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diff --git a/11343-0.txt b/11343-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e1aba0 --- /dev/null +++ b/11343-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1486 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11343 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL XIII, NO. 369.] SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +[Illustration: Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park.] + + + + +CORNWALL TERRACE + +REGENT'S PARK. + + +Adjoining _York Terrace_, engraved and described in No. 358, of the +MIRROR, is _Cornwall Terrace_, one of the earliest and most admired of +all the buildings in the Park; although its good taste has not been so +influential as might have been expected, on more recent structures. +It is named after the ducal title of the present King, when Regent. + +Cornwall Terrace is from the designs of Mr. Decimus Burton, and is +characterized by its regularity and beauty, so as to reflect high +credit on the taste and talent of the young architect. The ground +story is rusticated, and the principal stories are of the Corinthian +order, with fluted shafts, well proportioned capitals, and an +entablature of equal merit. The other embellishments of Cornwall +Terrace are in correspondent taste, and the whole presents a facade +of great architectural beauty and elegance. + + * * * * * + + + +THE COSMOPOLITE. + + * * * * * + + + +THE TIMES NEWSPAPER. + +(_Concluded from page 292_.) + +Passing over the leading articles, and some news from the seat of war, +next is the Court Circular, describing the mechanism of royal and +noble etiquette in right courtly style. The "Money Market and City +Intelligence"--what a line for the capitalist: only watch the +intensity with which he devours every line of the oracle, as the +ancients did the _spirantia exta_--and weighs and considers its import +and bearing with the Foreign News and leading articles. What rivets +are these--"risen about 1/4 per cent"--and "a shade higher;" no fag or +tyro ever hailed an illustration with greater interest. Talk to him +whilst he is reading any other part of the paper, and he will break +off, and join you; but when reading this, he can only spare you an +occasional "hem," or "indeed"--his eyes still riveted to the column. +This has been satirically termed "watching the turn of the market;" +although every reader does the same, and first looks for those +events in the paper which bear upon his interests or enjoyments; +for pleasure, as well as industry, has her studies. Thus the lines +"Drury Lane Theatre," and "Professional Concert" are 'Change news +to a certain class--and a long criticism on Miss Phillips's first +appearance in Jane Shore will ensure attention and sympathy, from +anxiety for an actress of high promise, and the pathos of the play +itself; and we need not insist upon the beneficial effect which sound +criticism has on public taste. To pass from an account of a Concert at +the Argyll Rooms, with its fantasias and _concertanti_, to the fact of +940 weavers being at present unemployed in Paisley,--and the death of +a young man in Paris, from hydrophobia, is a sad transition from gay +to grave--yet so they stand in the column. A long correspondence on +Commercial Policy, Taxation, Finance, and Currency--we leave to the +capitalist, the "parliament man," and other disciples of Adam Smith; +whilst our eye descends to the right-hand corner, where is recorded +the horrible fact of a mother attempting to suffocate her infant at +her breast! Humanity sickens at such a pitch of savage crime in the +centre of the most refined city in the world! + +The commencement of the third folio is a gratifying contrast to the +last horrible incident. It describes the Anniversary of St. Patrick's +Charity Schools, with one of the King's brothers presiding at the +benevolent banquet, and records an after-dinner subscription of +540_l._! What a delightful scene for the philanthropist--what a +blessed picture of British beneficence! Yet beneath this is a +piracy--a tale of blood, whose very recital "will harrow up thy +soul"--the murder of the captain and crew of an American brig, as +narrated by one man who was concealed. In the next column are two +reports of Parish Elections, which afford more speculation than we are +prone to indulge, as the turning-out of old parties and setting-up of +new, and many of the petty feuds and jealousies that divide and +distract parishes or large families, the little circles of the great +whole. At the foot of this column a paragraph records the death of +a miserly bachelor schoolmaster, who had worn the same coat twenty +years, and on the tester of whose bed were found, wrapped up in old +stockings £1,600. in interest notes, commencing thirty-five years +since, the compound interest of which would have been £4,000.; and +for what purpose was this concealment?--a dread of being required to +assist his relatives! Yet contrast this wicked abuse with a few of the +incidents we have recorded--the dinner of St. Patrick's, for instance, +and is it possible to conceive a more despicable situation (short of +crime) than this poor miser deserves in our chronicle. + +The third column opens to us a scene of a very opposite character, the +Newmarket Craven Meeting--the most brilliant assemblage ever known +there; the town crammed with the children of chance, the innkeepers +trebling their charges, and like the Doncaster people, doing "noting +widout the guinea." What an heterogeneous mixture of fine old sport, +black legs and consciences, panting steeds and hearts bursting with +expectation and despair, and the grand machinery of chance working +with mathematical truth, and not unfrequently beneath luxury and the +mere show of hospitality. + +The moralist will turn away from this rural pandemonium with disgust; +but what will he say to the records of wretchedness and crime that +fill up nearly the remainder of the folio. A Coroner's Inquest upon +a fellow creature who "died from neglect, and want of common food to +support life"--and another upon a poor girl, whose young and tender +wits being "turned to folly,"--died by a draught of laudanum--are +still more lamentable items in the calendar. + +Beneath these inquests is a brief tale of a romantic robbery in an +obscure department of France. The priest of a village, aged 80, lived +in an isolated cottage with his niece. About midnight, he was +disturbed, and on his getting out of bed, was bound by two men, whilst +a third stood at the door. The robbers then proceeded to the girl's +chamber, very ungallantly took her gold ear-rings, and by threatening +her and her uncle with death, got possession of 300 francs. Two of +the ruffians then proceeded to the church, broke open the poor-box, +and took about 30 francs. They then bound again the old man and his +niece, and departed. One of the robbers, however, left an agricultural +tool behind him, which led to the discovery of two of the thieves, who +are committed for trial. This is a perfect newspaper gem. + +The fifth column has terror in its first line "Law Report," and +commences with an action in the Court of King's Bench, against the +late Sheriffs of London for an illegal seizure--one of the glorious +delights of office. The next portion relates to an illustrious +foreigner, who stated that he professed to swallow fire and molten +lead, "but he only put them into his mouth, and took them out again +in a sly manner, for they were too hot to eat." (Much laughter.) He +could swallow prussic acid without experiencing any ill effects from +it; that was what he called _pyrotechny_; "he had no property except +a wife and child, &c." + +Next are the Police Reports, sometimes affording admirable studies of +men and manners. The first is a case of a man being locked up for the +night in a watch-house, "on suspicion of ringing a bell"--and brings +to light a most outrageous abuse of petty power. In another case, a +gang of robbers pursued by one set of watchmen, were suffered to +escape by another set, who would not stir a foot beyond their own +boundary line! Neither Shakspeare, Fielding, nor Sheridan have given +us a better standing jest than this incident affords. It reminds us +of the fellow who refused to take off Tom Ashe's coat, because it +was felony to strip an _ash;_ or the tanner who would not help the +exciseman out of his pit without twelve hours' notice. + +The Births, Marriages, and Deaths--and the Markets, and Price of +Stocks, in small type, which well bespeaks their crowded interest, +wind up the sheet. Yet what thrilling sensations does this small +portion of our sheet often impart. What hopes and expectations for +heirs and legacy hunters--people who want the "quotation" of Mark Lane +and the Coal Market--and others whose daily tone and temper depends +on the little cramped fractions in the "Stocks" and "Funds." Another +catches a fine frenzy from the "Shares," and regulates his day's +movements "the very air o' the time" by their import--and hence he +dreams of gold and gossamer, or sits torturing his imagination with +writs and executions that await adverse fortune. + +Such are but a few of the pleasures and pains of a newspaper. +Shenstone says the first part which an ill-natured man examines, is +the list of bankrupts, and the bills of mortality; but, to prove that +our object is any thing but ill-natured, we have glanced last at the +Deaths. The paper over which we have been travelling, wants the +Gazette and Parliamentary News, and a Literary feature. The Debates +would have enabled us to illustrate the rapid marches of science and +intellect in our times, as displayed in the present perfect system of +parliamentary reporting. But enough has been said on other points to +prove that the _physiognomy_ of a newspaper is a subject of intense +interest. In this slight sketch we have neither magnified the crimes, +nor sported with the weaknesses; all our aim has been to search out +points or pivots upon which the reflective reader may turn; the result +will depend on his own frame of mind. + +There is, however, one little paragraph, one pearl appended to the +Police Report which we must detach, viz. the acknowledgment of £2. +sent to the Bow Street office poor-box, the _seventh_ contribution of +the same amount of a benevolent individual (by the handwriting, a +lady) signed "A friend to the unfortunate." + +Read this ye who gloat over ill-gotten wealth, or abuse good fortune; +think of the delights of this divine benefactress--silent and +unknown--but, above all, of the exceeding great reward laid up for +her in heaven. + +PHILO. + + * * * * * + + +CAT AND FIDDLE. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +Your correspondent, double X has furnished us with a well written and +whimsical derivation of the above ale-house sign, and partly by Roman +patriotism and French "lingo," he traces it up to "_l'hostelle du +Caton fidelle_." But I presume the article is throughout intended for +pure banter--as I do not consider your facetious friend seriously +meant that "no two objects in the world have less to do with each +other than a cat and violin." + +How close the connexion is between fiddle and _cat-gut_, seems pretty +well evident--for a proof, I therefore refer double X to any _cat-gut +scraper_ in his majesty's dominions, from the theatres royal, to +Mistress Morgan's two-penny hop at Greenwich Fair. + +JACOBUS. + + * * * * * + + +THE ROUE'S INTERPRETATION OF DEATH. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + +"Death! who would think that five simple letters, would produce a word +with so much terror in it."--_The Rou._ + + + Death! and why should it be + That hideous mystery + Is with those atoms integral combin'd? + Alas! too well--too well, + I've prob'd unto the spell + In each dark imag'd sound, that lurks entwin'd! + Eternity, implied + In Death, and long denied + Now sacrifices my tortur'd menial gaze! + Whilst, with its lurid light + Heart-burnings fierce unite + And what may quench, the guilty spirit's blaze? + + Annihilation!--this, + Was once, the startling bliss + I forc'd my soul to fancy Death should give! + But, whilst I shudd'ring bless + The hopes--of--nothingness, + A something sighs: "Beyond the grave I live!" + Tophet! I thrill! for scorn'd + Was the sere thought, though warn'd + Ofttimes that Death, enclos'd that dread abyss! + Now, by each burning vein + And venom'd conscience--pain + I know the terrors of that world, in this! + + Heaven! ay, 'tis in Death + For him, whose fragile breath + Wends from a breast of piety and peace, + But darkness, chains, and dree + Eternal, are for me + Since Death's tremendous myst'ries never cease! + +M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + +TO JUDY. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + I have thought of you much since we parted, + And wished for you every day, + And often the sad tear has started, + And often I've brush'd it away; + When the thought of thy sweet smile come o'er me + Like a sunbeam the tempest between, + And the hope of thy love shone before me + So brilliantly bright and serene, + I remember thy last vow that made me + Forget all my sorrow and care, + And I think of the dear voice that bade me + Awake from the dream of despair. + + I regard not the gay scene around me, + The smiles of the young and the free, + Have not _now_ the soft charm that once bound me. + For _that_ hath been broken by _thee_; + And tho' voices, _dear_ voices are teeming, + With friendship and gladness, and wit, + And a welcome from bright eyes is beaming, + I cannot, I cannot, forget-- + I may join in the dance and the song, + And laugh with the witty and gay, + Yet the heart and best feelings that throng + Around it, are far, far away. + + Dost remember the scene we last traced, love, + When the smile from night's radiant queen + Beamed bright o'er the valley, and chased love + The spirit of gloom from the scene? + And the riv'let how heedless it rushed, love, + From its home in the mountain away, + And the wild rose how faintly it blush'd, love, + In the light of the moon's silver ray: + Oh, that streamlet was like unto me, + Parting from whence its brightness first sprung, + And that sweet rose was the emblem of thee, + As so pale on my bosom you hung. + + Dearest, _why_ did I leave thee behind me, + Oh! why did I leave thee at all, + Ev'ry day that dawns, only can find me + In sorrow, and tho' the sweet thrall + Of my heart serves to cheer and to check me + When sorrow or passion have sway, + Yet I'd rather have thee to _hen-peck_[1] me, + Than be from thy bower away; + And, dear Judy, I'm still what you found me, + When we met in the grove by the rill, + I forget not the spell that first bound me, + And I shall not, till feeling be still. + +F. BERINGTON. + + [1] _Hen-pecked_, to be governed _by a wife_, (see Johnson.) + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT PLACES OF SANCTUARY IN LONDON AND WESTMINSTER. + + "No place indeed should murder sanctuarise." +SHAKSPEARE. + + +The principal sanctuaries were those in the neighbourhood of +Fleet-street, Salisbury-court, White Friars, Ram-alley, and Mitre-court; +Fulwood's-rents, in Holborn, Baldwin's-gardens, in Gray's-inn-lane; the +Savoy, in the Strand; Montague-close, Deadman's-place, the Clink, the +Mint, and Westminster. The sanctuary in the latter place was a structure +of immense strength. Dr. Stutely, who wrote about the year 1724, saw it +standing, and says that it was with very great difficulty that it was +demolished. The church belonging to it was in the shape of a cross, and +double, one being built over the other. It is supposed to have been +built by Edward the Confessor. Within this sanctuary was born Edward V., +and here his unhappy mother took refuge with her son, the young Duke of +York, to secure him from the villanous proceedings of his cruel uncle, +the Duke of Gloucester, who had possession of his elder brother. The +metropolis at one time (says the Rev. Joseph Nightingale,) abounded with +these haunts of villany and wretchedness. They were originally +instituted for the most humane and pious purposes; and owe their origin +to one of the sacred institutions of the Mosaic law, which appointed +certain cities of refuge for persons who had accidentally slain any of +their fellow creatures. The institution, as Marmonides justly observes, +was a merciful provision both for the manslayer, that he might be +preserved, and for the avenger, that his blood might be cooled by the +removal of the manslayer out of his sight. In the year 1487, during the +Pontificate of Innocent VIII. a bull was issued, and sent here, to lay +a little restraint on the privileges of sanctuary. It stated, that if +thieves, murderers, or robbers, registered as sanctuary-men, should +sally out and commit fresh nuisances, which they frequently did, and +enter again, in such cases they might be taken out of their sanctuaries +by the king's officers. That as for debtors, who had taken sanctuary +to defraud their creditors, their persons only should be protected; +but their goods out of sanctuary, should be liable to seizure. As +for traitors, the king was allowed to appoint them keepers in their +sanctuaries, to prevent their escape. After the Reformation had gained +strength, these places of sanctuary began to sink into contempt, and in +the year 1697, it became absolutely necessary to take some legislative +measures for their destruction. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +TRUE PHILOSOPHY. + + +A footman who had been found guilty of murdering his fellow-servant, +was engaged in writing his confession: "I murd--" he stopped, and +asked, "How do you spell _murdered?_" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_ + + * * * * * + + +TIMBER TREES. + + +In the last volume of the MIRROR, we gave several extracts from a +delightful paper on _Landscape Gardening_, contained in a recent +Number of the _Quarterly Review_; with an abstract of Sir Henry +Steuart's new method of transplanting trees, and a variety of +information on this interesting department of rural economy. We are +therefore pleased to see that the Society for the diffusion of Useful +Knowledge, have appropriated the second part of their new work to what +are termed "Timber Trees and their applications;" and probably few of +their announced volumes will exceed in usefulness and entertainment +that which is now before us. Indeed, the Editor could scarcely have +devised a more successful means of impressing his readers with a +sincere love of nature and her sublime works, than by introducing them +to the history of vegetable substances in their connexion with the +useful arts. + +We subjoin a few specimens, with occasional notes, arising from our +own reading and personal observation. + + +_Picturesque Beauty of the Oak_. + + +A fine oak is one of the most picturesque of Trees. It conveys to the +mind associations of strength and duration, which are very impressive. +The oak stands up against the blast, and does not take, like other +trees, a twisted form from the action of the winds. Except the cedar of +Lebanon, no tree is so remarkable for the stoutness of its limbs: they +do not exactly spring from the trunk, but divide from it; and thus it +is sometimes difficult to know which is stem and which is branch. The +twisted branches of the oak, too, add greatly to its beauty; and the +horizontal direction of its boughs, spreading over a large surface, +completes the idea of its sovereignty over all the trees of the forest. +Even a decayed oak,-- + + "------dry and dead, + Still clad with reliques of its trophies old, + Lifting to heaven its aged hoary head, + Whose foot on earth Hath got but feeble hold--" + + +--even such a tree as Spenser has thus described is strikingly +beautiful: decay in this case looks pleasing. To such an oak Lucan +compared Pompey in his declining state. + + +_The Cedar_. + + +The cedar of Lebanon, though it has been introduced into many parts of +England as an ornamental tree, and has thriven well, has not yet been +planted in great numbers for the sake of its timber. No doubt it is more +difficult to rear, and requires a far richer soil than the pine and the +larch; but the principal objection to it has been the supposed slowness +of its growth, although that does not appear to be very much greater +than in the oak. Some cedars, which have been planted in a soil well +adapted to them, at Lord Carnarvon's, at Highclere, have grown with +extraordinary rapidity. Of the cedars planted in the royal garden +at Chelsea, in 1683, two had, in eighty-three years, acquired a +circumference of more than twelve feet, at two feet from the ground, +while their branches increased over a circular space forty feet in +diameter. Seven-and-twenty years afterwards the trunk of the largest one +had extended more than half a foot in circumference; which is probably +more than most oaks of a similar age would do during an equal period. +The surface soil in which the Chelsea cedars throve so well is not by +any means rich; but they seem to have been greatly nourished from a +neighbouring pond, upon the filling up of which they wasted away. + +Various specimens of the cedar of Lebanon are mentioned as having +attained a very great size in England. One planted by Dr. Uvedale, in +the garden of the manor-house at Enfield, about the middle of the +seventeenth century, had a girth of fourteen feet in 1789; eight feet +of the top of it had been blown down by the great hurricane in 1703, +but still it was forty feet in height. At Whitton, in Middlesex, a +remarkable cedar was blown down in 1779. It had attained the height of +seventy feet; the branches covered an area one hundred feet in +diameter; the trunk was sixteen feet in circumference at seven feet +from the ground, and twenty-one feet at the insertion of the great +branches twelve feet above the surface. There were about ten principal +branches or limbs, and their average circumference was twelve feet. +About the age and planter of this immense tree its historians are not +agreed, some of them referring its origin to the days of Elizabeth, +and even alleging that it was planted by her own hand. Another cedar, +at Hillingdon, near Uxbridge, had, at the presumed age of 116 years, +arrived at the following dimensions; its height was fifty-three feet, +and the spread of the branches ninety-six feet from east to west, and +eighty-nine from north to south. The circumference of the trunk, close +to the ground, was thirteen feet and a half; at seven feet it was +twelve and a half; and at thirteen feet, just under the branches, it +was fifteen feet eight inches. There were two principal branches, the +one twelve feet and the other ten feet in girth. The first, after a +length of eighteen inches, divided into two arms, one eight feet and a +half, and the other seven feet ten. The other branch, soon after its +insertion, was parted into two, of five feet and a half each.[2] + + [2] We believe the finest cedars in England to be those at Juniper + Hall, between Leatherhead and Dorking. + + +_The Yew Tree_ + + +(Called _Taxus_, probably from the Greek, which signifies swiftness, +and may allude to the velocity of an arrow shot from a yew-tree bow,) +is a tree of no little celebrity, both in the military and the +superstitious history of England. The common yew is a native of +Europe, of North America, and of the Japanese Isles. It used to be +very plentiful in England and Ireland, and probably also Scotland. +Caesar mentions it as having been abundant in Gaul; and much of it is +found in Ireland, imbedded in the earth. The trunk and branches grow +very straight; the bark is cast annually; and the wood is compact, +hard, and very elastic. It is therefore of great use in every branch +of the arts in which firm and durable timber is required; and, before +the general use of fire-arms, it was in high request for bows: so much +of it was required for the latter purpose, that ships trading to +Venice were obliged to bring ten bow staves along with every butt of +Malmsey. The yew was also consecrated--a large tree, or more being in +every churchyard; and they were held sacred.[3] In funeral processions +the branches were carried over the dead by mourners, and thrown under +the coffin in the grave. The following extract from the ancient laws +of Wales will show the value that was there set upon these trees, and +also how the consecrated yew of the priests had risen in value over +the reputed sacred mistletoe of the Druids:-- + +"A consecrated yew, its value is a pound. + +"A misletoe branch, threescore pence. + +"An oak, sixscore pence. + +"Principal branch of an oak, thirty pence. + +"A yew tree, (not consecrated) fifteen pence. + +"A sweet apple, threescore pence. + +"A sour apple, thirty pence. + +"A thorn-tree, seven pence halfpenny. Every tree after that, +fourpence." + + [3] Yew trees--those gloomy tenants of our churchyards--appear to + have been planted there in ancient times. In the will of Henry + VI. there is the following item:--"The space between the wall + of the church and the wall of the cloyster shall conteyne 38 + feyte, which is left for to sett in certayne trees and flowers, + behovable and convenient for the custom of the said church." + Several reasons may be assigned for giving this tree a preference + to every other evergreen. It is very hardy, long-lived, and, + though in time it attains a considerable height, produces + branches in abundance, so low as to be always within reach + of the hand, and at last affords a beautiful wood for + furniture.--The date of the yews at Bedfont is 1704. + + +By a statute made in the 5th year of Edward IV., every Englishman, and +Irishman dwelling with Englishmen, was directed to have a bow of his +own height made of yew, wych-hazel, ash, or awburne--that is, laburnum, +which is still styled "awburne saugh," or awburne willow, in many +parts of Scotland. His skill in the use of the long bow was the proud +distinction of the English yeoman, and it was his boast that none but an +Englishman could bend that powerful weapon. It seems that there was a +peculiar art in the English use of this bow; for our archers did not +employ all their muscular strength in drawing the string with the right +hand, but thrust the whole weight of the body into the horns of the bow +with the left. Chaucer describes his archer as carrying "a mighty bowe;" +and the "cloth-yard shaft," which was discharged from this engine, is +often mentioned by our old poets and chroniclers. The command of Richard +III. at the battle which was fatal to him, was this: + + "Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head." + + +The bowmen were the chief reliance of the English leaders in those +bloody battles which attended our unjust contests for the succession +to the crown of France. Some of these scenes are graphically described +by Froissart. + + +_Box_ + + +Is a native of all the middle and southern parts of Europe; and it is +found in greater abundance and of a larger size in the countries on +the west of Asia, to the south of the mountains of Caucasus. In many +parts of France it is also plentiful, though generally in the +character of a shrub. In early times it flourished upon many of the +barren hills of England. Evelyn found it upon some of the higher hills +in Surrey, displaying its myrtle-shaped leaves and its bright green in +the depth of winter; and, till very recently, it gave to Boxhill, in +that county, the charms of a delightful and perennial verdure. The +trees have now been destroyed, and the name, as at other places called +after the box, has become the monument of its former beauty.[4] + + [4] In the twelfth volume of the MIRROR, we gave an accurate picture + of the past and present celebrity of _Box Hill_, especially with + respect to the quantity of box grown there. The box trees on the + hill are again flourishing, and with these and other evergreens + the chief part of Box Hill is still covered. + + +Yet no tree so well merits cultivation--though its growth be slow. It +is an unique among timber, and combines qualities which are not found +existing together in any other. It is as close and as heavy as ebony; +not very much softer than _lignumvitae_; it cuts better than any other +wood; and when an edge is made of the ends of the fibres, it stands +better than lead or tin, nay almost as well as brass. Like holly, the +box is very retentive of its sap, and warps when not properly dried, +though when sufficiently seasoned it stands well. Hence, for the +wooden part of the finer tools, for every thing that requires +strength, beauty, and polish in timber, there is nothing equal to it. +There is one purpose for which box, and box alone, is properly +adapted, and that is the forming of wood-cuts, for scientific or other +illustrations in books. These reduce the price considerably in the +first engraving, and also in the printing; while the wood-cut in box +admits of as high and sharp a finish as any metal, and takes the ink +much better. It is remarkably durable too; for, if the cut be not +exposed to alternate moisture or heat, so as to warp or crush it, the +number of thousands that it will print is almost incredible. England +is the country where this economical mode of illustration is performed +in the greatest perfection; and just when a constant demand for box +was thus created, the trees available for the purpose had vanished +from the island. + + +_Mahogany_ + + +Is of universal use for furniture, from the common tables of a village +inn to the splendid cabinets of a regal palace. But the general adoption +of this wood renders a nice selection necessary for those articles which +are costly and fashionable. The extensive manufacture of piano-fortes +has much increased the demand for mahogany. This musical instrument, as +made in England, is superior to that of any other part of Europe; and +English piano-fortes are largely exported. The beauty of the case forms +a point of great importance to the manufacturer. This circumstance adds +nothing, of course, to the intrinsic value of the instrument; but it +is of consequence to the maker, in giving an adventitious quality to +the article in which he deals. Spanish mahogany is decidedly the most +beautiful; but occasionally, yet not very often, the Honduras wood is of +singular brilliancy; and it is then eagerly sought for, to be employed +in the most expensive cabinet-work. A short time ago, Messrs. Broadwood, +who have long been distinguished as makers of piano-fortes, gave the +enormous sum of 3,000_l_. for three logs of mahogany. These logs, the +produce of one tree, were each about fifteen feet long and thirty-eight +inches wide. They were cut into veneers of eight to an inch. The wood, +of which we have seen a specimen, was peculiarly beautiful, capable of +receiving the highest polish; and, when polished, reflecting the light +in the most varied manner, like the surface of a crystal; and, from +the wavy form of the fibres, offering a different figure in whatever +direction it was viewed. A new species of mahogany has been lately +introduced in cabinet-work, which is commonly called Gambia. As its name +imports, it comes from Africa. It is of a beautiful colour, but does not +retain it so long as the Spanish and Honduras woods. + + +_Planting_. + +The publication of his Sylva, by Evelyn,[5] gave a considerable +impulse to planting in the time of Charles II.; but in the next +century that duty was much neglected by the landed proprietors of this +country. There is a selfish feeling, that the planter of an elm or an +oak does not reap such an immediate profit from it himself, as will +compensate for the expense and trouble of raising it. This is an +extremely narrow principle, which, fortunately, the rich are beginning +to be ashamed of. It is a positive duty of a landed proprietor who +cuts down a tree which his grandfather planted, to put a young one +into the ground, as a legacy to his own grand-children: he will +otherwise leave the world worse than he found it. Sir Walter Scott, +who is himself a considerable planter, has eloquently denounced that +contracted feeling which prevents proprietors thus improving their +estates, because the profits of plantations make a tardy and distant +return; and we cannot better conclude than with a short passage from +the essay in which he enforces the duty of planting waste lands:-- + +"The indifference to this great rural improvement arises, we have +reason to believe, not so much out of the actual lucre of gain as the +fatal _vis inertiae_--that indolence which induces the lords of the +soil to be satisfied with what they can obtain from it by immediate +rent, rather than encounter the expense and trouble of attempting the +modes of amelioration which require immediate expense--and, what is, +perhaps, more grudged by the first-born of Egypt--a little future +attention. To such we can only say that the improvement by plantation +is at once the easiest, the cheapest, and the least precarious mode of +increasing the immediate value, as well as the future income, of their +estates; and that therefore it is we exhort them to take to heart the +exhortation of the dying Scotch laird to his son: 'Be aye sticking in +a tree Jock--it will be growing whilst you are sleeping.'" + + [5] Evelyn passed much of his time in planting; and his _Sylva, + or a Discourse on Forest Trees_, is one of the most valuable + works in the whole compass of English literature. He describes + himself as "borne at _Wotton_, among the woods," situate about + four miles from Dorking, in a fine valley leading to Leith Hill. + In book iii. chap. 7, of his _Sylva_, he says, "To give an + instance of what store of woods and timber of prodigious size + were grown in our little county of Surrey, my own grandfather + had standing at Wotton, and about that estate, timber that now + were worth £100,000. Since of what was left my father (who was + a great preserver of wood) there has been £30,000. worth of + limber fallen by the axe, and the fury of the hurricane in 1703, + by which upwards of 1,000 trees were blown down. Now, no more + Wotton! stript and naked, and ashamed almost to own its name." + The Wotton woods are still flourishing, and within the last + fourteen years we have passed many delightful days beneath their + shade. Many a time and often in our rambles have we met the + venerated Sir Samuel Romilly in one of the most beautiful ridges + of the park, called the _Deer-leap_, wooing Nature in her + delightful solitudes of wood and glade. He resided at Leith + Hill, and the distance thence to Wotton is but a short ride. + + * * * * * + + +KITCHINERIANA. + +(_From the Housekeeper's Oracle, by the late Dr. Kitchiner_.) + + +The Greek commanders at the siege of Troy, and who were likewise all +royal sovereigns, never presumed to set before their guests any food +but that cooked by their own hands. Achilles was famous for--broiling +beefsteaks. + + * * * * * + + +Instead of "Do let me send you some more of this mock turtle"--"Another +patty"--"Sir, some of this trifle," "I must insist upon your trying this +nice melon;" + +The language of _hospitality_ should rather run thus:--"Shall I send you +a fit of the cholic, Sir?" + +"Pray let me have the pleasure of giving you a pain in your stomach." + +"Sir, let me help you to a little gentle bilious head-ache." + +"Ma'am, you surely cannot refuse a touch of inflammation in the bowels." + + If you feed on rich sauces, drink deep of strong wine, + In the morn go to bed, and not till night dine; + And the order of Nature thus turn topsy turvy! + You'll quickly contract Palsy, jaundice, and scurvy!! + + * * * * * + + +The man who makes an appointment with his stomach and does not keep it +disappoints his _best friend_. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY + + + * * * * * + + +[Illustration: Swan River Settlement.] + + +Copied from a handsome Chart, by permission of the publisher, Mr. Cross, +18, Holborn, opposite Furnivals' Inn. + + +EMIGRATION. + +SWAN RIVER SETTLEMENT. + +(_Concluded from page 300_.) + +[We resume the description of the Swan River Settlement, which will be +further illustrated by the annexed outline.] + + +The animal productions, we may take for granted, are generally the +same as those of New South Wales. The human species, in their physical +qualities and endowments are the same. Most of them wore kangaroo +cloaks, which were their only clothing. They carry the same kind of +spears, and the womera, or throwing stick, as are used by those in New +South Wales. In the summer months they frequent the sea-coast, where +their skill in spearing fish is described as quite wonderful. In +winter they mostly adhere to the woods on the higher grounds, where +the kangaroos, the opossum tribe, and the land tortoises are +plentiful. These, with birds and roots, constitute their sustenance. +They have neither boat nor raft, nor did the party fall in with any +thing resembling a hut. They made use of the word "kangaroo" and other +terms in use at Port Jackson. The party saw only the three kinds of +animals above-mentioned, and heard the barking of the native dog; no +other reptiles but iguanas and lizards and a single snake presented +themselves. + +Of birds, the list is somewhat more extensive. The emu is frequent on +the plains, and that once supposed "_rara avis_," the elegant black +swan, was seen in the greatest abundance on the river to which it has +lent its name, and particularly on Melville lake. Equally abundant +were numerous species of the goose and duck family. White and black +cockatoos, parrots and parroquets, were every where found. Pigeons and +quails were seen in great quantities, and many melodious birds were +heard in the woods. + +Seals were plentiful on all the islands. Captain Stirling says that it +was not the season for whales, but their debris strewed the shore of +Geographer's Bay. The French, in May and June, met with a prodigious +number of whales along this part of the coast, and sharks equally +numerous and of an enormous size, some of them stated to be upwards of +two thousand pounds in weight. Vlaming mentions the vast numbers of +large sharks on this part of the coast, and he, as well as the French, +found the sea near the shore swarming with sea-snakes, the largest +about nine or ten feet long. Captain Stirling's party procured three +or four different kinds of good esculent fish; one in particular, a +species of rock-cod, is described as excellent. + +"The bottom of the sea," says Captain Stirling, "is composed of +calcareous sand, sometimes passing into marl or clay. On this may be +seen growing an endless variety of marine plants, which appear to form +the haunts and perhaps the sustenance of quantities of small fish. +When it is considered that the bank extends a hundred miles from the +shore, and that wherever the bottom is seen, it presents a moving +picture of various animals gliding over the green surface of the +vegetation, it is not too much to look forward to the time when a +valuable fishery may be established on these shores. Even now, a boat +with one or two men might be filled in a few hours." + +The island of Buache is admirably adapted for a fishing town. The +anchorage close to its eastern shore in Cockburn Island is protected +against all winds; and the island itself, of six or seven thousand +acres, of a light sort of sand and loam, is well suited, as Mr. Fraser +thinks, for any description of light garden crops. The side next the +sea is fenced by a natural dyke of limestone, coveted with cypress, +and in many places with an arborescent species of Metrosideros; and +all the valleys are clothed with a gigantic species of Solanum, and a +beautiful Brownonia. The soil in these thickets is a rich brown loam +intermixed with blocks of limestone, and susceptible, Mr. Fraser says, +of producing any description of crop. Fresh water may be had in all +these valleys by digging to the depth of two feet. On this island +Captain Stirling caused a garden to be planted and railed out; on +which account he named it "Garden Island." + +On this island, Buache, or Garden (as the party named it) Captain +Stirling left a cow, two ewes in lamb, and three goats, where, he +observes, abundance of grass, and a large pool of water awaited them. +They would be, at all events, perfectly free from any disturbance from +the natives. + +Rottenest Island is the largest in this quarter, being about eight miles +in length; it contains several saline lagoons, separated from the sea, +on the north-east side, by a beach composed mostly of a single species +of bivalve shell. Like Buache, it is covered with an abundant and +vigorous vegetation, and a small species of kangaroo is said by +Freycinet to be numerous upon it. Vlaming, who first discovered it, +speaks in raptures of the beauties of this island, to which, from the +multitude of rats, as he thought them to be, he gave the name of the +"Rats' Nest." The French call this animal the _preamble ... long new_. + +It is not to be supposed that a hasty visit could enable the party +to explore the mineralogical resources of the country. It appears, +however, by a list of the soils and rock formations in Captain +Stirling's report, that he brought home specimens of copper ore, of +lead ore with silver, and also with arsenic, two species of magnetic +iron, several varieties of granite, and chalcedony, and of limestone, +with stalagmite incrustations, &c. The high cliffs of Cape Naturaliste +abound with large masses of what Mr. Fraser calls "an extraordinary +aggregate," containing petrifactions of bivalve and other marine +shells, every particle of which was thickly incrusted with minute +crystals. Here, too, he says, veins of iron of considerable thickness +were seen to traverse the rock in various directions; and he speaks of +the caverns formed in the minacious schistose between the granite +and the limestone, as something very extraordinary. They contained +rock-salt in large quantities, forming thick incrustations on every +part of the surface, beautifully crystallized, and penetrating into +the most compact parts of the rock. In many of these caverns were very +brilliant stalactites and stalagmites of extraordinary size adhering +to the nodules of granite which form their bases or floors, and which +are from forty to fifty feet above the level of the sea. + +In several parts of the limestone formation, mineral springs were +found; one in particular was noticed within half a mile of the +entrance into Swan River. It bubbled out at the base of the solid rock +in a stream, whose transverse area was measured by Captain Stirling, +and found to be from six to seven feet, running at the rate of three +feet in a second of time. It was thermal, saline, pleasant to the +taste, and some, who partook of it, attributed to it an aperient +quality. + +Such is the outline of a country on which the government have +determined to establish a colony, and over which they have justly, +and we think judiciously, appointed Captain Stirling to act as +lieutenant-governor. The plan on which it is to be founded is, in our +opinion, unobjectionable. It promises the most advantageous terms to +qualified settlers, and deserves only to be known to ensure as many of +the most respectable agriculturists as may in the first instance be +desirable. + +In point of climate, this colony and New South Wales may perhaps be +equally salubrious, though we are disposed to think that the western +aspect and the sea-breezes may preponderate in favor of the new +one;--this being, probably, milder, as the western sides of all +continents and large islands are, than the eastern sides, in the +winter,--while the refreshing breezes cool the air in the summer. +"In my opinion," says Captain Stirling, "the climate, considered +with reference to health, is highly salubrious. This opinion is +corroborated by that of the surgeon of the Success, who states in his +report to me on the subject, that, notwithstanding the great exposure +of the people to fatigue, to night air in the neighbourhood of marshy +grounds, and to other causes usually productive of sickness, he had +not a case upon his sick list, except for slight complaints +unconnected with climate." + +It likewise appears, from Captain Stirling's report, that the +thermometer, in the hot months of January, February, and March, +averaged, in the morning, about 60 deg.; at noon, about 78 deg.; +and in the evening 65 deg. The barometer averaged about 30 deg. +The weather generally fine,--some rain and showery weather, and +occasionally thunder and lightning. + +In geographical position it has an incalculable advantage over New +South Wales. In the first place, it is not only much more conveniently +situated than that colony, but is much nearer to, and has much more +easy means of communication with, every part of the civilized world, +the east coast of America perhaps excepted. The passages to it from +England, and from the Cape of Good Hope, are shortened by nearly a +month, and the return voyages still more. The voyage from it to Madras +and Ceylon is little more than three weeks at all times of the year, +and only a month from those places to it; while for six months in the +year, namely, from November to April, inclusive, when the western +monsoons prevail on the northern coast of Australia, the passage from +New South Wales through Torres Strait, always dangerous, is then +utterly impracticable; and that through Bass's Strait nearly so to +merchant vessels, on account of the westerly winds which blow through +it at all times of the year, and which generally oblige them to go +round the southern extremity of Van Nieman's Land. The Success frigate +left Port Jackson on the 17th of January, and did not reach Cape +Leeuwin till the 2nd of February, being six weeks and two days; and +Captain Stirling observes, that the only chance, by which the passage +could be accomplished at all, was by carrying a constant press of +sail. + +One point of consideration,(says the writer of the "Hints,") in the +proposed measure (although in reality of no essential importance to +pecuniary success) is of considerable magnitude, as regards moral +feeling and the pride of many--that is, there being no admission of +convicts into the proposed colony! Without any illiberal sentiment, +this is a disadvantage under which Port Jackson and Van Nieman's +Land certainly suffer. Nevertheless these thriving colonies, in the +course of thirty or forty years, have made surprising progress in +agriculture, population, commerce and wealth. The situation of Port +Jackson was the most distant from the mother country; its position +was not peculiarly adapted to production or traffic with any part of +the globe; therefore, the improvement can only be attributed to a +favorable soil, free from the taxation of old European governments, a +low fee cost, or a nominal pepper corn rent, which circumstances have +not only been capable of maintaining those who adventured, but of +yielding a profit for capital sufficient to induce others to pursue +the same course. + +In the infancy of a colony, the certain maintenance of the settlers +should be well established; and it is also right to know with what +facility and at what cost, an adequate supply of necessaries, +comforts, and even luxuries may be obtained. Adjacent, and favorably +situated to Cockburn Sound, are the Mauritius, Cape of Good Hope, +Timer, Java, Sumatra, and the East Indian Presidencies. + +_Rice_, from Java, can be obtained in five weeks, at or under 1_d_. +per pound. + +The bantam fowls and China pigs at equally moderate prices. + +_Sugar_,[6] from the Mauritius, Java, or Calcutta, at 3_d_. per pound. + + [6] Cunningham, in his account of New South Wales, recommends the + cultivation of sugar, but he acknowledges the latitude of 28° + scarcely sufficiently warm for the purpose, and enters into an + argument of economy, whether convicts or slaves would be the + cheapest mode of supplying labour; but this system would + alter the whole character of this proposed settlement in the + neighbourhood of Cockburn Sound, the great feature of which is + healthiness of the climate, and a fertility of the soil, + capable of producing useful exportable commodities, more than + sufficient to pay for tropical productions of luxury, raised + at an increased expense of life and slavery; and a very little + insight into foreign trade will show with what ease this may + be accomplished. + + +_Coffee_, from Java, 4_d_. per pound. + +_Spices_, the production of the Moluccas, Celebees, &c. &c. at the +lowest possible rate:--viz. pepper, nutmegs, cloves, &c. + +Algoa Bay, the Cape of Good Hope, furnishes cattle and sheep. The +coast of Cockburn Sound and Swan and Canning Rivers, promises plenty +of fish for the table--also, oil for use. Tea will not cost more than +2_s_. 6_d_. per pound through Java; from whence stock of cattle, +poultry and pigs can be added of the best quality. + +There is no intention in these remarks to shew the extent of +production of which the soil and climate are capable; time and +prosperity will be requisite to bring forward all their capabilities. +Nothing, therefore, has been said of the articles grown in similar +latitudes in Asia, and carried to Smyrna and other Turkish ports at +immense distances, for export to England, France, and Holland. There +is, however, no reason for supposing that silk, (equal to that of +Brussa,) opium, madder roots, goats' wool, senna, gums, currants, +raisins, and the highly esteemed Turkish tobacco, and various other +productions, may not be cultivated to advantage half a century hence. +But in the commencement, it is sufficient to look to _early, certain, +and profitable returns_; without calculating upon chances of wealth, +which may not be realized in the lifetime of the present adventurers. + +It remains only for us to offer a word of advice (says the writer +in the _Quarterly Review_) to the multitudes who we understand are +preparing to take their flight to this new land of Goshen,--which is +this: that no one should _at present_ think of venturing on such a +step, unless he can carry out with him, either in his own person or +in his family or followers, the knowledge of agriculture, and the +capability of agricultural labour. It is quite certain that, for the +first few years, every settler must be mainly indebted for the means +of subsistence of himself and family to the produce of the soil; +beyond this the country itself, for the first year, will afford him +nothing, with the exception, perhaps, of a little fish--the rest must +be raised by the labour of the ploughman and the horticulturist. The +only settlers, therefore, who can reasonably hope to thrive in the +infant state of the colony must consist of this description of +persons; any others, with very few exceptions, must inevitably +be disappointed, if not irretrievably ruined. A clergyman, a +schoolmaster, a land-surveyor, an apothecary, a few small tradesmen +and fishermen, may reasonably expect employment and make themselves +useful to the new community; as will also a limited number of +house-carpenters, joiners, bricklayers, black-smiths, tailors, +shoemakers, and common labourers, the latter being required to assist +in building habitations; but the unproductive class, or idlers, had +better wait a few years before they embark for a country where, as +yet, there is neither hut nor hovel, and where the "_fruges consumere +nati_" have unquestionably no place in society. We cannot forget what +happened, when, a few years ago, the government resolved to send out, +at a very considerable expense, a number of new settlers to improve +and extend the agriculture of the Cape of Good Hope; giving allowances +to the heads of parties, proportioned to their respective numbers. + +The persons best calculated for effecting the improvement of the +colony, and, at the same time, their own condition, must be looked for +among the English and Scotch farmers; these cannot fail. To such we +would recommend not to encumber themselves, and incur a great and +unnecessary expense, by carrying out live-stock from home, but to take +them from the Cape of Good Hope. At Algoa Bay, which is perfectly safe +for six months in the year, they may be supplied with every kind of +domestic animal, in good condition, and at reasonable prices, which +may be carried to their destination in the short space of twenty-eight +days. Seed corn and the seeds of culinary vegetables may be taken from +home; but of young plants of peaches, pomegranates, oranges, figs, +and vines, it may be advisable to take a supply from the Cape of +Good Hope. For these, and many other species of fruit, the climate is +admirably adapted; and the vine, in particular, is just calculated for +the limestone ridge which extends along the coast facing the western +sun. + +It appears that apprehensions of interruption were once entertained +from a prior settlement from France; these fears are however, removed +by that nation having fixed on a point, to colonize, in latitude 25 +deg. south, (which is distant north of the Swan River 400 miles) +called Shark's Bay, within which there is an inlet called Freycinet's +Harbour. The country in this neighbourhood much resembles the western +coast. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + + +THE AIR BALLOON. + +IN LAUDEM BULLAE AERO-NAUTICAE. + + + They may talk as they will + Of their steam-engine skill, + But, as sure as the sun shines at noon, + Straps, boilers, and springs + Are a wagon to wings, + Compared with the air-balloon. + + If you're troubled with taxes, + You cross the Araxes, + Or fly to the plains of Hairoun; + In the height of the summer, + Cool as a cucumber, + You sit in your air-balloon. + + The ladies, poor souls! + Once sent sighs to the poles; + We may now send the sighers as soon: + Painted canvass and gas + Whisk away with the lass, + In the car of the air-balloon. + + Our girls of fifteen + Will disdain Gretna Green, + The old coupler must soon cobble shoon; + With a wink to the captain, + The beauties are wrapt in + The car of the air-balloon. + + Old fathers and mothers, + Grim uncles and brothers, + May hunt them from Janu'ry to June; + They are oft to the stars, + And in Venus or Mars + You may spy out their air-balloon + + Your makers of rhyme + May at last grow sublime, + Inspired by a touch at the moon; + And lawyers may rise + For once to the skies, + In the car of the air-balloon. + + Your ministers, soaring, + May shun all the boring + Of country and city baboon-- + Or, like ministers' spouses, + Look down on both Houses-- + From the car of the air-balloon. + + The sweet six months' widow + Her weeds will abide, O, + No longer, nor cry "'Tis too soon!" + But range the skies over, + In search of a lover, + In the car of the air balloon. + + If you wish for a singe-a + In Afric or India, + Or long for an Esquimaux' tune, + Or wish to go snacks + With the king of the blacks,-- + Why,--call for your air-balloon. + + If, on Teneriffe's Peak, + You'd wish for a steak, + Or dip in Vesuvius your spoon, + Or slip all the dog-days, + The rain-days, and fog-days,-- + Go, call for your air-balloon. + + Your doctors of physic + May banish the phthisic. + Your cook give you ice-creams in June-- + If a dun's in the wind, + You may leave him behind, + And be off in your air-balloon. + + On the top of the Andes, + Who's tortur'd with dandies? + On Potosi, who meets a buffoon? + But, for fear I'd get prosy, + I'll stop at Potosi,-- + So, huzza for the air-balloon! + +_Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +ALVISE SANUTO. + +_A Venetian Story_[7] + + + [7] The nobility of Venice were subject to the most rigorous + _surveillance_, and dearly paid, occasionally, for the small + degree of power conceded by the ducal house. The jealousy of + the government with regard to these men was carried to excess. + I may mention three regulations among the many that related to + them, as illustrative of the galling yoke that pressed on them, + amid all their pride and splendour. The first forbade them to + leave the dominions of the state without the special permission + of the council of ten; and this was granted with difficulty. + The second prohibited them from possessing foods and chattels + out of the state. This was with a view of preventing the danger + that might arise from attempts to betray the republic under an + idea of finding an asylum elsewhere. The third and most severe + decree forbade communication with foreign ambassadors, under + pain of death! The terror inspired by this was such, that not + only the ministers of the court, but their secretaries and + domestics, fled from the ambassadors as if they were infected + with the plague. This decree had numerous results, and among + others, one that was attended with truly tragical circumstances. + + +Alvise Sanuto was a young man of whom his country entertained the +proudest hopes. His courage had been gloriously tried in the battle of +Lepanto, in which he had performed prodigies of valour. His prudence +and foresight had been often the subject of admiration in the great +council of the state. The old man, his father, esteemed him as the +ornament and grace of his family: Venice pointed to him as one of her +best citizens. Alvise was destined to fall by an infamous death. + +At that period both public and private manners were exceedingly +severe. The ladies, who gave law to them, only issued from their homes +to go to church, wrapped up in a veil which hid their face and figure. +The balconies of the palaces still present signs of this ancient +severity, the parapets being purposely made so high and large, as to +render it difficult to see from them. Alvise had a heart of the most +passionate and fiery nature; he felt the imperious sway of love, but +as yet had met with no lady on whom he could bestow his affections. +The arrival of the French ambassador at Venice, in great pomp, excited +public curiosity. The manners of the strangers bore an aspect of +perfect novelty to the inhabitants of the republic, as the ladies who +accompanied Amalia, the ambassador's daughter, displayed a fire and +vivacity, which to many seemed scandalous as well as astonishing. +Amalia was in her seventeenth year, and to cultivated and sprightly +powers of mind, added those French graces, which, if they do not +constitute beauty, are still more effectual than beauty itself in +seducing the beholder. Alvise saw her when she was presented to the +Doge, and regarded her as a being more than human. He gazed on her as +if beside himself; and what female could have beheld him without +admiration? Amalia read in the noble countenance of Alvise what he +felt at that moment; she was affected, and, for the first time, her +heart palpitated within her bosom. + +Alvise from that day was another being. He knew his unhappy state, and +that his misfortunes could end but with his life, since the severe and +unyielding laws of his country rendered all hope chimerical of ever +being united with the stranger lady. His ardent fancy suggested to +attempt any means of again seeing her who was dearer to him than life. +His abode was divided from that of the ambassador by a narrow canal. +Having procured the assistance of a French domestic, he passed over +to the palace, and secretly entered the chamber of Amalia. + +It was midnight; and the young lady, her own thoughts perhaps +disturbed by love, had not yet laid down, but was seeking from prayer +consolation and rest. She knelt before the image of the virgin, her +hands clasped in the attitude of devotion; and Alvise, beholding her +angelic countenance lit up by the uncertain light of the lamp, could +not restrain an exclamation of surprise, which roused the maiden from +her pious reverie. Struck with the sight of him, she at first fancied, +according to the superstitious notions of the times, that he was a +spirit sent by her evil genius to tempt her, and uttered some words +of holy scripture by way of exorcism; when Alvise, advancing, threw +himself at her feet, and before Amalia could speak, disclosed to her, +in the most passionate terms, his love, the inconsiderate step he had +taken, and the certain death that awaited him should he be discovered. + +Terror, rather than indignation, filled the breast of Amalia. "Oh, +heavens!" she exclaimed, "what madness could prompt you thus to expose +your own life and my reputation? Haste, fly from this spot, which you +have profaned; and know, that if my heart recoils at your death (and +here she gave a deep sigh,) yet at my cry those would appear who would +not suffer your insult to pass unpunished," so saying, she pointed +imperiously to the door. + +Alvise listened to her as if he had been struck down by lightning. +"Then let me die!" he exclaimed, "for without you life is odious to +me. You are just taking the first steps in this vale of tears; one +day, however, your heart also will know the emotions of love, and +then, then think of the unhappy Alvise; how great must have been his +pangs, and how ardent his desire to terminate them!" + +He now made an effort to go away; but Amalia held him, while she said, +"Alas! I seek not thy death: live, but forget me from this fatal +moment." "To forget thee is impossible; to love thee is death: thy +compassion would sweeten the last moments of my existence!" "Alvise!" +exclaimed Amalia, weeping, "live, if only for my sake!" "Do you +comprehend the force of these words?" + +She trembled at the question; but the idea of her lover dying in +despair overcame all her scruples. "Yes, live for my sake," she +repeated in an under tone. + +Unhappy beings! they were intoxicated with love, while the abyss was +yawning beneath their feet. A spy of the state inquisition, who was +going his rounds, saw Alvise enter the palace, and recognised him. +Denounced before the dreadful tribunal, he was dragged thither +that very morning. Convicted of entering the abode of the French +ambassador, he was desired to explain his motives tor so doing, but +remained obstinately silent. The members of the inquisition were +confounded, accustomed as they were to see every thing yield before +them, and reminded him that death would be the inevitable result of +his silence. "Death," he replied, "had no terrors for me when I fought +at Lepanto for the glory of my country and the salvation of Italy; on +which day I proved, that under no circumstances could I ever become +a traitor. I call heaven to witness that I am not one. But something +dearer to me than life or fame now imposes silence on me." + +He was beheaded, and his body exposed between the two columns of the +palace, with this inscription: "For offences against the statute." The +populace were speechless at the sight, while his companions in arms, +his relations and friends, abandoned themselves to despair. Venice +presented one universal scene of mourning. + +On the evening of the fatal day, Amalia stood upon the terrace of her +palace, overlooking the grand canal. She contemplated with pleasurable +melancholy the calm and even course of the moon, whose modest light +shone in the cloudless sky. Her thoughts were of Alvise. To divert +them, she turned to gaze on a long procession of illuminated gondolas, +from which she heard a strain of plaintive music, as if of prayers for +the dead, A dreadful presentiment seized her heart; she inquired the +purpose of the procession, and heard, with unspeakable terror, that it +was the solemnization of the funeral rites of a Venetian nobleman, who +had been beheaded for high treason. "His name?" cried the breathless +girl, in almost unintelligible accents: "Alvise Sanuto." + +She fell, as if shot; and striking her head in the fall upon a +projecting part of the terrace, was mortally wounded, and +expired.--_Lettere su Venezia_--_Translated in the Oxford Literary +Gaz._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY. + + * * * * * + + +INDEPENDENCE + + +Is the word, of all others, that Irish--men, women, and +children--least understand; and the calmness, or rather indifference, +with which they submit to dependence, bitter and miserable as it is, +must be a source of deep regret to all "who love the land," or feel +anxious to uphold the dignity of human kind. Let us select a few cases +from our Irish village--such as are abundant in every neighbourhood. +Shane Thurlough, "as dacent a boy," and Shane's wife, as +"clane-skinned a girl," as any in the world. There is Shane, an +active, handsome-looking fellow, leaning over the half-door of his +cottage, kicking a hole in the wall with his brogue, and picking up +all the large gravel within his reach to pelt the ducks with--those +useful Irish scavengers. Let us speak to him. "Good morrow, Shane!" +"Och! the bright bames of heaven on ye every day! and kindly welcome, +my lady--and won't ye step in and rest--it's powerful hot, and a +beautiful summer, sure--the Lord be praised!" "Thank you, Shane. I +thought you were going to cut the hayfield to-day--if a heavy shower +comes, it will be spoil'd; it has been fit for the sithe these two +days." "Sure, it's all owing to that thief o' the world, Tom Parrel, +my lady. Didn't he promise me the loan of his sithe; and, by the same +token, I was to pay him for it; and _depinding_ on that, I didn't buy +one, which I have been threatening to do for the last two years." "But +why don't you go to Carrick and purchase one?" "To Carrick!--Och, 'tis +a good step to Carrick, and my toes are on the ground (saving your +presence,) for I _depindid_ on Tim Jarvis to tell Andy Cappler, the +brogue-maker, to do my shoes; and, bad luck to him, the spalpeen! he +forgot it." "Where's your pretty wife, Shane?" "She's in all the woe +o' the world, Ma'am, dear. And she puts the blame of it on me, though +I'm not in the faut this time, any how: the child's taken the small +pock, and she _depindid_ on me to tell the doctor to cut it for the +cow-pock, and I _depindid_ on Kitty Cackle, the limmer, to tell the +doctor's own man, and thought she would not forget it, becase the +boy's her bachelor--but out o' sight out o' mind--the never a word she +tould him about it, and the babby has got it nataral, and the woman's +in heart trouble (to say nothing o' myself;) and it the first, and +all." "I am very sorry, indeed, for you have got a much better wife +than most men." "That's a true word, my lady--only she's fidgetty like +sometimes, and says I don't hit the nail on the head quick enough; and +she takes a dale more trouble than she need about many a thing." "I do +not think I ever saw Ellen's wheel without flax before, Shane?" "Bad +cess to the wheel;--I got it this morning about that too--I _depinded_ +on John Williams to bring the flax from O'Flaharty's this day week, +and he forgot it; and she says I ought to have brought it myself, and +I close to the spot: but where's the good? says I, sure he'll bring +it next time." "I suppose, Shane, you will soon move into the new +cottage, at Clurn Hill. I passed it to-day, and it looked so cheerful; +and when you get there, you must take Ellen's advice, and _depend_ +solely on yourself." "Och Ma'am, dear, don't mintion it--sure it's +that makes me so down in the mouth, this very minit. Sure I saw that +born blackguard, Jack Waddy, and he comes in here, quite innocent +like"--"Shane, you've an eye to 'Squire's new lodge," says he. "Maybe +I have," says I. "I am y'er man," says he. "How so?" says I. "Sure I'm +as good as married to my lady's maid," said he; "and I'll spake to the +'Squire for you, my own self." "The blessing be about you," says I, +quite grateful,--and we took a strong cup on the strength of it; and +_depinding_ on him, I thought all safe,--"and what d'ye think, my +lady? Why, himself stalks into the place--talked the 'Squire over, to +be sure--and without so much as by y'er lave, sates himself and his +new wife on the laase in the house; and I may go whistle." "It was a +great pity, Shane, that you didn't go yourself to Mr. Clurn." "That's +a true word for ye, Ma'am, dear; but it's hard if a poor man can't +have a frind to DEPIND on."--_Sketches of Irish Character, by Mrs. +S.C. Hall_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + "A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." + +SHAKSPEARE + + * * * * * + + +POTATOES. + + +One is almost induced to imagine that certain orders of London +conceive that "_takers_," as they commonly call them in their uncooked +state, is a generical term; and that they only become entitled to the +prefix of "_pot_," after they have been boiled. + + * * * * * + + +DINING LATE. + + +A wag, on being told it was the fashion to dine later and later every +day, said, "he supposed it would end at last in not dining till +to-morrow!" + + * * * * * + + +MOORE'S LIFE OF BYRON. + + +Moore has printed between three and four hundred pages of his Life of +Lord Byron, which is interspersed with original letters and poems, +of singular merit--after the manner of Mason's Life of Gray, and +Hayley's Life of Cowper. Nearly the whole of the manuscript is in +town, and the work, consisting of a thick 4to. volume, will be +published during the season.--_Court Journal, No. 1_. + + * * * * * + + +PISTRUCCI. + + +This gifted improvisatore (who is poet to the King's Theatre,) +sometimes astonishes his acquaintance--especially if a new one--by +holding his hand close over the flame of a candle, or an argand lamp, +for several minutes together. It is a singular fact that several of +the male branches of this family--of whom the unrivalled artist who +cut the die of the sovereign, with the St. George upon it, is +one--have one of their hands covered with a thick coat of horn-like +matter, as hard as tortoiseshell, and perfectly insensible.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +WRITTEN EXTEMPORE IN A COPY OF COKE UPON LITTLETON, 1721. + + + O thou who labours't in this rugged mine, + Mays't thou to gold th' unpolish'd ore refine; + May each dark page unfold its haggard brow, + Fear not to reap, if thou canst dare to plough; + To tempt thy care may each revolving night, + Purses and maces glide before thy sight; + So when in times to come, advent'rous deed, + Thou shalt essay to speak, to look like Mead, + When ev'n the bay and rose shall cease to shade + With martial air the honours of thy head, + When the full wig thy visage shall enclose, + And only give to view thy learned nose, + Safely thou may'st defy beaux, wits, and scoffers, + And tenant in fee simple stuff thy coffers. + +T.H. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction., by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11343 *** |