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diff --git a/12477-0.txt b/12477-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..92471d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/12477-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1714 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12477 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + + * * * * * + +VOL. XIII, NO. 356.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + + + + +Interior of the Colosseum. + + +[Illustration: Interior of the Colosseum.] + + +_References to the Engraving._ + +A. Column or Tower in the centre of the building, for supporting the +Ascending Room, &c. + +B. Entrance to the Ascending-Room. + +C. Saloon for the reception of works of art. + +D. Passage lending to the Saloon, Galleries, and Ascending-Room. + +E. F. Two separate Spiral Flights of Steps, leading to the Galleries, &c. + +G. H. I. Galleries from which the Picture is to be viewed. + +K. Refreshment-Room. + +L. Rooms for Music or Bells. + +M. The Old Ball from St. Paul's Cathedral. + +N. Stairs leading to the outside of the Building. _a. b._ Sky-lights. +_c._ Plaster Dome, on which the sky is painted, _d._ Canvass on which +the part of the picture up to the horizon is painted. _e._ Gallery, +suspended by ropes, used for painting the distance, and uniting the +plaster and the canvas. _f._ Temporary Bridge from the Gallery G to +the Gallery _e._ from the end of which the echo of the building might +be heard to the greatest advantage. _g._ One of Fifteen Triangular +Platforms, used for painting the sky. _h._ Platforms fixed on the +ropes of the Gallery _e_, used for finishing and clouding the sky. +_k._ Different methods for getting at the lower parts of the canvas. +_l._ Baskets for conveying colours. &c. to the artists, _m._ Cross or +Shears, formed of two poles, from which a cradle or box is suspended, +for finishing the picture after the removal of all the scaffolding +and ropes. + + +Mr. Hornor, in his colossal undertaking, has "devised a mean" to draw us +out of the way; and a successful one it has already proved. As a return +for the interest which his enterprise has excited, we are, however, +induced to present its details to our readers, as perfect as the limits +of the MIRROR will allow; and for this purpose we have been favoured by +Mr. Parris with the drawing for the annexed cut. + +In No. 352, we gave a popular description of the interior of the +Colosseum; but the reader's attention was therein directed to the +splendid effect of the panorama or picture, whilst the means by which +the painting was executed have been reserved for our present Number. +This we have endeavoured to illustrate by the annexed engraving; and +the explanation will be rendered still clearer by reference to No. 352, +wherein we have given an outline of the difficulties with which the +principal artist, Mr. Parris, had to contend in painting the panorama. +We, however, omitted to state an obstacle equally formidable with the +_reconciliation_ of the styles of the several artists engaged to +assist Mr. Parris. This additional source of perplexity was the great +change, almost amounting to the vitrification of enamel colours, which +occurred in the hues of the various pigments, according to the point of +view, and the immense distance of the canvas from the spectator. + +Besides furnishing the reader with the construction of the apartments, +galleries, and ascents of the interior, the engraving presents some idea +of the scaffoldings, bridges, platforms, and other mechanical +contrivances requisite for the execution of the picture. + +The spiral staircase, it will be seen, leads to the lower gallery for +viewing the picture. Unconnected with the intermediate gallery, there is +a communication from the lowest gallery to the highest, and thence to +the refreshment-rooms and exterior of the dome. The ascent to the second +price gallery is by a spiral staircase under those already mentioned. +The column, or central erection, containing these staircases and +the ascending-room, is of timber, with twelve principal uprights +seventy-three feet high, one foot square, set upon a circular curb of +brickwork, hooped with iron, and further secured by bracing, and by +two other circular curbs, from the upper one of which rises a cone of +timbers thirty-four feet high, supporting the refreshment-rooms, the +identical ball, and model of the cross, of St. Paul's, Mr. Hornor's +sketching cabin, staircase to the exterior, &c. Without the circle of +timbers already described, is another of twenty-four upright timbers; +and between these two circles the staircases wind. The architectural +fronts of the galleries form frame-works, through which the spectator +may enjoy various parts of the panorama, as in so many distinct +pictures. + +The cut and appended references will explain the devices for painting +better than a more extended description; for mere words do not +facilitate the understanding of inventions which in themselves are +beautiful and simple. To heighten the effect, our artist has, however, +introduced light sketchy outlines of the campanile towers of St. Paul's, +the city, and the distant country. Mr. Parris's task must have been one +of extreme peril, and notwithstanding his ingenious contrivances of +galleries, bridges, platforms, &c. he fell twice from a considerable +height; but in neither case was he seriously hurt. His progress reminds +us of other grand flights to fame, but his success has been triumphant, +and alike honourable to his genius and enterprise. In short, looking +at the present advanced state of the Colosseum, Mr. Hornor and his +indefatigable coadjutors may almost exclaim in the words of Dryden, + + "Our toils, my friend, are crown'd with sure success: + The greater part perform'd, achieve the less." + + * * * * * + + +DORCHESTER. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +St. Peter's church, Dorchester, is a handsome structure. There is a +traditional rhyme about it which imports the founder of this church +to have been Geoffery Van. + + "Geoffery Van + With his wife Anne + And his maid Nan + Built this church." + + +But there was long since dug up in a garden here a large seal, with +indisputable marks of antiquity, and this inscription:--"Sigillum +Galfridi de Ann." It is therefore supposed, with some reason, that +the founder's name was Ann. + +A great number and variety of Roman coins have been dug up in this town, +some of silver, others of copper, called by the common people, King +Dorn's Pence; for they have a notion that one king Dorn was the founder +of Dorchester. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + +FIRE AT YORK CATHEDRAL. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Ut Rosa flos florum + Sic est domus ista domorum. + + +Such was the encomium bestowed on the venerable pile of York Minster by +an old monkish writer; but, alas! what a change is there in the space +of a few short hours; what a scene of desolation, what a lesson of the +instability of sublunary things and the vanity of human grandeur! The +glory of the city of York, of England, yea, almost of Europe, is now, +through the fanaticism of a modern Erostratus, rendered comparatively +a pile of ruin; but still + + "Looks great in ruin, noble in decay." + + +This is the third time that this magnificent structure has been assailed +by fire; twice it has been totally destroyed; but, like another phoenix, +it has again risen from its ashes in a greater degree of splendour. A +period of nearly seven hundred years has now elapsed since the last of +these occurrences; and the present fabric has but now narrowly escaped +sharing the fate of its predecessors. + +The damage which the Minster has sustained is not, perhaps, of +so great a magnitude as, from the first appearance of the fire, might +have been anticipated. The destruction is principally confined to the +_choir_, the roof of which is entirely consumed. The beautiful and +elaborately carved _screen_,[1] which divides the choir from the +nave, and forms a support for the organ-loft, has escaped in a most +wonderful manner, a few of the more projecting ornaments being merely +detached. The organ, an instrument scarcely equalled in tone by any +other in Europe, is totally destroyed. The oaken stalls,[2] together +with their richly carved canopies, have likewise perished. The altar +table, which stood at the eastern end of the choir, on a raised +pavement, ascended by a flight of fifteen steps, is likewise consumed, +and the communion plate melted. The beautiful stone screen, which +separated the Lady's Chapel from the altar, has not suffered so +materially as was at first imagined. This elegant specimen of ancient +sculpture is divided into eight pointed arches, and elaborately +ornamented with tracery work: the lights were filled with plate glass, +through which a fine view of the great eastern window was obtained; +some pieces of which still remain uninjured. + +Such are the principal parts of the cathedral which have suffered. The +books, cushions, and other movable effects, from the northern side of +the choir, were fortunately rescued, together with the brazen eagle, +from which the prayers were read. The wills, and other valuable +documents, were also preserved. + +The choir, the destruction of which we have just related, was built by +John de Thoresby, a prelate, raised to the archiepiscopal chair in 1532. +On this building he expended the then enormous sum of one thousand eight +hundred and ten pounds out of his own private purse. The first stone +was laid on the 29th of July, 1361; but the founder died before its +completion, as is evident from the arms of several of his successors in +various parts of the building, particularly those of Scrope and Bowet, +the latter of whom was not created archbishop until the year 1405. It +was constructed in a more florid style of architecture than the rest of +the fabric. The roof, higher by some feet than that of the nave, was +more richly ornamented, an elegant kind of festoon work descending from +the capitals of the pillars, which separated the middle from the side +aisles; from these columns sprung the vaulted roof, the ribs of which +crossed each other in angular compartments. The magnificent window, the +admiration of all beholders, occupies nearly the whole space of the +eastern end of the choir; it is divided by two large mullions into +three principal divisions, which are again subdivided into three lights; +the upper part from the springing of the arches are also separated +into various compartments. It contains nearly two hundred subjects, +principally scriptural. The painting of this window was executed about +the year 1405, at the expense of the dean and chapter, by John Thornton, +a glazier, of Coventry, who, by his contract, was engaged to finish it +within three years, and to receive four shillings per week for his +work; he was also to have one hundred shillings besides; and also ten +pounds more if he did his work well.[3] On the exterior of the choir, +immediately over the window, is the effigy of John de Thoresby, mitred +and robed, and sitting in his archiepiscopal chair, his right hand +pointing to the window, and in his left holding the model of a church. +At the base of the window are the heads of Christ and the Apostles, +with that of some sovereign, supposed to be Edward III. + +We will now bring this article to a close, by quoting the words of Æneas +Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II., in praise of York Cathedral. He says, +"It is famous all over the world for its magnificence and workmanship, +but especially for a fine lightsome chapel, with shining walls, and +small, thin-waisted pillars, quite round."[4] + +S.I.B. + + + [1] This elegant and curious piece of workmanship, the history of + which is involved in uncertainty, bears the marks of an age + subsequent to that of the choir, and was probably erected in + the reign of Henry VI. It is in the most finished style of the + florid Gothic, containing niches, canopies, pediments, and + pinnacles, and decorated with the statues of all the sovereigns + of England, from the Norman Conquest to Henry V. The statue of + James I. stands in the niche which tradition assigns as that + formerly occupied by the one of Henry VI. + + [2] These stalls or seats which were formed of oak, and of the most + elaborate workmanship, occupied the side, and western end of the + choir: they were surmounted by canopies, supported by slender + pillars, rising from the arms, each being furnished with a + movable misericordia. + + [3] Vide Drake's Eboracum, p. 527. + + [4] We thank our intelligent antiquarian correspondent for this + article, which, he will perceive appears somewhat, abridged, + as we are unable to spare room for further details. + + * * * * * + + + +THE VINE. + +FROM THE GERMAN OF HERDER. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +On the day of their creation, the trees boasted one to another, of their +excellence. "Me, the Lord planted!" said the lofty cedar;--"strength, +fragrance, and longevity, he bestowed on me." + +"Jehovah fashioned me to be a blessing," said the shadowy palm; +"utility and beauty he united in my form." The apple-tree, said, "Like +a bridegroom among youths, I glow in my beauty amidst the trees of the +grove!" The myrtle, said, "Like the rose among briars, so am I amidst +the other shrubs." Thus all boasted;--the olive and the fig-tree--and +even the fir. + +The vine, alone, drooped silent to the ground! "To me," thought he, +"every thing seems to have been refused;--I have neither stem--nor +branches--nor flowers,--but such as _I am_, I will hope and wait." +The vine bent down its shoots, and wept! + +Not long had the vine to wait; for, behold, the divinity of earth, man, +drew nigh; he saw the feeble, helpless, plant trailing its honours along +the soil:--in pity, he lifted up the recumbent shoots, and twined the +feeble plant around his own bower. + +Now the winds played with its leaves and tendrils; and the warmth of the +sun began to empurple its hard green grapes, and to prepare within them +a sweet and delicious juice. + +Decked with its rich clusters, the vine leaned towards its master, who +tasted its refreshing fruit and juicy beverage; and he named the vine, +his friend and favourite. + +Despair not, ye forsaken; bear--be patient,--and strive. + +From the insignificant reed flows the sweetest of juices;--from the +bending vine springs the most delightful drink of the earth. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO.--BY AN OFFICER ENGAGED. + +(_Abridged from No. 2, of the United Service Journal._) + + +We had been cruizing off the coast of the Morea, for the protection of +trading vessels, and to watch the motions of the numerous Greek pirates +infesting the narrow seas and adjacent islands. For fourteen months we +had been thus actively employed, when the arrival of the Albion and +Genoa, from Lisbon, hinted to us, that some coercive measures were +about to be used against the Turks, to cause them to discontinue the +exterminating war they carried on against the Greeks, and to evacuate +the country pursuant to the terms of the treaty of July, 1827. The +prospect of a collision with the Turkish fleet appeared to be very +agreeable to the ship's crew, as they had got a little tired of their +long confinement on board, and anxiously looked for a speedy return to +Malta to get ashore, which they had not been able to do for upwards of a +year. We again proceeded on our protecting duty, and parted company with +the admiral in the Asia. In about six weeks we returned, and found that +many other British vessels had joined the Asia, whilst the squadrons of +France and Russia added to the number of the fleet, which altogether +presented an imposing attitude. + +The Turkish and Egyptian fleets had arrived from the unsuccessful +attempt in the Gulf of Patras some time before, and lay off the Bay of +Navarino, before they finally entered and took up a position within +the harbour. While the Ottoman fleet lay off the bay, the Turkish +troops were said to have committed many unjustifiable outrages on the +defenceless inhabitants of the country adjacent to Navarino; information +of these oppressive acts was conveyed to the British admiral, and, it +is believed, formed the grounds of a strong remonstrance on his part, +addressed to the Turkish commanders, which hastened the collision +between the two armaments. These facts were generally known throughout +the fleet, and a "_row_" was eagerly expected. + +About the beginning of October we had returned from our cruize; the men, +ever since we had been in commission, had been daily exercised at the +guns, and, by firing at marks, they had much improved in their practice. + +Before entering the bay, the Ottoman fleet lay at the distance of ten or +twelve miles from the Allies. They appeared numerous, with many small +craft. Most of them bore the crimson flag flying at their peak, and on +coming closer, a crescent and sword were visible on the flags. Their +ships looked well, and in tolerable order: the Egyptians were evidently +superior to the Turks. + +Little communication took place between the Allied and Turkish fleets. +The Dartmouth had gone into the bay twice, bearing the terms proposed by +the allied commanders to Ibrahim Pacha. No satisfactory answer had been +returned by the Ottoman admiral, whose conduct appeared evasive and +trifling, implying a contempt for our prowess, and daring us to do our +worst. + +The Dartmouth having proceeded for the last time into the bay, with the +final requisitions, and having brought back no satisfactory reply, on +Saturday, the 20th of October, 1827, about noon, Admiral Codrington, +favoured by a gentle sea-breeze, bore up under all sail for the mouth +of the Bay of Navarino. A buzz ran instantly through the ship at the +welcome intelligence of the admiral's bearing up; and I could easily +perceive the hilarity and exultation of the seamen, and their impatience +for the contest. + +Our ship's crew was chiefly composed of young men, who had never seen a +shot fired; yet, to judge from their manner, one would have thought them +familiar with the business of fighting. The decks were then cleared for +action, and the ship was quite ready, as we neared the mouth of the bay. + +The Asia led the fleet, and was the first to enter the bay, followed by +the ships in two columns. This was about one o'clock, or rather later. +Abreast of Sir Edward Codrington was the French admiral, distinguished +by the large white flag at the mizen. Then came the Genoa and Albion, +followed by the Dartmouth, Talbot, and brigs, along with the French and +Russian squadrons, in more distant succession. Every sail was set, so +that the vast crowd of canvass, that looked more bleached and glittering +in the rays of the sun, and contrasted with the deep blue unclouded sky, +presented a magnificent and spirit-stirring spectacle. The breeze was +just powerful enough to carry the allied fleet forward at a gentle rate, +and as the wind freshened a little at times, it had the effect of +causing the ships to heel to one side in a graceful, undulating +manner,--the various flags and pendants of the united nations puffing +out occasionally from the mast-heads. The sea was smooth, the weather +rather warm, and the air quite clear. As we neared the entrance of the +bay, the land presented all around a rugged, steep appearance towards +the sea. In the distance, the mountains were visible, of a light blue, +with whitish clouds apparently resting on their summits. The town and +castle of Navarino presented a bright, picturesque look, and some spots +of cultivation were to be seen. In the interior there rose in the air +what looked like the smoke of some conflagration, and such we all +believed was the case, as the Turkish soldiery had been employed in +ravaging the country, and carrying away the inhabitants. An encampment +of tents lay near, close to the castle, and large bodies of soldiers +were easily discernible crowding on the batteries as we approached. We +were about five hundred yards distant from the castle. The breadth of +the entrance was about a mile. + +When the Asia had arrived abreast of this castle, a boat rowed from the +shore, and came alongside of the Asia with a request from Ibraham Pacha, +that the allied fleets would not enter the bay; and just about that +time, an unshotted gun was fired from the castle, which we interpreted +as a signal for the Ottoman fleet to prepare for action. Close to the +mouth of the bay, the cluster of vessels was considerable, all bearing +up under a press of sail, and in perfect order. Our ship was close on +the Asia's quarter. No opposition was made to our progress by the +batteries of Navarino, which was a matter of surprise to all, as the men +were ready at their quarters in momentary expectation of being attacked. +To the spectators on the battlements our fleet must have presented a +beautiful, though a formidable, appearance. + +As soon as we had cleared the mouth of the bay, the Turko-Egyptian +fleet was seen ranged round from right to left, in the form of an +extensive crescent, in two lines, each ship with springs on her cables. +Thus the combined fleets were in the centre of the lion's den, and +the lists might be said to have been closed. The Asia, on passing the +mouth of Navarino, sailed onwards to where the Turkish and Egyptian +line-of-battle ships lay at anchor about three-quarters of a mile +farther up the bay, and anchored close abreast one of their largest +ships, bearing the flag of the Capitan Bey. The Genoa took her station +near the Asia, whilst the Albion followed; but the Turks being so +closely wedged together, she could not find space to pass between them +to her appointed berth. The ship of the Egyptian Admiral lay as close to +the Asia as that of the Capitan Bey: a large double-banked frigate was +also near: all these three ships being moored in front of the crescent +close upon the Asia and the Genoa. The wind by this time had almost +died away, consequently the Albion had to anchor close alongside the +double-banked frigate. This failing of the wind retarded considerably +the progress of the ships, which had not yet entered the bay, +particularly the Russian ships, and several of ours, which came later +into action, and had to encounter the firing of the artillery of the +castle. + +The Egyptian fleet lay to the south-east; and, as it was well known that +several French officers were serving on board, the French Admiral was +appointed to place his squadron abreast of them. It appears, however, +that, with one exception, all these Frenchmen quitted the Egyptian +fleet, and went on board an Austrian transport which lay off the coast. + +The post assigned to the Cambrian, Talbot, and Glasgow, along with the +French frigate Armide, was alongside of the Turkish frigates at the +left of the crescent on entering into the bay; whilst the Dartmouth, +Musquito, the Rose, and Philomel, were ordered to keep a sharp look-out +on the several fireships lurking suspiciously at the extremities of the +crescent, and apparently ripe for mischief. + +It was strictly enjoined in the orders, that no gun was to be fired, +without a signal to that effect made by the Admiral, unless it should be +in return for shots fired at us by the Turkish fleet. Each ship was to +anchor with springs on her cables, if time allowed; and the orders +concluded with the memorable words of Nelson,--"No captain can do +very wrong who places his ship alongside of any enemy." + +It was about two o'clock when we arrived at our station on the left of +the bay, and anchored. The men were immediately sent aloft to furl the +sails, which operation lasted a few minutes. Whilst so employed, the +Dartmouth, distant about half a mile from our ship, had sent a boat, +commanded by Lieut. Fitzroy, to request the fireship to remove from her +station; a fire of musketry ensued from the fireship into the boat, +killing the officer and several men. This brought on a return of +small-arms from the Dartmouth and Syrene. Capt. Davis, of the Rose, +having witnessed the firing of the Turkish vessel, went in one of his +boats to assist that of the Dartmouth; and the crew of these two boats +were in the act of climbing up the sides of the fireship, when she +instantly exploded with a tremendous concussion, blowing the men into +the water, and killing and disabling several in the boats close +alongside. Just about this time, and before the men had descended from +the yards, an Egyptian double-banked frigate poured a broadside into our +ship. The captain gave instant orders to fire away; and the broadside +was returned with terrible effect, every shot striking the hull of the +Egyptian frigate. The men were now hastily descending the shrouds, while +the captain sung out, "Now, my lads! down to the main-deck, and fire +away as fast as you can." The seamen cheered loudly as they fired the +first broadside, and continued to do so at intervals during the action. +The battle had actually commenced to windward before the Asia and the +Ottoman admiral had exchanged a single shot; and the action in that part +of the bay was brought on in nearly a similar manner as in ours, by the +Turks firing into the boat dispatched by Sir E. Codrington to explain +the mediatorial views of the Allies. The Greek pilot had been killed; +and ere the Asia's boat had reached the ship, the firing was unremitting +between the Asia, Genoa, and Albion, and the Turkish ships. About +half-past two o'clock, the battle had become general throughout the +whole lines, and the cannonade was one uninterrupted crash, louder than +any thunder. Previous to the Egyptian frigate firing into us, the men, +not engaged in furling the sails, had stripped themselves to their +duck-frocks, and were binding their black-silk neckcloths round +their heads and waists, and some upon their left knees. + +The Egyptian frigate, which had fired into our ship was distant about +half a cable's length. Near her was another of the same large class, +together with a Turkish frigate and a corvette. These four ships poured +their broadsides into us without intermission for nearly a quarter of an +hour; but after a few rounds their firing became irregular and hasty, +and many of their shots injured our rigging. At the first broadside we +received, two men near me were instantly struck dead on the deck. There +was no appearance of any wounds upon them, but they never stirred a +limb; and their bodies, after lying a little beside the gun at which +they had been working, were dragged amid-ships. Several of the men were +now severely wounded. + +We were near enough to distinguish the Turkish and Egyptian sailors in +the enemy's ships. They seemed to be a motley group. Most of them wore +turbans of white, with a red cap below, small brown jackets, and very +wide trousers; their legs were bare. They were active, brawny fellows, +of a dark-brown complexion, and they crowded the Turkish ships, which +accounts for the very great slaughter we occasioned among them. Many +dead bodies were tumbled through their port-holes into the sea. + +Capt. Hugon, commanding the French frigate L'Armide, about three +o'clock, seeing the unequal, but unflinching combat we were maintaining, +wormed his ship coolly and deliberately through the Turkish inner line, +in such a gallant, masterly style, as never for one moment to obstruct +the fire of our ship upon our opponents. He then anchored on our +starboard-quarter, and fired a broadside into one of the Turkish +frigates, thus relieving us of one of our foes, which, in about ten +minutes, struck to the gallant Frenchman; who, on taking possession, in +the most handsome manner, hoisted our flag along with his own, to show +he had but completed the work we had begun. The skill, gallantry, and +courtesy of the French captain, were the subject of much talk amongst +us, and we were loud in his praise. We had still two of the frigates +and the corvette to contend with, whilst the Armide was engaged, when +a Russian line-of-battle-ship came up, and attracted the attention of +another Egyptian frigate, and thus drew off her fire from us. Our men +had now a breathing time, and they poured broadside upon broadside into +the Egyptian frigate, which had been our first assailant. The rapidity +and intensity of our concentrated fire soon told upon the vessel. Her +guns were irregularly served, and many shots struck our rigging. Our +round-shot, which were pointed to sink her, passed through her sides, +and frequently tore up her decks in rebounding. In a short time she was +compelled to haul down her colours, and ceased firing. We learned +afterwards, that her decks were covered with nearly one hundred and +fifty dead and wounded men, and the deck itself ripped up from the +effects of our balls. In the interim, the corvette, which had annoyed us +exceedingly during the action, came in for her share of our notice, and +we managed to repay her in some style for the favours she had bestowed +on us in the heat of the business. Orders were then issued for the men +to cease firing for a few minutes, until the Rose had passed between our +ship and the corvette, and had stationed herself in such a position as +to annoy the latter in conjunction with us. Our firing was then renewed +with redoubled fury, The men, during the pause, had leisure to quench +their thirst from the tank which stood on the deck, and they appeared +greatly refreshed--I may say, almost exhilarated, and to their work +they merrily went again. + +The double-banked Egyptian frigate, which had struck her colours to us, +to our astonishment began, after having been silenced for some time, to +open a smart fire on our ships, though she had no colours flying. The +men were exceedingly exasperated at such treacherous conduct, and they +poured into her two severe broadsides, which effectually silenced her, +and at the moment we saw that a blue ensign was run up her mast, on +which we ceased cannonading her, and she never fired another gun during +the remainder of the action. It was a Greek pilot, pressed on board the +Egyptian, who ran up the English ensign, to prevent our ship from firing +again. He declared that our shot came into the frigate as thick and +rapidly as a hail-storm, and so terrified the crew, that they all ran +below. From the combined effects of our firing, and that of the Russian +ship, the other Egyptian frigate hauled down her colours. The corvette, +which was roughly handled by the Rose, was driven on shore, and there +destroyed. + +Before this, however, a Turkish fireship approached us, having seemingly +no one on board. We fired into her, and in a few minutes she loudly +exploded astern, without doing us any damage. The concussion was +tremendous, shaking the ship through every beam. Another fireship came +close to the Philomel which soon sunk her, and in the very act of going +down she exploded. + +A large ship near the Asia was now seen to be on fire; the blaze flamed +up as high as the topmast, and soon became one vast sheet of fire; in +that state she continued for a short time. The crew could be easily +discerned gliding about across the light; and, after a horrible +suspense, she blew up, with an explosion far louder and more stunning +than the ships which had done so in our vicinity. The smoke and lurid +flame ascended to a vast height in the air; beams, masts, and pieces of +the hull, along with human figures in various distorted postures, were +clearly distinguishable in the air. + +It was now almost dark, and the action had ceased to be general +throughout the lines; but blaze rose upon blaze, and explosion thundered +upon explosion, in various parts of the bay. A pretty sharp cannonading +had been kept up between the guns of the castle and the ships entering +the bay, and that firing still continued. The smaller Turkish vessels, +forming the second line, were now nearly silenced, and several exhibited +signs of being on fire, from the thick light-coloured smoke that rose +from their decks. + +The action had nearly terminated by six o'clock, after a duration of +four hours. Daylight had disappeared unperceived, owing to the dense +smoke of the cannonading, which, from the cessation of the firing, +now began to clear away, and showed us a clouded sky. The bay was +illuminated in various quarters by the numerous burning ships, which +rendered the sight one of the most sublime and magnificent that could +be imagined. + + * * * * * + + + + +MEMORABLE DAYS. + + * * * * * + +VALENTINE'S DAY. + + + Seynte _Valentine_. Of custome, yeere by yeere, + Men have an usaunce, in this regioun, + To loke and serche Cupide's kalendere, + And chose theyr choyse, by grete affeccioun; + Such as ben _move_ with Cupide's mocioun, + Taking theyr choyse as theyr sorte doth falle; + But I love oon whyche excellith alle. + +LYDGATE'S _Poem of Queen Catherine, consort to Henry V._, 1440. + + +In some villages in Kent there is a singular custom observed on St. +Valentine's day. The young maidens, from five or six to eighteen years +of age, assemble in a crowd, and burn an uncouth effigy, which they +denominate a "_holly boy_," and which they obtain from the boys; +while in another part of the village the boys burn an equally ridiculous +effigy, which they call an "ivy girl," and which they steal from the +girls. The oldest inhabitants can give you no reason or account of this +curious practice, though it is always a sport at this season. + +Numerous are the sports and superstitions concerning the day in +different parts of England. In some parts of Dorsetshire the young folks +purchase wax candles, and let them remain lighted all night in the +bedroom. I learned this from some old Dorsetshire friends of mine, who, +however, could throw no further _light_ upon the subject. In the +same county, I was also informed it was in many places customary for the +maids to hang up in the kitchen a bunch of such flowers as were then in +season, neatly suspended by a true lover's knot of blue riband. These +innocent doings are prevalent in other parts of England, and elsewhere. + +Misson, a learned traveller, relates an amusing practice which was kept +up in his time:--"On the eve of St. Valentine's day, the young folks in +England and Scotland, by a very ancient custom, celebrated a little +festival. An equal number of maids and bachelors assemble together; all +write their true or some feigned name separately upon as many billets, +which they rolled up, and drew by way of lots, the maids taking the +men's billets, and the men the maids'; so that each of the young men +lights upon a girl that he calls his Valentine, and each of the girls +upon a young man which she calls her's. By this means each has two +Valentines; but the man sticks faster to the Valentine that falls to +him, than to the Valentine to whom he has fallen. Fortune having thus +divided the company into so many couples, the Valentines give balls and +treats to their fair mistresses, wear their billets several days upon +their bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport often ends in love." + +In Poor Robin's Almanack, 1676, the _drawing_ of Valentines is thus +alluded to: + + "Now Andrew, Antho- + Ny, and William, + For Valentines _draw_ + Prue, Kate, Jilian." + + +Gay makes mention of a method of choosing Valentines in his time, viz. +that the lad's Valentine was the first lass he spied in the morning, who +was not an inmate of the house; and the lass's Valentine was the first +young man she met. + +Also, it is a belief among certain playful damsels, that if they pin +four bay leaves to the corners of the pillow, and the fifth in the +middle, they are certain of dreaming of their lover. + +Shakspeare bears witness to the custom of looking out of window for a +Valentine, or desiring to be one, by making Ophelia sing:-- + + Good morrow! 'tis St. Valentine's day, + All in the morning betime, + And I a maid at your window. + To be your Valentine! + + +In London this day is ushered in by the thundering knock of the postman +at the different doors, through whose hands some thousands of Valentines +pass for many a fair maiden in the course of the day. Valentines are, +however, getting very ridiculous, if we may go by the numerous doggrels +that appear in the print-shops on this day. As an instance, I transmit +the reader a copy of some lines appended to a Valentine sent me last +year. Under the figure of a shoemaker, with a head thrice the size of +his body, and his legs forming an oval, were the following rhymes:-- + + Do you think to be my Valentine? + Oh, no! you snob, you shan't be mine: + So big your ugly head has grown, + No wig will fit to seem your own + Go, find your equal if you can, + For I will ne'er have such a man; + Your fine _bow_ legs and turned-in feet, + Make you a _citizen_ complete." + + +The _fair_ writer had here evidently ventured upon a pun; how far +it has succeeded I will leave others to say. The lovely creature was, +however, entirely ignorant of my calling; and whatever impression such +a description would leave on the reader's mind, it made none on mine, +though in the second verse I was certainly much pleased with the fair +punster. I wish you saw the engraving! + +W.H.H. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: Kirkstall Abbey.] + + +The first page or frontispiece embellisment of the present Number of the +MIRROR illustrates one of the most recent triumphs of art; and the above +vignette is a fragment of the monastic splendour of the twelfth century. +Truly this is the _bathos_ of art. The plaster and paint of the +_Colosseum_ are scarcely dry, and half the work is in embryo; +whilst _Kirkstall_ is crumbling to dust, and reading us "sermons in +stones:" we may well say, + + "Look here, upon this picture, and on this." + + +Kirkstall Abbey is situated a short distance from Leeds, in the West +Riding of Yorkshire. Its situation is one of the most picturesque that +the children of romance can wish for, being in a beautiful vale, watered +by the river Aire. It was of the Cistercian order, founded by Henry de +Lacy in 1157, and valued at the dissolution at 329l. 2s. 11d. Its rents +are now worth 10,253l. 6s. 8d. The gateway has been walled up, and +converted into a farm-house. The abbot's palace was on the south; the +roof of the aisle is entirely gone; places for six altars, three on each +side the high altar, appear by distinct chapels, but to what saints +dedicated is not easy, at this time, to discover. The length of the +church, from east to west, was 224 feet; the transept, from north to +south, 118 feet. The tower, built in the time of Henry VIII., remained +entire till January 27, 1779, when three sides of it were blown down, +and only the fourth remains. Part of an arched chamber, leading to the +cemetery, and part of the dormitory, still remain. On the ceiling of a +room in the gatehouse is inscribed, + + Mille et Quingentos postquam compleverit Orbis + Tuq: et ter demos per sua signi Deus + Prima sauluteferi post cunabula Christi, + Cui datur omnium Honor, Gloria, Laus, et Amor. + + +The principal window is particularly admired as a rich specimen of +Gothic beauty, and a tourist, in 1818, says, "bids defiance to time +and tempest;" but in our engraving, which is of very recent date, the +details of the window will be sought for in vain. "Shrubs and trees," +observes the same writer, "have found a footing in the crevices, and +branches from the walls shook in undulating monotony, and with a gloomy +and spiritual murmur, that spoke to the ear of time and events gone by, +and lost in oblivion and dilapidation. At the end, immediately beneath +the colossal window, grows an alder of considerable luxuriance, which, +added to the situation of every other object, brought Mr. Southey's +pathetic ballad of 'Mary the Maid of the Inn,' so forcibly before my +imagination,[5] that I involuntarily turned my eye to search for the +grave, where the murderers concealed their victim." He likewise tells +us of "the former garden of the monastery, still cultivated, and +exhibiting a fruitful appearance;" cells and cavities covered with +underwood; and his ascent to a gallery by a winding turret stair, +whence, says he, "the monks of Kirkstall feasted their eyes with all +that was charming in nature. It is said," adds he, "that a subterraneous +passage existed from hence to Eshelt Hall, a distance of some miles, +and that the entrance is yet traced." + + + [5] We ourselves remember the thrilling effect of our first reading + this ballad; especially while clambering over the ruins of + Brambletye House. Indeed, the incident of the ballad is of the + most sinking character, and it works on the stage with truly + melo-dramatic force, Perhaps, there is not a more interesting + picture than a solitary tree, tufted on a time-worn ruin; there + are a thousand associations in such a scene, which, to the + reflective mind, are dear as life's-blood, and as an artist + would say, they make a fine study. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + +AMERICAN SONG BIRDS. + + +The _Mocking-bird_ seems to be the prince of all song birds, being +altogether unrivalled in the extent and variety of his vocal powers; +and, besides the fulness and melody of his original notes, he has the +faculty of imitating the notes of all other birds, from the humming-bird +to the eagle. Pennant tells us that he heard a caged one, in England, +imitate the mewing of a cat and the creaking of a sign in high winds. +The Hon. Daines Barrington says, his pipe comes nearest to the +nightingale, of any bird he ever heard. The description, however, given +by Wilson, in his own inimitable manner, as far excels Pennant and +Barrington as the bird excels his fellow-songsters. Wilson tells that +the ease, elegance and rapidity of his movements, the animation of his +eye, and the intelligence he displays in listening and laying up +lessons, mark the peculiarity of his genius. His voice is full, strong, +and musical, and capable of almost every modulation, from the clear +mellow tones of the wood thrush to the savage scream of the bald eagle. +In measure and accents he faithfully follows his originals, while in +force and sweetness of expression he greatly improves upon them. +In his native woods, upon a dewy morning, his song rises above every +competitor, for the others seem merely as inferior accompaniments. His +own notes are bold and full, and varied seemingly beyond all limits. +They consist of short expressions of two, three, or at most five or six, +syllables, generally expressed with great emphasis and rapidity, and +continued with undiminished ardour, for half an hour or an hour at a +time. While singing, he expands his wings and his tail, glistening with +white, keeping time to his own music, and the buoyant gaiety of his +action is no less fascinating than his song. He sweeps round with +enthusiastic ecstasy, he mounts and descends as his song swells or dies +away; he bounds aloft, as Bartram says, with the celerity of an arrow, +as if to recover or recall his very soul, expired in the last elevated +strain. A bystander might suppose that the whole feathered tribes had +assembled together on a trial of skill; each striving to produce his +utmost effect, so perfect are his imitations. He often deceives the +sportsman, and even birds themselves are sometimes imposed upon by this +admirable mimic. In confinement he loses little of the power or energy +of his song. He whistles for the dog; Cæsar starts up, wags his tail, +and runs to meet his master. He cries like a hurt chicken, and the hen +hurries about, with feathers on end, to protect her injured brood. He +repeats the tune taught him, though it be of considerable length, with +great accuracy. He runs over the notes of the canary, and of the red +bird, with such superior execution and effect, that the mortified +songsters confess his triumph by their silence. His fondness for +variety, some suppose to injure his song. His imitations of the brown +thrush is often interrupted by the crowing of cocks; and his exquisite +warblings after the blue bird, are mingled with the screaming of +swallows, or the cackling of hens. During moonlight, both in the wild +and tame state, he sings the whole night long. The hunters, in their +night excursions, know that the moon is rising the instant they begin to +hear his delightful solo. After Shakspeare, Barrington attributes in +part the exquisiteness of the nightingale's song to the silence of the +night; but if so, what are we to think of the bird which in the open +glare of day, overpowers and often silences all competition? His natural +notes partake of a character similar to those of the brown thrush, but +they are more sweet, more expressive, more varied, and uttered with +greater rapidity. + +The _Yellow breasted Chat_ naturally follows his superior in the +art of mimicry. When his haunt is approached, he scolds the passenger in +a great variety of odd and uncouth monosyllables, difficult to describe, +but easily imitated so as to deceive the bird himself, and draw him +after you to a good distance. At first are heard short notes like the +whistling of a duck's wings, beginning loud and rapid, and becoming +lower and slower, till they end in detached notes. There succeeds +something like the barking of young puppies, followed by a variety of +guttural sounds, and ending like the mewing of a cat, but much hoarser. + +The song of the _Baltimore Oriole_ is little less remarkable than +his fine appearance, and the ingenuity with which he builds his nest. +His notes consist of a clear mellow whistle, repeated at short intervals +as he gleams among the branches. There is in it a certain wild +plaintiveness and _naïveté_ extremely interesting. It is not uttered +with rapidity, but with the pleasing tranquillity of a careless +ploughboy, whistling for amusement. Since the streets of some of the +American towns have been planted with Lombardy poplars, the orioles are +constant visiters, chanting their native "wood notes wild," amid the din +of coaches, wheelbarrows, and sometimes within a few yards of a bawling +oysterwoman. + +The _Virginian Nightingale_, _Red Bird_, or _Cardinal +Grosbeak_, has great clearness, variety, and melody in his notes, +many of which resemble the higher notes of a fife, and are nearly as +loud. He sings from March till September, and begins early in the dawn, +and repeating a favourite stanza twenty or thirty times successively, +and often for a whole morning together, till, like a good story too +frequently repeated, it becomes quite tiresome. He is very sprightly, +and full of vivacity; yet his notes are much inferior to those of the +wood, or even of the brown thrush. + +The whole song of the _Black-throated Bunting_ consists of five, or +rather two, notes; the first repeated twice and very slowly, the third +thrice and rapidly, resembling _chip_, _chip_, _che-che-che_; +of which ditty he is by no means parsimonious, but will continue it for +hours successively. His manners are much like those of the European +yellow-hammer, sitting, while he sings, on palings and low bushes. + +The song of the _Rice Bird_ is highly musical. Mounting and +hovering on the wing, at a small height above the ground, he chants out +a jingling melody of varied notes, as if half a dozen birds were singing +together. Some idea may be formed of it, by striking the high keys of a +piano-forte singly and quickly, making as many contrasts as possible, of +high and low notes. Many of the tones are delightful, but the ear can +with difficulty separate them. The general effect of the whole is good; +and when ten or twelve are singing on the same tree, the concert is +singularly pleasing. + +The _Red-eyed Flycatcher_ has a loud, lively, and energetic song, +which is continued sometimes for an hour without intermission. The +notes are, in short emphatic bars of two, three, or four syllables. +On listening to this bird, in his full ardour of song, it requires but +little imagination to fancy you hear the words "Tom Kelly! whip! Tom +Kelly!'" very distinctly; and hence Tom Kelly is the name given to the +bird in the West Indies. + +The _Crested Titmouse_ possesses a remarkable variety in the tones +of its voice, at one time not louder than the squeaking of a mouse, and +in a moment after whistling aloud and clearly, as if calling a dog, and +continuing this dog-call through the woods for half an hour at a time. + +The _Red-breasted Blue Bird_ has a soft, agreeable, and often +repeated warble, uttered with opening and quivering wings. In his +courtship he uses the tenderest expressions, and caresses his mate by +sitting close by her, and singing his most endearing warblings. If a +rival appears, he attacks him with fury, and having driven him away, +returns to pour out a song of triumph. In autumn his song changes to a +simple plaintive note, which is heard in open weather all winter, though +in severe weather the bird is never to be seen.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE JOHN DORY. + + +In the 312th Number of the _Mirror_, several solutions are given of +the name of a well-known and high-priced fish, the John Dory, or Jaune +Dorée. Sir Joseph Banks's observation, that it should be spelled and +acknowledged "adorée," because it is the most valuable (or worshipful) +of fish, as requiring no sauce, is equally absurd and unwarranted; for +so far from its being incapable of improvement from such adjuncts, its +relish is materially augmented by any one of the three most usual side +tureens. The dory attains its fullest growth in the Adriatic, and is a +favourite dish in Venice, where, as in all the Italian ports of the +Mediterranean, it is called Janitore, or the gate-keeper, by which title +St. Peter is most commonly designated among the Catholics, as being the +reputed keeper of the keys of heaven. In this respect, the name tallies +with the superstitious legend of this being the fish out of whose mouth +the apostle took the tribute money. The breast of the animal is very +much flattened, as if it had been compressed; but, unfortunately for the +credit of the monks, this feature is exhibited in equally strong +lineaments by, at least, twenty other varieties of the finny tribe. + +Our sailors naturally substituted the appellation of John Dory for the +Italian Janitore, and a very high price is sometimes given for this fish +when in prime condition, as I can testify from experience; having two +years since seen one at Ramsgate which was sold early in the day for +eighteen shillings. + +JOHNNY RAW. + + * * * * * + + + + +_THE SELECTOR,_ AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS._ + + * * * * * + +"Anecdotes correspond in literature with the sauces, the savoury dishes, +and the sweetmeats of a splendid banquet;" and as our weekly sheet is a +sort of _literary fricassee_, the following may not be unacceptable +to the reader. They are penciled from a work quaintly enough entitled +"The Living and the Dead, by a Country Curate;" and equally strange, +the cognomen of the author is not a _ruse_--he being a curate +at Liverpool, the son of Dr. Adam Neale, and a nephew of the late +Mr. Archibald Constable, the eminent publisher, of Edinburgh. The +information which this volume contains, may therefore be received with +greater confidence than is usually attached to flying anecdotes; since +Mr. Constable's frequent and familiar intercourse with the first +literary characters of his time must have given him peculiar facilities +of observation of their personal habits. The present volume of "The +Living and the Dead" is what the publisher terms the Second Series; for, +like Buck, the turncoat actor, booksellers always think that one good +turn deserves another. Our first extracts relate to Chantrey's monument +in Lichfield Cathedral, and another of rival celebrity. + +At the retired church of Ashbourne is "a remarkable monument", by Banks, +to the memory of a very lovely and intelligent little girl, a baronet's +only child. It bears an inscription which, to use the mildest term, as +it contains not the slightest reference to Christian hopes, should have +been refused admittance within a Christian church. To the sentiments +it breathes, Paine himself, had he been alive, could have raised no +objection. * * * * The figure, which is recumbent, is that of a little +girl; the attitude exquisitely natural and graceful. It recalls most +forcibly to the recollection Chantrey's far-famed monument in Lichfield +Cathedral; for the resemblance, both in design and execution, between +these beautiful specimens of art is close and striking. + +Previous to his executing that most magnificent yet most touching piece +of sculpture, which alone would have sufficed to immortalize his name, +Chantrey was, at his own request, locked up alone in the church for two +hours. This fact may be apocryphal; but the following I do affirm most +confidently. When I hinted to the venerable matron who shows the +monument, and who, being a retainer of the Boothby family, feels their +honour identified with her own, that Chantrey's was by far the finer +effort of the two, and that I wished I had that yet to see; and my +companion added, that though the design of the Boothby monument was +good, the execution was coarse and clumsy in the extreme, compared with +the elaborate finish of the Robinson's. "Humph," said the old lady, with +a most vinegar expression of countenance, with a degree of angry +hauteur, an air of insulted dignity that Yates would have travelled +fifty miles to witness; "the like of that's what I now hear every day. +Hang that fellow Chantee, or Cantee, or what you call him; I wish he +had never been born!" The Ashbourne people are naturally proud of the +monument. With them it is a kind of idol, to which every stranger is +required to do homage. Among others, when Prince Leopold passed through +Ashbourne, and inquiries were made by some of his royal highness's suite +as to the "lions" of the neighbourhood--"We have one of our own, Sir," +was the ready reply; "a noble piece of sculpture in the church." To the +church the royal mourner was on the very point of repairing, when Sir +Robert Gardiner suddenly inquired the description to which the sculpture +in question belonged. "It is a monument, Sir, no one passes through +without seeing it; for its like is not to be met with in England--it is +a monument to an only child, whose mother died--" "Not now," said the +prince faintly; "not now. I too have lost--" and he turned away from +the carriage in tears. + + +MR. CANNING. + +It may be observed, too, by the way, that to Ashbourne the late Mr. +Canning was remarkably partial. Near it lived a female relative to whom +he was warmly attached, and under whose roof many of his happiest hours +were spent. It is stated, that a little poem, entitled, "A Spring +Morning in Dovedale," one of the earliest efforts of his muse, is still +in existence; and I have good reasons for knowing, that but a very few +weeks previous to his death, he stated, in conversation, what delight +he should feel in "going into that neighbourhood, and revisiting haunts +which to him had been scenes of almost unalloyed enjoyment." I could +scarcely believe, so exquisitely tranquil is the scene, the very murmur +of the stream which flows around seems to soften itself in unison with +the stillness of the landscape--that Ashbourne had ever been other than +the abode of rural peace and comfort; and yet I was assured that during +the war there was scarcely any limit to the bustle and gaiety which +pervaded it. + + +MR. MOORE, THE POET. + +At Mayfield, near Ashbourne, is a cottage where Moore, it is stated, +composed _Lalla Rookh_. "For some years this distinguished poet +lived at the neighbouring village of Mayfield; and there was no end to +the pleasantries and anecdotes that were floating about its coteries +respecting him; no limit to the recollections which existed of the +peculiarities of the poet, of the wit and drollery of the man. Go where +you would, his literary relics were pointed out to you. One family +possessed pens; and oh! Mr. Bramah! such pens! they would have borne a +comparison with Miss Mitford's; and those who are acquainted with that +lady's literary implements and accessaries will admit this is no +common-place praise--pens that wrote "Paradise and the Peri" in _Lalia +Rookh_! Another showed you a glove torn up into thin shreds in the +most even and regular manner possible; each shred being in breadth +about the eighth of an inch, and the work of the _teeth_! Pairs +were demolished in this way during the progress of the _Life of +Sheridan_. A third called your attention to a note written in a +strain of the most playful banter, and announcing the next "tragi-comedy +meeting." A fourth repeated a merry impromptu; and a fifth played a very +pathetic air, composed and adapted for some beautiful lines of Mrs. +Opie's. But to return to Mayfield. Our desire to go over the cottage +which he had inhabited was irresistible. It is neat, but very small, and +remarkable for nothing except combining a most sheltered situation with +the most extensive prospect. Still one had pleasure in going over it, +and peeping into the little book-room, ycleped the "Poet's Den," from +which so much true poetry had issued to delight and amuse mankind. But +our satisfaction was not without its portion of alloy. As we approached +the cottage, a figure scarcely human appeared at one of the windows. +Unaware that it was again inhabited, we hesitated about entering; when a +livid, half-starved visage presented itself through the lattice, and a +thin, shrill voice discordantly ejaculated,--"Come in, gentlemen, come +in. _Don't be afeard!_ I'm only a tailor at work on the premises." +This villanous salutation damped sadly the illusion of the scene; +and it was some time before we rallied sufficiently from this horrible +desecration to descend to the poet's walk in the shrubbery, where, +pacing up and down the live-long morning, he composed his _Lalla +Rookh_. It is a little confined gravel-walk, in length about twenty +paces; so narrow, that there is barely room on it for two persons to +walk abreast: bounded on one side by a straggling row of stinted +laurels, on the other by some old decayed wooden paling; at the end of +it was a huge haystack. Here, without prospect, space, fields, flowers, +or natural beauties of any description, was that most imaginative poem +conceived, planned, and executed. It was at Mayfield, too, that those +bitter stanzas were written on the death of Sheridan. There is a curious +circumstance connected with them; they were sent to Perry, the +well-known editor of the _Morning Chronicle_. Perry, though no +stickler in a general way, was staggered at the venom of two stanzas, to +which I need not more particularly allude, and wrote to inquire whether +he might be permitted to omit them. The reply which he received was +shortly this: "You may insert the lines in the _Chronicle_ or not, +as you please; I am perfectly indifferent about it; but if you _do_ +insert them, it must be _verbatim_." Mr. Moore's fame would not +have suffered by their suppression; his heart would have been a gainer. +Some of his happiest efforts are connected with the localities of +Ashbourne. The beautiful lines beginning + + "Those evening bells, those evening bells," + + +were suggested, it is said, by hearing the Ashboume peal; and sweetly +indeed do they sound at that distance, "both mournfully and slow;" while +those exquisitely touching stanzas, + + "Weep not for those whom the veil of the tomb + In life's happy morning hath hid from our eyes," + + +were avowedly written on the sister of an Ashbourne gentleman, Mr. P---- +B----. But to his drolleries. He avowed on all occasions an utter horror +of ugly women. He was heard, one evening, to observe to a lady, whose +person was pre-eminently plain, but who, nevertheless, had been +anxiously doing her little endeavours to attract his attention, +"I cannot endure an ugly woman. I'm sure I could never live with one. +A man that marries an ugly woman cannot be happy." The lady observed, +that "such an observation she could not permit to pass without remark. +She knew many plain couples who lived most happily."--"Don't talk of +it," said the wit; "don't talk of it. It cannot be."--"But I tell you," +said the lady, who became all at once both piqued and positive, "it can +be, and it is. I will name individuals so circumstanced. You have heard +of Colonel and Mrs. ----. She speaks in a deep, gruff bass voice; +he in a thin, shrill treble. She looks like a Jean Dorée; he like a +dried alligator. They are called Bubble and Squeak by some of their +neighbours; Venus and Adonis by others. But what of that? They are not +handsome, to be sure; and there is neither mirror nor pier-glass to be +found, search their house from one end of it to the other. But what of +that? No _unhandsome reflections_ can, in such a case, be cast by either +party! I know them well; and a more harmonious couple I never met with. +Now, Mr. Moore, in reply, what have you to say? I flatter myself I have +overthrown your theory completely." "Not a whit. Colonel--has got into a +scrape, and, like a soldier, puts the best face he can upon it." Those +still exist who were witnesses to his exultation when one morning he +entered Mrs----'s drawing-room, with an open letter in his hand, and, +in his peculiarly joyous and animated manner, exclaimed, "Don't be +surprised if I play all sorts of antics! I am like a child with a new +rattle! Here is a letter from my friend Lord Byron, telling me he has +dedicated to me his poem of the 'Corsair.' Ah, Mrs.----, it is nothing +new for a poor poet to dedicate his poem to a great lord; but it is +something passing strange for a great lord to dedicate his book to +a poor poet." Those who know him most intimately feel no sort of +hesitation in declaring, that he has again and again been heard to +express regret at the earlier efforts of his muse; or reluctance in +stating, at the same time, as a fact, that Mr. M., on two different +occasions, endeavoured to repurchase the copyright of certain poems; +but, in each instance, the sum demanded was so exorbitant, as of itself +to put an end to the negotiation. The attempt, however, does him honour. +And, affectionate father as he is well known to be, when he looks at his +beautiful little daughter, and those fears, and hopes, and cares, and +anxieties, come over him which almost choke a parent's utterance as he +gazes on a promising and idolized child, he will own the censures passed +on those poems to be just: nay more--every year will find him more and +more sensible of the paramount importance of the union of female purity +with female loveliness--more alive to the imperative duty, on a +father's part, to guard the maiden bosom from the slightest taint of +licentiousness. It is a fact not generally suspected, though his last +work, "The Epicurean," affords strong internal evidence of the truth of +the observation, that few are more thoroughly conversant with Scripture +than himself. Many of Alethe's most beautiful remarks are simple +paraphrases of the sacred volume. He has been heard to quote from it +with the happiest effect--to say there was no book like it--no book, +regarding it as a mere human composition, which could on any subject +even "approach it in poetry, beauty, pathos, and sublimity." Long may +these sentiments abide in him! And as no man, to use his _own_ words, +"ever had fiercer enemies or firmer friends"--as no man, to use those of +others, was ever more bitter and sarcastic as a political enemy, more +affectionate and devoted as a private friend, the more deeply his future +writings are impregnated with the spirit of that volume, the more +heartfelt, let him be well assured, will be his gratification in that +hour when "we shall think of those we love, only to regret that we have +not loved more dearly, when we shall remember our enemies only to +forgive them." + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + +REGAL TABLET. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +The following Synopsis of English Sovereigns, and their contemporaries, +will, it is hoped, be acceptable to the readers of history. + +JACOBUS. + + +(_Normans_.) + +WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR + +began his reign, 14th Oct. 1066, died 9th Sept. 1087. + +_Contemporaries_. + +_Popes_. + +Alexander II., 1061. +Gregory VII., 1073. +Victor III., 1086. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Constantine XII.,1059. +Romanus IV., 1068. +Michael VII., 1071. +Nicephorus I., 1078. +Alexis I., 1081. + +_Emperor of the West._ + +Henry IV., 1056. + +_France._ + +Philip I., 1060. + +_Scotland_. + +Malcolm III., 1059. +Donald VIII., 1068. + + * * * * * + +WILLIAM RUFUS + +began his reign 9th Sept. 1087, died 2nd Aug. 1100. + +_Popes._ + +Victor III., 1086. +Urban II., 1088. +Pascal II., 1099. + +_Emperor of the East._ + +Alexis I., 1081. + +_Emperor of the West._ + +Henry IV., 1056. + +_France_. + +Philip I., 1060. + +_Scotland._ + +Donald VIII., 1068. + + * * * * * + +HENRY I. + +began his reign 2nd August 1100, ended 1st Dec. 1135. + +_Popes._ + +Pascal II., 1099. +Gelassus II., 1118. +Calistus II., 1119. +Honorius II., 1124. +Innocent II., 1130. +Celestin II., 1134. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Alexis I., 1081. +John Cominus, 1118. + +_Emperors of the West._ + +Henry IV., 1056. +Henry V., 1106. +Lotharius II., 1125. + +_France._ + +Philip I., 1060. +Louis VI., 1108. + +_Scotland._ + +Donald VIII., 1068. +Edgar, 1108. +David, 1134. + + * * * * * + +STEPHEN + +began his reign 1st Dec. 1135, ended 25th Oct. 1154. + +_Popes._ + +Celestin II., 1134. +Lucius II., 1144. +Eugenius III., 1145. +Anastasius IV., 1153. +Adrian V., 1154. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +John Cominus, 1118. +Emanuel Cominus, 1143. + +_Emperors of the West._ + +Lotharius II., 1125. +Conrad III., 1138. +Frederic I., 1152. + +_France._ + +Louis VI., 1108. +Louis VII., 1137. + +_Scotland._ + +David, 1134. + + * * * * * + +_Saxon Line Restored._ + +HENRY II. + +began his reign 25th Oct. 1154, ended 6th July, 1189. + +_Popes._ + +Adrian IV., 1154. +Alexander II., 1154. +Lucius III., 1181. +Urban III., 1185. +Gregory VIII., 1187. +Clement III., 1188. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Emanuel Cominus, 1143. +Alexis II., 1180. +Andronicus I., 1183. +Isaac II., 1185. + +_Emperor of the West._ + +Frederic I., 1152. + +_France_. + +Louis VII., 1137. +Philip II., 1180. + +_Scotland._ + +David, 1134. +Malcolm IV., 1163. +William, 1165. + + * * * * * + +RICHARD I. + +began his reign 6th July, 1189, ended 6th April, 1199. + +_Popes_. + +Clement III., 1188. +Celestin III., 1191. +Innocent III., 1198. + +_Emperors of the East_. + +Isaac II., 1185. +Alexis III., 1195. + +_Emperors of the West._ + +Frederic I., 1152. +Henry VI., 1196. +Philip I., 1197. + +_France_. + +Philip II., 1180. + +_Scotland_. + +William, 1165. + + * * * * * + +JOHN + +began his reign 6th April, 1199, ended 19th Oct. 1216. + +_Popes._ + +Innocent III., 1198. +Honorius III., 1215. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Alexis III., 1195. +Alexis IV., 1203. +Alexis V., 1204. +Theodoras I., 1204. + +_Emperors of the West._ + +Philip I., 1197. +Otho IV., 1208. +Frederic II., 1212. + +_French Emperors of Constantinople._ + +Baldwin I., 1204. +Henry I., 1206. + +_France._ + +Philip II., 1180. + +_Scotland._ + +William, 1165. +Alexander II., 1214. + + * * * * * + +HENRY III. + +began his reign 19th Oct. 1216, ended 16th Nov. 1272. + +_Popes._ + +Honorius III., 1215. +Gregory IX., 1227. +Celestin IV., 1241. +Innocent IV., 1243. +Alexander IV., 1254. +Urban IV., 1261. +Clement IV., 1265. +Gregory X., 1271. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Theodore I., 1204. +John III., 1222. +Theodore II., 1225. +John IV., 1259. +Michael VIII., 1259. + +_Emperor of the West._ + +Frederic II., 1212. + +_French Emperors of Constantinople._ + +Henry I., 1206. +Peter II., 1217. +Robert de Cour, 1221. +Baldwin II., 1237. + +_France._ + +Philip II., 1180. +Louis VIII., 1223. +Louis IX., 1226. +Philip III., 1270. + +_Scotland._ + +Alexander II., 1214. +Alexander III., 1249. + + * * * * * + +EDWARD I. + +began his reign 16th Nov. 1272, ended 7th July, 1307. + +_Popes._ + +Gregory X., 1270. +Innocent V., 1276. +Adrian V., 1276. +John XXI., 1276. +Nicholas III., 1277. +Martin IV., 1281. +Honorius IV., 1285. +Nicholas IV., 1288. +Celestin V., 1294. +Boniface VIII., 1294. +Benedict X., 1303. +Clement V., 1305. + +_Emperors of the East._ + +Michael VIII., 1259. +Andronicus II., 1283. + +_Emperors of the West._ + +Frederic II., 1212. +Rodolphus I., 1273. +Adolphus, 1291. +Albert I., 1298. + +_France._ + +Philip III., 1270. +Philip IV., 1285. + +_Scotland._ + +Alexander III., 1249. +John Baliol, 1293. +Robert Bruce, 1306. + +(_To be continued._) + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +TIMELY REPARTEE. + +A soldier of Marshal Saxe's army being discovered in a theft, was +condemned to be hanged. What he had stolen might be worth about 5s. +The marshal meeting him as he was being led to execution, said to him, +"What a miserable fool you were to risk your life for 5s.!"--"General," +replied the soldier, "I have risked it every day for five-pence." This +repartee saved his life. + + * * * * * + + +MARSHAL VILLARS. + +It was customary, as the French general in command of the Italian army +passed through Lyons to join his army, for that town to offer him a +purse full of gold. Marshal Villars on being thus complimented by the +head magistrate, the latter concluded his speech by observing, that +Turenne, who was the last commander of the Italian army who had honoured +the town with his presence, had taken the purse, but returned the money. +"Ah!" replied Villars, pocketing both the purse and the gold, "I have +always looked upon Turenne to be _inimitable_." + + * * * * * + + +LONG STORIES. + +Capt. S------, of the ------ regiment, during the American war, was +notorious for a propensity, not to story-telling, but to telling long +stories, which he used to indulge in defiance of time and place, often +to the great annoyance of his immediate companions; but he was so +good-humoured withal, that they were loth to check him abruptly or +harshly. An opportunity occurred of giving him a hint, which had the +desired effect. He was a member of a courtmartial assembled for the +trial of a private of the regiment. The man bore a very good character +in general, the offence he had committed was slight, and the court was +rather at a loss what punishment to award, for it was requisite to award +some, as the man had been found guilty. While they were deliberating on +this, Major ------, now General Sir ------, suddenly turning to the +president, said, in his dry manner, "Suppose we sentence him to hear +two of Captain S------'s long stories." + + * * * * * + + +GENUINE GAELIC PROCLAMATION. + +The crier sounds a flourish on that delightful sonorous instrument, +the bagpipe, then loquitor, "Tak tent a' ye land louping hallions, the +meickle deil tamn ye, tat are within the bounds. If any o' ye be foond +fishing in ma Lort Preadalpine's gruns, he'll be first headit, and syne +hangit, and syne droom't; an' if ta loon's bauld enough to come bock +again, his horse and cart will be ta'en frae him; and if ta teils' sae +grit wi' him tat he shows his ill faurd face ta three times, far waur +things wull be dune till him. An noo tat ye a' ken ta wull o' ta lairt, +I'll e'en gang hame and sup my brose." + + * * * * * + + +TO LOUISA. + + L et me but hope + O lovely maid, + U ever will be mine, + I 'll bless my fate, + S upremely great, + A happy _Valentine_. + +N.R.H. + + * * * * * + + +A DEAD SUBJECT. + +"_Dyed_ stockings are always rotten," said a Nottingham +warehouseman.--"Yes," replied a by-stander, "and you'll be rotten when +you're _dead_." + +GRIZZLE. + + * * * * * + + +What will some grave people say to this?--from a "Constant Reader." +A little boy having swallowed a medal of Napoleon, ran in great +tribulation to his mother, and told her "that he had swallowed +_Boneparty_." + + * * * * * + + +PURCHASERS of the MIRROR, who may wish to complete their sets are +informed, that every volume is complete in itself, and may be purchased +separately. The whole of the numbers are now in print, and can be +procured by giving an order to any Bookseller or Newsvender. + +Complete sets Vol I.. to XII. in boards, price £3. 5s. half bound, £4. +2s. 6d. + + * * * * * + +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. Price 6s. 6d. boards + +The TALES of the GENII. Price 2s. + +The MICROCOSM. By the Right Hon. G. CANNING. &c. Price 2s. + +PLUTARCH'S LIVES, with Fifty Portraits, 2 vols. price 13s. boards. + +COWPER'S POEMS, with 12 Engravings, price 3s 6d boards. + +COOK'S VOYAGES, 2 vols. price 8s. boards. + +The CABINET of CURIOSITIES: or, WONDERS of the WORLD DISPLAYED. Price +5s. boards. + +BEAUTIES of SCOTT. 2 vols. price 7s. boards. + +The ARCANA of SCIENCE for 1828. Price 4s. 6d. + +*** Any of the above Works can be purchased in Parts. + +GOLDSMITH'S ESSAYS. Price 8d. + +DR. 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