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diff --git a/12650-0.txt b/12650-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5889d21 --- /dev/null +++ b/12650-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1476 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12650 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 12650-h.htm or 12650-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/2/6/5/12650/12650-h/12650-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/2/6/5/12650/12650-h.zip) + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION + +VOL. 17, NO. 488.] SATURDAY, MAY 7, 1831. [PRICE 2d. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + + +[Illustration: ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR.] + + + + +ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR. + + +This venerable structure, as we explained in No. 486 of _The Mirror_, is +situated in the lower ward or court of Windsor Castle. It stands in the +centre, and in a manner, divides the court into two parts. On the north +or inner side are the houses and apartments of the Dean and Canons of +St. George's Chapel, with those of the minor canons, clerks, and other +officers; and on the south and west sides of the outer part are the +houses of the Poor Knights of Windsor. + +The Engraving represents the south front of the Chapel as it presents +itself to the passenger through Henry the Eighth's Gateway, the +principal entrance to the Lower Ward. The entrance to the Chapel, as +shown in the Engraving, is that generally used, and was formed by +command of George the Fourth; through which his Majesty's remains were +borne, according to a wish expressed some time previous to his death. + +The exterior of the Chapel requires but few descriptive details. The +interior will be found in our last volume. + +It is a beautiful structure, in the purest style of the Pointed +architecture, and was founded by Edward the Third, in 1377, for the +honour of the Order of the Garter. But however noble the first design, +it was improved by Edward the Fourth and Henry the Seventh, in whose +reign the famous Sir Reg. Bray, K.G., assisted in ornamenting the chapel +and completing the roof. The architecture of the inside has ever been +esteemed for its great beauty; and, in particular, the stone vaulting is +reckoned an excellent piece of workmanship. It is an ellipsis, supported +by lofty pillars, whose ribs and groins sustain the whole roof, every +part of which has some different device well finished, as the arms of +several of our kings, great families, &c. On each side of the choir are +the stalls of the Sovereign and Knights of the Garter, with the helmet, +mantling, crest, and sword of each knight, set up over his stall, on a +canopy of ancient carving curiously wrought. Over the canopy is affixed +the banner of each knight blazoned on silk, and on the backs of the +stalls are the titles of the knights, with their arms neatly engraved +and emblazoned on copper. + +There are several small chapels in this edifice, in which are the +monuments of many illustrious persons; particularly of Edward, Earl +of Lincoln, a renowned naval warrior; George Manners, Lord Roos, and +Anne, his consort, niece of Edward the Fourth; Anne, Duchess of Exeter, +mother of that lady, and sister to the king; Sir Reginald Bray, before +mentioned; and Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who married the sister +of King Henry the Eighth. + +At the east end of St. George's Chapel is a freestone edifice, built by +Henry the Seventh, as a burial-place for himself and his successors; but +afterwards altering his purpose, he began the more noble structure at +Westminster; and this remained neglected until Cardinal Wolsey obtained +a grant of it from Henry the Eighth, and, with a profusion of expense, +began here a sumptuous monument for himself, whence this building +obtained the name of Wolsey's _Tomb House_. This monument was so +magnificently built, that it exceeded that of Henry the Seventh, in +Westminster Abbey; and at the time of the cardinal's disgrace, the tomb +was so far executed, that Benedetto, a statuary of Florence, received +4,250 ducats for what he had already done; and 380l. 18s. had been paid +for gilding only half of this monument. The cardinal dying soon after +his disgrace, was buried in the cathedral at York, and the monument +remained unfinished. In 1646, the statues and figures of gilt copper, +of exquisite workmanship, were sold. James the Second converted this +building into a Popish chapel, and mass was publicly performed here. +The ceiling was painted by Verrio, and the walls were finely ornamented +and painted; but the whole having been neglected since the reign of +James the Second, it fell into a complete state of decay, from which, +however, it was some years ago retrieved by George the Third, who had it +magnificently completed (under the direction of the late James Wyatt, +Esq.) in accordance with the original style, and a _mausoleum_ +constructed within, as a burial-place for the royal family. + +Windsor Castle, as the reader may recollect, was magnificently re-built +by William of Wykeham, who was Clerk of the Works to Edward the Third, +in 1356. Little now remains of Wykeham's workmanship, save the round +tower, and this has just been raised considerably. Wykeham had power +to press all sorts of artificers, and to provide stone, timber, and all +necessary materials for conveyance and erection. Indeed, Edward caused +workmen to be impressed out of London and several counties, to the +number of five or six hundred, by writs directed to the various +sheriff's, who were commanded to take security of the masons and +joiners, that they should not leave Windsor without permission of +the architect. What a contrast are these strong measures with the +scrutinized votes of money recently made for the renovation of the +Castle! + + * * * * * + + +ORIGIN OF THE WORD ALBION. + +(_To the Editor._) + +To the elucidation of the word Britannia, contained in your 486th +number, I beg to add the opinion of the same author on the subject +of Albion:-- + +"Albion (the most ancient name of this Isle) containeth Englande and +Scotlande: of the beginning (origin) of which name haue been sundrie +opinios (opinions): One late feigned by him, which first prynted the +Englishe Chronicle,[1] wherein is neither similitude of trouth, reasone, +nor honestie: I mean the fable of the fiftie doughters of Dioclesian, +kyng of Syria, where neuer any other historic maketh mencion of a kyng +of Syria, so named: Also that name is Greke, and no part of the language +of Syria. Moreouer the coming of theim from Syria in a shippe or boate +without any marynours (mariners) thorowe (through) the sea called +_Mediterraneum_, into the occean, and so finally to finde this He, and +to inhabit it, * * * * is both impossible, and much reproche to this +noble Realme, to ascribe hir first name and habitation, to such +inuention. Another opinion is (which hath a more honeste similitude) +that it was named _Albion, ab albis rupibus_, of white rockes, because +that unto them, that come by sea, the bankes and rockes of this He doe +appeare whyte. Of this opinion I moste mervayle (marvel), because it is +written of great learned men, First, _Albion_ is no latin worde, nor +hath the analogie, that is to saie, proportion or similitude of latine. +For who hath founde this syllable _on_, at the ende of a latin woord. +And if it should have bæn (been) so called for the whyte colour of the +rockes, men would have called called it (I believe this to be a +misprint) _Alba_, or _Albus_, or Album. In Italy were townes called +Alba[2] and in Asia a countrey called Albania, and neither of them took +their beginning of whyte rockes, or walles, as ye may read in books of +geographic: nor the water of the ryuer called _Albis_, semeth any whiter +than other water. But if where auncient remembraunce of the beginning +of thinges lacketh, it may be leeful for men to use their conjectures, +than may myne be as well accepted as Plinies (although he incomparably +excelled me in wisedome e doctrine) specially if it may appéer, that +my coiecture (conjecture) shal approch more neere to the similitude +of trouth. Wherfore I will also sett foorth mine opinion onely to +the intent to exclude fables, lackyng eyther honestie or reasonable +similitudes. Whan the Greekes began first to prosper, and their cities +became populous, and wared puissaunt, they which trauailed on the seas, +and also the yles in the seas called _Hellespontus, Æigeum and Creticu_ +(m), after that thei knewe perfectly the course of sailynge, and had +founden thereby profyte, they by little and little attempted to serch +and finde out the commodities of outwarde countrees: and like as +Spaniardes and Portugalls haue late doone, they experienced to seeke out +countries before unknown. And at laste passynge the streictes of +Marrocke (Morocco) they entered into the great occean sea, where they +fond (found) dyvers and many Iles. Among which they perceiuing this Ile +to be not onely the greatest in circuite, but also most plenteouse of +every necessary to man, the earth moste apte to bring forth," &c. The +learned prelate goes on to enumerate the natural advantages of our +country. He continues--"They wanderynge and reioysinge at their good and +fortunate arrival, named this yle in Greeke _Olbion_, which in Englishe +signifieth happy." + +_Foley Place._ + +AN ANTIQUARY. + + [1] Holinshed. + + [2] Alba, the city of Romulus, the founder of Rome, was called so + from a white sow found there by Æneas.--Vide Livy, lib. i + + Cum tibi sollicito secreti ad fluminis undam + Litoreis ingens inventa sub illicibus sus, + Triginta capitum foetus enixa jacebit, + Alba, solo recubans, albi circum ubera nati: + Is locus urbis erit ei. + + Virgil Æneid, lib. iii. v. 390. + + When, in the shady shelter of a wood + And near the margin of a gentle flood, + Thou shalt behold a sow upon the ground, + With thirty sucking young encompassed round; + The dam and offspring white as falling snow: + These on thy city shall their name bestow, &c. + + DRYDEN. + + + * * * * * + + +LINES. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + "Preach to the storm, or reason with despair, + But tell not misery's son that life is fair" + H.K. WHITE. + + + I mark'd his eye--it beam'd with gladness, + His ceaseless smile and joyous air, + His infant soul had ne'er felt sadness, + Nor kenn'd he yet but _life was fair._ + His chubby cheek with genuine mirth + Blown out--while all around him smiled, + And fairy-land to him seemed earth, + I envied him, unwitting child. + + I look'd again--his eye was flush'd + With passion proud and deep delight, + But often o'er his brow there gush'd + A blackened cloud which made it night, + But still the cloud would wear away, + (His youthful cheek was red and rare,) + And still his heart beat light and gay, + Still did he fancy _life was fair._ + + Again I looked--another change-- + The darkened eye, the visage wan, + Told me that sorrow had been there, + Told me that time had made him man. + His brow was overcast, and deep + Had care, the demon, furrow'd there, + I heard him sigh with anguish deep, + "_Oh! tell me not that life is fair._" + + +COLBOURNE. + + * * * * * + + +BIRTHPLACE OF LOCKE. + +(_To the Editor._) + + +The philosopher was born in the room lighted by the upper window on the +right, in your Engraving No. 487. It is a small, plain apartment, having +few indications of former respectability. + +In the garden of Barley Wood, near Wrington, the residence of the +religious and sentimental Hannah More, stands an urn commemorative +of Locke, the gift of Mrs. Montague, with the following inscription: + + + To + JOHN LOCKE, + Born in this village. + This memorial is erected + by + Mrs. Montague, + and presented to + HANNAH MORE. + + +J. SILVESTER. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + + +A FUNERAL AT SEA. + +We quote the following "last scene of poor Jack's eventful history" from +Capt. Basil Hall's _Fragments of Voyages and Travel_, a work, observes +the _Quarterly Review_, "sure sooner or later, to be in everybody's +hands." + +"It need not be mentioned, that the surgeon is in constant attendance +upon the dying man, who has generally been removed from his hammock to a +cot, which is larger and more commodious, and is placed within a screen +on one side of the sick bay, as the hospital of the ship is called. It +is usual for the captain to pass through this place, and to speak to the +men every morning; and I imagine there is hardly a ship in the service +in which wine, fresh meat, and any other supplies recommended by the +surgeon, are not sent from the tables of the captain and officers to +such of the sick men as require a more generous diet than the ship's +stores provided. After the carver in the gun-room has helped his +messmates, he generally turns to the surgeon, and says, 'Doctor, what +shall I send to the sick?' But, even without this, the steward would +certainly be taken to task were he to omit inquiring, as a matter of +course, what was wanted in the sick bay. The restoration of the health +of the invalids by such supplies is perhaps not more important, however, +than the moral influence of the attention on the part of the officers. +I would strongly recommend every captain to be seen (no matter for how +short a time) by the bed-side of any of his crew whom the surgeon may +report as dying. Not occasionally, and in the flourishing style with +which we read of great generals visiting hospitals, but uniformly and in +the quiet sobriety of real kindness, as well as hearty consideration for +the feelings of a man falling at his post in the service of his country. +He who is killed in action has a brilliant Gazette to record his +exploits, and the whole country may be said to attend his death-bed. But +the merit is not less--or may even be much greater--of the soldier or +sailor who dies of a fever in a distant land--his story untold, and his +sufferings unseen. In warring against climates unsuited to his frame, +he may have encountered, in the public service, enemies often more +formidable than those who handle pike and gun. There should be nothing +left undone, therefore, at such a time, to show not only to the dying +man, but to his shipmates and his family at home, that his services are +appreciated. I remembered, on one occasion, hearing the captain of a +ship say to a poor fellow who was almost gone, that he was glad to see +him so cheerful at such a moment; and begged to know if he had anything +to say. 'I hope, sir,' said the expiring seaman with a smile, 'I have +done my duty to your satisfaction;' 'That you have, my lad,' said his +commander, 'and to the satisfaction of your country, too.' 'That is all +I wanted to know, sir,' replied the man. These few commonplace words +cost the captain not five minutes of his time, but were long recollected +with gratitude by the people under his orders, and contributed, along +with many other graceful acts of considerate attention, to fix his +authority. + +"If a sailor who knows he is dying, has a captain who pleases him, +he is very likely to send a message by the surgeon to beg a visit--not +often to trouble his commander with any commission, but merely to say +something at parting. No officer, of course, would ever refuse to grant +such an interview, but it appears to me it should always be volunteered; +for many men may wish it, whose habitual respect would disincline them +to take such a liberty, even at the moment when all distinctions are +about to cease. + +"Very shortly after poor Jack dies, he is prepared for his deep-sea +grave by his messmates, who, with the assistance of the sailmaker, and +in the presence of the master-at-arms, sew him up in his hammock, and, +having placed a couple of cannon-shot at his feet, they rest the body +(which now not a little resembles an Egyptian mummy) on a spare grating. +Some portion of the bedding and clothes are always made up in the +package--apparently to prevent the form being too much seen. It is then +carried aft, and, being placed across the after-hatchway, the union +jack is thrown over all. Sometimes it is placed between two of the guns, +under the half deck; bat generally, I think, he is laid where I have +mentioned, just abaft the mainmast. I should have mentioned before, that +as soon as the surgeon's ineffectual professional offices are at an end, +he walks to the quarter-deck, and reports to the officer of the watch +that one of his patients has just expired. At whatever hour of the day +or night this occurs, the captain is immediately made acquainted with +the circumstance. + +"Next day, generally about eleven o'clock, the bell on which the +half-hours are struck, is tolled for the funeral, and all who choose +to be present, assemble on the gangways, booms, and round the mainmast, +while the forepart of the quarter-deck is occupied by the officers. In +some ships--and it ought perhaps to be so in all--it is made imperative +on the officers and crew to attend the ceremony. If such attendance be +a proper mark of respect to a professional brother--as it surely is--it +ought to be enforced, and not left to caprice. There may, indeed, be +times of great fatigue, when it would harass men and officers, +needlessly, to oblige them to come on deck for every funeral, and upon +such occasions the watch on deck may be sufficient. Or, when some dire +disease gets into a ship, and is cutting down her crew by its daily and +nightly, or it maybe hourly ravages, and when, two or three times in a +watch, the ceremony must be repeated, those only, whose turn it is to be +on deck, need be assembled. In such fearful times, the funeral is +generally made to follow close upon the death. + +"While the people are repairing to the quarter-deck, in obedience to +the summons of the bell, the grating on which the body is placed, being +lifted from the main-deck by the messmates of the man who has died, is +made to rest across the lee-gangway. The stanchions for the man-ropes +of the side are unshipped, and an opening made at the after-end of the +hammock netting, sufficiently large to allow a free passage. The body is +still covered by the flag already mentioned, with the feet projecting +a little over the gunwale, while the messmates of the deceased arrange +themselves on each side. A rope, which is kept out of sight in these +arrangements, is then made fast to the grating, for a purpose which will +be seen presently. When all is ready, the chaplain, if there be one on +board, or, if not, the captain, or any of the officers he may direct +to officiate, appears on the quarter-deck and commences the beautiful +service, which, though but too familiar to most ears, I have observed, +never fails to rivet the attention even of the rudest and least +reflecting. Of course, the bell has ceased to toll, and every one stands +in silence and uncovered as the prayers are read. Sailors, with all +their looseness of habits, are well disposed to be sincerely religious; +and when they have fair play given them, they will always, I believe, +be found to stand on as good vantage ground, in this respect, as their +fellow-countrymen on shore. Be this as it may, there can be no more +attentive, or apparently reverent auditory, than assembles on the deck +of a ship of war, on the occasion of a shipmate's burial. + +"The land service for the burial of the dead contains the following +words: 'Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God, of his great mercy, +to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we +therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to +ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope,' &c. Every one I am +sure, who has attended the funeral of a friend--and whom will this not +include?--must recollect the solemnity of that stage of the ceremony, +where, as the above words are pronounced, there are cast into the grave +three successive portions of earth, which, falling on the coffin, send +up a hollow, mournful sound, resembling no other that I know. In the +burial service at sea, the part quoted above is varied in the following +very striking and solemn manner:--'Forasmuch,' &c.--'we therefore commit +his body to the deep, to be turned into corruption, looking for the +resurrection of the body, when the sea shall give up her dead, and the +life of the world to come,' &c. At the commencement of this part of the +service, one of the seamen stoops down, and disengages the flag from the +remains of his late shipmate, while the others, at the words 'we commit +his body to the deep,' project the grating right into the sea. The body +being loaded with shot at one end, glances off the grating, plunges at +once into the ocean, and-- + + "'In a moment, like a drop of rain, + He sinks into its depths with bubbling groan, + Without a grave, unknelled, uncoffined, and unknown.' + +"This part of the ceremony is rather less impressive than the +correspondent part on land; but still there is something solemn, as +well as startling, in the sudden splash, followed by the sound of the +grating, as it is towed along under the main-chains. + +"In a fine day at sea, in smooth water, and when all the ship's company +and officers are assembled, the ceremony just described, although a +melancholy one, as it must always be, is often so pleasing, all things +considered, that it is calculated to leave even cheerful impressions on +the mind." + +(Even Captain Hall, however, admits that a sea-funeral may sometimes +be a scene of unmixed sadness; and he records the following as the most +impressive of all the hundreds he has witnessed. It occurred in the +Leander, off the coast of North America.) + +"There was a poor little middy on board, so delicate and fragile, that +the sea was clearly no fit profession for him; but he or his friends +thought otherwise; and as he had a spirit for which his frame was no +match, he soon gave token of decay. This boy was a great favourite with +every body--the sailors smiled whenever he passed, as they would have +done to a child--the officers petted him, and coddled him up with +all sorts of good things--and his messmates, in a style which did not +altogether please him, but which he could not well resist, as it was +meant most kindly, nicknamed him Dolly. Poor fellow!--he was long +remembered afterwards. I forget what his particular complaint was, but +he gradually sunk; and at last went out just as a taper might have done, +exposed to such gusts of wind as blew in that tempestuous region. He +died in the morning; but it was not until the evening that he was +prepared for a seaman's grave. + +"I remember, in the course of the day, going to the side of the boy's +hammock, and on laying my hand upon his breast, was astonished to find +it still warm--so much so, that I almost imagined I could feel the heart +beat. This, of course, was a vain fancy; but I was much attached to my +little companion, being then not much taller myself--and I was soothed +and gratified, in a childish way, by discovering that my friend, though +many hours dead, had not yet acquired the usual revolting chillness. + +"In after years I have sometimes thought of this incident, when +reflecting on the pleasing doctrine of the Spaniards--that as soon as +children die, they are translated into angels, without any of those cold +obstructions, which, they pretend, intercept and retard the souls of +other mortals. The peculiar circumstances connected with the funeral +which I am about to describe, and the fanciful superstitions of the +sailors upon the occasion, have combined to fix the whole scene in +my memory. + +"Something occurred during the day to prevent the funeral taking place +at the usual hour, and the ceremony was deferred till long after sunset. +The evening was extremely dark, and it was blowing a treble-reefed +topsail breeze. We had just sent down the top-gallant yards, and made +all snug for a boisterous winter's night. As it became necessary to have +lights to see what was done, several signal lanterns were placed on the +break of the quarter-deck, and others along the hammock railings on the +lee-gangway. The whole ship's company and officers were assembled, some +on the booms, others in the boats; while the main-rigging was crowded +half way up to the cat-harpings. Over-head, the mainsail, illuminated +as high as the yard by the lamps, was bulging forwards under the gale, +which was rising every minute, and straining so violently at the +main-sheet, that there was some doubt whether it might not be necessary +to interrupt the funeral in order to take sail off the ship. The lower +deck ports lay completely under water, and several times the muzzles of +the main-deck guns were plunged into the sea; so that the end of the +grating on which the remains of poor Dolly were laid, once or twice +nearly touched the tops of the waves, as they foamed and hissed past. +The rain fell fast on the bare heads of the crew, dropping also on the +officers, during all the ceremony, from the foot of the mainsail, and +wetting the leaves of the prayer-book. The wind sighed over us amongst +the wet shrouds, with a note so mournful, that there could not have been +a more appropriate dirge. + +"The ship--pitching violently--strained and creaked from end to end: so +that, what with the noise of the sea, the rattling of the ropes, and the +whistling of the wind, hardly one word of the service could be +distinguished. The men, however, understood, by a motion of the +captain's hand, when the time came--and the body of our dear little +brother was committed to the deep. + +"So violent a squall was sweeping past the ship at this moment, that no +sound was heard of the usual splash, which made the sailors allege that +their young favourite never touched the water at all, but was at once +carried off in the gale to his final resting-place!" + + * * * * * + + + + +THE TOPOGRAPHER. + + * * * * * + +TRAVELLING NOTES IN SOUTH WALES. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Either shore + Presents its combination to the view + Of all that interests, delights, enchants;-- + Corn-waving fields, and pastures green, and slope, + And swell alternate, summits crown'd with leaf, + And grave-encircled mansions, verdant capes, + The beach, the inn, the farm, the mill, the path, + And tinkling rivulets, and waters wide, + Spreading in lake-like mirrors to the sun. + + N.T. CARRINGTON. + + +_Swansea Bay:--Scenery and Antiquities of Gower._ + +The coast scenery of the western portion of Glamorgan is of singular +beauty. We shall ever recall with delight our recollections of Gower, +and we believe the future tourist will thank us for the outline of the +more prominent beauties in the circle of the district, which we now +give. Let us suppose ourselves at Swansea, and start on an excursion to +the Mumbles and Caswell Bay. A road has been formed within these few +years to the village of Oystermouth, about five miles from Swansea. +It is perfectly level, bounded by a tram-road, and runs close to the +sea-beach, forming the western side of Swansea Bay. The encroachments +of the sea have been very extensive here; at high water shipping now +traverse what was fifty years ago, we are told, a marshy flat, bordered +by a wood near the present road, the stumps of which yet appear on the +sandy beach. We have several times on riding to low water mark (about +three quarters of a mile out) been nearly involved in a quick-sand +adventure. Landward, the ground is broken and elevated, and thickly +studded with gentlemen's seats the whole distance; many of which are +embosomed in wood, and have a beautiful effect. Marino, an extensive +new mansion in the Elizabethan or old English style of architecture, +belonging to Mr. J.H. Vivian, and Woodlands Castle, the seat of General +Warde, which is very picturesque, are particularly deserving of +attention. After passing the hamlet of Norton, you near Oystermouth +Castle, an extensive and splendid Gothic ruin, in fine preservation, +which rears its "ivy-mantled" walls, above an eminence adjoining the +road. Some suppose it to have been built by Henry de Newburgh, Earl +of Warwick, in Henry the First's reign; others ascribe it on better +authority to the Lords Braose, of Gower, in the reign of John; it is now +the property of the Duke of Beaufort, whose care in its preservation +cannot be too much commended. The inspection of this interesting ruin +will repay the traveller: + + + By the grim storm-clouds overcast, + Even like a spectre of the past,-- + Of rapine, feudal strife, and blood, + Thou tellest an old, wild, warlike story, + When squadrons on thy ramparts stood, + With spear and shield in martial glory! + + DELTA. + + +The walls are very lofty and not much injured by time; the plan of the +various chambers, extensive vaults and chambers in the inner courtyard, +can be perfectly distinguished. The general form of the castle, which +must once have been very strong, is nearly a square, with a projecting +gatehouse to the S.E. which is almost perfect. The keep on the eastern +side commands a lovely view. About half a mile further is the village of +Oystermouth, clustering with its whitewashed roofs along the foot and +declivity of a high mass of rock, which juts boldly out into the sea +for half a mile, forming the south-eastern extremity of Gower, and +terminating Swansea Bay. The village is celebrated as a bathing place, +and for its extensive fishery for oysters, with which it supplies +Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, &c. This trade gives +occupation to a considerable number of fishermen who are the chief +inhabitants of the place; but in the spring and summer, Oystermouth, +in consequence of the great beauty of the situation, and its extreme +salubrity, is completely filled with strangers, and high rates are +obtained for lodgings; the accommodations are mostly indifferent, though +the place is improving fast. The prospect from the summit of the rocks +is truly exhilarating and beautiful. On one side, the spectator beholds +just below him, the Atlantic rushing with all its majesty up the Bristol +Channel--rising over the mixon sands into a really mountainous +swell--while on the other, Swansea Bay, glittering with the white sails +and varied combinations of a crowd of shipping, seems spread out like a +vast and beautiful lake; its eastern shores bounded in the distance by +the mountainous and woody scenery of Britton-Ferry, Aberavon, Margam, +gradually diminishing towards Pyle. + +To the north, beyond the town of Swansea, an immense cloud of smoke is +seen suspended over the Vales of Tawy and Neath--an abomination in the +face of heaven. Such is the Welsh Bay of Naples, which presents this +remarkable appearance at this spot. The anchorage aside this range of +cliffs affords, except in an east wind, a very secure road for shipping; +sometimes in strong weather there are two or three hundred sail lying +here. At the termination of the peninsula are two rocky islands called +the Mumbles, and on the farthest is a large light-house; for the support +of which a rate is levied on all the shipping up and down channel. Below +the light-house an immense cavern called "Bob's Cove" can be seen at +low water. We were told that the village under the shadow of the rocks, +loses sight of the sun for three months in winter, but this is not +"quite correct." Let us proceed westward. About a mile from Oystermouth +is Newton; where there are several lodging-houses. There have been many +instances of great longevity at this village, which is perhaps the +healthiest spot on the coast. The road to Caswell Bay, which passes +through Newton, is almost impassable for horses; a new one however is +talked of. The rocky valley leading to Caswell Bay, which abruptly comes +in sight between two projecting rocks, is singularly wild and romantic. +The bay is absolutely a mine of the picturesque--the Lullworth Cove +of Wales. A day may be spent delightfully among its rocks and +caverns--taking care to visit them at low water. A few miles westward is +Oxwich Bay, the main attraction of the coast, along the rocky summit of +which the pedestrian should "wend his way," with the ocean roaring far +beneath him. We will, however, return to Swansea, and endeavour briefly +to recall our first excursion into Gower. + +Let us fancy ourselves therefore, on a bright April morning, riding +along with a friend--a stranger like ourselves--on the high road from +Swansea into the interior of the peninsula. After cantering over about +seven miles of hill and valley and common, we entered a woody defile, +and at last opened, to use a nautical phrase, the "Gower inn," (eight +miles) which was built, we were told, expressly for the convenience of +tourists. After ascending a tremendous rocky hill, for road it cannot +be called, about a mile onwards, Oxwich Bay bursts at last in all its +beauty upon our sight. In our inquiries during the day, of the few +passengers we met, as to the distance of the village of Penrice, the +intended limit of our day's excursion, we were forcibly reminded of the +"mile and a bittock" of the north. The country is very thinly populated +here: at last we came in sight of the grounds of Penrice Castle, the +beautiful mansion of Mr. Talbot, the member for the county; the entrance +to the park is between two of the towers belonging to the extensive and +picturesque remains of the ancient Castle of Penrice, which stands close +to the road. Sixteen miles from Swansea, after "curses not loud but +deep" upon Welsh roads, we reached the sequestered village of Penrice, +which stands on a wooded eminence of no easy access, overlooking the +eastern shore of Oxwich Bay. + +(_To be continued._) + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + * * * * * + + +ARCANA OF SCIENCE FOR 1831. + +It has been our invariable practice to notice, _by extract only_, such +works as we are connected with, or to which we have contributed; and in +the present case we shall do little more. + +Now, the reader need not be here told that the plan of an Annual +Register of Inventions and Improvements originated in _The Mirror_ about +four years since. Our intention there was to quote an occasional page or +two of novelties of popular interest in science and art, and leave more +abstruse matters to the journals in which they originally appeared. This +plan led us through most of the scientific records of the year, in which +we began to perceive that the reduction of all subjects of importance +was not compatible within a few pages, and sooner than allow many papers +of value to every member of society to be locked under the uninviting +denomination of _philosophy_, we undertook the abridgement and +arrangement of such papers, upon the plan of an "Annual Register," +intending our volume specially to represent the progress of discovery +just as the general "Register" is a contribution to history. The cost +of the journals for this purpose proved to be upwards of Twelve Guineas, +but this outlay only made us more pleased with the design. A single +instance will suffice. The _Philosophical Magazine_, a work of high +character, numbers among its purchasers but few general readers: it +contains many mathematical, theoretical, and controversial papers, all +of which may advance their object, but are not in a form sufficiently +tangible for any but the scientific inquirer. Still, in the same +Magazine, there may be papers of practical and directly useful +character, and of ready application to the arts and interests of life +and society. A person wishing to possess these popular papers must +therefore purchase with them a quantity of matter which to him would +be unintelligible, and the value of which could only be appreciated +by direct study, a task of no small import in these days of cheap +literature. That the plan has succeeded, and that its intention has +been fully recognised, is borne out by the testimony of a score of our +contemporaries. Of their praise we have no disposition to make an idle +boast; and our only object in the present notice is to do for ourselves +what we could not perhaps expect a weekly or monthly critic to do for +us, viz. to quote the subjects of a few of the valuable papers in the +present volume, and then leave the reader to form his own conclusions +of its intrinsic value. + +In _Mechanical Science_ there are 100 closely-printed pages, or 90 +articles. Among these are papers on novel applications of the gigantic +power of _Steam_ in Navigation and Agriculture, and especially in +Railway Carriages; the grand invention of the Air Engine; improvements +in Printing; machinery in manufactures; and contributions to +experimental as well as practical mechanics. + +In _Chemical Science_ there are upwards of 60 New Facts. Among these is +a valuable paper on Arsenic, by Dr. Christison, (from the _Philosophical +Magazine_;) a method of ascertaining the vegeto-alkali in Bark; the +influence of the Aurora Borealis on the Magnetic Needle; Lieut. +Drummond's Plan for illuminating Light Houses by a ball of lime, (from +the _Philosophical Transactions_); Laws of electrical accumulation, and +the decomposition of water by atmospheric and ordinary electricity; +the new Indigo; the spontaneous inflammation of charcoal; the nitrous +atmosphere of Tirhoot, one of the principal districts in India for the +manufacture of salt-petre; Discovery of a mass of meteoric iron in +Bohemia; the chemical composition of cheese; Berzelius on the power of +metallic rods to decompose water after their connexion with the galvanic +pile is broken; an alkaline principle in Box-wood; Professor Davy on a +new method of detecting metallic poisons; Mr. Bennet's new alloy for the +pivot-holes of watches; experiments with Aldini's Fireproof Dresses; +Dr. Ure on the composition of Gunpowder, and on Indigo; Dr. Bostock +on the spontaneous purification of Thames water; Abstracts of Berzelius' +statement of the progress of Chemical Science for 1829; Mr. Broughton +on the effects of oxygen gas on various animals, &c. + +In _Zoology_ are papers--on the Fern Owl; Mr. Rennie's interesting Notes +on the Cleanliness of Animals; Mechanism of the Voice in Singing; the +Vision of Birds of Prey; New species of British Snake; Animalculae in +Snow; Habits of the Chameleon; Peculiarity of the Negro Stomach; Growth +of Spanish Flies; British Pearl Fishery on the Conway; the cause of +Goitre; seat of the sense of touch and taste; stones found in the +stomach of Pikes; Learned Poodles at Paris; Faculties of Domestic +Animals; Increase of Mankind; Larva of the Gad-fly, which deposits its +eggs in the bodies of the human species; Luminousness of the Sea, a +valuable contribution; Motions in water caused by the respiration of +Fishes; Cannibalism in New Guinea; Heron swallowing a Rat; Mr. Vigors +on American Quails; Mr. Yarrell's experiments to preserve White Bait; +On the fascination of Serpents; Notes on the Zoological Society, &c. + +In _Botany, Mineralogy, and Geology_, are--a valuable paper on the +Flora of Sicily; Supposed sub-marine banks from Newfoundland to the +English Channel: Mr. Bakewell, Jun. on the Falls of Niagara: Mr. Bicheno +on the Shamrock of Ireland; Effect of Light on Plants; Immense Tree in +Mexico; Mr. Murray on Raining Trees; Forms and Relations of Volcanoes; +Cuticular Pores of Plants; Volcano of Pietra Mala; Milk Tree of +Demarara; Productiveness of Plants and Animals; Height of the Perpetual +Snows on the Cordillera of Peru; Gerard's Botanical Journey in the +Himala Mountains; Changes of temperature in Plants; Humboldt's account +of the Gold and Platina district of Russia; Sir H. Davy on the +durability of Stone; Dr. Hibbert's account of a Natural Rocking-stone; +Notices of Fossil Organic Remains discovered within the year; +Instructions for collecting Geological specimens, &c. + +The _Astronomical and Meteorological_ division contains some important +observations on Atmospherical Electricity, by Dr. Brewster; a note of +the recent Visitation of Greenwich Observatory; Snow of the winters +1829-30; Account of a Water-spout on the Lake Neufchatel; Mr. Herapath +and Sir James South on the Comet; On the Rending of Timber by Lightning; +Curious account of Hay converted into Glass by Lightning; The Occupation +of Aldebaran by the Moon; Aurora Borealis observed during the year; +and a Journal of the Weather of the year, by Mr. Tatem, the ingenious +meteorologist, which paper we regret is not acknowledged from the +_Magazine of Natural History_; appended to this is a tabular +Meteorological Summary of 1830, communicated to the _Arcana of Science_ +by Dr. Armstrong. + +In _Rural Economy_ there are Abstracts from papers of considerable +value and extent--on Pasturages, Chlorides applied to diseased Animals, +Quality of Waste Land from the plants growing in it, Malt Duties, Beet +Root Sugar, Aliment from Straw, Planting and Pruning, Indian Corn, +Mangold Wurzol, &c. In _Gardening_ are upwards of 40 similar Abstracts. +In _Domestic Economy_ are some practical papers on Milk, Bread, Sugar, +Storing Fruit, Beer from Sugar, &c. In _Useful Arts_ are about +half-a-dozen, pages. To these heads are added a List of Patents, Notices +of Expeditions of Discovery, and a copious Index. The Illustrations, +about twenty in number, represent such inventions as are most attractive +by their ingenuity; and by way of Synopsis we may state that the whole +contents of the volume are nearly 400 abstracts, including probably +three times as many _new facts_. + +The utility of such a yearly volume speaks for itself, and however +ungracefully a recommendation might come from our pen we could not +refrain from thus introducing it to the readers of the _Mirror_ +especially as the _Arcana of Science_ contain scarcely half-a-dozen +pages of facts which have been detailed in our weekly columns. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + +CALENDAR OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. + +This volume professes to be "A Familiar Analysis of the Calendar of +the Church of England," by explaining and illustrating its Fasts and +Festivals, &c., in the form of Question and Answer. The reader will +not look for novelty in such a work. The editors of Time's Telescope, +Clavis Calendaria, the Every-day Book, &c., have been too long and too +laboriously employed in illustrating every point of the year's history, +to lead us to expect any new attraction. Indeed, the preface of the +present work does not profess to furnish any such inducement, the editor +resting his claim on the cheapness of his book in comparison with +the Every-day Book. This is rather an ungracious recommendation: the +"Analysis" consists of less than three hundred pages, and is sold +for five or six shillings; but these three hundred pages only equal +seventy-five pages of the Every-day Book, or less than five sheets, +which the public know may be purchased for fifteen-pence. One of the +pretensions of the "Analysis" is its condensed form, but we suspect +Mr. Valpy's _Epitomizing_ press would reduce the editor's three hundred +pages to seventy-five. It is a thankless office to be obliged to speak +thus of a book on which some pains have been bestowed. Now, had it +been printed within the compass of an eighteen-penny or two shilling +catechism, the desired object would have been obtained; but, as it +appears, in the type of a large church prayer-book, what may have been +gained in arrangement, must be paid for in paper and print, so that no +good purpose is ultimately effected. + + * * * * * + + +FAMILIAR LAW. + +Parts 3 and 4 of the _Familiar Law Adviser_ relate to Bills of Exchange +and Promissory Notes--and Benefit Societies and Savings' Banks--and will +be found extremely useful to very different classes. They have in them +all the reforming spirit of the times, and must be of essential service +everywhere, since _cheap law_ is as desirable us any other species of +economy. Brevity, too, as recommended in these little books, should +be the soul of law as it is of wit, for we all know that as the law +lengthens so the cost strengthens. Another advantage will be, that the +sooner a man is set right, the more time will he have for increasing +his good actions in this life. + + * * * * * + + +DEATH. + +Oh God! what a difference throughout the whole of this various and +teeming earth a single DEATH can effect! Sky, sun, air, the eloquent +waters, the inspiring mountain-tops, the murmuring and glossy wood, +the very + + Glory in the grass, and splendour in the flower, + +do these hold over us an eternal spell? Are they as a part and property +of an unvarying course of nature? Have they aught which is unfailing, +steady--_same_ in its effect? Alas! their attraction is the creature +of an accident. One gap, invisible to all but ourself in the crowd and +turmoil of the world, and every thing is changed. In a single hour, +the whole process of thought, the whole ebb and flow of emotion, may be +revulsed for the rest of an existence. Nothing can ever seem to us as it +did: it is a blow upon the fine mechanism by which we think, and move, +and have our being--the pendulum vibrates aright no more--the dial hath +no account with time--the process goes on, but it knows no symmetry or +order;--it was a single stroke that marred it, but the harmony is gone +for ever! + +And yet I often think that that shock which jarred on the mental, +renders yet softer the moral nature. A death that is connected with love +unites us by a thousand remembrances to all who have mourned: it builds +a bridge between the young and the old; it gives them in common the most +touching of human sympathies; it steals from nature its glory and its +exhilaration--not its tenderness. And what, perhaps, is better than all, +to mourn deeply for the death of another, loosens from ourself the petty +desire for, and the animal adherence to, life. We have gained the end of +the philosopher, and view, without shrinking, the coffin and the +pall.--_New Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +SCOTT AND COOPER. + +An example of Mr. Cooper's appreciation of his illustrious rival, +Sir Walter Scott, occurred while he was sitting for the portrait that +accompanied the _New Monthly Magazine_ for last month.--The artist, +Madame Mirbel, requested of a distinguished statesman.--"No," said +Cooper, "if I must look at any, it shall be at my master," directing +his glance a little higher, to a portrait of Sir Walter Scott. + + * * * * * + + +FRANCE. + +France, "with all thy faults I love thee still!" No man should travel +from his cradle to his grave without paying thee a visit by the +way: with a disposition prone to enjoyment, it lightens the journey +amazingly. The French are a kind people, and it must be his fault who +cannot live happily with them. Pity it is, possessing, as they do, +whatever can contribute to the felicity of a people in a state of peace, +that war should be indispensable in order to render their idea of +happiness complete. _La gloire_ and _la guerre_ form the eternal burden +of their song--as if the chief business of life were to destroy life. +They would fight to-morrow with any nation on earth, for no better an +object than the chance of achieving a victory. Laugh at me, if you +please, for uttering what you may consider a foolish opinion, but I look +upon it as a serious misfortune to them that the two words _Gloire_ and +_Victoire_ rhyme together: they so constantly occur in that portion +of their poetry which is the most popular, and the best calculated to +excite them in a high degree--their _vaudeville_ songs--that the two +ideas they express have become identical in their minds; and he will +deserve well of his country who shall discover the means of making +_glory_ rhyme to _peace_.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +"HELP YOURSELF." + +The custom of HELPING ONESELF has its sanction in the remotest +antiquity, and has been continued down to the present day in the highest +places, and by those whom it especially behoves to set example to the +world. It was clearly never designed that man should regulate his +conduct for the good of others, for the first lesson taught to the first +of men, was to take care of himself; had it been intended that men +should study the good of each other, a number would surely have been +simultaneously created for the exercise of the principle, instead of +one, who, being alone, was essentially selfish. Adam was all the world +to himself. With the addition of Eve, human society commenced; and the +fault of our first mother furnishes a grand and terrible example of the +mischief of thinking of the benefit of another. Satan suggested to her +that Adam should partake of the fruit--an idea, having in it the taint +of benevolence, so generally mistaken--whence sin and death came into +the world. Had Eve been strictly selfish, she would wisely have kept the +apples to herself, and the evil would have been avoided. Had Adam helped +himself, he would have had no stomach for the helping of another--and +so, on his part, the evil temptation had been obviated. + +The HELP YOURSELF principle has at no time been extinct in society, +while it is seen to be a universal law of Nature. The wolf _helps +himself_ to the lamb, and the lamb to the grass. No animal assists +another, excepting when in the relation of parent to young, when +Nature could not dispense with the caprice of benevolence, which in +this instance, be it observed, distresses the parties susceptible of +the sentiment; for suckling creatures are always in poor condition. +Appropriation is the great business of the universe. The institution +of property is, on the other hand, artificial.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +BALLET OF KENILWORTH, AT THE KING'S THEATRE. + +There is a very curious and ingenious, though not original, exhibition +in this ballet. Among the festivities at Kenilworth Castle, in honour +of the royal guests, a pantomimic "masque" of the gods and goddesses of +Olympus is introduced. The divinities, instead of appearing in genuine +Grecian attire, present themselves in the mongrel costume visual on such +occasions in the time of Queen Elizabeth. This is droll enough, but more +whimsical still is the style of their dancing. This, too, is meant as an +imitation of the limited choregraphic _savoir faire_ of the age. It is +as if Mons. Deshayes had triumphantly intended to portray the first +dawn of an art which he considers to have now reached the summit of +perfection. But who knows but the Monsieur _Un tel_ of 1931 may, with +equal boldness, parody the pirouettes of Monsieur Deshayes? Even the +music to this mythological interlude is borrowed from ancient scores; +a happy thought, which deserves commendation.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +THE NEW MAGAZINE. + +Mr. Campbell, the Poet, has seceded from the _New Monthly Magazine_, +and commenced a magazine of his own--_The Metropolitan_. Without +prejudice to the first-mentioned work, he has our best wishes for his +new undertaking. The New Monthly Magazine has, however, supplied the +_Mirror_ with brighter columns than any of its contemporaries, and +we are mindful of the obligation, especially for that gay and lively +description of writing which is really the _patter_ of literature. +It will soon be seen whether Mr. Campbell and his forces succeed. +The Number before us is, for a first, excellent. The Editor's Paper on +Ancient Geography, with which it opens, is worth the price of the whole +magazine: nay, it is worth more than many a modern quarto. Other papers +are attractive; and there is much of the spirit of the times throughout +the Number.--Poland, the Political Times, and the Lord Chancellor's +Levee--are vividly written. The last is a good specimen of the "keep +moving" style of a Magazine. We intend to quote largely from the + + +_Memoirs of the Macaw of a Lady of Quality_, + +BY LADY MORGAN: + +I am a native of one of the most splendid regions of the earth, where +nature dispenses all her bounties with a liberal hand; and where man +and bird are released from half the penalties to which, in other climes, +their flesh is heir. I was born in one of those superb forests of fruit +and flowers so peculiar to the Brazils, which stood at no great distance +from an Indian village, and was not far removed from an European +settlement. This forest was impervious to human footsteps. A nation of +apes occupied the interior; and the dynasty of the Psittacus Severus, +or Brazilian queen macaw, inhabited the upper regions.--Several +subject-states of green and yellow parrots constituted our colonial +neighbours. My family held the highest rank in the privileged classes +of our oligarchy; for our pride would not admit of a king, and our +selfishness (so I must call it) would allow of no rights. We talked +nevertheless in our legislative assemblies of our happy constitution, +which by tacit agreement we understood to mean "happy for ourselves;" +but the green and yellow parrots too plainly showed a strong disposition +to put another interpretation on the phraseology. My paternal nest was +situated in the hollow of one of the most ancient and lofty trees in the +forest. It had once been rich in fruit and flowers, gums and odours, +and all in the same season; and though it was now scathed at the top, +hollow in the trunk, and was threatened with total ruin from the first +hurricane, we still preferred it, because it _was_ the oldest. I owed +all my early impressions, and much of my acquired superiority, to my +great grandfather, who lived to an extreme old age, and attained a +celebrity, of which we were ourselves at that time unaware. He was +the identical bird which was brought from Marignan to Prince Maurice, +governor of the Brazils, and whose pertinent answers to many silly +questions are recorded in the pages of the greatest of English +philosophers. My great grandfather was soon disgusted with the folly +and cruelty of what is called civilized life; and having seen an Indian +roasted alive for a false religion's sake, he thought that some day they +might take it into their heads to do as much by a macaw, for the same +reason. So he availed himself of an early opportunity of retiring +without leave from the service, and returned to his native forest, where +his genius and learning at once raised him to the highest honours of +the Psittacan aristocracy. Influenced by his example, I early felt the +desire of visiting foreign countries. My mother too (who, though fond +and indulgent, like all the mothers of our race, was as vain and foolish +as any that I have since met with in human society) worked powerfully +on my ambition, by her constant endeavours to "push me up the tree," +as she called it, in her way. I was already a first-rate orator, and a +member of the great congress of macaws; while in our social re-unions +I left all the young birds of fashion far behind me: and as I not only +articulated some human sounds picked up from the Indians, but could +speak a few words of Portuguese and Dutch, learned by rote from my great +grandfather, I was considered a genius of high order. With the conceit, +therefore, of all my noble family, I was prompted to go forth and visit +other and better worlds, and to seek a sphere better adapted to the +display of my presumed abilities, than that afforded by our domestic +senate and home-spun society. On one of those celestial nights, known +only in the tropical regions, I set forth on my travels, directing my +course to the Portuguese settlement, which the youthful vigour of my +wing enabled me to reach by the break of morning. Having refreshed +myself with a breakfast of fruit, after the exhaustion of my nocturnal +flight, I ascended a spacious palm tree, which afforded an admirable +view of the adjacent country, and a desirable shelter from the ardours +of the rising sun. My first impulse was to take a bird's-eye view of the +novel scene which lay before me, and I gazed around for some minutes +with intense delight; but fatigue gradually obtained the mastery over +curiosity, and, putting my head unconsciously beneath my wing, I fell +into a profound sleep. How long this continued, I know not; but I was +suddenly awakened by a strange muttering of unknown voices. I looked, +and beheld two creatures whose appearance greatly surprised me. They had +nothing of the noble form and aspect of our Indian neighbours. One of +them considerably resembled the preacher-monkey in countenance and +deportment; his head was denuded of hair, and his person was covered by +a black substance, which left no limb visible except his ancles and +feet, which were very much like those of an ape. The other had all the +air of a gigantic parrot: he had a hooked bill, a sharp look, a yellow +head; and all the rest of his strange figure was party-coloured, blue, +green, red, and black. I classed him at once as a specimen of the +Psittacus Ochropterus. The ape and the parrot seemed to have taken +shelter beneath the palm tree, like myself, for the purposes of shade +and repose. They had beside them a basket filled with dead game, fruit, +and honey; and the parrot had a long instrument near him on the ground, +which I afterwards learned was a fowling-piece. They talked a strange +jargon of different intonation, like that of the respective chatter of +the grey and the green parrots. Both seemed to complain, and, by the +expression of their ugly and roguish faces, to interrogate each other. +As soon as they went away, I endeavoured to mutter to myself the sounds +they had uttered, but could retain only two phrases. The one had been +spoken by the ape, and ran thus--"Shure it was for my sweet sowl's +sake, jewel;" the other was--"Eh, sirs, it was aw' for the love of the +siller." I was extremely amused by my acquisition; and, being convinced +that I was now qualified to present myself at the settlement, was about +to descend from my altitude, when the two strangers returned: they had +come back for the gun, which they had left behind them. As they picked +it up, it went off, and I was startled into one of my loudest screams. +The strangers looked at me with great delight, he whom I likened to the +parrot exclaiming--"Weel, mon, what brought you here?" I answered in his +own words, for want of better--"Eh, sirs, it was aw' for the love of +the siller." He dropped his piece, and fled in consternation, calling +lustily--"Its auld clooty himsen, mon, its auld Horny, I tell ye; come +awa, come awa." His friend, who seemed more acquainted with our species, +encouraged him to return; and offering me some fruit from his basket, +said--"Why, Poll, you cratur, what brought you so far from home?" I +endeavoured to imitate his peculiar tone, and replied--"Why thin it was +for my sweet sowl's sake, jewel."--"Why then," said my interlocutor, +coolly (for I never forgot his words) "that bird bates cockfighting." +They now both endeavoured to catch me. It was all I wanted, and I +perched on the preaching-monkey's wrist, while he took up the basket +in his left hand, and in this easy and commodious style of travelling, +we proceeded. On approaching the settlement, a fierce dispute arose +between the friends; of which, by each tearing me from the other, I was +evidently the object; and I am quite sure that I should have been torn +to pieces between them, but for the timely approach of a person who +issued from a lofty and handsome edifice on the road side, attended by +a train of preacher-monkeys, of which he was the chief. He was quite a +superior looking being to either of my first acquaintance, who cowered +and shrunk beneath his eagle look. They seemed humbly to lay their cases +before him; when, after looking contemptuously on both, he took me to +himself, caressed me, and giving me to an attendant, said--"This bird +belongs to neither, it is the property of mother church:" and the +property of mother church I remained for some years. Of my two friends +of the palm-tree, one, the preacher-monkey, turned out to be a poor +Irish lay brother, of the convent of which my new master (an Irishman +too) was the superior. My yellow parrot was a Scotch adventurer, who +came out to give lectures on _poleetical economy_ to the Brazilians: +and who, finding that they had no taste for moral science, had become +a servant of all-work to the brotherhood. My dwelling was a missionary +house of the Propaganda, established for the purpose of converting +(i.e. burning) the poor Indians. The Superior, Father Flynn, had +recently arrived from Lisbon with unlimited powers. He was clever, +eloquent, witty, and humorous; but panting for a bishopric in his native +country, he was principally employed in theological writings, which +might bring him into notice and hasten his recall to Europe. + +Next to the servant's hall of a great English family, the first place +in the world for completing the education of a macaw of genius, is a +convent. Its idleness and ennui render a monkey, or a parrot, a valuable +resource; and between what I picked up, and what I was taught by the +monks of the Propaganda, my acquirements soon became stupendous. Always +following my kind master from the refectory to the church, assisting at +mess or at mass, being near him in the seclusion of the oratory, and in +the festivities, he frequently held with his more confidential friends; +I had loaded my astonishing memory with scraps of theology and of fun. +I could sing a French drinking song, taught me by the sub-prior Frere +Jacques, and intonate a "Gloria in Excelsis" with a true nasal twang. +I had actually learned the Creed in English;[3] and could call all the +brothers by their name. I had even learned the Savoyard's dance from +my friend Frère Jacques, and sung "Gai Coco" at the same time, like +Scaliger's parrot, from whose history Frère Jacques took the idea +of teaching me. I did this, it must be acknowledged, with great +awkwardness, turning in my toes, and often tumbling backwards in a +clumsy and ludicrous way. But this amused my religious friends more than +all the rest; for, like the great, they loved a ridicule as well as a +talent; and, provided they were amused, were not nice as to the means. +My fame soon began to spread on all sides, and the anecdotes told of the +macaw of the Propaganda soon reached the circles of the Governor of the +Brazils, who wrote to request the pleasure of my company for a few weeks +at the palace. This was a compliment which he had never paid to the +learned superior of the order, and my master was evidently hurt. He +declined therefore the invitation for me, on the plea that he would +soon visit Rio Janeiro himself, when I should accompany him into the +vice-regal presence. + +This visit shortly took place, not for the object supposed by the +community, (who parted with me, even for a short time, with great +regret,) but for another purpose. The British ambassador, Lord ----, who +had recently arrived at Rio, was a countryman of Father Flynn's. He +enjoyed eminent literary celebrity, was a delightful poet, and well +acquainted with the Portuguese language. The superior had no doubt that +his own literary and theological merits were equally known to his +excellency, whom he visited with a view to negotiating a passage in the +British man of war; for he had been called on a secret mission to +Ireland, and wished to depart without notifying his intention to the +subaltern of the Propaganda. I was not included in the muster-roll of +this expedition; but anxious to lose no opportunity of seeing the world, +and desirous of beholding the Governor, who had shown his taste and +politeness by inviting me to his court, I contrived to nestle myself in +the carriage without the superior's knowledge, and followed his steps to +the very ante-room of the embassy. It was too late to send me back; for +I was instantly seized by a company of pretty young animals, the very +reverse in appearance of the preacher-monkeys of the Propaganda; they +all seemed to find in me a kindred soul: my master was ushered into the +cabinet, and I was left with my new acquaintance, who were called +"_attachés_," but whom I at once classed with the secretary-birds,[4] +while here and there, I thought, was mingled among them a specimen of +the booby, or Pelicanus Sula. Two of these mischievous creatures seemed +to delight in tormenting me from mere idleness and ennui, which I bore +for some time with great patience, as I saw the boobies pay them much +respect. One was called Lord Charles, and the other the Hon. Mr. Henry. +I learned these names with facility, and contrived to repeat them, as +they had been taught me, by the frequent iteration of one of the +boobies. + + [3] "Rhodoginus mentions a parrot which could recite correctly the + whole of the Apostle's Creed."--Animal Biography, by the Rev. + W. Bingley. + + + [4] "The Dutch," says Le Vaillant, "give this bird the name of + Secretary, on account of the bunch of quills behind its + head."--Bingley, Animal Biography. + + +(_To be continued._) + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +PRISONS. + +We had formerly in the Tower of London, a straight room or dungeon, +called, from the misery the unhappy occupiers of this very confined +place endured, the Little-Ease. But this will appear a luxurious +habitation, when compared with the inventions of Louis XI. of France, +with his iron cages, in which persons of rank lay for whole years; +or his oubliettes, dungeons made in the form of reversed cones, +with concealed trap-doors, down which dropped the unhappy victims +of the tyrant, brought there by Tristam L'Hermite, his companion and +executioner in ordinary; sometimes their sides were plain, sometimes +set with knives, or sharp-edged wheels; but in either cases they were +complete _oubliettes;_ the devoted were certain to fall into the land +where all things are forgotten.--(_Pennant's London._) + +When the Bastille of France was demolished, three iron cages were +discovered, they were made of strong bars of iron, about eight feet high +and six feet wide, and such have been used in other prisons in that +country. The Bishop of Verdun, according to Mezeray, was the inventer, +and was himself the first man confined in them, and remained a prisoner +thus for eleven years, so that he could speak practically as to his own +invention. + + * * * * * + + +FEMALE LEANDER. + +The Duchess of Chevereux, who was for the first time at the court of +England, in 1638, swam across the Thames, in a frolic, near Windsor. On +this occasion some verses were composed by a Sir J. M. containing these +lines:-- + + But her chaste breast, cold as the cloyster'd nun, + Whose frost to chrystal might congeal the sun, + So glar'd the stream, that pilots, there afloat, + Thought they might safely land without a boat; + July had seen the Thames in ice involv'd, + Had it not been by her own beams dissolv'd. + + + * * * * * + + +BIRTHDAY PRAYER. + +The observance of a birthday by _prayer_ is not altogether incurious +in these days of license; and the following specimen, quoted from the +_Diary_ of that truly good man, JOHN EVELYN, may be entertained as the +genuine effusion of piety, unmixed with any alloy of fanaticism, or +religious enthusiasm:-- + +_Oct_. 31, 1689.--My birthday, being now 69 years old. Blessed Father +who hast prolonged my years to this great age, and given me to see so +great and wonderful revolutions, and preserved me amidst them to this +moment, accept, I beseech thee, the continuance of my prayers and +thankful acknowledgements, and grant me grace to be working out my +salvation and redeeming the time, that thou mayest be glorified by me +here, and my soul immortal saved, whenever thou shalt call for it to +perpetuate thy praises to all eternity, in that heavenly kingdom where +there are no more changes or vicissitudes, but rest and peace, and joy +and consummate felicity for ever. Grant this, O Heavenly Father, for +the sake of Jesus thine only Son and our Saviour. Amen. + + * * * * * + + +CURIOUS LETTER, + +_From a country squire, in the 18th century, to a gentleman in London, +who had written to him concerning the character of a Servant._ + +"Sir--Yours I receiv'd the 24th of this present instant, June, and, at +your request, will give you an impartial account of my man, John Gray's +character. He is a shoemaker, or cordwainer, which you please to call +it, by trade, and now in our town; he is following the carding business +for every one that wants him; he served his time at a town called +Binstock, in Northamptonshire; and from thence the Great Addington +journeyman, to this occupation, as before mentioned, and used to come to +my house, and found, by riding my horses to water, that he rode a horse +pretty well; which was not at all mistaken, for he rides a horse well: +and he looks after a kennel of hounds very well, and finds a hare very +well: he hath no judgement in hunting a pack of hounds now, though he +rides well, he don't with discretion, for he don't know how to make the +most of a horse; but a very harey-starey fellow: will ride over a church +if in his way, though he may prevent a leap by having a gap within ten +yards of him; and if you are not in the field with himself, when you are +hunting to tutor him about riding, he will kill all the horses you have +in the stable in one month, for he hath killed downright, and lamed so +that they will never be fit for use, no more than five horses since he +has hunted my hounds, which is two years and upwards; he can talk no dog +language to a hound; he hath no voice; speaks to a hound such as if his +head were in a churn; nor neither does he know how to draw a hound when +they are at a loss, no more than a child of seven years old. As to his +honesty, I always found him honest till about a week ago. I sent my +servant that I have now to fetch some sheep's feet from Mr. Stranjan, +of Higham Ferrers, where Gray used to go for feet, and I always send +my money by the man that brings the feet; and Stranjan told my man that +I have now that I owed him money for feet; and when the man came home +he told me, and I went to Stranjan, and then I found the truth of the +matter. Gray had kept the money in his hands, and had never paid +Stranjan: he had along with me once for a letter, in order for his +character, to give him one, but I told him I could not give him a good +one, so I would not write at all. Gray is a very great drunkard, can't +keep a penny in his pocket: a sad notorious lyar. If you send him upon +a mile or two from Uphingham, he will get drunk, stay all day, and never +come home while the middle of the night, or such time as he knows his +master is in bed. He can nor will not keep any secret; neither has he +so much wit as other people, for the fellow is half a fool, for if you +would have business done with expedition, if he once gets out of the +town, or sight of you, shall see him no more, while the next morning he +serves me so and so: you must expect the same if you hire him. I use you +just as I would be used myself; it I desired a character of you of a +servant, that I had design'd to hire of yours, as to let you know the +truth of every thing about him. + +"I am, sir, your most humble servant to command. + +"_Great Addington, June_ 28, 1734. + +"P.S. He takes good care of his horses, with good looking after as +to the dressing of them; but if you don't take care, he will fill the +manger full of corn, so that he will clog the horses, and ruin the whole +stable of horses." + + * * * * * + + +EPITAPH + +_Upon two religious disputants who are interred within a few paces of +each other._ + + + Suspended here, a contest see, + Of two whose creeds cou'd ne'er agree, + For whether they would preach or pray, + They'd do it in a different way; + And they wou'd fain our fate deny'd, + In quite a different manner dy'd! + Yet think not that their rancour's o'er, + No! for 'tis ten to one, and more, + Tho' quiet now as either lies, + But they've a wrangle when they rise. + + + * * * * * + + +LONGEVITY. + +In St. Michael's churchyard, at Litchfield, an ancient tombstone was +lately discovered, which had been buried in the earth a great number +of years. Upon it are deeply cut the following inscriptions:-- + + Here lyes the Body + of William Clarke, + who was Clarke of this + Church 51 years, and buried + March 25th, 1525, aged 96. + + Here lyes the Body + of William Clarke, + Clarke of this Church 71 + years, who died Septem. 26, + 1562, and aged 86. + + +The father lived in the reigns of six different kings, viz. Henry the +Sixth, Edwards the Fourth and Fifth, Richard the Third, and Henry the +Seventh and Eighth. The son in seven reigns, viz. from Edward the Fourth +to Mary the First. + +_Morning Chronicle, October 8, 1822._ + + * * * * * + + +LINES + +_Written by a ragged Irishman, a passenger on board a vessel with the +Archbishop of Tuam._ + + If each man had his suum, + You would not have Tuam, + But I should get meum, + And sing a _Te Deum_. + + +G.K. + + * * * * * + + +MAY. + +The following verses were composed by John Barbour, a poet and divine, +who was born at Aberdeen in 1330. They afford a specimen of the poetry +in his time:-- + + + "This was in midst of month of May, + When birdis sing on ilka spray, + Melland[5] their notes, with seemly soun, + For softness of the sweet seasoun. + + "And leavis of the branchis spreeds, + And blomis bright, beside them, breeds + And Fieldis strawed are with flow'rs + Well savouring of seir[6] colours; + And all things wor this, blyth, and gay." + + +P.T.W. + + [5] Mingling. + + [6] Their. + + * * * * * + + +POPULAR SCIENCE. + + * * * * * + +This Day is published, price 5s. + +ARCANA of SCIENCE, and ANNUAL REGISTER of the USEFUL ARTS for 1831. + +"This is the fourth annual volume of a most useful compilation of the +various discoveries in science or inventions of art during the preceding +year. The volume commences, very properly, with an abridgment of what +may be termed the greatest work of art which has distinguished the +present century--the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Various other +improvements in the different departments of the arts which have +appeared in the several scientific journals of the last year, are here +presented in a condensed form, so as to render the volume, in reality, +an excellent book of reference. The object of the editor seems to have +been that of blending entertainment with valuable information, the work +being illustrated by many neat engravings relating to the popular +branches of science. The volume, therefore, contains a very interesting +compendium of information for young people."--_New Monthly Magazine._ + +Printed for JOHN LIMBIRD, 143, Strand;--of whom may be had the Volumes +for the three preceding years. + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; and by all Newsmen +and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12650 *** |