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diff --git a/11569-h/11569-h.htm b/11569-h/11569-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6fff59 --- /dev/null +++ b/11569-h/11569-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1423 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Solaris (vers 1st October 2003), see www.w3.org" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 547.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + .note, .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + + .figure + {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + .figure p + + .side { float:right; + font-size: 75%; + width: 25%; + padding-left:10px; + border-left: dashed thin; + margin-left: 10px; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic;} + --> +/*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11569 ***</div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>[pg +305]</span> +<h1>THE MIRROR<br /> +OF<br /> +LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> +<hr class="full" /> +<table width="100%" summary="Volume, Number, and Date"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b>Vol. 19. No. 547.</b></td> +<td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1832</b></td> +<td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>WILTON CASTLE.</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width:80%;"><a href= +"images/547-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/547-1.png" alt= +"" /></a> Wilton Castle.</div> +<p>Here is one of the ivy-mantled relics that lend even a charm to +romantic nature on the banks of the Wye. Its shattered tower and +crumbling wall, combine with her wild luxuriance, to form a scene +of great picturesque beauty, though, as Gilpin observes, "the scene +wants accompaniments to give it grandeur."</p> +<p>These ruins stand opposite to Ross, on the western bank of the +Wye. The Castle was for several centuries the baronial residence of +the Greys of the south, who derived from it their first title, and +who became owners in the time of Edward the First. It may therefore +be presumed to have been one of the strongholds, in the great +struggles for feudal superiority with Wales, which were commenced +by Edward, whose "active and splendid reign may be considered as an +attempt to subject the whole island of Great Britain to his +sway."<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href= +"#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> Or, in earlier times, being situated +on the ancient barrier between England and Wales, it may have been +a station of some importance, from its contiguity to Hereford, +which city was destroyed by the Welsh, but rebuilt and fortified by +Harold, who also strengthened the castle. The whole district is of +antiquarian interest, since, at the period of the Roman invasion, +Herefordshire was inhabited by the Silures, who also occupied the +adjacent counties of Radnor, Monmouth, and Glamorgan, together with +that part of Gloucestershire which lies westward of the Severn. The +Silures, in conjunction with the Ordovices, or inhabitants of North +Wales, retarded, for a considerable period, the progress of the +Roman victors, whose grand object seems to have been the conquest +of these nations, who had chosen the gallant Caractacus as their +chieftain, and resolutely exhausted every effort in defence of the +independence of their country.</p> +<p>The present demolished state of the <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page306" name="page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> Castle is referred to +the Royalist Governors of Hereford, by whose orders it was burnt to +the bare walls during the reign of Charles I. in the absence of its +then possessor, Sir J. Brydges.</p> +<p>The scenery of the WYE, at this point is thus described by +tourists: "From Hereford to Ross, its features occasionally assume +greater boldness; though more frequently their aspect is placid; +but at the latter town wholly emerging from its state of repose," +it resumes the brightness and rapidity of its primitive character, +as it forms the admired curve which the churchyard of Ross +commands. The celebrated spire of Ross church, peeping over a noble +row of elms, here fronts the ruined Castle of Wilton, beneath the +arches of whose bridge, the Wye flows through a charming succession +of meadows, encircling at last the lofty and well-wooded hill, +crowned with the majestic fragments of Gooderich Castle, and +opposed by the waving eminences of the forest of Dean. The mighty +pile, or peninsula, of Symonds' Rock succeeds, round which the +river flows in a circuit of seven miles, though the opposite points +of the isthmus are only one mile asunder. Shortly afterwards, the +Wye quits the county, and enters Monmouthshire at the New Wear.</p> +<p>The Rev. Mr. Gilpin, in his charming little volume on +Picturesque Beauty,<a id="footnotetag2" name= +"footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> has a few +appropriate observations: after passing Wilton—</p> +<p>"We met with nothing for some time during our voyage but grand, +woody banks, one rising behind another; appearing and vanishing by +turns, as we doubled the several capes. But though no particular +objects characterized these different scenes, yet they afforded +great variety of pleasing views, both as we wound round the several +promontories, which discovered new beauties as each scene opened, +and when we kept the same scene a longer time in view, stretching +along some lengthened reach, where the river is formed into an +irregular vista by hills shooting out beyond each other and going +off in perspective."</p> +<p>We ought not to forget to mention Ross, and its association with +one of the noblest works of GOD—honest John Kyrle, celebrated +as the Man of Ross. Pope, during his visits at Holm-Lacey, in the +vicinity, obtained sufficient knowledge of his beneficence, to +render due homage to his worth in one of the brightest pages of the +records of human character.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>"MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS"—EGGS.</h3> +<h4>(<i>For the Mirror.</i>)</h4> +<p>In a paper on the <i>Superstitions of the Sea</i>, a few years +ago,<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href= +"#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> I slightly alluded to the nautical +belief that the appearance of the Stormy Petrel, and other marine +birds at sea, was often considered to be the forerunner of peril +and disaster; and as your excellent correspondent, <i>M.L.B.</i>, +in a recent number, expresses a wish to know the origin of the +<i>soubriquet</i> of <i>Mother Carey's Chickens</i>, which the +former birds have obtained, I now give it with all the brevity +which is consistent with so important a narration. It appears that +a certain outward-bound Indiaman, called the <i>Tiger</i>, (but in +what year I am unable to state,) had encountered one continued +series of storms, during her whole passage; till on nearing the +Cape of Good Hope, she was almost reduced to a wreck. Here, +however, the winds and waves seemed bent on her destruction; in the +midst of the storm, flocks of strange looking birds were seen +hovering and wheeling in the air around the devoted ship, and one +of the passengers, a woman called "Mother Carey," was observed by +the glare of the lightning to laugh and smile when she looked at +these foul-weather visitants; on which she was not only set down as +a witch, but it was also thought that they were her familiars, whom +she had invoked from the <i>Red Sea</i>; and "all hands" were +seriously considering on the propriety of getting rid of the old +beldam, (as is usual in such cases,) by setting her afloat, when +she saved them the trouble, and at that moment jumped overboard, +surrounded by flames; on which the birds vanished, the storm +cleared away, and the tempest-tossed <i>Tiger</i> went peacefully +on her course! Ever since the occurrence of this "astounding yarn," +the birds have been called "Mother Carey's Chickens," and are +considered by our sailors to be the most unlucky of all the +feathered visitants at sea.</p> +<p>To turn by a not unnatural transition from <i>birds</i> to +<i>eggs</i>, permit me to inform your Scottish correspondent, +<i>S.S.</i> (see No. 536,) where he asserts that the plan of +rubbing eggs with grease in order to preserve them, "is not so much +as known in our own boasted land of stale eggs and bundlewood;" +that the said <i>discovery</i> has long been known and practised in +many parts of old England; and that the repeated experience of +several <span class="pagenum"><a id="page307" name= +"page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> friends warrants me in giving a +decided negative to his assertion that eggs so prepared "<i>will +keep any length of time perfectly fresh</i>." If kept for a +considerable period, though they do not become absolutely bad, yet +they turn <i>very stale</i>. I happen to know something of +Scotland, and was never before aware that the raw clime of our +northern neighbours was so celebrated for its poultry. +<i>M.L.B.</i> is certainly misinformed in speaking of the trade in +<i>Scotch</i> eggs to <i>America</i>. The importation of eggs from +the continent into England is very extensive: the duty in 1827 +amounted at the rate of 10<i>d</i>. per 120, to 23,062<i>l</i>. +19<i>s</i>. 1<i>d</i>.; since which period there has, we believe, +been an increase. The importation of eggs from Ireland is also very +large. If <i>S.S.</i> resides in London, he may have occasion to +sneer at "our boasted land of stale eggs;" but he should rather +sneer at the preserved French eggs, with which the London dealers +are principally supplied.</p> +<p>VYVYAN.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE CURFEW BELL.</h3> +<h4>(To the Editor.)</h4> +<p>In addition to the remarks made by <i>Reginald</i>, in No. 543, +and by <i>M.D.</i>, and <i>G.C.</i>, in No. 545 of <i>The +Mirror</i>, let me add that the Curfew is rung every night at +eight, in my native town, (Winchester,) and the bell, a large one, +weighing 12 cwt., is appropriated for the purpose, (not belonging +to a church) but affixed in the tower of the Guildhall, and used +only for this occasion, or on an alarm of fire.</p> +<p>In that city the Curfew was first established under the command +of the Conqueror, and the practice has continued to the present +day. I have been assured by many old residents, that it formerly +was the custom to ring the bell every morning at four o'clock, but +the practice being found annoying to persons living near, the +Corporation ordered it to be discontinued.</p> +<p>To such of your readers who, like myself, are fond of a solitary +ramble along the sea shore by moonlight, I would say, go to +Southampton or the Isle of Wight; take an evening walk from Itchen +through the fields to Netley, thence to the Abbey and Fort ruins, +under woods that for a considerable distance skirt the coast; or on +the opposite side, through the Forest of Oaks, from Eling to +Dibden, and onwards over the meadows to Hythe: there they may, in +either, find ample food for reflection, connected with the Curfew +Bell.</p> +<p>Seated on a fragment of the towers of Netley Abbey, whose +pinnacles were so often hailed by seamen as well known landmarks, +but whose Curfew has for centuries been quiet, the spectator may +see before him the crumbling remains of a fort, erected hundreds of +years ago. On the left is an expanse of water as far as the eye can +reach, and in his front the celebrated New Forest,—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Majestic woods of ever vigorous green,</p> +<p>Stage above stage, high waving o'er the bills;</p> +<p>Or to the far horizon wide diffus'd,</p> +<p>A boundless deep immensity of shade—</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>the scene of William's tyranny and atrocity, the spot where his +children met their untimely end, and where may be seen the +<i>tumuli</i> erected over the remains of the Britons who fell in +defence of their country.</p> +<p>In the deep recesses of a wood in the south-east prospect, the +eye may faintly distinguish the mouldering remains of the Abbey of +Beaulieu, famed in days of yore for its Sanctuary, the name of +which is now only recorded in history. Even the site of the tower +is unknown, whose Curfew has long ceased to warn the seamen, or +draw the deep curse from the forester.</p> +<p>There they may</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"On a plat of rising ground,</p> +<p>Hear the far off Curfew sound,</p> +<p>Over the wide watered shore,</p> +<p>Swinging slow with sullen roar."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The Curfew is rung at Southampton, Downton, Ringwood, and many +other towns in the west, every night at eight.</p> +<p>P.Q.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF <i>NEW WORKS</i>.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>SPANISH SCENERY.</h3> +<p>The following is from the delightful pencil of Washington +Irving: it will be seen to bear all the polish of his best +style:—</p> +<p>"Many are apt to picture Spain to their imaginations as a soft +southern region, decked out with all the luxuriant charms of +voluptuous Italy. On the contrary, though there are exceptions in +some of the maritime provinces, yet, for the greater part, it is a +stern, melancholy country, with rugged mountains, and long sweeping +plains, destitute of trees, and indescribably silent and lonesome, +partaking of the savage and solitary character of Africa. What adds +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page308" name="page308"></a>[pg +308]</span> to this silence and loneliness, is the absence of +singing-birds, a natural consequence of the want of groves and +hedges. The vulture and the eagle are seen wheeling about the +mountain-cliffs, and soaring over the plains, and groups of shy +bustards stalk about the heaths; but the myriads of smaller birds, +which animate the whole face of other countries are met with in but +few provinces in Spain, and in those chiefly among the orchards and +gardens which surround the habitations of man.</p> +<p>"In the interior provinces the traveller occasionally traverses +great tracts cultivated with grain as far as the eye can reach, +waving at times with verdure, at other times naked and sunburnt, +but he looks round in vain for the hand that has tilled the soil. +At length, he perceives some village on a steep hill, or rugged +crag, with mouldering battlements and ruined watch tower; a +stronghold, in old times, against civil war, or Moorish inroad; for +the custom among the peasantry of congregating together for mutual +protection, is still kept up in most parts of Spain, in consequence +of the maraudings of roving freebooters.</p> +<p>"But though a great part of Spain is deficient in the garniture +of groves and forests, and the softer charms of ornamental +cultivation, yet its scenery has something of a high and lofty +character to compensate the want. It partakes something of the +attributes of its people; and I think that I better understand the +proud, hardy, frugal, and abstemious Spaniard, his manly defiance +of hardships, and contempt of effeminate indulgences, since I have +seen the country he inhabits.</p> +<p>"There is something, too, in the sternly simple features of the +Spanish landscape, that impresses on the soul a feeling of +sublimity. The immense plains of the Castiles and of La Mancha, +extending as far as the eye can reach, derive an interest from +their very nakedness and immensity, and have something of the +solemn grandeur of the ocean. In ranging over these boundless +wastes, the eye catches sight here and there of a straggling herd +of cattle attended by a lonely herdsman, motionless as a statue, +with his long, slender pike tapering up like a lance into the air; +or, beholds a long train of mules slowly moving along the waste +like a train of camels in the desert; or, a single herdsman, armed +with blunderbuss and stiletto, and prowling over the plain. Thus +the country, the habits, the very looks of the people, have +something of the Arabian character. The general insecurity of the +country is evinced in the universal use of weapons. The herdsman in +the field, the shepherd in the plain, has his musket and his knife. +The wealthy villager rarely ventures to the market-town without his +trabuco, and, perhaps, a servant on foot with a blunderbuss on his +shoulder; and the most petty journey is undertaken with the +preparation of a warlike enterprise.</p> +<p>"The dangers of the road produce also a mode of travelling, +resembling, on a diminutive scale, the caravans of the east. The +arrieros, or carriers, congregate in convoys, and set off in large +and well-armed trains on appointed days; while additional +travellers swell their number, and contribute to their strength. In +this primitive way is the commerce of the country carried on. The +muleteer is the general medium of traffic, and the legitimate +traverser of the land, crossing the peninsula from the Pyrenees and +the Asturias to the Alpuxarras, the Serrania de Ronda, and even to +the gates of Gibraltar. He lives frugally and hardily: his alforjas +of coarse cloth hold his scanty stock of provisions; a leathern +bottle, hanging at his saddle-bow, contains wine or water, for a +supply across barren mountains and thirsty plains. A mule-cloth +spread upon the ground, is his bed at night, and his pack-saddle is +his pillow. His low, but clean-limbed and sinewy form betokens +strength; his complexion is dark and sunburnt; his eye resolute, +but quiet in its expression, except when kindled by sudden emotion; +his demeanour is frank, manly, and courteous, and he never passes +you without a grave salutation: 'Dios guarde à usted!' 'Va +usted con Dios, Caballero!' 'God guard you! God be with you, +Cavalier!'</p> +<p>"As these men have often their whole fortune at stake upon the +burthen of their mule, they have their weapons at hand, slung to +their saddles, and ready to be snatched out for desperate defence. +But their united numbers render them secure against petty bands of +marauders, and the solitary bandolero, armed to the teeth, and +mounted on his Andalusian steed, hovers about them, like a pirate +about a merchant convoy, without daring to make an assault.</p> +<p>"The Spanish muleteer has an inexhaustible stock of songs and +ballads, with which to beguile his incessant wayfaring. The airs +are rude and simple, consisting of but few inflexions. These he +chants forth with a loud voice, and long, drawling cadence, seated +sideways on his mule, who seems to listen with <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>[pg 309]</span> +infinite gravity, and to keep time, with his paces, to the tune. +The couplets thus chanted, are often old traditional romances about +the Moors, or some legend of a saint, or some love-ditty; or what +is still more frequent, some ballad about a bold contrabandista, or +hardy bandolero, for the smuggler and the robber are poetical +heroes among the common people of Spain. Often the song of the +muleteer is composed at the instant, and relates to some local +scenes or some incident of the journey. This talent of singing and +improvising is frequent in Spain, and is said to have been +inherited from the Moors. There is something wildly pleasing in +listening to these ditties among the rude and lonely scenes that +they illustrate; accompanied, as they are, by the occasional jingle +of the mule-bell.</p> +<p>"It has a most picturesque effect also to meet a train of +muleteers in some mountain-pass. First you hear the bells of the +leading mules, breaking with their simple melody the stillness of +the airy height; or, perhaps, the voice of the muleteer admonishing +some tardy or wandering animal, or chanting, at the full stretch of +his lungs, some traditionary ballad. At length you see the mules +slowly winding along the cragged defile, sometimes descending +precipitous cliffs, so as to present themselves in full relief +against the sky, sometimes toiling up the deep arid chasms below +you. As they approach, you descry their gay decorations of worsted +tufts, tassels, and saddle-cloths, while, as they pass by, the +ever-ready trabuco slung behind the packs and saddles, gives a hint +of the insecurity of the road.</p> +<p>"The ancient kingdom of Granada, into which we are about to +penetrate, is one of the most mountainous regions of Spain. Vast +sierras, or chains of mountains, destitute of shrub or tree, and +mottled with variegated marbles and granites, elevate their +sun-burnt summits against a deep-blue sky; yet in their rugged +bosoms lie engulfed the most verdant and fertile valley, where the +desert and the garden strain for mastery, and the very rock is, as +it were, compelled to yield the fig, the orange, and the citron, +and to blossom with the myrtle and the rose.</p> +<p>"In the wild passes of these mountains the sight of walled towns +and villages, built like eagles' nests among the cliffs, and +surrounded by Moorish battlements, or of ruined watch-towers +perched on lofty peaks, carries the mind back to the chivalric days +of Christian and Moslem warfare, and to the romantic struggle for +the conquest of Granada. In traversing these lofty sierras the +traveller is often obliged to alight and lead his horse up and down +the steep and jagged ascents and descents, resembling the broken +steps of a staircase. Sometimes the road winds along dizzy +precipices, without parapet to guard him from the gulfs below, and +then will plunge down steep, and dark, and dangerous declivities. +Sometimes it straggles through rugged barrancos, or ravines, worn +by winter torrents, the obscure path of the contrabandista; while, +ever and anon, the ominous cross, the monument of robbery and +murder, erected on a mound of stones at some lonely part of the +road, admonishes the traveller that he is among the haunts of +banditti, perhaps at that very moment under the eye of some lurking +bandolero. Sometimes, in winding through the narrow valleys, he is +startled by a hoarse bellowing, and beholds above him on some green +fold of the mountain side a herd of fierce Andalusian bulls, +destined for the combat of the arena. There is something awful in +the contemplation of these terrific animals, clothed with +tremendous strength, and ranging their native pastures in untamed +wildness, strangers almost to the face of man: they know no one but +the solitary herdsman who attends upon them, and even he at times +dares not venture to approach them. The low bellowing of these +bulls, and their menacing aspect as they look down from their rocky +height, give additional wildness to the savage scenery around."</p> +<p>(From <i>The Alhambra</i>, or <i>New Sketch Book</i>, to which +we propose to return in a <i>Supplement</i> in a fortnight.)</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>ANECDOTE GALLERY.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>THE UNLUCKY PRESENT: A TALE.</h3> +<p>A Lanarkshire minister (who died within the present century) was +one of those unhappy persons, who, to use the words of a well known +Scottish adage, "can never see green cheese but their een reels." +He was <i>extremely covetous</i> and that not only of nice articles +of food, but of many other things which do not generally excite the +cupidity of the human heart. The following story is in +corroboration of this assertion:—Being on a visit one day at +the house of one of his parishioners, a poor lonely widow, living +in a moorland part of the parish, he became fascinated by the +charms of a little cast-iron pot, which happened at the time to be +lying on the hearth, full <span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" +name="page310"></a>[pg 310]</span> of potatoes for the poor woman's +dinner, and that of her children. He had never in his life seen +such a nice little pot—it was a perfect conceit of a +thing—it was a gem—no pot on earth could match it in +symmetry—it was an object altogether perfectly lovely. "Dear +sake! minister," said the widow, quite overpowered by the reverend +man's commendations of her pot; "if ye like the pot sae weel as a' +that, I beg ye'll let me send it to the manse. It's a kind o' orra +(<i>superfluous</i>) pot wi' us; for we've a bigger ane, that we +use for ordinar, and that's mair convenient every way for us. Sae +ye'll just tak a present o't. I'll send it ower the morn wi' Jamie, +when he gangs to the schule." "Oh!" said the minister, "I can by no +means permit you to be at so much trouble. Since you are so good as +to give me the pot, I'll just carry it home with me in my hand. I'm +so much taken with it, indeed, that I would really prefer carrying +it myself." After much altercation between the minister and the +widow, on this delicate point of politeness, it was agreed that he +should carry home the pot himself.</p> +<p>Off then he trudged, bearing this curious little culinary +article, alternately in his hand and under his arm, as seemed most +convenient to him. Unfortunately the day was warm, the way long, +and the minister fat; so that he became heartily tired of his +burden before he got half-way home. Under these distressing +circumstances, it struck him, that, if, instead of carrying the pot +awkwardly at one side of his person, he were to carry it on his +head, the burden would be greatly lightened; the principles of +natural philosophy, which he had learned at college, informing him, +that when a load presses directly and immediately upon any object, +it is far less onerous than when it hangs at the remote end of a +lever. Accordingly, doffing his hat, which he resolved to carry +home in his band, and having applied his handkerchief to his brow, +he clapped the pot, in inverted fashion, upon his head, where, as +the reader may suppose, it figured much like Mambrino's helmet upon +the crazed capital of Don Quixote, only a great deal more +magnificent in shape and dimensions. There was, at first, much +relief and much comfort in this new mode of carrying the pot; but +mark the result. The unfortunate minister having taken a by-path, +to escape observation, found himself, when still a good way from +home, under the necessity of leaping over a ditch, which +intercepted him, in passing from one field to another. He jumped; +but surely no jump was ever taken so completely <i>in</i>, or, at +least <i>into</i>, the dark as this. The concussion given to his +person in descending caused the helmet to become a hood; the pot +slipped down over his face, and resting with the rim upon his neck, +stuck fast there; enclosing his whole head as completely as ever +that of a new born child was enclosed by the filmy bag, with which +nature, as an indication of future good fortune, sometimes invests +the noddles of her favourite offspring. What was worst of all, the +nose, which had permitted the pot to slip down over it, withstood +every desperate attempt, on the part of its proprietor, to make it +slip back again; the contracted part, or neck, of the +<i>patera</i>, being of such a peculiar formation as to cling fast +to the base of the nose, although it had found no difficulty in +gliding along its hypothenuse. Was ever minister in a worse plight? +Was there ever <i>contretemps</i> so unlucky? Did ever any +man—did ever any minister, so effectually hoodwink himself, +or so thoroughly shut his eyes, to the plain light of nature? What +was to be done? The place was lonely; the way difficult and +dangerous; human relief was remote, almost beyond reach. It was +impossible even to cry for help; or, if a cry could be uttered, it +might reach, in deafening reverberation, the ear of the utterer, +but it would not travel twelve inches farther in any direction. To +add to the distresses of the case, the unhappy sufferer soon found +great difficulty in breathing. What with the heat occasioned by the +beating of the sun on the metal, and what with the frequent return +of the same heated air to his lungs, he was in the utmost danger of +suffocation. Every thing considered, it seemed likely that, if he +did not chance to be relieved by some accidental wayfarer, there +would soon be <i>death in the pot</i>.</p> +<p>The instinctive love of life, however, is omni-prevalent; and +even very stupid people have been found, when put to the push by +strong and imminent peril, to exhibit a degree of presence of mind, +and exert a degree of energy, far above what might have been +expected from them, or what they were ever known to exhibit, or +exert, under ordinary circumstances. So it was with the +pot-ensconced minister. Pressed by the urgency of his distresses, +he fortunately recollected that there was a smith's shop at the +distance of about a mile across the fields, where, if he could +reach it before the period of suffocation, he might possibly find +relief. Deprived of his eyesight, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page311" name="page311"></a>[pg 311]</span> he acted only as a man +of feeling, and went on as cautiously as he could, with his hat in +his hand. Half crawling, half sliding, over ridge and furrow, ditch +and hedge, somewhat like Satan floundering over chaos, the unhappy +minister travelled with all possible speed, as nearly as he could +guess, in the direction of the place of refuge. I leave it to the +reader to conceive the surprise, the mirth, the infinite amusement +of the smith, and all the hangers-on of the <i>smiddy</i>, when, at +length, torn and worn, faint and exhausted, blind and breathless, +the unfortunate man arrived at the place, and let them know (rather +by signs than by words) the circumstances of his case. In the words +of an old Scottish song,</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Out cam the gudeman, and high he shouted;</p> +<p>Out cam the gudewife, and low she louted;</p> +<p>And a' the town neighbours were gathered about it:</p> +<p class="i6">And there was he, I trow."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The merriment of the company, however, soon gave way to +considerations of humanity. Ludicrous as was the minister, with +such an object where his head should have been, and with the feet +of the pot pointing upwards, like the horns of the great Enemy, it +was, nevertheless, necessary that he should be speedily restored to +his ordinary condition, if it were for no other reason than that he +might continue to live. He was accordingly, at his own request led +into the smithy, multitudes flocking around to tender him their +kindest offices, or to witness the process of release; and, having +laid down his head upon the anvil, the smith lost no time in +seizing and poising his goodly forehammer. "Will I come sair on, +minister?" exclaimed the considerate man of iron, in at the brink +of the pot. "As sair as ye like," was the minister's answer; +"better a chap i' the chafts than die for want of breath." Thus +permitted, the man let fall a blow, which fortunately broke the pot +in pieces, without hurting the head which it enclosed, as the +cook-maid breaks the shell of the lobster, without bruising the +delicate food within. A few minutes of the clear air, and a glass +from the gudewife's bottle, restored the unfortunate man of prayer; +but, assuredly, the incident is one which will long live in the +memory of the parishioners of C——.—<i>Chambers' +Edinburgh Journal.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE NATURALIST.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>LOUDON'S MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY.</h3> +<p>Sundry and manifold are our obligations to this delightful +Journal. From the Number (26) for the present month we glean the +following:</p> +<p><i>The Gurnard and Sprat.</i></p> +<p>Mr. J. Couch, in an interesting paper on the fishes of Cornwall, +has the following notes:</p> +<p>"Ray observes that the word gurnard, which may be regarded as +the English term, is derived <i>a grunnitu</i>, from grunting like +a hog. In this, however, I venture to think this eminent naturalist +mistaken. Pengurn is the ancient Cornu-British name for these +fishes, and signifies hard head; and its English translation is now +sometimes given to the grey gurnard. From the Cornish word +<i>gurn</i> (hard), I therefore derive the name, as descriptive of +the head of these species. This is a common fish at all seasons; +but in December and January it sometimes abounds to such a degree, +that, as they are not much esteemed, I have known them sold at +thirty for a penny. It keeps near the bottom commonly, at no great +distance from land; but sometimes multitudes will mount together to +the surface; and move along with the first dorsal fin above the +water: they will even quit their native element, and spring to the +distance of a yard; thus imitating the flying gurnard, though not +to the same extent. In summer they are found basking in the sun, +perhaps asleep, as they will at times display no signs of +animation, until an attempt is made to seize them.</p> +<p>"In reference to some observations by Mr. Yarrell, in the +<i>Zoological Journal</i>, relative to the distinction between the +sprat and the young of the pilchard and herring, I can state that +Cornish fishermen term the young of both the latter fishes sprats; +but, how far this should go in determining the judgment of a +naturalist will appear, when I add that I have never seen above one +specimen of the genuine sprat in Cornwall, and that was brought me +by a fisherman, to be informed what fish it was. In taking fish out +of his net by night, he felt it to be neither a pilchard nor a +herring, and supposed it something rare."</p> +<hr /> +<h3>STRUCTURE OF BIRDS.</h3> +<p>Birds may be said to constitute an isolated class of beings. +They are distinguished by certain characters from all other +animals: their classification does not pass into any other, and +cannot, therefore, be consistently introduced into the supposed +chain or gradation of natural bodies.</p> +<p>The skeleton or bony frame of birds is in general lighter than +in quadrupeds. They have the largest bones of all animals, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page312" name="page312"></a>[pg +312]</span> in proportion to their weight; and their bones are more +hollow than those of animals that do not fly: air-vessels also +enable them to blow out the hollow parts of their bodies, when they +wish to make their descent slower, rise more swiftly, or float in +the air. The spine is immovable, but the neck has a greater number +of bones, (never less than nine, and varying from that to +twenty-four,) and consequently of joints, and more varied motion, +than in quadrupeds. The breast-bone is very large, with a prominent +keel down the middle, and is formed for the attachment of very +strong muscles: the bones of the wings are analagous to those of +the fore-legs in quadrupeds, but the termination is in three joints +or fingers only, of which the exterior is very short. This will be +better understood by the annexed:</p> +<div class="figure" style="width:40%;"><a href= +"images/547-2.png"><img width="100%" src="images/547-2.png" alt= +"" /></a> Skeleton of a Turkey.</div> +<p>The muscles that move the wings downwards, in many instances, +are a sixth part of the weight of the whole body; whereas those of +a man are not in proportion one hundredth part so large. The centre +of gravity of their bodies is always below the insertion of their +wings to prevent them falling on their backs, but near that point +on which the body is, during flight, as it were, suspended. The +positions assumed by the head and feet are frequently calculated to +accomplish these ends, and give to the wings every assistance in +continuing the progressive motion. The tail also is of great use, +in regulating the rise and fall of birds and even their lateral +movements. What are commonly called the legs are analogous to the +hind legs in quadrupeds, and they terminate, in general, in four +toes, three of which are usually directed forwards, and one +backwards; but in some birds there are only two toes, in others +three.</p> +<p>Birds exceed quadrupeds in the quantity of their respiration, +for they have not only a double circulation, and an aerial +respiration, but they respire also through other cavities beside +the lungs, the air penetrating through the whole body, and bathing +the branches of the aorta, or great artery of the body, as well as +those of the pulmonary artery.</p> +<p>Birds are usually classed according to the forms of their bills +and feet, from those parts being connected with their mode of life, +food, &c. and influencing their total habit very +materially.</p> +<hr /> +<h3>THE RHINOCEROS BIRD.</h3> +<p>This curious bird is of the order <i>Picæ</i>, or Pies, +and of the genus <i>Buceros</i>, consisting of birds of rather +large size, and distinguished by the disproportionate forms of +their beaks, which are often still further remarkable for some kind +of large prominence on the upper mandible. The most conspicuous +species is the <i>Buceros Rhinoceros</i> of Linnæus, commonly +called the Rhinoceros Bird.</p> +<div class="figure" style="width:40%;"><a href= +"images/547-3.png"><img width="100%" src="images/547-3.png" alt= +"" /></a> The Rhinoceros Bird.</div> +<p>Its general size is that of a Turkey, but with a much more +slenderly proportioned body. Its colour is black, with the tail +white, crossed by a black bar: the beak is of enormous size, of a +lengthened, slightly curved, and pointed shape, and on the upper +mandible, towards the base, is an extremely large process, equal in +thickness to the bill itself, and turning upwards and backwards in +the form of a thick, sharp-pointed horn, somewhat resembling the +horn of the rhinoceros. The use of this strange proboscis is by +some supposed to be that of enabling the bird more easily to tear +out the entrails of its prey; but others affirm that it is not of a +predaceous nature, feeding only on vegetable substances. This bird +is principally found in the East Indian Islands. A remarkably fine +specimen was preserved in the Leverian Museum.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page313" name="page313"></a>[pg +313]</span> +<h2>THE SKETCH-BOOK.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>RECOLLECTIONS OF A WANDERER.</h3> +<h4><i>A scene on the coast of Cornwall.</i></h4> +<p>A short time before my departure from the hamlet of +Landwithiel,<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href= +"#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> I was awoke early one morning by the +roaring of the wind in the huge old chimney of my room—the +whole tenement, indeed, occasionally shook as a violent gust swept +down the valley, tossing the branches of the stout old tree before +the door to and fro in a way that threatened at last to level them +with the dust. The very briny scent of the atmosphere convinced me +there was some sea running in the bay; and it was the more +unexpected as we had had no tokens of a storm for several days +previous. From the peninsular situation of this county, surrounded +on almost every side with the restless ocean and exposed to the +wide sweep of the Atlantic, it may be supposed that storms are of +frequent occurrence. As on the present occasion, they often come +with little or no warning; and the effects of a hurricane in the +distant main, far outstripping the wind, sometimes rolls with +tremendous fury towards our western shores, on which the sea is +encroaching in every part.</p> +<p>Landwithiel was a wild little place. It was essentially a +"fishing village." The people ploughed the deep, not the land; and +the constant exposure—blow high, blow low—on the +restless sea, endued its inhabitants, and the Cornish fishermen +generally, with a fearlessness of danger and boldness of character +almost unequalled in these islands. The lives and pursuits of the +two great classes in this county—the maritime and mining +population—are widely opposite to each other. The one class +pass their existence on the stormy waters of the deep, whilst the +other labour far below the surface of the earth; each being +continually exposed to numberless perils and dangers.</p> +<p>When I descended below I found my host already astir; so after +attending well to the inward man, I lost no time in starting +towards the harbour. As I formerly described, this comes abruptly +in sight round a sharp angle, at some elevation from the beach. On +the upper part of the descent the road was flanked on each side +with a row of cottages, the street being so steep that steps were +formed in many parts to aid the progress of the passenger. This +gave an air of singularity and wildness to the place, which was +aided by the boldness of the surrounding scenery. The street bore +all the marks of the occupation of the inhabitants—nets +hanging to dry—strings of fish—an old oar—or a +"fisher's wife" broiling fish for her husband's breakfast—met +the eye on either side.</p> +<p>On clearing the street, I observed a larger throng on the old +pier than was wont to gather there on ordinary occasions. There was +obviously some unusual subject of interest agitated amongst them; +so I turned from my course and joined the group.</p> +<p>A gale is an important event in a fishing town. Independent of +the interest naturally felt for the various craft belonging to the +place which may happen to be afloat, there may be wrecks or other +marine casualties to excite the interest or cupidity of the +observer.</p> +<p>There was a tremendous tumbling sea rolling into the little bay, +when I drew towards the pier. At the further end was a group of +persons in earnest conversation, whom I distinguished as the +knowing ones and long-heads of the place; while their younger +companions were engaged in parties walking briskly to and fro on +the pier. A tier of boats had been carefully drawn up high and dry +beyond the wreck left by the last spring tide. Four or five, +however, were afloat, and lurching heavily alongside the pier, +whither the tide had not long reached; the wind rattling amongst +the masts, shrouds, and half-bent sails of some craft which had +just run in for shelter from the impending storm. My recent +adventure had made me pretty well acquainted with most of the +persons around: and I learned that a <i>ground swell</i> had been +observed along shore the preceding night. This phenomenon is +generally occasioned by a storm in the Atlantic, with a westerly +wind; and it affords to the old fishermen an almost certain +indication of approaching foul weather.</p> +<p>"A stiff bit of a gale, this same, Master Charles," said an old +tar, giving an energetic jerk to his trousers, "Ay, ay, old boy," +he replied, "this wind is not blowing for nothing, you may take my +word for it; but if the Jane and the Susan hove in sight I'd not +mind a bit for all that; we've not a stick afloat but her."</p> +<p>"What! is Sam Clovelly<a id="footnotetag5" name= +"footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> out this +morning, Helston?" I anxiously inquired of the pilot, who was a +manly, excellent sort of fellow. He had grown grey with service, +and there was something in the steady eye and calm decision +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page314" name="page314"></a>[pg +314]</span> of his look that marked him out as no common +character.</p> +<p>"Yes, sir, we have no tidings of him yet, and the sky looking as +black, yonder, as the face of a negro; but we'll hope that he's run +out of harm's way before now."</p> +<p>As the morning waxed apace, the interest in the fate of the Jane +and Susan became more evident amongst the by-standers. Every stick +that came in sight cut out conversation; but many an eye was cast +anxiously to windward in vain for poor Sam Clovelly and his brother +Arthur, who had been out since the preceding night. Presently the +two little orphan sisters of the missing men came upon the pier, +and Helstone, the pilot, and some of the others anxiously +endeavoured to cheer and console them.</p> +<p>"I'll be bound they've run for —— port long ago, +darlings, so don't cry now, Jane; the old craft's stood many a +stronger breeze than this; now, wipe your eyes, there. Poor +things," he said, turning to me, as the children went farther on +the pier, "their two brothers are the only friends they have got in +the world, and if they are gone who is to take care of them? Their +father, old Sam Clovelly, was lost—I recollect the time +well—somewhere off Milford; leaving his wife, with two stiff +tidy bits of lads, and likely to increase the family; well, sir, +she took to her bed, with the shock, and never rose from it more, +after giving birth to these two little girls, leaving poor Sam and +Arthur to struggle on like a cutter in a heavy sea. But God +Almighty never deserts the innocent, sir—you've seen that, I +dare say? Sam's been a steady lad, and has prospered, and he and +Arthur have never forgotten their mother's dying words, and have +been very kind to their sisters; but, come what will, the orphans +shall never want a friend as long as Charley Helston has a home or +a bit of bread to offer them."</p> +<p>We now again reverted to the state of the day. As the gale swept +on, numberless craft were running along the coast towards +—— port, for shelter. A crack Fowey-man now making a +board till she "eat out" of the wind a North-countryman right +ahead—now with her helm-a-lea, and now careering along with a +heavy following sea on either quarter—kept our attention on +the alert. Presently a steamer came in sight bearing up across the +bay towards —— Head. The white rush of steam from her +safety-valves was well made out by the blackness of the windward +horizon; and contrasted with the dense puffs of smoke from her +funnel, which were instantly dispersed or carried in heavy patches +to leeward. The glory of modern discoveries is unpopular with our +coasting-seamen, and the mate of a coaster, who was watching her +movements, observed that "we should not have a lad fit to hand a +sail or man a yard soon with their cursed machinery."</p> +<p>As she passed on her course "cleaving blast and breaker right +ahead," with her weather-wheel often spinning in the air, and as +the sky darkened and the waves roared louder, I thought with deep +interest on what might even now be the fate of those, without whose +friendly aid I should have been lying on a rocky pillow and seaweed +for my shroud, near Dawlish's Hole. The weather now became entitled +to the formidable name of a storm, but some time had yet to elapse +before darkness added its horrors to the scene of desolation.</p> +<p>Heavy masses of breakers were continually striking the pier-head +with fearful crashes; now bursting over, amid seas of spray, with +resistless impetuosity, drenching every one under its lee; now +recoiling for a brief moment, as if to gather strength, leaving a +smooth, hollow waste of oily sea—like the treacherous pauses +of human passion,—and then returning with wilder haste and +tenfold added fury to the onset.</p> +<p>The morning was waning away. I left the pier, and bent my course +away from Landwithiel.</p> +<p>The path I pursued led along the summit of the cliffs; +oftentimes winding so close round the edge of a projecting +acclivity, that it required a clear head and a steady foot, for one +false step would have been instant destruction. The coast below me +was justly entitled to take its place amongst the finest +rock-scenery in the island; and exhibited in its grandest form, the +peculiarly wild and picturesque nature of the coast of Cornwall. +After working my way against a head-wind for three or four miles, I +took shelter in Dawlish's Watch Tower, an old half-ruined building, +which commanded an almost boundless look-out. Nearly right opposite +to this station lay the Wolf-stone, an insular, and almost +inaccessible rock, which rose in deep water about three-quarters of +a mile from land. Whilst scanning with my glass the windward +horizon, I accidentally rested on this islet, and I had not looked +long before my gaze was rivetted to it. Two individuals I fancied +were standing near a pole which was erected on the highest point. +These lone and unusual tenants of the sea-birds' home <span class= +"pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>[pg 315]</span> were +obviously, from their motions, much agitated. A heavy driving +shower, for a few minutes, wrapped it in mist. When this cleared +off, the black and dreary front of the Wolf-stone became dimly +visible through the tumultuous assemblage of gigantic breakers, +that were every instant grappling with the steep which defied them. +Another minute's observation and I was running at my utmost speed +back to Landwithiel. The captives could be no other than Sam and +Arthur Clovelly.</p> +<p>My arrival caused universal stir and interest in Landwithiel. +The Dasher, the best sea-boat in the harbour was instantly manned, +with directions to pull to Carn Cove, almost opposite the rock, +whither the rest of the men rapidly proceeded along the heights. +Helston and myself also went thither to consult in the first +instance, as to the best plan for relief; for no boat could live, +in such a day as this, within some distance of the rock.</p> +<p>The anxious group gathered on the edge of the cliff; and while a +white flag was running up a boat's mast which we had erected on the +tower, we cheered loudly and repeatedly to assure the distant +captives that aid was nigh.</p> +<p>"It is Sam—God be praised," sang out Helston, who was +steadily looking out through his glass—and every one crowded +around. "And is Arthur there too, Charles?"—"Yes, I +see.—Death! I thought that wave would sweep over all. Now +they wave their neckcloths—they beckon us to use haste. High +water is drawing fast on, and what man ever lived on the Wolfstone +in a spring flood. They wave again; sing away there, my lads, +cheerily!" and a tumultuous shout of human voices again mingled +with the blast.</p> +<p>Almost every eye was now cast out for the Dasher, and she was +seen pulling with great difficulty—for a handkerchief of +canvass would have been madness—towards the shelter of a +projecting mass of rock, in Carne Cove, in the comparatively smooth +water behind which, Helston and myself were enabled with some +difficulty to get aboard. It was a moment of some excitement. +Accustomed from childhood fearlessly to brave an element they might +truly call their own, the gallant little crew steadily seated +themselves, and taking off their hats manfully answered the +encouraging cheers from aloft. The men now shipped their oars, and +all having been made snug, I seated myself in the stern-sheets, +near Helston, who had taken the helm. There was something fine in +his weather-beaten countenance, and grey hair streaming in the +breeze, as he steadily scanned the dark masses of the distant +Wolf-stone—he was a true seaman.</p> +<p>The Dasher was a boat that would live in almost any weather on +this coast, head to wind; but when she was put about, there was no +little danger of her being pooped in a heavy following sea. Ours +was now the former case, and as the crew put her through the +contending sea, which at every stroke hit our bows and soaked us +with spray, I anxiously consulted with Helston on the best means of +shipping the captives on making the Wolf-stone. Keeping his eye +fixed on the rock, which was grimly visible on our larboard bow, he +shook his head as the portentous darkness of the sky again claimed +our attention. "If we had been delayed a quarter of an hour longer +they would have been food for fishes;" I remarked, "but it will be +close run; our men are doing all that strength and skill can do, +but it avails little when opposed to such a power as this."</p> +<p>"Never fear, sir, we shall do yet—you are not so cool as +I—how should you? when I have braved the storms of nearly +sixty winters:—but the Wolf-stone's a spot, I will frankly +confess, with which I had rather make acquaintance with a clearer +sky and a flowing sheet, than on such a night as this. Just give a +look-out a-head, sir," he added, as we were mounting a heavy sea, +"and tell me how things are aloft on the rock."</p> +<p>However formidable this dreary steep might have appeared at a +distance, now we were drawing near to it, the wildness and +sublimity of the scene surpassed my calculations. The fugitives, +who by their gestures were urging us onward, had been driven for +shelter to a hollow on the leeward side of the rock, which indeed +was almost the only spot that now afforded an asylum from danger. +The waves as they came rolling onwards with aggravated force from +the main, ever and anon burst against the isle with terrific +violence, now breaking into gigantic masses, then driven in columns +of sparkling spray to a vast height in the air, and now closing on +every side around their victims. The isle, indeed, appeared to be +menaced with total annihilation.</p> +<p>As we could now distinguish both the brothers, we instinctively +cheered them on drawing towards the landward side of the rock. They +were compelled every minute to crouch and cling to the cliff +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name="page316"></a>[pg +316]</span> under which they had taken shelter, as a huge wave +burst below their feet, and struck them in its upward violence. The +Wolf-stone could no longer raise its head in dominion over the +main. The surf ran so high immediately around it, that to approach +at all closely would only have ended in the destruction of every +soul. We, therefore, hailed them as we stood under its lee, and +found that in consequence of their having remained almost all night +on this dreary spot, drenched with wet, and chilled with cold, any +effort to swim through the surf would probably be fatal in their +exhausted state. What then remained to be done? We had ropes on +board which would be of infinite service, could we only devise +means to convey them to the rock. At this juncture, the services of +my old Newfoundlander, Retriever, came forcibly to my mind. The +poor animal had refused to be separated from me when we embarked, +and lay at my feet in the boat. On his exertions therefore depended +the lives of our friends. He soon understood the task he was to +perform, and in another second was dashing onwards through the +waves. An affecting scene now took place between the brothers, as +to who should first avail himself of the approaching aid. A +gigantic rush of tide, which almost swept entirely over the rock, +told them, however, that time was precious. But Sam was firm. The +younger brother then plunged forward and was soon drawn safely on +board. He informed us, as Retriever again swam away with the rope, +that he feared his brother was much more exhausted than himself. +With breathless interest, therefore, we watched Sam tie the rope +round his body, and enter the water. The violence of the gale, at +this instant, compelled us to stand further off the rock; indeed, +within a few minutes we foresaw that its presence would only be +indicated by a low black mass indistinctly seen, amidst the boiling +and restless waves of the ocean; an appearance, I was told, which +it only presents in the most violent storms. Poor Sam, now seen, +now lost, amid the foaming ridges of the sea, came gradually along +till within about forty paces from the boat, when it was evident +his strength had failed him. An arm was shot into the air, then his +head and shoulders rose rapidly, and there was a sudden blank in +the waters. "Pull away, my lads, for your lives," we shouted, "or +he is gone!"</p> +<hr /> +<p>"It was a hard run thing, I reckon, sirs," said Mr. Habbakuk +Sheepshanks, who was rather top-heavy that evening, to a numerous +party who were assembled round his capacious hearth at the +"Ship-aground," "but all's well, they say, that ends well, so we'll +even drink the health of the brothers in a glass of the free +genuine Cognac." "What is that you say!" said the exciseman....</p> +<p>VYVYAN.</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> +<hr /> +<h3>LONDON AND THE PROVINCES COMPARED.</h3> +<p>It is the nature of prosperous communities, and the fashion of +modern times, to centralize too much their numbers and their +powers. But the question of distribution and proportion is almost +as important in politics as that of production itself. Money and +manure are not the only things which are the better for being +spread. London and the country would both be gainers by +transplanting bodily, a hundred miles off, some dozens of its +streets—inhabitants and all. There are whole counties which +we should like to colonize with the surplus talent of the +metropolis. That surplus talent comprises scores of men, waiting on +Providence, feeding on foolish speculations, hanging on the skirts +of some frivolous circle, doing nothing there, or worse than +nothing, spoiling and wasting daily, who, planted out into a sphere +of more favourable opportunities, are capable of being a blessing +to a neighbourhood. However, it is not a case for violent measures. +We do not propose that London should be compressed into <i>London +proper</i>,—within the bills of mortality; or that its clubs +should be called out on country service. Patriots, philosophers, +and diners out, rusticating by royal proclamation, and under the +<i>surveillance</i> of the police, would not come with a temper +very suitable to our purpose. An experiment of that sort was made +under more likely circumstance, and failed;—as all +experiments must, which seek to remove the symptoms, instead of +trying to act upon the cause. It was in vain that James I. pulled +down the new houses as fast as they were built; and that Charles I. +ordered home the country gentlemen.</p> +<p>Although there seems something artificial, and almost monstrous, +in the actual size of London, the means which have led to this +result are altogether natural. Indeed, whatever forcing has been at +any time used, or prejudice fostered, <span class="pagenum"><a id= +"page317" name="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> has told the other +way. Nothing has existed which can be called a court or courtiers +for the last two hundred years; and a sort of feudal feeling still +keeps our squires faithful to their halls. Two exceptions only can +be set down to our institutions. The distinction of local courts +obliges the English Bar to reside near Westminster; and the +duration of a modern session substitutes a house for the family of +a Member of Parliament, in the place of lodgings for himself. Under +these circumstances, as "the wen" has not been produced, so is it +not likely to be dispersed by any direct legislative application. +To say the truth, the grievance, in our opinion, is not in the +<i>absolute</i>, but in the <i>relative</i> amount of the wealth, +intelligence, and virtue, squeezed together on those marvellous +square miles upon which the capital stands. We do not grudge it the +pretty country which is hid under its basement stories, any more +than the social activity and happiness which live along its crowded +streets. We serve ejectments upon nobody. The only question is, +whether some would not do well to move of themselves. Among the +hopes and objects by whose influence 1,200,000 human beings are +collected on the same spot, a certain proportion will be found, +which have not been at all,—and more still, which have not +been very judiciously or magnanimously, considered. There are many +in the higher classes of its inhabitants especially, who, we +suspect, on examining into their principles and habits, will have +some difficulty in satisfying themselves that they have not chosen +ill for their real happiness; and, for all real usefulness, a great +deal worse. But the mistaken notion which most strips the country +of its natural guardians, is the fallacy, on the part of young and +sanguine dispositions, of believing that the motives and sphere of +individual action rise in proportion to the apparent magnitude of +the scene. These are the absentees most to be regretted. In the +single line of professional practice, and in its most successful +instances, that may be the case. But in taking ninety-nine cases +out of a hundred, and in every other of the varied departments of +social duty, the sphere of useful action, however nominally +extended, will be found to be strictly and substantially +reduced.</p> +<p>There can be as little fear that London will ever want any of +the elements of an enlightened and well-constituted community, as +that it will not be large enough. It is very different with the +provinces. The capital offers so many real, and still more, so many +plausible attractions to all that is active and refined, as well as +to all that is idle and selfish in human nature, that a long list +of supernumaries and expectants is sure, in every case, always to +be at hand. It is the lottery into which the credulous are eager to +put in;—it is the theatre on whose stage ambition and vanity +are impatient to appear;—it is the land of Cockayne, in whose +crowded mazes the selfish escape from every duty, and reduce their +intercourse with their fellow-creatures to the sympathies of +visiting and of shopping. It is the seat also of liberal society, +and independent existence, among the friends and occupations of +one's choice. Lord Falkland, the love of his age, admitted, that +quitting London was the only thing which he was not sufficiently +master of himself ever to manage without a struggle. In this state +of things, it is plain that nobody can be of such consequence there +but that he is easily spared. The death of a town wit is handsomely +celebrated, if it furnishes five minutes' conversation for the +table where he dined the day before. He is replaced with the same +regularity and indifference as fresh snuff is put into a snuff-box, +or fresh flowers are set out upon the epergne. Nobody misses him. +The machine goes on without perceiving that the blue-bottle or the +gnat has fallen from its wheel.</p> +<p>The vastness and multiplicity and complexity of the organization +by which the movements of the capital proceed, as it were +mechanically, do not act merely by diminishing the general +importance of individuals to the system. Except in the case of very +happy, and universal, and flowing natures, or under the influence +of accidental counteractions, a personal risk, between extreme +vagueness and extreme narrowness of character, is incurred by the +individual himself. In respect of employment, the division of +intellectual labour is so complete, that most persons in such a +situation are tempted to do their own piece of work, and no +more;—to rest satisfied with manufacturing the pin's head +which happens to have fallen to their share. Does a London life +tend to quicken the moral pulse and expand the heart? The forms of +society are thrown into too large a scale, and its pace is too +rapid, to afford an opportunity for the sort of intercourse by +which alone a real acquaintance with, understanding of, and +affection for, each other can be obtained. No means exist of +getting there at any thing further than talents in men, and beauty +or accomplishments in women.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page318" name="page318"></a>[pg +318]</span> +<p>Qualities which can be exhibited as a show are discovered and +appreciated accordingly. But wisdom and virtue, which are to the +mind what breath is to the body, have no part assigned or +assignable to them on such a stage. A man may pass a life in London +without an occasion arising by which his neighbours can learn +whether he is an honest fellow or a rogue. The consequence is, that +a good deal of such a man's moral nature gets imperfectly +developed, and dies away. The appropriate object is not brought +sufficiently close and home to him to stimulate and call forth his +latent powers. Charity is perhaps better off than most. By a +satisfactory compromise, it falls into the hands of a mendicity +society. But there are other virtues which do not admit of being +compounded for, and their burden transferred to a committee, for +two guineas a-year. In these cases the moral tax is too often +evaded altogether. We are well aware that men of pleasure are far +from being the only persons who have turned into a maxim of life +the sentence which the Duke of Buckingham passed upon the dog which +barked after him,—"Would to God you were married and settled +in the country!" It is evident that the word <i>provincial</i> is +often felt, by characters of a higher strain and object, to imply +an imputation or admission of mediocrity. Now, greatly as nations +differ, it is generally admitted that all capitals are pretty much +alike. It follows therefore, that the characteristic spirit and +principle of a nation do not appear there to most advantage. Enow +worthy representatives of that spirit and principle are doubtless +there; but they are there too much as though they were not. It is +an atmosphere which no individual powers can penetrate, and where +it needs more than an ordinary sun to make itself felt or seen. We +are satisfied that, on a just estimate of the whole case, the +provinces, as distinguished from the metropolis, would be found in +many instances, perhaps in most, to be the home which a wise lover +of himself, and a sincere lover of his kind, would do well to fix +in;—not indeed as the scene of a brilliant or sybarite +existence, but as the post of that salutary influence which sinks +deepest; and of that usefulness and happiness which last the +longest; as most visibly incorporated with, and represented by, our +fellow-beings.—<i>Edinburgh Review.</i></p> +<hr /> +<h3>INFANCY.</h3> +<h4>(<i>From the Feuilles d'Automne of Victor Hugo, translated in +the Foreign Quarterly Review.</i>)</h4> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>In the dusky court,</p> +<p>Near the altar laid,</p> +<p>Sleeps the child in shadow,</p> +<p class="i2">Of his mother's bed:</p> +<p>Softly he reposes,</p> +<p>And his lids of roses.</p> +<p>Closed to earth, uncloses</p> +<p class="i2">On the heaven o'erhead.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Many a dream is with him,</p> +<p>Fresh from the fairy land,</p> +<p>Spangled o'er with diamonds</p> +<p class="i2">Seems the ocean sand;</p> +<p>Suns are gleaming there.</p> +<p>Troops of ladies fair</p> +<p>Souls of infants bear</p> +<p class="i2">In their charming hand.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>O, enchanting vision,</p> +<p>Lo, a rill up-springs,</p> +<p>And, from out its bosom</p> +<p class="i2">Comes a voice that sings.</p> +<p>Lovelier there appear</p> +<p>Sire and sisters dear,</p> +<p>While his mother near,</p> +<p class="i2">Plumes her new-born wings.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>But a brighter vision</p> +<p>Yet his eyes behold;</p> +<p>Roses all, and lilies,</p> +<p class="i2">Every path enfold;</p> +<p>Lakes in shadow sleeping,</p> +<p>Silver fishes leaping,</p> +<p>And the waters creeping,</p> +<p class="i2">Through the reeds of gold.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Slumber on, sweet infant.</p> +<p>Slumber peacefully;</p> +<p>Thy young soul yet knows not</p> +<p class="i2">What thy lot may be.</p> +<p>Like dead leaves that sweep</p> +<p>Down the stormy deep,</p> +<p>Thou art borne in sleep,</p> +<p class="i2">What is all to thee?</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Thou canst slumber by the way;</p> +<p>Thou hast learnt to borrow</p> +<p>Naught from study, naught from care;</p> +<p class="i2">The cold hand of sorrow,</p> +<p>On thy brow unwrinkled yet,</p> +<p>Where young truth and candour sit,</p> +<p>Ne'er with rugged nail hath writ</p> +<p class="i2">That sad word, "To-morrow."</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Innocent, thou sleepest—</p> +<p>See the heavenly band.</p> +<p>Who foreknow the trials</p> +<p class="i2">That for man are planned;</p> +<p>Seeing him unarmed,</p> +<p>Unfearing, un-alarmed,</p> +<p>With their tears have warmed</p> +<p class="i2">His unconscious hand.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Angels, hovering o'er him,</p> +<p>Kiss him where he lies.</p> +<p>Hark, he sees them weeping,</p> +<p class="i2">"Gabriel," he cries;</p> +<p>"Hush," the angel says,</p> +<p>On his lip be lays</p> +<p>One finger, one displays</p> +<p class="i2">His native skies.</p> +</div> +</div> +<hr /> +<h3>STATE OF SOCIETY IN NEW SOUTH WALES.</h3> +<p>The following exhibits but a lamentable picture of the "milk and +honey" of this favoured land:</p> +<p>"The morals of the colony of New South Wales are of an +exceedingly depraved description. It is so far from being a country +where men begin a new life and enter upon a fresh course with +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page319" name="page319"></a>[pg +319]</span> resolutions of amendment, that the testimony of all +respectable men examined on the subject unites in asserting that +the habits of the freed men, even of those who have acquired +property and have families, are of the most dissipated character. +Of the emancipists, to whom grants of land have been made and who +are often wealthy, very few, not more it is said than half a dozen, +can be selected whose lives are not of a vicious description, who +do not indulge in dishonest practices of one sort or another, and +who have not risen to wealth by fostering and practising some +species of villany. These men procure convicts to be assigned to +them, who become members of the families, and assist them in +carrying on their various frauds. In Sydney the grog shops are very +numerous, and grog shops are receiving houses. A constant trade in +stolen goods is going on between Sydney and the remotest parts of +the colony, and even between Sydney and this country. The convicts +in remote settlements have no means generally of indulging in +licentiousness, but they see constantly before them the freed +labourer who has, and they burn to enjoy similar privileges: and +should their place of occupation be too remote from a theatre of +indulgence, they get a week of holiday at Sydney, where they arrive +in numbers, and, for the time they stay, wallow in every species of +debauchery. In such a state of society the public standard of +morality must necessarily fall to a very low degree. The leaven +spreads from the corrupted part into the whole mass. Just as the +slang of London thieves is become the classical language of Sydney, +so do necessarily a familiarity with crime, hatred to law, and +contempt for virtue, make their way into the minds and hearts of +those who are untainted with actual crime. So far from a +reformation being even begun in New South Wales, it would seem that +roguery had been carried a degree beyond even the perfection it has +reached here. Property is very insecure in Sydney, and the most +extraordinary robberies take place. Mr. James Walker, in his +evidence before a committee of the House of Commons, says 'the +colony has a curious effect upon the most practised thieves in this +country; one of the most experienced thieves in London has +<i>something to learn</i> when he comes out there; probably he +would be robbed the first night he came into his hut.' This was the +answer given by an experienced settler to the question, whether he +thought any considerable degree of reformation took place among the +convicts residing at a distance from Sydney. It is nearly +impossible that it should be otherwise. The master can only punish +his servant by travelling with him some twenty or thirty miles to a +police magistrate, by which he loses his own time, the labour of +his servant, perhaps for months, if he is condemned to a road gang, +and after his return has little advantage from his services. +Unwillingness to work for a master who has been the cause of his +punishment is a difficult feeling to counteract. The convict has +the game in his own hands: he either does no work, wounds himself, +falls sick, or perhaps, and it is not uncommon, spoils either the +materials entrusted to him, or the tools which have been put into +his hands.</p> +<p>"Mr. Busby, when asked respecting the prevalence of +bush-rangers, who are escaped convicts and others who have taken to +the bush, says, in his Evidence (5th Aug. 1831,) that within the +last twelve months, or two years, bush-rangers have been so +numerous that it was scarcely possible to travel a hundred miles on +the road without being stopped: there was scarcely a newspaper, in +which there were not two or three instances of persons, of every +rank, being stopped. It was quite an unusual thing +formerly—but of late there has been a regular system of +highway robbery. The laws that have been enacted to put down this +horrible state of things, will serve for an index of the condition +of the colony. They do away with every appearance of personal +liberty. 'One act empowered magistrates to issue a warrant, +authorizing constables to enter or break into any house, within +their district or county, by day or night, at their own discretion; +and to seize any person they might suspect to be highway robbers or +burglars; or any individual in the colony, without any warrant or +authority, may take another into custody, on the mere suspicion +that he is a convict illegally at large: if it appear to the +magistrate that he had a just or probable cause for suspicion, he +is justified in doing so. The onus of proving that he is not a +convict illegally at large, is thrown upon the suspected person, +and if that is not established to the satisfaction of the +magistrate, he is liable to be retained in custody, or sent to +Sydney to be examined and dealt with.'</p> +<p>"The number of executions in New South Wales in the year 1830 +exceeded the whole number of executions in England and Wales, in +the same year; <span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name= +"page320"></a>[pg 320]</span> which, taking the proportion of the +populations of the countries, makes capital punishments upwards of +three hundred and twenty-five times as frequent as in the mother +country. This horrid fact is pretty well, of itself, an answer to +all argument drawn from the idea of Reformation. But direct +testimony is abundant. Major McArthur, the son of one of the +wealthiest and most extensive settlers in the colony, and to whom +it owes so much for its present progress in production and +commerce, states, 'It is painful to know that those whose sentences +have expired, or to whom pardons have been granted, seldom or ever +incline to reform, even when they have acquired property. +Intoxication and fraud are habitual to them; and hardly six persons +can be named throughout the colony, who, being educated men, and +having been transported for felonies, have afterwards become sober, +moral, and industrious members of the community. Crime is of +constant occurrence, and so completely organized, that cattle are +carried off from the settlers in large numbers, and slaughtered for +the traders in Sydney, who contract with the commissariat. It is +not, therefore, the vicious habits alone of the town which are to +be dreaded, but the effects that are communicated and felt +throughout the country. The agricultural labourer is encouraged to +plunder his master, by finding a ready sale for the property he +steals, and whenever his occupations call him to the towns, he sees +and yields himself to the vicious habits around him. He returns +intoxicated and unsettled to his employer's farm, and incites his +comrades to the same sensual indulgences, with equal disregard of +the risk and the consequences. To these causes the present vitiated +and disorganized state of the convicts in New South Wales is +chiefly attributable; and the extent of the evil maybe in some +degree estimated, when it is stated <i>that the expense of the +police establishment amounts to more</i> than 20,000<i>l</i>. per +annum for a population of 40,000 souls."</p> +<p><i>Foreign Quarterly Review.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE GATHERER</h2> +<p><i>Premiers.</i>—The following list of premiers, from the +accession of George III. to 1832, with the number of peers created +during their respective premierships, may be acceptable at the +present period:—Lord Chatham, 9; Lord Bute, 9; George +Grenville, 4; Lord Rockingham, 4; Duke of Grafton, none; Lord +North, 27; Lord Shelburn, none; Mr. Fox, 7; Mr. Pitt, 90; Mr. +Addington, 24; Lord Grenville, 3; Duke of Portland, 4; Mr. +Perceval, none; Lord Liverpool, 50; Mr. Canning, 7; Lord Goderich, +6; Duke of Wellington, 2; and Earl Grey, 25.—<span style= +"margin-left:3em">W.G.C.</span></p> +<p><i>Peers</i>.—Number of peers (in the present peerage) +created by each sovereign, from the reign of Henry III. (1264) to +the accession of his present majesty:—Henry III., 2; Edward +I., 7; Edward II., 6; Edward III., 1; Henry VI., 5; Henry VII, 1; +Henry VIII., 6; Edward VI., 2; Mary, 2; Elizabeth, 8; James I., 15; +Charles I., 10; Charles II., 16; James II., 1; William III., 7; +Anne, 14; George I., 15; George II., 20; George III., 145; George +IV., 46.<span style="margin-left:3em">W.G.C.</span></p> +<p><i>Theatrical Property in France</i>.—A dramatic author in +France is entitled, every night that his play is performed, to a +fixed sum per act, viz. 10 francs, for Paris; 5 francs for the +large theatres in the country; 3 francs for the second-rate +provincial theatres; and 2 francs for the third-rate. A bureau is +established by government, to receive the contributions, and any +manager neglecting to make a return, is punished by a heavy fine; +the amount of which goes to the author. The advantages arising from +this system are also enjoyed by the widow and children of the +author. It is calculated that the author of the <i>Ecole des +Viellards</i>, derives nightly, from the performance of that piece, +in Paris, and the provinces, about 500 francs. Scribe, a successful +<i>vaudeville</i> writer, is in receipt of a handsome income; and +Merle was able, from the contributions upon his pieces, to open the +Port St. Martin Theatre, upon a liberal scale, and thus to lay the +foundation of a brilliant fortune.<span style="margin-left:3em">T. +GILL.</span></p> +<p><i>A Magdalene</i>.—-A French bishop preaching, exclaimed, +"A Magdalene is present, she is looking at me, I will not mention +her name, but I will throw my book at her." He then raised his arm +as if to put his threat into execution, when all the women in the +church ducked their heads. "What," said he, "all +Magdalenes."<span style="margin-left:3em">SWAINE.</span></p> +<p><i>Unwelcome Title</i>.—Charles Incledon, the vocalist, +being asked if he had ever read Murray's <i>Sermons to Asses</i>, +replied, "he had not, he did not like the book, the title was too +personal."</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Mackintosh's Hist. England, vol. i, p. 247.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote2" name= +"footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p>Observations on the River Wye, &c. By William Gilpin, +M.A.—Fifth Edition.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote3" name= +"footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p>See Mirror, No. 205, vol. xi.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote4" name= +"footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p>See "Recollections of a Wanderer," <i>Mirror</i>, Nos. +430-475.</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote5" name= +"footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>:<a href= +"#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p>See <i>Mirror</i>, No. 475. "Dawlish's Hole."</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p><i>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.</i></p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11569 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/11569-h/images/547-1.png b/11569-h/images/547-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..14d6f38 --- /dev/null +++ b/11569-h/images/547-1.png diff --git a/11569-h/images/547-2.png b/11569-h/images/547-2.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f32ff37 --- /dev/null +++ b/11569-h/images/547-2.png diff --git a/11569-h/images/547-3.png b/11569-h/images/547-3.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..21ae0a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/11569-h/images/547-3.png |
