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diff --git a/11387-h/11387-h.htm b/11387-h/11387-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..619441a --- /dev/null +++ b/11387-h/11387-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1462 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st January 2004), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 273.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + + .figure + {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + .figure p + + .side { float:right; + font-size: 75%; + width: 25%; + padding-left:10px; + border-left: dashed thin; + margin-left: 10px; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11387 ***</div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>[pg +177]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. 10. No. 273.]</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1827</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>GASPARD MONGE'S MAUSOLEUM.</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href= +"images/273-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/273-1.png" alt= +"Gaspard Monge's Mausoleum" /></a></div> +<h4>(<i>To the Editor of the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<p>Sir,—As one of your correspondents has favoured you with a +drawing of the gaol I designed for the city and county of Norwich, +with which you have embellished a recent number of the MIRROR, I +flatter myself that an engraving from the drawing I herewith send +you of the mausoleum of Gaspard Monge, which I drew while at Paris, +in 1822, will also be interesting to the readers of your valuable +little miscellany. Gaspard Monge, whose remains are deposited in +the burying ground in Pere la Chaise, at Paris, in a magnificent +mausoleum, was professor of geometry in the Polytechnique School at +Paris, and with Denon accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte on his +memorable expedition to Egypt; one to make drawings of the +architectural antiquities and sculpture, and the other the +geographical delineations of that ancient country. He returned to +Paris, where he assisted Denon in the publication of his +antiquities. At his decease the pupils of the Polytechnique School +erected this mausoleum to his memory, as a testimony of their +esteem, after a design made by his friend, Monsieur Denon. The +mausoleum is of Egyptian architecture, with which Denon had become +familiarly acquainted.</p> +<p>There is a bust of Monge placed on a terminal pedestal +underneath a canopy in the upper compartment, which canopy is open +in front and in the back. In the crown cavetto of the cornice is an +Egyptian winged globe, entwined with serpents, emblematical of time +and eternity; and on the faci below is engraved the following +line:—</p> +<p class="i4">A. GASPARD MONGE.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>[pg +178]</span> +<p>On each side of the upper compartment is inscribed the following +<i>memento mori</i>:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>LES ELEVES</p> +<p>DE L'ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE.</p> +<p>A.G. MONGE.</p> +<p>COMTE DE PELUSE.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Underneath this inscription is carved in sunk work an Egyptian +lotus flower in an upright position; on the back of the mausoleum +is the date of the year in which Gaspard Monge died. The body is in +the cemetery below.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>AN. MDCCCXX.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Monge was a man of considerable merit as a geometrician, and, +while living, stood preeminent above his contemporaries in the +French school of that day. He is the author of several works, but +his most popular one is entitled "Gèomètrie +Descriptive. par G. Monge, de l'Institut des Sciences, Lettres et +Arts, de l'Ecole Polytechnique; Membre du Sénat +Conservateur, Grand Officier de la Legion d'Honeur et Cointe de +l'Empire."</p> +<p>The programme to this work is interesting, as it urges the +necessity of making geometry a branch of the national education, +and points out the beneficial results that would arise therefrom. +The following is the translation:—</p> +<p>To draw the French nation from the dependence, which, even in +the present day it is obliged to place in foreign industry, it is +necessary first to direct the national education towards the +knowledge of those objects which require a correctness which +hitherto has been totally neglected; to accustom the hands of our +artists to the management of the various instruments that are +necessary to measure the different degrees of work, and to execute +them with precision; then the finisher becomes sensible of the +accuracy it will require in the different works, and he will be +enabled to set the necessary value on it. For our artists to +become, from their youth, familiar with geometry, and to be in a +condition to attain it, it is necessary in the second place to +render popular the knowledge of a great number of natural phenomena +that are indispensable to the progress of industry; they will then +profit for the advancement of the general instruction of the +nation, which by a fortunate circumstance it has at its disposal, +the principal resources that are necessary for it. Lastly, it is +requisite to extend among our artists the knowledge of the +advancement of the arts and that of machines, whose object is +either to diminish manual labour or to give to the result of labour +more uniformity and precision; and on those heads it must be +confessed we have much to draw from foreign nations.<a id= +"footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> All these views can only be +accomplished by giving a new turn to national education.</p> +<p>This is to be done, in the first place, by making all +intelligent young men (who are born with a fortune) familiar with +the use of descriptive geometry, so that they may be able to employ +their capital more profitably both for themselves and the nation, +and also for those who have no other fortune than their education, +so that their labour will bring them the greater reward. This art +has two principal objects, the first to represent with exactness, +from drawings which have only two dimensions, objects which have +three, and which are susceptible of a strict definition; under this +point of view it is a language necessary to the man of genius when +he conceives a project, and to those who are to have the direction +of it; and lastly, to the artists who are themselves to execute the +different parts.</p> +<p>The second object of descriptive geometry, is to deduce from the +exact description of bodies all that necessarily follows of their +forms and their respective positions; in this sense it is a means +of seeking truth, as it offers perpetual examples of the passage +from what is known to what is unknown, and as it is always applied +to objects susceptible of the minutest evidence, it is necessary +that it should form part of the plan of a national education. It is +not only fit to exercise the intellectual faculties of a great +people, and to contribute thereby to the perfection of mankind, but +it is also indispensable to all workmen, whose end is to give to +certain bodies determined forms, and it is principally owing to the +methods of this art having been too little extended, or in fact +almost entirely neglected, that the progress of our industry has +been so slow. We shall contribute then to give an advantageous +direction to national education, by making our young artist +familiar with the application of descriptive geometry, to the +graphic constructions which are necessary in the greater number of +the arts, and in making use of this geometry in the representation +and determination of the elements of machinery, by means of which, +man by the aid of the forces of nature, reserves for himself, in a +manner, in his operations no other labour than that of his +intellects. It is no less advantageous to extend the knowledge of +those phenomena of nature which may be turned to the profit of the +arts. The charm which accompanies them will overcome the repugnance +that men <span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name= +"page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> have in general for manual +operations, (which most regard as painful and laborious,) as it +will make them find pleasure in the exercise of their intellect; +thus there ought to be in the formal school a course of descriptive +geometry.</p> +<p>As yet we have no well compiled elementary work on that art, +because till this time learned men have taken too little interest +in it, or it has only been practised in an obscure manner by +persons whose education had not been sufficiently extended, and +were unable to communicate the result of their lucubrations. A +course simply oral would be absolutely without effect. It is +necessary then, for the course of descriptive geometry, that +practice and execution be joined to the hearing of methods; thus +pupils will be exercised in graphic construction of descriptive +geometry. The graphic arts have general methods with which we can +only become familiar by the use of the rule and compass. Among the +different applications that may be made of descriptive geometry, +there are <i>two</i> which are remarkable, both for their +universality and their ingenuity; these are the constructions of +<i>perspective</i> and the strict determination of the +<i>shadows</i>. These two parts may finally be considered as the +completion of the art of describing objects.</p> +<h4>R. BROWN.</h4> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>AN IDLER'S ALBUM; OR, SKETCHES OF MEN AND THINGS.</h2> +<h3>THE RADIANT BOY.</h3> +<p>It is now more than twenty years since the late Lord Londonderry +was, for the first time, on a visit to a gentleman in the north of +Ireland. The mansion was such a one as spectres are fabled to +inhabit. It was associated with many recollections of historic +times, and the sombre character of its architecture, and the +wildness of its surrounding scenery, were calculated to impress the +soul with that tone of melancholy and elevation, which,—if it +be not considered as a predisposition to welcome the visitation of +those unearthly substances that are impalpable to our sight in +moments of less hallowed sentiment,—is indisputably the state +of mind in which the imagination is most readily excited, and the +understanding most favourably inclined to grant a credulous +reception to its visions. The apartment also which was appropriated +to Lord Londonderry, was calculated to foster such a tone of +feeling. From its antique appointments; from the dark and +richly-carved panels of its wainscot; from its yawning width and +height of chimney—looking like the open entrance to a tomb, +of which the surrounding ornaments appeared to form the sculptures +and the entablature;—from the portraits of grim men and +severe-eyed women, arrayed in orderly procession along the walls, +and scowling a contemptuous enmity against the degenerate invader +of their gloomy bowers and venerable halls; from the vast, dusky, +ponderous, and complicated draperies that concealed the windows, +and hung with the gloomy grandeur of funereal trappings about the +hearse-like piece of furniture that was destined for his +bed,—Lord L., on entering his apartment, might be conscious +of some mental depression, and surrounded by such a world of +melancholy images, might, perhaps, feel himself more than usually +inclined to submit to the influences of superstition. It is not +possible that these sentiments should have been allied to any +feelings of apprehension. Fear is acknowledged to be a most mighty +master over the visions of the imagination. It can "call spirits +from the vasty deep"—and they do come, when it does call for +them. It trembles at the anticipation of approaching evil, and then +encounters in every passing shadow the substance of the dream it +trembled at. But such could not have been the origin of the form +which addressed itself to the view of Lord Londonderry. Fear is a +quality that was never known to mingle in the character of a +Stewart. Lord Londonderry examined his chamber—he made +himself acquainted with the forms and faces of the ancient +possessors of the mansion, who sat up right in their ebony frames +to receive his salutation; and then, after dismissing his valet, he +retired to bed. His candles had not been long extinguished, when he +perceived a light gleaming on the draperies of the lofty canopy +over his head. Conscious that there was no fire in the +grate—that the curtains were closed—that the chamber +had been in perfect darkness but a few moments before, he supposed +that some intruder must have accidentally entered his apartment; +and, turning hastily round to the side from which the light +proceeded—saw—to his infinite astonishment—not +the form of any human visiter—but the figure of a fair boy, +who seemed to be garmented in rays of mild and tempered glory, +which beamed palely from his slender form, like the faint light of +the declining moon, and rendered the objects which were nearest to +him dimly and indistinctly visible. The spirit stood at some short +distance from the side of the bed. Certain that his own faculties +were <span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>[pg +180]</span> not deceiving him, but suspecting that he might be +imposed upon by the ingenuity of some of the numerous guests who +were then visiting in the same house, Lord Londonderry proceeded +towards the figure. It retreated before him. As he slowly advanced, +the form, with equal paces, slowly retired. It entered the vast +arch of the capacious chimney, and then sunk into the earth. Lord +L. returned to his bed; but not to rest. His mind was harassed by +the consideration of the extraordinary event which had occurred to +him. Was it real?—was it the work of imagination?—was +it the result of imposture?—It was all incomprehensible. He +resolved in the morning not to mention the appearance till he +should have well observed the manners and the countenances of the +family: he was conscious that, if any deception had been practised, +its authors would be too delighted with their success to conceal +the vanity of their triumph. When the guests assembled at the +breakfast-table, the eye of Lord Londonderry searched in vain for +those latent smiles—those cunning looks—that silent +communication between the parties—by which the authors and +abettors of such domestic conspiracies are generally betrayed. +Every thing apparently proceeded in its ordinary course. The +conversation flowed rapidly along from the subjects afforded at the +moment, without any of the constraint which marks a party intent +upon some secret and more interesting argument, and endeavouring to +afford an opportunity for its introduction. At last the hero of the +tale found himself compelled to mention the occurrences of the +night. It was most extraordinary—he feared that he should not +be credited: and then, after all due preparation, the story was +related. Those among his auditors who, like himself, were strangers +and visiters in the house, were certain that some delusion must +have been practised. The family alone seemed perfectly composed and +calm. At last, the gentleman whom Lord Londonderry was visiting, +interrupted their various surmises on the subject by +saying:—"The circumstance which you have just recounted must +naturally appear most extraordinary to those who have not long been +inmates of my dwelling, and are not conversant with the legends +connected with my family; to those who are, the event which has +happened will only serve as the corroboration of an old tradition +that long has been related of the apartment in which you slept. You +have seen <i>the Radiant Boy</i>; and it is an omen of prosperous +fortunes;—I would rather that this subject should no more be +mentioned."</p> +<p>The above adventure is one very commonly reported of the late +Marquis of Londonderry; and is given on the authority of a +gentleman, to whom that nobleman himself related it.—<i>The +Album</i>.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE CROSS ROADS.</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Methought upon a mountain's brow</p> +<p class="i2">Stood Glory, gazing round him;</p> +<p>And in the silent vale below</p> +<p class="i2">Lay Love, where Fancy found him;</p> +<p>While distant o'er the yellow plain</p> +<p>Glittering Wealth held wide domain.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Glory was robed in light; and trod</p> +<p class="i2">A brilliant track before him,</p> +<p>He gazed with ardour, like a god,</p> +<p class="i2">And grasp'd at heaven o'er him;</p> +<p>The meteor's flash his beaming eye,</p> +<p>The trumpet's shriek his melody.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But Love was robed in roses sweet,</p> +<p class="i2">And zephyrs murmur'd nigh him,</p> +<p>Flowers were blooming at his feet,</p> +<p class="i2">And birds were warbling by him:</p> +<p>His eyes soft radiance seem'd to wear,</p> +<p>For tears and smiles were blended there.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Gay Wealth a gorgeous train display'd.</p> +<p class="i2">(And Fancy soon espied him,)</p> +<p>Supine, in splendid garb array'd,</p> +<p class="i2">With Luxury beside him;</p> +<p>He dwelt beneath a lofty dome,</p> +<p>Which Pride and Pleasure made their home.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Well; seeking Happiness, I sped,</p> +<p class="i2">And, as Hope hover'd o'er me,</p> +<p>I ask'd which way the nymph had fled,</p> +<p class="i2">For <i>four roads</i> met before me—</p> +<p>Whether she'd climb'd the height above,</p> +<p>Or bask'd with Wealth, or slept with Love?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I paus'd—for in the lonely path,</p> +<p class="i2">'Neath gloomy willows weeping,</p> +<p>Wrapt in his shroud of sullen wrath,</p> +<p class="i2">The <i>Suicide</i> was sleeping,</p> +<p>A scathed yew-tree's wither'd limb,</p> +<p>To mark the spot, frown'd o'er him.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>I wept—to think my fellow-man,</p> +<p class="i2">(To madness often driven,)</p> +<p>Pursue false Glory's phantoms, then</p> +<p class="i2">Lose happiness and heaven:</p> +<p>I wept—for oh! it seem'd to be</p> +<p>A mournful moral meant for me!</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But lo! an aged traveller came,</p> +<p class="i2">By Wisdom sent to guide me,</p> +<p>Experience was the pilgrim's name,</p> +<p class="i2">And thus he seem'd to chide me—</p> +<p>"Fool! Happiness is gone the road</p> +<p>That leads to Virtue's calm abode!"</p> +</div> +</div> +<h4>JESSE HAMMOND.</h4> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>MY COMMON-PLACE BOOK.</h2> +<h3>NO. XXI.</h3> +<hr /> +<h3>ORDEALS.</h3> +<p>Four kinds of ordeals were chiefly used by our German +ancestors:—1. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name= +"page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> "The Kamp fight," or combat; during +which the spectators were to be silent and quiet, on pain of losing +an arm or leg; an executioner with a sharp axe. 2. "The fire +ordeal," in which the accused might clear his innocence by holding +<i>red-hot</i> iron in his hands, or by walking blind-fold amidst +fiery ploughshares. 3. "The hot-water ordeal," much of the nature +as the last. 4. "The cold-water ordeal:" this need not be +explained, since it is looked on as supreme when a witch is in +question. The cross ordeal was reserved for the clergy. These, if +accused, might prove their innocence by swallowing two consecrated +morsels taken from the altar after proper prayers. If these +fragments stuck in the priest's throat he stood <i>ipse +facto</i>—condemned; but we have no record of +condemnation.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>GEMS.</h3> +<p>Forgive not the man who gives you <i>bad</i> wine more than +once. It is more than an injury. Cut the acquaintance as you value +your life.</p> +<p>If you see half-a-dozen faults in a woman, you may rest assured +she has a hundred virtues to counterbalance them. I love your +faulty, and fear your <i>faultless women</i>. When you see what is +termed a faultless woman, dread her as you would a beautiful snake. +The power of completely concealing the defects that she must have, +is of itself a serious vice.</p> +<p>If you find no more books in a man's room, save some four or +five, including the red-book and the general almanac, you may set +down the individual as a man of genius, or an ass;—there is +no medium.</p> +<p>The eye is never to be mistaken. A person may discipline the +muscles of the face and voice, but there is a something in the eye +beyond the will, and we thus frequently find it giving the tongue +the lie direct.</p> +<p>I never knew a truly estimable man offer a finger, it is ever a +sign of a cold heart; and he who is heartless is positively +worthless, though he may be negatively harmless.</p> +<p>Cut the acquaintance of any lady who signs a letter with +"<i>yours obediently</i>."</p> +<p>Always act in the presence of children with the utmost +circumspection. They mark all you do, and most of them are more +wise than you may imagine.</p> +<p>Men of genius make the most ductile husbands. A fool has too +much opinion of his own dear self, and too little of women's to be +easily governed.</p> +<p>A passion for sweetmeats, and a weak intellect, generally go +together.</p> +<p>I have known many fools to be gluttons, but never knew one that +was an epicure.</p> +<p>The affection of women is the most wonderful thing in the world; +it tires not—faints not—dreads not—cools not. It +is like the Naptha that nothing can extinguish but the trampling +foot of death.</p> +<p>There is a language in flowers, which is very eloquent—a +philosophy that is instructive. Nature appears to have made them as +emblems of women. The timid snow-drop, the modest violet, the +languid primrose, the coy lily, the flaunting tulip, the smart +marigold, the lowly blushing daisy, the proud foxglove, the deadly +nightshade, the sleepy poppy, and the sweet solitary eglantine, are +all types.</p> +<h4>W.C. B—— M.</h4> +<hr /> +<p>There are a set of malicious, prating, prudent gossips, both +male and female, who murder characters to kill time; and will rob a +young fellow of his good name before he has years to know the value +of it.—<i>Sheridan</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2> +<h3>No. XII.</h3> +<hr /> +<h3>A BURMESE EXECUTION.</h3> +<p>The scene took place at Rangoon, and the sufferers were men of +desperate characters, who merited death. At a short distance from +the town, on the road known to the army by the name of the +Forty-first Lines, is a small open space, which formerly was railed +in: and here all criminals used to be executed. On this occasion +several gibbets, about the height of a man, were erected, and a +large crowd of Burmans assembled to feast their eyes on the +sanguinary scene that was to follow.</p> +<p>When the criminals arrived, they were tied within wooden frames, +with extended arms and legs, and the head-executioner going round +to each, marked with a piece of chalk, on the side of the men, in +what direction his assistant (who stood behind him with a sharpened +knife,) was to make the incision. On one man he described a circle +on the side; another had a straight line marked down the centre of +his stomach; a third was doomed to some other mode of death; and +some were favoured by being decapitated. These preparations being +completed, the assistant approached the man marked with a circle, +and seizing a knife, plunged it up to the hilt in his side, then +slowly and deliberately turning it round, he finished the circle! +The poor wretch rolled his eyes in inexpressible agony, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>[pg +182]</span> groaned, and soon after expired; thus depriving these +human fiends of the satisfaction his prolonged torments would have +afforded them. The rest suffered in the same manner; and, from the +specimens I have seen of mangled corpses, I do not think this +account overdrawn. Hanging is a punishment that seldom, if ever, +takes place.</p> +<p>The manner in which slighter punishments are made is peculiar to +the Burmans, and, as nearly as I can make it out, according to our +pronunciation, is called "toung." The delinquent is obliged to +kneel down, and a man stands over him with a bent elbow and +clenched fist. He first rapidly strikes him on the head with his +elbow, and then slides it down until his knuckles repeat the blow, +the elbow at the same time giving a violent smack on the shoulders. +This is repeated until it becomes a very severe punishment, which +may be carried to great excess.—<i>Two Years in Ava</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>BILL OF FARE AT AN ANCIENT INSTALMENT.</h3> +<p>The following is a true copy of the original lodged in the Tower +of London:<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href= +"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a>—</p> +<p>George Nevil, brother to the great Earl of Warwick, at his +instalment into his archbishopric of York, in the year 1470, made a +feast for the nobility, gentry, and clergy, wherein he spent:</p> +<blockquote> +<p>300 quartrs of wheat 300 ton of ale 104 ton of wine 1 pipe of +spic'd w. 80 fat oxen 6 wild bulls 300 pigs 1004 wethers 300 hogs +300 calves 3000 geese 3000 capons 100 peacocks 200 cranes 200 kids +2000 chickens 4000 pidgeons 4000 rabitts 204 bitterns 4000 ducks +400 hernsies 200 pheasants 500 partridges 4000 woodcocks 400 +plovers 100 carlews 100 quails 1000 eggets 200 rees 4000 bucks and +does, and roebucks 155 hot venison pasties 1000 dishes of jellies +4000 cold venison past 2000 hot custards 4000 ditto cold 400 tarts +300 pikes 300 breams 8 seals 4 porpusses</p> +</blockquote> +<p>At this feast the Earl of Warwick was steward; the Earl of +Bedford treasurer; the Lord Hastings comptroller, with many noble +officers servitors.</p> +<p>1000 cooks. 62 kitchiners. 515 scullions.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE SERGEANT'S WIFE.</h3> +<p>A drama, named as above, has been played with eminent success +during the present season at the English Opera House. The plot is +founded on the following horrible occurrence, which actually took +place in Ireland in the year 1813, and which we extract from the +columns of an Irish paper of the same date. The narrative is +powerfully worked up in <i>The Nowlans</i>, in the second series of +the <i>O'Hara Tales</i>, and Mr. Banim is the author both of the +novel and the drama:—</p> +<p>"The speech of George Smith, William Smith, and James Smith, who +were lately executed at Longford for the murder of James Reilly, a +pedlar, near Lanes-borough, has been published. It gives the +following description of the inhuman crime for which they +suffered:</p> +<p>"The discovery of this murder, as decreed by the Almighty, was +made by Margaret Armstrong, the wife of Sergeant Armstrong, of the +27th regiment of foot, on the recruiting service in Athlone. She +was going to her husband, when she was overtaken by this dealing +man. He asked her how far she was going—she answered to +Athlone, to her husband, and said as it was getting late, and being +scarce of money, she would make good her way that night. He then +replied, 'my poor woman, let not that hurry you, I am going to +Athlone myself, and there is a lodging at the next cross at which I +mean to stop, be advised, and go no farther to-night, and I will +pay your expenses.' When they came to the house, he asked for a bed +for himself and another for the woman, and called for supper; when +that was over, he paid the bill, and taking out his pocket-book, he +counted 150<i>l.</i> which he gave in charge to George Smith, and +retired to bed; the woman likewise went to her's, the family sat up +till twelve; after which, when the man was fast asleep and all was +silent, we, (the three Smiths) went into the room where the man +lay; we dragged him out of bed, and cut his throat from ear to ear; +we saved his blood in a pewter dish, and put the body into a +flaxseed barrel, among feathers, in which we covered it up. Take +care, and do the same with the woman, <i>said our mother</i>. We +accordingly went to her bedside, and saw her hands extended out of +the bed; we held a candle to her eyes, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page183" name="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> but she did not stir +during the whole time, as God was on her side; for had we supposed +that she had seen the murder committed by us, she would have shared +the same fate with the deceased man. Next morning when she arose, +she asked was the man up? We made answer, that he was gone two +hours before, left sixpence for her, and took her bundle with him. +'No matter,' said she, 'for I will see him in Athlone.' When she +went away, I (George Smith) dressed myself in my sister's clothes, +and having crossed the fields, met her, I asked her how far she was +going? She said to Athlone: I then asked her where she lodged? She +told me at one Smith's, a very decent house, where she met very +good entertainment. 'That house bears a bad name,' said I. 'I have +not that to say of them,' said she, 'for they gave me good usage.' +It was not long until we saw a sergeant and two recruits coming up +the road; upon which she cried out, 'here is my husband coming to +meet me; he knew I was coming to him.' I immediately turned off the +road, and made back to the house. When she met her husband, she +fainted; and on recovering, she told him of the murder, and how she +escaped with her life. The husband went immediately and got guards, +and had us taken prisoners; the house was searched, and the mangled +body found in the barrel." The three monsters were, it is +mentioned, ordered for execution from the dock.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS.</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Notings, selections,</p> +<p class="i2">Anecdote and joke:</p> +<p>Our recollections;</p> +<p class="i2">With gravities for graver folk.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>THE BAR—THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS.</h3> +<p>It must be admitted (talking of the late <i>Vice</i>) that he +really was enough to annoy any sober staid master, by his frolics +and gambols since he has been made a judge. I remember him a quiet +good sort of man enough: with a bed-room and kitchen in the area of +No. 11, New-square; and his dining-room above, serving also for +consultations: and his going, now and then, only to have a game of +whist and glass of negus at Serle's;—but, now, he is a +perfect <i>Monsieur Tonson</i> to all continental travellers. Never +can you take up the police-book at the hotels, on the road to +Italy, without <i>Sir John Leach</i> staring you in the face. The +other day at the <i>Cloche</i> at Dijon (I will never go there +again, and beg Sir John to do me the favour to withdraw his +patronage also,—the <i>Parc</i> is worth twenty of it), +yawning over my bottle of <i>Cote d'Or</i>, I inquired of the +waiter who of my "land's language" had lately been there. "Vy, +Sare, ve have de Milor Leash." "Lord Leash?"—"Oui, +Monsieur;—mais, Fanchette, apportez le livre ici pour +Monsieur—le voila."—"Ah, ha! Sir John Leach; I +see."—"Ah qu'il est bon enfant! qu'il est gai!" exclaimed the +<i>garcon</i>. "Ah! qu'il est aimable!" sighed +Fanchette—Enter De Molin the banker's little bureau at +Lausanne—(by the way, it is the favourite chamber of Gibbon +the historian, and if you pay the house a visit from motives of +curiosity respecting its former occupant, you will be happy to be +allowed to remain and converse with the actual owner, for a more +honourable, liberal, and better-informed man, does not +exist)—there, I say, in the glass over the mantlepiece, will +you see the card of <i>Sir John Leach</i>. +Milan—Florence—the same. At Torlogna's the same. Then +at Naples: go to San Carlos'; and if you get behind the scenes, ask +for Braccini, the <i>poetá</i> of the theatre, who has been +long in England; "Cospetto di Bacco!" he will exclaim: "il degn +uomo, quel Vice Cancelliere: il Cavaliere <i>Licci!</i>—Gran +Dio! quale talento per la musica!-Cappari! egli ha guadagnato i +cuori di tutte le donne Napolitane."<a id="footnotetag3" name= +"footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> I +certainly expect to hear him some day astonish the bar, by +unwittingly striking up "O Pescator delle onde," or "Sul margine +del Rio," in the Rolls Court; and, as in ancient Greece ('tis said) +pleadings were chanted, let us yet hope to hear an argument +preferred to the tune of "They are a' noddin, noddin, noddin;" an +answer stated <i>andante</i>; a reply given in a <i>bravura</i>, +and judgment pronounced <i>presto</i>. With all his faults (if they +be such, which I do not admit), the present Master of the Rolls is +a good judge, and an able man;—"un peu vif, peut-etre," as +Fanchette might say; and it is more agreeable than otherwise, to +see one who has devoted his life to the study of the law, enjoying +himself in lighter pursuits, after having attained rank and dignity +in the profession; and after having punctually and satisfactorily +executed the important duties of the day, seeking at its close, and +participating in the gaiety which society offers. It speaks a good +heart and cheerful temper; whereas, when we hear a distaste +declared for music, and that of the highest character, we cannot +but call to mind "He who has not the concord of <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> sweet +sounds" within himself;—but I will not pursue the quotation. +Besides, were there persons fools enough to blame Sir John for his +social propensities, he might answer them as the Parisian coachman +did.—"What was that?"—"Why, a French Jehu was tried in +1818, for some accident caused by his cabriolet, before the +Criminal Court of Paris; when, having heard the evidence, the +President of the Tribunal declared that he stood acquitted, but +that the court felt it its duty to blame him, and that he was +blamed accordingly." "Blamed!" exclaimed Jehu; "Blamed!—I +don't quite understand your Honor;—but—but—will +it prevent my handling the ribands, and driving the +<i>wehicle</i>?"—"No!" said the judge. "Then, with all +respect for your Honor, I just laugh at it," said coachee, bowing. +"And so do I," said the president also, in rising to leave the +court.—<i>New Monthly Magazine</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>FINE ARTS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE CARTOONS OF RAPHAEL.</h3> +<p>These <i>Cartoons</i> were executed by the famous Raphael, while +engaged in the chambers of the Vatican, under the auspices of Pope +Julius II. and Leo X. As soon as they were finished, they were sent +to Flanders to be copied in tapestry, for adorning the pontifical +apartments; but the tapestries were not conveyed to Rome till after +the decease of Raphael, and probably not before the dreadful sack +of that city in 1527, under the pontificate of Clement VII; when +Raphael's scholars having fled from thence, none were left to +inquire after the original Cartoons, which lay neglected in the +storerooms of the manufactory, the money for the tapestry having +never been paid. The revolution that happened soon after in the low +countries prevented their being noticed during a period in which +works of art were wholly neglected. They were purchased by king +Charles I. at the recommendation of Rubens, but had been much +injured by the weavers. At the sale of the royal pictures in 1653, +these Cartoons were purchased for 300<i>l</i>. by Oliver Cromwell, +against whom no one would presume to bid. The protector pawned them +to the Dutch court for upwards of 50,000<i>l.</i>, and, after the +revolution, King William brought them over again to England, and +built a gallery for their reception in Hampton Court. Originally +there were twelve of these Cartoons, but four of them have been +destroyed by damps and neglect. The subjects were the adoration of +the Magi, the conversion of St. Paul, the martyrdom of St. Stephen +and St. Paul before Felix and Agrippa. Two of these were in the +possession of the King of Sardinia, and two of Louis XIV. of +France, who is said to have offered 100,000 louis d'ors for the +seven, which are justly represented as "the glory of England, and +the envy of all other polite nations." The twelfth, the subject of +which was the murder of the innocents, belonged to a private +gentleman in England, who pledged it for a sum of money; but when +the person who had taken this valuable deposit found it was to be +redeemed, he greatly damaged the drawing; for which the gentleman +brought an action against him. A third part of it is still +remaining in the possession of William Hoare, R.A., at Bath.</p> +<p><i>Cartoon</i> is derived from the Italian <i>cartone</i>, a +painting or drawing upon large paper. Raphael died on the same day +of the year on which he was born, Good Friday, in 1520, at the age +of thirty-seven, deeply lamented by all who knew his value. His +body lay for awhile in state in one of the rooms wherein he had +displayed the powers of his mind, and he was honoured with a public +funeral; his last produce, the <i>transfiguration</i>, being +carried before him in the procession. The unrelenting hand of death +(says his biographer) set a period to his labours, and deprived the +world of further benefit from his talents, when he had only +attained an age at which most other men are but beginning to be +useful. "We see him in his cradle (said Fuseli); we hear him +stammer; but propriety rocked the cradle, and character formed his +lips."</p> +<h4>P.T.W.</h4> +<hr /> +<h3>TO MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. WRITTEN ON VISITING WESTMINSTER +ABBEY.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>My murder'd queen, as on thine image once</p> +<p>The gaze alike of prince and peasant rested—</p> +<p>As if, unsated of thy thrilling glance,</p> +<p>They never until then of beauty tasted:</p> +<p>So I, by lonely contemplation led</p> +<p>To muse awhile amid the silent dead—</p> +<p>Turn me from all around I hear or see—</p> +<p>From all of Shakspeare and of great to thee:</p> +<p>And think on all thy wrongs—on all the shame</p> +<p>That dims for ever thine oppressor's name;</p> +<p>On all thy faults, nor few nor far between,</p> +<p>But then thou wert—a woman and a queen.</p> +<p>Proud titles, even in a barb'rous age,</p> +<p>To stem th' impetuous tide of party rage;</p> +<p>While as I gaze each well-known feature seems</p> +<p>To stir with life, and realise my dreams</p> +<p>That paint thee seated on the Scottish throne,</p> +<p>With all the blaze of beauty round thee thrown;</p> +<p>Then see thee passing from thy dungeon cell,</p> +<p>And hear thy parting sigh—thy last farewell.</p> +</div> +</div> +<h4><i>Stray Leaves.</i></h4> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>[pg +185]</span> +<h3>ANCIENT GRECIAN SEPULCHRE</h3> +<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href= +"images/273-2.png"><img width="100%" src="images/273-2.png" alt= +"Ancient Grecian Sepulchre" /></a></div> +<p>A beautiful illustration of an ancient Grecian sepulchre or +funeral chamber, heads the second chapter of Mr. Britton's "Union +of Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting," from which work we have +copied the annexed engraved view. The interior of the chamber +exhibits a skeleton and the urns containing the ashes of the dead. +The combat leads us to the conclusion, that the tomb contains the +remains of a chief; for it was the barbarous custom of the Greeks +to sacrifice captives at the tombs of their heroes.</p> +<p>Of the funeral rites and ceremonies of the Greeks and other +nations, we subjoin the following:—</p> +<p>The most simple and natural kind of funeral monuments, and +therefore the most ancient and universal, consist in a mound of +earth, or a heap of stones, raised over the ashes of the departed: +of such monuments mention is made in the Book of Joshua, and in +Homer and Virgil. Many of them still occur in various parts of this +kingdom, especially in those elevated and sequestered situations +where they have neither been defaced by agriculture nor +inundation.</p> +<p>The ancients are said to have buried their dead in their own +houses, whence, according to some, the original of that species of +idolatry consisting in the worship of household gods.</p> +<p>The place of burial amongst the Jews was never particularly +determined. We find that they had burial-places upon the highways, +in gardens, and upon mountains. We read, that Abraham was buried +with Sarah, his wife, in the cave of Macphelah, in the field of +Ephron, and Uzziah, King of Judah, slept with his fathers in the +field of the burial which pertained to the kings.</p> +<p>The primitive Greeks were buried in places prepared for that +purpose in their own houses; but in after ages they adopted the +judicious practice of establishing the burial grounds in desert +islands, and outside the walls of towns, by that means securing +them from profanation, and themselves from the liability of +catching infection from those who had died of contagious +disorders.</p> +<p>The Romans prohibited burning or burying in the city, both from +a sacred and civil consideration, that the priests might not be +contaminated by touching a dead body, and that houses might not be +endangered by the frequency of funeral fires.</p> +<p>The custom of burning the dead had its foundation laid deep in +nature: an anxious fondness to preserve the great and good, the +dear friend and the near relative, was the sole motive that +prevailed in the institution of this solemnity. "That seems to me," +says Cicero, "to have been the most ancient kind of burial, which, +according to Xenophon, was used by Cyrus. For the body is returned +to the earth, and so placed as to be covered with the veil of its +mother." Pliny also agrees with Cicero upon this point, and says +the custom of burial preceded <span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" +name="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> that of burning among the +Romans. According to Monfauçon, the custom of burning +entirely ceased at Rome about the time of Theodorius the younger. +When cremation ceased on the introduction of Christianity, the +believing Romans, together with the Romanized and converted +Britons, would necessarily, as it is observed by Mr. Grough, +"betake themselves to the use of sarcophagi (or coffins,) and +probably of various kinds, stone, marble, lead," &c. They would +likewise now first place the body in a position due east and west, +and thus bestow an unequivocal mark of distinction between the +funeral deposit of the earliest Roman inhabitants of this island, +and their Christian successors. The usual places of interment were +in fields or gardens,<a id="footnotetag4" name= +"footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> near the +highway, to be conspicuous, and to remind the passengers how +transient everything is, that wears the garb of mortality. By this +means, also, they saved the best part of their land:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>—Experiar quid concedatur in illos</p> +<p>Quorum Flaminia tegitur cinis, atque Latina.</p> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Juv. Sat I.</i></span></p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The Romans commonly built tombs for themselves during their +lifetime. Hence these words frequently occur in ancient +inscriptions, V.F. Vivus Facit, V.S.P. Vivus Sibi Posuit. The tombs +of the rich were usually constructed of marble, the ground enclosed +with walls, and planted round with trees. But common sepulchres +were usually built below ground, and called hypogea. There were +niches cut out of the walls, in which the urns were placed: these, +from their resemblance to the niche of a pigeon-house, were called +columbaria.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> +<h3>PREPARATIONS FOR A JOURNEY.</h3> +<p>I am fond of travelling: yet I never undertake a journey without +experiencing a vague feeling of melancholy. There is to me +something strangely oppressive in the preliminaries of departure. +The packing of a small valise; the settlement of +accounts—justly pronounced by Rabelais a <i>blue-devilish</i> +process; the regulation of books and papers;—in short, the +whole routine of valedictory arrangements, are to me as a nightmare +on the waking spirit. They induce a mood of last wills and +testaments—a sense of dislocation, which, next to a vacuum, +Nature abhors—and create a species of moral decomposition, +not unlike that effected on matter by chemical agency. It is not +that I have to lament the disruption of social connexions or +domestic ties. This, I am aware, is a trial sometimes borne with +exemplary fortitude; and I was lately edified by the magnanimous +unconcern with which a married friend of mine sang the last verse +of "Home! sweet home!" as the chaise which was to convey him from +the <i>burthen</i> of his song drove up to the door. It does not +become a bachelor to speculate on the mysteries of matrimonial +philosophy; but the feeling of pain with which <i>I</i> enter on +the task of migration has no affinity with individual sympathies, +or even with domiciliary attachments. My landlady is, without +exception, the ugliest woman in London; and the locality of +Elbow-lane cannot be supposed absolutely to spellbind the affection +of one occupying, as I do, solitary chambers on the third +floor.</p> +<p>The case, it may be supposed, is much worse when it is my lot to +take leave, after passing a few weeks at the house of a friend in +the country;—a house, for instance, such as is to be met with +only in England:—with about twenty acres of lawn, but no +park; with a shrubbery, but no made-grounds; with well-furnished +rooms, but no conservatory; and with a garden, in which dandy +tulips and high-bred anemones do not disdain the fellowship of +honest artichokes and laughing cauliflowers—no bad +illustration of the republican union of comfort with elegance which +reigns through the whole establishment. The master of the mansion, +perhaps an old and valued schoolfellow:—his wife, a +well-bred, accomplished, and still beautiful woman—cordial, +without vulgarity—refined, without pretension—and +informed, without a shade of blue! Their children!... But my reader +will complete the picture, and imagine, better than I can describe, +how one of my temperament must suffer at quitting such a scene. At +six o'clock on the dreaded morning, the friendly old butler knocks +at my room-door, to warn me that the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page187" name="page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> mail will pass in half +an hour at the end of the green lane. On descending to the parlour, +I find that my old friend has, in spite of our over-night agreement +and a slight touch of gout, come down to see me off. His amiable +lady is pouring out for me a cup of tea—assuring me that she +would be quite unhappy at allowing me to depart without that +indispensable prelude to a journey. A gig waits at the door: my +affectionate host will not permit me to walk even half a mile. The +minutes pass unheeded; till, with a face of busy but cordial +concern, the old butler reminds me that the mail is at hand. I bid +a hasty and agitated farewell, and turn with loathing to the forced +companionship of a public vehicle.</p> +<p>My anti-leave-taking foible is certainly not so much affected +when I quit the residence of an hotel—that public +home—that wearisome resting-place—that epitome of the +world—that compound of gregarious +incompatibilities—that bazaar of character—that proper +resort of semi-social egotism and unamalgable +individualities—that troublous haven, where the vessel may +ride and tack, half-sheltered, but finds no anchorage. Yet even the +Lilliputian ligatures of such a sojourn imperceptibly twine round +my lethargic habits, and bind me, Gulliver-like, a passive fixture. +Once, in particular, I remember to have <i>stuck</i> at the +Hôtel des Bons Enfants, in Paris—a place with nothing +to recommend it to one of ordinary locomotive energies. But there I +stuck. Business of importance called me to Bordeaux. I lingered for +two months. At length, by one of those nervous efforts peculiar to +weak resolutions, I made my arrangements, secured my emancipation, +and found myself on the way to the starting-place of the Diligence. +I well remember the day: 'twas a rainy afternoon in spring. The +aspect of the gayest city in the world was dreary and comfortless. +The rain dripped perpendicularly from the eves of the houses, +exemplifying the axiom, that lines are composed of a succession of +points. At the corners of the streets it shot a curved torrent from +the projecting spouts, flooding the channels, and drenching, with a +sudden drum-like sound, the passing umbrellas, whose varied tints +of pink, blue, and orange, like the draggled finery of feathers and +flounces beneath them, only made the scene more glaringly desolate. +Then came the rush and splatter of cabriolets, scattering terror +and defilement. The well-mounted English dandy shows his sense by +hoisting his parapluie; the French dragoon curls his mustachio at +such effeminacy, and braves the liquid bullets in the genuine +spirit of Marengo; the old French count picks his elastic steps +with the placid and dignified philosophy of the <i>ancien +régime</i>; while the Parisian dames, of all ranks, ages, +and degrees, trip along, with one leg undraped, exactly in +proportion to the shapeliness of its configuration.</p> +<p>The huge clock of the Messagéries Royales told three as I +entered the gateway. The wide court had an air of humid dreariness. +On one side stood a dozen of those moving caravansaras, the +national vehicles, with their leathern caps—like those of +Danish sailors in a north-wester—hanging half off, soaked +with wet. Opposite was the range of offices, busy with all the +peculiar importance of French <i>bureaucracie.</i> Their clerks, +decorated with ribbons and crosses, wield their pens with all the +conscious dignity of secretaries of state; and "<i>book</i>" a bale +or a parcel as though they were signing a treaty, or granting an +amnesty. The meanest <i>employé</i> seems to think himself +invested with certain occult powers. His civility savours of +government patronage; and his frown is inquisitorial. To his +fellows, his address is abrupt and diplomatic. He seems to speak in +cipher, and to gesticulate by some rule of freemasonry. But to the +<i>uninitiated</i> he is explanatory to a scruple, as though +mischief might ensue from his being misapprehended. He makes sure +of your understanding by an emphasis, which reminds one of the +loudness of tone used towards a person supposed to be hard of +hearing—a proceeding not very flattering where there happens +to be neither dulness nor deafness in the case. In a word, the +measured pedantry of his whole deportment betrays the happy +conviction in which he rejoices of being conversant with matters +little dreamt of in your philosophy. Among the bystanders, too, +there are some who might, probably with more reason, boast their +proficiency in mysterious lore—fellows of smooth aspect and +polite demeanour, whom at first you imagine to have become casual +spectators from mere lack of better pastime, but whose furtive +glances and vagrant attention betray the familiars of the +police—that complex and mighty engine of modern structure, +which, far more surely than the "ear of Dionysius," conveys to the +tympanum of power each echoed sigh and reverberated whisper. It is +a chilling thing to feel one's budding confidence in a new +acquaintance nipped by such frosty suspicions; yet—Heaven +forgive me!—the bare idea has, before now, caused me to drop, +unscented, the pinch of <i>carote</i> which has been courteously +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>[pg +188]</span> tendered by some coffee-house companion. In the group +before me, I fancied that I could distinguish some of this ungentle +brotherhood; and my averted eye rested with comparative complacency +even on a couple of <i>gens d'armes</i>, who were marching up and +down before the door, and whose long swords and voluminous cocked +hats never appeared to me less offensive.</p> +<p>In the mean time, knots of travellers were congregating round +the different vehicles about to depart. In the centre of each +little band stood the main point of attraction—Monsieur le +Conducteur—that important personage, whose prototype we look +for in vain among the dignitaries of Lad-lane, or the +Bull-and-Mouth, and whose very name can only be translated by +borrowing one of Mr. M'Adam's titles—"the Colossus of +<i>Roads</i>." With fur cap, official garb, and the excursive eye +of a martinet, he inspects every detail of preparation—sees +each passenger stowed <i>seriatim</i> in his special +place—then takes his position in front—gives the word +to his jack-booted vice, whose responsive whip cracks +assent—and away rolls the ponderous machine, with all the +rumbling majesty of a three-decker from off the +stocks.—<i>Monthly Magazine</i>.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>EPIGRAM.</h3> +<h3>THE RETORT MEDICAL.</h3> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Quoth Doctor Squill of Ponder's End,</p> +<p>"Of all the patients I attend,</p> +<p class="i2">Whate'er their aches or ails,</p> +<p>None ever will my fame attack."</p> +<p class="i2">"None ever can," retorted Jack:</p> +<p>"For dead men tell no tales"</p> +<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>New Monthly +Magazine</i>.</span></p> +</div> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>CIRCASSIAN WOMEN.</h3> +<p>We observed two women looking out of a balcony, and earnestly +beckoning to us. We were the more surprised at their appearance, as +we believed that the Mahometan women of the Caucasus, like those of +Persia, were strictly confined to the interior of their houses, or +that, at all events, they never went unveiled, a custom which we +found was not general among the inhabitants of the Caucasus. We, +however, entered the house, and saw in the court two Russian +grenadiers, who, by a mistake of their corporal, had taken there +quarters here, and whose presence was the cause of the inquietude +manifested by the two ladies, who, with an old man, were the only +inhabitants of the house. Whilst the soldiers were explaining these +things to us, they appeared at the top of the stairs, and again +renewed their invitation by violent gesticulations. On a nearer +approach, we guessed by their age that they were mother and +daughter. The former, who still preserved much of the freshness and +beauty of youth, wore very tight trousers, a short tunic, and a +veil, which fell in graceful folds on her back, while round her +neck she had some valuable jewels, though badly mounted. With +respect to the daughter, who was scarcely fifteen years of age, she +was so extraordinarily beautiful, that both my companion and myself +remained awhile motionless, and struck with admiration. Never in my +life have I seen a more perfect form. Her dress consisted of a +short white tunic, almost transparent, fastened only at the throat +by a clasp. A veil, negligently thrown over one shoulder, permitted +part of her beautiful ebony tresses to be seen. Her trousers were +of an extremely fine tissue, and her socks of the most delicate +workmanship. The old man received us in a room adjoining the +staircase: he was seated on the carpet, smoking a small pipe, +according to the custom of the inhabitants of the Caucasus, who +cultivate tobacco. He made repeated signs to us to sit down, that +is to say, in the Asiatic manner, a posture extremely inconvenient +for those who, like ourselves, wore long and tight trousers, whilst +the two beautiful women on their side earnestly seconded his +request. We complied with it, though it was the first time that +either of us had made the essay. The ladies, having left the room +for a moment, returned with a salver of dried fruits, and a +beverage made of sugar and milk; but I was so much engaged in +admiring their personal attractions, that I paid but little +attention to their presents. It appeared to me an inconceivable +caprice of nature to have produced such prodigies of perfection +amidst such a rude and barbarous people, who value their women less +than their stirrups. My companion, who like myself was obliged to +accept of their refreshments, remarked to me, whilst the old man +was conversing with them, what celebrity a woman so transcendently +beautiful as the daughter was would acquire in any of the capitals +of Europe, had she but received the benefits of a suitable +education.—<i>Van Halen's Narrative.</i></p> +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>[pg +189]</span> +<h3>AUSTRALIAN IMPORTUNITY.</h3> +<p>As beggars, the whole world will not produce their match. They +do not attempt to <i>coax</i> you, but firmly rely on incessant +importunity; following you, side by side, from street to street, as +constant as your shadow, pealing in your ears the never ceasing +sound of "Massa, gim me a dum! massa, gim me a dum!" (dump.) If you +have the fortitude to resist <i>firmly</i>, on two or three +assaults, you may enjoy ever after a life of immunity; but by once +<i>complying</i>, you entail yourself a plague which you will not +readily throw off, every gift only serving to embolden them in +making subsequent demands, and with still greater perseverance. +Neither are their wishes moderately gratified on this +head—less than a dump (fifteen pence) seldom proving +satisfactory. When walking out one morning, I accidentally met a +young scion of our black tribes, on turning the corner of the +house, who saluted me with "Good morning, sir, good morning;" to +which I in like manner responded, and was proceeding onwards, when +my dingy acquaintance arrested my attention by his loud +vociferation of "Top, sir, I want to peak to you." "Well, what is +it?" said I. "Why, you know I am your <i>servant</i>, and you have +never paid me yet." "The devil you are!" responded I "it is the +first time I knew of it, for I do not recollect ever seeing your +face before." "Oh yes, I <i>am</i> your servant," replied he, very +resolutely; "don't I top about Massa ——'s, and boil the +kettle sometimes for you in the morning?" I forthwith put my hand +in my pocket, and gave him all the halfpence I had, which I left +him carefully counting, and proceeded on my walk; but before +advancing a quarter of a mile, my ears were again assailed with +loud shouts of "Hallo! top, top!" I turned round, and observed my +friend in "the dark suit" beckoning with his hand, and walking very +leisurely toward me. Thinking he was despatched with some message, +I halted, but as he walked on as slowly as if deeming I ought +rather to go to him than he come to me, I forthwith returned to +meet him; but on reaching close enough, what was my astonishment on +his holding out the halfpence in his open hand, and addressing me +in a loud, grumbling, demanding tone with—"Why this is not +enough to buy a loaf! you must give me more." "Then buy <i>half</i> +a loaf," said I, wheeling about and resuming my walk, not without a +good many hard epithets in return from my +kettle-boiler.—<i>Cunningham's Two Years in New South +Wales</i>.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>CONFESSION OF THE EXECUTIONER OF CHARLES I.</h3> +<p>There have been great disputes about the person who beheaded +Charles I. Mr. Ellis says, "it seems most probable that the person +who actually beheaded the king was the common executioner." And +then adds the following valuable and interesting note, which seems +to us to settle the question.</p> +<p>"Among the tracts relating to the civil war, which were given to +the British Museum by his late majesty King George III. in 1762, +there are three upon this subject. One is entitled, 'The Confession +of Richard Brandon the Hangman (upon his death-bed), concerning his +beheading his late Majesty. Printed in the year of the hangman's +downfall, 1649.' The second is entitled, 'The last Will and +Testament of Richard Brandon,' printed in the same year. The third +is, 'A Dialogue or Dispute between the late Hangman (the same +person), and Death,' in verse, without date. All three are in +quarto."</p> +<p>The following are the most important paragraphs of the first +tract:</p> +<p>"The confession of the hangman concerning his beheading his late +majesty the king of Great Britain (upon his death-bed) who was +buried on Thursday last in Whitechapel church-yard, with the manner +thereof:—</p> +<p>"Upon Wednesday last (being the 20th of this instant, June +1649), Richard Brandon, the late executioner and hangman, who +beheaded his late majesty, king of Great Britain, departed this +life; but during the time of his sicknesse his conscience was much +troubled, and exceedingly perplexed in mind, yet little shew of +repentance for remission of his sins, and by past transgressions, +which had so much power and influence upon him, that he seemed to +live in them, and they in him. And on Sunday last, a young man of +his acquaintance going to visit him, fell into discourse, asked him +how he did, and whether he was not troubled in conscience for +cutting off the king's head. He replyed, 'yes, by reason that (upon +the time of his tryall, and at the denouncing of sentence against +him,) he had taken a vow and protestation, wishing God to punish +him body and soul, if ever he appeared on the scaffold to do the +act, or lift up his hand against him.'</p> +<p>"He likewise confessed that he had thirty pounds for his pains, +all paid him in half-crowns, within an hour after the blow was +given; and that he had an orange stuck full of cloves, and a +handkircher <span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name= +"page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> out of the king's pocket, so soon as +he was carried off from the scaffold, for which orange he was +proffered twenty shillings by a gentleman in Whitehall, but refused +the same, and afterwards sold it for ten shillings in +Rosemary-lane. About six of the clock at night, he returned home to +his wife living in Rosemary-lane, and gave her the money, saying, +that it was the deerest money that ever he earned in his life, for +it would cost him his life; which prophetical words were soon made +manifest, for it appeared, that ever since he hath been in a most +sad condition, and upon the Almightie's first scourging of him with +the rod of sicknesse, and the friendly admonition of divers friends +for the calling of him to repentance, yet he persisted on in his +vicious vices, and would not hearken thereunto, but lay raging and +swearing, and still pointing at one thing or another, which he +conceived to be still visible before him."</p> +<p>"About three days before he dy'd, he lay speechlesse, uttering +many a sigh and heavy groan, and so in a most desperate manner +departed from his bed of sorrow. For the buriall whereof great +store of wines were sent in by the sheriff of the city of London, +and a great multitude of people stood wayting to see his corpse +carryed to the church-yard, some crying act, 'Hang him, rogue!' +'Bury him in the dunghill;' others pressing upon him, saying, they +would quarter him for executing of the king: insomuch that the +churchwardens and masters of the parish were fain to come for the +suppressing of them, and (with great difficulty) he was at last +carryed to White Chappell church-yard, having (as it is said) a +bunch of rosemary at each end of the coffin, on the top thereof, +with a rope tyed crosse from one end to the other.</p> +<p>"And a merry conceited cook living at the sign of the Crown, +having a black fan (worth the value of thirty shillings), took a +resolution to rent the same in pieces, and to every feather tied a +piece of pack-thread dyed in black ink, and gave them to divers +persons, who (in derision) for a while wore them in their hats.</p> +<p>"Thus have I given thee an exact account and perfect relation of +the life and death of Richard Brandon, to the end that the world +may be convinced of those calumnious speeches and erroneous +suggestions which are dayly spit from the mouth of envy against +divers persons of great worth and eminency, by casting an odium +upon them for the executing of the king; it being now made manifest +that the aforesaid executioner was the only man who gave the fatal +blow, and his man that wayted upon him, was a ragman (of the name +of Ralph Jones) living in Rosemary-lane."—<i>Ellis's +Historical Inquiries.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>A MIDNIGHT ADVENTURE.</h3> +<p>The night was rather dark, and we had not seen the figure of our +postilion, or even heard his voice; but we suspected, by the +slowness of his movements, that he was some old crony of his +master. On arriving towards the end of the relay, he began to blow +a bugle with all his might, surprising us with a number of +flourishes. Mr. Koch informed me that we were going to cross a +small river, and that the blast with which we had been regaled was +a warning for the bargeman. Our vehicle then stopped before the +door of an inn, which stood on an elevated spot, and the postilion, +alighting, asked Mr. Koch's permission to enter the inn to drink a +glass of brandy, whilst the bargeman answered his sign. It was +midnight, and we expected soon to cross the river; but after +waiting a quarter of an hour for his return, and seeing that the +fellow did not come out, I alighted, and proceeded towards a +window, where a light was perceivable. As I looked through it, I +saw what I certainly did not expect, but what convinced me that the +flourishes of his bugle were addressed to a very different person +from the bargeman. Our postilion was sitting near a table, with a +huge flagon beside him, and a wench on his knee. Provoked beyond +expression at this unseasonable courtship, I shook the window till +it flew open, and, before my companion had time to alight and +witness the scene, both the hero and the heroine came to the door +of the inn, the latter holding a lantern in her hand, by which I +observed she was an ugly kitchen wench of about eighteen, and he a +young man of five-and-twenty. Displeased with my interruption, he +muttered something at my impatience, and at the unseasonableness of +my call, and again blew his bugle, though by no means so vigorously +as he had before done; after which we gained the barge, and +continued our way without farther interruption.—<i>Van +Halen's Narrative.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>BARBARISM OF THE CAUCASIAN TRIBES.</h3> +<p>Opposite to our encampment, on the other side of the Alazann, +and at a distance of eighteen or twenty wersts, is the city of +Belohakan, situated at the foot of the Caucasus, and inhabited by +the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>[pg +191]</span> Eingalos, a people whom the Lesghis keep in the most +horrible state of slavery, and who formerly belonged to Georgia; +but who being too industrious, and attached to their native soil, +would never abandon it, during the different revolutions which that +country has undergone, and became subject to their present masters. +That city carries on a great trade with Teflis, principally in +bourkas, which are manufactured there; and as the traders pass +through Karakhach, our colonel, who was the commandant of this +district, and from whom they must obtain a passport for Georgia, +was obliged to have near him an Eingalo, who understood the Russian +language, and served as interpreter. This man had become so +familiarized with the officers, that the colonel allowed him to sit +at our table. One day we remarked that the interpreter was absent, +a circumstance which seldom occurred; but, as we were finishing our +dessert, he entered the dining-room in high spirits, bringing under +his arm a bundle, carefully tied, which, he said, contained a fine +water melon for our dessert. This fruit, in the middle of December, +is considered a great delicacy, and we all expressed a wish that he +should produce it, when he immediately untied the bundle, and, to +our great Horror, we beheld the head of a Lesghi, whom he had +killed in fight on the other side of the Alazann during a sporting +expedition, roll on the table. Disgusted at this action, which +among these barbarous mountaineers would pass as an excellent joke, +we all rose from table, and retired to another apartment, whilst +the Eingalo sat down to dinner, and, at every mouthful he took, +amused himself with turning the head, which he kept close to his +plate, first one way and then another.—<i>Ibid</i>.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>MISCELLANIES</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>RELIGIOUS FORTUNE TELLING.</h3> +<p>The <i>Sortes Sanctorum</i>, or <i>Sortes Sacrae</i>, of the +Christians, has been illustrated in the <i>Classical +Journal</i>.</p> +<p>These, the writer observes, were a species of divination +practised in the earlier ages of Christianity, and consisted in +casually opening the Holy Scriptures, and from the words which +first presented themselves deducing the future lot of the inquirer. +They were evidently derived from the <i>Sortes Homerica</i> and +<i>Sortes Virgilanae</i> of the Pagans, but accommodated to their +own circumstances by the Christians.</p> +<p>Complete copies of the Old and New Testaments being rarely met +with prior to the invention of printing, the Psalms, the Prophets, +or the four Gospels, were the parts of holy writ principally made +use of in these consultations, which were sometimes accompanied +with various ceremonies, and conducted with great solemnity, +especially on public occasions. Thus the emperor Heraclius in the +war against the Persians, being at a loss whether to advance or +retreat, commanded a public fast for three days, at the end of +which he applied to the four Gospels, and opened upon a text which +he regarded as an oracular intimation to winter in Albania. +Gregory, of Tours, also relates that Meroveus, being desirous of +obtaining the kingdom of Chilperic, his father consulted a female +fortune-teller, who promised him the possession of royal estates; +but to prevent deception and to try the truth of her +prognostications, he caused the Psalter, the Book of Kings, and the +four Gospels to be laid upon the shrine of St. Martin, and after +fasting and solemn prayer, opened upon passages which not only +destroyed his former hopes, but seemed to predict the unfortunate +events which afterwards befel him.</p> +<p>A French writer, in 506, says, "this abuse was introduced by the +superstition of the people, and afterwards gained ground by the +ignorance of the bishops." This appears evident from Pithon's +Collection of Canons, containing some forms under the title of +<i>The Lot of the Apostles</i>. These were found at the end of the +Canons of the Apostles in the Abbey of Marmousier. Afterwards, +various canons were made in the different councils and synods +against this superstition; these continued to be framed in the +councils of London under Archbishop Lanfranc in 1075, and Corboyl +in 1126.</p> +<p>The founder of the Francisians, it seems, having denied himself +the possession of any thing but coats and a cord, and still having +doubts whether he might not possess books, first prayed, and then +casually opened upon Mark, chapter iv, "Unto you it is given to +know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but unto them that are +without, all these things are done in parables;" from which he drew +the conclusion, that books were not necessary for him.</p> +<p>One Peter of Thoulouse being accused of heresy, and having +denied it upon oath, one of those who stood by, in order to judge +of the truth of his oath, seized the book upon which he had sworn, +and opening it hastily, met with the words of the devil to our +Saviour, "What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?" +and from thence concluded that the accused <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> was +guilty, and had nothing to do with Christ!</p> +<p>The extraordinary case also of King Charles I. and Lord +Falkland, as applicable to divination of this kind, is related. +Being together at Oxford, they went one day to see the public +library, and were shown, among other books, a Virgil, finely +printed and exquisitely bound. Lord Falkland, to divert the king, +proposed that he should make a trial of his fortune by the +<i>Sortes Virgilanae</i>. The king opening the book, the passage he +happened to light upon was part of Dido's imprecation against +Aeneas in lib. iv. l. 615. King Charles seeming concerned at the +accident, Lord Falkland would likewise try his own fortune, hoping +he might fall upon some passage that could have no relation to his +case, and thus divert the king's thoughts from any impression the +other might have upon him; but the place Lord Falkland stumbled +upon was still more suited to his destiny, being the expressions of +Evander upon the untimely death of his son Pallas, lib. xi. Lord +Falkland fell in the battle of Newbury, in 1644, and Charles was +beheaded in 1649.</p> +<p>The kind of divination among the Jews, termed by them Bath Kol, +or the daughter of the voice, was not very dissimilar to the +<i>Sortes Sanctorum</i> of the Christians. The mode of practising +it was by appealing to the first words accidentally heard from any +one speaking or reading. The following is an instance from the +Talmud:—Rabbi Jochanau and Rabbi Simeon. Ben Lachish, +desiring to see the face of R. Samuel, a Babylonish doctor: "Let us +follow," said they, "the hearing of Bath Kol." Travelling, +therefore, near a school, they heard the voice of a boy: reading +these words out of the First Book of Samuel, "And Samuel died." +They observed this, and inferred from hence that their friend +Samuel was dead, and so they found it. Some of the ancient +Christians too, it seems, used to go to church with a purpose of +receiving as the will of heaven the words of scripture that were +singing at their entrance.</p> +<p>To pay a very great deference in opening upon a place of +scripture, as to its affording an assurance of salvation, used to +be a very common practice amongst the people called Methodists, but +chiefly those of the Calvinistic persuasion; this, it is probable, +has declined in proportion with the earnestness of these people in +other respects. They had also another opinion, viz. that if the +recollection of any particular text of scripture happened to arise +in their minds, this was likewise looked upon as a kind of +immediate revelation from heaven. This they call being presented or +brought home to them!</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE GATHERER</h2> +<blockquote> +<p>"I am but a <i>Gatherer</i> and disposer of other men's +stuff."—<i>Wotton</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr /> +<p>Whoever the following story may be fathered on, Sir John +Hamilton was certainly its parent. The duke of Rutland, at one of +his levees, being at a loss (as probably most kings, princes, and +viceroys occasionally are) for something to say to every person he +was bound in etiquette to notice, remarked to Sir John Hamilton +that there was "a prospect of an excellent crop:—the timely +rain," observed the duke, "will bring every thing above ground." +"God forbid, your excellency!" exclaimed the courtier. His +excellency stared, whilst Sir John continued, sighing heavily as he +spoke:—"yes, God forbid! for I have got <i>three wives</i> +under it."—<i>Barrington's Sketches</i>.</p> +<hr /> +<p>It is a singular circumstance that Italia, or, as it is called +in English, Italy, has, under all the changes and revolutions to +which it has been subjected, always preserved its name. Every other +country in Europe is now known to its inhabitants by other names +than were given to it by their ancestors in the time of the Romans; +but Italia continues to be the name of the country at the present +day, and we have no authentic records by which we can ascertain +that it ever bore any other.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>SINGULAR INSCRIPTION.</h3> +<p><i>Written over the Ten Commandments in a church in +Wales.</i></p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>PRSVRYPRFCTMN</p> +<p>VRKPTHSPRCPTSTN</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The meaning can only be developed by adding the vowel E, which +makes the sense thus—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Persevere ye perfect men</p> +<p>Ever keep these precepts ten.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<p>In a new farce, supposed to have been written by Maddocks, was +the following curious pun:—A large party of soldiers +surprising two resurrection men in a church-yard, the officer +seized one of them, and asked him what he had to say for himself. +"Say, sir! why, that we came here to raise a <i>corpse</i>, and not +a <i>regiment!</i>"</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Monsieur Monge has drawn much from our countryman, Hamilton's +work on Stereography but he has not mentioned his work.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p><i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, vol. xxx.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>By Bacchus! what a worthy man is the Vice Chancellor, the +Chevalier Leach! gods! what a taste for music; i' faith he has +gained the hearts of all the Neapolitan ladies.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>Our blessed Saviour chose the garden sometime for his oratory, +and, dying, for the place of his sepulture; and we also do avouch, +for many weighty causes, that there are none more fit to bury our +dead in than in our gardens and groves where our beds may he decked +with verdant and fragrant flowers. Trees and perennial plants, the +most natural and instructive hieroglyphics of our expected +resurrection and immortality, besides what they might conduce to +the meditation of the living, and the taking off our cogitations +from dwelling too intently upon more vain and sensual objects: that +custom of burying in churches, and near about them, especially in +great and populous cities, being both a novel presumption, +indecent, and very prejudicial to health.—<i>Evelyn's +Discourse on Forest Trees</i>.</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p><i>Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, London; +sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; and by all +Newsmen and Booksellers.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11387 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |