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diff --git a/11321-0.txt b/11321-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..46d4972 --- /dev/null +++ b/11321-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1539 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11321 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, NO. 270.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +TOWN-HALL, LIVERPOOL. + + +[Illustration: Town-Hall, Liverpool.] + + +From a small inconsiderable hamlet, Liverpool, within a century and a +half, has been singularly advanced in national importance. In Leland's +time it had only a chapel, its parish church being at Walton, a distance +of four miles from the town. + +In the year 1571 the inhabitants of Liverpool sent a memorial to Queen +Elizabeth, praying relief from a subsidy which they thought themselves +unable to bear, wherein they styled themselves "_her majesty's poor +decayed town of Liverpool_." Some time towards the close of this reign, +Henry, Earl of Derby, in his way to the Isle of Man, staid at his house at +Liverpool called the Tower; at which the corporation erected a handsome +hall or seat for him in the church, where he honoured them several times +with his presence. + +Liverpool, from this time till the end of the next century, made but a +slow progress either in the extent of its trade or in the number of its +inhabitants; nor is there any remarkable occurrence recorded of it, except +the siege of it by Prince Rupert, in the civil wars in 1644; some traces +of which were discovered, when the foundation of the Liverpool Infirmary +was sunk, particularly the marks of the trenches thrown up by the prince, +and some cartouches, &c. left behind by the besiegers. + +About the year 1698 an act of parliament was obtained, empowering the +inhabitants to build a new church. From that time may be traced the rapid +progress of population and commerce, until Liverpool has now become second +only to the metropolis of Great Britain. + +In 1760 the inhabitants of Liverpool were computed at 25,787; in 1811, at +94,376; and in 1821, at 118,972! + + Far as the eye can trace the prospect round + The splendid tracts of opulence are found; + Yet scarce a hundred annual rounds have run. + Since first the fabric of this power begun; + His noble stream, inglorious, Mersey roll'd, + Nor felt his waves by lab'ring art controll'd: + Along his side a few small cots were spread, + His finny brood their humble tenants fed; + At op'ning dawn with fraudful nets supply'd + The padding skiff would brave his specious tide, + Ply round the shores, nor tempt the dangerous main, + But seek ere night the friendly port again. + + +The public buildings in Liverpool are not numerous, but they are +worthy of attention. The Town-Hall, which is the subject of our present +embellishment, is in a striking style of architecture. The first stone of +this structure was laid in 1749, and the hall was opened in 1754. It is an +elegant stone building, having two fronts; one towards Castle-street, the +other towards the area formed by the New Exchange Buildings. Each front +consists of an elegant range of Corinthian columns, supporting a pediment, +and are themselves supported by a rustic base. Between the capitals are +heads, and emblems of commerce in basso-relievo; and on the pediment of +the grand front is a noble piece of sculpture representing Commerce +committing her treasures to the race of Neptune. The ground floor of this +building was originally intended as an Exchange for the accommodation of +the merchants, with insurance offices adjoining; but was never used for +that purpose, the merchants prefering to meet in the open street opposite +the building. Since its erection a considerable addition was made to it on +the north side, and some progress towards extending and improving the +rooms and offices within the building, when the fire in 1795 destroyed the +whole of the interior. After this destructive accident the corporation +determined to rebuild the interior upon a new and extended plan, and to +appropriate the whole of the building to the purposes of judicial and +other offices for the police of the town, a mansion for the mayor, a suit +of public assembly rooms, and for offices for the general corporation +business. All the offices, rooms, and passages, on the basement and ground +stories, are now arched with brick, as a security against any future fire. + +The Exchange Buildings form three sides of a quadrangle, 194 feet by 180 +in the clear space, with arcades or piazzas in front, and the whole is in +a style of architecture corresponding with the north front of the +Town-Hall and Old Exchange, which forms the fourth side of the square at +the head of Castle-street. The east side of these buildings on the ground +floor, contains a coffee-room, 94 feet by 52, with appropriate rooms and +offices for the keeper, &c.; on the second story over the coffee-room, is +a room for the under-writers, upon the principle of Lloyd's in London, 72 +feet by 36: a second room, 69 feet by 29, with several other rooms +attached to them. The north and west sides of these buildings are brokers' +and merchants' offices, and counting houses. In the centre of the area is +erected an elegant group of statues in commemoration of the heroic and +immortal Nelson. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE MONTHS + + * * * * * + +THE HOP HARVEST. + + +The southern counties of England, particularly Surrey and Kent, now yield +their valuable produce of hops in this month. The common hop, _humulus +lupulus_, is propagated either by nursery plants or by cuttings. These are +set in _hills_, formed by digging holes in the spring, which are filled +with fine mould, and the number of which varies from 800 to 1,000, or +1,200 per acre. One, two, or three plants are put in each hill; but, if +hops are designed to be raised from cuttings, four or five of these, from +three to four inches in length, are planted and covered one inch deep with +fine mould. + +At the end of the first year it becomes necessary to put poles into the +hills, round which the bines reared from plants are wound; at the +expiration of the second year, full-sized poles, from 15 to 20 feet, are +set, (though the hop-bines will run to the height of 50 feet,) in the +proportion of two poles to each hill, and a similar number of hop-plants +are fastened loosely round each pole, by means of withered rushes. Hops +begin to flower about the latter end of June or the beginning of July. The +poles are now entirely covered with verdure, and the pendent flowers +appear in clusters and light festoons. The hops, which are the scaly +seed-vessels of the female plants, are, when the seed is formed, +(generally about the end of August,) picked off by women and children; for +this purpose the poles are taken up with the plants clinging to them. The +seeds are then dried over a charcoal fire, exposed to the air for a few +days, and packed in sacks and sent to market. + +The culture of hops, though profitable when it succeeds, is very +precarious: as soon as the plant appears above ground, it is attacked by +an insect somewhat similar to the turnip-fly, which devours the young +heads. Hop-gardens, situated on chalky soils, are peculiarly subject to +its depredations. In the months of June and July, the hops are liable to +be _blown_ by a species of _aphis_, or fly. This insect, however, does not +endanger the growth of the plant, unless it be in a weak state, in +consequence of the depredations committed on its root by the larvae of the +ottermoth, _phalaena humuli_. + +The hop is a most valuable plant: in its wild state it is relished by +cows, horses, goats, sheep, and swine. When cultivated, its young tops are +eaten, early in the spring, as substitutes for asparagus, being wholesome +and aperient. Its principal use, however, is in brewing malt liquors, +communicating that fine bitter flavour to our beer, and making it keep for +a longer time than it otherwise would do. Hops also serve some important +purposes in medicine. + + * * * * * + + +LINES TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE RIGHT HON. GEORGE CANNING. + + + Why does Britannia bend with pensive mien, + And throbbing bosom o'er that sable bier, + To which yon melancholy group is seen + In mute affliction slowly drawing near, + Whilst weeping genius, pointing to the sky, + In silent anguish heaves a plaintive sigh? + + She seems to take a lingering last farewell, + As down her cheek the pearly teardrops flow, + Of some lamented spirit she lov'd well, + By Fate's inexorable shaft laid low; + And thus half broken-hearted to complain + "When shall we look upon thy like again!" + + Poor drooping maid--she mourns the doom of one, + Whom at a time like this she ill can spare,-- + Her talented and patriotic son, + Whom art could not deceive, nor vice ensnare, + To truth and sacred liberty allied, + His country's hope, her honour and her pride! + + Yes--he is gone, whose energetic mind + Upheld the pillars of a mighty state; + Whose wisdom, worth, and eloquence, combin'd, + Earn'd the just tribute of the good and great, + Ensur'd a deathless wreath for coming days-- + The poor man's blessing, and the rich one's praise! + + Relentless Death!--could _no_ one else suffice? + No less invaluable prize be found? + But must _he_ fall a noble sacrifice + And early victim to thy fatal wound! + Thou stern and merciless destroyer, say, + Why didst thou blight his brief but glorious day? + + It is not Albion only who deplores.-- + All sympathising Europe wails his doom; + And bright-eyed Freedom hastes from Western shores + To drop a grateful tear upon his tomb; + And fondly hovering round his slumbering shade + Guards the lorn spot where her best friend is laid. + + Now, stay my muse--for worthier hands than thine + Will twine the laurel round his hallow'd bust; + And raise in happier and more polish'd line + A splendid trophy to his sacred dust; + When thy untaught and unpretending lay + Shall be forgotten and have pass'd away. + + Yet, ere thy chords are mute, oh, once again + My trembling lyre let me touch thy string! + And in a humble, but a heartfelt strain + Of him, the much-lov'd child of Genius sing; + And place this simple, unaffected verse, + With moisten'd eye upon his plumed hearse:-- + + "If all that virtue, all that fame holds dear, + Deserve a tribute--stop and pay it _here!_" + +J.E.S. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH BOOK. + +No. XLV. + + * * * * * + +BEHIND THE SCENES; OR, A BREAKFAST IN NEWGATE. + + +Returning from the country, I found myself in the Old Bailey, shortly +after seven in the morning. I had some difficulty in making my way through +the crowd there assembled, which I instantly perceived, from the platform +erected in front of Newgate, had been brought together to witness one of +those mournful exhibitions which the administration of criminal justice so +frequently furnishes in this immense metropolis. + +My first impulse was to retreat with all possible expedition, but the +impediments opposed to my doing so compelled a pause; and it then struck +me, that however reluctant to witness suffering, there was much in the +scene before me on which a reflecting mind might dwell with interest, if +not with advantage. + +The decent gravity of some of the crowd formed a strong contrast to the +jocund vivacity of the majority; and this again with the important swagger +of the constables, who seemed fully to appreciate the consequence which +the modicum of authority dealt out to persons of their standing in society +cannot fail to impart. Then the anxiety to complete their task, which the +workmen who were still employed in preparing the scaffold evinced, gave +another feature perfectly distinct from what had before caught my +attention, while the eagerness of the inhabitant housekeepers to let +"excellent places for seeing," and of certain ambulatory pastrycooks to +accommodate the rapidly increasing multitude with such delicacies as they +had for sale, added to the variety, though not to the solemnity of the +scene. + +Some undertaker's men were carrying coffins across the road to the prison, +for the reception of the sufferers after execution. They were much pushed +about, and this caused great mirth. I turned from the general display of +levity with disgust. "On no account," I mentally exclaimed, "will I remain +mixed up with such a herd of heartless beings. But who am I," I retorted +on myself in the next moment, "that I should thus condemn my fellows, and +'bite the chain of nature?'"--for what I saw was nature after all. A mob, +save when depressed by a sense of peril, can never long refrain from some +indications of merriment, however awful the subject of their meeting. The +unfortunate Hackman, in one of his letters to Miss Ray, described himself +to have been shocked by a spectacle of this sort. On the morning of the +day on which Dr. Dodd suffered, Hackman was at Tyburn. While the multitude +were expecting the approach of the culprit, an unfortunate pig ran among +them; and the writer remarks, with indignation, that the brutal populace +diverted themselves with the animal's distress, as if they had come there +to see "a sow baited," instead of attending to behold a fellow creature +sacrificed to justice. + +But the pressure of the accumulating thousands was too much for me, and I +asked a female, who, with an infant in her arms, stood full in my way, to +let me pass. I was retiring, when the carriage of one of the sheriffs +drove up to the Sessions-house, and out stepped my friend Sir Thomas ----, +who, in the performance of his duty, came to superintend the last +arrangements within the prison, and to give the governor a _receipt_ for +the bodies of the unfortunates who were to die. + +I was instantly recognised, and the sheriff kindly complimented me with +the offer of an introduction to the interior. Such politenesss was not to +be withstood, and I signified my assent with a bow. + +We passed up a staircase and into a well furnished and carpeted apartment. +Here I was introduced to the under-sheriff, who, attended by half a dozen +gentlemen, brought in, like myself, as a matter of favour, was about +descending to the room in which the culprits are pinioned. Sir Thomas, who +had bestowed much humane attention on the prisoners, inquired, with real +solicitude, how they had passed the night. His colleague, who had just had +his person embellished with the insignia of office, replied, in a lively +tone. "O, very well, I understand." He added, with infinite coolness and +intelligence--"But you cannot expect men to sleep so well the night before +they are hanged as they are likely to do afterwards!" + +He looked round in all our faces, as if to collect our suffrages in favour +of this pleasantry. His _high rank_ and importance _there_, prevented any +word or sign of displeasure. Most of us lifted our upper lip so as just to +show our teeth, thereby intimating that we knew he had said a very good +thing, at which, but for the painful business then in progress, we should +be ready to die with laughing. + +We now followed the sheriffs through the Sessions-house, and thence, by a +covered passage on the eastern side of the yard of that building, to the +prison. I shuddered at beholding the numerous precautions which experience +and ingenuity had suggested to cut off hope and prevent escape, Spikes and +pallisades above, and doors of massy iron below, appeared in long and +terrible array against the wretch, who, having eluded the vigilance of the +officers of the gaol, should attempt, by flight, to save his life. At one +of the iron doors, we were severally inspected with as much suspicious +care as if we had been seeking to get out, instead of pressing forward to +be let in. + +At length we reached a gloomy apartment, which, I believe, is called the +press-room. Here I found rather a fuller attendance than I had expected; +some eight or ten persons having been admitted by another entrance. These +had formed in two lines, and their eyes were incessantly turned towards +the door. I fancied, when I made my appearance, that they regarded me with +peculiar attention, as if for a moment they had mistaken me for a more +distinguished character than I really was. If I were right in this, they +certainly were soon undeceived. Mingling with them, I looked about me, as +I saw them look about. Silence generally prevailed. A few whispers were +exchanged; and now and then such sentences as, "The time grows short"-- +"They will soon be here"--"What must their feelings be at this moment?" +were murmured along the ranks. + +That amelioration of the culprit's destiny, which, by relieving him from +the galling fetters heretofore deemed necessary for the safe detention of +his person, now leaves his mind more perfect leisure for communication +with his Creator, had not then taken place. The approach of the prisoners +was signified first by a whisper, and then by the clanking of the irons +attached to the limbs of one of them. It was a dreary morning; and the +sombre aspect of the apartment well accorded with the dismal preparations +of which it was to be the theatre. A block with a small anvil was placed +near the entrance, by which a miserably attired individual was stationed +with a candle, for the purpose of lighting the workman who attended to +remove the irons. The flame of the candle was too small to afford a +general illumination of the room; but its limited power gave to the eye a +more distinct view of a little circle round the anvil, in which the main +objects were the smith, with his hammer already grasped; his assistant, +and two or three officers, were, in the absence of the more important +objects of curiosity, eagerly gazed on by some of the party, and by me for +one, as appendages of the picture not unworthy of notice. + +The sound of the fetters was now close at hand, and the voice of the +minister who attended the wearer of them, could be heard. In the next +moment two or three persons entered, and these were followed by the +ordinary and one of the malefactors. The latter looked right and left, as +if he had calculated on recognising there some friend or relative. A +ghastly paleness sat on his cheek, and there was an air of disorder in the +upper part of his face, which his wild but sunken eye, and negligently +combed locks joined to furnish. The unhappy youth, for he was not more +than twenty, advanced with a steady step to where the smith expected him. +He was resigned and tractable. When about to place his foot on the block, +he untied a band, which had passed round his body to sustain the weight of +his irons; and as he disengaged it, he let it carelessly fall, with an +expression in his countenance which told, so I fancied, that, in this +moment, reflecting he should never want it again, the immediate cause and +consequence of the miserable relief flashed full on his imagination, with +all their concomitant horrors. But with calmness he attended to the +workman, who directed him how to stand. He manifested great presence of +mind, and, I thought, seemed to gaze with something of curiosity on the +operation, which he contributed all in his power to facilitate. The heavy +blows echoed through the room, and rudely broke in on the low murmurs and +whispers which had for some little time been the only sounds heard there. +A singularly irrational feeling came over me. I could have reproved the +striker for indecorously breaking silence, and even have questioned his +humanity for being capable of such vigorous exertion at a moment when, as +it struck me, everything ought to have presented the coldness and +motionless stillness of the grave. + +The rivet was knocked out, the fetters fell to the floor, and the prisoner +was passed from the anvil to the further extremity of the room. A second +entered. This was a middle-aged man. Reflection seemed with him to have +well performed its duty. Calm and undismayed, he advanced to the anvil, +apparently unconscious of the presence of a single spectator, and wholly +occupied with meditations on eternity. Having already witnessed that part +of the preparatory ceremony which he was then to undergo, I withdrew from +the circle to observe the other sufferer. He had now been joined by the +ordinary, and was standing near a table, on which several ropes were +lying. He was directed to place his hands together, and he was then +pinioned. Here, again, I felt a disposition to criticise the conduct of +the officers, like that which I had previously experienced while +witnessing the labours of the smith. The adroitness and merciful despatch +which I noticed, I could hardly help regarding as meriting censure for the +insensibility which they marked. Those who have to perform a severe duty +cannot often properly fulfil their task, and at the same time conciliate +the admiration of the pitying spectator. Lest what I have said should be +misunderstood, it is right distinctly to say, no want of consideration for +the feelings of the criminals was evinced. The officers who pinioned them, +when their work was done, shook each by the hand with an appearance of +sincere commiseration. The matter-of-course way in which they acquitted +themselves offended me, but I had no right to expect that in performing +what to them were but common-place labours, they should study my +fastidious notions of fitness and effect. But a still greater contrast to +the awful character of the preparations presented itself. When I drew near +the table on which the ropes lay, and by which the miserable being who had +most engrossed my attention then stood, I perceived on that very table the +materials for gambling. Lines, passing across it, had been indented to +prepare it for a game, I believe the same as that which king Henry VIII. +took some trouble to put down, under the name of "Shove-groat." The +strange variety thus placed before me--the mingling symbols of dissipation +and misery, of pastime and of death, caused my mind, already sufficiently +excited, to experience a sudden emotion which I know not how to convey to +another. + +The third criminal entered. This was a young man of prepossessing +exterior, who had recently moved in a higher sphere than either of his +companions in suffering. His cheek was flushed when he entered, and he +staggered forward, writhing in agony, and scarcely able to sustain +himself. He looked at those who surrounded him as if he feared to discover +some who had known him in the day of his pride. It was necessary to +support him while his irons were being removed. He was attended by a +benevolent person who commonly assists criminals in their last moments, +and who, though no ecclesiastic by profession, seemed equal to the duty of +imparting religious consolation. His voice now contributed to soothe his +unhappy charge, and in a few moments all that was necessary there to be +done had been performed. The hands of the culprits were secured, and the +halters by which they were to perish were thrown round their shoulders. + +The fortitude of the young man first brought in had, till this moment, +enabled him, though not unmoved, to look with calmness on the appalling +scene. But now when he saw that but one more ceremony intervened between +him and the grave, his resolution suddenly failed him. He burst into +tears, and a wild shriek of "O my mother--my poor mother," embodied in +speech a portion of the agony which raged in his bosom. He was conducted +to a bench, on which his fellows had just been seated. A glass of water +was handed to him, with which he moistened his fevered lips, and the voice +of devotion again claimed attention, and commanded silence. + +In that moment few, if any, of the spectators remembered the crimes of +those they looked upon. Every mind was solely occupied with the terrible +punishment about to be inflicted. + +But distressing as the scene was, before it closed I was sufficiently +myself to recognise, with satisfaction, the majestic march of justice--the +resolute, but humane administration of the law. It was sad to behold the +ghastly pictures of despair then breathing, but destined so speedily to +cease to breathe. Such scenes are rendered familiar to us in romance, but +to gaze on the reality, and to feel that, pity as we may, no joyful +denouement can be furnished to avert the contemplated sacrifice, occasions +for the time excruciating sorrow. But while I felt this, and was persuaded +that each of all who were with me (however idle the curiosity which +brought him there) would have been glad for himself to have given them +life and freedom, I admired the serene determination which still urged on +the proceedings, and the sorrowful concurrence which attended them. It was +the triumph of civilization, to behold every effort made to soothe +calamity, without any abandonment of the forfeit justly claimed on behalf +of society. + +The sheriffs inquired if the unfortunates had any thing to impart, or any +request to make. Answered in the negative--they added their voices to +those of their religious assistants, to assure them of their hopes--that +they would find that mercy in another world, which the laws and the +interests of their fellow creatures denied them in this. + +This language, however suited to the occasion, had been so often addressed +to them, that the sufferers received it almost as a matter of course, and +made little or no reply, but looking up to heaven, they at least seemed to +feel that thither alone could their thoughts be advantageously directed. + +They continued sitting on the bench or form to which they had been led. +From time to time the sheriffs referred to their watches. The under +sheriff, who had been doing the same, now exhibited his timepiece to his +superior. It wanted five minutes to eight. Sir Thomas, by a slight +inclination of the head, intimated that he comprehended what was intended +to be conveyed. + +"Had we not better move?" he inquired, addressing himself, in a tone but +little above a whisper, to the ordinary. + +"I think we had:" the functionary just mentioned rejoined--"the last time +you know, we were rather late." + +The under sheriff waved his hand for the spectators to stand aside. His +gesture was promptly attended to. The sheriffs', holding their wands in +their hands, then presented themselves as ready to march in procession. +Immediately after them the minister appeared, with his open book; the +culprits were next brought forward, and placed immediately behind him. The +spectators, who had given way on the sides, prepared to bring up the rear, +were admonished by the under sheriff not to press on the sufferers; and +strange as it may seem, the intrusive curiosity of some of the party, +impressed upon me a belief that this hint was not altogether unnecessary. + +(_To be concluded in our next_.) + + * * * * * + + +FINE ARTS. + + * * * * * + + +THE PRESENT STATE OF DUTCH PAINTERS. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +SIR,--The Dutch painters of the present day differ very materially from +the English, not only in their method of manufacturing pictures, but also +in their personal appearance. The following is an extract from the private +journal of a friend, who has recently been in Holland. + +Yours, &c. G.W.N. + +"You would be rather surprised on first entering a painting-room here. +Your eye is struck with the appearance of a dozen slovenly attired +fellows, who are variously engaged, some in beginning pictures, some in +finishing, &c. The window, which is remarkably large, and situated so as +to command a good prospect from without, admits light sufficient to +illuminate the room, or rather _shop_, which shop is at least fifteen feet +long. Casting your eye up towards the ceiling, which is equally lofty with +the length of the apartment, you are somewhat at a loss to account for a +vast quantity of beams, cordage, pullies, and canvasses, all appearing to +have their several uses, and all kept in regular order by a man for that +purpose. The canvasses, in truth, are no other than finished pictures, +which have been drawn up by the pullies to the beams, for the purposes of +drying, &c. The Dutch do not, as the English do, paint one picture on one +cloth; no, they have a much more expeditious method. A large piece of +canvass is procured, on which the artist commences his labour, and, in a +progressive manner, begins and finishes sometimes a dozen pictures at +once. In a kind of _boudoir_, an attendant is employed continually in +grinding colours, &c. For my own part, I own I was much amused with the +great variety which this curious _coup d'oeil_ presented; but I could not +remain long, for the painters, even while they were at work, smoked +continually. The Dutch, it should be observed, carry on a considerable +traffic in pictures with the Chinese and other eastern nations." + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NOVELIST. + +No. CVIII. + + * * * * * + +CLOUGH NA CUDDY. + +A Killarney Legend. + +BY T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. + + +Above all the islands in the Lakes of Killarney, give me Innisfallen-- +"sweet Innisfallen," as the melodious Moore calls it. It is in truth a +fairy isle, although I have no fairy story to tell you about it; and if I +had, these are such unbelieving times, and people of late have grown so +sceptical, that they only smile at my stories and doubt them. + +However, none will doubt that a monastery once stood upon Innisfallen +island, for its ruins may still be seen; neither, that within its walls +dwelt certain pious and learned persons called monks. A very pleasant set +of fellows they were, I make not the smallest doubt; and I am sure of +this, that they had a very pleasant spot to enjoy themselves in after +dinner--the proper time, believe me, and I am no bad judge of such +matters, for the enjoyment of a fine prospect. + +Out of all the monks you could not pick a better fellow nor a merrier soul +than Father Cuddy; he sang a good song, he told a good story, and had a +jolly, comfortable-looking paunch of his own, that was a credit to any +refectory table. He was distinguished above all the rest by the name of +"the fat father." Now there are many that will take huff at a name; but +Father Cuddy had no nonsense of that kind about him; he laughed at it, and +well able he was to laugh, for his mouth nearly reached from one ear to +the other--his might, in truth, be called an open countenance. As his +paunch was no disgrace to his food, neither was his nose to his drink. +'Tis a question to me if there were not more carbuncles upon it than ever +were seen at the bottom of the lake, which is said to be full of them. His +eyes had a right merry twinkle in them, like moonshine dancing on the +water; and his cheeks had the roundness and crimson glow of ripe arbutus +berries. + + He eat, and drank, and prayed, and slept--what then? + He eat, and drank, and prayed, and slept again! + +Such was the tenor of his simple life; but when he prayed, a certain +drowsiness would come upon him, which it must be confessed never occurred +when a well filled "black jack" stood before him. Hence his prayers were +short, and his draughts were long. The world loved him, and he saw no +reason why he should not in return love its venison and its usquebaugh. +But, as times went, he must have been a pious man, or else what befel him +never would have happened. + +Spiritual affairs--for it was respecting the importation of a tun of wine +into the island monastery--demanded the presence of one of the brotherhood +of Innisfallen at the abbey of Trelagh, now called Muckruss. The +superintendence of this important matter was committed to Father Cuddy, +who felt too deeply interested in the future welfare of any community of +which he was a member to neglect or delay such mission. With the morning's +light he was seen guiding his shallop across the crimson waters of the +lake towards the peninsula of Muckruss, and having moored his little bark +in safety beneath the shelter of a wave-worn rock, he advanced with +becoming dignity towards the abbey. + +The stillness of the bright and balmy hour was broken by the heavy +footsteps of the zealous father: at the sound the startled deer, shaking +the dew from their sides, sprang up from their lair, and as they bounded +off, "Hah," exclaimed Cuddy, "what a noble haunch goes there!--how +delicious it would look smoking upon a goodly platter." + +As he proceeded, the mountain bee hummed his tune of gladness around the +holy man, save when buried in the foxglove bell, or revelling upon a +fragrant bunch of thyme; and even then the little voice murmured out +happiness in low and broken tones of voluptuous delight. Father Cuddy +derived no small comfort from the sound, for it presaged a good metheglin +season; and metheglin he considered, if well manufactured, to be no bad +liquor, particularly when there was no stint or usquebaugh in the brewing. + +Arrived within the abbey garth, he was received with due respect by the +brethren of Irelagh, and arrangements for the embarkation of the wine were +completed to his entire satisfaction.--"Welcome, Father Cuddy!" said the +prior, "grace be on you." + +"Grace before meat then," said Cuddy, "for a long walk always makes me +hungry, and I am certain I have not walked less than half-a-mile this +morning, to say nothing of crossing the water." + +A pasty of choice flavour felt the truth of this assertion as regarded +Father Cuddy's appetite. After such consoling repast, it would have been a +reflection on monastic hospitality to have departed without partaking of +the grace-cup; moreover, Father Cuddy had a particular respect for the +antiquity of that custom. He liked the taste of the grace-cup well; he +tried another,--it was no less excellent; and when he had swallowed the +third he found his heart expand, and put forth its fibres, as willing to +embrace all mankind! Surely then there is Christian love and charity in +wine! + +I said he sung a good song. Now though psalms are good songs, and in +accordance with his vocation, I did not mean to imply that he was a mere +psalm-singer. It was well known to the brethren, that wherever Father +Cuddy was, mirth and melody were with him. Mirth in his eye, and melody on +his tongue; and these, from experience, are equally well known to be +thirsty commodities; but he took good care never to let them run dry. To +please the brotherhood, whose excellent wine pleased him, he sung, and as +"_in vino veritas_," his song will well become this veritable history. + + "O, 'tis eggs are a treat + When so while and so sweet + From under the manger they're taken; + And by fair Margery, + Och! 'tis she's full of glee, + They are fried with fat rashers of bacon. + + "Just like daisies all spread + O'er a broad sunny mead + In the sun-beams so beauteously shining, + Are fried eggs, well displayed + On a dish, when we've laid + The cloth, and are thinking of dining." + + +Such was his song. Father Cuddy smacked his lips at the recollection of +Margery's delicious fried eggs, which always imparted a peculiar relish to +his liquor. The very idea provoked Cuddy to raise the cup to his mouth, +and, with one hearty pull thereat, he finished its contents. + +This is, and ever was, a censorious world, often construing what is only a +fair allowance into excess; but I scorn to reckon up any man's drink like +an unrelenting host; therefore, I cannot tell how many brimming draughts +of wine, bedecked with _the venerable Bead_, Father Cuddy emptied into his +"soul-case," so he figuratively termed the body. + +His respect for the goodly company of the monks of Irelagh detained him +until adjournment to vespers, when he set forward on his return to +Innisfallen. Whether his mind was occupied in philosophic contemplation or +wrapped in pious musings, I cannot declare; but the honest father wandered +on in a different direction from that in which his shallop lay. Far be it +from me to insinuate that the good liquor, which he had so commended, had +caused him to forget his road, or that his track was irregular and +unsteady. Oh, no!--he carried his drink bravely, as became a decent man +and a good Christian; yet, somehow, he thought he could distinguish two +moons. "Bless my eyes," said Father Cuddy, "everything is changing +now-a-days!--the very stars are not in the same places they used to be; I +think _Camceachta_ (the plough) is driving on at a rate I never saw it +before to-night; but I suppose the driver is drunk, for there are +blackguards everywhere." + +Cuddy had scarcely uttered these words when he saw, or fancied he saw, the +form of a young woman, who, holding up a bottle, beckoned him towards her. +The night was extremely beautiful, and the white dress of the girl floated +gracefully in the moonlight, as with gay step she tripped on before the +worthy father, archly looking back upon him over her shoulder. "Ah, +Margery--merry Margery!" cried Cuddy, "you tempting little rogue--'_Et a +Margery bella--Quae festiva puella_.' I see you--I see you and the +bottle!--let me but catch you, Margery _bella_." And on he followed, +panting and smiling, after this alluring apparition. + +At length his feet grew weary, and his breath failed, which obliged him to +give up the chase; yet such was his piety, that unwilling to rest in any +attitude but that of prayer, down dropt Father Cuddy on his knees. Sleep +as usual stole upon his devotions, and the morning was far advanced when +he awoke from dreams, in which tables groaned beneath their load of +viands, and wine poured itself free and sparkling as the mountain spring. + +Rubbing his eyes, he looked about him, and the more he looked the more he +wondered, at the alterations which appeared in the face of the country. +"Bless my soul and body," said the good father, "I saw the stars changing +last night, but here is a change!" Doubting his senses he looked again. +The hills bore the same majestic outline as on the preceding day, and the +lake spread itself beneath his view in the same tranquil beauty, and was +studded with the same number of islands; but every smaller feature in the +landscape was strangely altered;--what had been naked rocks, were now +clothed with holly and arbutus. Whole woods had disappeared, and waste +places had become cultivated fields; and to complete the work of +enchantment the very season itself seemed changed. In the rosy dawn of a +summer's morning he had left the monastery of Innisfallen, and he now felt +in every sight and sound the dreariness of winter; the hard ground was +covered with withered leaves; icicles depended from leafless branches; he +heard the sweet low note of the robin, who familiarly approached him; and +he felt his fingers numbed by the nipping frost. Father Cuddy found it +rather difficult to account for such sudden transformations, and to +convince himself it was not the illusion of a dream, he was about to +arise, when, lo! he discovered that both his knees were buried at least +six inches in the solid stone; for notwithstanding all these changes, he +had never altered his devout position. + +Cuddy was now wide awake, and felt, when he got up, his joints sadly +cramped, which it was only natural they should be, considering the hard +texture of the stone, and the depth his knees had sunk into it. The great +difficulty was, to explain how, in one night, summer had become winter-- +whole woods had been cut down, and well-grown trees had sprouted up. The +miracle, nothing else could he conclude it to be, urged him to hasten his +return to Innisfallen, where he might learn some explanation of these +marvellous events. + +Seeing a boat moored within reach of the shore, he delayed not, in the +midst of such wonders, to seek his own bark, but, seizing the oars, pulled +stoutly towards the island; and here new wonders awaited him. + +Father Cuddy waddled, as fast as cramped limbs could carry his rotund +corporation, to the gate of the monastery, where he loudly demanded +admittance. + +"Holloa! whence come you, master monk, and what's your business?" demanded +a stranger who occupied the porter's place. + +"Business--my business!" repeated the confounded Cuddy, "why do you not +know me? Has the wine arrived safely?" + +"Hence, fellow," said the porter's representative in a surly tone, "nor +think to impose on me with your monkish tales." + +"Fellow!" exclaimed the father, "mercy upon us that I should be so spoken +to at the gate of my own house! Scoundrel!" cried Cuddy, raising his +voice, "do you not see my garb--my holy garb?--" + +"Aye, fellow," replied he of the keys, "the garb of laziness and filthy +debauchery, which has been expelled from out these walls. Know you not, +idle knave, of the suppression of this nest of superstition, and that the +abbey lands and possessions were granted in August last to Master Robert +Collan, by our Lady Elizabeth, sovereign queen of England, and paragon of +all beauty, whom God preserve!" + +"Queen of England," said Cuddy; "there never was a sovereign queen of +England; this is but a piece with the rest. I saw how it was going with +the stars last night--the world's turned upside down. But surely this is +Innisfallen island, and I am the Father Cuddy who yesterday morning went +over to the abbey of Irelagh respecting the tun of wine. Do you know me +now?" + +"Know you! how should I know you?" said the keeper of the abbey; "yet true +it is, that I have heard my grandmother, whose mother remembered the man, +often speak of the fat Father Cuddy of Innisfallen, who made a profane and +godless ballad in praise of fried eggs, of which he and his vile crew knew +more than they did of the word of God, and who, being drunk, it was said, +tumbled into the lake one night and was drowned; but that must have been a +hundred, aye, more than a hundred years since." + +"'Twas I who composed that song, in praise of Margery's fried eggs, which +is no profane and godless ballad. No other Father Cuddy than myself ever +belonged to Innisfallen," earnestly exclaimed the holy man. "A hundred +years! What was your great grandmother's name?" + +"She was a Mahony of Dunlow, Margaret ni Mahony; and my grandmother--." + +"What, merry Margery of Dunlow your great grandmother!" shouted Cuddy; +"St. Brandon help me! the wicked wench, with that tempting bottle--why +'twas only last night--a hundred years--your great grandmother said you? +Mercy on us, there has been a strange torpor over me. I must have slept +all this time!" + +That Father Cuddy had done so, I think is sufficiently proved by the +changes which occurred during his nap. A reformation, and a serious one it +was for him, had taken place. Eggs fried by the pretty Margery were no +longer to be had in Innisfallen, and, with heart as heavy as his +footsteps, the worthy man directed his course towards Dingle, where he +embarked in a vessel on the point of sailing for Malaga. The rich wine of +that place had of old impressed him with a high respect for its monastic +establishments, in one of which he quietly wore out the remnant of his +days. + +The stone impressed with the mark of Father Cuddy's knees may be seen to +this day. Should any incredulous persons doubt my story, I request them to +go to Killarney, where Clough na Cuddy--so is the stone called--remains in +Lord Kenmare's park, an indisputable evidence of the fact; and Spillane, +the bugle man, will be able to point it out to them, as he did to me-- +_Literary Souvenir_. + + * * * * * + + + + +MY COMMON-PLACE BOOK. + +No. XX. + + * * * * * + + +CEREMONY OF A GIRL TAKING THE VEIL. + + +The convent of the Esperanza enclosed within its gloomy walls one of the +fairest forms that nature ever moulded. Her name was Claudia; she had just +completed her sixteenth year, and now shone forth in all the bloom of +health and beauty. Her full black eyes, and her long dark hair, which, +partly concealed by her religious dress of a pensioner, escaped in flowing +ringlets over her snowy shoulders, embellishing a countenance whence +beamed such harmony of features and enchanting delicacy of expression, as +indicated the purity and peace that reigned within. The Esperanza soon +became my favourite spot, and I felt convinced nature never formed this +angel to be immured within the walls of a convent; nor would she have been +destined to pass the remainder of her life in its obscure recesses, but +for the unnatural avarice of her parents--a custom still too prevalent, to +secure the wealth of a family to one branch. + +During my stay in this town, I had an opportunity of witnessing the +ceremony of a girl taking the habit of a nun. After mass, the grate of the +chapel of the Esperanza was thrown open, and there appeared all the holy +sisters dressed in black. The girl alone who was about to take the habit +was in white; and, in front of all the others, knelt down before a table, +on which was placed the cross. The abbate, from the outside, now addressed +her in a long extempore charge, in which he pointed out the duties of the +situation she was about to enter, and forcibly set forth the advantages of +it; while he painted, in the strongest and most seducing colours, the +superior happiness of renouncing the profane world, and of passing her +time in a quiet and religious way, alone devoted to the service of her +Maker. She was not more than twenty years of age, and, during the whole +ceremony, her countenance, which was pleasing, bore the evident marks of +inward satisfaction and holy veneration. The nuns, who before had been +standing round the chapel, each holding a burning taper, now tenderly +embraced their intended sister, and placed the crown of virginity upon her +temples, when an anathema, was with great solemnity, pronounced against +all who should attempt to make her break her vows. The impressive ceremony +which thus excludes youth and beauty in a cloister, closes with the solemn +notes of the organ, accompanied by the harmonious voices of the nuns as +they conduct their new sister to her lonely cell. + +This awful solemnity wears a supernatural grandeur. The gloom of the +chapel is faintly relieved by the tapers of the sisters; the vaulted roof +is just discernible in a pale blue light, rendered terrific by the +splendour of the altar blazing with a hundred illuminated torches; while +the lofty peals of the deep-toned organ, swell round the echoing cloisters +with "_Il cantar che nell' anima si sente_;" and the "rapt senses are +confounded in idolatrous wonder." + +_Peninsular Sketches_. + + * * * * * + + +THE LATIN AND GREEK LANGUAGES. + + +It is supposed by many that the only object in learning the Latin and +Greek languages is, that the learner may be able to translate them, and to +understand the authors who have written in those languages, with as much +facility as he can understand those who write in his own. If this were +really the only object, then every plan for expediting the acquisition +would be received with grateful approbation. Yet if this were the sole +object, how superfluous to the greater number of learners the labour of +the acquisition, for there is not _a single idea expressed by the ancients +and yet to be found, which has not been translated in our own language_. +The end of learning these languages then must be something beyond, and if +this farther object be not considered, the education must be defective. + +_Scargill's Essays_. + + * * * * * + + +TO THE MOON, IN VIEW OF THE SEA. + + + There is a blush upon thy face to-night + Which sheds around a luxury of light! + Wherefore, oh, Moon, art thou so brightly fair! + Would'st thou some new Endymion ensnare? + Each sparkling wave, as it receives thy rays, + Seems quivering and thrilling at thy gaze; + And gently murmurs, whilst the God below + Feels through his frame the universal glow, + And heaves his breast majestical for thee! + Cease, cease, to look on us so lovingly, + but in thy silv'ry veil still half conceal + Thy modest loveliness, nor more reveal; + For oh! fair queen, no mortal now can soar, + Or, love, as thy fond shepherd did of yore! + + * * * * * + + +THE KING'S FEET-BEARER. + + +During the ancient days of Welsh royalty, among the twenty-four ranks of +servants that attended at court, was one called "_the king's +feet-bearer_." This was a young gentleman, whose duty it was to sit upon +the floor with his back towards the fire, and hold the king's feet in his +bosom all the time he sat at table, to keep them warm and comfortable. A +piece of state and of luxury unknown in modern times. + + * * * * * + + +MONTPELLIER. + + +Within the last century it has been fashionable in England to give the +name of Montpellier to many places, new streets, rows of houses, terraces, +and gardens, where the situation has been supposed to have been at all +favourable; indeed, there seems to be something attractive in the very +sound of the word Montpellier; but the original city has much fallen off, +and is not so much frequented now, but on account of its former fame, and +the assemblage of the States of Languedoc during the winter, when the +noble families still maintain their old exemplary hospitality. Joseph +Scaliger is known to have asserted, that if he had his choice where to end +his days, of all cities in the world he should prefer Montpellier; but +since that time physicians have agreed that there has been a remarkable +change of climate; and from my own observation I must declare, that I knew +several consumptive patients who seemed to have recovered at Marseilles, +and almost all relapsed again after they had remained for some time at +Montpellier. + +_Cradock's Literary Memoirs_. + + * * * * * + + + + +ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS. + + + Notings, selections, + Anecdote and joke: + Our recollections; + With gravities for graver folk. + + * * * * * + + +FASHION. + + +Pignotte places the temple of this deity in the moon; and it may therefore +be presumed that it was the walls of this edifice that Professor +Grinthausen, of Munich, lately mistook for an immense fortress. The error +of the German astronomer would seem to corroborate the hypothesis of the +Italian poet, who doubtless did not assign that local habitation to the +goddess of fashion without mature reflection. Indeed, it cannot be denied +that that planet possesses some mysterious influence over female fashions, +analogous to that which it has over the tides; hence the cause, for we +really know of none better, of _monthly_ fashions. Let not however any +malicious wit suppose that the moon has anything whatever to do with +monthly periodicals! + + * * * * * + + +HOW TO CHOOSE A RELIGION. + + +Karamsin, in his history of Russia, relates that when the inhabitants of +Livonia were first converted from Paganism to Christianity, they hesitated +whether they should adopt the faith of the Russian or German church; at +length in their extreme perplexity, they determined to decide their doubts +in a most summary manner by casting lots, when chance prevailed in favour +of the latter. There are many cases in which this example might be +followed very advantageously, thereby saving a great deal of time and +vexation to the parties; for instance, it might be very beneficially +introduced into the court of chancery, for then let the decision fall out +as it might, the suitors would resign themselves to it as the decree of +fate, as they must do even in the end after waiting half their lives. If +the adage of _Bis dat qui cito dat_, be true, it is no less certain that +he who denies at once, at length gives us something, for he gives us time. + + * * * * * + + +RELIGIOUS BOOKS. + + +There is an amusing anecdote related of a country curate, who having +published a volume of sermons, in which he more particularly pointed out +the dangers of a lax morality, and the want of strict religious principles +among the higher classes of society, wrote a few weeks afterwards to a +friend in town, inquiring in his extreme simplicity, "whether he did not +observe any signs of reformation in the fashionable world?" the answer +that he obtained may easily be divined. The good man had entirely +forgotten that those who most needed his exhortations, were precisely +those who would not read them; or who, if they read, would be the last to +attend to them. If books could reform the world, it had been reformed long +ago; but no disparagement either to good books--something else is +necessary. + + * * * * * + + +AN AMBIGUOUS COMPLIMENT. + + +An author having shown a portion of a manuscript, which he was preparing +for the press, to a friend, the latter suggested some improvements, and +pointed out some errors; but instead of receiving his suggestions, the +irritable man of letters plainly showed that he did not intend to adopt +them. A short time after, he submitted the remainder of his work to the +same judge, who having perused it, exclaimed, it could not possibly be +better. "Indeed, you really think so?" "Yes," returned the other, "I +really do; for how can it possibly be better when you are resolved to +adopt no improvements?" + + * * * * * + + +GLORY. + + +During the war in the Peninsula, two British soldiers were regaling +themselves after a long fast, on a crust of mouldy bread. "This is but +sorry fare, Tom," observed one of them, "especially after the hardships +and dangers we have suffered." "What do you mean by sorry fare," exclaimed +his comrade, with philosophical composure, at the same time holding up a +piece of the mouldy bread; "this is what the good people in England, who +sit down to a comfortable hot dinner every day, call military _glory_!" + + * * * * * + + +TORTURE QUINTUPLE. + + +That solid preacher and able annotator, Philip Limborch, quotes in his +_History of the Inquisition_, a writer of the name of Julius Clarus, who, +it would appear formed a very forcible idea of the powers of imagination, +since he allows them four parts in five of the torments decreed by that +satanic tribunal. "Know," Limborch represents Clarus saying, "that there +are five degrees of torture, _videlicit_, first, the torture of being +threatened to be tortured; secondly, the torture of being conveyed to the +place of torture; thirdly, the torture of being, and bound for torture; +fourthly, the torture of being hoisted on the torturing rack; and fifthly, +and lastly, the torture of squassation." + + * * * * * + + +APPEARANCES. + + +Bourganville, when trading to Otaheite, was accustomed to leave there two +of some kind of European domestic animals. In his last voyage he had on +board a Capuchin and a Franciscan, who differ from each other in the +single circumstance of one having the beard shaved and the other wearing +it long on the chin. The natives who had successively admired the various +animals as they were disembarked, whether bulls and cows, hogs and sows, +or he and she goats, shouted with joy at the appearance of the Capuchin, +"What a noble animal! what a pity there is not a pair!" scarcely was the +wish expressed, when the shaven Franciscan made his appearance, "Huzza, +huzza!" exclaimed the savages, "we've got the male and the female." + +W.C.B.--M. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +FIRESIDE ENJOYMENTS. + + +The evening of Thursday, the 15th of February, 1827, was one of the most +delightful I ever remember to have spent. I was alone; my heart beat +lightly; my pulse was quickened by the exercise of the morning; my blood +flowed freely through my veins, as meeting with no checks or impediments +to its current, and my spirits were elated by a multitude of happy +remembrances and of brilliant hopes. My apartments looked delightfully +comfortable, and what signified to me the inclemency of the weather +without. The rain was pattering upon the sky-light of the staircase; the +sharp east wind was moaning angrily in the chimney; but as my eye glanced +from the cheerful blaze of the fire to the ample folds of my closed +window-curtains--as the hearth-rug yielded to the pressure of my foot, +while, beating time to my own music, I sung, in rather a louder tone than +usual, my favourite air of "_Judy O'Flannegan_;"--the whistling of the +wind, and the pattering of the rain, only served to enhance in my +estimation the comforts of my home, and inspire a livelier sense of the +good fortune which had delivered me from any evening engagements. It may +be questioned, whether there are any hours in this life, of such unmixed +enjoyment as the few, the very few, which a young bachelor is allowed to +rescue from the pressing invitations of those dear friends, who want +another talking man at their dinner tables, or from those many and +wilily-devised entanglements which are woven round him by the hands of +inevitable mothers, and preserve entirely to himself.--Talk of the +pleasure of repose! What repose can possibly be so sweet, as that which is +enjoyed on a disengaged day during the laborious dissipations of a London +life?--Talk of the delights of solitude! Spirit of Zimmerman!--What +solitude is the imagination capable of conceiving so entirely delightful, +as that which a young unmarried man possesses in his quiet lodging, with +his easy chair and his dressing-gown, his beef-steak, and his whisky and +water, his nap over an old poem or a new novel, and the intervening +despatch of a world of little neglected matters, which, from time to time, +occur to recollection between the break of the stanzas or the incidents of +the story? + +Such were the reflections that hastily passed along my mind, on the +afternoon of Thursday, the 15th of February, 1827, as I sat with a volume +of the _Tor Hill_ in my hand, in the back drawing-room of my lodging in +Conduit-street. It was about ten o'clock in the afternoon. My dinner was +just removed. It had left me with that gay complacency of disposition, and +irrepressible propensity of elocution, which result from a satisfied +appetite, and an undisturbed digestion. My sense of contentment became +more vigorous and confirmed, as I cast my eye around my apartment, and +contemplated my well-filled book-case, and the many articles of +convenience with which I had contrived to accommodate my nest; till, at +length, the emotions of satisfaction became too strong to be restrained +within the bonds of silence, and announced themselves in the following +soliloquy:-- + +"What capital coals these are!--There's nothing in the world so cheering-- +so enlivening--as a good, hot, blazing, sea-coal fire."--I broke a large +lump into fragments with the poker, as I spoke--"It's all mighty fine," I +continued, "for us travellers to harangue the ignorant on the beauty of +foreign cities, on their buildings without dust, and their skies without a +cloud; but, for my own part, I like to see a dark, thick, heavy +atmosphere, hanging over a town. It forewarns the traveller of his +approach to the habitations, the business, and the comforts of his +civilized fellow-creatures. It gives an air of grandeur, and importance, +and mystery, to the scenes: it conciliates our respect. We know that there +must be some fire where there is so much smother.--While, in those bright, +shining, smokeless cities, whenever the sun shines upon them, one's eyes +are put out by the glare of their white walls; and when it does not +shine!--why, in the winter, there's no resource left for a man but +hopeless and shivering resignation, with their wide, windy chimneys, and +their damp, crackling, hissing, sputtering, tantalizing fagots."--I +confirmed my argument in favour of our metropolitan obscurity by another +stroke of the poker against the largest fragment of the broken coal; and +then, letting fall my weapon, and turning my back to the fire, I +exclaimed, "Certainly--there's no kind of furniture like books:--nothing +else can afford one an equal air of comfort and habitability.--Such a +resource too!--A man never feels alone in a library.--He lives surrounded +by companions, who stand ever obedient to his call, coinciding with every +caprice of temper, and harmonising with every turn and disposition of the +mind.--Yes: I love my book:--they are my friends--my counsellors--my +companions.--Yes; I have a real personal attachment, a very tender regard, +for my books." + +I thrust my hands into the pockets of my dressing-gown, which, by the by, +is far the handsomest piece of old brocade I have ever seen,---a large +running pattern of gold hollyhocks, with silver stalks and leaves, upon a +rich, deep, Pompadour-coloured ground,--and, walking slowly backwards and +forwards in my room, I continued,--"There never was, there never can have +been, so happy a fellow as myself! What on earth have I to wish for more? +Maria adores me--I adore Maria. To be sure, she's detained at Brighton; +but I hear from her regularly every morning by the post, and we are to be +united for life in a fortnight. Who was ever so blest in his love? Then +again John Fraser--my old schoolfellow! I don't believe there's anything +in the world he would not do for me. I'm sure there's no living thing that +he loves so much as myself, except, perhaps, his old uncle Simon, and his +black mare." + +I had by this time returned to the fireplace, and, reseating myself, began +to apostrophize my magnificent black Newfoundland, who, having partaken of +my dinner, was following the advice and example of Abernethy, and sleeping +on the rug, as it digested.--"And you, too, my old Neptune, aren't you the +best and handsomest dog in the universe?" + +Neptune finding himself addressed, awoke leisurely from his slumbers, and +fixed his eyes on mine with an affirmative expression. + +"Ay, to be sure you are; and a capital swimmer too!" + +Neptune raised his head from the rug, and beat the ground with his tail, +first to the right hand, and then to the left. + +"And is he not a fine faithful fellow? And does he not love his master?" + +Neptune rubbed his head against my hand, and concluded the conversation, +by again sinking into repose. + +"That dog's a philosopher," I said; "He never says a word more than is +necessary:--then, again, not only blest in love and friendship, and my dog; +but what luck it was to sell, and in these times too, that old, lumbering +house of my father's, with its bleak, bare, hilly acres of chalk and +stone, fat eighty thousand pounds, and to have the money paid down, on the +very day the bargain was concluded. By the by, though, I had forgot:--I +may as well write to Messrs. Drax and Drayton about that money, and order +them to pay it immediately to Coutts's,--mighty honest people and all that: +but faith, no solicitors should be trusted or tempted too far. It's a +foolish way, at any time, to leave money in other people's hands--in +anybody's hands--and I'll write about it at once." + +As I said, so I did. I wrote my commands Messrs. Drax and Drayton, to pay +my eighty thousand pounds into Coutts's; and after desiring that my note +might be forwarded to them, the first thing in the morning, I took my +candle, and accompanied by Neptune, who always keeps watch by night at my +chamber door, proceeded to bed, as the watchman was calling "past twelve +o'clock," beneath my window. + +_Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +TO THE LADY BIRD. + + + "Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home"-- + The field-mouse is gone to her nest, + The daisies have shut up their sleepy red eyes, + And the bees and the birds are at rest. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home-- + The glow-worm is lighting her lamp, + The dew's tailing fast, and your fine speckled wings + Will flag with the close-clinging damp. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home-- + Good luck if you reach it at last: + The owl's come abroad, and the bat's on the roam, + Sharp set from their Ramazan fast. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home-- + The fairy bells tinkle afar, + Make haste, or they'll catch ye, and harness ye fast + With a cobweb, to Oberon's car. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home-- + But, as all serious people do, first + Clear your conscience, and settle your worldly affairs, + And so be prepared for the worst. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! make a short shrift-- + Here's a hair-shirted Palmer hard by; + And here's Lawyer Earwig to draw up your will, + And we'll witness it, Death-Moth and I. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! don't make a fuss-- + You've mighty small matters to give; + Your coral and jet, and ... there, there--you can tack + A codicil on, if you live. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away now + To your house in the old willow-tree, + Where your children, so dear, have invited the ant. + And a few cozy neighbours, to tea. + + Lady Bird! Lady Bird! fly away home, + And if not gobbled up by the way, + Nor yoked by the fairies to Oberon's car, + You're in luck--and that's all I've to say. + +_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +"THE OLD MANOR HOUSE." + + +The following circumstances respecting the foundation upon which Charlotte +Smith built her popular novel, "The Old Manor House," may probably prove +interesting to the public. Near Woodcot, where Mrs. Smith resided at the +time she commenced her novel, was a very old house and domain called +Brookwood, in which resided some Misses Venables, elderly maiden ladies, +whom our authoress visited; and her acquaintance with them and their +abode, gave her the idea of her romance. They kept an old housekeeper,-- +one whom we may presume was quite in _keeping_ with the _house_,--whose +niece or daughter was per favour allowed to reside with her at Brookwood-- +this girl, I need scarcely say, was the Monimia of the novel, nor was her +Orlando a feigned character, although a highly-ornamented one; in truth, +alas! for the shadowy beauty of romance, alas! for the spell of gorgeous +poesy, he was not more made for a hero than was Dulcinea del Toboso for a +heroine, being _the young butcher of the village_!! "Often and often," +said the intelligent friend who favoured me with the account, "has he +supplied our family with meat when we resided at Brookwood, and the +beautiful Monimia, his wife, is only slightly disfigured by an interesting +_squint_." The same friend who had frequently rambled over the house, part +of which is now pulled down, spoke of it thus: "It was what I term an +ancient _Vandyked_ building, in toto an old manor-house; the exterior had +a castellated appearance, nor had the interior much less, with its dim +vasty apartments, sliding panels for the secretion of treasure, and secret +passages; in one of the chambers is a closet, wherein part of the boarding +of the floor is made to slide, and when moved, reveals a kind of vault, +the descent down which is by a long narrow flight of steps; use is made of +this, I think, in 'The Old Manor House,' but some friends of mine who went +down discovered nothing but a gloomy kind of den, not capable of +containing more than six persons standing, and nearly filled with +_oyster-shells_. Do you recollect," continued my friend, "in which of +Charlotte Smith's novels it is that she describes an eccentric old +gentleman manuring his ground with _wigs_? because the fact is, it +_really_ was done by such a one at Brookwood."--_New London Literary +Gazette_. + + * * * * * + + +THE DELICACY OF THE MARIKINA. + + +The marikina is a pretty little animal which has often been brought into +Europe. Its elegant form, graceful and easy motions, beautiful fur, +intelligent physiognomy, soft voice, and affectionate disposition, have +always constituted it an object of attraction. + +The marikina, or silken monkey, can be preserved in European climates only +by the utmost care in guarding it from the operation of atmospheric +temperature. The cold and humidity of our winters are fatally injurious to +its health. Neatness and cleanliness to a fastidious degree are +constitutional traits of the marikina, and the greatest possible attention +must be paid to it in this way, in a state of captivity. The slightest +degree of dirt annoys them beyond measure, they lose their gaiety, and die +of melancholy and disgust. They are animals of the most excessive +delicacy, and it is not easy to procure them suitable nourishment. They +cannot accustom themselves to live alone, and solitude is pernicious to +them in an exact proportion to the degree of tenderness and care with +which they have been habitually treated. The most certain means of +preserving their existence, is to unite them to other individuals of their +own species, and more especially to those of an opposite sex. They will +soon accustom themselves to live on milk, biscuit, &c. but mild and ripe +fruit is most agreeable to their taste, which to a certain degree is also +insectivorous.--_London Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +A SONG FOR MUSIC. + +BY T. HOOD, ESQ. + + + A lake and a fairy boat + To sail in the moonlight clear, + And merrily we would float + From the dragons that watch us here! + + Thy gown should be snow-white silk, + And strings of orient pearls, + Like gossamers dipp'd in milk, + Should twine with thy raven curls. + + Red rubies should deck thy hands, + And diamonds should be thy dower-- + But fairies have broke their wands, + And wishing has lost its power! + +_The Plea of the Midsummer Fairies and other Poems_. + + * * * * * + + +THE ARRIVAL OF A TRANSPORT. + + +Numbers of boats soon surround the ship, filled with people anxious to +hear news, and traffickers with fruit and other refreshments, besides +watermen to land passengers; a regular establishment of the latter +description has long existed here, many of whose members formerly plied +that vocation on the Thames, and among whom were a few years back numbered +that famous personage once known by all from Westminster stairs to +Greenwich, by the shouts which assailed him as he rowed along, of +"Overboard he vent, overboard he vent!" King Boongarre, too, with a +boat-load of his dingy retainers, may possibly honour you with a visit, +bedizened in his varnished cocked-hat of "formal cut," his gold-laced blue +coat (flanked on the shoulders by a pair of massy epaulettes) buttoned +closely up, to evade the extravagance of including a shirt in the +catalogue of his wardrobe; and his bare and broad platter feet, of dull +cinder hue, spreading out like a pair of sprawling toads, upon the deck +before you. First, he makes one solemn measured stride from the gangway; +then turning round to the quarter-deck, lifts up his beaver with the right +hand a full foot from his head, (with all the grace and ease of a court +exquisite,) and carrying it slowly and solemnly forwards to a a full +arm's-length, lowers it in a gentle and most dignified manner down to the +very deck, following up this motion by an inflection of the body almost +equally profound. Advancing slowly in this way, his hat gracefully poised +in his hand, and his phiz wreathed with many a fantastic smile, he bids +_massa_ welcome to _his_ country. On finding he has fairly grinned himself +into your good graces, he formally prepares to take leave, endeavouring at +the same time to _take_ likewise what you are probably less willing to +part withal--namely, a portion of your cash. Let it not be supposed, +however, that his majesty condescends to _thieve_; he only solicits the +_loan_ of a _dump_, on pretence of treating his sick _gin_ [wife] to a cup +of tea, but in reality with a view of treating _himself_ to a porringer of +"Cooper's best," to which his majesty is most royally devoted. You land at +the government wharf on the right, where carts and porters are generally +on the look-out for jobs; and on passing about fifty yards along the +avenue, you enter George-street, which stretches on both hands, and up +which, towards the left, you now turn, to reach the heart of the town. + + * * * * * + +Although all you see are English faces, and you hear no other language but +English spoken, yet you soon become aware that you are in a country very +different from England, by the number of parrots and other birds of +strange notes and plumage which you observe hanging at so many doors, and +cagesful of which you will soon see exposed for sale as you proceed. The +government gangs of convicts, also, marching backwards and forwards from +their work in single military file, and the solitary ones straggling here +and there, with their white woollen Paramatta frocks and trousers, or gray +or yellow jackets with duck overalls, (the different styles of dress +denoting the oldness or newness of their arrival,) all bedaubed over with +broad arrows, P.B.'s, C.B.'s, and various numerals in black, white, and +red, with perhaps the jail-gang straddling sulkily by in their jingling +leg-chains,--tell a tale too plain to be misunderstood. At the corners of +streets, and before many of the doors, fruit-stalls are to be seen, +teeming, in their proper seasons, with oranges, lemons, limes, figs, +grapes, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, apples, pears, &c. at very +moderate prices.--_Two Years in New South Wales_. + + * * * * * + + +MELANCHOLY. + +FROM MATTHISON + + + The nightingale's sad note in gloom is ringing, + As wails the bride above her lover's grave; + Like Grief above the tomb her tresses wringing, + So gleams the star of evening o'er the wave. + + A melancholy haze hangs o'er the ocean; + The rocky cliffs reflect a sallow light-- + Such as through cloister'd halls of dim devotion, + The moon-beams pour upon the cloudy night. + + Ye rocky heights--ye violet-meads appearing + Once fairer to my gaze than poet's dream-- + Now all your golden light to gloom is veering, + And every floweret laves in Lethe's stream. + + Hills, valleys, meads, no changes ye are mourning; + 'Tis to the hopeless every star appears + Like lamps in dark sepulchral vistas burning-- + And every dew-tipp'd flower is gemm'd with tears! + +_Stray Leaves; or, Translations from the German Poets_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER + +"I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's stuff."--_Wotton_. + + +The projector of one of the new canals, accompanied by two or three +friends, was superintending the operations of the workmen, and frequently +lamented the loss which the speculation was likely to occasion to him. He +was mounted on horseback at the time, when the animal, suddenly becoming +unruly, plunged, and threw his rider into the water. Being quickly rescued +from his disagreeable situation, and safely landed on the bank, one of his +companions begged to congratulate him on the happy change that had taken +place in his fortune, "for have I not often told you (said the wit) that +the canal would one day _fill your pockets_?" + + * * * * * + +A cube of gold, of little more than five inches on each side, contains the +value of 10,000_l_. sterling. + + * * * * * + +"There is a rich rector in Worcestershire," said one of the colonel's +guests, "whose name I cannot now recollect, but who has not preached for +the last twelve months, as he every Sunday requests one of the +neighbouring clergy to officiate for him."--"Oh!" replied Colonel Landleg, +"though you cannot recollect his name, I can; it is England--_England +expects every man to do his duty_." + + * * * * * + +The church-bells at Lima are very musical, the brass of which they are +composed having a considerable quantity of silver mixed with it; but they +are rung in the most discordant manner. Instead of being pulled in chimes, +as in England, thongs of leather are fixed to the clappers, and at the +appointed times boys ascend the belfry, and swing the tongues of all the +bells at once, from one side to another, producing the most barbarous +combination of sounds imaginable. A friar who had been in England +observed, that the English had very good bells if they knew but how to +ring. + + * * * * * + +A laborious special pleader, being constantly annoyed by the mewing of his +favourite cat, at length resolved to get rid of it. He accordingly told +his clerk to take and place it where it might remain in safety, but still +where it could never get out. The clerk instantly walked off with poor +puss in his lawyer's bag. On his return, being asked by his employer +whether the noisy animal had been so disposed of that it could not come +back to interrupt him, the cat carrier duly answered, "Certainly, I have +put him where he cannot get out--in the Court of Chancery."--_Reynolds' +Life_. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction., by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11321 *** |