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diff --git a/11246-h/11246-h.htm b/11246-h/11246-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f24c91e --- /dev/null +++ b/11246-h/11246-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1433 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Solaris (vers 1st October 2003), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 394.</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%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + 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 11246 ***</div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>[pg +241]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. XIV. No. 394.</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1829</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>LORD GROSVENOR'S GALLERY, PARK LANE.</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:100%;"><a href= +"images/394-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/394-1.png" alt= +"The Grosvenor Gallery, Park Lane" /></a></div> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>[pg +242]</span> +<p>At the commencement of our Twelfth Volume, we took occasion to +allude to the public spirit of the Earl of Grosvenor, in our +description of his splendid mansion—Eaton Hall, near Chester. +We likewise adverted to his lordship's munificent patronage of the +Fine Arts, and to the erection of the Gallery which forms the +subject of the annexed Engraving.</p> +<p>The Gallery forms the western wing of Lord Grosvenor's spacious +town mansion in Park Lane. It is from the designs of Mr. Cundy, and +consists of a colonnade of the Corinthian order, raised upon a +plain joined stylobate. Over each column of the principal building +is an isolated statue with an attic behind them, after the manner +of the ancient building called by Palladio the Forum Trajan at +Rome. On the acroteria of the building are vases on a balustrade, +and between the columns is a series of blank windows with +balustraded balconies and triangular pediments, which Mr. Elmes +thinks are so introduced as to disfigure the other grand parts of +the design. Above these are sunk panels, with swags or garlands of +fruit and flowers. Mr. E. is likewise of opinion that, "but for the +stopped-up windows, and the overpowering and needless balustrade +over the heads of the statues, this building would rank among the +very first in the metropolis; even with these trifling drawbacks, +that can easily be remedied before the whole is completed, it is +grand, architectural, and altogether worthy of its noble +proprietor."</p> +<p>The reader need not be told that the above Gallery has been +erected for the reception of the superb Grosvenor collection, the +first effectual foundation of which was laid by the purchase of the +late Mr. Agar's pictures for 30,000 guineas, and it has since been +gradually enlarged until it has become one of the finest collection +in England. It is not confined to works of the old masters, but +embraces the best productions of some of the most celebrated modern +painters. The Earl of Grosvenor has, for some years, been in the +habit of admitting the public in the months of May and June, to +inspect his pictures, under certain restrictions.</p> +<p>The Picture Gallery is but a portion of the improvements +contemplated by Lord Grosvenor. The mansion, in the distance of the +Engraving is, we believe, to be rebuilt in a correspondent style +with the Gallery, and the whole when completed, will be one of the +most splendid establishments in the metropolis.</p> +<p>Indeed, the recent embellishment of several mansions in Park +Lane is already indicative of the improved taste of their +distinguished occupants. A few years since the Lane for the most +part consisted of unsightly brick fronts; but stone and plaster +encasements have given it the appearance of a new +neighbourhood.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>HENRY JENKINS.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>A table showing the various changes in his religion, which by +the statute were required of Henry Jenkins, of Ellerton-upon-Swale, +in the county of York, in compliance with the principle, that the +English Constitution is essentially identified with the religion of +the state, and making it his bounden duty (as that of every +subject) to conform to it. Henry Jenkins was born in 1501, and died +at the age of 169, in 1670. He consequently was required by law, to +adopt the following changes in his religious creed and +practice:—</p> +<pre> + Henry Jenkins + The Constitution should have been + Reigns of being essentially during + +1st from Henry VII. and VIII. Catholic 33 years. + 1501 to 1534 +2nd from Henry VIII. {Between Catholic & } 13 + 1534 to 1547 {Church of England } +3rd from Edward VI Church of England 6 + 1547 to 1553 +4th from Mary Catholic 5 + 1553 to 1558 +5th from {Elizabeth, James I.} Church of England 91 + 1558 to 1649 {Charles I } +6th from Interregnum Fanatic 4 + 1649 to 1654 +7th from Protectorate Presbyterian 7 + 1654 to 1660 +8th from Charles II Church of England 10 + 1660 to 1670 + 169 years, the + age of Henry Jenkins. +</pre> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>[pg +243]</span> +<p>Jenkins was buried at Bolton-upon-Swale. A handsome pyramid +marks his grave, as the oldest Englishman upon record, and in the +church is a monument to his memory, with the following inscription, +written by Dr. Thomas Chapman:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Blush not marble!</p> +<p>To rescue from oblivion</p> +<p>The memory of</p> +<p>Henry Jenkins,</p> +<p>A person obscure in birth,</p> +<p>But of a life truly memorable,</p> +<p>For</p> +<p>He was enriched</p> +<p>With the goods of nature</p> +<p>If not of fortune;</p> +<p>And happy</p> +<p>In the duration</p> +<p>If not variety</p> +<p>Of his enjoyments,</p> +<p>And tho' the partial world</p> +<p>Despised and disregarded</p> +<p>His low and humble state,</p> +<p>The equal eye of Providence</p> +<p>Beheld and blessed it</p> +<p>With a Patriarch's health and length of days</p> +<p>To teach mistaken man</p> +<p>These blessings</p> +<p>Were entailed on temperance,</p> +<p>A life of labour, and a mind at ease.</p> +<p>He lived to the amazing age of</p> +<p>169 years,</p> +<p>Was interred here the 6th December,</p> +<p>1670,</p> +<p>And had this justice done to his memory,</p> +<p>1743.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>ARTHUR EBOR.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>VENERATION OF CATS IN ANCIENT DAYS, AND VALUE OF KITTENS, +&c.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The cat was held in high veneration by the ancient Egyptians. +When a cat died in a house, the owner of the house shaved his +eye-brows; they carried the cats when dead into consecrated houses +to be embalmed, and interred them at Bubastis, a considerable city +of Lower Egypt. If any killed a cat, though by accident, he could +not escape death. Even in the present day they are treated with the +utmost care in that country, on account of their destroying the +rats and mice. They are trained in some of the Grecian islands to +attack and destroy serpents, with which those islands abound.</p> +<p>In the time of Howel Dha, <i>Howel the Good</i>, Prince of +Wales, who died in the year 948, laws were made both to preserve +and fix the prices of different animals; among which the cat was +included, as being at that early period of great importance, on +account of its scarcity and utility. The price of a kitten before +it could see, was fixed at one penny; till proof could be given of +its having caught a mouse, two-pence; after which it was rated at +four-pence, a great sum in those days, when the value of specie was +extremely high. It was likewise required, that the animal should be +perfect in its senses of hearing and seeing, should be a good +mouser, have its claws whole, and if a female, be a careful nurse. +If it failed in any of these qualifications, the seller was to +forfeit to the buyer the third part of its value. If any one should +steal or kill the cat that guarded the prince's granary, the +offender was to forfeit either a milch ewe, her fleece, and lamb, +or as much wheat as when poured on the cat suspended by its tail, +(its head touching the floor) would form a heap high enough to +cover the tip of the tail. From these circumstances (says Pennant) +we may conclude that cats were not originally natives of these +islands, and from the great care taken to improve and preserve the +breed of this prolific creature, we may with propriety suppose that +they were but little known at that period.</p> +<p>When Mr. Baumgarten was at Damascus, he saw there a kind of +hospital for cats; the house in which they were kept was very +large, walled round, and was said to be quite full of them. On +inquiring into the origin of this singular institution, he was told +that Mahomet, when he once lived there, brought with him a cat, +which he kept in the sleeve of his gown, and carefully fed with his +own hands. His followers in this place, therefore, ever afterwards +paid a superstitious respect to these animals; and supported them +in this manner by public alms, which were very adequate to the +purpose. Browne, in his <i>History of Jamaica</i>, tells us, "A cat +is a very dainty dish among the negroes."</p> +<p>P.T.W.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>ST. DUNSTAN'S, FLEET STREET.</h3> +<h4><i>(To the Editor of the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>In your account of this church, in No. 388, I perceive you state +that the clock and figures were put up in 1761, whereas I find by +reference to works on this subject, that they were so placed in +1671.<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a></p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>[pg +244]</span> +<p>There are many curious monuments in this church, and among +others, is the beautiful one to the memory of Sir Richard Hoare, +Knt. who was Lord Mayor of London in the memorable year 1745, at +which "alarming crisis," in the words of the inscription, "he +discharged the great trust reposed in him with honour and +integrity, to the approbation of his sovereign and the universal +satisfaction of his fellow citizens." He died in 1754, and was +buried in this church. The monument, which is of marble, consists +of a sarcophagus, above which is a cherub in the act of crowning a +beautiful bust of Sir Richard with a laurel wreath, above is a +shield of arms, within an orb ar. sa. a spread eagle of the first +bearing an escutcheon of pretence ar. a lion ppr. in chief in base +a chev. gu. charged with three escallop shells of the first, +impaling a saltire sa. between four crosses fitche of the same. +Crest, a griffin's head erased ar. An inscription on the base +informs us the monument was restored in 1820, at the expense of the +parish, "in testimony of their grateful sense of obligation to a +family whose eminent virtue and munificence it is intended to +perpetuate."</p> +<p>In the vestry of this church is preserved a finely executed +portrait of the "Virgin Queen," in stained glass; and there is also +another window consisting of the effigy of St. Matthias, but this +is not to be compared with the other for execution.</p> +<p>A.P.D.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>CONSTANTINOPLE.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>One of the finest buildings in Constantinople is a fountain in +an open square, near the seraglio gate; it is a place built and +maintained by the Grand Vizier, for the people to come and draw +water, who have it served out to them in great jugs by people who +are constantly in attendance to fill them; the jugs are chained to +the place, and stand in rows about four feet from the ground, +between gilt iron bars in front of the building. There are men +always ready inside to draw the water and fill the jugs, which till +people come are kept full; these men receive a yearly salary.</p> +<p>The houses are chiefly built of wood, and reach so far over the +top that in some of the streets it would be very possible to get +from the windows of one house to another across the street. By this +manner of building, any one who has seen the place will not wonder +at the frequent and fatal conflagrations there, for if once a fire +break out it must burn till it comes to some garden or large vacant +place to stop at. The Bussard is the most regular part of the city, +and has a number of parallel streets crossing one another, and +covered at the top with planks which keep out the rain and sun. +Here all the richest and finest goods in Constantinople are put out +to show, as a pattern or sample of the merchants' stock, for sale +in their warehouses at home. Every street has its particular trade, +so that there is no mixture of shops as in other capitals. One +street is occupied by goldsmiths, another by silk and brocade +merchants; grocers and tailors have also different streets to +themselves. The city is always shut up at ten at night, so that no +one can have entrance or get out after that time. Indeed there is +scarcely any one in the streets after dusk, for every one then goes +to rest, so that when daylight is gone no business can be +transacted; but the people are obliged to pray every night one hour +and a half after dark, when the priests go up into the towers of +the mosques, and in a loud voice call crowds to prayers in these +words:—"God is great; (three times) give testimony there is +but one God, yield yourselves to his mercy, and pray to him to +forgive your sins. God is great (three times more) there is no +other God but God."</p> +<p>INA.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE NOVELIST.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE BACHELOR'S REVENGE.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>Mr. Hardingham, or as some of his very intimate friends used to +call him, Jack Hardingham, lived in a dull looking house in +—— Square, his profession (the law) was dull, his fire +and fireside were dull; and as he sat by the former one dull +evening, in the dullest of all his dull humours, and of such the +lonely bachelor had many, he sighed, kicked his shins, and looked +into his books; but as that was like gazing upon a very ugly face, +he shut them again, and rang the bell. It was answered by a portly +dame, whose age might be about some four or five and forty, whose +complexion was fair, whose chubby cheeks were brilliantly rosy, and +whose black eyes were so vividly lustrous, that one might have +fancied the delicate cap-border near them, in danger from their +fire. Over her full-formed bust, she wore a clear, and +stiffly-starched <span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name= +"page245"></a>[pg 245]</span> muslin habit-shirt of purest white, a +beautiful lace-edged ruff around her throat, over her ample +shoulders was thrown a fawn-coloured shawl, and she wore also, a +silver gray gown of the material called Norwich crape, with an +apron rivalling in whiteness cap, habit-shirt, and ruff. We are +particular in describing the costume of this fair creature, because +when <i>dress</i> is invariably the same, it has unity with +<i>person</i>; it is identified with its wearer, and our affections +even are caught and retained by it, in a manner of which few are +aware. On the exterior of the lady whom we have endeavoured to +portray, "housekeeper" was as indelibly stamped as the effigy of +our king on the coin of the realm; and in a most soft and +insinuating tone, she said, "Would you be pleased to want any +thing, sir?"</p> +<p>"Yes, Mrs. Honeydew—go and ask if they can't let me have +De Vere."</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"Or the Chronicles of the Canongate."</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"Or Anne of Geierstein."</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"Or the Loves of the Poets."</p> +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> +<p>"Or, d'ye hear, hang it, tell Mr. Mason there are seven or eight +other new works, the names of which I have forgotten, and he must +recollect."</p> +<p>"Certainly, sir."</p> +<p>"Stop, stop—don't be in such a hurry—tell him, he +has never ordered for me the Quarterly, as I desired—that I +want to see the United Service Journal, and Blackwood for the +month; and that if he chooses to charge four pence a night for his +new novels, I'll not read one of them."</p> +<p>"Of course, sir; I'll tell him, for 'tis a shame, a real shame, +for any body to <i>repose</i> on, as one may say, a gentleman like +yourself. Never fear, but I'll tell him."</p> +<p>The lady retired, the door closed, and Mr. Hardingham sighed, "A +worthy creature is Martha Honeydew." "Come in," cried the gentleman +in a most amiable tone, as he presently recognised his +housekeeper's tap at the parlour door, and with a curtsey she +entered.</p> +<p>"O law, law! Mr. Hardingham, sir—Mr. Mason says—but +I don't like to give you all his message, indeed I don't—Mr. +Mason says—but I hope you'll never send me on such an +<i>arrant</i> again—he says, sir—O but I'm sorry for +it, that I am—he says then, that the <i>Quarter</i> you +<i>ax'd</i> for, ar'n't come yet, and there's time enough for you +to read it in when it <i>do</i>; that the Blackwood and the +Officers' Magazine are <i>hout</i>; that you may go without your +new novels afore he'll let you have 'em <i>chaiper</i> than other +folks, (and there's a shocking shame, sir!) and as for the works +you mentioned, there's fifty new ones at least to choose from; but +he can't remember what you don't be pleased to recollect yourself. +Dear heart! to think of a gentleman like you, sir, being +<i>trated</i> thus; why, my blood <i>biled</i> within me; and I +wouldn't demean myself to bring back any thing for you from that +place; but I took the liberty, sir, to get you 'Damon and Dorinda,' +a sweet pretty thing, from another."</p> +<p>"Ah!" sighed the bachelor, "I see there's nobody in this world +cares for poor Jack Hardingham, but Martha Honeydew;" and he felt +sorry that his housekeeper had departed ere his lips had emitted +this grateful praise. Yes, Mr. Hardingham felt vexed he scarcely +knew why; and uncommonly discontented he knew not wherefore; but +had he troubled himself to analyze such feelings, he would have +discerned their origin to be solitude and idleness. Mrs. Honeydew +brought tea; she had buttered a couple of muffins superlatively +well; and making her master's fire burn exceedingly bright, placed +them on the cat before it, and a kettle, which immediately +commenced a delicate bravura, upon the glowing coals; then, +modestly waiting at the distance of a few paces from her master +until the water quite boiled, she fixed her brilliant eyes upon his +countenance with an expression <i>intended</i> to be +<i>piteous</i>.</p> +<p>"Mrs. Honeydew—Martha," said Hardingham in a low querulous +tone, "I fancy I'm going to have a fit of the gout, or a bilious +fever."</p> +<p>"<i>Fancy</i>, indeed, sir; why, I never saw you looking +haler."</p> +<p>"Ay, Ay, so much the worse; a fit of apoplexy then maybe."</p> +<p>"Lauk, lauk! sir; a fit of the blue devils more likely. How can +you talk so? A fit of <i>perplexity</i>! Dear, dear! how some men +do go on to be sure;" pouring the steaming water upon the tea.</p> +<p>"You are a kind comforter, Martha; nobody ever raises my spirits +like you. Get me my little leathern trunk."</p> +<p>"Why, then, that I won't;" getting it down from a closet-shelf +as she spoke. "I wish it was burnt with all my heart, that I do; +making you so <i>lammancholy</i> as it always <i>do</i>."</p> +<p>And well might this trunk make Mr. Hardingham melancholy, for it +was the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name= +"page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> receptacle of letters and little +gifts of a lady who had jilted him in early life; and upon whom he +had often vowed vengeance. She was yet unmarried; +but—no—her once devoted admirer was resolved to follow +the lady's advice, and place his "affections upon a worthier object +than Caroline Dalton;" and, thought he to himself, she shall at +last see that I have <i>found one</i>; nor shall wild Tom, my +graceless nephew, who lives upon my fortune, ever more touch one +penny of it. The postman rapped, and in a few minutes his +housekeeper appeared with many apologies for bringing to him her +own newspaper, but perhaps in it he might be able to find the names +of some of the new novels that he wished to have.</p> +<p>"Martha Honeydew," cried Hardingham with a smile, the first he +had sported that week, "I am, as you know, a man of but few words, +and straight-forward in my dealings; say that you can fancy me, and +I'll marry you tomorrow."</p> +<p>Mrs. Honeydew's reply will be surmised; Caroline Dalton saw who +was preferred before her, and the bachelor's revenge ruined wild +Tom; for Hardingham settled all his property upon his wife, and a +pretty life the amiable creature led him.</p> +<p>M.L.B.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>LETTER OF LORD STRAFFORD.</h3> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>The following is literally copied from an original autograph of +the unfortunate Lord Strafford, and may prove interesting to your +numerous readers.</p> +<p>C.J.T.</p> +<p>"<i>Sweete Harte</i>.—It is <i>longe</i> since I +<i>writt</i> unto you, for I am here in such a <i>troubel</i> as +gives <i>mee</i> little or <i>noe respett</i>. The <i>chardge</i> +is now <i>cum in</i>, and I am now <i>abel</i> I <i>prayse</i> God, +to <i>telle</i> you that I <i>conceaue</i> there is nothing +<i>capitall</i>, and for the <i>reste</i> I <i>knowe</i> at the +<i>worste</i> his <i>maty</i> will <i>pardonne</i> all without +hurting my fortune, and then <i>wee</i> shall be <i>happie</i> by +God's grace. Therefore <i>comfortt</i> yourself, for I trust these +<i>cloudes</i> will away and <i>thate wee</i> shall have <i>faire +weathere afterwarde</i>.</p> +<p>"Fare well, your <i>lovinge husbande</i>,<br /> +"Tower of <i>Londonne</i>,</p> +<p>"STRAFFORDE.</p> +<p>"4th Feb. 1640.</p> +<p>"My Wife."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>STONE PILLARS AND CROSSES.</h2> +<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> +<p>It appears from the accounts of the earliest historians, that +single stones, or rude pillars were raised on various occasions, in +the most remote ages. Of these we have frequent notices in the Old +Testament, as of that raised by Jacob at Lug, afterwards named +Bethel; a pillar was also raised by him at the grave of Rachel. The +Gentiles set up pillars for idolatrous purposes. The Paphians +worshipped their Venus under the form of a white pyramid, and the +Brachmans the great God under the figure of a little column of +stone. Many large stones are found at this day in Wales and +Cornwall, which are supposed to have been raised by the Phoenicians +and Grecians, who frequently resorted thither for tin and other +metals.</p> +<p>In Ireland some of these large stones have crosses cut on them, +supposed to have been sculptured by Christians, out of compliance +with Druidical prejudices, that the converts from Paganism not +easily diverted from their reverence for these stones, might pay +them a kind of justifiable adoration, when thus appropriated to the +use of Christian memorials, by the sign of the Cross. Some signs of +adoration are at this day paid to such stones, in the Scottish +Western Isles; they are called <i>bowing stones</i>. In the Isle of +Barra there is one about seven feet high, and when the inhabitants +come near, they take a religious turn round it, according with +ancient Druidical custom.</p> +<p>Stones were raised also as memorials of <i>civil contracts</i>; +as by Jacob, in his contract with Laban, when the attendants of the +latter raised a heap, to signify their assent to the treaty. Those +conical, pyramidal, and cylindric stones, perpendicularly raised, +which are seen in the British Isles, were formerly introduced in +general, to ascertain the boundaries of districts. On these, +representations of the crucifixion were frequently cut, and the +name of crosses were given to the boundary stones in general, +though remaining without this symbol. Many instances might be given +of these termini. At High Cross, on the intersection of the Watling +Street and Foss Roman roads, there was formerly a pillar which +marked the limits of Warwickshire and Leicestershire—the +present column is of modern date; another distinguished the +boundaries of Asfordby and Frisby, in the latter county. One at +Crowland, in the county of Lincoln, the inscription on which +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>[pg +247]</span> has caused considerable dispute amongst antiquarians, +has been much noticed. A famous one near Landoris, in Fifeshire, +placed, as Camden says, as a boundary between the districts of Fife +and Stathern, was also a place of sanctuary.</p> +<p>Stone pillars, or crosses were also raised to record remarkable +events; as where a battle had been fought, or over persons of +distinction slain therein. Crosses were likewise erected where any +particular instance of mercy had been shown by the Almighty, or +where any person had been murdered by robbers, or had met with a +violent death; where the corpse of any great person had rested on +its way to interment, as those splendid ones erected by Edward I. +in memory of his beloved Queen Elinor; often in churchyards, and in +early times at most places of public concourse; in market-places, +perhaps to repress all idea of undue gain or extortion; and at the +meeting of four roads.</p> +<p>Penances were often finished at crosses. Near Stafford stood one +called <i>Weeping Cross</i>, from its being a place designated for +the expiation of penances, which concluded with weeping and other +signs of contrition. A great number of sepulchral crosses were +erected in Great Britain and Ireland, soon after prayers for the +dead came into use, by the desire of individuals, at their places +of interment, to remind pious people to pray for their souls.</p> +<p>The ancient practice of consecrating Pagan antiquities to +religious purposes, has been continued to times comparatively +modern; thus, Pope Sixtus V. purified the Antonine column and that +of Trajan, dedicating them to St. Peter and St. Paul, whose +statues, of a colossal size, he placed on their summits. Succeeding +Popes followed these examples, dedicating ancient columns, pillars, +and obelisks to different Saints and Apostles.</p> +<p>A CORRESPONDENT.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE LONDON UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE, No. 1.</h3> +<p>It is seldom that we "turn critics;" but our very bile rises at +the ill-timed dedication of this work to the King, as the "first +fruits of the combined exertions of a few of your majesty's +subjects, educated within the GROSSLY misrepresented UNIVERSITY of +LONDON." It is quite unnecessary for us to explain <i>why</i> this +Dedication deserves the epithet we have chosen: it stands with the +signature of "the Proprietors," and we hope is not the act of the +editors; but for the credit of the University, the publishers, the +proprietors, and editors, we recommend their friends to cancel the +leaf bearing this very offensive inscription, whether they care or +not for the golden opinions of all sorts of people.</p> +<p>If the present Number be a fair sample of the <i>London +University Magazine</i>, we can promise the reader but little +amusement in our "Notes" from its pages. It may prove useful enough +to the students of the University, but it wofully lacks the +attractive features of a Magazine for the public; it may suit the +library-table, but not the "excellent coffee room," or the "retired +cigar room" of the University Hotel. "On a general Judgment—A +new System of communicating Scientific Information in a Tabular +form—On the Study of the Law and Medicine—On Apoplexy," +and the general business of the University, are very grave matters +for little more than 100 pages. "On the Metamorphosis of Plants," +by Goethe, is more attractive; but Magazine readers do not want the +lumber of law and medicine—the dry material of parchment, or +the blood and filth of the physiological chair. How different too, +is all this from the pleasantry and attic wit of "<i>The +Etonian</i>," into whose volumes we still dip with undiminished +gratification.</p> +<p>As we have enumerated the least attractive of the papers in the +London University Magazine, we ought also to run over the lighter +portions of its pages. These are "A young head, and, what is still +better, a young heart,"—discursive enough—"A Tale of +the Irish Rebellion—the Guerilla Bride, a Poem," +beginning</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"It is a tale of Spain—Romantic Spain!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>—and a Sketch of the Irish Exchequer Court. A description +of the University, with a Vignette view, and ground plan, is +perhaps, the most interesting of the whole Number; but as dramatic +critics sometimes say of a new performer, we had rather see him in +another character before we form an estimate of his +talents—so we wait for better things from the London +University Magazine.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE, No. +1.</h3> +<p>We expected much from the announcement of this work, and are not +disappointed in its first Number. It contains <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span> +original papers—scientific Reviews—geographical and +natural History Collections—and an abundance of scientific +intelligence—somewhat on the plan of Mr. Loudon's excellent +Magazines. We have not at present room for extract; but the Number +before us will furnish several interesting Notes for a portion of +our next publication. <i>A Tour in the Island of Jersey</i> is one +of the most amusing articles we have read for some time, and we +hope to abridge it for our columns.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE FOREIGN REVIEW.</h3> +<p>The Eighth Number of this valuable Journal is just published, +and its table of contents is exceedingly attractive. Among these +are Phrenology—a characteristic article on Germany—the +French and Italian Drama—anecdotical papers on Napoleon and +General Jackson and the United States of America, and the History +of the Cid. Ours will be a pleasing task to "note" through this +Number.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>UNPUBLISHED LINES ON DR. JOHNSON.</h3> +<h4><i>By the late Dr. Wolcot. (Peter Pindar.)</i></h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I own I like not Johnson's turgid style,</p> +<p>That gives an inch the importance of a mile;</p> +<p>Casts of manure a wagon-load around</p> +<p>To raise a simple daisy from the ground;</p> +<p>Uplifts the club of Hercules—for what?—</p> +<p>To crush a butterfly or brain a gnat;</p> +<p>Creates a whirlwind from the earth to draw</p> +<p>A goose's feather or exalt a straw;</p> +<p>Sets wheels on wheels in motion—such a clatter!</p> +<p>To force up one poor nipperkin of water;</p> +<p>Bids ocean labour with tremendous roar,</p> +<p>To heave a cockle-shell upon the shore.</p> +<p>Alike in every theme his pompous art,</p> +<p>Heaven's awful thunder, or a rumbling cart!</p> +</div> +</div> +<p><i>New Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>GAS LIGHTS.</h3> +<p>We have now been so long accustomed to this new light in the +streets, that, like all other terrene goods, we have almost become +insensible to its blessings. Yet let him who desires to know what +he owes to chemistry and "Old Murdoch," turn into any of the +streets still lighted with oil, and then come back to the nocturnal +day of the Strand or Pall Mall. The parish oil lamps were like +light-houses on the ocean; guides, not lights; the gas has become a +perpetual full moon; and it may assuredly be pronounced one of the +most splendid and valuable applications of chemistry. Why has not +old Murdoch his statue? He deserves it even better than his master; +for the master was well paid in solid pudding. In other days, that +statue would have equalled the Colossus at Rhodes, and the +demi-philosopher would have breathed flame like the Chimera; in the +fabulous ages before that, he would have come down to us a god, or +a demi-god, the rival of Prometheus, Hercules, and Atlas. Why not +cast him in Achillean brass, the rival of the great hero of +gunpowder and Waterloo, and make him breathe gas like the Dragon of +Wantley, to illuminate the triumphal arch. Ingrata Patria!</p> +<p>The new light! yes, much has been heard of its power and +influence; but what has the new light of all the preachers done for +the morality and order of London, compared to what has been +effected by this new light. Old Murdoch alone, has suppressed more +vice than the Suppression Society; and has been a greater police +officer into the bargain than old Colquhoun and Sir Richard Birnie +united. It is not only that men are afraid to be wicked when light +is looking at them, but they are ashamed also; the reformation is +applied to the right place. Where does vice resort? Where it can +hide; in darkness, says the preacher, because its deeds are deeds +of darkness. Seek it in Pudding-lane, and Dyot-street, and the +abysses of Westminster. Why was not this new light preached to them +long ago: twenty bushels of it would have been of more value than +as many chaldrons of sermons, and taking even the explosions of the +inspector into the bargain. But it is well, that this is at length +to be compulsory; since it is never too late. Thieves and rogues +are like moths in blankets: bring the sun to shine on them, and +they can neither live nor breed. Let the Duke of Wellington place a +gas-lamp at every door of these infernal abodes; and since they +cannot be smoked out, make their houses as much like glass, on the +principle of the old Roman, as we can compass. This is the remedy; +at least till common sense will condescend to the better expedient +of pulling down and laying open all these retreats of misery and +vice; the disgrace and the nuisance of London, and not less a +standing inhumanity to the poor themselves.—<i>Westminster +Review.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>CAPE WINES.</h3> +<p>The commerce at the Cape is wine; and the vine has already +increased tenfold, since the colony became British. But +unfortunately more attention has been hitherto paid to quantity +than to quality, except on the farms which yield Constantia. The +latter have an eastern <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name= +"page249"></a>[pg 249]</span> exposure, and are sheltered from the +south-west, the only injurious blast. The soil being a deposit from +the neighbouring mountains, is light, but enriched by manure. The +subsoil, which is even more important, is still lighter, being +mixed with sand and broken stone; on the contrary, in Drachenstein, +where the chief vineyards are at present, the subsoil being clay, +the wine receives an unpleasant flavour, the idea of which is +inseparably associated with the very name of Cape wine. It is +unnecessary to enter into the subject of its manufacture. If the +subsoil be bad, so will the wine be. The vine does not require a +rich subsoil. In Italy, flags are laid to prevent the roots from +penetrating into clay; and in England, rubbish is thrown in to make +a subsoil that shall not be so rich as to produce leaves, instead +of fruit. It would be advantageous were premiums offered for wine +that had not been produced from clay of subsoil, but had been +reared in trellis, as requiring less labour than the standard, and +made on a pure and good system, instead of being mixed with Cape +brandy, or sulphuric acid, &c. Notwithstanding all these +disadvantages, Cape wine is generally sold in England under the +names, and at the prices, of Madeira, Sherry, Teneriffe, Stem, +Pontac, and above all, Hock.—<i>Gill's Repository.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>A VIEW OF LONDON.</h3> +<p>The finest view in London is from the top of Whitehall Place, +looking towards the river; but then you must see it as I did, at +the same hour, and under similar circumstances.</p> +<p>It was about a fortnight since I beheld that memorable +spectacle. I was on my way home, having dined with a friend, who, +though not an habitual votary of Bacchus, occasionally sacrifices +to the god with intense and absorbing zeal. After dinner we +adjourned to the Opera, having only determined to renew at supper +our intimacy with certain flasks of Champagne, which lay in their +icy baths coolly expecting our return. We carried our determination +into effect to the fullest extent; and at half-past three o'clock +we parted, deeply impressed with a sense of each other's good +qualities, and with as keen and lively an appetite for the sublime +and beautiful as an X of Champagne<a id="footnotetag2" name= +"footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> usually +imparts to its warm-hearted admirers. My way led me through +Whitehall, at least I found myself there, as "Charles," the +guardian of the night, was announcing the fourth hour. As my good +fortune would have it, I happened to look towards the river, and +never, while memory holds her seat, shall I forget the sight which +presented itself. Six distinct St. Pauls lifted themselves through +the cloudless morning air (so pure, that the smoke of a single +cigar would defile it: I extinguished mine in awe) towards the blue +transparent sky; nearer, and beneath this stately city of temples, +were four Waterloo Bridges, piling their long arcades in graceful +and harmonious regularity one above the other, with the chaste and +lofty symmetry of a mighty aqueduct; while far away, in the dim +distance, a dome of gigantic dimensions was faintly visible, as if +presiding over the scene, linking shadow and substance, uniting the +material with the intellectual world, like the realization of a +grand architectural dream. Talk not to me of the Eternal +City—in her proudest days of imperial magnificence she could +not furnish such a view—thrice be that Champagne +lauded!—<i>Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>NEW YORK.</h3> +<p>The distant view of New York, almost free from smoke, is +singularly bright and lively; in some respects it refreshes a +recollection of the sea-bound cities of the Mediterranean. The +lower parts of the interior, next to the warehouses, resemble +Liverpool; but the boast of the city is Broadway, a street that, +for extent and beauty, the Trongate of Glasgow, which it somewhat +resembles in general effect, alone excels. The style of the +Trongate is, if the expression may be used, of a more massy and +magnificent character, but there is a lightness in that of Broadway +which most people will prefer. Those who compare the latter with +Oxford-street, in London, do it injustice; for, although the shops +in Oxford-street display a richer show of merchandize, the +buildings are neither of equal consequence nor magnitude. +Regent-street in London, is of course always excepted from +comparisons of this kind.</p> +<p>The portico of the Bowery Theatre is immeasurably the finest +<i>morçeau</i> of architecture in the city. It resembles +that of Covent-Garden, but seems to be nobler and greater; and yet +I am not sure if, in point of dimensions, it is larger, or so large +as that of Covent-Garden. The only objection to it—and my +objection is stronger against the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page250" name="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span> London +theatre—is the unfitness. In both cases, the style and order +are of the gravest Templar character, more appropriate to the +tribunals of criminal justice, than to the haunts of Cytherea and +the Muses.—<i>New Monthly Mag.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE TRUE FORNARINA.</h3> +<p>The account of a journey which was taken in the year 1664, by +Cosmo, the son of Ferdinand II. de Medici, was written at the time, +by Philip Pizzichi, his travelling chaplain. This work was +published for the first time at Florence, about seven months ago. +It contains some curious notices of persons and things, and among +them, what will interest every lover of the fine arts. It is +this—speaking of Verona, he mentions the Curtoni gallery of +paintings, and says, "The picture most worthy of attention is the +lady of Raffaello, so carefully finished by himself, and so well +preserved that it surpasses every other." The editor of these +travels has satisfactorily shown that Raffaelo's lady here +described is the true Fornarina; so that of the three likenesses of +her said to be executed by this eminent artist, the genuine one is +the Veronese, belonging to the Curtoni gallery, now in the +possession of a lady Cavellini Brenzoni, who obtained it by +inheritance.—<i>Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>ITALIAN SCENERY.</h3> +<p>Happy is the man, who, leaving the Alps behind him, has the +plains of Lombardy on his right hand and on his left, the Apennines +in view, and Florence as the city towards which he directs his +steps. His way is through a country where corn grows under groves +of fruit trees, whose tops are woven into green arcades by +thickly-clustering garlands of vines; the dark masses of foliage +and verdure which every where appear, melt insensibly, as he +advances, into a succession of shady bowers that invite him to +their depths; the scenery is monotonous, and yet ever various from +the richness of its sylvan beauty, possessing all the softness of +forest glades without their gloom. Towards Bologna, the landscape +roughens into hills, which grow into Apennines, but Arcadia still +breathes from slopes and lawns of tender green, which take their +rise in the low stream-watered valleys, and extend up the steep +ascent till met midway by the lofty chestnut groves which pale them +in. To these gentler features succeeds the passage of the +Apennines, which here, at least, are not as the author of "Italy as +it Is," describes them, "the children of the Alps—smiling and +gentle and happy as children should be," but, as we remember them, +their summits form themselves into a wild, dreary region, sown with +sterile mountain-tops, and torn to pieces by wind and storm; the +only glimpse of peace is derived from the view on either side of +the sea, which sometimes shows itself on the horizon, a misty line, +half silver, half ether. This barren wilderness again softens into +gracefully-swelling hills turned towards Florence. The fair olive +tree and the dark cypress mingle their foliage with the luxuriant +chestnut boughs, and the frequent marble villa flashes a white +gleam from amid its surrounding laurel bowers. The sky is more +beautiful than earth, and each symbolize peace and serene +enjoyment.—<i>Westminster Review.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>MUSICAL MARVEL.</h3> +<p>One of the most amusing stories in ancient history, of the +successful and happy use of fine music, is told of Arion, who, when +about to be thrown overboard by some mutinous sailors, begged leave +to sing to his lute one funeral strain before his death. Having +obtained leave, he stood upon the prow with his instrument, chanted +with a loud voice his sweetest elegy, and then threw himself into +the sea. A dolphin, as the story goes, charmed with his music, swam +to him while floating on the waves, bore him on his back, and +carried him safely to Cape Taenarus, in Sparta, from whence he went +to Corinth. It would have been well for the mutineers if their +taste for music had been as great as the dolphin's, for the history +not only affords a grand instance of the power of music, but of +retributive justice, as the sailors accidentally going to Corinth, +paid the penalty of their evil intentions with their lives.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>POPULATION OF AUSTRALIA.</h3> +<p>Mr. Martin mentions a very curious fact. The increase of +population, he says, has been most rapid, and is to be accounted +for by the number of females born, the proportion being, with +regard to males, as three to one! The great preponderating number +of females brought forth among domesticated animals, will account +for the countless herds of cattle which overspread the +colony.—<i>New Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>[pg +251]</span> +<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE BLACK LADY OF ALTENÖTTING.</h3> +<p>With the exception of the shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne, +there exists throughout Germany no spot of greater sanctity, no +altar of richer endowments, than the Chapel of the Black Lady, on +the frontier of Bavaria. The hearts of its sovereign electors have +been deposited, from century to century, within the consecrated +cells; nor is there an historic event, involving the interests of +their own, or the adjacent kingdoms, which is not supposed to have +been influenced by her potent interposition. A sufficient history, +in fact, of the destinies of the whole empire, might be recorded in +a mere catalogue of the national offerings to the shrine of +Altenötting.</p> +<p>In rambling through the eastern provinces of Bavaria, some few +springs ago, I chanced to arrive one glowing afternoon at the +post-house of an inconsiderable town; which, from the grass-grown +tranquillity of its streets, and from a peculiar air of +self-oblivion, appeared to be basking fast asleep in the sunshine. +There was little to admire in the common-place character of its +site, or the narrow meanness of its distribution; yet there was +something peculiar in its look of dreamy non-identity; and had it +not been for the smiling faces of the fair-haired Bavarian girls, +who were to be seen glancing here and there, with their embroidered +purple bodices and coifs, and silver-chained stomachers, I could +believe myself to have reached some enchanted realm of +forgetfulness.</p> +<p>As I entered the Platz, or market-square, of the little town, +chiefly with a view to the nearer inspection of the cunning +workmanship of the aforesaid carcanets of silver, a light +sprinkling of April rain began to moisten the pavement—one of +those unheard, unseen, revivifying showers, which weep the earth +into freshness, and the buds into maturity. I was anxious, however, +to withdraw my mere human nature from participation in these +herbaceous advantages; and looking about for some shelter which +might preserve me from the mischiefs of the shower, without +depriving me of its refreshing fragrance, I espied in the centre of +the Platz—a square of no mighty area—a low, +rotunda-like building, with slated roof, overhanging and resting +upon wooden pillars, so as to form a sort of covered walk.</p> +<p>I settled with myself that this was the market-house of the +town, and hastened to besiege so desirable a city of refuge. But +during my rapid approach, I observed that the external walls of the +nameless edifice beneath the arcade were covered, and without a +single interstitial interval, by small pictures in oil-colours, +equal in size, and equal in demerit, and each and all representing +some calamitous crisis of human existence—a fire, a +ship-wreck, a boat-wreck, a battle, a leprosy! It occurred to me at +the same moment, that this gallery of mortal casualties and +afflictions must be a collection of votive offerings, and that the +seeming market-house was, probably, a shrine of especial sanctity. +And so it was!—the shrine of "The Black Lady of +Altenötting."</p> +<p>Instigated by somewhat more than a traveller's vague curiosity, +I entered the chapel; the brilliancy of which, eternally +illuminated by the reflection of a profusion of silver lamps upon +the thousand precious objects which decorate the walls, forms a +startling contrast with the dim shadows of the external arcade. In +most cases, the entrance to a religious edifice impresses the mind +with a consciousness of vastness, and a sensation of +awe:—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"———the tombs</p> +<p>And monumental caves of death look cold,</p> +<p>And strike an aching dullness to the breast."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>But the chapel of the Black Virgin is diminutive as a boudoir, +and yet retains the usual character of listening and awful +stillness, the ordinary impression of local sanctity. A few +peasants were seen kneeling in utter immobility and +self-abstraction beneath a lamp, which seemed to issue in a crimson +flame from a colossal two-fold silver heart, suspended from the +ceiling—their untutored minds were elevated into the belief +of a heavenly commune.</p> +<p>In a glass case above the altar, is deposited this far-famed +effigy of the Holy Galilean virgin—a hideous female negro, +carved in wood, and holding an infant Jesus in her arms of the same +hue and material; and exhibited in its extremity of ugliness by the +reflected glare of the silver and diamonds, and gems of every +description, by which she is surrounded. Chests, mimic altars, +models of ships, crowns and sceptres, chalices and crosses of gold +and silver and enamel, and enriched with</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Turkish blue and emerald green,</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>and every jewel of every land, lie amassed in gorgeous profusion +in the adjoining cases, and seemed to realize the <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page252" name="page252"></a>[pg 252]</span> fabled +treasures of the preadamite Sultans. Boasting themselves as gifts +of gratitude or invocation from emperors and popes, kings, princes, +palsgraves, and all the other minor thrones and dominions of the +earth, these splendid offerings form the most plausible +illustration of the miraculous power attributed to the image of the +Black Lady, which has been deposited in its actual abode since the +year of Grace 696. In the course of the Thirty Years' War, this +important relic and its treasury were twice removed into the city +of Salzburg, for security from the Swedish invaders; and twice +brought back in solemn triumph to their ancient sanctuary.</p> +<p>But a mightier charm than that of gems or metals, the most +precious or the most beautiful, connects itself with the chapel of +Altenötting—its association with historical names of all +ages, from Charlemagne and Otto of Wittelsbach, whose monuments we +find inscribed in Runic characters, to Pius the Sixth, whose +dedication, "O clemens, O pia Virgo Oettingana!" is graven in a +"fine Roman hand." It contains sepulchral vaults of the families of +Wallenstein, Tilly, Montecuculi, besides those of divers electors, +archbishops, and archdukes, whose titles speak far less stirringly +to the heart; altogether forming an illustration of the past, which +brings the dark ages in living majesty before our eyes.</p> +<p>Alternately dazzled and disgusted by this fruitless waste of +splendour, this still more fruitless waste of national credulity, I +was pondering over the domestic virtues of a certain "Franziska +Barbara, Countess of Tilly," as recorded over her grave, when the +chants of the priests, who had been engaged in the celebration of +mass before the altar, suddenly ceased; and, as the last fumes of +the incense circled upwards to the blackened roof, there arose +another and a solitary voice, evidently of lay intonation, and +deepened by that persuasive earnestness of devotion which, like an +electric chain, connects in holy feeling all sects of the Christian +church. It spoke in the fulness of gratitude, and in the humbleness +of prayer; and although the dialect was tinged with village +barbarism, and its thankfulness addressed to the Black Virgin, I +heard in its simple solemnity only the beauty of holiness; and, +overlooking the visible shrine, beheld in its ultimate object the +tribunal of divine mercy!</p> +<p>The devout speaker was one of a peasant family who had entered +the chapel unobserved, during my contemplation of its glittering +decorations. He was apparently a Bavarian farmer, somewhat advanced +in years, and wearing, in addition to his richly-substantial +holiday attire, a deep green shade over his eyes, which accounted +for the character of his thanksgivings to the miraculous image. "I +thank thee, O most benign and saintly Maria!" had been the tenour +of his prayer, "for the scattered and glorious gifts of Heaven, +which had become as vain things to my soul, till thy grace renewed +them in its knowledge. I thank thee for the summer skies and the +green pastures—for the footsteps which no longer crave a +helping hand—for the restored faces of my beloved +ones—and, above all, O holiest Virgin! I glorify thy name in +gratitude for the precious means by which the blessing of sight +hath been again vouchsafed me!"</p> +<p>This last mode of expression excited my curiosity, and when the +little group of votaries had concluded their ceremonies, had +affixed their consecrated tapers at the shrine, and deposited their +oblations with its officiating priests, I followed their joyful +footsteps out of the chapel, and was again struck by the delicious +transition from the heated and incense-laden atmosphere of its +interior, to the pure, balmy April air without, gushing with the +sweetness of the passing shower.</p> +<p>The ceremonies of the day were still far from their conclusion. +The historical painter of Altenötting was in attendance in the +arcade, bearing the votive picture which was to perpetuate the +latest miracle of the Black Lady; and as far as I could observe or +ascertain of the sacerdotal hangman of the consecrated gallery, the +oldest and most weather-stained of the pictures was made to yield +precedence to the new comer. Having profited by a stranger's +privilege, and the English garb, which is held as sacred as a +herald's tabard in many a foreign land, to unite myself to the +little group, and address some casual inquiries to its frank and +overjoyous members—old Philipp Stroer himself, the hero of +the day, deigned to take the picture from the hands of the +sacristan, and to ciceronize for my especial edification. I trust +his restored vision was not yet sufficiently acute to admit of his +noting the smile which, in spite of my better will, stole over my +face, as I contemplated the phenomenon of bad taste, and worse +execution, which he thrust upon my observation. It represented his +worthy but very <span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name= +"page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> unpicturesque self in the hands of an +oculist, and the endurance of a cataract. The eyes of his +surrounding family were fixed with eager interest upon the event of +the operation. "And what," said I, anxious to make some sympathy in +this domestic crisis—"and what is the name of the surgeon +whose efforts have been blessed by the protection of the Black +Lady?"</p> +<p>"The surgeon!"</p> +<p>"Yes; the oculist who is represented in the picture."</p> +<p>"That, sir, is no oculist, no surgeon; it is my Karl, sir, my +beloved son!" I shall never forget the voice, struggling with +emotion, in which the old man pronounced the words "<i>mein +sohn</i>!"</p> +<p>The story of that son was one of deep, though humble interest. +Trained in the agricultural habits of his forefathers, and destined +to succeed to the laborious honours of the Stroerische farm, young +Karl, to whom his gray-haired father was an object of the fondest +and most reverential affection, beheld with horror the gradual +advances of the disease which was about to render the remaining +years of life a burden to the sightless man. With the fractiousness +of advancing age and growing infirmity, old Philipp obstinately +refused to seek the assistance of any learned leech of the country +round. Brannau and Burchhausen boasted each of a chirurgic wonder, +but Stroer misdoubted or defied their skill. "His frail body," he +said, "was in the hands of a heavenly Providence, to which, as +might best beseem, he bequeathed its guidance." Meanwhile, the +perilous uncertainty of his footing, and the growing isolation of +his existence, became more and more perceptible, when one day, just +as an acknowledgement of "total eclipse" had fallen from his +quivering lips, the prop and stay of his household, his beloved son +Karl was missing from the farm! The first moment of uncertainty +touching his destinies was a trying one, but it was also brief. A +few days brought a letter from Munich, in which the absconded son +implored his father's forgiveness, forbearance, and patience, +during some ensuing months. Time, he wrote, might alone explain the +motives of duty which had caused his apparent error.</p> +<p>Patience is a difficult virtue to the sick and the unhappy. The +blind man, pining for his absent Karl, had need of all his trust in +the excellence of his favourite child: at times, misdoubtings +naturally arose; for the few months lengthened into seven, +eight—eleven—a whole year, and the wanderer came not +again.</p> +<p>At length, one autumn evening, a general shriek from the little +household apprized Philipp Stroer of some unwonted occurrence, and +straightway a voice demanded his blessing, and warm tears were wept +upon his hand, and he knew that his son was at his feet! The story +of Karl's absence was briefly and feelingly explained. Moved by his +father's obstinate aversion to place himself in the hands of a +strange practitioner, he had resolved to qualify himself for so +precious a charge; and having interested an eminent surgeon of +Munich by the detail of his affecting anxieties sufficiently to +insure his instructions in the single branch of surgery requisite +for his purpose, Karl had passed his days in infirmaries and +hospitals, denying himself the common sustenance of nature, in +order to maintain the respectability of garb necessary for his +admittance to the lectures of his scientific preceptor. At length, +his ardent endeavours were rewarded by a certificate of expertness; +and a patent of nobility would have afforded him a far less +gratifying excitement. Nor did Heaven withhold its blessing from a +cause thus hallowed by filial devotion; the operation, which +quickly followed his arrival at the farm, was attended with perfect +success. For some days, indeed, the old man still maintained his +resistance; but when he was assured that Karl had preceded his +departure for Munich by a pilgrimage to Altenötting, and that +the especial favour of the Black Lady had sanctified his +undertaking, he became more passive—the result was a perfect +restoration to sight.</p> +<p>"And where," I exclaimed, "is this excellent, this worthy Karl +of yours at present?"</p> +<p>"By your side," replied a chorus of voices; and following their +indication, I turned towards a young man of sturdy appearance, who +acknowledged my salute with prompt and open frankness. He wore the +common peasant costume of the country, and laughed away my honest +praises as a mere exaggeration. "I had nothing to fear from my +absence," said he, looking towards a very beautiful girl who stood +beside him, "for I was secure of the good faith of my Hannchen, and +I knew that the Black Lady would bless my enterprise!"</p> +<p>I could not presume to despise this strange union of +intelligence and bigotry; nay, so intimately is the remembrance of +the family of Stroer connected <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page254" name="page254"></a>[pg 254]</span> in my mind with that +of the miraculous idol, that I must acknowledge some sort of +lingering superstitious reverence towards the shrine of the Black +Virgin of Altenötting.—<i>New Monthly Magazine.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE RIVER.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>River, River, little River,</p> +<p class="i2">Bright you sparkle on your way,</p> +<p>O'er the yellow pebbles dancing,</p> +<p>Through the flowers and foliage glancing,</p> +<p class="i4">Like a child at play.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>River, River, swelling River,</p> +<p class="i2">On you rush o'er rough and smooth—</p> +<p>Louder, faster, brawling, leaping</p> +<p>Over rocks, by rose-banks sweeping,</p> +<p class="i4">Like impetuous youth.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>River, River, brimming River,</p> +<p class="i2">Broad and deep and <i>still</i> as Time,</p> +<p>Seeming <i>still</i>—yet still in motion,</p> +<p>Tending onward to the ocean,</p> +<p class="i4">Just like mortal prime.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>River, River, rapid River,</p> +<p class="i2">Swifter now you slip away;</p> +<p>Swift and silent as an arrow,</p> +<p>Through a channel dark and narrow,</p> +<p class="i4">Like life's closing day.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>River, River, headlong River,</p> +<p class="i2">Down you dash into the sea;</p> +<p>Sea, that line hath never sounded,</p> +<p>Sea, that voyage hath never rounded,</p> +<p class="i4">Like eternity.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p><i>Blackwood's Magazine.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>The Anecdote Gallery.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>YOUTH OF MOZART.</h3> +<h4><i>Abridged from the Foreign Quarterly Review.</i></h4> +<p>When we bring into one view all the qualifications of Mozart as +a composer and practical musician, the result is astounding. The +same man, under the age of thirty-six, is at the head of dramatic, +sinfonia, and piano-forte music—is eminent in the church +style—and equally at his ease in every variety, from the +concerto to the country dance or baby song: he puts forth about 800 +compositions, including masses, motetts, operas, and fragments of +various kinds; at the same time supporting himself by teaching and +giving public performances, at which he executes concertos on the +piano-forte, the violin, or the organ, or plays <i>extempore</i>. +But when we learn that the infant Mozart, at four years of age, +began to compose, and by an instinct perception of beauty to make +correct basses to melodies; and also that he became a great +performer on two instruments, without the usual labour of practice, +we cease to be surprised at the mechanical dexterity of his fingers +in after-life, when composition and other pursuits had engrossed +the time usually employed in preserving the power of execution.</p> +<p>The father of Mozart held the situation of Vice Kapell-meister +and violinist in the chapel of the archbishop of Salzburg. In the +service of this haughty and ignorant nobleman, (who appears to have +been a complete feudal tyrant, and to have represented all the +pride and insolence for which the then beggarly-princes of Germany +were remarkable), he was so ill paid, that notwithstanding his +utmost exertions as an instructor, it was with difficulty he +supported a wife and family. Anna Maria,<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> born +August 29, 1751, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born January 27, +1756, were the only two of seven children who survived. The sister +made such progress on the harpsichord, that in the first journeys +which the father took in order to display the talents of his +children, she divided the public attention with her brother. +Wolfgang, however, not only profited as a player, from the careful +instruction which both the children received from their parent, but +began then to exhibit the extraordinary precocity of his musical +mind; the minuets and other little movements which he composed from +the age of four to seven show a consistency of thought and a +symmetry of design which promised a maturity of the highest genius. +Of the first expedition of Leopold Mozart with his son and +daughter, in January, 1762, little account is preserved, further +than that they visited Munich, and played concertos on the +harpsichord before the royal family. In the following autumn, +(Wolfgang being then in his seventh year), the father proceeded in +the same company to Vienna; the journey was made by water, and the +family gave concerts at the principal towns they passed, as +occasion served. Leopold Mozart writes, "On Tuesday we arrived at +Ips, where two Minorites and a Benedictine who accompanied us said +mass,<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href= +"#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> during which our little Wolfgang +<i>tumbled about</i> upon the organ and played so well, that the +Franciscan fathers, who were just sitting down to dinner with some +guests, left the table, and ran with all their company into the +choir, where they were filled with wonder." A little before, he +says, "the children are as merry as when they were at home. The boy +is friendly with every body, but particularly with military +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>[pg +255]</span> officers, as though he had known them all his life. He +is the admiration of all." At the Court of Vienna the family was +received with great favour, the Emperor Francis I. being mightily +pleased with "the little magician," as he used playfully to call +young Mozart. "There is nothing wonderful," said the emperor one +day, joking with him, "in playing with all the fingers, but to play +with <i>one</i> finger and with the keys covered, would really be +surprising." Upon which the child instantly performed in this +manner with as much neatness and certainty as if he had long +practised it. The father writes, "you will scarcely believe me when +I tell you how graciously we have been received. The empress took +Wolfgang on her lap, and kissed him heartily."<a id="footnotetag5" +name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> It +was at this time that Mozart began to display the feeling of a +great artist; just before he commenced a concerto, seeing himself +surrounded by people of the Court, he asked the emperor—"is +not M. Wagenseil here? <i>he</i> understands these things." +Wagenseil was called forward to the harpsichord; "I am going to +play one of your concertos," said the boy, "will you turn over for +me?"</p> +<p>As yet Mozart had only played on keyed instruments, but on his +return to Salzburg he practised privately on a little violin which +he had purchased in Vienna, and, to the surprise of his father and +some friends who had met to play over some new trios, he performed +the second violin part, and then the first, with correctness, +though without method. His horror of the sound of the trumpet in +childhood, and the early passion he displayed for arithmetic, are +well known; to the last he was fond of figures, and was extremely +clever in making calculations; though very improvident in his +pecuniary affairs. The peculiar delicacy of Mozart's organization +is displayed in the fine sense of hearing which he evinced at a +tender age. Schachtner, a trumpeter, who used to visit his father, +had a violin that Wolfgang was fond of playing upon, which he used +to praise extremely for its soft tone, calling it the "<i>butter +fiddle</i>." On one occasion, as the boy was amusing himself on his +own little violin, he said to Schachtner, "if you have left your +violin tuned as it was when I last played upon it, it must be full +half-a-quarter of a note flatter than mine." Those present laughed +at a nicety of distinction, upon which the most critical ear could +hardly pronounce; but the father, who had many proofs of the +extraordinary memory and exquisite feeling of his son, sent for the +instrument, and it was found to be as the boy had said. Although he +daily gave fresh instances of his extraordinary endowments, he did +not become proud or conceited, but was always an amiable and +tractable child. The affection and sweetness which characterize his +airs were inherent in his disposition, and the following anecdote +accounts for the prevalence of those delightful qualities in his +vein of melody:—"Mozart loved his parents, particularly his +father, so tenderly, that every night before going to bed he used +to sing a little air that he had composed on purpose, his father +having placed him standing in a chair, and singing the second to +him. During the singing he often kissed his father <i>on the top of +the nose</i>, (the epicurism of childish fondness), and as soon as +this solemnity was over, he was laid in bed, perfectly contented +and happy."</p> +<p>The young artist, in his eighth year, began to show a manly +intellect. It was in the third tour through Germany to Paris, +London. &c. that the fame of Mozart extended throughout Europe; +but as many particulars of this period of his life are already +known, from the account published by Daines Barrington in the +Philosophical Transactions, the Letters of Baron Grimm, and other +sources, we shall only notice the newest and most interesting +incidents of this part of the Biography. From Wasserburg, Leopold +Mozart writes, "We went up to the organ to amuse ourselves, where I +explained the pedals to Wolfgang. He began instantly to make an +attempt with them, pushed back the stool and preluded standing, +treading the bass to his harmonies as if he had practised for +months." The violin-playing of Nardini, whom the party heard at +Ludwigsberg, is much praised by Leopold Mozart for the neatness of +the execution, and the beauty and equality of the tone. At +Frankfort, Wolfgang one morning on waking began to cry. His father +asked him the reason. He said he was so sorry at not being able to +see his friends Hagenaur, Wenzl, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page256" name="page256"></a>[pg 256]</span> Spitzeder, and Reibl. +Though the children performed before all the persons of distinction +they met on their route, yet as they were often rewarded with +costly presents, swords, snuff-boxes, trinkets, &c. instead of +money, the father had much anxiety on this account. He says, in a +letter from Brussels, "At Aix we saw the Princess Amelia, sister to +the King of Prussia, but she has no money. If the kisses which she +gave my children, especially to Master Wolfgang, had been louis +d'ors, we might have rejoiced." In Paris, little Mozart performed +feats which would have done honour to an experienced Kapellmeister, +transposing at sight, into any key whatever, any airs which were +placed before him, writing the melody to a bass, or the bass to a +melody, with the utmost facility and without premeditation. His +deep acquaintance with harmony and modulation surprised every one, +and his organ-playing was particularly admired. A very pleasant +picture of the musical family was painted in Paris, of which an +engraving is given in the Biography. Mozart's sister relates, that +when they were at Versailles, Madame de Pompadour had her brother +placed upon a table, and that as he approached to salute her, she +turned away from him; upon which he said indignantly, "I wonder who +she is, that she will not kiss me—the empress has kissed me!" +At Versailles the whole court was present to hear the little boy of +eight years play upon the organ, and he was moreover treated by the +royal family with great distinction, particularly by the queen. +When she dined in public, young Mozart had the honour to stand near +her, to converse with her constantly, and now and then to receive +some delicacy from her hand. The father writes, "the queen speaks +as good German as we do. As, however, the king understands nothing +of it, the queen interprets all that our <i>heroic</i> Wolfgang +says."</p> +<p><i>(To be concluded in our next.)</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE GATHERER.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.</p> +<p>SHAKSPEARE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>AN ATTACHMENT.</h3> +<p>Mr. Best, in his <i>Memorials</i>, says, I told my friend, Sir +J., that Mr. —— said, that among other fishes good for +food, he was particularly <i>attached</i> to a smelt. +"—— him;" said Sir J., "I wish a smelt was attached to +<i>him</i>—to his nose for a week, till it stank, and cured +him of his attachment."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>WINE.</h3> +<p>Some people are very proud of their wine, and court your +approbation by incessant questions. One of a party being invited by +Sir Thomas Grouts to a second glass of his "old East India," he +said that one was a dose—had rather not double the +<i>Cape</i>; and at the first glass of champagne, he inquired +whether there had been a plentiful supply of gooseberries that +year.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>GEORGE III.</h3> +<p>Was known to make no secret of his own plans or notions. "Have +you ever been in Parliament, Mr. Law?" asked the King, when Law was +attending at the levee on his appointment as Attorney-General. The +answer was in the negative. "That is right; my Attorney-General +ought not to have been in Parliament; for then, you know, he is not +obliged to eat his own words." On the esplanade at Weymouth, he +used to stop and speak to some children. "Well, little boy, what +will you be? Will you be a soldier?" Then turning to one of his +attendants, "I know the children by the nursemaids."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>INGENIOUS DEFENCE.</h3> +<p>At a celebrated watering-place a man was fined five shillings +and costs for being found in a state of inebriation, when he made +an elaborate appeal to their Worships (the Bench) <i>in mitigation +of damages</i>, founded upon the extreme hardship he had undergone +in being fined <i>four</i> several times <i>for the same +offence</i>!</p> +<p>C.C.</p> +<hr /> +<p><i>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS.</i></p> +<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. In 6 Parts, 1s. each.</p> +<p>The TALES of the GENII. 4 Parts, 6d. each.</p> +<p>The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. 4 Parts. +6d. each.</p> +<p>PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 12 Parts, 1s. each.</p> +<p>COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, 12 Numbers, 3d. each.</p> +<p>COOK'S VOYAGES, 28 Numbers, 3d. each.</p> +<p>The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. +27 Nos. 2d. each.</p> +<p>BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 36 Numbers, 3d. each.</p> +<p>The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d.</p> +<p>GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d.</p> +<p>DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d.</p> +<p>BACON'S ESSAYS. Price 8d.</p> +<p>SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Occasioned by a transposition of figures. In vol. xi. referred +to in the above page, the date stands 1671.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p><i>Reader</i>—What does he mean by an X of Champagne?</p> +<p><i>Editor</i>—An unknown quantity, you fool.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>This lady is at present living in Salzburg, and in 1826 had not +entirely given up her occupation as an instructress in piano-forte +playing. Many pupils have been brought up under her, who by a +peculiar neatness and precision of performance, evince the +excellent tuition of Nanette Mozart.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Probably at a convent.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>The following anecdote is recorded in the history of this +journey:—Little Mozart one day, on a visit to the empress, +was led into her presence by the two princesses, one of whom was +afterwards the unfortunate Queen of France, Marie Antoinette. Being +unaccustomed to the smoothness of the floor, his foot slipped and +he fell. One of the princesses took no notice of the accident, but +the other Marie Antoinette, lifted him up and consoled him. Upon +which he said to her, "you are very good, I will marry you." She +related this to her mother, who asked Wolfang how he came to make +this resolution. He answered, "from gratitude—she was so kind +to me—whereas her sister gave herself no trouble."</p> +</blockquote> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11246 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |