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diff --git a/12063-0.txt b/12063-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2dbed35 --- /dev/null +++ b/12063-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1552 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12063 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 14, No. 388.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +ST. DUNSTAN'S, FLEET STREET. + +[Illustration] + + +No church in London is perhaps better known than the above, which is +distinctively called Saint Dunstan's in the West. External elegance has +little to do with this celebrity, which has been acquired by the two wooden +figures placed on a pediment in front, representing savages, who indicate +the hours and quarters by striking a bell with their clubs: this has caused +a wag to describe them as the most striking wonders of the metropolis. +Another, who is equally disposed to sport with their notoriety, says, "as +they are visible in the street, they are more admired by many of the +populace on Sundays, than the most elegant preacher from the pulpit +within." We are, however, induced to hope better; especially as Dr. Donne, +the celebrated Richard Baxter, and the pious Romaine were preachers at St. +Dunstan's. + +There is no evidence when this church was erected; but Stow records burials +in it so early as the year 1421. The date of the above view is 1739, and +from a foot-note to the Engraving, we learn that the church was dedicated +to St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury, who died A.D. 990. "It was +anciently a Rectory, in the patronage of the Convent of Westminster. +Richard de Barking, the abbot, in 1237, granted the advowson to King Henry +III., which continued in the crown till 1362; it was afterwards in the gift +of the bishop of London, till 1386; when Robert de Braybrooke, the bishop, +granted it to the abbot and Convent of Premonastratenses of Alnwick in +Northumberland, where the patronage remained till their suppression. King +Edward VI. granted it to the Lord Dudley, but both the Rectory and Advowson +of the Vicarage were afterwards granted to Sir Richard Sackville, till +alienated to George Rivers, in 1625; it is now in the gift of Joseph +Taylor, Esq." (to whom the Plate is dedicated). + +St. Dunstan's luckily escaped the fire of London in 1666, which stopped +within three houses of it, as did also another fire, in 1730. The clock and +figures were put up in 1761, and an accurate description of them (quoted +from Smith's _London_ by our esteemed correspondent, P. T. W.) will be +found at page 148, vol. xi. of the MIRROR. The church was thoroughly +repaired, and the roof considerably raised in 1701. The last repairs, which +were considerable, were executed in the year 1820; but it is expected that +the whole building will be shortly taken down, and a new church erected, so +as to widen the public thoroughfare. + +Our Engraving is an interesting view of the church nearly a century since, +when a range of shops (since removed) extended beneath the whole of this +side of the structure; and the respective signs must have been unholy +appendages to what appeared like part and parcel of a house of prayer. The +clock is accurately represented, the bracket being a carved figure of Time +with expanded wings, as mention by Smith. The clockmaker proposed to the +parish "to do one thing, which London shall not show the like," and we hope +our Engraving may be the means of rescuing his eccentric ingenuity from +oblivion. + + * * * * * + + +A DESULTORY CHAPTER ON LOCALITIES. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + Rotterdam and Erasmus.--Holyrood and Mary Queen of + Scots.--Scotland.--Switzerland and Rousseau.--Pope's + Grotto.--Chiswick, &c. + + +There is perhaps no sentiment more generally felt, or more delightful, than +that indescribable interest with which we are led to contemplate places and +scenes, immortalized in historical renown, or hallowed by genius. + +The propensity for moving from place to place, so observable in mankind, +derives, no doubt, its chief zest from the anxiety we feel to visit +countries of which in the course of our historical researches, we have +heard and read so much to awaken our interest, and excite our admiration. + +Without the early reverence which we as boys imbibe for the departed +splendour of Greece and Rome, we should not as men be found wandering among +the ruins of the Pyræus, or the deserted streets of Pompeii. We find it +impossible to behold unmoved the sad, the astonishing changes which time, +the arch-destroyer has effected with his giant arm. Our exuberant fancies +carry us back to those remote periods when all was glory and magnificence, +where now ruin and desolation have established their melancholy empire. +Abandoning ourselves to the potent influence of classical contemplations of +the past, we revel in the full indulgence of antiquarian enthusiasm. +Imagination, however, needs not in general so wide a field for the exercise +of her magic powers. We desire perhaps more of pleasurable excitement from +the recollections attached to spots identified in our minds with events of +individual or ideal interest, than from the loftier train of thoughts +produced by a pilgrimage to countries which have become famous in ancient +or modern story. Thus we experience more delight in visiting places, +remarkable as having once been the resort or habitations of distinguished +men, than in viewing the ruins of an ancient citadel, or the site of a +celebrated battle. The events achieved on the latter may indeed, in their +time, have turned the scale of empires; but the association of ideas in the +former instances, speak a thousand times more feeling to our individual +sympathies. I remember when passing a couple of days in the opulent city of +Rotterdam, that after walking all the morning along its crowded streets, +and paying the accustomed stranger's tribute of admiration to its quays, +its port, and its commercial magnificence, I at length halted before the +statue of Erasmus. It stands on a pedestal in the middle of a large market, +and represents the celebrated scholar, clothed in his professor's gown, and +seemingly gazing with dignified unconcern at the busy multitude around. I +remained looking at the effigy before me, with a reverential feeling akin +to that of the devotee at the shrine of a patron saint. Imagination +transported me back to the eventful times in which Erasmus flourished, +opening to my mind's eye a long vista of historical recollections, till my +absorbed demeanour attracted observation. I found myself exposed to that +vacant stare with which people are so apt to disconcert your composure, if +they observe you contemplating with curiosity and interest, objects which +they have seen every day of their lives, and for that very reason always +pass unnoticed. Leaving then my position, yet anxious to follow up the +train of ideas it had inspired, I sought, and by dint of inquiry, +discovered the habitation of Erasmus. It is in a dirty street, and consists +of one moderately sized, low roofed apartment, on the first floor of an old +fashioned, ill-built house, which the vicissitudes of time have converted +into an _Estaminet_.[1] I was conducted up a dark, narrow staircase into +the close, dingy room, by an ugly, ignorant frau, who seemed to wonder what +earthly inducement I had to visit her dwelling-house. Lumber and +moth-eaten furniture were carelessly scattered around. A solitary window, +partly blocked up by an old mattress, barely admitted light sufficient to +make objects visible. All was neglect and desolation. It seemed almost +impossible that so obscure and dismal a lodging could have been occupied by +so illustrious a tenant. I fancied I beheld the most learned man of his +age, the counsellor and companion of princes, and the contemporary and +rival of Sir Thomas More, indulging his classical reveries in this +comfortless chamber, regardless of its forlorn and squalid aspect. The +charm was omnipotent. Seated in an ancient leathern-bottomed chair, my +hostess, and the dust and darkness of the place were overlooked or +forgotten. The spirit of the mighty dead seemed to hover around, as a sort +of _genius loci_, rescuing the wretched tenement from otherwise deserved +oblivion, and making its very dinginess venerable! + + [1] A low resort, something between a French café, and an English + pot-house. + +On another occasion I recollect experiencing very strikingly, the force of +local impressions. It was when visiting the apartments of Mary Queen of +Scots, in the palace of Holyrood. Recalling to mind, with the enthusiasm of +one of her warmest admirers, every circumstance connected with the eventful +history of that unfortunate princess, it was impossible for me not to feel +penetrated with the deepest interest. I traversed the very rooms in which +she had sat, and conversed, and passed her hours of peaceful privacy. My +fancy pictured that privacy rudely and brutally invaded by Darnley and his +ruffian associates, when bent on the murder of the ill-fated Rizzio. I +mentally compared the circumstances of that deed of blood, as related by +historians, with the facilities for committing it, afforded by the +distribution of apartments. They tallied exactly. There was the little room +in which sat the queen with her ladies and the devoted secretary. Close to +the door appeared the dark, narrow, turret staircase, which Darnley +ascended before he rushed into Mary's presence. The struggle must have been +desperate, for the murder was not effected in that chamber, Rizzio being +either dragged, or escaped into an adjoining and very obscure anteroom in +which the crime was perpetrated. They pretend to show you marks of his +blood yet visible on the floor. Although all such horrible vestiges have +been most probably long since obliterated, it is yet just possible that +some may remain. To believe so, at the moment, was a lawful indulgence of +my previous illusion. I could have followed the train of associations thus +created much further, had not the person appointed to act as Cicerone +hurried me through the apartments. Their doors closed against me, and the +spell was broken. + +Edinburgh is full of interesting localities; particularly the old town. In +its ancient "wynds and closes," now tenanted by the veriest of the plebeian +race, in former days resided men of the most distinguished rank and +celebrity. Before the stupendous improvements of later times had justly +entitled the Scottish metropolis to the appellation of the modern Athens, +the princes and nobles of the land, its judges and senators, were obliged +to dwell in those dirty streets and alleys, from which "Auld Reekie" +derived its then appropriate appellation. When in progress of time they +removed to more splendid and suitable abodes, their abandoned tenements +became habitations of wretchedness. Much however remained in them to remind +posterity of their former proprietors; and whoever is not afraid of +encountering the spectacle of a swarming population in a state of abject +and squalid poverty, will find an abundant field for his antiquarian +researches in the old town of Edinburgh. Like Switzerland, and other +mountainous countries, Scotland is by nature formed to be a land of +romantic associations; but how wonderfully have her historians, poets, and +novelists contributed to create and preserve them! The author of Waverley +has thrown a classic halo around the wild beauties of his native land, and +communicated to stranger minds a national enthusiasm which _his_ soul alone +could have felt, _his_ pen alone inspired! In Scotland, almost every step +we take is on hallowed ground, and the lover of historical recollections +may enjoy to its full extent the delight of visiting places immortalized by +the achievements of her heroes, or the pen of her poets. + +To a man fond of localities, travelling either on the continent or in +England, will furnish numerous opportunities of indulging the reveries to +which they give birth. It would be hardly possible to name a town, or a +village, utterly destitute of local interest. In almost every instance, +some memento would be discovered to hallow its site, and to engage the +observation of an intelligent traveller. With a mind predisposed to enjoy +mental associations, they will crowd on us wherever we go, and be suggested +by the veriest trifles. Rousseau could not contain his ecstacy at +beholding a little flower (_la parvenche_) in bloom, which thirty years +before, Madame de Warens had first pointed out to his notice. That simple +incident summoned up a train of exquisite reminiscences. No one, indeed, +ever yielded so entirely to the influence of local enthusiasm as the author +of the _Nouvelle Heloise_. No one has so successfully attempted to invest +scenes, in themselves beautiful, with the additional and powerful interest +of ideal recollections. Picturesque as are the shores of Leman, Meillerie, +and Vevai, yet to Rousseau's sublime conceptions and eloquent descriptions, +they are chiefly indebted for the celebrity which they enjoy. Nature made +Switzerland a land of rugged magnificence. To complete the charm, nothing +was wanted, but that its mountains should be peopled by the creations of +Rousseau. + +It were needless, however, to travel to foreign countries in search of +interesting localities. Our own island teems with them. In the metropolis +and its environs, a diligent inquirer will find them at every step. How +many coffeehouses and taverns are there in London which at one time or +another have been frequented by celebrated characters, and how many houses +in which others equally celebrated have resided; such as that of Milton, in +Westminster; and of Johnson, in Bolt Court. How many old gable-ended +tenements do we see in the eastern parts of the town that were standing +before the fire, and which, if explored, might be found to contain the most +interesting relics of antiquity. What a number of streets, courts, and +alleys, bearing names at once indicative of their ancient origin, and of +scenes, and persons, and local circumstances long since forgotten! + +Then, if we extend our perambulations to the vicinity of London, how many +hallowed places shall we meet with? Where can we find a palace like Windsor +Castle, to which attach the historical recollections of many centuries, +adding, if possible, yet more solemnity to Gothic grandeur? Again, can +there be conceived a spot more entirely consecrated to classical +associations than the grotto, at Twickenham; that retreat in which gazing +on "Thames translucent stream," Pope passed so many hours of undisturbed +privacy--that spot + + "Where British sighs from dying Wyndham stole, + And the bright flame was shot thro' Marchmont's soul." + +I have visited it in summer, when the warmth of a mid-day sun has rendered +the "_frigus amabile_" of the interior doubly inviting, and on such +occasions, have quite revelled in local enthusiasm. + +I remember, some years since, visiting the Duke of Devonshire's beautiful +villa, at Chiswick, in company with a friend, whose sentiments on the +subject of local impressions are similar to my own. While I was admiring +books and paintings in the library, my companion was contemplating in mute +emotion, the bed upon which Charles Fox breathed his last. That one object +engrossed all the powers of his soul; every other was forgotten! + +C. J. + + * * * * * + + +THE HUMBLE SPARROW'S ADDRESS TO T. S. A. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + My dearest Sir, how great a change + Has pass'd upon the groves I range, + Nay, all the face of nature! + A few weeks back, each pendent bough, + The fields, the groves, the mountain's brow, + Were bare and leafless all, but now + How verdant ev'ry feature! + + Each little songster strives to raise + Its highest warbling notes of praise, + For all these blessings given:-- + Ere Sol emerges from behind + The eastern hills, the lark we find + Soars, as it were on wings of wind, + With grateful notes to heaven. + + A thousand others catch the strains, + Each bush and tree a tongue contains, + That offers up its praises. + From morn till the meridian day, + From noon till Sol has sunk away, + One ceaseless song, one grateful lay, + Each feather'd songster raises. + + And when Night's grim and sable band, + Spreads her dim curtains o'er the land, + And all our prospect closes; + Then Philomela, queen of song, + The sweetest of the feather'd throng, + Takes up the theme the whole night long, + While nature all reposes. + + Then surely I, the humblest bird, + That e'er among the groves was heard, + Should aid the thankful chorus; + With _chirping note_ I'll join the sound, + For not _a Sparrow_, 'twill be found, + Without HIS will falls to the ground, + Who high above reigns o'er us. + + But what avail my feeble powers, + When softer notes descend in showers, + Mine are not worth regarding; + No honour'd title gilds my name, + No dulcet notes I e'er could claim; + So worthless I, you may obtain + _Two Sparrows_ for a farthing. + + Besides, I ne'er was form'd to _sing_, + And so must soar on humbler wing, + Since nature saw it fitter; + But yet my feeble powers I'll try, + And sound my _chatt'ring_ notes on high, + For I am sure you'll not deny + To hear my simple _twitter_. + + My gratitude is doubly due, + For all the hedges[2] in my view, + Afford a verdant cover; + I now can build my nest once more, + From childhood's prying glance secure, + And from the hawk's keen eye, tho' o'er + The sacred bush he hover. + + Oh! had I Philomela's tongue, + The thrush's note, or warbling song + Of blackbird, lark, or linnet; + I'd then more gratitude display, + Striving to raise a sweeter lay, + I'd sing the fleeting hours away, + Nor silent be a minute. + + But I must quit the trembling spray, + And to my duty fly away, + To pick a straw or feather; + My mate is somewhere on the wing, + I think she's gone some moss to bring, + For we must work while it is spring, + And build our nest together. + + So now adieu--I've chirp'd too long, + Must leave the finish of my song + To some more learned bird's son; + Whose mellow notes can charm the ear + With no discordant chatter near; + So now, dear Sir, I'm your sincere + And humble Sparrow. + +HERDSON. + + [2] You will perceive the writer is a _hedge-sparrow_. + + * * * * * + + +TO A DESTRUCTIVE INSECT ON A ROSEBUD. + +IN MANNER OF BURNS. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Ye imp o' death, how durst ye dwell + Within this pure and hallow'd cell, + Thy purposes I ken fu' well + Are to destroy, + And wi' a mortal breathing spell, + To blast each joy! + + Yet why upo' so sma' a flower, + Dost thou exert thy deadly pow'r, + And nip fair beauty's natal hour, + Wi' thy vile breath, + It is when wint'ry storms do low'r, + We look for death. + + But thou, thou evil one, hast come, + To bring this wee rose to its doom, + Not i' time of woe and gloom, + But i' the spring, + When flowerets just begin to bloom. + And birds to sing. + + O fie, begone fra out my sight, + Nor dare attempt such joy to blight, + Thou evil wicked-doing doit, + Then hie away, + Seek not the _morning_, but the _night_ + To crush thy prey! + +J. F. C. + + * * * * * + + + +THE CONTEMPORARY TRAVELLER. + + * * * * * + + +JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF THE RED INDIANS OF NEWFOUNDLAND. + +(_Concluded from page 136._) + + +"We spent several melancholy days wandering on the borders of the east end +of the lake, surveying the various remains of what we now contemplated to +have been an unoffending and cruelly extirpated people. At several places, +by the margin of the lake, are small clusters of winter and summer wigwams +in ruins. One difference, among others, between the Boeothick wigwams and +those of the other Indians, is, that in most of the former there are small +hollows, like nests, dug in the earth around the fireplace, one for each +person to sit in. These hollows are generally so close together, and also +so close to the fireplace, and to the sides of the wigwam, that I think it +probable these people have been accustomed to sleep in a sitting position. +There was one wooden building constructed for drying and smoking venison +in, still perfect; also a small log-house, in a dilapidated condition, +which we took to have been once a storehouse. The wreck of a large, +handsome, birch-rind canoe, about twenty-two feet in length, comparatively +new, and certainly very little used, lay thrown up among the bushes at the +beach. We supposed that the violence of a storm had rent it in the way it +was found, and that the people who were in it had perished; for the iron +nails, of which there was no want, all remained in it. Had there been any +survivors, nails being much prized by these people, they never having held +intercourse with Europeans, such an article would most likely have been +taken out for use again. All the birch trees in the vicinity of the lake +had been rinded, and many of them, and of the spruce fir, or var, had the +bark taken off, to use the inner part of it for food, as noticed before." + +"Their wooden repositories for the dead are what are in the most perfect +state of preservation. These are of different constructions, it would +appear, according to the character or rank of the persons entombed. In one +of them, which resembled a hut ten feet by eight or nine, and four or five +feet high in the centre, floored with squared poles, the roof covered with +rinds of trees, and in every way well secured against the weather inside, +and the intrusion of wild beasts, there were two grown persons laid out at +full length, on the floor, the bodies wrapped round with deerskins. One of +these bodies appeared to have been placed here not longer ago than five or +six years. We thought there were children laid in here also. On first +opening this building, by removing the posts which formed the ends, our +curiosity was raised to the highest pitch; but what added to our surprise, +was the discovery of a white deal coffin, containing a skeleton neatly +shrouded in white muslin. After a long pause of conjecture how such a thing +existed here, the idea of _Mary March_ occurred to one of the party, and +the whole mystery was at once explained.[3]" + + [3] It should be remarked here, that Mary March, so called from the + name of the month in which she was taken, was the Red Indian + female who was captured and carried away by force from this + place by an armed party of English people, nine or ten in + number, who came up here in the month of March, 1809. The local + government authorities at that time did not foresee the result + of offering a reward to _bring a Red Indian to them_. Her + husband was cruelly shot, after nobly making several attempts, + single-handed, to rescue her from the captors, in defiance of + their fire-arms, and fixed bayonets. His tribe built this + cemetery for him, on the foundation of his own wigwam, and his + body is one of those now in it. The following winter, Captain + Buchan was sent to the River Exploits, by order of the local + government of Newfoundland, to take back this woman to the lake, + where she was captured, and if possible at the same time, to + open a friendly intercourse with her tribe. But she died on + board Captain B.'s vessel, at the mouth of the river. Captain B. + however, took up her body to the lake; and not meeting with any + of her people, left it where they were afterwards likely to meet + with it. It appears the Indians were this winter encamped on the + banks of the River Exploits, and observed Captain B.'s party + passing up the river on the ice. They retired from their + encampments in consequence; and, some weeks afterwards, went by + a circuitous route to the lake, to ascertain what the party had + been doing there. They found _Mary March's_ body, and removed it + from where Captain B. had left it to where it now lies, by the + side of her husband. + + With the exception of Captain Buchan's first expedition, by + order of the local government of Newfoundland, in the winter of + 1810, to endeavour to open a friendly intercourse with the Red + Indians, the two parties just mentioned are the only two we know + of that had ever before been up to the Red Indian Lake. Captain + B. at that time succeeded in forcing an interview with the + principal encampment of these people. All of the tribe that + remained at that period were then at the Great Lake, divided + into parties, and in their winter encampments, at different + places in the woods on the margin of the lake. Hostages were + exchanged; but Captain B. had not been absent from the Indians + two hours, in his return to a depôt left by him at a short + distance down the river, to take up additional presents for + them, when the want of confidence of these people in the whites + evinced itself. A suspicion spread among them that he had gone + down to bring up a reinforcement of men, to take them all + prisoners to the sea-coast; and they resolved immediately to + break up their encampment and retire farther into the country, + and alarm and join the rest of their tribe, who were all at the + western parts of the lake. To prevent their proceedings being + known, they killed and then cut off the heads of the two English + hostages; and, on the same afternoon on which Captain B. had + left them, they were in full retreat across the lake, with + baggage, children, &c. The whole of them afterwards spent the + remainder of the winter together, at a place twenty to thirty + miles to the south-west, on the south-east side of the lake. On + Captain B.'s return to the lake next day or the day after, the + cause of the scene there was inexplicable; and it remained a + mystery until now, when we can gather some facts relating to + these people from the Red Indian woman, _Shawnawdithit_. + +"In this cemetery were deposited a variety of articles, in some instances +the property, in others the representations of the property and utensils, +and of the achievements, of the deceased. There were two small wooden +images of a man and woman, no doubt meant to represent husband and wife and +a small doll which we supposed to represent a child (for _Mary March_ had +to leave her only child here, which died two days after she was taken); +several small models of their canoes; two small models of boats; an iron +axe; a bow and quiver of arrows were placed by the side of _Mary March's_ +husband; and two fire-stones (radiated iron pyrites, from which they +produce fire, by striking them together) lay at his head; there were also +various kinds of culinary utensils, neatly made, of birch rind and +ornamented; and many other things, of some of which we did not know the use +or meaning." + +"Another mode of sepulture which we saw here was, where the body of the +deceased had been wrapped in birch rind, and with his property, placed on a +sort of scaffold about four feet and a half from the ground. The scaffold +was formed of four posts, about seven feet high, fixed perpendicularly in +the ground, to sustain a kind of crib, five feet and a half in length, by +four in breadth, with a floor made of small squared beams, laid close +together horizontally, and on which the body and property rested." + +"A third mode was, when the body, bent together, and wrapped in birch rind, +was enclosed in a kind of box, on the ground. The box was made of small +squared posts, laid on each other horizontally, and notched at the corners, +to make them meet close; it was about four feet by three, and two and a +half feet deep, and well lined with birch rind, to exclude the weather from +the inside. The body lay on its right side." + +"A fourth and the most common mode of burying among these people, has been, +to wrap the body in birch rind, and cover it over with a heap of stones, on +the surface of the earth, in some retired spot; sometimes the body, thus +wrapped up, is put a foot or two under the surface, and the spot covered +with stones; in one place, where the ground was sandy and soft, they +appeared to have been buried deeper, and no stones placed over the graves." + +"These people appear to have always shewn great respect for their dead; and +the most remarkable remains of them commonly observed by Europeans at the +sea-coast, are their burying-places. These are at particular chosen spots; +and it is well known that they have been in the habit of bringing their +dead from a distance to them. With their women they bury only their +clothes." + +"On the north-side of the lake, opposite the River Exploits, are the +extremities of two deer fences, about half a mile apart, where they lead to +the water. It is understood that they diverge many miles in north-westerly +directions. The Red Indian makes these fences to lead and scare the deer to +the lake, during the periodical migration of these animals; the Indians +being stationed looking out, when the deer get into the water to swim +across, the lake being narrow at this end, they attack and kill the animals +with spears out of their canoes. In this way they secure their winter +provisions before the severity of that season sets in." + +"There were other old remains of different kinds peculiar to these people +met with about the lake." + +"One night we encamped on the foundation of an old Red Indian wigwam, on +the extremity of a point of land which juts out into the lake, and exposed +to the view of the whole country around. A large fire at night is the life +and soul of such a party as ours, and when it blazed up at times, I could +not help observing that two of my Indians evinced uneasiness and want of +confidence in things around, as if they thought themselves usurpers on the +Red Indian territory. From time immemorial none of the Indians of the other +tribes had ever encamped near this lake fearlessly, and, as we had now +done, in the very centre of such a country; the lake and territory adjacent +having been always considered to belong exclusively to the Red Indians, and +to have been occupied by them. It had been our invariable practice +hitherto, to encamp near the hills, and be on their summits by the dawn of +day, to try to discover the morning smoke ascending from the Red Indians' +camps; and to prevent the discovery of ourselves, we extinguished our own +fire always some length of time before daylight." + +"Our only and frail hope now left of seeing the Red Indians, lay on the +banks of the River Exploits, on our return to the sea-coast." + +"The Red Indians' Lake discharges itself about three or four miles from its +north-east end, and its waters form the River Exploits. From the lake to +the sea-coast is considered about seventy miles; and down this noble river +the steady perseverance and intrepidity of my Indians carried me on rafts +in four days, to accomplish which otherwise, would have required, probably, +two weeks. We landed at various places on both banks of the river on our +way down, but found no traces of the Red Indians so recent as those seen at +the portage at Badger Bay-Great Lake, towards the beginning of our +excursion. During our descent, we had to construct new rafts at the +different waterfalls. Sometimes we were carried down the rapids at the rate +of ten miles an hour, or more, with considerable risk of destruction to the +whole party, for we were always together on one raft." + +"What arrests the attention most, while gliding down the stream, is the +extent of the Indian fences to entrap the deer. They extend from the lake +downwards, continuous, on the banks of the river, at least thirty miles. +There are openings left here and there in them, for the animals to go +through and swim across the river, and at these places the Indians are +stationed, and kill them in the water with spears, out of their canoes, as +at the lake. Here, then, connecting these fences with those on the +north-west side of the lake, is at least forty miles of country, easterly +and westerly, prepared to intercept all the deer that pass that way in +their periodical migrations. It was melancholy to contemplate the gigantic, +yet feeble, efforts of a whole primitive nation, in their anxiety to +provide subsistence, forsaken and going to decay." + +"There must have been hundreds of the Red Indians, and that not many years +ago, to have kept up these fences and pounds. As their numbers were +lessened so was their ability to keep them up for the purposes intended; +and now the deer pass the whole line unmolested." + +"We infer, that the few of these people who yet survive have taken refuge +in some sequestered spot, still in the northern part of the island, and +where they can procure deer to subsist on." + +"On the 29th of November we had again returned to the mouth of the River +Exploits, in thirty days after our departure from thence, after having made +a complete circuit of about 200 miles in the Red Indian territory." + +"In conclusion, I congratulate the institution on the acquisition of +several ingenious articles, the manufacture of the _Boeothicks_, or Red +Indians, some of which we had the good fortune to discover on our recent +excursion;--models of their canoes, bows and arrows, spears of different +kinds, &c.; and also a complete dress worn by that people. Their mode of +kindling fire is not only original, but, as far as we at present know, is +peculiar to the tribe. These articles, together with a short vocabulary of +their language, consisting of 200 or 300 words, which I have been enabled +to collect, prove the Boeothicks to be a distinct tribe from any hitherto +discovered in North America. One remarkable characteristic of their +language, and in which it resembles those of Europe more than any other +Indian languages do, with which we have had an opportunity of comparing +it,--is its abounding in diphthongs." + +Mr. Cormack thinks that after the unfortunate circumstances attending past +encounters between the Europeans and the Red Indians, it is best now to +employ Indians belonging to the other tribes to be the medium of the +intercourse in view; and he has chosen three intelligent men from +Newfoundland to follow up the search. + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +DERWENTWATER. + + +The following touching episodal extract is from Dr. Southey's _Colloquies +on the Progress and Prospects of Society:_--The best general view of +Derwentwater is from the terrace, between Applethwaite and Milbeck, a +little beyond the former hamlet. The old roofs and chimneys of that hamlet +come finely in the foreground, and the trees upon the Ornathwaite estate +give there a richness to the middle ground, which is wanting in other parts +of the vale. From that spot I once saw three artists sketching it at the +same time--William Westall (who has engraved it among his admirable views +of Keswick,) Glover, and Edward Nash, my dear, kind-hearted friend and +fellow-traveller, whose death has darkened some of the blithest +recollections of my latter life. I know not from which of the surrounding +heights it is seen to most advantage; any one will amply repay the labour +of the ascent; and often as I have ascended them all, it has never been +without a fresh delight. The best near view is from a field adjoining +Friar's Craig. There it is that, if I had Aladdin's lamp, or Fortunatus's +purse (with leave of Greenwich Hospital be it spoken,) I would build myself +a house. + +Thither I had strolled, on one of those first genial days of spring which +seem to affect the animal not less than the vegetable creation. At such +times even I, sedentary as I am, feel a craving for the open air and +sunshine, and creep out as instinctively as snails after a shower. Such +seasons, which have an exhilarating effect upon youth, produce a soothing +one when we are advanced in life. The root of an ash tree, on the bank +which bends round the little bay, had been half bared by the waters during +one of the winter floods, and afforded a commodious resting-place, whereon +I took my seat, at once basking in the sun and bathing, as it were, in the +vernal breeze. But delightful as all about me was to eye, and ear, and +feeling, it brought with it a natural reflection, that the scene which I +now beheld was the same which it had been and would continue to be, while +so many of those with whom I had formerly enjoyed it, were past away. Our +day-dreams become retrospective as we advance in years; and the heart feeds +as naturally upon remembrance in age as upon hope in youth. + + "Where are they gone, the old familiar faces?" + +I thought of her, whom I had so often seen plying her little skiff upon +that glassy water, the lady of the lake. It was like a poet's dream, or a +vision of romance, to behold her--and like a vision or a dream she had +departed! + + "O gentle Emma, o'er a lovelier form + Than thine, earth never closed; nor e'er did heaven + Receive a purer spirit from the world!" + +I thought of D., the most familiar of my friends during those years when we +lived near enough to each other for familiar intercourse--my friend, and +the friend of all who were dearest to me; a man, of whom all who knew him +will concur with me in saying, that they never knew, nor could conceive of +one more strictly dutiful, more actively benevolent, more truly kind, more +thoroughly good; the pleasantest companion, the sincerest counsellor, the +most considerate friend, the kindest host, the welcomest guest. After our +separation, he had visited me here three summers; with him it was that I +had first explored this land of lakes in all directions; and again and +again should we have retraced our steps in the wildest recesses of these +vales and mountains, and lived over the past again, if he had not, too +early for all who loved him, + + "Began the travel of eternity." + +I called to mind my hopeful H----, too, so often the sweet companion of my +morning walks to this very spot; in whom I had fondly thought my better +part should have survived me, and + + "With whom it seemed my very life + Went half away! + But we shall meet--but we shall meet + Where parting tears shall never flow; + And when I think thereon, almost + I long to go!" + +"Thy dead shall live, O Lord; together with my dead body shall they arise. +Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust! for Thy dew is as the dew of herbs; +and the earth shall cast out her dead!" + +Surely, to the sincere believer death would be an object of desire instead +of dread, were it not for those ties--those heartstrings--by which we are +attached to life. Nor, indeed, do I believe that it is natural to fear +death, however generally it may be thought so. From my own feelings I have +little right to judge; for, although habitually mindful that the hour +cometh, and even now may be, it has never appeared actually near enough to +make me duly apprehend its effect upon myself. But from what I have +observed, and what I have heard those persons say whose professions lead +them to the dying, I am induced to infer that the fear of death is not +common, and that where it exists it proceeds rather from a diseased and +enfeebled mind, than from any principle in our nature. Certain it is, that +among the poor the approach of dissolution is usually regarded with a quiet +and natural composure, which it is consolatory to contemplate, and which is +as far removed from the dead palsy of unbelief as it is from the delirious +raptures of fanaticism. Theirs is a true, unhesitating faith; and they are +willing to lay down the burden of a weary life, in the sure and certain +hope of a blessed immortality. Who, indeed, is there, that would not gladly +make the exchange, if he lived only for himself, and were to leave none who +stood in need of him--no eyes to weep at his departure, no hearts to ache +for his loss? The day of death, says the preacher, is better than the day +of one's birth; a sentence to which whoever has lived long, and may humbly +hope that he has not lived ill, must heartily assent. + + * * * * * + + +MASANIELLO. + + +The last No. (8,) of the _Foreign Quarley Review_, just published, contains +an attractive article on the Revolutions of Naples, in 1647 and 1648, in +which Masaniello played so conspicuous a part. The paper is in the easy +historical style of Sir Walter Scott; but as little could be selected for +our pages, except the Adventures of the Rebel Fisherman, and as we have +given the leading events of his life in an early volume of the MIRROR, we +content ourselves with the following passage. After a tolerably fair +estimate of the character of Masaniello, in which Sir Walter considers his +extraordinary rise as a work of fortune and contingency rather than of his +own device in the conception, or his own exertions in the execution--the +writer says-- + +"It would be doing Masaniello injustice, however, if we did not add, that +having no distinct prospect of rendering essential service to his country, +he was at the same time totally free from any sinister views of personal +aggrandizement. He appears to have been sincere in his wishes, that when he +had set Naples free,--by which he understood the abolition of imposts,--the +government of it should be committed to a popular management. The Memoirs +of 1828 record a singular circumstance with regard to this point, on the +authority of De Santis. While, on Friday, July 12th, the sixth day of the +insurrection, he was sitting in his judgment-seat, a female masked, or man +in woman's habit, approached and whispered, 'Masaniello, we have reached +the goal, a crown is prepared, and it is for thy brows.'--'For mine?' he +replied, 'I desire none but the green wreath with which we honour Our +Lady's festival in September. When I have delivered my country I shall +resume my nets.'--'You find them no more. Rebellion should not be +undertaken, or it should be carried on to the end.'--'I will resume my +nets,' said Masaniello steadily. 'You will not find them,' said the +intrusive monitor. 'What, then, shall I find?'--'Death!' answered the +masked figure, and withdrew into the crowd. An evidence of the purity of +his intentions, though combined with gross ignorance, was afforded by the +rigour with which he insisted on the destruction of the treasure and rich +movables found in the houses which were destroyed during the first days of +the tumult. Latterly, indeed, he yielded to the suggestions of Genuino and +d'Arpaya, that these things should be preserved for the good of the state, +and for the purpose of presenting them as a donative to Philip IV. in +place of the abolished gabelles. But whatever was the case with regard to +less scrupulous insurgents, he participated in no plunder, until vanity +produced madness, or madness vanity. On the whole we may conclude, that he +was a man whose principal characteristic was the boldness with which he +pursued an object ardently desired, but who was alike incapable, from want +of knowledge and talents, to avail himself of the success which so +wonderfully crowned his enterprise. How far his cruelty was the effect of +natural disposition, or a consequence of his malady, is a question that +must be left to HIM to whom alone it can be known." + + * * * * * + + +LONDON. + +_Literally translated from a Chinese Poem, by a Chinese who visited England +in 1813._ + + + The towering edifices rise story above story, + In all the stateliness of splendid mansions: + Railings of iron thickly stud the sides of every entrance; + And streams from the river circulate through the walls; + The sides of each apartment are variegated with devices; + Through the windows of glass appear the scarlet hangings. + And in the street itself is presented a beautiful scene; + The congregated buildings have all the aspect of a picture. + + In London, about the period of the ninth moon, + The inhabitants delight in travelling to a distance; + They change their abodes and betake themselves to the country, + Visiting their friends in their rural retreats. + The prolonged sound of carriages and steeds is heard through the day; + Then in autumn the prices of provisions fall, + And the greater number of dwellings being untenanted, + Such as require it are repaired and adorned. + + The spacious streets are exceedingly smooth and level, + Each being crossed by others at intervals; + On either side perambulate men and females, + In the centre, career along the carriages and horses; + The mingled sound of voices is heard in the shops at evening. + During midwinter the accumulated snows adhere to the pathway, + Lamps are displayed at night along the street sides, + Their radiance twinkling like the stars of the sky. + + * * * * * + + +Mozart was _rather vain_ of the proportion of his hands and feet--but not +of having written the Requiem or the Don Juan. + + * * * * * + + +BURMESE DIGNITY. + + +Mr. Crawfurd, in his account of the _Embassy to Ava_, relates the following +specimen of the dignity of a Burmese minister. While sitting under an +awning on the poop of the steam vessel, a heavy squall, with rain, came +on.--"I suggested to his excellency the convenience of going below, which +he long resisted, under the apprehension of committing his dignity by +placing himself in a situation where persons might tread over his head, for +this singular antipathy is common both to the Burmese and Siamese. The +prejudice is more especially directed against the fair sex; a pretty +conclusive proof of the estimation in which they are held. His excellency +seriously demanded to know whether any woman had ever trod upon the poop; +and being assured in the negative, he consented at length to enter the +cabin." + + * * * * * + + +STEAM. + + +A quotation from Agathias clearly establishes a knowledge of the +applicability of steam to mechanical purposes so early as the reign of the +emperor Justinian, when the philosopher Anthemius most unphilosophically +employed its powerful agency at Constantinople to shake the house of a +litigious neighbour. It is also recorded, that Pope Sylvester II. +constructed an organ, that was worked by steam. As compared with recent +ingenuity, however, these applications may fairly bring to mind the +Frenchman's boast of his countryman's invention of the frill and the +ruffle; while his English opponent claimed for his native land the honour +of suggesting the addition of the shirt. + + * * * * * + + +MEDICAL MUSIC. + + +Sharp, the surgeon, Sir Charles Blicke's master, was a great amateur of +music, but he never used it as a means of curing patients, only in +attracting them. It was said that he "fiddled himself into practice, and +fiddled Mr. Pott out of it;" certain it is Mr. Pott, not being a _flat_, +did not choose to act in _concert_ with _Sharp_, and made a quick movement +to the westward. + + * * * * * + + +Boerhaave tells us, that one of the greatest orators of antiquity, Tiberius +Gracchus, when animated, used to cry out like an old woman; to avoid which, +he had a servant, who, at these periods, sounded a pipe, by way of hint, as +well as to pitch the tone, so sensible was he of the importance of a +well-regulated voice. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + + +LINES ON THE DEPARTURE OF EMIGRANTS FOR NEW SOUTH WALES. + +BY T. CAMPBELL. + + + On England's shore I saw a pensive hand, + With sails unfurl'd for earth's remotest strand, + Like children parting from a mother, shed + Tears for the home that could not yield them bread; + Grief mark'd each face receding from the view, + 'Twas grief to nature honourably true. + And long, poor wand'rers o'er th' ecliptic deep, + The song that names but home shall bid you weep; + Oft shall ye fold your flocks by stars above + In that far world, and miss the stars ye love; + Oft, when its tuneless birds scream round forlorn, + Regret the lark that gladdens England's morn. + And, giving England's names to distant scenes, + Lament that earth's extension intervenes. + + But cloud not yet too long, industrious train, + Your solid good with sorrow nursed in vain: + For has the heart no interest yet as bland + As that which binds us to our native land? + The deep-drawn wish, when children crown our hearth, + To hear the cherub-chorus of their mirth. + Undamp'd by dread that want may e'er unhouse, + Or servile misery knit those smiling brows: + The pride to rear an independent shed, + And give the lips we love unborrow'd bread; + To see a world, from shadowy forests won, + In youthful beauty wedded to the sun; + To skirt our home with harvests widely sown, + And call the blooming landscape all our own, + Our children's heritage, in prospect long. + These are the hopes, high-minded hopes and strong. + That beckon England's wanderers o'er the brine, + To realms where foreign constellations shine; + Where streams from undiscovered fountains roll, + And winds shall fan them from th' Antarctic pole. + And what though doom'd to shores so far apart + From England's home, that ev'n the home-sick heart + Quails, thinking, ere that gulf can be recross'd, + How large a space of fleeting life is lost: + Yet there, by time, their bosoms shall be changed, + And strangers once shall cease to sigh estranged, + But jocund in the year's long sunshine roam, + That yields their sickle twice its harvest home. + + There, marking o'er his farm's expanding ring + New fleeces whiten and new fruits upspring. + The grey-haired swain, his grandchild sporting round, + Shall walk at eve his little empire's bound, + Emblazed with ruby vintage, ripening corn, + And verdant rampart of Acacian thorn, + While, mingling with the scent his pipe exhales, + The orange-grove's and fig-tree's breath prevails; + Survey with pride beyond a monarch's spoil, + His honest arm's own subjugated soil; + And summing all the blessings God has given, + Put up his patriarchal prayer to Heaven, + That when his bones shall here repose in peace, + The scions of his love may still increase, + And o'er a land where life has ample room, + In health and plenty innocently bloom. + + Delightful land, in wildness ev'n benign, + The glorious past is ours, the future thine! + As in a cradled Hercules, we trace + The lines of empire in thine infant face. + What nations in thy wide horizon's span + Shall teem on tracts untrodden yet by man! + What spacious cities with their spires shall gleam. + Where now the panther laps a lonely stream. + And all but brute or reptile life is dumb! + Land of the free! thy kingdom is to come, + Of states, with laws from Gothic bondage burst, + And creeds by charter'd priesthood's unaccurst; + Of navies, hoisting their emblazon'd flags, + Where shipless seas now wash unbeacon'd crags; + Of hosts review'd in dazzling files and squares, + Their pennon'd trumpets breathing native airs, + For minstrels thou shalt have of native fire. + And maids to sing the songs themselves inspire; + Our very speech, methinks, in after time. + Shall catch th' Ionian blandness of thy clime; + And whilst the light and luxury of thy skies + Give brighter smiles to beauteous woman's eyes, } + The Arts, whose soul is love, shall all spontaneous rise. } + + Untrack'd in deserts lies the marble mine, + Undug the ore that midst thy roofs shall shine; + Unborn the hands--but born they are to be-- + Fair Australasia, that shall give to thee + Proud temple domes, with galleries winding high, } + So vast in space, so just in symmetry, } + They widen to the contemplating eye, } + With colonnaded aisles in lone array, + And windows that enrich the flood of day + O'er tesselated pavements, pictures fair, + And niched statues breathing golden air, + Nor there, whilst all that's seen bids Fancy swell, + Shall Music's voice refuse to seal the spell; + But choral hymns shall wake enchantment round, + And organs blow their tempests of sweet sound. + + Meanwhile, ere Arts triumphant reach their goal, + How blest the years of pastoral life shall roll + Ev'n should some wayward hour the settler's mind + Brood sad on scenes for ever left behind, + Yet not a pang that England's name imparts, + Shall touch a fibre of his children's hearts; + Bound to that native world by nature's bond, + Full little shall their wishes rove beyond + Its mountains blue, and melon-skirted streams. + Since childhood loved and dreamt of in their dreams. + How many a name, to us uncouthly wild, + Shall thrill that region's patriotic child, + And bring as sweet thoughts o'er his bosom's chords, + As aught that's named in song to us affords! + Dear shall that river's margin be to him, + Where sportive first he bathed his boyish limb. + Or petted birds, still brighter than their bowers, + Or twin'd his tame young kangaroo with flowers. + But mere magnetic yet to memory + Shall be the sacred spot, still blooming nigh, + The bower of love, where first his bosom burn'd, + And smiling passion saw its smile return'd. + + Go forth and prosper then, emprizing band; + May He, who in the hollow of his hand + The ocean holds, and rules the whirlwind's sweep, + Assuage its wrath, and guide you on the deep! + +_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +SMALL TALK AND SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, OR HOW TO MAKE YOURSELF AGREEABLE. + + +Conversation, like a shuttlecock, should not be suffered to remain with one +person, but ought to pass in turn to all. But as few people think for +themselves, so few people talk for themselves, and a colloquial monopoly is +as common and as disagreeable as any other. Yet when we observe how much +these rattles are caressed, 'tis wonderful there are so few. Talent is by +no means indispensable, and is the more valuable in proportion as it is +flimsy or superficial. The great art lies in the choice of a subject. Let +it be some _liaison_ in the _beau monde_--the appearance of a new singer or +actress--the detail of a recent duel, with particulars and embellishments, +and your fortune is made at once. Do not affect any thing like a literary +character, for scholars are reckoned _bores_. The only matters of this sort +with which you can safely meddle are the fashionable novels--satirical +poems--the magazines, and newspapers (eschewing the political articles as +vulgar). It is absolutely necessary to be familiar with the names of all +the editors in town, and these can easily be picked up from any of the +tatterdemalions who prowl about police offices for the purpose of reporting +the trials at a penny per line, which is, in most cases, exactly a penny +per line too much. You must drop the complimentary _Mr._, and say, "A. of +the Chronicle and I--the last time I saw B. of the Globe--C. of the +Spectator told me t'other day," and so on. Of course it is not of the +slightest consequence whether you ever saw one of the parties. You must +also affect to be intimate with the theatrical _lions_, and be aware of the +true state of all managerial squabbles for the season. Swear you have dined +a dozen times with Sontag. _En passant_, the idea of a singer's patronizing +a nation _wholesale_, as she has done in the case of the Silesians, is +rather too good. Be indignant with Price for forfeiting Ellen Tree three +several times in the sum of thirty pounds, and suppress the fact of his +having remitted the penalty in the two first instances. Assume a mysterious +air of "I could if I would," when Miss Love's elopement is mentioned, and +state with heroic confidence that the Vesuvius scene in "Masaniello" at +Astley's beat Drury by thirteen bricks and two ounces of Greek fire. You +must pretend to know the salaries of all the _employés_ in every +establishment, and be able to describe the plot of every new piece the +moment it is underlined. You can obtain sufficient information to enable +you to pass muster on this subject any evening at the Garrick's Head. It +would be of great service if you could contrive to be seen in conversation +with a respectable actor now and then. You must have seen every sight and +exhibited at every exhibition in town, and be able to discuss their several +merits or demerits with a "learned spirit." A knowledge of the principal +nobility--by person at least--is a _sine qua non_, for how else should you +be able to recount the names of those you saw in the Park on Sunday last? +Keep a list of the ages and portions of as many young ladies as possible, +and be cautious how you dispose of your information on this score. These, I +think, are the principal topics; and the best advice I can give is, "Never +be quiet: speak on _ad infinitum_." + +The man who inwardly digests these rules will be a treasure at any dinner +party. The awful silence which prevails on the removal of the +tablecloth--and an awful silence it surely is--will be dispelled. No +ordinary man thinks of speaking, except in monosyllables, till he gets a +little "elevated," and then he speaks nonsense as a matter of course. _You_ +must keep sober--for people will occasionally get "mellow," even in good +society--and this you will easily manage to do by thinking of the immense +superiority you will thus secure on joining the ladies in the drawing-room. +You will be able to hand some blushing fair her coffee without pitching cup +and contents into her lap, and stoop to pick up her fan or handkerchief +without incurring the risk of breaking your nose. Should quadrilles be +proposed, you will also be able to avoid those little _dos-à-dos_ accidents +which are by no means agreeable, and be qualified to pronounce, with +tolerable certainty, which is your own partner. + +_Sharpe's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + + +VIDOCQ. + + +Some very pleasant blunderer is said to have declared Moore's Life of +Sheridan to be the best piece of _Autobiography_ he had ever read; and with +little more propriety can the concluding volume of _Vidocq's Memoirs_ be +said to belong to that species of literature styled Autobiography. The +early volumes, however, possessed this feature, but the present is little +more than a criminal supplement to the Memoirs. Of this defect, the +translator seems to be aware; for in his "Sequel," he says, instead of the +important disclosures promised by the Police Agent, in vol. ii., "he has +given us a nomenclature of the assassins, thieves, and swindlers of France, +and no more." He has merely brought down his Memoirs to the year 1816, and +eked out his fourth volume with anecdotes and counsels, which have in most +cases, more interest than novelty to recommend them. Still they are worth +reading, although of a different character to the scenes, or as a wag would +say, the "concerted pieces" which we have quoted from the three previous +volumes. Our present quotations will not therefore possess the interest of +complicated schemes. + +At page 34, Vidocq awards to our metropolis, no very desirable +distinction-- + + +_Town and Country Thieves._ + + +"No capital in the world, London excepted, has within it so many thieves as +Paris. The pavement of the modern Lutetia is incessantly trodden by rogues. +It is not surprising; for the facility of hiding them in the crowd makes +all that are badly disposed resort thither, whether French or foreign. The +greater number are fixed constantly in this vast city; some only come like +birds of passage, at the approach of great occasions, or during the summer +season. Besides these exotics, there are indigenous plants, which make a +fraction in the population, of which the denominator is tolerably high. I +leave to the great calculator, M. Charles Dupin, the task of enumerating +them in decimals, and telling us if the sum that it amounts to should not +be taken into consideration in the application of the black list." + + +_False Keys._ + + +"Cambrioleurs are plunderers of rooms, either by force or with false keys. +There are of this class thieves of incredible effrontery; that of one +Beaumont almost surpasses belief. Escaped from the Bagne at Rochefort, +where he was sentenced to pass twelve years of his life, he came to Paris, +and scarcely had he arrived there, where he had already practised, when, by +way of getting his hand in, he committed several trifling robberies, and +when by these preliminary steps he had proceeded to exploits more worthy of +his ancient renown, he conceived the project of stealing a treasure. No one +will imagine that this treasure was that of the _Bureau Central_ (Central +Office), now the Prefecture of Police! It was already pretty difficult to +procure impressions of the keys, but he achieved this first difficulty, and +soon had in his possession all the means of effecting an opening; but to +open was nothing, it was necessary to open without being perceived, to +introduce himself without fear of being disturbed, to work without +witnesses, and go out again freely. Beaumont, who had calculated all the +difficulties that opposed him, was not dismayed. He had remarked that the +private room of the chief officer, M. Henri, was nigh to the spot where he +proposed to effect his entrance; he espied the propitious moment, and +wished sincerely that some circumstance would call away so dangerous a +neighbour for some time, and chance was subservient to his wishes." + +"One morning, M. Henri was obliged to go out. Beaumont, sure that he would +not return that day, ran to his house, put on a black coat, and in that +costume, which, in those days, always announced a magistrate, or public +functionary, presents himself at the entrance of the _Bureau Central_. The +officer to whom he addressed himself supposed, of course, that he was at +least a commissary. On the invitation of Beaumont, he gave him a soldier, +whom he placed as sentinel at the entrance to the narrow passage which +leads to the depôt, and commanded not to allow any person to pass. No +better expedient could be found for preventing surprise. Thus Beaumont, in +the midst of a crowd of valuable objects, could, at his leisure, and in +perfect security, choose what best pleased him; watches, jewels, diamonds, +precious stones, &c. He chose those which he deemed most valuable, most +portable, and as soon as he had made his selection, he dismissed the +sentinel, and disappeared." + +"This robbery could not be long concealed, and the following day was +discovered. Had thunder fallen on the police, they would have been less +astonished than at this event. To penetrate to the very sanctuary!--the +holy of holies! The fact appeared so very extraordinary, that it was +doubted. Yet it was evident that a robbery had taken place, and to whom was +it to be attributed? All the suspicions fell on the clerks; sometimes on +one, sometimes on another; when Beaumont, betrayed by a friend, was +apprehended, and sentenced a second time." + +"The robbery he had committed might be estimated at some hundred thousand +francs, the greater part of which were found on him." + +"'There was wherewithal,' he said, 'to become an honest man; I should have +become so; it is so easy when rich! yet how many rich men are only +scoundrels!'" + +"These words were the only ones he uttered, when he was apprehended. This +surprising thief was conducted to Brest; where, after half a dozen escapes, +which only served to make his subsequent confinement more rigorous, he died +in a frightful state of exhaustion." + +"Beaumont enjoyed amongst his confraternity a colossal reputation; and even +now, when a rogue boasts of his lofty exploits--'Hold your tongue,' they +say, 'you are not worthy to untie the shoe-strings of Beaumont!'" + +"In effect, to have robbed the police was the height of address. Is not a +robbery of this nature the _chef-d'oeuvre_ of its kind, and can it do +otherwise than, make its perpetrator a hero in the eyes of his admirers? +Who should dare to compare with him? Beaumont had robbed the police! Hang +yourself, brave Crillon! hang yourself, Coignard! hang yourself, +Pertruisard! hang yourself, Callet!--to him, you are but of Saint-Jean. +What is it to have robbed states of service? To have carried off the +treasure of the army of the Rhine? To have carried off the military +chest?--Beaumont had robbed the police! Hang yourselves!--or go to England, +they will hang you there." + + +_The Misanthropic Swindler._ + + +At page 71, Vidocq tells us a strange story of a fellow named Capdeville, +who affecting misanthropy and disgust of the world, hired an apartment at a +lone house near Paris, and employed his solitude in obtaining false keys of +all the other rooms. Not quite settled here, "Capdeville published his +intention of going out to discover an hermitage where he could pass his +latter days in peace. He inquired of all the country proprietors who had +places for sale within a circuit of six leagues, and it was soon known +through the country that he was on the look-out for a place of the kind. +Every body knew, of course, something that would suit him, but he would +have only a patrimonial estate. 'Well, well,' said they, 'since he is so +scrupulous, let him look out for himself.' This, in fact, he did." + +"Determined to make a tour, to examine what was most likely to suit him, he +employed himself ostensibly in preparations for his departure; he was only +to be absent three or four days, but before he departed, he was anxious to +know if there was no danger in leaving a secretary, in which were ten +thousand francs, which he did not wish to take with him. Being assured on +this point, and full of security, he did not hesitate to set out on his +proposed journey." + +"Capdeville did not go to a very great distance. During his sojourn in the +house he had just left, he had had time to take impressions of all the keys +which were requisite for his entrance into the dwelling of the landlord, +who he knew was in the habit of dining in Paris, and did not return very +early in the evening. By being there at dusk, Capdeville was certain of +having before him all the time necessary for carrying on his operations. +The sun had set, and, favoured by the darkness, he passed unperceived +through Belleville, and having entered the house by the help of false keys, +he entered the abode of the landlord, which he cleared out even to the +linen." + +"Towards the end of the fifth day they began to be uneasy at the +non-appearance of the misanthrope; the next day a suspicion arose. +Twenty-four hours later, and there was but one opinion respecting him; he +was the thief. After such a trick mistrust all misanthropes. To whom then +shall we trust, in whom place confidence? In philanthropists? By no means." + +The misanthropy in this case must have been infectious, and the disgust of +the lodger transferred to the landlord. + +Other novelties oblige us to break off here for the present, so that +another spice or two of the frauds of Paris stand over for our next. + + * * * * * + + + +THE ANECDOTE GALLERY + + * * * * * + + +RECOLLECTIONS OF PALEY. + +_From Best's Personal Memorials._ + + +Some one came up to Paley and made an excuse for a friend, who was obliged +to defer an intended visit to the subdeanery, because a man who had +promised to pay him some money in April, could not pay it till May. "A +common case," said Paley. We all laughed. Paley, by way of rewarding us for +our complaisance in being pleased with what was recommended chiefly by the +quaintness of his manner, went on:--"A man should never _paay mooney_ till +he can't help it; _soomething maay_ happen." + +At another time he said, "I always desire my wife and daughters to pay +ready money. It is of no use to desire them to buy only what they want; +they will always imagine they want what they wish to buy; but that paying +ready _mooney_ is such a check upon their imagin_aa_tion." + +Paley's education had been sufficiently hardy. "My father rode to +Peterborough, and I rode after him, on a horse that I could not manage. I +tumbled off. My father, without looking back, cried out, 'Get up again, +Will.' When I set up a carriage, it was thought right that my armorial +bearings should appear on the panels. Now, we had none of us ever heard of +the Paley arms; none of us had ever dreamed that such things existed, or +had ever been. All the old folks of the family were consulted; they knew +nothing about it. Great search was made, however, and at last we found a +silver tankard, on which was engraved a coat of arms. It was carried by +common consent that these _must_ be the Paley arms; they were painted on +the carriage, and looked very handsome. The carriage went on very well with +them; and it was not till six months afterwards that we found out that the +tankard had been _bought at a sale_!" + +He told me, "when I wanted to write any thing particularly well,--to do +better than ordinary,--I used to order a post-chaise and go to Longtown; it +is the first stage from Carlisle towards the north; there is a comfortable, +quiet inn there. I asked for a room to myself; there then I was, safe from +the bustle and trouble of a family; and there I remained as long as I +liked, or till I had finished what I was about." I said, "That is a very +curious anecdote;" and I said it in a tone which, from a certain change in +his countenance, I believe to have set him on musing how this anecdote +would appear in the history of his life. Paley took his rides on horseback +occasionally, but always alone, without the attendance even of a servant. +"I am so bad a horseman, that if any man on horseback was to come near me +when I am riding, I should certainly have a fall; company would take off my +attention, and I have need of all I can command to manage my horse and keep +my seat; I have got a horse, the quietest creature that ever lived, one +that at Carlisle used to be covered with children from the ears to the +tail." Understanding all this, and seeing him gambadoing on the +race-course, I turned my horse's head another way. "I saw what you meant +this morning; it was very considerate of you; I am much obliged to you." +Paley was too careful of petty expenses, as is frequently the case with +those who have had but narrow incomes in early life. He kept a sufficiently +handsome establishment as subdean, but he was stingy. A plentiful fall of +snow took place during an evening party at the precentors's; two of Mr. +Subdean's daughters were there; he showed great anxiety on account of the +necessity that seemed to have arisen of sending them home in a sedan-chair; +taking the advice of several of the company, whether such necessity really +and inevitably existed, he said to me, "It is only next door." "The houses +touch," said I, "but it is a long round to your door; the length of both +houses and then through the garden in front of your house." He consulted +the precentor, who, to put the matter in a right point of view, cried out, +"Let the girls have a chair; it is only three-pence a piece." + +He preached a sermon at Lincoln for the benefit of a charity school. In the +course of this sermon he related, in familiar but sufficiently dignified +language, a story of a man who, giving evidence on a trial respecting some +prescriptive right claimed by the trustees of the charity, was browbeaten +by the questioning counsel:--"I suppose the fact to which you swear +happened when you were a charity boy, and used to go to school there?" The +witness calmly replied, "I _was_ a charity boy; and all the good that has +befallen me in life has arisen from the education I received at that +school." Paley drew hence an argument in favour of the institution for +which he pleaded. The whole discourse pleased his auditors, and a +deputation waited on him to request he would print it. "Gentlemen, I thank +you for the compliment; but I must give the same answer that I have given +on other like occasions; and that answer is--The tap is out." "The +Archbishop of York," said he, speaking of a late primate, "preached one day +at Carlisle; I was present, and felt muzzy and half asleep; when on a +sudden I was roused, and began to prick up my ears; and what should I hear +but a whole page of one of my own books quoted word for word; and this +without the least acknowledgment, though it was a _white bear_; a passage +that is often quoted and well known." "Now," said Dr. Milner, Dean of +Carlisle, who related the anecdote, "guess what inference Paley drew from +this plagiarism. No; if that court were full of people, not one of them +would be able to guess: it was this--I suppose the archbishop's wife makes +his grace's sermons for him." + + * * * * * + + +The city has always been the province for satire; and the wits of King +Charles's time jested upon nothing else during his whole reign.--_Addison_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +ERRORS OF THE PRESS. + +_By a Reporter._ + + +I once had occasion to report, that a certain "noble lord was confined to +his house with a _violent cold_"--next morning, I found his lordship +represented to be "confined with a _violent scold_!" In the same way, on +the occasion of a recent entertainment, I had said "that the first point of +attraction and admiration were her _ladyship's looks_;" this compliment was +transferred by the printer to her "_ladyship's cooks_!" My praises of the +"_Infant Lyra_" were converted to a panegyric on the "_infant lyar_." In an +account of General Saldanha's conduct at Oporto, I observed that he +"_behaved like a hero_," while the printer made it appear that he "_behaved +like a hare_."--"We," says the _John Bull_, "often suffer in this +way--about two years since, we represented Mr. Peel as having joined a +party of _fiends_ in Hampshire for the purpose of shooting _peasants_; and +only last week, in a Scotch paper, we saw it gravely stated that a +_surgeon_ was taken alive in the river and sold to the inhabitants at 6d. +and 10d. per pound." + +_Atlas._ + + * * * * * + + +TESTAMENT OF A USURER. + + +"I order that my body be returned to the earth from whence it came, and I +give my soul to the devil. I give likewise to the devil the souls of my +wife and children, who encouraged me in usury for the sake of good cheer +and fine clothes. _Item_. I give to the devil the soul of my confessor, who +connived at my crimes by his silence." + + * * * * * + + +On the day when the news of the decease of Napoleon reached the Tuileries, +Louis XVIII. was surrounded by a brilliant court, all of whom, with the +exception of one man, received the intelligence with the most unequivocal +signs of delight. This man was General Rapp, who burst into tears. The king +perceived and noticed it. "Yes, Sire," answered the general, "I do weep for +Napoleon; and you will excuse it, for to him I owe every thing in the +world, even the honour of now serving your majesty, since it was he that +made me what I am!" The king, in an elevated tone of voice, replied, +"General, I do but esteem you the more. Fidelity which thus survives +misfortune, proves to me how securely I may depend on you myself." + + * * * * * + + +THE HINT TAKEN. + + +Voltaire after being on terms of friendship with the King of Prussia, owing +to his wit, gave some offence; when the King said to some of his +courtiers--"When we squeeze the orange and have sucked the juice, we throw +the rest away." Then said Voltaire _I must take care of the peel_--and +quitted his Prussian majesty's dominions. + +L. P. S. + + * * * * * + +(_To the Editor of the Mirror._) + + +Sir,--In the distich you have quoted from my Lectures at page 143 of your +last MIRROR, it should have been stated that the statue was a Cupid. The +original lines (Voltaire's) are-- + + Qui que tu sois, voici ton maître, + Il l'est, le fut, ou le doit être. + +B. H. SMART. + +_Connaught Terrace, Aug. 31._ + + * * * * * + + +In Paris, when they break a window, the common people cry out, +"_quarante-cinq_," so as to produce a sound, in a measure harmonizing with +the accident. It is to them a capital joke, because _quarante-cinq_, (45) +is written with the two figures that make "_neuf_" (that is, in French, +either _nine_ or _new_.) The pun is ingenious. + + * * * * * + + +The worst of all knaves are those who can mimic their former +honesty.--_Lavater_. + + * * * * * + + + +LIMBIRD'S EDITIONS. + +CHEAP and POPULAR WORKS published at the MIRROR OFFICE in the Strand, near +Somerset House. + +The ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. Embellished with nearly 150 Engravings. +In 6 Parts, 1s. each. + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. 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