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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17256-8.txt b/17256-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9a2e11 --- /dev/null +++ b/17256-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2437 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427 + Volume 17, New Series, March 6, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers and William Chambers + +Release Date: December 8, 2005 [EBook #17256] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL + + CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S + INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c. + + + No. 427. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1852. PRICE 1½ _d._ + + + + +THE CHARITABLE CHUMS' BENEFIT CLUB. + + +The 'Mother Bunch' public-house stands modestly aside from the din, +traffic, and turmoil of a leading London thoroughfare, and retires, like +a bashful maiden, from the gaze of a crowd to the society of its own +select circle. It is situated in a short and rather narrow street, +leading from an omnibus route running north from the city to nowhere in +particular--or, if particulars must be given, to that complicated +assemblage of carts, cabs, and clothes-lines; of manure heaps and +disorganised pumps; of caged thrushes, blackbirds, and magpies; of dead +dogs and cats, and colonies of thriving rats; of imprisoned terriers and +goats let out on parole; of shrill and angry maternity and mud-loving +infancy; and of hissing, curry-combing grooms and haltered horses, to +which Londoners have given the designation of a Mews. Mr Peter Bowley, +the landlord of the 'Mother Bunch,' was the late butler of the late Sir +Plumberry Muggs; and having succeeded, on the demise of the baronet, to +a legacy of L.500, and finding himself unable any longer to resist the +charms of his seven years' comforter and counsellor, the cook, +supplemented as they were by the attractions of a legacy of the like +amount, he had united his destiny and wealth with hers in one common +cause. The name of Sir Plumberry Muggs, even though its worthy +proprietor was defunct, was still of sufficient influence to procure a +licence for his butler; and within a few months of his departure, Mr +Bowley had opened the new Inn and Tavern for the accommodation of Her +Majesty's thirsty lieges. He had congratulated himself upon the +selection of the site, and upon the suitableness of the premises to the +requirements of a good trade; and his heart swelled within him, as he +sat at the head of his own table, on the occasion of the house-warming, +dispensing with no niggard hand the gratuitous viands and unlimited +beer, which were at once to symbolise and inaugurate the hospitality of +his mansion. He had a snug bar curtained with crimson drapery, for the +convenience of those who, declining the ostentation of the public room, +might prefer to imbibe their morning-draught with becoming privacy. He +had a roomy tap-room, where a cheerful fire was to blaze the winter +through, and a civil Ganymede minister to the wants of the humblest +guest. There was a handsome parlour hung round with sporting-prints, +with cushioned seats and polished mahogany tables, where the tradesmen +of the neighbourhood might take their evening solace after the fatigues +of business; and, more than all this, he had an immense saloon on the +first floor above, calculated for social conviviality on the largest +scale, and furnished with mirrors, pictures, and an old grand-piano, a +portion of the _lares_ of the deceased Sir Plumberry Muggs. + +Mr Bowley, however, soon made the unpleasing discovery, that it is one +thing to open an establishment of the kind--which had already swallowed +up two-thirds of his capital--and another thing to induce the public to +patronise it. Notwithstanding the overflow which had gathered at his +house-warming, and the numberless good wishes which had been expressed, +and toasts which had been drunk to his prosperity, yet the prosperity +did not come. Of the hundred and fifty enthusiastic well-wishers who had +done honour to his entertainment, squeezed his hand, and sworn he was a +trump, not a dozen ever entered the house a second time. Do what he +would, Bowley could not create a business; and the corners of his mouth +began visibly to decline ere the experiment had lasted a couple of +months. He made a desperate effort to get up a Free-and-easy; he had the +old piano tuned, and set an old fellow to play upon it with open +windows; exhibited a perpetual announcement of 'A Concert this Evening;' +and himself led off the harmony, to the tune of _Tally-ho_, at the top +of his voice. It was all of no avail. The half-dozen grooms who joined +in feeble chorus did not pay the expense of the gas; and he found the +Free-and-easy, without abettors, the most difficult thing in the world. +So he gave it up, and fell into a brown study, which engrossed him for a +month. He had visions of Whitecross Street before his eyes; and poor Mrs +Bowley sighed again, and sighed in vain, after the remembrance of Sir +Plumberry's kitchen, and its vanished joys. The only symptom of business +was the gathering of half-a-dozen nightly customers, who sipped their +grog for an hour or two in the parlour; and one of these, moreover, had +never paid a farthing since he had patronised the house. There were +twenty grogs scored up against him, besides a double column of beers. Mr +Bowley will put an end to that, at anyrate; so he signals the bibulous +debtor, and having got him within the folds of the crimson curtains, he +politely informs him, that credit is no part of his system of doing +business, and requests payment. Mr Nogoe, the convivial defaulter, who +is a gentleman of fifty, who has seen the world, and knows how to manage +it, is decidedly of Bowley's opinion--that, as a general rule, credit is +a bad plan; inasmuch as, so far as his experience goes in the public +line, to afford it to your customers, is the first step towards losing +it yourself. But he feels himself free to confess, that he is at the +present moment under a cloud, and that it would be inconvenient to him +to liquidate his score just then, though, of course, if Bowley insists, +&c. While Bowley is pausing to consider which will be the best way to +insist, Mr Nogoe carelessly leads the conversation to another topic, and +begins to descant upon the marvellous capabilities of the 'Mother +Bunch' for doing a first-rate trade; and hints mysteriously at the +splendid thing that might be made of it, only supposing that his friend +Bowley knew his own interest, and went the right way to work. The +landlord, who is now all ear, and who knows his own interest well +enough, pours out to his guest a glass of his favourite 'cold without,' +and seating himself opposite him at the little table, encourages him to +be more explicit. A long private and confidential conversation ensues, +the results of which are destined to change the aspect of affairs at the +'Mother Bunch.' We shall recount the process for the information of our +readers. + +Next morning, Mr Bowley is altogether a new man; brisk, cheerful, and +active, he has a smile for everybody, and a joke and a 'good-morning' +even for the cobbler, who has the cure of soles in that very +questionable benefice, the Mews. He visits his tap-room guests, and +informs them of a plan which is in operation to improve the condition of +the labouring-classes, of which they will hear more by and by. He is +profoundly impressed with the sublime virtues of charity, benevolence, +brotherly love, and, as he terms it, all that sort of thing. Day after +day, he is seen in close confab with Mr Nogoe, who is now as busy as a +bee, buzzing about here, there, and everywhere, with rolls of paper in +his hand, a pen behind his ear, and another in his mouth, and who is +never absent an hour together from the 'Mother Bunch,' where he has a +private room much frequented by active, middle-aged persons of a rather +seedy cast, and where he takes all his meals at the landlord's table. +The first-fruits of these mysterious operations at length appear in the +form of a prospectus of a new mutual-assurance society, under the +designation of 'The Charitable Chums' Benefit Club;' of which Mr Nogoe, +who has undertaken its organisation, is to act as secretary and chairman +at the preliminary meetings, and to lend his valuable assistance in +getting the society into working order. Under his direction, tens of +thousands of the prospectuses are printed, and industriously circulated +among the artisans, labourers, small tradesmen, and serving-men in all +parts of the town, both far and near. Promises of unheard-of advantages, +couched in language of most affectionate sympathy, are addressed to all +whom it may concern. The same are repeated again and again in the daily +and weekly papers. A public meeting is called, and the names of +intending members are enrolled; special meetings follow, held at the +large room of the 'Mother Bunch;' the enrolled members are summoned; +officers and functionaries are balloted for and appointed; rules and +regulations are drawn up, considered, adopted, certified, and printed. +Mr Nogoe is confirmed in his double function as secretary and treasurer. +Subscriptions flow in; and, to Bowley's infinite gratification, beer and +spirits begin to flow out. The Charitable Chums, though eminently +provident, are as bibulous as they are benevolent; for every sixpence +they invest for the contingencies of the future tense, they imbibe at +least half-a-crown for the exigencies of the present. The society soon +rises into a condition of astonishing prosperity. The terms being +liberal beyond all precedent, the Charitable Chums' becomes wonderfully +popular. A guinea a week during sickness, besides medical attendance, +and ten pounds at death, or half as much at the death of a wife, are +assured for half the amount of subscription payable at the old clubs. +The thing is as cheap as dirt. The clerk has as much as he can do to +enregister the names of new applicants, and keep accounts of the +entrance-money. By way of keeping the society before the public, special +meetings are held twice a month, to report progress, and parade the +state of the funds. Before the new society is a year old, they have +nearly one thousand pounds in hand; and Bowley's house, now known far +and wide as the centre and focus of the Charitable Chums, swarms with +that provident brotherhood, who meet by hundreds under the auspices of +'Mother Bunch,' to cultivate sympathy and brotherly love, and to +irrigate those delicate plants with libations of Bowley's gin and +Bowley's beer. The Free-and-easy is now every night choke full of +wide-mouthed harmonists. The 'Concert this Evening' is no longer a mere +mythic pretence, but a very substantial and vociferous fact. The old +grand-piano, and the old, ragged player, have been cashiered, and sent +about their business; and a bran-new Broadwood, presided over by a +rattling performer, occupies their place. Bowley's blooming wife, +attended by a brace of alcoholic naiads, blossoms beneath the crimson +drapery of the bar, and dispenses 'nods and becks, and wreathed smiles,' +and 'noggins of _max_,' and 'three-outers,' to the votaries of +benevolence and 'Mother Bunch;' and the landlord is happy, and in his +element, because the world goes well with him. + +When Whitsuntide is drawing near, a general meeting of the club is +convened, for the purpose of considering the subject of properties. A +grand demonstration, with a procession of the members, is resolved upon: +it is to come off upon Whit-Monday. In spite of the remonstrance of a +mean-spirited Mr Nobody--who proposes that, by way of distinguishing +themselves from the rest of the thousand-and-one clubs who will +promenade upon that occasion, with music, flags, banners, brass-bands, +big drums, sashes, aprons, and white wands, they, the Charitable Chums, +shall walk in procession in plain clothes, and save their money till it +is wanted--and in spite of five or six sneaking, stingy individuals, so +beggarly minded as to second his proposition, and who were summarily +coughed down as not fit to be heard, the properties were voted; and the +majority, highly gratified at having their own way, gave _carte-blanche_ +to their officers to do what they thought right, and for the credit of +the society. Accordingly, flags and banners of portentous size, together +with sashes, scarfs, and satin aprons, all inlaid with the crest of the +Charitable Chums--an open hand, with a purse of money in it--were +manufactured at the order of the secretary, and consigned in magnificent +profusion to the care of Mr Bowley, to be in readiness for the grand +demonstration. A monster banner, bearing the designation of the society +in white letters upon a ground of flame-coloured silk, hung on the +morning of the day from the parapet of Bowley's house, and obscured the +good 'Mother Bunch,' as she swung upon her hinges, in its fluttering +folds. The procession, which went off in irreproachable style, was +followed by a dinner at Highbury Barn, at which above a thousand members +sat down to table; and after which, thanks were voted to the different +officers of the club; and, in addition thereto, a gold snuff-box, with +an appropriate inscription, was presented to Mr Nogoe, for his +unparalleled exertions in the sacred cause of humanity, as represented +by their society. + +The jovial Whitsuntide soon passed away, and so did the summer, and the +autumn was not long in following; and then came the cold winds, and +fogs, and hoar-frost of November. The autumn had been sickly with +fevers, and Dr Dosem, the club's medical man, had had more cases of +typhus to deal with than he found at all pleasant or profitable, +considering the terms upon which he had undertaken the physicking of the +Charitable Chums. He was heard to say, that it took a deal of drugs to +get the fever out of them; and that, though he worked harder than any +horse, he yet lost more of his patients than he had fair reason to +expect. With nearly fifteen thousand members, the deaths in the club +became alarmingly frequent. Nogoe, as he took snuff out of his gold box, +shrugged his shoulders at the rapid disappearance of the funds, as one +ten-pound cheque after another was handed over to the disconsolate +widows. His uneasiness was not at all alleviated by the reception of a +bill of two hundred and fifty pounds for properties, &c. among which +stood his snuff-box, set down at thirty-five guineas, upon which he +knew, for he had tried, that no pawnbroker would lend ten pounds. He +called a special council of all the officers of the club, and laid the +state of affairs before them. The first thing they did, was to pass a +vote for the immediate payment of the property bills; a measure which is +hardly to be wondered at, if we take into account that they were +themselves the creditors. The treasurer handed them a cheque for the +amount; and then, apprising them that there was now, with claims daily +increasing, less than two hundred pounds in hand, which must of +necessity be soon exhausted, demanded their advice. They advised a +reissue of prospectuses and advertisements; which being carried into +effect at the cost of a hundred pounds, brought a shoal of fresh +applicants, with their entrance-money, and for the moment relieved the +pressure upon the exchequer. + +But when the November fogs brought the influenza, and a hundred of the +members were thrown upon their backs and the fund at once; when it +became necessary to engage additional medical assistance; and when, in +spite of unremitting energy in the departments of prospectusing, +puffing, and personal canvassing, the money leaked out five times as +fast as it came in, then Mr Nogoe began to find his position peculiarly +unpleasant, and anything but a bed of roses. With 'fourscore odd' of +sick members yet upon the books--with five deaths and three half-deaths +unpaid--and the epidemic yet in full force, he beheld an unwholesome +December threatening a continuation of sickness and mortality, and a +balance at the banker's hardly sufficient to pay his own quarter's +salary. Again he calls his colleagues together, and states the +deplorable condition of affairs. The representatives of the five +deceased members, whom Nogoe has put off from time to time on various +ingenious pretences, having become aware of the meeting, burst in upon +their deliberations, and after an exchange of no very complimentary +remonstrances, backed by vehement demands for immediate payment, are +with difficulty induced to withdraw, while the committee enter upon the +consideration of their cases. Nogoe produces his budget, from the +examination of which it appears, that if they are paid in full, there +will remain in the hands of the bankers, to meet the demands of the +'fourscore odd' sick members, the sum of 4s. 7d. What is to be done? is +now the question. A speechification of three hours, during which every +member of the committee is heard in his turn, helps them to no other +expedient than that of a subscription for the widows, and a renewed +agitation, by means of the press and the bill-sticker, to re-establish +the funds by the collection of fresh fees and entrance-money. The +subscription, the charge of which is confided to a deputy, authorised to +collect voluntary donations from the various lodges about town, turns +out a failure: the widows, who want their ten pounds each, disgusted at +the offer of a few shillings, flock in a body to the nearest sitting +magistrate, and clamorously lay their case before his worship, who +gravely informs them, that the Charitable Chums' Benefit Society being +duly enrolled according to Act of Parliament, he can render them no +assistance, as he is not authorised to interfere with their proceedings. + +In the face of this exposure, the agitation for cramming the society +down the throats of the public goes on more desperately than ever. By +this means, Mr Nogoe manages to hold on till Christmas, and then +pocketing his salary, resigns his office in favour of Mr Dunderhead, who +has hitherto figured as honorary Vice-Something, and who enters upon +office with a gravity becoming the occasion. Under his management, +affairs are soon brought to a stand-still. Notwithstanding his profound +faith in the capabilities of the Charitable Chums, and his settled +conviction that their immense body must embrace the elements of +stability, his whole course is but one rapid descent down to the verge, +and headlong over the precipice, of bankruptcy. The dismal announcement +of 'no effects,' first breathed in dolorous confidence at the bedsides +of the sick, soon takes wind. All the C.C.s in London are aghast and +indignant at the news; and the 'Mother Bunch' is nightly assailed by +tumultuous crowds of angry members, clamorous for justice and +restitution. The good lady who hangs over the doorway, in nowise abashed +at the multitude, receives them all with open arms. Indignation is as +thirsty as jollity, and to their thirst at least she can administer, if +she cannot repair their wrongs. Nogoe has vanished from the locality of +the now thriving inn and tavern of his friend Mr Peter Bowley, and in +the character of a scapegoat, is gone forth to what point of the compass +nobody exactly knows. The last account of him is, that he had gone to +the Isle of Man, where he endeavoured to get up a railway on the +Exhaustive Principle, but without effect. As for that excellent +individual, Bowley, he appears among the diddled and disconsolate Chums +in the character of a martyr to their interests. A long arrear of rent +is due to him, as well as a lengthy bill for refreshments to the various +committees, for which he might, if he chose, attach the properties in +his keeping. He scorns such an ungentlemanly act, and freely gives them +up; but as nobody knows what to do with them, as, if they were sold, +they would not yield a farthing each to the host of members, they remain +rolled up in his garret, and are likely to remain till they rot, the +sole memorials of a past glory. + +The Charitable Chums' Benefit Society has fulfilled its destiny, and +answered the end of its creation. It has made the world acquainted with +the undeniable merits of 'Mother Bunch,' and encircled that modest +matron with a host of bibulous and admiring votaries; it has elevated +Bowley from the class of struggling and desponding speculators, to a +substantial and influential member of the Licensed Victuallers' Company: +it has at once vastly improved the colour of his nose and the aspect of +his bank-account; and while he complacently fingers the cash which it +has caused to flow in a continual current into his pocket, he looks +remarkably well in the character of chief mourner over its untimely +fate. + + + + +LA ROSIÈRE. + + +About twelve miles from Paris is situated the pretty vernal hamlet of +Maisons Lafitte. It hangs around the Château Lafitte--a princely +residence, formerly the property and dwelling of the well-known banker +of that name, but for many years past in other hands. In front of the +château, a broad avenue of greensward strikes straight away through a +thick forest, extending many miles across the country; and parallel with +the front of the building is an avenue still broader, but not so +long--La Grande Allée--wherein the various _fêtes_ of the hamlet are +celebrated, and which, moreover, forms a principal scene in the +following narrative. + +Before the Revolution of 1793, the name of Gostillon was familiar as a +daily proverb to the people of Maisons. There were three or four +branches of the family living in the neighbourhood, and well known as +industrious and respectable members of the peasant class. When the +earthquake comes, however, the cottage is as much imperiled as the +palace; so the events which brought Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette to +the block, and sent panic into every court in Europe, also broke up and +dispersed the humble house of Gostillon. In the awful confusion of the +times, some were slain upon barricades; some sent hither and thither +with the army, to perish in La Vendée or elsewhere; and some fled to +seek safety and peace in foreign lands. Thus it came to pass, that at +length there were only three females in Maisons--a widow and her two +daughters--bearing the once common name. Mme Veuve Gostillon managed to +obtain a living by cultivating a small garden--the flowers and fruit +from which she sold in the markets of Paris--and by plying her needle. +Her daughters were named Julia and Cecilia, and there was the somewhat +remarkable difference of eight years between their ages. + +Just as Julia had reached her fourteenth year, and little Cecilia her +sixth, a terrible misfortune happened to the industrious widow: a stroke +of paralysis deprived her of the use of her limbs, and rendered her +unable longer to maintain herself and little family by the labour of her +hands. A time of severe distress ensued for this remnant of the once +numerous and hearty family of the Gostillons; but it was only for +awhile. Julia--shrewd, spirited, and industrious--worked night and day +to perform the labour heretofore the portion of her parent, and to +liquidate the extraordinary expenses of the poor widow's sad illness, +and the derangement consequent thereupon. Steady assiduity seldom fails +of success. It was not long before she had the satisfaction of finding +matters proceeding in a somewhat straightforward manner--doctor's bills +paid; arrears of rent, such as they were, made up; and the little +business in flowers, fruit, and needle-work proceeding smoothly and +satisfactorily. There is much attractiveness in the virtue and +good-behaviour of youth; and Julia, handsome, intelligent, modest, and +sweet-tempered, soon became the favourite of all who knew her. + +The peasantry of France have, from ancient times, maintained the custom +of publicly demonstrating their esteem of any young female member of a +community, who, in her progress from childhood to adolescence, or rather +to womanhood, may have given evidence of the possession of any unusual +amount of amiability and cleverness. Young girls who are deemed worthy +of public recognition as examples of virtue and industry, are waited +upon by the villagers on a fête-day, led forth, seated on a throne of +flowers, crowned with roses, blessed by the _curé_, and presented with +the honourable title of _La Rosière_. The custom is graceful and +poetical; and the world hardly presents a more charming spectacle--at +once so simple and so touching--as the installation of a _rosière_ in +some sequestered village of France. The associations connected with it +are pure and bright enough for a Golden Age. All who take part in the +little ceremony are humble people, living by their labour; the queen of +the day is queen by reason of her industry and virtue; they who do her +such becoming and encouraging homage, old and young, lead lowly and +toilsome lives, and yet have the innate grace thus to evince their +reverence for the best qualities of human nature. The pageantry of +courts, and pompous crowning of kings and queens, grand and splendid as +they are, have not such spiritual fragrance as these village +queen-makings; soft glimmerings and shinings-through of the light of a +better world--a world with which man, let conventionality disguise him +as it may, always has some sympathies. + +For three years, the exemplary Julia had continued to support her +helpless parent and little sister, when, in accordance with this custom, +the good folks of the hamlet determined to shew their appreciation of +her estimable qualities at the next fête, by crowning her with roses, +and enthroning her with the usual ceremony in the Grande Allée. In the +meantime, Victor Colonne, son of the steward of the château, happened to +pay a visit to the poor widow's cottage; and thereafter he came again, +and again, and again, courting Julia Gostillon. + +But Victor and Julia were not made for each other. He was thriftless, +idle, dissolute--the small _roué_ of the neighbourhood: she was careful, +industrious, virtuous. He was good-looking--of a dark, saturnine beauty, +insidiously impressive, like the dangerous charms of a tempter; she was +radiant and lustrous with the sweet graces of modesty, innocence, and +intelligence. Julia, however, young and susceptible, was for a time +pleased with his attentions. Persuasive powers of considerable potency, +and personal attractions of no mean sort, were not exerted and +prostrated at her feet entirely in vain. Ingenuous, trustful, and +inexperienced, she listened to the charmer with a yielding and delighted +ear, and was happy as long as she perceived nothing but sincerity and +love. It was but for a time, however. The Widow Gostillon liked not her +daughter's lover. Of more mature perception, of sharper skill in reading +character than her child, she conceived a deep distrust of the airy +smile and studied gallantry of Victor Colonne. She took counsel with +matrons old and circumspect as herself; made herself acquainted with +Victor's history; watched his looks, listened to his words narrowly and +scrutinisingly; and, day by day, felt more and more strongly that she +liked him not--that there was mischief in his restless eye and soft +musical voice. She communicated her fears to Julia, told her the history +of her suitor, and bade her be on her guard. Julia was startled and +distressed. These suspicions checked the brightness and little glory of +her life, and settled wanly and hazily on her soul, like damp breath on +a mirror. But they served as points of departure for daily thoughts. +Looks and words were watched, and weighed, and pondered over with +wistful studiousness; and while Victor believed his conquest to be +achieved, his increasing assurance and gradual abandonment of disguise +were alienating him from the object of his pursuit. Julia had +accompanied him on different occasions to the château; been presented to +his father; and had been seen, admired, and kindly spoken to by the +Comtesse Meurien and her daughters. Victor had lost no opportunity of +strengthening his suit by stimulating her ambition and pride; but it was +without avail. Though pleased for a time, she soon discovered that he +was cold, heartless, and even dissolute. The intimacy betwixt them was +fast relapsing into indifference, and, on her side, into dislike, when a +certain _dénouement_ of Master Victor's notorious love-makings, +accompanied by disgraceful circumstances, determined her to put an end +to it, once and for all. + +'So you are determined?' exclaimed he with ill-restrained anger, as she +repeated her resolve to him for the fourth or fifth time. + +'Yes: I will have nothing more to say to you,' replied she firmly. + +'Then my father and his reverence the curé may lose all hopes of me!' +returned he bitterly. 'I have done much ill--I own it: I have won no +one's esteem: I have been idle, irregular, profligate. But wherefore? +Because I have had no one to care for me. Since my mother died, I have +been left to myself, with no kind hand to guide me, no kind tongue to +warn me: what wonder that youth should go astray?' + +'No one to care for you!' exclaimed Julia, not without a tinge of +sarcasm. 'Do not your father and monsieur the curé do their utmost for +you?' + +'The one reproves, and the other prays for me,' said Victor, with a +derisive smile; then turning to Julia, with a face in which penitence, +respect, and affection were well simulated, he exclaimed: 'but thou, +dear Julia, art the sovereign of my soul! in whose hand my fate is +placed. It is for you to shape my destiny: will you award me love or +perdition? At your bidding, no honourable deed shall be too high to mark +my obedience.' + +'Then return to Marie Buren, and redeem the promise you made her,' +exclaimed Julia warmly. + +'Nay, sweet Julia, if my priestess bids me turn away from heaven, I am +justified in protesting. Hope is the spring whence good and great works +flow. Bid me despair, and you bid me seek ruin.' + +'Pooh! pooh!' exclaimed the young girl with contempt. 'I am plain Julia +Gostillon, who loves frankness and honour. You have neither one nor +other, and so I love you not; and again and again I repeat it, I will +have nothing more to say to you.' + +Though the persevering Victor continued the colloquy, and exerted +himself to the utmost, sparing neither vows nor tears, Julia remained +firm. At last, seeing that his case was hopeless, he changed his tone +into one of sorrowful resignation--declared that honest frankness was a +great virtue, and that it was well they had discovered that their +affection was not reciprocal; and, in conclusion, begged the wearied +Julia to accompany him that night to the château for the last time, for +the purpose of explaining to his father, who might otherwise be troubled +with suspicions, that their courtship was broken off by mutual consent. +After much persuasion, Julia consented, and accordingly paid her last +visit to the château that same evening. + +A few days after this occurrence, the 15th of June arrived, the day of +the fête. On the preceding evening, unknown to the good Julia, a score +of light-hearted girls were weaving garlands of flowers, and preparing +the crown of roses, in the house of neighbour Morelle; in that of +neighbour Bontemps another gay party were industriously ornamenting a +wooden throne with coverings, hangings, and cushions of +brightest-coloured flowers; and half the people of the hamlet were +thinking of Julia, and preparing bouquets, pincushions, caps, and +various little trifles, to present to her on the morrow. + +In due course the morrow came. The summer sun had not risen many hours, +when troops of bright-eyed girls, lustrous with rosy cheeks, braided +hair, snow-white gowns, and streaming ribbons, went, tripping beneath +the trees, towards the cottage of Widow Gostillon. After them came bands +of youths and boys, and anon men and matrons, and the elders of the +place, till nearly all the little community was gathered round the +house. Early as it was, Julia had risen, and was at work. She had had +her own pleasant anticipations of the fête--though she had not heard +that a _rosière_ was to be crowned, much less that the honour was in +store for herself--and had intended, by commencing some hours earlier +than usual, to have done her work so much the sooner, that she might +share the pleasures of the festal day. But all thoughts of work were +quickly banished by her eager visitors, who, touched even by the fact, +that they had found her busy at the time when all were holiday-making, +embraced her, praised her, bade her prepare for coronation, wept, +laughed, chatted, clapped their hands, jumped, danced, and made such a +bustle, that Widow Gostillon, in some consternation, cried out from her +chamber to know what was the matter. And the poor widow wept, too, when +she discovered what was going on--wept solemnly in thinking over Julia's +fidelity to herself, her industry, cleverness, self-denial, sweetness, +and, as a proud mother might, of her beauty. And presently the +neighbours brought forth the poor invalid in her chair, and placed her +on a pleasant spot beneath the trees, whence she might behold the +installation. Then Julia retired with those appointed to be her +attendants--her tiring-women, the ladies of her court; and when, some +time after, she came forth, blushing and trembling, and with happy tears +upon her face, wearing her simple holiday dress of white muslin, +ornamented, in charming style, with wreaths of roses, the cries of 'Vive +la rosière!' might have been heard a long way off. + +A little while, and sounds of music and of many voices filled the Grande +Allée. The long rows of booths and marquées, dancing-rooms, gymnasiums, +toy-tables, _bonbon_ tables, fruit-stalls, &c. &c. were surrounded by +busy crowds: all was activity and cheerfulness. In a large open space in +the midst, a short distance from the front of the château, the flowery +throne, gorgeous in variety and vividness of colours, was set up on a +dais on the greensward. The band of celebrants, with Julia and her train +in their midst, advanced. Little Cecilia walked by her sister's side, +hand in hand, in proud surprise. Before them, an aged peasant marched +solemnly, bareheaded save for his silver hair, carrying the crown +destined for Julia; and with him, also bareheaded, the curé. A +benediction, accompanied by a prayer that the metaphorical ceremony +might have some influence in attracting the youthful people present to +the practice and pursuit of virtue, having been uttered by the priest, +Julia was handed to the throne, and the crown of roses was placed upon +her head by the white-haired veteran. A sweet chorus was then +chanted--_Vive, vive la rosière_!--in the melodious verses of which the +signification of the ceremonial and the praises of the fête-queen were +recited. + +Thus far matters had proceeded happily, when the attention of the gay +party was attracted by the apparition of a commissaire of police, who, +marching up with the aspect of a man having important and disagreeable +business to perform, exclaimed: '_Eh, bien!_ we are merry to-day! Accept +my best wishes for your enjoyment. Can you tell me, friends, where I am +likely to find a fair _demoiselle_--one Julia, daughter of Mme Veuve +Gostillon?' + +'_Voila_, monsieur!' cried several, much surprised. 'Our _rosière_ is +she!' + +'Ah, what a fate is mine!' muttered the worthy commissaire, much +affected, as he looked at the beautiful and rose-wreathed Julia. 'If I +had ten thousand francs, I would give them all to be spared this work: +but duty is duty. Courage! all may yet be well. Friends,' continued he, +raising his voice, 'excuse me if I interrupt you some few minutes. I +would not do it were I not bound to. It will be necessary for Mlle +Julia to accompany me to her home. I trust we shall not be absent long.' +He raised his cap, offered his arm; and Julia, amazed and frightened, +descended from her throne, and conducted him to the cottage. + +'Pardon, mademoiselle,' said he, when they stood inside; 'I am +instructed to search this house.' Julia, puzzled, confounded, bowed +assent. + +The commissaire proceeded, with a hasty hand, as if he wished to get the +work quickly over, to ransack drawers and boxes. Whenever one or the +other had been searched in vain, he clapped his hand to his breast and +muttered: 'God be thanked!' and appeared as if his mind were in some +measure relieved of a burden which oppressed it. At length he arrived at +Julia's chamber--here, as elsewhere, drawers and boxes seemed to present +no signs of the object sought for: the thanksgivings of the commissaire +were frequent; his cheerfulness appeared to be returning. Presently, +however, he proceeded to turn out the contents of Julia's little +reticule-basket: first came a pocket-handkerchief, on the corners of +which flowers had been wrought by Julia's needle. 'Very pretty!' +remarked the commissaire. Then appeared a number of slips of rare +plants, recently collected. 'Ah! you are a botanist?' said the +commissaire. + +'They are from the conservatory of the Comte Meurien, at the château: I +meant to have planted them to-day,' said Julia. + +'Who gave them to you?' + +'Mme Lavine, the _femme de chambre_.' + +'Ah, _diable_! I hope you have nothing else from that château?' + +'I have nothing else,' replied Julia, blushing, and somewhat +discomposed, as she remembered Victor. + +'What is the matter?--why are you agitated?' demanded the commissaire, +regarding her fixedly. + +'It is nothing,' said poor Julia, much distressed by his stern and +scrutinising look. + +'Nothing? I fear it is something! Alas! I begin to lose hope.' + +'Hope of what?' asked Julia wonderingly. + +'Of your innocence!' replied the commissaire sternly. + +'Mon Dieu! What do you mean?' + +'Ah, restez tranquille, pauvre demoiselle; nous verrons toute-suite.' +And with a shrug, he continued his investigation of the contents of the +reticule-basket. It contained a great variety of little knick-knacks, +which, with much patience, the commissaire turned out and examined, one +by one. At length he came to a little parcel, the paper-envelope of +which appeared to be part of an old letter, and was thickly covered with +writing. It was one of Victor's letters. Julia blushed again. + +'What have we here?' demanded the constable. + +'I forget what there is inside,' said Julia. 'I hardly knew it was +there.' + +'Let us see.' + +He opened two or three wrappers--the portion of the letter formed the +outside one, the others being blank white paper--and there fell out, +descending upon the table with a sharp jingle, a pair of gold bracelets, +ornamented with pearls and turquoises, a superb coral necklace, and a +diamond ring. + +'Mademoiselle!' exclaimed the commissaire, whose face appeared to lose +all flexibility of expression the moment the discovery was made, +presenting now merely the stern, impassible, mechanical look of an +officer on duty, 'these are the identical articles for which I have been +searching for the last three days. Will you be good enough to change +your dress as quickly as possible, and prepare to accompany me to the +office of M. Morelle, magistrate of this district?' + +At this juncture, the Widow Gostillon was conveyed back to her cottage +by some of her neighbours, with little Cecilia by her side. Entering +Julia's chamber, her young friends found her in a swoon, from which the +commissaire was assiduously endeavouring to recover her. A scene of a +most painful character ensued. Without afflicting the reader with a +recital of the agonised and indignant protestations of Julia--the anger +and affright of Widow Gostillon--the sorrow, sympathy, and amazement of +the villagers--suffice it to say, that the commissaire, in the course of +the morning, conducted Julia into the presence of the magistrate. + +It appears that the articles of bijouterie found in Julia's reticule had +been missed from the chamber of Mlle Antoinette Meurien the very +morning after Julia visited Victor's father at the château. The young +lady had seen them on her toilette early the preceding evening, and had +not worn them for some days, so that she could not have lost them whilst +walking or riding. It was evident they had been abstracted. A search was +instantly commenced. The domestics were examined, and their rooms and +boxes searched, but without either finding the property or fixing +suspicion on any one of them. The police were then apprised of the +robbery. The servants of the household underwent a second and official +examination, but all earnestly declared their innocence. It being +ascertained, however, that Julia had visited the house the night on +which the property was lost, an order was issued, commanding that her +residence be searched, and that she be brought before the authorities. +Among the witnesses who proved Julia's visit to the château was Victor +Colonne. In mingled affliction and indignation, he answered the +questions put to him, and declared that she who had but lately been the +object of his ardent affection was the very soul of honour and purity. A +lengthened examination elicited from him that he had conducted Julia to +the chamber of Mlle Antoinette, for the purpose of shewing her the +superb manner in which it was furnished and decorated. She had stepped +up to the toilette, he admitted, and had surveyed herself, as was very +natural, in the glass, but it was only for a moment; he was close to her +all the time, and indeed they hardly remained in the chamber two +minutes: they entered, looked round, and retired, and that was all. It +was true, he did not keep his eyes on his companion all the time; but +had she taken anything, he could not have failed seeing the act. + +A general impression prevailed among the people at the château that +Julia was innocent; that it was impossible for one so virtuous and +intelligent to commit so disgraceful and rash a theft. Indeed, the tide +of suspicion had been fast turning against Victor himself, when it +received a new direction by the discovery of the missing articles in +Julia's reticule. Another examination ensued, the distracted Julia, as +has been stated, being herself brought into the presence of the +magistrate. In intense affliction, she declared her innocence: that she +knew not how the articles had got into her reticule; she had not put +them there; did not know they were there; had, indeed, never touched +them at all. The portion of the letter in which they had been wrapped +was handed to her, and she was questioned concerning it. 'It was part of +a letter,' she said, 'which had been addressed to her by Victor +Colonne.' She remembered receiving it; but by what means it came to be +applied to its present purpose, she did not at all know. M. Morelle +sternly bade her tell the truth, and conceal nothing; it would be better +for her. In great agony, she earnestly reiterated what she had said. It +was useless; the evidence against her was too strong to be shaken by +merely her own denial. Moreover, the commissaire of police, in +delivering his evidence, laid much emphasis upon the embarrassment and +distress she had evinced whilst he was searching the little basket in +which the articles were found. + +The case was on the point of being decided against her, when, by what +may be termed a providential interposition, the tables were suddenly +turned, and she was rescued from the jail, from infamy, and perhaps from +death! A young girl, one of the domestics at the château, having +examined the portion of the letter which formed a link in the +circumstantial evidence, produced from her pocket another fragment, +which exactly fitted to the first, and made the letter complete! With +much curiosity, and indeed excitement, all listened eagerly to what she +had to say. She stated that the fragment she produced, which formed the +remainder of the torn letter wrapped round the stolen articles, she had +picked up in the garden of the château, where it had been dropped by +Victor. Julia's reticule had been left on a seat under a tree; the +witness saw Victor open it, and take out a letter. He did not know she +was at hand; indeed, could not see her. He tore the letter into two +pieces: he appeared agitated. One piece of the letter dropped to the +ground, the other he did something with which she could not perceive, +and replaced in the reticule. When he was gone, she picked up the +fragment which had fallen; and seeing it was part of a love-letter, full +of warm protests, &c. she put it into her pocket, intending, she said, +to joke him about it. A few minutes more, Julia came by, took up her +reticule, and went home, declining Victor's company, though he requested +permission to escort her. + +Hereupon, Victor was immediately submitted to a severe re-examination. +Aghast at the disclosure just made; abashed at the many angry eyes +directed towards him; harassed by the searching questions of the +magistrate, and the sense of guilt, his assurance and hypocrisy +completely deserted him; and, after equivocating and protesting for some +time, he sullenly confessed all. Discarded by Julia: he had attempted to +effect her ruin! + +The good little Julia was almost as much overcome by the overwhelming +emotions which now possessed her, as she was at the miserable position +in which malignity had so lately placed her. Whilst Victor was being +conveyed to the jail, where he was to suffer the punishment due to his +villainy, Julia was conducted home to her now rejoicing parent, amidst +the congratulations, caresses, and praises, of troops of friends. The +day after her acquittal, the throne was again set up in the Grande +Allée, and the ovation to her industry and virtues was completed in +triumphant fashion. The Meurien family, feeling deeply the injury she +had suffered, gave their presence at her inauguration, and afterwards +did many a friendly act for her. She is now as industrious and charming, +and as much respected as ever, though no more Julia Gostillon, but +Madame Vichel--being the wife of a thriving herbalist of that name. As +for Victor, he has not been seen at Maisons since. + + + + +RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF WILD-FLOWERS. + +EARLY MONTHS OF THE YEAR. + + +A ramble in search of wild-flowers in January would be pretty much +'labour in vain;' at least so far as that one special object was +concerned. I do not mean to say that all nature is dead at that season, +for there are mosses, lichens, and fungi to be found in abundance; but +flowers, in the ordinary meaning of the word, are not to be found, +unless we consider those brilliant frostwork flowers which we sometimes +find as such. It was a season unusually cold for Devonshire, when, with +a merry party of boys and girls, I sallied forth to see how nature +looked decked in her robe of virgin white. Hill and valley were one +sheet of 'innocent snow;' and every twig, leaf, and blade of grass; +every spray of the furze and heath; and every broad, drooping leaf of +that beautiful fern the hart's tongue (_Scolopendrium vulgare_), was +coated with hoar-frost, and sparkling in the rosy sunbeams like the +flowers in a magic garden. At Sherbrook Lake, where a rivulet of clear +water usually flows along the bottom of the ravine down to the sea, +there was now a hard mass of ice, on which our boys rushed for a passing +slide; and above, where the deeper water lies under the shadow of the +brushwood, the frost had been busy performing its frolic feats-- + + 'And see where it has hung th' embroidered banks + With forms so various that no powers of art, + The pencil, or the pen, may trace the scene! + Here glittering turrets rise, upbearing high + (Fantastic misarrangement!) on the roof + Large growth of what may seem the sparkling trees + And shrubs of fairyland. The crystal drops, + That trickle down the branches, fast congealed, + Shoot into pillars of pellucid length, + And prop the pile they but adorned before. + Here grotto within grotto safe defies + The sunbeam; there, embossed and fretted wild, + The growing wonder takes a thousand shapes + Capricious, in which fancy seeks in vain + The likeness of some object seen before.' + +From the beautiful beacon cliff--to which we eagerly toil through the +snow, and up and down the slippery hill-sides--we behold the sea as +still and smiling as in summer, and as clearly reflecting the exquisite +blue of the vault above; but each of the many little rills which the +long rains preceding the frost had caused to flow over the face of the +red cliffs, is now a stationary thread of silver, spell-bound by the +enchaining frost; and icicles, or, as old-fashioned people call them, +_aglets_, of three or four feet long, ornament the overhanging ledges, +prone to fall to the beach--far, far below--when a thaw releases them +from their present stations. But the air is so very keen that nothing +but the briskness of our walk, and the enlivenment of an occasional +spell of snow-balling, in which the seniors are tempted to join the +juniors, prevent our stagnating into 'pellucid pillars' ourselves. So +much, then, for our January ramble. The season of which I have now to +speak was most different. After unusual cold, especially after snow, it +is not uncommon to see an early spring appear, and so it was now, as +Spenser says-- + + 'The fields did laugh, the flowers did freshly spring, + The trees did bud, and early blossoms bore;' + +and so warm was it one day towards the end of February, and the air so +sweet, that I resolved on having 'Jack' and sallying forth in search of +wild-flowers--not flowers of frostwork, but real spring jewels. + +On this excursion, I thought it expedient to take Fanny, which, though a +somewhat stubborn little beast of burden; yet so bent was I on seeing +the sweet spring-like hedges and banks, that I agreed to endure Fanny; +and at the given time on her I mounted, and after much persuasion, got +her under-weigh: the boy George bringing up the rear. + +And now on we go, Fanny rather tiresome, and George rather merciless; +for when she _will_ poke her head into the hedge, and stand stock-still +to eat, or, worse still, suddenly push up against a stone-wall, to the +imminent danger of crushing my foot to pieces, he thumps and pushes her +till the echoes in Echo Lane reverberate with the unpoetical sound. +However, on we go by degrees, and find the banks everywhere rich with +fresh springing grass and deep full beds of moss, with every here and +there the pale lemon-tinted petals of the primrose just peeping through +the partial openings in their shrouding mantles of green; and there, +above us, hangs that which I had hoped to find--the catkins of the +hazel, which have been hailed by children for centuries under the names +of 'Pussy-cat's tails,' or 'Baa-lamb's tails;' and a more interesting +flower for examination as we pass onwards we can scarcely have, for its +structure is very peculiar and beautiful. We will gather a good bunch of +these pretty pendent tassel-like clusters; and see! as we break off the +stems, what a shower of gold-dust is scattered over us, and flies in all +directions through the air! So abundant is this yellow pollen beneath +the scales of the catkins, that we shall find, if we place them in our +moss-basket, that the table below them will be coated with it in the +course of an hour or two. The common hazel or nut-tree affords a fine +illustration of the structure of that division of plants to which most +of our common European trees belong, and which, from its including the +oak, is called 'the oak-tribe.' I shall not, however, expatiate on the +hazel, the pride of our old copse-banks, but look beneath its long +slender branches, and there, lurking modestly, do I see that pretty +little yellow flower, the lesser celandine (_Ficaria verna_.) Every one +knows this little early blossom by sight, if not by name. Its root is +formed of numerous clustering tubercles, or oblong knobs, with fibres. +This root is sometimes washed by the rain until these tubercles appear +above ground, when, as Loudon tells us, 'ignorant people have sometimes +been led to fancy that it rained _wheat_.' The celandine has +slightly-branched stems, two or three inches in height, on which grow +alternate stalked heart-shaped leaves, sheathed at the base, where they +sometimes contain one or two knobs like those of the root. The flowers, +which are terminal and solitary, are much like a butter-cup--of a golden +yellow, and exceedingly shining within, and tinged with green on the +outsides. 'After the flowre decays,' says Gerarde, 'there springeth up +a little fine knop or headful of seede.' This head of seed alone is left +by about May to mark where the plant grew; and even this soon dries up +and disappears. Wordsworth has thrown an interest about this plant, +which it would not otherwise have possessed, by his elegant little poem +called _The Lesser Celandine_. + +Here and there, also, in the more sheltered spots, we find a blossom or +two of the pretty pink herb Robert (_Geranium Robertianum_), with its +hairy red stems, and divided leaves, and star-shaped blossoms of bright +rose-colour; or an early plant of the ground-ivy (_Glechóma hederácea_) +gemming the ground with its purple, labiate flowers on the sunny bank +beneath the underwood, luring one for a moment to believe that the sweet +purple violets were already come: vain hope! which not only the season +but the place forbids; for though I have found _white_ violets near the +scene of these excursions, in the south of England, yet I believe the +sweet-scented purple do not grow in that neighbourhood. In a late +ramble, there was a spot which I was eager to reach; for there I knew +that I should find + + 'Chaste snow-drop, venturous harbinger of spring, + And pensive monitor of fleeting years.' + +This pretty well-known flower, sometimes called Fair Maid of February +(_Galanthus Nivalis_), belongs to the same natural order as the daffodil +and narcissus--the _Amaryllideæ_. Gerarde calls it 'the timely flouring +bulbous violet,' and thus graphically describes it: 'It riseth out of +the ground,' says he, 'with two small leaves flat and crested, of an +overworne greene colour, betweene the which riseth up a small and tender +stalk of two hands high; at the top whereof commeth forth of a skinny +hood a small white floure of the bignesse of a violet compact of six +leaves, three bigger and three lesser, tipped at the points with a light +greene; the smaller one fashioned into the vulgar forme of a heart, and +prettily edged about with greene; the other three leaves are longer and +sharp-pointed. The whole floure hangeth downe his head by reason of the +weak footstalk whereon it groweth. The root is small, white, and +bulbous.' It is one of the earliest flowers which appear, and may often +be seen bursting through the snow, the virgin white of its petals by no +means shamed by the lustrous purity of its cold bed. It has no calyx; +six stamens; the filaments short and hair-like; the anthers oblong, with +a bristly point, and one pistil, the style being cylindrical, and longer +than the stamens. The capsule, which is nearly globular, contains three +cells, in which are numerous globular seeds. It is found in orchards, +meadows, and the sides of hedges, and named from two Greek words +signifying 'milk' and 'a flower.' + +And now we reach the orchard: but how am I to get in? There is nothing +for it but a scramble up that bank round the root of that old oak, whose +gnarled boles will afford me footing, and it will be easy to descend on +the other side; and so, with a few slips, I contrived to land in safety +among the long, tangled grass, and broken branches of apple-trees, +richly clothed with lichens, mosses, and fungi, in a spot which looked +as if untrodden by human foot for years. But that could not really have +been so, for no doubt the old trees had borne their usual crop of ruddy +apples, which had been duly housed. The value of an apple-orchard in +Devonshire--that land of delicious cider--is not a trifle, and our +farmers do not leave their orchards untrodden and uncared-for. This was, +however, sufficiently wild. But now for my snow-drops: there they wave +in thousands-- + + 'Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow-- + The early heralds of the infant year--' + +in every stage of beauty, from the hint that a tiny spot of green and +white, bursting through the dark earth, might give, to the +fully-developed blossoms, hanging lightly on its graceful stalks, robed +in its vestal garb of white, and shedding its own peculiar fragrance on +the pure air. I gathered large supplies--enough to make me the envy of +all the lovers of spring-flowers whom I met; enough to fill my +moss-basket, and vases, and glasses without end for myself; and enough +to send a feeling of spring brightness and joy into the hearts of two or +three invalids, to whose sick-rooms I sent some of these pretty +messengers. + +Somewhat draggled with the wet grass, and muddied with the slippery +hedge-bank, I at last returned to the lane where I had left Fanny. +However, there was no one but George to notice my appearance, and he was +too much taken up with the basket of fine roots which he had procured +(be sure always to take a trowel and basket with you on such +expeditions), to care how I looked; and, besides, as 'no man is a hero +to his valet,' so no lady is a fine lady to her donkey-boy; and +homewards we turned, threading our way between the overarching trees, +not as yet shewing sign of leaf; but their richly-tinted bark, varied by +mosses and lichens of different hues, and partly mantled with ivy, now +in full berry, looked almost as beautiful, as the sunbeams fell on them, +and the blue sky shone between, as they do in their summer verdure. + +On we jogged, Fanny well pleased to be on her homeward course; until at +last, coming to a cross-way which would have either led us straight home +or taken us thither by a little circuit, I, lured by the desire of +seeing whether the daffodils began to shew blossom, resolved on the +latter road, not duly considering that perhaps _she_ had decided on the +former. But so it was; and, notwithstanding sundry stripes, her will +remained unsubdued, as she presently evinced. After we had gone a little +way up a lovely sunny lane--slowly indeed, for she was evidently as +perverse as she could be, yet with much enjoyment on my part--I was +gazing upwards at some delicate white clouds, which a light breeze +wafted across the face of the sky, or watching some bird in its flight, +when suddenly I felt the jogging onwards cease, a slight undulating +motion, and found that my feet were on the ground. Fanny had lain down +in the dust, and I had but to rise as I would from a low chair to be +standing quietly by her side. George dared to grin, and there were two +or three country-people who happened to be passing at the time, who were +convulsed with laughter at my expense--a laughter in which I could not +but heartily join. How much has fancy to do with such things! How grand +is the idea of a camel or an elephant meekly kneeling down to receive or +deposit its load! how dignified I should have felt had I thus descended +from one of those noble animals! whilst this mode of being deposited by +a poor little donkey made us all laugh! Truly, 'there is but a step +between the sublime and the ridiculous;' and my adventure certainly +smacked of the latter. But Fanny had conquered; and, as if with one +stroke to confirm her victory, and to rejoice over it, she suddenly +turned over on her back, cracked the girths of the old saddle, and +rolled over and over in the dust with all four legs up in the air. This +was too much for endurance; so, leaving George to readjust the saddle as +best he might, and bring home our basket of spoils, I turned back, and +sauntered homewards with my bunch of 'timely-flouring bulbous violets' +in my hand. At Kersbrook I discovered a new treasure--one which, +however, I afterwards found to be common, although it was then unknown +to me--and it was some time before I could make out what it was. I took +it for a saxifrage, but could find nothing under that head which exactly +answered to it. It was, I at last discovered, the golden saxifrage +(_Chrysosplenium oppositifolium_) or opposite-leaved sengreen, nearly +allied to the saxifrages, and of the natural order saxifrage, but not +one of them. I found it fringing the side of the brook between the wall +and the water. It grows about four or five inches high, with branched +stems bearing very succulent, kidney-shaped leaves opposite each +other--the radicle leaves on long foot-stalks, whilst those of the +stem-leaves are much shorter. The flowers, which are of a bright +greenish-yellow, grow in small umbels; and the whole plant has a +yellowish hue. The uppermost flower in general bears ten stamens, whilst +the next boasts of but eight each. Its capsules are two-beaked, +one-celled, and two-valved, the seeds numerous and roundish. It is named +from _chrysos_, 'gold,' and _splen_, 'the spleen.' There is another +specimen much like this, of which I have spoken, _Chrysosplenium +alternitifolium_; but it is larger, handsomer, and less common. In the +Vosges this plant is much used--as our own water-cress is in +England--for a salad, under the name of _Cresson de Roche_. There is a +little flower, elegant and singular in appearance, though, as its name +indicates, not one of much splendour, which resembles the golden +saxifrage, in the peculiarity of having a different number of stamens in +its crowning floret from those of the lower ones: this is the green +moschatel (_Adoxa moschatellina), adoxa_ signifying 'inglorious.' The +flowers are pale-green, in a terminal head of five florets, the upper of +which is four-cleft, and has _eight_ stamens, the other being +five-cleft, with _ten_ stamens in each. Its fragile stem and delicate +compound leaves, and the early season at which it blossoms, give +attraction to this little plant, and make it a favourite with me. The +butter-cups are not yet in bloom; but the daisies! Oh, what store of +daisies is on every bank and in every field, and what troops of baby +children, with their little baskets, sitting on the green turf and +picking them! I do love the daisy; and indeed I much fear that I should +have been found taking part with that 'merry troop' of 'ladies decked +with daisies on the plain,' of which we read in Dryden's elegant fable +of _The Flower and the Leaf_, rather than with those wiser and more +renowned who 'chose the leaf':-- + + 'A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay + They saw; and thitherward they bent their way; + To this both knights and dames their homage made, + And due obeisance to the daisy paid. + And then the band of flutes began to play, + To which a lady sung a virelay: + And still at every close she would repeat + The burden of the song--"the daisy is so sweet."' + +The structure of the daisy has been noticed in a former paper, and its +appearance needs no description. But there is one other flower which I +meet with that must not escape us, and that is that noble plant, the +butter-bur (_Tussilago petasites_), named from a Greek word signifying a +broad covering. Its leaves, the largest produced by any British plant, +are sometimes from two to three feet across, and form a shelter for +poultry and small animals from the rain. It is a composite flower of the +sub-order _Tubulifloreæ_. The large club-shaped bunch of flower comes +before the leaves are more than partially developed, and are of a +pale-purple tint, and of a most delicious fragrance, not unlike the +heliotrope. When these die off, the magnificent leaves form quite a +beautiful object in the landscape. Artists are fond of introducing them +into the foreground of their sketches, and very ornamental they are; but +they should be careful not to place them where nature never designed +they should grow, among dry hill and rock scenery, or on the +sea-coast--for they are only to be found growing in moist and shadowed +places, and usually in the vicinity of a brook, to which they form a +very apposite adornment.--But here we are at home, and there stands +Fanny at my door with her load of treasure, George having trotted her +home by a shorter cut than that which I had followed; and unless Jack or +Sam can honour me with their company the next time I go flower-picking, +I shall surely, as the Scotch say, 'ride upon shanks naiggie.' + + + + +AN EVENING IN WESTMINSTER. + + +In a drizzly afternoon at the close of January, we met by appointment at +a house in Westminster with a gentleman, who had kindly undertaken to +introduce us to a very remarkable institution in that part of the +metropolis. A walk of a few minutes through the plashy streets brought +us to a wide gateway, like the entrance to a brassfounder's yard. We +soon found ourselves in a narrow court, encumbered with building +materials and surrounded with plain brick structures, which appeared to +have either been recently erected, or to be undergoing some changes +designed to adapt them to new purposes. Everything looked plain and +homely, even to rudeness; but we, nevertheless, knew well that a heart +of humanity and noble intention beat under the rough exterior of the +place. + +Rather less than four years ago, the teacher of a ragged school in +Westminster encountered, in the course of his professional exertions, +three or four boys who had hitherto been thieves, but now expressed a +desire to leave their evil courses. Having some reason to repose faith +in their professions, and being humbly anxious to assist them in so good +a purpose, he received them into a poor garret-lodging, hired and paid +for out of his own resources. He supported them there, taught and +trained them, making himself their friend as well as their mentor, and +in time he succeeded in getting them passages to America, where they +have since prospered. Mr Nash--for such is the name of this +philanthropist of humble life--continued his benevolent exertions and +sacrifices, till various gentlemen, hearing of what he was doing, came +to his assistance. A little money being then collected, it was found +possible to take in a greater number of boys. In short, Mr Nash became +the head of a little institution for the reclaiming of criminal and +vagrant youths, which has finally become located in the yard we have +described, under the name of the London Colonial Training Institution +and Ragged Dormitory. It is still a kind of family arrangement of Mr +Nash's own, taking its character mainly from his benevolent and +self-sacrificing efforts, although drawing pecuniary support from the +public, and ostensibly graced with a list of honorary officebearers, +with the Earl of Shaftesbury at their head. + +There is a prepossessing simplicity in the whole affair. We found the +ground-floor of the new building used as a school and public room, and +the two upper floors as dormitories--nothing but brick walls whitened, +brick and deal floors--no luxury, but cleanliness and good ventilation. +The beds were mere bags of straw laid on the floor. Three plain meals +per day are given. The strictest regulations are maintained; but there +is no restraint. The inmates can leave the institution if they please. +Their coming is entirely voluntary; and, to make sure of their being +thoroughly in earnest, they are not admitted to the humble privileges of +the place, till they have lived a fortnight upon a pound of bread a day, +sleeping all the time upon bare boards. In the outer buildings, the boys +are trained to carpentry, tailoring, and shoemaking. A few are +instructed in printing: in their little office, we found one ordinary +press, besides a small one for taking proofs. They can execute +shop-bills and placards for the tradesmen in the neighbourhood, and we +received a copy of an annual report which had been printed very neatly +by them. In work, schooling, religious exercises, and walks out of doors +on the ordinary days of the week, the time passes usefully and not +disagreeably. At the end of a year, they are, if not provided with +employment at home, sent to some of the colonies with a small outfit, +generally at the expense of some benevolent individual. Lord Shaftesbury +has been particularly liberal in furnishing means for their shipment. +The inmates feel that they may now have a hope in the world. They hear +of companions who are prospering in America, and they work cheerfully on +in the faith of getting there also. Very few fail in their course, or +act dishonestly towards the institution. When one or two lately left it, +taking away things not belonging to them, the others set out in search +of them, caught them, and handed them over to the police. This shews how +their hearts are interested in the institution. They feel that Mr Nash +acts towards them in pure kindness, and they are anxious to make a +suitable return. And kindness really is the sole principle at work in +the place. One good man rules these sixty outcasts of society without +guard or assistance; without the use of punishment, beyond a temporary +restriction of meals; without, it may be said, any force whatever, but +that of his benevolent intentions. + +At the time of our visit, the establishment contained about sixty +inmates. We felt a peculiar interest in visiting the room of probation. +There had been four youths in it in the morning; but one had withdrawn, +not being able to stand the severity of the test. The three remaining +youths stood up in their wretched attire, and we questioned them in +succession. They had all been thieves, and all of them had passed +through several convictions--one through no less than twenty-two. We +asked this last youth how he had come to think of retreating to the +Colonial Training-School. He said, that he knew he could not go on much +longer without being transported: he dreaded this fate. Some companions +who had been in the school, but deserted it, told him of it. They +praised the institution, as one where every kindness was shewn to +unfortunate youths, notwithstanding that they had themselves proved +unworthy of its benefits. He therefore came, determined to suffer +whatever might be inflicted upon him, rather than go back to his wicked +courses. We learned that he had been for several years a pickpocket, +residing in a low lodging-house at 1s. 9d. a week; sometimes well off, +sometimes otherwise, but always harassed by the terrors of punishment. +According to his account of the boys who live in this manner, there are +some who enjoy its freedom, and would not abandon it; but there are many +who would much rather turn from it, if an opportunity were afforded +them. We afterwards spent some time in the school-room amongst the boys; +heard them sing a hymn, and, at the request of the governor, addressed a +few words to them, chiefly suggestive of hope respecting their future +career. During the whole time, their behaviour was marked by perfect +propriety; we did not observe even an indecorous look in the whole +company. + +We bade adieu to Mr Nash, with a deep sense of his heroic philanthropy, +and of the value of the lesson which he is giving as to the means of +reclaiming the desert places of society. As far as the funds supplied to +him permit, he is transforming the juvenile delinquents of the London +streets into respectable citizens, having already redeemed a hundred and +fifty-six, and either provided for them in England, or despatched them +to the colonies. One may well suppose, that in the process of +reformation much must depend upon the special character of the person +who exercises the reforming discipline. A mere routine of school +exercises, of scripture readings, of hymn singings, would go little way +with minds so vitiated by bad habits, if there were not a particular +effort made by the disciplinarian to make all work thoroughly into the +moral nature of the pupils, so as to produce a real renewal of feeling +and spirit. Even to rouse the unfortunate being from the idea with which +he is apt to start, that he is only called upon to enter on a new career +which will be better for him in a worldly point of view, and to elevate +him to the superior and only vitally serviceable idea, that he must love +goodness for its own sake, and for the love of the Author of all +goodness, is no light task. We can, therefore, imagine scarcely any +position calling for a more peculiar combination of qualities than that +of the conductor of this extraordinary seminary. It is a strong +testimony to the suitableness of Mr Nash for his functions, that they +were entered upon under the impulse of his own mind. We have further +proof of it in the good effects of his teaching, for the histories of +many young men who have passed through his hands can be traced from +authentic documents. One who emigrated to the United States so lately as +March 1850, already reports that he is earning there L.3, 12s. per week, +and has just married a young woman who had saved 300 dollars; another of +his pupils is now acting as a missionary in Australia. They write to +their former governor in the most grateful terms, and with strong +expressions of hope regarding their own future. It is interesting to +think of all this good being done by individual exertion and +self-devotion. No government interferes: there is no certain fund to be +depended on. A simple MAN, sensible of humane obligations towards the +unfortunate, comes forward and puts himself in direct intercourse with +them. They might mistake the views of a government, or of a set of +parish authorities; they might lean unduly upon any formally-appointed +fund. They cannot mistake the designs of a mere human being like +themselves, or become spoiled by indulgence in so poor a retreat. The +gratitude due by society to such a man is incalculable. + +It is gratifying to think that Mr Nash does not stand alone in his +disinterested course. There is a Mr Ellis, a shoemaker in Albany Street, +Regent's Park, who, under the impulse of religious feeling for the +unfortunate, has taken a number of delinquents into his care, with a +view to reforming them. Four years ago, he began with two, to whom he +assigned certain rations. The first movement was an act of self-denial +on their part. In order to secure the admission of a companion, who +could not otherwise have been provided for, they agreed that their +rations should be divided with him; and on these terms he was admitted. +Soon after, the number was increased to fifteen; and with this number Mr +Ellis has gone on most successfully. The boys have been industrious, and +only one has been guilty of any offence. The prosperous man of the +world, who thinks himself entitled to use all his own for his own sole +gratification, will hear of these things with incredulity, and pity +Ellis and Nash as enthusiasts, who foolishly sacrifice themselves for a +whim; but we greatly doubt if the worldling's proudest or most luxurious +hour gives one-half the true satisfaction which these men enjoy in the +midst of their ragged adherents, under the blessed hope of rescuing them +from destruction in this world and the next. + +The subject of juvenile delinquency is beginning to attract a good deal +of attention, for it is now clearly seen that the root of most of the +predatory crime by which the country is afflicted lies here, and till +the root is struck at, the branches will continue to flourish. It +appears that for some years the number of juvenile criminals has been +on the increase; auguring, of course, an ultimate increase in the number +of adult offenders. Some vigorous measure for the reduction of juvenile +delinquency is felt to be now required. Amidst all the alarms which it +is exciting, and amidst the expressions of hopelessness which we often +hear from those who give little attention to the subject, it is +gratifying to find, that there are some glimpses of what appears to be +the right course to be taken. First, one great point is very clearly +established--that it really is possible to reclaim juvenile criminals. +It cannot, however, be done by punishments of any kind. It is to be done +by kindness, religious influence, and industrial occupation, along with +the holding forth of a hope of transition into a better course of life. +Those who may be incredulous on this point, had better acquaint +themselves with the facts of the case. It is too little known, that +there has been a society at work for the last sixty years in England, +for the reform of juvenile offenders. It has a farm at Red Hill, near +Reigate, from which about forty youths go out every year to agricultural +labour and humble trades, in which the great bulk of them do well. The +similar institution at Mettray, near Tours, produces similar results on +a greater scale. And the simple truth at the bottom of the whole affair +is, that young thieves are, in general, deserted or orphan children, or +children driven forth to destitution by vicious parents: criminal +through circumstances, and finding no true happiness in their wicked +kind of life, a large proportion of them _desire to reform_, and will +suffer not a little in order to obtain admission to respectable society. + +It has lately been shewn, that society has a strong interest of a +pecuniary nature in the reformation of juvenile delinquents. A boy or +youth continually going about as a pickpocket or petty larcenist, is a +destructive animal of somewhat formidable character. To get quit of him +at last by transportation, costs at the least calculation L.150. Now, he +can be put through the twelvemonth's course of reformation in such a +school as that which we have described, and deported as a free emigrant +to Australia (where he is welcomed), for L.25. Thus, even in an +economical light, the reforming of the youth is a great gain. +Magistrates are everywhere impressed with the hopelessness of a mere +judicial treatment of these hapless children. They come back to the dock +at almost regular intervals; severity is of no avail with a poor wretch +who, on being discharged from jail, finds all honest employment denied +to him. It is by reform alone that we can rid ourselves of this moral +pest, by which our country is disgraced. + +There is but one difficulty in the case, and that is one involving +profound social questions. Shall we see criminal children taken care of, +and treated kindly, while many of the children of the honest poor are so +ill off? Shall we not, by taking these children under our care, and so +relieving parents and others of their responsibility towards them, sap +the principles of the industrious poor, leading them to desert or cast +off their children, whom they will now be sure of seeing cared for by +others? We must admit that there is much force in these queries; but it +would be wrong to allow them altogether to deter us, where the reasons +on the other side are so urgent. It may be possible, by keeping to such +individual efforts as those of Mr Nash, or to those of little +unobtrusive societies, to prevent much of the evil apprehended. And it +may also be practicable, as we find is proposed, to arrange that there +shall be a legal claim upon parents for the expenses incurred in +reforming their criminal offspring. Thus none who are not themselves +destitute, could safely leave their children to the chances of a +criminal life. It is also most desirable, that the state should limit +its interference to grants of money in proportion to the sums advanced +by private or local effort, and to the enforcing of a law for the +detention of vagrant and criminal children where it may be necessary. +Under such precautions, we think most of the advantages might be +obtained, with a much less admixture of evil than many would now be +disposed to expect.[1] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The reader will find excellent matter on this subject in Mary +Carpenter's recent volume on Reformatory Schools, and in a 'Report of +the Proceedings of a Conference on the Subject of Preventive and +Reformatory Schools, held at Birmingham on the 9th and 10th of December +1851.' + + + + +'MEN OF THE TIME.' + + +A neat little volume, well filled with information, has made its +appearance under this title;[2] the object being to present sketches of +living notables--men who, in their several walks of life, tread in +advance of the general multitude in this and other countries; and from +whose actions we may learn the character and aims of the passing era. +The idea of gathering together materials of this kind, and laying the +result in an accessible form before the public, is a good one. All will +depend, however, on the manner of execution. The attempt before us, +being the first of its kind, is perhaps necessarily imperfect, and we +may expect some improvements should the work realise the expectations of +its publisher. For example, we miss the names of various men of note, to +whom England owes many acknowledgments--such as Dr Neill Arnott, Mr +Edwin Chadwick, Archibald Alison, &c.--and in several instances, also, +the sketches actually given are very deficient in attainable facts; +while there occur notices of individuals whose names can scarcely be +said to be known to the public. With these imperfections, the work is a +handy biographic compendium, full of amusing particulars, that cannot +fail to be useful in the way of reference. To provincial libraries, the +book will be a cheap and agreeable accession. As a specimen of the +manner of execution, we present the following scraps of quotation:-- + +'Brooke, Rajah Sir James, is a Somersetshire man, born on the 29th of +April 1803, at Combe Grove, near Bath. His father was engaged in the +civil service of the East India Company; and when of sufficient age, the +future rajah was sent to India as a cadet, and, on the Burmese war +breaking out, went to the scene of operations; entered upon active +military service; and whilst storming a stockade, received a bullet in +his chest. This wound kept him for awhile balanced between life and +death, but a strong constitution stood him in good stead, and he was +able to reach England on furlough, to seek the full restoration of his +health. When sufficiently strong, he set out on a tour through France, +Switzerland, and Italy, the languages, as well as manners and condition +of which he studied; but the longest leave of absence will expire at +last, and we find our hero, in due course, again setting out for the +East; failing, however, to reach it at once, for the ship in which he +sailed was wrecked on the Isle of Wight. In his next vessel, he was more +fortunate, and safely reached India, to resume his duties; but finding a +long official correspondence requisite to explain why a shipwreck should +have delayed an officer's return, he resigned the service of the East +India Company, and in 1830 sailed from Calcutta for China. "In this +voyage," says Captain Keppel, in his _Expedition to Borneo_, "while +going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the islands of the +Asiatic Archipelago--islands of vast importance and unparalleled +beauty--lying neglected and almost unknown. He inquired and read, and +became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles afforded an open +field for enterprise and research. To carry to the Malay races, so long +the terror of the European merchant-vessel, the blessings of +civilisation, to suppress piracy, and extirpate the slave-trade, became +his humane and generous objects; and from that hour the energies of his +powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit. Often foiled--often +disappointed, with a perseverance and enthusiasm which defied all +obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to set sail from England on his +darling project."' Having procured and manned a yacht, he set out on his +expedition to the Eastern seas, in spite of all sarcasms from croakers; +and 'when the news came home that he had truly engaged in the +suppression of the Malay sea-robbers, and had been rewarded by the +cession to him, by a grateful native prince, of the territory and +governorship of Sarawak--a tract embracing about 3000 square miles of +country, with a sea-board of about fifty miles--said croakers began to +think the adventurous undertaking not so wild after all. The steps by +which he became rajah of Sarawak may be here recounted. When in his +vessel, the _Royalist_, he reached the coast of that country, he found +its ruler engaged in the suppression of one of the rebellions frequent +in uncivilised regions. His aid was solicited by the Rajah Muda Hassim, +and that aid being given, secured the triumph of the authorities. Muda +being soon afterwards called by the sultan to the post of +prime-minister, suggested the making the English captain his successor +at Sarawak--a step eventually taken. The newly-acquired territory was +swampy and ill cultivated by the native Dyaks, who varied their +occupations, as tillers of the land, by excursions amongst neighbouring +villages, _in search of heads_. To rob the native of a neighbouring town +of his cranium, was regarded in much the same light as the capture of a +scalp would be amongst North American savages. Brooke saw at once that +no improvement could arise whilst murder was regarded not only as a +pleasant amusement, but to some extent as a religious duty. He declared +head-hunting a crime punishable by death to the offender. With some +trouble and much risk he succeeded to a great extent in effecting a +reform. Attacking at the same time another custom of the country--that +of piracy--he acted with such vigour, that a class of well-meaning +people at home, stimulated to some extent by the private enemies of +Brooke, accused him of wholesale butchery. The fact that the destruction +of pirates was rewarded by the English executive by the payment of what +was called "head-money," justly increased the outcry. To kill one pirate +entitled the crew of a ship-of-war to a certain prize in money--to kill +a thousand, entitled them to a thousand times the amount. This premium +on blood was wrong in principle, and the result of a wholesale slaughter +of Eastern pirates by order of Brooke, led to the very proper abolition +of the custom of paying this "head-money." The men who are entitled to +the praise of securing this amelioration of our naval system were not, +however, content with the triumph of the just portion of their case; +they sought to brand the rajah as a cruel and greedy adventurer--in +which attempt they fortunately failed. It is surely unjust to test the +acts of a man living and ruling amongst savages by the strict usages of +action acknowledged and found most proper for guidance in civilised +communities. When, after his first appointment, Rajah Brooke returned to +see his friends and to take counsel in England, he was welcomed very +warmly. He was made Knight of the Bath; invited to dine with the Queen; +found his portrait in the print-shops, and his biography in the +magazines and newspapers. The government recognised his position; +ordered a man-of-war to take him to the seat of his new settlement; gave +him the title of Governor of Labuan, with a salary of L.2000 a year, +with an extra L.500 a year as a consular agent, and afforded him the +services of a deputy-governor, also on a good salary--the hope being +that the result of all this would be the opening of a new emporium for +British trade.' To this notice might be added an expression of deep +regret that there should be any controversy as to the real nature of Sir +James Brooke's operations in the East. This scandal ought surely to be +put an end to by some distinct investigation and avowal one way or the +other. + +The above notice of Sir James Brooke naturally suggests a recollection +of his relentless accuser, Joseph Hume, and we turn up the account of +that personage. + +'Hume, Joseph, a Radical Reformer, whose history adds another memorable +example of perseverance raising its possessor from a humble station to +distinction. He was born at Montrose, in the year 1777. While he was +still young, his father, the master of a small trading-vessel of that +port, died, leaving his widow to bring up a numerous family. Mrs Hume, +it is related, maintained herself and her children by means of a small +earthenware business, and placed Joseph in a school of the town, where +he received an education which included instruction in the elements of +Latin. With such scanty stores of knowledge, he was apprenticed to a +surgeon of Montrose, with whom he served three years. Having attended +the prescribed lectures to the medical classes in the university of +Edinburgh, he was admitted, in 1796, a member of the College of Surgeons +in that city. India was at that time a favourite, and, indeed, almost +the only field for the young who had no other fortune than their talents +and enterprise. To India, accordingly, Mr Hume went, and entered as a +surgeon the naval service of the East India Company. He had not been +there three years, before he was placed on the medical establishment of +Bengal. Here, while increasing his professional reputation, he had the +opportunity of watching the whole operation of the machinery of the +Company's service. His quick eye soon detected the deficiencies of the +greater number of the Company's servants in command of the native +language, an acquirement so valuable in possessions such as ours. He +determined to acquire a knowledge of the dialects of India, not doubting +that a sphere of larger utility and greater emolument would open before +his efforts. The Mahratta war breaking out in 1803, Mr Hume was attached +to Major-general Powell's division, and accompanied it on its march from +Allahabad into Bundelcund. The want of interpreters was now felt, as +Hume had expected, and the commander was glad to find among his surgeons +a man capable of supplying the deficiency. He continued to discharge his +new duties without resigning his medical appointment, and managed to +combine with both the offices of pay-master and post-master of the +troops. His ability to hold direct intercourse with the natives +continued to be of immense service to him, and enabled him to hold +simultaneously a number of offices with most varied duties, such as +nothing but an unwearying frame and an extraordinary capacity could have +enabled any one person to discharge. At the conclusion of the peace, he +returned to the presidency, richer by many golden speculations, for +which a period of war never fails to offer opportunities. In 1808, +having accomplished the object for which he left his native land, he +came to England, and, after an interval of repose, determined upon +making a tour of the country, the better to acquaint himself with the +condition of its inhabitants.' After making this tour, and visiting +various continental countries, he returned to England, where he devoted +himself to a political career; and since 1812, he has for the most part +had a seat in the House of Commons. His parliamentary history since 1818 +has been that of a reformer of abuses and enemy of monopoly, and he is +respected even by those who differ from him in opinion. + +Our next specimen is-- + +'Thackeray, William Makepeace, author, was born in India, in 1811. He is +of good family, and was originally intended for the bar, of which he is +now a member. He kept seven or eight terms at Cambridge, but left the +university without taking a degree, for the purpose of becoming an +artist. After about three years' desultory practice, he devoted himself +to literature, abandoning the design of making a position as a painter, +and only employed his pictorial talents in illustration of his own +writings. For a short time, he conducted a literary and artistic review, +similar in plan to the _Athenæum_; but the new journal, although +characterised by great ability, perished in competition with established +rivals. He also, with the assistance of Dr Maginn, started a newspaper; +but this was unsuccessful. His first distinction was won as a writer in +_Fraser's Magazine_, _Punch_, and other periodicals of character. In the +latter amusing periodical appeared his _Jeames's Diary_, a clever satire +on the follies of the railway mania, exposing the hollow foundation upon +which railway fortunes and reputations were made. His _Snob Papers_, +published in the same manner, have since been collected and reprinted +with great success. His satire is as keen as that of Fielding. His +_Paris Sketch-Book_ appeared in 1840. His _Irish Sketch-Book_, with +numerous engravings drawn by the author, was published in 1845. In the +next year, appeared his _Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand +Cairo_; and in 1847, the first numbers of _Vanity Fair_ appeared, in the +proper name of their author. This, Thackeray's first fully-developed +novel, has been followed by _Arthur Pendennis_, completed in 1851. His +Christmas-book, entitled _The Kickleburies on the Rhine_, was attacked +by a writer in the _Times_; whereupon Mr Thackeray replied, in a very +unmistakable way, in a preface to the second edition of the work. The +critic fared very badly in the contest.' The charge made against Mr +Thackeray is, that he abuses the characters of the literary class with a +view apparently of catering to public prejudice. We believe that any +such imputation is entirely unfounded; and that Mr Thackeray's +observations on the infirmities of authors are due to an honest +exposition of his subject. Mr Thackeray has lately imparted much delight +by delivering lectures on the literary personages of last century; and +in this very act has gracefully raised the public estimation of living +authorcraft. + +We may extract the following passages respecting the early career of Mr +Dickens:-- + +'Dickens, Charles, the most popular writer of his time, was born in +February 1812, at Landport, Portsmouth. His father, the late Mr John +Dickens, in the earlier part of his life, enjoyed a post in the Navy Pay +Department, the duties of which required that he should reside from time +to time in different seaports: now at Plymouth, now at Portsmouth, and +then at Sheerness. "In the glorious days" of the war with France, these +towns were full of life, bustle, and character; and the father of "Boz" +was at times fond of dilating upon the strange scenes he had witnessed. +One of his stories described a sitting-room he once enjoyed at +Blue-town, Sheerness, abutting on the theatre. Of an evening, he used to +sit in this room, and could hear what was passing on the stage, and join +in the chorus of _God save the King_, and _Britannia rules the +Waves_--then the favourite songs of Englishmen. The war being at an end, +amongst those who left the public service with a pension was the father +of our novelist. Coming to London, he subsequently found lucrative +employment for his talents on the press as a reporter of parliamentary +debates. Charles Dickens may, therefore, be said to have been in his +youth familiarised with "copy;" and when his father, with parental +anxiety for his future career, took the preliminary steps for making his +son an attorney, the dreariness of the proposed occupation fell so +heavily upon the mind of the future author, that he induced his father +to permit him to resign the law, and join the parliamentary corps of a +daily newspaper. His first engagement was on the _True Sun_, an +ultra-liberal paper, then carrying on a fierce struggle for existence, +from the staff of which he afterwards passed into the reporting ranks of +the _Morning Chronicle_. On that paper, he obtained reputation as a +first-rate man--his reports being exceedingly rapid, and no less +correct. In the columns of the _Chronicle_ he soon gave proofs of other +talents than those of a reporter; for in the evening edition of that +journal appeared the _Sketches of English Life and Character_, +afterwards collected to form the two well-known volumes of _Sketches by +Boz_, published respectively in 1836 and 1837. These at once attracted +considerable notice, and obtained great success; and the publisher of +the collected edition, anxious to make the most of the prize which had +fallen to his lot, gladly came to an arrangement with Mr Dickens and +Seymour, the comic draughtsman--the one to write, and the other to +illustrate a book which should exhibit the adventures of a party of +Cockney sportsmen. Hence the appearance of _Pickwick_, a book which made +its author's reputation and the publishers' fortune. After the work had +commenced, poor Seymour committed suicide, and Mr Hablot K. Browne was +selected to continue the illustrations, which he did under the signature +of "Phiz." Meanwhile, Mr Dickens had courted and married the daughter of +Mr George Hogarth, then, and now, a musical writer; a man of +considerable attainments, and who, in his earlier days, whilst a writer +to the Signet in Edinburgh, enjoyed the intimate friendship of Sir +Walter Scott, Jeffrey, and the other literary notables at that day +adorning the Modern Athens. The great success of _Pickwick_ brought down +upon its author demands from all sides for another work, and "Boz" +agreed to write _Nicholas Nickleby_, to be published in monthly parts. +In the prefatory notices, which give additional value to the cheap and +elegant reprint of the works of Dickens, we are indulged with slight +glimpses of his own recollections, personal and literary.' It is +unnecessary to note the titles of Mr Dickens's subsequent works, all of +which have justly obtained popularity. He has latterly entered on a path +not dissimilar to our own, and in this he has our very best wishes. The +cause of social melioration needs a union of hearts and hands. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Bogue, London: 1852. + + + + +ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S BOOK OF SYNONYMS. + + +Accuracy of language is one of the things which, in ordinary speech and +writing, is but indifferently observed. The reason, perhaps, is to be +sought, not in any general indifference to correctness or precision, but +rather in the want of some recognised authority, some specific rules or +principles, to which the use of words apparently synonymous, yet of +slightly different signification, might be distinctly and easily +referred. It is in regard to the finer shades of meaning, the subtler +touches of expression, the application of words and phrases where the +strictest exactness and perspicuity are required, that an ordinary +English style is apt to become loose and shadowy; and it is precisely +here that we are entitled to expect the severest, chastest form of +utterance. Coleridge used to complain of a general confounding of the +word 'notion' with 'idea,' and was often at great pains to point out the +distinction between the two, as also between many other words similarly +misused. Archdeacon Hare, too, has remarked upon the common +misapplication of such words as 'education' for 'instruction,' +'government' for 'administration,' 'the church' for 'the priesthood' or +'ministry;' and indeed holds that such a confounding of terms leads to +serious practical misunderstandings and confusions.[3] Any one, upon +reflection, will perceive that in the common use of these and numberless +other words, there is often a signal lack of clearness and precision, +and will hardly fail to notice that the error proceeds from a want of +due attention to the nice and peculiar meanings of words which are +vaguely presumed to have the same signification. + +As a help to those who may wish to attain a somewhat more than common +correctness of style and language, Archbishop Whately has recently +published a small work on _English Synonyms_;[4] and the rapidity with +which the first edition has been disposed of leads us to infer that the +public is to some extent prepared to take an interest in the subject. +The second edition, 'revised and enlarged,' is now before us, and it is +thought that a brief glance at its contents may not be unacceptable to +some of our present readers. + +The word 'synonym,' as the archbishop observes, is, in strict reality, a +misnomer. 'Literally, it implies an exact coincidence of meaning in two +or more words, in which case there would be no room for discussion; but +it is generally applied to words which would be more correctly termed +pseudo-synonyms--that is, words having a shade of difference, yet with a +sufficient resemblance of meaning to make them liable to be confounded. +And it is in the number and variety of these that, as the Abbé Girard +well remarks, the richness of a language consists. To have two or more +words with exactly the same sense, is no proof of copiousness, but +simply an inconvenience. A house would not be called well furnished from +its having a larger number of chairs and tables of one kind than were +needed, but from its having a separate article for each distinct use. +The more power we have of discriminating the nicer shades of meaning, +the greater facility we possess of giving force and precision to our +expressions. Our own language possesses great advantages in this +respect; for being partly derived from the Teutonic, and partly from the +Latin, we have a large number of duplicates from the two sources, which +are, for the most part, though not universally, slightly varied in their +meaning. + +'These slight variations of meaning,' he proceeds, add to the +copiousness of the English language, by affording words of more or less +familiarity, and of greater and less force. This may easily be +understood, if we consider that the branch of the Teutonic, spoken in +England during the Anglo-Saxon period, never became extinct, but that +three-fourths of the English language at present consist of words +altered or derived from that ancient dialect; that these words usually +express the most familiar ideas--such as _man_, _house_, _land_, &c.; +and that the French terms gradually introduced, being those of a more +highly civilised people, were adapted to express the more refined ideas. +This is true even of physical objects; thus, for instance, most of the +names of the animals used for food are still Teutonic--such as _ox_, +_sheep_, _swine_, &c. The Anglo-Saxons, like the modern Germans, had no +objection to say _ox-flesh_, _sheep-flesh_, _swine's-flesh_; but the +Norman conquerors, introducing a more refined cookery, introduced with +it French words for the flesh of the animal; hence we have _beef_, +_mutton_, _pork_, &c.' + +It has not been the author's design to notice _all_ the synonyms in the +language--that, as he remarks, would be an almost endless undertaking; +'but merely, after excluding technical terms, and words which do exactly +coincide, to select a few of those groups of words which are in most +frequent use, and are most liable to be confounded.' His purpose, +perhaps, will be more distinctly shewn, if we add a few more sentences +from the preface. + +'Many persons,' says he, 'imagine that two words must either coincide +precisely in their meaning, so as to be, in the primary and strict sense +of the word, "synonymous," or else stand for two (more or less) distinct +_things_. Indeed, it would often be regarded as almost a truism to +assert this; but those who maintain such an opinion overlook the fact, +that two words, without exactly coinciding in sense, may nevertheless +relate to one and the same thing, regarded in _two different points of +view_. An illustration of this is afforded in the relation which exists +between the words, "inference" and "proof." Whoever justly infers, +proves; and whoever proves, infers; but the word "inference" leads the +mind from the premises which have been assumed, to the conclusion which +follows from them; while the word "proof" follows a reverse process, and +leads the mind from the conclusion to the premises. We say: "What do you +infer _from_ this?" and "How do you _prove_ that?"[5] Another +illustration may be quoted in the synonyms, "expense" and "cost." The +same article may be expensive and costly; but we speak of _expense_ in +reference to the means of the purchaser; of _cost_, in reference to the +actual value of the article.' + +This work does not profess to deal much with _etymologies_; the author +thinking that any very strict attention to the _derivation_ of words, in +connection with synonyms, would only tend to confuse the subject. The +history of the origin and growth of words must undoubtedly throw light +upon their meanings; but he, nevertheless, holds the two questions to be +completely distinct and separable; and thinks that, in an inquiry into +the _actual_ and _present_ meaning of a word, the consideration of what +it originally meant may frequently lead us into error. A few suggestive +remarks are given upon this matter. + +'Our question is, not what _ought_ to be, or formerly was, the meaning +of a word, but what it _now_ is; nor can we be completely guided by +quotations from Shakspeare or Milton, or even from Addison or Johnson. +Language has undergone such changes, even within the last sixty or +seventy years, that many words, at that time considered pure, are now +obsolete; while others--of which the word "mob" is a specimen--formerly +slang, are now used by our best writers, and received, like pardoned +outlaws, into the body of respectable citizens.' The standard, +accordingly, to which the author refers in the work before us, is the +sense in which a word is used by the purest writers and most correct +speakers of our own days. + +The synonyms are arranged or classed according to the parts of speech to +which they belong--namely, into particles, nouns, adjectives, and verbs. +The uses of all the words are well defined, and sufficiently illustrated +by examples; a table of contents and a complete index are also added, +rendering reference to any word as easy as looking for it in a +dictionary. The table of contents, indeed, will be found to serve most +of the purposes of a vocabulary of synonyms: a glance at it will +frequently give you all the words of similar signification to the +particular one for which you may happen to require an equivalent. From +the part of the book relating to _verbs_, we take the following; the +words under notice being, _To teach, instruct, inform, educate_:-- + +'Of these words, the first two are often used synonymously, but they +have also a distinct meaning. "Teaching," strictly speaking, when +distinguished from instruction, is applied to the practice of an art or +branch of knowledge: instruction, to the theory. A child is, correctly +speaking, _instructed_ in the grammar of a language, and _taught_ to +speak the language. Thus, teaching may be merely mechanical; while +"instruction" implies a degree of understanding in the pupil, as well as +in the master. A child who has been _taught_ to learn lessons by rote, +without understanding them, will find difficulty in comprehending +_instruction_ in the principles of what he has learned: hence, we speak +of _teaching_ a brute, but never of _instructing_ it. + +'_Information_,[6] again, is distinguished from instruction, in relation +to the truths conveyed by it. Matters of fact, made known to one who +could not have known them before, are called information: instruction +elicits new truths out of subject-matter _already_ existing in the +mind--(see Whately's _Logic_, book iv. § 1.) + +'A traveller gives us information respecting foreign countries; a +metaphysician instructs us in the principles of moral +science--principles drawn from facts already known to us. The two +processes may take place at the same time: a child in learning a lesson +receives both information and instruction: he is taught things he never +knew before, and also taught to apply and make use of what he does know +already. In fact, pure mathematics is the only branch of instruction +which includes no information, as the propositions are all based on +principles previously assumed. In short, a person who is informed, +_knows_ something he did not before; one who is instructed, +_understands_ something he did not before; one who is taught, can _do_ +something he could not do before. + +'Education is more comprehensive than any of the other words before us. +It includes the _whole course_ of moral and intellectual teaching. One +who gives occasional lessons is not said to _educate_. To _educate_ +(agreeably to its derivation, from "e-duco," not "in-duco"), includes +the _drawing out_ of the faculties, so as to teach the pupil how to +teach him_self_; which is one of the most valuable of arts. + +'Moral training, considered _by itself_, is called "teaching;" this +constitutes no exception to the rule laid down, as its object is to +enable us, not to _know_, but to _do_ what is right.'--(P. 32-34.) + +'Few words, perhaps, are more apt to be misapplied than the string of +adjectives treated of in the section next quoted--namely, _benevolent, +beneficent, charitable, munificent, liberal, bountiful, philanthropic_. + +'Benevolent and beneficent, together with their conjugates, have +curiously diverged from their original meaning. Etymologically, +"benevolent" implied merely _wishing_ well to others, and "beneficent" +_doing_ well; _now_, "benevolent" includes both kinds of feelings and +actions, and "beneficent" is restricted to acts of kindness on a great +scale, and generally performed by some one of exalted station and +character: hence, we speak of the "beneficence" rather than the +"benevolence" of the Creator. It may perhaps be said to follow from +this, that "benevolent" draws our attention more to the character of the +agent; "beneficent," to that of the act performed--retaining, so far, a +tinge of their etymology. + +'"Charitable" (when not used in reference to a mild and candid judgment +of others) seems to be restricted to one kind of benevolence--that which +consists in alms-giving. + +'"Munificent" resembles "beneficent," in referring always to favours on +a large scale, and conferred by superiors; but there is this important +difference, that "beneficent" always implies some real and essential +good done, while "munificent," as its derivation implies, may be applied +equally to any _gift_, whether really useful or not. One who makes a +present of jewellery or pictures to a friend, is munificent, but would +not be called "beneficent." If he raised a distressed family from +starvation, the word "beneficent" would be more appropriate. But one who +gives largely to the public, or to some institution, is called +munificent. It seems to convey the idea of splendour. No one can be +called munificent who does not give on a large scale. + +'Any one who is ready to give _freely_, as the etymology implies, on +whatever scale, is "liberal." "Bountiful," again, is stronger than +"liberal," and implies giving in abundance; it also differs from +"liberal" in being restricted to _giving_; while "liberal" is applied to +an easy style of expenditure in general; to the reverse, in short, of +"stingy," or "miserly." Many people live in a _liberal_ style, who are +very far from being "bountiful." Bountiful always seems to imply, giving +out of an ample store. + +'"Philanthropic," as its etymology indicates, implies benevolence solely +in reference to the _human race_, and always to masses, not to +individuals. One who devises some plan to benefit numbers, is called +"philanthropic;" but we should not talk of "philanthropically giving a +loaf to a hungry child."'--(P. 83-85.) + +As space is beginning to press, our last extract must be short: it +relates to words often enough employed indiscriminately--_imagination, +conception, fancy_. '"Imagination" and "fancy" are frequently confounded +together, but are, nevertheless, very distinct in their signification. +In the first place, "imagination" implies more of a _creative_ power +than "fancy;" it requires a greater combination of various powers, and +is therefore a higher exercise of genius. "Fancy," on the other hand, is +more an employment of ingenuity and taste, though it also requires +inventive power. Secondly, "imagination" implies a longer flight; +"fancy," rather a succession of short efforts: the one is a steady +blaze; the other, a series of sparkles. An epic poem would require an +exercise of the first; a ballad, or other lighter production, of the +last: hence, we may see that the difference between the two is, in some +measure, one of subject-matter; for the same power which we call "fancy" +when employed in a melody of Moore, would be called "imagination" in the +works of Dante or Milton. In short, the efforts of "fancy" bear the same +relation to those of "imagination" that the carving and polishing of a +gem or seal does to sculpture. + +'In the third place, _wit_ may come into works of "fancy," and could not +be admitted into the province of "imagination." The same with what are +called _conceits_. + +'"Conception" has something in common with imagination, but it implies +more decidedly a creative power, and is referred to something tangible +and real; whereas, in efforts of fancy and imagination, there is always +a consciousness of unreality. The province of "conception" is that which +has a real existence: hence, the productions of painters, sculptors, and +musicians, are called "conceptions." "Conception" also denotes something +framed and originated in our _own_ mind; whereas the imagination or +fancy may be acted on merely from without. The poet or writer of fiction +exercises his own conceptions, but awakens the imagination of his +readers.' + +These quotations will give as general a notion of the work as can be +conveyed by a few extracts. To those among our readers who may be in +quest of such a book, we can decidedly recommend it as one that is +certain to be useful. It is by far the best of the kind that we have +ever happened to meet with; and we think that if it were universally +studied and consulted, the result would be a great improvement of +expression, both in common speech and literature. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] See _Guesses at Truth_. First series. + +[4] _A Selection of English Synonyms_. Second Edition. Parker, London: +1852. + +[5] See Whately's _Logic_, book iv., chap. 3, § 1, in which the above is +illustrated by the difference between the road from London to York and +the road from York to London. + +[6] The nouns are used here instead of the verbs for convenience sake, +as they precisely correspond. + + + + +'CHAPTER ON CATS.' + + +In No. 419 of this Journal, an article with the above heading mentions +among the exports from New York to New Granada 100 _cats_. Wherever our +contributor may have picked up his intelligence, the original source is +the _New York Herald_; but, unluckily, a paper of a more practical +character--if we may judge from its title--_The Dry-Goods Reporter_, +gives the custom-house entry in full, in which the change of a single +vowel makes a prodigious difference. The entry is this: '100 _cots_--125 +dollars--to Granada.' + + + + +A MARINER'S WIFE. + + + 'Ah me, my dream!' pale Helen cried, + With hectic cheeks aglow: + 'Why wake me? Hide that cruel beam! + I'll not win such another dream + On this side heaven, I know. + + 'I almost feel the leaping waves, + The wet spray on my hair, + The salt breeze singing in the sail, + The kind arms, strong as iron-mail, + That held me safely there. + + 'I'll tell thee:--On some shore I stood, + Or sea, or inland bay, + Or river broad, I know not--save + There seemed no boundary to the wave + That chafed and moaned alway. + + 'The shore was lone--the wave was lone-- + The horizon lone; no sail + Broke the dim line 'twixt sea and sky, + Till slowly, slowly one came by, + Half ghostlike, gray and pale. + + 'It was a very little boat, + Had neither oars nor crew; + But as it shoreward bounded fast, + One form seemed leaning by the mast-- + And Norman's face I knew! + + 'He never looked nor smiled at me, + Though I stood there alone; + His brow was very grave and high, + Lit with a glory from the sky-- + The wild bark bounded on. + + 'I shrieked: "Oh, take me--take me, love! + The night is falling dread."-- + "My boat may come no nearer shore; + And, hark! how mad the billows roar! + Art thou afraid?" he said. + + '"Afraid! with thee?"--"The wind sweeps fierce + The foamy rocks among; + A perilous voyage waiteth me."-- + "Then, then, indeed, I go with thee," + I cried, and forward sprung. + + 'All drenched with brine, all pale with fear-- + Ah no, not fear; 'twas bliss!-- + I felt the strong arms draw me in: + If after death to heaven I win, + 'Twill be such joy as this! + + 'No kiss, no smile, but aye that clasp-- + Tender, and close, and brave; + While, like a tortured thing, upleapt + The boat, and o'er her deck there swept + Wave thundering after wave. + + 'I looked not to the stormy deep, + Nor to the angry sky; + Whether for life or death we wrought, + My whole world dwindled to one thought-- + _Where he is, there am I_! + + 'On--on--through leaping waves, slow calmed, + With salt spray on our hair, + And breezes singing in the sail, + Before a safe and pleasant gale, + The boat went bounding fair: + + 'But whether to a shore we came, + Or seaward sailed away, + Alas! to me is all unknown: + O happy dream, too quickly flown! + O cruel, cruel day!' + + Pale Helen lived--or died: dull time + O'er all that history rolls; + Sailed they or sunk they on life's waves?-- + I only know earth holds two graves, + And heaven two blessed souls. + + + + +REMITTANCES TO AND FROM EMIGRANTS. + + +Within the past few years, a system of foreign exchanges has been +perfected in this country, by which the smallest sum of money can be +remitted either way across the Atlantic, with perfect security and the +greatest dispatch. Drafts are drawn as low as 1s. sterling, which are +cashed in any part of Great Britain or the United States. This, to +emigrants who wish to bring over their money without fear of loss, or to +residents here who wish to remit small sums to their relatives or +friends in Europe, to enable them to come to this country, is of vast +importance, as it guarantees them against loss; that is, when the drafts +are good. This is, therefore, the great point at issue. To obtain drafts +of undoubted credit and security is the first thing to be considered. +There are dozens of drawers on both sides of the Atlantic, all of whom +have their friends, who place more or less confidence in the character +of the bills drawn. We have no doubt they are all sound and solvent. We +know nothing now to the contrary. The drafts can be obtained in any city +in the Union, for any amount, from 1s. sterling upwards, drawn upon some +place in Europe; and drafts can be obtained in various European cities +payable in any city of the United States.--_Abridged from the New York +Herald._ + + + + +FOREST-TREES. + + +In contemplating the length of life of one of the reverend and hoary +elders of the forest, we are apt to forget that it is not to be measured +by the standard of man or of the higher animals; for it is really not +the measure of an individual existence, but, as it were, of the duration +of an empire or a nation. A tree is a populous community, presided over +by an oligarchy, of which the flowers are the aristocracy, and the +leaves the working-classes. The life of the individual members of the +commonwealth is brief enough, but the state of which they are members, +has often a vast duration; and some of those whose ages we have referred +to, could they take cognisance of human affairs, would look with +contempt upon the instability and irregularity of human governments and +states, as compared with the unchanging order and security of their +own.--_Professor Forbes in Art-Journal._ + + + + +WHISKY AND MISERY. + + +Whisky and misery, whichever be cause, whichever be effect, always go +together. There has been, as is well known, a failure of the +potato-crop, and consequently a famine, in the West Highlands and +Hebrides. In the island of Mull, about L.3000 of money raised in charity +was spent in the year ending October 10, 1848, for the eleemosynary +support of the people. In the same space of time, the expenditure of the +people on whisky was L.6009! We do not know how much had previously been +spent on whisky in that island; but we may judge from the fact +ascertained regarding Skye. In the year ending October 10, 1850, the sum +paid in the latter island for whisky was L.10,855--considerably more +than _double the amount expended in relief by the Destitution Fund_, and +_more than double the consumption of the same district in 1845_, the +year before the distress commenced! 'That is,' says the _Quarterly +Review_, which quotes the facts from excellent authority, 'the increased +consumption of whisky exactly tallies with the extraneous aid received; +in other words, the whole amount of charitable assistance _went in +whisky_!' + + * * * * * + +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 Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 17256-8.txt or 17256-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/5/17256/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. 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March 6, 1852 + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + max-width: 40em;} + p {text-align: justify;} + p.center {text-align: center;} + blockquote {text-align: justify; font-size: 0.9em;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + pre {font-size: 0.8em;} + .returnTOC {text-align: right; font-size: 70%;} + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + sup {font-size: smaller; text-decoration: none; + vertical-align: 0.25em;} + .note {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + .footnote {font-size: 0.9em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {font-size: smaller; text-decoration: none; + vertical-align: 0.25em;} + .contents + {margin-left:25%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem + {margin-left:20%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i20 {margin-left: 10em;} + // --> + /*]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427 + Volume 17, New Series, March 6, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers and William Chambers + +Release Date: December 8, 2005 [EBook #17256] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL</h1> + +<h2><a name="Contents" id="Contents">CONTENTS</a></h2> + +<div class="contents"> +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#THE_CHARITABLE_CHUMS_BENEFIT_CLUB"><b>THE CHARITABLE CHUMS' BENEFIT CLUB.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#LA_ROSIERE"><b>LA ROSIÈRE.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#RAMBLES_IN_SEARCH_OF_WILD-FLOWERS"><b>RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF WILD-FLOWERS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#AN_EVENING_IN_WESTMINSTER"><b>AN EVENING IN WESTMINSTER.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#MEN_OF_THE_TIME"><b>'MEN OF THE TIME.'</b></a><br /> +<a href="#ARCHBISHOP_WHATELYS_BOOK_OF_SYNONYMS"><b>ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S BOOK OF SYNONYMS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_ON_CATS"><b>'CHAPTER ON CATS.'</b></a><br /> +<a href="#A_MARINERS_WIFE"><b>A MARINER'S WIFE.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#REMITTANCES_TO_AND_FROM_EMIGRANTS"><b>REMITTANCES TO AND FROM EMIGRANTS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#FOREST-TREES"><b>FOREST-TREES.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#WHISKY_AND_MISERY"><b>WHISKY AND MISERY.</b></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[pg 145]</a></span></p> + + +<img src="images/banner.png" + width="100%" + alt="Banner: Chambers' Edinburgh Journal" /> + +<h4>CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S +INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c.</h4> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<table width="100%" + summary="Volume, Date and Price"> +<tr> +<td align="left"><b><span class="sc">No.</span> 427. <span class="sc">New Series.</span></b></td> +<td align="left"><b>SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1852.</b></td> +<td align="right"><b><span class="sc">Price</span> 1½<i>d</i>.</b></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="full" /> + + +<h2><a name="THE_CHARITABLE_CHUMS_BENEFIT_CLUB" id="THE_CHARITABLE_CHUMS_BENEFIT_CLUB"></a>THE CHARITABLE CHUMS' BENEFIT CLUB.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> 'Mother Bunch' public-house stands modestly aside from the din, +traffic, and turmoil of a leading London thoroughfare, and retires, like +a bashful maiden, from the gaze of a crowd to the society of its own +select circle. It is situated in a short and rather narrow street, +leading from an omnibus route running north from the city to nowhere in +particular—or, if particulars must be given, to that complicated +assemblage of carts, cabs, and clothes-lines; of manure heaps and +disorganised pumps; of caged thrushes, blackbirds, and magpies; of dead +dogs and cats, and colonies of thriving rats; of imprisoned terriers and +goats let out on parole; of shrill and angry maternity and mud-loving +infancy; and of hissing, curry-combing grooms and haltered horses, to +which Londoners have given the designation of a Mews. Mr Peter Bowley, +the landlord of the 'Mother Bunch,' was the late butler of the late Sir +Plumberry Muggs; and having succeeded, on the demise of the baronet, to +a legacy of L.500, and finding himself unable any longer to resist the +charms of his seven years' comforter and counsellor, the cook, +supplemented as they were by the attractions of a legacy of the like +amount, he had united his destiny and wealth with hers in one common +cause. The name of Sir Plumberry Muggs, even though its worthy +proprietor was defunct, was still of sufficient influence to procure a +licence for his butler; and within a few months of his departure, Mr +Bowley had opened the new Inn and Tavern for the accommodation of Her +Majesty's thirsty lieges. He had congratulated himself upon the +selection of the site, and upon the suitableness of the premises to the +requirements of a good trade; and his heart swelled within him, as he +sat at the head of his own table, on the occasion of the house-warming, +dispensing with no niggard hand the gratuitous viands and unlimited +beer, which were at once to symbolise and inaugurate the hospitality of +his mansion. He had a snug bar curtained with crimson drapery, for the +convenience of those who, declining the ostentation of the public room, +might prefer to imbibe their morning-draught with becoming privacy. He +had a roomy tap-room, where a cheerful fire was to blaze the winter +through, and a civil Ganymede minister to the wants of the humblest +guest. There was a handsome parlour hung round with sporting-prints, +with cushioned seats and polished mahogany tables, where the tradesmen +of the neighbourhood might take their evening solace after the fatigues +of business; and, more than all this, he had an immense saloon on the +first floor above, calculated for social conviviality on the largest +scale, and furnished with mirrors, pictures, and an old grand-piano, a +portion of the <i>lares</i> of the deceased Sir Plumberry Muggs.</p> + +<p>Mr Bowley, however, soon made the unpleasing discovery, that it is one +thing to open an establishment of the kind—which had already swallowed +up two-thirds of his capital—and another thing to induce the public to +patronise it. Notwithstanding the overflow which had gathered at his +house-warming, and the numberless good wishes which had been expressed, +and toasts which had been drunk to his prosperity, yet the prosperity +did not come. Of the hundred and fifty enthusiastic well-wishers who had +done honour to his entertainment, squeezed his hand, and sworn he was a +trump, not a dozen ever entered the house a second time. Do what he +would, Bowley could not create a business; and the corners of his mouth +began visibly to decline ere the experiment had lasted a couple of +months. He made a desperate effort to get up a Free-and-easy; he had the +old piano tuned, and set an old fellow to play upon it with open +windows; exhibited a perpetual announcement of 'A Concert this Evening;' +and himself led off the harmony, to the tune of <i>Tally-ho</i>, at the top +of his voice. It was all of no avail. The half-dozen grooms who joined +in feeble chorus did not pay the expense of the gas; and he found the +Free-and-easy, without abettors, the most difficult thing in the world. +So he gave it up, and fell into a brown study, which engrossed him for a +month. He had visions of Whitecross Street before his eyes; and poor Mrs +Bowley sighed again, and sighed in vain, after the remembrance of Sir +Plumberry's kitchen, and its vanished joys. The only symptom of business +was the gathering of half-a-dozen nightly customers, who sipped their +grog for an hour or two in the parlour; and one of these, moreover, had +never paid a farthing since he had patronised the house. There were +twenty grogs scored up against him, besides a double column of beers. Mr +Bowley will put an end to that, at anyrate; so he signals the bibulous +debtor, and having got him within the folds of the crimson curtains, he +politely informs him, that credit is no part of his system of doing +business, and requests payment. Mr Nogoe, the convivial defaulter, who +is a gentleman of fifty, who has seen the world, and knows how to manage +it, is decidedly of Bowley's opinion—that, as a general rule, credit is +a bad plan; inasmuch as, so far as his experience goes in the public +line, to afford it to your customers, is the first step towards losing +it yourself. But he feels himself free to confess, that he is at the +present moment under a cloud, and that it would be inconvenient to him +to liquidate his score just then, though, of course, if Bowley insists, +&c. While Bowley is pausing to consider which will be the best way to +insist, Mr Nogoe carelessly leads the conversation to another topic, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[pg 146]</a></span>begins to descant upon the marvellous capabilities of the 'Mother +Bunch' for doing a first-rate trade; and hints mysteriously at the +splendid thing that might be made of it, only supposing that his friend +Bowley knew his own interest, and went the right way to work. The +landlord, who is now all ear, and who knows his own interest well +enough, pours out to his guest a glass of his favourite 'cold without,' +and seating himself opposite him at the little table, encourages him to +be more explicit. A long private and confidential conversation ensues, +the results of which are destined to change the aspect of affairs at the +'Mother Bunch.' We shall recount the process for the information of our +readers.</p> + +<p>Next morning, Mr Bowley is altogether a new man; brisk, cheerful, and +active, he has a smile for everybody, and a joke and a 'good-morning' +even for the cobbler, who has the cure of soles in that very +questionable benefice, the Mews. He visits his tap-room guests, and +informs them of a plan which is in operation to improve the condition of +the labouring-classes, of which they will hear more by and by. He is +profoundly impressed with the sublime virtues of charity, benevolence, +brotherly love, and, as he terms it, all that sort of thing. Day after +day, he is seen in close confab with Mr Nogoe, who is now as busy as a +bee, buzzing about here, there, and everywhere, with rolls of paper in +his hand, a pen behind his ear, and another in his mouth, and who is +never absent an hour together from the 'Mother Bunch,' where he has a +private room much frequented by active, middle-aged persons of a rather +seedy cast, and where he takes all his meals at the landlord's table. +The first-fruits of these mysterious operations at length appear in the +form of a prospectus of a new mutual-assurance society, under the +designation of 'The Charitable Chums' Benefit Club;' of which Mr Nogoe, +who has undertaken its organisation, is to act as secretary and chairman +at the preliminary meetings, and to lend his valuable assistance in +getting the society into working order. Under his direction, tens of +thousands of the prospectuses are printed, and industriously circulated +among the artisans, labourers, small tradesmen, and serving-men in all +parts of the town, both far and near. Promises of unheard-of advantages, +couched in language of most affectionate sympathy, are addressed to all +whom it may concern. The same are repeated again and again in the daily +and weekly papers. A public meeting is called, and the names of +intending members are enrolled; special meetings follow, held at the +large room of the 'Mother Bunch;' the enrolled members are summoned; +officers and functionaries are balloted for and appointed; rules and +regulations are drawn up, considered, adopted, certified, and printed. +Mr Nogoe is confirmed in his double function as secretary and treasurer. +Subscriptions flow in; and, to Bowley's infinite gratification, beer and +spirits begin to flow out. The Charitable Chums, though eminently +provident, are as bibulous as they are benevolent; for every sixpence +they invest for the contingencies of the future tense, they imbibe at +least half-a-crown for the exigencies of the present. The society soon +rises into a condition of astonishing prosperity. The terms being +liberal beyond all precedent, the Charitable Chums' becomes wonderfully +popular. A guinea a week during sickness, besides medical attendance, +and ten pounds at death, or half as much at the death of a wife, are +assured for half the amount of subscription payable at the old clubs. +The thing is as cheap as dirt. The clerk has as much as he can do to +enregister the names of new applicants, and keep accounts of the +entrance-money. By way of keeping the society before the public, special +meetings are held twice a month, to report progress, and parade the +state of the funds. Before the new society is a year old, they have +nearly one thousand pounds in hand; and Bowley's house, now known far +and wide as the centre and focus of the Charitable Chums, swarms with +that provident brotherhood, who meet by hundreds under the auspices of +'Mother Bunch,' to cultivate sympathy and brotherly love, and to +irrigate those delicate plants with libations of Bowley's gin and +Bowley's beer. The Free-and-easy is now every night choke full of +wide-mouthed harmonists. The 'Concert this Evening' is no longer a mere +mythic pretence, but a very substantial and vociferous fact. The old +grand-piano, and the old, ragged player, have been cashiered, and sent +about their business; and a bran-new Broadwood, presided over by a +rattling performer, occupies their place. Bowley's blooming wife, +attended by a brace of alcoholic naiads, blossoms beneath the crimson +drapery of the bar, and dispenses 'nods and becks, and wreathed smiles,' +and 'noggins of <i>max</i>,' and 'three-outers,' to the votaries of +benevolence and 'Mother Bunch;' and the landlord is happy, and in his +element, because the world goes well with him.</p> + +<p>When Whitsuntide is drawing near, a general meeting of the club is +convened, for the purpose of considering the subject of properties. A +grand demonstration, with a procession of the members, is resolved upon: +it is to come off upon Whit-Monday. In spite of the remonstrance of a +mean-spirited Mr Nobody—who proposes that, by way of distinguishing +themselves from the rest of the thousand-and-one clubs who will +promenade upon that occasion, with music, flags, banners, brass-bands, +big drums, sashes, aprons, and white wands, they, the Charitable Chums, +shall walk in procession in plain clothes, and save their money till it +is wanted—and in spite of five or six sneaking, stingy individuals, so +beggarly minded as to second his proposition, and who were summarily +coughed down as not fit to be heard, the properties were voted; and the +majority, highly gratified at having their own way, gave <i>carte-blanche</i> +to their officers to do what they thought right, and for the credit of +the society. Accordingly, flags and banners of portentous size, together +with sashes, scarfs, and satin aprons, all inlaid with the crest of the +Charitable Chums—an open hand, with a purse of money in it—were +manufactured at the order of the secretary, and consigned in magnificent +profusion to the care of Mr Bowley, to be in readiness for the grand +demonstration. A monster banner, bearing the designation of the society +in white letters upon a ground of flame-coloured silk, hung on the +morning of the day from the parapet of Bowley's house, and obscured the +good 'Mother Bunch,' as she swung upon her hinges, in its fluttering +folds. The procession, which went off in irreproachable style, was +followed by a dinner at Highbury Barn, at which above a thousand members +sat down to table; and after which, thanks were voted to the different +officers of the club; and, in addition thereto, a gold snuff-box, with +an appropriate inscription, was presented to Mr Nogoe, for his +unparalleled exertions in the sacred cause of humanity, as represented +by their society.</p> + +<p>The jovial Whitsuntide soon passed away, and so did the summer, and the +autumn was not long in following; and then came the cold winds, and +fogs, and hoar-frost of November. The autumn had been sickly with +fevers, and Dr Dosem, the club's medical man, had had more cases of +typhus to deal with than he found at all pleasant or profitable, +considering the terms upon which he had undertaken the physicking of the +Charitable Chums. He was heard to say, that it took a deal of drugs to +get the fever out of them; and that, though he worked harder than any +horse, he yet lost more of his patients than he had fair reason to +expect. With nearly fifteen thousand members, the deaths in the club +became alarmingly frequent. Nogoe, as he took snuff out of his gold box, +shrugged his shoulders at the rapid disappearance of the funds, as one +ten-pound cheque after another was handed over to the disconsolate +widows. His uneasiness was not at all alleviated by the reception of a +bill of two hundred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[pg 147]</a></span> and fifty pounds for properties, &c. among which +stood his snuff-box, set down at thirty-five guineas, upon which he +knew, for he had tried, that no pawnbroker would lend ten pounds. He +called a special council of all the officers of the club, and laid the +state of affairs before them. The first thing they did, was to pass a +vote for the immediate payment of the property bills; a measure which is +hardly to be wondered at, if we take into account that they were +themselves the creditors. The treasurer handed them a cheque for the +amount; and then, apprising them that there was now, with claims daily +increasing, less than two hundred pounds in hand, which must of +necessity be soon exhausted, demanded their advice. They advised a +reissue of prospectuses and advertisements; which being carried into +effect at the cost of a hundred pounds, brought a shoal of fresh +applicants, with their entrance-money, and for the moment relieved the +pressure upon the exchequer.</p> + +<p>But when the November fogs brought the influenza, and a hundred of the +members were thrown upon their backs and the fund at once; when it +became necessary to engage additional medical assistance; and when, in +spite of unremitting energy in the departments of prospectusing, +puffing, and personal canvassing, the money leaked out five times as +fast as it came in, then Mr Nogoe began to find his position peculiarly +unpleasant, and anything but a bed of roses. With 'fourscore odd' of +sick members yet upon the books—with five deaths and three half-deaths +unpaid—and the epidemic yet in full force, he beheld an unwholesome +December threatening a continuation of sickness and mortality, and a +balance at the banker's hardly sufficient to pay his own quarter's +salary. Again he calls his colleagues together, and states the +deplorable condition of affairs. The representatives of the five +deceased members, whom Nogoe has put off from time to time on various +ingenious pretences, having become aware of the meeting, burst in upon +their deliberations, and after an exchange of no very complimentary +remonstrances, backed by vehement demands for immediate payment, are +with difficulty induced to withdraw, while the committee enter upon the +consideration of their cases. Nogoe produces his budget, from the +examination of which it appears, that if they are paid in full, there +will remain in the hands of the bankers, to meet the demands of the +'fourscore odd' sick members, the sum of 4s. 7d. What is to be done? is +now the question. A speechification of three hours, during which every +member of the committee is heard in his turn, helps them to no other +expedient than that of a subscription for the widows, and a renewed +agitation, by means of the press and the bill-sticker, to re-establish +the funds by the collection of fresh fees and entrance-money. The +subscription, the charge of which is confided to a deputy, authorised to +collect voluntary donations from the various lodges about town, turns +out a failure: the widows, who want their ten pounds each, disgusted at +the offer of a few shillings, flock in a body to the nearest sitting +magistrate, and clamorously lay their case before his worship, who +gravely informs them, that the Charitable Chums' Benefit Society being +duly enrolled according to Act of Parliament, he can render them no +assistance, as he is not authorised to interfere with their proceedings.</p> + +<p>In the face of this exposure, the agitation for cramming the society +down the throats of the public goes on more desperately than ever. By +this means, Mr Nogoe manages to hold on till Christmas, and then +pocketing his salary, resigns his office in favour of Mr Dunderhead, who +has hitherto figured as honorary Vice-Something, and who enters upon +office with a gravity becoming the occasion. Under his management, +affairs are soon brought to a stand-still. Notwithstanding his profound +faith in the capabilities of the Charitable Chums, and his settled +conviction that their immense body must embrace the elements of +stability, his whole course is but one rapid descent down to the verge, +and headlong over the precipice, of bankruptcy. The dismal announcement +of 'no effects,' first breathed in dolorous confidence at the bedsides +of the sick, soon takes wind. All the C.C.s in London are aghast and +indignant at the news; and the 'Mother Bunch' is nightly assailed by +tumultuous crowds of angry members, clamorous for justice and +restitution. The good lady who hangs over the doorway, in nowise abashed +at the multitude, receives them all with open arms. Indignation is as +thirsty as jollity, and to their thirst at least she can administer, if +she cannot repair their wrongs. Nogoe has vanished from the locality of +the now thriving inn and tavern of his friend Mr Peter Bowley, and in +the character of a scapegoat, is gone forth to what point of the compass +nobody exactly knows. The last account of him is, that he had gone to +the Isle of Man, where he endeavoured to get up a railway on the +Exhaustive Principle, but without effect. As for that excellent +individual, Bowley, he appears among the diddled and disconsolate Chums +in the character of a martyr to their interests. A long arrear of rent +is due to him, as well as a lengthy bill for refreshments to the various +committees, for which he might, if he chose, attach the properties in +his keeping. He scorns such an ungentlemanly act, and freely gives them +up; but as nobody knows what to do with them, as, if they were sold, +they would not yield a farthing each to the host of members, they remain +rolled up in his garret, and are likely to remain till they rot, the +sole memorials of a past glory.</p> + +<p>The Charitable Chums' Benefit Society has fulfilled its destiny, and +answered the end of its creation. It has made the world acquainted with +the undeniable merits of 'Mother Bunch,' and encircled that modest +matron with a host of bibulous and admiring votaries; it has elevated +Bowley from the class of struggling and desponding speculators, to a +substantial and influential member of the Licensed Victuallers' Company: +it has at once vastly improved the colour of his nose and the aspect of +his bank-account; and while he complacently fingers the cash which it +has caused to flow in a continual current into his pocket, he looks +remarkably well in the character of chief mourner over its untimely +fate.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="LA_ROSIERE" id="LA_ROSIERE"></a>LA ROSIÈRE.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">About</span> twelve miles from Paris is situated the pretty vernal hamlet of +Maisons Lafitte. It hangs around the Château Lafitte—a princely +residence, formerly the property and dwelling of the well-known banker +of that name, but for many years past in other hands. In front of the +château, a broad avenue of greensward strikes straight away through a +thick forest, extending many miles across the country; and parallel with +the front of the building is an avenue still broader, but not so +long—La Grande Allée—wherein the various <i>fêtes</i> of the hamlet are +celebrated, and which, moreover, forms a principal scene in the +following narrative.</p> + +<p>Before the Revolution of 1793, the name of Gostillon was familiar as a +daily proverb to the people of Maisons. There were three or four +branches of the family living in the neighbourhood, and well known as +industrious and respectable members of the peasant class. When the +earthquake comes, however, the cottage is as much imperiled as the +palace; so the events which brought Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette to +the block, and sent panic into every court in Europe, also broke up and +dispersed the humble house of Gostillon. In the awful confusion of the +times, some were slain upon barricades; some sent hither and thither +with the army, to perish in La Vendée or elsewhere; and some fled to +seek safety and peace in foreign lands. Thus it came to pass, that at +length there were only three females in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[pg 148]</a></span> Maisons—a widow and her two +daughters—bearing the once common name. M<sup>me</sup> Veuve Gostillon managed to +obtain a living by cultivating a small garden—the flowers and fruit +from which she sold in the markets of Paris—and by plying her needle. +Her daughters were named Julia and Cecilia, and there was the somewhat +remarkable difference of eight years between their ages.</p> + +<p>Just as Julia had reached her fourteenth year, and little Cecilia her +sixth, a terrible misfortune happened to the industrious widow: a stroke +of paralysis deprived her of the use of her limbs, and rendered her +unable longer to maintain herself and little family by the labour of her +hands. A time of severe distress ensued for this remnant of the once +numerous and hearty family of the Gostillons; but it was only for +awhile. Julia—shrewd, spirited, and industrious—worked night and day +to perform the labour heretofore the portion of her parent, and to +liquidate the extraordinary expenses of the poor widow's sad illness, +and the derangement consequent thereupon. Steady assiduity seldom fails +of success. It was not long before she had the satisfaction of finding +matters proceeding in a somewhat straightforward manner—doctor's bills +paid; arrears of rent, such as they were, made up; and the little +business in flowers, fruit, and needle-work proceeding smoothly and +satisfactorily. There is much attractiveness in the virtue and +good-behaviour of youth; and Julia, handsome, intelligent, modest, and +sweet-tempered, soon became the favourite of all who knew her.</p> + +<p>The peasantry of France have, from ancient times, maintained the custom +of publicly demonstrating their esteem of any young female member of a +community, who, in her progress from childhood to adolescence, or rather +to womanhood, may have given evidence of the possession of any unusual +amount of amiability and cleverness. Young girls who are deemed worthy +of public recognition as examples of virtue and industry, are waited +upon by the villagers on a fête-day, led forth, seated on a throne of +flowers, crowned with roses, blessed by the <i>curé</i>, and presented with +the honourable title of <i>La Rosière</i>. The custom is graceful and +poetical; and the world hardly presents a more charming spectacle—at +once so simple and so touching—as the installation of a <i>rosière</i> in +some sequestered village of France. The associations connected with it +are pure and bright enough for a Golden Age. All who take part in the +little ceremony are humble people, living by their labour; the queen of +the day is queen by reason of her industry and virtue; they who do her +such becoming and encouraging homage, old and young, lead lowly and +toilsome lives, and yet have the innate grace thus to evince their +reverence for the best qualities of human nature. The pageantry of +courts, and pompous crowning of kings and queens, grand and splendid as +they are, have not such spiritual fragrance as these village +queen-makings; soft glimmerings and shinings-through of the light of a +better world—a world with which man, let conventionality disguise him +as it may, always has some sympathies.</p> + +<p>For three years, the exemplary Julia had continued to support her +helpless parent and little sister, when, in accordance with this custom, +the good folks of the hamlet determined to shew their appreciation of +her estimable qualities at the next fête, by crowning her with roses, +and enthroning her with the usual ceremony in the Grande Allée. In the +meantime, Victor Colonne, son of the steward of the château, happened to +pay a visit to the poor widow's cottage; and thereafter he came again, +and again, and again, courting Julia Gostillon.</p> + +<p>But Victor and Julia were not made for each other. He was thriftless, +idle, dissolute—the small <i>roué</i> of the neighbourhood: she was careful, +industrious, virtuous. He was good-looking—of a dark, saturnine beauty, +insidiously impressive, like the dangerous charms of a tempter; she was +radiant and lustrous with the sweet graces of modesty, innocence, and +intelligence. Julia, however, young and susceptible, was for a time +pleased with his attentions. Persuasive powers of considerable potency, +and personal attractions of no mean sort, were not exerted and +prostrated at her feet entirely in vain. Ingenuous, trustful, and +inexperienced, she listened to the charmer with a yielding and delighted +ear, and was happy as long as she perceived nothing but sincerity and +love. It was but for a time, however. The Widow Gostillon liked not her +daughter's lover. Of more mature perception, of sharper skill in reading +character than her child, she conceived a deep distrust of the airy +smile and studied gallantry of Victor Colonne. She took counsel with +matrons old and circumspect as herself; made herself acquainted with +Victor's history; watched his looks, listened to his words narrowly and +scrutinisingly; and, day by day, felt more and more strongly that she +liked him not—that there was mischief in his restless eye and soft +musical voice. She communicated her fears to Julia, told her the history +of her suitor, and bade her be on her guard. Julia was startled and +distressed. These suspicions checked the brightness and little glory of +her life, and settled wanly and hazily on her soul, like damp breath on +a mirror. But they served as points of departure for daily thoughts. +Looks and words were watched, and weighed, and pondered over with +wistful studiousness; and while Victor believed his conquest to be +achieved, his increasing assurance and gradual abandonment of disguise +were alienating him from the object of his pursuit. Julia had +accompanied him on different occasions to the château; been presented to +his father; and had been seen, admired, and kindly spoken to by the +Comtesse Meurien and her daughters. Victor had lost no opportunity of +strengthening his suit by stimulating her ambition and pride; but it was +without avail. Though pleased for a time, she soon discovered that he +was cold, heartless, and even dissolute. The intimacy betwixt them was +fast relapsing into indifference, and, on her side, into dislike, when a +certain <i>dénouement</i> of Master Victor's notorious love-makings, +accompanied by disgraceful circumstances, determined her to put an end +to it, once and for all.</p> + +<p>'So you are determined?' exclaimed he with ill-restrained anger, as she +repeated her resolve to him for the fourth or fifth time.</p> + +<p>'Yes: I will have nothing more to say to you,' replied she firmly.</p> + +<p>'Then my father and his reverence the curé may lose all hopes of me!' +returned he bitterly. 'I have done much ill—I own it: I have won no +one's esteem: I have been idle, irregular, profligate. But wherefore? +Because I have had no one to care for me. Since my mother died, I have +been left to myself, with no kind hand to guide me, no kind tongue to +warn me: what wonder that youth should go astray?'</p> + +<p>'No one to care for you!' exclaimed Julia, not without a tinge of +sarcasm. 'Do not your father and monsieur the curé do their utmost for +you?'</p> + +<p>'The one reproves, and the other prays for me,' said Victor, with a +derisive smile; then turning to Julia, with a face in which penitence, +respect, and affection were well simulated, he exclaimed: 'but thou, +dear Julia, art the sovereign of my soul! in whose hand my fate is +placed. It is for you to shape my destiny: will you award me love or +perdition? At your bidding, no honourable deed shall be too high to mark +my obedience.'</p> + +<p>'Then return to Marie Buren, and redeem the promise you made her,' +exclaimed Julia warmly.</p> + +<p>'Nay, sweet Julia, if my priestess bids me turn away from heaven, I am +justified in protesting. Hope is the spring whence good and great works +flow. Bid me despair, and you bid me seek ruin.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Pooh! pooh!' exclaimed the young girl with contempt. 'I am plain Julia +Gostillon, who loves frankness and honour. You have neither one nor +other, and so I love you not; and again and again I repeat it, I will +have nothing more to say to you.'</p> + +<p>Though the persevering Victor continued the colloquy, and exerted +himself to the utmost, sparing neither vows nor tears, Julia remained +firm. At last, seeing that his case was hopeless, he changed his tone +into one of sorrowful resignation—declared that honest frankness was a +great virtue, and that it was well they had discovered that their +affection was not reciprocal; and, in conclusion, begged the wearied +Julia to accompany him that night to the château for the last time, for +the purpose of explaining to his father, who might otherwise be troubled +with suspicions, that their courtship was broken off by mutual consent. +After much persuasion, Julia consented, and accordingly paid her last +visit to the château that same evening.</p> + +<p>A few days after this occurrence, the 15th of June arrived, the day of +the fête. On the preceding evening, unknown to the good Julia, a score +of light-hearted girls were weaving garlands of flowers, and preparing +the crown of roses, in the house of neighbour Morelle; in that of +neighbour Bontemps another gay party were industriously ornamenting a +wooden throne with coverings, hangings, and cushions of +brightest-coloured flowers; and half the people of the hamlet were +thinking of Julia, and preparing bouquets, pincushions, caps, and +various little trifles, to present to her on the morrow.</p> + +<p>In due course the morrow came. The summer sun had not risen many hours, +when troops of bright-eyed girls, lustrous with rosy cheeks, braided +hair, snow-white gowns, and streaming ribbons, went, tripping beneath +the trees, towards the cottage of Widow Gostillon. After them came bands +of youths and boys, and anon men and matrons, and the elders of the +place, till nearly all the little community was gathered round the +house. Early as it was, Julia had risen, and was at work. She had had +her own pleasant anticipations of the fête—though she had not heard +that a <i>rosière</i> was to be crowned, much less that the honour was in +store for herself—and had intended, by commencing some hours earlier +than usual, to have done her work so much the sooner, that she might +share the pleasures of the festal day. But all thoughts of work were +quickly banished by her eager visitors, who, touched even by the fact, +that they had found her busy at the time when all were holiday-making, +embraced her, praised her, bade her prepare for coronation, wept, +laughed, chatted, clapped their hands, jumped, danced, and made such a +bustle, that Widow Gostillon, in some consternation, cried out from her +chamber to know what was the matter. And the poor widow wept, too, when +she discovered what was going on—wept solemnly in thinking over Julia's +fidelity to herself, her industry, cleverness, self-denial, sweetness, +and, as a proud mother might, of her beauty. And presently the +neighbours brought forth the poor invalid in her chair, and placed her +on a pleasant spot beneath the trees, whence she might behold the +installation. Then Julia retired with those appointed to be her +attendants—her tiring-women, the ladies of her court; and when, some +time after, she came forth, blushing and trembling, and with happy tears +upon her face, wearing her simple holiday dress of white muslin, +ornamented, in charming style, with wreaths of roses, the cries of 'Vive +la rosière!' might have been heard a long way off.</p> + +<p>A little while, and sounds of music and of many voices filled the Grande +Allée. The long rows of booths and marquées, dancing-rooms, gymnasiums, +toy-tables, <i>bonbon</i> tables, fruit-stalls, &c. &c. were surrounded by +busy crowds: all was activity and cheerfulness. In a large open space in +the midst, a short distance from the front of the château, the flowery +throne, gorgeous in variety and vividness of colours, was set up on a +dais on the greensward. The band of celebrants, with Julia and her train +in their midst, advanced. Little Cecilia walked by her sister's side, +hand in hand, in proud surprise. Before them, an aged peasant marched +solemnly, bareheaded save for his silver hair, carrying the crown +destined for Julia; and with him, also bareheaded, the curé. A +benediction, accompanied by a prayer that the metaphorical ceremony +might have some influence in attracting the youthful people present to +the practice and pursuit of virtue, having been uttered by the priest, +Julia was handed to the throne, and the crown of roses was placed upon +her head by the white-haired veteran. A sweet chorus was then +chanted—<i>Vive, vive la rosière</i>!—in the melodious verses of which the +signification of the ceremonial and the praises of the fête-queen were +recited.</p> + +<p>Thus far matters had proceeded happily, when the attention of the gay +party was attracted by the apparition of a commissaire of police, who, +marching up with the aspect of a man having important and disagreeable +business to perform, exclaimed: '<i>Eh, bien!</i> we are merry to-day! Accept +my best wishes for your enjoyment. Can you tell me, friends, where I am +likely to find a fair <i>demoiselle</i>—one Julia, daughter of M<sup>me</sup> Veuve +Gostillon?'</p> + +<p>'<i>Voila</i>, monsieur!' cried several, much surprised. 'Our <i>rosière</i> is +she!'</p> + +<p>'Ah, what a fate is mine!' muttered the worthy commissaire, much +affected, as he looked at the beautiful and rose-wreathed Julia. 'If I +had ten thousand francs, I would give them all to be spared this work: +but duty is duty. Courage! all may yet be well. Friends,' continued he, +raising his voice, 'excuse me if I interrupt you some few minutes. I +would not do it were I not bound to. It will be necessary for M<sup>lle</sup> +Julia to accompany me to her home. I trust we shall not be absent long.' +He raised his cap, offered his arm; and Julia, amazed and frightened, +descended from her throne, and conducted him to the cottage.</p> + +<p>'Pardon, mademoiselle,' said he, when they stood inside; 'I am +instructed to search this house.' Julia, puzzled, confounded, bowed +assent.</p> + +<p>The commissaire proceeded, with a hasty hand, as if he wished to get the +work quickly over, to ransack drawers and boxes. Whenever one or the +other had been searched in vain, he clapped his hand to his breast and +muttered: 'God be thanked!' and appeared as if his mind were in some +measure relieved of a burden which oppressed it. At length he arrived at +Julia's chamber—here, as elsewhere, drawers and boxes seemed to present +no signs of the object sought for: the thanksgivings of the commissaire +were frequent; his cheerfulness appeared to be returning. Presently, +however, he proceeded to turn out the contents of Julia's little +reticule-basket: first came a pocket-handkerchief, on the corners of +which flowers had been wrought by Julia's needle. 'Very pretty!' +remarked the commissaire. Then appeared a number of slips of rare +plants, recently collected. 'Ah! you are a botanist?' said the +commissaire.</p> + +<p>'They are from the conservatory of the Comte Meurien, at the château: I +meant to have planted them to-day,' said Julia.</p> + +<p>'Who gave them to you?'</p> + +<p>'M<sup>me</sup> Lavine, the <i>femme de chambre</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, <i>diable</i>! I hope you have nothing else from that château?'</p> + +<p>'I have nothing else,' replied Julia, blushing, and somewhat +discomposed, as she remembered Victor.</p> + +<p>'What is the matter?—why are you agitated?' demanded the commissaire, +regarding her fixedly.</p> + +<p>'It is nothing,' said poor Julia, much distressed by his stern and +scrutinising look.</p> + +<p>'Nothing? I fear it is something! Alas! I begin to lose hope.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>'Hope of what?' asked Julia wonderingly.</p> + +<p>'Of your innocence!' replied the commissaire sternly.</p> + +<p>'Mon Dieu! What do you mean?'</p> + +<p>'Ah, restez tranquille, pauvre demoiselle; nous verrons toute-suite.' +And with a shrug, he continued his investigation of the contents of the +reticule-basket. It contained a great variety of little knick-knacks, +which, with much patience, the commissaire turned out and examined, one +by one. At length he came to a little parcel, the paper-envelope of +which appeared to be part of an old letter, and was thickly covered with +writing. It was one of Victor's letters. Julia blushed again.</p> + +<p>'What have we here?' demanded the constable.</p> + +<p>'I forget what there is inside,' said Julia. 'I hardly knew it was +there.'</p> + +<p>'Let us see.'</p> + +<p>He opened two or three wrappers—the portion of the letter formed the +outside one, the others being blank white paper—and there fell out, +descending upon the table with a sharp jingle, a pair of gold bracelets, +ornamented with pearls and turquoises, a superb coral necklace, and a +diamond ring.</p> + +<p>'Mademoiselle!' exclaimed the commissaire, whose face appeared to lose +all flexibility of expression the moment the discovery was made, +presenting now merely the stern, impassible, mechanical look of an +officer on duty, 'these are the identical articles for which I have been +searching for the last three days. Will you be good enough to change +your dress as quickly as possible, and prepare to accompany me to the +office of M. Morelle, magistrate of this district?'</p> + +<p>At this juncture, the Widow Gostillon was conveyed back to her cottage +by some of her neighbours, with little Cecilia by her side. Entering +Julia's chamber, her young friends found her in a swoon, from which the +commissaire was assiduously endeavouring to recover her. A scene of a +most painful character ensued. Without afflicting the reader with a +recital of the agonised and indignant protestations of Julia—the anger +and affright of Widow Gostillon—the sorrow, sympathy, and amazement of +the villagers—suffice it to say, that the commissaire, in the course of +the morning, conducted Julia into the presence of the magistrate.</p> + +<p>It appears that the articles of bijouterie found in Julia's reticule had +been missed from the chamber of M<sup>lle</sup> Antoinette Meurien the very +morning after Julia visited Victor's father at the château. The young +lady had seen them on her toilette early the preceding evening, and had +not worn them for some days, so that she could not have lost them whilst +walking or riding. It was evident they had been abstracted. A search was +instantly commenced. The domestics were examined, and their rooms and +boxes searched, but without either finding the property or fixing +suspicion on any one of them. The police were then apprised of the +robbery. The servants of the household underwent a second and official +examination, but all earnestly declared their innocence. It being +ascertained, however, that Julia had visited the house the night on +which the property was lost, an order was issued, commanding that her +residence be searched, and that she be brought before the authorities. +Among the witnesses who proved Julia's visit to the château was Victor +Colonne. In mingled affliction and indignation, he answered the +questions put to him, and declared that she who had but lately been the +object of his ardent affection was the very soul of honour and purity. A +lengthened examination elicited from him that he had conducted Julia to +the chamber of M<sup>lle</sup> Antoinette, for the purpose of shewing her the +superb manner in which it was furnished and decorated. She had stepped +up to the toilette, he admitted, and had surveyed herself, as was very +natural, in the glass, but it was only for a moment; he was close to her +all the time, and indeed they hardly remained in the chamber two +minutes: they entered, looked round, and retired, and that was all. It +was true, he did not keep his eyes on his companion all the time; but +had she taken anything, he could not have failed seeing the act.</p> + +<p>A general impression prevailed among the people at the château that +Julia was innocent; that it was impossible for one so virtuous and +intelligent to commit so disgraceful and rash a theft. Indeed, the tide +of suspicion had been fast turning against Victor himself, when it +received a new direction by the discovery of the missing articles in +Julia's reticule. Another examination ensued, the distracted Julia, as +has been stated, being herself brought into the presence of the +magistrate. In intense affliction, she declared her innocence: that she +knew not how the articles had got into her reticule; she had not put +them there; did not know they were there; had, indeed, never touched +them at all. The portion of the letter in which they had been wrapped +was handed to her, and she was questioned concerning it. 'It was part of +a letter,' she said, 'which had been addressed to her by Victor +Colonne.' She remembered receiving it; but by what means it came to be +applied to its present purpose, she did not at all know. M. Morelle +sternly bade her tell the truth, and conceal nothing; it would be better +for her. In great agony, she earnestly reiterated what she had said. It +was useless; the evidence against her was too strong to be shaken by +merely her own denial. Moreover, the commissaire of police, in +delivering his evidence, laid much emphasis upon the embarrassment and +distress she had evinced whilst he was searching the little basket in +which the articles were found.</p> + +<p>The case was on the point of being decided against her, when, by what +may be termed a providential interposition, the tables were suddenly +turned, and she was rescued from the jail, from infamy, and perhaps from +death! A young girl, one of the domestics at the château, having +examined the portion of the letter which formed a link in the +circumstantial evidence, produced from her pocket another fragment, +which exactly fitted to the first, and made the letter complete! With +much curiosity, and indeed excitement, all listened eagerly to what she +had to say. She stated that the fragment she produced, which formed the +remainder of the torn letter wrapped round the stolen articles, she had +picked up in the garden of the château, where it had been dropped by +Victor. Julia's reticule had been left on a seat under a tree; the +witness saw Victor open it, and take out a letter. He did not know she +was at hand; indeed, could not see her. He tore the letter into two +pieces: he appeared agitated. One piece of the letter dropped to the +ground, the other he did something with which she could not perceive, +and replaced in the reticule. When he was gone, she picked up the +fragment which had fallen; and seeing it was part of a love-letter, full +of warm protests, &c. she put it into her pocket, intending, she said, +to joke him about it. A few minutes more, Julia came by, took up her +reticule, and went home, declining Victor's company, though he requested +permission to escort her.</p> + +<p>Hereupon, Victor was immediately submitted to a severe re-examination. +Aghast at the disclosure just made; abashed at the many angry eyes +directed towards him; harassed by the searching questions of the +magistrate, and the sense of guilt, his assurance and hypocrisy +completely deserted him; and, after equivocating and protesting for some +time, he sullenly confessed all. Discarded by Julia: he had attempted to +effect her ruin!</p> + +<p>The good little Julia was almost as much overcome by the overwhelming +emotions which now possessed her, as she was at the miserable position +in which malignity had so lately placed her. Whilst Victor was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[pg 151]</a></span> being +conveyed to the jail, where he was to suffer the punishment due to his +villainy, Julia was conducted home to her now rejoicing parent, amidst +the congratulations, caresses, and praises, of troops of friends. The +day after her acquittal, the throne was again set up in the Grande +Allée, and the ovation to her industry and virtues was completed in +triumphant fashion. The Meurien family, feeling deeply the injury she +had suffered, gave their presence at her inauguration, and afterwards +did many a friendly act for her. She is now as industrious and charming, +and as much respected as ever, though no more Julia Gostillon, but +Madame Vichel—being the wife of a thriving herbalist of that name. As +for Victor, he has not been seen at Maisons since.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="RAMBLES_IN_SEARCH_OF_WILD-FLOWERS" id="RAMBLES_IN_SEARCH_OF_WILD-FLOWERS"></a>RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF WILD-FLOWERS.</h2> + +<h3>EARLY MONTHS OF THE YEAR.</h3> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A ramble</span> in search of wild-flowers in January would be pretty much +'labour in vain;' at least so far as that one special object was +concerned. I do not mean to say that all nature is dead at that season, +for there are mosses, lichens, and fungi to be found in abundance; but +flowers, in the ordinary meaning of the word, are not to be found, +unless we consider those brilliant frostwork flowers which we sometimes +find as such. It was a season unusually cold for Devonshire, when, with +a merry party of boys and girls, I sallied forth to see how nature +looked decked in her robe of virgin white. Hill and valley were one +sheet of 'innocent snow;' and every twig, leaf, and blade of grass; +every spray of the furze and heath; and every broad, drooping leaf of +that beautiful fern the hart's tongue (<i>Scolopendrium vulgare</i>), was +coated with hoar-frost, and sparkling in the rosy sunbeams like the +flowers in a magic garden. At Sherbrook Lake, where a rivulet of clear +water usually flows along the bottom of the ravine down to the sea, +there was now a hard mass of ice, on which our boys rushed for a passing +slide; and above, where the deeper water lies under the shadow of the +brushwood, the frost had been busy performing its frolic feats—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'And see where it has hung th' embroidered banks<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With forms so various that no powers of art,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pencil, or the pen, may trace the scene!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here glittering turrets rise, upbearing high<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(Fantastic misarrangement!) on the roof<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Large growth of what may seem the sparkling trees<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And shrubs of fairyland. The crystal drops,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That trickle down the branches, fast congealed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shoot into pillars of pellucid length,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And prop the pile they but adorned before.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Here grotto within grotto safe defies<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The sunbeam; there, embossed and fretted wild,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The growing wonder takes a thousand shapes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Capricious, in which fancy seeks in vain<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The likeness of some object seen before.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From the beautiful beacon cliff—to which we eagerly toil through the +snow, and up and down the slippery hill-sides—we behold the sea as +still and smiling as in summer, and as clearly reflecting the exquisite +blue of the vault above; but each of the many little rills which the +long rains preceding the frost had caused to flow over the face of the +red cliffs, is now a stationary thread of silver, spell-bound by the +enchaining frost; and icicles, or, as old-fashioned people call them, +<i>aglets</i>, of three or four feet long, ornament the overhanging ledges, +prone to fall to the beach—far, far below—when a thaw releases them +from their present stations. But the air is so very keen that nothing +but the briskness of our walk, and the enlivenment of an occasional +spell of snow-balling, in which the seniors are tempted to join the +juniors, prevent our stagnating into 'pellucid pillars' ourselves. So +much, then, for our January ramble. The season of which I have now to +speak was most different. After unusual cold, especially after snow, it +is not uncommon to see an early spring appear, and so it was now, as +Spenser says—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'The fields did laugh, the flowers did freshly spring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The trees did bud, and early blossoms bore;'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and so warm was it one day towards the end of February, and the air so +sweet, that I resolved on having 'Jack' and sallying forth in search of +wild-flowers—not flowers of frostwork, but real spring jewels.</p> + +<p>On this excursion, I thought it expedient to take Fanny, which, though a +somewhat stubborn little beast of burden; yet so bent was I on seeing +the sweet spring-like hedges and banks, that I agreed to endure Fanny; +and at the given time on her I mounted, and after much persuasion, got +her under-weigh: the boy George bringing up the rear.</p> + +<p>And now on we go, Fanny rather tiresome, and George rather merciless; +for when she <i>will</i> poke her head into the hedge, and stand stock-still +to eat, or, worse still, suddenly push up against a stone-wall, to the +imminent danger of crushing my foot to pieces, he thumps and pushes her +till the echoes in Echo Lane reverberate with the unpoetical sound. +However, on we go by degrees, and find the banks everywhere rich with +fresh springing grass and deep full beds of moss, with every here and +there the pale lemon-tinted petals of the primrose just peeping through +the partial openings in their shrouding mantles of green; and there, +above us, hangs that which I had hoped to find—the catkins of the +hazel, which have been hailed by children for centuries under the names +of 'Pussy-cat's tails,' or 'Baa-lamb's tails;' and a more interesting +flower for examination as we pass onwards we can scarcely have, for its +structure is very peculiar and beautiful. We will gather a good bunch of +these pretty pendent tassel-like clusters; and see! as we break off the +stems, what a shower of gold-dust is scattered over us, and flies in all +directions through the air! So abundant is this yellow pollen beneath +the scales of the catkins, that we shall find, if we place them in our +moss-basket, that the table below them will be coated with it in the +course of an hour or two. The common hazel or nut-tree affords a fine +illustration of the structure of that division of plants to which most +of our common European trees belong, and which, from its including the +oak, is called 'the oak-tribe.' I shall not, however, expatiate on the +hazel, the pride of our old copse-banks, but look beneath its long +slender branches, and there, lurking modestly, do I see that pretty +little yellow flower, the lesser celandine (<i>Ficaria verna</i>.) Every one +knows this little early blossom by sight, if not by name. Its root is +formed of numerous clustering tubercles, or oblong knobs, with fibres. +This root is sometimes washed by the rain until these tubercles appear +above ground, when, as Loudon tells us, 'ignorant people have sometimes +been led to fancy that it rained <i>wheat</i>.' The celandine has +slightly-branched stems, two or three inches in height, on which grow +alternate stalked heart-shaped leaves, sheathed at the base, where they +sometimes contain one or two knobs like those of the root. The flowers, +which are terminal and solitary, are much like a butter-cup—of a golden +yellow, and exceedingly shining within, and tinged with green on the +outsides. 'After the flowre decays,' says Gerarde,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[pg 152]</a></span> 'there springeth up +a little fine knop or headful of seede.' This head of seed alone is left +by about May to mark where the plant grew; and even this soon dries up +and disappears. Wordsworth has thrown an interest about this plant, +which it would not otherwise have possessed, by his elegant little poem +called <i>The Lesser Celandine</i>.</p> + +<p>Here and there, also, in the more sheltered spots, we find a blossom or +two of the pretty pink herb Robert (<i>Geranium Robertianum</i>), with its +hairy red stems, and divided leaves, and star-shaped blossoms of bright +rose-colour; or an early plant of the ground-ivy (<i>Glechóma hederácea</i>) +gemming the ground with its purple, labiate flowers on the sunny bank +beneath the underwood, luring one for a moment to believe that the sweet +purple violets were already come: vain hope! which not only the season +but the place forbids; for though I have found <i>white</i> violets near the +scene of these excursions, in the south of England, yet I believe the +sweet-scented purple do not grow in that neighbourhood. In a late +ramble, there was a spot which I was eager to reach; for there I knew +that I should find</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Chaste snow-drop, venturous harbinger of spring,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And pensive monitor of fleeting years.'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This pretty well-known flower, sometimes called Fair Maid of February +(<i>Galanthus Nivalis</i>), belongs to the same natural order as the daffodil +and narcissus—the <i>Amaryllideæ</i>. Gerarde calls it 'the timely flouring +bulbous violet,' and thus graphically describes it: 'It riseth out of +the ground,' says he, 'with two small leaves flat and crested, of an +overworne greene colour, betweene the which riseth up a small and tender +stalk of two hands high; at the top whereof commeth forth of a skinny +hood a small white floure of the bignesse of a violet compact of six +leaves, three bigger and three lesser, tipped at the points with a light +greene; the smaller one fashioned into the vulgar forme of a heart, and +prettily edged about with greene; the other three leaves are longer and +sharp-pointed. The whole floure hangeth downe his head by reason of the +weak footstalk whereon it groweth. The root is small, white, and +bulbous.' It is one of the earliest flowers which appear, and may often +be seen bursting through the snow, the virgin white of its petals by no +means shamed by the lustrous purity of its cold bed. It has no calyx; +six stamens; the filaments short and hair-like; the anthers oblong, with +a bristly point, and one pistil, the style being cylindrical, and longer +than the stamens. The capsule, which is nearly globular, contains three +cells, in which are numerous globular seeds. It is found in orchards, +meadows, and the sides of hedges, and named from two Greek words +signifying 'milk' and 'a flower.'</p> + +<p>And now we reach the orchard: but how am I to get in? There is nothing +for it but a scramble up that bank round the root of that old oak, whose +gnarled boles will afford me footing, and it will be easy to descend on +the other side; and so, with a few slips, I contrived to land in safety +among the long, tangled grass, and broken branches of apple-trees, +richly clothed with lichens, mosses, and fungi, in a spot which looked +as if untrodden by human foot for years. But that could not really have +been so, for no doubt the old trees had borne their usual crop of ruddy +apples, which had been duly housed. The value of an apple-orchard in +Devonshire—that land of delicious cider—is not a trifle, and our +farmers do not leave their orchards untrodden and uncared-for. This was, +however, sufficiently wild. But now for my snow-drops: there they wave +in thousands—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The early heralds of the infant year—'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>in every stage of beauty, from the hint that a tiny spot of green and +white, bursting through the dark earth, might give, to the +fully-developed blossoms, hanging lightly on its graceful stalks, robed +in its vestal garb of white, and shedding its own peculiar fragrance on +the pure air. I gathered large supplies—enough to make me the envy of +all the lovers of spring-flowers whom I met; enough to fill my +moss-basket, and vases, and glasses without end for myself; and enough +to send a feeling of spring brightness and joy into the hearts of two or +three invalids, to whose sick-rooms I sent some of these pretty +messengers.</p> + +<p>Somewhat draggled with the wet grass, and muddied with the slippery +hedge-bank, I at last returned to the lane where I had left Fanny. +However, there was no one but George to notice my appearance, and he was +too much taken up with the basket of fine roots which he had procured +(be sure always to take a trowel and basket with you on such +expeditions), to care how I looked; and, besides, as 'no man is a hero +to his valet,' so no lady is a fine lady to her donkey-boy; and +homewards we turned, threading our way between the overarching trees, +not as yet shewing sign of leaf; but their richly-tinted bark, varied by +mosses and lichens of different hues, and partly mantled with ivy, now +in full berry, looked almost as beautiful, as the sunbeams fell on them, +and the blue sky shone between, as they do in their summer verdure.</p> + +<p>On we jogged, Fanny well pleased to be on her homeward course; until at +last, coming to a cross-way which would have either led us straight home +or taken us thither by a little circuit, I, lured by the desire of +seeing whether the daffodils began to shew blossom, resolved on the +latter road, not duly considering that perhaps <i>she</i> had decided on the +former. But so it was; and, notwithstanding sundry stripes, her will +remained unsubdued, as she presently evinced. After we had gone a little +way up a lovely sunny lane—slowly indeed, for she was evidently as +perverse as she could be, yet with much enjoyment on my part—I was +gazing upwards at some delicate white clouds, which a light breeze +wafted across the face of the sky, or watching some bird in its flight, +when suddenly I felt the jogging onwards cease, a slight undulating +motion, and found that my feet were on the ground. Fanny had lain down +in the dust, and I had but to rise as I would from a low chair to be +standing quietly by her side. George dared to grin, and there were two +or three country-people who happened to be passing at the time, who were +convulsed with laughter at my expense—a laughter in which I could not +but heartily join. How much has fancy to do with such things! How grand +is the idea of a camel or an elephant meekly kneeling down to receive or +deposit its load! how dignified I should have felt had I thus descended +from one of those noble animals! whilst this mode of being deposited by +a poor little donkey made us all laugh! Truly, 'there is but a step +between the sublime and the ridiculous;' and my adventure certainly +smacked of the latter. But Fanny had conquered; and, as if with one +stroke to confirm her victory, and to rejoice over it, she suddenly +turned over on her back, cracked the girths of the old saddle, and +rolled over and over in the dust with all four legs up in the air. This +was too much for endurance; so, leaving George to readjust the saddle as +best he might, and bring home our basket of spoils, I turned back, and +sauntered homewards with my bunch of 'timely-flouring bulbous violets' +in my hand. At Kersbrook I discovered a new treasure—one which, +however, I afterwards found to be common, although it was then unknown +to me—and it was some time before I could make out what it was. I took +it for a saxifrage, but could find nothing under that head which exactly +answered to it. It was, I at last discovered, the golden saxifrage +(<i>Chrysosplenium oppositifolium</i>) or opposite-leaved sengreen, nearly +allied to the saxifrages, and of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[pg 153]</a></span> the natural order saxifrage, but not +one of them. I found it fringing the side of the brook between the wall +and the water. It grows about four or five inches high, with branched +stems bearing very succulent, kidney-shaped leaves opposite each +other—the radicle leaves on long foot-stalks, whilst those of the +stem-leaves are much shorter. The flowers, which are of a bright +greenish-yellow, grow in small umbels; and the whole plant has a +yellowish hue. The uppermost flower in general bears ten stamens, whilst +the next boasts of but eight each. Its capsules are two-beaked, +one-celled, and two-valved, the seeds numerous and roundish. It is named +from <i>chrysos</i>, 'gold,' and <i>splen</i>, 'the spleen.' There is another +specimen much like this, of which I have spoken, <i>Chrysosplenium +alternitifolium</i>; but it is larger, handsomer, and less common. In the +Vosges this plant is much used—as our own water-cress is in +England—for a salad, under the name of <i>Cresson de Roche</i>. There is a +little flower, elegant and singular in appearance, though, as its name +indicates, not one of much splendour, which resembles the golden +saxifrage, in the peculiarity of having a different number of stamens in +its crowning floret from those of the lower ones: this is the green +moschatel (<i>Adoxa moschatellina), adoxa</i> signifying 'inglorious.' The +flowers are pale-green, in a terminal head of five florets, the upper of +which is four-cleft, and has <i>eight</i> stamens, the other being +five-cleft, with <i>ten</i> stamens in each. Its fragile stem and delicate +compound leaves, and the early season at which it blossoms, give +attraction to this little plant, and make it a favourite with me. The +butter-cups are not yet in bloom; but the daisies! Oh, what store of +daisies is on every bank and in every field, and what troops of baby +children, with their little baskets, sitting on the green turf and +picking them! I do love the daisy; and indeed I much fear that I should +have been found taking part with that 'merry troop' of 'ladies decked +with daisies on the plain,' of which we read in Dryden's elegant fable +of <i>The Flower and the Leaf</i>, rather than with those wiser and more +renowned who 'chose the leaf':—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They saw; and thitherward they bent their way;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To this both knights and dames their homage made,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And due obeisance to the daisy paid.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And then the band of flutes began to play,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To which a lady sung a virelay:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And still at every close she would repeat<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The burden of the song—"the daisy is so sweet."'<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The structure of the daisy has been noticed in a former paper, and its +appearance needs no description. But there is one other flower which I +meet with that must not escape us, and that is that noble plant, the +butter-bur (<i>Tussilago petasites</i>), named from a Greek word signifying a +broad covering. Its leaves, the largest produced by any British plant, +are sometimes from two to three feet across, and form a shelter for +poultry and small animals from the rain. It is a composite flower of the +sub-order <i>Tubulifloreæ</i>. The large club-shaped bunch of flower comes +before the leaves are more than partially developed, and are of a +pale-purple tint, and of a most delicious fragrance, not unlike the +heliotrope. When these die off, the magnificent leaves form quite a +beautiful object in the landscape. Artists are fond of introducing them +into the foreground of their sketches, and very ornamental they are; but +they should be careful not to place them where nature never designed +they should grow, among dry hill and rock scenery, or on the +sea-coast—for they are only to be found growing in moist and shadowed +places, and usually in the vicinity of a brook, to which they form a +very apposite adornment.—But here we are at home, and there stands +Fanny at my door with her load of treasure, George having trotted her +home by a shorter cut than that which I had followed; and unless Jack or +Sam can honour me with their company the next time I go flower-picking, +I shall surely, as the Scotch say, 'ride upon shanks naiggie.'</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="AN_EVENING_IN_WESTMINSTER" id="AN_EVENING_IN_WESTMINSTER"></a>AN EVENING IN WESTMINSTER.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">In</span> a drizzly afternoon at the close of January, we met by appointment at +a house in Westminster with a gentleman, who had kindly undertaken to +introduce us to a very remarkable institution in that part of the +metropolis. A walk of a few minutes through the plashy streets brought +us to a wide gateway, like the entrance to a brassfounder's yard. We +soon found ourselves in a narrow court, encumbered with building +materials and surrounded with plain brick structures, which appeared to +have either been recently erected, or to be undergoing some changes +designed to adapt them to new purposes. Everything looked plain and +homely, even to rudeness; but we, nevertheless, knew well that a heart +of humanity and noble intention beat under the rough exterior of the +place.</p> + +<p>Rather less than four years ago, the teacher of a ragged school in +Westminster encountered, in the course of his professional exertions, +three or four boys who had hitherto been thieves, but now expressed a +desire to leave their evil courses. Having some reason to repose faith +in their professions, and being humbly anxious to assist them in so good +a purpose, he received them into a poor garret-lodging, hired and paid +for out of his own resources. He supported them there, taught and +trained them, making himself their friend as well as their mentor, and +in time he succeeded in getting them passages to America, where they +have since prospered. Mr Nash—for such is the name of this +philanthropist of humble life—continued his benevolent exertions and +sacrifices, till various gentlemen, hearing of what he was doing, came +to his assistance. A little money being then collected, it was found +possible to take in a greater number of boys. In short, Mr Nash became +the head of a little institution for the reclaiming of criminal and +vagrant youths, which has finally become located in the yard we have +described, under the name of the London Colonial Training Institution +and Ragged Dormitory. It is still a kind of family arrangement of Mr +Nash's own, taking its character mainly from his benevolent and +self-sacrificing efforts, although drawing pecuniary support from the +public, and ostensibly graced with a list of honorary officebearers, +with the Earl of Shaftesbury at their head.</p> + +<p>There is a prepossessing simplicity in the whole affair. We found the +ground-floor of the new building used as a school and public room, and +the two upper floors as dormitories—nothing but brick walls whitened, +brick and deal floors—no luxury, but cleanliness and good ventilation. +The beds were mere bags of straw laid on the floor. Three plain meals +per day are given. The strictest regulations are maintained; but there +is no restraint. The inmates can leave the institution if they please. +Their coming is entirely voluntary; and, to make sure of their being +thoroughly in earnest, they are not admitted to the humble privileges of +the place, till they have lived a fortnight upon a pound of bread a day, +sleeping all the time upon bare boards. In the outer buildings, the boys +are trained to carpentry, tailoring, and shoemaking. A few are +instructed in printing: in their little office, we found one ordinary +press, besides a small one for taking proofs. They can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[pg 154]</a></span> execute +shop-bills and placards for the tradesmen in the neighbourhood, and we +received a copy of an annual report which had been printed very neatly +by them. In work, schooling, religious exercises, and walks out of doors +on the ordinary days of the week, the time passes usefully and not +disagreeably. At the end of a year, they are, if not provided with +employment at home, sent to some of the colonies with a small outfit, +generally at the expense of some benevolent individual. Lord Shaftesbury +has been particularly liberal in furnishing means for their shipment. +The inmates feel that they may now have a hope in the world. They hear +of companions who are prospering in America, and they work cheerfully on +in the faith of getting there also. Very few fail in their course, or +act dishonestly towards the institution. When one or two lately left it, +taking away things not belonging to them, the others set out in search +of them, caught them, and handed them over to the police. This shews how +their hearts are interested in the institution. They feel that Mr Nash +acts towards them in pure kindness, and they are anxious to make a +suitable return. And kindness really is the sole principle at work in +the place. One good man rules these sixty outcasts of society without +guard or assistance; without the use of punishment, beyond a temporary +restriction of meals; without, it may be said, any force whatever, but +that of his benevolent intentions.</p> + +<p>At the time of our visit, the establishment contained about sixty +inmates. We felt a peculiar interest in visiting the room of probation. +There had been four youths in it in the morning; but one had withdrawn, +not being able to stand the severity of the test. The three remaining +youths stood up in their wretched attire, and we questioned them in +succession. They had all been thieves, and all of them had passed +through several convictions—one through no less than twenty-two. We +asked this last youth how he had come to think of retreating to the +Colonial Training-School. He said, that he knew he could not go on much +longer without being transported: he dreaded this fate. Some companions +who had been in the school, but deserted it, told him of it. They +praised the institution, as one where every kindness was shewn to +unfortunate youths, notwithstanding that they had themselves proved +unworthy of its benefits. He therefore came, determined to suffer +whatever might be inflicted upon him, rather than go back to his wicked +courses. We learned that he had been for several years a pickpocket, +residing in a low lodging-house at 1s. 9d. a week; sometimes well off, +sometimes otherwise, but always harassed by the terrors of punishment. +According to his account of the boys who live in this manner, there are +some who enjoy its freedom, and would not abandon it; but there are many +who would much rather turn from it, if an opportunity were afforded +them. We afterwards spent some time in the school-room amongst the boys; +heard them sing a hymn, and, at the request of the governor, addressed a +few words to them, chiefly suggestive of hope respecting their future +career. During the whole time, their behaviour was marked by perfect +propriety; we did not observe even an indecorous look in the whole +company.</p> + +<p>We bade adieu to Mr Nash, with a deep sense of his heroic philanthropy, +and of the value of the lesson which he is giving as to the means of +reclaiming the desert places of society. As far as the funds supplied to +him permit, he is transforming the juvenile delinquents of the London +streets into respectable citizens, having already redeemed a hundred and +fifty-six, and either provided for them in England, or despatched them +to the colonies. One may well suppose, that in the process of +reformation much must depend upon the special character of the person +who exercises the reforming discipline. A mere routine of school +exercises, of scripture readings, of hymn singings, would go little way +with minds so vitiated by bad habits, if there were not a particular +effort made by the disciplinarian to make all work thoroughly into the +moral nature of the pupils, so as to produce a real renewal of feeling +and spirit. Even to rouse the unfortunate being from the idea with which +he is apt to start, that he is only called upon to enter on a new career +which will be better for him in a worldly point of view, and to elevate +him to the superior and only vitally serviceable idea, that he must love +goodness for its own sake, and for the love of the Author of all +goodness, is no light task. We can, therefore, imagine scarcely any +position calling for a more peculiar combination of qualities than that +of the conductor of this extraordinary seminary. It is a strong +testimony to the suitableness of Mr Nash for his functions, that they +were entered upon under the impulse of his own mind. We have further +proof of it in the good effects of his teaching, for the histories of +many young men who have passed through his hands can be traced from +authentic documents. One who emigrated to the United States so lately as +March 1850, already reports that he is earning there L.3, 12s. per week, +and has just married a young woman who had saved 300 dollars; another of +his pupils is now acting as a missionary in Australia. They write to +their former governor in the most grateful terms, and with strong +expressions of hope regarding their own future. It is interesting to +think of all this good being done by individual exertion and +self-devotion. No government interferes: there is no certain fund to be +depended on. A simple <span class="smcap">man</span>, sensible of humane obligations +towards the unfortunate, comes forward and puts himself in direct +intercourse with them. They might mistake the views of a government, or +of a set of parish authorities; they might lean unduly upon any +formally-appointed fund. They cannot mistake the designs of a mere human +being like themselves, or become spoiled by indulgence in so poor a +retreat. The gratitude due by society to such a man is incalculable.</p> + +<p>It is gratifying to think that Mr Nash does not stand alone in his +disinterested course. There is a Mr Ellis, a shoemaker in Albany Street, +Regent's Park, who, under the impulse of religious feeling for the +unfortunate, has taken a number of delinquents into his care, with a +view to reforming them. Four years ago, he began with two, to whom he +assigned certain rations. The first movement was an act of self-denial +on their part. In order to secure the admission of a companion, who +could not otherwise have been provided for, they agreed that their +rations should be divided with him; and on these terms he was admitted. +Soon after, the number was increased to fifteen; and with this number Mr +Ellis has gone on most successfully. The boys have been industrious, and +only one has been guilty of any offence. The prosperous man of the +world, who thinks himself entitled to use all his own for his own sole +gratification, will hear of these things with incredulity, and pity +Ellis and Nash as enthusiasts, who foolishly sacrifice themselves for a +whim; but we greatly doubt if the worldling's proudest or most luxurious +hour gives one-half the true satisfaction which these men enjoy in the +midst of their ragged adherents, under the blessed hope of rescuing them +from destruction in this world and the next.</p> + +<p>The subject of juvenile delinquency is beginning to attract a good deal +of attention, for it is now clearly seen that the root of most of the +predatory crime by which the country is afflicted lies here, and till +the root is struck at, the branches will continue to flourish. It +appears that for some years the number<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[pg 155]</a></span> of juvenile criminals has been +on the increase; auguring, of course, an ultimate increase in the number +of adult offenders. Some vigorous measure for the reduction of juvenile +delinquency is felt to be now required. Amidst all the alarms which it +is exciting, and amidst the expressions of hopelessness which we often +hear from those who give little attention to the subject, it is +gratifying to find, that there are some glimpses of what appears to be +the right course to be taken. First, one great point is very clearly +established—that it really is possible to reclaim juvenile criminals. +It cannot, however, be done by punishments of any kind. It is to be done +by kindness, religious influence, and industrial occupation, along with +the holding forth of a hope of transition into a better course of life. +Those who may be incredulous on this point, had better acquaint +themselves with the facts of the case. It is too little known, that +there has been a society at work for the last sixty years in England, +for the reform of juvenile offenders. It has a farm at Red Hill, near +Reigate, from which about forty youths go out every year to agricultural +labour and humble trades, in which the great bulk of them do well. The +similar institution at Mettray, near Tours, produces similar results on +a greater scale. And the simple truth at the bottom of the whole affair +is, that young thieves are, in general, deserted or orphan children, or +children driven forth to destitution by vicious parents: criminal +through circumstances, and finding no true happiness in their wicked +kind of life, a large proportion of them <i>desire to reform</i>, and will +suffer not a little in order to obtain admission to respectable society.</p> + +<p>It has lately been shewn, that society has a strong interest of a +pecuniary nature in the reformation of juvenile delinquents. A boy or +youth continually going about as a pickpocket or petty larcenist, is a +destructive animal of somewhat formidable character. To get quit of him +at last by transportation, costs at the least calculation L.150. Now, he +can be put through the twelvemonth's course of reformation in such a +school as that which we have described, and deported as a free emigrant +to Australia (where he is welcomed), for L.25. Thus, even in an +economical light, the reforming of the youth is a great gain. +Magistrates are everywhere impressed with the hopelessness of a mere +judicial treatment of these hapless children. They come back to the dock +at almost regular intervals; severity is of no avail with a poor wretch +who, on being discharged from jail, finds all honest employment denied +to him. It is by reform alone that we can rid ourselves of this moral +pest, by which our country is disgraced.</p> + +<p>There is but one difficulty in the case, and that is one involving +profound social questions. Shall we see criminal children taken care of, +and treated kindly, while many of the children of the honest poor are so +ill off? Shall we not, by taking these children under our care, and so +relieving parents and others of their responsibility towards them, sap +the principles of the industrious poor, leading them to desert or cast +off their children, whom they will now be sure of seeing cared for by +others? We must admit that there is much force in these queries; but it +would be wrong to allow them altogether to deter us, where the reasons +on the other side are so urgent. It may be possible, by keeping to such +individual efforts as those of Mr Nash, or to those of little +unobtrusive societies, to prevent much of the evil apprehended. And it +may also be practicable, as we find is proposed, to arrange that there +shall be a legal claim upon parents for the expenses incurred in +reforming their criminal offspring. Thus none who are not themselves +destitute, could safely leave their children to the chances of a +criminal life. It is also most desirable, that the state should limit +its interference to grants of money in proportion to the sums advanced +by private or local effort, and to the enforcing of a law for the +detention of vagrant and criminal children where it may be necessary. +Under such precautions, we think most of the advantages might be +obtained, with a much less admixture of evil than many would now be +disposed to expect.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The reader will find excellent matter on this subject in +Mary Carpenter's recent volume on Reformatory Schools, and in a 'Report +of the Proceedings of a Conference on the Subject of Preventive and +Reformatory Schools, held at Birmingham on the 9th and 10th of December +1851.'</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="MEN_OF_THE_TIME" id="MEN_OF_THE_TIME"></a>'MEN OF THE TIME.'</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">A neat</span> little volume, well filled with information, has made its +appearance under this title;<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> the object being to present sketches of +living notables—men who, in their several walks of life, tread in +advance of the general multitude in this and other countries; and from +whose actions we may learn the character and aims of the passing era. +The idea of gathering together materials of this kind, and laying the +result in an accessible form before the public, is a good one. All will +depend, however, on the manner of execution. The attempt before us, +being the first of its kind, is perhaps necessarily imperfect, and we +may expect some improvements should the work realise the expectations of +its publisher. For example, we miss the names of various men of note, to +whom England owes many acknowledgments—such as Dr Neill Arnott, Mr +Edwin Chadwick, Archibald Alison, &c.—and in several instances, also, +the sketches actually given are very deficient in attainable facts; +while there occur notices of individuals whose names can scarcely be +said to be known to the public. With these imperfections, the work is a +handy biographic compendium, full of amusing particulars, that cannot +fail to be useful in the way of reference. To provincial libraries, the +book will be a cheap and agreeable accession. As a specimen of the +manner of execution, we present the following scraps of quotation:—</p> + +<p>'Brooke, Rajah Sir James, is a Somersetshire man, born on the 29th of +April 1803, at Combe Grove, near Bath. His father was engaged in the +civil service of the East India Company; and when of sufficient age, the +future rajah was sent to India as a cadet, and, on the Burmese war +breaking out, went to the scene of operations; entered upon active +military service; and whilst storming a stockade, received a bullet in +his chest. This wound kept him for awhile balanced between life and +death, but a strong constitution stood him in good stead, and he was +able to reach England on furlough, to seek the full restoration of his +health. When sufficiently strong, he set out on a tour through France, +Switzerland, and Italy, the languages, as well as manners and condition +of which he studied; but the longest leave of absence will expire at +last, and we find our hero, in due course, again setting out for the +East; failing, however, to reach it at once, for the ship in which he +sailed was wrecked on the Isle of Wight. In his next vessel, he was more +fortunate, and safely reached India, to resume his duties; but finding a +long official correspondence requisite to explain why a shipwreck should +have delayed an officer's return, he resigned the service of the East +India Company, and in 1830 sailed from Calcutta for China. "In this +voyage," says Captain Keppel, in his <i>Expedition to Borneo</i>, "while +going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the islands of the +Asiatic Archipelago—islands of vast importance and unparalleled +beauty—lying neglected and almost unknown. He inquired and read, and +became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles afforded an open +field for enterprise and research. To carry to the Malay races, so long +the terror of the European merchant-vessel, the blessings of +civilisation, to suppress piracy, and extirpate the slave-trade, became +his humane and generous objects;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[pg 156]</a></span> and from that hour the energies of his +powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit. Often foiled—often +disappointed, with a perseverance and enthusiasm which defied all +obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to set sail from England on his +darling project."' Having procured and manned a yacht, he set out on his +expedition to the Eastern seas, in spite of all sarcasms from croakers; +and 'when the news came home that he had truly engaged in the +suppression of the Malay sea-robbers, and had been rewarded by the +cession to him, by a grateful native prince, of the territory and +governorship of Sarawak—a tract embracing about 3000 square miles of +country, with a sea-board of about fifty miles—said croakers began to +think the adventurous undertaking not so wild after all. The steps by +which he became rajah of Sarawak may be here recounted. When in his +vessel, the <i>Royalist</i>, he reached the coast of that country, he found +its ruler engaged in the suppression of one of the rebellions frequent +in uncivilised regions. His aid was solicited by the Rajah Muda Hassim, +and that aid being given, secured the triumph of the authorities. Muda +being soon afterwards called by the sultan to the post of +prime-minister, suggested the making the English captain his successor +at Sarawak—a step eventually taken. The newly-acquired territory was +swampy and ill cultivated by the native Dyaks, who varied their +occupations, as tillers of the land, by excursions amongst neighbouring +villages, <i>in search of heads</i>. To rob the native of a neighbouring town +of his cranium, was regarded in much the same light as the capture of a +scalp would be amongst North American savages. Brooke saw at once that +no improvement could arise whilst murder was regarded not only as a +pleasant amusement, but to some extent as a religious duty. He declared +head-hunting a crime punishable by death to the offender. With some +trouble and much risk he succeeded to a great extent in effecting a +reform. Attacking at the same time another custom of the country—that +of piracy—he acted with such vigour, that a class of well-meaning +people at home, stimulated to some extent by the private enemies of +Brooke, accused him of wholesale butchery. The fact that the destruction +of pirates was rewarded by the English executive by the payment of what +was called "head-money," justly increased the outcry. To kill one pirate +entitled the crew of a ship-of-war to a certain prize in money—to kill +a thousand, entitled them to a thousand times the amount. This premium +on blood was wrong in principle, and the result of a wholesale slaughter +of Eastern pirates by order of Brooke, led to the very proper abolition +of the custom of paying this "head-money." The men who are entitled to +the praise of securing this amelioration of our naval system were not, +however, content with the triumph of the just portion of their case; +they sought to brand the rajah as a cruel and greedy adventurer—in +which attempt they fortunately failed. It is surely unjust to test the +acts of a man living and ruling amongst savages by the strict usages of +action acknowledged and found most proper for guidance in civilised +communities. When, after his first appointment, Rajah Brooke returned to +see his friends and to take counsel in England, he was welcomed very +warmly. He was made Knight of the Bath; invited to dine with the Queen; +found his portrait in the print-shops, and his biography in the +magazines and newspapers. The government recognised his position; +ordered a man-of-war to take him to the seat of his new settlement; gave +him the title of Governor of Labuan, with a salary of L.2000 a year, +with an extra L.500 a year as a consular agent, and afforded him the +services of a deputy-governor, also on a good salary—the hope being +that the result of all this would be the opening of a new emporium for +British trade.' To this notice might be added an expression of deep +regret that there should be any controversy as to the real nature of Sir +James Brooke's operations in the East. This scandal ought surely to be +put an end to by some distinct investigation and avowal one way or the +other.</p> + +<p>The above notice of Sir James Brooke naturally suggests a recollection +of his relentless accuser, Joseph Hume, and we turn up the account of +that personage.</p> + +<p>'Hume, Joseph, a Radical Reformer, whose history adds another memorable +example of perseverance raising its possessor from a humble station to +distinction. He was born at Montrose, in the year 1777. While he was +still young, his father, the master of a small trading-vessel of that +port, died, leaving his widow to bring up a numerous family. Mrs Hume, +it is related, maintained herself and her children by means of a small +earthenware business, and placed Joseph in a school of the town, where +he received an education which included instruction in the elements of +Latin. With such scanty stores of knowledge, he was apprenticed to a +surgeon of Montrose, with whom he served three years. Having attended +the prescribed lectures to the medical classes in the university of +Edinburgh, he was admitted, in 1796, a member of the College of Surgeons +in that city. India was at that time a favourite, and, indeed, almost +the only field for the young who had no other fortune than their talents +and enterprise. To India, accordingly, Mr Hume went, and entered as a +surgeon the naval service of the East India Company. He had not been +there three years, before he was placed on the medical establishment of +Bengal. Here, while increasing his professional reputation, he had the +opportunity of watching the whole operation of the machinery of the +Company's service. His quick eye soon detected the deficiencies of the +greater number of the Company's servants in command of the native +language, an acquirement so valuable in possessions such as ours. He +determined to acquire a knowledge of the dialects of India, not doubting +that a sphere of larger utility and greater emolument would open before +his efforts. The Mahratta war breaking out in 1803, Mr Hume was attached +to Major-general Powell's division, and accompanied it on its march from +Allahabad into Bundelcund. The want of interpreters was now felt, as +Hume had expected, and the commander was glad to find among his surgeons +a man capable of supplying the deficiency. He continued to discharge his +new duties without resigning his medical appointment, and managed to +combine with both the offices of pay-master and post-master of the +troops. His ability to hold direct intercourse with the natives +continued to be of immense service to him, and enabled him to hold +simultaneously a number of offices with most varied duties, such as +nothing but an unwearying frame and an extraordinary capacity could have +enabled any one person to discharge. At the conclusion of the peace, he +returned to the presidency, richer by many golden speculations, for +which a period of war never fails to offer opportunities. In 1808, +having accomplished the object for which he left his native land, he +came to England, and, after an interval of repose, determined upon +making a tour of the country, the better to acquaint himself with the +condition of its inhabitants.' After making this tour, and visiting +various continental countries, he returned to England, where he devoted +himself to a political career; and since 1812, he has for the most part +had a seat in the House of Commons. His parliamentary history since 1818 +has been that of a reformer of abuses and enemy of monopoly, and he is +respected even by those who differ from him in opinion.</p> + +<p>Our next specimen is—</p> + +<p>'Thackeray, William Makepeace, author, was born in India, in 1811. He is +of good family, and was originally intended for the bar, of which he is +now a member. He kept seven or eight terms at Cambridge,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[pg 157]</a></span> but left the +university without taking a degree, for the purpose of becoming an +artist. After about three years' desultory practice, he devoted himself +to literature, abandoning the design of making a position as a painter, +and only employed his pictorial talents in illustration of his own +writings. For a short time, he conducted a literary and artistic review, +similar in plan to the <i>Athenæum</i>; but the new journal, although +characterised by great ability, perished in competition with established +rivals. He also, with the assistance of Dr Maginn, started a newspaper; +but this was unsuccessful. His first distinction was won as a writer in +<i>Fraser's Magazine</i>, <i>Punch</i>, and other periodicals of character. In the +latter amusing periodical appeared his <i>Jeames's Diary</i>, a clever satire +on the follies of the railway mania, exposing the hollow foundation upon +which railway fortunes and reputations were made. His <i>Snob Papers</i>, +published in the same manner, have since been collected and reprinted +with great success. His satire is as keen as that of Fielding. His +<i>Paris Sketch-Book</i> appeared in 1840. His <i>Irish Sketch-Book</i>, with +numerous engravings drawn by the author, was published in 1845. In the +next year, appeared his <i>Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand +Cairo</i>; and in 1847, the first numbers of <i>Vanity Fair</i> appeared, in the +proper name of their author. This, Thackeray's first fully-developed +novel, has been followed by <i>Arthur Pendennis</i>, completed in 1851. His +Christmas-book, entitled <i>The Kickleburies on the Rhine</i>, was attacked +by a writer in the <i>Times</i>; whereupon Mr Thackeray replied, in a very +unmistakable way, in a preface to the second edition of the work. The +critic fared very badly in the contest.' The charge made against Mr +Thackeray is, that he abuses the characters of the literary class with a +view apparently of catering to public prejudice. We believe that any +such imputation is entirely unfounded; and that Mr Thackeray's +observations on the infirmities of authors are due to an honest +exposition of his subject. Mr Thackeray has lately imparted much delight +by delivering lectures on the literary personages of last century; and +in this very act has gracefully raised the public estimation of living +authorcraft.</p> + +<p>We may extract the following passages respecting the early career of Mr +Dickens:—</p> + +<p>'Dickens, Charles, the most popular writer of his time, was born in +February 1812, at Landport, Portsmouth. His father, the late Mr John +Dickens, in the earlier part of his life, enjoyed a post in the Navy Pay +Department, the duties of which required that he should reside from time +to time in different seaports: now at Plymouth, now at Portsmouth, and +then at Sheerness. "In the glorious days" of the war with France, these +towns were full of life, bustle, and character; and the father of "Boz" +was at times fond of dilating upon the strange scenes he had witnessed. +One of his stories described a sitting-room he once enjoyed at +Blue-town, Sheerness, abutting on the theatre. Of an evening, he used to +sit in this room, and could hear what was passing on the stage, and join +in the chorus of <i>God save the King</i>, and <i>Britannia rules the +Waves</i>—then the favourite songs of Englishmen. The war being at an end, +amongst those who left the public service with a pension was the father +of our novelist. Coming to London, he subsequently found lucrative +employment for his talents on the press as a reporter of parliamentary +debates. Charles Dickens may, therefore, be said to have been in his +youth familiarised with "copy;" and when his father, with parental +anxiety for his future career, took the preliminary steps for making his +son an attorney, the dreariness of the proposed occupation fell so +heavily upon the mind of the future author, that he induced his father +to permit him to resign the law, and join the parliamentary corps of a +daily newspaper. His first engagement was on the <i>True Sun</i>, an +ultra-liberal paper, then carrying on a fierce struggle for existence, +from the staff of which he afterwards passed into the reporting ranks of +the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>. On that paper, he obtained reputation as a +first-rate man—his reports being exceedingly rapid, and no less +correct. In the columns of the <i>Chronicle</i> he soon gave proofs of other +talents than those of a reporter; for in the evening edition of that +journal appeared the <i>Sketches of English Life and Character</i>, +afterwards collected to form the two well-known volumes of <i>Sketches by +Boz</i>, published respectively in 1836 and 1837. These at once attracted +considerable notice, and obtained great success; and the publisher of +the collected edition, anxious to make the most of the prize which had +fallen to his lot, gladly came to an arrangement with Mr Dickens and +Seymour, the comic draughtsman—the one to write, and the other to +illustrate a book which should exhibit the adventures of a party of +Cockney sportsmen. Hence the appearance of <i>Pickwick</i>, a book which made +its author's reputation and the publishers' fortune. After the work had +commenced, poor Seymour committed suicide, and Mr Hablot K. Browne was +selected to continue the illustrations, which he did under the signature +of "Phiz." Meanwhile, Mr Dickens had courted and married the daughter of +Mr George Hogarth, then, and now, a musical writer; a man of +considerable attainments, and who, in his earlier days, whilst a writer +to the Signet in Edinburgh, enjoyed the intimate friendship of Sir +Walter Scott, Jeffrey, and the other literary notables at that day +adorning the Modern Athens. The great success of <i>Pickwick</i> brought down +upon its author demands from all sides for another work, and "Boz" +agreed to write <i>Nicholas Nickleby</i>, to be published in monthly parts. +In the prefatory notices, which give additional value to the cheap and +elegant reprint of the works of Dickens, we are indulged with slight +glimpses of his own recollections, personal and literary.' It is +unnecessary to note the titles of Mr Dickens's subsequent works, all of +which have justly obtained popularity. He has latterly entered on a path +not dissimilar to our own, and in this he has our very best wishes. The +cause of social melioration needs a union of hearts and hands.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Bogue, London: 1852.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="ARCHBISHOP_WHATELYS_BOOK_OF_SYNONYMS" id="ARCHBISHOP_WHATELYS_BOOK_OF_SYNONYMS"></a>ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S BOOK OF SYNONYMS.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Accuracy</span> of language is one of the things which, in ordinary speech and +writing, is but indifferently observed. The reason, perhaps, is to be +sought, not in any general indifference to correctness or precision, but +rather in the want of some recognised authority, some specific rules or +principles, to which the use of words apparently synonymous, yet of +slightly different signification, might be distinctly and easily +referred. It is in regard to the finer shades of meaning, the subtler +touches of expression, the application of words and phrases where the +strictest exactness and perspicuity are required, that an ordinary +English style is apt to become loose and shadowy; and it is precisely +here that we are entitled to expect the severest, chastest form of +utterance. Coleridge used to complain of a general confounding of the +word 'notion' with 'idea,' and was often at great pains to point out the +distinction between the two, as also between many other words similarly +misused. Archdeacon Hare, too, has remarked upon the common +misapplication of such words as 'education' for 'instruction,' +'government' for 'administration,' 'the church' for 'the priesthood' or +'ministry;' and indeed holds that such a confounding of terms leads to +serious practical misunderstandings and confusions.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> Any one, upon +reflection, will perceive that in the common use of these and numberless +other words, there is often a signal lack of clearness and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[pg 158]</a></span> precision, +and will hardly fail to notice that the error proceeds from a want of +due attention to the nice and peculiar meanings of words which are +vaguely presumed to have the same signification.</p> + +<p>As a help to those who may wish to attain a somewhat more than common +correctness of style and language, Archbishop Whately has recently +published a small work on <i>English Synonyms</i>;<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> and the rapidity with +which the first edition has been disposed of leads us to infer that the +public is to some extent prepared to take an interest in the subject. +The second edition, 'revised and enlarged,' is now before us, and it is +thought that a brief glance at its contents may not be unacceptable to +some of our present readers.</p> + +<p>The word 'synonym,' as the archbishop observes, is, in strict reality, a +misnomer. 'Literally, it implies an exact coincidence of meaning in two +or more words, in which case there would be no room for discussion; but +it is generally applied to words which would be more correctly termed +pseudo-synonyms—that is, words having a shade of difference, yet with a +sufficient resemblance of meaning to make them liable to be confounded. +And it is in the number and variety of these that, as the Abbé Girard +well remarks, the richness of a language consists. To have two or more +words with exactly the same sense, is no proof of copiousness, but +simply an inconvenience. A house would not be called well furnished from +its having a larger number of chairs and tables of one kind than were +needed, but from its having a separate article for each distinct use. +The more power we have of discriminating the nicer shades of meaning, +the greater facility we possess of giving force and precision to our +expressions. Our own language possesses great advantages in this +respect; for being partly derived from the Teutonic, and partly from the +Latin, we have a large number of duplicates from the two sources, which +are, for the most part, though not universally, slightly varied in their +meaning.</p> + +<p>'These slight variations of meaning,' he proceeds, add to the +copiousness of the English language, by affording words of more or less +familiarity, and of greater and less force. This may easily be +understood, if we consider that the branch of the Teutonic, spoken in +England during the Anglo-Saxon period, never became extinct, but that +three-fourths of the English language at present consist of words +altered or derived from that ancient dialect; that these words usually +express the most familiar ideas—such as <i>man</i>, <i>house</i>, <i>land</i>, &c.; +and that the French terms gradually introduced, being those of a more +highly civilised people, were adapted to express the more refined ideas. +This is true even of physical objects; thus, for instance, most of the +names of the animals used for food are still Teutonic—such as <i>ox</i>, +<i>sheep</i>, <i>swine</i>, &c. The Anglo-Saxons, like the modern Germans, had no +objection to say <i>ox-flesh</i>, <i>sheep-flesh</i>, <i>swine's-flesh</i>; but the +Norman conquerors, introducing a more refined cookery, introduced with +it French words for the flesh of the animal; hence we have <i>beef</i>, +<i>mutton</i>, <i>pork</i>, &c.'</p> + +<p>It has not been the author's design to notice <i>all</i> the synonyms in the +language—that, as he remarks, would be an almost endless undertaking; +'but merely, after excluding technical terms, and words which do exactly +coincide, to select a few of those groups of words which are in most +frequent use, and are most liable to be confounded.' His purpose, +perhaps, will be more distinctly shewn, if we add a few more sentences +from the preface.</p> + +<p>'Many persons,' says he, 'imagine that two words must either coincide +precisely in their meaning, so as to be, in the primary and strict sense +of the word, "synonymous," or else stand for two (more or less) distinct +<i>things</i>. Indeed, it would often be regarded as almost a truism to +assert this; but those who maintain such an opinion overlook the fact, +that two words, without exactly coinciding in sense, may nevertheless +relate to one and the same thing, regarded in <i>two different points of +view</i>. An illustration of this is afforded in the relation which exists +between the words, "inference" and "proof." Whoever justly infers, +proves; and whoever proves, infers; but the word "inference" leads the +mind from the premises which have been assumed, to the conclusion which +follows from them; while the word "proof" follows a reverse process, and +leads the mind from the conclusion to the premises. We say: "What do you +infer <i>from</i> this?" and "How do you <i>prove</i> that?"<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Another +illustration may be quoted in the synonyms, "expense" and "cost." The +same article may be expensive and costly; but we speak of <i>expense</i> in +reference to the means of the purchaser; of <i>cost</i>, in reference to the +actual value of the article.'</p> + +<p>This work does not profess to deal much with <i>etymologies</i>; the author +thinking that any very strict attention to the <i>derivation</i> of words, in +connection with synonyms, would only tend to confuse the subject. The +history of the origin and growth of words must undoubtedly throw light +upon their meanings; but he, nevertheless, holds the two questions to be +completely distinct and separable; and thinks that, in an inquiry into +the <i>actual</i> and <i>present</i> meaning of a word, the consideration of what +it originally meant may frequently lead us into error. A few suggestive +remarks are given upon this matter.</p> + +<p>'Our question is, not what <i>ought</i> to be, or formerly was, the meaning +of a word, but what it <i>now</i> is; nor can we be completely guided by +quotations from Shakspeare or Milton, or even from Addison or Johnson. +Language has undergone such changes, even within the last sixty or +seventy years, that many words, at that time considered pure, are now +obsolete; while others—of which the word "mob" is a specimen—formerly +slang, are now used by our best writers, and received, like pardoned +outlaws, into the body of respectable citizens.' The standard, +accordingly, to which the author refers in the work before us, is the +sense in which a word is used by the purest writers and most correct +speakers of our own days.</p> + +<p>The synonyms are arranged or classed according to the parts of speech to +which they belong—namely, into particles, nouns, adjectives, and verbs. +The uses of all the words are well defined, and sufficiently illustrated +by examples; a table of contents and a complete index are also added, +rendering reference to any word as easy as looking for it in a +dictionary. The table of contents, indeed, will be found to serve most +of the purposes of a vocabulary of synonyms: a glance at it will +frequently give you all the words of similar signification to the +particular one for which you may happen to require an equivalent. From +the part of the book relating to <i>verbs</i>, we take the following; the +words under notice being, <i>To teach, instruct, inform, educate</i>:—</p> + +<p>'Of these words, the first two are often used synonymously, but they +have also a distinct meaning. "Teaching," strictly speaking, when +distinguished from instruction, is applied to the practice of an art or +branch of knowledge: instruction, to the theory. A child is, correctly +speaking, <i>instructed</i> in the grammar of a language, and <i>taught</i> to +speak the language. Thus, teaching may be merely mechanical; while +"instruction" implies a degree of understanding in the pupil, as well as +in the master. A child who has been <i>taught</i> to learn lessons by rote, +without understanding them, will find difficulty in comprehending +<i>instruction</i> in the principles of what he has learned: hence, we speak +of <i>teaching</i> a brute, but never of <i>instructing</i> it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>'<i>Information</i>,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> again, is distinguished from instruction, in relation +to the truths conveyed by it. Matters of fact, made known to one who +could not have known them before, are called information: instruction +elicits new truths out of subject-matter <i>already</i> existing in the +mind—(see Whately's <i>Logic</i>, book iv. § 1.)</p> + +<p>'A traveller gives us information respecting foreign countries; a +metaphysician instructs us in the principles of moral +science—principles drawn from facts already known to us. The two +processes may take place at the same time: a child in learning a lesson +receives both information and instruction: he is taught things he never +knew before, and also taught to apply and make use of what he does know +already. In fact, pure mathematics is the only branch of instruction +which includes no information, as the propositions are all based on +principles previously assumed. In short, a person who is informed, +<i>knows</i> something he did not before; one who is instructed, +<i>understands</i> something he did not before; one who is taught, can <i>do</i> +something he could not do before.</p> + +<p>'Education is more comprehensive than any of the other words before us. +It includes the <i>whole course</i> of moral and intellectual teaching. One +who gives occasional lessons is not said to <i>educate</i>. To <i>educate</i> +(agreeably to its derivation, from "e-duco," not "in-duco"), includes +the <i>drawing out</i> of the faculties, so as to teach the pupil how to +teach him<i>self</i>; which is one of the most valuable of arts.</p> + +<p>'Moral training, considered <i>by itself</i>, is called "teaching;" this +constitutes no exception to the rule laid down, as its object is to +enable us, not to <i>know</i>, but to <i>do</i> what is right.'—(P. 32-34.)</p> + +<p>'Few words, perhaps, are more apt to be misapplied than the string of +adjectives treated of in the section next quoted—namely, <i>benevolent, +beneficent, charitable, munificent, liberal, bountiful, philanthropic</i>.</p> + +<p>'Benevolent and beneficent, together with their conjugates, have +curiously diverged from their original meaning. Etymologically, +"benevolent" implied merely <i>wishing</i> well to others, and "beneficent" +<i>doing</i> well; <i>now</i>, "benevolent" includes both kinds of feelings and +actions, and "beneficent" is restricted to acts of kindness on a great +scale, and generally performed by some one of exalted station and +character: hence, we speak of the "beneficence" rather than the +"benevolence" of the Creator. It may perhaps be said to follow from +this, that "benevolent" draws our attention more to the character of the +agent; "beneficent," to that of the act performed—retaining, so far, a +tinge of their etymology.</p> + +<p>'"Charitable" (when not used in reference to a mild and candid judgment +of others) seems to be restricted to one kind of benevolence—that which +consists in alms-giving.</p> + +<p>'"Munificent" resembles "beneficent," in referring always to favours on +a large scale, and conferred by superiors; but there is this important +difference, that "beneficent" always implies some real and essential +good done, while "munificent," as its derivation implies, may be applied +equally to any <i>gift</i>, whether really useful or not. One who makes a +present of jewellery or pictures to a friend, is munificent, but would +not be called "beneficent." If he raised a distressed family from +starvation, the word "beneficent" would be more appropriate. But one who +gives largely to the public, or to some institution, is called +munificent. It seems to convey the idea of splendour. No one can be +called munificent who does not give on a large scale.</p> + +<p>'Any one who is ready to give <i>freely</i>, as the etymology implies, on +whatever scale, is "liberal." "Bountiful," again, is stronger than +"liberal," and implies giving in abundance; it also differs from +"liberal" in being restricted to <i>giving</i>; while "liberal" is applied to +an easy style of expenditure in general; to the reverse, in short, of +"stingy," or "miserly." Many people live in a <i>liberal</i> style, who are +very far from being "bountiful." Bountiful always seems to imply, giving +out of an ample store.</p> + +<p>'"Philanthropic," as its etymology indicates, implies benevolence solely +in reference to the <i>human race</i>, and always to masses, not to +individuals. One who devises some plan to benefit numbers, is called +"philanthropic;" but we should not talk of "philanthropically giving a +loaf to a hungry child."'—(P. 83-85.)</p> + +<p>As space is beginning to press, our last extract must be short: it +relates to words often enough employed indiscriminately—<i>imagination, +conception, fancy</i>. '"Imagination" and "fancy" are frequently confounded +together, but are, nevertheless, very distinct in their signification. +In the first place, "imagination" implies more of a <i>creative</i> power +than "fancy;" it requires a greater combination of various powers, and +is therefore a higher exercise of genius. "Fancy," on the other hand, is +more an employment of ingenuity and taste, though it also requires +inventive power. Secondly, "imagination" implies a longer flight; +"fancy," rather a succession of short efforts: the one is a steady +blaze; the other, a series of sparkles. An epic poem would require an +exercise of the first; a ballad, or other lighter production, of the +last: hence, we may see that the difference between the two is, in some +measure, one of subject-matter; for the same power which we call "fancy" +when employed in a melody of Moore, would be called "imagination" in the +works of Dante or Milton. In short, the efforts of "fancy" bear the same +relation to those of "imagination" that the carving and polishing of a +gem or seal does to sculpture.</p> + +<p>'In the third place, <i>wit</i> may come into works of "fancy," and could not +be admitted into the province of "imagination." The same with what are +called <i>conceits</i>.</p> + +<p>'"Conception" has something in common with imagination, but it implies +more decidedly a creative power, and is referred to something tangible +and real; whereas, in efforts of fancy and imagination, there is always +a consciousness of unreality. The province of "conception" is that which +has a real existence: hence, the productions of painters, sculptors, and +musicians, are called "conceptions." "Conception" also denotes something +framed and originated in our <i>own</i> mind; whereas the imagination or +fancy may be acted on merely from without. The poet or writer of fiction +exercises his own conceptions, but awakens the imagination of his +readers.'</p> + +<p>These quotations will give as general a notion of the work as can be +conveyed by a few extracts. To those among our readers who may be in +quest of such a book, we can decidedly recommend it as one that is +certain to be useful. It is by far the best of the kind that we have +ever happened to meet with; and we think that if it were universally +studied and consulted, the result would be a great improvement of +expression, both in common speech and literature.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See <i>Guesses at Truth</i>. First series.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> <i>A Selection of English Synonyms</i>. Second Edition. Parker, +London: 1852.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> See Whately's <i>Logic</i>, book iv., chap. 3, § 1, in which the +above is illustrated by the difference between the road from London to +York and the road from York to London.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The nouns are used here instead of the verbs for +convenience sake, as they precisely correspond.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_ON_CATS" id="CHAPTER_ON_CATS"></a>'CHAPTER ON CATS.'</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>In No. 419 of this Journal, an article with the above heading mentions +among the exports from New York to New Granada 100 <i>cats</i>. Wherever our +contributor may have picked up his intelligence, the original source is +the <i>New York Herald</i>; but, unluckily, a paper of a more practical +character—if we may judge from its title—<i>The Dry-Goods Reporter</i>, +gives the custom-house entry in full, in which the change of a single +vowel makes a prodigious difference. The entry is this: '100 <i>cots</i>—125 +dollars—to Granada.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[pg 160]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="A_MARINERS_WIFE" id="A_MARINERS_WIFE"></a>A MARINER'S WIFE.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'<span class="smcap">Ah</span> me, my dream!' pale Helen cried,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With hectic cheeks aglow:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Why wake me? Hide that cruel beam!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'll not win such another dream<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On this side heaven, I know.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'I almost feel the leaping waves,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The wet spray on my hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The salt breeze singing in the sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The kind arms, strong as iron-mail,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That held me safely there.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'I'll tell thee:—On some shore I stood,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or sea, or inland bay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or river broad, I know not—save<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There seemed no boundary to the wave<br /></span> +<span class="i2">That chafed and moaned alway.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'The shore was lone—the wave was lone—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The horizon lone; no sail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Broke the dim line 'twixt sea and sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till slowly, slowly one came by,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Half ghostlike, gray and pale.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'It was a very little boat,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Had neither oars nor crew;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But as it shoreward bounded fast,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One form seemed leaning by the mast—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And Norman's face I knew!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'He never looked nor smiled at me,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Though I stood there alone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His brow was very grave and high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lit with a glory from the sky—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The wild bark bounded on.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'I shrieked: "Oh, take me—take me, love!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The night is falling dread."—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"My boat may come no nearer shore;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, hark! how mad the billows roar!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Art thou afraid?" he said.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'"Afraid! with thee?"—"The wind sweeps fierce<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The foamy rocks among;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A perilous voyage waiteth me."—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Then, then, indeed, I go with thee,"<br /></span> +<span class="i2">I cried, and forward sprung.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'All drenched with brine, all pale with fear—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ah no, not fear; 'twas bliss!—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I felt the strong arms draw me in:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If after death to heaven I win,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">'Twill be such joy as this!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'No kiss, no smile, but aye that clasp—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Tender, and close, and brave;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While, like a tortured thing, upleapt<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The boat, and o'er her deck there swept<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Wave thundering after wave.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'I looked not to the stormy deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Nor to the angry sky;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whether for life or death we wrought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My whole world dwindled to one thought—<br /></span> +<span class="i2"><i>Where he is, there am I</i>!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'On—on—through leaping waves, slow calmed,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With salt spray on our hair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And breezes singing in the sail,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Before a safe and pleasant gale,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">The boat went bounding fair:<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">'But whether to a shore we came,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Or seaward sailed away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alas! to me is all unknown:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O happy dream, too quickly flown!<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O cruel, cruel day!'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Pale Helen lived—or died: dull time<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O'er all that history rolls;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sailed they or sunk they on life's waves?—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I only know earth holds two graves,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">And heaven two blessed souls.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="REMITTANCES_TO_AND_FROM_EMIGRANTS" id="REMITTANCES_TO_AND_FROM_EMIGRANTS"></a>REMITTANCES TO AND FROM EMIGRANTS.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Within the past few years, a system of foreign exchanges has been +perfected in this country, by which the smallest sum of money can be +remitted either way across the Atlantic, with perfect security and the +greatest dispatch. Drafts are drawn as low as 1s. sterling, which are +cashed in any part of Great Britain or the United States. This, to +emigrants who wish to bring over their money without fear of loss, or to +residents here who wish to remit small sums to their relatives or +friends in Europe, to enable them to come to this country, is of vast +importance, as it guarantees them against loss; that is, when the drafts +are good. This is, therefore, the great point at issue. To obtain drafts +of undoubted credit and security is the first thing to be considered. +There are dozens of drawers on both sides of the Atlantic, all of whom +have their friends, who place more or less confidence in the character +of the bills drawn. We have no doubt they are all sound and solvent. We +know nothing now to the contrary. The drafts can be obtained in any city +in the Union, for any amount, from 1s. sterling upwards, drawn upon some +place in Europe; and drafts can be obtained in various European cities +payable in any city of the United States.—<i>Abridged from the New York +Herald.</i></p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="FOREST-TREES" id="FOREST-TREES"></a>FOREST-TREES.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>In contemplating the length of life of one of the reverend and hoary +elders of the forest, we are apt to forget that it is not to be measured +by the standard of man or of the higher animals; for it is really not +the measure of an individual existence, but, as it were, of the duration +of an empire or a nation. A tree is a populous community, presided over +by an oligarchy, of which the flowers are the aristocracy, and the +leaves the working-classes. The life of the individual members of the +commonwealth is brief enough, but the state of which they are members, +has often a vast duration; and some of those whose ages we have referred +to, could they take cognisance of human affairs, would look with +contempt upon the instability and irregularity of human governments and +states, as compared with the unchanging order and security of their +own.—<i>Professor Forbes in Art-Journal.</i></p> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="WHISKY_AND_MISERY" id="WHISKY_AND_MISERY"></a>WHISKY AND MISERY.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Whisky and misery, whichever be cause, whichever be effect, always go +together. There has been, as is well known, a failure of the +potato-crop, and consequently a famine, in the West Highlands and +Hebrides. In the island of Mull, about L.3000 of money raised in charity +was spent in the year ending October 10, 1848, for the eleemosynary +support of the people. In the same space of time, the expenditure of the +people on whisky was L.6009! We do not know how much had previously been +spent on whisky in that island; but we may judge from the fact +ascertained regarding Skye. In the year ending October 10, 1850, the sum +paid in the latter island for whisky was L.10,855—considerably more +than <i>double the amount expended in relief by the Destitution Fund</i>, and +<i>more than double the consumption of the same district in 1845</i>, the +year before the distress commenced! 'That is,' says the <i>Quarterly +Review</i>, which quotes the facts from excellent authority, 'the increased +consumption of whisky exactly tallies with the extraneous aid received; +in other words, the whole amount of charitable assistance <i>went in +whisky</i>!'</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p>Printed and Published by W. and R. <span class="smcap">Chambers</span>, High Street, +Edinburgh. Also sold by W.S. <span class="smcap">Orr</span>, Amen Corner, London; D. N. +<span class="smcap">Chambers</span>, 55 West Nile Street, Glasgow; and <span class="smcap">J. +M'Glashan</span>, 50 Upper Sackville Street, Dublin.—Advertisements for +Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to <span class="smcap">Maxwell & Co.</span>, 31 +Nicholas Lane, Lombard Street, London, to whom all applications +respecting their insertion must be made.</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 17256-h.htm or 17256-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/5/17256/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427 + Volume 17, New Series, March 6, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers and William Chambers + +Release Date: December 8, 2005 [EBook #17256] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL + + CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S + INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c. + + + No. 427. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, MARCH 6, 1852. PRICE 11/2 _d._ + + + + +THE CHARITABLE CHUMS' BENEFIT CLUB. + + +The 'Mother Bunch' public-house stands modestly aside from the din, +traffic, and turmoil of a leading London thoroughfare, and retires, like +a bashful maiden, from the gaze of a crowd to the society of its own +select circle. It is situated in a short and rather narrow street, +leading from an omnibus route running north from the city to nowhere in +particular--or, if particulars must be given, to that complicated +assemblage of carts, cabs, and clothes-lines; of manure heaps and +disorganised pumps; of caged thrushes, blackbirds, and magpies; of dead +dogs and cats, and colonies of thriving rats; of imprisoned terriers and +goats let out on parole; of shrill and angry maternity and mud-loving +infancy; and of hissing, curry-combing grooms and haltered horses, to +which Londoners have given the designation of a Mews. Mr Peter Bowley, +the landlord of the 'Mother Bunch,' was the late butler of the late Sir +Plumberry Muggs; and having succeeded, on the demise of the baronet, to +a legacy of L.500, and finding himself unable any longer to resist the +charms of his seven years' comforter and counsellor, the cook, +supplemented as they were by the attractions of a legacy of the like +amount, he had united his destiny and wealth with hers in one common +cause. The name of Sir Plumberry Muggs, even though its worthy +proprietor was defunct, was still of sufficient influence to procure a +licence for his butler; and within a few months of his departure, Mr +Bowley had opened the new Inn and Tavern for the accommodation of Her +Majesty's thirsty lieges. He had congratulated himself upon the +selection of the site, and upon the suitableness of the premises to the +requirements of a good trade; and his heart swelled within him, as he +sat at the head of his own table, on the occasion of the house-warming, +dispensing with no niggard hand the gratuitous viands and unlimited +beer, which were at once to symbolise and inaugurate the hospitality of +his mansion. He had a snug bar curtained with crimson drapery, for the +convenience of those who, declining the ostentation of the public room, +might prefer to imbibe their morning-draught with becoming privacy. He +had a roomy tap-room, where a cheerful fire was to blaze the winter +through, and a civil Ganymede minister to the wants of the humblest +guest. There was a handsome parlour hung round with sporting-prints, +with cushioned seats and polished mahogany tables, where the tradesmen +of the neighbourhood might take their evening solace after the fatigues +of business; and, more than all this, he had an immense saloon on the +first floor above, calculated for social conviviality on the largest +scale, and furnished with mirrors, pictures, and an old grand-piano, a +portion of the _lares_ of the deceased Sir Plumberry Muggs. + +Mr Bowley, however, soon made the unpleasing discovery, that it is one +thing to open an establishment of the kind--which had already swallowed +up two-thirds of his capital--and another thing to induce the public to +patronise it. Notwithstanding the overflow which had gathered at his +house-warming, and the numberless good wishes which had been expressed, +and toasts which had been drunk to his prosperity, yet the prosperity +did not come. Of the hundred and fifty enthusiastic well-wishers who had +done honour to his entertainment, squeezed his hand, and sworn he was a +trump, not a dozen ever entered the house a second time. Do what he +would, Bowley could not create a business; and the corners of his mouth +began visibly to decline ere the experiment had lasted a couple of +months. He made a desperate effort to get up a Free-and-easy; he had the +old piano tuned, and set an old fellow to play upon it with open +windows; exhibited a perpetual announcement of 'A Concert this Evening;' +and himself led off the harmony, to the tune of _Tally-ho_, at the top +of his voice. It was all of no avail. The half-dozen grooms who joined +in feeble chorus did not pay the expense of the gas; and he found the +Free-and-easy, without abettors, the most difficult thing in the world. +So he gave it up, and fell into a brown study, which engrossed him for a +month. He had visions of Whitecross Street before his eyes; and poor Mrs +Bowley sighed again, and sighed in vain, after the remembrance of Sir +Plumberry's kitchen, and its vanished joys. The only symptom of business +was the gathering of half-a-dozen nightly customers, who sipped their +grog for an hour or two in the parlour; and one of these, moreover, had +never paid a farthing since he had patronised the house. There were +twenty grogs scored up against him, besides a double column of beers. Mr +Bowley will put an end to that, at anyrate; so he signals the bibulous +debtor, and having got him within the folds of the crimson curtains, he +politely informs him, that credit is no part of his system of doing +business, and requests payment. Mr Nogoe, the convivial defaulter, who +is a gentleman of fifty, who has seen the world, and knows how to manage +it, is decidedly of Bowley's opinion--that, as a general rule, credit is +a bad plan; inasmuch as, so far as his experience goes in the public +line, to afford it to your customers, is the first step towards losing +it yourself. But he feels himself free to confess, that he is at the +present moment under a cloud, and that it would be inconvenient to him +to liquidate his score just then, though, of course, if Bowley insists, +&c. While Bowley is pausing to consider which will be the best way to +insist, Mr Nogoe carelessly leads the conversation to another topic, and +begins to descant upon the marvellous capabilities of the 'Mother +Bunch' for doing a first-rate trade; and hints mysteriously at the +splendid thing that might be made of it, only supposing that his friend +Bowley knew his own interest, and went the right way to work. The +landlord, who is now all ear, and who knows his own interest well +enough, pours out to his guest a glass of his favourite 'cold without,' +and seating himself opposite him at the little table, encourages him to +be more explicit. A long private and confidential conversation ensues, +the results of which are destined to change the aspect of affairs at the +'Mother Bunch.' We shall recount the process for the information of our +readers. + +Next morning, Mr Bowley is altogether a new man; brisk, cheerful, and +active, he has a smile for everybody, and a joke and a 'good-morning' +even for the cobbler, who has the cure of soles in that very +questionable benefice, the Mews. He visits his tap-room guests, and +informs them of a plan which is in operation to improve the condition of +the labouring-classes, of which they will hear more by and by. He is +profoundly impressed with the sublime virtues of charity, benevolence, +brotherly love, and, as he terms it, all that sort of thing. Day after +day, he is seen in close confab with Mr Nogoe, who is now as busy as a +bee, buzzing about here, there, and everywhere, with rolls of paper in +his hand, a pen behind his ear, and another in his mouth, and who is +never absent an hour together from the 'Mother Bunch,' where he has a +private room much frequented by active, middle-aged persons of a rather +seedy cast, and where he takes all his meals at the landlord's table. +The first-fruits of these mysterious operations at length appear in the +form of a prospectus of a new mutual-assurance society, under the +designation of 'The Charitable Chums' Benefit Club;' of which Mr Nogoe, +who has undertaken its organisation, is to act as secretary and chairman +at the preliminary meetings, and to lend his valuable assistance in +getting the society into working order. Under his direction, tens of +thousands of the prospectuses are printed, and industriously circulated +among the artisans, labourers, small tradesmen, and serving-men in all +parts of the town, both far and near. Promises of unheard-of advantages, +couched in language of most affectionate sympathy, are addressed to all +whom it may concern. The same are repeated again and again in the daily +and weekly papers. A public meeting is called, and the names of +intending members are enrolled; special meetings follow, held at the +large room of the 'Mother Bunch;' the enrolled members are summoned; +officers and functionaries are balloted for and appointed; rules and +regulations are drawn up, considered, adopted, certified, and printed. +Mr Nogoe is confirmed in his double function as secretary and treasurer. +Subscriptions flow in; and, to Bowley's infinite gratification, beer and +spirits begin to flow out. The Charitable Chums, though eminently +provident, are as bibulous as they are benevolent; for every sixpence +they invest for the contingencies of the future tense, they imbibe at +least half-a-crown for the exigencies of the present. The society soon +rises into a condition of astonishing prosperity. The terms being +liberal beyond all precedent, the Charitable Chums' becomes wonderfully +popular. A guinea a week during sickness, besides medical attendance, +and ten pounds at death, or half as much at the death of a wife, are +assured for half the amount of subscription payable at the old clubs. +The thing is as cheap as dirt. The clerk has as much as he can do to +enregister the names of new applicants, and keep accounts of the +entrance-money. By way of keeping the society before the public, special +meetings are held twice a month, to report progress, and parade the +state of the funds. Before the new society is a year old, they have +nearly one thousand pounds in hand; and Bowley's house, now known far +and wide as the centre and focus of the Charitable Chums, swarms with +that provident brotherhood, who meet by hundreds under the auspices of +'Mother Bunch,' to cultivate sympathy and brotherly love, and to +irrigate those delicate plants with libations of Bowley's gin and +Bowley's beer. The Free-and-easy is now every night choke full of +wide-mouthed harmonists. The 'Concert this Evening' is no longer a mere +mythic pretence, but a very substantial and vociferous fact. The old +grand-piano, and the old, ragged player, have been cashiered, and sent +about their business; and a bran-new Broadwood, presided over by a +rattling performer, occupies their place. Bowley's blooming wife, +attended by a brace of alcoholic naiads, blossoms beneath the crimson +drapery of the bar, and dispenses 'nods and becks, and wreathed smiles,' +and 'noggins of _max_,' and 'three-outers,' to the votaries of +benevolence and 'Mother Bunch;' and the landlord is happy, and in his +element, because the world goes well with him. + +When Whitsuntide is drawing near, a general meeting of the club is +convened, for the purpose of considering the subject of properties. A +grand demonstration, with a procession of the members, is resolved upon: +it is to come off upon Whit-Monday. In spite of the remonstrance of a +mean-spirited Mr Nobody--who proposes that, by way of distinguishing +themselves from the rest of the thousand-and-one clubs who will +promenade upon that occasion, with music, flags, banners, brass-bands, +big drums, sashes, aprons, and white wands, they, the Charitable Chums, +shall walk in procession in plain clothes, and save their money till it +is wanted--and in spite of five or six sneaking, stingy individuals, so +beggarly minded as to second his proposition, and who were summarily +coughed down as not fit to be heard, the properties were voted; and the +majority, highly gratified at having their own way, gave _carte-blanche_ +to their officers to do what they thought right, and for the credit of +the society. Accordingly, flags and banners of portentous size, together +with sashes, scarfs, and satin aprons, all inlaid with the crest of the +Charitable Chums--an open hand, with a purse of money in it--were +manufactured at the order of the secretary, and consigned in magnificent +profusion to the care of Mr Bowley, to be in readiness for the grand +demonstration. A monster banner, bearing the designation of the society +in white letters upon a ground of flame-coloured silk, hung on the +morning of the day from the parapet of Bowley's house, and obscured the +good 'Mother Bunch,' as she swung upon her hinges, in its fluttering +folds. The procession, which went off in irreproachable style, was +followed by a dinner at Highbury Barn, at which above a thousand members +sat down to table; and after which, thanks were voted to the different +officers of the club; and, in addition thereto, a gold snuff-box, with +an appropriate inscription, was presented to Mr Nogoe, for his +unparalleled exertions in the sacred cause of humanity, as represented +by their society. + +The jovial Whitsuntide soon passed away, and so did the summer, and the +autumn was not long in following; and then came the cold winds, and +fogs, and hoar-frost of November. The autumn had been sickly with +fevers, and Dr Dosem, the club's medical man, had had more cases of +typhus to deal with than he found at all pleasant or profitable, +considering the terms upon which he had undertaken the physicking of the +Charitable Chums. He was heard to say, that it took a deal of drugs to +get the fever out of them; and that, though he worked harder than any +horse, he yet lost more of his patients than he had fair reason to +expect. With nearly fifteen thousand members, the deaths in the club +became alarmingly frequent. Nogoe, as he took snuff out of his gold box, +shrugged his shoulders at the rapid disappearance of the funds, as one +ten-pound cheque after another was handed over to the disconsolate +widows. His uneasiness was not at all alleviated by the reception of a +bill of two hundred and fifty pounds for properties, &c. among which +stood his snuff-box, set down at thirty-five guineas, upon which he +knew, for he had tried, that no pawnbroker would lend ten pounds. He +called a special council of all the officers of the club, and laid the +state of affairs before them. The first thing they did, was to pass a +vote for the immediate payment of the property bills; a measure which is +hardly to be wondered at, if we take into account that they were +themselves the creditors. The treasurer handed them a cheque for the +amount; and then, apprising them that there was now, with claims daily +increasing, less than two hundred pounds in hand, which must of +necessity be soon exhausted, demanded their advice. They advised a +reissue of prospectuses and advertisements; which being carried into +effect at the cost of a hundred pounds, brought a shoal of fresh +applicants, with their entrance-money, and for the moment relieved the +pressure upon the exchequer. + +But when the November fogs brought the influenza, and a hundred of the +members were thrown upon their backs and the fund at once; when it +became necessary to engage additional medical assistance; and when, in +spite of unremitting energy in the departments of prospectusing, +puffing, and personal canvassing, the money leaked out five times as +fast as it came in, then Mr Nogoe began to find his position peculiarly +unpleasant, and anything but a bed of roses. With 'fourscore odd' of +sick members yet upon the books--with five deaths and three half-deaths +unpaid--and the epidemic yet in full force, he beheld an unwholesome +December threatening a continuation of sickness and mortality, and a +balance at the banker's hardly sufficient to pay his own quarter's +salary. Again he calls his colleagues together, and states the +deplorable condition of affairs. The representatives of the five +deceased members, whom Nogoe has put off from time to time on various +ingenious pretences, having become aware of the meeting, burst in upon +their deliberations, and after an exchange of no very complimentary +remonstrances, backed by vehement demands for immediate payment, are +with difficulty induced to withdraw, while the committee enter upon the +consideration of their cases. Nogoe produces his budget, from the +examination of which it appears, that if they are paid in full, there +will remain in the hands of the bankers, to meet the demands of the +'fourscore odd' sick members, the sum of 4s. 7d. What is to be done? is +now the question. A speechification of three hours, during which every +member of the committee is heard in his turn, helps them to no other +expedient than that of a subscription for the widows, and a renewed +agitation, by means of the press and the bill-sticker, to re-establish +the funds by the collection of fresh fees and entrance-money. The +subscription, the charge of which is confided to a deputy, authorised to +collect voluntary donations from the various lodges about town, turns +out a failure: the widows, who want their ten pounds each, disgusted at +the offer of a few shillings, flock in a body to the nearest sitting +magistrate, and clamorously lay their case before his worship, who +gravely informs them, that the Charitable Chums' Benefit Society being +duly enrolled according to Act of Parliament, he can render them no +assistance, as he is not authorised to interfere with their proceedings. + +In the face of this exposure, the agitation for cramming the society +down the throats of the public goes on more desperately than ever. By +this means, Mr Nogoe manages to hold on till Christmas, and then +pocketing his salary, resigns his office in favour of Mr Dunderhead, who +has hitherto figured as honorary Vice-Something, and who enters upon +office with a gravity becoming the occasion. Under his management, +affairs are soon brought to a stand-still. Notwithstanding his profound +faith in the capabilities of the Charitable Chums, and his settled +conviction that their immense body must embrace the elements of +stability, his whole course is but one rapid descent down to the verge, +and headlong over the precipice, of bankruptcy. The dismal announcement +of 'no effects,' first breathed in dolorous confidence at the bedsides +of the sick, soon takes wind. All the C.C.s in London are aghast and +indignant at the news; and the 'Mother Bunch' is nightly assailed by +tumultuous crowds of angry members, clamorous for justice and +restitution. The good lady who hangs over the doorway, in nowise abashed +at the multitude, receives them all with open arms. Indignation is as +thirsty as jollity, and to their thirst at least she can administer, if +she cannot repair their wrongs. Nogoe has vanished from the locality of +the now thriving inn and tavern of his friend Mr Peter Bowley, and in +the character of a scapegoat, is gone forth to what point of the compass +nobody exactly knows. The last account of him is, that he had gone to +the Isle of Man, where he endeavoured to get up a railway on the +Exhaustive Principle, but without effect. As for that excellent +individual, Bowley, he appears among the diddled and disconsolate Chums +in the character of a martyr to their interests. A long arrear of rent +is due to him, as well as a lengthy bill for refreshments to the various +committees, for which he might, if he chose, attach the properties in +his keeping. He scorns such an ungentlemanly act, and freely gives them +up; but as nobody knows what to do with them, as, if they were sold, +they would not yield a farthing each to the host of members, they remain +rolled up in his garret, and are likely to remain till they rot, the +sole memorials of a past glory. + +The Charitable Chums' Benefit Society has fulfilled its destiny, and +answered the end of its creation. It has made the world acquainted with +the undeniable merits of 'Mother Bunch,' and encircled that modest +matron with a host of bibulous and admiring votaries; it has elevated +Bowley from the class of struggling and desponding speculators, to a +substantial and influential member of the Licensed Victuallers' Company: +it has at once vastly improved the colour of his nose and the aspect of +his bank-account; and while he complacently fingers the cash which it +has caused to flow in a continual current into his pocket, he looks +remarkably well in the character of chief mourner over its untimely +fate. + + + + +LA ROSIERE. + + +About twelve miles from Paris is situated the pretty vernal hamlet of +Maisons Lafitte. It hangs around the Chateau Lafitte--a princely +residence, formerly the property and dwelling of the well-known banker +of that name, but for many years past in other hands. In front of the +chateau, a broad avenue of greensward strikes straight away through a +thick forest, extending many miles across the country; and parallel with +the front of the building is an avenue still broader, but not so +long--La Grande Allee--wherein the various _fetes_ of the hamlet are +celebrated, and which, moreover, forms a principal scene in the +following narrative. + +Before the Revolution of 1793, the name of Gostillon was familiar as a +daily proverb to the people of Maisons. There were three or four +branches of the family living in the neighbourhood, and well known as +industrious and respectable members of the peasant class. When the +earthquake comes, however, the cottage is as much imperiled as the +palace; so the events which brought Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette to +the block, and sent panic into every court in Europe, also broke up and +dispersed the humble house of Gostillon. In the awful confusion of the +times, some were slain upon barricades; some sent hither and thither +with the army, to perish in La Vendee or elsewhere; and some fled to +seek safety and peace in foreign lands. Thus it came to pass, that at +length there were only three females in Maisons--a widow and her two +daughters--bearing the once common name. Mme Veuve Gostillon managed to +obtain a living by cultivating a small garden--the flowers and fruit +from which she sold in the markets of Paris--and by plying her needle. +Her daughters were named Julia and Cecilia, and there was the somewhat +remarkable difference of eight years between their ages. + +Just as Julia had reached her fourteenth year, and little Cecilia her +sixth, a terrible misfortune happened to the industrious widow: a stroke +of paralysis deprived her of the use of her limbs, and rendered her +unable longer to maintain herself and little family by the labour of her +hands. A time of severe distress ensued for this remnant of the once +numerous and hearty family of the Gostillons; but it was only for +awhile. Julia--shrewd, spirited, and industrious--worked night and day +to perform the labour heretofore the portion of her parent, and to +liquidate the extraordinary expenses of the poor widow's sad illness, +and the derangement consequent thereupon. Steady assiduity seldom fails +of success. It was not long before she had the satisfaction of finding +matters proceeding in a somewhat straightforward manner--doctor's bills +paid; arrears of rent, such as they were, made up; and the little +business in flowers, fruit, and needle-work proceeding smoothly and +satisfactorily. There is much attractiveness in the virtue and +good-behaviour of youth; and Julia, handsome, intelligent, modest, and +sweet-tempered, soon became the favourite of all who knew her. + +The peasantry of France have, from ancient times, maintained the custom +of publicly demonstrating their esteem of any young female member of a +community, who, in her progress from childhood to adolescence, or rather +to womanhood, may have given evidence of the possession of any unusual +amount of amiability and cleverness. Young girls who are deemed worthy +of public recognition as examples of virtue and industry, are waited +upon by the villagers on a fete-day, led forth, seated on a throne of +flowers, crowned with roses, blessed by the _cure_, and presented with +the honourable title of _La Rosiere_. The custom is graceful and +poetical; and the world hardly presents a more charming spectacle--at +once so simple and so touching--as the installation of a _rosiere_ in +some sequestered village of France. The associations connected with it +are pure and bright enough for a Golden Age. All who take part in the +little ceremony are humble people, living by their labour; the queen of +the day is queen by reason of her industry and virtue; they who do her +such becoming and encouraging homage, old and young, lead lowly and +toilsome lives, and yet have the innate grace thus to evince their +reverence for the best qualities of human nature. The pageantry of +courts, and pompous crowning of kings and queens, grand and splendid as +they are, have not such spiritual fragrance as these village +queen-makings; soft glimmerings and shinings-through of the light of a +better world--a world with which man, let conventionality disguise him +as it may, always has some sympathies. + +For three years, the exemplary Julia had continued to support her +helpless parent and little sister, when, in accordance with this custom, +the good folks of the hamlet determined to shew their appreciation of +her estimable qualities at the next fete, by crowning her with roses, +and enthroning her with the usual ceremony in the Grande Allee. In the +meantime, Victor Colonne, son of the steward of the chateau, happened to +pay a visit to the poor widow's cottage; and thereafter he came again, +and again, and again, courting Julia Gostillon. + +But Victor and Julia were not made for each other. He was thriftless, +idle, dissolute--the small _roue_ of the neighbourhood: she was careful, +industrious, virtuous. He was good-looking--of a dark, saturnine beauty, +insidiously impressive, like the dangerous charms of a tempter; she was +radiant and lustrous with the sweet graces of modesty, innocence, and +intelligence. Julia, however, young and susceptible, was for a time +pleased with his attentions. Persuasive powers of considerable potency, +and personal attractions of no mean sort, were not exerted and +prostrated at her feet entirely in vain. Ingenuous, trustful, and +inexperienced, she listened to the charmer with a yielding and delighted +ear, and was happy as long as she perceived nothing but sincerity and +love. It was but for a time, however. The Widow Gostillon liked not her +daughter's lover. Of more mature perception, of sharper skill in reading +character than her child, she conceived a deep distrust of the airy +smile and studied gallantry of Victor Colonne. She took counsel with +matrons old and circumspect as herself; made herself acquainted with +Victor's history; watched his looks, listened to his words narrowly and +scrutinisingly; and, day by day, felt more and more strongly that she +liked him not--that there was mischief in his restless eye and soft +musical voice. She communicated her fears to Julia, told her the history +of her suitor, and bade her be on her guard. Julia was startled and +distressed. These suspicions checked the brightness and little glory of +her life, and settled wanly and hazily on her soul, like damp breath on +a mirror. But they served as points of departure for daily thoughts. +Looks and words were watched, and weighed, and pondered over with +wistful studiousness; and while Victor believed his conquest to be +achieved, his increasing assurance and gradual abandonment of disguise +were alienating him from the object of his pursuit. Julia had +accompanied him on different occasions to the chateau; been presented to +his father; and had been seen, admired, and kindly spoken to by the +Comtesse Meurien and her daughters. Victor had lost no opportunity of +strengthening his suit by stimulating her ambition and pride; but it was +without avail. Though pleased for a time, she soon discovered that he +was cold, heartless, and even dissolute. The intimacy betwixt them was +fast relapsing into indifference, and, on her side, into dislike, when a +certain _denouement_ of Master Victor's notorious love-makings, +accompanied by disgraceful circumstances, determined her to put an end +to it, once and for all. + +'So you are determined?' exclaimed he with ill-restrained anger, as she +repeated her resolve to him for the fourth or fifth time. + +'Yes: I will have nothing more to say to you,' replied she firmly. + +'Then my father and his reverence the cure may lose all hopes of me!' +returned he bitterly. 'I have done much ill--I own it: I have won no +one's esteem: I have been idle, irregular, profligate. But wherefore? +Because I have had no one to care for me. Since my mother died, I have +been left to myself, with no kind hand to guide me, no kind tongue to +warn me: what wonder that youth should go astray?' + +'No one to care for you!' exclaimed Julia, not without a tinge of +sarcasm. 'Do not your father and monsieur the cure do their utmost for +you?' + +'The one reproves, and the other prays for me,' said Victor, with a +derisive smile; then turning to Julia, with a face in which penitence, +respect, and affection were well simulated, he exclaimed: 'but thou, +dear Julia, art the sovereign of my soul! in whose hand my fate is +placed. It is for you to shape my destiny: will you award me love or +perdition? At your bidding, no honourable deed shall be too high to mark +my obedience.' + +'Then return to Marie Buren, and redeem the promise you made her,' +exclaimed Julia warmly. + +'Nay, sweet Julia, if my priestess bids me turn away from heaven, I am +justified in protesting. Hope is the spring whence good and great works +flow. Bid me despair, and you bid me seek ruin.' + +'Pooh! pooh!' exclaimed the young girl with contempt. 'I am plain Julia +Gostillon, who loves frankness and honour. You have neither one nor +other, and so I love you not; and again and again I repeat it, I will +have nothing more to say to you.' + +Though the persevering Victor continued the colloquy, and exerted +himself to the utmost, sparing neither vows nor tears, Julia remained +firm. At last, seeing that his case was hopeless, he changed his tone +into one of sorrowful resignation--declared that honest frankness was a +great virtue, and that it was well they had discovered that their +affection was not reciprocal; and, in conclusion, begged the wearied +Julia to accompany him that night to the chateau for the last time, for +the purpose of explaining to his father, who might otherwise be troubled +with suspicions, that their courtship was broken off by mutual consent. +After much persuasion, Julia consented, and accordingly paid her last +visit to the chateau that same evening. + +A few days after this occurrence, the 15th of June arrived, the day of +the fete. On the preceding evening, unknown to the good Julia, a score +of light-hearted girls were weaving garlands of flowers, and preparing +the crown of roses, in the house of neighbour Morelle; in that of +neighbour Bontemps another gay party were industriously ornamenting a +wooden throne with coverings, hangings, and cushions of +brightest-coloured flowers; and half the people of the hamlet were +thinking of Julia, and preparing bouquets, pincushions, caps, and +various little trifles, to present to her on the morrow. + +In due course the morrow came. The summer sun had not risen many hours, +when troops of bright-eyed girls, lustrous with rosy cheeks, braided +hair, snow-white gowns, and streaming ribbons, went, tripping beneath +the trees, towards the cottage of Widow Gostillon. After them came bands +of youths and boys, and anon men and matrons, and the elders of the +place, till nearly all the little community was gathered round the +house. Early as it was, Julia had risen, and was at work. She had had +her own pleasant anticipations of the fete--though she had not heard +that a _rosiere_ was to be crowned, much less that the honour was in +store for herself--and had intended, by commencing some hours earlier +than usual, to have done her work so much the sooner, that she might +share the pleasures of the festal day. But all thoughts of work were +quickly banished by her eager visitors, who, touched even by the fact, +that they had found her busy at the time when all were holiday-making, +embraced her, praised her, bade her prepare for coronation, wept, +laughed, chatted, clapped their hands, jumped, danced, and made such a +bustle, that Widow Gostillon, in some consternation, cried out from her +chamber to know what was the matter. And the poor widow wept, too, when +she discovered what was going on--wept solemnly in thinking over Julia's +fidelity to herself, her industry, cleverness, self-denial, sweetness, +and, as a proud mother might, of her beauty. And presently the +neighbours brought forth the poor invalid in her chair, and placed her +on a pleasant spot beneath the trees, whence she might behold the +installation. Then Julia retired with those appointed to be her +attendants--her tiring-women, the ladies of her court; and when, some +time after, she came forth, blushing and trembling, and with happy tears +upon her face, wearing her simple holiday dress of white muslin, +ornamented, in charming style, with wreaths of roses, the cries of 'Vive +la rosiere!' might have been heard a long way off. + +A little while, and sounds of music and of many voices filled the Grande +Allee. The long rows of booths and marquees, dancing-rooms, gymnasiums, +toy-tables, _bonbon_ tables, fruit-stalls, &c. &c. were surrounded by +busy crowds: all was activity and cheerfulness. In a large open space in +the midst, a short distance from the front of the chateau, the flowery +throne, gorgeous in variety and vividness of colours, was set up on a +dais on the greensward. The band of celebrants, with Julia and her train +in their midst, advanced. Little Cecilia walked by her sister's side, +hand in hand, in proud surprise. Before them, an aged peasant marched +solemnly, bareheaded save for his silver hair, carrying the crown +destined for Julia; and with him, also bareheaded, the cure. A +benediction, accompanied by a prayer that the metaphorical ceremony +might have some influence in attracting the youthful people present to +the practice and pursuit of virtue, having been uttered by the priest, +Julia was handed to the throne, and the crown of roses was placed upon +her head by the white-haired veteran. A sweet chorus was then +chanted--_Vive, vive la rosiere_!--in the melodious verses of which the +signification of the ceremonial and the praises of the fete-queen were +recited. + +Thus far matters had proceeded happily, when the attention of the gay +party was attracted by the apparition of a commissaire of police, who, +marching up with the aspect of a man having important and disagreeable +business to perform, exclaimed: '_Eh, bien!_ we are merry to-day! Accept +my best wishes for your enjoyment. Can you tell me, friends, where I am +likely to find a fair _demoiselle_--one Julia, daughter of Mme Veuve +Gostillon?' + +'_Voila_, monsieur!' cried several, much surprised. 'Our _rosiere_ is +she!' + +'Ah, what a fate is mine!' muttered the worthy commissaire, much +affected, as he looked at the beautiful and rose-wreathed Julia. 'If I +had ten thousand francs, I would give them all to be spared this work: +but duty is duty. Courage! all may yet be well. Friends,' continued he, +raising his voice, 'excuse me if I interrupt you some few minutes. I +would not do it were I not bound to. It will be necessary for Mlle +Julia to accompany me to her home. I trust we shall not be absent long.' +He raised his cap, offered his arm; and Julia, amazed and frightened, +descended from her throne, and conducted him to the cottage. + +'Pardon, mademoiselle,' said he, when they stood inside; 'I am +instructed to search this house.' Julia, puzzled, confounded, bowed +assent. + +The commissaire proceeded, with a hasty hand, as if he wished to get the +work quickly over, to ransack drawers and boxes. Whenever one or the +other had been searched in vain, he clapped his hand to his breast and +muttered: 'God be thanked!' and appeared as if his mind were in some +measure relieved of a burden which oppressed it. At length he arrived at +Julia's chamber--here, as elsewhere, drawers and boxes seemed to present +no signs of the object sought for: the thanksgivings of the commissaire +were frequent; his cheerfulness appeared to be returning. Presently, +however, he proceeded to turn out the contents of Julia's little +reticule-basket: first came a pocket-handkerchief, on the corners of +which flowers had been wrought by Julia's needle. 'Very pretty!' +remarked the commissaire. Then appeared a number of slips of rare +plants, recently collected. 'Ah! you are a botanist?' said the +commissaire. + +'They are from the conservatory of the Comte Meurien, at the chateau: I +meant to have planted them to-day,' said Julia. + +'Who gave them to you?' + +'Mme Lavine, the _femme de chambre_.' + +'Ah, _diable_! I hope you have nothing else from that chateau?' + +'I have nothing else,' replied Julia, blushing, and somewhat +discomposed, as she remembered Victor. + +'What is the matter?--why are you agitated?' demanded the commissaire, +regarding her fixedly. + +'It is nothing,' said poor Julia, much distressed by his stern and +scrutinising look. + +'Nothing? I fear it is something! Alas! I begin to lose hope.' + +'Hope of what?' asked Julia wonderingly. + +'Of your innocence!' replied the commissaire sternly. + +'Mon Dieu! What do you mean?' + +'Ah, restez tranquille, pauvre demoiselle; nous verrons toute-suite.' +And with a shrug, he continued his investigation of the contents of the +reticule-basket. It contained a great variety of little knick-knacks, +which, with much patience, the commissaire turned out and examined, one +by one. At length he came to a little parcel, the paper-envelope of +which appeared to be part of an old letter, and was thickly covered with +writing. It was one of Victor's letters. Julia blushed again. + +'What have we here?' demanded the constable. + +'I forget what there is inside,' said Julia. 'I hardly knew it was +there.' + +'Let us see.' + +He opened two or three wrappers--the portion of the letter formed the +outside one, the others being blank white paper--and there fell out, +descending upon the table with a sharp jingle, a pair of gold bracelets, +ornamented with pearls and turquoises, a superb coral necklace, and a +diamond ring. + +'Mademoiselle!' exclaimed the commissaire, whose face appeared to lose +all flexibility of expression the moment the discovery was made, +presenting now merely the stern, impassible, mechanical look of an +officer on duty, 'these are the identical articles for which I have been +searching for the last three days. Will you be good enough to change +your dress as quickly as possible, and prepare to accompany me to the +office of M. Morelle, magistrate of this district?' + +At this juncture, the Widow Gostillon was conveyed back to her cottage +by some of her neighbours, with little Cecilia by her side. Entering +Julia's chamber, her young friends found her in a swoon, from which the +commissaire was assiduously endeavouring to recover her. A scene of a +most painful character ensued. Without afflicting the reader with a +recital of the agonised and indignant protestations of Julia--the anger +and affright of Widow Gostillon--the sorrow, sympathy, and amazement of +the villagers--suffice it to say, that the commissaire, in the course of +the morning, conducted Julia into the presence of the magistrate. + +It appears that the articles of bijouterie found in Julia's reticule had +been missed from the chamber of Mlle Antoinette Meurien the very +morning after Julia visited Victor's father at the chateau. The young +lady had seen them on her toilette early the preceding evening, and had +not worn them for some days, so that she could not have lost them whilst +walking or riding. It was evident they had been abstracted. A search was +instantly commenced. The domestics were examined, and their rooms and +boxes searched, but without either finding the property or fixing +suspicion on any one of them. The police were then apprised of the +robbery. The servants of the household underwent a second and official +examination, but all earnestly declared their innocence. It being +ascertained, however, that Julia had visited the house the night on +which the property was lost, an order was issued, commanding that her +residence be searched, and that she be brought before the authorities. +Among the witnesses who proved Julia's visit to the chateau was Victor +Colonne. In mingled affliction and indignation, he answered the +questions put to him, and declared that she who had but lately been the +object of his ardent affection was the very soul of honour and purity. A +lengthened examination elicited from him that he had conducted Julia to +the chamber of Mlle Antoinette, for the purpose of shewing her the +superb manner in which it was furnished and decorated. She had stepped +up to the toilette, he admitted, and had surveyed herself, as was very +natural, in the glass, but it was only for a moment; he was close to her +all the time, and indeed they hardly remained in the chamber two +minutes: they entered, looked round, and retired, and that was all. It +was true, he did not keep his eyes on his companion all the time; but +had she taken anything, he could not have failed seeing the act. + +A general impression prevailed among the people at the chateau that +Julia was innocent; that it was impossible for one so virtuous and +intelligent to commit so disgraceful and rash a theft. Indeed, the tide +of suspicion had been fast turning against Victor himself, when it +received a new direction by the discovery of the missing articles in +Julia's reticule. Another examination ensued, the distracted Julia, as +has been stated, being herself brought into the presence of the +magistrate. In intense affliction, she declared her innocence: that she +knew not how the articles had got into her reticule; she had not put +them there; did not know they were there; had, indeed, never touched +them at all. The portion of the letter in which they had been wrapped +was handed to her, and she was questioned concerning it. 'It was part of +a letter,' she said, 'which had been addressed to her by Victor +Colonne.' She remembered receiving it; but by what means it came to be +applied to its present purpose, she did not at all know. M. Morelle +sternly bade her tell the truth, and conceal nothing; it would be better +for her. In great agony, she earnestly reiterated what she had said. It +was useless; the evidence against her was too strong to be shaken by +merely her own denial. Moreover, the commissaire of police, in +delivering his evidence, laid much emphasis upon the embarrassment and +distress she had evinced whilst he was searching the little basket in +which the articles were found. + +The case was on the point of being decided against her, when, by what +may be termed a providential interposition, the tables were suddenly +turned, and she was rescued from the jail, from infamy, and perhaps from +death! A young girl, one of the domestics at the chateau, having +examined the portion of the letter which formed a link in the +circumstantial evidence, produced from her pocket another fragment, +which exactly fitted to the first, and made the letter complete! With +much curiosity, and indeed excitement, all listened eagerly to what she +had to say. She stated that the fragment she produced, which formed the +remainder of the torn letter wrapped round the stolen articles, she had +picked up in the garden of the chateau, where it had been dropped by +Victor. Julia's reticule had been left on a seat under a tree; the +witness saw Victor open it, and take out a letter. He did not know she +was at hand; indeed, could not see her. He tore the letter into two +pieces: he appeared agitated. One piece of the letter dropped to the +ground, the other he did something with which she could not perceive, +and replaced in the reticule. When he was gone, she picked up the +fragment which had fallen; and seeing it was part of a love-letter, full +of warm protests, &c. she put it into her pocket, intending, she said, +to joke him about it. A few minutes more, Julia came by, took up her +reticule, and went home, declining Victor's company, though he requested +permission to escort her. + +Hereupon, Victor was immediately submitted to a severe re-examination. +Aghast at the disclosure just made; abashed at the many angry eyes +directed towards him; harassed by the searching questions of the +magistrate, and the sense of guilt, his assurance and hypocrisy +completely deserted him; and, after equivocating and protesting for some +time, he sullenly confessed all. Discarded by Julia: he had attempted to +effect her ruin! + +The good little Julia was almost as much overcome by the overwhelming +emotions which now possessed her, as she was at the miserable position +in which malignity had so lately placed her. Whilst Victor was being +conveyed to the jail, where he was to suffer the punishment due to his +villainy, Julia was conducted home to her now rejoicing parent, amidst +the congratulations, caresses, and praises, of troops of friends. The +day after her acquittal, the throne was again set up in the Grande +Allee, and the ovation to her industry and virtues was completed in +triumphant fashion. The Meurien family, feeling deeply the injury she +had suffered, gave their presence at her inauguration, and afterwards +did many a friendly act for her. She is now as industrious and charming, +and as much respected as ever, though no more Julia Gostillon, but +Madame Vichel--being the wife of a thriving herbalist of that name. As +for Victor, he has not been seen at Maisons since. + + + + +RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF WILD-FLOWERS. + +EARLY MONTHS OF THE YEAR. + + +A ramble in search of wild-flowers in January would be pretty much +'labour in vain;' at least so far as that one special object was +concerned. I do not mean to say that all nature is dead at that season, +for there are mosses, lichens, and fungi to be found in abundance; but +flowers, in the ordinary meaning of the word, are not to be found, +unless we consider those brilliant frostwork flowers which we sometimes +find as such. It was a season unusually cold for Devonshire, when, with +a merry party of boys and girls, I sallied forth to see how nature +looked decked in her robe of virgin white. Hill and valley were one +sheet of 'innocent snow;' and every twig, leaf, and blade of grass; +every spray of the furze and heath; and every broad, drooping leaf of +that beautiful fern the hart's tongue (_Scolopendrium vulgare_), was +coated with hoar-frost, and sparkling in the rosy sunbeams like the +flowers in a magic garden. At Sherbrook Lake, where a rivulet of clear +water usually flows along the bottom of the ravine down to the sea, +there was now a hard mass of ice, on which our boys rushed for a passing +slide; and above, where the deeper water lies under the shadow of the +brushwood, the frost had been busy performing its frolic feats-- + + 'And see where it has hung th' embroidered banks + With forms so various that no powers of art, + The pencil, or the pen, may trace the scene! + Here glittering turrets rise, upbearing high + (Fantastic misarrangement!) on the roof + Large growth of what may seem the sparkling trees + And shrubs of fairyland. The crystal drops, + That trickle down the branches, fast congealed, + Shoot into pillars of pellucid length, + And prop the pile they but adorned before. + Here grotto within grotto safe defies + The sunbeam; there, embossed and fretted wild, + The growing wonder takes a thousand shapes + Capricious, in which fancy seeks in vain + The likeness of some object seen before.' + +From the beautiful beacon cliff--to which we eagerly toil through the +snow, and up and down the slippery hill-sides--we behold the sea as +still and smiling as in summer, and as clearly reflecting the exquisite +blue of the vault above; but each of the many little rills which the +long rains preceding the frost had caused to flow over the face of the +red cliffs, is now a stationary thread of silver, spell-bound by the +enchaining frost; and icicles, or, as old-fashioned people call them, +_aglets_, of three or four feet long, ornament the overhanging ledges, +prone to fall to the beach--far, far below--when a thaw releases them +from their present stations. But the air is so very keen that nothing +but the briskness of our walk, and the enlivenment of an occasional +spell of snow-balling, in which the seniors are tempted to join the +juniors, prevent our stagnating into 'pellucid pillars' ourselves. So +much, then, for our January ramble. The season of which I have now to +speak was most different. After unusual cold, especially after snow, it +is not uncommon to see an early spring appear, and so it was now, as +Spenser says-- + + 'The fields did laugh, the flowers did freshly spring, + The trees did bud, and early blossoms bore;' + +and so warm was it one day towards the end of February, and the air so +sweet, that I resolved on having 'Jack' and sallying forth in search of +wild-flowers--not flowers of frostwork, but real spring jewels. + +On this excursion, I thought it expedient to take Fanny, which, though a +somewhat stubborn little beast of burden; yet so bent was I on seeing +the sweet spring-like hedges and banks, that I agreed to endure Fanny; +and at the given time on her I mounted, and after much persuasion, got +her under-weigh: the boy George bringing up the rear. + +And now on we go, Fanny rather tiresome, and George rather merciless; +for when she _will_ poke her head into the hedge, and stand stock-still +to eat, or, worse still, suddenly push up against a stone-wall, to the +imminent danger of crushing my foot to pieces, he thumps and pushes her +till the echoes in Echo Lane reverberate with the unpoetical sound. +However, on we go by degrees, and find the banks everywhere rich with +fresh springing grass and deep full beds of moss, with every here and +there the pale lemon-tinted petals of the primrose just peeping through +the partial openings in their shrouding mantles of green; and there, +above us, hangs that which I had hoped to find--the catkins of the +hazel, which have been hailed by children for centuries under the names +of 'Pussy-cat's tails,' or 'Baa-lamb's tails;' and a more interesting +flower for examination as we pass onwards we can scarcely have, for its +structure is very peculiar and beautiful. We will gather a good bunch of +these pretty pendent tassel-like clusters; and see! as we break off the +stems, what a shower of gold-dust is scattered over us, and flies in all +directions through the air! So abundant is this yellow pollen beneath +the scales of the catkins, that we shall find, if we place them in our +moss-basket, that the table below them will be coated with it in the +course of an hour or two. The common hazel or nut-tree affords a fine +illustration of the structure of that division of plants to which most +of our common European trees belong, and which, from its including the +oak, is called 'the oak-tribe.' I shall not, however, expatiate on the +hazel, the pride of our old copse-banks, but look beneath its long +slender branches, and there, lurking modestly, do I see that pretty +little yellow flower, the lesser celandine (_Ficaria verna_.) Every one +knows this little early blossom by sight, if not by name. Its root is +formed of numerous clustering tubercles, or oblong knobs, with fibres. +This root is sometimes washed by the rain until these tubercles appear +above ground, when, as Loudon tells us, 'ignorant people have sometimes +been led to fancy that it rained _wheat_.' The celandine has +slightly-branched stems, two or three inches in height, on which grow +alternate stalked heart-shaped leaves, sheathed at the base, where they +sometimes contain one or two knobs like those of the root. The flowers, +which are terminal and solitary, are much like a butter-cup--of a golden +yellow, and exceedingly shining within, and tinged with green on the +outsides. 'After the flowre decays,' says Gerarde, 'there springeth up +a little fine knop or headful of seede.' This head of seed alone is left +by about May to mark where the plant grew; and even this soon dries up +and disappears. Wordsworth has thrown an interest about this plant, +which it would not otherwise have possessed, by his elegant little poem +called _The Lesser Celandine_. + +Here and there, also, in the more sheltered spots, we find a blossom or +two of the pretty pink herb Robert (_Geranium Robertianum_), with its +hairy red stems, and divided leaves, and star-shaped blossoms of bright +rose-colour; or an early plant of the ground-ivy (_Glechoma hederacea_) +gemming the ground with its purple, labiate flowers on the sunny bank +beneath the underwood, luring one for a moment to believe that the sweet +purple violets were already come: vain hope! which not only the season +but the place forbids; for though I have found _white_ violets near the +scene of these excursions, in the south of England, yet I believe the +sweet-scented purple do not grow in that neighbourhood. In a late +ramble, there was a spot which I was eager to reach; for there I knew +that I should find + + 'Chaste snow-drop, venturous harbinger of spring, + And pensive monitor of fleeting years.' + +This pretty well-known flower, sometimes called Fair Maid of February +(_Galanthus Nivalis_), belongs to the same natural order as the daffodil +and narcissus--the _Amaryllideae_. Gerarde calls it 'the timely flouring +bulbous violet,' and thus graphically describes it: 'It riseth out of +the ground,' says he, 'with two small leaves flat and crested, of an +overworne greene colour, betweene the which riseth up a small and tender +stalk of two hands high; at the top whereof commeth forth of a skinny +hood a small white floure of the bignesse of a violet compact of six +leaves, three bigger and three lesser, tipped at the points with a light +greene; the smaller one fashioned into the vulgar forme of a heart, and +prettily edged about with greene; the other three leaves are longer and +sharp-pointed. The whole floure hangeth downe his head by reason of the +weak footstalk whereon it groweth. The root is small, white, and +bulbous.' It is one of the earliest flowers which appear, and may often +be seen bursting through the snow, the virgin white of its petals by no +means shamed by the lustrous purity of its cold bed. It has no calyx; +six stamens; the filaments short and hair-like; the anthers oblong, with +a bristly point, and one pistil, the style being cylindrical, and longer +than the stamens. The capsule, which is nearly globular, contains three +cells, in which are numerous globular seeds. It is found in orchards, +meadows, and the sides of hedges, and named from two Greek words +signifying 'milk' and 'a flower.' + +And now we reach the orchard: but how am I to get in? There is nothing +for it but a scramble up that bank round the root of that old oak, whose +gnarled boles will afford me footing, and it will be easy to descend on +the other side; and so, with a few slips, I contrived to land in safety +among the long, tangled grass, and broken branches of apple-trees, +richly clothed with lichens, mosses, and fungi, in a spot which looked +as if untrodden by human foot for years. But that could not really have +been so, for no doubt the old trees had borne their usual crop of ruddy +apples, which had been duly housed. The value of an apple-orchard in +Devonshire--that land of delicious cider--is not a trifle, and our +farmers do not leave their orchards untrodden and uncared-for. This was, +however, sufficiently wild. But now for my snow-drops: there they wave +in thousands-- + + 'Like pendent flakes of vegetating snow-- + The early heralds of the infant year--' + +in every stage of beauty, from the hint that a tiny spot of green and +white, bursting through the dark earth, might give, to the +fully-developed blossoms, hanging lightly on its graceful stalks, robed +in its vestal garb of white, and shedding its own peculiar fragrance on +the pure air. I gathered large supplies--enough to make me the envy of +all the lovers of spring-flowers whom I met; enough to fill my +moss-basket, and vases, and glasses without end for myself; and enough +to send a feeling of spring brightness and joy into the hearts of two or +three invalids, to whose sick-rooms I sent some of these pretty +messengers. + +Somewhat draggled with the wet grass, and muddied with the slippery +hedge-bank, I at last returned to the lane where I had left Fanny. +However, there was no one but George to notice my appearance, and he was +too much taken up with the basket of fine roots which he had procured +(be sure always to take a trowel and basket with you on such +expeditions), to care how I looked; and, besides, as 'no man is a hero +to his valet,' so no lady is a fine lady to her donkey-boy; and +homewards we turned, threading our way between the overarching trees, +not as yet shewing sign of leaf; but their richly-tinted bark, varied by +mosses and lichens of different hues, and partly mantled with ivy, now +in full berry, looked almost as beautiful, as the sunbeams fell on them, +and the blue sky shone between, as they do in their summer verdure. + +On we jogged, Fanny well pleased to be on her homeward course; until at +last, coming to a cross-way which would have either led us straight home +or taken us thither by a little circuit, I, lured by the desire of +seeing whether the daffodils began to shew blossom, resolved on the +latter road, not duly considering that perhaps _she_ had decided on the +former. But so it was; and, notwithstanding sundry stripes, her will +remained unsubdued, as she presently evinced. After we had gone a little +way up a lovely sunny lane--slowly indeed, for she was evidently as +perverse as she could be, yet with much enjoyment on my part--I was +gazing upwards at some delicate white clouds, which a light breeze +wafted across the face of the sky, or watching some bird in its flight, +when suddenly I felt the jogging onwards cease, a slight undulating +motion, and found that my feet were on the ground. Fanny had lain down +in the dust, and I had but to rise as I would from a low chair to be +standing quietly by her side. George dared to grin, and there were two +or three country-people who happened to be passing at the time, who were +convulsed with laughter at my expense--a laughter in which I could not +but heartily join. How much has fancy to do with such things! How grand +is the idea of a camel or an elephant meekly kneeling down to receive or +deposit its load! how dignified I should have felt had I thus descended +from one of those noble animals! whilst this mode of being deposited by +a poor little donkey made us all laugh! Truly, 'there is but a step +between the sublime and the ridiculous;' and my adventure certainly +smacked of the latter. But Fanny had conquered; and, as if with one +stroke to confirm her victory, and to rejoice over it, she suddenly +turned over on her back, cracked the girths of the old saddle, and +rolled over and over in the dust with all four legs up in the air. This +was too much for endurance; so, leaving George to readjust the saddle as +best he might, and bring home our basket of spoils, I turned back, and +sauntered homewards with my bunch of 'timely-flouring bulbous violets' +in my hand. At Kersbrook I discovered a new treasure--one which, +however, I afterwards found to be common, although it was then unknown +to me--and it was some time before I could make out what it was. I took +it for a saxifrage, but could find nothing under that head which exactly +answered to it. It was, I at last discovered, the golden saxifrage +(_Chrysosplenium oppositifolium_) or opposite-leaved sengreen, nearly +allied to the saxifrages, and of the natural order saxifrage, but not +one of them. I found it fringing the side of the brook between the wall +and the water. It grows about four or five inches high, with branched +stems bearing very succulent, kidney-shaped leaves opposite each +other--the radicle leaves on long foot-stalks, whilst those of the +stem-leaves are much shorter. The flowers, which are of a bright +greenish-yellow, grow in small umbels; and the whole plant has a +yellowish hue. The uppermost flower in general bears ten stamens, whilst +the next boasts of but eight each. Its capsules are two-beaked, +one-celled, and two-valved, the seeds numerous and roundish. It is named +from _chrysos_, 'gold,' and _splen_, 'the spleen.' There is another +specimen much like this, of which I have spoken, _Chrysosplenium +alternitifolium_; but it is larger, handsomer, and less common. In the +Vosges this plant is much used--as our own water-cress is in +England--for a salad, under the name of _Cresson de Roche_. There is a +little flower, elegant and singular in appearance, though, as its name +indicates, not one of much splendour, which resembles the golden +saxifrage, in the peculiarity of having a different number of stamens in +its crowning floret from those of the lower ones: this is the green +moschatel (_Adoxa moschatellina), adoxa_ signifying 'inglorious.' The +flowers are pale-green, in a terminal head of five florets, the upper of +which is four-cleft, and has _eight_ stamens, the other being +five-cleft, with _ten_ stamens in each. Its fragile stem and delicate +compound leaves, and the early season at which it blossoms, give +attraction to this little plant, and make it a favourite with me. The +butter-cups are not yet in bloom; but the daisies! Oh, what store of +daisies is on every bank and in every field, and what troops of baby +children, with their little baskets, sitting on the green turf and +picking them! I do love the daisy; and indeed I much fear that I should +have been found taking part with that 'merry troop' of 'ladies decked +with daisies on the plain,' of which we read in Dryden's elegant fable +of _The Flower and the Leaf_, rather than with those wiser and more +renowned who 'chose the leaf':-- + + 'A tuft of daisies on a flowery lay + They saw; and thitherward they bent their way; + To this both knights and dames their homage made, + And due obeisance to the daisy paid. + And then the band of flutes began to play, + To which a lady sung a virelay: + And still at every close she would repeat + The burden of the song--"the daisy is so sweet."' + +The structure of the daisy has been noticed in a former paper, and its +appearance needs no description. But there is one other flower which I +meet with that must not escape us, and that is that noble plant, the +butter-bur (_Tussilago petasites_), named from a Greek word signifying a +broad covering. Its leaves, the largest produced by any British plant, +are sometimes from two to three feet across, and form a shelter for +poultry and small animals from the rain. It is a composite flower of the +sub-order _Tubulifloreae_. The large club-shaped bunch of flower comes +before the leaves are more than partially developed, and are of a +pale-purple tint, and of a most delicious fragrance, not unlike the +heliotrope. When these die off, the magnificent leaves form quite a +beautiful object in the landscape. Artists are fond of introducing them +into the foreground of their sketches, and very ornamental they are; but +they should be careful not to place them where nature never designed +they should grow, among dry hill and rock scenery, or on the +sea-coast--for they are only to be found growing in moist and shadowed +places, and usually in the vicinity of a brook, to which they form a +very apposite adornment.--But here we are at home, and there stands +Fanny at my door with her load of treasure, George having trotted her +home by a shorter cut than that which I had followed; and unless Jack or +Sam can honour me with their company the next time I go flower-picking, +I shall surely, as the Scotch say, 'ride upon shanks naiggie.' + + + + +AN EVENING IN WESTMINSTER. + + +In a drizzly afternoon at the close of January, we met by appointment at +a house in Westminster with a gentleman, who had kindly undertaken to +introduce us to a very remarkable institution in that part of the +metropolis. A walk of a few minutes through the plashy streets brought +us to a wide gateway, like the entrance to a brassfounder's yard. We +soon found ourselves in a narrow court, encumbered with building +materials and surrounded with plain brick structures, which appeared to +have either been recently erected, or to be undergoing some changes +designed to adapt them to new purposes. Everything looked plain and +homely, even to rudeness; but we, nevertheless, knew well that a heart +of humanity and noble intention beat under the rough exterior of the +place. + +Rather less than four years ago, the teacher of a ragged school in +Westminster encountered, in the course of his professional exertions, +three or four boys who had hitherto been thieves, but now expressed a +desire to leave their evil courses. Having some reason to repose faith +in their professions, and being humbly anxious to assist them in so good +a purpose, he received them into a poor garret-lodging, hired and paid +for out of his own resources. He supported them there, taught and +trained them, making himself their friend as well as their mentor, and +in time he succeeded in getting them passages to America, where they +have since prospered. Mr Nash--for such is the name of this +philanthropist of humble life--continued his benevolent exertions and +sacrifices, till various gentlemen, hearing of what he was doing, came +to his assistance. A little money being then collected, it was found +possible to take in a greater number of boys. In short, Mr Nash became +the head of a little institution for the reclaiming of criminal and +vagrant youths, which has finally become located in the yard we have +described, under the name of the London Colonial Training Institution +and Ragged Dormitory. It is still a kind of family arrangement of Mr +Nash's own, taking its character mainly from his benevolent and +self-sacrificing efforts, although drawing pecuniary support from the +public, and ostensibly graced with a list of honorary officebearers, +with the Earl of Shaftesbury at their head. + +There is a prepossessing simplicity in the whole affair. We found the +ground-floor of the new building used as a school and public room, and +the two upper floors as dormitories--nothing but brick walls whitened, +brick and deal floors--no luxury, but cleanliness and good ventilation. +The beds were mere bags of straw laid on the floor. Three plain meals +per day are given. The strictest regulations are maintained; but there +is no restraint. The inmates can leave the institution if they please. +Their coming is entirely voluntary; and, to make sure of their being +thoroughly in earnest, they are not admitted to the humble privileges of +the place, till they have lived a fortnight upon a pound of bread a day, +sleeping all the time upon bare boards. In the outer buildings, the boys +are trained to carpentry, tailoring, and shoemaking. A few are +instructed in printing: in their little office, we found one ordinary +press, besides a small one for taking proofs. They can execute +shop-bills and placards for the tradesmen in the neighbourhood, and we +received a copy of an annual report which had been printed very neatly +by them. In work, schooling, religious exercises, and walks out of doors +on the ordinary days of the week, the time passes usefully and not +disagreeably. At the end of a year, they are, if not provided with +employment at home, sent to some of the colonies with a small outfit, +generally at the expense of some benevolent individual. Lord Shaftesbury +has been particularly liberal in furnishing means for their shipment. +The inmates feel that they may now have a hope in the world. They hear +of companions who are prospering in America, and they work cheerfully on +in the faith of getting there also. Very few fail in their course, or +act dishonestly towards the institution. When one or two lately left it, +taking away things not belonging to them, the others set out in search +of them, caught them, and handed them over to the police. This shews how +their hearts are interested in the institution. They feel that Mr Nash +acts towards them in pure kindness, and they are anxious to make a +suitable return. And kindness really is the sole principle at work in +the place. One good man rules these sixty outcasts of society without +guard or assistance; without the use of punishment, beyond a temporary +restriction of meals; without, it may be said, any force whatever, but +that of his benevolent intentions. + +At the time of our visit, the establishment contained about sixty +inmates. We felt a peculiar interest in visiting the room of probation. +There had been four youths in it in the morning; but one had withdrawn, +not being able to stand the severity of the test. The three remaining +youths stood up in their wretched attire, and we questioned them in +succession. They had all been thieves, and all of them had passed +through several convictions--one through no less than twenty-two. We +asked this last youth how he had come to think of retreating to the +Colonial Training-School. He said, that he knew he could not go on much +longer without being transported: he dreaded this fate. Some companions +who had been in the school, but deserted it, told him of it. They +praised the institution, as one where every kindness was shewn to +unfortunate youths, notwithstanding that they had themselves proved +unworthy of its benefits. He therefore came, determined to suffer +whatever might be inflicted upon him, rather than go back to his wicked +courses. We learned that he had been for several years a pickpocket, +residing in a low lodging-house at 1s. 9d. a week; sometimes well off, +sometimes otherwise, but always harassed by the terrors of punishment. +According to his account of the boys who live in this manner, there are +some who enjoy its freedom, and would not abandon it; but there are many +who would much rather turn from it, if an opportunity were afforded +them. We afterwards spent some time in the school-room amongst the boys; +heard them sing a hymn, and, at the request of the governor, addressed a +few words to them, chiefly suggestive of hope respecting their future +career. During the whole time, their behaviour was marked by perfect +propriety; we did not observe even an indecorous look in the whole +company. + +We bade adieu to Mr Nash, with a deep sense of his heroic philanthropy, +and of the value of the lesson which he is giving as to the means of +reclaiming the desert places of society. As far as the funds supplied to +him permit, he is transforming the juvenile delinquents of the London +streets into respectable citizens, having already redeemed a hundred and +fifty-six, and either provided for them in England, or despatched them +to the colonies. One may well suppose, that in the process of +reformation much must depend upon the special character of the person +who exercises the reforming discipline. A mere routine of school +exercises, of scripture readings, of hymn singings, would go little way +with minds so vitiated by bad habits, if there were not a particular +effort made by the disciplinarian to make all work thoroughly into the +moral nature of the pupils, so as to produce a real renewal of feeling +and spirit. Even to rouse the unfortunate being from the idea with which +he is apt to start, that he is only called upon to enter on a new career +which will be better for him in a worldly point of view, and to elevate +him to the superior and only vitally serviceable idea, that he must love +goodness for its own sake, and for the love of the Author of all +goodness, is no light task. We can, therefore, imagine scarcely any +position calling for a more peculiar combination of qualities than that +of the conductor of this extraordinary seminary. It is a strong +testimony to the suitableness of Mr Nash for his functions, that they +were entered upon under the impulse of his own mind. We have further +proof of it in the good effects of his teaching, for the histories of +many young men who have passed through his hands can be traced from +authentic documents. One who emigrated to the United States so lately as +March 1850, already reports that he is earning there L.3, 12s. per week, +and has just married a young woman who had saved 300 dollars; another of +his pupils is now acting as a missionary in Australia. They write to +their former governor in the most grateful terms, and with strong +expressions of hope regarding their own future. It is interesting to +think of all this good being done by individual exertion and +self-devotion. No government interferes: there is no certain fund to be +depended on. A simple MAN, sensible of humane obligations towards the +unfortunate, comes forward and puts himself in direct intercourse with +them. They might mistake the views of a government, or of a set of +parish authorities; they might lean unduly upon any formally-appointed +fund. They cannot mistake the designs of a mere human being like +themselves, or become spoiled by indulgence in so poor a retreat. The +gratitude due by society to such a man is incalculable. + +It is gratifying to think that Mr Nash does not stand alone in his +disinterested course. There is a Mr Ellis, a shoemaker in Albany Street, +Regent's Park, who, under the impulse of religious feeling for the +unfortunate, has taken a number of delinquents into his care, with a +view to reforming them. Four years ago, he began with two, to whom he +assigned certain rations. The first movement was an act of self-denial +on their part. In order to secure the admission of a companion, who +could not otherwise have been provided for, they agreed that their +rations should be divided with him; and on these terms he was admitted. +Soon after, the number was increased to fifteen; and with this number Mr +Ellis has gone on most successfully. The boys have been industrious, and +only one has been guilty of any offence. The prosperous man of the +world, who thinks himself entitled to use all his own for his own sole +gratification, will hear of these things with incredulity, and pity +Ellis and Nash as enthusiasts, who foolishly sacrifice themselves for a +whim; but we greatly doubt if the worldling's proudest or most luxurious +hour gives one-half the true satisfaction which these men enjoy in the +midst of their ragged adherents, under the blessed hope of rescuing them +from destruction in this world and the next. + +The subject of juvenile delinquency is beginning to attract a good deal +of attention, for it is now clearly seen that the root of most of the +predatory crime by which the country is afflicted lies here, and till +the root is struck at, the branches will continue to flourish. It +appears that for some years the number of juvenile criminals has been +on the increase; auguring, of course, an ultimate increase in the number +of adult offenders. Some vigorous measure for the reduction of juvenile +delinquency is felt to be now required. Amidst all the alarms which it +is exciting, and amidst the expressions of hopelessness which we often +hear from those who give little attention to the subject, it is +gratifying to find, that there are some glimpses of what appears to be +the right course to be taken. First, one great point is very clearly +established--that it really is possible to reclaim juvenile criminals. +It cannot, however, be done by punishments of any kind. It is to be done +by kindness, religious influence, and industrial occupation, along with +the holding forth of a hope of transition into a better course of life. +Those who may be incredulous on this point, had better acquaint +themselves with the facts of the case. It is too little known, that +there has been a society at work for the last sixty years in England, +for the reform of juvenile offenders. It has a farm at Red Hill, near +Reigate, from which about forty youths go out every year to agricultural +labour and humble trades, in which the great bulk of them do well. The +similar institution at Mettray, near Tours, produces similar results on +a greater scale. And the simple truth at the bottom of the whole affair +is, that young thieves are, in general, deserted or orphan children, or +children driven forth to destitution by vicious parents: criminal +through circumstances, and finding no true happiness in their wicked +kind of life, a large proportion of them _desire to reform_, and will +suffer not a little in order to obtain admission to respectable society. + +It has lately been shewn, that society has a strong interest of a +pecuniary nature in the reformation of juvenile delinquents. A boy or +youth continually going about as a pickpocket or petty larcenist, is a +destructive animal of somewhat formidable character. To get quit of him +at last by transportation, costs at the least calculation L.150. Now, he +can be put through the twelvemonth's course of reformation in such a +school as that which we have described, and deported as a free emigrant +to Australia (where he is welcomed), for L.25. Thus, even in an +economical light, the reforming of the youth is a great gain. +Magistrates are everywhere impressed with the hopelessness of a mere +judicial treatment of these hapless children. They come back to the dock +at almost regular intervals; severity is of no avail with a poor wretch +who, on being discharged from jail, finds all honest employment denied +to him. It is by reform alone that we can rid ourselves of this moral +pest, by which our country is disgraced. + +There is but one difficulty in the case, and that is one involving +profound social questions. Shall we see criminal children taken care of, +and treated kindly, while many of the children of the honest poor are so +ill off? Shall we not, by taking these children under our care, and so +relieving parents and others of their responsibility towards them, sap +the principles of the industrious poor, leading them to desert or cast +off their children, whom they will now be sure of seeing cared for by +others? We must admit that there is much force in these queries; but it +would be wrong to allow them altogether to deter us, where the reasons +on the other side are so urgent. It may be possible, by keeping to such +individual efforts as those of Mr Nash, or to those of little +unobtrusive societies, to prevent much of the evil apprehended. And it +may also be practicable, as we find is proposed, to arrange that there +shall be a legal claim upon parents for the expenses incurred in +reforming their criminal offspring. Thus none who are not themselves +destitute, could safely leave their children to the chances of a +criminal life. It is also most desirable, that the state should limit +its interference to grants of money in proportion to the sums advanced +by private or local effort, and to the enforcing of a law for the +detention of vagrant and criminal children where it may be necessary. +Under such precautions, we think most of the advantages might be +obtained, with a much less admixture of evil than many would now be +disposed to expect.[1] + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The reader will find excellent matter on this subject in Mary +Carpenter's recent volume on Reformatory Schools, and in a 'Report of +the Proceedings of a Conference on the Subject of Preventive and +Reformatory Schools, held at Birmingham on the 9th and 10th of December +1851.' + + + + +'MEN OF THE TIME.' + + +A neat little volume, well filled with information, has made its +appearance under this title;[2] the object being to present sketches of +living notables--men who, in their several walks of life, tread in +advance of the general multitude in this and other countries; and from +whose actions we may learn the character and aims of the passing era. +The idea of gathering together materials of this kind, and laying the +result in an accessible form before the public, is a good one. All will +depend, however, on the manner of execution. The attempt before us, +being the first of its kind, is perhaps necessarily imperfect, and we +may expect some improvements should the work realise the expectations of +its publisher. For example, we miss the names of various men of note, to +whom England owes many acknowledgments--such as Dr Neill Arnott, Mr +Edwin Chadwick, Archibald Alison, &c.--and in several instances, also, +the sketches actually given are very deficient in attainable facts; +while there occur notices of individuals whose names can scarcely be +said to be known to the public. With these imperfections, the work is a +handy biographic compendium, full of amusing particulars, that cannot +fail to be useful in the way of reference. To provincial libraries, the +book will be a cheap and agreeable accession. As a specimen of the +manner of execution, we present the following scraps of quotation:-- + +'Brooke, Rajah Sir James, is a Somersetshire man, born on the 29th of +April 1803, at Combe Grove, near Bath. His father was engaged in the +civil service of the East India Company; and when of sufficient age, the +future rajah was sent to India as a cadet, and, on the Burmese war +breaking out, went to the scene of operations; entered upon active +military service; and whilst storming a stockade, received a bullet in +his chest. This wound kept him for awhile balanced between life and +death, but a strong constitution stood him in good stead, and he was +able to reach England on furlough, to seek the full restoration of his +health. When sufficiently strong, he set out on a tour through France, +Switzerland, and Italy, the languages, as well as manners and condition +of which he studied; but the longest leave of absence will expire at +last, and we find our hero, in due course, again setting out for the +East; failing, however, to reach it at once, for the ship in which he +sailed was wrecked on the Isle of Wight. In his next vessel, he was more +fortunate, and safely reached India, to resume his duties; but finding a +long official correspondence requisite to explain why a shipwreck should +have delayed an officer's return, he resigned the service of the East +India Company, and in 1830 sailed from Calcutta for China. "In this +voyage," says Captain Keppel, in his _Expedition to Borneo_, "while +going up the China seas, he saw for the first time the islands of the +Asiatic Archipelago--islands of vast importance and unparalleled +beauty--lying neglected and almost unknown. He inquired and read, and +became convinced that Borneo and the Eastern Isles afforded an open +field for enterprise and research. To carry to the Malay races, so long +the terror of the European merchant-vessel, the blessings of +civilisation, to suppress piracy, and extirpate the slave-trade, became +his humane and generous objects; and from that hour the energies of his +powerful mind were devoted to this one pursuit. Often foiled--often +disappointed, with a perseverance and enthusiasm which defied all +obstacle, he was not until 1838 enabled to set sail from England on his +darling project."' Having procured and manned a yacht, he set out on his +expedition to the Eastern seas, in spite of all sarcasms from croakers; +and 'when the news came home that he had truly engaged in the +suppression of the Malay sea-robbers, and had been rewarded by the +cession to him, by a grateful native prince, of the territory and +governorship of Sarawak--a tract embracing about 3000 square miles of +country, with a sea-board of about fifty miles--said croakers began to +think the adventurous undertaking not so wild after all. The steps by +which he became rajah of Sarawak may be here recounted. When in his +vessel, the _Royalist_, he reached the coast of that country, he found +its ruler engaged in the suppression of one of the rebellions frequent +in uncivilised regions. His aid was solicited by the Rajah Muda Hassim, +and that aid being given, secured the triumph of the authorities. Muda +being soon afterwards called by the sultan to the post of +prime-minister, suggested the making the English captain his successor +at Sarawak--a step eventually taken. The newly-acquired territory was +swampy and ill cultivated by the native Dyaks, who varied their +occupations, as tillers of the land, by excursions amongst neighbouring +villages, _in search of heads_. To rob the native of a neighbouring town +of his cranium, was regarded in much the same light as the capture of a +scalp would be amongst North American savages. Brooke saw at once that +no improvement could arise whilst murder was regarded not only as a +pleasant amusement, but to some extent as a religious duty. He declared +head-hunting a crime punishable by death to the offender. With some +trouble and much risk he succeeded to a great extent in effecting a +reform. Attacking at the same time another custom of the country--that +of piracy--he acted with such vigour, that a class of well-meaning +people at home, stimulated to some extent by the private enemies of +Brooke, accused him of wholesale butchery. The fact that the destruction +of pirates was rewarded by the English executive by the payment of what +was called "head-money," justly increased the outcry. To kill one pirate +entitled the crew of a ship-of-war to a certain prize in money--to kill +a thousand, entitled them to a thousand times the amount. This premium +on blood was wrong in principle, and the result of a wholesale slaughter +of Eastern pirates by order of Brooke, led to the very proper abolition +of the custom of paying this "head-money." The men who are entitled to +the praise of securing this amelioration of our naval system were not, +however, content with the triumph of the just portion of their case; +they sought to brand the rajah as a cruel and greedy adventurer--in +which attempt they fortunately failed. It is surely unjust to test the +acts of a man living and ruling amongst savages by the strict usages of +action acknowledged and found most proper for guidance in civilised +communities. When, after his first appointment, Rajah Brooke returned to +see his friends and to take counsel in England, he was welcomed very +warmly. He was made Knight of the Bath; invited to dine with the Queen; +found his portrait in the print-shops, and his biography in the +magazines and newspapers. The government recognised his position; +ordered a man-of-war to take him to the seat of his new settlement; gave +him the title of Governor of Labuan, with a salary of L.2000 a year, +with an extra L.500 a year as a consular agent, and afforded him the +services of a deputy-governor, also on a good salary--the hope being +that the result of all this would be the opening of a new emporium for +British trade.' To this notice might be added an expression of deep +regret that there should be any controversy as to the real nature of Sir +James Brooke's operations in the East. This scandal ought surely to be +put an end to by some distinct investigation and avowal one way or the +other. + +The above notice of Sir James Brooke naturally suggests a recollection +of his relentless accuser, Joseph Hume, and we turn up the account of +that personage. + +'Hume, Joseph, a Radical Reformer, whose history adds another memorable +example of perseverance raising its possessor from a humble station to +distinction. He was born at Montrose, in the year 1777. While he was +still young, his father, the master of a small trading-vessel of that +port, died, leaving his widow to bring up a numerous family. Mrs Hume, +it is related, maintained herself and her children by means of a small +earthenware business, and placed Joseph in a school of the town, where +he received an education which included instruction in the elements of +Latin. With such scanty stores of knowledge, he was apprenticed to a +surgeon of Montrose, with whom he served three years. Having attended +the prescribed lectures to the medical classes in the university of +Edinburgh, he was admitted, in 1796, a member of the College of Surgeons +in that city. India was at that time a favourite, and, indeed, almost +the only field for the young who had no other fortune than their talents +and enterprise. To India, accordingly, Mr Hume went, and entered as a +surgeon the naval service of the East India Company. He had not been +there three years, before he was placed on the medical establishment of +Bengal. Here, while increasing his professional reputation, he had the +opportunity of watching the whole operation of the machinery of the +Company's service. His quick eye soon detected the deficiencies of the +greater number of the Company's servants in command of the native +language, an acquirement so valuable in possessions such as ours. He +determined to acquire a knowledge of the dialects of India, not doubting +that a sphere of larger utility and greater emolument would open before +his efforts. The Mahratta war breaking out in 1803, Mr Hume was attached +to Major-general Powell's division, and accompanied it on its march from +Allahabad into Bundelcund. The want of interpreters was now felt, as +Hume had expected, and the commander was glad to find among his surgeons +a man capable of supplying the deficiency. He continued to discharge his +new duties without resigning his medical appointment, and managed to +combine with both the offices of pay-master and post-master of the +troops. His ability to hold direct intercourse with the natives +continued to be of immense service to him, and enabled him to hold +simultaneously a number of offices with most varied duties, such as +nothing but an unwearying frame and an extraordinary capacity could have +enabled any one person to discharge. At the conclusion of the peace, he +returned to the presidency, richer by many golden speculations, for +which a period of war never fails to offer opportunities. In 1808, +having accomplished the object for which he left his native land, he +came to England, and, after an interval of repose, determined upon +making a tour of the country, the better to acquaint himself with the +condition of its inhabitants.' After making this tour, and visiting +various continental countries, he returned to England, where he devoted +himself to a political career; and since 1812, he has for the most part +had a seat in the House of Commons. His parliamentary history since 1818 +has been that of a reformer of abuses and enemy of monopoly, and he is +respected even by those who differ from him in opinion. + +Our next specimen is-- + +'Thackeray, William Makepeace, author, was born in India, in 1811. He is +of good family, and was originally intended for the bar, of which he is +now a member. He kept seven or eight terms at Cambridge, but left the +university without taking a degree, for the purpose of becoming an +artist. After about three years' desultory practice, he devoted himself +to literature, abandoning the design of making a position as a painter, +and only employed his pictorial talents in illustration of his own +writings. For a short time, he conducted a literary and artistic review, +similar in plan to the _Athenaeum_; but the new journal, although +characterised by great ability, perished in competition with established +rivals. He also, with the assistance of Dr Maginn, started a newspaper; +but this was unsuccessful. His first distinction was won as a writer in +_Fraser's Magazine_, _Punch_, and other periodicals of character. In the +latter amusing periodical appeared his _Jeames's Diary_, a clever satire +on the follies of the railway mania, exposing the hollow foundation upon +which railway fortunes and reputations were made. His _Snob Papers_, +published in the same manner, have since been collected and reprinted +with great success. His satire is as keen as that of Fielding. His +_Paris Sketch-Book_ appeared in 1840. His _Irish Sketch-Book_, with +numerous engravings drawn by the author, was published in 1845. In the +next year, appeared his _Notes of a Journey from Cornhill to Grand +Cairo_; and in 1847, the first numbers of _Vanity Fair_ appeared, in the +proper name of their author. This, Thackeray's first fully-developed +novel, has been followed by _Arthur Pendennis_, completed in 1851. His +Christmas-book, entitled _The Kickleburies on the Rhine_, was attacked +by a writer in the _Times_; whereupon Mr Thackeray replied, in a very +unmistakable way, in a preface to the second edition of the work. The +critic fared very badly in the contest.' The charge made against Mr +Thackeray is, that he abuses the characters of the literary class with a +view apparently of catering to public prejudice. We believe that any +such imputation is entirely unfounded; and that Mr Thackeray's +observations on the infirmities of authors are due to an honest +exposition of his subject. Mr Thackeray has lately imparted much delight +by delivering lectures on the literary personages of last century; and +in this very act has gracefully raised the public estimation of living +authorcraft. + +We may extract the following passages respecting the early career of Mr +Dickens:-- + +'Dickens, Charles, the most popular writer of his time, was born in +February 1812, at Landport, Portsmouth. His father, the late Mr John +Dickens, in the earlier part of his life, enjoyed a post in the Navy Pay +Department, the duties of which required that he should reside from time +to time in different seaports: now at Plymouth, now at Portsmouth, and +then at Sheerness. "In the glorious days" of the war with France, these +towns were full of life, bustle, and character; and the father of "Boz" +was at times fond of dilating upon the strange scenes he had witnessed. +One of his stories described a sitting-room he once enjoyed at +Blue-town, Sheerness, abutting on the theatre. Of an evening, he used to +sit in this room, and could hear what was passing on the stage, and join +in the chorus of _God save the King_, and _Britannia rules the +Waves_--then the favourite songs of Englishmen. The war being at an end, +amongst those who left the public service with a pension was the father +of our novelist. Coming to London, he subsequently found lucrative +employment for his talents on the press as a reporter of parliamentary +debates. Charles Dickens may, therefore, be said to have been in his +youth familiarised with "copy;" and when his father, with parental +anxiety for his future career, took the preliminary steps for making his +son an attorney, the dreariness of the proposed occupation fell so +heavily upon the mind of the future author, that he induced his father +to permit him to resign the law, and join the parliamentary corps of a +daily newspaper. His first engagement was on the _True Sun_, an +ultra-liberal paper, then carrying on a fierce struggle for existence, +from the staff of which he afterwards passed into the reporting ranks of +the _Morning Chronicle_. On that paper, he obtained reputation as a +first-rate man--his reports being exceedingly rapid, and no less +correct. In the columns of the _Chronicle_ he soon gave proofs of other +talents than those of a reporter; for in the evening edition of that +journal appeared the _Sketches of English Life and Character_, +afterwards collected to form the two well-known volumes of _Sketches by +Boz_, published respectively in 1836 and 1837. These at once attracted +considerable notice, and obtained great success; and the publisher of +the collected edition, anxious to make the most of the prize which had +fallen to his lot, gladly came to an arrangement with Mr Dickens and +Seymour, the comic draughtsman--the one to write, and the other to +illustrate a book which should exhibit the adventures of a party of +Cockney sportsmen. Hence the appearance of _Pickwick_, a book which made +its author's reputation and the publishers' fortune. After the work had +commenced, poor Seymour committed suicide, and Mr Hablot K. Browne was +selected to continue the illustrations, which he did under the signature +of "Phiz." Meanwhile, Mr Dickens had courted and married the daughter of +Mr George Hogarth, then, and now, a musical writer; a man of +considerable attainments, and who, in his earlier days, whilst a writer +to the Signet in Edinburgh, enjoyed the intimate friendship of Sir +Walter Scott, Jeffrey, and the other literary notables at that day +adorning the Modern Athens. The great success of _Pickwick_ brought down +upon its author demands from all sides for another work, and "Boz" +agreed to write _Nicholas Nickleby_, to be published in monthly parts. +In the prefatory notices, which give additional value to the cheap and +elegant reprint of the works of Dickens, we are indulged with slight +glimpses of his own recollections, personal and literary.' It is +unnecessary to note the titles of Mr Dickens's subsequent works, all of +which have justly obtained popularity. He has latterly entered on a path +not dissimilar to our own, and in this he has our very best wishes. The +cause of social melioration needs a union of hearts and hands. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Bogue, London: 1852. + + + + +ARCHBISHOP WHATELY'S BOOK OF SYNONYMS. + + +Accuracy of language is one of the things which, in ordinary speech and +writing, is but indifferently observed. The reason, perhaps, is to be +sought, not in any general indifference to correctness or precision, but +rather in the want of some recognised authority, some specific rules or +principles, to which the use of words apparently synonymous, yet of +slightly different signification, might be distinctly and easily +referred. It is in regard to the finer shades of meaning, the subtler +touches of expression, the application of words and phrases where the +strictest exactness and perspicuity are required, that an ordinary +English style is apt to become loose and shadowy; and it is precisely +here that we are entitled to expect the severest, chastest form of +utterance. Coleridge used to complain of a general confounding of the +word 'notion' with 'idea,' and was often at great pains to point out the +distinction between the two, as also between many other words similarly +misused. Archdeacon Hare, too, has remarked upon the common +misapplication of such words as 'education' for 'instruction,' +'government' for 'administration,' 'the church' for 'the priesthood' or +'ministry;' and indeed holds that such a confounding of terms leads to +serious practical misunderstandings and confusions.[3] Any one, upon +reflection, will perceive that in the common use of these and numberless +other words, there is often a signal lack of clearness and precision, +and will hardly fail to notice that the error proceeds from a want of +due attention to the nice and peculiar meanings of words which are +vaguely presumed to have the same signification. + +As a help to those who may wish to attain a somewhat more than common +correctness of style and language, Archbishop Whately has recently +published a small work on _English Synonyms_;[4] and the rapidity with +which the first edition has been disposed of leads us to infer that the +public is to some extent prepared to take an interest in the subject. +The second edition, 'revised and enlarged,' is now before us, and it is +thought that a brief glance at its contents may not be unacceptable to +some of our present readers. + +The word 'synonym,' as the archbishop observes, is, in strict reality, a +misnomer. 'Literally, it implies an exact coincidence of meaning in two +or more words, in which case there would be no room for discussion; but +it is generally applied to words which would be more correctly termed +pseudo-synonyms--that is, words having a shade of difference, yet with a +sufficient resemblance of meaning to make them liable to be confounded. +And it is in the number and variety of these that, as the Abbe Girard +well remarks, the richness of a language consists. To have two or more +words with exactly the same sense, is no proof of copiousness, but +simply an inconvenience. A house would not be called well furnished from +its having a larger number of chairs and tables of one kind than were +needed, but from its having a separate article for each distinct use. +The more power we have of discriminating the nicer shades of meaning, +the greater facility we possess of giving force and precision to our +expressions. Our own language possesses great advantages in this +respect; for being partly derived from the Teutonic, and partly from the +Latin, we have a large number of duplicates from the two sources, which +are, for the most part, though not universally, slightly varied in their +meaning. + +'These slight variations of meaning,' he proceeds, add to the +copiousness of the English language, by affording words of more or less +familiarity, and of greater and less force. This may easily be +understood, if we consider that the branch of the Teutonic, spoken in +England during the Anglo-Saxon period, never became extinct, but that +three-fourths of the English language at present consist of words +altered or derived from that ancient dialect; that these words usually +express the most familiar ideas--such as _man_, _house_, _land_, &c.; +and that the French terms gradually introduced, being those of a more +highly civilised people, were adapted to express the more refined ideas. +This is true even of physical objects; thus, for instance, most of the +names of the animals used for food are still Teutonic--such as _ox_, +_sheep_, _swine_, &c. The Anglo-Saxons, like the modern Germans, had no +objection to say _ox-flesh_, _sheep-flesh_, _swine's-flesh_; but the +Norman conquerors, introducing a more refined cookery, introduced with +it French words for the flesh of the animal; hence we have _beef_, +_mutton_, _pork_, &c.' + +It has not been the author's design to notice _all_ the synonyms in the +language--that, as he remarks, would be an almost endless undertaking; +'but merely, after excluding technical terms, and words which do exactly +coincide, to select a few of those groups of words which are in most +frequent use, and are most liable to be confounded.' His purpose, +perhaps, will be more distinctly shewn, if we add a few more sentences +from the preface. + +'Many persons,' says he, 'imagine that two words must either coincide +precisely in their meaning, so as to be, in the primary and strict sense +of the word, "synonymous," or else stand for two (more or less) distinct +_things_. Indeed, it would often be regarded as almost a truism to +assert this; but those who maintain such an opinion overlook the fact, +that two words, without exactly coinciding in sense, may nevertheless +relate to one and the same thing, regarded in _two different points of +view_. An illustration of this is afforded in the relation which exists +between the words, "inference" and "proof." Whoever justly infers, +proves; and whoever proves, infers; but the word "inference" leads the +mind from the premises which have been assumed, to the conclusion which +follows from them; while the word "proof" follows a reverse process, and +leads the mind from the conclusion to the premises. We say: "What do you +infer _from_ this?" and "How do you _prove_ that?"[5] Another +illustration may be quoted in the synonyms, "expense" and "cost." The +same article may be expensive and costly; but we speak of _expense_ in +reference to the means of the purchaser; of _cost_, in reference to the +actual value of the article.' + +This work does not profess to deal much with _etymologies_; the author +thinking that any very strict attention to the _derivation_ of words, in +connection with synonyms, would only tend to confuse the subject. The +history of the origin and growth of words must undoubtedly throw light +upon their meanings; but he, nevertheless, holds the two questions to be +completely distinct and separable; and thinks that, in an inquiry into +the _actual_ and _present_ meaning of a word, the consideration of what +it originally meant may frequently lead us into error. A few suggestive +remarks are given upon this matter. + +'Our question is, not what _ought_ to be, or formerly was, the meaning +of a word, but what it _now_ is; nor can we be completely guided by +quotations from Shakspeare or Milton, or even from Addison or Johnson. +Language has undergone such changes, even within the last sixty or +seventy years, that many words, at that time considered pure, are now +obsolete; while others--of which the word "mob" is a specimen--formerly +slang, are now used by our best writers, and received, like pardoned +outlaws, into the body of respectable citizens.' The standard, +accordingly, to which the author refers in the work before us, is the +sense in which a word is used by the purest writers and most correct +speakers of our own days. + +The synonyms are arranged or classed according to the parts of speech to +which they belong--namely, into particles, nouns, adjectives, and verbs. +The uses of all the words are well defined, and sufficiently illustrated +by examples; a table of contents and a complete index are also added, +rendering reference to any word as easy as looking for it in a +dictionary. The table of contents, indeed, will be found to serve most +of the purposes of a vocabulary of synonyms: a glance at it will +frequently give you all the words of similar signification to the +particular one for which you may happen to require an equivalent. From +the part of the book relating to _verbs_, we take the following; the +words under notice being, _To teach, instruct, inform, educate_:-- + +'Of these words, the first two are often used synonymously, but they +have also a distinct meaning. "Teaching," strictly speaking, when +distinguished from instruction, is applied to the practice of an art or +branch of knowledge: instruction, to the theory. A child is, correctly +speaking, _instructed_ in the grammar of a language, and _taught_ to +speak the language. Thus, teaching may be merely mechanical; while +"instruction" implies a degree of understanding in the pupil, as well as +in the master. A child who has been _taught_ to learn lessons by rote, +without understanding them, will find difficulty in comprehending +_instruction_ in the principles of what he has learned: hence, we speak +of _teaching_ a brute, but never of _instructing_ it. + +'_Information_,[6] again, is distinguished from instruction, in relation +to the truths conveyed by it. Matters of fact, made known to one who +could not have known them before, are called information: instruction +elicits new truths out of subject-matter _already_ existing in the +mind--(see Whately's _Logic_, book iv. Sec. 1.) + +'A traveller gives us information respecting foreign countries; a +metaphysician instructs us in the principles of moral +science--principles drawn from facts already known to us. The two +processes may take place at the same time: a child in learning a lesson +receives both information and instruction: he is taught things he never +knew before, and also taught to apply and make use of what he does know +already. In fact, pure mathematics is the only branch of instruction +which includes no information, as the propositions are all based on +principles previously assumed. In short, a person who is informed, +_knows_ something he did not before; one who is instructed, +_understands_ something he did not before; one who is taught, can _do_ +something he could not do before. + +'Education is more comprehensive than any of the other words before us. +It includes the _whole course_ of moral and intellectual teaching. One +who gives occasional lessons is not said to _educate_. To _educate_ +(agreeably to its derivation, from "e-duco," not "in-duco"), includes +the _drawing out_ of the faculties, so as to teach the pupil how to +teach him_self_; which is one of the most valuable of arts. + +'Moral training, considered _by itself_, is called "teaching;" this +constitutes no exception to the rule laid down, as its object is to +enable us, not to _know_, but to _do_ what is right.'--(P. 32-34.) + +'Few words, perhaps, are more apt to be misapplied than the string of +adjectives treated of in the section next quoted--namely, _benevolent, +beneficent, charitable, munificent, liberal, bountiful, philanthropic_. + +'Benevolent and beneficent, together with their conjugates, have +curiously diverged from their original meaning. Etymologically, +"benevolent" implied merely _wishing_ well to others, and "beneficent" +_doing_ well; _now_, "benevolent" includes both kinds of feelings and +actions, and "beneficent" is restricted to acts of kindness on a great +scale, and generally performed by some one of exalted station and +character: hence, we speak of the "beneficence" rather than the +"benevolence" of the Creator. It may perhaps be said to follow from +this, that "benevolent" draws our attention more to the character of the +agent; "beneficent," to that of the act performed--retaining, so far, a +tinge of their etymology. + +'"Charitable" (when not used in reference to a mild and candid judgment +of others) seems to be restricted to one kind of benevolence--that which +consists in alms-giving. + +'"Munificent" resembles "beneficent," in referring always to favours on +a large scale, and conferred by superiors; but there is this important +difference, that "beneficent" always implies some real and essential +good done, while "munificent," as its derivation implies, may be applied +equally to any _gift_, whether really useful or not. One who makes a +present of jewellery or pictures to a friend, is munificent, but would +not be called "beneficent." If he raised a distressed family from +starvation, the word "beneficent" would be more appropriate. But one who +gives largely to the public, or to some institution, is called +munificent. It seems to convey the idea of splendour. No one can be +called munificent who does not give on a large scale. + +'Any one who is ready to give _freely_, as the etymology implies, on +whatever scale, is "liberal." "Bountiful," again, is stronger than +"liberal," and implies giving in abundance; it also differs from +"liberal" in being restricted to _giving_; while "liberal" is applied to +an easy style of expenditure in general; to the reverse, in short, of +"stingy," or "miserly." Many people live in a _liberal_ style, who are +very far from being "bountiful." Bountiful always seems to imply, giving +out of an ample store. + +'"Philanthropic," as its etymology indicates, implies benevolence solely +in reference to the _human race_, and always to masses, not to +individuals. One who devises some plan to benefit numbers, is called +"philanthropic;" but we should not talk of "philanthropically giving a +loaf to a hungry child."'--(P. 83-85.) + +As space is beginning to press, our last extract must be short: it +relates to words often enough employed indiscriminately--_imagination, +conception, fancy_. '"Imagination" and "fancy" are frequently confounded +together, but are, nevertheless, very distinct in their signification. +In the first place, "imagination" implies more of a _creative_ power +than "fancy;" it requires a greater combination of various powers, and +is therefore a higher exercise of genius. "Fancy," on the other hand, is +more an employment of ingenuity and taste, though it also requires +inventive power. Secondly, "imagination" implies a longer flight; +"fancy," rather a succession of short efforts: the one is a steady +blaze; the other, a series of sparkles. An epic poem would require an +exercise of the first; a ballad, or other lighter production, of the +last: hence, we may see that the difference between the two is, in some +measure, one of subject-matter; for the same power which we call "fancy" +when employed in a melody of Moore, would be called "imagination" in the +works of Dante or Milton. In short, the efforts of "fancy" bear the same +relation to those of "imagination" that the carving and polishing of a +gem or seal does to sculpture. + +'In the third place, _wit_ may come into works of "fancy," and could not +be admitted into the province of "imagination." The same with what are +called _conceits_. + +'"Conception" has something in common with imagination, but it implies +more decidedly a creative power, and is referred to something tangible +and real; whereas, in efforts of fancy and imagination, there is always +a consciousness of unreality. The province of "conception" is that which +has a real existence: hence, the productions of painters, sculptors, and +musicians, are called "conceptions." "Conception" also denotes something +framed and originated in our _own_ mind; whereas the imagination or +fancy may be acted on merely from without. The poet or writer of fiction +exercises his own conceptions, but awakens the imagination of his +readers.' + +These quotations will give as general a notion of the work as can be +conveyed by a few extracts. To those among our readers who may be in +quest of such a book, we can decidedly recommend it as one that is +certain to be useful. It is by far the best of the kind that we have +ever happened to meet with; and we think that if it were universally +studied and consulted, the result would be a great improvement of +expression, both in common speech and literature. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] See _Guesses at Truth_. First series. + +[4] _A Selection of English Synonyms_. Second Edition. Parker, London: +1852. + +[5] See Whately's _Logic_, book iv., chap. 3, Sec. 1, in which the above is +illustrated by the difference between the road from London to York and +the road from York to London. + +[6] The nouns are used here instead of the verbs for convenience sake, +as they precisely correspond. + + + + +'CHAPTER ON CATS.' + + +In No. 419 of this Journal, an article with the above heading mentions +among the exports from New York to New Granada 100 _cats_. Wherever our +contributor may have picked up his intelligence, the original source is +the _New York Herald_; but, unluckily, a paper of a more practical +character--if we may judge from its title--_The Dry-Goods Reporter_, +gives the custom-house entry in full, in which the change of a single +vowel makes a prodigious difference. The entry is this: '100 _cots_--125 +dollars--to Granada.' + + + + +A MARINER'S WIFE. + + + 'Ah me, my dream!' pale Helen cried, + With hectic cheeks aglow: + 'Why wake me? Hide that cruel beam! + I'll not win such another dream + On this side heaven, I know. + + 'I almost feel the leaping waves, + The wet spray on my hair, + The salt breeze singing in the sail, + The kind arms, strong as iron-mail, + That held me safely there. + + 'I'll tell thee:--On some shore I stood, + Or sea, or inland bay, + Or river broad, I know not--save + There seemed no boundary to the wave + That chafed and moaned alway. + + 'The shore was lone--the wave was lone-- + The horizon lone; no sail + Broke the dim line 'twixt sea and sky, + Till slowly, slowly one came by, + Half ghostlike, gray and pale. + + 'It was a very little boat, + Had neither oars nor crew; + But as it shoreward bounded fast, + One form seemed leaning by the mast-- + And Norman's face I knew! + + 'He never looked nor smiled at me, + Though I stood there alone; + His brow was very grave and high, + Lit with a glory from the sky-- + The wild bark bounded on. + + 'I shrieked: "Oh, take me--take me, love! + The night is falling dread."-- + "My boat may come no nearer shore; + And, hark! how mad the billows roar! + Art thou afraid?" he said. + + '"Afraid! with thee?"--"The wind sweeps fierce + The foamy rocks among; + A perilous voyage waiteth me."-- + "Then, then, indeed, I go with thee," + I cried, and forward sprung. + + 'All drenched with brine, all pale with fear-- + Ah no, not fear; 'twas bliss!-- + I felt the strong arms draw me in: + If after death to heaven I win, + 'Twill be such joy as this! + + 'No kiss, no smile, but aye that clasp-- + Tender, and close, and brave; + While, like a tortured thing, upleapt + The boat, and o'er her deck there swept + Wave thundering after wave. + + 'I looked not to the stormy deep, + Nor to the angry sky; + Whether for life or death we wrought, + My whole world dwindled to one thought-- + _Where he is, there am I_! + + 'On--on--through leaping waves, slow calmed, + With salt spray on our hair, + And breezes singing in the sail, + Before a safe and pleasant gale, + The boat went bounding fair: + + 'But whether to a shore we came, + Or seaward sailed away, + Alas! to me is all unknown: + O happy dream, too quickly flown! + O cruel, cruel day!' + + Pale Helen lived--or died: dull time + O'er all that history rolls; + Sailed they or sunk they on life's waves?-- + I only know earth holds two graves, + And heaven two blessed souls. + + + + +REMITTANCES TO AND FROM EMIGRANTS. + + +Within the past few years, a system of foreign exchanges has been +perfected in this country, by which the smallest sum of money can be +remitted either way across the Atlantic, with perfect security and the +greatest dispatch. Drafts are drawn as low as 1s. sterling, which are +cashed in any part of Great Britain or the United States. This, to +emigrants who wish to bring over their money without fear of loss, or to +residents here who wish to remit small sums to their relatives or +friends in Europe, to enable them to come to this country, is of vast +importance, as it guarantees them against loss; that is, when the drafts +are good. This is, therefore, the great point at issue. To obtain drafts +of undoubted credit and security is the first thing to be considered. +There are dozens of drawers on both sides of the Atlantic, all of whom +have their friends, who place more or less confidence in the character +of the bills drawn. We have no doubt they are all sound and solvent. We +know nothing now to the contrary. The drafts can be obtained in any city +in the Union, for any amount, from 1s. sterling upwards, drawn upon some +place in Europe; and drafts can be obtained in various European cities +payable in any city of the United States.--_Abridged from the New York +Herald._ + + + + +FOREST-TREES. + + +In contemplating the length of life of one of the reverend and hoary +elders of the forest, we are apt to forget that it is not to be measured +by the standard of man or of the higher animals; for it is really not +the measure of an individual existence, but, as it were, of the duration +of an empire or a nation. A tree is a populous community, presided over +by an oligarchy, of which the flowers are the aristocracy, and the +leaves the working-classes. The life of the individual members of the +commonwealth is brief enough, but the state of which they are members, +has often a vast duration; and some of those whose ages we have referred +to, could they take cognisance of human affairs, would look with +contempt upon the instability and irregularity of human governments and +states, as compared with the unchanging order and security of their +own.--_Professor Forbes in Art-Journal._ + + + + +WHISKY AND MISERY. + + +Whisky and misery, whichever be cause, whichever be effect, always go +together. There has been, as is well known, a failure of the +potato-crop, and consequently a famine, in the West Highlands and +Hebrides. In the island of Mull, about L.3000 of money raised in charity +was spent in the year ending October 10, 1848, for the eleemosynary +support of the people. In the same space of time, the expenditure of the +people on whisky was L.6009! We do not know how much had previously been +spent on whisky in that island; but we may judge from the fact +ascertained regarding Skye. In the year ending October 10, 1850, the sum +paid in the latter island for whisky was L.10,855--considerably more +than _double the amount expended in relief by the Destitution Fund_, and +_more than double the consumption of the same district in 1845_, the +year before the distress commenced! 'That is,' says the _Quarterly +Review_, which quotes the facts from excellent authority, 'the increased +consumption of whisky exactly tallies with the extraneous aid received; +in other words, the whole amount of charitable assistance _went in +whisky_!' + + * * * * * + +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 Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 427, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 17256.txt or 17256.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/2/5/17256/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. 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