diff options
Diffstat (limited to '11740-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 11740-0.txt | 1624 |
1 files changed, 1624 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/11740-0.txt b/11740-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fbaa1a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/11740-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1624 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11740 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XIII. No. 364.] SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1829. [Price 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +TOMB OF GOWER, THE POET. + + +[Illustration: Tomb of Gower, the Poet.] + +Dr. Johnson has dignified Gower with the character of "THE FATHER OF +ENGLISH POETRY"; so that no apology is required for the introduction of +the above memorial in our pages. It stands in the north aisle of the +church of St. Mary Ovrie, or St. Saviour, Southwark; and is one of the +richest monuments within those hallowed walls. The tomb consists of three +Gothic arches, the roof of which springs into several angles. The arches +are richly ornamented with cinnquefoil tracery, roses, and carved work of +exquisite character. Behind these arches are two rows of trefoil niches; +and between them also rises a square column, of the Doric order, +surmounted by carved pinnacles. On the extremity of the arches is placed +richly carved foliage, of a similar character to that which ornaments +the edges of the arches; and in the centre are circles enclosing +quatrefoils. From the bases of the two middle square columns descend +roses, and other foliage; and from the lower extremities of the interior +arches descend cherubim. Within three painted niches, are the figures of +Charity, Mercy, and Pity, round whom are entwined golden scrolls bearing +the following inscriptions: + + "_Pour la Pitie Jesu regarde. + Et tiens cest Ami en saufve Garde_." + + Jesu! for thy compassion's sake look down, + And guard this soul as if it were thine own. + +On the second scroll is written: + + "_Oh, bon Jesu! faite Mercy, + Al' Ame dont le Corps gist icy_." + + Oh! good Jesu! Mercy shew + To him whose body lies below. + +On the third scroll is written: + + "_En toy qui es Fitz de Dieu le Pere, + Saufve soit qui gist sours cest Pierre_." + + May he who lies beneath this stone, + Be sav'd in thee, God's only son![1] + + [1] These translations are somewhat freely made. + +Between each of these figures are painted blank trefoil niches; and below +the whole, on a plain tablet, the following inscription: + + "Armiger scutum nihil a modo fut tibi tutum, + Reddidit immolutum, morti generali tributum, + Spiritus exutum se gaudeat esse solutum, + Est ubi vistutum, Regnum sive labe statutum." + +On the left side: + + "Hoc viri + Inter inclytos memorandi + Monumentum sepulchrali, + Restaurari propriis impensis + Parocnia hujus meolæ + Curaverunt + A.D. MDCCXCVIII." + +On the right side: + + Capellaris {GULIELMO DAY + { & + {GULIELMO WINCKWORK. + + Custodibus {GULIELMO SWAINE + { & + {DAVIDE DURIE. + + Aotante humiblimo Pastore DAVIDE GILSON. + +And below the effigy runs the following:-- + + "_Hic jacet JOHANNIS GOWER, + Armiger, Anglorum Poeta celeberrimus, + ac huic sacro Edificio Benefactor, insignis + temporibus Edw. III. et Rich. II._" + + Here lieth John Gower, esq., a celebrated + English poet, also a benefactor to + this sacred edifice, in the time of Edward + III. and Richard II. + +The base of the monument has seven trefoil niches, within as many +plain-pointed ones. + +The effigy of the poet is placed above, in a recumbent posture, beneath +the canopy just described. He is dressed in a gown, originally purple, +covering his feet, which rest on the neck of a lion. A coronet of roses +adorns his head, which is raised by three folio volumes, labelled on +their respective ends, "Vox Clamantis," "Speculum Meditantis," and +"Confessio Amantis." Round the neck hangs a collar of SSS. Over the lion, +on the side of the monument, are the arms of the deceased, hanging, by +the dexter corner, from an ancient French chappeau, bearing his crest. +The dress of this effigy has, probably, given rise to the conjectures +concerning the rank in life which Gower maintained; but that is too +precarious a ground on which to form a decided opinion on such a point. + +Gower's arms are, Argent on a cheveron, azure, three leopard's heads, Or. +Crest. On a chappeau turned up with ermine, a talbot, serjant, proper. + +A little eastward of Gower's monument is part of a pillar, descending +from the roof, with a conical base. It is said to be hollow, and has, +indeed, somewhat the appearance of a narrow chimney flue. + +A biographical outline of Gower may not be unacceptable. He is said by +Leland to have descended from a family settled at Sittenham, in +Yorkshire. He was liberally educated, and was a member of the Inner +Temple; and some have asserted that he became Chief Justice of the Common +Pleas; but the most general opinion is that the judge was another person +of the same name. It is certain that Gower was a person of considerable +weight in his time; even had he not given such ample proofs of his wealth +and munificence in rebuilding the conventual church of St. Mary Ouvrie, +If he did not actually rebuild the church, as has been asserted, it is +well known that he contributed very largely to that undertaking. Perhaps +the only fact in detail which it is now possible to ascertain with +certainty is, that he founded a chantry in the chapel of St. John, now +the vestry. + +Gower is supposed to have been born before Chaucer, who flourished in the +early part of the fourteenth century, and is believed to have contracted +an acquaintance with Gower during his residence in the Middle Temple. +Chaucer himself, after his travels on the continent, became a student of +the Inner Temple. The contiguity of these inns of court, the similarity +of their studies and pursuits, and particularly, as they both possessed +the same political bias; Chaucer attaching himself to John of Ghent, Duke +of Lancaster, by whom, as well as by the Duchess Blanche, he was greatly +esteemed; and Gower giving his influence to Thomas of Woodstock, both +uncles to King Richard II.--would naturally produce a considerable degree +of friendship and esteem between the two poets. + +Gower did not long survive his friend Chaucer. In the first year of the +reign of Henry IV. he appears to have lost his sight; but whether from +accident or from old age (for he was then greatly advanced in years) is +not known. This misfortune happened but a short period before his death, +which took place in the year 1402, about nine years after he had +completed the "Confessio Amantis," a work from whence he derived the +honour of being ranked among the English poets. + +The "Confessio" of Gower is said to have owed its origin to a request +made to the poet by King Richard II.; who, accidentally meeting Gower on +the Thames, called him into the royal barge, and enjoined him "to booke +some new thing." This, therefore, was not the first of his poetical +productions, though it is universally admitted to have been his chief, +and that on which his principal reputation depends; and into which "it +seems to have been his ambition to crowd all his erudition." It is, +however, the last of the volumes, the titles which are painted on his +monument in this church, and is supposed to be the last he ever wrote, at +least of any important extent. + +The poetical histories of Gower and Chaucer are intimately connected; yet +there is a remarkable difference of opinion and pursuit in their +respective writings. It must be confessed that to Chaucer, and not to +Gower, should be applied the flattering appellation of "the father of our +poetry;" though, as Johnson says, he was the first of our authors who can +be said to have written English. To Chaucer, however, are we indebted for +the first effort to emancipate the British muse from the ridiculous +trammels of French diction, with which, till his time, it had been the +fashion to interlard and obscure the English language. Gower, on the +contrary, from a close intimacy with the French and Latin poets, found it +easier to follow the beaten track. His first work was, therefore, written +in French measure, and is entitled "Speculum Meditantis." There are two +copies of this book now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It contains +ten books, and consists of a collection of precepts and examples, +compiled from various authors, recommending the chastity of the marriage +bed. + +Gower's next work was a Latin production, entitled, "Vox Clamantis," of +which there are many copies still extant. The unfortunate reign of the +poet's royal patron, and the rebellion of Wat Tyler, furnished Gower with +ample materials for this publication.--The "Confessio Amantis" was first +printed in the year 1403, by Caxton. + +There is a MS. in Trinity College, Cambridge, consisting of several small +poems by Gower; but they are nearly destitute of merit. The French +sonnets, however, of which there is a volume in the Marquess of +Stafford's library, are spoken of by Mr. Warton, who has given a long +account of them, with specimens, as possessing more merit. + +The "Boke of Philip Sparrow," by the witty, but obscene Skelton, who +wrote towards the close of the fifteenth century, says that "Gower's +Englishe is old;" but the learned Dean Collet, in the early part of the +succeeding century, studied not only Gower, but Chaucer, and even +Lydgate, in order to improve and correct his own style. By the close of +that century, however, the language of these writers was become entirely +obsolete. + +The "Confessio Amantis" was printed, a second time, by Barthelet, in the +year 1532; a third time in 1544; a fourth in 1554; and, lastly, in a very +correct and worthy manner, in the year 1810, under the judicious +inspection of Dr. Chalmers. + +It were ungrateful to withhold from Gower some acknowledgment of the +share he had in producing a beneficial revolution in the English +language; as it would be absurd and untrue to attribute to him any great +degree of praise, as an _inventor_ in that important work. + + * * * * * + +The church of St. Saviour was founded before the conquest, but was +principally rebuilt in the fourteenth century, since which time it has +undergone many extensive reparations at different periods. The tower, +which is surmounted by four pinnacles, was repaired in 1818 and 1819; and +the choir has been recently restored in conformity with the original +design, under the superintendence of that indefatigable architect, Mr. +George Gwilt.[2] The dramatists, Fletcher and Massinger were buried in +this church in one grave; and from the tower, Hollar drew his Views of +London, both before and after the fire. + + [2] Only the tower and the choir have yet been restored; but the + fidelity with which these portions have been executed, heightens + our anxiety for the renovation of the whole structure. The repairs + of the south transept will, we believe, be shortly commenced, but + the fate of the nave and aisles is not yet decided. These are in a + dilapidated condition. + + Mr. Gwilt has already expended much time and research into the + history of this very interesting structure. On our last week-day + visit to the church, we saw the fine arch of a Saxon door just + uncovered after a concealment of many ages, in one of the surveys + of this erudite artist, who is sedulously attached to the study of + antiquities, and is an honour to his profession. We ought not to + forget the altar-screen which has lately been restored under Mr. + Gwilt's superintendence. Indeed, the inspection of this venerable + fabric will repay a walk from the most remote corner of the + metropolis. + +Besides the tomb of Gower, there are monuments to Launcelot Andrews, +Bishop of Winchester; Richard Humble, Alderman of London, erected in +1616; and several others. Gower's monument was once very splendid, but +its present state is not very indicative of the gratitude of the parish +in which he perpetuated his munificence by erecting one of the finest +churches in the metropolis. + + * * * * * + +In 1737, so slight and infrequent was the intercourse betwixt London and +Edinburgh, that men still alive (1818) remember that upon one occasion +the mail from the former city arrived at the General Post-Office in +Scotland, with only one letter in it--_Scott's Novels_. + + * * * * * + + +A SECOND CHAPTER ON KISSING. + +BY A NOVICE IN THE ART. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + --------------Our first father + Smiled with superior love, as Jupiter + On Juno smiles, when he impregns the clouds, + That shed May flowers, and pressed her matron lip + With _kisses_ pure. + _Par. Lost_, b. 4, 1. 499--502. + + --------Kissing the world begun, + And I hope it will never be done + _Old Song_. + +Kissing has been practised in various modes, and for various purposes, +from a period of very remote antiquity. Among the ancient oriental +nations, presents from a superior were saluted by kissing, to express +gratitude and submission to the person conferring the favour. Reference +is made to this custom, Genesis, ch. xl. v. 41, "According to thy words +shall my people be ruled;" or, as the margin, supported by most eminent +critics, renders it, "At thy mouth shall my people _kiss_." The +consecration of the Jewish kings to the regal authority was sealed by a +kiss from the officiator in the ceremony: 1 Sam. ch. x. v. 1. Kissing was +also employed in the heathen worship as a religious rite. Cicero mentions +a statue of Hercules, the chin and lips of which were considerably worn +by the repeated kissing of the worshippers. When too far removed to be +approached in this manner, it was usual to place the right hand upon the +statue, and return it to the lips. That traces of these customs remain to +the present day, kissing the Testament on oath in our courts of +judicature, and kissing the hand as a respectful salute, afford +sufficient evidence. But it is with kissing as a mode of expressing +affection or endearment that we are principally concerned, and its use, +as such, is of equal (perhaps greater) antiquity with any of the +preceding usages. To the passage cited, MIRROR, No. 357, by _Professor +Childe Wilful_, on this subject, may be added the meeting of Telemachus +and Ulysses on the return of the latter from Troy, as described, Odyssey, +lib. 16, v. 186--218; and the history of the courtship of the patriarch +Jacob and the "fair damsel" Rachel, Genesis, ch. xxix. v. 11. This last +authority, though it must be acknowledged not so classical as the +foregoing, is nevertheless much more piquant, being perhaps the oldest +record of amorous kissing extant. Thou seest, therefore, courteous +reader, that this "divine custom," in addition to the claims upon thee +which it intrinsically possesseth, and which are neither few nor small, +hath moreover the universal suffrage of the highest antiquity; thou +seest that its date, so far from being confined to the Trojan or Saxon +age, can with certainty be traced to patriarchal times; yea, verily, and +I cannot find it in me to rest here, without conducting thee to an era +even more remote. Revert thine eye to the motto at the head of this +chapter. Doth it not carry thee back in spirit to the very baby hours of +creation, the "good old days of Adam and Eve?" and doth it not represent +unto thee this delightful art as known and practised in full perfection, +"when young time told his first birth-days by the sun?" I grant thee that +such an authority is not sufficiently critical to fix with precision the +"_ab initio_" of the custom; yet doth it not possess infinite claim upon +thy credence? and more especially when thou considerest that, our +respectable progenitors, the antediluvians, were visited with the deluge +of waters for little else than their license. Vide chap. vi. of the first +book of Moses called Genesis, _passim_. In a world, of which almost all +we know with certainty is its uncertainty, and that "the fashion thereof +passeth away," it is only a natural inquiry whether the custom of kissing +hath, like most others, undergone any material alteration. Perhaps from +its nature, it is as little subjected to versatility from the lapse of +ages as any; yet still, to say that it has experienced some change, would +not be hazarding a very improbable opinion. Who knows but the "clamorous +smack" wherewith the Jehu of an eight-horse wagon salutes the lips of his +rosy inamorata, (scarcely less audible than the crack of his heavy thong +on Smiler's dull sides,) may have been perfectly consistent with the acmé +of politesse some centuries bygone. We speak here somewhat confidently. +Hear what an amorous votary of the Muses in the olden time, Robert +Herrick, saith with respect to kissing:--. + + "Pout your joined lips--then _speak_ your kiss." + +If this were the present orthodox creed of kissing, it would most +woefully spoil the sport of many a gallant youth, who, with the most +polite officiousness, extinguishes (by pure accident of course) while +professing to snuff, the candles, only that he may snatch a hasty, +unobserved kiss of the smiling maiden, whose proximity hath so +irresistibly tempted him. I wish the professor who hath already obliged +us with a chapter on kissing, would lay us under greater and more +manifold obligations, by a course of lectures on the same subject; and if +I laid wagers, I would wager my judgment to a cockle-shell, that +Socrates' discourse on marriage did not produce a more beneficial effect +than would his lecture; and that few untasted lips would be found, +either among his auditors, or those whose fortune it should be to fall in +the way of those auditors; but as it is at present, (for, alas! these are +not the days of Polydore Virgil or Erasmus,) we are compelled, albeit +somewhat grumblingly, to be content with but a very limited share of such +blisses. Not that I doubt (heaven forbid that I should) the real +inclination or the ability of at least the juvenile part of my fair +countrywomen to be much more liberal than they generally are in this way; +but, "dear, confounded creatures," as Will Honeycomb says, what with the +trammels of education and domestic restraint, they are prevented from +appearing, as they "really are, the best good-natured things alive." So +much innocent hypocrisy, so much _mauvaise honte_, so many of "the +whispered _no_, so little meant," that they are practical antitheses to +themselves. "Can danger lurk within a kiss." But all fathers are not +Coleridges, nor are all mothers Woolstonecrafts. + +I plead not for libertinism, though only in so simple and innocent a form +as kissing. I do not long for the repetition (or more properly +commencement) of Polydore Virgil's days of "promiscuous" kisses. Let +these remain, as heretofore, in fiction, and in fiction alone. "A glutted +market makes provisions cheap," saith Pope. True, saith experience. + + "------The lip that all may press, + Shall never more be pressed by mine," + +saith Moore. _Sic ego_. But there is a medium to be observed between +gluttony and absolute starvation, and "_medio tutis-simus ibis_," saith +the proverb; and I do beg to tell those over cautious ladies and +gentlemen, who seem to know no medium between the cloistered nun and the +abandoned profligate, that Nature will prevail in their spite, or, as +Obadiah wisely and truly said, "When lambs meet they will play." And now, +reader, kind, courteous, gentle, or whatever thou art, I bid thee adieu, +with the hope, that if we agree at this, we may meet again on some future +occasion. IOTA. + + * * * * * + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK + + + * * * * * + + +THE GAY WIDOW. + +_A Leaf from the Reminiscences of a Collegian_. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +_Why_ she came to the university was best known to herself. I cannot +bring myself always to analyze the motives of people's actions; and if +Mrs. Welborn _really_ desired, in lieu of acting mamma to children she +did not possess, to play the part of gouvernante to a couple of wild, +uncouth lads, (her nephews,) during their residence in college, it speaks +much for her good nature, at all events. They were not, I believe, +grateful for the means she adopted to display this amiable trait in her +disposition, nor did people in general appreciate it as they surely ought +to have done. _Ill nature_--and there is often a frightful preponderance +of _that_ quality in a small town--did not hesitate to assert that the +widow Welborn's motive for pitching her tent amid scholastic shades was +_in toto_ a _selfish_ one; even that of a design, if she could but +accomplish it, of adding _another_ self to _self_. I dare not, in this +era of refinement, speak plainer, but will take for granted that I am +understood. The widow Welborn, or, as she was more commonly termed. "The +gay Widow" from certain gregarious propensities, resided with a couple of +female servants in a small house, situated in the most public street of +the town; which I know, for this reason,--the principal court of our +college was opposite to it, and its gateway was the approved lounge, from +morning till night, of the most idle and impudent amongst us. Various +were the surmises as to _who, what,_ and from _whence_ the gay widow was; +by many she was supposed to be immensely rich; and by a few, some lady of +quality _incog_. Many, however, asserted, that her jewels were glass; her +gold, tinsel, and her glittering ornaments, beads sewed upon pasteboard. +Nevertheless, in the very face of this shameful detraction, to her +delightful little soirées flocked the best families in the town, (there +were not many,) the heads of houses, (scarcely room had they in her +mansion for their bodies,) and many a, fellow, senior and junior, of many +a college in----. I had the honour of attending sometimes at these +parties, of which all that I remember at present is, that the sugar was +nipped into pieces so small, as to oblige those who liked their tea sweet +to put in two or three spoonsfull, instead of an equal _quantum_ of +lumps, to the astonishment and visible dismay of the waiters. There was +generally, too, a sad deficiency in cake; and, oh! when the negus was +handed round,----Well, perhaps her nephews drew largely upon her stock of +wine; or the widow possibly thought her young men got too much of that +commodity in _our_ parties, and therefore needed it less in her own. As +to the senior members of the university, I never could comprehend the +reasons that induced their endurance of such an aqueous beverage. +Sometimes I have attributed their visits to Mrs. Welborn's merely to a +ramification of that system of espionage which she thought proper to +employ upon her nephews, and they to extend indiscriminately towards +every undergraduate; whereas being myself a well-intentioned, modest +young man, mine own honour has seemed grievously insulted; but again, may +not _vanity_, the hope, paramount in the breast of every individual, of +being admired by "_a fortune_," have influenced these old gentlemen to +swallow lukewarm potations, (_minus_ wine, lemon, and sugar,) which were +a kind of nutmeg broth? I can certainly aver, that old Rightangle, of our +college, was, or pretended to be, desperately enamoured with the gay +widow; indeed, his doleful looks at one period, and his shyness of the +fair lady in question, were to me pretty evident proofs that he had made +her an offer, which had been _rejected_. The gossips of ---- had long set +it down as a match, but were, it seems, doomed to be disappointed of +their cake and wine. I honestly believe that the widow _hated_ +Rightangle; and conscientiously declare, to the best of my knowledge, +that her antipathy towards my very excellent tutor arose from the +circumstance of his having a large red nose, and winning her money +whenever they played at the same card-table. Strange stories were afloat +respecting the _menage_ of Mrs. Welborn; my bed-maker affirmed, upon her +(?) honour and veracity, that a lady and gentleman, who had favoured her +with a visit, had quitted her residence thrice thinner than they were +when they entered it; and that a gentleman had hastily departed from the +shelter of her hospitable roof, upon her refusing him the indulgence of a +_Welsh rabbit_ at _breakfast!_ These, and similar tales, were promulgated +by the treacherous industry of the widow's maid-servants. Mrs. Welborn +was fond of claiming an intimate acquaintance with people of rank. I +never, however, met any titled person at her house. She was a kind of +living peerage, and an animated chronicle of the actions of the great, +virtuous and vicious: but, if the truth must be spoken,--and in a private +memoir, why conceal it?--she _had_ acquaintances of a grade far inferior! +I say not that _I_ saw it, because I was never accustomed to lounge at +our college gate; but the men that were most frequently there, _insist_ +that they have many times beheld the gay widow steal forth in the dusk of +the evening, dressed as for a party, and have tracked her to the house of +a haberdasher in the vicinity! Well! she is married now, and is Mrs. +Welborn--the _gay widow_ no longer. How she accomplished this affair I +know not; it broke like a thunder-clap upon the ears of the good people +of--. Suddenly, the widow was gone--her house and furniture were +sold--_the_ happy event was announced in the papers--no cake was sent +out--so the gossips were disappointed; and as I have since learnt, that +the lady has _thrice_ undergone a separation from her husband, I imagine +that she must have been so likewise. + +M. L. B. + + * * * * * + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + + * * * * * + + +THE SORROWS OF ROSALIE, + +_A Tale_. + + +This beautiful little volume has, in less than six months, reached a +fourth edition, which is to us a proof that the readers of the present +day know how to discriminate pure gold from pinchbeck or _petit or_, and +intense, natural feeling from the tinsel and tissues of flimsy "poetry." +The booksellers, nevertheless, say that poetry is unsaleable, and they +are usually allowed to speak feelingly on the score of popularity and +success. Yet within a very short time, we have seen a splendid poem--the +"Pelican Island," by (_the_) Montgomery; the "Course of Time," a Miltonic +composition, by the Rev. Mr. Pollock; and now we have before us a poem, +of which on an average, an edition has been sold in six weeks. The +sweeping censure that poems are unsaleable belongs then to a certain +grade of poetry which ought never to have strayed out of the album in +which it was first written, except for the benefit of the stationer, +printer, and the newspapers. Nearly all the poetry of this description is +too _bizarre_, and wants the pathos and deep feeling which uniformly +characterize true poetry, and have a lasting impression on the reader: +whereas, all the "initial" celebrity, the honied sweetness, lasts but for +a few months, and then drops into oblivion. + +The story of the Sorrows of Rosalie (there's music in the name) is not of +uncommon occurrence; would to heaven it were more rare. Rosalie, won by +her omnipotent lover, Arthur, leaves her aged father; is deceived by +promises of marriage, and at length deserted by her seducer. She seeks +her betrayer in London, (where the many-headed monster, vice, may best +conceal herself,) is repulsed, and after enduring all the bitterness of +cruelty, hunger, and remorse, she returns to her father's house; but +nothing of him and his remains but his memory and his tomb. She is then +driven to dishonesty to supply the cravings of her child--is tried and +acquitted. During her imprisonment, the child dies; distress brings on +her temporary insanity; but she at length flies to a secluded part of the +country, and there seeks a solace for her miseries in making peace with +her offended Maker. + +We can only detach a few portions of the poem, just to show the intensity +with which even common scenes and occurrences are worked up. Here is a +picture of Rosalie's happy home: + + Home of my childhood! quiet, peaceful home! + Where innocence sat smiling on my brow, + Why did I leave thee, willingly to roam, + Lured by a traitor's vainly-trusted vow? + Could they, the fond and happy, see me _now_, + Who knew me when life's early summer smiled, + They would not know 'twas I, or marvel how + The laughing thing, half woman and half child, + Could e'er be changed to form so squalid, wan, and wild. + + I _was_ most happy--witness it, ye skies, + That watched the slumbers of my peaceful night! + Till each succeeding morning saw me rise + With cheerful song, and heart for ever light; + No heavy gems--no jewel, sparkling bright, + Cumbered the tresses nature's self had twined; + Nor festive torches glared before my sight; + Unknowing and unknown, with peaceful mind, + Blest in the lot I knew, none else I wished to find. + + I _had_ a father--a gray-haired old man, + Whom Fortune's sad reverses keenly tried; + And now his dwindling life's remaining span, + Locked up in me the little left of pride, + And knew no hope, no joy, no care beside. + My father!--dare I say I loved him well? + I, who could leave him to a hireling guide? + Yet all my thoughts were _his_, and bitterer fell + The pangs of leaving _him_, than all I have to tell. + + And oh! my childhood's home was lovelier far + Than all the stranger homes where I have been; + It seem'd as if each pale and twinkling star + Loved to shine out upon so fair a scene; + Never were flowers so sweet, or fields so green, + As those that wont that lonely cot to grace + If, as tradition tells, this earth has seen + Creatures of heavenly form and angel race. + They might have chosen that spot to be their dwelling place. + +The first approach of her lover is thus told: + + He came--admired the pure and peaceful scene, + And offer'd money for our humble cot. + Oh! justly burn'd my father's cheek, I ween, + "His sires by honest toil the dwelling got; + _Their_ home was not for sale." It matters not + How, after that, Lord Arthur won my love. + He smiled contemptuous on my humble lot, + Yet left no means untried my heart to move, + And call'd to witness _his_ the glorious heavens above. + + Oh! dimmed are now the eyes he used to praise, + Sad is the laughing brow where hope was beaming, + The cheek that blushed at his impassioned gaze + Wan as the waters where the moon is gleaming; + For many a tear of sorrow hath been streaming + Down the changed face, which knew no care before; + And my sad heart, awakened from its dreaming, + Recalls those days of joy, untimely o'er, + And mourns remembered bliss, which can return no more. + + It was upon a gentle summer's eve, + When Nature lay all silently at rest-- + When none but I could find a cause to grieve, + I sought in vain to soothe my troubled breast, + And wander'd forth alone, for well I guess'd + That Arthur would be lingering in the bower + Which oft with summer garlands I had drest; + Where blamelessly I spent full many an hour + Ere yet I felt or love's or sin's remorseless power. + + No joyful step to welcome me was there; + For slumber had her transient blessing sent + To him I loved--the still and balmy air, + The blue and quiet sky, repose had lent, + Deep as her own--above that form I bent, + The rich and clustering curls I gently raised, + And, trembling, kissed his brow--I turned and went-- + Softly I stole away, nor, lingering, gazed; + Fearful and wondering still, at my own deed amazed. + +Her first pangs of sorrow at quitting home: + + "Oh, Arthur! stay"--he turned, and all was o'er-- + My sorrow, my repentance--all was vain-- + I dreamt the dream of life and love once more, + To wake to sad reality of pain. + He spoke, but to my ear no sound was plain, + Until the little wicket-gate we passed-- + _That sound of home_ I never heard again, + And then "drive on--drive faster--yet more fast." + I raised my weeping head--Oh! I had looked my last. + +One of those precious moments in which remorse overtakes the victims of +crime, is thus finely drawn: + + Months passed: one evening, as of early days, + When first my bosom thrilled _his_ voice to hear, + And thought upon the gentle words of praise + Which forced my lips to smile, and chased my fear: + I sang--a sob, deep, single, struck my ear; + Wondering, I gazed on Arthur, bending low-- + His features were concealed, but many a tea, + Quick gushing forth, continued fast to flow, + Stood where they fell, then sank like dew-drops on the snow. + + Oh yes! however cold in after years, + At least it cost thee sorrow _then_ to leave me; + And for those few sincere, remorseful tears, + I do forgive (though thou couldst thus deceive me) + The years of peace of which thou didst bereave me. + Yes--as I saw those gushing life-drops come + Back to the heart which yet delayed to grieve me, + Thy love returned a moment to its home, + Far, far away from me for ever then to roam. + +He deserts her: + + Still hope was left me, and each tedious hour + Was counted as it brought his coming near; + And joyfully I watched each fading flower; + Each tree, whose shadowy boughs grew red and sear; + And hailed sad Autumn, favourite of the year. + At length my time of sorrow came--'twas over, + A beauteous boy was brought me, doubly dear, + For all the Tears that promise caused to hover + Round him--'twas past--I claimed a husband in my lover. + +On her return to her paternal cottage: + + "My father' oh, my father!" vain the cry-- + I had no father now; no need to say + "Thou art alone!." I _felt_ my misery-- + My father, yet return,--_return_! the day + When sorrow had availed is passed away: + Tears cannot raise the dead, grief cannot call + Back to the earthy corse the spirit's ray-- + Vainly eternal tears of blood might fall; + One short year since, he lived--my hopes now perished all! + +The tale then concludes: + + Years have gone by--my thoughts have risen higher-- + I sought for refuge at the Almighty's throne; + And when I sit by this low mould'ring fire, + With but my Bible, feel not quite alone. + Lingering in peace, till I can lay me down, + Quiet and cold in that last dwelling place, + By him o'er whose young head the grass is grown-- + By him who yet shall rise with angel face, + Pleading for me, the lost and sinful of my race. + And if I still heave one reluctant sigh-- + If earthly sorrows still will cross my heart-- + If still to my now dimmed and sunken eye + The bitter tear, half checked, in vain will start; + I hid the dreams of other days depart, + And turn, with clasping hands, and lips compress'd, + To pray that Heaven will soothe sad memory's smart; + Teach me to bear and calm my troubled breast; + And grant _her_ peace in Heaven who not on earth may rest. + +The author of this exquisite volume is the daughter of the late Thomas +Sheridan, and is described as a young and lovely woman, moving in a +fashionable sphere. + +In this edition are several minor pieces, and others not before +published, some of which are of equal merit with the specimens we have +here quoted. + + * * * * * + + +PILGRIMAGE TO MEKKA. + + +Of the numerous pilgrims who arrive at Mekka before the caravan, some are +professed merchants; many others bring a few articles for sale, which +they dispose of without trouble. They then pass the interval of time +before the Hadj, or pilgrimage, very pleasantly; free from cares and +apprehensions, and enjoying that supreme happiness of an Asiatic, the +_dolce far niente_. Except those of a very high rank, the pilgrims live +together in a state of freedom and equality. They keep but few servants; +many, indeed, have none, and divide among themselves the various duties +of housekeeping, such as bringing the provisions from market and cooking +them, although accustomed at home to the services of an attendant. The +freedom and oblivion of care which accompany travelling, render it a +period of enjoyment among the people of the East as among Europeans; and +the same kind of happiness results from their residence at Mekka, where +reading the Koran, smoking in the streets or coffee-houses, praying or +conversing in the mosque, are added to the indulgence of their pride in +being near the holy house, and to the anticipation of the honours +attached to the title of hadjy for the remainder of their lives; besides +the gratification of religious feelings, and the hopes of futurity, which +influence many of the pilgrims. The hadjys who come by the caravans pass +their time very differently. As soon as they have finished their tedious +journey, they must undergo the fatiguing ceremonies of visiting the Kaaba +and Omra; immediately after which, they are hurried away to Arafat and +Mekka, and, still heated from the effects of the journey, are exposed to +the keen air of the Hedjaz mountains under the slight and inadequate +covering of the ihram: then returning to Mekka, they have only a few days +left to recruit their strength, and to make their repeated visits to the +Beitullah, when the caravan sets off on its return; and thus the whole +pilgrimage is a severe trial of bodily strength, and a continual series +of fatigues and privations. This mode of visiting the holy city is, +however, in accordance with the opinions of many most learned Moslem +divines, who thought that a long residence in the Hedjaz, however +meritorious the intention, is little conducive to true belief, since the +daily sight of the holy places weakened the first impressions made by +them. Notwithstanding the general decline of Musselman zeal, there are +still found Mohammedans whose devotion induces them to visit repeatedly +the holy places.--_Burckhardt's Travels in Arabia_. + + * * * * * + + +RUSSIAN BOTANICAL GARDEN. + + +The botanical garden of St. Petersburg, like all the rest of the +institutions, is of gigantic dimensions. It contains sixty-five acres: a +parallelogram formed by three parallel lines of hot-houses and +conservatories, united at the extremities by covered corridors, +constitutes the grand feature of this establishment. The south line +contains green-house plants in the centre, and hot-house plants at each +end; the middle line has hot-house plants only, and the north line is +filled with green-house plants. The connecting corridors are two hundred +and forty-five feet. The north and south line contain respectively five +different compartments of one hundred toises each, that is to say, they +are together six thousand feet. The middle line has seven compartments, +that is, three thousand more, making in the whole length nine thousand +feet!--_Granville's Travels_. + + * * * * * + + +THE HIRLAS HORN. + + +[Illustration: THE HIRLAS HORN.] + +The engraving represents an elegant complimentary piece of plate, +presented by the Committee for managing the Eisteddvod, held at Denbigh, +September, 1828, to Dr. Jones, their Honorary Secretary, for his valuable +services on that occasion. + +Mr. Ellis, of John-street, Oxford-street, Medalist to the Royal Cambrian +institution, was requested to execute (for this purpose) after his own +design, a drinking goblet of an ancient form. Mr. E. thought of the +_Hirlas Horn_, and he has completed a beautiful and unique piece of +workmanship. It is an elegantly carved horn, about eighteen inches long, +brilliantly polished, and richly mounted, the cover highly ornamented +with chased oak leaves, and the tip adorned with an acorn; the horn +resting on luxuriant branches of an oaken tree, exquisitely finished in +chased silver. Around the cover is engraved the following +inscription:--"_Presented by the Cymmrodorion in Gwynedd, to_ RICHARD +PHILLIPS JONES, M.D. _for his unwearied exertions in promoting the Royal +Eisteddvod, held at Denbigh_, 1828." The horn (the inside of which is +lined with silver,) will contain about three half pints; and we doubt not +that it will be often passed around, filled with _Cwrw da_, in +remembrance of the interesting event which it is intended to +commemorate-- + + "And former times renew in converse sweet." + +The origin of the _Hirlas Horn_ is as follows:-- + +About 1160, Owain Cyveiliog, one of the most distinguished Princes of +Powis, flourished; he was a great warrior and an eminent poet; several +specimens of his writings are given in the _Archaiology of Wales_, +published by the late patriotic Owain Jones Myfyr. His poem called the +_Hirlas Horn_ (the long blue horn,) is a masterpiece. It used to be the +custom with the prince, when he had gained a battle, to call for the +horn, filled with metheglin, or mead, and drink the contents at one +draught, then sound it to show that there was no deception; each of his +officers following his example. Mrs. Hemans has given a beautiful song, +in Parry's second volume of _Welsh Melodies_, on the subject, concluding +thus:-- + + "Fill higher the HIRLAS' forgetting not those + Who shar'd its bright draught in the days which are fled! + Tho' cold on their mountains the valiant repose, + Their lot shall be lovely--renown to the dead! + While harps in the hall of the feast shall be strung, + While regal ERYRI[3] with snow shall be crown'd-- + So long by the bard shall their battles be sung, + And the heart of the hero shall burn at the sound: + The free winds of Cambria shall swell with their name, + And OWAIN's rich HIRLAS be fill'd to their fame!" + + [3] Snowdon. + + * * * * * + + +THE NATURALIST. + + + * * * * * + + +BIRDS OF LONDON. + + +It may be observed, that although many of the bird tribe seem to prefer +the vicinity of the residence of man for their domicile, yet they, for +the most part, avoid cities and large towns, for one, among other +reasons, because there is no food for them. There are, notwithstanding, +some remarkable exceptions to this. The _House Sparrow_ is to be seen, I +believe, in every part of London. There is a rookery in the Tower; and +another was, till lately, in Carlton Palace Gardens; but the trees having +been cut down to make room for the improvements going on there, the rooks +removed in (1827,) to some trees behind the houses in New-street, +Spring-gardens. There was also, for many years, a rookery on the trees in +the churchyard of St. Dunstan's in the East, a short distance from the +Tower; the rooks for some years past deserted that spot, owing, it is +believed, to the fire that occurred a few years ago at the old Custom +House. But in 1827, they began again to build on those trees, which are +not elm, but a species of plane. There was also, formerly, a rookery on +some large elm trees in the College Garden behind the Ecclesiastical +Court in Doctors' Commons, a curious anecdote concerning which has been +recorded. + +The _Stork_, and some other of the tribe of waders, are occasionally also +inhabitants of some of the continental towns. + +Rooks appear to be peculiarly partial to building their nests in the +vicinity of the residence of man. Of the numerous rookeries of which I +have any recollection, most of them were a short distance from dwelling +houses. In March, 1827, there was a rookery on some trees, neither very +lofty nor very elegant, in the garden of the Royal Naval Asylum, at +Greenwich; and although many very fine and lofty elms are in the park +near, which one might naturally suppose the rooks would prefer, yet, such +is the fact, there is not even one rook's nest in Greenwich Park. +Possibly the company of so large a number of boys, and the noise which +they make, determine these birds in the choice of such a place for their +procreating domicile. + +There is also a remarkable fact related by Mr. French, on the authority +of Dr. Spurgin, in the second volume of the _Zoological Journal_, which +merits attention, in regard to the rook. + +A gentleman occupied a farm in Essex, where he had not long resided +before numerous rooks built their nests on the trees surrounding his +premises; the rookery was much prized; the farmer, however, being induced +to hire a larger farm about three quarters of a mile distant, he left the +farm and the rookery; but, to his surprise and pleasure, the whole +rookery deserted their former habitation and came to the new one of their +old master, where they continue to flourish. It ought to be added, that +this gentleman was strongly attached to all animals whatsoever, and of +course used them kindly. + +The _Swallow_, _Swift_, and _Martin_, seem to have almost deserted +London, although they are occasionally, though not very plentifully, to +be seen in the suburbs. Two reasons may be assigned for this relative to +the swallow; flies are not there so plentiful as in the open country; and +most of the chimneys have conical or other contracted tops to them, +which, if they do not preclude, are certainly no temptation to their +building in such places; the top of a chimney being, as is well known, +its favourite site for its nest. The _Martin_ is also scarce in London. +But, during the summer of 1820, I observed a _Martin's_ nest against a +blind window in Goswell Street Road, on the construction of which the +_Martins_ were extremely busy in the early part of the month of August. I +have since seen many _Martins_, (August, 1826,) busily engaged in +skimming over a pool in the fields, to the south of Islington: most of +these were, I conjecture, young birds, as they were brown, not black; but +they had the _white_ on the rump, which is characteristic of the species. +A few days afterwards I observed several _Martin's_ nests in a blind +window on Islington-Green. And, Sept. 20, of the same year, I saw from +the window of my present residence, in Dalby Terrace, City Road, many +similar birds actively on the wing. + +The _Redbreast_ has been, I am told, occasionally seen in the +neighbourhood of Fleet-market and Ludgate-hill. I saw it myself before +the window of my present residence, Dalby Terrace, in November, 1825, and +in Nov. 1826, the _Wren_ was seen on the shrubs in the garden before the +house at Dalby Terrace; it was very lively and active, and uttered its +peculiar _chit, chit_. + +The _Starling_ builds on the tower at Canonbury, in Islington; and the +_Baltimore Oriole_ is, according to Wilson, found very often on the trees +in some of the American cities; but the _Mocking-bird_, that used to be +very common in the American suburban regions, is, it is said, now +becoming more rare, particularly in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia. + +The _Thrush_ was also often heard in the gardens behind York-place, +during the spring of 1826. I heard it myself in delightful song early in +March, 1826, among the trees near the canal, on the north side of the +Regent's Park. + +Some of the migratory birds approach much nearer to London than is +generally imagined. The _Cuckoo_ and _Wood-pigeon_ are heard occasionally +in Kensington-gardens. The _Nightingale_ approaches also much nearer to +London than has been commonly supposed. I heard it in melodious song at +seven o'clock in the morning, in the wood near Hornsey-wood House, May +10, 1826, which is, I believe, the nearest approach to St. Paul's it has +been for some time known to make. It is also often heard at Hackney and +Mile-end. I have also heard it regularly for some years past in a garden +near the turnpike-gate on the road leading from London to Greenwich, a +short distance from the third mile stone from London-Bridge. This +charming bird may be also heard, during the season, in Greenwich Park, +particularly in the gardens adjoining Montagu-house; but never, I +believe, on its lofty trees. The _Nightingale_ prefers copses and bushes +to trees; the _Cuckoo_, on the contrary, prefers trees, and of these the +elm, from which it most probably obtains its food. The _Nightingale_ is +also common at Lee and Lewisham, Forest-hill, Sydenham, and Penge-wood; +in all these places, except Hackney and Mile-end, I have myself often +heard it, and in the day-time. Those who are partial to the singing of +birds generally, will find the morning, from four to nine o'clock, the +most favourable time for hearing them----_Jennings's Ornithologia_. + + * * * * * + + +MOCK SUNS. + + +In the centre of the heavens above us, the sun began to break through the +mist, forming a clear space, which, as it grew wider by the gradual +retreat of the mist and clouds, was enclosed or surrounded by a complete +circle of hazy light, much brighter than the general aspect of the +atmosphere, but not so brilliant as the sun itself. This circle was about +half as broad as the apparent size of the sun, through which it seemed to +pass, while on each side of the sun, at about the distance of a sixth of +the circumference of the ring, which likewise traversed them, were +situated two mock suns, resembling the real sun in everything but +brightness, and on the opposite side of the circle two other mock suns +were placed, distant from each other about a third of the circuit of the +band of light, forming altogether five suns, one real and four fictitious +luminaries, through which a broad hoop of subdued light ran round an area +of slightly hazy blue sky. The centre of this area was occupied by a +small segment of a rainbow, the concave side of which was turned from the +true sun, while on its convex edge, in contact with it at its most +prominent part, was stretched a broad straight band of prismatic colours, +similar to the rainbow in all but curvature. Across the space, within the +circle of light, there was a broad stream of dusky cloud, formed of +three distinct streaks, and reaching from one of the most distant mock +suns to another opposite to it, in the shape of a low arch; but in a +little while one extremity of this bar moved away from its original +position, while the other end remained stationary, leading me to suppose +that it was merely an accidental piece of cloud. + +As noon approached, or rather as the clouds dispersed, the blue hazy sky +extended beyond the ring of light, and while the day advanced, and the +heavens grew more clear, the whole meteor gradually disappeared, the +circle vanishing first, and then the imitative suns. My companions +assured me they had never before witnessed a similar exhibition during +voyages in these seas; but more learned Thebans describe them as +phenomena frequently witnessed in high latitudes, and have assigned them +the designation of parhelia. There was, during this solar panorama, a +large and complete semicircle of haze, lighter in colour than the +surrounding fog, resting on the horizon perpendicularly, like a rainbow, +but this appearance my associates informed me was familiar to their +sight.--_Tales of a Voyager in the Arctic Ocean_. + + * * * * * + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY. + + + * * * * * + + +BROILING STEAKS. + +_A Munchausen Story_. + + +"Talking of broiling steaks--when I was in Egypt we used to broil our +beef-steaks on the locks--no occasion for fire--thermometer at 200--hot +as h-ll! I have seen four thousand men at a time cooking for the whole +army as much as twenty or thirty thousand pounds of steaks at a time, all +hissing and frying at a time--just about noon, of course, you know--not a +spark of fire! Some of the soldiers who had been brought up as +glass-blowers at Leith swore they never saw such heat. I used to go to +leeward of them for a whiff, and think of old England! Ay! that's the +country, after all, where a man may think and say what he pleases! But +that sort of work did not last long, as you may suppose; their eyes were +all fried out, ---- me, in three or four weeks! I had been ill in my bed, +for I was attached to the 72nd regiment, seventeen hundred strong. I had +a party of seamen with me; but the ophthalmia made such ravages, that the +whole regiment, colonel and all, went stone-blind--all, except one +corporal! You may stare, gentlemen, but it's very true. Well, this +corporal had a precious time of it: he was obliged to lead out the whole +regiment to water--he led the way, and two or three took hold of the +skirts of his jacket on each side; the skirts of these were seized again +by as many more; and double the number to the last, and so all held on by +one another, till they had all had a drink at the well; and, as the devil +would have it, there was but one well among us all--so this corporal used +to water the regiment just as a groom waters his horses; and all +spreading out, you know, just like the tail of a peacock."--"Of which the +corporal was the rump," interrupted the doctor. The captain looked grave. +"You found it warm in that country?" inquired the surgeon. "Warm!" +exclaimed the captain; "I'll tell you what, doctor, when you go where you +have sent many a patient, and where, for that very reason, you certainly +will go, I only hope, for your sake, and for that of your profession in +general, that you will not find it quite so hot as we found it in Egypt. +What do you think of nineteen of my men being killed by the concentrated +rays of light falling on the barrels of the sentinels' bright muskets, +and setting fire to the powder? I commanded a mortar battery at Acre, and +I did the French infernal mischief with the shells. I used to pitch in +among them when they had sat down to dinner; but how do you think the +scoundrels weathered on me at last? ---- me, they trained a parcel of +poodle dogs to watch the shells when they fell, and then to run and pull +the fusees out with their teeth. Did you ever hear of such villains? By +this means they saved hundreds of men, and only lost half-a-dozen +dogs--fact, by----; only ask Sir Sydney Smith, he'll tell you the same, +and a ---- sight more." * * * * He continued his lies, and dragged in as +usual the name of Sir Sydney Smith to support his assertions. "If you +doubt me, only ask Sir Sydney Smith; he'll talk to you about Acre for +thirty-six hours on a stretch, without taking breath; his cockswain at +last got so tired of it, that he nick-named him '_Long Acre_.'" * * * +"Capital salmon this," said the captain; "where does Billet get it from? +By the by, talking of that, did you ever hear of the pickled salmon in +Scotland?" We all replied in the affirmative. "Oh, you don't take. Hang +it, I don't mean dead pickled salmon; I mean live pickled salmon, +swimming about in tanks, as merry as grigs, and as hungry as rats." We +all expressed our astonishment at this, and declared we never heard of it +before. "I thought not," said he, "for it has only lately been introduced +into this country by a particular friend of mine, Dr. Mac--. I cannot +just now remember his----, jaw-breaking, Scotch name; he was a great +chemist and geologist, and all that sort of thing--a clever fellow, I can +tell you, though you may laugh. Well, this fellow, sir, took Nature by +the heels, and capsized her, as we say. I have a strong idea that he had +sold himself to the d--l. Well, what does he do, but he catches salmon +and puts them into tanks, and every day added more and more salt, till +the water was as thick as gruel, and the fish could hardly wag their +tails in it. Then he threw in whole pepper-corns, half-a-dozen pounds at +a time, till there was enough. Then he began to dilute with vinegar until +his pickle was complete. The fish did not half like it at first; but +habit is every thing; and when he showed me his tank, they were swimming +about as merry as a shoal of dace: he fed them with fennel, chopped +small, and black pepper-corns. 'Come, doctor,' says I, 'I trust no man +upon tick; if I don't taste I won't believe my own eyes, though I _can_ +believe my _tongue_.' (We looked at each other.) 'That you shall do in a +minute,' says he; so he whipped one of them out with a landing-net; and +when I stuck my knife into him, the pickle ran out of his body like wine +out of a claret-bottle, and I ate at least two pounds of the rascal, +while he flapped his tail in my face. I never tasted such salmon as that. +Worth your while to go to Scotland, if it's only for the sake of eating +live pickled salmon. I'll give you a letter, any of you, to my friend. +He'll be d--d glad to see you; and then you may convince yourselves. Take +my word for it, if once you eat salmon that way, you will never eat it +any other."--_The Naval Officer_. + + * * * * * + + +NAPOLEON AT FONTAINBLEAU, + +_As related by De Bausset_. + + +On the evening of April 8, 1814, De Bausset left Blois, commissioned by +Josephine to deliver at Paris, a letter to the Emperor of Austria, and +afterwards another at Fontainbleau to her husband. Having executed the +first part of this commission, he set out at two in the morning of the +11th of April for Fontainbleau, and arrived at the palace about nine +o'clock. He was introduced to Napoleon immediately, and gave him the +letter from the empress. "Good Louise!" exclaimed Napoleon, after having +read it, and then asked numerous questions as to her health and that of +his son. De Bausset expressed his wish to carry back an answer to the +empress, and Napoleon promised to give him a letter in the afternoon. He +was calm and decided; but his tones were milder, and his manners mere +gentle than was his wont. He began talking about Elba, and showed to De +B. the maps and books of geography which he had been consulting on the +subject of his future little empire. "The air is good," said he, "and the +inhabitants well-disposed: I shall not be very ill off there, and I hope +Marie-Louise will put up with it as well as I shall." He knew that for +the present they were not to meet, but his hope was that when she was +once in the possession of the duchy of Parma, she and his son would be +allowed to reside with him in the island. But he never saw either again. +The prince of Neufchâtel, Berthier, entered the room to demand permission +to go to Paris on his private affairs; he would return the next day. +After he had left the room, Napoleon said with a melancholy +tone:--"Never! he will never return hither!" "What, sire!" replied Maret, +who was present, "can that be the farewell of your Berthier?" "Yes! I +tell you; he will not return." He did not. At two o'clock in the +afternoon Napoleon sent again for De Bausset. He was walking on the +terrace under the gallery of Francis I. He questioned De B. as to all he +had seen or heard during the late events; he found great fault with the +measure adopted by the council in leaving Paris; the letter to his +brother, upon which they acted, had been written under very different +circumstances; the presence of Louise at Paris would have prevented the +treason and defection of many of his soldiers, and he should still have +been at the head of a formidable army, with which he could have forced +his enemies to quit France and sign an honourable peace. De B. expressed +his regret that peace had not been made at Châtillon. "I never could put +any confidence," said Napoleon, "in the good faith of our enemies. Every +day they made fresh demands, imposed fresh conditions; they did not wish +to have peace--and then--I had declared publicly to all France that I +would not submit to humiliating terms, although the enemy were on the +heights of Montmartre." De B. remarked that France within the Rhine would +be one of the finest kingdoms in the world; on which Napoleon, after a +pause, said--"I abdicate; but I yield nothing." He ran rapidly over the +characters of his principal officers, but dwelt on that of Macdonald. +"Macdonald," said he, "is a brave and faithful soldier; it is only during +these late events that I have fully appreciated his Worth; his connexion +with Moreau prejudiced me against him: but I did him injustice, and I +regret much that I did not know him better." Napoleon paused; then after +a minute's silence--"See," said he, "what our life is! In the action at +Arcis-sur-Aube I fought with desperation, and asked nothing but to die +for my country. My clothes were torn to pieces by musket balls--but alas! +not one could touch my person! A death which I should owe to an act of +despair would be cowardly; suicide does not suit my principles nor the +rank I have holden in the world. I am a man condemned to live." He sighed +almost to sobbing;--then, after several minutes' silence, he said with a +bitter smile--"After all they say, a living camp-boy is worth more than a +dead emperor,"--and immediately retired into the palace. It was the last +time De Bausset ever saw his master. + + * * * * * + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + + * * * * * + + +APRIL FOOLS. + + + This day, beyond all contradiction, + This day is all thine own, Queen Fiction! + And thou art building castles boundless + Of groundless joys, and griefs as groundless; + Assuring beauties that the border + Of their new dress is out of order; + And schoolboys that their shoes want tying; + And babies that their dolls are dying. + Lend me, lend me, some disguise; + I will tell prodigious lies: + All who care for what I say + Shall be April fools to-day. + + First I relate how all the nation + Is ruined by Emancipation: + How honest men are sadly thwarted; + How beads and faggots are imported; + How every parish church looks thinner; + How Peel has asked the Pope to dinner; + And how the Duke, who fought the duel, + Keeps good King George on water-gruel. + Thus I waken doubts and fears + In the Commons and the Peers; + If they care for what I say, + They are April fools to-day. + + Next I announce to hall and hovel + Lord Asterisk's unwritten novel. + It's full of wit, and full of fashion, + And full of taste, and full of passion; + It tells some very curious histories, + Elucidates some charming mysteries, + And mingles sketches of society + With precepts of the soundest piety. + Thus I babble to the host + Who adore the "Morning Post;" + If they care for what I say. + They are April fools to-day. + + Then to the artist of my raiment + I hint his bankers have stopped payment; + And just suggest to Lady Locket + That somebody has picked her pocket-- + And scare Sir Thomas from the city, + By murmuring, in a tone of pity, + That I am sure I saw my Lady + Drive through the Park with Captain Grady. + Off my troubled victims go, + Very pale and very low; + If they care for what I say, + They are April fools to-day. + + I've sent the learned Doctor Trepan + To feel Sir Hubert's broken kneepan; + 'Twill rout doctor's seven senses + To find Sir Hubert charging fences! + I've sent a sallow parchment scraper + To put Miss Trim's last will on paper; + He'll see her, silent as a mummy, + At whist with her two maids and dummy. + Man of brief, and man of pill, + They will take it very ill; + If they care for what I say, + They are April fools to-day. + + And then to her, whose smiles shed light on + My weary lot last year at Brighton, + I talk of happiness and marriage, + St. George's and a travelling carriage. + I trifle with my rosy fetters, + I rave about her 'witching letters, + And swear my heart shall do no treason + Before the closing of the season. + Thus I whisper in the ear + Of Louisa Windermere-- + If she cares for what I say, + She's an April fool to-day. + + And to the world I publish gaily + That all things are improving daily; + That suns grow warmer, streamlets clearer, + And faith more firm, and love sincerer-- + That children grow extremely clever-- + That sin is seldom known, or never-- + That gas, and steam, and education, + Are, killing sorrow and starvation! + Pleasant visions--but, alas + How those pleasant visions pass! + If you care for what I say, + You're an April fool to-day. + + Last, to myself, when night comes round me, + And the soft chain of thought has bound me, + I whisper, "Sir, your eyes are killing-- + You owe no mortal man a shilling-- + You never cringe for star or garter, + You're much too wise to be a martyr-- + And since you must, be food for vermin, + You don't feel much desire for ermine!" + Wisdom is a mine, no doubt, + If one can but find it out-- + But whate'er I think or say, + I'm an April fool to-day, + _London Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + +"WATER BEWITCHED." + + +A widow of the name of Betty Falla kept an alehouse in one of the +market-towns frequented by the Lammermuir ladies, (Dunse, we believe,) +and a number of them used to lodge at her house during the fair. One year +Betty's ale turned sour soon after the fair; there had been a +thunder-storm in the interim, and Betty's ale was, as they say in that +country, "strongest in the water." Betty did not understand the first of +these causes, and she did not wish to understand the latter. The ale was +not palatable; and Betty brewed again to the same strength of water. +Again it thundered, and again the swipes became vinegar. Betty was at her +wit's end,--no long journey; but she was breathless. + +Having got to her own wit's end, Betty naturally wished to draw upon the +stock of another; and where should she find it in such abundance as with +the minister of the parish. Accordingly, Betty put on her best, got her +nicest basket, laid a couple of bottles of her choicest brandy in the +bottom, and over them a dozen or two of her freshest eggs; and thus +freighted, she fidgetted off to the manse, offered her peace-offering, +and hinted that she wished to speak with his reverence in "preevat." + +"What is your will, Betty?" said the minister of Dunse. "An unco uncanny +mishap," replied the tapster's wife. + +"Has Mattie not been behaving?" said the minister. "Like an innocent +lamb," quoth Betty Falla. + +"Then--?" said the minister, lacking the rest of the query. "Anent the +yill," said Betty. + +"The ale!" said the minister; "has any body been drinking and refused to +pay?" + +"Na," said Betty, "they winna drink a drap." + +"And would you have me to encourage the sin of drunkenness?" asked the +minister. + +"Na, na," said Betty, "far frae that; I only want your kin' han' to get +in yill again as they can drink." + +"I am no brewer, Betty," said the minister gravely. + +"Gude forfend, Sir," said Betty, "that the like o' you should be evened +to the gyle tub. I dinna wish for ony thing o' the kind."--"Then what is +the matter?" asked the minister. + +"It's witched, clean witched; as sure as I'm a born woman," said Betty. + +"Naebody else will drink it, an' I canna drink it mysel'." + +"You must not be superstitious, Betty," said the minister. "I'm no ony +thing o' the kin'," said Betty, colouring, "an' ye ken it yoursel'; but +twa brousts wadna be vinegar for naething." (She lowered her voice.) "Ye +mun ken, Sir, that o' a' the leddies frae the Lammermuir, that hae been +comin' and gaen, there was an auld rudas wife this fair, an' I'm certie +she's witched the yill; and ye mun just look into ye'r buiks, an' tak off +the withchin!" + +"When do you brew, Betty?"--"This blessed day, gin it like you, Sir." + +"Then, Betty, here is the thing you want, the same malt and water as +usual?" + +--"Nae difference, Sir?" + +"Then when you have put the water to the malt, go three times round the +vat with the sun, and in _pli's_ name put in three shoolfu's of malt; and +when you have done that, go three times round the vat, against the sun, +and, in the devil's name, take out three bucketfuls of water; and take my +word for it, the ale will be better." + +"Thanks to your reverence; gude mornin."--_Ibid_. + + * * * * * + + +THE GATHERER. + + + "A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." + SHAKSPEARE. + + + * * * * * + + +SONG. + +_By Mr. Gay._ + + + The sun was sunk beneath the hills, + The western clouds were lin'd with gold, + The sky was clear, the winds were still, + The flocks were pent within their fold: + When from the silence of the grove, + Poor Damon thus despair'd of love. + + Who seeks to pluck the fragrant rose + From the bare rock, or oozy beach, + Who from each barren weed that grows, + Expects the grape, or blushing peach. + With equal faith may hope to find + The truth of love in woman-kind. + + I have no herds, no fleecy care, + No fields that wave with golden grain, + No meadows green, or gardens fair, + A damsel's venal heart to gain. + Then all in vain my sighs must prove, + For I, alas! have naught but love. + + How wretched is the faithful youth, + Since women's hearts are bought and + sold, + They ask no vows of sacred truth, + Whene'er they sigh, they sigh for gold. + Gold can the frowns of scorn remove, + But I, alas! have naught but love. + + To buy the gems of India's coast, + What gold, what treasure will suffice, + Not all their fire can ever boast + The living lustre of her eyes. + For thee the world too cheap must prove, + But I, alas! have naught but love. + + O Sylvia! since no gems, nor ore + Can with thy brighter charms compare, + Consider that I proffer more + More seldom found, a heart sincere. + Let treasure meaner beauty's move, + Who pays thy worth, must pay in love. + + * * * * * + + +MR. HOOD'S NEW SONGS. + + +The following "announcement" is so characteristic and amusing, that we +copy it _verbatim et literatim_:--The author of "Whims and Oddities" has +the honour of informing the public, that, encouraged by the popularity of +the Ballads in the first and second series of that work, he intends to +communicate a succession of similar vocal crotchets, to run alone without +the help of an octavo. Sally Brown, Faithless Nelly Gray, and Mary's +Ghost, have been patronised by many public and private singers; but +unfortunately they were adapted to as many airs--sometimes even to jigs; +and the natural result was an occasional falling-out between the words +and the melodies. Judging that it would be better for those verses to be +regularly married to music, than that they should form temporary +connexions with any rambling tunes about town, Mr. J. Blewitt has at last +kindly provided them with airs that are airs of _character_, and made +their alliance with music of the correct and permanent kind. The same +gentleman has undertaken the same good office for the forthcoming Comic +Ballads; and his well-known skill and talent will insure that all unhappy +differences between Sound and Sense will be amicably composed. In fact, +the words and the airs will be intended for each other from the +cradle--like Paul and Virginia. It is intended that the new Ballads shall +start in couples. Two to make a Number, and a number of Numbers may be +_bound_ to the library, as a volume, for a term of years. The work will +be set with variations. Occasionally there will be a duet or trio, to +accommodate those timid vocalists who do not choose to make themselves +particular in a solo, or those other singers of sociable habits who +prefer giving tongue in a pack. One word about the words. They will be +"merry and wise." Not a jest will be admitted that might be liable to +misconstruction by the Council of _Nice_. The Comic Muse has been too apt +to mistake liberty for _license_, and has been proportionably +_licen_tious; the Comic Ballads will be as particular as Seneca or Aesop +in their regard for good morals. Nothing, in short, will be inserted but +what is _cut out_ for the female ear. To conclude--the said Melodies will +be issued by Messrs. Clementi and Co., of Cheapside. Be sure to ask for +"Comic Melodies," as all others are counterfeits, and not benefits, to +the proprietors. The first Number is expected to commence, like Blue +Bonnets, with "March;" and the work will be continued regularly through +every other month in the calendar. + + * * * * * + +The other day, a man of ninety-nine was buried at Père-la-chaise, at +Paris, and was followed to his grave by twenty children, fifteen +grand-children and great grand-children. Happily, such populators are not +common! The deceased, it appears, had buried six wives, and married the +seventh: he died in the full enjoyment of his senses, and assured his +numerous progeny that he did not regret life, as he knew he was about to +rejoin the six beloved partners of his days, who had gone before him. Few +men, we fear, would be consoled by such an idea in their last moments, or +at any moment of their existence!--_Literary Gaz_. + + * * * * * + + +ABERNETHYANA. + + +The following is the last and best that we have heard of the above-named +gentleman. We should premise, that, the details of it are a little +altered, with the view of adapting it to "ears polite;" for without some +process of this kind, it would not have been presentable. A lady went to +the doctor in great distress of mind, and stated to him, that, by a +strange accident, she had swallowed a live spider. At first, his only +reply was, "whew! whew! whew!" a sort of internal whistling sound, +intended to be indicative of supreme contempt. But his anxious patient +was not so easily to be repulsed. She became every moment more and more +urgent for some means of relief from the dreaded effect of the strange +accident she had consulted him about; when, at last, looking round upon +the wall, he put up his hand and caught a fly. "There, ma'am," said he, +"I've got a remedy for you. Open your mouth; and as soon as I've put this +fly into it, shut it close again; and the moment the spider hears the fly +buzzing about, up he'll come; and then you can spit them both out +together." + + * * * * * + + +LISTON PLAYING MOLL FLAGGON. + +_An Acrostic._ + + + Lovesick people e'en will smile, + In spite of cares, and for the while + Sadness will not _lag on:_ + Tic dolereux will lose its power + On facial nerves for half an hour, + Now Listen plays Moll Flaggon. + +J. S. C. + + * * * * * + + +INTENSE COLD. + + +At Astracan, Feb. 19, the cold was 28 deg. below the zero of Reaumur. + + * * * * * + + +ROYAL POET. + + +A volume of poems by the King of Bavaria has just been published at +Munich, the profits of which are to be given to an institution devoted to +the blind. + + * * * * * + + +The late Mr. Henry Hase succeeded Abraham Newland, as cashier at the Bank +of England. Newland is buried in St. Saviour's Church, Southwark. The +lyrical celebrity of Abraham Newland will not be forgotten in our times. + + * * * * * + + +ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS. + + +A fine white lion and the largest bear died here last week. This bear was +the largest of the three in the pit, and was considered to have been the +finest in England. He usually seized the largest share of cakes and +fruit, and snorted and snarled whenever his companions secured any. He +had latterly grown so fat that he could with difficulty ascend the pole; +and after eating his usual breakfast, he expired suddenly. Like many +other animals we could name, his _greatness_ was his mortal foe--and as +Hume grew too pursy to write, so our four-footed friend became too gross +to climb. Toby, with all his ill-treatment and attachment to strong ale, +is still alive and well. + + * * * * * + + +LIFE. + + + Man is a glass, life is the water, + That's weakly walled about: + Sin brings in death, death breaks the glass, + So runs the water out. +GEO. F. + + * * * * * + + +LINES WRITTEN ON A LADY'S WEEPING AT HER MARRIAGE. + + When on her love, with heart sincere, + The maid bestowed her hand, she dropt a tear. + Delightful omen of her life's employ, + For they who sow in tears shall reap in joy. + +J. R. R. + + + * * * * * + +OLD PRICES. + + +Echard, in his "History of England," gives us the rates or prices of the +following provisions in the year 1299, being the 27th of Edward I.:--A +fat cock, 1-1/2_d_.; a goose, 4_d_.; a fat capon, 2-1/2_d_.; 2 pullets, +1-1/2_d_.; a mallard, 1-1/2_d_.; a pheasant, 4_d_.; a heron, 6_d_.; a +plover, 1_d_.; a swan, 3_s_.; a crane. 1_s_.; 2 wood-cocks, 1-1/2_d_.; a +fat lamb, (from Christmas to Shrovetide,) 1_s_. 4_d_., and all the year +after 4_d_. only. Lastly, wheat was sold for 20_d_. the quarter, and in +some places for 6_d_., or 4_s_. of our money. + + * * * * * + + +LIMBIRD's EDITION OF THE Following Novels are already Published: + + _s_. _d_. +Mackenzie's Man of Feeling 0 6 +Paul and Virginia 0 6 +The Castle of Otranto 0 6 +Almoran and Hamet 0 6 +Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia 0 6 +The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 0 6 +Rasselas 0 8 +The Old English Baron 0 8 +Nature and Art 0 8 +Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 0 10 +Sicilian Romance 1 0 +The Man of the World 1 0 +A Simple Story 1 4 +Joseph Andrews 1 6 +Humphry Clinker 1 8 +The Romance of the Forest 1 8 +The Italian 2 0 +Zeluco, by Dr. Moore 2 6 +Edward, by Dr. Moore 2 0 +Roderick Random 2 6 +The Mysteries of Udolpho 3 6 + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand (near Somerset House,) +London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic, 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 11740 *** |