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diff --git a/12676-0.txt b/12676-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec463ce --- /dev/null +++ b/12676-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1390 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12676 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XVII, NO. 490.] SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1831. [PRICE 2d. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: OLD HOUSE IN SOUTHWARK.] + + +This crazy, but not unpicturesque building, was taken down in the autumn +of last year, in forming an approach to the New London Bridge. It stood +on the eastern side of the High-street, and is worthy of record among +the pleasing relics of antiquity, which it has ever been the object of +_The Mirror_ to rescue from oblivion. Its style of architecture--that of +the seventh Henry--is interesting: there is a florid picturesqueness in +the carvings on the fronts of the first and second stories, and probably +this ornament extended originally to the uppermost stories, which had +subsequently been covered with plaster. + +We remember the house for the last twenty years, but cannot trace this +or any other alteration in its front. The windows, it will be seen, are +of different periods, those on the right-hand second and the left-hand +third floor being of the oldest date. + +Apart from these attractions, and as a specimen of the olden domestic +architecture of the metropolis, the annexed Cut bears an historic +interest, in its having been the residence of the ill-starred Anne +Boleyn, queen of Henry the Eighth. The interior was in palatial style, +having been elaborately finished; and in one of the apartments, we learn +that the royal arms were very conspicuous. + +In early times, Southwark was one of the most celebrated of the +metropolitan suburbs; and it is much to be regretted that the liberality +of our times has not encouraged the production of its ancient history. +Every one at all familiar with London is aware of the antiquity of St. +Saviour's Church, the original foundation of which was from the profits +of a ferry over the Thames, whence its original name, St. Mary Overy, or +"over the ferry." This was some time before the Conquest; but the church +was principally rebuilt in the fourteenth century. We have spoken of its +ancient fame elsewhere.[1] Bankside, its name in spiritual and secular +story, is likewise of some note. The early Bishops of Winchester had a +palace and _park_ here; remains of the former were laid open by a +fire about seventeen years since. Then, who does not remember, in the +love of sports and pastimes, the bull and bear-baiting theatres, and +the uncouth glory of the Globe theatre, associated with the poet of all +time--Shakspeare. Southwark was, therefore, a fitting site for a royal +palace for occasional retirement, and its contiguity to the Thames must +have enhanced its pleasantness. + +Miss Benger, in her agreeable _Memoirs of Anne Boleyn_, does not +mention the Queen's abode in Southwark; but the date of the architecture +of the annexed house, and its closer identification with Queen +Elizabeth, render the first mentioned circumstance by no means +improbable. Previous to the marriage of Anne Boleyn, we learn that Henry +passed not a few of his leisure hours "in the delightful society of Anne +Boleyn." "Every day they met and spent many hours in riding or walking +together." Her family at this time resided at Durham House, on the site +of the Adelphi, and Anne frequently made excursions with Henry in the +vicinity of London. + +Of the antiquity of this district we could quote more proofs. The +_galleried_ inn-yards, and among them that at which the Pilgrims +sojourned on their road to Canterbury, are among them. In our last +volume too, at page 160, we engraved an ancient Vault in Tooley-street, +the remains of the "great house, builded of stone, with arched gates, +which pertained to the Prior of Lewis, in Sussex, and was his lodging +when he came to London." Not far from this was "another great House of +Stone and Timber," which, in the thirteenth century, was held of John, +"Earl Warren, by the Abbot of St. Augustins, at Canterbury." Stowe +says--"It was an ancient piece of worke, and seemeth to be one of the +first builded houses on that side of the river, over against the city: +it was called the Abbot's Inne of St. Augustine in Southwark." + +There was also another "Inne" near this spot, which belonged to the +Abbey of Battle, in Sussex, and formed the town residence of its Abbots. +This stood on the banks of the Thames, between the Bridge House and +Battle Bridge, which was so called, "for that it standeth on the ground, +and over a water-course (flowing out of Thames) pertayning to that +Abbey, and was therefore both builded and repayred by the Abbots of that +house, as being hard adjoyning to the Abbot's lodging." Its situation +is known by the landing-place called Battle Stairs. On the opposite +side of Tooley-street is a low neighbourhood of meanly-built streets +and passages, still denominated the Maze, from the intricacies of a +labyrinth in the gardens of the Abbot of Battle's Inn, and which fronted +its entrance-gate. + +With these few quotations of the ancient importance of Southwark, we can +but repeat our regret that no regular history of this district has yet +been published. There are three or four gentlemen resident there, whose +antiquarian attainments highly qualify them for the task. The public +would surely find them patronage. + +The Engraving is from an original sketch by an ingenious Correspondent, +M.P. of Upton, near Windsor, whom we thank for this specimen of good +taste. We are always happy to receive antiquarian illustrations of our +Metropolis, and in this instance the zeal of the artist, who resides +twenty miles distant, deserves special mention. + + + [1] See _Mirror_, vol. xiii. p. 227. Gower is buried here, + Fletcher and Messenger too; and not long since the bones of + Bishop Andrews chapels for the New London Bridge approach.--See + also _Mirror_, vol. xvi. p. 297. + + + * * * * * + + +PARLIAMENT. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +The following particulars, which have been gleaned from several +sources, relating to the British Parliament, may be acceptable at the +present time, when the English people are in hopes of a renovation of +that Constitution which has been, and will still continue to be, the +admiration of the civilized world:--The word Parliament was first +used in 1265; and the Commons were admitted at this time, though not +regularly represented. The parliament called at Shrewsbury, in 1283, +by Edward I., was the first to which cities and towns were summoned to +send representatives. It was also the first that granted aids towards +the national defence of the three denominations of knights, citizens, +and burgesses, as well as by the lords spiritual and temporal. In this +parliament the representatives sat in a separate chamber from the barons +and knights. The Commons consisted of two knights for each county, two +representatives for the city of London, and two for each of the +following twenty towns only:-- + +Winchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York, Bristol, Exeter, Lincoln, +Canterbury, Carlisle, Norwich, Northampton, Nottingham, Scarborough, +Grimsby, Lynn, Colchester, Yarmouth, Hereford, Chester, Shrewsbury, +Worcester. + + +From this it appears that there were not representatives of any towns in +the counties of + +Westmoreland, Lancaster, Derby, Durham, Stafford, Warwick, Leicester, +Rutland, Suffolk, Hertford, Bedford, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Buckingham, +Berks, Oxford, Wilts, Somerset, Gloucester, Dorset, Sussex, Surrey. + + +In after times, burghs that were summoned frequently prayed the Crown to +be excused from sending representatives, on the account of their being +compelled to pay 3s. 4d. a day to each member for his maintenance, while +attending in his place; yet the allowance was made on a plan so strictly +economical, that the knights of Berkshire were only allowed for six +days, those for Bedfordshire for only five days, and those for Cornwall +for only eleven days, when called to a parliament at York. Sheriffs, +in their write for elections to parliament, sometimes omitted one +or more burghs in a county, and at other times sent writs to the same +burghs--and this, for aught known to the contrary, without instruction +from the king or his council. Where burghs were poor, there were many +such omissions, by favour of the sheriff, for a space of nearly three +hundred years. Upon petition of the town of Torrington to Edward III., +in 1366, he directed a letter to the bailiff and good men of the town, +excusing them "from the burden of sending two representatives to +parliament, as they had never been obliged so to do till the 24th of his +reign, when," says the king, "the sheriffs of Devonshire maliciously +summoned them to send two members to parliament." + +Writs for the election of members to serve in the House of Commons are +issued under different authorities upon a general election, and upon +vacancies of particular seats during the continuance of a parliament. +In the former case, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, pursuant to +the order in council, causes the writs of elections to be issued for all +places in England and Scotland to which such writs are usually sent. By +the Articles and Act of Union with Ireland, the Lord Chancellor then, +pursuant to the said orders, &c., causes writs to be issued and directed +by the Clerk of the Crown in Ireland to the several counties, and such +counties of cities and towns as send members to the united parliament. + +It is generally supposed that the circumstance of bishops, or other +ecclesiastics having seats in the legislature, is peculiar to England. +This is a mistake;--it was characteristic of the Scottish constitution +for centuries previous to their connexion with England: so far back, +indeed, if not much farther, as the twelfth century. It is stated, in +ancient documents connected with the history of the county of Elgin, the +authenticity of which cannot be doubted, that the Abbey of Kinloss was +founded by David I., in January, 1150, and that the abbot was mitred, +and had a seat in parliament. + +To the passing of a bill, the assent of the knights, citizens, and +burgesses must be in person; but the lords may give their votes by +proxy; and the reason is, that the barons always sat in parliament in +their own right, as part of the _pares curtis_ of the king; and +therefore, as they were allowed to serve by proxy in the wars, so had +they leave to make proxies in parliament; but the commons coming only +as representing the barones minores, and the soccage tenants in the +country, and as representing the men of the cities, &c., they could not +constitute proxies as representatives of others. + +When it is the pleasure of the Crown to dissolve a parliament, it is +the constant practice immediately to summon another, and to make the +dissolution of the old and the calling of the new simultaneous acts. +By the Act of 7 and 8 of William III., c. xxv. s. I, forty days +should intervene between the teste and return of the writs for a new +parliament; but a longer time is necessary, and fifty days now +intervene. + +Parliaments became triennial from the reigns of Edward III., but not +until 1694 had any act passed to make such duration legal. In 1716 this +was repealed, and the present act passed, making them septennial. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +SIMPLE AMBITION. + +(_To the Editor._) + + +The following anecdote was told me last summer, in the cabriolet of a +diligence between Pau and Bayonne, and is very much at your service. +EGOMET IPSE. + + +About twenty-three years ago, the vane of Strasbourg Cathedral was +struck by lightning, so that it hung on one side, threatening by its +fall to endanger the lives of the people below. The alarm was so great, +that the authorities, after a special consultation, posted bills about +the streets, offering any reward that should be required to any one that +would venture to ascend and strike off the vane. While the good citizens +were reading this announcement, a peasant from the department of the +Landes passed by, and being unable to read, he inquired the purport of +the advertisement. When informed, he immediately offered his services +for that purpose, and was conducted to the mayor and the bishop, who +happened to be both in the Hôtel de Ville at the time. They questioned +him, and fully acquainted him with the difficulties of the +enterprise--such as the real height, and that the upper part of the +spire could only be ascended by ladders on the outside. However, nothing +daunted, he persisted in his resolution to perform the feat on the +morrow. All Strasbourg was assembled in the open places of the city on +the next day; and, although admiring his courage as they saw him ascend, +they most prudently refrained from cheering him as he deserved. Few who +were then shading their eyes from the sun, in order to gaze on the +spire, but must have envied him the scene of surpassing loveliness that +was spread below him, although it is probable that neither the green +landscape fading into blue distance, the relics of ancient castles, +nor the beautiful Rhine glittering in sunshine, detained his regards. +He who at home, in his own barren and level sands, had been used to +no greater elevations than his stilts, was now mounting like an eagle +towards heaven, and admired by thousands. When he reached the summit, +he deliberately seated himself on the highest stone, with one leg on +each side of the vane; and while his clothes were visibly fluttered +in a strong breeze at such an eminence, he, with a hammer and chisel, +displaced the cross that had caused such alarm, It flew spinning to the +earth, and, borne away by the wind, fell in a neighbouring field, where +it sank twenty inches into the soil. The air was now rent with +acclamations towards him, + + Cui robur et aes triplex + Circa pectus erat-- + + +(for, be it remarked, he was the only person who had even proposed +to effect its removal). On his descent, he was carried in triumph to +the Hôtel de Ville. Being thanked by the authorities then and there +assembled, and assured of their intense anxiety for his life ever since +he had quitted the earth, he was asked what was the recompense he +demanded? He modestly replied, "that if they were pleased with what +he had performed, he hoped they would not think him presumptuous, but +he should so much like to walk through the Arsenal, and see all its +wonderful stores and docks!"--and they could not prevail upon him to +ask more. + +A week afterwards he left Strasbourg, with twenty-five Napoleons in +his pocket; and declared that he had never before spent his time so +agreeably as he did in that city, for he had seen the Imperial Arsenal, +the fortifications, and many other fine, as well as useful, sights, and +had been continually feasted gratis by the rich and the great folks. + + * * * * * + + +RANSOMS. + +(_Concluded from page_ 149.) + +The queen of Edward III., after the battle of Durham, demanded of John +Copland, David of Scotland; on his remonstrance that no one but the king +had a right to his prisoner, Edward sent for him to Calais, and bestowed +on him in return for his captive, £500, in land. The Scottish monarch +paid, after an imprisonment of eleven years, 100,000 marks, and was +dismissed. Charles de Blois, at the same period paid 700,000 crowns, and +left his two sons as hostages. Michael de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, paid +£20,000. sterling, when only a simple knight. Duc d'Alençon gave for his +freedom 200,000 crowns, and actually sold part of his estate to the Duc +de Bretagne to pay it. Caprice often caused the detention of men in +captivity, from their inability to comply with the absurd demands of +their captors. Louis XI. refused to part with Wolfang Poulain, a +Burgundian officer, unless he would purchase his redemption with some +favourite hounds belonging to the Seigneur de Bossu. As Bossu did not +feel sufficiently interested in his friend's welfare to comply with the +king's wishes, and part with his dogs, some time elapsed before any +treaty could be entered into, to restore Poulain to his country. + +This practice, though it undoubtedly contributed to soften the horrors +of war, often caused hostilities to be undertaken on the most absurd and +frivolous pretences. The English are represented by Comines as rejoicing +in a war with France, from a recollection of the prices they obtained +from the lords and princes they captured. Another bad effect may be +traced to it, in the violations of safe conduct, the seizure of +individuals during times of peace, which the middle ages so constantly +exhibit. Oliver de Clisson, the Constable of France, on entering into a +castle to examine its strength, at the request of the Duc de Bretagne, +in 1387, was seized, and at first commanded to be thrown into the sea. +The savage Breton afterwards being troubled in conscience, expressed his +joy that his order had not been complied with, and released Clisson on +the payment of 100,000 livres. + +During the wars of Edward III. and Philip, many a soldier of fortune +amassed considerable opulence by the ransoming of his prisoners. +Croquart, a famous leader of these companies, is related to have become +extremely rich by the money he received from the ransoms of castles and +towns. In the fourteenth century several Knights of Suabia having +associated themselves together for chivalrous engagements, endeavoured +to seize a rich Count of Wirtenburg, as a _means of procuring a noble +sum of money for the ransom of himself and his family_. For this +purpose they attacked him in his castle at Wildbad, but were repulsed. +At Poictiers, the King of France was nearly torn to pieces by the +soldiers in disputing for their prize. At the Bridge of Luissac, +Carlonnet, the French commander, fell into the hands of the enemy, who +were about to end the quarrel respecting his possession by putting him +to death, when the timely arrival of an English knight rescued him from +their power. At Agincourt, eighteen French gentlemen entered into an +agreement to direct all their attacks against King Henry, most probably +with a view of acquiring a fortune by his capture; hence the contest was +the hottest about his person. After the battle of Nanci, and the death +of the Duke of Burgundy, by the sword of Charles de Beaumont, the latter +is said to have died of regret, when he became aware whom it was he had +slain, and the loss he had sustained of a ducal ransom. + +Before quitting this subject, it may be observed that the value of a +prisoner's liberty was a regularly transferable property. Coeur de Lion +was sold to the emperor Henry; Philip Augustus bargained for him; and +his ransom reduced England, from sea to sea, to the utmost distress. +Louis XI. bought the bastard of Burgundy from Renè, Duc de Lorrain, +for 10,000 crowns, and also William of Chalons, Prince of Orange, for +20,000, from Sieur de Grosté. Joan of Arc was sold to the English for +10,000 livres, and a pension of 300. In the case of the Earl of +Pembroke, who became the property of Du Guescelin, as part of the +purchase-money for some estates in Spain, he had sold to Henry, King of +Castile, the constable lost his expected 120,000 livres by the death of +his prisoner; as this nobleman was in a bad state of health, his bankers +at Bruges wisely declined paying the money until he became _sound and +in good condition_. (_Quand il serait sain, et en bon point._) +The earl dying before he left France, Du Guescelin lost both his estates +and money. One of the family of the Blois was presented to his +favourite, the Duke of Ireland, by Richard II., who disposed of his +master's bounty to Oliver de Clisson for 120,000 livres. Zizim, the +brother of Bajazet, Emperor of the Turks, after being defeated by his +brother in an attempt to seize the throne, fled to the Knights of Rhodes +for succour. They, fearing the vengeance of the Sultan, transferred him +to Louis XI. who fulfilled his trust faithfully, and kept him for the +knights, though offered all the relics that the east abounded with, and +even the kingdom of Jerusalem, by Bajazet, for his prisoner. After being +given into the custody of the Pope by Louis, and a six years' residence +at Rome, he was sent back to France, as the king had found out that he +might be of service in his engagements with Constantinople; he was, +however, not restored to his brother in the condition which the Flemings +had stipulated the Earl of Pembroke to be restored; for before his +redelivery to the French, he is supposed to have been poisoned. + +H. + + * * * * * + + +THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF PETER THE GREAT. + +(_To the Editor._) + + +This stands upon a rock, which was found in a morass near Lachta, in +Karelin, at a distance of eleven versts, or about 41,250 English feet. +The dimensions of this stone were found to be 21 feet by 42 in length, +and 34 in breadth; its weight is calculated at 3,200,000 lbs. or 1,600 +tons. The mechanism for its conveyance was invented by Count Carbury, +who went by the name of Chevalier Lascuri. A solid road was first made +from the stone to the shore; then brass slips were inserted under the +stone to go upon cannon balls of five inches diameter, in metal grooves, +by windlasses worked by 400 men every day, 200 fathoms towards the place +of destination. The water transport was performed by what are called +camels in the dockyards of Petersburgh and Amsterdam. + +E.A.B + + * * * * * + + +SONNET TO HOPE. + +(_For The Mirror._) + + + As some lone pilgrim through Night's dreary scene, + With cautious steps scarce venturing on his way, + Views the chaste orb of Evening's soft-eyed Queen + Gild the blue east, and scare those mists away + Which from his sight each faithful light obscur'd, + And led him wildering, sinking pale with fear! + Not he more bless'd by Cynthia's light allur'd, + Onward his course with happier thoughts doth steer, + Than I, O Hope! blest cheerer of the soul! + Who, long in Sorrow's darkening clouds involv'd, + When black despair usurp'd mild Joy's control, + Saw thee, bright angel, fram'd of heavenly mould, + Dip thy gay pallet in the rainbow's hue, + And call each scene of Peace and Mirth to view. + + +_The Author of "A Tradesman's Lays."_ + + * * * * * + +The income of a Russian metropolitan does not exceed 800l. a-year; that +of an archbishop, 600l.; and of a bishop, 500l.; sums apparently as +small as persons of their rank can possibly subsist on, even in Russia. +They are, however, allowed a considerable sum annually for purposes of +charity. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + + * * * * * + + +A SCENE FROM LIFE. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + Truth is strange--stranger than fiction. + LORD BYRON. + + +"And so the Fernlands is to be sold at last," I said, casually meeting +Mr. Nibble, our under-sheriff--"Poor N----, I am grieved for him, he has +struggled hard against oppression." + +"It is quite true, sir," replied the man of the law, "a horning came +down last night, but it will answer no end--for Messrs. Sharke and +Scrapepen, have advertised the whole of the property for public roup +on Tuesday next." + +The Fernlands estate had been the family property of the N----s since +the conquest for aught I know. The present representative, after having +sent his sons out into the world, as all Scotchmen do, to fight their +way, (one of whom by the by was accumulating a snug fortune in India) +got involved in some commercial speculation, for which he was wholly +unfitted, being anything but a business man. He was a worthy +unsuspecting fellow, but at last saw his way clearer, and as he thought +got out, though a very heavy loser. In consequence of this scrape he +wrote to his son in India, to say, that unless he could remit him a +large sum, which he named, it would be impossible to keep his ground +at Fernlands. + +Very soon afterwards his late partner, who was a good sort of fellow +too, failed, and N---- was paralyzed on receiving a letter from the +attorney to the assignees to say, that not having regularly gazetted his +retirement from the concern, he had rendered himself legally liable to +the creditors of the late firm of ---- and Co., and unless N---- paid +the balance which remained due after the assets of the bankrupt's estate +had been ascertained, that immediate steps would be resorted to, to +compel him. The matter soon got abroad, and all N----'s other creditors +also pressed forward to crush him--well, to make a disagreeable story +short, the end is as I have previously related. Poor N---- is to be +ruined to pay another man's debts, after a vast deal to do with law and +lawyers, and much heat on both sides. + +I had taken great interest in the matter from the first, and it was with +deep feelings of sorrow that I saw this excellent family likely to be +driven from the home of their forefathers, by the merciless and often +unjust hand of the law. N---- was, I believe, generally liked, and no +person in need, in the district where he resided, looked up to the +_Laird_ for advice or assistance in vain. You may judge therefore +of the public sensation. While these matters were pending, N---- looked +with the deepest anxiety for the arrival of a letter from his son in +India; and every day did he send his servant express to the little +post-office at ----, but in vain. + +At last the fatal day of sale arrived. N----, in the depth of his +distress had early sent for me to consult whether even at the eleventh +hour something could not be done to avert the calamity. A sinking man +catches at a straw. It wanted less than three hours of the time of sale +when I entered the grounds of Fernlands. The gate was half off its +hinges, the posts plastered with advertisements of the sale; and people, +as always happens in such cases, were already pouring towards the house +more from a motive of curiosity than from an intention of purchasing +anything. As I advanced towards the scene of action, I could observe +that the shrubberies were injured, and the rare plants and flowers +which both N---- and his wife had valued so much--for they were fond +of the study of nature--exhibited evident tokens of the mischief of +the careless multitude thronging to the show. The day was clear and +beautiful, the breeze played through the leafy wilderness with a joyous +effect; the contrast between the peace and harmony of nature, and the +discord and tumult of man and his deeds, was affecting. But such +thoughts were soon chased away from my mind, as I advanced over a +portion of the lawn towards the stables, I saw N----'s favourite mare, +and the old pony, Jack, (whom I recollected as the companion of N----'s +boys, and as tractable as a dog,) in the hands of a rascally sheriff's +officer, who was showing them to a horse-dealer from a neighbouring +town. The lawn in the front of the house was covered with straggling +groups of people, either discussing the event of the day, or examining +some of the furniture which was strewed there. + +"Eh, sirs!" said an old man, brushing a tear from his eye, "I never +thoucht to ha' seen the like o' this day's wark--and my forbears have +had a bit o' farm under the laird's a hundred an' saxteen year, and +better nor kinder folk to the puir man never lived." + +Mr. Nibble, who was Messrs. Sharke's agent, was bustling about, and +I found him engaged with a fat, pompous little fellow, the auctioneer, +from a neighbouring town. + +"Sad business this, Mr. ----," said he, "Fernlands is in a sad taking +about it, I believe, but things of this kind will occur, you know; and +I always say what can't be cured must be endured, eh." + +I turned with an ill-concealed expression of disgust from this man, and +entered the house in search of my friend, for N---- would not quit the +old place to the last. There is something melancholy in viewing a sale +at any time--the disarrangement of the furniture--the cheerless and +chilling aspect of the rooms--the dirt, the bustle, and the heartless +indifference one witnesses to the misfortunes of others--all come home +forcibly to the feelings. After stumbling and striking my shins amongst +piles of chairs, and furniture, and carpets, disposed in lots over the +now comfortless apartments, I at last reached the study door where I had +spent many a happy hour with N----. I entered; the room was stripped of +part of its furniture, the books lying dispersed in heaps over the floor +or on the massive table, at the side of which N---- was seated on the +only chair left in the apartment. He was at first unconscious of my +entrance. + +"My dear sir, this is kind indeed," he said as I advanced, struggling +with his feelings, "but take a chair," and he glanced round the room +with a bitter smile, as he observed there was none, "my friends are kind +you see, they think chairs are useless things...." + +The loss of his land affected him more than I can describe. He had been +brought up upon it, and it had become as it were part and parcel of +himself; it was not an ordinary loss. The noise and bustle in the house +and sundry interruptions from inquisitive eyes, warned us, as N---- +said, that "we must jog." As we were rising, I accidentally inquired +whether he had received his letters that morning. "Good God!" he +exclaimed, "I totally forgot, and poor Andrew I fancy is too much +occupied in bemoaning the fate of the horses, to have thought of it; +but we can get them when I return with you this afternoon." + +"Delays are dangerous," I replied, "we will not throw a chance away." + +We hastened to the stable, and I despatched the servant on my own horse, +with the utmost expedition to the post-office at ----. + +N---- sauntered through a private path in the shrubbery towards the +entrance of the grounds, and I made my way through the careless throng, +who had no thought what their own fate might be perhaps to-morrow--to +Mr. Nibble, and urged him to delay the sale for an hour, but he said it +was impossible, he would not hurry it for half an hour or so, but that +they were already pressed for time. The landed property was first to be +brought to the hammer. I mechanically followed the steps of N----, and +when I overtook him, we saw through a break in the wood, from the +increased density of the mob and the elevation of the auctioneer, that +the sale was commencing. + +We gave up all for lost. At this moment I fancied I heard the noise of +a horse urged to full gallop. The blood rushed to our hearts; we sprung +through the trees towards the road; in another moment Andrew was in +sight, urging his horse to his utmost speed. The instant he saw us he +waved his hat, "A packet from abroad, sir," he sung out as he +approached, "from our young master, I'm sure." + +"God be praised, you are saved," was all I could utter; poor N---- was +faint with sudden joy and hope. We tore open the envelope, which +contained bills from his son in India to a large amount. I saw N---- was +unable to think, and without more ado, I squeezed his hand, seized the +letter, and put spurs to my horse. The bidding had commenced when I +reached the wondering crowd, who rapidly fell back as they saw me +approach. But why should I tire you any longer; in a couple of hours +Fernlands remained unpolluted by one of the mob, or legal harpies who +had invaded it. You may guess the rest.... + +A friend related the preceding incident to me; the reader may suppose +him to be addressing myself. The leading circumstances are strictly +true, the names and some trifling matters alone being altered. The story +is invested with interest from its great similarity to a portion of the +plot of the "Antiquary;" I have the strongest reason to believe, from +the intimate acquaintance the great novelist possessed with the country, +that he drew Sir Arthur Wardour's similar escape from ruin, from a +recollection of the event briefly related above. + +VYVYAN. + + * * * * * + + + + +SELECT BIOGRAPHY. + + * * * * * + + +PAGANINI, THE VIOLINIST. + +By aid of the _Foreign Quarterly Review_, we are enabled to submit +to our readers the following very interesting Memoirs of this eccentric +genius. + +By the way, we are happy to find that the above work is enabled to +maintain the high character with which it started. It argues well for +the literary taste of this country, by cherishing acquaintance with +continental literature, and thus strengthening our resources at home. + + +Nicolo Paganini was born at Genoa, in February, 1784. We are not +informed as to his father's profession, if indeed he had any: all that +we are told is, that his chief pursuit was to improve his circumstances, +which were not the best in the world, by speculating in the lottery, so +that when his little son, Nicolo, began at an unusually early age to +give strong indications of musical talent, it seemed to him as if the +wheel of fortune had at last been propitious, and he accordingly lost +no time in setting to work to make the most of his prize. Having some +skill on the violin himself, he resolved to teach him that instrument; +and as soon as he could hold it, put one into his hands, and made him +sit beside him from, morning to night, and practise it. The incessant +drudgery which he compelled him to undergo, and the occasional +starvation to which he subjected him, seriously impaired his health, +and, as Paganini himself asserts, laid the foundation of that +valetudinarian state which has ever since been his portion, and which +his pale, sickly countenance, and his sunk and exhausted frame so +strongly attest. As his enthusiasm was such as to require no artificial +stimulus, this severe system could only have been a piece of cool and +wanton barbarity. He already began to show much promise of excellence, +when a circumstance occurred which not only served to confirm these +early prognostications, but to rouse him to exert all his energies. +This was no other than a dream of his mother, Theresa. An angel appeared +to her; she besought him to make her Nicolo a great violin player; he +gave her a token of consent;--and the effect which this dream had upon +all concerned, we sober-minded people can have no idea of. Young +Paganini redoubled his perseverance. In his eighth year, under the +superintendence of his father, he had written a sonata, which, however, +along with many other juvenile productions, he lately destroyed; and +as he played about three times a week in the churches and at private +musical parties, upon a fiddle nearly as large as himself, he soon began +to make himself known among his townsmen. At this time he received much +benefit from one Francesco Gnecco, who died in 1811, and whom he always +speaks highly of. + +In his ninth year, being applied to by a travelling singer to join him +in a concert, he made his first public appearance in the great theatre +at Genoa, and played the French air "La Carmagnole," with his own +variations, with great applause. + +His father now resolved to place him under the tuition of the well-known +composer, Rolla, and for that purpose took him along with him to Parma. +The particulars of their interview afford a striking proof of the +proficiency which he had by this time acquired. As Rolla happened to be +ill and lying in bed, the party were shown into the ante-chamber, when, +observing upon the table one of the composer's newest concertos, the +father beckoned to his son to take up his violin and play it, which he +did at sight, in such a way that the sick man immediately started up, +demanded who it was, and could scarcely be prevailed upon to believe +that the sounds had proceeded from a little boy, and his intended pupil; +but as soon as he had satisfied himself that that was really the case, +he declined to receive him. "For God's sake," said he, "go to Paer, your +time would be lost with me, I can do nothing for you." + +To Paer accordingly they went, who received him kindly, and referred +him to his own teacher, the old and experienced "Maestro di Capella" +Giretti, from Naples, who gave him instructions for six months, three +times a-week in counterpoint. During this period he wrote twenty-four +Fugues for four hands, with pen, ink, and paper alone, and without any +instrument, which his master did not allow him, and, assisted by his own +inclination, made rapid progress. The great Paer also took much interest +in him, giving him compositions to work out, which he himself revised: +an interest for which Paganini ever afterwards showed himself deeply +grateful. + +The time was now come when Nicolo was destined, like other youthful +prodigies, to be hawked about the country, to fill the pockets of his +mercenary father, who managed to speculate upon him with considerable +success in Milan, Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Leghorn, and most of the +upper and central towns of Italy, where his concerts were always well +attended. Young Paganini liked these excursions well enough, but being +now about fifteen years of age, he began to be of opinion that they +would be still more agreeable if he could only contrive to get rid of +the old gentleman, whose spare diet and severe discipline had now become +more irksome to him than ever. To accomplish this desirable object, an +opportunity soon offered. It was the custom of Lucca, at the feast of +St. Martin, to hold a great musical festival, to which strangers were +invited from all quarters, and numerous travellers resorted of their own +accord; and as the occasion drew near, Nicolo begged hard to be allowed +to go there in company with his elder brother, and after much entreaty, +succeeded in obtaining permission. He made his appearance as a solo +player, and succeeded so well, that he resolved now to commence +vagabondizing on his own account--a sort of life to which he soon +became so partial, that, notwithstanding many handsome offers which +he occasionally received to establish himself in several places, +as a concerto player or director of the orchestra, he never could be +persuaded to settle any where. At a later period, however, he lived for +some time at the court of Lucca, but soon found it more pleasant and +profitable to resume his itinerant habits. He visited all parts of +Italy, but usually made Genoa his head-quarters, where, however, he +preferred to play the part of the dilletante to that of the virtuoso, +and performed in private circles without giving public concerts. + +It was not long before he had amassed about 20,000 francs, part of which +he proposed to devote to the maintenance of his parents. His father, +however, was not to be put off with a few thousands, but insisted upon +the whole.--Paganini then offered him the interest of the capital, but +Signor Antonio very coolly threatened him with instant death unless he +agreed to consign the whole of the principal in his behalf; and in order +to avert serious consequences, and to procure peace, he gave up the +greater part of it. + +It was early in 1828 when Paganini arrived at Vienna, where he gave +a great many concerts with a success equal, if not superior, to any +which had hitherto attended his exertions. His performance excited the +admiration and astonishment of all the most distinguished professors and +connoisseurs of this critical city. With any of the former all idea of +competition was hopeless; and their greatest violinist, Mayseder, as +soon as he had heard him, with an ingenuousness which did him honour, +as we ourselves have reason to know, wrote to a friend in London, that +he might now lock up his violin whenever he liked. + +In estimating the labour which it must have cost a performer like +Paganini to have arrived at such transcendent excellence, people are +often apt to err in their calculations as to the actual extent of +time and practice which has been devoted to its acquisition. That the +perfect knowledge of the _mechanique_ of the instrument which his +performance exhibits, and his almost incredible skill and dexterity +in its management must necessarily have been the result of severe +discipline, is beyond all question; but more, much more, in every case +of this kind, is to be ascribed to the system upon which that discipline +has proceeded, and to the genius and enthusiasm of the artist. The +miraculous powers of Paganini in the opinion of his auditors were not +to be accounted for in the ordinary way. To them, it was plain that they +must have sprung from a life of a much more settled and secluded cast +than that of an itinerant Italian musical professor. It was equally +clear, from his wild, haggard, and mysterious looks, that he was no +ordinary personage, and had seen no common vicissitudes. The vaults of +a dungeon accordingly were the local habitation which public rumour, in +its love of the marvellous, seemed unanimously to assign to him, as the +only place where "the mighty magic" of his bow could possibly have been +acquired. Then, as to the delinquency which led to his incarceration, +there were various accounts: some imputed it to his having been a +captain of banditti; others, only a carbonaro; some to his having killed +a man in a duel; but the more current and generally received story was, +that he had stabbed or poisoned his wife, or, as some said, his +mistress; although, as fame had ascribed to him no fewer than four +mistresses, it was never very clearly made out which of his seraglio it +was who had fallen the victim of his vengeance. The story not improbably +might have arisen from his having been confounded with a contemporary +violin-player of the name of Duranowski, a Pole, to whom in person he +bore some resemblance, and who, for some offence or other having been +imprisoned at Milan, during the leisure which his captivity afforded, +had contrived greatly to improve himself in his art; and when once +it was embodied into shape, the fiction naturally enough might have +obtained the more credence, from the fact that two of his most +distinguished predecessors, Tartini and Lolly, had attained to the great +mastery which they possessed over their instrument during a period of +solitude--the one within the walls of a cloister, the other in the +privacy and retirement of a remote country village. At all events, the +rumours were universally circulated and believed, and the innocent and +much injured Paganini had for many years unconsciously stood forth in +the eyes of the world as a violator of the laws, and even a convicted +murderer--not improbably, to a certain extent, reaping the golden fruits +of that "bad eminence;" for public performers, as we too often see, who +have once lost their "good name," so far from finding themselves, in the +words of Iago, "poor indeed," generally discover that they have only +become objects of greater interest and attraction. How long he had lived +in the enjoyment of this supposed infamy, and all the benefits accruing +from it, we really cannot pretend to say; but he seems never to have +been made fully aware of the formidable position in which he stood until +he had reached Vienna, when the Theatrical Gazette, in reviewing his +first concert, dropped some pretty broad hints as to the rumoured +misdeeds of his early life. Whereupon he resolved at once publicly to +proclaim his innocence, and to put down the calumny; for which purpose, +on the 10th of April, 1828, there was inserted in the leading Vienna +journals a manifesto, in Italian as well as German, subscribed by him, +declaring that all these widely-circulated rumours were false; that at +no time, and under no government whatever, had he ever offended against +the laws, or been put under coercion; and that he had always demeaned +himself as became a peaceable and inoffensive member of society; for the +truth of which he referred to the magistracies of the different states +under whose protection he had till then lived in the public exercise of +his profession. + +The truth of this appeal (which it is obvious no delinquent would have +dared to make) was never called in question, no one ever ventured to +take up the gauntlet which Paganini had thrown down, and his character +as a man thenceforward stood free from suspicion. + +His whimsicalities, his love of fun, and many other points of his +character, are sometimes curiously exemplified in his fantasias. He +imitates in perfection the whistling and chirrupping of birds, the +tinkling and tolling of bells, and almost every variety of tone which +admits of being produced; and in his performance of _Le Streghe_ +(The Witches) a favourite interlude of his, where the tremulous voices +of the old women are given with a truly singular and laughable effect, +his _vis comica_ finds peculiar scope. + +His command of the back-string of the instrument has always been an +especial theme of wonder and admiration, and, in the opinion of some, +could only be accounted for by resorting to the theory of the dungeon, +and the supposition that his other strings being worn out, and not +having it in his power to supply their places, he had been forced from +necessity to take refuge in the string in question; a notion very like +that of a person who would assert, that for an opera dancer to learn to +stand on one leg, the true way would be--to have only one leg to stand +upon. We shall give Paganini's explanation of this mystery in his own +words: + +"At Lucca, I had always to direct the opera when the reigning family +visited the theatre; I played three times a week at the court, and every +fortnight superintended the arrangement of a grand concert for the court +parties, which, however, the reigning princess, Elisa Bacciochi Princess +of Lucca and Piombino, Napoleon's favourite sister, was not always +present at, or did not hear to the close, as the harmonic tones of +my violin were apt to grate her nerves, but there never failed to be +present another much esteemed lady, who, while I had long admired +her, bore (at least so I imagined) a reciprocal feeling towards me. +Our passion gradually increased; and as it was necessary to keep it +concealed, the footing on which we stood with each other became in +consequence the more interesting. One day I promised to surprise her +with a musical _jeu d'esprit_, which should have a reference to +our mutual attachment. I accordingly announced for performance a comic +novelty, to which I gave the name of 'Love Scene.' All were curiously +impatient to know what this should turn out to be, when at last I +appeared with my violin, from which I had taken off the two middle +strings, leaving only the E and the G string. By the first of these +I proposed to represent the lady, by the other the gentleman; and I +proceeded to play a sort of dialogue, in which I attempted to delineate +the capricious quarrels and reconciliations of lovers--at one time +scolding each other, at another sighing and making tender advances, +renewing their professions of love and esteem, and finally winding up +the scene in the utmost good humour and delight. Having at last brought +them into a state of the most perfect harmony, the united pair lead off +a _pas de deux_, concluding with a brilliant finale. This musical +scena went off with much eclat. The lady, who understood the whole +perfectly, rewarded me with her gracious looks; the princess was all +kindness, overwhelmed me with applause, and, after complimenting me upon +what I had been able to effect upon the two strings, expressed a wish to +hear what I could execute upon one string. I immediately assented--the +idea caught my fancy; and as the emperor's birthday took place a. few +weeks afterwards, I composed my Sonata 'Napoleon' for the G. string, and +performed it upon that day before the court with so much approbation +that a cantata of Cimarosa, following immediately alter it upon the same +evening, was completely extinguished, and produced no effect whatever. +This is the first and true cause of my partiality for the G. string; and +as they were always desiring to hear more of it, one day taught another, +until at last my proficiency in this department was completely +established." + +We know no one who has been more cruelly misrepresented than the +subject of this notice. In reality a person of the gentlest and most +inoffensive habits, he is any thing rather than the desperate ruffian +he has been described. In his demeanour he is modest and unassuming; +in his disposition, liberal and generous to a fault. Like most artists, +ardent and enthusiastic in his temperament, and in his actions very much +a creature of impulse; he is full of that unaffected simplicity which we +almost invariably find associated with true genius. He has an only son, +by a Signora Antonia Bianchi, a singer from Palermo, with whom he lived +for several years until the summer of 1828, when he was under the +necessity of separating from her in consequence of the extreme violence +of her temper; and in this little boy all his affections are +concentrated. He is a very precocious child, and already indicates +strong signs of musical talent. Being of a delicate frame of health, +Paganini never can bear to trust him out of his sight. "If I were to +lose him," says he, "I would be lost myself; it is quite impossible I +can ever separate myself from him; when I awake in the night, he is my +first thought."--Accordingly, ever since he parted from his mother, he +has himself enacted the part of the child's nurse. + + * * * * * + +Why is Mr. Whitbread in his brewery like the Jerusalem coffee-house? +Because _He-brews_ drink therein. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + + +THE SUSTILLO. + +A caterpillar, which the Indians name sustillo, and by which a paper +is fabricated, very similar to that made in China, is bred in the pacae, +a tree well known in Peru. In proportion to the vigour and majestic +growth of this tree, is the number of the insects it nourishes, and +which are of the kind and size of the bombyx, or silk-worm. When they +are completely satiated, they unite at the body of the tree, seeking the +part which is best adapted to the extension they have to take. They then +form, with the greatest symmetry and regularity, a web which is larger +or smaller, according to the number of the operators; and more or less +pliant, according to the quality of the leaf by which they have been +nourished, the whole of them remaining beneath. This envelope, on which +they bestow such a texture, consistency, and lustre, that it cannot be +decomposed by any practicable expedient, having been finished, they +all of them unite, and ranging themselves in vertical and even files, +form in the centre a perfect square. Being thus disposed, each of them +makes its cocoon, or pod, of a coarse and short silk, in which it is +transformed from the grub into the chrysalis, and from the chrysalis +into the papilio, or moth. In proportion as they afterwards quit their +confinement, to take wing, they detach wherever it is most convenient +to them, their envelope, or web, a portion of which remains suspended +to the trunk of the tree, where it waves to and fro like a streamer, +and which becomes more or less white, according as the air and humidity +of the season and situation admit. This natural silk paper has been +gathered measuring a yard and a half, of an elliptical shape, which +is peculiar to all of it. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +DESCRIPTION OF A BEAUTIFUL TREE. + +_By John F.M. Dovaston, Esq. A.M., of Westfelton, near Shrewsbury._ + + + "_Hamlet._ Do you see nothing there? + _Queen._ Nothing at all; yet all that is I see." + _Hamlet._ + + "You cannot see the wood for trees." + _Ray's Proverbs._ + + +It was now the middle of May; the trees had fully put forth their +bright, fresh leaves, and the green fields were luxuriant in a profusion +of flowers. We had travelled through a fine country; when, descending +the slope of a wooded valley, we were struck with delight and admiration +at a tree of extraordinary appearance. There were several of the sort, +dispersed singly, and in groups over the plains and grassy knolls. One +we shall attempt to describe, though well aware how feeble is the most +florid description to depict an idea of so magnificent an object. In +height it exceeded 50 ft., the diameter of its shade was nearly 90 ft., +and the circumference of the bole 15 ft.: it was in full leaf and +flower, and in appearance at once united the features of strength, +majesty, and beauty; having the stateliness of the oak, in its trunk and +arms; the density of the sycamore, in its dark, deep, massy foliage; +and the graceful featheriness of the ash, in its waving branches, that +dangled in rich tresses almost to the ground. Its general character as +a tree was rich and varied, nor were its parts less attractive by their +extreme beauty when separately considered. Each leaf was about 18 in. in +length; but nature, always attentive to elegance, to obviate heaviness, +had at the end of a very strong leaf-stalk divided it into five, and +sometimes seven, leafits, of unequal length, and very long oval shape, +finely serrated. These leafits were disposed in a circular form, +radiating from the centre, like the leaves of the fan palm, though +placed in a contrary plane to those of that magnificent ornament of the +tropical forests. The central, or lower, leafits were the largest, each +of them being 10 in. in length, and 4 in. in breadth, and the whole +exterior of the foliage being disposed in an imbricated form, having a +beautifully light and palmated appearance. The flowers, in which the +tree was profuse, demand our deep admiration and attention: each group +of them rose perpendicularly from the end of the young shoot, and was in +length 14 in., like a gigantic hyacinth, and quite as beautiful, spiked +to a point, exhibiting a cone or pyramid of flowers, widely separate on +all sides, and all expanded together, principally white, finely tinted +with various colours, as red, pink, yellow, and buff, the stamina +forming a most elegant fringe amid the modest tints of the large and +copious petals. These feathery blossoms, lovely in colours and stately +in shape, stood upright on every branch all over the tree, like flowery +minarets on innumerable verdant turrets. We had thus the opportunity of +ascertaining that it belonged to that class of Linnaeus consisting +entirely of rare plants the Heptándria, and the order Monogynia; the +natural order Trihilàtae; and the _A'_cera of Jussieu. + +The natives informed us that the fruit ripens early in autumn, and +consists of bunches of apples, thinly beset with sharp thorns, each when +broken producing one or two large kernels, about 2 in. in circumference, +of the finest bright mahogany colour without, and white within; that the +tree is deciduous, and just before its fall changes to the finest tints +of red, yellow, orange, and brown. When divested of its luxuriant +foliage, the buds of the next year appear like little spears, which +through the winter are covered with a fine glutinous gum, evidently +designed to protect the embryo shoots within, as an hybernaculum, from +the severe frosts of the climate, and which glisten in the cold sunshine +like diamonds. It has the strange property of performing the whole of +its vigorous shoot, nearly a yard long, in the short space of three +weeks, employing all the rest of the year in converting it into wood, +adding to its strength, and varying its beauty. The wood when sawn is +of the finest snowy whiteness. The tree is easily raised; indifferent +as to soil, climate, or situation; removed with safety, of quick growth, +thrives to a vast age and size; subject to no blight or disease; in the +earliest spring bursting its immense buds into that vigour, exuberance, +and beauty, which we have here feebly attempted to describe. The natives +said it was originally brought from the east of Asia, but grows freely +in any climate, and in their tongue its name is designated by a +combination of three words, signifying separately, a noble animal, +an elegant game, and a luscious kernel. Had Linnaeus seen this tree, +he would have assuredly contemplated it with delightful ecstacy, and +named it the _Ae'_sculus Hippocástanum.--_Magazine of Natural +History._ + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +CIGAR-SMOKING. + +The Surgeon-General of the Forces has recently made public his +belief, that never, till within the last twenty years, did he see so +many young men with pale faces and emaciated figures, and he attributes +the existence of the evil to the use of Cigars. The unreflecting +servility with which men adopt new and foreign practices, is fully +exemplified in the present case; for it is notorious that the practice +of cigar-smoking, the modern foppery from Regent-street to Cheapside and +Cornhill, was an importation of the Peninsular War; the imitation having +been begun by the Spaniards, whose models are what are usually called +the _savages_ of America. The dietetic mischief, and consequent +paleness of complexion and emaciation of muscle, which are attributable +to the use of cigars, belong, no doubt, to an injury inflicted, perhaps, +in more ways than one upon the aids and organs of digestion; nor is +that hypothesis at all inconsistent with what we hear from so many +cigar-smokers, namely, that their cigar is their dependence for +digestion! That, after having impaired the organ, or weakened its tone, +or dried up the salival menstruum, they should need a stimulant, even in +the very form of the bane which injures them, is only of a piece with +all that has been said of drinking, and especially of dram-drinking, +with which latter debauch, the debauch of cigar-smoking has the closest +possible alliance. We never pass one of those stifling rendezvous in the +metropolis--a cigar-shop, open till the latest hours--without mentally +classing it with the gin-shops, its only compeers! + +Exclusive of the low habit of imitation, a dulness and feebleness of +understanding, an absence of intellectual resources, a vacuity of +thought is the great inducement to the use of this, as of all other +drugs, whether from the cigar-shop, or the snuff-shop, or the gin-shop, +or the wine-cellar; a truth by no means the less certain, because it +happens that men of the highest powers of mind are drawn into the vice, +and made to reduce themselves, by their adoption and dependence upon it, +to the lowest level of the vulgar; but, at the same time, it is not to +be denied, that a great support in defence of cigar-smoking is found in +the medical opinions sometimes advanced as to its salutary influence. +Now, if we admit, broadly and at once, that there may be times and +circumstances in which the inhaling the hot smoke of a powerful narcotic +drug is useful to the human body, must it follow that the habitual +resort to such a practice, and this under all circumstances, is useful +also, and even free from the most serious inconveniences? + +It is the admitted maxim, that if smoking is accompanied by spitting, +injury results to the smoker; and the reason assigned is, that the +salival fluid, which should assist digestion, is in this manner +dissipated, and taken from its office. But may not the habitual +application of the narcotic influence to the nervous system have its +evils also? May it not weaken or deaden the nervous and muscular action +which is needful to digestion? And may not even the excessive quantity +of the matter of heat, thus artificially conveyed into the body, tend to +a desiccation of the system, as injurious under general circumstances, +as it may be beneficial under particular ones? + +Smoking invites thirst; and there is little risk in advancing, that +whatever superinduces an unnatural indulgence in the use of liquids is +itself, and without farther question, injurious, even if the liquids +resorted to are of the most innocent description; but, in point of fact, +the cigar-smoker will usually appease his thirst by means of liquors in +themselves his enemies! + +It is said, however, that the use of cigars is beneficial when we find +ourselves in marshy situations, with a high temperature, and generally, +whenever the atmosphere inclines to the introduction of putridity and +fever into the system. We believe this; and perhaps a useful theory of +the alternate benefit and mischief of cigar-smoking may be offered upon +the basis of that proposition. When and wherever the body requires to +be _dried_, cigar-smoking may be salutary; and when and wherever +that _drying_, or desiccation, is injurious, then and there +cigar-smoking may be to be shunned. We know that, while surrounded by +an atmosphere overcharged, or even only saturated with moisture, moist +bodies remain moist, or do not part with that excess of moisture from +which a drier atmosphere would relieve them; and that living bodies, +so circumstanced, are threatened with typhus and typhoid fever. It is +highly probable, therefore, that narcotics, in such cases, may allay +a morbid irritability of the nerves, or effect a salutary diminution +of healthful sensibility; under such circumstances, the desiccating +and sedative effects of tobacco-smoking may prove beneficial; while, +in all ordinary states of the system and of the atmosphere, the +same desiccative and sedative influences may produce immediate evil +consequences, more or less readily perceptible, and undermine, however +gradually, the strength of the constitution.--_United Service +Journal._ + + * * * * * + + +THE NEW COINAGE. + +Why does not some man of public research enlighten the public on the +proceedings at the Mint? The whole system is as little comprehensible +by the uninitiated as the philosopher's stone. The cost of the Mint is +prodigious--the machinery is all that machinery can be; yet we have one +of the ugliest coinages of any nation of Europe. A new issue of coin is +about to be commenced. + +"It appears, from the king's proclamation, that the new coinage +will consist of double sovereigns, to be each of the value of 40s.; +sovereigns, each of 20s.; and half-sovereigns, 10s. silver crowns, +half-crowns, shillings, and sixpences. The double-sovereigns have for +the obverse the king's effigy, with the inscription, 'Gulielmus IIII. +D.G. Britanniarum Rex. F.D.;' and for the reverse, the ensigns armorial +of the United Kingdom contained in a shield, encircled by the collar of +the Order of the Garter, and upon the edge of the piece the words 'Decus +et Tutamen.' The crowns and half-crowns will be similar. The shilling +has on the reverse the words 'One Shilling,' placed in the centre of +the piece, within a wreath, having an olive-branch on one side, and an +oak-branch on the other; and the sixpences have the same, except the +word 'Sixpence' instead of the words 'One Shilling.' The coppers will +be nearly as at present." + +Now we must observe, what the master of the Mint and the people about +him ought to have observed before, that there is in the first instance +a considerable expense incurred in the coinage of the double-sovereigns, +without any possible object, except the expense itself may be an object, +which is not impossible. We shall have in this coin one of the most +clumsy and useless matters of circulation that could be devised. The +present sovereign answers every purpose that this clumsy coin can be +required for, and even the single sovereign would be a much more +convenient coin for circulation if it were divided, as every one knows +who knows the trouble of getting change. The half-sovereign is in fact +a much more convenient coin. But on this clumsy coin we must have a +_Latin_ inscription, as if it were intended only for the society of +antiquaries, or to be laid up in cabinets, which we acknowledge would be +most likely its fate, except for the notorious bad taste of the British +coinage. Of much use it is to an English public to have the classical +phraseology of Gulielmus Britanniarum Rex, put in place of the national +language. Then too we must have the collar of the Order of the Garter +to encircle the national arms, of which this Order is nonsensically +pronounced "Decus et Tutamen." The Glory and Protection. The Order of +the Garter the _glory and protection_ of England! We are content to +let this absurdity stay in Latin or Sanscrit; English would be shamed by +it. The Order of the Garter which goes round the knee of any man, who +comes with the minister's fiat on the subject, and which has no more +relation to British glory or British defence than the Order of the Blue +Button or the Yellow frog of his majesty the Emperor of China; and this +is to go forth on our national gold coin! and for fear that the folly +would not be sufficiently spread, it is to be stamped on our crowns and +half-crowns! The shillings and sixpences luckily escape: plain English +will do for them. And all this goes on from year to year, while we have +in the example of France a model of what a mint ought to be. Every +foreigner makes purchases at the French mint; and the series of national +medals executed there is a public honour and a public profit too. But +whoever thinks of purchasing English mintage except for bullion?--With a +history full of the most stirring events, we have not a single medallic +series--we have scarcely a single medal. But we have in lieu of those +vanities a master of the mint, who is tost new into the office on every +change of party, who has probably in the whole course of his life never +known the difference between gold and silver but by their value in +sovereigns and shillings; but who, in the worst of times, shows his +patriotism by receiving a salary of no less than five thousand pounds +a year? + +_Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + * * * * * + + +HYDROSTATICS AND PNEUMATICS. + +(_Cabinet Cyclopaedia_, vol. xvii.) + + +_Easier to swim in the Sea than in a River_. + +Sea water has a greater buoyancy than fresh water, being relatively +heavier; and hence it is commonly said to be much easier to swim in +the sea than in a river: this effect, however, appears to be greatly +exaggerated. A cubic foot of freshwater weighs about 1,000 ounces; and +the same bulk of sea water weighs 1,028 ounces; the weight, therefore, +of the latter exceeds the former by only 28 parts in 1,000. The force +exerted by sea water to support the body exceeds that exerted by fresh +water by about one thirty-sixth part of the whole force of the +latter.--_By Dr. Lardner._ + + +_Ice lighter than Water_. + +It is known that in the process of congelation, water undergoes a +considerable increase of bulk; thus a quantity of water, which at +the temperature of 40 deg. measures a cubic inch, will have a greater +magnitude when it assumes the form of ice at the temperature of 32 deg. +Consequently ice is, bulk for bulk, lighter than water. Hence it is +that ice is always observed to collect and float at the surface.--A +remarkable effect produced by the buoyancy of ice in water is observable +in some of the great rivers in America. Ice collects round stones at the +bottom of the river, and it is sometimes formed in such a quantity that +the upward pressure by its buoyancy exceeds the weight of the stone +round which it is collected--consequently it raises the stone to the +surface. Large masses of stone are thus observed floating down the river +at considerable distances from the places of their formation.--_Ibid_. + + +_Domestic Use of the Hydrometer_. + +The adulteration of milk by water may always be detected by the +hydrometer, and in this respect it may be a useful appendage to +household utensils. Pure milk has a greater specific gravity than +water, being 103, that of water being 100. A very small proportion of +water mixed with milk will produce a liquid specifically lighter than +water.--Although the hydrometer is seldom applied to domestic uses, +yet it might be used for many ordinary purposes which could scarcely +be attained by any other means. The slightest adulteration of spirits, +or any other liquid of known quality, may be instantly detected by it; +and it is recommended by its cheapness, the great facility of its +manipulation, and the simplicity of its results.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + +The late Lord Clonmel, who never thought of demanding more than a +shilling for an affidavit, used to be well satisfied provided it was a +good one. In his time the Birmingham shillings were current, and he used +the following extraordinary precaution to avoid being imposed upon by +taking a bad one:--"You shall true answer make to such questions as +shall be demanded of you touching this affidavit, so help you God. +Is this a good shilling?" + + * * * * * + + +SCRAPS. + +The _Court Journal_, describing a Study in Windsor Castle, +says--"The first of a series in the plain _English_ style. The +ceiling is white, with a cornice of simple _Grecian_ design!" + +According to a recent traveller, fat sheep are so plentiful in the +Brazils that they are used as _fuel_ to feed their lime-kilns. + +Supposing the productive power of wheat to be only six-fold, the produce +of a single acre would cover the whole surface of the globe in fourteen +years. + +A Philadelphia Paper announces the arrival of the Siamese Twins in that +city, in the following manner:--"_One_ of the Siamese twins arrived +here on Monday last, accompanied by his brother." + +The term Husting, or Hustings, as applied to the scaffold erected at +elections, from which candidates address the electors, is derived from +the Court of Husting, of Saxon origin, and the most ancient in the +kingdom. Its name is a compound of _hers_ and _ding_; the former +implying a house, and the latter a thing, cause, suit, or plea; whereby +it is manifest that _husding_ imports a house or hall, wherein causes +are heard and determined; which is further evinced by the Saxon _dingere_, +or _thingere_, an advocate, or lawyer. [_Hus_ and _thing_ (thong) +a place enclosed, a building roped round.]--_Atlas._ + +Segrais says, that when Louis XIV. was about seventeen years of age, he +followed him and his brother, the Duke of Orleans, out of the playhouse, +and that he heard the duke ask the king what he thought of the play they +had just been seeing, and which had been well received by the audience: +"Brother, (replied Louis,) do not you know that I never pretend to give +my opinion on any thing that I do not perfectly understand." + + * * * * * + + +ELECTIONEERING ADVICE. + +Among the curious _Autograph Letters_, at Sotheby's late sale, +there was a curious one of _Sarah_, Duchess of Marlborough, dated +August 16th, 1740, viz. A canvassing letter in favour of two Members for +Reading; with the following electioneering advice:--"_Nothing but a +good Parliament can save England next Session; they are both very honest +men, and will never give a vote to a Placeman or a Pensioner._" + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +THE NATIONAL DEBT. + +George the Third came to the throne in 1760, and found the national debt +120 millions; he reigned 59 years, and left the national debt 820 +millions, 700 millions more than at his accession, increasing on the +whole period about 36 thousand per day, or nearly 23 pounds per minute. +At the beginning of his reign the taxes amounted annually to 6 millions; +at the ending 60 millions. + + * * * * * + + +PLURALITIES. + +In the year 1238, it was agreed in an assembly of divines at Paris, +that none could without forfeiture of eternal happiness, possess two +benefices at the same time; one being worth fifteen livres Parisis, +each about 2s. 6d. sterling. + +N.B. There does not appear to be any such decision by any assembly of +divines in England, at least not since the reformation. + +G.K. + + * * * * * + + +COMPUNCTIOUS VISITINGS. + +It is said of a certain physician that he never passed the churchyard of +the place where he resided, without pulling forth his handkerchief from +his pocket, and hiding his face with it. Upon this circumstance being +noticed by an acquaintance, he apologized for it by saying, "You will +recollect, sir, what a number of people there are who have found their +way hither under my directions. Now, I am always apprehensive lest some +of them recognising my features should lay hold of me, and oblige me to +take up my lodging along with them." + + * * * * * + + +IMPROMPTU ON THE BURIAL OF SHUTER, THE ACTOR. + + + Alas! poor Ned! + He's now in bed, + Who seldom was before; + The revel rout, + The midnight shout, + Shall never know him more. + + Entomb'd in clay, + Here let him lay, + And silence ev'ry jest; + For life's poor play + Has past away, + And here he sleeps in rest. + + + * * * * * + +_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 of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12676 *** |