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diff --git a/old/11401-8.txt b/old/11401-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f9b614 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11401-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1861 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. + Volume 10, No. 271, Saturday, September 1, 1827. + +Author: Various + +Release Date: March 2, 2004 [EBook #11401] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 271 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Bill Walker, David Garcia and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. X, NO. 271.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + +The New Prison, Norwich. + + +[Illustration: The New Prison, Norwich] + + +The old gaol in the city of Norwich, in the year 1823, being found no +longer secure, nor according to the new act of parliament, admitting of +sufficient room for the classification of the prisoners, the magistrates +came to a resolution of erecting a new one outside the city, near St. +Giles's gates; the same was accordingly advertised in the Norwich +papers, in which architects were requested to send plans, elevations, +and sections, (in competition,) accompanied with an estimate of the +total expense of the new building. A great number of designs were in +consequence submitted, when the plan sent by Mr. Brown, of Wells-street, +Oxford-street, London, was adjudged to be the best: his plan was +therefore adopted and carried into execution, of which the annexed +engraving is a faithful representation, taken from the tower of St. +Giles's Church, in the city of Norwich. The foundation stone was laid in +1824, and the building finished this year, 1827. It is designed to hold +120 prisoners, besides the necessary turnkeys and servants, and has cost +the city £23,000; the boundary wall is quadrangular, but is cut off at +the junction of the four angles by bastions, thereby giving to the wall +a greater stability; the whole circumference is 1,220 feet, and encloses +an area of one acre, two roods, and thirty-four poles, being nearly one +acre and three quarters of ground. + +The bastion at the entrance contains on the ground floor a porter's +room, press room, hot and cold baths, and a room with an oven for the +purpose of purifying foul linen. The upper story contains over the +entrance gate the drop room: on each side are receiving cells, two for +males and two for females, a searching room for the surgeon, and the +prison wardrobe; directly over the drop room on the lead flat is the +place where the more heinous malefactors expiate their crimes. The +bastion on the right hand contains a building, on the ground floor and +in the centre of which is the wash-house and laundry, and in front the +drying ground; at each end of this building are the airing grounds for +the sick prisoners, and on the second floor are the male and female +infirmaries, separated by a strong partition wall. The left hand bastion +contains the millhouse, stable, and a room for the van which takes the +prisoners to the town hall in the assize time; over these three rooms +are the mill chamber and hay-loft. The horizontal wind vane on the roof +of this building is to assist the prisoners when there is not a +sufficiency of them sentenced to the tread-wheels; by shutting the +louvre boards of the arms it then produces employment for the prisoners +when there is no corn in the mill to grind. In the remote bastion are +seen the tread-wheels on which the prisoners are employed in keeping up +a constant retrograde motion, which works the machinery in the millhouse +by means of an iron shaft with universal joints concealed below the +surface of the ground. + +Here are four prison wings in the building, the right hand one contains +in one ward common debtors, and in the other unconvicted men felons, not +capital. The second wing on the right contains on one side unconvicted +men felons, and unconvicted women felons for capital offences on the +other. In the first left hand wing there is on the first side the master +debtors, and on the other the court of conscience debtors; the second +wing on the left contains on one side men misdemeanors, and on the other +convicted men felons. There are two day-rooms in each of the four wings, +and four condemned cells and four solitary ones in the back towers; +there is also fourteen airing yards between the four wings, six of which +are sunk three feet below the others, to enable the governor from the +inspection gallery of his house to overlook the tread-wheels, millhouse, +and infirmary; those yards are descended by stone steps, in each there +is a day room, and they are appropriated to the following prisoners, +namely, women debtors, unconvicted women felons, not capital; convicted +women felons, women fines, men fines, and boys for misdemeanors. There +is also a level passage between each two of the sunk yards, one leading +to the infirmary, one to the millhouse, and the other to the +tread-wheels. + +In the governor's house there is in the basement story a kitchen, +scullery, and bakehouse, store room, beer-cellar, and coal cellar; on +the ground floor is the governor's office, living room, committee room, +and matron's room; on the second floor are two bedrooms and the lower +part of the chapel; and on the third floor are two bedrooms and the +gallery of the chapel. There are likewise four bridge staircases, one +from each prison wing leading to passages in the governor's house, which +communicates with the chapel; the prisoners are not here able to see +each others' class, as they are separated by fourteen partitions, being +as many as there are yards in the prison, yet the governor and minister +have from their seats a complete view of every person and every part. +Around the governor's house is an enclosed area, and above an inspection +gallery, from which the governor is enabled to see into every part of +the prison. On the towers of the four prison wings there are reservoirs +for containing water, which is thrown up by a pump worked by the +prisoners at the tread-wheel, whenever water is required, and by means +of lead pipes, it is then conveyed to every part of the prison. The +whole gaol is fire-proof, the floors being of stone, and the doors and +windows of iron. + +There is certainly a peculiar arrangement in the plan of this gaol not +to be met with in any other in the kingdom; there are four yards between +each of the wings excepting those two in the approach to the governor's +house; the middle yards which are divided by a passage, have, as before +stated, each of them a day-room. The prisoners allotted to these yards +have their sleeping cells in the main wing, to which they are conducted +along a passage, at the end of those upper yards which join the prison +wing; the prisoners are therefore in their passage to and from the +sleeping cells, concealed from the others; should there at any time be +a greater number of prisoners belonging to the ward on the ground floor +than there are sleeping cells they are then taken to the spare cells in +the wards above through a door at the end of the upper yard, and yet +concealed from those classes in the sunk yards. All our prison buildings +hitherto erected are hid from the sight by the high boundary wall that +encloses them, producing nothing interesting to the citizen or the +traveller but a monotonous façade. Mr. Brown has obviated this in the +gaol before us, by having raised towers on the ends of the four wings, +which, with the top of the governor's house, mill, and infirmary, being +seen rising above the boundary wall and entrance front, produces to the +eye of the spectator on approaching the prison a _tout ensemble_ truly +imposing and grand. + +ARCHITECTUS. + + * * * * * + + + + +LIVING AUTHORS. + +No. 1. + + * * * * * + +BERNARD BARTON. + + + "Sheltered, but not to social duties lost; + Secluded, but not buried; and with song + Cheering his days." + + +The productions of Mr. Barton are doubtless familiar to most of our +readers, and from them they have learnt much of the amiable turn of +the poet's character. Mr. Barton's compositions afford indications of +genuine feeling, of deep affection, of benevolence, sympathy, taste, and +integrity; he seems to have an ear ever on the listen for the accents of +charity, patriotism, and religion; where human anguish causes the tear +to start, there he would fain be to soothe and alleviate. Such is the +character of the poet, and in the following sketch such will be proved +to be the character of the man. + +Bernard Barton was born in the vicinity of London, on the 31st of +January, 1784. His father was in trade in the metropolis, whither he had +come from his native place, Carlisle. Bernard had the misfortune to lose +his mother one month after his birth: her maiden name was Mary Done, and +she was a native of Rockcliffe, Cumberland; she died at the early age of +thirty-two. The following lines _To a Profile_ evince the feelings with +which our poet still cherishes her memory, or rather the recollection of +what has been told him respecting her:-- + + + "I knew thee not! then wherefore gaze + Upon thy silent shadow there, + Which so imperfectly portrays + The form thy features used to wear? + Yet have I often looked at thee, + As if those lips could speak to me. + + I knew thee not! and thou couldst know, + At best, but little more of one + Whose pilgrimage on earth below + Commenced, just ere thy own was done; + For few and fleeting days were thine, + To hope or fear for lot of mine. + + Yet few and fleeting as they were, + Fancy and feeling picture this, + They prompted many a fervent prayer, + Witnessed, perchance, a parting kiss; + And might not kiss, and prayer, from thee, + At such a period, profit me? + + Whether they did or not, I owe + At least this tribute to thy worth; + Though little all I _can_ bestow, + Yet fond affection gives it birth; + And prompts me, as thy shade I view, + To bless thee, whom I never knew!"[1] + + +His father died before Mr. Barton was seven years old; but his second +marriage, which took place a few months before his death, provided an +excellent parent for his children: to her, and to his two sisters,[2] +both several years older than himself, our author owed infinite +obligations. + +His education at one of the quaker seminaries was, of course, plain and +circumscribed, being pretty much confined to useful, indeed necessary, +branches of knowledge. But his father had been a man of greater natural +and more cultivated intellect than many; he had read much, and on the +abolition of slavery, in which he was one of Clarkson's earliest +associates, he had, on several occasions, proved that he could write +well, though, we believe, he was never avowedly an author. He had left +no despicable collection of books, so that in his school vacations ample +means were afforded to his son of indulging his taste for reading. A +pleasing tribute to the memory of Mr. Barton's father will be found in +his _Napoleon and other Poems_. + +In the year 1806, Mr. Barton took up his residence in the pleasant town +of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, and commenced business as a merchant; but +an unlooked-for domestic affliction of the severest kind was about to +visit him, and his wordly prospects were to receive an irrecoverable +shock,--the loss of his amiable wife, before they had been married +a twelvemonth, and soon after the birth of her child! This excellent +woman, to whom our poet was, for so short a time, united, gave rise to +some of his best pieces, particularly to the poem beginning, _The heaven +was cloudless_,[3] and that entitled _A Portrait, _in _Napoleon and +other Poems_. In this last piece the poet no less beautifully than truly +observes,-- + + + To sympathies, which soothe and bless + Our life from day to day, + Which throw, with silent tenderness, + Fresh flowers across our way, + The heart must ever fondly cling: + But can the poet's sweetest string + Their loveliness display? + No--nor could Titian's self supply + Their living presence, once gone by. + + The air, in which we breathe and live, + Eludes our touch and sight; + The fairest flowers their fragrance give + To stillness, and to night; + The softest sounds that music flings, + In passing, from her heaven-plumed wings, + Are trackless in their flight! + And thus life's sweetest bliss is known + To silent, grateful thought alone. + + +This mournful event, combined with discouraging prospects of a +mercantile nature, induced our author to retire from commercial pursuits +on his own behalf; and in 1810 he obtained a situation as a clerk in the +Woodbridge bank, which he still holds. + +Soon after Mr. Barton had entered upon his present situation, he +began "to commit the sin of rhyme," and a new provincial paper being +established about this time, it became the vehicle of his effusions: by +degrees our young poet became bold enough to send a short piece now and +then to a London paper, and at last, in 1812, ventured on an anonymous +volume, entitled _Metrical Effusions_, 250 copies of which were printed +by a bookseller of Woodbridge, and sold within the immediate circle of +our author's acquaintance. In 1818, Mr. Barton printed, by subscription, +an elegant volume, in elephant octavo, of _Poems by an Amateur_, +of which 150 only were struck off, and none ever sold at the shops. +Encouraged by the very flattering manner in which these impressions of +his poems were received by his friends, our author at last ventured to +publish, in a small volume, _Poems, by Bernard Barton_, which was very +favourably noticed by the literary journals, and, being afterwards made +still more known by an article in the _Edinburgh Review_, has now +reached a _third_ edition. He afterwards published, in a handsome octavo +volume, his _Napoleon and other Poems_; and subsequently a volume of +poems, entitled _A Widow's Tale_, which appeared in an early month of +the present year. + +Such has been the literary career of Bernard Barton. If it have not left +behind it the brilliant track of other poetical comets, it has been less +erratic in its course; and if it have not been irradiated by the full +blaze of a noonday sun, it has nevertheless been illumined by the silver +lustre of the queen of night; and his Parnassian vespers may be said to +possess all the mild and soothing beauties of the evening star. If his +muse have not always reached the sunward path of the soaring eagle, +it is no extravagant praise to say, that she has often emulated the +sublimity of his aërial flight. But the great charm thrown around the +effusions of the Suffolk bard is that "lucid veil" of morality and +religion which "covers but not conceals"--that "silver net-work," +through which his poetic "apples of gold" shine with an adventitious +beauty, which even the gorgeous ornaments so profusely lavished by +a Byron or a Moore would fail to invest them. + + + There is a fame which owes its spell + To popular applause alone; + Which seems on lip and tongue to dwell, + And finds--in others' breath--its own; + For such the eager worldling sighs, + And this the fickle world supplies. + + There is a nobler fame--which draws + Its purer essence from the heart; + Which only seeks that calm applause + The virtuous and the wise impart: + Such fame beyond the grave shall live: + But this the world can never give. + + +--B. BARTON. + +We have alluded to the amiable character of our poet; that his modesty +is equal to his merit, the following extract, from a letter to a friend, +will afford a pleasing evidence. Speaking of his literary career, he +says, "it has been marked by an indulgence on the part of the public, +and the dispensers of literary fame, which I never anticipated. When I +consider that only about three years have elapsed since I avowed myself +an author, I am really surprised at the notice my trivial productions +have received, and the numerous acquaintance to which they have, by +correspondence, introduced me. Much of this, I dare say, is owing to +my quakerism; and to that, unquestionably, I was indebted for the +article in the _Edinburgh Review_, and the more recent passing notice +in the _Quarterly_. Still, as I do not believe that any _outré_ or +_adventitious_ source of attraction would have alone procured me the +attention I have found, I would hope it may partly have arisen from +their simple, unaffected appeal to those quiet, domestic, secluded +feelings, which endear the still undercurrent of existence--in short, +to my being content to make the best I could of the homely and confined +materials to which my situation has given me access, without affecting +scholarship, or aiming at romantic embellishment. There is nothing like +simple truth and nature, after all; and he who is satisfied with simply +and faithfully describing what he actually sees, feels, and, thinks, may +always hope to appeal successfully to the unsophisticated heart."[4] + +We here conclude our notice of the bard of Woodbridge; and should +this brief account excite the interest of our readers to become better +acquainted with this "living author," we refer them to the whole-length +portrait painted by himself, and held up to view in every page of his +poems. + + [1] _Poems_, by B. Barton, p.190, 3rd edit. + + [2] One of these sisters is the present _Mrs. Hack_, favourably + known as the authoress of several useful and highly interesting + works for children. See some introductory verses to her, prefixed + to the third edition of Mr. Barton's "Poems." His brother John + has also distinguished himself by one or two judicious pamphlets + on the situation and circumstances of the poor. + + [3] _Poems_, by B. Barton, p. 133, 3rd edit. + + [4] _Time's Telescope_, p. 18, vol. xi. + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + +THE GREAT FIRE OF 1666. + + +The fire of London broke out on Sunday morning, September 2, 1666, +O.S., and being impelled by strong winds, raged with irresistible fury +nearly four days and nights; nor was it entirely mastered till the fifth +morning after it began. The conflagration commenced at the house of one +Farryner, a baker, in Pudding-lane, near [New] Fish-street-hill, and +within ten houses of Thames-street, into which it spread within a few +hours; nearly the whole of the contiguous buildings being of timber, +lath, and plaster, and the whole neighbourhood presenting little else +than closely confined passages and narrow alleys. The fire quickly +spread, and was not to be conquered by any human means, "Then, (says +a contemporary writer,) then the city did shake indeed, and the +inhabitants did tremble, and flew away in great amazement from their +houses, lest the flames should devour them: _rattle, rattle, rattle_, +was the noise which the fire struck upon the ear round about, as if +there had been a thousand iron chariots beating upon the stones. You +might see the houses _tumble, tumble, tumble_, from one end of the +street to the other, with a great crash, leaving the foundations open +to the view of the heavens."[5] + +The destructive fury of this conflagration was never, perhaps, exceeded +in any part of the world, by any fire originating in accident. _Within +the walls_, it consumed almost five-sixths of the whole city; and +_without_ the walls it cleared a space nearly as extensive as the +one-sixth part left unburnt within. Scarcely a single building that came +within the range of the flames was left standing. Public buildings, +churches, and dwelling-houses, were alike involved in one common fate. + +In the summary account of this vast devastation, given in one of the +inscriptions on the Monument, and which was drawn up from the reports of +the surveyors appointed after the fire, it is stated, that "The ruins of +the city were 436 acres, [viz. 333 acres within the walls, and 63 in the +liberties of the city;] that, of the six-and-twenty wards, it utterly +destroyed fifteen, and left eight others shattered and half burnt; +and that it consumed 400 streets, 13,200 dwelling-houses, 89 churches +[besides chapels; 4 of] the city gates, Guildhall, many public +structures, hospitals, schools, libraries, and a vast number of stately +edifices." The immense property destroyed in this dreadful time cannot +be estimated at less than _ten millions_ sterling. Amid all the +confusion and multiplied dangers that arose from the fire, it does not +appear that more than _six_ persons lost their lives. Calamitous as were +the immediate consequences of this dreadful fire, its _remote effects_ +have proved an incalculable blessing to subsequent generations. To +this conflagration may be attributed the complete destruction of the +_plague_, which, the year before only, swept off 68,590 persons!! To +this tremendous fire we owe most of our grand public structures--the +regularity and beauty of our streets--and, finally, the great salubrity +and extreme cleanliness of a large part of the city of London. + +In relation to this awful calamity we add the following remarks:--Heaven +be praised (says Mr. Malcolm[6]) old London _was burnt_. Good reader, +turn to the ancient prints, in order to see what it has been; observe +those hovels convulsed; imagine the chambers within them, and wonder why +the plague, the leprosy, and the sweating-sickness raged. Turn then to +the prints illustrative of our present dwellings, and be happy. The +misery of 1665 must have operated on the minds of the legislature and +the citizens, when they rebuilt and inhabited their houses. The former +enacted many salutary clauses for the preservation of health, and would +have done more, had not the public rejected that which was for their +benefit; those who preferred high habitations and narrow dark streets +had them. It is only to be lamented that we are compelled to suffer for +their folly. These errors are now frequently partially removed by the +exertion of the Corporation of London; but a complete reformation is +impossible. It is to the improved dwellings composed of brick, the +wainscot or papered walls, the high ceilings, the boarded floors, and +large windows, and cleanliness, that we are indebted for the general +preservation of health since 1666. From that auspicious year the very +existence of the natives of London improved; their bodies moved in a +large space of pure air; and, finding every thing clean and new around +them, they determined to keep them so. Previously-unknown luxuries and +improvements in furniture were suggested; and a man of moderate fortune +saw his house vie with, nay, superior to, the old palaces of his +governors. When he paced his streets, he felt the genial western breeze +pass him, rich with the perfumes of the country, instead of the stench +described by Erasmus; and looking upward, he beheld the beautiful blue +of the air, variegated with fleecy clouds, in place of projecting black +beams and plaster, obscured by vapour and smoke. + +The streets of London must have been dangerously dark during the winter +nights before it was burnt; lanterns with candles were very sparingly +scattered, nor was light much better distributed even in the new streets +previously to the 18th century. Globular lamps were introduced by +Michael Cole, who obtained a patent in July, 1708. + +We conclude the illustrations of this day with a singular opinion of the +author just quoted. Speaking of the burning of London, he says, "This +subject may be allowed to be familiar to me, and I have perhaps had more +than common means of judging; and I now declare it to be my full and +decided opinion, that London _was burnt by government, to annihilate the +plague_, which was grafted in every crevice of the hateful old houses +composing it." + + [5] The progress of the fire might have been stopped, but for the + foolish conduct of the Lord Mayor, who refused to give orders + for pulling down some houses, _without the consent of the + owners_. Buckets and engines were of no use, from the confined + state of the streets. + + [6] "Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London in the + Eighteenth Century," vol. ii. p. 378. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH BOOK + +NO. XLV. + + * * * * * + + +BEHIND THE SCENES; OR, A BREAKFAST IN NEWGATE. + +(_Concluded from page 134_.) + + +No further delay was allowed. The sheriffs moved on, the ordinary, the +culprits, and the officers did the same; and that class of attendants to +which I belonged followed. I shall not easily forget the circumstances +of this brief, but melancholy progress. The faltering step--the +deep-drawn sigh--the mingling exclamations of anguish and devotion which +marked the advance of the victims--the deep tones of the reverend +gentleman who now commenced reading a portion of the burial service, and +the tolling of the prison bell, which, as we proceeded through some of +the most dreary passages of the gaol, burst on the ear, rendered the +whole spectacle impressive beyond description. Few steps sufficed to +conduct us to the small room, or entrance-hall, into which the debtor's +door opens, and from this we saw the ladder which the criminals were to +ascend, and the scaffold on which they were to die. I was on the alert +to detect any sudden emotion which this spectacle might cause, but could +not perceive that it had the slightest effect. The minds of the +sufferers had been so prepared, that a partial view of the machine to +which they were being conducted, seemed to give no additional shock. No +further pause was deemed necessary. The clock was striking eight, and +the ordinary and the youth first brought to the press-room, immediately +passed up the ladder. To the two culprits that remained, the gentleman +whom I have already mentioned offered his services, and filled up with +a prayer the little interval which elapsed, before the second was +conducted to the platform. + +I heard from without the murmur of awe, of expectation, and pity, which +ran through the crowd in front of the prison, and stepping on a small +erection to the left of the door, gained a momentary glimpse of a +portion of the immense multitude, who, uncovered, and in breathless +silence, gazed on the operations of the executioners. I retreated just +as the third halter had been adjusted. The finisher of the law was in +the act of descending, when the under-sheriff addressed him-- + +Is everything quite ready?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then take care and draw the bolt out smartly.--Now, don't bungle it." + +"No, sir--you may depend upon it," was the answer. And the obsequious +anxiety of the hangman to seem polite and obliging, his apparent zeal +to give satisfaction, though very natural seemed to me not a little +curious. + +Prayers, which had been interrupted for a moment, while the last awful +ceremony was in progress, were resumed. As he read them, I saw the +clergyman fix his eye on the executioner with a peculiar expression. He +drew his handkerchief from his pocket, and passed it slightly over his +upper lip. This was the fatal signal. A lumbering noise, occasioned by +the falling of part of the apparatus, announced that it had been obeyed. + +In that moment, a rush from the scaffold forced me from the door. +The sheriffs, the under-sheriff, the ordinary, the gentleman who had +assisted him in preparing the sufferers for eternity, and several other +persons quitted the platform as expeditiously as possible, that they +might not behold the final agonies of the unhappy men. Sir Thomas took +me by the arm as he passed, and signified that he wished me to accompany +him. I did so. Again I marched through the passages which I had recently +traversed. Two minutes brought me to the door of the room to which I had +first been conducted. Here my friend accosted me with his natural +firmness of tone, which before had been considerably subdued by humane +emotions, and said-- + +"You must breakfast with us." + +I started at the unsentimental idea of eating the moment after quitting +so awful a spectacle, as that which I have attempted to describe. But +I had not sufficient energy to resist the good will which rather +unceremoniously handed me in. Here I found the other sheriff, the +ordinary, the under-sheriff, the city-marshal, and one or two of the +individuals I had previously met, already seated. + +"Well, it is all over," said Sir Thomas, as he took his seat at the +table. + +"Yes, it is," said the ordinary, in the same tone which I had heard a +few moments before, and admired as appropriately solemn. "It is all +over, and--" putting his cup and saucer to the under-sheriff, who +prepared to pour out the tea--"I am very glad of it." + +"I hope you do not mean the breakfast is all over," remarked the +sheriff, whose wit I had previously admired, "for I have had none yet." + +The moment had not arrived at which humour like this could be duly +appreciated, and I did not observe that any of the company gave even +that sort of _note of face_ for a laugh which we had all used half an +hour before. + +Our conversation turned naturally on the manner in which the sufferers +had conducted themselves; on the wishes they had expressed, and the +confessions they had made. + +But while I looked on the hospitably spread table, I could not help +connecting operations rather different in their character, which must +have been going on at the same moment. "In my mind's eye," I saw the +attendants carrying the fowl and eggs to the breakfast table, while the +sheriffs and their guests were conducting the sufferers to the scaffold. + +From what I have already said, it must be inferred that the first +speeches which accomplished the circuit of the table, were of a very +serious character. But, mingled with them, some common breakfast-table +requests and civilities caught my attention, as singular from their +association. The performance of duties the most important cannot relieve +man from the necessity of claiming his "daily bread," and I do not know +that it is any reproach to a clergyman that he is not distinguished by +versatility of manner. The abrupt transition from the gravity of the +pulpit to the flippancy of the bar I should not admire; but the +consistency of the reverend gentleman here attracted my notice. +I had been just listening to him while he repeated, with devotional +elongation, the solemn words of the burial service; and when I heard him +with the same elongation of sound, address himself to me--"Shall I +trouble you to cut up the fowl--can I help you to some tongue, sir?" +I confess that I felt tempted not to laugh, but to comment on the +oddly-contrasted feelings which the same voice, thus variously exerted, +inspired. + +Horror-struck, as I had been, at the first mention of the unfeeling word +"breakfast," my excuse for staying was to see if others could eat. That +_I_ should take food was quite out of the question. But the wing of a +fowl having been put on my plate, I thought it would be rudeness to +reject it. I began to eat, inwardly reflecting that my abstinence would +nothing benefit those whose sufferings I had still in my memory; and +improving on this reconciling thought, I presently detected myself +holding my plate for a second supply. "O sentiment!" I mentally +exclaimed, "what art thou when opposed to a breakfast?" + +By the time we had disposed of our first cup of tea, we had got through +the pious reflections which each of us had to offer on the particular +occasion which had brought us together, and conversation started in a +livelier vein. The gentleman who had assisted the ordinary, by praying +with the culprits, gaily remarked to him, with a benevolent chuckle on +his face, that _they_ (meaning himself and the reverend gentleman) had +succeeded in refuting the Unitarian principles which A---- (one of the +sufferers) had for some time avowed. The look which answered this +speech, reminded me, I know not why, of the _organist's_ comment on the +_organ blower's_ assertion that _they_ had played famously well. + +"Ay," said the minister, "I knew it would be so. I told him so +immediately after sentence. But, after all, what can we say for a +recantation dictated by the dread of early death?" + +"Very true!" was my exclamation, as the reverend gentleman looked as if +he expected me to say something. + +"At any rate," whispered a gentleman well-known in the city, with whom +I had formerly done a little business in the funds, "it gives a man +something of an _option_." + +This technical application of a favourite stock-exchange word produced a +general smile round the table, and I could not help contributing to +lengthen it by replying-- + +"You mean, perhaps, that it gives him a _call_." But the lively sheriff, +of whose witticisms I have already made honourable mention, cut me out +of my share of applause altogether, as clean as a whistle, by instantly +rejoining-- + +"The _put_ you mean, for, in this case, the party was going for the +_fall_." + +Of course there was no standing this, and we all joined in the laugh. + +We were however brought back to gravity through the alarm expressed by +the minister, at the idea of his having taken cold through officiating +that morning without his wig. This introduced, I cannot tell how, some +remarks on the head, which led to a disquisition on craniology. On this +subject the witty sheriff was very amusing. _I_ said some tolerably +lively things; but the ordinary beat us all hollow, when it was +contended that the disposition and the mind might be known from the +exterior of the skull, by remarking that he had now an additional reason +to regret having come there without his wig. + +With this epigrammatic touch he took his leave, I and the rest of the +company laughing heartily, and having eaten as heartily as we then +laughed. The facetious sheriff now had it all his own way, and said +several things, nearly, or perhaps, quite as good as those which I have +already placed on record. We were thus pleasantly engaged, when the +aide-de-camp of the gallant officer in the blue and gold,--one of the +city marshal's-men, entered to announce that it was past nine o'clock, +and to ask if any of the company chose to see the bodies taken down. + +"The bodies!" I repeated to myself, and the application of that word to +those whom I had previously heard mentioned but by their names, recalled +my thoughts which had somehow strayed from the business of the morning +into unlooked-for cheerfulness, and presented, in that simple +expression, an epitome of all that had moved my wonder, curiosity, and +commiseration. + +Again we passed through those parts of the prison which I had twice +before traversed. We advanced with a quicker step than when following +those whom we now expected to see brought to us. But with all the +expedition we could use, on reaching the room from which the scaffold +could be seen, we found the "bodies" already there. Nor was this, in my +opinion, the least striking scene which the morning brought under my +observation. The dead men were extended side by side, on the stone +floor. The few persons present gazed on them in silence, duly impressed +with the melancholy spectacle. But in this part of the building a copper +is established, in which a portion of the provisions for its inmates is +prepared. There was a savoury smell of soup, which we could not help +inhaling while we gazed on death. The cooks too were in attendance, and +though they, as became them, did all in their power to look decorously +dismal, well as they managed their faces, they could not so divest +themselves of their professional peculiarities, as not to awaken +thoughts which involuntarily turned to ludicrous or festive scenes. +Their very costume was at variance with the general gloom, and no +sympathy could at once repress the jolly rotundity of their persons. + +I turned my eyes from them, wishing to give myself wholly up to +religious meditation during the moments of my stay. Just then the +executioner approach, ed. Sir Thomas desired him to remove the cap from +the face of one of the sufferers. He prepared to comply--but his first +act was to place his hand on the more prominent features and press them +together. This, on inquiry being made, I learned was done that the +bystanders might not be shocked by witnessing any distortion of +countenance. Sir Thomas smiled at the anxiety of the man to make it +appear that his work had been well performed. The cap was then +withdrawn. There was nothing terrific in the aspect of the deceased. +I recognized the features of the young man who had been so wildly, +so violently agitated, when about to suffer. Now pain was at an end, +apprehension was no more, and he seemed in the enjoyment of sweet +repose. His countenance was tranquil as that of a sleeping infant, and +happier than the infant, his rest was not in danger of being disturbed. +While reflecting on the change which a single hour had sufficed to +produce, I could hardly help regarding as idle the the sorrow, the pity, +and the self-reproach for momentary forgetfulness of these, which I had +felt and breathed within that period. I almost accused the sufferers of +weakness, for showing themselves depressed as they had been, while I +felt disposed, seeing their griefs were, to all appearance, terminated +for ever, to demand with the poet, + + + "And what is death we so unwisely fear?" + + +and to answer as he replies to himself, + + + "An end of all our busy tumults here." + + +_Knight's Quarterly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +JEU D'ESPRIT. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + A sanctified hermit was heard to complain + That raiment and food he no longer could gain. + "For," quoth he "in this village the famine's so great + That there's not enough left e'en a mousetrap to bait." + + A neighbour who happened to bear his sad plaint + Addressed in the following manner the saint: + "The nation will keep thee to support splendour's throne, + And interest will pay thee, because thou'rt _alone_."--(a loan.) + + +W.G. + + * * * * * + + + + +The Months. + + +[Illustration: September] + + +SEPTEMBER. + + + "Now sober Autumn, with lack lustre eye, + Shakes with a chiding blast the yellow leaf, + And hears the woodman's song + And early sportsman's foot." + + +September is generally accounted the finest and most settled month in +the year. The mornings and evenings are cool, but possess a delightful +freshness, while the middle of the day is pleasantly warm and open. +Hence the well-known proverb: + + + "September blows soft till the fruit's in the loft." + + +The destruction of the partridge commences with this month, large coveys +of which may now be seen about the stubble fields, and in the corn, if +any be left standing. These birds get very shy towards the end of the +month, in consequence of being repeatedly fired at. Sportsmen, +therefore, prefer the early part of the season, before the birds get too +wild. Partridges, while the corn is standing, have a secure retreat from +their numerous enemies; but when the harvest is gathered in, they resort +in the day-time to groves and covers. At night, however, they return to +the stubble to avoid foxes and weasels, &c., and there nestle together. + +The swallow now takes his departure for milder regions, and many other +of the small billed birds that feed on insects disappear when the cold +weather commences. The _throstle_, the _red-wing_, and the _fieldfare_, +which migrated in March, now return; and the _ring-ouzel_ arrives from +the Welsh and Scottish Alps to winter in more sheltered situations. All +these birds feed upon berries, of which there is a plentiful supply, +in our woods, during a great part of their stay. The throstle and the +red-wing are delicate eating. The Romans kept thousands of them together +in aviaries, and fed them with a sort of paste made of bruised figs and +flour, &c., to improve the delicacy and flavour of their flesh. These +aviaries were so contrived as to admit but little light; and every +object which might tend to remind them of their former liberty was +carefully kept out of sight, such as the fields, the woods, the birds, +or whatever might disturb the repose necessary for their improvement. +Under this management, these birds fattened to the great profit of their +proprietors, who sold them to Roman epicures for three _denarii_, or +about two shillings each of our money. + +Towards the end of September the leaves of trees begin to put on their +autumnal dress. Mr. Stillingfleet remarks, that, about the 25th, the +leaves of the plane tree were tawny; of the hazel, yellow; of the oak, +yellowish green; of the sycamore, dirty brown; of the maple, pale +yellow; of the ash, a fine lemon-colour; of the elm, orange; of the +hawthorn, tawny yellow; of the cherry, red; of the horn-beam, bright +yellow; of the willow, still hoary. Yet, many of these tints cannot be +considered complete, in some seasons, till the middle or latter end of +October. + +When the harvest is gathered in, the husbandman prepares for seed-time; +and the fields are again ploughed up for the winter corn, rye, and +wheat, which are sown in September and October. The entrances to +bee-hives are straightened, to prevent the access of wasps and other +pilferers. + + * * * * * + + +ASTRONOMICAL OCCURRENCES + +_FOR SEPTEMBER, 1827_. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The sun enters the cardinal and equinoctial sign _Libra_, on the 23rd at +8 h. 24 min. evening, once more bringing our day and night to an equal +length; when 8 deg. of _Gemini_ are due east, and 4 deg. of _Aquarius_ +due south, all the planets having a direct motion, and being below the +horizon, Herschel excepted. The astrological aspects at this ingress are +as follow:--Saturn is located in the third house; Mercury, Venus, and +Mars in the fifth, the Sun, Moon, and Jupiter are in the sixth, while +Herschel occupies the ninth. + +Mercury is in conjunction with Mars on the 4th, at 1 h. morning; on the +6th with the fixed star, Regulus, or Corheoni; with Venus on the 18th, +at midnight; and in superior conjunction with the Sun on the 24th, at +9-1/2 h. evening. + +Venus rises at the beginning of the month about 4-1/2 h. morning, and +towards the end at 5-1/2 h. + +Mars rises through the month at 31/2 h. morning. + +Jupiter is now gradually receding from our view, and will ere long be +totally surrounded with the brighter beams of the Sun; his eclipses are +therefore not visible. + +Saturn is apparently now fast approaching this part of our hemisphere; +he rises on the 1st at 12-1/2 h. and on the 31st at 10-3/4 h. evening. + +Herschel culminates on the 1st at 9h. 6m. and on the 31st at 7h. 12m. + +If the reader will refer to page 131 of the 8th vol. of the MIRROR, +he will find his attention invited to the relative positions of the +principal northern stars and constellations for September last year: +their present appearance is precisely similar. Pasche. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + + +"THE WOODSMAN." + + +A German newspaper contains a strange account--avouched with as much +apparent accuracy almost as those which concerned the mermaids lately +seen off our own coast, or the sea-serpent that visits the shores of +America--of a conversion lately worked upon the morals of a famous +robber, by a supernatural visitation in the forest of Wildeshausen. The +hero of the tale, whose name is Conrad Braunsvelt, but who was better +known by the cognomen of "The Woodsman," was drinking one evening +at a small inn on the borders of the forest of Wildeshausen, when a +traveller, well mounted, and carrying a portmanteau on his horse behind +him, came up by the road which runs from the direction of Hanover. The +stranger, after inquiring if he could be accommodated with a bed, led +his horse away to the stable, and in doing this, left his portmanteau +upon a bench within the house--which Conrad immediately, as a +preliminary measure, tried the weight of. He had just discovered that +the valise was unusually heavy, when the return of the traveller +compelled him to desist; but his curiosity, without any farther effort, +was not long ungratified; for the stranger soon opened it before him, as +it seemed, to take out some articles which were necessary for his use at +night; and displayed in the process several large bags--larger almost +than the machine would have seemed able to contain--which were evidently +full of gold or silver money. The cupidity of Conrad was excited by this +view, and he would gladly have at once secured the prize even at the +hazard of a personal struggle with the stranger; but the people of the +inn (according to his account afterwards) were such as would have +expected a portion of the spoil. For this reason, although unwillingly, +and trusting himself to sleep little, lest by any chance the prey should +escape him, he abandoned his design of robbery, for that night; and on +the next morning, having learned which way the stranger travelled--for +the latter exhibited no suspicions or apprehension of those about him, +but spoke freely of his intended road, though he never mentioned +anything of the charge he carried--having ascertained this fact, he +allowed the rider to depart, and after a short time, followed by a +shorter track through the forest, which was practicable only to persons +on foot, and which would enable him, had he even started later, easily +to overtake the mounted traveller. Now, knowing that his nearer road +saved, as has been noticed, full a league of ground, the "Woodsman" +moved on slowly; and accounted that, when he reached the point at which +they were to meet, he should still have some time to wait for the +stranger: on emerging, however, into the high road, he found him to his +surprise _already_ approaching; and, what was still more extraordinary, +mounted upon a _black_ horse, when that on which he had left the inn, +had certainly seemed to be a brown. The portmanteau, however, which was +all that Conrad looked to, was still behind the traveller, and on he +came riding as if nothing at all was the matter: the "Woodsman" never +hung back, or staid reflecting, but levelled his rifle, and called upon +him to "Stand and deliver," or his next moment was his last. The +traveller upon this pulled up his horse with an air of great coolness; +and, looking upon Conrad, said something, which, as the robber since +says, he verily believes was--"That he hoped he had not kept him +_waiting_!"--or words to that purpose; but he was too busy at the time +to pay much attention to discourse. "Do you know who it is you are going +to rob though?" asked the stranger, addressing the "Woodsman" directly. +"Not I," replied the latter, boldly: "but, if you were der Dyvel +himself, descend from that horse, and deliver the bags of money that you +have on you, or you shall die!" Upon this, the black rider said no more; +but dismounted quietly, although he had pistols in his holsters; and +Conrad, immediately taking the portmanteau from the horse's back, was so +eager to be sure of the contents, that he drew his knife, and cut the +fastenings on the spot. In the meantime, the traveller might have fallen +upon him unawares, and to advantage, but the "Woodsman" endeavoured to +keep an eye upon him, while he went on forcing the valise open as well +as he could. At length the straps were all cut, and the robber thrust +his hands in eagerly, making sure to find the bags which he had seen the +preceding evening, for he had distinctly felt them from the outside. +But, when he drew out his hands, there was in one only a _halter_, and +in the other a piece of brass in the shape of a _gibbet_! And, at the +same moment, a gripe was laid upon his arm; and a deep low voice, which +seemed to be close beside him, pronounced the words, "_This shall be thy +fate_!" When he turned round in horror and consternation, the horse, and +the rider, and the portmanteau, all were gone; and he found himself +within a few paces of the inn door which he had quitted in the morning, +with the halter and the brass gibbet still remaining in his hand. The +narrative states farther, that this horrible rencontre so affected +Conrad Braunsvelt, that he forthwith delivered himself up to the rangers +of the forest, and was sent to Cassel to await the pleasure of the Grand +Duke. He is now confined in an asylum for repentant criminals, desirous +of being restored to society; and his miraculous warning is noted in the +records of the institution.--_Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +CAMBRIAN CONVIVIALITY. + + + "Cloth must we wear, + Eat beef, and drink beer, + Though the dead go to bier." + +_Old Ballad._ + + +There is something refreshing, and not a little inspiriting, in the +scanty relics of those hearty customs and pastimes which imparted such a +manly tone to the character of our ancestors; but now, like the ruined +castle, or the old ivied abbey, they have become objects of admiration +rather than sources of delight. Fifty years ago, the inhabitants of +North Wales, a rude and blunt race even now, were far less sophisticated +by modern refinement than they are at present; and it was then a common +matter for the _Penteulu_, or head of the family, to dine in the large +stone hall of the mansion--he and his own particular friends at a table, +raised on a _Dais_--and his numerous tenants and dependants at another +table running the whole length of the said hall. Then came the +wassailing--worthy of the days of Arthur--wine for the upper table; +ale, medd, (_mead_,) and spirits for the other; and after all came the +friendly contest at some manly game--wrestling, racing, pitching the +bar, or the like. At a period somewhat later, these boisterous pastimes +began to degenerate; and the Welsh squire became more polished, but not, +perhaps, more happy. Still the custom of inordinate potation fondly +clung to him. Immediately contiguous to every mansion of any magnitude +was erected a summerhouse, usually situated in a spot, selected for the +beauty of the scene which it commanded; and to this _sanctum_ did the +gentlemen retire after dinner, to enjoy, unrestrained by the presence of +the ladies, a full indulgence in that boisterous carousal, which their +bluff hearts so dearly loved. But these good and glorious customs have +died the death, and gone the way, of all perishable things; _they_ are +gone, as are those jovial souls who gave them life and buoyancy; but the +eternal hills, which echoed to their merriment and glee--they remain +unaltered by time, and unshaken by the storms which have passed over +them. + +Yet is there still much jovial heartiness in the festive revelry of the +mountaineers. One scene, in which I was a participator, I will endeavour +to portray--it is impressed on my memory by more than one token of +grateful reminiscence. It was in the summer of 1825 that I left London +for a few weeks, and sought among my native hills a reparation of the +wear and tear of half-a-dozen years of hard and unceasing toil. Two days +after my arrival In Merionethshire was celebrated the birthday of Robert +Williams Vaughan, Esq., of Nannau, the only son of Sir Robert Williams +Vaughan, Bart., and member for the county; a gentleman of whom it may be +truly said, that his heart is replete with every noble and benevolent +attribute, and that his mind is dignified by practical wisdom, sound +sense, and energy to direct, for the benefit of his dependents, the fine +and Christian virtues which he possesses. "Come up to Nannau," is his +encouraging address to the labourer, when the hardships of winter are +pressing upon the poor: "Come up to Nannau, show me that you are willing +to work, and I will give you your wages." It is for benevolence like +this, well and usefully exercised, that Sir Robert Vaughan is especially +remarkable, as well also for all those qualities which adorn and dignify +the British country gentleman. Always careful of the welfare, habits, +and comforts of the poor around him; patronizing the industry, +ingenuity, and good conduct of his more humble countrymen, and +ministering to the wants of the sick and the poor; hospitable in the +extreme; kind, affable, and friendly to all, he fulfils in every respect +the happy duties of the wealthy British landholder; and by his generous +courtesy he has ensured to himself the perfect esteem of every person +who knows him. Living in the midst of a cheerful and contented tenantry, +the chieftain as it were of a devoted clan, the proprietor of Nannau may +be truly termed a happy man. The empty blandishments of the world have +no charms for him, nor have its ephemeral pleasures any allurement; for, +like the gallant knight of Peugwern, when invited by Henry the Seventh +to share the honors of his court, for services rendered at Bosworth +Field, he would meekly but promptly reply, "Sire! I love to dwell among +mine own people." Such is Sir Robert Vaughan of Nannau, whose memory +will be long and fondly cherished by those who have enjoyed his +friendship, and witnessed his calm, manly, and useful virtues. + +We sat down to dinner, about forty in number, occupying two tables +placed parallel to each other, in the spacious dining-room of the +mansion. Choice fish of every kind; venison from Nannau Park, celebrated +for the delicious flavour of its fat bucks; mountain-mutton, from the +fertile pastures of Llanfachreth; the noble sirloin, and, in fact, every +substantial delicacy that wealth could procure, pressed even to groaning +the broad tables of our host; while the harper in the hall twanged his +instrument with a force and a fury, that plainly showed his previous +intimacy with the good cheer of the place. But noble and magnificent +as our entertainment was in the eating department, it was infinitely +surpassed by that which was devoted to the orgies of Bacchus. No sooner +was the brief and scarcely audible grace pronounced by the chaplain, +than in marched old Pearson, the gray-headed butler, bearing in each +hand a goblet, in form like an acorn, and fashioned of the dark polished +oak of the far-famed Spirits-Blasted Tree,[7] richly ornamented with +appropriate silver emblems. One of these was placed reversed by the side +of the president and _croupier_ of each table, and presently afterwards +flanked by a huge silver tankard of foaming ale, strong enough almost to +blow into the air a first-rate man-of-war. Filling this goblet, which +held very nearly a pint, the president made his speech to the health and +happiness of the young 'squire, and draining it dry, passed it on to his +left-hand neighbour. The _croupier_ did the same, and like the great +bear of Bradwardine, did the acorn of Nannau begin to make its rounds, +in a manner quite as fearful to me as was the terrific approach of the +bear aforesaid to the heir of Waverley Honor. Unfortunately for me, I +sat between two determined and well-seasoned topers, who took especial +care that I should not only fill to each toast, but drain the cup to +the very bottom; so that, novice as I was in this sort of hilarity, I +found myself, in a very short time, lying down under a laburnum tree +in the lawn, and composing myself very comfortably--no, not _very_ +comfortably--to sleep. I had my sleep, however; and when I awoke and +re-entered the house, a merry group of guests had surrounded the harper +in the hall, and were singing Penillion at full stretch, to the now +unsteady and somewhat discordant accompaniment of the minstrel; the +laugh was of course against me, but good-nature, rather than contempt, +characterised the bantering, and I bore it all in good part. The party +broke up about eleven, and before midnight I was at home, after a +magnificent walk of three miles, over the mountains, in the moonlight. +_The Inspector._ + + [7] This was an old blasted oak, standing a few years ago in Nannau + Park, to the infinite horrification of the honest mountaineers. + Tradition had imbued it with a terrible and awful influence--for, + some four or five hundred years ago, the gigantic skeleton of a + warrior was found incased in its trunk, and grasping with its + bony fingers a long and ponderous sword. It was blown down one + stormy night, and the wood has been manufactured into a variety + of articles. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + + +NEW SOUTH WALES. + + +The following observations, recorded in Mr. Cunningham's _Two Years in +New South Wales_, are as valuable as they are interesting; for hitherto +we have known but little of the natural history of that country:-- + +_Trees_.--Trees here appear to follow the same laws as other vegetable +substances, regarding the effects they produce upon the soil wherein +they grow. It has long been remarked in America, that on the forests +being cut down, young trees of a different species sprout up in place of +the old ones; and here the same remark, in a great measure, holds +good,--acacias very commonly making their appearance on land that has +been once under cultivation, and afterwards permitted to relapse into a +state of nature. From this circumstance it should seem, that trees, like +other vegetables, extract a particular substance from the ground, which +substance it is necessary should be restored before the same species of +tree can be readily grown a second time,--a restoration to be effected, +perhaps, by such chemical changes in the constituent particles of the +soil as may arise from the cultivation of other species. + +_Fruits_.--Of native fruits, we possess raspberries equal in flavour and +not otherwise distinguishable from the English. They grow plentifully +on the alluvial banks of Hunter's river, and supply a yearly Christmas +feast to the birds. Oar native currants are strongly acidulous, like the +cranberry, and make an excellent preserve when mixed with the raspberry. +They grow on low shrubs not higher than the whortleberry bush. Our +cherries are destitute both of pleasant taste and flavour, and have +the stone adhering to their outside. Our native pears are tolerably +tempting to the look, but defy both mastication and digestion, being the +pendulous seed-pods of a tree here, and their outer husks of such a hard +woody consistence, as to put the edge of even a well-tempered knife to +proof of its qualities in slicing them down. The burwan is a nut much +relished by our natives, who prepare it by roasting and immersion in a +running stream, to free it from its poisonous qualities. The jibbong is +another tasteless fruit, as well as the _five-corners_, much relished by +children. The wild potato strongly resembles the species now in use in +Europe, but the stem and leaf are essentially different. It grows on the +loose flooded alluvial margins of the rivers, and at one period of the +year composes the chief sustenance of the natives, having the watery +look and taste of the yam. Of foreign fruits now climatized we possess a +great variety. Here are oranges, lemons, citrons, nectarines, apricots, +peaches, plums, cherries, figs, loquats, grenadillos, quinces, pears, +apples, mulberries, pomegranates, grapes, olives, raspberries, +strawberries, bananas, guavas, pineapples, and English and Cape +gooseberries and currants. Of shell-fruits we have the almond, walnut, +chestnut, and filbert; and of other garden fruits, strawberries, melons, +peppers, &c. + +Melons and pumpkins will absolutely overrun you, if you do not give them +most bounteous scope, and you need want neither water nor musk-melons +for six or eight months yearly on an average, if you duly time the +sowings. Nothing can exceed their rich juiciness and flavour, and the +rapidity of their growth is almost miraculous, when a few showers of +rain temper the hot days. The pumpkin makes an excellent substitute for +the apple in a pie, when soured and sweetened to a proper temper by +lemons and sugar. The black children absolutely dance and scream when +they see one, pumpkin and sugar being their delight. To the half of a +shrivelled pumpkin hanging at the door of my tent on my first essay in +settling, one of our sooty satyrs could do nothing for some minutes but +fidget and skip; and with his eyes sparkling, and countenance beaming +with ecstacy, exclaim, "Dam my eye, _pambucan_; dam my eye, _pambucan_!" +such being the nearest point they can attain to the right pronunciation +of their favourite _fruit_. + +_Birds_.--We are not moved here with the deep mellow note of the +blackbird, poured out from beneath some low stunted bush; nor thrilled +with the wild warblings of the thrush, perched on the top of some tall +sapling; nor charmed with the blithe carol of the lark as we proceed +early afield; none of our birds at all rivalling these divine songsters +in realising the poetical idea of the "music of the grove;" while +"parrots' chattering" must supply the place of "nightingales' singing" +in the future amorous lays of our sighing Celadons. We have our lark +certainly, but both his appearance and note are a most wretched parody +upon the bird our English poets have made so many fine similes about. +He will mount from the ground, and rise fluttering upward in the same +manner, and with a few of the starting notes of the English lark; but +on reaching the height of thirty feet or so, down he drops suddenly and +mutely, diving into concealment among the long grass, as if ashamed of +his pitiful attempt. For the pert, frisky robin, pattering and pecking +against the windows in the dull days of winter, we have the lively +"superb warbler," with his blue shining plumage and his long tapering +tail, picking up the crumbs at our doors; while the pretty little +redbills, of the size and form of the goldfinch, constitute the sparrow +of our clime, flying in flocks about our houses, and building their soft +downy pigmy nests in the orange, peach, and lemon trees surrounding +them. Nor are we without our rural noters of the time, to call us to +our early task, and warn us of evening's close. The loud and discordant +noise of the _laughing jackass_, (or _settler's clock_, as he is +called,) as he takes up his roost on the withered bough of one of our +tallest trees, acquaints us that the sun has just dipped behind the +hills, and that it is time to trudge homewards; while the plaintive +notes of the curlew, and the wild and dismal screechings of the flying +squirrel, skimming from branch to branch, whisper us to retire to our +bedchambers. In the morning, again, the dull monotonous double note of +the _whee-whee_, (so named from the sound of its calls,) chiming in at +as regular intervals as the tick of a clock, warns us to rub our eyes +and con over the tasks of the impending day, as it is but half an hour +to dawn; till again the loud laughter of the _jackass_ summons us to +turn out, and take a peep at the appearance of the morning, which just +begins to glimmer beyond the dusky outline of the eastern hills. + +_Animals_.--Our wild animals are numerous, but few of them carnivorous, +and none of a size to endanger human life. The _native dog_ is generally +believed to be an importation, being deficient of the false uterus or +pouch characterising all our other quadrupeds. He closely resembles the +Chinese dog in form and appearance, being either of a reddish or dark +colour, with shaggy hair, long bushy tail, prick ears, large head, and +slightly tapering nose; in size he reminds one of a shepherd's dog, +running with considerable speed, and snapping in attack or defence. He +does not bark, but howls in melancholy sort, when prowling in quest of +prey, and has a strong and peculiar odour, which makes European dogs shy +at first of attacking him, doubtless intimidated too by his snapping +mode of fighting; for it is observed of poodles, and all which snap, +that few other dogs are fond of engaging them. He is most destructive on +breaking in among a flock of sheep, as he bites a piece out of every one +he seizes; not holding fast and worrying dead like the fox, but snapping +at all he can overtake, till twenty or thirty may be killed by one dog, +there being something so peculiarly venomous in their bite that few +recover from it. Their cross with the tame dog forms a very useful breed +for emu-hunting, and many even of the pure ones are caught young, tamed +by the natives, and bred up to hunt emus and kangaroos. They have as +many pups as the tame dog, littering either in some hollow log, deserted +ant-hill, hole in the ground, or thick brush. They will hunt, kill, and +devour a tame dog also, if a troop of them can catch him alone. A +settler in the interior informed me, that, while out hunting one +morning, he observed his dog running direct towards him at full speed, +with two large native dogs close at his heels; and so eager were they to +seize their prey, that his own dog was actually sheltered between his +legs, and the native dogs within pistol-shot, before they perceived +their danger. Hence he was enabled to shoot one of them. The native cat +is the only other carnivorous animal we possess; but its depredations +extend no farther than the poultry-yard. It is small and long-bodied, +with a long tail, claws like a common cat, a nose like a pig, striped +down the sides with brown and black, and dotted over with white spots. +It climbs trees and preys on birds while they sleep, being a night +animal. + + * * * * * + + +FARM-HOUSES ON THE SNEEUWBERG MOUNTAINS. + + +The farm-houses in the Sneeuwberg, and in most of the colder districts +of the colony, are usually of the following description:--The house +resembles a large barn divided into two or three apartments. One of these +is the kitchen, which also serves for the sitting and eating apartment. +In the others the family sleep; while, in the outer one already +mentioned, visiters and travellers are accommodated with a rush mat, a +feather bed, and a coverlet spread on the clay floor. In this situation +I have often enjoyed, after a fatiguing day's ride, the most balmy +repose; while a swarthy train of slaves and Hottentots were moving round +the embers of the fire, wrapped in their sheepskin mantles, and dogs, +cats, and fowls were trampling over my body. The more wealthy and long +settled families, however, usually have the kitchen separate from their +sitting-room. In such houses curtained beds, and other articles of +decent furniture, are not unfrequently found; but the poorer classes +are content with a few thong-bottomed chairs and stools, two or three +wagon-chests, and a couple of deal tables. At one of the latter sits +the mistress of the house, with a tea-urn and a chafing-dish before her, +dealing out every now and then _tea-water_, or coffee, and elevating +her sharp shrill voice occasionally to keep the dilatory slaves and +Hottentots at their duty. In this same apartment is also invariably to +be seen the carcass of a sheep killed in the morning, and hung up under +the eye of the mistress, to be served out frugally for the day's +provision as it may be required. The houses, being without any ceiling, +are open to the thatch; and the rafters are generally hung full of the +ears of Indian corn, leaves or rolls of tobacco, slices of dried meat, +called _bill tongue_, &c. The last is a sort of ham from the muscular +part of the thigh of the ox, or the larger species of antelopes; it is +very convenient for carrying on journeys, and is found in the boor's +houses in every part of the colony. It is cut into very thin slices, and +eaten with bread and butter, or with bread and the melted fat of the +sheep's tail, which is a common substitute for butter; either way it is +no contemptible dish when one is a little hungry, and many a time I have +heartily enjoyed it. + +A traveller, on arriving, if it does not happen to be meal-time, is +always presented with a cup of tea, without sugar, milk, or bread; +unless occasionally, when you may be favoured with a small piece of +sugar-candy out of a tin snuff-box, to be kept in your mouth to sweeten +the bitter beverage as it passes. When their tea and coffee are +exhausted, a succedaneum is found in roasted grain, prepared in the +same way as Hunt's radical coffee, which, if not very palatable, is +nevertheless a refreshment to a thirsty and weary traveller. They never +think of asking you to eat unless at meal-time; but then you are +expected to draw in your chair, and help yourself, without invitation, +in the same easy manner as one of the family. The dishes consist for +the most part of mutton stewed in sheep's-tail fat, or boiled to rags; +sometimes with very palatable soup, and a dish of boiled corn, maize, or +pumpkin. Cayenne-pepper, vinegar, and few home-made pickles, are also +usually produced to relish the simple fare, which, served up twice a +day, forms, with tea-water and the _soopie_, or dram of Cape brandy, +the amount of their luxuries. In this quarter of the colony, however, I +found every where excellent bread; and, upon the whole, the farmers of +Bruintjes-Hoogte and the Sneeuwberg appeared in much more independent +and comfortable circumstances than those along the coast. + +_Thompson's Southern Africa._ + + * * * * * + + +HOSPITAL FOR THE DUMB. + + +The Banian hospital at Surat is a most remarkable institution; it +consists of a large plot of ground, enclosed with high walls, divided +into several courts or wards, for the accommodation of animals; in +sickness they are attended with the tenderest care, and find a peaceful +asylum for the infirmities of age. When an animal breaks a limb, or +is otherwise disabled from serving his master, he carries him to the +hospital, and, indifferent to what nation or caste the owner may belong, +the patient is never refused admittance. If he recover, he cannot be +reclaimed, but must remain in the hospital for life, subject to the duty +of drawing water for those pensioners debilitated by age or disease from +procuring it for themselves. At my visit, the hospital contained horses, +mules, oxen, sheep, goats, monkeys, poultry, pigeons, and a variety of +birds, with an aged tortoise, who was known to have been there for +seventy-five years. The most extraordinary ward was that appropriated +to rats, mice, bugs, and other noxious vermin. The overseers of the +hospital frequently hire beggars from the streets, for a stipulated +sum, to pass a night among the fleas, lice, and bugs, on the express +condition of suffering them to enjoy their feast without molestation. + +_Forbes's Oriental Memoirs._ + + * * * * * + + + + +Useful Domestic Hints + + * * * * * + + +NORFOLK PUNCH. NO. 1. + + +In twenty quarts of French brandy put the peels of thirty lemons and +thirty oranges, pared so thin that not the least of the white is left; +infuse twelve hours. Have ready thirty quarts of cold water that has +been boiled; put to it fifteen pounds of double-refined sugar; and when +well mixed, pour it upon the brandy and peels, adding the juice of the +oranges and of twenty-four lemons; mix well. Then strain, through a fine +hair-sieve, into a very clean barrel that has held spirits, and put two +quarts of new milk. Stir, and then bung it close; let it stand six weeks +in a warm cellar; bottle the liquor for use, taking great care that the +bottles are perfectly clean and dry, and the corks of the best quality +and well put in. This liquor will keep many years, and improves by +age.--_The Vintner's Guide._ + + +NORFOLK PUNCH. NO. 2. + + +Pare six lemons and three Seville oranges very thin; squeeze the juice +into a large jar; put to it two quarts of brandy, one of white wine, and +one of milk, and one pound and a quarter of sugar. Let it be mixed, and +then covered for twenty-four hours. Strain through a jelly-bag till +clear, then bottle it.--_Ibid._ + + +TO MANAGE AND IMPROVE RED PORT WINE WHEN POOR AND THIN. + + +If your wines be sound, but wanting in body, colour, and flavour, draw +out thirty or forty gallons, and return the same quantity of young and +rich wines, such its are generally brought to this country for that +purpose; to a can of which put a quart of colouring, with a bottle of +wine or brandy, in which half an ounce of powdered cochineal has been +previously mixed. Whisk it well together, and put it in your cask, +stirring it well about with a staff; and if not bright in about a week +or ten days, you may fine it for use; previous to which, put in at +different times a gallon of good brandy. If Port wines are short of +body, put a gallon or two of brandy into each pipe, as you see +necessary. If the wines be in your own stock, put it in by a quart or +two at a time, as it feeds the wine better in this way than putting it +in all at once; but, if your wines are in a bonded cellar, procure a +funnel that will go down to the bottom of the cask, that the brandy may +be completely incorporated with the wine. When your Port is thus made +fine and pleasant, bottle it off, taking care to pack it in a temperate +place with saw-dust or dry sand, after which it will not be proper to +drink for at least two months. When laying your wines down in bottles +you should never use new deal saw-dust, as that causes it to fret too +much, and often communicates a strong turpentine smell through the corks +to the wine.--_Ibid._ + + +RED CURRANT WINE. + + +Take seventy pounds of red currants, bruised and pressed, good moist +sugar forty-five pounds, water sufficient to fill up a fifteen-gallon +cask, ferment; this produces a very pleasant red wine, rather tart, but +keeps well.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + + + +The Gatherer. + +"I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's stuff."--_Wotton_. + + * * * * * + +ON CRANIOLOGY. + + + In days of yore, + Laid wit and lore, + And wisdom in the wig; + But now the skull + Contains them all, + The peruke is too big. + + + * * * * * + + +"According to Julius Africanus," says Gibbon, "the world was created on +the _first of September_--an opinion almost too foolish to be recorded." + + * * * * * + +In the memoirs of the celebrated French actor, Preville, we find the +following letter, addressed by the manager of a strolling company to his +prompter:-- + +"At last, my dear boy, here we are safe in Provins. The coach-office +undertook to deliver the boxes of snow and hail. The winds and tempest +came later than we expected--we even lost a zephyr. The thunder got +broke on the road, and we have been forced to have fresh sodder for the +two lightnings. Our divinities are well, with the exception of Love, who +has got the small-pox; the Graces have been inoculated; we were obliged +to leave them behind on the road, with the brick wall, which being wrapt +round the sun to keep it from getting soiled, was rubbed to pieces by +the sharp rays. Our rivers and sea are coming by water; and pray, when +you come yourself, do not forget to bring lots of clouds with you, and a +new moon. A torrent too will be wanted, for our last has most unluckily +got burnt. I am anxious for a full account of all your purchases, to +which you must add two yards of weeping willows. Above all, bring me a +drawbridge, a fortress, and my linen, if it was not turned into tinder +for the last sea-fight. Ever yours." + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction., by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 271 *** + +***** This file should be named 11401-8.txt or 11401-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/0/11401/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Bill Walker, David Garcia and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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