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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:10 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:40:10 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12521-0.txt b/12521-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8adeacc --- /dev/null +++ b/12521-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1571 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12521 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XX, NO. 583.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA.] + + + + +NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. + + +Rock Bridges occupy the same pre-eminence amongst the sublimities of +nature, that artificial bridges maintain amidst the labours of man. +Both alike inspire us with admiration, though we are enabled to obtain +but unequal results as to their respective origins. The bridge, built +by human hands, is, indeed, a triumph of the perfection of skilful +contrivance; the strength and beauty of the arch are among the most +simple yet exquisite results of science, wonderful as they may appear +to the untaught beholder: but how shall we explain the formation of +stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines and rolling torrents, in +countries where none but the wild and picturesque forms of nature rise +to gladden the eye and heart of the inquiring traveller? Of the latter +description are the natural bridges which abound in the State of +Virginia; as Rockbridge, which gives name to the county in which it is +situated, and the wild and fantastic bridges of Icognozo; all of which +are more extensively recognised among the wonders of creation than the +specimen here presented to the reader. + +This Tunnel is in Scott county, Virginia; but was so little known beyond +its immediate neighbourhood, as to induce Lieut.-Col. Long, (U.S. Army,) +to communicate its description to Mr. Featherstonhaugh's _American +Journal of Geology and Natural Science_; and the following narrative +of the Colonel's Excursion will be read with interest:-- + +"During the past summer, I visited a remarkable natural bridge in Scott +county, Virginia, to which I have given the name of Natural Tunnel, on +account of its striking resemblance to artificial structures of that +kind. + +"The immediate locality of this tunnel is upon a small stream called +Buck-eye, or Stock Creek. This last name owes its origin to its valley +having been resorted to by the herdsmen of the country, for the +attainment of a _good range_, or choice pasture-ground, for their +cattle. The creek rises in Powell's mountain, and is tributary to Clinch +river, which it enters at the distance of between two and three miles +below the tunnel. The aspect of the surrounding country, and especially +of that to the northward of the tunnel, and constituting the southerly +slope of the mountain just mentioned, is exceedingly diversified, and +broken by elevated spurs and ridges, separated from each other by deep +chasms, walled with cliffs and mural precipices, often presenting +exceedingly narrow passes, but occasionally widening into meadows or +bottoms of considerable extent. The mural precipices just mentioned +occur very frequently, bounding the valleys of the streams generally in +this part of the country, and opposing ramparts of formidable height, +and in many places utterly insurmountable. Such are the features +peculiarly characteristic of _Wild Cat Valley_, the _Valley of +Copper Creek_, of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of numerous other +streams of less note, all of which are situated within a few miles of +the Natural Tunnel. + +"To form an adequate idea of this remarkable and truly sublime object, +we have only to imagine the creek to which it gives a passage, +meandering through a deep, narrow valley, here and there bounded on both +sides by walls, or _revetements_, of the character above intimated, +and rising to the height of two or three hundred feet above the stream; +and that a portion of one of these chasms, instead of presenting an +open, _thorough cut_ from the summit to the base of the high +grounds, is intercepted by a continuous unbroken ridge, more than three +hundred feet high, extending entirely across the valley, and perforated +transversely at its base, after the manner of an artificial tunnel, and +thus affording a spacious subterranean channel for the passage of the +stream. + +"The entrance to the Natural Tunnel on the upper side of the ridge +is imposing and picturesque in a high degree; but on the lower side +the grandeur of the scene is greatly heightened by the superior +magnitude of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness, and which rise +perpendicularly--and, in some instances, in an impending manner--two +or three hundred feet; and by which the entrance on this side is +almost environed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of rude and frightful +precipices. + +"The observer, standing on the brink of the stream, at the distance +of about one hundred yards below the debouchure of the Natural Tunnel, +has, in front, a view of its arched entrance, rising seventy or eighty +feet above the water, and surmounted by horizontal stratifications of +yellowish, white, and grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the height of +the arch. On his left, a view of the same mural precipice, deflected +from the springing of the arch in a manner to pass thence in a +continuous curve quite to his rear, and towering in a very impressive +manner above his head. On his right, a sapling growth of buck-eye, +poplar, linden, &c., skirting the margin of the creek, and extending +obliquely to the right, and upward, through a narrow, abrupt ravine, +to the summit of the ridge, which is here and elsewhere crowned with +a timber-growth of pines, cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various +kinds. On his extreme right is a gigantic cliff, lifting itself up, +perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height, of about three +hundred feet, and accompanied by an insulated cliff, called the Chimney, +of about the same altitude, rising, in the form of a turret, at least +sixty feet above its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff +just before mentioned. + +"Desirous of illustrating this paper by a front view of the Natural +Tunnel where the creek issues from it, I have, with the assistance +of a particular friend in this city--to whom I am indebted for the +accompanying drawing[1]--been enabled to furnish a sketch which very +faithfully represents some of the appearances I have described. The +embellishments last mentioned, however, viz. the chimney and its +accompaniments, could not be comprised in the landscape. + +"The following passages are from my own private journal:-- + +"Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having ascended Cove ridge, we turned aside +from our route to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on +Buck-eye, or Stock creek, about a mile below the Sycamore camp,[2] and +about one and a half miles from a place called Rye cove, which occupies +a spacious recess between two prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the +site of the natural tunnel being included within a spur of Cove ridge, +which is one of the mountain spurs just alluded to. Here is presented +one of the most remarkable and attractive curiosities of its kind, to be +witnessed in this or any other country. The creek, which is about seven +yards wide, and has a general course about S. 15 W., here passes through +a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet above the surface of the +stream, winding its way through a huge subterraneous cavern, or grotto, +whose roof is vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to +seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this gigantic +cavern rise perpendicularly in some places to the height of fifteen or +twenty feet, and, in others, are formed, by the springing of its vaulted +roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from +fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous +curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right as we enter +on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again +to the left on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its +peculiar form, that an observer, standing at a point about midway of its +subterranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either +entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a distance of about +twenty yards, occupying an intermediate portion of the tunnel. When the +sun is near the meridian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the +light reflected from both extremities of the tunnel contributes to +mollify the darkness of this interior portion into a dusky twilight. + +"The extent of the tunnel, from its upper to its lower extremity, +following its meanders, is about 150 yards; in which distance the stream +falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky bed, an +agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grateful by its reverberations +upon the roof and sides of the grotto. The discharge of a musket +produces a crash-like report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel; which +has a deafening effect upon the ear. + +"The hill through which this singular perforation leads, descends in a +direction from east to west, across the line of the creek, and affords a +very convenient passage for a road which traverses it at this place, +having a descent in the direction just mentioned of about four degrees. + +"The rocks found in this part of the country are principally sandstone +and limestone, in stratifications nearly horizontal, with occasional +beds of clay slate. A mixture of the two former frequently occurs among +the alternations presented by these rocks. A variety of rock resembling +the French burr occurs in abundance on Butcher's-fork of Powell's river, +about twenty miles northwardly of the Natural Tunnel. Fossils are more +or less abundant, in these and other rocks. Fossil bones, of an +interesting character, have been found in several places. Saltpetre +caves are numerous. Coves, sinks, and subterranean caverns, are +strikingly characteristic, not only of the country circumjacent to the +Natural Tunnel, but of the region generally situated between the +Cumberland mountain, and the Blue ridge or Apalachian mountain. +Bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniments, abounds in the northerly +parts of this region; and in the intermediate and southerly portions, +iron, variously combined, often magnetic, together with talcose rocks, +&c. &c. are to be met with in great abundance. + +"The mountains in this vicinity--long. 82° to 84° W. from Greenwich, +lat. 35° to 36° N.--are among the most lofty of the Allegheny range. +Several knobs[3] in this part of the range, among which may be +enumerated the Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black, and Powell's +mountains, rise to the height of at least four thousand five hundred +feet above tide." + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh remarks, that the Natural Tunnel has not been +worn through the rock by the long-continued action of running water is +evident, not from the cavernous structure alone of the general country, +but from the form of Powell's mountain, in a spur of which the Tunnel +passes transversely. + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh further concludes the Tunnel to be a natural cavity +in the rock, for, if such had not been the case, "it is evident that the +stream would have been deflected from its line; would have followed the +base of the hill, and have turned the extreme point." + +Little is known of the geology of the country in which this Tunnel is +situate, notwithstanding the popularity of the natural bridges of the +State. The rock before us would appear to belong to that class which +geologists commonly term Perforated Mountains, which some suppose +to have been bored through, in part, at least, by the persevering +industry of man. "Such phenomena," observes Maltebrun, "are, however, +mere eccentricities of nature, and differ from caverns only from +the circumstance of having a passage entirely through them. The +Pierre-Pertuise in Mount Jura, and Pausilippo, near Naples, are +instances of this kind. The Torghat, in, Norway, is pierced by an +opening 150 feet high, and 3,000 long. At certain seasons of the year, +the sun can be seen darting its rays from one extremity to the other of +this vault. Near New Zealand is a rocky arch through which the waves of +the sea pass at high water."[4] The latter, one of the Piercy Islands, +will be found engraved and described in _The Mirror_, vol. xix. p. 145. + + + [1] See the Cut. + + [2] This designation has been given to a spot in the Valley of the + creek, where formerly stood a hollow sycamore (platanus + occidentalis) tree of an enormous size, the remains of which + are still to be seen, and in the cavity of which, whilst it + stood, fifteen persons are said to have encamped at the same + time together. + + [3] Out-liers of any particular ridge. + + [4] Physical Geography, book viii. + + * * * * * + + +THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT. + +(_From the Note Book of a Tourist_.) + +In the summer of 1829, I made a Tour of the Borders. On the 16th of +August, I arrived in Melrose. I came on the top of the coach from +Jedburgh, in company with two intelligent fellows, a young Englishman of +fortune (apparently,) and a Russian nobleman. We put up at the George, +where we found about five tourists, redolent of sketch and note books, +drinking toddy and lying in wait to catch a sight of the lion of the +neighbourhood, Sir Walter. The voracity with which they devoured any +anecdotes of him was amusing. In the evening it came on a peppering +storm. I had foreseen this on our route from _Jeddart_. The Eildons +had mounted their misty cap, always a sure prognostic of rain; in fact +they are the barometer of the district. I then prevailed on my two +companions to forego their visit to the Abbey that night. We therefore +had in old Davidson, the landlord of the Inn, and my companions +submitted him to an interrogatory of three long hours' duration. +One little anecdote of fresh occurrence struck me as possessing some +interest. I will record it. About a month before, a poor maniac +presented herself at the gates of Abbotsford. She desired to see Sir +Walter. The servant denied her admittance, but such was the earnestness +of the poor creature, that _auld Saunders_, on her pressing +application, went and informed his master, "that a puir demented lassie +was at the gett (gate) greetin' like a bairn." Sir Walter had the +kindest of hearts; "O admit her puir thing," he said. The woman no +sooner entered than she fell on her knees in reverential awe before Sir +Walter. Her story was simply this. She belonged to Aberdeen; she was +married to a young farmer in that neighbourhood and had not long before +given birth to a beautiful infant, the first pledge of their loves. +The pains of birth had injured her mental equanimity, and eluding the +vigilance of her keepers she set forward one evening in search of the +great enchanter, whose works had in happier hours beguiled her with +their beauty. She travelled for a week; the distance from Aberdeen to +Abbotsford was about a hundred and fifty miles. She had walked every +step. Sir Walter did what he could to soothe her distracted mind, +and get her wasted frame recruited. But after some time he deemed it +advisable to exercise his judicial power and put her in a place of +security, until definite intelligence could be procured of her friends +and relations. Jedburgh is the county town of Roxburgh; and thither all +wanderers of this and a less gentle race are sent. A post-chaise was +sent for from old Davidson, of the George, and when it was at the door +of Abbotsford, Sir Walter induced the poor girl to enter it, promising +to accompany her "out a ridin'." She entered--looking for him to follow. +The door was instantly closed, and the post-boy lashing and spurring his +horses, darted off in a second. She gave a piercing shriek, looked +wildly round her, and abandoned herself to the most agonizing despair; +exclaiming in a tone of the utmost pathos, "ah! deceitfu' man, hae ye +beguiled me too!"--and then she sunk back in the carriage, and buried +herself in the deepest silence. * * + +18th August. Set out to view the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. Called +on Capt. (now Sir David) Erskine, from whom I received the politest +attention. His housekeeper acted as my cicerone, and conducted me over +the venerable pile. These time-worn ruins stand on the north bank of +the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills +covered with wood, of the richest foliage. The abbey as well as the +modern mansion house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. +Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form, +and the scene is extremely interesting, embracing both wood and water, +mountain and rock scenery. The whole gives rise to sentiments of the +most pleasing, devotional tranquillity. The place, however, at which I +paused, was St. Mary's Aisle: "here," I said to myself, "will the mighty +minstrel sleep, when his harp shall be silent!"--and here I offered the +votive tribute in anticipation, which thousands will follow me in, now +that he is, too truly, alas! no more. At the little iron palisading I +stood, and said, "here Scott will sleep:" in this, fate has not deceived +me. He rests there now. Peace to his manes! + +August 20. Down at the Abbey this night. It would be absolute folly +to note down what I saw or thought of this most remarkable monastic +structure. Every album possesses it, in all the beauty of its fairy +architecture; its tabernacles, its niches and canopies, and statues, +pinnacles, pediments, spires, and the tracery of its vaultings. + +The decorated work is most exquisitely executed. The mouldings are +still so sharp, that they seem as lately from the chisel of the mason. +The south transept window and door are the most perfect of the ruins. +The day light of the window is twenty-four feet by sixteen, divided by +four mullions. The tracery and cuspings are all of the decorated style +of the Gothic. It is furnished with crotchets and creeping foliage. +There are a number of niches, canopies, and tabernacles, on the south +transept; and the corbels that support the statues, are carved with +grotesque figures; some representing monks with cowls upon their heads, +others musicians playing upon different kinds of instruments; some are +most hideous to look at. Sir Walter procured casts of many of these +grotesque figures, which on a visit to Abbotsford, I observed placed in +the ceiling of the hall. He has clothed them in a new dress, more suited +to the social scene of their present locality. But, I always ramble +into the _shop_, when I get on architecture. Let me narrate the +occurrence of this night. As I was pacing the great aisle of the abbey, +a carriage drove up to the gate. "Sir Walter Scott!" said the keeper, +brushing past me to receive him. A lady alighted. I heard "good night!" +responded by a person in the carriage, who drove off with it. Who can +this be, thought I to myself. It was dusk--the lady advanced with a +stately step. I moved aside. "In these deep solitudes and awful cells!" +methought I heard her say. She ascended to the bell-tower. "Who is that +lady?" said I to the keeper when he entered. "That, sir," said he, +"is Mistress Hemmins, the poet writer, wha is on a visit to Maistre +Lockhart, and she cam just noo in Sir Walter's carriage, and she wants +to be alane, sir, by hersel." I took the hint, and made for the George +and my glass of toddy, unwilling to deprive the world of those lays, +which Melrose, the rush of the Tweed, and midnight would, no doubt, +inspire in the fair authoress. + +August 23. At Galashiels, a semi-rural demi-manufacturing town on the +banks of the "braw, braw Gala water." Not having the good fortune to get +to Abbotsford from Melrose, I started over the hill which looks down on +Galashiels, towards that destination. Abbotsford I need not render an +account of. But my approach to it was not deficient in interest. + +On arriving at the summit of the hill overlooking the Tweed, it burst +upon my sight. I looked down on the grounds in which it is settled, as +on a map. The skill and industry of Sir Walter is not more remarkable in +his literary than in his rural works. The house stands in a bare, barren +corner of Selkirkshire, (I think) but by admirable management, he has +enclosed it with fine, hardy young wood, and quite altered its +appearance. + +At the bottom of the hill I took the boat at the ferry, and resting in +the middle of the stream, the Tweed, and looked around me. I saw a +person on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the wood which +comes down to the water's edge. I drew near. He was dressed in a short, +green coat and cap, and was amusing himself with the antics of a large +dog. The place--the time--the air--the gait--every thing conspired: +"Who's that, lassie?" said I to my little boat rower; "That, sir? that's +_himsel_, that's the shirra" (sheriff.) Yes, it was the man--he +himself--the pride of Scotland--her boast--the intellectual beacon of +her hills--it was Sir Walter Scott! + +Sept. 3. At Selkirk. At Mitchell's Inn, where I was introduced to the +celebrated Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. He had come, I think, from +a fair held at the Eildons. We got over a jug of toddy. Our conversation +turned on the church service of the kirk of Scotland, and we rambled +into poetry in conversing on the psalms. I pointed out to the shepherd, +that a fair fame might be achieved by arranging the Psalms of David, and +superseding the barbarities of Sternhold and Hopkins. James maintained +that the present edition in use in Scotland, could _not_ be +improved. He said that the question had been agitated in the General +Assembly, and Sir Walter Scott was applied to, to furnish an improved +versification, but he answered, stating that it would be a more +difficult matter to get the people to adopt them, than to furnish the +same. Any alteration in this respect would be looked upon as little +better than sacrilege, and he therefore advised that the present form +should be continued in. "Watty's a sensible chap," said the shepherd, +speaking familiarly of Sir Walter, "and if he laid a finger on o'or +venerable psalmody, I wad pitch a louse at him, wha hae ever loved the +man as my ain brether." + + * * * * * + +During the last years of Sir Walter's life, he visited in the counties +of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk, the various scenes which his graphic +pen has delineated and incorporated in his minstrelsy and romance. The +summer when the preceding notes were made, I happened to be in Kelso, +and took ride one day to visit the worthy minister of a neighbouring +parish, in which the celebrated border _keep_ Smailholme tower is +situated, the scene of the fearful legend embodied in the poem "The Eve +of St. John." + +We rode over to it: it is situated on a crag or ridge of rock, high +in the north range of hills, the Lammer-muir, which spring from the +splendid vale of Teviot and Tweed, commanding an unbounded prospect +on the east and west; the south is terminated by the Cheviots and +the English border. + +We found the Tower in possession of a party, and the Rev. Mr. C---- rode +forward to report, in case we should be deemed intruders. He came back +shortly, and it was no other than Sir Walter himself, with several +members of his family, who had accompanied him to bid a final farewell +to _Smaillum keep_. As I afterwards heard, he was in the highest +spirits, and repeated the poem for the gratification of his party, in +that impressive manner for which he was remarkable, in giving the +necessary effect to his own compositions. The party brought a cold +collation with them: before leaving, Sir Walter surveyed the beautiful +prospect at his feet, the Tweed and Teviot meeting in sisterly +loveliness, and joining their waters in the valley, with the golden +fields of England in the distance; when filling a glass of wine he drank +with fervour, in which all joined him, "baith sides of the Tweed." + +I. + + * * * * * + + +OLD ENGLISH ARMOUR. + +(_From a Correspondent._) + +Previous to the time of Edward I., the body-armour may be distinguished +by the appellations of _trelliced, ringed, rustred, mascled, scalad, +tegulated, single-mailed_, and _banded_. The _trelliced_ method +has not been properly ascertained: it probably consisted of leather +thongs, crossed, and so disposed as to form large squares placed +angularly, with a round knob or stud in the centre of each. The +_ringed_ consisted of flat rings of steel, placed contiguous to +each other, on quilted linen. The _rustred_ was nothing more than +one row of flat rings, about double the size of those before used, laid +half over the other, so that two in the upper partially covered one +below. _Mascled_; the hauberk composed of several folds of linen, +covered with diamond-shaped pieces of steel touching each other, and +perforated: so called from their resemblance to the _meshes_ of a +net. _Scaled_; formed of small pieces of steel like the scales of +fish, partially overlaying each other. This species was used only during +the reigns of Henry II and Richard I. The _tegulated_ consisted of +little square plates, partly covering one another, like tiles. + +_Single Mail_ was composed of rings set edgeways on quilted linen. +It came into use about the close of John's reign, and continued to be +partially worn till that of Edward I. At the commencement of Henry +III.'s reign, it covered not only the head, but hands, legs, and feet. +It was very heavy, and likewise the rings were liable to be cut off by +the blow of a sword; which latter circumstance, perhaps, introduced the +contrivance of _banded_ armour, which was composed of parallelogramic +pieces of metal, sown on linen, so placed as to fold perpendicularly +over each other, like palings, and kept in their places by bandy or +hoops of leather. + +We now come to the _Double-chain Mail_, consisting of interlaced +rings, which made its first appearance in the triumphant reign of Edward +I. It is said to be of Asiatic invention, and was composed of four rings +within a fifth, each of which was rivetted. _Single-chain mail_ was +worn by the Crusaders, in Henry III's time; and when the number of rings +was doubled, it became _double-chain mail_. Its great advantages +were compactness and pliability. Horses were now clothed in mail. + +In the latter part of Edward III.'s reign, the _double-chain mail_ +became so covered with pieces of steel as to cause them in a little time +to supersede it altogether. This, therefore, was termed _mixed_. +The _double-chain_ hauberk had been found, owing to its weight, to +press injuriously upon the chest; to remedy which, a breastplate of +steel was contrived, which being placed underneath, kept the mail from +pressing upon the stomach. The throat was protected by a chain-covering +that surrounded the neck, and hung down to the shoulders like a tippet. + +We now come to _Plate Armour_. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption +of the _mixed_ armour soon pointed out, by experience, the +inutility of retaining the _ringed_ hauberk. The thighs and legs +were no longer covered with _double-chain mail_, and the arms only +partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed +a cuirass. During the use of _mixed_ armour, the arms, thighs, +knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal; and for the hands +were invented gloves of plate, with fingers, called _gauntlets_. + +From the Conquest to the time of Richard III., the fashion was to ride +with the toes down; after which period, the heel was dropped, and the +toe raised. Spurs were not screwed to the armour before the time of +Henry V. + +No higher degree of perfection was ever attained in armour than during +the reign of Richard III. The outline of the suit was most elegant, the +workmanship most elaborate, and the choice of ornaments full of taste. + + * * * * * + + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD. + +In the county of Hereford, some of the Romish and feudal ceremonies are +yet practised. On the eve of Old Christmas-day, there are thirteen fires +lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a +circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and +in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin +Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they +are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they +behold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a +cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having +assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, +and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity: + + "Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn, + God send thy master a good crop of corn, + Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain, + And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again." + + +After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. + +They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of +her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground; and if it falls +forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, +that it will be unfavourable. This is the commencement of the rural +feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO. + +"Christmas is in Guadalaxara," says Mr. Hardy, "a season of great +diversion. The portales (colonades), which are much better than those of +the city of Mexico, and infinitely more numerous, are all well lighted +up with candles, surrounded by coloured paper shades, standing on little +tables, which display a great assortment of sweetmeats and fruits. The +ladies and gentlemen walk about, finely dressed, under the portale, and +convert it into a fashionable promenade.--From seven till ten, there is +not perhaps a single family in the whole town which has not taken a few +turns in their gayest dresses, to witness the sweetmeat exhibition--to +see and to be seen. It may be well to give the traveller a gentle hint +with respect to the 25th of December: nothing borrowed on that day is +ever returned. It is, in short, to the Mexicans, who call it. 'La noche +buena,' what April fool-day is to us. Therefore, traveller, beware! +It is the occasion of much frolic and amusement." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +NEW YEAR'S GIFTS. + +The custom of New-year's Gifts is very ancient, and was formerly carried +to a great extent. The sovereign used to accept gifts from his courtiers +and principal favourites, and was also in the habit of making presents +to certain individuals; the prince, however, always taking care that the +presents he received greatly exceeded in value those which he gave. +It is recorded of Bishop Latimer, that on one occasion he presented to +his master, Henry VIII., instead of a sum in gold for a New-year's +Gift, a New Testament, with the leaf folded down at Hebrews, ch. xiii., +v. 4.--on reference to which the king found a text well suited as an +admonition to himself. Queen Elizabeth supplied herself with wardrobe +and jewels principally from new year's gifts. Dr. Drake has given +a list of some of these presents;--amongst the items we find the +following: "Most of the peers and peeresses of the realm, the bishops, +the chief officers of state, her majesty's household, even as low +as the master of the pantry and head cook, all gave her majesty a +Christmas-box,--consisting either of a sum of money, jewels, trinkets, +or wearing apparel. The Archbishop of Canterbury usually gave 40l., +the Archbishop of York 30l., and the other prelates from 10l. to 20l. +The peers gave in the same proportion;--whilst the peeresses presented +rich gowns petticoats, shifts, stockings, garters, &c. Her physician +presented her with a box of foreign sweetmeats; and from her apothecary +she received a box of ginger-candy and a box of green ginger. Ambroise +Lupo gave her a box of lute-strings; and Smith, the royal dustman, +presented her majesty with two bolts of cambric." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +SUMPTUARY LAWS. + +These laws were made to restrain excess in apparel, costly furniture, +eating, &c. + +Zaleucus, the ancient philosopher and legislator of Greece, ordained +that no woman should go attended with more than one maid in the street, +except she was drunk. He prohibited the use of wine, otherwise than as +a medicine, &c. + +Among the Romans there were sumptuary laws to restrain the number of +guests at feasts;--not only the master of the feast, but all the guests +too, were liable to the penalty. It was also enacted, that more than ten +asses should not be spent at any ordinary feast. Ten asses was the price +of a sheep. + +Luxury was restricted in England in 1337; wherein the prelates and +nobility were confined to two courses every meal, and two kinds of food +in every course, except on great festivals. All who did not enjoy a fee +estate of 100_l._ per annum were also prohibited from wearing furs, +skins, or silk; and the use of foreign cloth was confined to the royal +family alone--to all others it was prohibited. An edict was issued by +Charles VI. of France, which says, "Let no one presume to treat with +more than a soup and two dishes," 1340. + +Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked +shoes, short doublets, and long coats. The dandies of ancient days wore +the beaks or points of their shoes so long, that they encumbered +themselves in their walking, and were forced to tie them up to their +knees; the _fine gentlemen_ fastened theirs with chains of silver, +or silver gilt, and others with laces. This ridiculous custom was in +vogue from the year 1382; but was prohibited, on the forfeiture of +20_s._ and the pain of cursing by the clergy, 1467. + +In the reign of King Henry IV., Camden says--Pride was got so much into +the foot, that it was proclaimed that no man should wear shoes above +_six inches broad at the toes_; and other garments were so short, +that it was enacted, under Edward IV., that no person under the +condition of a lord wear any mantle or gown, unless of such length. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +MARRIAGE CUSTOM. + +The following singular, though highly _useful_ custom, formerly +existed in England: viz.--"There was usually carried before the mayde, +when she shoulde be married, and came to dwell in hir husbande's house, +_a distaffe, charged with flaxe, and a spyndle hanging at it_, to the +intente shee might bee myndeful to lyve by hir labour." The foregoing +is extracted from "A Treatise wherein dicing dauncing, vaine plays, or +enterludes; with other idle pastimes, commonly used on the Sabbath-day, +are proved by the authoritie of the word of God, and ancient writers; +by John Northbrook, minister and preacher of the word of God." + +JUVENIS. + + * * * * * + + +NATIONAL CAPRICES. + +The Persian, it is said, will endure suffocation before he will blow the +fire with his breath; the Indian places supreme perfection in besmearing +himself with cow-dung; the Mussulman believes himself purified from all +his sins by the ablution of his head and arms: the only question with +him is, "whether the ceremony ought to begin at the elbow or at the +points of his fingers;" but so great is the difference of opinion on +this head, that if two Mahometans meet on a journey, and accost each +other with brotherly affection, by the one beginning his ablution +at his fingers' ends, and the other at his elbow, they instantly +separate and become mortal enemies. + +WALTER E.C. + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +THE POST OFFICE. + + +In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a +communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the +revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and +Protector, at 10,000_l._ per annum. Some idea of their progressive +increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:-- + + 1664 £21,000 + 1674 43,000 + 1685 65,000 + 1688 76,318 + 1697 90,505 + 1710 111,467 + 1715 145,227 + 1744 235,492 + 1775 345,321 + 1785 463,753 + 1793 607,268 + 1814 2,005,987 + + +Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to +have been about stationary. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +BEDE'S CHAIR. + +[Illustration: BEDE'S CHAIR.] + + +This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of +Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a +large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the +VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only +of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is +very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great +age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years +old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to +that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered +the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, +that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more +reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to +any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, +refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken +for granted, or without note or comment of doubt. + +Venerable Bede was born at Wearmouth, A.D. 672, only a few years after +the introduction of Christianity into Northumberland. When seven years +of age, he was received into the monastery of his native place, where +his infant mind acquired the rudiments of that knowledge which has +rendered his memory immortal. When only nineteen, he was ordained +deacon; and, even at that early age, was regarded as exemplary for +his piety and studious life: he was subsequently removed to the new +foundation at Jarrow, where he continued to study throughout a long +life. The results of his monastic seclusion furnish a bright page even +in these dark ages. "Such was the authority of his writings, that, +though only a humble monk in the most remote, barbarous, and recently +converted of the Saxon principalities, he attained (what was even then) +the singular honour of being the most celebrated writer of Christendom +for more centuries than one."[5] His great work is entitled, an +"Ecclesiastical History," detailing ecclesiastical with civil events; +which was, indeed, inevitable, when the ecclesiastics were the only men +of knowledge. Bede believed in miraculous interpositions, and honestly +related them; nevertheless, our obligations to his industry are +invaluable. To him we owe all our knowledge of English history, from the +landing of the Saxons in Kent to his time, (nearly three centuries,) +and all our certain information respecting the various tribes who then +inhabited the island: from him it is apparent that the work called the +Saxon Chronicle copies long passages. Bede also translated St. John's +Gospel into English; and it is said, that a copy of some of St. Paul's +Epistles, in Bede's handwriting, is still preserved in the library of +Trinity College, Cambridge. His works, published at Basle, extend to +eight folio volumes. + +Bede died May 26, 735, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was first +buried in his own monastery, but his remains were afterwards removed, +and interred in Durham cathedral; and, being subsequently canonized, he +was enrolled in the Romish calendar of saints. His character is thus +drawn by William of Malmsbury:--"He was a man, that, although born +in the extreme corner of the world, yet the light of his learning spread +over all parts of the earth. All the hours which he had to spare from +the monastic exercises of prayer, and singing in the choirs by day and +night, (in which he was constant, and very devout,) he most diligently +spent in study, and divided his whole time between that and his +devotions." + +The Chair is not the only memorial of Bede preserved in this +neighbourhood. About one mile west of Jarrow is a _Well_, still +called _St. Bede's_, to which it was customary, almost as late as +the middle of the last century, to convey diseased children, and, after +dropping in a crooked pin, to dip them for the recovery of their health: +round the Well, also, on every Midsummer Eve, was a great resort of the +neighbouring people, with bonfires, music, and dancing. The mystical +properties of the Well are not of difficult solution: since it was +reasonable enough to associate the restorative effects of cold bathing +with sanctity; and the rejoicings at the spring were indicative of the +gladness of the people, in connexion with a name endeared to them, by +the wisdom, virtue, and benevolence, of its possessor. + + [5] Sir James Mackintosh. + + + * * * * * + + +GOLD-BEATING. + +Early in the 17th century, great surprise was excited upon the +promulgation of the fact, that the Parisian gold-beaters could produce +1,600 leaves, or 105 square feet, from one ounce of gold; but the +surprise of the public was redoubled, when, upon the discovery of the +fine skin now in use, they found that 147 square feet could be produced +from the same quantity. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +MONUMENT OF A CRUSADER. + +In the great north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, in a dark nook +immediately adjoining the wall of the choir, is the mutilated effigies +of a Crusader, recumbent on an oblong stone. The figure is armed +cap-a-pee, in a hauberk,[6] with sword and shield, the latter of which +bears, quarterly, two bulls passant, gorged with collars and bells, and +three garbs, being the armorial bearings of the noble family of De Foix, +of which was the Captal de Buck, one of the first Knights of the Garter, +at the commencement of the Order. On a slab, placed perpendicularly +against the adjoining wall of the choir, are several shields, emblazoned +with the arms of the royal families of England, France, Castile. Leon, +&c. There is no inscription remaining to point out for whom this figure +was intended; but Gall, in his "Antiquities of Winchester," gives the +following inscription as having existed on the monument:--_"Hic jacet +Willielmus comes de insula Vana, alias Wincall_;" the parish of that +name lies on the river Itchin, and might formerly have been insulated. +The verger of Winchester Cathedral, in reply to an inquiry made by the +editor of the "Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet," said, it was a +knight of the name of _Fox_, evidently meaning _De Foix_. This +figure suffered severely from the iconoclasts, at the time of Cromwell's +taking possession of Winchester. Amongst other mutilations, they have +entirely hacked away the right leg, leaving only the foot connected with +the lion couchant, against which the figure rests. + +This Engraving will be received by the attentive inquirer, as an +interesting specimen of the sepulchral architecture of olden times; +and, judging from the mutilated remains, its original beauty would +have reminded us of the remark of an antiquarian writer,--that he +never saw a fine monument out of England. + +[Illustration: (_Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral_.)] + + [6] A tunick, or frock of armour, with wide sleeves, reaching a + little below the elbow, terminating with a broad, gilt border, + and having a hood, not separate. Its first introduction in armour + is referred to the time of William II. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +CHOICE APHORISMS. + +(_From_ 144, _in Fraser's Magazine_.) + + +It is perfectly possible to make champagne from gooseberries, equal to +that yielded by the grape. _Exampli gratiâ_: Lord Haddington, who +is a first-rate judge of wines, had a bottle of mock and one of real +champagne set before him, and was requested to say which was which. He +mistook the product of the gooseberry for the genuine article; and many +persons, reputed good judges, have done the same thing. + +By putting a piece of lump-sugar, the size of a walnut, into the +tea-pot, you will make the tea infuse in one-half the time. This fact is +well known to bag-men and stage-coach travellers. + +Members of dilletanti societies are generally especial asses: +their eternal talk about the fine arts, drawing, colouring, harmony, +composition, chiaro-scuro, fore-shortening, design, and so forth, +is enough to turn the stomach of a horse. The thing is the more +insufferable, because they absolutely know nothing of the subject, +and have about as much real appreciation of works of genius as +a pig possesses for the inventions of Watt or Daedalus. + +While prigs of the above description are eternally chattering about such +topics, men who are really eminent in the fine arts never say a word on +the subject. Goldsmith describes this matter well in his account of Sir +Joshua Reynolds:-- + + To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, + When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing; + When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, + He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff." + + +When I see a man who affects to doubt everything he hears, I never +hesitate about writing him down an ass. A great doubter is a solemn and +self-conceited prig. How amusing is it to see the blockhead shake his +empty pate, compress his lips into a sneer, and turn up his absurd +unmeaning eyes in dubious disbelief, when he hears aught which he thinks +it would imply sagacity to discredit! Such persons imagine, that to be a +great doubter implies wisdom; whereas, in their case, it has its origin +in constitutional phlegm and stupidity. + +Arguers and spouters are invariably asses. + +If you wish to make yourself agreeable to any one, talk as much as you +please about his or her affairs, and as little as possible about your +own. People are such downright egotists themselves, that they cannot +tolerate egotism in others. + +A person who cannot relish absurdity and wit, and must, moreover, have +a satisfactory reason for whatever is said or done, is a philosophical +blockhead. + +The best tooth-powder in the world is Armenian hole, a pennyworth of +which will serve a man for six months. + +If a man pronounces you a liar, it is very absurd to call him out for +the same. This ceremony does not prove that you are _not a liar_; +it only shows, that you possess sufficient courage to stand at the +distance of twelve paces, while a pistol--probably a leadless one--is +fired at you. + +Snuff-taking in a woman is abominable, unless she be very aged--say +eighty, or upwards--when it is rather becoming than otherwise. + +Young girls, of from fourteen to seventeen, are fond of aping the woman +in their dress, and are partial to long shawls, which give the young +things a matronly appearance. When they become women in reality, they +are rather too apt to go upon the opposite tack, and to assume the dress +and airs of the girl. + +A well-made man always looks shorter than he is; ditto a well-made +woman. + +A story-teller, or dealer in anecdote, is an abomination that ought to +be expelled from all well-regulated societies. A man of an original and +truly powerful mind never deals in anecdotes, unless it be for the +purpose of illustrating some general principle. Women and weak men are +all addicted to the vice. If a person of this description begins to +annoy a company with his or her twaddle, the only cure for it is to +affect deafness--a very convenient infirmity at times. + +_A hint to Cooks_.--Roasted chestnuts, grated or sliced, make an +excellent addition to the stuffing for turkeys or geese. + +_Another hint_.--In boiling salmon, split the fish from head to +tail; if you do not do this, but boil it entire, or cut horizontally +through the middle, it is impossible to cook it thoroughly, the +thickness of the back and shoulders being such, that, if the outside be +properly done, the inside must needs be little better than parboiled. On +the Tweed, and other salmon districts, the latter system is held in +abomination. + +A clever servant is almost invariably quick tempered. The reason is +obvious: superior talent is always accompanied by pride, which must meet +with many petty annoyances in the menial state. + +Never praise or talk of your children to other people; for, depend upon +it, no person except yourself cares a single farthing about them. + +Sea-gull eggs, when boiled hard and eaten cold, with pepper, salt, +vinegar, and mustard, make a delightful breakfast dish. Many persons +have an antipathy to such eggs; but it is from eating them in the soft +state, when they have always a fishy taste. Try them as above, and they +will change their opinions upon the subject. + +If a person has a great knack at finding out feats of legerdemain, you +may pronounce him a blockhead. I never knew a clever man who was worth +a farthing at detecting such tricks. + +I have a profound veneration for great liars of a certain class. On this +account Baron Munchausen, Major Longbow, and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, +are my especial favourites. Men of this description are invariably +good-tempered, benevolent, and generous; and will, any day, treat you to +a bottle of wine, provided you do them the favour of listening to their +adventures. + +_Important to Drunkards_.--If, an hour before sitting down to +drink, you take a grain or two of opium, you will be able to withstand +a much greater quantity than otherwise of liquor. This fact has escaped +the observation of Macnish. + +Some stupid people suppose that imagination and philosophy are +incompatible. Blockheads! Was not Bacon, the greatest of philosophers, +one of the most imaginative of men? There is more true philosophy in the +writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott, than in those of all the +metaphysicians that ever existed. + +An accomplished woman, in common parlance, means one who sings and +dances well, knows a little French, a little Italian, a little drawing, +a little embroidery, and not much of any thing, excepting fashionable +novels; in which she is a great adept. + +A lady's album is generally worth looking at, as a psychological +curiosity, indicative, to a considerable extent, of the taste and +feelings of its owner. + +If a man borrows a shilling from you, and on being dunned pretends to +have forgotten it, you may with considerable safety set him down for +a liar. + +When a man finds it convenient to tell a lie, he should sport a good +thumping one when he is about it. If a great lie serves his purpose +better than a little one, why hesitate between the two, when the sin is +equally great in both cases? The former has this advantage, that, when +detected, its enormity may be so great as to enable the person to pass +it off as a piece of quizzery, which can never be done with the latter. + +Heroic liars, such as the Baron or Major, are a godly race; but those +who practise the sin in a small way, and keep fibbing about trifles are +a despicable crew, and should be held by the heels, and soused head +down-most in a firkin of small beer. + +Men who are, or who fancy themselves to be good singers, are great +bores. The airs which they assume in company are most insufferable. If +asked for a song, they affect, with an aspect of the most hypocritical +humility, that really they cannot sing--that their voice is out of +order--that they are hoarse, and so forth; the fellows all the while +being most anxious to show forth, only wanting to be pressed, in order +to enhance their own importance, and stimulate the curiosity of the +company. Nor is this the worst of the case; for no sooner do they +perpetrate one song, than they volunteer a dozen, interlarding the +intervals between their performances with pedantic disquisitions on +music, and flooring every man who ventures to hazard an opinion on +the subject. These people, whether amateur or professional, must be +extinguished; and the best way to accomplish their overthrow, and +reduce them to their native insignificance, is, in the first instance, +to take them at their word, and not urge them to sing. By so doing, they +immediately take the pet, and sport mum for the rest of the evening. +The same remarks apply to musical people in general, whether in the +shape of fiddlers, fluters, horn blowers, thumpers on the pianoforte, +&c. These individuals can think of nothing else but their favourite +pursuit, and imagine all the world to be equally interested in it. Take +a musician off music, and he is the most ignorant of animals. A good +story in illustration of this is told about Madame Catalani. Being at a +large party in Vienna, where Goethe was present, she was much surprised +at the great respect with which that illustrious man was treated. +On inquiring his name, she was informed it was the celebrated Goethe. +"Celebrated!" said the siren; "what music did he ever compose? Why, +I never heard of him!" + +An absurd prejudice prevails among many people against the skate. If +this fish is hung up and dried for a day or two, then cut in slices, +done on the gridiron, and eaten with butter, it is most delicious. + +N.B. The female skate is more delicate than the male. + +Persons who indulge in conundrums, charades &c. are invariably poor +creatures; as are those who have a knack at finding out such trifles. +The same remark applies to punsters. It is difficult for a man of +sterling talent to perpetrate a pun, or to solve an enigma. On the +latter account, Oedipus must have been an ass. + +A fact.--Nine-tenths of the catsup which is sold in the shops is a vile +compound of liver and the roan of fish, seasoned with vinegar, pepper, +and other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, you must procure +mushrooms, and make it yourself. + + * * * * * + + +FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN. + +There is no court in Europe about which so little is known as that of +Madrid, and certainly no European sovereign whose character and habits +have been so studiously misrepresented as those of Ferdinand. The first +time we beheld this monarch, we could scarcely credit the evidence of +our senses. Walking in the gardens of the Retiro, at the time crowded +with company, we encountered a portly old gentleman, quite unattended, +habited in a plain, blue coat and nankeen trousers. This was Ferdinand, +_El Rey absoluto_, whom, in our mind's eye, we had long sketched +with the dark pencil of a Murillo. On a countenance that we expected +to have seen marked by all the dark and fiery passions of a Caesar +Borgia, we beheld an expression of _bonhomie_--a total absence of +hauteur, still less of ferocity; in fact, so totally different was he +in appearance from all that we had preconceived, that it was with +some difficulty we could persuade ourselves that our cicerone was not +practising upon our credulity. So much, then, for the notion, that he +never trusts himself out of his palace without being surrounded by +a formidable guard. Perhaps no monarch is oftener seen without, or +evinces less fear for his personal safety, than the tyrant Ferdinand. + +By men of all parties, at Madrid, he is spoken of as a man not naturally +vicious, but equally prone to good or evil, according to the direction +impressed upon him towards either of these two ends, arising from a wily +indolence of character, that, conscious of its own inability, throws +itself on another. Leave him, say they, but the name of king, his +secretaries, his valets, and his favourite amusements,--give him his +Havanna cigars, (a lot of which he sends daily to the officer of the +guard,)--and he would willingly consent to any change that might be +proposed to him. The faults or the vices of Ferdinand are owing to his +neglected and defective education; no care was taken to prepare him for +his high station. + +It was in the spirit of party that he embroidered a petticoat for the +Holy Virgin, solely with the view of pleasing and cajoling the clergy; +for, in his heart, Ferdinand is rather a devotee to pleasure than +religion. In his habits he is remarkably domesticated; he rises at +an early hour, and passes the greater part of the day in his wife's +apartment, of whom he is passionately fond. The queen unites to a very +graceful figure an interesting expression of countenance, that sometimes +wears an appearance of sadness. Such is Ferdinand of Spain, whose actual +demise will disclose scenes that at present almost set political +calculation at defiance. + +Ferdinand has been married four times:--1st, To Marie Antoinette, +daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies; 2ndly, To his neice, the +Infanta of Portugal, Maria Isabella; 3rdly, To the Princess Maria +Josepha-Amelia, daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony; and, lastly, +to his present queen, Maria Carletta, daughter of the late King of +Naples.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO BRITISH AMERICA. + + +One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for +ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the +most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which +will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable +situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's, +breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many +conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their +fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly +adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the +period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their +own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the +hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour +required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who +has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and +if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of +employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a +wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be +exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can +expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees +piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest +construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down. +Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter +is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great +for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the +influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons +causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter. +Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their +stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong +vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet +chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of +these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes +are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the +vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly +annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and +evening. Sleep is completely driven away when they make an attack, and +they produce the most uneasy sensation. + +The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication +between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating +medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange, +difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of +agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which +ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and +sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the +ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels +and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops +materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the +formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the +Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive +sowings are sometimes necessary. + +The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our +American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great +advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for +the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant +employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the +mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when +labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer +can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their +victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile, +and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and, +of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce +extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very +superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained +there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not +only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden +vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is +found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much +better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of +the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may +be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This +assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues +that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly +character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which +the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future +provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour +of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all +vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there +must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light +as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount +of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt, +brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own +tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered. +And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited +space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn, +good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant +in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages +counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former +with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They +must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must +make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess +land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange +for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess, +they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a +shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before +they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations +cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they +are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation +will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says +Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider, +before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and +integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of +his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain +means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave +scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and +whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to +suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing +with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the +spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of +his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or +three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been +unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the +forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which +require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all +these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be +disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have +entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would +often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before +them, in every part of America, examples of men who must have encountered +and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before +they attained a state of comfortable affluence."--_Quart. Journ. Agr._ + + * * * * * + + +THE SILK MANUFACTURE. + +The principal branches of this manufacture consist in the dyeing, +winding, warping, throwing, and weaving. The first needs no explanation; +the winding is the process between the throwing and the weaving. After +the silk is thrown it is dyed, and then wound off preparatory to the +loom. The warping is stretching the parallel threads on the loom, +preparatory to weaving. + +_Throwing_ silk, is twisting two threads into one for the purpose +of weaving. The single thread, as wound off from the cocoon, is +designated the raw silk. + +There are two descriptions of thrown silk. One is called _tram_, +and consists of two threads simply twisted together. This description of +thrown silk is used in the shuttle or transverse threads of a piece of +silk on the loom. The other variety of thrown silk is called +_organzine_. In this, the single threads are first twisted up, +previous to their being twisted together. This is used for the warp, or +parallel threads upon the loom. + +Throwing of silk was an important branch of manufacture in this country, +until the duties were reduced in 1826. Since that period it has +declined. The manufacture of thrown silk is chiefly carried on at +Macclesfield, Congleton, and in the West of England. As silk can be +thrown more cheaply in foreign countries than it can be in England, +there has been a difference between the throwsters and the weavers of +Coventry and Spitalfields, the latter having requested the protecting +duty against foreign thrown silk to be reduced, to the manifest injury +of the former. + +It may be as well to explain to the reader the weights which are used +in the silk trade. The weight of silk is estimated by _deniers_, an +old Italian weight, of which twenty-four are equal to an ounce, used +only in the silk trade, in the same manner as the weight called a _carat_ +is employed by those who deal in diamonds, and other precious stones. +It is the custom to reel off, upon an engine established in the silk +trade, a measure of four hundred ells of tram or organzine, (which are +both double threads,) and the weight of this quantity establishes the +fineness or coarseness of the silk. Four hundred ells of the finest +Italian tram will weigh eighteen deniers; and although this silk will +occasionally run so coarse as to weigh forty deniers, the qualities +mostly in use vary in weight from eighteen to thirty deniers. The China +and Bengal silk varies from thirty-five to eighty deniers in its weight. +Turkey silk, the importation of which has lately much increased, and +which is worked up in the single thread on account of the coarseness of +the texture, varies from thirty to fifty deniers; which, as the others +are weighed in the tram or double thread, will be in the proportion of +sixty to one hundred deniers. + +Silk is the staple manufacture of France, and has always received the +fostering protection of the government. The raw material is the produce +of the country; and, as the growers of silk are not permitted to export +it, it is purchased by the manufacturers at a much cheaper rate than it +can be procured by us. The value of the raw silk yearly produced in +France is estimated at about three millions and a half sterling--the +produce of manufacture at about two millions and a half; so that the +silk trade of France is to be valued, on the whole, at about six +millions sterling. + +This is the estimate which is made by the acknowledgment of the French +government; but there is every reason to suppose that it is much more +considerable. This is certain;--that it is of the greatest value to that +nation, and has received such protection, and, in consequence, is in +that flourishing condition, that, at present, no other country can +compete with it.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + +RECENT VISIT TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. + +Mr. Fergusson in his notes made during a Visit to the United States and +Canada in 1831, says: after breakfast I took leave of my friend, and +walked on for the Falls, leaving the stage, in which I had secured a +place, to follow. The day was delightful, and as I ascended the steep +hill from Queenston, I overtook a soldier of the 79th in charge of the +baggage wagons, leaning on his musket, and wrapt in admiration of the +surrounding scenery, "_It's mair like Scotland, sir, than ony thing +I've seen sin' I left it_," was the poor fellow's remark, and truly +it was far from misapplied, making due allowance for difference of +scale. The country from Queenston to the Falls is well settled, and +finely diversified by farms, orchards and open forest. The soil is +perhaps light, but in some places of a stronger description, and +all apparently fertile, desirable land. A very beautiful property, +originally laid out by the ill-fated Duke of Richmond, and subsequently +possessed by Sir Peregrine Maitland, adjoins the Road. The house, which +is in the cottage style, of wood, seems large and commodious. This +estate is in a very favourable situation, and has been lately sold +for 2,000l.; it contains about 450 acres of good, useful land. The +distance from Queenston to Niagara is about seven miles, and I sauntered +on the whole way, the coach not overtaking me. About four miles from +the Falls, the sound came upon my ear like the murmur of Old Ocean on +a rugged strand. In certain states of the atmosphere and the wind this +is heard at a much greater distance. The noise gradually increased, +and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees. +A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as +Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common +curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory +came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even +from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that +mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it +must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think, +must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can +the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as +regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature. +The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal +and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated _at +rest_, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the +spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the +enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt +and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a +time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with +any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration +and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my +friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses +a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the +world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the +rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is +behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and +thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects +appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the +same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down +in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a +closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch +the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of +the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The +following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course, +to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came +crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friends being +quite at home in all the mazes of the river side, conducted me by a wild +and rugged route to the edge of the Table-rock, when, upon emerging from +a tangled brake, I beheld the Horse-shoe or great British Fall, pouring +down its volume of ice and water, at the distance of a few feet from +where we stood. The rock felt to me as though it vibrated, and a large +mass did in fact lately give way, soon after a party had retired from +the precarious stance. It is limestone, full of ugly fissures and rents. +A narrow wooden staircase conducts adventurous travellers to the bottom +of the Fall, where a sort of entrance is generally effected to a short +distance under the sheet, and for which performance a certificate in due +form is served out. The stair was at this time under repair, and the +accumulation of ice below perfectly reconciled me to wave pretensions +to such slippery honours. At some distance below the Fall, and opposite +to the American staircase, there is a ferry, to which a safe and most +romantic carriage-road has been lately formed, out of the solid rock, +at no small labour and expense. When a similar accommodation shall +have been provided upon the American side, it is expected to prove a +lucrative concern, but at the present foot-passengers only can be landed +in the States. The little skiff had just put off, with a party from the +Canada shores, and got involved in streams of ice, in a way somewhat +hazardous, and which rendered it impossible for the boatmen to return. +The scene from the ferry is indeed magnificent, the Horseshoe, the +American Fall, and Goat Island being all in view, with the great pool or +basin eddying in fearful and endless turmoil. In the evening I walked +up the river side towards the village of Chippeway, to visit a natural +curiosity upon Mr. C.'s estate. A spring surcharged with sulphuretted +hydrogen gas rises within a few paces of the river. A small building is +erected over it, and when a candle is applied to a tube in a barrel, +which encloses the spring, a brilliant and powerful light is evolved. +Close adjoining are the remains of extensive mills burnt by the +Americans during last war. The water privilege is great, and machinery +to any extent might be kept in play.--_Quart. Journ. of Agriculture._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + * * * * * + + +_Dramatis Personae._--The stages and theatres of the Greeks and +Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to +have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in +order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by +the Latins _persona_, from _personare_ (to sound through); and +delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally +prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our +modern plays), as appears from the _Vatican Terence_. Hence +_dramatis personae_ (masks of the drama); which words, after masks +ceased to be used, were understood to mean _persons of the drama_. + +J.E.J. + + * * * * * + + +_Punctuality_.--The late hospitable Colonel Bosville had his +dinner on the table exactly two minutes before five o'clock, and no +guest was admitted after that hour; for he was such a determined +observer of punctuality, that when the clock struck five, his +porter locked the street-door, and laid the key at the head of the +dinner-table. The time kept by the clock in the kitchen, the parlour, +and the drawing-room, and the watch of the master, were minutely the +same. That the dinner was ready, was not announced to the guests in +the usual way; but when the clock struck, this superlative time-keeper +himself declared to his guests, "Dinner waits." Boileau, the French +satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject: "I have always been +_punctual at the hour of dinner_," says the bard, "for I knew that +all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval would employ +those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults." + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + + +_Volcanoes_.--According to Dr. Ure, there were, in 1830, 205 +burning volcanoes on the globe. Of these, 107 occur in islands, and 98 +on continents, but ranged mostly along their shores. + + * * * * * + + +_Former Junction of England and France_.--From the correspondence +pointed out by Mr. William Phillips, the geologist, between the strata +of Dover and the hills west of Calais; and by M. de la Beche, between +the strata of the coast of Dorset and Devon, and those of Normandy, it +may be inferred that the English Channel is a submarine valley, which +owes its origin in a great measure to diluvial excavation, the opposite +sides having as much correspondence as those of ordinary valleys on the +land. + + * * * * * + + +_Soldiers_.--English soldiers were at one period distinguished +by badges, like those worn by watermen. The general colour of their +dresses appears to have been white; though, in 1544, a part of the +forces of Henry VIII. were ordered to be dressed in blue coats, guarded +with red, without badges, the right hose red, and the left blue. In +1584, Elizabeth ordered the cassocks of the soldiers sent to Ireland +to be a sad green, or russet; though the cloaks of the cavalry were +red. In 1693, the dresses of the soldiers were grey, and those of the +drummers purple; but the red uniform was probably adopted when the +House of Hanover acceded to the throne. + +In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. ordinary hats were lined with +iron plates, to prevent assassination. + + * * * * * + + +_Choristers_.--The singing boys are, probably, the only officers +of the Catholic Church retained to this day by the Royal Family; for +at the Reformation, when masses, &c., had wholly ceased, Queen Elizabeth +retained on her establishment four sets of singing-boys, attached to +St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and that +of the Royal Household. For the support of these bands, she issued out +warrants, like the other English sovereigns, for taking up "suche apt +and meete children as are fitt to be instructed and framed in the art +and science of musicke and singing." + + * * * * * + + +_A Ha! ha! Fence_.--Bridgman, a landscape gardener, early in the +last century, is supposed to have introduced in the Royal Gardens at +Richmond, the sunk fence for boundaries, instead of walls: an attempt +considered so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! has! +to express their surprise at the sudden termination of their walk. + + * * * * * + + +_Sheridan's Funeral_.--Mr. Moore has omitted one of the most +touching and heart-stirring anecdotes connected with the funeral of +Sheridan. The noble and select company had assembled to pay the last +tribute of respect to departed genius, and the coffin was about to be +placed in the hearse, when an elegantly-dressed personage, who pretended +to be distantly related to the deceased, entered the chamber of death. +At his urgent entreaties to view the face of his friend, the coffin lid +was unscrewed; and, to the horror and surprise of the bystanders, he +pulled out a warrant, and arrested the body! Mr. Canning and Lord +Sidmouth went into an adjoining room, and paid the debt, which (it is +said) amounted to 500l. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Dr. Walcot, to Shield the Composer_.--The following was sent to +Shield, the ingenious composer, for his ivory ticket for admission to +a concert, by his friend Peter Pindar:-- + + Son of the _string_ (I do not mean Jack Ketch, + Though Jack, like _thee_, produceth _dying tones_;) + Oh! yield thy pity to a starving wretch, + And for to-morrow's _treat_, pray send thy _bones_. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Epitaph on Mr. Death, the Actor_. + + + Death levels all, both high and low. + Without regard to stations; + Yet why complain, + If _we_ are slain? + For here lies one, at least, to show + He kills his own relations. + +J.E.J. + + + * * * * * + +THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +VOL, XX. of THE MIRROR, with a Steel-plate Portrait of + +WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., + +a Biographical Memoir, Eighty-eight Engravings, and Four Hundred +and Sixty-four enlarged pages, is now publishing, price 5s. 6d. + +Part 131, price 8d., and Part 132, price 10d., (completing +Vol. XX.) are also ready. + +The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, containing the above Portrait, Memoir, +Title-page, Index, &c., price 2d., will be published in the ensuing +week. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; +CHARLES JUGEL, Francfort; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers_. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, No. 583, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12521 *** diff --git a/12521-h/12521-h.htm b/12521-h/12521-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6a26e0e --- /dev/null +++ b/12521-h/12521-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1758 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 583.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + .note, .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .figure {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img {border: none;} + .figure p + --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12521 ***</div> + + <hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page433" name="page433"></a>[pg 433]</span> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%" summary="Banner"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>VOL. XX, NO. 583.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1832.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/583-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-1.png" +alt="Natural Tunnel, in Virginia." /></a> +NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. +</div> +<h2> + NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. +</h2> +<p> +Rock Bridges occupy the same pre-eminence amongst the sublimities of +nature, that artificial bridges maintain amidst the labours of man. +Both alike inspire us with admiration, though we are enabled to obtain +but unequal results as to their respective origins. The bridge, built +by human hands, is, indeed, a triumph of the perfection of skilful +contrivance; the strength and beauty of the arch are among the most +simple yet exquisite results of science, wonderful as they may appear +to the untaught beholder: but how shall we explain the formation of +stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines and rolling torrents, in +countries where none but the wild and picturesque forms of nature rise +to gladden the eye and heart of the inquiring traveller? Of the latter +description are the natural bridges which abound in the State of +Virginia; as Rockbridge, which gives name to the county in which it is +situated, and the wild and fantastic bridges of Icognozo; all of which +are more extensively recognised among the wonders of creation than the +specimen here presented to the reader. +</p> +<p> +This Tunnel is in Scott county, Virginia; but was so little known beyond +its immediate neighbourhood, as to induce Lieut.-Col. Long, (U.S. Army,) +to communicate its description to Mr. Featherstonhaugh's <i>American +Journal of Geology and Natural Science</i>; and the following narrative +of the Colonel's Excursion will be read with interest:— +</p> +<p> +"During the past summer, I visited a remarkable natural bridge in Scott +county, Virginia, to which I have given the name of Natural Tunnel, on +account of its striking resemblance to artificial structures of that +kind. +</p> +<p> +"The immediate locality of this tunnel is upon a small stream called +Buck-eye, or Stock Creek. This last name owes its origin to its valley +having been resorted to by the herdsmen of the country, for the +attainment of a <i>good range</i>, or choice pasture-ground, for their +cattle. The creek rises in Powell's mountain, and is tributary to Clinch +river, which it enters at the distance of between two and three miles +below the tunnel. The aspect of the surrounding country, and especially +of that to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page434" name="page434"></a>[pg 434]</span> +northward of the tunnel, and constituting the southerly +slope of the mountain just mentioned, is exceedingly diversified, and +broken by elevated spurs and ridges, separated from each other by deep +chasms, walled with cliffs and mural precipices, often presenting +exceedingly narrow passes, but occasionally widening into meadows or +bottoms of considerable extent. The mural precipices just mentioned +occur very frequently, bounding the valleys of the streams generally in +this part of the country, and opposing ramparts of formidable height, +and in many places utterly insurmountable. Such are the features +peculiarly characteristic of <i>Wild Cat Valley</i>, the <i>Valley of +Copper Creek</i>, of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of numerous other +streams of less note, all of which are situated within a few miles of +the Natural Tunnel. +</p> +<p> +"To form an adequate idea of this remarkable and truly sublime object, +we have only to imagine the creek to which it gives a passage, +meandering through a deep, narrow valley, here and there bounded on both +sides by walls, or <i>revetements</i>, of the character above intimated, +and rising to the height of two or three hundred feet above the stream; +and that a portion of one of these chasms, instead of presenting an +open, <i>thorough cut</i> from the summit to the base of the high +grounds, is intercepted by a continuous unbroken ridge, more than three +hundred feet high, extending entirely across the valley, and perforated +transversely at its base, after the manner of an artificial tunnel, and +thus affording a spacious subterranean channel for the passage of the +stream. +</p> +<p> +"The entrance to the Natural Tunnel on the upper side of the ridge +is imposing and picturesque in a high degree; but on the lower side +the grandeur of the scene is greatly heightened by the superior +magnitude of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness, and which rise +perpendicularly—and, in some instances, in an impending manner—two +or three hundred feet; and by which the entrance on this side is +almost environed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of rude and frightful +precipices. +</p> +<p> +"The observer, standing on the brink of the stream, at the distance +of about one hundred yards below the debouchure of the Natural Tunnel, +has, in front, a view of its arched entrance, rising seventy or eighty +feet above the water, and surmounted by horizontal stratifications of +yellowish, white, and grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the height of +the arch. On his left, a view of the same mural precipice, deflected +from the springing of the arch in a manner to pass thence in a +continuous curve quite to his rear, and towering in a very impressive +manner above his head. On his right, a sapling growth of buck-eye, +poplar, linden, &c., skirting the margin of the creek, and extending +obliquely to the right, and upward, through a narrow, abrupt ravine, +to the summit of the ridge, which is here and elsewhere crowned with +a timber-growth of pines, cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various +kinds. On his extreme right is a gigantic cliff, lifting itself up, +perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height, of about three +hundred feet, and accompanied by an insulated cliff, called the Chimney, +of about the same altitude, rising, in the form of a turret, at least +sixty feet above its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff +just before mentioned. +</p> +<p> +"Desirous of illustrating this paper by a front view of the Natural +Tunnel where the creek issues from it, I have, with the assistance +of a particular friend in this city—to whom I am indebted for the +accompanying drawing<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a>—been enabled to furnish a sketch which very +faithfully represents some of the appearances I have described. The +embellishments last mentioned, however, viz. the chimney and its +accompaniments, could not be comprised in the landscape. +</p> +<p> +"The following passages are from my own private journal:— +</p> +<p> +"Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having ascended Cove ridge, we turned aside +from our route to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on +Buck-eye, or Stock creek, about a mile below the Sycamore camp,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> and +about one and a half miles from a place called Rye cove, which occupies +a spacious recess between two prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the +site of the natural tunnel being included within a spur of Cove ridge, +which is one of the mountain spurs just alluded to. Here is presented +one of the most remarkable and attractive curiosities of its kind, to be +witnessed in this or any other country. The creek, which is about seven +yards wide, and has a general course about S. 15 W., here passes through +a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet above the surface of the +stream, winding its way through a huge subterraneous cavern, or grotto, +whose roof is vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to +seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this gigantic +cavern rise perpendicularly in some places to the height of fifteen or +twenty feet, and, in others, are formed, by the springing of its vaulted +roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from +fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous +curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right as we enter +on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again +to the left on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its +peculiar form, that an observer, standing at a point +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page435" name="page435"></a>[pg 435]</span> +about midway of its +subterranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either +entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a distance of about +twenty yards, occupying an intermediate portion of the tunnel. When the +sun is near the meridian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the +light reflected from both extremities of the tunnel contributes to +mollify the darkness of this interior portion into a dusky twilight. +</p> +<p> +"The extent of the tunnel, from its upper to its lower extremity, +following its meanders, is about 150 yards; in which distance the stream +falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky bed, an +agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grateful by its reverberations +upon the roof and sides of the grotto. The discharge of a musket +produces a crash-like report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel; which +has a deafening effect upon the ear. +</p> +<p> +"The hill through which this singular perforation leads, descends in a +direction from east to west, across the line of the creek, and affords a +very convenient passage for a road which traverses it at this place, +having a descent in the direction just mentioned of about four degrees. +</p> +<p> +"The rocks found in this part of the country are principally sandstone +and limestone, in stratifications nearly horizontal, with occasional +beds of clay slate. A mixture of the two former frequently occurs among +the alternations presented by these rocks. A variety of rock resembling +the French burr occurs in abundance on Butcher's-fork of Powell's river, +about twenty miles northwardly of the Natural Tunnel. Fossils are more +or less abundant, in these and other rocks. Fossil bones, of an +interesting character, have been found in several places. Saltpetre +caves are numerous. Coves, sinks, and subterranean caverns, are +strikingly characteristic, not only of the country circumjacent to the +Natural Tunnel, but of the region generally situated between the +Cumberland mountain, and the Blue ridge or Apalachian mountain. +Bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniments, abounds in the northerly +parts of this region; and in the intermediate and southerly portions, +iron, variously combined, often magnetic, together with talcose rocks, +&c. &c. are to be met with in great abundance. +</p> +<p> +"The mountains in this vicinity—long. 82° to 84° W. from Greenwich, +lat. 35° to 36° N.—are among the most lofty of the Allegheny range. +Several knobs<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> in this part of the range, among which may be +enumerated the Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black, and Powell's +mountains, rise to the height of at least four thousand five hundred +feet above tide." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Featherstonhaugh remarks, that the Natural Tunnel has not been +worn through the rock by the long-continued action of running water is +evident, not from the cavernous structure alone of the general country, +but from the form of Powell's mountain, in a spur of which the Tunnel +passes transversely. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Featherstonhaugh further concludes the Tunnel to be a natural cavity +in the rock, for, if such had not been the case, "it is evident that the +stream would have been deflected from its line; would have followed the +base of the hill, and have turned the extreme point." +</p> +<p> +Little is known of the geology of the country in which this Tunnel is +situate, notwithstanding the popularity of the natural bridges of the +State. The rock before us would appear to belong to that class which +geologists commonly term Perforated Mountains, which some suppose +to have been bored through, in part, at least, by the persevering +industry of man. "Such phenomena," observes Maltebrun, "are, however, +mere eccentricities of nature, and differ from caverns only from +the circumstance of having a passage entirely through them. The +Pierre-Pertuise in Mount Jura, and Pausilippo, near Naples, are +instances of this kind. The Torghat, in, Norway, is pierced by an +opening 150 feet high, and 3,000 long. At certain seasons of the year, +the sun can be seen darting its rays from one extremity to the other of +this vault. Near New Zealand is a rocky arch through which the waves of +the sea pass at high water."<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> The latter, one of the Piercy Islands, +will be found engraved and described in <i>The Mirror</i>, vol. xix. p. 145. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From the Note Book of a Tourist</i>.) +</center> +<p> +In the summer of 1829, I made a Tour of the Borders. On the 16th of +August, I arrived in Melrose. I came on the top of the coach from +Jedburgh, in company with two intelligent fellows, a young Englishman of +fortune (apparently,) and a Russian nobleman. We put up at the George, +where we found about five tourists, redolent of sketch and note books, +drinking toddy and lying in wait to catch a sight of the lion of the +neighbourhood, Sir Walter. The voracity with which they devoured any +anecdotes of him was amusing. In the evening it came on a peppering +storm. I had foreseen this on our route from <i>Jeddart</i>. The Eildons +had mounted their misty cap, always a sure prognostic of rain; in fact +they are the barometer of the district. I then prevailed on my two +companions to forego their visit to the Abbey that night. We therefore +had in old Davidson, the landlord of the Inn, and my companions +submitted him to an interrogatory of three long hours' duration. +One little anecdote of fresh occurrence struck me as +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page436" name="page436"></a>[pg 436]</span> +possessing some +interest. I will record it. About a month before, a poor maniac +presented herself at the gates of Abbotsford. She desired to see Sir +Walter. The servant denied her admittance, but such was the earnestness +of the poor creature, that <i>auld Saunders</i>, on her pressing +application, went and informed his master, "that a puir demented lassie +was at the gett (gate) greetin' like a bairn." Sir Walter had the +kindest of hearts; "O admit her puir thing," he said. The woman no +sooner entered than she fell on her knees in reverential awe before Sir +Walter. Her story was simply this. She belonged to Aberdeen; she was +married to a young farmer in that neighbourhood and had not long before +given birth to a beautiful infant, the first pledge of their loves. +The pains of birth had injured her mental equanimity, and eluding the +vigilance of her keepers she set forward one evening in search of the +great enchanter, whose works had in happier hours beguiled her with +their beauty. She travelled for a week; the distance from Aberdeen to +Abbotsford was about a hundred and fifty miles. She had walked every +step. Sir Walter did what he could to soothe her distracted mind, +and get her wasted frame recruited. But after some time he deemed it +advisable to exercise his judicial power and put her in a place of +security, until definite intelligence could be procured of her friends +and relations. Jedburgh is the county town of Roxburgh; and thither all +wanderers of this and a less gentle race are sent. A post-chaise was +sent for from old Davidson, of the George, and when it was at the door +of Abbotsford, Sir Walter induced the poor girl to enter it, promising +to accompany her "out a ridin'." She entered—looking for him to follow. +The door was instantly closed, and the post-boy lashing and spurring his +horses, darted off in a second. She gave a piercing shriek, looked +wildly round her, and abandoned herself to the most agonizing despair; +exclaiming in a tone of the utmost pathos, "ah! deceitfu' man, hae ye +beguiled me too!"—and then she sunk back in the carriage, and buried +herself in the deepest silence. * * +</p> +<p> +18th August. Set out to view the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. Called +on Capt. (now Sir David) Erskine, from whom I received the politest +attention. His housekeeper acted as my cicerone, and conducted me over +the venerable pile. These time-worn ruins stand on the north bank of +the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills +covered with wood, of the richest foliage. The abbey as well as the +modern mansion house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. +Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form, +and the scene is extremely interesting, embracing both wood and water, +mountain and rock scenery. The whole gives rise to sentiments of the +most pleasing, devotional tranquillity. The place, however, at which I +paused, was St. Mary's Aisle: "here," I said to myself, "will the mighty +minstrel sleep, when his harp shall be silent!"—and here I offered the +votive tribute in anticipation, which thousands will follow me in, now +that he is, too truly, alas! no more. At the little iron palisading I +stood, and said, "here Scott will sleep:" in this, fate has not deceived +me. He rests there now. Peace to his manes! +</p> +<p> +August 20. Down at the Abbey this night. It would be absolute folly +to note down what I saw or thought of this most remarkable monastic +structure. Every album possesses it, in all the beauty of its fairy +architecture; its tabernacles, its niches and canopies, and statues, +pinnacles, pediments, spires, and the tracery of its vaultings. +</p> +<p> +The decorated work is most exquisitely executed. The mouldings are +still so sharp, that they seem as lately from the chisel of the mason. +The south transept window and door are the most perfect of the ruins. +The day light of the window is twenty-four feet by sixteen, divided by +four mullions. The tracery and cuspings are all of the decorated style +of the Gothic. It is furnished with crotchets and creeping foliage. +There are a number of niches, canopies, and tabernacles, on the south +transept; and the corbels that support the statues, are carved with +grotesque figures; some representing monks with cowls upon their heads, +others musicians playing upon different kinds of instruments; some are +most hideous to look at. Sir Walter procured casts of many of these +grotesque figures, which on a visit to Abbotsford, I observed placed in +the ceiling of the hall. He has clothed them in a new dress, more suited +to the social scene of their present locality. But, I always ramble +into the <i>shop</i>, when I get on architecture. Let me narrate the +occurrence of this night. As I was pacing the great aisle of the abbey, +a carriage drove up to the gate. "Sir Walter Scott!" said the keeper, +brushing past me to receive him. A lady alighted. I heard "good night!" +responded by a person in the carriage, who drove off with it. Who can +this be, thought I to myself. It was dusk—the lady advanced with a +stately step. I moved aside. "In these deep solitudes and awful cells!" +methought I heard her say. She ascended to the bell-tower. "Who is that +lady?" said I to the keeper when he entered. "That, sir," said he, +"is Mistress Hemmins, the poet writer, wha is on a visit to Maistre +Lockhart, and she cam just noo in Sir Walter's carriage, and she wants +to be alane, sir, by hersel." I took the hint, and made for the George +and my glass of toddy, unwilling to deprive the world of those lays, +which Melrose, the rush of the Tweed, and midnight would, no doubt, +inspire in the fair authoress. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page437" name="page437"></a>[pg 437]</span> +</p> +<p> +August 23. At Galashiels, a semi-rural demi-manufacturing town on the +banks of the "braw, braw Gala water." Not having the good fortune to get +to Abbotsford from Melrose, I started over the hill which looks down on +Galashiels, towards that destination. Abbotsford I need not render an +account of. But my approach to it was not deficient in interest. +</p> +<p> +On arriving at the summit of the hill overlooking the Tweed, it burst +upon my sight. I looked down on the grounds in which it is settled, as +on a map. The skill and industry of Sir Walter is not more remarkable in +his literary than in his rural works. The house stands in a bare, barren +corner of Selkirkshire, (I think) but by admirable management, he has +enclosed it with fine, hardy young wood, and quite altered its +appearance. +</p> +<p> +At the bottom of the hill I took the boat at the ferry, and resting in +the middle of the stream, the Tweed, and looked around me. I saw a +person on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the wood which +comes down to the water's edge. I drew near. He was dressed in a short, +green coat and cap, and was amusing himself with the antics of a large +dog. The place—the time—the air—the gait—every thing conspired: +"Who's that, lassie?" said I to my little boat rower; "That, sir? that's +<i>himsel</i>, that's the shirra" (sheriff.) Yes, it was the man—he +himself—the pride of Scotland—her boast—the intellectual beacon of +her hills—it was Sir Walter Scott! +</p> +<p> +Sept. 3. At Selkirk. At Mitchell's Inn, where I was introduced to the +celebrated Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. He had come, I think, from +a fair held at the Eildons. We got over a jug of toddy. Our conversation +turned on the church service of the kirk of Scotland, and we rambled +into poetry in conversing on the psalms. I pointed out to the shepherd, +that a fair fame might be achieved by arranging the Psalms of David, and +superseding the barbarities of Sternhold and Hopkins. James maintained +that the present edition in use in Scotland, could <i>not</i> be +improved. He said that the question had been agitated in the General +Assembly, and Sir Walter Scott was applied to, to furnish an improved +versification, but he answered, stating that it would be a more +difficult matter to get the people to adopt them, than to furnish the +same. Any alteration in this respect would be looked upon as little +better than sacrilege, and he therefore advised that the present form +should be continued in. "Watty's a sensible chap," said the shepherd, +speaking familiarly of Sir Walter, "and if he laid a finger on o'or +venerable psalmody, I wad pitch a louse at him, wha hae ever loved the +man as my ain brether." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +During the last years of Sir Walter's life, he visited in the counties +of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk, the various scenes which his graphic +pen has delineated and incorporated in his minstrelsy and romance. The +summer when the preceding notes were made, I happened to be in Kelso, +and took ride one day to visit the worthy minister of a neighbouring +parish, in which the celebrated border <i>keep</i> Smailholme tower is +situated, the scene of the fearful legend embodied in the poem "The Eve +of St. John." +</p> +<p> +We rode over to it: it is situated on a crag or ridge of rock, high +in the north range of hills, the Lammer-muir, which spring from the +splendid vale of Teviot and Tweed, commanding an unbounded prospect +on the east and west; the south is terminated by the Cheviots and +the English border. +</p> +<p> +We found the Tower in possession of a party, and the Rev. Mr. C—— rode +forward to report, in case we should be deemed intruders. He came back +shortly, and it was no other than Sir Walter himself, with several +members of his family, who had accompanied him to bid a final farewell +to <i>Smaillum keep</i>. As I afterwards heard, he was in the highest +spirits, and repeated the poem for the gratification of his party, in +that impressive manner for which he was remarkable, in giving the +necessary effect to his own compositions. The party brought a cold +collation with them: before leaving, Sir Walter surveyed the beautiful +prospect at his feet, the Tweed and Teviot meeting in sisterly +loveliness, and joining their waters in the valley, with the golden +fields of England in the distance; when filling a glass of wine he drank +with fervour, in which all joined him, "baith sides of the Tweed." +</p> +<h4> + I. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + OLD ENGLISH ARMOUR. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From a Correspondent.</i>) +</center> +<p> +Previous to the time of Edward I., the body-armour may be distinguished +by the appellations of <i>trelliced, ringed, rustred, mascled, scalad, +tegulated, single-mailed</i>, and <i>banded</i>. The <i>trelliced</i> method +has not been properly ascertained: it probably consisted of leather +thongs, crossed, and so disposed as to form large squares placed +angularly, with a round knob or stud in the centre of each. The +<i>ringed</i> consisted of flat rings of steel, placed contiguous to +each other, on quilted linen. The <i>rustred</i> was nothing more than +one row of flat rings, about double the size of those before used, laid +half over the other, so that two in the upper partially covered one +below. <i>Mascled</i>; the hauberk composed of several folds of linen, +covered with diamond-shaped pieces of steel touching each other, and +perforated: so called from their resemblance to the <i>meshes</i> of a +net. <i>Scaled</i>; formed of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page438" name="page438"></a>[pg 438]</span> +small pieces of steel like the scales of +fish, partially overlaying each other. This species was used only during +the reigns of Henry II and Richard I. The <i>tegulated</i> consisted of +little square plates, partly covering one another, like tiles. +</p> +<p> +<i>Single Mail</i> was composed of rings set edgeways on quilted linen. +It came into use about the close of John's reign, and continued to be +partially worn till that of Edward I. At the commencement of Henry +III.'s reign, it covered not only the head, but hands, legs, and feet. +It was very heavy, and likewise the rings were liable to be cut off by +the blow of a sword; which latter circumstance, perhaps, introduced the +contrivance of <i>banded</i> armour, which was composed of parallelogramic +pieces of metal, sown on linen, so placed as to fold perpendicularly +over each other, like palings, and kept in their places by bandy or +hoops of leather. +</p> +<p> +We now come to the <i>Double-chain Mail</i>, consisting of interlaced +rings, which made its first appearance in the triumphant reign of Edward +I. It is said to be of Asiatic invention, and was composed of four rings +within a fifth, each of which was rivetted. <i>Single-chain mail</i> was +worn by the Crusaders, in Henry III's time; and when the number of rings +was doubled, it became <i>double-chain mail</i>. Its great advantages +were compactness and pliability. Horses were now clothed in mail. +</p> +<p> +In the latter part of Edward III.'s reign, the <i>double-chain mail</i> +became so covered with pieces of steel as to cause them in a little time +to supersede it altogether. This, therefore, was termed <i>mixed</i>. +The <i>double-chain</i> hauberk had been found, owing to its weight, to +press injuriously upon the chest; to remedy which, a breastplate of +steel was contrived, which being placed underneath, kept the mail from +pressing upon the stomach. The throat was protected by a chain-covering +that surrounded the neck, and hung down to the shoulders like a tippet. +</p> +<p> +We now come to <i>Plate Armour</i>. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption +of the <i>mixed</i> armour soon pointed out, by experience, the +inutility of retaining the <i>ringed</i> hauberk. The thighs and legs +were no longer covered with <i>double-chain mail</i>, and the arms only +partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed +a cuirass. During the use of <i>mixed</i> armour, the arms, thighs, +knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal; and for the hands +were invented gloves of plate, with fingers, called <i>gauntlets</i>. +</p> +<p> +From the Conquest to the time of Richard III., the fashion was to ride +with the toes down; after which period, the heel was dropped, and the +toe raised. Spurs were not screwed to the armour before the time of +Henry V. +</p> +<p> +No higher degree of perfection was ever attained in armour than during +the reign of Richard III. The outline of the suit was most elegant, the +workmanship most elaborate, and the choice of ornaments full of taste. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD. +</h3> +<p> +In the county of Hereford, some of the Romish and feudal ceremonies are +yet practised. On the eve of Old Christmas-day, there are thirteen fires +lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a +circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and +in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin +Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they +are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they +behold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a +cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having +assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, +and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity: +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> "Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn,</p> + <p> God send thy master a good crop of corn,</p> + <p> Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain,</p> + <p> And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again."</p> +</div></div> +<p> +After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. +</p> +<p> +They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of +her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground; and if it falls +forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, +that it will be unfavourable. This is the commencement of the rural +feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO. +</h3> +<p> +"Christmas is in Guadalaxara," says Mr. Hardy, "a season of great +diversion. The portales (colonades), which are much better than those of +the city of Mexico, and infinitely more numerous, are all well lighted +up with candles, surrounded by coloured paper shades, standing on little +tables, which display a great assortment of sweetmeats and fruits. The +ladies and gentlemen walk about, finely dressed, under the portale, and +convert it into a fashionable promenade.—From seven till ten, there is +not perhaps a single family in the whole town which has not taken a few +turns in their gayest dresses, to witness the sweetmeat exhibition—to +see and to be seen. It may be well to give the traveller a gentle hint +with respect to the 25th of December: nothing borrowed on that day is +ever returned. It is, in short, to the Mexicans, who call it. 'La noche +buena,' +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page439" name="page439"></a>[pg 439]</span> +what April fool-day is to us. Therefore, traveller, beware! +It is the occasion of much frolic and amusement." +</p> +<h4> +W.G.C. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + NEW YEAR'S GIFTS. +</h3> +<p> +The custom of New-year's Gifts is very ancient, and was formerly carried +to a great extent. The sovereign used to accept gifts from his courtiers +and principal favourites, and was also in the habit of making presents +to certain individuals; the prince, however, always taking care that the +presents he received greatly exceeded in value those which he gave. +It is recorded of Bishop Latimer, that on one occasion he presented to +his master, Henry VIII., instead of a sum in gold for a New-year's +Gift, a New Testament, with the leaf folded down at Hebrews, ch. xiii., +v. 4.—on reference to which the king found a text well suited as an +admonition to himself. Queen Elizabeth supplied herself with wardrobe +and jewels principally from new year's gifts. Dr. Drake has given +a list of some of these presents;—amongst the items we find the +following: "Most of the peers and peeresses of the realm, the bishops, +the chief officers of state, her majesty's household, even as low +as the master of the pantry and head cook, all gave her majesty a +Christmas-box,—consisting either of a sum of money, jewels, trinkets, +or wearing apparel. The Archbishop of Canterbury usually gave 40l., +the Archbishop of York 30l., and the other prelates from 10l. to 20l. +The peers gave in the same proportion;—whilst the peeresses presented +rich gowns petticoats, shifts, stockings, garters, &c. Her physician +presented her with a box of foreign sweetmeats; and from her apothecary +she received a box of ginger-candy and a box of green ginger. Ambroise +Lupo gave her a box of lute-strings; and Smith, the royal dustman, +presented her majesty with two bolts of cambric." +</p> +<h4> +W.G.C. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + SUMPTUARY LAWS. +</h3> +<p> +These laws were made to restrain excess in apparel, costly furniture, +eating, &c. +</p> +<p> +Zaleucus, the ancient philosopher and legislator of Greece, ordained +that no woman should go attended with more than one maid in the street, +except she was drunk. He prohibited the use of wine, otherwise than as +a medicine, &c. +</p> +<p> +Among the Romans there were sumptuary laws to restrain the number of +guests at feasts;—not only the master of the feast, but all the guests +too, were liable to the penalty. It was also enacted, that more than ten +asses should not be spent at any ordinary feast. Ten asses was the price +of a sheep. +</p> +<p> +Luxury was restricted in England in 1337; wherein the prelates and +nobility were confined to two courses every meal, and two kinds of food +in every course, except on great festivals. All who did not enjoy a fee +estate of 100<i>l.</i> per annum were also prohibited from wearing furs, +skins, or silk; and the use of foreign cloth was confined to the royal +family alone—to all others it was prohibited. An edict was issued by +Charles VI. of France, which says, "Let no one presume to treat with +more than a soup and two dishes," 1340. +</p> +<p> +Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked +shoes, short doublets, and long coats. The dandies of ancient days wore +the beaks or points of their shoes so long, that they encumbered +themselves in their walking, and were forced to tie them up to their +knees; the <i>fine gentlemen</i> fastened theirs with chains of silver, +or silver gilt, and others with laces. This ridiculous custom was in +vogue from the year 1382; but was prohibited, on the forfeiture of +20<i>s.</i> and the pain of cursing by the clergy, 1467. +</p> +<p> +In the reign of King Henry IV., Camden says—Pride was got so much into +the foot, that it was proclaimed that no man should wear shoes above +<i>six inches broad at the toes</i>; and other garments were so short, +that it was enacted, under Edward IV., that no person under the +condition of a lord wear any mantle or gown, unless of such length. +</p> +<h4> +P.T.W. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + MARRIAGE CUSTOM. +</h3> +<p> +The following singular, though highly <i>useful</i> custom, formerly +existed in England: viz.—"There was usually carried before the mayde, +when she shoulde be married, and came to dwell in hir husbande's house, +<i>a distaffe, charged with flaxe, and a spyndle hanging at it</i>, to the +intente shee might bee myndeful to lyve by hir labour." The foregoing +is extracted from "A Treatise wherein dicing dauncing, vaine plays, or +enterludes; with other idle pastimes, commonly used on the Sabbath-day, +are proved by the authoritie of the word of God, and ancient writers; +by John Northbrook, minister and preacher of the word of God." +</p> +<h4> +JUVENIS. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + NATIONAL CAPRICES. +</h3> +<p> +The Persian, it is said, will endure suffocation before he will blow the +fire with his breath; the Indian places supreme perfection in besmearing +himself with cow-dung; the Mussulman believes himself purified from all +his sins by the ablution of his head and arms: the only question with +him is, "whether the ceremony ought to begin at the elbow or at the +points of his fingers;" but so great is the difference of opinion on +this head, that if two Mahometans meet on a journey, and accost each +other with brotherly affection, by the one beginning his ablution +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page440" name="page440"></a>[pg 440]</span> +at his fingers' ends, and the other at his elbow, they instantly +separate and become mortal enemies. +</p> +<h4> +WALTER E.C. +</h4> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE POST OFFICE. +</h3> +<p> +In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a +communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the +revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and +Protector, at 10,000<i>l.</i> per annum. Some idea of their progressive +increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:— +</p> +<table summary="postal revenues" align="center"> +<tr><td width="25%">1664 </td><td align="right" width="25%">£21,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1674 </td><td align="right">43,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1685 </td><td align="right">65,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1688 </td><td align="right">76,318</td></tr> +<tr><td>1697 </td><td align="right">90,505</td></tr> +<tr><td>1710 </td><td align="right">111,467</td></tr> +<tr><td>1715 </td><td align="right">145,227</td></tr> +<tr><td>1744 </td><td align="right">235,492</td></tr> +<tr><td>1775 </td><td align="right">345,321</td></tr> +<tr><td>1785 </td><td align="right">463,753</td></tr> +<tr><td>1793 </td><td align="right">607,268</td></tr> +<tr><td>1814 </td><td align="right">2,005,987</td></tr> +</table> +<p> +Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to +have been about stationary. +</p> +<h4> +ANTIQUARES. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + BEDE'S CHAIR. +</h3> +<div class="figure" style="width: 50%;"> +<a href="images/583-2.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-2.png" +alt="Bede's Chair." /></a> +BEDE'S CHAIR. +</div> +<p> +This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of +Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a +large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the +VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only +of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is +very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great +age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years +old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to +that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered +the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, +that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more +reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to +any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, +refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken +for granted, or without note or comment of doubt. +</p> +<p> +Venerable Bede was born at Wearmouth, A.D. 672, only a few years after +the introduction of Christianity into Northumberland. When seven years +of age, he was received into the monastery of his native place, where +his infant mind acquired the rudiments of that knowledge which has +rendered his memory immortal. When only nineteen, he was ordained +deacon; and, even at that early age, was regarded as exemplary for +his piety and studious life: he was subsequently removed to the new +foundation at Jarrow, where he continued to study throughout a long +life. The results of his monastic seclusion furnish a bright page even +in these dark ages. "Such was the authority of his writings, that, +though only a humble monk in the most remote, barbarous, and recently +converted of the Saxon principalities, he attained (what was even then) +the singular honour of being the most celebrated writer of Christendom +for more centuries than one."<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> His great work is entitled, an +"Ecclesiastical History," detailing ecclesiastical with civil events; +which was, indeed, inevitable, when the ecclesiastics were the only men +of knowledge. Bede believed in miraculous interpositions, and honestly +related them; nevertheless, our obligations to his industry are +invaluable. To him we owe all our knowledge of English history, from the +landing of the Saxons in Kent to his time, (nearly three centuries,) +and all our certain information respecting the various tribes who then +inhabited the island: from him it is apparent that the work called the +Saxon Chronicle copies long passages. Bede also translated St. John's +Gospel into English; and it is said, that a copy of some of St. Paul's +Epistles, in Bede's handwriting, is still preserved in the library of +Trinity College, Cambridge. His works, published at Basle, extend to +eight folio volumes. +</p> +<p> +Bede died May 26, 735, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was first +buried in his own monastery, but his remains were afterwards removed, +and interred in Durham cathedral; and, being subsequently canonized, he +was enrolled in the Romish calendar of saints. His character is thus +drawn by William of Malmsbury:—"He was a man, that, although born +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page441" name="page441"></a>[pg 441]</span> +in the extreme corner of the world, yet the light of his learning spread +over all parts of the earth. All the hours which he had to spare from +the monastic exercises of prayer, and singing in the choirs by day and +night, (in which he was constant, and very devout,) he most diligently +spent in study, and divided his whole time between that and his +devotions." +</p> +<p> +The Chair is not the only memorial of Bede preserved in this +neighbourhood. About one mile west of Jarrow is a <i>Well</i>, still +called <i>St. Bede's</i>, to which it was customary, almost as late as +the middle of the last century, to convey diseased children, and, after +dropping in a crooked pin, to dip them for the recovery of their health: +round the Well, also, on every Midsummer Eve, was a great resort of the +neighbouring people, with bonfires, music, and dancing. The mystical +properties of the Well are not of difficult solution: since it was +reasonable enough to associate the restorative effects of cold bathing +with sanctity; and the rejoicings at the spring were indicative of the +gladness of the people, in connexion with a name endeared to them, by +the wisdom, virtue, and benevolence, of its possessor. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + GOLD-BEATING. +</h3> +<p> +Early in the 17th century, great surprise was excited upon the +promulgation of the fact, that the Parisian gold-beaters could produce +1,600 leaves, or 105 square feet, from one ounce of gold; but the +surprise of the public was redoubled, when, upon the discovery of the +fine skin now in use, they found that 147 square feet could be produced +from the same quantity. +</p> +<h4> +ANTIQUARES. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + MONUMENT OF A CRUSADER. +</h3> +<p> +In the great north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, in a dark nook +immediately adjoining the wall of the choir, is the mutilated effigies +of a Crusader, recumbent on an oblong stone. The figure is armed +cap-a-pee, in a hauberk,<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> with sword and shield, the latter of which +bears, quarterly, two bulls passant, gorged with collars and bells, and +three garbs, being the armorial bearings of the noble family of De Foix, +of which was the Captal de Buck, one of the first Knights of the Garter, +at the commencement of the Order. On a slab, placed perpendicularly +against the adjoining wall of the choir, are several shields, emblazoned +with the arms of the royal families of England, France, Castile. Leon, +&c. There is no inscription remaining to point out for whom this figure +was intended; but Gall, in his "Antiquities of Winchester," gives the +following inscription as having existed on the monument:—<i>"Hic jacet +Willielmus comes de insula Vana, alias Wincall</i>;" the parish of that +name lies on the river Itchin, and might formerly have been insulated. +The verger of Winchester Cathedral, in reply to an inquiry made by the +editor of the "Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet," said, it was a +knight of the name of <i>Fox</i>, evidently meaning <i>De Foix</i>. This +figure suffered severely from the iconoclasts, at the time of Cromwell's +taking possession of Winchester. Amongst other mutilations, they have +entirely hacked away the right leg, leaving only the foot connected with +the lion couchant, against which the figure rests. +</p> +<p> +This Engraving will be received by the attentive inquirer, as an +interesting specimen of the sepulchral architecture of olden times; +and, judging from the mutilated remains, its original beauty would +have reminded us of the remark of an antiquarian writer,—that he +never saw a fine monument out of England. +</p> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/583-3.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-3.png" +alt="(_Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral_.)" /></a> +(<i>Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral</i>.) +</div> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page442" name="page442"></a>[pg 442]</span> +</p> +<h2> + THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHOICE APHORISMS. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From</i> 144, <i>in Fraser's Magazine</i>.) +</center> +<p> +It is perfectly possible to make champagne from gooseberries, equal to +that yielded by the grape. <i>Exampli gratiâ</i>: Lord Haddington, who +is a first-rate judge of wines, had a bottle of mock and one of real +champagne set before him, and was requested to say which was which. He +mistook the product of the gooseberry for the genuine article; and many +persons, reputed good judges, have done the same thing. +</p> +<p> +By putting a piece of lump-sugar, the size of a walnut, into the +tea-pot, you will make the tea infuse in one-half the time. This fact is +well known to bag-men and stage-coach travellers. +</p> +<p> +Members of dilletanti societies are generally especial asses: +their eternal talk about the fine arts, drawing, colouring, harmony, +composition, chiaro-scuro, fore-shortening, design, and so forth, +is enough to turn the stomach of a horse. The thing is the more +insufferable, because they absolutely know nothing of the subject, +and have about as much real appreciation of works of genius as +a pig possesses for the inventions of Watt or Daedalus. +</p> +<p> +While prigs of the above description are eternally chattering about such +topics, men who are really eminent in the fine arts never say a word on +the subject. Goldsmith describes this matter well in his account of Sir +Joshua Reynolds:— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering,</p> + <p> When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing;</p> + <p> When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff,</p> + <p> He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff."</p> +</div></div> +<p> +When I see a man who affects to doubt everything he hears, I never +hesitate about writing him down an ass. A great doubter is a solemn and +self-conceited prig. How amusing is it to see the blockhead shake his +empty pate, compress his lips into a sneer, and turn up his absurd +unmeaning eyes in dubious disbelief, when he hears aught which he thinks +it would imply sagacity to discredit! Such persons imagine, that to be a +great doubter implies wisdom; whereas, in their case, it has its origin +in constitutional phlegm and stupidity. +</p> +<p> +Arguers and spouters are invariably asses. +</p> +<p> +If you wish to make yourself agreeable to any one, talk as much as you +please about his or her affairs, and as little as possible about your +own. People are such downright egotists themselves, that they cannot +tolerate egotism in others. +</p> +<p> +A person who cannot relish absurdity and wit, and must, moreover, have +a satisfactory reason for whatever is said or done, is a philosophical +blockhead. +</p> +<p> +The best tooth-powder in the world is Armenian hole, a pennyworth of +which will serve a man for six months. +</p> +<p> +If a man pronounces you a liar, it is very absurd to call him out for +the same. This ceremony does not prove that you are <i>not a liar</i>; +it only shows, that you possess sufficient courage to stand at the +distance of twelve paces, while a pistol—probably a leadless one—is +fired at you. +</p> +<p> +Snuff-taking in a woman is abominable, unless she be very aged—say +eighty, or upwards—when it is rather becoming than otherwise. +</p> +<p> +Young girls, of from fourteen to seventeen, are fond of aping the woman +in their dress, and are partial to long shawls, which give the young +things a matronly appearance. When they become women in reality, they +are rather too apt to go upon the opposite tack, and to assume the dress +and airs of the girl. +</p> +<p> +A well-made man always looks shorter than he is; ditto a well-made +woman. +</p> +<p> +A story-teller, or dealer in anecdote, is an abomination that ought to +be expelled from all well-regulated societies. A man of an original and +truly powerful mind never deals in anecdotes, unless it be for the +purpose of illustrating some general principle. Women and weak men are +all addicted to the vice. If a person of this description begins to +annoy a company with his or her twaddle, the only cure for it is to +affect deafness—a very convenient infirmity at times. +</p> +<p> +<i>A hint to Cooks</i>.—Roasted chestnuts, grated or sliced, make an +excellent addition to the stuffing for turkeys or geese. +</p> +<p> +<i>Another hint</i>.—In boiling salmon, split the fish from head to +tail; if you do not do this, but boil it entire, or cut horizontally +through the middle, it is impossible to cook it thoroughly, the +thickness of the back and shoulders being such, that, if the outside be +properly done, the inside must needs be little better than parboiled. On +the Tweed, and other salmon districts, the latter system is held in +abomination. +</p> +<p> +A clever servant is almost invariably quick tempered. The reason is +obvious: superior talent is always accompanied by pride, which must meet +with many petty annoyances in the menial state. +</p> +<p> +Never praise or talk of your children to other people; for, depend upon +it, no person except yourself cares a single farthing about them. +</p> +<p> +Sea-gull eggs, when boiled hard and eaten cold, with pepper, salt, +vinegar, and mustard, make a delightful breakfast dish. Many persons +have an antipathy to such eggs; but it is from eating them in the soft +state, when +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page443" name="page443"></a>[pg 443]</span> +they have always a fishy taste. Try them as above, and they +will change their opinions upon the subject. +</p> +<p> +If a person has a great knack at finding out feats of legerdemain, you +may pronounce him a blockhead. I never knew a clever man who was worth +a farthing at detecting such tricks. +</p> +<p> +I have a profound veneration for great liars of a certain class. On this +account Baron Munchausen, Major Longbow, and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, +are my especial favourites. Men of this description are invariably +good-tempered, benevolent, and generous; and will, any day, treat you to +a bottle of wine, provided you do them the favour of listening to their +adventures. +</p> +<p> +<i>Important to Drunkards</i>.—If, an hour before sitting down to +drink, you take a grain or two of opium, you will be able to withstand +a much greater quantity than otherwise of liquor. This fact has escaped +the observation of Macnish. +</p> +<p> +Some stupid people suppose that imagination and philosophy are +incompatible. Blockheads! Was not Bacon, the greatest of philosophers, +one of the most imaginative of men? There is more true philosophy in the +writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott, than in those of all the +metaphysicians that ever existed. +</p> +<p> +An accomplished woman, in common parlance, means one who sings and +dances well, knows a little French, a little Italian, a little drawing, +a little embroidery, and not much of any thing, excepting fashionable +novels; in which she is a great adept. +</p> +<p> +A lady's album is generally worth looking at, as a psychological +curiosity, indicative, to a considerable extent, of the taste and +feelings of its owner. +</p> +<p> +If a man borrows a shilling from you, and on being dunned pretends to +have forgotten it, you may with considerable safety set him down for +a liar. +</p> +<p> +When a man finds it convenient to tell a lie, he should sport a good +thumping one when he is about it. If a great lie serves his purpose +better than a little one, why hesitate between the two, when the sin is +equally great in both cases? The former has this advantage, that, when +detected, its enormity may be so great as to enable the person to pass +it off as a piece of quizzery, which can never be done with the latter. +</p> +<p> +Heroic liars, such as the Baron or Major, are a godly race; but those +who practise the sin in a small way, and keep fibbing about trifles are +a despicable crew, and should be held by the heels, and soused head +down-most in a firkin of small beer. +</p> +<p> +Men who are, or who fancy themselves to be good singers, are great +bores. The airs which they assume in company are most insufferable. If +asked for a song, they affect, with an aspect of the most hypocritical +humility, that really they cannot sing—that their voice is out of +order—that they are hoarse, and so forth; the fellows all the while +being most anxious to show forth, only wanting to be pressed, in order +to enhance their own importance, and stimulate the curiosity of the +company. Nor is this the worst of the case; for no sooner do they +perpetrate one song, than they volunteer a dozen, interlarding the +intervals between their performances with pedantic disquisitions on +music, and flooring every man who ventures to hazard an opinion on +the subject. These people, whether amateur or professional, must be +extinguished; and the best way to accomplish their overthrow, and +reduce them to their native insignificance, is, in the first instance, +to take them at their word, and not urge them to sing. By so doing, they +immediately take the pet, and sport mum for the rest of the evening. +The same remarks apply to musical people in general, whether in the +shape of fiddlers, fluters, horn blowers, thumpers on the pianoforte, +&c. These individuals can think of nothing else but their favourite +pursuit, and imagine all the world to be equally interested in it. Take +a musician off music, and he is the most ignorant of animals. A good +story in illustration of this is told about Madame Catalani. Being at a +large party in Vienna, where Goethe was present, she was much surprised +at the great respect with which that illustrious man was treated. +On inquiring his name, she was informed it was the celebrated Goethe. +"Celebrated!" said the siren; "what music did he ever compose? Why, +I never heard of him!" +</p> +<p> +An absurd prejudice prevails among many people against the skate. If +this fish is hung up and dried for a day or two, then cut in slices, +done on the gridiron, and eaten with butter, it is most delicious. +</p> +<p> +N.B. The female skate is more delicate than the male. +</p> +<p> +Persons who indulge in conundrums, charades &c. are invariably poor +creatures; as are those who have a knack at finding out such trifles. +The same remark applies to punsters. It is difficult for a man of +sterling talent to perpetrate a pun, or to solve an enigma. On the +latter account, Oedipus must have been an ass. +</p> +<p> +A fact.—Nine-tenths of the catsup which is sold in the shops is a vile +compound of liver and the roan of fish, seasoned with vinegar, pepper, +and other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, you must procure +mushrooms, and make it yourself. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page444" name="page444"></a>[pg 444]</span> +</p> +<h3> + FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN. +</h3> +<p> +There is no court in Europe about which so little is known as that of +Madrid, and certainly no European sovereign whose character and habits +have been so studiously misrepresented as those of Ferdinand. The first +time we beheld this monarch, we could scarcely credit the evidence of +our senses. Walking in the gardens of the Retiro, at the time crowded +with company, we encountered a portly old gentleman, quite unattended, +habited in a plain, blue coat and nankeen trousers. This was Ferdinand, +<i>El Rey absoluto</i>, whom, in our mind's eye, we had long sketched +with the dark pencil of a Murillo. On a countenance that we expected +to have seen marked by all the dark and fiery passions of a Caesar +Borgia, we beheld an expression of <i>bonhomie</i>—a total absence of +hauteur, still less of ferocity; in fact, so totally different was he +in appearance from all that we had preconceived, that it was with +some difficulty we could persuade ourselves that our cicerone was not +practising upon our credulity. So much, then, for the notion, that he +never trusts himself out of his palace without being surrounded by +a formidable guard. Perhaps no monarch is oftener seen without, or +evinces less fear for his personal safety, than the tyrant Ferdinand. +</p> +<p> +By men of all parties, at Madrid, he is spoken of as a man not naturally +vicious, but equally prone to good or evil, according to the direction +impressed upon him towards either of these two ends, arising from a wily +indolence of character, that, conscious of its own inability, throws +itself on another. Leave him, say they, but the name of king, his +secretaries, his valets, and his favourite amusements,—give him his +Havanna cigars, (a lot of which he sends daily to the officer of the +guard,)—and he would willingly consent to any change that might be +proposed to him. The faults or the vices of Ferdinand are owing to his +neglected and defective education; no care was taken to prepare him for +his high station. +</p> +<p> +It was in the spirit of party that he embroidered a petticoat for the +Holy Virgin, solely with the view of pleasing and cajoling the clergy; +for, in his heart, Ferdinand is rather a devotee to pleasure than +religion. In his habits he is remarkably domesticated; he rises at +an early hour, and passes the greater part of the day in his wife's +apartment, of whom he is passionately fond. The queen unites to a very +graceful figure an interesting expression of countenance, that sometimes +wears an appearance of sadness. Such is Ferdinand of Spain, whose actual +demise will disclose scenes that at present almost set political +calculation at defiance. +</p> +<p> +Ferdinand has been married four times:—1st, To Marie Antoinette, +daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies; 2ndly, To his neice, the +Infanta of Portugal, Maria Isabella; 3rdly, To the Princess Maria +Josepha-Amelia, daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony; and, lastly, +to his present queen, Maria Carletta, daughter of the late King of +Naples.—<i>Metropolitan</i>. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + NOTES OF A READER. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO BRITISH AMERICA. +</h3> +<p> +One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for +ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the +most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which +will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable +situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's, +breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many +conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their +fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly +adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the +period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their +own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the +hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour +required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who +has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and +if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of +employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a +wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be +exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can +expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees +piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest +construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down. +Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter +is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great +for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the +influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons +causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter. +Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their +stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong +vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet +chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of +these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes +are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the +vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly +annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and +evening. Sleep is completely driven away +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page445" name="page445"></a>[pg 445]</span> +when they make an attack, and +they produce the most uneasy sensation. +</p> +<p> +The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication +between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating +medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange, +difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of +agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which +ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and +sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the +ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels +and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops +materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the +formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the +Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive +sowings are sometimes necessary. +</p> +<p> +The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our +American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great +advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for +the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant +employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the +mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when +labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer +can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their +victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile, +and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and, +of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce +extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very +superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained +there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not +only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden +vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is +found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much +better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of +the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may +be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This +assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues +that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly +character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which +the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future +provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour +of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all +vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there +must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light +as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount +of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt, +brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own +tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered. +And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited +space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn, +good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant +in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages +counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former +with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They +must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must +make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess +land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange +for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess, +they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a +shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before +they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations +cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they +are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation +will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says +Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider, +before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and +integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of +his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain +means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave +scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and +whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to +suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing +with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the +spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of +his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or +three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been +unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the +forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which +require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all +these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be +disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have +entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would +often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before +them, in every part of America, examples of men +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page446" name="page446"></a>[pg 446]</span> +who must have encountered +and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before +they attained a state of comfortable affluence."—<i>Quart. Journ. Agr.</i> +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE SILK MANUFACTURE. +</h3> +<p> +The principal branches of this manufacture consist in the dyeing, +winding, warping, throwing, and weaving. The first needs no explanation; +the winding is the process between the throwing and the weaving. After +the silk is thrown it is dyed, and then wound off preparatory to the +loom. The warping is stretching the parallel threads on the loom, +preparatory to weaving. +</p> +<p> +<i>Throwing</i> silk, is twisting two threads into one for the purpose +of weaving. The single thread, as wound off from the cocoon, is +designated the raw silk. +</p> +<p> +There are two descriptions of thrown silk. One is called <i>tram</i>, +and consists of two threads simply twisted together. This description of +thrown silk is used in the shuttle or transverse threads of a piece of +silk on the loom. The other variety of thrown silk is called +<i>organzine</i>. In this, the single threads are first twisted up, +previous to their being twisted together. This is used for the warp, or +parallel threads upon the loom. +</p> +<p> +Throwing of silk was an important branch of manufacture in this country, +until the duties were reduced in 1826. Since that period it has +declined. The manufacture of thrown silk is chiefly carried on at +Macclesfield, Congleton, and in the West of England. As silk can be +thrown more cheaply in foreign countries than it can be in England, +there has been a difference between the throwsters and the weavers of +Coventry and Spitalfields, the latter having requested the protecting +duty against foreign thrown silk to be reduced, to the manifest injury +of the former. +</p> +<p> +It may be as well to explain to the reader the weights which are used +in the silk trade. The weight of silk is estimated by <i>deniers</i>, an +old Italian weight, of which twenty-four are equal to an ounce, used +only in the silk trade, in the same manner as the weight called a <i>carat</i> +is employed by those who deal in diamonds, and other precious stones. +It is the custom to reel off, upon an engine established in the silk +trade, a measure of four hundred ells of tram or organzine, (which are +both double threads,) and the weight of this quantity establishes the +fineness or coarseness of the silk. Four hundred ells of the finest +Italian tram will weigh eighteen deniers; and although this silk will +occasionally run so coarse as to weigh forty deniers, the qualities +mostly in use vary in weight from eighteen to thirty deniers. The China +and Bengal silk varies from thirty-five to eighty deniers in its weight. +Turkey silk, the importation of which has lately much increased, and +which is worked up in the single thread on account of the coarseness of +the texture, varies from thirty to fifty deniers; which, as the others +are weighed in the tram or double thread, will be in the proportion of +sixty to one hundred deniers. +</p> +<p> +Silk is the staple manufacture of France, and has always received the +fostering protection of the government. The raw material is the produce +of the country; and, as the growers of silk are not permitted to export +it, it is purchased by the manufacturers at a much cheaper rate than it +can be procured by us. The value of the raw silk yearly produced in +France is estimated at about three millions and a half sterling—the +produce of manufacture at about two millions and a half; so that the +silk trade of France is to be valued, on the whole, at about six +millions sterling. +</p> +<p> +This is the estimate which is made by the acknowledgment of the French +government; but there is every reason to suppose that it is much more +considerable. This is certain;—that it is of the greatest value to that +nation, and has received such protection, and, in consequence, is in +that flourishing condition, that, at present, no other country can +compete with it.—<i>Metropolitan</i>. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + RECENT VISIT TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. +</h3> +<p> +Mr. Fergusson in his notes made during a Visit to the United States and +Canada in 1831, says: after breakfast I took leave of my friend, and +walked on for the Falls, leaving the stage, in which I had secured a +place, to follow. The day was delightful, and as I ascended the steep +hill from Queenston, I overtook a soldier of the 79th in charge of the +baggage wagons, leaning on his musket, and wrapt in admiration of the +surrounding scenery, "<i>It's mair like Scotland, sir, than ony thing +I've seen sin' I left it</i>," was the poor fellow's remark, and truly +it was far from misapplied, making due allowance for difference of +scale. The country from Queenston to the Falls is well settled, and +finely diversified by farms, orchards and open forest. The soil is +perhaps light, but in some places of a stronger description, and +all apparently fertile, desirable land. A very beautiful property, +originally laid out by the ill-fated Duke of Richmond, and subsequently +possessed by Sir Peregrine Maitland, adjoins the Road. The house, which +is in the cottage style, of wood, seems large and commodious. This +estate is in a very favourable situation, and has been lately sold +for 2,000l.; it contains about 450 acres of good, useful land. The +distance from Queenston to Niagara is about seven miles, and I sauntered +on the whole way, the coach not overtaking me. About four miles from +the Falls, the sound came upon my ear like the murmur of Old Ocean on +a rugged strand. In certain states of the atmosphere and the wind this +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page447" name="page447"></a>[pg 447]</span> +is heard at a much greater distance. The noise gradually increased, +and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees. +A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as +Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common +curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory +came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even +from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that +mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it +must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think, +must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can +the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as +regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature. +The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal +and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated <i>at +rest</i>, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the +spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the +enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt +and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a +time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with +any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration +and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my +friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses +a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the +world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the +rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is +behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and +thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects +appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the +same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down +in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a +closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch +the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of +the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The +following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course, +to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came +crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friends being +quite at home in all the mazes of the river side, conducted me by a wild +and rugged route to the edge of the Table-rock, when, upon emerging from +a tangled brake, I beheld the Horse-shoe or great British Fall, pouring +down its volume of ice and water, at the distance of a few feet from +where we stood. The rock felt to me as though it vibrated, and a large +mass did in fact lately give way, soon after a party had retired from +the precarious stance. It is limestone, full of ugly fissures and rents. +A narrow wooden staircase conducts adventurous travellers to the bottom +of the Fall, where a sort of entrance is generally effected to a short +distance under the sheet, and for which performance a certificate in due +form is served out. The stair was at this time under repair, and the +accumulation of ice below perfectly reconciled me to wave pretensions +to such slippery honours. At some distance below the Fall, and opposite +to the American staircase, there is a ferry, to which a safe and most +romantic carriage-road has been lately formed, out of the solid rock, +at no small labour and expense. When a similar accommodation shall +have been provided upon the American side, it is expected to prove a +lucrative concern, but at the present foot-passengers only can be landed +in the States. The little skiff had just put off, with a party from the +Canada shores, and got involved in streams of ice, in a way somewhat +hazardous, and which rendered it impossible for the boatmen to return. +The scene from the ferry is indeed magnificent, the Horseshoe, the +American Fall, and Goat Island being all in view, with the great pool or +basin eddying in fearful and endless turmoil. In the evening I walked +up the river side towards the village of Chippeway, to visit a natural +curiosity upon Mr. C.'s estate. A spring surcharged with sulphuretted +hydrogen gas rises within a few paces of the river. A small building is +erected over it, and when a candle is applied to a tube in a barrel, +which encloses the spring, a brilliant and powerful light is evolved. +Close adjoining are the remains of extensive mills burnt by the +Americans during last war. The water privilege is great, and machinery +to any extent might be kept in play.—<i>Quart. Journ. of Agriculture.</i> +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE GATHERER. +</h2> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Dramatis Personae.</i>—The stages and theatres of the Greeks and +Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to +have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in +order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by +the Latins <i>persona</i>, from <i>personare</i> (to sound through); and +delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally +prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our +modern plays), as appears from the <i>Vatican Terence</i>. Hence +<i>dramatis personae</i> (masks of the drama); which words, after masks +ceased to be used, were understood to mean <i>persons of the drama</i>. +</p> +<h4> +J.E.J. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page448" name="page448"></a>[pg 448]</span> +</p> +<p> +<i>Punctuality</i>.—The late hospitable Colonel Bosville had his +dinner on the table exactly two minutes before five o'clock, and no +guest was admitted after that hour; for he was such a determined +observer of punctuality, that when the clock struck five, his +porter locked the street-door, and laid the key at the head of the +dinner-table. The time kept by the clock in the kitchen, the parlour, +and the drawing-room, and the watch of the master, were minutely the +same. That the dinner was ready, was not announced to the guests in +the usual way; but when the clock struck, this superlative time-keeper +himself declared to his guests, "Dinner waits." Boileau, the French +satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject: "I have always been +<i>punctual at the hour of dinner</i>," says the bard, "for I knew that +all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval would employ +those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults." +</p> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Volcanoes</i>.—According to Dr. Ure, there were, in 1830, 205 +burning volcanoes on the globe. Of these, 107 occur in islands, and 98 +on continents, but ranged mostly along their shores. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Former Junction of England and France</i>.—From the correspondence +pointed out by Mr. William Phillips, the geologist, between the strata +of Dover and the hills west of Calais; and by M. de la Beche, between +the strata of the coast of Dorset and Devon, and those of Normandy, it +may be inferred that the English Channel is a submarine valley, which +owes its origin in a great measure to diluvial excavation, the opposite +sides having as much correspondence as those of ordinary valleys on the +land. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Soldiers</i>.—English soldiers were at one period distinguished +by badges, like those worn by watermen. The general colour of their +dresses appears to have been white; though, in 1544, a part of the +forces of Henry VIII. were ordered to be dressed in blue coats, guarded +with red, without badges, the right hose red, and the left blue. In +1584, Elizabeth ordered the cassocks of the soldiers sent to Ireland +to be a sad green, or russet; though the cloaks of the cavalry were +red. In 1693, the dresses of the soldiers were grey, and those of the +drummers purple; but the red uniform was probably adopted when the +House of Hanover acceded to the throne. +</p> +<p> +In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. ordinary hats were lined with +iron plates, to prevent assassination. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Choristers</i>.—The singing boys are, probably, the only officers +of the Catholic Church retained to this day by the Royal Family; for +at the Reformation, when masses, &c., had wholly ceased, Queen Elizabeth +retained on her establishment four sets of singing-boys, attached to +St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and that +of the Royal Household. For the support of these bands, she issued out +warrants, like the other English sovereigns, for taking up "suche apt +and meete children as are fitt to be instructed and framed in the art +and science of musicke and singing." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>A Ha! ha! Fence</i>.—Bridgman, a landscape gardener, early in the +last century, is supposed to have introduced in the Royal Gardens at +Richmond, the sunk fence for boundaries, instead of walls: an attempt +considered so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! has! +to express their surprise at the sudden termination of their walk. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Sheridan's Funeral</i>.—Mr. Moore has omitted one of the most +touching and heart-stirring anecdotes connected with the funeral of +Sheridan. The noble and select company had assembled to pay the last +tribute of respect to departed genius, and the coffin was about to be +placed in the hearse, when an elegantly-dressed personage, who pretended +to be distantly related to the deceased, entered the chamber of death. +At his urgent entreaties to view the face of his friend, the coffin lid +was unscrewed; and, to the horror and surprise of the bystanders, he +pulled out a warrant, and arrested the body! Mr. Canning and Lord +Sidmouth went into an adjoining room, and paid the debt, which (it is +said) amounted to 500l. +</p> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Dr. Walcot, to Shield the Composer</i>.—The following was sent to +Shield, the ingenious composer, for his ivory ticket for admission to +a concert, by his friend Peter Pindar:— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> Son of the <i>string</i> (I do not mean Jack Ketch,</p> +<p class="i2"> Though Jack, like <i>thee</i>, produceth <i>dying tones</i>;)</p> + <p> Oh! yield thy pity to a starving wretch,</p> +<p class="i2"> And for to-morrow's <i>treat</i>, pray send thy <i>bones</i>.</p> +</div></div> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<center> +<i>Epitaph on Mr. Death, the Actor</i>. +</center> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> Death levels all, both high and low.</p> +<p class="i2"> Without regard to stations;</p> +<p class="i4"> Yet why complain,</p> +<p class="i4"> If <i>we</i> are slain?</p> + <p> For here lies one, at least, to show</p> +<p class="i2"> He kills his own relations.</p> +</div></div> +<h4> +J.E.J. +</h4> +<hr /> +<center> +THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. +<br /> +VOL, XX. of THE MIRROR, with a Steel-plate Portrait of +<br /> +WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., +</center> +<p> +a Biographical Memoir, Eighty-eight Engravings, and Four Hundred +and Sixty-four enlarged pages, is now publishing, price 5s. 6d. +</p> +<p> +Part 131, price 8d., and Part 132, price 10d., (completing +Vol. XX.) are also ready. +</p> +<p> +The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, containing the above Portrait, Memoir, +Title-page, Index, &c., price 2d., will be published in the ensuing +week. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> +<b>Footnote 1</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p> +See the Cut. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> +<b>Footnote 2</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p> +This designation has been given to a spot in the Valley of the +creek, where formerly stood a hollow sycamore (platanus +occidentalis) tree of an enormous size, the remains of which +are still to be seen, and in the cavity of which, whilst it +stood, fifteen persons are said to have encamped at the same +time together. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> +<b>Footnote 3</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p> +Out-liers of any particular ridge. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> +<b>Footnote 4</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p> +Physical Geography, book viii. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> +<b>Footnote 5</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p> +Sir James Mackintosh. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> +<b>Footnote 6</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p> +A tunick, or frock of armour, with wide sleeves, reaching a +little below the elbow, terminating with a broad, gilt border, +and having a hood, not separate. Its first introduction in armour +is referred to the time of William II. +</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> +<i>Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; +CHARLES JUGEL, Francfort; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers</i>. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12521 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/12521-h/images/583-1.png b/12521-h/images/583-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9916195 --- /dev/null +++ b/12521-h/images/583-1.png diff --git a/12521-h/images/583-2.png b/12521-h/images/583-2.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc3277d --- /dev/null +++ b/12521-h/images/583-2.png diff --git a/12521-h/images/583-3.png b/12521-h/images/583-3.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f07b37 --- /dev/null +++ b/12521-h/images/583-3.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..132d19c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12521 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12521) diff --git a/old/12521-8.txt b/old/12521-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c15e30a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12521-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2001 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, No. 583, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 583 + Volume 20, Number 583, Saturday, December 29, 1832 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 5, 2004 [EBook #12521] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 583 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XX, NO. 583.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA.] + + + + +NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. + + +Rock Bridges occupy the same pre-eminence amongst the sublimities of +nature, that artificial bridges maintain amidst the labours of man. +Both alike inspire us with admiration, though we are enabled to obtain +but unequal results as to their respective origins. The bridge, built +by human hands, is, indeed, a triumph of the perfection of skilful +contrivance; the strength and beauty of the arch are among the most +simple yet exquisite results of science, wonderful as they may appear +to the untaught beholder: but how shall we explain the formation of +stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines and rolling torrents, in +countries where none but the wild and picturesque forms of nature rise +to gladden the eye and heart of the inquiring traveller? Of the latter +description are the natural bridges which abound in the State of +Virginia; as Rockbridge, which gives name to the county in which it is +situated, and the wild and fantastic bridges of Icognozo; all of which +are more extensively recognised among the wonders of creation than the +specimen here presented to the reader. + +This Tunnel is in Scott county, Virginia; but was so little known beyond +its immediate neighbourhood, as to induce Lieut.-Col. Long, (U.S. Army,) +to communicate its description to Mr. Featherstonhaugh's _American +Journal of Geology and Natural Science_; and the following narrative +of the Colonel's Excursion will be read with interest:-- + +"During the past summer, I visited a remarkable natural bridge in Scott +county, Virginia, to which I have given the name of Natural Tunnel, on +account of its striking resemblance to artificial structures of that +kind. + +"The immediate locality of this tunnel is upon a small stream called +Buck-eye, or Stock Creek. This last name owes its origin to its valley +having been resorted to by the herdsmen of the country, for the +attainment of a _good range_, or choice pasture-ground, for their +cattle. The creek rises in Powell's mountain, and is tributary to Clinch +river, which it enters at the distance of between two and three miles +below the tunnel. The aspect of the surrounding country, and especially +of that to the northward of the tunnel, and constituting the southerly +slope of the mountain just mentioned, is exceedingly diversified, and +broken by elevated spurs and ridges, separated from each other by deep +chasms, walled with cliffs and mural precipices, often presenting +exceedingly narrow passes, but occasionally widening into meadows or +bottoms of considerable extent. The mural precipices just mentioned +occur very frequently, bounding the valleys of the streams generally in +this part of the country, and opposing ramparts of formidable height, +and in many places utterly insurmountable. Such are the features +peculiarly characteristic of _Wild Cat Valley_, the _Valley of +Copper Creek_, of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of numerous other +streams of less note, all of which are situated within a few miles of +the Natural Tunnel. + +"To form an adequate idea of this remarkable and truly sublime object, +we have only to imagine the creek to which it gives a passage, +meandering through a deep, narrow valley, here and there bounded on both +sides by walls, or _revetements_, of the character above intimated, +and rising to the height of two or three hundred feet above the stream; +and that a portion of one of these chasms, instead of presenting an +open, _thorough cut_ from the summit to the base of the high +grounds, is intercepted by a continuous unbroken ridge, more than three +hundred feet high, extending entirely across the valley, and perforated +transversely at its base, after the manner of an artificial tunnel, and +thus affording a spacious subterranean channel for the passage of the +stream. + +"The entrance to the Natural Tunnel on the upper side of the ridge +is imposing and picturesque in a high degree; but on the lower side +the grandeur of the scene is greatly heightened by the superior +magnitude of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness, and which rise +perpendicularly--and, in some instances, in an impending manner--two +or three hundred feet; and by which the entrance on this side is +almost environed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of rude and frightful +precipices. + +"The observer, standing on the brink of the stream, at the distance +of about one hundred yards below the debouchure of the Natural Tunnel, +has, in front, a view of its arched entrance, rising seventy or eighty +feet above the water, and surmounted by horizontal stratifications of +yellowish, white, and grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the height of +the arch. On his left, a view of the same mural precipice, deflected +from the springing of the arch in a manner to pass thence in a +continuous curve quite to his rear, and towering in a very impressive +manner above his head. On his right, a sapling growth of buck-eye, +poplar, linden, &c., skirting the margin of the creek, and extending +obliquely to the right, and upward, through a narrow, abrupt ravine, +to the summit of the ridge, which is here and elsewhere crowned with +a timber-growth of pines, cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various +kinds. On his extreme right is a gigantic cliff, lifting itself up, +perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height, of about three +hundred feet, and accompanied by an insulated cliff, called the Chimney, +of about the same altitude, rising, in the form of a turret, at least +sixty feet above its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff +just before mentioned. + +"Desirous of illustrating this paper by a front view of the Natural +Tunnel where the creek issues from it, I have, with the assistance +of a particular friend in this city--to whom I am indebted for the +accompanying drawing[1]--been enabled to furnish a sketch which very +faithfully represents some of the appearances I have described. The +embellishments last mentioned, however, viz. the chimney and its +accompaniments, could not be comprised in the landscape. + +"The following passages are from my own private journal:-- + +"Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having ascended Cove ridge, we turned aside +from our route to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on +Buck-eye, or Stock creek, about a mile below the Sycamore camp,[2] and +about one and a half miles from a place called Rye cove, which occupies +a spacious recess between two prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the +site of the natural tunnel being included within a spur of Cove ridge, +which is one of the mountain spurs just alluded to. Here is presented +one of the most remarkable and attractive curiosities of its kind, to be +witnessed in this or any other country. The creek, which is about seven +yards wide, and has a general course about S. 15 W., here passes through +a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet above the surface of the +stream, winding its way through a huge subterraneous cavern, or grotto, +whose roof is vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to +seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this gigantic +cavern rise perpendicularly in some places to the height of fifteen or +twenty feet, and, in others, are formed, by the springing of its vaulted +roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from +fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous +curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right as we enter +on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again +to the left on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its +peculiar form, that an observer, standing at a point about midway of its +subterranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either +entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a distance of about +twenty yards, occupying an intermediate portion of the tunnel. When the +sun is near the meridian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the +light reflected from both extremities of the tunnel contributes to +mollify the darkness of this interior portion into a dusky twilight. + +"The extent of the tunnel, from its upper to its lower extremity, +following its meanders, is about 150 yards; in which distance the stream +falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky bed, an +agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grateful by its reverberations +upon the roof and sides of the grotto. The discharge of a musket +produces a crash-like report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel; which +has a deafening effect upon the ear. + +"The hill through which this singular perforation leads, descends in a +direction from east to west, across the line of the creek, and affords a +very convenient passage for a road which traverses it at this place, +having a descent in the direction just mentioned of about four degrees. + +"The rocks found in this part of the country are principally sandstone +and limestone, in stratifications nearly horizontal, with occasional +beds of clay slate. A mixture of the two former frequently occurs among +the alternations presented by these rocks. A variety of rock resembling +the French burr occurs in abundance on Butcher's-fork of Powell's river, +about twenty miles northwardly of the Natural Tunnel. Fossils are more +or less abundant, in these and other rocks. Fossil bones, of an +interesting character, have been found in several places. Saltpetre +caves are numerous. Coves, sinks, and subterranean caverns, are +strikingly characteristic, not only of the country circumjacent to the +Natural Tunnel, but of the region generally situated between the +Cumberland mountain, and the Blue ridge or Apalachian mountain. +Bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniments, abounds in the northerly +parts of this region; and in the intermediate and southerly portions, +iron, variously combined, often magnetic, together with talcose rocks, +&c. &c. are to be met with in great abundance. + +"The mountains in this vicinity--long. 82° to 84° W. from Greenwich, +lat. 35° to 36° N.--are among the most lofty of the Allegheny range. +Several knobs[3] in this part of the range, among which may be +enumerated the Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black, and Powell's +mountains, rise to the height of at least four thousand five hundred +feet above tide." + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh remarks, that the Natural Tunnel has not been +worn through the rock by the long-continued action of running water is +evident, not from the cavernous structure alone of the general country, +but from the form of Powell's mountain, in a spur of which the Tunnel +passes transversely. + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh further concludes the Tunnel to be a natural cavity +in the rock, for, if such had not been the case, "it is evident that the +stream would have been deflected from its line; would have followed the +base of the hill, and have turned the extreme point." + +Little is known of the geology of the country in which this Tunnel is +situate, notwithstanding the popularity of the natural bridges of the +State. The rock before us would appear to belong to that class which +geologists commonly term Perforated Mountains, which some suppose +to have been bored through, in part, at least, by the persevering +industry of man. "Such phenomena," observes Maltebrun, "are, however, +mere eccentricities of nature, and differ from caverns only from +the circumstance of having a passage entirely through them. The +Pierre-Pertuise in Mount Jura, and Pausilippo, near Naples, are +instances of this kind. The Torghat, in, Norway, is pierced by an +opening 150 feet high, and 3,000 long. At certain seasons of the year, +the sun can be seen darting its rays from one extremity to the other of +this vault. Near New Zealand is a rocky arch through which the waves of +the sea pass at high water."[4] The latter, one of the Piercy Islands, +will be found engraved and described in _The Mirror_, vol. xix. p. 145. + + + [1] See the Cut. + + [2] This designation has been given to a spot in the Valley of the + creek, where formerly stood a hollow sycamore (platanus + occidentalis) tree of an enormous size, the remains of which + are still to be seen, and in the cavity of which, whilst it + stood, fifteen persons are said to have encamped at the same + time together. + + [3] Out-liers of any particular ridge. + + [4] Physical Geography, book viii. + + * * * * * + + +THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT. + +(_From the Note Book of a Tourist_.) + +In the summer of 1829, I made a Tour of the Borders. On the 16th of +August, I arrived in Melrose. I came on the top of the coach from +Jedburgh, in company with two intelligent fellows, a young Englishman of +fortune (apparently,) and a Russian nobleman. We put up at the George, +where we found about five tourists, redolent of sketch and note books, +drinking toddy and lying in wait to catch a sight of the lion of the +neighbourhood, Sir Walter. The voracity with which they devoured any +anecdotes of him was amusing. In the evening it came on a peppering +storm. I had foreseen this on our route from _Jeddart_. The Eildons +had mounted their misty cap, always a sure prognostic of rain; in fact +they are the barometer of the district. I then prevailed on my two +companions to forego their visit to the Abbey that night. We therefore +had in old Davidson, the landlord of the Inn, and my companions +submitted him to an interrogatory of three long hours' duration. +One little anecdote of fresh occurrence struck me as possessing some +interest. I will record it. About a month before, a poor maniac +presented herself at the gates of Abbotsford. She desired to see Sir +Walter. The servant denied her admittance, but such was the earnestness +of the poor creature, that _auld Saunders_, on her pressing +application, went and informed his master, "that a puir demented lassie +was at the gett (gate) greetin' like a bairn." Sir Walter had the +kindest of hearts; "O admit her puir thing," he said. The woman no +sooner entered than she fell on her knees in reverential awe before Sir +Walter. Her story was simply this. She belonged to Aberdeen; she was +married to a young farmer in that neighbourhood and had not long before +given birth to a beautiful infant, the first pledge of their loves. +The pains of birth had injured her mental equanimity, and eluding the +vigilance of her keepers she set forward one evening in search of the +great enchanter, whose works had in happier hours beguiled her with +their beauty. She travelled for a week; the distance from Aberdeen to +Abbotsford was about a hundred and fifty miles. She had walked every +step. Sir Walter did what he could to soothe her distracted mind, +and get her wasted frame recruited. But after some time he deemed it +advisable to exercise his judicial power and put her in a place of +security, until definite intelligence could be procured of her friends +and relations. Jedburgh is the county town of Roxburgh; and thither all +wanderers of this and a less gentle race are sent. A post-chaise was +sent for from old Davidson, of the George, and when it was at the door +of Abbotsford, Sir Walter induced the poor girl to enter it, promising +to accompany her "out a ridin'." She entered--looking for him to follow. +The door was instantly closed, and the post-boy lashing and spurring his +horses, darted off in a second. She gave a piercing shriek, looked +wildly round her, and abandoned herself to the most agonizing despair; +exclaiming in a tone of the utmost pathos, "ah! deceitfu' man, hae ye +beguiled me too!"--and then she sunk back in the carriage, and buried +herself in the deepest silence. * * + +18th August. Set out to view the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. Called +on Capt. (now Sir David) Erskine, from whom I received the politest +attention. His housekeeper acted as my cicerone, and conducted me over +the venerable pile. These time-worn ruins stand on the north bank of +the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills +covered with wood, of the richest foliage. The abbey as well as the +modern mansion house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. +Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form, +and the scene is extremely interesting, embracing both wood and water, +mountain and rock scenery. The whole gives rise to sentiments of the +most pleasing, devotional tranquillity. The place, however, at which I +paused, was St. Mary's Aisle: "here," I said to myself, "will the mighty +minstrel sleep, when his harp shall be silent!"--and here I offered the +votive tribute in anticipation, which thousands will follow me in, now +that he is, too truly, alas! no more. At the little iron palisading I +stood, and said, "here Scott will sleep:" in this, fate has not deceived +me. He rests there now. Peace to his manes! + +August 20. Down at the Abbey this night. It would be absolute folly +to note down what I saw or thought of this most remarkable monastic +structure. Every album possesses it, in all the beauty of its fairy +architecture; its tabernacles, its niches and canopies, and statues, +pinnacles, pediments, spires, and the tracery of its vaultings. + +The decorated work is most exquisitely executed. The mouldings are +still so sharp, that they seem as lately from the chisel of the mason. +The south transept window and door are the most perfect of the ruins. +The day light of the window is twenty-four feet by sixteen, divided by +four mullions. The tracery and cuspings are all of the decorated style +of the Gothic. It is furnished with crotchets and creeping foliage. +There are a number of niches, canopies, and tabernacles, on the south +transept; and the corbels that support the statues, are carved with +grotesque figures; some representing monks with cowls upon their heads, +others musicians playing upon different kinds of instruments; some are +most hideous to look at. Sir Walter procured casts of many of these +grotesque figures, which on a visit to Abbotsford, I observed placed in +the ceiling of the hall. He has clothed them in a new dress, more suited +to the social scene of their present locality. But, I always ramble +into the _shop_, when I get on architecture. Let me narrate the +occurrence of this night. As I was pacing the great aisle of the abbey, +a carriage drove up to the gate. "Sir Walter Scott!" said the keeper, +brushing past me to receive him. A lady alighted. I heard "good night!" +responded by a person in the carriage, who drove off with it. Who can +this be, thought I to myself. It was dusk--the lady advanced with a +stately step. I moved aside. "In these deep solitudes and awful cells!" +methought I heard her say. She ascended to the bell-tower. "Who is that +lady?" said I to the keeper when he entered. "That, sir," said he, +"is Mistress Hemmins, the poet writer, wha is on a visit to Maistre +Lockhart, and she cam just noo in Sir Walter's carriage, and she wants +to be alane, sir, by hersel." I took the hint, and made for the George +and my glass of toddy, unwilling to deprive the world of those lays, +which Melrose, the rush of the Tweed, and midnight would, no doubt, +inspire in the fair authoress. + +August 23. At Galashiels, a semi-rural demi-manufacturing town on the +banks of the "braw, braw Gala water." Not having the good fortune to get +to Abbotsford from Melrose, I started over the hill which looks down on +Galashiels, towards that destination. Abbotsford I need not render an +account of. But my approach to it was not deficient in interest. + +On arriving at the summit of the hill overlooking the Tweed, it burst +upon my sight. I looked down on the grounds in which it is settled, as +on a map. The skill and industry of Sir Walter is not more remarkable in +his literary than in his rural works. The house stands in a bare, barren +corner of Selkirkshire, (I think) but by admirable management, he has +enclosed it with fine, hardy young wood, and quite altered its +appearance. + +At the bottom of the hill I took the boat at the ferry, and resting in +the middle of the stream, the Tweed, and looked around me. I saw a +person on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the wood which +comes down to the water's edge. I drew near. He was dressed in a short, +green coat and cap, and was amusing himself with the antics of a large +dog. The place--the time--the air--the gait--every thing conspired: +"Who's that, lassie?" said I to my little boat rower; "That, sir? that's +_himsel_, that's the shirra" (sheriff.) Yes, it was the man--he +himself--the pride of Scotland--her boast--the intellectual beacon of +her hills--it was Sir Walter Scott! + +Sept. 3. At Selkirk. At Mitchell's Inn, where I was introduced to the +celebrated Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. He had come, I think, from +a fair held at the Eildons. We got over a jug of toddy. Our conversation +turned on the church service of the kirk of Scotland, and we rambled +into poetry in conversing on the psalms. I pointed out to the shepherd, +that a fair fame might be achieved by arranging the Psalms of David, and +superseding the barbarities of Sternhold and Hopkins. James maintained +that the present edition in use in Scotland, could _not_ be +improved. He said that the question had been agitated in the General +Assembly, and Sir Walter Scott was applied to, to furnish an improved +versification, but he answered, stating that it would be a more +difficult matter to get the people to adopt them, than to furnish the +same. Any alteration in this respect would be looked upon as little +better than sacrilege, and he therefore advised that the present form +should be continued in. "Watty's a sensible chap," said the shepherd, +speaking familiarly of Sir Walter, "and if he laid a finger on o'or +venerable psalmody, I wad pitch a louse at him, wha hae ever loved the +man as my ain brether." + + * * * * * + +During the last years of Sir Walter's life, he visited in the counties +of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk, the various scenes which his graphic +pen has delineated and incorporated in his minstrelsy and romance. The +summer when the preceding notes were made, I happened to be in Kelso, +and took ride one day to visit the worthy minister of a neighbouring +parish, in which the celebrated border _keep_ Smailholme tower is +situated, the scene of the fearful legend embodied in the poem "The Eve +of St. John." + +We rode over to it: it is situated on a crag or ridge of rock, high +in the north range of hills, the Lammer-muir, which spring from the +splendid vale of Teviot and Tweed, commanding an unbounded prospect +on the east and west; the south is terminated by the Cheviots and +the English border. + +We found the Tower in possession of a party, and the Rev. Mr. C---- rode +forward to report, in case we should be deemed intruders. He came back +shortly, and it was no other than Sir Walter himself, with several +members of his family, who had accompanied him to bid a final farewell +to _Smaillum keep_. As I afterwards heard, he was in the highest +spirits, and repeated the poem for the gratification of his party, in +that impressive manner for which he was remarkable, in giving the +necessary effect to his own compositions. The party brought a cold +collation with them: before leaving, Sir Walter surveyed the beautiful +prospect at his feet, the Tweed and Teviot meeting in sisterly +loveliness, and joining their waters in the valley, with the golden +fields of England in the distance; when filling a glass of wine he drank +with fervour, in which all joined him, "baith sides of the Tweed." + +I. + + * * * * * + + +OLD ENGLISH ARMOUR. + +(_From a Correspondent._) + +Previous to the time of Edward I., the body-armour may be distinguished +by the appellations of _trelliced, ringed, rustred, mascled, scalad, +tegulated, single-mailed_, and _banded_. The _trelliced_ method +has not been properly ascertained: it probably consisted of leather +thongs, crossed, and so disposed as to form large squares placed +angularly, with a round knob or stud in the centre of each. The +_ringed_ consisted of flat rings of steel, placed contiguous to +each other, on quilted linen. The _rustred_ was nothing more than +one row of flat rings, about double the size of those before used, laid +half over the other, so that two in the upper partially covered one +below. _Mascled_; the hauberk composed of several folds of linen, +covered with diamond-shaped pieces of steel touching each other, and +perforated: so called from their resemblance to the _meshes_ of a +net. _Scaled_; formed of small pieces of steel like the scales of +fish, partially overlaying each other. This species was used only during +the reigns of Henry II and Richard I. The _tegulated_ consisted of +little square plates, partly covering one another, like tiles. + +_Single Mail_ was composed of rings set edgeways on quilted linen. +It came into use about the close of John's reign, and continued to be +partially worn till that of Edward I. At the commencement of Henry +III.'s reign, it covered not only the head, but hands, legs, and feet. +It was very heavy, and likewise the rings were liable to be cut off by +the blow of a sword; which latter circumstance, perhaps, introduced the +contrivance of _banded_ armour, which was composed of parallelogramic +pieces of metal, sown on linen, so placed as to fold perpendicularly +over each other, like palings, and kept in their places by bandy or +hoops of leather. + +We now come to the _Double-chain Mail_, consisting of interlaced +rings, which made its first appearance in the triumphant reign of Edward +I. It is said to be of Asiatic invention, and was composed of four rings +within a fifth, each of which was rivetted. _Single-chain mail_ was +worn by the Crusaders, in Henry III's time; and when the number of rings +was doubled, it became _double-chain mail_. Its great advantages +were compactness and pliability. Horses were now clothed in mail. + +In the latter part of Edward III.'s reign, the _double-chain mail_ +became so covered with pieces of steel as to cause them in a little time +to supersede it altogether. This, therefore, was termed _mixed_. +The _double-chain_ hauberk had been found, owing to its weight, to +press injuriously upon the chest; to remedy which, a breastplate of +steel was contrived, which being placed underneath, kept the mail from +pressing upon the stomach. The throat was protected by a chain-covering +that surrounded the neck, and hung down to the shoulders like a tippet. + +We now come to _Plate Armour_. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption +of the _mixed_ armour soon pointed out, by experience, the +inutility of retaining the _ringed_ hauberk. The thighs and legs +were no longer covered with _double-chain mail_, and the arms only +partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed +a cuirass. During the use of _mixed_ armour, the arms, thighs, +knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal; and for the hands +were invented gloves of plate, with fingers, called _gauntlets_. + +From the Conquest to the time of Richard III., the fashion was to ride +with the toes down; after which period, the heel was dropped, and the +toe raised. Spurs were not screwed to the armour before the time of +Henry V. + +No higher degree of perfection was ever attained in armour than during +the reign of Richard III. The outline of the suit was most elegant, the +workmanship most elaborate, and the choice of ornaments full of taste. + + * * * * * + + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD. + +In the county of Hereford, some of the Romish and feudal ceremonies are +yet practised. On the eve of Old Christmas-day, there are thirteen fires +lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a +circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and +in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin +Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they +are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they +behold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a +cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having +assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, +and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity: + + "Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn, + God send thy master a good crop of corn, + Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain, + And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again." + + +After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. + +They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of +her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground; and if it falls +forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, +that it will be unfavourable. This is the commencement of the rural +feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO. + +"Christmas is in Guadalaxara," says Mr. Hardy, "a season of great +diversion. The portales (colonades), which are much better than those of +the city of Mexico, and infinitely more numerous, are all well lighted +up with candles, surrounded by coloured paper shades, standing on little +tables, which display a great assortment of sweetmeats and fruits. The +ladies and gentlemen walk about, finely dressed, under the portale, and +convert it into a fashionable promenade.--From seven till ten, there is +not perhaps a single family in the whole town which has not taken a few +turns in their gayest dresses, to witness the sweetmeat exhibition--to +see and to be seen. It may be well to give the traveller a gentle hint +with respect to the 25th of December: nothing borrowed on that day is +ever returned. It is, in short, to the Mexicans, who call it. 'La noche +buena,' what April fool-day is to us. Therefore, traveller, beware! +It is the occasion of much frolic and amusement." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +NEW YEAR'S GIFTS. + +The custom of New-year's Gifts is very ancient, and was formerly carried +to a great extent. The sovereign used to accept gifts from his courtiers +and principal favourites, and was also in the habit of making presents +to certain individuals; the prince, however, always taking care that the +presents he received greatly exceeded in value those which he gave. +It is recorded of Bishop Latimer, that on one occasion he presented to +his master, Henry VIII., instead of a sum in gold for a New-year's +Gift, a New Testament, with the leaf folded down at Hebrews, ch. xiii., +v. 4.--on reference to which the king found a text well suited as an +admonition to himself. Queen Elizabeth supplied herself with wardrobe +and jewels principally from new year's gifts. Dr. Drake has given +a list of some of these presents;--amongst the items we find the +following: "Most of the peers and peeresses of the realm, the bishops, +the chief officers of state, her majesty's household, even as low +as the master of the pantry and head cook, all gave her majesty a +Christmas-box,--consisting either of a sum of money, jewels, trinkets, +or wearing apparel. The Archbishop of Canterbury usually gave 40l., +the Archbishop of York 30l., and the other prelates from 10l. to 20l. +The peers gave in the same proportion;--whilst the peeresses presented +rich gowns petticoats, shifts, stockings, garters, &c. Her physician +presented her with a box of foreign sweetmeats; and from her apothecary +she received a box of ginger-candy and a box of green ginger. Ambroise +Lupo gave her a box of lute-strings; and Smith, the royal dustman, +presented her majesty with two bolts of cambric." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +SUMPTUARY LAWS. + +These laws were made to restrain excess in apparel, costly furniture, +eating, &c. + +Zaleucus, the ancient philosopher and legislator of Greece, ordained +that no woman should go attended with more than one maid in the street, +except she was drunk. He prohibited the use of wine, otherwise than as +a medicine, &c. + +Among the Romans there were sumptuary laws to restrain the number of +guests at feasts;--not only the master of the feast, but all the guests +too, were liable to the penalty. It was also enacted, that more than ten +asses should not be spent at any ordinary feast. Ten asses was the price +of a sheep. + +Luxury was restricted in England in 1337; wherein the prelates and +nobility were confined to two courses every meal, and two kinds of food +in every course, except on great festivals. All who did not enjoy a fee +estate of 100_l._ per annum were also prohibited from wearing furs, +skins, or silk; and the use of foreign cloth was confined to the royal +family alone--to all others it was prohibited. An edict was issued by +Charles VI. of France, which says, "Let no one presume to treat with +more than a soup and two dishes," 1340. + +Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked +shoes, short doublets, and long coats. The dandies of ancient days wore +the beaks or points of their shoes so long, that they encumbered +themselves in their walking, and were forced to tie them up to their +knees; the _fine gentlemen_ fastened theirs with chains of silver, +or silver gilt, and others with laces. This ridiculous custom was in +vogue from the year 1382; but was prohibited, on the forfeiture of +20_s._ and the pain of cursing by the clergy, 1467. + +In the reign of King Henry IV., Camden says--Pride was got so much into +the foot, that it was proclaimed that no man should wear shoes above +_six inches broad at the toes_; and other garments were so short, +that it was enacted, under Edward IV., that no person under the +condition of a lord wear any mantle or gown, unless of such length. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +MARRIAGE CUSTOM. + +The following singular, though highly _useful_ custom, formerly +existed in England: viz.--"There was usually carried before the mayde, +when she shoulde be married, and came to dwell in hir husbande's house, +_a distaffe, charged with flaxe, and a spyndle hanging at it_, to the +intente shee might bee myndeful to lyve by hir labour." The foregoing +is extracted from "A Treatise wherein dicing dauncing, vaine plays, or +enterludes; with other idle pastimes, commonly used on the Sabbath-day, +are proved by the authoritie of the word of God, and ancient writers; +by John Northbrook, minister and preacher of the word of God." + +JUVENIS. + + * * * * * + + +NATIONAL CAPRICES. + +The Persian, it is said, will endure suffocation before he will blow the +fire with his breath; the Indian places supreme perfection in besmearing +himself with cow-dung; the Mussulman believes himself purified from all +his sins by the ablution of his head and arms: the only question with +him is, "whether the ceremony ought to begin at the elbow or at the +points of his fingers;" but so great is the difference of opinion on +this head, that if two Mahometans meet on a journey, and accost each +other with brotherly affection, by the one beginning his ablution +at his fingers' ends, and the other at his elbow, they instantly +separate and become mortal enemies. + +WALTER E.C. + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +THE POST OFFICE. + + +In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a +communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the +revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and +Protector, at 10,000_l._ per annum. Some idea of their progressive +increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:-- + + 1664 £21,000 + 1674 43,000 + 1685 65,000 + 1688 76,318 + 1697 90,505 + 1710 111,467 + 1715 145,227 + 1744 235,492 + 1775 345,321 + 1785 463,753 + 1793 607,268 + 1814 2,005,987 + + +Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to +have been about stationary. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +BEDE'S CHAIR. + +[Illustration: BEDE'S CHAIR.] + + +This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of +Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a +large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the +VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only +of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is +very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great +age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years +old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to +that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered +the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, +that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more +reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to +any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, +refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken +for granted, or without note or comment of doubt. + +Venerable Bede was born at Wearmouth, A.D. 672, only a few years after +the introduction of Christianity into Northumberland. When seven years +of age, he was received into the monastery of his native place, where +his infant mind acquired the rudiments of that knowledge which has +rendered his memory immortal. When only nineteen, he was ordained +deacon; and, even at that early age, was regarded as exemplary for +his piety and studious life: he was subsequently removed to the new +foundation at Jarrow, where he continued to study throughout a long +life. The results of his monastic seclusion furnish a bright page even +in these dark ages. "Such was the authority of his writings, that, +though only a humble monk in the most remote, barbarous, and recently +converted of the Saxon principalities, he attained (what was even then) +the singular honour of being the most celebrated writer of Christendom +for more centuries than one."[5] His great work is entitled, an +"Ecclesiastical History," detailing ecclesiastical with civil events; +which was, indeed, inevitable, when the ecclesiastics were the only men +of knowledge. Bede believed in miraculous interpositions, and honestly +related them; nevertheless, our obligations to his industry are +invaluable. To him we owe all our knowledge of English history, from the +landing of the Saxons in Kent to his time, (nearly three centuries,) +and all our certain information respecting the various tribes who then +inhabited the island: from him it is apparent that the work called the +Saxon Chronicle copies long passages. Bede also translated St. John's +Gospel into English; and it is said, that a copy of some of St. Paul's +Epistles, in Bede's handwriting, is still preserved in the library of +Trinity College, Cambridge. His works, published at Basle, extend to +eight folio volumes. + +Bede died May 26, 735, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was first +buried in his own monastery, but his remains were afterwards removed, +and interred in Durham cathedral; and, being subsequently canonized, he +was enrolled in the Romish calendar of saints. His character is thus +drawn by William of Malmsbury:--"He was a man, that, although born +in the extreme corner of the world, yet the light of his learning spread +over all parts of the earth. All the hours which he had to spare from +the monastic exercises of prayer, and singing in the choirs by day and +night, (in which he was constant, and very devout,) he most diligently +spent in study, and divided his whole time between that and his +devotions." + +The Chair is not the only memorial of Bede preserved in this +neighbourhood. About one mile west of Jarrow is a _Well_, still +called _St. Bede's_, to which it was customary, almost as late as +the middle of the last century, to convey diseased children, and, after +dropping in a crooked pin, to dip them for the recovery of their health: +round the Well, also, on every Midsummer Eve, was a great resort of the +neighbouring people, with bonfires, music, and dancing. The mystical +properties of the Well are not of difficult solution: since it was +reasonable enough to associate the restorative effects of cold bathing +with sanctity; and the rejoicings at the spring were indicative of the +gladness of the people, in connexion with a name endeared to them, by +the wisdom, virtue, and benevolence, of its possessor. + + [5] Sir James Mackintosh. + + + * * * * * + + +GOLD-BEATING. + +Early in the 17th century, great surprise was excited upon the +promulgation of the fact, that the Parisian gold-beaters could produce +1,600 leaves, or 105 square feet, from one ounce of gold; but the +surprise of the public was redoubled, when, upon the discovery of the +fine skin now in use, they found that 147 square feet could be produced +from the same quantity. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +MONUMENT OF A CRUSADER. + +In the great north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, in a dark nook +immediately adjoining the wall of the choir, is the mutilated effigies +of a Crusader, recumbent on an oblong stone. The figure is armed +cap-a-pee, in a hauberk,[6] with sword and shield, the latter of which +bears, quarterly, two bulls passant, gorged with collars and bells, and +three garbs, being the armorial bearings of the noble family of De Foix, +of which was the Captal de Buck, one of the first Knights of the Garter, +at the commencement of the Order. On a slab, placed perpendicularly +against the adjoining wall of the choir, are several shields, emblazoned +with the arms of the royal families of England, France, Castile. Leon, +&c. There is no inscription remaining to point out for whom this figure +was intended; but Gall, in his "Antiquities of Winchester," gives the +following inscription as having existed on the monument:--_"Hic jacet +Willielmus comes de insula Vana, alias Wincall_;" the parish of that +name lies on the river Itchin, and might formerly have been insulated. +The verger of Winchester Cathedral, in reply to an inquiry made by the +editor of the "Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet," said, it was a +knight of the name of _Fox_, evidently meaning _De Foix_. This +figure suffered severely from the iconoclasts, at the time of Cromwell's +taking possession of Winchester. Amongst other mutilations, they have +entirely hacked away the right leg, leaving only the foot connected with +the lion couchant, against which the figure rests. + +This Engraving will be received by the attentive inquirer, as an +interesting specimen of the sepulchral architecture of olden times; +and, judging from the mutilated remains, its original beauty would +have reminded us of the remark of an antiquarian writer,--that he +never saw a fine monument out of England. + +[Illustration: (_Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral_.)] + + [6] A tunick, or frock of armour, with wide sleeves, reaching a + little below the elbow, terminating with a broad, gilt border, + and having a hood, not separate. Its first introduction in armour + is referred to the time of William II. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +CHOICE APHORISMS. + +(_From_ 144, _in Fraser's Magazine_.) + + +It is perfectly possible to make champagne from gooseberries, equal to +that yielded by the grape. _Exampli gratiâ_: Lord Haddington, who +is a first-rate judge of wines, had a bottle of mock and one of real +champagne set before him, and was requested to say which was which. He +mistook the product of the gooseberry for the genuine article; and many +persons, reputed good judges, have done the same thing. + +By putting a piece of lump-sugar, the size of a walnut, into the +tea-pot, you will make the tea infuse in one-half the time. This fact is +well known to bag-men and stage-coach travellers. + +Members of dilletanti societies are generally especial asses: +their eternal talk about the fine arts, drawing, colouring, harmony, +composition, chiaro-scuro, fore-shortening, design, and so forth, +is enough to turn the stomach of a horse. The thing is the more +insufferable, because they absolutely know nothing of the subject, +and have about as much real appreciation of works of genius as +a pig possesses for the inventions of Watt or Daedalus. + +While prigs of the above description are eternally chattering about such +topics, men who are really eminent in the fine arts never say a word on +the subject. Goldsmith describes this matter well in his account of Sir +Joshua Reynolds:-- + + To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, + When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing; + When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, + He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff." + + +When I see a man who affects to doubt everything he hears, I never +hesitate about writing him down an ass. A great doubter is a solemn and +self-conceited prig. How amusing is it to see the blockhead shake his +empty pate, compress his lips into a sneer, and turn up his absurd +unmeaning eyes in dubious disbelief, when he hears aught which he thinks +it would imply sagacity to discredit! Such persons imagine, that to be a +great doubter implies wisdom; whereas, in their case, it has its origin +in constitutional phlegm and stupidity. + +Arguers and spouters are invariably asses. + +If you wish to make yourself agreeable to any one, talk as much as you +please about his or her affairs, and as little as possible about your +own. People are such downright egotists themselves, that they cannot +tolerate egotism in others. + +A person who cannot relish absurdity and wit, and must, moreover, have +a satisfactory reason for whatever is said or done, is a philosophical +blockhead. + +The best tooth-powder in the world is Armenian hole, a pennyworth of +which will serve a man for six months. + +If a man pronounces you a liar, it is very absurd to call him out for +the same. This ceremony does not prove that you are _not a liar_; +it only shows, that you possess sufficient courage to stand at the +distance of twelve paces, while a pistol--probably a leadless one--is +fired at you. + +Snuff-taking in a woman is abominable, unless she be very aged--say +eighty, or upwards--when it is rather becoming than otherwise. + +Young girls, of from fourteen to seventeen, are fond of aping the woman +in their dress, and are partial to long shawls, which give the young +things a matronly appearance. When they become women in reality, they +are rather too apt to go upon the opposite tack, and to assume the dress +and airs of the girl. + +A well-made man always looks shorter than he is; ditto a well-made +woman. + +A story-teller, or dealer in anecdote, is an abomination that ought to +be expelled from all well-regulated societies. A man of an original and +truly powerful mind never deals in anecdotes, unless it be for the +purpose of illustrating some general principle. Women and weak men are +all addicted to the vice. If a person of this description begins to +annoy a company with his or her twaddle, the only cure for it is to +affect deafness--a very convenient infirmity at times. + +_A hint to Cooks_.--Roasted chestnuts, grated or sliced, make an +excellent addition to the stuffing for turkeys or geese. + +_Another hint_.--In boiling salmon, split the fish from head to +tail; if you do not do this, but boil it entire, or cut horizontally +through the middle, it is impossible to cook it thoroughly, the +thickness of the back and shoulders being such, that, if the outside be +properly done, the inside must needs be little better than parboiled. On +the Tweed, and other salmon districts, the latter system is held in +abomination. + +A clever servant is almost invariably quick tempered. The reason is +obvious: superior talent is always accompanied by pride, which must meet +with many petty annoyances in the menial state. + +Never praise or talk of your children to other people; for, depend upon +it, no person except yourself cares a single farthing about them. + +Sea-gull eggs, when boiled hard and eaten cold, with pepper, salt, +vinegar, and mustard, make a delightful breakfast dish. Many persons +have an antipathy to such eggs; but it is from eating them in the soft +state, when they have always a fishy taste. Try them as above, and they +will change their opinions upon the subject. + +If a person has a great knack at finding out feats of legerdemain, you +may pronounce him a blockhead. I never knew a clever man who was worth +a farthing at detecting such tricks. + +I have a profound veneration for great liars of a certain class. On this +account Baron Munchausen, Major Longbow, and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, +are my especial favourites. Men of this description are invariably +good-tempered, benevolent, and generous; and will, any day, treat you to +a bottle of wine, provided you do them the favour of listening to their +adventures. + +_Important to Drunkards_.--If, an hour before sitting down to +drink, you take a grain or two of opium, you will be able to withstand +a much greater quantity than otherwise of liquor. This fact has escaped +the observation of Macnish. + +Some stupid people suppose that imagination and philosophy are +incompatible. Blockheads! Was not Bacon, the greatest of philosophers, +one of the most imaginative of men? There is more true philosophy in the +writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott, than in those of all the +metaphysicians that ever existed. + +An accomplished woman, in common parlance, means one who sings and +dances well, knows a little French, a little Italian, a little drawing, +a little embroidery, and not much of any thing, excepting fashionable +novels; in which she is a great adept. + +A lady's album is generally worth looking at, as a psychological +curiosity, indicative, to a considerable extent, of the taste and +feelings of its owner. + +If a man borrows a shilling from you, and on being dunned pretends to +have forgotten it, you may with considerable safety set him down for +a liar. + +When a man finds it convenient to tell a lie, he should sport a good +thumping one when he is about it. If a great lie serves his purpose +better than a little one, why hesitate between the two, when the sin is +equally great in both cases? The former has this advantage, that, when +detected, its enormity may be so great as to enable the person to pass +it off as a piece of quizzery, which can never be done with the latter. + +Heroic liars, such as the Baron or Major, are a godly race; but those +who practise the sin in a small way, and keep fibbing about trifles are +a despicable crew, and should be held by the heels, and soused head +down-most in a firkin of small beer. + +Men who are, or who fancy themselves to be good singers, are great +bores. The airs which they assume in company are most insufferable. If +asked for a song, they affect, with an aspect of the most hypocritical +humility, that really they cannot sing--that their voice is out of +order--that they are hoarse, and so forth; the fellows all the while +being most anxious to show forth, only wanting to be pressed, in order +to enhance their own importance, and stimulate the curiosity of the +company. Nor is this the worst of the case; for no sooner do they +perpetrate one song, than they volunteer a dozen, interlarding the +intervals between their performances with pedantic disquisitions on +music, and flooring every man who ventures to hazard an opinion on +the subject. These people, whether amateur or professional, must be +extinguished; and the best way to accomplish their overthrow, and +reduce them to their native insignificance, is, in the first instance, +to take them at their word, and not urge them to sing. By so doing, they +immediately take the pet, and sport mum for the rest of the evening. +The same remarks apply to musical people in general, whether in the +shape of fiddlers, fluters, horn blowers, thumpers on the pianoforte, +&c. These individuals can think of nothing else but their favourite +pursuit, and imagine all the world to be equally interested in it. Take +a musician off music, and he is the most ignorant of animals. A good +story in illustration of this is told about Madame Catalani. Being at a +large party in Vienna, where Goethe was present, she was much surprised +at the great respect with which that illustrious man was treated. +On inquiring his name, she was informed it was the celebrated Goethe. +"Celebrated!" said the siren; "what music did he ever compose? Why, +I never heard of him!" + +An absurd prejudice prevails among many people against the skate. If +this fish is hung up and dried for a day or two, then cut in slices, +done on the gridiron, and eaten with butter, it is most delicious. + +N.B. The female skate is more delicate than the male. + +Persons who indulge in conundrums, charades &c. are invariably poor +creatures; as are those who have a knack at finding out such trifles. +The same remark applies to punsters. It is difficult for a man of +sterling talent to perpetrate a pun, or to solve an enigma. On the +latter account, Oedipus must have been an ass. + +A fact.--Nine-tenths of the catsup which is sold in the shops is a vile +compound of liver and the roan of fish, seasoned with vinegar, pepper, +and other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, you must procure +mushrooms, and make it yourself. + + * * * * * + + +FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN. + +There is no court in Europe about which so little is known as that of +Madrid, and certainly no European sovereign whose character and habits +have been so studiously misrepresented as those of Ferdinand. The first +time we beheld this monarch, we could scarcely credit the evidence of +our senses. Walking in the gardens of the Retiro, at the time crowded +with company, we encountered a portly old gentleman, quite unattended, +habited in a plain, blue coat and nankeen trousers. This was Ferdinand, +_El Rey absoluto_, whom, in our mind's eye, we had long sketched +with the dark pencil of a Murillo. On a countenance that we expected +to have seen marked by all the dark and fiery passions of a Caesar +Borgia, we beheld an expression of _bonhomie_--a total absence of +hauteur, still less of ferocity; in fact, so totally different was he +in appearance from all that we had preconceived, that it was with +some difficulty we could persuade ourselves that our cicerone was not +practising upon our credulity. So much, then, for the notion, that he +never trusts himself out of his palace without being surrounded by +a formidable guard. Perhaps no monarch is oftener seen without, or +evinces less fear for his personal safety, than the tyrant Ferdinand. + +By men of all parties, at Madrid, he is spoken of as a man not naturally +vicious, but equally prone to good or evil, according to the direction +impressed upon him towards either of these two ends, arising from a wily +indolence of character, that, conscious of its own inability, throws +itself on another. Leave him, say they, but the name of king, his +secretaries, his valets, and his favourite amusements,--give him his +Havanna cigars, (a lot of which he sends daily to the officer of the +guard,)--and he would willingly consent to any change that might be +proposed to him. The faults or the vices of Ferdinand are owing to his +neglected and defective education; no care was taken to prepare him for +his high station. + +It was in the spirit of party that he embroidered a petticoat for the +Holy Virgin, solely with the view of pleasing and cajoling the clergy; +for, in his heart, Ferdinand is rather a devotee to pleasure than +religion. In his habits he is remarkably domesticated; he rises at +an early hour, and passes the greater part of the day in his wife's +apartment, of whom he is passionately fond. The queen unites to a very +graceful figure an interesting expression of countenance, that sometimes +wears an appearance of sadness. Such is Ferdinand of Spain, whose actual +demise will disclose scenes that at present almost set political +calculation at defiance. + +Ferdinand has been married four times:--1st, To Marie Antoinette, +daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies; 2ndly, To his neice, the +Infanta of Portugal, Maria Isabella; 3rdly, To the Princess Maria +Josepha-Amelia, daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony; and, lastly, +to his present queen, Maria Carletta, daughter of the late King of +Naples.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO BRITISH AMERICA. + + +One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for +ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the +most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which +will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable +situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's, +breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many +conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their +fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly +adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the +period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their +own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the +hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour +required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who +has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and +if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of +employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a +wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be +exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can +expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees +piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest +construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down. +Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter +is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great +for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the +influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons +causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter. +Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their +stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong +vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet +chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of +these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes +are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the +vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly +annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and +evening. Sleep is completely driven away when they make an attack, and +they produce the most uneasy sensation. + +The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication +between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating +medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange, +difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of +agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which +ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and +sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the +ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels +and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops +materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the +formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the +Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive +sowings are sometimes necessary. + +The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our +American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great +advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for +the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant +employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the +mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when +labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer +can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their +victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile, +and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and, +of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce +extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very +superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained +there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not +only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden +vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is +found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much +better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of +the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may +be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This +assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues +that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly +character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which +the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future +provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour +of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all +vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there +must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light +as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount +of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt, +brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own +tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered. +And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited +space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn, +good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant +in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages +counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former +with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They +must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must +make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess +land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange +for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess, +they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a +shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before +they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations +cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they +are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation +will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says +Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider, +before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and +integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of +his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain +means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave +scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and +whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to +suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing +with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the +spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of +his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or +three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been +unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the +forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which +require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all +these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be +disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have +entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would +often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before +them, in every part of America, examples of men who must have encountered +and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before +they attained a state of comfortable affluence."--_Quart. Journ. Agr._ + + * * * * * + + +THE SILK MANUFACTURE. + +The principal branches of this manufacture consist in the dyeing, +winding, warping, throwing, and weaving. The first needs no explanation; +the winding is the process between the throwing and the weaving. After +the silk is thrown it is dyed, and then wound off preparatory to the +loom. The warping is stretching the parallel threads on the loom, +preparatory to weaving. + +_Throwing_ silk, is twisting two threads into one for the purpose +of weaving. The single thread, as wound off from the cocoon, is +designated the raw silk. + +There are two descriptions of thrown silk. One is called _tram_, +and consists of two threads simply twisted together. This description of +thrown silk is used in the shuttle or transverse threads of a piece of +silk on the loom. The other variety of thrown silk is called +_organzine_. In this, the single threads are first twisted up, +previous to their being twisted together. This is used for the warp, or +parallel threads upon the loom. + +Throwing of silk was an important branch of manufacture in this country, +until the duties were reduced in 1826. Since that period it has +declined. The manufacture of thrown silk is chiefly carried on at +Macclesfield, Congleton, and in the West of England. As silk can be +thrown more cheaply in foreign countries than it can be in England, +there has been a difference between the throwsters and the weavers of +Coventry and Spitalfields, the latter having requested the protecting +duty against foreign thrown silk to be reduced, to the manifest injury +of the former. + +It may be as well to explain to the reader the weights which are used +in the silk trade. The weight of silk is estimated by _deniers_, an +old Italian weight, of which twenty-four are equal to an ounce, used +only in the silk trade, in the same manner as the weight called a _carat_ +is employed by those who deal in diamonds, and other precious stones. +It is the custom to reel off, upon an engine established in the silk +trade, a measure of four hundred ells of tram or organzine, (which are +both double threads,) and the weight of this quantity establishes the +fineness or coarseness of the silk. Four hundred ells of the finest +Italian tram will weigh eighteen deniers; and although this silk will +occasionally run so coarse as to weigh forty deniers, the qualities +mostly in use vary in weight from eighteen to thirty deniers. The China +and Bengal silk varies from thirty-five to eighty deniers in its weight. +Turkey silk, the importation of which has lately much increased, and +which is worked up in the single thread on account of the coarseness of +the texture, varies from thirty to fifty deniers; which, as the others +are weighed in the tram or double thread, will be in the proportion of +sixty to one hundred deniers. + +Silk is the staple manufacture of France, and has always received the +fostering protection of the government. The raw material is the produce +of the country; and, as the growers of silk are not permitted to export +it, it is purchased by the manufacturers at a much cheaper rate than it +can be procured by us. The value of the raw silk yearly produced in +France is estimated at about three millions and a half sterling--the +produce of manufacture at about two millions and a half; so that the +silk trade of France is to be valued, on the whole, at about six +millions sterling. + +This is the estimate which is made by the acknowledgment of the French +government; but there is every reason to suppose that it is much more +considerable. This is certain;--that it is of the greatest value to that +nation, and has received such protection, and, in consequence, is in +that flourishing condition, that, at present, no other country can +compete with it.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + +RECENT VISIT TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. + +Mr. Fergusson in his notes made during a Visit to the United States and +Canada in 1831, says: after breakfast I took leave of my friend, and +walked on for the Falls, leaving the stage, in which I had secured a +place, to follow. The day was delightful, and as I ascended the steep +hill from Queenston, I overtook a soldier of the 79th in charge of the +baggage wagons, leaning on his musket, and wrapt in admiration of the +surrounding scenery, "_It's mair like Scotland, sir, than ony thing +I've seen sin' I left it_," was the poor fellow's remark, and truly +it was far from misapplied, making due allowance for difference of +scale. The country from Queenston to the Falls is well settled, and +finely diversified by farms, orchards and open forest. The soil is +perhaps light, but in some places of a stronger description, and +all apparently fertile, desirable land. A very beautiful property, +originally laid out by the ill-fated Duke of Richmond, and subsequently +possessed by Sir Peregrine Maitland, adjoins the Road. The house, which +is in the cottage style, of wood, seems large and commodious. This +estate is in a very favourable situation, and has been lately sold +for 2,000l.; it contains about 450 acres of good, useful land. The +distance from Queenston to Niagara is about seven miles, and I sauntered +on the whole way, the coach not overtaking me. About four miles from +the Falls, the sound came upon my ear like the murmur of Old Ocean on +a rugged strand. In certain states of the atmosphere and the wind this +is heard at a much greater distance. The noise gradually increased, +and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees. +A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as +Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common +curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory +came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even +from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that +mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it +must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think, +must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can +the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as +regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature. +The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal +and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated _at +rest_, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the +spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the +enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt +and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a +time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with +any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration +and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my +friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses +a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the +world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the +rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is +behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and +thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects +appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the +same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down +in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a +closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch +the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of +the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The +following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course, +to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came +crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friends being +quite at home in all the mazes of the river side, conducted me by a wild +and rugged route to the edge of the Table-rock, when, upon emerging from +a tangled brake, I beheld the Horse-shoe or great British Fall, pouring +down its volume of ice and water, at the distance of a few feet from +where we stood. The rock felt to me as though it vibrated, and a large +mass did in fact lately give way, soon after a party had retired from +the precarious stance. It is limestone, full of ugly fissures and rents. +A narrow wooden staircase conducts adventurous travellers to the bottom +of the Fall, where a sort of entrance is generally effected to a short +distance under the sheet, and for which performance a certificate in due +form is served out. The stair was at this time under repair, and the +accumulation of ice below perfectly reconciled me to wave pretensions +to such slippery honours. At some distance below the Fall, and opposite +to the American staircase, there is a ferry, to which a safe and most +romantic carriage-road has been lately formed, out of the solid rock, +at no small labour and expense. When a similar accommodation shall +have been provided upon the American side, it is expected to prove a +lucrative concern, but at the present foot-passengers only can be landed +in the States. The little skiff had just put off, with a party from the +Canada shores, and got involved in streams of ice, in a way somewhat +hazardous, and which rendered it impossible for the boatmen to return. +The scene from the ferry is indeed magnificent, the Horseshoe, the +American Fall, and Goat Island being all in view, with the great pool or +basin eddying in fearful and endless turmoil. In the evening I walked +up the river side towards the village of Chippeway, to visit a natural +curiosity upon Mr. C.'s estate. A spring surcharged with sulphuretted +hydrogen gas rises within a few paces of the river. A small building is +erected over it, and when a candle is applied to a tube in a barrel, +which encloses the spring, a brilliant and powerful light is evolved. +Close adjoining are the remains of extensive mills burnt by the +Americans during last war. The water privilege is great, and machinery +to any extent might be kept in play.--_Quart. Journ. of Agriculture._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + * * * * * + + +_Dramatis Personae._--The stages and theatres of the Greeks and +Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to +have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in +order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by +the Latins _persona_, from _personare_ (to sound through); and +delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally +prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our +modern plays), as appears from the _Vatican Terence_. Hence +_dramatis personae_ (masks of the drama); which words, after masks +ceased to be used, were understood to mean _persons of the drama_. + +J.E.J. + + * * * * * + + +_Punctuality_.--The late hospitable Colonel Bosville had his +dinner on the table exactly two minutes before five o'clock, and no +guest was admitted after that hour; for he was such a determined +observer of punctuality, that when the clock struck five, his +porter locked the street-door, and laid the key at the head of the +dinner-table. The time kept by the clock in the kitchen, the parlour, +and the drawing-room, and the watch of the master, were minutely the +same. That the dinner was ready, was not announced to the guests in +the usual way; but when the clock struck, this superlative time-keeper +himself declared to his guests, "Dinner waits." Boileau, the French +satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject: "I have always been +_punctual at the hour of dinner_," says the bard, "for I knew that +all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval would employ +those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults." + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + + +_Volcanoes_.--According to Dr. Ure, there were, in 1830, 205 +burning volcanoes on the globe. Of these, 107 occur in islands, and 98 +on continents, but ranged mostly along their shores. + + * * * * * + + +_Former Junction of England and France_.--From the correspondence +pointed out by Mr. William Phillips, the geologist, between the strata +of Dover and the hills west of Calais; and by M. de la Beche, between +the strata of the coast of Dorset and Devon, and those of Normandy, it +may be inferred that the English Channel is a submarine valley, which +owes its origin in a great measure to diluvial excavation, the opposite +sides having as much correspondence as those of ordinary valleys on the +land. + + * * * * * + + +_Soldiers_.--English soldiers were at one period distinguished +by badges, like those worn by watermen. The general colour of their +dresses appears to have been white; though, in 1544, a part of the +forces of Henry VIII. were ordered to be dressed in blue coats, guarded +with red, without badges, the right hose red, and the left blue. In +1584, Elizabeth ordered the cassocks of the soldiers sent to Ireland +to be a sad green, or russet; though the cloaks of the cavalry were +red. In 1693, the dresses of the soldiers were grey, and those of the +drummers purple; but the red uniform was probably adopted when the +House of Hanover acceded to the throne. + +In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. ordinary hats were lined with +iron plates, to prevent assassination. + + * * * * * + + +_Choristers_.--The singing boys are, probably, the only officers +of the Catholic Church retained to this day by the Royal Family; for +at the Reformation, when masses, &c., had wholly ceased, Queen Elizabeth +retained on her establishment four sets of singing-boys, attached to +St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and that +of the Royal Household. For the support of these bands, she issued out +warrants, like the other English sovereigns, for taking up "suche apt +and meete children as are fitt to be instructed and framed in the art +and science of musicke and singing." + + * * * * * + + +_A Ha! ha! Fence_.--Bridgman, a landscape gardener, early in the +last century, is supposed to have introduced in the Royal Gardens at +Richmond, the sunk fence for boundaries, instead of walls: an attempt +considered so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! has! +to express their surprise at the sudden termination of their walk. + + * * * * * + + +_Sheridan's Funeral_.--Mr. Moore has omitted one of the most +touching and heart-stirring anecdotes connected with the funeral of +Sheridan. The noble and select company had assembled to pay the last +tribute of respect to departed genius, and the coffin was about to be +placed in the hearse, when an elegantly-dressed personage, who pretended +to be distantly related to the deceased, entered the chamber of death. +At his urgent entreaties to view the face of his friend, the coffin lid +was unscrewed; and, to the horror and surprise of the bystanders, he +pulled out a warrant, and arrested the body! Mr. Canning and Lord +Sidmouth went into an adjoining room, and paid the debt, which (it is +said) amounted to 500l. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Dr. Walcot, to Shield the Composer_.--The following was sent to +Shield, the ingenious composer, for his ivory ticket for admission to +a concert, by his friend Peter Pindar:-- + + Son of the _string_ (I do not mean Jack Ketch, + Though Jack, like _thee_, produceth _dying tones_;) + Oh! yield thy pity to a starving wretch, + And for to-morrow's _treat_, pray send thy _bones_. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Epitaph on Mr. Death, the Actor_. + + + Death levels all, both high and low. + Without regard to stations; + Yet why complain, + If _we_ are slain? + For here lies one, at least, to show + He kills his own relations. + +J.E.J. + + + * * * * * + +THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +VOL, XX. of THE MIRROR, with a Steel-plate Portrait of + +WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., + +a Biographical Memoir, Eighty-eight Engravings, and Four Hundred +and Sixty-four enlarged pages, is now publishing, price 5s. 6d. + +Part 131, price 8d., and Part 132, price 10d., (completing +Vol. XX.) are also ready. + +The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, containing the above Portrait, Memoir, +Title-page, Index, &c., price 2d., will be published in the ensuing +week. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 583 + Volume 20, Number 583, Saturday, December 29, 1832 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 5, 2004 [EBook #12521] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 583 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + <hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page433" name="page433"></a>[pg 433]</span> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%" summary="Banner"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>VOL. XX, NO. 583.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1832.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/583-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-1.png" +alt="Natural Tunnel, in Virginia." /></a> +NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. +</div> +<h2> + NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. +</h2> +<p> +Rock Bridges occupy the same pre-eminence amongst the sublimities of +nature, that artificial bridges maintain amidst the labours of man. +Both alike inspire us with admiration, though we are enabled to obtain +but unequal results as to their respective origins. The bridge, built +by human hands, is, indeed, a triumph of the perfection of skilful +contrivance; the strength and beauty of the arch are among the most +simple yet exquisite results of science, wonderful as they may appear +to the untaught beholder: but how shall we explain the formation of +stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines and rolling torrents, in +countries where none but the wild and picturesque forms of nature rise +to gladden the eye and heart of the inquiring traveller? Of the latter +description are the natural bridges which abound in the State of +Virginia; as Rockbridge, which gives name to the county in which it is +situated, and the wild and fantastic bridges of Icognozo; all of which +are more extensively recognised among the wonders of creation than the +specimen here presented to the reader. +</p> +<p> +This Tunnel is in Scott county, Virginia; but was so little known beyond +its immediate neighbourhood, as to induce Lieut.-Col. Long, (U.S. Army,) +to communicate its description to Mr. Featherstonhaugh's <i>American +Journal of Geology and Natural Science</i>; and the following narrative +of the Colonel's Excursion will be read with interest:— +</p> +<p> +"During the past summer, I visited a remarkable natural bridge in Scott +county, Virginia, to which I have given the name of Natural Tunnel, on +account of its striking resemblance to artificial structures of that +kind. +</p> +<p> +"The immediate locality of this tunnel is upon a small stream called +Buck-eye, or Stock Creek. This last name owes its origin to its valley +having been resorted to by the herdsmen of the country, for the +attainment of a <i>good range</i>, or choice pasture-ground, for their +cattle. The creek rises in Powell's mountain, and is tributary to Clinch +river, which it enters at the distance of between two and three miles +below the tunnel. The aspect of the surrounding country, and especially +of that to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page434" name="page434"></a>[pg 434]</span> +northward of the tunnel, and constituting the southerly +slope of the mountain just mentioned, is exceedingly diversified, and +broken by elevated spurs and ridges, separated from each other by deep +chasms, walled with cliffs and mural precipices, often presenting +exceedingly narrow passes, but occasionally widening into meadows or +bottoms of considerable extent. The mural precipices just mentioned +occur very frequently, bounding the valleys of the streams generally in +this part of the country, and opposing ramparts of formidable height, +and in many places utterly insurmountable. Such are the features +peculiarly characteristic of <i>Wild Cat Valley</i>, the <i>Valley of +Copper Creek</i>, of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of numerous other +streams of less note, all of which are situated within a few miles of +the Natural Tunnel. +</p> +<p> +"To form an adequate idea of this remarkable and truly sublime object, +we have only to imagine the creek to which it gives a passage, +meandering through a deep, narrow valley, here and there bounded on both +sides by walls, or <i>revetements</i>, of the character above intimated, +and rising to the height of two or three hundred feet above the stream; +and that a portion of one of these chasms, instead of presenting an +open, <i>thorough cut</i> from the summit to the base of the high +grounds, is intercepted by a continuous unbroken ridge, more than three +hundred feet high, extending entirely across the valley, and perforated +transversely at its base, after the manner of an artificial tunnel, and +thus affording a spacious subterranean channel for the passage of the +stream. +</p> +<p> +"The entrance to the Natural Tunnel on the upper side of the ridge +is imposing and picturesque in a high degree; but on the lower side +the grandeur of the scene is greatly heightened by the superior +magnitude of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness, and which rise +perpendicularly—and, in some instances, in an impending manner—two +or three hundred feet; and by which the entrance on this side is +almost environed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of rude and frightful +precipices. +</p> +<p> +"The observer, standing on the brink of the stream, at the distance +of about one hundred yards below the debouchure of the Natural Tunnel, +has, in front, a view of its arched entrance, rising seventy or eighty +feet above the water, and surmounted by horizontal stratifications of +yellowish, white, and grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the height of +the arch. On his left, a view of the same mural precipice, deflected +from the springing of the arch in a manner to pass thence in a +continuous curve quite to his rear, and towering in a very impressive +manner above his head. On his right, a sapling growth of buck-eye, +poplar, linden, &c., skirting the margin of the creek, and extending +obliquely to the right, and upward, through a narrow, abrupt ravine, +to the summit of the ridge, which is here and elsewhere crowned with +a timber-growth of pines, cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various +kinds. On his extreme right is a gigantic cliff, lifting itself up, +perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height, of about three +hundred feet, and accompanied by an insulated cliff, called the Chimney, +of about the same altitude, rising, in the form of a turret, at least +sixty feet above its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff +just before mentioned. +</p> +<p> +"Desirous of illustrating this paper by a front view of the Natural +Tunnel where the creek issues from it, I have, with the assistance +of a particular friend in this city—to whom I am indebted for the +accompanying drawing<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a>—been enabled to furnish a sketch which very +faithfully represents some of the appearances I have described. The +embellishments last mentioned, however, viz. the chimney and its +accompaniments, could not be comprised in the landscape. +</p> +<p> +"The following passages are from my own private journal:— +</p> +<p> +"Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having ascended Cove ridge, we turned aside +from our route to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on +Buck-eye, or Stock creek, about a mile below the Sycamore camp,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> and +about one and a half miles from a place called Rye cove, which occupies +a spacious recess between two prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the +site of the natural tunnel being included within a spur of Cove ridge, +which is one of the mountain spurs just alluded to. Here is presented +one of the most remarkable and attractive curiosities of its kind, to be +witnessed in this or any other country. The creek, which is about seven +yards wide, and has a general course about S. 15 W., here passes through +a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet above the surface of the +stream, winding its way through a huge subterraneous cavern, or grotto, +whose roof is vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to +seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this gigantic +cavern rise perpendicularly in some places to the height of fifteen or +twenty feet, and, in others, are formed, by the springing of its vaulted +roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from +fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous +curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right as we enter +on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again +to the left on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its +peculiar form, that an observer, standing at a point +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page435" name="page435"></a>[pg 435]</span> +about midway of its +subterranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either +entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a distance of about +twenty yards, occupying an intermediate portion of the tunnel. When the +sun is near the meridian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the +light reflected from both extremities of the tunnel contributes to +mollify the darkness of this interior portion into a dusky twilight. +</p> +<p> +"The extent of the tunnel, from its upper to its lower extremity, +following its meanders, is about 150 yards; in which distance the stream +falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky bed, an +agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grateful by its reverberations +upon the roof and sides of the grotto. The discharge of a musket +produces a crash-like report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel; which +has a deafening effect upon the ear. +</p> +<p> +"The hill through which this singular perforation leads, descends in a +direction from east to west, across the line of the creek, and affords a +very convenient passage for a road which traverses it at this place, +having a descent in the direction just mentioned of about four degrees. +</p> +<p> +"The rocks found in this part of the country are principally sandstone +and limestone, in stratifications nearly horizontal, with occasional +beds of clay slate. A mixture of the two former frequently occurs among +the alternations presented by these rocks. A variety of rock resembling +the French burr occurs in abundance on Butcher's-fork of Powell's river, +about twenty miles northwardly of the Natural Tunnel. Fossils are more +or less abundant, in these and other rocks. Fossil bones, of an +interesting character, have been found in several places. Saltpetre +caves are numerous. Coves, sinks, and subterranean caverns, are +strikingly characteristic, not only of the country circumjacent to the +Natural Tunnel, but of the region generally situated between the +Cumberland mountain, and the Blue ridge or Apalachian mountain. +Bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniments, abounds in the northerly +parts of this region; and in the intermediate and southerly portions, +iron, variously combined, often magnetic, together with talcose rocks, +&c. &c. are to be met with in great abundance. +</p> +<p> +"The mountains in this vicinity—long. 82° to 84° W. from Greenwich, +lat. 35° to 36° N.—are among the most lofty of the Allegheny range. +Several knobs<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> in this part of the range, among which may be +enumerated the Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black, and Powell's +mountains, rise to the height of at least four thousand five hundred +feet above tide." +</p> +<p> +Mr. Featherstonhaugh remarks, that the Natural Tunnel has not been +worn through the rock by the long-continued action of running water is +evident, not from the cavernous structure alone of the general country, +but from the form of Powell's mountain, in a spur of which the Tunnel +passes transversely. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Featherstonhaugh further concludes the Tunnel to be a natural cavity +in the rock, for, if such had not been the case, "it is evident that the +stream would have been deflected from its line; would have followed the +base of the hill, and have turned the extreme point." +</p> +<p> +Little is known of the geology of the country in which this Tunnel is +situate, notwithstanding the popularity of the natural bridges of the +State. The rock before us would appear to belong to that class which +geologists commonly term Perforated Mountains, which some suppose +to have been bored through, in part, at least, by the persevering +industry of man. "Such phenomena," observes Maltebrun, "are, however, +mere eccentricities of nature, and differ from caverns only from +the circumstance of having a passage entirely through them. The +Pierre-Pertuise in Mount Jura, and Pausilippo, near Naples, are +instances of this kind. The Torghat, in, Norway, is pierced by an +opening 150 feet high, and 3,000 long. At certain seasons of the year, +the sun can be seen darting its rays from one extremity to the other of +this vault. Near New Zealand is a rocky arch through which the waves of +the sea pass at high water."<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> The latter, one of the Piercy Islands, +will be found engraved and described in <i>The Mirror</i>, vol. xix. p. 145. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From the Note Book of a Tourist</i>.) +</center> +<p> +In the summer of 1829, I made a Tour of the Borders. On the 16th of +August, I arrived in Melrose. I came on the top of the coach from +Jedburgh, in company with two intelligent fellows, a young Englishman of +fortune (apparently,) and a Russian nobleman. We put up at the George, +where we found about five tourists, redolent of sketch and note books, +drinking toddy and lying in wait to catch a sight of the lion of the +neighbourhood, Sir Walter. The voracity with which they devoured any +anecdotes of him was amusing. In the evening it came on a peppering +storm. I had foreseen this on our route from <i>Jeddart</i>. The Eildons +had mounted their misty cap, always a sure prognostic of rain; in fact +they are the barometer of the district. I then prevailed on my two +companions to forego their visit to the Abbey that night. We therefore +had in old Davidson, the landlord of the Inn, and my companions +submitted him to an interrogatory of three long hours' duration. +One little anecdote of fresh occurrence struck me as +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page436" name="page436"></a>[pg 436]</span> +possessing some +interest. I will record it. About a month before, a poor maniac +presented herself at the gates of Abbotsford. She desired to see Sir +Walter. The servant denied her admittance, but such was the earnestness +of the poor creature, that <i>auld Saunders</i>, on her pressing +application, went and informed his master, "that a puir demented lassie +was at the gett (gate) greetin' like a bairn." Sir Walter had the +kindest of hearts; "O admit her puir thing," he said. The woman no +sooner entered than she fell on her knees in reverential awe before Sir +Walter. Her story was simply this. She belonged to Aberdeen; she was +married to a young farmer in that neighbourhood and had not long before +given birth to a beautiful infant, the first pledge of their loves. +The pains of birth had injured her mental equanimity, and eluding the +vigilance of her keepers she set forward one evening in search of the +great enchanter, whose works had in happier hours beguiled her with +their beauty. She travelled for a week; the distance from Aberdeen to +Abbotsford was about a hundred and fifty miles. She had walked every +step. Sir Walter did what he could to soothe her distracted mind, +and get her wasted frame recruited. But after some time he deemed it +advisable to exercise his judicial power and put her in a place of +security, until definite intelligence could be procured of her friends +and relations. Jedburgh is the county town of Roxburgh; and thither all +wanderers of this and a less gentle race are sent. A post-chaise was +sent for from old Davidson, of the George, and when it was at the door +of Abbotsford, Sir Walter induced the poor girl to enter it, promising +to accompany her "out a ridin'." She entered—looking for him to follow. +The door was instantly closed, and the post-boy lashing and spurring his +horses, darted off in a second. She gave a piercing shriek, looked +wildly round her, and abandoned herself to the most agonizing despair; +exclaiming in a tone of the utmost pathos, "ah! deceitfu' man, hae ye +beguiled me too!"—and then she sunk back in the carriage, and buried +herself in the deepest silence. * * +</p> +<p> +18th August. Set out to view the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. Called +on Capt. (now Sir David) Erskine, from whom I received the politest +attention. His housekeeper acted as my cicerone, and conducted me over +the venerable pile. These time-worn ruins stand on the north bank of +the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills +covered with wood, of the richest foliage. The abbey as well as the +modern mansion house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. +Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form, +and the scene is extremely interesting, embracing both wood and water, +mountain and rock scenery. The whole gives rise to sentiments of the +most pleasing, devotional tranquillity. The place, however, at which I +paused, was St. Mary's Aisle: "here," I said to myself, "will the mighty +minstrel sleep, when his harp shall be silent!"—and here I offered the +votive tribute in anticipation, which thousands will follow me in, now +that he is, too truly, alas! no more. At the little iron palisading I +stood, and said, "here Scott will sleep:" in this, fate has not deceived +me. He rests there now. Peace to his manes! +</p> +<p> +August 20. Down at the Abbey this night. It would be absolute folly +to note down what I saw or thought of this most remarkable monastic +structure. Every album possesses it, in all the beauty of its fairy +architecture; its tabernacles, its niches and canopies, and statues, +pinnacles, pediments, spires, and the tracery of its vaultings. +</p> +<p> +The decorated work is most exquisitely executed. The mouldings are +still so sharp, that they seem as lately from the chisel of the mason. +The south transept window and door are the most perfect of the ruins. +The day light of the window is twenty-four feet by sixteen, divided by +four mullions. The tracery and cuspings are all of the decorated style +of the Gothic. It is furnished with crotchets and creeping foliage. +There are a number of niches, canopies, and tabernacles, on the south +transept; and the corbels that support the statues, are carved with +grotesque figures; some representing monks with cowls upon their heads, +others musicians playing upon different kinds of instruments; some are +most hideous to look at. Sir Walter procured casts of many of these +grotesque figures, which on a visit to Abbotsford, I observed placed in +the ceiling of the hall. He has clothed them in a new dress, more suited +to the social scene of their present locality. But, I always ramble +into the <i>shop</i>, when I get on architecture. Let me narrate the +occurrence of this night. As I was pacing the great aisle of the abbey, +a carriage drove up to the gate. "Sir Walter Scott!" said the keeper, +brushing past me to receive him. A lady alighted. I heard "good night!" +responded by a person in the carriage, who drove off with it. Who can +this be, thought I to myself. It was dusk—the lady advanced with a +stately step. I moved aside. "In these deep solitudes and awful cells!" +methought I heard her say. She ascended to the bell-tower. "Who is that +lady?" said I to the keeper when he entered. "That, sir," said he, +"is Mistress Hemmins, the poet writer, wha is on a visit to Maistre +Lockhart, and she cam just noo in Sir Walter's carriage, and she wants +to be alane, sir, by hersel." I took the hint, and made for the George +and my glass of toddy, unwilling to deprive the world of those lays, +which Melrose, the rush of the Tweed, and midnight would, no doubt, +inspire in the fair authoress. +</p> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page437" name="page437"></a>[pg 437]</span> +</p> +<p> +August 23. At Galashiels, a semi-rural demi-manufacturing town on the +banks of the "braw, braw Gala water." Not having the good fortune to get +to Abbotsford from Melrose, I started over the hill which looks down on +Galashiels, towards that destination. Abbotsford I need not render an +account of. But my approach to it was not deficient in interest. +</p> +<p> +On arriving at the summit of the hill overlooking the Tweed, it burst +upon my sight. I looked down on the grounds in which it is settled, as +on a map. The skill and industry of Sir Walter is not more remarkable in +his literary than in his rural works. The house stands in a bare, barren +corner of Selkirkshire, (I think) but by admirable management, he has +enclosed it with fine, hardy young wood, and quite altered its +appearance. +</p> +<p> +At the bottom of the hill I took the boat at the ferry, and resting in +the middle of the stream, the Tweed, and looked around me. I saw a +person on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the wood which +comes down to the water's edge. I drew near. He was dressed in a short, +green coat and cap, and was amusing himself with the antics of a large +dog. The place—the time—the air—the gait—every thing conspired: +"Who's that, lassie?" said I to my little boat rower; "That, sir? that's +<i>himsel</i>, that's the shirra" (sheriff.) Yes, it was the man—he +himself—the pride of Scotland—her boast—the intellectual beacon of +her hills—it was Sir Walter Scott! +</p> +<p> +Sept. 3. At Selkirk. At Mitchell's Inn, where I was introduced to the +celebrated Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. He had come, I think, from +a fair held at the Eildons. We got over a jug of toddy. Our conversation +turned on the church service of the kirk of Scotland, and we rambled +into poetry in conversing on the psalms. I pointed out to the shepherd, +that a fair fame might be achieved by arranging the Psalms of David, and +superseding the barbarities of Sternhold and Hopkins. James maintained +that the present edition in use in Scotland, could <i>not</i> be +improved. He said that the question had been agitated in the General +Assembly, and Sir Walter Scott was applied to, to furnish an improved +versification, but he answered, stating that it would be a more +difficult matter to get the people to adopt them, than to furnish the +same. Any alteration in this respect would be looked upon as little +better than sacrilege, and he therefore advised that the present form +should be continued in. "Watty's a sensible chap," said the shepherd, +speaking familiarly of Sir Walter, "and if he laid a finger on o'or +venerable psalmody, I wad pitch a louse at him, wha hae ever loved the +man as my ain brether." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +During the last years of Sir Walter's life, he visited in the counties +of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk, the various scenes which his graphic +pen has delineated and incorporated in his minstrelsy and romance. The +summer when the preceding notes were made, I happened to be in Kelso, +and took ride one day to visit the worthy minister of a neighbouring +parish, in which the celebrated border <i>keep</i> Smailholme tower is +situated, the scene of the fearful legend embodied in the poem "The Eve +of St. John." +</p> +<p> +We rode over to it: it is situated on a crag or ridge of rock, high +in the north range of hills, the Lammer-muir, which spring from the +splendid vale of Teviot and Tweed, commanding an unbounded prospect +on the east and west; the south is terminated by the Cheviots and +the English border. +</p> +<p> +We found the Tower in possession of a party, and the Rev. Mr. C—— rode +forward to report, in case we should be deemed intruders. He came back +shortly, and it was no other than Sir Walter himself, with several +members of his family, who had accompanied him to bid a final farewell +to <i>Smaillum keep</i>. As I afterwards heard, he was in the highest +spirits, and repeated the poem for the gratification of his party, in +that impressive manner for which he was remarkable, in giving the +necessary effect to his own compositions. The party brought a cold +collation with them: before leaving, Sir Walter surveyed the beautiful +prospect at his feet, the Tweed and Teviot meeting in sisterly +loveliness, and joining their waters in the valley, with the golden +fields of England in the distance; when filling a glass of wine he drank +with fervour, in which all joined him, "baith sides of the Tweed." +</p> +<h4> + I. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + OLD ENGLISH ARMOUR. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From a Correspondent.</i>) +</center> +<p> +Previous to the time of Edward I., the body-armour may be distinguished +by the appellations of <i>trelliced, ringed, rustred, mascled, scalad, +tegulated, single-mailed</i>, and <i>banded</i>. The <i>trelliced</i> method +has not been properly ascertained: it probably consisted of leather +thongs, crossed, and so disposed as to form large squares placed +angularly, with a round knob or stud in the centre of each. The +<i>ringed</i> consisted of flat rings of steel, placed contiguous to +each other, on quilted linen. The <i>rustred</i> was nothing more than +one row of flat rings, about double the size of those before used, laid +half over the other, so that two in the upper partially covered one +below. <i>Mascled</i>; the hauberk composed of several folds of linen, +covered with diamond-shaped pieces of steel touching each other, and +perforated: so called from their resemblance to the <i>meshes</i> of a +net. <i>Scaled</i>; formed of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page438" name="page438"></a>[pg 438]</span> +small pieces of steel like the scales of +fish, partially overlaying each other. This species was used only during +the reigns of Henry II and Richard I. The <i>tegulated</i> consisted of +little square plates, partly covering one another, like tiles. +</p> +<p> +<i>Single Mail</i> was composed of rings set edgeways on quilted linen. +It came into use about the close of John's reign, and continued to be +partially worn till that of Edward I. At the commencement of Henry +III.'s reign, it covered not only the head, but hands, legs, and feet. +It was very heavy, and likewise the rings were liable to be cut off by +the blow of a sword; which latter circumstance, perhaps, introduced the +contrivance of <i>banded</i> armour, which was composed of parallelogramic +pieces of metal, sown on linen, so placed as to fold perpendicularly +over each other, like palings, and kept in their places by bandy or +hoops of leather. +</p> +<p> +We now come to the <i>Double-chain Mail</i>, consisting of interlaced +rings, which made its first appearance in the triumphant reign of Edward +I. It is said to be of Asiatic invention, and was composed of four rings +within a fifth, each of which was rivetted. <i>Single-chain mail</i> was +worn by the Crusaders, in Henry III's time; and when the number of rings +was doubled, it became <i>double-chain mail</i>. Its great advantages +were compactness and pliability. Horses were now clothed in mail. +</p> +<p> +In the latter part of Edward III.'s reign, the <i>double-chain mail</i> +became so covered with pieces of steel as to cause them in a little time +to supersede it altogether. This, therefore, was termed <i>mixed</i>. +The <i>double-chain</i> hauberk had been found, owing to its weight, to +press injuriously upon the chest; to remedy which, a breastplate of +steel was contrived, which being placed underneath, kept the mail from +pressing upon the stomach. The throat was protected by a chain-covering +that surrounded the neck, and hung down to the shoulders like a tippet. +</p> +<p> +We now come to <i>Plate Armour</i>. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption +of the <i>mixed</i> armour soon pointed out, by experience, the +inutility of retaining the <i>ringed</i> hauberk. The thighs and legs +were no longer covered with <i>double-chain mail</i>, and the arms only +partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed +a cuirass. During the use of <i>mixed</i> armour, the arms, thighs, +knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal; and for the hands +were invented gloves of plate, with fingers, called <i>gauntlets</i>. +</p> +<p> +From the Conquest to the time of Richard III., the fashion was to ride +with the toes down; after which period, the heel was dropped, and the +toe raised. Spurs were not screwed to the armour before the time of +Henry V. +</p> +<p> +No higher degree of perfection was ever attained in armour than during +the reign of Richard III. The outline of the suit was most elegant, the +workmanship most elaborate, and the choice of ornaments full of taste. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD. +</h3> +<p> +In the county of Hereford, some of the Romish and feudal ceremonies are +yet practised. On the eve of Old Christmas-day, there are thirteen fires +lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a +circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and +in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin +Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they +are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they +behold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a +cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having +assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, +and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity: +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> "Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn,</p> + <p> God send thy master a good crop of corn,</p> + <p> Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain,</p> + <p> And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again."</p> +</div></div> +<p> +After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. +</p> +<p> +They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of +her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground; and if it falls +forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, +that it will be unfavourable. This is the commencement of the rural +feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO. +</h3> +<p> +"Christmas is in Guadalaxara," says Mr. Hardy, "a season of great +diversion. The portales (colonades), which are much better than those of +the city of Mexico, and infinitely more numerous, are all well lighted +up with candles, surrounded by coloured paper shades, standing on little +tables, which display a great assortment of sweetmeats and fruits. The +ladies and gentlemen walk about, finely dressed, under the portale, and +convert it into a fashionable promenade.—From seven till ten, there is +not perhaps a single family in the whole town which has not taken a few +turns in their gayest dresses, to witness the sweetmeat exhibition—to +see and to be seen. It may be well to give the traveller a gentle hint +with respect to the 25th of December: nothing borrowed on that day is +ever returned. It is, in short, to the Mexicans, who call it. 'La noche +buena,' +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page439" name="page439"></a>[pg 439]</span> +what April fool-day is to us. Therefore, traveller, beware! +It is the occasion of much frolic and amusement." +</p> +<h4> +W.G.C. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + NEW YEAR'S GIFTS. +</h3> +<p> +The custom of New-year's Gifts is very ancient, and was formerly carried +to a great extent. The sovereign used to accept gifts from his courtiers +and principal favourites, and was also in the habit of making presents +to certain individuals; the prince, however, always taking care that the +presents he received greatly exceeded in value those which he gave. +It is recorded of Bishop Latimer, that on one occasion he presented to +his master, Henry VIII., instead of a sum in gold for a New-year's +Gift, a New Testament, with the leaf folded down at Hebrews, ch. xiii., +v. 4.—on reference to which the king found a text well suited as an +admonition to himself. Queen Elizabeth supplied herself with wardrobe +and jewels principally from new year's gifts. Dr. Drake has given +a list of some of these presents;—amongst the items we find the +following: "Most of the peers and peeresses of the realm, the bishops, +the chief officers of state, her majesty's household, even as low +as the master of the pantry and head cook, all gave her majesty a +Christmas-box,—consisting either of a sum of money, jewels, trinkets, +or wearing apparel. The Archbishop of Canterbury usually gave 40l., +the Archbishop of York 30l., and the other prelates from 10l. to 20l. +The peers gave in the same proportion;—whilst the peeresses presented +rich gowns petticoats, shifts, stockings, garters, &c. Her physician +presented her with a box of foreign sweetmeats; and from her apothecary +she received a box of ginger-candy and a box of green ginger. Ambroise +Lupo gave her a box of lute-strings; and Smith, the royal dustman, +presented her majesty with two bolts of cambric." +</p> +<h4> +W.G.C. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + SUMPTUARY LAWS. +</h3> +<p> +These laws were made to restrain excess in apparel, costly furniture, +eating, &c. +</p> +<p> +Zaleucus, the ancient philosopher and legislator of Greece, ordained +that no woman should go attended with more than one maid in the street, +except she was drunk. He prohibited the use of wine, otherwise than as +a medicine, &c. +</p> +<p> +Among the Romans there were sumptuary laws to restrain the number of +guests at feasts;—not only the master of the feast, but all the guests +too, were liable to the penalty. It was also enacted, that more than ten +asses should not be spent at any ordinary feast. Ten asses was the price +of a sheep. +</p> +<p> +Luxury was restricted in England in 1337; wherein the prelates and +nobility were confined to two courses every meal, and two kinds of food +in every course, except on great festivals. All who did not enjoy a fee +estate of 100<i>l.</i> per annum were also prohibited from wearing furs, +skins, or silk; and the use of foreign cloth was confined to the royal +family alone—to all others it was prohibited. An edict was issued by +Charles VI. of France, which says, "Let no one presume to treat with +more than a soup and two dishes," 1340. +</p> +<p> +Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked +shoes, short doublets, and long coats. The dandies of ancient days wore +the beaks or points of their shoes so long, that they encumbered +themselves in their walking, and were forced to tie them up to their +knees; the <i>fine gentlemen</i> fastened theirs with chains of silver, +or silver gilt, and others with laces. This ridiculous custom was in +vogue from the year 1382; but was prohibited, on the forfeiture of +20<i>s.</i> and the pain of cursing by the clergy, 1467. +</p> +<p> +In the reign of King Henry IV., Camden says—Pride was got so much into +the foot, that it was proclaimed that no man should wear shoes above +<i>six inches broad at the toes</i>; and other garments were so short, +that it was enacted, under Edward IV., that no person under the +condition of a lord wear any mantle or gown, unless of such length. +</p> +<h4> +P.T.W. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + MARRIAGE CUSTOM. +</h3> +<p> +The following singular, though highly <i>useful</i> custom, formerly +existed in England: viz.—"There was usually carried before the mayde, +when she shoulde be married, and came to dwell in hir husbande's house, +<i>a distaffe, charged with flaxe, and a spyndle hanging at it</i>, to the +intente shee might bee myndeful to lyve by hir labour." The foregoing +is extracted from "A Treatise wherein dicing dauncing, vaine plays, or +enterludes; with other idle pastimes, commonly used on the Sabbath-day, +are proved by the authoritie of the word of God, and ancient writers; +by John Northbrook, minister and preacher of the word of God." +</p> +<h4> +JUVENIS. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + NATIONAL CAPRICES. +</h3> +<p> +The Persian, it is said, will endure suffocation before he will blow the +fire with his breath; the Indian places supreme perfection in besmearing +himself with cow-dung; the Mussulman believes himself purified from all +his sins by the ablution of his head and arms: the only question with +him is, "whether the ceremony ought to begin at the elbow or at the +points of his fingers;" but so great is the difference of opinion on +this head, that if two Mahometans meet on a journey, and accost each +other with brotherly affection, by the one beginning his ablution +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page440" name="page440"></a>[pg 440]</span> +at his fingers' ends, and the other at his elbow, they instantly +separate and become mortal enemies. +</p> +<h4> +WALTER E.C. +</h4> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE POST OFFICE. +</h3> +<p> +In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a +communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the +revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and +Protector, at 10,000<i>l.</i> per annum. Some idea of their progressive +increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:— +</p> +<table summary="postal revenues" align="center"> +<tr><td width="25%">1664 </td><td align="right" width="25%">£21,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1674 </td><td align="right">43,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1685 </td><td align="right">65,000</td></tr> +<tr><td>1688 </td><td align="right">76,318</td></tr> +<tr><td>1697 </td><td align="right">90,505</td></tr> +<tr><td>1710 </td><td align="right">111,467</td></tr> +<tr><td>1715 </td><td align="right">145,227</td></tr> +<tr><td>1744 </td><td align="right">235,492</td></tr> +<tr><td>1775 </td><td align="right">345,321</td></tr> +<tr><td>1785 </td><td align="right">463,753</td></tr> +<tr><td>1793 </td><td align="right">607,268</td></tr> +<tr><td>1814 </td><td align="right">2,005,987</td></tr> +</table> +<p> +Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to +have been about stationary. +</p> +<h4> +ANTIQUARES. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + BEDE'S CHAIR. +</h3> +<div class="figure" style="width: 50%;"> +<a href="images/583-2.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-2.png" +alt="Bede's Chair." /></a> +BEDE'S CHAIR. +</div> +<p> +This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of +Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a +large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the +VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only +of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is +very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great +age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years +old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to +that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered +the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, +that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more +reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to +any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, +refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken +for granted, or without note or comment of doubt. +</p> +<p> +Venerable Bede was born at Wearmouth, A.D. 672, only a few years after +the introduction of Christianity into Northumberland. When seven years +of age, he was received into the monastery of his native place, where +his infant mind acquired the rudiments of that knowledge which has +rendered his memory immortal. When only nineteen, he was ordained +deacon; and, even at that early age, was regarded as exemplary for +his piety and studious life: he was subsequently removed to the new +foundation at Jarrow, where he continued to study throughout a long +life. The results of his monastic seclusion furnish a bright page even +in these dark ages. "Such was the authority of his writings, that, +though only a humble monk in the most remote, barbarous, and recently +converted of the Saxon principalities, he attained (what was even then) +the singular honour of being the most celebrated writer of Christendom +for more centuries than one."<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> His great work is entitled, an +"Ecclesiastical History," detailing ecclesiastical with civil events; +which was, indeed, inevitable, when the ecclesiastics were the only men +of knowledge. Bede believed in miraculous interpositions, and honestly +related them; nevertheless, our obligations to his industry are +invaluable. To him we owe all our knowledge of English history, from the +landing of the Saxons in Kent to his time, (nearly three centuries,) +and all our certain information respecting the various tribes who then +inhabited the island: from him it is apparent that the work called the +Saxon Chronicle copies long passages. Bede also translated St. John's +Gospel into English; and it is said, that a copy of some of St. Paul's +Epistles, in Bede's handwriting, is still preserved in the library of +Trinity College, Cambridge. His works, published at Basle, extend to +eight folio volumes. +</p> +<p> +Bede died May 26, 735, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was first +buried in his own monastery, but his remains were afterwards removed, +and interred in Durham cathedral; and, being subsequently canonized, he +was enrolled in the Romish calendar of saints. His character is thus +drawn by William of Malmsbury:—"He was a man, that, although born +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page441" name="page441"></a>[pg 441]</span> +in the extreme corner of the world, yet the light of his learning spread +over all parts of the earth. All the hours which he had to spare from +the monastic exercises of prayer, and singing in the choirs by day and +night, (in which he was constant, and very devout,) he most diligently +spent in study, and divided his whole time between that and his +devotions." +</p> +<p> +The Chair is not the only memorial of Bede preserved in this +neighbourhood. About one mile west of Jarrow is a <i>Well</i>, still +called <i>St. Bede's</i>, to which it was customary, almost as late as +the middle of the last century, to convey diseased children, and, after +dropping in a crooked pin, to dip them for the recovery of their health: +round the Well, also, on every Midsummer Eve, was a great resort of the +neighbouring people, with bonfires, music, and dancing. The mystical +properties of the Well are not of difficult solution: since it was +reasonable enough to associate the restorative effects of cold bathing +with sanctity; and the rejoicings at the spring were indicative of the +gladness of the people, in connexion with a name endeared to them, by +the wisdom, virtue, and benevolence, of its possessor. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + GOLD-BEATING. +</h3> +<p> +Early in the 17th century, great surprise was excited upon the +promulgation of the fact, that the Parisian gold-beaters could produce +1,600 leaves, or 105 square feet, from one ounce of gold; but the +surprise of the public was redoubled, when, upon the discovery of the +fine skin now in use, they found that 147 square feet could be produced +from the same quantity. +</p> +<h4> +ANTIQUARES. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + MONUMENT OF A CRUSADER. +</h3> +<p> +In the great north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, in a dark nook +immediately adjoining the wall of the choir, is the mutilated effigies +of a Crusader, recumbent on an oblong stone. The figure is armed +cap-a-pee, in a hauberk,<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> with sword and shield, the latter of which +bears, quarterly, two bulls passant, gorged with collars and bells, and +three garbs, being the armorial bearings of the noble family of De Foix, +of which was the Captal de Buck, one of the first Knights of the Garter, +at the commencement of the Order. On a slab, placed perpendicularly +against the adjoining wall of the choir, are several shields, emblazoned +with the arms of the royal families of England, France, Castile. Leon, +&c. There is no inscription remaining to point out for whom this figure +was intended; but Gall, in his "Antiquities of Winchester," gives the +following inscription as having existed on the monument:—<i>"Hic jacet +Willielmus comes de insula Vana, alias Wincall</i>;" the parish of that +name lies on the river Itchin, and might formerly have been insulated. +The verger of Winchester Cathedral, in reply to an inquiry made by the +editor of the "Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet," said, it was a +knight of the name of <i>Fox</i>, evidently meaning <i>De Foix</i>. This +figure suffered severely from the iconoclasts, at the time of Cromwell's +taking possession of Winchester. Amongst other mutilations, they have +entirely hacked away the right leg, leaving only the foot connected with +the lion couchant, against which the figure rests. +</p> +<p> +This Engraving will be received by the attentive inquirer, as an +interesting specimen of the sepulchral architecture of olden times; +and, judging from the mutilated remains, its original beauty would +have reminded us of the remark of an antiquarian writer,—that he +never saw a fine monument out of England. +</p> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/583-3.png"><img width="100%" src="images/583-3.png" +alt="(_Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral_.)" /></a> +(<i>Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral</i>.) +</div> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page442" name="page442"></a>[pg 442]</span> +</p> +<h2> + THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + CHOICE APHORISMS. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From</i> 144, <i>in Fraser's Magazine</i>.) +</center> +<p> +It is perfectly possible to make champagne from gooseberries, equal to +that yielded by the grape. <i>Exampli gratiâ</i>: Lord Haddington, who +is a first-rate judge of wines, had a bottle of mock and one of real +champagne set before him, and was requested to say which was which. He +mistook the product of the gooseberry for the genuine article; and many +persons, reputed good judges, have done the same thing. +</p> +<p> +By putting a piece of lump-sugar, the size of a walnut, into the +tea-pot, you will make the tea infuse in one-half the time. This fact is +well known to bag-men and stage-coach travellers. +</p> +<p> +Members of dilletanti societies are generally especial asses: +their eternal talk about the fine arts, drawing, colouring, harmony, +composition, chiaro-scuro, fore-shortening, design, and so forth, +is enough to turn the stomach of a horse. The thing is the more +insufferable, because they absolutely know nothing of the subject, +and have about as much real appreciation of works of genius as +a pig possesses for the inventions of Watt or Daedalus. +</p> +<p> +While prigs of the above description are eternally chattering about such +topics, men who are really eminent in the fine arts never say a word on +the subject. Goldsmith describes this matter well in his account of Sir +Joshua Reynolds:— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering,</p> + <p> When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing;</p> + <p> When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff,</p> + <p> He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff."</p> +</div></div> +<p> +When I see a man who affects to doubt everything he hears, I never +hesitate about writing him down an ass. A great doubter is a solemn and +self-conceited prig. How amusing is it to see the blockhead shake his +empty pate, compress his lips into a sneer, and turn up his absurd +unmeaning eyes in dubious disbelief, when he hears aught which he thinks +it would imply sagacity to discredit! Such persons imagine, that to be a +great doubter implies wisdom; whereas, in their case, it has its origin +in constitutional phlegm and stupidity. +</p> +<p> +Arguers and spouters are invariably asses. +</p> +<p> +If you wish to make yourself agreeable to any one, talk as much as you +please about his or her affairs, and as little as possible about your +own. People are such downright egotists themselves, that they cannot +tolerate egotism in others. +</p> +<p> +A person who cannot relish absurdity and wit, and must, moreover, have +a satisfactory reason for whatever is said or done, is a philosophical +blockhead. +</p> +<p> +The best tooth-powder in the world is Armenian hole, a pennyworth of +which will serve a man for six months. +</p> +<p> +If a man pronounces you a liar, it is very absurd to call him out for +the same. This ceremony does not prove that you are <i>not a liar</i>; +it only shows, that you possess sufficient courage to stand at the +distance of twelve paces, while a pistol—probably a leadless one—is +fired at you. +</p> +<p> +Snuff-taking in a woman is abominable, unless she be very aged—say +eighty, or upwards—when it is rather becoming than otherwise. +</p> +<p> +Young girls, of from fourteen to seventeen, are fond of aping the woman +in their dress, and are partial to long shawls, which give the young +things a matronly appearance. When they become women in reality, they +are rather too apt to go upon the opposite tack, and to assume the dress +and airs of the girl. +</p> +<p> +A well-made man always looks shorter than he is; ditto a well-made +woman. +</p> +<p> +A story-teller, or dealer in anecdote, is an abomination that ought to +be expelled from all well-regulated societies. A man of an original and +truly powerful mind never deals in anecdotes, unless it be for the +purpose of illustrating some general principle. Women and weak men are +all addicted to the vice. If a person of this description begins to +annoy a company with his or her twaddle, the only cure for it is to +affect deafness—a very convenient infirmity at times. +</p> +<p> +<i>A hint to Cooks</i>.—Roasted chestnuts, grated or sliced, make an +excellent addition to the stuffing for turkeys or geese. +</p> +<p> +<i>Another hint</i>.—In boiling salmon, split the fish from head to +tail; if you do not do this, but boil it entire, or cut horizontally +through the middle, it is impossible to cook it thoroughly, the +thickness of the back and shoulders being such, that, if the outside be +properly done, the inside must needs be little better than parboiled. On +the Tweed, and other salmon districts, the latter system is held in +abomination. +</p> +<p> +A clever servant is almost invariably quick tempered. The reason is +obvious: superior talent is always accompanied by pride, which must meet +with many petty annoyances in the menial state. +</p> +<p> +Never praise or talk of your children to other people; for, depend upon +it, no person except yourself cares a single farthing about them. +</p> +<p> +Sea-gull eggs, when boiled hard and eaten cold, with pepper, salt, +vinegar, and mustard, make a delightful breakfast dish. Many persons +have an antipathy to such eggs; but it is from eating them in the soft +state, when +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page443" name="page443"></a>[pg 443]</span> +they have always a fishy taste. Try them as above, and they +will change their opinions upon the subject. +</p> +<p> +If a person has a great knack at finding out feats of legerdemain, you +may pronounce him a blockhead. I never knew a clever man who was worth +a farthing at detecting such tricks. +</p> +<p> +I have a profound veneration for great liars of a certain class. On this +account Baron Munchausen, Major Longbow, and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, +are my especial favourites. Men of this description are invariably +good-tempered, benevolent, and generous; and will, any day, treat you to +a bottle of wine, provided you do them the favour of listening to their +adventures. +</p> +<p> +<i>Important to Drunkards</i>.—If, an hour before sitting down to +drink, you take a grain or two of opium, you will be able to withstand +a much greater quantity than otherwise of liquor. This fact has escaped +the observation of Macnish. +</p> +<p> +Some stupid people suppose that imagination and philosophy are +incompatible. Blockheads! Was not Bacon, the greatest of philosophers, +one of the most imaginative of men? There is more true philosophy in the +writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott, than in those of all the +metaphysicians that ever existed. +</p> +<p> +An accomplished woman, in common parlance, means one who sings and +dances well, knows a little French, a little Italian, a little drawing, +a little embroidery, and not much of any thing, excepting fashionable +novels; in which she is a great adept. +</p> +<p> +A lady's album is generally worth looking at, as a psychological +curiosity, indicative, to a considerable extent, of the taste and +feelings of its owner. +</p> +<p> +If a man borrows a shilling from you, and on being dunned pretends to +have forgotten it, you may with considerable safety set him down for +a liar. +</p> +<p> +When a man finds it convenient to tell a lie, he should sport a good +thumping one when he is about it. If a great lie serves his purpose +better than a little one, why hesitate between the two, when the sin is +equally great in both cases? The former has this advantage, that, when +detected, its enormity may be so great as to enable the person to pass +it off as a piece of quizzery, which can never be done with the latter. +</p> +<p> +Heroic liars, such as the Baron or Major, are a godly race; but those +who practise the sin in a small way, and keep fibbing about trifles are +a despicable crew, and should be held by the heels, and soused head +down-most in a firkin of small beer. +</p> +<p> +Men who are, or who fancy themselves to be good singers, are great +bores. The airs which they assume in company are most insufferable. If +asked for a song, they affect, with an aspect of the most hypocritical +humility, that really they cannot sing—that their voice is out of +order—that they are hoarse, and so forth; the fellows all the while +being most anxious to show forth, only wanting to be pressed, in order +to enhance their own importance, and stimulate the curiosity of the +company. Nor is this the worst of the case; for no sooner do they +perpetrate one song, than they volunteer a dozen, interlarding the +intervals between their performances with pedantic disquisitions on +music, and flooring every man who ventures to hazard an opinion on +the subject. These people, whether amateur or professional, must be +extinguished; and the best way to accomplish their overthrow, and +reduce them to their native insignificance, is, in the first instance, +to take them at their word, and not urge them to sing. By so doing, they +immediately take the pet, and sport mum for the rest of the evening. +The same remarks apply to musical people in general, whether in the +shape of fiddlers, fluters, horn blowers, thumpers on the pianoforte, +&c. These individuals can think of nothing else but their favourite +pursuit, and imagine all the world to be equally interested in it. Take +a musician off music, and he is the most ignorant of animals. A good +story in illustration of this is told about Madame Catalani. Being at a +large party in Vienna, where Goethe was present, she was much surprised +at the great respect with which that illustrious man was treated. +On inquiring his name, she was informed it was the celebrated Goethe. +"Celebrated!" said the siren; "what music did he ever compose? Why, +I never heard of him!" +</p> +<p> +An absurd prejudice prevails among many people against the skate. If +this fish is hung up and dried for a day or two, then cut in slices, +done on the gridiron, and eaten with butter, it is most delicious. +</p> +<p> +N.B. The female skate is more delicate than the male. +</p> +<p> +Persons who indulge in conundrums, charades &c. are invariably poor +creatures; as are those who have a knack at finding out such trifles. +The same remark applies to punsters. It is difficult for a man of +sterling talent to perpetrate a pun, or to solve an enigma. On the +latter account, Oedipus must have been an ass. +</p> +<p> +A fact.—Nine-tenths of the catsup which is sold in the shops is a vile +compound of liver and the roan of fish, seasoned with vinegar, pepper, +and other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, you must procure +mushrooms, and make it yourself. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page444" name="page444"></a>[pg 444]</span> +</p> +<h3> + FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN. +</h3> +<p> +There is no court in Europe about which so little is known as that of +Madrid, and certainly no European sovereign whose character and habits +have been so studiously misrepresented as those of Ferdinand. The first +time we beheld this monarch, we could scarcely credit the evidence of +our senses. Walking in the gardens of the Retiro, at the time crowded +with company, we encountered a portly old gentleman, quite unattended, +habited in a plain, blue coat and nankeen trousers. This was Ferdinand, +<i>El Rey absoluto</i>, whom, in our mind's eye, we had long sketched +with the dark pencil of a Murillo. On a countenance that we expected +to have seen marked by all the dark and fiery passions of a Caesar +Borgia, we beheld an expression of <i>bonhomie</i>—a total absence of +hauteur, still less of ferocity; in fact, so totally different was he +in appearance from all that we had preconceived, that it was with +some difficulty we could persuade ourselves that our cicerone was not +practising upon our credulity. So much, then, for the notion, that he +never trusts himself out of his palace without being surrounded by +a formidable guard. Perhaps no monarch is oftener seen without, or +evinces less fear for his personal safety, than the tyrant Ferdinand. +</p> +<p> +By men of all parties, at Madrid, he is spoken of as a man not naturally +vicious, but equally prone to good or evil, according to the direction +impressed upon him towards either of these two ends, arising from a wily +indolence of character, that, conscious of its own inability, throws +itself on another. Leave him, say they, but the name of king, his +secretaries, his valets, and his favourite amusements,—give him his +Havanna cigars, (a lot of which he sends daily to the officer of the +guard,)—and he would willingly consent to any change that might be +proposed to him. The faults or the vices of Ferdinand are owing to his +neglected and defective education; no care was taken to prepare him for +his high station. +</p> +<p> +It was in the spirit of party that he embroidered a petticoat for the +Holy Virgin, solely with the view of pleasing and cajoling the clergy; +for, in his heart, Ferdinand is rather a devotee to pleasure than +religion. In his habits he is remarkably domesticated; he rises at +an early hour, and passes the greater part of the day in his wife's +apartment, of whom he is passionately fond. The queen unites to a very +graceful figure an interesting expression of countenance, that sometimes +wears an appearance of sadness. Such is Ferdinand of Spain, whose actual +demise will disclose scenes that at present almost set political +calculation at defiance. +</p> +<p> +Ferdinand has been married four times:—1st, To Marie Antoinette, +daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies; 2ndly, To his neice, the +Infanta of Portugal, Maria Isabella; 3rdly, To the Princess Maria +Josepha-Amelia, daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony; and, lastly, +to his present queen, Maria Carletta, daughter of the late King of +Naples.—<i>Metropolitan</i>. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + NOTES OF A READER. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO BRITISH AMERICA. +</h3> +<p> +One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for +ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the +most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which +will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable +situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's, +breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many +conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their +fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly +adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the +period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their +own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the +hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour +required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who +has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and +if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of +employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a +wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be +exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can +expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees +piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest +construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down. +Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter +is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great +for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the +influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons +causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter. +Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their +stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong +vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet +chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of +these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes +are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the +vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly +annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and +evening. Sleep is completely driven away +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page445" name="page445"></a>[pg 445]</span> +when they make an attack, and +they produce the most uneasy sensation. +</p> +<p> +The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication +between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating +medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange, +difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of +agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which +ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and +sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the +ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels +and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops +materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the +formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the +Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive +sowings are sometimes necessary. +</p> +<p> +The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our +American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great +advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for +the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant +employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the +mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when +labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer +can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their +victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile, +and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and, +of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce +extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very +superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained +there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not +only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden +vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is +found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much +better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of +the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may +be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This +assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues +that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly +character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which +the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future +provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour +of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all +vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there +must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light +as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount +of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt, +brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own +tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered. +And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited +space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn, +good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant +in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages +counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former +with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They +must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must +make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess +land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange +for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess, +they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a +shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before +they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations +cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they +are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation +will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says +Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider, +before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and +integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of +his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain +means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave +scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and +whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to +suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing +with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the +spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of +his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or +three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been +unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the +forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which +require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all +these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be +disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have +entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would +often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before +them, in every part of America, examples of men +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page446" name="page446"></a>[pg 446]</span> +who must have encountered +and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before +they attained a state of comfortable affluence."—<i>Quart. Journ. Agr.</i> +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE SILK MANUFACTURE. +</h3> +<p> +The principal branches of this manufacture consist in the dyeing, +winding, warping, throwing, and weaving. The first needs no explanation; +the winding is the process between the throwing and the weaving. After +the silk is thrown it is dyed, and then wound off preparatory to the +loom. The warping is stretching the parallel threads on the loom, +preparatory to weaving. +</p> +<p> +<i>Throwing</i> silk, is twisting two threads into one for the purpose +of weaving. The single thread, as wound off from the cocoon, is +designated the raw silk. +</p> +<p> +There are two descriptions of thrown silk. One is called <i>tram</i>, +and consists of two threads simply twisted together. This description of +thrown silk is used in the shuttle or transverse threads of a piece of +silk on the loom. The other variety of thrown silk is called +<i>organzine</i>. In this, the single threads are first twisted up, +previous to their being twisted together. This is used for the warp, or +parallel threads upon the loom. +</p> +<p> +Throwing of silk was an important branch of manufacture in this country, +until the duties were reduced in 1826. Since that period it has +declined. The manufacture of thrown silk is chiefly carried on at +Macclesfield, Congleton, and in the West of England. As silk can be +thrown more cheaply in foreign countries than it can be in England, +there has been a difference between the throwsters and the weavers of +Coventry and Spitalfields, the latter having requested the protecting +duty against foreign thrown silk to be reduced, to the manifest injury +of the former. +</p> +<p> +It may be as well to explain to the reader the weights which are used +in the silk trade. The weight of silk is estimated by <i>deniers</i>, an +old Italian weight, of which twenty-four are equal to an ounce, used +only in the silk trade, in the same manner as the weight called a <i>carat</i> +is employed by those who deal in diamonds, and other precious stones. +It is the custom to reel off, upon an engine established in the silk +trade, a measure of four hundred ells of tram or organzine, (which are +both double threads,) and the weight of this quantity establishes the +fineness or coarseness of the silk. Four hundred ells of the finest +Italian tram will weigh eighteen deniers; and although this silk will +occasionally run so coarse as to weigh forty deniers, the qualities +mostly in use vary in weight from eighteen to thirty deniers. The China +and Bengal silk varies from thirty-five to eighty deniers in its weight. +Turkey silk, the importation of which has lately much increased, and +which is worked up in the single thread on account of the coarseness of +the texture, varies from thirty to fifty deniers; which, as the others +are weighed in the tram or double thread, will be in the proportion of +sixty to one hundred deniers. +</p> +<p> +Silk is the staple manufacture of France, and has always received the +fostering protection of the government. The raw material is the produce +of the country; and, as the growers of silk are not permitted to export +it, it is purchased by the manufacturers at a much cheaper rate than it +can be procured by us. The value of the raw silk yearly produced in +France is estimated at about three millions and a half sterling—the +produce of manufacture at about two millions and a half; so that the +silk trade of France is to be valued, on the whole, at about six +millions sterling. +</p> +<p> +This is the estimate which is made by the acknowledgment of the French +government; but there is every reason to suppose that it is much more +considerable. This is certain;—that it is of the greatest value to that +nation, and has received such protection, and, in consequence, is in +that flourishing condition, that, at present, no other country can +compete with it.—<i>Metropolitan</i>. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + RECENT VISIT TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. +</h3> +<p> +Mr. Fergusson in his notes made during a Visit to the United States and +Canada in 1831, says: after breakfast I took leave of my friend, and +walked on for the Falls, leaving the stage, in which I had secured a +place, to follow. The day was delightful, and as I ascended the steep +hill from Queenston, I overtook a soldier of the 79th in charge of the +baggage wagons, leaning on his musket, and wrapt in admiration of the +surrounding scenery, "<i>It's mair like Scotland, sir, than ony thing +I've seen sin' I left it</i>," was the poor fellow's remark, and truly +it was far from misapplied, making due allowance for difference of +scale. The country from Queenston to the Falls is well settled, and +finely diversified by farms, orchards and open forest. The soil is +perhaps light, but in some places of a stronger description, and +all apparently fertile, desirable land. A very beautiful property, +originally laid out by the ill-fated Duke of Richmond, and subsequently +possessed by Sir Peregrine Maitland, adjoins the Road. The house, which +is in the cottage style, of wood, seems large and commodious. This +estate is in a very favourable situation, and has been lately sold +for 2,000l.; it contains about 450 acres of good, useful land. The +distance from Queenston to Niagara is about seven miles, and I sauntered +on the whole way, the coach not overtaking me. About four miles from +the Falls, the sound came upon my ear like the murmur of Old Ocean on +a rugged strand. In certain states of the atmosphere and the wind this +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page447" name="page447"></a>[pg 447]</span> +is heard at a much greater distance. The noise gradually increased, +and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees. +A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as +Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common +curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory +came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even +from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that +mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it +must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think, +must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can +the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as +regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature. +The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal +and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated <i>at +rest</i>, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the +spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the +enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt +and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a +time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with +any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration +and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my +friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses +a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the +world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the +rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is +behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and +thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects +appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the +same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down +in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a +closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch +the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of +the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The +following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course, +to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came +crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friends being +quite at home in all the mazes of the river side, conducted me by a wild +and rugged route to the edge of the Table-rock, when, upon emerging from +a tangled brake, I beheld the Horse-shoe or great British Fall, pouring +down its volume of ice and water, at the distance of a few feet from +where we stood. The rock felt to me as though it vibrated, and a large +mass did in fact lately give way, soon after a party had retired from +the precarious stance. It is limestone, full of ugly fissures and rents. +A narrow wooden staircase conducts adventurous travellers to the bottom +of the Fall, where a sort of entrance is generally effected to a short +distance under the sheet, and for which performance a certificate in due +form is served out. The stair was at this time under repair, and the +accumulation of ice below perfectly reconciled me to wave pretensions +to such slippery honours. At some distance below the Fall, and opposite +to the American staircase, there is a ferry, to which a safe and most +romantic carriage-road has been lately formed, out of the solid rock, +at no small labour and expense. When a similar accommodation shall +have been provided upon the American side, it is expected to prove a +lucrative concern, but at the present foot-passengers only can be landed +in the States. The little skiff had just put off, with a party from the +Canada shores, and got involved in streams of ice, in a way somewhat +hazardous, and which rendered it impossible for the boatmen to return. +The scene from the ferry is indeed magnificent, the Horseshoe, the +American Fall, and Goat Island being all in view, with the great pool or +basin eddying in fearful and endless turmoil. In the evening I walked +up the river side towards the village of Chippeway, to visit a natural +curiosity upon Mr. C.'s estate. A spring surcharged with sulphuretted +hydrogen gas rises within a few paces of the river. A small building is +erected over it, and when a candle is applied to a tube in a barrel, +which encloses the spring, a brilliant and powerful light is evolved. +Close adjoining are the remains of extensive mills burnt by the +Americans during last war. The water privilege is great, and machinery +to any extent might be kept in play.—<i>Quart. Journ. of Agriculture.</i> +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE GATHERER. +</h2> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Dramatis Personae.</i>—The stages and theatres of the Greeks and +Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to +have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in +order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by +the Latins <i>persona</i>, from <i>personare</i> (to sound through); and +delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally +prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our +modern plays), as appears from the <i>Vatican Terence</i>. Hence +<i>dramatis personae</i> (masks of the drama); which words, after masks +ceased to be used, were understood to mean <i>persons of the drama</i>. +</p> +<h4> +J.E.J. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page448" name="page448"></a>[pg 448]</span> +</p> +<p> +<i>Punctuality</i>.—The late hospitable Colonel Bosville had his +dinner on the table exactly two minutes before five o'clock, and no +guest was admitted after that hour; for he was such a determined +observer of punctuality, that when the clock struck five, his +porter locked the street-door, and laid the key at the head of the +dinner-table. The time kept by the clock in the kitchen, the parlour, +and the drawing-room, and the watch of the master, were minutely the +same. That the dinner was ready, was not announced to the guests in +the usual way; but when the clock struck, this superlative time-keeper +himself declared to his guests, "Dinner waits." Boileau, the French +satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject: "I have always been +<i>punctual at the hour of dinner</i>," says the bard, "for I knew that +all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval would employ +those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults." +</p> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Volcanoes</i>.—According to Dr. Ure, there were, in 1830, 205 +burning volcanoes on the globe. Of these, 107 occur in islands, and 98 +on continents, but ranged mostly along their shores. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Former Junction of England and France</i>.—From the correspondence +pointed out by Mr. William Phillips, the geologist, between the strata +of Dover and the hills west of Calais; and by M. de la Beche, between +the strata of the coast of Dorset and Devon, and those of Normandy, it +may be inferred that the English Channel is a submarine valley, which +owes its origin in a great measure to diluvial excavation, the opposite +sides having as much correspondence as those of ordinary valleys on the +land. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Soldiers</i>.—English soldiers were at one period distinguished +by badges, like those worn by watermen. The general colour of their +dresses appears to have been white; though, in 1544, a part of the +forces of Henry VIII. were ordered to be dressed in blue coats, guarded +with red, without badges, the right hose red, and the left blue. In +1584, Elizabeth ordered the cassocks of the soldiers sent to Ireland +to be a sad green, or russet; though the cloaks of the cavalry were +red. In 1693, the dresses of the soldiers were grey, and those of the +drummers purple; but the red uniform was probably adopted when the +House of Hanover acceded to the throne. +</p> +<p> +In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. ordinary hats were lined with +iron plates, to prevent assassination. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Choristers</i>.—The singing boys are, probably, the only officers +of the Catholic Church retained to this day by the Royal Family; for +at the Reformation, when masses, &c., had wholly ceased, Queen Elizabeth +retained on her establishment four sets of singing-boys, attached to +St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and that +of the Royal Household. For the support of these bands, she issued out +warrants, like the other English sovereigns, for taking up "suche apt +and meete children as are fitt to be instructed and framed in the art +and science of musicke and singing." +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>A Ha! ha! Fence</i>.—Bridgman, a landscape gardener, early in the +last century, is supposed to have introduced in the Royal Gardens at +Richmond, the sunk fence for boundaries, instead of walls: an attempt +considered so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! has! +to express their surprise at the sudden termination of their walk. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Sheridan's Funeral</i>.—Mr. Moore has omitted one of the most +touching and heart-stirring anecdotes connected with the funeral of +Sheridan. The noble and select company had assembled to pay the last +tribute of respect to departed genius, and the coffin was about to be +placed in the hearse, when an elegantly-dressed personage, who pretended +to be distantly related to the deceased, entered the chamber of death. +At his urgent entreaties to view the face of his friend, the coffin lid +was unscrewed; and, to the horror and surprise of the bystanders, he +pulled out a warrant, and arrested the body! Mr. Canning and Lord +Sidmouth went into an adjoining room, and paid the debt, which (it is +said) amounted to 500l. +</p> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Dr. Walcot, to Shield the Composer</i>.—The following was sent to +Shield, the ingenious composer, for his ivory ticket for admission to +a concert, by his friend Peter Pindar:— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> Son of the <i>string</i> (I do not mean Jack Ketch,</p> +<p class="i2"> Though Jack, like <i>thee</i>, produceth <i>dying tones</i>;)</p> + <p> Oh! yield thy pity to a starving wretch,</p> +<p class="i2"> And for to-morrow's <i>treat</i>, pray send thy <i>bones</i>.</p> +</div></div> +<h4> +THOMAS GILL. +</h4> +<hr /> +<center> +<i>Epitaph on Mr. Death, the Actor</i>. +</center> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> Death levels all, both high and low.</p> +<p class="i2"> Without regard to stations;</p> +<p class="i4"> Yet why complain,</p> +<p class="i4"> If <i>we</i> are slain?</p> + <p> For here lies one, at least, to show</p> +<p class="i2"> He kills his own relations.</p> +</div></div> +<h4> +J.E.J. +</h4> +<hr /> +<center> +THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. +<br /> +VOL, XX. of THE MIRROR, with a Steel-plate Portrait of +<br /> +WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., +</center> +<p> +a Biographical Memoir, Eighty-eight Engravings, and Four Hundred +and Sixty-four enlarged pages, is now publishing, price 5s. 6d. +</p> +<p> +Part 131, price 8d., and Part 132, price 10d., (completing +Vol. XX.) are also ready. +</p> +<p> +The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, containing the above Portrait, Memoir, +Title-page, Index, &c., price 2d., will be published in the ensuing +week. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> +<b>Footnote 1</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p> +See the Cut. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> +<b>Footnote 2</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +<p> +This designation has been given to a spot in the Valley of the +creek, where formerly stood a hollow sycamore (platanus +occidentalis) tree of an enormous size, the remains of which +are still to be seen, and in the cavity of which, whilst it +stood, fifteen persons are said to have encamped at the same +time together. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> +<b>Footnote 3</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +<p> +Out-liers of any particular ridge. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> +<b>Footnote 4</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +<p> +Physical Geography, book viii. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> +<b>Footnote 5</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +<p> +Sir James Mackintosh. +</p> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> +<b>Footnote 6</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +<p> +A tunick, or frock of armour, with wide sleeves, reaching a +little below the elbow, terminating with a broad, gilt border, +and having a hood, not separate. Its first introduction in armour +is referred to the time of William II. +</p> +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> +<i>Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; +CHARLES JUGEL, Francfort; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers</i>. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, No. 583, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 583 *** + +***** This file should be named 12521-h.htm or 12521-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/5/2/12521/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, No. 583 + Volume 20, Number 583, Saturday, December 29, 1832 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: June 5, 2004 [EBook #12521] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 583 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XX, NO. 583.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1832. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA.] + + + + +NATURAL TUNNEL, IN VIRGINIA. + + +Rock Bridges occupy the same pre-eminence amongst the sublimities of +nature, that artificial bridges maintain amidst the labours of man. +Both alike inspire us with admiration, though we are enabled to obtain +but unequal results as to their respective origins. The bridge, built +by human hands, is, indeed, a triumph of the perfection of skilful +contrivance; the strength and beauty of the arch are among the most +simple yet exquisite results of science, wonderful as they may appear +to the untaught beholder: but how shall we explain the formation of +stupendous rock-arches across deep ravines and rolling torrents, in +countries where none but the wild and picturesque forms of nature rise +to gladden the eye and heart of the inquiring traveller? Of the latter +description are the natural bridges which abound in the State of +Virginia; as Rockbridge, which gives name to the county in which it is +situated, and the wild and fantastic bridges of Icognozo; all of which +are more extensively recognised among the wonders of creation than the +specimen here presented to the reader. + +This Tunnel is in Scott county, Virginia; but was so little known beyond +its immediate neighbourhood, as to induce Lieut.-Col. Long, (U.S. Army,) +to communicate its description to Mr. Featherstonhaugh's _American +Journal of Geology and Natural Science_; and the following narrative +of the Colonel's Excursion will be read with interest:-- + +"During the past summer, I visited a remarkable natural bridge in Scott +county, Virginia, to which I have given the name of Natural Tunnel, on +account of its striking resemblance to artificial structures of that +kind. + +"The immediate locality of this tunnel is upon a small stream called +Buck-eye, or Stock Creek. This last name owes its origin to its valley +having been resorted to by the herdsmen of the country, for the +attainment of a _good range_, or choice pasture-ground, for their +cattle. The creek rises in Powell's mountain, and is tributary to Clinch +river, which it enters at the distance of between two and three miles +below the tunnel. The aspect of the surrounding country, and especially +of that to the northward of the tunnel, and constituting the southerly +slope of the mountain just mentioned, is exceedingly diversified, and +broken by elevated spurs and ridges, separated from each other by deep +chasms, walled with cliffs and mural precipices, often presenting +exceedingly narrow passes, but occasionally widening into meadows or +bottoms of considerable extent. The mural precipices just mentioned +occur very frequently, bounding the valleys of the streams generally in +this part of the country, and opposing ramparts of formidable height, +and in many places utterly insurmountable. Such are the features +peculiarly characteristic of _Wild Cat Valley_, the _Valley of +Copper Creek_, of Powell's and Clinch rivers, and of numerous other +streams of less note, all of which are situated within a few miles of +the Natural Tunnel. + +"To form an adequate idea of this remarkable and truly sublime object, +we have only to imagine the creek to which it gives a passage, +meandering through a deep, narrow valley, here and there bounded on both +sides by walls, or _revetements_, of the character above intimated, +and rising to the height of two or three hundred feet above the stream; +and that a portion of one of these chasms, instead of presenting an +open, _thorough cut_ from the summit to the base of the high +grounds, is intercepted by a continuous unbroken ridge, more than three +hundred feet high, extending entirely across the valley, and perforated +transversely at its base, after the manner of an artificial tunnel, and +thus affording a spacious subterranean channel for the passage of the +stream. + +"The entrance to the Natural Tunnel on the upper side of the ridge +is imposing and picturesque in a high degree; but on the lower side +the grandeur of the scene is greatly heightened by the superior +magnitude of the cliffs, which exceed in loftiness, and which rise +perpendicularly--and, in some instances, in an impending manner--two +or three hundred feet; and by which the entrance on this side is +almost environed, as it were, by an amphitheatre of rude and frightful +precipices. + +"The observer, standing on the brink of the stream, at the distance +of about one hundred yards below the debouchure of the Natural Tunnel, +has, in front, a view of its arched entrance, rising seventy or eighty +feet above the water, and surmounted by horizontal stratifications of +yellowish, white, and grey rocks, in depth nearly twice the height of +the arch. On his left, a view of the same mural precipice, deflected +from the springing of the arch in a manner to pass thence in a +continuous curve quite to his rear, and towering in a very impressive +manner above his head. On his right, a sapling growth of buck-eye, +poplar, linden, &c., skirting the margin of the creek, and extending +obliquely to the right, and upward, through a narrow, abrupt ravine, +to the summit of the ridge, which is here and elsewhere crowned with +a timber-growth of pines, cedars, oaks, and shrubbery of various +kinds. On his extreme right is a gigantic cliff, lifting itself up, +perpendicularly from the water's edge, to the height, of about three +hundred feet, and accompanied by an insulated cliff, called the Chimney, +of about the same altitude, rising, in the form of a turret, at least +sixty feet above its basement, which is a portion of the imposing cliff +just before mentioned. + +"Desirous of illustrating this paper by a front view of the Natural +Tunnel where the creek issues from it, I have, with the assistance +of a particular friend in this city--to whom I am indebted for the +accompanying drawing[1]--been enabled to furnish a sketch which very +faithfully represents some of the appearances I have described. The +embellishments last mentioned, however, viz. the chimney and its +accompaniments, could not be comprised in the landscape. + +"The following passages are from my own private journal:-- + +"Saturday, Aug. 13, 1831. Having ascended Cove ridge, we turned aside +from our route to visit the natural bridge, or tunnel, situated on +Buck-eye, or Stock creek, about a mile below the Sycamore camp,[2] and +about one and a half miles from a place called Rye cove, which occupies +a spacious recess between two prominent spurs of Powell's mountain, the +site of the natural tunnel being included within a spur of Cove ridge, +which is one of the mountain spurs just alluded to. Here is presented +one of the most remarkable and attractive curiosities of its kind, to be +witnessed in this or any other country. The creek, which is about seven +yards wide, and has a general course about S. 15 W., here passes through +a hill elevated from two to three hundred feet above the surface of the +stream, winding its way through a huge subterraneous cavern, or grotto, +whose roof is vaulted in a peculiar manner, and rises from thirty to +seventy or eighty feet above its floor. The sides of this gigantic +cavern rise perpendicularly in some places to the height of fifteen or +twenty feet, and, in others, are formed, by the springing of its vaulted +roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from +fifty to one hundred and fifty feet. Its course is that of a continuous +curve, resembling the letter S; first winding to the right as we enter +on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again +to the left on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its +peculiar form, that an observer, standing at a point about midway of its +subterranean course, is completely excluded from a view of either +entrance, and is left to grope in the dark through a distance of about +twenty yards, occupying an intermediate portion of the tunnel. When the +sun is near the meridian, and his rays fall upon both entrances, the +light reflected from both extremities of the tunnel contributes to +mollify the darkness of this interior portion into a dusky twilight. + +"The extent of the tunnel, from its upper to its lower extremity, +following its meanders, is about 150 yards; in which distance the stream +falls about ten feet, emitting, in its passage over a rocky bed, an +agreeable murmur, which is rendered more grateful by its reverberations +upon the roof and sides of the grotto. The discharge of a musket +produces a crash-like report, succeeded by a roar in the tunnel; which +has a deafening effect upon the ear. + +"The hill through which this singular perforation leads, descends in a +direction from east to west, across the line of the creek, and affords a +very convenient passage for a road which traverses it at this place, +having a descent in the direction just mentioned of about four degrees. + +"The rocks found in this part of the country are principally sandstone +and limestone, in stratifications nearly horizontal, with occasional +beds of clay slate. A mixture of the two former frequently occurs among +the alternations presented by these rocks. A variety of rock resembling +the French burr occurs in abundance on Butcher's-fork of Powell's river, +about twenty miles northwardly of the Natural Tunnel. Fossils are more +or less abundant, in these and other rocks. Fossil bones, of an +interesting character, have been found in several places. Saltpetre +caves are numerous. Coves, sinks, and subterranean caverns, are +strikingly characteristic, not only of the country circumjacent to the +Natural Tunnel, but of the region generally situated between the +Cumberland mountain, and the Blue ridge or Apalachian mountain. +Bituminous coal, with its usual accompaniments, abounds in the northerly +parts of this region; and in the intermediate and southerly portions, +iron, variously combined, often magnetic, together with talcose rocks, +&c. &c. are to be met with in great abundance. + +"The mountains in this vicinity--long. 82 deg. to 84 deg. W. from Greenwich, +lat. 35 deg. to 36 deg. N.--are among the most lofty of the Allegheny range. +Several knobs[3] in this part of the range, among which may be +enumerated the Roan, the Unaka, the Bald, the Black, and Powell's +mountains, rise to the height of at least four thousand five hundred +feet above tide." + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh remarks, that the Natural Tunnel has not been +worn through the rock by the long-continued action of running water is +evident, not from the cavernous structure alone of the general country, +but from the form of Powell's mountain, in a spur of which the Tunnel +passes transversely. + +Mr. Featherstonhaugh further concludes the Tunnel to be a natural cavity +in the rock, for, if such had not been the case, "it is evident that the +stream would have been deflected from its line; would have followed the +base of the hill, and have turned the extreme point." + +Little is known of the geology of the country in which this Tunnel is +situate, notwithstanding the popularity of the natural bridges of the +State. The rock before us would appear to belong to that class which +geologists commonly term Perforated Mountains, which some suppose +to have been bored through, in part, at least, by the persevering +industry of man. "Such phenomena," observes Maltebrun, "are, however, +mere eccentricities of nature, and differ from caverns only from +the circumstance of having a passage entirely through them. The +Pierre-Pertuise in Mount Jura, and Pausilippo, near Naples, are +instances of this kind. The Torghat, in, Norway, is pierced by an +opening 150 feet high, and 3,000 long. At certain seasons of the year, +the sun can be seen darting its rays from one extremity to the other of +this vault. Near New Zealand is a rocky arch through which the waves of +the sea pass at high water."[4] The latter, one of the Piercy Islands, +will be found engraved and described in _The Mirror_, vol. xix. p. 145. + + + [1] See the Cut. + + [2] This designation has been given to a spot in the Valley of the + creek, where formerly stood a hollow sycamore (platanus + occidentalis) tree of an enormous size, the remains of which + are still to be seen, and in the cavity of which, whilst it + stood, fifteen persons are said to have encamped at the same + time together. + + [3] Out-liers of any particular ridge. + + [4] Physical Geography, book viii. + + * * * * * + + +THE LATE SIR WALTER SCOTT. + +(_From the Note Book of a Tourist_.) + +In the summer of 1829, I made a Tour of the Borders. On the 16th of +August, I arrived in Melrose. I came on the top of the coach from +Jedburgh, in company with two intelligent fellows, a young Englishman of +fortune (apparently,) and a Russian nobleman. We put up at the George, +where we found about five tourists, redolent of sketch and note books, +drinking toddy and lying in wait to catch a sight of the lion of the +neighbourhood, Sir Walter. The voracity with which they devoured any +anecdotes of him was amusing. In the evening it came on a peppering +storm. I had foreseen this on our route from _Jeddart_. The Eildons +had mounted their misty cap, always a sure prognostic of rain; in fact +they are the barometer of the district. I then prevailed on my two +companions to forego their visit to the Abbey that night. We therefore +had in old Davidson, the landlord of the Inn, and my companions +submitted him to an interrogatory of three long hours' duration. +One little anecdote of fresh occurrence struck me as possessing some +interest. I will record it. About a month before, a poor maniac +presented herself at the gates of Abbotsford. She desired to see Sir +Walter. The servant denied her admittance, but such was the earnestness +of the poor creature, that _auld Saunders_, on her pressing +application, went and informed his master, "that a puir demented lassie +was at the gett (gate) greetin' like a bairn." Sir Walter had the +kindest of hearts; "O admit her puir thing," he said. The woman no +sooner entered than she fell on her knees in reverential awe before Sir +Walter. Her story was simply this. She belonged to Aberdeen; she was +married to a young farmer in that neighbourhood and had not long before +given birth to a beautiful infant, the first pledge of their loves. +The pains of birth had injured her mental equanimity, and eluding the +vigilance of her keepers she set forward one evening in search of the +great enchanter, whose works had in happier hours beguiled her with +their beauty. She travelled for a week; the distance from Aberdeen to +Abbotsford was about a hundred and fifty miles. She had walked every +step. Sir Walter did what he could to soothe her distracted mind, +and get her wasted frame recruited. But after some time he deemed it +advisable to exercise his judicial power and put her in a place of +security, until definite intelligence could be procured of her friends +and relations. Jedburgh is the county town of Roxburgh; and thither all +wanderers of this and a less gentle race are sent. A post-chaise was +sent for from old Davidson, of the George, and when it was at the door +of Abbotsford, Sir Walter induced the poor girl to enter it, promising +to accompany her "out a ridin'." She entered--looking for him to follow. +The door was instantly closed, and the post-boy lashing and spurring his +horses, darted off in a second. She gave a piercing shriek, looked +wildly round her, and abandoned herself to the most agonizing despair; +exclaiming in a tone of the utmost pathos, "ah! deceitfu' man, hae ye +beguiled me too!"--and then she sunk back in the carriage, and buried +herself in the deepest silence. * * + +18th August. Set out to view the ruins of Dryburgh Abbey. Called +on Capt. (now Sir David) Erskine, from whom I received the politest +attention. His housekeeper acted as my cicerone, and conducted me over +the venerable pile. These time-worn ruins stand on the north bank of +the Tweed, by which they are almost surrounded, and are backed by hills +covered with wood, of the richest foliage. The abbey as well as the +modern mansion house of the proprietor, is completely embosomed in wood. +Around this sylvan spot the Tweed winds in a beautiful crescent form, +and the scene is extremely interesting, embracing both wood and water, +mountain and rock scenery. The whole gives rise to sentiments of the +most pleasing, devotional tranquillity. The place, however, at which I +paused, was St. Mary's Aisle: "here," I said to myself, "will the mighty +minstrel sleep, when his harp shall be silent!"--and here I offered the +votive tribute in anticipation, which thousands will follow me in, now +that he is, too truly, alas! no more. At the little iron palisading I +stood, and said, "here Scott will sleep:" in this, fate has not deceived +me. He rests there now. Peace to his manes! + +August 20. Down at the Abbey this night. It would be absolute folly +to note down what I saw or thought of this most remarkable monastic +structure. Every album possesses it, in all the beauty of its fairy +architecture; its tabernacles, its niches and canopies, and statues, +pinnacles, pediments, spires, and the tracery of its vaultings. + +The decorated work is most exquisitely executed. The mouldings are +still so sharp, that they seem as lately from the chisel of the mason. +The south transept window and door are the most perfect of the ruins. +The day light of the window is twenty-four feet by sixteen, divided by +four mullions. The tracery and cuspings are all of the decorated style +of the Gothic. It is furnished with crotchets and creeping foliage. +There are a number of niches, canopies, and tabernacles, on the south +transept; and the corbels that support the statues, are carved with +grotesque figures; some representing monks with cowls upon their heads, +others musicians playing upon different kinds of instruments; some are +most hideous to look at. Sir Walter procured casts of many of these +grotesque figures, which on a visit to Abbotsford, I observed placed in +the ceiling of the hall. He has clothed them in a new dress, more suited +to the social scene of their present locality. But, I always ramble +into the _shop_, when I get on architecture. Let me narrate the +occurrence of this night. As I was pacing the great aisle of the abbey, +a carriage drove up to the gate. "Sir Walter Scott!" said the keeper, +brushing past me to receive him. A lady alighted. I heard "good night!" +responded by a person in the carriage, who drove off with it. Who can +this be, thought I to myself. It was dusk--the lady advanced with a +stately step. I moved aside. "In these deep solitudes and awful cells!" +methought I heard her say. She ascended to the bell-tower. "Who is that +lady?" said I to the keeper when he entered. "That, sir," said he, +"is Mistress Hemmins, the poet writer, wha is on a visit to Maistre +Lockhart, and she cam just noo in Sir Walter's carriage, and she wants +to be alane, sir, by hersel." I took the hint, and made for the George +and my glass of toddy, unwilling to deprive the world of those lays, +which Melrose, the rush of the Tweed, and midnight would, no doubt, +inspire in the fair authoress. + +August 23. At Galashiels, a semi-rural demi-manufacturing town on the +banks of the "braw, braw Gala water." Not having the good fortune to get +to Abbotsford from Melrose, I started over the hill which looks down on +Galashiels, towards that destination. Abbotsford I need not render an +account of. But my approach to it was not deficient in interest. + +On arriving at the summit of the hill overlooking the Tweed, it burst +upon my sight. I looked down on the grounds in which it is settled, as +on a map. The skill and industry of Sir Walter is not more remarkable in +his literary than in his rural works. The house stands in a bare, barren +corner of Selkirkshire, (I think) but by admirable management, he has +enclosed it with fine, hardy young wood, and quite altered its +appearance. + +At the bottom of the hill I took the boat at the ferry, and resting in +the middle of the stream, the Tweed, and looked around me. I saw a +person on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the wood which +comes down to the water's edge. I drew near. He was dressed in a short, +green coat and cap, and was amusing himself with the antics of a large +dog. The place--the time--the air--the gait--every thing conspired: +"Who's that, lassie?" said I to my little boat rower; "That, sir? that's +_himsel_, that's the shirra" (sheriff.) Yes, it was the man--he +himself--the pride of Scotland--her boast--the intellectual beacon of +her hills--it was Sir Walter Scott! + +Sept. 3. At Selkirk. At Mitchell's Inn, where I was introduced to the +celebrated Jamie Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd. He had come, I think, from +a fair held at the Eildons. We got over a jug of toddy. Our conversation +turned on the church service of the kirk of Scotland, and we rambled +into poetry in conversing on the psalms. I pointed out to the shepherd, +that a fair fame might be achieved by arranging the Psalms of David, and +superseding the barbarities of Sternhold and Hopkins. James maintained +that the present edition in use in Scotland, could _not_ be +improved. He said that the question had been agitated in the General +Assembly, and Sir Walter Scott was applied to, to furnish an improved +versification, but he answered, stating that it would be a more +difficult matter to get the people to adopt them, than to furnish the +same. Any alteration in this respect would be looked upon as little +better than sacrilege, and he therefore advised that the present form +should be continued in. "Watty's a sensible chap," said the shepherd, +speaking familiarly of Sir Walter, "and if he laid a finger on o'or +venerable psalmody, I wad pitch a louse at him, wha hae ever loved the +man as my ain brether." + + * * * * * + +During the last years of Sir Walter's life, he visited in the counties +of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Selkirk, the various scenes which his graphic +pen has delineated and incorporated in his minstrelsy and romance. The +summer when the preceding notes were made, I happened to be in Kelso, +and took ride one day to visit the worthy minister of a neighbouring +parish, in which the celebrated border _keep_ Smailholme tower is +situated, the scene of the fearful legend embodied in the poem "The Eve +of St. John." + +We rode over to it: it is situated on a crag or ridge of rock, high +in the north range of hills, the Lammer-muir, which spring from the +splendid vale of Teviot and Tweed, commanding an unbounded prospect +on the east and west; the south is terminated by the Cheviots and +the English border. + +We found the Tower in possession of a party, and the Rev. Mr. C---- rode +forward to report, in case we should be deemed intruders. He came back +shortly, and it was no other than Sir Walter himself, with several +members of his family, who had accompanied him to bid a final farewell +to _Smaillum keep_. As I afterwards heard, he was in the highest +spirits, and repeated the poem for the gratification of his party, in +that impressive manner for which he was remarkable, in giving the +necessary effect to his own compositions. The party brought a cold +collation with them: before leaving, Sir Walter surveyed the beautiful +prospect at his feet, the Tweed and Teviot meeting in sisterly +loveliness, and joining their waters in the valley, with the golden +fields of England in the distance; when filling a glass of wine he drank +with fervour, in which all joined him, "baith sides of the Tweed." + +I. + + * * * * * + + +OLD ENGLISH ARMOUR. + +(_From a Correspondent._) + +Previous to the time of Edward I., the body-armour may be distinguished +by the appellations of _trelliced, ringed, rustred, mascled, scalad, +tegulated, single-mailed_, and _banded_. The _trelliced_ method +has not been properly ascertained: it probably consisted of leather +thongs, crossed, and so disposed as to form large squares placed +angularly, with a round knob or stud in the centre of each. The +_ringed_ consisted of flat rings of steel, placed contiguous to +each other, on quilted linen. The _rustred_ was nothing more than +one row of flat rings, about double the size of those before used, laid +half over the other, so that two in the upper partially covered one +below. _Mascled_; the hauberk composed of several folds of linen, +covered with diamond-shaped pieces of steel touching each other, and +perforated: so called from their resemblance to the _meshes_ of a +net. _Scaled_; formed of small pieces of steel like the scales of +fish, partially overlaying each other. This species was used only during +the reigns of Henry II and Richard I. The _tegulated_ consisted of +little square plates, partly covering one another, like tiles. + +_Single Mail_ was composed of rings set edgeways on quilted linen. +It came into use about the close of John's reign, and continued to be +partially worn till that of Edward I. At the commencement of Henry +III.'s reign, it covered not only the head, but hands, legs, and feet. +It was very heavy, and likewise the rings were liable to be cut off by +the blow of a sword; which latter circumstance, perhaps, introduced the +contrivance of _banded_ armour, which was composed of parallelogramic +pieces of metal, sown on linen, so placed as to fold perpendicularly +over each other, like palings, and kept in their places by bandy or +hoops of leather. + +We now come to the _Double-chain Mail_, consisting of interlaced +rings, which made its first appearance in the triumphant reign of Edward +I. It is said to be of Asiatic invention, and was composed of four rings +within a fifth, each of which was rivetted. _Single-chain mail_ was +worn by the Crusaders, in Henry III's time; and when the number of rings +was doubled, it became _double-chain mail_. Its great advantages +were compactness and pliability. Horses were now clothed in mail. + +In the latter part of Edward III.'s reign, the _double-chain mail_ +became so covered with pieces of steel as to cause them in a little time +to supersede it altogether. This, therefore, was termed _mixed_. +The _double-chain_ hauberk had been found, owing to its weight, to +press injuriously upon the chest; to remedy which, a breastplate of +steel was contrived, which being placed underneath, kept the mail from +pressing upon the stomach. The throat was protected by a chain-covering +that surrounded the neck, and hung down to the shoulders like a tippet. + +We now come to _Plate Armour_. In Henry IV.'s reign, the adoption +of the _mixed_ armour soon pointed out, by experience, the +inutility of retaining the _ringed_ hauberk. The thighs and legs +were no longer covered with _double-chain mail_, and the arms only +partially. A back-plate was added, which, with the breast-plate, formed +a cuirass. During the use of _mixed_ armour, the arms, thighs, +knees, and legs were covered with plates of metal; and for the hands +were invented gloves of plate, with fingers, called _gauntlets_. + +From the Conquest to the time of Richard III., the fashion was to ride +with the toes down; after which period, the heel was dropped, and the +toe raised. Spurs were not screwed to the armour before the time of +Henry V. + +No higher degree of perfection was ever attained in armour than during +the reign of Richard III. The outline of the suit was most elegant, the +workmanship most elaborate, and the choice of ornaments full of taste. + + * * * * * + + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD. + +In the county of Hereford, some of the Romish and feudal ceremonies are +yet practised. On the eve of Old Christmas-day, there are thirteen fires +lighted in the cornfields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a +circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and +in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin +Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle; and while they +are burning, the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they +behold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a +cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having +assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, +and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity: + + "Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn, + God send thy master a good crop of corn, + Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain, + And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again." + + +After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. + +They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of +her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground; and if it falls +forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good; if backward, +that it will be unfavourable. This is the commencement of the rural +feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning. + + * * * * * + + +CHRISTMAS IN MEXICO. + +"Christmas is in Guadalaxara," says Mr. Hardy, "a season of great +diversion. The portales (colonades), which are much better than those of +the city of Mexico, and infinitely more numerous, are all well lighted +up with candles, surrounded by coloured paper shades, standing on little +tables, which display a great assortment of sweetmeats and fruits. The +ladies and gentlemen walk about, finely dressed, under the portale, and +convert it into a fashionable promenade.--From seven till ten, there is +not perhaps a single family in the whole town which has not taken a few +turns in their gayest dresses, to witness the sweetmeat exhibition--to +see and to be seen. It may be well to give the traveller a gentle hint +with respect to the 25th of December: nothing borrowed on that day is +ever returned. It is, in short, to the Mexicans, who call it. 'La noche +buena,' what April fool-day is to us. Therefore, traveller, beware! +It is the occasion of much frolic and amusement." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +NEW YEAR'S GIFTS. + +The custom of New-year's Gifts is very ancient, and was formerly carried +to a great extent. The sovereign used to accept gifts from his courtiers +and principal favourites, and was also in the habit of making presents +to certain individuals; the prince, however, always taking care that the +presents he received greatly exceeded in value those which he gave. +It is recorded of Bishop Latimer, that on one occasion he presented to +his master, Henry VIII., instead of a sum in gold for a New-year's +Gift, a New Testament, with the leaf folded down at Hebrews, ch. xiii., +v. 4.--on reference to which the king found a text well suited as an +admonition to himself. Queen Elizabeth supplied herself with wardrobe +and jewels principally from new year's gifts. Dr. Drake has given +a list of some of these presents;--amongst the items we find the +following: "Most of the peers and peeresses of the realm, the bishops, +the chief officers of state, her majesty's household, even as low +as the master of the pantry and head cook, all gave her majesty a +Christmas-box,--consisting either of a sum of money, jewels, trinkets, +or wearing apparel. The Archbishop of Canterbury usually gave 40l., +the Archbishop of York 30l., and the other prelates from 10l. to 20l. +The peers gave in the same proportion;--whilst the peeresses presented +rich gowns petticoats, shifts, stockings, garters, &c. Her physician +presented her with a box of foreign sweetmeats; and from her apothecary +she received a box of ginger-candy and a box of green ginger. Ambroise +Lupo gave her a box of lute-strings; and Smith, the royal dustman, +presented her majesty with two bolts of cambric." + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +SUMPTUARY LAWS. + +These laws were made to restrain excess in apparel, costly furniture, +eating, &c. + +Zaleucus, the ancient philosopher and legislator of Greece, ordained +that no woman should go attended with more than one maid in the street, +except she was drunk. He prohibited the use of wine, otherwise than as +a medicine, &c. + +Among the Romans there were sumptuary laws to restrain the number of +guests at feasts;--not only the master of the feast, but all the guests +too, were liable to the penalty. It was also enacted, that more than ten +asses should not be spent at any ordinary feast. Ten asses was the price +of a sheep. + +Luxury was restricted in England in 1337; wherein the prelates and +nobility were confined to two courses every meal, and two kinds of food +in every course, except on great festivals. All who did not enjoy a fee +estate of 100_l._ per annum were also prohibited from wearing furs, +skins, or silk; and the use of foreign cloth was confined to the royal +family alone--to all others it was prohibited. An edict was issued by +Charles VI. of France, which says, "Let no one presume to treat with +more than a soup and two dishes," 1340. + +Sumptuary laws were made in England, in former times, against picked +shoes, short doublets, and long coats. The dandies of ancient days wore +the beaks or points of their shoes so long, that they encumbered +themselves in their walking, and were forced to tie them up to their +knees; the _fine gentlemen_ fastened theirs with chains of silver, +or silver gilt, and others with laces. This ridiculous custom was in +vogue from the year 1382; but was prohibited, on the forfeiture of +20_s._ and the pain of cursing by the clergy, 1467. + +In the reign of King Henry IV., Camden says--Pride was got so much into +the foot, that it was proclaimed that no man should wear shoes above +_six inches broad at the toes_; and other garments were so short, +that it was enacted, under Edward IV., that no person under the +condition of a lord wear any mantle or gown, unless of such length. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +MARRIAGE CUSTOM. + +The following singular, though highly _useful_ custom, formerly +existed in England: viz.--"There was usually carried before the mayde, +when she shoulde be married, and came to dwell in hir husbande's house, +_a distaffe, charged with flaxe, and a spyndle hanging at it_, to the +intente shee might bee myndeful to lyve by hir labour." The foregoing +is extracted from "A Treatise wherein dicing dauncing, vaine plays, or +enterludes; with other idle pastimes, commonly used on the Sabbath-day, +are proved by the authoritie of the word of God, and ancient writers; +by John Northbrook, minister and preacher of the word of God." + +JUVENIS. + + * * * * * + + +NATIONAL CAPRICES. + +The Persian, it is said, will endure suffocation before he will blow the +fire with his breath; the Indian places supreme perfection in besmearing +himself with cow-dung; the Mussulman believes himself purified from all +his sins by the ablution of his head and arms: the only question with +him is, "whether the ceremony ought to begin at the elbow or at the +points of his fingers;" but so great is the difference of opinion on +this head, that if two Mahometans meet on a journey, and accost each +other with brotherly affection, by the one beginning his ablution +at his fingers' ends, and the other at his elbow, they instantly +separate and become mortal enemies. + +WALTER E.C. + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +THE POST OFFICE. + + +In the year 1635, Charles I. directed his postmaster to open a +communication between London and Edinburgh, &c. &c. In 1653-4, the +revenues of the Post-office were farmed by the Council of State and +Protector, at 10,000_l._ per annum. Some idea of their progressive +increase may be gained by the perusal of the following:-- + + 1664 L21,000 + 1674 43,000 + 1685 65,000 + 1688 76,318 + 1697 90,505 + 1710 111,467 + 1715 145,227 + 1744 235,492 + 1775 345,321 + 1785 463,753 + 1793 607,268 + 1814 2,005,987 + + +Since 1814, Mr. Macculloch considers the revenue of the Post-office to +have been about stationary. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +BEDE'S CHAIR. + +[Illustration: BEDE'S CHAIR.] + + +This curious relic is preserved in the vestry of the ancient church of +Jarrow, two miles from South Shields, in the county of Durham. It is a +large chair of oak, traditionally said to have been the seat of the +VENERABLE BEDE, the pre-eminent boast of the monastery, a portion only +of the church of which establishment remains at Jarrow. The chair is +very rudely formed, and, with the exception of the back, is of great +age. To have been possessed by Bede, it must be eleven hundred years +old; but there is no precisely authentic testimony of its belonging to +that learned writer. The Danes and Normans are said to have plundered +the monastery of all its valuables; though it is reasonable to suppose, +that the monks would preserve the seat of their principal with more +reverential care, and attach to it more importance, than they would to +any other article of furniture. Mr. Fosbroke, the diligent antiquarian, +refers to it as Bede's Chair in accredited manner; that is, as taken +for granted, or without note or comment of doubt. + +Venerable Bede was born at Wearmouth, A.D. 672, only a few years after +the introduction of Christianity into Northumberland. When seven years +of age, he was received into the monastery of his native place, where +his infant mind acquired the rudiments of that knowledge which has +rendered his memory immortal. When only nineteen, he was ordained +deacon; and, even at that early age, was regarded as exemplary for +his piety and studious life: he was subsequently removed to the new +foundation at Jarrow, where he continued to study throughout a long +life. The results of his monastic seclusion furnish a bright page even +in these dark ages. "Such was the authority of his writings, that, +though only a humble monk in the most remote, barbarous, and recently +converted of the Saxon principalities, he attained (what was even then) +the singular honour of being the most celebrated writer of Christendom +for more centuries than one."[5] His great work is entitled, an +"Ecclesiastical History," detailing ecclesiastical with civil events; +which was, indeed, inevitable, when the ecclesiastics were the only men +of knowledge. Bede believed in miraculous interpositions, and honestly +related them; nevertheless, our obligations to his industry are +invaluable. To him we owe all our knowledge of English history, from the +landing of the Saxons in Kent to his time, (nearly three centuries,) +and all our certain information respecting the various tribes who then +inhabited the island: from him it is apparent that the work called the +Saxon Chronicle copies long passages. Bede also translated St. John's +Gospel into English; and it is said, that a copy of some of St. Paul's +Epistles, in Bede's handwriting, is still preserved in the library of +Trinity College, Cambridge. His works, published at Basle, extend to +eight folio volumes. + +Bede died May 26, 735, in the sixty-third year of his age. He was first +buried in his own monastery, but his remains were afterwards removed, +and interred in Durham cathedral; and, being subsequently canonized, he +was enrolled in the Romish calendar of saints. His character is thus +drawn by William of Malmsbury:--"He was a man, that, although born +in the extreme corner of the world, yet the light of his learning spread +over all parts of the earth. All the hours which he had to spare from +the monastic exercises of prayer, and singing in the choirs by day and +night, (in which he was constant, and very devout,) he most diligently +spent in study, and divided his whole time between that and his +devotions." + +The Chair is not the only memorial of Bede preserved in this +neighbourhood. About one mile west of Jarrow is a _Well_, still +called _St. Bede's_, to which it was customary, almost as late as +the middle of the last century, to convey diseased children, and, after +dropping in a crooked pin, to dip them for the recovery of their health: +round the Well, also, on every Midsummer Eve, was a great resort of the +neighbouring people, with bonfires, music, and dancing. The mystical +properties of the Well are not of difficult solution: since it was +reasonable enough to associate the restorative effects of cold bathing +with sanctity; and the rejoicings at the spring were indicative of the +gladness of the people, in connexion with a name endeared to them, by +the wisdom, virtue, and benevolence, of its possessor. + + [5] Sir James Mackintosh. + + + * * * * * + + +GOLD-BEATING. + +Early in the 17th century, great surprise was excited upon the +promulgation of the fact, that the Parisian gold-beaters could produce +1,600 leaves, or 105 square feet, from one ounce of gold; but the +surprise of the public was redoubled, when, upon the discovery of the +fine skin now in use, they found that 147 square feet could be produced +from the same quantity. + +ANTIQUARES. + + * * * * * + + +MONUMENT OF A CRUSADER. + +In the great north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, in a dark nook +immediately adjoining the wall of the choir, is the mutilated effigies +of a Crusader, recumbent on an oblong stone. The figure is armed +cap-a-pee, in a hauberk,[6] with sword and shield, the latter of which +bears, quarterly, two bulls passant, gorged with collars and bells, and +three garbs, being the armorial bearings of the noble family of De Foix, +of which was the Captal de Buck, one of the first Knights of the Garter, +at the commencement of the Order. On a slab, placed perpendicularly +against the adjoining wall of the choir, are several shields, emblazoned +with the arms of the royal families of England, France, Castile. Leon, +&c. There is no inscription remaining to point out for whom this figure +was intended; but Gall, in his "Antiquities of Winchester," gives the +following inscription as having existed on the monument:--_"Hic jacet +Willielmus comes de insula Vana, alias Wincall_;" the parish of that +name lies on the river Itchin, and might formerly have been insulated. +The verger of Winchester Cathedral, in reply to an inquiry made by the +editor of the "Antiquarian and Topographical Cabinet," said, it was a +knight of the name of _Fox_, evidently meaning _De Foix_. This +figure suffered severely from the iconoclasts, at the time of Cromwell's +taking possession of Winchester. Amongst other mutilations, they have +entirely hacked away the right leg, leaving only the foot connected with +the lion couchant, against which the figure rests. + +This Engraving will be received by the attentive inquirer, as an +interesting specimen of the sepulchral architecture of olden times; +and, judging from the mutilated remains, its original beauty would +have reminded us of the remark of an antiquarian writer,--that he +never saw a fine monument out of England. + +[Illustration: (_Monument of a Crusader, in Winchester Cathedral_.)] + + [6] A tunick, or frock of armour, with wide sleeves, reaching a + little below the elbow, terminating with a broad, gilt border, + and having a hood, not separate. Its first introduction in armour + is referred to the time of William II. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +CHOICE APHORISMS. + +(_From_ 144, _in Fraser's Magazine_.) + + +It is perfectly possible to make champagne from gooseberries, equal to +that yielded by the grape. _Exampli gratia_: Lord Haddington, who +is a first-rate judge of wines, had a bottle of mock and one of real +champagne set before him, and was requested to say which was which. He +mistook the product of the gooseberry for the genuine article; and many +persons, reputed good judges, have done the same thing. + +By putting a piece of lump-sugar, the size of a walnut, into the +tea-pot, you will make the tea infuse in one-half the time. This fact is +well known to bag-men and stage-coach travellers. + +Members of dilletanti societies are generally especial asses: +their eternal talk about the fine arts, drawing, colouring, harmony, +composition, chiaro-scuro, fore-shortening, design, and so forth, +is enough to turn the stomach of a horse. The thing is the more +insufferable, because they absolutely know nothing of the subject, +and have about as much real appreciation of works of genius as +a pig possesses for the inventions of Watt or Daedalus. + +While prigs of the above description are eternally chattering about such +topics, men who are really eminent in the fine arts never say a word on +the subject. Goldsmith describes this matter well in his account of Sir +Joshua Reynolds:-- + + To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering, + When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing; + When they talk'd of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, + He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff." + + +When I see a man who affects to doubt everything he hears, I never +hesitate about writing him down an ass. A great doubter is a solemn and +self-conceited prig. How amusing is it to see the blockhead shake his +empty pate, compress his lips into a sneer, and turn up his absurd +unmeaning eyes in dubious disbelief, when he hears aught which he thinks +it would imply sagacity to discredit! Such persons imagine, that to be a +great doubter implies wisdom; whereas, in their case, it has its origin +in constitutional phlegm and stupidity. + +Arguers and spouters are invariably asses. + +If you wish to make yourself agreeable to any one, talk as much as you +please about his or her affairs, and as little as possible about your +own. People are such downright egotists themselves, that they cannot +tolerate egotism in others. + +A person who cannot relish absurdity and wit, and must, moreover, have +a satisfactory reason for whatever is said or done, is a philosophical +blockhead. + +The best tooth-powder in the world is Armenian hole, a pennyworth of +which will serve a man for six months. + +If a man pronounces you a liar, it is very absurd to call him out for +the same. This ceremony does not prove that you are _not a liar_; +it only shows, that you possess sufficient courage to stand at the +distance of twelve paces, while a pistol--probably a leadless one--is +fired at you. + +Snuff-taking in a woman is abominable, unless she be very aged--say +eighty, or upwards--when it is rather becoming than otherwise. + +Young girls, of from fourteen to seventeen, are fond of aping the woman +in their dress, and are partial to long shawls, which give the young +things a matronly appearance. When they become women in reality, they +are rather too apt to go upon the opposite tack, and to assume the dress +and airs of the girl. + +A well-made man always looks shorter than he is; ditto a well-made +woman. + +A story-teller, or dealer in anecdote, is an abomination that ought to +be expelled from all well-regulated societies. A man of an original and +truly powerful mind never deals in anecdotes, unless it be for the +purpose of illustrating some general principle. Women and weak men are +all addicted to the vice. If a person of this description begins to +annoy a company with his or her twaddle, the only cure for it is to +affect deafness--a very convenient infirmity at times. + +_A hint to Cooks_.--Roasted chestnuts, grated or sliced, make an +excellent addition to the stuffing for turkeys or geese. + +_Another hint_.--In boiling salmon, split the fish from head to +tail; if you do not do this, but boil it entire, or cut horizontally +through the middle, it is impossible to cook it thoroughly, the +thickness of the back and shoulders being such, that, if the outside be +properly done, the inside must needs be little better than parboiled. On +the Tweed, and other salmon districts, the latter system is held in +abomination. + +A clever servant is almost invariably quick tempered. The reason is +obvious: superior talent is always accompanied by pride, which must meet +with many petty annoyances in the menial state. + +Never praise or talk of your children to other people; for, depend upon +it, no person except yourself cares a single farthing about them. + +Sea-gull eggs, when boiled hard and eaten cold, with pepper, salt, +vinegar, and mustard, make a delightful breakfast dish. Many persons +have an antipathy to such eggs; but it is from eating them in the soft +state, when they have always a fishy taste. Try them as above, and they +will change their opinions upon the subject. + +If a person has a great knack at finding out feats of legerdemain, you +may pronounce him a blockhead. I never knew a clever man who was worth +a farthing at detecting such tricks. + +I have a profound veneration for great liars of a certain class. On this +account Baron Munchausen, Major Longbow, and Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, +are my especial favourites. Men of this description are invariably +good-tempered, benevolent, and generous; and will, any day, treat you to +a bottle of wine, provided you do them the favour of listening to their +adventures. + +_Important to Drunkards_.--If, an hour before sitting down to +drink, you take a grain or two of opium, you will be able to withstand +a much greater quantity than otherwise of liquor. This fact has escaped +the observation of Macnish. + +Some stupid people suppose that imagination and philosophy are +incompatible. Blockheads! Was not Bacon, the greatest of philosophers, +one of the most imaginative of men? There is more true philosophy in the +writings of Shakespeare, Milton, and Scott, than in those of all the +metaphysicians that ever existed. + +An accomplished woman, in common parlance, means one who sings and +dances well, knows a little French, a little Italian, a little drawing, +a little embroidery, and not much of any thing, excepting fashionable +novels; in which she is a great adept. + +A lady's album is generally worth looking at, as a psychological +curiosity, indicative, to a considerable extent, of the taste and +feelings of its owner. + +If a man borrows a shilling from you, and on being dunned pretends to +have forgotten it, you may with considerable safety set him down for +a liar. + +When a man finds it convenient to tell a lie, he should sport a good +thumping one when he is about it. If a great lie serves his purpose +better than a little one, why hesitate between the two, when the sin is +equally great in both cases? The former has this advantage, that, when +detected, its enormity may be so great as to enable the person to pass +it off as a piece of quizzery, which can never be done with the latter. + +Heroic liars, such as the Baron or Major, are a godly race; but those +who practise the sin in a small way, and keep fibbing about trifles are +a despicable crew, and should be held by the heels, and soused head +down-most in a firkin of small beer. + +Men who are, or who fancy themselves to be good singers, are great +bores. The airs which they assume in company are most insufferable. If +asked for a song, they affect, with an aspect of the most hypocritical +humility, that really they cannot sing--that their voice is out of +order--that they are hoarse, and so forth; the fellows all the while +being most anxious to show forth, only wanting to be pressed, in order +to enhance their own importance, and stimulate the curiosity of the +company. Nor is this the worst of the case; for no sooner do they +perpetrate one song, than they volunteer a dozen, interlarding the +intervals between their performances with pedantic disquisitions on +music, and flooring every man who ventures to hazard an opinion on +the subject. These people, whether amateur or professional, must be +extinguished; and the best way to accomplish their overthrow, and +reduce them to their native insignificance, is, in the first instance, +to take them at their word, and not urge them to sing. By so doing, they +immediately take the pet, and sport mum for the rest of the evening. +The same remarks apply to musical people in general, whether in the +shape of fiddlers, fluters, horn blowers, thumpers on the pianoforte, +&c. These individuals can think of nothing else but their favourite +pursuit, and imagine all the world to be equally interested in it. Take +a musician off music, and he is the most ignorant of animals. A good +story in illustration of this is told about Madame Catalani. Being at a +large party in Vienna, where Goethe was present, she was much surprised +at the great respect with which that illustrious man was treated. +On inquiring his name, she was informed it was the celebrated Goethe. +"Celebrated!" said the siren; "what music did he ever compose? Why, +I never heard of him!" + +An absurd prejudice prevails among many people against the skate. If +this fish is hung up and dried for a day or two, then cut in slices, +done on the gridiron, and eaten with butter, it is most delicious. + +N.B. The female skate is more delicate than the male. + +Persons who indulge in conundrums, charades &c. are invariably poor +creatures; as are those who have a knack at finding out such trifles. +The same remark applies to punsters. It is difficult for a man of +sterling talent to perpetrate a pun, or to solve an enigma. On the +latter account, Oedipus must have been an ass. + +A fact.--Nine-tenths of the catsup which is sold in the shops is a vile +compound of liver and the roan of fish, seasoned with vinegar, pepper, +and other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, you must procure +mushrooms, and make it yourself. + + * * * * * + + +FERDINAND VII. OF SPAIN. + +There is no court in Europe about which so little is known as that of +Madrid, and certainly no European sovereign whose character and habits +have been so studiously misrepresented as those of Ferdinand. The first +time we beheld this monarch, we could scarcely credit the evidence of +our senses. Walking in the gardens of the Retiro, at the time crowded +with company, we encountered a portly old gentleman, quite unattended, +habited in a plain, blue coat and nankeen trousers. This was Ferdinand, +_El Rey absoluto_, whom, in our mind's eye, we had long sketched +with the dark pencil of a Murillo. On a countenance that we expected +to have seen marked by all the dark and fiery passions of a Caesar +Borgia, we beheld an expression of _bonhomie_--a total absence of +hauteur, still less of ferocity; in fact, so totally different was he +in appearance from all that we had preconceived, that it was with +some difficulty we could persuade ourselves that our cicerone was not +practising upon our credulity. So much, then, for the notion, that he +never trusts himself out of his palace without being surrounded by +a formidable guard. Perhaps no monarch is oftener seen without, or +evinces less fear for his personal safety, than the tyrant Ferdinand. + +By men of all parties, at Madrid, he is spoken of as a man not naturally +vicious, but equally prone to good or evil, according to the direction +impressed upon him towards either of these two ends, arising from a wily +indolence of character, that, conscious of its own inability, throws +itself on another. Leave him, say they, but the name of king, his +secretaries, his valets, and his favourite amusements,--give him his +Havanna cigars, (a lot of which he sends daily to the officer of the +guard,)--and he would willingly consent to any change that might be +proposed to him. The faults or the vices of Ferdinand are owing to his +neglected and defective education; no care was taken to prepare him for +his high station. + +It was in the spirit of party that he embroidered a petticoat for the +Holy Virgin, solely with the view of pleasing and cajoling the clergy; +for, in his heart, Ferdinand is rather a devotee to pleasure than +religion. In his habits he is remarkably domesticated; he rises at +an early hour, and passes the greater part of the day in his wife's +apartment, of whom he is passionately fond. The queen unites to a very +graceful figure an interesting expression of countenance, that sometimes +wears an appearance of sadness. Such is Ferdinand of Spain, whose actual +demise will disclose scenes that at present almost set political +calculation at defiance. + +Ferdinand has been married four times:--1st, To Marie Antoinette, +daughter of the King of the Two Sicilies; 2ndly, To his neice, the +Infanta of Portugal, Maria Isabella; 3rdly, To the Princess Maria +Josepha-Amelia, daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony; and, lastly, +to his present queen, Maria Carletta, daughter of the late King of +Naples.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EMIGRATION TO BRITISH AMERICA. + + +One of the disadvantages of emigration is the separation of friends for +ever. Time and distance no doubt gradually obliterate from our mind the +most endearing recollections; but, under untoward circumstances, which +will at times cross the path of every mortal in the most favourable +situations, the emigrant's, and particularly the female emigrant's, +breast must be "stung with the thoughts of home," on comparing the many +conveniences and comforts, and society, which they enjoyed in their +fatherland, and which cannot be within their reach in their newly +adopted country for many years to come, and perhaps not within the +period of their lives. Unavailing wishes that they were back to their +own country have been expressed by many, who looked with dread on the +hardships they had to encounter at their first settlement. The labour +required to clear a forest of gigantic trees is appaling to a man who +has nothing to depend on but the physical strength of his own body; and +if its powers have been impaired by low living, arising from a want of +employment previous to the period of his emigration, and if he have a +wife and large family depending on him for support, that labour must be +exercised at the outset to a painful degree. All the shelter he can +expect in the first winter of his sojourn is in a house of trees +piled together, and his wooden furniture must consist of the rudest +construction, blocked out of the timber which he himself has cut down. +Though the air is clear and bracing, the intensity of the cold in winter +is far beyond what he can conceive, and the heat in summer is so great +for a short period as to blister the skin, if left exposed to the +influence of the sun's rays. The diversity of temperature in the seasons +causes an additional expense in the provision of clothes for the winter. +Musquitoes swarm on every new settlement, and annoy every one by their +stinging and raising inflamed spots over the body. Rubbing strong +vinegar over the parts is said to alleviate the pain. Fires of wet +chips, lighted at the doors of the cabins, will prevent the ingress of +these troublesome insects. When a clearance has been made the musquitoes +are not so troublesome. They dwell chiefly in the woods, and in the +vicinity of swamps, and come out in hot weather. A small, black fly +annoys also very much, by settling among the hair in the morning and +evening. Sleep is completely driven away when they make an attack, and +they produce the most uneasy sensation. + +The state of the roads prevents a constant or rapid communication +between places; and in a new country, where coin as the circulating +medium is scarce, and barter exists as the medium of exchange, +difficulties are often encountered in disposing of the surplus stock of +agricultural produce. The intrusion of wild animals is an evil which +ought not to be overlooked as affecting a new settler. If the cattle and +sheep are not penned up at night, they may be partly destroyed by the +ferocity of the bears. Bears, however, are not numerous. But squirrels +and racoons, of which there are plenty, may destroy the corn crops +materially, particularly in any season that is unfavourable to the +formation of beech masts and nuts. Mice and rats eat the seed of the +Indian corn after it is in the ground, so that two or three successive +sowings are sometimes necessary. + +The advantages, on the other hand, which emigrants may enjoy in our +American colonies are numerous and important. The first and great +advantage is constant employment, whether labour be required for +the improvement of their own land, or that of an employer. Constant +employment bestows vigour on the bodily frame, and contentment to the +mind. Labour, it is true, is not so high priced in Canada as it was when +labourers were scarcer, but still an able-bodied agricultural labourer +can get 2s. 6d. a-day, and skilful mechanics as much as 5s. and their +victuals. The soil being quite new and fresh, it is naturally fertile, +and it will give a good return for the labour bestowed upon it, and, +of course, the exercise of superior skill and industry will produce +extraordinary results. The climate in summer, too, being so very +superior to this country, that many products of the soil may be obtained +there with little trouble, which cost much trouble and expense here. Not +only the ordinary grains can be grown to perfection, but maize, garden +vegetable produce, and fruits of all kinds, grow luxuriantly. It is +found, however, that the grafted trees from this country thrive much +better, and produce more and better fruits, than the natural trees of +the country. Abundance of provisions, then, for the largest families may +be always obtained in our American colonies during the whole year. This +assurance of abundance not only produces contentment of mind, but endues +that spirit of independence which forms a valuable ingredient in a manly +character. All accounts agree in the happy and contented state in which +the emigrants are found, even in the midst of toil. Ample future +provision for the family soothes the mind of the emigrant in the hour +of dissolution. Not a trifling advantage consists in the absence of all +vexatious imposts or burdens. There are no stamp-duties. Taxes there +must be in all civilized communities, but there they are "trifles light +as air." One dollar per hundred acres of land is about the annual amount +of taxation to an emigrant. Besides all that, he may make his own malt, +brew his own beer, make his own candles and sugar, raise his own +tobacco, and tan his own leather, without dread of being exchequered. +And last, though not least, of these advantages, is the almost unlimited +space which lies open for settlements. For many generations yet unborn, +good land and constant employment will await the arrival of the emigrant +in the forest lands of our American colonies. These advantages +counterbalance the evils of a new country, but, combining the former +with the latter, emigrants should check the ardour of enthusiasm. They +must consider that perseverance alone will insure success. They must +make up their mind to work ere they can prosper. If they wish to possess +land of their own, they must take money with them to give in exchange +for that land. Having obtained the land which they desired to possess, +they must consent to endure hardships before they can obtain even a +shelter, and they must wait with patience the returning seasons before +they can reap the fruits of their industry. All these considerations +cannot be too strongly urged on the mind of the emigrant, for if they +are not expected and guarded against, disappointment and vexation +will assuredly ensue. "It is a matter of the first importance," says +Mr. M'Gregor, "for a man living in the United Kingdom, to consider, +before he determines on expatriation, whether he can, by industry and +integrity, obtain a tolerably comfortable livelihood in the country of +his nativity; whether, in order to secure to his family the certain +means of subsistence, he can willingly part with his friends, and leave +scenes that must have been dear to his heart from childhood; and +whether, in order to attain to independence, he can reconcile himself to +suffer the inconveniency of a sea voyage, and the fatigue of removing +with his family from the port where he disembarks in America, to the +spot of ground in the forest on which he may fix for the theatre of +his future operations; whether he can reconcile himself for two or +three years, to endure many privations to which he had hitherto been +unaccustomed, and to the hard labour of levelling and burning the +forest, and raising crops from a soil with natural obstructions, which +require much industry to remove. If, after making up his mind to all +these considerations, he resolves on emigrating, he will not be +disappointed in realizing in America any reasonable prospect he may have +entertained in Europe. These difficulties are, indeed, such as would +often stagger the resolution of most emigrants, if they had not before +them, in every part of America, examples of men who must have encountered +and have overcome equally, if not more disheartening hardships, before +they attained a state of comfortable affluence."--_Quart. Journ. Agr._ + + * * * * * + + +THE SILK MANUFACTURE. + +The principal branches of this manufacture consist in the dyeing, +winding, warping, throwing, and weaving. The first needs no explanation; +the winding is the process between the throwing and the weaving. After +the silk is thrown it is dyed, and then wound off preparatory to the +loom. The warping is stretching the parallel threads on the loom, +preparatory to weaving. + +_Throwing_ silk, is twisting two threads into one for the purpose +of weaving. The single thread, as wound off from the cocoon, is +designated the raw silk. + +There are two descriptions of thrown silk. One is called _tram_, +and consists of two threads simply twisted together. This description of +thrown silk is used in the shuttle or transverse threads of a piece of +silk on the loom. The other variety of thrown silk is called +_organzine_. In this, the single threads are first twisted up, +previous to their being twisted together. This is used for the warp, or +parallel threads upon the loom. + +Throwing of silk was an important branch of manufacture in this country, +until the duties were reduced in 1826. Since that period it has +declined. The manufacture of thrown silk is chiefly carried on at +Macclesfield, Congleton, and in the West of England. As silk can be +thrown more cheaply in foreign countries than it can be in England, +there has been a difference between the throwsters and the weavers of +Coventry and Spitalfields, the latter having requested the protecting +duty against foreign thrown silk to be reduced, to the manifest injury +of the former. + +It may be as well to explain to the reader the weights which are used +in the silk trade. The weight of silk is estimated by _deniers_, an +old Italian weight, of which twenty-four are equal to an ounce, used +only in the silk trade, in the same manner as the weight called a _carat_ +is employed by those who deal in diamonds, and other precious stones. +It is the custom to reel off, upon an engine established in the silk +trade, a measure of four hundred ells of tram or organzine, (which are +both double threads,) and the weight of this quantity establishes the +fineness or coarseness of the silk. Four hundred ells of the finest +Italian tram will weigh eighteen deniers; and although this silk will +occasionally run so coarse as to weigh forty deniers, the qualities +mostly in use vary in weight from eighteen to thirty deniers. The China +and Bengal silk varies from thirty-five to eighty deniers in its weight. +Turkey silk, the importation of which has lately much increased, and +which is worked up in the single thread on account of the coarseness of +the texture, varies from thirty to fifty deniers; which, as the others +are weighed in the tram or double thread, will be in the proportion of +sixty to one hundred deniers. + +Silk is the staple manufacture of France, and has always received the +fostering protection of the government. The raw material is the produce +of the country; and, as the growers of silk are not permitted to export +it, it is purchased by the manufacturers at a much cheaper rate than it +can be procured by us. The value of the raw silk yearly produced in +France is estimated at about three millions and a half sterling--the +produce of manufacture at about two millions and a half; so that the +silk trade of France is to be valued, on the whole, at about six +millions sterling. + +This is the estimate which is made by the acknowledgment of the French +government; but there is every reason to suppose that it is much more +considerable. This is certain;--that it is of the greatest value to that +nation, and has received such protection, and, in consequence, is in +that flourishing condition, that, at present, no other country can +compete with it.--_Metropolitan_. + + * * * * * + + +RECENT VISIT TO THE FALLS OF NIAGARA. + +Mr. Fergusson in his notes made during a Visit to the United States and +Canada in 1831, says: after breakfast I took leave of my friend, and +walked on for the Falls, leaving the stage, in which I had secured a +place, to follow. The day was delightful, and as I ascended the steep +hill from Queenston, I overtook a soldier of the 79th in charge of the +baggage wagons, leaning on his musket, and wrapt in admiration of the +surrounding scenery, "_It's mair like Scotland, sir, than ony thing +I've seen sin' I left it_," was the poor fellow's remark, and truly +it was far from misapplied, making due allowance for difference of +scale. The country from Queenston to the Falls is well settled, and +finely diversified by farms, orchards and open forest. The soil is +perhaps light, but in some places of a stronger description, and +all apparently fertile, desirable land. A very beautiful property, +originally laid out by the ill-fated Duke of Richmond, and subsequently +possessed by Sir Peregrine Maitland, adjoins the Road. The house, which +is in the cottage style, of wood, seems large and commodious. This +estate is in a very favourable situation, and has been lately sold +for 2,000l.; it contains about 450 acres of good, useful land. The +distance from Queenston to Niagara is about seven miles, and I sauntered +on the whole way, the coach not overtaking me. About four miles from +the Falls, the sound came upon my ear like the murmur of Old Ocean on +a rugged strand. In certain states of the atmosphere and the wind this +is heard at a much greater distance. The noise gradually increased, +and by and by the spray was seen rising in columns above the trees. +A splendid and extensive establishment was soon after recognised as +Forsyth's hotel, and, under feelings far more intense than common +curiosity, I hurried forward to a point, where Niagara in all its glory +came in view. From the increasing facility of migrating now-a-days even +from one end of the world to another, Niagara has lost somewhat of that +mysterious halo with which it was wont to be enveloped; but still it +must ever be Niagara. The most eloquent descriptions, I should think, +must prove inadequate to convey a just conception of the scene. Nor can +the pencil, I imagine, ever do it justice. A cataract may be said, as +regards the painter's art, to differ from all other objects in nature. +The human face and figure, the rich and varied landscape, the animal +and vegetable world, may with sufficient propriety be delineated _at +rest_, but quiescence forms no feature here. The ceaseless roar, the +spray mounting like clouds of smoke from the giant limekiln, and the +enormous sheet of water which rolls into the abyss, can only be felt +and understood by repeated visits to the scene. My attention was for a +time distracted by the rapids which are extremely interesting, and with +any other neighbour than the Falls would excite the highest admiration +and wonder. After some time spent in contemplation, I proceeded to my +friends, where a kind and comfortable home awaited me. Mr. C. possesses +a residence which is certainly one of the most romantic domiciles in the +world. The house stands on a small lawn upon a point overhanging the +rapids, and about half a mile above the Horse-Shoe Fall. The garden is +behind, washed by a fine branch of the river, which encircles a wild and +thickly wooded island, and on every side new and interesting prospects +appear. The river is a mile across, and of great depth, and, for the +same distance above the Falls, is one sheet of foam. We sauntered down +in the evening to the river side, and the rapids lost nothing by a +closer inspection. My bedroom looked directly upon them; I could watch +the smoke of the Fall, as I lay on my pillow; and with the wild roar of +the cataract sounding in my ears, I closed my first day at Niagara. The +following morning proved fine, and we devoted the forenoon, of course, +to the Falls. Lake Erie had just broken up, and the icebergs came +crushing down the rapids, in a way highly interesting. My friends being +quite at home in all the mazes of the river side, conducted me by a wild +and rugged route to the edge of the Table-rock, when, upon emerging from +a tangled brake, I beheld the Horse-shoe or great British Fall, pouring +down its volume of ice and water, at the distance of a few feet from +where we stood. The rock felt to me as though it vibrated, and a large +mass did in fact lately give way, soon after a party had retired from +the precarious stance. It is limestone, full of ugly fissures and rents. +A narrow wooden staircase conducts adventurous travellers to the bottom +of the Fall, where a sort of entrance is generally effected to a short +distance under the sheet, and for which performance a certificate in due +form is served out. The stair was at this time under repair, and the +accumulation of ice below perfectly reconciled me to wave pretensions +to such slippery honours. At some distance below the Fall, and opposite +to the American staircase, there is a ferry, to which a safe and most +romantic carriage-road has been lately formed, out of the solid rock, +at no small labour and expense. When a similar accommodation shall +have been provided upon the American side, it is expected to prove a +lucrative concern, but at the present foot-passengers only can be landed +in the States. The little skiff had just put off, with a party from the +Canada shores, and got involved in streams of ice, in a way somewhat +hazardous, and which rendered it impossible for the boatmen to return. +The scene from the ferry is indeed magnificent, the Horseshoe, the +American Fall, and Goat Island being all in view, with the great pool or +basin eddying in fearful and endless turmoil. In the evening I walked +up the river side towards the village of Chippeway, to visit a natural +curiosity upon Mr. C.'s estate. A spring surcharged with sulphuretted +hydrogen gas rises within a few paces of the river. A small building is +erected over it, and when a candle is applied to a tube in a barrel, +which encloses the spring, a brilliant and powerful light is evolved. +Close adjoining are the remains of extensive mills burnt by the +Americans during last war. The water privilege is great, and machinery +to any extent might be kept in play.--_Quart. Journ. of Agriculture._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + * * * * * + + +_Dramatis Personae._--The stages and theatres of the Greeks and +Romans were so immense, that the actors, to be heard, were obliged to +have recourse to metallic masks, contrived with tremendous mouths, in +order to augment the natural sound of the voice. This mask was called by +the Latins _persona_, from _personare_ (to sound through); and +delineations of such masks as were used in each piece were generally +prefixed to it,(as we now prefix the names of the characters in our +modern plays), as appears from the _Vatican Terence_. Hence +_dramatis personae_ (masks of the drama); which words, after masks +ceased to be used, were understood to mean _persons of the drama_. + +J.E.J. + + * * * * * + + +_Punctuality_.--The late hospitable Colonel Bosville had his +dinner on the table exactly two minutes before five o'clock, and no +guest was admitted after that hour; for he was such a determined +observer of punctuality, that when the clock struck five, his +porter locked the street-door, and laid the key at the head of the +dinner-table. The time kept by the clock in the kitchen, the parlour, +and the drawing-room, and the watch of the master, were minutely the +same. That the dinner was ready, was not announced to the guests in +the usual way; but when the clock struck, this superlative time-keeper +himself declared to his guests, "Dinner waits." Boileau, the French +satirist, has a shrewd observation on this subject: "I have always been +_punctual at the hour of dinner_," says the bard, "for I knew that +all those whom I kept waiting at that provoking interval would employ +those unpleasant moments to sum up all my faults." + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + + +_Volcanoes_.--According to Dr. Ure, there were, in 1830, 205 +burning volcanoes on the globe. Of these, 107 occur in islands, and 98 +on continents, but ranged mostly along their shores. + + * * * * * + + +_Former Junction of England and France_.--From the correspondence +pointed out by Mr. William Phillips, the geologist, between the strata +of Dover and the hills west of Calais; and by M. de la Beche, between +the strata of the coast of Dorset and Devon, and those of Normandy, it +may be inferred that the English Channel is a submarine valley, which +owes its origin in a great measure to diluvial excavation, the opposite +sides having as much correspondence as those of ordinary valleys on the +land. + + * * * * * + + +_Soldiers_.--English soldiers were at one period distinguished +by badges, like those worn by watermen. The general colour of their +dresses appears to have been white; though, in 1544, a part of the +forces of Henry VIII. were ordered to be dressed in blue coats, guarded +with red, without badges, the right hose red, and the left blue. In +1584, Elizabeth ordered the cassocks of the soldiers sent to Ireland +to be a sad green, or russet; though the cloaks of the cavalry were +red. In 1693, the dresses of the soldiers were grey, and those of the +drummers purple; but the red uniform was probably adopted when the +House of Hanover acceded to the throne. + +In the time of Cromwell and Charles II. ordinary hats were lined with +iron plates, to prevent assassination. + + * * * * * + + +_Choristers_.--The singing boys are, probably, the only officers +of the Catholic Church retained to this day by the Royal Family; for +at the Reformation, when masses, &c., had wholly ceased, Queen Elizabeth +retained on her establishment four sets of singing-boys, attached to +St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and that +of the Royal Household. For the support of these bands, she issued out +warrants, like the other English sovereigns, for taking up "suche apt +and meete children as are fitt to be instructed and framed in the art +and science of musicke and singing." + + * * * * * + + +_A Ha! ha! Fence_.--Bridgman, a landscape gardener, early in the +last century, is supposed to have introduced in the Royal Gardens at +Richmond, the sunk fence for boundaries, instead of walls: an attempt +considered so astonishing, that the common people called them Ha! has! +to express their surprise at the sudden termination of their walk. + + * * * * * + + +_Sheridan's Funeral_.--Mr. Moore has omitted one of the most +touching and heart-stirring anecdotes connected with the funeral of +Sheridan. The noble and select company had assembled to pay the last +tribute of respect to departed genius, and the coffin was about to be +placed in the hearse, when an elegantly-dressed personage, who pretended +to be distantly related to the deceased, entered the chamber of death. +At his urgent entreaties to view the face of his friend, the coffin lid +was unscrewed; and, to the horror and surprise of the bystanders, he +pulled out a warrant, and arrested the body! Mr. Canning and Lord +Sidmouth went into an adjoining room, and paid the debt, which (it is +said) amounted to 500l. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Dr. Walcot, to Shield the Composer_.--The following was sent to +Shield, the ingenious composer, for his ivory ticket for admission to +a concert, by his friend Peter Pindar:-- + + Son of the _string_ (I do not mean Jack Ketch, + Though Jack, like _thee_, produceth _dying tones_;) + Oh! yield thy pity to a starving wretch, + And for to-morrow's _treat_, pray send thy _bones_. + +THOMAS GILL. + + * * * * * + +_Epitaph on Mr. Death, the Actor_. + + + Death levels all, both high and low. + Without regard to stations; + Yet why complain, + If _we_ are slain? + For here lies one, at least, to show + He kills his own relations. + +J.E.J. + + + * * * * * + +THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +VOL, XX. of THE MIRROR, with a Steel-plate Portrait of + +WASHINGTON IRVING, Esq., + +a Biographical Memoir, Eighty-eight Engravings, and Four Hundred +and Sixty-four enlarged pages, is now publishing, price 5s. 6d. + +Part 131, price 8d., and Part 132, price 10d., (completing +Vol. XX.) are also ready. + +The SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER, containing the above Portrait, Memoir, +Title-page, Index, &c., price 2d., will be published in the ensuing +week. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; +CHARLES JUGEL, Francfort; and by all Newsmen and Booksellers_. + + * * * * * + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, No. 583, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, NO. 583 *** + +***** This file should be named 12521.txt or 12521.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/5/2/12521/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Garcia and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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