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diff --git a/11863-0.txt b/11863-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7149a57 --- /dev/null +++ b/11863-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1720 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11863 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11863-h.htm or 11863-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/8/6/11863/11863-h/11863-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/8/6/11863/11863-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +Vol. 20 No. 572.] SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +BIRTHPLACE OF DR. JOHNSON, AT LICHFIELD. + +[Illustration] + + +In the large corner house, on the right of the Engraving, SAMUEL +JOHNSON was born on the 18th of September, N.S. 1709. We learn from +Boswell, that the house was built by Johnson's father, and that the +two fronts, towards Market and Broad Market-street stood upon waste +land of the Corporation of Lichfield, under a forty years lease; this +expired in 1767, when on the 15th of August, "at a common hall of the +bailiffs and citizens, it was ordered, (and that without any +solicitation,) that a lease should be granted to Samuel Johnson, +Doctor of Laws, of the incroachments at his house, for the term of +ninety-nine years, at the old rent, which was five shillings. Of +which, as town clerk, Mr. Simpson had the honour and pleasure of +informing him, and that he was desired to accept it, without paying +any fine on the occasion, which lease was afterwards granted, and the +doctor died possessed of this property."[1] + + [1] Note to Boswell's Life of Johnson, 2nd edition, vol. iii. + p. 646. + +In the above house, the doctor's father Michael Johnson, a native of +Derbyshire, of obscure extraction, settled as a bookseller and +stationer. He was diligent in business, and not only "kept shop" at +home, but, on market days, frequented several towns in the +neighbourhood,[2] some of which were at a considerable distance from +Lichfield. "At that time booksellers' shops in the provincial towns of +England were very rare, so that there was not one even in Birmingham, +in which town old Mr. Johnson used to open a shop every market-day. He +was a pretty good Latin scholar, and a citizen so creditable as to be +made one of the magistrates of Lichfield; and, being a man of good +sense and skill in his trade, he acquired a reasonable share of +wealth, of which, however, he afterwards lost the greatest part, by +engaging unsuccessfully in the manufacture of parchment."[3] This +failure is attributed to the dishonesty of a servant; but it is +observable in connexion with an incident in Dr. Johnson's literary +history, which has not escaped the keen eye of Mr. Croker, the +ingenious annotator of Boswell's _Life_ of the great lexicographer.[4] + + [2] To show the great estimation in which the father of our + great moralist was held, we may quote a letter, dated + "Trentham, St. Peter's Day, 1716," written by the Rev. + George Plaxton, then chaplain to Lord Gower:--"Johnson, + the Lichfield librarian, is now here. He propagates + learning all over this diocese, and advanceth knowledge to + its just height. All the clergy here are his pupils, and + suck all they have from him; Allen cannot make a warrant + without his precedent, nor our quondam John Evans draw a + recognizance _sine directione Michaelis_."--_Gent. Mag. + Oct. 1791_. + + [3] Boswell, vol. i. p. 14. + + [4] Johnson, in his Dictionary, defines EXCISE "a hateful tax, + levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the _common + judges_ of property, but by _wretches_ hired by those to + whom excise is paid;" and, in the _Idler_ (No. 65) he + calls a _commissioner of excise_ "one of the _lowest_ of + all human beings." This violence of language seems so + little reasonable, that the editor was induced to suspect + some cause of _personal animosity_; this mention of the + trade in parchment (an _excisable_ article) afforded a + clue, which has led to the confirmation of that suspicion. + In the records of the Excise Board is to be found the + following letter, addressed to the supervisor of excise at + Lichfield:--"July 27, 1725--The commissioners received + yours of the 22nd instant; and since the justices would + not give judgment against Mr. Michael Johnson, the + _tanner_, notwithstanding the facts were fairly against + him, the board direct that the next time he offends, you + do not lay an information against him, but send an + affidavit of the fact, that he may be prosecuted in the + Exchequer." It does not appear whether he offended again, + but here is sufficient cause of his son's animosity + against commissioners of excise, and of the allusion in + the Dictionary to the _special_ jurisdiction under which + that revenue is administered. The reluctance of the + justices to convict will not appear unnatural, when it is + recollected that Mr. Johnson was, _this very year_, chief + magistrate of the city.--_Note to Boswell, by Croker_, + vol. i. + +Johnson's mother was a woman of distinguished understanding and piety; +and to her must be ascribed those early impressions of religion upon +the mind of her son, from which the world afterwards derived so much +benefit. Johnson was the elder of two sons, the younger of whom died +in his infancy. + +Of Johnson's childhood at Lichfield it would not be difficult to +assemble many interesting particulars: from his listening to Dr. +Sacheverel, when he was but three years old; his being first taught to +read English by Dame Oliver, a widow who kept a school for young +children in Lichfield, and who gave him a present of gingerbread, and +said he was the best scholar she ever had; to his arrival in London +with the unfinished tragedy of _Irene_ in his pocket, and the prospect +of a slender engagement with Cave of the _Gentleman's Magazine_. One +thing is certain, that however unpromising were Johnson's early days +at Lichfield, he ever retained a warm affection for his native city, +and which, by a sudden apostrophe, under the word _Lich_, he +introduces with reverence into his immortal work, the ENGLISH +DICTIONARY: _Salve magna parens. (Boswell.)_ His last visit was in his +75th year when he writes to Boswell:--"I came to Lichfield, and found +every body glad enough to see me." + +The annexed view is of the date 1785, being from the first volume of +the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for that year. The building to the extreme +left is part of the market-cross, erected by dean Denton, but replaced +some years since by a light brick building. The church is that of St. +Mary, one of the three parishes into which Lichfield is divided: it is +a modern structure, of the year 1717, and upon the site of the +original church, said to have been founded in the year 885. In the +extreme distance of the Engraving is seen the Guild or Town Hall, a +neat stone edifice, adorned with the city arms, a bas-relief of the +cathedral, &c. + + * * * * * + + + +ANECDOTE GALLERY. + + * * * * * + + +CLASSICAL ANECDOTES OF CONTINENCE IN MAN. + + +Many noble instances are recorded by ancient historians of the +practice of this noble virtue; but in the reminiscences of our +youthful studies, there is no incident that occurs with more freshness +to the memory than that of the continence of Scipio Africanus, related +by Livy. It appears that the soldiers of Scipio's army, after the +taking of new Carthage, brought before him a young lady of great +beauty. Scipio inquiring concerning her country and parents, +ascertained that she was betrothed to Allutius, prince of the +Celtiberians. He immediately ordered her parents and bridegroom to be +sent for. In the meantime he was informed that the young prince was so +excessively enamoured of his bride, that he could not survive the loss +of her. For this reason, as soon as he appeared, and before he spoke +to her parents, he took great care to talk with him. "As you and I are +both young," said he, "we can converse together with greater freedom. +When your bride, who had fallen into the hands of my soldiers, was +brought before me, I was informed that you loved her passionately; +and, in truth, her perfect beauty left me no room to doubt of it. If I +were at liberty to indulge a youthful passion--I mean honourable and +lawful wedlock, and were not solely engrossed by the affairs of my +republic, I might have hoped to have been pardoned my excessive love +for so charming a mistress; but as I am situated, and have it in my +power, with pleasure I promote your happiness. Your future spouse has +met with as civil and modest treatment from me, as if she had been +amongst her own parents, who are soon to be yours too. I have kept her +pure, in order to have it in my power to make you a present worthy of +you and of me." The magnanimity of his behaviour did not close here, +for when the parents of the fair captive brought an immense sum of +money to ransom her, they were much surprised at Scipio's noble +conduct, and in the ecstacy of joy and gratitude, they pressed him to +accept it as a token of thankfulness. Scipio, unable to resist their +importunate solicitations, told them he accepted it; but ordering it +to be laid at his feet, he thus addressed Allutius:--"To the portion +you are to receive from your father-in-law, I add this, and beg you +would accept it as a nuptial present:" thus exhibiting in the whole +transaction a rare instance of modesty, disinterestedness, and +benevolence, well worthy of imperishable record, as a moral lesson for +mankind. + +When Araspes had commended the fair Panthea to Cyrus, as a beauty +worthy his admiration, he replied--"For that very reason I will not +see her, lest if by thy persuasion I should see her but once, she +herself might persuade me to see her often, and spend more time with +her than would be for the advantage of my own affairs."--Alexander the +Great would not trust his eyes in the presence of the beauteous Queen +of Persia, but kept himself out of the reach of her charms, and +treated only with her aged mother. These, as they were peculiar acts +of continence, so were they as absolutely checks of curiosity, which +never sleeps in youthful breasts when beauty elicits admiration. + +Cicero, treating of the many degrees of human commerce and society, +places matrimony in the first rank. In fact, marriage is not only a +state capable of the highest human felicity, but it is an institution +well calculated to destroy those rank and noxious weeds of the +passions which, by their pestiferous influence, spread misery and +death around the social hemisphere. Marriage is the basis of +community, and the cement of society;--it is, or ought to be, that +state of perfect friendship in which there are, according to +Pythagoras, "two bodies with but one soul." It is in the genial +atmosphere of this noble communion of sentiment and affection that the +virtue of continence comes forth in all its dazzling splendour. Milton +has touched this subject with so chaste and elegant a pen, that the +description, one would think, must confirm the husband in his +happiness, and reclaim the man of profligate and licentious +principles:-- + + "Hail, wedded love! mysterious law! true source + Of human offspring, sole propriety + In Paradise, of all things common else. + By thee adultrous lust was driven from men, + Among the beastial herds to range; by thee, + Founded in reason, loyal, just, and pure, + Relations dear, and all the charities + Of father, son, and brother, first were known. + Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets, + Whose bed is undefiled and chaste pronounc'd, + Present or past, as saints or patriarchs us'd. + Here Love his golden shafts employs; here lights + His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings: + Reigns here, and revels not in the bought smile + Of harlots, loveless, joyless, unendear'd, + Casual fruition; nor in court amours, + Mix'd dance, or wanton mask, or midnight ball; + Or serenade, which the starv'd lover sings + To his proud fair, best quitted with disdain." + +J.P. + + * * * * * + + +THE GREAT LORD THURLOW. + + +Of the eloquence of Lord Thurlow, and of his manner in debate, Mr. +Butler has given a striking account:--"At times Lord Thurlow was +superlatively great. It was the good fortune of the Reminiscent to +hear his celebrated reply to the Duke of Grafton, during the inquiry +into Lord Sandwich's administration of Greenwich Hospital. His Grace's +action and delivery, when he addressed the house, were singularly +dignified and graceful; but his matter was not equal to his manner. He +reproached Lord Thurlow with his plebeian extraction, and his recent +admission into the peerage: particular circumstances caused Lord +Thurlow's reply to make a deep impression on the Reminiscent. His +lordship had spoken too often, and began to be heard with a civil but +visible impatience. Under these circumstances he was attacked in the +manner we have mentioned. He rose from the woolsack, and advanced +slowly to the place from which the chancellor generally addresses the +house; then fixing on the duke the look of Jove when he grasps the +thunder, 'I am amazed,' he said, in a level tone of voice, 'at the +attack the noble duke has made on me. Yes, my lords,' considerably +raising his voice, 'I am amazed at his grace's speech. The noble duke +cannot look before him, behind him, or on either side of him, without +seeing some noble peer who owes his seat in this house to his +successful exertions in the profession to which I belong. Does he not +feel that it is as honourable to owe it to these, as to being the +accident of an accident? To all these noble lords the language of the +noble duke is applicable and as insulting as it is to myself. But I +don't fear to meet it single and alone. No one venerates the peerage +more than I do;--but, my lords, I must say that the peerage solicited +me, not I the peerage;--nay, more, I can say, and will say, that as a +peer of parliament, as speaker of this right honourable house, as +keeper of the great seal, as guardian of his majesty's conscience, as +lord high chancellor of England, nay, even in that character alone in +which the noble duke would think it an affront to be considered--as a +_Man_, I am at this moment as respectable--I beg leave to add, I am at +this time as much respected, as the proudest peer I now look down +upon.' The effect of this speech, both within the walls of parliament +and out of them, was prodigious. It gave Lord Thurlow an ascendancy in +the house which no chancellor had ever possessed: it invested him, in +public opinion, with a character of independence and honour; and this, +though he was ever on the unpopular side in politics, made him always +popular with the people." + +The legal talents and acquirements of Lord Thurlow have been the +subject of frequent panegyric; but it may, perhaps, be questioned, +whether in all cases those eulogiums were just. It has been said--but +with what truth it is difficult to form an opinion--that his lordship +was much indebted to Mr. Hargrave, for the learning by which his +judgments were sometimes distinguished, and that Mr. Hargrave received +a handsome remuneration for these services. "As lord chancellor," says +a writer who was personally acquainted with his lordship, "from a +well-placed confidence in Mr. Hargrave, who was indefatigable in his +service, he had occasion to give himself less trouble than any other +man in that high station. An old free-speaking companion of his, well +known at Lincoln's Inn, would sometimes say to me, 'I met the great +law lion this morning going to Westminster; but he was so busily +reading in the coach what his provider had supplied him with, that he +took no notice of me.'" + +The ardent zeal with which Lord Thurlow contested the great question +of the regency, led him, if we may credit the narrative of one who was +a party to the debate, to be guilty of an act of great disingenuousness. +Dr. Watson, the Bishop of Llandaff, in the course of a speech, in +which he supported the claims of the Prince of Wales, incidentally +cited a passage from Grotius, with regard to the definition of the +word _right_. "The chancellor, in his reply," says the bishop in his +memoirs, "boldly asserted that he perfectly well remembered the +passage I had quoted from Grotius, and that it solely respected +natural, but was inapplicable to civil, rights. Lord Loughborough, the +first time I saw him after the debate, assured me that before he went +to sleep that night he had looked into Grotius, and was astonished to +find that the chancellor, in contradicting me, had presumed on the +ignorance of the house, and that my quotation was perfectly correct. +What miserable shifts do great men submit to, in supporting their +parties! The Chancellor Thurlow," continues the bishop, "was an able +and upright judge, but as the speaker of the house of lords, he was +domineering and insincere. It was said of him, that in the cabinet he +opposed everything, proposed nothing, and was ready to support +anything. I remember Lord Camden's saying to me one night, when the +chancellor was speaking contrary, as he thought, to his own +conviction, 'There now! I could not do that: he is supporting what he +does not believe a word of.'" + +_Roscoe's Lives of Eminent Lawyers--Cabinet Cyclopaedia_. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + + * * * * * + + +TORCHLIGHT. + + +It is an interesting circumstance in the habits of the ancient Romans, +that their journeys were pursued very much in the night-time, and by +torchlight. Cicero, in one of his letters, speaks of passing through +the towns of Italy by night, as a serviceable scheme for some +political purpose, either of avoiding too much to publish his motions, +or of evading the necessity (else perhaps not avoidable) of drawing +out the party sentiments of the magistrates in the circumstances of +honour or neglect with which they might choose to receive him. His +words, however, imply that the practice was by no means an uncommon +one. And, indeed, from some passages in writers of the Augustan era, +it would seem that this custom was not confined to people of +distinction, but was familiar to a class of travellers so low in rank +as to be capable of abusing their opportunities of concealment for the +infliction of wanton injury upon the woods and fences which bounded +the margin of the high-road. Under the cloud of night and solitude, +the mischief-loving traveller was often in the habit of applying his +torch to the withered boughs of wood, or to artificial hedges: and +extensive ravages by fire, such as now happen not unfrequently in the +American woods (but generally from carelessness in scattering the +glowing embers of a fire, or even the ashes of a pipe), were then +occasionally the result of mere wantonness of mischief. Ovid +accordingly notices, as one amongst the familiar images of daybreak, +the half-burnt torch of the traveller; and, apparently, from the +position which it holds in his description, where it is ranked with +the most familiar of all circumstances in all countries--that of the +rural labourer going out to his morning tasks it must have been common +indeed: + + "Semiustamque facem vigilatâ nocte viator + Ponet; et ad solitum rusticus ibit opus." + +This occurs in the _Fasti_: elsewhere he notices it for its danger. + + "Ut facibus sepes ardent, cum forte viator + Vel nimis admovit, vel jam sub luce reliquit." + +He, however, we see, good-naturedly ascribes the danger to mere +carelessness, in bringing the torch too near to the hedge, or tossing +it away at daybreak. But Varro, a more matter-of-fact observer, does +not disguise the plain truth--that these disasters were often the +product of pure malicious frolic. For instance, in recommending a +certain kind of quickset fence, he insists upon it as one of its +advantages--that it will not readily ignite under the torch of the +mischievous wayfarer: "Naturale sepimentum," says he, "quod obseri +solet virgultis aut spinis, _praetereuntis lascivi non metuet facem_." +It is not easy to see the origin or advantage of this practice of +nocturnal travelling, (which must have considerably increased the +hazards of a journey,) excepting only in the heats of summer. It is +probable, however, that men of high rank and public station may have +introduced the practice by way of releasing corporate bodies in large +towns from the burdensome ceremonies of public receptions; thus making +a compromise between their own dignity and the convenience of the +provincial public. Once introduced, and the arrangements upon the road +for meeting the wants of travellers once adapted to such a practice, +it would easily become universal. It is, however, very possible that +mere horror of the heats of daytime may have been the original ground +for it. The ancients appear to have shrunk from no hardship as so +trying and insufferable as that of heat. And in relation to that +subject, it is interesting to observe the way in which the ordinary +use of language has accommodated itself to that feeling. Our northern +way of expressing effeminacy, is derived chiefly from the hardships of +cold. He that shrinks from the trials and rough experience of real +life in any department, is described by the contemptuous prefix of +_chimney-corner_, as if shrinking from the cold which he would meet on +coming out into the open air amongst his fellow men. Thus, a +_chimney-corner_ politician for a mere speculator or unpractical +dreamer. But the very same indolent habit of aerial speculation, which +courts no test of real life and practice, is described by the ancients +under the term _umbraticus_, or seeking the cool shade, and shrinking +from the heat. Thus an _umbraticus doctor_ is one who has no practical +solidity in his teaching. The fatigue and hardship of real life, in +short, is represented by the ancients under the uniform image of heat, +and by the moderns under that of cold. + +_Blackwood's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +"PROGRESS" OF CHARLES II. AND HIS COURT. + + +The accompanying memorandum relative to Charles II. and his Court, is +copied from an old Family Prayer Book, and from the date of the book, +(?) and appearance of the writing, there is little doubt of its +authenticity. + +W.H. + +"King Charles the Second, with his Queen Katharine, the Duke of York, +and his Duchess, and Prince Rupert, the Duke of Monmouth, and many +others of the nobility did lodge in Wickomb, the 30th day of +September, in the yeare 1663. They did come into the town about 4 of +the clock the same day. They came from Oxford. The King in his +progress going back again to London. The King did go out of the town +between v and vi of the clock the next morning, and was at his palace +at Whitehall before 9 of the clock in the morning. The Queen did go +out about viii of the clock, and dined at Uxbridge, and then went to +Whitehall. The King was lodged with his Queen at the _Catharine +Wheel_." + + * * * * * + + +FAT LIVING. + + +The vicarage of Wyburn, or Winsburn, Cumberland, is of the following +tempting value: Fifty shilling per annum, a new surplice, a pair of +clogs, and feed on the common for one goose. This favoured church +preferment is in the midst of a wild country, inhabited by shepherds. +The clerk keeps a pot-house opposite the church. The service is once a +fortnight; and when there is no congregation, the Vicar and Moses +regale themselves at the bar. + +D.P. + + * * * * * + + +BAD ALE. + + +In the time of the Saxons, it was a custom in the city of Chester, +that any person who brewed bad ale should either be placed in a +ducking-chair, and plunged into a pool of muddy water, or, in lieu of +that punishment, should forfeit four shillings. + +D.P. + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT TRADESMEN. + + +In _Domesday Book_ we find frequent mention of goldsmiths; and we know +the Anglo-Saxons had their goldsmiths, silversmiths, and coppersmiths. +Bowyers, or makers of cross-bows, are frequently mentioned--as are +carpenters, potters, bakers, and brewers, the last of which were +chiefly women. Both war and agriculture want the smith: hence his +importance among the Saxons. They were free from all other services, +on payment of a penny yearly for their forge. We also meet with +butchers, barbers, embroiderers, saddlers, parchment-makers, and +salt-makers. + +D.P. + + * * * * * + + +PHYSICIANS' FEES. + + +In a book called _Levamen Infirmi_, written in 1700, the usual fees to +physicians and surgeons at that time are thus stated:--"To a graduate +in physic, his due is about _10s._, though he commonly expects, or +demands, _20s_. Those that are only licensed physicians, their due is +no more than _6s. 9d._, though they commonly demand _10s_. A surgeon's +journey is _12d._ a mile, be his journey far or near. Ten groats to +set a bone broke, or out of joint; and for letting of blood, _1s_. The +cutting off or amputation of any limb is _5l._, but there is no +settled price for the cure." + +D.P. + + * * * * * + + +EVIL OMEN. + + +In the journals of the House of Commons, during the reign of Queen +Elizabeth, appears the following entry:--"This day a black raven came +into the House, which was considered as _malum omen_." + +D.P. + + * * * * * + + +HENRY VIII. AND QUEEN KATHERINE. + + +The following letter was sent by Queen Katherine to Henry VIII., after +she was put away by that prince, to make room for Anne Boleyn. It was +written from Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire, to which place Katherine +repaired after the divorce. It is dated 29th January, 1536. The bull +for the divorce, bearing date 1529, is to be found in the Life of +Henry VIII., written by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, 1649. + +J.F. + +_Gray's Inn._ + +"My most dear Lord, King, and Husband,--The houre of my death now +approaching, I cannot choose, but out of the love I beare you, to +advise you of your soule's health, which you ought to prefer before +all considerations of the world or flesh whatsoever. For which yet you +have cast me into many calamities, and yourself into many troubles. +But I forgive you all, and pray God to do soe likewise. For the rest, +I commend unto you Mary, our daughter, beseeching you to be a good +father to her, as I have heretofore desired. I must entreat you also +to respect my maids, and give them in marriage, which is not much, +they being but three, and to all my other servants, a year's pay +besides their due, lest otherwise they should be unprovided for. +Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things. +Farewell." + + * * * * * + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + + +SPEED AND DIET OF THE OSTRICH. + + +In the _Annals of Sporting_ it is observed:--"If we are to place +confidence in traveller's tales, the ostrich is swifter than the +Arabian horse. During the residence of Mr. Adamson at Pador, a French +factory on the south side of the river Niger, he says that two +ostriches, which had been about two years in the factory, afforded him +a sight of a very extraordinary nature. These gigantic birds, though +young, were of nearly the full size. They were (he continues) so tame, +that two little blacks mounted both together on the back of the +larger. No sooner did he feel their weight, than he began to run as +last as possible, and carried them several times round the +village,--and it was impossible to stop him, otherwise than by +obstructing the passage. This sight pleased me so much, that I wished +it to be repeated, and, to try their strength, directed a full-grown +negro to mount the smallest, and two others the larger. This burden +did not seem at all disproportioned to their strength. At first, they +went at a pretty sharp trot; but when they became heated a little, +they expanded their wings, as though to catch the wind, and moved with +such fleetness that they seemed scarcely to touch the ground. Most +people have, at one time or other, seen the partridge run, and +consequently must know that there is no man able to keep up with it; +and it is easy to imagine, that if this bird had a longer step, its +speed would be considerably augmented. The ostrich moves like the +partridge, with this advantage; and I am satisfied that those I am +speaking of would have distanced the fleetest race-horses that were +ever bred in England. It is true, that they would not hold out so long +as a horse; but they would, undoubtedly, be able to go over the space +in less time. I have frequently beheld this sight, which is capable of +giving one an idea of the prodigious strength of the ostrich, and of +showing what use it might be of, had we but the method of breaking and +managing it as we do the horse." + +The following interesting particulars, relating to the capability of +the ostrich to digest hard substances, is given by Mr. Fuller, in his +_Tour of the Turkish Empire_:--"An ostrich, belonging to an English +gentleman, arrived at Cairo from Upper Egypt, and afforded us an +opportunity of observing this curious peculiarity in the natural +history of that animal. The persons in charge of him observing his +great propensity for hard substances, mistook, unfortunately, for his +natural and ordinary diet, things that were only the objects of his +luxury; and while they gave him corn only occasionally, administered +every day a certain portion of iron, chiefly in the form of nails, to +which he occasionally added a knife or a razor, which he chanced to +pick up, or a few loose buttons, which he pulled from the coats of his +attendants. This metallic system did not however succeed; the poor +bird drooped gradually, his strength just lasted him to walk with a +stately step into the court of the Consulate, and he died in about an +hour afterwards. On a _post mortem_ examination, at which I was +present, about three pounds of iron were taken from his stomach. A +considerable portion of the hardest parts, such as the blades of the +knives and razor, was dissolved; and it is possible that the whole +might in time have been digested, as the death of the animal was in +part accidental, being immediately occasioned by a sharp +boat-builder's nail, three or four inches long, which he had +swallowed, and which had penetrated quite through the stomach, and +produced mortification." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND AIR ON PLANTS. + + +The importance of light and air to plants is well known. When +unassisted by these agents, plants lose their colour, and are deprived +of many of their properties. Colour is thus evidently produced by the +absorption of carbonic acid gas: and the colouring matter may be +detected by a powerful microscope, lodged in the cellular substance of +the leaf. How this colour is formed, and why it assumes different +tints in different plants, are, however, questions which it is at +present impossible to decide. The secretions of plants depend upon +light, and their flavour and nutritious qualities are materially +altered by their exclusion from it. The importance of this knowledge +to a practical horticulturist is proved by the fact, that sea-kale, so +well known as a wholesome and palatable vegetable, is not eatable in +its original state; and that any part of the cultivated plant, if +accidentally left exposed to the action of the air and light, becomes +tough, and so strong in flavour as to be extremely unpleasant to the +taste. Celery, also, in its native state, is poisonous; and it is only +the parts that are blanched that are perfectly fitted for the table. +Though colour is generally supposed to depend principally on the +plant's being exposed to the light, some portion of colouring matter +appears to be occasionally absorbed by the root. This colouring +substance is, however, never a deep green. Red and yellow, as may be +seen in forced rhubarb, &c., are the most common hues. Succulent +plants are less susceptible of the influence of light than any others. +As they are always natives of hot countries, nature, to prevent the +danger they would be exposed to from excessive evaporation, has +provided them with leaves almost destitute of pores; and the moisture +they absorb by their roots thus remains for the nourishment of the +plant. It is for this reason that cactuses, mesembryanthemums, and +other plants of a similar description, require very little water when +kept in pots. Scarcely any carbon is found in plants grown in the +dark. Many experiments have been tried to show the stimulus afforded +to vegetation by light; trees of the same species and variety have +been planted in the same garden and the same soil, but against walls +with different aspects, and differently situated with regard to shade. +The effect has been, not only a difference in the growth and +appearance of the tree, but also in the size, colour, and flavour of +the fruit which it produced. The contrast between plants grown in +hot-houses with wooden sash frames, and those grown in hot-houses with +iron sash-frames, has been found equally striking; the difference of +light between the two kinds of houses being as seven to twenty-seven, +or, sometimes, as three to twenty-three. Light is required at an early +period of vegetation; but, as its properties are to give strength and +flavour, it must be admitted with caution, as it is sometimes +injurious. Too much light renders the skin of fruits tough, and will +make cucumbers bitter. Bérard of Montpelier found that the ripening of +fruits is merely the turning the acid which they contain into sugar, +by exposure to the light; and that too much light and heat, before +they have attained their proper size, will bring on premature +ripening, and make them insipid. + +_Lindley's Lectures, reported in the Gardeners' Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +PLANTS IN ROOMS. + + +It is very difficult to make plants grow in rooms. They must +necessarily be deficient in the three important auxiliaries to +vegetable life, light, air, and moisture; the latter of which cannot +be maintained in apartments that are daily occupied. In large towns, +plants cannot thrive even in the open air, as the minute particles of +soot, which are constantly floating about, settle upon their leaves, +and choke up their pores. The gases produced by the combustion of +coal, &c., are also injurious to plants. Sulphurous acid, which +abounds in the atmosphere of London, turns the leaves yellow; and the +want of evaporation and absorption by the leaves prevents the proper +elaboration of the sap, and makes the trees stunted and unproductive. + +_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +THE CHLAMYPHORUS. + + +In our account of _the Nine-banded Armadillo_, at page 57 of the +present volume, we noticed the curious fact of the whole series of +armadillos offering a notable example of one genus being confined to a +particular country, viz. South America; of their standing perfectly +insulated, and exhibiting all the characters of a creation entirely +distinct, and, except as to the general character of mammiferous +quadrupeds, perfectly of its own kind. + +The nearest resemblance to the armadillo is, we believe, to be traced +in a very curious little quadruped which is occasionally to be seen in +the district of Cuyo, at the foot of the Andes, on the eastern side. +The first instance of its being brought to Europe was a specimen +preserved in spirit, which was added to the Museum of the Zoological +Society, about four years since, by the Hon. Capt. Percy, R.N. who +received it from Woodbine Parish, Esq. British consul at Buenos Ayres. +It had been previously known only by the figures and description given +by Dr. Harlan, in the Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New +York. His specimen was, however, deprived of the skeleton and internal +parts, which are perfect in the specimen, in one of the lower rooms of +the Museum in Bruton-street. It is called the _Chlamyphorus_, and may +be said to unite the habits of the mole with the appearance of the +armadillo. Its upper parts and sides are defended by a coat, or rather +cloak, of mail, of a coriaceous nature, but exceeding in inflexibility +sole-leather of equal thickness. This cloak does not adhere, like that +of the armadillo, to the whole surface, occupying the place of the +skin--but is applied over the skin and fur, forming an additional +covering, which is attached only along the middle of the back and on +the head. The hinder parts of the animal are also protected by it, to +cover which, it is suddenly bent downwards at nearly a right angle. +The tail is short, and is directed forwards along the under surface of +the body. Owing to the rigidity of the case which so nearly encloses +the animal, its motions must be limited almost entirely to those of +mere progression, and even for these, the structure of its fore-feet +is ill suited. The anterior limbs are, indeed, scarcely fitted for any +other purpose than that of burrowing. For this operation, the long and +broad claws with which they are furnished are truly admirably adapted; +and their sharp points and cutting lower edges must materially assist +in clearing through the entangled roots which the animal may encounter +in its subterranean travels. Its teeth resemble those of the sloth +more nearly than any other animal's; and it seems to represent, +beneath the earth, that well-known and singular inhabitant of +trees--for its motions, so far as can be conjectured from its +conformation, must also be executed with extreme slowness. + +[Illustration: (The Chlamyphorus.)] + +The dimensions of the specimen in the Museum are as follow: length +from tip of nose to root of tail, 5-1/2 inches; ditto tail, 1-1/4 in.; +height at shoulder, 1-3/4 in. A more detailed account of the internal +structure and economy of this extraordinary little animal will be +found in the _Zoological Journal_, vols. ii. and iii. + + * * * * * + + +ARROW ROOT. + + +[Mr. Andrew Mathews, of Lima, has communicated to the _Gardeners' +Magazine_ the following account of the Otaheitan method of preparing +the excellent farinaceous substance termed _Arrow Root_, so +extensively used in this country.] + +The root (_Tacca_ pinnatifida _Lin._, the _Pea_ of the natives) grows +in the greatest abundance in all the islands which we visited; viz., +in Otaheite, Eimeo, Huaheine, Raiatea, and Otaha. Its favourite +situation is on the sides and ridges of the hills which rise directly +from the sea, and which are generally covered with a coarse grass, on +a red sandy loam. The root is round, white, smooth, full of eyes like +a potato, and from 2 to 3 in. in diameter. The flower-stem rises +directly from the root, simple; from 2 to 4 ft. in height, as thick as +a man's finger, bearing its flowers in a loose simple umbel on the +summit; and, when large and full blown, it presents a beautiful and +delicate appearance. The leaf is large, tri-pinnatifid, segments +acute, of a rich shining green: it is subject to great variation in +the size of the segments, some leaves being much more cut, and having +the segments narrower, than others. When a sufficient quantity of the +roots is collected, they are taken to a running stream, or to the +sea-beach, and washed; the outer skin is carefully scraped off at the +same time with a shell; and those who are particular in the +preparation scrape out even the eyes. The root is then reduced to a +pulp, by rubbing it up and down a kind of rasp, made as follows:--A +piece of board, about 3 in. wide, and 12 ft. long, is procured, upon +which some coarse twine, made of the fibres of the cocoa nut husk, is +tightly and regularly wound, and which affords an admirable substitute +for a coarse rasp. The pulp, when prepared, is washed first with salt +or sea water, through a sieve made of the fibrous web which protects +the young frond of the cocoa-nut palm; and the starch, or arrow-root, +being carried through with the water, is received in a wooden trough +made like the small canoes used by the natives. The starch is allowed +to settle for a few days; the water is then strained, or, more +properly, poured off, and the sediment rewashed with fresh (or river) +water. This washing is repeated three times with spring water; after +which the deposit is made into balls of about 7 or 8 in. in diameter, +and in this state dried in the sun for twelve or twenty-four hours. +The balls are then broken, and the powder spread for some days in the +sun to dry; after which it is carefully wrapped in _tapa_ (the native +cloth), and put into baskets, and hung up in the houses. The natural +indolence of the people is so great, and their avarice such, that but +few of them will give the arrow-root sufficient time to dry, if they +have an opportunity of parting with it, which I suspect was the case +with that sent to England some few years back by the missionaries. So +abundant is the root, that several tons might be prepared annually by +proper management: as it is, there is a considerable quantity +prepared; it being not only eaten by the natives and strangers on the +island, but also by the crews of the vessels that touch there. + +At present, when the roots are taken up, the only precaution used to +secure a crop the following year is to throw the smaller roots back +into the holes from which they were taken, and to leave them to +chance. I have no doubt that, with proper care and cultivation, any +quantity might be produced. When we visited the island, we purchased +the prepared arrow-root at _2d._ per lb., and a missionary there +informed us, that he would engage to procure any given quantity at +_1-1/2d._ per lb., which is, I believe, much less than it can be +purchased at either in the East or the West Indies. Its quality is +excellent; I should say equal to that of the East Indies, and far +superior to that of Chile, with which I have since my return, had an +opportunity of comparing it. + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +JULIET'S TOMB. + + + "In fair Verona, where we lay our scene." + +The traditionary story of _Romeo and Juliet_ is fact. The animosities +of the houses of Montagu and the Capulet are matter of the history of +Verona, where, in olden times, Pliny and Catullus were born. Juliet +was buried in the _soutterain_ of Fermo Maggiore, which belonged to an +order of Franciscan friars, and was founded in 1230. Some years ago +the monastery was burnt down, and the vaults and burying-place reduced +to ruins. At this time the stone sarcophagus, the sepulchre of Juliet, +was removed, and placed where it now is, in the entrance gateway of +the monastery. The upper edge of it was entire when it was first put +here, but has since been mutilated, as is represented in the Cut, for +scraps to carry away as relics. Thus noted Mr. Duppa, a few years +since; but we have other pilgrims and fair pens to establish the +identity. + +[Illustration: (_Juliet's Tomb._)] + +Lord Byron, in a postscript to one of his letters from Verona, dated +Nov. 7, 1816, says, "I have been over Verona. Of the truth of Juliet's +story, they seem tenacious to a degree, insisting on the fact--giving +a 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. I have brought away a few pieces of the +granite, to give to my daughter and my nieces."[5] + + [5] Moore's Life of Byron, vol. ii. 4to. p. 50. + +Mrs. Maria Callcott writes, in 1829:--"The tomb now shown as that of +Juliet, is an ancient sarcophagus of red granite: it has suffered from +the fire which burnt down the church, where it was originally +placed."[6] + + [6] See a sketch accompanying an Engraving of Verona, in vol. + xiv. of the _Mirror_, p. 321. + +Lastly, the accomplished authoress of _Characteristics of Women_ adds +her testimony, and illustrates the fondness with which the relics of +Juliet are cherished, by noting that she met in Italy a gentleman, who +being then "_dans le genre romantique_," wore a fragment of Juliet's +tomb set in a ring.[7] + + [7] See p. 118 of the present volume. + + * * * * * + + +MONASTERIES. + + +It is a strange error to conceive that English monasteries, before the +dissolution, fed the indigent part of the nation, and gave that +general relief which the poor laws are intended to afford. + +_Hallam._ + + * * * * * + + +PIRACY. + + +Mr. Hallam makes the following excellent observations upon the +frequency of piracy in the middle ages:--"A pirate, in a well-armed, +quick-sailing vessel, must feel, I suppose, the enjoyments of his +exemption from control more exquisitely than any other free-booter; +and, darting along the bosom of the ocean, under the impartial +radiance of the heavens, may deride the dark concealments and hurried +nights of the forest robber. His occupation is indeed extinguished by +the civilization of later ages, or confined to distant climates. But +in the 13th or 14th centuries, a rich vessel was never secure from +attack; and neither restitution nor punishment of the criminals was to +be obtained from governments, who sometimes feared the plunderer, and +sometimes connived at the offence." + + * * * * * + + +GOOD EFFECTS OF SALT. + + +Salt appears to be a necessary and universal stimulus to animated +beings; and its effects upon the vegetable as well as animal kingdom +have furnished objects of the most interesting inquiry to the +physiologist, the chemist, the physician, and the agriculturist. It +appears to be a natural stimulant to the digestive organs of all +warm-blooded animals, and that they are instinctively led to immense +distances in pursuit of it. This is strikingly exemplified in the +avidity with which animals in a wild state seek the salt-pans of +Africa and America, and in the difficulties they will encounter to +reach them: this cannot arise from accident or caprice, but from a +powerful instinct, which, beyond control, compels them to seek, at all +risks, that which is salubrious. To those who are anxious to gain +further information upon this curious subject, I would recommend the +perusal of a work entitled "_Thoughts on the Laws relating to Salt_," +by Samuel Parkes, Esq., and a small volume by my late lamented friend +Sir Thomas Bernard, on the "_Case of the Salt Duties, with Proofs and +Illustrations_." We are all sensible of the effect of salt on the +human body; we know how unpalatable fresh meat and vegetables are +without it. During the course of my professional practice, I have had +frequent opportunities of witnessing the evils which have attended an +abstinance from salt. In my examination before a committee of the +House of Commons in 1818, appointed for the purpose of inquiring into +the laws respecting the salt duties, I stated, from my own experience, +the bad effects of a diet of unsalted fish, and the injury which the +poorer classes, in many districts, sustained in their health from an +inability to procure this essential condiment. I had some years ago a +gentleman of rank and fortune under my care, for a deranged state of +the digestive organs, accompanied with extreme emaciation. I found +that, from some cause which he could not explain, he had never eaten +any salt with his meals: I enforced the necessity of his taking it in +moderate quantities, and the recovery of his digestive powers was soon +evinced in the increase of his strength and condition. One of the ill +effects produced by an unsalted diet is the generation of worms. Mr. +Marshall has published the case of a lady who had a natural antipathy +to salt, and was in consequence most dreadfully infested with worms +during the whole of her life.--(_London Medical and Physical Journal_, +vol. xxix. No. 231.) In Ireland, where, from the bad quality of the +food, the lower classes are greatly infested with worms, a draught of +salt and water is a popular and efficacious anthelmintic. Lord +Somerville, in his Address to the Board of Agriculture, gave an +interesting account of the effects of a punishment which formerly +existed in Holland. "The ancient laws of the country ordained men to +be kept on bread alone, unmixed with salt, as the severest punishment +that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate. The effect +was horrible; these wretched criminals are said to have been devoured +by worms engendered in their own stomachs." The wholesomeness and +digestibility of our bread are undoubtedly much promoted by the +addition of salt which it so universally receives. + +_Dr. Paris--quoted in the Doctor._ + + * * * * * + + +PROGRESS OF THE SCIENCES. + + +The first savages collected in the forests a few nourishing fruits, a +few salutary roots, and thus supplied their most immediate wants. The +first shepherds observed that the stars moved in a regular course, and +made use of them to guide their journeys across the plains of the +desert. Such was the origin of the mathematical and physical sciences. +Once convinced that it could combat nature by the means which she +herself afforded, genius reposed no more, it watched her without +relaxation, it made incessantly new conquests over her, all of them +distinguished by some improvement in the situation of our race. From +that time a succession of conducting minds, faithful depositories of +the attainments already made, constantly occupied in connecting them, +in vivifying them by means of each other, have conducted us, in less +than forty ages, from the first essays of rude observers to the +profound calculations of Newton and La Place, to the learned +classifications of Linnaeus and Jussieu. This precious inheritance, +perpetually increasing, brought from Chaldea into Egypt, from Egypt +into Greece, concealed during ages of disaster and of darkness +recovered in more fortunate times, unequally spread among the nations +of Europe, has everywhere been followed by wealth and power; the +nations which have reaped it are become the mistresses of the world; +such as have neglected it, are fallen into weakness and obscurity. + +_Curtis's Lectures on the Ear._ + + * * * * * + + +THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. + + +Daily observation demonstrates that the human structure, even in its +most perfect formation is liable to lesions of organization and +derangment of function, producing that state of the system in which +its usual actions or perceptions are either interrupted or attended +with pain--this state is called disease. Every animal carries within +itself the germ of its own destruction, or, in other words, it is +formed for a limited existence. Many diseases, therefore arise +spontaneously, or without any assignable external cause; but many more +are produced by causes, over which we have some control, and perhaps +the chief source of the physical ills to which we are liable, is the +deviation we make from the simplicity of nature. The injurious +influence that domestication has upon the health of the lower animals +is very strikingly apparent; and in proportion as their subjugation is +more complete, and their manner of life differs more widely from that +which is natural to them, so are their diseases more numerous and +severe. The diseases of our more valuable domestic animals are +sufficiently numerous and important to employ a particular class of +men; and the horse alone has professional assistance appropriated to +him. Men of education and talent have devoted themselves to the +investigation of the diseases of this noble and useful creature. The +poor little canary birds confined in their prisons, are very liable to +disease, more especially inflammation of the bowels, asthma, epilepsy, +and soreness of the bill. No animal deviates so far from the +simplicity of nature in its habits, as man; none is placed under the +influence of so many circumstances, calculated to act unfavourably +upon the frame. His morbid affections are hence abundant and +diversified, as may be seen by referring to the different nosological +arrangements; these long catalogues of diseases affording strong +evidence that man has not carefully followed that way of life which +has been marked out for him by nature. The crowded state of the +inhabitants of large cities; the injurious effects of an atmosphere +loaded with impurities; sedentary occupations; various unwholesome +avocations; intemperance in food; stimulating drinks; high-seasoned +and indigestible viands (and these taken hastily in the short +intervals allowed by the hurry and turmoil of business); the constant +inordinate activity of the great central circulation, kept up by the +double impulse of luxurious habits and high mental exertions; the +violent passions by which we are agitated and enervated; the various +disappointments and vexations to which all are liable, reacting upon +and disturbing the whole frame; the delicacy and sensibility to +external influences, caused by heated rooms, too warm clothing, and +other indulgencies; are all contrary to the voice of nature, and they +produce those morbid conditions of the system which a more simple and +uniform mode of living would prevent. Our associates of the animal +kingdom do not escape the influence of such causes: the mountain +shepherd and his dog are equally hardy, and form an instructive +contrast between a delicate lady and her lap-dog; the extreme point of +degeneracy and imbecility of which each race is susceptible. In the +early ages of society man enjoyed long life, his manner of living was +simple, his food, habitation, and pursuits, were all calculated to +fortify the body, and no anxious cares disturbed his mind. + +_Curtis's Essay on the Deaf and Dumb._ + + * * * * * + + +REFORM OF CRIMINAL LAW. + + +How noble and pure was the ambition of Sir Samuel Romilly we may learn +from the following beautiful passages, where he has explained the +motives by which he was actuated in his proposed reforms of the +criminal law. "It was not," said he, "from light motives---it was from +no fanciful notions of benevolence, that I have ventured to suggest +any alteration in the criminal law of England. It has originated in +many years' reflection, and in the long-established belief that a +mitigation of the severe penalties of our law will be one of the most +effectual modes to preserve and advance the humanity and justice for +which this country is so eminently distinguished. Since the last +session of parliament, I have repeatedly reconsidered the subject: I +am more and more firmly convinced of the strength of the foundation +upon which I stand; and even if I had doubted my own conclusions, I +cannot forget the ability with which I was supported within these +walls; nor can be insensible to the humane and enlightened philosophy +by which, in contemplative life, this advancement of kindness has been +recommended. I cannot, therefore, hastily abandon a duty which, from +my success in life, I owe to my profession--which, as a member of this +house, I owe to you and to my country--and which, as a man blessed +with more than common prosperity, I owe to the misguided and +unfortunate." + +_Roscoe's Lives of Eminent Lawyers._ + + * * * * * + + +AN UPRIGHT JUDGE. + + +The character of Sir Matthew Hale as a judge was splendidly +pre-eminent. His learning was profound; his patience unconquerable; +his integrity stainless. In the words of one who wrote with no +friendly feeling towards him, "his voice was oracular, and his person +little less than adored." The temper of mind with which he entered +upon the duties of the bench is best exemplified in the following +resolutions, which appear to be composed on his being raised to the +dignity of chief baron at the restoration. + +"Things necessary to be continually had in remembrance:-- + +"1. That in the administration of justice I am intrusted for God, the +king, and country; and therefore, + +"2. That it be done--1. uprightly; 2. deliberately; 3. resolutely. + +"3. That I rest not upon my own understanding or strength, but implore +and rest upon the direction and strength of God. + +"4. That in the exertion of justice I carefully lay aside my own +passions, and not give way to them, however provoked. + +"5. That I be wholly intent upon the business I am about, remitting +all other cares and thoughts as unseasonable and interruptions. + +"6. That I suffer not myself to be pre-possessed with any judgment at +all, till the whole business and both parties be heard. + +"7. That I never engage myself in the beginning of any cause, but +reserve myself unprejudiced till the whole be heard. + +"8. That in business capital, though my nature prompt me to pity, yet +to consider there is a pity also due to the country. + +"9. That I be not too rigid in matters purely conscientious, where all +the harm is diversity of judgment. + +"10. That I be not biassed with compassion to the poor, or favour to +the rich, in point of justice. + +"11. That popular or court applause or distaste have no influence in +anything I do, in point of distribution of justice. + +"12. Not to be solicitous what men will say or think, so long as I +keep myself exactly according to the rule of justice. + +"13. If in criminals it be a measuring cast, to incline to mercy and +acquittal. + +"14. In criminals that consist merely in words, where no more harm +ensues, moderation is no injustice. + +"15. In criminals of blood, if the fact be evident, severity is +justice. + +"16. To abhor all private solicitations, of what kind soever, and by +whomsoever, in matters depending. + +"17. To charge my servants--1. Not to interpose in any matter +whatsoever; 2. Not to take more than their known fees; 3. Not to give +any undue precedence to causes; 4. Not to recommend counsel. + +"18. To be short and sparing at meals, that I may be the fitter for +business." + +Under the influence of resolutions like these, the conduct of Hale on +the bench appears to have been almost irreproachable. + +_Ibidem._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +DRYBURGH ABBEY. + + + 'Twas morn--but not the ray which falls the summer boughs among, + When beauty walks in gladness forth, with all her light and song; + 'Twas morn--but mist and cloud hung deep upon the lonely vale, + And shadows, like the wings of death, were out upon the gale. + + For He whose spirit woke the dust of nations into life-- + That o'er the waste and barren earth spread flowers and fruitage rife-- + Whose genius, like the sun, illumed the mighty realms of mind-- + Had fled for ever from the fame, love, friendship of mankind! + + To wear a wreath in glory wrought his spirit swept afar, + Beyond the soaring wing of thought, the light of moon or star; + To drink immortal waters, free from every taint of earth-- + To breathe before the shrine of life, the source whence worlds had birth! + + There was wailing on the early breeze, and darkness in the sky, + When, with sable plume, and cloak, and pall, a funeral train swept by; + Methought--St. Mary, shield us well!--that other forms moved there, + Than those of mortal brotherhood, the noble, young, and fair! + + Was it a dream?--how oft, in sleep, we ask, "Can this be true?" + Whilst warm imagination paints her marvels to our view;-- + Earth's glory seems a tarnish'd crown to that which we behold, + When dreams enchant our sight with things whose meanest garb is gold! + + Was it a dream?--methought the "dauntless Harold" passed me by-- + The proud "Fitz-James," with martial step, and dark, intrepid eye; + That "Marmion's" haughty crest was there, a mourner for his sake; + And she, the bold, the beautiful, sweet "Lady of the Lake." + + The "Minstrel," whose _last lay_ was o'er, whose broken harp lay low, + And with him glorious "Waverley," with glance and step of wo; + And "Stuart's" voice rose there, as when, 'midst fate's disastrous war, + He led the wild, ambitious, proud, and brave "Ich Ian Vohr." + + Next, marvelling at his sable suit, the "Dominie" stalk'd past, + With "Bertram," "Julia" by his side, whose tears were flowing fast; + "Guy Mannering," too, moved there, o'erpowered by that afflicting sight; + And "Merrilies," as when she wept on Ellangowan's height. + + Solemn and grave, "Monkbarns" approached, amidst that burial line; + And "Ochiltree" leant o'er his staff, and mourn'd for "Auld lang syne!" + Slow march'd the gallant "McIntyre," whilst "Lovel" mused alone; + For _once_, "Miss Wardour's" image left that bosom's faithful throne! + + With coronach, and arms reversed, forth came "MacGregor's" clan-- + Red "Dougal's" cry peal'd shrill and wild--"Rob Roy's" bold brow + look'd wan; + The fair "Diana" kissed her cross, and bless'd its sainted ray; + And "Wae is me!" the "Bailie" sighed, "that I should see this day!" + + Next rode in melancholy guise, with sombre vest and scarf, + Sir Edward, Laird of Ellieslaw, the far-renowned "Black Dwarf;" + Upon his left, in bonnet blue, and white locks flowing free-- + The pious sculptor of the grave--stood "Old Mortality!" + + "Balfour of Burley," of "Claverhouse," the "Lord of Evandale," + And stately "Lady Margaret," whose woe might naught avail! + Fierce "Bothwell" on his charger black, as from the conflict won; + And pale "Habakuk Mucklewrath," who cried, "God's will be done!" + + And like a rose, a young white rose, that blooms mid wildest scenes, + Passed she,--the modest, eloquent, and virtuous "Jeanie Deans;" + And "Dumbedikes," that silent laird, with love too _deep_ to _smile_, + And "Effie," with her noble friend, the good "Duke of Argyle." + + With lofty brow, and bearing high, dark "Ravenswood" advanced, + Who on the false "Lord Keeper's" mien with eye indignant glanced; + Whilst graceful as a lonely fawn, 'neath covert close and sure, + Approached the beauty of all hearts--the "Bride of Lammermoor!" + + Then "Annot Lyle," the fairy queen of light and song, stepped near, + The "Knight of Ardenvohr," and _he_, the gifted Hieland Seer: + "Dalgetty," "Duncan," "Lord Monteith," and "Ranald," met my view-- + The hapless "Children of the Mist," and bold "Mhich-Connel-Dhu!" + + On swept "Bois Guilbert"--"Front de Boeuf"--"De Bracy's" plume of woe; + And "Coeur de Lion's" crest shone near the valiant "Ivanhoe;" + While soft as glides a summer cloud "Rowena" closer drew, + With beautiful "Rebecca"--peerless daughter of the Jew! + + Still onward like the gathering night advanced that funeral train-- + Like billows when the tempest sweeps across the shadowy main; + Where'er the eager gaze might reach, in noble ranks were seen, + Dark plume, and glittering mail and crest, and woman's beauteous mien! + + A sound thrilled through that lengthening host! methought the vault + was closed, + Where in his glory and renown fair Scotia's bard reposed!-- + A sound thrilled through that length'ning host! and forth my vision fled! + But, ah! that mournful dream proved true,--the immortal Scott was dead! + +_Literary Gazette._ + + * * * * * + + +LORD BYRON'S "LOVE." + +_From Lady Blessington's Conversations._ + + +Of love he had strange notions: he said that most people had _le +besoin d'aimer_, and that with this _besoin_ the first person who fell +in one's way contented one. He maintained that those who possessed the +most imagination, poets for example, were most likely to be constant +in their attachments, as with the _beau ideal_ in their heads, with +which they identified the object of their attachment, they had nothing +to desire, and viewed their mistresses through the brilliant medium of +fancy, instead of the common one of the eyes. "A poet, therefore (said +Byron), endows the person he loves with all the charms with which his +mind is stored, and has no need of actual beauty to fill up the +picture. Hence he should select a woman, who is rather good-looking +than beautiful, leaving the latter for those who, having no +imagination, require actual beauty to satisfy their tastes. And after +all (said he), where is the actual beauty that can come up to the +bright 'imaginings' of the poet? where can one see women that equal +the visions, half mortal, half angelic, that people his fancy? Love, +who is painted blind (an allegory that proves the uselessness of +beauty), can supply all deficiencies with his aid; we can invest her +whom we admire with all the attributes of loveliness, and though time +may steal the roses from her cheek, and the lustre from her eye, still +the original _beau ideal_ remains, filling the mind and intoxicating +the soul with the overpowering presence of loveliness. I flatter +myself that my Leila, Zuleika, Gulnare, Medora, and Haidee will always +vouch for my taste in beauty: these are the bright creations of my +fancy, with rounded forms, and delicacy of limbs, nearly so +incompatible as to be rarely if ever united; for where, with some rare +exceptions, do we see roundness of contour accompanied by lightness, +and those fairy hands and feet that are at once the type of beauty and +refinement. I like to shut myself up, close my eyes, and fancy one of +the creatures of my imagination, with taper and rose-tipped fingers, +playing with my hair, touching my cheek, or resting its little +snowy-dimpled hand on mine. I like to fancy the fairy foot, round and +pulpy, but small to diminutiveness, peeping from beneath the drapery +that half conceals it, or moving in the mazes of the dance. I detest +thin women; and unfortunately all, or nearly all plump women, have +clumsy hands and feet, so that I am obliged to have recourse to +imagination for my beauties, and there I always find them. I can so +well understand the lover leaving his mistress that he might write to +her, I should leave mine, not to write to, but to think of her, to +dress her up in the habiliments of my ideal beauty, investing her with +all the charms of the latter, and then adoring the idol I had formed. +You must have observed that I give my heroines extreme refinement, +joined to great simplicity and want of education. Now, refinement and +want of education are incompatible, at least I have ever found them +so: so here again, you see, I am forced to have recourse to +imagination, and certainly it furnishes me with creatures as unlike +the sophisticated beings of civilized existence, as they are to the +still less tempting, coarse realities of vulgar life. In short, I am +of opinion that poets do not require great beauty in the objects of +their affection; all that is necessary for them is a strong and +devoted attachment from the object, and where this exists, joined to +health and good temper, little more is required, at least in early +youth, though with advancing years, men become more _exigeants_." +Talking of the difference between love in early youth and in maturity, +Byron said, "that, like the measles, love was most dangerous when it +came late in life." + +_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +UMBRELLAS. + +_By one of the year 1750._ + + +Umbrellas, in my youth, were not ordinary things; few but the +macaronis of the day, as the dandies were then called, would venture +to display them. For a long while it was not usual for men to carry +them without incurring the brand of effeminacy, and they were vulgarly +considered as the characteristics of a person whom the mob hugely +disliked, namely, a mincing Frenchman! At first, a single umbrella +seems to have been kept at a coffee-house for some extraordinary +occasion--lent as a coach or chair in a heavy shower--but not commonly +carried by the walkers. The Female Tatler advertises, "the young +gentleman belonging to the custom-house who, in fear of rain, borrowed +_the umbrella from Wilks' Coffee-House_, shall the next time be +welcome to the maid's _pattens_." An umbrella carried by a man was +obviously then considered as extreme effeminacy. As late as in 1778, +one John Macdonald, a footman, who has written his own life, informs +us that when he used "a fine silk umbrella, which he had brought from +Spain, he could not with any comfort to himself use it; the people +calling out 'Frenchman! why don't you get a coach?'" The fact was that +the hackney-coachmen and the chairmen, joining with the true _esprit +de corps_, were clamorous against this portentous rival. This footman, +in 1778, gives us further information. "At this time there were no +umbrellas wore in London, except in noblemen's and gentlemen's houses, +where there was a large one hung in the hall to hold over a lady or a +gentleman, if it rained between the door and their carriage." His +sister was compelled to quit his arm one day from the abuse he drew +down on himself and his umbrella. But he adds, that "he persisted for +three months till they took no further notice of this novelty. +Foreigners began to use theirs, and then the English. Now it is become +a great trade in London." This footman, if he does not arrogate too +much to his own confidence, was the first man distinguished by +carrying and using a silken umbrella. He is the founder of a most +populous school. The state of our population might now in some degree +be ascertained by the number of umbrellas. + +_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +GIPSIES. + + +Gipsies in times of yore were the scape-goats of the peasantry: if +"cock" were "purloined" or any other rural mischief done by night, it +was immediately fathered upon a neighbouring tent of "the dark race." +No further evidence was required than the pot boiling on stick +transverse: no one hesitated to conclude that the said pot contained +the _corpus delicti_: that the individual missing cock was there +parboiling, and that the swarthy race lolling around the fire, or +peeping from beneath the canvass roof, were resting from the unholy +labours of the night. Crime, however, has made such rapid marches that +it has long been seen that the gipsies could not perpetrate the whole +of it: and now it is pretty clear they are, and probably have always +been, innocent of the whole of it. It is an event of extreme rarity to +see a gipsy in a court of justice, and we have reason to believe that +it has come to pass that farmers entertain a belief that the tent of +the wanderer, with its nightly blaze and its dark shadows flitting +about it, is a protection to their property. There is every +probability in favour of the justice of this character. The life of +the gipsy is not unlucrative: his wants are few and coarse, and the +calls upon him are scarcely any. He pays no rent: he is exempt from +taxes: he spends nothing in the luxury of attire: no man can bring him +in a bill. Being himself a mender and universal repairer, he is under +the necessity of demanding no man's aid. His horse or his ass feeds on +Nature's common, the hedge-side, the waste corner, the forest thicket, +well known and long haunted by him and his tribe. Gipsies are subject +to few diseases: they seldom ask the doctor's assistance but for one +friendly office, and that serves a man his lifetime. The open air, the +inconstancy of their labour, the sufficiency of their food, and the +quantity of healthy exercise, necessarily render these Arabs of +civilization the healthiest part of the people. As the monks of old +always managed to select a happy site for their establishments, so +does the gipsy always contrive to fix upon a pleasant and healthy spot +for the pitching of his tent. It is sure to be near a brook for the +supply of fresh water for the pot, and a washing-place for the family +rags: it generally lies under the shelter of some umbrageous tree, it +will always be found to have a view of the road, and invariably placed +on the edge of some nice short and sweet morsel of grass for the +recreation of the quadrupeds of the party. + +The character of the gipsy has not been well understood. It is +altogether oriental: he is quiet, patient, sober, long suffering, +pleasant in speech, indolent but handy, far from speculative, and yet +good at succedaneum: when his anger is kindled, it descends like +lightning: unlike his dog, his wrath gives no notice by grumbling: he +blazes up like one of his own fires of dried fern. Quarrels do not +often take place among them, but when they do, they are dreadful. The +laws of the country in which they sojourn have so far banished the use +of knives from among them that they only grind them, otherwise these +conflicts would always be fatal. They fight like tigers with tooth and +nail, and knee and toe, and seem animated only with the spirit of +daemonism. Luckily the worst weapon they use is a stick, and, if the +devil tempts, a hedge-stake. + +We have been put in mind to say something of the gipsies by having +witnessed the consequences of one of these affrays, which has brought +us still better acquainted with these singular people. A quarrel +originating in jealousy had produced results of the most serious +nature. A blow on the head with a tent-pole had evidently produced +concussion of the brain if not fracture, and the victim was lying on +his straw bed in a state of profound coma. The tent was tripartite, +being formed of three main tops meeting in a centre: one was sacred to +the women--the gynekeion of the Greeks, the anderoon of the Persians: +in the others were collected the whole faction of the dying man. Nine +or ten swarthy but handsome countenances were anxiously watching the +struggling breath of their unhappy comrade--some sobbing, some +grief-stricken, some sombre, none savage. An old crone was +administering ineffectual milk, perhaps the very woman who had found +the same fluid so nutritious some thirty years ago. Before, or rather, +under her lay as noble a form as nature ever moulded, with a fine +dark, but thoroughly Indian face, covered with the clammy sweat of +apoplectic death. There was no want of light, the fire at the mouth +every now and then sent in a volume of illumination, and when the +medical men arrived there was scarcely a hand that did not contain a +candle in the hope of aiding their investigation. The man died on the +fourth day: the surgeons were compelled to mangle him in their search +for a fracture; after his death justice demanded a still further +investigation of the corpse: and yet during all these trying +circumstances an important witness can declare that the behaviour of +the supposed lawless people was not merely decent--it was more than +exemplary--it was delicate, tender, nay, refined; it was moreover +exempt from prejudice, at the same time that it was full of feeling. +Were the details in place here, it would perhaps be allowed that few +brighter examples of friendship and right feeling were to be found +than in this instance occurred among the "dark race," as they call +themselves. + +_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + * * * * * + + +ARROGANCE. + + +Owen Feltham says: "I never yet found pride in a noble nature, nor +humility in an unworthy mind. It may seem strange to an inconsiderate +eye, that such a poor violet virtue should ever dwell with honour; and +that such an aspiring fume as pride is, should ever sojourn with a +constant baseness. It is sure, we seldom find it, but in such as being +conscious of their own deficiency, think there is no way to get honour +but by a bold assuming it. If you search for high and strained +carriages, you shall for the most part meet with them in low men. +Arrogance is a weed that ever grows in a dunghill. It is from the +rankness of that soil that she hath her height and spreadings. Witness +clowns, fools, and fellows that from nothing are lifted some few steps +upon fortune's ladder; where, seeing the glorious representment of +honour above, they are so greedy of embracing, that they strive to +leap thither at once: so by overreaching themselves in the way, they +fail of the end, and fall. And all this happiness, either for want of +education, which should season their minds with the generous precepts +of morality; or, which is more powerful, example; or else for lack of +a discerning judgment, which will tell them that the best way thither, +is to go about by humility and desert. Otherwise the river of contempt +runs betwixt them and it: and if they go not by these passages, they +must of necessity either turn back with shame, or suffer in the +desperate venture. Of trees, I observe, God hath chosen the vine, a +low plant that creeps upon the helpful wall. Of all beasts, the soft +and patient lamb. Of all fowls, the mild and gall-less dove. Christ is +the rose of the field, and the lily of the valley. When God appeared +to Moses, it was not in the lofty cedar, nor the sturdy oak, nor the +spreading plane; but in a bush, an humble, slender, abject shrub: as +if he would, by these elections, check the conceited arrogance of man. +Nothing procureth love like humility; nothing hate, like pride. The +proud man walks among daggers pointed against him; whereas the humble +and the affable, have the people for their guard in dangers. To be +humble to our superiors, is duty; to our equals, courtesy; to our +inferiors, nobleness: which for all her lowness, carries such a sway +that she may command their souls. But we must take heed, we express it +not in unworthy actions. For then leaving virtue, it falls into +disdained baseness, which is the undoubtable badge of one that will +betray society. So far as a man, both in words and deeds, may be free +from flattery and unmanly cowardice, he may be humble with +commendation; but surely no circumstance can make the expression of +pride laudable. If ever it be, it is when it meets with audacious +pride, and conquers. Of this good it may then be author, that the +affronting man, by his own folly, may learn the way to his duty and +wit. Yet this I cannot so well call pride, as an emulation of the +divine justice; which will always vindicate itself upon presumptuous +ones, and is indeed said to fight against no sin but pride." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + +_Curious Marriage_.--In the church of St. Martin, formerly called St. +Crosse, Leicester, the marriage register contains an entry of the +names of Thomas Tilsey and Ursula Russel, the first of whom being +"deofe and also dombe," it was agreed by the bishop, mayor, and other +gentlemen of the town, that certain signs and actions of the +bridegroom should be admitted instead of the usual words enjoined by +the Protestant marriage ceremony: "First he embraced her with his +armes, and tooke her by the hande, put a ringe upon her finger, and +laide his hande upon his harte, and upon her harte, and helde up his +handes towards heaven; and, to shew his continuance to dwell with her +to his lyves ende, he did it by closing of his eyes with his hands, +and digging out the earthe with his fete, and pullinge as though he +would ringe a bell, with divers other signes approved." + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + +_Fanny Kemble Tulip_.--This famous tulip which was sold a few weeks +since for £100. was raised by a Mr. Clarke, of Croydon, Surrey, lately +deceased. He was considered to have a first-rate show of tulips, and +spent much of his time in their cultivation; the remainder of the bed +was knocked down for £500. The above gentleman was an infatuated +admirer of Miss Kemble, and, as a token of his admiration he named his +favourite tulip after her. He was a man of the most eccentric habits: +though possessed of a competent fortune, he was continually harrassed +by the fear of coming to poverty--and so powerfully was he impressed +with the dread of being buried in a trance, that he ordered in his +will, two panes of glass to be introduced in his coffin lid, and that +he should be placed in the vault without being screwed down. + +SWAINE. + + * * * * * + +In answer to H.H. who advertises in No. 568, p. 208, of _The Mirror_, +for a translation in one line rhyming with Virgil's hemistich: + + Mollissima tempora fandi-- + +the following is suggested: + + Times for persuasive speech most meet and handy. + +The following motto for a tea-caddy was quoted by the celebrated J. +Wilkes: + + Te veniente die, Te discedente. + +And when Dr. Johnson complained to Mrs. Piozzi, that her tea was so +strong as to make him tipsy, he was thus answered by that learned +lady: + + Equidem de Te nil tale verebar. + +E.B.I. + + * * * * * + + Dum aeger ait, "ah! ah!" + Tu dicito, "da, da." + +_Mirror_, No. 568, p. 208. + +_Translation_. + + While the sick man in pain cries out "ah! me!" + Tell him "before I cure, first pay my fee." + +_Another_. + + Whilst your patient sighs, "ah, me!" + You must cry, "my fee, my fee!!" + +C.B. + + * * * * * + +_Shaving or Throat-cutting_.--Damel, the King of the Yaloffs, (a +people of Africa,) being at war with Abdulkader, King of Foota Torra, +the latter inflamed with zeal for propagating his religion, sent an +ambassador to Damel, accompanied by two of the principal Bashreens, +who carried each a knife fixed on the top of a long pole. When they +obtained admission into the presence of Damel, they announced the +object of their embassy in the following manner:--"With this knife," +said the ambassador, "Abdulkader will condescend to shave the head of +Damel, if Damel will embrace the Mahomedan faith; and with this other +knife, Abdulkader will cut the throat of Damel, if Damel refuses to +embrace it--take your choice." Damel coolly replied, "That he had no +choice to make; he neither chose to have his head shaved nor his +throat cut;" and with this answer the ambassador was civilly +dismissed. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + +_Guides_.--The guides that precede travellers in India are kept in +such admirable wind by their offices, that they keep up with your +horse at a trot, for seven or eight miles. + + * * * * * + +_To Cara_. + + Thy swain discarded calls thee shrew; + Would'st thou, girl, prove the charge untrue, + Marry the fool who long hath wooed, + And all will swear thou art not shrewd. + +H.H. + + * * * * * + +_The Pledge redeemed_. + + Said Tom to Sam, "Dear friend, I'm bound + To see your fortune through;" + Sam lost his wealth to Tom, and found + The rogue had spoken true. + +H.H. + + * * * * * + +_Men of no business and Paper-cutting_.--Men of great parts (says +Swift) are unfortunate in business, because they go out of the common +road. I once desired Lord Bolingbroke to observe that the clerks used +an ivory knife, with a blunt edge, to divide paper, which cut it even, +only requiring a strong hand; whereas a sharp penknife would go out of +the crease, and disfigure the paper. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + +_Tremendous Explosion_.--January 4, 1649, a parish feast was held at +the Rose tavern, in Tower-street, where 70 barrels of gunpowder took +fire and destroyed 60 houses; all the persons assembled were killed +and mangled in a shocking manner, except the mistress of the tavern, +who was found sitting upright in the bar, and a drawer standing +without it, with a pot in his hand; both being suffocated with smoke +and dust. + + * * * * * + +_Value of Steam Packets_.--A steam packet of 100 horse power, equipped +as it ought to be, will probably cost about 20,000_l._; expenditure of +fuel, at the rate of one-half chaldron of coals per hour, wages and +victualling, per month, 250_l._; tonnage duty, lights, pilotage, and +port charges, 200_l._ per annum; insurance, 100_l._ per month; small +repairs and winter expenses, about 500_l_. Besides which, being +calculated to last only ten years, the owners should be able to lay by +a sinking fund, or reserve of 2,000_l._ per annum, and 1,500_l._ for a +new set of boilers during that time, making altogether the sailing +expenses of such a vessel about 1,000_l._ per month. + + * * * * * + + + +THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. + + * * * * * + + Price Twopence, + AN ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENT, + Containing NOTICES of the LIFE and WRITINGS + of the late + SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. + With Five Engravings. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, +Paris; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11863 *** |