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diff --git a/13578-0.txt b/13578-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d8ed17 --- /dev/null +++ b/13578-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1651 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13578 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 13578-h.htm or 13578-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/dirs/1/3/5/7/13578/13578-h/13578-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/dirs/1/3/5/7/13578/13578-h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION + +VOL. XIII, NO. 361.] SUPPLEMENTARY NUMBER. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST + + +[Illustration: THE TALIPOT TREE.] + +[Illustration: THE GLOWWORM.] + +[Illustration: THE DEATHWATCH MAGNIFIED.] + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE NATURALIST. + +_See the Engravings._ + + +A delightful volume, of title almost synonymous with this division of +the MIRROR, has just been published. It is entitled _The Journal of a +Naturalist_,[1] with the very appropriate motto of + + ----Plants, trees, and stones, we note, + Birds, insects, beasts, and many rural things. + + +The author in his preface, says, "Many years have now passed away since +we were presented with that very interesting and amusing book, the +'Natural History of Selborne;' nor do I recollect any publication at +all resembling it having since appeared."[2] He then acknowledges the +impression which this book left on his mind; and its having given rise +to the present work, to which, in our humble opinion, it is a worthy +companion. + +Our "Naturalist" resides in a village upon a very ancient road, +connecting Bristol and Gloucester, in a limestone district, numbering +among its picturesque beauties, the broad estuary of the Severn, the +mountains of Glamorgan, Monmouth, and Brecon, and their peaceful vales +and cheerful cottages; Thornbury, with its fine cathedral-like church +and castle, the red cliffs of the Severn, and numberless antiquities +of our ancestors--as roads, encampments, aggera, watch-hills, coins, +lances, and other relics of those warlike times. Labour and healthful +enjoyment reign in this district: for it is neither torn up for its +mineral wealth, nor are its natural beauties annihilated, or the habits +of its population corrupted by speculation or avarice. A portrait of +"a worthy peasant," introduced by our author, reminds us of + + ----A bold peasantry, their country's pride, + When once destroyed, can never be supplied. + + +A passage quoted by the late Mr. Canning, in one of his finest speeches; +and we often contrast this vigorous outline of the people of "merry +England" with her artificial state of after times. Next are a page or +two of agricultural chemistry (_analysis of soils_) unfettered with +technicals; double the space of what may strictly be called rural +economy, (_grass lands_) succeed; next the culture and history of +the potato, and some new observations on "_the Teazle_." + +Several pages on _trees_ possess great interest, as do those on +_flowers_. + +We regret we have room but for a few heads--the _maple_--the +_Naturalist's Autumnal Walk_--the _Economy of Animals_, especially +of _Birds_: we must pass them over to elucidate our engraving of + + +THE GLOWWORM. + +That pretty sparkler of our summer evenings, so often made the +ploughboy's prize, the only brilliant that glitters in the rustic's hat, +the glowworm, (_lampyris noctiluca_,) is not found in such numbers +with us, as in many other places, where these signal tapers glimmer upon +every grassy bank; yet, in some seasons, we have a reasonable sprinkling +of them. Every body probably knows, that the male glowworm is a winged, +erratic animal, yet may not have seen him. He has ever been a scarce +creature to me, meeting perhaps with one or two in a year; and, when +found, always a subject of admiration. Most creatures have their eyes +so placed, as to be enabled to see about them; or, as Hook says of the +house-fly, to be "circumspect animals;" but this male glowworm has a +contrivance, by which any upward or side vision is prevented. Viewed +when at rest, no portion of his eyes is visible, but the head is +margined with a horny band, or plate, being a character of one of the +genera of the order _coleoptera_, under which the eyes are situate. +This prevents all upward vision; and blinds, or winkers, are so fixed +at the sides of his eyes, as greatly to impede the view of all lateral +objects. _See Figures_. The chief end of this creature in his +nightly peregrinations is to seek his mate, always beneath him on the +earth; and hence this apparatus appears designed to facilitate his +search, confining his view entirely to what is before or below him. The +first serves to direct his flight, the other presents the object of his +pursuit: and as we commonly, and with advantage, place our hand over the +brow, to obstruct the rays of light falling from above, which enables us +to see clearer an object on the ground, so must the projecting hood of +this creature converge the visual rays to a point beneath. + +Glowworms emit light only for a short period in the year; and I have but +partially observed it after the middle of July. I have collected many of +these pretty creatures on a bank before my house, into which they retire +during the winter, to shine out again when revived by the summer's +warmth; but in this latter season I have frequently missed certain of +my little protegés, and have reason to apprehend, that they formed the +banquet of a toad, that frequented the same situation. + +Observing above, that the glowworm does not emit light after the 14th of +July, I mean thereby that clear, steady light, which has rendered this +creature so remarkable to all persons; for I have repeatedly noticed, +deep in the herbage, a faint evanescent light proceeding from these +creatures, even as late as August and September. This was particularly +manifested September the 28th, 1826. The evening was warm and dewy, and +we observed on the house-bank multitudes of these small evanescent +sparks in the grass. The light displayed was very different from that +which they exhibit in warm summer months. Instead of the permanent green +glow, that illumines all the blades of the surrounding herbage, it was a +pale transient spot, visible for a moment or two, and then so speedily +hidden, that we were obliged, in order to capture the creature, to +employ the light of a candle. The number of them, and their actions, +creeping away from our sight, contrary to that half lifeless dulness +observed in summer, suggested the idea, that the whole body had availed +themselves of this warm, moist evening, to migrate to their winter +station. A single spark or so was to be seen some evenings after this, +but no such large moving parties were discovered again. If we conclude, +that the summer light of the glowworm is displayed as a signal taper, +the appearance of this autumnal light can have no such object in view, +nor can we rationally assign any use of it to the creature itself, +unless, indeed, it serves as a point of union in these supposed +migrations, like the leading call in the flight of night-moving birds. +The activity and numbers of these insects, in the above-mentioned +evening, enabled me to observe the frequent presence and disappearance +of the light of an individual, which did not seem to be the result of +will, but produced by situation. During the time the insect crawled +along the ground, or upon the fine grass, the glow was hidden; but on +its mounting any little blade, or sprig of moss, it turned round and +presented the luminous caudal spot, which, on its falling or regaining +its level, was hidden again. + +A summary of the peculiarities of the year 1825, very appropriately +concludes the volume, from which we may be tempted to make future +extracts. + + +THE TALIPOT TREE, + +The first of our Engravings is a species of palm, a native of Ceylon, +and is one of the most magnificent wonders of the vegetable kingdom. The +leaf is circular, terminating in the most beautiful rays, and folding up +into plaits like a fan, which, in figure, it nearly resembles. + +This leaf is used in the maritime provinces of Ceylon as a mark of +distinction, each person being allowed to have a certain number of these +leaves, folded up as fans, carried with him by his servants; and also in +the Kandian country, in the shape of a round, flat umbrella on a long +stick. The talipot leaves are likewise used by the common people to +shelter themselves from the rain, _one leaf affording sufficient +shelter for seven or eight persons_. It is also used in making tents. + +In 1818, Sir Alexander Johnston gave to Sir Joseph Banks a very fine +specimen of a tent made of their leaves, large enough to hold a party of +ten persons at table. + +All the books of importance in Pali and Cingalese, relative to the +religion of Buddhoo, in Ceylon, are written on lamina of these leaves, +with either a brass or an iron style. There are some of these books in +Sir A. Johnston's collections, which are supposed to be from 500 to 600 +years old, and which are still very perfect. In the museum of the +Asiatic Society, there is a complete copy of the Pali book, called the +_Pansyapanas Iatakah_, written on 1,172 laminae of the finest +description of this sort of palm leaf. Large as the dimensions of the +talipot leaf may appear, it is exceeded in size by the _troolie_ of +Surinam, which extends on the ground, and has frequently been known to +attain the width of three feet, and the length of thirty. + +Our Engraving is copied from the _Gardener's Magazine_, where it is +reduced from the Transactions of the Asiatic Society. + + + +THE DEATHWATCH MAGNIFIED. + +Although the present may be a late hour to dissipate the faith placed in +signs and tokens, we are persuaded that a more intimate knowledge of +this insect will not prove uninteresting to our readers.[3] + +The name _death watch_ was evidently derived from the importance +attached to the beatings of the insect, which, by superstitious people, +were formerly supposed to prognosticate death to some one of the family +in whose house it was heard. The natural size of the insect is about a +quarter of an inch in length, of a dark brown colour, spotted, with +transparent wings under the _vagina_, or sheath, a huge cap or +helmet on the head, and two _antennae_, or feelers, from beneath +the eyes. + +It is chiefly in the advanced period of spring that these insects +commence their noise; and which is the call or signal by which they are +mutually attracted to each other, and may be considered as analogous to +the call of birds. This noise does not arise from their voice, but from +the insect beating on hard substances, with the shield or fore part of +its head. The general number of successive distinct strokes is from 7 to +9 or 11. These are given in pretty quick succession, and are repeated at +uncertain intervals; and in old houses, where the insects are numerous, +they may be heard, if the weather be warm, almost every hour in the day. +The noise exactly resembles that made by beating moderately hard with +the finger on a table. Mr. Stackhouse carefully observed its manner of +beating. He says, the insect raises itself upon its hinder legs, and +with the body somewhat inclined, beats its head with great force and +agility against the place on which it stands. + +This insect, which is the _real death-watch_ of the vulgar, must +not be confounded with another minuter insect, which makes a ticking +noise like a watch; but instead of beating at intervals, it continues +its noise for a considerable time without intermission. This latter +belongs to a very different tribe. It is usually found in old wood, +decayed furniture, neglected books, &c.; and both the male and the +female have the power of making this ticking noise, in order to attract +each other. The Rev. Mr. Derham seems to have been the first naturalist +who examined and described this species; and he says that during the +month of July, in one particular summer, they scarcely ever ceased to +beat either in day or night. The eggs are generally hatched about the +beginning of March: many of them live through the winter; but during +that time, to avoid the frost, they bury themselves deep in dust. + +Mr. T. Carpenter (of whose paper in _Gill's Repository_ we have +already availed ourselves) tells us that these insects are excellent +anatomists: in order to render them useful in making some delicate +dissections for his microscope, Mr. Carpenter placed a few of the +insects within a pill-box, with the heads of three dead flies. He found +some time afterwards, that they had cleared the interior of some of the +eyes completely from all the blood-vessels, leaving the lenses in the +cornea beautifully transparent. + + * * * * * + + +BIRDS' NESTS. + + +The structure of the nests of birds affords, perhaps, one of the most +agreeable lessons in Natural History. + +Among the most curious nests of our _English_ birds may be named +that of the _Wren_, the _long-tailed Titmouse_, the _Thrush_, +the _Goldfinch_, the _Chaffinch_, the _Magpie_, and the _House +Sparrow_; to these may also be added the _Swallow's_, the _Martin's_, +the _Wood Pigeon's_, and the _Wood-Pecker's_. Of the nests of _Rooks_, +it may be sufficient to observe, that they are often found to the number +of six, or even more in a cluster. _Crows'_ nests are always +solitary; they are similar in structure to those of the rook. + +Among the nests of Foreign birds, that of the _Taylor Bird_ +deserves especial mention; the bird itself is a diminutive one, being +little more than three inches long; it is an inhabitant of India. The +nest is sometimes constructed of two leaves, one of them dead; the +latter is fixed to the living one as it hangs upon the tree, by sewing +both together in the manner of a pouch or purse; it is open at the top, +and the cavity is filled with fine down; and, being suspended from the +branch, the birds are secure from the depredations of snakes and +monkeys, to which they might otherwise fall a prey. + +In Dr. Latham's collection is a specimen of the taylor bird's nest, +composed of a single large leaf, of a fibrous rough, texture, about six +inches long independent of the stalk, five inches and a half in breadth, +and ending in a point. The sides of this leaf are drawn together so as +to meet within three-quarters of an inch; within is the nest, about four +inches deep and two broad, opening at the top; the bottom of the leaf +is drawn upwards, to assist in the support of it. The interior nest is +composed of white down, with here and there a feather and a small +portion of white down intermixed. + +Another nest of this bird has also been described as composed of several +leaves, like those of some kind of hazel sewed together; the inner nest +formed of dry bents, fibres, and hairs, suspended from a tree. It is, +therefore, probable that this bird, as well as some others, varies the +structure of its nest as occasion and the materials may require. These +singular works are performed by the bird's using his bill instead of a +needle, and vegetable fibres for thread. + +The _Rufous Bee-eater_, or _Merops Rufus_, constructs also a +very singular nest. This bird is a native of Buenos Ayres; the nest is +built generally on the naked great branch of a tree, sometimes on the +windows of houses, a fence, or a projecting beam of a high house or +other building; it is composed of earth, in the form of a baker's oven, +and is often built in the short space of two days, both birds being +engaged in its construction; it is six inches in diameter, and one +thick; a division is within, beginning at the entrance, and carried +circularly, so that the eggs are deposited in the inner chamber, on a +bed of grass. The swallow and other birds often attempt to obtain +possession of this nest, but are generally repulsed by the owners. + +Many of the _Orioles'_ nests are also deserving notice. The +_black and yellow Oriole_, inhabiting South America, has a pendent +nest, shaped like an alembic; it is affixed to the extreme branches of +trees; sometimes, it is said, so many as four hundred nests are found +hanging on the same tree. + +The _Philippine_ and _Pensile Grosbeak_ make also very curious nests. + +In concluding this account of the nests of birds, I may notice here the +nest of the _Hirundo esculenta_, or _Esculent Swallow_, an inhabitant +of China and the Islands of the Indian Ocean. The nest consists of a +gelatinous substance, in shape resembling an apple cut down the middle. +The nests are found in great numbers together, and are by the luxurious +Asiatics made into broths, and otherwise cooked, and are esteemed one of +the greatest dainties of the table; they are also occasionally used for +glue.--_Jennings's Ornithologia_. + + + [1] We are pleased therefore to commence our Supplementary Sheet + with such a volume as the present, which we have reserved for + this purpose. The feelings which it must engender in the reader + will be doubly grateful in these troublous times of strong + political excitement: they enjoin "peace on earth, and goodwill + towards men." the Divine antidote to the storms of conflicting + interests and passions, and the balm which heals the thorny + wounds of the world, that cross every path and tear the finest + sympathies of our nature. It adds, moreover, a pleasant variety + to the contents of our sheet, and alternates with the + vicissitudes of enterprise, in the progress of infant liberty + in the New World, as in the Memoirs of the patriot _Miller_;--the + daring and recklessness of crime, as in the vivid sketch of + _First and Last_;--the picturesque country and ceremonies of + Arabia and its religious people, as drawn by _Burckhardt_;--and + the architectural embellishment of the Metropolis, as shown in + _Britton's Picture of London_. + + [2] In the MIRROR, dated March 1, 1828, we noticed "Gilbert White's + Natural History of Selborne, is one of the most delightful + household books in our language, and we are surprised at the + rarity of such works." The publication of the _Journal of a + Naturalist_, early in March, 1829, is "a coincidence." + + [3] Philosophers and wits have written on this subject. Sir Thomas + Brown, who wrote a book of _Vulgar Errors_, remarks with great + seriousness that the man "who could eradicate this error from the + minds of the people, might prevent the fearful passions of the + heart, and many cold sweats taking place in grandmothers and + nurses"--Swift lets fly the shafts of satire in these lines.-- + + A woodworm + That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form; + With teeth, or with claws, it will bite, or will scratch; + And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch; + Because, like a watch, it always cries click; + Then woe be to those in the house who are sick; + For sure as a gun they will give up the ghost + If the maggat cries click when it scratches the post. + + Gay, too, in a _pastoral dirge_, says, + + The wether's bell, + Before the drooping flock, toll'd forth her knell; + The solemn deathwatch click'd the hour she died. + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +FINE ARTS + + * * * * * + + +METROPOLITAN IMPROVEMENTS. + +_Abridged from the "Introduction" to Britton's Picture of London, 26th +edition, just published._ + + +_The year_ 1825 will ever be memorable in the annals of the +metropolis; for more novel improvements, changes, and events occurred in +that one year than during any other corresponding period. _Schemes_ +for the formation of new _Companies_--the vast speculations arising +out of them, tending to the aggrandizement of a few persons, and to the +ruin of others, with the utilities of some, and the futilities and +impositions of many,--may also be said to belong to this year. + +Let us, however, take a brief review of the real improvements and useful +novelties that have been progressing, or have commenced in London since +that singular and eventful era. Commencing at the court, or west end, we +will take an imaginary tour to the east, adverting to such new buildings +as are calculated to arrest the attention of the stranger in our +progress. Without remarking on the general improvements of the age, we +shall find enough to engross our attention in the particular objects +before us. The most noted, or conspicuous of these are:--1. The New +Palace, with the adjoining Park and Gardens. 2. A Terrace, Street, and +Public Buildings on the site of Carlton House. 3. Belgrave Square, and +the adjoining Squares and Streets. 4. The Entrance Lodges and Bridge +in Hyde Park, with the improvements in the Roads and Walks of the same. +5. The Regent's Park, with its Terraces, Villas, Public Buildings, +Zoological Gardens, and Colosseum. 6. The London University. 7. The +British Museum. 8. The Post Office. 9. London Bridge, and its Vicinity. +10. St. Katherine's Docks. 11. The New Buildings and Alterations +connected with the Houses of Parliament, the Ministerial Offices, and +others, at Charing Cross. All these rank among the novelties and +embellished features of London; and whilst the design and execution of +so many public works manifest the increasing taste, or luxury of the +age, they employ and give encouragement to numerous artists, artisans, +and tradesmen. + +Of _the Royal Palace_, suffice it to remark, in this place, that it +is a large pile of building,--has been carried on with great rapidity of +execution,--its whole exterior is stone, many parts of which are adorned +with sculptured statues, basso-relievo, and other ornaments,--that a +highly-decorated triumphal arch, composed of fine white, marble, is +to be raised, at a short distance from the centre of the principal +front--and that the interior is to be splendidly adorned with marble, +scagliola, and other rich materials; whilst the galleries, armoury, +chapel, state-rooms, &c. are to display the most gorgeous ornaments of +the cabinet-maker, upholsterer, decorative painter, and other artisans. + +_The Park_, in front of this palace, which had continued for nearly +a century in one state of formal, tasteless insipidity, has been laid +out as a large pleasure-garden, interspersed with lawn, clusters of +shrubs and flowers, winding walks, varied surface, and a lake, whose +margin is made to wind with every inequality of surface, spreading +occasionally into a broad expanse, and then contracting to a narrow arm. +In the midst of the larger spaces are islands, covered with aquatic +trees and shrubs. + +_The Gardens_, or _Pleasure Grounds_, belonging to the Palace, +partake of the same character; but are adorned with shrubs, plants, and +flowers of a more choice description. A large piece of water is likewise +formed in the midst of these Gardens. + +_Belgrave Square, and Vicinity_. Immediately to the west of the +boundary-wall of the royal gardens is a tract of ground, which, in 1824, +was open fields, intersected by mud-banks, and partly occupied by a few +sheds, and inhabited by the lowest characters of society. In 1829, the +same land, consisting of about 140 acres, is nearly covered with houses +of the largest size, surrounding spacious squares, or skirting wide and +handsome streets. Of all the extraordinary works carried into effect by +London gentlemen and tradesmen, we may fairly adduce this as a +pre-eminent example. In the space of about four years, the houses +surrounding one large square, called Belgrave, have been erected, some +of them finished and occupied, and several others, of nearly equal +dimensions and value, completed. + +The most prominent feature of this district is _Belgrave Square_, +which includes within the front walls of the houses an area of about ten +acres, the centre of which, enclosed by lofty and handsome railing, is +laid out as a pleasure garden. The whole of the houses are large, lofty, +and spacious, with stuccoed fronts, porches, balustraded balconies; +and those in the centre of each side are decorated with columns, or +three-quarter columns, vases on the parapet, &c. + +Of _Eaton Square_, one portion only is built at present: as laid +out, planted, and railed in, it is intended to occupy an area of about +fourteen acres, and will be bounded by four rows of houses on the north +side, and the like number on the south side, having the king's private +road extending east and west through the centre. It measures 600 yards +long by 120 yards wide, between the houses. At the eastern extremity is +a new church, built from the designs of Henry Hakewill, Esq. + +To the north of this district, at Hyde Park Corner, is a large new +edifice appropriated to _St. George's Hospital_. It is a commodious +and handsome building, from the designs of R. Smirke, Esq. Near it, and +forming an entrance lodge to the Palace Gardens, is a bold, large, and +highly-decorated archway, built from the designs of Decimus Burton, Esq. +Opposite is a screen of columns, with three entrance archways, a lodge, +&c. constituting an architectural entrance to Hyde Park. Three other +lodges, with gates, by Mr. Burton, form so many other entrances to the +Park from the east and north--_Apsley House_, the town mansion of +the Duke of Wellington, at the south-east angle of Hyde Park, is +rebuilding from the designs of Messrs. B. and C. Wyatt, and will form a +handsome object at this entrance to the metropolis. + +The Earl of Grosvenor has set a most laudable example to our opulent +nobility, in the new wing to his mansion in Grosvenor Street, as a +gallery for his valuable pictures. It is a handsome and imposing design, +and does honour to the architect, Mr Cundy. + +The new _Club Houses_ in St. James's Street, especially that near +the southern end, present imposing fronts; and it may be added, that +most of the other Club Houses have contributed very much to adorn their +respective situations, and to impart a strictly architectural character +to our street buildings. + +The site of Carlton House, and its gardens, is occupied by a wide +street, by a lofty terrace overlooking the Park, by club houses, &c. Two +of the latter terminate Waterloo Place, and are appropriated to "_the +United Service_," and "_the Athenaeum_;" the first built from +the designs of Mr. Nash, and the latter from those of Mr. D. Burton. + +From Charing Cross to Exeter 'Change an amazing improvement has +commenced. All the houses on the north side of the Strand are taking +down, and others raising, farther back, by which the street will be much +widened, and the new buildings will assume better faces, if not better +accommodation, for the tradesmen who occupy them. That museum of sheds, +stalls, and filth, _Covent Garden_, is also to be cleared and +cleansed, and respectable ranges of shops and warerooms are to be +erected. + +It is now confidently said, that "_the King's College of London_" +is to be attached to the eastern side of Somerset House; and that Mr. +Smirke is commissioned to make a design for the building. + +In the _Regent's Park_ a new Terrace and other buildings, are in +progress; the great Colosseum is nearly finished, and the _Zoological +Gardens_ have excited unusual popularity. No less than 130,000 +visiters have been admitted to view the gardens and the vivarium within +the year 1828. + +On the east side of the Park is a mass of buildings appropriated to +_St. Katherine's Hospital_, consisting of a chapel in the centre, +with a group of dwellings on each side, and a detached mansion for the +master. South of this is a series of buildings, called _Cumberland +Terrace_, raised from the designs of Mr. Nash, which is abundantly +adorned with columns, arches, statues, and basso-relievo. + +The _Colosseum_, in the same Park, is a building of great +dimensions, and novel appropriation, and therefore calculated to excite +very popular attention. Near this is the _Diorama_, an edifice of +singular construction, destined for the public display of two pictures. +A new line of communication from this Park to Pall Mall has been +completed within the last few years, by a wide and handsome road called +_Regent Street_. + +_London University_--The situation of the first University founded +in this immense city is most peculiarly favourable, being equally +removed from the busy and confined part of the metropolis, and from the +fashionable and idle; whilst it is not inconveniently remote from either +extremity. The building was commenced on the 30th of April, 1827, when +the Duke of Sussex laid the first stone, in the presence of a large +concourse of noblemen and gentlemen. The design is by William Wilkins, +Esq., R.A., who has evinced in the principal elevation and general +character of the edifice considerable taste and science. When completed, +it is intended to consist of a central part, and two wings projecting at +right angles from the extremities of the former. The first portion only +of this is at present finished. It extends from north to south 430 feet, +with a depth, from east to west, including the two semicircular +theatres, of about 200 feet. The elevation is at once classical and +chaste, having a bold and rich portico in the centre, elevated on a +plinth, to the height of the first story (19 feet,) and is approached +by numerous steps, which are arranged to produce a fine effect. Twelve +Corinthian columns support a flattened pediment, in the tympanum of +which is to be a composition in basso-relievo, analogous to science and +literature. Behind this pediment is a cupola, finished by a lantern +light, in imitation of a peripteral temple, crowning and ornamenting a +grand octagonal vestibule, or saloon. North of this is the museum of +natural history, 118 feet by 50, and 23 feet in height, opening to +the museum of anatomy, which latter communicates with two rooms for +professors, and to one of the large theatres, or lecture-rooms. East of +the vestibule is a large hall, and to the south is the great library, +corresponding in size, &c. with the museum of natural history; the +small library; rooms for the librarian, for apparatus, and also another +large theatre. The ground-floor consists of rooms for lectures, the +Professor's offices, laboratory, museum, a spacious cloister 213 feet +by 24; rooms for the anatomical school, &c. In the basement are other +apartments for the anatomical schools, for the chemical laboratory, +the students' common room, kitchen, stewards' room, refreshment rooms, +housekeeper's room, vaults, &c. + +At the _British Museum_ a new room, to contain the late king's +library, has been built and fitted up from the designs of Mr. R. Smirke. +It is the largest apartment in this country, its measurement being 300 +feet in length, by 30 feet in width, and 30 feet high, + +The _St. Katherine's Docks_, recently formed near the Tower, will +increase this species of accommodation, and be a great improvement to a +district where reform and alteration are much required. By a statement +published by the Committee in October, 1828, it appears that "the first +stone was laid 3rd of May, 1827," and that a grand ceremony was exhibited +on the 25th of October, 1828, of opening the Docks. On that occasion, +nine vessels, of from 516 to 343 tons burden, entered the docks to load +and discharge their freights. Above 1,200 houses, warehouses, &c. were +purchased and taken down, to make room for the new works. Accommodation +is provided for the stowage of 210,000 tons of merchandize; and, from +the improved construction of the warehouses, these goods will be always +housed under cover. The fixed capital for completing this great +commercial undertaking is 1,352,752_l_. + +_A Collier Dock_, on a large scale, has been projected to be +excavated and formed in the Isle of Dogs, near Blackwall for which +Mr. George Rennie has made plans and estimates. + +The _New London Bridge_, now nearly completed, is a work of great +magnitude, science, and novelty. Its erection, in our times, and +following the recent finishing of the bridges of Waterloo and Southwark, +is a memorable event in the annals of London. + +The projected _Tunnel under the Thames_ is not only a novel object +in this part of London, but, should it ever be accomplished, it will be +a wonderful triumph of human talents over seeming impossibilities. + +Although so many useful and even important improvements have been +recently effected in the metropolis, there are yet many things left +undone that ought to be done, and others proceeding in a manner that +will neither be creditable nor beneficial. The widening and opening of +_New Streets_ from Pall Mall to the British Museum; from that +national repository to Waterloo Bridge, skirting the two theatres;--from +the Strand to Lincoln's Inn Fields, and thence to Holborn; and again +to Covent Garden;--from Charing Cross to Somerset House;--from Oxford +Road to Bloomsbury Square and Holborn;--from Blackfriars' Bridge to +Clerkenwell, removing and clearing away that nuisance in a public +thoroughfare, Fleet Market;--from Moorfields to the Bank, and thence +obliquely to Southwark Bridge;--widening and opening the area around +St. Paul's Cathedral,--are all calculated to be very beneficial to +the public. Other essential alterations are still required; and the +legislature, as well as all public-spirited individuals, should +co-operate to promote them. The formation of open, respectable quays, +terraces, and streets, on the banks of our fine river, is an event +greatly to be desired. + +The vastly-increasing population of London, has occasioned a great +augmentation of _Churches_ and _Chapels_, both for congregations +of the establishment, and for dissenters. In consequence of urgent, and +argumentative appeals by some truly pious and benevolent Christians, the +legislature has granted a large sum for the purpose of aiding parochial +committees, to build new churches or enlarge their old ones. + +The _New Post Office_, in St. Martin's-le-Grand, is fast +approaching conclusion, and will constitute one of the most imposing +public buildings of the city. Preparatory to the re-erection of the +whole of the _Blue Coat School_, or _Christ's Hospital_, in +Newgate Street, a spacious and handsome Hall has been erected, from the +designs of Mr. Shaw. + +A _new Chapel_, of novel design, being of an amphitheatrical form, +has been recently completed, from the designs of _W. Brooks_, +architect. It is seated near the Catholic Chapel, in Finsbury Circus. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + + * * * * * + +THE FIRST AND LAST CRIME. + +[_Blackwood's Magazine_ for the current month contains a sketchy +article under this title, which displays much of the breadth and vigour +of one of Maga's contributors. Our extract is in the form of the +confession of a reckless, daring spirit, who being imprisoned for +murder, commits suicide. The early developement of his bad passions is +admirably drawn, and altogether this is one of the most powerfully +written papers that we have lately met with.] + + +I was the youngest child of three; but before I had attained my tenth +year, I was an only one. I had always been the favourite of both my +parents, and now I was their idol. They hung upon my existence, as a +shipwrecked mariner clings to the last floating fragment of the gallant +bark that bore him; they lived, but while they held by me, in the rough +tossings of the ocean of life. I was not slow to discover my value in +their estimation, or to exercise, in its fullest extent, the capricious +tyranny of conscious power. Almost the earliest impression which my +ripening mind received, was a regal immunity from error--I could _do +no wrong_. + +My education was not neglected. Alas! the only use I have ever made of +what I acquired, has been to gild my vices when acted, or refine upon +the manner of acting them while in contemplation. I look back, at this +moment, to the period of my life I am describing, as prosperous men +recall the day-spring of their fortunes. _They_, from the proud +eminence on which they stand, trace, step by step, in retrospective +view, the paths by which they ascended; and _I_, looking through +the dark vista of my by-gone years, behold the fatal series of crimes +and follies that stained their progress, stretching to my boyhood. The +gay and frolic _irregularities_, as they were gently termed, of +that untamed age, were the turbid source of the waters of misery in +which I am now engulphed, I was a lawless planet, running at will; and +the orbit I described laid waste more than one fair region of peace and +happiness. + +My father had a brother, his elder by many years; a man of stern and +rigid character, as I then considered him; but, as I would now call him, +of upright, firm, and honourable principle. He loved my father, but did +not love his weakness; and the display of it, in his indulgence towards +me, was the cause of many a serious, if not sometimes angry, debate +between them. Well do I remember (for it rankled like poison in my +swelling heart) a declaration he once made in my presence. It was a +fine autumnal evening, and he was seated with my father and mother in +a balcony, which opened from the library-window upon a spacious lawn. +I entered the room, and advanced towards them, unconscious, of course, +that their conversation had been about me; but my uncle looking at me +with a severe expression of countenance, and at the same time addressing +his brother, exclaimed, "Well, James, neither you nor I may live to see +it; but if the grace of God, or his own better reflection, as he grows +older, do not work a change in this young squire, a duel, Jack Ketch, +or a razor, will work his exit some day or other." + +My father smiled--I saw my mother wipe away a tear--at that moment +I could have struck my uncle dead. I muttered a few words--I knew not +what, and left the room. Boy as I was, (for I had barely completed +my seventeenth year,) I felt all the vindictive passions of manhood +kindling within me. It seemed as if a sentence had been passed upon +me, the more terrible, because a secret voice whispered to me, it was +prophetic! _That impression never forsook me!_ + +I questioned my father haughtily, a few days afterwards, as to the +reasons of his brother for thus speaking of me; and I even dared to +insinuate, that, had he felt what a father should, he would have +resented the indignity. He answered me (I write it with shame and +contrition) most mildly, most affectionately. The gentle being--I see +him now, as he tenderly took my hand--apologized to me--to me! who ought +to have stood trembling in _his_ presence! I followed up my blow. +With cold, but subtle malignity. I played off my revenge towards my +uncle, through the idolatry of my father's love towards myself. I +barbarously gave him a choice of misery; for I disdainfully replied, +that he must henceforth determine, whether he would lose a brother or +a son, as _I_ had determined to remain no longer under his roof, +unless I had the assurance that I should never again see my uncle there. +He looked at me. My God! what a look it was! so full of meek sorrow +and appalling obedience! Without uttering a word, he sat down to his +writing-table. The tears fell upon his paper; but they did not blot out +a few bitter words addressed to his brother, which severed for ever in +this world two noble hearts; cast, indeed, in different moulds, but +which kindred blood had cemented, in the close bonds of fraternal love, +for more than forty years. + +This was my _first_ revenge. But was I satisfied? No! + +It was only a few months afterwards, that chance threw in my way a +daughter of my uncle's. I met her at the house of a common friend, who +knew and deplored the unhappy schism which prevailed between the two +brothers. He was equally attached to both, and I believe pleased himself +with the idea, that an occasional intercourse between the younger +branches of the families, might, some day or other, bring about a +reconciliation between the heads. My cousin Harriet was a year older +than myself. She was in her nineteenth, I in my eighteenth year. I loved +her. Yes; the _first_ feeling that glowed within my bosom was that +of love. She was beautiful--fascinating--accomplished--amiable--and +I loved her. It was not long before I was satisfied. I had kindled a +reciprocal passion in her breast. The mute eloquence of her look and +manner was only the harbinger of that same thrilling eloquence, which +fell from her tongue when I won the declaration of her affection. + +Her father knew we met at this friend's house; but whether he was told, +or whether he penetrated, the secret of our attachment, I never learned. +I only know, that, at the very moment when separation was madness, his +mandate went forth, prohibiting all farther intercourse between us, and +that it was obeyed. Not by me; for I was incapable of submission: but by +my gentle Harriet, who thought _herself_ incapable of disobeying. +We met no more where we had been wont to meet; and my young heart's +spring of happiness seemed for ever withered. + +But here again, I began to reflect, my path was crossed--my hopes were +blighted--by my uncle. I heard, too, that his tongue had been free with +my name; that the blistering censure of his austere virtue had fallen +upon my actions. I writhed under the contumely. My wounded spirit was +insatiate for vengeance. I meditated, deeply, how I could inflict it, so +as to strike the blow where he was most vulnerable. I did not brood long +over my dark purpose. The love I still bore his daughter, was _now_ +mingled with the hatred I bore towards himself; and I exulted in the +thought, that I should perhaps be able to gratify, at one and the same +moment, two of the fiercest passions of my nature--lust and revenge! + +I SUCCEEDED! + +In these two words let me shroud a tale of horror. Harriet was my +victim! Ask not how. _I_ triumphed! _She_ fell! An angel might +have fallen as she did, and lost no purity. But her stainless heart was +too proud in virtue to palter and equivocate with circumstances. She +never rose from what she deemed her bridal bed. And ere twenty summers +had fanned her cheek, the grave-worm banqueted upon its loveliness. + +This was my _first_ crime. The recollection of it is engraven upon +my memory by an awful catastrophe. The night wind that sung _her_ +funeral dirge, howled with dismal fury through the burning ruins of my +paternal mansion. Yes! that very night, as if it were in mercy to them, +my father and my mother both perished in the flames which reduced +the house itself to cinders. They were seen at the windows of their +bedchamber, shrieking for aid; but before any could be procured, the +flooring gave way, and they sunk at once into the yawning furnace that +roared beneath. Their remains, when afterwards dug out, were a few +shovelsfull of blackened ashes; except my father's right hand, which was +found clasped in that of my mother, and both unconsumed. I followed +these sad relics to the sepulchre. But with the tears I shed, there was +blended a feeble consolation at the thought they had died before they +knew the fate of Harriet; and a frightful joy, that another pang was +added to the wretchedness of my uncle. + +I can well remember what a feeling of loneliness and desolation now took +possession of me. Time, however, rolled on; and I grew callous, if not +reconciled. I could not disguise from myself that the more select +circles of society were closed against me; or, if I found my way into +them, some blushing whisper was quickly circulated, which created a +solitude around me. + +It was during this period, and while I was squandering thousands to +achieve the conquest of shadows, that I succeeded in fixing an intimacy +with a family equal to my own in station, and superior to it in fortune. +The eldest daughter was an heiress of large expectations, and my +proposals of marriage were favourably received. I might almost say that +Matilda was mine; when one day I received a letter from her father, +peremptorily forbidding my visits. I was thunderstruck. I hastened to +the house, and demanded an explanation. It was given in few words. _I +was referred to my uncle for any information I required_. + +This blow struck me down. I had run through my patrimonial estate; but +hoped, by my marriage with Matilda, to repair my shattered fortune. +Three weeks after it was known that the match was broken off, I was +a prisoner for debt in the King's Bench! I breathed no curses upon +the cause of this sudden reverse of fortune, but--I swore revenge, in +silence; and I kept my oath. I languished away six months, a captive +debtor; and then, taking the benefit of the act, I walked forth a +beggar, to prey upon the world at large! I had studied, during that +time, in an admirable school, where I found professors in every art by +which fools are gulled, and knaves foiled with their own weapons. I was +an apt scholar, and returned to the bosom of society, an adept in the +science of _polished depredation_. Translate this into the language +of the Old Bailey, and I became a swindler by profession. Like the +eagle, however, I was a bird of prey that soared into the highest +regions, and rarely stooped to strike the meaner tribes of my species. I +had not lost, with the trappings of my birth, the manners and address of +the sphere in which I had moved; and these were now my stock in trade +for carrying on my new vocation. + +Among the children of misfortune with whom I associated in prison, was +Charles Fitzroy; a bankrupt in every thing but exhaustless invention, +and unconquerable perseverance. Give him the free use of his limbs, and +with matchless dexterity he would make the contributions of the morning +furnish out the riotous expenses of the evening. It was his boast, that +he would breakfast with an empty pocket, and dine with a purse that +should defray the carouse of a dozen friends. And I have known him +fulfil his boast, with a heart as light, too, as became a man who thus +made the credulous fools of the world his bankers. + +I was needy, desperate, and an outcast; and I linked my destiny with +Fitzroy's. He had my confidence; such confidence as confederates in +knavery can bestow. When he obtained his liberty, which he did shortly +after my own was accomplished, he introduced me to his companions; men +who, like himself, lived by plundering the unwary, and who looked up to +him as their _Magnus Apollo_. I was soon initiated in all their +mysteries; and played my part to admiration at the gaming-table, on the +race course, and in the ring. + +Fitzroy was master of the secret that festered near my heart; the +increased and increasing hatred towards my uncle. I regarded him as +my evil genius; for not only had he thwarted me in two of the dearest +objects of my life; but his prediction of my boyhood had clung to me +like a poisoned garment. I could not shake it off; and now, more than +ever, it seemed accomplishing itself with rapid strides. It made me mad +when I reflected upon the polluted channels through which _my_ +precarious means flowed, and thought of the luxurious enjoyments which +_his_ opulence commanded. It was true, I had dashed his cup with +bitterness; but it was no less true, that it still flowed with sweets, +while mine was brimming with gall. Fitzroy would often talk to me upon +this subject, and devise schemes for a successful inroad upon his purse. +At length a plan was matured between us, in which I could not appear, +but which Fitzroy, and a picked few of our associates, undertook to +execute. + +My uncle had always been passionately fond of the course, and prided +himself upon his stud of racers. He betted largely, and was generally +fortunate, probably because he selected his men with a wary eye. +The race course, then, was the arena chosen for the enterprise; but +admirable as were the projected plans, and skilfully as they were +executed, such was his luck, or so profound were his calculations, that +they failed _five_ successive seasons. Fitzroy, however, was one of +those men who, when satisfied that what they engage in ought to succeed, +according to the means employed, only derive fresh vigour from every +fresh defeat. He played his game a _sixth_ time, and won. The same +day that saw my uncle rise with thousands, saw him seek his pillow at +night, a frantic beggar! He was too proud a man, too honourable, I will +add, not to throw down his last guinea, in satisfaction of such demands. +He never suspected villany in the business. He paid his losses, +therefore; and in less than a week afterwards, an inquest sat upon his +body, which was found at the bottom of his own fish pond. + +I had my share of this infernal plunder; but so ravenous had been +my appetite for revenge, that not one pang of remorse disturbed the +riotous enjoyments in which it was lavished. On the contrary, the very +consciousness that it _was_ my uncle's money I squandered, gave a +zest to every excess, and seemed to appease the gnawing passions which +had so long tormented me. In two or three years, however, boundless +extravagance, and the gaming-table, stripped me of my last shilling. +It was in one of the frenzied moments of this profligate reverse of +fortune, that I committed the crime for which, if to-morrow dawned +upon me, I should be publicly arraigned. + +Fitzroy had been fortunate the whole night. I had thrown with constant +bad luck. He had pocketed some hundreds; I had lost more than I could +pay. I asked him for a temporary loan of fifty pounds, to make good what +I owed, and stake the small remaining sum for the chance of retrieving +all. He refused me. It was the first time he had ever done so. But he +not _only_ refused me, he taunted me with sarcastic reproofs for my +folly, and muttered something about the uselessness of assisting a man +who, if he had thousands, would scatter them like dust. He should have +chosen a fitter moment to exhort me, than when I was galled by my +losses, and by his denial of my request. I was heated with wine too; and +half mad with despair, half mad with drink, I sprang upon him, tore him +to the earth, and before the by-standers could interfere to separate us, +I had buried a knife, which I snatched from a table near me, up to the +handle in his heart! He screamed--convulsively grappled me by the +throat---and expired! His death-gripe was so fierce and powerful, that I +believe had we been alone, his murderer would have been found strangled +by his side. It was with difficulty that the horror-struck witnesses of +this bloody scene could force open his clenched hands time enough to let +me breathe. + +I have done! I remember, as if it were but yesterday, the silent +response which my heart made, when my uncle pronounced that withering +sentence on me. "No!" was my indignant exclamation; "I may deserve a +hundred public deaths; but if I know myself, I would never undergo +one!--NOR WILL I." When that which I have written shall be read--other +hopes and fears--other punishments, perchance, than man can awaken or +inflict--will await me. My _first_ crime--my _first_ revenge, +and my _last_, I have recorded; my _last_ crime others must +tell, when they speak of the murderer and SUICIDE, + + JAMES MORLEY. + +There is little doubt that scarcely a moment intervened between his +writing his name, and placing the pistol to his heart; for when he was +discovered, the pen was lying on the paper, as if it had been laid down +only for an instant. + + * * * * * + + + + +RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS. + + * * * * * + + +REGAL TABLET. + +(_Concluded from page 166._) + + +CHARLES II. + +restored 29th May, 1669, ended 6th Feb. 1685. + +_Popes_. + +Alexander VII., 1655. +Clement IX., 1667. +Clement X., 1670. +Innocent XI., 1676. + +_Emperor of Germany_. + +Leopold I., 1658. + +_France_. + +Louis XIV., 1643. + +_Spain_. + +Philip IV., 1620. +Charles II., 1665. + +_Portugal_. + +Alonzo VI., 1656. +Pedro II., 1683. + +_Denmark_ + +Frederic III., 1648. +Christian V., 1670. + +_Sweden_. + +Charles XI., 1660. + + * * * * * + +JAMES II. + +began his reign 6th Feb. 1685, abdicated 13th Feb. 1689. + +Contemporaries all as in the last reign. + + * * * * * + +WILLIAM AND MARY + +began their reign 13th Feb. 1689, ended 8th March, 1702. + +_Popes_. + +Innocent XI., 1676. +Alexander VIII., 1689. +Innocent XII., 1691. +Clement XI., 1700. + +_Emperor of Germany_. + +Leopold I., 1658. + +_France_. + +Louis XIV., 1643. + +_Spain_. + +Charles II., 1665. +Philip V., 1700. + +_Portugal_. + +Pedro II., 1683. + +_Denmark_. + +Christian V., 1670. +Frederic IV., 1699. + +_Sweden_. + +Charles XI., 1660. +Charles XII., 1697. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic I., 1701. + + * * * * * + +ANNE + +began her reign 8th March, 1702, ended 1st Aug. 1714. + +_Popes_. + +Clement XI., 1700. + +_Emperors of Germany_. + +Leopold I., 1658. +Joseph I., 1705. +Charles VI., 1711. + +_France_. + +Louis XIV., 1643. + +_Spain_. + +Philip V., 1700. + +_Portugal_. + +Pedro II., 1683. +John V., 1706. + +_Denmark_. + +Frederic IV., 1699. + +_Sweden_. + +Charles XII. 1697. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic I., 1701. +Frederic William I., 1713. + + * * * * * + +The Illustrious House of Brunswick. + +GEORGE I. + +began his reign 1st Aug. 1714, ended 11th June, 1727. + +_Popes_. + +Clement XI., 1700. +Innocent XIII., 1721. +Benedict XIII., 1723. + +_Emperor of Germany_. + +Charles VI., 1711. + +_Russia_. + +Peter I., 1724. +Catherine I., 1725. +Peter II., 1727. + +_France_. + +Louis XIV., 1643. +Louis XV., 1715. + +_Spain_. + +Philip V., 1700. + +_Portugal_. + +John V., 1706. + +_Denmark_. + +Frederic IV., 1699. + +_Sweden_. + +Charles XII. 1697. +Ulrica, 1718. +Frederic, 1720. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic William I., 1713. + + * * * * * + +GEORGE II. + +began his reign 11th June, 1727, ended 25th Oct. 1760. + +_Popes_. + +Benedict XIII., 1723. +Clement XII., 1730. +Benedict XIV., 1740. +Clement XIII., 1758. + +_Emperors of Germany_. + +Charles VI., 1711. +Charles VII., 1740. +Francis I., 1745. + +_Russia_. + +Peter II., 1727. +Anne., 1730. +John V., 1740. +Elizabeth, 1741. + +_France_. + +Louis XV., 1715. + +_Spain_. + +Philip V., 1700. +Ferdinand, 1746. +Charles III., 1759. + +_Portugal_. + +John V., 1706. +Joseph, 1750. + +_Denmark_. + +Frederic IV., 1699. +Christian VI. 1730. +Frederic V., 1746. + +_Sweden_. + +Frederic, 1720. +Adolphus, 1751. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic William, I, 1713. +Frederic II., 1740. + + * * * * * + +GEORGE III. + +began his reign 25th Oct. 1760, ended 29th Jan. 1820. + +_Popes_. + +Clement XIII., 1758. +Clement XIV., 1769. +Pius VI., 1775. +Pius VII., 1800. + +_Emperors of Germany_. + +Francis I., 1745. +Joseph II., 1765. +Francis II., 1792.[4] + +_Austria_. + +Francis I., 1806. + +_Turkey_. + +Mustapha III., 1757. +Achmed, 1774. +Selim III., 1789. +Mahamud VI., 1808. + +_Portugal_. + +Joseph, 1750. +Mary and Peter III., 1777. +Mary (alone), 1786. +John, 1816. + +_Russia_. + +Elizabeth, 1741. +Peter III., 1762. +Catharine II., 1762. +Paul I., 1796. +Alexander, 1801. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic the Great, 1740. +Frederic William II., 1786. + +_France_. + +Louis XV., 1715. +Louis XVI., 1774. +Louis XVII. 1793. +Bonaparte, 1799. +Louis XVIII., 1814. + +_Spain_. + +Charles III., 1759. +Charles IV., 1788. +Ferdinand VII., 1808. + +_Denmark_. + +Frederic V., 1746. +Christian VII., 1766. +Matilda, 1772. +Frederic VI. 1808. + +_Sweden_. + +Adolphus Frederic, 1751. +Gustavus III., 1771. +Gustavus IV., 1792. +Charles XIII., 1809. +Charles XIV., (Bernadotte), 1818. + +_Holland_. + +William V. (Stadtholder), 1757. +William, Prince of Orange, 1815. + +_Prussia_. + +Frederic William III., 1797. + +_Poland_. + +Stanislaus II. 1764. + +_Naples and Sicily_. + +Frederic IV. 1759. +Joseph Napoleon, 1806. +Joachim Napoleon, 1809. +King of Naples restored, 1815. + +_Etruria_. + +Francis, 1730. +Leopold, 1765. +Ferdinand III., 1790. +Louis I., 1801. +Louis II. 1802. + +_Sardinia_. + +Charles Emanuel III. 1730. +Victor Amadeus, 1773. +Emanuel V., 1802. + + * * * * * + +GEORGE IV. + +ascended 29th Jan. 1820, whom GOD preserve. + +Contemporaries at the commencement of his reign the same as at the death +of his late majesty. + +JACOBUS. + + [4] Francis II. of Germany abdicated 1806, and took the title of + Emperor of Austria. + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE SELECTOR, + +AND + +LITERARY NOTICES OF + +_NEW WORKS_. + + * * * * * + +MOUNT ARAFAT, AND THE PILGRIMAGE +TO MEKKA. + + +Every traditionary and topographical particular of this hallowed spot, +and the picturesque ceremonies by which it is consecrated, must be +acceptable to the Christian reader; and this conviction has induced us +to abridge the following from that portion of _Burckhardt's Travels_ +which describes the _Hadj_, or _pilgrimage_ to Mekka. + +At sunrise on the 9th of Zul Hadj, every pilgrim issued from his tent, +to walk over the plains, and take a view of the busy crowds assembled +there. Long streets of tents, fitted up as bazars, furnished all kinds +of provisions. The Syrian and Egyptian cavalry were exercised by their +chiefs early in the morning, while thousands of camels were seen feeding +upon the dry shrubs of the plain all round the camp. I walked to Mount +Arafat, to enjoy from its summit a more distinct view of the whole. +This granite hill, which is also called _Djebel er' Rahme_, or the +Mountain of Mercy, rises on the north-east side of the plain, close to +the mountains which encompass it, but separated from them by a rocky +valley; it is about a mile, or a mile and a half in circuit; its sides +are sloping, and its summit is nearly two hundred feet above the level +of the plain. On the eastern side broad stone steps lead up to the top, +and a broad unpaved path, on the western, over rude masses of granite, +with which its declivity is covered. After mounting about forty steps, +we find a spot a little on the left, called Modaa Seydna Adam, or the +place of prayer of our Lord Adam, where, it is related, that the father +of mankind used to stand while praying; for here it was, according to +Mohammedan tradition, that the angel Gabriel first instructed Adam how +to adore his Creator. A marble slab, bearing an inscription in modern +characters, is fixed in the side of the mountain. On reaching about the +sixtieth step, we come to a small paved platform to our right, on a +level spot of the hill, where the preacher stands who admonishes the +pilgrims on the afternoon of this day, as I shall hereafter mention. +Thus high, the steps are so broad and easy that a horse or camel may +ascend; but higher up they become more steep and uneven. On the summit, +the place is shown where Mohammed used to take his station during the +Hadj; a small chapel formerly stood over it; but this was destroyed by +the Wahabys: here the pilgrims usually pray two rikats, in salutation +of Arafat. The steps and the summit are covered with handkerchiefs to +receive their pious gifts, and each family of the Mekkawys or Bedouins +of the tribe of Koreysh, in whose territory Arafat lies, has its +particular spot assigned to it for this purpose. The summit commands a +very extensive and singular prospect. I brought my compass to take a +circle of bearings; but the crowd was so great that I could not use it. +Towards the western extremity of the plain are seen Bir Bazan and the +Aalameyn; somewhat nearer, southwards, the mosque called Djama Nimre, +or Djama Seydna Ibrahim; and on the south-east, a small house where the +Sherif used to lodge during the pilgrimage. From thence an elevated +rocky ground in the plain extends towards Arafat. On the eastern side +of the mountain, and close to its foot, are the ruins of a small mosque, +built on rocky ground, called Djama el Szakhrat, where Mohammed was +accustomed to pray, and where the pilgrims make four prostrations in +memory of the prophet. Several large reservoirs lined with stone are +dispersed over the plain; two or three are close to the foot of Arafat, +and there are some near the house of the Sherifs: they are filled from +the same fine aqueduct which supplies Mekka, and the head of which is +about one hour and a half distant, in the eastern mountains. The canal +is left open here for the convenience of pilgrims, and is conducted +round the three sides of the mountains, passing by Modaa Seydna Adam.[5] + +From the summit of Arafat, I counted about three thousand tents +dispersed over the plain, of which two-thirds belonged to the two Hadj +caravans, and to the suite and soldiers of Mohammed Aly; the rest to the +Arabs of the Sherif, the Bedouin hadjys, and the people of Mekka and +Djidda. These assembled multitudes were for the greater number, like +myself, without tents. The two caravans were encamped without much +order, each party of pilgrims or soldiers having pitched its tents in +large circles or _dowars_, in the midst of which many of their +camels were reposing. The plain contained, dispersed in different parts, +from twenty to twenty-five thousand camels, twelve thousand of which +belonged to the Syrian Hadj, and from five to six thousand to the +Egyptian; besides about three thousand, purchased by Mohammed Aly from +the Bedouins in the Syrian Deserts, and brought to Mekka with the Hadj, +to convey the pilgrims to this place, previously to being used for the +transport of army-provisions to Tayf. + +The Syrian Hadj was encamped on the south and south-west side of the +mountain; the Egyptian on the south-east. Around the house of the +Sherif, Yahya himself was encamped with his Bedouin troops, and in its +neighbourhood were all the Hedjaz people. Here it was that the two Yemen +caravans used formerly to take their station. Mohammed Aly, and Soleyman +Pasha of Damascus, as well as several of their officers, had very +handsome tents; but the most magnificent of all was that of the wife of +Mohammed Aly, the mother of Tousoun Pasha and Ibrahim Pasha, who had +lately arrived from Cairo for the Hadj, with a truly royal equipage, +five hundred camels being necessary to transport her baggage from Djidda +to Mekka. Her tent was in fact an encampment consisting of a dozen tents +of different sizes, inhabited by her women; the whole enclosed by a wall +of linen cloth, eight hundred paces in circuit, the single entrance to +which was guarded by eunuchs in splendid dresses. Around this enclosure +were pitched the tents of the men who formed her numerous suite. The +beautiful embroidery on the exterior of this linen palace, with the +various colours displayed in every part of it, constituted an object +which reminded me of some descriptions in the Arabian Tales of the +Thousand and One Nights. Among the rich equipages of the other hadjys, +or of the Mekka people, none were so conspicuous as that belonging +to the family of Djeylany, the merchant, whose tents, pitched in a +semicircle, rivalled in beauty those of the two pashas, and far exceeded +those of Sherif Yahya. In other parts of the East, a merchant would +as soon think of buying a rope for his own neck, as of displaying his +wealth in the presence of a pasha; but Djeylany has not yet laid aside +the customs which the Mekkawys learned under their old government, +particularly that of Sherif Ghaleb, who seldom exercised extortion upon +single individuals; and they now rely on the promises of Mohammed Aly, +that he will respect their property. + +During the whole morning, there were repeated discharges of the +artillery which both pashas had brought with them. A few pilgrims +had taken up their quarters on Djebel Arafat itself, where some small +cavern, or impending block of granite, afforded them shelter from the +sun. It is a belief generally entertained in the East, and strengthened +by many boasting hadjys on their return home, that all the pilgrims, on +this day, encamp upon Mount Arafat; and that the mountain possesses the +miraculous property of expansion, so as to admit an indefinite number of +the faithful upon its summit. The law ordains that the _wakfe_, or +position of the Hadj, should be on Djebel Arafat; but it wisely provides +against any impossibility, by declaring that the plain in the immediate +neighbourhood of the mountain may be regarded as comprised under the +term "mountain," or Djebel Arafat. + +I estimated the number of persons assembled here at about seventy +thousand. The camp was from three to four miles long, and between one +and two in breadth. There is, perhaps, no spot on earth where, in so +small a place, such a diversity of languages are heard; I reckoned about +forty, and I have no doubt that there were many more. It appeared to me +as if I were here placed in a holy temple of travellers only; and never +did I at any time feel a more ardent wish to be able to penetrate once +into the inmost recesses of the countries of many of those persons +whom I now saw before me, fondly imagining that I might have no more +difficulty in reaching their homes, than what they had experienced in +their journey to this spot. + + * * * * * + +The time of Aszer (or about three o'clock, P.M.) approached, when that +ceremony of the Hadj takes place, for which the whole assembly had come +hither. The pilgrims now pressed forward towards the mountain of Arafat, +and covered its sides from top to bottom. At the precise time of Aszer, +the preacher took his stand upon the platform on the mountain, and began +to address the multitude. This sermon, which lasts till sun-set, +constitutes the holy ceremony of the Hadj called Khotbet el Wakfe; and +no pilgrim, although he may have visited all the holy places of Mekka, +is entitled to the name of hadjy, unless he has been present on this +occasion. As Aszer approached, therefore, all the tents were struck, +every thing was packed up, the caravans began to load, and the pilgrims +belonging to them mounted their camels, and crowded round the mountain, +to be within sight of the preacher, which is sufficient, as the greater +part of the multitude is necessarily too distant to hear him. The two +pashas, with their whole cavalry drawn up in two squadrons behind them, +took their post in the rear of the deep lines of camels of the hadjys, +to which those of the people of the Hedjaz were also joined; and here +they waited in solemn and respectful silence the conclusion of the +sermon. Further removed from the preacher, was the Sherif Yahya, with +his small body of soldiers, distinguished by several green standards +carried before him. The two Mahmals, or holy camels, which carry on +their back the high structure that serves as the banner of their +respective caravans, made way with difficulty through the ranks of +camels that encircled the southern and eastern sides of the hill, +opposite to the preacher, and took their station, surrounded by their +guards, directly under the platform in front of him.[6] + +The preacher, or Khatyb, who is usually the Kadhy of Mekka, was mounted +upon a finely caparisoned camel, which had been led up the steps; it +being traditionally said that Mohammed was always seated when he here +addressed his followers, a practice in which he was imitated by all +the Khalifes who came to the Hadj, and who from hence addressed their +subjects in person. The Turkish gentleman of Constantinople, however, +unused to camel-riding, could not keep his seat so well as the hardy +Bedouin prophet; and the camel becoming unruly, he was soon obliged to +alight from it. He read his sermon from a book in Arabic, which he held +in his hands. At intervals of every four or five minutes he paused, and +stretched forth his arms to implore blessings from above; while the +assembled multitudes around and before him waved the skirts of their +ihrams over their heads, and rent the air with shouts of "Lebeyk, +Allahuma Lebeyk," (i.e. Here we are, at thy commands, O God!) During +the wavings of the ihrams, the side of the mountain, thickly crowded +as it was by the people in their white garments, had the appearance +of a cataract of water; while the green umbrellas, with which several +thousand hadjys, sitting on their camels below, were provided, bore some +resemblance to a verdant plain.--During his sermon, which lasted almost +three hours, the Kadhy was seen constantly to wipe his eyes with a +handkerchief; for the law enjoins the Khatyb or preacher to be moved +with feeling and compunction; and adds that, whenever tears appear on +his face, it is a sign that the Almighty enlightens him, and is ready +to listen to his prayers. + +At length the sun began to descend behind the western mountains; upon +which the Kadhy, having shut his book, received a last greeting of +"Lebeyk;" and the crowds rushed down the mountain, in order to quit +Arafat. It is thought meritorious to accelerate the pace on this +occasion; and many persons make it a complete race, called by the Arabs, +_Ad' dafa min Arafat_. In former times, when the strength of the +Syrian and Egyptian caravans happened to be nearly balanced, bloody +affrays took place here almost every year between them, each party +endeavouring to outrun and to carry its _mahmal_ in advance of the +other. The same happened when the _mahmals_ approached the platform +at the commencement of the sermon; and two hundred lives have on some +occasions been lost in supporting what was thought the honour of the +respective caravans. At present the power of Mohammed Aly preponderates, +and the Syrian hadjys display great humility. The united caravans and +the whole mass of pilgrims now moved forward over the plain; every +tent had been previously packed up, to be ready for the occasion. The +pilgrims pressed through the Aalameyn, which they must repass on their +return; and night came on before they reached the defile called El +Mazoumeyn. Innumerable torches were now lighted, twenty-four being +carried before each pasha; and the sparks of fire from them flew far +over the plain. There were continual discharges of artillery; the +soldiers fired their muskets; the martial bands of both the pashas +played; sky-rockets were thrown as well by the pashas' officers, as +by many private pilgrims; while the Hadj passed at a quick pace in +the greatest disorder, amidst a deafening clamour, through the pass of +Mazoumeyn, leading towards Mezdelfe, where all alighted, after a two +hours' march. No order was observed here in encamping; and every one lay +down on the spot that first presented itself, no tents being pitched +except those of the pashas and their suites; before which was an +illumination of lamps in the form of high arches, which continued to +blaze the whole night, while the firing of the artillery was kept up +without intermission. + + [5] At the close of the sixteenth century, according to Kotobeddyn, + the whole plain of Arafat was cultivated. + + [6] The Mahmal (an exact representation of which is given by D'Ohsson) + is a high, hollow, wooden frame, in the form of a cone, with a + pyramidal top, covered with a fine silk brocade adorned with + ostrich feathers, and having a small book of prayers and charms + placed in the midst of it, wrapped up in a piece of silk. (My + description is taken from the Egyptian Mahmal.) When on the road, + it serves as a holy banner to the caravan; and on the return of + the Egyptian caravan, the book of prayers is exposed in the mosque + El Hassaneyn, at Cairo, where men and women of the lower classes + go to kiss it and obtain a blessing by rubbing their foreheads + upon it. No copy of the Koran, nor any thing but the book of + prayers, is placed in the Cairo Mahmal. I believe the custom to + have arisen in the battle-banner of the Bedouins, called Merkeb + and Otfe, which I have mentioned in my remarks on the Bedouins, + and which resemble the Mahmal, inasmuch as they are high wooden + frames placed upon camels. + + + * * * * * + + +SOUTH AMERICAN MANNERS + +_From the Memoirs of General Miller, Second Edition._ + + +In the Pampas, where a scarcity of food is unknown to the poorest, that +calculating avarice which, in its fears for to-morrow, would look with +apathy on the wants of the stranger, can have but a limited sway. Kind +offices are, therefore more freely and disinterestedly conferred than +in less abundant regions. In addition to this, the dearth of society +in a thinly-sprinkled population renders the presence of a traveller +on their isolated _haciendas_ a source of gratification. If his +appearance afford no ground for mistrust, and if his manners are not +disagreeable, his being a stranger is a sufficient passport to a kind +and hearty welcome. Whether he be rich or poor is not a subject of +inquiry, and makes no difference in the reception. + +The South Americans are gay, and fond of dancing, music, and singing. +There are few, whether wealthy or otherwise, who are not proficients in +one or other of these accomplishments. In the warmer latitudes, people +carry on not only their usual occupations, but their amusements, chiefly +in the open air; and as singing constitutes one of the principal sources +of the latter, the continued exercise of the voice harmonizes and +strengthens it. Perhaps no opera, in Europe, could afford, to a natural +and unsophisticated ear, so rich a treat as that which may be enjoyed in +Cuzco, Arequipa, and other cities, where the ancient Peruvian airs are +sung in the rich and melodious tones of the natives. + +The South Americans possess great intellectual quickness, and a +retentive memory. The following may be cited as an extraordinary +instance of the latter faculty. An old man, a native of La Pax, in Upper +Peru, and of unmixed Indian blood, who kept an inn at Curicavi, between +Valparaiso and Santiago, could repeat nearly the whole of Robertson's +"History of Charles the Fifth," and was better acquainted with the +History of England than most Englishmen. He spoke of Queen Boadicea, and +was as familiar with the history of the civil wars between the houses +of York and Lancaster as if they had occurred in his country, and in +his own times. He had been brought up by the Jesuits. He had made two +voyages to Canton, and was known by the name of "the emperor of China," +in consequence frequently of amusing his guests with long stories about +the _celestial empire_. + +The Peruvians have great natural talents for painting and sculpture. +They generally produce striking likenesses, but being uninstructed in +the principles of these arts, their pictures have no other merit. There +is, however, a female figure, done in 1711, by a native of Quito, which +is considered as one of the finest paintings in a very good collection +belonging to Mynheer Vandermarlin, of Brussels. + + * * * * * + + +ORATORIOS. + + +The first oratorio performed in London, was at the Lincoln's Inn Fields +Theatre, in 1732. On June 10, in the same year, the serenata of _Acis +and Galatea_ was performed at the Italian Opera House, in English, by +Italian performers, with scenery representing a rural prospect, with +rocks, groves, fountains, and grottoes; amongst which were disposed a +chorus of nymphs and shepherds, with dresses and "every other decoration +suited to the subject."--_Companion to the Theatres_. + + * * * * * + +Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by ERNEST FLEISCHER, 626, New Market, Leipsic; +and by all Newsmen and Booksellers. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13578 *** |