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diff --git a/11340-0.txt b/11340-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b888fe --- /dev/null +++ b/11340-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1682 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11340 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11340-h.htm or 11340-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/4/11340/11340-h/11340-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/4/11340/11340-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 13, No. 372.] SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Epsom New Race Stand. + + +[Illustration: Epsom New Race Stand.] + + +We do not wish to compete with the "List of all the running horse-es, +with the names, weights, and colours of the riders," although the +proximity of our publication day to the commencement of Epsom Races +(June 2), has induced us to select the above subject for an +illustration. + +The erection of the New Race Stand is the work of a company, entitled +the "Epsom Grand Stand Association"--the capital £20,000, in 1,000 +shares of £20 each. The speculation is patronized by the Stewards of +the Jockey Club, and among the trustees is one of the county members, +C.N. Pallmer, Esq. The building is now roofed in, and temporary +accommodation will be provided for visitors at the ensuing Spring +Races. It is after the model of the Stand at Doncaster, but is much +larger, and will accommodate from 4 to 5,000 persons. The style of the +architecture is Grecian. + +The building is 156 feet in width, including the Terrace, and 60 feet +in depth, having a portico the width, returning on each side, which is +connected with a spacious terrace, raised ten feet above the level of +the ground, and a magnificent flight of steps in the centre. The +columns of the portico are of the Doric order, supporting a balcony, +or gallery, which is to be covered by a verandah, erected on small +ornamental iron pillars, placed over those below. The upper part of +the Stand is to have a balustrade the whole width of the front. With +reference to the interior arrangements, there are four large and +well-proportioned rooms for refreshments, &c.; a spacious hall, +leading through a screen of Doric columns to a large and elegant +staircase of stone, and on each side of the staircase are retiring +rooms of convenience for gentlemen. The entrance to this floor is from +the abovementioned terrace and portico in front; and also, at the +back, by an entrance which forms a direct communication through the +building. The first floor consists of a splendid room, 108 feet in +length, and 34 in width, divided into three compartments by ornamental +columns and pilasters, supporting a richly paneled ceiling, and having +a direct communication with the balcony, or gallery; and on each side +of the staircase there are retiring rooms for the ladies, with the +same arrangements as those below for the gentlemen. The roof will +contain about 2,000 persons standing; affording, at the same time, an +opportunity for every one to see the whole of the race (Derby Course) +which at one time was considered doubtful. + +The architect is Mr. W. Trendall; and the builder Mr. Chadwick. + +By a neat plan from a survey by Mr. Mogg, the "Stand" is about ten +poles from the Winning Post. It must have a most commanding view of +the surrounding country--but, anon, "may we be there to see." + + * * * * * + + +HISTORY OF COALS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +Coals are found in several parts of the continent of Europe, but the +principal mines are in this country. They have been discovered and +wrought in Newfoundland, Cape Breton, Canada, and in some of the +provinces of New England. China abounds in them, and they are well +known in Tartary, and in the Island of Madagascar. + +We find (says Brand) express mention of coals, used as a fuel by +artificers about 2,000 years ago, in the writings of Theophrastus, the +scholar of Aristotle, who, in his book on Stones, gives the substance; +though some writers have not scrupled to affirm, that coal was unknown +to the Ancient Britons, yet others have adduced proofs to the +contrary, which seem, to carry along with them little less than +conviction. The first charter for the license of digging coals, was +granted by King Henry III. in the year 1239; it was there denominated +sea coal; and, in 1281, Newcastle was famous for its great trade in +this article; but in 1306, the use of sea coal was prohibited at +London, by proclamation. Brewers, dyers, and other artificers, who had +occasion for great fires, had found their account in substituting our +fossil for dry wood and charcoal; but so general was the prejudice +against it at that time, that the nobles and commons assembled in +parliament, complained against the use thereof as a public nuisance, +which was thought to corrupt the air with its smoke and stink. Shortly +after this, it was the common fuel at the King's palace in London; +and, in 1325, a trade was opened between France and England, in which +corn was imported, and coal exported. Stowe in his "Annals" says, +"within thirty years last the nice dames of London would not come into +any house or roome where sea coales were burned; nor willingly eat of +the meat that was either sod or roasted with sea coal fire." + +Tinmouth Priory had a colliery at Elwick, which in 1330 was let at the +yearly rent of five pounds; in 1530 it was let for twenty pounds a +year, on condition that not more than twenty chaldron should be drawn +in a day; and eight years after, at fifty pounds a year, without +restriction on the quantity to be wrought. In Richard the Second's +time, Newcastle coals were sold at Whitby, at three shillings and +four-pence per chaldron; and in the time of Henry VIII. their price +was twelvepence a chaldron in Newcastle; in London about four +shillings, and in France they sold for thirteen nobles per chaldron. +Queen Elizabeth obtained a lease of the manors and coal mines of +Gateshead and Whickham, which she soon transferred to the Earl of +Leicester. He assigned it to his secretary, Sutton, the founder of the +Charter-house, who also made assignment of it to Sir W. Riddell and +others, for the use of the Mayor and Burgesses of Newcastle. Duties +were laid upon this article to assist in building St. Paul's Church, +and fifty parish churches in London after the great fire; and in 1677, +Charles II. granted to his natural son, Charles Lenox, Duke of +Richmond, and his heirs, a duty of one shilling a chaldron on coals, +which continued in his family till it was purchased by government in +1800. The collieries in the vicinity of Newcastle are perhaps the most +valuable and extensive in Europe, and afford nearly the whole supply +of the metropolis, and of those counties on the eastern coast +deficient in coal strata; thus-- + + "The grim ore + Here useless, like the miser's brighter hoard, + Is from its prison brought and sent abroad, + The frozen horns to cheer, to minister + To needful sustenance and polished arts-- + Hence are the hungry fed, the naked clothed, + The wintry damps dispell'd, and social mirth + Exults and glows before the blazing hearth." + +_Iago's Edge Hill_, p. 106. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + + +ALEHOUSE SIGNS. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +Two of your correspondents have puzzled themselves in seeking the +origin of the old Cat and Fiddle sign. The one has been led away by a +love of etymology--the other would string the fiddle at the expense of +poor puss's viscera. Now laying aside conjecture and the subtleties of +language, suppose we consult plain matter of fact? It is then +generally allowed that the tones of a flute resemble the _human +voice_: those of a clarionet, the notes of a _goose_: and, all the +world knows that a well-played violin (especially in the practice of +gliding) yields sounds so inseparable from the _strains of a cat_, as +not to be distinguished by the mere amateur of musical science. + +In conformity, therefore, with this last truth, the small fiddles +which Dancing-masters carry in their pockets, are at this day called +_kits_. But our etymologist will readily perceive this to be a mere +abbreviation, and that they must originally have been known as +_kittens_. + +E.D. Jun. + + * * * * * + + +ANACHRONISMS RESPECTING DR. JOHNSON. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + + "I am corrected, sir; but hear me speak-- + When admiration glows with such a fire + As to o'ertop the memory, error then + May merit mercy." _Old Play_. + +In justice to myself and the readers of the MIRROR, I must be allowed +to offer a few apologetic remarks on the almost unpardonable +anachronisms which I so inadvertently suffered to occur in my +communication on the subject of Dr. Johnson's Residence in Bolt Court. +But when I state that the chronological metathesis occurred entirely +in consequence of my referring to that most treacherous portion of +human intellect, the memory; and that it is upwards of seven years +since I read "Boswell's Life of Johnson," or "Johnson's Poets," it may +be some mitigation of the censure I so justly deserve. Yet I may be +suffered to suggest to your correspondent, who has so kindly corrected +me, that my paper was more in the suppository style than he seems to +have imagined; and that I did not assert that Boswell, Savage, and +Johnson, met at the latter's "house in Bolt Court, and discussed +subjects of polite literature." The expression used is, "We can +_imagine_," &c. constituting a creation of the fancy rather than a +positive portraiture. Certain it is that Johnson's dwelling was in the +neighbourhood of Temple Bar at the time of the nocturnal perambulation +alluded to; and that it was Savage (to whom he was so unaccountably +attached, in spite of the "bastard's" frailties) who enticed the +doctor from his bed to a midnight ramble. My primary mistake consists +in transposing the date of the doctor's residence in Bolt Court, and +introducing Savage at the era of Boswell's acquaintance with Johnson; +whereas the wayward poet finished his miserable existence in a prison, +at Bristol, 21 years prior to that event. Here I may be allowed a +remark or two on the animadversion which has been heaped on Johnson +for that beautiful piece of biography, "The Life of Richard Savage." +It has hitherto been somewhat of a mystery that the stern critic whose +strictures so severely exposed the minutest derelictions of genius in +all other instances, should have adopted "the melting mood" in +detailing the life of such a man as Savage; for, much as we may admire +the concentrated smiles and tears of his two poems, "The Bastard," and +"The Wanderer," pitying the fortunes and miseries of the author, yet +his ungovernable temper and depraved propensities, which led to his +embruing his hands in blood, his ingratitude to his patrons and +benefactors, (but chiefly to Pope,) and his degraded misemployment of +talents which might have raised him to the capital of the proud column +of intellect of that day,--all conduce to petrify the tear of mingled +mercy and compassion, which the misfortunes of such a being might +otherwise demand. Nevertheless, as was lately observed by a +respectable journal, "there must have been _something_ good about him, +or Samuel Johnson would not have loved him." + +**H. + + * * * * * + + +DREAMS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + We see our joyous home, + Where the sapphire waters fall; + The porch, with its lone gloom, + The bright vines on its wall. + + The flow'rs, the brooks, and trees, + Again are made our own, + The woodlands rife with bees, + And the curfew's pensive tone. + + Peace to the marble brow, + And the ringlets tinged dark, + The heart is sleeping now + In a still and holy ark! + + Sleep hath clos'd the soft blue eye, + And unbound the silken tress + Their dreams are of the sky, + And pass'd is watchfulness. + + But a sleep they yet shall have, + Sunn'd with no vision's glow; + A sleep within the grave-- + When their eyes are quench'd and low! + + A glorious rest it is, + To earth's lorn children given, + Pure as the bridal kiss, + To sleep--and wake in heaven! + +_Deal_. Reginald Augustine + + * * * * * + + +SCOTCH SONG. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Gin Lubin shows the ring to me + While reavin' Teviot side, + And asks me wi' an earnest e'e, + To be his bonny bride. + At sic a time I canna tell + What I to him might say, + But as I lo'e the laddie well, + I cudna tell him nae. + + I'd say we twa as yet are young, + Wi' monie a day to spare, + An' then the suit should drap my tongue + That he might press it mair. + I'd gae beside the point awhile, + Wi' proper laithfu' pride, + By lang to partin', wi' a smile, + Consent to be his bride. + +C. Cole. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Sketch-Book. + + * * * * * + + +THE LOVER STUDENT. + +_A Leaf from the Reminiscences of a Collegian_. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +----He was but a poor undergraduate; not, indeed, one of lowest grade, +but still too much lacking pecuniary supplies to render him an +"eligible match." Julia, too, though pretty, was portionless; and the +world, which always kindly interests itself in such affairs, said, +they had no business whatever to become attached to each other; but +then, such attachments and the world, never did, and never will agree; +and _I_, from fatal experience, assert that what people impertinently +call "falling in love," is a thing that _cannot_ be helped; _I_, at +least, never could help it. The regard of Millington and Julia was of +a very peculiar nature; it was a morsel of platonism, which is rather +too curious to pass unrecorded; for as far as I have been able, upon +the most minute investigation to ascertain, they never spoke to each +other during the period of their tender acquaintance. No; they were +not dumb, but lacking a mutual friend to give them an introduction; +their regard for decorum and etiquette was too great to permit them to +speak otherwise than with their eyes. Millington had kept three terms, +when I arrived at ---- College, a shy and gawky freshman; we had been +previously acquainted, and he, pitying perhaps my youth and +inexperience, patronized his playmate, and I became his chum. For some +time I was at a loss to account for sundry fluctuations in Henry's +disposition and manners. He shunned society and would neither accept +invitations to wine and supper parties in other men's rooms, nor give +such in his own; nevertheless his person seemed to have become an +object of the tenderest regard; never was he so contented as when +rambling through the streets and walks, without his gown, in a new and +well cut suit; whilst in order eternally to display his figure to the +best advantage, he was content to endure as heavy an infliction of +fines and impositions, as the heads of his college could lay upon his +shoulders. He was ruined for a reading-man. About this period he also +had a perfect mania for flowers; observing which, and fancying I might +gratify my friend by such a mark of attention, I one day went to his +rooms with a large bouquet in either hand. He was not at home; but +having carelessly enough forgotten to lock his door, I commenced, _con +amore_, (anticipating the agreeable surprise which I should afford +him) to fill his vases with fresh, bright, and delicious summer +flowers, in lieu of the very mummies of their race by which they were +occupied. My work was in progress when Millington returned, but, oh! +good heavens! the rage, the profane, diabolical, incomprehensible rage +into which he burst! I shall never forget. Away went my beautiful, my +fragrant flowers, into the court, and seizing upon the remnant of the +mummies, as yet untouched by my sacrilegious fingers, he tossed them +into a drawer, double locked it, and ordered me out of the room. +Dreading a kick, I was off at his word; but had not proceeded half way +down stairs, when a hand from the rear, roughly grasped mine, and a +voice, in a wild and hurried manner, asked pardon for "intemperance." +I should have called it madness. We were again firm allies; but I +resolved to fathom, if possible, the mystery of the flowers. I now +observed, with surprise, that Millington never quitted his rooms +without a flower in his hand, or _boutonnière_; which flower, upon his +return, appeared to have been either lost, or metamorphosed into, +sometimes, one of another description; sometimes into a nosegay. Very +strange indeed, thought I; and began to have my suspicions that in all +this might be traced "fair woman's visitings." Yes, Millington must +decidedly have fallen in love. He was never in chapel, never in hall, +never in college, never at lectures, and never at parties; he was in +love, that was certain; but with whom? He knew none of the resident +gentry of ----, and he was far too proud to involve himself in "an +affair" with a girl of inferior rank. Many men did so; but Millington +despised them for it. Accidentally I discovered that he adored Julia, +the young, sweet daughter of an undoubted gentleman, who was not yet +"come out." She was a lively, pretty brunette, with brownest curling +hair, only fifteen; and to this day, I believe, knows not the name of +her lover. From an attic window of a five storied house, this fond and +beautiful girl contrived, sometimes, to shower upon the head of her +devoted admirer sweet flowers, and sometimes this paragon of pairs +meeting each other in the walks, silently effected an interchange of +the buds and blossoms, with which they always took care to be +provided. Several weeks passed thus, Henry and Julia seeing each other +every day; but long vacation would arrive; and on the evening +preceding his departure from ----, the lovelorn student, twisting +round the stem of a spicy carnation, a leaf which he had torn from his +pocket book, thus conveyed, with his farewell to Julia, an intimation +that he designed upon his return to college next term, to effect an +introduction to her family. Julia's delight may easily be conceived. I +remained in college for the vacation to read, and had shortly the +pleasure of informing Millington that I should be able, upon his +return, to afford him the introduction which he had so much at heart, +having made the acquaintance of Julia and her family. Two months +elapsed ere Millington deigned to notice my letter. His answer to it +was expressed in these terms:-- + +"Freddy--I'm married to a proper vixen, I fancy; but to twenty +thousand pounds. Ay, my boy, there it is--no doing in this world +without the needful, and I'm not the ass to fight shy of such a +windfall. As for Julia, hang her. By Jove, what an escape--wasn't it? +Name her never again, and should she cry for me, give her a sugar +plum--a kiss--a gingerbread husband, or yourself, as you please. I am +not so fond of milk and water, and bread and butter, I can assure her. + +"Ever truly yours, +Henry Owen Millington. + +"P.S. Capital shooting hereabout--can't you slip over for a few days?" + +Poor Julia! I certainly am not clear that I shall not marry her +myself; but as for that scoundrel Millington, he had better take care +how he comes in my way--that's all. + +M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + + + +Manners & Customs of all Nations. + + * * * * * + +WHITSUN ALE. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +On the Coteswold, Gloucester, is a customary meeting at Whitsuntide, +vulgarly called an _Ale_, or _Whitsun Ale_, resorted to by numbers of +young people. Two persons are chosen previous to the meeting, to be +Lord and Lady of the Ale or Yule, who dress as suitably as they can to +those characters; a large barn, or other building is fitted up with +seats, &c. for the lord's hall. Here they assemble to dance and regale +in the best manner their circumstances and the place will afford; each +man treats his sweetheart with a ribbon or favour. The lord and lady +attended by the steward, sword, purse, and mace-bearer, with their +several badges of office, honour the hall with their presence; they +have likewise, in their suit, a page, or train-bearer, and a jester, +dressed in a parti-coloured jacket. The lord's music, consisting of a +tabor and pipe, is employed to conduct the dance. Companies of +morrice-dancers, attended by the jester and tabor and pipe, go about +the country on Monday and Tuesday in Whitsun week, and collect sums +towards defraying the expenses of the Yule. All the figures of the +lord, &c. of the Yule, handsomely represented in basso-relievo, stand +in the north wall of the nave of Cirencester Church, which vouches for +the antiquity of the custom; and, on many of these occasions, they +erect a may-pole, which denotes its rise in Druidism. The mace is made +of silk, finely plaited with ribbons on the top, and filled with +spices and perfumes for such of the company to smell to as desire it. + +Halbert H. + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT FUNERAL RITES AMONG THE GREEKS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The dead were ever held sacred and inviolable even amongst the most +barbarous nations; to defraud them of any due respect was a greater +and more unpardonable sacrilege than to spoil the temples of the gods; +their memories were preserved with a religious care and reverence, and +all their remains honoured with worship and adoration; hatred and envy +themselves were put to silence, for it was thought a sign of a cruel +and inhuman disposition to speak evil of the dead, and prosecute +revenge beyond the grave. The ancient Greeks were strongly persuaded +that their souls could not be admitted into the Elysian fields till +their bodies were committed to the earth; therefore the honours (says +Potter) paid to the dead were the greatest and most necessary; for +these were looked upon as a debt so sacred, that such as neglected to +discharge it were thought accursed. Those who died in foreign +countries had usually their ashes brought home and interred in the +sepulchres of their ancestors, or at least in some part of their +native country; it being thought that the same mother which gave them +life and birth, was only fit to receive their remains, and afford them +a peaceful habitation after death. Whence ancient authors afford as +innumerable instances of bodies conveyed, sometimes by the command of +oracles, sometimes by the good-will of their friends, from foreign +countries to the sepulchres of their fathers, and with great solemnity +deposited there. Thus, Theseus was removed from Scyros to Athens, +Orestes from Tegea, &c. Nor was this pious care limited to persons of +free condition, but slaves also had some share therein; for we find +(says Potter) the Athenian lawgiver commanding the magistrates, called +_Demarchi_, under a severe penalty, to solemnize the funerals, not so +much of citizens, whose friends seldom failed of paying the last +honours, as of slaves, who frequently were destitute of decent burial. + +Those who wasted their patrimony, forfeited their right of being +buried in the sepulchres of their fathers. As soon as any person had +expired, they closed his eyes. Augustus Caesar, upon the approach of +his death, called for a looking-glass, and caused his hair to be +combed, and his fallen cheeks decently composed. All the offices about +the dead were performed by their nearest relations; nor could a +greater misfortune befal any person than to want these respects. When +dying, their friends and relations came close to the bed where they +lay, to bid them farewell, and catch their dying words, which they +never repeated without reverence. The want of opportunity to pay this +compliment to Hector, furnishes Andromache with matter of lamentation, +which is related in the Iliad. They kissed and embraced the dying +person, so taking their last farewell; and endeavoured likewise to +receive in their mouth his last breath, as fancying his soul to expire +with it, and enter into their bodies. When any person died in debt at +Athens, the laws of that city gave leave to creditors to seize the +dead body, and deprive it of burial till payment was made; whence the +corpse of Miltiades, who died in prison, being like to want the honour +of burial, his son Cimon had no other means to release it, but by +taking upon himself his father's debts and fetters. Sometime before +interment, a piece of money was put into the corpse's mouth, which was +thought to be Charon's fare for wafting the departed soul over the +infernal river. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +SINGULAR MANORIAL CUSTOM. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The Manor of Broughton Lindsay, in Lincolnshire, is held under that of +Caistor, by this strange service: viz. that annually, upon Palm +Sunday, the deputy of the Lord of the Manor of Broughton, attends the +church at Caistor, with a new cart whip in his hand, which he cracks +thrice in the church porch; and passes with it on his shoulder up the +nave into the chancel, and seats himself in the pew of the lord of the +manor, where he remains until the officiating minister is about to +read the second lesson; he then proceeds with his whip, to the lash of +which he has in the meantime affixed a purse, which ought to contain +thirty silver pennies (instead of which a single half crown is +substituted,) and kneeling down before the reading desk, he holds the +purse, suspended over the minister's head, all the time he is reading +the lesson. After this he returns to his seat. When divine service is +over, he leaves the whip and purse at the manor house. + +H.B.A. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Contemporary Traveller. + + * * * * * + +MEXICO, OR NEW SPAIN. + + +The name of New Spain was at first given only to Yucatan by Grijalva +and his followers; but Cortez extended it to the whole empire of +Montezuma, which is described by the earliest writers to have reached +from Panama to New California. This, however, appears, from more +recent researches, on the accuracy of which Humboldt relies with +reason, to have been larger than the reality justified; and the whole +of Tenochtitlan may be said to have been contained in the present +states of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico, and Valadolid. In +addition to the name given by Cortez, that of the capital was extended +to the whole kingdom of New Spain; and since the revolution and the +establishment of independence, the several provinces form separate and +independent states, confederating together and constituting the +nineteen United States of Mexico; viz. Chiapa, Chihuahua, Cohahuila +and Texas, Durango, Guanaxuato, Mexico, Michoachan, New Leon, Oaxaca, +Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sonora and Cinaloa, Tabasco, +Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Xalisco, Yucatan and Zacatecas. Old and New +California, Colima, New Mexico, and Tlascala, though forming members +of the federation, declined having state governments, on account of +the expense, and are designated territories. The whole republic, +according to Humboldt, occupies a space of 75,830 square leagues, of +twenty to an equinoxial degree; on which there are to be found every +inequality of surface, and every variety of soil and climate, the two +last of which are dependent in most cases on the former. + +The republic of Mexico, taken on the grand scale, may be considered as +a succession of small mountain-plains at different heights, separated +by mountains, and increasing in magnitude as the coast recedes on both +the eastern and western sides, until the great centre plain be +reached, which, though much broken by mountain ridges, tends to the +north, maintaining nearly an equal elevation. The snow-capped +mountains of Orizava, and the volcanos of Puebla and Toluca, are among +the most splendid objects in the world. The Mexicans divide the +regions of their country into _Tierras calientes, Tierras templadas_, +and _Tierras frias_, according to the climate. Throughout the whole +country there is a lamentable want of water, and of navigable rivers. +The lakes, too, appear to be yearly decreasing in extent, the +immediate consequence of which is, that the elevated portions of the +interior are nearly stripped of vegetation, and the soil covered with +an efflorescence of carbonate of soda, there called _Tequisquita_, +resembling very closely the plains of the two Castiles, and recalling +to the Eastern traveller the desolate wastes of some parts of Persia. + +The effect of elevation on the temperature is most marked, and it is +no uncommon thing to be shivering on one side of the street in the +city of Mexico, and to be literally scorched by the rays of the sun on +the other. Changes are upon record of 55° of Fahrenheit within three +hours, on one of the mountain-plains at the same height with the +valley of Mexico. + +Notwithstanding the volcanic character of Mexico, earthquakes are by +no means so frequent there as in some of the neighbouring countries. +One of the most memorable on record occurred on the 14th of September, +1759, when the volcano of Jorullo, with several smaller cones, forced +the surface of the soil, destroying all before it. + +The infinite variety of climate and soil fits this country for the +production of the fruits of all regions, from those of the hottest +within the tropics to those of the severest cold, where cultivation +can be carried on. But the want of ports, and of navigable rivers on +the Atlantic, opposes the advantages that might result from this +variety of production, though on the Pacific there are a few admirable +ports, such as Acapulco. The prevalence of the "Nortes," or northerly +winds, at certain seasons, seriously affects the navigation on one +side, while that of the "papagallos" is as inconvenient on the other. + +The Mexican population is commonly divided into seven classes:--1. +European Spaniards, commonly called "_gachupines_." 2. White Creoles. +3. Mestizos, descendants of Whites and Indians. 4. Mulattoes, +descendants of Whites and Blacks. 5. Zambos, from Indians and Negroes. +6. Pure Indians. 7. African Blacks. But this classification may be +reduced to four:--1. Whites. 2. Indians. 3. Blacks. 4. Mixed Races, +the various gradations of which may be considered almost infinite. + +The Indians consist of a considerable number of distinct tribes, +differing in many points of appearance, and speaking--not dialects +but--languages entirely different. No less than twenty of these have +been traced, and of fourteen of them there are already grammars and +dictionaries. The Indian population is chiefly centered in the great +plains, and towards the south; and Humboldt thinks that it has flowed +from the north to the south. The history of four great migrations is +preserved in the annals of Mexico, which are worthy of more detailed +examination than we can bestow upon them. The great body of these +people live apart from the other races of their countrymen, in small +villages, full of ignorance, suspicion, and bigotry, and displaying an +apparent phlegm, from which it would seem impossible to arouse them. +This phlegmatic temperament lessens the credit of the men with the +females, who uniformly prefer the European, or the still more +vivacious negro. "The indigenous Mexican is grave, melancholic, +silent, so long as he is not under the influence of intoxicating +liquors. This gravity is peculiarly remarkable in Indian children, who +at the age of four or five years display more intelligence and +precocity than the children of whites. The Mexican loves to attach +mystery even to his most trifling actions; the strongest passions do +not display themselves in his countenance; the transition is frightful +when it passes suddenly from a state of absolute repose to that of +violent and unrestrained agitation." Slavery with them has engendered +guile. They are obstinate in all their habits and opinions; their +religion is one of mere ceremonial, justifying the observation of +a priest to Mr. Ward, "son mui buenos Catolicos, pero mui malos +Cristianos" (very good Catholics, but very bad Christians.) Deception +in this, as well as in every thing else, is the order of the day; and +the Indian Alcalde now oppresses the villagers as much as he himself +has ever been. + +Humboldt considers the Mexican Indian as destitute of all imagination, +though when to a certain degree educated, he attributes to him +facility in learning, a clearness of understanding, a natural turn for +reasoning, and a particular aptitude to subtilize and seize trifling +distinctions. + +The music and dancing are as dull as might be expected among beings so +full of phlegm. The Mexican has a turn for painting and sculpture; and +retains the same fondness for flowers that struck Cortez so forcibly +upwards of three centuries ago. The "Indios Bravos," or Wild Indians, +are said to display more energy; but our information respecting them +is remarkably scanty. + +Among the active vices of the Mexican Indian, that of drunkenness +prevails to a most lamentable extent. In the upper districts, +_pulque_, or the fermented juice of the aloe, is the principal +tempter; sometimes a spirit, distilled from the same plant, called +_Vino de Mescal_; while, in the hotter districts, the same effects are +ensured by the _chinguirito_, a very coarse kind of rum. Combined with +this disposition to intoxication, the Indian is constitutionally +indolent; and, now that he is a free man, he will rarely work, except +to obtain just as much as will afford him the means of enjoying his +greatest luxury--that of steeping his senses in oblivion. This last +tendency is much to be deplored, as, in the larger towns, we know that +every Sunday (which is the day of greatest indulgence) assassinations, +to the extent of six or eight each day, are the melancholy consequence +of its indulgence. Humboldt states that the police were in the +practice of sending tumbrels round, to collect the unhappy victims of +intoxication. The punishment was, and we believe still is, three days' +labour in the streets; but it does not seem to be very efficacious, +for generally within the week the delinquents are again in custody. + +There is something characteristic in the indolence of these sombre +beings. They will travel immense distances; but to steady labour they +are, generally speaking, not prone. It is told of them, that in one of +the most fertile districts (the _Baxio_) it is not unusual for an +Indian, on receiving his wages, to get thoroughly drunk, go to sleep, +and on awakening renew his potations and repose, until the exhaustion +of his finances compels him to return to labour. In some parts, +however, there are exceptions to this observation. + +Education has been more attended to, by some of the leading +personages, than could have been expected in a society that had been +so much kept in the shade. We apprehend the advantages are chiefly +prospective, and may be well defined in another generation; at present +they are but small. The whites have been, and still are, the most +educated portion of the Mexicans, owing, no doubt, to their greater +opulence, and having access to official rank. The mass of ignorance, +however, among all classes, is inconceivable to any one who has only +moved in the principal countries of Europe. Nor is it confined to the +lower classes, but finds protection among the highest in the +community. We heard a reverend canon of the metropolitan church +gravely inquire, whether it was possible to reach London except by +sailing up the Thames. And we knew a very pretty, agreeable young +lady, moving in the first circles, who could not write a single letter +at the age of seventeen. She has been since married, and has, we are +informed, been taught to write by her husband, who is not a Mexican. +The religion of all classes resembles too much that of the Indians; +and the practical morality and general tone of society are by no means +refined. If one half of the scandalous tales in circulation be true, +the former ranks with that of Paris in its worst periods, and the +latter is assuredly gross to a degree that would surprise even an +inhabitant of Madrid. The familiarity with which _every subject_ is +treated at first excites emotions in an Englishman of the most +unpleasant kind, which gradually subside, from the frequency with +which they are discussed by young and old; by high and low, of both +sexes.--_Foreign Quarterly Review_. + + * * * * * + + + + +Notes of a Reader. + + * * * * * + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S NEW WORK. + + +We detach this little descriptive gem from Sir Walter Scott's "Anne of +Geierstein," just published. An outline of this very delightful novel +will be found in a SUPPLEMENT with the present number of the MIRROR. + +"The ancient tower of Geierstein, though neither extensive, nor +distinguished by architectural ornament, possessed an air of terrible +dignity by its position on the very verge of the opposite bank of the +torrent, which, just at the angle of the rock on which the ruins are +situated, falls sheer over a cascade of nearly a hundred feet in +height, and then rushes down the defile, through a trough of living +rock, which perhaps its waves have been deepening since time itself +had a commencement. Facing, and at the same time looking down upon +this eternal roar of waters, stood the old tower, built so close to +the verge of the precipice, that the buttresses with which the +architect had strengthened the foundation, seemed a part of the solid +rock itself, and a continuation of its perpendicular ascent. As usual, +throughout Europe in the feudal times, the principal part of the +building was a massive square pile, the decayed summit of which was +rendered picturesque, by flanking turrets of different sizes and +heights, some round, some angular, some ruinous, some tolerably +entire, varying the outline of the building as seen against the stormy +sky." + + * * * * * + + +THORWALDSEN. + + +Since the death of his illustrious contemporary, Canova, Thorwaldsen, +born at Copenhagen in 1771-2, has occupied the public eye as head of +the modern school. The character and powers of this master are +doubtless of a very elevated rank: but neither in the extent nor +excellence of his works, do we apprehend his station to be so high as +sometimes placed. The genius of the Danish sculptor is forcible, yet +is its energy derived more from peculiarity than from real excellence. +His ideal springs less from imitation of the antique, or of nature, +than from the workings of his own individual mind--it is the creation +of a fancy seeking forcible effect in singular combinations, rather +than in general principles; therefore hardly fitted to excite lasting +or beneficial influence upon the age. Simplicity and imposing +expression seem to have hitherto formed the principal objects of +his pursuit; but the distinction between the simple and rude, the +powerful and the exaggerated, is not always observed in the labours +of the Dane. His simplicity is sometimes without grace; the +impressive--austere, and without due refinement. The air and contours +of his heads, except, as in the Mercury--an excellent example both of +the beauties and defects of the artist's style--when immediately +derived from antiquity, though grand and vigorous, seldom harmonize in +the principles of these efforts with the majestic regularity of +general nature. The forms, again, are not unfrequently poor, without a +vigorous rendering of the parts, and destitute at times of their just +roundness. These defects may in some measure have arisen from the +early and more frequent practice of the artist in relievos. In this +department, Thorwaldsen is unexceptionably to be admired. The Triumph +of Alexander, originally intended for the frieze of the government +palace at Milan, notwithstanding an occasional poverty, in the +materials of thought, is, as a whole, one of the grandest compositions +in the world; while the delicacy of execution, and poetic feeling, in +the two exquisite pieces of Night and Aurora, leave scarcely a wish +here ungratified. But in statues, Thorwaldsen excels only where the +forms and sentiment admit of uncontrolled imagination, or in which no +immediate recourse can be had to fixed standards of taste, and to the +simple effects of nature. Hence, of all his works, as admitting of +unconfined expression, and grand peculiarity of composition, the +statues of the Apostles, considered in themselves, are the most +excellent. Thorwaldsen, in fine, possesses singular, but in some +respects erratic genius. His ideas of composition are irregular; his +powers of fancy surpass those of execution; his conceptions seem to +lose a portion of their value and freshness in the act of realizement. +As an individual artist, he will command deservedly a high rank among +the names that shall go down to posterity. As a sculptor, who will +influence, or has extended the principles of the art, his pretensions +are not great; or, should this influence and these claims not be thus +limited, the standard of genuine and universal excellence must be +depreciated in a like degree.--_Meme's History of Sculpture, &c._ + + * * * * * + + +SIGN OF THE TIMES. + + +One of the singularities of the time is an unwillingness to tell the +truth, even when there is no ground for suppressing or perverting it. +It is so frequently under or overstated by most persons in this +country who speak and write, according to the side they have espoused, +or the inclinations and political principles of those by whom they are +likely to be read or heard, that they at last persuade themselves +there is a sort of impropriety in presenting facts in their proper +colours.--_Quarterly Review_. + + * * * * * + + +A DUTCH TALE. + + +A ballad of _Roosje_ is perhaps the most touchingly told story +which the Dutch possess. It is of a maid--a beloved maid--born +at her mother's death--bred up 'midst the tears and kisses of her +father--prattling thoughtlessly about her mother--every one's +admiration for beauty, cleverness, and virtue--gentle as the moon +shining on the downs. Her name was to be seen written again and again +on the sands by the Zeeland youths--and scarcely a beautiful flower +bloomed but was gathered for her. Now in Zeeland, when the south-winds +of summer come, there comes too a delicate fish, which hides itself in +the sand, and which is dug out as a luxury by the young people. It is +the time of sport and gaiety--and they venture far--far over the flat +coast into the sea. The boys drag the girls among the waves--and +Roosje was so dragged, notwithstanding many appeals. "A kiss, a kiss, +or you go further," cried her conductor--she fled--he followed, both +laughing:--"Into the sea--into the sea," said all her companions--he +pushes her on--it is deeper, and deeper--she shrieks--she sinks--they +sink together--the sands were faithless--there was no succour--the +waves rolled over them--there was stillness and death:--The terrified +playmates looked-- + + "All silently,--they look'd again-- + And silently sped home-- + And every heart was bursting then, + But every tongue was dumb. + + "And still and stately o'er the wave, + The mournful moon arose, + Flinging pale beams upon the grave, + Where they in peace repose. + + "The wind glanc'd o'er the voiceless sea, + The billows kissed the strand-- + And one sad dirge of misery + Fill'd all the mourning land." + +_Foreign Quarterly Review_. + + + * * * * * + + +ENGLAND AND HER COLONIES. + + +The discouragement of colonization is certainly not the feeling of the +great majority of the people of England, and it is equally certain +that it is not the policy of this empire. Whatever may be the fate of +the several British colonies at some future and distant period, it is +something at least to have spread our laws and language, and moral +character, over the most distant parts of the globe. The colonies that +speak the language of Old England--that preserve her manners and her +habits--will always be her best customers; and their surplus capital +will always centre in the mother country. It was not the opinion of +our ancestors, that colonies were an incumbrance; they--good, stupid +souls--imagined that colonies enlarged the sphere of commerce---that +commerce required ships--that ships created seamen for manning the +royal navy, and that the whole contributed to individual wealth, to +the national revenue, and the national strength; and such we believe +still to be the opinion of men of sound practical knowledge, whose +minds are unwarped by abstract systems and preconceived theories, to +which every thing must be made to bend. Such, too, was the feeling of +that extraordinary man, who, with the solitary exception of England, +exacted homage from every crowned head of Europe. This man, in the +plenitude of his power, felt that something was still wanting to +enable him to grapple with one little island, invulnerable by its +maritime strength, the sinews of which he knew to be derived from its +colonies: he felt that, deprived as he was of "ships, colonies, and +commerce," England was able to stand alone among nations, and to bid +defiance to his overwhelming power. That cunning fox, too, by whose +councils he was occasionally guided, knew too well the degree of +strength that England derived from her colonies, which he described to +be her very vitals, and which could only be reached by a powerful +navy. He designated them as the sheet anchor of Great Britain--the +prop that supported her maritime superiority--the strongholds of her +power. "Deprive her of her colonies," said Talleyrand. "and you break +down her last wall; you fill up her last ditch."--_Fas est et ab hoste +doceri.--Quarterly Review_. + + * * * * * + + +INVITATIONS. + + +As a certificate of your intention to be punctual, you may send your +friends, a similar billet to the following:-- + +My dear Sir, + +The honour of your company is requested to dine with ---- on _Fry_day, +1828. + +The favour of a positive answer is requested, or the proffered plate +will be appropriated as it was when-- + +_Sir Ill-bred Ignorance_ returned the following answer:--"I shall be +quite happy to come if I possibly can." Such words the committee voted +were equivalent to these--I'll come, if in the mean time I am not +invited to a party that I like better.--_Dr. Kitchiner_. + + * * * * * + + +GENEVA + + +Has very little, as a city, to recommend it. It is characterized by +much active industry within doors, the _savans_ and _mechaniciens_ +being pent up in their closets and ateliers, and very little gaiety +pervades the promenades. Some parts of the town are sufficiently +picturesque; the overhanging roofs, for which it is remarkable, are, +however, too lofty to screen the pedestrian from the rain, especially +if accompanied by a high wind, and form no shade from the sun. The +pavement of the streets is bad, and their irregularity is a +considerable drawback from the internal appearance. The pavement of +the inclined plane in the Hotel de Ville, by which we gain the arduous +ascent that conducts to the Passport office, is a curiosity of its +kind, and perhaps unique. The city is tolerably well fenced in with +walls within walls, draw and suspension bridges, and gates; while +stakes and chains secure from surprise on the part of the lake. The +small canton of Geneva, though in the vicinity of the Great Alpine +chain and the mountains of the Jura, includes no mountains. The name +of the city and canton has been traced by the etymologists to a Celtic +origin; _Gen_, a sally-port or exit, and _av_, a river, probably +because the Rhone here leaves the Leman lake. The eagle on the +escutcheon of the city arms indicates its having been an _imperial_ +city; and it is believed the key was an adjunct of Pope Martin V., in +the year 1418. The motto on the scroll, "Ex tenebris lux," appears to +have existed anterior to the _light_ of the Reformation. The number of +inhabitants may now be estimated at about 22,000; but it appears, by a +census in 1789, to have been 26,148. In this moral city, it is +computed that every twelfth birth is illegitimate. The number of +people engaged in clock and watch-making and jewellery, may be safely +rated at 3,000. In years favourable to these staple manufactures +75,000 ounces of gold are employed, which is almost equally divided +between watches and jewellery. The daily supply of silver is about 134 +ounces. Pearls form an article of considerable value in the jewellery, +and have been rated at no less a sum that 1,200 francs daily. 70,000 +watches are annually made, only one-twelfth of which are in silver. +More than fifty distinct branches are comprised in the various +departments, and each workman, on the average, earns about three +shillings a-day.--_Mr. John Murray's Tour_. + + * * * * * + + +HANDEL. + + +Some folks eat two or three times as much as others--for instance, our +incomparable and inspired composer, Handel, required uncommonly large +and frequent supplies of food. Among other stories told of this great +musician, it is said that whenever he dined _alone_ at a tavern, he +always ordered "dinner for _three_;" and on receiving an answer to his +question--"Is de tinner retty?"--"As soon as the company come."--He +said, _con strepito_, "Den pring up te Tinner _prestissimo_, I am de +gombany." + + * * * * * + + +BAD WRITING. + +_From one of Dr. Parr's Letters_. + + +His letters put me in mind of tumult and anarchy; there is sedition in +every sentence; syllable has no longer any confidence in syllable, but +dissolves its connexion as preferring an alliance with the succeeding +word. A page of his epistle looks like the floor of a garden-house, +covered with old, crooked nails, which have just been released from a +century's durance in a brick wall. I cannot cast my eyes on his +character without being religious. This is the only good effect I have +derived from his writings; he brings into my mind the resurrection, +and paints the tumultuous resuscitation of awakened men with a pencil +of masterly confusion. I am fully convinced of one thing, either that +he or his pen is intoxicated when he writes to me, for his letters +seem to have borrowed the reel of wine, and stagger from one corner of +the sheet to the other. They remind me of Lord Chatham's +administration, lying together heads and points in one truckle-bed. + + * * * * * + + +WINE AND WATER. + + +The same quantity of wine diluted intoxicates sooner than the same +quantity drank in the same time _without_ dilution; the wine being +applied to a larger surface of the stomach, acts with proportionably +greater quickness--though wine _diluted_ sooner _intoxicates_, its +effects are sooner over.--_Dr. Kitchiner_. + + * * * * * + + +NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +Of the total population of New South Wales, which, in round numbers, +may be taken at 40,000, the Free Emigrants + + amount only to about ............ 7,000 + Native Children ................. 5,000 + Emancipated Convicts............. 8,000 + Convicts in Servitude .......... 20,000 + ______ + 40,000 + + + * * * * * + + +OMEN. + + +As Cooke, the solicitor-general, was beginning to open the pleadings +at the trial of Charles I, the king gently tapped him on the shoulder +with his cane, crying "Hold, hold!" At the same moment the silver head +of the cane fell off, and rolled on the floor. + + * * * * * + + +COTTAGE GARDENS. + + +The comforts and benefits to be derived from a well cultivated garden, +by a poor man's family, are almost beyond calculation. What a resource +for hours after work, or when trade is dull, and regular work scarce! +What a contrast and counteraction is the healthy, manly, employment +which a cottage garden affords, to the close, impure, unwholesome air, +the beastliness and obscenity, the waste of time, the destruction of +morals, the loss of character, money, and health, which are the +inmates of too many common ale-houses!--_Gardener's Mag_. + + * * * * * + + +PAINTING. + + +Painting, were the use of it universal, would be a powerful means of +instruction to children and the lower orders; and were all the fine +surfaces, which are now plain, and absolutely wasted, enriched with +the labours of the art, if they once began to appear, they would +accumulate rapidly; and were the ornamented edifices open to all, as +freely as they ought to be, a wide field of new and agreeable study +would offer itself. A person, who thoroughly understood the +well-chosen subjects, and was qualified to explain them to a stranger, +could not be devoid of knowledge, nor could his mind want food for +constant contemplation. The sense of beauty has hitherto been little +cultivated in Great Britain; but it certainly exists, and shows itself +principally in laying out gardens and pleasure-grounds with unrivalled +skill.--_Edin. Review_. + + * * * * * + + + + +Spirit of Discovery. + + * * * * * + + +_Hydrophobia_. + + +In the _New Monthly Magazine_ for October, 1826, is the following +statement of the efficacy of the guaco for the cure of the bite of a +mad dog, published by the gentleman who first made use of the plant in +South America, as an antidote to that scourge of human nature, +hydrophobia; his words are, "I shall simply state, that during my +residence in South America, I had frequent opportunities of witnessing +the direful effects of hydrophobia, without having in any one case +that came under my care been successful in its cure by the usual modes +prescribed in Europe. It fortunately occurred to me, that the guaco, +so celebrated for curing the bite or sting of all venomous snakes, +might prove equally efficacious in hydrophobic cases. How far my idea +was correct that an analogy existed between the virus of a serpent and +that of a rabid dog, I leave to others to determine; but such was my +opinion, and I acted upon it in all subsequent cases with complete +success." + +We understand the same gentleman has received from South America two +plants which he was in the habit of prescribing for insanity and +pulmonary consumption, with the happiest effects; and as it is his +intention to give them an immediate trial, should they be found to +answer in Europe, as in South America, of which he has not the least +doubt, the discovery may be considered as of the first consequence in +medicine. + + +_Mutton Hams_. + + +The _Journal Des Reconnaissances Useless_ gives the following method of +curing legs of mutton like ham:--It is necessary that the mutton +should be very fat. Two ounces of raw sugar must be mixed with an +ounce of common salt and half a spoonful of saltpetre. The meat is to +be rubbed well with this, and then placed in a tureen. It must be +beaten and turned twice a day during three consecutive days; and the +scum which comes from the meat having been taken off, it is to be +wiped, and again rubbed with the mixture. The next day it should be +again beaten, and the two operations ought to be repeated alternately +during ten days, care being taken to turn the meat each time. It must +be then exposed to the smoke for ten days. These hams are generally +eaten cold. + + +_Potato Chestnuts_. + + +A mode has been adopted to prepare potatoes as food, which has at +least one advantage--that of economy. The potatoes are roasted in a +kiln or oven, and are thus prevented from sprouting, (which injures +their quality so much at this season of the year,) and are thus +preserved for some time in a fit state for consumption. They are +better for being again heated before they are used, and though it is +to be regretted that persons should be reduced to such food, yet they +are cheaper and more wholesome than the bread usually given in times +of scarcity to the poorer classes. + + +_New Pyrometer_. + + +A new air-thermometer has been invented by M. Pouillet, for the +purpose of measuring degrees of heat in very high temperatures; an +object hitherto of very difficult attainment. By means of this +instrument it has been ascertained, that the heat of melted silver is +1677°; of a melted mixture of one part gold and three parts silver, +1803°; and of melted pure gold 2096°. + + +_To Destroy Slugs_. + + +A correspondent of the _Gardener's Magazine_ states, that after in +vain trying salt, lime, and dibbling holes for preserving young +cauliflowers and cabbages from slugs, he succeeded by spreading some +well cut chaff round the plants under hand glasses, and some round the +outsides of the glasses. The slugs in their attempt to reach the +plant, find themselves immediately enveloped in the chaff, which +prevents their moving, so that when he raised the glasses to give the +plants air, he found hundreds of disabled slugs round the outside of +the glasses, which he took away and destroyed. + + +_To make Kitchen Vegetables tender_. + + +When peas, French beans, &c. do not boil easily, it has usually been +imputed to the coolness of the season, or to the rains. This popular +notion is erroneous. The difficulty of boiling them soft arises from +an excess of gypsum imbibed during their growth. To correct this, +throw a small quantity of subcarbonate of soda into the pot along with +the vegetables.--_From the French_. + + + +_Beet Root Sugar_ + + +Has now become an article of some practical magnitude in French +commerce; since the annual consumption is between seven and eight +million pounds. + + +_Silk Trade_. + + +It was lately mentioned by Mr. Huskisson, in the House of Commons, as +a proof of the flourishing state of our trade, that British Bandanna +handkerchiefs were in the course of shipment to India. In addition to +this fact, we can state of our own knowledge that they are now +exporting to France, in no inconsiderable quantities, not merely as +samples, but in the regular course of trade.--_For. Quart. Rev._ + + +_Electricity_. + + +It is curious to take a retrospective view of the mode in which the +effects of the Leyden phial were announced to the world, on their +first discovery. The philosophers who first experienced, in their own +person, the shock attendant on the transmission of an electric +discharge, were so impressed with wonder and with terror by this novel +sensation, that they wrote the most ridiculous and exaggerated account +of their feelings on the occasion. Muschenbrok states, that he +received so dreadful a concussion in his arms, shoulder, and heart, +that he lost his breath, and it was two days before he could recover +from its effects; he declared also, that he should not be induced to +take another shock for the whole kingdom of France. Mr. Allemand +reports, that the shock deprived him of breath for some minutes, and +afterwards produced so acute a pain along his right arm, that he was +apprehensive it might be attended with serious consequences. Mr. +Winkler informs us, that it threw his whole body into convulsions, and +excited such a ferment in his blood, as would have thrown him into a +fever, but for the timely employment of febrifuge remedies. He states, +that at another time it produced copious bleeding at the nose; the +same effect was produced also upon his lady, who was almost rendered +incapable of walking. The strange accounts naturally excite the +attention and wonder of all classes of people; the learned and the +vulgar were equally desirous of experiencing so singular a sensation, +and great numbers of half-taught electricians wandered through every +part of Europe to gratify this universal curiosity. + +It is on the nervous system that the most considerable action of +electricity is exerted. A strong charge passed through the head, gave +to Mr. Singer the sensation of a violent but universal blow, and was +followed by a transient loss of memory and indistinctness of vision. +If a charge be sent through the head of a bird, its optic nerve is +usually injured or destroyed, and permanent blindness induced; and a +similar shock given to larger animals, produces a tremulous state of +the muscles, with general prostration of strength. If a person who is +standing receive a charge through the spine, he loses his power over +the muscles to such a degree, that he either drops on his knees, or +falls prostrate on the ground; if the charge be sufficiently powerful, +it will produce immediate death, in consequence, probably, of the +sudden exhaustion of the whole energy of the nervous system. Small +animals, such as mice and sparrows, are instantly killed by a shock +from thirty square inches of glass. Van Marum found that eels are +irrecoverably deprived of life when a shock is sent through their +whole body; but when only a part of the body is included in the +circuit, the destruction of irritability is confined to that +individual part, while the rest retains the power of motion. Different +persons are affected in very different degrees by electricity, +according to their peculiar constitutional susceptibility. Dr. Young +remarks, that a very minute tremor, communicated to the most elastic +parts of the body, in particular the chest, produces an agitation of +the nerves, which is not wholly unlike the effect of a weak +electricity. + +The bodies of animals killed by electricity, rapidly undergo +putrefaction, and the action of electricity upon the flesh of animals +is also found to accelerate this process in a remarkable degree. +The same effect has been observed in the bodies of persons destroyed +by lightning. It is also a well-established fact, that the blood does +not coagulate after death from this cause. + + +_Transplanting Shrubs in full Growth_. + + +Dig a narrow trench round the plant, leaving its roots in the middle +in an isolated ball of earth; fill the trench with plaster of Paris, +which will become hard in a few minutes, and form a case to the ball +and plant, which may be lifted and removed any where at +pleasure.--_French Paper_. + + +_Freezing Mixture_. + + +A cheap and powerful freezing mixture may be made by pulverizing +Glauber's salts finely, and placing it level at the bottom of a glass +vessel. Equal parts of sal ammoniac and nitre are then to be finely +powdered, and mixed together, and subsequently added to the Glauber's +salts, stirring the powders well together; after which adding water +sufficient to dissolve the salts, a degree of cold will be produced, +frequently below Zero of Fahrenheit. But Mr. Walker states, that +nitrate of ammonia, phosphate of soda, and diluted nitric acid, will +on the instant produce a reduction of temperature amounting to 80 +degrees. It is desirable to reduce the temperature of the substances +previously, if convenient, by placing the vessels in water, with nitre +powder thrown in occasionally. + + +_Microscopic Examination of the Blood_. + + +By the aid of Tulley's achromatic microscope, and under highly +magnifying powers, it has recently been discovered that the globules +of the blood congeal into flat circular bodies, and arrange themselves +in rows, one body being placed partly underneath another, and in like +manner as a pile of similar coins, when thrown gently down, would be +found to arrange themselves. This curious effect has been attributed +to the vitality yet remaining in the blood, during the act of +congealing. At any rate it is a most singular fact, for although we +might naturally conceive that the flattened circular plates would +place themselves in juxtaposition, yet we never could have supposed +that they would have partly slipped underneath each other. In order to +make this very curious experiment, it is necessary that the blood, as +freshly drawn, be slightly and thinly smeared over the surface of a +slip of crown, or window glass, and be covered with a very thin slip +of Bohemian plate glass; and thus some slight inequalities in the +thickness of the layer of blood between them will be produced, and +which are necessary to succeed in producing the very curious +appearances abovementioned.--_Gilt's Repository_. + + +_To make the Liqueur Curaçoa_. + + +Put into a large bottle, nearly filled with alcohol, at thirty-four +degrees of Baumé (or thirty-six) the peels of six fine Portugal +oranges, which are smooth skinned, and let them infuse for fifteen +days. At the end of this time, put into a large stone or glass vessel, +11 ounces of brandy at eighteen degrees, 4-1/2 ounces of white sugar, +and 4-1/2 ounces of river water. When the sugar is dissolved, add a +sufficient quantity of the above infusion of orange peels, to give it +a predominant flavour; and aromatise with 3 grammes of fine cinnamon, +and as much mace, both well bruised. Lastly, throw into the liqueur 31 +grammes (1 ounce) of Brazil wood, in powder. Leave the whole in +infusion ten days, being stirred three or four times a day. At the end +of this time taste the liqueur; and if it be too strong and sweet, add +more water to it; if too weak, add alcohol, at 30 degrees; and if it +be not sweet enough, put syrup to it. Give it colour with caramel when +you would tinge it.--_From the French_. + + +_Subterraneous Growth of Potatoes_. + + +A mixture of two parts Danube sand, and one part common earth, was +laid in a layer an inch thick, in one corner of my cellar; and, in +April, thirty-two yellow potatoes with their skins placed upon its +surface. They threw out stalks on all sides; and, at the end of the +following November, more than a quarter of a bushel of the best +potatoes were gathered, about a tenth part of which were about the +size of apples--the rest as large as nuts. The skin was very thin; the +pulp farinaceous, white, and of a good taste. No attention was given +to the potatoes during the time they remained on the sand, and they +grew without the influence of the sun or light. This trial may be +advantageously applied in fortified places, hospitals, houses of +correction, and, in general, in all places where cellars or +subterraneous places occur, being neither too cold nor too moist; and +where it is important to procure a cheap, but abundant nourishment for +many individuals.--_From the French_. + + * * * * * + + + + +Retrospective Gleanings. + + * * * * * + + +CHILTERN HUNDREDS. + + +The three Hundreds of Desborough, Stoke, and Burnham, in Bucks, are +called the "Chiltern Hundreds," and take their name from the Chalk +Hills which run through Bucks and the neighbouring counties. The +property of these Hundreds remaining in the Crown, a Steward is +appointed at a salary of 20_s_. and all fees, which nominal office is +accepted by any Member of Parliament who wishes to vacate his seat. + + * * * * * + + +PEG TANKARDS. + + +At Braintree and Booking, in Essex, when topers partake of a pot of +ale, it is divided into three parts or draughts, the first of which is +called _neckum_, the second _sinkum_, and the third _swankum_. In +Bailey's Dictionary, _swank_ is said to be "that remainder of liquor +at the bottom of a tankard, pot, or cup, which is just sufficient for +one draught, which it is not accounted good manners to divide with the +left-hand man, and according to the quantity is called either a large +or little swank." + + * * * * * + + +CHIMNEYS. + + +Has the precise period been ascertained when chimneys upon the present +mode were first constructed in England? It was apparently not sooner +than Henry the Eighth's time; for Leland, when he visited Bolton +Castle, in Yorkshire, seems to have been greatly surprised by the +novelty and ingenuity of the contrivance. "One thing (says he) I much +notyd in the haull of Bolton, how chimneys was conveyed by tunnills +made in the sydds of the waulls, betwixt the lights; and by this +meanes is the smoke of the harthe wonder strangely convayed." + +The front of St. John's Hospital at Lichfield, presents one of the +most curious ancient specimens extant of this part of our early +domestic architecture. This building was erected 1495, but it is +possible that the remarkable chimneys may have been subsequently +added. + + * * * * * + + +OLD LONDON. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +In a collection of Epigrams written by Thomas Freeman, of +Gloucestershire, and published in 1014, is the following, entitled +"London's Progresse:"-- + + "Why, how nowe, Babell, whither wilt thou build? + I see old Holbourne, Charing Crosse, the Strand, + Are going to St. Giles's in-the-field, + Saint Katerne, she takes Wapping by the hand, + + "And Hogsdon will to Hygate ere't be long, + London has got a great way from the streame, + I thinke she means to go to Islington, + To eate a dish of strawberries and creame. + The City's sure in progresse I surmise, + Or going to revell it in some disorder, + Without the Walls, without the Liberties, + Where she neede feare nor Mayor nor Recorder. + Well! say she do, 'twere pretty, yet 'tis pitty + A Middlesex Bailiff should arrest the Citty." + +W.C.R.R. + + * * * * * + + +AVVER. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The word "Avver" has doubtless the same origin as the German word +_"Hafer" "Haber"_ which signifies in English, _oat_. + +In some parts of Germany a pap of oatmeal "Haferbrei" is very common +as breakfast of the lower classes. Of "Haferbrod" oatbread, I only +heard in 1816, when the other sorts of grain were so very scarce in +Germany. + +_A German and Constant Reader of the Mirror_. + + * * * * * + + +THE HALCYON + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +So often alluded to by the poets, is the bird called the King Fisher. +It was believed by the ancients that while the female brooded over the +eggs, the sea and weather remained calm and unruffled; hence arose the +expression of Halcyon days. + +R.N. + + * * * * * + + +SIR ISAAC NEWTON. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +Woolsthorp, Lincolnshire, a little village on the great north road +between Stamford and Grantham, is memorable as the birthplace of that +illustrious philosopher, Sir Isaac Newton. The house in which he was +born, is a kind of farmhouse, built of stone, and is, or was lately +standing. The learned Dr. Stukely visited it in 1721, and was showed +the inside of it by the country people; in a letter to Dr. Mead on +this occasion, he says, "They led me up stairs, and showed me Sir +Isaac's study, where I suppose he studied when in the country, in his +younger days, as perhaps, when he visited his mother from the +university. I observed the shelves were of his own making, being +pieces of deal boxes, which probably he sent his books and clothes +down in upon these occasions." + +Halbert H. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Gatherer. + +"A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." + +SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + + +When Dr. Johnson courted Mrs. Porter, whom he afterwards married, he +told her "that he was of mean extraction, that he had no money; and +that he had an uncle hanged!" The lady by way of reducing herself, to +an equality with the doctor, replied, "that she had no more money than +himself; and that, though she had not a relation hanged, she had +_fifty who deserved hanging_." And thus was accomplished this very +curious amour. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +On the Dorchester road from Sturminster, is a public-house called the +"King's Stag," its sign displays a stag with a gold collar around its +neck, and underneath are the following lines:-- + + When Julius Caesar landed here, + I was then a little deer; + When Julius Caesar reigned king, + Round my neck he put this ring; + Whoever shall me overtake, + Spare my life for Caesar's sake. + +Ruris. + + * * * * * + + +When Lord Norbury was applied to by a collector of one of the local +taxes for the amount of tax, his lordship said, he had already paid +it, and on looking to his file, discovered a receipt, signed by the +same collector who then applied for it. The tax-man, confounded, +apologized in the best manner he could, stating his regret that he did +not recollect it. "I dare say," said my lord, "you are very sorry you +did not _re_-collect it." + + * * * * * + + +IN KENSINGTON CHURCHYARD. + + +"Here are deposited the remains of Mrs. Ann Floyer, the beloved wife +of Mr. Richard Floyer, of Thistle Grove, in this parish, died on +Thursday the 8th of May, 1823. + +"_God hath chosen her as a pattern for the other Angels_." + + * * * * * + + +IN DUNDEE CHURCHYARD. + + + "Here lies the body of John Watson, + Read not this with your hats on, + For why? He was the Provost of Dundee, + Hallelujah, hallelugee." + + * * * * * + + +NEW MEASURE. + + +Shortly after the introduction of the New Weights and Measures, an +innkeeper in a market-town, not far from Sudbury, in Suffolk, sent his +ostler to a customer with a quantity of liquor, which he delivered +with the following words:--"Marstur bid me tell ye _Sar_, as how 'tis +the New _Infarnal_ Measure." + + * * * * * + + +A farmer calling upon his landlord to pay his rent, apologized for +being late, by saying that his illness prevented his attending +earlier, and he did not know what his disorder was. The gentleman told +him it was "Influenza." Returning home he was met by the schoolmaster +of the village, who inquired after his health, "I am very poorly," +replied the farmer, "my landlord tells me my complaint is _Humphry +Windsor_." + + * * * * * + + +A witness on a trial being interrogated by Judge Willis, in a manner +not pleasing to him, turned to an acquaintance, and told him in a half +whisper, "he did not come there to be queered by the old one." Willis +heard him, and instantly replied, in his own cant, "I am old 'tis +true--and I'm rum sometimes--and for once I'll be queer--and I send +you to quod." + +H.B.A. + + * * * * * + + +An exciseman whose remarks and answers were frequently rather odd, +riding at a quick pace upon a _blind_ pony, was met by a person who +praised the animal much, "Yes," replied the officer, "he is a very +good one, only he _shies_ at every thing he _sees_." + + * * * * * + + +SIR WALTER SCOTT'S NEW NOVEL + + +A supplement published with the present Number, contains an outline of +of the Novel of Anne of Geierstein, OR THE MAID OF THE MIST; With +Unique Extracts, &c. + + * * * * * + + +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 1 0 + 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 + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143. Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +and by all Newsmen and Booksellers_. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11340 *** |