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diff --git a/11341-0.txt b/11341-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a6e2a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/11341-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1535 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11341 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11341-h.htm or 11341-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/4/11341/11341-h/11341-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/4/11341/11341-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 282.] SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS. + +NO. III. + + +[Illustration: HANOVER TERRACE, REGENT'S PARK.] + +"The architectural spirit which has arisen in London since the late +peace, and ramified from thence to every city and town of the empire, +will present an era in our domestic history." Such is the opinion of an +intelligent writer in a recent number of Brande's "Quarterly Journal;" +and he goes on to describe the new erections in the Regent's Park as the +"dawning of a new and better taste, and in comparison with that which +preceded it, a just subject of national exultation;" in illustration of +which fact we have selected the subjoined view of _Hanover Terrace_, +being the last group on the left of the York-gate entrance, and that +next beyond Sussex-place, distinguishable by its cupola tops. + +Hanover Terrace, unlike Cornwall and other terraces of the Regent's +Park, is somewhat raised from the level of the road, and fronted by a +shrubbery, through which is a carriage-drive. The general effect of the +terrace is pleasing; and the pediments, supported on an arched rustic +basement by fluted Doric columns, are full of richness and chaste +design; the centre representing an emblematical group of the arts and +sciences, the two ends being occupied with antique devices; and the +three surmounted with figures of the Muses. The frieze is also light and +simply elegant. The architect is Mr. Nash, to whose classic taste the +Regent's Park is likewise indebted for other interesting architectural +groups. + +Altogether, Hanover Terrace may be considered as one of the most +splendid works of the neighbourhood, and it is alike characteristic of +British opulence, and of the progressive improvement of national taste. +On the general merits of these erections we shall avail ourselves of the +author already quoted, inasmuch as his remarks are uniformly +distinguished by moderation and good taste. + +"Regent's Park, and its circumjacent buildings, promise, in few years, +to afford something like an equipoise to the boasted _Palace-group_ of +Paris. If the plan already acted upon is steadily pursued, it will +present a union of rural and architectural beauty on a scale of greater +magnificence than can be found in any other place. The variety is here +in the detached groups, and not as formerly in the individual dwellings, +by which all unity and grandeur of effect was, of course, annihilated. +These groups, undoubtedly, will not always bear the eye of a severe +critic, but altogether they exhibit, perhaps, as much beauty as can +easily be introduced into a collection of dwelling-houses of moderate +size. Great care has been taken to give something of a classical air to +every composition; and with this object, the deformity of _door-cases_ +has been in most cases excluded, and the entrances made from behind. The +Doric and Ionic orders have been chiefly employed; but the Corinthian, +and even the Tuscan, are occasionally introduced. One of these groups is +finished with domes; but this is an attempt at magnificence which, on so +small a scale, is not deserving of imitation." + + * * * * * + + +THE ISLE OF SHEPPEY. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror._) + + +Sir,--Under the _Arcana of Science_, in your last Number, I observed an +account of the inroads made by the sea on the Isle of Sheppey, together +with the exhumation there of numerous animal and vegetable remains. As +an additional fact I inform you, that, at about three hundred feet below +the surface of the sand-bank, (of which the island is composed,) there +is a vast prostrate antediluvian forest, masses of which are being +continually developed by the influence of marine agency, and exhibit +highly singular appearances. When the workmen were employed some years +back in sinking a well to supply the garrison with water, the aid of +gunpowder was required to blast the fossil timber, it having attained, +by elementary action and the repose of ages, the hard compactness of +rock or granite stone. Aquatic productions also appear to observation in +their natural shape and proportion, with the advantage of high +preservation, to facilitate the study of the inquiring philosopher. I +have seen entire lobsters, eels, crabs, &c. all transformed into perfect +lapidifications. Many of these interesting bodies have been selected, +and at the present time tend to enrich the elaborate collections of the +Museum of London and the Institute of France. During the winter of 1825, +in examining a piece of petrified wood, which I had picked up on the +shore, we discovered a very minute aperture, barely the size of a +pin-hole, and on breaking the substance by means of a large hammer, to +our surprise and regret we crushed a small reptile that was concealed +inside, and which, in consequence, we were unfortunately prevented from +restoring to its original shape. The body was of a circular shape and +iron coloured; but from the blood which slightly moistened the face of +the instrument, we were satisfied it must have been animated. I showed +the fragments of both to a gentleman in the island, who, like myself, +lamented the accident, as it had, in all likelihood, deprived science of +forming some valuable (perhaps) deductions on this incarcerated, or (if +I may be allowed the expression) compound phenomenon. I have merely +related the above incident in order to show the possibility of there +being other creatures accessible to discovery under similar +circumstances, and in their nature, perhaps homogeneous. I left the +island next day, and therefore had no further opportunities of +confirming such an opinion; but the place itself abounds with substances +which would authorize such conjectures. + +D. A. P.[1] + + [1] We thank our correspondent for the above communication on + one of the most interesting phenomena of British geology; for, + as we hinted in our last, the pleasantest hours of our sojourn + at Margate, about three years since, were passed in the + watchmaker's museum, nearly opposite the Marine Library, which + collection contains many Sheppey fossils, especially a _prawn_, + said to be the only one in England. We remember the proprietor + to have been a self-educated man: he had been to the museum at + Paris twice or thrice, and spoke in high terms of the courteous + reception he met with from M Cuvier; and we are happy to + corroborate his representations. With respect to the _reptile_, + or, as we should say, _insect_, alluded to in the preceding + letter, we suppose it to have been a vermicular insect, similar + to those inhabiting the _cells_ of _corallines_, of whose tiny + labours, in the formation of coral islands, we quoted a spirited + poetical description in No. 279 of the MIRROR. Corallines much + resemble fossil or petrified wood; and we recollect to have + received from the landlady of an inn at Portsmouth a small + branch of _fossil wood_, which she asserted to be _coral_, and + _that_ upon the authority of scores of her visiters; but the + fibres, &c. of the wood were too evident to admit of a dispute. + + * * * * * + + +ANTICIPATED FRENCH MILLENNIUM, OR THE PARISIAN "TRIVIA." + +(_For The Mirror._) + + + "Travellers of that rare tribe, Who've _seen_ the countries + they describe." + HANNAH MORE. + + When daudling diligences drag + Their lumbering length along[2] no more-- + That odd anomaly!--or wag + Gon call'd, or coach--a misnomer[3]-- + + That Cerberus three-bodied! and + That Cerberus of music! + Such rattle with their nine-in-hand! + O, Cerbere, an tu sic? + + When this, (and of Long Acre wits + To rival this would floor some!) + When this at last the Frenchman quits. + Then! then is the _age d'or_ come! + + When coxcomb waiters know their trade, + Nor mix their sauces[4] with cookey's; + When John's no longer chamber maid, + And printed well a book is. + + When sorrel, garlic, dirty knife, + _Et cetera_, spoil no dinners-- + (The punishment is after life, + Are cooks to punish sinners?) + + When bucks are safe, nor streets display + A sea Mediterranean;[5] + When Cloacina wends her way + In streamlet sub-terranean. + + When houses, inside well as out, + Are clean,[6] and servants civil;[7] + When dice (if e'er 'twill be I doubt) + Send fewer--to the devil. + + When riot ends, and comfort reigns, + Right English comfort[8]--players + Are fetter'd with no rhythmic[9] chains-- + French priests repeat French prayers.[10] + + When Palais Royal vice subsides,[11] + (Who plays there's a complete ass--) + When footpaths grow on highway sides[12]-- + Then! then's the Aurea-Aetas! + + There, France, I leave thee.--Jean Taureau![13] + What think'st thou of thy neighbours? + Or (what I own I'd rather know) + What--think'st thou of MY LABOURS? + +A TRAVELLER OF 1827, (W. P.) + +_Carshalton_. + + [2] "Which, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length + along"--POPE. + + [3] It is, indeed, difficult to avoid one, call it what you + will, and quite as difficult to find a more absurd name than + that adopted, unless, indeed, (why the machine goes but five + miles an hour,) it is called a diligence from not being + diligent, as the speaker of our House of Commons may be so + designated from not speaking. It consists of three bodies, + carries eighteen inside, and is not unfrequently drawn by nine + horses. A cavalry charge, therefore, could scarcely make more + noise. Hence, and from the other circumstance, its association + in the second stanza with the triune sonorous Cerberus. A + diligence indeed! + + [4] The intrusive garrulity of French waiters at dinner is + notorious. + + [5] This "sea Mediterranean" is a most filthy, fetid, uncovered + gutter, running down the middle of the most, even of the best + streets, and with which every merciless Jehu most liberally + bespatters the unhappy pedestrian. Truly _la belle nation_ has + little idea of decency, or there would be subterranean sewers + like ours. + + [6] French houses are cleaner even than ours externally, being + all neatly whitewashed! _mais le dedans! le dedans!_ + + [7] The servants are as notorious for their incivility as for + their intrusive loquacity. + + [8] As Scott well observes in the introduction to Waverley, "the + word comfortable is peculiar to the English language." The thing + is certainly peculiar to us, if the word is not. + + [9] All the tragedies are in rhyme, and that of the very worst + description for elocutionary effect. It is the anapestic, like, + as Hannah More remarks, "A cobbler there was, and he lived in a + stall!" + + [10] It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the absurdity + (exploded in England at the Reformation) of a Latin liturgy + still obtains in France. + + [11] The Palais Royal! that pandemonium of profligacy! whose + gaming tables have eternally ruined so many of our countrymen! + So many, that he who, unwarned by their sad experience, plays at + them, is--is he not?--"complete ass." + + [12] There are none, even in the leading streets; our + ambassador's, for instance. + + [13] As the _Etoile_ lately translated John Bull. "When John's + no longer chamber-maid." Of the _propria quae maribus_ of French + domestic economy, this is not the least amusing feature. At my + hotel (in Rue St. Honoré) there was a he bed-maker; and I do + believe the anomalous animal is not uncommon. + + "When printed well a book is." + + Both paper and types are very inferior to ours. But that I + respect the editor's modesty, I would say it were not easy to + find a periodical in Paris, at once so handsomely and + economically got up as--this MIRROR. + + * * * * * + + +CARRYING THE TAR BARRELS AT BROUGH, WESTMORELAND. + +(_To The Editor Of The Mirror._) + + +SIR,--In the haste in which I wrote my last account of the carrying of +"tar barrels" in Westmoreland,[14] (owing to the pressure of time,) I +omitted some most interesting information, and I think I cannot do +better than supply the deficiency this year. + +As I said before, the day is prepared for, about a month previously--the +townsmen employ themselves in hagging furze for the "bon-fire," which is +situated in an adjoining field. Another party go round to the different +houses, grotesquely attired, supplicating contributions for the "tar +barrels," and at each house, after receiving a donation, chant a few +doggerel verses and huzza! It is, however, well that people should +contribute towards defraying the expense, for if they do not get enough +money they commit sad depredations, and if any one is seen carrying a +barrel they wrest it from him. + +For my part, I liked the "watch night" the best, and if it were possible +to keep sober, one might enjoy the fun--sad havoc indeed was then made +among the poultry--when ducks and fowls were crackling before the fire +all night; in fact, a few previous days were regular shooting days, and +the little birds were killed by scores. But ere morning broke in upon +them, many of the merry group were lying in a beastly state under the +chairs and tables, or others had gone to bed; but this is what _they_ +called spending a _merry night_. The day arrives, and a whole troop of +temporary soldiers assemble in the town at 10 P.M. with their borrowed +instruments and dresses, and _a real Guy_,--not a _paper one_,--but a +_living one_--a regular painted old fellow, I assure you, with a pair of +boots like the Ogre's seven leagued, seated on an ass, with the mob +continually bawling out, "there's a _par_ o'ye!" + +Thus they parade the town--one of the head leaders knocks at the +door--repeats the customary verses, while the other holds a silken purse +for the cash, which they divide amongst them after the expenses are +paid--and a pretty full purse they get too. In the evening so anxious +are they to fire the stack, that lanterns may be seen glimmering in all +parts of the field like so many will-o'-the-wisps; then follow the tar +barrels, and after this boisterous amusement the scene closes, save the +noise throughout the night, and for some nights after of the drunken +people, who very often repent their folly by losing their situations. + +Now, respecting the origin of this custom, I merely, by way of hint, +submit, that in the time of Christian martyrdom, as tar barrels were +used for the "burning at the stake" to increase the ravages of the +flame:--the custom is derived,--out of rejoicings for the abolition of +the horrid practice, and this they show by carrying them on their heads +(as represented at page 296, vol. 8.), but you may treat this suggestion +as you please, and perhaps have the kindness to substitute your own, or +inquire into it. + +W.H.H. + + [14] See MIRROR, vol. 8, page 296. + + * * * * * + + +CUSTOM OF BAKING SOUR CAKES. + +(_For The Mirror._) + + +Rutherglen, in the county of Lanarkshire, has long been famous for the +singular custom of baking what are called sour cakes. About eight or ten +days before St. Luke's fair (for they are baked at no other time in the +year), a certain quantity of oatmeal is made into dough with warm water, +and laid up in a vessel to ferment. Being brought to a proper degree of +fermentation and consistency, it is rolled up into balls proportionable +to the intended largeness of the cakes. With the dough is commonly mixed +a small quantity of sugar, and a little aniseed or cinnamon. The baking +is executed by women only; and they seldom begin their work till after +sunset, and a night or two before the fair. A large space of the house, +chosen for the purpose, is marked out by a line drawn upon it. The area +within is considered as consecrated ground, and is not, by any of the +bystanders, to be touched with impunity. The transgression incurs a +small fine, which is always laid out in drink for the use of the +company. This hallowed spot, is occupied by six or eight women, all of +whom, except the toaster, seat themselves on the ground, in a circular +form, having their feet turned towards the fire. Each of them is +provided with a bakeboard about two feet square, which they hold on +their knees. The woman who toasts the cakes, which is done on an iron +plate suspended over the fire, is called the queen, or bride, and the +rest are called her maidens. These are distinguished from one another by +names given them for the occasion. She who sits next the fire, towards +the east, is called the todler; her companion on the left hand is called +the trodler;[15] and the rest have arbitrary names given them by the +bride, as Mrs. Baker, best and worst maids, &c. The operation is begun +by the todler, who takes a ball of the dough, forms it into a cake, and +then casts it on the bakeboard of the trodler, who beats it out a little +thinner. This being done, she, in her turn, throws it on the board of +her neighbour; and thus it goes round, from east to west, in the +direction of the course of the sun, until it comes to the toaster, by +which time it is as thin and smooth as a sheet of paper. The first cake +that is cast on the girdle is usually named as a gift to some man who is +known to have suffered from the infidelity of his wife, from a +superstitious notion, that thereby the rest will be preserved from +mischance. Sometimes the cake is so thin, as to be carried by the +current of the air up into the chimney. As the baking is wholly +performed by the hand, a great deal of noise is the consequence. The +beats, however, are not irregular, nor destitute of an agreeable +harmony, especially when they are accompanied with vocal music, which is +frequently the case. Great dexterity is necessary, not only to beat out +the cakes with no other instrument than the hand, so that no part of +them shall be thicker than another, but especially to cast them from one +board to another without ruffling or breaking them. The toasting +requires considerable skill; for which reason the most experienced +person in the company is chosen for that part of the work. One cake is +sent round in quick succession to another, so that none of the company +is suffered to be idle. The whole is a scene of activity, mirth, and +diversion. As there is no account, even by tradition itself, concerning +the origin of this custom, it must be very ancient. The bread thus baked +was, doubtless, never intended for common use. It is not easy to +conceive how mankind, especially in a rude age, would strictly observe +so many ceremonies, and be at so great pains in making a cake, which, +when folded together, makes but a scanty mouthful.[16] Besides, it is +always given away in presents to strangers who frequent the fair. The +custom seems to have been originally derived from paganism, and to +contain not a few of the sacred rites peculiar to that impure religion; +as the leavened dough, and the mixing it with sugar and spices, the +consecrated ground, &c.; but the particular deity, for whose honour +these cakes were at first made, is not, perhaps, easy to determine. +Probably it was no other than the one known in Scripture (Jer. 7 ch. 18 +v.) by the name of the Queen of Heaven, and to whom cakes were likewise +kneaded by women. + +J.S.W. + + [15] These names are descriptive of the manner in which the + women, so called, perform their part of the work, To todle, is + to walk or move slowly, like a child; to trodle, is to walk or + move more quickly. + + [16] From our Correspondent's description of these cakes, we + suppose them to resemble the wafers sold by the confectioners, + except in the elegant designs on their surface. + + * * * * * + + +SONG. + +FROM METASTATIO. + +(_For The Mirror._) + + + How in the depth of winter rude + A lovely flower is prized, + Which in the month of April view'd, + Perhaps has been despised. + How fair amid the shades of night + Appears the stars' pale ray; + Behold the sun's more dazzling light, + It quickly fades away. + +E.L.I. + + * * * * * + + +THE ORIGIN OF PETER'S PENCE. + +(_For The Mirror._) + + +The custom of paying "Peter's pence" is of Saxon origin; and they +continued to be paid by the inhabitants of England, till the abolition +of the Papal power. The event by which their payment was enacted is as +follows:--Ethelbert, king of the east angles, having reigned single some +time, thought fit to take a wife; for this purpose he came to the court +of Offa, king of Mercia, to desire his daughter in marriage. Queenrid, +consort of Offa, a cruel, ambitious, and blood-thirsty woman, who envied +the retinue and splendour of the unsuspicious king, resolved in some +manner to have him murdered, before he left their court, hoping by that +to gain his immense riches; for this purpose she, with her malicious and +fascinating arts, overcame the king--her husband, which she most +cunningly effected, and, under deep disguises, laid open to him her +portentous design; a villain was therefore hired, named Gimberd, who was +to murder the innocent prince. The manner in which the heinous crime was +effected was as cowardly as it was fatal: under the chair of state in +which Ethelbert sat, a deep pit was dug; at the bottom of it was placed +the murderer; the unfortunate king was then let through a trap-door into +the pit; his fear overcame him so much, that he did not attempt +resistance. Three months after this, Queenrid died, when circumstances +convinced Offa of the innocence of Ethelbert; he therefore, to appease +his guilt, built St. Alban's monastery, gave one-tenth part of his goods +to the poor, and went in penance to Rome--where he gave to the Pope a +penny for every house in his dominions, which were afterwards called +_Rome shot_, or _Peter's pence_, and given by the inhabitants of +England, &c. till 1533, when Henry VIII. shook off the authority of the +Pope in this country. + +T.C. + + * * * * * + + + +ARCANA OF SCIENCE. + + +_Black And White Swans._ + +A few weeks since a _black swan_ was killed by his white companions, in +the neighbourhood of London. Of this extraordinary circumstance, an +eye-witness gives the following account:-- + +I was walking, between four and five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, in +the Regent's Park, when my attention was attracted by an unusual noise +on the water, which I soon ascertained to arise from a furious attack +made by two white swans on the solitary black one. The _allied_ couple +pursued with the greatest ferocity the unfortunate _rara avis_, and one +of them succeeded in getting the neck of his enemy between his bill, and +shaking it violently. The poor black with difficulty extricated himself +from this murderous grasp, hurried on shore, tottered a few paces from +the water's edge, and fell. His death appeared to be attended with great +agony, stretching his neck in the air, fluttering his wings, and +attempting to rise from the ground. At length, after about five minutes +of suffering, he made a last effort to rise, and fell with outstretched +neck and wings. One of the keepers came up at the moment, and found the +poor bird dead. It is remarkable, that his foes never left the water in +pursuit, but continued sailing up and down to the spot wherein their +victim fell, with every feather on end, and apparently proud of their +conquest. + +_Fascination Of Snakes._ + +I have often heard stories about the power that snakes have to charm +birds and animals, which, to say the least, I always treated with the +coldness of scepticism, nor could I believe them until convinced by +ocular demonstration. A case occurred in Williamsburgh, Massachussets, +one mile south of the house of public worship, by the way-side, in July +last. As I was walking in the road at noon-day, my attention was drawn +to the fence by the fluttering and hopping of a robin red-breast, and a +cat-bird, which, upon my approach, flew up, and perched on a sapling two +or three rods distant; at this instant a large black snake reared his +head from the ground near the fence. I immediately stepped back a +little, and sat down upon an eminence; the snake in a few moments slunk +again to the earth, with a calm, placid appearance; and the birds soon +after returned, and lighted upon the ground near the snake, first +stretching their wings upon the ground, and spreading their tails, they +commenced fluttering round the snake, drawing nearer at almost every +step, until they stepped near or across the snake, which would often +move a little, or throw himself into a different posture, apparently to +seize his prey; which movements, I noticed, seemed to frighten the +birds, and they would veer off a few feet, but return again as soon as +the snake was motionless. All that was wanting for the snake to secure +the victims seemed to be, that the birds should pass near his head, +which they would probably have soon done, but at this moment a wagon +drove up and stopped. This frightened the snake, and it crawled across +the fence into the grass: notwithstanding, the birds flew over the fence +into the grass also, and appeared to be bewitched, to flutter around +their charmer, and it was not until an attempt was made to kill the +snake that the birds would avail themselves of their wings, and fly into +a forest one hundred rods distant. The movements of the birds while +around the snake seemed to be voluntary, and without the least +constraint; nor did they utter any distressing cries, or appear enraged, +as I have often seen them when squirrels, hawks, and mischievous boys +attempted to rob their nests, or catch their young ones; but they seemed +to be drawn by some allurement or enticement, and not by any +constraining or provoking power; indeed, I thoroughly searched all the +fences and trees in the vicinity, to find some nest or young birds, but +could find none. What this fascinating power is, whether it be the look +or effluvium, or the singing by the vibration of the tail of the snake, +or anything else, I will not attempt to determine--possibly this power +may be owing to different causes in different kinds of snakes. But so +far as the black snake is concerned, _it seems to be nothing more than +an enticement or allurement with which the snake is endowed to procure +his fowl_.--_Professor Silliman's Journal_. + +_Boring Marine Animals._ + +The most destructive of these is the _Teredo Navalis_, a fine specimen +of which was exhibited at a recent meeting of the Portsmouth +Philosophical Society. This animal has been said to extend the whole +length of the boring tube; but this assertion is erroneous, since the +tubes are formed by a secretion from the body of the animal, and are +often many feet in length, and circuitous in their course. This was +shown to be the fact, by a large piece of wood pierced in all +directions. The manner in which it affects its passage, and the interior +of the tubes, were also described. The assertion that the _Teredo_ does +not attack teak timber was disproved; and its destructive ravages on the +bottom of ships exemplified, by a relation of the providential escape of +his majesty's ship Sceptre, which having lost some copper from off her +bows, the timbers were pierced through to such an extent as to render +her incapable of pursuing her voyage without repair. + +_Anthracite, or Stone Coal._ + +Professor Silliman's last journal contains a very important article, +illustrative of the practical application of this mineral; and the vast +quantities of it that may be found in Great Britain renders the +information highly valuable to our manufacturing interests. In no part +of the world is anthracite, so valuable in the arts and for economical +purposes, found so abundantly as in Pennsylvania. For the manufacture of +iron this fuel is peculiarly advantageous, as it embraces little sulphur +or other injurious ingredients; produces an intense steady heat; and, +for most operations, it is equal, if not superior to coke. Bar iron, +anchors, chains, steamboat machinery, and wrought-iron of every +description, has more tenacity and malleability, with less waste of +metal, when fabricated by anthracite, than by the aid of bituminous coal +or charcoal, with a diminution of fifty per cent. in the expense of +labour and fuel. For breweries, distilleries, and the raising of steam, +anthracite coal is decidedly preferable to other fuel, the heat being +more steady and manageable, and the boilers less corroded by sulphureous +acid, while no bad effects are produced by smoke and bitumen. The +anthracite of Pennsylvania is located between the Blue Bridge and +Susquehannah; and has not hitherto been found in other parts of the +state, except in the valley of Wyoming. + +_Holly Hedges._ + +At Tynningham, the residence of the Earl of Harrington, are holly hedges +extending 2,952 yards, in some cases 13 feet broad and 25 feet high. The +age of these hedges is something more than a century. At the same place +are individual trees of a size quite unknown in these southern +districts. One tree measures 5 feet 3 in. in circumference at 3 feet +from the ground; the stem is clear of branches to the height of 14 feet, +and the total height of the tree is 54 feet. At Colinton House, the seat +of Sir David Forbes; Hopetown House, and Gordon Castle are also several +large groups of hollies, apparently planted by the hand of +Nature.--_Trans. Horticultural Society_. + +_Egg Plants._ + +In this country, the egg plant, brinjal, or aubergine, is chiefly +cultivated as a curiosity; but in warmer climates, where its growth is +attended with less trouble, it is a favourite article of the kitchen +garden. In the form of fritters, or farces, or in soups, it is +frequently brought to table in all the southern parts of Europe, and +forms a pleasant variety of esculent.--Ibid. + +_Vinegar Made From Black Ants._ + +It is singular enough, that a discovery of modern chemistry should long +have been practically employed in some parts of Norway, for the purpose +of making vinegar from a large species of black ant. The method employed +in Norlanden is simply this: they first collect a sufficient quantity of +these little animals, by plunging a bottle partly filled with water up +to the neck in one of the large ant-hills; into which they naturally +creep, and are drowned. The contents are then boiled together, and the +acid thus produced is made use of by the inhabitants as _vinegar_, being +strong and good. + +_Soil For Fruit Trees._ + +Low grounds that form the banks of rivers are, of all others, the best +adapted for the growth of fruit trees; the alluvial soil of which they +are composed, being an intermixture of the richest and most soluble +parts of the neighbouring lands, with a portion of animal and vegetable +matter, affording an inexhaustible store of nourishment--_Trans. +Horticultural Society_. + +_Watch Alarum._ + +A patent has recently been procured for a most useful appendage to a +watch, for giving alarm at any hour during the night. Instead of +encumbering a watch designed to be worn in the pocket with the striking +apparatus, (by which it would be increased to double the ordinary +thickness), this ingenious invention has the alarum or striking part +detached, and forming a bed on which the watch is to be laid; a +communication being made by a lever, projecting through the watch case, +to connect the works. This appendage is described to be applicable to +any watch of the usual construction, and is by no means expensive. + + * * * * * + + +THE MONTHS. + +[Illustration] + +NOVEMBER. + + +November is associated with gloom, inasmuch as its days and nights are, +for the most part, sullen and sad. But the transition to this gloom is +slow, gradual, and almost imperceptible. The mornings of the month are +generally foggy, and are thus described by a modern poet:-- + + "Not pleasureless the morn, when dismal fog + Rolls o'er the dewy plain, or thin mist drives; + When the lone timber's saturated branch + Drips freely." + +In the progress of day, + + "Shorn of his glory through the dim profound, + With melancholy aspect looks the orb + Of stifled day, and while he strives to pierce + And dissipate the slow reluctant gloom, + Seems but a rayless globe, an autumn moon, + That gilds opaque the purple zone of eve, + And yet distributes of her thrifty beam. + Lo! now he conquers; now, subdued awhile, + Awhile subduing, the departed mist + Yields in a brighter beam, or darker clouds + His crimson disk obscure." + +The country has now exchanged its refreshing varieties of greens for the +hues of saffron, russet, and dark brown. "The trees," says an amusing +observer of nature, "generally lose their leaves in the following +succession:--walnut, mulberry, horse-chestnut, sycamore, lime, ash, +then, after an interval, elm: + + "----'To him who walks + Now in the sheltered mead, loud roars above, + Among the naked branches of the elm, + Still freshening as the hurried cloud departs, + The strong Atlantic gale.' + +"Then beech and oak, then apple and peach trees, sometimes not till the +end of November; and lastly, pollard-oaks and young beeches, which +retain their withered leaves till pushed off by the new ones in spring." + +The rural economy of the month is thus described by the same +writer:--"The farmer endeavours to finish his ploughing this month, and +then lays up his instruments for the spring. Cattle are kept in the yard +or stable, sheep turned into the turnip-field, or in bad weather fed +with hay, bees moved under shelter, and pigeons fed in the dove-house." + +The gardens, for the most part, begin to show the wear of desolation, +and but little of their floral pride remains without doors. Meanwhile, a +mimic garden is displayed within, and the hyacinth, narcissus, &c. are +assembled there to gladden us with anticipations of the coming spring. + +Though sombre and drear, a November day is a _carnival_ for the +reflective observer; the very falling of the leaves, intercepted in +their descent by a little whirl or hurricane, is to him a feast of +meditation, and "the soul, dissolving, as it were, into a spirit of +melancholy enthusiasm, acknowledges that silent pathos, which governs +without subduing the heart."--"This season, so sacred to the enthusiast, +has been, in all ages, selected by the poet and the moralist, as a theme +for poetic description and moral reflection;" and we may add that amidst +such scenes, Newton drew the most glorious problem of his philosophy, +and Bishop Horne his simple but pathetic lines on the "Fall of the +Leaf,"--lessons of nature which will still find their way to the hearts +of mankind, when the more subtle workings of speculative philosophy +shall be forgotten with their promoters. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + +THE ROBBER SPATOLINO. + + +The history of Spatolino exhibits rather the character of a man bred +where men are in a state of nature, than of one born in the midst of an +old European state. This extraordinary character, furiously irritated +against the French, who had invaded Italy, desperately bent himself upon +revenge, and directed his attacks unceasingly upon their battalions. He +might perhaps have become a great general, had he entered the military +profession: had he received a competent education, he might have been a +virtuous and eminent citizen. His first crime was an act of vengeance, +and all his following delinquencies flowed from the same source. An +enthusiastic feeling placed the blade in his hand against the invaders +of the Roman States, and a superior sagacity aided his terrible +energies. He died stigmatised with the titles of brigand and assassin; +but the French, on whom he had exercised the most striking acts of +revenge, were his judges, his accusers, and executioners. In all his +acts the man of courage could be distinguished, finding resources, in +whatever dangers, in his own genius. He never was a traitor himself, +although often betrayed by his most intimate friends. His vindictive +exploits were prompt and terrible. The French greatly dreaded him. His +life presents traits truly romantic; sometimes they may appear +exaggerated; but his history is from an authentic source, and from his +voluntary confession. + +The reader may wish to know something of the person of Spatolino. He was +of low stature, long visage, fair skin, but his face of an olive pale +hue; his eyes of a light blue, and full of animation; his aspect fierce; +hair light; long whiskers; lips pale; broad back; swift of foot; and +particularly animated in his action. He wore a jerkin lined with red, a +dark yellow waistcoat, blue breeches, a breast-pouch with fifty +cartridges, four pistols, and a small hanger by his side. In his +breeches-pocket he kept a small stiletto. He also bore a long gun. On +his head he wore continually a net, and upon that his hat. His wife +followed him in all his excursions, and he greatly esteemed and loved +her. He remained some time in the mountains near Rome, and with his +associates laid in a store of whatever was necessary for their new +avocation. He then resolved upon proceeding to Sonnino, the common +rendezvous of the greater part of the banditti in the papal states. In +Sonnino he found some followers, who, going deeply into his notions, did +not scruple to join him. They swore to entertain an eternal friendship +for each other, implacable hatred against the French, and laid it down +as a duty to rob and kill them. Spatolino, before commencing his career +as brigand, repaired to the curate of Sonnino, and requested absolution +for all the crimes he had or might commit; the curate, surprised at this +request, observed to him, that absolution was only given after sins were +committed. Spatolino very soon quieted the scruples of the curate, by +making him a present of a very handsome watch; upon which he immediately +raised his hands and gave him the desired absolution. Sonnino may be +compared with Pontus, where Ovid was in exile, and which is thus +described by that celebrated author:--"The men I meet with are not even +worthy of the name; they are more fierce than wolves; have no laws, as +with them armed force constitutes justice, and injury rights. They live +by rapine, but seek it not without peril, and sword in hand. Every other +way of purveying for their necessities they view as base and +ignominious. It is enough for them to be seen to be hated and dreaded. +The sound of their voice is ferocious; their physiognomy horrible, and +their complexion cadaverous." Just such are the inhabitants of Sonnino +and its vicinity at present, and among such Spatolino came to complete +his band, which, when formed in Rome, consisted of seven only. + +Before proceeding on his expedition, and to attach his wife more closely +to his person by proving his strong affection, he left his band and +proceeded to Civita Vecchia, and seeking a sailor who had seduced her, +he expressed a wish to speak with him a little distance from the town. +The sailor, conceiving it might be something to his advantage, followed +immediately. Spatolino conducted him a little beyond the gate of Civita +Vecchia, and giving him two thrusts of his stiletto in his heart, cut +off his ears and nose, to carry them as a present to his wife, and then +departed immediately for Sonnino. On his arrival, he proceeded to seek +Mary and his band. After the usual salutations, he took out of his +pocket the small bundle containing the nose and ears of the sailor, and, +presenting them to his wife, said, "From this you may judge my +affection. I was desirous of avenging your wrongs, and have done so by +killing your seducer. Here are the pledges of it, which you should keep, +in order to remind you of the betrayer, and as a guard against future +temptation. You cannot mistrust me, when I promise ever to afford you +proofs of true attachment, and I hope you will be faithful to me!" After +this they embraced affectionately, and swore to each other eternal +fidelity. Nor is it possible for any man to have kept his word more +scrupulously towards his wife. The following day Spatolino departed at +the head of his band, which was composed of eighteen persons, himself +and wife included, and proceeded to the vicinity of Portatta, near the +main road leading from Rome to Naples, which at that time was much +frequented by the French of every rank and condition, who proceeded +under orders between these two places. Towards night, Spatolino placed +himself and comrades in ambush on the high road, intending to take +advantage of a military body of which he had information. Ere long a +sound of horses was heard; they were immediately on the alert, and +succeeded in arresting a French escort of seven soldiers on foot, and +the same number on horseback, conducting the baggage-wagon of a French +colonel of the line. It contained all his effects, and money to a large +amount. Upon the first fire of Spatolino's band, five of the soldiers +were killed, and three desperately wounded; he then threw himself +amongst the others, who were placed on the defence, and who had expended +their fire without hurting a single individual of the band. Spatolino, +with his pistols, killed two, and a few moments saw him and his band +masters of the field. Spatolino ordered his men to strip the dead, and +placing every thing in the wagon, after digging a pit for the bodies, +they retired to a cave in a wood near the road, where the booty was +equally divided. He took himself two of the best horses, and armed and +equipped his band in a superior manner. He also presented to his wife a +part of the spoil, she having been armed in the action, performing the +duty of a sentinel on the highway in advance about half a mile off, to +give notice, in case of an overwhelming force appearing. Spatolino, +having made a fair division of the spoil to raise the courage of his +companions, sent all his own money to his parents, informing them at the +same time, that for the future they should be released from misery, as +he would ever bear in mind the beings who gave him birth.--_New Monthly +Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +AN UNINSURABLE RISK. + + + A bookseller opened a shop on the coast, + (I'd rather not mention the spot,) + Where gentlemen lounged o'er the Herald and Post, + And ladies read Byron and Scott. + + Much personal memoir, too, shone on the shelves, + Which boasted a whimsical olio; + Decorum sang small, in octavoes and twelves, + And scandal in quarto and folio. + + The bookseller, prudently aiming to set + Th' ignipotent god at defiance, + To open a policy vainly essay'd + At the Albion, the Hope, and Alliance. + + "My friend, your abortive attempt prithee stop," + Quoth Jekyll, intent on a joke, + "How can you expect to insure, while your shop + Is rolling out volumes of smoke?" + +Ibid. + + * * * * * + + +LONDON NEWSPAPERS. + + +On few subjects are the public under more misapprehension than on the +absolute and relative circulation of several portions of the London +daily press. The greater part of the people would startle were they told +that The Times circulates probably under 7,000 a day on an average; the +paper is seen, as one may say, in every pot-house in London, and all +over the country; and yet this is all its number. + +The property of a paper is a matter of which most people have a very +vague and imperfect knowledge. I believe I am very near the truth when I +state the gross proceeds of The Times at 45,000l., a year. The present +proprietor of The Morning Chronicle gave for it, I believe, 40,000l. The +absolute property of The Courier, according to the current rate of its +shares, is between 90,000l. and 100,000l. Estimating the value of The +Globe on the same scale, the absolute property of it is probably +somewhere about 35,000l. The profits of a paper arise almost entirely +out of its advertisements, and hence the difference in value between the +two last, notwithstanding their circulation is so nearly equal. A +newspaper gets its advertisements by degrees, and, as it is supposed by +the public, its numbers increase; but it retains them long after the +cause by which they were acquired has vanished. It is thus that The +Courier, which got its advertisements when it basked in all the sunshine +of ministerial patronage, retains these when its numbers are reduced by +one-half, and the countenance of government is no longer held out to it. + +These, however, it must be admitted, are the prizes in the lottery of +newspaper speculation: and in this, as in every other lottery, there are +more blanks than prizes. Mr. Murray, after having expended upwards of +10,000l. on his Representative, sold it to the proprietors of The New +Times for about 600l.: and The British Press, after having ruined I know +not how many capitalists, was sold to the same concern for, I believe, a +considerably smaller sum.--_London Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +MADEMOISELLE CUVIER. + + +Mademoiselle Cuvier, daughter of the celebrated naturalist, died a short +time since at Paris. There has seldom been any instance where the +strongest benevolence was so closely united to the charms of intellect. +She possessed a rare mixture of elevation of mind and firmness of +character--of strength and equanimity--sweetness and simplicity. It was +truly gratifying to witness her worship, or rather superstition, for +truth, and to watch the avidity with which she used to seize and +illustrate whatever she thought likely to remove ignorance, or promote +the cause of virtue and freedom. The circumstances which attended the +death of this amiable creature, have, if possible, greatly augmented the +grief of her family and friends. The day of her nuptials was fixed, and +she was to be united to a man of her own choice, and everything was +prepared for the ceremony. Being suddenly afflicted by rapid symptoms of +consumption, all hopes of her recovery soon vanished. Notwithstanding, +the ball dresses, veils, and shawls, continued to be sent home to the +unhappy parents, who dared not refuse them, lest they should themselves +be accused of giving way to despair. This mixture of preparations for +rejoicing, and the certainty of death, formed a picture the most +melancholy and pathetic. When the fatal moment arrived, her family and +many friends surrounded the dying couch in mournful silence. The funeral +was attended by all that is distinguished for rank and fortune at Paris; +a clergyman of the Protestant church read the service for the dead, and +a funeral sermon. A number of young females whom she had formed for +succouring the poor, were ranged round the bier, dressed in white, and +followed to the Cemetery of Père la Chaise, where M. Salvandy, one of +her friends, undertook to deliver the final eulogy, which it is usual in +France to pronounce on departed worth.--_Monthly Magazine_.--_Letter +from Paris_. + + * * * * * + + +HOW TO LOSE TIME. + + +Few men need complain of the want of time, if they are not conscious of +a want of power, or of desire to ennoble and enjoy it. Perhaps you are a +man of genius yourself, gentle reader, and though not absolutely, like +Sir Walter, a witch, warlock, or wizard, still a poet--a maker--a +creator. Think, then, how many hours on hours you have lost, lying +asleep so profoundly, + + "That the cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn, + No more could rouse you from your lazy bed." + +How many more have you, not absolutely lost, but to a certain extent +abused, at breakfast--sip, sipping away at unnecessary cups of sirupy +tea, or gob, gobbling away at jam-buttered rolls, for which nature never +called--or "to party giving up what was meant for mankind"--forgetting +the loss of Time in the Times, and, after a long, blank, brown, and blue +study, leaving behind you a most miserable chronicle indeed! Then +think--O think--on all your aimless forenoon saunterings--round and +round about the premises--up and down the avenue--then into the garden +on tiptoe--in and out among the neat squares of onion-beds--now humming +a tune by the brink of abysses of mould, like trenches dug for the slain +in the field of battle, where the tender celery is laid--now down to the +river-side to try a little angling, though you well know there is +nothing to be had but Pars--now into a field of turnips, without your +double-barreled Joe Manton, (at Mr. Wilkinson's to be repaired,) to see +Ponto point a place where once a partridge had pruned himself--now home +again, at the waving of John's red sleeve, to receive a coach-full of +country cousins, come in the capacity of forenoon callers--endless +talkers all--sharp and blunt noses alike--and grinning voraciously in +hopes of a lunch--now away to dress for dinner, which will not be for +two long, long hours to come--now dozing, or daized on the drawing-room +sofa, wondering if the bell is ever to be rung--now grimly gazing on a +bit of bloody beef which your impatience has forced the blaspheming cook +to draw from the spit ere the outer folds of fat were well melted at the +fire--now, after a disappointed dinner, discovering that the old port is +corked, and the filberts all pluffing with bitter snuff, except such as +enclose a worm--now an unwholesome sleep of interrupted snores, your +bobbing head ever and anon smiting your breast-bone--now burnt-beans +palmed off on the family for Turkish coffee--now a game at cards, with a +dead partner, and the ace of spades missing--now no supper--you have no +appetite for supper--and now into bed tumbles the son of Genius, +complaining to the moon of the shortness of human life, and the +fleetness of time! + +_Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +SLEEPING AFTER DINNER. + + +Mr. Fox at St. Ann's Hill was, for the last years of his life, in the +habit (never interfered with by his friends) of dosing for a few minutes +after dinner; and it was on this occasion, unconsciously yielding to the +influence of custom, I perceived that Mr. Garrow, who was the chief +talker (Parr was in his smoking orgasm,) began to feel embarrassed at +Mr. Fox's non-attention; and I, therefore, made signs to Mr. Fox, by +wiping my fingers to my eyes, and looking expressively at Garrow. Mr. +Fox, the most _truly_ polite man in the world, immediately endeavoured +to rouse himself--but in vain; Nature would have her way. Garrow soon +saw the struggle, and adroitly feigned sleep himself. Mr. Fox was +regenerated in ten minutes--apologized--and made the evening +delightful--_Senatorial Reminiscenses_.--_The Inspector_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + + * * * * * + + +CHRONICLES OF THE CANONGATE. + +_The Two Drovers._ + +(_Concluded from page 289._) + + + [Our readers must have missed, and probably with some regret, + the conclusion of the above story, as promised for insertion in + our last Number; and unaccustomed as we are to an intentional + discrepancy of this sort, (for such was the above,) we shall + consider ourselves justified in briefly stating some of the + circumstances which led to the irregularity. We are not disposed + to enter into the tilts of rival journalists, some of whom, in + taking time by the forelock, may have perhaps been rather more + enterprising than the subject warranted.[17] Nevertheless, in + the attempt to please the public, as in other races, the + youngest are often the fleetest. In the present case, the + appetite of the public had been _whetted_ with "reiterated + advertisement:" and one of our contemporaries, with more + playfulness than truth, had compared his priority to that of + _Fine-ear_ in the fairy tale. But his talisman failed, and a + young rival outstripped him; and from this quarter we were + induced to copy the first portion of the tale of _The Two + Drovers_, upon the editor's assurance of his own honesty in + obtaining the precedence, and which assurance We are still + unwilling to question: although, were we to do so, ours would + not he a solitary specimen of such ingratitude.[18] On the day + of our publishing the first portion, we received a notice to + desist from its continuance,--full of the causticity of our + friends on the other side of the Tweed, and with whom, for the + credit of the south, we hope the measure originated. We next + resolved to suspend the conclusion; since the _brutum fulmen_ + became louder and louder still, in an advertisement actively + inserted in the London newspapers. To make short of what is and + ought to be but a trifling affair, we have _abridged_ the whole + story, and accordingly now present the conclusion to our + readers, though certainly not in the promised state; how far we + have exculpated ourselves, is for our patrons to determine.--A + few words at parting, on the policy of the above conduct. We + need not enlarge upon the advantages which publishers (and, to + some extent, authors) derive from portions of their works + appearing in periodical journals. The benefit is not reciprocal, + but largely on their side, if they consider how many columns of + advertisement duty they thereby avoid. It is well known that the + _first edition_ of any work by such a master-spirit as Sir + Walter Scott is consumed in a few days by the circulating + libraries and reading societies of the kingdom; but how many + thousands would neither have seen nor heard of his most + successful works, had not the _gusto_ been previously created by + the caducei of these literary Mercuries. Again, sift any one of + them, with higher pretensions to originality than our economical + sheet will admit of, and you shall find it, in _quantity_, at + least, to resemble Gratiano's three grains. But we are not + inclined to quarrel with the scheme, for with Johnson we say, + "Quotation, sir (Walter), is a good thing," in the hope of + hearing our readers reply, "This fellow pecks up wit as pigeons + peas."--ED.] + +Some words passed after the departure, of Robin Oig, between the +bailiff, and Harry Wakefield, who was now not indisposed to defend Robin +Oig's reputation. But Dame Heskett prevented this second quarrel by her +peremptory interference. The conversation turned on the expected +markets, and the prices from different parts of Scotland and England, +and Harry Wakefield found a chap for a part of his drove, and at a +considerable profit; an event more than sufficient to blot out all +remembrances of the past scuffle. But there remained one from whose mind +that recollection could not have been wiped by possession of every head +of cattle betwixt Esk and Eden. + +This was Robin Oig M'Combich.--"That I should have had no weapon," he +said, "and for the first time in my life!--Blighted be the tongue that +bids the Highlander part with the dirk--the dirk--ha! the English +blood!--My muhme's word--when did her word fall to the ground?" + +Robin now turned the light foot of his country towards the wilds, +through which, by Mr. Ireby's report, Morrison was advancing. His mind +was wholly engrossed by the sense of injury the treasured ideas of +self-importance and self-opinion--of ideal birth and quality, had become +more precious to him, (like the hoard to the miser,) because he could +only enjoy them in secret. But insulted, abused, and beaten, he was no +longer worthy, in his own opinion, of the name he bore, or the lineage +which he belonged to--nothing was left to him--but revenge. + +When Robin Oig left the door of the ale-house, seven or eight English +miles at least lay betwixt him and Morrison, whose advance was limited +by the sluggish pace of his cattle. And now the distant lowing of +Morrison's cattle is heard; and now he meets them--passes them, and +stops their conductor. + +"May good betide us," said the South-lander--"Is this you, Robin +M'Combich, or your wraith?" + +"It is Robin Oig M'Combich," answered the Highlander, "and it is +not.--But never mind that, give me pack my dirk, Hugh Morrison, or there +will be words petween us." + +"There it is for you then, since less wunna serve." + +"Cot speed you, Hughie, and send you good marcats. Ye winna meet with +Robin Oig again either at tryste or fair." + +So saying, he shook hastily the hand of his acquaintance, and set out in +the direction from which he had advanced. + +Long ere the morning dawned, the catastrophe of our tale had taken +place. It was two hours after the affray when Robin Oig returned to +Heskett's inn. There was Harry Wakefield, who amidst a grinning group of +smockfrocks, hob-nailed shoes, and jolly English physiognomies, was +trolling forth an old ditty, when he was interrupted by a high and stern +voice, saying "Harry Waakfelt--if you be a man, stand up!" + +"Harry Waakfelt," repeated the same ominous summons, "stand up, if you +be a man!" + +"I will stand up with all my heart, Robin, my boy, but it shall be to +shake hands with you, and drink down all unkindness. + +"'Tis not thy fault, man, that, not having the luck to be an Englishman, +thou canst not fight more than a school-girl." + +"I _can_ fight," answered Robin Oig, sternly, but calmly, "and you shall +know it. You, Harry Waakfelt, showed me to-day how the Saxon churls +fight--I show you now how the Highland Dunniewassal fights." + +He then plunged the dagger, which he suddenly displayed, into the broad +breast of the English yeoman, with such fatal certainty and force, that +the hilt made a hollow sound against the breast bone, and the +double-edged point split the very heart of his victim. Harry Wakefield +fell, and expired with a single groan. + +Robin next offered the bloody poniard to the bailiff's throat. + +"It were very just to lay you beside him," he said, "but the blood of a +base pick-thank shall never mix on my father's dirk, with that of a +brave man." + +As he spoke, he threw the fatal weapon into the blazing turf-fire. + +"There," he said, "take me who likes--and let fire cleanse blood if it +can." + +The pause still continuing, Robin Oig asked for a peace-officer, and a +constable having stepped out, he surrendered himself. + +"A bloody night's work you have made of it," said the constable. + +"Your own fault," said the Highlander. "Had you kept his hands off me +twa hours since, he would have been now as well and merry as he was twa +minutes since." + +"It must be sorely answered," said the peace-officer. + +"Never you mind that--death pays all debts; it will pay that too." + +The constable, with assistance, procured horses to guard the prisoner to +Carlisle, to abide his doom at the next assizes. While the escort was +preparing, the prisoner, before he was carried from the fatal apartment, +desired to look at the dead body, which had been deposited upon the +large table, (at the head of which Harry Wakefield had just presided) +until the surgeons should examine the wound. The face of the corpse was +decently covered with a napkin. Robin Oig removed the cloth, and gazed +on the lifeless visage. While those present expected that the wound, +which had so lately flooded the apartment with gore, would send forth +fresh streams at the touch of the homicide, Robin Oig replaced the +covering, with the brief exclamation, "He was a pretty man!" + +My story is nearly ended. The unfortunate Highlander stood his trial at +Carlisle. I was myself present. The facts of the case were proved in the +manner I have related them; and whatever might be at first the prejudice +of the audience against a crime so un-English as that of assassination +from revenge, yet when the national prejudices of the prisoner had been +explained, which made him consider himself as stained with indelible +dishonour, the generosity of the English audience was inclined to regard +his crime as the aberration of a false idea of honour, rather than as +flowing from a heart naturally savage, or habitually vicious. I shall +never forget the charge of the venerable judge to the jury. + +"We have had," he said, "in the previous part of our duty, (alluding to +some former trials,) to discuss crimes which infer disgust and +abhorrence, while they call down the well-merited vengeance of the law. +It is now our still more melancholy duty to apply its salutary, though +severe enactments to a case of a very singular character, in which the +crime (for a crime it is, and a deep one) arose less out of the +malevolence of the heart, than the error of the understanding--less from +any idea of committing wrong, than from an unhappily perverted notion of +that which is right. Here we have two men, highly esteemed, it has been +stated, in their rank of life, and attached, it seems, to each other as +friends, one of whose lives has been already sacrificed to a punctilio, +and the other is about to prove the vengeance of the offended laws; and +yet both may claim our commiseration at least, as men acting in +ignorance of each other's national prejudices, and unhappily misguided +rather than voluntarily erring from the path of right conduct. + +"In the original cause of the misunderstanding, we must in justice give +the right to the prisoner at the bar. He had acquired possession of the +enclosure, by a legal contract with the proprietor, and yet, when +accosted with galling reproaches he offered to yield up half his +acquisition, and his amicable proposal was rejected with scorn. Then +follows the scene at Mr. Heskett the publican's, and you will observe +how the stranger was treated by the deceased, and I am sorry to observe, +by those around, who seem to have urged him in a manner which was +aggravating in the highest degree. + +"Gentlemen of the jury, it was with some impatience that I heard my +learned brother, who opened the case for the crown, give an unfavourable +turn to the prisoner's conduct on this occasion. He said the prisoner +was afraid to encounter his antagonist in fair fight, or to submit to +the laws of the ring; and that therefore, like a cowardly Italian, he +had recourse to his fatal stiletto, to murder the man whom he dared not +meet in manly encounter. I observed the prisoner shrink from this part +of the accusation with the abhorrence natural to a brave man; and as I +would wish to make my words impressive, when I point his real crime, I +must secure his opinion of my impartiality, by rebutting every thing +that seems to me a false accusation. There can be no doubt that the +prisoner is a man of resolution--too much resolution; I wish to heaven +that he had less, or rather that he had had a better education to +regulate it. + + * * * * * + +"But, gentlemen of the jury, the pinch of the case lies in the interval +of two hours betwixt the injury and the fatal retaliation. In the heat +of affray and _chaude melée_, law, compassionating the infirmities of +humanity, makes allowance for the passions which rule such a stormy +moment--But the time necessary to walk twelve miles, however speedily +performed, was an interval sufficient for the prisoner to have +recollected himself; and the violence and deliberate determination with +which he carried his purpose into effect, could neither be induced by +anger, nor fear. It was the purpose and the act of pre-determined +revenge, for which law neither can, will, nor ought to have sympathy. + + * * * * * + +"The law says to the subjects, with a voice only inferior to that of the +Deity, 'Vengeance is mine.' The instant that there is time for passion +to cool, and reason to interpose, an injured party must become aware, +that the law assumes the exclusive cognizance of the right and wrong +betwixt the parties, and opposes her inviolable buckler to every attempt +of the private party to right himself. I repeat, that this unhappy man +ought personally to be the object rather of our pity than our +abhorrence, for he failed in his ignorance, and from mistaken notions of +honour. But his crime is not the less that of murder, gentlemen, and, in +your high and important office, it is your duty so to find. Englishmen +have their angry passions as well as Scots; and should this man's action +remain unpunished, you may unsheath, under various pretences, a thousand +daggers betwixt the Land's-end and the Orkneys." + +The venerable judge thus ended what, to judge by his emotion and tears, +was really a painful task. The jury, accordingly brought in a verdict of +guilty; and Robin Oig M'Combich, _alias_ M'Gregor, was sentenced to +death, and executed accordingly. He met his fate with firmness, and +acknowledged the justice of his sentence. But he repelled indignantly +the observations of those who accused him of attacking an unarmed man. +"I give a life for the life I took," he said, "and what can I do more?" + + [17] _We_ remember the proverb, "Honour among thieves." + + [18] But we cannot so far forget our country as to be + indifferent to them.--See a passage in the _Two Drovers_. + + * * * * * + + +A PERSIAN FABLE. + + + A little particle of rain, + That from a passing cloud descended, + Was heard thus idly to complain:-- + "My brief existence now is ended. + Outcast alike of earth and sky, + Useless to live, unknown to die." + + It chanced to fall into the sea, + And there an open shell received it; + And, after years, how rich was he, + Who from its prison-house relieved it: + The drop of rain has formed a gem, + To deck a monarch's diadem. + +_Amulet_. + + * * * * * + + +THE GATHERER. + + + "I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's + stuff."--_Wotton_. + + * * * * * + + +NEW READING. + + +A witty wight, on seeing the following line in our last, + + _Necessitas non habet_ leg_em_, + +supplied this new reading, + + Necessity without a _leg_ to stand upon. + + * * * * * + + +O. P. RIOTS. + + +"What is doing to-night?" asked Kemble, of one of the ballet-masters; +"Oh pis (O P) toujours, Monsieur," was the reply. + + * * * * * + + +A CURIOUS FACT. + + +An absent man, whose heart can seldom resist the importunities of +beggars, was, a few mornings since, followed by a hungry half-starved +dog, when he inadvertently took from his pocket a penny, which he was +just about to give to the four-footed wanderer, when he perceived his +mistake. It should be mentioned that the above individual had, on nearly +the precise spot, on the previous night, assisted one of his fellow +creatures in the same manner as that in which he was about to relieve +the quadruped. The EDITOR of the MIRROR will be happy to substantiate +this fact to such as may be disposed to doubt its authenticity:--"if it +be madness, there's method in it." + + * * * * * + + +SIGNS OF THE TIMES. + + +Seventeen hundred individuals a year, for the last seven years, have +been committed for poaching.--_Report Prison Discip. Society_. + +Crime is a curse only to the period in which it is successful; but +virtue, whether fortunate or otherwise, blesses not only its own age, +but remotest posterity, and is as beneficial by its example, as by its +immediate effects. + +At the late Doncaster races, there were 30,000 persons well clothed, and +apparently well fed and happy. 2000l. were taken at the grand stand for +admission. + +Mr. Kean is to receive, during the present season, _fifty pounds_ for +each night's performance--the yearly income of a curate! + +Singing _Non Nobis Domine_ after dinner is a very foolish custom. People +in England pay 10,000l. a year for _non nobis_. Rather sing Dr. +Kitchener's Universal Prayer and the English grace. The common people of +every country understand only their native tongue; therefore if you do +not understand them, you will not understand each other. All Italian +music is detestable, and nothing like our genuine native song. Weber's +"unconcatenated chords" ought not to be listened to, while we have such +composers as Braham and Tom Cooke. The _national songs of Great Britain_ +have not sold so well as the _Cook's Oracle_. "People like what goes +into the mouth better than what comes out of it."--_Dr. Kitchener_. + +A museum, deanery, and a cattle-market are building at York. Various +other improvements and repairs are also in progress in that city! + +According to the Report of the Commissioners of Public Charities, the +_annual_ sum of 972,396l. has been bequeathed by pious donors to +_England only_! This is surely the promised land of benevolence; but in +Salop only, there are arrears now due to the poor for upwards of 42 +years! + +M. La Combe, in his _Picture of London_, advises those who do not wish +to be robbed to carry a brace of blunderbusses, and to put the muzzle of +one out of each window, so as to be seen by the robbers. + +The silly habit of praising every thing at a man's table came in for a +share of the late Dr. Kitchener's severity. He said, "Criticism, sir, is +not a pastime; it is a verdict on oath: the man who does it is (morally) +sworn to perform his duty. There is but one character on earth, sir," he +would add, "that I detest; and that is the man who praises, +indiscriminately, every dish that is set before him. Once I find a +fellow do that at my table, and, if he were my brother, I never ask him +to dinner again." + +A _daily_ literary journal has lately been started in Paris, and has, in +less than three weeks, above 2,000 subscribers. + +_Reviewing_, as a profession by which a certain class of men seek to +instruct the public, and to support themselves creditably in the middle +order, and to keep their children from falling, after the decease of +enlightened parents, on the parish, is at the lowest possible ebb in +this country; and many is the once well-fed critic now an +hungered--_Blackwood_. + +_Oranges_.--It is not perhaps generally known or suspected, that the +rabbis of the London synagogues are in the habit of affording both +employment and maintenance to the poor of their own persuasion, by +supplying them with oranges at an almost nominal price.--Ibid. + +_Noble Authors_.--The poor spinsters of the Minerva press can scarcely +support life by their labours, so completely are they driven out of the +market by the Lady Charlottes and the Lady Bettys; and a rhyming peer is +as common as a Birmingham button. It would take ten Horace Walpoles at +least to do justice to the living authors of the red book. + +_Buying Books_.--Money is universally allowed to be the thing which all +men love best; and if a man buys a book, we may safely infer he thinks +well of it. What nobody buys, then, we may justly conclude is not worth +reading. + + * * * * * + +_On the Duchess of Devonshire's canvassing for Mr. Fox at the +Westminster Election._ + + Array'd in matchless beauty, Devon's fair + In Fox's favour takes a zealous part; + But, oh! where'er the pilferer comes beware, + She supplicates a vote, and steals a heart. + + * * * * * + +_Lines sent by a Surgeon, with a box of ointment, to a Lady who had an +inflamed eye._ + + The doctor's kindest wishes e'er attend + His beauteous patient, may he hope his friend; + And prays that no corrosive disappointment + May mar the lenient virtues of his ointment; + Of which, a bit not larger than a shot, + Or that more murd'rous thing, "a beauty spot," + Warmed on the finger by the taper's ray, + Smear o'er the eye affected twice a day. + Proffer not gold--I swear by my degree, + From beauty's lily hand to take no fee; + No glittering trash be mine, I scorn such pelf, + The eye, when cured, will pay the debt itself. + + * * * * * + +George III. is said to have observed to a person who approached him in a +moment of personal restraint, indispensable in his situation, "Here you +see me _checkmated_." + + * * * * * + + +OLD GRIMALDI. + + +The first Grimaldi celebrated on the stage, appeared at Paris about the +year 1735, when his athletic force and extraordinary agility procured +him the sobriquet of "Jambe de Fer," or iron-leg. In 1742, when Mahomet +Effendi, ambassador of the Porte, visited Paris, he was received with +the highest honour and utmost distinction; and the court having ordered +a performance for the Turk's entertainment, Grimaldi was commanded to +exert himself to effect that object. In obedience to his directions, in +making a surprising leap, his foot actually struck a lustre, placed high +from the stage, and one of the glass drops was thrown in the face of the +ambassador. It was then customary to demand some reward from the +personage for whom the entertainment was prepared, and, at the +conclusion of the piece, Grimaldi waited upon the Mussulman for the +usual present. If the Turk had concealed the expression of his anger at +the accident, it was not however extinct, for on the appearance of the +buffoon, he directed him to be seized by his attendants, and transported +in his theatrical costume, to his residence, where, after undergoing a +severe bastinado, the hapless actor was thrust into the street, with +only his pedal honour for his recompense. + + * * * * * + + +NEGROES' HEIR LOOM. + + +Some years ago, the boiler-men negroes on Huckenfield estate were +overheard by the book-keeper discoursing on this subject, (the +superiority of the whites,) and various opinions were given, till the +question was thus set at rest by an old African:--"When God Almighty +make de world, him make two men, a nigger and a buckra; and him give dem +two box, and him tell dem for make dem choice. Nigger, (nigger greedy +from time,) when him find one box heavy, him take it, and buckra take +t'other; when dem open de box, buckra see pen, ink, and paper; nigger +box full up with hoe and bill, and hoe and bill for nigger till this +day."--_Barclay's Slavery in the West Indies_. + + * * * * * + + +GRATITUDE. + + +When Suffer, who had been fifty years a servant in the English factory +at Abesheber, or Bushire, a Persian sea-port, was on his death-bed, the +English doctor ordered him a glass of wine. He at first refused, saying, +"I cannot take it; it is forbidden in the Koran." But after a few +moments, he begged the doctor to give it him, saying, as he raised +himself in his bed, "Give me the wine; for it is written in the same +volume, that all you unbelievers will be excluded from Paradise; and the +experience of fifty years teaches me to prefer your society in the other +world, to any place unto which I can be advanced with my own +countrymen." He died a few hours after this sally.--_Sketches of +Persia_. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near +Somerset-House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11341 *** |