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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11530 ***
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
+
+VOL. XIX. NO. 529.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1832. [PRICE 2_d_.
+
+
+
+
+FISHMONGER'S HALL
+
+
+[Illustration: FISHMONGERS' HALL.]
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF THE COMPANY.]
+
+These Cuts may be welcome illustrations of the olden magnificence of the
+City of London. The first represents the river or back front of the Hall
+of the Fishmongers' Company: the second cut, the arms of the Company, is
+added by way of an illustrative pendent. These insignia are placed over
+the entrance to the Hall in Lower Thames-street; they are sculptured in
+bold relief, and are not meanly executed. The Hall, or the greater part of
+it, has been taken down to make room for the New London Bridge approaches;
+the frame-work of the door, and the arms still remain--_stat portus umbra_.
+
+The Hall merits further notice; not so much for its architectural
+pretensions as for its being the commencement of a plan which it could be
+wished had been completed. The reader may probably remember that after the
+Great Fire of London, the King (Charles II.) desired WREN, in addition to
+his designs for St. Paul's, to make an accurate survey and drawing of the
+whole area and confines of the waste metropolis; and "day, succeeding day,
+amidst ashes and ruins, did this indefatigable man labour to fulfil his
+task." He prepared his plans for rebuilding the city, and laid them before
+the King. That part of Sir Christopher's plan which relates to the present
+subjects, was as follows: "By the water-side, from the bridge to the
+Temple, he had planned a long and broad wharf or quay, where he designed
+to have arranged all the halls that belong to the several companies of the
+city, with proper warehouses for merchants between, to vary the edifices,
+and make it at once one of the most beautiful ranges of structure in the
+world."[1] King Charles, however, as Mr. Cunningham observes, "was never
+obstinate in any thing for his country's good," and the idea was dropped:
+but Wren erected the above Hall as a specimen of his intention of
+ornamenting the banks of the Thames. The original hall was destroyed by
+the Great Fire.
+
+The ancient importance of the Fishmongers' Company may be thus explained:--
+
+During the days of papacy in England, fish was an article not of optional,
+but compulsive consumption, and this rendered the business of a fishmonger
+one of the principal trades of London. Fish Street Hill, and the immediate
+vicinity, was the great mart for this branch of traffic, from its close
+connexion with the river, and here lived many illustrious citizens,
+particularly Sir William Walworth, and Sir Stephen Fisher.
+
+Strong prejudices were however entertained against the fishmongers, and to
+so great an extent was it carried, that in the fourteenth century, they
+prayed the king, by Nicholas Exton, one of their body, that he would take
+the company under his protection, "lest they might receive corporeal hurt."
+The parliament itself appears to have imbibed the general distrust, for in
+1382 they enacted, "that no fishmonger should be mayor of the city." This
+was repealed, however, the following year.
+
+The fishmongers consisted of two companies, the salt fishmongers,
+incorporated in 1433, and the stock fishmongers in 1509. The two companies
+were united by Henry VIII. in 1536. Before the junction, they are said by
+Stow, who calls them "jolly citizens," to have had six halls, two in
+Thames Street, two in Fish Street, and two in Old Fish Street, and six
+lord-mayors were elected from their body in twenty-four years. But being
+charged with forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the
+city, they were fined five hundred marks by Edward I. in 1290. In 1384,
+these, as well as others concerned in furnishing the city with provisions,
+were put under the immediate direction of the mayor and aldermen, by an
+act of parliament still in force.[2]
+
+The Hall, on the west side of the ward of Bridge Within, was of brick and
+stone, and may be said to have had two fronts. The fore entrance was from
+Thames Street by a handsome passage, leading into a large square court,
+encompassed by the Great Hall, the Court Room, and other grand apartments,
+with galleries. The back, or river front, had a double flight of stone
+steps, by which was an ascent to the first apartments. The door was
+ornamented with Ionic columns supporting an open pediment, in which was a
+shield, with the arms of the company. The building was finished with
+handsomely rusticated stone, and had a noble effect.
+
+The Hall was of capacious proportions, and extended nearly the whole
+length of the building. The ceiling, as well as that of the adjoining
+Court Room, exhibited some fine specimens of old plaster-work. We
+witnessed the dismantling of the premises previous to their being taken
+down. It was indeed a sorry breaking up. The long tables which had so
+often, to use a hackneyed phrase, "groaned" beneath the weight of civic
+fare--the cosy high-backed stuffed chairs which had held many a portly
+citizen--nay, the very soup-kettles and venison dishes--all were to be
+submitted to the noisy ordeal of the auction hammer.
+
+We remember in the upper end of the hall, and just behind the chair, there
+stood in a niche, a full-sized statue, carved in wood by Edward Pierce,
+statuary, of Sir William Walworth, a member of this company, and
+lord-mayor during the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The knight grasped a real
+dagger, said to be the identical weapon with which he stabbed the rebel;
+though a publican of Islington pretended to be possessed of this dagger,
+and in 1731, lent it to be publicly exhibited in Smithfield, in a show
+called "Wat Tyler," during Bartholomew Fair. Below the niche was this
+inscription:
+
+    "Brave Walworth, knight, lord-mayor, yt slew
+    Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;
+  The king, therefore, did give in lieu
+    The dagger to the cytye's arms.
+  In the 4th year of Richard II. Anno Domini 1381."
+
+A common, but erroneous belief is perpetuated in this inscription, for the
+dagger was in the city arms long before the time of Sir William Walworth,
+and was intended to represent the sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of
+the corporation.
+
+The funeral pall of Sir W. Walworth curiously embroidered with gold, is
+preserved amongst the relics, as well as a plan of the splendid show at
+his installation, 1380.
+
+The Fishmongers' Company is fourth upon the list of the city corporations,
+under the name and style of "the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery of
+Fishmongers of the city of London." It is a livery company, and very rich,
+governed by a prime and five other wardens, and a court of assistants.
+
+The company supports a free Grammar School at Holt Market, in Norfolk,
+founded by Sir John Gresham; Jesus Hospital, at Bray, in Berkshire,
+founded by William Goddard, Esq. for forty poor persons; St. Peter's
+Hospital, near Newington, Surrey, founded by the company; twelve
+alms-houses at Harrietsham, in Kent, founded by Mr. Mark Quested; a
+fellowship in Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge founded by Mr. Leonard
+Smith; a scholarship in the same college, founded by William Bennet, Esq.
+Mr. Smith, executor.
+
+The _Arms_ of the Company are in a shield supported by a merman and
+mermaid, the latter with a mirror in her hand. The Keys refer to St. Peter,
+the Patron Saint of the Company.
+
+
+[1] Quoted by Cunningham in his "Life of Wren," from a contemporary
+    authority.
+
+[2] Wards of London.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HOLY SEPULCHRE, HECKINGTON CHURCH.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+
+From the description of the Holy Sepulchre in Heckington Church, given in
+your last volume, stating that it stood there in the summer of 1789, such
+of your readers as have no means of knowing to the contrary, may infer
+that it is not now in existence.[1] I am led to trouble you with a few
+lines on the subject, as this specimen still in the best preservation,
+deserves us full an account as your limits will admit. The sepulchre
+nearly, and the stalls also mentioned by you, which have been cleaned
+completely, remain now in the same state as the artist originally left
+them. An architect, Mr. T. Rickman, who visited the neighbourhood a short
+time ago, gives the following account, which was printed in a work[2] on
+the topography of the neighbourhood, soon after his visit: he says, "The
+sepulchre, of which there are not many specimens now remaining, consists
+of a series of richly ornamented niches, the largest of which represents
+the tomb, having angels standing beside it; the side niches have the
+Maries and other appropriate figures, and in the lower niches are the
+Roman soldiers reposing; these niches have rich canopies, and are
+separated by buttresses and rich finials, having all the spaces covered by
+very rich foliage." He further observes, that "the stalls exhibit a
+specimen of pure decorated work, as rich as the finest sculpture of
+foliage and small figures can render it, and hardly surpassed by any in
+the kingdom, and the sepulchre is of the same excellent character. The
+various small ornaments about these stalls and niches form one of the best
+possible studies for enrichments of this date: and it is almost peculiar
+to this church, that there is nothing about it, except what is quite
+modern, that is not of the same style of architecture."
+
+As the above gentleman's description of the present state of the church at
+Heckington will give a clearer idea of many others in the county of
+Lincoln, we perhaps cannot do better than close this account with it.
+"This beautiful church, of pure decorated character, is one of the most
+perfect models in the kingdom, having, with one exception, (that of the
+groined or interior ceiling which is wanting, and appears never to have
+been prepared for,) every feature of a fine church, of one uniform style,
+without any admixture of _later_ or _earlier_ work. Its mutilations are
+comparatively small, consisting only in the destruction of the tracey of
+the north transept window, and some featherings in other windows, and the
+building and wall to enclose a vestry. The plan of the church is a west
+tower and spire, nave and aisles, spacious transepts, and a large chancel,
+with a vestry attached to the north side. The nave has a well proportioned
+clesestory. There is a south porch, a rich font, the tomb of an
+ecclesiastic, and the assemblage of niches before described. In the
+chancel and some of the church walls are very good brackets. The vestry
+has a crypt below it. Fully to describe this church would require a much
+larger space than can be allotted to it, but it may be well to remark,
+that every part of the design and execution is of the very best character,
+equal to any in the kingdom."
+
+That this church was built on or near to the site of the one given by
+Gilbert de Guant, the style of architecture being of much later date,
+fully demonstrates; and it is more than probable that on its rebuilding,
+the patent of Edward III. was obtained. Certain it is that no specimen of
+an earlier style now remains; but tradition says that the foundation of
+the church was laid in the year 1101, and the building completed in A.D.
+1104, at a cost only of £433. 9_s_. 7_d_. This statement, if worthy of
+credit, must be referred to an earlier and less costly edifice than the
+present.
+
+J.H.S.
+
+
+[1] We omitted to state that our interesting particulars of the Heckington
+    Sepulchre were from _Vetusta Monumenta_, a splendid folio work
+    published by the Antiquarian Society.
+
+[2] Sketches of New and Old Sleaford, County of Lincoln, and of several
+    places in the Neighbourhood, p. 224. 8vo Baldwin and Co.
+
+      *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TRAVELING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+Guernsey, Dec. 17, 1831.
+
+
+Your ingenious and talented correspondent, _Vyvyan_, in writing on the
+shrimp, (the _Mirror_, p. 361, vol. xviii.) remarks that "The sea roamer
+may often have observed numbers of little air-holes in the sand, which
+expand as the sun advances. If he stirs it with his foot, he will cause a
+brood of young shrimps, who will instantly hop and jump about the beach in
+the most lively manner," &c.: these "jumpers" as they are facetiously
+called, are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity
+for which their namesakes are so remarkable. They are as different as
+possible from young shrimps; and if "old shrimps" _could_ "tell tales," I
+doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would tell their "companions
+at breakfast table" the same thing. Your correspondent further adds, that
+"strange stories are told of the _old_ shrimp," and I think, on
+investigation, he will find that he has told a very "strange story" of
+_young_ shrimps. In a future communication I will give you a correct
+account or history of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time
+when it is first spawned until it arrives at perfection.
+
+H.W.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+_Vyvyan_ has not in his _Notes_ named any county but South Wales,
+generally, where he says, "Any person who can enclose a portion of land
+around his cottage or otherwise, in one night, becomes owner thereof in
+fee." These persons in Wales are called Encroachers, and are liable to
+have ejectments served upon them by the Lord of the Manor, (which is often
+the case) to recover possession. The majority of the Encroachers pay a
+nominal yearly rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy
+the land. If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any
+interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the same. It
+is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held for the manor,
+and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally done every three or
+four years, these encroachments are thrown out again to the waste or
+common.
+
+J.P.
+
+*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan's "Notes," especially as
+we believe our readers to take considerable interest in their accuracy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE SKETCH-BOOK.
+
+
+MY FIRE.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+On new year's morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study, which is a
+little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward fancy of my own,
+closely resembles the cell of an alchymist. Its walls are hung with black
+drapery, on which appear the mystical signs of the planetary bodies,
+Hebrew, Persian, and various cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of
+the work of transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success
+employed by the alchymist. Here and there pieces of their quaint and
+uncouth shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the
+pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective
+stations. The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered with
+copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company with the
+_caput mortum_ and the hour-glass. A few antiques, consisting of
+half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of the green clad yeoman,
+the ponderous mace and helmet of the valiant knight, and other relics of
+the days of chivalry, complete the decorations of this my sanctum.
+
+In consequence of its dark and gloomy aspect, and the feeling of awe with
+which the family and servants regard its mystical contents, I have its
+undisturbed enjoyment; nobody feels a wish to enter it even in the day
+time, and I verily believe they would not do so at the witching hour of
+night, lest the mystical signs should take summary vengeance on their
+unhallowed intrusion.
+
+The neighbours imagine me to be an adept in the "black art," an astrologer,
+or a fortune-teller, but I have no pretentions whatever to any such titles;
+this report has got abroad in consequence of a maid-servant having once
+had the temerity to peep through the key-hole, and observed on the wall
+opposite her "line of sight," some triangular characters. She had been in
+the habit of poring over a dream book, and the art of casting nativities;
+the Prophetic Almanac was her oracle, and its terrific title-page she
+informed her fellow servant "had just those queer triangle things as was
+hung on the walls of young master's study." She was "sure that he could
+tell her fortune." This important intelligence, delivered with due
+confidence to her fellow servant, of course spread like wildfire among the
+other occupants of the "lower regions," and from them amongst the
+handmaidens of sundry other dwellings. Thus has my astrological character
+been established.
+
+As all domestics are excluded my sanctum, of course I am obliged to "do
+for myself," and this I prefer to being "done for," or having my room "set
+to rights," according to their notions of neatness; my feelings on this
+point are exactly those of Scott's _Antiquary_; I therefore "do for
+myself," and consequently, it follows I must light my own fire. Than on
+the morning I have mentioned, the "grand agent" of the chemist was never
+more required. The air bit shrewdly, and it was "bitter cold" upon
+entering the sanctum, although I had not quitted it many hours, having
+watched the "old year out and the new year in," and then taken a short
+nap; yet Jack Frost had been active during my absence, and cooled down the
+air of the sanctum some degrees below the freezing point, at the same time
+coating the window panes with his beautiful crystalline figures. The dark
+walls did look most awful, seen through the dun yellow light of the fog,
+which met my view upon drawing aside the cabalistically hung curtains. I
+cast a look at the Rumford grate; its black cold bars "grinned most
+horrible and ghastly." A sympathy was instantly established between them
+and my nasal organ, for I found a drop of pure crystal pendant from its
+extremity. Here, thought I, is an admirable question for "_The Plain Why
+and Because_." _Why_ does a drop of water hang from the nose on a frosty
+morning? Because the natural heat of the body sends up vapour into the
+head, and that being exposed most to cold, the vapour condenses, and a
+drop of water runs from the nostril, as it would do from the head of a
+still. Upon looking at anything very cold, sympathy excites the same
+action. This "Why and Because" was succeeded by another--Why does my
+fire-grate grin so coldly? Because you will not be "done for," else Eliza
+could have raised a flame there for you an hour ago. The truth of this
+reply was so forcible that I resolved to "do for myself" without delay,
+and evolve the "grand agent." I went to the door, expecting to see my
+usual supply of fuel; none was to be found. What means this? said I, and
+was about to make my wants known, but changed my intent as quickly, and
+being a little excited by such neglect, determined not to be dependent
+upon the domestics, but make a fire of my own. Now then for the materials.
+Paper, as all persons know, who have "lit their own fires," is the
+foundation; it was also mine: sundry letters in reply to sundry
+unsuccessful applications written on "thick double laid post," as the
+advertisements say, I seized upon, and thrust their crumpled forms between
+the sooty bars of the grate with some wood, the model of a mechanical
+invention of my own, which had been rejected by a Society, and why, I knew
+not; I severed limb from limb, and disposed their fragments across and
+athwart on the letters previously mutilated. How to obtain my coal posed
+me for a moment; but I recollected that in a geological cabinet under my
+window, I was the possessor of a mass of pure Staffordshire, weighing some
+twenty pounds. The doors of the cabinet flew open, and out it came; I had
+a strong affection for this lump of coal, having extracted it myself from
+the mines, and carried it many a weary mile on my return home. I felt loth
+to commit it to the flames; but this was necessity, "stern necessity:"
+one or two blows of the mineralogical hammer destroyed my scruples, and
+produced the proper cleavages in the mass of coal. I laid the precious
+stratum, _super stratum_ upon the two former, and other deposits of
+_papyrus_ and _lignum_; such was my "coal formation." The magic touch of
+a Promethean elicited my "grand agent" to the thick laid post; it consumed
+rather sluggishly, but the dry pine wood of the broken model caught the
+flame and entered into fair combustion, cracking and sparkling, and now
+and then sending out a hiss of pyroligenous vapour; hissing yourself
+thought I. The fiery example was soon followed by the coal at first slowly
+sending up wreaths of dirty, green, yellow smoke, but as the fire waxed
+warmer these disappeared, and vivid hissing jets of ignited gas shot forth
+in abundance. The hissing annoyed me; why, I could not divine; but as the
+heat increased I cooled from the state of excitement produced by the testy
+destruction of my papers, model, and specimen. I sat down at the fire; had
+I not better, said I, have made my wants known to the servant, than have
+acted as I have done? No, I hate asking for what, as a duty should have
+been ready to my hands. I endeavoured to persuade myself that I did not
+regret the deed I had done, but could not succeed; something whispered me
+that I should suffer for it. I felt myself an "uncomfortable gentleman."
+I began to trace my fire from its origin up to its present state of
+perfection; the letters were of no consequence--none--the model I made
+myself and can make another--certainly--the coal I paid dearly for by
+fatigue, but I can get another lump, and send it home by coach, yes; then
+why am I so uncomfortable. I looked at the glowing fire which was getting
+insufferably hot, and gave it a passionate poke, exclaiming, I wish I
+could stop your draught. Draught! draft, I repeated, what has become of my
+draft that I received yesterday for my last paper? I began to recollect
+myself where I had laid it, and quickly came to the awful conclusion that
+I had placed it carefully between the folds of one of the sacrificed
+letters.
+
+Misery and destruction, said I, that draft has caused my rapid fire! it is
+gone and forever! Fool that I was; why did I not "blow up" the servants
+for paper, wood, and coals, and be "done for properly" instead of thus
+"doing for myself." Ye alchymistical spirits, said I, invoking the dark
+drapery, aid me to extract my gold from yonder ashes! but they were deaf
+to my calls, and the old _caput mortum_ seemed to grin in mockery. I could
+bear it no longer, and rushing from the sanctum, met the servant girl on
+the stairs. "A draft! a draft!" repeated I; she thought me mad; I was mad
+with vexation. "Sir," said she, "you will catch cold if there is a draught
+such a day as this." A cold day as this, you wretch, Eliza, why did you
+not bring my coals to the door this morning, then I could have had my fire
+without a draft; I want a ten guinea draft, not a foggy, frosty draught.
+The girl stood amazed, but replied, "Please, sir, I didn't bring the coals
+this morning because you said never to do so on a Sunday, sir." "Sunday,"
+I exclaimed, "is this Sunday?" "Lord bless me, sir, yes, and new year's
+day too, sir; happy new year, sir," said the provoking little wench, who
+was now joined by another. I could stand it no longer, but slunk back into
+the sanctum, "like a burnt child that dreaded the fire," hearing them
+exclaim, "I thought how it would be, them odd things in his room has quite
+turned his brain, poor young gentleman, he did not even know it was Sunday,
+and new year's day neither."
+
+I really did not know it was Sunday, for my calculaters were destroyed by
+the circumstance of our having kept Christmas Day on the Monday. I was
+aware that it was new year's day, and had intended to begin 1832 with good
+works, instead of which I commenced it with destroying my property, thus
+literally "doing for myself," and unlike most other people who invariably
+suffer from a draught, I am suffering from the loss of one.
+
+PYRAMIS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.
+
+
+ADVENT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+In the North Riding of Yorkshire, the young folks retain a very ancient
+custom during Advent. They make a wax figure representing the infant Jesus,
+and place it in a small wooden case, with evergreens, which hide all but
+the figure. A napkin is thrown over the box; and the puppet is thus
+carried about, and exhibited from door to door, by a boy, the others
+chanting some supplicatory lines. The same custom prevails in Wales.
+
+In Italy, a wax figure representing the Virgin, inclosed in a beautifully
+carved wooden case, is placed on the back of an ass, and exhibited through
+the country during Advent. Every traveller on seeing it prostrates himself
+immediately, and crosses himself, and considers himself in duty bound to
+bestow his charity on the proprietor. Others carry emblematical figures
+through the different towns, or sit by the road side, and uncover the
+effigy to every passer-by.
+
+W.H.H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CURIOUS MANORIAL RIGHT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+At Ripley Castle, in Yorkshire, the seat of Sir William Ingilby, there is
+in the great staircase an elegant Venetian window, in the divisions of
+which, on stain-glass, are a series of escutcheons, displaying the
+principal quarterings and intermarriages of the Ingilby family since their
+settling at Ripley, during a course of 430 years.
+
+In one of the chambers of the tower is the following sentence, carved on
+the frieze of the wainscot:--"In the yeire of owre Ld. MDLV. was this
+howse buyldyd, by Sir Wyllyam Ingilby, Knight, Philip and Marie reigning
+that time."
+
+John Pallisser, of Bristhwaite, formerly held his lands of the manor of
+Ripley, by the payment of a red rose at Midsummer, and by carrying the
+boar's head to the lord's table all the twelve days of Christmas.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+NOTES OF A READER.
+
+
+EUGENE ARAM.
+
+
+We intend to quote a few scenes and snatches from Mr. Bulwer's
+extraordinary novel of this name. At present, however, we can only
+introduce the ill-fated hero.
+
+(Two young ladies, daughters of the lord of the Manor, approach Aram's
+house:--)
+
+"Madeline would even now fain have detained her sister's hand from the
+bell that hung without the porch half embedded in ivy; but Ellinor, out of
+patience--as she well might be--with her sister's unseasonable prudence,
+refused any longer delay. So singularly still and solitary was the plain
+around the house, that the sound of the bell breaking the silence had in
+it something startling, and appeared, in its sudden and shrill voice, a
+profanation to the deep tranquillity of the spot. They did not wait
+long--a step was heard within--the door was slowly unbarred, and the
+Student himself stood before them."
+
+"He was a man who might, perhaps, have numbered some five and thirty years;
+but at a hasty glance, he would have seemed considerably younger. He was
+above the ordinary stature; though a gentle, and not ungraceful bend in
+the neck rather than the shoulders, somewhat curtailed his proper
+advantages of height. His frame was thin and slender, but well knit and
+fair proportioned. Nature had originally cast his form in an athletic
+mould, but sedentary habits and the wear of mind seemed somewhat to have
+impaired her gifts. His cheek was pale and delicate; yet it was rather the
+delicacy of thought than of weak health. His hair, which was long, and of
+a rich and deep brown, was worn back from his face and temples, and left a
+broad high majestic forehead utterly unrelieved and bare; and on the brow
+there was not a single wrinkle--it was as smooth as it might have been
+some fifteen years ago. There was a singular calmness, and, so to speak,
+profundity of thought, eloquent upon its clear expanse, which suggested
+the idea of one who had passed his life rather in contemplation than
+emotion. It was a face that a physiognomist would have loved to look upon,
+so much did it speak both of the refinement and the dignity of intellect."
+
+"Such was the person--if pictures convey a faithful resemblance--of a man,
+certainly the most eminent in his day for various and profound learning,
+and a genius wholly self-taught, yet never contented to repose upon the
+wonderful stores it had laboriously accumulated."
+
+(Aram thus describes his own character:--)
+
+"Ah!" said Aram, gently shaking his head, "it is a hard life we bookmen
+lead. Not for us is the bright face of noon-day or the smile of woman, the
+gay unbending of the heart, the neighing steed and the shrill trump; the
+pride, pomp, and circumstance of life. Our enjoyments are few and calm;
+our labour constant; but that is it not, Sir?--that is it not? the body
+avenges its own neglect. We grow old before our time; we wither up; the
+sap of our youth shrinks from our veins; there is no bound in our step. We
+look about us with dimmed eyes, and our breath grows short and thick, and
+pains, and coughs, and shooting aches come upon us at night; it is a
+bitter life--a bitter life--joyless life. I would I had never commenced it.
+And yet the harsh world scowls upon us: our nerves are broken, and they
+wonder we are querulous; our blood curdles, and they ask why we are not
+gay; our brain grows dizzy and indistinct (as with me just now), and,
+shrugging their shoulders, they whisper their neighbours that we are mad.
+I wish I had worked at the plough, and known sleep, and loved
+mirth--and--and not been what I am."
+
+"As the Student tittered the last sentence, he bowed down his head, and a
+few tears stole silently down his cheek. Walter was greatly affected--it
+took him by surprise: nothing in Aram's ordinary demeanour betrayed any
+facility to emotion; and he conveyed to all the idea of a man, if not
+proud, at least cold."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD JESTS.
+
+
+Persons who gloat over dust and black-letter need scarcely be told that
+the best of "modern" jests are almost literally from the antique: in short,
+that what we employ to "set the table on a roar" were employed by the wise
+men of old to enliven _their_ cups, deep and strong;--that to jest was a
+part of the Platonic philosophy, and that the excellent fancies, the
+flashes of merriment, of our forefathers, are nightly, nay hourly,
+re-echoed for our amusement. Yet such is the whole art of pleasing: what
+has pleased will, with certain modifications, continue to please again and
+again, until the end of time.
+
+But we may displease; and, as Hamlet says, "We must speak by the card."
+The _Athenaeum_ a fortnight since drew forth a batch of these jests with
+antique humour richly dight, and here they are. The reader will recognise
+many old acquaintances, but he need not touch his hat, lest, his politeness
+weary him. These old stories are but "pick'd to be new vann'd."
+
+_Hierocles' Facetiae_.
+
+1. An irritable man went to visit a sick friend, and asked him concerning
+his health. The patient was so ill that he could not reply; whereupon the
+other in a rage said, "I hope that I may soon fall sick, and then I will
+not answer you when you visit me."
+
+2. A speculative gentleman, wishing to teach his horse to do without food,
+starved him to death. "I had a great loss," said he; "for, just as he
+learned to live without eating, he died."
+
+3. A curious inquirer, desirous to know how he looked when asleep, sat
+with closed eyes before a mirror.
+
+4. A young man told his friend that he dreamed that he had struck his foot
+against a sharp nail. "Why then do you sleep without your shoes?" was the
+reply.
+
+5. A robustious countryman, meeting a physician, ran to hide behind a wall;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "It is so long since I have been sick,
+that I am ashamed to look a physician in the face."
+
+6. A gentleman had a cask of Aminean wine, from which his servant stole a
+large quantity. When the master perceived the deficiency, he diligently
+inspected the top of the cask but could find no traces of an opening.
+"Look if there be not a hole in the bottom," said a bystander. "Blockhead,"
+he replied, "do you not see that the deficiency is at the top, and not
+at the bottom?"
+
+7. A young man meeting an acquaintance, said, "I heard that you were dead."
+--"But," says the other, "you see me alive."--"I do not know how that may
+be," replied he: "you are a notorious liar, but my informant was a person
+of credit."
+
+8. A man, hearing that a raven would live two hundred years, bought one to
+try.
+
+9. During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that appeared in
+danger seized different implements to aid them in swimming, and one of the
+number selected for this purpose the anchor.
+
+10. One of twin-brothers died: a fellow meeting the survivor asked, "Which
+is it, you or your brother, that's dead?"
+
+11. A man whose son was dead, seeing a crowd assembled to witness the
+funeral, said, "I am ashamed to bring my little child into such a numerous
+assembly."
+
+12. The son of a fond father, when going to war, promised to bring home
+the head of one of the enemy. His parent replied, "I should be glad to see
+you come home without a head, provided you come safe."
+
+13. A man wrote to his friend in Greece begging him to purchase books.
+From negligence or avarice, he neglected to execute the commission; but
+fearing that his correspondent might be offended, he exclaimed when next
+they met, "My dear friend, I never got the letter that you wrote me about
+the books."
+
+14. A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled together. Losing
+their way, they were forced to sleep in the open air; and, to avert danger,
+it was agreed to keep watch by turns. The lot first fell on the barber,
+who, for amusement, shaved the fool's head while he slept; he then woke
+him, and the fool, raising his hand to scratch his head, exclaimed, "Here's
+a pretty mistake; rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of
+me."
+
+15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and shook it,
+folding out his hat to catch them as they fell.
+
+16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from the wall
+to exhibit as a sample.
+
+17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night in a dream."
+"Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear you."
+
+18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared that he
+would not again go into the water until he had learned to swim.
+
+(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his first teeth
+was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")
+
+19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower. "By Jove,"
+said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me and my father."
+
+20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on horseback;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because I am in a hurry."
+
+21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home, "Father,
+rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."
+
+We thank the wits of the _Athenaeum_ for these piquancies: they are in the
+right true Attic vein, and are therefore characteristic of that clever
+Journal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.
+
+(_From_ Part xiii.--_Botany._)
+
+
+_Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?_
+
+Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out the
+superabundant quantity of water which it contained.
+
+_Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of leaves at
+sunrise?_
+
+Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness of the
+night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew; but Mushenbroëk
+first proved the above, by conclusive experiments. He intercepted all
+communication between a poppy and the ambient air, by covering it with a
+bell; and between it and the earth, by covering the vessel in which it
+grew with a leaden plate. Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
+before--_Richard._
+
+One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves wither and
+become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant be not amply
+supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every inch square of
+surface, on the under disk of the leaf.
+
+_Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine matter found in
+every tree?_
+
+Because it is formed by branches of those returning vessels that deposit
+the new alburnum.
+
+_Why is it inferred that these juices must be prepared in the plant itself,
+by various secretions, and changes of the fluids which it absorbs?_
+
+Because we find, that in the same climate, nay, even in the same spot of
+ground, rue has its bitter--sorrel its acid--and the lettuce its cooling
+juices; and that the juices of the various parts of one plant, or even of
+one fruit, are extremely different. Sir James Smith mentions the
+peach-tree as a familiar example. "The gum of this tree is mild and
+mucilaginous. The bark, leaves, and flowers, abound with a bitter
+secretion, of a purgative and rather dangerous quality, than which nothing
+can be more distinct from the gum. The fruit is replete, not only with
+acid, mucilage, and sugar, but with its own peculiar aromatic and highly
+volatile secretion, elaborated within itself, on which its fine flavour
+depends."--_Introduction to Botany, 6th edit_.
+
+_Why are these juices readily found in the bark?_
+
+Because they appear to be matured, or brought to greater perfection, in
+layers of wood or bark that have no longer any principal share in the
+circulation of the sap. Thus, the vessels containing them are often very
+large, as the turpentine cells of the fir tribe, in all the species of
+which these secretions abound. The substance from which spruce-beer is
+made, is an extract of the branches of the _Abies Canadensis_, or Hemlock
+Spruce; a similar preparation is obtained from the branches of _Dacrydium_,
+in the South Seas.
+
+_Why, in the spring, is the herbage under trees generally more luxuriant
+than it is beyond the spread of their branches?_
+
+Because the driving mists and fogs becoming condensed on the branches,
+cause a frequent drip beneath the tree not experienced in other places;
+and thus keep up a perpetual irrigation and refreshment of the soil.
+
+_Why are certain plants useful or injurious to others that grow in their
+vicinity?_
+
+Because of certain fluids which the roots excrete from their slender
+extremities; and in this manner the likings and antipathies of certain
+plants may be accounted for. Thus, it is well known that the creeping
+thistle is hurtful to oats, _erigeron acre_ to wheat, _scabiosa arvensis_
+to flax, &c.
+
+_Why are some resins odorous?_
+
+Because they contain essential oil; some afford benzoic acid when heated,
+and these have been termed balsams; such as tolu balsam and benzoin.
+
+Common resin is obtained by distilling the exudation of different species
+of fir; oil of turpentine passes over, and the resin remains behind.
+
+_Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called varnish-trees?_
+
+Because their large flowers abound in a resinous, sometimes acrid, and
+highly poisonous juice, which afterwards turns black, and is used for
+varnishing in India. One kind is the common cashew nut. All these
+varnishes are extremely dangerous to some constitutions; the skin, if
+rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes covered with pimples that are
+difficult to heal; the fumes have also been known to produce painful
+swelling and inflammation.
+
+_Why do these varnishes, at first white, afterwards turn black?_
+
+Because the recent juice is an organized substance, consisting of an
+immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's rays in all
+directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while the varnish which
+has been exposed to the air loses its organized structure, becomes
+homogeneous, and then transmits the sun's rays, of a rich, deep, uniform,
+red colour.
+
+The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a resinous fluid,
+that the least degree of unusual repletion of the tissue causes it to be
+discharged; thus, some of them fill the air with fragrance after rain; and
+other kinds expel their resin with such violence when immersed in water,
+as to have the appearance of spontaneous motion, in consequence of the
+recoil. Another kind is said to cause swellings in those who sleep under
+its shade.--_Brewster's Journal._
+
+_Why is the soap-tree so called?_
+
+Because its bark, if pulverized, and shaken in water, soon yields a
+solution, frothing, as if it contained soap. It is a native of Chili; the
+trunk is straight, and of considerable height; the wood is hard, red, and
+never splits; and the bark is rugged, fibrous, of ash-grey colour
+externally, and white within.
+
+_Why is a species of myrtle called the wax-tree?_
+
+Because the leaves and stem, when bruised, and boiled in water, yield wax,
+which concretes on cooling. Mr. Brande observes, "the glossy varnish upon
+the upper surface of many trees is of a similar nature; and though there
+are shades of difference, these varieties of wax possess the essential
+properties of that formed by the bee: indeed, it was formerly supposed
+that bees merely collected the wax already formed by the vegetable: but
+Huber's experiments show, that the insect has the power of transmuting
+sugar into wax, and that this is in fact a secretion."
+
+The wax-palm of Humboldt has its trunk covered by a coating of wax, which
+exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the leaves. It is,
+according to Vaquelin, a concrete, inflammable substance, consisting of
+1/3 wax, and 2/3 resin.
+
+_Why are some oils called vegetable butters?_
+
+Because they become solid at the ordinary temperatures. Such are cocoa-nut
+oil, palm oil, and nutmeg oil.
+
+_Why are some volatile oils obtained by expression?_
+
+Because they are contained in distinct vesicles in the rind of fruits, as
+in the lemon, orange, and bergamot.
+
+_Why is the oil of poppy-seed perfectly wholesome?_
+
+Because it is in no degree narcotic; nor has it any of the properties of
+the poppy itself. This oil is consumed on the Continent in considerable
+quantity, and employed extensively in adulterating olive oil. Its use was
+at one time prohibited in France, by decrees issued in compliance with
+popular clamour; but it is now openly sold, the government and people
+having grown wiser.
+
+_Why is the juice of the poppy called opium?_
+
+Because of its derivation from the Persian _afioun_, and the Arabian
+_aphium_. The botanical name of the poppy, _papaver_, is said to be
+derived from its being commonly mixed with the pap, papa, given to
+children in order to ease pain, and procure sleep.
+
+_Why does opium produce sleep?_
+
+Because it contains an alkaline substance called Morphia. The same drug
+contains a peculiar acid called the Meconic; and a vegetable alkali named
+Narcotine, to which unpleasant stimulating properties are attributed by
+Majendie.
+
+_Why is sugar so generally found in plants?_
+
+Because it is not only the seasoning of most eatable fruits, but abounds
+in various roots, as the carrot, beet, parsnip, and in many plants of the
+grass, or cane kind, besides the famous sugar cane.
+
+Sir James Smith observes that "there is great reason to suppose sugar not
+so properly an original secretion, as the result of a chemical change in
+secretions already formed, either of an acid or mucilaginous nature, or
+possibly a mixture of both. In ripening fruits, this change is most
+striking, and takes place very speedily, seeming to be greatly promoted by
+heat and light. By the action of frost, as Dr. Darwin observes, a
+different change is wrought in the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it
+becomes starch."
+
+M. Berard considers gum and lignin as the principles in unripe fruits
+which chiefly tend to the formation of sugar during their ripening, and he
+has given several analyses of fruits in illustration of these views. Mr.
+Brande also considers the elements of water as probably concerned in the
+change.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE NATURALIST.
+
+
+THE SUGAR CANE.
+
+
+At the island of Tahiti (Otaheite) South Pacific Ocean, there are several
+varieties of the sugar cane, differing, however, in their qualities. The
+number of varieties are eight, and are as follow:--
+
+1. Rutu--of good quality.
+
+2. Avae--of indifferent quality.
+
+3. Irimotu--a rich cane, but does not grow to a large size.
+
+4. Patu--a good cane, of a red colour.
+
+5. To-ura--a dark-striped cane, hard and good.
+
+6. Toute--a bad cane, of a red colour.
+
+7. Veu--a good cane.
+
+8. Vaihi--this attains a large size, and is considered of the best quality.
+It is said by the natives to have been introduced from the Sandwich
+Islands.
+
+At Manilla (Island of Luconia) the planters mention three cultivated
+varieties of the sugar cane:--
+
+1. Cana negra--black sugar cane.
+
+2.  "   morada--brown    "
+
+3.  "   blancha--white   "
+
+of which the black or cana negra is considered the best, from its strength
+and the quantity of syrup contained in it.
+
+_Mr. G.B.'s MS. Journal_, 1829-30.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE BARN OWL;
+
+_and the Benefits it confers on Man. By Charles Waterton, Esq._
+
+
+This pretty aerial wanderer of the night often comes into my room; and
+after flitting to and fro, on wing so soft and silent that he is scarcely
+heard, he takes his departure from the same window at which he had entered.
+
+I own I have a great liking for this bird; and I have offered it
+hospitality and protection on account of its persecutions, and for its
+many services to me,--I say services, as you will see in the sequel. I
+wish that any little thing I could write or say might cause it to stand
+better with the world at large than it has hitherto done: but I have
+slender hopes on this score; because old and deep-rooted prejudices are
+seldom overcome; and when I look back into the annals of remote antiquity,
+I see too clearly that defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole
+family, in all its branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of mine.
+
+Ovid, nearly two thousand years ago, was extremely severe against the owl.
+In his _Metamorphoses_ he says:--
+
+  "Foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,
+  Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen."[1]
+
+In his _Fasti_ he openly accuses it of felony:--
+
+   "Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes."[2]
+
+Lucan, too, has hit it hard:--
+
+  "Et laetae juranter aves, bubone sinistro:"[3]
+
+and the Englishman who continued the _Pharsalia_, says--
+
+  "Tristia mille locis Stylus dedit omina bubo."[4]
+
+Horace tells us that the old witch Canidia used part of the plumage of the
+owl in her dealings with the devil:--
+
+  "Plumamque nocturnae strigis."[5]
+
+Virgil, in fine, joined in the hue and cry against this injured family:--
+
+  "Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo Saepe queri, et longas in fletum
+  ducere voces."[6]
+
+In our own times we find that the village maid cannot return home from
+seeing her dying swain, without a doleful salutation from the owl:--
+
+  "Thus homeward as she hopeless went,
+    The churchyard path along,
+  The blast grew cold, the dark owl scream'd
+    Her lover's funeral song."
+
+Amongst the numberless verses which might be quoted against the family of
+the owl, I think I only know of one little ode which expresses any pity
+for it. Our nursery maid used to sing it to the tune of the Storm, "Cease
+rude Boreas, blust'ring railer." I remember the first two stanzas of it:--
+
+  "Once I was a monarch's daughter,
+    And sat on a lady's knee;
+  But am now a nightly rover,
+    Banish'd to the ivy tree--
+        Crying, hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo,
+          Hoo hoo hoo, my feet are cold!
+        Pity me, for here you see me,
+          Persecuted, poor, and old."
+
+I beg the reader's pardon for this exordium. I have introduced it, in
+order to show how little chance there has been, from days long passed and
+gone to the present time, of studying the haunts and economy of the owl,
+because its unmerited bad name has created it a host of foes, and doomed
+it to destruction from all quarters. Some few, certainly, from time to
+time, have been kept in cages and in aviaries. But nature rarely thrives
+in captivity, and very seldom appears in her true character when she is
+encumbered with chains, or is to be looked at by the passing crowd through
+bars of iron. However, the scene is now going to change; and I trust that
+the reader will contemplate the owl with more friendly feelings, and quite
+under different circumstances. Here, no rude schoolboy ever approaches its
+retreat; and those who once dreaded its diabolical doings are now fully
+satisfied that it no longer meddles with their destinies, or has any thing
+to do with the repose of their departed friends. Indeed, human wretches in
+the shape of body-snatchers seem here in England to have usurped the
+office of the owl in our churchyards; "et vendunt tumulis corpora rapta
+suis."[7]
+
+Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time of it at Walton Hall. Its
+supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She knew full well
+what sorrow it had brought into other houses when she was a young woman;
+and there was enough of mischief in the midnight wintry blast, without
+having it increased by the dismal screams of something which people knew
+very little about, and which every body said was far too busy in the
+churchyard at nighttime. Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person
+were sick in the neighbourhood, it would be for ever looking in at the
+window, and holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not
+know whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in every thing she said on this
+important subject; and he always stood better in her books when he had
+managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous family. However, in
+1813, on my return from the wilds of Guiana, having suffered myself, and
+learned mercy, I broke in pieces the code of penal laws which the knavery
+of the gamekeeper and the lamentable ignorance of the other servants had
+hitherto put in force, far too successfully, to thin the numbers of this
+poor, harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway,
+against which, tradition says, the waves of the lake have dashed for the
+better part of a thousand years, I made a place with stone and mortar,
+about 4 ft. square, and fixed a thick oaken stick firmly into it. Huge
+masses of ivy now quite cover it. In about a month or so after it was
+finished, a pair of barn owls came and took up their abode in it. I
+threatened to strangle the keeper if ever, after this, he molested either
+the old birds or their young ones; and I assured the housekeeper that I
+would take upon myself the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe,
+and sorrow that the new tenants might bring into the Hall. She made a low
+courtesy; as much as to say, "Sir, I fall into your will and pleasure:"
+but I saw in her eye that she had made up her mind to have to do with
+things of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midnight
+wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think that up to the day of
+this old lady's death, which took place in her eighty-fourth year, she
+ever looked with pleasure or contentment on the barn owl, as it flew round
+the large sycamore trees which grow near the old ruined gateway.
+
+(_To be concluded in our next_.)
+
+
+[1] "Ill-omen'd in his form, the unlucky fowl,
+     Abhorr'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl."--_Garth's Trans._
+
+[2] "They fly by night, and assail infants in the nurse's absence."
+
+[3] "Even the ill-boding owl is declared a bird of good omen."
+
+[4] "The Stygian owl gives sad omens in a thousand places."
+
+[5] "A feather of the night owl."
+
+[6] ----"And, on her palace top,
+    The lonely owl with oft repeated scream
+    Complains, and spins into a dismal length
+    Her baleful shrieks."--_Trapp's Trans._
+
+[7] "And sell bodies torn from their tombs."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
+
+
+BLONDEL DE NESLE.
+
+
+"Blondel de Nesle the favourite minstrel of Richard Coeur de Lion, and an
+attendant upon his person, devoted himself to discover the place of his
+confinement during the crusade against Saladin, emperor of the Saracens.
+He wandered in vain from castle to palace, till he learned that a strong
+and almost inaccessible fortress upon the Danube was watched with peculiar
+strictness, as containing some state-prisoner of distinction. The minstrel
+took his harp, and approaching as near the castle as he durst, came so
+nigh the walls as to hear the melancholy captive soothing his imprisonment
+with music. Blondel touched his harp; the prisoner heard and was silent:
+upon this the minstrel played the first part of a tune, or lay, known to
+the captive; who instantly played the second part; and thus, the faithful
+servant obtained the certainty that the inmate of the castle was no other
+than his royal master."--_Tales of a Grandfather_, p 69.
+
+  The Danube's wide-flowing water lave
+    The captive's dungeon cell,
+  And the voice of its hoarse and sullen wave
+    Breaks forth in a louder swell,
+  And the night-breeze sighs in a deeper gust,
+  For the flower of chivalry droops in dust!
+
+  A yoke is hung over the victor's neck,
+    And fetters enthral the strong,
+  And manhood's pride like a fearful wreck,
+   Lies the breakers of care among;
+  And the gleams of hope, overshadow'd, seem
+  The phantoms of some distemper'd dream.
+
+  But the heart--the heart is unconquer'd still--
+    A host in its solitude!
+  Quenchless the spirit, though fetter'd the will,
+    Of that warrior unsubdued;
+  His soul, like an arrow from rocky ground,
+  Shall fiercely and proudly in air rebound.
+
+  But the hour of darkness girds him now
+    With a pall of deepest night,
+  Anguish sits throned on his moody brow,
+    And the curse of thy withering blight,
+  Despair, thou dreariest deathliest foe!
+  His senses hath steep'd in a torpid woe.
+
+  From the dazzling splendour of gloriest past
+    The warrior sickening turns.
+  To list to the sound of the wailing blast,
+    As the wan lamp dimly burns:
+  For the daring might of the lion-hearted
+  With Freedom's soul-thrilling notes hath parted.
+
+  O'er his harp-string droops his palsied hand,
+    And the fitful strain alone
+  Murmurs the notes of his native land--
+    Does echo repeat that moan
+  From the dungeon wall so grim and so drear?--
+  No!--an answering minstrel lingers there.
+
+  Up starts the listening king--a flash
+    Of memory's gifted lore
+  Bursts on his soul--a deed so rash,
+    What captive would e'er deplore?
+  Since bonds no longer unnerve the free,
+  And valour hath won fidelity.
+
+  Dark child of sorrow, sweet comfort take,
+    In thy lone heart's widowhood,
+  Some charmed measure may yet awake
+    Arresting affliction's flood,
+  And thy prison'd soul unfetter'd be
+  By the answering spirit of sympathy!
+
+_Metropolitan._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ASMODEUS AT LARGE.
+
+
+The design of this paper, in the _New Monthly Magazine_, is by no means
+novel; but the fine, cutting satire--the pleasant, lively banter on our
+vices and follies--which pervades every page of the article, is a set-off
+to the political frenzy and the literary lumber of other Magazines of the
+month. Each of them, it is true, has a readable paper, but one gem only
+contributes to a Magazine in the proportion of one swallow to a summer.
+
+Here are three pages of the _New Monthly_ Devil:
+
+"A stranger, Sir, in the library," said my servant in opening the door.
+
+"Indeed! what a short, lame gentleman?"
+
+"No, Sir; middle-sized,--has very much the air of a lawyer or professional
+man."
+
+I entered the room, and instead of the dwarf demon Le Sage described, I
+beheld a comely man seated at the table, with a high forehead, a sharp
+face, and a pair of spectacles on his nose. He was employed in reading the
+new novel of "The Usurer's Daughter."
+
+"This cannot be the devil!" said I to myself; so I bowed, and asked the
+gentleman his business.
+
+"Tush!" quoth my visiter; "and how did you leave the Doctor?"
+
+"It is you, then!" said I; "you have grown greatly since you left Don
+Cleofas."
+
+"Wars fatten our tribe," answered the Devil; "besides shapes are optional
+with me, and in England men go by appearances more than they do abroad;
+one is forced to look respectable and portly; the Devil himself could not
+cheat your countrymen with a shabby exterior. Doubtless you observe that
+all the swindlers, whose adventures enliven your journals, are dressed 'in
+the height of fashion,' and enjoy 'a mild prepossessing demeanour.' Even
+the Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no
+bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs. Wealth in
+all countries is the highest possible morality; but you carry the doctrine
+to so great an excess, that you scarcely suffer the poor man to exist at
+all. If he take a walk in the country, there's the Vagrant Act; and if he
+has not a penny to hire a cellar in town, he's snapped up by a Burker, and
+sent off to the surgeons in a sack. It must be owned that no country
+affords such warnings to the spendthrift. You are one great moral against
+the getting rid of one's money."
+
+On this, Asmodeus and myself had a long conversation; it ended in our
+dining together, (for I found him a social fellow, and fond of a broil in
+a quiet way,) and adjourning in excellent spirits, to the theatre.
+
+"Certainly," said the Devil, taking a pinch of snuff, "certainly, your
+drama is wonderfully fine, it is worthy of a civilized nation; formerly
+you were contented with choosing actors among human kind, but what an
+improvement to go among the brute creation! think what a fine idea to have
+a whole play turn upon the appearance of a broken-backed lion! And so you
+are going to raise the drama by setting up a club; that's another
+exquisite notion! You hire a great house in the neighbourhood of the
+theatre; you call it the Garrick Club. You allow actors and patrons to mix
+themselves and their negus there after the play; and this you call a
+design for exalting the drama. Certainly you English are a droll set; your
+expedients are admirable."
+
+"My good Devil, any thing that brings actors and spectators together, that
+creates an _esprit de corps_ among all who cherish the drama, is not to be
+sneered at in that inconsiderate manner."
+
+"I sneer! you mistake me; you have adduced a most convincing
+argument--_esprit de corps_!--good! Your clubs certainly nourish sociality
+greatly; those little tables, with one sulky man before one sulky
+chop--those hurried nods between acquaintances--that, monopoly of
+newspapers and easy chairs--all exhibit to perfection the cementing
+faculties of a club. Then, too, it certainly does an actor inestimable
+benefit to mix with lords and squires. Nothing more fits a man for his
+profession, than living with people who know nothing about it. Only think
+what a poor actor Kean is; you would have made him quite a different thing,
+if you had tied him to a tame gentlemen in the 'Garrick Club'. He would
+have played 'Richard' in a much higher vein, I doubt not."
+
+"Well," said I, "the stage is your affair at present, and doubtless you do
+right to reject any innovation."
+
+"Why, yes," quoth the Devil, looking round; "we have a very good female
+supply in this quarter. But pray how comes it that the English are so
+candid in sin? Among all nations there is immorality enough, Heaven knows;
+but you are so delightfully shameless: if a crime is committed here, you
+can't let it 'waste its sweetness;' you thrust it into your papers
+forthwith; you stick it up on your walls; you produce it at your theatres;
+you chat about it as an agreeable subject of conversation; and then you
+cry out with a blush against the open profligacy abroad! This is one of
+those amiable contradictions in human nature that charms me excessively.
+You fill your theatres with ladies of pleasure--you fill your newspapers
+with naughty accounts--a robbery is better to you than a feast--and a good
+fraud in the city will make you happy for a week; and all this while you
+say: '_We_ are the people who send vice to Coventry, and teach the world
+how to despise immorality.' Nay, if one man commits a murder, your
+newspapers kindly instruct his associates how to murder in future, by a
+far safer method. A wretch kills a boy for the surgeons, by holding his
+head under water; 'Silly dog!' cries the Morning Herald, 'why did not he
+clap a sponge dipped in prussic acid to the boy's mouth?'"
+
+Here we were interrupted by a slight noise in the next box, which a
+gentleman had just entered. He was a tall man, with a handsome face and
+very prepossessing manner.
+
+"That is an Author of considerable reputation," said my Devil, "quiet,
+though a man of wit, and with a heart, though a man of the world. Talking
+of the drama, he once brought out a farce, which had the good fortune to
+be damned. As great expectations had been formed of it, and the author's
+name had transpired; the unsuccessful writer rose the next morning with a
+hissing sound in his ears, and that leaning towards misanthropy, which you
+men always experience when the world has the bad taste to mistake your
+merits. 'Thank Fate, however,' said the Author, 'it is damned
+thoroughly--it is off the stage--I cannot be hissed again--in a few days
+it will be forgotten--meanwhile I will take a walk in the Park.' Scarce
+had the gentleman got into the street, before, lo! at a butcher's shop
+blazed the 'very head and front of his offending.' 'Second night of its
+appearance, the admired Farce of ----, by ----, Esq.' Away posts the
+Author to the Manager.--'Good Heavens! Sir, my farce again! was it not
+thoroughly damned last night?'--'Thoroughly damned!' quoth the Manager,
+drily; 'we reproduce it, Sir--we reproduce it (with a knowing wink,) that
+the world, enraged at our audacity, may come here to damn it again.' So it
+is, you see! the love of money is the contempt of man: there's an aphorism
+for you! Let us turn to the stage. What actresses you have!--certainly you
+English are a gallant nation; you are wonderfully polite to come and see
+such horrible female performers! By the by, you observed when that young
+lady came on the stage, how timidly she advanced, how frightened she
+seemed. 'What modesty!' cry the audience; 'we must encourage her!' they
+clap, they shout, they pity the poor thing, they cheer her into spirits.
+Would you believe that the hardest thing the Manager had to do with her
+was to teach her that modesty. She wanted to walk on the stage like a
+grenadier, and it required fifteen lessons to make her be ashamed of
+herself. It is in these things that the stage mimics the world, rather
+behind the scenes than before!"
+
+"Bless me, how Braham is improved!" cried a man with spectacles, behind me;
+"he acts now better than he sings!"
+
+"Is it not strange," said Asmodeus, "how long the germ of a quality may
+remain latent in the human mind, and how completely you mortals are the
+creatures of culture? It was not till his old age that Braham took lessons
+in acting; some three times a week has he of late wended his way down, to
+the comedian of Chapel-street, to learn energy and counterfeit warmth; and
+the best of it is, that the spectators will have it that an actor feels
+all he acts; as if human nature, wicked as it is, could feel Richard the
+Third every other night. I remember, Mrs. Siddons had a majestic manner of
+extending her arm as she left the stage. 'What grace!' said the world,
+with tears in its eyes, 'what dignity! what a wonderful way of extending
+an arm! you see her whole soul is in the part!' The arm was in reality
+stretched impatiently out for a pinch from the snuff-box that was always
+in readiness behind the scenes."
+
+It is my misfortune, Reader, to be rapidly bored. I cannot sit out a
+sermon, much less a play; amusement is the most tedious of human pursuits.
+
+"You are tired of this, surely," said I to the Devil; "let us go!"
+
+"Whither?" said Asmodeus.
+
+"Why, 'tis a starlit night, let us ride over to Paris, and sup, as you
+promised, at the Rocher de Cancale."
+
+"_Volontiers_."
+
+Away--away--away--into the broad still Heavens, the stars dancing merrily
+above us, and the mighty heart of the City beating beneath the dusky
+garment of Night below.
+
+"Let us look down," said Asmodeus; "what a wilderness of houses! shall I
+uncover the roofs for you, as I did for Don Cleofas; or rather, for it is
+an easier method, shall I touch your eyes with my salve of penetration,
+and enable you to see at once through the wall?"
+
+"You might as well do so; it is pleasant to feel the power, though at
+present I think it superfluous; wherever I look, I can only see rogues and
+fools, with a stray honest man now and then, who is probably in prison."
+
+Asmodeus touched my eyes with a green salve, which he took out of an
+ivory box, and all at once, my sight being directed towards a certain
+palace I beheld   *   *   *   *
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER.
+
+
+A clergyman preaching in the neighbourhood of Wapping, observing that most
+part of his audience were in the seafaring way, very naturally embellished
+his discourse with several nautical tropes and figures. Amongst other
+things, he advised them "to be ever on the watch, so that on whatsoever
+tack the evil one should bear down on them, he might be crippled in
+action." "Ay, master," said a son of Neptune, "but let me tell you, that
+will depend upon your having the weather gage of him."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  A poacher escaping one morn with his pillage,
+  Unexpectedly met with the lord of the village;
+  Who seeing a hare o'er his shoulder was thrown,
+  Hail'd him quickly, "You fellow is that hare your own."
+  "My own!" he replied, "you inquisitive prig,
+  Gad's curse, pompous sir, do you think I've a wig?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "TO BOOT."
+
+
+_Bote_ or _Bota_, in our old law books, signifies recompense, repentance,
+or fine paid by way of expiation, and is derived from the Saxon. Hence our
+common phrase "to boot," speaking of something given by way of
+compensation. P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD SONG.
+
+
+  "Syr Tankarde he is as bold a wight
+    As ever Old England bred;
+  His armoure it is of the silver bright,
+    And his coloure is ruby red;
+      And whene'er on the bully ye calle,
+      He is readye to give ye a falle;
+  But if long in the battle with him ye be,
+  Ye weaker are ye, and the stronger is he,
+      For Syr Tankarde is victor of alle."
+
+  "A barley-corn he mounts for a speare,
+    His helmet with hops is hung,
+  He lightes the eye with a laughing leere,
+    With a carolle he tipps the tongue--
+      And he marshals a valyant hoste
+      Of spices and crabbes and toaste;
+  And the stoutest of yeomen they well can o'erthrow,
+  When he leads them in beakers and jugs to the foe,--
+      And Syr Tankarde his prowess may boaste."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FRENCH--ENGLISH LOVE.
+
+
+The following is a copy of a letter addressed some years ago to a lady of
+fortune at Portsmouth, upwards of four score years of age, by a French
+prisoner of war at Porchester Castle:--
+
+"_Porchester_.--_Madam_--Me rite de English very leet, and me very fears
+you no saave vat me speak; but me be told dat you vant one very fine man
+for your hosband; upon my soul me love you very well; and thou you be very
+old woman, and very cross, and ugly, and all de devil, and the English no
+like you, upon my soul we have one great passion for you, and me like you
+very well for all dat; and me told dat de man for you must be one very
+clen man, and no love de drink. Me be all dat: indeed me be one very grand
+man in France--upon my soul me be one count, me have one grand equipage in
+France, and me be very good for de esprit: indeed me be one grand
+beau-a-la-mode--one officier in de regiment: me be very good for de
+Engleterres. Indeed you be one very good old woman upon my soul; and if
+you have one inclination for one man, me be dat gentleman for you--one
+grand man for you. Me will be your hosband, and take de care for yourself,
+for de house, for de gardin, for de Schoff, for de drink, and for de
+little childs dat shall come. Upon my soul me kill myself very soon, if
+you no love me for this grand amour. Me be, madam, your great slave, votre
+tres humble serviteur, PRES A. BOIRE."
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD LONDON BRIDGE.
+
+
+It is well known that Peter of Colechurch, the founder of _Old_ London
+Bridge, did not live to witness the completion of the structure, but died
+in 1205, and was buried in a crypt within the centre pier of the bridge,
+over which a chapel was erected, dedicated to St. Thomas-à-Becket. Mr.
+Brayley, in his _Londiniana_, wrote about five years since that "if due
+care be taken when the old bridge is pulled down, the bones and ashes of
+its venerable architect may still be found;"--and, true enough, _the bones
+of old Peter were found on removing the pier about a fortnight since_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TAME LIONS.
+
+
+Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the first who tamed a lion. He was condemned to
+death, for what his fellow-citizens considered so great a crime. They
+asserted that the republic had to fear the worst consequences from a man
+who had been able to subdue so much ferocity. A little more experience,
+however, convinced them of the fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. The
+triumvir Antony, accompanied by an actress, was publicly drawn by lions in
+a chariot.
+
+SAD-USING.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CITY OF LYONS.
+
+
+Lyons is situated on a sort of peninsula, formed by the confluence of two
+great rivers--the Rhone and the Laone. All the bridges, with the exception
+of one of stone, are of wood; and although in general more useful than
+ornamental, they are justly admired for the boldness of their construction.
+They form numerous and convenient communications between the city and the
+faubourgs.
+
+Lyons is walled round, and strongly fortified. In 1791 it contained
+121,000 inhabitants; but, in consequence of the siege of 1793, and the
+cruelties practised at that memorable period of French history, the
+numbers were reduced to less than 80,000. In 1802, the numbers were 88,662;
+and in 1827, the fixed population had increased to 97,439;--but there was
+a floating population, estimated at 43,684, which, with the inmates of the
+barracks and hospitals, stated at 8,600, made the total population at that
+period 149,723; and by adding the population of the suburbs, reckoned at
+36,000, the whole amount of the inhabitants at the period of the census,
+in 1827, was 185,723; at the present time it is said to be, in round
+numbers, 200,000.
+
+In 1828, the number of workshops in all branches of the silk trade within
+the walls, amounted to 7,140; that of the silk frames or looms to 18,829;
+and from 10,000 to 12,000 in the communes.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ditty sung by the first grave-digger in _Hamlet_, beginning--
+
+  "In youth, when I did love, did love"--
+
+was written by Lord Vaux, an ancestor of Lord Brougham. It will be found
+entire in _Percy's Reliques_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Number 527, price Twopence,
+A SUPPLEMENT,
+With a STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT of His Present
+Majesty, WILLIAM IV.
+AT FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
+From a Picture by B. West, P.R.A.
+Anecdotic Memoir; and Title-Page, Preface,
+and Index; completing VOL. XVIII.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction, by Various
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11530 ***
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11530 ***</div>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[pg
+17]</span>
+<h1>THE MIRROR<br />
+OF<br />
+LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1>
+<hr class="full" />
+<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date">
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><b>Vol. XIX. No. 529.]</b></td>
+<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1832.</b></td>
+<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>FISHMONGER'S HALL</h2>
+<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href=
+"images/529-001.png"><img width="100%" src="images/529-001.png"
+alt="FISHMONGERS' HALL." /></a></div>
+<h4>FISHMONGERS' HALL.</h4>
+<div class="figure" style="width:60%;"><a href=
+"images/529-002.png"><img width="100%" src="images/529-002.png"
+alt="ARMS OF THE COMPANY." /></a></div>
+<h4>ARMS OF THE COMPANY.</h4>
+<p>These Cuts may be welcome illustrations of the olden
+magnificence of the City of London. The first represents the river
+or back front of the Hall of the Fishmongers' Company: the second
+cut, the arms of the Company, is added by way of an illustrative
+pendent. These insignia are placed over the entrance to the Hall in
+Lower Thames-street; they are sculptured in bold relief, and are
+not meanly executed. The Hall, or the greater part of it, has been
+taken down to make room for the New London Bridge approaches; the
+frame-work of the door, and the arms still remain&mdash;<i>stat
+portus umbra</i>.</p>
+<p>The Hall merits further notice; not so much for its
+architectural pretensions as for its being the commencement of a
+plan which it could be wished had been <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page18" name="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> completed. The reader may
+probably remember that after the Great Fire of London, the King
+(Charles II.) desired WREN, in addition to his designs for St.
+Paul's, to make an accurate survey and drawing of the whole area
+and confines of the waste metropolis; and "day, succeeding day,
+amidst ashes and ruins, did this indefatigable man labour to fulfil
+his task." He prepared his plans for rebuilding the city, and laid
+them before the King. That part of Sir Christopher's plan which
+relates to the present subjects, was as follows: "By the
+water-side, from the bridge to the Temple, he had planned a long
+and broad wharf or quay, where he designed to have arranged all the
+halls that belong to the several companies of the city, with proper
+warehouses for merchants between, to vary the edifices, and make it
+at once one of the most beautiful ranges of structure in the
+world." <a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> King Charles, however, as Mr.
+Cunningham observes, "was never obstinate in any thing for his
+country's good," and the idea was dropped: but Wren erected the
+above Hall as a specimen of his intention of ornamenting the banks
+of the Thames. The original hall was destroyed by the Great
+Fire.</p>
+<p>The ancient importance of the Fishmongers' Company may be thus
+explained:&mdash;</p>
+<p>During the days of papacy in England, fish was an article not of
+optional, but compulsive consumption, and this rendered the
+business of a fishmonger one of the principal trades of London.
+Fish Street Hill, and the immediate vicinity, was the great mart
+for this branch of traffic, from its close connexion with the
+river, and here lived many illustrious citizens, particularly Sir
+William Walworth, and Sir Stephen Fisher.</p>
+<p>Strong prejudices were however entertained against the
+fishmongers, and to so great an extent was it carried, that in the
+fourteenth century, they prayed the king, by Nicholas Exton, one of
+their body, that he would take the company under his protection,
+"lest they might receive corporeal hurt." The parliament itself
+appears to have imbibed the general distrust, for in 1382 they
+enacted, "that no fishmonger should be mayor of the city." This was
+repealed, however, the following year.</p>
+<p>The fishmongers consisted of two companies, the salt
+fishmongers, incorporated in 1433, and the stock fishmongers in
+1509. The two companies were united by Henry VIII. in 1536. Before
+the junction, they are said by Stow, who calls them "jolly
+citizens," to have had six halls, two in Thames Street, two in Fish
+Street, and two in Old Fish Street, and six lord-mayors were
+elected from their body in twenty-four years. But being charged
+with forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the
+city, they were fined five hundred marks by Edward I. in 1290. In
+1384, these, as well as others concerned in furnishing the city
+with provisions, were put under the immediate direction of the
+mayor and aldermen, by an act of parliament still in force. <a id=
+"footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a></p>
+<p>The Hall, on the west side of the ward of Bridge Within, was of
+brick and stone, and may be said to have had two fronts. The fore
+entrance was from Thames Street by a handsome passage, leading into
+a large square court, encompassed by the Great Hall, the Court
+Room, and other grand apartments, with galleries. The back, or
+river front, had a double flight of stone steps, by which was an
+ascent to the first apartments. The door was ornamented with Ionic
+columns supporting an open pediment, in which was a shield, with
+the arms of the company. The building was finished with handsomely
+rusticated stone, and had a noble effect.</p>
+<p>The Hall was of capacious proportions, and extended nearly the
+whole length of the building. The ceiling, as well as that of the
+adjoining Court Room, exhibited some fine specimens of old
+plaster-work. We witnessed the dismantling of the premises previous
+to their being taken down. It was indeed a sorry breaking up. The
+long tables which had so often, to use a hackneyed phrase,
+"groaned" beneath the weight of civic fare&mdash;the cosy
+high-backed stuffed chairs which had held many a portly
+citizen&mdash;nay, the very soup-kettles and venison
+dishes&mdash;all were to be submitted to the noisy ordeal of the
+auction hammer.</p>
+<p>We remember in the upper end of the hall, and just behind the
+chair, there stood in a niche, a full-sized statue, carved in wood
+by Edward Pierce, statuary, of Sir William Walworth, a member of
+this company, and lord-mayor during the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The
+knight grasped a real dagger, said to be the identical weapon with
+which he stabbed the rebel; though a publican of Islington
+pretended to be possessed of this dagger, and in 1731, lent it to
+be publicly exhibited in Smithfield, in a show called "Wat Tyler,"
+during Bartholomew <span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name=
+"page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> Fair. Below the niche was this
+inscription:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">"Brave Walworth, knight, lord-mayor, yt slew</p>
+<p class="i2">Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;</p>
+<p>The king, therefore, did give in lieu</p>
+<p class="i2">The dagger to the cytye's arms.</p>
+<p>In the 4th year of Richard II. Anno Domini 1381."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>A common, but erroneous belief is perpetuated in this
+inscription, for the dagger was in the city arms long before the
+time of Sir William Walworth, and was intended to represent the
+sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of the corporation.</p>
+<p>The funeral pall of Sir W. Walworth curiously embroidered with
+gold, is preserved amongst the relics, as well as a plan of the
+splendid show at his installation, 1380.</p>
+<p>The Fishmongers' Company is fourth upon the list of the city
+corporations, under the name and style of "the Wardens and
+Commonalty of the mystery of Fishmongers of the city of London." It
+is a livery company, and very rich, governed by a prime and five
+other wardens, and a court of assistants.</p>
+<p>The company supports a free Grammar School at Holt Market, in
+Norfolk, founded by Sir John Gresham; Jesus Hospital, at Bray, in
+Berkshire, founded by William Goddard, Esq. for forty poor persons;
+St. Peter's Hospital, near Newington, Surrey, founded by the
+company; twelve alms-houses at Harrietsham, in Kent, founded by Mr.
+Mark Quested; a fellowship in Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge
+founded by Mr. Leonard Smith; a scholarship in the same college,
+founded by William Bennet, Esq. Mr. Smith, executor.</p>
+<p>The <i>Arms</i> of the Company are in a shield supported by a
+merman and mermaid, the latter with a mirror in her hand. The Keys
+refer to St. Peter, the Patron Saint of the Company.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>HOLY SEPULCHRE, HECKINGTON CHURCH.</h3>
+<h4>(<i>To the Editor.</i>)</h4>
+<p>From the description of the Holy Sepulchre in Heckington Church,
+given in your last volume, stating that it stood there in the
+summer of 1789, such of your readers as have no means of knowing to
+the contrary, may infer that it is not now in existence. <a id=
+"footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> I am led to trouble you with a few
+lines on the subject, as this specimen still in the best
+preservation, deserves us full an account as your limits will
+admit. The sepulchre nearly, and the stalls also mentioned by you,
+which have been cleaned completely, remain now in the same state as
+the artist originally left them. An architect, Mr. T. Rickman, who
+visited the neighbourhood a short time ago, gives the following
+account, which was printed in a work <a id="footnotetag4" name=
+"footnotetag4"></a> <a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> on the
+topography of the neighbourhood, soon after his visit: he says,
+"The sepulchre, of which there are not many specimens now
+remaining, consists of a series of richly ornamented niches, the
+largest of which represents the tomb, having angels standing beside
+it; the side niches have the Maries and other appropriate figures,
+and in the lower niches are the Roman soldiers reposing; these
+niches have rich canopies, and are separated by buttresses and rich
+finials, having all the spaces covered by very rich foliage." He
+further observes, that "the stalls exhibit a specimen of pure
+decorated work, as rich as the finest sculpture of foliage and
+small figures can render it, and hardly surpassed by any in the
+kingdom, and the sepulchre is of the same excellent character. The
+various small ornaments about these stalls and niches form one of
+the best possible studies for enrichments of this date: and it is
+almost peculiar to this church, that there is nothing about it,
+except what is quite modern, that is not of the same style of
+architecture."</p>
+<p>As the above gentleman's description of the present state of the
+church at Heckington will give a clearer idea of many others in the
+county of Lincoln, we perhaps cannot do better than close this
+account with it. "This beautiful church, of pure decorated
+character, is one of the most perfect models in the kingdom,
+having, with one exception, (that of the groined or interior
+ceiling which is wanting, and appears never to have been prepared
+for,) every feature of a fine church, of one uniform style, without
+any admixture of <i>later</i> or <i>earlier</i> work. Its
+mutilations are comparatively small, consisting only in the
+destruction of the tracey of the north transept window, and some
+featherings in other windows, and the building and wall to enclose
+a vestry. The plan of the church is a west tower and spire, nave
+and aisles, spacious transepts, and a large chancel, with a vestry
+attached to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name=
+"page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> the north side. The nave has a well
+proportioned clesestory. There is a south porch, a rich font, the
+tomb of an ecclesiastic, and the assemblage of niches before
+described. In the chancel and some of the church walls are very
+good brackets. The vestry has a crypt below it. Fully to describe
+this church would require a much larger space than can be allotted
+to it, but it may be well to remark, that every part of the design
+and execution is of the very best character, equal to any in the
+kingdom."</p>
+<p>That this church was built on or near to the site of the one
+given by Gilbert de Guant, the style of architecture being of much
+later date, fully demonstrates; and it is more than probable that
+on its rebuilding, the patent of Edward III. was obtained. Certain
+it is that no specimen of an earlier style now remains; but
+tradition says that the foundation of the church was laid in the
+year 1101, and the building completed in A.D. 1104, at a cost only
+of &pound;433. 9<i>s</i>. 7<i>d</i>. This statement, if worthy of
+credit, must be referred to an earlier and less costly edifice than
+the present.</p>
+<p>J.H.S.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>TRAVELING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.</h3>
+<h4>(<i>To the Editor.</i>)</h4>
+<p>Guernsey, Dec. 17, 1831.</p>
+<p>Your ingenious and talented correspondent, <i>Vyvyan</i>, in
+writing on the shrimp, (the <i>Mirror</i>, p. 361, vol. xviii.)
+remarks that "The sea roamer may often have observed numbers of
+little air-holes in the sand, which expand as the sun advances. If
+he stirs it with his foot, he will cause a brood of young shrimps,
+who will instantly hop and jump about the beach in the most lively
+manner," &amp;c.: these "jumpers" as they are facetiously called,
+are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity for
+which their namesakes are so remarkable. They are as different as
+possible from young shrimps; and if "old shrimps" <i>could</i>
+"tell tales," I doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would
+tell their "companions at breakfast table" the same thing. Your
+correspondent further adds, that "strange stories are told of the
+<i>old</i> shrimp," and I think, on investigation, he will find
+that he has told a very "strange story" of <i>young</i> shrimps. In
+a future communication I will give you a correct account or history
+of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time when it is
+first spawned until it arrives at perfection.</p>
+<p>H.W.</p>
+<h4><i>(To the Editor.)</i></h4>
+<p><i>Vyvyan</i> has not in his <i>Notes</i> named any county but
+South Wales, generally, where he says, "Any person who can enclose
+a portion of land around his cottage or otherwise, in one night,
+becomes owner thereof in fee." These persons in Wales are called
+Encroachers, and are liable to have ejectments served upon them by
+the Lord of the Manor, (which is often the case) to recover
+possession. The majority of the Encroachers pay a nominal yearly
+rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy the land.
+If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any
+interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the
+same. It is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held
+for the manor, and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally
+done every three or four years, these encroachments are thrown out
+again to the waste or common.</p>
+<p>J.P.</p>
+<p>*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan's "Notes,"
+especially as we believe our readers to take considerable interest
+in their accuracy.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE SKETCH-BOOK.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>MY FIRE.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>On new year's morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study,
+which is a little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward
+fancy of my own, closely resembles the cell of an alchymist. Its
+walls are hung with black drapery, on which appear the mystical
+signs of the planetary bodies, Hebrew, Persian, and various
+cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of the work of
+transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success employed
+by the alchymist. Here and there pieces of their quaint and uncouth
+shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the
+pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective
+stations. The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered
+with copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company
+with the <i>caput mortum</i> and the hour-glass. A few antiques,
+consisting of half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of
+the green clad yeoman, the ponderous <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page21" name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> mace and helmet of the
+valiant knight, and other relics of the days of chivalry, complete
+the decorations of this my sanctum.</p>
+<p>In consequence of its dark and gloomy aspect, and the feeling of
+awe with which the family and servants regard its mystical
+contents, I have its undisturbed enjoyment; nobody feels a wish to
+enter it even in the day time, and I verily believe they would not
+do so at the witching hour of night, lest the mystical signs should
+take summary vengeance on their unhallowed intrusion.</p>
+<p>The neighbours imagine me to be an adept in the "black art," an
+astrologer, or a fortune-teller, but I have no pretentions whatever
+to any such titles; this report has got abroad in consequence of a
+maid-servant having once had the temerity to peep through the
+key-hole, and observed on the wall opposite her "line of sight,"
+some triangular characters. She had been in the habit of poring
+over a dream book, and the art of casting nativities; the Prophetic
+Almanac was her oracle, and its terrific title-page she informed
+her fellow servant "had just those queer triangle things as was
+hung on the walls of young master's study." She was "sure that he
+could tell her fortune." This important intelligence, delivered
+with due confidence to her fellow servant, of course spread like
+wildfire among the other occupants of the "lower regions," and from
+them amongst the handmaidens of sundry other dwellings. Thus has my
+astrological character been established.</p>
+<p>As all domestics are excluded my sanctum, of course I am obliged
+to "do for myself," and this I prefer to being "done for," or
+having my room "set to rights," according to their notions of
+neatness; my feelings on this point are exactly those of Scott's
+<i>Antiquary</i>; I therefore "do for myself," and consequently, it
+follows I must light my own fire. Than on the morning I have
+mentioned, the "grand agent" of the chemist was never more
+required. The "air bit shrewdly, and it was "bitter cold" upon
+entering the sanctum, although I had not quitted it many hours,
+having watched the "old year out and the new year in," and then
+taken a short nap; yet Jack Frost had been active during my
+absence, and cooled down the air of the sanctum some degrees below
+the freezing point, at the same time coating the window panes with
+his beautiful crystalline figures. The dark walls did look most
+awful, seen through the dun yellow light of the fog, which met my
+view upon drawing aside the cabalistically hung curtains. I cast a
+look at the Rumford grate; its black cold bars "grinned most
+horrible and ghastly." A sympathy was instantly established between
+them and my nasal organ, for I found a drop of pure crystal pendant
+from its extremity. Here, thought I, is an admirable question for
+"<i>The Plain Why and Because</i>." <i>Why</i> does a drop of water
+hang from the nose on a frosty morning? Because the natural heat of
+the body sends up vapour into the head, and that being exposed most
+to cold, the vapour condenses, and a drop of water runs from the
+nostril, as it would do from the head of a still. Upon looking at
+anything very cold, sympathy excites the same action. This "Why and
+Because" was succeeded by another&mdash;Why does my fire-grate grin
+so coldly? Because you will not be "done for," else Eliza could
+have raised a flame there for you an hour ago. The truth of this
+reply was so forcible that I resolved to "do for myself" without
+delay, and evolve the "grand agent." I went to the door, expecting
+to see my usual supply of fuel; none was to be found. What means
+this? said I, and was about to make my wants known, but changed my
+intent as quickly, and being a little excited by such neglect,
+determined not to be dependent upon the domestics, but make a fire
+of my own. Now then for the materials. Paper, as all persons know,
+who have "lit their own fires," is the foundation; it was also
+mine: sundry letters in reply to sundry unsuccessful applications
+written on "thick double laid post," as the advertisements say, I
+seized upon, and thrust their crumpled forms between the sooty bars
+of the grate with some wood, the model of a mechanical invention of
+my own, which had been rejected by a Society, and why, I knew not;
+I severed limb from limb, and disposed their fragments across and
+athwart on the letters previously mutilated. How to obtain my coal
+posed me for a moment; but I recollected that in a geological
+cabinet under my window, I was the possessor of a mass of pure
+Staffordshire, weighing some twenty pounds. The doors of the
+cabinet flew open, and out it came; I had a strong affection for
+this lump of coal, having extracted it myself from the mines, and
+carried it many a weary mile on my return home. I felt loth to
+commit it to the flames; but this was necessity, "stern necessity:"
+one or two blows of the mineralogical hammer destroyed my scruples,
+and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg
+22]</span> produced the proper cleavages in the mass of coal. I
+laid the precious stratum, <i>super stratum</i> upon the two
+former, and other deposits of <i>papyrus</i> and <i>lignum</i>;
+such was my "coal formation." The magic touch of a Promethean
+elicited my "grand agent" to the thick laid post; it consumed
+rather sluggishly, but the dry pine wood of the broken model caught
+the flame and entered into fair combustion, cracking and sparkling,
+and now and then sending out a hiss of pyroligenous vapour; hissing
+yourself thought I. The fiery example was soon followed by the coal
+at first slowly sending up wreaths of dirty, green, yellow smoke,
+but as the fire waxed warmer these disappeared, and vivid hissing
+jets of ignited gas shot forth in abundance. The hissing annoyed
+me; why, I could not divine; but as the heat increased I cooled
+from the state of excitement produced by the testy destruction of
+my papers, model, and specimen. I sat down at the fire; had I not
+better, said I, have made my wants known to the servant, than have
+acted as I have done? No, I hate asking for what, as a duty should
+have been ready to my hands. I endeavoured to persuade myself that
+I did not regret the deed I had done, but could not succeed;
+something whispered me that I should suffer for it. I felt myself
+an "uncomfortable gentleman." I began to trace my fire from its
+origin up to its present state of perfection; the letters were of
+no consequence&mdash;none&mdash;the model I made myself and can
+make another&mdash;certainly&mdash;the coal I paid dearly for by
+fatigue, but I can get another lump, and send it home by coach,
+yes; then why am I so uncomfortable. I looked at the glowing fire
+which was getting insufferably hot, and gave it a passionate poke,
+exclaiming, I wish I could stop your draught. Draught! draft, I
+repeated, what has become of my draft that I received yesterday for
+my last paper? I began to recollect myself where I had laid it, and
+quickly came to the awful conclusion that I had placed it carefully
+between the folds of one of the sacrificed letters.</p>
+<p>Misery and destruction, said I, that draft has caused my rapid
+fire! it is gone and forever! Fool that I was; why did I not "blow
+up" the servants for paper, wood, and coals, and be "done for
+properly" instead of thus "doing for myself." Ye alchymistical
+spirits, said I, invoking the dark drapery, aid me to extract my
+gold from yonder ashes! but they were deaf to my calls, and the old
+<i>caput mortum</i> seemed to grin in mockery. I could bear it no
+longer, and rushing from the sanctum, met the servant girl on the
+stairs. "A draft! a draft!" repeated I; she thought me mad; I was
+mad with vexation. "Sir," said she, "you will catch cold if there
+is a draught such a day as this." A cold day as this, you wretch,
+Eliza, why did you not bring my coals to the door this morning,
+then I could have had my fire without a draft; I want a ten guinea
+draft, not a foggy, frosty draught. The girl stood amazed, but
+replied, "Please, sir, I didn't bring the coals this morning
+because you said never to do so on a Sunday, sir." "Sunday," I
+exclaimed, "is this Sunday?" "Lord bless me, sir, yes, and new
+year's day too, sir; happy new year, sir," said the provoking
+little wench, who was now joined by another. I could stand it no
+longer, but slunk back into the sanctum, "like a burnt child that
+dreaded the fire," hearing them exclaim, "I thought how it would
+be, them odd things in his room has quite turned his brain, poor
+young gentleman, he did not even know it was Sunday, and new year's
+day neither."</p>
+<p>I really did not know it was Sunday, for my calculaters were
+destroyed by the circumstance of our having kept Christmas Day on
+the Monday. I was aware that it was new year's day, and had
+intended to begin 1832 with good works, instead of which I
+commenced it with destroying my property, thus literally "doing for
+myself," and unlike most other people who invariably suffer from a
+draught, I am suffering from the loss of one.</p>
+<p>PYRAMIS.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>ADVENT.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>In the North Riding of Yorkshire, the young folks retain a very
+ancient custom during Advent. They make a wax figure representing
+the infant Jesus, and place it in a small wooden case, with
+evergreens, which hide all but the figure. A napkin is thrown over
+the box; and the puppet is thus carried about, and exhibited from
+door to door, by a boy, the others chanting some supplicatory
+lines. The same custom prevails in Wales.</p>
+<p>In Italy, a wax figure representing the Virgin, inclosed in a
+beautifully carved wooden case, is placed on the back of an ass,
+and exhibited through the country during Advent. Every traveller on
+seeing it prostrates himself immediately, and crosses himself, and
+considers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name=
+"page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> himself in duty bound to bestow his
+charity on the proprietor. Others carry emblematical figures
+through the different towns, or sit by the road side, and uncover
+the effigy to every passer-by.</p>
+<p>W.H.H.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>CURIOUS MANORIAL RIGHT.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>At Ripley Castle, in Yorkshire, the seat of Sir William Ingilby,
+there is in the great staircase an elegant Venetian window, in the
+divisions of which, on stain-glass, are a series of escutcheons,
+displaying the principal quarterings and intermarriages of the
+Ingilby family since their settling at Ripley, during a course of
+430 years.</p>
+<p>In one of the chambers of the tower is the following sentence,
+carved on the frieze of the wainscot:&mdash;"In the yeire of owre
+Ld. MDLV. was this howse buyldyd, by Sir Wyllyam Ingilby, Knight,
+Philip and Marie reigning that time."</p>
+<p>John Pallisser, of Bristhwaite, formerly held his lands of the
+manor of Ripley, by the payment of a red rose at Midsummer, and by
+carrying the boar's head to the lord's table all the twelve days of
+Christmas.</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>EUGENE ARAM.</h3>
+<p>We intend to quote a few scenes and snatches from Mr. Bulwer's
+extraordinary novel of this name. At present, however, we can only
+introduce the ill-fated hero.</p>
+<p>(Two young ladies, daughters of the lord of the Manor, approach
+Aram's house:&mdash;)</p>
+<p>"Madeline would even now fain have detained her sister's hand
+from the bell that hung without the porch half embedded in ivy; but
+Ellinor, out of patience&mdash;as she well might be&mdash;with her
+sister's unseasonable prudence, refused any longer delay. So
+singularly still and solitary was the plain around the house, that
+the sound of the bell breaking the silence had in it something
+startling, and appeared, in its sudden and shrill voice, a
+profanation to the deep tranquillity of the spot. They did not wait
+long&mdash;a step was heard within&mdash;the door was slowly
+unbarred, and the Student himself stood before them."</p>
+<p>"He was a man who might, perhaps, have numbered some five and
+thirty years; but at a hasty glance, he would have seemed
+considerably younger. He was above the ordinary stature; though a
+gentle, and not ungraceful bend in the neck rather than the
+shoulders, somewhat curtailed his proper advantages of height. His
+frame was thin and slender, but well knit and fair proportioned.
+Nature had originally cast his form in an athletic mould, but
+sedentary habits and the wear of mind seemed somewhat to have
+impaired her gifts. His cheek was pale and delicate; yet it was
+rather the delicacy of thought than of weak health. His hair, which
+was long, and of a rich and deep brown, was worn back from his face
+and temples, and left a broad high majestic forehead utterly
+unrelieved and bare; and on the brow there was not a single
+wrinkle&mdash;it was as smooth as it might have been some fifteen
+years ago. There was a singular calmness, and, so to speak,
+profundity of thought, eloquent upon its clear expanse, which
+suggested the idea of one who had passed his life rather in
+contemplation than emotion. It was a face that a physiognomist
+would have loved to look upon, so much did it speak both of the
+refinement and the dignity of intellect."</p>
+<p>"Such was the person&mdash;if pictures convey a faithful
+resemblance&mdash;of a man, certainly the most eminent in his day
+for various and profound learning, and a genius wholly self-taught,
+yet never contented to repose upon the wonderful stores it had
+laboriously accumulated."</p>
+<p>(Aram thus describes his own character:&mdash;)</p>
+<p>"Ah!" said Aram, gently shaking his head, "it is a hard life we
+bookmen lead. Not for us is the bright face of noon-day or the
+smile of woman, the gay unbending of the heart, the neighing steed
+and the shrill trump; the pride, pomp, and circumstance of life.
+Our enjoyments are few and calm; our labour constant; but that is
+it not, Sir?&mdash;that is it not? the body avenges its own
+neglect. We grow old before our time; we wither up; the sap of our
+youth shrinks from our veins; there is no bound in our step. We
+look about us with dimmed eyes, and our breath grows short and
+thick, and pains, and coughs, and shooting aches come upon us at
+night; it is a bitter life&mdash;a bitter life&mdash;joyless life.
+I would I had never commenced it. And yet the harsh world scowls
+upon us: our nerves are broken, and they wonder we are querulous;
+our blood curdles, and they ask why we are not gay; our brain grows
+dizzy and indistinct (as with me just now), and, shrugging their
+shoulders, they whisper their neighbours that we are mad. I wish I
+had worked at the plough, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24"
+name="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> known sleep, and loved
+mirth&mdash;and&mdash;and not been what I am."</p>
+<p>"As the Student tittered the last sentence, he bowed down his
+head, and a few tears stole silently down his cheek. Walter was
+greatly affected&mdash;it took him by surprise: nothing in Aram's
+ordinary demeanour betrayed any facility to emotion; and he
+conveyed to all the idea of a man, if not proud, at least
+cold."</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD JESTS.</h3>
+<p>Persons who gloat over dust and black-letter need scarcely be
+told that the best of "modern" jests are almost literally from the
+antique: in short, that what we employ to "set the table on a roar"
+were employed by the wise men of old to enliven <i>their</i> cups,
+deep and strong;&mdash;that to jest was a part of the Platonic
+philosophy, and that the excellent fancies, the flashes of
+merriment, of our forefathers, are nightly, nay hourly, re-echoed
+for our amusement. Yet such is the whole art of pleasing: what has
+pleased will, with certain modifications, continue to please again
+and again, until the end of time.</p>
+<p>But we may displease; and, as Hamlet says, "We must speak by the
+card." The <i>Athenaeum</i> a fortnight since drew forth a batch of
+these jests with antique humour richly dight, and here they are.
+The reader will recognise many old acquaintances, but he need not
+touch his hat, lest, his politeness weary him. These old stories
+are but "pick'd to be new vann'd."</p>
+<p><i>Hierocles' Facetiae</i>.</p>
+<p>1. An irritable man went to visit a sick friend, and asked him
+concerning his health. The patient was so ill that he could not
+reply; whereupon the other in a rage said, "I hope that I may soon
+fall sick, and then I will not answer you when you visit me."</p>
+<p>2. A speculative gentleman, wishing to teach his horse to do
+without food, starved him to death. "I had a great loss," said he;
+"for, just as he learned to live without eating, he died."</p>
+<p>3. A curious inquirer, desirous to know how he looked when
+asleep, sat with closed eyes before a mirror.</p>
+<p>4. A young man told his friend that he dreamed that he had
+struck his foot against a sharp nail. "Why then do you sleep
+without your shoes?" was the reply.</p>
+<p>5. A robustious countryman, meeting a physician, ran to hide
+behind a wall; being asked the cause, he replied, "It is so long
+since I have been sick, that I am ashamed to look a physician in
+the face."</p>
+<p>6. A gentleman had a cask of Aminean wine, from which his
+servant stole a large quantity. When the master perceived the
+deficiency, he diligently inspected the top of the cask but could
+find no traces of an opening. "Look if there be not a hole in the
+bottom," said a bystander. "Blockhead," he replied, "do you not see
+that the deficiency is at the top, and not at the bottom?"</p>
+<p>7. A young man meeting an acquaintance, said, "I heard that you
+were dead."&mdash;"But," says the other, "you see me
+alive."&mdash;"I do not know how that may be," replied he: "you are
+a notorious liar, but my informant was a person of credit."</p>
+<p>8. A man, hearing that a raven would live two hundred years,
+bought one to try.</p>
+<p>9. During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that
+appeared in danger seized different implements to aid them in
+swimming, and one of the number selected for this purpose the
+anchor.</p>
+<p>10. One of twin-brothers died: a fellow meeting the survivor
+asked, "Which is it, you or your brother, that's dead?"</p>
+<p>11. A man whose son was dead, seeing a crowd assembled to
+witness the funeral, said, "I am ashamed to bring my little child
+into such a numerous assembly."</p>
+<p>12. The son of a fond father, when going to war, promised to
+bring home the head of one of the enemy. His parent replied, "I
+should be glad to see you come home without a head, provided you
+come safe."</p>
+<p>13. A man wrote to his friend in Greece begging him to purchase
+books. From negligence or avarice, he neglected to execute the
+commission; but fearing that his correspondent might be offended,
+he exclaimed when next they met, "My dear friend, I never got the
+letter that you wrote me about the books."</p>
+<p>14. A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled
+together. Losing their way, they were forced to sleep in the open
+air; and, to avert danger, it was agreed to keep watch by turns.
+The lot first fell on the barber, who, for amusement, shaved the
+fool's head while he slept; he then woke him, and the fool, raising
+his hand to scratch his head, exclaimed, "Here's a pretty mistake;
+rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of me."</p>
+<p>15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and
+shook it, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name=
+"page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> holding out his hat to catch them as
+they fell.</p>
+<p>16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from
+the wall to exhibit as a sample.</p>
+<p>17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night
+in a dream." "Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear
+you."</p>
+<p>18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared
+that he would not again go into the water until he had learned to
+swim.</p>
+<p>(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his
+first teeth was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")</p>
+<p>19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower.
+"By Jove," said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me
+and my father."</p>
+<p>20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on
+horseback; being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because
+I am in a hurry."</p>
+<p>21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home,
+"Father, rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."</p>
+<p>We thank the wits of the <i>Athenaeum</i> for these piquancies:
+they are in the right true Attic vein, and are therefore
+characteristic of that clever Journal.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.</h3>
+<h4><i>(From</i> Part xiii.&mdash;<i>Botany.)</i></h4>
+<p><i>Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?</i></p>
+<p>Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out
+the superabundant quantity of water which it contained.</p>
+<p><i>Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of
+leaves at sunrise?</i></p>
+<p>Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness
+of the night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew;
+but Mushenbro&euml;k first proved the above, by conclusive
+experiments. He intercepted all communication between a poppy and
+the ambient air, by covering it with a bell; and between it and the
+earth, by covering the vessel in which it grew with a leaden plate.
+Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
+before&mdash;<i>Richard.</i></p>
+<p>One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves
+wither and become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant
+be not amply supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every
+inch square of surface, on the under disk of the leaf.</p>
+<p><i>Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine
+matter found in every tree?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is formed by branches of those returning vessels that
+deposit the new alburnum.</p>
+<p><i>Why is it inferred that these juices must be prepared in the
+plant itself, by various secretions, and changes of the fluids
+which it absorbs?</i></p>
+<p>Because we find, that in the same climate, nay, even in the same
+spot of ground, rue has its bitter&mdash;sorrel its acid&mdash;and
+the lettuce its cooling juices; and that the juices of the various
+parts of one plant, or even of one fruit, are extremely different.
+Sir James Smith mentions the peach-tree as a familiar example. "The
+gum of this tree is mild and mucilaginous. The bark, leaves, and
+flowers, abound with a bitter secretion, of a purgative and rather
+dangerous quality, than which nothing can be more distinct from the
+gum. The fruit is replete, not only with acid, mucilage, and sugar,
+but with its own peculiar aromatic and highly volatile secretion,
+elaborated within itself, on which its fine flavour
+depends."&mdash;<i>Introduction to Botany, 6th edit</i>.</p>
+<p><i>Why are these juices readily found in the bark?</i></p>
+<p>Because they appear to be matured, or brought to greater
+perfection, in layers of wood or bark that have no longer any
+principal share in the circulation of the sap. Thus, the vessels
+containing them are often very large, as the turpentine cells of
+the fir tribe, in all the species of which these secretions abound.
+The substance from which spruce-beer is made, is an extract of the
+branches of the <i>Abies Canadensis</i>, or Hemlock Spruce; a
+similar preparation is obtained from the branches of
+<i>Dacrydium</i>, in the South Seas.</p>
+<p><i>Why, in the spring, is the herbage under trees generally more
+luxuriant than it is beyond the spread of their branches?</i></p>
+<p>Because the driving mists and fogs becoming condensed on the
+branches, cause a frequent drip beneath the tree not experienced in
+other places; and thus keep up a perpetual irrigation and
+refreshment of the soil.</p>
+<p><i>Why are certain plants useful or injurious to others that
+grow in their vicinity?</i></p>
+<p>Because of certain fluids which the roots excrete from their
+slender extremities; and in this manner the likings and antipathies
+of certain plants may be accounted for. Thus, it is well known that
+the creeping thistle is hurtful to <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page26" name="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> oats, <i>erigeron
+acre</i> to wheat, <i>scabiosa arvensis</i> to flax, &amp;c.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some resins odorous?</i></p>
+<p>Because they contain essential oil; some afford benzoic acid
+when heated, and these have been termed balsams; such as tolu
+balsam and benzoin.</p>
+<p>Common resin is obtained by distilling the exudation of
+different species of fir; oil of turpentine passes over, and the
+resin remains behind.</p>
+<p><i>Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called
+varnish-trees?</i></p>
+<p>Because their large flowers abound in a resinous, sometimes
+acrid, and highly poisonous juice, which afterwards turns black,
+and is used for varnishing in India. One kind is the common cashew
+nut. All these varnishes are extremely dangerous to some
+constitutions; the skin, if rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes
+covered with pimples that are difficult to heal; the fumes have
+also been known to produce painful swelling and inflammation.</p>
+<p><i>Why do these varnishes, at first white, afterwards turn
+black?</i></p>
+<p>Because the recent juice is an organized substance, consisting
+of an immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's
+rays in all directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while
+the varnish which has been exposed to the air loses its organized
+structure, becomes homogeneous, and then transmits the sun's rays,
+of a rich, deep, uniform, red colour.</p>
+<p>The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a
+resinous fluid, that the least degree of unusual repletion of the
+tissue causes it to be discharged; thus, some of them fill the air
+with fragrance after rain; and other kinds expel their resin with
+such violence when immersed in water, as to have the appearance of
+spontaneous motion, in consequence of the recoil. Another kind is
+said to cause swellings in those who sleep under its
+shade.&mdash;<i>Brewster's Journal.</i></p>
+<p><i>Why is the soap-tree so called?</i></p>
+<p>Because its bark, if pulverized, and shaken in water, soon
+yields a solution, frothing, as if it contained soap. It is a
+native of Chili; the trunk is straight, and of considerable height;
+the wood is hard, red, and never splits; and the bark is rugged,
+fibrous, of ash-grey colour externally, and white within.</p>
+<p><i>Why is a species of myrtle called the wax-tree?</i></p>
+<p>Because the leaves and stem, when bruised, and boiled in water,
+yield wax, which concretes on cooling. Mr. Brande observes, "the
+glossy varnish upon the upper surface of many trees is of a similar
+nature; and though there are shades of difference, these varieties
+of wax possess the essential properties of that formed by the bee:
+indeed, it was formerly supposed that bees merely collected the wax
+already formed by the vegetable: but Huber's experiments show, that
+the insect has the power of transmuting sugar into wax, and that
+this is in fact a secretion."</p>
+<p>The wax-palm of Humboldt has its trunk covered by a coating of
+wax, which exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the
+leaves. It is, according to Vaquelin, a concrete, inflammable
+substance, consisting of 1/3 wax, and 2/3 resin.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some oils called vegetable butters?</i></p>
+<p>Because they become solid at the ordinary temperatures. Such are
+cocoa-nut oil, palm oil, and nutmeg oil.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some volatile oils obtained by expression?</i></p>
+<p>Because they are contained in distinct vesicles in the rind of
+fruits, as in the lemon, orange, and bergamot.</p>
+<p><i>Why is the oil of poppy-seed perfectly wholesome?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is in no degree narcotic; nor has it any of the
+properties of the poppy itself. This oil is consumed on the
+Continent in considerable quantity, and employed extensively in
+adulterating olive oil. Its use was at one time prohibited in
+France, by decrees issued in compliance with popular clamour; but
+it is now openly sold, the government and people having grown
+wiser.</p>
+<p><i>Why is the juice of the poppy called opium?</i></p>
+<p>Because of its derivation from the Persian <i>afioun</i>, and
+the Arabian <i>aphium</i>. The botanical name of the poppy,
+<i>papaver</i>, is said to be derived from its being commonly mixed
+with the pap, papa, given to children in order to ease pain, and
+procure sleep.</p>
+<p><i>Why does opium produce sleep?</i></p>
+<p>Because it contains an alkaline substance called Morphia. The
+same drug contains a peculiar acid called the Meconic; and a
+vegetable alkali named Narcotine, to which unpleasant stimulating
+properties are attributed by Majendie.</p>
+<p><i>Why is sugar so generally found in plants?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is not only the seasoning of most eatable fruits, but
+abounds in various roots, as the carrot, beet, parsnip, and in many
+plants of the grass, or cane kind, besides the famous sugar
+cane.</p>
+<p>Sir James Smith observes that "there <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> is great
+reason to suppose sugar not so properly an original secretion, as
+the result of a chemical change in secretions already formed,
+either of an acid or mucilaginous nature, or possibly a mixture of
+both. In ripening fruits, this change is most striking, and takes
+place very speedily, seeming to be greatly promoted by heat and
+light. By the action of frost, as Dr. Darwin observes, a different
+change is wrought in the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it
+becomes starch."</p>
+<p>M. Berard considers gum and lignin as the principles in unripe
+fruits which chiefly tend to the formation of sugar during their
+ripening, and he has given several analyses of fruits in
+illustration of these views. Mr. Brande also considers the elements
+of water as probably concerned in the change.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE NATURALIST.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>THE SUGAR CANE.</h3>
+<p>At the island of Tahiti (Otaheite) South Pacific Ocean, there
+are several varieties of the sugar cane, differing, however, in
+their qualities. The number of varieties are eight, and are as
+follow:&mdash;</p>
+<p>1. Rutu&mdash;of good quality.</p>
+<p>2. Avae&mdash;of indifferent quality.</p>
+<p>3. Irimotu&mdash;a rich cane, but does not grow to a large
+size.</p>
+<p>4. Patu&mdash;a good cane, of a red colour.</p>
+<p>5. To-ura&mdash;a dark-striped cane, hard and good.</p>
+<p>6. Toute&mdash;a bad cane, of a red colour.</p>
+<p>7. Veu&mdash;a good cane.</p>
+<p>8. Vaihi&mdash;this attains a large size, and is considered of
+the best quality. It is said by the natives to have been introduced
+from the Sandwich Islands.</p>
+<p>At Manilla (Island of Luconia) the planters mention three
+cultivated varieties of the sugar cane:&mdash;</p>
+<p>1. Cana negra&mdash;black sugar cane.</p>
+<p>2. Cana morada&mdash;brown sugar cane.</p>
+<p>3. Cana blancha&mdash;white sugar cane.</p>
+<p>of which the black or cana negra is considered the best, from
+its strength and the quantity of syrup contained in it.</p>
+<p><i>Mr. G.B.'s MS. Journal</i>, 1829-30.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>THE BARN OWL;</h3>
+<h4><i>and the Benefits it confers on Man. By Charles Waterton,
+Esq.</i></h4>
+<p>This pretty aerial wanderer of the night often comes into my
+room; and after flitting to and fro, on wing so soft and silent
+that he is scarcely heard, he takes his departure from the same
+window at which he had entered.</p>
+<p>I own I have a great liking for this bird; and I have offered it
+hospitality and protection on account of its persecutions, and for
+its many services to me,&mdash;I say services, as you will see in
+the sequel. I wish that any little thing I could write or say might
+cause it to stand better with the world at large than it has
+hitherto done: but I have slender hopes on this score; because old
+and deep-rooted prejudices are seldom overcome; and when I look
+back into the annals of remote antiquity, I see too clearly that
+defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole family, in all its
+branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of mine.</p>
+<p>Ovid, nearly two thousand years ago, was extremely severe
+against the owl. In his <i>Metamorphoses</i> he says:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,</p>
+<p>Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen." <a id="footnotetag5" name=
+"footnotetag5"></a> <a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>In his <i>Fasti</i> he openly accuses it of felony:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes." <a id=
+"footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Lucan, too, has hit it hard:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Et laetae juranter aves, bubone sinistro:" <a id="footnotetag7"
+name="footnotetag7"></a> <a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>and the Englishman who continued the <i>Pharsalia</i>,
+says&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Tristia mille locis Stylus dedit omina bubo." <a id=
+"footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Horace tells us that the old witch Canidia used part of the
+plumage of the owl in her dealings with the devil:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Plumamque nocturnae strigis." <a id="footnotetag9" name=
+"footnotetag9"></a> <a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Virgil, in fine, joined in the hue and cry against this injured
+family:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo</p>
+<p>Saepe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces." <a id=
+"footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>In our own times we find that the village maid cannot return
+home from seeing her dying swain, without a doleful salutation from
+the owl:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Thus homeward as she hopeless went,</p>
+<p class="i2">The churchyard path along,</p>
+<p>The blast grew cold, the dark owl scream'd</p>
+<p class="i2">Her lover's funeral song."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Amongst the numberless verses which might be quoted against the
+family of the owl, I think I only know of one <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> little
+ode which expresses any pity for it. Our nursery maid used to sing
+it to the tune of the Storm, "Cease rude Boreas, blust'ring
+railer." I remember the first two stanzas of it:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">"Once I was a monarch's daughter,</p>
+<p class="i4">And sat on a lady's knee;</p>
+<p class="i2">But am now a nightly rover,</p>
+<p class="i4">Banish'd to the ivy tree&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i8">Crying, hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo,</p>
+<p class="i10">Hoo hoo hoo, my feet are cold!</p>
+<p class="i8">Pity me, for here you see me,</p>
+<p class="i10">Persecuted, poor, and old."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>I beg the reader's pardon for this exordium. I have introduced
+it, in order to show how little chance there has been, from days
+long passed and gone to the present time, of studying the haunts
+and economy of the owl, because its unmerited bad name has created
+it a host of foes, and doomed it to destruction from all quarters.
+Some few, certainly, from time to time, have been kept in cages and
+in aviaries. But nature rarely thrives in captivity, and very
+seldom appears in her true character when she is encumbered with
+chains, or is to be looked at by the passing crowd through bars of
+iron. However, the scene is now going to change; and I trust that
+the reader will contemplate the owl with more friendly feelings,
+and quite under different circumstances. Here, no rude schoolboy
+ever approaches its retreat; and those who once dreaded its
+diabolical doings are now fully satisfied that it no longer meddles
+with their destinies, or has any thing to do with the repose of
+their departed friends. Indeed, human wretches in the shape of
+body-snatchers seem here in England to have usurped the office of
+the owl in our churchyards; "et vendunt tumulis corpora rapta
+suis."<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a></p>
+<p>Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time of it at Walton
+Hall. Its supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She
+knew full well what sorrow it had brought into other houses when
+she was a young woman; and there was enough of mischief in the
+midnight wintry blast, without having it increased by the dismal
+screams of something which people knew very little about, and which
+every body said was far too busy in the churchyard at nighttime.
+Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person were sick in the
+neighbourhood, it would be for ever looking in at the window, and
+holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not know
+whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in every thing she said on
+this important subject; and he always stood better in her books
+when he had managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous
+family. However, in 1813, on my return from the wilds of Guiana,
+having suffered myself, and learned mercy, I broke in pieces the
+code of penal laws which the knavery of the gamekeeper and the
+lamentable ignorance of the other servants had hitherto put in
+force, far too successfully, to thin the numbers of this poor,
+harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway,
+against which, tradition says, the waves of the lake have dashed
+for the better part of a thousand years, I made a place with stone
+and mortar, about 4 ft. square, and fixed a thick oaken stick
+firmly into it. Huge masses of ivy now quite cover it. In about a
+month or so after it was finished, a pair of barn owls came and
+took up their abode in it. I threatened to strangle the keeper if
+ever, after this, he molested either the old birds or their young
+ones; and I assured the housekeeper that I would take upon myself
+the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe, and sorrow that
+the new tenants might bring into the Hall. She made a low courtesy;
+as much as to say, "Sir, I fall into your will and pleasure:" but I
+saw in her eye that she had made up her mind to have to do with
+things of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midnight
+wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think that up to the day
+of this old lady's death, which took place in her eighty-fourth
+year, she ever looked with pleasure or contentment on the barn owl,
+as it flew round the large sycamore trees which grow near the old
+ruined gateway.</p>
+<p><i>(To be concluded in our next.)</i></p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>BLONDEL DE NESLE.</h3>
+<p>"Blondel de Nesle the favourite minstrel of Richard Coeur de
+Lion, and an attendant upon his person, devoted himself to discover
+the place of his confinement during the crusade against Saladin,
+emperor of the Saracens. He wandered in vain from castle to palace,
+till he learned that a strong and almost inaccessible fortress upon
+the Danube was watched with peculiar strictness, as containing some
+state-prisoner of distinction. The minstrel took his harp, and
+approaching as near the castle as he durst, came so nigh the walls
+as to hear the melancholy captive soothing his imprisonment with
+music. Blondel touched his harp; the prisoner heard <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> and was
+silent: upon this the minstrel played the first part of a tune, or
+lay, known to the captive; who instantly played the second part;
+and thus, the faithful servant obtained the certainty that the
+inmate of the castle was no other than his royal
+master."&mdash;<i>Tales of a Grandfather</i>, p 69.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>The Danube's wide-flowing water lave</p>
+<p class="i2">The captive's dungeon cell,</p>
+<p>And the voice of its hoarse and sullen wave</p>
+<p class="i2">Breaks forth in a louder swell,</p>
+<p>And the night-breeze sighs in a deeper gust,</p>
+<p>For the flower of chivalry droops in dust!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>A yoke is hung over the victor's neck,</p>
+<p class="i2">And fetters enthral the strong,</p>
+<p>And manhood's pride like a fearful wreck,</p>
+<p>Lies the breakers of care among;</p>
+<p>And the gleams of hope, overshadow'd, seem</p>
+<p>The phantoms of some distemper'd dream.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>But the heart&mdash;the heart is unconquer'd still&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i2">A host in its solitude!</p>
+<p>Quenchless the spirit, though fetter'd the will,</p>
+<p class="i2">Of that warrior unsubdued;</p>
+<p>His soul, like an arrow from rocky ground,</p>
+<p>Shall fiercely and proudly in air rebound.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>But the hour of darkness girds him now</p>
+<p class="i2">With a pall of deepest night,</p>
+<p>Anguish sits throned on his moody brow,</p>
+<p class="i2">And the curse of thy withering blight,</p>
+<p>Despair, thou dreariest deathliest foe!</p>
+<p>His senses hath steep'd in a torpid woe.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>From the dazzling splendour of gloriest past</p>
+<p class="i2">The warrior sickening turns.</p>
+<p>To list to the sound of the wailing blast,</p>
+<p class="i2">As the wan lamp dimly burns:</p>
+<p>For the daring might of the lion-hearted</p>
+<p>With Freedom's soul-thrilling notes hath parted.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>O'er his harp-string droops his palsied hand,</p>
+<p class="i2">And the fitful strain alone</p>
+<p>Murmurs the notes of his native land&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i2">Does echo repeat that moan</p>
+<p>From the dungeon wall so grim and so drear?&mdash;</p>
+<p>No!&mdash;an answering minstrel lingers there.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Up starts the listening king&mdash;a flash</p>
+<p class="i2">Of memory's gifted lore</p>
+<p>Bursts on his soul&mdash;a deed so rash,</p>
+<p class="i2">What captive would e'er deplore?</p>
+<p>Since bonds no longer unnerve the free,</p>
+<p>And valour hath won fidelity.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Dark child of sorrow, sweet comfort take,</p>
+<p class="i2">In thy lone heart's widowhood,</p>
+<p>Some charmed measure may yet awake</p>
+<p class="i2">Arresting affliction's flood,</p>
+<p>And thy prison'd soul unfetter'd be</p>
+<p>By the answering spirit of sympathy!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Metropolitan.</i></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr />
+<h3>ASMODEUS AT LARGE.</h3>
+<p>The design of this paper, in the <i>New Monthly Magazine</i>, is
+by no means novel; but the fine, cutting satire&mdash;the pleasant,
+lively banter on our vices and follies&mdash;which pervades every
+page of the article, is a set-off to the political frenzy and the
+literary lumber of other Magazines of the month. Each of them, it
+is true, has a readable paper, but one gem only contributes to a
+Magazine in the proportion of one swallow to a summer.</p>
+<p>Here are three pages of the <i>New Monthly</i> Devil:</p>
+<p>"A stranger, Sir, in the library," said my servant in opening
+the door.</p>
+<p>"Indeed! what a short, lame gentleman?"</p>
+<p>"No, Sir; middle-sized,&mdash;has very much the air of a lawyer
+or professional man."</p>
+<p>I entered the room, and instead of the dwarf demon Le Sage
+described, I beheld a comely man seated at the table, with a high
+forehead, a sharp face, and a pair of spectacles on his nose. He
+was employed in reading the new novel of "The Usurer's
+Daughter."</p>
+<p>"This cannot be the devil!" said I to myself; so I bowed, and
+asked the gentleman his business.</p>
+<p>"Tush!" quoth my visiter; "and how did you leave the
+Doctor?"</p>
+<p>"It is you, then!" said I; "you have grown greatly since you
+left Don Cleofas."</p>
+<p>"Wars fatten our tribe," answered the Devil; "besides shapes are
+optional with me, and in England men go by appearances more than
+they do abroad; one is forced to look respectable and portly; the
+Devil himself could not cheat your countrymen with a shabby
+exterior. Doubtless you observe that all the swindlers, whose
+adventures enliven your journals, are dressed 'in the height of
+fashion,' and enjoy 'a mild prepossessing demeanour.' Even the
+Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no
+bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs.
+Wealth in all countries is the highest possible morality; but you
+carry the doctrine to so great an excess, that you scarcely suffer
+the poor man to exist at all. If he take a walk in the country,
+there's the Vagrant Act; and if he has not a penny to hire a cellar
+in town, he's snapped up by a Burker, and sent off to the surgeons
+in a sack. It must be owned that no country affords such warnings
+to the spendthrift. You are one great moral against the getting rid
+of one's money."</p>
+<p>On this, Asmodeus and myself had a long conversation; it ended
+in our dining together, (for I found him a social fellow, and fond
+of a broil in a quiet way,) and adjourning in excellent spirits, to
+the theatre.</p>
+<p>"Certainly," said the Devil, taking a pinch of snuff,
+"certainly, your drama is wonderfully fine, it is worthy of a
+civilized nation; formerly you were contented with choosing actors
+among human kind, but what an improvement to go among the brute
+creation! think what a fine idea to have a whole play turn upon the
+appearance of a broken-backed lion! And so you are going to raise
+the drama by setting up a club; <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page30" name="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> that's another exquisite
+notion! You hire a great house in the neighbourhood of the theatre;
+you call it the Garrick Club. You allow actors and patrons to mix
+themselves and their negus there after the play; and this you call
+a design for exalting the drama. Certainly you English are a droll
+set; your expedients are admirable."</p>
+<p>"My good Devil, any thing that brings actors and spectators
+together, that creates an <i>esprit de corps</i> among all who
+cherish the drama, is not to be sneered at in that inconsiderate
+manner."</p>
+<p>"I sneer! you mistake me; you have adduced a most convincing
+argument&mdash;<i>esprit de corps</i>!&mdash;good! Your clubs
+certainly nourish sociality greatly; those little tables, with one
+sulky man before one sulky chop&mdash;those hurried nods between
+acquaintances&mdash;that, monopoly of newspapers and easy
+chairs&mdash;all exhibit to perfection the cementing faculties of a
+club. Then, too, it certainly does an actor inestimable benefit to
+mix with lords and squires. Nothing more fits a man for his
+profession, than living with people who know nothing about it. Only
+think what a poor actor Kean is; you would have made him quite a
+different thing, if you had tied him to a tame gentlemen in the
+'Garrick Club'. He would have played 'Richard' in a much higher
+vein, I doubt not."</p>
+<p>"Well," said I, "the stage is your affair at present, and
+doubtless you do right to reject any innovation."</p>
+<p>"Why, yes," quoth the Devil, looking round; "we have a very good
+female supply in this quarter. But pray how comes it that the
+English are so candid in sin? Among all nations there is immorality
+enough, Heaven knows; but you are so delightfully shameless: if a
+crime is committed here, you can't let it 'waste its sweetness;'
+you thrust it into your papers forthwith; you stick it up on your
+walls; you produce it at your theatres; you chat about it as an
+agreeable subject of conversation; and then you cry out with a
+blush against the open profligacy abroad! This is one of those
+amiable contradictions in human nature that charms me excessively.
+You fill your theatres with ladies of pleasure&mdash;you fill your
+newspapers with naughty accounts&mdash;a robbery is better to you
+than a feast&mdash;and a good fraud in the city will make you happy
+for a week; and all this while you say: '<i>We</i> are the people
+who send vice to Coventry, and teach the world how to despise
+immorality.' Nay, if one man commits a murder, your newspapers
+kindly instruct his associates how to murder in future, by a far
+safer method. A wretch kills a boy for the surgeons, by holding his
+head under water; 'Silly dog!' cries the Morning Herald, 'why did
+not he clap a sponge dipped in prussic acid to the boy's
+mouth?'"</p>
+<p>Here we were interrupted by a slight noise in the next box,
+which a gentleman had just entered. He was a tall man, with a
+handsome face and very prepossessing manner.</p>
+<p>"That is an Author of considerable reputation," said my Devil,
+"quiet, though a man of wit, and with a heart, though a man of the
+world. Talking of the drama, he once brought out a farce, which had
+the good fortune to be damned. As great expectations had been
+formed of it, and the author's name had transpired; the
+unsuccessful writer rose the next morning with a hissing sound in
+his ears, and that leaning towards misanthropy, which you men
+always experience when the world has the bad taste to mistake your
+merits. 'Thank Fate, however,' said the Author, 'it is damned
+thoroughly&mdash;it is off the stage&mdash;I cannot be hissed
+again&mdash;in a few days it will be forgotten&mdash;meanwhile I
+will take a walk in the Park.' Scarce had the gentleman got into
+the street, before, lo! at a butcher's shop blazed the 'very head
+and front of his offending.' 'Second night of its appearance, the
+admired Farce of &mdash;&mdash;, by &mdash;&mdash;, Esq.' Away
+posts the Author to the Manager.&mdash;'Good Heavens! Sir, my farce
+again! was it not thoroughly damned last night?'&mdash;'Thoroughly
+damned!' quoth the Manager, drily; 'we reproduce it, Sir&mdash;we
+reproduce it (with a knowing wink,) that the world, enraged at our
+audacity, may come here to damn it again.' So it is, you see! the
+love of money is the contempt of man: there's an aphorism for you!
+Let us turn to the stage. What actresses you have!&mdash;certainly
+you English are a gallant nation; you are wonderfully polite to
+come and see such horrible female performers! By the by, you
+observed when that young lady came on the stage, how timidly she
+advanced, how frightened she seemed. 'What modesty!' cry the
+audience; 'we must encourage her!' they clap, they shout, they pity
+the poor thing, they cheer her into spirits. Would you believe that
+the hardest thing the Manager had to do with her was to teach her
+that modesty. She wanted to walk on the stage like a grenadier, and
+it required fifteen lessons to make her be ashamed of herself. It
+is in these things that the stage mimics the world, rather behind
+the scenes than before!"</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[pg
+31]</span>
+<p>"Bless me, how Braham is improved!" cried a man with spectacles,
+behind me; "he acts now better than he sings!"</p>
+<p>"Is it not strange," said Asmodeus, "how long the germ of a
+quality may remain latent in the human mind, and how completely you
+mortals are the creatures of culture? It was not till his old age
+that Braham took lessons in acting; some three times a week has he
+of late wended his way down, to the comedian of Chapel-street, to
+learn energy and counterfeit warmth; and the best of it is, that
+the spectators will have it that an actor feels all he acts; as if
+human nature, wicked as it is, could feel Richard the Third every
+other night. I remember, Mrs. Siddons had a majestic manner of
+extending her arm as she left the stage. 'What grace!' said the
+world, with tears in its eyes, 'what dignity! what a wonderful way
+of extending an arm! you see her whole soul is in the part!' The
+arm was in reality stretched impatiently out for a pinch from the
+snuff-box that was always in readiness behind the scenes."</p>
+<p>It is my misfortune, Reader, to be rapidly bored. I cannot sit
+out a sermon, much less a play; amusement is the most tedious of
+human pursuits.</p>
+<p>"You are tired of this, surely," said I to the Devil; "let us
+go!"</p>
+<p>"Whither?" said Asmodeus.</p>
+<p>"Why, 'tis a starlit night, let us ride over to Paris, and sup,
+as you promised, at the Rocher de Cancale."</p>
+<p>"<i>Volontiers</i>."</p>
+<p>Away&mdash;away&mdash;away&mdash;into the broad still Heavens,
+the stars dancing merrily above us, and the mighty heart of the
+City beating beneath the dusky garment of Night below.</p>
+<p>"Let us look down," said Asmodeus; "what a wilderness of houses!
+shall I uncover the roofs for you, as I did for Don Cleofas; or
+rather, for it is an easier method, shall I touch your eyes with my
+salve of penetration, and enable you to see at once through the
+wall?"</p>
+<p>"You might as well do so; it is pleasant to feel the power,
+though at present I think it superfluous; wherever I look, I can
+only see rogues and fools, with a stray honest man now and then,
+who is probably in prison."</p>
+<p>Asmodeus touched my eyes with a green salve, which he took out
+of an ivory box, and all at once, my sight being directed towards a
+certain palace I beheld * * * *</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE GATHERER.</h2>
+<hr />
+<p>A clergyman preaching in the neighbourhood of Wapping, observing
+that most part of his audience were in the seafaring way, very
+naturally embellished his discourse with several nautical tropes
+and figures. Amongst other things, he advised them "to be ever on
+the watch, so that on whatsoever tack the evil one should bear down
+on them, he might be crippled in action." "Ay, master," said a son
+of Neptune, "but let me tell you, that will depend upon your having
+the weather gage of him."</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>A poacher escaping one morn with his pillage,</p>
+<p>Unexpectedly met with the lord of the village;</p>
+<p>Who seeing a hare o'er his shoulder was thrown,</p>
+<p>Hail'd him quickly, "You fellow is that hare your own."</p>
+<p>"My own!" he replied, "you inquisitive prig,</p>
+<p>Gad's curse, pompous sir, do you think I've a wig?"</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr />
+<h3>ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "TO BOOT."</h3>
+<p><i>Bote</i> or <i>Bota</i>, in our old law books, signifies
+recompense, repentance, or fine paid by way of expiation, and is
+derived from the Saxon. Hence our common phrase "to boot," speaking
+of something given by way of compensation.</p>
+<p>P.T.W.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD SONG.</h3>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Syr Tankarde he is as bold a wight</p>
+<p class="i2">As ever Old England bred;</p>
+<p>His armoure it is of the silver bright,</p>
+<p class="i2">And his coloure is ruby red;</p>
+<p class="i4">And whene'er on the bully ye calle,</p>
+<p class="i4">He is readye to give ye a falle;</p>
+<p>But if long in the battle with him ye be,</p>
+<p>Ye weaker are ye, and the stronger is he,</p>
+<p class="i4">For Syr Tankarde is victor of alle."</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"A barley-corn he mounts for a speare,</p>
+<p class="i2">His helmet with hops is hung,</p>
+<p>He lightes the eye with a laughing leere,</p>
+<p class="i2">With a carolle he tipps the tongue&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i4">And he marshals a valyant hoste</p>
+<p class="i4">Of spices and crabbes and toaste;</p>
+<p>And the stoutest of yeomen they well can o'erthrow,</p>
+<p>When he leads them in beakers and jugs to the foe,&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i4">And Syr Tankarde his prowess may boaste."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg
+32]</span>
+<hr />
+<h3>FRENCH&mdash;ENGLISH LOVE.</h3>
+<p>The following is a copy of a letter addressed some years ago to
+a lady of fortune at Portsmouth, upwards of four score years of
+age, by a French prisoner of war at Porchester Castle:&mdash;</p>
+<p>"<i>Porchester</i>.&mdash;<i>Madam</i>&mdash;Me rite de English
+very leet, and me very fears you no saave vat me speak; but me be
+told dat you vant one very fine man for your hosband; upon my soul
+me love you very well; and thou you be very old woman, and very
+cross, and ugly, and all de devil, and the English no like you,
+upon my soul we have one great passion for you, and me like you
+very well for all dat; and me told dat de man for you must be one
+very clen man, and no love de drink. Me be all dat: indeed me be
+one very grand man in France&mdash;upon my soul me be one count, me
+have one grand equipage in France, and me be very good for de
+esprit: indeed me be one grand beau-a-la-mode&mdash;one officier in
+de regiment: me be very good for de Engleterres. Indeed you be one
+very good old woman upon my soul; and if you have one inclination
+for one man, me be dat gentleman for you&mdash;one grand man for
+you. Me will be your hosband, and take de care for yourself, for de
+house, for de gardin, for de Schoff, for de drink, and for de
+little childs dat shall come. Upon my soul me kill myself very
+soon, if you no love me for this grand amour. Me be, madam, your
+great slave, votre tres humble serviteur, PRES A. BOIRE."</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD LONDON BRIDGE.</h3>
+<p>It is well known that Peter of Colechurch, the founder of
+<i>Old</i> London Bridge, did not live to witness the completion of
+the structure, but died in 1205, and was buried in a crypt within
+the centre pier of the bridge, over which a chapel was erected,
+dedicated to St. Thomas-&agrave;-Becket. Mr. Brayley, in his
+<i>Londiniana</i>, wrote about five years since that "if due care
+be taken when the old bridge is pulled down, the bones and ashes of
+its venerable architect may still be found;"&mdash;and, true
+enough, <i>the bones of old Peter were found on removing the pier
+about a fortnight since</i>.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>TAME LIONS.</h3>
+<p>Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the first who tamed a lion. He was
+condemned to death, for what his fellow-citizens considered so
+great a crime. They asserted that the republic had to fear the
+worst consequences from a man who had been able to subdue so much
+ferocity. A little more experience, however, convinced them of the
+fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. The triumvir Antony,
+accompanied by an actress, was publicly drawn by lions in a
+chariot.</p>
+<p>SAD-USING.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>CITY OF LYONS.</h3>
+<p>Lyons is situated on a sort of peninsula, formed by the
+confluence of two great rivers&mdash;the Rhone and the Laone. All
+the bridges, with the exception of one of stone, are of wood; and
+although in general more useful than ornamental, they are justly
+admired for the boldness of their construction. They form numerous
+and convenient communications between the city and the
+faubourgs.</p>
+<p>Lyons is walled round, and strongly fortified. In 1791 it
+contained 121,000 inhabitants; but, in consequence of the siege of
+1793, and the cruelties practised at that memorable period of
+French history, the numbers were reduced to less than 80,000. In
+1802, the numbers were 88,662; and in 1827, the fixed population
+had increased to 97,439;&mdash;but there was a floating population,
+estimated at 43,684, which, with the inmates of the barracks and
+hospitals, stated at 8,600, made the total population at that
+period 149,723; and by adding the population of the suburbs,
+reckoned at 36,000, the whole amount of the inhabitants at the
+period of the census, in 1827, was 185,723; at the present time it
+is said to be, in round numbers, 200,000.</p>
+<p>In 1828, the number of workshops in all branches of the silk
+trade within the walls, amounted to 7,140; that of the silk frames
+or looms to 18,829; and from 10,000 to 12,000 in the communes.</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr />
+<p>The ditty sung by the first grave-digger in <i>Hamlet</i>,
+beginning&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"In youth, when I did love, did love"&mdash;</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>was written by Lord Vaux, an ancestor of Lord Brougham. It will
+be found entire in <i>Percy's Reliques</i>.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Number 527, price Twopence,</p>
+<p>A SUPPLEMENT,</p>
+<p>With a STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT of His Present</p>
+<p>Majesty, WILLIAM IV.</p>
+<p>AT FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.</p>
+<p>From a Picture by B. West, P.R.A.</p>
+<p>Anecdotic Memoir; and Title-Page, Preface,</p>
+<p>and Index; completing VOL. XVIII.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr class="full" />
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name=
+"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> Quoted by Cunningham in his "Life of
+Wren," from a contemporary authority.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name=
+"footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> Wards of London.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name=
+"footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> We omitted to state that our
+interesting particulars of the Heckington Sepulchre were from
+<i>Vetusta Monumenta</i>, a splendid folio work published by the
+Antiquarian Society.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name=
+"footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> Sketches of New and Old Sleaford,
+County of Lincoln, and of several places in the Neighbourhood, p.
+224. 8vo Baldwin and Co.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name=
+"footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag5">(return)</a>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Ill-omen'd in his form, the unlucky fowl,</p>
+<p>Abhorr'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl."&mdash;<i>Garth's
+Trans.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name=
+"footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> "They fly by night, and assail infants
+in the nurse's absence."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name=
+"footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> "Even the ill-boding owl is declared a
+bird of good omen."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name=
+"footnote8"></a><b>Footnote 8</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> "The Stygian owl gives sad omens in a
+thousand places."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name=
+"footnote9"></a><b>Footnote 9</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> "A feather of the night
+owl."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name=
+"footnote10"></a><b>Footnote 10</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag10">(return)</a>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>&mdash;&mdash;"And, on her palace top,</p>
+<p>The lonely owl with oft repeated scream</p>
+<p>Complains, and spins into a dismal length</p>
+<p>Her baleful shrieks."&mdash;<i>Trapp's Trans.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote11" name=
+"footnote11"></a><b>Footnote 11</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag11">(return)</a> "And sell bodies torn from their
+tombs."</blockquote>
+<hr class="full" />
+
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11530 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #11530 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11530)
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
+Instruction, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
+       Vol. 19, Issue 529, January 14, 1832
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: March 9, 2004 [EBook #11530]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 529 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Allen Siddle, David King, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
+
+VOL. XIX. NO. 529.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1832. [PRICE 2_d_.
+
+
+
+
+FISHMONGER'S HALL
+
+
+[Illustration: FISHMONGERS' HALL.]
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF THE COMPANY.]
+
+These Cuts may be welcome illustrations of the olden magnificence of the
+City of London. The first represents the river or back front of the Hall
+of the Fishmongers' Company: the second cut, the arms of the Company, is
+added by way of an illustrative pendent. These insignia are placed over
+the entrance to the Hall in Lower Thames-street; they are sculptured in
+bold relief, and are not meanly executed. The Hall, or the greater part of
+it, has been taken down to make room for the New London Bridge approaches;
+the frame-work of the door, and the arms still remain--_stat portus umbra_.
+
+The Hall merits further notice; not so much for its architectural
+pretensions as for its being the commencement of a plan which it could be
+wished had been completed. The reader may probably remember that after the
+Great Fire of London, the King (Charles II.) desired WREN, in addition to
+his designs for St. Paul's, to make an accurate survey and drawing of the
+whole area and confines of the waste metropolis; and "day, succeeding day,
+amidst ashes and ruins, did this indefatigable man labour to fulfil his
+task." He prepared his plans for rebuilding the city, and laid them before
+the King. That part of Sir Christopher's plan which relates to the present
+subjects, was as follows: "By the water-side, from the bridge to the
+Temple, he had planned a long and broad wharf or quay, where he designed
+to have arranged all the halls that belong to the several companies of the
+city, with proper warehouses for merchants between, to vary the edifices,
+and make it at once one of the most beautiful ranges of structure in the
+world."[1] King Charles, however, as Mr. Cunningham observes, "was never
+obstinate in any thing for his country's good," and the idea was dropped:
+but Wren erected the above Hall as a specimen of his intention of
+ornamenting the banks of the Thames. The original hall was destroyed by
+the Great Fire.
+
+The ancient importance of the Fishmongers' Company may be thus explained:--
+
+During the days of papacy in England, fish was an article not of optional,
+but compulsive consumption, and this rendered the business of a fishmonger
+one of the principal trades of London. Fish Street Hill, and the immediate
+vicinity, was the great mart for this branch of traffic, from its close
+connexion with the river, and here lived many illustrious citizens,
+particularly Sir William Walworth, and Sir Stephen Fisher.
+
+Strong prejudices were however entertained against the fishmongers, and to
+so great an extent was it carried, that in the fourteenth century, they
+prayed the king, by Nicholas Exton, one of their body, that he would take
+the company under his protection, "lest they might receive corporeal hurt."
+The parliament itself appears to have imbibed the general distrust, for in
+1382 they enacted, "that no fishmonger should be mayor of the city." This
+was repealed, however, the following year.
+
+The fishmongers consisted of two companies, the salt fishmongers,
+incorporated in 1433, and the stock fishmongers in 1509. The two companies
+were united by Henry VIII. in 1536. Before the junction, they are said by
+Stow, who calls them "jolly citizens," to have had six halls, two in
+Thames Street, two in Fish Street, and two in Old Fish Street, and six
+lord-mayors were elected from their body in twenty-four years. But being
+charged with forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the
+city, they were fined five hundred marks by Edward I. in 1290. In 1384,
+these, as well as others concerned in furnishing the city with provisions,
+were put under the immediate direction of the mayor and aldermen, by an
+act of parliament still in force.[2]
+
+The Hall, on the west side of the ward of Bridge Within, was of brick and
+stone, and may be said to have had two fronts. The fore entrance was from
+Thames Street by a handsome passage, leading into a large square court,
+encompassed by the Great Hall, the Court Room, and other grand apartments,
+with galleries. The back, or river front, had a double flight of stone
+steps, by which was an ascent to the first apartments. The door was
+ornamented with Ionic columns supporting an open pediment, in which was a
+shield, with the arms of the company. The building was finished with
+handsomely rusticated stone, and had a noble effect.
+
+The Hall was of capacious proportions, and extended nearly the whole
+length of the building. The ceiling, as well as that of the adjoining
+Court Room, exhibited some fine specimens of old plaster-work. We
+witnessed the dismantling of the premises previous to their being taken
+down. It was indeed a sorry breaking up. The long tables which had so
+often, to use a hackneyed phrase, "groaned" beneath the weight of civic
+fare--the cosy high-backed stuffed chairs which had held many a portly
+citizen--nay, the very soup-kettles and venison dishes--all were to be
+submitted to the noisy ordeal of the auction hammer.
+
+We remember in the upper end of the hall, and just behind the chair, there
+stood in a niche, a full-sized statue, carved in wood by Edward Pierce,
+statuary, of Sir William Walworth, a member of this company, and
+lord-mayor during the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The knight grasped a real
+dagger, said to be the identical weapon with which he stabbed the rebel;
+though a publican of Islington pretended to be possessed of this dagger,
+and in 1731, lent it to be publicly exhibited in Smithfield, in a show
+called "Wat Tyler," during Bartholomew Fair. Below the niche was this
+inscription:
+
+    "Brave Walworth, knight, lord-mayor, yt slew
+    Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;
+  The king, therefore, did give in lieu
+    The dagger to the cytye's arms.
+  In the 4th year of Richard II. Anno Domini 1381."
+
+A common, but erroneous belief is perpetuated in this inscription, for the
+dagger was in the city arms long before the time of Sir William Walworth,
+and was intended to represent the sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of
+the corporation.
+
+The funeral pall of Sir W. Walworth curiously embroidered with gold, is
+preserved amongst the relics, as well as a plan of the splendid show at
+his installation, 1380.
+
+The Fishmongers' Company is fourth upon the list of the city corporations,
+under the name and style of "the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery of
+Fishmongers of the city of London." It is a livery company, and very rich,
+governed by a prime and five other wardens, and a court of assistants.
+
+The company supports a free Grammar School at Holt Market, in Norfolk,
+founded by Sir John Gresham; Jesus Hospital, at Bray, in Berkshire,
+founded by William Goddard, Esq. for forty poor persons; St. Peter's
+Hospital, near Newington, Surrey, founded by the company; twelve
+alms-houses at Harrietsham, in Kent, founded by Mr. Mark Quested; a
+fellowship in Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge founded by Mr. Leonard
+Smith; a scholarship in the same college, founded by William Bennet, Esq.
+Mr. Smith, executor.
+
+The _Arms_ of the Company are in a shield supported by a merman and
+mermaid, the latter with a mirror in her hand. The Keys refer to St. Peter,
+the Patron Saint of the Company.
+
+
+[1] Quoted by Cunningham in his "Life of Wren," from a contemporary
+    authority.
+
+[2] Wards of London.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HOLY SEPULCHRE, HECKINGTON CHURCH.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+
+From the description of the Holy Sepulchre in Heckington Church, given in
+your last volume, stating that it stood there in the summer of 1789, such
+of your readers as have no means of knowing to the contrary, may infer
+that it is not now in existence.[1] I am led to trouble you with a few
+lines on the subject, as this specimen still in the best preservation,
+deserves us full an account as your limits will admit. The sepulchre
+nearly, and the stalls also mentioned by you, which have been cleaned
+completely, remain now in the same state as the artist originally left
+them. An architect, Mr. T. Rickman, who visited the neighbourhood a short
+time ago, gives the following account, which was printed in a work[2] on
+the topography of the neighbourhood, soon after his visit: he says, "The
+sepulchre, of which there are not many specimens now remaining, consists
+of a series of richly ornamented niches, the largest of which represents
+the tomb, having angels standing beside it; the side niches have the
+Maries and other appropriate figures, and in the lower niches are the
+Roman soldiers reposing; these niches have rich canopies, and are
+separated by buttresses and rich finials, having all the spaces covered by
+very rich foliage." He further observes, that "the stalls exhibit a
+specimen of pure decorated work, as rich as the finest sculpture of
+foliage and small figures can render it, and hardly surpassed by any in
+the kingdom, and the sepulchre is of the same excellent character. The
+various small ornaments about these stalls and niches form one of the best
+possible studies for enrichments of this date: and it is almost peculiar
+to this church, that there is nothing about it, except what is quite
+modern, that is not of the same style of architecture."
+
+As the above gentleman's description of the present state of the church at
+Heckington will give a clearer idea of many others in the county of
+Lincoln, we perhaps cannot do better than close this account with it.
+"This beautiful church, of pure decorated character, is one of the most
+perfect models in the kingdom, having, with one exception, (that of the
+groined or interior ceiling which is wanting, and appears never to have
+been prepared for,) every feature of a fine church, of one uniform style,
+without any admixture of _later_ or _earlier_ work. Its mutilations are
+comparatively small, consisting only in the destruction of the tracey of
+the north transept window, and some featherings in other windows, and the
+building and wall to enclose a vestry. The plan of the church is a west
+tower and spire, nave and aisles, spacious transepts, and a large chancel,
+with a vestry attached to the north side. The nave has a well proportioned
+clesestory. There is a south porch, a rich font, the tomb of an
+ecclesiastic, and the assemblage of niches before described. In the
+chancel and some of the church walls are very good brackets. The vestry
+has a crypt below it. Fully to describe this church would require a much
+larger space than can be allotted to it, but it may be well to remark,
+that every part of the design and execution is of the very best character,
+equal to any in the kingdom."
+
+That this church was built on or near to the site of the one given by
+Gilbert de Guant, the style of architecture being of much later date,
+fully demonstrates; and it is more than probable that on its rebuilding,
+the patent of Edward III. was obtained. Certain it is that no specimen of
+an earlier style now remains; but tradition says that the foundation of
+the church was laid in the year 1101, and the building completed in A.D.
+1104, at a cost only of £433. 9_s_. 7_d_. This statement, if worthy of
+credit, must be referred to an earlier and less costly edifice than the
+present.
+
+J.H.S.
+
+
+[1] We omitted to state that our interesting particulars of the Heckington
+    Sepulchre were from _Vetusta Monumenta_, a splendid folio work
+    published by the Antiquarian Society.
+
+[2] Sketches of New and Old Sleaford, County of Lincoln, and of several
+    places in the Neighbourhood, p. 224. 8vo Baldwin and Co.
+
+      *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TRAVELING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+Guernsey, Dec. 17, 1831.
+
+
+Your ingenious and talented correspondent, _Vyvyan_, in writing on the
+shrimp, (the _Mirror_, p. 361, vol. xviii.) remarks that "The sea roamer
+may often have observed numbers of little air-holes in the sand, which
+expand as the sun advances. If he stirs it with his foot, he will cause a
+brood of young shrimps, who will instantly hop and jump about the beach in
+the most lively manner," &c.: these "jumpers" as they are facetiously
+called, are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity
+for which their namesakes are so remarkable. They are as different as
+possible from young shrimps; and if "old shrimps" _could_ "tell tales," I
+doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would tell their "companions
+at breakfast table" the same thing. Your correspondent further adds, that
+"strange stories are told of the _old_ shrimp," and I think, on
+investigation, he will find that he has told a very "strange story" of
+_young_ shrimps. In a future communication I will give you a correct
+account or history of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time
+when it is first spawned until it arrives at perfection.
+
+H.W.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+_Vyvyan_ has not in his _Notes_ named any county but South Wales,
+generally, where he says, "Any person who can enclose a portion of land
+around his cottage or otherwise, in one night, becomes owner thereof in
+fee." These persons in Wales are called Encroachers, and are liable to
+have ejectments served upon them by the Lord of the Manor, (which is often
+the case) to recover possession. The majority of the Encroachers pay a
+nominal yearly rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy
+the land. If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any
+interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the same. It
+is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held for the manor,
+and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally done every three or
+four years, these encroachments are thrown out again to the waste or
+common.
+
+J.P.
+
+*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan's "Notes," especially as
+we believe our readers to take considerable interest in their accuracy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE SKETCH-BOOK.
+
+
+MY FIRE.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+On new year's morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study, which is a
+little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward fancy of my own,
+closely resembles the cell of an alchymist. Its walls are hung with black
+drapery, on which appear the mystical signs of the planetary bodies,
+Hebrew, Persian, and various cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of
+the work of transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success
+employed by the alchymist. Here and there pieces of their quaint and
+uncouth shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the
+pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective
+stations. The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered with
+copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company with the
+_caput mortum_ and the hour-glass. A few antiques, consisting of
+half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of the green clad yeoman,
+the ponderous mace and helmet of the valiant knight, and other relics of
+the days of chivalry, complete the decorations of this my sanctum.
+
+In consequence of its dark and gloomy aspect, and the feeling of awe with
+which the family and servants regard its mystical contents, I have its
+undisturbed enjoyment; nobody feels a wish to enter it even in the day
+time, and I verily believe they would not do so at the witching hour of
+night, lest the mystical signs should take summary vengeance on their
+unhallowed intrusion.
+
+The neighbours imagine me to be an adept in the "black art," an astrologer,
+or a fortune-teller, but I have no pretentions whatever to any such titles;
+this report has got abroad in consequence of a maid-servant having once
+had the temerity to peep through the key-hole, and observed on the wall
+opposite her "line of sight," some triangular characters. She had been in
+the habit of poring over a dream book, and the art of casting nativities;
+the Prophetic Almanac was her oracle, and its terrific title-page she
+informed her fellow servant "had just those queer triangle things as was
+hung on the walls of young master's study." She was "sure that he could
+tell her fortune." This important intelligence, delivered with due
+confidence to her fellow servant, of course spread like wildfire among the
+other occupants of the "lower regions," and from them amongst the
+handmaidens of sundry other dwellings. Thus has my astrological character
+been established.
+
+As all domestics are excluded my sanctum, of course I am obliged to "do
+for myself," and this I prefer to being "done for," or having my room "set
+to rights," according to their notions of neatness; my feelings on this
+point are exactly those of Scott's _Antiquary_; I therefore "do for
+myself," and consequently, it follows I must light my own fire. Than on
+the morning I have mentioned, the "grand agent" of the chemist was never
+more required. The air bit shrewdly, and it was "bitter cold" upon
+entering the sanctum, although I had not quitted it many hours, having
+watched the "old year out and the new year in," and then taken a short
+nap; yet Jack Frost had been active during my absence, and cooled down the
+air of the sanctum some degrees below the freezing point, at the same time
+coating the window panes with his beautiful crystalline figures. The dark
+walls did look most awful, seen through the dun yellow light of the fog,
+which met my view upon drawing aside the cabalistically hung curtains. I
+cast a look at the Rumford grate; its black cold bars "grinned most
+horrible and ghastly." A sympathy was instantly established between them
+and my nasal organ, for I found a drop of pure crystal pendant from its
+extremity. Here, thought I, is an admirable question for "_The Plain Why
+and Because_." _Why_ does a drop of water hang from the nose on a frosty
+morning? Because the natural heat of the body sends up vapour into the
+head, and that being exposed most to cold, the vapour condenses, and a
+drop of water runs from the nostril, as it would do from the head of a
+still. Upon looking at anything very cold, sympathy excites the same
+action. This "Why and Because" was succeeded by another--Why does my
+fire-grate grin so coldly? Because you will not be "done for," else Eliza
+could have raised a flame there for you an hour ago. The truth of this
+reply was so forcible that I resolved to "do for myself" without delay,
+and evolve the "grand agent." I went to the door, expecting to see my
+usual supply of fuel; none was to be found. What means this? said I, and
+was about to make my wants known, but changed my intent as quickly, and
+being a little excited by such neglect, determined not to be dependent
+upon the domestics, but make a fire of my own. Now then for the materials.
+Paper, as all persons know, who have "lit their own fires," is the
+foundation; it was also mine: sundry letters in reply to sundry
+unsuccessful applications written on "thick double laid post," as the
+advertisements say, I seized upon, and thrust their crumpled forms between
+the sooty bars of the grate with some wood, the model of a mechanical
+invention of my own, which had been rejected by a Society, and why, I knew
+not; I severed limb from limb, and disposed their fragments across and
+athwart on the letters previously mutilated. How to obtain my coal posed
+me for a moment; but I recollected that in a geological cabinet under my
+window, I was the possessor of a mass of pure Staffordshire, weighing some
+twenty pounds. The doors of the cabinet flew open, and out it came; I had
+a strong affection for this lump of coal, having extracted it myself from
+the mines, and carried it many a weary mile on my return home. I felt loth
+to commit it to the flames; but this was necessity, "stern necessity:"
+one or two blows of the mineralogical hammer destroyed my scruples, and
+produced the proper cleavages in the mass of coal. I laid the precious
+stratum, _super stratum_ upon the two former, and other deposits of
+_papyrus_ and _lignum_; such was my "coal formation." The magic touch of
+a Promethean elicited my "grand agent" to the thick laid post; it consumed
+rather sluggishly, but the dry pine wood of the broken model caught the
+flame and entered into fair combustion, cracking and sparkling, and now
+and then sending out a hiss of pyroligenous vapour; hissing yourself
+thought I. The fiery example was soon followed by the coal at first slowly
+sending up wreaths of dirty, green, yellow smoke, but as the fire waxed
+warmer these disappeared, and vivid hissing jets of ignited gas shot forth
+in abundance. The hissing annoyed me; why, I could not divine; but as the
+heat increased I cooled from the state of excitement produced by the testy
+destruction of my papers, model, and specimen. I sat down at the fire; had
+I not better, said I, have made my wants known to the servant, than have
+acted as I have done? No, I hate asking for what, as a duty should have
+been ready to my hands. I endeavoured to persuade myself that I did not
+regret the deed I had done, but could not succeed; something whispered me
+that I should suffer for it. I felt myself an "uncomfortable gentleman."
+I began to trace my fire from its origin up to its present state of
+perfection; the letters were of no consequence--none--the model I made
+myself and can make another--certainly--the coal I paid dearly for by
+fatigue, but I can get another lump, and send it home by coach, yes; then
+why am I so uncomfortable. I looked at the glowing fire which was getting
+insufferably hot, and gave it a passionate poke, exclaiming, I wish I
+could stop your draught. Draught! draft, I repeated, what has become of my
+draft that I received yesterday for my last paper? I began to recollect
+myself where I had laid it, and quickly came to the awful conclusion that
+I had placed it carefully between the folds of one of the sacrificed
+letters.
+
+Misery and destruction, said I, that draft has caused my rapid fire! it is
+gone and forever! Fool that I was; why did I not "blow up" the servants
+for paper, wood, and coals, and be "done for properly" instead of thus
+"doing for myself." Ye alchymistical spirits, said I, invoking the dark
+drapery, aid me to extract my gold from yonder ashes! but they were deaf
+to my calls, and the old _caput mortum_ seemed to grin in mockery. I could
+bear it no longer, and rushing from the sanctum, met the servant girl on
+the stairs. "A draft! a draft!" repeated I; she thought me mad; I was mad
+with vexation. "Sir," said she, "you will catch cold if there is a draught
+such a day as this." A cold day as this, you wretch, Eliza, why did you
+not bring my coals to the door this morning, then I could have had my fire
+without a draft; I want a ten guinea draft, not a foggy, frosty draught.
+The girl stood amazed, but replied, "Please, sir, I didn't bring the coals
+this morning because you said never to do so on a Sunday, sir." "Sunday,"
+I exclaimed, "is this Sunday?" "Lord bless me, sir, yes, and new year's
+day too, sir; happy new year, sir," said the provoking little wench, who
+was now joined by another. I could stand it no longer, but slunk back into
+the sanctum, "like a burnt child that dreaded the fire," hearing them
+exclaim, "I thought how it would be, them odd things in his room has quite
+turned his brain, poor young gentleman, he did not even know it was Sunday,
+and new year's day neither."
+
+I really did not know it was Sunday, for my calculaters were destroyed by
+the circumstance of our having kept Christmas Day on the Monday. I was
+aware that it was new year's day, and had intended to begin 1832 with good
+works, instead of which I commenced it with destroying my property, thus
+literally "doing for myself," and unlike most other people who invariably
+suffer from a draught, I am suffering from the loss of one.
+
+PYRAMIS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.
+
+
+ADVENT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+In the North Riding of Yorkshire, the young folks retain a very ancient
+custom during Advent. They make a wax figure representing the infant Jesus,
+and place it in a small wooden case, with evergreens, which hide all but
+the figure. A napkin is thrown over the box; and the puppet is thus
+carried about, and exhibited from door to door, by a boy, the others
+chanting some supplicatory lines. The same custom prevails in Wales.
+
+In Italy, a wax figure representing the Virgin, inclosed in a beautifully
+carved wooden case, is placed on the back of an ass, and exhibited through
+the country during Advent. Every traveller on seeing it prostrates himself
+immediately, and crosses himself, and considers himself in duty bound to
+bestow his charity on the proprietor. Others carry emblematical figures
+through the different towns, or sit by the road side, and uncover the
+effigy to every passer-by.
+
+W.H.H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CURIOUS MANORIAL RIGHT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+At Ripley Castle, in Yorkshire, the seat of Sir William Ingilby, there is
+in the great staircase an elegant Venetian window, in the divisions of
+which, on stain-glass, are a series of escutcheons, displaying the
+principal quarterings and intermarriages of the Ingilby family since their
+settling at Ripley, during a course of 430 years.
+
+In one of the chambers of the tower is the following sentence, carved on
+the frieze of the wainscot:--"In the yeire of owre Ld. MDLV. was this
+howse buyldyd, by Sir Wyllyam Ingilby, Knight, Philip and Marie reigning
+that time."
+
+John Pallisser, of Bristhwaite, formerly held his lands of the manor of
+Ripley, by the payment of a red rose at Midsummer, and by carrying the
+boar's head to the lord's table all the twelve days of Christmas.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+NOTES OF A READER.
+
+
+EUGENE ARAM.
+
+
+We intend to quote a few scenes and snatches from Mr. Bulwer's
+extraordinary novel of this name. At present, however, we can only
+introduce the ill-fated hero.
+
+(Two young ladies, daughters of the lord of the Manor, approach Aram's
+house:--)
+
+"Madeline would even now fain have detained her sister's hand from the
+bell that hung without the porch half embedded in ivy; but Ellinor, out of
+patience--as she well might be--with her sister's unseasonable prudence,
+refused any longer delay. So singularly still and solitary was the plain
+around the house, that the sound of the bell breaking the silence had in
+it something startling, and appeared, in its sudden and shrill voice, a
+profanation to the deep tranquillity of the spot. They did not wait
+long--a step was heard within--the door was slowly unbarred, and the
+Student himself stood before them."
+
+"He was a man who might, perhaps, have numbered some five and thirty years;
+but at a hasty glance, he would have seemed considerably younger. He was
+above the ordinary stature; though a gentle, and not ungraceful bend in
+the neck rather than the shoulders, somewhat curtailed his proper
+advantages of height. His frame was thin and slender, but well knit and
+fair proportioned. Nature had originally cast his form in an athletic
+mould, but sedentary habits and the wear of mind seemed somewhat to have
+impaired her gifts. His cheek was pale and delicate; yet it was rather the
+delicacy of thought than of weak health. His hair, which was long, and of
+a rich and deep brown, was worn back from his face and temples, and left a
+broad high majestic forehead utterly unrelieved and bare; and on the brow
+there was not a single wrinkle--it was as smooth as it might have been
+some fifteen years ago. There was a singular calmness, and, so to speak,
+profundity of thought, eloquent upon its clear expanse, which suggested
+the idea of one who had passed his life rather in contemplation than
+emotion. It was a face that a physiognomist would have loved to look upon,
+so much did it speak both of the refinement and the dignity of intellect."
+
+"Such was the person--if pictures convey a faithful resemblance--of a man,
+certainly the most eminent in his day for various and profound learning,
+and a genius wholly self-taught, yet never contented to repose upon the
+wonderful stores it had laboriously accumulated."
+
+(Aram thus describes his own character:--)
+
+"Ah!" said Aram, gently shaking his head, "it is a hard life we bookmen
+lead. Not for us is the bright face of noon-day or the smile of woman, the
+gay unbending of the heart, the neighing steed and the shrill trump; the
+pride, pomp, and circumstance of life. Our enjoyments are few and calm;
+our labour constant; but that is it not, Sir?--that is it not? the body
+avenges its own neglect. We grow old before our time; we wither up; the
+sap of our youth shrinks from our veins; there is no bound in our step. We
+look about us with dimmed eyes, and our breath grows short and thick, and
+pains, and coughs, and shooting aches come upon us at night; it is a
+bitter life--a bitter life--joyless life. I would I had never commenced it.
+And yet the harsh world scowls upon us: our nerves are broken, and they
+wonder we are querulous; our blood curdles, and they ask why we are not
+gay; our brain grows dizzy and indistinct (as with me just now), and,
+shrugging their shoulders, they whisper their neighbours that we are mad.
+I wish I had worked at the plough, and known sleep, and loved
+mirth--and--and not been what I am."
+
+"As the Student tittered the last sentence, he bowed down his head, and a
+few tears stole silently down his cheek. Walter was greatly affected--it
+took him by surprise: nothing in Aram's ordinary demeanour betrayed any
+facility to emotion; and he conveyed to all the idea of a man, if not
+proud, at least cold."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD JESTS.
+
+
+Persons who gloat over dust and black-letter need scarcely be told that
+the best of "modern" jests are almost literally from the antique: in short,
+that what we employ to "set the table on a roar" were employed by the wise
+men of old to enliven _their_ cups, deep and strong;--that to jest was a
+part of the Platonic philosophy, and that the excellent fancies, the
+flashes of merriment, of our forefathers, are nightly, nay hourly,
+re-echoed for our amusement. Yet such is the whole art of pleasing: what
+has pleased will, with certain modifications, continue to please again and
+again, until the end of time.
+
+But we may displease; and, as Hamlet says, "We must speak by the card."
+The _Athenaeum_ a fortnight since drew forth a batch of these jests with
+antique humour richly dight, and here they are. The reader will recognise
+many old acquaintances, but he need not touch his hat, lest, his politeness
+weary him. These old stories are but "pick'd to be new vann'd."
+
+_Hierocles' Facetiae_.
+
+1. An irritable man went to visit a sick friend, and asked him concerning
+his health. The patient was so ill that he could not reply; whereupon the
+other in a rage said, "I hope that I may soon fall sick, and then I will
+not answer you when you visit me."
+
+2. A speculative gentleman, wishing to teach his horse to do without food,
+starved him to death. "I had a great loss," said he; "for, just as he
+learned to live without eating, he died."
+
+3. A curious inquirer, desirous to know how he looked when asleep, sat
+with closed eyes before a mirror.
+
+4. A young man told his friend that he dreamed that he had struck his foot
+against a sharp nail. "Why then do you sleep without your shoes?" was the
+reply.
+
+5. A robustious countryman, meeting a physician, ran to hide behind a wall;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "It is so long since I have been sick,
+that I am ashamed to look a physician in the face."
+
+6. A gentleman had a cask of Aminean wine, from which his servant stole a
+large quantity. When the master perceived the deficiency, he diligently
+inspected the top of the cask but could find no traces of an opening.
+"Look if there be not a hole in the bottom," said a bystander. "Blockhead,"
+he replied, "do you not see that the deficiency is at the top, and not
+at the bottom?"
+
+7. A young man meeting an acquaintance, said, "I heard that you were dead."
+--"But," says the other, "you see me alive."--"I do not know how that may
+be," replied he: "you are a notorious liar, but my informant was a person
+of credit."
+
+8. A man, hearing that a raven would live two hundred years, bought one to
+try.
+
+9. During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that appeared in
+danger seized different implements to aid them in swimming, and one of the
+number selected for this purpose the anchor.
+
+10. One of twin-brothers died: a fellow meeting the survivor asked, "Which
+is it, you or your brother, that's dead?"
+
+11. A man whose son was dead, seeing a crowd assembled to witness the
+funeral, said, "I am ashamed to bring my little child into such a numerous
+assembly."
+
+12. The son of a fond father, when going to war, promised to bring home
+the head of one of the enemy. His parent replied, "I should be glad to see
+you come home without a head, provided you come safe."
+
+13. A man wrote to his friend in Greece begging him to purchase books.
+From negligence or avarice, he neglected to execute the commission; but
+fearing that his correspondent might be offended, he exclaimed when next
+they met, "My dear friend, I never got the letter that you wrote me about
+the books."
+
+14. A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled together. Losing
+their way, they were forced to sleep in the open air; and, to avert danger,
+it was agreed to keep watch by turns. The lot first fell on the barber,
+who, for amusement, shaved the fool's head while he slept; he then woke
+him, and the fool, raising his hand to scratch his head, exclaimed, "Here's
+a pretty mistake; rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of
+me."
+
+15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and shook it,
+folding out his hat to catch them as they fell.
+
+16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from the wall
+to exhibit as a sample.
+
+17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night in a dream."
+"Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear you."
+
+18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared that he
+would not again go into the water until he had learned to swim.
+
+(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his first teeth
+was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")
+
+19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower. "By Jove,"
+said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me and my father."
+
+20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on horseback;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because I am in a hurry."
+
+21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home, "Father,
+rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."
+
+We thank the wits of the _Athenaeum_ for these piquancies: they are in the
+right true Attic vein, and are therefore characteristic of that clever
+Journal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.
+
+(_From_ Part xiii.--_Botany._)
+
+
+_Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?_
+
+Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out the
+superabundant quantity of water which it contained.
+
+_Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of leaves at
+sunrise?_
+
+Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness of the
+night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew; but Mushenbroëk
+first proved the above, by conclusive experiments. He intercepted all
+communication between a poppy and the ambient air, by covering it with a
+bell; and between it and the earth, by covering the vessel in which it
+grew with a leaden plate. Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
+before--_Richard._
+
+One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves wither and
+become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant be not amply
+supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every inch square of
+surface, on the under disk of the leaf.
+
+_Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine matter found in
+every tree?_
+
+Because it is formed by branches of those returning vessels that deposit
+the new alburnum.
+
+_Why is it inferred that these juices must be prepared in the plant itself,
+by various secretions, and changes of the fluids which it absorbs?_
+
+Because we find, that in the same climate, nay, even in the same spot of
+ground, rue has its bitter--sorrel its acid--and the lettuce its cooling
+juices; and that the juices of the various parts of one plant, or even of
+one fruit, are extremely different. Sir James Smith mentions the
+peach-tree as a familiar example. "The gum of this tree is mild and
+mucilaginous. The bark, leaves, and flowers, abound with a bitter
+secretion, of a purgative and rather dangerous quality, than which nothing
+can be more distinct from the gum. The fruit is replete, not only with
+acid, mucilage, and sugar, but with its own peculiar aromatic and highly
+volatile secretion, elaborated within itself, on which its fine flavour
+depends."--_Introduction to Botany, 6th edit_.
+
+_Why are these juices readily found in the bark?_
+
+Because they appear to be matured, or brought to greater perfection, in
+layers of wood or bark that have no longer any principal share in the
+circulation of the sap. Thus, the vessels containing them are often very
+large, as the turpentine cells of the fir tribe, in all the species of
+which these secretions abound. The substance from which spruce-beer is
+made, is an extract of the branches of the _Abies Canadensis_, or Hemlock
+Spruce; a similar preparation is obtained from the branches of _Dacrydium_,
+in the South Seas.
+
+_Why, in the spring, is the herbage under trees generally more luxuriant
+than it is beyond the spread of their branches?_
+
+Because the driving mists and fogs becoming condensed on the branches,
+cause a frequent drip beneath the tree not experienced in other places;
+and thus keep up a perpetual irrigation and refreshment of the soil.
+
+_Why are certain plants useful or injurious to others that grow in their
+vicinity?_
+
+Because of certain fluids which the roots excrete from their slender
+extremities; and in this manner the likings and antipathies of certain
+plants may be accounted for. Thus, it is well known that the creeping
+thistle is hurtful to oats, _erigeron acre_ to wheat, _scabiosa arvensis_
+to flax, &c.
+
+_Why are some resins odorous?_
+
+Because they contain essential oil; some afford benzoic acid when heated,
+and these have been termed balsams; such as tolu balsam and benzoin.
+
+Common resin is obtained by distilling the exudation of different species
+of fir; oil of turpentine passes over, and the resin remains behind.
+
+_Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called varnish-trees?_
+
+Because their large flowers abound in a resinous, sometimes acrid, and
+highly poisonous juice, which afterwards turns black, and is used for
+varnishing in India. One kind is the common cashew nut. All these
+varnishes are extremely dangerous to some constitutions; the skin, if
+rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes covered with pimples that are
+difficult to heal; the fumes have also been known to produce painful
+swelling and inflammation.
+
+_Why do these varnishes, at first white, afterwards turn black?_
+
+Because the recent juice is an organized substance, consisting of an
+immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's rays in all
+directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while the varnish which
+has been exposed to the air loses its organized structure, becomes
+homogeneous, and then transmits the sun's rays, of a rich, deep, uniform,
+red colour.
+
+The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a resinous fluid,
+that the least degree of unusual repletion of the tissue causes it to be
+discharged; thus, some of them fill the air with fragrance after rain; and
+other kinds expel their resin with such violence when immersed in water,
+as to have the appearance of spontaneous motion, in consequence of the
+recoil. Another kind is said to cause swellings in those who sleep under
+its shade.--_Brewster's Journal._
+
+_Why is the soap-tree so called?_
+
+Because its bark, if pulverized, and shaken in water, soon yields a
+solution, frothing, as if it contained soap. It is a native of Chili; the
+trunk is straight, and of considerable height; the wood is hard, red, and
+never splits; and the bark is rugged, fibrous, of ash-grey colour
+externally, and white within.
+
+_Why is a species of myrtle called the wax-tree?_
+
+Because the leaves and stem, when bruised, and boiled in water, yield wax,
+which concretes on cooling. Mr. Brande observes, "the glossy varnish upon
+the upper surface of many trees is of a similar nature; and though there
+are shades of difference, these varieties of wax possess the essential
+properties of that formed by the bee: indeed, it was formerly supposed
+that bees merely collected the wax already formed by the vegetable: but
+Huber's experiments show, that the insect has the power of transmuting
+sugar into wax, and that this is in fact a secretion."
+
+The wax-palm of Humboldt has its trunk covered by a coating of wax, which
+exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the leaves. It is,
+according to Vaquelin, a concrete, inflammable substance, consisting of
+1/3 wax, and 2/3 resin.
+
+_Why are some oils called vegetable butters?_
+
+Because they become solid at the ordinary temperatures. Such are cocoa-nut
+oil, palm oil, and nutmeg oil.
+
+_Why are some volatile oils obtained by expression?_
+
+Because they are contained in distinct vesicles in the rind of fruits, as
+in the lemon, orange, and bergamot.
+
+_Why is the oil of poppy-seed perfectly wholesome?_
+
+Because it is in no degree narcotic; nor has it any of the properties of
+the poppy itself. This oil is consumed on the Continent in considerable
+quantity, and employed extensively in adulterating olive oil. Its use was
+at one time prohibited in France, by decrees issued in compliance with
+popular clamour; but it is now openly sold, the government and people
+having grown wiser.
+
+_Why is the juice of the poppy called opium?_
+
+Because of its derivation from the Persian _afioun_, and the Arabian
+_aphium_. The botanical name of the poppy, _papaver_, is said to be
+derived from its being commonly mixed with the pap, papa, given to
+children in order to ease pain, and procure sleep.
+
+_Why does opium produce sleep?_
+
+Because it contains an alkaline substance called Morphia. The same drug
+contains a peculiar acid called the Meconic; and a vegetable alkali named
+Narcotine, to which unpleasant stimulating properties are attributed by
+Majendie.
+
+_Why is sugar so generally found in plants?_
+
+Because it is not only the seasoning of most eatable fruits, but abounds
+in various roots, as the carrot, beet, parsnip, and in many plants of the
+grass, or cane kind, besides the famous sugar cane.
+
+Sir James Smith observes that "there is great reason to suppose sugar not
+so properly an original secretion, as the result of a chemical change in
+secretions already formed, either of an acid or mucilaginous nature, or
+possibly a mixture of both. In ripening fruits, this change is most
+striking, and takes place very speedily, seeming to be greatly promoted by
+heat and light. By the action of frost, as Dr. Darwin observes, a
+different change is wrought in the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it
+becomes starch."
+
+M. Berard considers gum and lignin as the principles in unripe fruits
+which chiefly tend to the formation of sugar during their ripening, and he
+has given several analyses of fruits in illustration of these views. Mr.
+Brande also considers the elements of water as probably concerned in the
+change.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE NATURALIST.
+
+
+THE SUGAR CANE.
+
+
+At the island of Tahiti (Otaheite) South Pacific Ocean, there are several
+varieties of the sugar cane, differing, however, in their qualities. The
+number of varieties are eight, and are as follow:--
+
+1. Rutu--of good quality.
+
+2. Avae--of indifferent quality.
+
+3. Irimotu--a rich cane, but does not grow to a large size.
+
+4. Patu--a good cane, of a red colour.
+
+5. To-ura--a dark-striped cane, hard and good.
+
+6. Toute--a bad cane, of a red colour.
+
+7. Veu--a good cane.
+
+8. Vaihi--this attains a large size, and is considered of the best quality.
+It is said by the natives to have been introduced from the Sandwich
+Islands.
+
+At Manilla (Island of Luconia) the planters mention three cultivated
+varieties of the sugar cane:--
+
+1. Cana negra--black sugar cane.
+
+2.  "   morada--brown    "
+
+3.  "   blancha--white   "
+
+of which the black or cana negra is considered the best, from its strength
+and the quantity of syrup contained in it.
+
+_Mr. G.B.'s MS. Journal_, 1829-30.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE BARN OWL;
+
+_and the Benefits it confers on Man. By Charles Waterton, Esq._
+
+
+This pretty aerial wanderer of the night often comes into my room; and
+after flitting to and fro, on wing so soft and silent that he is scarcely
+heard, he takes his departure from the same window at which he had entered.
+
+I own I have a great liking for this bird; and I have offered it
+hospitality and protection on account of its persecutions, and for its
+many services to me,--I say services, as you will see in the sequel. I
+wish that any little thing I could write or say might cause it to stand
+better with the world at large than it has hitherto done: but I have
+slender hopes on this score; because old and deep-rooted prejudices are
+seldom overcome; and when I look back into the annals of remote antiquity,
+I see too clearly that defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole
+family, in all its branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of mine.
+
+Ovid, nearly two thousand years ago, was extremely severe against the owl.
+In his _Metamorphoses_ he says:--
+
+  "Foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,
+  Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen."[1]
+
+In his _Fasti_ he openly accuses it of felony:--
+
+   "Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes."[2]
+
+Lucan, too, has hit it hard:--
+
+  "Et laetae juranter aves, bubone sinistro:"[3]
+
+and the Englishman who continued the _Pharsalia_, says--
+
+  "Tristia mille locis Stylus dedit omina bubo."[4]
+
+Horace tells us that the old witch Canidia used part of the plumage of the
+owl in her dealings with the devil:--
+
+  "Plumamque nocturnae strigis."[5]
+
+Virgil, in fine, joined in the hue and cry against this injured family:--
+
+  "Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo Saepe queri, et longas in fletum
+  ducere voces."[6]
+
+In our own times we find that the village maid cannot return home from
+seeing her dying swain, without a doleful salutation from the owl:--
+
+  "Thus homeward as she hopeless went,
+    The churchyard path along,
+  The blast grew cold, the dark owl scream'd
+    Her lover's funeral song."
+
+Amongst the numberless verses which might be quoted against the family of
+the owl, I think I only know of one little ode which expresses any pity
+for it. Our nursery maid used to sing it to the tune of the Storm, "Cease
+rude Boreas, blust'ring railer." I remember the first two stanzas of it:--
+
+  "Once I was a monarch's daughter,
+    And sat on a lady's knee;
+  But am now a nightly rover,
+    Banish'd to the ivy tree--
+        Crying, hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo,
+          Hoo hoo hoo, my feet are cold!
+        Pity me, for here you see me,
+          Persecuted, poor, and old."
+
+I beg the reader's pardon for this exordium. I have introduced it, in
+order to show how little chance there has been, from days long passed and
+gone to the present time, of studying the haunts and economy of the owl,
+because its unmerited bad name has created it a host of foes, and doomed
+it to destruction from all quarters. Some few, certainly, from time to
+time, have been kept in cages and in aviaries. But nature rarely thrives
+in captivity, and very seldom appears in her true character when she is
+encumbered with chains, or is to be looked at by the passing crowd through
+bars of iron. However, the scene is now going to change; and I trust that
+the reader will contemplate the owl with more friendly feelings, and quite
+under different circumstances. Here, no rude schoolboy ever approaches its
+retreat; and those who once dreaded its diabolical doings are now fully
+satisfied that it no longer meddles with their destinies, or has any thing
+to do with the repose of their departed friends. Indeed, human wretches in
+the shape of body-snatchers seem here in England to have usurped the
+office of the owl in our churchyards; "et vendunt tumulis corpora rapta
+suis."[7]
+
+Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time of it at Walton Hall. Its
+supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She knew full well
+what sorrow it had brought into other houses when she was a young woman;
+and there was enough of mischief in the midnight wintry blast, without
+having it increased by the dismal screams of something which people knew
+very little about, and which every body said was far too busy in the
+churchyard at nighttime. Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person
+were sick in the neighbourhood, it would be for ever looking in at the
+window, and holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not
+know whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in every thing she said on this
+important subject; and he always stood better in her books when he had
+managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous family. However, in
+1813, on my return from the wilds of Guiana, having suffered myself, and
+learned mercy, I broke in pieces the code of penal laws which the knavery
+of the gamekeeper and the lamentable ignorance of the other servants had
+hitherto put in force, far too successfully, to thin the numbers of this
+poor, harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway,
+against which, tradition says, the waves of the lake have dashed for the
+better part of a thousand years, I made a place with stone and mortar,
+about 4 ft. square, and fixed a thick oaken stick firmly into it. Huge
+masses of ivy now quite cover it. In about a month or so after it was
+finished, a pair of barn owls came and took up their abode in it. I
+threatened to strangle the keeper if ever, after this, he molested either
+the old birds or their young ones; and I assured the housekeeper that I
+would take upon myself the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe,
+and sorrow that the new tenants might bring into the Hall. She made a low
+courtesy; as much as to say, "Sir, I fall into your will and pleasure:"
+but I saw in her eye that she had made up her mind to have to do with
+things of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midnight
+wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think that up to the day of
+this old lady's death, which took place in her eighty-fourth year, she
+ever looked with pleasure or contentment on the barn owl, as it flew round
+the large sycamore trees which grow near the old ruined gateway.
+
+(_To be concluded in our next_.)
+
+
+[1] "Ill-omen'd in his form, the unlucky fowl,
+     Abhorr'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl."--_Garth's Trans._
+
+[2] "They fly by night, and assail infants in the nurse's absence."
+
+[3] "Even the ill-boding owl is declared a bird of good omen."
+
+[4] "The Stygian owl gives sad omens in a thousand places."
+
+[5] "A feather of the night owl."
+
+[6] ----"And, on her palace top,
+    The lonely owl with oft repeated scream
+    Complains, and spins into a dismal length
+    Her baleful shrieks."--_Trapp's Trans._
+
+[7] "And sell bodies torn from their tombs."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
+
+
+BLONDEL DE NESLE.
+
+
+"Blondel de Nesle the favourite minstrel of Richard Coeur de Lion, and an
+attendant upon his person, devoted himself to discover the place of his
+confinement during the crusade against Saladin, emperor of the Saracens.
+He wandered in vain from castle to palace, till he learned that a strong
+and almost inaccessible fortress upon the Danube was watched with peculiar
+strictness, as containing some state-prisoner of distinction. The minstrel
+took his harp, and approaching as near the castle as he durst, came so
+nigh the walls as to hear the melancholy captive soothing his imprisonment
+with music. Blondel touched his harp; the prisoner heard and was silent:
+upon this the minstrel played the first part of a tune, or lay, known to
+the captive; who instantly played the second part; and thus, the faithful
+servant obtained the certainty that the inmate of the castle was no other
+than his royal master."--_Tales of a Grandfather_, p 69.
+
+  The Danube's wide-flowing water lave
+    The captive's dungeon cell,
+  And the voice of its hoarse and sullen wave
+    Breaks forth in a louder swell,
+  And the night-breeze sighs in a deeper gust,
+  For the flower of chivalry droops in dust!
+
+  A yoke is hung over the victor's neck,
+    And fetters enthral the strong,
+  And manhood's pride like a fearful wreck,
+   Lies the breakers of care among;
+  And the gleams of hope, overshadow'd, seem
+  The phantoms of some distemper'd dream.
+
+  But the heart--the heart is unconquer'd still--
+    A host in its solitude!
+  Quenchless the spirit, though fetter'd the will,
+    Of that warrior unsubdued;
+  His soul, like an arrow from rocky ground,
+  Shall fiercely and proudly in air rebound.
+
+  But the hour of darkness girds him now
+    With a pall of deepest night,
+  Anguish sits throned on his moody brow,
+    And the curse of thy withering blight,
+  Despair, thou dreariest deathliest foe!
+  His senses hath steep'd in a torpid woe.
+
+  From the dazzling splendour of gloriest past
+    The warrior sickening turns.
+  To list to the sound of the wailing blast,
+    As the wan lamp dimly burns:
+  For the daring might of the lion-hearted
+  With Freedom's soul-thrilling notes hath parted.
+
+  O'er his harp-string droops his palsied hand,
+    And the fitful strain alone
+  Murmurs the notes of his native land--
+    Does echo repeat that moan
+  From the dungeon wall so grim and so drear?--
+  No!--an answering minstrel lingers there.
+
+  Up starts the listening king--a flash
+    Of memory's gifted lore
+  Bursts on his soul--a deed so rash,
+    What captive would e'er deplore?
+  Since bonds no longer unnerve the free,
+  And valour hath won fidelity.
+
+  Dark child of sorrow, sweet comfort take,
+    In thy lone heart's widowhood,
+  Some charmed measure may yet awake
+    Arresting affliction's flood,
+  And thy prison'd soul unfetter'd be
+  By the answering spirit of sympathy!
+
+_Metropolitan._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ASMODEUS AT LARGE.
+
+
+The design of this paper, in the _New Monthly Magazine_, is by no means
+novel; but the fine, cutting satire--the pleasant, lively banter on our
+vices and follies--which pervades every page of the article, is a set-off
+to the political frenzy and the literary lumber of other Magazines of the
+month. Each of them, it is true, has a readable paper, but one gem only
+contributes to a Magazine in the proportion of one swallow to a summer.
+
+Here are three pages of the _New Monthly_ Devil:
+
+"A stranger, Sir, in the library," said my servant in opening the door.
+
+"Indeed! what a short, lame gentleman?"
+
+"No, Sir; middle-sized,--has very much the air of a lawyer or professional
+man."
+
+I entered the room, and instead of the dwarf demon Le Sage described, I
+beheld a comely man seated at the table, with a high forehead, a sharp
+face, and a pair of spectacles on his nose. He was employed in reading the
+new novel of "The Usurer's Daughter."
+
+"This cannot be the devil!" said I to myself; so I bowed, and asked the
+gentleman his business.
+
+"Tush!" quoth my visiter; "and how did you leave the Doctor?"
+
+"It is you, then!" said I; "you have grown greatly since you left Don
+Cleofas."
+
+"Wars fatten our tribe," answered the Devil; "besides shapes are optional
+with me, and in England men go by appearances more than they do abroad;
+one is forced to look respectable and portly; the Devil himself could not
+cheat your countrymen with a shabby exterior. Doubtless you observe that
+all the swindlers, whose adventures enliven your journals, are dressed 'in
+the height of fashion,' and enjoy 'a mild prepossessing demeanour.' Even
+the Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no
+bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs. Wealth in
+all countries is the highest possible morality; but you carry the doctrine
+to so great an excess, that you scarcely suffer the poor man to exist at
+all. If he take a walk in the country, there's the Vagrant Act; and if he
+has not a penny to hire a cellar in town, he's snapped up by a Burker, and
+sent off to the surgeons in a sack. It must be owned that no country
+affords such warnings to the spendthrift. You are one great moral against
+the getting rid of one's money."
+
+On this, Asmodeus and myself had a long conversation; it ended in our
+dining together, (for I found him a social fellow, and fond of a broil in
+a quiet way,) and adjourning in excellent spirits, to the theatre.
+
+"Certainly," said the Devil, taking a pinch of snuff, "certainly, your
+drama is wonderfully fine, it is worthy of a civilized nation; formerly
+you were contented with choosing actors among human kind, but what an
+improvement to go among the brute creation! think what a fine idea to have
+a whole play turn upon the appearance of a broken-backed lion! And so you
+are going to raise the drama by setting up a club; that's another
+exquisite notion! You hire a great house in the neighbourhood of the
+theatre; you call it the Garrick Club. You allow actors and patrons to mix
+themselves and their negus there after the play; and this you call a
+design for exalting the drama. Certainly you English are a droll set; your
+expedients are admirable."
+
+"My good Devil, any thing that brings actors and spectators together, that
+creates an _esprit de corps_ among all who cherish the drama, is not to be
+sneered at in that inconsiderate manner."
+
+"I sneer! you mistake me; you have adduced a most convincing
+argument--_esprit de corps_!--good! Your clubs certainly nourish sociality
+greatly; those little tables, with one sulky man before one sulky
+chop--those hurried nods between acquaintances--that, monopoly of
+newspapers and easy chairs--all exhibit to perfection the cementing
+faculties of a club. Then, too, it certainly does an actor inestimable
+benefit to mix with lords and squires. Nothing more fits a man for his
+profession, than living with people who know nothing about it. Only think
+what a poor actor Kean is; you would have made him quite a different thing,
+if you had tied him to a tame gentlemen in the 'Garrick Club'. He would
+have played 'Richard' in a much higher vein, I doubt not."
+
+"Well," said I, "the stage is your affair at present, and doubtless you do
+right to reject any innovation."
+
+"Why, yes," quoth the Devil, looking round; "we have a very good female
+supply in this quarter. But pray how comes it that the English are so
+candid in sin? Among all nations there is immorality enough, Heaven knows;
+but you are so delightfully shameless: if a crime is committed here, you
+can't let it 'waste its sweetness;' you thrust it into your papers
+forthwith; you stick it up on your walls; you produce it at your theatres;
+you chat about it as an agreeable subject of conversation; and then you
+cry out with a blush against the open profligacy abroad! This is one of
+those amiable contradictions in human nature that charms me excessively.
+You fill your theatres with ladies of pleasure--you fill your newspapers
+with naughty accounts--a robbery is better to you than a feast--and a good
+fraud in the city will make you happy for a week; and all this while you
+say: '_We_ are the people who send vice to Coventry, and teach the world
+how to despise immorality.' Nay, if one man commits a murder, your
+newspapers kindly instruct his associates how to murder in future, by a
+far safer method. A wretch kills a boy for the surgeons, by holding his
+head under water; 'Silly dog!' cries the Morning Herald, 'why did not he
+clap a sponge dipped in prussic acid to the boy's mouth?'"
+
+Here we were interrupted by a slight noise in the next box, which a
+gentleman had just entered. He was a tall man, with a handsome face and
+very prepossessing manner.
+
+"That is an Author of considerable reputation," said my Devil, "quiet,
+though a man of wit, and with a heart, though a man of the world. Talking
+of the drama, he once brought out a farce, which had the good fortune to
+be damned. As great expectations had been formed of it, and the author's
+name had transpired; the unsuccessful writer rose the next morning with a
+hissing sound in his ears, and that leaning towards misanthropy, which you
+men always experience when the world has the bad taste to mistake your
+merits. 'Thank Fate, however,' said the Author, 'it is damned
+thoroughly--it is off the stage--I cannot be hissed again--in a few days
+it will be forgotten--meanwhile I will take a walk in the Park.' Scarce
+had the gentleman got into the street, before, lo! at a butcher's shop
+blazed the 'very head and front of his offending.' 'Second night of its
+appearance, the admired Farce of ----, by ----, Esq.' Away posts the
+Author to the Manager.--'Good Heavens! Sir, my farce again! was it not
+thoroughly damned last night?'--'Thoroughly damned!' quoth the Manager,
+drily; 'we reproduce it, Sir--we reproduce it (with a knowing wink,) that
+the world, enraged at our audacity, may come here to damn it again.' So it
+is, you see! the love of money is the contempt of man: there's an aphorism
+for you! Let us turn to the stage. What actresses you have!--certainly you
+English are a gallant nation; you are wonderfully polite to come and see
+such horrible female performers! By the by, you observed when that young
+lady came on the stage, how timidly she advanced, how frightened she
+seemed. 'What modesty!' cry the audience; 'we must encourage her!' they
+clap, they shout, they pity the poor thing, they cheer her into spirits.
+Would you believe that the hardest thing the Manager had to do with her
+was to teach her that modesty. She wanted to walk on the stage like a
+grenadier, and it required fifteen lessons to make her be ashamed of
+herself. It is in these things that the stage mimics the world, rather
+behind the scenes than before!"
+
+"Bless me, how Braham is improved!" cried a man with spectacles, behind me;
+"he acts now better than he sings!"
+
+"Is it not strange," said Asmodeus, "how long the germ of a quality may
+remain latent in the human mind, and how completely you mortals are the
+creatures of culture? It was not till his old age that Braham took lessons
+in acting; some three times a week has he of late wended his way down, to
+the comedian of Chapel-street, to learn energy and counterfeit warmth; and
+the best of it is, that the spectators will have it that an actor feels
+all he acts; as if human nature, wicked as it is, could feel Richard the
+Third every other night. I remember, Mrs. Siddons had a majestic manner of
+extending her arm as she left the stage. 'What grace!' said the world,
+with tears in its eyes, 'what dignity! what a wonderful way of extending
+an arm! you see her whole soul is in the part!' The arm was in reality
+stretched impatiently out for a pinch from the snuff-box that was always
+in readiness behind the scenes."
+
+It is my misfortune, Reader, to be rapidly bored. I cannot sit out a
+sermon, much less a play; amusement is the most tedious of human pursuits.
+
+"You are tired of this, surely," said I to the Devil; "let us go!"
+
+"Whither?" said Asmodeus.
+
+"Why, 'tis a starlit night, let us ride over to Paris, and sup, as you
+promised, at the Rocher de Cancale."
+
+"_Volontiers_."
+
+Away--away--away--into the broad still Heavens, the stars dancing merrily
+above us, and the mighty heart of the City beating beneath the dusky
+garment of Night below.
+
+"Let us look down," said Asmodeus; "what a wilderness of houses! shall I
+uncover the roofs for you, as I did for Don Cleofas; or rather, for it is
+an easier method, shall I touch your eyes with my salve of penetration,
+and enable you to see at once through the wall?"
+
+"You might as well do so; it is pleasant to feel the power, though at
+present I think it superfluous; wherever I look, I can only see rogues and
+fools, with a stray honest man now and then, who is probably in prison."
+
+Asmodeus touched my eyes with a green salve, which he took out of an
+ivory box, and all at once, my sight being directed towards a certain
+palace I beheld   *   *   *   *
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER.
+
+
+A clergyman preaching in the neighbourhood of Wapping, observing that most
+part of his audience were in the seafaring way, very naturally embellished
+his discourse with several nautical tropes and figures. Amongst other
+things, he advised them "to be ever on the watch, so that on whatsoever
+tack the evil one should bear down on them, he might be crippled in
+action." "Ay, master," said a son of Neptune, "but let me tell you, that
+will depend upon your having the weather gage of him."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  A poacher escaping one morn with his pillage,
+  Unexpectedly met with the lord of the village;
+  Who seeing a hare o'er his shoulder was thrown,
+  Hail'd him quickly, "You fellow is that hare your own."
+  "My own!" he replied, "you inquisitive prig,
+  Gad's curse, pompous sir, do you think I've a wig?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "TO BOOT."
+
+
+_Bote_ or _Bota_, in our old law books, signifies recompense, repentance,
+or fine paid by way of expiation, and is derived from the Saxon. Hence our
+common phrase "to boot," speaking of something given by way of
+compensation. P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD SONG.
+
+
+  "Syr Tankarde he is as bold a wight
+    As ever Old England bred;
+  His armoure it is of the silver bright,
+    And his coloure is ruby red;
+      And whene'er on the bully ye calle,
+      He is readye to give ye a falle;
+  But if long in the battle with him ye be,
+  Ye weaker are ye, and the stronger is he,
+      For Syr Tankarde is victor of alle."
+
+  "A barley-corn he mounts for a speare,
+    His helmet with hops is hung,
+  He lightes the eye with a laughing leere,
+    With a carolle he tipps the tongue--
+      And he marshals a valyant hoste
+      Of spices and crabbes and toaste;
+  And the stoutest of yeomen they well can o'erthrow,
+  When he leads them in beakers and jugs to the foe,--
+      And Syr Tankarde his prowess may boaste."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FRENCH--ENGLISH LOVE.
+
+
+The following is a copy of a letter addressed some years ago to a lady of
+fortune at Portsmouth, upwards of four score years of age, by a French
+prisoner of war at Porchester Castle:--
+
+"_Porchester_.--_Madam_--Me rite de English very leet, and me very fears
+you no saave vat me speak; but me be told dat you vant one very fine man
+for your hosband; upon my soul me love you very well; and thou you be very
+old woman, and very cross, and ugly, and all de devil, and the English no
+like you, upon my soul we have one great passion for you, and me like you
+very well for all dat; and me told dat de man for you must be one very
+clen man, and no love de drink. Me be all dat: indeed me be one very grand
+man in France--upon my soul me be one count, me have one grand equipage in
+France, and me be very good for de esprit: indeed me be one grand
+beau-a-la-mode--one officier in de regiment: me be very good for de
+Engleterres. Indeed you be one very good old woman upon my soul; and if
+you have one inclination for one man, me be dat gentleman for you--one
+grand man for you. Me will be your hosband, and take de care for yourself,
+for de house, for de gardin, for de Schoff, for de drink, and for de
+little childs dat shall come. Upon my soul me kill myself very soon, if
+you no love me for this grand amour. Me be, madam, your great slave, votre
+tres humble serviteur, PRES A. BOIRE."
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD LONDON BRIDGE.
+
+
+It is well known that Peter of Colechurch, the founder of _Old_ London
+Bridge, did not live to witness the completion of the structure, but died
+in 1205, and was buried in a crypt within the centre pier of the bridge,
+over which a chapel was erected, dedicated to St. Thomas-à-Becket. Mr.
+Brayley, in his _Londiniana_, wrote about five years since that "if due
+care be taken when the old bridge is pulled down, the bones and ashes of
+its venerable architect may still be found;"--and, true enough, _the bones
+of old Peter were found on removing the pier about a fortnight since_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TAME LIONS.
+
+
+Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the first who tamed a lion. He was condemned to
+death, for what his fellow-citizens considered so great a crime. They
+asserted that the republic had to fear the worst consequences from a man
+who had been able to subdue so much ferocity. A little more experience,
+however, convinced them of the fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. The
+triumvir Antony, accompanied by an actress, was publicly drawn by lions in
+a chariot.
+
+SAD-USING.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CITY OF LYONS.
+
+
+Lyons is situated on a sort of peninsula, formed by the confluence of two
+great rivers--the Rhone and the Laone. All the bridges, with the exception
+of one of stone, are of wood; and although in general more useful than
+ornamental, they are justly admired for the boldness of their construction.
+They form numerous and convenient communications between the city and the
+faubourgs.
+
+Lyons is walled round, and strongly fortified. In 1791 it contained
+121,000 inhabitants; but, in consequence of the siege of 1793, and the
+cruelties practised at that memorable period of French history, the
+numbers were reduced to less than 80,000. In 1802, the numbers were 88,662;
+and in 1827, the fixed population had increased to 97,439;--but there was
+a floating population, estimated at 43,684, which, with the inmates of the
+barracks and hospitals, stated at 8,600, made the total population at that
+period 149,723; and by adding the population of the suburbs, reckoned at
+36,000, the whole amount of the inhabitants at the period of the census,
+in 1827, was 185,723; at the present time it is said to be, in round
+numbers, 200,000.
+
+In 1828, the number of workshops in all branches of the silk trade within
+the walls, amounted to 7,140; that of the silk frames or looms to 18,829;
+and from 10,000 to 12,000 in the communes.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ditty sung by the first grave-digger in _Hamlet_, beginning--
+
+  "In youth, when I did love, did love"--
+
+was written by Lord Vaux, an ancestor of Lord Brougham. It will be found
+entire in _Percy's Reliques_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Number 527, price Twopence,
+A SUPPLEMENT,
+With a STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT of His Present
+Majesty, WILLIAM IV.
+AT FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
+From a Picture by B. West, P.R.A.
+Anecdotic Memoir; and Title-Page, Preface,
+and Index; completing VOL. XVIII.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 529 ***
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+"HTML Tidy for Solaris (vers 1st October 2003), see www.w3.org" />
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+<title>The Mirror of Literature, Volume XIX. No. 529.</title>
+
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+  {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;}
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+  .poem p              {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+  .poem p.i2           {margin-left: 1em;}
+  .poem p.i4           {margin-left: 2em;}
+  .poem p.i6           {margin-left: 3em;}
+  .poem p.i8           {margin-left: 4em;}
+  .poem p.i10          {margin-left: 5em;}
+  .poem p.i14          {margin-left: 9em;}
+
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+  {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;}
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
+Instruction, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
+       Vol. 19, Issue 529, January 14, 1832
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: March 9, 2004 [EBook #11530]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 529 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Allen Siddle, David King, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<hr class="full" />
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>[pg
+17]</span>
+<h1>THE MIRROR<br />
+OF<br />
+LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1>
+<hr class="full" />
+<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date">
+<tr>
+<td align="left"><b>Vol. XIX. No. 529.]</b></td>
+<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1832.</b></td>
+<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>FISHMONGER'S HALL</h2>
+<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href=
+"images/529-001.png"><img width="100%" src="images/529-001.png"
+alt="FISHMONGERS' HALL." /></a></div>
+<h4>FISHMONGERS' HALL.</h4>
+<div class="figure" style="width:60%;"><a href=
+"images/529-002.png"><img width="100%" src="images/529-002.png"
+alt="ARMS OF THE COMPANY." /></a></div>
+<h4>ARMS OF THE COMPANY.</h4>
+<p>These Cuts may be welcome illustrations of the olden
+magnificence of the City of London. The first represents the river
+or back front of the Hall of the Fishmongers' Company: the second
+cut, the arms of the Company, is added by way of an illustrative
+pendent. These insignia are placed over the entrance to the Hall in
+Lower Thames-street; they are sculptured in bold relief, and are
+not meanly executed. The Hall, or the greater part of it, has been
+taken down to make room for the New London Bridge approaches; the
+frame-work of the door, and the arms still remain&mdash;<i>stat
+portus umbra</i>.</p>
+<p>The Hall merits further notice; not so much for its
+architectural pretensions as for its being the commencement of a
+plan which it could be wished had been <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page18" name="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> completed. The reader may
+probably remember that after the Great Fire of London, the King
+(Charles II.) desired WREN, in addition to his designs for St.
+Paul's, to make an accurate survey and drawing of the whole area
+and confines of the waste metropolis; and "day, succeeding day,
+amidst ashes and ruins, did this indefatigable man labour to fulfil
+his task." He prepared his plans for rebuilding the city, and laid
+them before the King. That part of Sir Christopher's plan which
+relates to the present subjects, was as follows: "By the
+water-side, from the bridge to the Temple, he had planned a long
+and broad wharf or quay, where he designed to have arranged all the
+halls that belong to the several companies of the city, with proper
+warehouses for merchants between, to vary the edifices, and make it
+at once one of the most beautiful ranges of structure in the
+world." <a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> King Charles, however, as Mr.
+Cunningham observes, "was never obstinate in any thing for his
+country's good," and the idea was dropped: but Wren erected the
+above Hall as a specimen of his intention of ornamenting the banks
+of the Thames. The original hall was destroyed by the Great
+Fire.</p>
+<p>The ancient importance of the Fishmongers' Company may be thus
+explained:&mdash;</p>
+<p>During the days of papacy in England, fish was an article not of
+optional, but compulsive consumption, and this rendered the
+business of a fishmonger one of the principal trades of London.
+Fish Street Hill, and the immediate vicinity, was the great mart
+for this branch of traffic, from its close connexion with the
+river, and here lived many illustrious citizens, particularly Sir
+William Walworth, and Sir Stephen Fisher.</p>
+<p>Strong prejudices were however entertained against the
+fishmongers, and to so great an extent was it carried, that in the
+fourteenth century, they prayed the king, by Nicholas Exton, one of
+their body, that he would take the company under his protection,
+"lest they might receive corporeal hurt." The parliament itself
+appears to have imbibed the general distrust, for in 1382 they
+enacted, "that no fishmonger should be mayor of the city." This was
+repealed, however, the following year.</p>
+<p>The fishmongers consisted of two companies, the salt
+fishmongers, incorporated in 1433, and the stock fishmongers in
+1509. The two companies were united by Henry VIII. in 1536. Before
+the junction, they are said by Stow, who calls them "jolly
+citizens," to have had six halls, two in Thames Street, two in Fish
+Street, and two in Old Fish Street, and six lord-mayors were
+elected from their body in twenty-four years. But being charged
+with forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the
+city, they were fined five hundred marks by Edward I. in 1290. In
+1384, these, as well as others concerned in furnishing the city
+with provisions, were put under the immediate direction of the
+mayor and aldermen, by an act of parliament still in force. <a id=
+"footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a></p>
+<p>The Hall, on the west side of the ward of Bridge Within, was of
+brick and stone, and may be said to have had two fronts. The fore
+entrance was from Thames Street by a handsome passage, leading into
+a large square court, encompassed by the Great Hall, the Court
+Room, and other grand apartments, with galleries. The back, or
+river front, had a double flight of stone steps, by which was an
+ascent to the first apartments. The door was ornamented with Ionic
+columns supporting an open pediment, in which was a shield, with
+the arms of the company. The building was finished with handsomely
+rusticated stone, and had a noble effect.</p>
+<p>The Hall was of capacious proportions, and extended nearly the
+whole length of the building. The ceiling, as well as that of the
+adjoining Court Room, exhibited some fine specimens of old
+plaster-work. We witnessed the dismantling of the premises previous
+to their being taken down. It was indeed a sorry breaking up. The
+long tables which had so often, to use a hackneyed phrase,
+"groaned" beneath the weight of civic fare&mdash;the cosy
+high-backed stuffed chairs which had held many a portly
+citizen&mdash;nay, the very soup-kettles and venison
+dishes&mdash;all were to be submitted to the noisy ordeal of the
+auction hammer.</p>
+<p>We remember in the upper end of the hall, and just behind the
+chair, there stood in a niche, a full-sized statue, carved in wood
+by Edward Pierce, statuary, of Sir William Walworth, a member of
+this company, and lord-mayor during the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The
+knight grasped a real dagger, said to be the identical weapon with
+which he stabbed the rebel; though a publican of Islington
+pretended to be possessed of this dagger, and in 1731, lent it to
+be publicly exhibited in Smithfield, in a show called "Wat Tyler,"
+during Bartholomew <span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name=
+"page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> Fair. Below the niche was this
+inscription:</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">"Brave Walworth, knight, lord-mayor, yt slew</p>
+<p class="i2">Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;</p>
+<p>The king, therefore, did give in lieu</p>
+<p class="i2">The dagger to the cytye's arms.</p>
+<p>In the 4th year of Richard II. Anno Domini 1381."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>A common, but erroneous belief is perpetuated in this
+inscription, for the dagger was in the city arms long before the
+time of Sir William Walworth, and was intended to represent the
+sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of the corporation.</p>
+<p>The funeral pall of Sir W. Walworth curiously embroidered with
+gold, is preserved amongst the relics, as well as a plan of the
+splendid show at his installation, 1380.</p>
+<p>The Fishmongers' Company is fourth upon the list of the city
+corporations, under the name and style of "the Wardens and
+Commonalty of the mystery of Fishmongers of the city of London." It
+is a livery company, and very rich, governed by a prime and five
+other wardens, and a court of assistants.</p>
+<p>The company supports a free Grammar School at Holt Market, in
+Norfolk, founded by Sir John Gresham; Jesus Hospital, at Bray, in
+Berkshire, founded by William Goddard, Esq. for forty poor persons;
+St. Peter's Hospital, near Newington, Surrey, founded by the
+company; twelve alms-houses at Harrietsham, in Kent, founded by Mr.
+Mark Quested; a fellowship in Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge
+founded by Mr. Leonard Smith; a scholarship in the same college,
+founded by William Bennet, Esq. Mr. Smith, executor.</p>
+<p>The <i>Arms</i> of the Company are in a shield supported by a
+merman and mermaid, the latter with a mirror in her hand. The Keys
+refer to St. Peter, the Patron Saint of the Company.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>HOLY SEPULCHRE, HECKINGTON CHURCH.</h3>
+<h4>(<i>To the Editor.</i>)</h4>
+<p>From the description of the Holy Sepulchre in Heckington Church,
+given in your last volume, stating that it stood there in the
+summer of 1789, such of your readers as have no means of knowing to
+the contrary, may infer that it is not now in existence. <a id=
+"footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> I am led to trouble you with a few
+lines on the subject, as this specimen still in the best
+preservation, deserves us full an account as your limits will
+admit. The sepulchre nearly, and the stalls also mentioned by you,
+which have been cleaned completely, remain now in the same state as
+the artist originally left them. An architect, Mr. T. Rickman, who
+visited the neighbourhood a short time ago, gives the following
+account, which was printed in a work <a id="footnotetag4" name=
+"footnotetag4"></a> <a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> on the
+topography of the neighbourhood, soon after his visit: he says,
+"The sepulchre, of which there are not many specimens now
+remaining, consists of a series of richly ornamented niches, the
+largest of which represents the tomb, having angels standing beside
+it; the side niches have the Maries and other appropriate figures,
+and in the lower niches are the Roman soldiers reposing; these
+niches have rich canopies, and are separated by buttresses and rich
+finials, having all the spaces covered by very rich foliage." He
+further observes, that "the stalls exhibit a specimen of pure
+decorated work, as rich as the finest sculpture of foliage and
+small figures can render it, and hardly surpassed by any in the
+kingdom, and the sepulchre is of the same excellent character. The
+various small ornaments about these stalls and niches form one of
+the best possible studies for enrichments of this date: and it is
+almost peculiar to this church, that there is nothing about it,
+except what is quite modern, that is not of the same style of
+architecture."</p>
+<p>As the above gentleman's description of the present state of the
+church at Heckington will give a clearer idea of many others in the
+county of Lincoln, we perhaps cannot do better than close this
+account with it. "This beautiful church, of pure decorated
+character, is one of the most perfect models in the kingdom,
+having, with one exception, (that of the groined or interior
+ceiling which is wanting, and appears never to have been prepared
+for,) every feature of a fine church, of one uniform style, without
+any admixture of <i>later</i> or <i>earlier</i> work. Its
+mutilations are comparatively small, consisting only in the
+destruction of the tracey of the north transept window, and some
+featherings in other windows, and the building and wall to enclose
+a vestry. The plan of the church is a west tower and spire, nave
+and aisles, spacious transepts, and a large chancel, with a vestry
+attached to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name=
+"page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> the north side. The nave has a well
+proportioned clesestory. There is a south porch, a rich font, the
+tomb of an ecclesiastic, and the assemblage of niches before
+described. In the chancel and some of the church walls are very
+good brackets. The vestry has a crypt below it. Fully to describe
+this church would require a much larger space than can be allotted
+to it, but it may be well to remark, that every part of the design
+and execution is of the very best character, equal to any in the
+kingdom."</p>
+<p>That this church was built on or near to the site of the one
+given by Gilbert de Guant, the style of architecture being of much
+later date, fully demonstrates; and it is more than probable that
+on its rebuilding, the patent of Edward III. was obtained. Certain
+it is that no specimen of an earlier style now remains; but
+tradition says that the foundation of the church was laid in the
+year 1101, and the building completed in A.D. 1104, at a cost only
+of &pound;433. 9<i>s</i>. 7<i>d</i>. This statement, if worthy of
+credit, must be referred to an earlier and less costly edifice than
+the present.</p>
+<p>J.H.S.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>TRAVELING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.</h3>
+<h4>(<i>To the Editor.</i>)</h4>
+<p>Guernsey, Dec. 17, 1831.</p>
+<p>Your ingenious and talented correspondent, <i>Vyvyan</i>, in
+writing on the shrimp, (the <i>Mirror</i>, p. 361, vol. xviii.)
+remarks that "The sea roamer may often have observed numbers of
+little air-holes in the sand, which expand as the sun advances. If
+he stirs it with his foot, he will cause a brood of young shrimps,
+who will instantly hop and jump about the beach in the most lively
+manner," &amp;c.: these "jumpers" as they are facetiously called,
+are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity for
+which their namesakes are so remarkable. They are as different as
+possible from young shrimps; and if "old shrimps" <i>could</i>
+"tell tales," I doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would
+tell their "companions at breakfast table" the same thing. Your
+correspondent further adds, that "strange stories are told of the
+<i>old</i> shrimp," and I think, on investigation, he will find
+that he has told a very "strange story" of <i>young</i> shrimps. In
+a future communication I will give you a correct account or history
+of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time when it is
+first spawned until it arrives at perfection.</p>
+<p>H.W.</p>
+<h4><i>(To the Editor.)</i></h4>
+<p><i>Vyvyan</i> has not in his <i>Notes</i> named any county but
+South Wales, generally, where he says, "Any person who can enclose
+a portion of land around his cottage or otherwise, in one night,
+becomes owner thereof in fee." These persons in Wales are called
+Encroachers, and are liable to have ejectments served upon them by
+the Lord of the Manor, (which is often the case) to recover
+possession. The majority of the Encroachers pay a nominal yearly
+rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy the land.
+If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any
+interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the
+same. It is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held
+for the manor, and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally
+done every three or four years, these encroachments are thrown out
+again to the waste or common.</p>
+<p>J.P.</p>
+<p>*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan's "Notes,"
+especially as we believe our readers to take considerable interest
+in their accuracy.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE SKETCH-BOOK.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>MY FIRE.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>On new year's morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study,
+which is a little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward
+fancy of my own, closely resembles the cell of an alchymist. Its
+walls are hung with black drapery, on which appear the mystical
+signs of the planetary bodies, Hebrew, Persian, and various
+cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of the work of
+transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success employed
+by the alchymist. Here and there pieces of their quaint and uncouth
+shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the
+pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective
+stations. The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered
+with copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company
+with the <i>caput mortum</i> and the hour-glass. A few antiques,
+consisting of half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of
+the green clad yeoman, the ponderous <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page21" name="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> mace and helmet of the
+valiant knight, and other relics of the days of chivalry, complete
+the decorations of this my sanctum.</p>
+<p>In consequence of its dark and gloomy aspect, and the feeling of
+awe with which the family and servants regard its mystical
+contents, I have its undisturbed enjoyment; nobody feels a wish to
+enter it even in the day time, and I verily believe they would not
+do so at the witching hour of night, lest the mystical signs should
+take summary vengeance on their unhallowed intrusion.</p>
+<p>The neighbours imagine me to be an adept in the "black art," an
+astrologer, or a fortune-teller, but I have no pretentions whatever
+to any such titles; this report has got abroad in consequence of a
+maid-servant having once had the temerity to peep through the
+key-hole, and observed on the wall opposite her "line of sight,"
+some triangular characters. She had been in the habit of poring
+over a dream book, and the art of casting nativities; the Prophetic
+Almanac was her oracle, and its terrific title-page she informed
+her fellow servant "had just those queer triangle things as was
+hung on the walls of young master's study." She was "sure that he
+could tell her fortune." This important intelligence, delivered
+with due confidence to her fellow servant, of course spread like
+wildfire among the other occupants of the "lower regions," and from
+them amongst the handmaidens of sundry other dwellings. Thus has my
+astrological character been established.</p>
+<p>As all domestics are excluded my sanctum, of course I am obliged
+to "do for myself," and this I prefer to being "done for," or
+having my room "set to rights," according to their notions of
+neatness; my feelings on this point are exactly those of Scott's
+<i>Antiquary</i>; I therefore "do for myself," and consequently, it
+follows I must light my own fire. Than on the morning I have
+mentioned, the "grand agent" of the chemist was never more
+required. The "air bit shrewdly, and it was "bitter cold" upon
+entering the sanctum, although I had not quitted it many hours,
+having watched the "old year out and the new year in," and then
+taken a short nap; yet Jack Frost had been active during my
+absence, and cooled down the air of the sanctum some degrees below
+the freezing point, at the same time coating the window panes with
+his beautiful crystalline figures. The dark walls did look most
+awful, seen through the dun yellow light of the fog, which met my
+view upon drawing aside the cabalistically hung curtains. I cast a
+look at the Rumford grate; its black cold bars "grinned most
+horrible and ghastly." A sympathy was instantly established between
+them and my nasal organ, for I found a drop of pure crystal pendant
+from its extremity. Here, thought I, is an admirable question for
+"<i>The Plain Why and Because</i>." <i>Why</i> does a drop of water
+hang from the nose on a frosty morning? Because the natural heat of
+the body sends up vapour into the head, and that being exposed most
+to cold, the vapour condenses, and a drop of water runs from the
+nostril, as it would do from the head of a still. Upon looking at
+anything very cold, sympathy excites the same action. This "Why and
+Because" was succeeded by another&mdash;Why does my fire-grate grin
+so coldly? Because you will not be "done for," else Eliza could
+have raised a flame there for you an hour ago. The truth of this
+reply was so forcible that I resolved to "do for myself" without
+delay, and evolve the "grand agent." I went to the door, expecting
+to see my usual supply of fuel; none was to be found. What means
+this? said I, and was about to make my wants known, but changed my
+intent as quickly, and being a little excited by such neglect,
+determined not to be dependent upon the domestics, but make a fire
+of my own. Now then for the materials. Paper, as all persons know,
+who have "lit their own fires," is the foundation; it was also
+mine: sundry letters in reply to sundry unsuccessful applications
+written on "thick double laid post," as the advertisements say, I
+seized upon, and thrust their crumpled forms between the sooty bars
+of the grate with some wood, the model of a mechanical invention of
+my own, which had been rejected by a Society, and why, I knew not;
+I severed limb from limb, and disposed their fragments across and
+athwart on the letters previously mutilated. How to obtain my coal
+posed me for a moment; but I recollected that in a geological
+cabinet under my window, I was the possessor of a mass of pure
+Staffordshire, weighing some twenty pounds. The doors of the
+cabinet flew open, and out it came; I had a strong affection for
+this lump of coal, having extracted it myself from the mines, and
+carried it many a weary mile on my return home. I felt loth to
+commit it to the flames; but this was necessity, "stern necessity:"
+one or two blows of the mineralogical hammer destroyed my scruples,
+and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>[pg
+22]</span> produced the proper cleavages in the mass of coal. I
+laid the precious stratum, <i>super stratum</i> upon the two
+former, and other deposits of <i>papyrus</i> and <i>lignum</i>;
+such was my "coal formation." The magic touch of a Promethean
+elicited my "grand agent" to the thick laid post; it consumed
+rather sluggishly, but the dry pine wood of the broken model caught
+the flame and entered into fair combustion, cracking and sparkling,
+and now and then sending out a hiss of pyroligenous vapour; hissing
+yourself thought I. The fiery example was soon followed by the coal
+at first slowly sending up wreaths of dirty, green, yellow smoke,
+but as the fire waxed warmer these disappeared, and vivid hissing
+jets of ignited gas shot forth in abundance. The hissing annoyed
+me; why, I could not divine; but as the heat increased I cooled
+from the state of excitement produced by the testy destruction of
+my papers, model, and specimen. I sat down at the fire; had I not
+better, said I, have made my wants known to the servant, than have
+acted as I have done? No, I hate asking for what, as a duty should
+have been ready to my hands. I endeavoured to persuade myself that
+I did not regret the deed I had done, but could not succeed;
+something whispered me that I should suffer for it. I felt myself
+an "uncomfortable gentleman." I began to trace my fire from its
+origin up to its present state of perfection; the letters were of
+no consequence&mdash;none&mdash;the model I made myself and can
+make another&mdash;certainly&mdash;the coal I paid dearly for by
+fatigue, but I can get another lump, and send it home by coach,
+yes; then why am I so uncomfortable. I looked at the glowing fire
+which was getting insufferably hot, and gave it a passionate poke,
+exclaiming, I wish I could stop your draught. Draught! draft, I
+repeated, what has become of my draft that I received yesterday for
+my last paper? I began to recollect myself where I had laid it, and
+quickly came to the awful conclusion that I had placed it carefully
+between the folds of one of the sacrificed letters.</p>
+<p>Misery and destruction, said I, that draft has caused my rapid
+fire! it is gone and forever! Fool that I was; why did I not "blow
+up" the servants for paper, wood, and coals, and be "done for
+properly" instead of thus "doing for myself." Ye alchymistical
+spirits, said I, invoking the dark drapery, aid me to extract my
+gold from yonder ashes! but they were deaf to my calls, and the old
+<i>caput mortum</i> seemed to grin in mockery. I could bear it no
+longer, and rushing from the sanctum, met the servant girl on the
+stairs. "A draft! a draft!" repeated I; she thought me mad; I was
+mad with vexation. "Sir," said she, "you will catch cold if there
+is a draught such a day as this." A cold day as this, you wretch,
+Eliza, why did you not bring my coals to the door this morning,
+then I could have had my fire without a draft; I want a ten guinea
+draft, not a foggy, frosty draught. The girl stood amazed, but
+replied, "Please, sir, I didn't bring the coals this morning
+because you said never to do so on a Sunday, sir." "Sunday," I
+exclaimed, "is this Sunday?" "Lord bless me, sir, yes, and new
+year's day too, sir; happy new year, sir," said the provoking
+little wench, who was now joined by another. I could stand it no
+longer, but slunk back into the sanctum, "like a burnt child that
+dreaded the fire," hearing them exclaim, "I thought how it would
+be, them odd things in his room has quite turned his brain, poor
+young gentleman, he did not even know it was Sunday, and new year's
+day neither."</p>
+<p>I really did not know it was Sunday, for my calculaters were
+destroyed by the circumstance of our having kept Christmas Day on
+the Monday. I was aware that it was new year's day, and had
+intended to begin 1832 with good works, instead of which I
+commenced it with destroying my property, thus literally "doing for
+myself," and unlike most other people who invariably suffer from a
+draught, I am suffering from the loss of one.</p>
+<p>PYRAMIS.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>ADVENT.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>In the North Riding of Yorkshire, the young folks retain a very
+ancient custom during Advent. They make a wax figure representing
+the infant Jesus, and place it in a small wooden case, with
+evergreens, which hide all but the figure. A napkin is thrown over
+the box; and the puppet is thus carried about, and exhibited from
+door to door, by a boy, the others chanting some supplicatory
+lines. The same custom prevails in Wales.</p>
+<p>In Italy, a wax figure representing the Virgin, inclosed in a
+beautifully carved wooden case, is placed on the back of an ass,
+and exhibited through the country during Advent. Every traveller on
+seeing it prostrates himself immediately, and crosses himself, and
+considers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name=
+"page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> himself in duty bound to bestow his
+charity on the proprietor. Others carry emblematical figures
+through the different towns, or sit by the road side, and uncover
+the effigy to every passer-by.</p>
+<p>W.H.H.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>CURIOUS MANORIAL RIGHT.</h3>
+<h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4>
+<p>At Ripley Castle, in Yorkshire, the seat of Sir William Ingilby,
+there is in the great staircase an elegant Venetian window, in the
+divisions of which, on stain-glass, are a series of escutcheons,
+displaying the principal quarterings and intermarriages of the
+Ingilby family since their settling at Ripley, during a course of
+430 years.</p>
+<p>In one of the chambers of the tower is the following sentence,
+carved on the frieze of the wainscot:&mdash;"In the yeire of owre
+Ld. MDLV. was this howse buyldyd, by Sir Wyllyam Ingilby, Knight,
+Philip and Marie reigning that time."</p>
+<p>John Pallisser, of Bristhwaite, formerly held his lands of the
+manor of Ripley, by the payment of a red rose at Midsummer, and by
+carrying the boar's head to the lord's table all the twelve days of
+Christmas.</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>NOTES OF A READER.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>EUGENE ARAM.</h3>
+<p>We intend to quote a few scenes and snatches from Mr. Bulwer's
+extraordinary novel of this name. At present, however, we can only
+introduce the ill-fated hero.</p>
+<p>(Two young ladies, daughters of the lord of the Manor, approach
+Aram's house:&mdash;)</p>
+<p>"Madeline would even now fain have detained her sister's hand
+from the bell that hung without the porch half embedded in ivy; but
+Ellinor, out of patience&mdash;as she well might be&mdash;with her
+sister's unseasonable prudence, refused any longer delay. So
+singularly still and solitary was the plain around the house, that
+the sound of the bell breaking the silence had in it something
+startling, and appeared, in its sudden and shrill voice, a
+profanation to the deep tranquillity of the spot. They did not wait
+long&mdash;a step was heard within&mdash;the door was slowly
+unbarred, and the Student himself stood before them."</p>
+<p>"He was a man who might, perhaps, have numbered some five and
+thirty years; but at a hasty glance, he would have seemed
+considerably younger. He was above the ordinary stature; though a
+gentle, and not ungraceful bend in the neck rather than the
+shoulders, somewhat curtailed his proper advantages of height. His
+frame was thin and slender, but well knit and fair proportioned.
+Nature had originally cast his form in an athletic mould, but
+sedentary habits and the wear of mind seemed somewhat to have
+impaired her gifts. His cheek was pale and delicate; yet it was
+rather the delicacy of thought than of weak health. His hair, which
+was long, and of a rich and deep brown, was worn back from his face
+and temples, and left a broad high majestic forehead utterly
+unrelieved and bare; and on the brow there was not a single
+wrinkle&mdash;it was as smooth as it might have been some fifteen
+years ago. There was a singular calmness, and, so to speak,
+profundity of thought, eloquent upon its clear expanse, which
+suggested the idea of one who had passed his life rather in
+contemplation than emotion. It was a face that a physiognomist
+would have loved to look upon, so much did it speak both of the
+refinement and the dignity of intellect."</p>
+<p>"Such was the person&mdash;if pictures convey a faithful
+resemblance&mdash;of a man, certainly the most eminent in his day
+for various and profound learning, and a genius wholly self-taught,
+yet never contented to repose upon the wonderful stores it had
+laboriously accumulated."</p>
+<p>(Aram thus describes his own character:&mdash;)</p>
+<p>"Ah!" said Aram, gently shaking his head, "it is a hard life we
+bookmen lead. Not for us is the bright face of noon-day or the
+smile of woman, the gay unbending of the heart, the neighing steed
+and the shrill trump; the pride, pomp, and circumstance of life.
+Our enjoyments are few and calm; our labour constant; but that is
+it not, Sir?&mdash;that is it not? the body avenges its own
+neglect. We grow old before our time; we wither up; the sap of our
+youth shrinks from our veins; there is no bound in our step. We
+look about us with dimmed eyes, and our breath grows short and
+thick, and pains, and coughs, and shooting aches come upon us at
+night; it is a bitter life&mdash;a bitter life&mdash;joyless life.
+I would I had never commenced it. And yet the harsh world scowls
+upon us: our nerves are broken, and they wonder we are querulous;
+our blood curdles, and they ask why we are not gay; our brain grows
+dizzy and indistinct (as with me just now), and, shrugging their
+shoulders, they whisper their neighbours that we are mad. I wish I
+had worked at the plough, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page24"
+name="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> known sleep, and loved
+mirth&mdash;and&mdash;and not been what I am."</p>
+<p>"As the Student tittered the last sentence, he bowed down his
+head, and a few tears stole silently down his cheek. Walter was
+greatly affected&mdash;it took him by surprise: nothing in Aram's
+ordinary demeanour betrayed any facility to emotion; and he
+conveyed to all the idea of a man, if not proud, at least
+cold."</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD JESTS.</h3>
+<p>Persons who gloat over dust and black-letter need scarcely be
+told that the best of "modern" jests are almost literally from the
+antique: in short, that what we employ to "set the table on a roar"
+were employed by the wise men of old to enliven <i>their</i> cups,
+deep and strong;&mdash;that to jest was a part of the Platonic
+philosophy, and that the excellent fancies, the flashes of
+merriment, of our forefathers, are nightly, nay hourly, re-echoed
+for our amusement. Yet such is the whole art of pleasing: what has
+pleased will, with certain modifications, continue to please again
+and again, until the end of time.</p>
+<p>But we may displease; and, as Hamlet says, "We must speak by the
+card." The <i>Athenaeum</i> a fortnight since drew forth a batch of
+these jests with antique humour richly dight, and here they are.
+The reader will recognise many old acquaintances, but he need not
+touch his hat, lest, his politeness weary him. These old stories
+are but "pick'd to be new vann'd."</p>
+<p><i>Hierocles' Facetiae</i>.</p>
+<p>1. An irritable man went to visit a sick friend, and asked him
+concerning his health. The patient was so ill that he could not
+reply; whereupon the other in a rage said, "I hope that I may soon
+fall sick, and then I will not answer you when you visit me."</p>
+<p>2. A speculative gentleman, wishing to teach his horse to do
+without food, starved him to death. "I had a great loss," said he;
+"for, just as he learned to live without eating, he died."</p>
+<p>3. A curious inquirer, desirous to know how he looked when
+asleep, sat with closed eyes before a mirror.</p>
+<p>4. A young man told his friend that he dreamed that he had
+struck his foot against a sharp nail. "Why then do you sleep
+without your shoes?" was the reply.</p>
+<p>5. A robustious countryman, meeting a physician, ran to hide
+behind a wall; being asked the cause, he replied, "It is so long
+since I have been sick, that I am ashamed to look a physician in
+the face."</p>
+<p>6. A gentleman had a cask of Aminean wine, from which his
+servant stole a large quantity. When the master perceived the
+deficiency, he diligently inspected the top of the cask but could
+find no traces of an opening. "Look if there be not a hole in the
+bottom," said a bystander. "Blockhead," he replied, "do you not see
+that the deficiency is at the top, and not at the bottom?"</p>
+<p>7. A young man meeting an acquaintance, said, "I heard that you
+were dead."&mdash;"But," says the other, "you see me
+alive."&mdash;"I do not know how that may be," replied he: "you are
+a notorious liar, but my informant was a person of credit."</p>
+<p>8. A man, hearing that a raven would live two hundred years,
+bought one to try.</p>
+<p>9. During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that
+appeared in danger seized different implements to aid them in
+swimming, and one of the number selected for this purpose the
+anchor.</p>
+<p>10. One of twin-brothers died: a fellow meeting the survivor
+asked, "Which is it, you or your brother, that's dead?"</p>
+<p>11. A man whose son was dead, seeing a crowd assembled to
+witness the funeral, said, "I am ashamed to bring my little child
+into such a numerous assembly."</p>
+<p>12. The son of a fond father, when going to war, promised to
+bring home the head of one of the enemy. His parent replied, "I
+should be glad to see you come home without a head, provided you
+come safe."</p>
+<p>13. A man wrote to his friend in Greece begging him to purchase
+books. From negligence or avarice, he neglected to execute the
+commission; but fearing that his correspondent might be offended,
+he exclaimed when next they met, "My dear friend, I never got the
+letter that you wrote me about the books."</p>
+<p>14. A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled
+together. Losing their way, they were forced to sleep in the open
+air; and, to avert danger, it was agreed to keep watch by turns.
+The lot first fell on the barber, who, for amusement, shaved the
+fool's head while he slept; he then woke him, and the fool, raising
+his hand to scratch his head, exclaimed, "Here's a pretty mistake;
+rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of me."</p>
+<p>15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and
+shook it, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name=
+"page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> holding out his hat to catch them as
+they fell.</p>
+<p>16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from
+the wall to exhibit as a sample.</p>
+<p>17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night
+in a dream." "Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear
+you."</p>
+<p>18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared
+that he would not again go into the water until he had learned to
+swim.</p>
+<p>(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his
+first teeth was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")</p>
+<p>19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower.
+"By Jove," said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me
+and my father."</p>
+<p>20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on
+horseback; being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because
+I am in a hurry."</p>
+<p>21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home,
+"Father, rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."</p>
+<p>We thank the wits of the <i>Athenaeum</i> for these piquancies:
+they are in the right true Attic vein, and are therefore
+characteristic of that clever Journal.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.</h3>
+<h4><i>(From</i> Part xiii.&mdash;<i>Botany.)</i></h4>
+<p><i>Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?</i></p>
+<p>Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out
+the superabundant quantity of water which it contained.</p>
+<p><i>Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of
+leaves at sunrise?</i></p>
+<p>Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness
+of the night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew;
+but Mushenbro&euml;k first proved the above, by conclusive
+experiments. He intercepted all communication between a poppy and
+the ambient air, by covering it with a bell; and between it and the
+earth, by covering the vessel in which it grew with a leaden plate.
+Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
+before&mdash;<i>Richard.</i></p>
+<p>One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves
+wither and become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant
+be not amply supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every
+inch square of surface, on the under disk of the leaf.</p>
+<p><i>Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine
+matter found in every tree?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is formed by branches of those returning vessels that
+deposit the new alburnum.</p>
+<p><i>Why is it inferred that these juices must be prepared in the
+plant itself, by various secretions, and changes of the fluids
+which it absorbs?</i></p>
+<p>Because we find, that in the same climate, nay, even in the same
+spot of ground, rue has its bitter&mdash;sorrel its acid&mdash;and
+the lettuce its cooling juices; and that the juices of the various
+parts of one plant, or even of one fruit, are extremely different.
+Sir James Smith mentions the peach-tree as a familiar example. "The
+gum of this tree is mild and mucilaginous. The bark, leaves, and
+flowers, abound with a bitter secretion, of a purgative and rather
+dangerous quality, than which nothing can be more distinct from the
+gum. The fruit is replete, not only with acid, mucilage, and sugar,
+but with its own peculiar aromatic and highly volatile secretion,
+elaborated within itself, on which its fine flavour
+depends."&mdash;<i>Introduction to Botany, 6th edit</i>.</p>
+<p><i>Why are these juices readily found in the bark?</i></p>
+<p>Because they appear to be matured, or brought to greater
+perfection, in layers of wood or bark that have no longer any
+principal share in the circulation of the sap. Thus, the vessels
+containing them are often very large, as the turpentine cells of
+the fir tribe, in all the species of which these secretions abound.
+The substance from which spruce-beer is made, is an extract of the
+branches of the <i>Abies Canadensis</i>, or Hemlock Spruce; a
+similar preparation is obtained from the branches of
+<i>Dacrydium</i>, in the South Seas.</p>
+<p><i>Why, in the spring, is the herbage under trees generally more
+luxuriant than it is beyond the spread of their branches?</i></p>
+<p>Because the driving mists and fogs becoming condensed on the
+branches, cause a frequent drip beneath the tree not experienced in
+other places; and thus keep up a perpetual irrigation and
+refreshment of the soil.</p>
+<p><i>Why are certain plants useful or injurious to others that
+grow in their vicinity?</i></p>
+<p>Because of certain fluids which the roots excrete from their
+slender extremities; and in this manner the likings and antipathies
+of certain plants may be accounted for. Thus, it is well known that
+the creeping thistle is hurtful to <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page26" name="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> oats, <i>erigeron
+acre</i> to wheat, <i>scabiosa arvensis</i> to flax, &amp;c.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some resins odorous?</i></p>
+<p>Because they contain essential oil; some afford benzoic acid
+when heated, and these have been termed balsams; such as tolu
+balsam and benzoin.</p>
+<p>Common resin is obtained by distilling the exudation of
+different species of fir; oil of turpentine passes over, and the
+resin remains behind.</p>
+<p><i>Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called
+varnish-trees?</i></p>
+<p>Because their large flowers abound in a resinous, sometimes
+acrid, and highly poisonous juice, which afterwards turns black,
+and is used for varnishing in India. One kind is the common cashew
+nut. All these varnishes are extremely dangerous to some
+constitutions; the skin, if rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes
+covered with pimples that are difficult to heal; the fumes have
+also been known to produce painful swelling and inflammation.</p>
+<p><i>Why do these varnishes, at first white, afterwards turn
+black?</i></p>
+<p>Because the recent juice is an organized substance, consisting
+of an immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's
+rays in all directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while
+the varnish which has been exposed to the air loses its organized
+structure, becomes homogeneous, and then transmits the sun's rays,
+of a rich, deep, uniform, red colour.</p>
+<p>The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a
+resinous fluid, that the least degree of unusual repletion of the
+tissue causes it to be discharged; thus, some of them fill the air
+with fragrance after rain; and other kinds expel their resin with
+such violence when immersed in water, as to have the appearance of
+spontaneous motion, in consequence of the recoil. Another kind is
+said to cause swellings in those who sleep under its
+shade.&mdash;<i>Brewster's Journal.</i></p>
+<p><i>Why is the soap-tree so called?</i></p>
+<p>Because its bark, if pulverized, and shaken in water, soon
+yields a solution, frothing, as if it contained soap. It is a
+native of Chili; the trunk is straight, and of considerable height;
+the wood is hard, red, and never splits; and the bark is rugged,
+fibrous, of ash-grey colour externally, and white within.</p>
+<p><i>Why is a species of myrtle called the wax-tree?</i></p>
+<p>Because the leaves and stem, when bruised, and boiled in water,
+yield wax, which concretes on cooling. Mr. Brande observes, "the
+glossy varnish upon the upper surface of many trees is of a similar
+nature; and though there are shades of difference, these varieties
+of wax possess the essential properties of that formed by the bee:
+indeed, it was formerly supposed that bees merely collected the wax
+already formed by the vegetable: but Huber's experiments show, that
+the insect has the power of transmuting sugar into wax, and that
+this is in fact a secretion."</p>
+<p>The wax-palm of Humboldt has its trunk covered by a coating of
+wax, which exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the
+leaves. It is, according to Vaquelin, a concrete, inflammable
+substance, consisting of 1/3 wax, and 2/3 resin.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some oils called vegetable butters?</i></p>
+<p>Because they become solid at the ordinary temperatures. Such are
+cocoa-nut oil, palm oil, and nutmeg oil.</p>
+<p><i>Why are some volatile oils obtained by expression?</i></p>
+<p>Because they are contained in distinct vesicles in the rind of
+fruits, as in the lemon, orange, and bergamot.</p>
+<p><i>Why is the oil of poppy-seed perfectly wholesome?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is in no degree narcotic; nor has it any of the
+properties of the poppy itself. This oil is consumed on the
+Continent in considerable quantity, and employed extensively in
+adulterating olive oil. Its use was at one time prohibited in
+France, by decrees issued in compliance with popular clamour; but
+it is now openly sold, the government and people having grown
+wiser.</p>
+<p><i>Why is the juice of the poppy called opium?</i></p>
+<p>Because of its derivation from the Persian <i>afioun</i>, and
+the Arabian <i>aphium</i>. The botanical name of the poppy,
+<i>papaver</i>, is said to be derived from its being commonly mixed
+with the pap, papa, given to children in order to ease pain, and
+procure sleep.</p>
+<p><i>Why does opium produce sleep?</i></p>
+<p>Because it contains an alkaline substance called Morphia. The
+same drug contains a peculiar acid called the Meconic; and a
+vegetable alkali named Narcotine, to which unpleasant stimulating
+properties are attributed by Majendie.</p>
+<p><i>Why is sugar so generally found in plants?</i></p>
+<p>Because it is not only the seasoning of most eatable fruits, but
+abounds in various roots, as the carrot, beet, parsnip, and in many
+plants of the grass, or cane kind, besides the famous sugar
+cane.</p>
+<p>Sir James Smith observes that "there <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> is great
+reason to suppose sugar not so properly an original secretion, as
+the result of a chemical change in secretions already formed,
+either of an acid or mucilaginous nature, or possibly a mixture of
+both. In ripening fruits, this change is most striking, and takes
+place very speedily, seeming to be greatly promoted by heat and
+light. By the action of frost, as Dr. Darwin observes, a different
+change is wrought in the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it
+becomes starch."</p>
+<p>M. Berard considers gum and lignin as the principles in unripe
+fruits which chiefly tend to the formation of sugar during their
+ripening, and he has given several analyses of fruits in
+illustration of these views. Mr. Brande also considers the elements
+of water as probably concerned in the change.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE NATURALIST.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>THE SUGAR CANE.</h3>
+<p>At the island of Tahiti (Otaheite) South Pacific Ocean, there
+are several varieties of the sugar cane, differing, however, in
+their qualities. The number of varieties are eight, and are as
+follow:&mdash;</p>
+<p>1. Rutu&mdash;of good quality.</p>
+<p>2. Avae&mdash;of indifferent quality.</p>
+<p>3. Irimotu&mdash;a rich cane, but does not grow to a large
+size.</p>
+<p>4. Patu&mdash;a good cane, of a red colour.</p>
+<p>5. To-ura&mdash;a dark-striped cane, hard and good.</p>
+<p>6. Toute&mdash;a bad cane, of a red colour.</p>
+<p>7. Veu&mdash;a good cane.</p>
+<p>8. Vaihi&mdash;this attains a large size, and is considered of
+the best quality. It is said by the natives to have been introduced
+from the Sandwich Islands.</p>
+<p>At Manilla (Island of Luconia) the planters mention three
+cultivated varieties of the sugar cane:&mdash;</p>
+<p>1. Cana negra&mdash;black sugar cane.</p>
+<p>2. Cana morada&mdash;brown sugar cane.</p>
+<p>3. Cana blancha&mdash;white sugar cane.</p>
+<p>of which the black or cana negra is considered the best, from
+its strength and the quantity of syrup contained in it.</p>
+<p><i>Mr. G.B.'s MS. Journal</i>, 1829-30.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>THE BARN OWL;</h3>
+<h4><i>and the Benefits it confers on Man. By Charles Waterton,
+Esq.</i></h4>
+<p>This pretty aerial wanderer of the night often comes into my
+room; and after flitting to and fro, on wing so soft and silent
+that he is scarcely heard, he takes his departure from the same
+window at which he had entered.</p>
+<p>I own I have a great liking for this bird; and I have offered it
+hospitality and protection on account of its persecutions, and for
+its many services to me,&mdash;I say services, as you will see in
+the sequel. I wish that any little thing I could write or say might
+cause it to stand better with the world at large than it has
+hitherto done: but I have slender hopes on this score; because old
+and deep-rooted prejudices are seldom overcome; and when I look
+back into the annals of remote antiquity, I see too clearly that
+defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole family, in all its
+branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of mine.</p>
+<p>Ovid, nearly two thousand years ago, was extremely severe
+against the owl. In his <i>Metamorphoses</i> he says:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,</p>
+<p>Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen." <a id="footnotetag5" name=
+"footnotetag5"></a> <a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>In his <i>Fasti</i> he openly accuses it of felony:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes." <a id=
+"footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Lucan, too, has hit it hard:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Et laetae juranter aves, bubone sinistro:" <a id="footnotetag7"
+name="footnotetag7"></a> <a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>and the Englishman who continued the <i>Pharsalia</i>,
+says&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Tristia mille locis Stylus dedit omina bubo." <a id=
+"footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Horace tells us that the old witch Canidia used part of the
+plumage of the owl in her dealings with the devil:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Plumamque nocturnae strigis." <a id="footnotetag9" name=
+"footnotetag9"></a> <a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Virgil, in fine, joined in the hue and cry against this injured
+family:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo</p>
+<p>Saepe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces." <a id=
+"footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote10"><sup>10</sup></a></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>In our own times we find that the village maid cannot return
+home from seeing her dying swain, without a doleful salutation from
+the owl:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Thus homeward as she hopeless went,</p>
+<p class="i2">The churchyard path along,</p>
+<p>The blast grew cold, the dark owl scream'd</p>
+<p class="i2">Her lover's funeral song."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>Amongst the numberless verses which might be quoted against the
+family of the owl, I think I only know of one <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> little
+ode which expresses any pity for it. Our nursery maid used to sing
+it to the tune of the Storm, "Cease rude Boreas, blust'ring
+railer." I remember the first two stanzas of it:&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i2">"Once I was a monarch's daughter,</p>
+<p class="i4">And sat on a lady's knee;</p>
+<p class="i2">But am now a nightly rover,</p>
+<p class="i4">Banish'd to the ivy tree&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i8">Crying, hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo,</p>
+<p class="i10">Hoo hoo hoo, my feet are cold!</p>
+<p class="i8">Pity me, for here you see me,</p>
+<p class="i10">Persecuted, poor, and old."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>I beg the reader's pardon for this exordium. I have introduced
+it, in order to show how little chance there has been, from days
+long passed and gone to the present time, of studying the haunts
+and economy of the owl, because its unmerited bad name has created
+it a host of foes, and doomed it to destruction from all quarters.
+Some few, certainly, from time to time, have been kept in cages and
+in aviaries. But nature rarely thrives in captivity, and very
+seldom appears in her true character when she is encumbered with
+chains, or is to be looked at by the passing crowd through bars of
+iron. However, the scene is now going to change; and I trust that
+the reader will contemplate the owl with more friendly feelings,
+and quite under different circumstances. Here, no rude schoolboy
+ever approaches its retreat; and those who once dreaded its
+diabolical doings are now fully satisfied that it no longer meddles
+with their destinies, or has any thing to do with the repose of
+their departed friends. Indeed, human wretches in the shape of
+body-snatchers seem here in England to have usurped the office of
+the owl in our churchyards; "et vendunt tumulis corpora rapta
+suis."<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a> <a href=
+"#footnote11"><sup>11</sup></a></p>
+<p>Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time of it at Walton
+Hall. Its supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She
+knew full well what sorrow it had brought into other houses when
+she was a young woman; and there was enough of mischief in the
+midnight wintry blast, without having it increased by the dismal
+screams of something which people knew very little about, and which
+every body said was far too busy in the churchyard at nighttime.
+Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person were sick in the
+neighbourhood, it would be for ever looking in at the window, and
+holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not know
+whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in every thing she said on
+this important subject; and he always stood better in her books
+when he had managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous
+family. However, in 1813, on my return from the wilds of Guiana,
+having suffered myself, and learned mercy, I broke in pieces the
+code of penal laws which the knavery of the gamekeeper and the
+lamentable ignorance of the other servants had hitherto put in
+force, far too successfully, to thin the numbers of this poor,
+harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway,
+against which, tradition says, the waves of the lake have dashed
+for the better part of a thousand years, I made a place with stone
+and mortar, about 4 ft. square, and fixed a thick oaken stick
+firmly into it. Huge masses of ivy now quite cover it. In about a
+month or so after it was finished, a pair of barn owls came and
+took up their abode in it. I threatened to strangle the keeper if
+ever, after this, he molested either the old birds or their young
+ones; and I assured the housekeeper that I would take upon myself
+the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe, and sorrow that
+the new tenants might bring into the Hall. She made a low courtesy;
+as much as to say, "Sir, I fall into your will and pleasure:" but I
+saw in her eye that she had made up her mind to have to do with
+things of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midnight
+wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think that up to the day
+of this old lady's death, which took place in her eighty-fourth
+year, she ever looked with pleasure or contentment on the barn owl,
+as it flew round the large sycamore trees which grow near the old
+ruined gateway.</p>
+<p><i>(To be concluded in our next.)</i></p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2>
+<hr />
+<h3>BLONDEL DE NESLE.</h3>
+<p>"Blondel de Nesle the favourite minstrel of Richard Coeur de
+Lion, and an attendant upon his person, devoted himself to discover
+the place of his confinement during the crusade against Saladin,
+emperor of the Saracens. He wandered in vain from castle to palace,
+till he learned that a strong and almost inaccessible fortress upon
+the Danube was watched with peculiar strictness, as containing some
+state-prisoner of distinction. The minstrel took his harp, and
+approaching as near the castle as he durst, came so nigh the walls
+as to hear the melancholy captive soothing his imprisonment with
+music. Blondel touched his harp; the prisoner heard <span class=
+"pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> and was
+silent: upon this the minstrel played the first part of a tune, or
+lay, known to the captive; who instantly played the second part;
+and thus, the faithful servant obtained the certainty that the
+inmate of the castle was no other than his royal
+master."&mdash;<i>Tales of a Grandfather</i>, p 69.</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>The Danube's wide-flowing water lave</p>
+<p class="i2">The captive's dungeon cell,</p>
+<p>And the voice of its hoarse and sullen wave</p>
+<p class="i2">Breaks forth in a louder swell,</p>
+<p>And the night-breeze sighs in a deeper gust,</p>
+<p>For the flower of chivalry droops in dust!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>A yoke is hung over the victor's neck,</p>
+<p class="i2">And fetters enthral the strong,</p>
+<p>And manhood's pride like a fearful wreck,</p>
+<p>Lies the breakers of care among;</p>
+<p>And the gleams of hope, overshadow'd, seem</p>
+<p>The phantoms of some distemper'd dream.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>But the heart&mdash;the heart is unconquer'd still&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i2">A host in its solitude!</p>
+<p>Quenchless the spirit, though fetter'd the will,</p>
+<p class="i2">Of that warrior unsubdued;</p>
+<p>His soul, like an arrow from rocky ground,</p>
+<p>Shall fiercely and proudly in air rebound.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>But the hour of darkness girds him now</p>
+<p class="i2">With a pall of deepest night,</p>
+<p>Anguish sits throned on his moody brow,</p>
+<p class="i2">And the curse of thy withering blight,</p>
+<p>Despair, thou dreariest deathliest foe!</p>
+<p>His senses hath steep'd in a torpid woe.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>From the dazzling splendour of gloriest past</p>
+<p class="i2">The warrior sickening turns.</p>
+<p>To list to the sound of the wailing blast,</p>
+<p class="i2">As the wan lamp dimly burns:</p>
+<p>For the daring might of the lion-hearted</p>
+<p>With Freedom's soul-thrilling notes hath parted.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>O'er his harp-string droops his palsied hand,</p>
+<p class="i2">And the fitful strain alone</p>
+<p>Murmurs the notes of his native land&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i2">Does echo repeat that moan</p>
+<p>From the dungeon wall so grim and so drear?&mdash;</p>
+<p>No!&mdash;an answering minstrel lingers there.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Up starts the listening king&mdash;a flash</p>
+<p class="i2">Of memory's gifted lore</p>
+<p>Bursts on his soul&mdash;a deed so rash,</p>
+<p class="i2">What captive would e'er deplore?</p>
+<p>Since bonds no longer unnerve the free,</p>
+<p>And valour hath won fidelity.</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Dark child of sorrow, sweet comfort take,</p>
+<p class="i2">In thy lone heart's widowhood,</p>
+<p>Some charmed measure may yet awake</p>
+<p class="i2">Arresting affliction's flood,</p>
+<p>And thy prison'd soul unfetter'd be</p>
+<p>By the answering spirit of sympathy!</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p><span style="margin-left:3em"><i>Metropolitan.</i></span></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr />
+<h3>ASMODEUS AT LARGE.</h3>
+<p>The design of this paper, in the <i>New Monthly Magazine</i>, is
+by no means novel; but the fine, cutting satire&mdash;the pleasant,
+lively banter on our vices and follies&mdash;which pervades every
+page of the article, is a set-off to the political frenzy and the
+literary lumber of other Magazines of the month. Each of them, it
+is true, has a readable paper, but one gem only contributes to a
+Magazine in the proportion of one swallow to a summer.</p>
+<p>Here are three pages of the <i>New Monthly</i> Devil:</p>
+<p>"A stranger, Sir, in the library," said my servant in opening
+the door.</p>
+<p>"Indeed! what a short, lame gentleman?"</p>
+<p>"No, Sir; middle-sized,&mdash;has very much the air of a lawyer
+or professional man."</p>
+<p>I entered the room, and instead of the dwarf demon Le Sage
+described, I beheld a comely man seated at the table, with a high
+forehead, a sharp face, and a pair of spectacles on his nose. He
+was employed in reading the new novel of "The Usurer's
+Daughter."</p>
+<p>"This cannot be the devil!" said I to myself; so I bowed, and
+asked the gentleman his business.</p>
+<p>"Tush!" quoth my visiter; "and how did you leave the
+Doctor?"</p>
+<p>"It is you, then!" said I; "you have grown greatly since you
+left Don Cleofas."</p>
+<p>"Wars fatten our tribe," answered the Devil; "besides shapes are
+optional with me, and in England men go by appearances more than
+they do abroad; one is forced to look respectable and portly; the
+Devil himself could not cheat your countrymen with a shabby
+exterior. Doubtless you observe that all the swindlers, whose
+adventures enliven your journals, are dressed 'in the height of
+fashion,' and enjoy 'a mild prepossessing demeanour.' Even the
+Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no
+bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs.
+Wealth in all countries is the highest possible morality; but you
+carry the doctrine to so great an excess, that you scarcely suffer
+the poor man to exist at all. If he take a walk in the country,
+there's the Vagrant Act; and if he has not a penny to hire a cellar
+in town, he's snapped up by a Burker, and sent off to the surgeons
+in a sack. It must be owned that no country affords such warnings
+to the spendthrift. You are one great moral against the getting rid
+of one's money."</p>
+<p>On this, Asmodeus and myself had a long conversation; it ended
+in our dining together, (for I found him a social fellow, and fond
+of a broil in a quiet way,) and adjourning in excellent spirits, to
+the theatre.</p>
+<p>"Certainly," said the Devil, taking a pinch of snuff,
+"certainly, your drama is wonderfully fine, it is worthy of a
+civilized nation; formerly you were contented with choosing actors
+among human kind, but what an improvement to go among the brute
+creation! think what a fine idea to have a whole play turn upon the
+appearance of a broken-backed lion! And so you are going to raise
+the drama by setting up a club; <span class="pagenum"><a id=
+"page30" name="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> that's another exquisite
+notion! You hire a great house in the neighbourhood of the theatre;
+you call it the Garrick Club. You allow actors and patrons to mix
+themselves and their negus there after the play; and this you call
+a design for exalting the drama. Certainly you English are a droll
+set; your expedients are admirable."</p>
+<p>"My good Devil, any thing that brings actors and spectators
+together, that creates an <i>esprit de corps</i> among all who
+cherish the drama, is not to be sneered at in that inconsiderate
+manner."</p>
+<p>"I sneer! you mistake me; you have adduced a most convincing
+argument&mdash;<i>esprit de corps</i>!&mdash;good! Your clubs
+certainly nourish sociality greatly; those little tables, with one
+sulky man before one sulky chop&mdash;those hurried nods between
+acquaintances&mdash;that, monopoly of newspapers and easy
+chairs&mdash;all exhibit to perfection the cementing faculties of a
+club. Then, too, it certainly does an actor inestimable benefit to
+mix with lords and squires. Nothing more fits a man for his
+profession, than living with people who know nothing about it. Only
+think what a poor actor Kean is; you would have made him quite a
+different thing, if you had tied him to a tame gentlemen in the
+'Garrick Club'. He would have played 'Richard' in a much higher
+vein, I doubt not."</p>
+<p>"Well," said I, "the stage is your affair at present, and
+doubtless you do right to reject any innovation."</p>
+<p>"Why, yes," quoth the Devil, looking round; "we have a very good
+female supply in this quarter. But pray how comes it that the
+English are so candid in sin? Among all nations there is immorality
+enough, Heaven knows; but you are so delightfully shameless: if a
+crime is committed here, you can't let it 'waste its sweetness;'
+you thrust it into your papers forthwith; you stick it up on your
+walls; you produce it at your theatres; you chat about it as an
+agreeable subject of conversation; and then you cry out with a
+blush against the open profligacy abroad! This is one of those
+amiable contradictions in human nature that charms me excessively.
+You fill your theatres with ladies of pleasure&mdash;you fill your
+newspapers with naughty accounts&mdash;a robbery is better to you
+than a feast&mdash;and a good fraud in the city will make you happy
+for a week; and all this while you say: '<i>We</i> are the people
+who send vice to Coventry, and teach the world how to despise
+immorality.' Nay, if one man commits a murder, your newspapers
+kindly instruct his associates how to murder in future, by a far
+safer method. A wretch kills a boy for the surgeons, by holding his
+head under water; 'Silly dog!' cries the Morning Herald, 'why did
+not he clap a sponge dipped in prussic acid to the boy's
+mouth?'"</p>
+<p>Here we were interrupted by a slight noise in the next box,
+which a gentleman had just entered. He was a tall man, with a
+handsome face and very prepossessing manner.</p>
+<p>"That is an Author of considerable reputation," said my Devil,
+"quiet, though a man of wit, and with a heart, though a man of the
+world. Talking of the drama, he once brought out a farce, which had
+the good fortune to be damned. As great expectations had been
+formed of it, and the author's name had transpired; the
+unsuccessful writer rose the next morning with a hissing sound in
+his ears, and that leaning towards misanthropy, which you men
+always experience when the world has the bad taste to mistake your
+merits. 'Thank Fate, however,' said the Author, 'it is damned
+thoroughly&mdash;it is off the stage&mdash;I cannot be hissed
+again&mdash;in a few days it will be forgotten&mdash;meanwhile I
+will take a walk in the Park.' Scarce had the gentleman got into
+the street, before, lo! at a butcher's shop blazed the 'very head
+and front of his offending.' 'Second night of its appearance, the
+admired Farce of &mdash;&mdash;, by &mdash;&mdash;, Esq.' Away
+posts the Author to the Manager.&mdash;'Good Heavens! Sir, my farce
+again! was it not thoroughly damned last night?'&mdash;'Thoroughly
+damned!' quoth the Manager, drily; 'we reproduce it, Sir&mdash;we
+reproduce it (with a knowing wink,) that the world, enraged at our
+audacity, may come here to damn it again.' So it is, you see! the
+love of money is the contempt of man: there's an aphorism for you!
+Let us turn to the stage. What actresses you have!&mdash;certainly
+you English are a gallant nation; you are wonderfully polite to
+come and see such horrible female performers! By the by, you
+observed when that young lady came on the stage, how timidly she
+advanced, how frightened she seemed. 'What modesty!' cry the
+audience; 'we must encourage her!' they clap, they shout, they pity
+the poor thing, they cheer her into spirits. Would you believe that
+the hardest thing the Manager had to do with her was to teach her
+that modesty. She wanted to walk on the stage like a grenadier, and
+it required fifteen lessons to make her be ashamed of herself. It
+is in these things that the stage mimics the world, rather behind
+the scenes than before!"</p>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>[pg
+31]</span>
+<p>"Bless me, how Braham is improved!" cried a man with spectacles,
+behind me; "he acts now better than he sings!"</p>
+<p>"Is it not strange," said Asmodeus, "how long the germ of a
+quality may remain latent in the human mind, and how completely you
+mortals are the creatures of culture? It was not till his old age
+that Braham took lessons in acting; some three times a week has he
+of late wended his way down, to the comedian of Chapel-street, to
+learn energy and counterfeit warmth; and the best of it is, that
+the spectators will have it that an actor feels all he acts; as if
+human nature, wicked as it is, could feel Richard the Third every
+other night. I remember, Mrs. Siddons had a majestic manner of
+extending her arm as she left the stage. 'What grace!' said the
+world, with tears in its eyes, 'what dignity! what a wonderful way
+of extending an arm! you see her whole soul is in the part!' The
+arm was in reality stretched impatiently out for a pinch from the
+snuff-box that was always in readiness behind the scenes."</p>
+<p>It is my misfortune, Reader, to be rapidly bored. I cannot sit
+out a sermon, much less a play; amusement is the most tedious of
+human pursuits.</p>
+<p>"You are tired of this, surely," said I to the Devil; "let us
+go!"</p>
+<p>"Whither?" said Asmodeus.</p>
+<p>"Why, 'tis a starlit night, let us ride over to Paris, and sup,
+as you promised, at the Rocher de Cancale."</p>
+<p>"<i>Volontiers</i>."</p>
+<p>Away&mdash;away&mdash;away&mdash;into the broad still Heavens,
+the stars dancing merrily above us, and the mighty heart of the
+City beating beneath the dusky garment of Night below.</p>
+<p>"Let us look down," said Asmodeus; "what a wilderness of houses!
+shall I uncover the roofs for you, as I did for Don Cleofas; or
+rather, for it is an easier method, shall I touch your eyes with my
+salve of penetration, and enable you to see at once through the
+wall?"</p>
+<p>"You might as well do so; it is pleasant to feel the power,
+though at present I think it superfluous; wherever I look, I can
+only see rogues and fools, with a stray honest man now and then,
+who is probably in prison."</p>
+<p>Asmodeus touched my eyes with a green salve, which he took out
+of an ivory box, and all at once, my sight being directed towards a
+certain palace I beheld * * * *</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<h2>THE GATHERER.</h2>
+<hr />
+<p>A clergyman preaching in the neighbourhood of Wapping, observing
+that most part of his audience were in the seafaring way, very
+naturally embellished his discourse with several nautical tropes
+and figures. Amongst other things, he advised them "to be ever on
+the watch, so that on whatsoever tack the evil one should bear down
+on them, he might be crippled in action." "Ay, master," said a son
+of Neptune, "but let me tell you, that will depend upon your having
+the weather gage of him."</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>A poacher escaping one morn with his pillage,</p>
+<p>Unexpectedly met with the lord of the village;</p>
+<p>Who seeing a hare o'er his shoulder was thrown,</p>
+<p>Hail'd him quickly, "You fellow is that hare your own."</p>
+<p>"My own!" he replied, "you inquisitive prig,</p>
+<p>Gad's curse, pompous sir, do you think I've a wig?"</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr />
+<h3>ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "TO BOOT."</h3>
+<p><i>Bote</i> or <i>Bota</i>, in our old law books, signifies
+recompense, repentance, or fine paid by way of expiation, and is
+derived from the Saxon. Hence our common phrase "to boot," speaking
+of something given by way of compensation.</p>
+<p>P.T.W.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD SONG.</h3>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Syr Tankarde he is as bold a wight</p>
+<p class="i2">As ever Old England bred;</p>
+<p>His armoure it is of the silver bright,</p>
+<p class="i2">And his coloure is ruby red;</p>
+<p class="i4">And whene'er on the bully ye calle,</p>
+<p class="i4">He is readye to give ye a falle;</p>
+<p>But if long in the battle with him ye be,</p>
+<p>Ye weaker are ye, and the stronger is he,</p>
+<p class="i4">For Syr Tankarde is victor of alle."</p>
+</div>
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"A barley-corn he mounts for a speare,</p>
+<p class="i2">His helmet with hops is hung,</p>
+<p>He lightes the eye with a laughing leere,</p>
+<p class="i2">With a carolle he tipps the tongue&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i4">And he marshals a valyant hoste</p>
+<p class="i4">Of spices and crabbes and toaste;</p>
+<p>And the stoutest of yeomen they well can o'erthrow,</p>
+<p>When he leads them in beakers and jugs to the foe,&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i4">And Syr Tankarde his prowess may boaste."</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>[pg
+32]</span>
+<hr />
+<h3>FRENCH&mdash;ENGLISH LOVE.</h3>
+<p>The following is a copy of a letter addressed some years ago to
+a lady of fortune at Portsmouth, upwards of four score years of
+age, by a French prisoner of war at Porchester Castle:&mdash;</p>
+<p>"<i>Porchester</i>.&mdash;<i>Madam</i>&mdash;Me rite de English
+very leet, and me very fears you no saave vat me speak; but me be
+told dat you vant one very fine man for your hosband; upon my soul
+me love you very well; and thou you be very old woman, and very
+cross, and ugly, and all de devil, and the English no like you,
+upon my soul we have one great passion for you, and me like you
+very well for all dat; and me told dat de man for you must be one
+very clen man, and no love de drink. Me be all dat: indeed me be
+one very grand man in France&mdash;upon my soul me be one count, me
+have one grand equipage in France, and me be very good for de
+esprit: indeed me be one grand beau-a-la-mode&mdash;one officier in
+de regiment: me be very good for de Engleterres. Indeed you be one
+very good old woman upon my soul; and if you have one inclination
+for one man, me be dat gentleman for you&mdash;one grand man for
+you. Me will be your hosband, and take de care for yourself, for de
+house, for de gardin, for de Schoff, for de drink, and for de
+little childs dat shall come. Upon my soul me kill myself very
+soon, if you no love me for this grand amour. Me be, madam, your
+great slave, votre tres humble serviteur, PRES A. BOIRE."</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>OLD LONDON BRIDGE.</h3>
+<p>It is well known that Peter of Colechurch, the founder of
+<i>Old</i> London Bridge, did not live to witness the completion of
+the structure, but died in 1205, and was buried in a crypt within
+the centre pier of the bridge, over which a chapel was erected,
+dedicated to St. Thomas-&agrave;-Becket. Mr. Brayley, in his
+<i>Londiniana</i>, wrote about five years since that "if due care
+be taken when the old bridge is pulled down, the bones and ashes of
+its venerable architect may still be found;"&mdash;and, true
+enough, <i>the bones of old Peter were found on removing the pier
+about a fortnight since</i>.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>TAME LIONS.</h3>
+<p>Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the first who tamed a lion. He was
+condemned to death, for what his fellow-citizens considered so
+great a crime. They asserted that the republic had to fear the
+worst consequences from a man who had been able to subdue so much
+ferocity. A little more experience, however, convinced them of the
+fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. The triumvir Antony,
+accompanied by an actress, was publicly drawn by lions in a
+chariot.</p>
+<p>SAD-USING.</p>
+<hr />
+<h3>CITY OF LYONS.</h3>
+<p>Lyons is situated on a sort of peninsula, formed by the
+confluence of two great rivers&mdash;the Rhone and the Laone. All
+the bridges, with the exception of one of stone, are of wood; and
+although in general more useful than ornamental, they are justly
+admired for the boldness of their construction. They form numerous
+and convenient communications between the city and the
+faubourgs.</p>
+<p>Lyons is walled round, and strongly fortified. In 1791 it
+contained 121,000 inhabitants; but, in consequence of the siege of
+1793, and the cruelties practised at that memorable period of
+French history, the numbers were reduced to less than 80,000. In
+1802, the numbers were 88,662; and in 1827, the fixed population
+had increased to 97,439;&mdash;but there was a floating population,
+estimated at 43,684, which, with the inmates of the barracks and
+hospitals, stated at 8,600, made the total population at that
+period 149,723; and by adding the population of the suburbs,
+reckoned at 36,000, the whole amount of the inhabitants at the
+period of the census, in 1827, was 185,723; at the present time it
+is said to be, in round numbers, 200,000.</p>
+<p>In 1828, the number of workshops in all branches of the silk
+trade within the walls, amounted to 7,140; that of the silk frames
+or looms to 18,829; and from 10,000 to 12,000 in the communes.</p>
+<p>W.G.C.</p>
+<hr />
+<p>The ditty sung by the first grave-digger in <i>Hamlet</i>,
+beginning&mdash;</p>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"In youth, when I did love, did love"&mdash;</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<p>was written by Lord Vaux, an ancestor of Lord Brougham. It will
+be found entire in <i>Percy's Reliques</i>.</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Number 527, price Twopence,</p>
+<p>A SUPPLEMENT,</p>
+<p>With a STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT of His Present</p>
+<p>Majesty, WILLIAM IV.</p>
+<p>AT FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.</p>
+<p>From a Picture by B. West, P.R.A.</p>
+<p>Anecdotic Memoir; and Title-Page, Preface,</p>
+<p>and Index; completing VOL. XVIII.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<hr class="full" />
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name=
+"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> Quoted by Cunningham in his "Life of
+Wren," from a contemporary authority.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name=
+"footnote2"></a><b>Footnote 2</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> Wards of London.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name=
+"footnote3"></a><b>Footnote 3</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> We omitted to state that our
+interesting particulars of the Heckington Sepulchre were from
+<i>Vetusta Monumenta</i>, a splendid folio work published by the
+Antiquarian Society.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name=
+"footnote4"></a><b>Footnote 4</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> Sketches of New and Old Sleaford,
+County of Lincoln, and of several places in the Neighbourhood, p.
+224. 8vo Baldwin and Co.</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name=
+"footnote5"></a><b>Footnote 5</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag5">(return)</a>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>"Ill-omen'd in his form, the unlucky fowl,</p>
+<p>Abhorr'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl."&mdash;<i>Garth's
+Trans.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote6" name=
+"footnote6"></a><b>Footnote 6</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag6">(return)</a> "They fly by night, and assail infants
+in the nurse's absence."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote7" name=
+"footnote7"></a><b>Footnote 7</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag7">(return)</a> "Even the ill-boding owl is declared a
+bird of good omen."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote8" name=
+"footnote8"></a><b>Footnote 8</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag8">(return)</a> "The Stygian owl gives sad omens in a
+thousand places."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote9" name=
+"footnote9"></a><b>Footnote 9</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag9">(return)</a> "A feather of the night
+owl."</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote10" name=
+"footnote10"></a><b>Footnote 10</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag10">(return)</a>
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>&mdash;&mdash;"And, on her palace top,</p>
+<p>The lonely owl with oft repeated scream</p>
+<p>Complains, and spins into a dismal length</p>
+<p>Her baleful shrieks."&mdash;<i>Trapp's Trans.</i></p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote11" name=
+"footnote11"></a><b>Footnote 11</b>: <a href=
+"#footnotetag11">(return)</a> "And sell bodies torn from their
+tombs."</blockquote>
+<hr class="full" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction, by Various
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and
+Instruction, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
+       Vol. 19, Issue 529, January 14, 1832
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: March 9, 2004 [EBook #11530]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 529 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Allen Siddle, David King, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
+
+VOL. XIX. NO. 529.] SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1832. [PRICE 2_d_.
+
+
+
+
+FISHMONGER'S HALL
+
+
+[Illustration: FISHMONGERS' HALL.]
+
+[Illustration: ARMS OF THE COMPANY.]
+
+These Cuts may be welcome illustrations of the olden magnificence of the
+City of London. The first represents the river or back front of the Hall
+of the Fishmongers' Company: the second cut, the arms of the Company, is
+added by way of an illustrative pendent. These insignia are placed over
+the entrance to the Hall in Lower Thames-street; they are sculptured in
+bold relief, and are not meanly executed. The Hall, or the greater part of
+it, has been taken down to make room for the New London Bridge approaches;
+the frame-work of the door, and the arms still remain--_stat portus umbra_.
+
+The Hall merits further notice; not so much for its architectural
+pretensions as for its being the commencement of a plan which it could be
+wished had been completed. The reader may probably remember that after the
+Great Fire of London, the King (Charles II.) desired WREN, in addition to
+his designs for St. Paul's, to make an accurate survey and drawing of the
+whole area and confines of the waste metropolis; and "day, succeeding day,
+amidst ashes and ruins, did this indefatigable man labour to fulfil his
+task." He prepared his plans for rebuilding the city, and laid them before
+the King. That part of Sir Christopher's plan which relates to the present
+subjects, was as follows: "By the water-side, from the bridge to the
+Temple, he had planned a long and broad wharf or quay, where he designed
+to have arranged all the halls that belong to the several companies of the
+city, with proper warehouses for merchants between, to vary the edifices,
+and make it at once one of the most beautiful ranges of structure in the
+world."[1] King Charles, however, as Mr. Cunningham observes, "was never
+obstinate in any thing for his country's good," and the idea was dropped:
+but Wren erected the above Hall as a specimen of his intention of
+ornamenting the banks of the Thames. The original hall was destroyed by
+the Great Fire.
+
+The ancient importance of the Fishmongers' Company may be thus explained:--
+
+During the days of papacy in England, fish was an article not of optional,
+but compulsive consumption, and this rendered the business of a fishmonger
+one of the principal trades of London. Fish Street Hill, and the immediate
+vicinity, was the great mart for this branch of traffic, from its close
+connexion with the river, and here lived many illustrious citizens,
+particularly Sir William Walworth, and Sir Stephen Fisher.
+
+Strong prejudices were however entertained against the fishmongers, and to
+so great an extent was it carried, that in the fourteenth century, they
+prayed the king, by Nicholas Exton, one of their body, that he would take
+the company under his protection, "lest they might receive corporeal hurt."
+The parliament itself appears to have imbibed the general distrust, for in
+1382 they enacted, "that no fishmonger should be mayor of the city." This
+was repealed, however, the following year.
+
+The fishmongers consisted of two companies, the salt fishmongers,
+incorporated in 1433, and the stock fishmongers in 1509. The two companies
+were united by Henry VIII. in 1536. Before the junction, they are said by
+Stow, who calls them "jolly citizens," to have had six halls, two in
+Thames Street, two in Fish Street, and two in Old Fish Street, and six
+lord-mayors were elected from their body in twenty-four years. But being
+charged with forestalling, contrary to the laws and constitutions of the
+city, they were fined five hundred marks by Edward I. in 1290. In 1384,
+these, as well as others concerned in furnishing the city with provisions,
+were put under the immediate direction of the mayor and aldermen, by an
+act of parliament still in force.[2]
+
+The Hall, on the west side of the ward of Bridge Within, was of brick and
+stone, and may be said to have had two fronts. The fore entrance was from
+Thames Street by a handsome passage, leading into a large square court,
+encompassed by the Great Hall, the Court Room, and other grand apartments,
+with galleries. The back, or river front, had a double flight of stone
+steps, by which was an ascent to the first apartments. The door was
+ornamented with Ionic columns supporting an open pediment, in which was a
+shield, with the arms of the company. The building was finished with
+handsomely rusticated stone, and had a noble effect.
+
+The Hall was of capacious proportions, and extended nearly the whole
+length of the building. The ceiling, as well as that of the adjoining
+Court Room, exhibited some fine specimens of old plaster-work. We
+witnessed the dismantling of the premises previous to their being taken
+down. It was indeed a sorry breaking up. The long tables which had so
+often, to use a hackneyed phrase, "groaned" beneath the weight of civic
+fare--the cosy high-backed stuffed chairs which had held many a portly
+citizen--nay, the very soup-kettles and venison dishes--all were to be
+submitted to the noisy ordeal of the auction hammer.
+
+We remember in the upper end of the hall, and just behind the chair, there
+stood in a niche, a full-sized statue, carved in wood by Edward Pierce,
+statuary, of Sir William Walworth, a member of this company, and
+lord-mayor during the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The knight grasped a real
+dagger, said to be the identical weapon with which he stabbed the rebel;
+though a publican of Islington pretended to be possessed of this dagger,
+and in 1731, lent it to be publicly exhibited in Smithfield, in a show
+called "Wat Tyler," during Bartholomew Fair. Below the niche was this
+inscription:
+
+    "Brave Walworth, knight, lord-mayor, yt slew
+    Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;
+  The king, therefore, did give in lieu
+    The dagger to the cytye's arms.
+  In the 4th year of Richard II. Anno Domini 1381."
+
+A common, but erroneous belief is perpetuated in this inscription, for the
+dagger was in the city arms long before the time of Sir William Walworth,
+and was intended to represent the sword of St. Paul, the patron saint of
+the corporation.
+
+The funeral pall of Sir W. Walworth curiously embroidered with gold, is
+preserved amongst the relics, as well as a plan of the splendid show at
+his installation, 1380.
+
+The Fishmongers' Company is fourth upon the list of the city corporations,
+under the name and style of "the Wardens and Commonalty of the mystery of
+Fishmongers of the city of London." It is a livery company, and very rich,
+governed by a prime and five other wardens, and a court of assistants.
+
+The company supports a free Grammar School at Holt Market, in Norfolk,
+founded by Sir John Gresham; Jesus Hospital, at Bray, in Berkshire,
+founded by William Goddard, Esq. for forty poor persons; St. Peter's
+Hospital, near Newington, Surrey, founded by the company; twelve
+alms-houses at Harrietsham, in Kent, founded by Mr. Mark Quested; a
+fellowship in Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge founded by Mr. Leonard
+Smith; a scholarship in the same college, founded by William Bennet, Esq.
+Mr. Smith, executor.
+
+The _Arms_ of the Company are in a shield supported by a merman and
+mermaid, the latter with a mirror in her hand. The Keys refer to St. Peter,
+the Patron Saint of the Company.
+
+
+[1] Quoted by Cunningham in his "Life of Wren," from a contemporary
+    authority.
+
+[2] Wards of London.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+HOLY SEPULCHRE, HECKINGTON CHURCH.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+
+From the description of the Holy Sepulchre in Heckington Church, given in
+your last volume, stating that it stood there in the summer of 1789, such
+of your readers as have no means of knowing to the contrary, may infer
+that it is not now in existence.[1] I am led to trouble you with a few
+lines on the subject, as this specimen still in the best preservation,
+deserves us full an account as your limits will admit. The sepulchre
+nearly, and the stalls also mentioned by you, which have been cleaned
+completely, remain now in the same state as the artist originally left
+them. An architect, Mr. T. Rickman, who visited the neighbourhood a short
+time ago, gives the following account, which was printed in a work[2] on
+the topography of the neighbourhood, soon after his visit: he says, "The
+sepulchre, of which there are not many specimens now remaining, consists
+of a series of richly ornamented niches, the largest of which represents
+the tomb, having angels standing beside it; the side niches have the
+Maries and other appropriate figures, and in the lower niches are the
+Roman soldiers reposing; these niches have rich canopies, and are
+separated by buttresses and rich finials, having all the spaces covered by
+very rich foliage." He further observes, that "the stalls exhibit a
+specimen of pure decorated work, as rich as the finest sculpture of
+foliage and small figures can render it, and hardly surpassed by any in
+the kingdom, and the sepulchre is of the same excellent character. The
+various small ornaments about these stalls and niches form one of the best
+possible studies for enrichments of this date: and it is almost peculiar
+to this church, that there is nothing about it, except what is quite
+modern, that is not of the same style of architecture."
+
+As the above gentleman's description of the present state of the church at
+Heckington will give a clearer idea of many others in the county of
+Lincoln, we perhaps cannot do better than close this account with it.
+"This beautiful church, of pure decorated character, is one of the most
+perfect models in the kingdom, having, with one exception, (that of the
+groined or interior ceiling which is wanting, and appears never to have
+been prepared for,) every feature of a fine church, of one uniform style,
+without any admixture of _later_ or _earlier_ work. Its mutilations are
+comparatively small, consisting only in the destruction of the tracey of
+the north transept window, and some featherings in other windows, and the
+building and wall to enclose a vestry. The plan of the church is a west
+tower and spire, nave and aisles, spacious transepts, and a large chancel,
+with a vestry attached to the north side. The nave has a well proportioned
+clesestory. There is a south porch, a rich font, the tomb of an
+ecclesiastic, and the assemblage of niches before described. In the
+chancel and some of the church walls are very good brackets. The vestry
+has a crypt below it. Fully to describe this church would require a much
+larger space than can be allotted to it, but it may be well to remark,
+that every part of the design and execution is of the very best character,
+equal to any in the kingdom."
+
+That this church was built on or near to the site of the one given by
+Gilbert de Guant, the style of architecture being of much later date,
+fully demonstrates; and it is more than probable that on its rebuilding,
+the patent of Edward III. was obtained. Certain it is that no specimen of
+an earlier style now remains; but tradition says that the foundation of
+the church was laid in the year 1101, and the building completed in A.D.
+1104, at a cost only of L433. 9_s_. 7_d_. This statement, if worthy of
+credit, must be referred to an earlier and less costly edifice than the
+present.
+
+J.H.S.
+
+
+[1] We omitted to state that our interesting particulars of the Heckington
+    Sepulchre were from _Vetusta Monumenta_, a splendid folio work
+    published by the Antiquarian Society.
+
+[2] Sketches of New and Old Sleaford, County of Lincoln, and of several
+    places in the Neighbourhood, p. 224. 8vo Baldwin and Co.
+
+      *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TRAVELING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+Guernsey, Dec. 17, 1831.
+
+
+Your ingenious and talented correspondent, _Vyvyan_, in writing on the
+shrimp, (the _Mirror_, p. 361, vol. xviii.) remarks that "The sea roamer
+may often have observed numbers of little air-holes in the sand, which
+expand as the sun advances. If he stirs it with his foot, he will cause a
+brood of young shrimps, who will instantly hop and jump about the beach in
+the most lively manner," &c.: these "jumpers" as they are facetiously
+called, are not shrimps, but sea-fleas, and they possess the elasticity
+for which their namesakes are so remarkable. They are as different as
+possible from young shrimps; and if "old shrimps" _could_ "tell tales," I
+doubt not but that on inquiring of them, they would tell their "companions
+at breakfast table" the same thing. Your correspondent further adds, that
+"strange stories are told of the _old_ shrimp," and I think, on
+investigation, he will find that he has told a very "strange story" of
+_young_ shrimps. In a future communication I will give you a correct
+account or history of the shrimp, (if it be acceptable,) from the time
+when it is first spawned until it arrives at perfection.
+
+H.W.
+
+(_To the Editor_.)
+
+_Vyvyan_ has not in his _Notes_ named any county but South Wales,
+generally, where he says, "Any person who can enclose a portion of land
+around his cottage or otherwise, in one night, becomes owner thereof in
+fee." These persons in Wales are called Encroachers, and are liable to
+have ejectments served upon them by the Lord of the Manor, (which is often
+the case) to recover possession. The majority of the Encroachers pay a
+nominal yearly rent to the Lord of the Manor for allowing them to occupy
+the land. If they possess these encroachments for sixty years without any
+interruption, or paying rent, then they become possessed of the same. It
+is usual to present the Encroachments at a Court Leet held for the manor,
+and upon perambulating the manor, which is generally done every three or
+four years, these encroachments are thrown out again to the waste or
+common.
+
+J.P.
+
+*** We readily insert these corrections of Vyvyan's "Notes," especially as
+we believe our readers to take considerable interest in their accuracy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE SKETCH-BOOK.
+
+
+MY FIRE.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+On new year's morning, soon after daybreak, I entered my study, which is a
+little room some eight feet square, and from a wayward fancy of my own,
+closely resembles the cell of an alchymist. Its walls are hung with black
+drapery, on which appear the mystical signs of the planetary bodies,
+Hebrew, Persian, and various cabalistic characters, the dark enigmas of
+the work of transmutation, and the invocations or prayers for success
+employed by the alchymist. Here and there pieces of their quaint and
+uncouth shaped apparatus, the aludel, the alembic, and the alkaner, the
+pelican, the crucible, and the water-bath, occupy their respective
+stations. The clumsy, heavy, oaken table in the centre is covered with
+copies of scarce and valuable alchymical tracts, in company with the
+_caput mortum_ and the hour-glass. A few antiques, consisting of
+half-a-dozen cloth-yard arrows, the stout yew bow of the green clad yeoman,
+the ponderous mace and helmet of the valiant knight, and other relics of
+the days of chivalry, complete the decorations of this my sanctum.
+
+In consequence of its dark and gloomy aspect, and the feeling of awe with
+which the family and servants regard its mystical contents, I have its
+undisturbed enjoyment; nobody feels a wish to enter it even in the day
+time, and I verily believe they would not do so at the witching hour of
+night, lest the mystical signs should take summary vengeance on their
+unhallowed intrusion.
+
+The neighbours imagine me to be an adept in the "black art," an astrologer,
+or a fortune-teller, but I have no pretentions whatever to any such titles;
+this report has got abroad in consequence of a maid-servant having once
+had the temerity to peep through the key-hole, and observed on the wall
+opposite her "line of sight," some triangular characters. She had been in
+the habit of poring over a dream book, and the art of casting nativities;
+the Prophetic Almanac was her oracle, and its terrific title-page she
+informed her fellow servant "had just those queer triangle things as was
+hung on the walls of young master's study." She was "sure that he could
+tell her fortune." This important intelligence, delivered with due
+confidence to her fellow servant, of course spread like wildfire among the
+other occupants of the "lower regions," and from them amongst the
+handmaidens of sundry other dwellings. Thus has my astrological character
+been established.
+
+As all domestics are excluded my sanctum, of course I am obliged to "do
+for myself," and this I prefer to being "done for," or having my room "set
+to rights," according to their notions of neatness; my feelings on this
+point are exactly those of Scott's _Antiquary_; I therefore "do for
+myself," and consequently, it follows I must light my own fire. Than on
+the morning I have mentioned, the "grand agent" of the chemist was never
+more required. The air bit shrewdly, and it was "bitter cold" upon
+entering the sanctum, although I had not quitted it many hours, having
+watched the "old year out and the new year in," and then taken a short
+nap; yet Jack Frost had been active during my absence, and cooled down the
+air of the sanctum some degrees below the freezing point, at the same time
+coating the window panes with his beautiful crystalline figures. The dark
+walls did look most awful, seen through the dun yellow light of the fog,
+which met my view upon drawing aside the cabalistically hung curtains. I
+cast a look at the Rumford grate; its black cold bars "grinned most
+horrible and ghastly." A sympathy was instantly established between them
+and my nasal organ, for I found a drop of pure crystal pendant from its
+extremity. Here, thought I, is an admirable question for "_The Plain Why
+and Because_." _Why_ does a drop of water hang from the nose on a frosty
+morning? Because the natural heat of the body sends up vapour into the
+head, and that being exposed most to cold, the vapour condenses, and a
+drop of water runs from the nostril, as it would do from the head of a
+still. Upon looking at anything very cold, sympathy excites the same
+action. This "Why and Because" was succeeded by another--Why does my
+fire-grate grin so coldly? Because you will not be "done for," else Eliza
+could have raised a flame there for you an hour ago. The truth of this
+reply was so forcible that I resolved to "do for myself" without delay,
+and evolve the "grand agent." I went to the door, expecting to see my
+usual supply of fuel; none was to be found. What means this? said I, and
+was about to make my wants known, but changed my intent as quickly, and
+being a little excited by such neglect, determined not to be dependent
+upon the domestics, but make a fire of my own. Now then for the materials.
+Paper, as all persons know, who have "lit their own fires," is the
+foundation; it was also mine: sundry letters in reply to sundry
+unsuccessful applications written on "thick double laid post," as the
+advertisements say, I seized upon, and thrust their crumpled forms between
+the sooty bars of the grate with some wood, the model of a mechanical
+invention of my own, which had been rejected by a Society, and why, I knew
+not; I severed limb from limb, and disposed their fragments across and
+athwart on the letters previously mutilated. How to obtain my coal posed
+me for a moment; but I recollected that in a geological cabinet under my
+window, I was the possessor of a mass of pure Staffordshire, weighing some
+twenty pounds. The doors of the cabinet flew open, and out it came; I had
+a strong affection for this lump of coal, having extracted it myself from
+the mines, and carried it many a weary mile on my return home. I felt loth
+to commit it to the flames; but this was necessity, "stern necessity:"
+one or two blows of the mineralogical hammer destroyed my scruples, and
+produced the proper cleavages in the mass of coal. I laid the precious
+stratum, _super stratum_ upon the two former, and other deposits of
+_papyrus_ and _lignum_; such was my "coal formation." The magic touch of
+a Promethean elicited my "grand agent" to the thick laid post; it consumed
+rather sluggishly, but the dry pine wood of the broken model caught the
+flame and entered into fair combustion, cracking and sparkling, and now
+and then sending out a hiss of pyroligenous vapour; hissing yourself
+thought I. The fiery example was soon followed by the coal at first slowly
+sending up wreaths of dirty, green, yellow smoke, but as the fire waxed
+warmer these disappeared, and vivid hissing jets of ignited gas shot forth
+in abundance. The hissing annoyed me; why, I could not divine; but as the
+heat increased I cooled from the state of excitement produced by the testy
+destruction of my papers, model, and specimen. I sat down at the fire; had
+I not better, said I, have made my wants known to the servant, than have
+acted as I have done? No, I hate asking for what, as a duty should have
+been ready to my hands. I endeavoured to persuade myself that I did not
+regret the deed I had done, but could not succeed; something whispered me
+that I should suffer for it. I felt myself an "uncomfortable gentleman."
+I began to trace my fire from its origin up to its present state of
+perfection; the letters were of no consequence--none--the model I made
+myself and can make another--certainly--the coal I paid dearly for by
+fatigue, but I can get another lump, and send it home by coach, yes; then
+why am I so uncomfortable. I looked at the glowing fire which was getting
+insufferably hot, and gave it a passionate poke, exclaiming, I wish I
+could stop your draught. Draught! draft, I repeated, what has become of my
+draft that I received yesterday for my last paper? I began to recollect
+myself where I had laid it, and quickly came to the awful conclusion that
+I had placed it carefully between the folds of one of the sacrificed
+letters.
+
+Misery and destruction, said I, that draft has caused my rapid fire! it is
+gone and forever! Fool that I was; why did I not "blow up" the servants
+for paper, wood, and coals, and be "done for properly" instead of thus
+"doing for myself." Ye alchymistical spirits, said I, invoking the dark
+drapery, aid me to extract my gold from yonder ashes! but they were deaf
+to my calls, and the old _caput mortum_ seemed to grin in mockery. I could
+bear it no longer, and rushing from the sanctum, met the servant girl on
+the stairs. "A draft! a draft!" repeated I; she thought me mad; I was mad
+with vexation. "Sir," said she, "you will catch cold if there is a draught
+such a day as this." A cold day as this, you wretch, Eliza, why did you
+not bring my coals to the door this morning, then I could have had my fire
+without a draft; I want a ten guinea draft, not a foggy, frosty draught.
+The girl stood amazed, but replied, "Please, sir, I didn't bring the coals
+this morning because you said never to do so on a Sunday, sir." "Sunday,"
+I exclaimed, "is this Sunday?" "Lord bless me, sir, yes, and new year's
+day too, sir; happy new year, sir," said the provoking little wench, who
+was now joined by another. I could stand it no longer, but slunk back into
+the sanctum, "like a burnt child that dreaded the fire," hearing them
+exclaim, "I thought how it would be, them odd things in his room has quite
+turned his brain, poor young gentleman, he did not even know it was Sunday,
+and new year's day neither."
+
+I really did not know it was Sunday, for my calculaters were destroyed by
+the circumstance of our having kept Christmas Day on the Monday. I was
+aware that it was new year's day, and had intended to begin 1832 with good
+works, instead of which I commenced it with destroying my property, thus
+literally "doing for myself," and unlike most other people who invariably
+suffer from a draught, I am suffering from the loss of one.
+
+PYRAMIS.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.
+
+
+ADVENT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+In the North Riding of Yorkshire, the young folks retain a very ancient
+custom during Advent. They make a wax figure representing the infant Jesus,
+and place it in a small wooden case, with evergreens, which hide all but
+the figure. A napkin is thrown over the box; and the puppet is thus
+carried about, and exhibited from door to door, by a boy, the others
+chanting some supplicatory lines. The same custom prevails in Wales.
+
+In Italy, a wax figure representing the Virgin, inclosed in a beautifully
+carved wooden case, is placed on the back of an ass, and exhibited through
+the country during Advent. Every traveller on seeing it prostrates himself
+immediately, and crosses himself, and considers himself in duty bound to
+bestow his charity on the proprietor. Others carry emblematical figures
+through the different towns, or sit by the road side, and uncover the
+effigy to every passer-by.
+
+W.H.H.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CURIOUS MANORIAL RIGHT.
+
+(_For the Mirror_.)
+
+
+At Ripley Castle, in Yorkshire, the seat of Sir William Ingilby, there is
+in the great staircase an elegant Venetian window, in the divisions of
+which, on stain-glass, are a series of escutcheons, displaying the
+principal quarterings and intermarriages of the Ingilby family since their
+settling at Ripley, during a course of 430 years.
+
+In one of the chambers of the tower is the following sentence, carved on
+the frieze of the wainscot:--"In the yeire of owre Ld. MDLV. was this
+howse buyldyd, by Sir Wyllyam Ingilby, Knight, Philip and Marie reigning
+that time."
+
+John Pallisser, of Bristhwaite, formerly held his lands of the manor of
+Ripley, by the payment of a red rose at Midsummer, and by carrying the
+boar's head to the lord's table all the twelve days of Christmas.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+NOTES OF A READER.
+
+
+EUGENE ARAM.
+
+
+We intend to quote a few scenes and snatches from Mr. Bulwer's
+extraordinary novel of this name. At present, however, we can only
+introduce the ill-fated hero.
+
+(Two young ladies, daughters of the lord of the Manor, approach Aram's
+house:--)
+
+"Madeline would even now fain have detained her sister's hand from the
+bell that hung without the porch half embedded in ivy; but Ellinor, out of
+patience--as she well might be--with her sister's unseasonable prudence,
+refused any longer delay. So singularly still and solitary was the plain
+around the house, that the sound of the bell breaking the silence had in
+it something startling, and appeared, in its sudden and shrill voice, a
+profanation to the deep tranquillity of the spot. They did not wait
+long--a step was heard within--the door was slowly unbarred, and the
+Student himself stood before them."
+
+"He was a man who might, perhaps, have numbered some five and thirty years;
+but at a hasty glance, he would have seemed considerably younger. He was
+above the ordinary stature; though a gentle, and not ungraceful bend in
+the neck rather than the shoulders, somewhat curtailed his proper
+advantages of height. His frame was thin and slender, but well knit and
+fair proportioned. Nature had originally cast his form in an athletic
+mould, but sedentary habits and the wear of mind seemed somewhat to have
+impaired her gifts. His cheek was pale and delicate; yet it was rather the
+delicacy of thought than of weak health. His hair, which was long, and of
+a rich and deep brown, was worn back from his face and temples, and left a
+broad high majestic forehead utterly unrelieved and bare; and on the brow
+there was not a single wrinkle--it was as smooth as it might have been
+some fifteen years ago. There was a singular calmness, and, so to speak,
+profundity of thought, eloquent upon its clear expanse, which suggested
+the idea of one who had passed his life rather in contemplation than
+emotion. It was a face that a physiognomist would have loved to look upon,
+so much did it speak both of the refinement and the dignity of intellect."
+
+"Such was the person--if pictures convey a faithful resemblance--of a man,
+certainly the most eminent in his day for various and profound learning,
+and a genius wholly self-taught, yet never contented to repose upon the
+wonderful stores it had laboriously accumulated."
+
+(Aram thus describes his own character:--)
+
+"Ah!" said Aram, gently shaking his head, "it is a hard life we bookmen
+lead. Not for us is the bright face of noon-day or the smile of woman, the
+gay unbending of the heart, the neighing steed and the shrill trump; the
+pride, pomp, and circumstance of life. Our enjoyments are few and calm;
+our labour constant; but that is it not, Sir?--that is it not? the body
+avenges its own neglect. We grow old before our time; we wither up; the
+sap of our youth shrinks from our veins; there is no bound in our step. We
+look about us with dimmed eyes, and our breath grows short and thick, and
+pains, and coughs, and shooting aches come upon us at night; it is a
+bitter life--a bitter life--joyless life. I would I had never commenced it.
+And yet the harsh world scowls upon us: our nerves are broken, and they
+wonder we are querulous; our blood curdles, and they ask why we are not
+gay; our brain grows dizzy and indistinct (as with me just now), and,
+shrugging their shoulders, they whisper their neighbours that we are mad.
+I wish I had worked at the plough, and known sleep, and loved
+mirth--and--and not been what I am."
+
+"As the Student tittered the last sentence, he bowed down his head, and a
+few tears stole silently down his cheek. Walter was greatly affected--it
+took him by surprise: nothing in Aram's ordinary demeanour betrayed any
+facility to emotion; and he conveyed to all the idea of a man, if not
+proud, at least cold."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD JESTS.
+
+
+Persons who gloat over dust and black-letter need scarcely be told that
+the best of "modern" jests are almost literally from the antique: in short,
+that what we employ to "set the table on a roar" were employed by the wise
+men of old to enliven _their_ cups, deep and strong;--that to jest was a
+part of the Platonic philosophy, and that the excellent fancies, the
+flashes of merriment, of our forefathers, are nightly, nay hourly,
+re-echoed for our amusement. Yet such is the whole art of pleasing: what
+has pleased will, with certain modifications, continue to please again and
+again, until the end of time.
+
+But we may displease; and, as Hamlet says, "We must speak by the card."
+The _Athenaeum_ a fortnight since drew forth a batch of these jests with
+antique humour richly dight, and here they are. The reader will recognise
+many old acquaintances, but he need not touch his hat, lest, his politeness
+weary him. These old stories are but "pick'd to be new vann'd."
+
+_Hierocles' Facetiae_.
+
+1. An irritable man went to visit a sick friend, and asked him concerning
+his health. The patient was so ill that he could not reply; whereupon the
+other in a rage said, "I hope that I may soon fall sick, and then I will
+not answer you when you visit me."
+
+2. A speculative gentleman, wishing to teach his horse to do without food,
+starved him to death. "I had a great loss," said he; "for, just as he
+learned to live without eating, he died."
+
+3. A curious inquirer, desirous to know how he looked when asleep, sat
+with closed eyes before a mirror.
+
+4. A young man told his friend that he dreamed that he had struck his foot
+against a sharp nail. "Why then do you sleep without your shoes?" was the
+reply.
+
+5. A robustious countryman, meeting a physician, ran to hide behind a wall;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "It is so long since I have been sick,
+that I am ashamed to look a physician in the face."
+
+6. A gentleman had a cask of Aminean wine, from which his servant stole a
+large quantity. When the master perceived the deficiency, he diligently
+inspected the top of the cask but could find no traces of an opening.
+"Look if there be not a hole in the bottom," said a bystander. "Blockhead,"
+he replied, "do you not see that the deficiency is at the top, and not
+at the bottom?"
+
+7. A young man meeting an acquaintance, said, "I heard that you were dead."
+--"But," says the other, "you see me alive."--"I do not know how that may
+be," replied he: "you are a notorious liar, but my informant was a person
+of credit."
+
+8. A man, hearing that a raven would live two hundred years, bought one to
+try.
+
+9. During a storm, the passengers on board a vessel that appeared in
+danger seized different implements to aid them in swimming, and one of the
+number selected for this purpose the anchor.
+
+10. One of twin-brothers died: a fellow meeting the survivor asked, "Which
+is it, you or your brother, that's dead?"
+
+11. A man whose son was dead, seeing a crowd assembled to witness the
+funeral, said, "I am ashamed to bring my little child into such a numerous
+assembly."
+
+12. The son of a fond father, when going to war, promised to bring home
+the head of one of the enemy. His parent replied, "I should be glad to see
+you come home without a head, provided you come safe."
+
+13. A man wrote to his friend in Greece begging him to purchase books.
+From negligence or avarice, he neglected to execute the commission; but
+fearing that his correspondent might be offended, he exclaimed when next
+they met, "My dear friend, I never got the letter that you wrote me about
+the books."
+
+14. A wittol, a barber, and a bald-headed man travelled together. Losing
+their way, they were forced to sleep in the open air; and, to avert danger,
+it was agreed to keep watch by turns. The lot first fell on the barber,
+who, for amusement, shaved the fool's head while he slept; he then woke
+him, and the fool, raising his hand to scratch his head, exclaimed, "Here's
+a pretty mistake; rascal! you have waked the bald-headed man instead of
+me."
+
+15. A citizen, seeing some sparrows in a tree, went beneath and shook it,
+folding out his hat to catch them as they fell.
+
+16. A foolish fellow, having a house to sell, took a brick from the wall
+to exhibit as a sample.
+
+17. A man meeting his friend, said, "I spoke to you last night in a dream."
+"Pardon me," replied the other, "I did not hear you."
+
+18. A man that had nearly been drowned while bathing, declared that he
+would not again go into the water until he had learned to swim.
+
+(To understand the next, we must premise that a horse with his first teeth
+was called by the Greeks "a first thrower.")
+
+19. A man selling a horse was asked if it was a first thrower. "By Jove,"
+said he, "he's a second thrower, for he threw both me and my father."
+
+20. A fellow had to cross a river, and entered the boat on horseback;
+being asked the cause, he replied, "I must ride, because I am in a hurry."
+
+21. A student in want of money sold his books, and wrote home, "Father,
+rejoice; for I now derive my support from literature."
+
+We thank the wits of the _Athenaeum_ for these piquancies: they are in the
+right true Attic vein, and are therefore characteristic of that clever
+Journal.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+KNOWLEDGE FOR THE PEOPLE.
+
+(_From_ Part xiii.--_Botany._)
+
+
+_Why have vegetables the function of transpiration?_
+
+Because the sap, on arriving in the leaves, loses and gives out the
+superabundant quantity of water which it contained.
+
+_Why are limpid drops often observed hanging at the points of leaves at
+sunrise?_
+
+Because of the vegetable transpiration condensed by the coldness of the
+night. It was long thought that they were produced by dew; but Mushenbroek
+first proved the above, by conclusive experiments. He intercepted all
+communication between a poppy and the ambient air, by covering it with a
+bell; and between it and the earth, by covering the vessel in which it
+grew with a leaden plate. Next morning the drop appeared upon it as
+before--_Richard._
+
+One of the hydrangea tribe perspires so freely, that the leaves wither and
+become crisp in a very short space of time, if the plant be not amply
+supplied with water: it has 160,000 apertures on every inch square of
+surface, on the under disk of the leaf.
+
+_Why is more or less of a gummy, resinous, or saccharine matter found in
+every tree?_
+
+Because it is formed by branches of those returning vessels that deposit
+the new alburnum.
+
+_Why is it inferred that these juices must be prepared in the plant itself,
+by various secretions, and changes of the fluids which it absorbs?_
+
+Because we find, that in the same climate, nay, even in the same spot of
+ground, rue has its bitter--sorrel its acid--and the lettuce its cooling
+juices; and that the juices of the various parts of one plant, or even of
+one fruit, are extremely different. Sir James Smith mentions the
+peach-tree as a familiar example. "The gum of this tree is mild and
+mucilaginous. The bark, leaves, and flowers, abound with a bitter
+secretion, of a purgative and rather dangerous quality, than which nothing
+can be more distinct from the gum. The fruit is replete, not only with
+acid, mucilage, and sugar, but with its own peculiar aromatic and highly
+volatile secretion, elaborated within itself, on which its fine flavour
+depends."--_Introduction to Botany, 6th edit_.
+
+_Why are these juices readily found in the bark?_
+
+Because they appear to be matured, or brought to greater perfection, in
+layers of wood or bark that have no longer any principal share in the
+circulation of the sap. Thus, the vessels containing them are often very
+large, as the turpentine cells of the fir tribe, in all the species of
+which these secretions abound. The substance from which spruce-beer is
+made, is an extract of the branches of the _Abies Canadensis_, or Hemlock
+Spruce; a similar preparation is obtained from the branches of _Dacrydium_,
+in the South Seas.
+
+_Why, in the spring, is the herbage under trees generally more luxuriant
+than it is beyond the spread of their branches?_
+
+Because the driving mists and fogs becoming condensed on the branches,
+cause a frequent drip beneath the tree not experienced in other places;
+and thus keep up a perpetual irrigation and refreshment of the soil.
+
+_Why are certain plants useful or injurious to others that grow in their
+vicinity?_
+
+Because of certain fluids which the roots excrete from their slender
+extremities; and in this manner the likings and antipathies of certain
+plants may be accounted for. Thus, it is well known that the creeping
+thistle is hurtful to oats, _erigeron acre_ to wheat, _scabiosa arvensis_
+to flax, &c.
+
+_Why are some resins odorous?_
+
+Because they contain essential oil; some afford benzoic acid when heated,
+and these have been termed balsams; such as tolu balsam and benzoin.
+
+Common resin is obtained by distilling the exudation of different species
+of fir; oil of turpentine passes over, and the resin remains behind.
+
+_Why are the varieties of the cashew tribe, called varnish-trees?_
+
+Because their large flowers abound in a resinous, sometimes acrid, and
+highly poisonous juice, which afterwards turns black, and is used for
+varnishing in India. One kind is the common cashew nut. All these
+varnishes are extremely dangerous to some constitutions; the skin, if
+rubbed with them, inflames, and becomes covered with pimples that are
+difficult to heal; the fumes have also been known to produce painful
+swelling and inflammation.
+
+_Why do these varnishes, at first white, afterwards turn black?_
+
+Because the recent juice is an organized substance, consisting of an
+immense congeries of small parts, which disperse the sun's rays in all
+directions, like a thin film of unmelted tallow; while the varnish which
+has been exposed to the air loses its organized structure, becomes
+homogeneous, and then transmits the sun's rays, of a rich, deep, uniform,
+red colour.
+
+The leaves of some species of Schinus are so filled with a resinous fluid,
+that the least degree of unusual repletion of the tissue causes it to be
+discharged; thus, some of them fill the air with fragrance after rain; and
+other kinds expel their resin with such violence when immersed in water,
+as to have the appearance of spontaneous motion, in consequence of the
+recoil. Another kind is said to cause swellings in those who sleep under
+its shade.--_Brewster's Journal._
+
+_Why is the soap-tree so called?_
+
+Because its bark, if pulverized, and shaken in water, soon yields a
+solution, frothing, as if it contained soap. It is a native of Chili; the
+trunk is straight, and of considerable height; the wood is hard, red, and
+never splits; and the bark is rugged, fibrous, of ash-grey colour
+externally, and white within.
+
+_Why is a species of myrtle called the wax-tree?_
+
+Because the leaves and stem, when bruised, and boiled in water, yield wax,
+which concretes on cooling. Mr. Brande observes, "the glossy varnish upon
+the upper surface of many trees is of a similar nature; and though there
+are shades of difference, these varieties of wax possess the essential
+properties of that formed by the bee: indeed, it was formerly supposed
+that bees merely collected the wax already formed by the vegetable: but
+Huber's experiments show, that the insect has the power of transmuting
+sugar into wax, and that this is in fact a secretion."
+
+The wax-palm of Humboldt has its trunk covered by a coating of wax, which
+exudes from the spaces between the insertion of the leaves. It is,
+according to Vaquelin, a concrete, inflammable substance, consisting of
+1/3 wax, and 2/3 resin.
+
+_Why are some oils called vegetable butters?_
+
+Because they become solid at the ordinary temperatures. Such are cocoa-nut
+oil, palm oil, and nutmeg oil.
+
+_Why are some volatile oils obtained by expression?_
+
+Because they are contained in distinct vesicles in the rind of fruits, as
+in the lemon, orange, and bergamot.
+
+_Why is the oil of poppy-seed perfectly wholesome?_
+
+Because it is in no degree narcotic; nor has it any of the properties of
+the poppy itself. This oil is consumed on the Continent in considerable
+quantity, and employed extensively in adulterating olive oil. Its use was
+at one time prohibited in France, by decrees issued in compliance with
+popular clamour; but it is now openly sold, the government and people
+having grown wiser.
+
+_Why is the juice of the poppy called opium?_
+
+Because of its derivation from the Persian _afioun_, and the Arabian
+_aphium_. The botanical name of the poppy, _papaver_, is said to be
+derived from its being commonly mixed with the pap, papa, given to
+children in order to ease pain, and procure sleep.
+
+_Why does opium produce sleep?_
+
+Because it contains an alkaline substance called Morphia. The same drug
+contains a peculiar acid called the Meconic; and a vegetable alkali named
+Narcotine, to which unpleasant stimulating properties are attributed by
+Majendie.
+
+_Why is sugar so generally found in plants?_
+
+Because it is not only the seasoning of most eatable fruits, but abounds
+in various roots, as the carrot, beet, parsnip, and in many plants of the
+grass, or cane kind, besides the famous sugar cane.
+
+Sir James Smith observes that "there is great reason to suppose sugar not
+so properly an original secretion, as the result of a chemical change in
+secretions already formed, either of an acid or mucilaginous nature, or
+possibly a mixture of both. In ripening fruits, this change is most
+striking, and takes place very speedily, seeming to be greatly promoted by
+heat and light. By the action of frost, as Dr. Darwin observes, a
+different change is wrought in the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it
+becomes starch."
+
+M. Berard considers gum and lignin as the principles in unripe fruits
+which chiefly tend to the formation of sugar during their ripening, and he
+has given several analyses of fruits in illustration of these views. Mr.
+Brande also considers the elements of water as probably concerned in the
+change.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE NATURALIST.
+
+
+THE SUGAR CANE.
+
+
+At the island of Tahiti (Otaheite) South Pacific Ocean, there are several
+varieties of the sugar cane, differing, however, in their qualities. The
+number of varieties are eight, and are as follow:--
+
+1. Rutu--of good quality.
+
+2. Avae--of indifferent quality.
+
+3. Irimotu--a rich cane, but does not grow to a large size.
+
+4. Patu--a good cane, of a red colour.
+
+5. To-ura--a dark-striped cane, hard and good.
+
+6. Toute--a bad cane, of a red colour.
+
+7. Veu--a good cane.
+
+8. Vaihi--this attains a large size, and is considered of the best quality.
+It is said by the natives to have been introduced from the Sandwich
+Islands.
+
+At Manilla (Island of Luconia) the planters mention three cultivated
+varieties of the sugar cane:--
+
+1. Cana negra--black sugar cane.
+
+2.  "   morada--brown    "
+
+3.  "   blancha--white   "
+
+of which the black or cana negra is considered the best, from its strength
+and the quantity of syrup contained in it.
+
+_Mr. G.B.'s MS. Journal_, 1829-30.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+THE BARN OWL;
+
+_and the Benefits it confers on Man. By Charles Waterton, Esq._
+
+
+This pretty aerial wanderer of the night often comes into my room; and
+after flitting to and fro, on wing so soft and silent that he is scarcely
+heard, he takes his departure from the same window at which he had entered.
+
+I own I have a great liking for this bird; and I have offered it
+hospitality and protection on account of its persecutions, and for its
+many services to me,--I say services, as you will see in the sequel. I
+wish that any little thing I could write or say might cause it to stand
+better with the world at large than it has hitherto done: but I have
+slender hopes on this score; because old and deep-rooted prejudices are
+seldom overcome; and when I look back into the annals of remote antiquity,
+I see too clearly that defamation has done its worst to ruin the whole
+family, in all its branches, of this poor, harmless, useful friend of mine.
+
+Ovid, nearly two thousand years ago, was extremely severe against the owl.
+In his _Metamorphoses_ he says:--
+
+  "Foedaque fit volucris, venturi nuncia luctus,
+  Ignavus bubo, dirum mortalibus omen."[1]
+
+In his _Fasti_ he openly accuses it of felony:--
+
+   "Nocte volant, puerosque petunt nutricis egentes."[2]
+
+Lucan, too, has hit it hard:--
+
+  "Et laetae juranter aves, bubone sinistro:"[3]
+
+and the Englishman who continued the _Pharsalia_, says--
+
+  "Tristia mille locis Stylus dedit omina bubo."[4]
+
+Horace tells us that the old witch Canidia used part of the plumage of the
+owl in her dealings with the devil:--
+
+  "Plumamque nocturnae strigis."[5]
+
+Virgil, in fine, joined in the hue and cry against this injured family:--
+
+  "Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo Saepe queri, et longas in fletum
+  ducere voces."[6]
+
+In our own times we find that the village maid cannot return home from
+seeing her dying swain, without a doleful salutation from the owl:--
+
+  "Thus homeward as she hopeless went,
+    The churchyard path along,
+  The blast grew cold, the dark owl scream'd
+    Her lover's funeral song."
+
+Amongst the numberless verses which might be quoted against the family of
+the owl, I think I only know of one little ode which expresses any pity
+for it. Our nursery maid used to sing it to the tune of the Storm, "Cease
+rude Boreas, blust'ring railer." I remember the first two stanzas of it:--
+
+  "Once I was a monarch's daughter,
+    And sat on a lady's knee;
+  But am now a nightly rover,
+    Banish'd to the ivy tree--
+        Crying, hoo hoo, hoo hoo, hoo hoo,
+          Hoo hoo hoo, my feet are cold!
+        Pity me, for here you see me,
+          Persecuted, poor, and old."
+
+I beg the reader's pardon for this exordium. I have introduced it, in
+order to show how little chance there has been, from days long passed and
+gone to the present time, of studying the haunts and economy of the owl,
+because its unmerited bad name has created it a host of foes, and doomed
+it to destruction from all quarters. Some few, certainly, from time to
+time, have been kept in cages and in aviaries. But nature rarely thrives
+in captivity, and very seldom appears in her true character when she is
+encumbered with chains, or is to be looked at by the passing crowd through
+bars of iron. However, the scene is now going to change; and I trust that
+the reader will contemplate the owl with more friendly feelings, and quite
+under different circumstances. Here, no rude schoolboy ever approaches its
+retreat; and those who once dreaded its diabolical doings are now fully
+satisfied that it no longer meddles with their destinies, or has any thing
+to do with the repose of their departed friends. Indeed, human wretches in
+the shape of body-snatchers seem here in England to have usurped the
+office of the owl in our churchyards; "et vendunt tumulis corpora rapta
+suis."[7]
+
+Up to the year 1813, the barn owl had a sad time of it at Walton Hall. Its
+supposed mournful notes alarmed the aged housekeeper. She knew full well
+what sorrow it had brought into other houses when she was a young woman;
+and there was enough of mischief in the midnight wintry blast, without
+having it increased by the dismal screams of something which people knew
+very little about, and which every body said was far too busy in the
+churchyard at nighttime. Nay, it was a well-known fact, that if any person
+were sick in the neighbourhood, it would be for ever looking in at the
+window, and holding a conversation outside with somebody, they did not
+know whom. The gamekeeper agreed with her in every thing she said on this
+important subject; and he always stood better in her books when he had
+managed to shoot a bird of this bad and mischievous family. However, in
+1813, on my return from the wilds of Guiana, having suffered myself, and
+learned mercy, I broke in pieces the code of penal laws which the knavery
+of the gamekeeper and the lamentable ignorance of the other servants had
+hitherto put in force, far too successfully, to thin the numbers of this
+poor, harmless, unsuspecting tribe. On the ruin of the old gateway,
+against which, tradition says, the waves of the lake have dashed for the
+better part of a thousand years, I made a place with stone and mortar,
+about 4 ft. square, and fixed a thick oaken stick firmly into it. Huge
+masses of ivy now quite cover it. In about a month or so after it was
+finished, a pair of barn owls came and took up their abode in it. I
+threatened to strangle the keeper if ever, after this, he molested either
+the old birds or their young ones; and I assured the housekeeper that I
+would take upon myself the whole responsibility of all the sickness, woe,
+and sorrow that the new tenants might bring into the Hall. She made a low
+courtesy; as much as to say, "Sir, I fall into your will and pleasure:"
+but I saw in her eye that she had made up her mind to have to do with
+things of fearful and portentous shape, and to hear many a midnight
+wailing in the surrounding woods. I do not think that up to the day of
+this old lady's death, which took place in her eighty-fourth year, she
+ever looked with pleasure or contentment on the barn owl, as it flew round
+the large sycamore trees which grow near the old ruined gateway.
+
+(_To be concluded in our next_.)
+
+
+[1] "Ill-omen'd in his form, the unlucky fowl,
+     Abhorr'd by men, and call'd a screeching owl."--_Garth's Trans._
+
+[2] "They fly by night, and assail infants in the nurse's absence."
+
+[3] "Even the ill-boding owl is declared a bird of good omen."
+
+[4] "The Stygian owl gives sad omens in a thousand places."
+
+[5] "A feather of the night owl."
+
+[6] ----"And, on her palace top,
+    The lonely owl with oft repeated scream
+    Complains, and spins into a dismal length
+    Her baleful shrieks."--_Trapp's Trans._
+
+[7] "And sell bodies torn from their tombs."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.
+
+
+BLONDEL DE NESLE.
+
+
+"Blondel de Nesle the favourite minstrel of Richard Coeur de Lion, and an
+attendant upon his person, devoted himself to discover the place of his
+confinement during the crusade against Saladin, emperor of the Saracens.
+He wandered in vain from castle to palace, till he learned that a strong
+and almost inaccessible fortress upon the Danube was watched with peculiar
+strictness, as containing some state-prisoner of distinction. The minstrel
+took his harp, and approaching as near the castle as he durst, came so
+nigh the walls as to hear the melancholy captive soothing his imprisonment
+with music. Blondel touched his harp; the prisoner heard and was silent:
+upon this the minstrel played the first part of a tune, or lay, known to
+the captive; who instantly played the second part; and thus, the faithful
+servant obtained the certainty that the inmate of the castle was no other
+than his royal master."--_Tales of a Grandfather_, p 69.
+
+  The Danube's wide-flowing water lave
+    The captive's dungeon cell,
+  And the voice of its hoarse and sullen wave
+    Breaks forth in a louder swell,
+  And the night-breeze sighs in a deeper gust,
+  For the flower of chivalry droops in dust!
+
+  A yoke is hung over the victor's neck,
+    And fetters enthral the strong,
+  And manhood's pride like a fearful wreck,
+   Lies the breakers of care among;
+  And the gleams of hope, overshadow'd, seem
+  The phantoms of some distemper'd dream.
+
+  But the heart--the heart is unconquer'd still--
+    A host in its solitude!
+  Quenchless the spirit, though fetter'd the will,
+    Of that warrior unsubdued;
+  His soul, like an arrow from rocky ground,
+  Shall fiercely and proudly in air rebound.
+
+  But the hour of darkness girds him now
+    With a pall of deepest night,
+  Anguish sits throned on his moody brow,
+    And the curse of thy withering blight,
+  Despair, thou dreariest deathliest foe!
+  His senses hath steep'd in a torpid woe.
+
+  From the dazzling splendour of gloriest past
+    The warrior sickening turns.
+  To list to the sound of the wailing blast,
+    As the wan lamp dimly burns:
+  For the daring might of the lion-hearted
+  With Freedom's soul-thrilling notes hath parted.
+
+  O'er his harp-string droops his palsied hand,
+    And the fitful strain alone
+  Murmurs the notes of his native land--
+    Does echo repeat that moan
+  From the dungeon wall so grim and so drear?--
+  No!--an answering minstrel lingers there.
+
+  Up starts the listening king--a flash
+    Of memory's gifted lore
+  Bursts on his soul--a deed so rash,
+    What captive would e'er deplore?
+  Since bonds no longer unnerve the free,
+  And valour hath won fidelity.
+
+  Dark child of sorrow, sweet comfort take,
+    In thy lone heart's widowhood,
+  Some charmed measure may yet awake
+    Arresting affliction's flood,
+  And thy prison'd soul unfetter'd be
+  By the answering spirit of sympathy!
+
+_Metropolitan._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ASMODEUS AT LARGE.
+
+
+The design of this paper, in the _New Monthly Magazine_, is by no means
+novel; but the fine, cutting satire--the pleasant, lively banter on our
+vices and follies--which pervades every page of the article, is a set-off
+to the political frenzy and the literary lumber of other Magazines of the
+month. Each of them, it is true, has a readable paper, but one gem only
+contributes to a Magazine in the proportion of one swallow to a summer.
+
+Here are three pages of the _New Monthly_ Devil:
+
+"A stranger, Sir, in the library," said my servant in opening the door.
+
+"Indeed! what a short, lame gentleman?"
+
+"No, Sir; middle-sized,--has very much the air of a lawyer or professional
+man."
+
+I entered the room, and instead of the dwarf demon Le Sage described, I
+beheld a comely man seated at the table, with a high forehead, a sharp
+face, and a pair of spectacles on his nose. He was employed in reading the
+new novel of "The Usurer's Daughter."
+
+"This cannot be the devil!" said I to myself; so I bowed, and asked the
+gentleman his business.
+
+"Tush!" quoth my visiter; "and how did you leave the Doctor?"
+
+"It is you, then!" said I; "you have grown greatly since you left Don
+Cleofas."
+
+"Wars fatten our tribe," answered the Devil; "besides shapes are optional
+with me, and in England men go by appearances more than they do abroad;
+one is forced to look respectable and portly; the Devil himself could not
+cheat your countrymen with a shabby exterior. Doubtless you observe that
+all the swindlers, whose adventures enliven your journals, are dressed 'in
+the height of fashion,' and enjoy 'a mild prepossessing demeanour.' Even
+the Cholera does not menace 'a gentleman of the better ranks;' and no
+bodies are burked with a decent suit of clothes on their backs. Wealth in
+all countries is the highest possible morality; but you carry the doctrine
+to so great an excess, that you scarcely suffer the poor man to exist at
+all. If he take a walk in the country, there's the Vagrant Act; and if he
+has not a penny to hire a cellar in town, he's snapped up by a Burker, and
+sent off to the surgeons in a sack. It must be owned that no country
+affords such warnings to the spendthrift. You are one great moral against
+the getting rid of one's money."
+
+On this, Asmodeus and myself had a long conversation; it ended in our
+dining together, (for I found him a social fellow, and fond of a broil in
+a quiet way,) and adjourning in excellent spirits, to the theatre.
+
+"Certainly," said the Devil, taking a pinch of snuff, "certainly, your
+drama is wonderfully fine, it is worthy of a civilized nation; formerly
+you were contented with choosing actors among human kind, but what an
+improvement to go among the brute creation! think what a fine idea to have
+a whole play turn upon the appearance of a broken-backed lion! And so you
+are going to raise the drama by setting up a club; that's another
+exquisite notion! You hire a great house in the neighbourhood of the
+theatre; you call it the Garrick Club. You allow actors and patrons to mix
+themselves and their negus there after the play; and this you call a
+design for exalting the drama. Certainly you English are a droll set; your
+expedients are admirable."
+
+"My good Devil, any thing that brings actors and spectators together, that
+creates an _esprit de corps_ among all who cherish the drama, is not to be
+sneered at in that inconsiderate manner."
+
+"I sneer! you mistake me; you have adduced a most convincing
+argument--_esprit de corps_!--good! Your clubs certainly nourish sociality
+greatly; those little tables, with one sulky man before one sulky
+chop--those hurried nods between acquaintances--that, monopoly of
+newspapers and easy chairs--all exhibit to perfection the cementing
+faculties of a club. Then, too, it certainly does an actor inestimable
+benefit to mix with lords and squires. Nothing more fits a man for his
+profession, than living with people who know nothing about it. Only think
+what a poor actor Kean is; you would have made him quite a different thing,
+if you had tied him to a tame gentlemen in the 'Garrick Club'. He would
+have played 'Richard' in a much higher vein, I doubt not."
+
+"Well," said I, "the stage is your affair at present, and doubtless you do
+right to reject any innovation."
+
+"Why, yes," quoth the Devil, looking round; "we have a very good female
+supply in this quarter. But pray how comes it that the English are so
+candid in sin? Among all nations there is immorality enough, Heaven knows;
+but you are so delightfully shameless: if a crime is committed here, you
+can't let it 'waste its sweetness;' you thrust it into your papers
+forthwith; you stick it up on your walls; you produce it at your theatres;
+you chat about it as an agreeable subject of conversation; and then you
+cry out with a blush against the open profligacy abroad! This is one of
+those amiable contradictions in human nature that charms me excessively.
+You fill your theatres with ladies of pleasure--you fill your newspapers
+with naughty accounts--a robbery is better to you than a feast--and a good
+fraud in the city will make you happy for a week; and all this while you
+say: '_We_ are the people who send vice to Coventry, and teach the world
+how to despise immorality.' Nay, if one man commits a murder, your
+newspapers kindly instruct his associates how to murder in future, by a
+far safer method. A wretch kills a boy for the surgeons, by holding his
+head under water; 'Silly dog!' cries the Morning Herald, 'why did not he
+clap a sponge dipped in prussic acid to the boy's mouth?'"
+
+Here we were interrupted by a slight noise in the next box, which a
+gentleman had just entered. He was a tall man, with a handsome face and
+very prepossessing manner.
+
+"That is an Author of considerable reputation," said my Devil, "quiet,
+though a man of wit, and with a heart, though a man of the world. Talking
+of the drama, he once brought out a farce, which had the good fortune to
+be damned. As great expectations had been formed of it, and the author's
+name had transpired; the unsuccessful writer rose the next morning with a
+hissing sound in his ears, and that leaning towards misanthropy, which you
+men always experience when the world has the bad taste to mistake your
+merits. 'Thank Fate, however,' said the Author, 'it is damned
+thoroughly--it is off the stage--I cannot be hissed again--in a few days
+it will be forgotten--meanwhile I will take a walk in the Park.' Scarce
+had the gentleman got into the street, before, lo! at a butcher's shop
+blazed the 'very head and front of his offending.' 'Second night of its
+appearance, the admired Farce of ----, by ----, Esq.' Away posts the
+Author to the Manager.--'Good Heavens! Sir, my farce again! was it not
+thoroughly damned last night?'--'Thoroughly damned!' quoth the Manager,
+drily; 'we reproduce it, Sir--we reproduce it (with a knowing wink,) that
+the world, enraged at our audacity, may come here to damn it again.' So it
+is, you see! the love of money is the contempt of man: there's an aphorism
+for you! Let us turn to the stage. What actresses you have!--certainly you
+English are a gallant nation; you are wonderfully polite to come and see
+such horrible female performers! By the by, you observed when that young
+lady came on the stage, how timidly she advanced, how frightened she
+seemed. 'What modesty!' cry the audience; 'we must encourage her!' they
+clap, they shout, they pity the poor thing, they cheer her into spirits.
+Would you believe that the hardest thing the Manager had to do with her
+was to teach her that modesty. She wanted to walk on the stage like a
+grenadier, and it required fifteen lessons to make her be ashamed of
+herself. It is in these things that the stage mimics the world, rather
+behind the scenes than before!"
+
+"Bless me, how Braham is improved!" cried a man with spectacles, behind me;
+"he acts now better than he sings!"
+
+"Is it not strange," said Asmodeus, "how long the germ of a quality may
+remain latent in the human mind, and how completely you mortals are the
+creatures of culture? It was not till his old age that Braham took lessons
+in acting; some three times a week has he of late wended his way down, to
+the comedian of Chapel-street, to learn energy and counterfeit warmth; and
+the best of it is, that the spectators will have it that an actor feels
+all he acts; as if human nature, wicked as it is, could feel Richard the
+Third every other night. I remember, Mrs. Siddons had a majestic manner of
+extending her arm as she left the stage. 'What grace!' said the world,
+with tears in its eyes, 'what dignity! what a wonderful way of extending
+an arm! you see her whole soul is in the part!' The arm was in reality
+stretched impatiently out for a pinch from the snuff-box that was always
+in readiness behind the scenes."
+
+It is my misfortune, Reader, to be rapidly bored. I cannot sit out a
+sermon, much less a play; amusement is the most tedious of human pursuits.
+
+"You are tired of this, surely," said I to the Devil; "let us go!"
+
+"Whither?" said Asmodeus.
+
+"Why, 'tis a starlit night, let us ride over to Paris, and sup, as you
+promised, at the Rocher de Cancale."
+
+"_Volontiers_."
+
+Away--away--away--into the broad still Heavens, the stars dancing merrily
+above us, and the mighty heart of the City beating beneath the dusky
+garment of Night below.
+
+"Let us look down," said Asmodeus; "what a wilderness of houses! shall I
+uncover the roofs for you, as I did for Don Cleofas; or rather, for it is
+an easier method, shall I touch your eyes with my salve of penetration,
+and enable you to see at once through the wall?"
+
+"You might as well do so; it is pleasant to feel the power, though at
+present I think it superfluous; wherever I look, I can only see rogues and
+fools, with a stray honest man now and then, who is probably in prison."
+
+Asmodeus touched my eyes with a green salve, which he took out of an
+ivory box, and all at once, my sight being directed towards a certain
+palace I beheld   *   *   *   *
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+THE GATHERER.
+
+
+A clergyman preaching in the neighbourhood of Wapping, observing that most
+part of his audience were in the seafaring way, very naturally embellished
+his discourse with several nautical tropes and figures. Amongst other
+things, he advised them "to be ever on the watch, so that on whatsoever
+tack the evil one should bear down on them, he might be crippled in
+action." "Ay, master," said a son of Neptune, "but let me tell you, that
+will depend upon your having the weather gage of him."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  A poacher escaping one morn with his pillage,
+  Unexpectedly met with the lord of the village;
+  Who seeing a hare o'er his shoulder was thrown,
+  Hail'd him quickly, "You fellow is that hare your own."
+  "My own!" he replied, "you inquisitive prig,
+  Gad's curse, pompous sir, do you think I've a wig?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+ORIGIN OF THE PHRASE "TO BOOT."
+
+
+_Bote_ or _Bota_, in our old law books, signifies recompense, repentance,
+or fine paid by way of expiation, and is derived from the Saxon. Hence our
+common phrase "to boot," speaking of something given by way of
+compensation. P.T.W.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD SONG.
+
+
+  "Syr Tankarde he is as bold a wight
+    As ever Old England bred;
+  His armoure it is of the silver bright,
+    And his coloure is ruby red;
+      And whene'er on the bully ye calle,
+      He is readye to give ye a falle;
+  But if long in the battle with him ye be,
+  Ye weaker are ye, and the stronger is he,
+      For Syr Tankarde is victor of alle."
+
+  "A barley-corn he mounts for a speare,
+    His helmet with hops is hung,
+  He lightes the eye with a laughing leere,
+    With a carolle he tipps the tongue--
+      And he marshals a valyant hoste
+      Of spices and crabbes and toaste;
+  And the stoutest of yeomen they well can o'erthrow,
+  When he leads them in beakers and jugs to the foe,--
+      And Syr Tankarde his prowess may boaste."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+FRENCH--ENGLISH LOVE.
+
+
+The following is a copy of a letter addressed some years ago to a lady of
+fortune at Portsmouth, upwards of four score years of age, by a French
+prisoner of war at Porchester Castle:--
+
+"_Porchester_.--_Madam_--Me rite de English very leet, and me very fears
+you no saave vat me speak; but me be told dat you vant one very fine man
+for your hosband; upon my soul me love you very well; and thou you be very
+old woman, and very cross, and ugly, and all de devil, and the English no
+like you, upon my soul we have one great passion for you, and me like you
+very well for all dat; and me told dat de man for you must be one very
+clen man, and no love de drink. Me be all dat: indeed me be one very grand
+man in France--upon my soul me be one count, me have one grand equipage in
+France, and me be very good for de esprit: indeed me be one grand
+beau-a-la-mode--one officier in de regiment: me be very good for de
+Engleterres. Indeed you be one very good old woman upon my soul; and if
+you have one inclination for one man, me be dat gentleman for you--one
+grand man for you. Me will be your hosband, and take de care for yourself,
+for de house, for de gardin, for de Schoff, for de drink, and for de
+little childs dat shall come. Upon my soul me kill myself very soon, if
+you no love me for this grand amour. Me be, madam, your great slave, votre
+tres humble serviteur, PRES A. BOIRE."
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+OLD LONDON BRIDGE.
+
+
+It is well known that Peter of Colechurch, the founder of _Old_ London
+Bridge, did not live to witness the completion of the structure, but died
+in 1205, and was buried in a crypt within the centre pier of the bridge,
+over which a chapel was erected, dedicated to St. Thomas-a-Becket. Mr.
+Brayley, in his _Londiniana_, wrote about five years since that "if due
+care be taken when the old bridge is pulled down, the bones and ashes of
+its venerable architect may still be found;"--and, true enough, _the bones
+of old Peter were found on removing the pier about a fortnight since_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+TAME LIONS.
+
+
+Hanno, a Carthaginian, was the first who tamed a lion. He was condemned to
+death, for what his fellow-citizens considered so great a crime. They
+asserted that the republic had to fear the worst consequences from a man
+who had been able to subdue so much ferocity. A little more experience,
+however, convinced them of the fallacy of that ridiculous judgment. The
+triumvir Antony, accompanied by an actress, was publicly drawn by lions in
+a chariot.
+
+SAD-USING.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CITY OF LYONS.
+
+
+Lyons is situated on a sort of peninsula, formed by the confluence of two
+great rivers--the Rhone and the Laone. All the bridges, with the exception
+of one of stone, are of wood; and although in general more useful than
+ornamental, they are justly admired for the boldness of their construction.
+They form numerous and convenient communications between the city and the
+faubourgs.
+
+Lyons is walled round, and strongly fortified. In 1791 it contained
+121,000 inhabitants; but, in consequence of the siege of 1793, and the
+cruelties practised at that memorable period of French history, the
+numbers were reduced to less than 80,000. In 1802, the numbers were 88,662;
+and in 1827, the fixed population had increased to 97,439;--but there was
+a floating population, estimated at 43,684, which, with the inmates of the
+barracks and hospitals, stated at 8,600, made the total population at that
+period 149,723; and by adding the population of the suburbs, reckoned at
+36,000, the whole amount of the inhabitants at the period of the census,
+in 1827, was 185,723; at the present time it is said to be, in round
+numbers, 200,000.
+
+In 1828, the number of workshops in all branches of the silk trade within
+the walls, amounted to 7,140; that of the silk frames or looms to 18,829;
+and from 10,000 to 12,000 in the communes.
+
+W.G.C.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ditty sung by the first grave-digger in _Hamlet_, beginning--
+
+  "In youth, when I did love, did love"--
+
+was written by Lord Vaux, an ancestor of Lord Brougham. It will be found
+entire in _Percy's Reliques_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Number 527, price Twopence,
+A SUPPLEMENT,
+With a STEEL-PLATE PORTRAIT of His Present
+Majesty, WILLIAM IV.
+AT FOURTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
+From a Picture by B. West, P.R.A.
+Anecdotic Memoir; and Title-Page, Preface,
+and Index; completing VOL. XVIII.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement,
+and Instruction, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 529 ***
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+
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