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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11412 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustration.
+      See 11412-h.htm or 11412-h.zip:
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/4/1/11412/11412-h/11412-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/4/1/11412/11412-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
+
+VOL. 10, NO. 286.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1827. [PRICE 2d.
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Caxton's House in the Almonry, Westminster.]
+
+
+To expatiate on the advantages of printing, at this time of day, would
+be "wasteful and ridiculous excess." We content ourselves with the
+comparison of Dryden's
+
+
+  "Long trails of light descending down."
+
+
+In a retrospective glance at our previous volumes (for can the
+phrenologists tell us of a head capacious enough to contain their
+exhaustless variety?) our readers will perceive that, from time to
+time, sundry "accounts" of the origin and progress of printing have
+been inserted in the MIRROR;[1] and though we are not vain enough to
+consider our sheet as the "refined gold, the lily, the violet, the
+ice, or the rainbow," of the poet's perfection, yet in specimens of
+the general _economy of the art_, the long-extended patronage of the
+public gives us an early place.
+
+With an outline of the life of CAXTON our readers must be already
+familiar; but we wish them to consider the above accurate
+representation of the FIRST ENGLISH PRINTER'S RESIDENCE as antecedent
+to a _Memoir of Caxton_, in which it will be our aim to concentrate,
+in addition to biographical details, many important facts from the
+testimony of antiquarians; for scarcely a volume of the _Archaeologia_
+has appeared without some valuable communication on Caxton and his
+times.
+
+In the meantime we proceed with the _locale_ of Caxton's house,
+situate on the south-west of Westminster Abbey, where was formerly the
+eleemosynary, or almonry, where the alms of the abbots were
+distributed. Howell in his _Londinopolis_, describes this as "the spot
+where the abbot of Westminster permitted Caxton to set up his press in
+the _Almonry_, or Ambry," the former of which names is still retained.
+This is confirmed by Newcourt, in his _Repertorium_, who says, "St.
+Anne's, an old chapel, over against which the Lady Margaret, mother to
+king Henry VII., erected an alms-house for poor women, which is now
+turned into lodgings for singing-men of the college. The place wherein
+this chapel and alms-house stood was called the Eleemosinary, or
+Almonry, now corruptly called the Ambry, (Aumbry,) for that the alms
+of the abbey were there distributed to the poor; in which the abbot of
+Westminster erected the first press for book-printing that was in
+England, about the year of Christ 1471, and where WILLIAM CAXTON,
+citizen and mercer of London, who first brought it into England,
+practised it." Here he printed _The Game and Play of the Chesse_, said
+to be the first book that issued from the press in this country.
+
+Hence, according to Mr. M'Creery, the intelligent author of "The
+Press," a poem, "the title of _chapel_ to the internal regulations of
+a printing-office originated in Caxton's exercising the profession in
+one of the chapels in Westminster Abbey, and may be considered as an
+additional proof, from the antiquity of the custom, of his being the
+first English printer."[2]
+
+Every lover of science, on approaching this spot, will feel himself on
+holy ground, however the idle and incurious of our metropolis may
+neglect the scite, or be ignorant of its identity. We are there led
+into an eternity of reflection and association of ideas; but lest
+human pride should be too fondly feasted in the retrospect, the
+hallowed towers of the abbey, seen in the distance, serve to remind us
+of the imperial maxim, that "art is long, and life but short."
+
+[Footnote 1: See MIRROR, vol 3, p 194--vol 5. p 311.]
+
+[Footnote 2: We requote this passage from Mr. M'Creery, as it has
+already appeared in vol. 5; and in vol. 3, a correspondent denies that
+the first English book was printed at Westminster; but we are disposed
+to think that an impartial examination of the testimonies on each side
+of the controversy will decide in favour of Caxton.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TEA.--ITS INTRODUCTION INTO ENGLAND.
+
+
+(A correspondent, who signs _M.M.M._ informs us that the article sent
+to us by _P.T.W_. and inserted in No. 280 of the MIRROR, was copied
+verbatim from the _Imperial Magazine_, a work which we seldom see, and
+consequently we had no opportunity of ascertaining the origin of our
+correspondent's paper. It seemed to us a good _cyclopaedian_ article
+on the subject, and we accordingly admitted it. We now subjoin
+_M.M.M.'s_ communication.)
+
+In addition to what has been said in the article upon tea, (by
+_P.T.W._) allow me to remark (and which I do not recollect ever to
+have seen noticed in any work upon the subject) that the seed is
+contained in _two_ vessels, the outer one varying in shape,
+triangular, long, and round, according to the number which it contains
+of what may be termed inner vessels. The outer vessel of a triangular
+shape, measures, from the base to the apex about three quarters of an
+inch, and is of a dark brown colour, approaching to black, and thick,
+strong, and rough in texture; within this is another vessel,
+containing the kernel; this inner vessel is of a light brown colour,
+thin, and brittle, in shape, seldom perfectly round, but mostly flat
+on one side: there are three of them in a triangular seed vessel, two
+in a long one, and one in that which is round. The kernel is of a
+brown colour, and in taste very bitter. In no other species of teas
+than Bohea, is the large kind of seed found, which is probably owing
+to that species being gathered last or in autumn. There is a _small_
+seed found mixed with the Congou kind of teas, about the size of a
+pea, which is in every respect similar to the large, except in size.
+This seed was evidently not permitted to ripen, but the calyx of the
+flower connected with the peduncle is quite perfect. The Twankey
+species are of the same appearance, all of which I have had ample
+opportunity of inspecting.
+
+As an appendage to this note, we are induced to quote the following
+pleasant page from _Time's Telescope_ for 1828; and we take this
+opportunity of reminding our readers that our customary Supplementary
+sheet, containing the spirit of this and other popular Annual Works
+will be published with our next Number.
+
+From a single sheet found in Sir Hans Sloane's library, in the British
+Museum, and printed by Mr. Ellis in his Original Letters, _Second
+Series_, it appears that tea was known in England in the year 1657,
+though not then in general use. The author of this paper says, "That
+the vertues and excellencies of this leaf and drink are many and
+great, is evident and manifest by the high esteem and use of it
+(especially of late years) among the physicians and knowing men in
+France, Italy, Holland, and other parts of Christendom; _and in_
+ENGLAND it hath been sold in the leaf for _six pounds_, and sometimes
+for TEN _pounds_ the pound weight, and in respect of its former
+scarceness and dearness, it hath been only used as a regalia in high
+treatments and entertainments, and presents made thereof to princes
+and grandees, till the year 1657."
+
+Secretary Pepys, in his Diary, vol. i. p. 76, without saying where he
+had his drink, makes the following entry:--"Sept. 25th, 1660. I did
+send for a cup of tea (a China drink) of which I never had drunk
+before, and went away."
+
+In a letter from Mr. Henry Savill to his uncle, Secretary Coventry,
+dated from Paris, Aug. 12, 1678, and printed by Mr. Ellis, the writer,
+after acknowledging the hospitalities of his uncle's house, quaintly
+observes, "These, I hope, are the charms that have prevailed with me
+to remember (that is to trouble) you oftener than I am apt to do other
+of my friends, whose buttery-hatch is not so open, _and who call for_
+TEA instead of pipes and bottles after dinner; _a base unworthy Indian
+practice_, and which I must ever admire your most Christian family for
+not admitting. The truth is, all nations have grown so wicked as to
+have some of these filthy customs." In 1678, the year in which the
+above letter is dated, the East India Company began the importation of
+tea as a branch of trade; the quantity received at that time amounting
+to 4,713 lbs. The importation gradually enlarged, and the government,
+in consequence, augmented the duties upon tea. By the year 1700, the
+importation of tea had arrived at the quantity of 20,000 lbs. In 1721,
+it exceeded a million of pounds. In 1816, it had arrived at 86,234,380
+lbs. Something more than thirty millions of pounds is probably the
+present average of importation: some allowance must be made for tea
+damaged and spoiled upon the passage.--See more on this subject, well
+worthy of perusal, in Mr. Ellis's Letters, _Second Series_, vol. iv.
+pp. 57, et seq.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+DANGER.
+
+
+FROM L'ADONE OF MARINO.
+
+_(For the Mirror.)_
+
+
+  Like some lone Pilgrim in the dusky night,
+    Seeking, through unknown paths, his doubtful way,
+  While thick nocturnal vapours veil his sight
+    From yawning chasms, that 'neath his footsteps lay;
+  Sudden before him gleams the forked light!
+    Dispels the gloom, yet fills him with dismay.
+  His trembling steps he then retraces back,
+    And seeks again the well-known beaten track.
+
+E.S.J.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CATS.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+The first couple of these animals which were carried to Cuyaba sold
+for a pound of gold. There was a plague of rats in the settlement, and
+they were purchased as a speculation, which proved an excellent one.
+Their first kittens produced thirty _oilavas_ each; the new generation
+were worth twenty; and the price gradually fell as the inhabitants
+were stocked with these beautiful and useful creatures. Montengro
+presented to the elder Almagro the first cat which was brought to
+South America, and was rewarded for it with six hundred _pesos_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE DEATH OF KING JOHN.
+
+_Extracted from an old black-letter volume, entitled "The Abridgment
+of the Acts and Monuments of Martyrs, from the earliest period of
+Christian suffering to the time of Queen Elizabeth, our gracious lady,
+now reigning," printed in her reign_.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+In the yeere 1216, king John was poisoned, as most writers testify, at
+Swinsted Abbey, by a monk of that abbey, of the order of Cistersians,
+or S. Bernard's brethren, called Simon of Swinsted. The monk did first
+consult with his abbot, shewing him what he minded to do, alleging for
+himself the prophecy of Caiphas, 11th of John, saying, it is better
+that one man die, than the whole people perish. I am well content,
+saith he, to lose my life, and so become a martyr, that I may utterly
+destroy this tyrant. With that the abbot did weep for gladness, and
+much commended his fervent zeal. The monk then being absolved of his
+abbot for doing this fact, went secretly into the garden, on the back
+side, and finding there a most venomous toad, did so prick him and
+press him with his penknife, that hee made him vomite all the poison
+that was within him; this done, he conveyed it into a cup of wine, and
+with a flattering and smiling countenance he sayeth to the king, "If
+it shall please your princely majesty, here is such a cup of wine as
+you never drank better in your lifetime. I trust this wassall shall
+make all England glad," and with that he drank a great draught
+thereof, and the king pledged him; the monk then went out of the house
+to the back, and then died, his bowels gushing out of his belly, and
+had continually from henceforth three monks to sing mass for him,
+confirmed by their general charter. The king, within a short space
+after, feeling great grief in his body, asked for Simon, the monk;
+answer was made he was dead. "Then God have mercy on me," said the
+king; so went he to Newark-upon-Trent, and there died, and was buried
+in the cathedral church at Worster, in 1216, the 19th day of October,
+after having been much fered with the clergy 18 years, 6 months, and a
+day.
+
+MALVINA.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LILLIARD EDGE.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+Near the border between the parishes of Maxton and Ancrum is a bridge,
+called Lilliard Edge, formerly Anerum moor, where a battle was fought
+between the Scots and English soon after the death of king James V.,
+who died in the year 1542. When the Earl of Arran was regent of
+Scotland, Sir Ralph Rivers and Sir Bryan Laiton came to Jedburgh with
+an army of 5,000 English to seize Merse and Teviotdale in the name of
+Henry VIII., then king of England, who died not long after, in the
+year 1547. The regent and the Earl of Angus came with a small body of
+men to oppose them. The Earl of Angus was greatly exasperated against
+the English, because some time before they had defaced the tombs of
+his ancestors at Melrose, and had done much hurt to the abbey there.
+The regent and the Earl of Angus, without waiting the arrival of a
+greater force, which was expected, met the English at Lilliard Edge,
+where the Scots obtained a great victory, considering the inequality
+of their number. A young woman of the name of Lilliard fought along
+with the Scots with great courage; she fell in the battle, and a
+tombstone was erected upon her grave on the field where it was fought.
+Some remains of this tombstone are still to be seen. It is said to
+have contained the following inscription:--
+
+
+  "Fair maiden Lilliard lies under this stane;
+  Little was her stature, but great was her fame.
+  On the English lads she laid many thumps,
+  And when her legs were off she fought on her stumps."
+
+T.S.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+BOOKS AND BOOKWORMS.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+Books were anciently made of plates of copper and lead, the bark of
+trees, bricks, Stones, and wood. Josephus speaks of two columns, the
+one of stone, the other of brick, on which the children of Seth wrote
+their inventions and astronomical discoveries. Porphyry mentions some
+pillars, preserved in Crete, on which the ceremonies observed by the
+Corybantes in their sacrifices were recorded. The leaves of the
+palm-tree were used, and the finest and thinnest part of the bark of
+such trees as the lime, the ash, the maple, and the elm; from hence
+comes the word _liber_, which signifies the inner bark of the trees;
+and as these barks are rolled up, in order to be removed with greater
+ease, these rolls were called _volumen_, a volume, a name afterwards
+given to the like rolls of paper or parchment. By degrees wax, then
+leather, were introduced, especially the skins of goats and sheep, of
+which at length parchment was prepared; also linen, then silk, horn,
+and lastly paper. The rolls or volumes of the ancients were composed
+of several sheets, fastened to each other, rolled upon a stick, and
+were sometimes fifty feet in length, and about a yard and a half wide.
+At first the letters were only divided into lines, then into separate
+words, which, by degrees, were noted with accents, and distributed by
+points, and stops into periods, paragraphs, chapters, and other
+divisions. In some countries, as among the orientals, the lines began
+from the right, and ran to the left; in others, as in northern and
+western nations, from the left to the right; others, as the Grecians,
+followed both directions alternately, going in the one and returning
+in the other.
+
+In the Chinese books, the lines run from top to bottom. Again, the
+page in some is entire and uniform; in others, divided into columns;
+in others, distinguished into text and notes, either marginal or at
+the bottom; usually it is furnished with signatures and catch-words,
+also with a register to discover whether the book be complete. The
+Mahometans place the name of God at the beginning of all their books.
+The word _book_ is derived from the Saxon _boc_, which comes from the
+northern _buech_, of _buechans_, a beech, or _service-tree_, on the
+bark of which our ancestors used to write. A very large estate was
+given for one on Cosmography by king Alfred. About the year 1400, they
+were sold from 10_l_. to 30_l_. a piece. The first printed one was
+the Vulgate edition of the Bible, 1462; the second was _Cicero de
+Officiis_, 1466. Leo I. ordered 200,000 to be burnt at Constantinople.
+In the suppressed monasteries of France, in 1790, there were found
+4,104,412 volumes; nearly one-half were on theology. The end of the
+book, now denoted by _finis_, was anciently marked with a <, called
+_coronis_, and the whole frequently washed with an oil drawn from
+cedar, or citron chips strewed between the leaves, to preserve it from
+rotting.
+
+Thus far books; now for the _bookworms_. Anthony Magliabecchi, the
+notorious bookworm, was born at Florence in 1633; his passion for
+reading induced him to employ every moment of his time in improving
+his mind. By means of an astonishing memory and incessant application,
+he became more conversant with literary history than any man of his
+time, and was appointed librarian to the grand duke of Tuscany. He has
+been called a living library. He was a man of a most forbidding and
+savage aspect, and exceedingly negligent of his person. He refused to
+be waited upon, and rarely took off his clothes to go to bed. His
+dinner was commonly three hard eggs, with a draught of water. He had a
+small window in his door, through which he could see all those who
+approached him; and if he did not wish for their company, he would not
+admit them. He spent some hours in each day at the palace library; but
+is said never in his life to have gone farther from Florence than to
+Pratz, whither he once accompanied Cardinal Norris to see a
+manuscript. He died at the age of 81, in the year 1714. In the present
+age we have _bookworms_, who wander from one bookstall to another, and
+there devour their daily store of knowledge. Others will linger at the
+tempting window filled with the "_twopenny_," and read all the open
+pages; then pass on to another of the same description, and thus enjoy
+literature by the way of _Cheapside_.
+
+P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MIDNIGHT--A TOUCH AT THE EPIC.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+  "The iron tongue of midnight hath toll'd twelve."
+SHAKSPEARE.
+
+
+  Amid the pauses of the midnight storm,
+  When all without is cold, within all warm!
+  Amid the pauses of the midnight blast,
+  When ev'ry bolt and ev'ry sleeper's fast!
+  In that dire hour, when graves give up their dead,
+  And men for once agree in their pursuit--a bed!
+  When heroes, statesmen, senators, and kings,
+  Lords, and et ceteras of meaner things,
+  Forget the road to fortune--or to jail,
+  And Morpheus all their equal guardian hail!
+  When each forgets each 'vantage or mishap.
+  And all are equal in one common nap!
+  At that dread hour...
+            Caetera desiderantur.
+
+
+_Carshalton_ W. P----n.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ON OATHS.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+Since lately we have had a great deal of prevarication in our courts
+of justice about receiving the oaths of deists, &c., I have thought it
+meet to furnish the MIRROR with an account of the first usage of the
+words, "So help me God." The word oath is a corruption of the Saxon
+_eoth_. An oath is called corporal, because the person making an
+affidavit lays his hand upon a part of the scriptures.
+
+At the conclusion of the oath the above words are used, which may
+perhaps have originated in the very ancient manner of trial by battle
+in this country, when the appellee, laying his right hand on the book,
+takes the appellant by the right hand with his left, and maketh oath
+as follows:--"Hear this, thou who callest thyself _John_ by the name
+of baptism, whom I hold by thy hand, that falsely upon me thou hast
+lied; and for this thou liest, that I who call myself _Thomas_ by the
+name of baptism, did not feloniously murder thy father, _W._ by name,
+_so help me God_." (Here he kisses the book, and concludes,)--"And
+this I will defend against thee by my body, as this court shall
+award." And the appellant is thus sworn also.
+
+Here, it may be observed also, the true foundation of the word _lie_,
+being esteemed still so great an affront above all others, as whenever
+it is pronounced to cause "an immediate affray and bloodshed."
+
+I have seen people sworn in poetry; and certain it is, that in many
+countries in Europe the making of oaths differs. I have some curious
+specimens of ancient oaths, some in Latin prose, others in poetry.
+
+Lord Chief Justice Coke was so strict with regard to the receiving of
+oaths, that when at Cambridge Summer Assizes, upon a trial of felony,
+he said, "in case of trespass, although it be only to the value of
+_twopence_, no evidence shall be given to the jury _but upon oath_,
+much less where _the life of a man is in question_." An action may be
+brought on the case upon a man calling another a _perjured_ man,
+because it shall be intended to be contrary to his oath in a judicial
+proceeding.
+
+W.H.H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ORIGINAL LETTER
+
+_From the Younger Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, upon his death bed, to
+the Rev. Dr. W.----_.
+
+
+Dear Doctor,--I always looked upon you as a man of true virtue, and
+know you to be a person of sound understanding; for however I may have
+acted in opposition to the principles of religion, or the dictates of
+reason, I can honestly assure you I had always the highest veneration
+for both. The world and I may now shake hands, for I dare affirm that
+we are heartily weary of one another. Oh, doctor, what a prodigal have
+I been of that most valuable of all possessions, time. I have
+squandered it away with a profusion unparalleled; and now that the
+enjoyment of a few days would be worth a hecatomb of worlds, I cannot
+flatter myself with a prospect of half a dozen hours. How despicable,
+my dear friend, is that man who never prays to his God but in the time
+of distress. In what manner can he supplicate that omnipotent Being in
+his affliction with reverence, whom in the tide of his prosperity he
+never remembered with dread! Don't brand me with infidelity, my dear
+doctor, when I tell you I am almost ashamed to offer up my petitions
+at the throne of grace, or of imploring that divine mercy in the next
+world, which I have so scandalously abused in this! Shall ingratitude
+to man be looked upon as the blackest of crimes, and not ingratitude
+to God? Shall an insult offered to the king be looked upon in the most
+offensive light, and yet no notice be taken when the King of kings is
+treated with indignity and disrespect. The companions of my former
+libertinism would scarcely believe their eyes, my dear doctor, was you
+to show them this epistle. They would laugh at me as a dreaming
+enthusiast, or pity me as a timorous wretch who was shocked at the
+appearance of futurity. But whoever laughs at me for being right, or
+pities me for being sensible of my errors, is more entitled to my
+compassion than my resentment. A future life may very well strike
+terror into any man who has not acted well in this life; and he must
+have an uncommon share of courage indeed who does not shrink at the
+presence of his God. You see, my dear doctor, the apprehension of
+death will soon bring the most profligate to a proper use of their
+understanding. To what a situation am I now reduced? Is this odious
+little hut a suitable lodging for a prince? or is this anxiety of my
+mind becoming the characteristic of a Christian? From my rank and
+fortune I might have expected affluence to wait on my life, from my
+religion and understanding, peace to smile upon my end; instead of
+which I am afflicted with poverty, and haunted with remorse, despised
+by my country, and I fear forsaken by my God! There is nothing so
+dangerous, my dear doctor, as extraordinary abilities. I cannot be
+accused of vanity now, by being sensible I was once possessed of
+uncommon qualifications, more especially as I sincerely regret that I
+was ever blest with any at all. My rank in life made these
+accomplishments still more conspicuous; and, fascinated with the
+general applause which they procured, I never considered about the
+proper means by which they should be displayed; hence, to purchase a
+smile from a blockhead I despised, have I frequently treated the
+virtuous with disrespect, and sported with the Holy Name of heaven to
+obtain a laugh from a parcel of fools, who were entitled to nothing
+but my contempt. Your men of wit, my dear doctor, generally look upon
+themselves as discharged from the duties of religion, and confine the
+doctrines of the Gospel to people of meaner understandings; it is a
+sort of derogation, in their opinion, to comply with the rules of
+Christianity, and reckon that man possessed of a narrow genius who
+studies to be good. What a pity that the Holy Writings are not made
+the criterion of true judgment! or that any one should pass for a fine
+gentleman in this world, but he that seems solicitous about his
+happiness in the next. My dear doctor, I am forsaken by all my
+acquaintance, utterly neglected by the friends of my bosom and the
+dependants of my bounty. But no matter; I am not now fit to converse
+with the first, and have no ability to serve the latter. Let me not be
+cast off wholly, however, by the good. Favour me with a visit, dear
+doctor, as soon as possible. Writing to you gives me some ease,
+especially upon a subject I could talk of for ever. I am of opinion
+this is the last visit I shall ever solicit from you. My distemper is
+powerful. Come and pray for the departing spirit of the unhappy
+BUCKINGHAM.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+The Sketch Book.
+
+No. LI.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE PHANTOM HAND.
+
+
+  I see a hand you cannot see,
+  Which beckons me away!
+
+
+In a lonely part of the bleak and rocky coast of Scotland, there dwelt
+a being, who was designated by the few who knew and feared him, the
+Warlock Fisher. He was, in truth, a singular and a fearful old man.
+For years he had followed his dangerous occupation alone; adventuring
+forth in weather which appalled the stoutest of the stout hearts that
+occasionally exchanged a word with him, in passing to and fro in their
+mutual employment. Of his name, birth, or descent, nothing was known;
+but the fecundity of conjecture had supplied an unfailing stock of
+_materiel_ on these points. Some said he was the devil incarnate;
+others said he was a Dutchman, or some other "far-away foreigner," who
+had fled to these comparative solitudes for shelter, from the
+retribution due to some grievous crime; and all agreed, that he was
+neither a Scot nor a true man. In outward form, however, he was still
+"a model of a man," tall, and well-made; though in years, his natural
+strength was far from being abated. His matted black hair, hanging in
+elf-locks about his ears and shoulders, together with the perpetual
+sullenness which seemed native in the expression of features neither
+regular nor pleasing, gave him an appearance unendurably disgusting.
+He lived alone, in a hovel of his own construction, partially scooped
+out of a rock--was never known to have suffered a visitor within its
+walls--to have spoken a kind word, or done a kind action. Once,
+indeed, he performed an act which, in a less ominous being, would have
+been lauded as the extreme of heroism. In a dreadfully stormy morning,
+a fishing-boat was seen in great distress, making for the shore--there
+were a father and two sons in it. The danger became imminent, as they
+neared the rocky promontory of the fisher--and the boat upset. Women
+and boys were screaming and gesticulating from the beach, in all the
+wild and useless energy of despair, but assistance was nowhere to be
+seen. The father and one of the lads disappeared for ever; but the
+younger boy clung, with extraordinary resolution, to the inverted
+vessel. By accident, the Warlock Fisher came to the door of his hovel,
+saw the drowning lad, and plunged instantaneously into the sea. For
+some minutes he was invisible amid the angry turmoil; but he swam like
+an inhabitant of that fearful element, and bore the boy in safety to
+the beach. From fatigue or fear, or the effects of both united, the
+poor lad died shortly afterwards; and his grateful relatives
+industriously insisted, that he had been blighted in the grasp of his
+unhallowed rescuer!
+
+Towards the end of autumn, the weather frequently becomes so broken
+and stormy in these parts, as to render the sustenance derived from
+fishing extremely precarious. Against this, however, the Warlock
+Fisher was provided; for, caring little for weather, and apparently
+less for life, he went out in all seasons, and was known to be absent
+for days, during the most violent storms, when every hope of seeing
+him again was lost. Still nothing harmed him: he came drifting back
+again, the same wayward, unfearing, unhallowed animal. To account for
+this, it was understood that he was in connexion with smugglers; that
+his days of absence were spent in their service--in reconnoitring for
+their safety, and assisting their predations. Whatever of truth there
+might be in this, it was well known that the Warlock Fisher never
+wanted ardent spirits; and so free was he in their use and of tobacco,
+that he has been heard, in a long and dreary winter's evening,
+carolling songs in a strange tongue, with all the fervour of an
+inspired bacchanal. It has been said, too, at such times he held
+strange talk with some who never answered, deprecated sights which no
+one else could see, and exhibited the fury of an outrageous maniac.
+
+It was towards the close of an autumn day, that a tall young man was
+seen surveying the barren rocks, and apparently deserted shores, near
+the dwelling of the fisher. He wore the inquiring aspect of a
+stranger, and yet his step indicated a previous acquaintance with the
+scene. The sun was flinging his boldest radiance on the rolling ocean,
+as the youth ascended the rugged path which led to the Warlock
+Fisher's hut. He surveyed the door for a moment, as if to be certain
+of the spot; and then, with one stroke of his foot, dashed the door
+inwards. It was damp and tenantless. The stranger set down his bundle,
+kindled a fire, and remained in quiet possession. In a few hours the
+fisher returned. He started involuntarily at the sight of the
+intruder, who sprang to his feet, ready for any alternative.
+
+"What seek you in my hut?" said the Fisher.
+
+"A shelter for the night--the hawks are out."
+
+"Who directed you to me?"
+
+"Old acquaintance!"
+
+"Never saw you with my eyes--shiver me! But never mind, you look like
+the breed--a ready hand and a light heel, ha! All's right--tap your
+keg!"
+
+No sooner said than done. The keg was broached, and a good brown basin
+of double hollands was brimming at the lips of the Warlock Fisher. The
+stranger did himself a similar service, and they grew friendly. The
+fisher could not avoid placing his hand before his eyes once or twice,
+as if wishful to avoid the keen gaze of the stranger, who still plied
+the fire with fuel and his host with hollands. Reserve was at length
+annihilated, and the fisher jocularly said--
+
+"Well, and so we're old acquaintance, ha?"
+
+"Ay," said the young man, with another searching glance. "I was in
+doubt at first, but _now_ I'm certain."
+
+"And what's to be done?" said the Fisher.
+
+"An hour after midnight you must put me on board -----'s boat, she'll
+be abroad. They'll run a light to the masthead, for which you'll
+steer. You're a good hand at the helm in a dark night and a rough
+sea," was the reply.
+
+"How, if I will not?"
+
+"Then--_your life or mine!"_
+
+They sprang to their feet simultaneously, and an immediate encounter
+seemed inevitable.
+
+"Psha!" said the Fisher, sinking on his seat, "what madness this is!
+I was a thought warm with the liquor, and the recollections of past
+times were rising on my memory. Think nothing of it. I heard those
+words once before," and he ground his teeth in rage--"Yes, once--but
+in a shriller voice than your's! Sometimes, too, the bastard rises to
+my view; and then I smite him so--bah! give us another basin-full!" He
+stuck short at vacancy, snatched the beverage from the stranger, and
+drank it off. "An hour after midnight, said ye?"
+
+"Ay--you'll see no bastards then!"
+
+"Worse--may be--worse!" muttered the Fisher, sinking into abstraction,
+and glaring wildly on the flickering embers before him.
+
+"Why, how's this?" said the stranger. "Are your senses playing bo-peep
+with the ghost of some pigeon-livered coast captain, eh? Come, take
+another pull at the keg, to clear your head-lights, and tell us a bit
+of your ditty."
+
+The Fisher took another draught, and proceeded--
+
+"About five-and-twenty years ago, a stranger came to this hut--may the
+curse of God annihilate him!--"
+
+"Amen to that," said the young man.
+
+"He brought with him a boy and a girl, a purse of gold, and ---- the
+arch fiend's tongue, to tempt me! Well, it was to take these children
+out to sea--upset the boat--and lose them!"--
+
+"And you did so!" interrupted the stranger.
+
+"I tried--but listen. On a fine evening, I took them out: the sun sunk
+rapidly, and I knew by the freshening of the breeze, there would be a
+storm. I was not mistaken. It came on even faster than I wished. The
+children were alarmed--the boy, in particular, grew suspicious; he
+insisted that I had an object in going out so far at sun-set. This
+irritated me,--and I rose to smite him, when the fair girl interposed
+her fragile form between us. She screamed for mercy, and clung to my
+arm with the desperation of despair. _I could not shake her off_! The
+boy had the spirit of a man; he seized a piece of spar, and struck me
+on the temples. 'How, you villain!' said he, 'your life or mine!' At
+that moment the boat upset, and we were all adrift. The boy I never
+saw again--a tremendous sea broke between us--but the wretched girl
+clung to me like hate! Damnation!--her dying scream is ringing in my
+ears like madness! I struck her on the forehead, and she sank--all but
+her hand, one little, white hand would not sink! I threw myself on my
+back, and struck at it with both my feet--and then I thought it sunk
+for ever. I made the shore with difficulty, for I was stunned and
+senseless, and the ocean heaved as if it would have washed away the
+mortal world--and the lightnings blazed as if all hell had come to
+light the scene of warfare! I have never since been on the sea at
+midnight, but that hand has followed or preceded me; I have never
+----." Here he sank down from his seat, and rolled himself in agony
+upon the floor.
+
+"Poor wretch!" muttered the stranger, "what hinders now my long-sought
+vengeance? Even with my foot--but thou shalt share my murdered
+sister's grave!"
+
+"A shot is fired--look out for the light!" said the young man.
+
+The Fisher went to the door; but suddenly started back, clasping his
+hands before his face.
+
+"Fire and brimstone! there it is again!" he cried.
+
+"What?" said his companion, looking cooly round him.
+
+"That infernal hand! Lightnings blast it!--but that's impossible," he
+added, in a fearful under-tone, which sounded as if some of the eternal
+rocks around him were adding a response to his imprecations--"_that's_
+impossible! It is a part of them--it has been so for years--darkness
+could not shroud it--distance could not separate it from my burning
+eye-balls!--awake, it was there--asleep, it flickered and blazed before
+me!--it has been my rock a-head through life, and it will herald me to
+hell!" So saying, he pressed his sinewy hands upon his face, and buried
+his head between his knees, till the rock beneath him seemed to shake
+with his uncontrollable agony.
+
+"Again it beckons me!" said he, starting up--"ten thousand fires are
+blazing in my heart--in my brain!--where, _where_ can I be worse?
+Fiend, I defy thee!"
+
+"I see nothing," said his companion, with unalterable composure.
+
+"You see nothing!" thundered the Fisher, with mingling sarcasm and
+fury--"look _there_." He snatched his hand, and pointing steadily into
+the gloom, again murmured, "Look there! look there!"
+
+At that moment the lightning blazed around with appalling brilliancy;
+and the stranger saw a small white hand, pointing tremulously upwards.
+
+"I saw it there," said he, "but it is not _hers_! Infatuated,
+abandoned villain." he continued, with irrepressible energy, "it is
+not my sister's hand--no! it is the incarnate fiend's who tempted you,
+and who now waves you to perdition--begone together!"
+
+He aimed a dreadful blow at the astonished Fisher, who instinctively
+avoided the stroke. Mutually wound up to the highest pitch of anger,
+they grappled each the other's throat, set their feet, and strained
+for the throw, which was inevitably to bury both in the wild waves
+beneath. A faint shriek was heard, and a gibbering, as of many voices,
+came fluttering around them.
+
+"Chatter on!" said the Fisher, "he joins you now!"
+
+"Together--it will be together!" said the stranger, as with a last
+desperate effort he bent his adversary backward from the betling
+cliff. The voice of the Fisher sounded hoarsely in execration, as they
+dashed into the sea together; but what he said was drowned in the
+hoarser murmur of the uplashing surge! The body of the stranger was
+found on the next morning, flung far up on the rocky shore--but that
+of the murderer was gone for ever!
+
+The superstitious peasantry of the neighbourhood still consider the
+spot as haunted; and at midnight, when the waves dash fitfully against
+the perilous crags, and the bleak winds sweep with long and angry moan
+around them, they still hear the gibbering voices of the fiends, and
+the mortal execrations of the Warlock Fisher!--but, after that fearful
+night, no man ever saw THE PHANTOM HAND!--_Literary Magnet_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+ARCANA OF SCIENCE.
+
+_Elephants_.
+
+
+All the elephants which were exported from Point de Galle were caught
+in ancient, as well as in modern times, in that tract of country which
+extends from Matura to Tangcolle, in the south of Ceylon, and which,
+from its being famous for its elephants in his days, is described by
+Ptolemy in the map he made of Ceylon sixteen hundred years ago as the
+_elephantum pascua_. The trade in elephants from Ceylon, which used to
+be lucrative, is now completely annihilated, in consequence of all the
+petty Rajahs, Foligars, and other chiefs in the southern peninsula of
+India, who used formerly to purchase Ceylon elephants as a part of
+their state, having lost their sovereignties, and being therefore no
+longer required to keep up any state of this description. A gentleman
+who has a plantation at Candy, it is understood, recently introduced
+the use of elephants, in ploughing, with great advantage.--_Trans.
+Asiatic Society_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_The Fennecous Cerdo_.
+
+[Illustration: Fennecous Cerdo.]
+
+
+This beautiful and extraordinary animal, or at least one of its genus,
+was first made known to European naturalists by Bruce, who received it
+from his dragoman, whilst consul general at Algiers. It is frequently
+met with in the date territories of Africa, where the animals are
+hunted for their skins, which are afterwards sold at Mecca, and then
+exported to India. Bruce kept his animal alive for several months, and
+took a drawing of it in water colours, of the natural size, a copy of
+which, on transparent paper, was clandestinely made by his servant.
+Mr. Brander, into whose hands the _Fennecus_ fell after Bruce left
+Algiers, gave an account of it in "Some Swedish Transactions," but
+refused to let the figure be published, the drawing having been
+unfairly obtained.[3] Bruce asserts that this animal is described in
+many Arabian books, under the name of _El Fennec_, which appellation
+he conceives to be derived from the Greek word for a palm or
+date-tree.
+
+The favourite food of Bruce's Fennec was dates or any sweet fruit; but
+it was also very fond of eggs; when hungry it would eat bread,
+especially with honey or sugar. His attention was immediately
+attracted if a bird flew near him, and he would watch it with an
+eagerness that could hardly be diverted from its object; but he was
+dreadfully afraid of a cat. Bruce never heard that he had any voice.
+During the day he was inclined to sleep, but became restless and
+exceedingly unquiet as night came on. The above Fennec was about ten
+inches long, the tail five inches and a quarter, near an inch of it on
+the tip, black. The colour of the body was dirty white, bordering on
+cream colour; the hair on the belly rather whiter, softer and longer
+than on the rest of the body. His look was sly and wily; he built his
+nest on trees, and did not burrow in the earth.
+
+Naturalists, especially those of France, were long induced to suspect
+the truth of Bruce's description of this animal; but a specimen from
+the interior of Nubia, and preserved in the museum at Frankfort, has
+recently been engraved; and thus the matter nearly settled by the
+animal belonging to the genus _Canis_, and the sub genus _Vulpes_; the
+number of teeth and form, being precisely the same as the fox, which
+it also resembles in its feet, number of toes, and form of tail.
+
+For the above engraving we are indebted to the Appendix to the
+important and interesting Travels of Messrs. Denham and Clapperton. It
+is therein described as generally of a white colour, inclining to
+straw yellow; above, from the occiput to the insertion of the tail it
+is light rufous brown, delicately pencilled with fine black lines,
+from thinly scattered hairs tipped with black; the exterior of the
+thighs is lighter rufous brown; the chin, throat, belly, and interior
+of the thighs and legs are white, or cream colour. The nose is
+pointed, and black at the extremity; above, it is covered with very
+short, whitish hair inclining to rufous, with a small irregular rufous
+spot on each side beneath the eyes; the whiskers are black, rather
+short and scanty; the back of the head is pale rufous brown. The ears
+are very large, erect, and pointed, and covered externally with short,
+pale, rufous brown hair; internally, they are thickly fringed on the
+margin with long grayish white hairs, especially in front; the rest of
+the ears, internally, is bare; externally, they are folded or plaited
+at the base. The tail is very full, cylindrical, of a rufous brown
+colour, and pencilled with fine black lines like the back. The fur is
+very soft and fine; that on the back, from the back to the insertion
+of the tail, as well as that on the upper part of the shoulder before,
+and nearly the whole of the hinder thigh, is formed of tri-coloured
+hairs, the base of which is of a dark lead colour, the middle white,
+and the extremity light rufous brown.
+
+[Footnote 3: We did not know that such unpleasantries as Chancery
+injunctions were part of African law; perhaps sand may not be removed
+from the desert "without leave of the trustees," like scrapings from
+our roads.]
+
+
+_Fossil Turtle_.
+
+A beautiful and perfect fossil of the sea turtle has recently been
+discovered in an extensive stratum of limestone, four fathoms water,
+called the Stone Ridge, about four miles off Harwich harbour. It is
+incrusted in a mass of ferruginous limestone, and weighs 180 lbs.
+
+
+_Apples_.
+
+A gentleman of Staffordshire recommends the preservation of apples for
+winter store, packed in banks or hods of earth like potatoes.--
+_Communication to the Horticultural Society_.
+
+
+_Uses of Seals_.
+
+The benefits which the inhabitants of frigid regions derive from seals,
+are far too numerous and diversified to be particularized, as they
+supply them with almost all the conveniences of life. We, on the
+contrary, so persecute this animal, as to destroy hundreds of thousands
+annually, for the sake of the pure and transparent oil with which the
+seal abounds; 2ndly, for its tanned skin, which is appropriated to
+various purposes by different modes of preparation; and thirdly, we
+pursue it for its close and dense attire. In the common seal, the hair
+of the adult is of one uniform kind, so thickly arranged and imbued
+with oil, as to effectually resist the action of water; while, on the
+contrary, in the antarctic seals the hair is of two kinds: the longest,
+like that of the northern seals; the other, a delicate, soft fur,
+growing between the roots of the former, close to the surface of the
+skin, and not seen externally; and this beautiful fur constitutes an
+article of very increasing importance in commerce; but not only does the
+clothing of the seal vary materially in colour, fineness, and commercial
+situation, in the different species, but not less so in the age of the
+animal. The young of most kinds are usually of a very light colour, or
+entirely white, and are altogether destitute of true hair, having this
+substituted by a long and particularly soft fur.--_Quarterly Journal_.
+
+
+_Method of cutting Glass_.
+
+If a tube, or goblet, or other round glass body is to be cut, a line
+is to be marked with a gun flint having a sharp angle, an agate, a
+diamond, or a file, exactly on the place where it is to be cut. A long
+thread covered with sulphur is then to be passed two or three times
+round the circular line, and to be inflamed and burnt; when the glass
+is well heated some drops of cold water are to be thrown on it, when
+the piece will separate in an exact manner, as if cut with scissors.
+It is by this means that glasses are cut circularly into thin bands,
+which may either be separated from, or repose upon each other, at
+pleasure, in the manner of a spring---_From the French_.
+
+
+_Preservation of Skins_.
+
+A tanner at Tyman, in Hungary, uses with great advantage the
+pyroligueous acid, in preserving skins from putrefaction, and in
+recovering them when attacked. They are deprived of none of their
+useful qualities if covered by means of a brush with the acid, which
+they absorb very readily.--_Quarterly Journal_.
+
+
+_Organic Remains in Sussex_.
+
+A short time since, the entire skeleton of a stag, of very large size,
+was dug up by some labourers, in excavating the bed of the river Ouse,
+near Lewes, in Sussex. The remains were found imbedded in a layer of
+sand, beneath the alluvial blue clay, forming the surface of the
+valley. The horns were in the highest state of preservation, and had
+seven points, like the American deer. The greater part of the skeleton
+was destroyed by the carelessness of the workmen; but a portion,
+including the horns, has been preserved in the collection of Mr.
+Mantell, near Lewes.
+
+
+_Stupendous Lizard_.
+
+Mr. Bullock, in his Travels, (just published) relates that he saw near
+New Orleans, "what are believed to be the remains of a stupendous
+crocodile, and which are likely to prove so, intimating the former
+existence of a lizard at least 150 feet long; for I measured the right
+side of the under jaw, which I found to be 21 feet along the curve;
+and 4 feet 6 inches wide: the others consisted of numerous vertebrae,
+ribs, femoral bones, and toes, all corresponding in size to the jaw;
+there were also some teeth: these, however, were not of proportionate
+magnitude. These remains were discovered, a short time since, in the
+swamp, near Fort Philip; and the other parts of the mighty skeleton,
+are, it is said, in the same part of the swamp."
+
+
+_Digby's Philosophy_.
+
+Sir Kenelm Digby was a mere quack; but he was the son of an earl, and
+related to many noble families. His book on the supposed sympathetic
+powder, which cured wounds at any distance from the sufferer, is the
+standard of his abilities. This powder was Roman vitriol pounded. From
+this wild work, we, however learn, that the English routine of
+agriculture in his time was--1st. year, barley; 2nd. wheat; 3rd.
+beans; 4th. fallow.--_Pinkerton_.
+
+
+_Critics_.
+
+Thought, comprising its enumerated constituents and detailed process,
+is the most perfect and exalted elaboration of the human mind, and
+when protracted is a painful exertion; indeed, the greater portion of
+our species reluctantly submit to the toil and lassitude of
+reflection; but from laziness, or incapacity, and perhaps in some
+instances from diffidence, they suffer themselves to be directed by
+the opinions of others. Hence has arisen the swarm of critics and
+reviewers, those clouds that obscure the fair light that would beam on
+the mind of man, by his individual reflection, and through his
+existence degrade him, by a submission to assumed authority;--a
+voluntary blindness, that excludes him from the observation of nature,
+and through indolence and credulity render his noblest faculties
+feeble, assenting, and lethargic; and delude him to barter the
+inheritance of his intellect for a mess of pottage.--_Dr.
+Haslam.--Lancet_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MUNCHAUSEN RIDE THROUGH EDINBURGH.
+
+
+We were sitting rather negligently on an infernal animal, which, up to
+that day, had seemed quiet as a lamb--kissing our hand to Mrs.
+Davison, then Miss Duncan, and in the blaze of her fame, when a
+Highland regiment, no doubt the forty-second, that had been trudging
+down the Mound, so silently that we never heard them, all at once, and
+without the slightest warning, burst out, with all their bag-pipes,
+into one pibroch! The mare--to do her justice--had been bred in
+England, and ridden, as a charger, by an adjutant to an English
+regiment. She was even fond of music--and delighted to prance behind
+the band--unterrified by cymbals or great drum. She never moved in a
+roar of artillery at reviews--and, had the Castle of Edinburgh--Lord
+bless it--been self-involved, at that moment, in a storm of thunder
+and lightning, round its entire circle of cannon, that mare would not
+so much as have pricked up her ears, whisked her tail, or lifted
+a hoof. But the pibroch was more than horse-flesh and blood could
+endure--and off we two went like a whirlwind. Where we went--that is
+to say, what were the names of the few first streets along which
+we were borne, is a question which, as a man of veracity, we must
+positively decline answering. For some short space of time, lines of
+houses reeled by without a single face at the windows--and these,
+we have since conjectured, might be North and South Hanover street,
+and Queen-street. By and by we surely were in something like a
+square--could it be Charlotte-square?--and round and round it we
+flew--three, four, five, or six times, as horsemen do at the
+Caledonian amphitheatre--for the animal had got blind with terror, and
+kept viciously reasoning in a circle. What a show of faces at all the
+windows then! A shriek still accompanied us as we clattered, and
+thundered, and lightened along; and, unless our ears lied, there were
+occasional fits of stifled laughter, and once or twice a guffaw; for
+there was now a ringing of lost stirrups--and much holding of the
+mane. One complete round was executed by us, first on the shoulder
+beyond the pommel; secondly, on the neck; thirdly, between the ears;
+fourthly, between the forelegs, in a place called the counter, with
+our arms round the jugular veins of the flying phenomenon, and our
+toes in the air. That was, indeed, the crisis of our fever, but we
+made a wonderful recovery back into the saddle--righting like a boat
+capsized in a sudden squall at sea--and once more, with accelerated
+speed, away past the pillared front of St. George's church!
+
+The castle and all its rocks, in peristrephic panorama, then floated
+cloud-like by--and we saw the whole mile-length of Prince's-street
+stretched before us, studded with innumerable coaches, chaises,
+chariots, carts, wagons, drays, gigs, shandrydans, and wheel-barrows,
+through among which we dashed, as if they had been as much
+gingerbread--while men on horseback were seen flinging themselves off,
+and drivers dismounting in all directions, making their escape up
+flights of steps and common stairs--mothers or nurses with broods of
+young children flying hither and thither in distraction, or standing
+on the very crown of the causeway, wringing their hands in despair.
+The wheel-barrows were easily disposed of--nor was there much greater
+difficulty with the gigs and shandrydans. But the hackney-coaches
+stood confoundedly in the way--and a wagon, drawn by four horses, and
+heaped up to the very sky with beer-barrels, like the Tower of Babel
+or Babylon, did indeed give us pause--but ere we had leisure to
+ruminate on the shortness of human life, we broke through between the
+leaders and the wheels with a crash of leathern breeching, dismounted
+collars, riven harness, and tumbling of enormous horses that was
+perilous to hear; when, as Sin and Satan would have it--would you
+believe it?--there, twenty kilts deep at the least, was the same
+accursed Highland regiment, the forty-second, with fixed bayonets, and
+all its pipers in the van, the pibroch yelling, squeaking, squealing,
+grunting, growling, roaring, as if it had only that very instant
+broken out--so, suddenly to the right--about went the bag-pipe-haunted
+mare, and away up the Mound, past the pictures of Irish Giants--Female
+Dwarfs--Albinos--an Elephant endorsed with towers--Tigers and Lions of
+all sorts--and a large wooden building, like a pyramid, in which there
+was the thundering of cannon--for the battle, we rather think, of
+Camperdown was going on--the Bank of Scotland seemed to sink into
+the NorLoch--one gleam through the window of the eyes of the
+Director-General--and to be sure how we did make the street-stalls of
+the Lawn-market spin! The man in St. Giles's steeple was playing his
+one o'clock tune on the bells, heedless in that elevation of our
+career--in less than no time John Knox, preaching from a house
+half-way down the Canongate, gave us the go-by--and down through one
+long wide sprawl of men, women, and children we wheeled past the
+Gothic front, and round the south angle of Holyrood, and across the
+King's-park, where wan and withered sporting debtors held up their
+hands and cried, Hurra--hurra--hurra--without stop or stay, up the
+rocky way that leads to St. Anthony's Well and Chapel--and now it was
+manifest that we were bound for the summit of Arthur's Seat. We hope
+that we were sufficiently thankful that a direction was not taken
+towards Salisbury Crags, where we should have been dashed into many
+million pieces. Free now from even the slightest suburban impediment,
+obstacle, or interruption, we began to eye our gradually rising
+situation in life--and looking over our shoulder, the sight of city
+and sea was indeed magnificent. There in the distance rose North
+Berwick Law--but though we have plenty of time now for description, we
+had scant time then for beholding perhaps the noblest scenery in
+Scotland. Up with us--up with us into the clouds--and just as St.
+Giles's bells ceased to jingle, and both girths broke, we crowned the
+summit, and sat on horseback like king Arthur himself, eight hundred
+feet above the level of the sea!
+
+_Blackwood's Magazine_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Select Biography
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+No. LVIII.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+LELAND.
+
+
+John Leland, the father of the English antiquaries, was born in
+London, about the end of the reign of Henry VII. He was a pupil to
+William Lily, the celebrated grammarian--the first head master of St.
+Paul's school; and by the kindness and liberality of a Mr. Myles, he
+was sent to Christ's college. Cambridge. From this university he
+removed to All Souls, Oxford, where he paid particular attention to
+the Greek language. He afterwards went to Paris, where he cultivated
+the acquaintance of the principal scholars of the age, and could
+probably number among his correspondents the illustrious names of
+Buddoeus, Erasmus, the Stephani, Faber, and Turnebus; in this city he
+perfected himself in the knowledge of the Latin and Greek tongues,
+to which he afterwards added that of several modern languages. On
+his return to England he took orders, and was appointed one of the
+chaplains to Henry VIII., who gave him the rectory of Popelay, in the
+marshes of Calais, appointed him his library keeper, and conferred
+on him the title of Royal Antiquary, which no other person in this
+kingdom, before, or after possessed. In this character his majesty
+in 1533 granted him a commission, empowering him to search after
+England's antiquities, and peruse the libraries of all cathedrals,
+abbeys, priories, colleges, &c., as also all the places wherein
+records, writings, and whatever else was lodged that related to
+antiquity. "Before Leland's time," says Hearne, in his preface to the
+_Itinerary_, "all the literary monuments of antiquity were totally
+disregarded; and the students of Germany apprised of this culpable
+indifference, were suffered to enter our libraries unmolested, and to
+cut out of the books deposited there whatever passages they thought
+proper, which they afterwards published as relics of the ancient
+literature of their own country."
+
+In this research Leland was occupied above six years in travelling
+through England, and in visiting all the remains of ancient buildings
+and monuments of every kind. On its completion, he hastened to the
+metropolis, to lay at the feet of his sovereign the result of his
+labours, which he presented to Henry, under the title of a "New Year's
+Gift,"[4] in which he says, "I have so traviled yn your dominions
+booth by the se costes and the midle partes, sparing nother labor nor
+costes, by the space of these vi. yeres paste, that there is almoste
+nother cape, nor bay, haven, creke or peers, river or confluence of
+rivers, breches, watchies, lakes, meres, fenny waters, montagnes,
+valleis, mores, hethes, forestes, chases wooddes, cities, burges,
+castelles, principale manor placis, monasteries, and colleges, but I
+have seene them; and notid yn so doing a hole worlde of thinges very
+memorable."
+
+At the dissolution of the monasteries, Leland made application to
+Secretary Cromwell, to entreat his assistance in getting the MSS. they
+contained sent to the king's library. In 1542 Henry presented him with
+the valuable rectory of Hasely, in Oxfordshire; the year following he
+preferred him to a canonry of King's college, now Christchurch,
+Oxford, and about the same time collated him to a prebend in the
+church of Sarum. As his duties in the church did not require much
+active service, he retired with his collections to his house in
+London, where he sat about digesting them, and preparing the
+publication he had promised to the world; but either his intense
+application, or some other cause, brought upon him a total derangement
+of mind, and after lingering two years in this state, he died on the
+18th of April, 1552.
+
+The writings of Leland are numerous; in his lifetime he published
+several Latin and Greek poems, and some tracts on antiquarian
+subjects. His valuable and voluminous MSS., after passing through many
+hands, came into the Bodleian library, furnishing very valuable
+materials to Stow, Lambard, Camden, Burton, Dugdale, and many other
+antiquaries and historians. Polydore Virgil, who had stolen from them
+pretty freely, had the insolence to abuse Leland's memory--calling him
+"a vain glorious man." From these collections Hall published, in 1709,
+"Commentarii de Scriptoribus Brittanicis." "The Itinerary of John
+Leland, Antiquary," was published by the celebrated Hearne, at Oxford,
+in nine volumes, 8vo., 1710, of which a second edition was printed in
+1745, with considerable improvements and additions. The same editor
+published "Joannis Lelandi Antiquarii de Rebus Brittanicis
+Collectanea." in six volumes, Oxon. 1716, 8vo.
+
+BIOS.
+
+[Footnote 4: This was published by Bale in 1549, 8vo.]
+
+       *       *       *       *      *
+
+
+
+
+THE SELECTOR AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CORAL ISLANDS.
+
+[In a recent Number of the MIRROR we quoted from Mr. Montgomery's
+_Pelican Island_ a beautiful description of the formation of coral
+reefs or rocks; and we are now induced to resume our extracts from
+this soul stirring poem, with the following description of the process
+by which these reefs or rocks become beautiful and picturesque
+islands. Mr. Montgomery's poetical talent is altogether of the highest
+order, or, to use a familiar phrase, his _Pelican Island_ is "a gem of
+the first water." How exquisite is the following picture of creation!]
+
+
+  Here was the infancy of life, the age
+  Of gold in that green isle, itself new-born,
+  And all upon it in the prime of being,
+  Love, hope, and promise, 'twas in miniature
+  A world unsoil'd by sin; a Paradise
+  Where Death had not yet enter'd; Bliss had newly
+  Alighted, and shut close his rainbow wings,
+  To rest at ease, nor dread intruding ill.
+  Plants of superior growth now sprang apace,
+  With moon-like blossoms crown'd, or starry glories;
+  Light flexible shrubs among the greenwood play'd
+  Fantastic freaks,--they crept, they climb'd, they budded,
+  And hung their flowers and berries in the sun;
+  As the breeze taught, they danced, they sung, they twined
+  Their sprays in bowers, or spread the ground with net-work.
+  Through the slow lapse of undivided time,
+  Silently rising from their buried germs,
+  Trees lifted to the skies their stately heads,
+  Tufted with verdure, like depending plumage,
+  O'er stems unknotted, waving to the wind:
+  Of these in graceful form, and simple beauty,
+  The fruitful cocoa and the fragrant palm
+  Excell'd the wilding daughters of the wood,
+  That stretch'd unwieldy their enormous arms,
+  Clad with luxuriant foliage, from the trunk,
+  Like the old eagle, feather'd to the heel;
+  While every fibre, from the lowest root
+  To the last leaf upon the topmost twig,
+  Was held by common sympathy, diffusing
+  Through all the complex frame unconscious life.
+  Such was the locust with its hydra boughs,
+  A hundred heads on one stupendous trunk;
+  And such the mangrove, which, at full-moon flood,
+  Appear'd itself a wood upon the waters,
+  But when the tide left bare its upright roots,
+  A wood on piles suspended in the air;
+  Such too the Indian fig, that built itself
+  Into a sylvan temple, arch'd aloof
+  With airy aisles and living colonnades,
+  Where nations might have worshipp'd God in peace.
+  From year to year their fruits ungather'd fell;
+  Not lost, but quickening where they lay, they struck
+  Root downward, and brake forth on every hand,
+  Till the strong saplings, rank and file, stood up,
+  A mighty army, which o'erran the isle,
+  And changed the wilderness into a forest.
+  All this appear'd accomplish'd in the space
+  Between the morning and the evening star:
+  So, in his third day's work, Jehovah spake,
+  And Earth, an infant, naked as she came
+  Out of the womb of chaos, straight put on
+  Her beautiful attire, and deck'd her robe
+  Of verdure with ten thousand glorious flowers,
+  Exhaling incense; crown'd her mountain-heads
+  With cedars, train'd her vines around their girdles,
+  And pour'd spontaneous harvests at their feet.
+  Nor were those woods without inhabitants
+  Besides the ephemera of earth and air;
+  --Where glid the sunbeams through the latticed boughs,
+  And fell like dew-drops on the spangled ground,
+  To light the diamond-beetle on his way;
+  --Where cheerful openings let the sky look down
+  Into the very heart of solitude,
+  On little garden-pots of social flowers,
+  That crowded from the shades to peep at daylight;
+  --Or where unpermeable foliage made
+  Midnight at noon, and chill, damp horror reign'd
+  O'er dead, fall'n leaves and slimy funguses;
+  --Reptiles were quicken'd into various birth.
+  Loathsome, unsightly, swoln to obscene bulk,
+  Lurk'd the dark toad beneath the infected turf;
+  The slow-worm crawl'd, the light cameleon climb'd,
+  And changed his colour as his pace he changed;
+  The nimble lizard ran from bough to bough,
+  Glancing through light, in shadow disappearing;
+  The scorpion, many-eyed, with sting of fire,
+  Bred there,--the legion-fiend of creeping things;
+  Terribly beautiful, the serpent lay,
+  Wreath'd like a coronet of gold and jewels,
+  Fit for a tyrant's brow; anon he flew
+  Straight as an arrow shot from his own rings,
+  And struck his victim, shrieking ere it went
+  Down his strain'd throat, that open sepulchre.
+  Amphibious monsters haunted the lagoon;
+  The hippopotamus, amidst the flood,
+  Flexile and active as the smallest swimmer;
+  But on the bank, ill balanced and infirm,
+  He grazed the herbage, with huge, head declined,
+  Or lean'd to rest against some ancient tree.
+  The crocodile, the dragon of the waters,
+  In iron panoply, fell as the plague,
+  And merciless as famine, cranch'd his prey,
+  While, from his jaws, with dreadful fangs all serried,
+  The life-blood dyed the waves with deadly streams.
+  The seal and the sea-lion, from the gulf
+  Came forth, and couching with their little ones.
+  Slept on the shelving rocks that girt the shores,
+  Securing prompt retreat from sudden danger;
+  The pregnant turtle, stealing out at eve,
+  With anxious eye, and trembling heart, explored
+  The loneliest coves, and in the loose warm sand
+  Deposited her eggs, which the sun hatch'd:
+  Hence the young brood, that never knew a parent,
+  Unburrow'd and by instinct sought the sea;
+  Nature herself, with her own gentle hand,
+  Dropping them one by one into the flood,
+  And laughing to behold their antic joy,
+  When launch'd in their maternal element.
+  The vision of that brooding world went on;
+  Millions of beings yet more admirable
+  Than all that went before them now appear'd;
+  Flocking from every point of heaven, and filling
+  Eye, ear, and mind, with objects, sounds, emotions
+  Akin to livelier sympathy and love
+  Than reptiles, fishes, insects, could inspire;
+  --Birds, the free tenants of land, air, and ocean,
+  Their forms all symmetry, their motions grace;
+  In plumage delicate and beautiful,
+  Thick without burthen, close as fishes' scales,
+  Or loose as full-blown poppies to the breeze;
+  With wings that might have had a soul within them,
+  They bore their owners by such sweet enchantment;
+  --Birds, small and great, of endless shapes and colours,
+  Here flew and perch'd, there swam and dived at pleasure;
+  Watchful and agile, uttering voices wild
+  And harsh, yet in accordance with the waves
+  Upon the beech, the winds in caverns moaning,
+  Or winds and waves abroad upon the water.
+  Some sought their food among the finny shoals,
+  Swift darting from the clouds, emerging soon
+  With slender captives glittering in their beaks;
+  These in recesses of steep crags constructed
+  Their eyries inaccessible, and train'd
+  Their hardy broods to forage in all weathers;
+  Others, more gorgeously apparell'd, dwelt
+  Among the woods, on Nature's dainties feeding,
+  Herbs, seeds, and roots; or, ever on the wing,
+  Pursuing insects through the boundless air:
+  In hollow trees or thickets these conceal'd
+  Their exquisitely woven nests; where lay
+  Their callow offspring, quiet as the down
+  On their own breasts, till from her search the dam
+  With laden bill return'd, and shared the meal
+  Among the clamorous suppliants, all agape;
+  Then, cowering o'er them with expanded wings,
+  She felt how sweet it is to be a mother.
+  Of these, a few, with melody untaught,
+  Turn'd all the air to music within hearing,
+  Themselves unseen; while bolder quiristers
+  On loftier branches strain'd their clarion-pipes,
+  And made the forest echo to their screams
+  Discordant,--yet there was no discord there,
+  But temper'd harmony: all tones combining,
+  In the rich confluence often thousand tongues,
+  To tell of joy and to inspire it. Who
+  Could hear such concert, and not join in chorus?
+  Not I;--sometimes entranced, I seem'd to float
+  Upon a buoyant sea of sounds: again
+  With curious ear I tried to disentangle
+  The maze of voices, and with eye as nice
+  To single out each minstrel, and pursue
+  His little song through all its labyrinth,
+  Till my soul enter'd into him, and felt
+  Every vibration of his thrilling throat,
+  Pulse of his heart, and flutter of his pinions.
+  Often, as one among the multitude,
+  I sang from very fulness of delight;
+  Now like a winged fisher of the sea,
+  Now a recluse among the woods,--enjoying
+  The bliss of all at once, or each in turn.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+RAPIDS OF NIAGARA.
+
+
+The Rapids begin about half a mile above the cataract; and although
+the breadth of the river might at first make them appear of little
+importance, a nearer inspection will convince the stranger of their
+actual size, and the terrific danger of the passage. The inhabitants
+of the neighbourhood regard it as certain death to get once involved
+in them; and that, not merely because all escape from the cataract
+would be hopeless, but because the violent force of the water among
+the rocks in the channel, would instantly dash the bones of a man in
+pieces. Instances are on record of persons being carried down by the
+stream; indeed there was an instance of two men carried over in March
+last; but no one is known to have ever survived. Indeed, it is very
+rare that the bodies are found; as the depth of the gulf below the
+cataract, and the tumultuous agitation of the eddies, whirlpools, and
+counter currents, render it difficult for any thing once sunk to rise
+again; while the general course of the water is so rapid, that it is
+soon hurried far down the stream. The large logs which are brought
+down in great numbers during the spring, bear sufficient testimony to
+these remarks. Wild ducks, geese, &c. are frequently precipitated over
+the cataract, and generally re-appear either dead, or with their legs
+or wings broken. Some say that water-fowl avoid the place when able to
+escape, but that the ice on the shores of the river above often
+prevents them from obtaining food, and that they are carried down from
+mere inability to fly; while others assert that, they are sometimes
+seen voluntarily riding among the rapids, and, after descending
+half-way down the cataract, taking wing, and returning to repeat their
+dangerous amusement.--_American Work_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+BRIDAL, CANZONET.
+
+
+  Sir Knight, heed not the clarion's call,
+  From hill, or from valley, or turretted hall;
+  Cease, holy Friar, cease for awhile
+  The anthem that swells through the fretted aisle;
+  Forester bold, to the bugle's sound
+  Listen no longer, though gaily wound,
+  But haste to the bridal, haste away,
+  Where love's rebeck is tuned to a sweeter lay.
+
+  Sir Knight, Sir Knight, no longer twine
+  The laurel-leaf o'er that bold brow of thine;
+  Friar, to-day from thy temples tear
+  The ivy garland that sages wear;
+  To-day, bold Forester, cast aside
+  Thy oak-leaf crown, the woodland's pride,
+  And bind round your brows the myrtle gay,
+  While the rebeck resounds love's sweetest lays.
+
+  Sir Knight, urge not now the gallant steed
+  O'er the plains that to honour and glory lead;
+  Friar, forget thy order's vow,
+  And pace not the gloomy cloisters now.
+  Chase no longer with bow and with spear,
+  Forester bold, the dappled deer,
+  But tread me a measure as light and gay
+  As ever kept lime to the rebeck's lay.
+
+_Neele's Romance of History_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER
+
+"I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's stuff."--_Walton_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TRAVELLING.
+
+
+Sterne pitied the man who could travel from Dan to Beersheba, and say
+all "was barren:" however delighted travellers or tourists may be on
+their journey, it is surprising how few details are preserved in their
+memory. This occasioned Dr. Johnson to remark, in his "Tour to the
+Hebrides," how much the lapse even "of a few hours takes from the
+certainty of knowledge, and the distinctness of imagery;" and that
+"those who trust to memory what cannot be safely trusted but to the
+eye, must tell by guess, what a few hours before they had known with
+certainty." We were never more convinced of the importance of these
+observations than after our first visit to the dock-yard, at
+Portsmouth. In collating some little memoranda made on the spot, we
+referred to our party, (_seven_ in number) on our return to the inn,
+for the _extent_ of the dock-yard: not one of them could give a
+correct answer, though all had just heard it detailed and explained
+with accuracy. Dr. Kitchener may well recommend tourists to walk about
+with note-books in their hands! and such inadvertence as the preceding
+almost warrants the oddity of his suggestion.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MOTTOES FOR DECANTER LABELS.
+
+
+Arridet PORTus? subeat non causa doloris.
+
+SumebatiS HERI? non dolor est hodie.
+
+Hic liquor est molLIS BONus, aptus ad omnia laeta.
+
+Oppida ne CALCA VALLAta ad praelia, quoerens, Sisonitum capias ecce tibi
+est Volupe.
+
+Dum lucet CLARE Te magis iste trahat.
+
+_Literary Gazette_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+MALARIA.
+
+
+Dr. Gregory, father of the late celebrated professor in Edinburgh,
+when a student in a part of Germany where _malaria_ prevailed, from
+being a philosopher and living low, _drinking only water_, was seized
+with intermittent fever, when his jolly companions, who ate and drank
+freely, escaped. If brandy or other stimulants are taken previous to
+exposure to malaria, intermittent fever is generally prevented. Such
+are the opinions of the doctor, and if Dr. Macculloch be right, we
+suggest the establishment of a brandy vault at each angle of the
+parks, that every passenger may prepare himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LORD HOWE
+
+
+When the late Lord Howe was a captain, a lieutenant, not remarkable
+for courage or presence of mind in dangers (common fame had brought
+some imputation upon his character) ran to the great cabin and
+informed his commander that the ship was on fire near the gun-room.
+Soon after this he returned exclaiming, "You need not be afraid as the
+fire is extinguished." "_Afraid!_" replied Captain H. a little
+nettled, "how does a man _feel_, Sir, when he is afraid? I need not
+ask how he _looks_."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+BACKGAMMON BOARDS.
+
+
+We frequently find backgammon boards with backs lettered as if they
+were two folio volumes. The origin of it was thus; Eudes, bishop of
+Sully, forbade his clergy to play at chess. As they were resolved not
+to obey the commandment, and yet dared not have a chess-board seen in
+their houses or cloisters, they had them bound and lettered as books,
+and played at night, before they went to bed, instead of reading the
+New Testament or the Lives of the Saints; and the monks called the
+draft or chess-board their _wooden gospels_. They had also drinking
+vessels bound to resemble the breviary, and were found drinking, when
+it was supposed they were at prayer.--_Literary Gazette_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LOVE OF THE COUNTRY.
+
+
+Country people will tell you that they like the country, and detest
+the town, although their enjoyments are of a kind which may be
+obtained in far greater perfection in the latter than in the former.
+The only person I ever knew who was honest in this respect, was a
+gentleman, the possessor of a beautiful seat, in a beautiful country,
+when he avowed his opinion, that there was "no garden like
+Covent-garden, and no flower like a cauliflower."
+
+C.L.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+The _Morning Chronicle_, Nov. 20, in noticing the funeral of the late
+Mr. Sale, says, "At a little after three o'clock, the body of the
+lamented gentleman entered the church."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE BRITISH NOVELIST, Publishing in Monthly
+Parts, price 6d. each.--Each Novel will be complete in itself, and may
+be purchased separately.
+
+_The following Novels are already Published:_
+
+                                         s. d.
+
+Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield           0  10
+The Mysteries of Udolpho                 3   6
+Mackenzie's Man of Feeling               0   6
+Rasselas                                 0   8
+Paul and Virginia                        0   6
+The Old English Baron                    0   8
+The Castle of Otranto                    0   8
+The Romance of the Forest                1   8
+Almoran and Hamet                        0   6
+Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia      0   6
+Nature and Art                           0   8
+The Italian                              2   0
+A Simple Story                           1   4
+The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne       0   6
+Sicilian Romance                         1   0
+The Man of the World                     1   0
+Zelaco, by Dr. Moore                     2   0
+Joseph Andrews                           1   6
+Humphry Clinker                          1   8
+Edward, by Dr. Moore                     2   6
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, London, and Sold by all
+Booksellers and Newsmen_.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11412 ***