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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11459 ***
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
+
+VOL. XIV, NO. 396.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1829. [PRICE 2d.
+
+
+
+
+BLARNEY CASTLE.
+
+
+[Illustration: Blarney Castle.]
+
+
+This Engraving, to use a cant phrase, is an exquisite "bit of Blarney;"
+but independent of the vulgar association, it has a multitude of
+attractions for every reader. Its interest will, however, be materially
+enhanced by the following admirable description from the graphic pen of
+T. Crofton Croker, Esq.[1]
+
+
+    [1] Researches in the South of Ireland, Illustrative of the Scenery,
+        Architectural Remains, and the Manners and Superstitions of the
+        Peasantry. By T. Crofton Croker. 4to. 1824 Murray. VOL. XIV.
+
+
+Blarney, so famous in Irish song and story, is situated about four
+miles north west of Cork, and was, within these few years, a thriving
+manufacturing village; but it no longer wears the aspect of comfort or
+of business, and appears much gone to decay.
+
+The alteration struck me very forcibly. In 1815, I remember a large
+square of neat cottages, and the area, a green shaded by fine old trees.
+Most of the cottages are now roofless; the trees have been cut down, and
+on my last visit, in 1821, a crop of barley was ripening in the square.
+
+
+       "the clam'rous rooks
+  Ask for their wonted seat, but ask in vain!
+     Their ancient home is level'd with the earth,
+  Never to wave again its leafy head,
+     Or yield a covert to the feather'd choir,
+  Who now, with broken song, remote and shy,
+     Seek other bowers, their native branches gone!"
+
+
+This prepared me to expect a similar change in the grounds of the
+castle, where much timber has been also felled; but the grounds still
+are beautiful, rock and water being features in the landscape, the
+picturesque effect of which neglect cannot injure.
+
+The castle consists of a massive square tower, that rises broad and
+boldly above surrounding trees, on a precipitous rock over a stream
+called the Awmartin; and attached to the east side is an extensive
+dwelling-house, erected about a century since by Sir James Jeffreys, who
+purchased or obtained this estate from the crown, and in whose family it
+still continues.
+
+Blarney Castle was built about the middle of the fifteenth century,
+by Cormac MacCarty, or Carthy surnamed Laider, or the Strong. He was
+descended from the kings of Cork, and was esteemed so powerful a
+chieftain that the English settlers in his part of Munster paid him an
+annual tribute of forty pounds to protect them from the attacks and
+_insults_ of the Irish. To him is also ascribed the building of the
+Abbey and Castle of Kilcrea, the Nunnery of Ballyvacadine, and many
+other religious houses; in the former of which he was buried.[2] It
+would be a matter of little importance and considerable labour to trace
+the Castle of Blarney from one possessor to another. The genealogical
+table in Keating's "History of Ireland" will enable those addicted to
+research to follow the Mac Carty pedigree; but a tiresome repetition of
+names, occasioned by the scantiness of them in an exceedingly numerous
+family, present continual causes of perplexity to the general reader.
+The names of Donough, Cormac, Teague, Florence, Dermot, Owen, and
+Donnel, constitute almost the whole catalogue used by the Mac Carties[3]
+for a period exceeding six hundred years.[4] This difficulty is
+heightened from the entire Sept being, in point of fact, without a
+sirname, as the followers of most chieftains in Ireland as well as
+Scotland assumed that of their lord. In the reign of Edward IV. a
+statute was enacted, commanding each individual to take upon himself a
+separate sirname, "either of his trade and faculty, or of some quality
+of his body or mind, or of the place where he dwelt, so that every one
+should be distinguished from the other." But this statute did not effect
+the object proposed, and Spenser, in his "View of Ireland," mentions it
+as having become obsolete, and strongly recommends its renewal.
+
+
+    [2] This tomb, according to Archdall's "Monasticon Hibernicum,"
+        stood in the middle of the choir of Kilcrea Abbey, with the
+        following inscription:--
+
+        HIC. IACET. CORMACVS. FIL. THADEI. FIL. CORMACI. FIL. DERMITII.
+        MAGNI. MC. CARTHY. DNVS DE. MVSCRAIGH. FLAYN. AC. ISTIVS.
+        CONVENTVS. PRIMVS. FVNDATOR. AN. DOM. 1494.
+
+    [3] The original name of a sept or clan was Carty, supposed to be
+        derived from Cartheigh, which signifies an Inhabitant of the
+        Rock; and Mac, denoting "_son of_;" was used before the father's
+        Christian name for the purpose of distinction, as, Mac Cormac
+        Carty expressed Carty, son of Cormac; this manner of designation
+        appears discontinued on the introduction of a greater variety of
+        names, and the Mac alone retained by the elder branches.
+
+    [4] Amongst the Harleian MSS. the Vol. No. 1425, contains pedigrees
+        of Irish nobility; from the ninth to the twenty-second page is
+        occupied by those of "Mac Cartie More," Mac Cartie Reagh, and
+        all other Mac Carties, brought down to the year 1615; but though
+        curious for reference, there is little worth the trouble of
+        transcribing. The most common female names in the Mac Carty
+        pedigree are, Katheren, Elin, Honnor, Joan, and Grany.
+
+
+The military and historic recollections connected with Blarney are
+doubtless of sufficient importance to give an interest to the place; but
+to a curious superstition it is perhaps more indebted for celebrity. A
+stone in the highest part of the castle wall is pointed out to visitors,
+which is supposed to give to whoever kisses it the peculiar privilege of
+deviating from veracity with unblushing countenance whenever it may be
+convenient--hence the well-known phrase of "_Blarney_."
+
+The grounds attached to the castle, as I before observed, though so little
+attended to, are still beautiful. Walks, which a few years since were neat
+and trim, are now so overrun with brambles and wild flowers as to be passed
+with difficulty. Much wood has also been cut down, and the statues, so
+ridiculously enumerated in a popular song, removed. A picturesque bridge
+too, which led to the castle, has been swept away by the wintry floods,
+and, with the exception of a small dell called the Rock Close, every thing
+seems changed for the worse. In this romantic spot nature and art (a
+combination rather uncommon in pleasure-grounds) have gone hand in hand.
+Advantage has been taken of accidental circumstances to form tasteful and
+characteristic combinations; and it is really a matter of difficulty at
+first to determine what is primitive, and what the produce of design. The
+delusion is even heightened by the present total neglect. You come most
+unexpectedly into this little shaded nook, and stand upon a natural terrace
+above the river, which glides as calmly as possible beneath. Here, if you
+feel inclined for contemplation, a rustic couch of rock, all festooned with
+moss and ivy, is at your service; but if adventurous feelings urge you to
+explore farther, a discovery is made of an almost concealed, irregularly
+excavated passage through the solid rock, which is descended by a rude
+flight of stone steps, called the "Witches Stairs," and you emerge _sul
+margine d'un rio_, over which depend some light and graceful trees. It
+is indeed a fairy scene, and I know of no place where I could sooner
+imagine these little elves holding their moonlight revelry.
+
+A short distance to the south-west of the castle is a lake, said to abound
+with a species of leech. It does not afford one good subject for the
+pencil, being without islands, the margin swampy, and the adjacent trees
+planted with too much attention to regularity. It is a very generally
+believed tradition that, before Blarney surrendered to King William's
+forces, Lord Clancarty's plate was made up in an 'oaken chest, which was
+thrown into this lake, and has not since been recovered; nor does this
+appear improbable, as I understand repeated attempts have in vain been made
+to drain it. In 1814, the late Mr. Milliken, whose well-known song of "the
+Groves of Blarney" has identified his memory with the place, gave me a
+clumsy silver ring for the finger, which had been taken out of the lake by
+a boy who was fishing in it.
+
+Since I am on the subject of discoveries, it may be worth notice that, in
+a quarry close to the castle, where some men were working, we picked up
+several human bones, and that one of the labourers informed us so many as
+twenty horse loads of these bones had been thrown into the lake; he also
+spoke of two or three spear-heads being found with them. Groats and pennies
+of the Edwards and Henries have frequently been dug up here; but I believe
+never in any quantity.
+
+The interior of the castle contains little worth notice except a
+full-length portrait of Charles XII. of Sweden, said to be an original, and
+brought here by one of the Jeffreys' family who was envoy to that monarch.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE ANNUALS.
+
+
+       "Flow'rets strew'd
+  By churlish Time, in cheerlier mood;
+     The sweetness of a second Spring,
+  Beneath the Autumn of his wing.
+     Bestowing on the season's gloom
+  The bliss of a perennial bloom."
+
+
+Glancing back to the commencement of the nineteenth century, the only
+_annual_ record of poetry and prose which we recollect, was "The
+Flowers of Literature;" a thick duodecimo, habited in a flesh-coloured
+wrapper, and retaining in its print and pages, the quaintness which
+characterized "the good old days" of the "Universal Magazine;" and which
+still clings, though somewhat modified, to the patriarchal pages of
+Sylvanus Urban. The matter was in accordance with the manner--a medley of
+prosing articles, from the titles of which we might select, as indicative
+of their style, "Ode to Despair;" "Topographical Description of Paris;"
+"The Sailor;" more agreeably interspersed with some effusion of Mrs.
+Barbauld, or Mrs. Opie; mingled, again, with sundry "Observations on the
+Present State of the War," written by some sleepy newspaper editor, whose
+language we might assimilate with, "We have received intelligence from,"
+&c. Here and there, perhaps, a straggling beam of genius broke through the
+mental twilight, in the shape of, "Some Account of the poet, Burns;" a
+_Rustique_ by Bloomfield, or an elegant sonnet by Bowles or Charlotte
+Smith. The rest of would-be-sonneteers, tragedy-writers, and essayists,
+have long ago found, with their mediocrities, a congenial oblivion in
+"the tomb of all the Capulets."
+
+But suddenly, and without much premise to warrant the commencement of such
+an era, the department of our imaginative literature was established in
+patronage and importance; and those "trivial, fond records," which were
+wont only to sparkle a brief endurance in the mutable columns of a
+newspaper, or doomed, when existing in fragile manuscript, "to die and be
+forgot," found a refuge from their Lethean fate in the numerous Magazines
+which the increased taste, and avidity for reading, evinced by the public,
+had called into existence. Still there was a _desideratum_, which
+these adornments of English Literature, "The Annuals," alone supplied. The
+casual tones which emanated from the "transcendent masters of the lyre,"
+were not to be lost to "the public ear" for want of "a circulating medium;"
+and Ackermann, a name familiar to the lovers of pictorial art, had the
+honour of first setting England the example of preserving her valuable
+anthology, by producing his attractive Annual, "The Forget-Me-Not;" a
+species of literature which presents us with the pleasing facility of
+holding yearly communion with our poets and authors, without being
+subjected to the tedium of awaiting their protracted appearance in a more
+voluminous shape. We can now more frequently greet Anacreon Moore,
+wreathing his harp with the paternal shamrock, characteristically mingled
+with "pansies _for love_;" Montgomery, mourning over our nature's
+degradation; telling us of the affections and passions of earth, yet luring
+us to higher hopes and brighter consummation; his every line evincing that
+chastened sorrow which Byron threw into the portrait of the Sheffield
+bard--
+
+
+  "With broken lyre, and cheek serenely pale."
+
+
+Coleridge, dropping "some natural tears," on viewing the altered features
+of his native valley; sweetly and affectionately telling of
+
+
+  "The meadow, and its babbling brook,
+  Where roses in the ripple shook."
+
+
+Southey, forgetting the ungentler theme of "battle field" amidst the
+sublimity of rock and lake. Campbell, pouring from his plaintive shell
+a tender eulogy to his northern home--a glowing tissue of
+
+
+  Dreams of the Highland mountains, and echoing streams,
+  And broken glades, breathing their balm.
+
+
+--Scott, terrifically depicting a Sassenagh tournament, or inditing a
+stirring appeal to the "blue bonnets," to settle some Border broil. James
+Hogg, "the Scottish Virgil," on whom has surely fallen the mantle of
+inspiration from the Mantuan bard, coming forth in all the richness of the
+"Noctes Ambrosianae," from the misty hill where he dominates "the king of
+shepherds." Delta, elegantly pensive, sighing beneath the blighted trees
+which flourished over his boyhood; and listening to the rhetoric of the
+changing seasons. Alaric Watts, "the fireside bard," giving us a touching
+apostrophe to his "youngling of the flock," in melting verse, warm from
+that kindred fancy
+
+
+       "Whose blessed words
+  Can bid the sweetest dreams arise;
+     Awaken feeling's tenderest chords,
+  And drown in tears of joy the eyes."
+
+
+T.K. Hervey, following in the same bright path, or enthusiastically rapt
+amidst the beauty and bloom of Australia.--Bernard Barton, bringing us
+snatches of vernal philosophy, gathered in the silence of murky woods,
+and the solitude of perfumed meadows.--John Clare, swearing everlasting
+fealty to his beauteous Mary, by the elm-shadowed cottage of her bowery
+home; thanking heaven for the benison of love and rurality.--Richardson,
+the poet of India, sonnetizing amidst the superb cupolas and temples
+which gem the banks of the deified Ganges, longing to exchange his
+fevered abode for salubrious England.--Pringle transforming the
+repulsive features of a South African desert into matter for piteous
+song; and illumining, by the brightness of his genius, the terrible
+picture of Caffre barbarity and degradation.--Roscoe, revelling in the
+sweets of Italian lore, his own lips "touched with a live coal" from the
+altar of poesy.--Washington Irving, grasping at the intellect, and
+speculating on the wit and fancy, of all climes; so speedily
+transplanting himself (bodily as well as mentally) from the back woods
+of America to the land of Columbus--from the vineyards of France to the
+valleys of Yorkshire--as almost to induce a belief in his power of
+ubiquity.--Allan Cunningham, sympathizing with the sorrows of one "who
+never told her love," and weaving a tearful elegy over her flower-strewn
+grave, or painting the fiercer incidents of piratical warfare, on the
+ocean's solitudes.--Felicia Hemans, her lyre musically blending the song
+of sounding streams with the spontaneous melody of the "feathered choir"
+composing an epicedium to the memory of departed days, and proving her
+glorious claims to the poetic character, "creation's heir."--Mary
+Russell Mitford, great in her histrionic portraitures of liberty,
+whether patrician or plebeian; yet not forgetting in her dramatic
+wanderings, her happy village; but drawing us, "by the cords of love,"
+to the rustic scene; amplifying that fine axiom of the Stratford bard--
+
+
+  "Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
+     To shepherds, looking on their silly sheep,
+  Than does the embroider'd canopy to kings?"
+
+
+J.H. Wiffen, dating from the sentimental seclusion of Woburn Abbey,
+a song replete with all the grace and imagination of his "Ionian
+Hours."--Charles Lamb, the "deep-thoughted Elia," introducing us to the
+maidenly residence of his cousin Bridget; delighted with delighting; his
+fancy expatiating on a copious medley of subjects between the stiff
+Mandarins on the old fashioned china, and that _Beaumont and Fletcher_,
+the purchase of his rigid economy, ere his talents had brought him fame
+and fortune.--Letitia Landon "the English Sappho," a being existing but
+in the atmosphere of love and flowers; equally sensitive at the opening
+of a violet as at the shutting of a rose. But our list of the living is
+too extended; and we will speak of some of the departed.
+
+Interspersed with the emanations of our existing bards, we have,
+occasionally, those precious _morceaux_ which have been bequeathed us by
+the illustrious dead. Trifles, yet how esteemed! Remembrances of Byron,
+with his fiery impetuosity, spurning the trammels of worldly sorrow;
+and prescribing death as a _panacea_ for his lamentable despair; yet
+subduing us with refined regrets, as he was wont, in his changing mood,
+
+
+  "To sun himself in heaven's pure day."
+
+
+Shelley, misanthropically commencing with the turbulence of the chainless
+sea: a spirit matured to madness by the overawing and supernatural terrors
+of German romance: as he asserts himself to be, in his lamentation for the
+author of Endymion, one who
+
+
+  "Had gaz'd on Nature's naked loveliness,
+  Acteon-like, until _he fled away_."
+
+
+John Keates, forsaking the land of his fame, and prematurely resigning his
+"quiet breath," on that spot
+
+
+  "Where dwelt the muses at their natal hour;"
+
+leaving to the less sensitive reviewers to prove, whether he had been
+"led astray by the light from heaven, or by his own clouded and
+tempestuous genius:"
+
+
+  "That fire within so fiercely burned
+  That whence it came it soon returned."
+
+
+Maturin, though corrupted and enervated by the follies and dissipation
+of the anti-poetic city, becoming, in his lucid intervals, "himself
+again," in the composition of a splendid dramaticle.--Henry Neele, the
+"martyr-student," inviting us to share in the intense admiration of
+intellect; forcibly demonstrating "that song is but the eloquence of
+truth"--but of him no more!
+
+
+  "The churchyard bears an added stone;
+  The fireside shows a vacant chair."
+
+
+Yet, however splendid the galaxy of literary stars may be, which illumine
+our Annuals, they owe no little of their lustre to _the engravings_.
+It fortuitously happens that we have not "a connoisseuring eye," or
+we should swell this paper beyond the limits prescribed by editorial
+complaisance, in the pages of "THE MIRROR." We are not ignorant, however,
+of the incomparable advancement which the science of engraving has made in
+the lapse of the last ten years; or how far it has left behind those mere
+scratches of the graver which lit up our young admiration when a boy.
+Two of these we will be impertinent enough to criticise, in spite of the
+affection with which we cherish the visionary recollection of the pictures
+of grandmother's parlour. The subjects were "courtship," and "matrimony."
+In the former, the Chesterfieldian lover was seen handing his _chere
+amie_ (a lusty wench, with red ochre cheeks) over a remarkably low
+stile: whether the subject, or the manner of its execution had inspired
+the muse, is no matter; but beneath was the following:--
+
+
+  "In _courtship_, Strephon careful hands his lass
+  Over a stile a child with ease might pass"
+
+
+The next was "matrimony;" but, oh! "look on _this_ picture and on
+_this!_" The careless husband, forgetting his capacious spouse, leaves
+her to scramble over a stile of alarming altitude, whilst his attention
+seems absorbed in the quarrel of two snarling terriers. Such conjugal
+uncourtliness elicits its merited censure in the cool satire of the
+accompanying motto:--
+
+
+  "But _wedded_ Strephon now neglects his dame:
+  Tumble or not, to him 'tis all the same."
+
+
+The costume of these two figures was in accordance with the date of the
+hey-day of Ranelagh Gardens; and the outline of the foliage was about on
+a par with those designs we often see cut out of paper, by an ingenious
+schoolboy yet they may be adduced as criterions of the average merit
+appertaining to the generality of the productions of the burine of "the
+old school."
+
+In closing this erratic dissertation on the Annuals, we may remark, that an
+interesting article might be written, descriptive of the reformation which
+gradually elevated the art of engraving to perfection--a history of its
+emerging from the inanities which flaunt in the window of Carver and
+Bowles, in St. Paul's Churchyard, and arriving at the exquisite perfection
+of such achievements as "Alexander's Visit to Diogenes," and "Quintus
+Curtius leaping into the Gulf."
+
+* * H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+FINE ARTS.
+
+
+SCHOOL OF PAINTING AT THE BRITISH INSTITUTION, PALL MALL.
+
+(_To the Editor of the Mirror_.)
+
+
+Sir,--I have recently had the pleasure of visiting the British Institution,
+and hope the following remarks on a few of the best works will prove
+acceptable to those of your readers who are interested in the Fine Arts.
+
+It is customary at this Institution to open, every autumn, a school for the
+study of painting, in which students have an opportunity of copying the
+best productions of the greatest masters. The present school opened a few
+weeks ago, and furnishes some exquisite specimens of art, which were
+selected by the directors as examples for imitation. In general the
+students have been very enterprising this season, and their copies, if not
+quite equal in every respect to the charming originals, are nevertheless
+very meritorious and masterly attempts.
+
+_The Holy Family_, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, is a remarkably fine specimen
+of colour, and has been successfully copied by Messrs. Boaden, Fisk,
+Child, and Inskipp. Small copies, in water colours, have also been done
+from it by Miss Sharpe, and Miss Fanny Corbaux. Much praise is due to
+Mr. Morton, for his whole length _Portrait of a Gentleman_, after
+Vandyke; and Messrs. Simpson, Higham, and Middleton, deserve high
+commendation for executing the best _fac similia_ of Rembrandt's
+_Portrait of a Lady_. The _Landscape with Boors_, is a delightful little
+picture by Teniers, belonging to his Majesty: numerous attempts have
+been made to imitate it, but not altogether with success. Mr. Hart's
+copy, however, is extremely clever. Poussin's _Landscape and Figures_,
+has engaged the pencil of Mr. Burbank, who has produced a most elaborate
+copy in water colours. Mr. Foster displays considerable ability in his
+_Hobbima;_ and Messrs. Lee, Earl, Watts, and Dujardin, have equally
+excelled in their copies from the cattle piece by Cuyp. In De Hooge's
+picture, the _Exterior with Figures_, we are delighted with the
+representation of a fine summer evening: a peculiar warmth is diffused
+over every object, and the lengthened shadows indicate sunset: of this
+work, Mr. Novice has executed the best finished copy; Miss Dujardin's,
+however, is exceedingly good, and contains much promise. Another
+splendid example of art is a _Large Landscape_, by Gainsborough, good
+studies from which have been made by Messrs. Watts and Child.
+
+Two small views on the Grand Canal at Venice, by Gwardi, have employed
+the talents of Miss Dujardin, Mr. E. Child, Mr. Watts, and Master
+Pasmore. But it is impossible to enumerate, in this hasty notice, all
+the arduous undertakings of the students: suffice it to say, that they
+have gained another step towards pictorial fame, and that their copies,
+from the works of Rubens, Wouvermans, Murillo, Canaletti, Titian, &c.,
+are honourable testimonies of their exertion to excel.
+
+_October_ 19, 1829.
+
+G.W.N.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE CONTEMPORARY TRAVELLER.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+A TOUR IN THE ISLAND OF JERSEY.
+
+(_Concluded from page 262_.)
+
+
+A view of the western side of Jersey, is calculated to impress a stranger
+with an idea that it is a barren, unproductive island; but no supposition
+could be more erroneous, as, in fact, a great proportion of it may
+be described as orchard. The extent of ground planted, with fruit
+trees--apple, pear, and plumb is prodigious; and consequently cider--and
+very excellent cider too--is one of the staple products of the country, and
+a favourite beverage among the natives. At the Union Hotel, St. Helier,
+boarders were allowed to quaff as much as they had a liking for, without
+being subjected to any additional charge.
+
+About three miles inland from St. Helier, is a singular structure named
+Prince's Tower, erected on an artificial mound or tumulus, and embowered
+in a grove of fine trees. The extensive prospect it commanded, and the
+indubitable antiquity of the masonry, induced me to apply for permission to
+ascend it; and I was rewarded with a bird's eye view of nearly the whole
+island, and a vast sweep of the French coast extending almost from Cape de
+la Hogue to Avranches. An Englishman had lately taken up his abode in the
+tower, which, with the adjacent pleasure ground, he rented at forty pounds
+a-year. His object was to render it a place of resort to the inhabitants of
+St. Helier, and his advertisements promised that the "delightful emotions
+excited by its unrivalled scenery, and the harmonious chat of the feathered
+tribe, should not be counteracted by the comfortless sensations of hunger,
+thirst, and weariness." The interior of the tower was neatly and
+appropriately fitted up. One apartment was designated the chapel; and in
+the highest room were several telescopes, mounted so as to traverse to any
+point of the compass, for the gratification of visitors.
+
+But it is the traditionary history of Prince's Tower that renders it
+interesting in the eyes of the islanders. In former times it was known by
+the name of La Hogue-Bye, and the following legend, quoted from _Le Livre
+noir de Coutances_, gives the origin of its celebrity:--In remote times,
+a moor or fen in this part of Jersey, was the retreat of a monstrous
+serpent or dragon, which spread terror and devastation throughout the
+island. At length a valorous Norman, the Seigneur de Hambye, undertook to
+attempt its destruction, which, after a terrible conflict, he accomplished.
+He was accompanied in this adventure by a vassal of whose fidelity he had
+no suspicion, but who, seeing his lord overcome by fatigue, after having
+vanquished the reptile, suddenly bethought himself of monopolizing the
+glory of the action. Instigated by this foul ambition, he assassinated his
+lord, and, returning to Normandy, promulgated a fictitious narrative of the
+encounter; and, to further his iniquitous views, presented a forged letter,
+which he said had been written by De Hambye to his widow, just before his
+death, enjoining her to reward his faithful servant, by accepting him as
+her second husband. Reverence for the last injunction of her deceased lord,
+induced the lady to obey, and she was united to his murderer. But the
+exultation of the homicidal slave was of short duration. His sleep was
+disturbed by horrid dreams; and at length, in one of his nightly paroxysms,
+he disclosed the extent of his villany. On being arrested and questioned,
+he made a full confession, and was tried, found guilty, and publicly
+executed. De Hambye's widow, in memory of her lord, caused a tumulus of
+earth, to be raised on the spot where he was buried; and on the summit
+she built a chapel, with a tower so lofty, as to be visible from her own
+mansion at Coutances.
+
+So much for the fable. As to the word _Hogue_, there are several places
+in Jersey called _Hougues_, which are always situated on a rising
+ground. The word has evidently originated from the German _hoch_, from
+which is derived our English _high_. A _hougue_, therefore, means a
+mound or hillock, and in the present instance, the addition of _bye_ is
+obviously a contraction of Hambye; and, in accordance with the foregoing
+tradition, means literally the _barrow_ or tomb of the _Seigneur de
+Hambye_.
+
+The chapel at la Hogue is said to have been rebuilt in imitation of the
+Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, by one of the popish deans of Jersey, in the
+reign of Henry VIII. La Hogue-bye remained for many years in a dilapidated
+state, till about 1790, when the late Admiral d'Auvergne, a native of
+Jersey, better known under his French title of Duke of Bouillon, became its
+owner by purchase, and hence it obtained its present name. At his death, in
+1816, it was purchased by the late lieutenant-governor, Lieutenant-General
+Sir Hugh Mackay Gordon, whose heirs afterwards sold it to Francis le
+Breton, Esq., to whom it now belongs.
+
+The most prominent object in the noble panoramic view from the top of
+Prince's Tower, is a huge fortress on the eastern side of the island,
+called the Castle of Mont Orgueil. It crests a lofty conical rock, that
+forms the northern headland of Grouville Bay, and looks down, like a grim
+giant, on the subjacent strait. The fortifications encircle the cone in
+picturesque tiers, and the apex of the mountain shoots up in the centre of
+them, as high as the flag-staff, which is in fact planted upon it. During
+war a strong garrison constantly occupied Mont Orgueil, but now a corporal
+and two privates of artillery composed the whole military force. The
+corporal, a quiet intelligent man, who spoke with much horror of paying a
+visit to the West Indies, which, in the mutations of his professional life,
+he had a prospect of doing at no distant period, acted as _cicerone_,
+and, among other places, introduced me into a small circular apartment,
+forming one of the suite appropriated to officers, which he said had been
+the habitation of Charles II. when a wanderer. This prince, when his
+unfortunate father fell into the hands of the regicidal party, found a
+loyal welcome in Jersey. Here he was recognised as king, when in England
+they sought his blood: here he remained in security, when his fatherland
+afforded him no asylum. During his lonely sojourn in this remote portion of
+his hereditary dominions, he is said to have employed himself in making a
+survey and delineating a map of the island. The natives, flattered by the
+confidence he reposed in them, and justly proud of nine centuries of
+unblemished loyalty to the throne of Great Britain, still refer to his
+residence as a memorable event; and in no other part of the British
+dominions, is the memory of the "merry monarch" more respected. When
+Cromwell, after the disastrous issue of the battle of Worcester, sent an
+expedition, under Admiral Blake, to reduce the island, it made a most
+gallant and protracted defence; and had not circumstances conspired to
+favour the Invaders, their victory would have been dearly purchased.
+
+Mount Orgueil, in point of historical association, is by far the most
+interesting spot in Jersey. A part of the fortifications, according to
+tradition, are coeval with Caesar's incursions into Gaul; and the islanders
+hold it famous in their oldest story, and of antiquity beyond record. In
+1374, the celebrated Constable du Guesclin passed over from Bretagne at the
+head of a large army, including some of the bravest knights of France, and
+encamped before this fortress, then called Gouray Castle, into which the
+principal inhabitants had retired for safety; but after a siege of several
+months, he was obliged to draw off his forces in despair, and quit the
+island. Henry V. added much to the strength and beauty of Gouray--made it
+a depot of arms, and conferred on it the proud name of Mont Orgueil. About
+1461, Nanfant, the governor, a dependent of Henry VI. was prevailed upon,
+by an order of Queen Margaret, to surrender it to Surdeval, a Frenchman,
+agent of Peter de Brezé, Count of Maulevrier; but though de Brezé kept
+possession of it for several years, the natives, under the command of
+Philip de Carteret, Seigneur of St. Ouen, a family long illustrious in
+Jersey annals, prevented him from completely subjugating the island. Sir
+Richard Harliston, vice-admiral of England, afterwards re-captured Mont
+Orgueil, and put an end to Maulevrier's usurpation.
+
+A small pier, intended to facilitate the landing of stores, and shelter
+the numerous oyster vessels that resort to Grouville Bay at the dredging
+season, projects into the sea, immediately under the castle guns. The bay,
+like that of St. Aubin, is defended by a regular line of martello towers,
+several of which are built far within flood-mark, on reefs that form part
+of the Violet Bank. The adjacent country is a perfect garden, and numerous
+secluded villas and cottages are scattered among the umbrageous and
+productive orchards that spread around. A small village, called Goree,
+lies a short way southward of Mont Orgueil. In former times, it was a
+sutling-place for the garrison; now it is only the rendezvous of a few
+oyster-fishers. In the auberges here, (every alternate house retailed
+liquor), brandy sold at a shilling a bottle.
+
+The road leading directly from Grouville to St. Helier runs parallel with
+the southern shore, among corn fields, orchards, and hamlets, and is the
+best in the island. I travelled it after sunset, and found myriads of toads
+hopping across it in every direction. These reptiles are extremely common
+in Jersey; while, in the neighbouring island of Guernsey, if popular report
+may be credited, they are not only unknown, but cannot exist, as has been
+ascertained by importing them from less favoured countries. This exemption
+in favour of Guernsey, is in all probability a mere fable, originating with
+some ignorant native, the absurdity of which no person has been at the
+trouble to expose. Lizards and small snakes are also numerous in Jersey;
+and at night-fall, a chorus of crickets resounds from every hedge.
+
+The Jersey cattle are small; but like the pigmy breed of the Scottish
+Highlands, their flesh is delicate, and their milk and butter rich. The
+butcher market at St. Helier is supplied chiefly from France. There are
+sportsmen in Jersey as well as in other countries, but game is neither
+various nor abundant. The list, however, includes hares, rabbits, the
+Jersey partridge, a beautiful bird, with pheasant eyes, red legs, and
+variegated plumage; and several varieties of water fowl. In severe winters,
+flocks of solan geese, locally denominated "barnacles," frequent the
+shores.
+
+The Romans, the pioneers of discovery and civilization in Europe, conferred
+on Jersey the name of Caesarea, in honour of their leader; and Caesar and
+Tacitus concur in describing it as a stronghold of Druidism, of which
+worship many monuments still exist. The aborigines were doubtless sprung
+from the Celtic tribes spread over the adjacent continent; but the present
+inhabitants are universally recognised as the lineal descendants of the
+warlike Normans, who, under the auspices of the famous Rollo, conquered and
+established themselves in the north of France in the ninth century. It was
+first attached to the British crown at the conquest; and though repeated
+descents have been made on it by France during the many wars waged between
+the countries since that remote era, none of them were attended with such
+success as to lead to a permanent occupation of the island. The islanders,
+proud of an unconquered name, and gratified to recollect that they
+originally gave a king to England, not England a king to them, have been
+always distinguished for fidelity to the British government; and their
+unshaken loyalty has, from time to time, been rewarded by immunities and
+privileges, highly conducive to their prosperity, and calculated to foster
+that spirit of nationality, which is invariably distinctive of a free
+people. They are exempted from those taxes which press heaviest on the
+English yeoman, and from naval and military service beyond the boundaries
+of their own island. The local administration of justice is still regulated
+by the old Norman code of laws, and this circumstance is regarded by the
+natives as a virtual recognition of their independence; but strangers, when
+they inadvertently get involved in legal disputes, have often cause to
+regret its existence. In cases of assault, particularly the assaulting of a
+magistrate, even though his official character be unknown to the offender,
+a severe punishment is generally awarded. We heard several instances of
+military officers, who had been guilty of raising an arm of flesh against
+jurats in night frolics at St. Helier's, narrowly escaping the penalty
+attached to this heinous infraction of the laws--a penalty which would have
+left them maimed for life.
+
+The introduction of Christianity, and final extirpation of idolatry, is
+said to have occurred in the sixth century. In the latter days of the reign
+of popery, Jersey formed part of the diocese of Coutances in Normandy,
+where the ancient records of the island were deposited; but at the
+Reformation, in the reign of Elizabeth, it was attached to the see of
+Winchester--an annexation, however, merely nominal, for the island is in
+reality exempt from the dominion of the church of England. The inhabitants
+are a well-disposed and peaceable race, but not particularly distinguished
+for enthusiasm in religion. The peasantry are orderly and industrious; the
+merchants enterprising; and the seamen, a numerous class, hardy and
+adventurous. The _aggregate_ of the people live more after the French
+manner than the English; that is, they substitute fruit and vegetables, in
+a great measure, for animal food, and cider for ale. Neither men nor women
+are distinguished for personal beauty, though we noticed several very
+comely dames in our perambulations; and notwithstanding the boasted purity
+of their descent from the ocean-roamers of the north, they have many of the
+anomalous features of a mixed race.--_Edinburgh Journal of Natural and
+Geographical Science_. No. I.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE NATURALIST.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE MOLE.
+
+
+Foreign naturalists have been much occupied of late with the mole. From the
+recently published observations of one of them, M. Flourens, it appears
+that this animal, as its organization indicates, is, if not exclusively, at
+least, essentially, carnivorous. It very soon dies if only roots be given
+to it; and if it destroy so many roots of vegetables, it is not for the
+purpose of eating them, but to seek among them for worms, insects, and
+particularly for the larvae of insects which harbour there. They may be
+kept alive for a long time upon any animal food. Ten or twelve hours are
+nearly the longest time they can live without food. Like all animals which
+feed upon blood and flesh, the mole is always very thirsty.--_Monthly
+Mag_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+CLIMATE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
+
+
+The climate of the British dominions in the south of Africa is one of the
+finest in the world. The average height of the barometer is above thirty
+inches, and the average summer heat at noon is about 78 deg. It resembles
+the climate of Italy, but is rather warmer and dryer. It is so dry, that
+draining is little required for the ground: on the contrary, it is
+necessary to retain moisture as much as possible, and even irrigation is
+desirable, more especially from the grasses. The mountains abound in
+springs, but the supply of water is scanty and precarious, from the want of
+energy and skill in procuring that essential article. Such a scarcity
+frequently arises, that the cattle perish from thirst, and the people
+themselves are in danger of a similar fate.--_Gill's Repository_.
+
+
+Sea Pens.
+
+
+[Illustration: Sea Pens.]
+
+
+The cuts represent two fine Sea Pens--_Silver and Red_, with Sections.
+
+Of all the Sea Pens yet known, the first is one of the largest and most
+curious in its appearance; being of a beautiful silvery white, elegantly
+straited on each of the feather-like processes, with lines or streaks of
+the deepest black. It is extremely rare, and is a native of the Indian
+Seas. The accompanying Engraving is copied from a fine specimen in the
+British Museum.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE RED SEA-PEN IS
+
+Of a very beautiful appearance, and is found on the British coast. The
+animal consists of a flattened stem, or body, which is furnished with an
+internal bone, and dilates into an expanded part, consisting of several
+pinnae, or lateral branches, which are divided on their inner edges into a
+number of tubular processes, through each of which is protruded a part of
+the animal, resembling the head of a hydra or polype; the whole animal may,
+therefore, be considered as a very compound or ramified union of polypi,
+the bodies of which are contained in the naked part or stem, and from
+thence ramify into a vast number of processes, each furnished with its
+particular head. The animal emits a very strong phosphoric light, and it is
+even so luminous, that it is no uncommon circumstance for the fishermen to
+see the fish which happen to be swimming near it merely by the light of the
+Pens. Its colour is a bright red crimson, and the general size that of the
+figure.
+
+Mr. Ellis, in the Philosophical Transactions, has published some specimens
+of this extraordinary animal, of a kidney-shaped form, and observes that it
+nourishes and supports itself by the succours of polype filaments, which we
+have expressed in the Engraving in a magnified size. By these they take in
+their food and discharge the exuviae. In case of danger these little
+succours are drawn in.
+
+Sea Pens are termed _locomotive zoophytes,_ and swim in the manner of
+fish. Five hundred polypes may frequently be numbered on a single feather;
+and they number among the most rare and interesting animals of the order to
+which they belong.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+_Vermin in Ships_.
+
+Steam has been lately found very successful in cleansing ships from vermin,
+and especially the white ant. In India, a steam boat was lately placed
+alongside a merchant vessel, and steam from its boiler conveyed by a very
+simple system of pipes in the hold of the latter, the apertures to which
+were closed as well as they could be. The operation was continued for
+several hours; and there is reason to believe it was effectual, and will
+prove a valuable process in the navy. Besides the direct object of
+cleansing the ship, another advantage accrued from the discovery of every
+leaky place existing, by the oozing of the water through it. The expense is
+said to be very moderate; and it is further stated to be the only process
+at present known, not even except sinking, which effectually destroys the
+white ant.--_Brande's Journal_.
+
+
+_Agriculture_.
+
+England possesses more pasture land than any other European country; and
+Spain the least.
+
+In agriculture, France is a century behind England; and to equal England,
+France would have to make the immense progress which, since that time, has
+more than doubled the prosperity of the former country.
+
+England not only surpasses France in the number of its cattle, but the
+animals are also finer, and their flesh is of better quality; so that an
+Englishman may enjoy nearly double the quantity of animal food that France
+supplies to each of its inhabitants, and with the further advantage of
+better quality. "Oh, the Roast Beef of Old England."
+
+
+_Indian Rouge_.
+
+We find in _Jameson's_ last _Journal_, a very interesting paper
+by Dr. Hancock, on a Red Pigment, called _Carucru_, or _Chica_,
+which appears to be the Rouge of the interior Indians. It is produced like
+Indigo, from the plant chiefly found towards the head of Essequibo, Parima,
+and Rio Negro. On breaking a branch, the leaves, when dry, become almost of
+a blood red, and being pounded, are infused in water till a fermentation
+ensues. The liquor is then poured off and left to deposit a settlement,
+which forms the _Chica_ paint. It is put up very neatly in little
+caskets made with palm leaves, and carried by the Atorayas and trading
+Caribs all over Guiana. It has a soft, cochineal, crimson shade, and is in
+great demand among the Indians as an ornamental paint. The use is chiefly
+for the face, whilst they stain the other parts of the body with Arnotta.
+They also apply the Chica on the cheeks and about the eyes, and variegate
+the countenance by marking the forehead, and along the facial line, with
+their coomazu, a yellow clay or ochre. This manner of painting produces a
+striking contrast, and gives them a very strange and furious appearance.
+
+From the scarcity of the Chica, its employment is almost exclusively
+confined to the chiefs and higher orders, their nobility. The rest must be
+contented with Arnotta, or Poncer mixed with the oil of Carapa, a portion
+of which, with the Balsam of Aracousiri, mixed with these paints, imparts
+to them a very delightful odour. The _toilet_, therefore, of the rude
+tribes is as simple as their manners and mode of life, their chief material
+being perfume, and all being carried in a little gourd.
+
+The Chica is not merely esteemed as a pigment, but is considered in the
+Orinoko as the most sovereign remedy for erysipelas, where that complaint
+is very prevalent. It is simply made with water into a paste, thinly
+spread on old linen or cotton, and applied as a plaster to the inflamed
+part.--_Abridged_.
+
+
+_Indian Graters_.
+
+The Tacumas (Indians) are the fabricators of those curious Cassada Graters,
+which are considered superior to all others by those who are acquainted
+with them. They are made of a very hard wood, studded over with pointed
+flint stones, and fixed by a kind of cement and varnish of surprising
+durability; the substance being at the same time a strong cement and
+transparent varnish. These Cassada Graters are scarcely, if at all, known
+on the coast, or in the European settlements.--_Jameson's Journal_.
+
+
+_Wild Bulls_.
+
+In the province of San Martin, in South America, M. Roulier saw wild bulls
+feeding in the _llanos_ among domestic cattle. These animals pass
+their morning in the woods, which cover the foot of the Cordillera, and
+come out only about two in the afternoon to feed in the savanna. The moment
+they perceive a man they gallop off to the woods.
+
+
+_Mount Souffre_.
+
+During the eruption of this volcano in 1812, the explosions were heard at
+600 or 700 miles distance; and cinders were taken from the deck of a vessel
+150 miles distant.
+
+
+_Force of Running Water_.
+
+In August, 1827, the small rivulet called the College, at the foot of the
+Cheviot Hills, was so swollen by the heavy rains, that the current tore
+away from the abutment of a mill dam, a large block of stone, weighing
+nearly two tons, and transported it to the distance of a quarter of a mile.
+
+
+_Cement_.
+
+The large snails which are found in gardens and woods, discharge a whitish
+substance, with a slimy and gelatinous appearance, which has been known to
+cement two pieces of flint so strongly as to bear dashing on a pavement
+without the junction being disturbed, although the flint broke into
+fragments by fresh fractures.
+
+
+_Artificial Ice_.
+
+A mixture of four ounces of nitrate of ammonia, four ounces of subcarbonate
+of soda, and four ounces of water, in a tin pail, has been found to produce
+ten ounces of ice in three hours.--_Brande's Journal_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+AN OLD MAN'S STORY.
+
+BY MARY HOWITT.
+
+
+  There was an old and quiet man,
+     And by the fire sate he,
+  "And now," he said, "to you I'll tell
+     A dismal thing, which once befell
+  In a ship upon the sea.
+
+  'Tis five-and-fifty years gone by,
+     Since from the River Plate,
+  A young man, in a home-bound ship,
+     I sailed as second mate.
+
+  She was a trim, stout-timbered ship,
+     And built for stormy seas,
+  A lovely thing on the wave was she,
+     With her canvass set so gallantly
+  Before a steady breeze.
+
+  For forty days, like a winged thing
+     She went before the gale,
+  Nor all that time we slackened speed,
+     Turned helm, or altered sail.
+
+  She was a laden argosy
+     Of wealth from the Spanish Main,
+  And the treasure-hoards of a Portuguese
+     Returning home again.
+
+  An old and silent man was he,
+      And his face was yellow and lean.
+  In the golden lands of Mexico
+      A miner he had been.
+
+  His body was wasted, bent, and bowed,
+      And amid his gold he lay--
+  Amid iron chests that were bound with brass,
+      And he watched them night and day.
+
+  No word he spoke to any on board,
+     And his step was heavy and slow,
+  And all men deemed that an evil life
+     He had led in Mexico.
+
+  But list ye me--on the lone high seas,
+     As the ship went smoothly on,
+  It chanced, in the silent second watch,
+     I sate on the deck alone;
+  And I heard, from among those iron chests,
+     A sound like a dying groan.
+
+  I started to my feet--and lo!
+      The captain stood by me,
+  And he bore a body in his arms,
+     And dropped it in the sea.
+
+  I heard it drop into the sea,
+      With a heavy splashing sound,
+  And I saw the captain's bloody hands
+     As he quickly turned him round;
+  And he drew in his breath when me he saw
+     Like one convulsed, whom the withering awe
+  Of a spectre doth astound.
+
+  But I saw his white and palsied lips,
+     And the stare of his ghastly eye,
+  When he turned in hurried haste away,
+     Yet he had no power to fly;
+  He was chained to the deck with his heavy guilt,
+     And the blood that was not dry.
+
+  'Twas a cursed thing,' said I, 'to kill
+     That old man in his sleep!
+  And the plagues of the sea will come from him;
+     Ten thousand fathoms deep!
+
+  And the plagues of the storm will follow us,
+     For Heaven his groans hath heard!'
+  Still the captain's eye was fixed on me,
+     But he answered never a word.
+
+  And he slowly lifted his bloody hand
+     His aching eyes to shade,
+  But the blood that was wet did freeze his soul,
+     And he shrinked like one afraid.
+
+  And even then--that very hour
+     The wind dropped, and a spell
+  Was on the ship, was on the sea,
+     And we lay for weeks, how wearily,
+  Where the old man's body fell.
+
+  I told no one within the ship
+     That horrid deed of sin;
+  For I saw the hand of God at work,
+     And punishment begin.
+
+  And when they spoke of the murdered man,
+     And the El Dorado hoard,
+  They all surmised he had walked in dreams,
+     And had fallen overboard.
+
+  But I alone, and the murderer--
+     That dreadful thing did know,
+  How he lay in his sin, a murdered man,
+     A thousand fathom low.
+
+  And many days, and many more,
+     Came on, and lagging sped,
+  And the heavy waves of that sleeping sea
+     Were dark, like molten lead.
+
+  And not a breeze came, east or west,
+     And burning was the sky,
+  And stifling was each breath we drew
+     Of the air so hot and dry.
+
+  Oh me! there was a smell of death
+     Hung round us night and day;
+  And I dared not look in the sea below
+     Where the old man's body lay.
+
+  In his cabin, alone, the captain kept,
+     And he bolted fast the door,
+  And up and down the sailors walked,
+     And wished that the calm was o'er.
+
+  The captain's son was on board with us,
+     A fair child, seven years old,
+  With a merry look that all men loved,
+     And a spirit kind and bold.
+
+  I loved the child, and I took his hand,
+     And made him kneel and pray
+  That the crime; for which the calm was sent,
+     Might be purged clean away.
+
+  For I thought that God would hear his prayer,
+     And set the vessel free,--
+  For a dreadful thing it was to lie
+     Upon that charnel sea.
+
+  Yet I told him not wherefore he prayed,
+     Nor why the calm was sent
+  I would not give that knowledge dark
+     To a soul so innocent.
+
+  At length I saw a little cloud
+     Arise in that sky of flame,
+  A little cloud--but it grew and grew,
+     And blackened as it came.
+
+  And we saw the sea beneath its track
+     Grow dark as the frowning sky,
+  And water-spouts, with a rushing sound,
+     Like giants, passed us by.
+
+  And all around, 'twixt sky and sea,
+     A hollow wind did blow;
+  And the waves were heaved from the ocean depths,
+     And the ship rocked to and fro.
+
+  I knew it was that fierce death-calm
+     Its horrid hold undoing,
+  And I saw the plagues of wind and storm
+     Their missioned work pursuing.
+
+  There was a yell in the gathering winds,
+     A groan in the heaving sea,
+  And the captain rushed from the hold below,
+     But he durst not look on me.
+
+  He seized each rope with a madman's haste,
+     And he set the helm to go,
+  And every sail he crowded on
+     As the furious winds did blow.
+
+  And away they went, like autumn leaves
+     Before the tempest's rout,
+  And the naked masts with a crash came down,
+     And the wild ship tossed about.
+
+  The men, to spars and splintered boards,
+     Clung, till their strength was gone,
+  And I saw them from their feeble hold
+     Washed over one by one.
+
+  And 'mid the creaking timber's din,
+     And the roaring of the sea,
+  I heard the dismal, drowning cries
+     Of their last agony.
+
+  There was a curse in the wind that blew,
+     A curse in the boiling wave;
+  And the captain knew that vengeance came
+     From the old man's ocean grave.
+
+  And I heard him say, as he sate apart,
+     In a hollow voice and low,
+  'Tis a cry of blood doth follow us,
+     And still doth plague us so!'
+
+  And then those heavy iron chests
+     With desperate strength took he,
+  And ten of the strongest mariners
+     Did cast them into the sea.
+
+  And out, from the bottom of the sea,
+     There came a hollow groan;--
+  The captain by the gunwale stood,
+     And he looked like icy stone--
+  And he drew in his breath with a gasping sob,
+     And a spasm of death came on.
+
+  And a furious boiling wave rose up,
+     With a rushing, thundering roar,--
+  I saw the captain fall to the deck,
+     But I never saw him more.
+
+  Two days before, when the storm began,
+     We were forty men and five,
+  But ere the middle of that night
+     There were but two alive.
+
+  The child and I, we were but two,
+     And he clung to me in fear;
+  Oh! it was pitiful to see
+     That meek child in his misery,
+  And his little prayers to hear!
+
+   At length, as if his prayers were heard,
+     'Twas calmer, and anon
+  The clear sun shone, and warm and low
+     A steady wind from the west did blow,
+  And drove us gently on.
+
+  And on we drove, and on we drove,
+     That fair young child and I,
+  But his heart was as a man's in strength,
+     And he uttered not a cry.
+
+  There was no bread within the wreck,
+     And water we had none,
+  Yet he murmured not, and cheered me
+     When my last hopes were gone;
+  But I saw him waste and waste away,
+     And his rosy cheek grow wan.
+
+  Still on we drove,
+     I knew not where,
+  For many nights and days,
+     We were too weak to raise a sail,
+  Had there been one to raise.
+
+  Still on we went, as the west wind drove,
+     On, on, o'er the pathless tide;
+  And I lay in a sleep, 'twixt life and death,
+     And the child was at my side.
+
+  And it chanced as we were drifting on
+     Amid the great South Sea,
+  An English vessel passed us by
+     That was sailing cheerily;
+  Unheard by me, that vessel hailed
+     And asked what we might be.
+
+  The young child at the cheer rose up,
+     And gave an answering word,
+  And they drew him from the drifting wreck
+     As light as is a bird.
+
+  They took him gently in their arms,
+      And put again to sea:--
+  'Not yet! not yet!' he feebly cried,
+     'There was a man with me.'
+
+  Again unto the wreck they came,
+     Where, like one dead, I lay,
+  And a ship-boy small had strength enough
+     To carry me away.
+
+  Oh, joy it was when sense returned
+     That fair, warm ship to see.
+  And to hear the child within his bed
+     Speak pleasant words to me!
+
+  I thought at first that we had died,
+     And all our pains were o'er,
+  And in a blessed ship of Heaven
+     Were sailing to its shore.
+
+  But they were human forms that knelt
+     Beside our bed to pray,
+  And men, with hearts most merciful,
+     Did watch us night and day.
+
+  'Twas a dismal tale I had to tell
+     Of wreck and wild distress,
+  But, even then, I told to none
+     The captain's wickedness.
+
+  For I loved the boy, and I could not cloud
+     His soul with a sense of shame:--
+  'Twere an evil thing, thought I, to blast
+     A sinless orphan's name!
+  So he grew to be a man of wealth,
+     And of honourable fame.
+
+  And in after years, when he had ships,
+     I sailed with him the sea,
+  And in all the sorrow of my life
+     He was a son to me;
+  And God hath blessed him every where
+     With a great prosperity.
+
+
+_The Amulet for 1830_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE LITTLE MAJOR'S LOVE ADVENTURE.
+
+
+You must know, when I was in the 18th light dragoons, I was quartered
+in Canterbury; and having got some introductory letters, I contrived
+to make out a pleasant time enough. One of my visiting-houses was
+old Tronson's the banker's--devilish agreeable family--four pretty
+girls--all flirted--painted on velvet--played the harp--sang Italian,
+and danced as if they had been brought up under D'Egville in the _corps
+de ballet._ The old boy kept a man-cook, and gave iced champagne. Now,
+you know, there is no standing this; and Harriette, the second of the
+beauties, and I, agreed to fall in love, which in due course of time we
+effected. Nothing could be better managed than the whole affair; we each
+selected a confidant, sat for our pictures, interchanged them with a
+passionate note, and made a regular engagement for ever.
+
+Such was the state of things, when the route came, and my troop was ordered
+to embark for Portugal. Heavens! what a commotion! Harriette was in
+hysterics: we talked of an elopement, and discussed the propriety of going
+to Gretna; but the hurry to embark prevented us. I could not, you know,
+take her with me. Woman in a transport! a devilish bore; and nothing was
+left for it but to exchange vows of eternal fidelity. We did so, and
+parted--both persuaded that our hearts were reciprocally broken.
+
+Ah!--if you knew what I suffered night and day! her picture rested in my
+bosom; and I consumed a pipe of wine in toasting her health, while I was
+dying of damp and rheumatism. But the recollection of my _constant
+Harriette_ supported me through all; and particularly so, when I was
+cheered by the report of my snub-nosed surgeon, who joined us six months
+after at Santarem, and assured me on the faith of a physician, that the
+dear girl was in the last stage of a consumption.
+
+Two years passed away, and we were ordered home. O heavens! what were my
+feelings when I landed at Portsmouth! I threw myself into a carriage, and
+started with four horses for Canterbury: I arrived there with a safe neck,
+and lost not a moment in announcing my return to my constant Harriette.
+
+The delay of the messenger seemed an eternity: but what were my feelings,
+when he brought me a perfumed note (to do her justice, she always wrote on
+lovely letter-paper), and a parcel. The one contained congratulations of my
+safe arrival, accompanied by assurances of unfeigned regret that I had not
+reached Canterbury a day sooner, and thus allowed her an opportunity of
+having her "dear friend Captain Melcomb" present at her wedding; while the
+packet was a large assortment of French kid skins and white ribbon.
+
+That blessed morning she had bestowed her fair hand on a fat professor of
+theology from Brazen Nose, who had been just presented to a rich prebend by
+the bishop, for having proved beyond a controversy, the divine origin of
+tithes, in a blue-bound pamphlet. Before I had time to recover from my
+astonishment, a travelling carriage brought me to the window; and quickly
+as it passed, I had full time to see _ma belle Harriette_ seated
+beside the thick-winded dignitary. She bowed her white Spanish hat and six
+ostrich feathers to me as she rolled off, to spend, as the papers informed
+me, "the honey-moon at the lakes of Cumberland.' There was a blessed return
+for two years' exposure to the attacks of rheumatism and French
+cavalry.--_Stories of Waterloo._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the celebrated Philip Henry was ejected from the establishment,
+Dr. Busby (who had been his tutor) meeting him, said, "Who made you a
+nonconformist?" "You, Sir," replied he, "I made you a nonconformist!"
+"Yes, Sir, you taught me those principles which forbade to violate my
+conscience."
+
+TOSCAR.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE SKETCH-BOOK.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ANTWERP CATHEDRAL.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+Antwerp possesses considerable interest to an Englishman, as a place of
+great importance during the late war, when there was a sort of mystery
+attached to it, as the secret grand naval depot of Napoleon, which our
+Government thought to "cripple France for ever," by getting into our own
+hands! But what the Earl of Chatham, with an army of twenty thousand men,
+aided by a fine British fleet, could not do, I did: I made my entry into
+Antwerp--without molestation, thanks to the benign Spirit of Peace--towards
+the evening of a fine day in July; and while the impression of novelty was
+still fresh, enjoyed a rich treat in viewing its noble Cathedral. The
+interior is grand, but simple--striking the beholder more by its loftiness
+and spaciousness, than by any profusion of glittering ornament, so common
+in Catholic churches--although the forest of pillars, the altar-piece, the
+statues, and above all the splendid pictures which grace the walls, form a
+rich variety to the eye. It would be useless to enter into a minute detail,
+for no description can give a stranger a perfect idea of one building
+distinct from others of a similar kind, and those who have seen the object
+itself do not require it. Antwerp may be called the country of Rubens: at
+every turn you meet with monuments of his genius; and here (in the
+Cathedral) you have what is esteemed his masterpiece--the "Descent from the
+Cross"--which surprises you with a boldness of drawing, vigour and richness
+of colouring, and an animation in the grouping, that can scarcely be
+excelled; and when you discern the colossal figures from a little distance
+amongst the pillars and arches of the nave, you feel inclined to bow in
+reverence to the divinity of the genius which has portrayed so wonderful a
+conception of the mind. It is needless to say that this was one of the
+works of art carried to Paris to enrich the gallery of the Louvre, together
+with one placed in a corresponding situation, "The Assumption of the
+Virgin," which is more in Rubens' florid style than the former. There is
+also, by the same master-hand, a noble picture, "The Elevation of the
+Cross," in the artist's happiest manner; and the exquisite altarpiece, "The
+Ascension," is also his work. There are several other fine paintings
+here--one of them said to be the best performance of Quintin Matsys, who,
+under the inspiration of love, deserted the anvil for the pallet; and
+another by his father-in-law, Flors, supposed to be the identical picture
+upon which the _ci devant_ blacksmith painted a bee, with such skill
+as to obtain the old artist's cordial consent to the marriage of Matsys
+with his daughter. Amongst the carved wood-work in the aisles, we admired
+the execution of several statues of Saints, male and female, whose features
+and drapery are finished with all the delicacy of marble.
+
+The shades of evening now began to add to the solemnity of the scene, by
+the indistinctness that was gradually enveloping the more distant objects;
+and, alone, we almost dreaded to break, with our own whispers, the silence
+which reigned around. In the midst of this "stillness audible," the fine
+bell of the cathedral struck the hour, and its melodious tone seemed at
+once to reach the heart. We sat down to listen to the prolonged note, as
+each successive toll reverberated through the expanse--lingering like a
+halo around the walls, and appearing to awaken echoes from the guardian
+spirits of the night. I fancied I had never in my life heard so
+full-toned--so musical a bell: certain it is, none ever gave me the same
+sensation of delight. Indeed, the whole belfry is well assorted, for the
+_carillons_, which play certain airs at intervals, produce a sweeter
+effect than I remember any where else; and one of the pleasant
+recollections I retain of Antwerp arises out of the frequent, but
+unobtrusive, chimes that salute the ear during the day. We left Notre Dame
+this time with "lingering steps and slow."
+
+But how can I give an idea of the exterior? The tendency to placid
+reflection which we had caught within found ample food for indulgence when
+we came to witness the effect of the architecture without, combined with
+the particular time of night--about nine o'clock--different tints and
+shadows displaying themselves upon the angles of the building, as the light
+decreased. Imagine a spire of light, ornamental, elegant open-work, carried
+up about a hundred feet higher than St. Paul's. I believe it is the
+loftiest in Europe, with the exception of Strasbourg, than which, in the
+opinion of many, it is more handsome. The only drawback upon its beauty
+is the glaringly large dial of the clock; but even this may suggest
+appropriate reflection: for may we not consider it an emblem of Time, whose
+course it measures, intruding upon the fairest prospects of our lives,
+to remind us that all human monuments and enjoyments must yield to his
+irresistible hand? The spire rises on one side of the principal entrance;
+and there is a corresponding tower on the other, to the height of the base
+of the steeple part, as if there had been an intention to erect one of
+similar dimensions there also, like the twin towers of Westminster Abbey;
+but I cannot help thinking, that as two and two are said not always to make
+four, the projecting counterpart, instead of doubling the effect, would
+have lessened the feeling of stupendous height with which the present
+single pinnacle inspires the beholders. As there cannot be two suns in the
+same sphere, neither could the spire of Antwerp have borne a rival near its
+solitary, aerial throne. It soars aloft with such grandeur, that in gazing
+upon it my brain actually grew dizzy with the sight: never was I conscious
+in an equal degree of such a feeling of awe from a work of art, and my mind
+really ached with the intensity of the impression.--We seemed to view this
+sublime object with mutual wonder and admiration--gazing upon it in one
+position, then in another--walking about--stopping--excited as it were by
+the same impulse. Once, when nearly dark, as our eyes were fixed upon the
+top, a gentle light suddenly appeared upon the very summit, crowning the
+majestic fane with glory, as if pointing it out for admiration to a
+surrounding world: it was a star twinkling upon the very spot where the
+highest point of the spire rested on the sky.
+
+The name of Antwerp is derived from _Hand-werpen_ or
+_Hand-thrown_: so called from a legend, which informs us that on the
+site of the present city once stood the castle of a giant, who held the
+neighbouring country in thraldom, and who was accustomed to amuse himself
+by cutting off, and casting into the river, the right hands of the
+unfortunate wights that fell into his power; but that being at last
+conquered himself, his own immense hand was disposed of, with poetical
+justice, in the same way. With the impression of this story on my mind, it
+came into my head that the giant was personified by the towering spire: no
+wonder, thought I, that Don Quixote mistook a windmill for a giant, since
+I, even in my sober senses, cannot get rid of the idea that I see the
+mighty hand-thrower before me. With a little confusion of the image, I then
+imagined the spire to be the guardian of the city--that it took cognizance
+of all its affairs, and that it would watch me even into my retreat for the
+night. Like the adored phantom of youthful love, it pervaded every place,
+and haunted me in my dreams. Often the motion of the clouds seemed to be
+transferred to the lofty spire, which again assuming the giant character
+startled me with the impression that it was falling towards me, or rushing
+to crush its victims, like the horrid car of Jaggernaut.
+
+Through the Giant's Gate, so called from a colossal statue reclining upon
+it, there is an opening to the Scheldt;--without is the quay, covered
+with merchandize unloading from the ships in the river, and serving as
+an evening promenade. Here you may see the other eminences of the city
+occasionally, but the gigantic one--always: it stalks out from amidst the
+cluster of buildings your constant companion wherever you go--as you walk
+along, it appears to move with you, and when you stop it waits with
+patience until you go on again. On another occasion we took a boat on the
+Scheldt, and landing at some distance below the town, had a delightful
+walk along its banks, which are elevated like part of Milbank, near
+Vauxhall-bridge; and the situation has much the same character. The river,
+however, is grander, as I should judge it to be twice the width of the
+Thames at London-bridge, and it flows with great rapidity. It was a
+charming evening, and we saw the sun set in all his glory down the Scheldt,
+in the bosom of which were reflected the endless tints of the sky, whose
+golden brilliancy was beautifully relieved by the intervention of some
+cottages near us, and a pretty village, with its church-spire a little
+further off. On one side was the flat cultivated country of Flanders, and
+looking up the river, we beheld the shipping and the whole city: all the
+churches and towers raised their varied forms, but still only to do homage,
+as it were, to the great pile which outstripped them, and which was lit up
+by the radiance of the departed sun. Model of splendour! "from morn 'till
+dewy eve" how must thy elegant form be engraven on the hearts of the
+natives of the city thou overlookest, exciting emotions of home, like the
+craggy rock of the Highlanders, when they are absent in distant lands! and
+how must the youth, whom the love of art carries to study the treasures of
+Venice and Rome, when returning to shed a lustre upon his natal place--of
+being one day named with Matsys and Rubens, and the other splendid painters
+by whom it has been adorned--how must the first glance that he catches of
+thy hallowed height make his heart throb with endearing thoughts of the
+friends he left under thy shade, and absorb for the moment all feelings of
+ambition in the recollection of the boyish days passed within thy ken--but
+now, alas, departed for ever! May the fires of heaven, and the tremblings
+of earth, never injure thy venerable beauty; but may thousands, and tens
+of thousands, in time to come, as in time past, gaze upon thee--as I, an
+obscure, nameless stranger, have done--with thoughts too deep for words!
+
+During the evening I have alluded to we were accompanied by the
+accomplished Miss ----, whose talents must be well known to many of our own
+artists who have visited Antwerp; and this being her native place, her
+conversation gave us those kindly associations of home, without which no
+scenes, however beautiful or however uncommon, can penetrate the inmost
+recesses of the soul.
+
+W.G.
+
+Our Correspondent, in a few introductory lines, modestly, though
+somewhat unnecessarily, apologizes for the enthusiasm of the reflective
+portion of the previous sketch. He will perceive that we have ventured upon
+a few slight alterations. He concludes his note to us with an assurance
+that "the feelings were sincere, however trifling the thoughts, or
+inadequate the expression." Of his sincerity we have no doubt; and where
+the feelings of a writer are so honourable to his heart as are many in this
+paper, we are not fastidious enough to quarrel with inadvertencies of the
+head. All have felt the overpowering effect produced by the contemplation
+of the sublimities of art, but comparatively few are aware of the
+difficulty of embodying these first impressions in descriptive detail.--ED.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER.
+
+  A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.
+SHAKSPEARE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+Vivian Grey pronounces school ushers execrable wretches, because they wear
+pepper and salt pantaloons; Lady Morgan improves upon him, declaring the
+man who wears a white waistcoat in the morning, or the woman who curtsies
+at a drawing-room door, out of the pale of society. It is surprising that
+people will write such rubbish as this--more surprising that others will
+print it-- most surprising that folks buy it--and as Cobbett would say,
+what surprises us "most of all," is that people read it.
+
+Q.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE WORD FARM.
+
+
+Spelman derives this word from the Saxon term _fearme_, or
+_feorme_, which signifies _victus_, food, or _provision_, as
+the tenants and country people anciently paid their rents in victuals and
+other necessaries of life, but which was afterwards converted into the
+payment of certain sums of money. Hence a _ferm_ was originally a
+place which furnished or supplied its owner or lord with provisions.
+
+P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+At an inn in a market town upon the road to Holyhead, a gentleman sat in
+the kitchen smoking his pipe, and watching with anxiety a fowl that was
+roasting for his supper. At length a tall, meagre figure stalked in, and
+after an earnest and melancholy look at the fowl, retired with a sigh.
+Repeating his visit he exclaimed, "That fowl will never be done in time."
+"What do you mean?" said the gentleman, "that fowl is for my supper, and
+you shan't touch a bit of it." "Oh," replied the other, "you misunderstand
+me; I don't want the fowl; but I am to play _Oroonoko_ this evening,
+and we cannot begin for want of the _jack chain_."
+
+C.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THOMAS PAINE.
+
+
+When Paine's "Rights of Man," reached Lewes, where he married a Miss Olive,
+the women as with one voice, said, "Od rot im, let im come ear if he dast,
+an we'll tell him what the Rights of Women is; we'll toss im in a blanket,
+and ring im out of Lewes wi our frying pans."--_Cheetham's Life of
+Paine_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+EPIGRAM.
+
+
+Ah, Lucy, 'twas a roguish thought  That kindled up that rosy hue; True,
+'twas a roguish thought, for I,  Thought none so great a rogue as
+_you_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS_.
+
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+
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+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
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+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11459 ***