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diff --git a/11539-0.txt b/11539-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b0510ca --- /dev/null +++ b/11539-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1484 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11539 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XIX, NO. 535.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + + +ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENT'S PARK. + + +[Illustration: THE POLAR BEAR.] + +[Illustration: THE TUNNEL.] + +[Illustration: MONKEY CAGE.] + + * * * * * + + + +GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. + + +REGENT'S PARK. + + +A visit to these Gardens is one of the most delightful of the rational +recreations of the metropolis. The walk out is pleasant enough: though +there is little rural beauty on the road, the creations of art assume +a more agreeable appearance than in the city itself; and, with +cottages, park-like grounds, and flourishing wood, the eye may enjoy a +few picturesque groupings. + +The _Garden_ of the Society is one of the prettiest in the vicinity of +the metropolis; the _Menagerie_ is certainly the most important ever +collected in this country. It is a charming sight to behold myriads of +tiny flowers fringing our very paths, and little groves of shrubs and +young trees around us; yet it is a gratification of the highest order, +to witness the animals of almost every country on the earth assembled +within a few acres; and it is indeed a sublime study to observe how +beautifully the links in the great chain of nature are wrought, and +how admirably are the habits and structure of some of these animals +adapted to the wants of man, while all are subservient to some great +purpose in the scale of creation. How clearly are these truths taught +by the science of Zoology; and how attractively are they illustrated +in the Menagerie of the Zoological Gardens. Consider but for a moment +that the cat which crouches by our fireside is of the same tribe with +"the lordly lion," whose roar is terrific as an earthquake, and the +tiger who often stays but to suck the blood of his victims: that the +faithful dog, "who knows us personally, watches for us, and warns us +of danger," is but a descendant from the wolf, who prowls through the +wintry waste with almost untameable ferocity. Yet how do we arrive at +the knowledge of these interesting facts--but by zoological study. + +Two of the Cuts in the annexed page will furnish our country friends +with the improved plan of keeping the animals in large open cages. The +first represents that of the _Polar Bear_, of strong iron-work, with a +dormitory adjoining. The enclosed area is flagged with stone, and +in the centre is a tank, or pool, of water, in which the bear makes +occasional plungings. The present occupant is but small in comparison +with the usual size of the species. "Its favourite postures," observes +Mr. Bennett, "are lying flat at its whole length; sitting upon its +haunches with its fore legs perfectly upright, and its head in a +dependent position; or standing upon all fours with its fore-paws +widely extended and its head and neck swinging alternately from +side to side, or upwards and downwards in one continued and equable +libration."[1] + + [1] The Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society + delineated. Vol. I. + +The second Cut represents the tunnelled communication between the two +Gardens, beneath the carriage-road of the Park. Above, the archway is +a pediment, supported by two neat columns, and a terraced walk, with +balustrades. The whole is handsomely executed in cement or imitative +stone. The decorative vases are by Austin, of the New Road. A lion's +head, in bold relief, forms an appropriate key-stone embellishment to +the arch. The sloping banks are formed of mimic rock-work profusely +intermingled with plants and flowers. + +The third Cut is the Monkey House, of substantial iron-work, with +dormitories and winter apartments in the rear. In fine sunny weather +the monkeys may be here seen disporting their recreant limbs to the +delight of crowds of visiters. Their species are too numerous but for +a catalogue. Among them are the Negro and Sooty Monkeys,--the Mone +Monkey: "the name of _Monkey_ is supposed to be derived from +the African appellation of this species, _Mone_ corrupted into +_Monachus_." Bonneted, pig-tailed, and Capuchin Monkeys; the last +named from their dark crowns, like the capuch or hood of a Capuchin +friar; and black and white-fronted Spider Monkeys, named from their +great resemblance to large spiders. + +By the way, there is an abundance of still life in the Gardens at this +ungenial season. We find the Elephant, the Antelopes, and the Zebra, +in their winter quarters, and their mightinesses, the large cats, as +the lions, tiger, and leopards, accommodated with a snug fire. The +tropical birds, as the parrots, maccaws, &c., have been removed from +the extremity of the north garden to warmer quarters; and the hyaenas, +leopards, and a host of smaller carnivorous quadrupeds have taken +their places. The upper end is occupied by four roomy dens, with a +lordly black-maned lion and a lioness, from Northern Africa; above +them are a fine lioness and a leopard from Ceylon: these we take to +have been among the recent arrivals from the Tower Menagerie. + + * * * * * + + +FRAGMENTS ON HUMAN LIFE. + + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + "Call not earth a barren spot, + Pass it not ungrateful by, + 'Tis to man a lovely lot." + +There is no subject on which such a variety of opinions exist, as on +the question "Whether man is happy;" and that it is not easy to be +settled, is certain. Many persons have been so far contented with +their lot as to wish to have their life over again, and yet as many +have expressed themselves to the contrary. + +Dr. Johnson, who always spoke of human life in the most desponding +terms, and considered earth a vale of tears, + + "Yet hope, not life from pain or sorrow free, + Or think the doom of man reversed for thee--" + +declared that he would not live over again a single week of his life, +had it been allowed him.[2] Such was his opinion on the past; but so +great is the cheering influence with which Hope irradiates the mind, +that in looking forward to the future, he always talked with pleasure +on the prospect of a long life. + + [2] Chamfort observes, that the writers on physics, natural + history, physiology, and chemistry, have been generally men of a + mild, even, and happy temperament, while the writers on politics, + legislation, and even morals, commonly exhibited a melancholy and + fretful spirit. It is to be expected that an inspection of the + beauty and order of nature should affect the mind with peculiar + pleasure.--_Gaieties and Gravities_. + +When he was in Scotland, Boswell told him that after his death, he +intended to erect a memorial to him. Johnson, to whom the very +mention of death was unpleasant, replied, "Sir, I hope to see your +grand-children." On his death-bed he observed to the surgeon who was +attending him, "_I want life_, you are afraid of giving me pain." + +It has been supposed that this question had been settled by the +authority of Scripture. "Man is born to trouble," says Job, "as +the sparks fly upward." In turning over a few pages more, we find +ourselves in doubt again. "_The latter end of Job was more blessed +than his beginning_; for he had 14,000 sheep, and 6,000 camels, and +1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 she-asses. He had also seven sons and +three daughters. So Job died being old and full of days." + +It may not be unpleasant to place before the reader the opinions of +several celebrated men, on Life, that he may choose his side, and +either like the bee or the spider, extract the poison or gather the +honey. We will begin with Sterne, one who well knew the human heart. + + "What is the life of man? is it not to shift from side to side! + from sorrow to sorrow!" + + "When I consider how oft we eat the bread of affliction, when one + runs over the catalogue of all the cross reckonings and sorrowful + items with which the heart of man is overcharged, 'tis wonderful + by what hidden resources the mind is enabled to stand it out, and + bear itself up, as it does, against the impositions laid upon our + nature."--_T. Shandy_. + + "A man has but a bad bargain of it at the best."--_Chesterfield_. + + "No scene of human life but teems with mortal woe."--_Sir Walter + Scott_. + +In opposition to these sentiments, Franklin, in writing on the death +of a friend, gives us his opinion, "_It is a party of pleasure_, some +take their seats first." + +And Lord Byron, describing Sunrise, in the second canto of _Lara_, +says + + "But mighty nature bounds as from her birth, + The sun is in the heavens, and life on earth; + Flowers in the valley, splendour in the beam. + Health on the gale, and freshness in the stream. + Immortal Man! Behold her glories shine, + And cry exultingly, 'They are thine' + Gaze on, while yet thy gladdened eyes may see, + A morrow comes when they are not for thee." + +In the same spirit Cowper begins his poem on Hope: + + "See Nature gay as when she first began, + With smiles alluring her admirer, man, + She spreads the morning over eastern hills. + Earth glitters with the drops the night distils. + The sun obedient at her call appears + To fling his glories o'er the robe she wears, + ... to proclaim + His happiness, her dear, her only aim." + +"The Thracians," says Cicero, "wept when a child was born, and feasted +and made merry when a man went out of the world, and with reason. Show +me the man who knows what life is, and dreads death, and I'll show +thee a prisoner who dreads his liberty." + +Of the misery of human life, Gray speaks in similar terms: + + "To all their sufferings all are men, + Condemn'd alike to groan, + The feeling for another's pain, + The unfeeling for his own." + +Audi alteram partem: + + "It's a happy world after all."--_Paley_. + +And Gray himself: + + "For who to dumb forgetfulness a prey, + This careful, anxious being e'er resigned, + E'er left the precincts of the _cheerful day_ + Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind." + +And another popular author: + + "A world of pleasure is continually streaming in on every side. It + only depends on man to be a demi-god, and to convert this world + into Elysium."--_Gaieties and Gravities_. + +It is doubtless wise to incline to the latter sentiment. + +Of the instability of human happiness and glory, a fine picture is +drawn by Appian, who represents Scipio weeping over the destruction of +Carthage. "When he saw this famous city, which had flourished seven +hundred years, and might have been compared to the greatest empires, +on account of the extent of its dominions, both by sea and land, +its mighty armies, its fleets, elephants and riches; and that the +Carthaginians were even superior to other nations, by their courage +and greatness of soul, as, notwithstanding their being deprived of +arms and ships, they had sustained for three whole years, all the +hardships and calamities of a long siege; seeing, I say, this city +entirely ruined, historians relate that he could not refuse his tears +to the unhappy fate of Carthage. He reflected that cities, nations, +and empires are liable to revolutions, no less than particular men; +that the like sad fate had befallen Troy, once so powerful; and in +later times, the Assyrians, Medes, and Persians, whose dominions were +once of so great an extent; and lastly, the Macedonians, whose empire +had been so glorious throughout the world." Full of these mournful +ideas, he repeated the following verse of Homer: + + "The day shall come, that great avenging day, + Which Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay, + When Priam's powers, and Priam's self shall fall, + And one prodigious ruin swallow all--" + +thereby denouncing the future destiny of Rome, as he himself confessed +to Polybius, who desired Scipio to explain himself on that occasion. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK + + * * * * * + +A COASTING SCRAP. + + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +It was a bright summer afternoon: the estuary of Poole Harbour lay +extended before me; its broad expanse studded with inlands of sand and +furze bushes, of which Brownsea is the most considerable. A slight +ripple marked the deeper channels which were of a blue colour, and the +shallow mud banks being but barely covered by the tide, appeared like +sheets of molten silver. The blue hills of Purbeck bounded the distant +heath-lands to the westward, and the harbour extended itself inland +towards the town of Wareham, becoming more and more intricate in its +navigation, although it receives the contributions of two rivers, the +Piddle and the Froome, arising probably from the soil carried down by +the streams, and the faint action of the tide at a distance of eight +or ten miles from the mouth of the harbour. The Wareham clay boats +added life to the scene. Some were wending their way through the +intricate channels close hauled upon a wind; others were going right +away with a flowing sheet. On the eastern side was the bold sweep of +the shore, extending to the mouth of the harbour, and terminating in a +narrow point of bright sand hills, separating the quiet waters of the +harbour from the boisterous turmoilings of the English Channel. + +Sauntering along the Quay of Poole, indulging in a kind of reverie, +thinking, or in fact, thinking of nothing at all, (a kind of waking +dream, when hundreds of ideas, recollections, and feelings float with +wonderful rapidity through the brain,) my attention was attracted by +a stout, hardy-faced pilot, with water boots on his legs, and a red, +woollen night-cap on his head, who was driving a very earnest bargain +for a "small, but elegant assortment," of dabs and flounders. "Dree +and zixpence if you like," said he. "I could a bought vour times as +much vor one and zixpence coast-ways, if I'd a mind, and I'll give +thee no more, and not a word of a lie." His oratory conquered the +coyness of the fishy damsel; and he invited the lady to take a glass +of "zomat avore he topped his boom for Swanwidge." + +Having before me the certainty of a dull, monotonous afternoon, and +cheerless evening, without any visible means of amusement, I instantly +closed a bargain with Dick Hart (for such was the pilot's name) to +give me a cast to Swanwidge. In a short time I found myself on board +a trim, little pilot boat, gliding along the waters as the sun was +sliding his downward course, and shedding a mellow radiance over the +distant scenery towards Lytchett. The white steeple of Poole church +was lighted by the rays, while the town presented a neat and +picturesque appearance with the masts of the shipping cutting against +the blue sky. + +Dick Hart formed no small feature in the scene as he stood at the helm +with his red cap and black, curly hair, smoking a short, clay pipe, +which like his own face, had become rather brown in service. He looked +around him with an air of independence and unconcern, as the "monarch +of all he surveyed," casting his eye up now and then at the trim of +his canvass, but more frequently keeping it on me. Dick began to open +his budget of chat, and I found him as full of fun as his mainsail was +full of nettles. + +A voice from the forecastle called out to Dick, who was so intent on +his story that the helm slipped from his hand, and the ship flew up +in the wind, "Mind, skipper, or you will run down Old Betty." I was +astonished at the insinuation against my noble captain that he was +likely to behave rude to a lady, but my suspicions were soon removed, +when I saw Old Betty was a buoy, floating on the waters, adorned with +a furze bush. Old Betty danced merrily on the rippling wave with her +furze bush by way of a feather, with shreds of dried sea weed hanging +to it forming ribbons to complete the head dress of the lady buoy. +The nearer we approached, the more rapid did Betty dance, and when +we passed close alongside of her, she curtsied up and down as if to +welcome our visit. Dick narrated why a buoy placed at the head of a +mud bank obtained the name of a _lady fair_, and I briefly noted it +down. + +Many years ago a single lady resided at Poole, of plain manners, +unaffected simplicity, affable, yet retiring, and-- + + "Passing rich with forty pounds a-year." + +The gentry courted her, but she still adhered to her secluded habits. +Year after year rolled on, and though some may have admired her, +she was never led to the altar, and consequently her condition was +_unaltered_. Kind and friendly neighbours kept a vigilant eye upon her +proceedings, but her character was unimpeachable; and they all agreed +that she was a very suspicious person, because they could not slander +her. She lived a blameless single lady. + +Her attentions were directed to an orphan boy. He was her constant +companion, and the object of her tenderest solicitude. As he grew up +he excelled the youth of his own age in manly exercises; could thrash +all of his own size, when insulted, but never played the tyrant, or +the bully. He could make the longest innings at cricket, and as for +swimming in all its various branches, none could compare with William. +It was finally arranged by a merchant to send William a voyage to +Newfoundland, and the news soon spread round the town that William +(for he was a general favourite) was to _see_ the world by taking to +the _sea_. + +The time arrived when the ship was to be warped out from the Quay, and +to sail for her destination. The crew and the passengers were all on +board, and William was, by his absence, rather trespassing on the +indulgence of the captain; but who could be angry with the boy whom +every body loved? + +The town gossips, and many a fair maiden, were on the Quay to see +young William embark. The tide had already turned, and the captain +was about to give the word "to cast off and let all go;" to send the +vessel, as it were, adrift, loose and unfettered upon the waters, to +struggle as a thing of life with the billows of the Atlantic, but +animated and controled by the energies of men. Just at this moment +William appeared at the end of the Quay, walking slowly to the scene +of embarkation with his kind and benevolent benefactress leaning, and +leaning heavily, for her heart was heavy, upon the arm of her dutiful +and beloved William. As they approached, the crowd made way with +profound respect, not the cringing respect paid to superior wealth, +but with that respect which worth of character and innate virtue can +and will command, though poverty may smite and desolate. + +They walked unconscious of the notice they attracted. Their hearts +were too full to heed the sympathies of others. The youth kept his +eye fixed upon the loosening topsails of his ship; his benefactress +grasped his arm almost convulsively, and looked, or rather stared, +upon the ground. She dreaded the last, the hurried "fare well," the +last look, the last word from her William, and she tottered as she +approached the side of the ship. They stood locked hand in hand at the +edge of the Quay; not a word was uttered by either; but they gazed +at each other with a fondness which showed that their souls were in +communion. + +"Now, William, jump on board--cast off there forward," exclaimed the +captain; "swing her head round--heave away my boys--come, William, +come my boy." + +The youth awoke as from a startled sleep. He imprinted a kiss, the +last kiss, upon the cold cheeks of his benefactress, and dashing away +with the sleeve of his jacket a tear, of which he felt ashamed, in a +moment he was on the quarter deck of his commander. He durst not look +again upon the Quay; but had he looked he would have seen many a +weeping maiden who had never told her love, and he would have seen his +affectionate benefactress borne away in a fainting fit. All this he +saw not, for he braced his courage up before his future messmates, and +he looked forward to his duties, considering the past as but a dream. + +Months elapsed and tidings were frequently received of William. He had +distinguished himself by his activity and docility. His townsmen +heard with pleasure of his good conduct, and looked forward with +satisfaction to welcome his return; when at length a pilot boat +brought intelligence that the ship was lying at anchor at the mouth of +the harbour, waiting the next tide with loss of foremast in a heavy +gale the preceding night off the Bill of Portland. His benefactress, +impatient of delay, immediately hired a boat, and preceded to the ship +before the tide had turned; but she no sooner reached the deck than +she was informed by the captain that William was aloft when the +foremast went by the board on the preceding night, and that he fell +into the raging waves without the possibility of relief being afforded +him. + +"God's will be done," murmured the unhappy woman as she clasped her +hands, and taking her station at the gangway, she continued gazing on +the water as it rippled by, in a state of unconsciousness to every +passing object. In the meantime the vessel was under weigh, and was +coming once more in sight of Brownsea, when a plunge was heard--"she's +overboard," exclaimed a sailor--"cut away some spars--lower the +boats--over with the hen coops--down with the helm, and back the +topsails"--roared out many voices; but she had sunk to rise no more! +Her corpse was found a few days after when the tide receded, lying on +a mud bank, close to the buoy which has ever since been known by every +sailor and every pilot of Poole under the name of Old Betty. But to +complete the sad narrative, it appeared that William, as he excelled +in swimming, succeeded in gaining the shore of Portland, and arrived +in time at Poole to attend the remains of his benefactress to the +grave in character of chief mourner. + +On opening her papers it was discovered that in losing his +benefactress he had lost his mother! That she had been privately +married to a widower of considerable fortune, who had one son by +his first wife, and that on his demise the estate would devolve +on William, provided his half brother had no children. A few days +afterwards the death of Henry ----, Esq. of ---- Hall, Worcestershire, +was formally announced in the daily Journals, and the unexpected +claims of William being acknowledged, he succeeded to a very fine +property and estate, and died as much respected in a good old age as +he was beloved in his buoyant childhood, when the gossips and the +maidens of Poole agreed that the orphan boy promised to be a "nice +young man."--"And not word of a lie in it," said Dick Hart, as he +finished his story, his pipe, and his grog. + +We were now steering across Studland Bay. Banks of dark clouds were +gathering majestically on the eastern horizon, and the sun was +rapidly sinking in a flood of golden light. Behind us was the Isle +of Brownsea, with its dark fir plantations and lofty, cold-looking, +awkward castle. On the left was the line of low sand hills, stretching +away towards Christchurch, and seeming to join the Needles' Rocks, +situated at the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, the high chalk +cliffs of which reflected the sun's last rays, giving a rich and +placid feeling to the cold and distant grey. On the right, and closer +to us, was the brown and purple heath-land of Studland Bay. Here +barren, there patches of verdure, and the thin smoke threading its +way from a cluster of trees, denoted where the village hamlet lay +embosomed from the storms of the southwest gales, close at the foot +and under the shelter of a lofty chalk range which abuts abruptly on +the sea, and before which stands a high, detached pyramidical rock, +rising out of the waters like a sheeted spectre, and known to mariners +under the suspicious name of _Old Harry_. + +This coast was once notorious for smuggling, but those days of +nautical chivalry have ceased, if Dick Hart was to be credited, who +shook his head very mournfully as he alluded to "the _Block-head_ +service." + +JAMES SILVESTER. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + +SCENE FROM A FRENCH DRAMA. + + +No. XVII. of the _Foreign Quarterly Review_, contains a paper of +much interest to the playgoer as well as to the lover of dramatic +literature--on two French dramas of great celebrity--_La Maréchale +d'Ancre_, by de Vigny; and _Marion Delorme_, by Victor Hugo. We quote +a scene from the former. Concini, the principal character, is a +favourite of Louis XIII.; the Maréchale, his wife, has a first love, +Borgia, a Corsican, who, disappointed in his early suit by the +stratagems of Concini, has married the beautiful but uncultivated +Isabella Monti. On the conflicting feelings of this strange personage, +his hatred to the husband, and his relenting towards the wife; and the +licentious plans of Concini for the seduction of Isabella, whom he +has seen without knowing her to be the wife of his deadly enemy, the +interest of the piece is made to turn. The jealous Isabella is at last +persuaded that the Maréchale has robbed her of the attachment of her +husband, and appears as a witness against her on the pretended charge +of witchcraft and sorcery. + +While the Maréchal, even in the dungeon of the Bastile, is awing +her oppressors into silence, bands of murderers are seeking Concini +through the streets of Paris. As he issues from the house of the +Jew which contains Isabella, he hears through the obscurity of the +tempestuous night the cries of the populace, but he thinks they are +but the indications of some passing tumult. He rests for a moment +against a pillar on the pavement, but recoils again, as from a +serpent, for he perceives it is the stone on which Ravaillac had +planted his foot when he assassinated Henry, and in that murder it is +darkly insinuated he had a share. Through the darkness of the Rue de +la Ferronnerie, Michael Borgia is seen advancing, conducting the two +children of his rival. He has promised to the Maréchale to save them +from the dangers of the night, and has brought them in safety to his +own threshold. But his promise of safety extended not to Concini. The +wild ferocity of the following scene has many parallels in the actual +duels of the time, as delineated in Froissart and Brantome. + +_Borgia (with the children.)_--Poor children! come in; you will be +safer here than in the houses to which they have pursued us. + +_The Boy_.--Ah! there is a man standing up. + +_Borgia (turning the lantern which the child holds towards +Concini.)_--Concini! + +_Concini_.--Borgia! (_Each raises his dagger, and seizes with the left +arm the right of his enemy. They remain motionless, and gazing at each +other. The children escape into the street and disappear_.) + +_Concini_.--Let go my arm, and I will liberate yours. + +_Borgia_.--What shall be my security? + +_Concini_.--Those children whom you have with you. + +_Borgia_.--I am labouring to save them. Your palace is on fire--your +wife is arrested--your fortune is wrecked--base, senseless adventurer! + +_Concini_.--Have done--let go--let us fight! + +_Borgia_ (_pushing him from him_.)--Back, then, and draw your sword. + +_Concini_ (_draws_.)--Begin. + +_Borgia_.--Remove those children--they would be in our way. + +_Concini_.--They are gone. + +_Borgia_.--Take these letters, assassin! I had promised to restore +them to you. (_He hands to Concini a black portfolio_.) + +_Concini_.--I would have taken them from your body. + +_Borgia_.--I have performed my promise--and now, ravisher! look to +yourself. + +_Concini_.--Base seducer, defend _thyself_. + +_Borgia_.--The night is dark, but I shall feel you by my hate: Plant +your foot against the wall, that you may not retreat. + +_Concini_.--Would I could chain yours to the pavement, that I might be +sure of my mark! + +_Borgia_.--Agree that the first who is wounded shall inform the other. + +_Concini_.--Yes, for we should not see the blood. I swear it by the +thirst I feel for yours.--But not that the affair should end there. + +_Borgia_.--No, only to begin again with more spirit. + +_Concini_--To continue till we can lift the sword no longer. + +_Borgia_.--Till the death of one or other of us. + +_Concini_--I see you not. Are you in front of me? + +_Borgia_.--Yes, wretch! Parry that thrust. Has it sped? + +_Concini_.--No; take that in return. + +_Borgia_.--I am untouched. + +_Concini_.--What, still? Oh! would I could but see thy hateful visage. +(_They continue to fight desperately, but without touching each other. +Both rest for a little_.) + +_Borgia_.--Have you a cuirass on, Concini? + +_Concini_.--I had, but I left it with your wife in her chamber. + +_Borgia_.--Liar! (_He rushes on him with his sword. Their blades are +locked for a moment, and both are wounded_.) + +_Concini_.--I feel no sword opposed to mine. Have I wounded you? + +_Borgia_, (_leaning on his sword, and staunching the wound in his +breast with, his handkerchief_.) No, let us begin again. There! + +_Concini_ (_binding his scarf round his thigh_.)--One moment and I am +with you. (_He staggers against the pillar_.) + +_Borgia_, (_sinking on his knees_.)--Are you not wounded yourself? + +_Concini_.--No, no! I am resting. Advance, and you shall see. + +_Borgia_ (_endeavouring to rise, but unable_.)--I have struck my foot +against a stone--wait an instant. + +_Concini_ (_with delight_.)--Ah! you are wounded! + +_Borgia_.--No, I tell you--'tis you who are so. Your voice is changed. + +_Concini_, (_feeling his sword_.)--My blade smells of blood. + +_Borgia_.--Mine is dabbled in it. + +_Concini_.--Come then, if you are not--come and finish me. + +_Borgia_, (_with triumph_.)--Finish! then you are wounded. + +_Concini_, (_with a voice of despair_.)--Were I not, would I not +have already stabbed you twenty times over? But you are at least as +severely handled. + +_Borgia_--It maybe so, or I should not be grovelling here. + +_Concini_.--Shall we now have done? + +_Borgia_, (_enraged_.)--Both wounded--yet both living! + +_Concini_.--What avails the blood I have drawn, while a drop remains. + +_Borgia_.--O! were I but beside thee! _Enter_ Vitry, _followed by the +Guards walking slowly. He holds the young_ Count de la Pene _by the +hand; the boy leads his sister_. + +_Vitry_, (_a pistol in his hand_.)--Well, my child, which is your +father? + +_Count de la Pene_.--Oh! protect him, sir,--that is he leaning against +the pillar. + +_Vitry_, (_aloud_.)--Draw tip--remain at that gate--Guards! (_The +Guards advance with lanterns and flambeaux_.) Sir, I arrest you--your +sword. + +_Concini_, (_thrusting at him_.)--Take it. (Vitry _fires his +pistol_--Du Hallier, D'Ornano, _and_ Person _fire at the same +time_--Concini _falls dead_.) + +The malice of Du Luynes, the inveterate enemy of the D'Ancres, and +afterwards the minion of Louis, contrives that the Maréchale, in her +way to execution, shall be conducted to this scene, where her husband +lies dead, on the spot which had been stained with the blood of Henry, +like Caesar at the foot of Pompey's statue; and the play concludes +with her indignant and animated denunciation of this wretch, who +stands calm and triumphant, while the Maréchale exacts from her son, +over the body of Concini, an oath of vengeance against the destroyer +of her house." + + * * * * * + + +THE MARTYR-STUDENT. + + + I am sick of the bird, + And its carol of glee; + It brings the voices heard + In boyhood back to me: + Our old village hall, + Our church upon the hill, + And the mossy gates--all + My darken'd eyes fill. + + No more gladly leaping + With the choir I go, + My spirit is weeping + O'er her silver bow: + From the golden quiver + The arrows are gone, + The wind from Death's river + Sounds in it alone! + + I sit alone and think + In the silent room. + I look up, and I shrink + From the glimmering gloom. + O, that the little one + Were here with her shout!-- + O, that my sister's arm + My neck were roundabout! + + I cannot read a book, + My eyes are dim and weak; + To every chair I look-- + There is not one to speak! + Could I but sit once more + Upon that well-known chair, + By my mother, as of yore, + Her hand upon my hair! + + My father's eyes seeking, + In trembling hope to trace + If the south wind had been breaking + The shadows from my face;-- + How sweet to die away + Beside our mother's hearth, + Amid the balmy light + That shone upon our birth! + + A wild and burning boy, + I climb the mountain's crest, + The garland of my joy + Did leap upon my breast; + A spirit walk'd before me + Along the stormy night, + The clouds melted o'er me, + The shadows turn'd to light. + + Among my matted locks + The death-wind is blowing; + I hear, like a mighty rush of plumes, + The Sea of Darkness flowing! + Upon the summer air + Two wings are spreading wide; + A shadow, like a pyramid, + Is sitting by my side! + + My mind was like a page + Of gold-wrought story, + Where the rapt eye might gaze + On the tale of glory; + But the rich painted words + Are waxing faint and old, + The leaves have lost their light, + The letters their gold! + + And memory glimmers + On the pages I unrol, + Like the dim light creeping + Into an antique scroll. + When the scribe is searching + The writing pale and damp, + At midnight, and the flame + Is dying in the lamp. + +_FRASER'S MAGAZINE._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS + + * * * * * + + +THE ITALIAN REPUBLICS. + + +M.J.C.L. De Sismondi, has, to suit the plan of the _Cabinet +Cyclopaedia_, endeavoured to include in one of its volumes--a summary +of Italian history from the fall of the Roman empire to the end of +the Middle Age--a period of about six and a half centuries. What a +succession of stirring scenes does this volume present; what fields +of bloody action; what revelry of carnage; what schemes of petty +ambition; what trampling on necks, what uncrowning of heads; what +orgies of fire, sword, famine, and slaughter; what overtoppling of +thrones, and unseating of rulers; what pantings after freedom; what +slavery of passion; what sunny scenes of fortune to be shaded with +melancholy pictures of desolation and decay--are comprised in these +few pages of the history of a comparatively small portion of the +world for a short period--a narrow segment of the cycle of time. +What Sismondi so ably accomplished in sixteen volumes, he has here +comprised in one. He tells us that he could sacrifice episodes and +details without regret. The present is not, however, an abridgment of +his great work, "but an entirely new history, in which, with my eyes +fixed solely on the free people of the several Italian states, I have +studied to portray their first deliverance, their heroism, and their +misfortunes." + +We quote a few sketchy extracts. + + +_Last Struggle of Rome for Liberty_. + +"1453. Stefano Porcari, a Roman noble, willing to profit by the +interregnum which preceded the nomination of Nicholas V., to make the +Roman citizens demand the renewal and confirmation of their ancient +rights and privileges, was denounced to the new pope as a dangerous +person; and, so far from obtaining what he had hoped, he had the +grief to see the citizens always more strictly excluded from any +participation in public affairs. Those were entrusted only to +prelates, who, being prepared for it neither by their studies nor +sentiments, suffered the administration to fall into the most shameful +disorder. + +"In an insurrection of the people in the Piazza Navona, arising from a +quarrel, which began at a bull-fight, Stefano Porcari endeavoured to +direct their attention to a more noble object, and turn this tumult to +the advantage of liberty. The pope hastily indulged all the fancies +of the people, with respect to their games or amusements; but firmly +rejected all their serious demands, and exiled Porcari to Bologna. The +latter hoped to obtain by conspiracy what he had failed to accomplish +by insurrection. There were not less than 400 exiled Roman citizens: +he persuaded them all to join him, and appointed them a rendezvous +at Rome, for the 5th of January, 1453, in the house of his +brother-in-law. Having escaped the vigilance of the legate of Bologna, +he proceeded there himself, accompanied by 300 soldiers, whom he had +enlisted in his service. The whole band was assembled on the night of +the appointed 5th of January; and Stefano Porcari was haranguing them, +to prepare them for the attack of the capitol,--in which he reckoned +on re-establishing the senate of the Roman republic,--when, his secret +having been betrayed, the house was surrounded with troops, the doors +suddenly forced, and the conspirators overcome by numbers before their +arms had been distributed. Next morning, the body of Stefano Porcari, +with those of nine of his associates, were seen hanging from the +battlements of the castle of St. Angelo. In spite of their ardent +entreaties, they had been denied confession and the sacrament. Eight +days later, the executions, after a mockery of law proceedings, were +renewed, and continued in great numbers. The pope succeeded in causing +those who had taken refuge in neighbouring states to be delivered up +to him; and thus the last spark of Roman liberty was extinguished in +blood." + + +_General Mildness of Italian Warfare_. + +"1492. The horses and armour of the Italian men at arms were reckoned +superior to those of the transalpine nations against which they had +measured themselves in France, during "the war of the public weal." +The Italian captains had made war a science, every branch of which +they thoroughly knew. It was never suspected for a moment that the +soldier should be wanting in courage: but the general mildness of +manners, and the progress of civilization, had accustomed the Italians +to make war with sentiments of honour and humanity towards the +vanquished. Ever ready to give quarter, they did not strike a fallen +enemy. Often, after having taken from him his horse and armour, they +set him free; at least, they never demanded a ransom so enormous as +to ruin him. Horsemen who went to battle clad in steel, were rarely +killed or wounded, so long as they kept their saddles. Once unhorsed, +they surrendered. The battle, therefore, never became murderous. The +courage of the Italian soldiers, which had accommodated itself to this +milder warfare, suddenly gave way before the new dangers and ferocity +of barbarian enemies. They became terror-struck when they perceived +that the French caused dismounted horsemen to be put to death by their +valets, or made prisoners only to extort from them, under the name of +ransom, all they possessed. The Italian cavalry, equal in courage, and +superior in military science, to the French, was for some time +unable to make head against an enemy whose ferocity disturbed their +imaginations." + + +_Battle of Marignano_. + +"1515.--Francis I. succeeded Louis XII. on the 1st of January; on the +27th of June he renewed his predecessor's treaty of alliance with +Venice; and on the 15th of August, entered the plains of Lombardy, by +the marquisate of Saluzzo, with a powerful army. He met but little +resistance in the provinces south of the Po, but the Swiss meanwhile +arrived in great force to defend Maximilian Sforza, whom, since they +had reseated him on the throne, they regarded as their vassal. Francis +in vain endeavoured to negotiate with them; they would not listen +to the voice of their commanders; democracy had passed from their +_landsgemeinde_ into their armies, popular orators roused their +passions; and on the 13th of September they impetuously left Milan +to attack Francis I. at Marignano. Deep ditches lined with soldiers +bordered the causeway by which they advanced; their commanders wished +by some manoeuvre to get clear of them, or make the enemy change his +position; but the Swiss, despising all the arts of war, expected to +command success by mere intrepidity and bodily strength. They marched +to the battery in full front; they repulsed the charge of the knights +with their halberds, and threw themselves with fury into the ditches +which barred their road. Some rushed on to the very mouths of the +cannon, which guarded the king, and there fell. Night closed on the +combatants; and the two armies mingled together fought on for four +hours longer by moonlight. Complete darkness at length forced them to +rest on their arms; but the king's trumpet continually sounded, to +indicate to the bivouac where he was to be found; while the two famous +horns of Uri and Unterwalden called the Swiss together. The battle was +renewed on the 14th at daybreak: the unrelenting obstinacy was the +same; but the French had taken advantage of the night to collect +and fortify themselves. Marshal Trivulzio, who had been present at +eighteen pitched battles, declared that every other seemed to him +children's play in comparison with this "battle of giants," as he +called it: 20,000 dead already covered the ground; of these two-thirds +were Swiss. When the Swiss despaired of victory they retreated +slowly,--but menacing and terrible. The French did not dare to pursue +them." + +The concluding paragraph of the volume is beautifully enthusiastic: it +may almost be regarded as prophetic in connexion with events that are +at this moment shaking Italy to her very base: + +"Italy is crushed; but her heart still beats with the love of liberty, +virtue, and glory: she is chained and covered with blood; but she +still knows her strength and her future destiny: she is insulted by +those for whom she has opened the way to every improvement; but she +feels that she is formed to take the lead again: and Europe will know +no repose till the nation which, in the dark ages, lighted the torch +of civilization with that of liberty, shall be enabled herself to +enjoy the light which she created." + + * * * * * + + +CHILD'S ARITHMETICAL TABLES. + + +The Seventh Edition, besides being well adapted for Schools, will be +found useful in the business of life. It includes the monies, weights, +and measures, mentioned in Scripture, the length of miles in different +countries, astronomical signs, and other matters computed with great +care. + + * * * * * + + +THE GEORGIAN ERA. + + +This work is intended to comprise Memoirs of the most eminent +characters who have flourished in Great Britain during the reigns +of the four Georges: the present volume being only a fourth of its +extent, and containing the Royal Family, the Pretenders and their +adherents, churchmen, dissenters, and statesmen. The importance of the +chosen period is prefatorily urged by the editor: "In comparison with +the Elizabethan or the Modern Augustan, (as the reign of Anne has been +designated) that which may be appropriately termed the Georgian Era, +possesses a paramount claim to notice; for not only has it been +equally fertile in conspicuous characters, and more prolific of great +events, but its influence is actually felt by the existing community +of Great Britain." + +The several memoirs, so far as a cursory glance enables us to judge, +are edited with great care. Their uniformity of plan is very superior +to hastily compiled biographies. Each memoir contains the life +and labours of its subject, in the smallest space consistent with +perspicuity; the dryness of names, dates, and plain facts being +admirably relieved by characteristic anecdotes of the party, and a +brief but judicious summary of character by the editor. In the latter +consists the original value of the work. The reader need not, however, +take this summary "for granted:" he is in possession of the main facts +from which the editor has drawn his estimate, and he may, in like +manner, "weigh and consider," and draw his own inference. The +anecdotes, to borrow a phrase from Addison, are the "sweetmeats" of +the book, but the caution with which they are admitted, adds to their +worth. The running reader may say that much of this portion is not +entirely new to him: granted; but it would be unwise to reject an +anecdote for its popularity; as Addison thought of "Chevy Chase," its +commonness is its worth. But, it should be added, that such anecdotes +are not told in the circumlocutory style of gossip, nor nipt in the +bud by undeveloped brevity. We have Selden's pennyworth of spirit +without the glass of water: the quintessence of condensation, which, +we are told, is the result of time and experience, which rejects what +is no longer essential. Here circumspection was necessary, and it has +been well exercised. The anecdotes are not merely amusing but useful, +since only when placed in juxtaposition with a man's whole life, can +such records be of service in appreciating his character. + +Let us turn to the volume for a few examples, and take George the +Fourth and Sheridan, for their contemporary interest; though the +earlier characters are equally attractive. In the former the reader +may better compare the editor's inference with his own impression. + + +_GEORGE THE FOURTH_. + +"Endowed by nature with remarkably handsome features, and a form so +finely proportioned, that at one period of his life it was deemed +almost the best model of manly beauty in existence, George the Fourth, +during the early part of his manhood, eclipsed the whole of his gay +associates in fashion and gallantry, as much by personal attractions, +as pre-eminence in birth. Byron describes him as having possessed +"fascination in his very bow;" and it is said, that a young peeress, +on hearing of the prince's attentions to one of her fair friends, +exclaimed, "I sincerely hope that it may not be my turn next, for to +repel him is impossible." Towards the middle period of his life, he +became so enormously fat, that four life-guardsmen could not, without +difficulty, lift him on horseback; but, as he advanced in years, +although still corpulent, his inconvenient obesity gradually +diminished. + +"He scarcely ever forgot an injury, an affront, or a marked opposition +to his personal wishes. The cordiality which had previously subsisted +between his majesty and Prince Leopold, entirely ceased, when the +latter volunteered a visit to Queen Caroline on her return to this +country, in 1820: Brougham and Dentrum, for the zeal with which they +had advocated the cause of their royal client, were, during a long +period, deemed unworthy of those legal honours to which their high +talents and long standing at the bar, justly entitled them: and Sir +Robert Wilson was arbitrarily dismissed from the service, for his +interference at her majesty's funeral. On account of his unpopular +reception, by the mob, when he accompanied the allied sovereigns to +Guildhall, in 1814, he never afterwards honoured the city with his +presence; and when Rossini rudely declined the repetition of a piece +of music, in which the king had taken a conspicuous part, at a court +concert, his majesty turned his back on the composer, to whose works, +from that moment, he displayed the most unequivocal dislike. But, on +the other hand, some cases have been recorded, in which his conduct +was unquestionably tolerant and forgiving. He allowed Canning, an +avowed supporter of the queen, to retain office, without taking any +part in the ministerial proceedings against her majesty; and at the +last stage of his earthly career, sent the Duke of Sussex, with whom +he had long been at variance, his own ribbon of the order of St. +Patrick, with an assurance of his most sincere affection. Erskine, +while attorney-general to the prince, had so offended his royal +highness, by accepting a retainer from Paine, on a prosecution being +instituted against the latter for publishing the Rights of Man, that +his immediate resignation was required. But, sometime afterwards, +Erskine was desired to attend at Carlton house, where the prince +received him with great cordiality, and, after avowing his conviction +that, 'in the instance that had separated them, his learned and +eloquent friend had acted from the purest motives, he wished to give +publicity to his present opinion on the subject, by appointing Mr. +Erskine his chancellor.' On one occasion, at the opening of a session +of parliament by George the Third in person, his royal highness, who +was then very much in debt, having gone down to the house of lords +in a superb military uniform with diamond epaulettes, Major Doyle +subsequently remarked to him, that his equipage had been much noticed +by the mob. 'One fellow,' added the major, 'prodigiously admired, what +he termed 'the fine things which the prince had upon his shoulders.' +'Mighty fine, indeed,' replied another; 'but, mind me, they'll soon be +_upon our shoulders_, for all that.' 'Ah, you rogue!' exclaimed the +prince, laughing, 'that's a hit of your own, I am convinced:--but, +come, take some wine.' + +"He had some inclination for scientific pursuits, and highly respected +those who were eminent for mechanical inventions. He contributed +largely towards the erection of a monument to the memory of Watt. Of +his medical information, slight as it undoubtedly was, he is said +to have been particularly proud. Carpue had demonstrated to him the +general anatomy of the human body, in his younger days; and for a +number of years, the ingenious Weiss submitted to his inspection all +the new surgical instruments, in one of which the king suggested some +valuable improvements. + +"His talents were, undoubtedly, above the level of mediocrity: they +have, however, been greatly overrated, on the supposition that several +powerfully written documents, put forth under his name, but composed +by some of his more highly-gifted friends, were his own productions. +His style was, in fact, much beneath his station: it was inelegant, +destitute of force, and even occasionally incorrect. He read his +speeches well, but not excellently: he possessed no eloquence, +although, as a convivial orator, he is said to have been rather +successful. + +"At one time, while an associate of Sheridan, Erskine, Fox, &c., he +affected, in conversation, to be brilliant, and so far succeeded, +as to colloquial liveliness, that during their festive intercourse, +according to the witty barrister's own admission, 'he fairly kept up +at saddle-skirts' even with Curran. Notwithstanding this compliment, +his pretensions to wit appear to have been but slender; the best +sayings attributed to him being a set of middling puns, of which the +following is a favourable selection:--When Langdale's distillery was +plundered, during the riots of 1780, he asked why the proprietor had +not defended his property. 'He did not possess the means to do so,' +was the reply. 'Not the means of defence!' exclaimed the prince, +'and he a brewer--a man who has been all his life at _cart_ and +_tierce_!--Sheridan having told him that Fox had _cooed_ in vain to +Miss Pulteney, the prince replied, 'that his friend's attempt on the +lady's heart was a _coup maoquè_.'--He once quoted from Suetonius, the +words, '_Jure_ caesus videtur,' to prove, jestingly, that trial +by jury was as old as the time of the first Caesar.--A newspaper +panegyric on Fox, apparently from the pen of Dr. Parr, having been +presented to his royal highness, he said that it reminded him of +Machiavel's epitaph, 'Tanto nomini nullum _Par_ eulogium.'--A cavalry +officer, at a court ball, hammered the floor with his heels so loudly, +that the prince observed, 'If the war between the mother country and +her colonies had not terminated, he might have been sent to America as +a republication of the _stamp_ act.'--While his regiment was in daily +expectation of receiving orders for Ireland, some one told him, that +country quarters in the sister kingdom were so filthy, that the rich +uniforms of his corps would soon be lamentably soiled: 'Let the men +act as dragoons, then,' said his royal highness, 'and _scour the +country_.' When Horne Tooke, on being committed to prison for treason, +proposed, while in jail, to give a series of dinners to his friends, +the prince remarked, that 'as an inmate of Newgate, he would act more +consistently by establishing a _Ketch_-club.'--Michael Kelly having +turned wine-merchant, the prince rather facetiously said, 'that Mick +_imported_ his music, and _composed_ his wine!'" + +We reluctantly break off here till next week. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE TOPOGRAPHER + + * * * * * + +BRIGHTON AS IT WAS. + +(_Concluded from page 90_.) + + +This immunity, however, deprived them of the privileges which the +people of the adjacent towns enjoyed; and was probably the true +reason, why this town did not obtain a place among those called Cinque +ports. It lies in their neighbourhood, is more ancient, and was always +more considerable than most included in that number. + +To reduce its consequence still more, the tithes were in this period +taken from the incumbent, appropriated to the use of the Priory at +Lewes, and have never since been restored; and a Convent of mendicant +friars, more burthensome than ten endowed ones of monks, was founded +and dedicated to St. Bartholomew. + +Struggling under these difficulties, nothing but the Reformation +could enable the inhabitants of this place to emerge from their +wretchedness. And accordingly we find, that, in the happier days of +Queen Elizabeth, their affairs put on a new face. They then applied +themselves with vigour to their old employments of fishing, and +fitting out vessels for trade; seeking subsistence from their darling +element the sea. + +Persecution prevailing at this juncture in many parts of Europe, +numbers fled to this island as to an asylum, and many settled in this +town, bringing with them industry, and an attachment to maritime +affairs; or soon learning them here. The number of its inhabitants +being thus increased, its trade became proportionably greater: so that +in 1579, a record now subsisting says, "There are in the said town +of Brighthelmston of fishing-boats four-score in number, and of able +mariners four hundred in number, with ten thousand fishing-nets, +besides many other necessaries belonging to their mystery."[3] And the +descendants of many of these French, Dutch, and Spanish families still +reside here.[4] + + [3] It is a melancholy reflection to compare the present state + of the fishery with its prosperity in 1579, or in more modern + periods. Within the recollection of the editor, there were 60 + boats employed in catching mackerel, and in a propitious season, + that species of fish has produced in Billingsgate market a sum of + £10,000, with which the town was enriched. In the autumn, 20 of + these boats were fitted out for the herring voyage, and one boat + has been known to land during the season from 20 to 30 lasts of + herrings, each last containing 10,000 fish, computing 132 to the + 100. + + [4] The families of Mighell and Wichelo are all that appear to + remain as of Spanish origin. + +From this record we likewise learn, that the town was fortified to the +sea by a flint wall, and that the fort, called the Block-house, had +been then lately erected. The east-gate of this wall, in a line with +the Block-house was actually standing last year, and has been since +taken down to open a more convenient entrance to a battery lately +built.[5] + + [5] The kindness of a friend has enabled me to supply this work, + with a view of the town taken from the sea in 1743, when the + wall, Block house, and East gate were partly standing. + +The town at present consists of six principal streets, many lanes, and +some spaces surrounded with houses, called by the inhabitants squares. +The great plenty of flint stones on the shore, and in the corn-fields +near the town, enabled them to build the walls of their houses with +that material, when in their most impoverished state; and their +present method of ornamenting the windows and doors with the admirable +brick which they burn for their own use, has a very pleasing effect. +The town improves daily, as the inhabitants, encouraged by the late +great resort of company, seem disposed to expend the whole of what +they acquire in the erecting of new buildings, or making the old ones +convenient. And should the increase of these, in the next seven years, +be equal to what it has been in the last, it is probable there will +be but few towns in England, that will excel this in commodious +buildings.[6] + + [6] The recent publications on the present state of the town, will + amply establish the prophecy of our historian. + +Here are two public rooms, the one convenient, the other not only so, +but elegant; not excelled perhaps by any public room in England, that +of York excepted: and the attention of the proprietor in preparing +every thing that may answer for the conveniency and amusement of the +company, is extremely meritorious. + +For divine service there is a large Church, pleasantly situated on a +rising ground above the town; but at a distance that is inconvenient +to the old and infirm. The Dissenters, who, of all denominations, +amount to but forty families, have a Presbyterian, a Quaker's, and an +Anabaptist's meeting-house. + +The men of this town are busied almost the whole year in a succeeding +variety of fishing; and the women industriously dedicate part of their +time, disengaged from domestic cares, to the providing of nets adapted +to the various employments of their husbands. + +The spring season is spent in dredging for oysters, which are mostly +bedded in the Thames and Medway, and afterwards carried to the London +market; the mackerel fishery employs them during the months of May, +June, and July; and the fruits of their labour are always sent to +London; as Brighthelmston has the advantage of being its nearest +fishing sea-coast, and as the consumption of the place, and its +environs, is very inconsiderable. In the early part of this fishery +they frequently take the red mullet; and near the close of it, +abundance of lobsters and prawns. August is engaged in the +trawl-fishery, when all sorts of flat fish are taken in a net called +by that name. In September they fish for whiting with lines; and +in November the herring fishery takes place, which is the most +considerable and growing fishery of the whole. Those employed in +this pursuit show an activity and boldness almost incredible, often +venturing out to sea in their little boats in such weather as the +largest ships can scarce live in. Part of their acquisition in this +way is sent to London, but the greatest share of it is either pickled, +or dried and made red. These are mostly sent to foreign markets, +making this fishery a national concern.[7] + + [7] There are 300 fishermen, 11 vessels, and 57 fishing boats + belonging to this place. + +In examining the ancient and modern descriptions of the Baiae in +Campania, where the Romans of wealth and quality, during the greatness +of that empire, retired for the sake of health and pleasure, when +public exigencies did not require their attendance at Rome, and +comparing them with those of Brighthelmston, I can perceive a striking +resemblance; and I am persuaded, that every literary person who will +impartially consider this matter on the spot, will concur with me in +opinion, giving, in some measure, the preference to our own Baiae, as +exempt from the inconvenient steams of hot sulphureous baths, and the +dangerous vicinity of Mount Vesuvius. And I have no doubt but it will +be equally frequented, when the healthful advantages of its situation +shall be sufficiently made known. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + * * * * * + +A NIGHT ON THE NIGER. + +(_From the Landers' Travels; Unpublished_.) + + +We made no stop whatever on the river, not even at meal-times, our +men suffering the canoe to glide down with the stream while they were +eating their food. At five in the afternoon they all complained of +fatigue, and we looked around us for a landing-place, where we might +rest awhile, but we could find none, for every village which we saw +after that hour was unfortunately situated behind large thick morasses +and sloughy bogs, through which, after various provoking and tedious +trials, we found it impossible to penetrate. We were employed three +hours in the afternoon in endeavouring to find a landing at some +village, and though we saw them distinctly enough from the water, we +could not find a passage through the morasses, behind which they lay. +Therefore we were compelled to relinquish the attempt, and continue +our course on the Niger. We passed several beautiful islands in the +course of the day, all cultivated and inhabited, but low and flat. The +width of the river appeared to vary considerably, sometimes it seemed +to be two or three miles across, and at others double that width. The +current drifted us along very rapidly, and we guessed it to be running +at the rate of three or four miles an hour. The direction of the +stream continued nearly east. The day had been excessively warm, and +the sun set in beauty and grandeur, shooting forth rays tinged with +the most heavenly hues, which extended to the zenith. Nevertheless, +the appearance of the firmament, all glorious as it was, betokened a +coming storm; the wind whistled through the tall rushes, and darkness +soon covered the earth like a veil. This rendered us more anxious +than ever to land somewhere, we cared not where, and to endeavour to +procure shelter for the night, if not in a village, at least under +a tree. Accordingly, rallying the drooping spirits of our men, we +encouraged them to renew their exertions by setting them the example, +and our canoe darted silently and swiftly down the current. We were +enabled to steer her rightly by the vividness of the lightning, which +flashed across the water continually, and by this means also we could +distinguish any danger before us, and avoid the numerous small islands +with which the river is interspersed, and which otherwise might have +embarrassed us very seriously. But though we could perceive almost +close to us several lamps burning in comfortable-looking huts, and +could plainly distinguish the voices of their occupants, and though +we exerted all our strength to get at them, we were foiled in every +attempt, by reason of the sloughs and fens, and we were at last +obliged to abandon them in despair. Some of these lights, after +leading us a long way, eluded our search, and vanished from our sight +like an _ignis fatuus_, and others danced about we knew not how. But +what was more vexatious than all, after we had got into an inlet, and +toiled and tugged for a full half hour against the current, which in +this little channel was uncommonly rapid, to approach a village from +which we thought it flowed, both village and lights seemed to sink +into the earth, the sound of the people's voices ceased of a sudden, +and when we fancied we were actually close to the spot, we strained +our eyes in vain to see a single hut,--all was gloomy, dismal, +cheerless, and solitary. It seemed the work of enchantment; every +thing was as visionary as "sceptres grasped in sleep." We had paddled +along the banks a distance of not less than thirty miles, every inch +of which we had attentively examined, but not a bit of dry land could +any where be discovered which was firm enough to bear our weight. +Therefore, we resigned ourselves to circumstances, and all of us +having been refreshed with a little cold rice and honey, and water +from the stream, we permitted the canoe to drift down with the +current, for our men were too much fatigued with the labours of the +day to work any longer. But here a fresh evil arose which we were +unprepared to meet. An incredible number of hippopotami arose very +near us, and came plashing, snorting, and plunging all round the +canoe, and placed us in imminent danger. Thinking to frighten them +off, we fired a shot or two at them, but the noise only called up from +the water and out of the fens, about as many more of their unwieldy +companions, and we were more closely beset than before. Our people, +who had never in all their lives been exposed in a canoe to such +huge and formidable beasts, trembled with fear and apprehension, and +absolutely wept aloud; and their terror was not a little increased by +the dreadful peals of thunder which rattled over their heads, and by +the awful darkness which prevailed, broken at intervals by flashes of +lightning, whose powerful glare was truly awful. Our people told us, +that these formidable animals frequently upset canoes in the river, +when every one in them was sure to perish. These came so close to us, +that we could reach them with the butt-end of a gun. When I fired +at the first, which I must have hit, every one of them came to the +surface of the water, and pursued us so fast over to the north bank, +that it was with the greatest difficulty imaginable we could keep +before them. Having fired a second time, the report of my gun was +followed by a loud roaring noise, and we seemed to increase our +distance from them. There were two Bornou men among our crew who were +not so frightened as the rest, having seen some of these creatures +before on Lake Tchad, where, they say, there are plenty of them. +However, the terrible hippopotami did us no kind of mischief whatever; +they were only sporting and wallowing in the river for their own +amusement, no doubt, at first when we interrupted them; but had they +upset our canoe, we should have paid dearly for it. We observed a bank +on the north side of the river shortly after this, and I proposed +halting on it for the night, for I wished much to put my foot on firm +land again. This, however, not one of the crew would consent to, +saying, that if the Gewo Roua, or water elephant, did not kill them, +the crocodiles certainly would do so before the morning, and I thought +afterwards that we might have been carried off like the Cumbrie people +on the islands near Yaoorie, if we had tried the experiment. Our canoe +was only large enough to hold us all when sitting, so that we had no +chance of lying down. Had we been able to muster up thirty thousand +cowries at Rabba, we might have purchased one which would have carried +us all very comfortably. A canoe of this sort would have served us for +living in entirely, we should have had no occasion to land excepting +to obtain our provisions; and having performed our day's journey, +might have anchored fearlessly at night. Finding we could not induce +our people to land, we agreed to continue on all night. The eastern +horizon became very dark, and the lightning more and more vivid; +indeed, I never recollect having seen such strong fork lightning +before in my life. All this denoted the approach of a storm. At eleven +P.M. it blew somewhat stronger than a gale, and at midnight the storm +was at its height. The wind was so strong, that it washed over the +sides of the canoe several times, so that she was in danger of +filling. Driven about by the wind, our frail little bark became +unmanageable; but at length we got near a bank, which in some measure +protected us, and we were fortunate enough to lay hold of a thorny +tree against which we were driven, and which was growing nearly in the +centre of the stream. Presently we fastened the canoe to its branches, +and wrapping our cloaks round our persons, for we felt overpowered +with fatigue, and with our legs projecting half over the sides of the +little vessel, which, for want of room, we were compelled to do, we +lay down to sleep. There is something, I believe, in the nature of +a tempest which is favourable to slumber, at least so thought my +brother; for though the thunder continued to roar, and the wind to +blow,--though the rain beat in our faces, and our canoe lay rocking +like a cradle, still he slept soundly. The wind kept blowing hard +from the eastward till midnight, when it became calm. The rain then +descended in torrents, accompanied by thunder and lightning of the +most awful description. We lay in our canoe drenched with water, and +our little vessel was filling so fast, that two people were obliged +to be constantly baling out the water to keep her afloat. The +water-elephants, as the natives term the hippopotami, frequently came +snorting near us, but fortunately did not touch our canoe. The storm +continued until three in the morning of the 17th, when it became +clear, and we saw the stars sparkling like gems over our heads. +Therefore, we again proceeded on our journey down the river, there +being sufficient light for us to see our way, and two hours after, we +put into a small, insignificant, fishing village, called _Dacannie_, +where we landed very gladly. Before we arrived at this island, we had +passed a great many native towns and villages, but in consequence of +the early hour at which we were travelling, we considered it would be +imprudent to stop at any of them, as none of the natives were out of +their huts. Had we landed earlier, even near one of these towns, we +might have alarmed the inhabitants, and been taken for a party of +robbers; or, as they are called in the country, _jacallees_. They +would have taken up arms against us, and we might have lost our lives; +so that for our safety we continued down the river, although we had +great desire to go on shore. In the course of the day and night, we +travelled, according to _our_ estimation, a distance little short of a +hundred miles. Our course was nearly east. The Niger in many places, +and for a considerable way, presented a very magnificent appearance, +and, we believe, to be nearly eight miles in width.--_Lit. Gaz._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + +_Ancient Trade_.--Alexandria was formerly the chief commercial city +in the world. We may judge of its wealth and prosperity by the +circumstance, that, after the defeat of Queen Zenobia, a single +merchant of this city, undertook to raise and pay an army out of the +profits of his trade. Delos was the richest city in the Archipelago, +it was a free port, where nations warring with each other, resorted +with their goods, and traded. Strabo calls it one of the most +frequented emporiums in the world; and Pliny tells us, that all the +commodities of Europe and Asia were sold, purchased, or exchanged +there. Trade was much encouraged at Athens; and if any one ridiculed +it, he was liable to an action of slander. A fine of a thousand +drachmas (about £37. 10s.) was inflicted on him who accused a merchant +of any crime which he was unable to prove. Solon was engaged in +merchandize; the founder of the city of Messilia was a merchant; +Thales and Hippocrates, the mathematician, traded; Plato sold oil +in Egypt; Maximinus the Roman emperor, traded with the Goths in the +produce of his estate in Thracia; Vespasian farmed the privies at +Rome; and the Emperor Pertinax, originally dealt in charcoal. + +P.T.W. + +_Unnecessary fears about the Cholera._--Nothing is more calculated to +allay unnecessay and groundless fear, in the case of the cholera, than +the undeniable fact of the smallness of the mortality in proportion +to the whole population, where it has raged with most violence. In +addition to which, if it be borne in mind, that the disease invariably +attacks those who are most predisposed to engender any malady, it is +not unreasonable to infer, that of those to whom it has proved mortal, +many would have died within the same period, had cholera not attacked +them.--_Morning Herald._ + +King Regner died singing the pleasure of falling in battle: his +words are, "The hours of my life are passed away, I shall die +laughing."--_Britain's Historical Drama._ + + _On a very Fat Man._ + + All flesh is grass, so do the Scriptures say, + And grass, when mown, is shortly turn'd to hay. + When Time, to mow you down, his scythe doth take, + Good Man! how large a stack you then will make. + J.J. + + * * * * * + +THE MIRROR. + + * * * * * + +Purchasers of the MIRROR who may wish to complete their Sets or +Volumes, are informed that the whole of the Numbers are now in +print, and can he procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or +Newsvender. + +Complete Sets. Vol. I. to XVIII in boards, price £4. 18s. 6d.; +half-bound, £6. 6s. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; and by all Newsmen +and Booksellers._ + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction., by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11539 *** |