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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11331 ***
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION
+
+VOL. XIII, No. 363.] SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 1829. [PRICE 2d.
+
+
+
+
+GUY'S CLIFF.
+
+    "A home of pleasure, a place meet for the Muses."--LELAND.
+
+
+Warwick--what olden glories and tales of other times are associated with
+this county. How many of its sites are connected with high-minded men and
+great and glorious actions. To the antiquary, the poet, and the
+philosopher, every foot is hallowed ground; and even the cold calculations
+of the commercial speculator treat with regard a county whose manufactures
+add to the stock of national wealth and importance. How many stories of
+love, war, and chivalry are told of its halls, castles, and monasteries,
+their lords and ladies and maidens of high birth. Kenilworth and
+STRATFORD--Leicester, SHAKSPEARE and Warwick--like long trails of light,
+all flit before us in this retrospective dream of the days of "merry
+England."
+
+Guy's Cliff is situated about one mile and a half north-east of Warwick.
+Here the river Avon winds through fertile meadows; and on its western bank,
+a combination of rock and wood, singularly picturesque, invited at an early
+period the reveries of superstitious seclusion and poetical fancy. It is
+supposed that here was an oratory, and a cell for the hermit, in Saxon
+times; and it is certain that a hermit dwelt in this lovely recess in the
+reigns of Edward III. and Henry IV. This is the spot to which the renowned
+_Guy_, Earl of Warwick, is said to have retired after his duel with the
+Danish Colbrond;[1] and here his neglected countess, the fair Felicia, is
+reported to have interred his remains. It appears that Henry V. visited
+Guy's Cliff, and was so charmed with its natural beauties, and, probably,
+so much interested by the wild legend connected with the place, that he
+determined to found a chantry for two priests here. But war and an early
+death prevented the performance of this, among many other pious and
+benevolent intentions ascribed to the heroic Henry. Such a chantry was,
+however, founded in the first year of Henry VI. by Richard Beauchamp, Earl
+of Warwick; but the chapel and some contiguous buildings were not completed
+till after the earl's decease. In this delightful retreat lived John Rous,
+the antiquary, as a chantry priest.
+
+    [1] See MIRROR, vol xiii. p. 114.
+
+About the middle of the eighteenth century, this estate passed to a private
+gentleman, who built a handsome mansion here. But the chief attractions
+are the natural beauties of the grounds--as the rock, on which the house
+and chapel are built. Here is shown a cave, devoutly believed by
+neighbouring peasants to be that which Guy "hewed with his own hands," and
+in which he lived
+
+    Like a Palmer poore.
+
+The chapel founded by Richard Beauchamp was a plain, substantial edifice.
+The founder caused to be carved from the solid rock on which this chapel
+abuts, a rude statue of the famous Earl Guy, about eight feet in height. It
+would appear, from a print in Dugdale's Warwickshire, that this figure was
+well preserved in the seventeenth century.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ANCIENT CROSSES IN ENGLAND.
+
+(_For the Mirror._)
+
+        "She doth stray about
+  By holy _crosses_, where she kneels and prays
+  For happy wedlock hours."
+
+  SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+In former times, an idea of peculiar sanctity was annexed to crosses. They
+not only marked civil and ecclesiastical limits, but probably served for
+stations, when the bounds were visited in processions. It was a common
+practice for mendicants to place themselves near some of these crosses, and
+ask alms; whence the ancient proverb, "He begs like a cripple at a cross."
+Cornwall abounds with stone crosses. In churchyards, by the side of roads,
+and on the open downs, they remain solitary and neglected. In almost every
+town that had an abbey, or any other religious foundation, there was one of
+these structures. The monks frequently harangued the populace from these
+crosses. Many of them still remain, exhibiting beautiful specimens of
+architecture and sculpture. The most memorable and interesting objects of
+this kind were those which King Edward I. erected at the different stages
+where the corpse of Queen Eleanor rested, in its progress from
+Nottinghamshire to London. Mr. Gough tells us, that there were originally
+fifteen of these elegant structures; but only three are now remaining,
+which, by their peculiar beauty, as specimens of architecture and
+productions of art, serve to excite regret at the destruction of the
+others. The first of the three above-mentioned, is the cross at Geddington,
+about three miles from Kettering, in Northamptonshire. The second is the
+Queen's Cross, near Northampton. The third is the cross at Waltham, in
+Hertfordshire. For a further account of these crosses, see Mr. Britton's
+"Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain."
+
+P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TO R.H., ON HER DEPARTURE FOR LONDON.
+
+(_For the Mirror._)
+
+  "Alas for me! false hearts I've found, where I had deem'd them true,
+  And stricken hopes lie all around where'er I turn my view;
+  Yet it may be, when far remov'd, the voice of memory
+  May yet remind thee how we lov'd, with its reproving sigh."
+
+  ANONYMOUS.
+
+
+  Farewell! farewell! a sad farewell!
+    'Tis fate's decree that we should part;
+  Forebodings strange my bosom tell,
+    That others now will pain thy heart:
+  If so, calm as the waveless deep,
+    Whereby the passing gust has blown,
+  Unmark'd, the eye will turn to weep
+    O'er days that have so swiftly flown,
+  Remember me--remember me,
+  My latest thought will be for thee.
+
+  The tale which to _thee_ I've confest
+    Another ne'er shall hear again;
+  Nor love, that link'd me with the blest,
+    Be darken'd with an earthly chain.
+  No, as the scroll above the dead,
+    The dreams of parted joys will last;
+  There is a bliss now love has fled,
+    To trace this record of the past.
+  Then, oh! mid all remember me--
+  My latest thought will be for thee.
+
+  Life hath been as a cloudy day,
+    Yet still it hath not _all_ been gloom,
+  For many a wild and broken ray
+    Hath cheer'd awhile my spirit's doom;
+  As flow'rets on a river's rim,
+    Whose shadows deck each passing wave,
+  Thought lingers on, perturb'd and dim,
+    Or sunbeam resting on a grave.
+  Remember me--remember me--
+  My latest thought will be for thee.
+
+  Where'er my feet may wander now,
+    No more awakes the slightest care;
+  It matters not--for still wilt thou
+    Be present 'mid my heart's despair.
+  So springs and blooms, in lonely state,
+    Some flow'ret on a roofless cot,
+  And decks with smiles, though desolate,
+    The gloomy stillness of the spot.
+  Remember me--remember me--
+  My latest thought will be for thee.
+
+  Though calm the eye, and still the tongue,
+    It needs not that the cheek be pale
+  To prove the heart by feelings wrung,
+    And brooding o'er a hopeless tale;
+  For calm is oft the ocean's breast,
+    Though 'neath its deep blue waters lie
+  A thousand wrecks--so sorrows rest
+    In still and silent misery.
+  Remember me--remember me--
+  My latest thought will be for thee.
+
+H.P.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE COURSE OF LOVE.
+
+(_For the Mirror._)
+
+
+  Go, trace the forest maze,
+    Or Cretan lab'rinth solve,
+  On Nature's myst'ries gaze,
+    Or Gordian knot resolve.
+
+  Tell whence the magnet's force,
+    The central motive scan,
+  Lay bare Nile's hidden source,
+    Earth's vast circumference span.
+
+  Results from such detail
+    Skill superhuman prove:
+  Yet powers like these would fail
+    To tell the course of love.
+
+  Direct the impulse fierce
+    Of ocean's watery sway;
+  When wint'ry tempests pierce,
+    Bind Boreas to obey.
+
+  Go, mould the fleeting cloud,
+    The lucid dew-drop mix,
+  The solar radiance shroud,
+    The trembling moonbeam fix.
+
+  Then bid the wand'ring star
+    Within the zodiac move;
+  'Twere task more hard by far
+    To guide the course of love.
+
+  Stop the meridian flight
+    Of Jove's proud plumy race;
+  Arrest the fiercest fight
+    When foe-men battle face.
+
+  Forbid the earth to turn.
+    Forbid the tides to flow,
+  Forbid the sun to burn,
+    Forbid the winds to blow.
+
+  Bid the fix'd orb of day.
+    Beyond his sphere to move,
+  Or cease th' attempt, I pray,
+    To stop the course of love.
+
+T.F.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+I'LL BE AT YOUR BALL
+
+(_For the Mirror._)
+
+    Ah! ce n'est pas moi qui romprait la première l'union sacrée de nos
+    coeurs; vous le savez bien que ce n'est pas moi, et je rougirais
+    presque, d'assurer ce qui n'est que trop certain.--_Corinne, par_
+    MADAME DE STAEL.
+
+
+  I'll be at your ball--dear Eliza,
+    Could you doubt of my wish to be there,
+  When ask'd by the maiden I prize a-
+    Bove all maidens, though e'er so fair?
+  Busy fancy brings back in my dreams
+    The walks, still enchanting, we took,
+  When the zephyrs scarce ruffled the streams,
+    No sound heard, save the murm'ring brook;
+  The stars we together have watched--
+    What pleasure these thoughts do recall!
+  Believe that your truly attached,
+    Dear Eliza, will be at your ball.
+
+  Can study those feelings estrange,
+    Of affection so ardent and true?
+  Or absence or time ever change
+    A heart so devoted to you?
+  My voice may have altered its tone,
+    My brow may be furrow'd by care,
+  But, oh, dearest girl, there are none
+    Possess of my heart the least share.
+  You say that my hair is neglected,
+    That my dress don't become me at all;
+  Can you feel surprised I'm dejected,
+    Since I parted from you at your ball?
+
+  I listlessly turn o'er the pages.
+    So fraught with amusement before
+  Tasso, Dante, and even the sages,
+    Once pleasing, are pleasing no more.
+  When I walk on the banks of the Mole,
+    Or recline 'neath our favourite tree,
+  As the needle is true to the pole,
+    So my thoughts still concentre in thee.
+  Old Time moves so slow, he appears,
+    "With age quite decrepit," to crawl;
+  And days seem now lengthen'd to years,
+    Before we shall meet--at your ball.
+
+DAFT JAMIE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
+
+    Having occasionally (during my lucubrations) marked out sundry
+    choice excerpts, quips, and quiddities, from a variety of authors, I
+    shall, with your permission, submit to the reader an occasional
+    chapter, with a few original remarks, &c., which I hope will prove
+    agreeable.
+
+    JACOBUS.
+
+
+POSTURE MASTERS.
+
+
+It is now a-days extremely common to style the tumble-down-dick exploits or
+posture masters, balancers, conjurers, &c. an art. To ridicule such an
+abuse of the term by applying it to mere adroitness, skill in trifles, and
+labour-in-vain performances, Quinctilian gives us this merry
+instance--"Qualis illius fuit, qui grana ciceris ex spatio distante missa,
+in acum continue, et sine frustratione inserebat; quem cum spectasset
+Alexander, donasse eum dicitur leguminis modio--quod quidem praemium fuit
+illo opere dignissimum." Translation--Of this kind of art, was his, who,
+standing at a certain distance, could continually, without missing, stick a
+small pea upon the point of a needle; which when Alexander had witnessed,
+he ordered him a bushel of that grain for his trouble, a reward quite
+adequate to such an exploit. We have a similar story related, I think, of
+Charles II.: a posture master climbed up Grantham steeple, and then stood
+on his head upon the weathercock. The facetious monarch, after witnessing
+his ascent, told him he might forthwith have a patent that none should do
+the like but himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TO MAKE BUBBLE AND SQUEAK.
+
+_Published by request of the gentlemen of both Universities._
+
+
+First--Take of beef, or mutton, or lamb, or veal, or any other meat, two
+pounds and a half, or any other quantity; be sure to keep it in salt till
+the saline particles have locked up all the animal juices, and rendered
+the fibres hard of digestion; then boil it over a turf or peat fire, in a
+brass kettle, covered with a copper lid, until it is over much done.
+
+Second--Take a large turned cabbage, and boil it in a bell metal pot until
+it is done enough, or (if you think proper) too much.
+
+Thirdly--Slice the meat, and souse that and the cabbage both in a frying
+pan together, and let them bubble and squeak over a charcoal fire for half
+an hour, three minutes, and two seconds.
+
+Lastly--Devour the whole, which will not weigh more than _four_ pounds, for
+a quantum sufficit; drink six pints of good, fat ale; sit, smoke, sleep,
+snore, and forget your book.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ADVERTISEMENT.
+
+_In defence of the two Universities._
+
+
+We can assure the public that the malicious report of the Greek language
+being expelled from the abovenamed seats of Minerva, is entirely without
+foundation; there being, at this moment, many thousand volumes written in
+that tongue, actually extant, and quite unmolested in the several
+libraries.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HONEST PREJUDICES,
+
+_Or bona fide extracts from celebrated authors._
+
+
+Before the conquest of this country by the Normans, the land in Norfolk was
+so light and fine, that the farmers usually plowed with two rabbits and a
+case knife!--_Jones's Wonderful Changes_, p. 86.--Weep at this ye who are
+now racking your inventive powers for improvements in agricultural
+implements. See what your forefathers could accomplish by means the
+simplest.--_Risum teneatis?_
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+There are many stories told of the craft of the fox to compass his prey, of
+which Ol. Magnus hath many: such as feigning the bark of a dog to catch
+prey near the houses; feigning himself dead to catch such animals as come
+to feed upon him; laying his tail upon a wasp's nest and then rubbing it
+hard against a tree, thus catching the wasps so killed; ridding himself of
+fleas by gradually going into the water with a lock of wool in his mouth,
+and so driving the fleas up into it and then leaving it in the water; by
+catching crab fish with his tail, which he saith he himself was a witness
+of.--_Derham's Physico-Theology_, book iv. chap. 11., and _Ol. Mag. Hist._
+lib. xviii. cap. 39, 40.--Peruse this ye incredulous lectors of Baron
+Munch-Hausen, and Colonel Nimrod. Talk no more of the fertile genius of our
+Yankee brethren, but candidly admit ye are blameworthy for withholding
+credence to matters which rather border on the marvellous.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Had man been a dwarf he could not have been a rational creature; for he
+must then have had a jolt head, so there would not have been body and blood
+enough to supply his brain with spirits, or he must have had a small head
+answerable to his body, and so there would not have been brain enough for
+his business.--_Grew's Cosmol. Sacr._ book i. chap. v.
+
+Had the calf of the leg been providentially and prominently placed
+_before_, instead of being preposterously and prejudicially placed
+_behind_, it had been evidently better; forasmuch as the human shin-bone
+could not then have been so easily broken,--_Dr. Moreton's Beauty of the
+Human Structure_, page 62.--What a pity it is that these two learned and
+self-sufficient authors, were not consulted in the formation of their own
+persons: doubtless they could have suggested many improvements, and would
+have felt all the advantages with due effect--probably they might have
+liked their heads to screw on and off like Saint Denis, of France, who
+frequently carried his under his arm.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+The City of London is the largest city in the world, and the people of
+London the wisest--_Wilson's Candid Traveller_, page 42.--Mark this, ye who
+are levelling your _leaden_ wit at the worthy aldermen and cits of this
+"large" and "wise" metropolis.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+At the famous battle of Crescy, gained by Edward III., notwithstanding a
+vast carnage of the French, and an infinite number of prisoners, the
+English lost only one 'squire, three knights, and a few of inferior
+rank.--_History of England, by Goldsmith._
+
+At the battle of Agincourt, gained by Henry V. the French lost ten thousand
+men, and fourteen thousand prisoners; the English (although enfeebled by
+disease, destitute of provisions, and harassed by fatigue) lost only forty
+men in all--Ibid.--Hear these facts of ancient prowess, ye heroes of modern
+times; who among ye ever gained such signal advantages with losses so
+insignificant?--In good truth, I must admit, that even I was once inclined
+to cry out with Mr. Burchell, "fudge;" but the following morceaux have
+explained to me the (otherwise) mysterious relation:--
+
+_One_ Englishman can beat _five_ Frenchmen.--_Williamson's Serious
+Propositions_, page 78.--One English man-of-war, will beat a Dutch
+fleet--_Nebolt's Naval Expeditions_, chap. iv. section 9.--Indeed! what a
+scandalous shame it is then to call Admiral Blake a naval hero; surely he
+could have been but a mere botch to make such a tough job of cutting up Van
+Tromp, the Dutch commander.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Though I have examined what all other authors have written on this affair
+with great impartiality, yet I cannot conceive that any of them have the
+least merit; nor do I find one man that has treated this subject sensibly,
+besides myself.--_Smithson's Amiableness of Candour and Diffidence_, page
+8.--What modesty! what candour! amiable critic! doubtless your ingenuous
+style has obtained you a place on the shelves of the literati; and like
+Ovid and Horace you have secured as well as assigned yourself an
+immortality.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SELECT BIOGRAPHY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MEMOIR OF BOLIVAR.
+
+
+The conspicuous part which Bolivar has acted throughout the revolution in
+Colombia, and at the close of that in Peru, renders it imperative on us to
+give some account of a character, identified with so many great and
+extraordinary events.
+
+Simon Bolivar was born at Caracas on the 25th of July, 1783. He lost his
+parents at an early age; and, in his sixteenth year, was sent to Europe to
+finish his education. He made the tour of France and Italy. Having married
+at Madrid, he embarked for Venezuela, where his wife died a few months
+after her arrival. Bolivar went a second time to Europe, and was present at
+the coronation of Napoleon. He returned to Caracas in company with Emparan,
+appointed captain-general of Venezuela by the central junta at Seville.
+Soon after the raising of the standard of independence (19th April, 1810)
+in that country, he was sent to solicit the protection of Great Britain. He
+was well received by the Marquess Wellesley, then secretary for Foreign
+Affairs. The British government offered its mediation between Spain and her
+colonies, but the offer was rejected by the court of Madrid. Bolivar
+returned to his own country, accompanied by General Miranda, who was placed
+in command of the Venezuelan troops. But the revolutionary government was
+too feebly organized to give efficiency to the military force. Divisions
+arose, and the cause of independence was on the retrograde, when the
+dreadful earthquake of 1812, and the subsequent invasion by the Spanish
+force under General Monteverde, for the time, precluded all possibility of
+success.
+
+Bolivar, alleging that Miranda had betrayed his country by capitulating to
+Monteverde, arrested him at La Guayra. Bolivar then demanded his passport,
+and when taken before Monteverde, the Spanish general said that Colonel
+Bolivar's request should be complied with, as a reward for his having
+served the king of Spain by delivering up Miranda. Bolivar answered that he
+arrested him to punish a traitor[2] to his country, and not to serve the
+king. This answer had nearly included him in the general proscription; but
+the good offices of Don Francisco Iturbe, secretary to Monteverde, procured
+the passport, and Bolivar was allowed to sail for Curaçoa. From that island
+he went to Carthagena, where he obtained the command of a small force, with
+which he proceeded up the Magdalena, and having beaten parties of the
+royalist troops at various points on that river, he continued his march
+from Ocana to Cucutá, and solicited assistance from the government of
+Cundinamarca. Five hundred men were placed at his disposal, and with these,
+added to his own small party, Bolivar undertook to effect the liberation of
+his country. Four thousand Spaniards, under General Correa, were then on
+that part of the Venezuelan frontier. A division of these was beaten by
+Bolivar, who pursued his march to Truxillo, defeating on the way several
+royalist detachments.
+
+   [2] Bolivar seems to have been hurried into a dreadful error by the
+       warmth of his feelings. Not only is the _expediency_ of the
+       capitulation admitted by eye witnesses of the first
+       respectability, but also that Miranda had no other alternative.
+       The rich and influential inhabitants withheld their support, not
+       that their political sentiments had undergone a change but
+       because they saw the useless of sacrificing property and life in
+       a wild attempt to stem the stream of public opinion; the bulk of
+       the people having become decidedly royalist in principle ever
+       since that earthquake, which had been represented by the
+       priesthood as a judgement of Heaven upon the insurgent cause.
+
+The Spaniards from the commencement of the war, had put to death all
+persons whom they found with arms in their hands. The South Americans, on
+the contrary, gave quarter to those royalists who fell into their power.
+The natives consequently preferred entering the royalist ranks, feeling
+secure that, in case of being made prisoners, their lives would be spared.
+Bolivar, perceiving the great disadvantage under which he laboured, and as
+a retaliation for the horrid butcheries committed by the Spaniards, issued
+a proclamation at Truxillo, declaring, that from that time forward he
+should wage a war of extermination. This declaration of _guerra à muerte_
+on the part of the independents made the danger, in that respect, equal on
+both sides.
+
+Bolivar, having separated his small corps into two divisions, entrusted the
+command of the second to the active General Rivas. Bolivar himself
+penetrated the Llanos, after having beaten the Spaniards at Niquitao,
+Carache, Varinas, Tahuana, and Torcones. He then advanced to Vitoria,
+within twenty leagues of Caracas, where he was met by Spanish
+commissioners, who sued for, and obtained, a capitulation. The conqueror
+entered his native city in triumph. But this did not put an end to the war.
+The Spaniards were faithless in the observance of the capitulation, and
+Monteverde, from within the walls of Puerto Cabello, fomented the discord
+which prevailed in the interior provinces. About this time a strong
+reinforcement arrived from Spain. Bolivar was obliged to evacuate Caracas;
+but the royalists were beaten at Viguirima, Barbula, and Las Trincheras.
+However, the Spanish general Cevallos had time to raise four thousand
+recruits in the province of Coro, which had always shown itself inimical to
+the cause of independence. Bolivar next gained the important battle of
+Araure, and repossessed himself of Caracas. On the 2nd of January, 1814, he
+assembled the public authorities of the city, and resigned to them the
+supreme authority he had exercised, and with which his triumphs had
+invested him. They, however, refused to admit his resignation; conferred
+upon him the title of LIBERATOR OF VENEZUELA; and named him dictator.
+
+About this period a Spaniard, Don José Tomas Boves, succeeded in bringing
+about a counter-revolution in the Llanos, an immense tract of level
+country, which traverses the centre of Venezuela, and extends to the
+confines of New Granada. Boves organized a force, which consisted of men
+mostly chosen for their desperate character, whom he led on by promises of
+indiscriminate plunder, and by lavishing the greatest rewards upon the
+perpetrators of the most revolting atrocities. The track of these ruffians,
+to Calabozo, was every where marked with the blood of the aged and the
+defenceless. Bolivar, who had detached a part of his force in pursuit of
+Cevallos, had not above two thousand men left to make head against Boves,
+who, with nearly five times that number, had possessed himself of the
+fertile valleys of Aragua, and destroyed some patriot divisions sent to
+check his progress. Bolivar took up a position at San Mateo, in order to
+cover Caracas. A series of attacks, in the space of forty days, reduced the
+number of Bolivar's force to four hundred. Cevallos had repaired the
+effects of his defeat at Araure, and, reinforced by General Cagigal, had
+penetrated to Valencia. The patriot division of the east having defeated
+Boves at Bocachica, and compelled him to retire to the Llanos, and having
+subsequently united with the remains of Bolivar's force, marched against
+Cagigal and Cevallos, whose well-organized troops amounted to six thousand.
+These were attacked and defeated by Bolivar, who then detached the greater
+part of his force to reduce the province of Coro to submission, and himself
+marched against Boves. Bolivar was overwhelmed by numbers at La Puerta. His
+division dispersed, and fled to Cundinamarca. He was then obliged to
+abandon Caracas. The same day witnessed the affecting spectacle of several
+thousand inhabitants leaving their homes and property at the mercy of the
+ruthless spoiler, while they themselves set out to face want, disease, and
+death, in distant provinces.
+
+On the 17th of August, Bolivar lost the battle of Aragua. The subsequent
+affairs of Maturin, Cumaná, Carupano, Guiria, Urica, and El Caris, were
+fought, with varying success. All being lost in the east, Bolivar next
+proceeded to Carthagena, and offered his services to New Granada, then
+agitated by discordant parties of provincialists, centralists,
+metropolists, federalists, royalists, and independents. A congress
+assembled at Tunja conferred upon Bolivar the command of the forces of New
+Granada. Santa Fé de Bogotá submitted, the provinces acknowledged the
+congress, and an effort was made to establish a constitutional form of
+government.
+
+Bolivar having proposed to take the town of Santa Marta, still held by the
+Spaniards, he was authorized by the government of Santa Fé to procure guns,
+&c., from the arsenals of Carthagena. The governor of that fortress refused
+to furnish the necessary supplies. In order to enforce compliance, Bolivar
+invested Carthagena, before which he remained a considerable time, when he
+heard of the arrival at Margarita of General Morillo, with ten thousand
+Spanish troops. Upon this, Bolivar placed his own investing force at the
+disposal of his rival, the governor of Carthagena; and, unwilling that the
+cause of his country should continue to suffer from the dissention which
+had arisen between himself and the governor, withdrew to Jamaica. Morillo,
+soon afterwards, laid siege to Carthagena, which, unfortunately, in
+consequence of the long investment it had already sustained, was nearly
+destitute of provisions, Bolivar sent from Jamaica some supplies for the
+besieged garrison; but before they could arrive, that important fortress
+was in possession of the Spaniards. This enabled them to reconquer New
+Granada, and the blood of its citizens was made to stream from the
+scaffold.
+
+At Kingston, Bolivar narrowly escaped assassination. The casual
+circumstance of exchanging apartments with another person, caused the
+murderer's dagger to be planted in the heart of a faithful follower,
+instead of in that of Bolivar. The author of these memoirs happened to
+live, for a few days, in the same boarding-house. Some officers of a
+British line-of-battle ship, not speaking Spanish, requested him to invite
+Bolivar, in their name, to dine with them. This was only a few weeks
+previous to the intended assassination of Bolivar.
+
+From Jamaica, Bolivar went to Hayti, and was received at Port-au-Prince by
+Petion with kind hospitality, and was assisted by him as far as his means
+would allow.
+
+In April, 1816, he sailed with three hundred men to Margarita, which island
+had lately again shaken off the Spanish yoke. He arrived at Juan Griego,
+where he was proclaimed supreme chief of the republic. On the 1st of June
+he sailed, and on the 3rd landed at Campano, where he beat nine hundred
+Spaniards. He then opened a communication with patriot chieftains, who had
+maintained themselves in isolated parties dispersed over the _llanos_ of
+Cumaná, Barcelona, and the Apure. It is a curious fact, that the isolation
+of several of these parties was so complete, that, for many months, they
+did not know of any other than themselves being in arms for the delivery of
+their country. It was only by their coming into accidental contact that
+they discovered that there was more than one patriot guerilla in
+existence.[3] Bolivar supplied some of them with arms, and at the same time
+augmented his own force to a thousand men. The Spaniards assembled in
+superior numbers to destroy them; but Bolivar embarked, and relanded at
+Ocumare, with an intention of taking Caracas: great part, however, of the
+Spanish army having by this time returned from New Granada to Venezuela,
+Bolivar was obliged to re-embark for Margarita.
+
+    [3] For the honour of the _llaneros_, this circumstance ought to be
+        more distinctly detailed.
+
+In 1817, he landed near Barcelona, where he collected seven hundred
+recruits, and marched towards Caracas; but, being worsted in an affair at
+Clarines, he fell back again upon Barcelona, where he shut himself up with
+four hundred men, and made a successful resistance against a superior
+force.
+
+Bolivar received some reinforcements from the interior of the province of
+Cumaná, upon which he decided upon making the banks of the Orinoco the
+theatre of his future efforts. Having further augmented his force, and
+taken the necessary steps to keep alive the war in the districts on the
+coast, he marched to the interior, beating several small royalist parties
+which he encountered on his route.
+
+Of the Spanish army which had returned from New Granada, a division, under
+the brave General La Torre, was destined to act against the patriots in
+Guayana. A division of the latter, under General Piar, having obtained a
+decisive victory, Bolivar was enabled to invest Angostura, and the town of
+old Guyana, which were successively taken on the 3rd and 18th of July.
+
+In Angostura, Piar was found guilty, by a court-martial, of an attempt to
+excite a war of colour. Piar (a man of colour himself) was the bravest of
+the brave, and adored by his followers; but his execution stifled anarchy
+in the bud.
+
+The rest of the year 1817 was actively spent in organizing a force to act
+against Morillo, who had lately been reinforced by two thousand fresh
+troops from the Peninsula, under General Canterac, then on his way from
+Spain to Peru. An abundant supply of arms, received from England, was sent
+to the patriot corps on the banks of the Apure.
+
+(_To be continued._)
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LEDYARD TO HIS MISTRESS.
+
+(_For the Mirror._)
+
+
+  Dost wish to roam in foreign climes
+  Forget thy home and long past times?
+  Dost wish to be a wand'rer's bride,
+  And all thy thoughts in him confide?
+  Thou canst not traverse mountain seas,
+  Nor bear cold Lapland's freezing breeze;
+  Thou canst not bear the torrid heats,
+  Nor brave the toils a wand'rer meets;
+  Thou wouldst faint, dearest, with fatigue
+  Trav'ling the desert's sandy league.
+
+  Pale hunger with her sickly pains
+  Will silence thy heroic strains;
+  Thy heart--now warmly beats--will chill
+  And stop thy lover's wonted skill.
+  He could not see thee pine and weep
+  Nor could he ease thy troubled sleep--
+  'Twould quite unman his firm resolve,
+  And with grief thy love involve.
+
+TERRENUS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+ROMAN ALTAR.
+
+(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
+
+
+Enclosed I send you a drawing of a Roman votive altar, which was found in
+digging a cellar about six feet deep, in St. Sepulchre's Gate, Doncaster,
+in the year 1781. It is the oldest relic of antiquity which Doncaster has
+yet produced, and is of exquisite engraving and workmanship. Upon the
+capital, or top of the stone, a small space above the sculpture of the
+altar itself, is a crater or flowing bowl,[4] sacred to Bacchus, the god of
+wine; on the dexter, or right side of the altar, is a flower-pot, or
+cornucopiæ, with five branches in it, loaded with leaves and fruit, sacred
+to Ceres, or Terra-Mater, the goddess of plants; and on the sinister, or
+left side thereof, is a large jug or pitcher with a large handle, also
+sacred to Bacchus. It is about 2 feet 6-1/2 inches in height, and 1 foot in
+breadth at the base. The corporation employed a Mr. Richard John Tetlow, of
+Ferrybridge, a celebrated antiquary, to interpret the inscription, and give
+them his opinion on its age. They also sent it to the Antiquarian Society
+in London for inspection.
+
+    [4] If not a flowing bowl, then it is the shield of Diana.
+
+_Interpretation of the Society._
+
+Matribus magnis,[5] Nantonius[6] Orberthol, vota solvit lubens merito.
+
+    [5] Juno and Diana.
+
+    [6] For Antoninus, in the year of Christ 161. Antoninus Philosophus
+        was the Roman emperor, and succeeded Antoninus Pius, according to
+        Dr. Littleton.
+
+_Translation._
+
+To the great mothers, (goddesses,) Anthony Orberthol willingly and
+meritoriously has performed his vows or promises.
+
+_Interpretation of Mr. Tetlow._
+
+Lunæ, Latonæ, Lucinæ, Matribus magnis Antonius Orbis Romani Imperator Bonis
+Oeis Altare. vota. solvit. lubens merito.
+
+_Translation._
+
+To Luna, Latona, Lucina, the great good mothers, goddesses, Anthony, the
+emperor of the Roman empire, hath erected, or dedicated, this altar. Freely
+and fully he has discharged his vows and promises.
+
+It is, reasonably enough, conjectured from several corroborative
+circumstances, that the altar above described is no less than 1,645 years
+old. One of these circumstances is its being similar in some respects to
+two other Roman altars which were found in England some years back, one of
+which is related to have been made in the year of Christ 161.
+
+_Near Sheffield._ J.M. C----D.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+NOTES OF A READER.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+SUNSET.
+
+
+  Day sets in glory, and the glowing air
+    Seems dreaming in delight; peace reigns around,
+  Save where some beetle starteth here and there
+    From the shut flowers that kiss the dewy ground--
+  A burning ocean, stretching vast and far
+    The parting banners of the king of light,
+  Gleam round the temples of each living star
+    That comes forth in beauty with the night:
+  The west seems now like some illumined hall,
+    Where beam a thousand torches in their pride,
+  As if to light the joyous carnival
+    Held by the bright sun and his dark-robed bride,
+  Whose cloudy arms are round his bosom press'd,
+  As with her thousand eyes she woos him to his rest.
+
+_The African, a Tale._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+BEES.
+
+
+Alternations of torpor and animation cause greater exhaustion and loss of
+physical powers, than would be occasioned by a continuance of uniform
+torpor. This we infer from the fact, that in Russia, where the winters are
+uniformly cold, bees do not perish; and in the West Indies where there is
+perpetual verdure, they are never exhausted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Major Rennell--_clarum et venerabile nomen_--now in his 87th year,
+possesses in full vigour, for the happiness of himself and friends, all
+those intellectual faculties which have so eminently distinguished his long
+and useful life; who, suffering little short of martyrdom, from the
+frequent attacks of gout, still devotes hours and days to his favourite
+pursuit; uniting with his studies all the playfulness and vivacity of
+youth.
+
+_Quarterly Review._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+WAR.
+
+
+War! what miseries are heaped together in the sound!--What an accumulation
+of curses is breathed in that one word. To us, happy in our insular
+position, we have, within existing memory, known chiefly of war, its pomp
+and circumstance alone; the gay parade, the glancing arms, the bright
+colours, the inspiring music--these are what we see of war in its
+outset;--glory, and praise, and badges of honour, these are what appear to
+us as its result. The favourite son, the beloved brother, he who, perhaps,
+is dearer still, returns to the home of his youth or of his heart, having
+sown danger and reaped renown. Thus do we look on war. But ask the
+inhabitant of a country _which has been the seat of war_, what is _his_
+opinion of it. He will tell you that he has seen his country ravaged, his
+home violated, his family ---- But no! the tongue recoils from speaking the
+horrors and atrocities of war thus brought into the bosom of a peaceful
+home. All the amenities and charities of domestic life are outraged, are
+annihilated. All that is dearest to man; all that tends to refine, to
+soften him--to make him a noble and a better being--all these are trampled
+under foot by a brutal soldiery--all these are torn from his heart for
+ever! He will tell you that he detests war so much that he almost despises
+its glories; and that he detests it because he has known its evils, and
+felt how poorly and miserably they are compensated by the fame which is
+given to the slaughterer and the destroyer, because he is such!
+
+_Tales of Passion._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE NEWSPAPERS.
+
+
+These square pieces of paper are the Agoras of modern life. The same
+skilful division of labour which brings the fowl ready trussed to our doors
+from the market, brings also an abstract of the
+
+               Votum, timor, ira, voluptas,
+Gaudia, discursus,
+
+which agitate the great metropolis, and even opinions, ready prepared, to
+the breakfast tables of our remotest farms, ere the controversial warmth
+has had time to cool. In the centre of this square, where you observe the
+larger character, a public orator, "vias et verba locans," takes his daily
+stand. One makes his speech in the morning, and another reserves his for
+the evening; a third class, either disposed to take less trouble, or,
+finding it convenient to construct their speeches from fragments of the
+daily orations, harangue once in two or three days; while a fourth waylay
+the people in their road to visit the temples on our hebdomadal festivals.
+But cast your eyes to another part of these our artificial forums, and
+observe the number of small divisions which fill up the space. There are
+stalls of merchandize. The ancient venders must have been noisy, and a
+frequent cause of annoyance to political speakers; but here the hawkers of
+wet and dry goods, the hawkers of medicine, the hawkers of personal
+services, the hawkers of husbands and wives, (for among us these articles
+are often cried up for sale,) and lastly, the hawkers of religions, moral,
+and political wisdom, all cry out at once, without tumult or confusion, yet
+so as to be heard in these days through the remotest corners of these
+islands.... If a peculiarly bloody murder has been tried, or if some
+domestic intrigue has produced a complicated love story, however offensive
+in its details, you will find our reading crowd stationary in that quarter,
+to enjoy the tragic stimulants of terror and pity. We have also a modest
+corner of the square appropriated to the use of our posts; but like
+Polydorus's ghost, they generally utter doleful soliloquies, which no one
+will stop to hear.
+
+_London Review._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+BEAUTY.
+
+
+It is vain to dispute about the matter; moralists may moralize, preachers
+may sermonize about it as much as they please; still beauty is a most
+delightful thing,--and a really lovely woman a most enchanting object to
+gaze on. I am aware of all that can be said about roses fading, and cheeks
+withering, and lips growing thin and pale. No one, indeed, need be ignorant
+of every change which can be rung upon this peal of bells, for every one
+must have heard them in every possible, and impossible, variety of
+combination. Give time, and complexion will decay, and lips and cheeks will
+shrink and grow wrinkled, sure enough. But it is needless to anticipate the
+work of years, or to give credit to old Time for his conquests before he
+has won them. The edge of his scythe does more execution than that of the
+conqueror's sword: we need not add the work of fancy to _his_,--it is more
+than sufficiently sure and rapid already.
+
+_Tales of Passion._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+PRE-AUX-CLERCS.
+
+
+In 1559, the most frequented promenade in Paris was the _Pré-aux-Clercs_,
+situated where a part of the Faubourg St. Germain is at present. The
+students of the university were generally in favour of the reformed
+religion, and not only made a profession of it, but publicly defended its
+principles. They had been in the habit of meeting at this place for several
+years, and the monks of the Abbey St. Victor having refused to let them
+assemble in the Pré-aux-Clercs, a serious affair sprung out of the refusal,
+and several rencounters took place, in which blood was shed; the students,
+being the most numerous, carried their point, the monks resigned the field
+to them, and the Pré-aux-Clercs was more than ever frequented. It became
+the grand rendezvous of all the Protestants, who would sing Marot's psalms
+during the summer evenings; and such numbers giving confidence, many
+persons declared themselves Protestants, whose rank had hitherto deterred
+them from such a step. Among such, the most eminent was Anthony of Bourbon,
+first prince of the blood, and, in right of his wife, king of Navarre.
+
+_Browning's History of the Hugonots._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LOVE.
+
+
+When she learned the vocabulary, she did not find that admiration meant
+love; she did not find that gratitude meant love; she did not find that
+habit meant love; she did not find that approbation meant love; but in
+process of time she began to suspect that all these put together produced a
+feeling very much like love.
+
+_Rank and Talent._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HUGONOTS.
+
+
+Various definitions of this epithet exist. Pasquier says it arose from
+their assembling at Hugon's Tower, at Tours; he also mentions, that in 1540
+he heard them called _Tourangeaux_. Some have attributed the term to the
+commencement of their petitions, "_Huc nos venimus._" A more probable
+reason is to be found in the name of a party at Geneva, called _Eignots_, a
+term derived from the German, and signifying a sworn confederate. Voltaire
+and the Jesuit Maimbourg are both of this opinion.
+
+_Browning's History of the Hugonots._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+A ROUT.
+
+
+A great, large, noisy, tumultuous, promiscuous, crowding, crushing,
+perfumed, feathered, flowered, painted, gabbling, sneering, idle,
+gossiping, rest-breaking, horse-killing, panel-breaking, supper-scrambling
+evening-party is much better imagined than described, for the description
+is not worth the time of writing or reading it.
+
+_Rank and Talent._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+PLEASURE.
+
+
+  We are mad gamesters in this world below,
+  All hopes on one uncertain die to throw;
+  How vain is man's pursuit, with passion blind,
+  To follow that which leaves us still behind!
+  Go! clasp the shadow, make it all thine own,
+  Place on the flying breeze thine airy throne;
+  Weave the thin sunbeams of the morning sky;
+  Catch the light April clouds before they fly;
+  Chase the bright sun unto the fading west,
+  And wake him early from his golden rest;
+  Seeking th' impossible, let life be past,
+  But never dream of pleasure that shall last.
+
+_The Ruined City._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+GERMAN LIFE.
+
+
+One day (says a late adventurer,) that I was quartered in a farm-house,
+along with some of our German dragoons, the owner came to complain to me
+that the soldiers had been killing his fowls, and pointed out one man in
+particular as the principal offender. The fact being brought home to the
+dragoon, he excused himself by saying, "One shiken come frighten my horse,
+and I give him one kick, and he die." "Oh, but," said I, "the _patron_
+contends that you killed more than one fowl." "Oh yes; that shiken moder
+see me kick that shiken, so she come fly in my face, and I give her one
+kick, and she die." Of course I reported the culprit to his officer, by
+whom he was punished as a notorious offender.
+
+_Twelve Years' Military Adventures._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE HEIR.
+
+
+Persons who are very rich, and have no legal heirs, may entertain
+themselves very much at the expense of hungry expectants and lean
+legacy-hunters. Who has not seen a poor dog standing on his hind legs, and
+bobbing up and down after a bone scarcely worth picking, with which some
+mischief-loving varlet has tantalized the poor animal till all its limbs
+have ached? That poor dog shadows out the legacy-hunter or possible heir.
+
+_Rank and Talent._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+The author of "_The Journal of a Naturalist_," just published, relates the
+following incident that occurred a few years past at a lime-kiln, (on the
+old Bristol Road) because it manifests how perfectly insensible the human
+frame may be to pains and afflictions in peculiar circumstances; and that
+which would be torture if endured in general, may be experienced at other
+times without any sense of suffering. A travelling man one winter's evening
+laid himself down upon the platform of a lime-kiln, placing his feet,
+probably numbed with cold, upon the heap of stones newly put on to burn
+through the night. Sleep overcame him in this situation; the fire gradually
+rising and increasing until it ignited the stones upon which his feet were
+placed. Lulled by the warmth, he still slept; and though the fire
+increased until it burned one foot (which probably was extended over a vent
+hole) and part of the leg, above the ankle, entirely off, consuming that
+part so effectually, that no fragment of it was ever discovered; the
+wretched being slept on! and in this state was found by the kiln-man in the
+morning. Insensible to any pain, and ignorant of his misfortune, he
+attempted to rise and pursue his journey, but missing his shoe, requested
+to have it found; and when he was raised, putting his burnt limb to the
+ground to support his body, the extremity of his leg-bone, the tibia,
+crumbled into fragments, having been calcined into lime. Still he expressed
+no sense of pain, and probably experienced none, from the gradual operation
+of the fire and his own torpidity during the hours his foot was consuming.
+This poor drover survived his misfortunes in the hospital about a
+fortnight; but the fire having extended to other parts of his body,
+recovery was hopeless.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+GAMING.
+
+
+Gambling, the besetting sin of the indolent in many countries, is ruinously
+general throughout South America. In England, and other European states, it
+is pretty much limited to the unemployed of the upper classes, who furnish
+a never-ending supply of dupes to knavery. In South America the passion
+taints all ages, both sexes, and every rank. The dregs of society yield to
+the fascination as blindly as the high-born and wealthy of the old or of
+the new world. It speaks much in favour of the revolution, that this vice
+is sensibly diminishing in Peru, and to the unfortunate Monteagudo belongs
+the honour of having been the first to attempt its eradication. A noted
+gambler was once as much an object of admiration in South America as a
+six-bottle man was in England fifty years ago. The houses of the great were
+converted into nightly hells, where the priesthood were amongst the most
+regular and adventurous attendants. Those places are now more innocently
+enlivened by music and dancing. Buena Vista, a seat of the late Marquess of
+Montemira, six leagues from Lima, was the Sunday rendezvous of every
+fashionable of the capital who had a few doubloons to risk on the turn of a
+card. On one occasion, a fortunate player, the celebrated Baquijano, was
+under the necessity of sending for a bullock car to convey his winnings,
+amounting to above thirty thousand dollars: a mule thus laden with specie
+was a common occurrence. Chorillos, a fishing town, three leagues south of
+Lima, is a fashionable watering place for a limited season. Here immense
+sums are won and lost; but political and literary coteries, formerly
+unknown, daily lessen the numbers of the votaries of fortune.
+
+So strong was this ruling passion, that when the patriot army has been
+closely pursued by the royalists, and pay has been issued to lighten the
+military chest, the officers, upon halting, would spread their ponchos on
+the ground, and play until it was time to resume the march; and this was
+frequently done even on the eve of a battle. Soldiers on piquet often
+gambled within sight of an enemy's advanced post.
+
+_Memoirs of Gen. Miller._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE NATURALIST.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+VOLCANIC ISLAND OF ST. CHRISTOPHER.
+
+
+This island is entirely composed of volcanic matter, in some places
+alternating with submarine productions. The principal mountain is situated
+at the western end of the island; it is an exhausted volcano, called in
+books of navigation, charts, &c., Mount Misery. The summit of this mountain
+is 3,711 feet above the sea; it appears to consist of large masses of
+volcanic rocks, roasted stones, cinders, pumice, and iron-clay. The whole
+extent of land, to the sea-shore on either side, may be considered as the
+base of this mountain, as it rises with a pretty steep ascent towards it;
+but from the part which is generally considered the foot of the mountain,
+it takes a sudden rise of an average angle of about 50 degrees. To the
+east, another chain of mountains runs, of a similar formation, though of
+inferior height. On the summits of these there are no remains that indicate
+their having ever possessed a crater: so that whether any of them have
+originally been volcanoes, or whether they have been formed by an
+accumulation of matter thrown out of Mount Misery, it is difficult to
+decide. That the low lands have been thrown from the mouth of the volcano
+is evident, from the regular strata of volcanic substances of which they
+consist; these too are interspersed with masses of volcanic rock, and other
+stones, some of the lesser ones entirely roasted through, and some of the
+larger ones to certain depths from their surfaces. Masses, also, of
+iron-clay, enclosing various pebbles, which have been burnt into a kind of
+red brick, are abundantly found in many places. There is scarcely any thing
+that can be called a path, or even a track, to the mouth of the crater of
+Mount Misery; indeed, there are but few whose curiosity is sufficiently
+strong to induce them to undertake this expedition. The common course for
+those who do, is to take a negro man as a guide, with a cutlass, or large
+knife, to clear away the underwood, and form a kind of path as he goes on.
+The ascent is very irregular, in some places being gentle, in others almost
+perpendicular; in which case the hands are obliged to assist the operations
+of the feet. In wet weather, the ascent of this mountain is extremely
+laborious, as a great part of it consists of clay, which then becomes so
+slippery as to render the getting up almost impracticable. About half-way
+up on the south side, and in a very pretty, romantic situation, there is a
+natural spring of remarkably cool water. On the north side, at about the
+same height, there is a waterfall, which, though small and insignificant in
+itself, has a pleasing appearance, as it rushes over the rocks, and through
+the trees and shrubs. This mountain is thickly clothed with wood, which in
+many places not only excludes the rays of the sun, but produces a sombre,
+gloomy appearance; this, with the occasional plaintive coo of the mountain
+dove, (the only sound heard at this height,) creates in the mind sensations
+of pleasing melancholy. In some parts an open space suddenly appears, from
+whence the whole country below bursts unexpectedly upon the view, which
+has, as may be supposed, an extremely fine effect. The thermometer, on the
+top of the mountain when the writer visited it, stood at 65, being a
+difference of 15 degrees from the low lands, where it stood at 80 degrees.
+The descent into the crater on the north and east sides is perfectly
+perpendicular; on the south and west sides, it slopes at an average angle
+of not more than 18 or 20 degrees from the perpendicular; consequently,
+persons descending are often obliged to let themselves down by clinging to
+projecting corners of rocks, or the branches and roots of shrubs, which
+grow all the way down; nor is this mode of travelling particularly safe,
+for should any of these give way, the consequence would probably be highly
+dangerous. The bottom of the crater, which, as nearly as could be
+estimated, is about 2,500 feet below the summit of the mountain, and
+contains about forty-five or fifty acres, may be said to be divided into
+three parts: the lowest side (to the south) consists of a large pond or
+lake, formed entirely by the rain-water collected from the sides of the
+crater--accordingly its extent is greater or less, as the season is wet or
+dry; the centre part is covered with small ferns, palms, and shrubs, and
+some curious species of moss; the upper part, to the north, is that which
+is called the Soufriere. The ground here consists of large beds of
+pipe-clay, in some places perfectly white, in others of a bluish or black
+colour, from the presence of iron pyrites. These are intermixed with masses
+and irregular beds of gray cinders and score, pumice, various kinds of
+lava, lithomarge, and fuller's earth. Amidst these beds of clay there are
+several hot springs, small, but boiling with much violence, and emitting
+large quantities of steam. A rumbling noise is heard under the whole of
+this part of the crater. The hot springs are not stationary, but suddenly
+disappear, and burst up in another place. The ground in many parts is too
+hot to be walked upon: a great quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen gas is
+likewise emitted, which is exceedingly disagreeable to the smell; and
+occasionally such a volume of it arises, as is almost suffocating, and
+resembles much the smell of rotten eggs. The watches of the writer and his
+companion during his visit, and every article of gold or silver about their
+persons, were in a few moments turned perfectly black, from the effect of
+this gas.
+
+_Brande's Journal._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ROYAL LIFE IN PERSIA.
+
+
+The religious duties of the king of Persia require him to rise early. As he
+sleeps in the interior apartments, which no male is allowed to approach,
+his attendants are either females or eunuchs. After he is dressed with
+their aid, he sits for an hour or two in the hall of the haram, where his
+levees are conducted with the same ceremony as in his outer apartments.
+Female officers arrange the crowd of his wives and slaves with the
+strictest attention to the order of precedency. After hearing the reports
+of the persons intrusted with the internal government of the haram, and
+consulting with his principal wives, who are generally seated, the monarch
+leaves the interior apartments. The moment he comes out, he is met by
+officers in waiting, and proceeds to one of his private halls, where he is
+immediately joined by some of his principal favourites, and enters into
+familiar conversation with them: all the young princes of the blood attend
+this morning levee, to pay their respects. After this is over, he calls for
+breakfast. The preparing his meals is superintended by the nauzir, or chief
+steward of the household. The viands are put into dishes of fine china,
+with silver covers, and placed in a close tray, which is locked and sealed
+by the steward. This tray is covered with a rich shawl, and carried to the
+king, when the steward breaks the seal, and places the dishes before him.
+Some of the infant princes are generally present, and partake in this
+repast. The chief physician is invariably in attendance at every meal. His
+presence is deemed necessary, the courtiers say, that he may prescribe an
+instant remedy, if any thing should disagree with the monarch; but this
+precaution, no doubt, owes its origin to that suspicion which is
+continually haunting the minds of such as exercise despotic power. When his
+public duties are performed, he usually retires to the haram, where he
+sometimes indulges in a short repose. Some time before sunset he always
+makes his appearance in the outer apartments, and either again attends to
+public business or takes a ride. His dinner is brought between eight and
+nine, with the same precautions and ceremonies as at breakfast. He eats,
+like his subjects, seated upon a carpet, and the dishes are placed on a
+rich embroidered cloth, spread for the occasion. Some of the former kings
+used to indulge openly in drinking wine; but none of the reigning family
+have yet outraged the religious feelings of their subjects by so flagrant a
+violation of the laws of Mahomed. Bowls filled with sherbet, made of every
+species of fruit, furnish the beverage of the royal meals; and there are
+few countries where more pains are bestowed to gratify the palate with the
+most delicate viands. After dinner, the king retires to the interior
+apartments, where it is said that he is often amused till a late hour by
+the singers and dancers of his haram. It is impossible, however, to speak
+of his occupations after he passes the threshold of his inner palace. He is
+there surrounded by a scene calculated, beyond all others, to debase and
+degrade the human character.
+
+The harams are governed by the strictest discipline; and this must be
+necessary to preserve the peace of a community, where the arrogance of
+power, the pride of birth, the ties of kindred, the intrigues of art, and
+the pretensions of beauty, are in constant collision. The usual routine of
+the king's life is often interrupted by urgent public affairs, and
+sometimes by amusement. The reigning family has hitherto disdained those
+enervating and luxurious habits which led the last Seffavean monarchs to
+confine themselves to their harams. They not only attend personally to
+public business, but are continually practising manly exercises, and engage
+in field sports with all the ardour of a race who cherish the habits of
+their Tartar ancestors. The present king is an expert marksman and an
+excellent horseman; few weeks pass without his partaking in the pleasures
+of the chase. The king has always a historiographer and a chief poet. The
+one writes the annals of his reign; the other, who has a high rank at
+court, composes odes in his praise, and, with grateful ardour, celebrates
+the munificence of his patron. A giant and a dwarf were at one period of
+the present reign part of the royal establishment; and it is never without
+a jester, who enjoys an extraordinary latitude of speech, and, both in his
+dress and manner, assumes the habit and appearance of folly. It is usual to
+laugh at the witticisms of these jesters, even when they are the most
+severe; and the sovereign himself respects their privilege. The tribe to
+which Kerreem Khan belonged, speak a language which, from its rudeness, is
+denominated "the barbarous dialect." As this prince was one day sitting in
+public, he commanded his jester to go and bring him word what a dog, that
+was barking very loud, wanted. The courtiers smiled at this sally of their
+monarch. The jester went, and, after appearing to listen for some time with
+profound attention, returned, and said, with a grave air, "Your majesty
+must send one of the chief officers of your own family to report what that
+gentleman says: he speaks no language except "the barbarous dialect," with
+which they are familiar, but of which I do not understand one word." The
+good-humoured monarch laughed heartily at this jest, and gave the wit a
+present. This anecdote, to which many similar might be added, shows that
+there is little difference between the office of jester at the modern court
+of Persia, and that which some centuries ago existed at every court in
+Europe. A resemblance even in trifling forms merits attention, as it may
+lead to conclusions on the progress of knowledge and the condition of
+society; and from the character of their amusements, we may perhaps judge
+as correctly as from their more serious occupations, of the degree of
+civilization which a people has attained. In the court there is always a
+person who bears the name of "story-teller to his majesty;" and the duties
+of his office require a man of no mean acquirements. Though passionately
+fond of public exhibitions, the Persians have none that deserve the name of
+theatrical entertainments; but though strangers to the regular drama, their
+stories are often dramatic; and those whose occupation is to tell them,
+sometimes display so extraordinary a skill, and such varied powers, that we
+can hardly believe, while we look on their altered countenances and listen
+to their changed tones, that it is the same person, who at one moment tells
+a plain narrative in his natural voice, then speaks in the hoarse and angry
+tone of offended authority, and next subdues the passions he has excited by
+the softest sounds of feminine tenderness. The art of relating stories is
+attended both with profit and reputation. Great numbers attempt it, but few
+succeed.
+
+The person whose office it is to amuse his majesty with these stories is
+always in attendance. It is equally his duty to beguile the fatigue of a
+long march, and to soothe the mind when disturbed by the toils of public
+affairs; and his tales are artfully made to suit the disposition and
+momentary humour of the monarch. Sometimes he recites a story of the genii;
+at others he speaks of the warlike deeds of former sovereigns, or of the
+love of some wandering prince. Often the story is of coarser materials, and
+the king is entertained with low and obscene adventures. In no court is
+more rigid attention paid to ceremony. Looks, words, the motions of the
+body, are all regulated by the strictest forms. When the king is seated in
+public, his sons, ministers, and courtiers, stand erect, with their hands
+crossed, and in the exact place belonging to their rank. They watch his
+looks, and a glance is a command. If he speaks to them, you hear a voice
+reply, and see the lips move, but not a motion or gesture betrays that
+there is animation in any other part of the frame. The monarch often speaks
+in the third person: "The king is pleased," "The king commands." His
+ministers usually style him "The object of the world's regard." They are as
+particular in forms of speech as in other ceremonies; and superiority and
+inferiority of rank, in all their gradations, are implied by the terms used
+in the commonest conversations.
+
+_Sir J. Malcolm's History of Persia._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE COSMOPOLITE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+We love an occasional stroll into the environs of London--_on foot_--and
+_alone_. On foot, because we hate the machinery of a coach--and alone,
+because we have only our own leisure to consult, and there is no time lost
+in "making up minds." On such occasions we have no set object in view, but
+we determine to make "good in every thing." A book, great or small, is then
+to us a great evil; and putting a map into one's pocket is about as absurd
+as Peter Fin's taking Cook's Voyages on his journey to Brighton. We read
+the other day of a reviewer who started from Charing Cross with a blue bag
+filled with books for his criticship: he read at Camberwell, and he read at
+Dulwich--he wrote in the sanded and smoke-dried parlour of the Lion, the
+Lamb, or the Fox--and he wrote whilst his steak was grilling at the
+_auberge_ at Dulwich--and he went home in a hackney-coach: "Lord how he
+went out--Lord how he came in." Another brother talks of rambling in a
+secluded village field with Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne,"
+or the "Journal of a Naturalist," in his hand. All this is very pleasant
+and mighty pretty; but it is not true; and we stake our critical character
+that neither Gilbert White nor our "Naturalist" did such things, or if they
+did, that they were not essential to their writings. Making notes and
+comparing them with others, after a long walk, is another matter; but to
+walk out into the country to read a book on natural philosophy is not
+indicative of a susceptible mind. For our own part, we want no book but the
+broad volume of Nature--but to derive profit as well as pleasure, we must
+go out with some of the philosophy of Nature in our hearts--for walking is
+like travelling, (which is only a long walk,)--"a man must carry knowledge
+with him, if he would bring home knowledge." We think Mr. Hazlitt talks of
+lying a whole day on Salisbury Plain as one of his greatest enjoyments, and
+he is doubtless sincere. When we set out on such a walk as we are about to
+take, with the reader's consent, we quote Thomson for our exordium:--
+
+  To me be Nature's volume broad display'd;
+  And to peruse its all instructive page,
+
+  *       *       *       *       *
+
+  My sole delight; as through the falling glooms
+  Pensive I stray, or with the rising dawn
+  On Fancy's eagle wing excursive soar;
+
+--and starting from our metropolis, we love to watch the ebbing of
+population, the dwindling from groves of chimneys and worlds of bricks and
+mortar to tricksy cottages marshalled with the plumb-line, or sprinkled
+over "farmy fields" facing Macadamized roads, and collecting more dust in
+one month than would have ransomed all the captive kings of history, sacred
+or profane. There we love to trace the ramifications of art from the steam
+and gas chimneys of the metropolis to the quiet dell, in whose seclusion
+you might imagine yourself a hundred miles from town, were it not for the
+hum of the great tun that is fretting and working at a distance. On the
+road you enjoy scenes that are to be found in no printed book. Nay, every
+sign-board is a study. Those near the town would do honour to the
+President's pencil; as you advance, they retrograde--and as Art declines,
+Nature smiles still sweeter and softer in never-ending successions of woods
+and groves, hills and dales, glassy lakes and pebbly streams, with all the
+variegated charms of rustic life.
+
+But we are getting too _rural_; for our "Suburban Stroll" extended but to
+Dulwich and back, about four miles south of London. Twenty years since, we
+remember, the parish of Camberwell (which includes Peckham and Dulwich) was
+a pleasant village, with several mansions inhabited by citizens of
+property, who retired hither for air and recreation; now the whole district
+is crowded with lath and plaster cottages, and sugar-bakers' boxes, which
+appear well adapted for twelfth-cake kings and queens.[7] Twenty years ago,
+we enjoyed the embowered walk of Camberwell Grove, and above all, _Grove
+Hill_, the retreat of Dr. John Coakley Lettsom, till his benevolence
+overmuch obliged him to part with this delightful residence. Well do we
+remember the picturesque effect of Grove Hill, the unostentatious,
+casino-like villa, ornamented with classic figures of Liberality, Plenty,
+and Flora--and the sheet of water whose surface was broken by a stream from
+a dank and moss-crusted fountain in its centre. Then, the high, overarching
+grove, and its summit, traditionally said to be the spot where George
+Barnwell murdered his uncle, the incident that gave rise to Lillo's
+pathetic tragedy. But the march of improvement has extended hither--the
+walk can scarcely be traced: still there is abundance of timber, for the
+grove has disappeared, and scores of new houses have sprung up with almost
+magical effect--and the whole scene reminds us of one of the change-scenes
+of a pantomime. The builder's _share_ has turned over nearly every inch of
+the ground, and fresh gravel and loose loam remind the philosophical
+pedestrian that all is change beneath as well as on the surface. Of the
+mock villas that have been "put up" in this quarter, we must speak with
+forbearance. Their little bits of Gothic plastered here and there; their
+puny machicolations, square and pointed arches, and stained glass "cut out
+into little stars"--are but sorry specimens of taste, and but poor
+indications of comfort. They seem to totter like card-houses, and all their
+spick-and-span finery vanishes beside a wing of the picturesque--a cottage
+in true rustic taste, with rudely-arched virandahs, formed of limbs and
+trunks of trees, intermixed with evergreens, and reminding us of the
+"gnarled oaks and soft myrtles" of the poet's fancy; and with trimmed
+arches of thatch over little casements, with flowers
+
+  "Blinding the lower panes."
+
+Now is the little hatch-gate slammed with the wind, contrasting its rude
+sound with the rusty creak of the "invisible" iron fence just set up, but
+already
+
+  So loose that it but wants another push
+  To leap from off its hinges;
+
+--the milk-white window-sill, or painted flower-pots ranged on bars of
+cast-iron, like so many toys of Nature. Such was the contrast when we last
+visited the "Grove;" the picturesque cottage was then as we have described
+it, and its new-born neighbours were rising fast on every side, and we
+would not insure its existence for a week longer; for the slicing, cutting,
+and carving of this once beautiful spot, exceeds all credibility. With all
+these changes, however, the fine panoramic view of two hundred miles may
+still be enjoyed from this spot, and overlooking the meaner glories of the
+GREAT CITY at your feet, the eye rests on the "sister hills," Harrow spire,
+and where
+
+  Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow;
+
+Shooter's Hill and Greenwich, with tower, dome, and turret; Sydenham and
+Norwood on the south; and Chelsea and the _unbridged_ winding Thames on the
+west. Art has not yet thrown up her screens, so as to fence in this world
+of beauties from our enjoyment. Here we sit down and rest our recreant
+limbs, leaving the reader to enjoy the innumerable reflections which our
+poor mention has called up. Another fine day, and we may proceed in our
+stroll.
+
+PHILO.
+
+    [7] In the neighbourhood of Dulwich, we remember the mansion of a
+        retired confectioner, which wags styled _Lollipop Hall_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER.
+
+  A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.
+
+  SHAKSPEARE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+EPIGRAM.
+
+_The Division of Justice._
+
+
+  John Hobbs, partridge-snaring, was dragged to the 'Squire,
+  The Magistrate flamed, but the statute hung fire.
+  "Burns states," says the Clerk, "that tread-mill will do,
+  For two months, if the culprit's convicted by two."
+  "Two months and two magistrates: I sit alone.
+  Well, Clerk, we must _halve_ it--commit him for _one_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HUDSON AND HIS PIGS.
+
+
+The following is extracted from a recent American (private) letter:--
+
+Hudson, who is a general dealer, purchased a cottage, to which pertained
+amongst other _furniture_ a sty. As this was of course uninhabited, his
+first care was to supply it with inmates, and, having purchased a couple of
+fine pigs, he set off homewards with his bargains comfortably lodged in his
+cart. Upon arriving at Buenos Ayres, a part of the harness broke, down went
+the cart, and out shot Hudson and his bristly companions backwards; but
+unfortunately falling upon one of the poor animals, he crushed him to
+death. This was bad, Hudson looked blank, as who does not upon perceiving
+Dame Fortune playing him foul? and woeful was it indeed to witness death
+amongst his live stock; in this dilemma however, his wits did not utterly
+forsake him, and concluding that if he could make the animal bleed, it
+would probably be marketable and not prove a _dead_ loss, he proceeded to
+act on this prudent supposition, and immediately cut its throat; which
+sanguinary act so alarmed the companion pig, that taking to his heels, he
+instantly made off (like his swinish brethren of old) towards the sea. Poor
+Hudson, between the dead and the living pig, was dreadfully distressed,
+being apprehensive of losing both; however being fortunate enough to engage
+a man to pursue the absconded delinquent, he proceeded home with the
+defunct, and by dint of ablutions, and scrapings, &c. really made of it "a
+very pretty pig." This done, it was hung up in the dairy or beer-cellar, I
+know not which, ready for market, and if Hudson plumed himself upon
+cheating fortune at least in one instance, he was not to blame; but, lo! in
+the morning, poor pig, presented a hideous and horrible spectacle, and poor
+Hudson stood aghast to behold it! The cats had made during the night so
+plentiful a repast upon his new purchase, so that instead of a handsome
+corpse there remained only a mangled assemblage of bloody bones, and
+fragments of flesh! Poor Hudson! but after all, these misfortunes were
+mainly attributable to his own carelessness, and as to whether he ever
+recovered his truant pig, I cannot say; perhaps the man may be in pursuit
+of him still.
+
+S.L.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ON A PERSON SAYING HE SPENT TOO MUCH TIME ON MUSIC.
+
+
+  On music that you spend your time,
+    You surely can't mean what you say,
+  For all who know you must allow
+    You keep time whilst you sing or play.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD PARR.
+
+
+Thomas Parr lived to the extraordinary age of 152 years. He was of the
+county of Salop, born anno 1483. He lived in the reigns of ten princes,
+viz. Edward IV., King Edward V., King Richard III., King Henry VII., King
+Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James, and
+King Charles, was buried at Westminster Abbey, November 15, 1635.
+
+C.K.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE MARCH OF INTELLECT.
+
+
+Colonel Despreaux, in a late pamphlet on the Police of Paris, remarks, that
+there seem to be different periods for different crimes. He had always
+observed the summer months to be comparatively months of low riot. November
+began the burglaries, January and February the stealing of
+pocket-handkerchiefs and snuff-boxes, probably from the conflux to the
+theatres at that time. But, that swindling transactions, and all other
+frauds that require peculiar dexterity, were prevalent about _March_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LONDON LEVELS.
+
+
+The most lofty site in the immediate vicinity of London is the tavern
+called Jack Straw's Castle, on the brow of Hampstead Heath, which is 443
+feet above the Thames. The top of the cross of St. Paul's Cathedral is 407
+feet, whilst its base, or ground-line, is 52 feet. The base of the lowest
+building is that of the Bricklayer's Arms, Kent Road, the sill of the south
+door of which is only six inches above the high-water mark. The sill of the
+north entrance-door of Westminster Hall is only 11 inches.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Lately published, with a Frontispiece, and thirty other Engravings, price
+5s.
+
+THE ARCANA OF SCIENCE, AND ANNUAL REGISTER OF THE USEFUL ARTS, FOR 1829.
+
+"This is a valuable register of the progress of science and arts during the
+past year. Engravings and a low price qualify it for extensive
+utility"--_Literary Gazette. March 21._
+
+"An agreeable and useful little volume."--_Athenæum, Feb._ 18.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+PURCHASERS of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets are informed,
+that every volume is complete in itself, and may be purchased separately.
+The whole of the numbers are now in print, and can be procured by giving an
+order to any Bookseller or Newsvender.
+
+Complete sets Vol I. to XII. in boards, price £3. 5s. half bound, £4. 2s.
+6d.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11331 ***