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diff --git a/12897-0.txt b/12897-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f64335e --- /dev/null +++ b/12897-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1562 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12897 *** + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. XIII, No. 357.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1829. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +[Illustration: WARWICK CASTLE.] + +WARWICK CASTLE. + + +The history of a fabric, so intimately connected with some of the most +important events recorded in the chronicles of our country, as that of +Warwick Castle, cannot fail to be alike interesting to the antiquary, the +historian, and the man of letters. This noble edifice is also rendered +the more attractive, as being one of the very few that have escaped the +ravages of war, or have defied the mouldering hand of time; it having +been inhabited from its first foundation up to the present time, a period +of nearly one thousand years. Before, however, noticing the castle, it +will be necessary to make a few remarks on the antiquity of the town of +which it is the chief ornament. + +The town of Warwick is delightfully situated on the banks of the river +Avon, nearly in the centre of the county to which it has given its name, +and of which it is the principal town. Much diversity of opinion exists +among antiquaries, as to whether it be of Roman or Saxon origin; but it +is the opinion of Rous, as well as that of the learned Dugdale,[1] that +its foundation is as remote as the earliest period of the Christian era. +These authors attribute its erection to Gutheline, or Kimbeline, a +British king, who called it after his own name, Caer-Guthleon, a compound +of the British word Caer, (_civitas_,) and Gutieon, or Gutheline, which +afterwards, for the sake of brevity, was usually denominated _Caerleon_. +We are also informed that Guiderius, the son and successor of Kimbeline, +greatly extended it, granting thereto numerous privileges and immunities; +but being afterwards almost totally destroyed by the incursions of the +Picts and Scots, it lay in a ruinous condition until it was rebuilt by +the renowned Caractacus. This town afterwards greatly suffered from the +ravages of the Danish invaders; but was again repaired by the lady +Ethelfleda, the daughter of King Alfred, to whom it had been given, +together with the kingdom of Mercia, of which it was the capital, by her +father. Camden,[2] with whose opinion several other antiquaries also +concur, supposes that Warwick was the ancient _Præsidium_ of the Romans, +and the post where the præfect of the Dalmatian horse was stationed by +the governor of Britain, as mentioned in the Notitia. + + [1] "Warwickshire," p. 298, edit. 1661. + + [2] Vide Camden's "Britannia," by Bishop Gibson, vol. i. p. 603, + edit. 1722. + +The appearance of this town in the time of Leland is thus described by +that celebrated writer:--"The town of Warwick hath been right strongly +defended and waullid, having a compace of a good mile within the waul. +The dike is most manifestly perceived from the castelle to the west gate, +and there is a great crest of yearth that the waul stood on. Within the +precincts of the toune is but one paroche chirche, dedicated to St. Mary, +standing in the middle of the toune, faire and large. The toune standeth +on a main rokki hill, rising from est to west. The beauty and glory of it +is yn two streetes, whereof the hye street goes from est to west, having +a righte goodely crosse in the middle of it, making a quadrivium, and +goeth from north to south." Its present name is derived, according to +Matthew Paris, from Warmund, the father of Offa, king of the Mercians, +who rebuilt it, and called it after his own name, Warwick.[3] + + [3] "Inter _Occidentalium Anglorum_ Reges illustrissimos, + præcipua commendationis laude celebratur, rex _Warmundus_, ab his + qui Historias _Anglorum_ non solum relatu proferre, sed etiam + scriptis inserere, consueverant. Is fundator cujusdam urbis a + seipso denominatæ; quæ lingua _Anglicana Warwick_, id est, _Curia + Warmundi_ nuncupatur."--Matthæi Paris "Historia Major," à Watts, + edit. 1640. + +The castle, which is one of the most magnificent specimens of the ancient +baronial splendour of our ancestors now remaining in this kingdom, rears +its proud and lofty turrets, gray with age, in the immediate vicinity of +the town. It stands on a rocky eminence, forty feet in perpendicular +height, and overhanging the river, which laves its base. The first +fortified building on this spot was erected by the before-mentioned lady +Ethelfleda, who built the donjon upon an artificial mound of earth. No +part of that edifice, however, is now supposed to remain, except the +mound, which is still to be traced in the western part of the grounds +surrounding the castle. The present structure is evidently the work of +different ages, the most ancient part being erected, as appears from the +"Domesday Book," in the reign of Edward the Confessor; which document +also informs us, that it was "a special strong hold for the midland part +of the kingdom." In the reign of William the Norman it received +considerable additions and improvements; when Turchill, the then vicomes +of Warwick, was ordered by that monarch to enlarge and repair it. The +Conqueror, however, being distrustful of Turchill, committed the custody +of it to one of his own followers, Henry de Newburgh, whom he created +Earl of Warwick, the first of that title of the Norman line. The stately +building at the north-east angle, called _Guy's Tower_, was erected in +the year 1394, by Thomas Beauchamp, the son and successor of the first +earl of that family, and was so called in honour of the ancient hero of +that name, and also one of the earls of Warwick. It is 128 feet in +height, and the walls, which are of solid masonry, measure 10 feet in +thickness. _Cæsar's Tower_, which is supposed to be the most ancient part +of the fabric, is 147 feet in height; but appears to be less lofty than +that of Guy's, from its being situated on a less elevated part of the +rock. + +In the reign of Henry III., Warwick Castle was of such importance, that +security was required from Margery, the sister and heiress of Thomas de +Newburgh, the sixth earl of the Norman line, that she would not marry +with any person in whom the king could not place the greatest confidence. +During the same reign, in the year 1265, William Manduit, who had +garrisoned the castle on the side of the king against the rebellious +barons, was surprised by John Gifford, the governor of Kenilworth Castle, +who, having destroyed a great part of the walls, took him, together with +the countess, his wife, prisoners; and a ransom of nineteen hundred marks +were paid, before their release could be obtained. The last attack which +it sustained was during the civil wars in the seventeenth century, when +it was besieged for a fortnight, but did not surrender. + +Few persons have made a greater figure in history than the earls of +Warwick, from the renowned + + ---- Sir Guy of Warwicke, as was weten + In palmer wyse, as Colman hath it wryten; + The battaill toke on hym for Englandis right, + With the Colbrond in armes for to fight.[4] + +up to the accomplished Sir Fulk Greville, to whom the castle, with all +its dependencies, was granted by James I., after having passed through +the successive lines of Beauchamp, Neville, Plantagenet, and Dudley. + +L.L. + + [4] Hardynge's "Chronicle," p, 211, edit. 1812. + +* * * * * + + +ODE TO THE LONDON STONE. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + Mound of antiquity's dark hidden ways, + Though long thou'st slumber'd in thy holy niche, + Now, the first time, a modern bard essays + To crave thy primal use, the what and which! + Speak! break my sorry ignorance asunder! + City stone-henge, of aldermanic wonder. + + Wert them a fragment of a Druid pile, + Some glorious throne of early British art? + Some trophy worthy of our rising isle, + Soon from its dull obscurity to start. + Wert thou an altar for a world's respect? + Now the sole remnant of thy fame and sect. + + Wert thou a churchyard ornament, to braid + The charnel of putridity, and part + The spot where what was mortal had been laid, + With all thy native coldness in his heart? + Thou sure wert not the stone--let critics cavil!-- + Of quack M.D. who lectur'd on the gravel. + + Did e'er fat Falstaff, wreathing 'neath his cup + Of glorious sack, unable to reel home, + Sit on thy breast, and give his fancy up, + The all that wine had given pow'r to roam, + And left the mind in gay, but dreamy talk, + Wakeful in wit when legs denied to walk? + + Did e'er wise Shakspeare brood upon thy mass, + And whimsey thee to any wondrous use + Of sage forefathers, in his verse to class + That which a worse bard had despis'd to choose, + Unconscious how the meanest objects grow, + Giants of notice in the poet's show? + + Canst thou not tell a tale of varied life, + That gave Time's annals their recording name? + No notes of Cade, marching with mischief rife, + By Britain's misery to raise his fame? + Wert thou the hone that "City's Lord" essay'd[5] + To make the whetstone of his rebel blade? + + Wert thou--'tis pleasant to imagine it, + Howe'er absurd such notions may be thought-- + When the wide heavens, wild with thunder fit, + Huge hailstones to distress the nation wrought, + A mass congeal'd of heaven's artill'ry wain,[6] + A "hailstone chorus" of a Mary's reign? + + Or, wert thou part of monumental shrine + Rais'd to a genius, who, for daily bread, + While living, the base world had left to pine, + Only to find his value out when dead? + Say, wert thou any such memento lone, + Of bard who wrote for bread, and got a stone? + + How many nations slumber on their deeds. + The all that's left them of their mighty race? + How may heroes' bosoms, wars, and creeds + Have sought in stilly death a resting place, + Since thou first gave thy presence to the air, + Thou, who art looking scarce the worse for wear! + + Oft may each wave have travell'd to the shore, + That ends the vasty ocean's unknown sway, + Since thou wert first from earth's remotest pore, + Rais'd as an emblem of man's craft to lay; + Yet those same waves shall dwindle into earth, + Ere, lost in time, we learn thy primal worth. + + They tell us "walls have ears"--then why, forsooth, + Hast thou no tongue, like ancient stones of Rome, + To paint the gory days of Britain's youth, + And what thou wert when viler was thy home? + Man makes thy kindred record of his name-- + Hast _thou_ no tongue to historize thy fame? + + But thou! O, thou hast nothing to repeat! + Lump of mysteriousness, the hand of Time + No early pleasures from thy breast could cheat, + Or witness in decay thine early prime! + Yes, thou didst e'er in stony slumbers lay, + Defying each M'Adam of his day. + + Eternity of stone! Time's lasting shrine! + Whose minutes shall by thee unheeded pour! + With whom in still companionship thou'lt twine + The past, the present, shall be evermore, + While innate strength shall shield thee from his hurt, + And worlds remain _stone blind_ to what thou wert. + +P.T. + + [5] "Now is Mortimer lord of the city."--Vide Shakspeare. + + [6] In the reign of Mary, hailstones, which measured fifteen + inches in circumference, fell upon and destroyed two small towns + near Nottingham.--Cooper's Hist. England. + + * * * * * + + +THE NECK.[7] + +A SWEDISH TRADITION. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + His cheek was blanch'd, but beautiful and soft, each curling tress + Wav'd round the harp, o'er which he bent with zephyrine caress; + And as that lyrist sat all lorn, upon the silv'ry stream, + The music of his harp was as the music of a dream, + Most mournfully delicious, like those tones that wound the heart, + Yet soothe it, when it cherishes the griefs that ne'er depart. + + "O Neck! O water-spirit! demon, delicate, and fair!" + The young twain cried, who heard his lay, "_why_ art thou harping there? + Thine airy form is drooping, Neck! thy cheek is pale with dree, + And torrents shouldst thou weep, poor fay, _no Saviour lives for thee!_" + All mournful look'd the elflet then, and sobbing, cast aside + His harp, and with a piteous wail, sunk fathoms in the tide. + + Keen sorrow seiz'd those gentle youths, who'd given cureless pain-- + In haste they sought their priestly sire, in haste return'd again; + Return'd to view the elf enthron'd in waters as before, + Whose music now was sighs, whose tears gush'd e'en from his heart's core. + "Why weeping, Neck? look up, and clear those tearful eyes of blue-- + Our father bids us say, that thy _Redeemer liveth too!_" + + Oh, beautiful! blest words! they sooth'd the Nikkar's anguish'd breast, + As breezy, angel-whisperings lull holy ones to rest. + He seiz'd his harp--its airy strings, beneath a master hand, + Woke melodies, too, _too_ divine for earth or elfin land; + He rais'd his glad, rich voice in song, and sinking saw the sun, + Ere in that hymn of love he paus'd, for Paradise begun! + M.L.B. + + [7] "The Neck, a water-spirit, answering, in Sweden, &c. to the + Scottish kelpie, as to its place of abode; but we believe its + character is not so mischievous. The northern idea, that all + fairies, demons, &c. who resided in this world, were spirits out + of the pale of salvation, is very ancient. Mr. Keightley assures + us, that the legend of which these stanzas attempt a + versification, is extremely popular in Sweden."--Vide "Fairy + Mythology." + + * * * * * + + +PLAN FOR SNUFF TAKERS TO PAY OFF THE NATIONAL DEBT. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + +As snuff-taking seems to increase, the following plan might be adopted by +the patrons of that art, to ease _John Bull_ of his _weight_, and make +him feel as _light_ and _easy_, as if he had taken a _pinch of the +"Prince Regent's Mixture_.'" + +Lord Stanhope says, "Every professed, inveterate, and incurable +snuff-taker, at a moderate computation, takes one pinch in ten minutes. +Every pinch, with the agreeable ceremony of blowing and wiping the nose, +and other incidental circumstances, consumes a minute and a half. One +minute and a half out of every ten, allowing sixteen hours and a half to +a snuff-taking day, amounts to two hours and twenty-four minutes out of +every natural day, or one day out of every ten. One day out of every ten +amounts to thirty-six days and a half in a-year. Hence, if we suppose the +practice to be persisted in forty years, two entire years of the +snuff-taker's life will be dedicated to tickling his nose, and two more +to blowing it. The expense of snuff, snuff-boxes, and handkerchiefs, will +be the subject of a second essay, in which it will appear, that this +luxury encroaches as much on the income of the snuff-taker as it does on +his time; and that by a proper application of the time and money thus +lost to the public, a fund might be constituted for the discharge of the +national debt." + +Queries.--Is not this subject worthy the attention of the finance +committee? Might not the _cigar gentlemen add_ to the discharge of the +debt? + +P.T.W. + + * * * * * + + +THE DIVIDED HOUSEHOLD. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + Our hearth--we hear its music now--to us a bower and home; + When will its lustre in our souls with Spring's young freshness come? + Sweet faces beam'd around it then, and cherub lips did weave + Their clear Hosannas in the glow that ting'd the skies at eve! + + Oh, lonely is our forest stream, and bare the woodland tree, + And whose sunny wreath of leaves the cuckoo carolled free; + The pilgrim passeth by our cot--no hand shall greet him there-- + The household is divided now, and mute the evening pray'r! + + Amid green walks and fringed slopes, still gleams the village pond. + And see, a hoar and sacred pile, the old church peers beyond; + And there we deem'd it bliss to gaze upon the Sabbath skies,-- + Gold as our sister's clustering hair, and blue as her meek eyes. + + Our home--when will these eyes, now dimm'd with frequent weeping, see + The infant's pure and rosy ark, the stripling's sanctuary? + When will these throbbing hearts grow calm around its lighted hearth?-- + Quench'd is the fire within its walls, and hush'd the voice of mirth! + + The haunts--they are forsaken now--where our companions play'd; + We see their silken ringlets glow amid the moonlight glade; + We hear their voices floating up like pæan songs divine; + Their path is o'er the violet-beds beneath the springing vine! + + Restore, sweet spirit of our home! our native hearth restore-- + Why are our bosoms desolate, our summer rambles o'er? + Let thy mild light on us be pour'd--our raptures kindle up, + And with a portion of thy bliss illume the household cup. + + Yet mourn not, wanderers--onto you a thrilling hope is given, + A tabernacle unconfin'd, an endless home in heaven! + And though ye are divided now, ye shall be made as one + In Eden, beauteous as the skies that o'er your childhood shone! + +_Deal._ + +REGINALD AUGUSTINE. + + * * * * * + + +A CHAPTER ON KISSING. + +BY A PROFESSOR OF THE ART. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + "Away with your fictions of flimsy romance, + Those tissues of falsehood which folly has wove; + Give me the mild gleam of the soul breathing glance, + And the rapture which dwells in the first _kiss_ of love." + BYRON. + +There is no national custom so universally and so justly honoured with +esteem and respect, "winning golden opinions from all sorts of people," +as kissing. Generally speaking, we discover that a usage which finds +favour in the eyes of the vulgar, is despised and detested by the +educated, the refined, and the proud; but this elegant practice forms a +brilliant exception to a rule otherwise tolerably absolute. Kissing +possesses infinite claims to our love, claims which no other custom in +the wide world can even pretend to advance. Kissing is an endearing, +affectionate, ancient, rational, and national mode of displaying the +thousand glowing emotions of the soul;--it is traced back by some as far +as the termination of the siege of Troy, for say they, "Upon the return +of the Grecian warriors, their wives met them, and joined their lips +together with joy." There are some, however, who give the honour of +having invented kissing to Rouix, or Rowena, the daughter of Hengist, the +Saxon; a Dutch historian tells us, she, "pressed the beaker with her +lipkens (little lips,) and saluted the amorous Vortigern with a husgin +(little kiss,)" and this latter authority we ourselves feel most inclined +to rely on; deeply anxious to secure to our fair countrywomen the honour +of having invented this delightful art. + +Numberless are the authors who have written and spoken with rapture on +English kissing. + +"The women of England," says Polydore Virgil, "not only salute their +relations with a kiss, but all persons promiscuously; and this ceremony +they repeat, gently touching them with their lips, not only with grace, +but without the least immodesty. Such, however, as are of the blood-royal +do not kiss their inferiors, but offer the back of the hand, as men do, +by way of saluting each other." + +Erasmus too--the grave, the phlegmatic Erasmus, melts into love and +playful thoughts, when he thinks of kisses--"Did you but know, my +Faustus," he writes to one of his friends, "the pleasures which England +affords, you would fly here on winged feet, and if your gout would not +allow you, you would wish yourself a Dædalus. To mention to you one among +many things, here are nymphs of the loveliest looks, good humoured, and +whom you would prefer even to your favourite Muses. Here also prevails a +custom never enough to be commended, that wherever you come, every one +receives you with a kiss, and when you take your leave, every one gives +you a kiss; when you return, kisses again meet you. If any one leaves you +they give you a kiss; if you meet any one, the first salutation is a +kiss; in short, wherever you go, kisses every where abound; which, my +Faustus, did you once taste how very sweet and how very fragrant they +are, you would not, like Solon, wish for ten years exile in England, but +would desire to spend there the whole of your life." + +Oh what miracles have been wrought by a kiss! Philosophers, stoics, +hermits, and misers have become men of the world, of taste, and of +generosity; idiots have become wise; and, truth to tell, wise men +idiots--warriors have turned cowards and cowards brave--statesmen have +become poets, and political economists sensible men. Oh, wonderful art, +which can produce such strange effects! to thee, the magic powers of +steam seem commonplace and tedious; the wizard may break his rod in +despair, and the king his sceptre, for thou canst effect in a moment what +they may vainly labour years to accomplish. Well may the poet celebrate +thy praises in words that breathe and thoughts that burn; well may the +minstrel fire with sudden inspiration and strike the lute with rapture +when he thinks of thee; well might the knight of bygone times brave every +danger when thou wert his bright reward; well might Vortigern resign his +kingdom, or Mark Antony the world, when it was thee that tempted. Long, +long, may England be praised for her prevalence of this divine custom! +Long may British women be as celebrated for the fragrance of their +kisses, as they ever were, and ever will be for their virtue and their +beauty. + +CHILDE WILFUL. + + * * * * * + + + +NOTES OF A READER. + + * * * * * + + + +"COMPANION TO THE THEATRES." + + + +An inveterate play-goer announces a little manual under this title, for +publication in a few days. Such a work, if well executed, will be very +acceptable to the amateur and visitor, as well as attractive to the +general reader. The outline or plan looks well, and next week we may +probably give our readers some idea of its execution. + + * * * * * + + +VOYAGE TO INDIA. + + +The generality of our society on board was respectable, and some of its +members were men of education and talent. Excepting that there was no +lady of the party, it was composed of the usual materials to be found at +the cuddy-table of an outward bound Indiaman. First, there was a puisne +judge, intrenched in all the dignity of a dispenser of law to his +majesty's loving subjects beyond the Cape, with a _Don't tell me_ kind of +face, a magisterial air, and dictatorial manner, ever more ready to lay +down the law, than to lay down the lawyer. Then, there was a general +officer appointed to the staff in India, in consideration of his services +on Wimbledon Common and at the Horse Guards, proceeding to teach the art +military to the Indian army--a man of gentlemanly but rather pompous +manners; who, considering his simple nod equivalent to the bows of half a +dozen subordinates, could never swallow a glass of wine at dinner without +lumping at least that number of officers or civilians in the invitation +to join him, while his aid-de-camp practised the same airs among the +cadets. Then, there was a proportion of civilians and Indian officers +returning from furlough or sick certificate, with patched-up livers, and +lank countenances, from which two winters of their native climate had +extracted only just sufficient sunbeams to leave them of a dirty lemon +colour. Next, there were a few officers belonging to detachments of +king's troops proceeding to join their regiments in India, looking, of +course, with some degree of contempt on their brethren in arms, whose +rank was bounded by the longitude of the Cape; but condescending to +patronize some of the most gentlemanly of the cadets. These, with a free +mariner, and no inconsiderable sprinkling of writers, cadets, and +assistant-surgeons, together with the officers of the ship, who dined at +the captain's table, formed a party of about twenty-five.--_Twelve Years' +Military Adventure._ + + * * * * * + + +EDUCATION IN DENMARK. + + +Much pains has lately been taken in Denmark to promote the means of +elementary education, and Lancasterian schools have been generally +established throughout the country. We have now before us the Report made +to the king by the Chevalier Abrahamson, of the progress, prospects, and +present state of the schools for mutual instruction in Denmark, to the +28th of January, 1828, by which it appears, that 2,371 schools for mutual +instruction have been established, and are in full progress, in the +different districts of the kingdom and in the army.--_North American +Review._ + + * * * * * + + +RECORDS. + + +Some faint idea of the bulk of our English records may be obtained, by +adverting to the fact, that a single statute, the Land Tax Commissioners' +Act, passed in the first year of the reign of his present majesty, +measures, when unrolled, upwards of _nine hundred feet_, or nearly twice +the length of St. Paul's Cathedral within the walls; and if it ever +should become necessary to consult the fearful volume, an able-bodied man +must be employed during three hours in coiling and uncoiling its +monstrous folds. Should our law manufactory go on at this rate, and we do +not anticipate any interruption in its progress, we may soon be able to +belt the round globe with parchment. When, to the solemn acts of +legislature, we add the showers of petitions, which lie (and in more +senses than one) upon the table, every night of the session; the bills, +which, at the end of every term, are piled in stacks, under the parental +custody of our good friends, the Six Clerks in Chancery; and the +innumerable membranes, which, at every hour of the day, are transmitted +to the gloomy dens and recesses of the different courts of common-law and +of criminal jurisdiction throughout the kingdom, we are afraid that there +are many who may think that the time is fast approaching for performing +the operation which Hugh Peters recommended as "A good work for a good +Magistrate." This learned person, it will be recollected, exhorted the +commonwealth men to destroy all the muniments in the Tower--a proposal +which Prynne considers as an act inferior only in atrocity to his +participation in the murder of Charles I., and we should not be surprised +if some zealous reformer were to maintain, that a general conflagration +of these documents would be the most essential benefit that could be +conferred upon the realm.--_Quarterly Rev._ + + * * * * * + + +ENCYCLOPÆDIAS. + + +In the German universities an extensive branch of lectures is formed by +the _Encyclopædias_ of the various sciences. Encyclopædia originally +implied the complete course or circle of a liberal education in science +and art, as pursued by the young men of Greece; namely, gymnastics, a +cultivated taste for their own classics, music, arithmetic, and geometry. +European writers give the name of _encyclopædia_, in the widest +scientific sense, to the whole round or empire of human knowledge, +arranged in systematic or alphabetic order; whereas the Greek imports but +practical school knowledge. The literature of the former is voluminous +beyond description, it having been cultivated from the beginning of the +middle ages to the present day. Different from either of them is the +_encyclopædia_ of the German universities; this is an introduction into +the several arts and sciences, showing the nature of each, its extent, +utility, relation to other studies and to practical life, the best method +of pursuing it, and the sources from whence the knowledge of it is to be +derived. An introduction of this compass is, however, with greater +propriety styled _encyclopædia and methodology_. Thus, we hear of +separate lectures on encyclopædias and methodologies of divinity, +jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, mathematical sciences, physical +science, the fine arts, and philology. Manuals and lectures of this kind +are exceedingly useful for those who are commencing a course of +professional study. For "the best way to learn any science," says Watts, +"is to begin with a regular system, or a short and plain scheme of that +science, well drawn up into a narrow compass."--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +PERSIAN CAVALIER. + + +The following sketch of a Persian cavalier has the richness and freshness +of one of Heber's, or Morier's or Sir John Malcolm's pages:--"He was a +man of goodly stature, and powerful frame; his countenance, hard, +strongly marked, and furnished with a thick, black beard, bore testimony +of exposure to many a blast, but it still preserved a prepossessing +expression of good humour and benevolence. His turban, which was formed +of a cashmere shawl, sorely tached and torn, and twisted here and there +with small steel chains, according to the fashion of the time, was wound +around a red cloth cap, that rose in four peaks high above the head. His +oemah, or riding coat, of crimson cloth much stained and faded, opening +at the bosom, showed the links of a coat of mail which he wore below; a +yellow shawl formed his girdle; his huge shulwars, or riding trousers, of +thick, fawn-coloured Kerman woollen-stuff, fell in folds over the large +red leather boots in which his legs were cased: by his side hung a +crooked scymetar in a black leather scabbard, and from the holsters of +his saddle peeped out the butt ends of a pair of pistols; weapons of +which I then knew not the use, any more than of the matchlock which was +slung at his back. He was mounted on a powerful but jaded horse, and +appeared to have already travelled far."--_Kuzzilbash._ + + * * * * * + + +ORATORY + + +The national glory of Great Britain rests, in no small degree, on the +refined taste and classical education of her politicians; and the portion +of her oratory acknowledged to be the most energetic, bears the greatest +resemblance to the spirit of Demosthenes.--_North American Review._ + + * * * * * + + +GRESHAM COLLEGE.[8] + + +The City of London could not do a more fitting thing than to convert the +Gresham lectureships into fourteen scholarships for King's College, +retaining the name and reserving the right of presentation. A bounty +which is at present useless would thus be rendered efficient, and to the +very end which was intended by Gresham himself. An act of parliament +would be necessary; and the annexations would of course take place as the +lectureships became vacant.--_Quarterly Rev._ + + [8] See MIRROR, vol. xii. page 34. + + * * * * * + + +In Germany, seminaries for the education of popular teachers, are +conducted by distinguished divines of each state, who, for the most part, +reside in the capital, and are the same persons who examine each +clergyman three times before his ordination. Unless a candidate can give +evidence of his ability, and of, at least, a two years' stay in those +popular Institutions where religious instruction is the main object, he +is not allowed to teach any branch of knowledge whatever.--_Russell's +Tour in Germany._ + + * * * * * + + +MUNGO PARK. + + +Captain Clapperton being near that part of the Quorra, where Mungo Park +perished, our traveller thought he might get some information of this +melancholy event. The head man's story is this:--"That the boat stuck +fast between two rocks; that the people in it laid out four anchors +a-head; that the water falls down with great rapidity from the rocks, and +that the white men, in attempting to get on shore, were drowned; that +crowds of people went to look at them, but the white men did not shoot at +them as I had heard; that the natives were too much frightened either to +shoot at them or to assist them; that there were found a great many +things in the boat, books and riches, which the Sultan of Boussa has got; +that beef cut in slices and salted was in great plenty in the boat; that +the people of Boussa who had eaten of it all died, because it was human +flesh, and that they knew we white men eat human flesh. I was indebted to +the messenger of Yarro for a defence, who told the narrator that I was +much more nice in my eating than his countrymen were. But it was with +some difficulty I could persuade him that if his story was true, it was +the people's own fears that had killed them; that the meat was good beef +or mutton: that I had eaten more goats' flesh since I had been in this +country than ever I had done in my life; that in England we eat nothing +but fowls, beef, and mutton."--_Clapperton's Travels._ + + * * * * * + + +SILK. + + +We find in a statement of the raw silk imported into England, from all +parts of the world, that in 1814, it amounted to one million, six +hundred and thirty-four thousand, five hundred and one pounds; and in +1824, to three millions, three hundred and eighty-two thousand, three +hundred and fifty-seven.[9] Italy, which is not better situated in regard +to the culture of silk than a large portion of the United States, +furnishes to the English fabrics about eight hundred thousand pounds' +weight. The Bengal silk is complained of by the British manufacturers, on +account of its defective preparation; by bestowing more care on his +produce, the American cultivator could have in England the advantage over +the British East Indies. It is a fact well worthy of notice, and the +accuracy of which seems warranted by its having been brought before a +Committee of both Houses of Parliament, that the labour in preparing new +silk affords much more employment to the country producing it, than any +other raw material. It appears from an official document, that the value +of the imports of raw silk into France, during the year 1824, amounted to +thirty seven millions, one hundred and forty-nine thousand, nine hundred +and sixty francs.--_North American Review._ + + [9] The official values of these imports are £703,009 and £1,464,994. + + * * * * * + + +CHINESE NOVELS. + + +A union of three persons, cemented by a conformity of taste and +character, constitutes, in the opinion of the Chinese, the perfection of +earthly happiness, a sort of ideal bliss, reserved by heaven for peculiar +favourites as a suitable reward for their talent and virtue. Looking at +the subject under this point of view, their novel-writers not +unfrequently arrange matters so as to secure this double felicity to +their heroes at the close of the work; and a catastrophe of this kind is +regarded as the most satisfactory that can be employed. Without exposing +ourselves to the danger incurred by one of the German divines, who was +nearly torn to pieces by the mob of Stockholm for defending polygamy, we +may venture to remark, that for the mere purposes of art, this system +certainly possesses very great advantages. It furnishes the novel-writer +with an easy method of giving general satisfaction to all his characters, +at the end of the tale, without recurring to the fatal though convenient +intervention of consumption and suicide, with us the only resources, when +there happens to be a heroine too many. What floods of tears would not +the Chinese method have spared to the high-minded Corinna, to the +interesting and poetical Clementina! From what bitter pangs would it not +have relieved the irresolute Oswald, perhaps even the virtuous Grandison +himself! The Chinese are entitled to the honour of having invented the +domestic and historical novel several centuries before they were +introduced in Europe. Fables, tales of supernatural events, and epic +poems, belong to the infancy of nations; but the real novel is the +product of a later period in the progress of society, when men are led to +reflect upon the incidents of domestic life, the movement of the +passions, the analysis of sentiment, and the conflicts of adverse +interests and opinions.--_Preface to a French Translation of a Chinese +Novel._ + + * * * * * + + +HERO OF A CHINESE NOVEL. + + +There came out a youth of about fifteen or sixteen years of age, dressed +in a violet robe with a light cap on his head. His vermilion lips, +brilliant white teeth, and arched eye-brows gave him the air of a +charming girl. So graceful and airy are his movements, that one might +well ask, whether he be mortal or a heavenly spirit. He looks like a +sylph formed of the essence of flowers, or a soul descended from the +moon. Is it indeed a youth who has come out to divert himself, or is it a +sweet perfume from the inner apartment?--_Ibid._ + + * * * * * + + +BEES. + + +It has been the custom, from the earliest ages, to rub the inside of the +hive with a handful of salt and clover, or some other grass or +sweet-scented herb, previously to the swarm's being put in the hive. We +have seen no advantage in this; on the contrary, it gives a great deal of +unnecessary labour to the bees, as they will be compelled to remove every +particle of foreign matter from the hive before they begin to work. A +clean, cool hive, free from any peculiar smell or mustiness, will be +acceptable to the bees; and the more closely the hive is joined together, +the less labour will the insects have, whose first care it is to stop up +every crevice, that light and air may be excluded. We must not omit to +reprehend, as utterly useless, the vile practice of making an astounding +noise, with tin pans and kettles, when the bees are swarming. It may have +originated in some ancient superstition, or it may have been the signal +to call aid from the fields, to assist in the hiving. If harmless it is +unnecessary; and everything that tends to encumber the management of bees +should be avoided.--_American Farmer's Manual._ + + * * * * * + + +CONVENT GARDEN MARKET. + + +[Illustration: Covent Garden Market.--"Here to-day, and gone +to-morrow."--Tristram Shandy.] + +I know some of the ugliest men who are the most agreeable fellows in the +world. The ladies may doubt this remark; but if they compel me to produce +an example, I shall waive all modesty, and prove my veracity by quoting +_myself_. I have often thought how it is that ugliness contrives to +invest itself with a "_certain something_," that not only destroys its +disagreeable properties, but actually commands an interest--(by the by, +this is referring _generally_, and nothing personal to myself.) I +philosophically refer it all to the _balance of nature_. Now I know some +very ugly places that have a degree of interest, and here again I fancy a +lady's sceptical ejaculation, "Indeed!" Ay, but it is so; and let us go +no further than Covent Garden. Enter it from Russell-street. What can be +more unsightly,--with its piles of cabbages in the street, and +basket-measures on the roofs of the shops--narrow alleys, wooden +buildings, rotting vegetables "undique," and swarms of Irish +basket-women, who wander about like the ghosts on this side of the Styx, +and who, in habits, features, and dialect, appear as if belonging to +another world. Yet the Garden, like every garden, has its charms. I have +lounged through it on a summer's day, mixing with pretty women, looking +upon choice fruit, smelling delicious roses, with now and then an +admixture of sundry disagreeables, such as a vigorous puff out of an ugly +old woman's doodeen, just as you are about to make a pretty speech to a +much prettier lady--to say nothing of the unpleasant odours arising from +heaps of putrescent vegetables, or your hat being suddenly knocked off by +a contact with some unlucky Irish basket-woman, with cabbages piled on +her head sufficient for a month's consumption at Williams's boiled beef +and cabbage warehouse, in the Old Bailey. The narrow passages through +this mart remind me of the Chinese streets, where all is shop, bustle, +squeeze, and commerce. The lips of the fair promenaders I collate (in my +mind's eye, gentle reader) with the delicious cherry, and match their +complexions with the peach, the nectarine, the rose, red or white, and +even sometimes with the russet apple. Then again I lounge amidst chests +of oranges, baskets of nuts, and other _et cetera_, which, as boys, we +relished in the play-ground, or, in maturer years, have enjoyed at the +wine feast. Here I can saunter in a green-house among plants and heaths, +studying botany and beauty. Facing me is a herb-shop, where old nurses, +like Medeas of the day, obtain herbs for the sick and dying; and within a +door or two flourishes a vender of the choicest fruits, with a rich +display of every luxury to delight the living and the healthy. + +I know of no spot where such variety may be seen in so small a compass. +Rich and poor, from the almost naked to the almost naked lady (of +fashion, of course.) "Oh crikey, Bill," roared a chimney-sweep in high +glee. The villain turned a pirouette in his rags, and in the centre mall +of the Garden too; he finished it awkwardly, made a stagger, and +recovered himself against--what?--"_Animus meminisse horret_"--against a +lady's white gown! But he apologized. Oh, ye gods! his apology was so +sincere, his manner was so sincere, that the true and thorough gentleman +was in his every act and word. (Mem. merely as a corroboration, the lady +forgave him.) What a lesson would this act of the man of high callings +(from the chimney-tops) have been to our mustachioed and be-whiskered +dandies, who, instead of apologizing to a female after they may have +splashed her from head to foot, trod on her heel, or nearly carried away +her bonnet, feathers, cap, and wig, only add to her confusion by an +unmanly, impudent stare or sneer! + +But to the Garden again. I like it much; it is replete with humour, fun, +and drollery; it contributes a handsome revenue to the pocket of his +Grace the Duke of Bedford, besides supplying half the town with cabbages +and melons, (the richest Melon on record came from Covent-Garden, and was +graciously presented to our gracious sovereign.) + +The south side appears to be devoted to potatoes, a useful esculent, and +of greater use to the poor than all the melons in christendom. Here +kidneys and champions are to be seen from Scotland, York, and Kent; and +here have I observed the haggard forms of withered women + + "In rags and tatters, friendless and forlorn," + +creeping from shop to shop, bargaining for "a good pen'orth of the best +boilers;" and here have I often watched the sturdy Irishman walking with +a regular connoisseur's eye, peeping out _above_ a short pipe, and +_below_ a narrow-brimmed hat,--a perfect, keen, twinkling, connoisseur's +eye, critically examining every basket for the best lot of his _own +peculiar_. + +Now let us take a retrospective view of this our noble theme, and our +interest will be the more strengthened thereon. All the world knows that +a convent stood in this neighbourhood, and the present market was the +garden, _undè_ Convent Garden; would that all etymologists were as +distinct. Of course the monastic institution was abolished in the time of +Henry VIII., when he plundered convents and monasteries with as much +_gusto_ as boys abolish wasps-nests. After this it was given to Edmund +Seymour, Duke of Somerset, brother-in-law to Henry VIII., afterwards the +protector of his country, but not of himself for he was beheaded in +1552. The estate then became, by royal grant, the property of the Bedford +family; and in the Privy Council Records for March, 1552, is the +following entry of the transfer:--"A patent granted to John, Earl of +Bedford, of the gifts of the Convent Garden, lying in the parish of St. +Martin's-in-the-Fields, near Charing Cross, with seven acres, called Long +Acre, of the yearly value of 6l. 6s. 8d. parcel of the possessions of the +late Duke of Somerset, to have to him and his heirs, reserving a tenure +to the king's majesty in socage, and not in capite." In 1634, Francis, +Earl of Bedford, began to clear away the old buildings, and form the +present square; and in 1671, a patent was granted for a market, which +shows the rapid state of improvement in this neighbourhood, because in +the Harleian MSS., No. 5,900, British Museum, is a letter, written in the +early part of Charles II., by an observing foreigner to his friend +abroad, who notices Bloomsbury, Hungerford, Newport, and other markets, +but never hints of the likelihood or prospect of one being established in +Covent Garden; yet before Charles's death the patent was obtained. It is +a market, _sui generis_, confined mostly to vegetables and fruits; and +the plan reflects much credit upon the speculative powers of the noble +earl who founded it. + +Thus far goes the public history; now let us turn to the private +memoranda. In 1690, the parish, being very loyal, gave a grand display of +fire-works on the happy return of William the Third from Ireland; and in +the parish books appear the following entries on the subject, which will +give some idea of the moderate charges of parish festivities in those +"_dark ages_." + +"Sept. 23, 1690. £. s. d. +Paid to Mr. Brown for 200 +ffaggotts and 30 brushes for +bonefire for the parish ---- 01 02 06 + +Sept. 25.--Paid Mr. Stockes +for a barrell of ale for bonefire ---- 01 00 00 + +Given to the watchmen to +drincke att the king's returne +from Ireland ---- 00 02 06 + +1691.--Given to Stockes and +ye watchmen to drincke att +the bonefire and fire workes +att the king's returne from +Ireland ---- 00 10 00 + +Oct. 12.--Paid the labourers +and carters for four dayes' +worke in laying and spreading +the gravell ---- 01 06 00 + +Making a grand total of £4. 1s. 0d. for a St. Paul's parish fête; but +this was in 1690. This festival was of sufficient note to engage the +artist's attention, and an engraving of it was sold by "B. Lens, between +Bridewell and Fleet Bridge in Blackfryers." + +Convent Garden has been the abode of talented and noble men. Richardson's +Hotel was the residence of Dr. Hunter, the anatomical lecturer; and in +1724, Sir James Thornhill, who painted the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, +resided in this garden and opened a school for drawing in his house. +Moreover, for the honour of the Garden, be it known, that at Sir Francis +Kynaston's house therein situated, Charles the First established an +academy called "_Museum Minervæ_," for the instruction of gentlemen in +arts and sciences, knowledge of medals, antiquities, painting, +architecture, and foreign languages. Not a vestige remains of the museum +establishment now-a-days, or the subjects it embraced, unless it be +_foreign languages_, including wild Irish, and very low English. Even as +late as 1722, Lord Ferrers lived in Convent Garden; but this is trifling +compared with the list of nobles who have lived around about this +attractive spot, where nuns wandered in cloistered innocence, and now, +oh! for sentimentality, what a relief to a fine, sensitive mind, or a +sickly milliner! + +In the front of the church quacks used to harangue the mob and give +advice gratis. Westminster elections are held also on the same +spot--that's a coincidence. + +A CORRESPONDENT. + + * * * * * + + + +Manners & Customs of all Nations. + + * * * * * + + +AFRICAN FESTIVITIES. + + +At Yourriba Captain Clapperton was invited to theatrical entertainments, +quite as amusing, and almost as refined as any which his celestial +Majesty can command to be exhibited before a foreign ambassador. The king +of Yourriba made a point of our traveller staying to witness these +entertainments. They were exhibited in the king's park, in a square +space, surrounded by clumps of trees. The first performance was that of a +number of men dancing and tumbling about in sacks, having their heads +fantastically decorated with strips of rags, damask silk, and cotton of +variegated colours; and they performed to admiration. The second +exhibition was hunting the _boa_ snake, by the men in the sacks. The huge +snake, it seems, went through the motions of this kind of reptile, "in a +very natural manner, though it appeared to be rather full in the belly, +opening and shutting its mouth in the most natural manner imaginable." A +running fight ensued, which lasted some time, till at length the chief of +the bag-men contrived to scotch his tail with a tremendous sword, when he +gasped, twisted up, seemed in great torture, endeavouring to bite his +assailants, who hoisted him on their shoulders, and bore him off in +triumph. The festivities of the day concluded with the exhibition of the +_white devil_, which had the appearance of a human figure in white wax, +looking miserably thin and as if starved with cold, taking snuff, rubbing +his hands, treading the ground as if tender-footed, and evidently meant +to burlesque and ridicule a white man, while his sable majesty frequently +appealed to Clapperton whether it was not well performed. After this the +king's women sang in chorus, and were accompanied by the whole crowd. + + * * * * * + + +The price of a slave at Jannah, as nearly as can be calculated, is from +3l. to 4l. sterling; their domestic slaves, however, are never sold, +except for misconduct. + + * * * * * + + +AFRICAN WIDOW. + + +Capt. Clapperton tells of a widow's arrival in town, with a drummer +beating before her, whose cap was bedecked with ostrich feathers; a +bowman walking on foot at the head of her horse; a train behind, armed +with bows, swords, and spears. She rode a-straddle on a fine horse, whose +trappings were of the first order for this country. The head of the horse +was ornamented with brass plates, the neck with brass bells, and charms +sewed in various coloured leather, such as red, green, and yellow; a +scarlet breast-piece, with a brass plate in the centre; scarlet +saddle-cloth, trimmed with lace. She was dressed in red silk trousers, +and red morocco boots; on her head a white turban, and over her shoulders +a mantle of silk and gold. Had she been somewhat younger and less +corpulent, there might have been great temptation to head her party, for +she had certainly been a very handsome woman, and such as would have been +thought a beauty in any country in Europe. + + * * * * * + + +AFRICAN NURSE. + + +She was of a dark copper colour. In dress and countenance, very like one +of Captain Lyon's female Esquimaux. She was mounted on a long-backed +bright bay horse, with a scraggy tale, crop-eared, and the mane as if the +rats had eaten part of it; and he was not in high condition. She rode +a-straddle; had on a conical straw dish-cover for a hat, or to shade her +face from the sun, a short, dirty, white bedgown, a pair of dirty, white, +loose and wide trousers, a pair of Houssa boots, which are wide, and +came up over the knee, fastened with a string round the waist. She had +also a whip and spurs. At her saddle-bow hung about half a dozen gourds, +filled with water, and a brass basin to drink out of; and with this she +supplied the wounded and the thirsty. I certainly was much obliged to +her, for she twice gave me a basin of water. The heat and the dust made +thirst almost intolerable--_Clapperton's Travels._ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +THE BOXES. + +(_To the Editor of Blackwood's Magazine_.) + + +Sir,--In the course of my study in the English language, which I made now +for three years, I always read your periodically, and now think myself +capable to write at your Magazin. I love always the modesty, or you shall +have a letter of me very long time past. But, never mind, I would well +tell you, that I am come to this country to instruct me in the manners, +the customs, the habits, the policies, and the other affairs general of +Great Britain. And truly I think me good fortunate, being received in +many families, so as I can to speak your language now with so much +facility as the French. + +But, never mind. That what I would you say, is not only for the +Englishes, but for the strangers, who come at your country from all the +other kingdoms, polite and instructed; because, as they tell me, that +they are abonnements[10] for you in all the kingdoms in Europe, so well +as in the Orientals and Occidentals. + + [10] Abonnements--subscriptions. + +No, sir, upon my honour, I am not egotist. I not proud myself with +chateaux en Espagne. I am but a particular gentleman, come here for that +what I said; but, since I learn to comprehend the language, I discover +that I am become an object of pleasantry, and for himself to mock, to one +of your comedians even before I put my foot upon the ground at Douvres. +He was Mr. Mathew, who tell of some contretems of me and your word +detestable _Box_. Well, never mind. I know at present how it happen, +because I see him since in some parties and dinners; and he confess he +love much to go travel and mix himself altogether up with the stage-coach +and vapouring[11] boat for fun, what he bring at his theatre. + + [11] Bateau an vapeur--a steam-boat. + +Well, never mind. He see me, perhaps, to ask a question in the +paque-bot--but he not confess after, that he goed and bribe the garçon +at the hotel and the coach man to mystify me with all the boxes; but, +very well, I shall tell you how it arrived, so as you shall see that it +was impossible that a stranger could miss to be perplexed, and to +advertise the travellers what will come after, that they shall converse +with the gentlemen and not with the badinstructs. + +But, it must that I begin. I am a gentleman, and my goods are in the +public rentes,[12] and a chateau with a handsome propriety on the bank of +the Loire, which I lend to a merchant English, who pay me very well in +London for my expenses. Very well. I like the peace, nevertheless that I +was force, at other time, to go to war with Napoleon. But it is passed. +So I come to Paris in my proper post-chaise, where I selled him, and hire +one, for almost nothing at all, for bring me to Calais all alone, because +I will not bring my valet to speak French here where all the world is +ignorant. + + [12] Rentes--public funds. + +The morning following I get upon the vapouring boat to walk so far as +Douvres. It was fine day--and, after I am recover myself of a malady of +the sea, I walk myself about the shep, and I see a great mechanic of +wood, with iron wheel, and thing to push up inside, and handle to turn. +It seemed to be ingenuous, and proper to hoist great burdens. They use it +for shoving the timber, what come down of the vessel, into the place; and +they tell me it was call "Jaques in the _box;_" and I was very much +please with the invention so novel. + +Very well. I go again promenade upon the board of the vessel, and I look +at the compass, and little boy sailor come and sit him down, and begin to +chatter like the little monkey. Then the man what turns a wheel about and +about laugh, and say, "Very well, Jaques;" but I not understand one word +the little fellow say. So I make inquire, and they tell me he was "_Box_ +the compass." I was surprise, but I tell myself, "Well, never mind;" and +so we arrived at Douvres. I find myself enough well in the hotel, but as +there has been no table d'hote, I ask for some dinner, and it was long +time I wait; and so I walk myself to the customary house, and give the +key to my portmanteau to the Douaniers, or excisemen, as you call, for +them to see as I had not no snuggles in my equipage. Very well--I return +at my hotel, and meet one of the waiters, who tell me, (after I stand +little moment to the door to see the world what pass by upon a coach at +the instant,) "Sir," he say, "your dinner is ready."--"Very well," I make +response, "where, was it?"--"This way, sir," he answer; "I have put it +in a _box_ in the café room."--"Well--never mind," I say to myself; "when +a man himself finds in a stranger country, he must be never surprised. +'_Nil admirari._' Keep the eyes opened, and stare at nothing at all." + +I found my dinner only there there,[13] because I was so soon come from +France; but, I learn, another sort of the box was a partition and table +particular in a saloon, and I keep there when I eated some good sole +fritted, and some not cooked mutton cutlet; and a gentleman what was put +in another _box_, perhaps Mr. Mathew, because nobody not can know him +twice, like a cameleon he is, call for the "pepper _box_." Very well. I +take a cup of coffee, and then all my hards and portmanteau come with a +wheelbarrow; and, because it was my intention to voyage up at London with +the coach, and I find my many little things was not convenient, I ask the +waiter where I might buy a night sack, or get them tie up all together in +a burden. He was well attentive at my cares, and responded, that he shall +find me a _box_ to put them all into. Well, I say nothing to all but +"Yes," for fear to discover my ignorance; so he bring the little _box_ +for the clothes and things into the great _box_ what I was put into; and +he did my affairs in it very well. Then I ask him for some spectacle in +the town, and he send boot-boy with me so far as the Theatre, and I go in +to pay. It was shabby poor little place, but the man what set to have the +money, when I say "how much," asked me if I would not go into the +_boxes_. "Very well," I say, "never mind--oh yes--to be sure;" and I find +very soon the _box_ was the loge, same thing. I had not understanding +sufficient in your tongue then to comprehend all what I hear--only one +poor maiger doctor, what had been to give his physic too long time at a +cavalier old man, was condemned to swallow up a whole _box_ of his proper +pills. "Very well," I say, "that must be egregious. It is cannot be +possible;" but they bring little a _box_, not more grand nor my thumb. It +seem to be to me very ridiculous; so I returned to my hotel at despair +how I could possibility learn a language what meant so many differents in +one word. + + [13] Là là, signifies passable, indifferent. + +I found the same waiter, who, so soon as I come in, tell me, "Sir, did +you not say that you would go by the coach to-morrow morning?" I replied, +"Yes--and I have bespeaked a seat out of the side, because I shall wish +to amuse myself with the country, and you have no cabriolets[14] in your +coaches."--"Sir," he say, very polite, "if you shall allow me, I would +recommend you the _box_, and then the coachman shall tell every +thing."--"Very well," I reply, "yes--to be sure--I shall have a _box_ +then--yes;" and then I demanded a fire into my chamber, because I think +myself enrhumed upon the sea, and the maid of the chamber come to send me +in bed;--but I say, "No so quick, if you please; I will write to some +friend how I find myself in England. Very well--here is the fire, but +perhaps it shall go out before I have finish." She was pretty laughing +young woman, and say, "Oh no, sir, if you pull the bell, the porter, who +sit up all night, will come, unless you like to attend to it yourself, +and then you will find the coal-_box_ in the closet."--Well--I say +nothing but "Yes--oh yes." But, when she is gone, I look direct into the +closet, and see a _box_ not no more like none of the other _boxes_ what I +see all day than nothing. + + [14] The cabriolet is the front part of the old French + diligence, with a hood and apron, holding three persons, + including the guard, or "conducteur." + +Well--I write at my friends, and then I tumble about when I wake, and +dream in the sleep what should possible be the description of the _box_ +what I must be put in to-morrow for my voyage. + +In the morning, it was very fine time, I see the coach at the door, and I +walk all round before they bring the horses; but I see nothing what they +can call _boxes_, only the same kind as what my little business was put +into. So I ask for the post of letters at a little boots boy, who showed +me by the Quay, and tell me, pointing by his finger at a window--"There +see, there was the letter _box_," and I perceive a crevice. "Very +well--all _box_ again to-day," I say, and give my letter to the master of +postes, and go away again at the coach, where I very soon find out what +was coach-_box_, and mount myself upon it. Then come the coachman, +habilitated like the gentleman, and the first word he say +was--"Keephorses! Bring my _box_-coat!" and he push up a grand capote +with many scrapes. + +"But--never mind," I say; "I shall see all the _boxes_ in time." So he +kick his leg upon the board, and cry "cheat!" and we are out into the +country in lesser than one minute, and roll at so grand pace, what I have +had fear we will be reversed. But after little times, I take courage, and +we begin to entertain together: but I hear one of the wheels cry squeak, +so I tell him, "Sir--one of the wheel would be greased;" then he make +reply, nonchalancely, "Oh--it is nothing but one of the _boxes_ what is +too tight." But it is very long time after as I learn that wheel a _box_ +was pipe of iron what go turn round upon the axle. + +Well--we fly away at the paces of charge. I see great castles, many; then +come a pretty house of country well ornamented, and I make inquire what +it should be. "Oh;" responsed he, "I not remember the gentleman's name, +but it is what we call a snug country _box_." + +Then I feel myself abymed at despair, and begin to suspect that he amused +himself. But, still I tell myself, "Well--never mind; we shall see." And +then after sometimes, there come another house, all alone in a forest, +not ornated at all. "What, how you call that?" I demand of him.--"Oh!" he +responded again, "That is a shooting _box_ of Lord Killfots."--"Oh!" I +cry at last out, "that is little too strong;" but he hoisted his +shoulders and say nothing. Well, we come at a house of country, ancient, +with the trees cut like some peacocks, and I demand, "What you call these +trees?"--"_Box_, sir," he tell me. "Devil is in the _box_," I say at +myself. "But--never mind; we shall see." So I myself refreshed with a +pinch of snuff and offer him, and he take very polite, and remark upon an +instant, "That is a very handsome _box_ of yours, sir." + +"Morbleu!" I exclaimed with inadvertencyness, but I stop myself. Then he +pull out his snuff-_box_, and I take a pinch, because I like at home to +be sociable when I am out at voyages, and not show some pride with +inferior. It was of wood beautiful with turnings, and colour of +yellowish. So I was pleased to admire very much, and inquire the name of +the wood, and again he say, "_Box_, Sir!" Well--I hold myself with +patience, but it was difficilly; and we keep with great gallop till we +come at a great crowd of the people. Then I say, "What for all so large +concourse?" "Oh!" he response again, "there is one grand _boxing_ +match--a battle here to-day."--"Peste!" I tell myself, "a battle of +_boxes_! Well, never mind! I hope it can be a combat at the outrance, and +they all shall destroy one another, for I am fatigued." + +Well--we arrive at an hotel, very superb, all as it ought, and I demand a +morsel to refresh myself. I go into a salon, but before I finish, great +noise come into the passage, and I pull the bell's rope to demand why so +great tapage? The waiter tell me, and he laugh at same time, but very +civil no less, "Oh, sir, it is only two of the women what quarrel, and +one has given another a _box_ on the ear." + +Well--I go back on the coach-box, but I look, as I pass, at all the women +ear, for the _box_; but not none I see. "Well," I tell myself once more, +"never mind, we shall see;" and we drive on very passable and agreeable +times till we approached ourselves near London; but then come one another +coach of the opposition to pass by, and the coachman say, "No, my boy, it +shan't do!" and then he whip his horses, and made some traverse upon the +road, and tell to me, all the times, a long explication what the other +coachman have done otherwhiles, and finish not till we stop, and the +coach of opposition come behind him in one narrow place. Well--then he +twist himself round, and, with full voice, cry himself out at the another +man, who was so angry as himself, "I'll tell you what, my hearty! If you +comes some more of your gammon at me, I shan't stand, and you shall +yourself find in the wrong _box_." It was not for many weeks after as I +find out the wrong _box_ meaning. + +Well--we get at London, at the coaches office, and I unlightened from my +seat, and go at the bureau for pay my passage, and gentleman very +politely demanded if I had some friend at London. I converse with him +very little time in voyaging, because he was in the interior; but I +perceive he is real gentleman. So, I say, "No, sir, I am stranger." Then +he very honestly recommend me at an hotel, very proper, and tell me, +"Sir, because I have some affairs at the Banque, I must sleep in the city +this night; but to-morrow I shall come at the hotel, where you shall find +some good attentions if you make the use of my name." "Very well," I tell +myself, "this is best." So we exchange the cards, and I have hackney +coach to come at my hotel, where they say, "No room, sir,--very +sorry,--no room." But I demand to stop the moment, and produce the card +what I could not read before, in the movements of the coach with the +darkness. The master of the hotel take it from my hand, and become very +polite at the instant, and whisper at the ear of some waiters, and these +come at me, and say, "Oh yes, sir. I know Mr. _Box_ very well. Worthy +gentleman, Mr. Box.--Very proud to incommode any friend of Mr. Box--pray +inlight yourself, and walk in my house." So I go in, and find myself very +proper, and soon come so as if I was in my own particular chamber; and +Mr. Box come next day, and I find very soon that he was the _right_ Box, +and not the _wrong_ box.--Ha, ha!--You shall excuse my badinage,--eh? But +never mind--I am going at Leicestershire to see the foxes hunting, and +perhaps will get upon a coach-box in the spring, and go at Edinburgh; but +I have fear I cannot come at your "Noctes," because I have not learn yet +to eat so great supper. I always read what they speak there twice over, +except what Mons. Le "Shepherd" say, what I read three time; but never +could comprehend exactly what he say, though I discern some time the +grand idea, what walk in darkness almost "visible," as your divine Milton +say. I am particular fond of the poetry. I read three books of the +"Paradise Lost" to Mr. Box, but he not hear me no more--he pronounce me +perfect. + +After one such compliment, it would be almost the same as ask you for +another, if I shall make apology in case I have not find the correct +ideotism of your language in this letter; so I shall not make none at +all,--only throw myself at your mercy, like a great critic. But never +mind,--we shall see. If you take this letter as it ought, I shall not +promise if I would not write you one other some time. + +I conclude by presenting at you my compliments very respectful. I am +sorry for your gout and crutchedness, and hope you shall miss them in the +spring. + +I have the honour of subscribe myself, + + Sir, + Your very humble and + Much obedient servant, + LOUIS LE CHEMINANT. + +P.S.--Ha, ha!--It is very droll!--I tell my valet, we go at +Leicestershire for the hunting fox.--Very well.--So soon as I finish this +letter, he come and demand what I shall leave behind in orders for some +presents, to give what people will come at my lodgments for Christmas +_Boxes_. + + * * * * * + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +ANTIQUITY OF THE ALDERMAN. + + +Alderman is derived from the Saxon word _ealderman_, that is a senior or +_alderman_, which by degrees came to stand for persons of great +distinction, because such were chosen to discharge the highest offices, +being those whose long experience rendered them most capable, and whose +birth and fortunes made them most conspicuous; and as they were generally +entrusted with the government of the counties, instead of saying the +governor, it was said the _ealderman_ of such a county. While the +heptarchy lasted, these offices were only during the king's pleasure; at +last they became during life. After the Danes were settled in England, +the title of _ealderman_ was changed into that of _earl_, and the Normans +introduced that of _count_, which, though different in its original +signification, meant, however, the same dignity. There were several sorts +of _ealdermen_; some were properly only governors of a province or +county, others were owners of their province, holding it as a fee of the +crown. These ealdermen, or earls, were honoured with titles of _reguli +subreguli_, _principes_, _patricii_, and some times _rex_. Those who were +only governors, had the title of ealderman of such a county, or sometimes +in Latin by the term _consul_. The first administered justice in their +own name, and appropriated to their own use all the revenues and profits +of their respective counties. The last administered justice in the king's +name and had only part of the profits assigned them. A third sort of +ealdermen were those, who upon account of their high birth, bore the +title, without any authority, out of which rank the governors were +generally chosen. There were also inferior ealdermen in cities or +boroughs, who administered justice in the king's name, and were dependent +on the great ealdermen, or earls, which by the name of _alderman_ still +continues among us to those inferior officers, while they are called +earls only. The office of the ealderman was wholly civil, and had nothing +to do with either military or ecclesiastical affairs. What power each of +them had, it is not easy to determine; but they were all obliged to have +some knowledge of the law. In the Saxon times, the bishop and ealderman +sat together to try causes; the one proceeded by the canons, the other by +the common law. Part of the ealderman's jurisdiction was to examine the +arms, and to raise the militia within such a district, in order to +suppress riot and execute the sentence of a court of justice. He had +likewise the cognizance of house-breaking, robbing, &c. Nor was it lawful +for any person to move from one place to another without a certificate +from the ealderman. + +HALBERT H. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + + A snapper up of unconsidered trifles. + SHAKSPEARE. + + * * * * * + + +HANDSOME BAR-MAIDS. + + +The following advertisement appeared in a New Orlean's journal:--Wanted, +two handsome ladies to assist in two bar-rooms, and to whom liberal wages +will be given. Beauties from New York, Charlestown, or Savannah will be +preferred. A well-shaped, well-looking black lady would meet +encouragement as an under bar-maid. Due attention will be paid to +applicants, at No. 60, Camp-street. + +W.G.C. + + * * * * * + + +FRENCH MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISEMENTS. + + +Matrimonial advertisements being standard articles in our own newspapers +at this period, as a pleasantry they may be compared with the following, +extracted from various French journals:-- + +Une demoiselle bien née et aimable, ayant 120,000 francs de bien, desire +épouser un homme âgé et riche. + +Une demoiselle de 24 ans, jolie et d'une education distinguée, ayant +40,000 francs comptant, et par la suite 200,000 francs, desire épouser un +jeune homme aimable, et ayant de la fortune. + +Une demoiselle de 19 ans, sans fortune, mais jolie, aimable, et bien +élevée, desire épouser une homme âgé, et assez aisé, pour pouvoir faire +quelque bien à sa mère. + +J.G.R. + + * * * * * + + +SONG. + + + Oh, silent was her grief and woe, + No tear her eye betray'd, + When Damon from his Anna fled, + And took some other maid! + But, ah, her bleeding heart did tell + What outward show denied; + For at that simple word, "Farewell," + She bow'd her head and died! + + J.B. + + * * * * * + + +TO A YOUNG LADY WHO REQUESTED THE AUTHOR TO RESTORE A LOCK OF HAIR HE HAD +TAKEN FROM HER.--_By E.S. Barrett._ + + By one only recompense can I be led + With this beautiful ringlet to part; + That should I restore you the _lock_ of your head, + You will give me the key of your heart.--_Atlas._ + + * * * * * + + +PARLIAMENTARY QUALIFICATIONS. + + +When the friends of the youngest Thelluson proposed making him a member +of parliament, he said, "he did not understand exactly what it was to be +in parliament, or what they meant by constituents in the country; but, if +there was any necessity to go backwards and forwards _for their orders_, +he could trot down as fast as any member of parliament in the kingdom." + + * * * * * + + +CHANGING NAMES. + + +Thomas Knight, Esq. whose paternal name was Brodnax, which, very early +in life, he changed for that of May, afterwards, by a statute of 9th +Geo. II. took the name of Knight, which occasioned a facetious member of +the house to get up, and propose "_a general bill_ to enable _that +gentleman to take what name he pleased_." + + * * * * * + + +TOUCHSTONE FOR THE TIMES. + + + Midas (we read) with wond'rous art of old, + Whate'er he touch'd, at once transformed to gold; + This modern statesmen can reverse with ease, + Touch them with gold, they'll turn to what you please. + + * * * * * + + +GENIUS DEFINED. + + +A wit being asked what the word _genius_ meant, replied, "If you had it +in you, you would not ask the question; but as you have not, you will +never know what it means." + + * * * * * + + +POOR SACK, (HANGED.) + + + Though Sack's misdeed is punished right, + It never was intended + That he should leave his office quite, + He only is _suspended_. + + * * * * * + + +EPITAPH + + +_On a man of the name of Fish._ + + Worm's bait for fish; but here's a sudden change, + _Fish's_ bait for worms--is that not passing strange? + C.K.W. + + * * * * * + +LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE + +_Following Novels are already Published:_ + + s. d. + Mackenzie's Man of Feeling 0 6 + Paul and Virginia 0 6 + The Castle of Otranto 0 6 + Almoran and Hamet 0 6 + Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia 0 6 + The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne 0 6 + Rasselas 0 8 + The Old English Baron 0 8 + Nature and Art 0 8 + Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield 0 10 + Sicilian Romance 1 0 + The Man of the World 1 0 + A Simple Story 1 4 + Joseph Andrews 1 6 + Humphry Clinker 1 8 + The Romance of the Forest 1 8 + The Italian 2 0 + Zeluco, by Dr. Moore 2 6 + Edward, by Dr. Moore 2 0 + Roderick Random 2 6 + The Mysteries of Udolpho 3 6 + + * * * * * + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset House,) +London, sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; and by all +Newsman and Booksellers._ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, No. 357, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12897 *** |