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authorRoger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>2025-10-15 04:36:59 -0700
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+ <title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 392.</title>
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11456 ***</div>
+
+ <hr class="full" />
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>[pg
+ 209]</span>
+
+ <h1>THE MIRROR<br />
+ OF<br />
+ LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <table width="100%" summary="Banner">
+ <tr>
+ <td align="left"><b>VOL. XIV, NO. 392.]</b></td>
+
+ <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1829.</b></td>
+
+ <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td>
+ </tr>
+ </table>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>The Duke's Theatre, Dorset Gardens.</h2>
+
+ <div class="figure" style="width: 100%;">
+ <a href="images/392-1.png"><img width="100%" src=
+ "images/392-1.png" alt=
+ "The Duke's theatre, Dorset Gardens." /></a>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>The above theatre was erected in the year 1671, about a
+ century after the regular establishment of theatres in England.
+ It rose in what may be called the brazen age of the Drama, when
+ the prosecutions of the Puritans had just ceased, and legitimacy
+ and licentiousness danced into the theatre hand in hand. At the
+ Restoration, the few players who had not fallen in the wars or
+ died of poverty, assembled under the banner of Sir William
+ Davenant, at the Red Bull Theatre. Rhodes, a bookseller, at the
+ same time, fitted up the Cockpit in Drury Lane, where he formed a
+ company of entirely new performers. This was in 1659, when
+ Rhodes's two apprentices, Betterton and Kynaston, were the stars.
+ These companies afterwards united, and were called the Duke's
+ Company. About the same time, Killigrew, that eternal caterer for
+ good things, collected together a few of the old actors who were
+ honoured with the title of the "King's Company," or "His
+ Majesty's Servants," which distinction is preserved by the Drury
+ Lane Company, to the present day, and is inherited from
+ Killigrew, who built and opened the first theatre in Drury Lane,
+ in 1663. In 1662, Sir William Davenant obtained a patent for
+ building "the Duke's Theatre," in Little Lincoln's Inn Fields,
+ which he opened with the play of "the Siege of Rhodes," written
+ by himself. The above company performed here till 1671, when
+ another "Duke's Theatre." was built in Dorset Gardens,<a id=
+ "footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href=
+ "#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> by Sir Christopher Wren, in a
+ similar style of architecture to that in Lincoln's Inn Fields.
+ The company removed thither, November 9, in the same year, and
+ continued performing till the union of the Duke and the King's
+ Companies, in 1682; and performances were continued occasionally
+ here until 1697. The building was demolished about April, 1709,
+ and the site is now occupied by the works of a Gas Light
+ Company.</p>
+
+ <p>The Duke's Theatre, as the engraving shows, had a handsome
+ front towards the river, with a landing-place for visiters by
+ water, a fashion which prevailed in the early age of the Drama,
+ if we may credit the assertion of Taylor, the water poet, that
+ about the year <span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name=
+ "page210"></a>[pg 210]</span> 1596, the number of watermen
+ maintained by conveying persons to the theatres on the banks of
+ the Thames, was not less than 40,000, showing a love of the drama
+ at that early period which is very extraordinary.<a id=
+ "footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href=
+ "#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> All we have left of this aquatic
+ rage is a solitary boat now and then skimming and scraping to
+ Vauxhall Gardens.</p>
+
+ <p>The upper part of the front will be admired for its
+ characteristic taste; as the figures of Comedy and Tragedy
+ surmounting the balustrade, the emblematic flame, and the
+ wreathed arms of the founder.</p>
+
+ <p>Operas were first introduced on the English stage, at Dorset
+ Gardens, in 1673, with "expensive scenery;" and in Lord Orrery's
+ play of Henry V., performed here in the year previous, the
+ actors, Harris, Betterton, and Smith, wore the coronation suits
+ of the Duke of York, King Charles, and Lord Oxford.</p>
+
+ <p>The names of Betterton and Kynaston bespeak the importance of
+ the Duke's Theatre. Cibber calls Betterton "an actor, as
+ Shakspeare was an author, both without competitors;" in his
+ performance of <i>Hamlet</i>, he profited by the instructions of
+ Sir William Davenant, who embodied his recollections of Joseph
+ Taylor, instructed by SHAKSPEARE to play the character! What a
+ delightful association&mdash;to see Hamlet represented in the
+ true vein in which the sublime author conceived it! Kynaston's
+ celebrity was of a more equivocal description. He played
+ <i>Juliet</i> to Betterton's <i>Romeo</i>, and was the Siddons of
+ his day; for women did not generally appear on the stage till
+ after the Restoration. The anecdote of Charles II. waiting at the
+ theatre for the stage <i>queen</i> to be <i>shaved</i> is well
+ known.</p>
+
+ <p>Pepys speaks of Harris, in his interesting <i>Diary</i> as
+ "growing very proud, and demanding 20<i>l</i>. for himself
+ extraordinary more than Betterton, or any body else, upon every
+ new play, and 10<i>l</i>. upon every revive; which, with other
+ things, Sir William Davenant would not give him, and so he swore
+ he would never act there more, in expectation of his being
+ received in the other house;" (this was in 1663, at the Duke's
+ Theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields.) "He tells me that the fellow
+ grew very proud of late, the King and every body else crying him
+ up so high," &amp;c. Poor Sir William, he must have been as much
+ worried and vexed as Mr. Ebers with the Operatics, or any Covent
+ Garden manager, in our time; whose days and nights are not very
+ serene, although passed among the <i>stars</i>,</p>
+
+ <p>In one of Pepys's notices of Hart, he tells us "It pleased us
+ mightily to see the natural affection of a poor woman, the mother
+ of one of the children brought upon the stage; the child crying,
+ she, by force, got upon the stage, and took up her child, and
+ carried it away off the stage from Hart." This pleasant playgoer
+ likewise says, in 1667-8, "when I began first to be able to
+ bestow a play on myself, I do not remember that I saw so many by
+ half of the ordinary prentices and mean people in the pit at
+ 2<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>. a-piece as now; I going for several years
+ no higher than the 12<i>d</i>. and then the 18<i>d</i>. places,
+ though I strained hard to go in then when I did; so much the
+ vanity and prodigality of the age is to be observed in this
+ particular."</p>
+
+ <p>It may be at this moment interesting to mention that the first
+ Covent Garden Theatre was opened under the patent granted to Sir
+ William Davenant for the Dorset Gardens and Lincoln's Inn Fields
+ Theatres. We must also acknowledge our obligation for the
+ preceding notes to the <i>Companion to the Theatres</i>, a pretty
+ little work which we noticed <i>en passant</i> when published,
+ and which we now seasonably recommend to the notice of our
+ readers.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>FOUR SONNETS.</h3>
+
+ <p>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</p>
+
+ <h3>SPRING.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Season of sighs perfumed, and maiden flowers,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Young Beauty's birthday, cradled in delight</p>
+
+ <p>And kept by muses in the blushing bowers</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Where snow-drops spring most delicately
+ white!</p>
+
+ <p>Oh it is luxury to minds that feel</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Now to prove truants to the giddy world,</p>
+
+ <p>Calmly to watch the dewy tints that steal</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">O'er opening roses&mdash;'till in smiles
+ unfurled</p>
+
+ <p>Their fresh-made petals silently unfold.</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Or mark the springing grass&mdash;or gaze
+ upon</p>
+
+ <p>Primeval morning till the hues of gold</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Blaze forth and centre in the glorious sun!</p>
+
+ <p>Whose gentler beams exhale the tears of night,</p>
+
+ <p>And bid each grateful tongue deep melodies indite.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <h3>SUMMER.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Now is thy fragrant garland made complete,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Maturing year! but as its many dyes</p>
+
+ <p>Mingle in rainbow hues divinely sweet,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">They fade and fleet in unobserved sighs!</p>
+
+ <p>Yet now all fresh and fair, how dear thou art,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Just born to breathe and perish! touched by
+ heaven,</p>
+
+ <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name=
+ "page211"></a>[pg 211]</span></p>
+
+ <p>From lifeless Winter to a beating heart,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">From scathing blasts to Summer's balmy
+ even!</p>
+
+ <p>Methinks some angel from the bowers of bliss,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">In May descended, scattering blossoms
+ round,</p>
+
+ <p>Embraced each opening flower, bestowed a kiss,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And woke the notes of harmony profound;</p>
+
+ <p>But ere July had waned, alas, she fled,</p>
+
+ <p>Took back to heaven the flowers, and left the falling
+ leaves instead.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <h3>AUTUMN.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Field flowers and breathing minstrelsy, farewell!</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The rose is colourless and withering fast,</p>
+
+ <p>Sweet Philomel her song forgets to swell,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And Summer's rich variety is past!</p>
+
+ <p>The sear leaves wander, and the hoar of age</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Gathers her trophy for the dying year,</p>
+
+ <p>And following in her noiseless pilgrimage,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Waters her couch with many a pearly tear.</p>
+
+ <p>Yet there is one unchanging friend who stays</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">To cheer the passage into Winter's
+ gloom&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>The redbreast chants his solitary lays,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">A simple requiem over Nature's tomb,</p>
+
+ <p>So, when the Spring of life shall end with me,</p>
+
+ <p>God of my Fathers! may I find a changeless Friend in
+ thee!</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <h3>WINTER.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>The trees are leafless, and the hollow blast</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Sings a shrill anthem to the bitter gloom,</p>
+
+ <p>The lately smiling pastures are a waste,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">While beauty generates in Nature's womb;</p>
+
+ <p>The frowning clouds are charged with fleecy snow,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And storm and tempest bear a rival sway;</p>
+
+ <p>Soft gurgling rivulets have ceased to flow,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And beauty's garlands wither in decay:</p>
+
+ <p>Yet look but heavenward! beautiful and young</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">In life and lustre see the stars of night</p>
+
+ <p>Untouch'd by time through ages roll along,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">And clear as when at first they burst to
+ light.</p>
+
+ <p>And then look from the stars where heaven appears</p>
+
+ <p>Clad in the fertile Spring of everlasting years!</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>BENJAMIN GOUGH.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>EXERCISE, AIR, AND SLEEP.</h3>
+
+ <center>
+ (<i>Abridged from Mr. Richards's "Treatise on Nervous
+ Disorders."</i>)
+ </center>
+
+ <p>The generality of people are well aware of the vast importance
+ of exercise; but few are acquainted with its <i>modus
+ operandi</i>, and few avail themselves so fully as they might of
+ its extensive benefits. The function of respiration, which endues
+ the blood with its vivifying principle, is very much influenced
+ by exercise; for our Omniscient Creator has given to our lungs
+ the same faculty of imbibing nutriment from various kinds of air,
+ as He has given to the stomach the power of extracting
+ nourishment from different kinds of aliment; and as the healthy
+ functions of the stomach depend upon the due performance of
+ certain chemical and mechanical actions, so do the functions of
+ the lungs depend upon the due performance of proper exercise.</p>
+
+ <p>Man being an animal destined for an active and useful life,
+ Providence has ordained that sloth shall bring with it its own
+ punishment. He who passes nearly the whole of his life in the
+ open air, inhaling a salubrious atmosphere, enjoys health and
+ vigour of body with tranquillity of mind, and dies at the utmost
+ limit allotted to mortality. He, on the contrary, who leads an
+ indolent or sedentary life, combining with it excessive mental
+ exertion, is a martyr to a train of nervous symptoms, which are
+ extremely annoying. Man was not created for a sedentary or
+ slothful life; but all his organs and attributes are calculated
+ for an existence of activity and industry. If therefore we would
+ insure health and comfort, we must make exercise&mdash;to use Dr.
+ Cheyne's expression&mdash;a part of our religion. But this
+ exercise should be <i>in the open air</i>, and in such places as
+ are most free from smoke, or any noxious exhalations; where, in
+ fact, the air circulates freely, purely, and abundantly. I am
+ continually told by persons that they take a great deal of
+ exercise, being constantly on their feet from morning till night;
+ but, upon inquiry, it happens, that this exercise is not in the
+ open air, but in a crowded apartment, perhaps, as in a public
+ office, a manufactory, or at a dress maker's, where twenty or
+ thirty young girls are crammed together from nine o'clock in the
+ morning till nine at night, or, what is nearly as pernicious, in
+ a house but thinly inhabited. Exercise this cannot be called; it
+ is the worst species of labour, entailing upon its victims
+ numerous evils. Good air is as essential as wholesome food; for
+ the air, by coming into immediate contact with the blood, enters
+ at once into the constitution. If therefore the air be bad, every
+ part of the body, whether near the heart or far from it, must
+ participate in the evil which is produced.</p>
+
+ <p>It is on this account that exercise <i>in the open air</i> is
+ so materially beneficial to digestion. If the blood be not
+ properly prepared by the action of good air, how can the arteries
+ of the stomach secrete good gastric juice? Then, we have a
+ mechanical effect besides. By exercise the circulation of the
+ blood is rendered more energetic and regular. Every artery,
+ muscle, and gland is excited into action, and the work of
+ existence goes on with spirit. The muscles press the
+ blood-vessels, and squeeze the glands, so that none of them can
+ be idle; so that, in short, every organ thus influenced must be
+ in action. The consequence of all this is, that every function is
+ well performed. The stomach <span class="pagenum"><a id="page212"
+ name="page212"></a>[pg 212]</span> digests readily, the liver
+ pours out its bile freely, the bowels act regularly, and much
+ superfluous heat is thrown out by perspiration. These are all
+ very important operations, and in proportion to the perfection
+ with which they are performed will be the health and comfort of
+ the individual.</p>
+
+ <p>There is another process accomplished by exercise, which more
+ immediately concerns the nervous system. "Many people," says Mr.
+ Abernethy, "who are extremely irritable and hypochondriacal, and
+ are constantly obliged to take medicines to regulate their bowels
+ while they live an inactive life, no longer suffer from nervous
+ irritation, or require aperient medicines when they use exercise
+ to a degree that would be excessive in ordinary constitutions."
+ This leads us to infer that the superfluous energy of the nerves
+ is exhausted by the exercise of the body, and that as the
+ abstraction of blood mitigates inflammations, in like manner does
+ the abstraction of nervous irritability restore tranquillity to
+ the system. This of course applies only to a state of high
+ nervous irritation; but exercise is equally beneficial when the
+ constitution is much weakened, by producing throughout the whole
+ frame that energetic action which has been already explained.</p>
+
+ <p>A debilitated frame ought never to take so much exercise as to
+ cause fatigue, neither ought exercise to be taken immediately
+ <i>before</i> nor immediately <i>after</i> a full meal. Mr.
+ Abernethy's prescription is a very good one&mdash;to rise early
+ and use active exercise <i>in the open air</i>, till a slight
+ degree of fatigue be felt; then to rest one hour, and breakfast.
+ After this rest three hours, "in order that the energies of the
+ constitution may be concentrated in the work of digestion;" then
+ take active exercise again for two hours, rest one, and then
+ dine. After dinner rest for three hours; and afterwards, in
+ summer, take a gentle stroll, which, with an hour's rest before
+ supper, will constitute the plan of exercise for the day. In wet
+ or inclement weather, the exercise may be taken in the house, the
+ windows being opened, "by walking actively backwards and
+ forwards, as sailors do on ship-board."</p>
+
+ <p>We now come to the consideration of <i>air</i>. Pure air is as
+ necessary to existence as good and wholesome food; perhaps more
+ so; for our food has to undergo a very elaborate change before it
+ is introduced into the mass of circulating blood, while the air
+ is received at once into the lungs, and comes into immediate
+ contact with the blood in that important organ. The effect of the
+ air upon the blood is this: by thrusting out as it were, all the
+ noxious properties which it has collected in its passage through
+ the body, it endues it with the peculiar property of vitality,
+ that is, it enables it to build up, repair, and excite the
+ different functions and organs of the body. If therefore this
+ air, which we inhale every instant, be not pure, the whole mass
+ of blood is very soon contaminated, and the frame, in some part
+ or other speedily experiences the bad effects. This will explain
+ to us the almost miraculous benefits which are obtained by
+ <i>change of air</i>, as well as the decided advantages of a free
+ and copious ventilation. The prejudices against a free
+ circulation of air, especially in the sick chamber, are
+ productive of great evil. The rule as regards this is plain and
+ simple: admit as much fresh air as you can; provided it does not
+ <i>blow in</i> upon you <i>in a stream</i>, and provided you are
+ not in a state of profuse perspiration at the time; for in
+ accordance with the Spanish proverb&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"If the wind blows on you through a hole</p>
+
+ <p>Make your will, and take care of your soul."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>but if the <i>whole of the body be exposed at once</i> to a
+ cold atmosphere, no bad consequences need be anticipated.</p>
+
+ <p>A great deal has been said about the necessary quantity of
+ <i>sleep;</i> that is, how long one ought to indulge in sleeping.
+ This question, like many others, cannot be reduced to
+ mathematical precision; for much must depend upon habit,
+ constitution, and the nature and duration of our occupations. A
+ person in good health, whose mental and physical occupations are
+ not particularly laborious, will find seven or eight hours' sleep
+ quite sufficient to refresh his frame. Those whose constitutions
+ are debilitated, or whose occupations are studious or laborious,
+ require rather more; but the best rule in all eases is to sleep
+ till you are refreshed, and then get up. If you feel inclined for
+ a snug nap after dinner, indulge in it; but do not let it exceed
+ <i>half an hour;</i> if you do, you will be dull and
+ uncomfortable afterwards, instead of brisk and lively.</p>
+
+ <p>In sleeping, as in eating and drinking, we must consult our
+ habits and feelings, which are excellent monitors. What says the
+ poet?&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"Preach not to me your musty rules,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Ye drones, that mused in idle cell,</p>
+
+ <p>The heart is wiser than the schools,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">The senses always reason well."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>One particular recommendation I would propose in concluding
+ this subject, from the observance of which much <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span>
+ benefit has been derived&mdash;it is to sleep in a room as large
+ and as airy as possible, and in a bed but little encumbered with
+ curtains. The lungs must respire during sleep, as well as at any
+ other time; and it is of great consequence that the air should be
+ as pure as possible. In summer curtains should not be used at
+ all, and in winter we should do well without them. In summer
+ every wise man, who can afford it, will sleep out of
+ town&mdash;at any of the villages which are removed sufficiently
+ from the smoke and impurities of this overgrown metropolis.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>THE NOVELIST.</h2>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>AN INCIDENT AT FONDI.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"Away&mdash;three cheers&mdash;on we go."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>The morning was delightful; neither Corregio, nor Claude, with
+ all their magic of conception could have made it lovelier. The
+ heaven expanded like an azure sea&mdash;and the dimpling clouds
+ of gold were its Elysian isles&mdash;not unlike the splendid
+ images we are apt to admire in the poems of <i>Petrarch</i> and
+ <i>Alamanni</i>. The music of the birds kept time to the sound of
+ the postilions' whips&mdash;the streams sung a fairy legend, and
+ the merry woods, touched with the brilliant glow of an Italian
+ sun, breathed into the air a delicious sonata. Such a morning as
+ this was formed for something memorable! The Grand Diavolo and
+ his bravest ruffians awaited the travellers' approach.</p>
+
+ <p>The carriage had pursued the direction of the path at a speed
+ unequalled in the annals of the postilions; but the termination
+ of the dell did not appear. Huge impending cliffs with their
+ crown of trees imparted a shadowy depth to the solitude, which
+ the travellers did not seem to relish.</p>
+
+ <p>"How cursed inconvenient is this dell with its frightful
+ woods," said the baronet to his smiling daughter, "one might as
+ well be sequestered in Dante's Inferno. Look at those awful
+ rocks&mdash;my mind misgives me as I view them. Sure there are no
+ brigands concealed hereabout!"</p>
+
+ <p>"Hope not, Pa'," replied the graceful Rosalia; but the last
+ word had scarcely died on her lips, ere a discharge of shot was
+ heard. The baronet opened his carriage door, and leaped on the
+ ground.</p>
+
+ <p>"Hollo! John, Tom, pistols here, my lads, a pretty rencontre
+ this! Stand by Rosalia, my own self and purse I don't value a
+ grout, but stand the brunt, lads; here they come&mdash;oh, that I
+ had met them at Waterloo!"</p>
+
+ <p>This attack perplexed the thoughts of the poor baronet. He
+ regarded it as a romance in which he was to become the hero. But
+ his present situation did not allow him the fascination of a
+ dream. The brigands advanced from their concealment, and their
+ chief, who seemed a most pleasant and polite scoundrel, commanded
+ his men to inspect the luggage of the travellers.</p>
+
+ <p>"Humph! and is that all?" growled the baronet.</p>
+
+ <p>"I want a thousand crowns," said the chief, in a gentle tone,
+ "you may then proceed."</p>
+
+ <p>"Humph! and won't five hundred do?"</p>
+
+ <p>"I insist!" returned the brigand, placing his hand on his
+ sword!</p>
+
+ <p>This menace was enough. It produced an awful consternation in
+ the countenance of the Englishman. He, dear man, felt his heart
+ quake within him, as he paid the brigand his enormous demand. But
+ a second trial was reserved for him&mdash;he turned to his
+ carriage&mdash;his daughter was not there! where could she be? He
+ heard a laugh, and on raising his head, saw the identical object
+ of his care! She waved her delicate white handkerchief from the
+ steeps above, while an Italian officer stood beside her laughing
+ with all his might. The suspicions of the father were realized.
+ He was the tall intriguing scamp who had charmed the eyes of
+ Rosalia at the inn!</p>
+
+ <p>Away ran the sire, but the guilty pair seemed to fly with the
+ wings of love attached to their heels; up the steep he clambered,
+ scaring all the birds from their solitudes; still the lovers kept
+ on before; they passed the bridge of Laino; the infuriated sire
+ pursued; spire, tree, castle, church, stream; and in short the
+ most beautiful features of the landscape appeared in the chase,
+ but the fugitives did not stop to survey them. Away they pressed
+ down the sunny slope, through the glen, along the margin of the
+ Casparanna, swifter to the eye of the agonized parent than Jehu's
+ chariot-wheels. Now they flag&mdash;they sit down amid the ruins
+ of yonder old chapel&mdash;he will reach them now; alas! how vain
+ are the calculations of man! In leaping across the Cathanna Mare,
+ he received a shot in his arm; the cursed Italian had fired at
+ him, and he fell, like a wounded bird into the stream!</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <p>"Dear pa', how you kick one!" exclaimed <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>[pg 214]</span> the
+ beauteous little daughter of the Englishman; "surely you have had
+ a troublesome dream." "Dream! let me see," said the baronet,
+ rubbing his eyes; "then I'm not drowned, and we are again at
+ Albano, are we, and this is our merry host, and thank God,
+ Rosalia, you are safe, and I must kiss you, my sweet girl." This
+ was a pleasant scene!</p>
+
+ <p>R. AUGUSTINE.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>TIME.</h3>
+
+ <center>
+ IN IMITATION OF THE OLDEN POETS.
+ </center>
+
+ <p>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i4">Time is a taper waning fast!</p>
+
+ <p class="i4">Use it, man, well whilst it doth last:</p>
+
+ <p>Lest burning downwards it consume away,</p>
+
+ <p>Before thou hast commenced the labour of the day.</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i4">Time is a pardon of a goodly soil!</p>
+
+ <p class="i4">Plenty shall crown thine honest toil:</p>
+
+ <p>But if uncultivated, rankest weeds</p>
+
+ <p>Shall choke the efforts of the rising seeds.</p>
+ </div>
+
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i4">Time is a leasehold of uncertain date!</p>
+
+ <p class="i4">Granted to thee by everlasting fate.</p>
+
+ <p>Neglect not thou, ere thy short term expire,</p>
+
+ <p>To save thy soul from ever-burning fire.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>LEAR.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>SEPULCHRAL ENIGMA.</h3>
+
+ <p>(<i>To the Editor of the Mirror</i>.)</p>
+
+ <p>The following Sepulchral Enigma against Pride, is engraved on
+ a stone, in the Cathedral Church of Hamburgh:</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"O, Mors, cur, Deus, negat, vitam,</p>
+
+ <p>be, se, bis, nos, his, nam."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <h3>CANON.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Ordine daprimam mediae? mediamqz sequenti,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Debita sic nosces fala, superbe, tibi.</p>
+
+ <p>Quid mortalis homo jactas tot quidve superbis?</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Cras forsan fies, pulvis et umbra levis,</p>
+
+ <p>Quid tibi opes prosunt? Quid nuuc tibi magna potesias?</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">Quidve honor? Ant praestans quid tibi forma?
+ Nihil.</p>
+
+ <p>Vide <i>Variorum in Europa itinerum deliciae,
+ &amp;c.</i></p>
+
+ <p class="i4"><i>Nathane Chitreo, Editio Secunda</i>,
+ 1599.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>The above inscription and Canon are from a very scarce book,
+ <i>me penes</i>; if they are deemed worthy of a place in your
+ entertaining miscellany, and no solution or English version
+ should be offered to your notice for insertion, I will avail
+ myself of your permission to send one for your approval.</p>
+
+ <p>Your's, &amp;c. &Sigma; [Greek: S.]</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>THE VINE&mdash;A FRAGMENT.</h3>
+
+ <p>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>See o'er the wall, the white-leav'd cluster-vine</p>
+
+ <p>Shoots its redundant tendrils; and doth seem,</p>
+
+ <p>Like the untam'd enthusiast's glowing heart,</p>
+
+ <p>Ready to clasp, with an abundant love,</p>
+
+ <p>All nature in its arms!</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>C. COLE.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>THE COSMOPOLITE.</h2>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>ON LIBERTY.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"I don't hate the world, but I laugh at it;</p>
+
+ <p>for none but fools can be in earnest about a trifle."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>So says Gay of the world, in one of his letters to Swift, and
+ we have adapted the quotation to our idea of liberty. True it is
+ that Addison apostrophizes liberty as a</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Goddess, heavenly bright!</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>but we hope our laughter will not be considered as indecorous
+ or profane. Our great essayist has exalted her into a Deity, and
+ invested her with a mythological charm, which makes us doubt her
+ existence; so that to laugh at her can be no more irreverend than
+ to sneer at the belief in apparitions, a joke which is very
+ generally enjoyed in these good days of spick-and-span
+ philosophy. Whether Liberty ever existed or not, is to us a
+ matter of little import, since it is certain that she belongs to
+ the grand hoax which is the whole scheme of life. The extension
+ of liberty into concerns of every-day life is therefore
+ reasonable enough, and to prove that we are happy in possessing
+ this ideal blessing, seems to have been the aim of all who have
+ written on the subject. One, however, if we remember right, sets
+ the matter in a grave light, when he says to man&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Since thy original lapse, true liberty</p>
+
+ <p>Is lost.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>He who loves to scatter crumbs of comfort in these starving
+ times, will not despair at this sublime truth, but will seek to
+ cherish the love of liberty, or the consolation for the loss of
+ it wherever he goes.</p>
+
+ <p>The reader need not be told that we are friends to the spread
+ of liberty: indeed, we think she may "triumph over time, clip his
+ wings, pare his nails, file his teeth, turn back his hour-glass,
+ blunt his scythe, and draw the hobnails out of his shoes;" but to
+ show how this may be done, we must run over a few varieties of
+ liberty for the benefit of such as do not enjoy the inestimable
+ blessings of being <i>free and easy</i>: we quote these words,
+ vulgar as they are; for, of all words in our vernacular tongue,
+ to express comfort and security from ill, commend us to the
+ expletive of <i>free and easy</i>. We had rather not meddle with
+ civil or religious liberty: they are as combustible as the
+ Cotopaxi, or the new governments, of South America; and our
+ attempts at reformation do not extend beyond paper and print,
+ which the unamused reader may burn or not, as he <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>[pg 215]</span>
+ pleases without searing his own conscience or exciting our
+ revenge. To be sure, a few of our examples may border on civil
+ liberty; but we shall not seek to find parallels for the
+ Ptolemaian cages, or the Tower of Famine, in our times; neither
+ shall we feast upon the horrors of the French Revolution, nor the
+ last polite reception of the Russians by headless Turks;
+ notwithstanding all these examples would bear us out in our idea
+ of the love of liberty, and the evils of the loss of it.</p>
+
+ <p>Kings often want liberty, even amidst the multitude of their
+ luxuries. They are not unfrequently the veriest slaves at court,
+ and liege and loyal as we are, we seldom hear of a king eating,
+ drinking, and sleeping as other people do, without envying him so
+ happy an interval from the cares of state, and the painted pomp
+ of palaces. This it is that makes the domestic habits of kings so
+ interesting to every one; and many a time have we crossed field
+ after field to catch a glimpse of royalty, in a plain green
+ chariot on the Brighton road, when we would not have put our
+ heads out of window to see a procession to the House of Lords.
+ Some kings have even gone so far in their love of plain life as
+ to drop the king, which is a very pleasant sort of unkingship.
+ Frederick the Great, at one of his literary entertainments
+ adopted this plan to promote free conversation, when he reminded
+ the circle that there was no monarch present, and that every one
+ might think aloud. The conversation soon turned upon the faults
+ of different governments and rulers, and general censures were
+ passing from mouth to mouth pretty freely, when Frederick
+ suddenly stayed the topic, by saying, "Peace, peace, gentlemen,
+ have a care, the king is coming; it may be as well if he does not
+ hear you, lest he should be obliged to be still worse than you."
+ Our Second Charles was very fond of liberty, and of dropping the
+ king, or as some writers say, he never took the office up: this
+ was for another purpose, in times when</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>License they mean when they cry liberty.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>Voluntarily parting with one's liberty is, however, very
+ different to having it taken from us, as in the anecdote of the
+ citizen who never having been out of his native place during his
+ lifetime, was, for some offence, sentenced to stay within the
+ walls a whole year; when he died of grief not long
+ afterwards.</p>
+
+ <p>State imprisonment is like a set of silken fetters for kings
+ and other great people. Thus, almost all our palaces have been
+ used as prisons, according to the caprice of the monarch, or the
+ violence of the uppermost faction. Shakspeare, in his historical
+ plays, gives us many pictures of royal and noble suffering from
+ the loss of liberty. One of the latter, with a beautiful
+ antidote, is the address of Gaunt to Bolingbroke, after his
+ banishment by Richard II.:&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>All places that the eye of heaven visits,</p>
+
+ <p>Are to a wise man ports, and happy havens:</p>
+
+ <p>Teach thy necessity to reason thus:</p>
+
+ <p>There is no virtue like necessity.</p>
+
+ <p>Think not, the king did banish thee;</p>
+
+ <p>But thou the king: woe doth heavier sit,</p>
+
+ <p>Where it perceives it is but faintly borne.</p>
+
+ <p>Go, say&mdash;I sent thee forth to purchase honour,</p>
+
+ <p>And not&mdash;the king exiled thee: or suppose,</p>
+
+ <p>Devouring pestilence hangs in our air,</p>
+
+ <p>And thou art flying to a fresher clime.</p>
+
+ <p>Look, what thy soul holds dear, imagine it</p>
+
+ <p>To lie that way thou go'st, not whence thou comest:</p>
+
+ <p>Suppose the singing birds musicians;</p>
+
+ <p>The grass whereon thou tread'st, the presence strew'd;</p>
+
+ <p>The flowers, fair ladies; and thy steps, no more</p>
+
+ <p>Than a delightful measure, or a dance;</p>
+
+ <p>For gnarling sorrow hath less power to bite</p>
+
+ <p>The man that mocks at it, and sets it light.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>Even Napoleon, whose wounds were almost green at his death,
+ sought to chase away the recollections of his ill-starred
+ splendour, by rides and walks in the island, and conversation
+ with his suite in his garden; and Louis XVIII. after his
+ restoration to the throne of France, passed few such happy days
+ as his exile at Hartwell, which though only a pleasant seat
+ enough, had more comfort than the gilded saloons of Versailles,
+ or the hurly-burly of the Tuilleries, with treason hatching in
+ the street beneath the windows, and revolution stinking in the
+ very nostrils of the court. Shakspeare might well call a crown
+ a</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Polished perturbation! golden care!</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>and add&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i8">O majesty!</p>
+
+ <p>When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit</p>
+
+ <p>Like a rich armour worn in heat of day,</p>
+
+ <p>That scalds with safety.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>Goldsmith has somewhat sarcastically lamented that the
+ appetites of the rich do not increase with their wealth; in like
+ manner, it would be a grievous thing could liberty be monopolized
+ or scraped into heaps like wealth; a petty tyrant may persecute
+ and imprison thousands, but he cannot thereby add one hour or
+ inch to his own liberty.</p>
+
+ <p>Another and a very common loss of liberty is by pleasure and
+ the love of fame, especially by the slaves of fashion and the
+ lovers of great place;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Whose lives are others' not their own.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>Pleasure for the most part, consists in fits of anticipation;
+ since, the extra liberty or license of a debauch must be
+ <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>[pg
+ 216]</span> repaid by the iron fetters of headache, and the heavy
+ hand of <i>ennui</i> on the following day: even the purblind
+ puppy of fashion will tell you, if you make free with your
+ constitution, you must suffer for it; and this by a species of
+ slavery. To dance attendance upon a great man for a small
+ appointment, and to <i>boo</i> your way through the world,
+ belongs to the worst of servitude. Congreve compares a levee at a
+ great man's to a list of duns; and Shenstone still more
+ ill-naturedly says, "a courtier's dependant is a beggar's
+ dog."</p>
+
+ <p>Making free, or taking liberties with your fortune, brings
+ about the slavery, if not the sin, of poverty; and to take a
+ liberty with the wealth of another is about as sure a road to
+ slavery as picking pockets is to house-breaking. Debt is another
+ of those odious badges which mark a man as a slave, and let him
+ but go on to recovery, that like a snake in the sunshine, he may
+ be the more effectually scotched and secured. Gay says to Swift,
+ "I hate to be in debt; for I can't bear to pawn five pounds worth
+ of my liberty to a tailor or a butcher. I grant you, this is not
+ having the true spirit of modern nobility; but it is hard to cure
+ the prejudice of education;" and every man will own that a
+ <i>greater</i> slave-master is not to be found at Cape Coast than
+ the law's follower, who says, "I 'rest you;" and then "brings you
+ to all manner of unrest." One of these fellows is even greater
+ than the sultan of an African tribe in till his glory; though he
+ neither bears the insignia of rank nor power&mdash;none of the
+ little finery which wins allegiance and honour&mdash;yet he
+ constrains you "by virtue," and brings about a compromise and
+ temporary cessation of your liberty.</p>
+
+ <p>Taking liberties with the pockets or tables of one's relations
+ and friends, is at best, but a dangerous experiment. It cannot
+ last long before they beg to be excused the liberty, &amp;c., and
+ like the countryman with the golden goose, you get a cold,
+ fireless parlour, or a colder hall reception for your
+ importunity; and, perchance, the silver ore being all gone, you
+ must put up with the French plate. One of the most equivocal, if
+ not dangerous, forms of correspondence is that beginning with "I
+ take the liberty;" for it either portends some well tried
+ "sufferer" as Lord Foppington calls him; a pressing call from a
+ fundless charity; or at best but a note from an advertising
+ tailor to tell you that for several years past you have been
+ paying 50 per cent. too high a price for your clothes; but, like
+ most good news, this comes upon crutches, and the loss is past
+ redemption.</p>
+
+ <p>What is called the liberty of the subject we must leave for a
+ dull barrister to explain: in the meantime, if any reader be
+ impatient for the definition, a night's billeting in Covent
+ Garden watchhouse will initiate him into its blessings; he is not
+ so dull as to require to be told how to get there. The liberty of
+ the press is another ticklish subject to handle&mdash; like a
+ hedgehog&mdash;all points; but we may be allowed to quote, as one
+ of the most harmless specimens of the liberty of the
+ press&mdash;the production of THE MIRROR, as we always
+ acknowledge the liberty by reference to the sources whence our
+ borrowed wealth is taken. This is giving credit in one way, and
+ taking credit for our own honesty.</p>
+
+ <p>Liberty-boys and brawlers would be new acquaintance for us. We
+ are not old enough to remember "Wilkes and 45;" the cap of
+ liberty is now seldom introduced into our national arms, and this
+ and all such emblems are fast fading away. People who used to
+ spout forth Cowper's line and a half on liberty, have given up
+ the profession, and all men are at liberty to think as they
+ please. Still ours is neither the golden nor the silver age of
+ liberty: it is more like paper and platina liberty, things which
+ have the weight and semblance without their value.</p>
+
+ <p>The only odd rencontre we ever had with a liberty advocate was
+ with L'Abbe Gregoire, one of the cabinet advisers of Napoleon,
+ and to judge by his writings, a benevolent man. On visiting him
+ at Paris, we put into our pocket a little work of our leisure,
+ containing upwards of 6,000 quotations on almost every subject.
+ The Abb&eacute;, who understands English well, was delighted with
+ the variety, and on calling again in a few days, we found the
+ venerable patriot had been searching for all the passages on
+ <i>liberty</i>, which he had distinguished by registers: what an
+ evidence is this of his ruling passion. At the time we did not
+ recollect that to M. Gregoire is attributed the republican
+ sentiment "the reign of Kings is the martyrology of nations:" his
+ conversation proved him an enthusiast, but we think this liberty
+ rather too strong.</p>
+
+ <p>PHILO.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>REVENGE.</h3>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i8">'Twas lordly hate that rul'd</p>
+
+ <p>Indomitable. 'Twas a thirst that naught</p>
+
+ <p>But blood of him who broke this aching heart</p>
+
+ <p>Could quench.'&mdash;therefore I struck&mdash;&mdash;.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>CYMBELINE</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>[pg
+ 217]</span></p>
+
+ <h2>THE NATURALIST.</h2>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>THE FLYING DRAGON.</h3>
+
+ <div class="figure" style="width: 50%; float: left;">
+ <a href="images/392-2.png"><img width="100%" src=
+ "images/392-2.png" alt="The Flying Dragon." /></a>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>This beautiful species of the lizard tribe was one of the
+ wonders of our ancestors, who believed it to be a fierce animal
+ with wings, and whose bite was mortal; whereas, it is perfectly
+ harmless, and differs from other lizards merely in its being
+ furnished with an expanding membrane or web, strengthened by a
+ few radii, or small bones. It is about twelve inches in length,
+ and is found in the East Indies and Africa (<i>Blumenbach</i>),
+ where it flies through short distances, from tree to tree, and
+ subsists on flies, ants, and other insects. It is covered with
+ very small scales, and is generally of ash-colour, varied and
+ clouded on the back, &amp;c. with brown, black, and white. The
+ head is of a very singular form, and furnished with a triple
+ pouch, under and on each side the throat.</p>
+
+ <p>Barbarous nations have many fabulous stories of this little
+ animal. They say, for instance, that, although it usually lives
+ in the water, it often bounds up from the surface, and alights on
+ the branch of some adjacent tree, where it makes a noise
+ resembling the laughter of a man.</p>
+
+ <p>The curious reader who is anxious to see a specimen of the
+ Flying Dragon, will be gratified with a young one, preserved in a
+ case with two Cameleons, and exposed for sale in the window of a
+ dealer in articles of <i>vertu</i>, in St. Martin's Court,
+ Leicester Square.</p>
+
+ <h3>COCHINEAL TRANSPLANTED TO JAVA.</h3>
+
+ <p>The success with which the cultivation of the nopal and the
+ breeding of the insect which produces cochineal has been
+ practised at Cadiz, and thence at Malta, is well known. A French
+ apothecary is said to have made the experiment in Corsica, but on
+ a very confined scale; and the King of the Netherlands, on
+ information that the Isle of Java was well adapted for the
+ cultivation of this important article of merchandize, determined
+ on attempting the transplantation into that colony. As the
+ exportation of the trees and of the insect is prohibited by the
+ laws of Spain, some management was requisite to acquire the means
+ of forming this new establishment. The following were those
+ resorted to:&mdash;His Majesty sent to Cadiz, and there
+ maintained, for nearly two years, one of his subjects, a very
+ intelligent person, who introduced himself, and by degrees got
+ initiated into the <i>Garden of Acclimation</i> of the Economic
+ Society, where the breeding of this important insect is carried
+ on. He so well, fulfilled his commission (for which the
+ instructions, it is said, were drawn up by his royal master
+ himself), that he succeeded in procuring about one thousand
+ nopals, all young and vigorous, besides a considerable number of
+ insects; and, moreover, carried on his plans so ably, as to
+ persuade the principal gardener of the Garden of Acclimation to
+ enter for six years into the service of the King of the
+ Netherlands, and to go to Batavia. Between eight and ten thousand
+ Spanish dollars are said to have been the lure held out to him to
+ desert his post. In the service of the Society he gained three
+ shillings a day, paid in Spanish fashion, that is, half, at
+ least, in arrear. A vessel of war was sent to bring away the
+ precious cargo, which, being furtively and safely shipped, the
+ gardener and the insects were on their voyage to Batavia before
+ the least suspicion of what was going on was entertained by the
+ Society.&mdash;<i>From the French</i>.</p>
+
+ <h3>BEES' NESTS.</h3>
+
+ <p>A French journal says, in the woods of Brazil is frequently
+ found hanging from the branches the nest of a species of bee,
+ formed of clay, and about two feet in diameter. It is more
+ probable that these nests belong to some species of wasp, many of
+ which construct hanging nests. One sort of these is very common
+ in the northern parts of Britain, though it is not often found
+ south of Yorkshire.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>[pg
+ 218]</span></p>
+
+ <h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>ASSASSINATION OF MAJOR LAING.</h3>
+
+ <p>The <i>Literary Gazette</i> of Saturday last contains the
+ following very interesting intelligence respecting the
+ assassination of Major Laing, and the existence of his
+ Journal;&mdash;"In giving this tragical and disgraceful story to
+ the British public, (says the Editor), we may notice that the
+ individual who figures so suspiciously in it, viz. Hassouna
+ d'Ghies, must be well remembered a few years ago in London
+ society. We were acquainted with him during his residence here,
+ and often met him, both at public entertainments and at private
+ parties, where his Turkish dress made him conspicuous. He was an
+ intelligent man, and addicted to literary pursuits; in manners
+ more polished than almost any of his countrymen whom we ever
+ knew, and apparently of a gentler disposition than the accusation
+ of having instigated this infamous murder would fix upon
+ him."</p>
+
+ <p>The account then proceeds with the following translation from
+ a <i>Marseilles Journal</i>:&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>It was about three years ago, that Major Laing, son-in-law of
+ Colonel Hammer Warrington, consul-general of England in Tripoli,
+ quitted that city, where he left his young wife, and penetrated
+ into the mysterious continent of Africa, the grave of so many
+ illustrious travellers. After having crossed the chain of Mount
+ Atlas, the country of Fezzan, the desert of Lempta, the Sahara,
+ and the kingdom of Ahades, he arrived at the city of Timbuctoo,
+ the discovery of which has been so long desired by the learned
+ world. Major Laing, by entering Timbuctoo, had gained the reward
+ of 3,000<i>l</i>. sterling, which a learned and generous society
+ in London had promised to the intrepid adventurer who should
+ first visit the great African city, situated between the Nile of
+ the Negroes and the river Gambaron. But Major Laing attached much
+ less value to the gaining of the reward than to the fame acquired
+ after so many fatigues and dangers. He had collected on his
+ journey valuable information in all branches of science: having
+ fixed his abode at Timbuctoo, he had composed the journal of his
+ travels, and was preparing to return to Tripoli, when he was
+ attacked by Africans, who undoubtedly were watching for him in
+ the desert. Laing, who had but a weak escort, defended himself
+ with heroic courage: he had at heart the preservation of his
+ labours and his glory. But in this engagement he lost his right
+ hand, which was struck off by the blow of a yatagan. It is
+ impossible to help being moved with pity at the idea of the
+ unfortunate traveller, stretched upon the sand, writing painfully
+ with his left hand to his young wife, the mournful account of the
+ combat. Nothing can be so affecting as this letter, written in
+ stiff characters, by unsteady fingers, and all soiled with dust
+ and blood. This misfortune was only the prelude to one far
+ greater. Not long afterwards, some people of Ghadames, who had
+ formed part of the Major's escort, arrived at Tripoli, and
+ informed Colonel Warrington that his relation had been
+ assassinated in the desert. Colonel Warrington could not confine
+ himself to giving barren tears to the memory of his son-in-law.
+ The interest of his glory, the honour of England, the affection
+ of a father&mdash;all made it his duty to seek after the authors
+ of the murder, and endeavour to discover what had become of the
+ papers of the victim. An uncertain report was soon spread that
+ the papers of Major Laing had been brought to Tripoli by people
+ of Ghadames; and that a Turk, named Hassouna Dghies, had
+ mysteriously received them. This is the same Dghies whom we have
+ seen at Marseilles, displaying so much luxury and folly, offering
+ to the ladies his perfumes and his shawls&mdash; a sort of
+ travelling Usbeck, without his philosophy and his wit. From
+ Marseilles he went to London, overwhelmed with debts, projecting
+ new ones, and always accompanied by women and creditors. Colonel
+ Warrington was long engaged in persevering researches, and at
+ length succeeded in finding a clue to this horrible mystery. The
+ Pasha, at his request, ordered the people who had made part of
+ the Major's escort to be brought from Ghadames. The truth was at
+ length on the point of being known; but this truth was too
+ formidable to Hassouna Dghies for him to dare to await it, and he
+ therefore took refuge in the abode of Mr. Coxe, the consul of the
+ United States. The Pasha sent word to Mr. Coxe, that he
+ recognised the inviolability of the asylum granted to Hassouna;
+ but that the evidence of the latter being necessary in the
+ prosecution of the proceedings relative to the assassination of
+ Major Laing, he begged him not to favour his flight. Colonel
+ Warrington wrote to his colleague to the same effect. However,
+ Hassouna Dghies left Tripoli on the 9th of August, <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span> in
+ the night, in the disguise, it is said, of an American officer,
+ and took refuge on board the United States corvette
+ <i>Fairfield</i>, Captain Parker, which was then at anchor in the
+ roads of Tripoli. Doubtless, Captain Parker was deceived with
+ respect to Hassouna, otherwise the noble flag of the United
+ States would not have covered with its protection a man accused
+ of being an accomplice in an assassination.</p>
+
+ <p>It is fully believed that this escape was ardently solicited
+ by a French agent. It is even said, that the proposal was first
+ made to the captain of one of our (French) ships, but that he
+ nobly replied, that one of the king's officers could not favour a
+ suspicious flight&mdash;that he would not receive Hassouna on
+ board his ship, except by virtue of a written order, and, at all
+ events in open day, and without disguise.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Fairfield</i> weighed anchor on the 10th of August, in
+ the morning.</p>
+
+ <p>The Pasha, enraged at this escape of Hassouna, summoned to his
+ palace Mohamed Dghies, brother of the fugitive, and there, in the
+ presence of his principal officers, commanded him, with a stern
+ voice, to declare the truth. Mohamed fell at his master's feet,
+ and declared upon oath, and in writing, that his brother Hassouna
+ had had Major Laing's papers in his possession, but that he had
+ delivered them up to a person, for a deduction of forty per cent.
+ on the debts which he had contracted in France, and the recovery
+ of which this person was endeavouring to obtain by legal
+ proceedings.</p>
+
+ <p>The declaration of Mohamed extends to three pages, containing
+ valuable and very numerous details respecting the delivery of the
+ papers of the unfortunate Major, and all the circumstances of
+ this strange transaction.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <p>The shape and size of the Major's papers are indicated with
+ the most minute exactness; it is stated that these papers were
+ taken from him near Timbuctoo, and subsequently delivered to the
+ person abovementioned <i>entire, and without breaking the seals
+ of red wax</i>&mdash;a circumstance which would demonstrate the
+ participation of Hassouna in the assassination; for how can it be
+ supposed otherwise, that the wretches who murdered the Major
+ would have brought these packages to such a distance without
+ having been tempted by cupidity, or even the curiosity so natural
+ to savages, to break open their frail covers?</p>
+
+ <p>Mohamed, however, after he had left the palace, fearing that
+ the Pasha in his anger would make him answerable for his
+ brother's crime, according to the usual mode of doing justice at
+ Tripoli, hastened to seek refuge in the house of the person of
+ whom we have spoken, and to implore his protection. Soon
+ afterwards the consul-general of the Netherlands, accompanied by
+ his colleagues the consuls-general of Sweden, Denmark, and
+ Sardinia, proceeded to the residence of the person pointed out as
+ the receiver, and in the name of Colonel Warrington, and by
+ virtue of the declaration of Mohamed, called upon him instantly
+ to restore Major Laing's papers. He answered haughtily, that this
+ declaration was only a tissue of calumnies; and Mohamed, on his
+ side, trusting, doubtless, in a pretended inviolability,
+ yielding, perhaps, to fallacious promises, retracted his
+ declaration, completely disowned it, and even went so far as to
+ deny his own hand-writing.</p>
+
+ <p>This recantation deceived nobody; the Pasha, in a transport of
+ rage, sent to Mohamed his own son, Sidi Ali; this time influence
+ was of no avail. Mohamed, threatened with being seized by the
+ <i>chiaoux</i>, retracted his retractation; and in a new
+ declaration, in the presence of all the consuls, confirmed that
+ which he made in the morning before the Pasha and his
+ officers.</p>
+
+ <p>One consolatory fact results from these afflicting details:
+ the papers of Major Laing exist, and the learned world will
+ rejoice at the intelligence; but in the name of humanity, in the
+ name of science, in the name of the national
+ honour&mdash;compromised, perhaps, by disgraceful or criminal
+ bargains&mdash;it must be hoped that justice may fall upon the
+ guilty, whoever he may be.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>A COFFEE-ROOM CHARACTER.</h3>
+
+ <p>It was about the year 1805 that we were first ushered into the
+ dining-house called the Cheshire Cheese, in Wine-office-court. It
+ is known that Johnson once lodged in this court, and bought an
+ enormous cudgel while there, to resist a threatened attack from
+ Macpherson, the author, or editor, of <i>Ossian's Poems</i>. At
+ the time we first knew the place (for its visiters and keepers
+ are long since changed for the third or fourth time,) many came
+ there who remembered Johnson and Goldsmith spending their
+ evenings in the coffee-room; old half-pay officers, staid
+ tradesmen of the neighbourhood, and the like, formed the
+ principal portion of the company.</p>
+
+ <p>Few in this vast city know the alley <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> in
+ Fleet-street which leads to the sawdusted floor and shining
+ tables; those tables of mahogany, parted by green-curtained
+ seats, and bound with copper rims to turn the edge of the knife
+ which might perchance assail them during a warm debate; John Bull
+ having a propensity to commit such mutilations in the "torrent,
+ tempest, and whirlwind" of argument. Thousands have never seen
+ the homely clock that ticks over the chimney, nor the capacious,
+ hospitable-looking fire-place under,<a id="footnotetag3" name=
+ "footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> both as
+ they stood half a century ago, when Fleet-street was the emporium
+ of literary talent, and every coffee-house was distinguished by
+ some character of note who was regarded as the oracle of the
+ company.</p>
+
+ <p>Among these was old Colonel L&mdash;&mdash;e, in person short
+ and thick-set. He often sacrificed copiously to the jolly god, in
+ his box behind the door; he was a great smoker, and had numbered
+ between seventy and eighty years. Early in the evening he was
+ punctually at his post; he called, for his pipe and his "go of
+ rack," according to his diurnal custom; and surveying first the
+ persons at his own table, and then those in other parts of the
+ room, he commonly sat a few minutes in silence, as if waiting the
+ stimulating effect of the tobacco to wind up his conversational
+ powers, or perhaps he was bringing out defined images from the
+ dim reminiscences which floated in his sensorium. If a stranger
+ were near, he commonly addressed him with an old soldier's
+ freedom, on some familiar topic which little needed the
+ formalities of a set introduction; but soon changed the subject,
+ and commenced fighting "his battles o'er again." He talked much
+ of Minden, and the campaigns of 1758 and 59. He boasted of having
+ carried the colours of the 20th regiment, that bore the brunt of
+ the day there, and mainly contributed to obtain a "glorious
+ victory," as Southey, in his days of uncourtliness, called that
+ of Blenheim. But though thus fond of showing "how fields were
+ won," he was equally delighted with recounting his acquaintance
+ with more peaceful subjects. He had known Johnson and Goldsmith,
+ together with the list of worthies who honoured Fleet-street by
+ making it their abode between thirty and forty years before, and
+ were at that time visitants of the house. "At this very table,"
+ said he, speaking of that which is situated on the right-hand
+ behind the door, "Johnson used always to sit when he came here,
+ and Goldsmith also. I knew them well. Johnson overawed us all,
+ and every one became silent when he spoke." The colonel observed
+ of Goldsmith, "That no one would have thought much of him from
+ his company, though he had a great name in the world."</p>
+
+ <p>The colonel also knew something of Churchill, described him as
+ by no means prepossessing in person, and one of the last who
+ could have been supposed capable of writing as he wrote. The
+ colonel, in his old age, imagined he too had a taste for poetry,
+ and boasted of Goldsmith's having asserted (perhaps jokingly)
+ that he possessed a talent for writing verse. This idea working
+ in his mind for years, had induced him to print, in his old age,
+ what he called, to the best of my recollection, "A Continuation
+ of the Deserted Village." He always brought a copy with him of an
+ evening, and was fond of referring to it, and passing it round
+ for the company to look at&mdash;a weakness pardonable in a
+ garrulous old man. On revisiting the house, for old acquaintance
+ sake, after an absence of some years from London, I missed him
+ from his accustomed place, which I observed to be occupied by a
+ stranger. On inquiry, I found that he was departed to where human
+ vanity and human wisdom are upon a level, and where man is alike
+ deaf to the voice of literary and military ambition.&mdash;<i>New
+ Monthly Magazine</i>.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>THE ANNUALS FOR 1830.</h3>
+
+ <p>We feel it a duty to the proprietors of these elegant works,
+ as well as to our readers, to give the following <i>annonces</i>
+ of the several volumes for 1830:&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Keepsake</i> is very forward. Among the contributors
+ are Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and the author of "Anastasius."
+ Sir Walter's contribution is a dramatic romance, in imitation of
+ the German; and Lord Byron's are ten letters written by him
+ between 1821, and the time of his lordship's death.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Forget-Me-Not</i> will contain a very gem&mdash;being
+ the first known attempt at poetry, by Lord Byron, copied from the
+ autograph of the noble poet, and certified by the lady to whom it
+ was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>[pg
+ 221]</span> addressed&mdash;the object of his lordship's first,
+ if not his only real attachment.</p>
+
+ <p>Mr. Ackermann has likewise announced a <i>Juvenile</i>
+ Forget-Me-Not, so as to remember all growths.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Literary Souvenir</i> is in a state of great
+ forwardness. Among the contributors are the authors of
+ "Kuzzil-bash;" "Constantinople in 1828;" "The Sorrows of
+ Rosalie;" and "Rouge et Noir." The pencils of Sir Thomas
+ Lawrence, Howard, Collins, Chalon, Harlowe, and Martin, have
+ furnished</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Amulet</i>, among its illustrations will contain an
+ engraving from Mulready's picture of an English Cottage; another
+ from Wilkie's "Dorty Bairn;" and another from a drawing by
+ Martin, engraved by Le Keux, for which he is said to have
+ received one hundred and eighty guineas. Mr. Hall, the editor,
+ has likewise been equally fortunate in an accession of literary
+ talent.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Juvenile</i> Forget-Me-Not, under the superintendence
+ of Mrs. S.C. Hall, also promises unusual attractions, both in
+ picture and print.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Juvenile Keepsake</i>, edited by Mr. T. Roscoe, is said
+ to be completed.</p>
+
+ <p>Another Juvenile Annual, to be called the <i>Zoological
+ Keepsake</i>, is announced, with a host of cuts to enliven the
+ "birds, beasts, and fishes" of the smaller growth.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Gem</i> will re-appear as the <i>Annual Gem</i>, with
+ thirteen embellishments, superintended by A. Cooper, R.A.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Bijou</i> promises well. The embellishments are of the
+ first order, from pictures by Sir Thomas Lawrence, Stothard,
+ Wilkie, and the lamented Bonington. Among the gems are a splendid
+ portrait of <i>the King</i>, from the president's picture, in the
+ possession of Sir William Knighton, Bart.; and a portrait of the
+ beautiful Mrs. Arbuthnot.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Winter's Wreath</i> will bloom with more than its
+ accustomed beauty. Among the contributors we notice, for the
+ first time, the author of "Rank and Talent."</p>
+
+ <p><i>Religious Annuals</i> are on the increase. One of the
+ novelties of this class is "<i>Emmanuel</i>," to be edited by the
+ author of "Clouds and Sunshine," of the excellence of which we
+ have many grateful recollections. The <i>Iris</i>, to be edited
+ by the Rev. Thomas Dale, is another novelty in this way.</p>
+
+ <p>The <i>Musical Bijou</i> has among its composers, Rossini,
+ Bishop, Kalk-brenner, Rodwell, J. Barnet, and others. The lyrists
+ and prose writers are Sir Walter Scott, T.H. Bayley, the Ettrick
+ Shepherd, Messrs. Planche, Richard Ryan, &amp;c.</p>
+
+ <p>One of the most splendid designs of the season is a
+ "<i>Landscape Annual, or the Tourist in Italy and
+ Switzerland</i>," from drawings by Prout; the literary department
+ by T. Roscoe, Esq. and to contain the most attractive views which
+ occur to the traveller on his route from Geneva to Rome. Some of
+ the plates are described as extremely brilliant.</p>
+
+ <p>Two <i>Transatlantic Annuals</i>, the <i>Atlantic
+ Souvenir</i>, published at Philadelphia, and the <i>Token</i>,
+ published at Boston&mdash;may be expected in London.</p>
+
+ <p>The foregoing are all the announcements we have been able to
+ collect. We miss two or three established favourites; but we hope
+ to make their promises the subject of a future paragraph.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>THE GOOSE.</h3>
+
+ <p>In England the goose is sacred to St. Michael; in Scotland,
+ where dainties were not going every day,</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"'Twas Christmas sent its savoury goose."</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>The Michaelmas goose is said to owe its origin to Queen
+ Elizabeth's dining on one at the table of an English baronet on
+ that day when she received tidings of the dispersion of the
+ Spanish Armada, in commemoration of which she ordered the
+ <i>goose</i> to make its appearance every Michaelmas. In some
+ places, particularly Caithness, geese are cured and smoked, and
+ are highly relishing. Smoked Solan geese are well known as
+ contributing to the abundance of a Scottish breakfast, though too
+ rank and fishy-flavoured for unpractised palates. The goose has
+ made some figure in English history. The churlishness of the
+ brave Richard Coeur de Lion, a sovereign distinguished for an
+ insatiable appetite and vigorous digestion, in an affair of roast
+ goose, was the true cause of his captivity in Germany. The king,
+ disguised as a palmer, was returning to his own dominions,
+ attended by Sir Fulk Doyley and Sir Thomas de Multon, "brothers
+ in arms," and wearing the same privileged garb. They arrived in
+ Almain, (Germany,) at the town of Carpentras, where,</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"A <i>goose</i> they dight to their dinner.</p>
+
+ <p>In a tavern where they were.</p>
+
+ <p>King Richard the fire bet,</p>
+
+ <p>Thomas to him the spit set;</p>
+
+ <p>Fouk Doyley tempered the wood;</p>
+
+ <p>Dear a-bought they that good;"</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>[pg
+ 222]</span> for in came a <i>Minstralle</i>, or she-Minstrel,
+ with offer of specimens of her art in return for a leg of the
+ goose and a cup of the wine. Richard, who loved "rich meats," and
+ cared little at this time for their usual accompaniment,
+ "minstrelsy,"&mdash;</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"&mdash;bade that she would go;</p>
+
+ <p>That turned him to mickle woe.</p>
+
+ <p>The Minstralle took in mind,</p>
+
+ <p>And said, ye are men unkind:</p>
+
+ <p>And if I may ye shall <i>for-think</i></p>
+
+ <p>Ye gave me neither meat nor drink!"</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>The lady, who was English, recognised the king, and denounced
+ him to the king of Germany, who ordered the pilgrims into his
+ presence, insulted Richard, "said him shame," called him
+ <i>taylard</i>, probably for his affection for goose, and finally
+ ordered him to a dungeon. But Richard, a true knightly eater,
+ who, besides roast goose, liked to indulge in</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p class="i8">"Bread and wine,</p>
+
+ <p>Piment and clarry good and fine;</p>
+
+ <p>Cranes and swans, and venison;</p>
+
+ <p>Partridges, plovers, and heron,&mdash;</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>was neither dainty nor over-nice. At a pinch he could eat any
+ thing, which on sundry emergencies stood him in great stead.
+ <i>Wax</i> and <i>nuts</i>, and tallow and grease mixed, carried
+ him through one campaign, when the enemy thought to have starved
+ out the English army and its cormorant commander. The courage and
+ strength of Richard were always redoubled after dinner. It was
+ then his greatest feats were performed.&mdash;<i>Romance of Coeur
+ de Lion</i>.</p>
+
+ <p>The livers of geese and poultry are esteemed a great delicacy
+ by some <i>gourmands</i>; and on the continent great pains are
+ taken to procure fat overgrown livers. The methods employed to
+ produce this diseased state of the animals are as disgusting to
+ rational taste as revolting to humanity. The geese are crammed
+ with fat food, deprived of drink, kept in an intolerably hot
+ atmosphere, and fastened by the feet (we have heard of nailing)
+ to the shelves of the fattening cribs. The celebrated
+ <i>Strasburg pies</i>, which are esteemed so great a delicacy
+ that they are often sent as presents to distant places, are
+ enriched with these diseased livers. It is a mistake that these
+ pies are wholly made of this artificial animal substance.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>TURKEY</h3>
+
+ <p>Colonel Rottiers, a recent traveller in Turkey, holds out the
+ following temptation to European enterprise:&mdash;</p>
+
+ <p>The terrestrial paradise, which is supposed to be situated in
+ Armenia, appeared to M. Rottiers to stretch along the shores of
+ the Black Sea. The green banks, sloping into the water, are
+ sometimes decked with box-trees of uncommon size, sometimes
+ clothed with natural orchards, in which the cherries, pears,
+ pomegranates, and other fruits, growing in their indigenous soil,
+ possess a flavour indescribably exquisite. The bold eminences are
+ crowned with superb forests or majestic ruins, which alternately
+ rule the scenes of this devoted country, from the water's edge to
+ the summit of the mountains. The moral and political condition of
+ the country contrasts forcibly with the flourishing aspect of
+ nature. At Sinope there is no commerce, and the Greeks having, in
+ consequence, deserted the place, the population is at present
+ below 5,000. This city, once the capital of the great
+ Mithridates, enjoys natural advantages, which, but for the
+ barbarism of the Turkish government, would soon raise it into
+ commercial eminence. It has a deep and capacious
+ harbour&mdash;the finest timber in the world grows in its
+ vicinity&mdash;and the district of the interior, with which it
+ immediately communicates, is one of the most productive and
+ industrious in Asiatic Turkey. Amasia, the ancient capital of
+ Cappadocia, Tokat, and Costambol, are rich and populous towns.
+ Near the last is held an annual fair, commencing fifteen days
+ before the feast of Ramadan, and which is said to be attended by
+ at least fifty thousand merchants, from all parts of the east.
+ From the nature of the country in which it is situated, M.
+ Rottiers is disposed to believe that Sinope holds out peculiarly
+ strong inducements to European enterprise. He also had an
+ opportunity of observing, that its defences were gone totally to
+ ruin, and significantly remarks, that it could not possibly
+ withstand a <i>coup de main</i>. Amastra, a great and wealthy
+ city while possessed by the Genoese in the middle ages, is now a
+ wretched village, occupied by a few Turkish families, whose whole
+ industry consists in making a few toys and articles of wooden
+ ware. It stands on a peninsula, which appears to have been
+ formerly an island, and the Isthmus uniting it to the mainland is
+ wholly composed, according to the account of Mr. Eton, who
+ surveyed part of this coast, of fragments of columns and marble
+ friezes.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>GEORGIAN WINE.</h3>
+
+ <p>The chief production of Georgia is wine, which is of excellent
+ quality, and so abundant in the countries situated <span class=
+ "pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span>
+ between the Caspian and the Black Seas, that it would soon become
+ a most important object of exportation, if the people could be
+ induced to improve their methods of making and preserving it. At
+ present the grapes are gathered and pressed without any care, and
+ the process of fermentation is so unskilfully managed, that the
+ wine rarely keeps till the following vintage. The skins of
+ animals are the vessels in which it is kept. The hair is turned
+ inwards, and the interior of the bag is thickly besmeared with
+ asphaltum or mineral tar, which renders the vessel indeed
+ perfectly sound, but imparts an abominable flavour to the wine,
+ and even adds to its acescence. The Georgians have not yet
+ learned to keep their wine in casks, without which it is vain to
+ look for any improvements in its manufacture. Yet the mountains
+ abound in the requisite materials, and only a few coopers are
+ requisite to make the commencement. The consumption of wine in
+ Georgia, and above all at Tiflis, is prodigiously great. From the
+ prince to the peasant the ordinary ration of a Georgian, if we
+ may believe M. Gamba, is one <i>tonque</i>, (equal to five
+ bottles and a half of Bordeaux) per day. A <i>tonque</i> of the
+ best wine, such as is drunk by persons of rank, costs about
+ twenty sous; the inferior wines are sold for less than a sous per
+ bottle.&mdash;<i>Foreign Quar. Rev</i>.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>HISTORICAL FIDELITY.</h3>
+
+ <p>The court historiographer of the Burmese, has recorded in the
+ national chronicle his account of the war with the English to the
+ following purport: &mdash;"In the years 1186 and 87, the
+ Kula-pyu, or white strangers of the west, fastened a quarrel upon
+ the Lord of the Golden Palace. They landed at Rangoon, took that
+ place and Prome, and were permitted to advance as far as Yandabo;
+ for the king, from motives of piety and regard to life, made no
+ effort whatever to oppose them. The strangers had spent vast sums
+ of money in their enterprise; and by the time they reached
+ Yandabo, their resources were exhausted, and they were in great
+ distress. They petitioned the king, who, in his clemency and
+ generosity, sent them large sums of money to pay their expenses
+ back, and ordered them out of the country."&mdash; <i>Crawfurd's
+ Embassy to Ava.</i></p>
+
+ <p>To quote a vulgar proverb, this is making the best of a bad
+ job.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>DRESS.</h3>
+
+ <p>How far a man's clothes are or are not a part of himself, is
+ more than I would take on myself to decide, without farther
+ inquiry; though I lean altogether to the affirmative. The
+ inhabitants of the South Sea Islands were astonished and alarmed
+ when they, first saw the Europeans strip. Yet they would have
+ been much more so, could they have entered into the notions
+ prevalent in the civilized world on the subject of a wardrobe;
+ could they have understood how much virtue lies inherent in a
+ superfine broad cloth, how much respectability in a gilt button,
+ how much sense in the tie of a cravat, how much amiability in the
+ cut of a sleeve, how much merit of every sort in a Stultz and a
+ Hoby. There are who pretend, and that with some plausibilty, that
+ these things are but typical; that taste in dress is but the
+ outward and visible sign of the frequentation of good company;
+ and that propriety of exterior is but evidence of a general sense
+ of the fitness of things. Yet if this were really the case, if
+ there were nothing intrinsic in the relation of the clothes to
+ the wearer, how could a good coat at once render a pickpocket
+ respectable; or a clean shirt pass current, as it does, with
+ police magistrates for a clean conscience. In England, a handsome
+ <i>toggery</i> is a better defensive armour, than "helm and
+ hauberk's twisted mail." While the seams are perfect, and the
+ elbows do not appear through the cloth, the law cannot penetrate
+ it. A gentleman, (that is to say, a man who can pay his tailor's
+ bill,) is above suspicion; and benefit of clergy is nothing to
+ the privilege and virtue of a handsome exterior. That the skin is
+ nearer than the shirt, is a most false and mistaken idea. The
+ smoothest skin in Christendom would not weigh with a jury like a
+ cambric ruffle; and moreover, there is not a poor devil in town
+ striving to keep up appearances in spite of fortune, who would
+ not far rather tear his flesh than his unmentionables; which can
+ only arise from their being so much more important a part of
+ himself.&mdash;<i>New Monthly Magazine</i>.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <p>The French have a kind of irritable jealousy towards the
+ English, which makes them forget their general politeness. Give
+ them but a civil word, make the least advance, and they receive
+ you with open arms; but show them that cold reserve with which an
+ Englishman generally treats all strangers, and every Frenchman's
+ hand is on his sword.&mdash;<i>New Monthly Magazine</i>.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>[pg
+ 224]</span></p>
+
+ <h2>THE GATHERER.</h2>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.</p>
+
+ <p>SHAKSPEARE.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>JACK SHEPPARD.</h3>
+
+ <p>When this notorious felon was under sentence of death, the
+ Right Hon. Charles Wolfran Cornwall, then Speaker of the House of
+ Commons, was strongly solicited to apply to his majesty for a
+ pardon, as he was related to him. "No," said Mr. Cornwall, "I
+ should deserve public censure if I attempted to contribute to the
+ prolongation of the life of a man who has so frequently been a
+ nuisance to society, and has given so many proofs that kindness
+ to him would be cruelty to others. Were my own son to offend
+ one-tenth part so often as he has done, I should think it my duty
+ rather to solicit his punishment than his pardon."</p>
+
+ <p>C.C.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>EPITAPH</h3>
+
+ <p><i>On S&mdash;&mdash; E&mdash;&mdash;, an intelligent and
+ amiable boy, who was unfortunately drowned while bathing</i>.</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>Though gentle as a dove, his soul sublime,</p>
+
+ <p>For heav'n impatient, would not wait for time;</p>
+
+ <p>Ere youth had bloom'd his virtues ripe were seen,</p>
+
+ <p>A man in intellect! a child in mien!</p>
+
+ <p>A hallow'd wave from mercy's fount was pour'd,</p>
+
+ <p>And, wash'd from clay, to bliss his spirit soar'd.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>A HOLY HERMIT.</h3>
+
+ <p>A hermit, named Parnhe, being upon the road to meet his bishop
+ who had sent for him, met a lady most magnificently dressed,
+ whose incomparable beauty drew the eyes of every body on her. The
+ saint having looked at her, and being himself struck with
+ astonishment, immediately burst into tears. Those who were with
+ him wondering to see him weep, demanded the cause of his grief.
+ "I have two reasons," replied he, "for my tears; I weep to think
+ how fatal an impression that woman makes on all who behold her;
+ and I am touched with sorrow when I reflect that I, for my
+ salvation, and to please God, have never taken one-tenth part of
+ the pains which this woman has taken to please men alone."</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>BUNGLING TRANSLATION.</h3>
+
+ <p>At a country village in Yorkshire, was an old established
+ cobbler, who cracked his joke, loved his pipe and lived happy. In
+ short, he was a sober and industrious man. His quiet, however,
+ was disturbed by an unexpected opposition in his trade, at the
+ same village, and to add to his misfortune, the new comer
+ established himself directly opposite to the old cobbler's stall,
+ and at the same time to show his learning and probity, painted in
+ large letters over his door, "<i>Mens conscia recti</i>." To
+ conceive the meaning of this, the poor cobbler laboured night and
+ day, but unsuccessfully; he at last determined that this
+ "<i>consciarecti</i>" was a new sort of shoe made for men's use;
+ he therefore painted over his door, "<i>Men's and Women's
+ consciarecti</i>," where it remains still.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <p>A schoolboy reading Cassar's "Commentaries" came to translate
+ the following passage thus: "Caesar venit in Gallia summa
+ diligentia." "Caesar came into Gaul on the top of the
+ Diligence."</p>
+
+ <p>O.O.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>VERY BAD.</h3>
+
+ <p>A wag, who "will be the death of us," says he bought a cake
+ the other evening:&mdash;"It is <i>thundering</i> weight,"
+ observed the baker: "I hope it will not <i>lighten</i> before I
+ get it home," was the equivocal reply.</p>
+
+ <p>Q.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3>IMPROMPTU</h3>
+
+ <p>On hearing a <i>Watchman</i> cry the hour on Tuesday morning,
+ September 29, the last of his duty.</p>
+
+ <div class="poem">
+ <div class="stanza">
+ <p>"Farewell! mine occupation's gone,"</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">He sung in "half-past five;"</p>
+
+ <p>Here ends his call, his beat is done,</p>
+
+ <p class="i2">How then can he survive.</p>
+ </div>
+ </div>
+
+ <p>TOM.</p>
+ <hr />
+
+ <h3><i>LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS</i>.</h3>
+
+ <p>CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the
+ Strand, near Somerset House.</p>
+
+ <p>The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS, Embellished with nearly
+ 150 Engravings. In 6 Parts, 1s. each.</p>
+
+ <p>The TALES of the GENII. 4 Parts, 6d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &amp;c. 4 Parts,
+ 6d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 12 Parts, 1s.
+ each.</p>
+
+ <p>COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, 12 Numbers, 3d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>COOK'S VOYAGES, 28 Numbers, 3d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD
+ DISPLAYED. 27 Nos. 2d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>BEAUTIES of SCOTT, 36 Numbers, 3d. each.</p>
+
+ <p>The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d.</p>
+
+ <p>GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d.</p>
+
+ <p>DR. FRANKLIN'S ESSAYS. Price 1s. 2d.</p>
+
+ <p>BACON'S ESSAYS Price 8d.</p>
+
+ <p>SALMAGUNDI. Price 1s. 8d.</p>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+ <blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:
+ <a href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a>
+
+ <p>At the end of Dorset-street, now communicating with
+ Fleet-street, through Salisbury-square and Salisbury-court.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:
+ <a href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a>
+
+ <p>The <i>Globe</i>, the <i>Rose</i>, and the <i>Swan</i>, were
+ on Baukside; besides which there were, either then or after,
+ six other theatres on the Middlesex bank of the Thames.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+
+ <blockquote class="footnote">
+ <a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:
+ <a href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a>
+
+ <p>We may add that still fewer have seen the characteristic
+ whole-length portrait of "<i>Harry</i>," <i>the waiter</i>,
+ which has been placed over the fireplace, by subscription among
+ the frequenters of the room. <i>Wageman</i> is the painter, and
+ nothing can describe the <i>bonhommie</i> of Harry, who has
+ just drawn the cork of a pint of port, exulting in all the
+ vainglory of crust and bees' wing.&mdash;ED. MIRROR.</p>
+ </blockquote>
+ <hr class="full" />
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11456 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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