I +ordered his wages to be raised five pounds but last year.' 'It _was_ +very ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated +the good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet, +Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow, +who can neither read nor write?' 'N--o--o--that is to say, yes! I can; +my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and is as ignorant as--as--' +'I--or you are,' said Lord St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,' +replied the baronet. 'Well, then, I take your recommendation: send +him to me to-morrow at twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My +dear Findlater,' cried Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did +you not tell me some time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and +closely _lie_ with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St. +George!' 'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue, +to be sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his +eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a character; +so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the truth,' +observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take him!' +rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible _naiveté_. +'No, no, Linden, we must not be so hard-hearted; we must forgive and +forget;' and so saying, the baronet threw out his chest, with the +conscious exultation of a man who has uttered a noble sentiment. The +moral of this little history is, that Lord St. George, having been +pillaged 'through thick and thin,' as the proverb has it, for two +years, at last missed a gold watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his +career, as his exemplary tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had done before +him. Ah! what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return, +just as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady +Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself to +his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in saying the +prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, at least in his +eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much mischief as a good +heart well can do in a walk of an hour, returned home to write a long +letter to his mother, against 'learning and all such nonsense, which +only served to blunt the affections and harden the heart.' 'Admirable +young man!' cried the mother, with tears in her eyes; 'a good heart is +better than all the heads in the world.' Amen!" + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + +QUADRANGLE OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. + + +In the last _New Monthly Magazine_ is an excellent account of this +splendid structure, in _A Day at Cambridge_,--in which occurs the +following exquisite little descriptive gem:-- + +With the exception of a gravel walk, running near to the buildings on +every side, the whole ground-plot of this quadrangle is covered by an +unbroken turf, kept, by means of constant and almost hourly attention, +in that exquisite order which is only to be observed in spots devoted +to similar purposes, here and at Oxford. The effect of an unbroken +plot of turf of this kind and quality, and in a situation like this, +is perfectly unique, and perhaps indescribable. It is supposed to be, +and in fact is, for all purposes of preservation and beauty, sacred +from the foot of man or beast; and the feeling arising from this +circumstance, added to the exquisite natural adaptation of the object +itself to the purposes of rest and relief from the almost dazzling +architectural splendour of the surrounding objects, is such as cannot +be communicated by any other means whatever, and we might in vain +attempt to describe. It is of such a kind, however, that those who +are capable of experiencing it, would as soon think of treading upon +the object that conveys it to them, as those who honour Nature would +think of rooting up a nest of violets. Speaking for ourselves alone, +there is but one thing that can disturb and deteriorate the absolute +tranquillity of mind, and peace of heart, which fall upon us, like +dew from heaven, on entering a place like that we have attempted to +describe above; it is, to see a capped and gowned Fellow, profaning +with his footsteps the floor of that, in some sort, sacred temple, +merely because he can, by so doing, reach his habitation by a few +footsteps less than if he kept to the path allotted for him. We look +upon the act as a species of impiety; to say nothing of its proving, +to a demonstration, that the person who commits it is either utterly +insensible to the mysterious harmony that subsists between a certain +class of natural objects and the heart of man; or utterly disregards +that harmony, and sets it at naught. He is, in fact, one of whom it +may in one sense be said, that + + "He hath no music in his soul." + +And we are almost tempted to complete the quotation, by adding-- + + "Let no such man be trusted!" + + * * * * * + + + +A RUSTIC PAIR. + +_By Miss Mitford_. + +Few damsels of twelve years old, generally a very pretty age, were +less pretty that Hannah Bint. Short and stunted in her figure, thin +in face, sharp in feature, with a muddled complexion, wild sun-burnt +hair, and eyes, whose very brightness had in them something startling, +over-informed, super-subtle, too clever for her age. At twelve years +old she had quite the air of a little old fairy. Now, at seventeen, +matters are mended. Her complexion has cleared; her countenance, her +figure, has shot up into height and brightness, and a sort of rustic +grace; her bright, acute eye is softened and sweetened by the womanly +wish to please; her hair is trimmed, and curled, and brushed with +exquisite neatness; and her whole dress arranged with that nice +attention to the becoming, the suitable both in form and texture, +which would be called the highest degree of coquetry, if it +did not deserve the better name of propriety. Never was such a +transmogrification beheld. The lass is really pretty, and Ned Miles +has discovered that she is so. There he stands, the rogue, close at +her aide, (for he hath joined her whilst we have been telling her +little story, and the milking is over!)--there he stands--holding her +milk-pail in one hand, and stroking Watch with the other; whilst she +is returning the compliment, by patting Neptune's magnificent head. +There they stand, as much like lovers as may be; he smiling, and she +blushing--he never looking so handsome, nor she so pretty, in all +their lives. There they stand, in blessed forgetfulness of all except +each other--as happy a couple as ever trod the earth. There they +stand, and one would not disturb them for all the milk and butter in +Christendom. I should not wonder if they were fixing the wedding-day. + + * * * * * + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A R*T. + +_(Concluded from page 365.)_ + + +Finding a detachment just setting out to join the Grand Allied Army, I +thought, as a true Briton, I could do no less than accompany it, and +prevailed upon all our party to do the same. + +The detachment with which I marched, consisted of 80,000. As we had +little baggage, having crossed the Rhine, we proceeded rapidly through +a dull, uninteresting country. + +The town of Coblentz is situated at the junction of the Rhine +and the Moselle. Here the majestic Rhine gently flows along in +all its grandeur, separating the town from the noble fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein.[1] I crossed over the bridge of boats, and made +a most minute inspection of this very romantic castle, which gave +me great pleasure indeed. In a few days I availed myself of a +passage-boat which was going to Mayence, and was quite enraptured with +the view on all sides. Rhenish wines, and perhaps also the water, +I found did not well agree with my stomach; and no inconsiderable +annoyance, I soon experienced. They seemed, however, to have exactly +the same effect upon every Englishman I saw, so I was not singular. A +little brandy soon, however, put me all to rights; and by the time I +reached Strasbourg, I was perfectly well again, and able to do ample +justice to her Splendid Pies! I attended high mass in the great +Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was surprised and pleased at the sight +of 10,000 soldiers, in review order, drawn up within its walls. It +was tiresome enough work mounting to the top of the spire, (which +I ascertained, by the steps I took, to be exactly 490 feet high, +Strasbourg measure; and this is exactly eight feet higher than St. +Peter's at Rome), but I made it out, notwithstanding the sulky looks +of the jackanapes who lives at the top. Nothing can surpass the beauty +of the view from this cathedral. At your feet you have the ancient +town, with all its regular fortifications and outworks--the majestic +Rhine, with its bridge of boats, and ruined Gothic bridge, sublime in +its decay--and as far as the eye can reach you have an exceedingly +rich country, everywhere speckled with towns, and fertilized by +luxuriant streams. + + [1] Apropos--our _Supplement_ contains a fine Engraving of this + very spot. + +I made a point of visiting my venerable friend, the old Comte de +Strasbourg, who, unchanged in the rolling on of centuries, lies in his +glass coffin, to all appearance in the same freshness of health and +vigour in which, when myself a very young man, I saw him many hundred +years ago;[1] his countess, his son, and his daughter, keep him +company, each in their separate place of repose. Alas, alas! the sight +made me weep. + + [1] The venerable count died about the year 1519. The glass + coffins are still shown. + +A few days afterwards, I was rather unexpectedly stopped in my tour. +For a night I had taken up my residence in the carriage of a young +Englishman, who that day arrived from Rome, the hostler having assured +me that he would remain for some time. I did so, as I found it much +quieter and cooler than the hotel "La ville de Lyon," which was +overcrowded. In the morning, I thought my friends were merely going a +short drive, so I kept my seat. We, however, travelled on till night, +when I heard we were bound for London; but as my companions were very +agreeable, I thought I might as well accompany them the whole way. +They seemed to be annoyed at every posthouse with their passports, +&c.; I was never even asked about the matter. The custom-house gentry, +in their searches, to be sure, occasionally gave me a little trouble, +but I was soon up to their tricks. We had an avant-courier constantly +galloping before us, and we travelled with such expedition that we +reached London in five days; for my fellow-travellers were idle young +men of fortune, who are of course always in the greatest hurry for the +end of a journey, because they don't know what to make of themselves +when it is over. + +I had not then an opportunity of seeing Paris, as we only changed +horses in it. I have since, however, spent many months there, and have +always been very much pleased with every thing I saw, particularly the +Catacombs, which were my favourite lounge. When last in Paris, I made +a narrow escape with my life, as I tumbled headlong into a cask of +brandy. I, however, managed to scramble out, with the assistance of a +bit of cord, which happened to be hanging over its side, and which my +friend pushed in to me. I was little the worse of my ducking; for, as +soon as I got out, I was set a-laughing by his telling me how to spell +_brandy_, in both French and English, in three letters, viz. "B.R. and +Y." and "O.D.V." + +In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, and was +certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, however, +that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, and all the +eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in comparison of +what I saw and tasted at the East India and London Docks. When I +was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to me, that he had +heard an act read, offering a reward of 10,000_l._ for a _male_ +tortoise-shell cat. This I believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for +such a thing was never heard of. And it is certainly as much worth +their while as making an act that I should never have more than six +dishes of meat at my dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen +above twenty shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it +particularly, and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however, +one restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the +present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still in +force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of their +acts of Parliament are silly enough--as they must be; for they don't +like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is necessary to be always +enacting something. + +It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the great +city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest friend on +earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in rather an +unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would expose herself +to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all respect for her, +and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, poor fellows, they have +a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull certainly gives himself many +airs, to say the least of it. After receiving the greatest kindness +and hospitality from you in Scotland, and perhaps staying for months +in your house, he will cut you dead in London. I remember once meeting +with such a return, but took it, of course, very coolly. Next day, +when I was arm in arm with ---- ----, I happened again to meet my +quondam friend, who immediately rushed up to me--I, however, turned +on my tail, and did not know him.--Fashion is an odd thing after all. +It is not rank which will do. I have seen many a spendthrift young +commoner cut his uncle the duke; and being a duchess by no means +will ensure admittance at Almack's.--I thank my stars, I am not +fashionable, and am always happy to see my friends! + +I was persuaded, soon after reaching London, to go down to Essex for +a few days, to pay a visit to an old friend. When I arrived at his +house, which I think they called Waltham Abbey, I was sorry to receive +the melancholy accounts that he had been devoured, and that, if I did +not instantly take myself off, I should be dealt with in the same +manner. The truth was, that a famine had arisen; and it is well known, +on those occasions, as necessity has no law, that the stronger kills +the weaker. Day after day the combat is renewed, till at last all +except one are destroyed, and he is then obliged to decamp, or eat +himself up, as he likes best. It is in this way that castles, houses, +&c. which have been long infested by us, are so suddenly entirely +freed from our presence. + +I amused myself in making an excursion to Epping Forest, till I +thought the civil war at my late friend's habitation might have +proceeded far enough for my presence to be useful. In the forest, +one day, I had the luck to kill one of those troublesome reptiles--a +Tom Cat. I believe, however, it was a house one. After a hard day's +hunting his highness made too free at a Valerian party. I watched my +opportunity, and soon put an effectual end to his caterwauling. When +I returned to the abbey, I found I was in the best possible time--the +garrison being reduced to about a dozen, and they so weakened and +tired out with the constant worrying work they had had, that I was +myself a complete match for any two of them. In a few days the number +was only four, and in other two days I was sole lord and master. + +[He then returns to town.] + +At a friend's house, in Berkeley Square, where I met a distinguished +party, a scene took place, just such as Pope describes-- + + Our courtier walks from dish to dish; + Tastes, for his friend, of fowl and fish: + "That jelly's rich, that malmsey's healing, + Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in." + Was ever such a happy swain? + He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again. + "I'm quite ashamed--'Tis mighty rude + To eat so much; but all's so good! + I have a thousand thanks to give, + My lord alone knows how to live."-- + No sooner said, but from the hall + Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all: + "A r--t, a r--t! clap to the door!"-- + +I, however, made good my exit, and was nothing the worse of a +practical warning to be more cautious in future. + +It would be endless for me to describe all my after voyages and +travels. Suffice it to say, I have been both east and west, north +and south; and there is scarcely a part of the habitable globe which +I have not visited. After all, I have come to this conclusion, that +there is no country like Britain. Oh! how I could wish my human +existence had been in such happy times and under such glorious +sovereigns as a George the Third, and George the Fourth!!! + +For some years I have remained in this country, enjoying (like a +patriarch of old) a quiet, regular life with my family, which now +amounts to above 2,000. I, however, keep very much to my own room, +as I hate bustle, and like to enjoy my own reflections. + +The age to which our species can exist is not ascertained, as never +one of us was known to die in his bed, at least a natural death. A +kind of instinct I have always had, has as yet saved me from arsenic, +stewed corks, traps, stamps, &c.; and my great strength, and a +good deal of science, which is of more consequence, have, as yet, +preserved me in many a deadly combat, both with my own species, and +with the dog, the ferret, the weasel, the hawk, and that green-eyed +monster--the cat. But I am now getting somewhat stiffer, and am not +so sharp as I was. I am not-- + + "--qualis eram, quum primam aciem Præneste sub ipsa + Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos; + Et regem hâc Herilum dextrâ sub Tartara misi!!" + +And in some evil hour my time must come. + +--I am well aware, indeed, of the fleeting existence even of this +world itself, for I studied astronomy with the celebrated M. Olbers +of Bremen, and assisted him in making many useful observations and +discoveries, particularly regarding comets, in the course of which +we came to this melancholy conclusion, that the comet which was +afterwards visible in 1786 and 1795, will, in 83,000 years, approach +the earth as nearly as the moon; and that in 4,000,000 years it +will come to within a distance of 7,700 geographical miles;--the +consequence of which will be (if its attraction be equal to that of +the earth) the elevation of the waters of the ocean 13,000 feet; that +is to say, above the tops of all the European mountains, except Mount +Blanc. The inhabitants of the Andes and of the Himalaya mountains +alone will escape this second deluge; but they will not benefit by +their good fortune more than 216,000,000 years, for it is probable, +that at the expiration of that time, our globe standing right in the +way of the comet, will receive a shock severe enough to ensure its +utter destruction!!! + +_Note._--After reading over the above MS., I am inclined to come to +this conclusion--that our historian, while in a human form, must have +been a Scottish nobleman--that he probably was born about the year +1501--and that he lived to about the age of 89.--_Ed._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE FANCY BALL. + + + "A visor for a visor! what care I + What curious eye doth quote deformities!" + SHAKSPEARE. + + "You used to talk," said Miss Mac Call, + "Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid; + But now you never talk at all. + You're getting vastly stupid. + You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir, + You never will get through it; + There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester-- + Do let us take you to it." + + I made that night a solemn vow, + To startle all beholders: + I wore white muslin on my brow, + Green velvet on my shoulders-- + My trousers were supremely wide, + I learn'd to swear "by Allah"-- + I stuck a poniard by my side, + And called myself "Abdallah." + + Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair, + Made up of silks and leathers, + Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair, + Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers: + The dullest Duke in all the town, + To-night may shine a droll one-- + And rakes, who have not half-a-crown, + Look royal with a whole one. + + Hail, blest Confusion! here are met + All tongues, and times, and faces, + The Lancers flirt with Juliet, + The Bramin talks of races; + And where's your genius, bright Corinne? + And where your brogue, Sir Lucius? + And Chinca Ti, you have not seen + One chapter of Confucius. + + Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt + With beauties from the Wrekin-- + And belles from Berne look very pert + On Mandarins from Pekin; + The Cardinal is here from Rome, + The Commandant from Seville-- + And Hamlet's father from the tomb, + And Faustus from the Devil. + + What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray, + What mean they, Nun or Fairy: + I guess they told no beads to-day, + And sang no Ave Mary. + From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix, + Barred door, and window grated, + I wish all pretty Catholics + Were thus emancipated. + + Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles, + With four well-seasoned sailors-- + And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills, + With Timon, prince of railers. + I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park + Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca-- + And I run away from Joan of Arc, + To romp with sad Rebecca. + + Fair Cleopatra's very plain, + Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers-- + And Cæsar's murder'd o'er again, + Though not by Roman daggers. + Great Charlemagne is four feet high-- + Sad Stuff has Bacon spoken-- + Queen Mary's waist is all awry, + And Psyche's nose is broken. + + Our happiest bride, how very odd! + Is the mourning Isabella, + And the heaviest foot that ever trod + Is the foot of Cinderella. + Here sad Calista laughs outright, + There Yorick looks most grave, Sir, + And a Templar waves the cross to-night, + Who never cross'd the wave, Sir. + + And what a Babel is the talk! + "The Giraffe"--"plays the fiddle"-- + "Macadam's roads"--"I hate this chalk"-- + "Sweet girl"--"a charming riddle"-- + "I'm nearly drunk with"--"Epsom salts"-- + "Yes, separate beds"--"such cronies!"-- + "Good heaven! who taught that man to valtz?"-- + "A pair of Shetland ponies." + + "Lord D----" "an enchanting shape"-- + "Will move for"--"Maraschino" + "Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?"-- + "He died at Navarino!" + "The gout, by Jove, is"--"apple pie"-- + "Don Miguel"--"Tom the tinker"-- + "His Lordship's pedigree's as high + As ----" "Whipcord, dam by Clinker." + + "Love's shafts are weak"--"my chestnut kicks"-- + "Heart broken;"--"broke the traces"-- + "What say you now of politics?"-- + "Change sides and to your places"-- + "A five-barred gate"--"a precious pearl" + "Grave things may all be punn'd on!"-- + "The Whigs, thank God, are"--"out of curl!"-- + "Her age is"--"four by London!" + + Thus run the giddy hours away, + Till morning's light is beaming, + And we must go to dream by day + All we to-night are dreaming; + To smile and sigh, to love and change-- + Oh! in our heart's recesses, + We dress in fancies quite as strange + As these our fancy-dresses. + +_New Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles + SHAKSPEARE. + + Tho' lang an lonely be the road + Between me an my dearie; + Yet I the gate hae aften troad, + When I've been tired and wearie. + + Be't stormin rain, hail, win or snaw-- + A lonely road and drearie-- + There's nought wad e'er keep me awa + Frae gaun to see my dearie!!! + +M. + + * * * * * + + +FRENCH BALL CONVERSATION. + +During the French revolution, parties danced as gaily as ever; the +following is a ball conversation, which took place in the month of +Frimare, year 7.:--Well, the Ottoman Porte has declared war against +us! Oh yes, there is no doubt of it, (_En avant deux_) It is an enemy +the more--(_chassez_) and the Russian fleet they say has passed the +Dardanelles, (_en avant quatre_) yet the papers say that the emperor +sincerely desires peace.--Yes, but Count Metternich wishes for war, +(_balancez_) so we have also a new coalition against us. England, +Portugal, Naples, Turkey, the Emperor, Russia, perhaps the empire +of Prussia, (_Faites face et chassez tous les huit_)--well we have +bayonettes, (_la poussette_) besides it is not so far from Dover to +Calais, (_traversez_)--Do you belong to the conscription?--Yes, and I +too; (_pirouettez_) what makes me uneasy is to know what will become +of our partners when we are gone: (_La chaine des dames_)--what will +be left to amuse them (_La queu du chat_.) It was thus that days of +terror were preceded by evenings of amusement and pleasure. + + * * * * * + + +INTUITIVE AFFECTION. + +"There are three things," said a wit, "which I have always loved +without ever understanding them, painting, music, and woman." + + * * * * * + + +RETORT UNCOURTEOUS. + +A lady, well known in the fashionable vicinity of Portland-place, +always accosts a stranger, with "I think I have seen you somewhere," +which often leads to a clue for her finding out the history of the +party. One evening she played off the same game on a gentleman, who +replied, "Most likely, madam, for I sometimes go there." + + * * * * * + +With the present Number is published the SECOND SUPPLEMENT of +the Spirit of the Annuals--containing Poetry and Prose by Allan +Cunningham, Professor Wilson, the late P.B. Shelley, Miss Landon, +Mrs. Hemans, Mr. Pringle, Theodore Hook, and other distinguished +Writers--with a beautiful Engraving. + + * * * * * + +Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets are +informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be +purchased separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, and +can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or Newsvender. + +Complete sets Vol. I. to XI. in boards, price £2. 19s. 6d. half bound, +£3. 17s. + + * * * * * + +_LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS._ + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING, &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. + +BACON'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +and by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10719 *** diff --git a/10719-h/10719-h.htm b/10719-h/10719-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8e0d9bc --- /dev/null +++ b/10719-h/10719-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1629 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, Issue 345, December 6, 1828, by Various</title> +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + + .figure + {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + .figure p + + .side { float:right; + font-size: 75%; + width: 25%; + padding-left:10px; + border-left: dashed thin; + margin-left: 10px; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10719 ***</div> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, Vol. 12, Issue 345, December 6, 1828, by Various</h1> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page385" name="page385"></a>[pg +385]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. XII. No. 345.</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1828.</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Arch of Constantine, at Rome.</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:100%;"><a href= +"images/345-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/345-1.png" alt= +"" /></a></div> +<p>"Still harping" on the Fine Arts—<i>Architecture</i> and +<i>Painting</i>. Of the former, the above engraving is an +illustration; and of the latter, our readers will find a beautiful +subject (from one of <i>Turner's</i> pictures) in a <i>Supplement +published with the present Number</i>.<a id="footnotetag1" name= +"footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<p>The Arches of Rome were splendid monuments of triumph, erected +in honour of her illustrious generals. They were at first very +simple, being built of brick or hewn stone, and of a semicircular +figure; but afterwards more magnificent, built of the finest +marble, and of a square figure, with a large, arched gate in the +middle, and two small ones on each side, adorned with columns and +statues. In the vault of the middle gate, hung winged figures of +victory, bearing crowns in their hands, which, when let down, they +placed on the victor's head, when he passed in triumph.</p> +<p>The <i>Arch of Constantine</i>, the most noble of all of these +structures, subsists almost entire. It was erected by the senate +and Roman people, in honour of Constantine, after his victory over +Maxentius, and crosses the Appian Way, at <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page386" id="page386"></a>[pg 386]</span> the +junction of the Coelian and Palatine Hills. Here it stands as the +last monument of Roman triumph, or like the December sun of "the +world's sole monument."</p> +<p>This building consists of three arches, of which the centre is +the largest; and has two fronts, each adorned with four columns of +giallo antico marble, of the Corinthian order, and fluted, +supporting a cornice, on which stand eight Dacian captives of +Pavonazzetta, or violet-coloured marble.</p> +<p>The inscription on both sides of the architrave imports, that it +was dedicated "to the Emperor Cæsar Flavius Constantine +Augustus, the greatest, pious, and the happy; because by a divine +impulse, the greatness of his courage, and the aid of his army, he +avenged the republic by his just arms, and, at the same time, +rescued it from the tyrant and his whole faction." On one side of +the arch are the words, "Liberatori urbis," to the deliverer of the +city; and on the other, "Fundatori quietis," to the founder of +public tranquillity.</p> +<p>Although erected to the honour of Constantine, this arch +commemorates the victories of Trajan, some of the basso-relievos, +&c. having been pilfered from one of the arches of Trajan. This +accounts for the Dacian captives, whose heads Lorenzo de Medicis +broke off and conveyed to Florence, but the theft might not have +been so notorious to posterity, had not the artists of +Constantine's time added some figures of inferior merit. Forsyth +says, "Constantine's reign was notorious for architectural +robbery;" and the styles of the two emperors, in the present arch, +mar the harmony by their unsightly contrasts.</p> +<p>Although the decree for erecting this arch was, without doubt, +passed immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, it appears from +the monument itself, that the building was not finished and +dedicated till the tenth year of Constantine's reign, or the year +of Christ 315 or 316.</p> +<p>The newly-erected arch opposite the entrance to Hyde Park is +from the Roman arch, though, we believe, not from any particular +model. In the View of the New Palace, St. James's Park, (in our No. +278,) the arch, to be called the Waterloo Monument, and erected in +the middle of the area of the palace, will be nearly a copy of that +of Constantine at Rome. In the court-yard of the Tuilleries at +Paris, there is a similar arch, copied from that of Septimius +Severus. This was formerly surmounted by the celebrated group of +the horses of St. Mark, pilfered from Venice, but restored at the +peace of 1815.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE BEGGAR'S DAUGHTER OF BETHNAL GREEN.</h2> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The popular ballad of "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Greene" +was written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is founded, though +without the least appearance of truth, or even probability, on a +legend of the time of Henry III. Henry de Montfort, son of the +ambitious Earl of Leicester, who was slain with his father at the +memorable battle of Evesham, is the hero of the tale. He is +supposed (according to the legend) to have been discovered among +the bodies of the slain by a young lady, in an almost lifeless +state, and deprived of sight by a wound, which he had received +during the engagement. Under the fostering hand of this "faire +damosel" he soon recovered, and afterwards marrying her, she became +the mother of "the comelye and prettye Bessee." Fearing lest his +rank and person should be discovered by his enemies, he disguised +himself in the habit of a beggar, and took up his abode at +Bethnal-Green. The beauty of his daughter attracted many suitors, +and she was at length married to a noble knight, who, regardless of +her supposed meanness and poverty, had the courage to make her his +wife, her other lovers having deserted her on account of her low +origin. Before entering, however, upon the ballad, it may not, +perhaps, be thought irrelevant to give a brief sketch of the family +of the De Montforts.</p> +<p>Simon de Montfort, created Earl of Leicester by Henry III., was +the younger son of Simon de Montfort, the renowned but cruel +commander of the croisade against the Albigenses. This nobleman was +greatly honoured by Henry III., to whose sister, the Countess +Dowager of Pembroke, he paid his addresses, and was married, with +the consent of her brother. For the favour thus shown him by his +sovereign, he, however, proved ungrateful: his inordinate ambition, +cloaked by a pretended zeal for reform, was the cause of those +rebellions which, in the reign of Henry III., kept the kingdom in +such a continued turmoil. The different oppressions and successes +of the confederate barons, who at length got possession of the +king's person, and the civil wars which ensued, are so well known +as to render any remark on the subject superfluous; suffice it to +say, that the disputes between the malcontents and the royal party +were at length terminated by the battle of Evesham, which decided +in favour of the latter. In this field fell the Earl of Leicester +and his eldest son, Henry de Montfort. His death was followed by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page387" id="page387"></a>[pg +387]</span> the total ruin of his family; his titles and estates +were all confiscated; the countess, his wife, who had been +extremely active in her designs against the royalists, was +banished, together with her sons, Simon and Guy, who afterwards +assassinated their cousin, Henry d'Allmane, when he was +endeavouring to effect a reconciliation between them and their +uncle, Henry IV. The head of the earl was sent as a signal of the +victory by Roger de Mortimer to the countess; but his body, +together with that of his son Henry, was interred in the Abbey of +Evesham; thus leaving the improbability of the legend without a +shadow of doubt.</p> +<p>As our limits will not allow us to quote the whole of the +ballad,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href= +"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> we must content ourselves with giving +the song of the beggar, which, as well as being the most +interesting, contains the whole of the legend concerning de +Montfort:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A poore beggar's daughter did dwell on a greene,</p> +<p>Who for her fairnesse might well be a queene:</p> +<p>A blithe bonny lasse, and a daintye was shee,</p> +<p>And many one called her pretty Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Her father hee had noe goods nor noe land,</p> +<p>But begg'd for a penny all day with his hand;</p> +<p>And yett to her marriage he gave thousands three,</p> +<p>And still he hath somewhat for pretty Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And if any one here her birth doe disdaine,</p> +<p>Her father is ready, with might and with maine,</p> +<p>To prove shee is come of noble degree—</p> +<p>Therefore, ever flout att prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<hr class="short" /></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one,</p> +<p>One song more to sing, and then I have done;</p> +<p>And if that itt may not winn good report,</p> +<p>Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall bee.</p> +<p>Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee—</p> +<p>Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase,</p> +<p>Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose,</p> +<p>Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose—</p> +<p>A leader of courage undaunted was hee,</p> +<p>And oft-times he made their enemyes flee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>At length in the battle on Eveshame plaine</p> +<p>The barons were routed, and Montfort was slaine;</p> +<p>Moste fatall that battel did prove unto thee,</p> +<p>Thoughe thou wast not borne then, my prettye Bessee!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Along with the nobles that fell at that tyde,</p> +<p>His eldest son Henrye, who fought by his side,</p> +<p>Was fellde by a blowe he receiv'de in the fighte!</p> +<p>A blowe that depriv'de him for ever of sight.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Among the dead bodyes all lifelesse he laye,</p> +<p>Till evening drewe on of the following daye,</p> +<p>When by a yong ladye discover'd was hee—</p> +<p>And this was thy mother, my prettye Bessee!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A baron's faire daughter stept forth in the nighte,</p> +<p>To search for her father, who fell in the fight,</p> +<p>And seeing yong Montfort, where gasping he laye,</p> +<p>Was moved with pitye, and broughte him awaye.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>In secrette she nurst him, and swaged his paine,</p> +<p>While he throughe the realme was beleev'd to be slaine:</p> +<p>At lengthe his faire bride she consented to bee,</p> +<p>And made him glad father of prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye</p> +<p>We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye;</p> +<p>Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee—</p> +<p>All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And here have wee lived in fortunes despite,</p> +<p>Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte;</p> +<p>Full forty winters thus have I beene</p> +<p>A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And here, noble lordes, is ended the song</p> +<p>Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong:</p> +<p>And thus have you learned a secrette from mee,</p> +<p>That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of +1703, was called <i>Bethnal-Green-House</i>, and which the +inhabitants, with their usual love of traditionary lore, assign as +the "Palace of the Blind Beggar." This house was erected in the +reign of Queen Elizabeth, by John Kirby, citizen of London, and +was, says Stow,<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> "lofty +like a castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, +Knight, the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into +the possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in +1669; of late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The +tradition of the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of +several of the public-houses in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p>S.I.B.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY OF WILLS.</h2> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4> +<p>According to Blackstone, wills are of high antiquity. We find +them among the ancient Hebrews; not to mention what Eusebius and +others have related of Noah's testament, made in writing, and +witnessed under his seal, by which he disposed of the whole world. +A more authentic instance of the early use of testaments occurs in +the sacred writings, (Genesis, chap. xlviii.) in which Jacob +bequeaths to his son Joseph, a portion of his inheritance, double +to that of his brethren.</p> +<p>The Grecian practice concerning wills (says Potter) was not the +same in all <span class="pagenum"><a name="page388" id= +"page388"></a>[pg 388]</span> places; some states permitted men to +dispose of their estates, others wholly deprived them of that +privilege. We are told by Plutarch, that Solon is much commended +for his law concerning wills; for before his time no man was +allowed to make any, but all the wealth of deceased persons +belonged to their families; but he permitted them to bestow it on +whom they pleased, esteeming friendship a stronger tie than +kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put every man's +estate in the disposal of the possessor; yet he allowed not all +sorts of wills, but required the following conditions in all +persons that made them:—</p> +<p>1st. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves, or +foreigners, for then their estates were confiscated for the public +use.</p> +<p>2nd. That they must be men who have arrived to twenty years of +age, for women and men under that age were not permitted to dispose +by will of more than one <i>medimn</i> of barley.</p> +<p>3rd. That they must not be adopted; for when adopted persons +died without issue, the estates they received by adoption returned +to the relations of the men who adopted them.</p> +<p>4th. That they should have no male children of their own, for +then their estate belonged to these. If they had only daughters, +the persons to whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to +marry them. Yet men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed their +children, in case these happened to die under twenty years of +age.</p> +<p>5th. That they should be in their right minds, because +testaments extorted through the phrenzy of a disease, or dotage of +old age, were not in reality the wills of the persons that made +them.</p> +<p>6th. That they should not be under imprisonment, or other +constraint, their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to +be reputed voluntary.</p> +<p>7th. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and +insinuations of a wife; for (says Plutarch) the wise lawgiver with +good reason thought that no difference was to be put between deceit +and necessity, flattery and compulsion, since both are equally +powerful to persuade a man from reason.</p> +<p>Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put +seals to them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of +trustees, who were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some +of the magistrates were very often present at the making of wills. +Sometimes the <i>archons</i> were also present. Sometimes the +testator declared his will before sufficient witnesses, without +committing it to writing. Thus Callias, fearing to be cut off by a +wicked conspiracy, is said to have made an open declaration of his +will before the popular assembly at Athens. There were several +copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as those of Aristotle, Lycon, +and Theophrastus; whence it appears they had a common form, +beginning with a wish for life and health.</p> +<p>The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made +<i>vivâ voce</i>, the testator declaring his will in the +presence of seven witnesses; these they called <i>nuncupative</i> +testaments; but the danger of trusting the will of the dead to the +memory of the living soon abolished these; and all testaments were +ordered to be in writing.</p> +<p>The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being +<i>inofficiosa</i>, deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited +or totally passed by (without assigning a true and sufficient +reason) any of the children of the testator. But if the child had +any legacy, though ever so small, it was a proof that the testator +had not lost his memory nor his reason, which otherwise the law +presumed. Hence probably (says Blackstone) has arisen that +groundless, vulgar error of the necessity of leaving the heir a +shilling, or some other express legacy, in order to effectually +disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though the heir, or +next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no <i>querela +inofficiosa</i>, to set aside such testament.</p> +<p>Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express +terms, that it was just the English should be as free as their own +thoughts.</p> +<p>P.T.W.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Cosmopolite.</h2> +<h3>DANCING.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps +correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other +species of dancing—as</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>————————for +three long months</p> +<p>To <i>dance attendance</i> for a word of audience:</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in +pestilences, the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the +principal spirits." The <i>Chorea S. Viti</i>, or <i>St. Vitus's +Dance</i> is another variation, said to have once prevailed +extensively, and to have been cured by a prayer to this saint! +whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It may not be generally +known that a person afflicted with this species of dancing can +<i>run</i>, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page389" id="page389"></a>[pg +389]</span> and a more agreeable species is to <i>lead the +dance</i>, an unjust usurpation which is practised in a thousand +other places beside the ball-room.</p> +<p>According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and +nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, +who were <i>produced from rain</i>, first invented the dance to +amuse the infant Jupiter—with what success he danced we know +not, for when a year old he waged war against the Titans, and then +his dancing days must have terminated.</p> +<p>A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few +of its eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, +either as a recreation or as a religious ceremony—held in +contempt by some, and in esteem by others. David danced before the +ark; the daughters of Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; +and the Israelites, (good judges) danced round the golden calf.</p> +<p>The ancients had a peculiar <i>penchant</i> for dancing, whether +in person or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all +the wretched efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. +The attempts of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the +shade all the peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and +the Green Parks. Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of +<i>elephants</i> in their time that were taught to walk the rope, +backwards and forwards, up and down, with the agility of an Italian +rope-dancer. Such was the confidence reposed in the docility and +dexterity of the animal, that a person sat upon an elephant's back, +while he walked across the theatre upon a rope, extended from the +one side to the other. Lipsius, who has collected these +testimonies, thinks them too strong to be doubted—perhaps +even stronger than the rope. Scaliger corroborates all of them; +Busbequius <i>saw</i> an elephant dance a <i>pas seul</i> at +Constantinople; and Suetonius tells us of twelve elephants, six +male and six female, who were clothed like men and women, and +performed a country dance, in the reign of Tiberius. In later +times, horses have been taught to dance. In the carousals of Louis +XIII. there were dances of horses; and in the 13th century, some +rode a horse upon a rope. All this eclipses the puny modern feats +of Astley and Ducrow.<a id="footnotetag4" name= +"footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a></p> +<p>The Greeks and Romans were divided upon the propriety of +dancing. Socrates who held death in contempt, when a reverend old +gentleman, learned to dance of Aspasia, the beautiful nurse of +Grecian eloquence. The Romans forgot their loss of the republic and +of liberty—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p> +—————————the +air we breathe</p> +<p>If we have it not we die.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>in seeing Pylades and Bathyllus dance before them in their +theatres—an indifference of which we were reminded on hearing +that the Parisians sat in the <i>Cafés</i> on the Boulevard +du Italiens—sipping coffee and sucking down ice, during the +capitulation of the city, and while the French, killed and wounded, +were conveyed along the road before them.</p> +<p>Cato, <i>Censorius</i>, danced at the age of fifty-six. Cicero, +however, reproached a consul with having danced. Tiberius, that +monster of indulgences, banished dancers from Rome; and Domitian, +the illustrious fly-catcher, expelled several of his <i>members of +parliament</i> for having danced. We are much more civilized, for +such an edict as that of Domitian would clear our senate-houses as +effectually as when Cromwell turned out the Long Parliament.</p> +<p>Among the Italians and the French even there have been found +enemies to dancing. Alfieri, the poet, had a great aversion to +dancing; and one Daneau wrote a Traité des Danses, in which +he maintains that "the devil never invented a more effectual way +than dancing, to fill the world with ——." The bishop of +Noyon once presided at some deliberations respecting a minuet; and +in 1770, a reverend prelate presented a document on dancing to the +king of France. The Quakers consider dancing below the dignity of +the Christian character; and an enthusiast, of another creed, +thinks all lovers of the stage belong to the schools of Voltaire +and Hume, and that dancing is a link in the chain of seduction. +Stupid, leaden-heeled people, who constantly mope in melancholy, +and neither enjoy nor impart pleasure, will naturally be enemies to +dancing; and such we are induced to think the majority of these +opponents.</p> +<p>The French are inveterate dancers. They have their <i>bals +parés</i> and their <i>salons de danse</i> in every street; +and as long as the weather will permit, they dance on platforms out +of doors, and a heavy shower of rain will scarcely cool their +ardour in the recreation. Some of their stage <i>figurantes</i> +resemble aerial beings rather than bone and blood, for flesh may +almost be left out of the composition. But the Italians are a +nation of dancers as well as the children of song, and they seem to +have followed the noble <span class="pagenum"><a name="page390" id= +"page390"></a>[pg 390]</span> example of old Cato, in this respect, +with better effect than they have studied his virtue. We are also +told upon good authority, that the American dancers equal any of +the European <i>figurantes</i>.</p> +<p>The English people have always been lovers of dancing; and it +forms an accompaniment of almost all their old sports and pastimes. +Witness the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the +grotesque morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or +military dance, and described by Sir William Temple as composed of +"ten men, who danced a maid marian and a tabor and pipe." In the +time of Henry VII. dancers were remarkably well paid; for in some +of his accounts in the Exchequer, we find</p> +<pre> + £. <i>s.</i> <i>d.</i> + Paid to a spye, in reward----------------- 2 0 0 + To Pechie, the fool, in rewarde----------- 0 6 8 + To Richard Beden, for writing of bokes---- 0 10 0 + <i>To the young dameysell that daunceth</i>------ 30 0 0 +</pre> +<p>In Shakspeare's time, to <i>dance</i> was an elegant +accomplishment. Thus in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," "What say you +to young Mr. Fenton? He capers, he <i>dances</i>, he has eyes of +youth, he writes verses." Locke thus alludes to the graceful +motions which dancing lends to the human frame: "the legs of the +dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, fall, as it were, +naturally, without thought or pains, into regular and admirable +motions."</p> +<p>It must be somewhat surprising to those who over-rate the +matter-of-fact character of the English people, that so great a +majority of them are attached to <i>dancing</i>. Among rank and +wealth this amusement admits of a finer display of beauty and +artificial decoration than almost any other recreation; for nothing +can be more splendid than a brilliantly illuminated and well-filled +ball-room. Dancing among the middle classes of society is equally +mirthful though not of so ostentatious a character, and it is a +question whether the latter, being free from the alloy of +fashionable follies, are not more exhilarated by sweet sounds than +their wealthy superiors. But the mushroom aristocracy and pride of +purse often operate as checks to the enjoyment of both these +classes; and splendid dancing accommodations sometimes put an end +to the amusement. At Dorking, in Surrey, attached to one of the +inns is a ball-room, which cost the builder £12,000, and here +is one, or at most three balls during the year, while at scores of +places within our recollection, of less consequence, there are +monthly and even weekly balls; and we are inclined to think these +periodical recreations of great importance to the happiness of +country towns. But there is a species of intoxication sometimes +arising from them—that of dancing all night, to suffer from +exhaustion and rheumatism on the following day—an evil easy +of remedy, by such amusements being more frequent and less +protracted. The influence on the character of the people would +probably be that of rendering it more even, from the admixture or +reciprocation of pleasure and business being more proportional. +This plan would get rid of much of the ostentation and expense of a +country ball, and would ultimately prove the best antidote to the +sins of scandal.</p> +<p>As we have spoken of public dancing in the time of Henry VII., +we will show that the enormous sums paid to <i>artists</i> have +nourished their conceit to an alarming height. Pitrot, the Vestris +of his day, was a consummate specimen of this effrontery. At +Vienna, he chose to appear only in the last act of the ballet. The +emperor desired him to come forth at the end of the first; Pitrot +refused; the court left the opera, and then Pitrot told the dancers +they would have a hop by themselves, which they did. However, this +was forgiven; and, at his departure, he was presented with the +emperor's picture, set with brilliants. Pitrot received it with +<i>sang froid</i>, pressed his thumb upon the crystal, crushed the +picture to pieces, adding, "Thus I treat men not worthy of my +friendship." This fellow behaved equally ill in France, Prussia, +and Russia; but, at length, scouted by all his patrons, and, after +giving his thousands to opera girls, he wandered about Calais in +rags and poverty. Farinelli, after accumulating a fortune in +England, built a superb mansion in Italy, which he called the +<i>English Folly</i>.<a id="footnotetag5" name= +"footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p> +<p>The oddity of some ideas of dancing is really ludicrous. The +Cambro-Britains, in a very late period, used to be played out of +church by a fiddle, and to form a dance in the church-yard at the +end of the service. But the ideas which the Chinese have of dancing +exceeds all others. When Commodore Anson was at Canton, the +officers of the <i>Centurion</i> had a ball upon some court +holiday: while they were dancing, a Chinese, who very quietly +surveyed the operation, said, softly, to one of the party, "Why +don't you let your servants do this for you?"</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page391" id="page391"></a>[pg +391]</span> +<h2>Fine Arts.</h2> +<h3>SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.</h3> +<h4><i>(To the Editor of the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>I beg to present you with a brief notice of the School of +Painting at the British Institution, Pall Mall; you may rely upon +its correctness, as I have been extremely cautious in making my +notes, and in ascertaining every particular relative to the +subject.</p> +<p>The students at this excellent institution have, for several +weeks, been arduously engaged in copying the fine pictures which +were entrusted to the directors by his majesty, and the nobility, +for that purpose. In general, the students have been very +successful, and deserve much praise; I must, however, in my +prescribed limits, only mention a few.</p> +<p>Vandyke's <i>Duchess de St. Croix</i> has been cleverly copied +by Mr. Boden and Mr. Faulkner; the latter gentleman has well +imitated the color and the beautiful finish of the original. +Messrs. Frisk, Child, Howell and M'Call have likewise made clever +copies of this <i>chef d'oeuvre</i> of art. Many bold efforts have +been made to copy Hobbima's large <i>Landscape</i>; Mr. Laporte's +is the most complete, though not quite spirited enough in the +handling. <i>The Spanish Gentleman</i>, by Velasquez, has engaged +the pencils of numerous artists, though they have not all been so +successful as could have been wished; Messrs. Inskipp, Frisk, +Morton and Child have produced the best <i>fac similes</i>. The +<i>Lime Kiln</i>, by the younger Teniers, has been carefully +studied by Mr. Gill, &c.; and Messrs. M'Call and Morton, have +executed the finest studies from <i>Innocent X.</i>, by Velasquez. +<i>The Embarkation</i>, by Claude, is extremely well imitated in +Mr. Cartwright's copy; and the <i>Virgin and Child</i>, which is +one of Julio Romano's best works, has met with due attention from +Mr. Farrier, and others. Mr. Novice has executed the only copy from +DeHooge's fine picture—<i>A Dutch Family preparing for a +Walk</i>; and Messrs. Foster and Earl display considerable talent +in their copies from the <i>Landscape and Cattle</i>, by Cuyp. +Other admirable works by Guido, Rubens, Bassan, Ruysdael, +Vanderneer, and Canaletta, have met with a host of imitators, from +whose talents we may anticipate, at no distant period, pictorial +excellency of the first order. I should discover a want of +gallantry, and, indeed, be most unjust, were I not to say that the +ladies, in nearly all their undertakings, have exerted their utmost +to excel; those especially, who have executed copies in water +colours deserve the highest recommendation.</p> +<p>G.W.N.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Anecdote Gallery.</h2> +<h3>Thaxted Highwaymen.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The following incident led to the breaking up and dispersion of +a gang of desperate highwaymen, denominated the Thaxted gang, who +about sixty years ago used to infest the roads in the neighbourhood +of Dunmow, Thaxted, and the adjacent towns and villages:—</p> +<p>An opulent farmer of Thaxted, being one day at Dunmow market, +received a considerable sum of money, the produce of grain and +other marketable articles, which he had that day disposed of; and +going to the inn where he had left his horse, he ordered it to be +saddled directly for the purpose of returning home. In those times +every tradesman, salesman and a greater part of the publicans and +innkeepers knew what money each other received on a market day. The +innkeeper at whose house the farmer was in the habit of putting up +at, said to him, "Why you are not going home to-night, are you, +with all that money about you? You will stand a chance of getting a +knock on the head."—"Let them knock away," answered the +farmer. "I have never yet been robbed, nor do I think it likely I +shall be to-night; so, Robert, get my horse ready," calling to the +hostler. "Well, but have you any weapons of defence?" inquired the +publican.—"No, nor none I want," responded the farmer. The +innkeeper pressed him to take a pair of holster pistols; saying, +"he might find them handy;" and after a great deal of persuasion, +he agreed to take <i>one</i>, the publican first loading and +charging it with ball. The farmer put the pistol in his great coat +pocket, and was on the point of departure when he recollected that +he had to get a pound of tea at a grocer's shop in the town, a few +doors from the inn. He instantly ran to the shop for the tea, and +while the grocer was serving him he made the same remark as the +innkeeper had done respecting his going home with so considerable a +sum as he knew the farmer had about him. The farmer made answer, "I +am going home to-night, but our friend the publican, has lent me a +pistol; and if any one interrupts me, I intend to blow his brains +out."—"Do you know," said <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page392" id="page392"></a>[pg 392]</span> the grocer, "I do not +like that fellow. Will you let me look at the pistol if you have it +with you."—"O yes, look at it if you like. I never fired a +pistol in my life; however, should I be stopped, I think I could +manage it." The grocer took the pistol; drew the charge; and found, +to the great surprise of the farmer, it was only loaded with +horse-dung, and a large bullet at the top. "I thought he was a +rascal, and this confirms it." said the grocer. "Here is evidently +a plot; now leave your money with me; we will load this pistol +properly, and you can, if you like, proceed on your journey: it may +be the means of detecting some one."</p> +<p>The farmer left his money in the hands of the grocer; went back +to the inn; mounted his horse, and rode off on his journey. About a +mile from Dunmow, he was stopped by a fellow, well mounted, who +instantly demanded his money. "I have not got any," replied the +farmer, "but I have a pistol, with which, if you do not instantly +allow me to pass on my way home, I will blow your brains out." "You +have got money—and as to the pistol, you may blow +away—blow away, my fine fellow," said the chuckling +highwayman. The farmer instantly fired, and his assailant fell off +his horse to the ground with a groan. The farmer galloped back to +the inn, and inquired of the hostler where his master was. "He has +been gone out, on horseback, about a quarter of an hour," the +hostler replied. "Well, I will tell you what," said the farmer, +"you may find your master, with his brains blown out, in the road," +describing the place where he had had the encounter with the +innkeeper.</p> +<p>From this time a number of persons resident in and about Thaxted +and Dunmow, left their places of abode, which circumstance created +some surprise among the remaining inhabitants; but it was +afterwards ascertained they formed the desperate gang that had so +long and successfully robbed, and sometimes murdered, their +unsuspecting neighbours and the different travellers who had +occasion to pass the roads on which these marauders were +stationed.</p> +<p>J.W.B.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>Manners & Customs of all Nations.</h2> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<h3>WISE MEN OF GOTHAM.</h3> +<p>The village of Gotham, about seven miles from Nottingham, has +been rendered noted by the common proverb of "The Wise Men of +Gotham." It is observable that a custom has prevailed among many +nations of stigmatizing the inhabitants of some particular spot as +remarkable for stupidity. This opprobrious district among the +Asiatics was Phrygia. Among the Thracians, Abdera; among the +Greeks, Boeotia; in England it is Gotham. Of the Gothamites +ironically called <i>The Wise Men of Gotham</i>, many ridiculous +stories are traditionally told, particularly, that often having +heard the cuckoo but never seen her, they hedged in a bush from +whence her note seemed to proceed, so that being confined within so +small a compass, they might at length satisfy their curiosity; and +at a place called Court Hill, in this parish, is a bush called +Cuckoo Bush.</p> +<p>HALBERT H.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>MALLARD NIGHT.</h3> +<p>At All Souls' College, Oxford, the <i>Mallard Night</i> is +celebrated annually on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a +very singular circumstance, viz. the discovery of a live and +excessively large mallard, or drake, supposed to have long ranged +in a drain or sewer of considerable depth. The only probable +conjecture respecting its extraordinary situation was, that it had +fallen when young through the bars or grating at the entrance of +the drain, (which was of sufficient width to receive it if very +young,) but was found at a great distance from it, on digging for +the foundation of the college, (A.D. 1437.) A very humorous account +of this event was published some years ago by Dr. Buckler, +subwarden, from a manuscript of Thomas Walsingham, the historian, +and monk of St. Alban's. It is the cause of much mirth, for on the +day, and in remembrance of the mallard, many an old and merry song +is sung.</p> +<p>E.T.S.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>WELSH MARRIAGES.</h3> +<p>It appears to me a matter of no small surprise that so +economical a people as the English should not have adopted such a +plan as the following by the lower classes of the Welsh. When a +young couple intend offering themselves at the Temple of Hymen, if +they are very poor, they generally send a man, called the bidder, +round to their acquaintance and friends, who invites them, +sometimes in rhyme, to the wedding; but if they can afford it, they +issue circulars. The following is a copy of one:—</p> +<p>"<i>June 27, 1827.</i></p> +<p>"As we intend to enter the matrimonial state on Thursday, the +19th day of July next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a +bidding on the occasion, the same day, at the Butchers' Arms, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page393" id="page393"></a>[pg +393]</span> Carmarthen, when and where the favour of your good and +agreeable company is humbly solicited; and whatever donation you +may be pleased to confer on us then, will be thankfully received, +warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on a +similar occasion.</p> +<p>"By your most obedient servants,</p> +<p>"JOHN JONES.</p> +<p>"MARY EVANS."</p> +<p>The persons so invited (if they accept the invitation) generally +form part of the procession to church, and are preceded by a harper +or fiddler. After the nuptial knot is tied, they veer their course +to the public-house mentioned in the bills, where they partake, not +of a sumptuous banquet, but of the simple, though not the worst, +fare of bread and cheese and kisses, at the expense of the new +married folks. After this, a large plate is placed on the table in +the room, and they proceed to receive the money which each person +may be disposed to give, whilst one keeps account of the sum and +names. They frequently receive 50<i>l.</i>, and sometimes, though +seldom, 100<i>l.</i>; and they have the privilege (by paying the +duty) of selling the ale to the persons assembled. It is to be +observed, that the money so deposited cannot be reclaimed by the +persons who gave it until a similar occasion presents itself in +their family. By this means the new married couple are enabled to +procure furniture, and other things requisite for them.</p> +<p>W.H.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>CURIOUS FOUNDATION.</h3> +<p>At Spinney, in Cambridgeshire, was an abbey founded in the reign +of Henry III. near which was a church, built by Lady Mary +Bassingburne, and given to the Abbey of Spinney, on condition that +the monks should support seven aged men with the following +allowance, viz. one farthing loaf, one herring, and one pennyworth +of ale per day, and two hundred dry turves, one pair of shoes, one +woollen garment, and three ells of linen every year. Henry +Cromwell, second son of Oliver Cromwell, is buried here.</p> +<p>HALBERT H.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR,</h2> +<h4>AND</h4> +<h3>LITERARY NOTICES OF</h3> +<h3><i>NEW WORKS</i></h3> +<hr /> +<h2>ADVENTURES OF ALLAN-A-SOP.</h2> +<h4><i>By Sir Walter Scott, Bart.</i></h4> +<p>The chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart, in the Isle of Mull, +had an intrigue with a beautiful young woman of his own clan, who +bore a son to him. In consequence of the child's being, by some +accident, born in a barn, he received the name of Allan-a-Sop, or +Allan of the Straw, by which he was distinguished from others of +his clan. As his father and mother were not married, Allan was of +course a bastard or natural son, and had no inheritance to look +for, save that which he might win for himself.</p> +<p>But the beauty of the boy's mother having captivated a man of +rank in the clan, called MacLean of Torloisk, he married her, and +took her to reside with him at his castle of Torloisk, situated on +the shores of the Sound, or small strait of the sea, which divides +the smaller island of Ulva from that of Mull. Allan-a-Sop paid his +mother frequent visits at her new residence, and she was naturally +glad to see the poor boy, both from affection, and on account of +his personal strength and beauty, which distinguished him above +other youths of his age. But she was obliged to confer marks of her +attachment on him as privately as she could, for Allan's visits +were by no means so acceptable to her husband as to herself. +Indeed, Torloisk liked so little to see the lad, that he determined +to put some affront on him, which should prevent his returning to +the castle for some time. An opportunity for executing his purpose +soon occurred.</p> +<p>The lady one morning, looking from the window, saw her son +coming wandering down the hill, and hastened to put a girdle cake +upon the fire, that he might have hot bread to his breakfast. +Something called her out of the apartment after making this +preparation, and her husband entering at the same time, saw at once +what she had been about, and determined to give the boy such a +reception as should disgust him for the future. He snatched the +cake from the girdle, thrust it into his step-son's hands, which he +forcibly closed on the scalding bread, saying, "Here, +Allan—here is a cake which your mother has got ready for your +breakfast." Allan's hands were severely burnt; and, being a +sharp-witted and proud boy, he resented this mark of his +step-father's ill-will, and came not again to Torloisk.</p> +<p>At this time the western seas were covered with the vessels of +pirates, who, not unlike the sea-kings of Denmark at an early +period, sometimes settled and made conquests on the islands. +Allan-a-Sop was young, strong, and brave to desperation. He entered +as a mariner on board of one of these ships, and in process of time +obtained the command, first of one galley, then of a small +flotilla, with which he sailed round the seas and collected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page394" id="page394"></a>[pg +394]</span> considerable plunder, until his name became both feared +and famous. At length he proposed to himself to pay a visit to his +mother, whom he had not seen for many years; and setting sail for +this purpose, he anchored one morning in the Sound of Ulva, and in +front of the house of Torloisk. His mother was dead, but his +stepfather, to whom he was now an object of fear as he had been +formerly of aversion, hastened to the shore to receive his +formidable son-in-law, with great affectation of kindness and +interest in his prosperity; while Allan-a-Sop, who, though very +rough and hasty, does not appear to have been sullen or vindictive, +seemed to take his kind reception in good part.</p> +<p>The crafty old man succeeded so well, as he thought, in securing +Allan's friendship, and in obliterating all recollections of the +former affront put on him, that he began to think it possible to +employ him in executing his private revenge upon MacKinnon of Ulva, +with whom, as was usual between such neighbours, he had some feud. +With this purpose, he offered what he called the following good +advice to his son-in-law:—"My dear Allan, you have now +wandered over the seas long enough; it is time you should have some +footing upon land, a castle to protect yourself in winter, a +village and cattle for your men, and a harbour to lay up your +galleys. Now, here is the island of Ulva, near at hand, which lies +ready for your occupation, and it will cost you no trouble, save +that of putting to death the present proprietor, the Laird of +MacKinnon, a useless old carle, who has cumbered the world long +enough."</p> +<p>Allan-a-Sop thanked his stepfather for so happy a suggestion, +which he declared he would put in execution forthwith. Accordingly, +setting sail the next morning, he appeared before MacKinnon's house +an hour before noon. The old chief of Ulva was much alarmed at the +menacing apparition of so many galleys, and his anxiety was not +lessened by the news, that they were commanded by the redoubted +Allan-a-Sop. Having no effectual means of resistance, MacKinnon, +who was a man of shrewd sense, saw no alternative save that of +receiving the invaders, whatever might be their purpose, with all +outward demonstrations of joy and satisfaction. He caused immediate +preparations to be made for a banquet as splendid as circumstances +admitted, hastened down to the shore to meet the rover, and +welcomed him to Ulva with such an appearance of sincerity, that the +pirate found it impossible to pick any quarrel which might afford a +pretence for executing the violent purpose which he had been led to +meditate.</p> +<p>They feasted together the whole day; and in the evening, as +Allan-a-Sop was about to retire to his ships, he thanked the Laird +of MacKinnon for his entertainment, but remarked, with a sigh, that +it had cost him very dear. "How can that be" said MacKinnon, "when +I bestowed this entertainment upon you in free +good-will?"—"It is true, my friend," replied the pirate, "but +then it has quite disconcerted the purpose for which I came hither; +which was to put you to death, my good friend, and seize upon your +house and island, and so settle myself in the world. It would have +been very convenient, this island, but your friendly reception has +rendered it impossible for me to execute my purpose; so that I must +be a wanderer on the seas for some time longer." Whatever MacKinnon +felt at hearing that he had been so near to destruction, he took +care to show no emotion save surprise, and replied to his +visiter,—"My dear Allan, who was it that put into your mind +so unkind a purpose towards your old friend; for I am sure it never +arose from your own generous nature? It must have been your +father-in-law, old Torloisk, who made such an indifferent husband +to your mother, and such an unfriendly stepfather to you when you +were a helpless boy; but now, when he sees you a bold and powerful +leader, he desires to make a quarrel betwixt you and those who were +the friends of your youth. If you consider this matter rightly, +Allan, you will see that the estate and harbour of Torloisk lie as +conveniently for you as those of Ulva, and that, if you are to make +a settlement by force, it is much better it should be at the +expense of the old churl, who never showed you kindness or +countenance, than at that of a friend like me, who always loved and +honoured you."</p> +<p>Allan-a-Sop was struck with the justice of this reasoning; and +the old offence of his scalded fingers was suddenly recalled to his +mind. "It is very true what you say, MacKinnon," he replied, "and, +besides, I have not forgotten what a hot breakfast my father-in-law +treated me to one morning. Farewell for the present; you shall soon +hear news of me from the other side of the Sound." Having said thus +much, the pirate got on board, and commanding his men to unmoor the +galleys, sailed back to Torloisk, and prepared to land in arms. His +father-in-law hastened to meet him, in expectation to hear of the +death of his enemy, MacKinnon. But Allan greeted him in a very +different manner from what he expected. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page395" id="page395"></a>[pg 395]</span> "You +hoary old traitor," he said, "you instigated my simple good-nature +to murder a better man than yourself. But have you forgotten how +you scorched my fingers twenty years ago, with a burning cake? The +day is come that that breakfast must be paid for." So saying, he +dashed out his father-in-law's brains with a battle-axe, took +possession of his castle and property, and established there a +distinguished branch of the clan of MacLean.—<i>Tales of a +Grandfather—Second Series.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>ADVANTAGES OF A GOOD HEART,</h2> +<h4><i>A Fragment from the "Disowned," by the author of +"Pelham."</i></h4> +<p>"The next day, Sir Christopher Findlater called on Clarence. +'Let us lounge into the park,' said he. 'With pleasure,' replied +Clarence; and into the park they lounged. By the way they met a +crowd, who were hurrying a man to prison. The good-hearted Sir +Christopher stopped—'Who is that poor fellow?' said he. 'It +is the celebrated'—(in England all criminals are celebrated. +Thurtell was a hero, Thistlewood a patriot, and Fauntleroy was +discovered to be exactly like Bonaparte)—'it is the +celebrated robber, John Jefferies, who broke into Mrs. Wilson's +house, and cut the throats of herself and her husband, wounded the +maid-servant, and split the child's skull with the poker.' * * * +'John Jefferies!' exclaimed the baronet, 'let us come away.' +'Linden,' continued Sir Christopher, 'that fellow was my servant +once. He robbed me to some considerable extent. I caught him. He +appealed to my heart, and you know, my dear fellow, that was +irresistible, so I let him off. Who could have thought he would +have turned out so?' And the baronet proceeded to eulogize his own +good nature, by which it is just necessary to remark, that one +miscreant had been saved for a few years from transportation in +order to rob and murder <i>ad libitum</i>, and having fulfilled the +office of a common pest, to suffer on the gallows at last. What a +fine thing it is to have a good heart! Both our gentlemen now sunk +into a reverie, from which they were awakened, at the entrance of +the park, by a young man in rags, who, with a piteous tone, +supplicated charity. Clarence, who to his honour be it spoken, +spent an allotted and considerable part of his income in judicious +and laborious benevolence, had read a little of political morals, +then beginning to be understood, and walked on. The good-hearted +baronet put his hand in his pocket, and gave the beggar +half-a-guinea, by which a young, strong man, who had only just +commenced the trade, was confirmed in his imposition for the rest +of his life; and instead of the useful support, became the +pernicious incumbrance of society. Sir Christopher had now +recovered his spirits. 'What's like a good action?' said he to +Clarence, with a swelling breast. The park was crowded to excess; +our loungers were joined by Lord St. George. His lordship was a +staunch Tory. He could not endure Wilkes, liberty, or general +education. He launched out against the enlightenment of domestics. +'What has made you so bitter?' said Sir Christopher. 'My valet!' +cried Lord St. George; 'he has invented a new toasting-fork; is +going to take out a patent, make his fortune, <i>and leave me</i>; +that's what I call ingratitude, Sir Christopher; for I ordered his +wages to be raised five pounds but last year.' 'It <i>was</i> very +ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated the +good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet, +Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow, +who can neither read nor write?' 'N—o—o—that is +to say, yes! I can; my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and +is as ignorant as—as—' 'I—or you are,' said Lord +St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,' replied the baronet. 'Well, +then, I take your recommendation: send him to me to-morrow at +twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My dear Findlater,' cried +Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did you not tell me some +time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and closely <i>lie</i> +with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St. George!' +'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue, to be +sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his +eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a +character; so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the +truth,' observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take +him!' rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible +<i>naiveté</i>. 'No, no, Linden, we must not be so +hard-hearted; we must forgive and forget;' and so saying, the +baronet threw out his chest, with the conscious exultation of a man +who has uttered a noble sentiment. The moral of this little history +is, that Lord St. George, having been pillaged 'through thick and +thin,' as the proverb has it, for two years, at last missed a gold +watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his career, as his exemplary +tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page396" id="page396"></a>[pg 396]</span> done before him. Ah! +what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return, just +as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady +Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself +to his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in +saying the prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, +at least in his eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much +mischief as a good heart well can do in a walk of an hour, returned +home to write a long letter to his mother, against 'learning and +all such nonsense, which only served to blunt the affections and +harden the heart.' 'Admirable young man!' cried the mother, with +tears in her eyes; 'a good heart is better than all the heads in +the world.' Amen!"</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h3>SPIRIT OF THE</h3> +<h2>Public Journals.</h2> +<h3>QUADRANGLE OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.</h3> +<p>In the last <i>New Monthly Magazine</i> is an excellent account +of this splendid structure, in <i>A Day at Cambridge</i>,—in +which occurs the following exquisite little descriptive +gem:—</p> +<p>With the exception of a gravel walk, running near to the +buildings on every side, the whole ground-plot of this quadrangle +is covered by an unbroken turf, kept, by means of constant and +almost hourly attention, in that exquisite order which is only to +be observed in spots devoted to similar purposes, here and at +Oxford. The effect of an unbroken plot of turf of this kind and +quality, and in a situation like this, is perfectly unique, and +perhaps indescribable. It is supposed to be, and in fact is, for +all purposes of preservation and beauty, sacred from the foot of +man or beast; and the feeling arising from this circumstance, added +to the exquisite natural adaptation of the object itself to the +purposes of rest and relief from the almost dazzling architectural +splendour of the surrounding objects, is such as cannot be +communicated by any other means whatever, and we might in vain +attempt to describe. It is of such a kind, however, that those who +are capable of experiencing it, would as soon think of treading +upon the object that conveys it to them, as those who honour Nature +would think of rooting up a nest of violets. Speaking for ourselves +alone, there is but one thing that can disturb and deteriorate the +absolute tranquillity of mind, and peace of heart, which fall upon +us, like dew from heaven, on entering a place like that we have +attempted to describe above; it is, to see a capped and gowned +Fellow, profaning with his footsteps the floor of that, in some +sort, sacred temple, merely because he can, by so doing, reach his +habitation by a few footsteps less than if he kept to the path +allotted for him. We look upon the act as a species of impiety; to +say nothing of its proving, to a demonstration, that the person who +commits it is either utterly insensible to the mysterious harmony +that subsists between a certain class of natural objects and the +heart of man; or utterly disregards that harmony, and sets it at +naught. He is, in fact, one of whom it may in one sense be said, +that</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"He hath no music in his soul."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And we are almost tempted to complete the quotation, by +adding—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Let no such man be trusted!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>A RUSTIC PAIR.</h3> +<h4><i>By Miss Mitford</i>.</h4> +<p>Few damsels of twelve years old, generally a very pretty age, +were less pretty that Hannah Bint. Short and stunted in her figure, +thin in face, sharp in feature, with a muddled complexion, wild +sun-burnt hair, and eyes, whose very brightness had in them +something startling, over-informed, super-subtle, too clever for +her age. At twelve years old she had quite the air of a little old +fairy. Now, at seventeen, matters are mended. Her complexion has +cleared; her countenance, her figure, has shot up into height and +brightness, and a sort of rustic grace; her bright, acute eye is +softened and sweetened by the womanly wish to please; her hair is +trimmed, and curled, and brushed with exquisite neatness; and her +whole dress arranged with that nice attention to the becoming, the +suitable both in form and texture, which would be called the +highest degree of coquetry, if it did not deserve the better name +of propriety. Never was such a transmogrification beheld. The lass +is really pretty, and Ned Miles has discovered that she is so. +There he stands, the rogue, close at her aide, (for he hath joined +her whilst we have been telling her little story, and the milking +is over!)—there he stands—holding her milk-pail in one +hand, and stroking Watch with the other; whilst she is returning +the compliment, by patting Neptune's magnificent head. There they +stand, as much like lovers as may be; he smiling, and she +blushing—he never looking so handsome, nor she so pretty, in +all their lives. There they stand, in <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page397" id="page397"></a>[pg 397]</span> +blessed forgetfulness of all except each other—as happy a +couple as ever trod the earth. There they stand, and one would not +disturb them for all the milk and butter in Christendom. I should +not wonder if they were fixing the wedding-day.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>RECOLLECTIONS OF A R*T.</h2> +<h4><i>(Concluded from page 365.)</i></h4> +<p>Finding a detachment just setting out to join the Grand Allied +Army, I thought, as a true Briton, I could do no less than +accompany it, and prevailed upon all our party to do the same.</p> +<p>The detachment with which I marched, consisted of 80,000. As we +had little baggage, having crossed the Rhine, we proceeded rapidly +through a dull, uninteresting country.</p> +<p>The town of Coblentz is situated at the junction of the Rhine +and the Moselle. Here the majestic Rhine gently flows along in all +its grandeur, separating the town from the noble fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein.<a id="footnotetag6" name= +"footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> I crossed +over the bridge of boats, and made a most minute inspection of this +very romantic castle, which gave me great pleasure indeed. In a few +days I availed myself of a passage-boat which was going to Mayence, +and was quite enraptured with the view on all sides. Rhenish wines, +and perhaps also the water, I found did not well agree with my +stomach; and no inconsiderable annoyance, I soon experienced. They +seemed, however, to have exactly the same effect upon every +Englishman I saw, so I was not singular. A little brandy soon, +however, put me all to rights; and by the time I reached +Strasbourg, I was perfectly well again, and able to do ample +justice to her Splendid Pies! I attended high mass in the great +Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was surprised and pleased at the sight +of 10,000 soldiers, in review order, drawn up within its walls. It +was tiresome enough work mounting to the top of the spire, (which I +ascertained, by the steps I took, to be exactly 490 feet high, +Strasbourg measure; and this is exactly eight feet higher than St. +Peter's at Rome), but I made it out, notwithstanding the sulky +looks of the jackanapes who lives at the top. Nothing can surpass +the beauty of the view from this cathedral. At your feet you have +the ancient town, with all its regular fortifications and +outworks—the majestic Rhine, with its bridge of boats, and +ruined Gothic bridge, sublime in its decay—and as far as the +eye can reach you have an exceedingly rich country, everywhere +speckled with towns, and fertilized by luxuriant streams.</p> +<p>I made a point of visiting my venerable friend, the old Comte de +Strasbourg, who, unchanged in the rolling on of centuries, lies in +his glass coffin, to all appearance in the same freshness of health +and vigour in which, when myself a very young man, I saw him many +hundred years ago;<a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> his +countess, his son, and his daughter, keep him company, each in +their separate place of repose. Alas, alas! the sight made me +weep.</p> +<p>A few days afterwards, I was rather unexpectedly stopped in my +tour. For a night I had taken up my residence in the carriage of a +young Englishman, who that day arrived from Rome, the hostler +having assured me that he would remain for some time. I did so, as +I found it much quieter and cooler than the hotel "La ville de +Lyon," which was overcrowded. In the morning, I thought my friends +were merely going a short drive, so I kept my seat. We, however, +travelled on till night, when I heard we were bound for London; but +as my companions were very agreeable, I thought I might as well +accompany them the whole way. They seemed to be annoyed at every +posthouse with their passports, &c.; I was never even asked +about the matter. The custom-house gentry, in their searches, to be +sure, occasionally gave me a little trouble, but I was soon up to +their tricks. We had an avant-courier constantly galloping before +us, and we travelled with such expedition that we reached London in +five days; for my fellow-travellers were idle young men of fortune, +who are of course always in the greatest hurry for the end of a +journey, because they don't know what to make of themselves when it +is over.</p> +<p>I had not then an opportunity of seeing Paris, as we only +changed horses in it. I have since, however, spent many months +there, and have always been very much pleased with every thing I +saw, particularly the Catacombs, which were my favourite lounge. +When last in Paris, I made a narrow escape with my life, as I +tumbled headlong into a cask of brandy. I, however, managed to +scramble out, with the assistance of a bit of cord, which happened +to be hanging over its side, and which my friend pushed in to me. I +was little the worse of my ducking; for, as soon as I got out, I +was set a-laughing by his telling me how to spell <i>brandy</i>, in +both French and English, in three letters, viz. "B.R. and Y." and +"O.D.V."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page398" id="page398"></a>[pg +398]</span> +<p>In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, +and was certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, +however, that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, +and all the eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in +comparison of what I saw and tasted at the East India and London +Docks. When I was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to +me, that he had heard an act read, offering a reward of +10,000<i>l.</i> for a <i>male</i> tortoise-shell cat. This I +believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for such a thing was never +heard of. And it is certainly as much worth their while as making +an act that I should never have more than six dishes of meat at my +dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen above twenty +shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it particularly, +and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however, one +restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the +present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still +in force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of +their acts of Parliament are silly enough—as they must be; +for they don't like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is +necessary to be always enacting something.</p> +<p>It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the +great city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest +friend on earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in +rather an unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would +expose herself to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all +respect for her, and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, +poor fellows, they have a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull +certainly gives himself many airs, to say the least of it. After +receiving the greatest kindness and hospitality from you in +Scotland, and perhaps staying for months in your house, he will cut +you dead in London. I remember once meeting with such a return, but +took it, of course, very coolly. Next day, when I was arm in arm +with —— ——, I happened again to meet my +quondam friend, who immediately rushed up to me—I, however, +turned on my tail, and did not know him.—Fashion is an odd +thing after all. It is not rank which will do. I have seen many a +spendthrift young commoner cut his uncle the duke; and being a +duchess by no means will ensure admittance at Almack's.—I +thank my stars, I am not fashionable, and am always happy to see my +friends!</p> +<p>I was persuaded, soon after reaching London, to go down to Essex +for a few days, to pay a visit to an old friend. When I arrived at +his house, which I think they called Waltham Abbey, I was sorry to +receive the melancholy accounts that he had been devoured, and +that, if I did not instantly take myself off, I should be dealt +with in the same manner. The truth was, that a famine had arisen; +and it is well known, on those occasions, as necessity has no law, +that the stronger kills the weaker. Day after day the combat is +renewed, till at last all except one are destroyed, and he is then +obliged to decamp, or eat himself up, as he likes best. It is in +this way that castles, houses, &c. which have been long +infested by us, are so suddenly entirely freed from our +presence.</p> +<p>I amused myself in making an excursion to Epping Forest, till I +thought the civil war at my late friend's habitation might have +proceeded far enough for my presence to be useful. In the forest, +one day, I had the luck to kill one of those troublesome +reptiles—a Tom Cat. I believe, however, it was a house one. +After a hard day's hunting his highness made too free at a Valerian +party. I watched my opportunity, and soon put an effectual end to +his caterwauling. When I returned to the abbey, I found I was in +the best possible time—the garrison being reduced to about a +dozen, and they so weakened and tired out with the constant +worrying work they had had, that I was myself a complete match for +any two of them. In a few days the number was only four, and in +other two days I was sole lord and master.</p> +<p>[He then returns to town.]</p> +<p>At a friend's house, in Berkeley Square, where I met a +distinguished party, a scene took place, just such as Pope +describes—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Our courtier walks from dish to dish;</p> +<p>Tastes, for his friend, of fowl and fish:</p> +<p>"That jelly's rich, that malmsey's healing,</p> +<p>Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in."</p> +<p>Was ever such a happy swain?</p> +<p>He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again.</p> +<p>"I'm quite ashamed—'Tis mighty rude</p> +<p>To eat so much; but all's so good!</p> +<p>I have a thousand thanks to give,</p> +<p>My lord alone knows how to live."—</p> +<p>No sooner said, but from the hall</p> +<p>Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all:</p> +<p>"A r—t, a r—t! clap to the door!"—</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>I, however, made good my exit, and was nothing the worse of a +practical warning to be more cautious in future.</p> +<p>It would be endless for me to describe all my after voyages and +travels. Suffice it to say, I have been both east and west, north +and south; and there is scarcely a part of the habitable globe +which I have not visited. After all, I have come to this +conclusion, that there is no country like Britain. Oh! how I could +wish my human existence had been in such happy <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page399" id="page399"></a>[pg 399]</span> times +and under such glorious sovereigns as a George the Third, and +George the Fourth!!!</p> +<p>For some years I have remained in this country, enjoying (like a +patriarch of old) a quiet, regular life with my family, which now +amounts to above 2,000. I, however, keep very much to my own room, +as I hate bustle, and like to enjoy my own reflections.</p> +<p>The age to which our species can exist is not ascertained, as +never one of us was known to die in his bed, at least a natural +death. A kind of instinct I have always had, has as yet saved me +from arsenic, stewed corks, traps, stamps, &c.; and my great +strength, and a good deal of science, which is of more consequence, +have, as yet, preserved me in many a deadly combat, both with my +own species, and with the dog, the ferret, the weasel, the hawk, +and that green-eyed monster—the cat. But I am now getting +somewhat stiffer, and am not so sharp as I was. I am not—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"——qualis eram, quum primam aciem Præneste sub +ipsa</p> +<p>Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos;</p> +<p>Et regem hâc Herilum dextrâ sub Tartara misi!!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And in some evil hour my time must come.</p> +<p>—I am well aware, indeed, of the fleeting existence even +of this world itself, for I studied astronomy with the celebrated +M. Olbers of Bremen, and assisted him in making many useful +observations and discoveries, particularly regarding comets, in the +course of which we came to this melancholy conclusion, that the +comet which was afterwards visible in 1786 and 1795, will, in +83,000 years, approach the earth as nearly as the moon; and that in +4,000,000 years it will come to within a distance of 7,700 +geographical miles;—the consequence of which will be (if its +attraction be equal to that of the earth) the elevation of the +waters of the ocean 13,000 feet; that is to say, above the tops of +all the European mountains, except Mount Blanc. The inhabitants of +the Andes and of the Himalaya mountains alone will escape this +second deluge; but they will not benefit by their good fortune more +than 216,000,000 years, for it is probable, that at the expiration +of that time, our globe standing right in the way of the comet, +will receive a shock severe enough to ensure its utter +destruction!!!</p> +<p><i>Note.</i>—After reading over the above MS., I am +inclined to come to this conclusion—that our historian, while +in a human form, must have been a Scottish nobleman—that he +probably was born about the year 1501—and that he lived to +about the age of 89.—<i>Ed.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE FANCY BALL.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"A visor for a visor! what care I</p> +<p>What curious eye doth quote deformities!"</p> +<p class="i10">SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"You used to talk," said Miss Mac Call,</p> +<p class="i2">"Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid;</p> +<p>But now you never talk at all.</p> +<p class="i2">You're getting vastly stupid.</p> +<p>You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir,</p> +<p class="i2">You never will get through it;</p> +<p>There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester—</p> +<p class="i2">Do let us take you to it."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I made that night a solemn vow,</p> +<p class="i2">To startle all beholders:</p> +<p>I wore white muslin on my brow,</p> +<p class="i2">Green velvet on my shoulders—</p> +<p>My trousers were supremely wide,</p> +<p class="i2">I learn'd to swear "by Allah"—</p> +<p>I stuck a poniard by my side,</p> +<p class="i2">And called myself "Abdallah."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair,</p> +<p class="i2">Made up of silks and leathers,</p> +<p>Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair,</p> +<p class="i2">Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers:</p> +<p>The dullest Duke in all the town,</p> +<p class="i2">To-night may shine a droll one—</p> +<p>And rakes, who have not half-a-crown,</p> +<p class="i2">Look royal with a whole one.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Hail, blest Confusion! here are met</p> +<p class="i2">All tongues, and times, and faces,</p> +<p>The Lancers flirt with Juliet,</p> +<p class="i2">The Bramin talks of races;</p> +<p>And where's your genius, bright Corinne?</p> +<p class="i2">And where your brogue, Sir Lucius?</p> +<p>And Chinca Ti, you have not seen</p> +<p class="i2">One chapter of Confucius.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt</p> +<p class="i2">With beauties from the Wrekin—</p> +<p>And belles from Berne look very pert</p> +<p class="i2">On Mandarins from Pekin;</p> +<p>The Cardinal is here from Rome,</p> +<p class="i2">The Commandant from Seville—</p> +<p>And Hamlet's father from the tomb,</p> +<p class="i2">And Faustus from the Devil.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray,</p> +<p class="i2">What mean they, Nun or Fairy:</p> +<p>I guess they told no beads to-day,</p> +<p class="i2">And sang no Ave Mary.</p> +<p>From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix,</p> +<p class="i2">Barred door, and window grated,</p> +<p>I wish all pretty Catholics</p> +<p class="i2">Were thus emancipated.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles,</p> +<p class="i2">With four well-seasoned sailors—</p> +<p>And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills,</p> +<p class="i2">With Timon, prince of railers.</p> +<p>I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park</p> +<p class="i2">Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca—</p> +<p>And I run away from Joan of Arc,</p> +<p class="i2">To romp with sad Rebecca.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Fair Cleopatra's very plain,</p> +<p class="i2">Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers—</p> +<p>And Cæsar's murder'd o'er again,</p> +<p class="i2">Though not by Roman daggers.</p> +<p>Great Charlemagne is four feet high—</p> +<p class="i2">Sad Stuff has Bacon spoken—</p> +<p>Queen Mary's waist is all awry,</p> +<p class="i2">And Psyche's nose is broken.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Our happiest bride, how very odd!</p> +<p class="i2">Is the mourning Isabella,</p> +<p>And the heaviest foot that ever trod</p> +<p class="i2">Is the foot of Cinderella.</p> +<p>Here sad Calista laughs outright,</p> +<p class="i2">There Yorick looks most grave, Sir,</p> +<p>And a Templar waves the cross to-night,</p> +<p class="i2">Who never cross'd the wave, Sir.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page400" id="page400"></a>[pg +400]</span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And what a Babel is the talk!</p> +<p class="i2">"The Giraffe"—"plays the fiddle"—</p> +<p>"Macadam's roads"—"I hate this chalk"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Sweet girl"—"a charming riddle"—</p> +<p>"I'm nearly drunk with"—"Epsom salts"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Yes, separate beds"—"such cronies!"—</p> +<p>"Good heaven! who taught that man to valtz?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"A pair of Shetland ponies."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Lord D——" "an enchanting shape"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Will move for"—"Maraschino"</p> +<p>"Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"He died at Navarino!"</p> +<p>"The gout, by Jove, is"—"apple pie"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Don Miguel"—"Tom the tinker"—</p> +<p>"His Lordship's pedigree's as high</p> +<p class="i2">As ——" "Whipcord, dam by Clinker."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Love's shafts are weak"—"my chestnut kicks"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Heart broken;"—"broke the traces"—</p> +<p>"What say you now of politics?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Change sides and to your places"—</p> +<p>"A five-barred gate"—"a precious pearl"</p> +<p class="i2">"Grave things may all be punn'd on!"—</p> +<p>"The Whigs, thank God, are"—"out of curl!"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Her age is"—"four by London!"</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Thus run the giddy hours away,</p> +<p class="i2">Till morning's light is beaming,</p> +<p>And we must go to dream by day</p> +<p class="i2">All we to-night are dreaming;</p> +<p>To smile and sigh, to love and change—</p> +<p class="i2">Oh! in our heart's recesses,</p> +<p>We dress in fancies quite as strange</p> +<p class="i2">As these our fancy-dresses.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>New Monthly Magazine</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Gatherer.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i10">SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Tho' lang an lonely be the road</p> +<p class="i2">Between me an my dearie;</p> +<p>Yet I the gate hae aften troad,</p> +<p class="i2">When I've been tired and wearie.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Be't stormin rain, hail, win or snaw—</p> +<p class="i2">A lonely road and drearie—</p> +<p>There's nought wad e'er keep me awa</p> +<p class="i2">Frae gaun to see my dearie!!!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>M.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>FRENCH BALL CONVERSATION.</h3> +<p>During the French revolution, parties danced as gaily as ever; +the following is a ball conversation, which took place in the month +of Frimare, year 7.:—Well, the Ottoman Porte has declared war +against us! Oh yes, there is no doubt of it, (<i>En avant deux</i>) +It is an enemy the more—(<i>chassez</i>) and the Russian +fleet they say has passed the Dardanelles, (<i>en avant quatre</i>) +yet the papers say that the emperor sincerely desires +peace.—Yes, but Count Metternich wishes for war, +(<i>balancez</i>) so we have also a new coalition against us. +England, Portugal, Naples, Turkey, the Emperor, Russia, perhaps the +empire of Prussia, (<i>Faites face et chassez tous les +huit</i>)—well we have bayonettes, (<i>la poussette</i>) +besides it is not so far from Dover to Calais, +(<i>traversez</i>)—Do you belong to the +conscription?—Yes, and I too; (<i>pirouettez</i>) what makes +me uneasy is to know what will become of our partners when we are +gone: (<i>La chaine des dames</i>)—what will be left to amuse +them (<i>La queu du chat</i>.) It was thus that days of terror were +preceded by evenings of amusement and pleasure.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>INTUITIVE AFFECTION.</h3> +<p>"There are three things," said a wit, "which I have always loved +without ever understanding them, painting, music, and woman."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>RETORT UNCOURTEOUS.</h3> +<p>A lady, well known in the fashionable vicinity of +Portland-place, always accosts a stranger, with "I think I have +seen you somewhere," which often leads to a clue for her finding +out the history of the party. One evening she played off the same +game on a gentleman, who replied, "Most likely, madam, for I +sometimes go there."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>With the present Number is published the SECOND SUPPLEMENT of +the Spirit of the Annuals—containing Poetry and Prose by +Allan Cunningham, Professor Wilson, the late P.B. Shelley, Miss +Landon, Mrs. Hemans, Mr. Pringle, Theodore Hook, and other +distinguished Writers—with a beautiful Engraving.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets +are informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be +purchased separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, +and can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or +Newsvender.</p> +<p>Complete sets Vol. I. to XI. in boards, price £2. +19<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> half bound, £3. 17<i>s.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h4><i>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS.</i></h4> +<p>CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the +Strand, near Somerset House.</p> +<p>The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> boards.</p> +<p>The TALES of the GENII. Price 2<i>s.</i></p> +<p>The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING, &c. 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Price 1<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>The Second of "the Spirit of the Annuals," containing a fine +Engraving, after a celebrated picture by Turner, and a string of +POETICAL GEMS from the Anniversary, Keepsake, and Friendship's +Offering, with unique extracts from such of "the Annuals" as were +not noticed in the previous Supplement.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p>Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>Strype's Stowe, vol. ii. p. 47, edit. 1755.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Miraculous dancing is not, however, confined to animals; for +William of Malmesbury gravely relates an instance of 15 young women +and 18 young men who (by the anathema of a priest) continued +dancing a whole year, and wore the earth so much, that, by degrees, +they sunk midway into the earth!</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>Here is a card "extraordinary" of one of our humble English +dancing-masters:—"As Dancing is the poetry of motion, those +who wish to sail through the mazes of harmony, or to 'trip it on +the light fantastic toe,' will find an able guide in John Wilde, +who was formed by nature for a dancing-master.—N.B. Those who +have been taught to dance with <i>a couple of left legs</i>, had +better apply in time, as he effectually cures all bad habits of the +kind."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>Apropos—our <i>Supplement</i> contains a fine Engraving of +this very spot.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>The venerable count died about the year 1519. The glass coffins +are still shown.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p><i>Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near +Somerset House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, +Leipsic; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10719 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/10719-h/images/345-1.png b/10719-h/images/345-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..be51b37 --- /dev/null +++ b/10719-h/images/345-1.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..305e3ef --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10719 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10719) diff --git a/old/10719-8.txt b/old/10719-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e29bc00 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10719-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2029 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, Vol. 12, Issue 345, December 6, 1828, by Various + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, +Issue 345, December 6, 1828 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January 14, 2004 [eBook #10719] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, +AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 12, ISSUE 345, DECEMBER 6, 1828*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, William Flis, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 10719-h.htm or 10719-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h/10719-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 349.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, AT ROME. + +[Illustration: The Arch of Constantine, at Rome.] + +"Still harping" on the Fine Arts--_Architecture_ and _Painting_. Of +the former, the above engraving is an illustration; and of the latter, +our readers will find a beautiful subject (from one of _Turner's_ +pictures) in a _Supplement published with the present Number_.[1] + + [1] The Second of "the Spirit of the Annuals," containing a fine + Engraving, after a celebrated picture by Turner, and a string of + POETICAL GEMS from the Anniversary, Keepsake, and Friendship's + Offering, with unique extracts from such of "the Annuals" as were + not noticed in the previous Supplement. + +The Arches of Rome were splendid monuments of triumph, erected in +honour of her illustrious generals. They were at first very simple, +being built of brick or hewn stone, and of a semicircular figure; but +afterwards more magnificent, built of the finest marble, and of a +square figure, with a large, arched gate in the middle, and two small +ones on each side, adorned with columns and statues. In the vault of +the middle gate, hung winged figures of victory, bearing crowns in +their hands, which, when let down, they placed on the victor's head, +when he passed in triumph. + +The _Arch of Constantine_, the most noble of all of these structures, +subsists almost entire. It was erected by the senate and Roman people, +in honour of Constantine, after his victory over Maxentius, and +crosses the Appian Way, at the junction of the Coelian and Palatine +Hills. Here it stands as the last monument of Roman triumph, or like +the December sun of "the world's sole monument." + +This building consists of three arches, of which the centre is the +largest; and has two fronts, each adorned with four columns of giallo +antico marble, of the Corinthian order, and fluted, supporting a +cornice, on which stand eight Dacian captives of Pavonazzetta, or +violet-coloured marble. + +The inscription on both sides of the architrave imports, that it was +dedicated "to the Emperor Cæsar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the +greatest, pious, and the happy; because by a divine impulse, the +greatness of his courage, and the aid of his army, he avenged the +republic by his just arms, and, at the same time, rescued it from the +tyrant and his whole faction." On one side of the arch are the words, +"Liberatori urbis," to the deliverer of the city; and on the other, +"Fundatori quietis," to the founder of public tranquillity. + +Although erected to the honour of Constantine, this arch commemorates +the victories of Trajan, some of the basso-relievos, &c. having +been pilfered from one of the arches of Trajan. This accounts for +the Dacian captives, whose heads Lorenzo de Medicis broke off and +conveyed to Florence, but the theft might not have been so notorious +to posterity, had not the artists of Constantine's time added some +figures of inferior merit. Forsyth says, "Constantine's reign was +notorious for architectural robbery;" and the styles of the two +emperors, in the present arch, mar the harmony by their unsightly +contrasts. + +Although the decree for erecting this arch was, without doubt, passed +immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, it appears from the +monument itself, that the building was not finished and dedicated till +the tenth year of Constantine's reign, or the year of Christ 315 or +316. + +The newly-erected arch opposite the entrance to Hyde Park is from the +Roman arch, though, we believe, not from any particular model. In the +View of the New Palace, St. James's Park, (in our No. 278,) the arch, +to be called the Waterloo Monument, and erected in the middle of the +area of the palace, will be nearly a copy of that of Constantine +at Rome. In the court-yard of the Tuilleries at Paris, there is a +similar arch, copied from that of Septimius Severus. This was formerly +surmounted by the celebrated group of the horses of St. Mark, pilfered +from Venice, but restored at the peace of 1815. + + * * * * * + + + +THE BEGGAR'S DAUGHTER OF BETHNAL GREEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + +The popular ballad of "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Greene" was +written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is founded, though without +the least appearance of truth, or even probability, on a legend of +the time of Henry III. Henry de Montfort, son of the ambitious Earl +of Leicester, who was slain with his father at the memorable battle +of Evesham, is the hero of the tale. He is supposed (according to +the legend) to have been discovered among the bodies of the slain +by a young lady, in an almost lifeless state, and deprived of sight +by a wound, which he had received during the engagement. Under +the fostering hand of this "faire damosel" he soon recovered, and +afterwards marrying her, she became the mother of "the comelye and +prettye Bessee." Fearing lest his rank and person should be discovered +by his enemies, he disguised himself in the habit of a beggar, and +took up his abode at Bethnal-Green. The beauty of his daughter +attracted many suitors, and she was at length married to a noble +knight, who, regardless of her supposed meanness and poverty, had the +courage to make her his wife, her other lovers having deserted her on +account of her low origin. Before entering, however, upon the ballad, +it may not, perhaps, be thought irrelevant to give a brief sketch of +the family of the De Montforts. + +Simon de Montfort, created Earl of Leicester by Henry III., was the +younger son of Simon de Montfort, the renowned but cruel commander +of the croisade against the Albigenses. This nobleman was greatly +honoured by Henry III., to whose sister, the Countess Dowager of +Pembroke, he paid his addresses, and was married, with the consent +of her brother. For the favour thus shown him by his sovereign, he, +however, proved ungrateful: his inordinate ambition, cloaked by a +pretended zeal for reform, was the cause of those rebellions which, in +the reign of Henry III., kept the kingdom in such a continued turmoil. +The different oppressions and successes of the confederate barons, +who at length got possession of the king's person, and the civil +wars which ensued, are so well known as to render any remark on the +subject superfluous; suffice it to say, that the disputes between +the malcontents and the royal party were at length terminated by the +battle of Evesham, which decided in favour of the latter. In this +field fell the Earl of Leicester and his eldest son, Henry de +Montfort. His death was followed by the total ruin of his family; +his titles and estates were all confiscated; the countess, his wife, +who had been extremely active in her designs against the royalists, +was banished, together with her sons, Simon and Guy, who afterwards +assassinated their cousin, Henry d'Allmane, when he was endeavouring +to effect a reconciliation between them and their uncle, Henry IV. +The head of the earl was sent as a signal of the victory by Roger de +Mortimer to the countess; but his body, together with that of his +son Henry, was interred in the Abbey of Evesham; thus leaving the +improbability of the legend without a shadow of doubt. + +As our limits will not allow us to quote the whole of the ballad,[1] +we must content ourselves with giving the song of the beggar, which, +as well as being the most interesting, contains the whole of the +legend concerning de Montfort:-- + + A poore beggar's daughter did dwell on a greene, + Who for her fairnesse might well be a queene: + A blithe bonny lasse, and a daintye was shee, + And many one called her pretty Bessee. + + Her father hee had noe goods nor noe land, + But begg'd for a penny all day with his hand; + And yett to her marriage he gave thousands three, + And still he hath somewhat for pretty Bessee. + + And if any one here her birth doe disdaine, + Her father is ready, with might and with maine, + To prove shee is come of noble degree-- + Therefore, ever flout att prettye Bessee. + + * * * * * + + Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one, + One song more to sing, and then I have done; + And if that itt may not winn good report, + Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport. + + Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall bee. + Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee-- + Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase, + Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race. + + When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose, + Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose-- + A leader of courage undaunted was hee, + And oft-times he made their enemyes flee. + + At length in the battle on Eveshame plaine + The barons were routed, and Montfort was slaine; + Moste fatall that battel did prove unto thee, + Thoughe thou wast not borne then, my prettye Bessee! + + Along with the nobles that fell at that tyde, + His eldest son Henrye, who fought by his side, + Was fellde by a blowe he receiv'de in the fighte! + A blowe that depriv'de him for ever of sight. + + Among the dead bodyes all lifelesse he laye, + Till evening drewe on of the following daye, + When by a yong ladye discover'd was hee-- + And this was thy mother, my prettye Bessee! + + A baron's faire daughter stept forth in the nighte, + To search for her father, who fell in the fight, + And seeing yong Montfort, where gasping he laye, + Was moved with pitye, and broughte him awaye. + + In secrette she nurst him, and swaged his paine, + While he throughe the realme was beleev'd to be slaine: + At lengthe his faire bride she consented to bee, + And made him glad father of prettye Bessee. + + And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye + We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye; + Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee-- + All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee. + + And here have wee lived in fortunes despite, + Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte; + Full forty winters thus have I beene + A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene. + + And here, noble lordes, is ended the song + Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong: + And thus have you learned a secrette from mee, + That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee. + + [1] Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178. + +At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of 1703, was +called _Bethnal-Green-House_, and which the inhabitants, with their +usual love of traditionary lore, assign as the "Palace of the Blind +Beggar." This house was erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by +John Kirby, citizen of London, and was, says Stow,[1] "lofty like a +castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knight, +the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into the +possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in 1669; of +late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The tradition of +the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of several of the +public-houses in the neighbourhood. + + [1] Strype's Stowe, vol. ii. p. 47, edit. 1755. + +S.I.B. + + * * * * * + + + +HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY OF WILLS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +According to Blackstone, wills are of high antiquity. We find them +among the ancient Hebrews; not to mention what Eusebius and others +have related of Noah's testament, made in writing, and witnessed under +his seal, by which he disposed of the whole world. A more authentic +instance of the early use of testaments occurs in the sacred writings, +(Genesis, chap. xlviii.) in which Jacob bequeaths to his son Joseph, a +portion of his inheritance, double to that of his brethren. + +The Grecian practice concerning wills (says Potter) was not the same +in all places; some states permitted men to dispose of their estates, +others wholly deprived them of that privilege. We are told by +Plutarch, that Solon is much commended for his law concerning wills; +for before his time no man was allowed to make any, but all the wealth +of deceased persons belonged to their families; but he permitted them +to bestow it on whom they pleased, esteeming friendship a stronger tie +than kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put every man's +estate in the disposal of the possessor; yet he allowed not all sorts +of wills, but required the following conditions in all persons that +made them:-- + +1st. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves, or foreigners, +for then their estates were confiscated for the public use. + +2nd. That they must be men who have arrived to twenty years of age, +for women and men under that age were not permitted to dispose by will +of more than one _medimn_ of barley. + +3rd. That they must not be adopted; for when adopted persons died +without issue, the estates they received by adoption returned to the +relations of the men who adopted them. + +4th. That they should have no male children of their own, for then +their estate belonged to these. If they had only daughters, the +persons to whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to marry +them. Yet men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed their children, +in case these happened to die under twenty years of age. + +5th. That they should be in their right minds, because testaments +extorted through the phrenzy of a disease, or dotage of old age, were +not in reality the wills of the persons that made them. + +6th. That they should not be under imprisonment, or other constraint, +their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to be reputed +voluntary. + +7th. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and +insinuations of a wife; for (says Plutarch) the wise lawgiver with +good reason thought that no difference was to be put between deceit +and necessity, flattery and compulsion, since both are equally +powerful to persuade a man from reason. + +Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put seals to +them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of trustees, who +were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some of the magistrates +were very often present at the making of wills. Sometimes the +_archons_ were also present. Sometimes the testator declared his will +before sufficient witnesses, without committing it to writing. Thus +Callias, fearing to be cut off by a wicked conspiracy, is said to have +made an open declaration of his will before the popular assembly at +Athens. There were several copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as +those of Aristotle, Lycon, and Theophrastus; whence it appears they +had a common form, beginning with a wish for life and health. + +The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made _vivâ voce_, +the testator declaring his will in the presence of seven witnesses; +these they called _nuncupative_ testaments; but the danger of trusting +the will of the dead to the memory of the living soon abolished these; +and all testaments were ordered to be in writing. + +The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being _inofficiosa_, +deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited or totally passed by +(without assigning a true and sufficient reason) any of the children +of the testator. But if the child had any legacy, though ever so +small, it was a proof that the testator had not lost his memory nor +his reason, which otherwise the law presumed. Hence probably (says +Blackstone) has arisen that groundless, vulgar error of the necessity +of leaving the heir a shilling, or some other express legacy, in order +to effectually disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though +the heir, or next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no _querela +inofficiosa_, to set aside such testament. + +Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express terms, +that it was just the English should be as free as their own thoughts. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE COSMOPOLITE. + +DANCING. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps +correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other +species of dancing--as + + -----------------for three long months + To _dance attendance_ for a word of audience: + +and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in pestilences, +the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the principal spirits." +The _Chorea S. Viti_, or _St. Vitus's Dance_ is another variation, +said to have once prevailed extensively, and to have been cured by a +prayer to this saint! whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It +may not be generally known that a person afflicted with this species +of dancing can _run_, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another +and a more agreeable species is to _lead the dance_, an unjust +usurpation which is practised in a thousand other places beside the +ball-room. + +According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and +nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, who +were _produced from rain_, first invented the dance to amuse the +infant Jupiter--with what success he danced we know not, for when a +year old he waged war against the Titans, and then his dancing days +must have terminated. + +A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few of its +eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, either as a +recreation or as a religious ceremony--held in contempt by some, and +in esteem by others. David danced before the ark; the daughters of +Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; and the Israelites, (good +judges) danced round the golden calf. + +The ancients had a peculiar _penchant_ for dancing, whether in person +or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all the wretched +efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. The attempts +of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the shade all the +peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and the Green Parks. +Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of _elephants_ in their time that +were taught to walk the rope, backwards and forwards, up and down, +with the agility of an Italian rope-dancer. Such was the confidence +reposed in the docility and dexterity of the animal, that a person +sat upon an elephant's back, while he walked across the theatre +upon a rope, extended from the one side to the other. Lipsius, +who has collected these testimonies, thinks them too strong to be +doubted--perhaps even stronger than the rope. Scaliger corroborates +all of them; Busbequius _saw_ an elephant dance a _pas seul_ at +Constantinople; and Suetonius tells us of twelve elephants, six male +and six female, who were clothed like men and women, and performed a +country dance, in the reign of Tiberius. In later times, horses have +been taught to dance. In the carousals of Louis XIII. there were +dances of horses; and in the 13th century, some rode a horse upon a +rope. All this eclipses the puny modern feats of Astley and Ducrow.[1] + + [1] Miraculous dancing is not, however, confined to animals; for + William of Malmesbury gravely relates an instance of 15 young + women and 18 young men who (by the anathema of a priest) continued + dancing a whole year, and wore the earth so much, that, by + degrees, they sunk midway into the earth! + +The Greeks and Romans were divided upon the propriety of dancing. +Socrates who held death in contempt, when a reverend old gentleman, +learned to dance of Aspasia, the beautiful nurse of Grecian eloquence. +The Romans forgot their loss of the republic and of liberty-- + + ------------------the air we breathe + If we have it not we die. + +in seeing Pylades and Bathyllus dance before them in their +theatres--an indifference of which we were reminded on hearing that +the Parisians sat in the _Cafés_ on the Boulevard du Italiens--sipping +coffee and sucking down ice, during the capitulation of the city, and +while the French, killed and wounded, were conveyed along the road +before them. + +Cato, _Censorius_, danced at the age of fifty-six. Cicero, however, +reproached a consul with having danced. Tiberius, that monster of +indulgences, banished dancers from Rome; and Domitian, the illustrious +fly-catcher, expelled several of his _members of parliament_ for +having danced. We are much more civilized, for such an edict as that +of Domitian would clear our senate-houses as effectually as when +Cromwell turned out the Long Parliament. + +Among the Italians and the French even there have been found enemies +to dancing. Alfieri, the poet, had a great aversion to dancing; and +one Daneau wrote a Traité des Danses, in which he maintains that +"the devil never invented a more effectual way than dancing, to fill +the world with ----." The bishop of Noyon once presided at some +deliberations respecting a minuet; and in 1770, a reverend prelate +presented a document on dancing to the king of France. The Quakers +consider dancing below the dignity of the Christian character; and an +enthusiast, of another creed, thinks all lovers of the stage belong to +the schools of Voltaire and Hume, and that dancing is a link in the +chain of seduction. Stupid, leaden-heeled people, who constantly mope +in melancholy, and neither enjoy nor impart pleasure, will naturally +be enemies to dancing; and such we are induced to think the majority +of these opponents. + +The French are inveterate dancers. They have their _bals parés_ and +their _salons de danse_ in every street; and as long as the weather +will permit, they dance on platforms out of doors, and a heavy shower +of rain will scarcely cool their ardour in the recreation. Some of +their stage _figurantes_ resemble aerial beings rather than bone and +blood, for flesh may almost be left out of the composition. But the +Italians are a nation of dancers as well as the children of song, and +they seem to have followed the noble example of old Cato, in this +respect, with better effect than they have studied his virtue. We are +also told upon good authority, that the American dancers equal any of +the European _figurantes_. + +The English people have always been lovers of dancing; and it forms +an accompaniment of almost all their old sports and pastimes. Witness +the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the grotesque +morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or military dance, and +described by Sir William Temple as composed of "ten men, who danced a +maid marian and a tabor and pipe." In the time of Henry VII. dancers +were remarkably well paid; for in some of his accounts in the +Exchequer, we find + + £. s. d. +Paid to a spye, in reward----------------- 2 0 0 +To Pechie, the fool, in rewarde----------- 0 6 8 +To Richard Beden, for writing of bokes---- 0 10 0 +_To the young dameysell that daunceth_---- 30 0 0 + +In Shakspeare's time, to _dance_ was an elegant accomplishment. Thus +in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," "What say you to young Mr. Fenton? He +capers, he _dances_, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses." Locke +thus alludes to the graceful motions which dancing lends to the human +frame: "the legs of the dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, +fall, as it were, naturally, without thought or pains, into regular +and admirable motions." + +It must be somewhat surprising to those who over-rate the +matter-of-fact character of the English people, that so great a +majority of them are attached to _dancing_. Among rank and wealth +this amusement admits of a finer display of beauty and artificial +decoration than almost any other recreation; for nothing can be more +splendid than a brilliantly illuminated and well-filled ball-room. +Dancing among the middle classes of society is equally mirthful though +not of so ostentatious a character, and it is a question whether the +latter, being free from the alloy of fashionable follies, are not more +exhilarated by sweet sounds than their wealthy superiors. But the +mushroom aristocracy and pride of purse often operate as checks to the +enjoyment of both these classes; and splendid dancing accommodations +sometimes put an end to the amusement. At Dorking, in Surrey, attached +to one of the inns is a ball-room, which cost the builder £12,000, and +here is one, or at most three balls during the year, while at scores +of places within our recollection, of less consequence, there are +monthly and even weekly balls; and we are inclined to think these +periodical recreations of great importance to the happiness of country +towns. But there is a species of intoxication sometimes arising +from them--that of dancing all night, to suffer from exhaustion and +rheumatism on the following day--an evil easy of remedy, by such +amusements being more frequent and less protracted. The influence +on the character of the people would probably be that of rendering +it more even, from the admixture or reciprocation of pleasure and +business being more proportional. This plan would get rid of much of +the ostentation and expense of a country ball, and would ultimately +prove the best antidote to the sins of scandal. + +As we have spoken of public dancing in the time of Henry VII., we will +show that the enormous sums paid to _artists_ have nourished their +conceit to an alarming height. Pitrot, the Vestris of his day, was a +consummate specimen of this effrontery. At Vienna, he chose to appear +only in the last act of the ballet. The emperor desired him to come +forth at the end of the first; Pitrot refused; the court left the +opera, and then Pitrot told the dancers they would have a hop by +themselves, which they did. However, this was forgiven; and, at his +departure, he was presented with the emperor's picture, set with +brilliants. Pitrot received it with _sang froid_, pressed his thumb +upon the crystal, crushed the picture to pieces, adding, "Thus I treat +men not worthy of my friendship." This fellow behaved equally ill +in France, Prussia, and Russia; but, at length, scouted by all his +patrons, and, after giving his thousands to opera girls, he wandered +about Calais in rags and poverty. Farinelli, after accumulating a +fortune in England, built a superb mansion in Italy, which he called +the _English Folly_.[1] + + [1] Here is a card "extraordinary" of one of our humble English + dancing-masters:--"As Dancing is the poetry of motion, those who + wish to sail through the mazes of harmony, or to 'trip it on the + light fantastic toe,' will find an able guide in John Wilde, who + was formed by nature for a dancing-master.--N.B. Those who have + been taught to dance with _a couple of left legs_, had better + apply in time, as he effectually cures all bad habits of the + kind." + +The oddity of some ideas of dancing is really ludicrous. The +Cambro-Britains, in a very late period, used to be played out of +church by a fiddle, and to form a dance in the church-yard at the +end of the service. But the ideas which the Chinese have of dancing +exceeds all others. When Commodore Anson was at Canton, the officers +of the _Centurion_ had a ball upon some court holiday: while they were +dancing, a Chinese, who very quietly surveyed the operation, said, +softly, to one of the party, "Why don't you let your servants do this +for you?" + + * * * * * + + + +FINE ARTS. + +SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION. + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + + +I beg to present you with a brief notice of the School of Painting at +the British Institution, Pall Mall; you may rely upon its correctness, +as I have been extremely cautious in making my notes, and in +ascertaining every particular relative to the subject. + +The students at this excellent institution have, for several weeks, +been arduously engaged in copying the fine pictures which were +entrusted to the directors by his majesty, and the nobility, for that +purpose. In general, the students have been very successful, and +deserve much praise; I must, however, in my prescribed limits, only +mention a few. + +Vandyke's _Duchess de St. Croix_ has been cleverly copied by Mr. Boden +and Mr. Faulkner; the latter gentleman has well imitated the color and +the beautiful finish of the original. Messrs. Frisk, Child, Howell +and M'Call have likewise made clever copies of this _chef d'oeuvre_ +of art. Many bold efforts have been made to copy Hobbima's large +_Landscape_; Mr. Laporte's is the most complete, though not quite +spirited enough in the handling. _The Spanish Gentleman_, by +Velasquez, has engaged the pencils of numerous artists, though they +have not all been so successful as could have been wished; Messrs. +Inskipp, Frisk, Morton and Child have produced the best _fac similes_. +The _Lime Kiln_, by the younger Teniers, has been carefully studied +by Mr. Gill, &c.; and Messrs. M'Call and Morton, have executed the +finest studies from _Innocent X._, by Velasquez. _The Embarkation_, +by Claude, is extremely well imitated in Mr. Cartwright's copy; and +the _Virgin and Child_, which is one of Julio Romano's best works, +has met with due attention from Mr. Farrier, and others. Mr. Novice +has executed the only copy from DeHooge's fine picture--_A Dutch +Family preparing for a Walk_; and Messrs. Foster and Earl display +considerable talent in their copies from the _Landscape and Cattle_, +by Cuyp. Other admirable works by Guido, Rubens, Bassan, Ruysdael, +Vanderneer, and Canaletta, have met with a host of imitators, from +whose talents we may anticipate, at no distant period, pictorial +excellency of the first order. I should discover a want of gallantry, +and, indeed, be most unjust, were I not to say that the ladies, in +nearly all their undertakings, have exerted their utmost to excel; +those especially, who have executed copies in water colours deserve +the highest recommendation. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY. + +THAXTED HIGHWAYMEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +The following incident led to the breaking up and dispersion of a gang +of desperate highwaymen, denominated the Thaxted gang, who about sixty +years ago used to infest the roads in the neighbourhood of Dunmow, +Thaxted, and the adjacent towns and villages:-- + +An opulent farmer of Thaxted, being one day at Dunmow market, received +a considerable sum of money, the produce of grain and other marketable +articles, which he had that day disposed of; and going to the inn +where he had left his horse, he ordered it to be saddled directly +for the purpose of returning home. In those times every tradesman, +salesman and a greater part of the publicans and innkeepers knew what +money each other received on a market day. The innkeeper at whose +house the farmer was in the habit of putting up at, said to him, "Why +you are not going home to-night, are you, with all that money about +you? You will stand a chance of getting a knock on the head."--"Let +them knock away," answered the farmer. "I have never yet been robbed, +nor do I think it likely I shall be to-night; so, Robert, get my horse +ready," calling to the hostler. "Well, but have you any weapons of +defence?" inquired the publican.--"No, nor none I want," responded the +farmer. The innkeeper pressed him to take a pair of holster pistols; +saying, "he might find them handy;" and after a great deal of +persuasion, he agreed to take _one_, the publican first loading and +charging it with ball. The farmer put the pistol in his great coat +pocket, and was on the point of departure when he recollected that he +had to get a pound of tea at a grocer's shop in the town, a few doors +from the inn. He instantly ran to the shop for the tea, and while the +grocer was serving him he made the same remark as the innkeeper had +done respecting his going home with so considerable a sum as he knew +the farmer had about him. The farmer made answer, "I am going home +to-night, but our friend the publican, has lent me a pistol; and if +any one interrupts me, I intend to blow his brains out."--"Do you +know," said the grocer, "I do not like that fellow. Will you let me +look at the pistol if you have it with you."--"O yes, look at it if +you like. I never fired a pistol in my life; however, should I be +stopped, I think I could manage it." The grocer took the pistol; drew +the charge; and found, to the great surprise of the farmer, it was +only loaded with horse-dung, and a large bullet at the top. "I thought +he was a rascal, and this confirms it." said the grocer. "Here is +evidently a plot; now leave your money with me; we will load this +pistol properly, and you can, if you like, proceed on your journey: +it may be the means of detecting some one." + +The farmer left his money in the hands of the grocer; went back to the +inn; mounted his horse, and rode off on his journey. About a mile +from Dunmow, he was stopped by a fellow, well mounted, who instantly +demanded his money. "I have not got any," replied the farmer, "but I +have a pistol, with which, if you do not instantly allow me to pass on +my way home, I will blow your brains out." "You have got money--and as +to the pistol, you may blow away--blow away, my fine fellow," said the +chuckling highwayman. The farmer instantly fired, and his assailant +fell off his horse to the ground with a groan. The farmer galloped +back to the inn, and inquired of the hostler where his master was. +"He has been gone out, on horseback, about a quarter of an hour," +the hostler replied. "Well, I will tell you what," said the farmer, +"you may find your master, with his brains blown out, in the road," +describing the place where he had had the encounter with the +innkeeper. + +From this time a number of persons resident in and about Thaxted and +Dunmow, left their places of abode, which circumstance created some +surprise among the remaining inhabitants; but it was afterwards +ascertained they formed the desperate gang that had so long and +successfully robbed, and sometimes murdered, their unsuspecting +neighbours and the different travellers who had occasion to pass the +roads on which these marauders were stationed. + +J.W.B. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. + +The village of Gotham, about seven miles from Nottingham, has been +rendered noted by the common proverb of "The Wise Men of Gotham." +It is observable that a custom has prevailed among many nations of +stigmatizing the inhabitants of some particular spot as remarkable for +stupidity. This opprobrious district among the Asiatics was Phrygia. +Among the Thracians, Abdera; among the Greeks, Boeotia; in England +it is Gotham. Of the Gothamites ironically called _The Wise Men of +Gotham_, many ridiculous stories are traditionally told, particularly, +that often having heard the cuckoo but never seen her, they hedged in +a bush from whence her note seemed to proceed, so that being confined +within so small a compass, they might at length satisfy their +curiosity; and at a place called Court Hill, in this parish, is a bush +called Cuckoo Bush. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + +MALLARD NIGHT. + +At All Souls' College, Oxford, the _Mallard Night_ is celebrated +annually on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a very singular +circumstance, viz. the discovery of a live and excessively large +mallard, or drake, supposed to have long ranged in a drain or sewer +of considerable depth. The only probable conjecture respecting its +extraordinary situation was, that it had fallen when young through the +bars or grating at the entrance of the drain, (which was of sufficient +width to receive it if very young,) but was found at a great distance +from it, on digging for the foundation of the college, (A.D. 1437.) A +very humorous account of this event was published some years ago by +Dr. Buckler, subwarden, from a manuscript of Thomas Walsingham, the +historian, and monk of St. Alban's. It is the cause of much mirth, for +on the day, and in remembrance of the mallard, many an old and merry +song is sung. + +E.T.S. + + * * * * * + +WELSH MARRIAGES. + +It appears to me a matter of no small surprise that so economical +a people as the English should not have adopted such a plan as the +following by the lower classes of the Welsh. When a young couple +intend offering themselves at the Temple of Hymen, if they are very +poor, they generally send a man, called the bidder, round to their +acquaintance and friends, who invites them, sometimes in rhyme, to +the wedding; but if they can afford it, they issue circulars. The +following is a copy of one:-- + +"_June 27, 1827._ + +"As we intend to enter the matrimonial state on Thursday, the 19th day +of July next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a bidding on +the occasion, the same day, at the Butchers' Arms, Carmarthen, when +and where the favour of your good and agreeable company is humbly +solicited; and whatever donation you may be pleased to confer on us +then, will be thankfully received, warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully +repaid whenever called for on a similar occasion. + +"By your most obedient servants, + +"JOHN JONES. + +"MARY EVANS." + +The persons so invited (if they accept the invitation) generally form +part of the procession to church, and are preceded by a harper or +fiddler. After the nuptial knot is tied, they veer their course to +the public-house mentioned in the bills, where they partake, not of a +sumptuous banquet, but of the simple, though not the worst, fare of +bread and cheese and kisses, at the expense of the new married folks. +After this, a large plate is placed on the table in the room, and they +proceed to receive the money which each person may be disposed to +give, whilst one keeps account of the sum and names. They frequently +receive 50_l._, and sometimes, though seldom, 100_l._; and they have +the privilege (by paying the duty) of selling the ale to the persons +assembled. It is to be observed, that the money so deposited cannot be +reclaimed by the persons who gave it until a similar occasion presents +itself in their family. By this means the new married couple are +enabled to procure furniture, and other things requisite for them. + +W.H. + + * * * * * + +CURIOUS FOUNDATION. + +At Spinney, in Cambridgeshire, was an abbey founded in the reign of +Henry III. near which was a church, built by Lady Mary Bassingburne, +and given to the Abbey of Spinney, on condition that the monks should +support seven aged men with the following allowance, viz. one farthing +loaf, one herring, and one pennyworth of ale per day, and two hundred +dry turves, one pair of shoes, one woollen garment, and three ells of +linen every year. Henry Cromwell, second son of Oliver Cromwell, is +buried here. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, + +AND + +LITERARY NOTICES OF + +_NEW WORKS_ + + * * * * * + + +ADVENTURES OF ALLAN-A-SOP. + +_By Sir Walter Scott, Bart._ + +The chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart, in the Isle of Mull, had an +intrigue with a beautiful young woman of his own clan, who bore a son +to him. In consequence of the child's being, by some accident, born in +a barn, he received the name of Allan-a-Sop, or Allan of the Straw, by +which he was distinguished from others of his clan. As his father and +mother were not married, Allan was of course a bastard or natural son, +and had no inheritance to look for, save that which he might win for +himself. + +But the beauty of the boy's mother having captivated a man of rank in +the clan, called MacLean of Torloisk, he married her, and took her +to reside with him at his castle of Torloisk, situated on the shores +of the Sound, or small strait of the sea, which divides the smaller +island of Ulva from that of Mull. Allan-a-Sop paid his mother frequent +visits at her new residence, and she was naturally glad to see the +poor boy, both from affection, and on account of his personal strength +and beauty, which distinguished him above other youths of his age. But +she was obliged to confer marks of her attachment on him as privately +as she could, for Allan's visits were by no means so acceptable to +her husband as to herself. Indeed, Torloisk liked so little to see +the lad, that he determined to put some affront on him, which should +prevent his returning to the castle for some time. An opportunity for +executing his purpose soon occurred. + +The lady one morning, looking from the window, saw her son coming +wandering down the hill, and hastened to put a girdle cake upon +the fire, that he might have hot bread to his breakfast. Something +called her out of the apartment after making this preparation, and +her husband entering at the same time, saw at once what she had been +about, and determined to give the boy such a reception as should +disgust him for the future. He snatched the cake from the girdle, +thrust it into his step-son's hands, which he forcibly closed on the +scalding bread, saying, "Here, Allan--here is a cake which your mother +has got ready for your breakfast." Allan's hands were severely burnt; +and, being a sharp-witted and proud boy, he resented this mark of his +step-father's ill-will, and came not again to Torloisk. + +At this time the western seas were covered with the vessels of +pirates, who, not unlike the sea-kings of Denmark at an early period, +sometimes settled and made conquests on the islands. Allan-a-Sop was +young, strong, and brave to desperation. He entered as a mariner on +board of one of these ships, and in process of time obtained the +command, first of one galley, then of a small flotilla, with which he +sailed round the seas and collected considerable plunder, until his +name became both feared and famous. At length he proposed to himself +to pay a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for many years; and +setting sail for this purpose, he anchored one morning in the Sound of +Ulva, and in front of the house of Torloisk. His mother was dead, but +his stepfather, to whom he was now an object of fear as he had been +formerly of aversion, hastened to the shore to receive his formidable +son-in-law, with great affectation of kindness and interest in his +prosperity; while Allan-a-Sop, who, though very rough and hasty, does +not appear to have been sullen or vindictive, seemed to take his kind +reception in good part. + +The crafty old man succeeded so well, as he thought, in securing +Allan's friendship, and in obliterating all recollections of the +former affront put on him, that he began to think it possible to +employ him in executing his private revenge upon MacKinnon of Ulva, +with whom, as was usual between such neighbours, he had some feud. +With this purpose, he offered what he called the following good advice +to his son-in-law:--"My dear Allan, you have now wandered over the +seas long enough; it is time you should have some footing upon land, +a castle to protect yourself in winter, a village and cattle for your +men, and a harbour to lay up your galleys. Now, here is the island +of Ulva, near at hand, which lies ready for your occupation, and it +will cost you no trouble, save that of putting to death the present +proprietor, the Laird of MacKinnon, a useless old carle, who has +cumbered the world long enough." + +Allan-a-Sop thanked his stepfather for so happy a suggestion, which +he declared he would put in execution forthwith. Accordingly, setting +sail the next morning, he appeared before MacKinnon's house an hour +before noon. The old chief of Ulva was much alarmed at the menacing +apparition of so many galleys, and his anxiety was not lessened by the +news, that they were commanded by the redoubted Allan-a-Sop. Having +no effectual means of resistance, MacKinnon, who was a man of shrewd +sense, saw no alternative save that of receiving the invaders, +whatever might be their purpose, with all outward demonstrations of +joy and satisfaction. He caused immediate preparations to be made for +a banquet as splendid as circumstances admitted, hastened down to +the shore to meet the rover, and welcomed him to Ulva with such an +appearance of sincerity, that the pirate found it impossible to pick +any quarrel which might afford a pretence for executing the violent +purpose which he had been led to meditate. + +They feasted together the whole day; and in the evening, as +Allan-a-Sop was about to retire to his ships, he thanked the Laird +of MacKinnon for his entertainment, but remarked, with a sigh, that +it had cost him very dear. "How can that be" said MacKinnon, "when I +bestowed this entertainment upon you in free good-will?"--"It is true, +my friend," replied the pirate, "but then it has quite disconcerted +the purpose for which I came hither; which was to put you to death, +my good friend, and seize upon your house and island, and so settle +myself in the world. It would have been very convenient, this island, +but your friendly reception has rendered it impossible for me to +execute my purpose; so that I must be a wanderer on the seas for some +time longer." Whatever MacKinnon felt at hearing that he had been so +near to destruction, he took care to show no emotion save surprise, +and replied to his visiter,--"My dear Allan, who was it that put into +your mind so unkind a purpose towards your old friend; for I am sure +it never arose from your own generous nature? It must have been your +father-in-law, old Torloisk, who made such an indifferent husband to +your mother, and such an unfriendly stepfather to you when you were a +helpless boy; but now, when he sees you a bold and powerful leader, he +desires to make a quarrel betwixt you and those who were the friends +of your youth. If you consider this matter rightly, Allan, you will +see that the estate and harbour of Torloisk lie as conveniently for +you as those of Ulva, and that, if you are to make a settlement by +force, it is much better it should be at the expense of the old churl, +who never showed you kindness or countenance, than at that of a friend +like me, who always loved and honoured you." + +Allan-a-Sop was struck with the justice of this reasoning; and the old +offence of his scalded fingers was suddenly recalled to his mind. "It +is very true what you say, MacKinnon," he replied, "and, besides, I +have not forgotten what a hot breakfast my father-in-law treated me to +one morning. Farewell for the present; you shall soon hear news of me +from the other side of the Sound." Having said thus much, the pirate +got on board, and commanding his men to unmoor the galleys, sailed +back to Torloisk, and prepared to land in arms. His father-in-law +hastened to meet him, in expectation to hear of the death of his +enemy, MacKinnon. But Allan greeted him in a very different manner +from what he expected. "You hoary old traitor," he said, "you +instigated my simple good-nature to murder a better man than yourself. +But have you forgotten how you scorched my fingers twenty years +ago, with a burning cake? The day is come that that breakfast must +be paid for." So saying, he dashed out his father-in-law's brains +with a battle-axe, took possession of his castle and property, +and established there a distinguished branch of the clan of +MacLean.--_Tales of a Grandfather--Second Series._ + + * * * * * + + + +ADVANTAGES OF A GOOD HEART, + +_A Fragment from the "Disowned," by the author of "Pelham."_ + + +"The next day, Sir Christopher Findlater called on Clarence. 'Let us +lounge into the park,' said he. 'With pleasure,' replied Clarence; +and into the park they lounged. By the way they met a crowd, who +were hurrying a man to prison. The good-hearted Sir Christopher +stopped--'Who is that poor fellow?' said he. 'It is the +celebrated'--(in England all criminals are celebrated. Thurtell was +a hero, Thistlewood a patriot, and Fauntleroy was discovered to be +exactly like Bonaparte)--'it is the celebrated robber, John Jefferies, +who broke into Mrs. Wilson's house, and cut the throats of herself and +her husband, wounded the maid-servant, and split the child's skull +with the poker.' * * * 'John Jefferies!' exclaimed the baronet, 'let +us come away.' 'Linden,' continued Sir Christopher, 'that fellow was +my servant once. He robbed me to some considerable extent. I caught +him. He appealed to my heart, and you know, my dear fellow, that was +irresistible, so I let him off. Who could have thought he would have +turned out so?' And the baronet proceeded to eulogize his own good +nature, by which it is just necessary to remark, that one miscreant +had been saved for a few years from transportation in order to rob and +murder _ad libitum_, and having fulfilled the office of a common pest, +to suffer on the gallows at last. What a fine thing it is to have a +good heart! Both our gentlemen now sunk into a reverie, from which +they were awakened, at the entrance of the park, by a young man in +rags, who, with a piteous tone, supplicated charity. Clarence, who to +his honour be it spoken, spent an allotted and considerable part of +his income in judicious and laborious benevolence, had read a little +of political morals, then beginning to be understood, and walked on. +The good-hearted baronet put his hand in his pocket, and gave the +beggar half-a-guinea, by which a young, strong man, who had only just +commenced the trade, was confirmed in his imposition for the rest of +his life; and instead of the useful support, became the pernicious +incumbrance of society. Sir Christopher had now recovered his spirits. +'What's like a good action?' said he to Clarence, with a swelling +breast. The park was crowded to excess; our loungers were joined by +Lord St. George. His lordship was a staunch Tory. He could not endure +Wilkes, liberty, or general education. He launched out against the +enlightenment of domestics. 'What has made you so bitter?' said Sir +Christopher. 'My valet!' cried Lord St. George; 'he has invented a new +toasting-fork; is going to take out a patent, make his fortune, _and +leave me_; that's what I call ingratitude, Sir Christopher; for I +ordered his wages to be raised five pounds but last year.' 'It _was_ +very ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated +the good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet, +Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow, +who can neither read nor write?' 'N--o--o--that is to say, yes! I can; +my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and is as ignorant as--as--' +'I--or you are,' said Lord St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,' +replied the baronet. 'Well, then, I take your recommendation: send +him to me to-morrow at twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My +dear Findlater,' cried Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did +you not tell me some time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and +closely _lie_ with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St. +George!' 'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue, +to be sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his +eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a character; +so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the truth,' +observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take him!' +rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible _naiveté_. +'No, no, Linden, we must not be so hard-hearted; we must forgive and +forget;' and so saying, the baronet threw out his chest, with the +conscious exultation of a man who has uttered a noble sentiment. The +moral of this little history is, that Lord St. George, having been +pillaged 'through thick and thin,' as the proverb has it, for two +years, at last missed a gold watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his +career, as his exemplary tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had done before +him. Ah! what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return, +just as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady +Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself to +his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in saying the +prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, at least in his +eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much mischief as a good +heart well can do in a walk of an hour, returned home to write a long +letter to his mother, against 'learning and all such nonsense, which +only served to blunt the affections and harden the heart.' 'Admirable +young man!' cried the mother, with tears in her eyes; 'a good heart is +better than all the heads in the world.' Amen!" + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + +QUADRANGLE OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. + + +In the last _New Monthly Magazine_ is an excellent account of this +splendid structure, in _A Day at Cambridge_,--in which occurs the +following exquisite little descriptive gem:-- + +With the exception of a gravel walk, running near to the buildings on +every side, the whole ground-plot of this quadrangle is covered by an +unbroken turf, kept, by means of constant and almost hourly attention, +in that exquisite order which is only to be observed in spots devoted +to similar purposes, here and at Oxford. The effect of an unbroken +plot of turf of this kind and quality, and in a situation like this, +is perfectly unique, and perhaps indescribable. It is supposed to be, +and in fact is, for all purposes of preservation and beauty, sacred +from the foot of man or beast; and the feeling arising from this +circumstance, added to the exquisite natural adaptation of the object +itself to the purposes of rest and relief from the almost dazzling +architectural splendour of the surrounding objects, is such as cannot +be communicated by any other means whatever, and we might in vain +attempt to describe. It is of such a kind, however, that those who +are capable of experiencing it, would as soon think of treading upon +the object that conveys it to them, as those who honour Nature would +think of rooting up a nest of violets. Speaking for ourselves alone, +there is but one thing that can disturb and deteriorate the absolute +tranquillity of mind, and peace of heart, which fall upon us, like +dew from heaven, on entering a place like that we have attempted to +describe above; it is, to see a capped and gowned Fellow, profaning +with his footsteps the floor of that, in some sort, sacred temple, +merely because he can, by so doing, reach his habitation by a few +footsteps less than if he kept to the path allotted for him. We look +upon the act as a species of impiety; to say nothing of its proving, +to a demonstration, that the person who commits it is either utterly +insensible to the mysterious harmony that subsists between a certain +class of natural objects and the heart of man; or utterly disregards +that harmony, and sets it at naught. He is, in fact, one of whom it +may in one sense be said, that + + "He hath no music in his soul." + +And we are almost tempted to complete the quotation, by adding-- + + "Let no such man be trusted!" + + * * * * * + + + +A RUSTIC PAIR. + +_By Miss Mitford_. + +Few damsels of twelve years old, generally a very pretty age, were +less pretty that Hannah Bint. Short and stunted in her figure, thin +in face, sharp in feature, with a muddled complexion, wild sun-burnt +hair, and eyes, whose very brightness had in them something startling, +over-informed, super-subtle, too clever for her age. At twelve years +old she had quite the air of a little old fairy. Now, at seventeen, +matters are mended. Her complexion has cleared; her countenance, her +figure, has shot up into height and brightness, and a sort of rustic +grace; her bright, acute eye is softened and sweetened by the womanly +wish to please; her hair is trimmed, and curled, and brushed with +exquisite neatness; and her whole dress arranged with that nice +attention to the becoming, the suitable both in form and texture, +which would be called the highest degree of coquetry, if it +did not deserve the better name of propriety. Never was such a +transmogrification beheld. The lass is really pretty, and Ned Miles +has discovered that she is so. There he stands, the rogue, close at +her aide, (for he hath joined her whilst we have been telling her +little story, and the milking is over!)--there he stands--holding her +milk-pail in one hand, and stroking Watch with the other; whilst she +is returning the compliment, by patting Neptune's magnificent head. +There they stand, as much like lovers as may be; he smiling, and she +blushing--he never looking so handsome, nor she so pretty, in all +their lives. There they stand, in blessed forgetfulness of all except +each other--as happy a couple as ever trod the earth. There they +stand, and one would not disturb them for all the milk and butter in +Christendom. I should not wonder if they were fixing the wedding-day. + + * * * * * + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A R*T. + +_(Concluded from page 365.)_ + + +Finding a detachment just setting out to join the Grand Allied Army, I +thought, as a true Briton, I could do no less than accompany it, and +prevailed upon all our party to do the same. + +The detachment with which I marched, consisted of 80,000. As we had +little baggage, having crossed the Rhine, we proceeded rapidly through +a dull, uninteresting country. + +The town of Coblentz is situated at the junction of the Rhine +and the Moselle. Here the majestic Rhine gently flows along in +all its grandeur, separating the town from the noble fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein.[1] I crossed over the bridge of boats, and made +a most minute inspection of this very romantic castle, which gave +me great pleasure indeed. In a few days I availed myself of a +passage-boat which was going to Mayence, and was quite enraptured with +the view on all sides. Rhenish wines, and perhaps also the water, +I found did not well agree with my stomach; and no inconsiderable +annoyance, I soon experienced. They seemed, however, to have exactly +the same effect upon every Englishman I saw, so I was not singular. A +little brandy soon, however, put me all to rights; and by the time I +reached Strasbourg, I was perfectly well again, and able to do ample +justice to her Splendid Pies! I attended high mass in the great +Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was surprised and pleased at the sight +of 10,000 soldiers, in review order, drawn up within its walls. It +was tiresome enough work mounting to the top of the spire, (which +I ascertained, by the steps I took, to be exactly 490 feet high, +Strasbourg measure; and this is exactly eight feet higher than St. +Peter's at Rome), but I made it out, notwithstanding the sulky looks +of the jackanapes who lives at the top. Nothing can surpass the beauty +of the view from this cathedral. At your feet you have the ancient +town, with all its regular fortifications and outworks--the majestic +Rhine, with its bridge of boats, and ruined Gothic bridge, sublime in +its decay--and as far as the eye can reach you have an exceedingly +rich country, everywhere speckled with towns, and fertilized by +luxuriant streams. + + [1] Apropos--our _Supplement_ contains a fine Engraving of this + very spot. + +I made a point of visiting my venerable friend, the old Comte de +Strasbourg, who, unchanged in the rolling on of centuries, lies in his +glass coffin, to all appearance in the same freshness of health and +vigour in which, when myself a very young man, I saw him many hundred +years ago;[1] his countess, his son, and his daughter, keep him +company, each in their separate place of repose. Alas, alas! the sight +made me weep. + + [1] The venerable count died about the year 1519. The glass + coffins are still shown. + +A few days afterwards, I was rather unexpectedly stopped in my tour. +For a night I had taken up my residence in the carriage of a young +Englishman, who that day arrived from Rome, the hostler having assured +me that he would remain for some time. I did so, as I found it much +quieter and cooler than the hotel "La ville de Lyon," which was +overcrowded. In the morning, I thought my friends were merely going a +short drive, so I kept my seat. We, however, travelled on till night, +when I heard we were bound for London; but as my companions were very +agreeable, I thought I might as well accompany them the whole way. +They seemed to be annoyed at every posthouse with their passports, +&c.; I was never even asked about the matter. The custom-house gentry, +in their searches, to be sure, occasionally gave me a little trouble, +but I was soon up to their tricks. We had an avant-courier constantly +galloping before us, and we travelled with such expedition that we +reached London in five days; for my fellow-travellers were idle young +men of fortune, who are of course always in the greatest hurry for the +end of a journey, because they don't know what to make of themselves +when it is over. + +I had not then an opportunity of seeing Paris, as we only changed +horses in it. I have since, however, spent many months there, and have +always been very much pleased with every thing I saw, particularly the +Catacombs, which were my favourite lounge. When last in Paris, I made +a narrow escape with my life, as I tumbled headlong into a cask of +brandy. I, however, managed to scramble out, with the assistance of a +bit of cord, which happened to be hanging over its side, and which my +friend pushed in to me. I was little the worse of my ducking; for, as +soon as I got out, I was set a-laughing by his telling me how to spell +_brandy_, in both French and English, in three letters, viz. "B.R. and +Y." and "O.D.V." + +In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, and was +certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, however, +that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, and all the +eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in comparison of +what I saw and tasted at the East India and London Docks. When I +was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to me, that he had +heard an act read, offering a reward of 10,000_l._ for a _male_ +tortoise-shell cat. This I believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for +such a thing was never heard of. And it is certainly as much worth +their while as making an act that I should never have more than six +dishes of meat at my dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen +above twenty shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it +particularly, and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however, +one restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the +present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still in +force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of their +acts of Parliament are silly enough--as they must be; for they don't +like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is necessary to be always +enacting something. + +It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the great +city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest friend on +earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in rather an +unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would expose herself +to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all respect for her, +and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, poor fellows, they have +a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull certainly gives himself many +airs, to say the least of it. After receiving the greatest kindness +and hospitality from you in Scotland, and perhaps staying for months +in your house, he will cut you dead in London. I remember once meeting +with such a return, but took it, of course, very coolly. Next day, +when I was arm in arm with ---- ----, I happened again to meet my +quondam friend, who immediately rushed up to me--I, however, turned +on my tail, and did not know him.--Fashion is an odd thing after all. +It is not rank which will do. I have seen many a spendthrift young +commoner cut his uncle the duke; and being a duchess by no means +will ensure admittance at Almack's.--I thank my stars, I am not +fashionable, and am always happy to see my friends! + +I was persuaded, soon after reaching London, to go down to Essex for +a few days, to pay a visit to an old friend. When I arrived at his +house, which I think they called Waltham Abbey, I was sorry to receive +the melancholy accounts that he had been devoured, and that, if I did +not instantly take myself off, I should be dealt with in the same +manner. The truth was, that a famine had arisen; and it is well known, +on those occasions, as necessity has no law, that the stronger kills +the weaker. Day after day the combat is renewed, till at last all +except one are destroyed, and he is then obliged to decamp, or eat +himself up, as he likes best. It is in this way that castles, houses, +&c. which have been long infested by us, are so suddenly entirely +freed from our presence. + +I amused myself in making an excursion to Epping Forest, till I +thought the civil war at my late friend's habitation might have +proceeded far enough for my presence to be useful. In the forest, +one day, I had the luck to kill one of those troublesome reptiles--a +Tom Cat. I believe, however, it was a house one. After a hard day's +hunting his highness made too free at a Valerian party. I watched my +opportunity, and soon put an effectual end to his caterwauling. When +I returned to the abbey, I found I was in the best possible time--the +garrison being reduced to about a dozen, and they so weakened and +tired out with the constant worrying work they had had, that I was +myself a complete match for any two of them. In a few days the number +was only four, and in other two days I was sole lord and master. + +[He then returns to town.] + +At a friend's house, in Berkeley Square, where I met a distinguished +party, a scene took place, just such as Pope describes-- + + Our courtier walks from dish to dish; + Tastes, for his friend, of fowl and fish: + "That jelly's rich, that malmsey's healing, + Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in." + Was ever such a happy swain? + He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again. + "I'm quite ashamed--'Tis mighty rude + To eat so much; but all's so good! + I have a thousand thanks to give, + My lord alone knows how to live."-- + No sooner said, but from the hall + Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all: + "A r--t, a r--t! clap to the door!"-- + +I, however, made good my exit, and was nothing the worse of a +practical warning to be more cautious in future. + +It would be endless for me to describe all my after voyages and +travels. Suffice it to say, I have been both east and west, north +and south; and there is scarcely a part of the habitable globe which +I have not visited. After all, I have come to this conclusion, that +there is no country like Britain. Oh! how I could wish my human +existence had been in such happy times and under such glorious +sovereigns as a George the Third, and George the Fourth!!! + +For some years I have remained in this country, enjoying (like a +patriarch of old) a quiet, regular life with my family, which now +amounts to above 2,000. I, however, keep very much to my own room, +as I hate bustle, and like to enjoy my own reflections. + +The age to which our species can exist is not ascertained, as never +one of us was known to die in his bed, at least a natural death. A +kind of instinct I have always had, has as yet saved me from arsenic, +stewed corks, traps, stamps, &c.; and my great strength, and a +good deal of science, which is of more consequence, have, as yet, +preserved me in many a deadly combat, both with my own species, and +with the dog, the ferret, the weasel, the hawk, and that green-eyed +monster--the cat. But I am now getting somewhat stiffer, and am not +so sharp as I was. I am not-- + + "--qualis eram, quum primam aciem Præneste sub ipsa + Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos; + Et regem hâc Herilum dextrâ sub Tartara misi!!" + +And in some evil hour my time must come. + +--I am well aware, indeed, of the fleeting existence even of this +world itself, for I studied astronomy with the celebrated M. Olbers +of Bremen, and assisted him in making many useful observations and +discoveries, particularly regarding comets, in the course of which +we came to this melancholy conclusion, that the comet which was +afterwards visible in 1786 and 1795, will, in 83,000 years, approach +the earth as nearly as the moon; and that in 4,000,000 years it +will come to within a distance of 7,700 geographical miles;--the +consequence of which will be (if its attraction be equal to that of +the earth) the elevation of the waters of the ocean 13,000 feet; that +is to say, above the tops of all the European mountains, except Mount +Blanc. The inhabitants of the Andes and of the Himalaya mountains +alone will escape this second deluge; but they will not benefit by +their good fortune more than 216,000,000 years, for it is probable, +that at the expiration of that time, our globe standing right in the +way of the comet, will receive a shock severe enough to ensure its +utter destruction!!! + +_Note._--After reading over the above MS., I am inclined to come to +this conclusion--that our historian, while in a human form, must have +been a Scottish nobleman--that he probably was born about the year +1501--and that he lived to about the age of 89.--_Ed._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE FANCY BALL. + + + "A visor for a visor! what care I + What curious eye doth quote deformities!" + SHAKSPEARE. + + "You used to talk," said Miss Mac Call, + "Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid; + But now you never talk at all. + You're getting vastly stupid. + You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir, + You never will get through it; + There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester-- + Do let us take you to it." + + I made that night a solemn vow, + To startle all beholders: + I wore white muslin on my brow, + Green velvet on my shoulders-- + My trousers were supremely wide, + I learn'd to swear "by Allah"-- + I stuck a poniard by my side, + And called myself "Abdallah." + + Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair, + Made up of silks and leathers, + Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair, + Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers: + The dullest Duke in all the town, + To-night may shine a droll one-- + And rakes, who have not half-a-crown, + Look royal with a whole one. + + Hail, blest Confusion! here are met + All tongues, and times, and faces, + The Lancers flirt with Juliet, + The Bramin talks of races; + And where's your genius, bright Corinne? + And where your brogue, Sir Lucius? + And Chinca Ti, you have not seen + One chapter of Confucius. + + Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt + With beauties from the Wrekin-- + And belles from Berne look very pert + On Mandarins from Pekin; + The Cardinal is here from Rome, + The Commandant from Seville-- + And Hamlet's father from the tomb, + And Faustus from the Devil. + + What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray, + What mean they, Nun or Fairy: + I guess they told no beads to-day, + And sang no Ave Mary. + From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix, + Barred door, and window grated, + I wish all pretty Catholics + Were thus emancipated. + + Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles, + With four well-seasoned sailors-- + And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills, + With Timon, prince of railers. + I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park + Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca-- + And I run away from Joan of Arc, + To romp with sad Rebecca. + + Fair Cleopatra's very plain, + Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers-- + And Cæsar's murder'd o'er again, + Though not by Roman daggers. + Great Charlemagne is four feet high-- + Sad Stuff has Bacon spoken-- + Queen Mary's waist is all awry, + And Psyche's nose is broken. + + Our happiest bride, how very odd! + Is the mourning Isabella, + And the heaviest foot that ever trod + Is the foot of Cinderella. + Here sad Calista laughs outright, + There Yorick looks most grave, Sir, + And a Templar waves the cross to-night, + Who never cross'd the wave, Sir. + + And what a Babel is the talk! + "The Giraffe"--"plays the fiddle"-- + "Macadam's roads"--"I hate this chalk"-- + "Sweet girl"--"a charming riddle"-- + "I'm nearly drunk with"--"Epsom salts"-- + "Yes, separate beds"--"such cronies!"-- + "Good heaven! who taught that man to valtz?"-- + "A pair of Shetland ponies." + + "Lord D----" "an enchanting shape"-- + "Will move for"--"Maraschino" + "Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?"-- + "He died at Navarino!" + "The gout, by Jove, is"--"apple pie"-- + "Don Miguel"--"Tom the tinker"-- + "His Lordship's pedigree's as high + As ----" "Whipcord, dam by Clinker." + + "Love's shafts are weak"--"my chestnut kicks"-- + "Heart broken;"--"broke the traces"-- + "What say you now of politics?"-- + "Change sides and to your places"-- + "A five-barred gate"--"a precious pearl" + "Grave things may all be punn'd on!"-- + "The Whigs, thank God, are"--"out of curl!"-- + "Her age is"--"four by London!" + + Thus run the giddy hours away, + Till morning's light is beaming, + And we must go to dream by day + All we to-night are dreaming; + To smile and sigh, to love and change-- + Oh! in our heart's recesses, + We dress in fancies quite as strange + As these our fancy-dresses. + +_New Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles + SHAKSPEARE. + + Tho' lang an lonely be the road + Between me an my dearie; + Yet I the gate hae aften troad, + When I've been tired and wearie. + + Be't stormin rain, hail, win or snaw-- + A lonely road and drearie-- + There's nought wad e'er keep me awa + Frae gaun to see my dearie!!! + +M. + + * * * * * + + +FRENCH BALL CONVERSATION. + +During the French revolution, parties danced as gaily as ever; the +following is a ball conversation, which took place in the month of +Frimare, year 7.:--Well, the Ottoman Porte has declared war against +us! Oh yes, there is no doubt of it, (_En avant deux_) It is an enemy +the more--(_chassez_) and the Russian fleet they say has passed the +Dardanelles, (_en avant quatre_) yet the papers say that the emperor +sincerely desires peace.--Yes, but Count Metternich wishes for war, +(_balancez_) so we have also a new coalition against us. England, +Portugal, Naples, Turkey, the Emperor, Russia, perhaps the empire +of Prussia, (_Faites face et chassez tous les huit_)--well we have +bayonettes, (_la poussette_) besides it is not so far from Dover to +Calais, (_traversez_)--Do you belong to the conscription?--Yes, and I +too; (_pirouettez_) what makes me uneasy is to know what will become +of our partners when we are gone: (_La chaine des dames_)--what will +be left to amuse them (_La queu du chat_.) It was thus that days of +terror were preceded by evenings of amusement and pleasure. + + * * * * * + + +INTUITIVE AFFECTION. + +"There are three things," said a wit, "which I have always loved +without ever understanding them, painting, music, and woman." + + * * * * * + + +RETORT UNCOURTEOUS. + +A lady, well known in the fashionable vicinity of Portland-place, +always accosts a stranger, with "I think I have seen you somewhere," +which often leads to a clue for her finding out the history of the +party. One evening she played off the same game on a gentleman, who +replied, "Most likely, madam, for I sometimes go there." + + * * * * * + +With the present Number is published the SECOND SUPPLEMENT of +the Spirit of the Annuals--containing Poetry and Prose by Allan +Cunningham, Professor Wilson, the late P.B. Shelley, Miss Landon, +Mrs. Hemans, Mr. Pringle, Theodore Hook, and other distinguished +Writers--with a beautiful Engraving. + + * * * * * + +Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets are +informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be +purchased separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, and +can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or Newsvender. + +Complete sets Vol. I. to XI. in boards, price £2. 19s. 6d. half bound, +£3. 17s. + + * * * * * + +_LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS._ + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING, &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. + +BACON'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, Issue 345, December 6, 1828</p> +<p>Author: Various</p> +<p>Release Date: January 14, 2004 [eBook #10719]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 12, ISSUE 345, DECEMBER 6, 1828***</p> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, William Flis,<br /> + and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</h3></center> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page385" name="page385"></a>[pg +385]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. XII. No. 345.</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1828.</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Arch of Constantine, at Rome.</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:100%;"><a href= +"images/345-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/345-1.png" alt= +"" /></a></div> +<p>"Still harping" on the Fine Arts—<i>Architecture</i> and +<i>Painting</i>. Of the former, the above engraving is an +illustration; and of the latter, our readers will find a beautiful +subject (from one of <i>Turner's</i> pictures) in a <i>Supplement +published with the present Number</i>.<a id="footnotetag1" name= +"footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<p>The Arches of Rome were splendid monuments of triumph, erected +in honour of her illustrious generals. They were at first very +simple, being built of brick or hewn stone, and of a semicircular +figure; but afterwards more magnificent, built of the finest +marble, and of a square figure, with a large, arched gate in the +middle, and two small ones on each side, adorned with columns and +statues. In the vault of the middle gate, hung winged figures of +victory, bearing crowns in their hands, which, when let down, they +placed on the victor's head, when he passed in triumph.</p> +<p>The <i>Arch of Constantine</i>, the most noble of all of these +structures, subsists almost entire. It was erected by the senate +and Roman people, in honour of Constantine, after his victory over +Maxentius, and crosses the Appian Way, at <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page386" id="page386"></a>[pg 386]</span> the +junction of the Coelian and Palatine Hills. Here it stands as the +last monument of Roman triumph, or like the December sun of "the +world's sole monument."</p> +<p>This building consists of three arches, of which the centre is +the largest; and has two fronts, each adorned with four columns of +giallo antico marble, of the Corinthian order, and fluted, +supporting a cornice, on which stand eight Dacian captives of +Pavonazzetta, or violet-coloured marble.</p> +<p>The inscription on both sides of the architrave imports, that it +was dedicated "to the Emperor Cæsar Flavius Constantine +Augustus, the greatest, pious, and the happy; because by a divine +impulse, the greatness of his courage, and the aid of his army, he +avenged the republic by his just arms, and, at the same time, +rescued it from the tyrant and his whole faction." On one side of +the arch are the words, "Liberatori urbis," to the deliverer of the +city; and on the other, "Fundatori quietis," to the founder of +public tranquillity.</p> +<p>Although erected to the honour of Constantine, this arch +commemorates the victories of Trajan, some of the basso-relievos, +&c. having been pilfered from one of the arches of Trajan. This +accounts for the Dacian captives, whose heads Lorenzo de Medicis +broke off and conveyed to Florence, but the theft might not have +been so notorious to posterity, had not the artists of +Constantine's time added some figures of inferior merit. Forsyth +says, "Constantine's reign was notorious for architectural +robbery;" and the styles of the two emperors, in the present arch, +mar the harmony by their unsightly contrasts.</p> +<p>Although the decree for erecting this arch was, without doubt, +passed immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, it appears from +the monument itself, that the building was not finished and +dedicated till the tenth year of Constantine's reign, or the year +of Christ 315 or 316.</p> +<p>The newly-erected arch opposite the entrance to Hyde Park is +from the Roman arch, though, we believe, not from any particular +model. In the View of the New Palace, St. James's Park, (in our No. +278,) the arch, to be called the Waterloo Monument, and erected in +the middle of the area of the palace, will be nearly a copy of that +of Constantine at Rome. In the court-yard of the Tuilleries at +Paris, there is a similar arch, copied from that of Septimius +Severus. This was formerly surmounted by the celebrated group of +the horses of St. Mark, pilfered from Venice, but restored at the +peace of 1815.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE BEGGAR'S DAUGHTER OF BETHNAL GREEN.</h2> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The popular ballad of "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Greene" +was written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is founded, though +without the least appearance of truth, or even probability, on a +legend of the time of Henry III. Henry de Montfort, son of the +ambitious Earl of Leicester, who was slain with his father at the +memorable battle of Evesham, is the hero of the tale. He is +supposed (according to the legend) to have been discovered among +the bodies of the slain by a young lady, in an almost lifeless +state, and deprived of sight by a wound, which he had received +during the engagement. Under the fostering hand of this "faire +damosel" he soon recovered, and afterwards marrying her, she became +the mother of "the comelye and prettye Bessee." Fearing lest his +rank and person should be discovered by his enemies, he disguised +himself in the habit of a beggar, and took up his abode at +Bethnal-Green. The beauty of his daughter attracted many suitors, +and she was at length married to a noble knight, who, regardless of +her supposed meanness and poverty, had the courage to make her his +wife, her other lovers having deserted her on account of her low +origin. Before entering, however, upon the ballad, it may not, +perhaps, be thought irrelevant to give a brief sketch of the family +of the De Montforts.</p> +<p>Simon de Montfort, created Earl of Leicester by Henry III., was +the younger son of Simon de Montfort, the renowned but cruel +commander of the croisade against the Albigenses. This nobleman was +greatly honoured by Henry III., to whose sister, the Countess +Dowager of Pembroke, he paid his addresses, and was married, with +the consent of her brother. For the favour thus shown him by his +sovereign, he, however, proved ungrateful: his inordinate ambition, +cloaked by a pretended zeal for reform, was the cause of those +rebellions which, in the reign of Henry III., kept the kingdom in +such a continued turmoil. The different oppressions and successes +of the confederate barons, who at length got possession of the +king's person, and the civil wars which ensued, are so well known +as to render any remark on the subject superfluous; suffice it to +say, that the disputes between the malcontents and the royal party +were at length terminated by the battle of Evesham, which decided +in favour of the latter. In this field fell the Earl of Leicester +and his eldest son, Henry de Montfort. His death was followed by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page387" id="page387"></a>[pg +387]</span> the total ruin of his family; his titles and estates +were all confiscated; the countess, his wife, who had been +extremely active in her designs against the royalists, was +banished, together with her sons, Simon and Guy, who afterwards +assassinated their cousin, Henry d'Allmane, when he was +endeavouring to effect a reconciliation between them and their +uncle, Henry IV. The head of the earl was sent as a signal of the +victory by Roger de Mortimer to the countess; but his body, +together with that of his son Henry, was interred in the Abbey of +Evesham; thus leaving the improbability of the legend without a +shadow of doubt.</p> +<p>As our limits will not allow us to quote the whole of the +ballad,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href= +"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> we must content ourselves with giving +the song of the beggar, which, as well as being the most +interesting, contains the whole of the legend concerning de +Montfort:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A poore beggar's daughter did dwell on a greene,</p> +<p>Who for her fairnesse might well be a queene:</p> +<p>A blithe bonny lasse, and a daintye was shee,</p> +<p>And many one called her pretty Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Her father hee had noe goods nor noe land,</p> +<p>But begg'd for a penny all day with his hand;</p> +<p>And yett to her marriage he gave thousands three,</p> +<p>And still he hath somewhat for pretty Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And if any one here her birth doe disdaine,</p> +<p>Her father is ready, with might and with maine,</p> +<p>To prove shee is come of noble degree—</p> +<p>Therefore, ever flout att prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<hr class="short" /></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one,</p> +<p>One song more to sing, and then I have done;</p> +<p>And if that itt may not winn good report,</p> +<p>Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall bee.</p> +<p>Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee—</p> +<p>Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase,</p> +<p>Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose,</p> +<p>Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose—</p> +<p>A leader of courage undaunted was hee,</p> +<p>And oft-times he made their enemyes flee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>At length in the battle on Eveshame plaine</p> +<p>The barons were routed, and Montfort was slaine;</p> +<p>Moste fatall that battel did prove unto thee,</p> +<p>Thoughe thou wast not borne then, my prettye Bessee!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Along with the nobles that fell at that tyde,</p> +<p>His eldest son Henrye, who fought by his side,</p> +<p>Was fellde by a blowe he receiv'de in the fighte!</p> +<p>A blowe that depriv'de him for ever of sight.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Among the dead bodyes all lifelesse he laye,</p> +<p>Till evening drewe on of the following daye,</p> +<p>When by a yong ladye discover'd was hee—</p> +<p>And this was thy mother, my prettye Bessee!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A baron's faire daughter stept forth in the nighte,</p> +<p>To search for her father, who fell in the fight,</p> +<p>And seeing yong Montfort, where gasping he laye,</p> +<p>Was moved with pitye, and broughte him awaye.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>In secrette she nurst him, and swaged his paine,</p> +<p>While he throughe the realme was beleev'd to be slaine:</p> +<p>At lengthe his faire bride she consented to bee,</p> +<p>And made him glad father of prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye</p> +<p>We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye;</p> +<p>Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee—</p> +<p>All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And here have wee lived in fortunes despite,</p> +<p>Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte;</p> +<p>Full forty winters thus have I beene</p> +<p>A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And here, noble lordes, is ended the song</p> +<p>Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong:</p> +<p>And thus have you learned a secrette from mee,</p> +<p>That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of +1703, was called <i>Bethnal-Green-House</i>, and which the +inhabitants, with their usual love of traditionary lore, assign as +the "Palace of the Blind Beggar." This house was erected in the +reign of Queen Elizabeth, by John Kirby, citizen of London, and +was, says Stow,<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> "lofty +like a castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, +Knight, the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into +the possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in +1669; of late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The +tradition of the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of +several of the public-houses in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p>S.I.B.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY OF WILLS.</h2> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4> +<p>According to Blackstone, wills are of high antiquity. We find +them among the ancient Hebrews; not to mention what Eusebius and +others have related of Noah's testament, made in writing, and +witnessed under his seal, by which he disposed of the whole world. +A more authentic instance of the early use of testaments occurs in +the sacred writings, (Genesis, chap. xlviii.) in which Jacob +bequeaths to his son Joseph, a portion of his inheritance, double +to that of his brethren.</p> +<p>The Grecian practice concerning wills (says Potter) was not the +same in all <span class="pagenum"><a name="page388" id= +"page388"></a>[pg 388]</span> places; some states permitted men to +dispose of their estates, others wholly deprived them of that +privilege. We are told by Plutarch, that Solon is much commended +for his law concerning wills; for before his time no man was +allowed to make any, but all the wealth of deceased persons +belonged to their families; but he permitted them to bestow it on +whom they pleased, esteeming friendship a stronger tie than +kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put every man's +estate in the disposal of the possessor; yet he allowed not all +sorts of wills, but required the following conditions in all +persons that made them:—</p> +<p>1st. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves, or +foreigners, for then their estates were confiscated for the public +use.</p> +<p>2nd. That they must be men who have arrived to twenty years of +age, for women and men under that age were not permitted to dispose +by will of more than one <i>medimn</i> of barley.</p> +<p>3rd. That they must not be adopted; for when adopted persons +died without issue, the estates they received by adoption returned +to the relations of the men who adopted them.</p> +<p>4th. That they should have no male children of their own, for +then their estate belonged to these. If they had only daughters, +the persons to whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to +marry them. Yet men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed their +children, in case these happened to die under twenty years of +age.</p> +<p>5th. That they should be in their right minds, because +testaments extorted through the phrenzy of a disease, or dotage of +old age, were not in reality the wills of the persons that made +them.</p> +<p>6th. That they should not be under imprisonment, or other +constraint, their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to +be reputed voluntary.</p> +<p>7th. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and +insinuations of a wife; for (says Plutarch) the wise lawgiver with +good reason thought that no difference was to be put between deceit +and necessity, flattery and compulsion, since both are equally +powerful to persuade a man from reason.</p> +<p>Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put +seals to them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of +trustees, who were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some +of the magistrates were very often present at the making of wills. +Sometimes the <i>archons</i> were also present. Sometimes the +testator declared his will before sufficient witnesses, without +committing it to writing. Thus Callias, fearing to be cut off by a +wicked conspiracy, is said to have made an open declaration of his +will before the popular assembly at Athens. There were several +copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as those of Aristotle, Lycon, +and Theophrastus; whence it appears they had a common form, +beginning with a wish for life and health.</p> +<p>The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made +<i>vivâ voce</i>, the testator declaring his will in the +presence of seven witnesses; these they called <i>nuncupative</i> +testaments; but the danger of trusting the will of the dead to the +memory of the living soon abolished these; and all testaments were +ordered to be in writing.</p> +<p>The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being +<i>inofficiosa</i>, deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited +or totally passed by (without assigning a true and sufficient +reason) any of the children of the testator. But if the child had +any legacy, though ever so small, it was a proof that the testator +had not lost his memory nor his reason, which otherwise the law +presumed. Hence probably (says Blackstone) has arisen that +groundless, vulgar error of the necessity of leaving the heir a +shilling, or some other express legacy, in order to effectually +disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though the heir, or +next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no <i>querela +inofficiosa</i>, to set aside such testament.</p> +<p>Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express +terms, that it was just the English should be as free as their own +thoughts.</p> +<p>P.T.W.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Cosmopolite.</h2> +<h3>DANCING.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps +correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other +species of dancing—as</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>————————for +three long months</p> +<p>To <i>dance attendance</i> for a word of audience:</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in +pestilences, the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the +principal spirits." The <i>Chorea S. Viti</i>, or <i>St. Vitus's +Dance</i> is another variation, said to have once prevailed +extensively, and to have been cured by a prayer to this saint! +whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It may not be generally +known that a person afflicted with this species of dancing can +<i>run</i>, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page389" id="page389"></a>[pg +389]</span> and a more agreeable species is to <i>lead the +dance</i>, an unjust usurpation which is practised in a thousand +other places beside the ball-room.</p> +<p>According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and +nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, +who were <i>produced from rain</i>, first invented the dance to +amuse the infant Jupiter—with what success he danced we know +not, for when a year old he waged war against the Titans, and then +his dancing days must have terminated.</p> +<p>A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few +of its eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, +either as a recreation or as a religious ceremony—held in +contempt by some, and in esteem by others. David danced before the +ark; the daughters of Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; +and the Israelites, (good judges) danced round the golden calf.</p> +<p>The ancients had a peculiar <i>penchant</i> for dancing, whether +in person or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all +the wretched efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. +The attempts of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the +shade all the peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and +the Green Parks. Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of +<i>elephants</i> in their time that were taught to walk the rope, +backwards and forwards, up and down, with the agility of an Italian +rope-dancer. Such was the confidence reposed in the docility and +dexterity of the animal, that a person sat upon an elephant's back, +while he walked across the theatre upon a rope, extended from the +one side to the other. Lipsius, who has collected these +testimonies, thinks them too strong to be doubted—perhaps +even stronger than the rope. Scaliger corroborates all of them; +Busbequius <i>saw</i> an elephant dance a <i>pas seul</i> at +Constantinople; and Suetonius tells us of twelve elephants, six +male and six female, who were clothed like men and women, and +performed a country dance, in the reign of Tiberius. In later +times, horses have been taught to dance. In the carousals of Louis +XIII. there were dances of horses; and in the 13th century, some +rode a horse upon a rope. All this eclipses the puny modern feats +of Astley and Ducrow.<a id="footnotetag4" name= +"footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a></p> +<p>The Greeks and Romans were divided upon the propriety of +dancing. Socrates who held death in contempt, when a reverend old +gentleman, learned to dance of Aspasia, the beautiful nurse of +Grecian eloquence. The Romans forgot their loss of the republic and +of liberty—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p> +—————————the +air we breathe</p> +<p>If we have it not we die.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>in seeing Pylades and Bathyllus dance before them in their +theatres—an indifference of which we were reminded on hearing +that the Parisians sat in the <i>Cafés</i> on the Boulevard +du Italiens—sipping coffee and sucking down ice, during the +capitulation of the city, and while the French, killed and wounded, +were conveyed along the road before them.</p> +<p>Cato, <i>Censorius</i>, danced at the age of fifty-six. Cicero, +however, reproached a consul with having danced. Tiberius, that +monster of indulgences, banished dancers from Rome; and Domitian, +the illustrious fly-catcher, expelled several of his <i>members of +parliament</i> for having danced. We are much more civilized, for +such an edict as that of Domitian would clear our senate-houses as +effectually as when Cromwell turned out the Long Parliament.</p> +<p>Among the Italians and the French even there have been found +enemies to dancing. Alfieri, the poet, had a great aversion to +dancing; and one Daneau wrote a Traité des Danses, in which +he maintains that "the devil never invented a more effectual way +than dancing, to fill the world with ——." The bishop of +Noyon once presided at some deliberations respecting a minuet; and +in 1770, a reverend prelate presented a document on dancing to the +king of France. The Quakers consider dancing below the dignity of +the Christian character; and an enthusiast, of another creed, +thinks all lovers of the stage belong to the schools of Voltaire +and Hume, and that dancing is a link in the chain of seduction. +Stupid, leaden-heeled people, who constantly mope in melancholy, +and neither enjoy nor impart pleasure, will naturally be enemies to +dancing; and such we are induced to think the majority of these +opponents.</p> +<p>The French are inveterate dancers. They have their <i>bals +parés</i> and their <i>salons de danse</i> in every street; +and as long as the weather will permit, they dance on platforms out +of doors, and a heavy shower of rain will scarcely cool their +ardour in the recreation. Some of their stage <i>figurantes</i> +resemble aerial beings rather than bone and blood, for flesh may +almost be left out of the composition. But the Italians are a +nation of dancers as well as the children of song, and they seem to +have followed the noble <span class="pagenum"><a name="page390" id= +"page390"></a>[pg 390]</span> example of old Cato, in this respect, +with better effect than they have studied his virtue. We are also +told upon good authority, that the American dancers equal any of +the European <i>figurantes</i>.</p> +<p>The English people have always been lovers of dancing; and it +forms an accompaniment of almost all their old sports and pastimes. +Witness the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the +grotesque morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or +military dance, and described by Sir William Temple as composed of +"ten men, who danced a maid marian and a tabor and pipe." In the +time of Henry VII. dancers were remarkably well paid; for in some +of his accounts in the Exchequer, we find</p> +<pre> + £. <i>s.</i> <i>d.</i> + Paid to a spye, in reward----------------- 2 0 0 + To Pechie, the fool, in rewarde----------- 0 6 8 + To Richard Beden, for writing of bokes---- 0 10 0 + <i>To the young dameysell that daunceth</i>------ 30 0 0 +</pre> +<p>In Shakspeare's time, to <i>dance</i> was an elegant +accomplishment. Thus in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," "What say you +to young Mr. Fenton? He capers, he <i>dances</i>, he has eyes of +youth, he writes verses." Locke thus alludes to the graceful +motions which dancing lends to the human frame: "the legs of the +dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, fall, as it were, +naturally, without thought or pains, into regular and admirable +motions."</p> +<p>It must be somewhat surprising to those who over-rate the +matter-of-fact character of the English people, that so great a +majority of them are attached to <i>dancing</i>. Among rank and +wealth this amusement admits of a finer display of beauty and +artificial decoration than almost any other recreation; for nothing +can be more splendid than a brilliantly illuminated and well-filled +ball-room. Dancing among the middle classes of society is equally +mirthful though not of so ostentatious a character, and it is a +question whether the latter, being free from the alloy of +fashionable follies, are not more exhilarated by sweet sounds than +their wealthy superiors. But the mushroom aristocracy and pride of +purse often operate as checks to the enjoyment of both these +classes; and splendid dancing accommodations sometimes put an end +to the amusement. At Dorking, in Surrey, attached to one of the +inns is a ball-room, which cost the builder £12,000, and here +is one, or at most three balls during the year, while at scores of +places within our recollection, of less consequence, there are +monthly and even weekly balls; and we are inclined to think these +periodical recreations of great importance to the happiness of +country towns. But there is a species of intoxication sometimes +arising from them—that of dancing all night, to suffer from +exhaustion and rheumatism on the following day—an evil easy +of remedy, by such amusements being more frequent and less +protracted. The influence on the character of the people would +probably be that of rendering it more even, from the admixture or +reciprocation of pleasure and business being more proportional. +This plan would get rid of much of the ostentation and expense of a +country ball, and would ultimately prove the best antidote to the +sins of scandal.</p> +<p>As we have spoken of public dancing in the time of Henry VII., +we will show that the enormous sums paid to <i>artists</i> have +nourished their conceit to an alarming height. Pitrot, the Vestris +of his day, was a consummate specimen of this effrontery. At +Vienna, he chose to appear only in the last act of the ballet. The +emperor desired him to come forth at the end of the first; Pitrot +refused; the court left the opera, and then Pitrot told the dancers +they would have a hop by themselves, which they did. However, this +was forgiven; and, at his departure, he was presented with the +emperor's picture, set with brilliants. Pitrot received it with +<i>sang froid</i>, pressed his thumb upon the crystal, crushed the +picture to pieces, adding, "Thus I treat men not worthy of my +friendship." This fellow behaved equally ill in France, Prussia, +and Russia; but, at length, scouted by all his patrons, and, after +giving his thousands to opera girls, he wandered about Calais in +rags and poverty. Farinelli, after accumulating a fortune in +England, built a superb mansion in Italy, which he called the +<i>English Folly</i>.<a id="footnotetag5" name= +"footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p> +<p>The oddity of some ideas of dancing is really ludicrous. The +Cambro-Britains, in a very late period, used to be played out of +church by a fiddle, and to form a dance in the church-yard at the +end of the service. But the ideas which the Chinese have of dancing +exceeds all others. When Commodore Anson was at Canton, the +officers of the <i>Centurion</i> had a ball upon some court +holiday: while they were dancing, a Chinese, who very quietly +surveyed the operation, said, softly, to one of the party, "Why +don't you let your servants do this for you?"</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page391" id="page391"></a>[pg +391]</span> +<h2>Fine Arts.</h2> +<h3>SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION.</h3> +<h4><i>(To the Editor of the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>I beg to present you with a brief notice of the School of +Painting at the British Institution, Pall Mall; you may rely upon +its correctness, as I have been extremely cautious in making my +notes, and in ascertaining every particular relative to the +subject.</p> +<p>The students at this excellent institution have, for several +weeks, been arduously engaged in copying the fine pictures which +were entrusted to the directors by his majesty, and the nobility, +for that purpose. In general, the students have been very +successful, and deserve much praise; I must, however, in my +prescribed limits, only mention a few.</p> +<p>Vandyke's <i>Duchess de St. Croix</i> has been cleverly copied +by Mr. Boden and Mr. Faulkner; the latter gentleman has well +imitated the color and the beautiful finish of the original. +Messrs. Frisk, Child, Howell and M'Call have likewise made clever +copies of this <i>chef d'oeuvre</i> of art. Many bold efforts have +been made to copy Hobbima's large <i>Landscape</i>; Mr. Laporte's +is the most complete, though not quite spirited enough in the +handling. <i>The Spanish Gentleman</i>, by Velasquez, has engaged +the pencils of numerous artists, though they have not all been so +successful as could have been wished; Messrs. Inskipp, Frisk, +Morton and Child have produced the best <i>fac similes</i>. The +<i>Lime Kiln</i>, by the younger Teniers, has been carefully +studied by Mr. Gill, &c.; and Messrs. M'Call and Morton, have +executed the finest studies from <i>Innocent X.</i>, by Velasquez. +<i>The Embarkation</i>, by Claude, is extremely well imitated in +Mr. Cartwright's copy; and the <i>Virgin and Child</i>, which is +one of Julio Romano's best works, has met with due attention from +Mr. Farrier, and others. Mr. Novice has executed the only copy from +DeHooge's fine picture—<i>A Dutch Family preparing for a +Walk</i>; and Messrs. Foster and Earl display considerable talent +in their copies from the <i>Landscape and Cattle</i>, by Cuyp. +Other admirable works by Guido, Rubens, Bassan, Ruysdael, +Vanderneer, and Canaletta, have met with a host of imitators, from +whose talents we may anticipate, at no distant period, pictorial +excellency of the first order. I should discover a want of +gallantry, and, indeed, be most unjust, were I not to say that the +ladies, in nearly all their undertakings, have exerted their utmost +to excel; those especially, who have executed copies in water +colours deserve the highest recommendation.</p> +<p>G.W.N.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Anecdote Gallery.</h2> +<h3>Thaxted Highwaymen.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The following incident led to the breaking up and dispersion of +a gang of desperate highwaymen, denominated the Thaxted gang, who +about sixty years ago used to infest the roads in the neighbourhood +of Dunmow, Thaxted, and the adjacent towns and villages:—</p> +<p>An opulent farmer of Thaxted, being one day at Dunmow market, +received a considerable sum of money, the produce of grain and +other marketable articles, which he had that day disposed of; and +going to the inn where he had left his horse, he ordered it to be +saddled directly for the purpose of returning home. In those times +every tradesman, salesman and a greater part of the publicans and +innkeepers knew what money each other received on a market day. The +innkeeper at whose house the farmer was in the habit of putting up +at, said to him, "Why you are not going home to-night, are you, +with all that money about you? You will stand a chance of getting a +knock on the head."—"Let them knock away," answered the +farmer. "I have never yet been robbed, nor do I think it likely I +shall be to-night; so, Robert, get my horse ready," calling to the +hostler. "Well, but have you any weapons of defence?" inquired the +publican.—"No, nor none I want," responded the farmer. The +innkeeper pressed him to take a pair of holster pistols; saying, +"he might find them handy;" and after a great deal of persuasion, +he agreed to take <i>one</i>, the publican first loading and +charging it with ball. The farmer put the pistol in his great coat +pocket, and was on the point of departure when he recollected that +he had to get a pound of tea at a grocer's shop in the town, a few +doors from the inn. He instantly ran to the shop for the tea, and +while the grocer was serving him he made the same remark as the +innkeeper had done respecting his going home with so considerable a +sum as he knew the farmer had about him. The farmer made answer, "I +am going home to-night, but our friend the publican, has lent me a +pistol; and if any one interrupts me, I intend to blow his brains +out."—"Do you know," said <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page392" id="page392"></a>[pg 392]</span> the grocer, "I do not +like that fellow. Will you let me look at the pistol if you have it +with you."—"O yes, look at it if you like. I never fired a +pistol in my life; however, should I be stopped, I think I could +manage it." The grocer took the pistol; drew the charge; and found, +to the great surprise of the farmer, it was only loaded with +horse-dung, and a large bullet at the top. "I thought he was a +rascal, and this confirms it." said the grocer. "Here is evidently +a plot; now leave your money with me; we will load this pistol +properly, and you can, if you like, proceed on your journey: it may +be the means of detecting some one."</p> +<p>The farmer left his money in the hands of the grocer; went back +to the inn; mounted his horse, and rode off on his journey. About a +mile from Dunmow, he was stopped by a fellow, well mounted, who +instantly demanded his money. "I have not got any," replied the +farmer, "but I have a pistol, with which, if you do not instantly +allow me to pass on my way home, I will blow your brains out." "You +have got money—and as to the pistol, you may blow +away—blow away, my fine fellow," said the chuckling +highwayman. The farmer instantly fired, and his assailant fell off +his horse to the ground with a groan. The farmer galloped back to +the inn, and inquired of the hostler where his master was. "He has +been gone out, on horseback, about a quarter of an hour," the +hostler replied. "Well, I will tell you what," said the farmer, +"you may find your master, with his brains blown out, in the road," +describing the place where he had had the encounter with the +innkeeper.</p> +<p>From this time a number of persons resident in and about Thaxted +and Dunmow, left their places of abode, which circumstance created +some surprise among the remaining inhabitants; but it was +afterwards ascertained they formed the desperate gang that had so +long and successfully robbed, and sometimes murdered, their +unsuspecting neighbours and the different travellers who had +occasion to pass the roads on which these marauders were +stationed.</p> +<p>J.W.B.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>Manners & Customs of all Nations.</h2> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<h3>WISE MEN OF GOTHAM.</h3> +<p>The village of Gotham, about seven miles from Nottingham, has +been rendered noted by the common proverb of "The Wise Men of +Gotham." It is observable that a custom has prevailed among many +nations of stigmatizing the inhabitants of some particular spot as +remarkable for stupidity. This opprobrious district among the +Asiatics was Phrygia. Among the Thracians, Abdera; among the +Greeks, Boeotia; in England it is Gotham. Of the Gothamites +ironically called <i>The Wise Men of Gotham</i>, many ridiculous +stories are traditionally told, particularly, that often having +heard the cuckoo but never seen her, they hedged in a bush from +whence her note seemed to proceed, so that being confined within so +small a compass, they might at length satisfy their curiosity; and +at a place called Court Hill, in this parish, is a bush called +Cuckoo Bush.</p> +<p>HALBERT H.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>MALLARD NIGHT.</h3> +<p>At All Souls' College, Oxford, the <i>Mallard Night</i> is +celebrated annually on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a +very singular circumstance, viz. the discovery of a live and +excessively large mallard, or drake, supposed to have long ranged +in a drain or sewer of considerable depth. The only probable +conjecture respecting its extraordinary situation was, that it had +fallen when young through the bars or grating at the entrance of +the drain, (which was of sufficient width to receive it if very +young,) but was found at a great distance from it, on digging for +the foundation of the college, (A.D. 1437.) A very humorous account +of this event was published some years ago by Dr. Buckler, +subwarden, from a manuscript of Thomas Walsingham, the historian, +and monk of St. Alban's. It is the cause of much mirth, for on the +day, and in remembrance of the mallard, many an old and merry song +is sung.</p> +<p>E.T.S.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>WELSH MARRIAGES.</h3> +<p>It appears to me a matter of no small surprise that so +economical a people as the English should not have adopted such a +plan as the following by the lower classes of the Welsh. When a +young couple intend offering themselves at the Temple of Hymen, if +they are very poor, they generally send a man, called the bidder, +round to their acquaintance and friends, who invites them, +sometimes in rhyme, to the wedding; but if they can afford it, they +issue circulars. The following is a copy of one:—</p> +<p>"<i>June 27, 1827.</i></p> +<p>"As we intend to enter the matrimonial state on Thursday, the +19th day of July next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a +bidding on the occasion, the same day, at the Butchers' Arms, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page393" id="page393"></a>[pg +393]</span> Carmarthen, when and where the favour of your good and +agreeable company is humbly solicited; and whatever donation you +may be pleased to confer on us then, will be thankfully received, +warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully repaid whenever called for on a +similar occasion.</p> +<p>"By your most obedient servants,</p> +<p>"JOHN JONES.</p> +<p>"MARY EVANS."</p> +<p>The persons so invited (if they accept the invitation) generally +form part of the procession to church, and are preceded by a harper +or fiddler. After the nuptial knot is tied, they veer their course +to the public-house mentioned in the bills, where they partake, not +of a sumptuous banquet, but of the simple, though not the worst, +fare of bread and cheese and kisses, at the expense of the new +married folks. After this, a large plate is placed on the table in +the room, and they proceed to receive the money which each person +may be disposed to give, whilst one keeps account of the sum and +names. They frequently receive 50<i>l.</i>, and sometimes, though +seldom, 100<i>l.</i>; and they have the privilege (by paying the +duty) of selling the ale to the persons assembled. It is to be +observed, that the money so deposited cannot be reclaimed by the +persons who gave it until a similar occasion presents itself in +their family. By this means the new married couple are enabled to +procure furniture, and other things requisite for them.</p> +<p>W.H.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>CURIOUS FOUNDATION.</h3> +<p>At Spinney, in Cambridgeshire, was an abbey founded in the reign +of Henry III. near which was a church, built by Lady Mary +Bassingburne, and given to the Abbey of Spinney, on condition that +the monks should support seven aged men with the following +allowance, viz. one farthing loaf, one herring, and one pennyworth +of ale per day, and two hundred dry turves, one pair of shoes, one +woollen garment, and three ells of linen every year. Henry +Cromwell, second son of Oliver Cromwell, is buried here.</p> +<p>HALBERT H.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR,</h2> +<h4>AND</h4> +<h3>LITERARY NOTICES OF</h3> +<h3><i>NEW WORKS</i></h3> +<hr /> +<h2>ADVENTURES OF ALLAN-A-SOP.</h2> +<h4><i>By Sir Walter Scott, Bart.</i></h4> +<p>The chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart, in the Isle of Mull, +had an intrigue with a beautiful young woman of his own clan, who +bore a son to him. In consequence of the child's being, by some +accident, born in a barn, he received the name of Allan-a-Sop, or +Allan of the Straw, by which he was distinguished from others of +his clan. As his father and mother were not married, Allan was of +course a bastard or natural son, and had no inheritance to look +for, save that which he might win for himself.</p> +<p>But the beauty of the boy's mother having captivated a man of +rank in the clan, called MacLean of Torloisk, he married her, and +took her to reside with him at his castle of Torloisk, situated on +the shores of the Sound, or small strait of the sea, which divides +the smaller island of Ulva from that of Mull. Allan-a-Sop paid his +mother frequent visits at her new residence, and she was naturally +glad to see the poor boy, both from affection, and on account of +his personal strength and beauty, which distinguished him above +other youths of his age. But she was obliged to confer marks of her +attachment on him as privately as she could, for Allan's visits +were by no means so acceptable to her husband as to herself. +Indeed, Torloisk liked so little to see the lad, that he determined +to put some affront on him, which should prevent his returning to +the castle for some time. An opportunity for executing his purpose +soon occurred.</p> +<p>The lady one morning, looking from the window, saw her son +coming wandering down the hill, and hastened to put a girdle cake +upon the fire, that he might have hot bread to his breakfast. +Something called her out of the apartment after making this +preparation, and her husband entering at the same time, saw at once +what she had been about, and determined to give the boy such a +reception as should disgust him for the future. He snatched the +cake from the girdle, thrust it into his step-son's hands, which he +forcibly closed on the scalding bread, saying, "Here, +Allan—here is a cake which your mother has got ready for your +breakfast." Allan's hands were severely burnt; and, being a +sharp-witted and proud boy, he resented this mark of his +step-father's ill-will, and came not again to Torloisk.</p> +<p>At this time the western seas were covered with the vessels of +pirates, who, not unlike the sea-kings of Denmark at an early +period, sometimes settled and made conquests on the islands. +Allan-a-Sop was young, strong, and brave to desperation. He entered +as a mariner on board of one of these ships, and in process of time +obtained the command, first of one galley, then of a small +flotilla, with which he sailed round the seas and collected +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page394" id="page394"></a>[pg +394]</span> considerable plunder, until his name became both feared +and famous. At length he proposed to himself to pay a visit to his +mother, whom he had not seen for many years; and setting sail for +this purpose, he anchored one morning in the Sound of Ulva, and in +front of the house of Torloisk. His mother was dead, but his +stepfather, to whom he was now an object of fear as he had been +formerly of aversion, hastened to the shore to receive his +formidable son-in-law, with great affectation of kindness and +interest in his prosperity; while Allan-a-Sop, who, though very +rough and hasty, does not appear to have been sullen or vindictive, +seemed to take his kind reception in good part.</p> +<p>The crafty old man succeeded so well, as he thought, in securing +Allan's friendship, and in obliterating all recollections of the +former affront put on him, that he began to think it possible to +employ him in executing his private revenge upon MacKinnon of Ulva, +with whom, as was usual between such neighbours, he had some feud. +With this purpose, he offered what he called the following good +advice to his son-in-law:—"My dear Allan, you have now +wandered over the seas long enough; it is time you should have some +footing upon land, a castle to protect yourself in winter, a +village and cattle for your men, and a harbour to lay up your +galleys. Now, here is the island of Ulva, near at hand, which lies +ready for your occupation, and it will cost you no trouble, save +that of putting to death the present proprietor, the Laird of +MacKinnon, a useless old carle, who has cumbered the world long +enough."</p> +<p>Allan-a-Sop thanked his stepfather for so happy a suggestion, +which he declared he would put in execution forthwith. Accordingly, +setting sail the next morning, he appeared before MacKinnon's house +an hour before noon. The old chief of Ulva was much alarmed at the +menacing apparition of so many galleys, and his anxiety was not +lessened by the news, that they were commanded by the redoubted +Allan-a-Sop. Having no effectual means of resistance, MacKinnon, +who was a man of shrewd sense, saw no alternative save that of +receiving the invaders, whatever might be their purpose, with all +outward demonstrations of joy and satisfaction. He caused immediate +preparations to be made for a banquet as splendid as circumstances +admitted, hastened down to the shore to meet the rover, and +welcomed him to Ulva with such an appearance of sincerity, that the +pirate found it impossible to pick any quarrel which might afford a +pretence for executing the violent purpose which he had been led to +meditate.</p> +<p>They feasted together the whole day; and in the evening, as +Allan-a-Sop was about to retire to his ships, he thanked the Laird +of MacKinnon for his entertainment, but remarked, with a sigh, that +it had cost him very dear. "How can that be" said MacKinnon, "when +I bestowed this entertainment upon you in free +good-will?"—"It is true, my friend," replied the pirate, "but +then it has quite disconcerted the purpose for which I came hither; +which was to put you to death, my good friend, and seize upon your +house and island, and so settle myself in the world. It would have +been very convenient, this island, but your friendly reception has +rendered it impossible for me to execute my purpose; so that I must +be a wanderer on the seas for some time longer." Whatever MacKinnon +felt at hearing that he had been so near to destruction, he took +care to show no emotion save surprise, and replied to his +visiter,—"My dear Allan, who was it that put into your mind +so unkind a purpose towards your old friend; for I am sure it never +arose from your own generous nature? It must have been your +father-in-law, old Torloisk, who made such an indifferent husband +to your mother, and such an unfriendly stepfather to you when you +were a helpless boy; but now, when he sees you a bold and powerful +leader, he desires to make a quarrel betwixt you and those who were +the friends of your youth. If you consider this matter rightly, +Allan, you will see that the estate and harbour of Torloisk lie as +conveniently for you as those of Ulva, and that, if you are to make +a settlement by force, it is much better it should be at the +expense of the old churl, who never showed you kindness or +countenance, than at that of a friend like me, who always loved and +honoured you."</p> +<p>Allan-a-Sop was struck with the justice of this reasoning; and +the old offence of his scalded fingers was suddenly recalled to his +mind. "It is very true what you say, MacKinnon," he replied, "and, +besides, I have not forgotten what a hot breakfast my father-in-law +treated me to one morning. Farewell for the present; you shall soon +hear news of me from the other side of the Sound." Having said thus +much, the pirate got on board, and commanding his men to unmoor the +galleys, sailed back to Torloisk, and prepared to land in arms. His +father-in-law hastened to meet him, in expectation to hear of the +death of his enemy, MacKinnon. But Allan greeted him in a very +different manner from what he expected. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page395" id="page395"></a>[pg 395]</span> "You +hoary old traitor," he said, "you instigated my simple good-nature +to murder a better man than yourself. But have you forgotten how +you scorched my fingers twenty years ago, with a burning cake? The +day is come that that breakfast must be paid for." So saying, he +dashed out his father-in-law's brains with a battle-axe, took +possession of his castle and property, and established there a +distinguished branch of the clan of MacLean.—<i>Tales of a +Grandfather—Second Series.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>ADVANTAGES OF A GOOD HEART,</h2> +<h4><i>A Fragment from the "Disowned," by the author of +"Pelham."</i></h4> +<p>"The next day, Sir Christopher Findlater called on Clarence. +'Let us lounge into the park,' said he. 'With pleasure,' replied +Clarence; and into the park they lounged. By the way they met a +crowd, who were hurrying a man to prison. The good-hearted Sir +Christopher stopped—'Who is that poor fellow?' said he. 'It +is the celebrated'—(in England all criminals are celebrated. +Thurtell was a hero, Thistlewood a patriot, and Fauntleroy was +discovered to be exactly like Bonaparte)—'it is the +celebrated robber, John Jefferies, who broke into Mrs. Wilson's +house, and cut the throats of herself and her husband, wounded the +maid-servant, and split the child's skull with the poker.' * * * +'John Jefferies!' exclaimed the baronet, 'let us come away.' +'Linden,' continued Sir Christopher, 'that fellow was my servant +once. He robbed me to some considerable extent. I caught him. He +appealed to my heart, and you know, my dear fellow, that was +irresistible, so I let him off. Who could have thought he would +have turned out so?' And the baronet proceeded to eulogize his own +good nature, by which it is just necessary to remark, that one +miscreant had been saved for a few years from transportation in +order to rob and murder <i>ad libitum</i>, and having fulfilled the +office of a common pest, to suffer on the gallows at last. What a +fine thing it is to have a good heart! Both our gentlemen now sunk +into a reverie, from which they were awakened, at the entrance of +the park, by a young man in rags, who, with a piteous tone, +supplicated charity. Clarence, who to his honour be it spoken, +spent an allotted and considerable part of his income in judicious +and laborious benevolence, had read a little of political morals, +then beginning to be understood, and walked on. The good-hearted +baronet put his hand in his pocket, and gave the beggar +half-a-guinea, by which a young, strong man, who had only just +commenced the trade, was confirmed in his imposition for the rest +of his life; and instead of the useful support, became the +pernicious incumbrance of society. Sir Christopher had now +recovered his spirits. 'What's like a good action?' said he to +Clarence, with a swelling breast. The park was crowded to excess; +our loungers were joined by Lord St. George. His lordship was a +staunch Tory. He could not endure Wilkes, liberty, or general +education. He launched out against the enlightenment of domestics. +'What has made you so bitter?' said Sir Christopher. 'My valet!' +cried Lord St. George; 'he has invented a new toasting-fork; is +going to take out a patent, make his fortune, <i>and leave me</i>; +that's what I call ingratitude, Sir Christopher; for I ordered his +wages to be raised five pounds but last year.' 'It <i>was</i> very +ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated the +good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet, +Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow, +who can neither read nor write?' 'N—o—o—that is +to say, yes! I can; my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and +is as ignorant as—as—' 'I—or you are,' said Lord +St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,' replied the baronet. 'Well, +then, I take your recommendation: send him to me to-morrow at +twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My dear Findlater,' cried +Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did you not tell me some +time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and closely <i>lie</i> +with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St. George!' +'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue, to be +sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his +eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a +character; so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the +truth,' observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take +him!' rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible +<i>naiveté</i>. 'No, no, Linden, we must not be so +hard-hearted; we must forgive and forget;' and so saying, the +baronet threw out his chest, with the conscious exultation of a man +who has uttered a noble sentiment. The moral of this little history +is, that Lord St. George, having been pillaged 'through thick and +thin,' as the proverb has it, for two years, at last missed a gold +watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his career, as his exemplary +tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page396" id="page396"></a>[pg 396]</span> done before him. Ah! +what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return, just +as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady +Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself +to his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in +saying the prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, +at least in his eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much +mischief as a good heart well can do in a walk of an hour, returned +home to write a long letter to his mother, against 'learning and +all such nonsense, which only served to blunt the affections and +harden the heart.' 'Admirable young man!' cried the mother, with +tears in her eyes; 'a good heart is better than all the heads in +the world.' Amen!"</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h3>SPIRIT OF THE</h3> +<h2>Public Journals.</h2> +<h3>QUADRANGLE OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.</h3> +<p>In the last <i>New Monthly Magazine</i> is an excellent account +of this splendid structure, in <i>A Day at Cambridge</i>,—in +which occurs the following exquisite little descriptive +gem:—</p> +<p>With the exception of a gravel walk, running near to the +buildings on every side, the whole ground-plot of this quadrangle +is covered by an unbroken turf, kept, by means of constant and +almost hourly attention, in that exquisite order which is only to +be observed in spots devoted to similar purposes, here and at +Oxford. The effect of an unbroken plot of turf of this kind and +quality, and in a situation like this, is perfectly unique, and +perhaps indescribable. It is supposed to be, and in fact is, for +all purposes of preservation and beauty, sacred from the foot of +man or beast; and the feeling arising from this circumstance, added +to the exquisite natural adaptation of the object itself to the +purposes of rest and relief from the almost dazzling architectural +splendour of the surrounding objects, is such as cannot be +communicated by any other means whatever, and we might in vain +attempt to describe. It is of such a kind, however, that those who +are capable of experiencing it, would as soon think of treading +upon the object that conveys it to them, as those who honour Nature +would think of rooting up a nest of violets. Speaking for ourselves +alone, there is but one thing that can disturb and deteriorate the +absolute tranquillity of mind, and peace of heart, which fall upon +us, like dew from heaven, on entering a place like that we have +attempted to describe above; it is, to see a capped and gowned +Fellow, profaning with his footsteps the floor of that, in some +sort, sacred temple, merely because he can, by so doing, reach his +habitation by a few footsteps less than if he kept to the path +allotted for him. We look upon the act as a species of impiety; to +say nothing of its proving, to a demonstration, that the person who +commits it is either utterly insensible to the mysterious harmony +that subsists between a certain class of natural objects and the +heart of man; or utterly disregards that harmony, and sets it at +naught. He is, in fact, one of whom it may in one sense be said, +that</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"He hath no music in his soul."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And we are almost tempted to complete the quotation, by +adding—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Let no such man be trusted!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>A RUSTIC PAIR.</h3> +<h4><i>By Miss Mitford</i>.</h4> +<p>Few damsels of twelve years old, generally a very pretty age, +were less pretty that Hannah Bint. Short and stunted in her figure, +thin in face, sharp in feature, with a muddled complexion, wild +sun-burnt hair, and eyes, whose very brightness had in them +something startling, over-informed, super-subtle, too clever for +her age. At twelve years old she had quite the air of a little old +fairy. Now, at seventeen, matters are mended. Her complexion has +cleared; her countenance, her figure, has shot up into height and +brightness, and a sort of rustic grace; her bright, acute eye is +softened and sweetened by the womanly wish to please; her hair is +trimmed, and curled, and brushed with exquisite neatness; and her +whole dress arranged with that nice attention to the becoming, the +suitable both in form and texture, which would be called the +highest degree of coquetry, if it did not deserve the better name +of propriety. Never was such a transmogrification beheld. The lass +is really pretty, and Ned Miles has discovered that she is so. +There he stands, the rogue, close at her aide, (for he hath joined +her whilst we have been telling her little story, and the milking +is over!)—there he stands—holding her milk-pail in one +hand, and stroking Watch with the other; whilst she is returning +the compliment, by patting Neptune's magnificent head. There they +stand, as much like lovers as may be; he smiling, and she +blushing—he never looking so handsome, nor she so pretty, in +all their lives. There they stand, in <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page397" id="page397"></a>[pg 397]</span> +blessed forgetfulness of all except each other—as happy a +couple as ever trod the earth. There they stand, and one would not +disturb them for all the milk and butter in Christendom. I should +not wonder if they were fixing the wedding-day.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>RECOLLECTIONS OF A R*T.</h2> +<h4><i>(Concluded from page 365.)</i></h4> +<p>Finding a detachment just setting out to join the Grand Allied +Army, I thought, as a true Briton, I could do no less than +accompany it, and prevailed upon all our party to do the same.</p> +<p>The detachment with which I marched, consisted of 80,000. As we +had little baggage, having crossed the Rhine, we proceeded rapidly +through a dull, uninteresting country.</p> +<p>The town of Coblentz is situated at the junction of the Rhine +and the Moselle. Here the majestic Rhine gently flows along in all +its grandeur, separating the town from the noble fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein.<a id="footnotetag6" name= +"footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> I crossed +over the bridge of boats, and made a most minute inspection of this +very romantic castle, which gave me great pleasure indeed. In a few +days I availed myself of a passage-boat which was going to Mayence, +and was quite enraptured with the view on all sides. Rhenish wines, +and perhaps also the water, I found did not well agree with my +stomach; and no inconsiderable annoyance, I soon experienced. They +seemed, however, to have exactly the same effect upon every +Englishman I saw, so I was not singular. A little brandy soon, +however, put me all to rights; and by the time I reached +Strasbourg, I was perfectly well again, and able to do ample +justice to her Splendid Pies! I attended high mass in the great +Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was surprised and pleased at the sight +of 10,000 soldiers, in review order, drawn up within its walls. It +was tiresome enough work mounting to the top of the spire, (which I +ascertained, by the steps I took, to be exactly 490 feet high, +Strasbourg measure; and this is exactly eight feet higher than St. +Peter's at Rome), but I made it out, notwithstanding the sulky +looks of the jackanapes who lives at the top. Nothing can surpass +the beauty of the view from this cathedral. At your feet you have +the ancient town, with all its regular fortifications and +outworks—the majestic Rhine, with its bridge of boats, and +ruined Gothic bridge, sublime in its decay—and as far as the +eye can reach you have an exceedingly rich country, everywhere +speckled with towns, and fertilized by luxuriant streams.</p> +<p>I made a point of visiting my venerable friend, the old Comte de +Strasbourg, who, unchanged in the rolling on of centuries, lies in +his glass coffin, to all appearance in the same freshness of health +and vigour in which, when myself a very young man, I saw him many +hundred years ago;<a id="footnotetag7" name= +"footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> his +countess, his son, and his daughter, keep him company, each in +their separate place of repose. Alas, alas! the sight made me +weep.</p> +<p>A few days afterwards, I was rather unexpectedly stopped in my +tour. For a night I had taken up my residence in the carriage of a +young Englishman, who that day arrived from Rome, the hostler +having assured me that he would remain for some time. I did so, as +I found it much quieter and cooler than the hotel "La ville de +Lyon," which was overcrowded. In the morning, I thought my friends +were merely going a short drive, so I kept my seat. We, however, +travelled on till night, when I heard we were bound for London; but +as my companions were very agreeable, I thought I might as well +accompany them the whole way. They seemed to be annoyed at every +posthouse with their passports, &c.; I was never even asked +about the matter. The custom-house gentry, in their searches, to be +sure, occasionally gave me a little trouble, but I was soon up to +their tricks. We had an avant-courier constantly galloping before +us, and we travelled with such expedition that we reached London in +five days; for my fellow-travellers were idle young men of fortune, +who are of course always in the greatest hurry for the end of a +journey, because they don't know what to make of themselves when it +is over.</p> +<p>I had not then an opportunity of seeing Paris, as we only +changed horses in it. I have since, however, spent many months +there, and have always been very much pleased with every thing I +saw, particularly the Catacombs, which were my favourite lounge. +When last in Paris, I made a narrow escape with my life, as I +tumbled headlong into a cask of brandy. I, however, managed to +scramble out, with the assistance of a bit of cord, which happened +to be hanging over its side, and which my friend pushed in to me. I +was little the worse of my ducking; for, as soon as I got out, I +was set a-laughing by his telling me how to spell <i>brandy</i>, in +both French and English, in three letters, viz. "B.R. and Y." and +"O.D.V."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page398" id="page398"></a>[pg +398]</span> +<p>In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, +and was certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, +however, that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, +and all the eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in +comparison of what I saw and tasted at the East India and London +Docks. When I was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to +me, that he had heard an act read, offering a reward of +10,000<i>l.</i> for a <i>male</i> tortoise-shell cat. This I +believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for such a thing was never +heard of. And it is certainly as much worth their while as making +an act that I should never have more than six dishes of meat at my +dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen above twenty +shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it particularly, +and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however, one +restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the +present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still +in force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of +their acts of Parliament are silly enough—as they must be; +for they don't like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is +necessary to be always enacting something.</p> +<p>It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the +great city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest +friend on earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in +rather an unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would +expose herself to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all +respect for her, and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, +poor fellows, they have a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull +certainly gives himself many airs, to say the least of it. After +receiving the greatest kindness and hospitality from you in +Scotland, and perhaps staying for months in your house, he will cut +you dead in London. I remember once meeting with such a return, but +took it, of course, very coolly. Next day, when I was arm in arm +with —— ——, I happened again to meet my +quondam friend, who immediately rushed up to me—I, however, +turned on my tail, and did not know him.—Fashion is an odd +thing after all. It is not rank which will do. I have seen many a +spendthrift young commoner cut his uncle the duke; and being a +duchess by no means will ensure admittance at Almack's.—I +thank my stars, I am not fashionable, and am always happy to see my +friends!</p> +<p>I was persuaded, soon after reaching London, to go down to Essex +for a few days, to pay a visit to an old friend. When I arrived at +his house, which I think they called Waltham Abbey, I was sorry to +receive the melancholy accounts that he had been devoured, and +that, if I did not instantly take myself off, I should be dealt +with in the same manner. The truth was, that a famine had arisen; +and it is well known, on those occasions, as necessity has no law, +that the stronger kills the weaker. Day after day the combat is +renewed, till at last all except one are destroyed, and he is then +obliged to decamp, or eat himself up, as he likes best. It is in +this way that castles, houses, &c. which have been long +infested by us, are so suddenly entirely freed from our +presence.</p> +<p>I amused myself in making an excursion to Epping Forest, till I +thought the civil war at my late friend's habitation might have +proceeded far enough for my presence to be useful. In the forest, +one day, I had the luck to kill one of those troublesome +reptiles—a Tom Cat. I believe, however, it was a house one. +After a hard day's hunting his highness made too free at a Valerian +party. I watched my opportunity, and soon put an effectual end to +his caterwauling. When I returned to the abbey, I found I was in +the best possible time—the garrison being reduced to about a +dozen, and they so weakened and tired out with the constant +worrying work they had had, that I was myself a complete match for +any two of them. In a few days the number was only four, and in +other two days I was sole lord and master.</p> +<p>[He then returns to town.]</p> +<p>At a friend's house, in Berkeley Square, where I met a +distinguished party, a scene took place, just such as Pope +describes—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Our courtier walks from dish to dish;</p> +<p>Tastes, for his friend, of fowl and fish:</p> +<p>"That jelly's rich, that malmsey's healing,</p> +<p>Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in."</p> +<p>Was ever such a happy swain?</p> +<p>He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again.</p> +<p>"I'm quite ashamed—'Tis mighty rude</p> +<p>To eat so much; but all's so good!</p> +<p>I have a thousand thanks to give,</p> +<p>My lord alone knows how to live."—</p> +<p>No sooner said, but from the hall</p> +<p>Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all:</p> +<p>"A r—t, a r—t! clap to the door!"—</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>I, however, made good my exit, and was nothing the worse of a +practical warning to be more cautious in future.</p> +<p>It would be endless for me to describe all my after voyages and +travels. Suffice it to say, I have been both east and west, north +and south; and there is scarcely a part of the habitable globe +which I have not visited. After all, I have come to this +conclusion, that there is no country like Britain. Oh! how I could +wish my human existence had been in such happy <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page399" id="page399"></a>[pg 399]</span> times +and under such glorious sovereigns as a George the Third, and +George the Fourth!!!</p> +<p>For some years I have remained in this country, enjoying (like a +patriarch of old) a quiet, regular life with my family, which now +amounts to above 2,000. I, however, keep very much to my own room, +as I hate bustle, and like to enjoy my own reflections.</p> +<p>The age to which our species can exist is not ascertained, as +never one of us was known to die in his bed, at least a natural +death. A kind of instinct I have always had, has as yet saved me +from arsenic, stewed corks, traps, stamps, &c.; and my great +strength, and a good deal of science, which is of more consequence, +have, as yet, preserved me in many a deadly combat, both with my +own species, and with the dog, the ferret, the weasel, the hawk, +and that green-eyed monster—the cat. But I am now getting +somewhat stiffer, and am not so sharp as I was. I am not—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"——qualis eram, quum primam aciem Præneste sub +ipsa</p> +<p>Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos;</p> +<p>Et regem hâc Herilum dextrâ sub Tartara misi!!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>And in some evil hour my time must come.</p> +<p>—I am well aware, indeed, of the fleeting existence even +of this world itself, for I studied astronomy with the celebrated +M. Olbers of Bremen, and assisted him in making many useful +observations and discoveries, particularly regarding comets, in the +course of which we came to this melancholy conclusion, that the +comet which was afterwards visible in 1786 and 1795, will, in +83,000 years, approach the earth as nearly as the moon; and that in +4,000,000 years it will come to within a distance of 7,700 +geographical miles;—the consequence of which will be (if its +attraction be equal to that of the earth) the elevation of the +waters of the ocean 13,000 feet; that is to say, above the tops of +all the European mountains, except Mount Blanc. The inhabitants of +the Andes and of the Himalaya mountains alone will escape this +second deluge; but they will not benefit by their good fortune more +than 216,000,000 years, for it is probable, that at the expiration +of that time, our globe standing right in the way of the comet, +will receive a shock severe enough to ensure its utter +destruction!!!</p> +<p><i>Note.</i>—After reading over the above MS., I am +inclined to come to this conclusion—that our historian, while +in a human form, must have been a Scottish nobleman—that he +probably was born about the year 1501—and that he lived to +about the age of 89.—<i>Ed.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE FANCY BALL.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"A visor for a visor! what care I</p> +<p>What curious eye doth quote deformities!"</p> +<p class="i10">SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"You used to talk," said Miss Mac Call,</p> +<p class="i2">"Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid;</p> +<p>But now you never talk at all.</p> +<p class="i2">You're getting vastly stupid.</p> +<p>You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir,</p> +<p class="i2">You never will get through it;</p> +<p>There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester—</p> +<p class="i2">Do let us take you to it."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I made that night a solemn vow,</p> +<p class="i2">To startle all beholders:</p> +<p>I wore white muslin on my brow,</p> +<p class="i2">Green velvet on my shoulders—</p> +<p>My trousers were supremely wide,</p> +<p class="i2">I learn'd to swear "by Allah"—</p> +<p>I stuck a poniard by my side,</p> +<p class="i2">And called myself "Abdallah."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair,</p> +<p class="i2">Made up of silks and leathers,</p> +<p>Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair,</p> +<p class="i2">Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers:</p> +<p>The dullest Duke in all the town,</p> +<p class="i2">To-night may shine a droll one—</p> +<p>And rakes, who have not half-a-crown,</p> +<p class="i2">Look royal with a whole one.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Hail, blest Confusion! here are met</p> +<p class="i2">All tongues, and times, and faces,</p> +<p>The Lancers flirt with Juliet,</p> +<p class="i2">The Bramin talks of races;</p> +<p>And where's your genius, bright Corinne?</p> +<p class="i2">And where your brogue, Sir Lucius?</p> +<p>And Chinca Ti, you have not seen</p> +<p class="i2">One chapter of Confucius.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt</p> +<p class="i2">With beauties from the Wrekin—</p> +<p>And belles from Berne look very pert</p> +<p class="i2">On Mandarins from Pekin;</p> +<p>The Cardinal is here from Rome,</p> +<p class="i2">The Commandant from Seville—</p> +<p>And Hamlet's father from the tomb,</p> +<p class="i2">And Faustus from the Devil.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray,</p> +<p class="i2">What mean they, Nun or Fairy:</p> +<p>I guess they told no beads to-day,</p> +<p class="i2">And sang no Ave Mary.</p> +<p>From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix,</p> +<p class="i2">Barred door, and window grated,</p> +<p>I wish all pretty Catholics</p> +<p class="i2">Were thus emancipated.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles,</p> +<p class="i2">With four well-seasoned sailors—</p> +<p>And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills,</p> +<p class="i2">With Timon, prince of railers.</p> +<p>I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park</p> +<p class="i2">Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca—</p> +<p>And I run away from Joan of Arc,</p> +<p class="i2">To romp with sad Rebecca.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Fair Cleopatra's very plain,</p> +<p class="i2">Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers—</p> +<p>And Cæsar's murder'd o'er again,</p> +<p class="i2">Though not by Roman daggers.</p> +<p>Great Charlemagne is four feet high—</p> +<p class="i2">Sad Stuff has Bacon spoken—</p> +<p>Queen Mary's waist is all awry,</p> +<p class="i2">And Psyche's nose is broken.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Our happiest bride, how very odd!</p> +<p class="i2">Is the mourning Isabella,</p> +<p>And the heaviest foot that ever trod</p> +<p class="i2">Is the foot of Cinderella.</p> +<p>Here sad Calista laughs outright,</p> +<p class="i2">There Yorick looks most grave, Sir,</p> +<p>And a Templar waves the cross to-night,</p> +<p class="i2">Who never cross'd the wave, Sir.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page400" id="page400"></a>[pg +400]</span></div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>And what a Babel is the talk!</p> +<p class="i2">"The Giraffe"—"plays the fiddle"—</p> +<p>"Macadam's roads"—"I hate this chalk"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Sweet girl"—"a charming riddle"—</p> +<p>"I'm nearly drunk with"—"Epsom salts"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Yes, separate beds"—"such cronies!"—</p> +<p>"Good heaven! who taught that man to valtz?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"A pair of Shetland ponies."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Lord D——" "an enchanting shape"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Will move for"—"Maraschino"</p> +<p>"Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"He died at Navarino!"</p> +<p>"The gout, by Jove, is"—"apple pie"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Don Miguel"—"Tom the tinker"—</p> +<p>"His Lordship's pedigree's as high</p> +<p class="i2">As ——" "Whipcord, dam by Clinker."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Love's shafts are weak"—"my chestnut kicks"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Heart broken;"—"broke the traces"—</p> +<p>"What say you now of politics?"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Change sides and to your places"—</p> +<p>"A five-barred gate"—"a precious pearl"</p> +<p class="i2">"Grave things may all be punn'd on!"—</p> +<p>"The Whigs, thank God, are"—"out of curl!"—</p> +<p class="i2">"Her age is"—"four by London!"</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Thus run the giddy hours away,</p> +<p class="i2">Till morning's light is beaming,</p> +<p>And we must go to dream by day</p> +<p class="i2">All we to-night are dreaming;</p> +<p>To smile and sigh, to love and change—</p> +<p class="i2">Oh! in our heart's recesses,</p> +<p>We dress in fancies quite as strange</p> +<p class="i2">As these our fancy-dresses.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p><i>New Monthly Magazine</i>.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Gatherer.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p class="i10">SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Tho' lang an lonely be the road</p> +<p class="i2">Between me an my dearie;</p> +<p>Yet I the gate hae aften troad,</p> +<p class="i2">When I've been tired and wearie.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Be't stormin rain, hail, win or snaw—</p> +<p class="i2">A lonely road and drearie—</p> +<p>There's nought wad e'er keep me awa</p> +<p class="i2">Frae gaun to see my dearie!!!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>M.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>FRENCH BALL CONVERSATION.</h3> +<p>During the French revolution, parties danced as gaily as ever; +the following is a ball conversation, which took place in the month +of Frimare, year 7.:—Well, the Ottoman Porte has declared war +against us! Oh yes, there is no doubt of it, (<i>En avant deux</i>) +It is an enemy the more—(<i>chassez</i>) and the Russian +fleet they say has passed the Dardanelles, (<i>en avant quatre</i>) +yet the papers say that the emperor sincerely desires +peace.—Yes, but Count Metternich wishes for war, +(<i>balancez</i>) so we have also a new coalition against us. +England, Portugal, Naples, Turkey, the Emperor, Russia, perhaps the +empire of Prussia, (<i>Faites face et chassez tous les +huit</i>)—well we have bayonettes, (<i>la poussette</i>) +besides it is not so far from Dover to Calais, +(<i>traversez</i>)—Do you belong to the +conscription?—Yes, and I too; (<i>pirouettez</i>) what makes +me uneasy is to know what will become of our partners when we are +gone: (<i>La chaine des dames</i>)—what will be left to amuse +them (<i>La queu du chat</i>.) It was thus that days of terror were +preceded by evenings of amusement and pleasure.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>INTUITIVE AFFECTION.</h3> +<p>"There are three things," said a wit, "which I have always loved +without ever understanding them, painting, music, and woman."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>RETORT UNCOURTEOUS.</h3> +<p>A lady, well known in the fashionable vicinity of +Portland-place, always accosts a stranger, with "I think I have +seen you somewhere," which often leads to a clue for her finding +out the history of the party. One evening she played off the same +game on a gentleman, who replied, "Most likely, madam, for I +sometimes go there."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>With the present Number is published the SECOND SUPPLEMENT of +the Spirit of the Annuals—containing Poetry and Prose by +Allan Cunningham, Professor Wilson, the late P.B. Shelley, Miss +Landon, Mrs. Hemans, Mr. Pringle, Theodore Hook, and other +distinguished Writers—with a beautiful Engraving.</p> +<hr /> +<p>Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets +are informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be +purchased separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, +and can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or +Newsvender.</p> +<p>Complete sets Vol. I. to XI. in boards, price £2. +19<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> half bound, £3. 17<i>s.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h4><i>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS.</i></h4> +<p>CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the +Strand, near Somerset House.</p> +<p>The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> boards.</p> +<p>The TALES of the GENII. Price 2<i>s.</i></p> +<p>The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING, &c. Price +2<i>s.</i></p> +<p>PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price +13<i>s.</i> boards.</p> +<p>COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> +boards.</p> +<p>COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8<i>s.</i> boards.</p> +<p>The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED +Price 5<i>s.</i> boards.</p> +<p>BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7<i>s.</i> boards.</p> +<p>The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> +<p>*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts.</p> +<p>GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8<i>d.</i></p> +<p>DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1<i>s.</i> 2<i>d.</i></p> +<p>BACON'S ESSAYS. Price 8<i>d.</i></p> +<p>SALMAGUNDI. Price 1<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>The Second of "the Spirit of the Annuals," containing a fine +Engraving, after a celebrated picture by Turner, and a string of +POETICAL GEMS from the Anniversary, Keepsake, and Friendship's +Offering, with unique extracts from such of "the Annuals" as were +not noticed in the previous Supplement.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p>Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>Strype's Stowe, vol. ii. p. 47, edit. 1755.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Miraculous dancing is not, however, confined to animals; for +William of Malmesbury gravely relates an instance of 15 young women +and 18 young men who (by the anathema of a priest) continued +dancing a whole year, and wore the earth so much, that, by degrees, +they sunk midway into the earth!</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>Here is a card "extraordinary" of one of our humble English +dancing-masters:—"As Dancing is the poetry of motion, those +who wish to sail through the mazes of harmony, or to 'trip it on +the light fantastic toe,' will find an able guide in John Wilde, +who was formed by nature for a dancing-master.—N.B. Those who +have been taught to dance with <i>a couple of left legs</i>, had +better apply in time, as he effectually cures all bad habits of the +kind."</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name= +"footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p>Apropos—our <i>Supplement</i> contains a fine Engraving of +this very spot.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name= +"footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7:</b> <a href= +"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +<p>The venerable count died about the year 1519. The glass coffins +are still shown.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p><i>Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near +Somerset House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, +Leipsic; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 12, ISSUE 345, DECEMBER 6, 1828***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 10719-h.txt or 10719-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/1/10719">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/1/10719</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, +Issue 345, December 6, 1828 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: January 14, 2004 [eBook #10719] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, +AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 12, ISSUE 345, DECEMBER 6, 1828*** + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, William Flis, and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 10719-h.htm or 10719-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h/10719-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/1/10719/10719-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 349.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE, AT ROME. + +[Illustration: The Arch of Constantine, at Rome.] + +"Still harping" on the Fine Arts--_Architecture_ and _Painting_. Of +the former, the above engraving is an illustration; and of the latter, +our readers will find a beautiful subject (from one of _Turner's_ +pictures) in a _Supplement published with the present Number_.[1] + + [1] The Second of "the Spirit of the Annuals," containing a fine + Engraving, after a celebrated picture by Turner, and a string of + POETICAL GEMS from the Anniversary, Keepsake, and Friendship's + Offering, with unique extracts from such of "the Annuals" as were + not noticed in the previous Supplement. + +The Arches of Rome were splendid monuments of triumph, erected in +honour of her illustrious generals. They were at first very simple, +being built of brick or hewn stone, and of a semicircular figure; but +afterwards more magnificent, built of the finest marble, and of a +square figure, with a large, arched gate in the middle, and two small +ones on each side, adorned with columns and statues. In the vault of +the middle gate, hung winged figures of victory, bearing crowns in +their hands, which, when let down, they placed on the victor's head, +when he passed in triumph. + +The _Arch of Constantine_, the most noble of all of these structures, +subsists almost entire. It was erected by the senate and Roman people, +in honour of Constantine, after his victory over Maxentius, and +crosses the Appian Way, at the junction of the Coelian and Palatine +Hills. Here it stands as the last monument of Roman triumph, or like +the December sun of "the world's sole monument." + +This building consists of three arches, of which the centre is the +largest; and has two fronts, each adorned with four columns of giallo +antico marble, of the Corinthian order, and fluted, supporting a +cornice, on which stand eight Dacian captives of Pavonazzetta, or +violet-coloured marble. + +The inscription on both sides of the architrave imports, that it was +dedicated "to the Emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine Augustus, the +greatest, pious, and the happy; because by a divine impulse, the +greatness of his courage, and the aid of his army, he avenged the +republic by his just arms, and, at the same time, rescued it from the +tyrant and his whole faction." On one side of the arch are the words, +"Liberatori urbis," to the deliverer of the city; and on the other, +"Fundatori quietis," to the founder of public tranquillity. + +Although erected to the honour of Constantine, this arch commemorates +the victories of Trajan, some of the basso-relievos, &c. having +been pilfered from one of the arches of Trajan. This accounts for +the Dacian captives, whose heads Lorenzo de Medicis broke off and +conveyed to Florence, but the theft might not have been so notorious +to posterity, had not the artists of Constantine's time added some +figures of inferior merit. Forsyth says, "Constantine's reign was +notorious for architectural robbery;" and the styles of the two +emperors, in the present arch, mar the harmony by their unsightly +contrasts. + +Although the decree for erecting this arch was, without doubt, passed +immediately after the defeat of Maxentius, it appears from the +monument itself, that the building was not finished and dedicated till +the tenth year of Constantine's reign, or the year of Christ 315 or +316. + +The newly-erected arch opposite the entrance to Hyde Park is from the +Roman arch, though, we believe, not from any particular model. In the +View of the New Palace, St. James's Park, (in our No. 278,) the arch, +to be called the Waterloo Monument, and erected in the middle of the +area of the palace, will be nearly a copy of that of Constantine +at Rome. In the court-yard of the Tuilleries at Paris, there is a +similar arch, copied from that of Septimius Severus. This was formerly +surmounted by the celebrated group of the horses of St. Mark, pilfered +from Venice, but restored at the peace of 1815. + + * * * * * + + + +THE BEGGAR'S DAUGHTER OF BETHNAL GREEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + +The popular ballad of "The Beggar's Daughter of Bednall-Greene" was +written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is founded, though without +the least appearance of truth, or even probability, on a legend of +the time of Henry III. Henry de Montfort, son of the ambitious Earl +of Leicester, who was slain with his father at the memorable battle +of Evesham, is the hero of the tale. He is supposed (according to +the legend) to have been discovered among the bodies of the slain +by a young lady, in an almost lifeless state, and deprived of sight +by a wound, which he had received during the engagement. Under +the fostering hand of this "faire damosel" he soon recovered, and +afterwards marrying her, she became the mother of "the comelye and +prettye Bessee." Fearing lest his rank and person should be discovered +by his enemies, he disguised himself in the habit of a beggar, and +took up his abode at Bethnal-Green. The beauty of his daughter +attracted many suitors, and she was at length married to a noble +knight, who, regardless of her supposed meanness and poverty, had the +courage to make her his wife, her other lovers having deserted her on +account of her low origin. Before entering, however, upon the ballad, +it may not, perhaps, be thought irrelevant to give a brief sketch of +the family of the De Montforts. + +Simon de Montfort, created Earl of Leicester by Henry III., was the +younger son of Simon de Montfort, the renowned but cruel commander +of the croisade against the Albigenses. This nobleman was greatly +honoured by Henry III., to whose sister, the Countess Dowager of +Pembroke, he paid his addresses, and was married, with the consent +of her brother. For the favour thus shown him by his sovereign, he, +however, proved ungrateful: his inordinate ambition, cloaked by a +pretended zeal for reform, was the cause of those rebellions which, in +the reign of Henry III., kept the kingdom in such a continued turmoil. +The different oppressions and successes of the confederate barons, +who at length got possession of the king's person, and the civil +wars which ensued, are so well known as to render any remark on the +subject superfluous; suffice it to say, that the disputes between +the malcontents and the royal party were at length terminated by the +battle of Evesham, which decided in favour of the latter. In this +field fell the Earl of Leicester and his eldest son, Henry de +Montfort. His death was followed by the total ruin of his family; +his titles and estates were all confiscated; the countess, his wife, +who had been extremely active in her designs against the royalists, +was banished, together with her sons, Simon and Guy, who afterwards +assassinated their cousin, Henry d'Allmane, when he was endeavouring +to effect a reconciliation between them and their uncle, Henry IV. +The head of the earl was sent as a signal of the victory by Roger de +Mortimer to the countess; but his body, together with that of his +son Henry, was interred in the Abbey of Evesham; thus leaving the +improbability of the legend without a shadow of doubt. + +As our limits will not allow us to quote the whole of the ballad,[1] +we must content ourselves with giving the song of the beggar, which, +as well as being the most interesting, contains the whole of the +legend concerning de Montfort:-- + + A poore beggar's daughter did dwell on a greene, + Who for her fairnesse might well be a queene: + A blithe bonny lasse, and a daintye was shee, + And many one called her pretty Bessee. + + Her father hee had noe goods nor noe land, + But begg'd for a penny all day with his hand; + And yett to her marriage he gave thousands three, + And still he hath somewhat for pretty Bessee. + + And if any one here her birth doe disdaine, + Her father is ready, with might and with maine, + To prove shee is come of noble degree-- + Therefore, ever flout att prettye Bessee. + + * * * * * + + Then give me leave, nobles and gentles, each one, + One song more to sing, and then I have done; + And if that itt may not winn good report, + Then doe not give me a GROAT for my sport. + + Sir Simon de Montfort my subject shall bee. + Once chiefe of all the great barons was hee-- + Yet fortune so cruelle this lorde did abase, + Now loste and forgotten are hee and his race. + + When the barons in armes did King Henrye oppose, + Sir Simon de Montfort their leader they chose-- + A leader of courage undaunted was hee, + And oft-times he made their enemyes flee. + + At length in the battle on Eveshame plaine + The barons were routed, and Montfort was slaine; + Moste fatall that battel did prove unto thee, + Thoughe thou wast not borne then, my prettye Bessee! + + Along with the nobles that fell at that tyde, + His eldest son Henrye, who fought by his side, + Was fellde by a blowe he receiv'de in the fighte! + A blowe that depriv'de him for ever of sight. + + Among the dead bodyes all lifelesse he laye, + Till evening drewe on of the following daye, + When by a yong ladye discover'd was hee-- + And this was thy mother, my prettye Bessee! + + A baron's faire daughter stept forth in the nighte, + To search for her father, who fell in the fight, + And seeing yong Montfort, where gasping he laye, + Was moved with pitye, and broughte him awaye. + + In secrette she nurst him, and swaged his paine, + While he throughe the realme was beleev'd to be slaine: + At lengthe his faire bride she consented to bee, + And made him glad father of prettye Bessee. + + And nowe, lest oure foes our lives sholde betraye + We clothed ourselves in beggars' arraye; + Her jewells shee solde, and hither came wee-- + All our comfort and care was our prettye Bessee. + + And here have wee lived in fortunes despite, + Thoughe poore, yet contented with humble delighte; + Full forty winters thus have I beene + A silly blind beggar of Bednall-greene. + + And here, noble lordes, is ended the song + Of one that once to your owne ranke did belong: + And thus have you learned a secrette from mee, + That ne'er had beene knowne but for prettye Bessee. + + [1] Vide Percy's "Reliques," vol. ii. p. 178. + +At Bethnal-Green is an old mansion, which, in the survey of 1703, was +called _Bethnal-Green-House_, and which the inhabitants, with their +usual love of traditionary lore, assign as the "Palace of the Blind +Beggar." This house was erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by +John Kirby, citizen of London, and was, says Stow,[1] "lofty like a +castle." It was afterwards the residence of Sir Hugh Platt, Knight, +the author of many ingenious works; from him it came into the +possession of Sir William Ryder, Knight, who died there in 1669; of +late years it has been used as a private madhouse. The tradition of +the beggar is still preserved on the sign-posts of several of the +public-houses in the neighbourhood. + + [1] Strype's Stowe, vol. ii. p. 47, edit. 1755. + +S.I.B. + + * * * * * + + + +HISTORY AND ANTIQUITY OF WILLS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +According to Blackstone, wills are of high antiquity. We find them +among the ancient Hebrews; not to mention what Eusebius and others +have related of Noah's testament, made in writing, and witnessed under +his seal, by which he disposed of the whole world. A more authentic +instance of the early use of testaments occurs in the sacred writings, +(Genesis, chap. xlviii.) in which Jacob bequeaths to his son Joseph, a +portion of his inheritance, double to that of his brethren. + +The Grecian practice concerning wills (says Potter) was not the same +in all places; some states permitted men to dispose of their estates, +others wholly deprived them of that privilege. We are told by +Plutarch, that Solon is much commended for his law concerning wills; +for before his time no man was allowed to make any, but all the wealth +of deceased persons belonged to their families; but he permitted them +to bestow it on whom they pleased, esteeming friendship a stronger tie +than kindred, and affection than necessity, and thus put every man's +estate in the disposal of the possessor; yet he allowed not all sorts +of wills, but required the following conditions in all persons that +made them:-- + +1st. That they must be citizens of Athens, not slaves, or foreigners, +for then their estates were confiscated for the public use. + +2nd. That they must be men who have arrived to twenty years of age, +for women and men under that age were not permitted to dispose by will +of more than one _medimn_ of barley. + +3rd. That they must not be adopted; for when adopted persons died +without issue, the estates they received by adoption returned to the +relations of the men who adopted them. + +4th. That they should have no male children of their own, for then +their estate belonged to these. If they had only daughters, the +persons to whom the inheritance was bequeathed were obliged to marry +them. Yet men were allowed to appoint heirs to succeed their children, +in case these happened to die under twenty years of age. + +5th. That they should be in their right minds, because testaments +extorted through the phrenzy of a disease, or dotage of old age, were +not in reality the wills of the persons that made them. + +6th. That they should not be under imprisonment, or other constraint, +their consent being then only forced, nor in justice to be reputed +voluntary. + +7th. That they should not be induced to it by the charms and +insinuations of a wife; for (says Plutarch) the wise lawgiver with +good reason thought that no difference was to be put between deceit +and necessity, flattery and compulsion, since both are equally +powerful to persuade a man from reason. + +Wills were usually signed before several witnesses, who put seals to +them for confirmation, then placed them in the hands of trustees, who +were obliged to see them performed. At Athens, some of the magistrates +were very often present at the making of wills. Sometimes the +_archons_ were also present. Sometimes the testator declared his will +before sufficient witnesses, without committing it to writing. Thus +Callias, fearing to be cut off by a wicked conspiracy, is said to have +made an open declaration of his will before the popular assembly at +Athens. There were several copies of wills in Diogenes Laertius, as +those of Aristotle, Lycon, and Theophrastus; whence it appears they +had a common form, beginning with a wish for life and health. + +The most ancient testaments among the Romans were made _viva voce_, +the testator declaring his will in the presence of seven witnesses; +these they called _nuncupative_ testaments; but the danger of trusting +the will of the dead to the memory of the living soon abolished these; +and all testaments were ordered to be in writing. + +The Romans were wont to set aside testaments, as being _inofficiosa_, +deficient in natural duty, if they disinherited or totally passed by +(without assigning a true and sufficient reason) any of the children +of the testator. But if the child had any legacy, though ever so +small, it was a proof that the testator had not lost his memory nor +his reason, which otherwise the law presumed. Hence probably (says +Blackstone) has arisen that groundless, vulgar error of the necessity +of leaving the heir a shilling, or some other express legacy, in order +to effectually disinherit him; whereas the law of England, though +the heir, or next of kin, be totally omitted, admits no _querela +inofficiosa_, to set aside such testament. + +Alfred the Great made a will, wherein he declared, in express terms, +that it was just the English should be as free as their own thoughts. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE COSMOPOLITE. + +DANCING. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +Dancing is defined to be "to move in measure; to move with steps +correspondent to the sound of instruments." But there are other +species of dancing--as + + -----------------for three long months + To _dance attendance_ for a word of audience: + +and to dance with pain, or when, as Lord Bacon says, "in pestilences, +the malignity of the infecting vapour danceth the principal spirits." +The _Chorea S. Viti_, or _St. Vitus's Dance_ is another variation, +said to have once prevailed extensively, and to have been cured by a +prayer to this saint! whose martyrdom is commemorated on June 15. It +may not be generally known that a person afflicted with this species +of dancing can _run_, although he cannot walk or stand still. Another +and a more agreeable species is to _lead the dance_, an unjust +usurpation which is practised in a thousand other places beside the +ball-room. + +According to the mythologists, (authorities always quotable, and +nobody knows why,) the Curetes or Corybantes, a people of Crete, who +were _produced from rain_, first invented the dance to amuse the +infant Jupiter--with what success he danced we know not, for when a +year old he waged war against the Titans, and then his dancing days +must have terminated. + +A history of dancing is, however, not to our purpose; but a few of its +eccentricities. It occurs in the customs of all people, either as a +recreation or as a religious ceremony--held in contempt by some, and +in esteem by others. David danced before the ark; the daughters of +Shiloh danced in a solemn yearly festival; and the Israelites, (good +judges) danced round the golden calf. + +The ancients had a peculiar _penchant_ for dancing, whether in person +or by animals; and the feats of the latter distance all the wretched +efforts of the bears, dogs, and horses of our days. The attempts +of Galba to amuse the Roman people throw into the shade all the +peace-rejoicings and illuminations of St. James's and the Green Parks. +Suetonius, Seneca, and Pliny tell us of _elephants_ in their time that +were taught to walk the rope, backwards and forwards, up and down, +with the agility of an Italian rope-dancer. Such was the confidence +reposed in the docility and dexterity of the animal, that a person +sat upon an elephant's back, while he walked across the theatre +upon a rope, extended from the one side to the other. Lipsius, +who has collected these testimonies, thinks them too strong to be +doubted--perhaps even stronger than the rope. Scaliger corroborates +all of them; Busbequius _saw_ an elephant dance a _pas seul_ at +Constantinople; and Suetonius tells us of twelve elephants, six male +and six female, who were clothed like men and women, and performed a +country dance, in the reign of Tiberius. In later times, horses have +been taught to dance. In the carousals of Louis XIII. there were +dances of horses; and in the 13th century, some rode a horse upon a +rope. All this eclipses the puny modern feats of Astley and Ducrow.[1] + + [1] Miraculous dancing is not, however, confined to animals; for + William of Malmesbury gravely relates an instance of 15 young + women and 18 young men who (by the anathema of a priest) continued + dancing a whole year, and wore the earth so much, that, by + degrees, they sunk midway into the earth! + +The Greeks and Romans were divided upon the propriety of dancing. +Socrates who held death in contempt, when a reverend old gentleman, +learned to dance of Aspasia, the beautiful nurse of Grecian eloquence. +The Romans forgot their loss of the republic and of liberty-- + + ------------------the air we breathe + If we have it not we die. + +in seeing Pylades and Bathyllus dance before them in their +theatres--an indifference of which we were reminded on hearing that +the Parisians sat in the _Cafes_ on the Boulevard du Italiens--sipping +coffee and sucking down ice, during the capitulation of the city, and +while the French, killed and wounded, were conveyed along the road +before them. + +Cato, _Censorius_, danced at the age of fifty-six. Cicero, however, +reproached a consul with having danced. Tiberius, that monster of +indulgences, banished dancers from Rome; and Domitian, the illustrious +fly-catcher, expelled several of his _members of parliament_ for +having danced. We are much more civilized, for such an edict as that +of Domitian would clear our senate-houses as effectually as when +Cromwell turned out the Long Parliament. + +Among the Italians and the French even there have been found enemies +to dancing. Alfieri, the poet, had a great aversion to dancing; and +one Daneau wrote a Traite des Danses, in which he maintains that +"the devil never invented a more effectual way than dancing, to fill +the world with ----." The bishop of Noyon once presided at some +deliberations respecting a minuet; and in 1770, a reverend prelate +presented a document on dancing to the king of France. The Quakers +consider dancing below the dignity of the Christian character; and an +enthusiast, of another creed, thinks all lovers of the stage belong to +the schools of Voltaire and Hume, and that dancing is a link in the +chain of seduction. Stupid, leaden-heeled people, who constantly mope +in melancholy, and neither enjoy nor impart pleasure, will naturally +be enemies to dancing; and such we are induced to think the majority +of these opponents. + +The French are inveterate dancers. They have their _bals pares_ and +their _salons de danse_ in every street; and as long as the weather +will permit, they dance on platforms out of doors, and a heavy shower +of rain will scarcely cool their ardour in the recreation. Some of +their stage _figurantes_ resemble aerial beings rather than bone and +blood, for flesh may almost be left out of the composition. But the +Italians are a nation of dancers as well as the children of song, and +they seem to have followed the noble example of old Cato, in this +respect, with better effect than they have studied his virtue. We are +also told upon good authority, that the American dancers equal any of +the European _figurantes_. + +The English people have always been lovers of dancing; and it forms +an accompaniment of almost all their old sports and pastimes. Witness +the maypoles, wassails, and wakes of rural life, and the grotesque +morris-dance, originating in a kind of Pyrrhic or military dance, and +described by Sir William Temple as composed of "ten men, who danced a +maid marian and a tabor and pipe." In the time of Henry VII. dancers +were remarkably well paid; for in some of his accounts in the +Exchequer, we find + + L. s. d. +Paid to a spye, in reward----------------- 2 0 0 +To Pechie, the fool, in rewarde----------- 0 6 8 +To Richard Beden, for writing of bokes---- 0 10 0 +_To the young dameysell that daunceth_---- 30 0 0 + +In Shakspeare's time, to _dance_ was an elegant accomplishment. Thus +in the "Merry Wives of Windsor," "What say you to young Mr. Fenton? He +capers, he _dances_, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses." Locke +thus alludes to the graceful motions which dancing lends to the human +frame: "the legs of the dancing-master, and the fingers of a musician, +fall, as it were, naturally, without thought or pains, into regular +and admirable motions." + +It must be somewhat surprising to those who over-rate the +matter-of-fact character of the English people, that so great a +majority of them are attached to _dancing_. Among rank and wealth +this amusement admits of a finer display of beauty and artificial +decoration than almost any other recreation; for nothing can be more +splendid than a brilliantly illuminated and well-filled ball-room. +Dancing among the middle classes of society is equally mirthful though +not of so ostentatious a character, and it is a question whether the +latter, being free from the alloy of fashionable follies, are not more +exhilarated by sweet sounds than their wealthy superiors. But the +mushroom aristocracy and pride of purse often operate as checks to the +enjoyment of both these classes; and splendid dancing accommodations +sometimes put an end to the amusement. At Dorking, in Surrey, attached +to one of the inns is a ball-room, which cost the builder L12,000, and +here is one, or at most three balls during the year, while at scores +of places within our recollection, of less consequence, there are +monthly and even weekly balls; and we are inclined to think these +periodical recreations of great importance to the happiness of country +towns. But there is a species of intoxication sometimes arising +from them--that of dancing all night, to suffer from exhaustion and +rheumatism on the following day--an evil easy of remedy, by such +amusements being more frequent and less protracted. The influence +on the character of the people would probably be that of rendering +it more even, from the admixture or reciprocation of pleasure and +business being more proportional. This plan would get rid of much of +the ostentation and expense of a country ball, and would ultimately +prove the best antidote to the sins of scandal. + +As we have spoken of public dancing in the time of Henry VII., we will +show that the enormous sums paid to _artists_ have nourished their +conceit to an alarming height. Pitrot, the Vestris of his day, was a +consummate specimen of this effrontery. At Vienna, he chose to appear +only in the last act of the ballet. The emperor desired him to come +forth at the end of the first; Pitrot refused; the court left the +opera, and then Pitrot told the dancers they would have a hop by +themselves, which they did. However, this was forgiven; and, at his +departure, he was presented with the emperor's picture, set with +brilliants. Pitrot received it with _sang froid_, pressed his thumb +upon the crystal, crushed the picture to pieces, adding, "Thus I treat +men not worthy of my friendship." This fellow behaved equally ill +in France, Prussia, and Russia; but, at length, scouted by all his +patrons, and, after giving his thousands to opera girls, he wandered +about Calais in rags and poverty. Farinelli, after accumulating a +fortune in England, built a superb mansion in Italy, which he called +the _English Folly_.[1] + + [1] Here is a card "extraordinary" of one of our humble English + dancing-masters:--"As Dancing is the poetry of motion, those who + wish to sail through the mazes of harmony, or to 'trip it on the + light fantastic toe,' will find an able guide in John Wilde, who + was formed by nature for a dancing-master.--N.B. Those who have + been taught to dance with _a couple of left legs_, had better + apply in time, as he effectually cures all bad habits of the + kind." + +The oddity of some ideas of dancing is really ludicrous. The +Cambro-Britains, in a very late period, used to be played out of +church by a fiddle, and to form a dance in the church-yard at the +end of the service. But the ideas which the Chinese have of dancing +exceeds all others. When Commodore Anson was at Canton, the officers +of the _Centurion_ had a ball upon some court holiday: while they were +dancing, a Chinese, who very quietly surveyed the operation, said, +softly, to one of the party, "Why don't you let your servants do this +for you?" + + * * * * * + + + +FINE ARTS. + +SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION. + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + + +I beg to present you with a brief notice of the School of Painting at +the British Institution, Pall Mall; you may rely upon its correctness, +as I have been extremely cautious in making my notes, and in +ascertaining every particular relative to the subject. + +The students at this excellent institution have, for several weeks, +been arduously engaged in copying the fine pictures which were +entrusted to the directors by his majesty, and the nobility, for that +purpose. In general, the students have been very successful, and +deserve much praise; I must, however, in my prescribed limits, only +mention a few. + +Vandyke's _Duchess de St. Croix_ has been cleverly copied by Mr. Boden +and Mr. Faulkner; the latter gentleman has well imitated the color and +the beautiful finish of the original. Messrs. Frisk, Child, Howell +and M'Call have likewise made clever copies of this _chef d'oeuvre_ +of art. Many bold efforts have been made to copy Hobbima's large +_Landscape_; Mr. Laporte's is the most complete, though not quite +spirited enough in the handling. _The Spanish Gentleman_, by +Velasquez, has engaged the pencils of numerous artists, though they +have not all been so successful as could have been wished; Messrs. +Inskipp, Frisk, Morton and Child have produced the best _fac similes_. +The _Lime Kiln_, by the younger Teniers, has been carefully studied +by Mr. Gill, &c.; and Messrs. M'Call and Morton, have executed the +finest studies from _Innocent X._, by Velasquez. _The Embarkation_, +by Claude, is extremely well imitated in Mr. Cartwright's copy; and +the _Virgin and Child_, which is one of Julio Romano's best works, +has met with due attention from Mr. Farrier, and others. Mr. Novice +has executed the only copy from DeHooge's fine picture--_A Dutch +Family preparing for a Walk_; and Messrs. Foster and Earl display +considerable talent in their copies from the _Landscape and Cattle_, +by Cuyp. Other admirable works by Guido, Rubens, Bassan, Ruysdael, +Vanderneer, and Canaletta, have met with a host of imitators, from +whose talents we may anticipate, at no distant period, pictorial +excellency of the first order. I should discover a want of gallantry, +and, indeed, be most unjust, were I not to say that the ladies, in +nearly all their undertakings, have exerted their utmost to excel; +those especially, who have executed copies in water colours deserve +the highest recommendation. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY. + +THAXTED HIGHWAYMEN. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +The following incident led to the breaking up and dispersion of a gang +of desperate highwaymen, denominated the Thaxted gang, who about sixty +years ago used to infest the roads in the neighbourhood of Dunmow, +Thaxted, and the adjacent towns and villages:-- + +An opulent farmer of Thaxted, being one day at Dunmow market, received +a considerable sum of money, the produce of grain and other marketable +articles, which he had that day disposed of; and going to the inn +where he had left his horse, he ordered it to be saddled directly +for the purpose of returning home. In those times every tradesman, +salesman and a greater part of the publicans and innkeepers knew what +money each other received on a market day. The innkeeper at whose +house the farmer was in the habit of putting up at, said to him, "Why +you are not going home to-night, are you, with all that money about +you? You will stand a chance of getting a knock on the head."--"Let +them knock away," answered the farmer. "I have never yet been robbed, +nor do I think it likely I shall be to-night; so, Robert, get my horse +ready," calling to the hostler. "Well, but have you any weapons of +defence?" inquired the publican.--"No, nor none I want," responded the +farmer. The innkeeper pressed him to take a pair of holster pistols; +saying, "he might find them handy;" and after a great deal of +persuasion, he agreed to take _one_, the publican first loading and +charging it with ball. The farmer put the pistol in his great coat +pocket, and was on the point of departure when he recollected that he +had to get a pound of tea at a grocer's shop in the town, a few doors +from the inn. He instantly ran to the shop for the tea, and while the +grocer was serving him he made the same remark as the innkeeper had +done respecting his going home with so considerable a sum as he knew +the farmer had about him. The farmer made answer, "I am going home +to-night, but our friend the publican, has lent me a pistol; and if +any one interrupts me, I intend to blow his brains out."--"Do you +know," said the grocer, "I do not like that fellow. Will you let me +look at the pistol if you have it with you."--"O yes, look at it if +you like. I never fired a pistol in my life; however, should I be +stopped, I think I could manage it." The grocer took the pistol; drew +the charge; and found, to the great surprise of the farmer, it was +only loaded with horse-dung, and a large bullet at the top. "I thought +he was a rascal, and this confirms it." said the grocer. "Here is +evidently a plot; now leave your money with me; we will load this +pistol properly, and you can, if you like, proceed on your journey: +it may be the means of detecting some one." + +The farmer left his money in the hands of the grocer; went back to the +inn; mounted his horse, and rode off on his journey. About a mile +from Dunmow, he was stopped by a fellow, well mounted, who instantly +demanded his money. "I have not got any," replied the farmer, "but I +have a pistol, with which, if you do not instantly allow me to pass on +my way home, I will blow your brains out." "You have got money--and as +to the pistol, you may blow away--blow away, my fine fellow," said the +chuckling highwayman. The farmer instantly fired, and his assailant +fell off his horse to the ground with a groan. The farmer galloped +back to the inn, and inquired of the hostler where his master was. +"He has been gone out, on horseback, about a quarter of an hour," +the hostler replied. "Well, I will tell you what," said the farmer, +"you may find your master, with his brains blown out, in the road," +describing the place where he had had the encounter with the +innkeeper. + +From this time a number of persons resident in and about Thaxted and +Dunmow, left their places of abode, which circumstance created some +surprise among the remaining inhabitants; but it was afterwards +ascertained they formed the desperate gang that had so long and +successfully robbed, and sometimes murdered, their unsuspecting +neighbours and the different travellers who had occasion to pass the +roads on which these marauders were stationed. + +J.W.B. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +WISE MEN OF GOTHAM. + +The village of Gotham, about seven miles from Nottingham, has been +rendered noted by the common proverb of "The Wise Men of Gotham." +It is observable that a custom has prevailed among many nations of +stigmatizing the inhabitants of some particular spot as remarkable for +stupidity. This opprobrious district among the Asiatics was Phrygia. +Among the Thracians, Abdera; among the Greeks, Boeotia; in England +it is Gotham. Of the Gothamites ironically called _The Wise Men of +Gotham_, many ridiculous stories are traditionally told, particularly, +that often having heard the cuckoo but never seen her, they hedged in +a bush from whence her note seemed to proceed, so that being confined +within so small a compass, they might at length satisfy their +curiosity; and at a place called Court Hill, in this parish, is a bush +called Cuckoo Bush. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + +MALLARD NIGHT. + +At All Souls' College, Oxford, the _Mallard Night_ is celebrated +annually on the 14th of January, in remembrance of a very singular +circumstance, viz. the discovery of a live and excessively large +mallard, or drake, supposed to have long ranged in a drain or sewer +of considerable depth. The only probable conjecture respecting its +extraordinary situation was, that it had fallen when young through the +bars or grating at the entrance of the drain, (which was of sufficient +width to receive it if very young,) but was found at a great distance +from it, on digging for the foundation of the college, (A.D. 1437.) A +very humorous account of this event was published some years ago by +Dr. Buckler, subwarden, from a manuscript of Thomas Walsingham, the +historian, and monk of St. Alban's. It is the cause of much mirth, for +on the day, and in remembrance of the mallard, many an old and merry +song is sung. + +E.T.S. + + * * * * * + +WELSH MARRIAGES. + +It appears to me a matter of no small surprise that so economical +a people as the English should not have adopted such a plan as the +following by the lower classes of the Welsh. When a young couple +intend offering themselves at the Temple of Hymen, if they are very +poor, they generally send a man, called the bidder, round to their +acquaintance and friends, who invites them, sometimes in rhyme, to +the wedding; but if they can afford it, they issue circulars. The +following is a copy of one:-- + +"_June 27, 1827._ + +"As we intend to enter the matrimonial state on Thursday, the 19th day +of July next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a bidding on +the occasion, the same day, at the Butchers' Arms, Carmarthen, when +and where the favour of your good and agreeable company is humbly +solicited; and whatever donation you may be pleased to confer on us +then, will be thankfully received, warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully +repaid whenever called for on a similar occasion. + +"By your most obedient servants, + +"JOHN JONES. + +"MARY EVANS." + +The persons so invited (if they accept the invitation) generally form +part of the procession to church, and are preceded by a harper or +fiddler. After the nuptial knot is tied, they veer their course to +the public-house mentioned in the bills, where they partake, not of a +sumptuous banquet, but of the simple, though not the worst, fare of +bread and cheese and kisses, at the expense of the new married folks. +After this, a large plate is placed on the table in the room, and they +proceed to receive the money which each person may be disposed to +give, whilst one keeps account of the sum and names. They frequently +receive 50_l._, and sometimes, though seldom, 100_l._; and they have +the privilege (by paying the duty) of selling the ale to the persons +assembled. It is to be observed, that the money so deposited cannot be +reclaimed by the persons who gave it until a similar occasion presents +itself in their family. By this means the new married couple are +enabled to procure furniture, and other things requisite for them. + +W.H. + + * * * * * + +CURIOUS FOUNDATION. + +At Spinney, in Cambridgeshire, was an abbey founded in the reign of +Henry III. near which was a church, built by Lady Mary Bassingburne, +and given to the Abbey of Spinney, on condition that the monks should +support seven aged men with the following allowance, viz. one farthing +loaf, one herring, and one pennyworth of ale per day, and two hundred +dry turves, one pair of shoes, one woollen garment, and three ells of +linen every year. Henry Cromwell, second son of Oliver Cromwell, is +buried here. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, + +AND + +LITERARY NOTICES OF + +_NEW WORKS_ + + * * * * * + + +ADVENTURES OF ALLAN-A-SOP. + +_By Sir Walter Scott, Bart._ + +The chief of the clan, MacLean of Duart, in the Isle of Mull, had an +intrigue with a beautiful young woman of his own clan, who bore a son +to him. In consequence of the child's being, by some accident, born in +a barn, he received the name of Allan-a-Sop, or Allan of the Straw, by +which he was distinguished from others of his clan. As his father and +mother were not married, Allan was of course a bastard or natural son, +and had no inheritance to look for, save that which he might win for +himself. + +But the beauty of the boy's mother having captivated a man of rank in +the clan, called MacLean of Torloisk, he married her, and took her +to reside with him at his castle of Torloisk, situated on the shores +of the Sound, or small strait of the sea, which divides the smaller +island of Ulva from that of Mull. Allan-a-Sop paid his mother frequent +visits at her new residence, and she was naturally glad to see the +poor boy, both from affection, and on account of his personal strength +and beauty, which distinguished him above other youths of his age. But +she was obliged to confer marks of her attachment on him as privately +as she could, for Allan's visits were by no means so acceptable to +her husband as to herself. Indeed, Torloisk liked so little to see +the lad, that he determined to put some affront on him, which should +prevent his returning to the castle for some time. An opportunity for +executing his purpose soon occurred. + +The lady one morning, looking from the window, saw her son coming +wandering down the hill, and hastened to put a girdle cake upon +the fire, that he might have hot bread to his breakfast. Something +called her out of the apartment after making this preparation, and +her husband entering at the same time, saw at once what she had been +about, and determined to give the boy such a reception as should +disgust him for the future. He snatched the cake from the girdle, +thrust it into his step-son's hands, which he forcibly closed on the +scalding bread, saying, "Here, Allan--here is a cake which your mother +has got ready for your breakfast." Allan's hands were severely burnt; +and, being a sharp-witted and proud boy, he resented this mark of his +step-father's ill-will, and came not again to Torloisk. + +At this time the western seas were covered with the vessels of +pirates, who, not unlike the sea-kings of Denmark at an early period, +sometimes settled and made conquests on the islands. Allan-a-Sop was +young, strong, and brave to desperation. He entered as a mariner on +board of one of these ships, and in process of time obtained the +command, first of one galley, then of a small flotilla, with which he +sailed round the seas and collected considerable plunder, until his +name became both feared and famous. At length he proposed to himself +to pay a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for many years; and +setting sail for this purpose, he anchored one morning in the Sound of +Ulva, and in front of the house of Torloisk. His mother was dead, but +his stepfather, to whom he was now an object of fear as he had been +formerly of aversion, hastened to the shore to receive his formidable +son-in-law, with great affectation of kindness and interest in his +prosperity; while Allan-a-Sop, who, though very rough and hasty, does +not appear to have been sullen or vindictive, seemed to take his kind +reception in good part. + +The crafty old man succeeded so well, as he thought, in securing +Allan's friendship, and in obliterating all recollections of the +former affront put on him, that he began to think it possible to +employ him in executing his private revenge upon MacKinnon of Ulva, +with whom, as was usual between such neighbours, he had some feud. +With this purpose, he offered what he called the following good advice +to his son-in-law:--"My dear Allan, you have now wandered over the +seas long enough; it is time you should have some footing upon land, +a castle to protect yourself in winter, a village and cattle for your +men, and a harbour to lay up your galleys. Now, here is the island +of Ulva, near at hand, which lies ready for your occupation, and it +will cost you no trouble, save that of putting to death the present +proprietor, the Laird of MacKinnon, a useless old carle, who has +cumbered the world long enough." + +Allan-a-Sop thanked his stepfather for so happy a suggestion, which +he declared he would put in execution forthwith. Accordingly, setting +sail the next morning, he appeared before MacKinnon's house an hour +before noon. The old chief of Ulva was much alarmed at the menacing +apparition of so many galleys, and his anxiety was not lessened by the +news, that they were commanded by the redoubted Allan-a-Sop. Having +no effectual means of resistance, MacKinnon, who was a man of shrewd +sense, saw no alternative save that of receiving the invaders, +whatever might be their purpose, with all outward demonstrations of +joy and satisfaction. He caused immediate preparations to be made for +a banquet as splendid as circumstances admitted, hastened down to +the shore to meet the rover, and welcomed him to Ulva with such an +appearance of sincerity, that the pirate found it impossible to pick +any quarrel which might afford a pretence for executing the violent +purpose which he had been led to meditate. + +They feasted together the whole day; and in the evening, as +Allan-a-Sop was about to retire to his ships, he thanked the Laird +of MacKinnon for his entertainment, but remarked, with a sigh, that +it had cost him very dear. "How can that be" said MacKinnon, "when I +bestowed this entertainment upon you in free good-will?"--"It is true, +my friend," replied the pirate, "but then it has quite disconcerted +the purpose for which I came hither; which was to put you to death, +my good friend, and seize upon your house and island, and so settle +myself in the world. It would have been very convenient, this island, +but your friendly reception has rendered it impossible for me to +execute my purpose; so that I must be a wanderer on the seas for some +time longer." Whatever MacKinnon felt at hearing that he had been so +near to destruction, he took care to show no emotion save surprise, +and replied to his visiter,--"My dear Allan, who was it that put into +your mind so unkind a purpose towards your old friend; for I am sure +it never arose from your own generous nature? It must have been your +father-in-law, old Torloisk, who made such an indifferent husband to +your mother, and such an unfriendly stepfather to you when you were a +helpless boy; but now, when he sees you a bold and powerful leader, he +desires to make a quarrel betwixt you and those who were the friends +of your youth. If you consider this matter rightly, Allan, you will +see that the estate and harbour of Torloisk lie as conveniently for +you as those of Ulva, and that, if you are to make a settlement by +force, it is much better it should be at the expense of the old churl, +who never showed you kindness or countenance, than at that of a friend +like me, who always loved and honoured you." + +Allan-a-Sop was struck with the justice of this reasoning; and the old +offence of his scalded fingers was suddenly recalled to his mind. "It +is very true what you say, MacKinnon," he replied, "and, besides, I +have not forgotten what a hot breakfast my father-in-law treated me to +one morning. Farewell for the present; you shall soon hear news of me +from the other side of the Sound." Having said thus much, the pirate +got on board, and commanding his men to unmoor the galleys, sailed +back to Torloisk, and prepared to land in arms. His father-in-law +hastened to meet him, in expectation to hear of the death of his +enemy, MacKinnon. But Allan greeted him in a very different manner +from what he expected. "You hoary old traitor," he said, "you +instigated my simple good-nature to murder a better man than yourself. +But have you forgotten how you scorched my fingers twenty years +ago, with a burning cake? The day is come that that breakfast must +be paid for." So saying, he dashed out his father-in-law's brains +with a battle-axe, took possession of his castle and property, +and established there a distinguished branch of the clan of +MacLean.--_Tales of a Grandfather--Second Series._ + + * * * * * + + + +ADVANTAGES OF A GOOD HEART, + +_A Fragment from the "Disowned," by the author of "Pelham."_ + + +"The next day, Sir Christopher Findlater called on Clarence. 'Let us +lounge into the park,' said he. 'With pleasure,' replied Clarence; +and into the park they lounged. By the way they met a crowd, who +were hurrying a man to prison. The good-hearted Sir Christopher +stopped--'Who is that poor fellow?' said he. 'It is the +celebrated'--(in England all criminals are celebrated. Thurtell was +a hero, Thistlewood a patriot, and Fauntleroy was discovered to be +exactly like Bonaparte)--'it is the celebrated robber, John Jefferies, +who broke into Mrs. Wilson's house, and cut the throats of herself and +her husband, wounded the maid-servant, and split the child's skull +with the poker.' * * * 'John Jefferies!' exclaimed the baronet, 'let +us come away.' 'Linden,' continued Sir Christopher, 'that fellow was +my servant once. He robbed me to some considerable extent. I caught +him. He appealed to my heart, and you know, my dear fellow, that was +irresistible, so I let him off. Who could have thought he would have +turned out so?' And the baronet proceeded to eulogize his own good +nature, by which it is just necessary to remark, that one miscreant +had been saved for a few years from transportation in order to rob and +murder _ad libitum_, and having fulfilled the office of a common pest, +to suffer on the gallows at last. What a fine thing it is to have a +good heart! Both our gentlemen now sunk into a reverie, from which +they were awakened, at the entrance of the park, by a young man in +rags, who, with a piteous tone, supplicated charity. Clarence, who to +his honour be it spoken, spent an allotted and considerable part of +his income in judicious and laborious benevolence, had read a little +of political morals, then beginning to be understood, and walked on. +The good-hearted baronet put his hand in his pocket, and gave the +beggar half-a-guinea, by which a young, strong man, who had only just +commenced the trade, was confirmed in his imposition for the rest of +his life; and instead of the useful support, became the pernicious +incumbrance of society. Sir Christopher had now recovered his spirits. +'What's like a good action?' said he to Clarence, with a swelling +breast. The park was crowded to excess; our loungers were joined by +Lord St. George. His lordship was a staunch Tory. He could not endure +Wilkes, liberty, or general education. He launched out against the +enlightenment of domestics. 'What has made you so bitter?' said Sir +Christopher. 'My valet!' cried Lord St. George; 'he has invented a new +toasting-fork; is going to take out a patent, make his fortune, _and +leave me_; that's what I call ingratitude, Sir Christopher; for I +ordered his wages to be raised five pounds but last year.' 'It _was_ +very ungrateful,' said the ironical Clarence. 'Very!' reiterated +the good-hearted Sir Christopher. 'You cannot recommend me a valet, +Findlater,' renewed his lordship; 'a good, honest, sensible fellow, +who can neither read nor write?' 'N--o--o--that is to say, yes! I can; +my old servant, Collard, is out of place, and is as ignorant as--as--' +'I--or you are,' said Lord St. George, with a laugh. 'Precisely,' +replied the baronet. 'Well, then, I take your recommendation: send +him to me to-morrow at twelve.' 'I will,' said Sir Christopher. 'My +dear Findlater,' cried Clarence, when Lord St. George was gone, 'did +you not tell me some time ago, that Collard was a great rascal, and +closely _lie_ with Jefferies? and now you recommend him to Lord St. +George!' 'Hush, hush, hush!' said the baronet; 'he was a great rogue, +to be sure; but poor fellow, he came to me yesterday with tears in his +eyes, and said he should starve if I would not give him a character; +so what could I do?' 'At least, tell Lord St. George the truth,' +observed Clarence. 'But then Lord St. George would not take him!' +rejoined the good-hearted Sir Christopher, with forcible _naivete_. +'No, no, Linden, we must not be so hard-hearted; we must forgive and +forget;' and so saying, the baronet threw out his chest, with the +conscious exultation of a man who has uttered a noble sentiment. The +moral of this little history is, that Lord St. George, having been +pillaged 'through thick and thin,' as the proverb has it, for two +years, at last missed a gold watch, and Monsieur Collard finished his +career, as his exemplary tutor, Mr. John Jefferies, had done before +him. Ah! what a fine thing it is to have a good heart. But, to return, +just as our wanderers had arrived at the further end of the park, Lady +Westborough and her daughter passed them. Clarence excusing himself to +his friend, hastened towards them, and was soon occupied in saying the +prettiest things in the world to the prettiest person, at least in his +eyes; while Sir Christopher, having done as much mischief as a good +heart well can do in a walk of an hour, returned home to write a long +letter to his mother, against 'learning and all such nonsense, which +only served to blunt the affections and harden the heart.' 'Admirable +young man!' cried the mother, with tears in her eyes; 'a good heart is +better than all the heads in the world.' Amen!" + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + +QUADRANGLE OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. + + +In the last _New Monthly Magazine_ is an excellent account of this +splendid structure, in _A Day at Cambridge_,--in which occurs the +following exquisite little descriptive gem:-- + +With the exception of a gravel walk, running near to the buildings on +every side, the whole ground-plot of this quadrangle is covered by an +unbroken turf, kept, by means of constant and almost hourly attention, +in that exquisite order which is only to be observed in spots devoted +to similar purposes, here and at Oxford. The effect of an unbroken +plot of turf of this kind and quality, and in a situation like this, +is perfectly unique, and perhaps indescribable. It is supposed to be, +and in fact is, for all purposes of preservation and beauty, sacred +from the foot of man or beast; and the feeling arising from this +circumstance, added to the exquisite natural adaptation of the object +itself to the purposes of rest and relief from the almost dazzling +architectural splendour of the surrounding objects, is such as cannot +be communicated by any other means whatever, and we might in vain +attempt to describe. It is of such a kind, however, that those who +are capable of experiencing it, would as soon think of treading upon +the object that conveys it to them, as those who honour Nature would +think of rooting up a nest of violets. Speaking for ourselves alone, +there is but one thing that can disturb and deteriorate the absolute +tranquillity of mind, and peace of heart, which fall upon us, like +dew from heaven, on entering a place like that we have attempted to +describe above; it is, to see a capped and gowned Fellow, profaning +with his footsteps the floor of that, in some sort, sacred temple, +merely because he can, by so doing, reach his habitation by a few +footsteps less than if he kept to the path allotted for him. We look +upon the act as a species of impiety; to say nothing of its proving, +to a demonstration, that the person who commits it is either utterly +insensible to the mysterious harmony that subsists between a certain +class of natural objects and the heart of man; or utterly disregards +that harmony, and sets it at naught. He is, in fact, one of whom it +may in one sense be said, that + + "He hath no music in his soul." + +And we are almost tempted to complete the quotation, by adding-- + + "Let no such man be trusted!" + + * * * * * + + + +A RUSTIC PAIR. + +_By Miss Mitford_. + +Few damsels of twelve years old, generally a very pretty age, were +less pretty that Hannah Bint. Short and stunted in her figure, thin +in face, sharp in feature, with a muddled complexion, wild sun-burnt +hair, and eyes, whose very brightness had in them something startling, +over-informed, super-subtle, too clever for her age. At twelve years +old she had quite the air of a little old fairy. Now, at seventeen, +matters are mended. Her complexion has cleared; her countenance, her +figure, has shot up into height and brightness, and a sort of rustic +grace; her bright, acute eye is softened and sweetened by the womanly +wish to please; her hair is trimmed, and curled, and brushed with +exquisite neatness; and her whole dress arranged with that nice +attention to the becoming, the suitable both in form and texture, +which would be called the highest degree of coquetry, if it +did not deserve the better name of propriety. Never was such a +transmogrification beheld. The lass is really pretty, and Ned Miles +has discovered that she is so. There he stands, the rogue, close at +her aide, (for he hath joined her whilst we have been telling her +little story, and the milking is over!)--there he stands--holding her +milk-pail in one hand, and stroking Watch with the other; whilst she +is returning the compliment, by patting Neptune's magnificent head. +There they stand, as much like lovers as may be; he smiling, and she +blushing--he never looking so handsome, nor she so pretty, in all +their lives. There they stand, in blessed forgetfulness of all except +each other--as happy a couple as ever trod the earth. There they +stand, and one would not disturb them for all the milk and butter in +Christendom. I should not wonder if they were fixing the wedding-day. + + * * * * * + + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF A R*T. + +_(Concluded from page 365.)_ + + +Finding a detachment just setting out to join the Grand Allied Army, I +thought, as a true Briton, I could do no less than accompany it, and +prevailed upon all our party to do the same. + +The detachment with which I marched, consisted of 80,000. As we had +little baggage, having crossed the Rhine, we proceeded rapidly through +a dull, uninteresting country. + +The town of Coblentz is situated at the junction of the Rhine +and the Moselle. Here the majestic Rhine gently flows along in +all its grandeur, separating the town from the noble fortress of +Ehrenbreitstein.[1] I crossed over the bridge of boats, and made +a most minute inspection of this very romantic castle, which gave +me great pleasure indeed. In a few days I availed myself of a +passage-boat which was going to Mayence, and was quite enraptured with +the view on all sides. Rhenish wines, and perhaps also the water, +I found did not well agree with my stomach; and no inconsiderable +annoyance, I soon experienced. They seemed, however, to have exactly +the same effect upon every Englishman I saw, so I was not singular. A +little brandy soon, however, put me all to rights; and by the time I +reached Strasbourg, I was perfectly well again, and able to do ample +justice to her Splendid Pies! I attended high mass in the great +Cathedral of Strasbourg, and was surprised and pleased at the sight +of 10,000 soldiers, in review order, drawn up within its walls. It +was tiresome enough work mounting to the top of the spire, (which +I ascertained, by the steps I took, to be exactly 490 feet high, +Strasbourg measure; and this is exactly eight feet higher than St. +Peter's at Rome), but I made it out, notwithstanding the sulky looks +of the jackanapes who lives at the top. Nothing can surpass the beauty +of the view from this cathedral. At your feet you have the ancient +town, with all its regular fortifications and outworks--the majestic +Rhine, with its bridge of boats, and ruined Gothic bridge, sublime in +its decay--and as far as the eye can reach you have an exceedingly +rich country, everywhere speckled with towns, and fertilized by +luxuriant streams. + + [1] Apropos--our _Supplement_ contains a fine Engraving of this + very spot. + +I made a point of visiting my venerable friend, the old Comte de +Strasbourg, who, unchanged in the rolling on of centuries, lies in his +glass coffin, to all appearance in the same freshness of health and +vigour in which, when myself a very young man, I saw him many hundred +years ago;[1] his countess, his son, and his daughter, keep him +company, each in their separate place of repose. Alas, alas! the sight +made me weep. + + [1] The venerable count died about the year 1519. The glass + coffins are still shown. + +A few days afterwards, I was rather unexpectedly stopped in my tour. +For a night I had taken up my residence in the carriage of a young +Englishman, who that day arrived from Rome, the hostler having assured +me that he would remain for some time. I did so, as I found it much +quieter and cooler than the hotel "La ville de Lyon," which was +overcrowded. In the morning, I thought my friends were merely going a +short drive, so I kept my seat. We, however, travelled on till night, +when I heard we were bound for London; but as my companions were very +agreeable, I thought I might as well accompany them the whole way. +They seemed to be annoyed at every posthouse with their passports, +&c.; I was never even asked about the matter. The custom-house gentry, +in their searches, to be sure, occasionally gave me a little trouble, +but I was soon up to their tricks. We had an avant-courier constantly +galloping before us, and we travelled with such expedition that we +reached London in five days; for my fellow-travellers were idle young +men of fortune, who are of course always in the greatest hurry for the +end of a journey, because they don't know what to make of themselves +when it is over. + +I had not then an opportunity of seeing Paris, as we only changed +horses in it. I have since, however, spent many months there, and have +always been very much pleased with every thing I saw, particularly the +Catacombs, which were my favourite lounge. When last in Paris, I made +a narrow escape with my life, as I tumbled headlong into a cask of +brandy. I, however, managed to scramble out, with the assistance of a +bit of cord, which happened to be hanging over its side, and which my +friend pushed in to me. I was little the worse of my ducking; for, as +soon as I got out, I was set a-laughing by his telling me how to spell +_brandy_, in both French and English, in three letters, viz. "B.R. and +Y." and "O.D.V." + +In London I made a point, as a stranger, of going everywhere, and was +certainly much delighted with every thing. I must confess, however, +that I thought all the acting at the Opera and Theatres, and all the +eloquence of the Houses of Parliament, as nothing in comparison of +what I saw and tasted at the East India and London Docks. When I +was in the House of Lords, a companion whispered to me, that he had +heard an act read, offering a reward of 10,000_l._ for a _male_ +tortoise-shell cat. This I believe, indeed, is a very safe offer, for +such a thing was never heard of. And it is certainly as much worth +their while as making an act that I should never have more than six +dishes of meat at my dinner, or that I should not be buried in linen +above twenty shillings Scots value per ell, although I wished it +particularly, and could well afford to pay for it. There was, however, +one restrictive act, which had sense in it; and the husbands of the +present day would, I dare say, give their ears that it were still in +force, whatever the dressmakers might think of it. But many of their +acts of Parliament are silly enough--as they must be; for they don't +like to be thought idle, and imagine that it is necessary to be always +enacting something. + +It is curious, indeed, how fashion should be every thing in the great +city. A lady could not possibly venture to see her dearest friend on +earth, or even her own sister, if she happened to live in rather an +unfashionable part of the town. By so doing, she would expose herself +to her own footmen, who very properly would lose all respect for her, +and I suppose instantly leave her service, as, poor fellows, they have +a rank in life to keep up!! John Bull certainly gives himself many +airs, to say the least of it. After receiving the greatest kindness +and hospitality from you in Scotland, and perhaps staying for months +in your house, he will cut you dead in London. I remember once meeting +with such a return, but took it, of course, very coolly. Next day, +when I was arm in arm with ---- ----, I happened again to meet my +quondam friend, who immediately rushed up to me--I, however, turned +on my tail, and did not know him.--Fashion is an odd thing after all. +It is not rank which will do. I have seen many a spendthrift young +commoner cut his uncle the duke; and being a duchess by no means +will ensure admittance at Almack's.--I thank my stars, I am not +fashionable, and am always happy to see my friends! + +I was persuaded, soon after reaching London, to go down to Essex for +a few days, to pay a visit to an old friend. When I arrived at his +house, which I think they called Waltham Abbey, I was sorry to receive +the melancholy accounts that he had been devoured, and that, if I did +not instantly take myself off, I should be dealt with in the same +manner. The truth was, that a famine had arisen; and it is well known, +on those occasions, as necessity has no law, that the stronger kills +the weaker. Day after day the combat is renewed, till at last all +except one are destroyed, and he is then obliged to decamp, or eat +himself up, as he likes best. It is in this way that castles, houses, +&c. which have been long infested by us, are so suddenly entirely +freed from our presence. + +I amused myself in making an excursion to Epping Forest, till I +thought the civil war at my late friend's habitation might have +proceeded far enough for my presence to be useful. In the forest, +one day, I had the luck to kill one of those troublesome reptiles--a +Tom Cat. I believe, however, it was a house one. After a hard day's +hunting his highness made too free at a Valerian party. I watched my +opportunity, and soon put an effectual end to his caterwauling. When +I returned to the abbey, I found I was in the best possible time--the +garrison being reduced to about a dozen, and they so weakened and +tired out with the constant worrying work they had had, that I was +myself a complete match for any two of them. In a few days the number +was only four, and in other two days I was sole lord and master. + +[He then returns to town.] + +At a friend's house, in Berkeley Square, where I met a distinguished +party, a scene took place, just such as Pope describes-- + + Our courtier walks from dish to dish; + Tastes, for his friend, of fowl and fish: + "That jelly's rich, that malmsey's healing, + Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in." + Was ever such a happy swain? + He stuffs, and swills, and stuffs again. + "I'm quite ashamed--'Tis mighty rude + To eat so much; but all's so good! + I have a thousand thanks to give, + My lord alone knows how to live."-- + No sooner said, but from the hall + Rush chaplain, butler, dogs, and all: + "A r--t, a r--t! clap to the door!"-- + +I, however, made good my exit, and was nothing the worse of a +practical warning to be more cautious in future. + +It would be endless for me to describe all my after voyages and +travels. Suffice it to say, I have been both east and west, north +and south; and there is scarcely a part of the habitable globe which +I have not visited. After all, I have come to this conclusion, that +there is no country like Britain. Oh! how I could wish my human +existence had been in such happy times and under such glorious +sovereigns as a George the Third, and George the Fourth!!! + +For some years I have remained in this country, enjoying (like a +patriarch of old) a quiet, regular life with my family, which now +amounts to above 2,000. I, however, keep very much to my own room, +as I hate bustle, and like to enjoy my own reflections. + +The age to which our species can exist is not ascertained, as never +one of us was known to die in his bed, at least a natural death. A +kind of instinct I have always had, has as yet saved me from arsenic, +stewed corks, traps, stamps, &c.; and my great strength, and a +good deal of science, which is of more consequence, have, as yet, +preserved me in many a deadly combat, both with my own species, and +with the dog, the ferret, the weasel, the hawk, and that green-eyed +monster--the cat. But I am now getting somewhat stiffer, and am not +so sharp as I was. I am not-- + + "--qualis eram, quum primam aciem Praeneste sub ipsa + Stravi, scutorumque incendi victor acervos; + Et regem hac Herilum dextra sub Tartara misi!!" + +And in some evil hour my time must come. + +--I am well aware, indeed, of the fleeting existence even of this +world itself, for I studied astronomy with the celebrated M. Olbers +of Bremen, and assisted him in making many useful observations and +discoveries, particularly regarding comets, in the course of which +we came to this melancholy conclusion, that the comet which was +afterwards visible in 1786 and 1795, will, in 83,000 years, approach +the earth as nearly as the moon; and that in 4,000,000 years it +will come to within a distance of 7,700 geographical miles;--the +consequence of which will be (if its attraction be equal to that of +the earth) the elevation of the waters of the ocean 13,000 feet; that +is to say, above the tops of all the European mountains, except Mount +Blanc. The inhabitants of the Andes and of the Himalaya mountains +alone will escape this second deluge; but they will not benefit by +their good fortune more than 216,000,000 years, for it is probable, +that at the expiration of that time, our globe standing right in the +way of the comet, will receive a shock severe enough to ensure its +utter destruction!!! + +_Note._--After reading over the above MS., I am inclined to come to +this conclusion--that our historian, while in a human form, must have +been a Scottish nobleman--that he probably was born about the year +1501--and that he lived to about the age of 89.--_Ed._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE FANCY BALL. + + + "A visor for a visor! what care I + What curious eye doth quote deformities!" + SHAKSPEARE. + + "You used to talk," said Miss Mac Call, + "Of flowers, and flames, and Cupid; + But now you never talk at all. + You're getting vastly stupid. + You'd better burn your Blackstone, Sir, + You never will get through it; + There's a Fancy Ball at Winchester-- + Do let us take you to it." + + I made that night a solemn vow, + To startle all beholders: + I wore white muslin on my brow, + Green velvet on my shoulders-- + My trousers were supremely wide, + I learn'd to swear "by Allah"-- + I stuck a poniard by my side, + And called myself "Abdallah." + + Oh! a Fancy Ball's a strange affair, + Made up of silks and leathers, + Light heads, light heels, false hearts, false hair, + Pins, paint, and ostrich feathers: + The dullest Duke in all the town, + To-night may shine a droll one-- + And rakes, who have not half-a-crown, + Look royal with a whole one. + + Hail, blest Confusion! here are met + All tongues, and times, and faces, + The Lancers flirt with Juliet, + The Bramin talks of races; + And where's your genius, bright Corinne? + And where your brogue, Sir Lucius? + And Chinca Ti, you have not seen + One chapter of Confucius. + + Lo! dandies from Kamschatka flirt + With beauties from the Wrekin-- + And belles from Berne look very pert + On Mandarins from Pekin; + The Cardinal is here from Rome, + The Commandant from Seville-- + And Hamlet's father from the tomb, + And Faustus from the Devil. + + What mean those laughing Nuns, I pray, + What mean they, Nun or Fairy: + I guess they told no beads to-day, + And sang no Ave Mary. + From Mass and Matins, Priest and Pix, + Barred door, and window grated, + I wish all pretty Catholics + Were thus emancipated. + + Four Seasons come to dance quadrilles, + With four well-seasoned sailors-- + And Raleigh talks of rail-road bills, + With Timon, prince of railers. + I find Sir Charles of Aubyn Park + Equipp'd for a walk to Mecca-- + And I run away from Joan of Arc, + To romp with sad Rebecca. + + Fair Cleopatra's very plain, + Puck halts, and Ariel swaggers-- + And Caesar's murder'd o'er again, + Though not by Roman daggers. + Great Charlemagne is four feet high-- + Sad Stuff has Bacon spoken-- + Queen Mary's waist is all awry, + And Psyche's nose is broken. + + Our happiest bride, how very odd! + Is the mourning Isabella, + And the heaviest foot that ever trod + Is the foot of Cinderella. + Here sad Calista laughs outright, + There Yorick looks most grave, Sir, + And a Templar waves the cross to-night, + Who never cross'd the wave, Sir. + + And what a Babel is the talk! + "The Giraffe"--"plays the fiddle"-- + "Macadam's roads"--"I hate this chalk"-- + "Sweet girl"--"a charming riddle"-- + "I'm nearly drunk with"--"Epsom salts"-- + "Yes, separate beds"--"such cronies!"-- + "Good heaven! who taught that man to valtz?"-- + "A pair of Shetland ponies." + + "Lord D----" "an enchanting shape"-- + "Will move for"--"Maraschino" + "Pray, Julia, how's your mother's ape?"-- + "He died at Navarino!" + "The gout, by Jove, is"--"apple pie"-- + "Don Miguel"--"Tom the tinker"-- + "His Lordship's pedigree's as high + As ----" "Whipcord, dam by Clinker." + + "Love's shafts are weak"--"my chestnut kicks"-- + "Heart broken;"--"broke the traces"-- + "What say you now of politics?"-- + "Change sides and to your places"-- + "A five-barred gate"--"a precious pearl" + "Grave things may all be punn'd on!"-- + "The Whigs, thank God, are"--"out of curl!"-- + "Her age is"--"four by London!" + + Thus run the giddy hours away, + Till morning's light is beaming, + And we must go to dream by day + All we to-night are dreaming; + To smile and sigh, to love and change-- + Oh! in our heart's recesses, + We dress in fancies quite as strange + As these our fancy-dresses. + +_New Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles + SHAKSPEARE. + + Tho' lang an lonely be the road + Between me an my dearie; + Yet I the gate hae aften troad, + When I've been tired and wearie. + + Be't stormin rain, hail, win or snaw-- + A lonely road and drearie-- + There's nought wad e'er keep me awa + Frae gaun to see my dearie!!! + +M. + + * * * * * + + +FRENCH BALL CONVERSATION. + +During the French revolution, parties danced as gaily as ever; the +following is a ball conversation, which took place in the month of +Frimare, year 7.:--Well, the Ottoman Porte has declared war against +us! Oh yes, there is no doubt of it, (_En avant deux_) It is an enemy +the more--(_chassez_) and the Russian fleet they say has passed the +Dardanelles, (_en avant quatre_) yet the papers say that the emperor +sincerely desires peace.--Yes, but Count Metternich wishes for war, +(_balancez_) so we have also a new coalition against us. England, +Portugal, Naples, Turkey, the Emperor, Russia, perhaps the empire +of Prussia, (_Faites face et chassez tous les huit_)--well we have +bayonettes, (_la poussette_) besides it is not so far from Dover to +Calais, (_traversez_)--Do you belong to the conscription?--Yes, and I +too; (_pirouettez_) what makes me uneasy is to know what will become +of our partners when we are gone: (_La chaine des dames_)--what will +be left to amuse them (_La queu du chat_.) It was thus that days of +terror were preceded by evenings of amusement and pleasure. + + * * * * * + + +INTUITIVE AFFECTION. + +"There are three things," said a wit, "which I have always loved +without ever understanding them, painting, music, and woman." + + * * * * * + + +RETORT UNCOURTEOUS. + +A lady, well known in the fashionable vicinity of Portland-place, +always accosts a stranger, with "I think I have seen you somewhere," +which often leads to a clue for her finding out the history of the +party. One evening she played off the same game on a gentleman, who +replied, "Most likely, madam, for I sometimes go there." + + * * * * * + +With the present Number is published the SECOND SUPPLEMENT of +the Spirit of the Annuals--containing Poetry and Prose by Allan +Cunningham, Professor Wilson, the late P.B. Shelley, Miss Landon, +Mrs. Hemans, Mr. Pringle, Theodore Hook, and other distinguished +Writers--with a beautiful Engraving. + + * * * * * + +Purchasers of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets are +informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be +purchased separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, and +can be procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or Newsvender. + +Complete sets Vol. I. to XI. in boards, price L2. 19s. 6d. half bound, +L3. 17s. + + * * * * * + +_LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS._ + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, +near Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly 150 +Engravings. Price 6s. 6d. boards. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING, &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s. 6d. boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d. + +BACON'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. 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