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diff --git a/12873-0.txt b/12873-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..380df64 --- /dev/null +++ b/12873-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1617 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12873 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 12873-h.htm or 12873-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/2/8/7/12873/12873-h/12873-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/2/8/7/12873/12873-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 12, No. 323.] SATURDAY, JULY 19, 1828. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +[Illustration: COLUMBIA COLLEGE] + + "It is intended that a large academy be erected, capable of + containing nine thousand seven hundred and forty-three + persons: which, by modest computation, is reckoned to be + pretty near the current number of wits in this island," + --_Swift's Tale of a Tub._ + +London is at length destined to become a seat of learning; or +rather, a seminary as well as a focus and mart of literature: + +Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades. + +One college is almost completed within her radius, and will be +opened in a few weeks; whilst munificent subscriptions are pouring +in from all quarters of the empire, towards the endowment of a +second. We have hitherto been silent spectators of these grand +strides in the intellectual advancement of our country; but we have +not, on that account, been less sensible of the important benefits +which they are calculated to work in her social scheme, and in + + The nurture of her youth, her dearest pledge. + +We are not of those who would (even were Newton's theory +practicable) compress the world into a nutshell, or neglect "aught +toward the general good;" and one of our respected correspondents, +who doubtless participates in these cosmopolitan sentiments, has +furnished us with the original of the above view of COLOMBIA +COLLEGE; seeing that this, like the universities of our own country, +is equally important to "Prince Posterity," and accordingly we +proceed with our correspondent's description. + +Colombia College, in the city of New York (of the principal building +of which the annexed sketch is a correct representation) may be +ranked among the chief seminaries of learning in America. It was +principally founded by the voluntary contributions of the +inhabitants of the province, assisted by the general assembly and +corporation of Trinity Church, in 1754; at which time it was called +King's College. + +A royal charter, and grant of money, was obtained, incorporating a +number of gentlemen therein mentioned, by the name of "The Governors +of the College of the province of New York, in the City of New +York;" and granting to them and their successors for ever, among +various other rights and privileges, the power of conferring such +degrees as are usually conferred {34} by the English universities. The +president and members to be of the church of England, and the form +of prayer used to be collected from the Liturgy of the church of +England. + +Since the revolution, the legislature passed an act, constituting +twenty-one gentlemen, (of whom were the governor and +lieutenant-governor for the time being,) a body corporate and +politic, by the name of "the Regents of the University of the state +of New York." They were entrusted with the care of the literature of +the state, and a power to grant charters for erecting colleges and +academies throughout the state. + +It received the name of Colombia College in 1787; when by an act of +the legislature, it was placed under the care of twenty-four +gentlemen, styled, "the trustees of the Colombian College," who +possessed the same powers as those of King's College. + +In 1813, the College of Physicians and the Medical School were +united; and the academical and medical departments are together +styled "The University of New York." It is now well endowed and +liberally patronized by the legislature of the state. The College +consists of two handsome stone edifices, but the view given is but +one-third of the originally intended structure, and contains a +chapel, hall, library of 5,000 volumes, museum, anatomical theatre, +and school for experimental philosophy. + +The Medical College is a large, brick building, containing an +anatomical museum, chemical laboratory, mineralogical cabinet, +museum of natural history, and a botanical garden, and nine medical +professors. Every student pays to each professor from 15 to 25 +dollars per course. + +There are also professors of mathematics, natural philosophy, +history, ancient and modern languages, logic, &c. The number of +students in 1818 was 233, but it has now greatly increased. As many +in each year as finish their course of study, walk in procession +with the other students and all the professors, preceded by a band +of music to St. Paul's church, where they deliver orations in +English and Latin before a crowded assembly. This is called "a +commencement." + +The situation is about 150 yards from the Hudson, of which, and the +surrounding country it commands an extensive view. The whole is +enclosed by a stone wall, with an area of several acres, +interspersed with gravel walks, green plats, and full-grown trees. + +BETA. + + _Note_.--All our readers may not be aware that the remains + of Two Literary Colleges still exist in London: _Gresham + College_ and _Sion College_--or we should say of one of them. + The first was founded and endowed by that excellent citizen + Sir Thomas Gresham. He was much opposed by the university of + Cambridge, which endeavoured to prevent the establishment of + a rival institution. (This was two centuries and a half ago.) + He devised by will, his house in Bishopsgate street, to be + converted into habitations and lecture-rooms for seven + professors or lecturers on seven liberal sciences, who were + to receive a salary out of the revenues of the Royal + Exchange. Gresham College was subsequently converted into the + modern general excise-office; but _the places_ are still + continued, with a double salary for the loss of apartments, + and the lectures are delivered gratuitously twice a day in a + small room in the Royal Exchange, during term-time. The will + of the founder has not, however, been actually carried into + execution. As we hate "solemn farce" and "ignorance in + stilts," we hope "scrutiny will not be stone blind" in this + matter. A more useful man than Sir Thomas Gresham is not to + be found in British biography, and it is painful to see his + good intentions frustrated. + + _Sion College_ is situated near London Wall, to the south of + Fore-street. It was founded in 1623 by the rector of St. + Dunstan's in the west, for the London clergy. The whole body + of rectors and vicars within the city are fellows of this + college, and all the clergy in and near the metropolis may + have free access to its extensive and valuable library. + + * * * * * + +SUPERSTITIONS ON THE WEATHER. + +_From Sir H. Davy's Salmonia; or, Days of Fly-fishing. +(In Conversations.)_ + + POIETES, a Tyro in Fly-fishing.--PHYSICUS, an uninitiated + Angler, fond of inquiries in natural history, &c.--HALIEUS, + an accomplished fly-fisher.--ORNITHER, a sporting gentleman. + +_Poietes_. I hope we shall have another good day to-morrow, for +the clouds are red in the west. + +_Physicus_. I have no doubt of it, for the red has a tint of +purple. + +_Halieus_. Do you know why this tint portends fine weather? + +_Phys_. The air, when dry, I believe, refracts more red, or +heat-making rays; and as dry air is not perfectly transparent, they +are again reflected in the horizon. I have generally observed a +coppery or yellow sun-set to foretell rain; but, as an indication of +wet weather approaching, nothing is more certain than a halo round +the moon, which is produced by the precipitated water; and the +larger the circle, the nearer the clouds, and consequently the more +ready to fall. + +_Hal_. I have often observed that the old proverb is correct-- + + A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's warning: + A rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight. + +Can you explain this omen? + +_Phys_. A rainbow can only occur when the clouds containing or +depositing the rain are opposite to the sun,--and in the evening the +rainbow is in the east, and in the morning in the west; and as our +{35} heavy rains in this climate are usually brought by the westerly +wind, a rainbow in the west indicates that the bad weather is on the +road, by the wind, to us; whereas the rainbow in the east proves +that the rain in these clouds is passing from us. + +_Poiet_. I have often observed, that when the swallows fly +high, fine weather is to be expected or continued; but when they fly +low, and close to the ground, rain is almost surely approaching. Can +you account for this? + +_Hal_. Swallows follow the flies and gnats, and flies and gnats +usually delight in warm strata of air; and as warm air is lighter, +and usually moister, than cold air, when the warm strata of air are +high, there is less chance of moisture being thrown down from them +by the mixture with cold air; but when the warm and moist air is +close to the surface, it is almost certain that, as the cold air +flows down into it, a deposition of water will take place. + +_Poiet_. I have often seen sea-gulls assemble on the land, and +have almost always observed that very stormy and rainy weather was +approaching. I conclude that these animals, sensible of a current of +air approaching from the ocean, retire to the land to shelter +themselves from the storm. + +_Ornither_. No such thing. The storm is their element; and the +little petrel enjoys the heaviest gale, because, living on the +smaller sea-insects, he is sure to find his food in the spray of a +heavy wave--and you may see him flitting above the edge of the +highest surge. I believe that the reason of this migration of +sea-gulls, and other sea-birds, to the land, is their security of +finding food; and they may be observed, at this time, feeding +greedily on the earth-worms and larva, driven out of the ground by +severe floods: and the fish, on which they prey in fine weather in +the sea, leave the surface and go deeper in storms. The search after +food is the principal cause why animals change their places. The +different tribes of the wading birds always migrate when rain is +about to take place; and I remember once, in Italy, having been long +waiting, in the end of March, for the arrival of the double snipe in +the Campagna of Rome, a great flight appeared on the 3rd of April, +and the day after heavy rain set in, which greatly interfered with +my sport. The vulture, upon the same principle, follows armies; and +I have no doubt that the augury of the ancients was a good deal +founded upon the observation of the instincts of birds. There are +many superstitions of the vulgar owing to the same source. For +anglers, in spring, it is always unlucky to see single magpies,--but +two may be always regarded as a favourable omen; and the reason is, +that in cold and stormy weather, one magpie alone leaves the nest in +search of food, the other remaining sitting upon the eggs or the +young ones; but when two go out together, it is only when the +weather is warm and mild, and favourable for fishing. + +_Poiet_. The singular connexions of causes and effects, to +which you have just referred, make superstition less to be wondered +at, particularly amongst the vulgar; and when two facts naturally +unconnected, have been accidentally coincident, it is not singular +that this coincidence should have been observed and registered, and +that omens of the most absurd kind should be trusted in. In the west +of England, half a century ago, a particular hollow noise on the +sea-coast was referred to a spirit or goblin, called Bucca, and was +supposed to foretell a shipwreck: the philosopher knows that sound +travels much faster than currents in the air, and the sound always +foretold the approach of a very heavy storm, which seldom takes +place on that wild and rocky coast without a shipwreck on some part +of its extensive shores, surrounded by the Atlantic. + +_Phys_. All the instances of omens you have mentioned are +founded on reason; but how can you explain such absurdities as +Friday being an unlucky day, the terror of spilling salt, or meeting +an old woman? I knew a man of very high dignity, who was exceedingly +moved by these omens, and who never went out shooting without a +bittern's claw fastened to his button-hole by a riband, which he +thought ensured him good luck. + +_Poiet_. These, as well as the omens of death-watches, dreams, +&c., are for the most part founded upon some accidental +coincidences; but spilling of salt, on an uncommon occasion, may, as +I have known it, arise from a disposition to apoplexy, shown by an +incipient numbness in the hand, and may be a fatal symptom; and +persons, dispirited by bad omens, sometimes prepare the way for evil +fortune; for confidence in success is a great means of ensuring it. +The dream of Brutus, before the field of Pharsalia, probably +produced a species of irresolution and despondency, which was the +principal cause of his losing the battle: and I have heard that the +illustrious sportsman to whom you referred just now, was always +observed to shoot ill, because he shot carelessly, after one of his +dispiriting omens. + +_Hal_. I have in life met with a few {36} things which I found +it impossible to explain, either by chance coincidences or by +natural connexions; and I have known minds of a very superior class +affected by them,--persons in the habit of reasoning deeply and +profoundly. + +_Phys_. In my opinion, profound minds are the most likely to +think lightly of the resources of human reason; and it is the pert, +superficial thinker, who is generally strongest in every kind of +unbelief. The deep philosopher sees chains of causes and effects so +wonderfully and strangely linked together, that he is usually the +last person to decide upon the impossibility of any two series of +events being independent of each other; and in sciences, so many +natural miracles, as it were, have been brought to light,--such as +the fall of stones from meteors in the atmosphere, the disarming of +a thunder-cloud by a metallic point, the production of fire from ice +by a metal white as silver, and referring certain laws of motion of +the sea to the moon,--that the physical inquirer is seldom disposed +to assert, confidently, on any abstruse subjects belonging to the +order of natural things, and still less so on those relating to the +more mysterious relations of moral events and intellectual natures. + + * * * * * + + +DEVIL'S HOLE, KIRBY STEPHEN. + +(_For the Mirror._) + +At about three quarters of a mile east of Kirby Stephen, +Westmoreland, is a bridge of solid rock, known by the name of +_Staincroft Bridge_ or Stonecroft Bridge, under which runs a +small but fathomless rivulet. The water roars and gushes through the +surrounding rocks and precipices with such violence, as almost to +deafen the visitor. Three or four yards from the bridge is an +immense abyss, where the waters "incessantly roar," which goes by +the name of _Devil's Hole_; the tradition of which is, that two +lovers were swallowed up in this frightful gulf. The neighbouring +peasants tell a tale of one _Deville_, a lover, who, through +revenge, plunged his fair mistress into these waters, and afterwards +followed her. How far this story may get belief, I know not; but +such they aver is the truth, while they mournfully lament the sad +affair.--They point out a small hole in the bank where you may hear +the waters dashing with fury against the projecting rocks. This, +some imagine to be the noise of infernal spirits, who have taken up +their abode in this tremendous abyss; while others persist in their +opinion, that the lover's name was _Deville_, and that it +retains his name to this day, in commemoration of the horrid deed. + +I have seen, and taken a view of the frightful place, which may +rather be imagined than described. One part of the water was +formerly so narrow, that a wager was laid by a gentleman that he +could span it with the thumb and little finger, and which he would +have accomplished, but his adversary, getting up in the night time, +chipped a piece off the rock with a hammer, and thus won the wager. +It is now, however, little more than from a foot and a half, to two +feet broad, excepting at the falls and _Devil's Hole_. The +water runs into the Eden at the distance of about a mile or two from +Staincroft Bridge. Trout are caught with the line and net in great +quantities, and are particularly fine here. + +W.H.H. + + * * * * * + + + +ANECDOTES OF A TAMED PANTHER. + +BY MRS. BOWDICH. + + + [Mrs. Bowdich is the widow of Mr. Thomas Edward Bowdich, + who fell a victim to his enterprize in exploring the + interior of Africa, in 1824. Mr. B. was a profound classic + and linguist and member of several learned societies in + England and abroad. In 1819 he published, in a quarto + volume, his "Mission to Ashantee," a work of the highest + importance and interest. Mrs. B., whose pencil has + furnished embellishments for her husband's literary + productions, has published "Excursions to Madeira, &c.," + and this amiable and accomplished lady has now in course + of publication, a work on the Fresh-water Fishes of Great + Britain.--The subsequent anecdotes are of equal interest + to the student of natural history and the general reader, + especially as they exhibit the habits and disposition of + the Panther in a new light. The Ounce, a variety of the + Panther is, however, easily tamed and trained to the chase + of deer, the gazelle, &c.--for which purpose it has long + been employed in the East, and also during the middle ages + in Italy and France.--Mr. Kean, the tragedian, a few years + since, had a tame _Puma_, or American Lion, which he + kept at his house in Clarges-street, Piccadilly, and + frequently introduced to large parties of company.--ED.] + +I am induced to send you some account of a panther which was in my +possession for several months. He and another were found when very +young in the forest, apparently deserted by their mother. They were +taken to the king of Ashantee, in whose palace they lived several +weeks, when my hero, being much larger than his companion, suffocated +him in a fit of romping, and was then sent to Mr. Hutchison, the +resident left by Mr. Bowdich at Coomassie. This gentleman, observing +that the animal was very docile, took pains to tame him, and in a great +measure succeeded. When he was about a year old, Mr. Hutchison returned +to Cape Coast, and had him led through the country by a chain, +occasionally letting {37} him loose when eating was going forward, when +he would sit by his master's side, and receive his share with +comparative gentleness. Once or twice he purloined a fowl, but easily +gave it up to Mr. Hutchison, on being allowed a portion of something +else. The day of his arrival he was placed in a small court, leading to +the private rooms of the governor, and after dinner was led by a thin +cord into the room, where he received our salutations with some degree +of roughness, but with perfect good-humour. On the least encouragement +he laid his paws upon our shoulders, rubbed his head upon us, and his +teeth and claws having been filed, there was no danger of tearing our +clothes. He was kept in the above court for a week or two, and evinced +no ferocity, except when one of the servants tried to pull his food +from him; he then caught the offender by the leg, and tore out a piece +of flesh, but he never seemed to owe him any ill-will afterwards. He +one morning broke his cord, and, the cry being given, the castle gates +were shut, and a chase commenced. After leading his pursuers two or +three times round the ramparts, and knocking over a few children by +bouncing against them, he suffered himself to be caught, and led +quietly back to his quarters, under one of the guns of the fortress. + +By degrees the fear of him subsided, and orders having been given to +the sentinels to prevent his escape through the gates, he was left at +liberty to go where he pleased, and a boy was appointed to prevent him +from intruding into the apartments of the officers. His keeper, +however, generally passed his watch in sleeping; and Saï, as the +panther was called, after the royal giver, roamed at large. On one +occasion he found his servant sitting on the step of the door, upright, +but fast asleep, when he lifted his paw, gave him a blow on the side of +his head which laid him flat, and then stood wagging his tail, as if +enjoying the mischief he had committed. He became exceedingly attached +to the governor, and followed him every-where like a dog. His favourite +station was at a window of the sitting-room, which overlooked the whole +town; there, standing on his hind legs, his fore paws resting on the +ledge of the window, and his chin laid between them, he appeared to +amuse himself with what was passing beneath. The children also stood +with him at the window; and one day, finding his presence an +encumbrance, and that they could not get their chairs close, they used +their united efforts to pull him down by the tail. He one morning +missed the governor, who was settling a dispute in the hall, and who, +being surrounded by black people, was hidden from the view of his +favourite. Saï wandered with a dejected look to various parts of the +fortress in search of him; and, while absent on this errand, the +audience ceased, the governor returned to his private rooms, and seated +himself at a table to write. Presently he heard a heavy step coming up +the stairs, and, raising his eyes to the open door, he beheld Saï. At +that moment he gave himself up for lost, for Saï immediately sprang +from the door on to his neck. Instead, however, of devouring him, he +laid his head close to the governor's, rubbed his cheek upon his +shoulder, wagged his tail, and tried to evince his happiness. +Occasionally, however, the panther caused a little alarm to the other +inmates of the castle, and the poor woman who swept the floors, or, to +speak technically, the _pra-pra_ woman, was made ill by her fright. She +was one day sweeping the boards of the great hall with a short broom, +and in an attitude nearly approaching to all-fours, and Saï, who was +hidden under one of the sofas, suddenly leaped upon her back, where he +stood in triumph. She screamed so violently as to summon the other +servants, but they, seeing the panther, as they thought, in the act of +swallowing her, one and all scampered off as quickly as possible; nor +was she released till the governor, who heard the noise, came to her +assistance. Strangers were naturally uncomfortable when they saw so +powerful a beast at perfect liberty, and many were the ridiculous +scenes which took place, they not liking to own their alarm, yet +perfectly unable to retain their composure in his presence. + +This interesting animal was well fed twice every day, but never given +any thing with life in it. He stood about two feet high, and was of a +dark yellow colour, thickly spotted with black rosettes, and from the +good feeding and the care taken to clean him, his skin shone like silk. +The expression of his countenance was very animated and good-tempered, +and he was particularly gentle to children; he would lie down on the +mats by their side when they slept, and even the infant shared his +caresses, and remained unhurt. During the period of his residence at +Cape Coast, I was much occupied by making arrangements for my departure +from Africa, but generally visited my future companion every day, and +we, in consequence, became great friends before we sailed. He was +conveyed on board the vessel in a large, wooden cage, thickly barred in +the front with iron. {38} Even this confinement was not deemed a +sufficient protection by the canoe men,[1] who were so alarmed at +taking him from the shore to the vessel, that, in their confusion, they +dropped cage and all into the sea. For a few minutes I gave up my poor +panther as lost, but some sailors jumped into a boat belonging to the +vessel, and dragged him out in safety. The beast himself seemed +completely subdued by his ducking, and as no one dared to open his cage +to dry it, he rolled himself up in one corner, nor roused himself till +after an interval of some days, when he recognised my voice. When I +first spoke, he raised his head, held it on one side, then on the +other, to listen; and when I came fully into his view, he jumped on his +legs, and appeared frantic; he rolled himself over and over, he howled, +he opened his enormous jaws and cried, and seemed as if he would have +torn his cage to pieces. However, as his violence subsided, he +contented himself with thrusting his paws and nose through the bars of +the cage, to receive my caresses. + +The greatest treat I could bestow upon my favourite was lavender water. +Mr. Hutchison had told me that, on the way from Ashantee, he drew a +scented handkerchief from his pocket, which was immediately seized on +by the panther, who reduced it to atoms; nor could he venture to open a +bottle of perfume when the animal was near, he was so eager to enjoy +it. I indulged him twice a week by making a cup of stiff paper, pouring +a little lavender water into it, and giving it to him through the bars +of his cage: he would drag it to him with great eagerness, roll himself +over it, nor rest till the smell had evaporated. By this I taught him +to put out his paws without showing his nails, always refusing the +lavender water till he had drawn them back again; and in a short time +he never, on any occasion, protruded his claws when offering me his +paw. + +We lay eight weeks in the river Gaboon, where he had plenty of +excellent food, but was never suffered to leave his cage, on account of +the deck being always filled with black strangers, to whom he had a +very decided aversion, although he was perfectly reconciled to white +people. His indignation, however, was constantly excited by the pigs, +when they were suffered to run past his cage; and the sight of one of +the monkeys put him in a complete fury. While at anchor in the +before-mentioned river, an orang-outang (Símia Sátyrus) was brought for +sale, and lived three days on board; and I shall never forget the +uncontrollable rage of the one, or the agony of the other, at this +meeting. The orang was about three feet high, and very powerful in +proportion to his size; so that when he fled with extraordinary +rapidity from the panther to the further end of the deck, neither men +nor things remained upright when they opposed his progress: there he +took refuge in a sail, and although generally obedient to the voice of +his master, force was necessary to make him quit the shelter of its +folds. As to the panther, his back rose in an arch, his tail was +elevated and perfectly stiff, his eyes flashed, and, as he howled, he +showed his huge teeth; then, as if forgetting the bars before him, he +tried to spring on the orang, to tear him to atoms. It was long before +he recovered his tranquillity; day and night he appeared to be on the +listen; and the approach of a large monkey we had on board, or the +intrusion of a black man, brought a return of his agitation. + +We at length sailed for England, with an ample supply of provisions; +but, unhappily, we were boarded by pirates during the voyage, and +nearly reduced to starvation. My panther must have perished had it not +been for a collection of more than three hundred parrots, with which we +sailed from the river, and which died very fast while we were in the +northwest trades. Saï's allowance was one per diem, but this was so +scanty a pittance that he became ravenous, and had not patience to pick +all the feathers off before he commenced his meal. The consequence was, +that he became very ill, and refused even this small quantity of food. +Those around tried to persuade me that he suffered from the colder +climate; but his dry nose and paw convinced me that he was feverish, +and I had him taken out of his cage; when, instead of jumping about and +enjoying his liberty, he lay down, and rested his head upon my feet. I +then made him three pills, each containing two grains of calomel. The +boy who had the charge of him, and who was much attached to him, held +his jaws open, and I pushed the medicine down his throat. Early the +next morning I went to visit my patient, and found his guard sleeping +in the cage with him; and having administered a further dose to the +invalid, I had the satisfaction of seeing him perfectly cured by the +evening. On the arrival of the vessel in the London Docks, Saï was +taken ashore, and presented to the Duchess of York, who placed him in +Exeter Change, to be taken care of, till she herself went to Oatlands. +He {39} remained there for some weeks, and was suffered to roam about +the greater part of the day without any restraint. On the morning +previous to the Duchess's departure from town, she went to visit her +new pet, played with him, and admired his healthy appearance and gentle +deportment. In the evening, when her Royal Highness' coachman went to +take him away, he was dead, in consequence of an inflammation on his +lungs--_Loudon's Magazine of Natural History._ + +[1: The panther in these countries is a sacred, or Fetish, + animal; and not only a heavy fine is extorted from those + who kill one, but the Fetish is supposed to revenge his + death by cursing the offender.] + + * * * * * + + + + +Manners & Customs of all Nations. + +SACRAMENTAL BREAD. + + +The church of Rome, in the height of its power, was extremely +scrupulous in all that related to the sacramental bread. According +to Steevens, in his _Monasticon_, they first chose the wheat, +grain by grain, and washed it very carefully. Being put into a bag, +appointed only for that use, a servant, known to be a just man, +carried it to the mill, worked the grindstones, covering them with +curtains above and below; and having put on himself an albe, covered +his face with a veil, nothing but his eyes appearing. The same +precaution was used with the meal. It was not baked till it had been +well washed; and the warden of the church, if he were either priest +or deacon, finished the work, being assisted by two other religious +men, who were in the same orders, and by a lay brother, particularly +appointed for that business. These four monks, when matins were +ended, washed their faces and hands. The three first of them put on +albes; one of them washed the meal with pure, clean water, and the +other two baked the hosts in the iron moulds. So great was the +veneration and respect, say their historians, the monks of Cluni +paid to the Eucharist! Even at this day, in the country, the baker +who prepares the sacramental wafer, must be appointed and authorized +to do it by the Catholic bishop of the district, as appears by the +advertisement inserted in that curious book, published annually, +_The Catholic Laity's Directory_. + + * * * * * + + + + +FOSTER CHILDREN. + + +There still remains in the Hebrides, though it is passing fast away, +the custom of fosterage. A laird, a man of wealth and eminence, +sends his child, either male or female, to a tacksman or tenant to +be fostered. It is not always his own tenant, but some distant +friend that obtains this honour; for an honour such a trust is very +reasonably thought. The terms of fosterage seem to vary in different +islands. In Mull, the father sends with his child a certain number +of cows, to which the same number is added by the fosterer. The +father appropriates a proportionable extent of ground, without rent, +for their pasturage. If every cow bring a calf, half belongs to the +fosterer, and half to the child; but if there be only one calf +between two cows, it is the child's; and when the child returns to +the parents, it is accompanied with all the cows given, both by the +father and by the fosterer, with half of the increase of the stock +by propagation. These beasts are considered as a portion, and called +_Macalive_ cattle, &c. + +Children continue with the fosterer perhaps six years; and cannot, +where this is the practice, be considered as burdensome. The +fosterer, if he gives four cows, receives likewise four, and has, +while the child continues with him, grass for eight without rent, +with half the calves, and all the milk, for which he pays only four +cows, when he dismisses his _dalt_, for that is the name for a +fostered child.--_Johnson's Journey_. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE IRISH PEOPLE. + + +Holinshed, speaking of the Irish, observes:--"Greedy of praise they +be, and fearful of dishonour; and to this end they esteem their +poets, who write Irish learnedly, and pen their sonnets heroical, +for the which they are bountifully rewarded; if not, they send out +libels in dispraise, whereof the lords and gentlemen stand in great +awe. They love tenderly their foster children, and bequeath to them +a child's fortune, whereby they nourish sure friendship,--so +beneficent every way, that commonly 500 cows and better are given in +reward to win a nobleman's child to foster; they love and trust +their foster children more than their own. Proud they are of long +crisped bushes of hair, which they term _libs_. They observe +divers degrees, according to which each man is regarded. The basest +sort among them are little young wasps, called _daltins_: these +are lacqueys, and are serviceable to the grooms, or horseboys, who +are a degree above the daltins. The third degree is the +_kaerne_, which is an ordinary soldier, using for weapon his +sword and target, and sometimes his piece, being commonly so good +marksmen, as they will come within a score of a great cartele. The +fourth degree is a _gallowglass_, using a kind of poll-axe for +his weapon, strong, robust men, chiefly feeding on beef, pork, and +butter. The fifth degree is to be a horseman, which is the {40} +chiefest, next to the lord and captain. These horsemen, when they +have no stay of their own, gad and range from house to house, and +never dismount till they ride into the hall, and as far as the +tables." + + * * * * * + + +MARRIAGE. + +The minister of Logierait, in Perthshire, in his statistical account +of that parish, supplies us with the following curious information +on this and other marriage ceremonies:--"Immediately before the +celebration of the marriage ceremony, every knot about the bride and +bridegroom (garters, shoe-strings, strings of petticoats, &c.) is +carefully loosed. After leaving the church, the whole company walk +round it, keeping the church walls always upon the right hand; the +bridegroom, however, first retires one way, with some young men, to +tie the knots that were loosened about him, while the young married +woman, in the same manner, retires somewhere else to adjust the +disorder of her dress." + + * * * * * + + +NEEDFIRE. + +The following extract contains a distinct and interesting account of +this very ancient superstition, as used in Caithness: + +"In 1788, when the stock of any considerable farmer was seized with +the murrain, he would send for one of the charm doctors to +superintend the raising of a _needfire_. It was done by +friction, thus: upon any small island, where the stream of a river +or burn ran on each side, a circular booth was erected, of stone and +turf, as it could be had, in which a semicircular or highland couple +of birch, or other hard wood, was set; and, in short, a roof closed +on it. A straight pole was set up in the centre of this building, +the upper end fixed by a wooden pin to the top of the couple, and +the lower end in an oblong _trink_ in the earth or floor; and +lastly, another pole was set across horizontally, having both ends +tapered, one end of which was supported in a hole in the side of the +perpendicular pole, and the other end in a similar hole in the +couple leg. The horizontal stick was called the auger, having four +short arms or levers fixed in its centre, to work it by; the +building having been thus finished, as many men as could be +collected in the vicinity, (being divested of all kinds of metal in +their clothes, &c.) would set to work with the said auger, two after +two, constantly turning it round by the arms or levers, and others +occasionally driving wedges of wood or stone behind the lower end of +the upright pole, so as to press it the more on the end of the +auger; by this constant friction and pressure, the ends of the auger +would take fire, from which a fire would be instantly kindled, and +thus the _needfire_ would be accomplished. The fire in the +farmer's house, &c. was immediately quenched with water, a fire +kindled from this _needfire_, both in the farm-house and +offices, and the cattle brought to feel the smoke of this new and +sacred fire, which preserved them from the murrain. So much for +superstition.--It is handed down by tradition, that the ancient +Druids superintended a similar ceremony of raising a sacred fire, +annually, on the first day of May. That day is still, both in the +Gaelic and Irish dialects, called _Lâ-bealtin, i.e._ the day +of Baal's fire, or the fire dedicated to Baal, or the sun." + + * * * * * + + + +UNSPOKEN WATER. + +In Scotland, water from under a bridge, over which the living pass +and the dead are carried, brought in the dawn or twilight to the +house of a sick person, without the bearer's speaking, either in +going or returning, is called _Unspoken Water_. + +The modes of application are various. Sometimes the invalid takes +three draughts of it before anything is spoken. Sometimes it is +thrown over the houses the vessel in which it was contained being +thrown after it. The superstitious believe this to be one of the +most powerful charms that can be employed for restoring a sick +person to health. + +The purifying virtue attributed to water, by almost all nations, is +so well known as to require no illustration. Some special virtue has +still been ascribed to silence in the use of charms, exorcisms, &c. +I recollect, says Mr. Jamieson, being assured at Angus, that a +Popish priest in that part of the country, who was supposed to +possess great power in curing those who were deranged, and in +exorcising demoniacs, would, if called to see a patient, on no +account utter a single word on his way, or after arriving at the +house, till he had by himself gone through all his appropriate forms +in order to effect a cure. Whether this practice might be founded on +our Lord's injunction to the Seventy, expressive of the diligence he +required, Luke x. 4, "Salute no man by the way," or borrowed from +heathen superstition, it is impossible to ascertain. We certainly +know that the Romans viewed silence as of the utmost importance in +their sacred rites. Hence the phrase of Virgil,--- + + "Fida silentia sacris." + +_Fauere sacris, fauere linguis_, and {41}_pascere +linguam_, were forms of speech appropriated to their sacred +rites, by which they enjoined silence, that the act of worship might +not be disturbed by the slightest noise or murmur. Hence also they +honoured Harpocrates as the god of silence; and Numa instituted the +worship of a goddess under the name of _Tacita_. + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY + +FILTERING APPARATUS. + + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + +[Illustration: +A A. The Pot. +B B. The Triangular Board. +C. The Cover. +D. Vessel to receive the Filtered Water. +E. Dotted Line, showing the Proportion of + Charcoal and Sand.] + +Herewith I send you an outline drawing of an economical filtering +apparatus, suitable for the use of any dwelling. Its construction is +perfectly simple, and at the cost of a few shillings in its +erection. The pot consists of an unglazed inverted vessel, +manufactured at potteries for the use of sugar-bakers, and placed +through a hole in a triangular board, resting upon two ledges, +occupying a corner in a kitchen or any other apartment. In the +inside of the pot a bushel of the whitest sand is to be introduced; +which sand, after being washed in a clean tub with about three +changes of water, to dissolve and clear away the clayey matter, is +to be mixed with half a peck of finely-bruised charcoal. This will +fill about one-third of the pot; but before the sand is placed in +the vessel, the small hole at the bottom of the pot should have an +oyster-shell placed over it, with the convex side uppermost, to +prevent the sand washing through. This filters foul water perfectly +pellucid and clear very quickly, as I have seen its effects for +years with the most perfect success. When the sand becomes foul by +time, it can be taken out and washed, or fresh materials can be +repeated; great care should be observed not to put more water in the +pot than your vessel underneath will receive. + +JNO. FIELD. + +* * * * * + + +_Effects of Lightning_. + + +The analogy between the electric spark, and more especially of the +explosive discharge of the Leyden jar, with atmospheric lightning +and thunder, is too obvious to have escaped notice, even in the +early periods of electrical research. It had been observed by Dr. +Wall and by Gray, and still more pointedly remarked by the Abbé +Nollet. Dr. Franklin was so impressed with the many points of +resemblance between lightning and electricity, that he was convinced +of their identity, and determined to ascertain by direct experiment +the truth of his bold conjecture. A spire which was erecting at +Philadelphia he conceived might assist him in this inquiry; but, +while waiting for its completion, the sight of a boy's kite, which +had been raised for amusement, immediately suggested to him a more +ready method of attaining his object. Having constructed a kite by +stretching a large silk handkerchief over two sticks in the form of +a cross, on the first appearance of an approaching storm, in June +1752, he went out into a field, accompanied by his son, to whom +alone he had imparted his design. Having raised his kite, and +attached a key to the lower end of the hempen string, he insulated +it by fastening it to a post, by means of silk, and waited with +intense anxiety for the result. A considerable time elapsed without +the apparatus giving any sign of electricity, even although a dense +cloud, apparently charged with lightning, had passed over the spot +on which they stood. Franklin was just beginning to despair of +success, when his attention was caught by the bristling up of some +loose fibres on the hempen cord; he immediately presented his +knuckle to the key, and received an electric spark. Overcome with +the emotion {42} inspired by this decisive evidence of the great +discovery he had achieved, he heaved a deep sigh, and conscious of +an immortal name, felt that he could have been content if that +moment had been his last. The rain now fell in torrents, and wetting +the string, rendered it conducting in its whole length; so that +electric sparks were now collected from it in great abundance. + +It should be noticed, however, that about a month before Franklin +had made these successful trials, some philosophers, in particular +Dalibard and De Lors, had obtained similar results in France, by +following the plan recommended by Franklin. But the glory of the +discovery is universally given to Franklin, as it was from his +suggestions that the methods of attaining it were originally +derived. + +This important discovery was prosecuted with great ardour by +philosophers in every part of Europe. The first experimenters +incurred considerable risk in their attempts to draw down +electricity from the clouds, as was soon proved by the fatal +catastrophe, which, on the 6th of August, 1753, befel Professor +Richman, of Petersburg. He had constructed an apparatus for +observations on atmospherical electricity, and was attending a +meeting of the Academy of Sciences, when the sound of distant +thunder caught his ear. He immediately hastened home, taking with +him his engraver, Sokolow, in order that he might delineate the +appearances that should present themselves. While intent upon +examining the electrometer, a large globe of fire flashed from the +conducting rod, which was insulated, to the head of Richman, and +passing through his body, instantly deprived him of life. A red spot +was found on his forehead, where the electricity had entered, his +shoe was burst open, and part of his clothes singed. His companion +was struck down, and remained senseless for some time; the door-case +of the room was split, and the door itself torn off its hinges. + +The protection of buildings from the effects of lightning, is the +most important practical application of the theory of electricity. +Conductors for this should be formed of metallic rods, pointed at +the upper extremity, and placed so as to project a few feet above +the highest part of the building they are intended to secure; they +should be continued without interruption till they descend into the +ground, below the foundation of the house. Copper is preferable to +iron as the material for their construction, being less liable to +destruction by rust, or by fusion, and possessing also a greater +conducting power. The size of the rods should be from half an inch +to an inch in diameter, and the point should be gilt, or made of +platina, that it may be more effectually preserved from corrosion. +An important condition in the protecting conductor is, that no +interruption should exist in its continuity from top to bottom; and +advantage will result from connecting together by strips of metal +all the leaden water pipes, or other considerable masses of metal in +or about the building, so as to form one continuous system of +conductors, for carrying the electricity by different channels to +the ground. The lower end of the conductors should be carried down +into the earth till it reaches either water, or at least a moist +stratum.--_Library of Useful Knowledge._ + + * * * * * + + + + +The Sketch-Book. + +THE MYSTERIOUS TAILOR. + +_A Romance of High Holborn._ + + +It came to pass that, towards the close of 1826, I found occasion to +change my tailor, and by chance, or the recommendation of friends--I +cannot now remember which--applied to one who vegetated in that +particular region of the metropolis where the rivers of +Museum-street and Drury-lane (to adopt the language of metaphor) +flow into and form the capacious estuary of High Holborn. Whoever +has sailed along, or cast anchor in this confluence, must have seen +the individual I allude to. He sits--I should perhaps say sat, +inasmuch as he is since defunct--bolt upright, with a pen behind his +ear, in the centre of a dingy, spectral-looking shop, quaintly hung +round with clothes, of divers forms and patterns, in every stage of +existence--from the first crude conception of the incipient surtout +or pantaloons, down to the last glorious touch that immortalizes the +artist. His figure is slim and undersized; his cheeks are sallow, +with two furrows on each side his nose, filled not unfrequently with +snuff; his eyes project like lobsters', and cast their shifting +glances about with a vague sort of mysterious intelligence; and his +voice--his startling, solemn, unearthly voice--seems hoarse with +sepulchral vapours, and puts forth its tones like the sighing of the +wind among tombs. With regard to his dress, it is in admirable +keeping with his countenance. He wears a black coat, fashioned in +the mould of other times, with large cloth buttons and flowing +skirts; drab inexpressibles, fastened at the knee with brass +buckles; gaiters, which, reaching no higher than the calf of the +leg, set up independent claims to eccentricity and exact +consideration on their own account; creaking, square-toed shoes; and +a hat, broad in front, pinched up at the sides, verging to an angle +behind, and worn close over the forehead, with the lower part +resting on the nose. His manner is equally peculiar; it cannot be +called vulgar, nor yet genteel--for it is too passive for the one, +and too pompous for the other; it forms, say, a sort of compromise +between the two, with a slight infusion of pedantry that greatly +adds to its effect. + +On reaching this oddity's abode, I at once proceeded to business; +and was promised, in reply, the execution of my order on the +customary terms of credit. Thus far is strictly natural. The clothes +came home, and so, with admirable punctuality, did the bill; but the +death of a valued friend having withdrawn me, soon afterwards, from +London, six months elapsed; at the expiration of which time I was +refreshed, as agreed on, by a pecuniary application from my tailor. +Perhaps I should here mention, to the better understanding of my +tale, that I am a medical practitioner, of somewhat nervous +temperament, derived partly from inheritance, and partly from an +inveterate indulgence of the imagination. My income, too--which +seldom or never encumbers a surgeon who has not yet done walking the +hospitals--is limited, and, at this present period, was so far +contracted as to keep me in continual suspense. In this predicament +my tailor's memorandum was any thing but satisfactory. I wrote +accordingly to entreat his forbearance for six months longer, and, +as I received no reply, concluded that all was satisfactorily +arranged. Unluckily, however, as I was strolling, about a month +afterwards, along the Strand, I chanced to stumble up against him. +The shock seemed equally unexpected on both sides; but my tailor (as +being a dun) was the first to recover self-possession; and, with a +long preliminary hem!--a mute, but expressive compound of +remonstrance, apology, and resolution--opened his fire as follows:-- + +"I believe, sir, your name is D----?" + +"I believe it is, sir." + +"Well, then, Mr. D----, touching that little account between us, I +have to request, sir, that--" + +"Very good; nothing can be more reasonable; wait the appointed time, +and you shall have all." + +This answer served, in some degree, to appease him; no, not exactly +to appease him, because that would imply previous excitement, and he +was invariably imperturbable in manner; it satisfied him, however, +for the present, and he forthwith walked away, casting on me that +equivocal sort of look with which Ajax turned from Ulysses, or Dido +from Æneas, in the Shades. + +A lapse of a few weeks ensued, during which I heard nothing further +from my persecutor; when, one dark November evening--one of those +peculiarly English evenings, full of fog and gloom, when the +half-frozen sleet, joined in its descent by gutters from the +house-tops, comes driving full in your face, blinding you to all +external objects--on one of these blessed evenings, on my road to +Camden Town, I chanced to miss my way, and was compelled, +notwithstanding a certain shyness towards strangers, to ask my +direction of the first respectable person I should meet. Many passed +me by, but none sufficiently prepossessing; when, on turning down +some nameless street that leads to Tottenham Court-road, I chanced +to come behind a staid-looking gentleman, accoutred in a dark brown +coat, with an umbrella--the cotton of which had shrunk half-way up +the whalebone--held obliquely over his head. Hastily stepping up to +him, "Pray, sir," said I, "could you be kind enough to direct me to +---- place, Camden Town?" + +The unknown, thus addressed, made the slightest possible inclination +towards me; and then, in an under tone, "I believe, sir, your name +is D----?" + +I paused; a vague sort of recollection came over me. Could it +be?--no, surely not! And yet the voice--the manner--the--the-- + +My suspicions were soon converted into certainty, when the stranger, +with his own peculiar expression, quietly broke forth a second time +with, "Touching that little account--" + +This was enough; it was more than enough--it was vexatiously +superfluous. To be dunned for a debt, at the very time when the +nerves could best dispense with the application; to be recalled back +to the vulgarities of existence, at that precise moment when the +imagination was most abstracted from all commercial common-places; +to be stopped by a tailor, (and such a tailor!) when the mind was +dreaming of a mistress--the bare idea was intolerable! So I thought; +and, without further explanation, hurried precipitately from the +spot, nor ever once paused till far removed from the husky tones of +that sepulchral voice which had once before so highly excited my +annoyance. + +[The narrater then visits one of Mr. Champagne Wright's masquerades, +where he falls in love with a _fresco_ nun. He receives a +billet.] + + +I stood like one bewildered; but, soon recovering my self-possession, +moved direct towards the chandelier, with a view to peruse an +epistle expressive of woman's fondest love. As with glistening +eyes I proceeded to tear open the billet, a flood of transporting +thoughts swept over me. I fancied that I was on the eve of +acquaintance with ----; but, judge my astonishment, when, instead +of the expected document, the key to such transporting bliss, I +read, engraved in large German text, on a dirty square card, +embossed at the edge with flowers, the revolting, business-like +address of + + + Mr. Thomas M----e, + Tailor, + 116, High Holborn. + + +It so happened that, the next day, I dined with C----. Of course the +masquerade, and with that the tailor, were the first topics of +conversation between us. Both allowed that the circumstances +respecting his late appearance were uncommon; but there, with my +friend, the matter ended: with me it was a more enduring subject for +reflection; and, after a night kept up till a late hour over a bowl +of C----'s most faultless punch, I set out, moody and apprehensive, +to my humble abode. By this time it was past three o'clock; the +streets were nearly all deserted.--While thoughtfully plodding +onwards, a sudden noise from the Holborn end of Drury-lane took my +attention; it evidently proceeded from a row--a systematic, +scientific row; and, indeed, as I drew near the scene of action, I +could distinctly hear the watchman's oaths blending in deep chorus +with the treble of some dozen or two valorous exquisites. + +I felt certain rising abstract ideas of pugnacity, and conceived +myself bound to indulge them on the first head and shoulders I +should meet. This spirit brought me at once into the thick of the +fight, and, before I was well aware of my proximity, I found myself +fast anchored alongside a veteran watchman, with a pigtail and half +a nose. The conflict now commenced in good earnest; there were few +or no attempts at favouritism; the blows of one friend told equally +well on the scull of another; watchman assaulted watchman with a +zeal respectable for its sincerity; and, indeed, had these last been +any thing more than a bundle of old coats and oaths, they would most +undoubtedly have drubbed each other into a better world. After a +lively and well-sustained affair of about twenty minutes, a squadron +of auxiliary watchmen arrived, and, with some difficulty, deposited +us all safely in the watch-house. And here the very first person +that met my gaze--seated, with due regard to dignity, in an +arm-chair, a pair of spectacles on his nose, a glass of +brandy-and-water by his side, and a newspaper, redolent of cheese, +before him--was the constable of the night--the nun of the +masquerade--the Mysterious Tailor of High Holborn! The wretch's eyes +gleamed with a savage but subdued joy at the recognition; a low, +chuckling laugh escaped him; while his dull countenance, made doubly +revolting by the dim light of the watch-house, fell, fixed and +scowling, upon me, as he pointed towards the spot where I +stood.--"Dobson," he exclaimed; and, at the word, forth stepped the +owner of this melodious appellative, with "this here man."--Luckily, +before he could finish his charge, a five-shilling-piece, which I +thrust into his unsuspecting palm, created a diversion among the +watchmen in my behalf; under favour of which, while my arch enemy +was adjusting his books, I contrived to escape from his detested +presence. + +It happened that about a month subsequent to this last rencontre, +circumstances led me to Bologne, whither I arrived, late in the +evening, by the steamboat. On being directed to the best English +hotel in that truly social Anglo-Gallic little town, I chanced to +find in the coffee-room an old crony, whom I had known years since +at Cambridge, and who had just arrived from Switzerland, on a +speculation connected with some vineyards. + +I had a thousand questions to ask my friend, a thousand memories to +disinter from their graves in my heart, past follies to re-enact, +past scenes to re-people. We began with our school-days, pursued the +subject to Cambridge, carried it back again to Reading, and thence +traced it through all its windings, now in sunshine, now in gloom, +till the canvass of our recollection was fairly filled with +portraits. In this way, time, unperceived, slipped on; noon deepened +into evening, evening blackened into midnight, yet nothing but our +wine was exhausted. + +At last, after a long evening spent in the freest and most social +converse, my friend quitted the coffee-room, while I--imitating, as +I went, the circumlocutory windings of the Meander--proceeded to my +allotted chamber. Unfortunately, on reaching the head of the first +staircase, where two opposite doors presented themselves, I opened +(as a matter of course) the wrong one, which led me into a spacious +apartment, in which were placed two fat, full-grown beds. My lantern +happening to go out at the moment, I was compelled to forego +all further scrutiny, so without more ado, flung off my clothes, +and dived, at one dexterous plunge, right into the centre +of the nearest vacant bed. In an instant I was fast asleep; +my imagination, oppressed with the day's events, had become +fairly exhausted, and I now lay chained down in that heavy, +dreamless sleep, which none but fatigued travellers can appreciate. +Towards daybreak, I was roused by a peculiar long-drawn snore, +proceeding from the next bed. The music, though deep, was gusty, +vulgar, and ludicrous, like a west wind whistling through a +wash-house. I should know it among a thousand snores. At first I +took no notice of this diversified sternutation, but as it deepened +every moment in energy, terminating in something like a groan, I was +compelled to pay it the homage of my admiration and astonishment. +This attention, however, soon flagged; in a few minutes I was a +second time asleep, nor did I again awake till the morning was far +advanced. At this eventful juncture, while casting my eyes round the +room with all the voluptuous indolence of a jaded traveller, they +suddenly chanced to fall on a gaunt, spectral figure, undressed, +unwashed, unshaved, decked out in a red worsted night-cap, its left +cheek swollen, as if with cold or tooth-ache, and seated bolt +upright in the very next bed, scarce six inches off my nose. And +this figure was----but I need add no more; the reader must by this +time have fully anticipated my discovery. + +That night I started from Bologne. I could no more have endured to +stop there, conscious that the town contained my persecutor, than I +could have flown. Accordingly, after a hurried breakfast, I +proceeded to arrange what little business I had to transact; and +this completed, away I posted to the well-known shop of Monsieur +----, dentist, perruquier, and general agent to the steam-packet +company. Fortunately the little man was at home, and received me +with his usual courtesy. He was very, very sorry that he could not +stay to converse with me, but a patient in the inner parlour +required his immediate attendance; he must therefore--. I +entreated him not to apologize; my business was simple--it was +merely to ascertain at what hour the first packet sailed; and having +so said, and received a satisfactory reply, I prepared to quit the +shop, when just as I was turning round to shut the door, I caught a +glimpse through the half-closed curtains that shaded the inner room +of a cheek and one eye. The cheek was swollen, and a solitary patch +of snuff rested, like a fly, upon its surface. It was the Mysterious +Tailor; he had come in to have his tooth pulled out. + +Notwithstanding my anxiety to quit Bologne, it was evening before I +was on board the packet; nor did I feel myself at ease, until the +heights had dwindled to a speck, and the loud carols of the +fishermen returning home from their day's sport, had sunk into a +faint, undistinguished whisper. Our vessel's course for the first +hour or so was delightful. Towards night, the weather, which had +hitherto proved so serene, began to fluctuate; the wind shifted, and +gradually a heavy swell came rolling in from the north-east towards +us. As the hour advanced, a storm seemed advancing with it; and a +hundred symptoms appeared, the least of which was fully sufficient +to certify the coming on of a tremendous hurricane. Our captain, +however--a bronzed, pinched-up little fellow, whom a series of +north-westers seemed to have dried to a mummy--put a good face on +the matter, and our mate whistled bluffly, though I could not help +fancying that his whistle had something forced about it. + +We had by this time been tossing about upwards of four hours, yet +despite the storm, which increased every moment in energy, our +vessel bore up well, labouring and pitching frightfully to be sure, +but as yet uninjured in sail, mast, or hull. As for her course, it +was--so the mate assured me--"a moral impossible to say which way we +were bound, whether for a trip to Spain, Holland, or Van Dieman's +Land; it might be one, it might be t'other." Scarcely had he uttered +these words, when a long rolling sea came sweeping on in hungry +grandeur towards us, and at one rush tore open the ship's gun-wale, +which now, completely at the mercy of the wave, went staggering, +drunken, and blindfold, through the surge. From this fatal moment +the sailors were kept constantly at the pumps, although so +instantaneous was the rush of water into the hold, that they did +little or no good; there seemed, in fact, not the ghost of a chance +left us; even the mate had ceased whistling, and the captain's oaths +began to assume the nature of a compromise between penitence and +hardihood. + +It was now midnight, deep, awful midnight; the few remaining +passengers had left the deck and retreated into a bed which they +shared in common with the salt water. The Captain stood, like one +bewildered, beside the helm, while I lay stretched along the +forecastle, watching, as well as I could, the tremendous rushing of +the waves. It was during a partial hush of the storm, when the wind, +as if out of breath, was still, that a shifting light attached +to some moving body, came bearing down full upon us. + +"This is an ugly night, sir," said the Captain, who now, for the +first time, found words, "yet methinks I see a sail a-head." + +"Surely not," I replied, "no earthly vessel but our own can live on +such a sea." + +Scarcely had the words escaped me, when "helm a lee!" was roared out +in a loud emphatic tone, something between rage and fright. + +The captain strove to turn his helm, but in vain, the rudder had +lost all power. At this instant, a rushing sound swept past us, and +the two ships came in direct contact with each other. The crash was +tremendous: down with a dizzy spinning motion went the strange +vessel; one yell--but one shrill piercing yell, which is ever +sounding in my ears, ensued--a pause, and all was over. + +My heart died within me at that cry; an icy shudder crept through +me, every hair of my head seemed endowed with separate vitality. To +go down into the tomb--and such a tomb!--unwept, unknown, the very +lights from the English coast still discernible in distance, yet not +a friend to hold forth aid; the idea was inexpressibly awful. Just +at this crisis, while grasping the bannister with weak hands, I lay +faint and hopeless on the deck, I fancied I saw a dark figure +crawling up the cabin-steps towards me. I listened; the sound drew +near, the form advanced, already it touched that part of the +staircase to which I clung. Was it the phantom of one of those +wretches who had just met death? Had it come fresh from eternity, +the taint of recent earth yet hanging about it, to warn me of my own +departure? A sudden vivid flash enabled me to dispel all doubt; the +dull, grey eye, and thin furrowed form, were not to be so mistaken; +the voice too--but why prolong the mystery? it was my old +unforgotten persecutor, the Mysterious Tailor of High Holborn. What +followed I know not: overpowered by previous excitement, and the +visitation of this infernal phantom, my brain spun round--my heart +ticked audibly like a clock--my tongue glued to my mouth--I sank +senseless at the cabin door. + +_(To be concluded in our next.)_ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + +NORFOLK PUNCH. + +AN INCANTATION. + + + Twenty quarts of real Nantz, + Eau-de-vie of southern France; + By Arabia's chemic skill, + Sublimed, condensed, in trickling still; + 'Tis the grape's abstracted soul, + And the first matter of the bowl. + + Oranges, with skins of gold, + Like Hesperian fruit of old, + Whose golden shadow wont to quiver + In the stream of Guadalquiver, + Glowing, waving as they hung + Mid fragrant blossoms ever young, + In gardens of romantic Spain,-- + Lovely land, and rich in vain! + Blest by nature's bounteous hand, + Cursed with priests and Ferdinand! + Lemons, pale as Melancholy, + Or yellow russets, wan and holy. + Be their number twice fifteen, + Mystic number, well I ween, + As all must know, who aught can tell + Of sacred lore or glamour spell; + Strip them of their gaudy hides, + Saffron garb of Pagan brides, + And like the Argonauts of Greece, + Treasure up their Golden Fleece. + + Then, as doctors wise preserve + Things from nature's course that swerve, + Insects of portentous shape--worms, + Wreathed serpents, asps, and tape-worms, + Ill-fashion'd fishes, dead and swimming, + And untimely fruits of women; + All the thirty skins infuse + In Alcohol's Phlogistic dews. + Steep them--till the blessed Sun + Through half his mighty round hath run-- + Hours twelve--the time exact + Their inmost virtues to extract. + + Lest the potion should be heady, + As Circe's cup, or gin of Deady, + Water from the crystal spring. + Thirty quarterns, draw and bring; + Let it, after ebullition, + Cool to natural condition. + Add, of powder saccharine, + Pounds thrice five, twice superfine; + Mingle sweetest orange blood, + And the lemon's acid flood; + Mingle well, and blend the whole + With the spicy Alcohol. + + Strain the mixture, strain it well + Through such vessel, as in Hell + Wicked maids, with vain endeavour, + Toil to fill, and toil for ever. + Nine-and-forty Danaides, + Wedded maids, and virgin brides, + (So blind Gentiles did believe,) + Toil to fill a faithless sieve; + Thirsty thing, with naught content, + Thriftless and incontinent. + + Then, to hold the rich infusion, + Have a barrel, not a huge one, + But clean and pure from spot or taint, + Pure as any female saint-- + That within its tight-hoop'd gyre + Has kept Jamaica's liquid fire; + Or luscious Oriental rack, + Or the strong glory of Cognac, + Whose perfume far outscents the Civet, + And all but rivals rare Glenlivet. + + To make the compound soft as silk, + Quarterns twain of tepid milk, + Fit for babies, and such small game, + Diffuse through all the strong amalgame. + The fiery souls of heroes so do + Combine the _suaviter in modo_, + Bold as an eagle, meek as Dodo. + + Stir it round, and round, and round, + Stow it safely under ground, + Bung'd as close as an intention + Which we _are_ afraid to mention; + Seven days six times let pass, + Then pour it into hollow glass; + Be the vials clean and dry, + Corks as sound as chastity;-- + Years shall not impair the merit + Of the lively, gentle spirit. + + Babylon's Sardanapalus, + Rome's youngster Heliogabalus, + Or that empurpled paunch, Vitellius, + So famed for appetite rebellious-- + Ne'er, in all their vastly reign, + Such a bowl as this could drain. + Hark, the shade of old Apicius + Heaves his head, and cries--Delicious! + Mad of its flavour and its strength--he + Pronounces it the real Nepenthe. + + 'Tis the Punch, so clear and bland, + Named of Norfolk's fertile land, + Land of Turkeys, land of Coke, + Who late assumed the nuptial yoke-- + Like his county beverage, + Growing brisk and stout with age. + Joy I wish--although a Tory-- + To a Whig, so gay and hoary-- + May he, to his latest hour, + Flourish in his bridal bower-- + Find wedded love no Poet's fiction, + And Punch the only contradiction. + +_Blackwood's Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTES OF A READER + +DUELLING. + +Two French officers resident at Kermanshaw, lately quarrelled; a +challenge ensued; but a reconciliation was effected; when the +incident drew forth the following natural and affecting remark from +a native:--"How foolish it is for a man who wishes to kill his +enemy, to expose his own life, when he can accomplish his purpose +with so much greater safety, by shooting at him from behind a rock." + + * * * * * + + +SPINNING VIRTUE. + +A young preacher, who chose to enlarge to a country congregation on +the beauty of _virtue_, was surprised to be informed of an old +woman, who expressed herself highly pleased with his sermon, that +her daughter was the most _virtuous_ woman in the parish, for "that +week she had spun sax spyndles of yarn."--_Sir W. Scott._ + + * * * * * + + +AT LINCOLN + +There is a beautiful painted window, which was made by an +apprentice, out of the pieces of glass which had been rejected by +his master. It is so far superior to every other in the church, +that, according to the tradition, the vanquished artist killed +himself from mortification. + + * * * * * + +A great lawyer in the sister kingdom, when asked by the viceroy, +what Captain Keppel meant by his "_Personal_ Travels in India, &c." +replied, that lawyers were wont to use this word in contradistinction +to "_Real_." + + * * * * * + +It is said that the intestines of the Carolina parrot are an +instantaneous poison to cats. + + * * * * * + + +CHINESE DUNNING. + +When a debtor refuses payment in China, the creditor, as a last +resource, threatens to carry off the door of his house on the first +day of the year. This is accounted the greatest misfortune that +could happen, as in that case there would be no obstruction to the +entrance of evil genii. To avoid this consummation, a debtor not +unfrequently sets fire to his house on the last night of the year. + + * * * * * + + +During the times of Catholicism in Scotland, _Fishing_ was +prohibited from the Sabbath after vespers, till Monday after +sunrise. This was termed _Setterday's Slopp_. + + * * * * * + + +THE TOWER OF BABEL, + +says a recent traveller in the east, now presents the appearance of +a large mound or hill, with a castle on the top, in mounting to +which, the traveller now and then discovers, through the light sandy +soil, that he is treading on a vast heap of bricks. The total +circumference of the ruin is 2,286 feet, though the building itself +was only 2,000, allowing 500 to the stadia, which Herodotus assigns +as the side of its square. The elevation of the west side is 198 +feet. What seems to be a castle at a distance, when examined, proves +to be a solid mass of kiln-burnt bricks, 37 feet high, and 28 broad. + + * * * * * + + + +SPANISH LITERATURE. + + +The Spaniards are particularly averse to borrowing from the +intellectual treasures of other nations. They glean the field of +their own muses to the very last ear, and then commence the same +labour over again. + + * * * * * + + + +EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAWYER. + + +Here is a well-turned reply to plaintiff's counsel, available in all +suits and times. It occurred in the trial of Lord Danby, in the time +of Charles II. "If the gentleman were as just to produce all he +knows for me, as he hath been malicious to show what may be liable +to misconstruction against me, no man could vindicate me more than +myself." + + * * * * * + + +In modern education there is a lamentable lack of veneration for the +great masters of English literature. Spenser, Milton, and Dryden are +altogether less familiar to the present generation than they were to +that which preceded it. "We will not say that our Shakspeare is +neglected, for his age is ever fresh and green, and he comes +reflected back to us from a thousand sources, whether in the +tranquillity of home, the turbulent life of capitals, or the +solitude of travel through distant lands."--_Edin. Rev._ + + * * * * * + + + +RISE AND FALL. + + +What an idea of the dismantling of our nature do the few words which +Roper, Sir Thomas More's son-in-law, relates, convey! He had seen +Henry VIII. walking round the chancellor's garden at Chelsea, with +his arm round his neck; he could not help congratulating him on +being the object of so much kindness. "I thank our lord, I find his +grace my very good lord indeed; and I believe he doth as singularly +favour me as any subject in his realm. However, son Roper, I may +tell thee, I have no cause to be proud thereof, for if my head +would win a castle in France, it would not fail to be struck +off."--_Edinburgh Review._ + + * * * * * + +There is not only room, but use, for all that God has made in his +wisdom--a use not the less real, because not always tangible, or +immediate.--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + +Nicholas Brady, (the coadjutor of Tate, in arranging the New Version +of Psalms,) published a translation of the Æneid of Virgil, which +(says Johnson,) when dragged into the world, did not live long +enough to cry. + + * * * * * + +Blue appears to be the most important of all colours in the +gradations of society. A licensed beggar in Scotland, called a +bedesmen, is so privileged on receiving a _blue_ gown. Pliny informs +us that blue was the colour in which the Gauls clothed their slaves; +and _blue_ coats, for many ages, were the liveries of servants, +apprentices, and even of younger brothers, as now of the Blue Coat +Boys, and of other Blue Schools in the country. Women used to do +penance in _blue_ gowns. Is it not unseemly that blue which has +hitherto been the colour of so many unenviable distinctions, should +be the adopted emblem of liberty--_English True Blue!_ + + * * * * * + + + +SONG. + +By JOANNA BAILLIE. + + + The gliding fish that takes his play + In shady nook of streamlet cool, + Thinks not how waters pass away, + And summer dries the pool. + + The bird beneath his leafy dome + Who trills his carol, loud and clear, + Thinks not how soon his verdant home + The lightning's breath may sear. + + Shall I within my bridegroom's bower + With braids of budding roses twined, + Look forward to a coming hour + When he may prove unkind? + + The bee reigns in his waxen cell, + The chieftain in his stately hold, + To-morrow's earthquake,--who can tell? + May both in ruin fold. + + + * * * * * + + + + +The Gatherer. + +"A snapper-up of unconsidered trifles." SHAKSPEARE. + + +CATS _(again.)_ + + +Charles James Fox walking up Bond-street from one of the club-houses +with an illustrious personage, laid him a wager, that he would see +more cats than the prince in his walk, and that he might take which +side of the street he liked. When they got to the top, it was found +that Mr. Fox had seen thirteen cats, and the prince not one. The +royal personage asked for an explanation of this apparent miracle; +Mr. Fox said, "Your royal highness took, of course, the shady side +of the way, as most agreeable; I knew that the sunny side would be +left for me, and cats always prefer the sunshine." + + * * * * * + + + +VAUXHALL WEATHER. + + +It having happened for several successive summers, that wet weather +took place just as the Vauxhall season commenced, Tom Lowe, Tyers's +principal vocal performer, accidentally meeting the proprietor, +expressed an anxious desire to know when he meant to open his +gardens. "Why are you so particular, Mr. Lowe?" said Jonathan. "I +have a very good reason, sir, and should like to know the very day." +"Why, why?" reiterated Tyers, impatiently. "That I may bespeak a +great coat to sing in; for you know we shall be sure to have rain." + + * * * * * + + +LAME SINGING. + +A few days since, a musicsellers's boy was sent to the publisher's +for a number of copies of the song "I'd be a Butterfly, arranged for +_two trebles;_" when, on being desired to repeat his order, he +replied, "I'd be a Butterfly, arranged for _two cripples._" + + * * * * * + + +LAUGHTER. + +Democritus, who was always laughing, lived one hundred and nine +years; Heraclitus, who never ceased crying, only sixty. Laughing +then is best; and to laugh at one another is perfectly justifiable, +since we are told that the gods themselves, though they made us as +they pleased, cannot help laughing at us. + + * * * * * + + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, London; +Sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic, and by all +Newsmen and Booksellers._ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12873 *** |