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diff --git a/11320-0.txt b/11320-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2752148 --- /dev/null +++ b/11320-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1608 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11320 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11320-h.htm or 11320-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/2/11320/11320-h/11320-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/2/11320/11320-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 331.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Charlecote Hall, near Stratford-upon-Avon. + + +[Illustration] + +"One of the most delightful things in the world is going a journey." Now +if there be one of our million of friends who, like the fop in the play, +thinks all beyond Hyde Park a desert, let him forthwith proceed on a +pilgrimage to _Stratford-upon-Avon_, the birthplace of SHAKSPEARE; and +though he be the veriest Londoner that ever sung of the "sweet shady +side of Pall Mall," we venture to predict his reform. If such be not the +result, then we envy him not a jot of his terrestrial enjoyment. Let him +but think of the countless hours of delight, the "full houses," the +lighted dome and deeping circles, of the past season; when + + Dread o'er the scene the ghost of Hamlet stalks; + Othello rages, &c. + +and then will he not enjoy a visit to the place where-- + + ----Sweetest Shakspeare, Fancy's child, + Warbled his native wood-notes wild. + +Sterne, the prince of sentimental tourists, says, "Let me have a +companion of my way, were it but to remark how the shadows lengthen as +the sun declines;" but, for our part, we should prefer a visit to +Stratford, _alone_, unless it were with some garrulous old guide to +entertain us with his or her reminiscences. + +This brings us to _Charlecote Hall_, one of the Shakspearean relics. It +consists of a venerable mansion, situated on the banks of the Avon, +about four miles from Stratford, and built in the first year of the +reign of Elizabeth, by Sir Thomas Lucy; + + "A parliamente member, and justice of peace. + At home a poor scare-crow, at London an asse," + +and so well known as the prosecutor of Shakspeare.[1] + +The principal front, here represented, assumes, in its ground plan, the +form of the letter E--said to have been intended as a compliment to the +queen, who, as appears from the Black Book of Warwick, visited this +place in 1572. + + [1] At Stratford, the family maintain that Shakspeare stole Sir + Thomas Lucy's buck, to celebrate his wedding-day, and for that + purpose only. But, in that age, when half the country was + covered with forests, deer-stealing was a venial offence, and + equivalent to snaring a hare in our days. + +The above is copied from one of a Series of Views illustrative of the +Life of Shakspeare, drawn and etched by Mr. W. Rider, of Leamington. +These engravings are five in number, but the artist explains that he has +selected such subjects only, "as from tradition, or more certain record, +might fairly be presumed to bear direct relation to the life of the +poet. But while he regrets that the number of authenticated subjects are +so few, he feels that from innovation or decay, they are almost hourly +becoming fewer; and is, therefore, prompted to secure the few remnants +left, while they are yet within his reach." + +There is no doubt that the grounds around Charlecote Hall, were the +early haunts of SHAKSPEARE; and that in the house itself sat the +magisterial authority, before which he was doomed to meet the charges, +to which his youthful indiscretions had rendered him liable; and, as it +remains, to the present time, for the most part, unaltered, and +_presents to the spectator of the present day the same image that was +often, and under such peculiar circumstances, impressed on the eye of +our_ SHAKSPEARE, it cannot but be regarded with the most intense +interest by all his admirers. + +In conclusion, we would recommend the illustrators of Shakspeare to +possess themselves of a set of Mr. Rider's "Views;" whilst the visiter +of Stratford-upon-Avon would do well to lay a copy in his +portmanteau--for they are in truth so many faithful memorials of the +great poet of nature. + + * * * * * + + + +ON NATIONAL VARIETIES. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +There are few more familiar subjects than that of the varieties of +national character, and the resemblances and differences that exist +between ourselves and the inhabitants of other countries. Few +conversations occur upon circumstances which may have happened abroad, +in which some one has not an anecdote to relate to illustrate the known +peculiarities of the nation in question; and the greater part of the +travels and tours which now issue in such formidable numbers from the +press, are naturally filled with stories and incidents, either to show +the correctness of our ideas of the manners and opinions of our +neighbours, or (perhaps more frequently) to prove that the public were +in error in that respect, up to the time when the traveller in question +had discovered the truth, or a clue to it. The daily accounts of the +outrages perpetrated in Ireland, and the alarms that are sounded ever +and anon, touching the state of that unhappy country, are continually +exciting surprise, that the natives of the sister island should be so +unaccountably deficient in that sense of order and sobriety which +prevails in Great Britain. We associate with a Scotchman the ideas of +shrewdness and prudence; with a Frenchman, gaiety and frivolity; with a +Spaniard, gravity and pride; with an Italian, strong passions of love +and revenge: with a German, plodding industry and habits of deep +thinking; and with the northern nations, an honest sincerity and +persevering courage. We sometimes judge with tolerable correctness; at +others are wholly mistaken, and not unfrequently run into such extremes, +that having established a principle, that a particular people are +knavish, or cowardly, or stupid, we are unwilling to admit any +exceptions, but include the whole race in our sweeping censure. We are +prejudiced at first sight against a Portuguese or Italian, and are +careful of our communications with him, even though we meet him on the +high road, or by mere accident in a public place. There can, however, be +no mistake in the common notion, that each nation has a peculiar +collection of qualities and habits, distinguishing it in a greater or +less degree from its neighbours, and the rest of the world; and it is, +therefore, at all events, an interesting, if not an useful topic, to +reflect a little how these differences arise. Not that we intend here to +give even any particular description of the various races of mankind, or +to enter into any inquiry upon the degrees of their mental and bodily +capacities; such would be foreign to our purpose, and would exceed our +limits. We shall merely hazard a few observations upon the several +causes to which the diversities in men have been referred, not +pretending to any decided opinion on so nice a point, as whether these +causes are wholly of a physical or of a moral kind, or whether they are +compounded of both. The question is, perhaps, one of the most difficult +in the whole range of philosophical experience; we say experience, +because it is obvious that all theory on the subject must be the result +of observation and analysis; and that no general principles can be laid +down in the first instance, as the ground work of any hypothesis we +might be inclined to frame. + +The scientific men to whom we are chiefly indebted for the facts +accumulated on this subject, are Dr. Blumenbach, of Göttingen, Dr. +Pritchard, of Edinburgh, and the eminent surgeon, Mr. Lawrence. It has +been a favourite matter of speculation with Lord Monboddo, as well as +with Voltaire, Rousseau, and the philosophers of the French school, who +have endeavoured to show that men and other animals are endowed with +reason or instinct of the same kind, but of different degrees. According +to these fanciful writers, the monkey is but another species of the +human race, and has been termed by them _Homo Sylvestris_. They made the +most diligent researches into all accounts concerning men in a savage +state, and were delighted beyond measure with the discovery alleged to +have been made in the island of Sumatra, of men with tails regularly +protruding from their hinder parts, who, according to Buffon, walked and +talked in the woods like other gentlemen:-- + + And backwards and forwards they switched their long tails, + Like a gentleman switching his cane. + +The appearance of Peter the Wild Boy, who was found in the woods of +Hamela, in Hanover, living on the bark of trees, leaves, berries, &c. +threw Voltaire into transports of joy. He declared the event to be the +most wonderful and important that ages had recorded in the annals of +science, as it demonstrated the fact of man living after the fashion of +beasts, without the least spark of civilization, and without speech; +thereby forming a species of a nature having more in common with monkeys +than with men, and presenting the regular degree, or intermediate class, +between the _homo civilis_ and the _homo sylvestris_. The circumstance, +however, which afterwards transpired, of Peter's having been found with +the remains of a shirt-collar about his neck, threw considerable +discredit on the whole story; and the young savage, on being brought to +England by order of Queen Caroline, lived in Hertfordshire for many +years, perfectly harmless and tractable, and behaving pretty much the +same as other idiots. The idea, therefore, of a race of men, in a +healthy, natural condition, having ever existed without the possession +of reason, is now deemed wholly fallacious. It is even maintained by +Schlegel, and other authorities of great weight, that the civilized +state is the primitive one, and that savage life is a degeneracy from +it, rather than civilized society being a graft upon barbarity. By +Schlegel's theory, the East, especially India, was the earliest seat of +arts and sciences; from the Sanscrit, or Indian language, now extinct, +are the Hebrew, the Chaldaic, the Greek, and many others of the most +ancient tongues, derived; and from the wisdom and learning of the East +"was the whole earth overspread." Undoubtedly it is difficult to imagine +by what gradation language could have proceeded, from the howl of +savages, and the cries of nature, till it reached the eloquent music, +the heart-stirring oratory of the Greek; and besides this, and other +considerations, Schlegel is supported by the opinions of Adelung, the +learned author of "Mithridates, oder Allgemeine Sprachenkunde," upon the +probable habitation of the first family of the human race. Adelung says, +that civilization began in Asia, as is, indeed, universally admitted to +have been the case; and that when the waters of the flood subsided, the +highest ground, we may naturally conclude, must have been the earliest +inhabited. We may also reasonably presume that a beneficent Providence +would place the first family in a situation where their wants could be +easily satisfied; in a garden, as it were, stocked with all herbs and +fruits, fit and agreeable to their use and taste. Now such a country is +actually to be found in Central Asia, between the degrees of 30 and 50 +North lat. and 90 and 110 long. E. of Ferro; a spot as high as the +Plains of Quito, or 9,500 feet above the level of the sea. It contains +the sources of most of the great rivers of Asia; the Seleuga, the Ob, +the Lena, the Irtisch, and the Jenisey flow from hence to the North; the +Jaik, the Jihon, and the Jemba to the West; the Amur and the Hoang Ho to +the East; and the Indus, Ganges, and Burrampooter to the South. The +valleys within this space, which our readers, by referring to a map, +will find to be correctly delineated, abound with nutritive fruits and +vegetables, and with all animals capable of being tamed. There is +evidently, therefore, some plausibility in the notion that mankind +sprung originally from the East, and that from that quarter civilization +is derived; but what portion of knowledge was allotted to the primitive +people, or how far their descendants have surpassed or fallen short of +these olden times, must, we fear, be for ever beyond the reach of our +investigation. + +If we call to mind a summary of the general divisions of human beings +throughout the world, we shall find little room to doubt of the identity +of their genus, and shall, without much trouble of reflection, class +them as different species of that genus:-- + + ------Facies non omnibus una, + Nec diversa, tamen. + +Such seems to be the result of Mr. Lawrence's judgment; and though we +are aware that the descent of mankind from one common stock has been +much questioned and controverted, particularly in Germany, we prefer +resting upon the received opinion at present, to running the risk of +shocking established notions, by entering into the merits of the +contrary theory. + +Men are classed by Dr. Blumenbach under five great divisions, viz. the +Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malay. The Caucasian +family may be asserted, though by its own members, to have been always +pre-eminent above the rest in moral feelings and intellectual powers, +and is remarkable for the large size of their heads. It need not be more +minutely described, than by saying it includes all the ancient and +modern Europeans, (except the Laplanders and Fins;) the former and +present inhabitants of Western Asia as far as the Ob, the Caspian Sea, +and the Ganges, viz. the Assyrians, Medes, Chaldeans, Sarmatians, +Scythians, Parthians, Philistines, Phoenicians, Jews, and Syrians; the +Tartars on the Caucasus, Georgians, Circassians, Mingrelians, Armenians, +Turks, Persians, Arabs, Hindoos of high caste, Northern Africans, +Egyptians, Abyssinians, and Guanches. They are supposed to have +originally had brown hair and dark eyes. + +The Mongolian family is of an olive colour and black eyes, flat nose and +face, small stature, black hair, no beard, and thick lips. It comprises +the people of Central and Northern Asia, Thibet, Ava, Pegu, Cambodia, +Laos, and Siam; the Chinese, Japanese, Fins, and Esquimaux. + +The Ethiopian family is black, with black and woolly hair, compressed +skull, low forehead, flat nose, and thick lips. It includes all Africans +not comprehended in the Caucasian family. + +The American family has a dark skin, a red tint, straight hair, a small +beard, low forehead, and broad face. It includes all the American +tribes, except the Esquimaux. + +The Malay family is brown, varying from a light tint to black. Their +hair is black and curled, head narrow, bones of the face prominent, nose +broad, and mouth large. They inhabit Malacca, Sumatra, Java, and the +adjacent islands; Molucca, the Ladrones, New Holland, Van Dieman's Land, +New Guinea, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands. They speak generally +the Malay language. + +The difference of character and disposition of these five families is +familiar to every one; they are as well known as is the superiority of +the Caucasian to the other races, and as the outward distinctions of +their bodies and complexions. The reasons of this difference have been +variously assigned, some ascribing it to natural, others altogether to +moral causes. By natural causes we understand either that the +constitutions of the races are such, that their capabilities of +informing their minds, and raising their intellectual powers, are +essentially not the same; or that the climate has an influence over both +their bodies and minds. By moral causes, we mean artificial or +accidental ones arising out of the state of society; such as the nature +of the government, the plenty or poverty in which people live, a period +of war or peace, the power of public opinion, and such circumstances. + +The effect of climate cannot of itself be sufficient to change the +manners and habits of a people. The instances of migratory nations seem +to show this; the Jews are as cunning and fond of money in Asia or +Africa as they are in Poland or England; that extraordinary race, the +Gipsies, (which are now ascertained to be a Hindoo tribe, driven from +their country in the fifteenth century,) are not less thievish in +Transylvania than in Scotland. The Armenians of Constantinople, and +other parts of the Levant, are represented to be of the same mild and +persevering temper, of the same honesty and skilfulness in their +dealings, and the same kindness and civility of manners, as before they +were driven from their country by Sha-Abbas the Great. The changes, +however, in the habits and character of this people seem to mark the +influence of their several domestic situations. They were originally the +most warlike of the Asiatic tribes; after their subjection by the +Persians, they engaged themselves entirely in the patient cultivation of +the soil; and since the period of the depopulation of Armenia, and their +migrations into Persia, Russia, Turkey, and other countries, they have +been celebrated for their industry in commercial concerns. They are +bankers, money-brokers, merchants, surgeons, bakers, builders, +chintz-printers, and of all trades that can be imagined, and are +represented as the most useful subjects in the Ottoman empire, retaining +at the same time an almost patriarchal simplicity in their domestic +manners. The English in the East and West Indies, in New South Wales, +and in Canada, seldom lose a relish for the habits and enjoyments they +have been bred up in, whether they migrate to the extremes of heat or of +cold. John Bull is an Englishman in heart, and will remain so under +whatever sun his lot of life may be cast; for, + + Coelum, non animum, mutant, qui trans mare currunt. + +We rarely find the Spaniards or Italians, or the natives of the South of +Europe, lose their ideality of character and their warm passions when +settled permanently in England; the only alteration in them seems to be +such as the forms of society and intercourse with others has led them +to. Still the man is the same, though he may have adopted a new regime +in the fashion of his clothes, or the dishes of his dinner. + +(_To be continued_.) + + * * * * * + + +FAIR ROSAMOND. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +In a late Number of the MIRROR, in which you have given a view of the +Labyrinth at Woodstock, and several particulars respecting Fair +Rosamond, many doubts are stated relative to her death, viz. _how_ and +what time. I therefore send you the following account from _Collins's +Peerage of England:_-- + +"Rosamond de Clifford was the eldest of the two daughters of Walter de +Clifford, by Margaret his wife, daughter and heir of Ralph de Toeny, +Lord of Clifford Castle, in Herefordshire, (and had with her the said +castle and lands about it as an inheritance.) This Rosamond was the +unfortunate concubine of Henry II., for whom the king built that famous +Labyrinth[2] at Woodstock, where she lived so retired, as not easily to +be found by his jealous queen. The king gave her a cabinet of such +elegant workmanship,[3] as showed the fighting of champions, moving of +cattle, flying of birds, and swimming of fish, which were so artfully +represented, as if they had been alive. _She died 23rd Henry II. anno +1176_, by poison (as was suspected) given her by Queen Eleanor, and was +buried in the Chapter-house of the Nunnery of Godstow." + +G.F. + + [2] Chron. Joreval, 1151. + [3] Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +GODSTOW NUNNERY. + + +On the banks of the Isis, about two miles from Oxford, are the remains +of Godstow Nunnery. It was founded towards the end of the reign of Henry +I. by Editha, a lady of Winchester, and when dissolved in the reign of +Henry VIII. it was valued at £274. per annum. A considerable portion of +its buildings remained until the end of the reign of Charles I. about +which time they were accidentally destroyed by fire. The present remains +consist chiefly of ranges of walls on the north, south, and east sides +of an extended area. Near the western extremity of the high north wall +are the remains of two buttresses. There is a small building which abuts +on the east, and ranges along the southern side, which was probably the +Chapter House of the Nuns. The walls are entire, the roof is of wood, +and some of the rafter work is in fair preservation. It is in this +building that the remains of Rosamond are supposed to have been +deposited, when they were removed from the choir of the church, by the +order of Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1191. On the north wall is painted +a pretended copy of her epitaph in Latin. Many stone coffins have at +various times been found on this spot. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + +SCRAPS FROM TURKISH HISTORY. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +_First Landing of the Turks in Europe._--Orchanes, second king of the +Turks, having settled his monarchy in Lesser Asia, was determined to get +footing in Europe. Solyman, his eldest son, being willing to undertake +the enterprise, was accordingly despatched with an army of veterans, who +crossed the Hellespont, and arrived on the European side. They soon +afterwards seized many considerable castles and cities belonging to the +Greeks, who offered little or no resistance to the invaders of their +empire. These occurrences transpired about the year 1358. + +_A Woman's Revenge._--Mahomet the Great, on being proclaimed Sultan, +caused his two innocent brothers to be put to death; the mother of the +youngest immediately afterwards went to the new king, and reproached him +severely for his cruelty. In order to appease her, he said, "that it +consisted with the policy of his state to do as he had done, but that +whatever she asked of him should be granted her." The lady, therefore, +determining to be revenged, demanded one of the sultan's chief bassas to +be delivered to her. Mahomet, to keep his word, gave orders that it +should be done without delay; and the enraged lady, seeing the bassa +bound before her, first stabbed him, and then plucked out his liver, +which she cast to the dogs. + +_Turkish Superstition._--Scanderbeg, prince of Epyrus, after many +glorious victories, died on the 17th of January, 1466, in the 53rd year +of his age, and 24th of his reign. He was buried with great solemnity in +the cathedral at Lyssa. The Turks, nine years afterwards, took the city, +and dug up his bones for the purpose of setting them in rings and +bracelets, thinking, by this means, that they should partake of his +invincible fortune. + +_Amurath's Dream._--About the year 1594, Amurath III. dreamed that he +saw a man of prodigious stature, with one foot raised upon the Tower of +Constantinople, while the other reached over the Bosphorus, and rested +on the Asiatic shore. In one hand, the figure sustained the sun, while +the other held the moon. He struck his foot against the Tower of +Constantinople, the fall of which overthrew the great temple, and the +imperial palace. Amurath, being greatly discomfited by this dream, +consulted his wizard, who informed him, "that it was a warning sent by +their prophet Mahomet, who threatened the overthrow of their religion +and empire, unless Amurath engaged his whole force against the +Christians." This interpretation had so much influence with the emperor, +that he vowed not to lay down his arms until he had utterly exterminated +the Christians. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + +TROUT FISHING. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +Sir,--I shall now sum up this _ticklish_ subject, by acquainting you +with three more methods of catching trout in Westmoreland. + +_Flood-netting_.--A flood net is a small net with a semi-circular frame +at the mouth of it, from which projects a long handle. This is used only +when there are floods; the fisher draws it up the rivulets, and every +now and then pulls it up to look for his success. Sometimes he nets a +great many at a time, and especially if he wait the arrival of the +flood, because a large shoal mostly comes down with the first torrents. + +_Pod-netting_.--This derives its name from the habitation of the trouts +(the banks of the "becks") which are called "hods" or "holds" and more +frequently "pods," and this net therefore goes by these three names. I +have before described to you the situation generally of these "_holds_" +to be either in the ledge of some rock or stone in the water, or under +some bank reaching over the stream. This net is used in fine weather, +and when the water is "_clear as crystal_;" the fisherman takes hold of +the handles of the net,[4] and wades through the stream as gently as +possible, placing the net just at the side of a trout's "hold," taking +care to keep it as close to the bottom as possible, to afford the trout +no room for escape. Then another with a long pole drives the trouts from +the mouth of the "_hold_," when they immediately dart into the net, and +nothing remains but to draw the net quickly up. This is a famous method +of fishing. I have been with parties when we have completely cleared the +beck. We went to "Carmony" in the spring of 1825, and caught an immense +quantity by fishing with the hand and pod. This brings to my +recollection an amusing circumstance, which I intend troubling you with, +though you may think it unworthy of notice. It was reported in that year +that there was a large quantity of trouts in the beck; and I went at the +recommendation of those who had seen a particularly large one (when +passing by) "basking" in the streams. I was referred to a _certain_ +"_lum_," and thither I went one afternoon with two friends, to try if we +could have an opportunity of seeing him. We had scarcely reached the +spot when we perceived him lying at the mouth of his "_hold_," a fine +grassy bank at the side of which grew a small bush; and I employed my +friends to watch the trout should he escape me. I crossed the brook (my +friends remaining on the opposite side), pulled off my coat and +waistcoat, and tucked up my shirt ready for action. He was still lying +very quietly, and as I knew I had no chance with him then, I touched him +gently with a twig and he moved into his habitation. I then leaned over +the bank, thrust in my arm, touched his back, I felt his size, and was +all caution. So first I began to secure him by building a piece of wall +before the bank to prevent his going out; but I had no sooner laid the +first stone than out he bounced, and darted down the river about twenty +yards, (we running after him all the while) then up again, and so on for +about a quarter of an hour, till at length he became tired and waddled +into his dwelling. I now thought all secure, and once more put in my +hand, when he jumped at least three or four yards out of the water. I +must confess, I was a little confused with my friends' dictation, who +feared I should lose him. Again housed, I made a kind of fort at one end +of the hold, and this done, I again thrust in my arm, when he was as +soon out again, and on getting up I found my hand covered with blood. +Still he came back to his favourite place, and I tried again, after +giving my friends caution to be on the look out. This time I was +successful, I put my hand gently under his belly, and by a tickle, +secured the rascal, by thrusting the fore-finger and thumb of my right +hand in his gills. I got him on to land, my friends ran about in +exstacy, and I think I never saw a finer trout than he proved to +be--real Eden. We gave a shout of triumph, after which we cut him on the +nose to kill him. From tail to snout he measured one foot four inches; +but he was beautifully plump and thick-made. We now began to wonder what +caused the blood on my hand, when on examination, we found a large night +hook in his side, which no doubt I had touched, and had thus given him +pain, and made him restless. I will not prolong the story, but tell you +he weighed about two pounds and a half, and was acknowledged to be the +plumpest trout ever caught in that county by the hand.[5] Shortly +afterwards I caught the partner to it in the same place, but it was not +so fine a trout, and I had not so much effort in catching it. The +largest trout ever caught in this county weighed four pounds and a half, +but that was taken with the net. I have no other recommendation for this +paper but its originality. I have enjoyed the sport, and can only half +convey a description of it upon paper. + +W.H.H. + + [4] This net is made differently from the other, there being no + frame to it and having two handles. + + [5] The reader must consider the difficulty of holding a large + fish with the hand. + + * * * * * + + +THE ROSE. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Mark, Laura, dearest, yonder rose + Its inner folds are sad and pale, love; + While blushing, outward leaves disclose + A lively crimson to the gale, love. + + Yet as the secret canker-worm + Preys deeply on its drooping heart, love, + Soon from the flow'ret's with'ring form + Will all that vivid glow depart, love. + + Then turn to me those beaming eyes-- + A blooming cheek although you see, love, + Since hope is fled, then pleasure dies, + And read the rose's fate in me, love. + + * * * * * + + +OLD WINE. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +The passion for old wines has sometimes been carried to a very +ridiculous excess, for the "_thick crust_," the "_bee's wing_," and the +several other criterions of the epicure, are but so many proofs of the +decomposition and departure of some of the best qualities of the wine. +Had the man that first filled the celebrated Heidleburg tun been placed +as sentinel, to see that no other wine was put into it, he would have +found it much better at twenty-five or thirty years old, than at one +hundred, had he lived so long, and been permitted now and then to taste +it. + +At Bremen there is a wine-cellar, called the Store, where five hogsheads +of Rhenish wine have been preserved since 1625. These five hogsheads +cost 1,200 francs. Had this sum been put out to compound interest, each +hogshead would now be worth above a thousand millions of money, a bottle +of this precious wine would cost 21,799,480 francs, or about +908,311_l._, and a single wine-glass 2,723,808 francs, or about +113,492_l._. + +J.L.S. + + * * * * * + + +THE HEROINE. + +A SKETCH FROM SUNDRY NOVELS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +She must be, _à plaisir_, tall and slender in person, or of humbler +stature, but never inclining to stoutness, since the _en bon point_ +savours (at least in romance) of vulgarity. Her complexion may be light +or dark, according to fancy; but her interesting pallidness may +occasionally be relieved by a hectic flush, yet more interesting. She +must possess small _alabaster_ hands, _coral_ or _ruby_ lips, enchasing +a double row of _pearls_; a neck rivalling _ivory_ or driven _snow_, +(yes, even if our heroine be a brunette, for incongruity is the very +essence of romance); _velvet_ cheeks, _golden_ or _jet_ black hair, +_diamond_ eyes, marvellous delicate feet, shrouded at all times in +_bas-de-soie_, and defended by the most enchanting slippers imaginable; +her figure must be a model for the statuary, and at all seasons, and in +every situation, arrayed in muslins or silks, which, wondrous to relate, +resist the injuries of time, weather, and wear in a manner perfectly +astounding. What heroine had ever an hiatus in her stocking, or a +fracture in her gown of finest woof? Ye gods! what an insult to suppose +her _repairing such_! The lady's mental accomplishments and +qualifications are as follow:--She sings divinely, plays on the harp +(and piano too in modern days) _à merveille_; occasionally condescends +to fascinate on the guitar, and the lute also, should that instrument, +now rather antiquated, fall in her way. She takes portraits, and +sketches from nature; she understands _all_ languages, or rather that +desideratum, an _universal tongue_, since in the most foreign lands she +is never at a loss to render herself understood, nor to comprehend that +which is addressed to her; she is of a melancholy cast of mind, and +carries sal-volatile in her reticule, and fountains of tears in her +eyes, for use on the most _public_ occasions; she likes gloomy +apartments, looking upon the sea, mountains, or black forests, and +leading into endless corridors; she has an Æolian lyre ever at her +casement, writes verses and weeps by moonlight, for--effect, or-- +_nothing_; and is enamoured with a being, who, in the common course +of nature, could not exist; he possessing, amongst other fine qualities, +that of omnipresence in an impious degree. Should the heroine reside in +a town, and especially London, she must have dwelt previously in some +isolated mansion, seldom visited by beings superior in intellect to the +foxes they hunt; an idiot mother, vulgar aunt, a father, an uncle, or a +guardian in his dotage, must have superintended her education; and when, +at the age of sixteen, some fortunate chance throws her into society, +her accomplishments and manners are found more fitting for it and +finished, than those of persons who have from their cradles associated +with families of the highest distinction, and possessed all the +advantages of a polished and liberal education. The heroine has, in all +situations, an abundant store of money, jewels, and clothes, supplied no +one knows when, how, or by whom; and these, with her musical +instruments, drawing materials, &c. accompany her into every reverse of +situation, in a manner perfectly incomprehensible, but highly amusing +and edifying. A miniature portrait of some mysterious relative or +friend, seldom or ever seen, nay, indeed, a sacred memento of the dead, +is highly scenic and effective in a romance. The heroine ought, by all +means, to possess such; it _may_ do good, and it _can_ do no harm. +Finally, the lady must frequently faint, be twice or thrice on the brink +of the grave, undergo exquisite varieties of suffering, run all hazards, +but retain her beauty and reputation unblemished to the _last_, i.e. to +her _marriage_; after which, this wondrous and superlative creature, and +her partner in perfection, are never heard of more. _Why_? + +M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT ROMAN FESTIVALS. + +SEPTEMBER. + + +The _Septmontium_ was a festival of the seven mountains of Rome, which +was celebrated in this month, near the seven mountains, within the walls +of the city; they sacrificed seven times in seven different places; and +on that day the emperors were very liberal to the people. + +The _Meditrinalia_ were feasts instituted in honour of the goddess +_Meditrina_, and celebrated on the 13th of September. They were so +called from _medendo_, because the Romans then began to drink new wine, +which they mixed with old, and _that_ served them instead of physic. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + +THE ANNUALS FOR 1829. + + +These elegant little works are already in a forward state. MR. ALARIC +WATTS announces the plates of the SOUVENIR, "of a more important size +than heretofore," and twelve in number, already completed. Among them +are _Cleopatra embarking on the Cydnus_, drawn by Danby, and engraved by +Goodall; _Love taught by the Graces_, drawn by Hilton, and engraved by +J.C. Edwards; a beautiful scene from _Lalla Rookh_, drawn by Stephanoff, +and engraved by Bacon; _She never told her Love_, drawn by Westall, and +engraved by Rolls. Whilst Mr. Watts has been catering for the "children +of a larger growth," Mrs. W. has been preparing a "New Year's Gift; or +_Juvenile_ Souvenir", to be accompanied with exquisite illustrations of +Nursery literature; as the Children in the Wood, Red Riding Hood, &c. +with two historical subjects after Northcote. + +Mr. Ackermann, to whom we are indebted for the _naturalization_ of +"Annuals", announces that one of his plates in the forthcoming "FORGET +ME NOT"--(4 inches by 3 in dimension) has cost one hundred guineas! The +subject is "the Ruined City," by Martin, engraved by Le Keux. Fine +engraving is thus almost as dear as building-ground at Brighton. + +The KEEPSAKE will appear much earlier than last year. Sir Walter Scott +has written three or four articles, and two or three "noble lords" are +among the contributors. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the specimens +of the illustrations. + +The FRIENDSHIP'S OFFERING passes into the editorial hands of Mr. T. +Pringle, of whose poetical talents we have lately had some exquisite +specimens. + +The ANNIVERSARY.--Allan Cunningham has joined Mr. Sharp (of whose taste +in "getting up" books, our readers must be aware) in a splendid volume +to be called "The Anniversary." Among the engravings are _Psyche_, after +Sir Thomas Lawrence; _Young Cottagers_, after Gainsborough; the _Author +of Waverley in his Study_, after W. Allen; a _Monkey_, &c. by Landseer. +This is a new adventure, and we wish its projectors many +_anniversaries_. + +The CHRISTMAS BOX is to contain "A Story," from the pen of Miss +Edgworth. Mrs. Hofland, Miss Mitford, and Mrs. Hemans, likewise, +contribute their pleasing aid. + +The PLEDGE OF FRIENDSHIP is to be altered to _The Gem_, to be edited by +Mr. T. Hood, whose wit and fancy will sparkle among the contributions; +and who hopes that it may prove one of those "hardy annuals," which are +to become perennials; the writers are to be of "_authorized_ +popularity"--"the _plates_ not of the common _dessert_ kind, but a +welcome _service_"--the engravers "as true as steel" to their +originals--and the whole equally "mental" and "ornamental:" so the wight +has begun already. + +The WINTER'S WREATH promises to bloom more vigorously than ever, and +earlier too--in September. Among the contributors are the names of +Hemans, Opie, Mitford, Montgomery, Wiffen, Delta, &c. + +The AMULET is to be edited, as last year, by Mr. Hall. + +The BIJOU is printing with _two-fold_ energy. + +We read the other day that Schiller's "History of the German War," was +originally published in _Damen Almanach_--a Lady's Almanack! This is +real _azure_. "Annuals" do not, however, progress on the continent; for +a new one, lately published contained but a single original +contribution. In America they have bloomed with some success, though not +with the elegance and polish of our own country. Here their effect on +the Fine Arts has been very important, and they have done much for light +reading, every name of literary eminence, except those of Moore, +Campbell, and Rogers, having been enlisted in their ranks. We do not, +however, remember Leigh Hunt, although his pleasantries would relieve +the plaintiveness of some of the poetical contributions. A few +_Shandean_ articles would be very agreeable--something like the +Housekeepers in the last "Friendships' Offering." + +Nothing is said of the "Literary Pocket Book;" but our old friend, +"Time's Telescope," will be mounted as usual. + +We also take this opportunity to state that the "ARCANA OF SCIENCE AND +ART, FOR 1829," will appear towards the close of the present year; and, +we are enabled to promise its patrons a still greater modicum of novelty +and interest than was even comprised in its very successful forerunner. + + * * * * * + + +MARTYRDOM. + + +There is no truth more abundantly exemplified in the history of mankind, +than that the blood of martyrs, spilt in whatever cause, political or +religious, is the best imaginable seed for the growth of favour towards +their persons, and, as far as conversion depends on feeling, of +conversion to their opinions. "_Quoites mori emur toties +nasciemur_."--_Edin. Rev._ + + * * * * * + + +ENGLISH LIBERTY. + + +Our liberty is neither Greek nor Roman; but essentially English. It has +a character of its own,--a character which has taken a tinge from the +sentiments of the chivalrous ages, and which accords with the +peculiarities of our manners, and of our insular situation. It has a +language, too, of its own, and a language too singularly idiomatic, full +of meaning to ourselves, scarcely intelligible to strangers.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +SENSUALITY. + + +How different is the night of Nature from that of man, and the repose of +her scenes from the misrule of his sensual haunts; what a contrast +between the refreshing return of her morning, and the feverish agonies +of his day-dreams.--_Cameleon Sketches._ + + * * * * * + + +THE FLIMSY AGE. + + +Poets sing of the "golden age," the "silver age," and the "iron age," +but were they to celebrate this, I think they should call it the flimsy +age, for every thing seems made to suit a temporary purpose, without any +regard to the sound and substantial. From printed calico to printed +books, from Kean's acting to Nash's architecture, all is made to catch +the eye, to gratify the appetite for novelty, without regard to real and +substantial excellence.--_Blackwood_. + + * * * * * + + +VILLAGE CHURCHES. + + +We find very few monasteries founded after the twelfth century; the +great majority, which rose through the kingdom "like exhalations," were +founded between the eleventh and twelfth centuries; and in all county +histories and authentic records, we scarce find a parish church, with +the name of its resident rector recorded, before the twelfth century. +The first notice of any village church occurs in the Saxon Chronicle, +after the death of the conqueror, A.D. 1087. They are called, there, +"upland churches." "Then the king did as his father bade him ere he was +dead; he then distributed treasures for his father's soul to each +monastery that was in England; to some ten marks of gold, to some six; +to each _upland_ church sixty pence."--Ingram's Saxon Chronicle. +Gibson's note on the passage is, "unicuique ecclesiae rurali." These +rare rural churches, after the want of them was felt, and after the +lords of manors built, endowed, and presented to them, spread so +rapidly, that in 1200 in almost every remote parish there was an "upland +church," if not a resident minister, as at this day. + +The convents, however, still remained in their pristine magnificence, +though declining in purity of morals and in public estimation. In place +of new foundations of this august description, the-- + + "Village parson's modest mansion rose," + +gracefully shewing its unostentatious front, and, at length, humbly +adorning almost all the scattered villages of the land.--_Bowles's +History of Bremhill._ + + * * * * * + +It was pleasantly observed by a sentimental jockey, who lost by a +considerable length the first race he ever rode, "I'll never ride +another race as long as I live. The riders are the most selfish, narrow +minded creatures on the face of the earth. They kept riding and +galloping as fast as they could, and never had once the kindness or +civility to stop for me."--_Penelope_. + + * * * * * + + +IRELAND. + + +It has lately been proved by indisputable evidence, that the present +condition of the peasantry of Ireland is much superior, to that of the +population of the same island some centuries ago, when the number of +people did not exceed one million. Spenser describes them as inhabiting +"sties rather than houses, which is the chiefest cause of the farmer's +so beastly manner of living and savage condition, lying and living +together with his beast, in one house, in one room, in one bed, that is +clean straw, or rather a foul dunghill." + +In 1712, Dobbs, a man particularly conversant with the general condition +of Ireland, estimated that its population had increased 200,000. He +states that "the common people are very poorly clothed, go barelegged +half the year, and very rarely taste of that flesh meat with which we so +much abound, but are pinched in every article of life." + +In 1762, Sir William Petty computed that the inhabitants of Ireland +amounted to about one million three hundred thousand. Their habitations, +he says, "are lamentable wretched cabins, such as themselves could make +in three or four days, not worth five shillings the building, and filthy +and disgusting to a degree, which renders it necessary for us to refrain +from quoting his description. Out of the 200,000 houses of Ireland," +says he, "160,000 are wretched cabins, without chimney, window, or door +shut, even worse than those of the savages of America." Their food at +the same period, consisted "of cakes, whereof a penny serves for each a +week; potatoes from August till May; mussels, cockles, and oysters, near +the sea; eggs and butter made very rancid by keeping in bogs; as for +flesh they seldom eat it; they can content themselves with potatoes." + + * * * * * + + +SELF KNOWLEDGE. + + +We often hear people call _themselves_ fools. Now a man ought to know +whether he is a fool or not, and he would not say it if he did not +believe it; and there is also a degree of wisdom in the discovery that +one has been a fool, for thereby it is intimated that the season of +folly is over. Whosoever therefore actually says that he was a fool +formerly, virtually says that he is not a fool now.--_Penelope_. + + * * * * * + + +THE MAIDEN'S CHOICE. + + + Genteel in personage, + Conduct and equipage, + Noble by heritage, + Generous and free; + Brave, not romantic, + Learn'd, not pedantic, + Frolic, not frantic, + This must he be. + + Honour maintaining, + Meanness disdaining. + Still entertaining, + Engaging and new: + Neat, but not finical, + Sage, but not cynical, + Never tyrannical, + But ever true. + +_Old MS_. + + * * * * * + + +CUNNING. + + +In England, no class possesses so much of that peculiar ability which is +required for constructing ingenious schemes, and for obviating remote +difficulties, as the thieves and the thief-takers. Women have more of +this dexterity than men. Lawyers have more of it than statesmen; +statesmen have more of it than philosophers. + + * * * * * + + +STORY-TELLING. + + +A friend of mine has one, and only one, good story, respecting a gun, +which he contrives to introduce upon all occasions, by the following +simple, but ingenious device. Whether the company in which he is placed +be numerous or select, addicted to strong potations, or to long and +surprising narratives; whatever may happen to be the complexion of their +character or conversation, let but a convenient pause ensue, and my +friend immediately hears, or pretends to hear, the report of a gun. +Every body listens, and recalls his late impressions, upon which "the +story of a gun" is naturally, and as if by a casual association, +introduced thus--"By the by, speaking of guns, that puts me in mind of a +story about a gun;" and so the gun is fixed in regular style, and the +company condemned to smell powder for twenty minutes to come! To the +telling of this gun story, it is not, you see, at all necessary that +there should be an actual explosion and report; it is sufficient that +there _might_ have been something of the kind. + + * * * * * + + +PLEASURES OF TRAVELLING. + + +Dover quite full--horrible place! Shocking, the inns! Amphibious +wretches, the population. Ashore (from steam-packet) at four in the +morning. Fires out at The Ship. No beds! Think of it! Had to wait till a +party got up--going off at six. Six came--changed their minds (lazy!) +wouldn't go! Woke the whole house with ringing the bells, however--took +care they shouldn't sleep. Filthy breakfast! Bad butter--vile chops-- +eggs! I never got an egg properly boiled in my life! Royal Society ought +to give a premium. Set off, starved and shuddering--roads heavy--four +horses. Ruined with the expense. Man wanted to take half. Fat--looked +greasy. Thought ruin best. Got up to Pagliano's a petrifaction! Worthy +creature, the cook! Tossed me up such a "_Saumon, Tartare_"--"_Vol au +vent_"--"Maccaroni"--all light. Coffee--_liqueur_--no wine for fear of +fever--went to bed quite thawed in body and mind; and walked round +Leicester-square next morning like "a giant refreshed!"--_Blackwood_. + + * * * * * + +A woman's true dowry is virtue, modesty, and desires restrained; not +that which is usually so called. + + * * * * * + + +DOMESDAY. + + +Mr. Bowles in his _History of Bremhill_, makes a few observations +suggested by the account in _Domesday Book_, on the wages, and some of +the prices of agricultural produce on the farms where the _villani_ and +_servi_, literally _slaves_ and _villans_, laboured. When we find two +oxen sold for seventeen shillings and four-pence, we must bear in mind +that one Norman shilling was as much in value as three of ours; when we +find that thirty hens were sold for three farthings each, we must bear +in mind the same proportion. The price of a sheep was one shilling, that +is three of ours. Wheat was six shillings a-quarter; that would be, +according to our scale, two shillings and three-pence a-bushel. Now, at +the time of this calculation, everything must have borne a greater +price, reckoning by money, than at the time of Domesday; for the prices +of articles now set down (from an authentic document of the accounts of +the Duke of Cornwall, first published from the original by Sir R.C. +Hoare, in his _History of Mere_,) bear date somewhat more than two +hundred years afterwards, in the reign of Edward the First, 1299. But at +that time, what were the wages of the labourer? The ploughman's wages +were about five shillings a-year, fifteen shillings by the present +scale; a maid for making "pottage" received a penny a week! + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH BOOK. + +STRIKING INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF A MIDSHIPMAN. + + +I have read some theories, or rather hypotheses, of apparitions, in +which the authors attempt to account for the appearance of those +unsubstantial shadows, resembling the forms of living men, by +circumstances connected with the physical laws of matter. But I am +rather inclined to hold, with another class of inquirers, that the +origin of such marvels must be looked for in the mind of the seers; +although I do not go the length of their scepticism, and deny the actual +existence of the ghostly show, as a real and visible spectacle, before +the eyes. + +These observations will derive some illustration at least, if not entire +confirmation, from the following narrative, which is deemed to be +authentic in the neighbourhood in which the scene is laid; and the +application of which the judicious reader will, no doubt, be able to +make for himself. + +About the middle of the last war, the _Polly_, tender, commanded by +lieutenant Watts, came swooping up one evening to the small town of +Auchinbreck, in Scotland, and, resolving to pounce, without warning, +upon her prey, as soon as she had anchored in the roads, sent ashore the +press-gang to pick up as many of the stout boat-builder lads as they +could catch. The towns-people, however, were not so unprepared as the +captain of the tender imagined; some of those, indeed, who were fit for +sea, ran up into the hills, but by far the greater number collected +about the corner of a building-shed as you go on to the main street, +and, when the signal of hostility was given, by the capture of a man by +the press-gang, they rushed down upon them in a body, every one with his +axe on his shoulder like a troop of Indians with their tomahawks. It had +now become so dark that the sailors had much to do to keep their footing +upon the loose stones of the beach, which was just at this time rendered +a still more troublesome passage by the scattered materials of a pier, +then beginning to be built; and, besides, their number was so small +compared to the townspeople, that, after a few strokes of the cutlas, +and as many oaths as would have got a line-of-battle ship into action +and out again, they were fain to retreat to their boat, pursued by the +boat-builders, young and old, like furies. A midshipman, sitting in the +stern, whose name was William Morrison, a fine lad of fifteen, observed +the fate of the action with feelings in which local and professional +spirit struggled for the mastery. One moment he would rub his hands with +glee, and the next unsheath his dagger in anger, as he saw the axe of a +fellow-townsman descend on the half-guarded head of a brother sailor; +but, when the combatants came within oar's length of the boat, and the +retreat began to resemble a flight, the _esprit de corps_ got the upper +hand in the Auchinbrecken midshipman's feelings, and, unsheathing his +dagger, he jumped nimbly ashore and joined in the fray. At last the +sailors got fairly into their boat without a single man being either +missing or killed, although the list of the wounded included the whole +party; and the landsmen, apparently pretty much in the same +circumstances, although unable, from their number and the darkness, to +reckon as instantaneously the amount of the loss or damage, after giving +three cheers of triumph, retired in good order. + +William Morrison, after discharging his duty so manfully, was permitted +to go on shore the same evening, to visit his friends; and, indeed, the +captain could not have known before that he belonged to the place, as he +surely would not have confided to the lad so unpopular a task as that of +kidnapping his own relations and acquaintances. He was landed at the +point of Scarlough, to prevent the necessity of going through the +streets, which might have been dangerous in the excited state of the +people's minds; and, stretching across the fields, and along the side of +the hill, he steered steadily on in the direction of his paternal home, +which was about a mile and a half from the Point, but only one mile from +the town. The moon had now risen, but was only visible in short glimpses +through the clouds that were hurrying across the sky; and the tall, +strange shadows of the willows and yews that skirted the churchyard, +appearing and disappearing as he passed, probably by recalling the +associations of his earlier years, made William shrink, and almost +tremble. His own shadow, however, was a more pleasing thing to look at. +The dress, which, grown familiar by usage, he would not have noticed +elsewhere, was here brilliantly contrasted in his recollection with the +more clownish and common garb of his boyhood--for he already reckoned +himself a man; and the dagger, projecting smartly from his belted side, +gave, in his opinion, a finish quite melodramatic to his air. He drew +out the tiny blade from its sheath, and its sparkle in the moonlight +seemed to be reflected in his eyes as he gazed on it from hilt to point; +but the expression of those eyes was changed as they discovered that its +polish in one place was dimmed by blood. This could easily be accounted +for by the affray on the beach--and at any other time and place it would +have been thought nothing of;--but at this moment, and on this spot, he +was as much startled by the sight, as if his conscience had accused him +of a deliberate murder. The impressions his mind had received while +passing the churchyard, now returned upon him with added gloom; a kind +of misgiving came over him; and a thousand boding thoughts haunted him +like spirits, and hanging, as it were, on his heart, dragged it down +farther and farther at every step. He bitterly regretted that he had not +remained in the boat, as he had at first resolved, a neutral spectator +of the strife. How did he know that his hand had not been raised against +the life of his own brother? As far as he could see or learn, indeed, no +fatal accident had occurred; but there have been instances of people +walking cheerily off the field of battle, and dying of their wounds +after all. And yet it was not likely--it was hardly possible--that John +could have been in the affray, his indentures protecting him from the +impress. These cogitations were speedily followed by others of as gloomy +a character; for the thoughts breed faster than we can perceive them, +and each multiplies after his kind. It was a year since he had heard +from his friends, and five years since he had seen them. Who could tell +what changes had taken place in that time? Who could tell whether poor +John had even lived to be killed by the pressgang? His father, his +mother, and his sisters--were they dead, were they living, were they +sick, or in health? His sister had been always a delicate girl, one of +those gentle and fragile flowers of mortality that are sure not to live +till the summer; perhaps consumption, with the deceitful beauty of his +smile, had already led his fair partner down the short dance of life. + +Tormenting himself with such speculations, he arrived at his father's +house. Here he was surprised, bewildered, almost shocked, to observe a +new and handsome farm-house in place of the old one. On looking farther +on, however, he did detect the ancient habitation of his family, in its +original site; but it seemed, from the distance where he stood, to be +falling into ruins. His whole race must either be dead or banished, and +a new tribe of successors settled in their place; or else uncle William +must be deceased, and have left his father money enough to build a new +house. He walked up to the door, where he stood trembling for some +minutes, without courage to put his hand to the latch, and at last went +round to the window, and, with a desperate effort, looked in. How his +heart bounded! His father was there, still a stout healthy man of middle +life, his hair hardly beginning to be grizzled, by the meddling finger +of the old painter Time; and his mother, as handsome as ever, and her +face relieved by the smile either of habitual happiness, or of some +momentary cause of joyful excitation, from the Madonna cast which had +distinguished it in less prosperous days; and his sister, with only +enough left of her former delicacy of complexion to chasten the +luxuriant freshness of health on the ripe cheeks of nineteen. John, +indeed, was not there; but a vacant chair stood by the table ready to +receive him, and another--a second chair, beside it, only nearer the +fire--for whom?--for himself. His heart told him that it was. Some one +must have brought the tidings of his arrival; the family circle were at +that moment waiting to receive him; he could see his old letters lying +on the table before them, and recognised the identical red splash he had +dropped, as if accidentally, on the corner of one--the dispatch he had +written after his first action--although he had taken the trouble to go +to the cock-pit to procure, for the occasion, this valorous token of +danger and glory. But John--it was so late for him to be from +home!--and, as a new idea passed across his mind, he turned his eyes +upon the old house, which was distant about a hundred yards. It was +probable, he thought, nay, more than probable, that his father, when +circumstances enabled him to build a new house for himself, had given +the old one to his eldest son; and John, doubtless, was established +there as the master of the family, and perhaps at this moment was +waiting anxiously for a message to require his presence on the joyful +occasion of his brother's arrival. He did not calculate very curiously +time or ages, for his brother was only his senior by two years; he felt +that he was himself a man long ago, and thought that John by this time +must be almost an old man. + +While these reflections were passing through his mind, he observed a +light in the window of the old house; but he could not well tell whether +it was merely the reflection of a moonbeam on the glass, or a candle in +the interior. He walked forward out of curiosity; but the scene, as he +approached the building, was so gloomy, and the air so chill, that he +wished to turn back; however, he walked on till he reached the door, and +there, sure enough, his brother was waiting on the threshold to receive +him. They shook hands in silence, for William's heart was too full to +speak, and he followed John into the house; and an ill-cared-for house +it was. He stumbled among heaps of rubbish in the dark passage; and, as +he groped along the wall, his hand brought down patches of old lime, and +was caught in spiders' webs almost as strong as if the spinner had meant +to go a-fowling. When they had got into the parlour, he saw that the +building was indeed a ruin; there was not a whole pane of glass in the +window, nor a plank of wood in the damp floor; and the fireplace, +without fire, or grate to hold it, looked like the entrance to a +burying-vault. John, however, walked quietly in, and sat down on a heap +of rubbish by the ingleside; and William, following his example, sat +down over-against him. His heart now began to quake, and he was afraid, +without knowing what he had to fear. He ran over in his mind the +transactions of the evening--his walk, his reflections, his +anxieties--embracing the whole, as if in one rapid and yet detailed +glance of the soul, and then turned his eyes upon his brother both in +fear and curiosity. What fearful secret could John have to communicate +in a place like this? Could he not have spoken as well in the open air, +where it was so much warmer, and in the blessed light of the moon? No +one was dead, or likely to die, that he cared for; his dearest and +almost only friends were at this moment talking and laughing round their +social table, and near a bright fire, expecting his arrival, and John +and he were--here! At length, repressing by a strong effort the +undefined and undefinable feelings that were crowding upon him, he broke +the silence, which was now beginning to seem strange and embarrassing. + +"And how have you been, John?" said he, in the usual form of friendly +inquiries; "and how have you got on in the world since we parted?" + +"I have been well." replied John; "and I have got on as well as mortal +man could desire." + +"Yet you cannot be happy; you must have something to say--something I am +almost afraid to hear. Out with it, in God's name! and let us go home." + +"Yes," said John, "I have something to say; but it will not take long to +hear, and then we shall both go home. I was apprenticed to the +boat-building four years ago." "I know it," replied William; "you wrote +to me about it yourself, John." + +"I was made foreman before my time was out." + +"I know that, too," said William; "Fanny gave me the whole particulars +in a letter I received at Smyrna;--surely that cannot be all." + +"I have more to tell," said John, solemnly: "my apprenticeship is out." + +"What, in four years!--you are mad, John! What do you mean?" + +"The indenture was cancelled this evening." + +"How?" cried William, with a gasp, and beginning to tremble all over, +without knowing why. + +"I was wounded on the beach," said John, rising up, and walking +backwards towards the window; while the moon, entering into a dense +cloud, had scarcely sufficient power to exhibit the outlines of his +figure. "It was by the point of a dagger," continued he, his voice +sounding distant and indistinct, "_and I died of the wound!_" + +William was alone in the apartment, and he felt the hair rising upon his +head, and cold drops of sweat trickling down his brow. His ghastly and +bewildered look was hardly noticed by his parents and sister during the +first moments of salutation; and, when it was, the excuse was illness +and fatigue. He could neither eat nor drink, (it seemed as if he had +lost altogether the faculty of swallowing,) but sat silent and +stupified, turning his head ever and anon to the door, till it struck +one o'clock. About this time a knocking was heard, and the sister, +jumping up, cried it was John come home, and ran to open the door. But +it was not John; it was the minister of the parish; and he had scarcely +time to break the blow to the parents with the shield of religion, when +the dead body of their eldest son was brought into the house.--_Orient. +Herald_. + + * * * * * + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + +_Zoological Gardens._ + +It is stated that upwards of one hundred and eighty pounds have been +received for the admission of the public to these gardens during one +week. + +We omitted to mention last week, that one of the lamas was presented by +Robert Barclay, Esq. of Bury Hill; a leopard by Lord Auckland; several +animals from the Arctic regions by the Hudson's Bay Company, &c. The +pair of emus were bred at Windsor, by Lord Mountcharles. The emu is +hunted in New South Wales for its oil; it frequently weighs 100 lbs., +and its taste, when cooked, more resembles beef than fowl.--See _Notes_, +p. 378, vol. xi. MIRROR. + +_Venerable Orange Tree._ + +There is an orange tree, still living and vigorous, in the orangery at +Versailles, which is well ascertained to be above 400 years old. It is +designated the Bourbon, having belonged to the celebrated constable of +that name in the beginning of the 16th century, and been confiscated to +the crown in 1522, at which time it was 100 years old. A crown is placed +on the box in which it is planted, with this inscription, "Sown in +1421." + +Thirty-four orange-trees have lately been received at Windsor, as a +present from the king of France to George IV. + +_Potato Mortar._ + +M. Cadet-de-Vaux found mortar of lime and sand, and also that made from +clay, greatly improved in durability by mixing boiled potatoes with it. + +_An Experimental Farm,_ + +As a school of practical husbandry for a part of central France, has +been formed by the celebrated Abbé de Pradt. It is situated about a +league from Avranches, on the great road from that city to Bort, in the +department of Corrèze.--_Foreign Q. Rev._ + +_A Tunnel under the Vistula, at Warsaw,_ + +Has been projected. This mode of communication will be of the utmost +utility, especially at the times of the breaking up of the frost, when +all intercourse is interrupted. The architect is a foreigner, and has +engaged to complete the work in the space of three years.--_Paris +Paper._ + +_Small White Slugs,_ + +In gardens, are more injurious than the larger variety, because their +diminutive size escapes the gardener's eye. A good way to keep them +under is to make small holes, about an inch deep, and about the diameter +of the little finger, round the plants which they infest. Into these +holes the slugs will retreat during the day, and they may be killed +there by dropping in a little salt, quicklime in powder, or by strong +lime and water.--_Gardener's Mag._ + +_Turkish Method of Preserving Filberts._ + +When perfectly ripe, remove the husks, and dry the nuts, by rubbing with +a coarse cloth; sprinkle the bottom of a stone jar with a very little +salt; then place a layer of filberts, adding a small quantity of salt +between each layer. The jar must be perfectly dry and clean. Secure the +top from air, and keep them in a dry place; and, at the end of six +months, they will peel.--_Ibid._ + +_Extinction of Fires._ + +When a chimney or flue is on fire, throw into the fire-place one handful +after another of flower of sulphur. This, by its combustion, effects the +decomposition of the atmospheric air, which is, in consequence, +paralysed, or, in effect, annihilated. + +_Oysters._ + +After the month of May, it is felony to carry away the caltch (the spawn +adhering to stones, old oyster-shells, &c.) and punishable to take any +oysters, except those of the size of a half-crown piece, or such as, +when the two shells are shut, will admit of a shilling rattling between +them. + +The liquor of the oyster contains incredible multitudes of small embryo +oysters, covered with little shells, perfectly transparent, swimming +nimbly about. One hundred and twenty of these in a row would extend one +inch. Besides these young oysters, the liquor contains a great variety +of animalcules, five hundred times less in size, which emit a phosphoric +light. The list of inhabitants, however, does not conclude here, for +besides these last mentioned, there are three distinct species of worms +(called the oyster-worm,) half an inch long, found in oysters, which +shine in the dark like glow-worms. The sea-star, cockles, and muscles, +are the great enemies of the oyster. The first gets within the shell +when they gape, and sucks them out. + +While the tide is flowing, oysters lie with the hollow side downwards, +but when it ebbs they turn on the other side.[6] + + [6] See Bishop Spratt on Oysters. + +_Swarming of Bees._ + +An interesting communication was read, at a recent sitting of the Royal +Society, from T.A. Knight, Esq. describing the precaution taken by a +swarm of bees, in reconnoitering the situation where they intend to +establish their new colony, or swarm from the parent hive. The bees do +not go out in a considerable body, but they succeed each other in going +and returning, until the whole of the swarm have apparently made good +the survey, after which the whole body take their departure in a mass. +If by any chance a large portion of a swarm take their departure without +the queen bee, they never proceed to take up the ulterior quarters +without her majesty's presence. The result of Mr. Knight's observations +tends to prove, that all the operations of a swarm of bees are dictated +by previous concert, and the most systematic arrangement. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + +LADDER OF LOVE. + + + Men and women,--more or less,-- + Have minds o' the self-same metal, mould, and form!-- + Doth not the infant love to sport and laugh, + And tie a kettle to a puppy's tail?-- + Doth not the dimpled girl her 'kerchief don + (Mocking her elder) mantilla wise--then speed + To mass and noontide visits; where are bandied + Smooth gossip-words of sugared compliment? + But when at budding womanhood arrived, + She casts aside all childish games, nor thinks + Of aught save some gay paranymph--who, caught + In love's stout meshes, flutters round the door, + And fondly beckons her away from home,-- + The whilst, her lady mother fain would cage + The foolish bird within its narrow cell!-- + And then, the grandame idly wastes her breath, + In venting saws 'bout maiden modesty-- + And strict decorum,--from some musty volume: + But the clipp'd wings will quickly sprout again; + And whilst the doating father thinks his child + A paragon of worth and bashfulness,-- + _Her_ thoughts are hovering round the precious form + Of her sweet furnace-breathing Don Diego!-- + And he, all proof 'gainst dews and nightly blasts, + In breathless expectation waits to see + His panting Rosa at the postern door;-- + While she sighs forth "My gentle cavalier!"-- + And then they straightway fall to kissing hands, + And antic-gestures--such as lovers use,-- + Expressive of their wish quickly to tie + The gordian knot of marriage;--Pretty creatures!-- + But why not earlier to have thought of this?-- + When he, the innocent youth, was wont to play + At coscogilla; and the prattling girl, + Amid her nursery companions, toiled + In sempstress labours for her wooden dolls.-- + Ah! wherefore, did I ask?--Because forsooth, + Their ways are changed with their increasing years!-- + For when for gallantry the time be come-- + And when the stagnant blood begins to boil + Within the veins, my master--then the lads + Cast longing looks on damosels--for nature + Defies restraint--and kin-birds flock together!-- + And think not, Master, _Chance_ disposes thus; + Or were it so, then chance directs us all-- + Whene'er we have attain'd the important age! + I, ------, am a living instance!-- + Was I not once a lively laughing boy? + And, in my stripling age, did I not love + The pastimes suited to those madcap days?-- + Oh! would to heaven those times were present still! + But wherefore fret myself with hopes so vain?-- + The silly thought doth find no shelter here,-- + That any beauty, with dark roguish eyes, + With sparkling blood, and rising warmth of youth, + Would e'er affect this wrinkled face of mine:-- + The very thought doth smack of foolishness!-- + And, though the truth may be a bitter pill, + Yet,-- + It is most fitting that we know ourselves. + + _Spanish Comedy--Foreign Review._ + + * * * * * + + +A HINT TO RETIRING CITIZENS. + + + Ye Cits who at White Conduit House, + Hampstead or Holloway carouse, + Let no vain wish disturb ye; + For rural pleasures unexplored, + Take those your Sabbath strolls afford, + And prize your _Rus in urbe_. + + For many who from active trades + Have plung'd into sequester'd shades, + Will dismally assure ye, + That it's a harder task to bear + Th' ennui produced by country air, + And sigh for _Urbs in rure_. + + The cub in prison born and fed, + The bird that in a cage was bred, + The hutch-engender'd rabbit, + Are like the long-imprison'd Cit, + For sudden liberty unfit, + Degenerate by habit. + + Sir William Curtis, were he mew'd + In some romantic solitude, + A bower of rose and myrtle, + Would find the loving turtle dove + No succedaneum for his love + Of London Tavern turtle. + + Sir Astley Cooper, cloy'd with wealth, + Sick of luxurious ease and health, + And rural meditation, + Sighs for his useful London life, + The restless night--the saw and knife + Of daily amputation. + + Habit is second nature--when + It supersedes the first, wise men + Receive it as a warning, + That total change comes then too late, + And they must e'en assimilate + Life's evening to its morning. + + Thrice happy he whose mind has sprung + From Mammon's yoke while yet unwrung + Or spoilt for nobler duty:-- + Who still can gaze on Nature's face + With all a lover's zeal, and trace + In every change a beauty. + + No tedium vitae round him lowers, + The charms of contrast wing his hours, + And every scene embellish:-- + From prison, City, care set free, + He tastes his present liberty + With keener zest and relish. + + _New Monthly Mag_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +ACCOMMODATION FOR THREE HALFPENCE. + + +A gentleman on a wet evening entered the bar of an inn, and while +standing before the fire, called to a servant girl who had come to +receive his orders, "Margaret, bring me a glass of ale, a clean pipe, a +spitoon, a pair of snuffers, and the newspaper. And Margaret, take away +my great coat, carry it into the kitchen, and hang it before the fire to +dry, and dry my umbrella, and tell me what o'clock it is; and if Mr. +Huggins should come in, request him to come this way, for I think 'tis +near seven, and he promised to meet me at that hour. And Margaret, get +me change for a sovereign, and see that all the change is good, take for +the glass of ale out of it, and put the coppers in a piece of paper. And +Margaret, tell Jemima to bring some more coals, take away the ashes, and +wipe the table. And Margaret, pull down the blinds, shut the door, and +put-to the window-shutters."--N.B. The gentleman had his own tobacco. + + * * * * * + + +TWO EVILS, (EXTEMPORE.) + + + Can man sustain a greater curse + Than to possess an empty purse? + Yes, with abundance to be blest, + And not enjoy the pow'r to taste. + +G.K. + + * * * * * + + +EPIGRAM, FROM THE GERMAN. + + + If one has served thee, tell the deed to many? + Hast thou served many?--tell it not to any. + +J.L.S. + + * * * * * + + +A GENTLEMAN. + + +To tell the reader exactly what class of persons was meant to be +designated by the word _gentleman_, is a difficult task. The last time +we heard it, was on visiting a stable to look at a horse, when, +inquiring for the coachman, his stable-keeper replied, "He has just +stepped to the public-house along with another gentleman." + +The following is the negro's definition of a _gentleman_:--"_Massa make +de black man workee--make de horse workee--make de ox workee--make every +ting workee, only de hog: he, de hog, no workee; he eat, he drink, he +walk about, he go to sleep when he please, he liff like a GENTLEMAN_." + + * * * * * + + +"VERY BAD." + + +Why are washer-women, busily engaged, like Adam and Eve in Paradise? +Because they are _so-apy_ (so happy). + +Why is a widower, going to be married, like Eau de Cologne? Because he +is _re-wiving_. + +Why is a vine like a soldier? Because it is listed and trained, has +_ten-drills_, and shoots. + +Why is a sailor, when at sea, not a sailor? Because he's _a-board_. + +Why is a city gentleman, taken poorly in Grosvenor-square, like a +recluse? Because he is _sick-westward_ (sequestered.) + +Why is it better for a man to have two losses than one? Because the +first is a loss, and the second is _a-gain_. + +"If Britannia rules the waves," said a qualmish writing-master, going to +Margate last week in a storm, "I wish she'd rule 'em _straighter_."-- +_Lit. Gaz._ + + * * * * * + +_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 11320 *** |