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diff --git a/11389-0.txt b/11389-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6a9e7b --- /dev/null +++ b/11389-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1505 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11389 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 330.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + +WHY ARE NOT THE ENGLISH A MUSICAL PEOPLE? + + + We cannot help it.--_Massinger's Roman Actor._ + +Astronomy, music, and architecture, are the floating topics of the day; +on the second of these heads we have thrown together a few hints, which +may, probably prove entertaining to our readers. + +The English are not--you know, reflective public--a musical people; this +has been said over and over again in the musical and dramatic critiques +of the newspapers. True it is that we have no _national music_, like our +neighbours the Welsh, the Irish, or the Scotch; for our music, like out +language, is a mere _riccifamento_, stolen from every nation in Europe. +But our king (God bless him) is an excellent musician, and plays the +violoncello most delightfully; and we have an Academy of Music. Then we +have an Italian Theatre that burns the feet and fingers of all who +meddle with its management--witness, Mr. Ebers, who, by being "married" +to sweet sounds, lost the enormous sum of 47,000_l_.--it must be owned, +an unfortunate match, or as Dr. Franklin would have said, "paying rather +too dear for his whistle." We have too an _English Opera House_, where +scarcely any but _foreign_ music is heard, and which, to the +ever-lasting credit of its management, has transplanted from the warm +climes of the south to our ungenial atmosphere, some of the finest +compositions in the continental schools of modern music. Success has, +however, attended most of their enterprises; for the taste of the +English for foreign music is by no means a modern mania. From Pepys's +_Diary_ we learn that the first company of Italian singers came here in +the reign of Charles II.: they were brought by Killigrew from Venice, +about 1688; but they did not perform whole operas, only detached scenes +in recitative, and not in any public theatre, but in the houses of the +nobility. Thus, Italian music was loved and cultivated very early in +England, and London was the next capital, after Vienna, which +established and supported an Italian Opera. But, as we never do things +by halves, we had soon afterwards, two opposition houses. This proves +that the English have a _taste for music_; indeed they have much more +judgment than some of their neighbours, which makes it still more to be +regretted that nothing is done in England towards the advancement of +music as a science. Is the world of sound and the soul of song +exhausted? Why should we, who are marching in every other direction, +stand still in this? But no; what Orpheus did with _music_, we are +striving to accomplish by _steam_; what he effected by quietly touching +his lyre, we study with the atmospheres and condensers of high and low +pressure engines. + +The writer of a delightful paper in the _Foreign Review_, No. 3, in +tracing the rise and progress of music, inquires what has become of "its +loftier pretensions, its celestial attributes, its moral and political +influence." He then facetiously observes, "How should we marvel to see +the Duke of Wellington, like another Epaminondas, take his flute out of +his pocket to still the clamour of the opposition, or Mr. Peel reply to +the arguments of Mr. Huskisson with an allegro on the fiddle." + +The Greeks were not such grave people as some may be inclined to think +them. Among them, poetry and music were so intimately connected, that +they were in fact one and the same. It is not so with us; we have Byron +and Moore, in poetry; but where are their parallels in English music! + +"Music," says Plutarch, "was the universal language of Greece, the +sacred vehicle of history, philosophy, laws, and morals;" but in England +it is little more than a mere amusement to while away the evening, or at +best, but a branch of _female_ education. Pianos are become articles of +furniture to be met with in almost every other genteel house; Miss and +her sisters sit down by turns, and screw themselves up to _Ah vous +dirai_, or "I'd be a butterfly"--till some handsome young fellow who has +stood behind her chair for six months, turned over her music, or +accompanied her through a few liquorish airs, vows his tender passion, +brings her the last new song, and at length swears to be her +accompaniment throughout life. The piano is then locked up, the music +sent to Bath or _Canterbury_, and the lady is married and cannot sing. + +But the Greek poets sang their own verses: "Homer literally _sang_ the +wrath of Achilles, and the woes of Greece;" would it were so in England. +Then, my poetical public, we should have Anacreon Moore singing his +"Rich and rare were the gems she wore," in some such place as the +Quadrant, or Opera Colonnade; and Sir Walter Scott celebrating the Field +of Waterloo, not in the broad-margined octavos of Paternoster-row, but +about the purlieus of the Horse Guards. Wordsworth would be his own +Skylark. The laureate, Southey, would perch himself on the dome of the +New Palace. Campbell would step out of New Burlingtonstreet into the +Park; Miss Mitford would keep a Covent-Garden audience awake with her +own tragedies, and Planché would no longer entrust his rhymes to Paton +or Vestris. On the other hand, Braham would no longer be indebted to +Moore for his songs, Bishop would write, compose, and sing his own +operas, and all our vocalists enter, like Dryden's king and two +fiddlers, _solus_! + +Could we but once become a musical people, we should no longer marvel at +the effect of music in ancient times; for who knows but that if an +Englishman were to play like Orpheus, the River Thames might cease to +flow; the disposal of Mr. Cross's menagerie be no longer a question, +since the animals might be allowed to ramble about the Strand; and +Snowdon or Cader Idris journey to the King's Theatre to listen to his +inspirations. + +It is, however, impossible to calculate the benefits which this +acquisition of musical skill might prove to the English people. What +bloodshed and tribulation it would prevent. Weare, or Maria Marten, like +Stradella, might have disarmed their assassins; the Insolvent Act would +be obsolete, and duns defeated; since hundreds of improvident wights, +like Palma, might, by their strains, soften the hearts of their +creditors, and draw tears from sheriff's officers. Chancery-lane would +be depopulated, and Cursitor-street be left to the fowls of the air; +locks would fall 50 per cent, and Mr. Bramah might betake himself to Van +Dieman's Land. What a pleasant thing would a public dinner be; for, +instead of a gentleman in a dress coat singing as from the orchestra of +an oratorio, he would throw a more impassioned energy into his own +compositions than he could possibly impart to those of another, and +proportionally enhance the delight of his company. All the mechanism of +professional singing would then give way to "the feast of reason and the +flow of soul." + +We know not how to have done with these pleasures of "linked +sweetness"--this "mosaic of the air," as Marvell quaintly calls it. We +have a decided aversion to the system of borrowing, which, in the +absence of our own musical resources, seems to be universally adopted. +Thus, as Charles Mathews says, "every footman whistles _Frieschutz_;" +and the barrel organ which does not play two or three of its airs may be +consigned to the brokers. A few months since every bachelor hummed or +whistled "_C'est l'amour_," and the French, to return the compliment, +have made our "Robin Adair," one of the claptraps of the music of their +_La Dame Blanche_. Next, when will Mr. Bishop's _Home, sweet home_, be +forgotten, although the original is a Sicilian air of considerable +antiquity. All the baker's and butcher's boys in London can go through +"_Di tanti pal_"--where they leave off, answer a question, and take up +the "_piti_," with the skill of a musician; and as readily fall into the +sympathetic melodies of "_Oh no we never mention her_," or the "_Light +Guitar_." But to atone for these vulgarisms, who that has heard the +syren strains of Stephens or Paton, or the Anglo-Italian style of +Braham, but has envied them the pleasurable monopoly of delighting +thousands, and sending them home with the favourite air still echoing in +their ears, and lulling them to soft slumbers! Who is there that has +enjoyed his circle of friends without regretting a thousand times that +he had not a fiftieth part of such talent to enliven the festive hour, +and lend a charm, however, fleeting, to what may be termed the poetry of +life. + +As we have noticed the taste of the Greeks for music, it is but fair +that we should allude to that of their successors. In ancient Rome, +music was never popular. Combats of gladiators and wild beasts filled +their theatres with streams of blood, instead of their resounding with +music; and after the death of Nero,[1] that beautiful art was declared +infamous, and by a public decree, banished from the city. In our +theatres, however, heroes fight to music, from the Richard III. and +Richmond of Shakspeare to the "terrific combats" of modern melodrame. + + [1] "When Nero exhibited himself as a singer and flute-player on + the stage at Naples, the musicians of that province assembled to + hear him; and Suetonius tells us that the emperor selected _five + thousand_ among the best to be his household musicians, and + clothed them in a rich and uniform dress." + +Anything is, however, better than despair, and let us hope that +something may be done towards the amendment of our musical reputation. +We have too much of what Cobbett would call the "dead-weight" in us to +become adopted by Apollo as the "children of song;" but what with the +school of music in Tenterden-street, and numberless juvenile prodigies, +we may indulge the expectation of rising in the diatonic scale, and that +too at no very distant period. Burney and Crotch were remarkable +instances of precocious musical skill; and in the present day, children +from eight to twelve sing the most popular Italian airs on the English +stage, with remarkable accuracy. + +Apropos, we hear of constitutions being set to music, for says the +_Foreign Review_, "during the short revolution at Naples, in 1820, a +Neapolitan was heard to swear that if the government intended that the +new constitution should be understood or accepted by the people, they +must first have it set to music by Rossini." + + * * * * * + + + +GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, REGENT'S PARK. + + +[Illustration: GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, REGENT'S PARK.] + +We are again in the _Regents Park_; but we must leave its architectural +splendour for the present, and request our readers to accompany us +towards the eastern verge of the Park, to the Gardens of the Zoological +Society, established in 1826, and whose members now amount to _eleven +hundred_! The grounds are daily filled with fashionable company, +notwithstanding the great migrations which usually take place at this +season of the year, and almost depopulate the western hemisphere of +fashion. The gardens, independent of their zoological attractions, are a +delightful promenade, being laid out with great taste, and the parterres +boasting a beautiful display of flowers. The animals, too, are seen to +much greater advantage than when shut up in a menagerie, and have the +luxury of fresh air, instead of unwholesome respiration in a room or +caravan.[2] + + [2] It should, however, be noticed, that the object of the + _Zoological Society_ is not the mere exhibition of animals. In + the original prospectus it is observed, that "Animals brought + from every part of the globe to be applied to some _useful_ + purpose as objects of scientific research, not of vulgar + admiration; and upon such an institution, a philosophy of + zoology founded, pointing out the comparative anatomy, the + habits of life, the improvement and the methods of multiplying + those races of animals which are most useful to man, and thus + fixing a most beautiful and important branch of knowledge on the + permanent basis of direct utility." The Secretary of the Society + is N.A. Vigors, Esq., M.A., F.R.S., &c. who, from his extensive + attainments in the science of zoology, fills the office with + honor to himself, and peculiar advantage to the public. + +At page 413 of our last volume, the reader will find an abstract of the +second anniversary of the Society, since which the Gardens in the +Regent's Park have been opened for public inspection. We have +accordingly availed ourselves of this privilege, and our draughtsman has +been at some pains in the annexed sketch, together with the vignette +_portraits_ accompanying it. The "_Bird's-Eye View_" will be better +explained by reference to the figures; thus, + + 1. Entrance Gate and Pay Hut. + 2. Ditto Check Hut. + 3. House and Ground for _Emus_: + +Two awkward land birds, resembling ostriches. Their incapability of +flying is compensated by the exceeding speed with which they run. They +are natives of New Holland. + + 4. Central Walk. + 5. Sloping Shrubbery of Defence. + 6. Fields for Horses and Cattle. + 7. Building for _Bears,_, + +[Illustration] + +communicating with their pit, in the centre of which is a pole with +steps for the animals to ascend and descend. At the extremity of the +upper walk, the pit is surrounded with a dwarf wall and coping, to which +(since our sketch was taken) have been added iron rails. There are here +two Arctic bears, and a small black bear, the latter brought from +Russia,[3] and presented to the Society, by the Marquess of Hertford. +There is usually a crowd of visiters about this spot, and the sagacity +and antics of our four-footed friends ensure them liberal supplies of +cakes and fruit, handed to them on a pole. We were much interested with +their tricks, especially with the vexation betrayed by one of them, at +the top of the pole, when he saw his companion below seize a cake which +the former had previously eyed with great _gout_. His wringing and +biting his paws reminded us of many scenes out of a bear-pit. Then the +snorting and snarling of the old bear below, when the young one +attempted to obtain a cake thrown to him; and above all, the small share +which our black friend _Toby_ enjoyed, probably from his docility +over-much,--like good-natured men who are mastered by those of rough +natures. We could have staid here a whole hour, watching their antics, +and likening them to the little trickery of human nature. + + [3] He was previously at Sudborne, the seat of the Marquess of + Hertford, where Toby, as our Russian friend was christened, + became equally sagacious with bipeds, in distinguishing strong + ale from small beer. To the former beverage, Toby became freely + attached; but when we saw him at the Gardens in the Regent's + Park, he appeared too docile for his companions. + + 8 and 9. Ground enclosed for _Kangaroos_, + +of which there is a little herd, large and small. They are natives of +New Holland. The fore legs are seldom more than twenty inches in length, +whilst the hinder ones are sometimes three feet and a half long. They +rest on the whole length of the hind feet, supporting themselves by the +base of the tail, which, in truth, acts as a fifth leg, and is sometimes +used as a weapon, being of such strength as to break a man's leg at a +single blow. They move by leaps, which have been known to exceed twenty +feet. Several kangaroos have been kept in the park at Richmond, and +where they have produced young ones. + + 10. _Dens_ + +containing two fine _leopards, a porcupine_, and _racoons_. In an +adjoining den are three _wolves._ + + 11. Gothic House for _Lamas_. + +[Illustration] + +This is one of the most picturesque objects in the grounds. It contains +two lamas. These animals are common in South America, particularly in +the mountainous parts of Peru, where they are employed as beasts of +burthen. One of the lamas was presented to the Society by the Duke of +Bedford. + + 12. Circular Aviary for _Birds of Prey_ + +containing a _fine griffon vulture_, a white-headed _North American +eagle, hawks, falcons_, and _owls_; among the latter is the _great +horned owl_. This is supposed by Linnaeus, and many antiquaries, to have +been the bird of Minerva. The collection is remarkably splendid. + + 13. Hut for _Beavers_. + 14. Hut for _Foreign Goats._ + 15. Enclosed Area and Fountain for _Aquatic Birds_, as pelicans, + Solan geese, China geese, black swans, &c. + 16. Aviary. + +Here are three handsome crested cranes, four Indian spoonbills, together +with three storks, three or four cockatoos, whose brilliant plumage +outvies the gayest robe of art, and three curassos. + + 17. Grove and Huts for _Esquimaux Dogs_ + +of which there are three fine specimens. + + 18. Fountain, &c. for _Water Fowl_. + 19. Enclosure for _Zebras, Indian Cows, &c_. + 20. Houses on poles for _Monkeys_. + +[Illustration] + +These are distributed beside the walks. The monkey is attached by a +chain to a ring loosely round the pole, by which means he ascends and +descends at pleasure. + + 21. Intended Aviary, (supposed for _Eagles, Vultures_, &c.). + 22. Twenty acres about to be added. + 23. House for _Monkeys, &c_. + +Here are double rows of cages, containing a fine South American ocelot, +a lynx, a puma, coatamondis, an ichneumon, and several monkeys; the last +affording an excellent opportunity of appreciating the fidelity of Mr. +Landseer's _Monkeyana,_ and illustrating the vraisemblance of men and +monkeys. + + 24. Intended Aviary. + 25. Mexican _Hogs,_ &c. + 26. Huts for _Jackalls,_ &c. + 27. Unfinished Houses. + +The carriage-road is formed of the outer side of the Park. + +There is likewise an enclosure for _Tortoises_, of which there are three +large and several small ones. We saw one of them devouring pumpkin as a +gourmand would turtle, and this voracity is by weather-wise people +considered as a sure indication of rain. This turtle is believed to be +very old; he is of stupendous size, but buried as he was (except his +neck) with shell, he soon became aware of the approach of his companion, +nearly as large, and accordingly ate with increased greediness. Among +the birds, too, should be mentioned several beautiful varieties of +pheasants, partridges, &c. which are well worth the attention of the +visiter. + +We have probably passed over many animals, our object being merely to +mention a few of the most interesting for their habits and +peculiarities. Of course the collection is as yet incomplete, there +being neither lion, tiger, hyaena, elephant, nor rhinoceros; but when it +is considered that the Society has been established little more than two +years, in which time a Museum has been formed, and 1,100 subscribers +obtained, besides the arrangement of the Gardens--it will be +acknowledged that much has been done in a short time, and judging from +the excellent organization of the Society and their past success, we +anticipate the utmost realization of their plan. + +Our readers need not be told that the Zoological Society is partly on +the plan of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, except that the +latter is supported by the Government, the Gardens are indiscriminately +opened to the public, free of cost, and the Museum on stated days; and +when we add that the names of Fagon, Duverney, Tournefort, Vaillant, De +Jussieu, Buffon, Daubenton, Fourcroy, Desfontaines, De Lamarck, and +Cuvier, occur in its list of professors, they will not be surprised at +the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle being the richest of its kind in the +world. + + * * * * * + +As acceptable information, we subjoin the regulations for the admission +of members and visiters to the Gardens in the Regent's Park, and the +_Museum_, in Bruton-street; to the latter we shall allude at an early +opportunity:-- + +Every member shall have personal admission to the gardens and museum, +with two companions. If accompanied by more than two, he shall pay one +shilling for each extra person. + +A member, on payment of one guinea annually, may obtain an ivory ticket, +which will admit one named person with a companion to both +establishments; or a transferable ivory ticket which will admit one +person. He may obtain two or more such tickets at the same rate. + +Any member who may find it inconvenient to attend personally at the +gardens or museum, may, upon application to the council, have his +privileges transferred, within the present year, to any individual of +his family, whom he may name. + +Every member will be expected to give his name on entering the gardens +and museum. + +The gardens will be open to members from eight o'clock, A.M.; but they +will be in complete readiness for the reception of visiters only from +ten o'clock to sunset. The museum will be open from ten o'clock to six. + + * * * * * + + +HERSCHEL'S TELESCOPE. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror._) + + +Your article on the "Patrons of Astronomy," in the Mirror, No. 328, +brought to my recollection the following anecdote, for the truth of +which I can answer, having received it from Mr. Watson, well known as +the most celebrated private optical instrument maker in Europe, and at +the time living on intimate terms with the late Mr. Arnold, the most +eminent watchmaker of the day. When the late Sir William Herschel's +great telescope was first exhibited at Slough, among other scientific +men who went to see it was Mr. Arnold, who took Mr. W. with him. Neither +of them thought much of it, though it was praised by the multitude; as +it was, with its constructor, patronized by the late king and his +consort, for Herschel was a German, as you well know. A few astronomical +amateurs, who thought as Mr. Arnold did, proposed to Mr. Adams, of +Fleet-street, then astronomical instrument maker to the king, (by whom +Mr. Watson was employed,) to get Watson to make an instrument in +opposition to Herschel's. The order being given by Adams, Watson set +about the work, and had made some progress in the construction of the +instrument, when the circumstance found its way to the ears of royalty. +Orders were immediately sent to Mr. Adams to put a stop to the work, or +he should no longer be optician to the king. Watson did not proceed, but +could never learn the cause of the counter-order, till after a lapse of +several years, when a stranger called on him, in Valentine-place, +Blackfriars-road, and after putting several questions to him about his +instruments, related to him the cause of the counter-order; upon which +Mr. Watson showed him the progress he had made, and which I have also +seen. This story I heard related by Mr. Watson at a dinner party at Mr. +Arnold's, at Well Hall, near Eltham, where were also Mr. Dollonds, and +Mr. J. R. Arnold, the son. + +A Constant Reader. + +August, 24, 1828. + +Our Correspondent will perceive that we have qualified some phrases of +his letter, but that all the facts appear. + +The _Quarterly Review_, No. 75, from which our notice was taken, is +tolerably plain upon the lack of patronage towards astronomy in this +country, and seems disposed, in enumerating the state of astronomical +knowledge in civilized Europe, to place Great Britain beside Spain or +Turkey![4] We chance to know that one of the most able and enterprising +astronomers of the present day relinquished a lucrative profession, that +he might be more at leisure to indulge his philosophical pursuits; so +that, if patrons be wanting, this apathy does not appear to have +entirely destroyed the taste for the divine study. This gentleman, in +concert with another, ascertained, in the course of three years, the +position and apparent distances of 380 double and triple stars, the +result of about 10,000 individual measurements, and for their Memoir, +they received the astronomical prize of the French Academy of Sciences. +In the following year, the former individual communicated to the Royal +Society the apparent distances and positions of 458 double stars, of +which 160 had never before been observed. + + [4] We feel as if it were a species of treason to record the + fact, that, within the wide range of the British islands, _there + is only one observatory, and scarcely one, supported by the + government_! We say scarcely one, because we believe that some + of the instruments in the observatory of Greenwich were + purchased out of the private funds of the Royal Society of + London. The observatories of Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, + Edinburgh (except a grant of 2,000_l_.), Armagh, and Glasgow, + are all private establishments, to the support of which + government contributes nothing. The consequence of this is, that + many of them are in a state of comparative inactivity; and none + of them, but that of Dublin, have acquired any celebrity in the + astronomical world. Such, indeed, was the state of practical + astronomy in Scotland, that within these few years, a Danish + vessel, which arrived at Leith, could not obtain, even in + Edinburgh, the time of the day for the purpose of setting its + chronometers.--_Q. Rev._ + +Of course, our correspondent does not impeach the talent of HERSCHEL; +but it is lamentable to reflect that no attempt has been made to repeat +or extend the labours of that indefatigable astronomer.--ED. + + * * * * * + + + +THE KELPIE. + +A SCOTTISH LEGEND. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + "Kelpie's a river demon or a god," + Thus say the lexicons; I'll not belie 'em, + For though I mind not in the least the nod + Of these same critics, still I'll not defy 'em; + But that you may know more of this same god, + (Though I can't sing as Homer sung of Priam,) + I'll write a very pretty little poem, + Of which this present stanza's but the proem. + + But to begin, for though 'tis rather long, + My poem I'll comprise into twelve stanzas, + Or fourteen at the furthest, if my song + Don't run to twenty--I'll offend no man, sirs, + If I can help it. So now I'm along + The road, and beg you'll notice these two lancers, + Who, on the backs of horses full of mettle + Hold a dispute, which we'll leave them to settle, + + While you go with me, reader, kind and good, + To a small tributary stream from Tweed, + Which, if you don't know, as I'm in the mood, + I'll do my best to teach you, if you'll read; + I'll introduce you to the stream Glenrude-- + This name will do--'twas in a glen--indeed, + 'Twas not its proper name--'twill do quite well, + Why I choose so to call it I shan't tell, + + But still it was a very pretty river, + Or rather stream, as ever could be seen-- + If not so wide as the great Guadalquiver, + Its banks were nearly always clothed in green, + (Save when in winter the winds made you shiver,) + While the waves, bickering so bright and sheen, + Put you in mind of Avon, Rhine, or Hellespont, + Or any other stream to admire you're wont. + + And round about the stream there were huge hillocks, + And firs and mountains, houses too and farms; + A maid lay on the grass--her light and fair locks + Were gently wound around her folded arms, + While softly grazing near there stood a huge ox, + And o'er her head an old oak threw its arms. + She was asleep, when, lo! the sound of horses' + Feet woke her, and, behold, she saw two corses. + + At least she thought so--but at last thought better + 'Twould be for her to get up and go home; + She got up quickly, and would soon have made her + Way home, but that the men who had just come + Spurr'd past her, and alighted when they met her, + While she with her surprise was almost dumb; + But soon spoke she, and bade them both disclose + Their names--to which one said, "I'm Richard Groze." + + The next spoke not at first, but soon replied, + "Pray wherefore are you so surprised, my dear? + And wherefore, likewise, have you not complied + With my request, which I have sent in near + Some good score letters? which you did deride, + When they were forwarded by this man here." + He pointed then to Groze, and then he sighed, + "My dear, dear Jeannie, will you be my bride?" + + The which words when our Jeannie heard, she stared, + And said, "What do you mean, John Fitzadree? + You talk of letters, but of them the laird + Has never brought a single one to me; + But when I've seen him I have never cared + How soon he went, for he told me that ye + Were either dead or faithless--so he said + I'd better wed the live, than mourn the dead. + + "And then he promis'd I should have six horses, + Besides a coach, if I would be his bride; + But I refus'd--and he swore all his crosses + Should soon be o'er, and something else beside + And that's the reason why I thought ye corses, + When o'er the green this way I saw ye ride. + But now I see you've both served in the Lancers, + Though on my word you look much more like dancers." + + To which John answer'd, "Oh, the filthy fellow, + I gave him letters to you, which he said + He would deliver, were you ill or well. Oh! + How I should like to knock him on the head, + And would, but that would show I was quite mellow-- + Besides, I see the coward has just fled, + Has ta'en to horse, and got across the ford-- + Hang him, that I should with him be so bored!" + + But Jeannie said, "John, thou shall do no murder." + To which he answer'd, "I will not do so;" + Then bounded off as though he had not heard her, + And reached a fording-place, but not so low + As where Groze cross'd, and who had now got further + Than John would have thought possible, although + He'd a good-horse, and nearly half an hour + In start--but now the clouds began to lower. + + Now Fitzadree's good charger was all mettle, + And soon won to the middle of the stream-- + But then the sky grew black as a tea kettle; + It rained, too, quite as fast as ever steam + Rose. But the thing which did at last unsettle + The balance of John's steed, was what you'll deem + A being that was nearly supernatural-- + But here the waves John's clothes began to spatter all. + + A form rose up from out the waves' abyss-- + A monstrous little man with a black hide, + Scarce four feet high, yet he was not remiss, + But dash'd the waves about--and then he cried, + With a demoniac laugh, or rather hiss, + "Die, mortal, die!" and John sank down and died, + The which, when Jeannie saw, she only sigh'd, + "I come, my John, I come, to be thy bride." + + The figure was the Kelpie--that she knew, + And madly she rush'd on towards the shore; + The Kelpie roar'd, "Come, mortal, come thou too." + Ere he'd done speaking, Jeannie was no more; + She'd dash'd into the waves, and left no clue, + More than a steamer leaves just left the Nore, + By which you might discover where she lay, + And drag her upwards to the realms of day. + + But what befel the cause of all these woes? + That's what I never heard, so cannot tell; + But this I know, that this same Richard Groze + Return'd no more to bonnie Scotland. Well, + I only hope he may in bed repose, + And that he may at last escape from hell. + And this I know, that if you do not smother + This poem, when I choose I'll write another. + J.S. + + * * * * * + + +SUGAR AND WATER CRITICISM. + + +In one of the critiques on the last _Monthly Magazine_, some verses by +Mrs. Hemans are said to be "elegant and lady-like." + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH BOOK + +A DAY AT ST. CLOUD. + +_September_ 24, 1826. + + + I walked up gravely to the window in my dusty black coat, and + looking through the glass, saw all the world in yellow, blue, + and green, running at the ring of pleasure.--STERNE. + +St. Cloud is the Richmond of France; or rather, it is to Paris what +Richmond, in the days of its regal splendour, was to London--the summer +palace of the court. In this comparison, allowance must be made for the +opposite building taste of each nation; especially as Richmond has an +appearance of substantial comfort in its massive brick mansions and +rusticated cottage groups. The French _Sheen_ is, on the contrary, +gayer; the exterior of the residences being whitened, or what is still +more artificial, coloured and decorated in tawdry French taste. Such, at +least, is the character of the _auberges_, or inns, and _restaurateurs_, +with which St. Cloud is even better supplied than our Richmond. In +situation, however, they strongly assimilate; the former being placed on +an acclivity overlooking the Seine, as the latter is on the banks of the +Thames. + +St. Cloud, as I have already said, is the usual summer residence of the +French court; and with a royal liberality which might be less politic +elsewhere, the park is granted for three fairs--September 7, and the +three following Sundays, on the last of which I resolved to visit the +fête of St. Cloud. It was a glowing September day. The sun shone with +more than mellow warmth through the groves of the Tuilleries, and on the +little southern terrace, which was unusually crowded with groups of rosy +children, with here and there a valetudinarian, who seemed to have +emerged from his chamber to enjoy the parting glories of the season. +Crowds of elegantly-dressed company were promenading the mall, or +principal walk, and some few were not incuriously lingering about the +enclosed parterres of the garden, whose beauties would soon be +transported to a milder atmosphere. There was a general stir in the +neighbouring streets; it did not resemble the bustle of business, but +had more of the gaiety of a holiday scene. The _Pont Royal_ was thronged +with passengers, and just beneath it, were several hundreds, many of +whom were embarking in the steam-boat for St. Cloud. But the Seine is at +all times less inviting for such an excursion than our Thames; and in +the summer months many insulated spots may be seen in the centre of the +French river. At the next bridge (Louis XVI.) there was a general muster +of carriages, each adapted for six or eight passengers, and drawn by one +or two horses. Here was a loud clamour of "St. Cloud" and "Versailles" +among the drivers, some of whom were even more officious than the Jehus +of Greenwich, or the wights of Charing Cross or Piccadilly. I resisted +all their importunities, and passed on through the _Champs Elysées_, or +a dusty road through a grove, intersected with ill-formed paths, with a +few gaudy cafés bearing pompous inscriptions--for Voltaire has made the +French too fond of nomenclature to say with our Shakspeare, "what's in a +name?" The road presented a strange specimen of the insubordination of +French driving, notwithstanding police superintendants affected much +concern in the matter. Diligences, fiacres, and carriages resembling +large, covered cabriolets, might be seen loaded with gaily-dressed women +and children, with a due proportion of young Parisians, all just in the +hey-day of mirth, drawn by dust-provoking Flanders horses, their drivers +slashing almost indiscriminately, and, with their clamour and confusion, +far exceeding the Epsom road on a raceday. + +At length, escaping from the dust and din of the French Elysium, I +halted to enjoy the distant view of the city of Paris, from the gate of +the barrier. It was indeed an interesting scene. Through the avenue, +whose area presented a living stream of traffic, might be seen the +terraces and groves of the Tuilleries, and the spacious and irregular +palace, with its cupola tops; the tarnished dome of the Invalides; the +cupola of St. Genevieve; the gray towers of Nôtre Dame; then the winding +Seine, with its bridges, quays, and terraces, flanked with the long line +of the Tuilleries, and the Luxembourg, and Louvre galleries, on the one +side; and on the other by the noble façade of the Chamber of Deputies; +the courtly mansions of St. Germain, and the blackened front and dome of +the Institute. What a multitude of associations flitted across the +memory, by a single glance at PARIS--the capital of that gay, +light-hearted, and mercurial people--the French nation--the focus of +European luxury, and the grand political arena of modern history, the +very calendar of whose events, within the last half century, will form +one of the most interesting episodes that ever glowed among the records +of human character. In the chain might be traced the vain-glory of +conquest linked with defeated ambition, and the sullied splendour of +royalty just breaking through the clouds of discontent, and slowly +dispelling the mists of disaffection and political prejudice. What an +unenviable contrast to the man who has "no enemy but wind and rough +weather." The same objects that prompted these discordant reflections +gave rise to others of the most opposite character; and within the +walls, where treaties, abdications, and warrants, by turns, settled and +resettled, exiled and condemned--were the store-houses of art, with all +her proud and peaceful labours of sculpture, painting, and architecture, +through galleries and saloons, on whose contents the chisel and the +pencil had lingered many a life, and reduced the compass of its fond +designs to the cubits of a statue, the fame of a picture, or the glory +of a pillar or ceiling--such are the frail elements of human art. + +The road now began to exhibit the usual appearance of an approach to a +country fête or fair. Scores of pedestrians, overcome with the heat and +dust of the day, might be seen at the little boxes or shops of the +_traiteurs_, or cooks, and at the houses of the _marchands de vin et de +la biacre_; these by their anticipated anxiety caused the line from +Paris to St. Cloud to resemble a road-side fair. Cheerfulness and +vivacity were upper-most in the passengers; and the elastic pace of +dozens of gaily-dressed _soubrettes_ not a little enhanced the interest +of the scene. Neither were these charms impaired by that species of +vulgarity which not unfrequently characterizes the road to our suburban +fairs; and, what is still more creditable to humanity, there was no +brutality towards jaded horses or hacks sinking beneath their loads. + +Historians attach some antiquarian importance to the village of St. +Cloud, it being historically confounded with the earliest times of the +French monarchy; for, from the beginning of the first race, the kings of +France had a country-seat here.[5] + + [5] For an engraving and account of the Palace of St. Cloud, see + MIRROR, vol. ii. page 225. + +I now reached the bridge of St. Cloud, an elegant modern structure which +crosses the Seine, near the entrance to the village. Here the river +loses much of its importance; and in summer, the steam-boats are not +unfrequently delayed in their _voyage_ (if it may be so designated) for +lack of water. The prospect of the château, or palace, embosomed in +trees, and the park variegated with natural and artificial beauties, +with the adjoining village on a steep, shelving hill--is unusually +picturesque. On the present occasion, however, the principal attraction +was the fête, which reminded me more forcibly of John Bunyan's Vanity +Fair, than any other exhibition I had ever witnessed. + +The entrance to this motley scene was by the principal gate, where the +carriages set down their company, and at a short distance along the bank +of the river, the steam-boat in like manner contributed its visiters. On +entering the park, I was first struck with a long row of boxes, +(somewhat in the style of those at Vauxhall) but on a raised bank, and +attached to a _restaurateur_. Here were tables for dinner, and as many +others were laid in the open air--with the usual _carte_ of 2 or 300 +articles, and the economical elegancies of silver, napkins, and china, +and this, too, in style little inferior to Verey's in the Palais Royal. +Promenaders of the better description appeared in the mall, or principal +walk, and it being the last fête of the season, their attendance was +very numerous. The stalls and exhibitions were chiefly on the left side +of this walk; at the former was displayed an almost indescribable +variety of wares, which were the adjudged prizes in a lottery; but, from +the decisions which I witnessed, they resembled the _stationary_ +capitals in an English scheme--the nominal Stock in trade of the +office-keepers. Many of these little gambling shops were superintended +by women, who proved themselves far from deficient in loquacious +inducements for adventurers; and by their dexterous settlement of the +chances, left little time for losers to reflect on their folly. +Provisions of various descriptions were to be purchased at every turn, +and among their _marchands_, it was not incurious, to see some humble +professors of gastronomy over smoking viands, fritters, and goffers or +indented wafers baked on cast-iron stoves _à la minute_--it must be +owned, unseasonable luxuries for a September day. The _spectacles_, or +shows, in noise and absurdity, exceeded the English trumpery of that +order; and to judge from the gaping crowds which they attracted, we are +not the only credulous nation in the world. Among the games was a +machine resembling an English round-a-bout, with wooden horses for the +players, each of whom was furnished with a foil, with which he strove to +seize the greatest number of rings from the centre; this was, indeed, a +chivalrous exhibition. Stilt-walkers, mountebank families, and jugglers, +"chequered in bulk and brains," lent their aid to amuse the crowd; and, +occasionally, two or three fellows contrived to enact scenes from plays, +and with their vulgar wit to merit the applause of their audience. +Portable clock-work exhibitions swarmed, and mummeries or mysteries, +representing the Life and Death of our Saviour and the blessed Virgin, +appeared to be ritual accompaniments of the day, and represented each +stage of the holy lives. The bearers of the latter machinery enlivened +their exhibitions with a grinding organ, which they accompanied with +appropriate ditties or carols. Crosses and other religious emblems were +hung about the theatrical boxes or shows, which, with their +representations, could only be compared with the nursery toys of Noah's +ark, with which most of us have been amused. Accordingly, here were +models of Nazareth, Jerusalem, and Mount Calvary, in the characteristic +accuracy of biblical topography, and from the zeal of the spectators, +the ingenuity of the inventors was unsparingly rewarded. + +I turned from these sights to the natural beauties of the park, which, +aided by the happy inequalities of the ground, (which French artists +imagined would be such an obstacle to its perfection,) possesses far +more variety than is usually found in the pleasure-grounds of France. +The original plantation of the park was the work of La Nôtre, who, it +will be recollected, planned the garden of Versailles; but St. Cloud is +considered his _chef-d'oeuvre_, and proves, that with the few natural +advantages which it afforded him, he was enabled to effect more here +than millions have accomplished at Versailles--where art is fairly +overmatched with her own wasteful and ridiculous excess. This alone +ought to make the French blush for that monument of royal folly. + +The situation of the château is its greatest attraction. It possesses a +fine view of Paris, which is indeed a splendid item in the prospect of +the princely occupants; and the sight of the capital may, perhaps, be a +pleasant relief to the natural seclusion of the palace. + +One of the most remarkable objects in the park is a kind of square +tower, surmounted with an exact copy, in _terra cotta_, of the lantern +of Diogenes at Athens, ornamented with six Corinthian columns. It is +used as an observatory, and, like its original, is associated with the +name of the illustrious Grecian--it being also called the lantern of +Diogenes. Its view of the subjacent plain overlooks the city of Paris by +a distance of twenty miles. + +The fountains and _jets d'eau_ are entitled to special notice, although +in extent and variety they are far exceeded by those of Versailles. The +arrangement of the principal cascade is well contrived, and I had the +good fortune to be present at the moment the water commenced flowing, +which continued but a short time. This struck me as a singular piece of +mimicry, and compared with those truly-sublime spectacles--the cascades +of Nature--the boasted works of St. Cloud seemed mere playthings, like +the little falls which children contrive in running brooks; or at best +resembling hydraulic exhibitions on an extensive scale. The playing +commenced by a jet bursting from a point almost secluded by trees, which +appeared on a level with the first story of the palace; the stream then +fell into stone basins, and by turns threw itself aloft, or gushed from +the mouths of numberless marine animals, and descended by glassy falls +into a basin, whence it found its way into several vase-shaped forms, +and again descended by magnificent cascades, discharging themselves into +a large, circular tank or basin, with two strong jets throwing their +limpid streams many feet high. In the sculptured forms there is some +display of classic design; and the effect of many mouths and forms +gushing forth almost instantaneously was altogether that of magic art, +not unaided by the lines of trees on two sides being clipped or cut into +semi-arched forms. The most powerful of the fountains is, however, a +grand jet, characteristically named the _Geant_, or giant, for the +incredible force with which it springs from its basin, and rises 125 +feet high, being more than the elevation of Napoleon's triumphal column, +in the Place Vendôme, at Paris. An uninterrupted view of these +exhibitions may be enjoyed from the river, which runs parallel with the +road adjoining the park. Crowds flocked from all directions to witness +the first gush of the fountains; but their attention soon became +directed to a royal party attended by footmen, from the palace, who came +to witness the sights of the fair, and appeared especially amused with a +family of vaulters and stilt-walkers. They were received with a slight +buzz of curiosity, but without that enthusiasm with which the English +are accustomed to recognise, and, not unfrequently, to annoy royalty; +for here + + No man cried, God save them. + +I now began to make a more minute survey of the preparations for +amusement, for the fête was not yet in its equinoctial splendour. The +most prominent of these were plots of the raised bank on one side, and +at the termination of the principal walk, which were enclosed with +hurdles or frames, a platform being elevated and decorated with +festooned curtains, &c. for an orchestra, and the whole hung round with +illumination lamps. Towards evening, but long before dark, these +enclosures were blazing with variegated splendour; the bands commenced +playing several lively French airs, and the area was occupied with +groups of waltzing and quadrilling votaries. As the evening darkened, +lamps began to glisten in every direction, and the well-lighted cafés +resembled so many Chinese lanterns; and these, aided by the discordant +sounds of scores of instruments, gave the whole scene an air of +enchantment, or rather a slight resemblance to one of its exorcisms. The +effect was, however, improved by distance. Accordingly, I stole through +a solitary shrubbery walk, which wound round the hill, and at length led +me to a forest-like spot, or straggling wood, which flanked the whole of +the carnival. Viewed from hence, it was, indeed, a fantastical +illustration of French gaiety, and it momentarily reminded me of some of +Shakspeare's scenes of sylvan romance, with all their fays and fairy +population. + +The English reader who has not witnessed one of the fêtes of St. Cloud, +may probably associate them with his own Vauxhall; but the resemblance +is very slight. At one of these entertainments in France, there is much +less attempted, but considerably more effected, than in England; and all +this is accomplished by that happy knack which the French possess of +making much of a little. Of what did this fête consist--a few hundred +lamps--a few score of fidlers, and about as much decoration as an +English showman would waste on the exterior of his exhibition, or +assemble within a few square yards. There were no long illuminated +vistas, or temples and saloons red hot with oil and gas--but a few +slender materials, so scattered and intermixed with the natural beauties +of the park, as to fascinate, and not fatigue the eye and ear. Even the +pell-mell frolics of St. Cloud were better idealities of enjoyment, than +the splendid promenade of Vauxhall, in the days of its olden celebrity; +for diamonds and feathers are often mere masquerade finery in such +scenes--so distant are the heads and hearts of their wearers.[6] + + [6] We are not permitted to allude to the fête of St. Cloud as a + scene of _pastoral_ amusement, or of the primitive simplicity + which is associated with that epithet. The French are not a + pastoral people, although they are not less so than the English; + neither are the suburbs of a metropolis rural life. They are too + near the pride of human art for pastoral pleasures, and no + aristocracy is more infested with little tyrants than the + neighbourhood of great cities, the oppressors being too timid to + trust themselves far out of the verge of public haunts, in the + midst of which they would be equally suspicious. + + Amusements are at all times among the best indications of + national character; a truth which the ancients seem to have + exaggerated into their maxim _in vino veritas_. Here the + national comparison is not "odious." Three Sunday fairs are held + within six miles of Paris, in a park, as was once the custom at + Greenwich: the latter, though a royal park, does not boast of + the residence of royalty, as does St Cloud. The objection to the + day of the French fêtes is cleared by another argument. But what + would be the character of a week-day fair, or fête, in + Kensington Gardens? The intuitive answer will make the moral + observer regret that man should so often place the interdict on + his own happiness, and then peevishly repine at his uncheery + lot. + +Night, with her poetic glooms, only served to heighten the lustre of the +fairy fête; and as I receded through the wood, the little shoal of light +gleamed and twinkled through "branches overgrown," and the distant +sounds began to fall into solitary silence--even saddening to +meditation--so fast do the dying glories of festive mirth sink into +melancholy--till at once, with the last gleam and echo, I found myself +in a pleasant little glade on the brow of the hill. The day had been +unusually hot--all was hushed stillness. But the darkening clouds were +fast gathering into black masses:-- + + The rapid lightning flames along the sky. + What terrible event does this portend? + +The stifling heat of the atmosphere was, however, soon changed by slight +gusts of wind; the leaves trembled; and a few heavy drops of rain fell +as harbingers of the coming storm; the pattering ceased; an impressive +pause succeeded--broken by the deepening roar of thunder. + +The threatening storm hastened my return to the focus of the carnival. +The partial sprinkling had already caused many of the dancers to +withdraw to the cafés, and to the most sheltered parts of the park. The +lightning became more and more vivid; and, at length, the thousands who +had lingered in these groups of gaiety, were fairly routed by pelting +rain; and the park, with a few lamps flickering out, and decorative +finery drenched with rain, presented a miserable contrast with the +festivities of the previous hour. The crowd streamed through the +park-gate into the village, where hundreds of competitors shouted +"Paris, Paris;" and their swarms of diligences, cabriolets, and +curtained carts, were soon freighted. One of these charioteers engaged +to convey me to Paris for half a franc, in a large, covered cart, with +oil-skin curtains to protect the passengers in front. To my surprise I +found the vehicle pre-occupied by twelve or fourteen well-dressed +persons--male and female, who appeared to forget their inconvenient +situation in sallies of laughter, which sometimes bordered on boisterous +mirth. The storm increased; lamps gleamed and flitted across the road; +many of the horses plunged with their heavy loads, and swept along the +line in resistless confusion; for nothing can be less characteristic of +timidity than French driving. + +On reaching Paris, the streets resembled so many torrents, and in most +places were not fordable, notwithstanding scores of persons, with the +alacrity of mushrooms after rain, had placed themselves at the narrowest +parts of the streams, with raised planks, or temporary bridges for +crossing. Our load was _landed_ under the arcade of the Hotel de Ville; +but the driver, in the genuine spirit of a London hackney-coachman, did +not forget to turn the "ill-wind" to his own account, by importuning me +for a double fare. + +I learned that the storm had been less tremendous in its consequences at +St. Cloud and Paris than at Versailles, the lightning having consumed a +farm-house and barns near that town. It is an event worthy of notice, +from its being part of the phenomenon of what is termed a returning +stroke of lightning, the circumstances of which are recorded in a recent +number of Brande's philosophical journal.--_Abridged from "Cameleon +Sketches," by the author of the "Promenade round Dorking."_ + + * * * * * + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + + * * * * * + + +ALFREDE AND MATYLDA. + +WRITTEN BY ROBERT HAIEWOODE, OF CHEPING-TORITON, IN 1520. + + + The bryghtt enamell of the mornyng's gleame + Begann to daunce onn bobblynge Avonn's streame, + As yothefull Alfrede and Matylda fayre + Stoode sorowynge bie, ennobledd bie despayre: + Att tymes theyr lypps the tynts of Autumpe wore, + Att tymes a palerr hewe thann wynterr bore; + And faste the rayne of love bedew'dd theyr eyne, + As thos, in earnefull[7] strayns, theyr tenes[8] theie dyd + bewreene.[9] + + ALFREDE. + + Ah! iff we parte, ne moe to meete agayne, + Wythyn thie wydow'dd berte wyll everr brenn + The frostie vygyls of a cloysterr'd nun, + Insteade of faerie[10] love's effulgentt sonne! + Ne moe with myne wyll carolynge[11] beatt hie, + Gyve throbb for throbb, and sygh returne forr sygh, + Butt bee bie nyghtt congeall'dd bie lethall feares, + Bie daie consum'dd awaie inn unavaylynge teares! + + MATYLDA. + + Alas! howe soone is happlesse love ondonne, + Wytherr'd and deadde almostt beforre begunn: + Lych Marchh's openyng flowrs thatt sygh'dd forr Maie, + Which Apryll's teares inn angerr wash'dd awaie. + Onr tenes alych, alych our domes shall bee, + Where'err thou wander'stt I wyll followe thee; + And whann our sprytes throughe feere are purg'dd fromm claie, + Inn pees theie shalle repose upponn the mylkie waie. + + ALFREDE. + + The raynbowe hewes that payntt the laughyng mees,[12] + The gule-stayn'dd[13] folyage of the okenn trees, + The starrie spangells of the mornynge dewe, + The laverock's matyn songes and skies of blewe, + Maie weel the thotes of gentill shepherdds joie. + Whose hertes ne hopelesse loves or cares alloie; + Butt whatt cann seeme to teneful loverrs fayre. + Whose hopes butt darkenns moe the mydnyghtt of despayre? + + MATYLDA. + + To thotelesse swayns itt maie bee blyss indeede, + To marke the yeare through alle hys ages speede, + Butt everie seasone seemes alych to mee, + Eternall wynterr whann awaie from thee! + Fromm howrr to howrr I oftt beweepe ourr love, + Wyth all the happie sorowe of the dove, + And fancie, as itts sylentt waterrs flowe, + Mie bosome's swetestt joies mustt thos bee mientt[14] wyth woe. + + Palerr thann cloudes thatt stayne the azure nyghtt, + Or starrs thatt shoote beneathe theyr feeble lyghtt, + And eke as crymson as the mornyng's rode,[15] + The lornlie[16] payre inn dumbe dystracyon stoode + Whann onn the banke Matylda sonke and dyed, + And Alfrede plong'dd hys daggerr inn hys syde: + Hys purpell soule came roshynge fromm the wounde, + And o'err the lyfeless claie deathe's ensygns stream'dd arownde. + + _Literary Gazette._ + + [7] Tender. + [8] Woes. + [9] Express. + [10] Fiery. + [11] Dancing. + [12] Meadows. + [13] Blood-coloured. + [14] Mingled. + [15] Complexion. + [16] Forlorn. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + +FOX HUNTING. + + +"Well, do you know, that after all you have said, Mr. North, I cannot +understand the passion and the pleasure of fox-hunting. It seems to me +both cruel and dangerous." + +Cruelty! Is there cruelty in laying the rein on their necks, and +delivering them up to the transport of their high condition--for every +throbbing vein is visible--at the first full burst of that maddening +cry, and letting loose to their delight the living thunderbolts? Danger! +What danger but breaking their own legs, necks, or backs, and those of +their riders? And what right have you to complain of that, lying all +your length, a huge hulking fellow snoring and snorting half asleep on a +sofa, sufficient to sicken a whole street? What though it be but a +smallish, reddish-brown, sharp-nosed animal, with pricked-up ears, and +passionately fond of poultry, that they pursue? After the first tallyho, +Reynard is rarely seen, till he is run in upon--once perhaps in the +whole run, skirting a wood, or crossing a common. It is an idea that is +pursued, on a whirlwind of horses to a storm of canine music,--worthy, +both, of the largest lion that ever leaped among a band of Moors, +sleeping at midnight by an extinguished fire on the African sands. There +is, we verily believe it, nothing foxy in the fancy of one man in all +that glorious field of three hundred. Once off and away--while wood and +welkin rings--and nothing is felt--nothing is imaged in that hurricane +flight, but scorn of all obstructions, dikes, ditches, drains, brooks, +palings, canals, rivers, and all the impediments reared in the way of so +many rejoicing madmen, by nature, art, and science, in an enclosed, +cultivated, civilized, and Christian country. There they go--prince and +peer, baronet and squire,--the nobility and gentry of England, the +flower of the men of the earth, each on such steed as Pollux never +reined, nor Philip's warlike son--for could we imagine Bucephalus here, +ridden by his own tamer, Alexander would be thrown out during the very +first burst, and glad to find his way dismounted to a village alehouse +for a pail of meal and water. Hedges, trees, groves, gardens, orchards, +woods, farm-houses, huts, halls, mansions, palaces, spires, steeples, +towers, and temples, all go wavering by, each demigod seeing, or seeing +them not, as his winged steed skims or labours along, to the swelling or +sinking music, now loud as a near regimental band, now faint as an echo. +Far and wide over the country are dispersed the scarlet runners--and a +hundred villages pour forth their admiring swarms, as the main current +of the chase roars by, or disparted runlets float wearied and all +astray, lost at last in the perplexing woods. Crash goes the top-timber +of the five-barred gate--away over the ears flies the ex-rough-rider in +a surprising somerset--after a succession of stumbles, down is the +gallant Grey on knees and nose, making sad work among the +fallow--Friendship is a fine thing, and the story of Damon and Pythias +most affecting indeed--but Pylades eyes Orestes on his back sorely +drowned in sludge, and tenderly leaping over him as he lies, claps his +hand to his ear, and with a "hark forward, tan-tivy!" leaves him to +remount, lame and at leisure--and ere the fallen has risen and shook +himself, is round the corner of the white village-church, down the dell, +over the brook, and close on the heels of the straining pack, all a-yell +up the hill crowned by the Squire's Folly. "Every man for himself, and +God for us all," is the devout and ruling apothegm of the day. If death +befall, what wonder? since man and horse are mortal; but death loves +better a wide soft bed with quiet curtains and darkened windows in a +still room, the clergyman in the one corner with his prayers, and the +physician in another with his pills, making assurance doubly sure, and +preventing all possibility of the dying Christian's escape. Let oak +branches smite the too slowly stooping skull, or rider's back not timely +levelled with his steed's; let faithless bank give way, and bury in the +brook; let hidden drain yield to fore feet and work a sudden wreck; let +old coal-pit, with briery mouth, betray; and roaring river bear down man +and horse, to banks unscaleable by the very Welsh goat; let duke's or +earl's son go sheer over a quarry fifty feet deep, and as many high; +yet, "without stop or stay, down the rocky way," the hunter train flows +on; for the music grows fiercer and more savage,--lo! all that remains +together of the pack, in far more dreadful madness than hydrophobia, +leaping out of their skins, under insanity from the scent, now strong as +stink, for Vulpes can hardly now make a crawl of it; and ere he, they, +whipper-in, or any one of the other three demoniacs, have time to look +in one another's splashed faces, he is torn into a thousand pieces, +gobbled up in the general growl; and smug, and smooth, and dry, and +warm, and cozey, as he was an hour and twenty-five minutes ago exactly, +in his furze bush in the cover,--he is now piece-meal, in about thirty +distinct stomachs; and is he not, pray, well off for sepulture?-- +_Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +THE BLIND BEAUTY OF THE MOOR. + +(_A Fragment._) + + +To thee--O palest phantom--clothed in white raiment, not like unto a +ghost risen with its grave-clothes to appal, but like a seraph +descending from the skies to bless--unto thee will we dare to speak, as +through the mist of years back comes thy yet unfaded beauty, charming +us, while we cannot choose but weep, with the self-same vision that +often glided before us long, long ago in the wilderness, and at the +sound of our voice would pause for a little while, and then pass by, +like a white bird from the sea, floating unscared close by the +shepherd's head, or alighting to trim its plumes on a knoll far up an +inland glen! Death seems not to have touched that face, pale though it +be--life-like is the waving of those gentle hands--and the soft, sweet, +low music which now we hear, steals not sure from lips hushed by the +burial-mould! Restored by the power of love, she stands before us as she +stood of yore. Not one of all the hairs of her golden head was singed by +the lightning that shivered the tree under which the child had run for +shelter from the flashing sky. But in a moment the blue light in her +dewy eyes was dimmed--and never again did she behold either flower or +star. Yet all the images of all the things she had loved remained in her +memory, clear and distinct as the things themselves before +unextinguished eyes--and ere three summers had flown over head, which, +like the blossom of some fair perennial flower, in heaven's gracious dew +and sunshine each season lifted its loveliness higher and higher in the +light--she could trip her singing way through the wide wilderness, all +by her joyful self, led, as all believed, nor erred they in so +believing, by an angel's hand! When the primroses peeped through the +reviving grass upon the vernal braes, they seemed to give themselves +into her hand; and 'twas thought they hung longer unfaded round her neck +or forehead than if they had been left to drink the dew on their native +bed. The linnets ceased not their lays, though her garment touched the +broomstalk on which they sung. The cushat, as she thrid her way through +the wood, continued to croon in her darksome tree--and the lark, +although just dropped from the cloud, was cheered by her presence into a +new passion of song, and mounted over her head, as if it were his first +matin hymn. All the creatures of earth and air manifestly loved the +Wanderer of the Wilderness--and as for human beings, she was named, in +their pity, their wonder, and their delight, the Blind Beauty of the +Moor! + +She was an only child, and her mother had died in giving her birth. And +now her father, stricken by one of the many cruel diseases that shorten +the lives of shepherds on the hills, was bed-ridden--and he was poor. Of +all words ever syllabled by human lips, the most blessed is--Charity. No +manna now in the wilderness is rained from heaven--for the mouths of the +hungry need it not in this our Christian land. A few goats feeding among +the rocks gave them milk, and there was bread for them in each +neighbour's house--neighbour though miles afar--as the sacred duty came +round--and the unrepining poor sent the grateful child away with their +prayers. + +One evening, returning to the hut with her usual song, she danced up to +her father's face on his rushy bed, and it was cold in death. If she +shrieked--if she fainted--there was but one ear that heard, one eye that +saw her in her swoon. Not now floating light like a small moving cloud +unwilling to leave the flowery braes, though it be to melt in heaven, +but driven along like a shroud of flying mist before the tempest, she +came upon us in the midst of that dreary moss; and at the sound of our +quaking voice, fell down with clasped hands at our feet--"My father's +dead!" Had the hut put already on the strange, dim, desolate look of +mortality? For people came walking fast down the braes, and in a little +while there was a group round us, and we bore her back again to her +dwelling in our arms. As for us, we had been on our way to bid the fair +creature and her father farewell. How could she have lived--an utter +orphan--in such a world! The holy power that is in Innocence would for +ever have remained with her; but Innocence longs to be away, when her +sister Joy has departed; and 'tis sorrowful to see the one on earth, +when the other has gone to heaven! This sorrow none of us had long to +see; for though a flower, when withered at the root, and doomed ere eve +to perish, may yet look to the careless eye the same as when it +blossomed in its pride,--its leaves, still green, are not as once they +were,--its bloom, though fair, is faded--and at set of sun, the dews +shall find it in decay, and fall unfelt on all its petals. Ere Sabbath +came, the orphan child was dead. Methinks we see now her little funeral. +Her birth had been the humblest of the humble; and though all in life +had loved her, it was thought best that none should be asked to the +funeral of her and her father, but two or three friends; the old +clergyman himself walked at the head of the father's coffin--we at the +head of the daughter's--for this was granted unto our exceeding +love;--and thus passed away for ever the Blind Beauty of the +Moor!--_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +THE GATHERER + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles, + SHAKSPEARE. + + + * * * * * + + +EPICURISM. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +At a public dinner, Captain R. commencing a conversation with a +gentleman next to him, was astonished at not being able to elicit one +word in answer. At length his silent neighbour turned to him, and said, +with a look and tone suitable to the _importance_ of the communication, +"Sir, whenever you are at a venison feast, let me advise you _never to +speak during dinner_. In endeavouring to reply to you, I have actually +at this moment swallowed _entire_ a fine piece of fat, _without tasting +it_!" + +J.G.R. + + * * * * * + +An Englishman, named _Drinkwater_, was nearly drowned the other day off +Boulogne; on hearing which, a wag observed that he had "almost taken a +drop too much." + + * * * * * + + +FLY WATER. + + +Prussic Acid has been obtained from the leaves of _green tea_, in so +concentrated a state, that one drop killed a dog almost instantaneously. +A strong infusion of Souchong tea, sweetened with sugar, is as effectual +in poisoning flies as the solution of arsenic, generally sold for that +purpose. + + * * * * * + +There may now be seen, written on a board on a new house in the +Blackfriars-road, the following words:--"Hird robeish may be had heare." + +BILLY. + + * * * * * + + +NO JOKE OR RIDDLE. + + + A house with wings extended wide, + A racket-ground to play in, + Two porters' lodges there beside, + And porters always staying + To guard the inmates there within, + And keep them from the town; + From duns as free as saints from sin, + And sheriffs of renown. + To get white wash'd it is their plan, + 'Tis such a cleansing thing-- + Then out they come with blacker hands + Than when they first went in. + +P.H.H. + + * * * * * + +The following lines are copied from a seat in Greenwich Park, written in +chalk; and from their style, they may be supposed to have been written +by one who meditated suicide:-- + + Oh! deaf to nature and to heav'n's command, + Against thyself to lift the murd'ring hand, + Oh! damn'd despair to shun the living light, + And plunge thy guilty soul to endless night. + +Written also in the same hand:--Charlotte Rumpling, you did not use me +well, but I forgive you--God bless you. + +EDWIN W----. + + * * * * * + + +WANTS A WIFE. + + +She must bee middel eaged and good tempered widdow, or a Maid, and +pursest of propertey, and I wood far reather have a Wife that is ever so +plain then a fine Lady that think herself hansom; the Advertiser is not +rich nor young, old nor poor, and in a very few years he will have a +good incumb. Can be hiley reckamended for onestey, sobrieaty, and good +temperd, and has no in combranc, is very actif, but not a treadesman, +have been as Butler and Bailiff for meney years in most respectable +families, and shood I not be so luckey as to get me a wife, wood be most +willing to take a sitteyeashan once moor, wood prefer living in the +countrey, under stands Brewing feamosley, is well adapted for a inn or +publick hous. Please to derect W.W., 268, Berwick-street, Oxford-roade, +or aney Ladey may call and have a interview with the widdow that keeps +the hous, and say wher and when we can meet each other. All letters must +be pd, no Ofice-keeper to applygh. My fameley ar verey well off and +welthey, far above the midling order. + +This is a good joke upon _Matrimonial Advertising_. + + * * * * * + +Jack Bannister visited the Haymarket theatre on Wednesday night, August +20, and made in the free-list book the following entry:--"Fifty years +ago, in the year 1778, I made my first appearance at this theatre. Half +a century is not bad. Hurra!! John Bannister." + + * * * * * + + +ALPHABETICAL AGREEMENT. + + +In reading over an agreement, for letting a house, the other day, the +initials of the party letting it were A.B., of the party taking C.D., +and of the witness to the signatures E.F. + + * * * * * + + +OBSTINACY AND PERSEVERANCE. + + +Obstinacy and perseverance, though often confounded, are two very +different things; a man may be very obstinate, and yet not persevere in +his opinion ten minutes. Obstinacy is resistance to truth; perseverance +is a continuance in truth or error. + +T.C.C. + + * * * * * + + +IDOLATRY. + + +The origin of idolatry is by many attributed to the age of Eber, though +most of the fathers place it no higher than that of Serug; but it +appears to me certain, that image worship existed in the time of Jacob, +from the account of Rachel taking images along with her on leaving her +father's house, which is given in the book of Genesis. + +T.C.C. + + * * * * * + + +ORIGIN OF THE WORD GALLIMATHIAS. + + +This word, which signifies nonsense, _alias_ talk without meaning, is +supposed to have first arisen at the time when all pleadings at the bar +were in Latin. There was a cause, it seems, about a cock, belonging to +the plaintiff Matthias; the counsel, in the heat of the harangue, by +often repeating the words _gallus_ and _Matthias_, happened to blunder, +and, instead of saying _gallus Matthiae_, said _galli Matthias_, which +at length became a general name for all confused, embroiled language and +discourse. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +SALLIE TO JOHN. + + + Changed ere long shall my fortunes be, + Yet my faith is firm--I will go with thee. + I yield not weakly to fancy's trance, + Or the fitful flame of young romance; + I dwell with a calm, unshrinking mind + On the scenes that I seek and leave behind; + My future fate spread forth I see, + And my choice is fix'd--I will go with thee. + + I have thought on this hour with many a tear, + In the timid weakness of woman's fear; + It comes, and I rise, the test above, + In the dauntless strength of woman's love. + Gaze not upon me with looks so sad-- + My step is firm, and my heart is glad; + This last, last sigh for my home shall be-- + Past is the trial--I go with thee. + +_Dublin_. + +JAN RHI. + + * * * * * + +Diogenes was not in the wrong, who, when the great Alexander, finding +him in the charnel-house, asked him what he was seeking for, answered, +"I am seeking for your father's bones, and those of my slave; but I +cannot find them, because there is no difference between them." + +G.K. + + * * * * * + + +GETTING A JOURNEY. + +_By Dr. Kitchiner_. + + +I GOT on horseback within ten minutes after I received your letter. When +I GOT to Canterbury, I GOT a chaise for town. But I GOT wet through +before I GOT to Canterbury, and I have GOT such a cold as I shall not be +able to GET rid of in a hurry. I GOT to the Treasury about noon, but +first of all I GOT shaved and drest. I soon GOT into the secret of +GETTING a memorial before the board, but I could not GET an answer then; +however, I GOT intelligence from the messenger that I should most likely +GET one next morning. As soon as I GOT back to my inn, I GOT my supper +and GOT to bed. It was not long before I GOT to sleep. When I GOT up in +the morning, I GOT my breakfast, and then GOT myself drest, that I might +GET out in time, to GET an answer to my memorial. As soon as I GOT it, I +GOT into the chaise, and GOT home by three o'clock. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11389 *** |