diff options
Diffstat (limited to '14502-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 14502-0.txt | 2154 |
1 files changed, 2154 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/14502-0.txt b/14502-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..960da2f --- /dev/null +++ b/14502-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2154 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14502 *** + + CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL + + + CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S + INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c. + + + No. 419. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1852. PRICE 1-1/2 _d_. + + + + +THE LOST AGES. + + +My friends, have you read Elia? If so, follow me, walking in the +shadow of his mild presence, while I recount to you my vision of the +Lost Ages. I am neither single nor unblessed with offspring, yet, +like Charles Lamb, I have had my 'dream-children.' Years have flown +over me since I stood a bride at the altar. My eyes are dim and +failing, and my hairs are silver-white. My real children of flesh +and blood have become substantial men and women, carving their own +fortunes, and catering for their own tastes in the matter of wives +and husbands, leaving their old mother, as nature ordereth, to the +stillness and repose fitted for her years. Understand, this is not +meant to imply that the fosterer of their babyhood, the instructor +of their childhood, the guide of their youth, is forsaken or +neglected by those who have sprung up to maturity beneath her eye. +No; I am blessed in my children. Living apart, I yet see them often; +their joys, their cares are mine. Not a Sabbath dawns but it finds +me in the midst of them; not a holiday or a festival of any kind is +noted in the calendar of their lives, but Grandmamma is the first to +be sent for. Still, of necessity, I pass much of my time alone; and +old age is given to reverie quite as much as youth. I can remember a +time--long, long ago--when in the twilight of a summer evening it +was a luxury to sit apart with closed eyes; and, heedless of the +talk that went on in the social circle from which I was withdrawn, +indulge in all sorts of fanciful visions. Then my dream-people were +all full-grown men and women. I do not recollect that I ever thought +about children until I possessed some of my own. Those waking +visions were very sweet--sweeter than the realities of life that +followed; but they were neither half so curious nor half so +wonderful as the dreams that sometimes haunt me now. The imagination +of the old is not less lively than that of the young: it is only +less original. A youthful fancy will create more new images; the +mind of age requires materials to build with: these supplied, the +combinations it is capable of forming are endless. And so were born +my dream-children. + +Has it never occurred to you, mothers and fathers, to wonder what +has become of your children's lost ages? Look at your little boy of +five years old. Is he at all, in any respect, the same breathing +creature that you beheld three years back? I think not. Whither, +then, has the sprite vanished? In some hidden fairy nook, in some +mysterious cloud-land he must exist still. Again, in your +slim-formed girl of eight years, you look in vain for the sturdy elf +of five. Gone? No; that cannot be--'a thing of beauty is a joy for +ever.' Close your eyes: you have her there! A breeze-like, sportive, +buoyant thing; a thing of breathing, laughing, unmistakable life; +she is mirrored on your retina as plainly as ever was dancing +sunbeam on a brook. The very trick of her lip--of her eye; the +mischief-smile, the sidelong saucy glance, + + 'That seems to say, + I know you love me, Mr Grey;' + +is it not traced there--all, every line, as clear as when it +brightened the atmosphere about you in the days that are no more? To +be sure it is; and being so, the thing must exist--somewhere. + +I never was more fully possessed with this conviction than once +during the winter of last year. It was Christmas-eve. I was sitting +alone, in my old armchair, and had been looking forward to the +fast-coming festival-day with many mingled thoughts--some tender, +but regretful; others hopeful, yet sad; some serious, and even +solemn. As I laid my head back and sat thus with closed eyes, +listening to the church-clock as it struck the hour, I could not but +feel that I was passing--very slowly and gently it is true--towards +a time when the closing of the grave would shut out even that sound +so familiar to my ear; and when other and more precious sounds of +life-human voices, dearer than all else, would cease to have any +meanings for me--and even their very echoes be hushed in the silence +of the one long sleep. Following the train of association, it was +natural that I should recur to the hour when that same church's +bells had chimed my wedding-peal. I seemed to hear their music once +again; and other music sweeter still--the music of young vows that +'kept the word of promise to the ear, and broke it' _not_ 'to the +hope.' Next in succession came the recollection of my children. I +seemed to lose sight of their present identity, and to be carried +away in thought to times and scenes far back in my long-departed +youth, when they were growing up around my knees--beautiful forms of +all ages, from the tender nursling of a single year springing with +outstretched arms into my bosom, to the somewhat rough but ingenuous +boy of ten. As my inner eye traced their different outlines, and +followed them in their graceful growth from year to year, my heart +was seized with a sudden and irresistible longing to hold fast these +beloved but passing images of the brain. What joy, I thought, would +it be to transfix the matchless beauty which had wrought itself thus +into the visions of my old age! to preserve for ever, unchanging, +every varied phase of that material but marvellous structure which +the glorious human soul had animated and informed through all its +progressive stages from the child to the man! + +Scarcely was the thought framed when a dull, heavy weight seemed to +press upon my closed eyelids. I now saw more clearly even than +before my children's images in the different stages of their being. +But I saw these, and these alone, as they stood rooted to the +ground, with a stony fixedness in their eyes: every other object +grew dim before me. The living faces and full-grown forms which +until now had mingled with and played their part among my younger +phantoms, altogether disappeared. I had no longer any eyes, any +soul, but for this my new spectre-world. Life, and the things of +life, had lost their interest; and I knew of nothing, conceived of +nothing, but those still, inanimate forms from which the informing +soul had long since passed away. + +And now that the longing of my heart was answered, was I satisfied? +For a time I gazed, and drew a deep delight from the gratification +of my vain and impious craving. But at length the still, cold +presence of forms no longer of this earth began to oppress me. I +grew cold and numb beneath their moveless aspect; and constant +gazing upon eyes lighted up by no varying expression, pressed upon +my tired senses with a more than nightmare weight. I felt a sort of +dull stagnation through every limb, which held me bound where I sat, +pulseless and moveless as the phantoms on which I gazed. + +As I wrestled with the feeling that oppressed me, striving in vain +to break the bonds of that strange fascination, under the pressure +of which I surely felt that I must perish--a soft voice, proceeding +from whence I knew not, broke upon my ear. 'You have your desire,' +it said gently; 'why, then, struggle thus? Why writhe under the +magic of that joy you have yourself called up? Are they not here +before you, the Lost Ages whose beauty and whose grace you would +perpetuate? What would you more? O mortal!' + +'But these forms have no life,' I gasped--'no pulsating, breathing +soul!' + +'No,' replied the same still, soft voice; 'these forms belong to the +things of the past. In God's good time they breathed the breath of +life; they had _then_ a being and a purpose on this earth. Their day +has departed--their work is done.' + +So saying, the voice grew still: the leaden weight which had pressed +upon my eyelids was lifted off: I awoke. + +Filled with reveries of the past--my eyes closed to everything +without--sleep had indeed overtaken me as I sat listening to the old +church-clock. But my vision was not all a vision: my dream-children +came not without their teaching. If they had been called up in +folly, yet in their going did they leave behind a lesson of wisdom. + +The morning dawned--the blessed Christmas-morning! With it came my +good and dutiful, my real life--children. When they were all +assembled round me, and when, subdued and thoughtful beneath the +tender and gracious associations of the day, each in turn +ministered, reverently and lovingly, to the old mother's need of +body and of soul, my heart was melted within me. Blessed, indeed, +was I in a lot full to overflowing of all the good gifts which a +wise and merciful Maker could lavish upon his erring and craving +creature. I stood reproved. I felt humbled to think that I should +ever for a moment have indulged one idle or restless longing for the +restoration of that past which had done its appointed work, and out +of which so gracious a present had arisen. One idea impressed me +strongly: I could not but feel that had the craving of my soul been +answered in reality, as my dream had foreshadowed; and had the wise +and beneficent order of nature been disturbed and distorted from its +just relations, how fearful would have been the result! Here, in my +green old age, I stood amongst a new generation, honoured for what I +was, beloved for what I had been. What if, at some mortal wish in +some freak of nature, the form which I now bore were for ever to +remain before the eyes of my children! Were such a thing to befall, +how would their souls ever be lifted upward to the contemplation of +that higher state of being into which it is my hope soon to pass +when the hand which guided me hither shall beckon me hence? At the +thought my heart was chastened. Never since that night have I +indulged in any one wish framed in opposition to nature's laws. +_Now_ I find my dream-children in the present; and to the past I +yield willingly all things which are its own--among the rest, the +Lost Ages. + + + + +STORY OF GASPAR MENDEZ. + +BY CATHERINE CROWE. + + +The extraordinary motives under which people occasionally act, and +the strange things they do under the influence of these motives, +frequently so far transcend the bounds of probability, that we +romance-writers, with the wholesome fear of the critics before our +eyes, would not dare to venture on them. Only the other day we read +in the newspapers that a Frenchman who had been guilty of +embezzlement, and was afraid of being found out, went into a theatre +in Lyon and stabbed a young woman whom he had never seen before in +his life, in order that he might die by the hands of the +executioner, and so escape the inconvenience of rushing into the +other world without having time to make his peace with Heaven. He +desired death as a refuge from the anguish of mind he was suffering; +but instead of killing himself he killed somebody else, because the +law would allow him leisure for repentance before it inflicted the +penalty of his crime. + +It will be said the man was mad--I suppose he was; and so is +everybody whilst under the influence of an absorbing passion, +whether the mania be love, jealousy, fanaticism, or revenge. The +following tale will illustrate one phase of such a madness. + +In the year 1789, there resided in Italy, not far from Aquila in the +Abruzzo, a man called Gaspar Mendez. He appears to have been a +Spaniard, if not actually by birth, at least by descent, and to have +possessed a small estate, which he rendered valuable by pasturing +cattle. Not far from where he resided there lived with her parents a +remarkably handsome girl, of the name of Bianca Venoni, and on this +fair damsel Mendez fixed his affections. As he was by many degrees +the best match about the neighbourhood, he never doubted that his +addresses would be received with a warm welcome, and intoxicated +with this security, he seems to have made his advances so abruptly +that the girl felt herself entitled to give him an equally abrupt +refusal. To aggravate his mortification, he discovered that a young +man, called Giuseppe Ripa, had been a secret witness to the +rejection, which took place in an orchard; and as he walked away +with rage in his heart, he heard echoing behind him the merry laugh +of the two thoughtless young people. Proud and revengeful by nature, +this affront seems to have rankled dreadfully in the mind of Gaspar; +although, in accordance with that pride, he endeavoured to conceal +his feelings under a show of indifference. Those who knew the +parties well, however, were not deceived; and when, after an +interval, it was discovered that Giuseppe himself was the favoured +lover of Bianca, the enmity, though not more open, became more +intense than ever. + +In the meantime old Venoni, Bianca's father, had become aware of the +fine match his daughter had missed, and was extremely angry about +it; more particularly as he was poor, and would have been very much +pleased to have a rich son-in-law. Nor was he disposed to relinquish +the chance so easily. After first trying his influence on Bianca, +upon whom he expended a great deal of persuasion and cajolery in +vain, he went so far as to call upon Gaspar, apologising for his +daughter's ignorance and folly in refusing so desirable a proposal, +and expressing a hope that Mendez would not relinquish the pursuit, +but try his fortune again; when he hoped to have brought her to a +better state of mind. + +Gaspar received the old man with civility, but answered coldly, that +any further advances on his own part were out of the question, +unless he had reason to believe the young lady was inclined to +retract her refusal; in which case he should be happy to wait upon +her. With this response Venoni returned to make another attack upon +his daughter, whom, however, fortified by her strong attachment to +Ripa, he found quite immovable; and there for several months the +affair seems to have rested, till the old man, urged by the +embarrassment of his circumstances, renewed the persecution, +coupling it with certain calumnies against Giuseppe, founded on the +accidental loss of a sum of money which had been intrusted to him by +a friend, who wanted it conveyed to a neighbouring village, whither +the young man had occasion to go. This loss, which seems to have +arisen out of some youthful imprudence, appears to have occasioned +Ripa a great deal of distress; and he not only did his utmost to +repair it by giving up everything he had, which was indeed very +little, but he also engaged to pay regularly a portion of his weekly +earnings till the whole sum was replaced. + +His behaviour, in short, was so satisfactory, that the person to +whom the money had belonged does not seem to have borne him any +ill-will on the subject; but Venoni took advantage of the +circumstance to fling aspersions on the young man's character, +whilst it strengthened his argument against the connection with his +daughter; for how was Giuseppe to maintain a wife and family with +this millstone of debt round his neck? Bianca, however, continued +faithful to her lover, and for some time nothing happened to advance +the suit of either party. In that interval a sister of Gaspar's had +married a man called Alessandro Malfi, who, being a friend of +Giuseppe's, endeavoured to bring about a reconciliation betwixt the +rivals, or, rather, to produce a more cordial feeling, for there had +never been a quarrel; and as far as Ripa was concerned, as he had no +cause for jealousy, there was no reason why he should bear ill-will +to the unsuccessful candidate. With Gaspar it was different: he +hated Ripa; but as it hurt his pride that this enmity to one whom he +considered so far beneath him should be known, he made no open +demonstration of dislike, and when Malfi expressed a wish to invite +his friend to supper, hoping that Mendez would not refuse to meet +him, the Spaniard made no objection whatever. 'Why not?' he said: +'he knew of no reason why he should not meet Giuseppe Ripa, or any +other person his brother-in-law chose to invite.' + +Accordingly the party was made; and on the night appointed Giuseppe, +after a private interview in the orchard with his mistress, started +for Malfi's house, which was situated about three miles off, in the +same direction as Gaspar's, which, indeed, he had to pass; on which +account he deferred his departure to a later hour than he otherwise +would have done, wishing not to come in contact with his rival till +they met under Malfi's roof. Mendez had a servant called Antonio +Guerra, who worked on his farm, and who appears to have been much in +his confidence, and just as Ripa passed the Spaniard's door, he met +Guerra coming in an opposite direction, and asked him if Mendez had +gone to the supper yet; to which Guerra answered that he supposed he +had, but he did not know. Guerra then took a key out of his pocket, +and, unlocking the door, entered the house, whilst Ripa walked on. + +In the meanwhile the little party had assembled in Malfi's parlour, +all but the two principal personages, Gaspar and Giuseppe; and as +time advanced without their appearing, some jests were passed +amongst the men present, who wished they might not have fallen foul +of each other on the way. At length, however, Ripa arrived, and the +first question that was put to him was: 'What had he done with his +rival?' which he answered by inquiring if the Spaniard was not come. +But although he endeavoured to appear unconcerned, there was a +tremor in his voice and a confusion of manner that excited general +observation. He made violent efforts, however, to appear at his +ease, but these efforts were too manifest to be successful; whilst +the continued absence of Mendez became so unaccountable, that a +cloud seems to have settled on the spirits of the company, which +made the expected festivity pass very heavily off. + +'Where could Mendez be? What could have detained him? It was to be +hoped no harm had happened to him!' Such was the burden of the +conversation till--when at about an hour before midnight the party +broke up--Alessandro Malfi said, that to allay the anxiety of his +wife, who was getting extremely alarmed about her brother, he would +walk as far as Forni--which was the name of Gaspar's farm--to +inquire what had become of him. + +As Ripa's way lay in the same direction, they naturally started +together; and after what appears to have been a very silent +walk--for the spirits of Giuseppe were so depressed that the other +found it impossible to draw him into conversation--they reached +Forni, when, having rung the bell, they were presently answered by +Antonio Guerra, who put his head out of an upper window to inquire +who they were, and what they wanted. + +'It is I, Alessandro Malfi. I want to know where your master is, and +why he has not been to my house this evening as he promised?' + +'I thought he was there,' said Antonio. 'He set off from here to go +soon after seven o'clock.' + +'That is most extraordinary!' returned Malfi. 'What in the world can +have become of him?' + +'It is very strange, certainly,' answered the servant. 'He has never +come home; and when you rang I thought it was he returned from the +party.' + +As there was no more to be learned, the two friends now parted; +Malfi expressing considerable surprise and some uneasiness at the +non-appearance of his brother-in-law: whilst of Giuseppe we hear +nothing more till the following afternoon, when, whilst at work in +his vineyard, he was accosted by two officers of justice from +Aquila, and he found himself arrested, under an accusation of having +waylaid Mendez in a mountain-pass on the preceding evening, and +wounded him with the design of taking his life. + +The first words Ripa uttered on hearing this impeachment--words +that, like all the rest of his behaviour, told dreadfully against +him--were: 'Isn't he dead, then?' + +'No thanks to you that he's not,' replied the officer; 'but he's +alive, and likely to recover to give evidence against his assassin.' + +'_Dio_!' cried Giuseppe, 'I wish I'd known he wasn't dead!' + +'You confess, then, that you wounded him with the intent to kill?' + +'No,' answered Ripa; 'I confess no such thing. As I was going +through the pass last night I observed a man's hat lying a little +off the road, and on lifting it, I saw it belonged to Señor Mendez. +Whilst I was wondering how it came there without the owner, and was +looking about for him, I spied him lying behind a boulder. At first +I thought he was asleep, but on looking again, I saw he didn't lie +like a sleeping man, and I concluded he was dead. Had it been any +one but he, I should have lifted him up; but it being very well +known that we were no friends, I own I was afraid to do so. I +thought it better not to meddle with him at all. However, if he is +alive, as you say, perhaps he can tell himself who wounded him.' + +'To be sure he can,' returned the officer: 'he says it's you!' + +'_Perduto son' io!_--Then I am lost!' exclaimed Ripa; who, on being +brought before the authorities, persisted in the same story; adding, +that so far from seeking Mendez, he had particularly wished to avoid +him, and that that was the reason he had started so late; for he had +been warned that the Spaniard was his enemy, and he apprehended that +if they met alone some collision might ensue. + +It appeared, however, that he had consumed much more time on the +road than could be fairly accounted for; for two or three people had +met him on the way before he reached Forni; and then Antonio Guerra +could speak as to the exact hour of his passing. This discrepancy he +attempted to explain by saying, that after seeing Mendez on the +ground, dead--as he believed--he had been so agitated and alarmed +that he did not like to present himself at Malfi's house, lest he +should excite observation. He had also spent some time in +deliberating whether or not he should mention what he had seen; and +he had made up his mind to do so on his arrival, but was deterred by +everybody's asking him, when he entered the room, what he had done +with Mendez--a question that seemed to imply a suspicion against +himself. + +This tale, of course, was not believed: indeed his whole demeanour +on the night in question tended strongly to his condemnation; added +to which, Malfi, who had been his friend, testified that not only +had Ripa betrayed all the confusion of guilt during the walk from +his house to Forni, but that having hold of his arm, he had +distinctly felt him tremble as they passed the spot where Mendez was +subsequently discovered. + +With regard to Mendez himself, it appeared that when found he was in +a state of insensibility, and he was still too weak to give evidence +or enter into any particulars; but when, under proper remedies, he +had recovered his senses, Faustina Malfi, his sister--to whose house +he had been carried--asked him if Giuseppe Ripa was not the +assassin; and he answered in the affirmative. + +Giuseppe was thrown into prison to await his trial; and having +public opinion, as well as that of the authorities against him, he +was universally considered a dead man. The only person that adhered +to him was Bianca, who visited him in the jail, and refused to +believe him guilty. But if he was innocent, who was the criminal? It +appeared afterwards that Ripa himself had his own suspicions on that +subject, but as they were founded only on two slight indications, he +felt it was useless to advance them. + +In the meantime Gaspar Mendez was slowly recovering the injuries he +had received, and was of course expected to give a more explanatory +account of what had happened to him after he left Forni on his way +to Alessandro Malfi's. That he had been robbed as well as wounded +was already known--his brother and sister having found his pockets +empty and his watch gone. The explanation he could give, however, +proved to be very scanty. Indeed, he seemed to know very little +about the matter, but he still adhered to his first assertion, that +Ripa was the assassin. With regard to the money he had lost, there +was necessarily less mystery, since it consisted of a sum that he +was carrying to his sister, and was indeed her property, being the +half share of some rents which he had received on that morning, the +produce of two houses in the town of Aquila which had been +bequeathed to them conjointly by their mother. The money was in a +canvas bag, and the other half which belonged to himself he had left +locked in his strong box at home, where, on searching for it, it was +found. As Ripa was known to be poor, and very much straitened by his +endeavours to make good the sum he had lost, that he should add +robbery to assassination was not to be wondered at. On the contrary, +it strengthened the conviction of his guilt, by supplying an +additional motive for the crime. + +The injuries having been severe, it was some time before Mendez +recovered sufficiently to return home; and when he was well enough +to move, instead of going to Forni, he discharged his servant +Antonio Guerra, and went himself to Florence, where he remained +several months. + +All this time Giuseppe Ripa was in prison, condemned to die, but not +executed; because after his trial and sentence, a letter had been +received by the chief person in authority, warning him against +shedding the blood of the innocent. 'Señor Mendez is mistaken,' the +letter said: 'he did not see the assassin, who attacked him from +behind, and Giuseppe Ripa is not guilty.' + +This judge, whose name was Marino, appears to have been a just man, +and to have felt some dissatisfaction with the evidence against +Ripa; inasmuch as Mendez, who, when first questioned, had spoken +confidently as to his identity, had since faltered when he came to +give his evidence in public, and seemed unable to afford any +positive testimony on the subject. The presumption against the +prisoner, without the evidence of the Spaniard, was considered by +the other judges strong enough to convict him; but Marino had +objected that since the attack was made by daylight--for it was in +the summer, and the evenings were quite light--it seemed +extraordinary that Mendez could give no more certain indications of +his assailant. Added to this, although every means had been used to +obtain a confession--such means as are permitted on the continent, +but illegal in this country--Giuseppe persisted in his innocence. +Moreover, as no money had been found about him, and Faustina Malfi +was exceedingly desirous of recovering what had been lost, she +exerted herself to obtain mercy to at least the extent that hopes of +a commutation of his sentence should be held out to the prisoner, +provided he would reveal where he had concealed the bagful of silver +he had taken from her brother. But in vain. Ripa was either +guiltless or obstinate, for nothing could be extracted from him but +repeated declarations of his innocence. + +In the meantime Bianca had been undergoing a terrible persecution +from her father on the subject of Mendez, who had returned from +Florence and taken up his abode, as formerly, at Forni. Her former +lover was a condemned man, and altogether _hors de combat_: she +might regret him as she would, and lament his fate to her heart's +content, but he could never be her husband; and there was the +Spaniard, rich and ready; whilst the increasing age and poverty of +her parent rendered a good match of the greatest importance. In +short, under the circumstances of the case, it was urged upon her on +all hands, that she was bound both by her duty to her father and to +evince her abhorrence of Ripa's crime--which otherwise it might be +supposed she had instigated--to marry Mendez without delay. + +Persuaded of Giuseppe's innocence, and half believing that the +accusation was prompted by jealousy, it may be imagined how +unwelcome these importunities were, and for a considerable time she +resisted them; indeed she seems only to have been overcome at last +by a ruse. A rumour being set afloat that the day was about to be +appointed for Ripa's execution, a hint was thrown out that it lay in +her power to save his life: she had only to become the wife of +Mendez, and her lover's sentence should be commuted from death to +banishment. This last argument prevailed, and poor Bianca, with a +heavy heart, consented to become the mistress of Forni. The Malfis, +however, do not seem to have been amongst those who desired the +match; and it would appear that they even made some attempts to +prevent its taking place, by circulating a report that she had been +privy to the assault and robbery. Perhaps they hoped, if Gaspar +remained unmarried, to inherit his property themselves; but however +that may be, their opposition was of no avail, and an early period +was fixed for the wedding. + +The year had now come round to the summer season again, and it +happened, by mere accident, that the day appointed for the marriage +was the anniversary of that on which Mendez had been robbed and +wounded. Nobody, however, appears to have thought of this +coincidence, till Mendez himself, observing the day of the month, +requested that the ceremony might be postponed till the day after: +'Because,' said he, 'I have business which will take me to Aquila on +the 7th, so the marriage had better take place on the 8th.' And thus +it was arranged. + +This alteration was made about ten days before the appointed period, +and nothing seems to have occurred in the interval worth recording, +except that as the hour of sacrifice drew nigh, the unwillingness of +the victim became more evident. We must conclude, however, that +Mendez, whose object in marrying her appears to have been fully as +much the soothing of his pride as the gratification of his love, was +not influenced by her disinclination, for when he started for Aquila +on the 7th, every preparation had been made for the wedding on the +following day. + +The object of his journey was to receive the rents before named, +which became due at this period, and also to purchase a +wedding-present for his bride. On this occasion Alessandro Malfi was +to have accompanied him; but when Mendez stopped at his door to +inquire if he was ready, Malfi came down stairs half-dressed, saying +that he had been up all night with his wife, who was ill, and that +as she had now fallen asleep, he was going to lie down himself, and +try to get a little rest. This occurred early in the morning; and +Mendez rode on, saying that he should call as he came back in the +evening, to inquire how his sister was. Upon this Malfi went to bed, +where he remained some hours--indeed till he received a message from +his wife, begging him to go to her. When he entered the room, the +first question she asked was whether Gaspar was gone to Aquila; and +on being told that he was, she said she was very sorry for it, for +that she had dreamed she saw a man with a mask lying in wait to rob +him. + +'I saw the man as distinctly as possible,' she said, 'but I could +not see his face for the mask; and I saw the place, so that I'm sure +if I were taken there I should recognise it.' + +Her husband told her not to mind her dreams, and that this one was +doubtless suggested by the circumstance that had occurred the year +before. 'But,' said he, 'Ripa's safely locked up in jail now, and +there's no danger.' + +Nevertheless the dream appears to have made so deep an impression on +the sick woman's fancy, that she never let her husband rest till he +promised to go with his own farm-servant to meet her brother--a +compliance which was at length won from him by her saying that she +had seen the man crouching behind a low wall that surrounded a +half-built church; 'and close by,' she added, 'there was a +direction-post with something written on it, but I could not read +what it was.' + +Now it happened that on the horse-road to Aquila, which Faustina +herself had never travelled, there was exactly such a spot as that +she described. Malfi knew it well. Struck by the circumstance, he +desired to have his dinner immediately, and then, accompanied by his +hind, he set off to meet Gaspar. + +In the meanwhile the Spaniard had got his money and made his +purchases in good time, not wishing to be late on the road, so that +they had scarcely got a mile beyond the church when they met him; +and in answer to his inquiries what had brought them there, Malfi +related his wife's dream, adding that he might have spared himself +the ride, for he had looked over the wall, and saw nobody there. 'I +told her it was nonsense,' he said, 'whilst we know your enemy's +under such good keeping at Aquila; but she wouldn't be satisfied +till I came.' + +Mendez, however, appeared exceedingly struck with the dream, +inquired the particulars more in detail, and asked if they were sure +there was nobody concealed in the place Faustina indicated. Malfi +answered that he did not alight, but he looked over the wall and saw +nobody. During the course of this conversation they had turned their +horses' heads, and were riding back towards the church, Malfi +talking about Ripa's affair, remarking on the impropriety of +deferring his execution so long; Mendez more than usually silent and +serious, and the servant riding beside them, when, as they +approached the spot, they saw coming towards them on foot a man, +whom they all three recognised as Antonio Guerra, the Spaniard's +late servant. As this person was supposed to have gone to another +part of the country after quitting Gaspar's service, Malfi expressed +some surprise at seeing him; whilst Mendez turned very pale, making +at the same time some exclamation that attracted the attention of +his brother-in-law, who, however, drew up his horse to ask Guerra +what had brought him back, and if he was out of a situation, adding +that a neighbour of his, whom he named, was in want of a servant. +Guerra, who looked poorly dressed, and by no means in such good case +as formerly, answered that he should be very glad if Malfi would +recommend him. + +'You had better turn about, then, and come on with us,' said Malfi, +as he rode forward. During this conversation Mendez had sat by +saying nothing; and if he was grave and silent before, he was still +more so now, insomuch that his behaviour drew the attention of his +brother-in-law, who asked him if there was anything wrong with him. + +'Surely it's not Faustina's dream you are thinking of?' he said; +adding, 'that the meeting with Guerra had put it out of his head, or +he would have examined the place more narrowly.' + +Mendez entered into no explanation; and as the servant, who was +acquainted with Guerra, took him up behind him, they all arrived at +their journey's end nearly together: Mendez, instead of proceeding +homewards, turning off with the others to Malfi's house, where the +first thing he did after his arrival was to visit his sister, whom +he found better; whilst she, on the contrary, was struck with the +pallor of his features and the agitation of his manner--a disorder +which, like her husband, she attributed to the shock of her dream, +acting upon a mind prepared by the affair of the preceding year to +take alarm. In order to remove the impression, she laughed at the +fright she had been in; but it was evident he could not share her +merriment, and he quickly left her, saying he had a message to send +to Rocca, which was the village where Bianca and her father resided, +and that he must go below and write a note, which he did, giving it +to Malfi's servant to take. + +It appeared afterwards that this man, having other work in hand, +gave the note to Guerra, who willingly undertook the commission, and +who, to satisfy his own curiosity, broke the seal on the way, and +possessed himself of its contents before he delivered it. These +were, however, only a request that Bianca and her father would come +over to Malfi's house that evening and bring the notary of the +village with them, he (Mendez) being too tired to go to Rocca to +sign the contract, as had been arranged. + +It being between six and seven o'clock when this dispatch arrived, +Bianca, who was very little inclined to sign the contract at all, +objected to going; but her father insisting on her compliance, they +set off in company with Guerra and the notary, who, according to +appointment, was already in waiting. They had nearly three miles to +go, and as Venoni had no horse, the notary gave Bianca a seat on +his, and the old man rode double with Guerra. + +When they arrived, Mendez was standing at the door waiting for them, +accompanied by Malfi, his servant, a priest, and two or three other +persons of the neighbourhood; some of whom advanced to assist Bianca +and her father to alight, whilst the others surrounded Guerra as he +set his foot on the ground, pinioning his arms and plunging their +hands into his pockets, from whence they drew two small pistols and +a black mask, such as was worn at the carnivals; besides these +weapons, he carried a stiletto in his bosom. + +Whilst the last comers were gaping with amazement at this unexpected +scene, the new-made prisoner was led away to a place of security, +and the company proceeded into the house, where the notary produced +the contract and laid it on the table, inquiring at the same time +what Guerra had done to be so treated. + +Then Mendez rose, and taking hold of the contract, he tore it in two +and flung it on the ground; at which sight Venoni started up with a +cry, or rather a howl--an expression of rage and disappointment +truly Italian, and of which no Englishman who has not heard it can +have an idea. + +'_Peccato!_ I have sinned!' said the Spaniard haughtily; 'but I have +made my confession to the padre; and why I have torn that paper my +brother-in-law, Alessandro, will presently tell you!' He then +offered his hand to Bianca, who, no less pleased than astonished to +see the contract destroyed, willingly responded to this token of +good-will by giving him hers, which he kissed, asking her pardon for +any pain he had occasioned her; after which, bowing to the company, +he quitted the room, mounted his horse, and rode off to Forni. + +When the sound of the animal's feet had died away, and the parties +concerned were sufficiently composed to listen to him, Malfi +proceeded to make the communication he had been charged with; +whereby it appeared that Ripa had been unjustly accused, and that +Antonio Guerra was the real criminal. Mendez knew this very well, +and would not have thought of accusing his rival had not his brother +and sister, and indeed everybody else, assumed Ripa's guilt as an +unquestionable fact. The temptation was too strong for him, and +after he had once admitted it, pride would not allow him to retract. +At the same time he declared that he would never have permitted the +execution to take place, and that after the marriage with Bianca he +intended to use every effort to procure the innocent man's +liberation, on the condition of his quitting that part of the +country. Of course it was he who wrote the letter to Marino, and he +had used the precaution of placing a sealed packet, containing a +confession of the truth, in the hands of a notary at Aquila, with +strict directions to deliver it to Ripa if the authorities should +appear disposed to carry his sentence into execution. + +He had nevertheless suffered considerable qualms of conscience about +the whole affair; and the moment he saw Guerra on the road that +night, he felt certain that he had come with the intention of +waylaying him as before--the man being well aware that it was on +that day he usually received his rents. He perceived that he should +never be safe as long as this villain was free, and that he must +either henceforth live in continual terror of assassination, or +confront the mortification of a confession whilst the fellow was in +his power. + +With respect to Guerra himself, he made but feeble resistance when +he was seized. He had, in the first instance, left Mendez for dead; +and he would have immediately fled when he heard he was alive, had +not the news been accompanied with the further information that the +Spaniard had pointed out Ripa as his assailant. He was exceedingly +surprised, for he could scarcely believe that he had not been +recognised. Nevertheless it was possible; and whether it were so or +not, he did not doubt that what Mendez had once asserted he would +adhere to. On receiving his dismissal, he had gone to some distance +from the scene of his crime; but having, whilst the money lasted, +acquired habits of idleness and dissipation that could not be +maintained without a further supply, these necessities had provoked +this last enterprise. + +He had really been concealed behind the wall when Malfi and his +servant passed; but concluding that they were going to meet Mendez, +and that his scheme was defeated, he had thought it both useless and +dangerous to remain, and was intending to make off in another +direction, when their sudden return surprised him. + +A few hours more saw Antonio Guerra in Giuseppe Ripa's cell; and +whilst the first paid the penalty of his crimes, the latter was +rewarded for his sufferings by the hand of Bianca, to whom the +Spaniard gave a small marriage-portion before finally quitting the +country, which he did immediately after Antonio's trial. + +Ripa said he had always had a strong persuasion that Guerra was the +real criminal from two circumstances: the first was the hurried +manner in which he was walking on the evening he met him at the gate +of Forni, and some strange expression of countenance which he had +afterwards recalled. The second was his answering them from the +window when he and Malfi went to inquire for Mendez. If he thought +it was his master, as he said, why had he not come down at once to +admit him? + +It is remarkable that the enmity of the Spaniard was not directed +against the man that had aimed at his life, but against him who had +wounded his pride. + + + + +INFLUENCES OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM. + + +While there are many machines which contribute much more directly to +the rapid accumulation of wealth in the persons of individuals, than +does the railway locomotive, there is probably none which tends more +to enrich a community. Unlike most other mechanical contrivances for +the abridgment of labour, the railway locomotive unites in the +effects which it produces the elements of social as well as +commercial improvement. Like the steamship, the railway is +cosmopolitan in its character. The range of its operations may be as +extensive as the globe itself; and throughout that sphere of +activity, be it what it may, the locomotive engine is scattering +thickly the seeds of civilisation, as well as of wealth. + +By the application of steam as a motive agent an immense saving has +been effected in the outlay required to be made in producing a given +result in locomotion. This is the combined product of two causes. +Such perfection has been attained in the construction of machinery, +that by the aid of steam there can thence be obtained a continuity, +combined with a rapidity of motion, which far exceeds what can be +produced by any other means at present known to us. The fleetest +racer equipped for speed alone, cannot equal, even for a single +mile, the rate at which the locomotive engine, dragging after it a +load of eighty tons, can, for hours together, be driven with ease +and safety along its iron path. And this twofold result can be +secured at a comparatively small cost. Coal, iron, wood--substances +all to be easily obtained in nearly every quarter of the globe--can +be, and daily are, fashioned into working agents not merely fleeter, +stronger, and more docile than any endowed with animal life, but +agents likewise which it is far less costly to sustain in active +usefulness. The food, medicines, and attention which animal life +demands, form very serious items of expense in the case of beasts of +burden, and so very materially impair their utility. It is otherwise +with the locomotive engine. Money, ingenuity, and toil require +undoubtedly to be expended in its original construction, attention +and care must be given to avert or repair accident, and food of its +own peculiar kind it does unquestionably consume; yet when all the +original and working expenses of a locomotive are summed up, it is +found that, compared with the income it produces, it is the cheapest +of all motive agents. + +No doubt the items of railway expenditure now mentioned do not +nearly exhaust the amount of money required in their construction. +In addition to expensive engines, there require carriages to be +supplied for the transport of goods and passengers, houses and sheds +to be built for their temporary accommodation, salaries to be paid +for management and service; and in addition to all this, there must +further be expended in the construction of the line itself sums far +greater in amount than those spent in the formation and repair of +roads and highways. All this is true; but in estimating the +comparative costliness of the old and new methods of +land-locomotion, regard must be had to the amount of their produce +as well as of their outlay; and an opinion regarding their +respective merits, in an economical point of view, must be formed by +striking a balance between these two sides of the account. The +result of such a comparison proves that in point of economy, not +less than of speed and endurance, railways take precedence over all +other known means of locomotion. This combined result of rapidity +and cheapness of transit produces a double effect upon a mercantile +community: it at once enables merchants to realise the fruits of a +given speculation more quickly, which is nothing else than +transacting more business in a shorter period than before; and it +also enables them to do this increased amount of business with a +smaller amount of actual outlay--that is, to extend with safety and +profit the field of their operations beyond those boundaries which +prudence formerly marked out as the proper limits of speculation. + +When we consider the amount of travelling within the island which is +requisite for carrying on the mercantile and general business of the +country, and the double saving, therefore, of time on the one hand, +and of money on the other, which is effected by means of railways, +we cannot fail to perceive that even did this new system of +locomotion economise time and labour in no other way than this +alone, its effects upon commercial transactions and on business +generally would be immense. But when we reflect that this system is +exerting the very same influence upon trade--and in a much higher +degree, so far as the outlay of money is concerned--in reference to +the carriage of goods, as in regard to that of passengers, we then +come to comprehend in some measure how fertile the railway +locomotive is in the production of the fruits of industry. + +Another commercial effect of the railway system has been to equalise +the value of land, and promote the cultivation of those districts of +a country which lie considerably removed from large towns. Every one +knows that distance from market forms, as regards the cultivation of +many vegetable and animal productions, a very serious drawback. +Hence it arises that lands lying immediately around large cities +bring a far larger price than portions of ground of equal extent and +fertility would do situated at a greater distance. This is +peculiarly the case with kitchen-gardens, and pasture-land suited +for the purposes of fattening cattle, or feeding such as are +required for the dairy. In all these cases, and others which might +be mentioned, the performance of a long journey affects very +injuriously the quality and value of the several articles, and hence +the demand for farms and fields not exposed to this drawback has +naturally raised their value. Now railways, as they abridge space by +means of speed, have had a tendency to increase the value of pasture +and garden ground lying at, comparatively speaking, a very great +distance around cities. It is now no unusual thing for the +inhabitants of cities such as London, Liverpool, and Manchester, to +use at breakfast milk or cream which has travelled thirty or forty +miles the very morning it is consumed, and at dinner to partake of +vegetables whose place of growth was more than a hundred miles +removed from the stall at which they were sold. + +The railway system has had a marked effect upon the state of the +money-market of the commercial world in general, and of this country +in particular. From the successful experiment made in 1830 in steam +locomotion between Liverpool and Manchester, this new method of +transit has been developing itself with a rapidity to which no +parallel is to be found in the history of mercantile enterprise. +Keeping out of view entirely the large sums which were recklessly +squandered during the railway mania in mere gambling transactions +and bubble schemes, there has been actually sunk in the construction +and working of lines up to the present time more than L.200,000,000 +sterling. Before railways were called into existence, by far the +larger portion of this enormous capital was divided into a great +number of comparatively small sums, invested in a corresponding +number of different speculations. From causes which it would be +easy, but foreign to our present purpose, to explain, the profits +arising from these various speculations were not only in the +aggregate larger than those hitherto derived from railways, but the +former speculations or investments being more temporary and +convertible in their nature, secured to the parties engaging in them +a far greater command over the capital employed in them. By +diverting, as the railway system has done, so much money from the +ordinary channels of mercantile enterprise, in which large profits +were made, and--what is of more importance to the present +remarks--when that money was well within the command and subject to +the recall of its owners; and by taking, so to speak, and locking it +up in a repository which could not be opened, the circulating medium +of exchange soon became a scarce commodity to those who but lately +had possessed it in abundance. + +But it would be very false to infer because extensive bankruptcies, +and periods of severe pecuniary embarrassment, have accompanied, if +not indeed been caused by the development of the railway system, +that therefore that system must be an unsound and unremunerative +one. These monetary difficulties were in a great measure the +consequence of over-speculation, and therefore form no sounder +evidence against the utility of railways, than does over-speculation +in tea condemn the prudent employment of capital in the tea-trade. +Besides which, it must ever be remembered that the judiciousness of +an undertaking is not always to be judged of by its immediate +results. All investments of capital which are from their nature +permanent, require time for the development of their effects, and +may, as regards many of their immediate results, prove rather +injurious than beneficial. To this class of speculations railways +belong. Introduced for the purpose of facilitating locomotion, and +thus improving the industry of the country, this new system of +transit was calculated to produce rather an eventual and permanent, +than an immediate benefit to the empire. So long as Great Britain +retains and cultivates the resources of trade and manufactures now +at her disposal, and provided no new method of locomotion be +invented which shall supersede railways, there is every reason to +believe that railways will continue to form an ever-increasing +source of wealth to the nation. That this is an opinion very +generally entertained is proved from the vast sums of money which +are now lent out on the faith that this result will be realised. The +railway system has not only created a new field for speculation, but +likewise a new security for monetary investments. At the close of +1848, upwards of L.43,000,000 was lent upon railways. There is every +reason to believe that debenture-holding is much greater now than it +was then; but as no official report of its amount, so far as we +know, has been published since 1848, we, for accuracy's sake, quote +the return made in that year. + +If railways have produced very important effects upon commercial +affairs, they have exercised an influence not less important in a +social and intellectual point of view. They have been greatly +instrumental in removing prejudices, in cementing old and forming +new friendships, in extending information, and in sharpening +ingenuity. + +Prejudice has been one of the most formidable obstacles to the +spread of civilisation. It has for ages kept separate and at enmity +nations born to bless and benefit each other; propped up systems +whose graver errors or weaker absurdities now form subjects of +regret and ridicule; and fomented among the members of smaller +societies and sects discords, strifes, and recriminations, which +have been based on no other foundation than wilful or accidental +ignorance. By bringing those in contact who otherwise would never +have met, and improving the acquaintance of those who have, railways +have spread individual opinions, tastes, and information more +equally than before; and out of this mixture of the social and moral +elements have collected and more widely distributed just conclusions +regarding men, manners, politics, and religion. By being thus more +frequently brought together, individuals have increased the number +of their acquaintances, and become to a greater extent than before +'citizens of the world.' A mutual discharge of the good offices of +life has augmented those feelings of interest in our +fellow-creatures, and kindness towards them, which are not less in +accordance with the spirit of Christianity than conducive to the +social wellbeing of communities. + +The knowledge which one acquires by personal experience and +observation is, generally speaking, much more valuable than that +obtained from the written experience or observation of others. By +the former method we obtain knowledge in a more rapid, accurate, and +impressive manner; and, as a consequence of this, retain it longer +in our memories, and possess a greater and more constant command +over it. Books always convey a faint and imperfect, and often a very +erroneous impression of things; and to the extent that railways have +superseded or assisted book-teaching, have they conferred upon +society an improved means of acquiring knowledge. + +Through the instrumentality of railways also, an impetus has been +imparted to the inventive and constructive faculties of the human +mind. By being brought into more frequent contact with one another, +individuals whose tastes and occupations are more or less similar +are naturally led to form comparisons regarding the relative merits +of their respective productions. This comparison has necessarily +sharpened invention, improved taste, and suggested improvement. It +is not too much to affirm, that there is not a single branch of +industry now pursued within this country which has not, directly or +indirectly, been benefited to an immense degree by the introduction +of railways. Having served to bring into one market far more +articles of commerce than before were exposed in it, this new mode +of locomotion has to a great extent increased throughout our +different trades and callings that element of a generous and +wholesome competition which is the most effective agent in eliciting +a high degree of skill in the cultivation of an art, or the +improvement of an invention. + +To railways we are also indebted for a new application to practical +usefulness of one of the most powerful elements in nature's +laboratory: we refer to the employment of electricity in the +transmission of thought. Although the wondrous powers and properties +of the electric telegraph were known long before the introduction of +the railway system, they were not till then made to minister, as +they now do, to the information of man. By providing facilities +towards laying and protecting the delicate machinery along which +electricity was to perform its marvellous exploits, railways have +directly contributed to apply and develop the resources of one of +the most useful and wonderful of inventions, which even in its first +stage of infancy has wrought a perfect revolution in the mode of +transmitting intelligence; and which promises at no very distant day +to play the same part among the continents and islands of the globe +that it now does between the provinces of an empire. + + + + +THE LAST OF THE PALÆOLOGI. + + +It would be a curious historical problem to trace the families of +emperors and kings, of heroes and conquerors, from the era of their +decline and fall to their ultimate extinction. Some 'Old Mortality' +might find as congenial employment in this field of sepulchral +research as did the original in clearing up the decayed and +moss-grown tombs of the Covenanters. The genealogist makes it his +business rather to flatter the great by blazoning the antiquity of +their pedigrees, than to teach the world a moral lesson on the +instability of earthly grandeur, by chronicling their reverses. Yet +the churchyard has its heraldry, from whose records wisdom might be +extracted for the benefit of the living. + +What dynasty in ancient times held a prouder or wider sway than the +illustrious masters of the Roman world? The solid fabric of their +power was the growth of nearly a thousand years, and it cost about +thirteen centuries of revolutions and barbaric invasions before it +was undermined and finally extinguished. If its earlier annals were +disgraced by the crimes of a Tiberius, a Nero, and a Domitian, they +could boast of the virtues and abilities of a Titus, a Trajan, a +Nerva, a Hadrian, the two Antonini, &c.; though it must be admitted +that latterly the balance sadly preponderated on the side of vice +and corruption. If a Justinian or a Constantine appeared, his reign +was but a sunbeam in the midst of the universal degeneracy; or if a +ray of splendour was shed on the empire by his virtues or his +victories, the transient glory was speedily dispelled by irruptions +from without, or intrigue and revolt within. Gradually the work of +decay proceeded, until the vast expanse of the imperial conquests +was contracted to a few provinces, whose capital had been +transferred to the shores of the Bosphorus. A languishing existence +of about six centuries and a half--that is, from the revival of the +western empire in 800 by Charlemagne, to the taking of +Constantinople by the Turks in 1453--was brought to a close by the +death of Constantine Palæologus, the last of a race who had +continued, says Gibbon, 'to assume the titles of Caesar and Augustus +after their dominions were circumscribed to the limits of a single +city, in which the language as well as manners of the ancient Romans +had been long since forgotten!' + +The family of Palæologus was of Greek origin, illustrious in birth +and merit. 'As early,' says Gibbon, 'as the middle of the eleventh +century, the noble race of the Palæologi stands high and conspicuous +in Byzantine history. It was the valiant George Palæologus who +placed the father of the Comneni on the throne; and his kinsmen or +descendants continued in each generation to lead the armies and +councils of the state.' The first that wore the imperial purple was +Michael, who was elevated to the throne in 1260. Already he had +distinguished himself as a soldier and a statesman, and had been +promoted in his early youth to the office of 'constable,' or +commander of the French mercenaries. His ambition excited jealousy, +and some acts of imprudence involved him in dangers from which he +thrice escaped. One of those perils was the usual appeal which was +made in the middle ages to the 'judgment of God' to vindicate +injured innocence. To this ordeal Michael submitted, in presence of +the emperor and the archbishop of Philadelphia. 'Three days before +the trial, the patient's arm was enclosed in a bag, and secured by +the royal signet; and it was incumbent on him to bear a redhot bolt +of iron three times from the altar to the rails of the sanctuary, +without artifice and without injury. Palæologus eluded the dangerous +experiment with sense and pleasantry. "I am a soldier," said he, +"and will boldly enter the list with my accusers; but a layman, a +sinner like myself, is not endowed with the gift of miracles. Your +piety, most holy prelate, may deserve the interposition of Heaven, +and from your hands I will receive the fiery globe, the pledge of my +innocence." The archbishop started, the emperor smiled, and the +absolution or pardon of Michael was approved by rewards and new +services.' The voice of the people and the favour of the army placed +the crown on his head, in recompense for his military exploits and +his public merits. With his accession terminated the reign of the +last of the Latin emperors at Constantinople (Baldwin II.), and +Michael became the founder of the Grecian dynasty. + +The labours of the new monarch to retrieve the calamities of war, by +encouraging industry, planting colonies, and extending trade, were +deserving of all praise. His ambition raised up against him many +enemies, spiritual and temporal; but if his policy was not always +judicious, he increased his power and his fame by greatly enlarging +his dominions. It was by his intrigues that the revolt of Sicily was +instigated. A rude insult to a noble damsel by a Frank soldier, +during a procession on the vigil of Easter (1282), spread the flame +of insurrection over the whole island, and 8000 Franks were +exterminated in a promiscuous massacre, which has obtained the name +of the 'Sicilian Vespers.' His son and successor, Andronicus, was +reckoned a learned and virtuous prince; but his long reign is +chiefly memorable for the disputes of the Greek church, the invasion +of the Catalans, and the rise of the Ottoman power. He associated +with him in the administration his son Michael, at the age of +eighteen; and upon the premature death of the latter, his son +Andronicus, the emperor's favourite, became the colleague of his +grandfather. The reign of the elder Andronicus was consumed in civil +discord and disputes with his family, the young princes having +raised the standard of revolt in order to get possession of the +throne. He was at length compelled to abdicate; and assuming the +monastic habit, he spent the last few years of his life in a cell, +blind and wretched, his only consolation being the promise of a more +splendid crown in heaven than he had enjoyed on earth. + +After a series of inglorious struggles among the princes of the +imperial house, the crown settled, in 1391, on Manuel, whose reign, +however, was little else than a train of disasters. His capital was +besieged by Amurath, and the Turks were masters of nearly the whole +of his dominions, which had now shrunk into a small corner of +Thrace, between the Propontis and the Black Sea, about fifty miles +in length and thirty in breadth. To retrieve his fortunes, Manuel +resolved on a journey to foreign countries, believing that the sight +of a distressed monarch would draw tears and supplies from the +sternest barbarians. From Italy he proceeded to the coast of France, +where he was received with the characteristic politeness of the +nation. Two thousand of the richest citizens of Paris, armed and on +horseback, came forth to meet him; and at the gates he was welcomed +as a brother by Charles VI., who saluted him with a cordial embrace. +He was clothed in a robe of white silk, and mounted on a milk-white +steed--a circumstance of great importance in the French ceremonial, +white being considered as the emblem of sovereignty. He was lodged +in the Louvre, and a succession of feasts and balls, varied by the +pleasures of the chase, was got up for his amusement. Having +satisfied his curiosity, but without any prospect of assistance, he +resolved to visit England. In his progress from Dover, he was +entertained at Canterbury by the prior and monks of St Austin; and +on Blackheath Henry IV. saluted the Greek hero, who for several days +was honoured and treated in London as Emperor of the East. Having +failed in the object of his journey, he returned to Constantinople +(1402), and was allowed to finish his reign in prosperity and peace +in 1425. + +In his declining age, he had appointed as his associate his eldest +son John, the second of the name. The corruptions of the church, +divided between two popes, and the disputes of the clergy, afforded +him ample scope for the exercise of his religious zeal, and it was +to heal these ecclesiastical schisms that he undertook a voyage to +Italy. But the downfall of his race and of the Grecian dynasty was +approaching. At his decease (1448), there were five princes of the +imperial house; but the death of Andronicus, and the monastic +profession of Isidore, had reduced them to three--Constantine, +Demetrius, and Thomas. Constantine ascended the vacant throne, the +factious opposition of his brothers having been appeased by the +interposition of the empress-mother, the senate, the soldiers, and +the clergy, who allowed them the possession of the Morea. + +The first act of the new emperor was to despatch an embassy to +Georgia to bring home a princess whom he had chosen for his royal +consort. His next care was to inquire into the state of public +affairs, which had been completely neglected by the weakness or +absence of his predecessor. But the imperial drama had reached its +last act. The danger which had long brooded over the doomed house of +the Palæologi was ready to burst in resistless fury upon the city of +the Cæsars. Mohammed II. had vowed to become master of +Constantinople, and vast were the preparations and the implements of +war which he had provided for its capture or its destruction. The +story of the siege need not here be told; nowhere has it been +recorded with more picturesque and energetic brevity than in the +glowing pages of Gibbon. Operations were carried on with +unprecedented vigour and effect, rendered more terrible by the +lavish use of gunpowder and artillery, then almost new elements in +the art of war. Constantine did all that a Christian prince and a +brave general could do. By his example he animated the courage of +his soldiers, and revived the hearts of the citizens, sinking in +despair. The scene on the day before the assault is thus described +by an eye-witness:--'The emperor and some faithful companions +entered the dome of St Sophia, which in a few hours was to be +converted into a mosque, and devoutly received with tears and +prayers the sacrament of the holy communion. He reposed some moments +in the palace, which resounded with cries and lamentations; +solicited the pardon of all he might have injured; and mounted on +horseback to visit the guards and explore the motions of the enemy.' +But the dreaded 29th of May had come; the last hour of the city and +the empire had struck. After a siege of fifty-three days, +Constantinople, to use the words of Gibbon, 'which had defied the +power of Chosroes, the chazan, and the caliphs, was irretrievably +subdued by the arms of Mohammed II. Her empire only had been +subverted by the Latins; her religion was trampled in the dust by +the Moslem conquerors.' + +Constantine had nobly done his duty. Amidst the swarms of the enemy +who had climbed the walls and were pursuing the flying Greeks +through the streets, he was long seen with his bravest officers +fighting round his person, and finally lost. His only fear was that +of falling alive into the hands of the Infidels, and this fate he +sought to avert by prudently casting away the purple. Amidst the +tumult he was pierced by an unknown hand, and his body was buried +under a mountain of the slain. The last words he was heard to utter +was the mournful exclamation: 'Cannot there be found a Christian to +cut off my head?' His death put an end to resistance and order, and +left the capital to be sacked and pillaged by the victorious Turks. +Truly has it been said, that the distress and fall of the last +Constantine are more glorious than the long prosperity of the +Byzantine Cæsars. + +The difficulties and dying moments of the emperor have been +faithfully and pathetically dramatised by Miss Joanna Baillie in her +tragedy of _Constantine Palæologus_. She adheres closely to history, +only she makes her hero receive his deathblow from the sword of a +relenting Turk, who admires his bravery, and pronounces over him a +farewell eulogy. All writers agree that the last of the imperial +Palæologi was the best of his race; and had he not been so ill +supported by his worthless subjects, and deserted by every Christian +prince in Europe, he might have repelled the tide of Turkish +invasion, though he would never have restored the glory of the +empire. Yet gallantly did he front the storm, and perish as became +the successor of a long line of kings--the last of the Romans. + +The fall of Constantine was the signal for the degradation and +dispersion of his whole race. His two surviving brothers, Demetrius +and Thomas, reigned as despots of the Morea in Greece; but the ruin +of the empire was the gloomy prelude to their own misfortunes. +Demetrius became the pensioner of the new Turkish emperor Mohammed, +and received a city of Thrace and some adjacent islands for his own +maintenance and that of his followers. In this state of humiliating +dependence he remained until death released him from his ignominious +servitude. Thomas, the other brother, was driven into exile by the +invasion of his dominions. He fled to Corfu, and from thence to +Italy--according to Gibbon's account--'with some naked adherents; +his name, his sufferings, and the head of the apostle St Andrew, +entitled him to the hospitality of the Vatican, and his misery was +prolonged by a pension of 6000 ducats from the pope and cardinals.' +He left two sons (he must have had a third, as will afterwards +appear), Andrew and Manuel, who were educated in Italy. The eldest +degraded himself by the looseness of his life and marriage, and died +the inheritor of an empty title. Manuel was tempted to revisit his +native country; and after spending the remainder of his life in +safety and ease at Constantinople, he was gathered to his fathers, +'an honourable train of Christians and Moslems attending him to the +grave.' + +From this date--early in the sixteenth century--little is known of +the name and lineage of the Palæologi. The crescent waved over the +royal city of Constantine; and, as an old Byzantine annalist +remarks, the last heir of the last spark of the Roman Empire seemed +to be extinct. History had forgotten them, and the restless tide of +human vicissitudes rolled onwards, unconscious of their existence. +Italy was understood to be the asylum of the imperial outcasts; and +there they might have vegetated in oblivion, or dropped into +unhonoured graves without leaving a single representative, had not a +monumental inscription revealed the fact, that a descendant of the +Cæsars had found a retreat and a tomb in an obscure parish in +England. In the small church of Landulph, in Cornwall, the following +inscription upon a small metal tablet, fixed in the wall, removes +all doubt as to the identity and royal pedigree of the person whose +memory it records. In its original spelling it runs thus:--'Here +lyeth the body of Theodoro Paleologvs of Pesaro in Italye, descended +from ye Imperiall lyne of ye last Christian Emperors of Greece, +being the sonne of Prosper, the sonne of Theodoro, the sonne of +John, the sonne of Thomas, second brother to Constantine Paleologvs, +the eighth of that name, and last of ye lyne yt raygned in +Constantinople vntill svbdeued by the Turkes; who married with Mary +ye davghter of William Balls of Hadlye in Sorffolke Gent., and had +issu five children, Theodoro, John, Ferdinando, Maria, and Dorothy, +and departed this life at Clyfton ye 21st of Janvary 1636.'[1] It +appears, then, that Theodore, who married and died in Cornwall, was +the fourth in direct descent from Thomas, younger brother of the +Emperor Constantine, and who fled 'with some naked adherents to +Italy,' where his children were educated.[2] The truth of the story +related in the inscription was corroborated by a circumstance which +happened upwards of twenty years ago. The vault in which Palæologus +was interred having been accidently opened, curiosity prompted the +lifting of the lid. The coffin, which was made of oak, was in an +entire state, and the body sufficiently perfect to shew that the +dead man exceeded the common stature. The head was a long oval, and +the nose believed to have been aquiline; a long white beard reached +down the breast--another symbol of his Greek extraction. + +Of his family little is known: Theodore, the eldest son, was a +sailor, and died on board the _Charles II._, as is proved by his +will, dated 1693. He appears to have possessed landed property, and +to have left a widow named Martha, but no issue. The younger +daughter, Dorothy, was married at Landulph to William Arundell in +1636, and died in 1681.[3] Maria died unmarried, and was buried in +the same church in 1674. Of John and Ferdinando, the other sons, no +memorial seems to have been preserved in this country; and it was +believed as highly probable that the church of Landulph contained +the remains of the last survivors of the Grecian dynasty, once the +illustrious sovereigns of Byzantium. + +Time, however, the great revealer of secrets, brought to light facts +which proved that one of the sons of Theodore of Pesaro in Italy had +removed to the West Indies, where he lived for some years, and died +in 1678. It is mentioned by the historian Oldmixon[4] as a +tradition, that a descendant of the former imperial Greek family of +Constantinople resided in Barbadoes; but he doubts the fact, without +giving any reason for his scepticism. The tradition, however, proves +to have been quite current, and the circumstance that led to its +confirmation, and to the discovery of the body of Ferdinando +Palæologus, and other relics testifying to his connection with the +Greek emperors, are narrated by Sir Robert Schomburgk in his recent +history of Barbadoes. During the terrible hurricane of 1831, which +nearly destroyed the island, among the other public buildings that +yielded to the violence of the storm, was the parish church of St +John, which stood in a romantic situation near the 'Cliff,' at an +elevation of 824 feet. When the ruins were removed, and in clearing +out the rubbish, 'the coffin of Ferdinando Palæologus (we quote Sir +Robert's account) was discovered under the organ-loft, in the vault +of Sir Peter Callotin. The circumstance that the coffin stood in a +direction opposite to the others deposited in the vault, drew +attention to it; the head was lying to the west, the feet pointing +to the east, according to the Greek custom. These accounts raised +the curiosity of the rector of the parish; and in order to ascertain +how much truth was connected with the tradition, he resolved to +examine the supposed coffin of Palæologus; it was consequently +opened on the 3d of May 1844, in presence of Mr R. Reici, jun.; Mr. +J.G. Young; and Mr J. Hinkson. The coffin was of lead, and in it was +found a skeleton of an extraordinary size, imbedded in quicklime, +which is another proof of the Greek origin of Palæologus, as it is +the custom in Greece to surround the body with quicklime. The coffin +was carefully deposited in the vault now in possession of Josiah +Heath, Esq., of Quintyer's and Redland.' + +In the above discovery and examination, the coincidences are so +numerous and so remarkable as to leave no doubt whatever that the +Ferdinando Palæologus, whose body lies interred in St John's church, +was the same individual mentioned in the Landulph inscription as a +son of Theodore. The size of the skeleton, the envelope of +quicklime, the position of the body, are corroborative of an Eastern +descent. The name of the mother, Mary Balls, is an additional +presumption, as among the earliest proprietors in the island several +of that name occur; and three estates are given in Oldmixon's list +as belonging to the family of the Balls. It has been assumed, +therefore, with good reason, that a relationship may have existed +between the mother of Ferdinando and the Balls in Barbadoes, +which--at a period when so many families emigrated from England, +chiefly from Kent and the southern and western counties--might have +induced young Palæologus to seek his fortunes in the New World, +after his father's death in 1636. + +Of the residence of Ferdinando in the island for thirty years, ample +evidence exists in various documents. Sir Robert Schomburgk was +shewn by the rector of the parish, the Rev. J.H. Gittens, an old +vestry-book of St John's, in which various entries occur of the name +of Ferdinando Palæologus, from 1649 till 1669, as vestryman, +churchwarden, trustee, surveyor of the highway, sidesman to the +churchwarden, and lieutenant, &c. The last entry is that of his +burial, 'October 3d 1678.' His name also appears in a legal document +respecting the sale of some land, executed in 1658. But the most +important evidence of his identity with the Cornwall family is his +will, in which the names of his sisters, Maria and Dorothy, occur. +It was entered in the Registrar's Office, the 20th of March 1678, +and proved before the deputy-governor, Colonel Christopher +Codrington. The widow became the sole survivor and heiress of the +property, Theodorious having died in his youth, so that the last of +the Palæologi reposes in the parish church of St John, in the island +of Barbadoes; and the estate which once belonged to the descendant +of the Greek emperors now forms part of Clifton Hall and the +Plantation Ashford. Laying these circumstances together, and +considering how completely the will of Ferdinando corroborates the +Landulph inscription, of which he probably knew nothing, the +genealogical problem, we think, is fairly wrought out, and the last +of the descendants of the Roman Cæsars traced to his final +resting-place beyond the Atlantic. A curious anecdote is mentioned +by Sir Robert Schomburgk as to the revival of the tradition of one +of the Palæologi being in Barbadoes. He says, but without vouching +for its truth, that during the last conflict for Grecian +independence and deliverance from the Turkish yoke, a letter was +received from the provisional government at Athens, addressed to the +authorities in Barbadoes, inquiring whether a male branch of the +Palæologi was still existing in the island, and conveying the +request that if such were the case he should be provided with the +means of returning to Greece, and the government would, if required, +pay all the expenses of the voyage. This story was not current in +Europe, at all events; and we on this side the water never dreamed +that among the competitors of King Leopold for the throne was a +veritable scion of the old imperial sovereigns of Constantinople. + +The events detailed in the preceding narrative are fitted to suggest +various interesting reflections and amusing speculations. The fate +of the Palæologi--one day on a throne, the next in a dungeon, +passing from regal state to wretched exile--may have been the bitter +lot of other imperial families. If we find the descendants of the +Greek emperors in the humble occupation of sailors and +churchwardens, and vestrymen and road-trustees, there is nothing +extravagant in the supposition, that we may have royal porters and +scavengers on our streets, the sceptre having degenerated into the +besom, and the truck taken the place of the chariot of state. The +family of Nimrod may still exist, and retain their ancestral +propensities in the craft of sportsmen and deer-stalkers, or in the +lower grade of Jehus and jockeys. Who knows but the posterity of +Solomon may be retailing old clothes, and the heirs of the +Nebuchadnezzar dynasty still exist somewhere--perhaps among our +graziers or cattle-dealers, our keepers of dairies or secretaries of +agricultural associations. The line of Tamerlane may have ended in a +grave-digger, and that of Frederick Barbarossa in a hair-dresser. +The ideal transmigration of Pythagoras was not more improbable or +more wonderful than the strange metamorphoses through which, in the +course of centuries, the living representatives of kings and +emperors are sometimes doomed to pass. + + * * * * * + +[Footnote 1: There is a slight error in the date of the inscription, +as the entry of his burial is October 20th 1636.] + +[Footnote 2: Only two sons of Thomas are mentioned by Gibbon--Andrew +and Manuel; but the evidence of the Landulph tablet shews that he +must have had a third, John.] + +[Footnote 3: Her name is entered in the register as 'Dorothea +Paleologus de Stirpe Imperatorious.'] + +[Footnote 4: _British Empire in America_, vol. ii. p. 111.] + + + + +A CHAPTER ON CATS. + + +The newspapers have recently been chronicling, as a fact provocative +of especial wonder, the enterprise of some speculative merchant of +New York, who has just been despatching a cargo of one hundred cats +to the republic of New Granada, in which it would appear the race, +owing, as we may believe, to the frequently disturbed state of the +country, has become almost extinct. + +Your cat is a domestic animal, and naturally conservative in its +tastes--averse therefore to uproar, and to all those given to +change. Its propensities are to meditation and contemplative +tranquillity, for which reason it has ever been held in reverence by +nations of a similar staid and composed disposition, and has been +the favourite companion and constant friend of grave philosophers +and thoughtful students. By the ancient Egyptians cats were held in +the highest esteem; and we learn from Diodorus Siculus, their 'lives +and safeties' were tendered more dearly than those of any other +animal, whether biped or quadruped. 'He who has voluntarily killed a +consecrated animal,' says this writer, 'is punished with death; but +if any one has even involuntarily killed a cat or an ibis, it is +impossible for him to escape death: the mob drags him to it, +treating him with every cruelty, and sometimes without waiting for +judgment to be passed. This treatment inspires such terror, that, if +any person happen to find one of these animals dead, he goes to a +distance from it, and by his cries and groans indicates that he has +found the animal dead. This superstition is so deeply rooted in the +minds of the Egyptians, and the respect they bear these animals is +so profound, that at the time when their king, Ptolemy, was not yet +declared the friend of the Roman people--when they were paying all +possible court to travellers from Italy, and their fears made them +avoid every ground of accusation and every pretext for making war +upon them--yet a Roman having killed a cat, the people rushed to his +house, and neither the entreaties of the grandees, whom the king +sent for the purpose, nor the terror of the Roman name, could +protect this man from punishment, although the act was involuntary. +I do not relate this anecdote,' adds the historian, 'on the +authority of another, for I was an eye-witness of it during my stay +in Egypt.'[5] + +During their lives, the consecrated cats were fed upon fish, kept +for the purpose in tanks; and 'when one of them happened to die,' +says the veracious writer just cited, 'it was wrapped in linen, and +after the bystanders had beaten themselves on the breast, it was +carried to the Tarichoea, where it was embalmed with coedria and +other substances which have the virtue of embalming bodies, after +which it was interred in the sacred monument.' It has puzzled not a +little the learned archæologists, who have endeavoured to discover a +profound philosophy figured and symbolised in the singular mythology +of the Egyptians, to explain how it is that in Thebes, where the +sacred character of the cat was held in the highest reverence, and +cherished with the greatest devotion, not only embalmed cats have +been found, but also the bodies of rats and mice, which had been +subjected to the same anti-putrescent process. If, however, +Herodotus is to be credited, the Egyptians owed a deep debt of +gratitude to the mice; for the venerable historian assures us, and +on the unquestionable authority of the Egyptian priests, that when +Sennacherib and his army lay at Pelusium, a mighty corps of +field-mice entered the camp by night, and eating up the quivers, +bowstrings, and buckler-leathers of the Assyrian troops, in this +summary fashion liberated Egypt from the terror of the threatened +invasion. Probably the existence of mice-mummies may be accounted +for in this way, and if--resorting to no violent supposition--we +presume in the good work which the tiny patriots so sagaciously +accomplished that their cousins-german the rats were assistant, the +whole matter receives a satisfactory explication. The hypothesis, it +is submitted, is not without plausible recommendations on its +behalf. There is extant a fragment of a comedy, entitled 'The +Cities,' written by the Rhodian poet Anaxandrides, in which the +Egyptian worship of animals is amusingly enough quizzed. A +translation will be found in Dr Prichard's _Analysis of Egyptian +Mythology_. The lines referring to cat-worship are as follow:-- + + 'You cry and wail whene'er ye spy a cat, + Starving or sick; I count it not a sin + To hang it up, and flay it for its skin;' + +from which it appears this gay free-thinker was not only somewhat +sceptical in his religious notions, but, moreover, a hard-hearted, +good-for-nothing fellow--one who, had he lived in our times, would +unquestionably have brought himself within the sweep of the Society +for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the Duke of Beaufort's +Humanity Act. + +We learn from Herodotus that in his days it was customary, whenever +a cat died, for the whole household at once to go into mourning, and +this although the lamented decease might have been the result of old +age, or other causes purely natural. In the case of a cat's death, +however, the eyebrows only were required to be shaved off; but when +a dog, a beast of more distinguished reputation, departed this life, +every inmate of the house was expected to shave his head and whole +body all over. Both cats and dogs are watched and attended to with +the greatest solicitude during illness. Indeed, by the ancient +Egyptians the cat was treated much in the same way as are dogs +amongst us: we find them even accompanying their masters on their +aquatic shooting-excursions; and, if the testimony of ancient +monuments is to be relied on, often catching the game for them, +although it may be permitted to doubt whether they ever actually +took to the water for this purpose. + +In modern Egypt the cat, although more docile and companionable than +its European sister, has much degenerated; but still, on account of +its usefulness in destroying scorpions and other reptiles, it is +treated with some consideration--suffered to eat out of the same +dish with the children, to join with them in their sports, and to be +their constant companion and daily friend. A modern Egyptian would +esteem it a heinous sin indeed, to destroy, or even maltreat a cat; +and we are told by Sir Gardner Wilkinson, that benevolent +individuals have bequeathed funds by which a certain number of these +animals are daily fed at Cairo at the Cadi's court, and the bazaar +of Khan Khaleel. + +But a tender regard for the inferior animals is a prevailing +characteristic of the Oriental races, and is inculcated as a duty by +their various religions. At Fez there was, and perhaps is at this +day, a wealthily-endowed hospital, the greater part of the funds of +which was devoted to the support and medical treatment of invalid +cranes and storks, and procuring them a decent sepulture whenever +they chanced to die. The founders are said to have entertained the +poetical notion that these birds are, in truth, human beings, +natives of distant islands, who at certain periods assume a foreign +shape, and after they have satisfied their curiosity with visiting +other lands, return to their own, and resume their original form. + +To return, however, not to our sheep, but our cats, we must remark +that, in modern times, in spite of the kindness the cat habitually +receives in Egypt, his _morale_ is not in that country rated very +high--the universal impression being that, although, like Snug the +joiner's lion, he is by nature 'a very gentle beast,' still he is by +no means 'of a good conscience;' that he is, in short, a most +ungrateful beast; and that when, in a future state, it is asked of +him how he has been treated by man in this, he will obstinately deny +all the benefits he has received at his hand, and give him such a +character for cruelty and hardness of heart as is shocking to think +of. The dog, however, it is understood, will conduct himself more +discreetly, and readily acknowledge the good offices for which he is +indebted to the family of mankind. + +Singular anecdotes have been related of the intense repugnance +persons have been found to entertain to these, at worst, harmless +animals. One shall be given in the very words of the Rev. Nicholas +Wanley, who, in his authentic _Wonders of the Little World_, has +recorded a number of other facts quite as marvellous, and sustained +by testimony not one whit more exceptionable:--'Mathiolus tells of a +German, who coming in winter-time into an inn to sup with him and +some other of his friends, the woman of the house being acquainted +with his temper (lest he should depart at the sight of a young cat +which she kept to breed up), had beforehand hid her kitling in a +chest in the same room where we sat at supper. But though he had +neither seen nor heard it, yet after some time that he had sucked in +the air infected by the cat's breath, that quality of his +temperament that had antipathy to that creature being provoked, he +sweat, and, of a sudden, paleness came over his face, and, to the +wonder of us all that were present, he cried out that in some corner +of the room there was a cat that lay hid.' Not long after the battle +of Wagram and the second occupation of Vienna by the French, an +aide-de-camp of Napoleon, who at the time occupied, together with +his suite, the Palace of Schönbrunn, was proceeding to bed at an +unusually late hour, when, on passing the door of Napoleon's +bedroom, he was surprised by a most singular noise, and repeated +calls from the Emperor for assistance. Opening the door hastily, and +rushing into the room, a singular spectacle presented itself--the +great soldier of the age, half undressed, his countenance agitated, +the beaded drops of perspiration standing on his brow, in his hand +his victorious sword, with which he was making frequent and +convulsive lunges at some invisible enemy through the tapestry that +lined the walls. It was a cat that had secreted herself in this +place; and Napoleon held cats not so much in abhorrence as in +terror. 'A feather,' says the poet, 'daunts the brave;' and a +greater poet, through the mouth of his Shylock, remarks that 'there +are some that are mad if they behold a cat--a harmless, necessary +cat.' Count Bertram would seem to have shared in this unaccountable +aversion. When 'Monsieur Parolles, the gallant militarist, that had +the whole theory of war in the knot of his scarf, and the practice +in the chape of his dagger,' was convicted of mendacity and +cowardice, Bertram exclaimed, 'I could endure anything before this +but a cat, and now he's a cat to me.' The force of censure could no +further go. + +If Napoleon, however, held cats, as has been averred, in positive +fear, there have been others, and some of them illustrious captains, +that have regarded them with other feelings. Marshal Turenne could +amuse himself for hours in playing with his kittens; and the great +general, Lord Heathfield, would often appear on the walls of +Gibraltar, at the time of the famous siege, attended by his +favourite cats. Cardinal Richelieu was also fond of cats; and when +we have enumerated the names of Cowper and Dr Johnson, of Thomas +Gray and Isaac Newton, and, above all, of the tender-hearted and +meditative Montaigne, the list is far from complete of those who +have bestowed on the feline race some portion of their affections. + +Butler, in his _Hudibras_, observes, in an oft-quoted passage, that + + 'Montaigne, playing with his cat, + Complains she thought him but an ass.' + +And the annotator on this passage, in explanation, adds, that +'Montaigne in his Essays supposes his cat thought him a fool for +losing his time in playing with her;' but, under favour, this is a +misinterpretation of the essayist's sentiment, and something like a +libel on the capacity of both himself and cat. Montaigne's words +are: 'When I play with my cat, who knows whether I do not make her +more sport than she makes me? We mutually divert each other with our +play. If I have my hour to begin or refuse, so also has she hers.' +Nobody who has read the striking essay in which these words appear +could for a moment misconceive their author's meaning. He is +vindicating natural theology from the objections of some of its +opponents, and in the course of his argument he takes occasion to +dwell on the wonderful instincts, and almost rational sagacity of +the inferior animals. We must, however, lament that, although he +does full justice to the 'half-reasoning elephant,' to the aptitude +and fidelity of the dog, to the marvellous economical arrangements +of the bees, and even to the imitative capacity of the magpie, he +pays no higher tribute to the merits of the cat than that she is as +capable of being amused as himself, and like himself, too, has her +periods of gravity when recreative sports are distasteful. Her +social qualities he does not allude to, though he, so eminently +social himself, could scarcely have failed to appreciate them. + +In this country, at this time, cats have superseded parlour +favourites decidedly less agreeable in their appearance, and +infinitely more mischievous in their habits. Writing in the +seventeenth century, Burton, in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_, remarks +that 'Turkey gentlewomen, that are perpetual prisoners, still mewed +up according to the custom of the place, have little else, beside +their household business or to play with their children, to drive +away time but to dally with their cats, which they have _in +delitiis_, as many of our ladies and gentlewomen use monkeys and +little dogs.' It is not the least merit of the cat that it has +banished from our sitting-rooms those frightful mimicries of +humanity--the monkey tribe; and as to the little dogs Tray, Blanch, +and Sweetheart, although we are not insensible to their many virtues +and utilities, we care not to see them sleeping on our hearth-rug, +or reposing beside our work-tables. + + * * * * * + +[Footnote 5: In the matter of fanaticism, the modern Egyptians, or +rather the inhabitants of Alexandria, seem hardly to have +degenerated from their ethnic 'forbears,' as we read in Mr J.A. St +John's travels the account of a serious insurrection which broke out +some years ago in that city, in consequence of certain Jews having +taken up the butcher's trade, and having slain the meat with a knife +having _three_ instead of _five nails_ in the handle!] + + + + +BEGGARS IN THE FAR EAST. + + +Bengal is blessed with a mild climate and a fertile soil. Provisions +are consequently cheap; and as neither substantial houses nor +expensive clothing is there essential to comfort, we might naturally +expect to see less of misery and destitution than in this country. +Such, however, is not the case. Our severe winter engenders habits +of industry and forethought, which are unknown in India. The ease +with which in most cases their few wants are supplied, renders the +inhabitants of that country in the highest degree improvident; and +nowhere do we see a greater number of beggars, and misery and +destitution paraded through the streets in more revolting forms. + +There are no poor-laws in any part of India. Relief, however, is not +withheld, nor indeed sparingly bestowed. Many can afford to give a +little; and where nothing is exacted, many give willingly. Little +charity is bestowed by Europeans in the streets, as they generally +ride in palanquins or carriages, and as, besides, they feel the +weight even of a purse too much on a hot day. However, let it not be +supposed that they, like Dives, wallow in wealth, and close their +ears to the importunities of the heathen. The Baboo or Sircar gives +weekly or monthly pensions to some patronised beggars; and on a +Saturday in some large towns, the blind, lame, and halt come to the +gates of the grandees, and receive from the trusty _durwan_ or +doorkeeper a handful of cowries and coarse rice, of which one, two, +or three rupees' worth are mixed up, according to the circumstances +of the master. But it is not to ordinary beggars I now propose to +draw the attention of the reader--the infirm or the lazy, with whom +we are all tolerably familiar. But in India there is another class +of beggars--_religious_ and _professional_ beggars--who are proud of +their calling. I do not mean that there are no religious mendicants +to be found at home; but although the object to be attained in both +countries may be similar, the agents employed in the East are so +different, that a description of them will to many European readers +have all the gloss of novelty. + +The two principal sects in Bengal are known as _Soneeassees_ and +_Byrâgees_. The former _exclusively_ worship Mahado. 'They are not +to inhabit houses or temples,' say their scriptures; 'but to live in +woods and forests, under the wide expanse of heaven, _there_ to +meditate upon the greatness of the Creator, and contemplate his +beautiful works.' An infant who is to become a Soneeassee has from +his birth the badge of Sheva upon him: no razor ever touches his +hair, and his locks are matted and dishevelled, when other +children's are neatly combed and anointed. When he approaches +manhood, he takes the vow of celibacy, he receives from the hand of +the Brahmin the _muntra_ or mystical creed, the dried skin of an +antelope, and a piece of coarse, unbleached cotton, stained yellow +with ochre, which he can use as a plaid, it being seven feet long; +upon the skin he is supposed to sit and sleep, and the cloth +overshadows the shoulders of the young enthusiast. Even after these +are worn out, as it is supposed that the devotee is pretty well +broken in to the hardships of his situation, they on no account may +be renewed. These Soneeassees seldom adhere to the letter of their +religion in the present day, although it is said that in times gone +by some of their class have sat absorbed and abstracted until their +spirit held communion with the great god--their bodies wasting away +from neglect, and their nails growing like claws. In the present +day, prayer and meditation are given to the winds, and they may be +seen fat and sleek, perambulating the streets of the towns and +villages, smeared over with ashes and ochre, and great coils of +matted hair, which some tastefully wind like a turban round their +head. They take care also to display, in glaring red and white +paint, upon their foreheads and arms, the various insignia or marks +of Sheva, such as the trident. Occasionally one also flourishes +about a _steel_ trident, which the figure of Mahado always wields in +his hand, and which is also placed on the summit of his temple. The +Soneeassees are the most impudent and importunate of beggars. There +came under my notice a band of three, who used regularly to visit +the town twice a week. These men had made a vow to collect a certain +number of rupees to build a temple, and for this purpose infested +the doors of the wealthiest of the Hindoo community, and followed +and persecuted them even in their drives with continued cries. It is +astonishing how soon superstition enabled them to fulfil their vow, +and how the extortioners were allowed to escape the punishment their +impudence deserved. + +The Byrâgees are not so intrusive a sect. They frequently live in +the open air, though not prohibited from seeking other shelter. +Their heads are differently treated from those of the Soneeassees, +for both men and women have the crown shaved quite smooth. Both +sexes wear a piece of cloth checked like shepherd's plaid. They have +great strings of wooden beads, or _malâhs_, turned out of the stalks +of the holy toolsie, round their necks; and they generally collect +their rice and cowries in a dried gourd-shell. Persons of this sect +at their death are placed in an upright position in a deep grave, +and so consumed with fire. In former times, the widows used to burn +themselves with their lords. The Byrâgees, when they attain years of +discretion, may choose their wives from any caste they please. Some +of the Byragins, therefore, are said to be far cleverer than the +everyday Hindoo women, having been selected from a class which are +looked down upon by the others, but who are taught high +accomplishments, and are devoted to the temples of the gods. In his +begging excursions the Byrâgee carries a pair of cymbals or a small +gong; and singing the songs of Krishna, and his courtships among the +milkmaids, he delights the hearts of his Hindoo hearers, and makes +them lavish of their gifts. + +The English reader perhaps has never heard of a beggar such as I +shall now depict. One may happen to be in a reflective mood, and +aroused from his meditations by what he supposes to be a cow lowing +close to his ear. He starts up and goes to the window, but instead +of that quadruped he finds a man standing with a rope round his +neck, and a woful countenance, holding out his palms, indicating +that he wants charity. This man has had the misfortune to lose his +cow; and as it died tethered, his religion imposes on him the +penalty of begging from door to door without speaking, but imitating +the cow, till he has realised enough to purchase one of these sacred +animals, and to give something besides in charity to the Brahmins. +This provision was perhaps made by the religion of the country in +favour of the cow, to preserve so useful an animal from +ill-treatment; and it is astonishing to see how implicitly the +Hindoo submits himself to a mere convention, which he might easily +evade. + + + + +A LATE PRISON REPORT. + + +In the Sixteenth Report on the state of the Prisons, by Mr Frederic +Hill, lately laid before parliament, will be found some passages +worthy of general attention. While speaking favourably of the system +of discipline now ordinarily pursued towards prisoners, Mr Hill is +obliged to admit that certain prisons are rendered much too +attractive; in fact, that they create crime. It is important that +this condition of affairs should be known. Good food and medical +attendance are, it seems, the attractions. The following are Mr +Hill's words, with the quotations he makes from the statements of +prison officials:-- + +'Several of the prisons continue to be attractive, to certain +classes of persons, instead of repulsive; owing, apparently in some +instances, to the better dietary of the prison as compared with that +of the workhouse; in others, to the good medical treatment generally +provided in prisons; and in others, to a practice of giving +prisoners clothing on their liberation, a practice which, did the +law permit, might be replaced by a rule enabling prisoners to earn +clothing by extra labour. + +'The governor of the borough prison at Cambridge stated that many +persons were reckless about committing offences, because they +preferred being sent to the prison to going to the workhouse, owing +chiefly (according to their statements) to their getting better food +at the prison. + +'The chaplain of the prison at Spilsby stated as follows:--"I am +sorry to observe that the present system of discipline here does not +deter people from the commission of crime. Several have said that +they would rather come here than go to the Union workhouse." ... + +'Mr Dunn, one of the surgeons of the prison at Wakefield, states--"I +am convinced that many persons, especially females, get committed to +the prison on purpose to be cured of attacks of disease. Many of +them have admitted to me that it was so. A man from Bradford, who +went out last week, told me that he had been here before, and that +he had got committed again in consequence of his having a return of +his disease, and that he came to be cured.... One man who was here +for a month last autumn, and who came in a very diseased state, but +who left cured, required, during nearly the whole time, a pint of +wine per day, besides malt liquor. It was a case in which a very +liberal diet is necessary to preserve life; and it was requisite to +have a prisoner, acting as nurse, to sit up with him through the +night. The cost to the West Riding of this single case, counting +expenses of all kinds, could not have been less than L.6." + +'The governor of the city prison at York said--"By the +acknowledgments of the prisoners themselves, I know that the +practice still continues of committing offences on purpose to get +committed to this prison. Four prisoners were liberated this morning +who had broken a street-lamp with the evident intention of being +sent to this prison. They were sentenced to seven days' +imprisonment, and on their liberation each prisoner was supplied +with a coat, waistcoat, pair of trousers, and a pair of shoes, and +one of them had a shirt also! Many times last winter gas-lamps and +the windows of the police-office and vagrant-office were broken, in +order to get admission to the prison. Out of eighteen male prisoners +who were brought to trial at the last Quarter-Sessions, twelve in my +opinion committed their offences for the direct purpose of being +sent to prison. Most of the vagrants committed to the prison still +pass their time in idleness; no prisoners except those sentenced to +hard labour being set to work." + +'The following is an extract from the visiting justices' minute-book +at the same prison:-- + +"_Dec. 12th, 1849._--The number of prisoners who commit offences +with the object of being maintained during the winter increases +yearly, and is deserving of serious consideration, as a serious +expense is entailed thereby on the city. The imprisonment inflicted +is not looked on as a punishment, but a reward."' + +If such really be the case, it is evident that a wrong course has +been pursued in making the prisons so comfortable. Some years ago, +when society was seized with a paroxysm of humanity, prisons were +got up in a style of palatial splendour, and criminals, the most +worthless of the population, were treated with a degree of +tenderness which was opposed to every principle of justice. Possibly +the method of reclaiming by kindness was not bad in the abstract, +and in numerous instances it was perhaps effective; but in the main +it was unsuitable to a complicated condition of ignorance, poverty, +vice, and wretchedness. It should have been borne in mind that there +is a distinct class of persons to whom any kind of provision is +desirable, and who, being sunk below all sentiments of self-respect, +shame, and regret, would very willingly sell themselves into slavery +for the sake of a momentary gratification. To think of a warm, +comfortable prison being an object of dread to this +utterly-abandoned class! + +Another philosophical crotchet did no small mischief. It was alleged +that hard labour on the tread-mill would do harm: knowing that the +labour tended to no useful purpose but merely the turning of a +wheel, prisoners would feel degraded, and this feeling would prevent +their reclamation! The error here consisted in imagining that the +criminal class possessed the feelings of gentlemen; whereas the real +thing to be thought of, was to give them labour so excessively +toilsome and irksome as to be remembered with salutary horror all +the days of their life. For example, no kind of punishment, we +believe, has proved so sure a terror as that of the shot-drill in +the military prisons. This consists in lifting a cannon-ball of +perhaps twenty pounds' weight; marching with it for a dozen yards; +then laying it down; and so on, repeating the same thing for an +hour. Now this is clearly a useless and most degrading species of +labour; yet it is a terrible infliction, and we are told seldom +fails in its effect--that is to say, it deters from the commission +of crime. + +The experience of the last few years would shew that much is still +to be learned in the art of criminal discipline; and indeed the +whole question of what is to be done with our criminal population is +becoming daily more perplexing. Mere confinement is found to be of +small avail. Transportation is exploded; for it improves the +circumstances of criminals instead of making them worse. Capital +punishment has also had its day, and, excepting for a very few +offences, is abandoned as useless, independently of being revolting +to humanity. One writer proposes to work convicts in gangs at +out-door labour, such as mining, and making railways; but the public +would never tolerate the spectacle of this worst species of +slave-labour; and besides, the employment of honest workers would be +ruined. We are inclined to think that imprisonment, in a severe +form, is after all the only practicable means of dealing with +criminals. If anything be urgently wanted, it is a plan for +preventing the growth of the criminal class; and this probably is +not so difficult as it may appear. Of course, till there be a far +broader system of public education than now prevails, the criminal +population will never want recruits. Nevertheless, even with our +present imperfect educational arrangements, something might be done. +The criminal class is discovered to be on the whole a narrow class. +The practice of living by depredation runs in families, and clings +to individuals. The police of any given town could put their hand on +almost every person who lives by fraud, theft, and robbery. They +could at a day's notice secure nearly every one of them. A knowledge +of this fact has suggested to Mr Matthew Hill a plan for capturing +the whole criminal class, and obliging them to give security for +their good behaviour; failing which, they should suffer +incarceration as notoriously dangerous and troublesome to society. A +fear of trenching on the liberty of the subject may prevent this +ingenious scheme of the Recorder of Birmingham from being carried +into effect; but to something or other of the kind he proposes, +society must come at last, if it wish to save itself from being +everlastingly worried and plundered by a habitually predatory class. +In the Prison Report to which we have above referred, mention is +made of a single family of thieves, consisting of fifteen +individuals, who cost the country L.26,000 before they were got rid +of. Is not such a fact quite monstrous! + + + + +FRENCH BATTLE-PICTURES. + + +In an American work--_Glances at Europe_, by Mr H. Greeley--the +following sound observations occur on the battle-pictures in the +palace of Versailles: 'These battle-pieces have scarcely more +historic than artistic value, since the names of at least half of +them might be transposed, and the change be undetected by +ninety-nine out of every hundred who see them. If _all_ the French +battles were thus displayed, it might be urged with plausibility +that these galleries were historical in their character; but a full +half of the story--that which tells of French disaster and +discomfiture--is utterly suppressed. The battles of Ptolemais, of +Ivry, of Fontenoy, of Rivoli, of Austerlitz, &c. are here as +imposing as paint can make them; but never a whisper of Agincourt, +Cressy, Poitiers, Blenheim, or Ramillies; nor yet of Salamanca, of +Vittoria, of Leipsic, or Waterloo. Even the wretched succession of +forays which the French have for the last twenty years been +prosecuting in Algerine Africa, here shine resplendent; for Vernet +has painted, by Louis-Philippe's order, and at France's cost, a +succession of battle-pieces, wherein French numbers and science are +seen prevailing over Arab barbarism and irregular valour, in combats +whereof the very names have been wisely forgotten by mankind, though +they occurred but yesterday. One of these is much the largest +painting I ever saw, and is probably the largest in the world, and +it seems to have been got up merely to exhibit one of +Louis-Philippe's sons in the thickest of the fray. Last of all, we +have the Capture of Abd-el-Kader, as imposing as Vernet could make +it, but no whisper of the persistent perfidy wherewith he has been +retained for several years in bondage, in violation of the express +agreement of his captors. The whole collection is, in its general +effect, delusive and mischievous--the purpose being to exhibit war +as always glorious, and France as uniformly triumphant. It is by +means like these that the business of shattering knee-joints and +multiplying orphans is kept in countenance.' + + + + +NEW APPLICATIONS OF MANGEL-WURZEL. + + +A patent has been taken out for the following applications of +mangel-wurzel:--_1st_, To prepare a substance which may be combined +with, or employed in place of coffee, the mangel-wurzel roots are +well washed, cut into pieces; about the size of peas or beans, and +then dried and roasted in the same manner as coffee-berries. The +product is ground after being roasted, and it is then ready for use. +_2d_, A substitute for tea is produced by cutting the leaves of +mangel-wurzel into small strips or shreds, drying the same, and then +placing them upon a hot plate, which is kept at a temperature +sufficiently high to slightly char the leaves. The charred +mangel-wurzel leaves are to be used in precisely the same way as +tea. _3d_, To manufacture a fermented liquor, the mangel-wurzel +roots are well washed, cut into small pieces, and put into a vat, +wherein they are permitted to ferment for two or three days, at a +temperature of about 70 degrees, and water is added thereto. A +fermented liquor is thus obtained similar to perry or cider. _4th_, +When the mangel-wurzel roots are to be employed in the preparation +of wort, they are washed, and cut into small pieces, which are +dried, or slightly charred, by the action of kilns or ovens, of the +kind used for drying malt; and wort is prepared from this produce in +the same manner as from malt. + + + + +THE MARTYRDOM OF FAITHFUL IN VANITY FAIR.[6] + + + I. + + The great human whirlpool!--'tis seething and seething: + On! No time for shrieking out, no time for breathing; + All toiling and moiling--some feebler, some bolder, + But each sees a fiend-face grin over his shoulder: + Thus merrily live they in Vanity Fair! + + The great human caldron--it boils ever higher; + Some drowning, some sinking; while some, creeping nigher, + Come thirsting to lean o'er its outermost verges, + Or touch--as a child's feet touch trembling the surges: + One plunge--Ho! more souls swamped in Vanity Fair! + + 'Let's live while we live, for to-morrow all's over. + Drink deep, drunkard bold! and kiss close, thou mad lover! + Smile, hypocrite, smile! it is no such hard labour, + While each with red hand tears the heart of his neighbour + All slyly.--We're strange folk in Vanity Fair! + + 'Hist!--each for himself, or _herself_, which sounds smoother, + Though man's no upholder, and woman no soother, + Both struggle alike here.--What, weeping?--what, raving? + Pah!--fight out the battle all! No time for saving! + Ha! ha! 'tis a wondrous place, Vanity Fair!' + + The mad crowd divides, and then closes swift after; + Afar, towers the pyre, lit with shouting and laughter; + 'What new sport is this?' lisps a reveller, half turning;-- + 'One Faithful, poor wretch! who is led to the burning: + He cumbered us sorely in Vanity Fair! + + 'A dreamer--who held every man for a brother; + A coward--who, emit on one cheek, gave the other: + A fool--whose blind truth aye believed all knaves' lying; + Too simple to live, so most fitted for dying. + Ha! such are best swept out of Vanity Fair.' + + + II. + + Silence! though the flame-drifts wave and flutter; + Silence! though the crowd their curses mutter; + Silence! through this fiery purgatory + God is leading up a soul to glory. + + See, the white lips with no moans are trembling, + Hate of foes, or plaint of friends' dissembling; + If sighs come--most patient prayers outlive them: + _'Lord, these know not what they do. Forgive them!'_ + + Thirstier still the roaring flames are glowing, + Fainter in his ear the laughters growing; + Brief endures the fierce and fiery trial-- + Angel-welcomes drown the earth-denial. + + Now the amorous death-fires, gleaming ruddy, + Clasp him close. Down sinks the quivering body, + While through harmless flames immortal flying + Shoots the beauteous soul. This--this is _dying_! + + Lo! the opening heavens with splendours rifted; + Lo! the palms that wait those hands uplifted; + And the fiery chariot cloud-descending, + And the legioned angels close attending! + + Let his poor dust mingle with the embers, + While the crowd sweeps on, and none remembers; + Saints and angels through the Infinite glory, + Praising God, recount the martyr's story. + + Thou, who through the trial-fires bewildering + Of this cruel world, dost lead Thy children, + With the purifying give the balm; + Grant to martyr-pangs the martyr's palm! + + * * * * * + +[Footnote 6: Suggested partly by a sketch in David Scott's +illustrations of the _Pilgrim's Progress_.] + + + + +VARIETY OF AMBER. + + +There is a variety of amber, of the opacity of white wax, with a +very slight yellowish tinge. It is found intermixed with yellow +amber, in thin bands of some breadth. When the magnificent pile of +buildings called Fonthill Abbey was exhibited to the public, before +the sale of its curious and costly furniture, it contained an amber +cabinet, as beautiful in workmanship as material. It was +quadrangular, and about fifteen inches by twelve at the base, +standing on four legs, that raised it about half an inch from its +pedestal. It was pyramidal in form, about fourteen inches high, and +divided into eleven stages. These were separated by a ledge of +yellow amber, about one-eighth of an inch in thickness, projecting a +little over the under stage, like a cornice. The front of each stage +was ornamented with recumbent figures in white amber, in relief. +Some parts were at least one-eighth of an inch in thickness. The +effect was much like that of the white figures on the purple ground +of the well-known Portland Vase. Each stage had the appearance of +opening as a drawer. The top was flat, and the whole of the yellow +amber beautifully transparent. + + + + +HAVE SERPENTS TASTE? + + +Some naturalists have surmised that serpents have no sense of taste, +because the boa-constrictor in the Zoological Gardens swallowed his +blanket. Chemistry may, however, assist us in solving the mystery, +and induce us to draw quite an opposite conclusion from the curious +circumstance alluded to. May not the mistake of the serpent be +attributed to the marvellous acuteness of his taste? Take this +reason: All vegetable substances contain starch, all animal +substances contain ammonia; now it is most probable that the snake +detected the animal quality--the ammonia--in the wool of the +blanket, and he therefore naturally enough inferred that his bed was +something suitable to his digestive organs. It is certain that he +committed an error of judgment, but that error may be traceable to +the subtilty of his taste rather than to its obtuseness. We throw +out this suggestion as a specimen, if nothing better, of what +contradictory inferences may be drawn from a single fact, and as a +hint of how much caution is necessary in arriving at absolute +opinions, even when the evidence is apparently most unmistakable. + + + + +AN AMERICAN EDITOR. + + +He is a dangerous man to be trifled with. The grand hickory-stick he +twirls in his hand would be enough, with his dare-devil look, to +frighten most persons; but when we state that in the depth of the +pocket of the remarkable check-coat that he wears he conceals one of +the most beautiful 'persuaders' ever manufactured by Colt, we are +satisfied he will be a terror to all evil-doers. We should also +state that generally he is occupied doing out-door business, but +that on every Saturday until one o'clock P.M. he is always at the +office, perfectly ready and willing to give any and every +satisfaction for the articles he publishes.--_Boston Rouge Gazette._ + + * * * * * + +Printed and Published by W. and R. CHAMBERS, High Street, Edinburgh. +Also sold by W.S. ORR, Amen Corner, London; D.N. CHAMBERS, 55 West +Nile Street, Glasgow; and J. M'GLASHAN, 50 Upper Sackville Street, +Dublin.--Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent +to MAXWELL & Co., 31 Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, London, to whom +all applications respecting their insertion must be made. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 419, +New Series, January 10, 1852, by Various + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14502 *** |