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diff --git a/11568-0.txt b/11568-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f59292b --- /dev/null +++ b/11568-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1700 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11568 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XX. NO. 562.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 18, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + + +FALLS OF THE GENESEE. + + +[Illustration: Falls of the Genesee.] + + +The Genesee is one of the most picturesque rivers of North America. +Its name is indeed characteristic: the word Genesee being formed from +the Indian for _Pleasant Valley,_ which term is very descriptive of +the river and its vicinity. Its falls have not the majestic extent +of the Niagara; but their beauty compensates for the absence of such +grandeur. + +The Genesee, the principal natural feature of its district, rises +on the _Grand Plateau_ or table-land of Western Pennsylvania, runs +through New York, and flows into Lake Ontario, at Port Genesee, six +miles below Rochester. At the distance of six miles from its mouth are +falls of 96 feet, and one mile higher up, other falls of 75 feet.[1] +Above these it is navigable for boats nearly 70 miles, where are other +two falls, of 60 and 90 feet, one mile apart, in Nunda, south of +Leicester. At the head of the Genesee is a tract six miles square, +embracing waters, some of which flow into the gulf of Mexico, others +into Chesapeake Bay, and others into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This +tract is probably elevated 1,600 or 1,700 feet above the tide waters +of the Atlantic Ocean. + + [1] It may be as well here to quote the formation of Cataracts + and Cascades, from Maltebrun's valuable _System of Universal + Geography._ "It is only the sloping of the land which can at first + cause water to flow; but an impulse having been once communicated + to the mass, the pressure alone of the water will keep it in + motion, even if there were no declivity at all. Many great rivers, + in fact, flow with an almost interruptible declivity. Rivers which + descend from primitive mountains into secondary lands, often form + _cascades and cataracts_. Such are the cataracts of the Nile, + of the Ganges, and some other great rivers, which, according to + Desmarest, evidently mark the limits of the ancient land. + Cataracts are also formed by lakes: of this description are the + celebrated Falls of the Niagara; but the most picturesque falls + are those of rapid rivers, bordered by trees and precipitous + rocks. Sometimes we see a body of water, which, before it arrives + at the bottom, is broken and dissipated into showers, like the + Staubbach, (see _Mirror,_ vol. xiv. p. 385.); sometimes it forms + a watery arch, projected from a rampart of rock, under which the + traveller may pass dryshod, as the "falling spring" of Virginia; + in one place, in a granite district, we see the Trolhetta, and the + Rhine not far from its source, urge on their foaming billows + among the pointed rocks; in another, amidst lands of a calcareous + formation, we see the Czettina and the Kerka, rolling down + from terrace to terrace, and presenting sometimes a sheet, and + sometimes a wall, of water. Some magnificent cascades have been + formed, at least in part, by the hands of man: the cascades of + Velino, near Terni, have been attributed to Pope Clement VIII.; + other cataracts, like those of Tunguska, in Siberia, have + gradually lost their elevation by the wearing away of the rocks, + and have now only a rapid descent."--_Maltebrun_, vol. i. + +The Engraving includes the falls of the river, with the village +of Rochester, seven miles south of Lake Ontario. This place, for +population, extent, and trade, will soon rank among the American +cities: it was not settled until about the close of the last war; +its progress was slow until the year 1820, from which period it has +rapidly improved. In 1830 it contained upwards of 12,000 inhabitants: +the first census of the village was taken in December, 1815, when the +number of inhabitants was three hundred and thirty-one. The aqueduct +which takes the Erie canal across the river forms a prominent object +of interest to all travellers. It is of hewn stone, containing eleven +arches of 50 feet span: its length is 800 feet, but a considerable +part of each end is hidden from view by mills erected since its +construction. + +On the brink of the island which separates the main stream of the +river from that produced by the waste water from the mill-race, +will be seen _a scaffold or platform_ from which an eccentric but +courageous adventurer, named _Sam Patch_, made a desperate leap into +the gulf beneath. Patch had obtained some celebrity in freaks of this +description, though his feats be not recorded, like the hot-brained +patriotism of Marcus Curtius in olden history. At the fall of Niagara, +Patch had before made two leaps in safety--one of 80 and the other of +130 feet, in a vast gulf, foaming and tost aloft from the commotion +produced by a fall of nearly 200 feet. In November, 1829, Patch +visited Rochester to astonish the citizens by a leap from the falls. +His first attempt was successful, and in the presence of thousands of +spectators he leaped from the scaffold to which we have directed the +attention of the reader, a distance of 100 feet, into the abyss, in +safety. He was advertised to repeat the feat in a few days, or, as he +prophetically announced it his "last jump," meaning his last jump that +season. The scaffold was duly erected, 25 feet in height, and Patch, +an hour after the time was announced, made his appearance. A multitude +had collected to witness the feat; the day was unusually cold, and Sam +was intoxicated. The river was low, and the falls near him on either +side were bare. Sam threw himself off, and the waters (to quote the +bathos of a New York newspaper) "received him in their cold embrace. +The tide bubbled as the life left the body, and then the stillness of +death, indeed, sat upon the bosom of the waters." His body was found +past the spring at the mouth of the river, seven miles below where +he made his fatal leap. It had passed over two falls of 125 feet +combined, yet was not much injured. A black handkerchief taken from +his neck while on the scaffold, and tied about the body, was still +there. He is stated to have had perfect command of himself while in +the air; and, says the journalist already quoted, "had he not been +given to habits of intoxication, he might have astonished the world, +perhaps for years, with the greatest feats ever performed by man." + +The Genesee river waters one of the finest tracts of land in the state +of New York. Its alluvial flats are extensive, and very fertile. These +are either natural prairies, or Indian clearings, (of which, however, +the present Indians have no tradition,) and lying, to an extent of +many thousand acres, between the villages of Genesee, Moscow, and +Mount Morris, which now crown the declivities of their surrounding +uplands; and, contrasting their smooth verdure with the shaggy hills +that bound the horizon, and their occasional clumps of spreading +trees, with the tall and naked relics of the forest, nothing can +be more agreeable to the eye, long accustomed to the uninterrupted +prospect of a level and wooded country. + + * * * * * + + + +SONG FROM THE ALBUM OF A POET. + +_By G.R. Carter._ + + +THE HOMEWARD VOYAGE. + + + Away o'er the dancing wave, + Like the wings of the white seamew; + How proudly the hearts of the youthful brave + Their dreams of bliss renew! + + And as on the pathless deep, + The bark by the gale is driven, + How glorious it is with the stars to keep + A watch on the beautiful heaven. + + The winds o'er the ocean bear + Rich fragrance from the flow'rs, + That bloom on the sward, and sparkle there + Like stars in their dark blue bow'rs. + + The visions of those that sail + O'er the wave with its snow-white foam, + Are haunted with scenes of the beauteous vale + That encloses their peaceful home. + + They have wander'd through groves of the west, + Illumed with the fire-flies' light; + But their native land kindles a charm in each breast, + Unwaken'd by regions more bright. + + The haunts that were dear to the heart + As an exquisite dream of romance, + Strew thoughts, like sweet flow'rs, round its holiest part, + And their fancy-bound spirits entrance. + + Then away with the fluttering sail! + And away with the bounding wave! + While the musical sounds of the ocean-gale + Are wafted around the brave! + + * * * * * + + +Ray wittily observes that an obscure and prolix author may not +improperly be compared to a Cuttle-fish, since he may be said to hide +himself under his own ink. + + * * * * * + + +LINES + +FROM THE GERMAN OF KÖRNER. + + +_Written on the morning of the Battle of Dänneberg._ + + + Doubt-beladen, dim and hoary, + O'er us breaks the mighty day, + And the sunbeam, cold and gory, + Lights us on our fearful way. + In the womb of coming hours, + Destinies of empires lie, + Now the scale ascends, now lowers, + Now is thrown the noble die. + Brothers, the hour with warning is rife; + Faithful in death as you're faithful in life, + Be firm, and be bound by the holiest tie, + + In the shadows of the night, + Lie behind us shame and scorn; + Lies the slave's exulting might, + Who the German oak has torn. + Speech disgrac'd in future story, + Shrines polluted (shall it be?) + To dishonour pledg'd our glory, + German brothers, set it free. + Brothers, your hands, let your vengeance be burning, + By your actions, the curses of heaven be turning, + On, on, set your country's Palladium free. + + Hope, the brightest, is before us, + And the future's golden time, + Joys, which heaven will restore us, + Freedom's holiness sublime. + German bards and artists' powers, + Woman's truth, and fond caress, + Fame eternal shall be ours, + Beauty's smile our toils shall bless. + Yet 'tis a deed that the bravest might shake, + Life and our heart's blood are set on the stake; + Death alone points out the road to success. + + God! united we will dare it; + Firm this heart shall meet its fate, + To the altar thus I bear it, + And my coming doom await. + Fatherland, for thee we perish, + At thy fell command 'tis done, + May our loved ones ever cherish + Freedom, which our blood has won. + Liberty, grow o'er each oak-shadow'd plain, + Grow o'er the tombs of thy warriors slain, + Fatherland, hear thou the oath we have sworn. + + Brothers, towards your hearts' best treasures, + Cast one look, on earth the last, + Turn then from those once prized pleasures, + Wither'd by the hostile blast. + Though your eyes be dim with weeping, + Tears like these are not from fear, + Trust to God's own holy keeping, + With your last kiss, all that's dear. + All lips that pray for us, all hearts that we rend + With parting, O father, to thee we commend, + Protect them and shield them from wrongs and despair.--H. + + * * * * * + + +EQUANIMITY OF TEMPER. + + +Goodness of temper may be defined, to use the happy imagery of Gray, +"as the sunshine of the heart." It is a more valuable bosom-attendant +under the pressure of poverty and adversity, and when we are +approaching the confines of infirmity and old age, than when we are +revelling in the full tide of plenty, amid the exuberant strength and +freshness of youth. Lord Bacon, who has analyzed some of the human +accompaniments so well, is silent as to the softening sway and +pleasing influence of this choice attuner of the human mind. But +Shaftesbury, the illustrious author of the _Characteristics_, was so +enamoured of it, that he terms "gravity (its counterpart,) the essence +of imposture;" and so it is, for to what purpose does a man store his +brain with knowledge, and the profitable burden of the sciences, if he +gathers only superciliousness and pride from the hedge of learning? +instead of the milder traits of general affection, and the open +qualities of social feelings. I remember, when a youth, I was +extremely fond of attending the House of Commons, to hear the debates; +and I shall never forget the repulsive loftiness which I thought +marked the physiognomy of Pitt; harsh and unbending, like a settled +frost, he seemed wrapped in the mantle of egotism and sublunary +conceit; and it was from the uninviting expression of this great man's +countenance, that I first drew my conceptions as to how a proud and +unsociable man looked. With very different emotions I was wont to +survey the mild but expressive features of his great opponent, Fox: +there was a placidity mixed up with the graver lines of thought and +reflection, that would have invited a child to take him by the hand; +indeed, the witchcraft of Mr. Fox's temper was such, that it formed a +triumphant source of gratulation in the circle of his friends, from +the panegyric of the late Earl of Carlisle, during his boyish days at +Eton, to the prouder posthumous circles of fame with which the elegant +author of _The Pleasures of Memory_, has entwined his sympathetic +recollections. The late Mr. Whitbread, although an unflinching +advocate for the people's rights, and an incorruptible patriot in +the true sense of the word, was unpopular in his office as a country +magistrate, owing to a tone of severity he generally used to those +around him. The wife of that indefatigable toiler in the Christian +field, John Wesley, was so acid and acrimonious in her temper, that +that mild advocate for spiritual affection, found it impossible to +live with her. Rousseau was tormented by such a host of ungovernable +passions, that he became a burden to himself and to every one around +him. Lord Byron suffered a badness of temper to corrode him in the +flower of his days. Contrasted with this unpleasing part of the +perspective, let us quote the names of a few wise and good men, who +have been proverbial for the goodness of their tempers; as Shakspeare, +Francis I., and Henry IV. of France; "the great and good Lord +Lyttleton," as he is called to the present day; John Howard, +Goldsmith, Sir Samuel Romilly, Franklin, Thomson, the poet, +Sheridan,[2] and Sir Walter Scott. The late Sir William Curtis was +known to be one of the best tempered men of his day, which made him a +great favourite with the late king. I remember a little incident of +Sir William's good-nature, which occurred about a year after he had +been Lord Mayor. In alighting from his carriage, a little out of the +regular line, near the Mansion House, upon some day of festivity, he +happened inadvertently, with the skirts of his coat, to brush down a +few apples from a poor woman's stall, on the side of the pavement. Sir +William was in full dress, but instead of passing on with the hauteur +which characterizes so many of his aldermanic brethren, he set himself +to the task of assisting the poor creature to collect her scattered +fruit; and on parting, observing some of her apples were a little +soiled by the dirt, he drew his hand from his pocket and generously +gave her a shilling. This was too good an incident for John Bull to +lose: a crowd assembled, hurraed, and cried out, "Well done, Billy," +at which the good-natured baronet looked back and laughed. How much +more pleasing is it to tell of such demeanour than of the foolish +pride of the late Sir John Eamer, who turned away one of his +travellers merely because he had in one instance used his bootjack. + + [2] May we not, however, say the friendless Sheridan? + +_The Author of "A Tradesman's Lays."_ + + * * * * * + +Probably our correspondent may recollect Sir William and the orange, +at one of the contested City elections. A "greasy rogue" before the +hustings, seeing the baronet candidate take an orange from his pocket, +_put up_ for the fruit, with the cry "Give us that orange, Billy." Sir +William threw him the fruit, which the fellow had no sooner sucked +dry, than he began bawling with increased energy, "No Curtis," "No +Billy," etc. Such an ungrateful act would have soured even Seneca; but +Sir William merely gave a smile, with a good-natured shake of the +head. Sir William Curtis possessed a much greater share of shrewdness +and good sense than the vulgar ever gave him credit for. At the +Sessions' dinners, he would keep up the ball of conversation with the +judges and gentlemen of the bar, in a fuller vein than either of his +brother aldermen. It is true that he had wealth and distinction, +all which his fellow citizens at table did not enjoy; and these +possessions, we know, are wonderful helps to confidence, if they do +not lead the holder on to assurance.--Ed. M. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH BOOK. + + * * * * * + +EXTRACTS FROM THE ORIGINAL LETTERS OF AN OFFICER IN INDIA.[3] + + +_THE SIGHT OF A TIGER._[4] + + +Secunderabad, 1828. + +A short time since, a brother sub. in my regiment was riding out round +some hills adjoining the cantonment, when a _cheetar_, small tiger +(or panther,) pounced on his dog. Seeing his poor favourite in the +cheetar's mouth, like a mouse in Minette's, he put spurs to his horse, +rode after the beast, and so frightened him, that he dropped the dog +and made off. Three of us, including myself, then agreed to sit up +that night, and watch for the tiger, feeling assured that his haunt +was not far from our cantonment. So we started late at night, armed +_cap-à-pied_, and each as fierce in heart as ten tigers; arrived +at the appointed spot, and having selected a convenient place for +concealment, we picketed a sheep, brought with us purposely to entice +the cheetar from his lair. Singular to relate, this poor animal, as if +instinctively aware of its critical situation, was as mute as if +it had been mouthless, and during two or three hours in which we +tormented it, to make it utter a cry, our efforts were of no avail. +Hour after hour slipped away, still no cheetar; and about three +o'clock in the morning, wearied with our fruitless vigil, we all began +to drop asleep. I believe I was wrapped in a most leaden slumber, and +dreaming of anything but watching for, and hunting tigers, when I was +aroused by the most unnatural, unearthly, and infernal roaring ever +heard. This was our friend, and for his reception, starting upon our +feet, we were all immediately ready; but the cunning creature who +had no idea of becoming our victim, made off, with the most hideous +howlings, to the shelter of a neighbouring eminence; when sufficient +daylight appeared, we followed the direction of his voice, and had the +felicity of seeing him perched on the summit of an immense high rock, +just before us, placidly watching our movements. We were here, too far +from him to venture a shot, but immediately began ascending, when the +creature seeing us approach, rose, opened his ugly red mouth in a +desperate yawn, and stretched himself with the utmost _nonchalance_, +being, it seems, little less weary than ourselves. We presented, but +did not fire, because at that very moment, setting up his tail, and +howling horribly, he disappeared behind the rock. Quick as thought +we followed him, but to our great disappointment and chagrin, he had +retreated into one of the numerous caverns formed in that ugly place, +by huge masses of rock, piled one upon the other. Into some of these +dangerous places, however, we descended, sometimes creeping, sometimes +walking, in search of our foe; but not finding him, at length returned +to breakfast, which I thought the most agreeable and sensible part of +the affair. Some wit passed amongst us respecting the propriety of +changing the name _cheetar_, into _cheat-us_; but were, on the whole, +not pleased by the failure of our expedition; and I have only favoured +you with this _romantic_ incident in the life of a sub. as a specimen +of the sort of amusement we meet with in quarters. + + [3] Communicated by M.L.B., Great Marlow, Bucks. + + [4] Vide _Mirror_, vol. xviii. p. 343.--_Note_. + +_Natural Zoological Garden_. + +SECUNDERABAD, 1828. + +Your description of the London Zoological Garden, reminds me that +there is, what I suppose I must term, a most beautiful _Zoological +Hill_, just one mile and a half from the spot whence I now write; on +this I often take my recreation, much to the alarm of its inhabitants; +viz. sundry cheetars, bore-butchers, (or leopards) hyenas, wolves, +jackalls, foxes, hares, partridges, etc.; but not being a very capital +shot, I have seldom made much devastation amongst them. Under the hill +are swamps and paddy-fields, which abound in snipe and other game. +Now, is not this a Zoological Garden on the grandest scale? + +H.C.B. + + * * * * * + + + + +OLD POETS. + + * * * * * + +BALLAD OF AGINCOURT. + +(_From "England's Heroical Epistles[5]._") + + Faire stood the wind for France, + When we, our sayles advance, + Nor now to proue our chance + Longer will tarry; + But putting to the mayne, + At Kaux, the mouth of Sene, + With all his martiall trayne, + Landed King Harry. + + And taking many a fort, + Furnished in warlike sort, + Marcheth towards Agincourt, + In happy houre. + Skirmishing day by day, + With those that stop'd his way, + Where the French gen'ral lay + With all his power. + + Which in his hight of pride. + King Henry to deride, + His ransom to prouide, + To our king sending. + Which he neglects the while, + As from a nation vile, + Yet with an angry smile, + Their fall portending. + + And turning to his men, + Quoth our brave Henry, then, + "Though they to one be ten, + Be not amazed, + Yet have we well begunne, + Battells so bravely wonne, + Have ever to the sonne, + By fame beene raysed." + + "And for myself," quoth he, + "This my full rest shall be, + England ne'er mourn for me, + Nor more esteem me. + Victor I will remaine, + Or on this earth be slaine, + Never shall shee sustaine + Losse to redeeme me." + + Poiters and Cressy tell, + When most their pride did swell, + Under our swords they fell. + + No lesse our skill is, + Then when oure grandsire great, + Clayming the regall seate, + By many a warlike feate, + Lop'd the French lillies. + + The Duke of York so dread, + The vaward led, + Wich the maine Henry sped, + Amongst his Hench_men_, + Excester had the rere, + A brauer man not there, + O Lord, how hot they were, + On the false Frenchmen. + + They now to fight are gone, + Armour on armour shone, + Drumme now to drumme did grone, + To hear was wonder, + That with cryes they make, + The very earth did shake, + Thunder to thunder. + + Well it thine age became + O noble Erpingham, + Which didst the signall ayme, + To our hid forces; + When from a meadow by, + Like a storme suddenly, + The English archery + Struck the French horses. + + With Spanish Ewgh so strong, + Arrowes a cloth yard long, + That like to serpents stung, + Piercing the weather. + None from his fellow starts, + But playing manly parts, + And like true English hearts, + Stuck close together. + + When downe their bowes they threw, + And forth their bilbowes drew, + And on the French they flew, + Not one was tardie; + Armes were from shoulders sent, + Scalpes to the teeth were rent, + Down the French pesants went, + Our men were hardie. + + This while oure noble king, + His broad sword brandishing, + Downe the French host did ding, + As to o'erwhelme it. + And many a deep wound lent, + His armes with bloud besprent, + And many a cruel dent + Bruised his helmet. + + Glo'ster, that duke so good, + Next of the royal blood, + For famous England stood, + With his braue brother, + Clarence, in steele so bright, + Though but a maiden knight. + Yet in that furious light + Scarce such another. + + Warwick, in bloud did wade, + Oxford, the foe inuade, + And cruel slaughter made; + Still as they ran up, + Suffolk, his axe did ply, + Beavmont and Willovghby, + Ferres and Tanhope. + + Upon Saint Crispin's day, + Fought was this noble fray, + Which fame did not delay, + To England to carry. + O when shall English men, + With such acts fill a pen, + Or England breed againe + Such a King Harry. + + [5] A Collection of Poems of the Sixteenth Century.--Communicated + by J.F., of Gray's Inn. We thank our Correspondent for the + present, and shall be happy to receive further specimens from the + same source. + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY + + * * * * * + +AMERICAN IMPROVEMENTS. + + +[The very recent publication of the ninth volume of the Encyclopaedia +Americana[6] enables us to lay before our readers the following +interesting notices, connected with the national weal and internal +economy of the United States of North America.] + +_Navy_.--Since the late war, the growth and improvement of our navy +has kept pace with our national prosperity. We could now put to sea, +in a few mouths, with a dozen ships of the line; the most spacious, +efficient, best, and most beautiful constructions that ever traversed +the ocean. This is not merely an American conceit, but an admitted +fact in Europe, where our models are studiously copied. In the United +States, a maximum and uniform calibre of cannon has been lately +determined on and adopted. Instead of the variety of length, form, +and calibre still used in other navies, and almost equal to the Great +Michael with her "bassils, mynards, hagters, culverings, flings, +falcons, double dogs, and pestilent serpenters," our ships offer flush +and uniform decks, sheers free from hills, hollows, and excrescences, +and complete, unbroken batteries of thirty-two or forty-two pounders. +Thus has been realized an important desideratum--the greatest possible +power to do execution coupled with the greatest simplification of the +means. + + [6] Philadelphia, Carey and Lea, 1832. + +But, while we have thus improved upon the hitherto practised means of +naval warfare, we are threatened with a total change. This is by the +introduction of bombs, discharged horizontally, instead of shot from +common cannon. So certain are those who have turned their attention to +this subject that the change must take place, that, in France, they +are already speculating on the means of excluding these destructive +missiles from a ship's sides, by casing them in a cuirass of iron. Nor +are these ideas the mere offspring of idle speculation. Experiments +have been tried on hulks, by bombs projected horizontally, with +terrible effect. If the projectile lodged in a mast, in exploding it +overturned it, with all its yards and rigging; if in the side, the +ports were opened into each other; or, when near the water, an immense +chasm was opened, causing the vessel to sink immediately. If it should +not explode until it fell spent upon deck, besides doing the injury +of an ordinary ball, it would then burst, scattering smoke, fire, and +death, on every side. When this comes to pass, it would seem that +the naval profession would cease to be very desirable. Nevertheless, +experience has, in all ages, shown that, the more destructive are the +engines used in war, and the more it is improved and systematized, the +less is the loss of life. Salamis and Lepanto can either of them +alone count many times the added victims of the Nile, Trafalgar, and +Navarino. + +One effect of the predicted change in naval war, it is said, will be +the substitution of small vessels for the larger ones now in use. The +three decker presents many times the surface of the schooner, +while her superior number of cannon does not confer a commensurate +advantage; for ten bombs, projected into the side of a ship, would be +almost as efficacious to her destruction as a hundred. As forming part +of a system of defence for our coast, the bomb-cannon, mounted on +steamers, which can take their position at will, would be terribly +formidable. With them--to say nothing of torpedoes and submarine +navigation--we need never more be blockaded and annoyed as formerly. +Hence peaceful nations will be most gainers by this change of system; +but it is not enough that we should be capable of raising a blockade: +we are a commercial people: our merchant ships visit every sea, and +our men-of-war must follow and protect them there. + +_Newspapers_.--No country has so many newspapers as the United States. +The following table, arranged for the American Almanac of 1830, is +corrected from the Traveller, and contains a statement of the number +of newspapers published in the colonies at the commencement of the +revolution; and also the number of newspapers and other periodical +works, in the United States, in 1810 and 1828. + + STATES. 1775. 1810. 1828. + Maine 29 + Massachusetts 7 32 78 + New Hampshire 1 12 17 + Vermont 14 21 + Rhode Island 2 7 14 + Connecticut 4 11 33 + New York 4 66 161 + New Jersey 8 22 + Pennsylvania 9 71 185 + Delaware 2 4 + Maryland 2 21 37 + District of Columbia 6 9 + Virginia 2 23 34 + North Carolina 2 10 20 + South Carolina 3 10 16 + Georgia 1 13 18 + Florida 1 2 + Alabama 10 + Mississippi 4 6 + Louisiana 10 9 + Tennessee 6 8 + Kentucky 17 23 + Ohio 14 66 + Indiana 17 + Michigan 2 + Illinois 4 + Missouri 5 + Arkansas 1 + Cherokee Nation 1 + + Total 37 358 802 + +The present number, however, amounts to about a thousand. Thus the +state of New York is mentioned in the table as having 161 newspapers; +but a late publication states that there are 193, exclusive of +religious journals. New York has 1,913,508 inhabitants. There are +about 50 daily newspapers in the United States, two-thirds of which +are considered to give a fair profit. The North American colonies, in +the year 1720, had only seven newspapers: in 1810, the United States +had 359; in 1826, they had 640; in 1830, 1,000, with a population +of 13,000,000; so that they have more newspapers than the whole 190 +millions of Europe. + +In drawing a comparison between the newspapers of the three freest +countries, France, England, and the United States, we find, as we have +just said, those of the last country to be the most numerous, while +some of the French papers have the largest subscription; and the whole +establishment of a first-rate London paper is the most complete. Its +activity is immense. When Canning sent British troops to Portugal, in +1826, we know that some papers sent reporters with the army. The zeal +of the New York papers also deserves to be mentioned, which send +out their news-boats, even fifty miles to sea, to board approaching +vessels, and obtain the news that they bring. The papers of the large +Atlantic cities are also remarkable for their detailed accounts of +arrivals, and the particulars of shipping news, interesting to the +commercial world, in which they are much more minute than the English. +From the immense number of different papers in the United States, it +results that the number of subscribers to each is limited, 2,000 being +considered a respectable list. One paper, therefore, is not able to +unite the talent of many able men, as is the case in France. There +men of the first rank in literature or politics occasionally, or at +regular periods, contribute articles. In the United States, few papers +have more than one editor, who generally writes upon almost all +subjects himself. This circumstance necessarily makes the papers less +spirited and able than some of the foreign journals, but is attended +with this advantage, that no particular set of men is enabled to +exercise a predominant influence by means of these periodicals. Their +abundance neutralizes their effects. Declamation and sophistry are +made comparatively harmless by running in a thousand conflicting +currents. + +_Paper-making_.--The manufacture of paper has of late rapidly +increased in the United States. According to an estimate in 1829, the +whole quantity made in this country amounted to about five to seven +millions a year, and employed from ten to eleven thousand persons. +Rags are not imported from Italy and Germany to the same amount as +formerly, because people here save them more carefully; and the value +of the rags, junk, etc., saved annually in the United States, is +believed to amount to two millions of dollars. Machines for making +paper of any length are much employed in the United States. The +quality of American paper has also improved; but, as paper becomes +much better by keeping, it is difficult to have it of the best quality +in this country, the interest of capital being too high. The paper +used here for printing compares very disadvantageously with that of +England. Much wrapping paper is now made of straw, and paper for +tracing through is prepared in Germany from the poplar tree. A letter +of Mr. Brand, formerly a civil officer in Upper Provence, in France +(which contains many pine forests), dated Feb. 12, 1830, has been +published in the French papers, containing an account of his +successful experiments to make coarse paper of the pine tree. The +experiments of others have led to the same results. Any of our +readers, interested in this subject, can find Mr. Brand's letter in +the _Courrier Francais_ of Nov. 27, 1830, a French paper published +in New York. In salt-works near Hull, Massachusetts, in which the +sea-water is made to flow slowly over sheds of pine, in order to +evaporate, the writer found large quantities of a white substance--the +fibres of the pine wood dissolved and carried off by the brine--which +seemed to require nothing but glue to convert it into paper. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST + + * * * * * + + +THE CUTTLE-FISH + + +Is one of the most curious creatures of "the watery kingdom." It is +popularly termed a fish, though it is, in fact, a worm, belonging to +the order termed _Mollusca, (Molluscus_, soft,) from the body being of +a pulpy substance and having no skeleton. It differs in many respects +from other animals of its class, particularly with regard to its +internal structure, the perfect formation of the viscera, eyes, and +even organs of hearing. Moreover, "it has three hearts, two of which +are placed at the root of the two branchiae (or gills); they receive +the blood from the body, and propel it into the branchiae. The +returning veins open into the middle heart, from which the aorta +proceeds."[7] Of Cuttle-fish there are several species. That +represented in the annexed Cut is the common or officinal Cuttle-fish, +(_Sepia officinalis_, Lin). It consists of a soft, pulpy, body, with +processes or arms, which are furnished with small holes or suckers, +by means of which the animal fixes itself in the manner of +cupping-glasses. These holes increase with the age of the animal; and +in some species amount to upwards of one thousand. The arms are often +torn or nipped off by shell or other fishes, but the animal has the +power of speedily reproducing the limbs. By means of the suckers the +Cuttle-fish usually affects its locomotion. "It swims at freedom in +the bosom of the sea, moving by sudden and irregular jerks, the body +being nearly in a perpendicular position, and the head directed +downwards and backwards. Some species have a fleshy, muscular fin +on each side, by aid of which they accomplish these apparently +inconvenient motions; but, at least, an equal number of them are +finless, and yet can swim with perhaps little less agility. Lamarck, +indeed, denies this, and says that these can only trail themselves +along the bottom by means of the suckers. This is probably their +usual mode of proceeding; that it is not their only one, we have the +positive affirmation of other observers."[8] Serviceable as these arms +undoubtedly are to the Cuttle-fish, Blumenbach thinks it questionable +whether they can be considered as organs of touch, in the more limited +sense to which he has confined that term.[9] + + +THE CUTTLE-FISH. + + +[Illustration: The Cuttle-fish.] + + +The jaws of the Cuttle-fish, it should be observed, are fixed in the +body because there is no head to which they can be articulated. They +are of horny substance, and resemble the bill of a parrot. They are in +the centre of the under part of the body, surrounded by the arms. By +means of these parts, the shell-fish which are taken for food, are +completely triturated. + + [7] Cuvier. + + [8] Nat. Hist. Molluscous Animals, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. iii. + p. 527. + + [9] Manual Comp. Anat. p. 263. + +We now come to the most peculiar parts of the structure of the +Cuttle-fish, viz. the _ear and eye_, inasmuch as it is the only animal +of its class, in which any thing has hitherto been discovered, at +all like an organ of hearing, or that has been shown to possess true +eyes.[10] The ears consist of two oval cavities, in the cartilaginous +ring, to which the large arms of the animal are affixed. In each of +these is a small bag, containing a bony substance, and receiving the +termination of the nerves, like those of the vestibulum (or cavity +in the bone of the ear) in fishes. The nature of the eyes cannot be +disputed. "They resemble, on the whole, those of red-blooded animals, +particularly fishes; they are at least incomparably more like them +than the eyes of any known insects; yet they are distinguished by +several extraordinary peculiarities. The front of the eye-ball is +covered with a loose membrane instead of a cornea; the iris is +composed of a firm substance; and a process projects from the upper +margin of the pupil, which gives that membrane a semilunar form."[11] +The exterior coat or ball is remarkably strong, so as to seem almost +calcareous, and is, when taken out, of a brilliant pearl colour; it +is worn in some parts of Italy, and in the Grecian islands by way of +artificial pearl in necklaces. + + [10] In all other worms the eyes are entirely wanting, or their + existence is very doubtful. Whether the black points at the + extremities of what Swammerdam calls the horns of the common + snail, are organs which really possess the power of vision, + is still problematical. + + [11] Blumenbach, Man. Comp. Anat. p. 305. + +Next we may notice the curious provision by which the Cuttle-fish is +enabled to elude the pursuit of its enemies in the "vasty deep." This +consists of a black, inky fluid, (erroneously supposed to be the +bile,) which is contained in a bag beneath the body. The fluid itself +is thick, but miscible with water to such a degree, that a very small +quantity will colour a vast bulk of water.[12] Thus, the comparatively +small Cuttle-fish may darken the element about the acute eye of the +whale. What omniscience is displayed in this single provision, as well +as in the faculty possessed by the Cuttle-fish of reproducing its +mutilated arms! All Nature beams with such beneficence, and abounds +with such instances of divine love for every creature, however humble: +in observing these provisions, how often are we reminded of the +benefits conferred by the same omniscience upon our own species. It is +thus, by the investigation of natural history, that we are led to +the contemplation of the sublimest subjects; thus that man with God +himself holds converse. + + +BONE, OR PLATE. + + +[Illustration: Bone, or Plate.] + + +The "bone" of the Cuttle-fish now claims attention. This is a +complicated calcareous plate, lodged in a peculiar cavity of the back, +which it materially strengthens. This plate has long been known in +the shop of the apothecary under the name of Cuttle-fish bone: an +observant reader may have noticed scores of these plates in glasses +labelled _Os Sepiae_. Reduced to powder, they were formerly used as an +absorbent, but they are now chiefly sought after for the purpose of +polishing the softer metals. It is however improper to call this plate +bone, since, in composition, "it is exactly similar to _shell_, and +consists of various membranes, hardened by carbonate of lime, (the +principal material of shell,) without the smallest mixture of +phosphate of lime,[13] or the chief material of bone." + + [12] According to Cuvier, the Indian ink, from China, is made of + this fluid, as was the ink of the Romans. It has been supposed, + and not without a considerable degree of probability, that the + celebrated plain, but wholesome dish, the black broth of Sparta, + was no other than a kind of Cuttle-fish soup, in which the black + liquor of the animal was always added as an ingredient; being, + when fresh, of very agreeable taste.--_Shaw's Zoology_. + + [13] Mr. Hatchett, in Philos. Trans. + + +EGGS. + + +[Illustration: Eggs.] + + +Lastly, are the _ovaria_, or egg-bags of the Cuttle-fish, which are +popularly called _sea-grapes_. The female fish deposits her eggs +in numerous clusters, on the stalks of fuci, on corals, about the +projecting sides of rocks, or on any other convenient substances. +These eggs, which are of the size of small filberts, are of a black +colour. + +The most remarkable species of Cuttle-fish inhabits the British seas; +and, although seldom taken, its bone or plate is cast ashore on +different parts of the coast from the south of England to the Zetland +Isles. We have picked up scores of these plates and bunches of the +egg-bags or grapes, after rough weather on the beach between Worthing +and Rottingdean; but we never found a single fish. + +The Cuttle-fish was esteemed a delicacy by the ancients, and the +moderns equally prize it. Captain Cook speaks highly of a soup he made +from it; and the fish is eaten at the present day by the Italians, and +by the Greeks, during Lent. We take the most edible species to be the +_octopodia_, or eight-armed, found particularly large in the East +Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. The common species here figured, when +full-grown, measures about two feet in length, is of a pale blueish +brown colour, with the skin marked by numerous dark purple specks. + +The Cuttle-fish is described by some naturalists, as naked or +shell-less. It is often found attached to the shell of the Paper +Nautilus, which it is said to use as a sail. It is, however, very +doubtful whether the Cuttle-fish has a shell of its own. There is a +controversy upon the subject. Aristotle, and our contemporary, Home, +maintain it to be parasitical: Cuvier and Ferrusac, non-parasitical; +but the curious reader will find the _pro_ and _con._--the majority +and minority--in the _Magazine of Natural History_, vol. iii. p. 535. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + +SERVANTS IN INDIA. + + +[Captain Skinner, in his _Excursions in India_, makes the following +sensible observations on the tyranny over servants in India:] + +There are throughout the mountains many of the sacred shrubs of the +Hindoos, which give great delight, as my servants fall in with them. +They pick the leaves; and running with them to me, cry, "See, sir, +see, our holy plants are here!" and congratulate each other on having +found some indication of a better land than they are generally +inclined to consider the country of the Pariahs. The happiness these +simple remembrances shed over the whole party is so enlivening, that +every distress and fatigue seems to be forgotten. When we behold a +servant approaching with a sprig of the _Dona_ in his hand, we hail it +as the olive-branch, that denotes peace and good-will for the rest of +the day, if, as must sometimes be the case, they have been in any way +interrupted. + +Even these little incidents speak so warmly in favour of the Hindoo +disposition, that, in spite of much that may be uncongenial to an +European in their character, they cannot fail to inspire him with +esteem, if not affection. I wish that many of my countrymen would +learn to believe that the natives are endowed with feelings, and +surely they may gather such an inference from many a similar trait +to the one I have related. Hardness of heart can never be allied +to artless simplicity: that mind must possess a higher degree of +sensibility and refinement, that can unlock its long-confined +recollections by so light a spring as a wild flower. + +I have often witnessed, with wonder and sorrow, an English gentleman +stoop to the basest tyranny over his servants, without even the poor +excuse of anger, and frequently from no other reason than because he +could not understand their language. The question, from the answer +being unintelligible, is instantly followed by a blow. Such scenes are +becoming more rare, and indeed are seldom acted but by the younger +members of society; they are too frequent notwithstanding: and should +any thing that has fallen from me here, induce the cruelly-disposed to +reflect a little upon the impropriety and mischief of their conduct, +when about to raise the hand against a native, and save one stripe +to the passive people who are so much at the mercy of their masters' +tempers, I shall indeed be proud. + +[Again, speaking of the condition of servants, Captain Skinner +remarks--] + +It is impossible to view some members of the despised class without +sorrow and pity, particularly those who are attached, in the lowest +offices, to the establishments of the Europeans. They are the most +melancholy race of beings, always alone, and apparently unhappy: they +are scouted from the presence even of their fellow-servants. None but +the mind of a poet could imagine such outcasts venturing to raise +their thoughts to the beauty of a Brahmin's daughter; and a touching +tale in such creative fancy, no doubt, it would make, for, from their +outward appearances, I do not perceive why they should not be endowed +with minds as sensitive at least as those of the castes above them. +There are among them some very stout and handsome men; and it is +ridiculous to see sometimes all their strength devoted to the charge +of a sickly puppy;--to take care of dogs being their principal +occupation! + +Our attention has been drawn to the above passage in Captain Skinner's +work, by its ready illustration of the views and conclusions of the +late Dr. Knox, in his invaluable _Spirit of Despotism_, Section 2, +"Oriental manners, and the ideas imbibed in youth, both in the East +and West Indies, favourable to the spirit of despotism." How forcibly +applicable, on the present occasion, is the following extract:--"from +the intercourse of England with the East and West Indies, it is to be +feared that something of a more servile spirit has been derived than +was known among those who established the free constitutions of +Europe, and than would have been adopted, or patiently borne, in ages +of virtuous simplicity. A very numerous part of our countrymen spend +their most susceptible age in those countries, where despotic manners +remarkably prevail. They are themselves, when invested with office, +treated by the natives with an idolatrous degree of reverence, which +teaches them to expect a similar submission to their will, on their +return to their own country. They have been accustomed to look up to +personages greatly their superiors in rank and riches, with awe; and +to look down on their inferiors in _property_ with supreme contempt, +as slaves of their will and ministers of their luxury. Equal laws and +equal liberty at home appear to them saucy claims of the poor and the +vulgar, which tend to divest riches of one of the greatest charms, +over-bearing dominion. We do, indeed, import gorgeous silks and +luscious sweets from the Indies, but we import, at the same time, the +spirit of despotism, which adds deformity to the purple robe, and +bitterness to the honied beverage." "That _Oriental_ manners are +unfavourable to liberty, is, I believe, universally conceded. The +natives of the East Indies entertain not the idea of independence. +They treat the Europeans, who go among them to acquire their riches, +with a respect similar to the abject submission which they pay to +their native despots. Young men, who in England scarcely possessed +the rank of the gentry, are waited upon in India, with more attentive +servility than is paid or required in many courts of Europe. Kings of +England seldom assume the state enjoyed by an East India governor, or +even by subordinate officers. Enriched at an early age, the adventurer +returns to England. His property admits him to the higher circles +of fashionable life. He aims at rivalling or excelling all the +old nobility in the splendour of his mansions, the finery of his +carriages, the number of his liveried train, the profusion of his +tables, in every unmanly indulgence which an empty vanity can covet, +and a full purse procure. Such a man, when he looks from the window of +his superb mansion, and sees the people pass, cannot endure the idea, +that they are of as much consequence as himself in the eye of the law; +and that he dares not insult or oppress the unfortunate being who +rakes his kennel or sweeps his chimney." + + * * * * * + + +FALL OF ROBESPIERRE. + + +It is well known, that during the revolutionary troubles of France, +not only all the churches were closed, but the Catholic and Protestant +worship entirely forbidden; and, after the constitution of 1795, it +was at the hazard of one's life that either the mass was heard, or +any religious duty performed. It is evident that Robespierre, who +unquestionably had a design which is now generally understood, was +desirous, on the day of the fête of the Supreme Being, to bring back +public opinion to the worship of the Deity. Eight months before, +we had seen the Bishop of Paris, accompanied by his clergy, appear +voluntarily at the bar of the Convention, to abjure the Christian +faith and the Catholic religion. But it is not as generally known, +that at that period Robespierre was not omnipotent, and could not +carry his desires into effect. Numerous factions then disputed with +him the supreme authority. It was not till the end of 1793, and the +beginning of 1794, that his power was so completely established that +he could venture to act up to his intentions. + +Robespierre was then desirous to establish the worship of the Supreme +Being, and the belief of the immortality of the soul. He felt that +irreligion is the soul of anarchy, and it was not anarchy but +despotism which he desired; and yet the very day after that +magnificent fête in honour of the Supreme Being, a man of the highest +celebrity in science, and as distinguished for virtue and probity as +philosophic genius, Lavoisier, was led out to the scaffold. On the day +following that, Madame Elizabeth, that Princess whom the executioners +could not guillotine, till they had turned aside their eyes from the +sight of her angelic visage, stained the same axe with her blood!--And +a month after, Robespierre, who wished to restore order for his own +purposes--who wished to still the bloody waves which for years had +inundated the state, felt that all his efforts would be in vain if +the masses who supported his power were not restrained and directed, +because without order nothing but ravages and destruction can prevail. +To ensure the government of the masses, it was indispensable that +morality, religion, and belief should be established--and, to affect +the multitude, that religion should be clothed in external forms. "My +friend," said Voltaire, to the atheist Damilaville, "after you have +supped on well-dressed partridges, drunk your sparkling champaigne, +and slept on cushions of down in the arms of your mistress, I have +no fear of you, though you do not believe in God.---But if you are +perishing of hunger, and I meet you in the corner of a wood, I would +rather dispense with your company." But when Robespierre wished to +bring back to something like discipline the crew of the vessel which +was fast driving on the breakers, he found the thing was not so easy +as he imagined. To destroy is easy--to rebuild is the difficulty. He +was omnipotent to do evil; but the day that he gave the first sign +of a disposition to return to order, the hands which he himself +had stained with blood, marked his forehead with the fatal sign of +destruction. + +--_Memoirs of the Duchess of Abrantes._ + + * * * * * + + +SOUNDS DURING THE NIGHT. + + +The great audibility of sounds during the night is a phenomenon of +considerable interest, and one which had been observed even by the +ancients. In crowded cities or in their vicinity, the effect was +generally ascribed to the rest of animated beings, while in localities +where such an explanation was inapplicable, it was supposed to arise +from a favourable direction of the prevailing wind. Baron Humboldt +was particularly struck with this phenomenon when he first heard the +rushing of the great cataracts of the Orinoco in the plain which +surrounds the mission of the Apures. These sounds he regarded as +three times louder during the night than during the day. Some authors +ascribed this fact to the cessation of the humming of insects, the +singing of birds, and the action of the wind on the leaves of the +trees, but M. Humboldt justly maintains that this cannot be the cause +of it on the Orinoco, where the buzz of insects is much louder in the +night than in the day, and where the breeze never rises till after +sunset. Hence he was led to ascribe the phenomenon to the perfect +transparency and uniform density of the air, which can exist only at +night after the heat of the ground has been uniformly diffused through +the atmosphere. When the rays of the sun have been beating on the +ground during the day, currents of hot air of different temperatures, +and consequently of different densities, are constantly ascending from +the ground and mixing with the cold air above. The air thus ceases +to be a homogeneous medium, and every person must have observed the +effects of it upon objects seen through it which are very indistinctly +visible, and have a tremulous motion, as if they were "dancing in +the air." The very same effect is perceived when we look at objects +through spirits and water that are not perfectly mixed, or when we +view distant objects over a red hot poker or over a flame. In all +these cases the light suffers refraction in passing from a medium of +one density into a medium of a different density, and the refracted +rays are constantly changing their direction as the different currents +rise in succession. Analogous effects are produced when sound passes +through a mixed medium, whether it consists of two different mediums +or of one medium where portions of it have different densities. As +sound moves with different velocities through media of different +densities, the wave which produces the sound will be partly reflected +in passing from one medium to the other, and the direction of the +transmitted wave changed; and hence in passing through such media +different portions of the wave will reach the ear at different times, +and thus destroy the sharpness and distinctness of the sound. This +may be proved by many striking facts. If we put a bell in a receiver +containing a mixture of hydrogen gas and atmospheric air, the sound of +the bell can scarcely be heard. During a shower of rain or of snow, +noises are greatly deadened, and when sound is transmitted along an +iron wire or an iron pipe of sufficient length, we actually hear two +sounds, one transmitted more rapidly through the solid, and the other +more slowly through the air. The same property is well illustrated by +an elegant and easily repeated experiment of Chladni's. When sparkling +champagne is poured into a tall glass till it is half full, the glass +loses its power of ringing by a stroke upon its edge, and emits only +a disagreeable and a puffy sound. This effect will continue while the +wine is filled with bubbles of air, or as long as the effervescence +lasts; but when the effervescence begins to subside, the sound becomes +clearer and clearer, and the glass rings as usual when the air-bubbles +have vanished. If we reproduce the effervescence by stirring the +champagne with a piece of bread the glass will again cease to ring. +The same experiment will succeed with other effervescing fluids.--_Sir +David Brewster_. + + * * * * * + +No man is so insignificant as to be sure his example can do no hurt. + +--_Lord Clarendon._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +PADDY FOOSHANE'S FRICASSEE. + + +Paddy Fooshane kept a shebeen house at Barleymount Cross, in which he +sold whisky--from which his Majesty did not derive any large portion +of his revenues--ale, and provisions. One evening a number of friends, +returning from a funeral---all neighbours too--stopt at his house, +"because they were in grief," to drink a drop. There was Andy Agar, a +stout, rattling fellow, the natural son of a gentleman residing near +there; Jack Shea, who was afterwards transported for running away with +Biddy Lawlor; Tim Cournane, who, by reason of being on his keeping, +was privileged to carry a gun; Owen Connor, a march-of-intellect +man, who wished to enlighten proctors by making them swallow their +processes; and a number of other "good boys." The night began to "rain +cats and dogs," and there was no stirring out; so the cards were +called for, a roaring fire was made down, and the whisky and ale began +to flow. After due observation, and several experiments, a space large +enough for the big table, and free from the drop down, was discovered. +Here six persons, including Andy, Jack, Tim--with his gun between his +legs--and Owen, sat to play for a pig's head, of which the living +owner, in the parlour below, testified, by frequent grunts, his +displeasure at this unceremonious disposal of his property. + +Card-playing is very thirsty, and the boys were anxious to keep out +the wet; so that long before the pig's head was decided, a messenger +had been dispatched several times to Killarney, a distance of four +English miles, for a pint of whisky each time. The ale also went +merrily round, until most of the men were quite stupid, their faces +swoln, and their eyes red and heavy. The contest at length was +decided; but a quarrel about the skill of the respective parties +succeeded, and threatened broken heads at one time. At last Jack Shea +swore they must have something to eat;----him but he was starved with +drink, and he must get some rashers somewhere or other. Every one +declared the same; and Paddy was ordered to cook some _griskins_ +forthwith. Paddy was completely nonplussed:--all the provisions were +gone, and yet his guests were not to be trifled with. He made a +hundred excuses--"'Twas late--'twas dry now--and there was nothing in +the house; sure they ate and drank enough." But all in vain. The ould +sinner was threatened with instant death if he delayed. So Paddy +called a council of war in the parlour, consisting of his wife and +himself. + +"Agrah, Jillen, agrah, what will we do with these? Is there any meat +in the tub? Where is the tongue? If it was yours, Jillen, we'd give +them enough of it; but I mane the cow's." (aside.) + +"Sure the proctors got the tongue ere yesterday, and you know there +an't a bit in the tub. Oh the murtherin villains! and I'll engage +'twill be no good for us, after all my white bread and the whisky. +That it may pison 'em!" + +"Amen! Jillen; but don't curse them. After all, where's the meat? I'm +sure that Andy will kill me if we don't make it out any how;--and he +hasn't a penny to pay for it. You could drive the mail coach, Jillen, +through his breeches pocket without jolting over a ha'penny. Coming, +coming; d'ye hear 'em?" + +"Oh, they'll murther us. Sure if we had any of the tripe I sent +yesterday to the gauger." + +"Eh! What's that you say? I declare to God here's Andy getting up. +We must do something. _Thonom an dhiaoul_, I have it. Jillen run and +bring me the leather breeches; run woman, alive! Where's the block and +the hatchet? Go up and tell 'em you're putting down the pot." + +Jillen pacified the uproar in the kitchen by loud promises, and +returned to Paddy. The use of the leather breeches passed her +comprehension; but Paddy actually took up the leather breeches, tore +away the lining with great care, chopped the leather with the hatchet +on the block, and put it into the pot as tripes. Considering the +situation in which Andy and his friends were, and the appetite of the +Irish peasantry for meat in any shape--"a bone" being their _summum +bonum_--the risk was very little. If discovered, however, Paddy's +safety was much worse than doubtful, as no people in the world have a +greater horror of any unusual food. One of the most deadly modes of +revenge they can employ is to give an enemy dog's or cat's flesh; and +there have been instances where the persons who have eaten it, on +being informed of the fact, have gone mad. But Paddy's habit of +practical jokes, from which nothing could wean him, and his anger at +their conduct, along with the fear he was in did not allow him to +hesitate a moment. Jillen remonstrated in vain. "Hould your tongue, +you foolish woman. They're all as blind as the pig there. They'll +never find it out. Bad luck to 'em too, my leather breeches! that I +gave a pound note and a hog for in Cork. See how nothing else would +satisfy 'em!" The meat at length was ready. Paddy drowned it in +butter, threw out the potatoes on the table, and served it up smoking +hot with the greatest gravity. + +"By ----," says Jack Shea, "that's fine stuff! How a man would dig a +trench after that." + +"I'll take a priest's oath," answered Tim Cohill, the most irritable +of men, but whose temper was something softened by the rich steam;-- + +"Yet, Tim, what's a priest's oath? I never heard that." + +"Why, sure, every one knows you didn't ever hear of anything of good." + +"I say you lie, Tim, you rascal." + +Tim was on his legs in a few moments, and a general battle was about +to begin; but the appetite was too strong, and the quarrel was +settled; Tim having been appeased by being allowed to explain a +priest's oath. According to him, a priest's oath was this:--He was +surrounded by books, which were gradually piled up until they reached +his lips. He then kissed the uppermost, and swore by all to the +bottom. As soon as the admiration excited by his explanation, in those +who were capable of hearing Tim, had ceased, all fell to work; and +certainly, if the tripes had been of ordinary texture, drunk as was +the party, they would soon have disappeared. After gnawing at them for +some time, "Well," says Owen Connor, "that I mightn't!--but these are +the quarest tripes I ever eat. It must be she was very ould." + +"By ----," says Andy, taking a piece from his mouth to which he had +been paying his addresses for the last half hour, "I'd as soon be +eating leather. She was a bull, man; I can't find the soft end at all +of it." + +"And that's true for you, Andy," said the man of the gun; "and 'tis +the greatest shame they hadn't a bull-bait to make him tinder. Paddy, +was it from Jack Clifford's bull you got 'em? They'd do for wadding, +they're so tough." + +"I'll tell you, Tim, where I got them--'twas out of Lord Shannon's +great cow at Cork, the great fat cow that the Lord Mayor bought for +the Lord Lieutenant--_Asda churp naur hagushch_."[14] + + [14] May it never come out of his body! + +"Amen, I pray God! Paddy. Out of Lord Shandon's cow? near the steeple, +I suppose; the great cow that couldn't walk with tallow. By ----, +these are fine tripes. They'll make a man very strong. Andy, give me +two or three _libbhers_ more of 'em." + +"Well, see that! out of Lord Shandon's cow: I wonder what they gave +her, Paddy. That I mightn't!--but these would eat a pit of potatoes. +Any how, they're good for the teeth. Paddy, what's the reason they +send all the good mate from Cork to the Blacks?" + +But before Paddy could answer this question, Andy, who had been +endeavouring to help Tim, uttered a loud "_Thonom an dhiaoul!_ what's +this? Isn't this flannel?" The fact was, he had found a piece of +the lining, which Paddy, in his hurry, had not removed; and all was +confusion. Every eye was turned to Paddy; but with wonderful quickness +he said "'Tis the book tripe, _agragal_, don't you see?"--and actually +persuaded them to it. + +"Well, any how," says Tim, "it had the taste of wool." + +"May this choke me," says Jack Shea, "if I didn't think that 'twas a +piece of a leather breeches when I saw Andy _chawing_ it." + +This was a shot between wind and water to Paddy. His self-possession +was nearly altogether lost, and he could do no more than turn it off +by a faint laugh. But it jarred most unpleasantly on Andy's nerves. +After looking at Paddy for some time with a very ominous look, he +said, "_Yirroo Pandhrig_ of the tricks, if I thought you were going on +with any work here, my soul and my guts to the devil if I would not +cut you into garters. By the vestment I'd make a _furhurmeen_ of you." + +"Is it I, Andy? That the hands may fall off me!" + +But Tim Cohill made a most seasonable diversion. "Andy, when you die, +you'll be the death of one fool, any how. What do you know that wasn't +ever in Cork itself about tripes. I never ate such mate in my life; +and 'twould be good for every poor man in the County of Kerry if he +had a tub of it." + +Tim's tone of authority, and the character he had got for learning, +silenced every doubt, and all laid siege to the tripes again. But +after some time, Andy was observed gazing with the most astonished +curiosity into the plate before him. His eyes were rivetted on +something; at last he touched it with his knife, arid exclaimed, +"_Kirhappa, dar dhia!_"--[A button by G--.] + +"What's that you say?" burst from all! and every one rose in the best +manner he could, to learn the meaning of the button. + +"Oh, the villain of the world!" roared Andy, "I'm pisoned! Where's the +pike? For God's sake Jack, run for the priest, or I'm a dead man with +the breeches. Where is he?--yeer bloods won't ye catch him, and I +pisoned?" + +The fact was, Andy had met one of the knee-buttons sewed into a piece +of the tripe, and it was impossible for him to fail discovering the +cheat. The rage, however, was not confined to Andy. As soon as it was +understood what had been done, there was an universal rush for Paddy +and Jillen; but Paddy was much too cunning to be caught, after the +narrow escape he had of it before. The moment after the discovery of +the lining, that he could do so without suspicion, he stole from the +table, left the house, and hid himself. Jillen did the same; and +nothing remained for the eaters, to vent their rage, but breaking +every thing in the cabin; which was done in the utmost fury. Andy, +however, continued watching for Paddy with a gun, a whole month after. +He might be seen prowling along the ditches near the shebeen-house, +waiting for a shot at him. Not that he would have scrupled to enter +it, were he likely to find Paddy there; but the latter was completely +on the _shuchraun_, and never visited his cabin except by stealth. It +was in one of those visits that Andy hoped to catch him. + +--_Tait's Edinburgh Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +CONVERSATIONS WITH LORD BYRON. + +_By the Countess of Blessington_. + + +One of our first rides with Lord Byron was to Nervi, a village on +the sea-coast, most romantically situated, and each turn of the road +presenting various and beautiful prospects. They were all familiar to +him, and he failed not to point them out, but in very sober terms, +never allowing any thing like enthusiasm in his expressions, though +many of the views might have excited it. + +His appearance on horseback was not advantageous, and he seemed +aware of it, for he made many excuses for his dress and equestrian +appointments. His horse was literally covered with various trappings, +in the way of cavesons, martingales, and Heaven knows how many other +(to me) unknown inventions. The saddle was _à la Hussarde_ with +holsters, in which he always carried pistols. His dress consisted of +a nankeen jacket and trousers, which appeared to have shrunk from +washing; the jacket embroidered in the same colour, and with three +rows of buttons; the waist very short, the back very narrow, and the +sleeves set in as they used to be ten or fifteen years before; a black +stock, very narrow; a dark-blue velvet cap with a shade, and a very +rich gold band and large gold tassel at the crown; nankeen gaiters, +and a pair of blue spectacles, completed his costume, which was any +thing but becoming. This was his general dress of a morning for +riding, but I have seen it changed for a green tartan plaid jacket. He +did not ride well, which surprised us, as, from the frequent allusions +to horsemanship in his works, we expected to find him almost a Nimrod, +It was evident that he had _pretensions_ on this point, though he +certainly was what I should call a timid rider. When his horse made a +false step, which was not unfrequent, he seemed discomposed; and when +we came to any bad part of the road, he immediately checked his course +and walked his horse very slowly, though there really was nothing to +make even a lady nervous. Finding that I could perfectly manage (or +what he called _bully_) a very highly-dressed horse that I daily rode, +he became extremely anxious to buy it; asked me a thousand questions +as to how I had acquired such a perfect command of it, &c. &c. and +entreated, as the greatest favour, that I would resign it to him as a +charger to take to Greece, declaring he never would part with it, &c. +As I was by no means a bold rider, we were rather amused at observing +Lord Byron's opinion of my courage; and as he seemed so anxious for +the horse, I agreed to let him have it when he was to embark. From +this time he paid particular attention to the movements of poor +Mameluke (the name of the horse), and said he should now feel +confidence in action with so steady a charger. + +_April_--. Lord Byron dined with us today. During dinner he was as +usual gay, spoke in terms of the warmest commendation of Sir Walter +Scott, not only as an author, but as a man, and dwelt with apparent +delight on his novels, declaring that he had read and re-read them +over and over again, and always with increased pleasure. He said +that he quite equalled, nay, in his opinion, surpassed Cervantes. In +talking of Sir Walter's private character, goodness of heart, &c., +Lord Byron became more animated than I had ever seen him; his colour +changed from its general pallid tint to a more lively hue, and his +eyes became humid: never had he appeared to such advantage, and it +might easily be seen that every expression he uttered proceeded from +his heart. Poor Byron!--for poor he is even with all his genius, rank, +and wealth--had he lived more with men like Scott, whose openness of +character and steady principle had convinced him that they were in +earnest in _their goodness_, and not _making believe_, (as he always +suspects good people to be,) his life might be different and happier! +Byron is so acute an observer that nothing escapes him; all the shades +of selfishness and vanity are exposed to his searching glance, and the +misfortune is, (and a serious one it is to him,) that when he finds +these, and alas! they are to be found on every side, they disgust +and prevent his giving credit to the many good qualities that often +accompany them. He declares he can sooner pardon crimes, because they +proceed from the passions, than these minor vices, that spring from +egotism and self-conceit. We had a long argument this evening on the +subject, which ended, like most arguments, by leaving both of the same +opinion as when it commenced. I endeavoured to prove that crimes were +not only injurious to the perpetrators, but often ruinous to the +innocent, and productive of misery to friends and relations, whereas +selfishness and vanity carried with them their own punishment, the +first depriving the person of all sympathy, and the second exposing +him to ridicule which to the vain is a heavy punishment, but that +their effects were not destructive to society as are crimes. + +He laughed when I told him that having heard him so often declaim +against vanity, and detect it so often in his friends, I began to +suspect he knew the malady by having had it himself, and that I had +observed through life, that those persons who had the most vanity were +the most severe against that failing in their friends. He wished to +impress upon me that he was not vain, and gave various proofs to +establish this; but I produced against him his boasts of swimming, his +evident desire of being considered more _un homme de societe_ than a +poet, and other little examples, when he laughingly pleaded guilty, +and promised to be more merciful towards his friends. + +Byron attempted to be gay, but the effort was not successful, and he +wished us good night with a trepidation of manner that marked his +feelings. And this is the man that I have heard considered unfeeling! +How often are our best qualities turned against us, and made the +instruments for wounding us in the most vulnerable part, until, +ashamed of betraying our susceptibility, we affect an insensibility +we are far from possessing, and, while we deceive others, nourish in +secret the feelings that prey _only_ on our own hearts! + +--_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + +_Canary Birds._--In Germany and the Tyrol, from whence the rest of +Europe is principally supplied with Canary birds, the apparatus for +breeding Canaries is both large and expensive. A capacious building +is erected for them, with a square space at each end, and holes +communicating with these spaces. In these outlets are planted such +trees as the birds prefer. The bottom is strewed with sand, on which +are cast rapeseed, chickweed, and such other food as they like. +Throughout the inner compartment, which is kept dark, are placed +bowers for the birds to build in, care being taken that the breeding +birds are guarded from the intrusion of the rest. Four Tyrolese +usually take over to England about sixteen hundred of these birds; and +though they carry them on their backs nearly a thousand miles, and pay +twenty pounds for them originally, they can sell them at 5_s_. each. + +_Braithwaite's Steam Fire Engine_--will deliver about 9,000 gallons +of water per hour to an elevation of 90 feet. The time of getting the +machine into action, from the moment of igniting the fuel, (the water +being cold,) is 18 minutes. As soon as an alarm is given, the fire is +kindled, and the bellows, attached to the engine, are worked by hand. +By the time the horses are harnessed in, the fuel is thoroughly +ignited, and the bellows are then worked by the motion of the wheels +of the engine. By the time of arriving at the fire, preparing the +hoses, &c. the steam is ready. + +Fisher, bishop of Rochester, was accustomed to style his church his +wife, declaring that he would never exchange her for one that was +richer. He was a zealous adherent of Pope Paul III. who created him +a cardinal. The king, Henry VIII., on learning that Fisher would not +refuse the dignity, exclaimed, in a passion, "Yea! is he so lusty? +Well, let the pope send him a hat when he will. Mother of God! he +shall wear it on his shoulders, for I will leave him never a head to +set it on." + +_Flax_ is not uncommon in the greenhouses about Philadelphia, but +we have not heard of any experiments with it in the open +air.--_Encyclopaedia Americana._ + +_The Schoolmaster wanted in the East._--Mr. Madden, in his travels +in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, says:--"In all my travels, I +could only meet one woman who could read and write, and that was in +Damietta; she was a Levantine Christian, and her peculiar talent was +looked upon as something superhuman." + +La Fontaine had but one son, whom, at the age of 14, he placed in the +hands of Harlay, archbishop of Paris, who promised to provide for him. +After a long absence, La Fontaine met this youth at the house of a +friend, and being pleased with his conversation, was told that it was +his own son. "Ah," said he, "I am very glad of it." + +_Universal Genius._--Rivernois thus describes the character of +Fontenelle: "When Fontenelle appeared on the field, all the prizes +were already distributed, all the palms already gathered: the prize of +universality alone remained, Fontenelle determined to attempt it, and +he was successful. He is not only a metaphysician with Malebranche, a +natural philosopher with Newton, a legislator with Peter the Great, a +statesman with D'Argenson; he is everything with everybody." + +_Forest Schools._--There are a number of forest academies in Germany, +particularly in the small states of central Germany, in the Hartz, +Thuringia, &c. The principal branches taught in them are the +following:--forest botany, mineralogy, zoology, chemistry; by which +the learner is taught the natural history of forests, and the mutual +relations, &c. of the different kingdoms of nature. He is also +instructed in the care and chase of game, and in the surveying and +cultivation of forests, so as to understand the mode of raising all +kinds of wood, and supplying a new growth as fast as the old is taken +away. The pupil is too instructed in the administration of the forest +taxes and police, and all that relates to forests considered as a +branch of revenue. + +_The Weather._--Meteorological journals are now given in most +magazines. The first statement of this kind was communicated by Dr. +Fothergill to the Gentleman's Magazine, and consisted of a monthly +account of the weather and diseases of London. The latter information +is now monopolized by the parish-clerks. + +_Goethe._--The wife of a Silesian peasant, being obliged to go to +Saxony, and hearing that she had travelled (on foot) more than half +the distance to Goethe's residence, whose works she had read with the +liveliest interest, continued her journey to Weimar for the sake of +seeing him. Goethe declared that the true character of his works had +never been better understood than by this woman. He gave her his +portrait. + +_Liverpool and Manchester Railway._--The Company has reported the +following result: + + Passengers entered in the Company's + books during the half-year + ending June 30, 1831 £188,726 + + Ditto, ditto, ending December + 31, 1831 256,321 + + Increase £67,595 + +Being upwards of 33 per cent. increase of the first six months of the +year, and upwards of 135 per cent. increase on the travellers between +the two towns during the corresponding months, previously to opening +the railway.--_Gordon, on Steam Carriages._ + +_Caliga._--This was the name of the Roman soldier's shoe, made in the +sandal fashion. The sole was of wood, and stuck full of nails. Caius +Caesar Caligula, the fourth Roman Emperor, the son of Germanicus and +Agrippina, derived his surname from "Caliga," as having been born in +the army, and afterwards bred up in the habit of a common soldier; he +wore this military shoe in conformity to those of the common soldiers, +with a view of engaging their affections. The caliga was the badge, or +symbol of a soldier; whence to take away the caliga and belt, imported +a dismissal or cashiering. P.T.W. + +_The Damary Oak-tree._--At Blandford Forum, Dorsetshire, stood the +famous Damary Oak, which was rooted up for firing in 1755. It measured +75 feet high, and the branches extended 72 feet; the trunk at the +bottom was 68 feet in circumference, and 23 feet in diameter. It had +a cavity in its trunk 15 feet wide. Ale was sold in it till after the +Restoration; and when the town was burnt down in 1731, it served as an +abode for one family.--_Family Topographer_, vol. ii. + +_Brent Tor Church, Devonshire, situate upon a rock._--On Brent Tor is +a church, in which is appositely inscribed from Scripture, "Upon this +rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail +against it." It is said that the parishioners make weekly atonement +for their sins, for they cannot go to the church without the previous +penance of climbing the steep; and the pastor is frequently obliged to +humble himself upon his hands and knees before he can reach the house +of prayer. Tradition says it was erected by a merchant to commemorate +his escape from shipwreck on the coast, in consequence of this Tor +serving as a guide to the pilot. There is not sufficient earth to bury +the dead. At the foot of the Tor resided, in 1809, Sarah Williams, +aged 109 years. She never lived further out of the parish of Brent +Tor, than the adjoining one: she had had twelve children, and a few +years before her death cut five new teeth.--Ibid. + +_The Dairyman's Daughter._--In Arreton churchyard, Isle of Wight, is +a tombstone, erected in 1822, by subscription, to mark the grave of +Elizabeth Wallbridge, the humble individual whose story of piety and +virtue, written by the Rev. Leigh Richmond, under the title of the +"Dairyman's Daughter," has attained an almost unexampled circulation. +Her cottage at Branston, about a mile distant, is much visited.--Ibid. + +_Singular distribution of common land in Somersetshire_.--In the +parishes of Congresbury and Puxton were two large pieces of common +land, called East and West Dolemoors (from the Saxon word dol, a +portion or share,) which were occupied till within these few years in +the following manner:---The land was divided into single acres, each +bearing a peculiar mark, cut in the turf, such as a horn, an ox, a +horse, a cross, an oven, &c. On the Saturday before Old Midsummer +Day, the several proprietors of contiguous estates, or their tenants, +assembled on these commons, with a number of apples marked with +similar figures, which were distributed by a boy to each of the +commoners from a bag. At the close of the distribution, each person +repaired to the allotment with the figure corresponding to the one +upon his apple, and took possession of it for the ensuing year. Four +acres were reserved to pay the expenses of an entertainment at the +house of the overseer of the Dolemoors, where the evening was spent in +festivity.--Ibid. + +_Anna Maria, Countess of Shrewsbury._--At Avington Park, in Hampshire, +resided the notorious and infamous Anna-Maria, Countess of Shrewsbury, +who held the horse of the Duke of Buckingham while he fought and +killed her husband. Charles II frequently made it the scene of his +licentious pleasures; and the old green-house is said to have been the +apartment in which the royal sensualist was entertained.--Ibid. + + * * * * * + +_Erratum_--In the lines, by J. Kinder, on a Withered Primrose, in our +last, verse ii. line 2--for "gust of the storm" read "_jest_ of the +storm." + + * * * * * + +_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 11568 *** |