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diff --git a/12766-0.txt b/12766-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d55bf97 --- /dev/null +++ b/12766-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1519 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12766 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 17, No. 484.] SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1831. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.] + +CORFE CASTLE. + + +The annexed Engravings are an interesting page in the early history of our +country, and deserve all the space we have appropriated to them. Their +political notoriety, of much less interesting character, we leave to be +set down, said, sung, or set aside, elsewhere. + +Corfe Castle nearly adjoins a town of the same name: both are situate in +the Isle of Purbeck; and their histories are so incorporated, that we +shall not attempt their separation. + +The town, according to the _Beauties of England and Wales_, vol. iv. +p. 386, is nearly in the centre of the Isle, at the foot of a range of +hills, on a rising ground, declining to the east. Its origin must +undoubtedly be attributed to the Castle, which existed previous to the +year 980; though the town itself does not appear to have attained any +importance till after the Conquest, as it was wholly unnoticed in the +Domesday Book. The Manor and Castle seem always to have descended +together, and were often granted to princes of the blood, and the +favourites of our kings, yet as often reverted to the Crown by attainder +or forfeiture. In the reign of Richard the Second, they were held by +Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, jointly with Alicia, his wife. In the reign +of Henry the Fourth, they were granted to the _Beauforts_, Earls of +Somerset; but were taken from that family by Edward the Fourth, who +bestowed them successively on Richard, Duke of York, and George, Duke of +Clarence; on the attainder of the latter, they reverted to the Crown. +Henry the Seventh granted them to his mother, the Countess of Richmond, +for life. In the 27th of his successor, Henry the Eighth, an act of +parliament was passed, by which they were given to Henry, Duke of +Richmond, his natural son. After his death they reverted to the Crown, and +were, by Edward the Sixth, bestowed on the Duke of Somerset; whose zeal +for the Reformation was undoubtedly invigorated by the numerous grants of +abbey lands made to him after the suppression of the monasteries. On the +duke's attainder, the demesne lands of the Castle were leased for +twenty-one years, on a fee-farm rent of 7l. 13s. 4d. In the 14th of +Elizabeth, the Castle and Manor, with the whole Isle of Purbeck, were +granted to Sir Christopher Hatton, whose heirs continued possessors till +the commencement of the 17th century, when the Manor and Castle were given +by Sir William Hatton to his lady, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Earl of +Exeter, and afterwards second wife to Lord Chief Justice Coke, who sold +them, in the year 1635, to Sir John Bankes, Attorney-General to Charles +the First, and afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. His +descendant, Henry Bankes, Esq. and representative for this borough, is the +present owner. + +Though this is an ancient borough by prescription, it was not incorporated +till the 18th of Queen Elizabeth, when a charter was obtained by Sir +Christopher Hatton, by which the inhabitants were invested with the same +liberties as those of the Cinque Ports; besides being favoured with +various other privileges. This charter was afterwards confirmed by James +the First and Charles the Second. The government of the town is vested in +a mayor and eight barons--the barons are those who have borne the office +of mayor. The first return to, parliament was made in the 14th of +Elizabeth. The right of election is possessed by all persons within the +borough who are "seized in fee, in possession, or reversion, of any +messuage, or tenement, or corporal hereditament; and in such as are +tenants for life, or lives; and in want of such freehold, in tenants for +years, determinable on any life, or lives, paying scot and lot."[1] The +number of voters is between forty and fifty. + + [1] Hutchins's Dorset, vol. i, p. 279, 2nd edit. + +Corfe Castle "stands a little north of the town, opposite to the church, +on a very steep rocky hill, mingled with hard rubble chalk stone, in the +opening of those ranges of hills that inclose the east part of the Isle. +Its situation between the ends of those hills deprives it much of its +natural and artificial strength, being so commanded by them, that they +overlook the tops of the highest towers; yet its structure is so strong, +the ascent of the hill on all sides but the south so steep, and the walls +so massy and thick, that it must have been one of the most impregnable +fortresses in the kingdom before the invention of artillery. It was of +great importance in respect to its command over the whole Isle: whence, +our Saxon ancestors justly styled it Corf Gate, as being the pass and +avenue into the best part of the Isle." + +The Castle is separated from the town by a strong bridge of four very +high, narrow, semi-circular arches, crossing a moat of considerable depth, +but now dry. This bridge leads to the gate of the first ward, which +remains pretty entire, probably from the thickness of the walls, which, +from the outward to the inner facing, is full nine yards. The ruins of the +entrance to the second ward, and of the tower near it, are very +remarkable. "The latter (which once adjoined to the gate) was separated +with a part of the arch at the time of the demolition of the Castle, and +is moved down the precipice, preserving its perpendicularity, and +projecting almost five feet below the corresponding part. Another of the +towers on the same side is, on the contrary, inclined so much, that a +spectator will tremble when passing under it. The singular position of +these towers seems to have been occasioned through the foundations being +undermined (for blowing them up) in an incomplete manner. On the higher +part of the hill stands the keep, or citadel, which is at some distance +from the centre of the fortress, and commands a view of boundless extent, +to the north and west. It has not hitherto suffered much diminution from +its original height; the fury of the winds being resisted less by the +thickness of the walls than by the strength of the cement. The upper +windows have Saxon arches, but are apparently of a later date than any +other part of the building west of the keep, the stones of which being +placed _herring-bone fashion_ prove it to be of the earliest style. +The Chapel is of a very late date, as appears from its obtuse Gothic +arches; and I have really an idea that almost all the changes of +architecture, from the reign of Edgar to that of Henry the Seventh, may be +traced in this extensive and stupendous ruin. + +"We could not view without horror the dungeons which remain in some of the +towers: they recalled to our memory the truly diabolical cruelty of King +John, by whose order twenty-two prisoners, confined in them were starved +to death. Matthew of Paris, the historian, says, that many of those +unfortunate men were among the first of the Poitevin nobility. Another +instance of John's barbarous disposition was his treatment of Peter of +Pontefract, a poor hermit, who was imprisoned in Corfe Castle for +prophesying the deposition of that prince. Though the prophecy was in some +measure fulfilled by the surrender which John made of his crown to the +Pope's Legate, the year following, yet the imprudent prophet was sentenced +to be dragged through the streets of Wareham, tied to horses' tails."[2] + + [2] Maton's Observations, vol. i. p. 12. + +The exact period when this fortress was erected is unknown; though some +circumstances render it probable that it was built by King Edgar. That it +did not exist previously to the year 887, or 888, the time when the +Nunnery at Shaftesbury was founded, is certain, from an inquisition taken +in the fifty-fourth of Henry the Third; wherein the jurors returned, "that +the Abbess and Nuns at Shaston (Shaftesbury) had without molestation, +_before the foundation of the Castle at Corfe_, all wrecks within +their manor of Kingston, in the Isle of Purbeck." Mr. Aubrey, in his +_Monumenta Britannica_, observes, he was informed, "that mention was +made of Corfe Castle in the reign of King Alfred; yet it seems very +improbable that this should be the fact; for if it had actually existed in +the time of that monarch, it would surely have been more publicly known. +The short reigns that succeeded would not allow time for so extensive an +undertaking; but Edgar enjoyed more peace than almost any of his +predecessors, was superior in wealth and power, and a great builder; he +having founded, or repaired, no fewer than forty-seven monasteries." To +him, then, the origin of this castle may with the greatest probability be +ascribed, as his second wife, Elfrida, resided here at the commencement of +her widowhood. During this residence was committed the foul murder on King +Edward, Edgar's son and successor, of which William of Malmesbury relates +the ensuing particulars. + +"King Edward being hunting in a forest neare the sea, upon the south-east +coast of the countie of Dorset, and in the Isle of Purbecke, came neare +unto a fair and stronge castell, seated on a little river called Corfe, +wherein his mother-in-law, Elfrida, with her sonne Ethelred, then lived: +the King, ever beareing a kinde affection to them, beeing soe neare, would +needs make knowne soe much by his personall visitation; which haveing +resolved, and beeing either of purpose or by chance, singled from his +followers, hee rode to the Castell gate. The Queene, who long had looked +for an opportunitie, that, by makeing him awaye, shee might make waye for +her own sonne to the Crowne, was glad the occasion nowe offered itselfe; +and therefore, with a modest and humble behaviour, she bade him welcome, +desireing to enjoye his presence that night. But hee, haveing performed +what hee purposed, and doubting his companie might find him misseing, +tolde her, that he now intended on horseback to drink to her and his +brother in a cuppe of wine, and soe leave her; which beeing presented unto +him, the cuppe was no sooner at his mouth, but a knife was at his back, +which a servant, appointed by this treacherous woman, stroke into him. The +Kinge, finding himselfe hurt, sett spurs to his horse, thinking to recover +his companie; but the wounde beeing deepe, and fainting through the losse +of much blood, he felle from his horse, which dragged him by one foot +hanging in the stirrop, untill he was left dead at Corfe gate, Anno Dom. +979." + +Thus far Malmesbury: Hutchins, in his History of Dorset, relates the +circumstances of this event in the following words:-- + +"The first mention of this Castle in our histories, is A.D. 978, as the +Saxon Annals (though some of our historians say 979 and 981), upon +occasion of the barbarous murder of Edward, King of the West Saxons, son +of King Edgar, committed here by his mother-in-law, Elfrith, or Elfrida; +15 cal. April, in the middle of lent: The foulest deed, says the Saxon +annalist, ever committed by the Saxons since they landed in Britain." + +In the reign of King Stephen, the Castle was seized by Baldwin de Rivers, +Earl of Devon; and though the King afterwards endeavoured to dispossess +him, his efforts were ineffectual. King John appears to have made it for +some time his place of residence, as several writs, issued by him in the +fifteenth and sixteenth of his reign, are dated at Corfe. On the +coronation of Henry the Third, Peter de Mauley, the governor of the +Castle, was summoned to attend the ceremony, and to bring with him the +regalia, "then in his custody in this Castle wherewith he had been +entrusted by John." The following year he delivered up the Castle to the +King, with all the military engines, ammunition, and jewels, committed to +his charge.--Edward the Second was removed hither from Kenelworth Castle, +when a prisoner, by order of the Queen, and her favourite Mortimer. Henry +the Seventh repaired the Castle for the residence of his mother, the +Countess of Richmond, the parliament having granted 2,000l. for that +purpose; yet it does not appear that it was ever inhabited by this +princess. It was again repaired by Sir Christopher Hatton, and most +probably by Sir John Bankes, whose lady became illustrious from the +gallant manner in which she defended it from the attacks of the +parliament's forces, in the time of Charles the First. + +In the year 1645 and 1646, the Castle was again besieged, or rather +blockaded, by the parliament's forces, who obtained possession through the +treachery of Lieutenant-Colonel Pitman, an officer of the garrison. When +it was delivered up, the parliament ordered it to be demolished; and the +walls and towers were undermined, and thrown down, or blown up with +gunpowder. "Thus this ancient and magnificent fabric was reduced to a heap +of ruins, and remains a lasting monument of the dreadful effects of +anarchy, and the rage of civil war. The ruins are large, and allowed to be +the noblest and grandest in the kingdom, considering the extent of the +ground on which they stand. The vast fragments of the King's Tower, the +round towers leaning as if ready to fall, the broken walls, and vast +pieces of them tumbled down into the vale below, form such a scene of +havoc and desolation, as strikes every curious spectator with horror and +concern."[3] + + [3] Hutchins's Dorset, vol. i. p. 286, 2nd edit. + +The tragical murder of Edward by Elfrida, at Corfe Castle, and its +memorable defence by Lady Bankes, form two very interesting narratives in +Hutchins's Dorset. Their details would occupy too much of our present +sheet, although they are worth reprinting for the gratification of the +general reader. + +Corfe Castle, as we have already intimated, is proposed to be +disfranchised by the Great Reform Bill now before Parliament. + +A year or two hence, probably, the political consequence of the place will +be humbled as the Castle itself! + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT PARLIAMENTS. + +(_To the Editor._) + + +In the _Literary Magazine_ for 1792 I find the following list of +places, which _formerly_ sent members to parliament:-- + + Dunstable Odiham Langport + Newberry Overton Montacute + Ely Bromyard Stoke Curcy + Wisbeach Ledbury Watchet + Polurun Ross Were + Egremont Berkhemstead Farnham + Bradnesham Stoteford Kingston upon Thames + Crediton Greenwich Bradford + Exmouth Tunbridge Mere + Tremington Manchester Highworth + Liddeford Melton Mowbray Bromsgrove + Modbury Spalding Dudley + Southmolton Waynfleet Kidderminster + Teignmouth Bamberg Pershore + Torrington Corbrigg Doncaster + Blandford Burford Jervale + Winborn Chipping Norton Pickering + Sherborn Doddington Ravenser + Milton Whitney Tykhull + Chelmsford Oxbridge Hallifax + Bere Regis Chard Whitby + Alresford Dunster and + Alton Glastonbury Leeds + Basingstoke + Fareham + +The three last named places were summoned during the Commonwealth--also +Manchester;--when discontinued, not known. Greenwich was summoned 4th and +5th of Philip and Mary; discontinued 6th of Philip and Mary. The other +places were principally summoned and discontinued during the reigns of +Edward the First, Second, and Third. Calais, in France, was summoned the +27th of Henry the Eighth; discontinued 3rd of Philip and Mary. + +In the reign of Edward the Third, an act of Parliament, made in the reign +of William the Conqueror, was pleaded in the case of the Abbey of St. +Edmundsbury, and judicially allowed by the court. Hence it appears (says a +writer on this subject) that parliaments, or general councils, are coeval +with the kingdom itself. + +The first triennial parliament was in the year 1561; the first septennial +one, in the year 1716. + +Henry the Eighth increased the representatives in parliament 38; Edward +the Sixth, 44; Mary, 25; Elizabeth, 62; and James the First, 27. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +ANCIENT BOROUGH OF LYDFORD. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +Lydford is a poor, decayed village, consisting of ragged cottages, +situated about seven miles from the north of Tavistock, Devonshire. It was +(says Britton) formerly a place of consequence; and Prince states, that +this ancient town and borough was the largest parish in the county, or the +kingdom, and that the whole forest of Dart belonged to it; to whose +parson, or rector, all the tithes thereof are due. It is said that this +town, in its best strength, was able to entertain Julius Cæsar, at his +second arrival here in Britain; but, anno 997 it was grievously spoilt by +the inhuman Danes. Recovering again, it had, in the days of the Conqueror, +122 burgesses. This is still the principal town of the Stannaries, wherein +the court is held relating to those causes. There is an ancient castle, in +which the courts are held; and offenders against the stannary laws were +here confined, in a dreary and dismal dungeon, which gave rise to a +proverb--"_Lydford laws punish a criminal first, and try him +afterwards._" + +It appears from the Domesday Book, that Lydford and London were rated in +the same manner, and at the same time. + +Lydford formerly sent members to parliament, but was excused from this +burden, as it was then considered, by pleading _propter paupertatem_. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +A WORD FOR THE READERS OF THE MIRROR. + + +Cadwallader Colden, in his _Account of the Five Indian Nations of +Canada_, says--"They think themselves by nature superior to the rest of +mankind, and call themselves _Ongue-honwe_--that is, men surpassing +all others. The words expressing things lately come to their knowledge are +all compounds. They have no labials in their language, nor can they +pronounce perfectly any word wherein there is a labial; and when one +endeavours to teach them to pronounce these words, they tell one they +think it ridiculous that they must _shut their lips to speak_. Their +language abounds with gutturals and strong aspirations: these make it very +sonorous and bold; and their speeches abound with metaphors after the +manner of the eastern nations. Sometimes one word among them includes an +entire definition of the thing: for example--they call wine +_Oneharadeschoengtseragherie_, as to say, a liquor made of the juice +of the grape." + +N.B. It is hoped the above _guttural_ word will not stick in the +_throat_ of the reader. + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +SONG. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + Oh fly with me my lady love, my island home is free, + And its flowers will bloom more sweetly still, when gazed upon by thee; + Come, lady, come, the stars are bright--in all their radiant power, + As if they gave their fairy light to guide thee to my bower. + + Oh fly with me, my little bark is waiting 'neath the steep, + And the midnight breeze is fresh to waft thee o'er the stilly deep; + Though tempests blow they should not raise thy fears, nor scathe thy form, + For love would hover o'er thee still, a halo in the storm. + + I've found for thee, my lady love, the freshest flowing springs, + Whose cooling waters ever burst in crystal sparklings; + It is for thee my shaft will wing the wild bird in the air, + Or strike the swift gazelle to deck our simple mountain fare. + + Oh 'tis thou canst bid my spirit throb with rapture's warmest sigh, + As gushing winds will make a lute's strings sleeping melody; + When other hopes have faded like the flow'rets of the spring, + Thou'lt be to me a joyous wreath for ever blossoming. + + Then fly with me my lady love, my island borne is free, + And its flowers will bloom more sweetly still, when gazed upon by thee; + Come, lady, come, the stars are bright in all their radiant power, + As if they gave their fairy light to guide thee to my bower. + + * * * * * + + +WRITING INK. + +(_To the Editor._) + + +I see in your admirable work one of the never ending disquisitions about +making writing ink. As I have used as much as most people in the +threescore and ten years of my life, and my father used perhaps three +times as much, and we never were nor are troubled, I suppose we manage as +well as most folks--and as it is begged of me to a great amount, I infer +that others like it. + +I improve a little on my father's plan, by substituting a better vehicle, +and the knowledge of this improvement I obtained from a lady to whom a +Princess Esterhazy communicated it. + +It is so convenient, that whenever I go to Leamington, Brighton, +Tunbridge, or such places of temporary residence, I send to a chemist's my +recipe, reduced to the quantity of half a pint; and my ink is in use as +soon as it comes, improving daily. + +My home quantities are these: + + Three quarts of stale good beer, _not porter_. + Three quarters of a pound fresh blue Aleppo galls, beaten. + Four ounces of copperas. + Four ounces of gum Arabic in powder. + Two ounces of rock alum. + +This is kept for a week in a wide-mouthed pitcher close to the fire, never +ON it, frequently stirred with a stick, and slightly covered with a large +cork or tile. + +My small quantity is-- + + Half a pint of good beer. + Two ounces of galls. + Half an ounce of copperas. + Ditto of gum Arabic. + Quarter of an ounce of rock alum. + +It will never mould or lose its substance or colour. The large quantity +will bear half as much beer for future use. If it thickens, thin it with +beer. + +I adopt the Italian ladies' method of keeping the roving of a bit of silk +stocking in the glass, which the pen moving, preserves the consistency of +the liquid and keeps the fingers from it. + +If you have seen better ink than this, I yield my pre-eminence.[4] + +BLACKY. + + [4] Our correspondent's communication is in appearance "full, + fair, and free," as all "representations" ought to be.--ED. + + * * * * * + + +SONG. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + + O pledge me not in sparkling wine, + In cups with roses bound; + O hail me at no festive shrine, + In mirth and music's sound. + Or if you pledge me, let it be + When none are by to hear, + And in the wine you drink to me, + For me let fall a tear. + + Forbear to breathe in pleasure's hall, + A name you should forget; + Lest echo's faintest whisper fall + On her who loves thee yet. + Or if you name me, let it be + When none are by to hear; + And as my name is sigh'd by thee, + For me let fall a tear. + + O think not when the harp shall sound + The notes we lov'd again, + And gentle voices breathe around, + I mingle in the strain. + Oh! only think you hear me when + The night breeze whispers near; + In hours of thought, and quiet, then + For me let fall a tear. + + Seek me not in the mazy dance, + Nor let your fancy trace + Resemblance in a timid glance; + Or distant form and face. + But if you seek me, be it when + No other forms are near; + And while in thought we meet again, + For me let fall a tear. + +L.M.N. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + + * * * * * + + +BULL-BAITING IN SUFFOLK. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +Lavenham Market-place was once considered as one of the most celebrated +"theatres for cruel scenes" in the county of Suffolk, + + "Where bulls and dogs in useless contest fought, + And sons of reason satisfaction sought + From sights would sicken Feeling's gentle heart, + Where want of courage barb'd Oppression's dart."[5] + + [5] Ribbans's "Effusions." + +On every anniversary of the Popish powder-plot, it was customary here to +bait bulls; and it was then pretty generally understood that no butcher +could legally slaughter a bull without first baiting him; or in default of +doing so, he must burn candles in his shop so long as a bit of the +bull-beef remained there for sale. + +Whilst a bull, with false horns, has been defending himself at the stake, +or ring, in this market-place, dogs have been seen in the streets +quarrelling for a part of the tongue of the living bull! and daughters of +reason have joined their treble screams to the yell of triumph when the +bull either tossed or worried a dog, or a dog had pinned the bull, by +fastening on his nose so desperately firm as even to suffer his limbs to +be broken--nay, cut off--before he would let go his hold. + +A man (of course of the bull-dog breed), not many years since, engaged to +attack a bull with his teeth, and so far succeeded as to deprive the +animal of power to hurt him. + +In Bury, too, so late as the year 1801, a mob of "Christian savages were +indulging in the inhuman amusement of baiting and branding a bull. The +poor animal, who had been privately baited on the same day, burst from +his tethers in a state of madness. He was again entangled, and, monstrous +to relate, his hoofs were cut off, and he defended himself on his mangled, +bleeding stumps!" + +The public exhibition of this most cowardly pastime is now prohibited; and +the bull-ring was taken up, by order of Mr. Buck, out of this market-place +about eight years back. + +The name of the Rev. James Buck, rector of Lavenham, deserves to stand +recorded as one of the most indefatigable magistrates who, uniting +authority with compassion, exerted himself to the last in the cause of +humanity. + +The common arguments which have ever been adduced to show that we have +animals bred by nature for various sports, and that the poor man has as +great a right to his share of amusement as the rich man--that there are in +all countries animals originally formed and carefully trained to the +exercise of sports--must be admitted; but the Creator of Brutes and the +Judge of Man never can behold cruelty to animals without hearing their +cry; and although they are all evidently sent for the wise purpose of +affording food, and of contributing to the comfort and improvement of the +condition of man, they never were created to be abused, lacerated, +mangled, and whilst living, cut to pieces and baited by brutes of superior +race, depraved at heart and debased by custom. + +If two men choose to stand up and fib each other about (saying nothing of +the practice), why let them do it; or if two dogs worry each other to +death for a bone, or two cocks meet and contend for the sovereignty of a +dunghill. In these last two cases the appearance of cruelty is out of the +question, and how much soever we may be inclined to pity, we are entirely +divested of the ability to blame. Dogs naturally quarrel; and any attempt +to reform and reconcile two snarling puppies, would be as inconsistent as +it would be foolish to abuse the nettle for stinging our flesh, or to +upbraid the poppy for its disagreeable and choking odour. + +The true criterion of perfection to civilization is in proportion to the +kind feeling entertained, and the humanity practised, towards those +animals (in particular) which are subject to the immediate control of man. + +_Lavenham_. + +F. RIBBANS. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +THE JEWS BEFORE THEIR DISPERSION. + + +In our second reading of _Levi and Sarah, or the Jewish Lovers_, we +have been struck with the following narrative of the pristine celebrity of +this favoured people:-- + +The most ancient of all the written histories of the human race, of their +deeds and condition, is undoubtedly that of the people of Israel: a people +to whom God himself was both leader and lawgiver--for whom the sea was +divided, and the stony rocks poured forth fountains of water---whose food +descended on them from heaven--for whom angels from above fought--and whom +all nature cheerfully obeyed,--in short a people, who, through a course of +many centuries, though surrounded with numerous Heathen nations, bore +constant testimony to the existence of one God alone. It is not wonderful +that such a people should think themselves exalted far above all others. +Moses, the first of all instructors and legislators, desired to raise his +people above the fate which had ruined other nations, by communicating to +them firmness and perseverance in their adherence to such institutions, as +should keep them a distinct nation from all others. These institutions +were peculiarly appropriate to the time, to the situation, and the +circumstances of the people for whom they were prescribed. It was not his +design that the Children of Israel, when freed from their misery, after +wandering forty years in the wilderness, should mix themselves up with the +Heathens, and adopt their morals and principles. He desired that they +should continue a distinct and holy people, that strangers should be +extirpated, and their country be possessed by Jews alone. Their bounds +were marked out by God himself, and extended from Lebanon and the +Euphrates to the sea; and he commanded them to keep his commandments in +the land which he had bestowed upon them, so that he alone should be their +Lord. Hereupon, as I have before observed, Moses delivered such laws as +were adapted to their situation. But these wanderers of the desert adhered +not to the law delivered to them. We find even during the life of Moses +much obstinacy, and an unbridled inclination to Heathenism was manifested, +by their making objects of idolatrous worship. After the death of Moses, +the seventy-two interpreters collected his doctrines; but they added to +them some, withdrew others, and confused several, by which the pure Mosaic +opinions must have been obscured. And we read accordingly, in the tenth +chapter of Judges, "that the children of Israel did evil in the sight of +the Lord." They served Baal and Ashtaroth, the deities of the Syrians and +Moabites, and even the gods of the Philistines, whom God had commanded +they should not serve.[6] Their hearts became hardened in their apostacy. +The siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnazar, and the captivity in Babylon, had +the most corrupting influence on the purity of the Mosaic doctrines, and +on the laws. The original writings discovered by Hilkiah, were retrenched, +added to, and the order of the events displaced. From the long residence +amongst, and a great intercourse with strange people, all the frightful +prejudices, all the fanciful dreams of our rabbins, were introduced into +the sacred books. We learn from the second book of Chronicles, chap. +xxxvi. verse 17, "that the king slew the young men with the sword in the +house of the sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, +old man or him that stooped for age. And all the vessels of gold, and the +treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king and all the princes, +these he brought all to Babylon; and they burnt the house of God, and +brake down the walls of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with +fire." + + [6] The greater part of the kings, both of Israel and of Judah, + served strange gods. Under Josiah, as he cleared out the + Temple, the book of the laws of Moses was found by Hilkiah the + priest, and was delivered to the king, who was much struck + with the threatenings it contained. + +During the seventy years that this captivity lasted, only a few old men +survived who had retained any recollection of the laws of Moses. Esdras +collected, as far as was possible, the doctrines of Moses; but they were +mingled with too many principles which were foreign to them, and some of +them may be traced to Zoroaster. The existence of the three sects of the +Pharisees, the Sadducees, and Essenes, each of which give a different +interpretation of the word of God, abundantly prove this. Hillel and +Schamai, a little before the time of Vespasian, had a school. The Rabbi +Jonathan Sillai, a pupil of Hillel, exalts his master by saying, "If every +tree were a pen, and the whole ocean ink, I should not be able to describe +the wisdom I have received from Hillel." What extravagant expressions! How +well do they paint the fanaticism of sectarianism! It was not, however, +long, before this blind zeal drew down on the people a punishment from +Heaven, by the destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman chief, Titus. Read +the work of Flavius Josephus, and you will behold the noble firmness and +perseverance of the Israelites on one side, and on the other the +melancholy truth, that raving enthusiasm and blind obstinacy precipitated +the ruin of the most flourishing people in the world. The last siege and +capture of Jerusalem will ever be memorable in the history of mankind. How +violent was the exasperation between the two sects of the believers! What +firmness and obstinacy in each party, who preferred death and the +destruction of the whole nation to yielding up the smallest particle of +their different opinions! At that time, there fell, by famine and the +sword, more than a million of the Jews. One part of the people were left +as food for the wild beasts of the field, whilst some were kept alive to +grace the triumph of the victor; but that which above all moved the grief +of the Israelites, was the destruction of that temple which had been +erected by their own monarchs at so great an expense. Its glory has been +described by the author already named; I find the description among my +papers, and send it to you. You will weep as a true Israelite, and compare +our former greatness with the degraded state to which the blindness and +errors of our Elders have reduced us. + +Under Hadrian, the Jews were once more excited to a contest.[7] Bar Cochef +announced himself as the Messias, but in the sequel 580,000 of our nation +were destroyed, and the name of Jerusalem was changed for that of Elia. +The emperor Julian, usually called the Apostate, in his ambition for +future fame, ordered the Temple of Solomon to be rebuilt. But the fathers +of the Christian Church, as well as the contemporary author Ammianus +Marcellinus, assert that a fire, which burst forth from the ground, +suspended the operation at its commencement. + + [7] About fifty years after the destruction of Jerusalem, when the + great body of the Jews held the opinion that the time for the + appearance of their Messias had arrived, there arose this man, + who announced himself in that character, and called himself + Bar Cochef, or the "Son of a Star." He was acknowledged by + numbers of his people, who became his followers, declared him + their king, and made war upon the Romans, many of whom were + destroyed, both in Greece and in Africa. His power continued + betwixt three and four years, when the very people who had + supported him proclaimed him an impostor, and gave him the + name Bar Cosifa, or the "Son of a Lie." + + * * * * * + + +ANATOMY OF SOCIETY. + +_By J.A. St. John, Esq._ + + +The title of this work leads the reader to expect a regular and connected +series of illustrations of the constitution or frame-work of society, in +which its scheme might be traced through the various ramifications. On the +contrary, we have two volumes of essays of no consecutive interest, but +well written, and in some cases abounding with turns of scholarly +elegance. They seldom flag, or grow vapid, notwithstanding they are on +subjects of common life and experience, upon which moralists have rung the +changes of words for centuries past. Occasionally, however, there are some +new positions and little conceits which have more of prettiness than truth +to recommend them. To call Cowper's line + + God made the country, but man made the town! + +"a piece of impious jargon" is no proof of Mr. St. John's acumen or fair +comprehension of the poet's meaning, but accords with his unproved +assertion "The mark of man's hand is as visible in the country as in the +town to all those who make use of their eyes." Yet this sentiment is a +fair specimen of the stern stuff of which Mr. St. John's creeds and +opinions are made up.[8] Nevertheless, the volumes are entertaining, and +in proof we have carved out a few laconic extracts: + + [8] One of Mr. St. John's lines in the Essay on the Influence of + Great Cities (the worst in the volume,) is "The very name of + London sounds sweetly to me." This is not a whit better than + the man who thought "no garden like Covent Garden, and no + flower like a cauliflower." Captain Morris's "sweet shady side + of Pall Mall," compared to these sentiments, is a piece of + delicious refinement. + +_Love of Pleasure_.--The cause why men visit each other and converse, +abstracting all considerations of business, seems to be simply the love of +pleasure. This is the passion truly universal; this is the pivot upon +which the world intellectual, as well as the world of sense, turns. +Philosophers and saints feel it in their speculations and devotions, and +yield to it too, in their way, as completely as the Sybaritish gourmand, +whose stomach is his Baal and Ashtaroth. Nor is this at all surprising, in +reality, for the gratification of this passion is _happiness_--a gem +for which all the world search, and but few find. + +_Conversation_.--The persons who shine most in conversation are, +perhaps, those who attack established opinions and usages; for there is a +kind of splendid Quixotism in standing up, even in the advocating of +absurdity, against the whole world. + +_Love_.--Do we imagine, when we open some new treatise on Love, that +the author has discovered a fresh vein, and mined more deeply than all +former adventurers? Not at all: we know very well that the little god has +already usurped all beautiful epithets, all soft expressions, all +bewitching sounds; and the utmost we expect from the skill of the writer +is, that he has thrown all these together, so as to produce a new picture. +Love is immortal, and does not grow wrinkled because we and our +expressions fade. His heart is still as joyous and his foot as light as +when he trod the green knolls of Paradise with Eve. He will be young when +he sits upon the grave of the thousandth generation of our posterity, +listening to the beating of his own heart, or sporting with his butterfly +consort, as childishly as if he were no older than the daisy under his +foot. His empire is a theme of which the tongue never grows weary, or +utters all that seems to come quivering and gasping to the lips for +utterance. We think, more than we ever spoke, of love; and if we have a +curiosity when we first touch some erotic volume, it is to see whether the +author has embodied our unutterable feelings, or divulged what we have +never dared. + +_Wit in Season_.--The jest of an ex-minister is as flavourless as a +mummy; as unintelligible as its hieroglyphical epitaph. Three days after +his fall, his wit, under the sponge of oblivion, has grown as much a +mystery as the name of him who built the pyramid, or the taste of Lot's +wife. + +_Read my book_.--When Hobbes was at any time at a loss for arguments +to defend his unsocial principles, _vivâ voce_, he always used to +say--"I have published my opinions; consult my works; and, if I am wrong, +confute me publicly." To most persons this mode of confutation was by far +too operose; but they might have confoundedly puzzled the philosopher in +verbal disputation. + +_In "Vino Veritas."_--Horace with commendation of kings-- + + --who never chose a friend + Till with full bowls they had unmasked his soul, + And seen the bottom of his deepest thoughts. + +But much dependence cannot be placed upon what is wrung out of a man under +the influence of wine, which does not so much unveil as it disarranges our +ideas; and, therefore, whoever contemplates the character from the +combination of ideas produced by intoxication, views man in a false light. +Violent anger has nearly the same effect as wine. + +_Cupid_--was painted blind by the ancients, to signify that the +affections prevent the sight, not so much from perceiving outward as +inward defects. + +_Character_.--Whoever would study the characters of those with whom +he lives or converses, must keep up the appearance of a kind of +recklessness and frivolity, for the mind closes itself up like the +hedgehog, at the least sensible touch of observation, and will not be +afterwards drawn out. Men have been known in the middle of a discovery of +their character, to be stopped short by a look, which brought them to +themselves, and traced before them in an instant the danger of their +position and the methods of escape. A keen observer, indeed, may always +adjust the temperature of his discourse by the faces of his auditors, +which are saddened or brightened, like the face of the sea in April, as +more or less of the sunshine of rhetoric breaks forth upon them. + +_Greatness_.--What renders it difficult for ordinary minds to +discover a great man before he has, like a tree, put forth his blossoms, +is the manner, various and dissimilar, in which such persons evolve their +powers. For as in nature the finest days are sometimes in the morning +overclouded and dark, so the developement of genius follows no rule, but +is hastened or retarded by position and circumstance. But to a keen eye +there always appear, even in the first obscurity of extraordinary men, +certain internal commotions and throes, denoting some _magna vis +animi_ at work within. + +_Physiognomy_.--When Atticus advised Cicero to keep strict watch over +his face, in his first interview with Cæsar after the civil wars, he could +not mean that he might thereby conceal his _character_ from Cæsar, +who knew well enough what that was; but he meant, that by such precaution +he might conceal from the tyrant his actual hatred and disgust for his +person. Yet for the character and secret nature of a man, _fronti nulli +fides_. + +_Writing_.--It was Addison, we believe, who observed of the +schoolmen, that they had not genius enough to write a small book, and +therefore took refuge in folios of the largest magnitude. We are getting +as fast as possible into the predicament of the schoolmen. No one knows +when he has written enough; but, like a player at chess, still goes on +with the self-same ideas, merely altering their position. This must arise +from early habits and prejudices, from having been taught to regard with +veneration vast collections of common-places, under the titles of this or +that man's _works_. Tacitus may be carried about in one's pocket, +while it will very shortly require a wagon to remove Sir Walter Scott's +labours from place to place. Voltaire's _facility_ was his greatest +fault; better he had elaborated his periods, like Rousseau; who, +notwithstanding, wrote too much. The latter, however, of all modern +writers, best knew the value of his own mind. His prime of life was passed +in vicissitude and study. He did not set himself about writing books for +mankind, until he knew what they possessed and what they wanted. It was +his opinion that a writer who would do any good should stand upon the +pinnacle of his age, and from thence look into the future. + + * * * * * + + + +THE NATURALIST. + + * * * * * + + +BIRDS CHANGING COLOUR. + +_In a letter to the Editor of the Literary Gazette_. + + +Sir--Observing in the _Literary Gazette_ of last week, a notice of +Mr. Young's account of the change of colour in the plumage of birds from +fear, I have been induced to mention some circumstances which, among +others, fell under my own observation, and from which I am led to conclude +that such changes among the volatile tribes are not so rare as may be +imagined, and are often produced by disease, as well as by other mental +passions besides terror. + +Without referring to the celebrated _Jacobite_ goldfinch of Miss Cicy +Scott, which the good old maiden of Carubber's Close affirmed became of a +deep sable hue on the day of Charles's martyrdom--though doubtless the +natural philosopher would have discovered in this some more efficient +cause than respect for the royal sufferer!--I myself recollect a partial +change in the colour of a fine green parrot, belonging to Mr. Rutherford, +of Ladfield. Like Miss Scott, the laird of Ladfield was a stanch adherent +of the house of Stuart, and to his dying day cherished the hope of +beholding their restoration to the throne of Britain. + +In the meantime, Mr. Rutherford amused his declining years by teaching +Charley to whistle "The king shall hae his ain again," and to gibber "Send +the old rogue to Hanover;" for which he was always rewarded by a +sugar-plum or a dole of wassail (Scotch short-bread). Those epicurean +indulgences at length induced a state of obesity; and so depraved became +the appetite of the bird, that, rejecting his natural food, he used to +pluck out the feathers from those parts of the back within his reach, and +bruise them with his bill, to obtain the oily substance contained in the +quills. + +The feathers which grew on the denuded parts were whitish, and never +resumed their natural hue. I often saw Charley long after the death of his +master, and he looked as if Nature, in one of her sportive moods, had +created him half parrot, half gosling--so strangely did his whitish back +and tail contrast with his scarlet poll and brilliant green neck. + +A still more remarkable change of colour in a lark, belonging to Dr. Thos. +Scott, of Fanash, occurred under my own eye, and which, I have no doubt, +was produced by grief at being separated from a mavis. Their cages had +long hung side by side in the parlour, and often had they striven to +out-rival each other in the loudness of their song, till their minstrelsy +became so stunning, that it was found necessary to remove the laverock to +a drawing-room above stairs. + +The poor bird gradually pined, moped, and ceased its song; its eyes grew +dim, and its plumage assumed a dullish tint, which, in less than a +fortnight, changed to a deep black. + +The worthy physician watched with the eye of a naturalist this phenomenon; +but, after awhile, fearing for the life of his favourite, he ordered it to +be replaced alongside its companion. + +In a short time it resumed its spirits and its song--recommenced its +rivalry with the mavis; but, after every moulting, the new feathers were +always of the same coal-black colour. The mavis evinced no corresponding +feeling of attachment--neither, so far as I recollect, missing its +companion, nor rejoicing at its restoration. + +A.C. HALL. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +BATTLE OF THE CATS. + +(_From the "Noctes" of Blackwood._) + + +_Tickler._--A Battle of Cats. + + "How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon the slates!" + +Miss Tabitha having made an assignation with Tom Tortoiseshell, the feline +phenomenon, they two sit curmurring, forgetful of mice and milk, of all +but love! How meekly mews the Demure, relapsing into that sweet +under-song--the Purr! And how curls Tom's whiskers like those of a Pashaw! +The point of his tail--and the point only is alive--insidiously turning +itself, with serpent-like seduction, towards that of Tabitha, pensive as a +nun. His eyes are rubies, hers emeralds--as they should be--his lightning, +hers lustre--for in her sight he is the lord, and in his, she is the lady +of creation. + +_North._-- + + "O happy love! when love like this is found;-- + O heartfelt raptures! blessed beyond compare! + I've paced much this weary mortal round, + And sage experience bids me this declare.-- + If earth a draught of heavenly pleasure share, + One cordial in this melancholy vale, + 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair, + In others arms breathe out the tender tale"-- + +_Shepherd._--The last line wunna answer-- + + "Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the evening gale" + +_Tickler._--Woman or cat,--she who hesitates, is lost. But Diana, +shining in heaven, the goddess of the Silver Bow, sees the peril of poor +Pussy, and interposes her celestial aid to save the vestal. An enormous +grimalkin, almost a wild cat, comes rattling along the roof, down from the +chimney-top, and Tom Tortoiseshell, leaping from love to war, tackles to +the Red Rover in single combat. Sniff--snuff--splutter--squeak--squall +--caterwaul--and throttle! + +_North._--Where are the following lines? + + "From the soft music of the spinning purr, + When no stiff hair disturbs the glossy fur, + The whining wail so piteous and so faint, + When through the house Puss moves with long complaint, + To that unearthly throttling caterwaul, + When feline legions storm the midnight wall, + And chant, with short snuff and alternate hiss, + The dismal song of hymeneal bliss"-- + +_Shepherd._--Wheesht, North, wheesht. + +_Tickler._--Over the eaves sweeps the hairy hurricane. Two cats in +one--like a prodigious monster with eight legs and a brace of heads and +tails--and through among the lines on which clothes are hanging in the +back-green, and which break the fall, the dual number plays squelch on the +miry herbage. + +_Shepherd._--A pictur o' a back-green in fowre words. I see it and +them. + +_Tickler._--The four-story fall has given them fresh fury and more +fiery life. What tails!--each as thick as my arm, and rustling with +electricity like the northern streamers. The Red Rover is generally +uppermost--but not always, for Tom has him by the jugular like a very +bulldog--and his small, sharp, tiger-teeth, entangled in the fur, pierce +deeper and deeper into the flesh--while Tommy keeps tearing away at his +rival, as if he would eat his way into his wind-pipe. Heavier than Tom +Tortoiseshell is the Red Rover by a good many pounds;--but what is weight +to elasticity--what is body to soul? In the long tussle, the hero ever +vanquishes the ruffian--as the Cock of the North the Gander. + +_North_ (_bowing_).--Proceed. + +_Tickler._--Cats' heads are seen peering over the tops of walls, and +then their lengthening bodies, running crouchingly along the copestones, +with pricked-up ears and glaring eyes, all attracted towards one common +centre--the back-green of the inextinguishable battle. Some dropping, and +some leaping down, from all altitudes--lo! a general _melée_! For +Tabitha, having through a skylight forced her way down stairs, and out of +the kitchen-window into the back-area, is sitting pensively on the steps, + + "And like another Helen fires another Troy." + +Detachments come wheeling into the field of battle from all imaginable and +unimaginable quarters;--and you now see before you all the cats in +Edinburgh, Stockbridge, and the suburbs--about as many, I should suppose, +as the proposed constituents of our next city member. + +_Shepherd._--The Town-Council are naething to them in nummers. The +back-green's absolutely composed o' cats. + +_Tickler._--Up fly a thousand windows from ground-flat to attic, and +what an exhibition of night-caps! Here elderly gentlemen, apparently in +their shirts, with head night-gear from Kilmarnock, worthy of Tappitoury's +self,--behind them their wives--grandmothers at the least--poking their +white faces, like those of sheeted corpses, over the shoulders of the +fathers of their numerous progeny--there chariest maids, prodigal enough +to unveil their beauties to the moon, yet, in their alarm, folding the +frills of their chemises across their bosoms--and lo! yonder the Captain +of the Six Feet Club, with his gigantic shadow frightening that pretty +damsel back to her couch, and till morning haunting her troubled dreams. +"Fire! Fire!" "Murder! Murder!" is the cry--and there is wrath and +wonderment at the absence of the police-officers and engines. A most +multitudinous murder is in process of perpetration there--but as yet fire +is there none; when lo! and hark! the flash and peal of musketry---and +then the music of the singing slugs slaughtering the Catti, while bouncing +up into the air, with Tommy Tortoise clinging to his carcass, the Red +Rover yowls wolfishly to the moon, and then descending like lead into the +stone area, gives up his nine-ghosts, never to chew cheese more, and dead +as a herring. In mid-air the Phenomenon had let go his hold, and seeing it +in vain to oppose the yeomanry, pursues Tabitha, the innocent cause of all +this woe, into the coal-cellar, and there, like Paris and Helen, + + "When first entranced, in Cranae's Isle they lay, + Lip press'd to lip, and breathed their souls away," + +entitled but not tempted to look at a king, the peerless pair begin to +purr and play in that subterranean paradise, forgetful of the pile of +cat-corpses that in that catastrophe was heaped half-way up the +currant-bushes on the walls, so indiscriminate had been the Strages. All +undreamed of by them the beauty of the rounded moon, now hanging over the +city, once more steeped in stillness and in sleep! + + * * * * * + + +FROM THE SPANISH. + + + "That much a widowed wife will moan, + When her old husband's dead and gone, + I may conceive it; + But that she won't be brisk and gay, + If another offer the next day: + I won't believe it. + + "That Cloris will repeat to me, + Of all men, I adore but thee, + I may conceive it; + But that she has not often sent + To fifty more the compliment, + I won't believe it. + + "That Celia will accept the choice + Elected by her parents' voice, + I may conceive it; + But that, as soon as all is over, + She won't elect a younger lover, + I won't believe it. + + "That when she sees her marriage gown, + Inez will modestly look down, + I may conceive it; + But that she does not from that hour, + Resolve to amplify her power, + I won't believe it. + + "That a kind husband to his wife, + Permits each pleasure of this life, + I may conceive it; + But that the man so blind should be + As not to see what all else see, + I won't believe it. + + "That in a mirror young coquets + Should study all their traps and nets, + I may conceive it; + But that the mirror, above all, + Should be the object principal, + I won't believe it." + +_Fraser's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + +THE SLAVE SHIP, A GALLEY YARN. + + + Come all you gallant sailors bold, that to the seas belong, + Oh listen unto me, my boys, while I recount my song; + 'Tis concerning of an action that was fought the other day, + By the saucy little Primrose, on the coast of Africa. + + One evening, while we the deep with gentle breezes plough, + A sail is seen from our mast-head, hard on the weather bow; + The gloom of night now coming on, of her we soon lose sight, + But down she bears, about five bells, as if prepared for fight. + + Yet here she overreach'd herself, and prov'd she was mistaken, + Thinking by passing in the dark, that she could save her bacon; + For British tars don't lose a prize, by fault in looking out, + So we brought her to, with much ado, at eleven o'clock about. + + All hands were call'd to quarters, our guns were clear'd away, + And every man within the ship, was anxious for the fray: + Our first lieutenant went on board, her hold to overhaul, + And found them training of their guns, to the boatswain's pipe and call. + + To get near the main hatchway, our officer contrives, + But some ruffian-looking rascals surrounded him with knives; + For well they knew we peace must keep, unless that we could tell + That slaves were actually on board, detecting them by smell. + + Striving this object to attain, he firm resistance met, + So then return'd on board in haste, fresh orders for to get; + Says he, "It is a spanking ship, I'm sure that she has slaves, + And bears from sacred house and home, the wretches o'er the waves." + + "Oh! very well!" our captain cries, "for her we will lie by, + And on the morrow's coming dawn, a palaver we will try; + For should we now attempt to make a pell-mell night attack, + I fear our fight would heavy fall upon the harmless black." + + So early the next morning, we gently edged away, + Our captain hail'd the stranger ship, and unto her did say-- + "If you don't send your boat on board, and act as I desire, + Although you bear the flag of Spain, into your hull I'll fire." + + The Slaver swore that all our threats should not his courage scare, + And that th' assault of such a sloop was quite beneath his care: + Our captain calls, "Stand by, my lads! and when I give the word, + We slap off two smart broadsides, and run her right on board." + + The signal then was given, a rattler we let fly, + And many a gloomy Spaniard upon her decks did die: + "Now fire again! my British boys, repeat the precious dose, + For round and grape, when plied so well, they cannot long oppose." + + Now peals the roar of battle strife, now British hearts expand, + And now the anxious sailor pants to combat hand to hand; + With grapnels and with hawsers, we lash'd her to our beam, + Although the muzzles of our guns did o'er our bulwarks gleam. + + "Away, my men!" the captain cries, "'tis just the time to board," + Upon her decks we jump'd amain, with tomahawk and sword; + The conflict now was sharp and fierce, for clemency had fled, + And streams of gore mark'd every blow--the dying and the dead. + + Our captain heads the daring band, to make the Velos strike, + But soon received a dangerous thrust, from a well-hove boarding pike. + We thought 'twas all "clue up" with him, although he cheered us on, + And we determined, every man, the Slaver should be won. + + We beat them on the main deck, till they could no longer stand, + When our leader sings out "Quarter!" some mercy to command; + But now the sherry which we made, with panic fill'd the horde, + For some dived down the hatchways, and some leap'd overboard. + + Close to their scudding heels our lads did their attentions pay, + Cutlass in hand, to hold their own--to capture more than slay; + Through slippery gore we fought our way, the quarter-deck to gain, + And in loud cheers her mizen peak soon lost the flag of Spain. + + Our prize we found was frigate-built, from Whydah she sail'd out, + With near six hundred slaves on board, and eight score seamen stout; + Equipp'd with stores of every sort, the missile war to wage, + And twenty long guns through her ports seem'd frowning to engage. + + Of those that were made prisoners, they all were put abaft, + And we with well-arm'd sentinels paraded fore and aft; + We pick'd up all the slaughter'd men, and hove them in the deep, + Where, full in number fifty, they take their final sleep. + + And twenty more disabled Dons, with eyelet holes and scars, + Were treated by our surgeon the same as our own tars; + For when they struck no time was lost, to the Primrose they were sent, + And arms and legs, and broken heads, strict ordeal underwent. + + Our chief was badly wounded, likewise the master too, + One midshipman, the boatswain, and nine of our ship's crew; + Besides three seamen killed outright, who thus resign'd their breath, + And in the hour of vict'ry gained a patriotic death. + + So now my story to conclude, although beyond my might,-- + I write these lines to let you know, how loyal tars can fight; + So toast the health of those brave lads that bore the palm away, + And beat the Spanish ship Velos on the coast of Africa. + +_United Service Journal._ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY. + + * * * * * + + +VENTRILOQUISM. + + +The art of the ventriloquist is well known: it consists in making his +auditors believe that words and sounds proceed from certain persons and +certain objects in his vicinity, while they are uttered by himself; and it +is founded on that property of sound in virtue of which the human ear is +unable to judge with any accuracy of the direction in which sounds reach +it. This incapacity of the ear is the fertile source of many of those +false judgments which impress a supernatural character upon sounds that +have a fixed locality and a physical origin.--We know of a case, where a +sort of hollow musical sound, originating within three or four feet of the +ears of two persons in bed, baffled for months every attempt to ascertain +its cause. Sometimes it seemed to issue from the roof, sometimes from a +neighbouring apartment, but never from the spot from which it really came. +Its supposed localities were carefully examined, but no cause for its +production could be ascertained. Though it was always heard by both +persons together, it was never heard when A. alone was in the apartment, +and the time of its occurrence depended on the presence of B. This +connected it with his destiny, and the imagination was not slow in turning +the discovery to its own purposes. An event, however, which might never +have occurred in the life-time of either party, revealed the real cause of +the sound, the locality of which was never afterwards mistaken. + +In order to understand what part this indecision of the ear performs in +the feats of the ventriloquist, let the reader suppose two men placed +before him in the open air, at the distance of one hundred feet, and +standing close together. If they speak in succession, and if he does not +know their voices, or see their lips move, he will be unable to tell which +of them it is that speaks. If a man and a child are now placed so near the +auditor that he can distinguish, without looking at them, the direction of +the sounds which they utter, that is, whether the sound comes from the +right or the left hand person, let the man be supposed capable of speaking +in the voice of a child. When the man speaks in the language and the +accents of the child, the auditor will suppose that the child is the +speaker, although his ear could distinguish, under ordinary circumstances, +that the sound came from the man. The knowledge conveyed to him by his ear +is, in this case, made to yield to the more forcible conviction that the +language and accents of a child could come only from the child; this +conviction would be still further increased if the child should use +gestures, or accommodate his features to the childish accents uttered by +the man. If the man were to speak in his own character and his own voice, +while the child exhibited the gestures and assumed the features which +correspond with the words uttered, the auditor might be a little puzzled; +but we are persuaded that the exhibition made to the eye would overpower +his other sources of knowledge, and that he would believe the accents of +the man to be uttered by the child: we suppose, of course, that the +auditor is not allowed to observe the _features_ of the person who +speaks. + +In this case the man has performed the part of a ventriloquist, in so far +as he imitated accurately the accents of the child; but the auditor could +not long be deceived by such a performance. If the man either hid his face +or turned his back upon the auditor when he was executing his imitation, a +suspicion would immediately arise, the auditor would attend more +diligently to the circumstances of the exhibition, and would speedily +detect the imposition. It is absolutely necessary, therefore, that the +ventriloquist shall possess another art, namely, that of speaking without +moving his lips or the muscles of his face: how this is effected, and how +the art is acquired, we do not certainly know; but we believe that it is +accomplished by the muscles of the throat, assisted by the action of the +tongue upon the palate, the teeth, and the inside of the lips--all of them +being movements which are perfectly compatible with the immutability of +the lips themselves, and the absolute expression of silence in the +countenance. The sounds thus uttered are necessarily of a different +character from those which are produced by the organs of speech when +unimpeded, and this very circumstance gives double force to the deception, +especially when the ventriloquist artfully presents the contrast to his +auditor by occasionally speaking with his natural voice. If he carries in +his hand those important personages Punch and Judy, and makes their +movements even tolerably responsive to the sentiment of the dialogue, the +spectator will be infinitely more disposed to refer the sounds to the +lantern jaws and the timber lips of the puppets than to the conjurer +himself, who presents to them the picture of absolute silence and repose. + +Mr. Dugald Stewart, who has written an interesting article on +ventriloquism in the appendix to the third volume of the "Elements of the +Philosophy of the Human Mind," has, we think, taken a very imperfect view +of the subject. He not only doubts the fact, that ventriloquists possess +the power of fetching a voice from within, but "he cannot conceive what +aid the ventriloquist could derive in the exercise of his art from such an +extraordinary power, if it were really in his possession." He expresses +himself "fully satisfied, that the imagination alone of the spectators, +when skilfully managed, may be rendered subservient in a considerable +degree to the purposes of the ventriloquist;" and he is rather inclined to +think, that "when seconded by such powers of imitation as some mimics +possess, it is quite sufficient to account for all the phenomena of +ventriloquism of which we have heard." + +From these observations it would appear, that Mr. Stewart had never +witnessed those feats of the ventriloquist where his face is distinctly +presented to the audience--a case in which he must necessarily speak +_from within_. But independent of this fact, it is very obvious that +there are many imitations, especially those of the cries of particular +animals, and of sounds of a high pitch, which cannot be performed _pleno +ore_, by the ordinary modes of utterance, but which require for their +production that very faculty, of which Mr. Stewart doubts the existence. +Such sounds are necessarily produced by the throat, without requiring the +use of the mouth and lips; and the deception actually depends on the +difference between such sounds, and those which are generated by the +ordinary modes of utterance. + +The _art_ of ventriloquism, therefore, consists in the power of +imitating all kinds of sound, not only in their ordinary character, but as +modified by distance, obstructions, and other causes; and also in the +power of executing those imitations by muscular exertions which cannot be +seen by the spectators. But these powers, to whatever degree of perfection +they may be possessed, would be of no avail if it were not for the +incapacity of the ear to distinguish the directions of sounds--an +incapacity not arising from any defect in the organ itself, but from the +very nature of sound. If sound were propagated in straight lines, like +light, and if the ear appreciated the direction of the one, as the eye +does that of the other, the ventriloquist would exercise in vain all the +powers of imitation and of internal utterance. Even in the present +constitution of the ear, his art has its limits, beyond which he must be +cautious of pushing it, unless he calls to his aid another principle, +which, we believe, has not yet been tried. In order to explain this, we +shall analyze some of the most common feats of ventriloquism. When M. +Fitzjames imitated the watchman crying the hour in the street, and +approaching nearer and nearer the house, till he came opposite the window, +he threw up the window-sash, and asked the hour, which was immediately +answered in the same tone, but clearer and louder; and upon shutting the +window, the watchman's voice became less audible, and all at once very +faint, when the ventriloquist called out, in his own voice, that he had +turned the corner. Now, as the artist was stationed at the window, and as +the sound from a real watchman must necessarily have entered by the +window, the difference between the two directions was considerably less +than that which the ear is unable to appreciate. Had the ventriloquist +stood at one window, and tried to make the sound of a watchman's voice +enter _another_ window, he would have failed in his performance, +because the difference of the two directions was too great. In like +manner, when M. Alexandre introduced a boy from the street, and made him +sing from his stomach the song of Malbrook, he placed his head as near as +possible to the boy's chest, under the pretence of listening, whereas the +real object of it was to assimilate as much as possible the true and the +fictitious direction of the sounds. Had he placed the boy at the distance +of six or eight feet, the real singer would have been soon detected. + +We have made several experiments with a view of determining the angle of +uncertainty, or the angle within which the ear cannot discover the +direction of sounds; but this is not easily done, for it varies with the +state of the air and of surrounding objects. If the air is perfectly pure, +and if no objects surround the sounding body, the angle of uncertainty +will be less than under any other circumstances, as the sound suffers +neither deviation nor reflection. If the sounding body is encircled with +objects which reflect sound, the echoes arrive at the ear, at short +distances, nearly at the same time with the direct sound; and as they form +a single sound, the angle of uncertainty must then be much greater, for +the sound really arrives at the ear from various quarters. The +ventriloquist, therefore, might avail himself of this principle, and +choose an apartment in which the reverberations from its different sides +multiply the directions of the sounds which he utters, and thus facilitate +his purpose of directing the imagination of his audience to the object +from which he wishes these sounds to be thought to proceed. + +_Quarterly Review._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + +SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +EPITAPH ON STERNE. + + + How often wrongs our nomenclature, + How our names differ from our nature, + 'Tis easy to discern: + "Here lies the quintessence of wit, + For mirth and humour none so fit, + And yet men call him--Stern--e!" + + * * * * * + + +LADIES FORMERLY IN PARLIAMENT. + +(_For the Mirror._) + + +Gurdon, in his _Antiquities of Parliaments_, says, "The ladies of +birth and quality sat in council with the Saxon Wita's." "The Abbess Hilda +(says Bede,) presided in an ecclesiastical synod." + +"In Wighfred's great council at Beconceld, A.D. 694, the abbesses sat and +deliberated, and five of them signed the decrees of that council along +with the king, bishops, and nobles." + +"King Edgar's charter to the Abbey of Crowland, A.D. 961, was with the +consent of the nobles and abbesses, who subscribed the charter." + +"In Henry the Third's and Edward the First's time, four abbesses were +summoned to parliament, viz. of Shaftesbury, Berking, St. Mary of +Winchester, and of Wilton." + +"In the 35th of Edward III. were summoned by writ to parliament, to appear +there by their proxies, viz. Mary Countess of Norfolk, Alienor Countess of +Ormond, Anna Despenser, Phillippa Countess of March, Johanna Fitz Water, +Agneta Countess of Pembroke, Mary de St. Paul Countess of Pembroke, +Margaret de Roos, Matilda Countess of Oxford, Catherine Countess of Athol. +These ladies were called _Ad Colloquium et Tractatum_, by their +proxies, a privilege peculiar to the peerage to appear and act by proxy." + +P.T.W. + +N.B. They no doubt _manfully asserted_ their _colloquial +rights_. + + * * * * * + + +FASTING. + +_From a very old work, "Noble Numbers."_ + + + Is this a feast to keep, + The larder leane, + And clean, + From fat of veales and sheep? + + Is it to quit the dish + Of flesh yet still + To fill + The platter high with _fish_? + + Is it to fast an _hour_, + Or, ragged to go + Or show + A downcast look or snore? + + No, 'tis a fast to dole + Thy sheaf of wheat + And meat + Unto the hungry soul. + + It is to fast from strife, + From old debate + And hate; + To circumcise thy life. + + To show a heart grief rent, + To _starve_ thy sin, + Not bin; + And _that's to keep_ thy Lent. + + * * * * * + + +ANNUAL OF SCIENCE. + + +This Day is published, price 5s. + +ARCANA of SCIENCE, and ANNUAL REGISTER of the USEFUL ARTS for 1831. + +Comprising POPULAR INVENTIONS, IMPROVEMENTS, and DISCOVERIES Abridged from +the Transactions of Public Societies and Scientific Journals of the past +year. With several Engravings. + +"One of the best and cheapest books of the day."--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ + +"An annual register of new inventions and improvements in a popular form +like this, cannot fail to be useful."--_Lit. Gaz._ + +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 of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, No. 484, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12766 *** |