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diff --git a/11862-0.txt b/11862-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0bb4a2 --- /dev/null +++ b/11862-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1530 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11862 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11862-h.htm or 11862-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/8/6/11862/11862-h/11862-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/8/6/11862/11862-h.zip) + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +Vol. 20, No. 563.] SATURDAY, AUGUST 25, 1832. [PRICE 2d + + + + * * * * * + + + + +ANTIQUITIES OF THE PEAK. + +CROSSES + +[Illustration: (At Eyam.)] + +[Illustration: (At Wheston.)] + +[Illustration: (Beauchief Abbey.)] + +Mr. Rhodes, the elegant topographer of _the Peak_, observes, "there +are but few individuals in this country, possessing the means and the +opportunities of travel, who have not, either from curiosity or some +other motive, visited the Peak of Derbyshire." This remark is correct; +and to it we may add, that the "few" who have not personally visited +the Peak, have become familiar with its wonders through the pencils +of artists, or the graphic pens of accomplished tourists. Yet their +attractions are not of that general character which delights an +untravelled eye: they belong rather to the wonderful than what is, +in common parlance, the beautiful. Mr. Rhodes says, "Travellers +accustomed to well-wooded and highly-cultivated scenes only, have +frequently expressed a feeling bordering on disgust, at the bleak and +barren appearance of the mountains in the Peak of Derbyshire; but to +the man whose taste is unsophisticated by a fondness for artificial +adornments, they possess superior interest, and impart more pleasing +sensations. Remotely seen, they are often beautiful; many of their +forms, even when near, are decidedly good; and in distance, the +features of rudeness, by which they are occasionally marked, are +softened down into general and sometimes harmonious masses. The +graceful and long-continued outline which they present, the breadth of +light and shadow that spreads over their extended surfaces, and the +delightful colouring with which they are often invested, never fail to +attract the attention of the picturesque traveller." + +Our present road, however, lies through the dales rather than the +mountainous portion of this district. To enjoy the picturesque variety +of the former we must leave the cloud-capped peaks, and ramble with +the reader through "cultivated meadows, luxuriant foliage, steep +heathy hills, and craggy rocks, while the eye is enchanted with +brilliant streams." Such indeed is the character of the dales, +especially those through which the Derwent, the Dove, and the Wye +meander. Hitherto we have but adverted to the natural beauties of the +country; although they are checkered with many mouldering relics +of "hoar antiquity"--many crumbling memorials of ages long past, +reminding us of the nothingness of man's labours, yet harmonizing most +happily with the feelings inspired by the natural sublimities of the +scene. By such associations, the decaying glories of art lend even a +charm to ever flourishing nature! + +The Cuts are but three vignettes from the architectural lore of the +district. They stand in sheltered valleys, though, as their ruinous +condition implies, their situation has not saved them from the +destroying hand of time. Indeed, one of them, Beauchief Abbey, gives +name to its locality, Abbey Dale, not far from the partition line that +separates Derbyshire from Yorkshire. In this road, the ruin in the Cut +is the first object that claims the attention of the tourist in his +progress to the Peak; being part of a once magnificent abbey, founded +by Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton; as an expiation for the part +he is said to have taken in the murder of Thomas à Becket. The +late Dr. Pegg, the antiquary, discountenances this tradition. His +arguments, however, which are chiefly founded on the circumstance of +the brother of Robert Fitz-Ranulph, being afterwards in great favour +with Henry the Second, do not appear conclusive, particularly when +opposed to the authority of Dugdale, Fuller, Bishop Tanner, and others +who have written on the subject.[1] + + [1] Dugdale says, "Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton, Norton, + and Marnham, was one of the four knights who martyred the blessed + Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; and afterwards founded + the Monastery of Beauchief, by way of expiating his crime; in the + reign of Henry the Second." Bishop Tanner writes, "Beauchief, an + Abbey of Promonstatentian, or White Canons, founded A.D. 1183, by + Robert Fitz-Ranulph, Lord of Alfreton, one of the executioners of + Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom canonized, this + monastery was dedicated." These authorities are quoted by + Mr. Rhodes. Sir James Mackintosh names the four "knights of + distinguished rank," (apparently upon the authority of Hoveden,) + to have been "William de Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, Richard Britto, + and Reginald Fitz-Urse." We do not attempt to reconcile the + conflicting chroniclers; but we should add, from the subsequent + page, by Sir James, "the conspirators, despairing of pardon, found + a distant refuge in the Castle of Knaresborough, in the town of + Hugh de Moreville, and were, after some time, enjoined by the Pope + to do penance for their crime, by a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, + where _they died_, and were interred before the gate of the + Temple." Sir James describes the murder of Becket with minuteness: + "the assassins fell on him with many strokes; and though the + second brought him to the ground, they did not cease till _his + brains were scattered over the pavement_."--We know the Cathedral + guide at Canterbury shows you the stone in the place of that on + which Becket fell, and states the original stone to be preserved + in St. Peter's, at Rome; but the story is to us rather apocryphal. + At St. Alban's they show you the _dust_ of the good Duke Humphrey: + we once begged a pinch, which the guide granted freely; this + induced us to ask him how often he re-supplied the dust: the man + stared at our ungrateful incredulity. + +The walls of Beauchief Abbey, with the exception of the west end, +represented in the Cut, have long since either been removed, or have +mouldered into dust. Parochial service is still performed in the +remains; but the whole of the original form of the once extensive pile +of building cannot now be traced. + +The exterior architecture of the chapel is almost destitute of +ornament; if we except the reeded windows, and the double buttresses +at the angles of the tower, which is stated to be short of its +original height. On the east side, two angular lines mark the +connexion which the chapel had with the other buildings, and a part of +the ground plan may be traced by an adjoining wall, in which are the +remains of two circular arches, comparatively little impaired. Mr. +Rhodes observes "a wreath of ivy which falls from the top of the +tower, and nearly invests one side of it, breaks the dull monotony of +its outline, and produces a tolerably good effect: in other respects +it is not strikingly attractive as a picturesque object. The Abbey of +_Bello-Capite_ will ever be dear to the antiquary who will visit it +with veneration and delight; nor will the artist pass it by unnoticed. +The magnificent woods, and the beautiful hills that environ the Abbey +of Beauchief, amply compensate for any deficiency of grandeur in the +subordinate adornments of so rich a scene." + +Beauchief Abbey, though once a considerable structure, was never +proportionally wealthy. At the time of its dissolution, (Henry VIII.) +the whole of its revenues were estimated but at 157_l_; and with the +materials furnished by its demolition was built Beauchief House upon +the same estate, granted by Henry VIII. to Sir William Shelly. The +mansion is still tenanted. + +CROSSES. + +These emblematic relics stand in two of the villages in the Peak +district: viz. Eyam and Wheston. They are places of little importance; +though a touching interest is attached to Eyam, from it having been +visited by the Great Plague of the year 1666; its population, at this +time, was about 330; of whom 259 fell by the plague.[2] The history of +this calamitous visitation forms the subject of a meritorious poem +by W. and M. Howitt, entitled _the Desolation of Eyam_, in which +the piety of Mr. Mompesson, (who then held the living of Eyam,) +his pastoral consolations to his mourning people, and the amiable +character of his beautiful wife, who fell a victim to the plague,--are +narrated with true pathos. Yet, this afflicting episode in village +history-- + + So sad, so tender and so true. + +having been but recently related by our ingenious contemporary, Mr. +Hone,[3] we quote but two of the opening stanzas by the Messrs. +Howitt: + + Among the verdant mountains of the Peak + There lies a quiet hamlet, where the slope + Of pleasant uplands wards the north-wind's bleak; + Below wild dells romantic pathways ope; + Around, above it, spreads a shadowy cope + Of forest trees: flower, foliage, and clear rill + Wave from the cliffs, or down ravines elope; + It seems a place charmed from the power of ill + By sainted words of old: so lovely, lone, and still. + + And many are the pilgrim's feet which tread + Its rocky steps, which thither yearly go; + Yet, less by love of Nature's wonders led, + Than by the memory of a mighty woe, + Which smote, like blasting thunder, long ago, + The peopled hills. There stands a sacred tomb, + Where tears have rained, nor yet shall cease to flow; + Recording days of death's sublimest gloom; + Mompesson's power and pain,--his beauteous Catherine's doom. + + [2] Dr. Mead, in his Narrative of the Great Plague in London, + particularly mentions its introduction into Eyam, through the + medium of a box of clothes, sent to a tailor who resided there. + + [3] Table Book, 1827, p. 481. + +The cross at Eyam stands near the entrance into the chancel of the +church. According to village tradition, this rare relic was found +on some of the neighbouring hills. It is curiously ornamented with +symbolic devices in bold relief. "It has suffered dilapidation from +the culpable neglect of those who should have felt an interest in its +preservation. About two feet of the top of the shaft is wanting, as +may be seen by reference to the engraved sketch, (_See the Cut_,) +which was taken in the year 1815." The sexton of the church, who was +then an old man, told Mr. Rhodes in 1818, that he well recollected the +missing part being thrown carelessly about the churchyard, as if of no +value, until it was broken up by some of the inhabitants, and knocked +to pieces for domestic purposes. The preservation of the Cross, to the +extent we have shown, is referable to the philanthropic Howard, +who, in a visit to Eyam, about the year 1788, or 44 years since, +particularly noticed the finest part of the relic lying in a corner +of the churchyard, and nearly overgrown with docks and thistles. "The +value this hitherto unregarded relic had in the estimation of Howard," +says Mr. Rhodes, "made it dearer to the people of Eyam: they brought +the top part of the cross from its hiding-place, and set it on the +still dilapidated shaft, where it has ever since remained." Other +crosses, similar in appearance and workmanship, have been found on +the hills of Derbyshire, particularly one in the village of Bakewell, +which we have already figured in _The Mirror_.[4] It evidently +originated with the same people as that at Eyam, though it is much +more mutilated. These crosses have been generally regarded as Saxon or +Danish, though the probability is in favour of the Saxon origin, from +the high veneration of the Saxons for the sacred symbol of the cross. +Thus, stone crosses were not only parts of the decorations of every +church and altar, but set up as land-marks on the high roads as aids +to devotion, and in market-places as incentives to integrity and +fair-dealing. + + [4] Vol. xi. p. 40. + +Near the cross at Eyam, and in the distance of the Cut, is the tomb of +Mrs. Mompesson, on one end of which is an hour-glass with two expanded +wings; and underneath on an oblong tablet is inscribed CAVETE; +(beware,) and nearer the base, the words _Nescitis Horam_ (ye know not +the hour). On the other end of the tomb is a death's head resting on a +plain, projecting tablet; and below the words _Mihi lucrum_ (mine is +the gain). + +The second hallowed relic is at Wheston a small and pleasant village, +which is situated on an eminence that forms one side of Monksdale, +and which at this place is known by the name of Peter-dale. A short +distance from hence is Tideswell, about four miles from Eyam.[5] +"Wheston," observes Mr. Rhodes, "though consisting of a few houses +only, is a picturesque little place: the trees which are mingled with +the cottages, are so abundant, and everywhere so finely foliaged, that +the place altogether, particularly when seen at a short distance, +appears more like a copse or wood than a village." The position of the +Wheston cross favours the conclusion already made as to the purposes +for which this kind of emblem was originally set up in England. It +stands in the village, _near the road-side_. The upper part of the +cross resembles in some of its ornaments the mullion-work of a Gothic +window: the shaft is unadorned, and more modern. One side represents +the infant Saviour in the arms of his mother: over their heads is a +faint indication of a star, emblematic of the ray that directed the +wise men of the East to the birthplace of Jesus. The reverse of the +cross exhibits the crucifixion of Christ, whose birth and death it +has apparently been the design of the sculptor to commemorate in the +erection of this symbol of his faith. Similar structures are by no +means uncommon by the road-sides throughout France, and to this day +the peasantry may be seen bending before them; while the drivers of +carriages on the most frequented roads are not unmindful of an act of +passing homage to the time-worn emblem. + + [5] From King John, the Eyam estate descended to the Stafford + family, on whom it was bestowed in consideration of certain + military services, and on the express condition "that a lamp + should be kept perpetually burning before the altar of St. Helen, + in the parish-church of Eyam." The lamp has long since ceased + to burn, and the estate has passed into other hands: it now + constitutes a part of the immense property of his Grace the Duke + of Devonshire. + +Several crosses have been found in this part of Derbyshire, but only +a few have escaped the dilapidations of age; the others have been, we +had almost said sacrilegiously, destroyed as objects of no value. Mr. +Rhodes tells us that "in one place the shaft of a cross, originally of +no mean workmanship, has been converted into a gate-post; at another, +one has been scooped and hollowed out, and made into a blacksmith's +trough. I have seen one, which is richly sculptured on the three +remaining sides, with figures and a variety of ornaments, all well +executed, that was long applied to this humble purpose." The Cut shows +that a portion of the cross at Wheston has been broken off; Mr. Rhodes +saw the fragment as a common piece of stone, built and cemented into +an adjoining wall; and he judiciously adds, "where so little interest +has been felt in the preservation of these relics, it is only +surprising that so many of them yet remain in different parts of the +kingdom." Among all acts of wanton license, the destruction of a cross +is to us the most unaccountable. We can readily refer the defacement +of imperial insignia and the spoliation of royal houses to political +turbulence engendered by acts of tyrannical misrule; but the +mutilation of _the cross_--the _universal_ Christian emblem--remains +to be explained, unless we attribute it to the brutal ignorance of the +spoilers. Its religious universality ought consistently to protect it +from intolerance. + +We must not bring this paper to a close without explaining that the +preceding Engravings have been copied from the first of Mr. Rhodes's +excursions of seventeen miles, viz. from Sheffield to Tideswell. +The Abbey and the two Crosses therefore occur in that district. The +original plates are effectively engraved by W. and W.B. Cook, from +drawings by Mr. Chantrey, R.A., who presented to Mr. Rhodes a series +of drawings for his work, "as a token of his friendship, and a mark of +his attachment to his native country." + + * * * * * + + + +SELECT BIOGRAPHY + + +M. CASIMIR PERIER. + + +(_PARTLY FROM THE FRENCH._) + + +The late French premier, was the son of a rich merchant at Grenoble, +where he was born October 12, 1777. At an early age he entered the +army: he served in the Italian campaigns of 1799 and 1800, in the +staff of the Military Engineers. On the death of his father, however, +he quitted the service and devoted himself wholly to commercial +pursuits. In 1802, he opened a bank at Paris, and subsequently, +establishments for cotton-spinning and sugar-refining, and a steam +flour mill, all of which were eminently successful, and contributed +to the formation of his immense fortune. He first became known to the +public in 1816, by a pamphlet against the foreign loan system, which +was equally remarkable for its clearness of argument and profound +knowledge of finance. In 1817, he was elected one of the Deputies for +the Department of the Seine, and from that time until the revolution +of 1830, he continued the firm opponent of every ministerial +encroachment on the rights and privileges of the people. He +particularly distinguished himself by his hostility to the Villele +administration; himself supporting almost singly the whole burden of +the opposition to the famous budget of Villele, which he disputed, +item by item, with talent and perseverance worthy of entering the +lists with the distinguished financier to whom he was opposed. When +M. de Polignac became President of the Council, the opposition of M. +Perier assumed a more violent character, and he was pre-eminent +among the 221 deputies who voted the address which led to the fatal +ordonnances of July. When the revolution broke out, he at once avowed +himself the advocate of the popular cause, and opened his house as the +place of meeting of the deputies, who assembled to protest against the +illegality of the proceedings of the Crown. Firmly, however, attached +to the principles of constitutional opposition, and shrinking, +therefore, from the probable effects of a revolution, he was one of +the last to abandon the hope that his infatuated sovereign would open +his eyes to the gulf on the brink of which he was standing, and by a +timely revocation of the ordonnances, prevent the necessity of the +extreme measure of an appeal to arms, and a consequent change of +dynasty. When these became inevitable, M. Perier attached himself +firmly to the work of consolidating the new throne of Louis Philippe, +and reassembling those elements of order and stability which the +convulsion of July had scattered, but not annihilated. On the +dissolution of the ministry of M. Lafitte, M. Casimir Perier was +called to the head of the government, and immediately entered into the +system of conservative policy, which he continued until the close of +his career. The last time he took any important part in the debates +of the Chamber of Deputies was on the 20th of March, when he made an +ingenious defence of the conduct of government with respect to the +events of Grenoble. His last appearance in the Chamber was on the 29th +of March, when he merely brought in several private bills. On the +3rd of April he was attacked by the cholera, and, although the +indefatigable care bestowed on him by his medical attendants had more +than once apparently eradicated the disease, his frame, enfeebled by +a long standing internal complaint, as well as by his intense and +incessant application, was unable to resist the violence of the +disease, and, after several relapses, he at length sunk under his +sufferings, on the morning of the 16th of May, 1832. + +As an orator M. Perier was energetic and impassioned: the natural +warmth of his temper, added to the irritability produced by illness, +frequently imparted a _brusque_ acerbity to his style, which injured +both the oratorical and moral effect of his eloquence; but his +reasoning was forcible, and his manner commanding and effective. "It +is not our province," says the editor of the Journal, whence these +particulars have been chiefly obtained, "to examine the merits or +demerits of his political system: recorders of, not actors in, the +great political struggle in which France is engaged, we have too +often had occasion to quote the enthusiastic eulogiums and unmeasured +invectives heaped upon him by different parties, to render it +necessary to repeat here, that he possessed the strongest proofs +against the reproach of mediocrity ever being applicable to him." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + + +NEW BOOKS. + + * * * * * + +CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN. + + [The elegantly embellished volumes by Mrs. Jamieson, with + the above attractive title, present the prettiest code of + ladye-philosophy we have ever witnessed on paper. They aim + at illustrating the characters of Intellect, Passion, and + Imagination, the Affections, and what are purely Historical + Characters, in the females of Shakspeare's Plays. Such is the + design: of its beautiful execution we can give the reader but a + faint idea by extracting from Passion and Imagination, part of the + _Character of Juliet_:--] + +It is not without emotion, that I attempt to touch on the character of +Juliet. Such beautiful things have already been said of her--only +to be exceeded in beauty by the subject that inspired them!--it +is impossible to say any thing better; but it is possible to say +something more. Such in fact is the simplicity, the truth, and the +loveliness of Juliet's character, that we are not at first aware +of its complexity, its depth, and its variety. There is in it an +intensity of passion, a singleness of purpose, an entireness, a +completeness of effect, which we feel as a whole; and to attempt to +analyze the impression thus conveyed at once to soul and sense, is +as if while hanging-over a half-blown rose, and revelling in its +intoxicating perfume, we should pull it asunder, leaflet by leaflet, +the better to display its bloom and fragrance. Yet how otherwise +should we disclose the wonders of its formation, or do justice to the +skill of the divine hand that hath thus fashioned it in its beauty? + +All Shakspeare's women, being essentially women, either love, or +have loved, or are capable of loving; but Juliet is love itself. The +passion is her state of being, and out of it she has no existence. +It is the soul within her soul; the pulse within her heart; the +life-blood along her veins, "blending with every atom of her frame." +The love that is so chaste and dignified in Portia--so airy-delicate, +and fearless in Miranda--so sweetly confiding in Perdita--so playfully +fond in Rosalind--so constant in Imogem--so devoted in Desdemona--so +fervent in Helen--so tender in Viola,--is each and all of these in +Juliet. All these remind us of her; but she reminds us of nothing but +her own sweet self: or if she does, it is of the Grismunda, or the +Lisetta, or the Fiamminetta of Boccaccio, to whom she is allied, not +in the character or circumstances, but in the truly Italian spirit, +the glowing, national complexion of the portrait.[6] + + [6] Lord Byron has remarked of the Italian women, (and he could + speak _avec connaissance de fait_,) that they are the only women + in the world capable of impressions at once very sudden and very + durable; which, he adds, is to be found in no other nation. Mr. + Moore observes afterwards, how completely an Italian woman, either + from nature or her social position, is led to invert the usual + course of frailty among ourselves, and weak in resisting the + first impulses of passion, to reserve the whole strength + her character for a display of constancy and devotedness + afterwards.--Both these traits of national character are + exemplified in Juliet.--_Moore's Life of Byron_, vol. ii p. 303, + 338, 4to edit. + +There was an Italian painter who said that the secret of all effect +in colour consisted in white upon black, and black upon white. How +perfectly did Shakspeare understand this secret of effect! and how +beautifully he has exemplified it in Juliet! + + So shews a snowy dove trooping with crows, + As yonder lady o'er her follows shews! + +Thus she and her lover are in contrast with all around them. They are +all love, surrounded with all hate; all harmony, surrounded with all +discord; all pure nature, in the midst of polished and artificial +life. Juliet, like Portia, is the foster-child of opulence and +splendour: she dwells in a fair city--she has been nurtured in a +palace--she clasps her robe with jewels--she braids her hair with +rainbow-tinted pearls; but in herself she has no more connexion with +the trappings around her, than the lovely exotic transplanted from +some Eden-like climate, has with the carved and gilded conservatory +which has reared and sheltered its luxuriant beauty. + +But in this vivid impression of contrast, there is nothing abrupt or +harsh. A tissue of beautiful poetry weaves together the principal +figures and the subordinate personages. The consistent truth of the +costume, and the exquisite gradations of relief with which the most +opposite hues are approximated, blend all into harmony. Romeo and +Juliet are not poetical beings placed on a prosaic background; nor are +they, like Thekla and Max in the Wallenstein, two angels of light amid +the darkest and harshest, the most debased and revolting aspects of +humanity; but every circumstance, and every personage, and every shade +of character in each, tends to the developement of the sentiment which +is the subject of the drama. The poetry, too, the richest that can +possibly be conceived, is interfused through all the characters; the +splendid imagery lavished upon all with the careless prodigality of +genius, and all is lighted up into such a sunny brilliance of effect, +as though Shakspeare had really transported himself into Italy, and +had drunk to intoxication of her genial atmosphere. How truly it has +been said, that "although Romeo and Juliet are in love, they are not +love-sick!" What a false idea would any thing of the mere whining +amoroso, give us of Romeo, such as he is really in Shakspeare--the +noble, gallant, ardent, brave, and witty! And Juliet--with even less +truth could the phrase or idea apply to her! The picture in "Twelfth +Night" of the wan girl dying of love, "who pined in thought, and with +a green and yellow melancholy," would never surely occur to us, when +thinking on the enamoured and impassioned Juliet, in whose bosom love +keeps a fiery vigil, kindling tenderness into enthusiasm, enthusiasm +into passion, passion into heroism! No, the whole sentiment of the +play is of a far different cast. It is flushed with the genial spirit +of the south; it tastes of youth, and of the essence of youth; of +life, and of the very sap of life. We have indeed the struggle of love +against evil destinies and a thorny world; the pain, the grief, +the anguish, the terror, the despair:--the aching adieu; the pang +unutterable of parted affection; and rapture, truth, and tenderness +trampled into an early grave: but still an Elysian grace lingers round +the whole, and the blue sky of Italy bends over all! + +Lord Byron's Haidée is a copy of Juliet in the Oriental costume, but +the development is epic, not dramatic. + +I remember no dramatic character, conveying the same impression of +singleness of purpose, and devotion of heart and soul, except the +Thekla of Schiller's Wallenstein: she is the German Juliet; far +unequal, indeed, but conceived, nevertheless, in a kindred spirit. I +know not if critics have ever compared them, or whether Schiller is +supposed to have had the English, or rather the Italian, Juliet in his +fancy when he portrayed Thekla; but there are some striking points of +coincidence, while the national distinction in the character of the +passion leaves to Thekla a strong cast of originality. + +With regard to the termination of the play, which has been a subject +of much critical argument, it is well-known that Shakspeare, following +the old English versions, has departed from the original story of Da +Porta;[7] and I am inclined to believe that Da Porta, in making Juliet +waken from her trance while Romeo yet lives, and in his terrible final +scene between the lovers, has departed from the old tradition, and as +a romance, has certainly improved it: but that which is effective in +a narrative is not always calculated for the drama; and I cannot but +agree with Schlegel, that Shakspeare has done well and wisely +in adhering to the old story.[8] Can we doubt for a moment that +Shakspeare, who has given us the catastrophe of Othello, and the +tempest scene in Lear, might also have adopted these additional +circumstances of horror in the fate of the lovers, and have so treated +them as to harrow up our very souls--had it been his object to do so? +But apparently it was _not_. The tale is one, + + Such, as once heard, in gentle heart destroys + All pain but pity. + + [7] The "Giulietta" of Luigi da Porta was written about 1520. In + a popular little book published in 1565, thirty years before + Shakspeare wrote his tragedy, the name of Juliet occurs as an + example of faithful love, and is thus explained by a note in the + margin. "Juliet, a noble maiden of the citie of Verona, which + loved Romeo, eldest son of the Lord Monteschi; and being privily + married together, he at last poisoned himself for love of her: + she, for sorrow of his death, slew herself with his dagger." This + note, which furnishes in brief, the whole argument of Shakspeare's + play, might possibly have made the first impression on his fancy. + + [8] There is nothing so improbable in the story of Romeo and + Juliet as to make us doubt the tradition that it is a real fact. + "The Veronese," says Lord Byron, in one of his letters from + Verona, "are tenacious to a degree of the truth of Juliet's story, + insisting on the fact, giving the date 1303, and showing a tomb. + It is a plain, open, and partly decayed sarcophagus, with withered + leaves in it, in a wild and desolate conventual garden--once a + cemetery, now ruined, to the very graves! The situation struck me + as very appropriate to the legend, being blighted as their + love." He might have added, that when Verona itself, with its + amphitheatre and its Palladian structures, lies level with the + earth, the very spot on which it stood will still be consecrated + by the memory of Juliet. When in Italy, I met a gentleman, who + being then "_dans le genre romantique_," wore a fragment of + Juliet's tomb set in a ring. + +It is in truth a tale of love and sorrow, not of anguish and terror. +We behold the catastrophe afar off with scarcely a wish to avert it. +Romeo and Juliet _must_ die: their destiny is fulfilled: they have +quaffed off the cup of life, with all its infinite of joys and +agonies, in one intoxicating draught. What have they to do more +upon this earth? Young, innocent, loving, and beloved, they descend +together into the tomb: but Shakspeare has made that tomb a shrine +of martyred and sainted affection consecrated for the worship of all +hearts,--not a dark charnel vault, haunted by spectres of pain, rage, +and desperation. + +The poem, which opened with the enmity of the two families, closes +with their reconciliation over the breathless remains of their +children; and no violent, frightful, or discordant feeling, is +suffered to mingle with that soft impression of melancholy left within +the heart, and which Schlegel compares to one long, endless sigh. + +"A youthful passion," says Goëthe, (alluding to one of his own early +attachments), "which is conceived and cherished without any certain +object, may be compared to a shell thrown from a mortar by night: it +rises calmly in a brilliant track, and seems to mix, and even to dwell +for a moment, with the stars of heaven; but at length it falls--it +bursts--consuming and destroying all around even as itself expires." + + * * * * * + + +PALACE OF CHARLEMAGNE, AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. + + +At Aix-la-Chapelle, situated nearly in the centre of his vast +dominions, and in a salubrious climate, Charlemagne had fixed upon a +spot for building a palace, in the neighbourhood of some natural warm +baths,--a Roman luxury, in which the Frankish monarch particularly +delighted. All that the great conception of Charlemagne could devise, +and the art of the age could execute, was done, to render this +structure, and the church attached to it, worthy of their magnificent +founder. But no account can be given;[9] for nothing has come down to +the present age which can justify any thing like detailed description. +Nevertheless, a number of circumstances in regard to this building are +occasionally mentioned in the historians of the time, that convey an +idea of vastness and splendour, which probably might have been lost +had minute examination been possible. Immense halls[10]--magnificent +galleries--a college--a library--baths, where a hundred persons could +swim at large--a theatre and a cathedral--a profuse display of the +finest marble--gates and doors of wrought brass--columns from Rome, +and pavements from Ravenna,--such, we know, to have been some of the +many things which that great palace displayed. + + [9] In all probability, the crypt of the church of + Aix-la-Chapelle, as it stands at present, is all that remains of + the original edifice. + + [10] The baths of Aix-la-Chapelle, constructed by the emperor for + the enjoyment of this recreation, were of immense extent; and + while their splendour and their size showed the progress of + luxury, the manner in which they were used, evinces the curious + simplicity and condescension of the monarch. "Not only his sons," + says Eginhard, "but also the great men of his court, his friends, + and the soldiers of his guard, were invited to partake of the + enjoyment which the monarch had provided for himself; so that + sometimes as many as a hundred persons were known to bathe there + together." + +Workmen were gathered together from every part of Europe; and, though +but small reliance can be placed upon the anecdotes related by the +Monk of St. Gall, it is evident, from every account, that the building +must have been the most magnificent architectural effort which Europe +had beheld since the days of the splendour of ancient Rome. + +Besides the palace itself, we find, that an immense number of +buildings were constructed around it, for the accommodation of +every one in any way connected with the court, and adjoining, were +particular halls, open at all times, and in which all classes and +conditions might find a refuge from the cold of night, or from the +wintry storm.[11] + + [11] Stoves were furnished also to warm those who might take + refuge in these general chambers; and the Monk of St. Gaul + asserts, that the apartments of Charlemagne were so constructed, + that he could see everything which took place in the building + round about,--an impossible folly, imagined by the small cunning + of a monk. + +Within the walls, was that famous domestic college, on the +maintenance, extension, and direction of which Charlemagne, amidst all +the multiplicity of his occupations, found means to bestow so much of +his time and attention. But every trace of his actions tends to prove, +that his first and greatest, object--to which even conquest was +secondary, if not subservient--was to civilize his dominions, and to +raise mankind in general from that state of dark ignorance into which +barbarian invasion had cast the world. + +During the first ten or fifteen years after its establishment, the +college of the palace had probably followed the court during its +frequent migrations, notwithstanding the number of members, and +the difficulty of transporting the library, which soon became +considerable. Many circumstances, however, seem to show, that after +the construction of the great palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, it became +fixed in that place. The library, we know, was there concentrated; and +several of the books thus collected, such as the Codex Carolinus, &c. +have come down through a long line of emperors to the present day. +Indeed, a great part of the most valuable literature of former ages, +was preserved alone by the efforts of the French monarch for the +revival of science; and the link of connexion between ancient and +modern civilization, owes its existence, as much to the endeavours of +Charlemagne, as even to the papal preservation of antique Rome. + + * * * * * + + +WRITING IN FRANCE. + + +In the reign of Charlemagne, in the year 796, the mode of writing +underwent a change. The rude characters employed under the Merovingian +race were disused, and the small Roman letters were introduced. As the +spirit of improvement proceeded, new alterations were sought; and some +years afterwards, to write in the large Roman capitals, became the +mode of the day, the initial letter of each paragraph being always +highly ornamented, and sometimes painted, many specimens of which have +come down to the present time. Though at an advanced[12] period of +life when this method of writing first began to prevail, Charlemagne +endeavoured to learn it, and even caused models of the letters to be +laid by his pillow, that during the waking moments of the night, he +might practise the art which he sought to acquire. + + [12] I do not know whether it be worth while to attempt to refute + the opinion which has been founded on an erroneous passage in + Eginhard, that Charlemagne could not write. Eginhard understood, + as Gibbon says, the court and the world, and the Latin language, + it is true; but, nevertheless, we may much more rationally believe + that the secretary made use of a vague expression, than + suppose that he wished to imply, in one sentence, the manifest + contradiction of Charlemagne being in the habit of going through + all the abstruse calculations of astronomy, in an age when those + calculations were most complicated, without being able to write. + The whole of Charlemagne's life renders the supposition absurd. + He studied under Alcuin, whose first rule was to teach the most + correct orthography in writing. We know that he subscribed many + deeds, though his signature was abbreviated, to render it as rapid + as possible. Eginhard himself states, that the monarch wrote the + history of the ancient kings in verse: and Lambecius, one of the + highest antiquarian authorities, declares, that the imperial + library still contains a manuscript, corrected by the hand of + Charlemagne himself. + +Nor did the monarch remain satisfied with leading the way himself on +the path of knowledge which he desired the whole nation to follow; nor +content himself with bestowing on his children a careful and judicious +education, both mental and corporeal; but by constantly proposing in +writing questions for solution, addressed to the various prelates and +teachers of his realm, he forced them to exercise their talents and +cultivate their minds, under the severe penalty of shame and ridicule. +On the other hand, literary merit was never without its reward, +for though, as far as we can discover, Charlemagne, wise in his +generosity, seldom if ever gave more than one profitable charge at +once to one man, yet those who distinguished themselves by talent +and exertion, were sure to meet with honour, distinction, and +competence.--_James_. + + * * * * * + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + +THE MONEY OF BETRAYAL, OR "PRICE OF BLOOD." + + +[Two Illustrations] + +The following very curious notice respecting the money (coin +and value) for which Judas Iscariot betrayed our Redeemer, (and +afterwards, with it, purchased "the Potter's Field, to bury strangers +in,") is extracted from _The Sovereign Order of Saint John of +Jerusalem_, by ANDREW FAVINE, 1620, and will no doubt prove acceptable +to the reader:-- + +"In this citty of Rhodes they did beate and stamp money of silver, +in bignesse somewhat neare to an half teston of France, but yet much +thicker, and the figures thereon more embossed than ours are. These +pieces of silver are like to the halfe sickle of the Jews, or the +diobrachma of the Romaines, but they be more worth. There is a +tradition, that the thirtie pence, for which the Saviour of the world +was sold and delivered to the Jews, by the traitor, Judas, were of +this kinde. And in very deede, in the Church of the Holy Crosse of +Jerusalem, at Rome, is to be seene one of those thirtie pence, which +is wholly like to that in the Church of the Temple, in the citty of +Paris. It is enchased in a shrine, and is to be seene but thorow a +christall glasse, and on the side which may be noated, appeareth +nothing but a head. + +"The learned Gulielmus Budeus, the honour of our Citty of Paris, and +of all France, in the remarkable tract which he wrote, _De Asse_, +affirmeth that he had scene the pennie of silver, in the Temple at +Paris, and that on it was represented a head, as in truth there +is. But, concerning the other side, neither the learned Cardinall +Baronius, nor Budeus, doe speake anything else; then of the weight of +those silver pence, which the Evangelists tearme Argenteos. One of +those silver pence of Rhodes I have, and both the sides thereof, in +this manner I shew to you (_vide Engraving_). + +"I have confronted and compared it with the sight of that pennie at +Rome, and the other in the Temple at Paris, and they are all three +alike, both in the visage and in the circumference. Mine is in weight +two groates, a halfe pennie less of silver, which commeth to twelve +sols and one liard. On the other (_one?_) side, it hath the visage of +the sunne, like to the fashion of a young man's face, without a beard, +with long locks of hayre, as here it is figured, and as poets have +feigned. On the other side is a blowne rose, higher and greater than +ours are;[13] which commeth somewhat neare in resemblance to the rose +which we tearme of Jericho, and which are brought from the Holy Land. +Upon this pennie the rose hath, on eache side, a button, (bud) the one +whereof beginneth to blome, but not the other. Above the rose, on +the ring of the piece, is formed in capitall Greeke letters, [Greek: +RODION], (Rhodian,) which signifieth, and would say (if it could) +_a rose_. At the foote whereof is this sillable, EY. (Favine then +mentions the arms of Rhodes, which, as well as we are able to +translate the old French, left untranslated, appears to be Field +_d'Argent_, a rose _proper_, with buds; _gules_, stalk, _de synople_.) +So," he continues, "that thirtie pence of this money amounteth not +but altogether to the summe of eighteen poundes seaven shillings and +sixe-pence of our money, and seemeth a very small summe for buying +a piece of ground, or land, which the Evangelists call Ackeldemach, +(Alcedaema), 'The Potter's Field,' so neere to Jerusalem peopled with +more than a million of men, solde for an offence, and with condition +that it should never be redeemed, in regard it was destined for the +Burial-place of Pilgrims, which came to Jerusalem at the solemn Feasts +there held; and every one well knoweth, that (amongst the Jews) +inheritances were sold, more or less, according as the conditions were +made, either neere, or further off, from the yeare of jubilee, which +they feasted from fifty yeares, to fifty yeares; a feast, so solemnly +observed among them, that the sellers did then re-enter into their +sold inheritances, which they possessed again freely, and without any +charge, or paying any arrerages, according as it was ordained by their +law, in the five-and-twentieth chapter of Leviticus. But it may be, +this Potter's Field was (in parte) bought with those thirtie pence, +and the other parte might be the almes and giftes of the proprietaries +or owners, both in the Temple of Jerusalem and publickly, for so good +a subject as the buriall of pilgrims, and poore strangers. For ever, +and beside the offerings and Tribute-money, which the Jews offered and +paid to the treasurers in the Temple, for maintaining the Tribe of +Levi, (the deserving ministers thereof) who, at the distribution and +division of the Land of Promise to the Jewish people, had not any lot +or partage (but were assigned to the Jews devotion,) inheritances +might be legacied to them, which falling into mortmaine, could not +be redeemed by any custome of kindred, whatsoever jubilee might +be alledged, or selling, or alienating, as it is written in the +seaven-and-twentieth of Leviticus. And such an inheritance was called +_Ager Anathematis_--a field wholly dedicated and consecrated to God; +and which from thenceforward, might fall no more into any secular, or +prophane hand." + + [13] Amongst other interpretations of "_Under the Rose_," why may + we not conjecture that it may have something to do with _bribes to + silence?_ with _hush-money?_ the _Rose_, in many countries, being + not an unusual stamp on their coins. + +After this erudite disquisition, which endeavours to account for the +_smallness_ of the sum for which our blessed Lord was betrayed, and +for which Alcedama was purchased, how would honest Andrew Favine +stare, could he learn that modern commentators have, _without +comment_, assigned something less than _one-fifth_ of 18_l_. 7_s_. +6_d_. as the "price of innocent blood." We transcribe in proof, +the annotation on Mat. 26 c. 15 v. from D'Oyly and Mant's +Bible:--"'_Thirty pieces of silver_.' Thirty shekels, about 3_l_. +10_s_. 8_d_. of our money. It appears from Exod. 21 c. 32 v., that +this was the price to be paid for a slave or servant, when killed by a +beast. So vilely was HE esteemed, who shed his precious blood for man; +and so true it is, that _Christ_ took upon him the form of a servant." +Now, the Jewish _shekel_ being valued at 2_s_. 4-1/4_d_. and the coin +of the _next_ superior denomination, (the _maneh_) being set down +in our Bible money-tables, at 7_l_. 1_s_. 5_d_. it is clear that +_several_ of _intermediate value_ must have existed, for exchange, +which might reconcile this difference. M.L.B. + + * * * * * + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + +PORTDOWN FAIR. + + [A series of characteristic sketches of Life in the Navy, has + appeared in the successive numbers of the _Metropolitan_, from the + pen of Captain Marryatt, author of the _King's Own_, and other + popular novels, with a high stamp of originality. The sketches + before us are entitled Peter Simple, and detail the early + adventures of a Middy with much of that delightful ease we are + wont to admire in the writings of Smollett, Fielding, and the + _character_ novelists of the latter half of the past century. The + style of Captain Marryatt is fresh, vigorous, and racy--"native + and to the manner born,"--abounding in lively anecdote, but never + straying into caricature--with just enough of the romance of life + to keep the incidents afloat from commonplace, and probability + above-board. This and the following are specimen sketches.] + +We all had leave from the first lieutenant to go to Portdown fair, but +he would only allow the oldsters to sleep on shore. We anticipated so +much pleasure from our excursion, that some of us were up, and went +away in the boat sent for fresh beef. This was very foolish. There +were no carriages to take us to the fair, nor indeed any fair so early +in the morning: the shops were all shut, and the Blue Posts, where +we always rendezvoused was hardly open. We waited there in the +coffee-room, until we were driven out by the maid sweeping away the +dirt, and were forced to walk about until she had finished, and +lighted the fire, when we ordered our breakfast; but how much better +would it have been to have taken our breakfast comfortably on board, +and then to have come on shore, especially as we had no money to +spare. Next to being too late, being too soon is the worst plan in +the world. However, we had our breakfast, and paid the bill; then we +sallied forth, and went up George Street, where we found all sorts +of vehicles ready to take us to the fair. We got into one which they +called a dilly. I asked the man who drove us why it was so called, and +he replied because he only charged a shilling. O'Brien, who had joined +us after breakfasting on board, said that this answer reminded him of +one given to him by a man who attended the hackney-coach stands in +London. "Pray," said he, "why are you called Watermen?" "Watermen," +replied the man, "vy, sir, 'cause ve opens the hackney-coach doors." +At last, with plenty of whipping, and plenty of swearing, and a great +deal of laughing, the old horse, whose back curved upwards like a bow, +from the difficulty of dragging so many, arrived at the bottom of +Portdown hill, where we got out, and walked up to the fair. It really +was a most beautiful sight. The bright blue sky, and the coloured +flags flapping about in all directions, the grass so green, and the +white tents and booths, the sun shining so bright, and the shining +gilt gingerbread, the variety of toys and variety of noise, the +quantity of people and the quantity of sweetmeats; little boys so +happy, and shop people so polite, the music at the booths, and the +bustle and eagerness of the people outside, made my heart quite jump. +There was Richardson, with a clown and harlequin, and such beautiful +women, dressed in clothes all over gold spangles, dancing reels and +waltzes, and looking so happy! There was Flint and Gyngell, with +fellows tumbling over head and heels, playing such tricks--eating +fire, and drawing yards of tape out of their mouths. Then there was +the Royal Circus, all the horses standing in a line, with men and +women standing on their backs, waving flags, while the trumpeters blew +their trumpets. And the largest giant in the world, and Mr. Paap, +the smallest dwarf in the world, and a female dwarf, who was smaller +still, and Miss Biffin, who did every thing without legs or arms. +There was also the learned pig, and the Herefordshire ox, and a +hundred other sights which I cannot now remember. We walked about for +an hour or two, seeing the outside of every thing: we determined to go +and see the inside. First we went into Richardson's, where we saw a +bloody tragedy, with a ghost and thunder, and afterwards a pantomime, +full of tricks, and tumbling over one another. Then we saw one or +two other things, I forget which, but this I know, that generally +speaking, the outside was better than the inside. After this, feeling +very hungry, we agreed to go into a booth and have something to eat. +The tables were ranged all around, and in the centre there was a +boarded platform for dancing. The ladies were there already dressed +for partners; and the music was so lively, that I felt very much +inclined to dance, but we had agreed to go and see the wild beasts fed +at Mr. Polito's menagerie, and as it was now almost eight o'clock, we +paid our bill and set off. It was a very curious sight, and better +worth seeing than any thing in the fair; I never had an idea that +there were so many strange animals in existence. They were all secured +in iron cages, and a large chandelier, with twenty lights, hung in the +centre of the booth, and lighted them up, while the keeper went round +and stirred them up with his long pole; at the same time he gave us +their histories, which were very interesting. I recollect a few of +them. There was the tapir, a great pig with a long nose, a variety of +the hiptostomass, which the keeper said was an amphibious animal, as +couldn't live on land, and _dies_ in the water--however, it seemed to +live very well in a cage. Then there was the kangaroo with its young +ones peeping out of it--a most astonishing animal. The keeper said +that it brought forth two young ones at a birth, and then took them +into its stomach again, until they arrived at years of discretion. +Then there was the pelican of the wilderness, (I shall not forget +him,) with a large bag under his throat, which the man put on his head +as a night-cap; this bird feeds its young with its own blood--when +fish are scarce. And there was the laughing hyaena, who cries in the +wood like a human being in distress, and devours those who come to his +assistance--a sad instance of the depravity of human nature, as the +keeper observed. There was a beautiful creature, the royal Bengal +tiger, only three years old, what growed ten inches every year, and +never arrived at its full growth. The one we saw measured, as the +keeper told us, sixteen feet from the snout to the tail, and seventeen +feet from the tail to the snout; but there must have been some mistake +there. There was a young elephant and three lions, and several other +animals, which I forget now, so I shall go on to describe the tragical +scene which occurred. The keeper had poked up all the animals, and had +commenced feeding them. The great lion was growling and snarling +over the shin bone of an ox, cracking it like a nut, when by some +mismanagement, one end of the pole upon which the chandelier was +suspended fell down, striking the door of the cage in which the +lioness was at supper, and bursting it open. It was all done in a +second; the chandelier fell, the cage opened, and the lioness sprung +out. I remember to this moment seeing the body of the lioness in the +air, and then all as dark as pitch. What a change! not a moment before +all of us staring with delight and curiosity, and then to be left in +darkness, horror and dismay! There was such screaming and shrieking, +such crying, and fighting, and pushing, and fainting, nobody knew +where to go, or how to find their way out. The people crowded first on +one side, and then on the other, as their fears instigated them. I was +very soon jammed up with my back against the bars of one of the cages, +and feeling some beast lay hold of me behind, made a desperate effort, +and succeeded in climbing up to the cage above, not however without +losing the seat of my trousers, which the laughing hyaena would not +let go. I hardly knew where I was when I climbed up; but I knew the +birds were mostly stationed above. However, that I might not have the +front of my trousers torn as well as the behind, as soon as I gained +my footing I turned round, with my back to the bars of the cage; but I +had not been there a minute, before I was attacked by something which +digged into me like a pickaxe, and as the hyaena had torn my clothes, +I had no defence against it. To turn round would have been worse +still; so after having received above a dozen stabs, I contrived by +degrees to shift my position, until I was opposite to another cage, +but not until the pelican, for it was that brute, had drawn as much +blood from me as would have fed his young for a week. I was surmising +what danger I should next encounter, when to my joy I discovered that +I had gained the open door from which the lioness had escaped. I +crawled in, and pulled the door too after me, thinking myself very +fortunate; and there I sat very quietly in a corner during the +remainder of the noise and confusion. I had not been there but a few +minutes, when the beef-eaters, as they were called, who played the +music outside, came in with torches and loaded muskets. The sight +which presented itself was truly shocking; twenty or thirty men, +women, and children, lay on the ground, and I thought at first the +lioness had killed them all, but they were only in fits, or had been +trampled down by the crowd. No one was seriously hurt. As for the +lioness, she was not to be found; and as soon as it was ascertained +that she had escaped, there was as much terror and scampering away +outside, as there had been in the menagerie. It appeared afterwards, +that the animal had been as much frightened as we had been, and had +secreted himself under one of the wagons. It was sometime before she +could be found. At last O'Brien who was a very brave fellow, went +a-head of the beef-eaters, and saw her eyes glaring. They borrowed a +net or two from the carts which had brought calves to the fair, and +threw them over her. When she was fairly entangled, they dragged her +by the tail into the menagerie. All this while I had remained very +quietly in the den, but when I perceived that its lawful owner had +come back again to retake possession, I thought it was time to come +out; so I called to my messmates, who with O'Brien were assisting the +beef-eaters. They had not discovered me, and laughed very much when +they saw where I was. One of the midshipmen shot the bolt of the door, +so that I could not jump out, and then stirred me up with a long pole. +At last I contrived to unbolt it again, and got out, when they laughed +still more, at the seat of my trousers being torn off. It was not +exactly a laughing matter to me, although I had to congratulate myself +upon a very lucky escape: and so did my messmates think, when I +narrated my adventures. The pelican was the worst part of the +business. O'Brien lent me a dark silk handkerchief, which I tied +round my waist, and let drop behind, so that my misfortunes might not +attract any notice, and then we quitted the menagerie; but I was so +stiff that I could scarcely walk. + + +SCOTCH "BLUID." + + +We had a new messmate of the name of M'Foy. I was on the quarter-deck +when he came on board and presented a letter to the captain, inquiring +first if his name was "Captain Sauvage." He was a florid young man +nearly six feet high, with sandy hair, yet very good-looking. As his +career in the service was very short, I will tell at once what I did +not find out till some time afterwards. The captain had agreed to +receive him to oblige a brother officer, who had retired from the +service, and lived in the Highlands of Scotland. The first notice +which the captain had of the arrival of Mr. M'Foy, was from a letter +written to him by the young man's uncle. This amused him so much, that +he gave it to the first lieutenant to read. It ran as follows;-- + + Glasgow, April 25th, 1---. + +"Sir, + +"Our much esteemed and mutual friend, Captain M'Alpine, having +communicated by letter, dated the 14th inst., your kind intentions +relative to my nephew Sholto M'Foy, (for which you will be pleased to +accept my best thanks,) I write to acquaint you that he is now on +his way to join your ship the Diomede, and will arrive, God willing, +twenty-six hours after the receipt of this letter. + +"As I have been given to understand by those who have some +acquaintance with the service of the King, that his equipment as an +officer will be somewhat expensive, I have considered it but fair +to ease your mind as to any responsibility on that score, and have +therefore enclosed the half of a Bank of England note for ten pounds +sterling, No. 3742, the other half of which will be duly forwarded in +a frank promised to me the day after tomorrow. I beg you will make the +necessary purchases, and apply the balance, should there be any, +to his mess account, or any other expenses which you may consider +warrantable or justifiable. + +"It is at the same time proper to inform you, that Sholto had ten +shillings in his pocket at the time of his leaving Glasgow; the +satisfactory expenditure of which I have no doubt you will inquire +into, as it is a large sum to be placed at the discretion of a youth +only fourteen years and five months old. I mention his age, as Sholto +is so tall that you might be deceived by his appearance, and be +induced to trust to his prudence in affairs of this serious nature. +Should he at any time require further assistance beyond his pay, which +I am told is extremely handsome to all king's officers, I beg you to +consider that any draft of yours, at ten days' sight, to the amount +of five pounds sterling English, will be duly honoured by the firm of +Monteith, M'Killop, and Company, of Glasgow. Sir, with many thanks for +your kindness and consideration, + + "I remain your most obedient, + + "WALTER MONTEITH." + +The letter brought on board by M'Foy was to prove his identity. While +the captain read it, M'Foy stared about him like a wild stag. The +captain welcomed him to the ship, asked him one or two questions, +introduced him to the first lieutenant, and then went on shore. The +first lieutenant had asked me to dine in the gun-room; and when the +captain pulled on shore, he also invited Mr. M'Foy, when the following +conversation took place. + +"Well, Mr. M'Foy, you have had a long journey; I presume it is the +first that you have ever made." + +"Indeed is it, Sir," replied M'Foy; "and sorely I've been pestered. +Had I minded all they whispered in my lug as I came along, I had need +been made of money--sax-pence here, sax-pence there, sax-pence every +where. Sich extortion I ne'er dreamt of." + +"How did you come from Glasgow?" + +"By the wheel-boat, or steam-boat, as they ca'd it, to Lunnon: where +they charged me sax-pence for taking my baggage on shore--wee boxy nae +bigger than yon cocked-up hat. I would fain carry it mysel', but they +wadna let me." + +"Well, where did you go to when you arrived in London?" + +"I went to a place ca'd Chichester Rents, to the house of Storm and +Mainwaring, Warehousemen, and they must have anither sax-pence for +showing me the way. There I waited half-an-hour in the counting-house, +till they took me to a place ca'd Bull and Mouth, and put me into a +coach, paying my whole fare; nevertheless they must din me for money +the whole of the way down. There was first the guard, and then the +coachman, and another guard, and another coachman; but I wudna listen +to them, and so they growled and abused me." + +"And when did you arrive?" + +"I came here last night; and I only had a bed and a breakfast at the +twa Blue Pillars' house, for which they extortioned me three shillings +and sax-pence, as I sit here. And then there was the chambermaid hussy +and waiter loon axed me to remember them, and wanted more siller; but +I told them, as I told the guard and coachman, that I had none for +them." + +"How much of your ten shillings have you left?" inquired the first +lieutenant, smiling. + +"Hoot! sir lieutenant, how came you for to ken that? Eh! it's my uncle +Monteith at Glasgow. Why, as I sit here, I've but three shillings and +a penny of it lift. But there's a smell here that's no canny; so I +just go up again into the fresh air." + +When Mr. M'Foy quitted the gun-room, they all laughed very much. After +he had been a short time on deck, he went down into the midshipmen's +berth; but he made himself very unpleasant, quarrelling and wrangling +with every body. It did not, however, last very long; for he would not +obey any orders that were given to him. On the third day, he quitted +the ship without asking the permission of the first lieutenant; when +he returned on board the following day, the first lieutenant put him +under an arrest, and in charge of the sentry at the cabin door. During +the afternoon I was under the half-deck, and perceived that he was +sharpening a long clasp knife upon the after truck of the gun. I went +up to him, and asked him why he was doing so, and he replied, as his +eyes flashed fire, that it was to revenge the insult offered to the +bluid of M'Foy. His look told me that he was in earnest. "But what do +you mean?" inquired I. "I mean," said he, drawing the edge and feeling +the point of his weapon, "to put into the wheam of that man with the +gold podge on his shoulder, who has dared to place me here." + +I was very much alarmed, and thought it my duty to state his murderous +intentions, or worse might happen; so I walked up on deck and told the +first lieutenant what M'Foy was intending to do, and how his life was +in danger. Mr. Falcon laughed, and shortly afterwards went down on the +main-deck. M'Foy's eyes glistened, and he walked forward to where the +first lieutenant was standing; but the sentry, who had been cautioned +by me, kept him back with his bayonet. The first lieutenant turned +round, and perceiving what was going on, desired the sentry to see if +Mr. M'Foy had a knife in his hand; and he had it sure enough, open, +and held behind his back. He was disarmed, and the first lieutenant, +perceiving that the lad meant mischief, reported his conduct to the +captain, on his arrival on board. The captain sent for M'Foy, who was +very obstinate, and when taxed with his intention would not deny it, +or even say that he would not again attempt it; so he was sent on +shore immediately, and returned to his friends in the Highlands. We +never saw any more of him; but I heard that he obtained a commission +in the army, and three months after he had joined his regiment, was +killed in a duel, resenting some fancied affront offered to the bluid +of M'Foy.--_Metropolitan_ + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER + + * * * * * + +A CHANCELLOR'S START IN LIFE. + + +(_FROM THE DOUBLE TRIAL_.) + + +Thurlow had travelled the ---- Circuit for some years with little +notice, and with no opportunity to put forth his abilities; when the +housekeeper of a Duke of N---- was prosecuted for stealing a great +deal of linen, with which she had been intrusted. An attorney of +little note and practice conducted the woman's case. He knew full well +that he could expect no hearty co-operation in employing any of the +leading counsel: it was a poor case, and a low case; and it could not +be supposed that they, "the foremost men of all the bar," would set +themselves, "_tooth and nail_," against the Duke, who in himself, his +agents, and his friends, made the greatest part of every high legal +and political assemblage in the country. The attorney looked round, +therefore, for some young barrister who had nothing to lose, and might +have something to win; and he fixed upon Thurlow. Thurlow read over +his brief with the highest glee, and had an interview with the +prisoner. As he entered the court, he jogged another briefless one +like himself, and said, in his favourite slang language--"Neck or +nothing, my boy, to-day! I'll soar or tumble!" The opening speech +of the eminent counsel for the Duke, and the evidence, completely +convicted the woman. The articles stolen were brought into court. When +Thurlow rose to cross-examine the leading witness, before he asked +a question, he merely, bending his black brows upon the man, turned +round, and desired to look at the things that were said to be stolen. +They were before him all the time, and were then presented to him; +and, without a word, he carelessly tossed them again upon the table +before him. He now closely questioned the witness, as to points of +honour and honesty; then, in a minute or two, again asked to see the +things. He was informed that he had already had them handed to +him, and that they were now before him. "I mean," said he, with +well-assumed ignorance, "the things that this unhappy woman is accused +of having stolen." The witness, with great sufficiency and knowledge, +as if to prove his own correctness, pointed them out upon the table +before him. "And what else?" said he. He was answered that they were +the whole. "And you, Mr. Witness," said he, with a sneer, "are the man +of great trust, of accredited honour and honesty; and, full of your +own consequence, and in high feather, you come here to follow up a +prosecution against a fellow-servant, and a confidential one (you +tell me), whom you have indicted as a felon, for taking these rags," +exhibiting some cloth that happened to be torn; "and this is the sum +and substance of her offence! And all these witnesses," pointing to a +group, who had pushed themselves forward, "have been brought into this +honourable court, to affix the ownership of the high and mighty noble +Duke and Duchess to these cast-off, worn-out clothes! And here comes +this fine gentleman to swear to the robber of that," holding up the +garment, "which he himself would not accept as a gift! Shame, say I; +and I am certain every one of your hearts, Gentlemen of the Jury, +reechoes my indignant feeling! Shame, say I, on everyone of the +party," pausing to give one of his looks to each individual, "that +is concerned in such a business! Why, it is more like a conspiracy +against this poor destitute woman, against whom I lament to see my +very honourable and learned brethren," pointing to the other counsel, +"here arrayed--it is more like a conspiracy (not that my learned +friends have lot, or part, or feeling in the business)--more like a +conspiracy against this woman, than any, the least act of felony on +her part. These clothes! I pray you look at them, Gentlemen of the +Jury--these clothes!! Can you conceive, Gentlemen, that if you were +a Duke and Duchess of N----, you would have even offered to give a +housekeeper, a woman of credit and respectability--a fellow-servant of +this fine gentleman before you--such worn-out rags as these? Would you +have thought it worthy of consideration, if such a servant had thought +proper to appropriate to her own use a cart-load of this trumpery? If +the poor woman did remove out of sight such trash as this, all I say +is, that she seems to have had more respect for the credit and +honour of that noble house than any of the people whose ridiculous +pretensions to honesty have persecuted her and exhibited themselves +here. _Gentlemen and Ladies_, witnesses! I have done with you; you may +all leave the court!" + +They were all glad to take him at the first word, and in a few minutes +not one of them was to be seen. "I have heard," he continued, "of the +pride of a noble house, and of its poverty, being nearly allied; +but here we have all the poverty and none of the pride!" Some one +unluckily said that the things were not all in that torn state. +"What," said he, with the utmost contempt, looking to the party, "is +there any one that wishes to exhibit his devoted baseness? Let him not +whisper here behind my back, but come forward and get into the box." +He paused, and had no further interruption. "To you, Gentlemen of the +Jury, I appeal. I ask you if you have seen enough of the rags of this +noble family?" and he pulled out the worst piece of the linen, and +held it at arm's length during the greater part of a taunting speech +of the same kind: then, throwing it contemptuously from him--"Away, +away, I say, with these rags of the noble family of N----!" (and some +one gathered up all together, and took them out of court)--"and God +grant that they may never rise up in judgment against them! Poor, +weak, foolish woman! she took them as her perquisite. Perquisite +indeed! her folly was her fault; for you have seen that they were not +worth the taking. + +"Gentlemen of the Jury, I cannot believe that you will lend yourselves +to such a grovelling prosecution--_persecution_, as this. I pause not +to investigate where the evil spirit arose, in principles or agents, +against this injured and calumniated female. If the great ones of our +earth will disgrace themselves--if they will listen to the suggestions +of envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness, I trust that +you, more humble members of the community, will not be partakers of +these evil passions. Where the prosecutor has sustained no personal +fear and no personal loss, it is impossible that any offence can have +been committed. You are not twelve despots sitting upon a case of +high treason against the game-laws, and are to have your consciences +racked, to bring in a verdict of trespass, where no damage can be +proved; you are not required to strain right against justice and +honesty. What is the offence? How is our Lord the King or his subjects +aggrieved? Those rags!--I know not what the splendid household of the +Duke may require for matches and tinder; for this is all the value +that can be attached to them. Shall we call for them back again, lest +the Duke and the Duchess should lose their recovered treasure? I +am not disposed to dispute their right; for even if they were the +perquisite of the housekeeper, I am convinced that she would not get +a farthing emolument for those tattered remnants of nobility. Of one +thing I am well assured, that there is not a sufficiency of sound +linen in the whole to make lint enough to cover the wound that the +reputation of the noble Duke and Duchess has sustained in this +disgraceful prosecution. Gentlemen, I will trouble you no further--I +confidently expect your verdict." And the woman was acquitted: and +from that day the powers of Thurlow, in voice, sarcasm, gesture, and +all the superior intonations of browbeating, which raised him to the +most dangerous pinnacle of legal greatness, became known, and rapidly +advanced him to fame,[14] and the grandchildren of his father to be +enrolled among the established peers of our realm. + + [14] "The foregoing anecdote was told to the writer by the late + James Burton, Esq., of Lockeridge House, a seat of the Marquess of + Aylesbury's, near Marlborough. Mr. Burton married a daughter of + the celebrated actress, Mrs. Cibber, by _General Sloper,_ a man of + the highest fashion of _his_ day, from whom, I believe, Mr. + Burton received the account; the particulars of which, as I have + narrated, no doubt, many persons of Mr. Burton's acquaintance + still remember." + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + +ON THE POTATO. + + +_BY T.A. KNIGHT, ESQ., F.R.S., PRES. HORT. SOC._ + + +Mr. Knight is convinced by the evidence of experiments, "that the +potato plant, under proper management, is capable of causing to be +brought to market a much greater weight of vegetable food, from any +given extent of ground, than any other plant which we possess." There +is no crop, he says, "so certain as that of potatoes; and it has the +advantage of being generally most abundant, when the crops of wheat +are defective; that is, in wet seasons." The following observations +are extremely interesting:-- + +"I think I shall be able to adduce some strong facts in support of +my opinion, that by a greatly extended culture of the potato for the +purpose of supplying the markets with vegetable food, a more abundant +and more wholesome supply of food for the use of the labouring classes +of society may be obtained, than wheat can ever afford, and, I +believe, of a more palatable kind to the greater number of persons. +I can just recollect the time when the potato was unknown to the +peasantry of Herefordshire, whose gardens were then almost exclusively +occupied by different varieties of the cabbage. Their food at that +period consisted of bread and cheese with the produce of their +gardens; and tea was unknown to them. About sixty-six years ago, +before the potato was introduced into their gardens, agues had been +so exceedingly prevalent, that the periods in which they, or their +families, had been afflicted with that disorder, were the eras to +which I usually heard them refer in speaking of past events; and I +recollect being cautioned by them frequently not to stand exposed +to the sun in May, lest I should get an ague. The potato was then +cultivated in small quantities in the gardens of gentlemen, but it was +not thought to afford wholesome nutriment, and was supposed by many to +possess deleterious qualities. The prejudice of all parties, however, +disappeared so rapidly, that within ten years the potato had almost +wholly driven the cabbage from the gardens of the cottagers. Within +the same period, ague, the previously prevalent disease of the +country, disappeared; and no other species of disease became +prevalent. I adduce this fact, as evidence only, that the introduction +of the potato was not injurious to the health of the peasantry at that +period; but whether its production was, or was not, instrumental in +causing the disappearance of ague, I will not venture to give an +opinion. I am, however, confident, that neither draining the soil +(for that was not done,) nor any change in the general habits of the +peasantry, had taken place, to which their improved health could be +attributed. Bread is well known to constitute the chief food of the +French peasantry. They are a very temperate race of men; and they +possess the advantages of a very fine and dry climate. Yet the +duration of life amongst them is very short, scarcely exceeding +two thirds of the average duration of life in England; and in some +districts much less. Dr. Hawkins, in his _Medical Statistics_, states, +upon the authority of M. Villerme that, in the department of Indre, +'one fourth of the children born die within the first year, and half +between fifteen and twenty; and that three fourths are dead within +the space of fifty years. Having inquired of a very eminent French +physiologist, M. Dutrochet, who is resident in the department of +Indre, the cause of this extraordinary mortality, he stated it to +he their food, which consisted chiefly of bread; and of which he +calculated every adult peasant to eat two pounds a day. And he added, +without having received any leading question from me, of in any degree +knowing my opinion upon the subject, that if the peasantry of his +country would substitute (which they could do) a small quantity of +animal food, with potatoes, instead of so much bread, they would live +much longer, and with much better health. I am inclined to pay much +deference to M. Dutrochet's opinion; for he combines the advantages +of a regular medical education with great acuteness of mind, and I +believe him to be as well acquainted with the general laws of organic +life as any person living: and I think his opinion deserves some +support, from the well known fact, that the duration of human life has +been much greater in England during the last sixty years, than in the +preceding period of the same duration. Bread made of wheat, when taken +in large quantities, has probably, more than any other article of +food in use in this country, the effect of overloading the alimentary +canal: and the general practice of the French physician points out the +prevalence of diseases thence arising amongst their patients. I do +not, however, think, or mean to say, that potatoes alone are proper +food for any human being: but I feel confident, that four ounces of +meat, with as large quantity of good potatoes as would wholly take +away the sensation of hunger, would afford, during twenty-four hours, +more efficient nutriment than could be derived from bread in any +quantity, and might be obtained at much less expense."--_Trans. Hort. +Soc. quoted in Gardeners' Mag._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + * * * * * + +CLOCK-MAKING IN THE NINTH CENTURY. + + +The Caliph Haroun al Raschid is stated to have maintained an unbroken +friendship with his contemporary Charlemagne, throughout their mutual +reign. A variety of magnificent presents attested the esteem of the +caliph for his Christian friend. Among them were several objects, +which tend to show the advance which art had made, at this time in the +East. The first of these was a clock of gilded bronze, round which the +course of the twelve hours was displayed; while, at the end of each +hour, the number of brazen balls which were requisite to mark +the division of time, were thrown out from above, and falling +consecutively on a cymbal below, struck the hour required. In like +manner a number of horsemen issued forth from windows placed around +the dial; while a number of other clock-work miracles attested the +height which the mechanical arts had reached at the court of Haroun. + +The carriage of such objects, as the above presents sent from Bagdad +to France, was, of course, attended with no small inconvenience; +and the neglected state of the science of navigation, rendered the +journeys of the ambassadors long and dangerous. Between three and +four years were generally consumed in a mission from one capital to +another; and, indeed, it happened more than once, that even after +arriving within the dominions of the Frankish monarchs, the envoys had +still to seek him over a tract nearly as extensive as that which they +had before crossed. + +_Parliamentary Debates_.--Originally these debates were given in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_, under the fiction of "Debates in the Senate +of Liliput," and the speakers were disguised under feigned names. +Guthrie, for a time, composed these speeches from such hints as he +could bring away in his memory. Dr. Johnson first assisted in this +department, and then entirely filled it, and the public was highly +gratified with the eloquence displayed in these compositions. P.T.W. + +_Steam Carriages_.--By the formation of rail-roads, a loss has +occurred in the revenue from stage coaches, to the amount of 8,384_l_. + +_Electro-Magnetism_.--The largest electro-magnet is that constructed +by the American philosophers. It is of a horse-shoe form, and weighs +about 60 lbs.; around it are 26 coils of wire, the united lengths +of which are 800 feet. When excited by about five feet of galvanic +surface, it is said to have supported nearly two tons. We here see +that the exciting cause of magnetism is the action of the galvanic +battery; and a variety of other interesting experiments in +electro-magnetics, tend to the conclusion that the magnetic and +electric fluids are nearly allied.--_Imperial Magazine._ + +_Salary of the Chancellor, 700 years since_.--The salary of the +Chancellor, as fixed by Henry I., amounted to five shillings per diem, +and a livery of provisions. + +_Dibdin_.--On the tombstone of Dibdin, the celebrated song composer, +in St. Martin's, by Pancras New Church, is the first verse of his _Tom +Bowling_: + + "His form was of the manliest beauty, + His heart was kind and soft, + Faithful on earth he did his duty, + But now he's gone aloft." + +_Studious Printer_.--Morel was an eminent French printer, who +sacrificed every thing to study. On being informed that his wife was +dying, he refused to quit his pen till he had finished what he was +about, and by that time news was brought him that she was dead; to +which he coolly replied, "I am sorry for it--she was a good woman." He +died in 1638, at the age of 78. P.T.W. + +_A Painter's Retort, or Dangerous Re-touch_.--Antonio More, the +celebrated painter, was highly favoured by Philip of Spain, whose +familiarity with him placed his life in danger; for More ventured to +return a slap on the shoulder which the king in a playful moment gave +him, by rubbing some carmine on his majesty's hand. This behaviour was +accepted by the monarch as a jest, but it was hinted to More that +the holy tribunal might regard it as sacrilege, and he fled, to save +himself, into Flanders, where he was employed by the Duke of Alva. +P.T.W. + +_Steam Power_.--Mr. Alexander Gordon states, that in various +departments of the revenue, the saving of expenditure by the +substitution of inanimate for animate power, would, in the Post Office +alone, amount to upwards of half a million; whilst, from the cheapness +of food which the substitution would produce, the navy and army +estimates would be most essentially reduced. + +Steam may now be said to maintain the power which can engrave a seal, +and crush a mass of obdurate metal like wax before it; draw out, +without breaking, a thread as fine as gossamer, and lift a ship of +war like a bauble in the air; to embroider muslin, forge anchors, cut +steel into ribands, and impel itself against the opposition of the +very tempest. + +Charlemagne was buried on the day of his death in the great church +which he had constructed at Aix-la-Chapelle. The Monk of Angouleme +declares that he was inhumed in his imperial robes, and that the +pilgrim's wallet which he wore on his journeys to Rome was also +consigned with his body to the tomb. + +_Indian Hail Storms_.--Captain Skinner says, during one in which a +heavy shower of hail fell, the thermometer sunk nine degrees in fewer +minutes--from 75 to 66; it rose again as rapidly. Although it was more +than four o'clock in the afternoon when the hail fell, it was still on +the ground the following morning; a proof of the coldness of the night +air. + +_Waterloo Child_.--A private of the 27th regiment, who was severely +wounded at the battle of Waterloo, was carried off the field by his +wife, then far advanced in pregnancy; she also was wounded by a shell, +and with her husband, remained a considerable time in one of the +hospitals at Antwerp, in a hopeless state. The man lost both his arms, +his wife was extremely lame, and here gave birth to a daughter, to +whom it is said the late Duke of York stood sponsor; her names being +Frederica M'Mullen Waterloo. A.H.K.--T. + +_The Royal Academy_.--The receipts for admission to the Exhibition of +this year were £300. short of what they were last year. The sale of +pictures at the Gallery of the Society of British Artists has been +greater than in any preceding season. + + * * * * * + +Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; and by all Newsmen +and Booksellers. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11862 *** |