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diff --git a/11543-0.txt b/11543-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb0e992 --- /dev/null +++ b/11543-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1476 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11543 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +Vol. 19, No. 545] SATURDAY, MAY 5, 1832 [Price 2d. + + * * * * * + + + +ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, REGENTS'S PARK. + + +[Illustration: Emu Enclosure] + +[Illustration: Pelican Enclosure] + +[Illustration: Aviary for Small Birds] + +Our strolls to this scene of intellectual amusement, (or "the gardens +with a long name," as Lord Mulgrave's new heroine naively calls them,) +are neither few nor far between. The acquaintance is of some standing, +since _The Mirror_ was the first journal that contained any pictorial +representation of these Gardens, or any connected notice of the +animals.[1] At that time the Society had not published their "List," and +our twopenny guide was common in the hands of visiters. We do not ask +for the thanks of the Council in contributing to their annual receipts, +now usually amounting to £10,000.: we were studying the interest of our +readers, which uniformly brings its own reward. The first of the present +illustrations is the _Emu Enclosure_, in the old Garden. Several broods +of _Emus_ have been reared by the Society at their Farm at Kingston +Hill; and some of the year's birds are usually exhibited here. Next is +the _Pelican Enclosure_, containing a house of mimic rock-work, and a +capacious tank of water, the favourite element of the Pelican. One pair +in mature plumage, and a second pair, supposed to be the young of the +same species, are exhibited. The third Cut is the _Aviary for small and +middle-sized birds_, at the north-eastern corner of the Garden. Here are +kept various British Birds, as the different species of Crows and Song +Birds. The bamboo ornaments of the building are not, therefore, of the +appropriate character that we so much admire elsewhere in the Gardens. + + [1] The _Literary Gazette_ first published the Ground Plan of + the Zoological Gardens, from a lithograph circulated among the + members, towards the close of the year 1827. In seeking to do + ourselves justice, we must not forget others. Our first + Engraving, a _Bird's Eye View of the Gardens_ from an original + sketch, appeared in No. 330, of _The Mirror_, September 6, 1828. + +[Illustration: "Happy Jerry"] + +The individual with this felicitous _soubriquet_, was a specimen of the +great Mandrill Baboon, in its adult state, the _Papio Maimon_ of +Geoffrey, and the _Cynocephalus Maimon_ of Desmarest. It is a native of +the Gold Coast and Guinea, in Africa, where whole droves of them often +plunder the orchards and vineyards. Their colours are greyish brown, +inclining to olive above; the cheeks are blue and furrowed, and the chin +has a sharp-pointed orange beard; the nose grows red, especially towards +the end, where it becomes of a bright scarlet. Such are, however, only +the colours of the adult animal; the young differs materially, on which +account it has been considered by naturalists as a distinct species. + +Jerry is now a member of death's "antic court," but his necrology may be +interesting to the reader. Mr. Cross describes him as "from on board a +slave vessel that had been captured off the Gold Coast, in the year +1815," when he was supposed to be three years old. He was landed at +Bristol, and was there purchased by the proprietor of a travelling +menagerie, who kept him for some years, and taught him the various +accomplishments he after excelled in, as sitting in a chair, smoking, +drinking grog, &c.; probably he required but little tuition in the +latter; since we find a fondness for fermented liquors numbered among +his habits by the biographers of his species. In 1828, Jerry was +purchased by Mr. Cross, and exhibited at the King's Mews, when he +appeared in full vigour, and attracted a large number of daily visitors. +He was fed daily from the table of his owner, and almost made a parlour +guest; taking tea, toast, bread and butter, soup, boiled and roast +meats, vegetables, pastry, &c., with as much _gout_ as any member of a +club in his vicinity. In 1829, his eccentricities reached the royal ear +at Windsor, and George the Fourth, (whose partiality to _exotics_, +animate or inanimate, was well known,) sent an "express command" that +Jerry should attend at the Castle. The invitations of royalty are always +undeclinable, and Jerry obeyed accordingly. The King was much amused +with his visiter, and, says our informant, "his Majesty was delighted at +seeing him eat the state dinner, consisting of venison, &c., which had +been prepared for him."[2] Thus, Jerry was not in the parlous state +described by Touchstone: he was not damned, like the poor shepherd: _he_ +had been to court. He had also learnt good and gallant manners. He +recognised many of his frequent visiters, and if any female among them +was laid hold of, in his presence, he would bristle with rage, strike +the bars of his cage with tremendous force, and violently gnash his +teeth at the ungallant offender. + + [2] This reminds us of the attachment of the late Duke of + Norfolk to his dogs. They were admitted to the apartment in + which his Grace dined; and he often selected the fine cuts from + joints at table, and threw the pieces to the curs upon the + polished oak floors of Aruudel Castle. + +In the autumn of 1831, Jerry's health began to decline, and he was +accordingly removed from Charing Cross to the suburban salubrity of the +Surrey Zoological Gardens. All was of no avail: though, as a biographer +would say of a nobler animal, every remedy was tried to restore him to +health. Life's fitful fever was well nigh over with him, and in the +month of December last--he died. His body was opened and examined, when +it appeared that his death was through old age; and, although he had +been a free liver, and, as Mr. Cross facetely observes, "was not a +member of a Temperance Society," his internal organization did not seem +to have suffered in the way usually consequent upon hard drinking. +Perhaps a few ascetic advocates of cant and care-wearing abstinence will +think that we ought to conceal this exceptionable fact, lest Jerry's +example should be more frequently followed. Justice demands otherwise; +and as the biographers of old tell us that Alexander the Great died of +hard-drinking, so ought we to record that Happy Jerry's life was not +shortened by the imperial propensity: in this case, the monkey has beat +the man: proverbially, the man beats the monkey. Jerry had, however, his +share of ailment: he had been a martyr to that love-pain, the +tooth-ache; several of his large molar teeth being entirely decayed. +This circumstance accounted for the gloomy appearance he would sometimes +put on, and his covering his head with his hands, and laying it in his +chair. Poor fellow! we could have sympathized with him from our very +hearts--we mean teeth. Jerry's remains have been carefully embalmed, (we +hope in his favourite spirit,) and are now at the Surrey Gardens; where +the arrival of a living congener is daily expected. Meanwhile, will +nobody write the _hic jacet_ of the deceased? or no publisher engage for +his reminiscences? Mr. Cross would probably supply the skeleton--of the +memoir--not of his poor dead Jerry. What tales could he have told of the +slave-stricken people of the Gold Coast, what horrors of the slave-ship +whence he was taken, what a fine graphic picture of his voyage, and his +travels in England, _à la Prince Puckler Muskau_, not forgetting his +visit to Windsor Castle. + +Baboons may be rendered docile in confinement; though they almost always +retain the disposition to revenge an injury. At the Cape, they are often +caught when young, and brought up with milk; perhaps Jerry was so +nurtured; and Kolben tells us, that they will become as watchful over +their master's property as the most valuable house-dog is in Europe. +Many of the Hottentots believe they can speak, but that they avoid doing +so lest they should be enslaved, and compelled to work! What a libel +upon human nature is conveyed in this trait of savage credulity. The +bitterest reproofs of man's wickedness are not only to be found in the +varnished lessons of civilization. Here is a touching piece of +simplicity upon which James Montgomery might found a whole poem. + +Baboons, in their native countries, are sometimes hunted with dogs, but +their chase is often fatal to the assailants. Mr. Burchell tells us that +several of his dogs were wounded by the bites of baboons, and two or +three dogs were thus bitten asunder. A species of baboon common in +Ceylon, often attains the height of man. It is very fearless; and Bishop +Heber relates that an acquaintance of his having on one occasion shot a +young baboon, the mother came boldly up and wrested the gun out of his +hand without doing him any injury. + + * * * * * + +By way of pendent, we add the present state of THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, +from the report just completed. + +Gross amount of the income of last year £17,633[3] +Being an increase over the preceding year of 1,857 +Receipts of four months of the past year 3,330 +Receipts of corresponding months of the present year 3,755 +_Receipts of the Society since its formation_ + In 1827 £ 4,079 + 1828 11,515 + 1829 13,991 + 1830 15,806 + 1831 17,662[3] + ------- +Total since its formation £63,053 + +_Visiters to the Gardens_. + +In 1830--224,745 paying 9,773£ + 1831--258,936 11,425£ + +_Visiters to the Museum_. + +In 1831--11,636 paying 333£ +Number of Fellows 2,074 + + [3] These items, which are not quite correct, are from the + _Morning Chronicle_ report. + +The Society have obtained a grant of nine acres and a half of land, in +the Regent's Park, contiguous to their gardens; and they intend to +devote 1,000_l_. annually to the improvement of the Museum. + + * * * * * + + +THE CURFEW BELL. + +(_To the Editor_.) + + +Observing in your No. 543, some remarks relating to the ancient custom +of ringing the Curfew Bell, and that _Reginald_, your correspondent, had +withheld the name of the village where he heard the Curfew rang, I am +led to suppose that it may not be uninteresting to your readers to be +informed, that at Saint Helen's Church, Abingdon, this custom is still +continued; the bell is rung at eight o'clock every night, and four +o'clock every morning, during the winter months; why it is rung in the +morning I do not know; perhaps some of your readers can inform me. There +are eight bells in Saint Helen's tower, but the fifth or sixth is +generally used as the Curfew, to distinguish it from the death-bell, for +which purpose the tenor is used, and is rung at the same time at night +if a death has happened in the course of the day, and for that night +supersedes the necessity of ringing the Curfew. The Curfew Bell is rung, +and not tolled, as _Reginald_ states: therefore, what he heard, I +suppose to have been the death bell. M.D. + +(_From another Correspondent_.) + +The custom of tolling the Curfew is still retained in the town of +Sandwich, to which place your correspondent, _Reginald_, no doubt +alludes, as the sea-shore is distant about two miles; hence is +distinctly visible the red glare of the Lighthouse on Ramsgate Pier, as +also the North Foreland. G.C. + + * * * * * + + +COIN OF EDWARD III. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +A beautiful gold coin, a noble of the reign of Edward III., was +discovered, some time since, by the workmen employed in excavating the +river Witham, in the city of Lincoln. The coin is in excellent +preservation. The impress represents the half-length figure of Edward in +a ship, holding a sword in the right hand, and in the left a sceptre and +shield, with the inscription "EDWARDUS DEI GRA. REX ANGL., DYS. HYB. ET +AGT." On the shield are the arms of England and France quarterly. On the +reverse, a cross fleury with lionaux, inscribed, "JESVS AUTEM TRANSIENS +PER MEDIUM ILLORUM IBAT." These coins are very scarce, and remarkable as +being the first impressed with the figure of a ship; this is said to +have been done to commemorate the victory obtained by Edward over the +French fleet off Sluys, on Midsummer-day, 1340, and which is supposed to +have suggested to Edward the idea of claiming superiority over every +other maritime power--a dominion which his successors have now +maintained for nearly five hundred years. W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +PENDERELL JEWEL. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +An ancient medal, or coin, ornamented with jewels, was purchased, a few +years since, of one of the descendants of Penderell, to whom it was +presented by Charles II., as a valuable token of his gratitude for +certain protection afforded by him to that prince, when endeavouring to +effect his escape in disguise from England, in the year 1648. It +consists of a gold coin of Ferdinand II., dated 1638, surrounded by a +row of sixteen brilliants enchased in silver, enriched with blue enamel, +and bearing the motto, "_Usque ad aris fidelis_." The reverse is also +enameled, and the jewel is intended to be worn as an ornament to the +person. W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +PECUNIARY COMPENSATION FOR PERSONAL INJURIES. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The present laws which enable a person to obtain pecuniary compensation +for personal injuries, appear to be founded on very ancient precedent. +Mr. Sharon Turner, in his History of the Anglo-Saxons, gives a statement +of the sums at which our ancestors valued the various parts of their +earthly tenements. He says "Homer is celebrated for discriminating the +wounds of his heroes with anatomical precision. The Saxon legislators +were not less anxious to distinguish between the different wounds to +which the body is liable, and which from their laws, we infer that they +frequently suffered. In their most ancient laws these were the +punishments: + +"The loss of an eye or of a leg, appears to have been considered as the +most aggravated injury that could arise from an assault, and was +therefore punished by the highest fine, or fifty shillings. + +"To be made lame, was the next most considerable offence, and the +compensation for it was thirty shillings. + +"For a wound which caused deafness, twenty-five shillings. + +"To lame the shoulder, divide the chine bone, cut off the thumb, pierce +the diaphragm, or to tear off the hair and fracture the skull, was each +punished by a fine of twenty shillings. + +"For cutting off the little finger, eleven shillings. + +"For cutting off the great toe, or for tearing off the hair entirely, +ten shillings. + +"For piercing the nose, nine shillings. + +"For cutting off the fore finger, eight shillings. + +"For cutting off the gold-finger, for every wound in the thigh, for +wounding the ear, for piercing both cheeks, for cutting either nostril, +for each of the front teeth, for breaking the jaw bone, for breaking an +arm, six shillings. + +"For seizing the hair so as to hurt the bone, for the loss of either of +the eye teeth, or the middle finger, four shillings. + +"For pulling the hair so that the bone become visible, for piercing the +ear or one cheek, for cutting off the thumb nail, for the first double +tooth, for wounding the nose with the fist, for wounding the elbow, for +breaking a rib, or for wounding the vertebrae, three shillings. + +"For every nail (probably of the fingers) and for every tooth beyond the +first double tooth, one shilling. + +"For seizing the hair, fifty scoettas. + +"For the nail of the great toe, thirty scoettas. + +"For every other nail, ten scoettas." + +W.A.R. + + * * * * * + + + +THE COSMOPOLITE. + + + * * * * * + + +THE POETRY OF ANCIENT DAYS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + Little Jack Horner, sat in a corner, + Eating a Christmas pie, + He pulled out a plum with his finger and thumb, + And said what a good boy am I. + +Of all the poems that delight our infancy, there is no one perhaps which +makes a more lasting impression on the memory and the imagination, than +the preceding. The name of its author is lost in the shades of remote +antiquity; and even the century when it first made its appearance, has +eluded the vigilance of antiquarian research. Before entering upon its +poetical merits, we must observe a striking peculiarity in the diction: +there is not a single word in it, but that is of Anglo-Saxon origin, so +that it may be considered as an admirable specimen of pure English, and +as calculated to inspire the infant mind with a distaste for the +numerous exotic terms, which, in the present age, disfigure our +language. It has been well remarked in the review of that ancient poem, +Jack and Jill, that the reader's interest in the hero and heroine is not +divided with subordinate characters. But the poem of Jack Horner +possesses this excellence in a more eminent degree; in the former the +interest, is divided between two, in the latter it is concentrated in +one; and, notwithstanding the ingenuity of the reviewer, it must be +confessed that so little is indicated by the poet, as to the character +of Jack and Jill, that we feel no more interest in their fate, tragical +as it is, than if they were designated by the letters X and Y of +algebraical notoriety; or by the names of those personages, who figure +in legal fictions, John Doe and Richard Roe. + +Not so with Jack Horner: the very incident recorded in the first line +lets us into his character; he is evidently a lover of solitude and of +solitary contemplation. He is not, however, a gloomy ascetic; he takes +into his corner a Christmas pie, and, while he leisurely gratifies his +palate, his mind feasts on the higher luxury of an approving conscience. +It has been said that the man who loves solitude must be either an angel +or a demon. Horner had more of the former in his composition; he retired +from the busy haunts of his playmates not to meditate mischief, but to +feast upon the pie, which had probably been given him as a reward for +his good conduct, and indulge in the delightful thoughts to which the +consciousness of deserving it gave rise. But here it may be objected, +why instead of eating his pie in a corner, did he not share it with his +companions? The remark is pertinent, but the circumstance only evinces +the admirable management of the poet; to represent his hero without a +defect would be to outrage nature, and to render imitation hopeless. +Horner, it must be admitted, with all his excellence, was too fond of +good eating; it is in vain to deny it; his deliberately pulling out a +plum with his finger and thumb, shows the epicure, not excited by the +voracity of hunger, but evidently aiming to protract his enjoyment. The +exclamation which follows savours of vanity; but when his youth is +recollected, this will be deemed a venial error, and it must also be +considered that his few faults were probably compensated by a +constellation of excellencies. This poem has been imitated, (I will not +say successfully, for its beautiful simplicity is in fact inimitable,) +by one of the greatest statesmen and classical scholars of the present +century, Mr. Canning; and it is melancholy to reflect that, while a +monument is erecting to the memory of the latter and his name lives in +the mouths of men, all traces of that original poet, whose inspirations +he sought to imitate, are entirely lost. The lines of Mr. Canning are to +be found in his "Loves of the Triangles:" + + Thus youthful Homer rolled the roguish eye. + Culled the dark plum from out the Christmas pie, + And cried in self applause, how good a boy am I. + +P.Q. + + * * * * * + + + +ANECDOTE GALLERY. + + + * * * * * + + +GEORGE THE FIRST. + + +Previously to the King's arrival in this country, a proclamation had +been issued, offering, in case the Pretender should land in any part of +the British isles, the sum of 100,000_l_. for his apprehension. At the +first masquerade which the King attended in this country, an unknown +lady, in a domino, invited him to drink a glass of wine at one of the +side-tables; he readily assented, and the lady filling a bumper, said, +"Here, mask, the Pretender's health."--Then filling another glass, she +presented it to the King, who received it with a smile, saying, "I +drink, with all my heart, to the health of every unfortunate prince." + +The person of the King, says Walpole, is as perfect in my memory as if I +saw him but yesterday: it was that of an elderly man, rather pale, and +exactly like his pictures and coins; not tall, of an aspect rather good +than august, with a dark tie wig, a plain coat, waistcoat and breeches, +of snuff-coloured cloth, with stockings of the same colour, and a blue +riband over all. + +He often dined, after shooting, at Sir Robert Walpole's house on +Richmond Hill; where he indulged his partiality for punch to such an +extent, that the Duchess of Kendal enjoined the Germans who usually +accompanied him, to restrain him from drinking too much: but they went +about their task with so little address, that the King took offence, and +silenced them by the coarsest epithets in their mother tongue. + +He appears to have entertained a very low opinion of the political +integrity of his courtiers, and the honesty of his household. He laughed +at the complaints made by Sir Robert Walpole against the Hanoverians, +for selling places; and would not believe that the custom was not +sanctioned by his English advisers and attendants. Soon after his first +arrival in this country, a favourite cook, whom he had brought from +Hanover grew melancholy, and wanted to return home. The King having +inquired why he wanted to quit his household, the fellow replied, "I +have long served your Majesty honestly, not suffering any thing to be +embezzled in your kitchen; but here, the dishes no sooner come from your +table, than one steals a fowl, another a pig, a third a joint of meat, a +fourth a pie, and so on, till the whole is gone; and I cannot bear to +see your Majesty so injured!" The King, laughing heartily, said, "My +revenues here enable me to bear these things; and, to reconcile you to +your place, do you steal like the rest, and mind you take enough." The +cook followed this advice, and soon became a very expert thief. + +Toland says, in a pamphlet published about the year 1705, I need give no +more particular proof of the King's frugality in laying out the public +money, than that all the expenses of his court, as to eating, drinking, +fire, candles, and the like, are duly paid every Saturday night; the +officers of his army receive their pay every month, and all the civil +list are cleared every half year. He was greatly annoyed by the want of +confidence in his economy, displayed by his British subjects; lamenting +to his private friends that he had left his electorate to become a +begging King; and adding, that he thought it very hard to be constantly +opposed in his application for supplies, which it was his intention to +employ for the benefit of the nation. + +The account of the death of George the First was first brought to +Walpole, in a dispatch from Townshend, who had accompanied that monarch +to the continent. The minister instantly repaired to the palace at +Richmond. The new King had then retired to take his usual afternoon nap. +On being informed that his father was dead, he could scarcely be brought +to put faith in the intelligence, until told that the minister was +waiting in the ante-chamber with Lord Townshend's despatch. At length, +he received Walpole, who, kneeling, kissed his hand, and inquired whom +he would please to appoint to draw up the address to the Privy Council. +"Sir Spencer Compton," replied the King, an answer which signified Sir +Robert's dismissal. + + * * * * * + + +DEATH OF QUEEN CAROLINE. + + +When very near her end, she inquired of one of the physicians in +attendance, "How long can this last?" "Your Majesty will soon be eased +of your pains," was the reply. "The sooner the better," said the Queen: +and she then most fervently engaged in extempore prayer. Shortly +afterwards, she twice desired that cold water might be thrown over her, +to support her strength, while her family put up a final petition in her +behalf. "Pray aloud," said she, "that I may hear you." She then faintly +joined them in repeating the Lord's prayer; and, at its conclusion, +calmly laid down, waved her hand, and expired. + + * * * * * + + +GEORGE THE SECOND. + + +At one period, while the Duke of Newcastle was in power, in the reign of +George II. many serious complaints were made relative to the settlement +of public accounts. The King, at length, became acquainted with the +alleged grievances, and warmly remonstrated with the Duke on his +carelessness and inattention; protested that he was determined, at once +for his own satisfaction and that of his aggrieved people, to look into +the papers himself. "Is your Majesty in earnest?" asked the Duke. The +King replied in the affirmative, and the Duke promised to send him the +accounts. At an early hour on the following morning, the King was +disturbed by an extraordinary noise in the courtyard of his palace, and, +looking out of the window, he perceived a cart or a wagon laden with +books and papers, which, on inquiry he found had been sent by the Duke +of Newcastle. Shortly afterwards the minister himself appeared, and the +King asked him what he meant by sending a wagon-load of stationery to +the palace. "These are the documents relative to the public accounts," +replied his grace, "which your Majesty insisted on examining; and there +is no other mode of forwarding them except by carts or wagons. I expect +a second load will arrive in a few minutes." "Then, my Lord Duke," +replied the King, "you may make a bonfire of them for me. I would rather +be a galley-slave than go through the rubbish; so away with it, and +countermand the cart which you say is coming; but pray let me hear no +more complaints on this subject." + +On another occasion, he sent, in a fury, for the duke's brother, Mr. +Pelham, and inquired, in a coarse and angry manner, why the civil list +had not been paid. Pelham replied that he had been compelled to use the +money for some public and more important purpose. The King, however, +would not admit of this excuse; and swore, if the arrears were not +instantly paid, he would get another minister. "I am determined," said +he, "not to be the only master in my dominions who does not pay his +servants' wages." One day, it appears that he was actually without a +shilling in his pocket; for it is related that a half idiot labourer +while the King was inspecting the progress of some repairs at +Kensington, having asked his Majesty for something to drink, the King, +although offended, was yet ashamed to refuse the fellow, and put his +hand into the usual receptacle of his cash; but, to his surprise and +confusion, found it empty. "I have no money," said he, angrily. "Nor I +either," quoth the labourer; "and for my part, I can't think what has +become of it all." + +Few men were more deeply impressed with the value of money, although he +occasionally startled those about him, by being unexpectedly liberal, as +in the cases of his donation to the university of Cambridge, and his +submitting to the extortion of the Dutch innkeeper. One evening while +passing by a closet in which wood was kept for the use of the +bed-chamber, he dropped some guineas, one of which having rolled under +the door, he said to the page in waiting, "We must get out this guinea: +let us remove the fuel." In a short time, with the attendant's aid, he +found the guinea, which, however, he gave to his fellow-labourer, as a +reward for the exertions of the latter, in helping him to take the wood +out of the closet, observing, "I do not like any thing to be lost, but I +wish every man to receive the value of his work." + +Of the hastiness of George the Second's temper, several examples have +been given: but it was never, perhaps, more ludicrously displayed than +in his first interview with Dr. Ward. The King having been afflicted for +some time with a violent pain in his thumb, for which his regular +medical attendants could afford him no relief, he sought the assistance +of Ward, whose famous pills and drops were then in great estimation. The +doctor, being aware of the King's complaint, went to the palace, at the +time commanded, with, it is said, a specific concealed in the hollow of +his hand. On being admitted to his Majesty's presence, he, of course, +proceeded to examine the royal thumb; which he suddenly wrenched with +such violence, that the King called him a cursed rascal, and +condescended to kick his shins. He soon found, however, that the doctor, +had as it were, magically relieved his thumb from pain: and so grateful +did he feel to Ward, whom he now termed his Esculapius, that he +prevailed on him to accept a handsome carriage and horses, and shortly +afterwards, presented his nephew, who subsequently became a general, +with an ensigncy in the guards.--_From the Georgian Era_. + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + + * * * * * + + +THE HUNCHBACK. + +_A Play, by James Sheridan Knowles_. + + +It would be rather _mal-apropos_ to write the Beauties of the Hunchback, +but such a term is elliptically applicable to the following passages +from Mr. Knowles's clever and original play:-- + + +INSIGNIFICANT ENEMIES. + + Is't fit you waste your choler on a burr? + The nothings of the town; whose sport it is + To break their villain jests on worthy men, + The graver still the fitter! Fie, for shame! + Regard what such would say? So would not I, + No more than heed a cur. + + +HONOURABLE SUCCESS. + + What merit to be dropp'd on fortune's hill? + The honour is to mount it. + * * * Knowledge, industry, + Frugality, and honesty;--the sinews + The surest help the climber to the top, + And keep him there. + + +WISE PRECEPT. + + Better owe + A yard of land to labour, than to chance + Be debtor for a rood! + + +THE TOWN. + + Nine times in ten the town's a hollow thing, + Where what things are is naught to what they show; + Where merit's name laughs merit's self to scorn! + Where friendship and esteem that ought to be + The tenants of men's hearts, lodge in their looks + And tongues alone. Where little virtue, with + A costly keeper, passes for a heap; + A heap for none, that has a homely one! + Where fashion makes the law--your umpire which + You bow to, whether it has brains or not. + Where Folly taketh off his cap and bells, + To clap on Wisdom, which must bear the jest! + Where, to pass current you must seem the thing, + The passive thing, that others think, and not + Your simple, honest, independent self! + + +LOVE. + + Say but a moment, still I say I love you. + Love's not a flower that grows on the dull earth; + Springs by the calendar; must wait for sun-- + For rain;--matures by parts,--must take its time + To stem, to leaf, to bud, to blow. It owns + A richer soil, and boasts a quicker seed! + You look for it, and see it not; and lo! + E'en while you look, the peerless flower is up, + Consumate in the birth! + + In joining contrasts lieth love's delight. + Complexion, stature, nature, mateth it, + Not with their kinds, but with their opposites. + Hence hands of snow in palms of russet lie; + The form of Hercules affects the sylph's + And breasts that case the lion's fear-proof heart, + Find their lov'd lodge in arms where tremors dwell! + Haply for this, on Afric's swarthy neck, + Hath Europe's priceless pearl been seen to hang, + That makes the orient poor! So with degrees, + Rank passes by the circlet-graced brow + Upon the forehead bare of notelessness, + To print the nuptial kiss! + + +COUNTRY LIFE. + + The life I'd lead! + But fools would fly from it; for O! 'tis sweet! + It finds the heart out, be there one to find; + And corners in't where store of pleasures lodge, + We never dream'd were there! It is to dwell + 'Mid smiles that are not neighbours to deceit; + Music whose melody is of the heart + And gifts that are not made for interest,-- + Abundantly bestow'd, by nature's cheek, + And voice, and hand! It is to live on life, + And husband it! It is to constant scan + The handiwork of heaven! It is to con + Its mercy, bounty, wisdom, power! It is + To nearer see our God! + + +JEALOUSY. + + A dreadful question is it, when we love, + To ask if love's return'd! I did believe + Fair Julia's heart was mine--I doubt it now. + But once last night she danced with me, her hand + To this gallant and that engaged, as soon + As asked for! Maid that loved would scarce do this! + Nor visit we together as we used, + When first she came to town. She loves me less + Than once she did--or loves me not at all. + Misfortune liketh company: it seldom + Visits its friends alone. + + +A MAIDEN HEART. + + A young woman's heart, + Is not a stone to carve a posey on! + Which knows not what is writ on't--which you may buy, + Exchange or sell,--keep or give away, + It is a richer--yet a poorer thing! + Priceless to him that owns and prizes it; + Worthless when own'd, not priz'd; which makes the man + That covets it, obtains it, and discards it,-- + A fool, if not a villain. + + +A CURATE'S SON. + + Better be a yeoman's son! + Was it the rector's son, he might be known, + Because the rector is a rising man, + And may become a bishop. He goes light. + The curate ever hath a loaded back. + He may be called yeoman of the church + That sweating does his work, and drudges on + While lives the hopeful rector at his ease. + + * * * * * + + +CHARACTER OF GEORGE THE FOURTH. + + +In the third and concluding volume of the _Life and Reign of George +IV_., (a portion of Dr. Lardner's _Cabinet Library_,) we find the +following summary of the earthly career of the late King--shaded with +some admixture of severity, but, altogether, to be commended for the +manliness and unflinching spirit in which it is written. Our +contemporary biography sadly lacks vigorous and plain-speaking summaries +of character. + +"In the events and achievements which give interest and lustre to his +regency and reign, George IV. had personally no share. He was but +contemporary with them. To the progress of science, of literature, of +legislation, he was a stranger. The jealous limitations of the regal +power,--the independence, enterprise, and social advancement of the +nation, would account and afford excuse for this: but were he absolute +as Louis XIV.,--obeyed and imitated with the same implicit +servility,--the higher purposes of intellectual being were beyond his +range. With the fine arts his relations were more close and personal. +The progress of architecture was sudden and astonishing, during the +epoch which will bear his name. London, before his accession to the +executive power, was a rich, populous, elegantly built capital, but +without a due proportion of prominent structures characterized by +architectural grandeur, beauty, or curiosity. In a few years magnificent +lines and masses of building were begun and completed; but they were +mainly the growth of wealth, vanity, speculation, and peace. Where his +influence was directly felt it proved unfortunate. He lavished millions +in creating vicious models, and fantastic styles of architecture, and +brought into fashion artists without capacity or taste. There was not in +his kingdom a more discerning judge of painting; but he had no +imagination for the higher class of art. He preferred the exquisite and +humorous realities of the Dutch painters to the poetic or historic +schools of Italy; and, though a studious collector, he gave no great +impulse to native talent. In music he had both taste and skill: he +encouraged an art which formed one of his enjoyments; and if his +patronage has brought forth no composer of the first order, the cause +may exist in some circumstances of national inaptitude. + +"It is necessary to go back some centuries for an English king to whom +he bears the nearest likeness in _ensemble_ of character. The parallel +at first sight may be thought injurious, but the likeness will upon +consideration be found striking and complete. George IV. had in his +youth the eclat of personal endowment, education, and accomplishment,-- +of success in the fashionable exercises and graces of his age,--and of +that reckless prodigality which obtains popular homage and applause in a +prince. Henry VIII. in his youth was one of the most brilliant +personages of Europe. A fine person,--the accomplishments of his time in +literature and the arts,--the display of gorgeous prodigality,--raised +him to a sort of chivalrous rivalry with Francis I. In mental culture he +excelled George IV., who owes much of his reputation for capacity and +acquirement to an imposing manner, and the eagerness to applaud a +prince: stripped of this charm, his ideas and language appeared worse +than common when he put them on paper. Both had the same dominant +ambition to be distinguished and imitated, as the arbiters of fashion in +dress for the costliness, splendour, or novelty of their toilet. Henry +VIII. and George IV. surrounded themselves with the men most +distinguished for wit and talent, with a remarkable coincidence of +motive, as ministering to their vanity or pleasures; but as soon as they +became troublesome or useless, both cast them off with the same careless +indifference. Henry VIII., it is true, sacrificed to his own caprices, +or to court intrigue, the lives of those whom he had chosen for his +social familiarity;--whilst George IV. merely turned off his so called +friends, and thought of them no more. But such is the difference between +barbarism and tyranny on the one side, and civilization and freedom on +the other: that which was death in the former, is but court disgrace in +the latter. George IV. was not cruel--he had even a certain +susceptibility; the spectacle of human suffering revolted him: but +suffering to affect him must have been present to his sense. Was Henry +VIII. gratuitously cruel? That does not appear. He took no pleasure for +itself in shedding blood, and avoided being a witness of it. Had he been +obliged to look on whilst Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More were bleeding, +he probably would have spared them. He sacrificed them to his impulses +from mere selfish indifference. With their wives and mistresses Henry +VIII. and George IV. were governed by the same self-indulgent +despotism--the same animal disgusts. Henry VIII. had six wives, and sent +one to the scaffold as the prelude to his marriage with another. George +IV. had only one wife, but she suffered the persecutions of six; and if +she escaped decapitation or divorce, it was from no failure of +inclination or instruments. Henry VIII. was the tyrant of his people, +and George IV. was not: yet is there even here a similitude. Both +surrendered their understandings to their ministers, upon the condition +of subserviency to their personal desires. What George would have been +in the age of Henry it might be ungracious to suppose; but it may be +asserted that Henry, had he been reserved for the close of the +eighteenth century, would have a very different place in opinion and +history as a king and as a man,--such are the beneficent, humanizing +influences of knowledge, civilization, the spirit of religious +tolerance, and laws mutually guarding and guarded by public liberty!" + + * * * * * + + +AN ECLIPSE AT BOOSSA. + +(_From Landers' Travels, vol. ii._) + + +"About ten o'clock at night, when we were sleeping on our mats, we were +suddenly awoke by a great cry of distress from innumerable voices, +attended by a horrid clashing and clattering noise, which the hour of +the night tended to make more terrific. Before we had time to recover +from our surprise, old Pascoe rushed breathless into our hut, and +informed us with a trembling voice that 'the sun was dragging the moon +across the heavens.' Wondering what could be the meaning of so strange +and ridiculous a story, we ran out of the hut half dressed, and we +discovered that the moon was totally eclipsed. A number of people were +gathered together in our yard, in dreadful apprehension that the world +was at an end, and that this was but the 'beginning of sorrows.' We +learnt from them that the Mahomedan priests residing in the city, having +personified the sun and moon, had told the king and the people that the +eclipse was occasioned through the obstinacy and disobedience of the +latter luminary. They said that for a long time previously the moon had +been displeased with the path she had been compelled to take through the +heavens, because it was filled with thorns and briers, and obstructed +with a thousand other difficulties; and therefore that, having watched +for a favourable opportunity, she had this evening deserted her usual +track, and entered into that of the sun. She had not, however, travelled +far up the sky, on the forbidden road, before the circumstance was +discovered by the sun, who immediately hastened to her in his anger, and +punished her dereliction by clothing her in darkness, forcing her back +to her own territories, and forbidding her to shed her light upon the +earth. This story, whimsical as it may seem, was received with implicit +confidence in its truth by the king and queen and most of the people of +Boossà; and the cause of the noises which we had heard, and which were +still continuing with renewed vehemence, was explained to us by the fact +that they were all 'assembled together in the hope of being able to +frighten away the sun to his proper sphere, and leave the moon to +enlighten the world as at other times.' This is much after the manner of +many savage nations. + +"While our informant was yet speaking to us, a messenger arrived at our +yard from the king, to tell us the above tale, and with an invitation to +come to see him immediately. Therefore, slipping on the remainder of our +clothes, we followed the man to the residence of his sovereign, from +outside of which the cries proceeded, and here we found the king and his +timid partner sitting on the ground. Their usual good spirits and +cheerful behaviour had forsaken them entirely; both appeared overwhelmed +with apprehension, and trembled at every joint. Like all their subjects, +in the hurry of fear and the suddenness of the alarm, they had come out +of their dwellings half dressed, the head and legs, and the upper part +of their persons, being entirely exposed. We soon succeeded in quelling +their fears, or at least in diminishing, their apprehension. The king +then observed, that neither himself nor the oldest of his subjects +recollected seeing but one eclipse of the moon besides the one he was +gazing at; that it had occurred exactly when the Falátahs began to be +formidable in the country, and that it had forewarned them of all the +wars, disasters, and calamities, which subsequently took place. + +"We had seated ourselves opposite to the king and queen, and within two +or three feet of them, where we could readily observe the moon and the +people without inconvenience, and carry on the conversation at the same +time. If the royal couple shuddered, with terror on beholding the +darkened moon, we were scarcely less affected by the savage gestures of +those within a few yards of us and by their repeated cries, so wild, so +loud, and so piercing, that an indescribable sensation of horror stole +over us, and rendered us almost as nervous as those whom we had come to +comfort. The earlier part of the evening had been mild, serene, and +remarkably pleasant; the moon had arisen with uncommon lustre, and being +at the full, her appearance was extremely delightful. It was the +conclusion of the holidays, and many of the people were enjoying the +delicious coolness of a serene night, and resting from the laborious +exertions of the day; but when the moon became gradually obscured, fear +overcame every one. As the eclipse increased, they became more +terrified. All ran in great distress to inform their sovereign of the +circumstance, for there was not a single cloud to cause so deep a +shadow, and they could not comprehend the nature or meaning of an +eclipse. The king was as easily frightened as his people, being equally +simple and ignorant; he would not therefore suffer them to depart. +Numbers sometimes beget courage and confidence, he thought; so he +commanded them to remain near his person, and to do all in their power +to restore the lost glory of the moon. + +"In front of the king's house, and almost close to it, are a few +magnificent cotton-trees, round which the soil had been freed from +grass, &c., for the celebration of the games. On this spot were the +terrified people assembled, with every instrument capable of making a +noise which could be procured in the whole town. They had formed +themselves into a large treble circle, and continued running round with +amazing velocity, crying, shouting, and groaning with all their might. +They tossed and flung their heads about, twisted their bodies into all +manner of contortions, jumped into the air, stamped with their feet on +the ground, and flourished their hands above their heads. No scene in +the romance of Robinson Crusoe was so wild and savage as this; and a +large wood fire, with a few men spitted and roasting before it, was +alone wanting to render it complete! Little boys and girls were outside +the ring, running to and fro, clashing empty calabashes against each +other, and crying bitterly; groups of men were blowing on trumpets, +which produced a harsh and discordant sound; some were employed in +beating old drums; others again were blowing on bullock's horns; and in +the short intervals between the rapid succession of all these fiend-like +noises, was heard one more dismal than the rest, proceeding from an iron +tube, accompanied by the clinking of chains. Indeed, everything that +_could_ increase the uproar was put in requisition on this memorable +occasion; nor did it cease till midnight, when the eclipse had passed +away. Never have we witnessed so extraordinary a scene as this. The +diminished light, when the eclipse was complete, was just sufficient to +enable us to distinguish the various groups of people, and contributed +in no small degree to render the scene still more imposing. If an +European, a stranger to Africa, were to be placed on a sudden in the +midst of the terror-struck people, he would imagine himself to be among +a legion of demons, holding a revel over a fallen spirit; so peculiarly +unearthly wild, and horrifying was the appearance of the dancing group, +and the clamour which they made. It was perhaps fortunate for us that we +had an almanac with us, which foretold the eclipse; for although we +neglected to inform the king of this circumstance, we were yet enabled +to tell him and his people the exact time of its disappearance. This +succeeded in some measure in suppressing their fears, for they would +believe anything we might tell them; and perhaps, also, it has procured +for us a lasting reputation 'and a name.' 'Oh,' said the king, 'there +will be sorrow and crying this night from Wowow to Yàoorie. The people +will have no one to comfort or condole with them; they will fancy this +eclipse to be the harbinger of something very dreadful; and they will be +in distress and trouble till the moon shall have regained her +brightness.' It was nearly one o'clock when we left the king and queen, +to return to our hut; everything was then calm and silent, and we lay +down to rest in peace." + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY + + +POTTERY. + + +Appended to the volume of the _Transactions of the Society of Arts_, +just published, are selections from a series of Illustrations on Pottery +and Porcelain, which were read before the Society by their ingenious +secretary, Mr. Arthur Aikin. We quote a few. + +_Raphael China._ + +"Raffaello himself is said in his youth to have painted, or at least to +have given designs for painting, in enamel on glazed earthenware. Such +works are commonly known by the name of Raphael china, two interesting +specimens of which, from the collection of R.H. Solly, Esq., are now +before you. From some casual flaws in the back of these plates, it may +be seen that the body of them is red earthenware in one, and grayish +brown in the other, and of rather a coarse quality. Mr. Windus also has +sent a plate, doubtless of Italian manufacture, bearing the date of +1533, thirteen years after the death of Raffaello. He has also sent a +singular specimen of a somewhat similar ware, but with the figures in +high relief, and far inferior to the former as a work of art. + +"Mr. Brockedon informs me that, in his journey among the alps last year, +he saw some beautiful specimens of Raphael china, in the possession of +the hostess of an inn at the village of Rauris, in Carinthia. They +consisted of three dishes; the subjects painted on them are, Pan and +Apollo, Jupiter and Semele, and on the largest, Apollo surrounded by +wreaths of nymphs and satyrs, and on the rim are entwined Cupids: this +latter dish is about twenty inches in diameter, and bears an +inscription, in Italian, purporting that it was made at Rome, in 1542, +in the manufactory of Guido di Merlingho Vassaro, a native of Urbino. +The date is twenty-two years after the death of Raphael; but, as the +manufacturer was a fellow-townsman of that celebrated artist, the +inscription, taken in connexion with the anecdote of Vasari already +mentioned, is interesting, as throwing light on the association of the +name of Raffaello with this species of ware." + +_Delft or Dutch._ + +"It is probably from Italy that Holland received this art. The +Venetians, the Genoese, and the Florentines, had very extensive +commercial dealings with the merchants of Antwerp and of other towns in +the Low Countries; it is therefore extremely likely that the potters of +Holland, to whom is due the first fabrication of clay tobacco-pipes of +excellent quality, derived their knowledge of glazed ware from this +source. The town of Delft was the centre of these potteries, in which +were fabricated the tiles known in England by the name of Dutch; and the +delft were employed for table services, and for other domestic purposes. +Considered merely with regard to its material, the Dutch potters seem to +have improved on their Italian original, being probably instigated by a +comparison with the blue and white patterns of Nankin, which was now +largely imported by the Dutch from China and Japan, and which is a +coarse, yellowish, porcelain body, covered by an opaque white glaze. In +the ornamental part, however, the Dutch fell immeasurably short of the +potters of Florence; blue seems to have been the only colour employed by +them; and their favourite patterns appear to have been either copies of +the Chinese, or European and Scripture subjects treated in a truly +Chinese manner and taste. + +"It is about two hundred years ago since some Dutch potters came and +established themselves in Lambeth, and by degrees a little colony was +fixed in that village, possessed of about twenty manufactories, in which +was made the glazed pottery and tiles consumed in London and in various +other parts of the kingdom. Here they continued in a flourishing state, +giving employment to many hands in the various departments of their art, +till about fifty or sixty years ago; when the potters of Staffordshire, +by their commercial activity, and by the great improvements introduced +by them in the quality of their ware, in a short time so completely beat +out of the market the Lambeth delft manufacturers, that this ware is now +made only by a single house, and forms the smallest part even of their +business. + +"The articles of delft ware, for which there still continues to be an +effective demand, are plain white tiles for dairies and for lining +baths, pomatum pots, and a few jugs, and other similar articles of a +pale blue colour." + +(_To be continued._) + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + + * * * * * + + +NON-PROPOSALS, OR DOUBTS RESOLVED. + + + I wonder when 'twill be our turn + A wedding here to keep! + Sure Thomson's "_flame_" might quicker burn, + His "_love_" seems gone to sleep! + I wonder why he hums and haws + With 'kerchief at his nose: + And then makes one expecting pause,---- + Yet still he don't propose. + + I wonder whether Bell or Bess, + It is he most admires, + Even Mistress Match'em cannot guess-- + It really patience tires. + He hung, last night, o'er Bella's chair, + And things seem'd at a close-- + To-day 'twas Bess was all his care, + But yet he don't propose. + + He's gone to concert, play, and ball, + So often with them now, + That it must seem to one and all + As binding as a vow. + He certainly _does_ mean to take + One of the girls, and close + The life he leads--the flirting rake-- + But yet he don't propose. + + I often wonder what he thinks + We ask him here to do-- + Coolly he Cockburn's claret drinks, + And wins from me at Loo. + For twenty months he's dangled on, + The foremost of their beaux, + While half-a-dozen else have gone,-- + And still he don't propose. + + No matter--'tis a comfort, though, + To know he will take _one_, + And even tho' Bess and Bella go, + He still may fix on Fan. + I'll have him in the family, + That's sure--But, why, you look-- + "Oh, madam, Mr. Thomson's just + Got married to his cook----" + +_Tait's Edinburgh Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +THE WAVERLEY NOVELS. + + +Perhaps no writer has ever enjoyed in his lifetime so extensive a +popularity as the Author of Waverley. His reputation may be truly said +to be not only British, but European--and even this is too limited a +term. He has had the advantage of writing in a language used in +different hemispheres by highly civilized communities, and widely +diffused over the surface of the globe; and he has written at a period +when communication was facilitated by peace; while to the wonder of his +own countrymen, he has to an unexampled degree established an ascendency +over the tastes of foreign nations. His works have been sought by +foreigners with an avidity equalling, nay, almost exceeding, that with +which they have been received among us. The conflicting literary tastes +of France and Germany, which twenty years ago seemed diametrically +opposed, and hopelessly irreconcilable, have at length united in +admiration of him. In France he has effected a revolution in taste, and +given victory to the "Romantic School." He has had not only readers, but +imitators. Among Frenchmen, the author of "Cinq Mars" may be cited as a +tolerably successful one. Italy, in which what _we_ call "Novels" were +previously unknown, has been roused from its torpor, and has found a +worthy imitator of British talent in the author of the "Promessi Sposi." +Of the Waverley Novels, six editions have been published in Paris. Many +of them have been translated into French, German, Italian, and other +languages. To be read both on the banks of the Ganges and the Ohio; and +to be found, as is mentioned by Dr. Walsh, where perhaps no other +English book had ever come--on the very verge of civilization, on the +borders of Turkey--this is indeed a wide reign and a proud distinction; +but prouder still to be not only read, but to have subjugated, as it +were, and moulded the literary tastes of the civilized world. Voltaire +is the writer who, in his lifetime, has approached nearest to this +extent of popularity. Sovereigns courted and corresponded with him; his +own countrymen were enthusiastic in his praise; and so general was a +knowledge of the French language, that a large majority of the +well-educated throughout Europe, were familiar with his writings. But +much of this popularity was the popularity of partisanship. He served a +cause, and for such service, and not alone as the meed of genius, were +honours lavished upon him. The people of France, by whom he was almost +deified in his latter years, regarded him less as the literary marvel of +their land, than as the man once persecuted by despotism, and the ablest +assailant of those institutions which they were endeavouring to +undermine. But Voltaire, with all his popularity, has left impressed on +literature scarcely any distinguishable traces of his power. He +exhibited no marked originality of style--he founded no school--and as +for his imitators, where are they? To justify the admiration he excited, +one must consider not merely how well, but how much and how variously he +has written. With the exception of Voltaire, and perhaps of Lord Byron, +there is scarcely a writer whose popularity, while he lived, passed +beyond the precincts of his own country. This, until latterly, was +scarcely possible. Till near the middle of the eighteenth century, what +had been long called the "Republic of Letters" existed only in name. It +is not truly applicable but to the present period, when the transmission +of knowledge is rapid and easy, and no work of unquestionable genius can +excite much interest in any country, without the vibration being quickly +felt to the uttermost limits of the civilized world. How little this was +previously the case is evident from the fact, that numerous and +important as were the political relations of England with the continent, +and successfully as we had attended to the cultivation of letters, yet +it is scarcely more than a hundred years since we were first known on +the continent to have what might deserve to be called "a Literature." +Shakspeare, Dryden, and Pope, successively enjoyed in their own country +the highest popularity as writers. Of these, it may reasonably be +doubted whether the name of the first had been ever heard out of it. We +can find no evidence which shows that the second had a wider fame. Pope +was indeed better known; for literature had been made conspicuous +through honours paid to it by the statesmen of Queen Anne; and Pope was +the friend of a peer politically eminent, and was thought, in +conjunction with him, to have written a poem, of which, if the poetry +was disregarded, the opinions were not unacceptable to the +"philosophers" of the continent. + +One of the points of view in which the Author of Waverley is first +presented to us is, as a delineator of human character. When we regard +him in this light, we are struck at once by the fertility of his +invention, and the force, novelty, and fidelity of his pictures. He +brings to our minds, not abstract beings, but breathing, acting, +speaking individuals. Then what variety! What originality! What numbers! +What a gallery has he set before us! No writer but Shakspeare ever +equalled him in this respect. Others may have equalled, perhaps +surpassed him, in the elaborate finishing of some single portrait +(witness the immortal Knight and Squire of Cervantes, Fielding's Adams, +and Goldsmith's Vicar); or may have displayed, with greater skill, the +morbid anatomy of human feeling--and our slighter foibles and finer +sensibilities have been more exquisitely touched by female hands--but +none save Shakspeare has ever contributed so largely, so valuably, to +our collection of characters;--of pictures so surprisingly original, +yet, once seen, admitted immediately to be conformable to Nature. Nay, +even his anomalous beings are felt to be generally reconcilable with our +code of probabilities; and, as has been said of the supernatural +creations of Shakspeare, we are impressed with the belief, that if such +beings did exist, they would be as he has represented them.--_Edinburgh +Review._ + + * * * * * + + +MEN COMPARED WITH BEES. + +(_From a continuation of "the Indicator," by Leigh Hunt._) + + +It has been thought, that of all animated creation, the bees present the +greatest moral likeness to man; not only because they labour and lay up +stores, and live in communities, but because they have a form of +government and a monarchy. Virgil immortalized them after a human +fashion. A writer in the time of Elizabeth, probably out of compliment +to the Virgin Queen, rendered them _dramatis personae_, and gave them a +whole play to themselves. Above all, they have been held up to us, not +only as a likeness, but as "a great moral lesson;" and this, not merely +with regard to the duties of occupation, but the form of their polity. A +monarchical government, it is said, is natural to man, because it is an +instinct of nature: the very bees have it. + +It may be worth while to inquire a moment into the value of this +argument; not as affecting the right and title of our Sovereign Lord +King William the Fourth (whom, with the greatest sincerity, we hope God +will preserve!), but for its own sake, as well as for certain little +collateral deductions. And, in the first place, we cannot but remark how +unfairly the animal creation are treated, with reference to the purposes +of moral example. We degrade or exalt them, as it suits the lesson we +desire to inculcate. If we rebuke a drunkard or a sensualist, we think +we can say nothing severer to him than to recommend him not to make "a +beast of himself;" which is very unfair towards the beasts, who are no +drunkards, and behave themselves as nature intended. A horse has no +habit of drinking; he does not get a red face with it. The stag does not +go reeling home to his wives. On the other hand, we are desired to be as +faithful as a dog, as bold as a lion, as tender as a dove; as if the +qualities denoted by these epithets were not to be found among +ourselves. But above all, the bee is the argument. Is not the honey-bee, +we are asked, a wise animal?--We grant it.--"Doth he not improve each +passing hour?"--He is pretty busy, it must be owned--as much occupied at +eleven, twelve, and one o'clock, as if his life depended on it:--Does he +not lay up stores?--He does.--Is he not social? Does he not live in +communities?--There can be no doubt of it.--Well, then, he has a +monarchical government; and does not that clearly show that a monarchy +is the instinct of nature? Does it prove, by an unerring rule, that the +only form of government in request among the obeyers of instinct, is the +only one naturally fitted for man? + +In answering the spirit of this question, we shall not stop to inquire +how far it is right as to the letter, or how many different forms of +polity are to be found among other animals, such as the crows, the +beavers, the monkeys; neither shall we examine how far instinct is +superior to reason, nor why the example of man himself is to go for +nothing. We will take for granted, that the bee is the wisest animal of +all, and that it is a judicious thing to consider his manners and +customs, with reference to their adoption by his inferiors, who keep him +in hives. This naturally leads us to inquire, whether we could not frame +all our systems of life after the same fashion. We are busy, like the +bee; we are gregarious, like him; we make provision against a rainy day; +we are fond of flowers and the country; we occasionally sting, like him; +and we make a great noise about what we do. Now, if we resemble the bee +in so many points, and his political instinct is so admirable, let us +reflect what we ought to become in other respects, in order to attain to +the full benefit of his example. + + * * * * * + +But we have not yet got half through the wonders, which are to modify +human conduct by the example of this wise, industrious, and +monarch-loving people. Marvellous changes must be effected, before we +have any general pretension to resemble them, always excepting in the +aristocratic particular. For instance, the aristocrats of the hive, +however unmasculine in their ordinary mode of life, are the only males. +The working-classes, like the sovereign, are all females! How are we to +manage this? We must convert, by one sudden meta-morphosis, the whole +body of our agricultural and manufacturing population into women! Mrs. +Cobbett must displace her husband, and tell us all about Indian corn. +There must be not a man in Nottingham, except the Duke of Newcastle; and +he trembling lest the Queen should send for him. The tailors, bakers, +carpenters, gardeners, must all be Mrs. Tailors and Mrs. Bakers. The +very name of John Smith must go out. The Directory must be Amazonian. +This commonalty of women must also be, at one and the same time, the +operatives, the soldiers, the virgins, and the legislators of the +country! They must make all we want, fight all our enemies, and even get +up a Queen for us when necessary; for the sovereigns of the hive are +often of singular origin, being manufactured! literally "made to order," +and that too by dint of their eating! They are fed and stuffed into +royalty! The receipt is, to take any ordinary female bee in its infancy, +put it into a royal cradle or cell, and feed it with a certain kind of +jelly; upon which its shape alters into that of sovereignty, and her +Majesty issues forth, royal by the grace of stomach. This is no fable, +as the reader may see on consulting any good history of bees. In +general, several Queen-bees are made at a time, in case of accidents; +but each, on emerging from her apartment, seeks to destroy the other, +and one only remains living in one hive. The others depart at the head +of colonies, like Dido. + +To sum up then the conditions of human society were it to be re-modelled +after the example of the bee, let us conclude with drawing a picture of +the state of our beloved country, so modified. Imprimis, all our working +people would be females, wearing swords, never marrying, and +occasionally making queens. They would grapple with their work in a +prodigious manner, and make a great noise. Secondly, our aristocracy +would be all males, never working, never marrying, (except when sent +for,) always eating or sleeping, and annually having their throats cut. +The bee-massacre takes place in July; when accordingly all our nobility +and gentry would be out of town, with a vengeance! The women would draw +their swords, and hunt and stab them all about the West end, till +Brompton and Bayswater would be choked with slain. + +Thirdly, her Majesty the Queen would either succeed to a quiet throne, +or, if manufactured, would have to eat a prodigious quantity of jelly in +her infancy; and so alter growing into proper sovereign condition, would +issue forth, and begin her reign either with killing her royal sisters, +or leading forth a colony to America or New South Wales. She would then +take to husband some noble lord for the space of one calendar hour, and +dismissing him to his dullness, proceed to lie in of 12,000 little royal +highnesses in the course of the eight following weeks, with others too +numerous to mention; all which princely generation with little +exception, would forthwith give up their title, and divide themselves +into lords or working-women as it happened; and so the story would go +round to the end of the chapter, bustling, working, and massacring:--and +here ends the sage example of the Monarchy of the Bees. + +We must observe nevertheless, before we conclude, that however ill and +tragical the example of the bees may look for human imitation, we are +not to suppose that the fact is anything like so melancholy to +themselves. Perhaps it is no evil at all, or only so for the moment. The +drones, it is true, seem to have no fancy for being massacred; but we +have no reason to suppose, that they, or any of the rest concerned in +this extraordinary instinct, are aware of the matter beforehand; and the +same is to be said of the combats between the Queen-bees; they appear to +be the result of an irresistible impulse, brought about, by the sudden +pressure of a necessity. Bees appear to be very happy, during far the +greater portion of their existence. A modern writer, of whom it is to be +lamented that a certain want of refinement stopped short his +perceptions, and degraded his philosophy from the finally expedient into +what was fugitively so, has a passage on this point, as agreeable as +what he is speaking of. "A bee among the flowers in spring," says Dr. +Paley, "is one of the cheerfullest objects that can be looked upon. Its +life appears to be all enjoyment, _so busy and so pleased_."--_Abridged +from the New Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + * * * * * + +_Toast of a Scotch Peer_.--Lord K--, dining at Provost S--'s, and being +the only peer present, one of the company gave a toast, "The Duke of +Buccleugh." So the peerage went round till it came to Lord K--, who said +he would give them a peer, which, although not toasted, was of more use +than the whole. His lordship gave "The Pier of Leith."--_Chambers's +Edin. Jour._ + +Caroline, Queen of George II. amused herself by reading Butler's +_Analogy of Religion to Human Nature_; a book which Hoadley, Bishop of +Winchester, said always gave him the head-ache, if he only looked into +it. + +After George II. had ceased to visit the theatres, Macklin's farce of +_Love A-la-mode_ having been acted with much applause, he sent for the +manuscript, and had it read over to him by a sedate old Hanoverian +gentleman, who being but little acquainted with English, spent eleven +weeks in puzzling out the author's meaning! + +_Ships_.--During the early part of the last century, as has been +remarked, almost all the towns of England were on the water (in the +navy.) Of the few persons who have been so highly esteemed as to have +their names given to men of war, are Dr. Franklin and Joan of Arc, who +were thus honoured by the French. In the English navy, the ships the +Royal George have been singularly unfortunate. The Great Harry also was +burnt in the reign of Queen Mary. + +_Personal Ornament_.--The city of Kano, the great emporium of the +kingdom of Houssa, in Africa, is celebrated for the art of dyeing cotton +cloth, which is afterwards beaten with wooden mallets until it acquires +a japan gloss. The women dye their hair with indigo, and also their +hands, feet, legs, and eyebrows. Their legs and arms thus painted, look +as if covered with dark blue gloves and boots. Both men and women colour +their teeth a blood-red, which is esteemed a great ornament. T. GILL. + +_A "Manager."_--Colley Cibber gives the following spirited description +of a famous theatrical manager in his day; "That he was as sly a tyrant +as ever was at the head of a theatre, for he gave the actors more +liberty, and fewer day's pay than any of his predecessors; he would +laugh with them over a bottle, and trick them in their bargains; he kept +them poor, that they might not be able to rebel; and sometimes merry, +that they might not think of it" + +_Newton's Weather Wisdom_.--Sir Isaac Newton was once riding over +Salisbury Plain, when a boy, keeping sheep, called to him--"Sir, you had +better make haste on, or you will get a wet jacket." Newton looking +round and observing neither clouds nor speck on the horizon, jogged on, +taking very little notice of the rustic's information. He had made but a +few miles, when a storm suddenly arising, wetted him to the skin. +Surprised at the circumstance, and determined, if possible, to ascertain +how an ignorant boy had attained a precision and knowledge in the +weather, of which the wisest philosophers would be proud, he rode back, +wet as he was. "My lad," said Newton, "I'll give thee a guinea if thou +wilt tell me how thou canst foretell the weather so truly." "Will ye, +sir? I will then," said the boy, scratching his head, and holding out +his hand for the guinea. "Now, sir," having received the money, and +pointing to his sheep, "when you see that black ram turn his tail +towards the wind, 'tis a sure sign of rain within an hour." "What," +exclaimed the philosopher, "must I, in order to foretell the weather, +stay here, and watch which way that black ram turns his tail?" "Yes, +sir," replied the boy. Off rode Newton, quite satisfied with his +discovery, but not much inclined to avail himself of it, or to recommend +it to others. W.G.C. + +_Primitive Lamp_.--The inhabitants of the Landes, in the south of +France, being cut off from the rest of the world, have it not in their +power, except when once or twice a year they travel to the nearest towns +with their wool, to purchase candles; and as they have no notion how +these can be made, they substitute in their place a lamp fed with the +turpentine extracted from the fir-trees. The whole process is simple and +primitive. To obtain the turpentine, they cut a hole in the tree, and +fasten a dish in it to catch the sap as it oozes through, and as soon as +the dish is filled, they put a wick of cotton into the midst of the +liquor, and burn it as we do a lamp. W.G.C. + +_Turning the Back_.--In this and all countries of Europe, to turn the +back upon persons of rank or in authority, is considered highly +improper; a striking instance of which may be seen in the mode in which +messengers from the Lords retreat along the floor of the House of +Commons. In the interior of Africa it is quite otherwise. There the +court assemble round the sovereign invariably with their backs to him. +T. GILL. + +A gentleman having frequently reproved his servant, an Irish girl, for +boiling eggs too hard, requested her in future, to boil them only three +minutes by the clock. "Sure, sir," replied the girl, "how shall I do +that, for your honour knows the clock is always a quarter of an hour too +fast." W.G.C. + +_Unhappy Fate of Camoens_.--Camoens the celebrated Portuguese poet, was +shipwrecked at the mouth of the river Meco, on the coast of Camboja, and +lost his whole property; but through the assistance of his black +servant, he saved his life and his poems, which he bore through the +waves in one hand,[4] whilst he swam ashore with the other: his black +servant begged in the streets of Lisbon for the support of his master, +who died in 1579. It is said that his death was accelerated by the +anguish with which he foresaw the ruin impending over his country. In +one of his letters (says his biographer) he uses these remarkable +expressions: "I am ending the course of my life; the world will witness +how I have loved my country. I have returned not only to die in her +bosom, but to die with her." He was buried as obscurely as he had closed +his life, in St. Anne's Church, and the following epitaph was inscribed +over his grave:-- + + "Here lies Lewis de Camoens, + Prince of the Poets of his time. + He lived poor and miserable, and died + such, Anno Domini, 1579." + +P.T.W. + +_The Philosopher's Stone_.--Sir Kenelm Digby was relating to King James +that he had seen the true Philosopher's Stone, in the possession of a +hermit in Italy; and when the king was very curious to understand what +sort of a stone it was, and Sir Kenelm being much puzzled in describing +it, Sir Francis Bacon, who was present, interposed, and said, "Perhaps +it was a _whetstone_." + +N.B. There is an old _proverbial_ expression, in which an excitement to +a lie was called a _whetstone_. P.T.W. + + [4] Precious Salvage. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand. (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNAEST 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 11543 *** |