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diff --git a/14010-h/14010-h.htm b/14010-h/14010-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4eb27d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/14010-h/14010-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1702 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Mirror of Literature, Issue 574.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + .note, .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .figure {padding: 1em; margin: 0; text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em; margin: auto;} + .figure img {border: none;} + --> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14010 ***</div> + + <hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%" summary="Banner"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>VOL. XX., NO. 574.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1832.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> +<h2> + LYDFORD BRIDGE. +</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/574-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/574-1.png" +alt="Lydford Bridge." /></a><br /> +<b>LYDFORD BRIDGE.</b> +</div> +<p> +This is an interesting scene from the wild and wonderful in Nature. +Its romantic luxuriance must win the attention of the artist, and the +admiration of the less wistful beholder; while the philosophic mind, +unaccustomed to vulgar wonder, may seek in its formation the cause of +some of the most important changes of the earth's surface. Our esteemed +friend and correspondent <i>Vyvyan</i>, is probably familiar with the +locality of Lydford: his fancy might people it with pixies, and group +its scenery into a kind of topographical romance; probably not unaided +by its proximity to Dartmoor.<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> +</p> +<p> +Lydford is situated about seven miles north of Tavistock. It is, in the +words of its topographers,<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> a poor decayed village, consisting of rude +cottages. It was formerly a place of importance: for in Domesday Book, +it is rated in the same manner and at the same time with London. Some +remains of its ancient importance may still be seen in a square tower, +or keep of a castle, which was formerly used as a court and a prison, +where those criminals were tried and confined, who offended against the +Stannary Laws. This building is alluded to by William Browne<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a>— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> They have a castle on a hill;</p> + <p> I took it for an old windmill,</p> +<p class="i2"> The vane's blown off by weather;</p> + <p> To lie therein one night, its guest,</p> + <p> 'Twere better to be ston'd and prest,</p> +<p class="i2"> Or hang'd—now choose you whether.</p> +</div></div> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> +</p> +<p> +The scenery round the village is singularly picturesque: one of its most +prominent objects, <i>The Bridge</i> is represented in the Engraving. +It bears great analogy, in situation and character, to the celebrated +Devil's Bridge in Wales. It consists of one rude arch, thrown across a +narrow, rocky chasm, which sinks nearly eighty feet from the level of +the road. At the bottom of this channel the small river Lyd is heard +rattling through its contracted course. The singularity of this scene +is not perceived in merely passing over the bridge: to appreciate +its character, and comprehend its awfully impressive effects, it is +necessary to see the bridge, the chasm, and the roaring water, from +different projecting crags which impend over the river. At a little +distance below the bridge, "the fissure gradually spreads its rocky +jaws; the bottom opens; and, instead of the dark precipices which have +hitherto overhung and obscured the struggling river, it now emerges into +day, and rolls its murmuring current through a winding valley, confined +within magnificent banks, darkened with woods, which swell into bold +promontories, or fall back into sweeping recesses, till they are lost to +the eye in distance. Thickly shaded by trees, which shoot out from the +sides of the rent, the scene at Lydford Bridge is not so terrific as it +would have been, had a little more light been let in upon the abyss, +just sufficient to produce a <i>darkness visible</i>. As it is, however, +the chasm cannot be regarded without shuddering; nor will the stoutest +heart meditate unappalled upon the dreadful anecdotes connected with the +spot."<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> +</p> +<p> +Scenes of this description frequently give rise to marvellous stories; +and Lydford Bridge has furnished many themes for the gossip's tongue. +It is related, that a London rider was benighted on this road, in a +heavy storm, and, wishing to get to some place of shelter, spurred +his horse forward with more than common speed. The tempest had been +tremendous during the night; and in the morning the rider was informed +that Lydford Bridge had been swept away with the current. He shuddered +to reflect on his narrow escape; his horse having cleared the chasm by +a great sudden leap in the middle of his course, though the occasion of +his making it at the time was unknown. +</p> +<p> +Two or three persons have chosen this spot for self-destruction; and in +a moment of desperation, have dashed themselves from the bridge into the +murky chasm. +</p> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Libels on Poets.</i>—Cicero tells us, Democritus and Plato said that +there could be no good poet without a tincture of madness; and Aristotle +calls poets madmen.—P.T.W. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THOU WERT THE RAINBOW OF MY DREAMS. +</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> Thou wert the rainbow of my dreams,</p> +<p class="i2"> To whom the eyes of Hope might turn,</p> + <p> And bid her sacred flame arise</p> +<p class="i2"> Like incense from the festal urn;</p> + <p> But as the thunder clouds conspire</p> +<p class="i2"> To wreck the lovely summer sky,</p> + <p> So Death destroyed the liquid fire</p> +<p class="i2"> Which shone so brightly in thine eye!</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> The cypress weeps upon thy tomb:</p> +<p class="i2"> But when the stars unfold their leaves</p> + <p> Amid their bow'rs of purple gloom,</p> +<p class="i2"> More fervently my spirit grieves;</p> + <p> And as the rainbow sheds its light</p> +<p class="i2"> In fairy hues upon the sea,</p> + <p> So this cold world appears more bright</p> +<p class="i2"> When pensive Memory thinks of thee!</p> +</div></div> +<h4> + G.R.C. +</h4> +<hr /> +<h3> + LORD BYRON. +</h3> +<p> +Translation of a letter written by Lord Byron, in Greek and Italian, to +the Pacha of Patras.<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> +</p> +<p> +Highness.—A vessel containing several of my friends and servants, +having been captured and conducted by a Turkish frigate to your +fortresses, was released by your highness' command. I return you thanks, +not for releasing a vessel bearing a neutral flag, and which being under +British protection, no one had a right to detain; but for having treated +my friends with great courtesy while at your disposal. Hoping it may not +be unacceptable to your highness, I have requested the Greek Governor of +this place to grant me four Turkish prisoners; which has been readily +conceded. I send them therefore, free, to your highness, in order to +return your courtesy as far as is in my power. They are sent without +conditions, but if the affair is worthy of your remembrance, I would +merely beseech your highness to treat with humanity such Greeks as are +in your power, or may chance to fall into the hands of the Musselmen, +since the horrors of war are sufficient in themselves, without adding +on either side cruelties in cold blood. +</p> +<p> +I have the honour to be, &c. +</p> +<p> +NOEL BYRON, Peer of England. +</p> +<p> +<i>Missolonghi, Jan. 23, 1824.</i> +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + WHEN WILT THOU RETURN? +</h3> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> When wilt thou return?</p> +<p class="i2"> The silver clouds are closing</p> + <p> Like billows o'er the fairy path</p> +<p class="i2"> Of sunset there reposing; </p> + <p> The sapphire fields of heaven,</p> +<p class="i2"> With its golden splendour burn,</p> + <p> And purple is the mountain peak,—</p> +<p class="i2"> But when wilt thou return?</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> When wilt thou return?</p> +<p class="i2"> The woods are bright with summer,</p> + <p> And the violet's bower is grac'd</p> +<p class="i2"> With the rose—a queenly comer;</p> + <p> The stars, that in the air</p> +<p class="i2"> Like ethereal spirits burn,</p> + <p> Seem watching for thy steps,—</p> +<p class="i2"> Oh I when wilt thou return?</p> +</div></div> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> When wilt thou return?</p> +<p class="i2"> The sheathless sword is idle,</p> + <p> And each warrior from his steed</p> +<p class="i2"> Has thrown aside the bridle.</p> + <p> Hark!—'tis the trumpet's call!</p> +<p class="i2"> With hope our bosoms burn;</p> + <p> Its echo wakes the distant hills,</p> +<p class="i2"> Announcing thy return!</p> +</div></div> +<h4> + G.R.C. +</h4> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + ANECDOTE GALLERY. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + RECORDS OF MY LIFE. +</h3> +<h4> +BY THE AUTHOR OF "MONSIEUR TONSON." +</h4> +<center> +<i>Angelica Kauffman.</i> +</center> +<p> +The person of this lady, by all accounts, was highly interesting, and +her manners and accomplishments were peculiarly attractive. It is said +that Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was thoroughly acquainted with human +nature, and never likely to be deceived in his estimate of individuals, +was so much attached to her that he solicited her hand. It appeared, +however, that she refused him as she was attached to the late Sir +Nathaniel Holland, then Mr. Dance, an eminent painter, whose portrait +of Garrick in the character of Richard the Third is the best and most +spirited representation of that unrivalled actor that ever appeared, +though all the most distinguished artists of the time employed +themselves on the same admirable subject. The correspondence that had +taken place between Mrs. Kauffman and Mr. Dance became known, and was +thought to be of a very interesting description, insomuch that his +Majesty George the Third, who generally heard of anything worthy of +attention, requested Mr. Dance would permit him to peruse the letters +that had passed between them during their courtship. What put a period +to an intercourse which, being founded upon mutual attachment, held +forth so favourable a prospect of mutual happiness, has never been +developed, and is only matter of conjecture. Mrs. Kauffman, after +the termination of this promising courtship, went abroad, and was +unfortunately deluded into a marriage with a common footman, in Germany, +who had assumed a title and appeared to be a person of high rank and +affluence. Mrs. Kauffman, it is said, by the intervention of friends +had recourse to legal authorities, was enabled to separate from the +impostor, but did not return to this country, and died a few years +after, having never recovered her spirits after the shock of so +degrading an alliance. It is not a little surprising that a lady so +intelligent and accomplished should have been the victim of such a +deception. +</p> +<center> +<i>Highwaymen.—Jemmy Maclaine.</i> +</center> +<p> +Mr. Donaldson told me that once having betted twenty pounds on a horse +at Newmarket, he won, but at the end of the race could not find the +person who had lost. Returning to London the next day, his post-chaise +was stopped by a highwayman, whom he immediately recognised as the loser +of the day before. He addressed the highwayman as follows: "Sir, I will +give you all I have about me if you will pay me the twenty pounds which +I won of you yesterday at Newmarket." The man instantly spurred his +horse, and was off in a moment. It is somewhat strange that, soon after +Mr. Donaldson landed in Jamaica, he saw the same man in a coffee-house. +He approached him, and in a whisper reminded him of his loss at +Newmarket; the man rushed out of the room, and, according to report +went to the Blue Mountains, and was never heard of again. +</p> +<p> +Mr. Donaldson was in real danger from another highwayman, who was +celebrated in his day, and known as a fashionable man by the name +of Maclaine. This man came from Ireland, and made a splendid figure +for some time, but as his means of support were not known, he was +generally considered as a doubtful character. He was by all accounts +a tall, showy, good-looking man, and a frequent visitor at Button's +Coffee-house, founded, as is well known, by Addison, in favour of an old +servant of the Warwick family, but never visited by him, when driven +from his home by the ill-humour of his wife; he then resorted to Will's, +on the opposite side of the same street, that he might not be reminded +of domestic anxieties. Button's was on the south side of Russell-street, +Covent-garden; and Will's in the same street, at the corner of +Bow-street. Button's became a private house, and Mrs. Inchbald lodged +there. Mr. Donaldson, observing that Maclaine paid particular attention +to the bar-maid, the daughter of the landlord, gave a hint to the father +of Maclaine's dubious character. The father cautioned his daughter +against the addresses of Maclaine, and imprudently told her by whose +advice he put her on her guard; she as imprudently told Maclaine. The +next time Donaldson visited the coffee-room, and was sitting in one of +the boxes, Maclaine entered, and in a loud tone said, "Mr. Donaldson, +I wish to <i>spake</i> to you in a private room." Mr. Donaldson being +unarmed, and naturally afraid of being alone with such a man, said in +answer, that as nothing could pass between them that he did not wish the +whole world to know, he begged leave to decline the invitation. "Very +well," said Maclaine, as he left the room, "we shall <i>mate</i> again." +A day or two after, as Mr. Donaldson was walking near Richmond in the +evening, he saw Maclaine on horseback, who on perceiving him spurred the +animal and was rapidly approaching him; fortunately, at that moment a +gentleman's carriage appeared in view, when Maclaine immediately turned +his horse towards the carriage, and Donaldson +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>[pg 292]</span> +hurried into the protection of Richmond as fast as possible. But for the +appearance of the carriage, which presented better prey, it is probable +that Maclaine would have shot Mr. Donaldson immediately. Maclaine a +short time after committed a highway robbery, was tried, found guilty, +and hanged at Tyburn. +</p> +<center> +<i>Extraordinary Story.</i> +</center> +<p> +What the religious principles of Mr. Donaldson were, I never knew, +but I am sure he had too manly a mind to give way to superstition. +The following circumstance, however, he told me as a fact in which he +placed full confidence, on account of the character of the gentleman +who related it. The latter was a particular friend of his, and a member +of Parliament. In order to attend the House of Commons, he had taken +apartments in St. Anne's Churchyard, Westminster. On the evening when +he took possession, he was struck with something that appeared to him +mysterious in the manner of the maid-servant, who looked like a man +disguised; and he felt a very unpleasant emotion. This feeling was +strengthened by a similar deportment in the mistress of the house, who +soon after entered his room, and asked him if he wanted anything before +he retired to rest: disliking her manner, he soon dismissed her, and went +to bed, but the disagreeable impression made on his mind by the maid +and mistress, kept him long awake; at length, however, he fell asleep. +During his sleep he dreamed that the corpse of a gentleman, who had +been murdered, was deposited in the cellar of the house. This dream +co-operating with the unfavourable, or rather repulsive countenances and +demeanour of the two women, precluded all hopes of renewed sleep, and +it being the summer season, he arose about five o'clock in the morning, +took his hat, and resolved to quit a house of such alarm and terror. +To his surprise, as he was leaving it, he met the mistress in the +entry, dressed, as if she had never gone to bed. She seemed to be +much agitated, and inquired his reason for wishing to go out so early +in the morning. He hesitated a moment with increased alarm, and then +told her that he expected a friend, who was to arrive by a stage in +Bishopsgate-street, and that he was going to meet him. He was suffered +to go out of the house, and when revived by the open air, he felt, as +he afterwards declared, as if relieved from impending destruction. He +stated that in a few hours after, he returned with a friend to whom +he had told his dream, and the impression made on him by the maid and +the mistress; he, however, only laughed at him for his superstitious +terrors, but on entering the house, they found that it was deserted, and +calling in a gentleman who was accidentally passing, they all descended +to the cellar, and actually found a corpse in the state which the +gentleman's dream had represented. +</p> +<center> +<i>Drawing an Inference.</i> +</center> +<p> +Dr. Monsey, with two or three old members of the university, in the +course of an evening walk, differed about a proper definition of man. +While they were severally offering their notions on the subject, +they came to a wall where an itinerant artist had drawn various +representations of animals, ships, &c. After complimenting him on +his skill, one of the gentlemen asked him if he could <i>draw an +inference</i>. "No," said the artist, "I never saw one." Logic then gave +way to jocularity, and a man coming by with a fine team of horses, they +stopped him, spoke highly of the condition of his horses, particularly +admiring the first. "That horse, carter," said another of the gentlemen, +"seems to be a very strong one, I suppose he could draw a butt," The man +assented. "Do you think he could <i>draw an inference?"</i>—"Why," said +the man, "he can draw anything <i>in reason</i>." "There," said Monsey, +"what becomes of your definition, when you met a man that could <i>not +draw an inference</i> and a <i>horse that could?</i>" +</p> +<center> +<i>Disposal of the body for Dissection.</i> +</center> +<p> +Dr. Monsey had the utmost contempt for funeral ceremonies, and exacted +a promise from his daughter, that she would not interfere with the +arrangement which he had made with Mr. Thompson Forster, the surgeon, +for the disposal of his body, conceiving that whenever it was dissected +by that gentleman, something might occur for the illustration and +advancement of anatomy. "What can it signify to me," said he, "whether +my carcass is cut up by the knife of a surgeon, or the tooth of a worm?" +He had a large box in his chambers at Chelsea, full of air-holes, for +the purpose of carrying his body to Mr. Forster, in case he should be +in a trance when supposed to be dead. It was provided with poles, like +a sedan-chair. +</p> +<center> +<i>Voltaire.</i> +</center> +<p> +Mentioning Voltaire, I may as well relate in this place a circumstance +communicated to me by Monsey, upon what he deemed good authority, that +Voltaire being invited to dine with a lady of quality while he was in +London, to meet some persons of distinction, waited upon the lady an +hour or two earlier than the time appointed. The lady apologized for the +necessity of leaving him, as she had visits to pay, but begged he would +amuse himself with the books in the room, promising to return very soon. +After the party broke up, having occasion to refer to her escrutoire, +she evidently found that it had been opened in her absence, and though +nothing had been taken away, her papers were obviously not in +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>[pg 293]</span> +the same +order as when she left them. She inquired anxiously who had been in the +room, and was assured nobody but Voltaire, who had remained there till +she returned home. As Voltaire was destitute of all religious principles +it is not wonderful that he was equally devoid of all moral delicacy. +A severe account of his conduct towards the great King of Prussia, while +he was at the court of that monarch, is given in "The Reverie," a work +before referred to. +</p> +<p> +Voltaire once dined in company with Pope, Lord Bolingkroke, and several +of the most distinguished characters in London, and said it was "the +proudest day he had ever enjoyed." +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> +THE CINQUE PORTS—THEIR PAST AND PRESENT STATE. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>Abridged from the United Service Journal.</i>) +</center> +<p> +The precise time when the Cinque Ports were first incorporated by +charter is unknown, but it was at a very early period of our history; +the institution being formed on that adopted by the Romans, while +masters of Britain, for the defence of the coasts against the northern +pirates. The difference between them consists in the number of the +stations incorporated, the Roman being nine, under the governance of an +officer whose title was, Comes littoris Saxonici; and the Saxon +consisting of five, under the superintendence of a chief, whose title +is, Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports. There is no charter +extant of the ports prior to Edward I.; and as they are not mentioned +collectively in Domesday, many persons have been led to conclude, I +think erroneously, that they did not exist as a corporation at the time +when that ancient record was taken. Dover, Sandwich, and Romney are +named as privileged ports, from which it may be inferred, that the +corporation flourished at that time,—and for this reason,—Hastings has +always been considered the first port in precedency, which would not +probably have been the case, if it had been one of the latest +privileged. The charter of Edward I. mentions immunities granted to the +Cinque Ports by William the Conqueror; and, what is still more to the +purpose, because it carries back their origin to the Saxon times, is, +that King John, in his charter, says, that the Barons of the Cinque +Ports had in their possession, charters of most of the preceding kings, +back to Edward the Confessor, <i>which he had seen</i>. So, having +traced them up to a Saxon origin, I must leave to some future antiquary +the task of settling the precise date of their first incorporation. +</p> +<p> +The five incorporated ports are, Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, +and Hythe. Attached to each port are several limbs or members, the +inhabitants of which participate in their privileges, and bear a share +of their expenses. Rye and Winchelsea were united to Hastings about the +first year of the reign of King John, under the denomination of the two +ancient towns, and they appear to have obtained the superiority which +they now hold over the other limbs, at a very early period, a charter +of the year 1247 styling them, by way of eminence,<i>nobiliora membra +Quinque Portuum.</i> The limbs are first mentioned in the Red-Book +of the Exchequer, a miscellaneous collection of treatises, written +before and after the Conquest, and collected together by Alexander +de Swereford, Archdeacon of Shrewsbury, an officer of the Exchequer, +who died in 1246: and also in the Domesday of the Ports, an ancient +manuscript, formerly kept in Dover castle, but now unfortunately lost; +but they do not occur in any charter till that of Edward IV. By what +means or for what purpose these limbs became united to the five head +ports, is now matter of speculation. +</p> +<p> +The duties which the Ports were bound to perform were incessant and of +the most arduous character, particularly during the early years of the +institution, when the narrow seas were constantly infested by numerous +hordes of fierce, adventurous, and reckless pirates. Exonerated from all +other services, they were bound to exert their own naval force for the +protection of the realm, for the maintenance of the free navigation of +the Channel, for the prevention of piracies, and all impediments and +interruptions whatsoever. Effectually to perform these services, +dangerous and difficult it must be allowed, they were obliged to furnish +among them fifty-seven ships, each manned with twenty men and one boy, +at their own cost, for fifteen days, and for as long a period afterwards +as the king pleased to appoint; but they were then entitled to receive +pay for their services. The sums granted to them by the crown were by no +means a remuneration for the expenses attendant on the large naval force +they wore obliged to keep up at all times for the service of the +kingdom, and often did not cover a third part of the necessary +expenditure. The ships of the Cinque Ports, therefore, were the navy of +the realm, and in almost every reign the pages of history show with how +great honour and reputation the Ports discharged the sacred trust +reposed in their valour, skill and bravery, by their confiding country. +We sometimes find them fitting out double the number of ships specified +in their charters; and when larger ones were thought necessary, they +have equipped a smaller number, at an expense equivalent to that which +their service by tenure demanded. In the reign of Elizabeth they had +five ships, of one hundred and sixty tons +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> +each, at sea for five months, +entirely at their own charge; and in the reign of Charles the First, +they fitted out two large ships, which served for two months, and cost +them more than eighteen hundred pounds. +</p> +<p> +The honours and privileges granted to the Cinque Ports, in consideration +of these services, were great and numerous. They were each to send two +barons to represent them in parliament; they were, by their deputies, +to hear the canopy over the king's head at his coronation, and to dine +at the uppermost table, on his right hand, in the great hall; they were +exempted from subsidies and other aids; their heirs were free from +personal wardship, notwithstanding any tenure; they were to be impleaded +in their own towns, and nowhere else; they were to hold pleas and +actions real and personal; to have conusance of fines; and the power +of enfranchising villeins; they were exempt from tolls, and had full +liberty of buying and selling, with many other privileges of less +importance. +</p> +<p> +To direct the energies, to enforce the due performance of the important +services, and to protect the extraordinary privileges of the Ports, an +officer was created, and styled Lord Warden, Chancellor, and Admiral of +the Cinque Ports, an officer of such high dignity and honour, that it +has been sometimes executed by the heirs-apparent to the crown, often by +princes of the blood royal, and always by persons of the first rank in +the kingdom. +</p> +<p> +History affords abundant proof of the early grandeur and importance +of the Cinque Ports, situated in a district which, from the earliest +periods of authentic record, has been allowed to be the most fertile, +and the best cultivated in the kingdom, as well as the principal seat of +foreign commerce. Here the Roman power in Britain shone in its greatest +splendour; many good ports were constructed and fortified, large remains +of which exist to the present time, melancholy indications of the +instability of all mundane things. The prosperity and importance of this +district, the chief, or indeed the only, seat of maritime power, at that +period, cannot be better illustrated than by the fact of Carausius and +Allectus holding the title of emperors for ten years from the power +afforded them by the naval force of Britain. But the grandeur of the +Romans has faded into dimness, and of their magnificence nothing remains +but mouldering ruins. Their celebrated haven, situated between Kent and +the Isle of Thanet, which for position, extent, and safety, exceeded any +which we have remaining, is now lost; and of their other ports, some are +completely annihilated, others have become very inconsiderable, and all +very greatly impaired. +</p> +<p> +Under our Saxon ancestors, by whom the Cinque Ports were first +chartered, all the havens were open and in good condition, in which +state they were found by the Normans, who confirmed to the Ports their +ancient privileges. Through several centuries their prosperity continued +to increase; the towns were well built, fully inhabited, and in +possession of a lucrative and extensive commerce; they had many fine +ships constantly employed, and abounded with hardy and intrepid seamen; +opulence was visible in their streets, and happiness in their dwellings. +But times have sadly changed with them. Let us inquire into the causes +which led to their decay. The first cause is the failing of their +several havens, some by the desertion of the sea, and others from being +choked up by the impetuosity of that boisterous and uncertain element. +The second is the change that has taken place in the method of raising +and supporting a national marine, now no longer entrusted to the Cinque +Ports; and the third was from the invasion of their privileges with +respect to trade. +</p> +<p> +It is evident from their history that the Cinque Ports were once safe +and commodious harbours, the decay of which is attributable chiefly to +the practice of inning or gaining land from the sea; the first attempts +at which were made upon the estuary into which the river Rother +discharges itself, between Lydd and Romney. As there were marshes here +in the time of the Saxons, and as almost all the property in the +neighbourhood belonged to the church, it is most probable that this +mischievous practice was first introduced by their clergy. By various +operations the river was forced into a new channel, and a very strong +fence, called a ree, was built to ensure its perpetual exclusion. +The success which attended this operation roused the cupidity of the +Archbishops of Canterbury, who considering it as an excellent method +for increasing their property, continued to make large and successful +inroads on the sea, till the tract of land so gained may be computed +at between fifty and sixty thousand acres, now become rich and fertile +pastures, producing good rents, and extremely valuable. +</p> +<p> +Before these encroachments were effected upon the sea, no contention +existed between that turbulent element and the shore; but as soon as +cupidity made inroads upon its ancient boundary, and declared war +against the order of nature, the effects of its impetuous resentment +were speedily felt. Whoever supposes he can control old Ocean, or make +war upon his ancient border with impunity, will find himself mistaken, +and soon discover that he knew little of the perseverance, the genius, +or the power of his opponent. It retired from some towns and places +where they intended it should remain, and overflowed or washed away +others grown rich by its bounty; here it fretted and undermined the +shore till it fell, and there it cast up beach and sand, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>[pg 295]</span> +covering a good +soil with that which is both disagreeable and useless; and instead +of being the source of industry and wealth, it became the engine of +destruction and terror. Hastings, Romney, Hythe, Rye, and Winchelsea, +with their dependencies, are now totally gone as ports, and greatly +diminished in wealth and consequence. Winchelsea was once so large and +handsome, that Elizabeth, during one of her progresses, bestowed upon it +the appellation of Little London. Hythe formerly contained seven parish +churches, now reduced to one. Rye and Romney look as if the plague had +been raging through their dull and gloomy streets, and had carried +off nearly all the population. Hastings, though still flourishing +as a town, owes its prosperity to its having become a fashionable +sea-bathing-place; for as to a port or haven, there is not a vestige of +one remaining. Thus it will be seen that private individuals, for their +own benefit, have been suffered to gain from the sea fifty thousand +acres of pasture land, at a cost to the nation of five safe and +commodious harbours, and the ruin of their several towns; thus reversing +the political maxim, that private interest ought to give way to public +benefit. +</p> +<p> +Similar in state to the five towns just named, is the once-celebrated +and commodious port and town of Sandwich, now distant a mile and a half +from the sea. This circumstance, also, is not attributable to any +natural decline or desertion of the water, but to the long-continued +exertions of individuals, for the purpose of gaining land from that +estuary which formerly divided Kent from the Isle of Thanet. The estuary +is no more, and deplorable are the consequences which have followed its +loss; for towns have dwindled into villages, and villages into solitary +farm-houses, throughout the entire district through which it flowed; +trade and commerce have declined, and population has suffered a most +extensive and frightful reduction. +</p> +<p> +In exchange for the ancient prosperity of this neighbourhood, we have +large fens or salt marshes, rich in fertility and malaria; but in this, +as in the former contest, the sea has had the best of it; for Bede has +clearly expressed in his writings that "the Isle of Thanet was of +considerable bigness, containing, according to the English way of +reckoning, 600 families." Supposing, therefore, a family or a hide of +land to contain only 64 acres, the smallest quantity taken by any author +of credit, the quantity of land, at the time he wrote, will amount to +38,400 acres; which, exclusive of the salt marshes, is double the +quantity contained in the island at the present time; we have, +therefore, lost more land than we have gained, and, most unfortunately, +the safe and eligible port of Sandwich into the bargain. +</p> +<p> +The port of the town of Sandwich, was for centuries one of the best and +most frequented in the realm, producing to the revenue of the customs +between sixteen and seventeen thousand pounds. But with the decay of +her haven, commerce declined, and the revenue became so small, "that it +was scarcely sufficent to satisfy the customer of his fee:" a dull and +melancholy gloom is now spread through all her streets, and around her +walls, where, during the times that her haven was good and her woollen +manufactures were prosperous, naught was visible but activity, industry, +and opulence. Her sun has been long and darkly eclipsed; but with a +little well-directed exertion on the part of her inhabitants, and a +moderate expenditure, it might be made to shine again, though not, +perhaps, in all the brilliancy of its former splendour.<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6"><sup>6</sup></a> +</p> +<p> +Dover, the other port remaining to be noticed, is certainly a +flourishing town at present; but to what does it owe its prosperity? Not +to any of its advantages as one of the Cinque Ports, but to the +circumstances of its being the port of communication with out Gallic +neighbours, and to its having become frequented for the purpose of +sea-bathing, which latter is a recent event. As a sea-bathing place it +is likely it may appear cheerful and gay, even when the Continent is +closed against us; but before it became a candidate for the favour of +the migratory hordes of the summer months, it was, during the period of +a war with France, one of the dullest towns in the kingdom. +</p> +<p> +The last calamity which I shall notice, is the attack which was made +upon their home trade. They were, by their charter, to have full liberty +of buying and selling, which privilege was opposed by the citizens of +London, who disputed their right to buy and sell freely their woollens +in Blackwell Hall. The charter of the ports is one hundred years older +than that of London, but, notwithstanding this priority of right, the +citizens of London prevailed. The result was indeed calamitous, for +after the decay of the haven, the chief source of prosperity to the town +of Sandwich consisted in the woollen manufactures, and as the freedom of +buying and selling was now denied, the manufacturers immediately +removed, and were soon followed by the owners of the trading vessels, +and the merchants; and thus basely deprived of those advantages from +which arose their ancient opulence and splendour, they sank with +rapidity into that insignificance and poverty which have unfortunately +remained their +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> +inseparable companions up to the present hour. Among the +princes who have executed the high and honourable office of Lord Warden +of the Cinque Ports, we find the names of the brave and unfortunate +Harold, in the time of the Confessor, and Edward, Prince of Wales, in +the time of Henry III. Henry V., when Prince of Wales, held this office, +which was afterwards filled by Humphry, Duke of Gloucester. James II., +when Duke of York, was Lord Warden, as was also Prince George of +Denmark, with many other princes of the royal blood. In celebrated names +among the nobility, the catalogue of Lords Warden is eminently rich. +The family of Fiennes occurs frequently, as does also that of Montfort. +Hugh Bigod; several of the family of Cobham, as well as the names of +Burghersh, De Grey, Beauchamp, Basset, and De Burgh, are studded over +the calendar, in the early reigns. Edward, Lord Zouch, and George, Duke +of Buckingham, were Lords Warden in the reign of James I.; since that +period the office has been filled by the Duke of Ormond; the Earl of +Holdernesse, whose attention to the advantages of the ports was great; +Lord North, the late Mr. Pitt, whose affability and condescension, +added to a real regard for the prosperity of the Cinque Ports, and +an unremitted attention to the duties of the Wardenship, gained him +universal esteem; and lastly, by that honest and respected stateman, the +late Earl of Liverpool. The mantle of the ports has now fallen on his +Grace the Duke of Wellington, than whose name there does not exist a +greater in the catalogue of Lords Warden. The public spirit displayed +by the Duke, since his wardenship, cannot be too widely known, nor too +highly applauded,—his grace having paid into the Treasury, for the +public service, the whole amount of the proceeds of his office, as Lord +Warden, thus furnishing a noble example of magnanimity and +disinterestedness. +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + DRYBURGH ABBEY. +</h3> +<p> +[The clever stanzas transferred from a late number of the <i>Literary +Gazette</i> to No. 572 of <i>the Mirror</i>, are from the spirited pen +of Mr. Charles Swain: they are the most poetical and appropriate of the +tributes yet inscribed to the memory of Sir Walter Scott, although this +is but mean praise compared with their merit. In the <i>Gazette</i> of +Saturday last, the following additions are suggested by two different +correspondents, "though," as the editor observes, "they are offered with +great modesty by their authors."] +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> And after these, with hand in hand, the Sisters Troil appear;</p> + <p> Poor "Mina's" cheek was deadly pale, in "Brenda's" eye a tear;</p> + <p> And "Norna," in a sable vest, sang wild a funeral cry,</p> + <p> And waved aloft a bough of yew, in solemn mystery.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> "George Heriot" crap'd, and "Jenkin Vin" with prentice-cap in hand—</p> + <p> Ev'en "Lady Palla" left her shrine to join that funeral band;</p> + <p> But hood and veil conceal'd her form—yet, hark! in whisper's tone</p> + <p> She breathes a Christian's holy prayer for the mighty spirit flown.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> A wail!—a hollow, churchyard wail!—a wild weird-sister's cry!—</p> + <p> Ah! "Annie Winnie," thou too here?—and "Alice?"—vanish—fly!</p> + <p> "Not so," they shrieked, "we'll see the corse—the bonny corse; 'twas meet—</p> + <p> And pity 'twas we were not there to bind his winding sheet." </p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> Old "Owen" passed with tottering step, and lost and wandering looks;</p> + <p> "He's balanced his account," he cried, "and closed his earthly books;"</p> + <p> Bold "Loxley," with his bow unbent—unhelm'd "Le Belafré,"</p> + <p> Together pass'd—the archer wiped one silent tear away.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> Stern "Bridgenorth," with his daughter's arm hung on his own, stalk'd by;</p> + <p> The blushing "Alice" veils her face from "Julian Peveril's" eye:</p> + <p> "Alack-a-day," 'Daft Davie' cries—"come, follow, follow me,</p> + <p> We'll strew his grave with cowslip buds and blooming rosemary."</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> In distance from the mournful throng, like stars of other spheres,</p> + <p> The lovely "Mary Stuart" pays the homage of her tears,</p> + <p> With "Cath'rine Seymore" at the shrine of Scotia's dearest name,</p> + <p> And with her bends the "Douglas'" knees, with bold young "Roland Graeme."</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> But hark! what fairy melody comes wafted on the gale—</p> + <p> Oh! 'tis "Fenella's" sighing lute, in notes of woe and wail:</p> + <p> "Claud Halero" catches at the strain, and mourns the minstrel gone,</p> + <p> "His spirit rest in peace where sleeps the shade of glorious John!"</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> With spattered cloak, the ladies' knight, the gallant "Rawleigh" see,</p> + <p> "Sir Creveceux's" plume waves by his side, and "Durward's" fleur-de-lis;</p> + <p> There "Janet" leans on "Foster's" arm—e'en "Varney's" treacherous eye</p> + <p> Is moistened with a tear that speaks remorse's agony.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> Next, muffled in his sable cloak, "Tressilian" wends his way,</p> + <p> His slouching hat denies his brow the cheering light of day;</p> + <p> See how he dogs the proud earl's steps, as "Leicester" bears along</p> + <p> The lovely "Amy" on his arm through that sad mournful throng.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> There "Lillias" pass'd with fairy step, in hood and mantle green,</p> + <p> Her sire, "Redgauntlet's" eagle eye is fixed on her, I ween;</p> + <p> And "Wandering Willie" doffs his cap, to raise his sightless eye</p> + <p> To Heaven, and cried, "God rest his soul in yonder sunny sky!"</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> Here "Donald Lean," with fillibeg and tartan-skirted knee;</p> + <p> There pale was "Cleveland," as he slept by Stromness' howling sea;</p> + <p> With faltering step crept "Trapbois" by, with drooping palsied head,</p> + <p> More like a charnel truant stray'd from regions of the dead.</p> +</div></div> +<p> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> And thus they pass, a mournful train, the "squire," the "belted knight,"</p> + <p> The "hood and cowl," the ladies' page, and woman's image bright;</p> + <p> In distance now the solemn notes their requiem's chant prolong,</p> + <p> And now 'tis hush'd—to other ears they bear their funeral song.</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<hr class="full" /> +</div></div> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> "Two beauteous sisters, side by side, their wonted station kept;</p> + <p> The dark-eyed 'Minna' look'd to Heaven, the gentle 'Brenda' wept;</p> + <p> Wild 'Norna,' in her mantle wrapp'd, with noiseless step mov'd on,</p> + <p> 'Claud Halcro' in his grief awhile forgot e'en glorious 'John.'</p> +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> The princely 'Saladin' appear'd, aside his splendour laid,</p> + <p> And only by his graceful mien and piercing glance betray'd;</p> + <p> The lofty 'Edith,' followed by the silent 'Nubian slave,'</p> + <p> Dropp'd lightly, as she pass'd, a wreath upon the poet's grave."</p> +</div></div> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE TOPOGRAPHER. +</h2> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/574-2.png"><img width="100%" src="images/574-2.png" +alt="Lestingham Church." /></a> +</div> +<h3> + LESTINGHAM CHURCH. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>From a Correspondent.</i>) +</center> +<p> +Lestingham, which is supposed to signify <i>lasting-home</i>, is a village +near Kirkby Moorside, Yorkshire, the scene of Buckingham's death, so +caricatured by Pope in his <i>Dunciad</i>. It is remarkable on account +of its church, which is a most interesting edifice to the antiquary, +exhibiting a true specimen of Saxon architecture. The east end +terminates in a semicircular recess for the altar, resembling the +tribune of the Roman basilica. It was here that Cedd, bishop of the East +Saxons, or London, founded a monastery for Benedictines, about the year +648, or, some say, 655. The church of Lestingham was the first which was +built in this district, or the first of which we have any account. It +was originally constructed of wood, and it was not till many years after +that a stone one was erected. +</p> +<p> +Cedd was a Saxon missionary, educated at the monastery of Lindisfarne, +now Holy Island, not far from Bamburgh, the capital of Bernicia. +Ethelwald, king of Deira, knowing Cedd to be a man of real piety, +desired him to accept some land for the building of a monastery, at +which the king might attend to pray. Cedd availed himself of the +proposal, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page298" name="page298"></a>[pg 298]</span> +and chose Lestingham. Having fixed on the spot for the site of the +sanctuary, he resolved to consecrate it by fasting and prayer all the +Lent; eating nothing except on the Lord's day, until evening; and then +only a little bread, an egg, and a small quantity of milk diluted with +water; he then began the building. He established in it the same +discipline observed at Lindisfarne. Cedd governed his diocese many +years; and died of a plague, when on a visit to his favourite monastery +at Lindisfarne, where he had been ordained bishop by Finan; he was +interred here, 664, but his remains were taken up, and re-interred in +the present church, on the right side of the altar. +</p> +<div class="figure" style="width: 100%;"> +<a href="images/574-3.png"><img width="100%" src="images/574-3.png" +alt="(The Crypt.)" /></a> +</div> +<p> +The present Saxon church contains many relics of antiquity; as painted +glass, ancient inscriptions, &c.; but the most remarkable feature +of is interior is the celebrated crypt, or vault, formerly used as a +depository for the venerated relics of canonized prelates. At the east +end of this subterraneous retreat, from the window through which the +light faintly gleams, the scene is interesting to astonishment. Here +you perceive the massy arches ranged in perspective on huge cylindrical +pillars, with variously sculptured capitals, each differing from the +other, and all in the real Saxon style; to this add the groined roof, +and the stairs at the west end, leading up into the church, enveloped in +a luminous obscurity, from the scanty light admitted by the window at +the east end. From the account given by Venerable Bede, that the body +of Cedd was interred on the right of the altar, we may suppose that the +crypt was built after the erection of the church, though the time cannot +be ascertained. +</p> +<p> +About fifty years ago, the remaining part of the venerable monastery, +founded by Cedd, was razed, and its walls, hallowed by the dust of the +holy brotherhood, furnished materials for building. The Rev. W. Ellis, +the then incumbent, whose indignation, at the circumstance, was +unbounded, wrote some Latin verses on the subject; but they have been +lost in the stream of time, and, like the ashes of the hand that wrote +them, cannot be found. +</p> +<p> +The late Mr. Jackson, R.A., was a native of the village of Lestingham; +and, with feelings of regard for the land of his childhood, he proposed +to execute a painting, as an altar-piece for the church. His Grace the +archbishop of York and the Rev. F. Wrangham, were consulted on the +subject, and gave it their approval; but, we believe, the meritorious +artist died before he had finished the painting. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + NEW BOOKS. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. +</h3> +<p> +This book is a grievous failure—that is, if the merits of books are to +be adjudged with their titles. The writer is the author of <i>Stories of +Waterloo</i>, from whom better things might have been expected. He has +taken for his model, Mr. Lloyd's really excellent <i>Field Sports of the +North of Europe</i>; but he has woefully missed his mark. The title of +the work before us is equivocal: a reader might as reasonably expect the +Sports of the Western World, as adventures in Ireland, such as make up +the present volumes. What we principally complain of is the paucity of +Sports among their contents. It is true that the title also promises +Legendary Tales and Local Sketches, but here they are the substance, and +the Wild Sports mere shadow. We have too little of "the goodly rivers," +"all sorts of fish," "the sweet islands and goodly lakes, like little +inland seas," "of the most beautiful and sweet countrey," as Spenser +phrases it in the author's title-page; and there is not so much as the +author promises in his preface, of shooting the wild moors and fishing +the waters, of days spent by "fell and flood," and light and joyous +nights in mountain bivouacs and moorland huts. There is too much +hearsay, and storytelling not to the purpose, and trifling gossip of +"exquisite potatoes" and "rascally sherry"—details which would disgrace +a half-crown guide book, and ought certainly not to be set forth with +spaced large type in hotpressed octavos at a costly rate. Nevertheless, +the work may suit club-room tables and circulating libraries, though it +will not be allowed place for vivid display of Wild Sports. We quote two +extracts—one, a narrative which the author knows to be substantially +true; the other, relating to the attack of eagles, (though we omit the +oft-told tale of the peasant attempting to rob an eagle's nest, and his +hair turning white with fright):— +</p> +<center> +<i>The Blind Seal.</i> +</center> +<p> +About forty years ago a young seal was taken in Clew Bay, and +domesticated in the kitchen of a gentleman whose house was situated on +the sea-shore. It grew apace, became familiar with the servants, and +attached to the house and family; its habits were innocent and gentle, +it played with the children, came at its master's call, and, as the old +man described him to me, was "fond as a dog, and playful as a kitten." +</p> +<p> +Daily the seal went out to fish, and after providing for his own wants, +frequently brought in a salmon or turbot to his master. His delight in +summer was to bask in the sun, and in winter to lie before the fire, or, +if permitted, creep into the large oven, which at that time formed the +regular appendage of an Irish kitchen. +</p> +<p> +For four years the seal had been thus domesticated, when, unfortunately, +a disease, called in this country <i>the crippawn</i>—a kind of +paralytic affection of the limbs which generally +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> +ends fatally—attacked +some black cattle belonging to the master of the house; some died others +became infected, and the customary cure produced by changing them to +drier pasture failed. A wise woman was consulted, and the hag assured +the credulous owner, that the mortality among his cows was occasioned +by his retaining an unclean beast about his habitation—the harmless +and amusing seal. It must be made away with directly, or the crippawn +would continue, and her charms be unequal to avert the malady. The +superstitious wretch consented to the hag's proposal; the seal was put +on board a boat, carried out beyond Clare Island, and there committed to +the deep, to manage for himself as he best could. The boat returned, the +family retired to rest, and next morning a servant awakened her master +to tell him that the seal was quietly sleeping in the oven. The poor +animal over night came back to his beloved home, crept through an open +window, and took possession of his favourite resting-place. +</p> +<p> +Next morning another cow was reported to be unwell. The seal must now +be finally removed; a Galway fishing-boat was leaving Westport on her +return home, and the master undertook to carry off the seal, and not +put him overboard until he had gone leagues beyond Innis Boffin. It was +done—a day and night passed; the second evening closed—the servant +was raking the fire for the night—something scratched gently at the +door—it was of course the house-dog—-she opened it, and in came the +seal! Wearied with his long and unusual voyage, he testified by a +peculiar cry, expressive of pleasure, his delight to find himself at +home, then stretching himself before the glowing embers of the hearth +he fell into a deep sleep. +</p> +<p> +The master of the house was immediately apprized of this unexpected +and unwelcome visit. In the exigency, the beldame was awakened and +consulted; she averred that it was always unlucky to kill a seal, but +suggested that the animal should be deprived of sight, and a third time +carried out to sea. To this hellish proposition the besotted wretch who +owned the house consented, and the affectionate and confiding creature +was cruelly robbed of sight, on that hearth for which he had resigned +his native element! Next morning, writhing in agony, the mutilated seal +was embarked, taken outside Clare Island, and for the last time +committed to the waves. +</p> +<p> +A week passed over, and things became worse instead of better; the +cattle of the truculent wretch died fast, and the infernal hag gave +him the pleasurable tidings that her arts were useless, and that the +destructive visitation upon his cattle exceeded her skill and cure. +</p> +<p> +On the eighth night after the seal had been devoted to the Atlantic, it +blew tremendously. In the pauses of the storm a wailing noise at times +was faintly heard at the door; the servants, who slept in the kitchen, +concluded that the <i>Banshee</i> came to forewarn them of an approaching +death, and buried their heads in the bed-coverings. When morning broke +the door was opened—the seal was there lying dead upon the threshold!" +</p> +<p> +"Stop, Julius!" I exclaimed, "give me a moment's time to curse all +concerned in this barbarism." +</p> +<p> +"Be patient, Frank," said my cousin, "the <i>finale</i> will probably +save you that trouble. The skeleton of the once plump animal—for, poor +beast, it perished from hunger, being incapacitated from blindness to +procure its customary food—was buried in a sand-hill, and from that +moment misfortunes followed the abettors and perpetrators of this +inhuman deed. The detestable hag, who had denounced the inoffensive +seal, was, within a twelvemonth, hanged for murdering the illegitimate +offspring of her own daughter. Every thing about this devoted house +melted away—sheep rotted, cattle died, 'and blighted was the corn.' +Of several children none reached maturity, and the savage proprietor +survived every thing he loved or cared for. He died <i>blind</i> and +miserable. +</p> +<p> +"There is not a stone of that accursed building standing upon another. +The property has passed to a family of a different name, and the series +of incessant calamity which pursued all concerned in this cruel deed is +as romantic as true." +</p> +<center> +<i>Visit to the Eagle's Cliff, in Inniskea.</i> +</center> +<p> +We ascended the hill (while the crew were clearing and baiting their +spillets) in the vague hope of getting a shot at these predatory birds, +of whose spoliations we had heard so much on the preceding evening. +</p> +<p> +On reaching the bottom of the rock, in whose face the aërie stands, we +discovered that the old birds were absent, and as the nest was formed in +a deep fissure, we could not ascertain its situation exactly. But that +the eagles' dwelling was above us was evident, enough: the base of the +cliff was strewn with bones and feathers, and the accumulation of both +was extraordinary. The bones of rabbits, hares, and domestic fowls, were +most numerous, but those of smaller game, and various sorts of fish, +were visible among the heap. +</p> +<p> +Many attempts are annually made to destroy this predatory family. It is +impossible to rob the nest. Situated two hundred feet above the base of +the rock, it is of course unapproachable from below, and as the cliffs +beetle over it frightfully, to assail it from above would be a hazardous +essay. An enterprising peasant, some years since, was let +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> +down by a rope +and basket,—but he was fiercely attacked by the old birds, and the +basket nearly overturned. Fortunately the cord was strong and had +sufficient length to allow his being lowered rapidly, or he would have +undoubtedly sustained some bodily injury from the wings and talons of +those enraged and savage birds. +</p> +<p> +The village of Dugurth suffers heavily from its unfortunate proximity to +the aërie. When the wind blows from a favourable point, the eagle in the +grey of morning sweeps through the cabins, and never fails in carrying +off some prey. +</p> +<p> +To black fowls eagles appear particularly attached, and the villagers +avoid as much as possible rearing birds of that colour. +</p> +<p> +A few days before, one of the coast-guard, alarmed by the cries of a +boy, rushed from the watch-house; the eagle had taken up a black hen, +and, as he passed within a few yards, the man flung his cap at him. The +eagle dropped the bird; it was quite dead, however, the talons having +shattered the back-bone. The villagers say (with what truth I know not) +that turkeys are never taken. +</p> +<p> +That the eagle is extremely destructive to fish, and particularly so to +salmon, many circumstances would prove. They are constantly discovered +watching the fords in the spawning season, and are seen to seize and +carry off the fish. One curious anecdote I heard from my friend the +priest. Some years since a herdsman, on a very sultry day in July, while +looking for a missing sheep, observed an eagle posted on a bank that +overhung a pool. Presently the bird stooped and seized a salmon, and a +violent struggle ensued; when the herd reached the spot, he found the +eagle pulled under water by the strength of the fish, and the calmness +of the day, joined to drenched plumage, rendered him unable to extricate +himself. With a stone the peasant broke the eagle's pinion, and actually +secured the spoiler and his victim, for he found the salmon dying in his +grasp. +</p> +<p> +When shooting on Lord Sligo's mountains, near the Killeries, I heard +many particulars of the eagle's habit and history from a grey-haired +peasant who had passed a long life in these wilds. The scarcity of +hares, which here were once abundant, he attributed to the rapacity of +those birds; and he affirmed, that when in pursuit of these animals, the +eagle evinced a degree of intelligence that appeared extraordinary. They +coursed the hares, he said, with great judgment and certain success; one +bird was the active follower, while the other remained in reserve, at +the distance of forty or fifty yards. If the hare, by a sudden turn, +freed himself from his most pressing enemy, the second bird instantly +took up the chase, and thus prevented the victim from having a moment's +respite. +</p> +<p> +He had remarked the eagles also while they were engaged in fishing. +They chose a small ford upon the rivulet which connects Glencullen with +Glandullagh, and posted on either side waited patiently for the salmon +to pass over. Their watch was never fruitless,—and many a salmon, in +its transit from the sea to the lake, was transferred from his native +element to the wild aërie in the Alpine cliff; that beetles over the +romantic waters of Glencullen. +</p> +<p> +[The volumes are handsomely printed, and embellished with aqua-tint +plates and clever vignettes: some of the latter, by Bagg, are spirited +performances on wood.] +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + PETER THE GREAT. +</h3> +<p> +[What a mine of adventure and incident is the life of this extraordinary +man. A modern French writer enumerates 95 authors who have treated of +his actions, and concludes the list with <i>et cetera</i> threefold. +What a field for the editors of the compilation libraries—wherein they +may store their little garners or volumes to advantage. Such has the +editor of the <i>Family Library</i> done in the volume before us; although +he has only consulted one-fourth of the above number of authorities +for his memoir of the life of the Tzar. He prefaces with the modest +observation that he has done little more than bring together and arrange +the scattered fragments of Histories, Lives, Anecdotes, and Notices, in +manuscript and in print, "of one of the most extraordinary characters +that ever appeared on the great theatre of the world, in any age or +country;—a Being full of contradictions, yet consistent in all that he +did; a promoter of literature, arts, and sciences, yet without education +himself; the civilizer of his people, 'he gave a polish,' says Voltaire, +'to his nation, and was Himself a savage; he taught his people the art +of war, of which he was himself ignorant; from the first glance of a +small cock-boat, at the distance of five hundred miles of the nearest +sea, he became an expert ship-builder, created a powerful fleet, partly +constructed with his own hands, made himself an active and expert +sailor, a skilful pilot, a great captain: in short, he changed the +manners, the habits, the laws of the people, and very face of the +country." How different is this course of activity to the usual +luxurious lives of the sovereigns of civilized countries: how ill +assort Peter's "savage" notions with the accomplished ease and personal +elegance of a succeeding autocrat: how wide is the contrast between +Peter's ship-building education, and the youth of a prince passed +amidst court corruptionists—or pilotage over the boundless ocean, and +launching gilded pleasure-boats upon an unruffled lake; personally +watching the welfare of his subjects, or slinking into retirement, and +leaving their interests to the intrigues of party. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>[pg 301]</span> +Yet, such are a few +of the opposite characteristics—the every-day occupations—of the great +Tzar of Russia, and of the kingships of the last and present centuries. +</p> +<p> +The events of the life of Peter may be well known in detail to the +reader of the history of modern Europe. Yet they must be gathered from +many volumes; while in the above little book we have them brought in +amusing and sufficiently copious narrative, within 350 pages. We have +here the Tzar's war with Sweden—Narva, Pultowa, and the Pruth; but the +incidents that will prove most interesting to the <i>Family</i> readers +are the domestic habits—the unkingly life of Peter; and above all, his +visit to England—how he drank deeply of pepper and brandy, lodged in +Buckingham-street, Strand; spoiled Mr. Evelyn's holly hedge at Sayes; +and peeped from the roof of the House of Lords at the King upon his +throne. We shall therefore endeavour to abridge a few of these +entertaining anecdotic details from the chapter devoted to the Tzar's +stay in England.] +</p> +<p> +Two ships of war and a yacht, under the orders of Admiral Mitchell, were +despatched to Helvoetsluys to bring over the Tzar, who, with his suite, +consisting of Menzikoff and some others, whose names are not mentioned, +embarked at that port on the 18th of January, 1698, and on the 21st +reached London. Here no secret was attempted to be made of his rank, but +he requested to be treated only as a private gentleman; and it is +remarkable enough that, though he paid frequent visits to the King, and +attended his court, his name never once appears in the only official +paper which then, as indeed now, was and is in existence, the London +Gazette. Lord Shrewsbury, at this time, was Secretary of State for +Foreign Affairs; but as the Tzar came not in any public character, he +appears to have been placed under the especial charge of the Marquess +Carmarthen, who was made lord president of the Council in the following +year. Between this nobleman and Peter a very considerable intimacy took +place, which was uninterrupted during the Tzar's abode in England. A +large house was hired for him and his suite at the bottom of +York-buildings where, it is stated in a private letter, the Marquess and +he used to spend their evenings together frequently in drinking "hot +pepper and brandy." The great failing of Peter, indeed, was his love of +strong liquors. We find in one of the papers of the day, that he took a +particular fancy to the nectar ambrosia, "the new cordial so called, +which the author, or compounder of it, presented him with, and that his +Majesty sent for more of it." +</p> +<p> +Of the proceedings of the Tzar, during the four months he remained +in England, very little is recorded in the few journals or other +publications of that day; the former consisting chiefly of the +<i>Postmaster</i>, the <i>Postman</i>, and the <i>Postboy</i>. +</p> +<p> +In the <i>Postboy</i> it is stated that, on the day after his arrival, +the Tzar of Muscovy was at Kensington, to see his Majesty at dinner, as +also the court; but he was all the while <i>incognito.</i> And on the +Saturday following he was at the playhouse, to see the opera; that on +the Friday night the revels ended at the Temple, the same being +concluded by a fine masquerade, at which the Tzar of Muscovy was +present; that on the following Sunday he went in a hackney-coach to +Kensington, and returned at night to his lodgings in Norfolk-street,<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7"><sup>7</sup></a> +where he was attended by several of the King's servants. +</p> +<p> +His movements, during the rest of the month, were a journey to Woolwich +and Deptford, to see the docks and yards; then to the theatre, to see +the Rival Queens, or Alexander the Great; to St. James's, to be present +at a fine ball; and, it is further stated that he was about to remove +from Norfolk-street (York buildings) to Redriff, where a ship was +building for him; and that he was about to go to Chatham, to see a +man-of-war launched, which he was to name; and that on the 15th of +February, accompanied by the Marquess of Carmarthen, he went to +Deptford, and having spent some time on board the "Royal Transport," +they were afterwards splendidly treated by Admiral Mitchell. These are +the principal notices concerning the Tzar Peter contained in the +<i>Postboy.</i> +</p> +<p> +It is evident that London could not be very agreeable to him, on two +accounts; first, because his great object in coming here was to see our +dock-yard establishments, and to profit also by observing our mode of +making draughts of ships, and laying them off in the mould-loft; and to +acquire some knowledge in the theory of naval architecture and +navigation, which he had heard, when in Holland, was superior to what he +had seen or could obtain in that country, though it was assumed that the +mechanical part of finishing and putting together a ship was there fully +equal, if not superior, to ours. +</p> +<p> +In the next place, he was equally annoyed by the crowds he was +continually meeting in the streets of London, as he had been in +Amsterdam, and which he could not bear with becoming patience. It is +said that, as he was one day walking along the Strand, with his friend +the Marquess of Carmarthen, a porter, with a hod on his shoulder, rudely +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page302" name="page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> +pushed against him and drove him into the kennel. He was extremely +indignant, and ready to knock him down; but the Marquess interfering, +asked the man what he meant, and if he knew whom he had so rudely run +against, and "that it was the Tzar." The porter, turning round, replied, +with a grin, "Tzar! we are all Tzars here." But that which annoyed him +most of all, was the intrusion of our countrymen into his lodgings, and +into the room even where he was eating, to which they gained access +through the king's servants. Disgusted at their impertinent curiosity +he would sometimes rise from table, and leave the room in a rage. To +prevent this intrusion, he strictly charged his domestics not to admit +any persons whatever let their rank be what it might. A kind of forced +interview, however, was obtained by two Quakers, the account of which, +as given by one of them, is singular and interesting. +</p> +<p> +One month's residence having satisfied Peter as to what was to be seen +in London, and having expressed a strong desire to be near some of the +King's dockyards, it was arranged that a suitable residence should be +found near one of the river establishments; and the house of the +celebrated Mr. Evelyn, close to Deptford Dock-yard, being about to +become vacant, by the removal of Admiral Benbow, who was then its +tenant, it was immediately taken for the residence of the Tzar and +his suite; and a doorway was broken through the boundary wall of +the dock-yard, to afford a direct communication between it and the +dwelling-house. This place had then the name of Saye's Court. It was the +delight of Evelyn, and the wonder and admiration of all men of taste at +that time. The grounds are described, in the life of the Lord Keeper +Guildford, "as most boscaresque, being, as it were, an exemplary of +his (Evelyn's) book of forest trees." Admiral Benbow had given great +dissatisfaction to the proprietor as a tenant, for he observes in his +Diary—"I have the mortification of seeing, every day, much of my labour +and expense there impairing from want of a more polite tenant." It +appears, however, that the princely occupier was not a more "polite +tenant" than the rough sailor had been, for Mr. Evelyn's servant thus +writes to him,—"There is a house full of people <i>right nasty.</i> The +Tzar lies next your library, and dines in the parlour next your study. +He dines at ten o'clock and six at night; is very seldom at home a whole +day; very often in the King's yard, or by water, dressed in several +dresses. The King is expected there this day; the best parlour is pretty +clean for him to be entertained in. The King pays for all he has."<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8"><sup>8</sup></a> +But this was not all: Mr. Evelyn had a favourite holly-hedge, through +which, it is said, the Tzar, by way of exercise, used to be in the habit, +every morning, of trundling a wheel-barrow. Mr. Evelyn probably alludes +to this in the following passage, wherein he asks, "Is there, under the +heavens, a more glorious and refreshing object, of the kind, than an +impregnable hedge, of about four hundred feet in length, nine feet high, +and five in diameter, which I can still show in my ruined garden at +Saye's Court (thanks to the Tzar of Muscovy), at any time of the year, +glittering with its armed and variegated leaves; the taller standards, +at orderly distances, blushing with their natural coral? It mocks the +rudest assaults of the weather, beasts, or hedge-breakers,—et ilium +nemo impune lacessit."<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9"><sup>9</sup></a> +</p> +<p> +Alas! for the glory of the glittering hollies, trimmed hedges, and long +avenues of Saye's Court; Time, that great innovator, has demolished them +all, and Evelyn's favourite haunts and enchanting grounds have been +transformed into cabbage gardens; that portion of the Victualling-yard +where oxen and hogs are slaughtered and salted for the use of the navy, +now occupies the place of the shady walks and the trimmed hedges, which +the good old Evelyn so much delighted in; and on the site of the ancient +mansion now stands the common parish workhouse of Deptford Stroud. +</p> +<p> +We have little evidence that the Tzar, during his residence here, +ever worked as a shipwright; it would seem he was employed rather in +acquiring information on matters connected with naval architecture, from +that intelligent commissioner of the navy and surveyor, Sir Anthony +Deane, who, after the Marquess of Carmarthen, was his most intimate +English acquaintance. His fondness for sailing and managing boats, +however, was as eager here as in Holland; and these gentlemen were +almost daily with him on the Thames, sometimes in a sailing yacht, and +at others rowing in boats,—an exercise in which both the Tzar and the +Marquess are said to have excelled. The Navy Board received directions +from the Admiralty to hire two vessels, to be at the command of the +Tzar, whenever he should think proper to sail on the Thames, to improve +himself in seamanship. In addition to these, the King made him a present +of the "Royal Transport," with orders to have such alterations and +accommodations made in her, as his Tzarish Majesty might desire, and +also to change her masts, rigging, sails, &c., in any such way as he +might think proper for improving her sailing qualities. But his great +delight was to get into a small decked boat, belonging to the Dock-yard, +and taking only Menzikoff, and three or four others of his suite, to +work the vessel with them, he being the helmsman; by this practice he +said he should be able to teach them how to command ships when they +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>[pg 303]</span> +got home. Having finished their day's work, they used to resort to a +public-house in Great Tower-street, close to Tower Hill, to smoke their +pipes and drink beer and brandy. The landlord had the Tzar of Muscovy's +head painted and put up for his sign, which continued till the year +1808, when a person of the name of Waxel took a fancy to the old sign, +and offered the then occupier of the house to paint him a new one for +it. A copy was accordingly made from the original, which maintains its +station to the present day, as the sign of the "Tzar of Muscovy," +looking like a true Tartar. +</p> +<center> +(<i>To be concluded in our next.</i>) +</center> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE NATURALIST. +</h2> +<hr /> +<h3> + STOMACH OF THE OSTRICH. +</h3> +<center> +(<i>To the Editor</i>.) +</center> +<p> +Allow me to add, as a further illustration of the various and uncommon +substances sometimes found in the stomach of the Ostrich, mentioned at +page 262 of <i>The Mirror</i>, a fact which came under my own observation a +few months since, on the occasion of dissecting two full-grown birds +intended for the Surrey Zoological Gardens; but, which died while +performing quarantine in Stangate Creek. On opening the maw, the stomach +appeared distended to its fullest extent, and contained not less than +half a bushel of various substances, besides a large quantity of the +usual food in an undigested state, as, maize, barley, potatoes, onions, +&c. There was nearly a peck of stones, most of which were as smooth +and as highly polished as if they had passed through the hands of the +lapidary; a sample of which I enclose you. Among this mass I found +portions of tobacco-pipe, pieces of china and glass, brass buttons, +copper coins, nails, and what most likely caused the death of the bird, +a large quantity apparently of the head of a woollen mop, with portions +of oakum, which from its size and quantity had proved too much for the +bird to digest. It would appear, however, that many substances remain +for years in the folds of the stomach, without injury; as on opening +an Ostrich that died at Exeter 'Change after being some years in the +possession of Mr. Cross, there were found besides a large quantity of +rubbish, a handful of buttons, nails, marbles, stones, several keys, +the brass handle of a door, a copper extinguisher, a sailor's knife, a +butcher's hook, an iron comb, with penny pieces and coins to the amount +of 3<i>s.</i> 4-1/2<i>d.</i>; and besides these various articles, there +were several cowries, glass beads, such as are used for the purposes +of traffic by the natives of the Barbary Coast, whence the bird was +brought; and it never having had the opportunity of getting at such +articles while in a state of confinement, little doubt remains of their +having been swallowed by the bird while in its native country. +</p> +<p> +Another instance may be added of a full grown Ostrich, that was for some +time in the possession of the Consul of Tripoli: during the period of +the bird remaining at his house, a silver snuff box, of considerable +size and value, was missing, and many were the persons suspected of +having stolen it. The bird was after the lapse of a few months shipped +as a present on board a frigate, and died during the voyage. The captain +had it opened to ascertain if possible the cause of its death, when, in +the stomach were found nails, keys, pieces of iron and copper, part of +a lantern, and the identical snuffbox, although the chasing and sharp +edges were worn completely smooth by the action of the stomach. +</p> +<h4> +J. WARWICK. +</h4> +<p style="text-align: right;"> +<i>Surrey Zoological Gardens.</i> +</p> +<hr /> +<h3> + THE CONDOR. +</h3> +<p> +A pair of condors has lately been received from South America, for the +Surrey Zoological Gardens. They are male and female, and are stated to +be by far the largest specimens ever brought to this country, the male +measuring nearly 14 feet across the wings, and in height upwards of +three feet. They were brought from Chili, where they are sometimes met +with at an elevation of 15,000 feet above the level of the sea. During +the removal of the birds from the vessel, the male dropped one of his +largest wing feathers, the quill of which measures an inch and a half +in circumference. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2> + THE GATHERER. +</h2> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>The King</i>.—(<i>From the Spectator</i>.)—Touching the business habits of +the King, we have been favoured with the following statement, by a +gentleman on whose honesty we can place perfect reliance, and who has +ample opportunities of correct knowledge:—The attention of our present +excellent Sovereign to public business is truly exemplary; and whilst he +exceeds in regularity and despatch the habits of his late father,—whose +conduct in this respect has seldom been properly appreciated,—his +diligence forms a striking contrast to the supineness exhibited in the +late reign, when days and weeks sometimes elapsed before the Royal +signature could be obtained. +</p> +<p> +"The public learn from the Court Newsman that the King regularly comes +to town once a week, to receive his ministers, and for the transaction +of whatever business may be required; and these journeys are occasionally +repeated within a few days of each other without the slightest regard +for his personal convenience. Stronger proofs, however, exist of the +King's devotion to the duties of his +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page364" name="page364"></a>[pg 364]</span> +station. Every document submitted +for his consideration and signature, is executed and returned to +the proper office within twenty-four hours after he receives it, and +generally within twelve hours. If a letter be addressed to Sir Herbert +Taylor or to Sir Henry Wheatley, no matter how trifling may be its +subject, it is certain of receiving an immediate and polite answer, +the contents of which show that his Majesty must undoubtedly have been +consulted; and if the request be refused, regret is expressed, and a +satisfactory reason is usually assigned. Those only who are aware of the +masses of papers submitted to the King, or of the innumerable subjects +on which his pleasure is taken, can appreciate the promptness, courtesy, +and decision which he displays; whilst in giving audiences, the extent +of his information, and his business-like habits, excite equal surprise +and satisfaction. When it is remembered that the King is above +sixty-seven years of age, the labour which he undergoes seems +extraordinary; and the admirable manner in which he executes his duties, +is consequently entitled to still higher applause. His office is indeed +no sinecure; and it would be well for the country if every department of +the State, and every public officer imitated the example set them by the +Sovereign. +</p> +<p> +"Before concluding this subject, justice demands that the manner in +which Sir Herbert Taylor and Sir Henry Wheatley conduct the Royal +correspondence, should not pass unnoticed; for, doubtless, a share of +the praise which has been here expressed of their Master's decision and +promptness, is due to them, and more especially for the extreme courtesy +with which their letters are written." +</p> +<p> +We had before heard the fact of the King's extraordinary punctuality in +signing papers, with this addition, that when they are more than +ordinarily numerous, the Queen sits at the table with her Royal husband, +lays the papers before him, and when signed, removes and arranges them, +like a secretary. +</p> +<p> +<i>Learned "Ladies."</i>—Mr. Murphy used to relate the following story +of Foote's, the heroines of which were the ladies Cheere, Fielding, and +Hill, the last the widow of the celebrated Dr. Hill. He represented them +as playing at "I love my love with a letter;" Lady Cheere began, and +said, "I love my love with an N because he is a Night;" Lady Fielding +followed with "I love my love with a G, because he is a Gustis;" and "I +love my love with an F," said Lady Hill, "because he is a Fizishun." +Such was the imputed orthography of these learned ladies.—<i>Taylor's +Records.</i> +</p> +<p> +<i>Den.</i>—The names of places ending in den, as Biddenden, are +perhaps not generally known to signify the situation to be in a valley, +or near woods. +</p> +<h4> +J.E.J. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Mock-heroics.</i>—Cowper, in one of his letters to Joseph Hill, +reminds his friend of the following mock-heroic line, written at one of +their convivial meetings, called the Nonsense Club— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> "To whom replied the Devil, <i>yard-long-tail'd</i>;"</p> +</div></div> +<p> +And adds, "there never was anything more truly Grecian than that triple +epithet; and were it possible to introduce it either into the <i>Iliad</i> or +<i>Odyssey,</i> I should certainly steal it." This of course was written in +jest; and had the translator been disposed to exemplify his own pleasantry, +he might have found an opportunity in the well-known line of the sixth book +of the <i>Iliad</i>— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<p> +Αιδεομας + +Θρωας + +αι + +Θρωαδας + +ελκεσιπεπλους +</p> + <p><small>[Greek: Aideomas Trôas ai Trôadas elkesipeplous.]</small></p> + +</div><div class="stanza"> + <p> I dread the Trojan ladies, yard-long-tail'd;</p> +</div></div> +<p> +Of which Pope makes this sweeping periphrasis— +</p> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> + <p> "And Troy's proud dames, whose garments sweep the ground." </p> +</div></div> +<h4> + E.B.I. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Burton Ale.</i>—Many of our readers may recollect the dispute, about +three years since, between the Burton Ale brewers and the Useful +Knowledge Society, when the excellence of the ale was proved to be the +result of the hard water of which it was manufactured flowing over a +limestone rock. A chemist was dispatched to Burton, and the settlement +of the matter assumed the importance of a discovery; though in the last +century this fact was ingeniously explained by Dr. Darwin, in a letter +to Mr. Pilkington, upon the supposition that some of the saccharine +matter in the malt combines with the calcareous earth of hard waters, +and forms a sort of mineral sugar, which, like true sugar, is +convertible into spirits. +</p> +<p> +<i>Read-y Wit.</i>—A young man, in a large company, descanting very +flippantly on a subject, his knowledge of which was evidently very +superficial, the Duchess of Devonshire asked his name. "'Tis +<i>Scarlet</i>," replied a gentleman who stood by. "That may be," said her +Grace, "and yet he is not <i>deep read</i>." +</p> +<h4> +CANTON. +</h4> +<hr /> +<p> +<i>Anti-free Trade.</i>—An odd instance of the restrictive system +occurred in the embassy from the emperor Otho to Nicephorus Phocas. The +Greeks making a display of their dress, he told them that in Lombardy +the common people wore as good clothes as they.—"How," they said, "can +you procure them?"—"Through the Venetians and Amalfitan dealers," he +replied, "who gain their subsistence by selling them to us." The foolish +Greeks were very angry, and declared that any dealer presuming to export +their fine clothes <i>should be flogged</i>. +</p> +<hr class="full" /> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> +<b>Footnote 1</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +Dartmoor appears the head-quarters of dreariness and desolation, +forming a mountain tract of nearly 80,000 acres in extent, +strewed with granite boulders and fragments of rocks, and +appearing to set cultivation at defiance.—<i>Brande's Outline +of Geology</i>. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> +<b>Footnote 2</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> +John Britton and E.W. Brayley: in the Beauties of England and +Wales, vol. iv. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> +<b>Footnote 3</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> +A poet of considerable eminence in his day, born at Tavistock, +in the year 1590. He was noticed by Selden, Drayton, Brooke, +Glanville, and Ben Jonson. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> +<b>Footnote 4</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> +Warner's Walk through the Western Counties. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> +<b>Footnote 5</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> +From a correspondent (E.), who believes that no English version of +this letter has hitherto appeared in print. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> +<b>Footnote 6</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag6">(return)</a> +We believe that measures are in progress for re-establishing +the commercial importance of Sandwich, by the restoration of +the once celebrated haven. The town, we may add, is noble in +its decay; for, among the jurats and burgesses are several +worthy and opulent retired merchants, who would doubtless +rejoice in the revival of Sandwich, for the welfare of their +more aspiring townsmen,—<i>Ed. M.</i> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a> +<b>Footnote 7</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag7">(return)</a> +This is an oversight of the Editor, as the Tzar resided in the +last house in Buckingham-street, towards the river on the east +side. It is a handsome mansion, containing some very spacious +apartments, with some few relics of its original decoration. +Upon the site of this and the adjoining streets was formerly a +palace of the archbishops of York, the only vestige of which is +the water-gate, called York Stairs erected by Inigo Jones. +Throughout the narrative it will be seen that the Editor has +mistaken Norfolk-street for Buckingham-street.—<i>Ed. M.</i> +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a> +<b>Footnote 8</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag8">(return)</a> +Memoirs of J. Evelyn. +</blockquote> +<blockquote class="footnote"> +<a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a> +<b>Footnote 9</b>: +<a href="#footnotetag9">(return)</a> +Evelyn's Sylva. +</blockquote> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> +<i>Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143 STRAND, (near Somerset +House,) London; sold by G.G. BENNIS, 55, Rue Neuve, St. Augustin, Paris; +and by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i> +</p> +<hr class="full" /> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14010 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |