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diff --git a/11332-0.txt b/11332-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb0c4cf --- /dev/null +++ b/11332-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1500 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11332 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XIV, NO. 381.] SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + +[Illustration: APSLEY HOUSE] + + + +THE MANSION OF HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON. + + +The town mansions of our nobility are generally beneath all +architectural criticism; and it has been pertinently observed that "an +educated foreigner is quite astonished when shown the residences of +our higher nobility and gentry in the British capital. He has heard +speak of some great nobleman, with a revenue equal to that of a +principality. He feels a curiosity to look at his palace, and he is +shown a plain, common, brick house of forty or fifty feet in extent." +These observations were made about three years ago, since which +period, the spirit of architectural improvement has been fast +extending from public buildings to individual mansions. Among the +latter, the renovation or encasement of Apsley House, at Hyde Park +Corner, with a fine stone front, is entitled to foremost notice. + +This splendid improvement is from the designs of Benjamin Wyatt, Esq. +and is of the Palladian style. The basement story is rusticated, and +the principal front has a handsome pediment supported by four columns +of the Corinthian order. A bold cornice extends on all sides, which +are decorated at the angles with Corinthian pilasters. The whole has +an air of substantial elegance, and is in extremely good taste, if we +except the door and window cases, which we are disposed to think +rather too small. The Piccadilly front is enclosed with a rich bronzed +palisade between leaved pillars, being in continuation of the +classical taste of the entrance gates to Hyde Park, and the superb +entrance to the Royal Gardens on the opposite side of the road. +Throughout the whole, the chaste Grecian honey-suckle is introduced +with very pleasing effect. + +Besides the new frontage, Apsley House has been considerably enlarged, +and a slip of ground from Hyde Park added to the gardens. The +ball-room, extending the whole depth of the mansion, is one of the +most magnificent _salons_ in the metropolis; and a picture gallery is +in progress. Altogether, the improvement is equally honourable to the +genius of the architect, and the taste of the illustrious proprietor +of the mansion; for no foreigner can gainsay that Apsley House has the +befitting splendour of a ducal, nay even of a royal palace. + + * * * * * + + + +WATLING STREET. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +There has been much discussion among antiquaries respecting the +etymology of an ancient Roman road, called the Watling Street Way, +which commencing from Dover, traces its course to London, St. Alban's, +Weedon, over _Bensford Bridge_,[1] High Cross, Atherstone, Wall, +Wroxeter, and Chester, from which last place a branch appears to point +in nearly a straight direction through St. Asaph to Segontium, or Caer +Seiont, Carnarvonshire. Another branch directs its course from +Wroxeter to Manchester, York, Lancaster, Kendal, and Cockermouth. + +Hoveden thinks it was called the Watling Street from Wathe, or Wathla, +a British king. Spelman fancies it was called Werlam Street, from its +passing through Verulam. Somner derives the name from the Belgic +Wentelen, _volvere, versare se, a sinuosis flexibus_. Baxter contends +that it was made by the original Britons, Weteling, or Oedeling +signifying in their language, _originarius civis vel ingenuus_. +Stukeley's opinion, in which he is joined by Whitaker, the Manchester +historian, is, that it was the Guetheling road--Sarn Guethelin, or the +road of the Irish, the G being pronounced as a W. Dr. Wilkes says, +that it is more indented and crooked than other Roman Roads usually +are, and supposes that it was formed of _Wattles_, which was the idea +also of Pointer. Mr. Duff is not pleased with the opinion of Camden, +that it derives its name from an unknown _Vitellianus_, but +conjectures that its etymology is from the Saxon _Wadla_, a poor man, +a beggar, because such people resorted to this road for the charity of +travellers. + +Among so many crude and discordant opinions, I shall endeavour to +substitute another more consistent with the true etymology of the +word. I agree with the historian of Manchester, that the Roman +stations were prior to the roads, and that the latter were only the +channels of communication to the former. The stations commenced during +the conquest of the country, and all of them were completed at the +conclusion of it. The roads therefore could not be constructed till +the first or second summer after the stations were established. +Whoever has attentively observed the line or direction of the Watling +Street, must be convinced of the truth of the foregoing observations; +and the deviation from a straight line, which in many parts is so +apparent, and so evidently made to enable the Romans to pass from one +station to another, may be considered conclusive upon this point. I +therefore have no hesitation in asserting, that the Watling Street Way +is a Roman road, and probably planned and formed by Vespasian, the +celebrated Roman general in Britain, who named this road in compliment +to the emperor, _Vitellius, Vitellii Strata Via_, Watling Street Way. +Suetonius, in his _Life of Vespasian_, says, (chapter 4,) "_Claudio +principe, Narcissi gratiâ, legatus in Germaniam missus est +(Vespasianus;) inde in Britanniam translatus, tricies cum hoste +conflixit. Duas validissimas gentes, superq viginti oppida, et insulam +Vectam Britanniae proximam, in deditionem redegit, partim Auli Plautii +legati, partim Claudii ipsius ductu. Quare triumphalia ornamenta, et +in spatio brevi, duplex sacerdotium accepit, praeterea consulatum, +quem gessit per duos novissimos anni menses." Or, "In the reign of +Claudius, by the interest of Narcissus,[2] he (Vespasian) was sent +lieutenant general of a legion into Germany, from whence being removed +into Britain, he engaged the enemy in thirty distinct battles, and +subjected to the power of the Romans two very strong nations, and +above twenty great towns, and the Isle of Wight, upon the coast of +Britain, partly under the command of Aulus Plautius, and partly under +that of Claudius himself. In reward for these noble services he +received the triumphal ornaments, and in a short time after, two +priest's offices, besides the consulship, which he held for the two +last months of the year." + +The same author, in his Life of Vitellius, seems to strengthen or +rather establish the conjecture of its being the _Vitellii Strata +Via_, for he says, (chapter 1,) "_indicia, stirpis (Vitelliorum) diu +mansisse, Viam Vitelliam ab Janiculo ad mare usque, item coloniam +ejusdem nominis._" Or, "Some monuments of the family continued a long +time, as the _Vitellian Way_, reaching from the Janiculum to the sea, +and likewise a colony of that name." From the abovementioned extracts, +it seems not improbable that one of the thirty battles mentioned by +Suetonius, might have been fought during the time the Romans were +forming this road through the Forest of Arden, which extended from +Henley, in Warwickshire, to Market Harborough, in Leicestershire; and +that it was called in compliment to Vitellius, the _Vitellian Way_, +afterwards corrupted to the _Watling Way_. + +This road from the Avon, which it passes at Dove Bridge, to the Anker, +near Atherstone, forms the boundary between the counties of Leicester +and Warwick. In the month of June, 1824, numerous skulls and bones +were discovered in a line from the intersection of the road that leads +from Rugby to Lutterworth, with the Watling Street to Benones or +Bensford Bridge, the distance not being more than half a mile. These +bones were lying about two feet below the surface of the ground. Many +fragments of shields, spear heads, knives, and a sword,[3] placed by +the side of a skeleton, and at one end touching a funereal urn,[4] and +likewise several drinking cups, or small vessels, apparently formed of +half-baked clay, with clasps both of silver and brass, were found +within the abovementioned distance. On the contrary side of the road +were discovered beads, glass, and amber, but neither urns, +spear-heads, or fragments of shields; these relics, therefore, +probably belonged to the Britons, who fell encountering the Romans, to +prevent their forming a road through the Forest of Arden. There can be +little doubt of a battle having been here fought, from the bones, +urns, and tumuli discovered here and in the adjacent neighbourhood. +"In this parish (Church Over,") says Dugdale, "upon the old Roman Way, +called Watling Strete, is to be seen a very great tumulus, which is of +that magnitude, that it puts travellers beside the usual road," and a +_Letter_ from Elias Ashmole to Sir Wm. Dugdale,[5] states, "that about +a mile from hence (that is from Holywell Abbey, now the site of Caves +Inn,) there is a tumulus raised in the very middle of the high way, +which methought was worth observing." This tumulus, in an ancient +deed, is called the Pilgrim's Low. It was removed in making the +turnpike-road from Banbury to Lutterworth, about the year 1770. In the +plantations of Abraham Grimes, Esq., within half a mile of the site of +the former, is another tumulus of smaller dimensions, adjoining the +road which leads from Rugby to Lutterworth. + +These were probably raised in honour of some military chiefs who were +slain in the battle. + + Si quid novisti rectius istis + Candidus imperti: si non, his utere mecum. + + [1] Probably a corruption of Benones Bridge, as it is within four + miles of the Roman station, Benones, now High Cross. + + [2] Vitellius had great weight and influence in the reign of + Claudius; Vespasian at that time paid his court to the + favourite, and also to Narcissus, the emperor's freedman. + + [3] Now in the possession of the Rev. P. Homer, of Rugby. + + [4] In the possession of Mr. Matthew Bloxam, of the same place. + + [5] Edited by that distinguished and learned antiquary, Wm. Hamper, + of Birmingham, Esq., in his _Life of Dugdale_. + +R.R.B. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PENDRILLS. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +I beg to correct the statement of _W.W._ in vol. xiii. page 419, +respecting this family. It is true that the pension did not expire at +Richard Pendrill's death--and it is also true that Dr. Pendrill died +about the time as therein stated--but his son, John Pendrill, died at +his own residence, near the Seahouses, Eastbourne, last year only, +(1828,) leaving issue, one son by his first wife, (named John,) and +one son and three daughters by his second wife; his first son, John, +now enjoys the pension of 100 marks, and is residing at the Gloucester +Hotel, Old Steine, Brighton, in sound health. The privilege granted to +this family under the title of "Free Warren," is the liberty of +shooting, hunting, fishing, &c. upon any of the King's manors, and +upon the manor on which the party enjoying this pension might reside; +and I am informed that a certain noble lord made some yearly payment +or gift to the deceased, John, not to exercise that privilege on his +manor in Sussex. The pension is payable out of, or secured upon, lands +in four different counties, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, +Herefordshire, and Warwickshire, and entitles the party enjoying it to +a vote in each of these counties; but whether this has been acted +upon, I cannot possibly say. I have seen in the possession of a branch +of this loyal family, only a few days ago, a scarce print of the arms, +&c. published in 1756, under the regulation of the act of parliament; +besides other prints on the subject. This family, _being commoners_, +is I believe, the only one which have supporters.[6] + + [6] Another correspondent, _Amicus_, states that the grant of the + Pension was in the possession of the Rector of Cheriton, in + Hampshire, and was "lost by him to Government, a short time + before his death, in the year 1825." + +C.C. + + * * * * * + + +THE FRIENDS OF THE DEAD. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + They've seen him laid, all cold and low; + They've flung the flat stone o'er his breast: + And Summer's sun, and Winter's snow + May never mar his dreamless rest! + They've left him to his long decay; + The banner waves above his head: + Funereal is their rich array, + But hark! how speak they of the dead. + + In his own hall, they've pledg'd to him + 'Mid mirth, and minstrelsy divine; + When, at the crystal goblet's brim + Hath flash'd, the od'rous rosy wine; + When viands from all lands afar + Have grac'd the shining, sumptuous board, + And _now_, they'd prove their vaunted star, + The Cobbold, of his priceless hoard.[7] + + Hark! how they scandalize the _dead_! + They spake not thus,--(their patron _here_) + When they were proud to break his bread, + To watch his faintest smile, and fear + His latent frown; they did not speak + Of vices, follies, meanness: _then_ + A _crime_ in him, had been, "the freak + Of youth," and "worthiest _he_, of men!" + + Off with those garbs of woe, _false_ friends! + Those sadden'd visages, all feign'd! + Or have ye yet, some golden ends + To be, by Death's own liv'ries gain'd? + _Ye_ mourn the dead forsooth! who say + That which should shame the lordly hall + His late ancestral home! Away! + And dream that he hath _heard_ it all! + + [7] _Cobbold_, in mining countries, especially Cornwall, is the + legendary guardian spirit of the mine, and severe master of + its treasures. In Germany, Sweden, &c. the Cobbold may be + traced under various modifications and titles. + +M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + + +The Cosmopolite. + + + +FOOD OF VARIOUS NATIONS. + +(_Conclusion_.) + + +The diet of the _Frenchman_, is chiefly vegetable, and his _frogs_ are +rarities reserved for the delectation of the opulent, and answering, +in some degree, to the brains and tongues of singing-birds amongst +ancient epicures; since, after being subjected to a peculiar process +of fattening and purifying, only the legs of these animals are eaten. +Light wines, beer, sugar and water, strong coffee, and a variety of +delicious liqueurs, are drunk by the French, but they have shown +themselves capable of conforming to the English taste in a relish for +stronger potations. _Spaniards_ of all ranks, use fruit, vegetables, +fish, and olives, for their principal diet, and oil and garlic are +used plentifully in their culinary operations; chocolate is their +chief beverage, but at dinner ladies drink nothing but water, and +gentlemen a little wine. The fare of the _Portuguese_ peasantry is +meagre in the extreme, although, they are, in fact, surrounded with +the abundant luxuries of nature; a piece of black bread and a pickled +pilchard, or head of garlic, is their usual subsistence, but a salted +cod is a feast. In _Italy_, ice-water and lemonade are luxuries +essential to the existence of all classes, and the inferior ones, who +never inebriate themselves with spirituous liquors, can procure them +at a cheap rate; macaroni and fruit are chief articles of food, but +the Italians are great gourmands, and delight in dishes swimming in +oil, which, to an English ear, sounds very disgustingly; however, it +must be remembered, that oil in Italy is so pure and fresh, that it +answers every purpose of our newest butter. A gentleman who had +resided some time in this country, informs us, that by the Italians, +_puppy-broth_ was reckoned a sovereign remedy in some slight +indispositions, and that he has constantly seen in the markets young +dogs skinned for sale. Of the _Turks_, the ordinary food is rice, +sometimes boiled with gravy, and sometimes made into _pilan_; a kind +of curry composed of mutton and fowl stewed to rags, and highly +seasoned gravy. This is eaten with their fingers, since they have +neither knives nor forks, and the Koran prohibits the use of gold and +silver spoons. Coffee and sherbet are their ordinary beverages, and by +the higher classes of "the faithful," wine is drunk in private, but an +intoxication of a singular and destructive description, is produced by +opium, which the Turks chew in immoderate quantities. The food of the +_Circassians_ consists of a little meat, millet-paste, and a kind of +beer fermented from millet. The _Tartars_ are not fond of beef and +veal, but admire horse-flesh; they prefer to drink, before any thing +else, mare's milk, and produce from it, by keeping it in sour skins, a +strong spirit termed _koumiss_. The _Jakutians_ (a Tartar tribe) +esteem horse-flesh as the greatest possible dainty; they eat raw the +fat of horses and oxen, and drink melted butter with avidity; but +bread is rare. The favourite food of the _Kalmuc Tartars_ is +horse-flesh, eaten raw sometimes, but commonly dried in the sun; dogs, +cats, rats, marmots, and other small animals and vermin are also eaten +by them; but neither vegetables, bread nor fruits; and they drink +koumiss; than which, scarcely any thing can be more disgusting, +except, perhaps, that beverage of the South Sea islanders, prepared by +means of leaves being masticated by a large company, and spit into a +bowl of water. The diet of the _Kamtschatdales_, is chiefly fish, +variously prepared; _huigal_, which is neither more nor less than fish +laid in a pit until _putrid_, is a _luxury_ with this people! They are +fond of caviar, made of roes of fish, and scarcely less disgusting +than huigal. A pound of dry caviar will last a Kamtschatdale on a +journey for a considerable time, since he finds bread to eat with it +in the bark of every birch and elder he meets with. These people boil +the fat of the whale and walrus with roots of _setage_. A principal +dish at their feasts, consists of various roots and berries pounded +with caviar, and mixed with the melted fat of whale and seal. They are +fond of spirits, but commonly drink water. For the _Arabs_, lizards +and locusts, afford food, but with better articles. The _Persians_ +live like the Turks, or nearly so, but for the want of spoons, knives, +and forks, their feasts, if the provisions are good in themselves, are +disgusting; besides which, the _sofera_, or cloth on which the dinner +is spread, is, from a superstitious notion that changing is unlucky, +so intolerably dirty and offensive in odour, that the stranger can +scarcely endure to sit beside it. With the _Chinese_, rice is the +"staff of life," but all kinds of animal food are eagerly devoured; +and pedlars offering for sale rats, cats, and dogs, may be seen in the +streets of Chinese towns. It is uncertain whether a depraved taste or +lack of superior animal food, induces a really civilized people to +devour such flesh. Weak tea, without sugar, or milk, is the common +beverage of the Chinese; in the use of ardent spirits they are +moderate. The _Peguese_, worshipping crocodiles, will drink no water +but from the ditches wherein those creatures abound, and consequently +are frequently devoured by them. The _Siamese_, besides a variety of +superior food, eat rats, lizards, and some kinds of insects. The +_Battas_ of Sumatra, prefer _human flesh_ to all other, and speak with +rapture of the soles of the feet and palms of the hands. Warm water is +the usual beverage of the _Manilla_ islanders. The _Japanese_, amongst +other things, drink a kind of beer distilled from rice, and called +_sacki_; it is kept constantly warm, and drunk after every morsel they +eat. Cocoa-nut milk and water, is the common beverage of the natives +of the _New Hebrides_. In _New Caledonia_ so great is the scarcity of +food, that the natives make constant war for the sake of eating their +prisoners, and sometimes, to assuage the cravings of hunger, they bind +ligatures tightly round their bodies and swallow oleaginous earth. The +_New Zealanders_ are cannibals sometimes in a dearth, and to gratify a +spirit of vengeance against their enemies. The _New Hollanders_, near +the sea, subsist on fish eaten raw, or nearly so; should a whale be +cast ashore, it is never abandoned until its bones are picked; their +substitute for bread, and that which forms their chief subsistence, is +a species of fern roasted, pounded between stones, and mixed with +fish. The general beverage of the negro tribes is palm-wine. No +disgust is evinced by the _Bosjesman Hottentots_ at the most nauseous +food, and having shot an animal with a poisoned arrow, their only +precaution, previous to tearing it in pieces and devouring it raw, is +to cut out the envenomed part. Half a dozen Bosjesmans, will eat a fat +sheep in an hour; they use no salt, and seldom drink anything, +probably from the succulent nature of their food. The _Caffres_ live +chiefly on milk; they have no poultry, nor do they eat eggs. When +flesh is boiled, each member of a family helps himself from the kettle +with a pointed stick, and eats it in his hand. Their substitute for +bread, which is made of Caffre-corn, a sort of millet, is the pith of +a palm, indigenous to the country. + +The _Lattakoos_ eat, with equal zest, the flesh of elephants, +rhinoceroses, tigers, giraffes, quaggas, &c.; and sometimes, under an +idea that it confers valour, human flesh, of which they have otherwise +great abhorrence. They are very disgusting in their manner of +preparing food. The _Abyssinians_ usually eat the flesh of cattle raw, +and sometimes, although we believe the fact has been much +controverted, immediately as it is cut from the living animals. The +_Bisharye_, a tribe of Bedouin Arabs, eat raw flesh, drink raw sheep's +blood, and esteem the raw marrow of camels their greatest dainty. + +The _Patagonians_ eat raw flesh with no regard to cleanliness. The +_Greenlanders_ subsist on fish, seals, and sea-fowls, prepared and +devoured in manners truly disgusting; train-oil is their sauce, and +the blood of seals, their favourite beverage! Some of the _North +American Indians_ diet on the flesh of the sea-dog, parts of the whale +and its fat, and an oil made of the blubber of both of these animals. +Whilst, singular is the contrast, some of the _South American_ tribes, +are able to digest monkeys, blackened in, and dried by fire, to such a +degree of wood-like hardness, as to be rendered capable of keeping, we +dare not say how long. + +_Chacun à son gout_, says one proverb, but we trust that the readers +of this paper will, whenever they feel themselves inclined to quarrel +with _English_ fare, pause, and remember, another, viz.:--"A man may +go further and fare worse." + +M.L.B + + * * * * * + + + + + +Manners & Customs of all Nations. + + * * * * * + + +SINGULAR TENURE. + + +Among the records in the Tower of London, is one to the following +effect:--King John gave several lands at Kipperton and Alterton, in +Kent, to Solomon Atlefield to be held by this service:--"That as often +as the King should please to cross the sea, the said Solomon or his +heirs, should be obliged to go with him, to hold his majesty's head if +there be occasion for it;" that is, should his majesty be sea-sick. +And it appears by the record, that this same office of head-holding +was accordingly performed afterwards, in the reign of Edward the +First. + +R.S. + + * * * * * + + +BOROUGH-ENGLISH. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The custom of the manor of Woodford, Essex, is _Borough-English_, by +which the youngest son inherits. + +The origin of this custom has been a subject of much dispute; but it +appears to have prevailed greatly among the East Saxons. Dr. Plot +conjectured, that it was introduced by the lord of the manor's +claiming the right of enjoying the bride, daughter of his tenant, on +the wedding-night; therefore the villain or slave, doubting whether +the eldest son was his own, made the youngest his heir. This custom +prevailed among the Ancient Britons before there were either Saxons or +villains. + +By the laws of succession among the Ancient Britons, a man's land at +his death did not descend to his eldest son, but was equally divided +among all his sons; and when any dispute arose, it was determined by +the Druids. The youngest son, it appears, was more favoured than the +eldest or any of his brothers. "When the brothers have divided their +father's estate, the youngest shall have the best house, with all the +office-houses, the implements of husbandry, his father's kettle, his +axe for cutting wood, and his knife. These three last things the +father cannot give away by gift, nor leave by his last will to any but +his youngest son, and if they are pledged they shall be redeemed." + +To account for this law is not very difficult. The elder brothers of a +family were supposed to have left their father's house before his +death, and obtained a house and necessaries of their own; but the +youngest, by reason of his tender age, was considered as more +helpless, and not so well provided. Halbert H. + + * * * * * + + +STORM RAISING + + +The dread of storm raisers is universally prevalent amongst the +Italian peasantry, and especially in mountainous districts. A Danish +botanist, journeying alone upon an ass through the mountains of +Abruzzi, was involved in several perilous adventures by this +superstitious terror of the peasantry. They had for some time seen him +collecting plants amongst the unfrequented cliffs and ravines, and +watched his proceedings with suspicious curiosity. A few days later +their district was ravaged by a succession of storms, their suspicions +grew into certainty, and, assembling in considerable numbers, they +attacked the unconscious botanist with a volley of stones, and cursed +him as a storm-raising enchanter. He made vehement protestations of +his innocence, but the enraged peasants took forcible possession of +his collection, which they minutely examined. Finding only some +harmless leaves and blossoms, and no roots, their fury abated, and, +although it was suggested by some that he had probably used the roots +in his incantations, the unfortunate herbalist was at length dismissed +with fierce menaces, that if he dared to take a single root from the +ground, it would cost him his life. In the mountains near Rome, the +peasants regard with suspicion a singular costume, a stern cast of +countenance, or any striking personal formation, in the strangers who +arrive there. All travellers, thus peculiarly marked, are supposed to +be enchanters and treasure-seekers, and the young Germans, in their +black dresses, untrimmed beards, and long hair, are especial objects +of suspicion.--_Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +NEAPOLITAN SUPERSTITION. + + +The Neapolitan sailors never go to sea without a box of small images +or puppets, some of which are patron saints, inherited from their +progenitors, while others are more modern, but of tried efficacy in +the hour of peril. When a storm overtakes the vessel, the sailors +leave her to her fate, and bring upon deck the box of saints, one of +which is held up, and loudly prayed to for assistance. The storm, +however, increases, and the obstinate or powerless saint is vehemently +abused, and thrown upon the deck. Others are held up, prayed to, +abused, and thrown down in succession, until the heavens become more +propitious. The storm abates, all danger disappears, the saint last +prayed to acquires the reputation of miraculous efficacy, and, after +their return to Naples, is honoured with prayers.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + + + +The Naturalist. + + * * * * * + +LENGTH AND FINENESS OF THE SILKWORM'S WEB, &c. + + +Baker in _The Microscope made Easy_, says, "A silkworm's web being +examined, appeared perfectly smooth and shining, every where equal, +and much finer than any thread the best spinster in the world can +make, as the smallest twine is finer than the thickest cable. A pod of +this silk being wound off, was found to contain 930 yards; but it is +proper to take notice, that as two threads are glewed together by the +worm through its whole length, it makes double the above number, or +1,860 yards; which being weighed with the utmost exactness, were found +no heavier than two grains and a half. What an exquisite fineness is +here! and yet, this is nothing when compared with the web of a small +spider, or even with the silk that issued from the mouth of this very +worm, when but newly hatched from the egg." + +Under the article _Silk_, in _Rees's Cyclopaedia_, the writer says, +"that those who have examined it attentively, think they speak within +compass, when they affirm that each ball contains silk enough to reach +the length of _six_ English miles." + +Baker tells us, "not to neglect the _skins_ these animals cast off +three times before they begin to spin; for the eyes, mouth, teeth, +ornaments of the head, and many other parts may be discovered better +in the _cast_-off skins than in the real animal." + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +CUCKOO + + +Mr. Jerdan, editor of the _Literary Gazette_, in a letter to Mr. +Loudon, says, "about fifteen years ago I obtained a cuckoo from the +nest of (I think) a hedge sparrow, at Old Brompton, where I then +resided. It was rather curious, as being within ten yards of my house, +Cromwell Cottage, and in a narrow and much frequented lane, leading +from near Gloucester Lodge to Kensington. This bird I reared and kept +alive till late in January; when it fell suddenly from its perch, +while feeding on a rather large dew worm. It was buried: but I had, +long afterwards, strange misgivings, that my poor feathered favourite +was only choked by his food, or in a fit of some kind--his apparent +death was so extremely unexpected from his health and liveliness at +the time. I assure you that I regretted my loss much, my bird being in +full plumage and a very handsome creature. He was quite tame, for in +autumn I used to set him on a branch of a tree in the garden, while I +dug worms for him to dine upon, and he never attempted more than a +short friendly flight. During the coldest weather, and it was rather a +sharp winter, my only precaution was, nearly to cover his cage with +flannel; and when I used to take it off, more or less, on coming into +my breakfast room in the morning, I was recognised by him with +certainly not all the cry "unpleasant to a married ear," but with its +full half "_Cuck_! _Cuck_!"--the only sounds or notes I ever heard +from my bird. Though trifling, these facts may be so far curious as +illustrating the natural history of a remarkable genus, and I have +great pleasure in offering them for your excellent Journal." _Mag. +Nat. Hist._ + + * * * * * + + +MUSICAL SNAILS. + + +As I was sitting in my room, on the first floor, about nine P.M. (4th +of October last), I was surprised with what I supposed to be the notes +of a bird, under or upon the sill of a window. My impression was, that +they somewhat resembled the notes of a wild duck in its nocturnal +flight, and, at times, the twitter of a redbreast, in quick +succession. To be satisfied on the subject, I carefully removed the +shutter, and, to my surprise, found it was a garden snail, which, in +drawing itself along the glass, had produced sounds similar to those +elicited from the musical glasses.--_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +BEWICK. + + +In the museum at Newcastle are many of the identical specimens from +which the illustrious townsman Bewick drew his figures for the +wood-cuts which embellish his unique and celebrated work. This truly +amiable man, and, beyond all comparison, greatest genius Newcastle has +ever produced, died on the 8th of November last, in the 76th year of +his age. He continued to the last in the enjoyment of all his +faculties; his single-heartedness and enthusiasm not a jot abated, and +his wonder-working pencil still engaged in tracing, with his wonted +felicity and fidelity, those objects which had all his life afforded +him such delight, and which have charmed, and must continue to charm, +all those who have any relish for the pure and simple beauties of +nature.--_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: The Argonaut, or Paper Nautilus.] + + + Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, + Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale. + +This species of shell-fish, (see the cut,) is named from _Argonautes_, +the companions of Jason, in the celebrated ship, Argo, and from the +Latin _naus_, a ship; the shells of all the Nautili having the +appearance of a ship with a very high poop. The shell of this +interesting creature is no thicker than paper, and divided into forty +compartments or chambers, through every one of which a portion of its +body passes, connected as it were, by a thread. In the cut it is +represented as sailing, when it expands two of its arms on high, and +between these supports a membrane which serves as a sail, hanging the +two other arms out of its shell, to serve as oars, the office of +steerage being generally served by the tail. + +The shell of the Nautilus being exceedingly thin and fragile, the +tenant has many enemies, and among others the Trochus who makes war on +it with unrelenting fury. Pursued by this cruel foe, it ascends to the +top of the water, spreads its little sail to catch the flying breeze, +and rowing with all its might, scuds along, like a galley in +miniature, and often escapes its more cumbrous pursuer. Sometimes, +however, all will not do, the Trochus nears and nears, and escape +appears impossible; but when the little animal, with inexplicable +ingenuity, suddenly and secretly extricates itself from its tortuous +and fragile dwelling, the Trochus immediately turns to other prey. The +Nautilus then returns to tenant and repair its little bark; but it too +often happens, that before he can regain it, it is by a species of +shipwreck, dashed to pieces on the shore. Thus wretchedly situated, +this hero of the testaceous tribe seeks some obscure corner "where to +die," but which seldom, if ever, happens, until after he has made +extraordinary exertions to establish himself anew. What a fine picture +of virtue nobly struggling with misfortune.[8] + +When the sea is calm, whole fleets of these Nautili may be seen +diverting themselves; but when a storm rises, or they are disturbed, +they draw in their legs, take in as much water as makes them +specifically heavier, than that in which they float, and then sink to +the bottom. When they rise again they void this water by numerous +holes, of which their legs are full. The other species of Nautilus, +whose shell is thick, never quits that habitation. The shells of both +varieties are exceedingly beautiful when polished, and produce high +prices among Conchologists. + +It is easy to conceive that the ingenious habits of this wonderful +creature may have suggested to man the power of sailing upon the sea, +and of the various apparatus by which he effects that object. The +whole creation abounds with similar instances of Nature ministering to +the proud purposes of art: one of them, the origin of the Gothic Arch +from the "high o'erarching groves," is mentioned by Warburton, in his +_Divine Legation_, and is a sublime lesson for besotted man. + + [8] Magazine of Natural History, No.1. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR; +AND +LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + + +VIDOCQ. + + +[We have abridged one of the most striking chapters in the very +extraordinary history of Vidocq; premising that the interest of the +adventure will compensate for the space it here occupies.] + +A short time before the first invasion (1814), M. Senard, one of the +richest jewellers of the Palais Royal, having gone to pay a visit to +his friend the Curè of Livry, found him in one of those perplexities +which are generally caused by the approach of our good friends the +enemy. He was anxious to secrete from the rapacity of the cossacks +first the consecrated vessels, and then his own little treasures. +After much hesitation, although in his situation he must have been +used to interments, Monsieur le Curè decided on burying the objects +which he was anxious to save, and M. Senard, who, like the other +gossips and misers, imagined that Paris would be given over to +pillage, determined to cover up, in a similar way, the most precious +articles in his shop. It was agreed that the riches of the pastor and +those of the jeweller should be deposited in the same hole. But, then, +who was to dig the said hole? One of the singers in church was the +very pearl of honest fellows, father Moiselet, and in him every +confidence could be reposed. He would not touch a penny that did not +belong to him. The hole, made with much skill, was soon ready to +receive the treasure which it was intended to preserve, and six feet +of earth were cast on the specie of the Curè, to which were united +diamonds worth 100,000 crowns, belonging to M. Senard, and enclosed in +a small box. The hollow filled up, the ground was so well flattened, +that one would have betted with the devil that it had not been stirred +since the creation. "This good Moiselet," said M. Senard, rubbing his +hands, "has done it all admirably. Now, gentlemen cossacks, you must +have fine noses if you find it out!" At the end of a few days the +allied armies made further progress, and clouds of Kirguiz, Kalmucs, +and Tartars, of all hordes and all colours, appeared in the environs +of Paris. These unpleasant guests are, it is well known, very greedy +for plunder: they made, every where, great ravages; they passed no +habitation without exacting tribute: but in their ardour for pillage +they did not confine themselves to the surface, all belonged to them +to the centre of the globe; and that they might not be frustrated in +their pretensions, these intrepid geologists made a thousand +excavations, which, to the regret of the naturalists of the country, +proved to them, that in France the mines of gold or silver are not so +deep as in Peru. Such a discovery was well calculated to give them +additional energy; they dug with unparalleled activity, and the spoil +they found in many places of concealment threw the Croesuses of many +cantons into perfect despair. The cursed Cossacks! But yet the +instinct which so surely led them to the spot where treasure was +hidden, did not guide them to the hiding place of the Curè. It was +like the blessing of heaven, each morning the sun rose and nothing +new; nothing new when it set. + +Most decidedly the finger of heaven must be recognised in the +impenetrability of the mysterious inhumation performed by Moiselet. M. +Senard was so fully convinced of it, that he actually mingled +thanksgivings with the prayers which he made for the preservation and +repose of his diamonds. Persuaded that his vows would be heard, in +growing security he began to sleep more soundly, when one fine day, +which was, of all days in the week, a Friday, Moiselet, more dead than +alive, ran to the Curè's. + +"Ah, sir, I can scarcely speak." + +"What's the matter, Moiselet?" + +"I dare not tell you. Poor M. le Curè, this affects me deeply, I am +paralyzed. If my veins were open not a drop of blood would flow." + +"What is the matter? You alarm me." + +"The hole." + +"Mercy! I want to learn no more. Oh, what a terrible scourge is war! +Jeanneton, Jeanneton, come quickly, my shoes and hat." + +"But, sir, you have not breakfasted." + +"Oh, never mind breakfast." + +"You know, sir, when you go out fasting you have such spasms----." + +"My shoes, I tell you." + +"And then you complain of your stomach." + +"I shall have no want of a stomach again all my life. Never any +more--no, never--ruined." + +"Ruined--Jesu--Maria! Is it possible? Ah! sir, run then,--run--." + +Whilst the Curè dressed himself in haste, and, impatient to buckle the +strap, could scarcely put on his shoes, Moiselet, in a most lamentable +tone, told him what he had seen. + +"Are you sure of it?" said the Curè, perhaps they did not take all." + +"Ah, sir, God grant it, but I had not courage enough to look." + +They went together towards the old barn, when they found that the +spoliation had been complete. Reflecting on the extent of his loss, +the Curè nearly fell to the ground. Moiselet was in a most pitiable +state; the dear man afflicted himself more than if the loss had been +his own. It was terrific to hear his sighs and groans. This was the +result of love to one's neighbour. M. Senard little thought how great +was the desolation at Livry. What was his despair on receiving the +news of the event! In Paris the police is the providence of people who +have lost any thing. The first idea, and the most natural one, that +occurred to M. Senard was, that the robbery had been committed by the +Cossacks, and, in such a case, the police could not avail him +materially; but M. Senard took care not to suspect the Cossacks. + +One Monday when I was in the office of M. Henry, I saw one of those +little abrupt, brisk men enter, who, at the first glance, we are +convinced are interested and distrustful: it was M. Senard, who +briefly related his mishap, and concluded by saying, that he had +strong suspicions of Moiselet. M. Henry thought also that he was the +author of the robbery, and I agreed with both. "It is very well," he +said, "but still our opinion is only founded on conjecture, and if +Moiselet keeps his own counsel we shall have no chance of convicting +him. It will be impossible." + +"Impossible!" cried M. Senard, "what will become of me? No, no, I +shall not vainly implore your succour. Do not you know all? can you +not do all when you choose? My diamonds! my poor diamonds! I will give +one hundred thousand francs to get them back again." + +[Vidocq promises to recover the jewels, and the jeweller offers him +10,000 francs.] + +In spite of successive abatements of M. Senard, in proportion as he +believed the discovery probable, I promised to exert every effort in +my power to effect the desired result. But before any thing could be +undertaken, it was necessary that a formal complaint should be made; +and M. Senard and the Curè, thereupon, went to Pontoise, and the +declaration being consequently made, and the robbery stated, Moiselet +was taken up and interrogated. They tried every means to make him +confess his guilt; but he persisted in avowing himself innocent, and, +for lack of proof to the contrary, the charge was about to be dropped +altogether, when to preserve it for a time, I set an agent of mine to +work. He, clothed in a military uniform, with his left arm in a sling, +went with a billet to the house where Moiselet's wife lived. He was +supposed to have just left the hospital, and was only to stay at Livry +for forty-eight hours; but a few moments after his arrival, he had a +fall, and a pretended sprain suddenly occurred, which put it out of +his power to continue his route. It was then indispensable for him to +delay, and the mayor decided that he should remain with the cooper's +wife until further orders. + +The cooper's wife was charmed with his many little attentions. The +soldier could write, and became her secretary; but the letters which +she addressed to her dear husband were of a nature not to compromise +her--not the least expression that can have a twofold construction--it +was innocence corresponding with innocence. At length, after a few +day's experience, I was convinced that my agent, in spite of his +talent, would draw no profit from his mission. I then resolved to +manoeuvre in person, and, disguised as a travelling hawker, I began to +visit the environs of Livry. I was one of those Jews who deal in every +thing,--clothes, jewels, &c. &c.; and I took in exchange gold, silver, +jewels, in fact, all that was offered me. An old female robber, who +knew the neighbourhood perfectly, accompanied me in my tour: she was +the widow of a celebrated thief, Germain Boudier, called Father +Latuil, who, after having undergone half-a-dozen sentences, died at +last at Saint Pelagie. I flattered myself that Madame Moiselet, +seduced by her eloquence, and by our merchandize, would bring out the +store of the Curè's crowns, some brilliant of the purest water, nay, +even the chalice or paten, in case the bargain should be to her +liking. My calculation was not verified; the cooper's wife was in no +haste to make a bargain, and her coquetry did not get the better of +her. + +The Jew hawker was soon metamorphosed into a German servant; and under +this disguise I began to ramble about the vicinity of Pontoise, with a +design of being apprehended. I sought out the gendarmes, whilst I +pretended to avoid them; but they, thinking I wished to get away from +them, demanded a sight of my papers. Of course I had none, and they +desired me to accompany them to a magistrate, who, knowing nothing of +the jargon in which I replied to his questions, desired to know what +money I had; and a search was forthwith commenced in his presence. My +pockets contained some money and valuables, the possession of which +seemed to astonish him. The magistrate, as curious as a commissary, +wished to know how they came into my hands; and I sent him to the +devil with two or three Teutonic oaths, of the most polished kind; and +he, to teach me better manners another time, sent me to prison. + +Once more the iron bolts were drawn upon me. At the moment of my +arrival, the prisoners were playing in the prison yard, and the jailer +introduced me amongst them in these terms, "I bring you a murderer of +the parts of speech; understand him if you can." + +They immediately flocked about me, and I was accosted with salutations +of _Landsman_ and _Meinheer_ without end. During this reception, I +looked out for the cooper of Livry. + +[He meets with him.] + +"Mossié, Mossié," I said, addressing the prisoner, who seemed to think +I said Moiselet, "Mossié Fine Hapit, (not knowing his name, I so +designated him, because his coat was the colour of flesh,) sacrement, +ter teufle, no tongue to me; yer François, I miseraple, I trink vine; +faut trink for gelt, plack vine." + +I pointed to his hat, which was black; he did not understand me; but +on making a gesture that I wanted to drink, he found me perfectly +intelligible. All the buttons of my great coat were twenty-franc +pieces; I gave him one: he asked if they had brought the wine, and +soon afterwards I heard a turnkey say, + +"Father Moiselet, I have taken up two bottles for you." The +flesh-coloured coat was then Moiselet. I followed him into his room, +and we began to drink with all our might. Two other bottles arrived; +we only went on in couples. Moiselet, in his capacity of chorister, +cooper, sexton, &c. &c. was no less a sot than gossip; he got tipsy +with great good-will, and incessantly spoke to me in the jargon I had +assumed. + +Matters progressed well; after two or three hours such as these I +pretended to get stupid. Moiselet, to set me to rights, gave me a cup +of coffee without sugar; after coffee came glasses of water. No one +can conceive the care which my new friend took of me; but when +drunkenness is of such a nature it is like death--all care is useless. +Drunkenness overpowered me. I went to bed and slept; at least Moiselet +thought so; but I saw him many times fill my glass and his own, and +gulp them both down. The next day, when I awoke, he paid me the +balance, three francs and fifty centimes, which, according to him, +remained from the twenty-franc piece. I was an excellent companion; +Moiselet found me so, and never quitted me. I finished the +twenty-franc piece with him, and then produced one of forty francs, +which vanished as quickly. When he saw it drunk out also he feared it +was the last. + +"Your button again," said he to me, in a tone of extreme anxiety, and +yet very comical. + +I showed him another coin. "Ah, your large button again," he shouted +out, jumping for joy. + +This button went the same way as all the other buttons, until at +length, by dint of drinking together, Moiselet understood and spoke my +language almost as well as I did myself, and we could then disclose +our troubles to each other. Moiselet was very curious to know my +history, and that which I trumped up was exactly adapted to inspire +the confidence I wished to create. + +"My master and I come to France--I was tomestic--master of mein +Austrian marechal--Austrian with de gelt in family. Master always +roving, always gay, joint regiment at Montreau. Montreau, oh, mein +Gott, great, great pattle--many sleep no more but in death. Napoleon +coom--poum, poum go gannon. Prusse, Austrian, Rousse all disturb. I, +too, much disturb. Go on my ways with master mein, with my havresac on +mein horse--poor teufel was I--but there was gelt in it. Master mein +say, 'Galop, Fritz.' I called Fritz in home mein. Fritz galop to +Pondi--there halt Fritz--place havresac not visible; and if I get +again to Yarmany with havresac, me rich becomen, mistress mein rich, +father mein rich, you too rich." + +Although the narrative was not the cleverest in the world, father +Moiselet swallowed it all as gospel; he saw well that during the +battle of Montereau, I had fled with my master's portmanteau, and +hidden it in the forest of Bondy. The confidence did not astonish him, +and had the effect of acquiring for me an increase of his affection. +This augmentation of friendship, after a confession which exposed me +as a thief, proved to me that he had an accommodating conscience. I +thenceforth remained convinced that he knew better than any other +person what had become of the diamonds of M. Senard, and that it only +depended on him to give me full and accurate information. + +One evening, after a good dinner, I was boasting to him of the +delicacies of the Rhine: he heaved a deep sigh, and then asked me if +there was good wine in that country. + +"Yes, yes," I answered, "goot vine and charming girl." + +"Charming girl too!" + +"Ya, ya." + +"Landsman, shall I go with you." + +"Ya, ya, me grat content." + +"Ah, you content, well! I quit France, yield the old woman, (he showed +me by his fingers that Madame Moiselet was three-and-thirty,) and in +your land I take little girl no more as fifteen years." + +"Ya, bien, a girl no infant: a! you is a brave lad." + +Moiselet returned more than once to his project of emigration; he +thought seriously of it, but to emigrate liberty was requisite, and +they were not inclined to let us go out. I suggested to him that he +should escape with me on the first opportunity--and when he had +promised me that we would not separate, not even to take a last adieu +of his wife, I was certain that I should soon have him in my toils. +This certainly was the result of very simple reasoning. Moiselet, said +I to myself, will follow me to Germany: people do not travel or live +on air: he relies on living well there: he is old, and, like king +Solomon, proposes to tickle his fancy with some little Abishag of +Sunem. Oh, father Moiselet has found the _black hen_; here he has no +money, therefore his black hen is not here; but where is she? We shall +soon learn, for we are to be henceforward inseparable. + +As soon as my man had made all his reflections, and that, with his +head full of his castles in Germany, he had so soon resolved to +expatriate himself, I addressed to the king's attorney-general a +letter, in which, making myself known as the superior agent of the +Police de Sûreté, I begged him to give an order that I should be sent +away with Moiselet, he to go to Livry, and I to Paris. + +We did not wait long for the order, and the jailer announced it to us, +on the eve of its being put into execution; and I had the night before +me to fortify Moiselet in his resolutions. He persisted in them more +strongly than ever, and acceded with rapture to the proposition I made +him of effecting an escape from our escort as soon as it was feasible. + +So anxious was he to commence his journey, that he could not sleep. At +daybreak, I gave him to understand that I took him for a thief as well +as myself. + +"Ah, ah, grip also," said I to him, "deep, deep François, you not +spoken, but tief all as von." + +He made me no answer; but when, with my fingers squeezed together _à +la Normande_, he saw me make a gesture of grasping something, he could +not prevent himself from smiling, with that bashful expression of +_Yes_, which he had not courage to utter. The hypocrite had some shame +about him, the shame of a devotee. I was understood. + +At length the wished-for moment of departure came, which was to enable +us to accomplish our designs. Moiselet was ready three whole hours +beforehand, and to give him courage, I had not neglected to push about +the wine and brandy, and he did not leave the prison until after +having received all his sacraments. + +We were tied with a very thin cord, and on our way he made me a signal +that there would be no difficulty in breaking it. He did not think +that he should break the charm which had till then preserved him. The +further we went the more he testified that he placed his hopes of +safety in me; at each minute he reiterated a prayer that I would not +abandon him; and I as often replied, "Ya, François, ya, I not leave +you." At length the decisive moment came, the cord was broken. I +leaped a ditch, which separated us from a thicket. Moiselet, who +seemed young again, jumped after me: one of the gendarmes alighted to +follow us, but to run and jump in jack-boots and with a heavy sword +was difficult; and whilst he made a circuit to join us, we disappeared +in a hollow, and were soon lost to view. + +A path into which we struck led us to the wood of Vaujours. There +Moiselet stopped, and having looked carefully about him, went towards +some bushes. I saw him then stoop, plunge his arm into a thick tuft, +whence he took out a spade: arising quickly, he went on some paces +without saying a word; and when we reached a birch tree, several of +the boughs of which I observed were broken, he took off his hat and +coat, and began to dig. He went to work with so much good-will, that +his labour rapidly advanced. Suddenly he stooped down, and then +escaped from him that ha! which betokens satisfaction, and which +informed me, without the use of a conjuror's rod, that he had found +his treasure. I thought the cooper would have fainted; but recovering +himself, he made two or three more strokes with his spade, and the box +was exposed to view. I seized on the instrument of his toil, and +suddenly changing my language, declared, in very good French, that he +was my prisoner. + +"No resistance," I said, "or I will cleave your skull in two." + +At this threat he seemed in a dream; but when he knew that he was +gripped by that iron hand which had subdued the most vigorous +malefactors, he was convinced that it was no vision. Moiselet was as +quiet as a lamb. I had sworn not to leave him, and kept my word. +During the journey to the station of the brigade of gendarmerie, where +I deposited him, he frequently cried out, + +"I am done--who could have thought it? and he had such a simple look +too!" + +At the assizes of Versailles, Moiselet was sentenced to six months' +solitary confinement. + +M. Senard was overpowered with joy at having recovered his hundred +thousand crowns worth of diamonds. Faithful to his system of +abatement, he reduced the reward one-half; and still there was +difficulty in getting five thousand francs from him, out of which I +had been compelled to expend more than two thousand: in fact, at one +moment I really thought I should have been compelled to bear the +expenses myself. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + +THE TOYMAN IS ABROAD. + + + "En fait d'inutilités, il ne faut que le nécessaire." + +CHAMPFORT. + + +There is no term in political philosophy more ambiguous and lax in its +meaning than Luxury. In Ireland, salt with a potato is, by the +peasant, placed in this category. Among the Cossacks, a clean shirt is +more than a luxury--it is an effeminacy; and a Scotch nobleman is +reported to have declared, that the act of scratching one's self is a +luxury too great for any thing under royalty. The Russians (there is +no disputing on tastes) hold train-oil to be a prime luxury; and I +remember seeing a group of them following an exciseman on the quays at +Dover to plunder the oil casks, as they were successively opened for +his operations. A poor Finland woman, who for her sins had married an +Englishman and followed him to this country, was very glad to avail +herself of her husband's death to leave a land where the people were +so unhappy as to be without a regular supply of seal's flesh for their +dinner. While the good man lived, her affection for him somewhat +balanced her hankering after this native luxury; but no sooner was the +husband dead, than her lawyer-like propensity re-assumed its full +force, and, like Proteus released from his chains, she abandoned +civilized life to get back to her favourite shores, to liberty, and +the animals of her predilection. "If I were rich," said a poor +farmer's boy, "I would eat fat pudding, and ride all day on a gate;" +which was evidently his highest idea of human luxury. But it is less +with the quality of our indulgences, than their extent, that I have +now to treat. Diogenes, who prided himself on cutting his coat +according to his cloth, and thought himself a greater man, in +proportion as he diminished his wants, placed his luxuries in idleness +and sunshine, and seems to have relished these enjoyments with as much +sensuality as Plato did his fine house and delicate fare. Even he was +more reasonable than those sectarians, who have prevailed in almost +all religions, and who, believing that the Deity created man for the +express purpose of inflicting upon him every species of torture, have +inveighed against the most innocent gratifications, and have erected +luxury into a deadly sin. These theologians will not allow a man to +eat his breakfast with a relish; and impute it as a vice if he smacks +his lips, though it be but after a draught of water. Nay, there have +been some who have thought good roots and Adam's ale too great +luxuries for a Christian lawfully to indulge in; and they have +purposely ill-cooked their vegetables, and mixed them with ashes, and +even more disgusting things, to mortify the flesh, as they called +it--i.e. to offer a sacrifice of their natural feelings to the demon +of which they have made a god. + +Of late years, more especially, our ideas on this subject have much +enlarged; and all ranks of Englishmen hold an infinity of objects as +prime necessaries, which their more modest ancestors ranked as +luxuries, fit only for their betters to enjoy. This should be a matter +of sincere rejoicing to all true patriots; because it affords +indubitable evidence of the progress of civilization. A civilized +gentleman differs from a savage, principally in the multiplicity of +his wants; and Mandeville, in his fable of the bees, has proved to +demonstration that extravagance is the mother of commerce. What, +indeed, are steam-engines, macadamized roads, man-traps that break no +bones, patent cork-screws, and detonating fowling-pieces, safety +coaches and cork legs, but luxuries, at which a cynic would scoff; yet +how could a modern Englishman get on without them? It is perfectly +true that our Henries and Edwards contrived to beat their enemies +unassisted by these inventions. Books, likewise, which were a luxury +scarcely known to the wisdom of our ancestors, are a luxury now so +indispensable, that there is hardly a mechanic who has not his little +library: while a piano forte also has become as necessary to a +farm-house as a mangle or a frying-pan; and there are actually more +copies printed of "Cherry ripe," than of Tull's husbandry. Is not a +silver fork, moreover, an acknowledged necessary in every decent +establishment? while the barbarous Mussulman dispenses with knives and +forks altogether, and eats his meal, like a savage as he is, with his +fingers. Nor can it be deemed an objection to this hypothesis, that +the Turk, who rejects all the refinements of European civilization, +excepting only gunpowder, esteems four wives to be necessary to a +decent establishment; while the most clear-sighted Englishmen think +one more than enough for enjoyment. The difference is more formal than +real. + +Henry the fourth of France had but one coach between himself and his +queen; whereas no respectable person can now dispense at the least +with a travelling chariot, a barouche, a cab, and a dennet. +Civilization, which received a temporary check during the +revolutionary war, has resumed its march in double-quick time since +the Continent has been opened. Champaigne and ices have now become +absolute necessaries at tables where a bottle of humble port and a +supernumerary pudding were esteemed luxuries, fit only for honouring +the more solemn rites of hospitality. I say nothing of heads of hair, +and false (I beg pardon--artificial) teeth; without which, at a +certain age, there is no appearing. A bald head, at the present day, +is as great an indecency as Humphrey Clinker's unmentionables; and a +dismantled mouth is an outrage on well-bred society. Then, again, how +necessary is a cigar and a meerschaum to a well-appointed man of +fashion, and how can a gentleman possibly show at Melton without at +least a dozen hunters, and two or three hacks, to ride to cover! Yet +no one in his senses would tax these things as luxuries; or would +blame his friend for getting into the King's Bench for their +indulgence. Even the most austere judges of the land, and the most +jealous juries of tradesmen, have borne ample testimony to the +reasonableness of this modern extension of the wants of life, by the +liberal allowance of necessaries which they have sanctioned in the +tailors' bills of litigating minors. This liberality, indeed, follows, +as consequence follows cause. Some one has found, or invented, a story +of a shipwrecked traveller's hailing the gallows as the sure token of +a civilized community. But the jest is by no means a _ben trovato_; +the member of gibbets being inversely as the perfection of social +institutions; and if any one object, that England, while it is the +best-governed country in Europe--its envy and admiration--is also a +hanging community _par excellence_, I must beg to remind him of the +intense interest which an English public feels in the victims of +capital punishment, in the Thurtells and the Fauntleroys; as also of +the universal conviction prevailing in England, that the gallows is a +short and sure cut to everlasting happiness. From all this, if there +is any force in logic, we must conclude, that hanging, in this +country, is only applied _honoris causâ_, as an ovation, in +consideration of the great and magnanimous daring of the Alexanders +and Caesars on a small scale, to whom the law adjudges the "palmam qui +meruit ferat." The real and true test of a refined polity is not the +gallows; but is to be found rather in such well-imagined insolvent +laws, as discharge a maximum of debt with a minimum of assets; and rid +a gentleman annually of his duns, with the smallest possible quantity +of corporeal inconvenience. When luxuries become necessaries, +insolvency is the best safety-valve to discharge the surplus +dishonesty of the people, which, if pent up, would explode in +dangerous overt acts of crime and violence; and it should be +encouraged accordingly. + +(_To be concluded in our next_.) + + * * * * * + + + + +Notes of a Reader. + + * * * * * + +THE LAST OF THE PLANTAGENETS. + + +The only notice which occurs of "The Last of the Plantagenets" is, +says the author of a Romance with the above name, in Peck's +"Desiderata Curiosa," where a letter is inserted from Dr. Brett to Dr. +Warren, the president of Trinity Hall, in which he says that, calling +on Lord Winchilsea in 1720, his lordship pointed out to him this entry +in the register of Eastwell--"Anno 1550, Rycharde Plantagenet was +buryed the 22nd daye of December;" beyond this, not a word is known of +him excepting what tradition affords, which, with some slight +variations, for there are two versions of his history, is as +follows:--When Sir Thomas Moyle built Eastwell, he observed that his +principal bricklayer, whenever he quitted his work, retired with a +book, a circumstance which attracted his attention, and on inquiry he +found he was reading Latin: he then told Sir Thomas his secret, which +was, that he was boarded with a Latin schoolmaster, without knowing +who were his relations, until he was fifteen or sixteen; that he was +occasionally visited by a gentleman who provided for his expenses; +that this person one day took him to a fine house where he was +presented to a gentleman handsomely drest, wearing a "star and +garter," who gave him money, and conducted him back to school; that +some time afterwards the same gentleman came to him, and took him into +Leicestershire and to Bosworth Field, when he was carried to king +Richard's tent; that the king embraced him, told him he was his son; +adding, "Child, to-morrow, I must fight for my crown; and assure +yourself, if I lose that, I will lose my life too, but I hope to +preserve both, do you stand in such a place (pointing to the spot) +where you may see the battle, out of danger, and when I have gained +the victory come to me. I will then own you to be mine, and take care +of you: but if I should lose the battle, then shift as well as you +can, and take care to let nobody know that I am your father, for no +mercy will be shown to any one so nearly related to me;" that the king +gave him a purse of gold and dismissed him; that he followed those +directions, and when he saw the battle was lost and the king slain, he +hastened to London, sold his horse and his fine clothes, and the +better to conceal himself from all suspicion of being the son of a +king, and that he might gain a livelihood, he put himself apprentice +to a bricklayer, and generally spent his spare time in reading. Sir +Thomas, finding him very old, is said to have offered him _the run of +his kitchen_, which he declined, on the ground of his patron having a +large family; but asked his permission to build a small house in one +of his fields, and this being granted, he built a cottage, and +continued in it till his death. + + * * * * * + + +ANTIQUITIES BURLESQUED. + + +We have often been amused with the different wonders of ancient Rome, +but seldom more than with the following piece of antiquarianism +burlesqued:-- + +M. Simond, in his Tour in Italy and Sicily, tells us that the Coliseum +is too ruinous--that the Egyptian Museum in the Vatican puts him in +mind of the five wigs in the barber Figaro's shop-window--that the +Apollo Belvidere looks like a broken-backed young gentleman shooting +at a target for the amusement of young ladies. Speaking of the +Etruscan vases, he says, "As to the alleged elegance of form, I should +be inclined to appeal from the present to succeeding generations, when +the transformation of every pitcher, milk-pot and butter-pan, into an +antique shape, has completely burlesqued away the classical feeling, +and restored impartiality to taste." + + * * * * * + + +About six or seven-and-twenty years ago, an effort was made to revive +the fashion of ladies visiting the House of Commons. The late Queen +Caroline, then Princess of Wales, upon one or two occasions made her +appearance, with a female attendant, in the side-gallery. The royal +visit soon became generally known, and several other females were +tempted to follow the example. Among these was Mrs. Sheridan, the wife +of the late Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan; but this lady, +considering herself an intruder, to whose presence, if known, +exception might be taken, thought fit to disguise her person in male +attire. Her fine dark hair was combed smooth on her forehead, and made +to sit close, in good puritanical trim, while a long, loose, brown +coat concealed her feminine proportions. Thus prepared, she took her +seat in the Strangers' Gallery, anxious to witness a display of her +husband's eloquence; but he did not speak, and the debate proved +without any interest. The female aspirants whose taste was thus +excited, were, however, confined to a few blue-stocking belles, +without influence to set the fashion; and the attempt did not succeed. + + * * * * * + + +MOCHA. + + +The buildings of Mocha are so white, that it seems as if excavated +from a quarry of marble; and this whiteness of the town forms a +curious contrast with the blueness of the sea. The materials, however, +of which Mocha is constructed, are nothing better than unburnt bricks, +plastered over, and whitewashed. The coffee bean is cultivated in the +interior, and is thence brought to Mocha for exportation. The Arabs +themselves use the husks, which make but an inferior infusion. +Vegetables are grown round the town, and fruits are brought from +Senna; while grain, horses, asses, and sheep, are imported from +Abyssinia. There are twelve schools in the town; and, inland, near +Senna, there are colleges, in which the twelve branches of Mohomedan +sciences are taught, as is usual in Turkey and India. Arab women marry +about the age of sixteen; they are allowed great liberty in visiting +one another, and can divorce their husbands on very slight grounds. +Every lady who pays a visit, carries a small bag of coffee with her, +which enables "her to enjoy society without putting her friends to +expense."--_Lushington's Journey from Calcutta to Europe._ + + * * * * * + + +ENGLISH AND FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS. + + +Every one acquainted with the public press of Europe, must have +observed the contrast which a London Newspaper forms with the journals +of every other capital in Europe. The foreign journals never break in +upon the privacy of domestic life. There the fame of parties and +dinners is confined to the rooms which constitute their scene, and the +names of the individuals who partake of them never travel out of their +own circle. How widely different is the practice of the London +Journals! A lady of fashion can find no place so secret where she can +hide herself from their search. They follow her from town to country, +from the country to the town. They trace her from the breakfast-table +to the Park, from the Park to the dinner-table, from thence to the +Opera or the ball, and from her boudoir to her bed. They trace her +every where. She may make as many doubles as a hare, but they are all +in vain; it is impossible to escape pursuit; and yet the introduction +of female names into the daily newspapers, now so common, is only of +modern date. + +The late Sir Henry Dudley Bate, editor of _The Morning Herald_, was +the first person who introduced females into the columns of a +newspaper. He was at the time editor of _The Morning Post_.-- _New +Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Gatherer. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + +SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +REFLECTION IN A FLOWER GARDEN. + + + I hate the flower whose wanton breast[9] + Awaits the sun at morn and noon, + And when he's hid behind the west, + As gaily flaunteth with the moon. + + Mine be the flower of virgin leaf, + That when its sire has left the plain, + Wraps up its charms in silent grief, + Nor ope's them till he comes again. + +E.K. + + [9] There be some flowers that do remain quite unclosed, during + not only the day, but during also the night. There be others + which do likewise open during the day, albeit when night + cometh, they close themselves up until the sun do appear, + when they again ope their beautifulness.--_Old Botanist_. + + * * * * * + + +A "THIN NIGHT" AT VAUXHALL. + + +There were fewer audience than performers, and those made up of +fellows evidently not in the habit of shirt-wearing; of women there +were very few-- of ladies none; the fireworks were bad and brief, and +the waterworks the most absurd affair I ever beheld; the thing was +overdone. To the people who would like to go to Vauxhall in fine +weather, second-rate Italian singing and broken down English prima +donnas are no inducement, a bad ballet in a booth has no attraction, +and an attempt at variety mars the whole affair. Vauxhall is a +delightful place to go to in fine weather with a pleasant party; give +us space to walk, light up that space, and shelter us from the +elements, set the military bands to play popular airs, and we ask no +more for our four or five shillings, or whatever it is; but the moment +tumbling is established in various parts of the garden, and the whole +thing is made a sort of Bartholomew Fair, the object of breathing a +little fresher air, and hearing ourselves talk is ended; crowds of +raffs in boots and white neckcloths attended by their dowdy damsels +and waddling wives, rush from one place to another, helter skelter, +knocking over the few quiet people to whom the "sights" are a novelty; +turning what in the days of the late Lady Castlereagh, the present +Duchess of Bedford, the first Duchess of Devonshire, and the last +Duchess of Gordon (but one) was a delightful reunion of fashion, into +a tea-garden (without tea) or a bear-garden--not without +bears.--_Sharpe's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +NAPOLEON BONAPARTE AND LORD NOEL BYRON. + + +It is a singular coincidence, not unworthy of remark, that the +initials of two of the most singular men of their own, and perhaps of +any age, the Emperor Napoleon of France, and Lord Noel Byron of +England, used the same letters as an abbreviation of their name, N.B. +which likewise denotes _Nota Bene_. It was not the habit of either to +affix his name to letters, but merely N.B.--R.W. + + * * * * * + + +LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE _FOLLOWING NOVELS IS ALREADY PUBLISHED_: + + _s_. _d_. + Mackenzie's Man of Feeling 0 6 + Paul and Virginia 0 6 + The Castle of Otranto 0 6 + Almoran and Hamet 0 6 + Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia 0 6 + The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 0 6 + Rasselas 0 8 + The Old English Baron 0 8 + Nature and Art 0 8 + Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 0 10 + Sicilian Romance 0 10 + The Man of the World 1 0 + A Simple Story 1 4 + Joseph Andrews 1 6 + Humphry Clinker 1 8 + The Romance of the Forest 1 8 + The Italian 2 0 + Zeluco, by Dr. Moore 2 6 + Edward, by Dr. Moore 2 6 + Roderick Random 2 6 + The Mysteries of Udolpho 3 6 + Peregrine Pickle 4 6 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11332 *** |