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diff --git a/11458-0.txt b/11458-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fe1d574 --- /dev/null +++ b/11458-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1643 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11458 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11458-h.htm or 11458-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/4/5/11458/11458-h/11458-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/4/5/11458/11458-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 14, NO. 403.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +Fall of the Staubbath. + + +[Illustration: Fall of the Staubbath.] + + +In the poet and the philosopher, the lover of the sublime, and the +student of the beautiful in art--the contemplation of such a scene as +this must awaken ecstatic feelings of admiration and awe. Its effect +upon the mere man of the world, whose mind is clogged up with +common-places of life, must be overwhelming as the torrent itself; +perchance he soon recovers from the impression; but the lover of Nature, +in her wonders, reads lessons of infinite wisdom, combined with all that +is most fascinating to the mind of inquiring man. In the school of her +philosophy, mountains, rivers, and falls not only astonish and delight +him in their vast outlines and surfaces, but in their exhaustless +varieties and transformations, he enjoys old and new worlds of +knowledge, apart from the proud histories of man, and the comparative +insignificance of all that he has laboured to produce on the face of the +globe. + +Few have witnessed the _Staubbach_, or similar wonders without +acknowledging the force of their impressions. This Fall is in the valley +of Lauterbrun, the most picturesque district of Switzerland. Simond,[1] +in describing its beauties, says, "we began to ascend the valley of +Lauterbrun, by the side of its torrent (the Lutschine) among fragments +of rocks, torn from the heights on both sides, and beautiful trees, +shooting up with great luxuriance and in infinite variety; smooth +pastures of the richest verdure, carpeted over every interval of plain +ground; and the harmony of the sonorous cow-bell of the Alps, heard +among the precipices above our heads and below us, told us we were not +in a desart." "The ruins of the mineral world, apparently so durable, +and yet in a state of incessant decomposition, form a striking contrast +with the perennial youth of the vegetable world; each individual plant, +so frail and perishable, while the species is eternal in the existing +economy of nature. Imperceptible forests of timber scarcely tinge their +inert masses of gneiss and granite, into which they anchor their roots; +grappling with substances which, when struck with steel, tear up the +tempered grain, and dash out the spark." This may be an enthusiastic, +but is doubtless the faithful, impression of our tourist; and in +descriptions of sublime nature, we should + + + Survey the whole; nor seek slight fault to find, + Where Nature moves, and rapture warms the mind. + + + [1] Switzerland; or a Journal of a Tour and Residence in that + country, in 1817, 1818, and 1819. By L. Simond, 2 vols. 8 vo. + Second Edit. 1823 Murray. + + +Each valley has its appropriate stream, proportioned to its length, and +the number of lateral valleys opening into it. The boisterous Lutschine +is the stream of Lauterbrun, and it carries to the Lake of Brientz +scarcely less water than the Aar itself. About half way between +Interlaken and Lauterbrun, is the junction of the two Lutschines, the +black and the white, from the different substances with which they have +been in contact. + +Simond says, "after passing several falls of water, each of which we +mistook for the Staubbach, we came at last to the house where we were to +sleep. It had taken us three hours to come thus far; in twenty minutes +more we reached the heap of rubbish accumulated by degrees at the foot +of the Staubbach; its waters descending from the height of the +Pletschberg, form in their course several mighty cataracts, and the last +but one is said to be the finest; but is not readily accessible, nor +seen at all from the valley. The fall of the Staubbach, about _eight +hundred feet in height_, wholly detached from the rock, is reduced into +vapour long before it reaches the ground; the water and the vapour +undulating through the air with more grace and elegance than sublimity. +While amusing ourselves with watching the singular appearance of rockets +of water shooting down into the dense cloud of vapour below, we were +joined by some country girls, who gave us a concert of three voices, +pitched excessively high, and more like the vibrations of metal or glass +than the human voice, but in perfect harmony, and although painful in +some degree, yet very fine. In winter an immense accumulation of ice +takes place at the foot of the Fall, sometimes as much as three hundred +feet broad, with two enormous icy stalactites hanging down over it. When +heat returns, the falling waters hollow out cavernous channels through +the mass, the effect of which is said to be very fine; this, no doubt, +is the proper season to see the Staubbach to most advantage." Six or +eight miles further, the valley ends in glaciers scarcely practicable +for chamois hunters. About forty years since some miners who belonged to +the Valais, and were at work at Lauterbrun, undertook to cross over to +their own country, simply to hear mass on a Sunday. They traversed the +level top of the glacier in three hours; then descended, amidst the +greatest dangers, its broken slope into the Valais, and returned the day +after by the same way; but no one else has since ventured on the +dangerous enterprise. + +Apart from the romantic attraction of the Fall, the broad-eaved chalet +and its accessaries form a truly interesting picture of village +simplicity and repose. Here you are deemed rich with a capital of three +hundred pounds. All that is not made in the country, or of its growth, +is deemed luxury: a silver chain here as at Berne, is transmitted from +mother to daughter. Dwellings and barns covered with tiles, and windows +with large panes of glass, give to the owner a reputation of wealth; and +if the outside walls are adorned with paintings, and passages of +Scripture are inscribed on the front of the house, the owner ranks at +once among the aristocracy of the country. What an association of +primitive happiness do these humble attributes and characteristics of +Swiss scenery convey to the unambitious mind. Think of this, ye who +regard palaces as symbols of true enjoyment! and ye who imprison +yourselves in overgrown cities, and wear the silken fetters of wealth +and pride!--an aristocrat of Lauterbrun eclipses all your splendour, and +a poor Swiss cottager in his humble chalet, is richer than the +wealthiest of you--for he is _content_. + + * * * * * + + +PSALMODY. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +In my paper of the 22nd of August, on this subject, I promised to resume +it on my next coming to London, which has been retarded by several +causes. + +In visiting the Churches of All Souls, and Trinity, the psalmody is by +no means to be praised. It is chiefly by the charity children, the +singing (or rather noise) is in their usual way, and which will go on to +the end of time, unless by the permission of the clergy, some +intelligent instructors are allowed to lead as in the Chapel of St. +James, near Mornington Place, in the Hampstead Road. The author of the +paper on Music, in your publication of the 6th of September, very fairly +puts the question, "Why are not the English a musical people?" and he +shows many of the interrupting causes. It may happen, however, that by +cultivating psalmody in our churches and chapels, considerable progress +may be made. The young will be instructed, and the more advanced will +_attend_, and we know the power of _attention_ (the only quality in +which Sir Isaac Newton could be persuaded to believe he had any one +advantage in intellect over his fellow men.) + +It is much to be regretted that the poetry in which our Episcopal Psalms +and Hymns are sung, is confined to the versions of Sternhold and +Hopkins, and of Tate and Brady. The poetry of Sternhold and Hopkins is +in general uncouth with some few exceptions. Tate and Brady have made +their versification somewhat more congenial with the modern improvements +of our language; but each confines himself to the very literal language +of the Old Testament; Sternhold and Hopkins in this respect have the +advantage of their successors, Tate and Brady; for the translations of +Sternhold and Hopkins are nearer to the original Hebrew. + +The main object of my hope is, that the version of the Psalms now in use +may be altered, or rather improved, in such a manner as to manifest +their prophetic and typical relation to Christianity, to which in their +present form so little reference is to be perceived by those "who should +read as they run." A change or improvement in this respect would give a +more enlivening interest in Psalmody. Dr. Watts has done this with great +truth and effect, and the singing in the churches and chapels in which +his version is in whole or in part introduced, proceeds with a more +Christian spirit: and a vast improvement has sprung from this source, in +the sacred music of those churches and chapels. + +To illustrate this part of my paper, let me refer to the version +employed in several of the new churches, and to the version of Dr. +Watts, in the spiritual interpretation of the 4th Psalm. In the version +first referred to, the words are-- + + + The place of ancient sacrifice + Let _righteousness_ supply, + And let your hope securely fix'd + On Him alone rely. + + +Now in this version it naturally occurs to inquire _what righteousness_? +The high churchman will content himself that it is a literal +translation; but the way-faring man sees nothing of the atoning +righteousness of Christ in this translation; but which according to the +11th article of the Church of England, he reasonably looks for. Even +the Unitarians refer to this and other parts of our translation of the +Hebrew Psalms, as a justification of THEIR main principle of the unity +alone in the godhead. + +Dr. Watts, a genuine Christian, believing in the union of the Father, +Son, and Spirit, and manifesting this pure faith to the end of a +well-spent life, gives the Christian meaning of this righteousness, in +his version of the 4th Psalm: + + + Know that the Lord divides his Saints + From all the tribes of men beside, + He hears the cry of penitents + For the dear sake of Christ who died. + + +Here the true typical and prophetic meaning of the Old Testament is +given. + +The version used by the English church in the 5th Psalm is subject to +the same observation as on the 4th. + +The church version is + + + Thou in the morn shall hear my voice + And with the dawn of day, + To thee devoutly I look up, + To thee devoutly pray. + + +Dr. Watts, who gives the Christian meaning of this Psalm, translates or +paraphrases thus truly:-- + + + Lord in the morning thou shall hear + My voice ascending high, + To thee will I direct my pray'r, + To thee lift up mine eye. + Up to the hills where Christ is gone + _To plead for all his Saints_, + Presenting at his father's throne, + Our songs and our complaints. + + +Psalmody, or the singing of sacred music, conducted by such a gracious +and animated sense of the revealed word of God, must naturally be +performed, as it must be ardently felt, in a different spirit--and this +truth we perceive daily verified; but while a considerable portion of +our clergy not only are strict in confining the singing to the last +_version_, or to parts of Sternhold, and even prescribe the very dull +old _tunes_ to be made use of, improvement in church music is not to be +expected. I have before me a list of tunes, to which the organists of +our churches and episcopal chapels are limited in their playing; and, +what is singular, three of the chief clergymen of the churches confess +they literally have no ear for music, and are utter strangers to what an +_octave_ means, and yet their _authority_ decides. + +It is not intended to enter into any polemical discussion, as +controversy is not necessary to the improvement of psalmody; but less +than has been stated would not have shown the advantage to be acquired +by the use of a more Christian sense to those who rely on Christ as +their Redeemer. We know, from experience, how agreeable it is to the +mind and senses to hear the praises to the Almighty sung by the proper +rules of harmony, and with what spiritual animation the upright and +sincere youth of both sexes unite in this delightful service. + +With these views, I respectfully submit to the clergymen of the new +churches to pursue the course which receives such universal approbation +in St. James's Chapel, Mornington-place, Hampstead-road. The simplicity +and effect must be strong motives to excite their attention, and I hope +to witness its adoption. + +CHRISTIANUS. + + * * * * * + + +THE THIEF. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + I tell with equal truth and grief, + That little C--'s an arrant thief, + Before the urchin well could go, + She stole the whiteness of the snow. + And more--that whiteness to adorn, + She snatch'd the blushes of the morn; + Stole all the softness aether pours + On primrose buds in vernal show'rs. + + There's no repeating all her wiles, + She stole the Graces' winning smiles; + 'Twas quickly seen she robb'd the sky, + To plant a star in either eye; + She pilfer'd orient pearl for teeth, + And suck'd the cow's ambrosial breath; + The cherry steep'd in morning dew + Gave moisture to her lips and hue. + + These were her infant spoils, a store + To which in time she added more; + At twelve she stole from Cyprus' Queen + Her air and love-commanding mien; + Stole _Juno's_ dignity, and stole + From _Pallas_ sense, to charm the soul; + She sung--amaz'd the Sirens heard + And to assert their voice appear'd. + + She play'd, the Muses from their hill, + Marvell'd who thus had stole their skill; + _Apollo's_ wit was next her prey, + Her next the beam that lights the day; + While _Jove_ her pilferings to crown, + Pronounc'd these beauties all her own; + Pardon'd her crimes, and prais'd her art, + And t'other day she stole--my heart. + + Cupid, if lovers are thy care, + Revenge thy vot'ry on this fair; + Do justice on her stolen charms, + And let her prison be--my arms. + +W.H.H. + + * * * * * + + +SHAKSPEARE. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +In the Drama entitled _Shakspeare's Early Days_, the compliment which +the poet is made to pay the queen: "That as at her birth she wept when +all around was joy, so at her death she will smile while all around is +grief," has been admired by the critics. In this jewel-stealing age, it +is but just to restore the little brilliant to its owner. The following +lines are in Sir William Jones's Life, translated by him from one of the +Eastern poets, and are so exquisitely beautiful that I think they will +be acceptable to some of your fair readers for their albums. + +T.B. + + + +TO AN INFANT. + + + On parent's knees, a naked new-born child, + Weeping thou sat'st, while all around thee smil'd. + So live, that sinking to thy last long sleep, + Calm thou may'st smile, while all around thee--weep. + + * * * * * + + +THE RUINED WELL. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + The form of ages long gone by + Crowd thick on Fancy's wondering eye, + And wake the soul to musings high! + +J.T. WALTER. + + + Where are the lights that shone of yore + Around this haunted spring? + Do they upon some distant shore + Their holy lustre fling? + It was not thus when pilgrims came + To hymn beneath the night, + And dimly gleam'd the censor's flame + When stars and streams were bright. + + What art thou--since five hundred years + Have o'er thy waters roll'd; + Since clouds have wept their crystal tears + From skies of beaming gold? + Thy rills receive the tint of heaven, + Which erst illum'd thy shrine; + And sweetest birds their songs have given, + For music more divine. + + Beside thee hath the maiden kept + Her vigils pale and lone; + While darkly have her ringlets swept + The chapel's sculptur'd stone; + And when the vesper-hymn was sung + Around the warrior's bier, + With cross and banner o'er him hung, + What splendour crown'd thee here! + + But a cloud has fall'n upon thy fame! + The woodman laves his brow, + Where shrouded monks and vestals came + With many a sacred vow; + And bluely gleams thy sainted spring + Beneath the sunny tree; + Then let no heart its sadness bring, + _When_ Nature is with thee. + +REGINALD AUGUSTINE. + + * * * * * + + +A Siamese Chief hearing an Englishman expatiate upon the magnitude of +our navy, and afterwards that England was at peace, cooly observed, "If +you are at peace with all the world, why do you keep up so great a +navy?" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + + * * * * * + + +WRECK ON A CORAL REEF. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +I take the liberty of transmitting you an authentic, though somewhat +concise, narrative of the loss of the Hon. Company's regular ship, +"Cabalva," (on the Cargados, Carajos, in the Indian Seas, in latitude +16° 45 s.) in July, 1818, no detailed account having hitherto appeared. +The following was written by one of the surviving officers, in a letter +to a friend. + +A CONSTANT READER. + +The Hon. Company's ship, Cabalva, having struck on the Owers, in the +English Channel, and from that circumstance, proving leaky, and +manifesting great weakness in her frame, it was thought advisable to +bear up for Bombay in order to dock the ship. Meeting with a severe gale +of wind off the Cape, (in which we made twenty inches of water per +hour,) we parted from our consort, and shaped a course for Bombay; but +on the 7th of July, between four and five A.M. (the weather dark and +cloudy) the ship going seven or eight knots, an alarm was given of +breakers on the larboard bow; the helm was instantly put hard-a-port, +and the head sheets let go; but before it could have the desired effect, +she struck; the shock was so violent, that every person was instantly on +deck, with horror and amazement depicted on their countenances. An +effort was made to get the ship off, but it was immediately seen that +all endeavours to save her must be useless; she soon became fixed, and +the sea broke over her with tremendous force; stove in her weather side, +making a clear passage--washed through the hatchways, tearing up the +decks, and all that opposed its violence. + +We were now uncertain of our distance from a place of safety; the surf +burst over the vessel in a dreadful cascade, the crew despairing and +clinging to her sides to avoid its violence, while the ship was breaking +up with a rapidity and crashing noise, which added to the roaring of the +breakers, drowned the voices of the officers. The masts were cut away to +ease the ship, and the cutter cleared from the booms and launched from +the lee-gunwale. When the long wished-for dawn at last broke on us, +instead of alleviating, it rather added to, our distress. We found the +ship had run on the south-easternmost extremity of a coral reef, +surrounding on the eastern side those sand-banks or islands in the +Indian ocean, called Cargados, Carajos: the nearest of these was about +three miles distant, but not the least appearance of verdure could be +discovered, or the slightest trace of anything on which we might hope to +subsist. In two or three places some pyramidical rocks appeared above +the rest like distant sails, and were repeatedly cheered as such by the +crew, till it was soon perceived they had no motion, and the delusion +vanished. The masts had fallen towards the reef, the ship having +fortunately canted in that direction, and the boat was thereby protected +in some measure from the surf. Our commander, whom a strong sense of +misfortune had entirely deprived of mind so necessary on these +occasions, was earnestly requested to get into the boat, but he would +not, thinking her unsafe. He maintained his station on the mizen +top-mast that lay among the wreck to leeward; the surf which was rushing +round the bow and stern continually overwhelming him. I was myself close +to him on the same spar, and in this situation we saw many of our +shipmates meet an untimely end, being either dashed against the rocks or +swept over by the breakers. The large cutter, full of officers and men, +now cleared a passage through the mass of wreck, and being furnished +with oars, watched the proper moment and pushed off for the reef, which +she fortunately gained in safety; they were all washed out of her in an +instant by a tremendous surf, yet out of more than sixty which it +contained, only one man was drowned. Our captain seeing this, wished he +had taken advice, which was now of no use. Finding I could not longer +maintain myself on the same spar, and seeing the captain in a very +exhausted state, I solicited him to return to the wreck, but he replied, +that since we must all eventually perish, I should not think of his, but +rather of my own, preservation. An enormous breaker now burst on us with +irresistible force, so that I scarcely noticed what occurred to him +afterwards, being buried by successive seas. At length, after the most +desperate efforts, I was thrown on the reef, half drowned and severely +cut by the sharp coral, when I silently offered up thanks for my +preservation, and crawling up the reef, waved my hand to encourage those +who remained behind. + +The captain, however, was not to be seen, and most of the others had +returned to the wreck and were employed in getting the small cutter into +the water, which they accomplished, and safely reached the shore. About +noon, when we had all left the ship, she was a perfect wreck. The whole +of the upper works, from the after part of the forecastle to the break +of the poop deck, had separated from her bottom about the upper +futtock-heads, and was driving in towards the reef. Most of the lighter +cargo had floated out of her. Bales of company's cloth, cases of wine, +puncheons of spirits, barrels of gunpowder, hogsheads of beer, &c. lay +strewed on the shore, together with a chest of tools. Finding the men +beginning to commit the usual excesses, we stove in the heads of the +spirit casks, to prevent mischief, and endeavoured to direct their +attention to the general benefit. The tide was flowing fast, and we saw +that the reef must soon be covered; we therefore conveyed the boats to a +place of safety, and filling them with all the provisions that could be +collected, proceeded to the highest sand-bank as the only place which +held out the remotest chance of security. Our progress was attended with +the most excruciating pain I ever endured, with feet cut to the bones by +the rocks, and back blistered by the sun--exhausted with fatigue--up to +the waist--sometimes to the neck in the water, and frequently obliged +to swim. Seeing, however, that several had reached the highest +sand-bank, lighted a fire, and were employed in erecting a tent from the +cloth and small spars which had floated up, I felt my spirits revive, +and had strength sufficient to reach the desired spot, when I was +invited to partake of a shark which had just been caught by the people. +Having set a watch to announce the approach of the sea, lest it should +cover us unawares, I sunk exhausted on the sand, and fell into a sound +sleep. I awoke in the morning stiff with the exertions of the former +day, yet feeling grateful to Providence that I was still alive. + +The people now collected together to ascertain who had perished, when +sixteen were missing: the captain, surgeon's assistant, and fourteen of +the crew. We divided the crew into parties, each headed by an officer; +some were sent to the wreck and along the beach in search of provisions, +others to roll up the hogsheads of beer, and butts of water that had +floated on shore; but the greater number were employed in hauling the +two cutters up, when the carpenters were directed to repair them. + +By the time it was dark, we had collected about eighty pieces of salt +pork, ten hogsheads of beer, three butts of water, several bottles of +wine, and many articles of use and value; particularly three sextants +and a quadrant, Floresburg's _Directory_, and _Hamilton Moore_; the +latter were deemed inestimable. In course of time four live pigs, and +five live sheep, came on shore through the surf. + +We first began upon the dead stock, serving out two ounces to each, and +half a pint of beer for the day. Nothing but brackish water could be +obtained by digging in the sand. We collected all the provisions +together near the tent, and formed a kind of storehouse, setting an +officer to guard them from plunder, to which indeed some of the evil +characters were disposed; but as they were threatened with instant death +if detected, they were soon deterred. The second night was passed like +the first, all being huddled together under one large tent; the more +robust, however, soon began to build separate tents for themselves, and +divided into messes, as on board. A staff was next erected, on which we +hoisted a red flag, as a signal to any vessel which might be passing. +Every morning, to each mess, was distributed the allowance of two ounces +per man, and half a pint of beer; if they got any thing else, it was +what they could catch by fishing, &c. Of fish, indeed, there was a great +variety, but we had few facilities for catching them, so that upon the +whole, we were no better than half-starved. The bank on which we lived, +was in latitude 16° 45 s. and about two miles in circumference at low +water; the high tides would sometimes leave us scarcely half a mile of +sand, and often approached close to the tents; and if the wind had blown +from the westward, or shifted only a few points, we must inevitably have +been swept away, as an encampment of fishermen had been, a short time +previous from the same spot; however, Providence was pleased to preserve +us, one hundred and twenty in number, to return to our native country. + +On the 13th the largest boat was repaired, and the officers thought it +advisable to despatch her for relief to the Isle of France, distant +about four hundred miles. The superior officers finding it impossible to +leave the crew, dedicated the charge of her to the purser. We furnished +him with two sextants, a navigation book, sails, oars, and log line. Six +officers and eight men, who perfectly understood the management of the +boat, joined him. He was directed to run first into the latitude, and +then bear up for the land. On the 17th he arrived at the Mauritius, and +on the 20th returned by his Majesty's vessels, Magician and Challenger. +On the 21st we were taken on board, after being sixteen days on this +barren reef, suffering great distress in mind and body. We all received +the most humane attention from the captains of his Majesty's vessels, +and on the 28th, we reached the Mauritius whence I returned to England. + + * * * * * + + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + + * * * * * + + +SINGING OF PSALMS. + + +This has been a very ancient custom both among the Jews and Christians. +St. Paul mentions this practice, which has continued in all succeeding +ages, with some variations as to mode and circumstance; for so long as +immediate inspiration lasted, the preacher, &c. frequently gave out a +hymn; and when this ceased, proper portions of scripture were selected, +or agreeable hymns thereto composed; but by the council of Laodicea, it +was ordered that no private composition should be used in church; the +council also ordered that the psalms should no longer be one continued +service, but that proper lessons should be interposed to prevent the +people being tired. At first the whole congregation bore a part, singing +all together; afterwards the manner was altered, and they sung +alternately, some repeating one verse, and some another. After the +emperors became Christians, and persecution ceased, singing grew much +more into use, so that not only in the churches but also in private +houses, the ancient music not being quite lost, they diversified into +various sorts of harmony, and altered into soft, strong, gay, sad, +grave, or passionate, &c. Choice was always made of that which agreed +with the majesty and purity of religion, avoiding soft and effeminate +airs; in some churches they ordered the psalms to be pronounced with so +small an alteration of voice, that it was little more than plain +speaking, like the reading of psalms in our cathedrals, &c. at this day; +but in process of time, instrumental music was introduced first amongst +the Greeks. + +Pope Gregory the Great refined upon the church music and made it more +exact and harmonious; and that it might be general, he established +singing schools at Rome, wherein persons were educated to be sent to the +distant churches, and where it has remained ever since; only among the +reformed there are various ways of performing, and even in the same +church, particularly that of England, in which parish churches differ +much from cathedrals; but most dissenters comply with this part of +worship in some form or other. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + +SKIMINGTON RIDING. + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.) + + +Having noticed a description of an exhibition called "Skimington +Riding," in the present volume of the MIRROR, and your correspondent +being at a loss for the origin of such a title, allow me to observe, +that it appears to me that it originated from a skimmer being always +used (as I have heard from very good authority it is) as the leading +instrument towards making the various sounds usual on such occasions. I +think it, therefore, very probable it took its rise from the utensil +skimmer, and would be more properly called Skimmerting Riding. + +_Dorset_ + +FELIX. + + * * * * * + + +RECONCILIATION. + + +At Lynn Regis, Norfolk, on every first Monday of the month, the mayor, +aldermen, magistrates, and preachers, meet to hear and determine +controversies between the inhabitants in an amicable manner, to prevent +lawsuits. This custom was first established in 1583, and is called the +Feast of Reconciliation. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT SUPERSTITION RESPECTING FELLING OAKS. + + +In the _Magna Britannia_, the author in his _Account of the Hundred of +Croydon_, says, "Our historians take notice of two things in this +parish, which may not be convenient to us to omit, viz. a great wood +called Norwood, belonging to the archbishops, wherein was anciently a +tree called the vicar's oak, where four parishes met, as it were in a +point. It is said to have consisted wholly of oaks, and among them was +one that bore mistletoe, which some persons were so hardy as to cut for +the gain of selling it to the apothecaries of London, leaving a branch +of it to sprout out; but they proved unfortunate after it, for one of +them fell lame, and others lost an eye. At length in the year 1678, a +certain man, notwithstanding he was warned against it, upon the account +of what the others had suffered, adventured to cut the tree down, and he +soon after broke his leg. To fell oaks hath long been counted fatal, and +such as believe it produce the instance of the Earl of Winchelsea, who +having felled a curious grove of oaks, soon after found his countess +dead in her bed suddenly, and his eldest son, the Lord Maidstone, was +killed at sea by a cannon ball." + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +THE MODERN GREEKS + + +Have preserved dances in honour of Flora. The wives and maidens of the +village gather and scatter flowers, and bedeck themselves from head to +foot. She who leads the dance, more ornamented than the others, +represents Flora and the Spring, whose return the hymn they sing +announces; one of them sings-- + + + "Welcome sweet nymph, + Goddess of the month of May." + + +In the Grecian villages, and among the Bulgarians, they still observe +the feast of Ceres. When harvest is almost ripe, they go dancing to the +sound of the lyre, and visit the fields, whence they return with their +heads ornamented with wheat ears, interwoven with the hair. Embroidering +is the occupation of the Grecian women; to the Greeks we owe this art, +which is exceedingly ancient among them, and has been carried to the +highest degree of perfection. Enter the chamber of a Grecian girl, and +you will see blinds at the window, and no other furniture than a sofa, +and a chest inlaid with ivory, in which are kept silk, needles, and +articles for embroidery. Apologues, tales, and romances, owe their +origin to Greece. The modern Greeks love tales and fables, and have +received them from the Orientals and Arabs, with as much eagerness as +they formerly adopted them from the Egyptians. The old women love always +to relate, and the young pique themselves on repeating those they have +learnt, or can make, from such incidents as happen within their +knowledge. The Greeks at present have no fixed time for the celebration +of marriages, like the ancients; among whom the ceremony was performed +in the month of January. Formerly the bride was bought by real services +done to the father; which was afterwards reduced to presents, and to +this time the custom is continued, though the presents are arbitrary. +The man is not obliged to purchase the woman he marries, but, on the +contrary, receives a portion with her equal to her condition. It is on +the famous shield of Achilles that Homer has described a marriage +procession-- + + + Here sacred pomp and genial feast delight, + And solemn dance and hymeneal rite. + Along the streets the new made bride is led, + With torches flaming to the nuptial bed; + The youthful dancers in a circle bound + To the saft lute and cittern's silver sound, + Through the fair streets the matrons in a row, + Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show. + +POPE. + + +The same pomp, procession, and music, are still in use. Dancers, +musicians, and singers, who chant the Epithalamium, go before the bride; +loaded with ornaments, her eyes downcast, and herself sustained by +women, or two near relations, she walks extremely slow. Formerly the +bride wore a red or yellow veil. The Arminians do so still; this was to +hide the blush of modesty, the embarrassment, and the tears of the young +virgin. The bright torch of Hymen is not forgotten among the modern +Greeks. It is carried before the new married couple into the nuptial +chamber, where it burns till it is consumed, and it would be an ill omen +were it by any accident extinguished, wherefore it is watched with as +much care as of old was the sacred fire of the vestals. Arrived at the +church, the bride and bridegroom each wear a crown, which, during the +ceremony, the priest changes, by giving the crown of the bridegroom to +the bride, and that of the bride to the bridegroom, which custom is also +derived from the ancients. + +I must not forget an essential ceremony which the Greeks have preserved, +which is the cup of wine given to the bridegroom as a token of adoption; +it was the symbol of contract and alliance. The bride drank from the +same cup, which afterwards passed round to the relations and guests. +They dance and sing all night, but the companions of the bride are +excluded--they feast among themselves in separate apartments, far from +the tumult of the nuptials. The modern Greeks, like the ancient, on the +nuptial day, decorate their doors with green branches and garlands of +flowers. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +THE KING'S COCK CROWER. + + +Among the customs which formerly prevailed in this country during the +season of Lent, was the following:--An officer denominated the King's +Cock Crower, crowed the hour each night, within the precincts of the +palace, instead of proclaiming it in the manner of the late watchmen. +This absurd ceremony did not fall into disuse till the reign of +George I. + +C.J.T. + + * * * * * + + +HERRINGS. + + +Yarmouth is bound by its charter, to send to the Sheriffs of Norwich a +tribute of one hundred herrings, baked in twenty-four pasties, which +they ought to deliver to the Lord of the Manor of East Charlton, and he +is obliged to present them to the King wherever he is. Is not this a +dainty dish to set before the King? + + * * * * * + + +CURING A SCOLD. + + +Newcastle-Under-Line was once famous for a peculiar method of taming +shrews: this was by putting a bridle into the scold's mouth, in such a +manner as quite to deprive her of speech for the time, and so leading +her about the town till she made signs of her intention to keep her +tongue in better discipline for the future. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + +PICTURE OF SHEFFIELD. + +_Sir Richard Phillips's Personal Tour, Part III_. + + +Our extracts from the previous portion of this work, have forcibly +illustrated the striking originality of its style, and the interesting +character of its information. + +The present Part concludes Newstead, and includes Mansfield, +Chesterfield, Dronfield, Sheffield, Rotherham, and Barnsley; and from it +we extract the following facts, which almost form a _picture of +Sheffield_.[2] + + [2] The utility of such a Tour as the present is greater than may + appear at first sight. Londoners are so absorbed with the wealth + and importance of their own city, as to form but very erroneous + notions of the extent and consequence of the large towns of the + empire--as Liverpool, Manchester, &c.; find those who live in + small country towns are as far removed from opportunities of + improvement. The _social economy_ of different districts is + therefore important to both parties. + + +"The drive from Dronfield to Sheffield is pleasant and picturesque. It +is the dawn of a region of high hills, a fine range of which stretch +westward into Derbyshire, while on every side there are lofty eminences +and deep valleys. Sheffield opens magnificently on the right, and its +villas and ornamented suburbs stretch full two miles on the eminences to +the left. At two or three miles from Sheffield, the western suburbs +display a rich and pleasing variety of villas and country-houses. On the +left, the Dore-moors, a ridge of barren hills, stretch to an indefinite +distance: and on the right, some high hills skreen from sight the town +of Sheffield. At a mile distant, the view to the right opens, and from a +rise in the road is beheld the fine amphitheatre of Sheffield; the sun +displaying its entire extent, and the town being surmounted by fine +hills in the rear. The wind carried the smoke to the east of the town, +and the sun in the meridian presented as fine a _coup d'oeil_ as can be +conceived. The approach was by a broad and well-built street, the +population were in activity, and I entered a celebrated place with many +agreeable expectations. + +"Sheffield is within the bounds of Yorkshire, but on the verge of +Derbyshire, and was the most remarkable place and society of human +beings which I had yet seen. It stands in one of the most picturesque +situations that can be imagined, originally at the south end of a valley +surrounded by high hills, but now extended around the western hill; the +first as a compact town, and the latter as scattered villas and houses +on the same hill, to the distance of two miles from the ancient site. It +is connected with London by Nottingham and Derby, and distant from Leeds +33 miles, and York 54 miles. Its foundation was at the junction of two +rivers, the Sheaf and the Don; in the angle formed by which once stood +the Castle, built by the, Barons Furnival, Lords of Hallamshire; but +subsequently in the tenure of the Talbots, Earls of Shrewsbury. Three or +four miles from this Castle, on the western hill, stood the Saxon town +of _Hallam_, said to have been destroyed by the Norman invaders, on +account of their gallant opposition. + +"The town was originally a mere village, dependant on the Castle; but +its mineral and subterranean wealth led the early inhabitants to become +manufacturers of edged tools, of which arrow heads, spear heads, &c. are +presumed to have been a considerable part; a bundle of arrows being at +this day in the town arms, and cross arrows the badge of the ancient +Cutlers' Company of Sheffield. + +"The exhaustless coal seams and iron-stone beds in the vicinity, +combined with the ingenuity of the people, conferred early fame on their +products; for Chaucer, in alluding to a knife, calls it 'a Sheffield +thwittel,'--whittle being among the manufacturers at this day the name +of a common kind of knife. The increasing demand for articles of +cutlery, and their multiplied variety have gradually enlarged the +population of Sheffield to 42,157 in 1821; since which it has +considerably increased, and may, in 1829, be estimated at 50,000. In +1821, it contained 8,726 houses, and perhaps 500 have been built since, +chiefly villas to the westward, while the compact town is about one mile +by half a mile. The principal streets are well built, and there are +three old churches, and two new ones lately finished, besides another +now building. + +"Sheffield presents at this time the extraordinary spectacle of an +immense town expanded from a village, without any additional +arrangements for its government beyond what it originally possessed as a +village. There is no corporation, not even a resident magistrate, and +yet all live in peace, decorum, and advantageous mutual intercourse." + + +_Religion._ + +"Order is a moral result of religion in Sheffield. No town in the +kingdom more universally exhibits the external forms of devotion, and in +none are there perhaps a greater number of serious devotees. The largest +erections in Sheffield are those for the service of religion, and they +are numerous. Besides six old and new churches, adapted to accommodate +from 10,000 to 12,000 persons, there are seventeen chapels for the +various denominations of Dissenters, capable of affording sitting room +for 12,000 or 15,000 more. Except the Unitarian Chapel, and perhaps the +Catholic one, the doctrines preached in all the others, are what, in +London, and at Oxford and Cambridge, would generally be called _Ultra_. + +"A spectacle highly characteristic of Sheffield, and exemplifying, at +the same time the harmony of the several sects, is the juxtaposition of +four several chapels, observable on one side of a main street; while +nearly adjoining is the church of St. Paul. There are thus every Sunday, +in simultaneous local devotion, the ceremonial Catholics, the moral +Unitarians, the metaphysical Calvinists, the serious disciples of John +Wesley, and the spiritual members of the establishment. + +"The whole of the places of worship afford accommodation for about +12,000 Methodists and Dissenters, and about 9,500 of the Church +Establishment. So that, if half go twice a day, and half once, 30,000 of +the 50,000 inhabitants attend places of worship every Sunday." + + +_Public Institutions._ + +"There are the following institutions for the promotion of knowledge and +science:-- + +"1. A Permanent Library supported by the subscriptions of 270 members at +one guinea each, and four guineas admission. The books are numerous; +but, contrary to the practice of other similar institutions, books of +Theology, and the trash of modern Novels, are introduced. + +"2. A Literary and Philosophical Society for lectures, and the purchase +of apparatus, now very complete, supported by 80 proprietors, at two +guineas, besides a still greater number of subscribers at one guinea per +annum. + +"3. Two News-rooms, in which the London and Provincial papers may be +read. + +"4. A Public Concert, supported by subscriptions, which amount to £700 +per annum, and of which Mr. Fritch, from Derby, is the present leader. + +"5. A Subscription Assembly held through the winter, but ill supported. + +"6. A Shakspeare Club, for sustaining the drama, consisting of 80 +members, who subscribe a guinea per annum, once a-year bespeak a play, +and partake of a dinner, to which the sons of Thespis are invited. + +"7. An Infirmary on a large scale, and munificently supported. + +"8. Two Schools, in which sixty boys and sixty girls are clothed, fed, +and educated. + +"9. A Lancasterian and a National School well supported, and numerously +attended. + +"10. Sunday Schools attached to the twenty-three congregations, besides +others. + +"11. A Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, in much +activity. + +"12. Dorcas' Societies, connected with the churches and chapels, to +assist poor married women during child-birth. + +"13. A Bible Society on the usual plan. + +"14. Two Medical and Anatomical Schools. + +"15. A thriving Mechanics' Library. + +"Several of these institutions rendezvous in a spacious building called +the Music Hall. The concerts are given in the upper room, a suitable +saloon; and beneath are the Subscription Library, the Commercial +News-room, and the Museum of the Literary and Philosophical Society." + + +_Manufactures._ + +"The staple manufactures of Sheffield embrace the metallic arts in all +their varieties. The chief articles are sharp instruments, as knives, +scissors, razors, saws, and edge-tools of various kinds, and to these +may be added, files and plated goods to a great extent, besides +stove-grates and fenders of exquisite beauty. It is altogether performed +by hand, therefore the fabrication may always be rendered correspondent +with the demand, and may be arrested when the demand ceases. This +confers a definite advantage on the manufactory, not enjoyed by other +trades which operate in the large way. The result is mediocrity of +wealth, and little ruinous speculation. At the same time, the sanguine +expectations of manufacturers often lead them to overstock themselves, +and as the demand has been, so they expect it always to be. + +"Sheffield employs about 15,000 persons in its various branches, and of +these full one-third are engaged on knives and forks, pocket-knives, +razors, and scissors. The rest are engaged in the plated trades, in +saws, files, and some fancy trades. The following is an exact +enumeration of the hands employed in the various departments two or +three years since:-- + + + "On table-knives 2,240 + On spring-knives 2,190 + On razors 478 + On scissors 806 + On files 1,284 + On saws 400 + On edge-tools 541 + On forks 480 + In the country 130 + In the plated trade nearly 2,000 + ______ + "About 10,549 + + +"Besides those who are employed in Britannia-metal ware, smelting, +optical instruments, grinding, polishing, &c. &c., making full 5,000 +more. + +"There are full 1,700 forges engaged in the various branches of the +trades, and of course as many fires, fixing oxygen to make their heat, +and evolving the undecomposed carbon in active volumes of steam and +smoke. + +"The place is usually described as smoky, but I thought it less so than +the central parts of London. The manufactures, for the most part, are +carried on in an unostentatious way, in small scattered shops, and no +where make the noise and bustle of a single great iron works. Compared +with them Sheffield is a seat of elegant arts, nevertheless compared +with the cotton and silk trades, it must be regarded as dirty and smoky. + +"The steel and plated manufactures require much taste, and in some cases +make a great display. Hence there were exhibitions of elegant products, +not exceeded in the Palais Royal, or any other place abroad, and +superior to any of the cutlers' shops in London. All that the lustre of +steel ware and silver plate can produce, is, in Sheffield, exhibited in +splendid arrangement, in the warerooms of some of the principal +manufacturers. In particular Messrs. J. Rodgers and Sons, cutlers to his +Majesty, display in a magnificent saloon, all the multiplied elegant +products of their own most ingenious manufactory. + +"As proofs of their power of manufacturing, Messrs. Rodgers have, in +their show-rooms the most extraordinary products of highly finished +manufacture which are to be seen in the world. Among them are the +following:-- + +"1. An arrangement in a Maltese cross about 18 inches high, and 10 +inches broad, which developes 1,821 blades and different instruments; +worthy of a royal cabinet, but in the best situation in the place which +produced it. + +"2. A knife which unfolds 200 blades for various purposes, matchless in +workmanship, and a wonderful display of ingenuity. Its counterpart was +presented to the King; and that in possession of Messrs. Rodgers, is +offered at 200 guineas, and is worthy of some imperial cabinet. + +"3. A knife containing 75 blades, not a mere curiosity, but a package of +instruments of real utility in the compass of a knife 4 inches long, 3 +inches high, and 1-1/4 inches broad. It is valued at 50 guineas. + +"4. A miniature knife, enfolding 75 articles, which weigh but 7 dwts., +exquisitely wrought and valued at 50 guineas. + +"5. A common quill, containing 24 dozen of scissors, perfect in form, +and made of polished steel. + +"These are kept as trophies of skill, in the perfect execution of which, +the manufacturer considers that he displays his power of producing any +useful articles of which the Sheffield manufacture consists. Mr. Rodgers +obligingly conducted me through his various workshops, and I discovered +that the perfection of the Sheffield manufacture arises from the +judicious division of labour. I saw knives, razors, &c. &c., produced in +a few minutes from the raw material. I saw dinner knives made from the +steel bar and all the process of hammering it into form, welding the +tang of the handle to the steel of the blade, hardening the metal by +cooling it in water and tempering it by de-carbonizing it in the fire +with a rapidity and facility that were astonishing. + +"The number of hands through which a common table knife passes in its +formation is worthy of being known to all who use them. The bar steel is +heated in the forge by _the maker_, and he and _the striker_ reduce it +in a few minutes into the shape of a knife. He then heats a bar of iron +and welds it to the steel so as to form the tang of the blade which goes +into the handle. All this is done with the simplest tools and +contrivances. A few strokes of the hammer in connexion with some +trifling moulds and measures, attached to the anvil, perfect, in two or +three minutes the blade and its tang or shank. Two men, the maker and +striker, produce about nine blades in an hour, or seven dozen and a half +per day. + +"The rough blade thus produced then passes through the hands of _the +filer_, who files the blade into form by means of a pattern in hard +steel. It then goes to the halters to be hafted in ivory, horn, &c. as +may be required; it next proceeds to the finisher, to Mr. Rodgers for +examination, and is then packed for sale or exportation. In this +progression every table-knife, pocket-knife, or pen-knife, passes step +by step, through no less than sixteen hands, involving in the language +of Mr. Rodgers, at least 144 separate stages of workmanship in the +production of a single pen-knife. The prices vary from 2_s_. 6_d_. per +dozen knives and forks, to £10." + +(_To be concluded in our next_.) + + * * * * * + + +FUN. + + +Monosyllables are always expressive, but seldom more comprehensive than +in this instance. A thousand recollections of urchin waggeries spring up +at its repetition. Our present example is "_Skying a Copper_," from Mr. +Hood's _Comic Annual_, of which a copious notice will be found in the +SUPPLEMENT published with the present number. + + +A REPORT FROM BELOW! + +"Blow high, blow low."--_Sea Song_. + + + As Mister B. and Mrs. B. + One night were sitting down to tea, + With toast and muffins hot-- + They heard a loud and sudden bounce, + That made the very china flounce, + They could not for a time pronounce + If they were safe or shot-- + For memory brought a deed to match + At Deptford done by night-- + Before one eye appear'd a Patch + In t'other eye a Blight! + + To be belabour'd out of life, + Without some small attempt at strife, + Our nature will not grovel; + One impulse mov'd both man and dame, + He seized the tongs--she did the same, + Leaving the ruffian, if he came, + The poker and the shovel. + Suppose the couple standing so, + When rushing footsteps from below + Made pulses fast and fervent; + And first burst in the frantic cat, + All steaming like a brewer's rat, + And then--as white as my cravat-- + Poor Mary May, the servant! + + Lord how the couple's teeth did chatter, + Master and Mistress both flew at her, + "Speak! Fire? or Murder? What's the matter?" + Till Mary getting breath, + Upon her tale began to touch + With rapid tongue, full trotting, such + As if she thought she had too much + To tell before her death:-- + + "We was both, Ma'am, in the wash-house, Ma'am, a-standing at our tubs, + And Mrs. Round was seconding what little things I rubs; + 'Mary,' says she to me, 'I say'--and there she stops for coughin, + 'That dratted copper flue has took to smokin very often, + But please the pigs,'--for that's her way of swearing in a passion, + 'I'll blow it up, and not be set a coughin in this fashion!' + Well down she takes my master's horn--I mean his horn for loading. + And empties every grain alive for to set the flue exploding. + 'Lawk, Mrs. Round?' says I, and stares, 'that quantum is unproper, + I'm sartin sure it can't not take a pound to sky a copper; + You'll powder both our heads off, so I tells you, with its puff, + But she only dried her fingers, and she takes a pinch of snuff.' + Well, when the pinch is over--'Teach your Grandmother to suck + A powder horn,' says she--Well, says I, I wish you luck. + Them words sets up her back, so with her hands upon her hips, + 'Come,' says she, quite in a huff, 'come keep your tongue inside your lips; + Afore ever you was born, I was well used to things like these; + I shall put it in the grate, and let it burn up by degrees.' + So in it goes, and Bounce--O Lord! it gives us such a rattle, + I thought we both were cannonized, like Sogers in a battle! + Up goes the copper like a squib, and us on both our backs, + And bless the tubs, they bundled off, and split all into cracks + Well, there I fainted dead away, and might have been cut shorter, + But Providence was kind, and brought me to with scalding water + I first looks round for Mrs. Round, and sees her at a distance, + As stiff as starch, and looked as dead as any thing in existence; + All scorched and grimed, and more than that, I sees the copper slap + Right on her head, for all the world like a percussion copper cap. + Well, I crooks her little fingers, and crumps them well up together, + As humanity pints out, and burnt her nostrums with a feather; + But for all as I can do, to restore her to her mortality, + She never gives a sign of a return to sensuality. + Thinks I, well there she lies, as dead as my own late departed mother, + Well, she'll wash no more in this world, whatever she does in t'other. + So I gives myself to scramble up the linens for a minute, + Lawk, sich a shirt! thinks I, it's well my master wasn't in it; + Oh! I never, never, never, never, never, see a sight so shockin; + Here lays a leg, and there a leg--I mean, you know, a stockin-- + Bodies all slit and torn to rags, and many a tattered skirt, + And arms burnt off and sides and backs all scotched and black with dirt; + But as nobody was in 'em--none but--nobody was hurt! + Well, there I am, a scrambling up the things, all in a lump. + When, mercy on us! such a groan as makes my heart to jump. + And there she is, a-lying with a crazy sort of eye, + A staring at the wash-house roof, laid open to the sky: + Then she beckons with a finger, and so down to her I reaches, + And puts my ear agin her mouth to hear her dying speeches, + For, poor soul! she has a husband and young orphans, as I knew; + Well, Ma'am, you won't believe it, but it's Gospel fact and true, + But these words is all she whispered--'Why, where _is_ the powder blew'" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + + +MODE OF DESTROYING EAGLES. + + +In those parts of the Highlands of Scotland where eagles are numerous, +and where they commit great ravages among the young lambs, the following +methods are used for destroying them:--When the nest happens to be in a +place situated in the direction of a perpendicular from the edge of a +cliff above, a bundle of dry heath or grass inclosing a burning peat is +let down into it. In other cases, a person is let down by means of a +rope, which is held above by four or five men, and contrives to destroy +the eggs or young. The person who thus descends takes a large stick with +him, to beat off or intimidate the old eagles. The latter, however, +always keep at a respectable distance, for powerful as they are, they +possess little of the courage which has in all ages been attributed to +them, being in this respect much inferior to the domestic cock, the +raven, the sea-swallow, and a hundred other birds. Sometimes eagles have +their nests in places accessible without a rope, and instances are known +of persons frequenting these nests, for the purpose of carrying off the +prey which the eagles carry to their young. A very prevalent method by +which eagles are destroyed, is the following:--In a place not far from a +nest, or a rock in which eagles repose at night, or on the face of a +hill which they are frequently observed to scour in search of prey, a +pit is dug to the depth of a few feet, of sufficient size to admit a man +with ease. The pit is then covered over with sticks, and pieces of turf, +the latter not cut from the vicinity, eagles, like other cowards, being +extremely wary and suspicious. A small hole is formed at one end of this +pit, through which projects the muzzle of a gun, while at the other is +left an opening large enough to admit a featherless biped, who on +getting in pulls after him a bundle of heath of sufficient size to close +it. A carcass of a sheep or dog, or a fish or fowl, being previously +without at the distance of from twelve to twenty yards, the lyer-in-wait +watches patiently for the descent of the eagle, and, the moment it has +fairly settled upon the carrion, fires. In this manner, multitudes of +eagles are yearly destroyed in Scotland. The head, claws, and quills, +are kept by the shepherds, to be presented to the factor at Martinmas or +Whitsunday, for the premium of from half-a-crown to five shillings which +is usually awarded on-such occasions.--_Edinburgh Literary Gazette_. + + * * * * * + + +THE PIED OYSTER CATCHER. + + +This separate and single genus of birds is seldom seen amongst the +numerous descriptions of wild fowl, which, in the winter seasons, wing +their flight to our marshes. The most striking part of the +Oyster-catcher is its bill, the colour of which is scarlet, measuring in +length nearly four inches, wide at the nostrils, and grooved beyond them +nearly half its length: thence to the tip it is vertically compressed on +the sides, and ends obtusely. With this instrument, which in its shape +and structure is peculiar to this bird, it easily disengages the limpets +from the rocks, and plucks out the oysters from their half-opened +shells, on which it feeds, as well as on other shell-fish, sea-worms, +and insects. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +BUTTERFLIES. + + +The splendid appearance of the plumage of tropical birds is not superior +to what the curious observer may discover in a variety of Lepidóptera; +and those many-coloured eyes, which deck so gorgeously the peacock's +tail, are imitated with success in Vanéssa Io, one of our most common +butterflies. "See," exclaims the illustrious Linnaeus, "the large, +elegant, painted wings of the butterfly, four in number, covered with +small imbricated scales; with these it sustains itself in the air the +whole day, rivalling the flight of birds, and the brilliancy of the +peacock. Consider this insect through the wonderful progress of its +life, how different is the first period of its being from the second, +and both from the parent insect. Its changes are an inexplicable enigma +to us: we see a green caterpillar, furnished with sixteen feet, +creeping, hairy, and feeding upon the leaves of a plant; this is changed +into chrysalis, smooth, of a golden lustre, hanging suspended to a fixed +point, without feet, and subsisting without food; this insect again +undergoes another transformation, acquires wings and six feet, and +becomes a variegated white butterfly, living by suction upon the honey +of plants. What has nature produced more worthy of our admiration? Such +an animal coming upon the stage of the world, and playing its part there +under so many different masks! In the egg of the Papilio, the epidermis +or external integument falling off, a caterpillar is disclosed; the +second epidermis drying, and being detached, it is a chrysalis; and the +third, a butterfly. It should seem that the ancients were so struck with +the transformations of the butterfly, and its revival from a seeming +temporary death, as to have considered it an emblem of the soul, the +Greek word _psyche_ signifying both the soul and a butterfly. This is +also confirmed by their allegorical sculptures, in which the butterfly +occurs as an emblem of immortality." Swammerdam, speaking of the +metamorphosis of insects, uses these strong words: "This process is +formed in so remarkable a manner in butterflies, that we see therein the +resurrection painted before our eyes, and exemplified so as to be +examined by our hands." "There is no one," says Paley, "who does not +possess some particular train of thought, to which the mind naturally +directs itself, when left entirely to its own operations. It is certain +too, that the choice of this train of thinking may be directed to +different ends, and may appear to be more or less judiciously fixed, but +in a _moral view_, if one train of thinking be more desirable than +another, it is that which regards phenomena of nature with a constant +reference to a supreme intelligent Author. The works of nature want only +to be contemplated. In every portion of them which we can decry, we find +attention bestowed upon the minuter objects. Every organized natural +body, in the provisions which it contains for its sustentation and +propagation, testifies a care, on the part of the Creator, expressly +directed to these purposes. We are on all sides surrounded by bodies +wonderfully curious, and no less wonderfully diversified." Trifling, +therefore, and, perhaps, contemptible, as to the unthinking may seem the +study of a butterfly, yet, when we consider the art and mechanism +displayed in so minute a structure, the fluids circulating in vessels so +small as almost to escape the sight, the beauty of the wings and +covering, and the manner in which each part is adapted for its peculiar +functions, we cannot but be struck with wonder and admiration, and must +feel convinced that the maker of all has bestowed equal skill in every +class of animated beings; and also allow with Paley, that "the +production of beauty was as much in the Creator's mind in painting a +butterfly, as in giving symmetry to the human form." + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +LADY MORGAN'S EGOTISM. + + +We know, and posterity will say the same, that there was never such a +paragon as her ladyship; that her house in Kildare-street, Dublin, will +be to future ages, what Shakspeare's house in Henley-street, +Stratford-upon-Avon, is now; that pilgrims from all corners of the +civilized globe will pay their devotions at her shrine; and that the +name of Morgan will be remembered long after the language in which she +has immortalized it has ceased to be a living tongue. WE are not the +persons to deny this; for WE are but too proud of being able to call +ourselves her contemporary; but we do dislike (and her ladyship will, +forgive us for saying so)--we do dislike the seeming vanity of +proclaiming this herself. She _is_ a very great woman; an extraordinary +woman; an Irish prodigy; popes and emperors _have_ trembled before her; +all Europe, all Asia, all America, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of +Mexico, ring with her praises; there never has been such "a jewel of a +woman," as her own countrymen would say. She knows this, and we know it; +and "our husband" knows it; every body knows it; then why need she tell +us so a hundred times over in her "Book of the Boudoir?" + +There is another little circumstance which we would take the liberty of +mentioning. It is, that she is much too scrupulous, much too delicate in +naming individuals, _unless they happen to be dead_. When she mentions a +civil thing said to her by a prince, a duke, or a marquess, we never get +at the _person_. It is always the Prince of A----, or the Duke of B----, +or the Marquess of C----, or Count D----, or Lady E----, or the +Marchioness of F----, or the Countess of G----, or Lord H----, or Sir +George I----, and so on through the alphabet. Now we say again, that +_we_ have no doubt all these are the initials of real persons, and that +her ladyship is as familiar with the blood royal and the aristocracy of +Europe, as "maids of fifteen are with puppy-dogs;" but the world, my +dear Lady Morgan--an ill-natured, sour, cynical, and suspicious world, +envious of your glory, will be apt to call it nil fudge, blarney, or +_blatherum-skite_, as they say in your country; especially when it is +observed that you _always_ give the names of the illustrious _dead_, +with whom you have been upon equally familiar terms of intimacy, at +_full length_; as if you knew that dead people tell _no_ tales; and that +therefore you might tell _any_ tales you like about dead people. We put +it to your own good sense, my dear Lady Morgan, as the Duke of X---- +would call you, whether this remarkable difference in mentioning living +characters, and those who are no longer living, does not look equivocal? +For you know, my dear Lady Morgan, that Prince R---- and Princess W----, +by standing for any body, mean nobody.--_Blackwood's Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +CURE FOR SUPERSTITION. + +We find the following curious anecdote translated from a German work, in +the last _Foreign Quarterly Review_:-- + + +A poor protestant who had fallen from his horse and done himself some +serious injury which had obviously ended in derangement, came to a +Catholic priest, declaring that he was possessed, and telling a story of +almost dramatic interest. In his sickness he had consulted a quack +doctor, who told him that he could cure him by charms. He wrote strange +signs on little fragments of paper, some of which were to be worn, some +to be eaten in bread and drunk in wine. These the poor madman fancied +afterwards were charms by which he had unknowingly sold himself to the +devil. The doctor, he fancied, had done so before, and could only redeem +his own soul by putting another in the power of Satan. "I know that this +is my condition," said the poor madman, "by all I have seen and heard, +by all I have suffered, by the change which has taken place in me, which +has at length brought me to my present condition. All I cannot reveal; +the little I can and dare tell must convince you. Often has my tormentor +pent me up in the stove, and let me lie among the burning brands through +the live long night. Then I hear him in my torment talking loud, I know +not what, over my head. All prayer he forbids me, and he makes me tell +whether I would give all I have or my soul for my cure. Then he speaks +to me of the Bible; but he falsifies all he tells me of, or he tells me +of some new-born king or queen in the kingdom of God. I cannot go to +church; I cannot pray; I cannot think a good thought; I see sights of +horror ever before me, which fill me with unutterable fear, and I know +not what is rest; my one only thought is how soon the devil will come to +claim his wretched victim and carry me to the place of torment." The +poor creature had a belief that a Roman Catholic priest had the power of +exorcism. The priest was most kind to the poor maniac, and tried to +convince him of the power and goodness of God, and his love to his +creatures. It need not be said that this was talking to the wind. In +fine, he said, "Well, I will rid you of your tormentor. He shall have to +do with me, and not with you, in future." This promise had the desired +effect; and the priest followed it up by advising the maniac to go to a +good physician, to avoid solitude, to work hard, to read his Bible, and +remember the comfortable declarations of which he had been just +reminded, and if he was in any doubt or anxiety, to go to his parish +minister. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. +SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +ADDISON. + + +A certain author was introduced one day by a friend to Mr. Addison, who +requested him at the same time to peruse and correct a copy of English +verses. Addison took the verses and found them afterwards very stupid. +Observing that above twelve lines from Homer were prefixed to them, by +way of motto, he only erased the Greek lines, without making any +amendment in the poem, and returned it. The author, seeing this, desired +his friend who had introduced him to inquire of Mr. Addison the reason +of his doing so. "Whilst the statues of Caligula," said he, "were all of +a piece, they were little regarded by the people, but when he fixed the +heads of gods upon unworthy shoulders, he profaned them, and made +himself ridiculous. I, therefore, made no more conscience to separate +Homer's verses from this poem, than the thief did who stole the silver +head from the brazen body in Westminster Abbey."[3] + + [3] In Henry the Seventh's chapel. + + + * * * * * + + +A furious wife, like a musket, may do a great deal of execution in her +house, but then she makes a great noise in it at the same time. A mild +wife, will, like an air-gun, act with as much power without being heard. + +L--W--R M. + + * * * * * + + +ST. MARTIN S LITTLE SUMMER. + + +In _Time's Telescope_ for 1825, we are told that the few fine days which +sometimes occur about the beginning of November have been denominated, +"St. Martin's Little Summer." To this Shakspeare alludes in the first +part of _King Henry the Fourth_ (Act. I, Scene 2), where Prince Henry +says to _Falstaff_, "Farewell, thou latter spring! farewell, +All-hallowen summer!" And in the first part of _King Henry the Sixth_, +(Act I, Scene 2), _Joan La Pucelle_ says, + + "Assign'd am I to be the English scourge-- + This night the siege assuredly I'll raise: + Expect St. Martin's Summer, halcyon days, + Since I have entered into these wars." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +SCRAPS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +M.F. Cuvier has found that all marshy countries are remarkable for the +small number of births in autumn, or the period when the influence of +the marshes is most dangerous. Consequently, the marshes do not diminish +the population by adding to the number of deaths alone, but by attacking +the _fecundity_. + + * * * * * + + +In Guiana balls are made of caoutchouc, for children to play with; and +so elastic are they, that they will rebound several times between the +ceiling and floor of a room, when thrown with some force. + + * * * * * + + +In turtles' eggs, the yolk soon becomes hard on boiling, whilst the +white remains liquid: a fact in direct opposition to the changes in +boiling the eggs of birds. + + * * * * * + + +WHEAT. + + +There are 330 varieties and sub-varieties of wheat said to be growing +in-Britain, perhaps scarcely a dozen of which are generally known to +farmers. + + * * * * * + + +DUTCH BUTTER. + + +Is made with cream alone, and is best preserved in casks or tubs, with a +pickle made of salt, which is removed from time to time. + + * * * * * + + +SIAMESE COMMANDMENTS. + + +The moral precepts of the Siamese are comprised in the following Ten +Commandments:-- + +1. Do not slay animals. + +2. Do not steal. + +3. Do not commit adultery. + +4. Do not tell lies nor backbite. + +5. Do not drink wine.[4] + +6. Do not eat after twelve o'clock. + +7. Do not frequent plays or public spectacles, nor listen to music. + +8. Do not use perfumes, nor wear flowers, or other personal ornaments. + +9. Do not sleep or recline upon a couch that is above one cubit high. + +10. Do not borrow, nor be in debt. + + [4] The punishment for drinking wine is to have a stream of melted + copper poured down the throat; but wine is drunk, and all classes + feed upon flesh. + + * * * * + + +ANNUALS FOR 1830. + + +The Supplement published with the present number contains a Fine Large +Engraving of the _Leaning Towers of Bologna_; humorous cuts from the +_Comic Annual_; and interesting Notices and Unique Extracts from the +_Keepsake, Landscape Annual, Forget-Me Not, Bijou, Emmanuel_, &c. and +with No. 400, forms the SPIRIT OF THE ANNUALS FOR 1830. + + * * * * * + +LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE +_Following Novels is already Published_: + + _s._ _d._ +Mackenzie's Man of Feeling 0 6 +Paul and Virginia 0 6 +The Castle of Otranto 0 6 +Almoran and Ham et 0 6 +Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia 0 6 +The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 0 6 +Rasselas 0 8 +The Old English Baron 0 8 +Nature and Art 0 8 +Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 0 10 +Sicilian Romance 1 0 +The Man of the World 1 0 +A Simple Story 1 4 +Joseph Andrews 1 6 +Humphry Clinker 1 8 +The Romance of the Forest 1 8 +The Italian 2 0 +Zeluco, by Dr. Moore 2 6 +Edward, by Dr. Moore 2 6 +Roderick Random 2 6 +The Mysteries of Udolpho 3 6 +Peregrine Pickle 4 6 + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) +London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; and by all +Newsmen and Booksellers_. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11458 *** |