diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775-8.txt | 2428 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 57712 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 99312 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775-h/18775-h.htm | 2553 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775-h/images/banner.png | bin | 0 -> 38601 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775.txt | 2428 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 18775.zip | bin | 0 -> 57662 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
10 files changed, 7425 insertions, 0 deletions
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/18775-8.txt b/18775-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5d059c --- /dev/null +++ b/18775-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2428 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 435, 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. 435 + Volume 17, New Series, May 1, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers + William Chambers + +Release Date: July 7, 2006 [EBook #18775] + +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 at http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + + + + CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL + + CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S + INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c. + + + No. 435. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1852. PRICE 1-1/2_d._ + + + + +FORCED BENEFITS. + + +The maxim, that men may safely be left to seek their own interest, and +are sure to find it, appears to require some slight qualification, for +nothing can be more certain, than that men are often the better of +things which have been forced upon them. Those who advocate the idea +in its rigour, forget that there are such things as ignorance and +prejudice in the world, and that most men only become or continue +actively industrious under the pressure of necessity. The vast +advantages derived from railway communication afford a ready instance +of people being benefited against their will. At the bare proposal to +run a line through their lands, many proprietors were thrown into a +frenzy of antagonism; and whole towns petitioned that they might not +be contaminated with the odious thing. In spite of remonstrances, and +at a vast cost, railways were made; and we should like to know where +opponents are now to be found. Demented land-proprietors are come to +their senses; and even recalcitrant Oxford is glad of a line to +itself. + +Cases of this kind suggest the curious consideration, that many +remarkable benefits now experienced were never sought for or +contemplated by the persons enjoying them, but came from another +quarter, and were at first only grudgingly submitted to. A singular +example happens to call our attention. There is a distillery in the +west of Scotland, where it has been found convenient to establish a +dairy upon a large scale, for the purpose of consuming the refuse of +the grain. Seven hundred cows are kept there; and a profitable market +is found for their milk in the city of Glasgow. That the refuse of the +cow-houses might be applied to a profitable purpose, a large farm was +added to the concern, though of such land as an amateur agriculturist +would never have selected for his experiments. Thus there was a +complete system of economy at this distillery: a dairy to convert the +draff into milk, and a farm to insure that the soil from the cows +might be used upon the spot. But, as is so generally seen in this +country, the liquid part of the refuse from the cow-houses was +neglected. It was allowed to run into a neighbouring canal; and the +proprietors would have been contented to see it so disposed of for +ever, if that could have been permitted. It was found, however, to be +a nuisance, the very fishes being poisoned by it. The proprietors of +the canal threatened an action for the protection of their property, +and the conductors of the dairy were forced to bethink them of some +plan by which they should be enabled to dispose of the noxious matter +without injury to their neighbours. They could at first hit upon no +other than that of carting away the liquid to the fields, and there +spreading it out as manure. No doubt, they expected some benefit from +this procedure; and, had they expected much, they might never have +given the canal company any trouble. But the fact is, they expected so +little benefit, that they would never have willingly taken the trouble +of employing their carts for any such purpose. To their surprise, the +benefit was such as to make their lean land superior in productiveness +to any in the country. They were speedily encouraged to make +arrangements at some expense for allowing the manure in a diluted form +to flow by a regular system of irrigation over their fields. The +original production has thus been _increased fourfold_. The company, +finding no other manure necessary, now dispose of the solid kind +arising from the dairy, among the neighbouring farmers who still +follow the old arrangements in the management of their cows. The sum +of L.600 is thus yearly gained by the company, being not much less +than the rent of the farm. If to this we add the value of the extra +produce arising from the land, we shall have some idea of the +advantage derived by this company from having been put under a little +compulsion. + +An instance, perhaps even more striking, was supplied a few years ago +by certain chemical works which vented fumes noxious to a whole +neighbourhood. Being prosecuted for the nuisance, the proprietors were +forced to make flues of great length, through which the fumes might be +conducted to a considerable distance. The consequence was surprising. +A new kind of deposit was formed in the interior of the flues, and +from this a large profit was derived. The sweeping of a chimney would +sometimes produce several thousand pounds. At the same time, nothing +can be more certain than that this material, but for the threat of +prosecution, would have been allowed to continue poisoning the +neighbourhood, and, consequently, not yielding one penny to the +proprietors of the works.[1] + +It has pleased Providence to order that from all the forms of organic +life there shall arise a refuse which is offensive to our senses, and +injurious to health, but calculated, under certain circumstances, to +prove highly beneficial to us. The offensiveness and noxiousness look +very much like a direct command from the Author of Nature, to do that +which shall turn the refuse to a good account--namely, to bury it in +the earth. Yet, from sloth and negligence, it is often allowed to +cumber the surface, and there do its evil work instead. An important +principle is thus instanced--the essential identity of Nuisance and +Waste. Nearly all the physical annoyances we are subjected to, and +nearly all the influences that are operating actively for our hurt, +are simply the exponents of some chemical solecism, which we are, +through ignorance or indifference, committing or permitting. There is +here a double evil--a positive and a negative. When the Londoner +groans at the smokiness of his streets, and the particles of soot he +finds spread over his shirt, his toilet-table, and every nice article +of furniture he possesses, he has the additional vexation of knowing, +that the smoke and soot should have been serving a useful purpose as +fuel. When he passes by a railway over the tops of the houses in some +mean suburb, and looks down with horror and disgust on the pools and +heaps of filth which are allowed to encumber the yards, courts, and +narrow streets of these localities, to the destruction of the health +of the inhabitants, he has a second consideration before him, that all +these matters ought to be in the care of some easy-acting system, by +which, removed to the fields, they should be helping to create the +means of life, instead of death. We never can look upon a great +factory chimney pouring forth its thick column of smoke, without a +twin grief--for the disgust it creates, and the good that is lost by +it. Properly, that volatile fuel should be doing duty in the furnace, +and effecting a saving to the manufacturer, instead of rendering him +and his concerns a nuisance to all within five miles. + +Troublesome as these nuisances are, there is such an inaptitude to new +plans, that they might go on for ever, if an interference should not +come in from some external quarter. It matters little whence the +interference comes, so that the end be effected. We cannot, however, +view the proceedings of a Board of Health in ordering cleanly +arrangements, or those of a municipal council putting down factory +smoke, without great interest, for we think we there see part, and an +important one too, of the great battle of Civilisation against +Barbarism. And this interest is deepened when we observe the benefits +which Barbarism usually derives from its own defeats. The +factory-owner, for instance, will find that, in applying an apparatus +by which smoke may be prevented, he will not merely be sparing his +neighbours a great annoyance, but economising fuel to an extent which +must more than repay the outlay. By repressing nuisance, he will be in +the same measure repressing waste.[2] Were there, in like manner, a +general measure for enforcing the removal of refuse from the +neighbourhood of human habitations, the rate-payers would in due time +see blessed effects from the compulsion to which they had been +subjected. Their groans would be succeeded by gladness, and they would +thank the legislators who had slighted their remonstrances. When the +cholera approached in 1849, our British Board of Health ordered a +general cleaning out of stables, and a daily persistence in the +practice. It was complained of as a great hardship; but the Board +ascertained that owners of valuable race-horses cause their stables to +be thoroughly cleaned daily, as a practice necessary for the health of +the animals; the Board, therefore, very properly insisted on forcing +this benefit upon the proprietors of horses generally. Can we doubt +that a similar policy might be followed with the like good +consequences at all times, and with regard to the habitations of men +as well as horses? + +It would thus appear, that men may really be allowed a too undisturbed +repose in their views and maxims, and, if always left to seek their +own interests, would often fail to find the way. If, indeed, it were +true that men are sure to find out their own interest, no country +should be behind another in any of the processes or arts necessary for +the sustenance and comfort of the people; whereas we know the contrary +to be the case. If it were true, there should be no class in our own +country willing to sit down with the dubious benefits of monopoly, +instead of pushing on for the certain results of enlightened +competition. It could only be true at the expense of the old proverb, +that necessity is the mother of invention; for do we not every day see +men submitting idly and languidly to evils which can just be borne? +whereas, if these were a little greater, and therefore insupportable, +they would at once be remedied. An impulse _ab extra_ seems in a vast +number of instances to be necessary, to promote the good of both +nations and individuals. Now, whether this shall come in the ordinary +course of things, and be recognised as necessity, or from an +enlightened power having a certain end, generally beneficial, in view, +does not appear to be of much consequence, provided only we can be +tolerably well assured against the abuses to which all power is +liable. It may be well worthy of consideration, whether, in this +country, we have not carried the principle of _Laissez faire_, or +_leave us alone_, a little too far in certain matters, where some +gentle coercion would have been more likely to benefit all concerned. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The idea of this article, and the above facts, are derived from a +valuable memoir just published by the Board of Health, with reference +to the practical application of sewage water and town manures to +agricultural production. + +[2] We understand that this has been the case with factory-owners at +Manchester who have applied the smoke-preventing apparatus. The saving +from such an apparatus in the office where this sheet is printed, +appears to be about 5 per cent.; an ample equivalent for the outlay. + + + + +MONSIEUR JEROME AND THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS. + + +On arriving at Blois, I went to the Hôtel de la Tête Noire--a massive, +respectable-looking building, situated on the quay nearly opposite a +bridge that crosses the river to the suburb of St Etienne. The comfort +of the rooms, and the excellence of the dinners that succeeded one +another day by day, induced me to stay longer than I had intended, and +rendered me spectator and part-actor in an adventure not uncommon in +French-land. My apartment was numbered 48--by the way, who ever saw +No. 1 in a hotel, or upon a watch?--and next door--that is, at No. +49--dwelt a very dignified-looking gentleman, always addressed as M. +Jerome. I often take occasion to say, that I pique myself on being +something of a physiognomist; and as I have been several times right +in my judgment of character and position from inspection of the +countenance, the occasions in which I have been mistaken may be set +down as exceptions. M. Jerome at once interested me; and as I was idly +in search of health, and had taken care to have nothing whatever to do +but to kill time, the observation of this gentleman's appearance and +manners naturally formed a chief part of my occupation. + +I began by ascertaining exactly the colour of his eyes and +hair--nearly black; the shape of his nose--straight, and rather too +long; and would have been glad to examine the form of his mouth, but a +huge moustache hanging over his lips in the French military style--see +the portrait of General Cavaignac--prevented me from ascertaining the +precise contour of what one of my old philosophers calls the Port +Esquiline of Derision. M. Jerome was, upon the whole, a handsome man, +with a romantically bilious complexion; and the expression of his +large dark eyes was really profound and striking. His costume was +always fashionable, without being showy; and there was nothing to +object to but a diamond ring, somewhat too ostentatiously displayed on +the little finger, which, in all his manual operations, at dinner or +elsewhere, always cocked up with an impertinent 'look-at-me air,' that +I did not like. When, indeed, this dandy walked slowly out of the +dining-room to the door-step, and lighted his cigar, the said little +finger became positively obnoxious; and I used to think whether it +were possible that that human being had been created purposely as a +scaffolding whereon to exhibit a flashing little stone, set in twenty +shillings worth of gold. + +M. Jerome, though not, strictly speaking, a silent man, was +sufficiently reserved at table. The early courses were by him always +allowed to pass without any further remark than what politeness +requires--as: 'Shall I send you some more of this _blanquette_?' or, +'With pleasure, sir;' and so forth. When dessert-time approached, +however, he generally began to unbend, to take part in the general +conversation, and throw in here and there a piquant anecdote. He did +this with so much grace, that had it not been for the diamond ring, I +should have been disposed to consider him as a man of large experience +in the best society. The other people who generally attended at +table--travellers, commercial and otherwise, with one or two smart +folks from the town, on the look-out for Parisian gossip, to retail to +the less adventurous members of their circle--were all delighted with +M. Jerome: it was M. Jerome here, and M. Jerome there; and if M. +Jerome happened to dine out, every one seemed to feel uneasy, and look +upon him as guilty of a great dereliction of duty. They could almost +as well have done without their _demi-tasse_. + +Although I am an inquisitive, I am not a very impertinent man. I like +to pry into other people's affairs only in so far as I can do so +without hurting their feelings, or putting my own self-love in danger +of a check. If, therefore, I gave the reins to my curiosity, and +devoted myself to studying the more apparent movements of this M. +Jerome, I shrank from putting any direct questions to the _garçon_, +who might probably at once have given me a very prosaic account of +him. On one occasion, I threw in casually a remark, to the effect that +the gentleman at No. 49 seemed a great favourite with the fair sex; +but the only reply was a smile, and an acknowledgment that, in +general, people of fascinating exterior--here the _garçon_ glanced at +the mirror he was dusting--_were_ great favourites with the fairer +portion of the creation. 'We Frenchmen,' it was added, 'know the way +to the female heart better than most men.' The waiter had paused with +his duster in his hand. I felt that he was going to give me his Art of +Love; and opportunely remembering that I had a letter to put into the +post, I escaped the infliction for the time. + +I had, indeed, observed that if the public generally admitted the +valuable qualities of M. Jerome as a companion, his reputation was +based principally on the approval of the ladies. All these excellent +judges agreed that he was a nice, quiet, agreeable person; and 'so +handsome!' At least the seven members of an English family, who had +come to visit Chambord, and lingered at the hotel a week--five of them +were daughters--all expressed this opinion of M. Jerome; and even a +supercilious French lady, with a particle attached to her name, +admitted that he was 'very well.' + +One day, a new face appeared at table to interest me; and as the +mysterious gentleman and his diamond ring had puzzled me for a +fortnight, during which I had made no progress towards ascertaining +his real position and character, I was not sorry to have my attention +a little diverted by a mysterious lady. Madame de Mourairef--a Russian +name, thought I--was a very agreeable person to look at; much more so +to me than M. Jerome. She was not much past twenty years of age; +small, slight, elegant in shape, if not completely so in manners; and +with one of those charming little faces which you can analyse into +ugliness, but which in their synthesis, to speak as moderns should, +are admirable, adorable, fascinating. I should have thought that such +a _minois_ could belong only to Paris--the city, by the way, of ugly +women, whom art makes charming. However, there it was above the +shoulders, high of course--swan-necked women are only found in +England--above the shoulders of a Russian marchioness, princess, +czarina, or what you will, who called for her cigarettes after dinner, +was attended by a little _soubrette_, named Penelope, and looked for +all the world as if she had just been whirled off the boards of the +Opera Comique. + +I at first believed that this was a mere _mascarade_; but when a +letter in a formidable envelope, with the seal of the Russian embassy, +arrived, and was exhibited in the absence of the lady herself, to +every one of the lodgers, in proof of the aristocratic character of +the customer of the Tête Noire, I began to doubt my own perspicacity, +and to imagine that I had now a far more interesting object of study +than M. Jerome and his diamond ring. Madame de Mourairef was an +exceedingly affable person; and the English family aforesaid, whom I +have reason to believe were Cockney tradesfolks, pronounced her to be +very high-bred--without a fault, indeed, if it had not been for that +horrid habit of smoking, which, as they judiciously observed, however, +was a peculiar characteristic of the Russians. I am afraid, they would +have set her down as a vulgar wretch, had they not been forewarned +that she was aristocratic. The French lady seemed to look upon the +foreign one as an intruder, and scarcely deigned to turn her eyes in +that direction. Probably this was because she was so charming, and +monopolised so much of the attention of us gentlemen. + +'They no sooner looked than they loved,' says Rosalind. This was not, +perhaps, quite the case with M. Jerome and the Russian princess, who +took care to let it be known that she was a widow; but in a very few +days what is called 'a secret sympathy' evidently sprang into +existence. The former, of course, made the first advances. His +diplomatic and seductive arts were not, however, put to a great test, +for in three days the lady manifestly felt uneasy until he presented +himself at dinner; and in a week, I met them walking arm in arm on the +bridge. It was easy to see that he was on his good behaviour; and from +some fragments of conversations I overheard between them when they met +in the passage opposite my door, I learned that he was 'doing the +melancholy dodge,' as in the vernacular we would express it; and had +many harrowing revelations to make as to the manner in which his heart +had been trifled with by unfeeling beauties. + +'There is a tide in the affairs of an hôtel:' I am in a mood for +quoting from my favourite authors; and whereas we had at one time sat +down nearly twenty to table, we suddenly found ourselves to be only +three--M. Jerome, the princess, and myself. A kind of intimacy was the +natural result. We made ourselves mutually agreeable; and I was not at +all surprised, when one evening Madame de Mourairef invited us two +gentlemen to take tea with her in her little sitting-room. Both +accepted joyfully; and though I am persuaded that M. Jerome would have +preferred a tête-à-tête, he accepted my companionship with tolerable +grace. We strolled together, indeed, on the quay for half an hour. It +was raining slightly, and I had a cough; but I have too good an +opinion of human nature to imagine that my new acquaintance kept me +out by his fascinating conversation, in order to make me catch a +desperate cold, that would send me wheezing to bed. + +The tea was served, as I suppose it is served in Russia, very weak, +with a plentiful admixture of milk and accompaniment of _biscuits +glacés_. Madame de Mourairef did the honours in an inexpressibly +graceful manner; and I observed that there was a delightful intimacy +between her and her maid Penelope, that quite upset my ideas of +northern serfdom. I think they even once exchanged a wink, but of this +I am not sure. There is nothing like experience to expand one's ideas, +and I made up my mind to re-examine the whole of my notions of +Muscovite vassalage. M. Jerome seemed less struck by these +circumstances than myself--being probably too much absorbed in +contemplation of our hostess--but even he could not avoid exclaiming, +'that if that were the way in which serfs were treated, he should like +to be a serf--of such a mistress!' + +'You Frenchmen are _so_ gallant!' was the reply. + +A little while afterwards, somebody proposed a game of whist. There +was an objection to 'dead-man,' and Penelope, with a semi-oriental +salaam, offered to 'take a hand.' Madame de Mourairef was graciously +pleased to order her to do so. We shuffled, cut, and played; and when +midnight came, and it was necessary to retire, I felt almost afraid to +examine into my own heart, lest I might find that the soubrette +appeared to me at least as high-bred as the mistress. + +We spent some delightful evenings in this manner, and perhaps still +more delightful days, for by degrees we became inseparable, and all +our walks and drives were made in common. The garçon often looked +maliciously at me, even offered once or twice to develop his Art of +Love; but I did not choose to be interrupted in my physiognomical +studies, and gave him no opportunity. + +A picnic was proposed, and agreed upon. We intended at first to go to +Chambord; but there was danger of a crowd; and a valley on the road to +Vendôme was pitched upon. A _calèche_ took us to the place, and set us +down in a delightful meadow, enamelled with flowers, as all meadows +are in poetry. A few great trees, forming almost a grove, shaded a +slope near the banks of a sluggish stream that crept along between an +avenue of poplars. Here the cloth was laid at once for breakfast; and +whilst M. Jerome and the princess strolled away to talk of blighted +hopes, Russia, serfdom, wedlock, and the conflagration of the Kremlin, +Penelope made the necessary preparation; and I, in my character of a +fidgety old gentleman, first advised and then assisted her. I am +afraid the young damsel had designs upon my heart, for she put several +questions to me on the state of vassalage in England; and when I +developed succinctly the principles and advantages of our free +constitution, and said some eloquent things that formed a French +edition of 'Britons never shall be slaves,' she became quite +enthusiastic; her cheeks flushed, her eyes brightened; and with a sort +of Thervigne-de-Mericourt gesture, she cried: 'Vive la République!' +This was scarcely the natural product of what I had said; but so +lively a little creature, in her dainty lace-cap and flying pink +ribbons, neat silk _caraco_, plaid-patterned gown, with pagoda +sleeves, as she called them, and milk-white _manchettes_--her +_bottines_ from the Rue Vivienne, and her face from Paradise--could +reconcile many a harder heart than mine to greater incongruities. Our +arrangements being made, therefore, I sat down on a camp-stool, whilst +Penelope reclined on the grass; and I endeavoured to explain to her +the great advantages of a moderate constitutional government, with +checks, balances, and so forth. Although she yawned, I am sure it was +not from ennui, but in order to shew me her pretty pearly teeth. + +M. Jerome and the princess came streaming back over the meadow--even +affected to scold me for having remained behind. They were evidently +on the best possible terms, and I took great satisfaction in +contemplating their happiness. Either my perspicacity was at fault, +however, or both had some secret cause of uneasiness that pressed upon +their minds as the day advanced. Had they been only betrayed into a +declaration and a plighting of their troth in a hurry? Did they +already repent? Did Madame de Mourairef regret the barbarous splendour +of her native land? Did M. Jerome begin to mourn over the delights of +bachelorship? These were the questions I put to myself without being +able to invent any satisfactory answer. The day passed, however, +pleasantly enough; and the calèche came in due time to take us back to +Blois. + +Next morning, M. Jerome entered my room with a graceful bow, to +announce his departure for Paris, whither it was necessary for him to +go to obtain the necessary papers for his marriage, and Madame de +Mourairef, he added, accompanied him. I uttered the necessary +congratulations, and gave my address in Paris, that he might call upon +me as soon as he was settled in the hôtel he proposed to take. + +'I take two persons with me,' he said, smiling; 'but one of them +leaves her heart behind, I am afraid.' + +This alluded to Penelope; but I was determined not to understand. I +went to say adieu to Madame de Mourairef, who seemed rather excited +and anxious. Penelope almost succeeded in wringing forth a tear; but I +did not think it was decreed that at my age I should really make love +to a Russian serf, however charming. So off they went to the railway +station, leaving me in a very dull, stupid, melancholy mood. + +'What a fortunate man M. Jerome is!' said the garçon, as he came into +my room a few minutes afterwards. + +'Yes,' I replied; 'Madame de Mourairef seems in every way worthy of +him.' + +'I should think so,' quoth he. 'It is not every waiter, however +fascinating, that falls in with a Russian princess.' + +'Waiter! M. Jerome!' + +'Of course,' replied my informant. 'You seem surprised; but M. Jerome +is really a waiter at the Café ----, on the Boulevard des Italiens; +came down for his health. We were comrades once, and I promised to +keep the secret, for he thought it extremely probable that he might +meet a wealthy English lady here, who might fall in love with +him--your countrywomen are so eccentric. He has found a Russian +princess, which is better. I suppose we must now call him +Monseigneur?' + +Although, like the rest of my species, disposed to laugh at the +misfortunes of my fellow-creatures, I confess that I pitied Madame de +Mourairef; for I felt persuaded that M. Jerome had passed himself off +as a very distinguished personage. However, there was no remedy, and I +had no right to interfere in the matter. The lady, indeed, had been in +an unpardonable hurry to be won, and must take the consequences. + +In the afternoon, there was a great bustle in the hôtel, and +half-a-dozen voices were heard doing the work of fifty. I went out +into the passage, and caught the first fragments of an explanation +that soon became complete. M. Alphonse, courier to M. de Mourairef, +had arrived, and was indignantly maintaining that Sophie and Penelope, +the two waiting-maids of the princess, had arrived at the Tête Noire, +to take a suite of rooms for their mistress; whilst the landlord and +his coadjutors, slow to comprehend, averred that the great lady had +herself been there, and departed. The truth at length came out--that +these two smart Parisian lasses, having a fortnight before them, had +determined to give up their places, and play the mascarade which I +have described. When M. and Madame de Mourairef, two respectable, +middle-aged people, arrived, they were dismally made acquainted with +the sacrilege that had been committed; but as no debts had been +contracted in their name, and their letters came in a parcel by the +post from Orleans, they laughed heartily at the joke, and enjoyed the +idea that Sophie had been taken in. + +The following winter, I went into a café newly established in the Rue +Poissonière, and was agreeably surprised to see Sophie, the +pseudo-princess, sitting behind the counter in magnificent toilette, +receiving the bows and the money of the customers as they passed +before her, whilst M. Jerome--exactly in appearance as before, except +that prosperity had begun to round him--was leaning against a pillar +in rather a melodramatic attitude, a white napkin gracefully depending +from his hand. They started on seeing me, and were a little confused, +but soon laughed over their adventure; called Penelope to take her +turn at the counter--the little serf whispered to me as she passed, +that I was 'a traitor, a barbarian,' and insisted on treating me to my +coffee and my _petit verre_, free, gratis, for nothing. + + + + +MEMOIRS OF LORD JEFFREY. + + +In the crisis of the French Revolution, British society was paralysed +with conservative alarms, and all tendency to liberal opinions, or +even to an advocacy of the most simple and needful reforms, was met +with a ruthless intolerance. In Scotland, there was not a public +meeting for five-and-twenty years. In that night of unreflecting +Toryism, a small band of men, chiefly connected with the law in +Edinburgh, stood out in a profession of Whiggism, to the forfeiture of +all chance of government patronage, and even of much of the confidence +and esteem of society. Three or four young barristers were +particularly prominent, all men of uncommon talents. The chief was +Francis Jeffrey, who died in 1850, in the seventy-seventh year of his +age, after having passed through a most brilliant career as a +practising lawyer and judge, and one still more brilliant, as the +conductor, for twenty-seven years, of the celebrated _Edinburgh +Review_. Another was Henry Cockburn, who has now become the biographer +of his great associate. It was verily a remarkable knot of men in many +respects, but we think in none more than a heroic probity towards +their principles, which were, after all, of no extravagant character, +as was testified by their being permitted to triumph harmlessly in +1831-2. These men anticipated by forty years changes which were +ultimately patronised by the great majority of the nation. They all +throve professionally, but purely by the force of their talents and +high character. As there was not any precisely equivalent group of men +at any other bar in the United Kingdom, we think Scotland is entitled +to take some credit to herself for her Jeffreys, her Cranstons, her +Murrays, and her Cockburns: at least, she will not soon forget their +names. + +Lord Jeffrey--his judicial designation in advanced life--was of +respectable, but not exalted parentage. After a careful education at +Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford, he entered at the bar in 1793, when +not yet much more than twenty years of age. His father, being himself +a Tory, desired the young lawyer to be so too, seeing that it would be +favourable to his prospects; but he could not yield in this point to +paternal counsel. The consequence was, that this able man practised +for ten years without gaining more than L. 100 per annum. All this +time, he cultivated his mind diligently, and was silently training +himself for that literary career which he subsequently entered upon. +His talents were at that time known only to a few intimates: there +were peculiarities about him, which prevented him from being generally +appreciated up to his deserts. His figure, to begin with, was almost +ludicrously small. Then, in his anxiety to get rid of the Scottish +accent, he had contracted an elocution intended to be English, but +which struck every one as most affected and offensive. His manners +were marked by levity, and his conversation to many seemed flippant. +His literary musings also acted unfavourably on the solicitors, the +leading patrons of young counsellors. Reduced by dearth of business +almost to despair, he had at one time serious thoughts of flinging +himself upon the London press for a subsistence. The first smile of +fortune beamed upon him in 1802, when the _Edinburgh Review_ was +started--a work of which he quickly assumed the management. That it +brought him income and literary renown, we gather from Lord Cockburn's +pages; but we do not readily find it explained how. While more +declaredly a literary man than ever, he now advanced rapidly at the +bar, and quickly became a man of wealth and professional dignity. We +suspect that, after all that is said of the effect of literary +pursuits on business prospects, the one success was a consequence in +great measure of the other. + +The value of this work rests, in our opinion, on the illustration +which it presents of the possibility of a man of sound though +unpopular opinions passing through life, not merely without suffering +greatly from the wrath of society, but in the enjoyment of some of its +highest honours. After reading this book, one could almost suppose it +to be a delusion that the world judges hardly of any man's speculative +opinions, while his life remains pure, and his heart manifestly is +alive to all the social charities. The heroic consistency of Jeffrey +is the more remarkable, when it now appears that he was a gentle and +rather timid man, keenly alive to the sympathies of friends and +neighbours--indeed, of _womanish_ character altogether. As is well +known, his time arrived at last, when, on the coming of the Whigs into +power in 1830, he was raised to the dignified situation of Lord +Advocate for Scotland, and was called upon to take the lead, +officially, in making those political changes which he had all along +advocated. It is curious, however, and somewhat startling, to learn +how little gratification he professed to feel in what appeared so +great a triumph. While his rivals looked with envy on his exaltation, +and mobs deemed it little enough that he should be entirely at their +beck in requital for the support they gave him, Mr Jeffrey was sighing +for the quiet of private life, groaning at his banishment from a happy +country-home, and not a little disturbed by the troubled aspect of +public affairs. Mr Macaulay has somewhere remarked on the general +mistake as to the 'sweets of office.' We are assured by Lord Cockburn, +that Jeffrey would have avoided the advocateship if he could. He +accepted it only from a feeling of duty to his party. He writes to a +female relation of the 'good reason I have for being sincerely sick +and sorry at an elevation for which so many people are envying, and +thinking me the luckiest and most elevated of mortals for having +attained.' And this subject is still further illustrated by an account +he gives of the conduct of honest Lord Althorpe during the short +interval in May 1832, when the Whigs were _out_. 'Lord Althorpe,' he +says, 'has gone through all this with his characteristic cheerfulness +and courage. The day after the resignation, he spent in a great +sale-garden, choosing and buying flowers, and came home with five +great packages in his carriage, devoting the evening to studying where +they should be planted in his garden at Althorpe, and writing +directions and drawing plans for their arrangement. And when they came +to summon him to a council on the Duke's giving in, he was found in a +closet with a groom, busy oiling the locks of his fowlingpieces, and +lamenting the decay into which they had fallen during his ministry.' + +In some respects, the book will create surprise, particularly as to +the private life and character of the great Aristarch. While the +_Edinburgh Review_ was in progress under the care of Mr Jeffrey, it +was a most unrelenting tribunal for literary culprits, as well as a +determined assertor of its own political maxims. The common idea +regarding its chief conductor represented him as a man of +extraordinary sharpness, alternating between epigrammatic flippancy +and democratic rigour. Gentle and refined feeling would certainly +never have been attributed to him. It will now be found that he was at +all times of his life a man of genial spirit towards the entire circle +of his fellow-creatures--that his leading tastes were for poetry and +the beautiful in external nature, particularly fine scenery--that he +revelled in the home affections, and was continually saying the +softest and kindest things to all about him--a lamb, in short, while +thought a lion. The local circle in which he lived was somewhat +limited and exclusive, partly, perhaps, in consequence of having been +early shut in upon itself by its dissent from the mass of society on +most public questions; but in this circle Jeffrey was adored by men, +women, and children alike, on account of his extreme kindliness of +disposition. He was almost, to a ridiculous degree, dependent on the +love of his friends; and the terms in which he addresses some of them, +particularly ladies, sound odd in this commonsense world. Thus, the +wife of one of his friends is, 'My sweet, gentle, and long-suffering +Sophia.' He pours out his very heart to his correspondents, and with +an effect which would reconcile to him the most irascible author he +ever scarified. Thus, to his daughter, who had just left him with her +husband:--'I happened to go up stairs, and passing into our room, saw +the door open of that little one where _you_ used to sleep, and the +very bed waiting there for you, so silent and desolate, that all the +love, and the _miss_ of you, which fell so sadly on my heart the first +night of your desertion, came back upon it so heavily and darkly, that +I was obliged to shut myself in, and cry over the recollection, as if +all the interval had been annihilated, and that loss and sorrow were +still fresh and unsubdued before me; and though the fit went off +before long, I feel still that I must vent my heart by telling you of +it, and therefore sit down now to write all this to you, and get rid +of my feelings, that would otherwise be more likely to haunt my vigils +of the night.' Thus, on the death of a sister in his early days:--'A +very heavy blow upon us all, and much more so on me than I had +believed possible. The habit of seeing her almost every day, and of +living together intimately since our infancy, had wound so many +threads of affection round my heart, that when they were burst at +once, the shock was almost overwhelming. Then, the unequalled +gentleness of her disposition, the unaffected worth of her affections, +and miraculous simplicity of character and manners, which made her +always appear as pure and innocent as an infant, took so firm, though +gentle a hold on the heart of every one who approached her, that even +those who have been comparatively strangers to her worth, have been +greatly affected by her loss.... During the whole of her illness, she +looked beautiful; and when I gazed upon her the moment after she had +breathed her last, as she lay still, still, and calm, with her bright +eyes half closed, and her red lips half open, I thought I had never +seen a countenance so lovely. A statuary might have taken her for a +model. Poor, dear love! I kissed her cold lips, and pressed her cold, +wan, lifeless hand, and would willingly at that moment have put off my +own life too, and followed her. When I came here, the sun was rising, +and the birds were singing gaily, as I sobbed along the empty +streets.' + +The sensibility of Jeffrey to all fine expression that comes to us +through the medium of literature was intense, most so in his latter +days, when his whole character seems to have undergone a mellowing +process. While pining under his greatness as Lord Advocate, and an +authority in parliament (1833), he says: 'If it were not for my love +of beautiful nature and poetry, my heart would have died within me +long ago. I never felt before what immeasurable benefactors these same +poets are to their kind, and how large a measure, both of actual +happiness and prevention of misery, they have imparted to the race. I +would willingly give up half my fortune, and some little fragments of +health and bodily enjoyment that yet remain to me, rather than that +Shakspeare should not have lived before me.' Who that had only read +his lively, acute articles in the formal Review, could have believed +him to be so deeply sympathetic with an unfortunate poet, as he shews +in the following fine passage in one of his letters (1837)? 'In the +last week, I have read all Burns's Life and Works--not without many +tears, for the life especially. What touches me most, is the pitiable +poverty in which that gifted being (and his noble-minded father) +passed his early days--the painful frugality to which their innocence +was doomed, and the thought how small a share of the useless luxuries +in which we (such comparatively poor creatures) indulge, would have +sufficed to shed joy and cheerfulness in their dwellings, and perhaps +to have saved that glorious spirit from the trials and temptations +under which he fell so prematurely. Oh! my dear Empson, there must be +something _terribly_ wrong in the present arrangements of the +universe, when those things can happen, and be thought natural. I +could lie down in the dirt, and cry and grovel there, I think, for a +century, to save such a soul as Burns from the suffering, and the +contamination, and the _degradation_, which these same arrangements +imposed upon him; and I fancy that, if I could but have known him, in +my present state of wealth and influence, I might have saved, and +reclaimed, and preserved him, even to the present day. He would not +have been so old as my brother-judge, Lord Glenlee, or Lord Lynedoch, +or a dozen others that one meets daily in society. And what a +creature, not only in genius, but in nobleness of character, +potentially at least, if right models had been put _gently_ before +him!' + +The narrative of Lord Cockburn occupies only one volume, the other +being filled with a selection from Lord Jeffrey's letters. It is a +brief chronicle of the subject; many will feel it to be +unsatisfactorily slight. The author seems to have been afraid of +becoming tedious. It is, however, a manly and faithful narration, with +the rare merit of going little, if at all, beyond bounds in its +appreciation of the hero or his associates, or the importance of the +circumstances in which he moved. The sketches of some of Jeffrey's +contemporaries, as John Clerk, Sir Harry Moncreiff, and Henry Erskine, +are vigorous pieces of painting, which will suggest to many a desire +that the author should favour the public with a wider view of the men +and things of Scotland in the age just past. With a natural partiality +as a friend and as a biographer, he seems to us to set too high an +estimate on Jeffrey when he ranks him as one of a quartett, including +Dugald Stewart, Sir Walter Scott, and Dr Chalmers, 'each of whom in +literature, philosophy, or policy, caused great changes,' and 'left +upon his age the impression of the mind that produced them.' Few of +his countrymen would claim this rank for either Jeffrey or Stewart. +Jeffrey, no doubt, raised a department of our literature from a low to +a high level; he was a Great Voice in his day. But he produced nothing +which can permanently affect us; he gave no great turn to the +sentiments or opinions of mankind. His only original effort of any +mark, is his exposition of the association theory of beauty, which +rests on a simple mistake of what is pleasing for what is beautiful, +and is already nothing. We suspect that no man with his degree of +timidity will ever be very great, either as a philosopher or as a man +of deeds. He was a brilliant _writer_--the most brilliant, and, with +one exception, the most versatile in his age; but to this we would +limit his panegyric, apart from the glory of his long and consistent +career as a politician, which we think can scarcely be overestimated. + +So many of the most remarkable passages of the work have been already +hackneyed through the medium of the newspapers, that we feel somewhat +at a loss to present any which may have a chance of being new to our +readers. So early as his twentieth year, we find Mr Jeffrey thus +sensibly expressing himself on an important subject:-- + +'There is nothing in the world I detest so much as companions and +acquaintances, as they are called. Where intimacy has gone so far as +to banish reserve, to disclose character, and to communicate the +reality of serious opinions, the connection may be the source of much +pleasure--it may ripen into friendship, or subside into esteem. But to +know half a hundred fellows just so far as to speak, and walk, and +lounge with them; to be acquainted with a multitude of people, for all +of whom together you do not care one farthing; in whose company you +speak without any meaning, and laugh without any enjoyment; whom you +leave without any regret, and rejoin without any satisfaction; from +whom you learn nothing, and in whom you love nothing--to have such a +set for your society, is worse than to live in absolute solitude; and +is a thousand times more pernicious to the faculties of social +enjoyment, by circulating in its channels a stream so insipid.' + +At the peace of Amiens, Jeffrey wrote thus to his friend Morehead, 7th +October 1801: 'It is the only public event in my recollection that has +given me any lively sensation of pleasure, and I have rejoiced at it +as heartily as it is possible for a private man, and one whose own +condition is not immediately affected by it, to do. How many parents +and children, and sisters and brothers, would that news make happy? +How many pairs of bright eyes would weep over that gazette, and wet +its brown pages with tears of gratitude and rapture? How many weary +wretches will it deliver from camps and hospitals, and restore once +more to the comforts of a peaceful and industrious life? What are +victories to rejoice at, compared with an event like this? Your +bonfires and illuminations are dimmed with blood and with tears, and +battle is in itself a great evil, and a subject of general grief and +lamentation. The victors are only the least unfortunate, and suffering +and death have, in general, brought us no nearer to tranquillity and +happiness.' It may be well thus to bring the value of a peace before +the public mind. Let those who only know of war from history, reflect +how great must be the evils of a state the cessation of which gives +such a feeling of relief. + +Here is a curious passage about the society of Liverpool in 1813, and +his love of his native country. We must receive the statement +respecting the Quakers with something more than doubt, at least as to +the extent to which it is true:--'I have been dining out every day for +this last week with Unitarians, and Whigs, and Americans, and brokers, +and bankers, and small fanciers of pictures and paints, and the Quaker +aristocracy, and the fashionable vulgar, of the place. But I do not +like Liverpool much better, and could not live here with any comfort. +Indeed, I believe I could not live anywhere out of Scotland. All my +recollections are Scottish, and consequently all my imaginations; and +though I thank God that I have as few fixed opinions as any man of my +standing, yet all the elements out of which they are made have a +certain national cast also. In short, I will not live anywhere else if +I can help it; nor die either; and all old Esky's[3] eloquence would +have been thrown away in an attempt to persuade me that _banishment +furth the kingdom_ might be patiently endured. I take more to Roscoe, +however: he is thoroughly good-hearted, and has a sincere, though +foolish concern for the country. I have also found out a Highland +woman with much of the mountain accent, and sometimes get a little +girl to talk to. But with all these resources, and the aid of the +Botanical Garden, the time passes rather heavily; and I am in some +danger of dying of ennui, with the apparent symptoms of extreme +vivacity. Did you ever hear that most of the Quakers die of +stupidity--actually and literally? I was assured of the fact the other +day by a very intelligent physician, who practised twenty years among +them, and informs me that few of the richer sort live to be fifty, but +die of a sort of atrophy, their cold blood just stagnating by degrees +among their flabby fat. They eat too much, he says; take little +exercise; and, above all, have no nervous excitement. The affection is +known in this part of the country by the name of _the Quaker's +disease_, and more than one-half of them go out so. I think this +curious, though not worth coming to Liverpool to hear, or writing from +Liverpool, &c.' + +He was at this time about to sail for America, in order to marry a +lady of that country. In a letter to Morehead, he recalls his +old-fashioned country residence of Hatton, in West Lothian, and Mr +Morehead's family now resident there. Tuckey was a nickname for one of +Mr Morehead's daughters; Margaret was another. Till the last, he had +pet names for all his own descendants and relatives, having no doubt +felt how much they contribute to the promotion of family affection. 'I +am almost ashamed of the degree of sorrow I feel at leaving all the +early and long-prized objects of my affection; and though I am +persuaded I do right in the step which I am taking, I cannot help +wishing that it had not been quite so wide and laborious a one. You +cannot think how beautiful Hatton appears at this moment in my +imagination, nor with what strong emotion I fancy I hear Tuckey +telling a story on my knee, and see Margaret poring upon her French +before me. It is in your family that my taste for domestic society and +domestic enjoyments has been nurtured and preserved. Such a child as +Tuckey I shall never see again in this world. Heaven bless her, and +she will be a blessing both to her mother and to you.' After touching +upon a volume of poems which Mr Morehead had published--'If I were +you, however, I would live more with Tuckey, and be satisfied with my +gardening and pruning--with my preaching--a good deal of walking and +comfortable talking. What more has life? and how full of vexation are +all ambitious fancies and perplexing pursuits! Well, God bless you! +Perhaps I shall not have an opportunity to inculcate my innocent +epicurism upon you for a long time again. It will do you no harm.' + +It will be a new fact to most of the admirers of Jeffrey, that he had +in early life devoted himself to the writing of poetry. Of what he +wrote between 1791 and 1796, the greater part has disappeared from his +repositories. 'But,' says his biographer, 'enough survives to attest +his industry, and to enable us to appreciate his powers. There are +some loose leaves and fragments of small poems, mostly on the usual +subjects of love and scenery, and in the form of odes, sonnets, +elegies, &c.; all serious, none personal or satirical. And besides +these slight things, there is a completed poem on Dreaming, in blank +verse, about 1800 lines long. The first page is dated Edinburgh, May +4, 1791, the last Edinburgh, 25th June 1791; from which I presume that +we are to hold it to have been all written in these fifty-three +days--a fact which accounts for the absence of high poetry, though +there be a number of poetical conceptions and flowing sentences. Then +there is a translation into blank verse of the third book of the +_Argonauticon_ of Apollonius Rhodius. The other books are lost, but he +translated the whole poem, extending to about 6000 lines.... And I may +mention here, though it happens to be in prose, that of two plays, +one, a tragedy, survives. It has no title, but is complete in all its +other parts.... He was fond of parodying the _Odes_ of Horace, with +applications to modern incidents and people, and did it very +successfully. The _Otium Divos_ was long remembered. Notwithstanding +this perseverance, and a decided poetical ambition, he was never +without misgivings as to his success. I have been informed, that he +once went so far as to leave a poem with a bookseller, to be +published, and fled to the country; and that, finding some obstacle +had occurred, he returned, recovered the manuscript, rejoicing that he +had been saved, and never renewed so perilous an experiment. + +'There may be some who would like to see these compositions, or +specimens of them, both on their own account, and that the friends of +the many poets his criticism has offended might have an opportunity of +retaliation, and of shewing, by the critic's own productions, how +little, in their opinion, he was worthy to sit in judgment on others. +But I cannot indulge them. Since Jeffrey, though fond of playing with +verses privately, never delivered himself up to the public as the +author of any, I cannot think that it would be right in any one else +to exhibit him in this capacity. I may acknowledge, however, that, so +far as I can judge, the publication of such of his poetical attempts +as remain, though it might shew his industry and ambition, would not +give him the poetical wreath, and of course would not raise his +reputation. Not that there are not tons of worse verse published, and +bought, and even read, every year, but that their publication would +not elevate Jeffrey. His poetry is less poetical than his prose. +Viewed as mere literary practice, it is rather respectable. It evinces +a general acquaintance, and a strong sympathy, with moral emotion, +great command of language, correct taste, and a copious possession of +the poetical commonplaces, both of words and of sentiment. But all +this may be without good poetry.' + +Having given little of Lord Cockburn in our extracts, we shall +conclude with a passage of his narration which stands out distinctly, +and has a historical value. It refers to Edinburgh in the second +decade of the present century, but takes in a few names of deceased +celebrities:--'The society of Edinburgh was not that of a provincial +town, and cannot be judged of by any such standard. It was +metropolitan. Trade or manufactures have, fortunately, never marked +this city for their own; but it is honoured by the presence of a +college famous throughout the world, and from which the world has been +supplied with many of the distinguished men who have shone in it. It +is the seat of the supreme courts of justice, and of the annual +convocation of the Church, formerly no small matter; and of almost all +the government offices and influence. At the period I am referring to, +this combination of quiet with aristocracy made it the resort, to a +far greater extent than it is now, of the families of the gentry, who +used to leave their country residences and enjoy the gaiety and the +fashion which their presence tended to promote. Many of the curious +characters and habits of the receding age--the last purely Scotch age +that Scotland was destined to see--still lingered among us. Several +were then to be met with who had seen the Pretender, with his court +and his wild followers, in the Palace of Holyrood. Almost the whole +official state, as settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the +capital, unconscious of the economical scythe which has since mowed it +down. All our nobility had not then fled. A few had sense not to feel +degraded by being happy at home. The Old Town was not quite deserted. +Many of our principal people still dignified its picturesque recesses +and historical mansions, and were dignified by them. The closing of +the continent sent many excellent English families and youths among +us, for education and for pleasure. The war brightened us with +uniforms, and strangers, and shows. + +'Over all this, there was diffused the influence of a greater number +of persons attached to literature and science, some as their calling, +and some for pleasure, than could be found, in proportion to the +population, in any other city in the empire. Within a few years, +including the period I am speaking of, the College contained Principal +Robertson, Joseph Black, his successor Hope, the second Munro, James +Gregory, John Robison, John Playfair, and Dugald Stewart; none of them +confined monastically to their books, but all--except Robison, who was +in bad health--partaking of the enjoyments of the world. Episcopacy +gave us the Rev. Archibald Alison; and in Blair, Henry, John Home, Sir +Harry Moncreiff, and others, Presbytery made an excellent +contribution, the more to be admired that it came from a church which +eschews rank, and boasts of poverty. The law, to which Edinburgh has +always been so largely indebted, sent its copious supplies; who, +instead of disturbing good company by professional matter--an offence +with which the lawyers of every place are charged--were remarkably +free of this vulgarity; and being trained to take difference of +opinion easily, and to conduct discussions with forbearance, were, +without undue obtrusion, the most cheerful people that were to be met +with. Lords Monboddo, Hailes, Glenlee, Meadowbank, and Woodhouselee, +all literary judges, and Robert Blair, Henry Erskine, and Henry +Mackenzie, senior, were at the earlier end of this file; Scott and +Jeffrey at the later--but including a variety of valuable persons +between these extremities. Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hall, and Mr +Clerk of Eldin, represented a class of country gentlemen cultivating +learning on its account. And there were several, who, like the founder +of the Huttonian theory, selected this city for their residence solely +from the consideration in which science and letters were here held, +and the facilities, or rather the temptations, presented for their +prosecution. Philosophy had become indigenous in the place, and all +classes, even in their gayest hours, were proud of the presence of its +cultivators. Thus learning was improved by society, and society by +learning. And unless when party-spirit interfered--which, at one time, +however, it did frequently and bitterly--perfect harmony, and, indeed, +lively cordiality, prevailed. + +'And all this was still a Scotch scene. The whole country had not +begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London. There were still little +great places--places with attractions quite sufficient to retain men +of talent or learning in their comfortable and respectable provincial +positions, and which were dignified by the tastes and institutions +which learning and talent naturally rear. The operation of the +commercial principle which tempts all superiority to try its fortune +in the greatest accessible market, is perhaps irresistible; but +anything is surely to be lamented which annihilates local intellect, +and degrades the provincial spheres which intellect and its +consequences can alone adorn. According to the modern rate of +travelling, the capitals of Scotland and of England were then about +2400 miles asunder. Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and +habits. It had then its own independent tastes, and ideas, and +pursuits. Enough of the generation that was retiring survived to cast +an antiquarian air over the city, and the generation that was +advancing was still a Scotch production. Its character may be +estimated by the names I have mentioned, and by the fact, that the +genius of Scott and of Jeffrey had made it the seat at once of the +most popular poetry and the most brilliant criticism that then +existed. This city has advantages, including its being the capital of +Scotland, its old reputation, and its external beauties, which have +enabled it, in a certain degree, to resist the centralising tendency, +and have hitherto always supplied it with a succession of eminent men. +But now that London is at our door, how precarious is our hold of +them, and how many have we lost!' + +We would just add one remark which occurs to us after reviewing the +career of this eminent patriot and writer, and it may be of service to +young men now entering upon the various paths of ambition. It is the +fortune of many to be led by whim, prejudice, and other reasons, into +certain tracks of opinion, which, as they do not lead to the public +good, so neither do they conduce to any ultimate benefit for those +treading them. How striking the contrast between the retrospect of a +literary man, who has spent, perhaps, brilliant abilities in +supporting every bad cause and every condemned error of his time, and +necessarily found all barren at last, and the reflections of one like +Francis Jeffrey, who, having embraced just views at first, continued +temperately to advocate them until he saw them adopted as necessary +for the good of his country, and had the glory of being almost +universally thanked for his share in bringing about their triumph! Let +young literary men particularly take this duly to heart, for it may +save them from many a bitter pang in their latter days. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] 'Lord Eskgrove, a judge, who consoled a friend he was obliged to +banish, by assuring him that there really were places in the world, +such as England, for example, where a man, though out of Scotland, +might live with some little comfort.' + + + + +THE MOONLIGHT RIDE. + + +A number of years ago, a gentleman in Clydesdale offered me a +situation as head-groom, which I accepted. He had one horse which was +kept in a stable by himself, and was, without exception, the ugliest +and most savage animal of his kind I had ever seen. There was not a +single point of a strong or a fast horse about him. He was as black as +charcoal; he was named Satan, and richly did he deserve the name. He +would fly at you, like a dog, with his teeth; attempt to beat you down +with his fore-feet; and strike round a corner at you with his hind +ones. He had beaten off all the rough-riders, grooms, and jockeys in +that part of the country. + +After being in the place for a few days, I was asked by the gentleman, +if I thought I could make anything of Satan. I replied, that if he +beat me, he would be the only horse which had ever done so; but still +I considered him to be by far the most savage I had ever seen. 'Try +him to-morrow at one o'clock,' said he, as he turned to go away: 'I +will have a few friends with me to see how you succeed.' + +I determined, however, to try him that night, and without any witness +to see whether I succeeded or not. My room was over the stables, and +as the moon did not rise till eleven o'clock, I threw myself upon the +bedclothes, and, contrary to my intention, fell asleep. When I awoke, +it was twelve, the moon was shining brightly, and rendering everything +as visible as if it were day. + +I went down to the stable with a bridle prepared for the purpose, and +a heavily-loaded whip in my hand. I knew that it would be impossible +to saddle him; and, indeed, I should be safer on his bare back, in the +event of his throwing himself down. I opened the stable-door gently, +and there he was prone on his side, his legs and neck stretched out, +as I have often seen horses lying after sore fatigue. I clapped my +knee upon his head, loosed the collar that bound him, slipped the bit +into his mouth, buckled the throat-band, raised him to his feet, +backed him out, and leaped upon his back before he had time to get his +eyes right opened. But open them now he did, and that with a +vengeance; he pawed, and struck the walls with his fore-feet, till the +fire flashed from the stones; and then he reared till he fell right +back upon the pavement. I was prepared for this, and slipped off him +as he went down, and then leaped on him again as he rose. I had not as +yet touched him with whip, bridle, or spur; but now I gave him the +curb and the spurs at the same instant. He gave one mad bound, and +then went off at a rate that completely eclipsed the speed of the +fleetest horse I had ever ridden. He could not trot, but his gallop +was unapproachable, and consisted in a succession of leaps, performed +with a precision, velocity, and strength, absolutely bewildering. + +He fairly overturned all my preconceived notions of a fast horse. On +he thundered, till we came under the shadow of a fir-wood, and then, +whether out of mischief or dread of the darkness, he halted +instantaneously, his fore-feet so close together that you might have +put them into a bucket. Owing to the depression of his shoulders--for +he had no more withers than an ass--the way that he jerked down his +head, and the suddenness of the stop, a monkey, although he had been +holding on with his teeth, must have been unseated. For me, I was +pitched a long way over his head, but alighted upon a spot so soft and +mossy, that it looked as if some kind hand had purposely prepared it +for me. Had I been in the slightest degree stunned, or unable to +regain my feet, that instant he would have torn me to pieces with his +teeth, and beaten my mangled body into the earth with his hoofs. But I +at once sprang to my feet, and faced him. I could have escaped by +leaping into the wood; but my blood was up, my brain clear, and my +heart gave not one extra pulsation. There he stood upon his hind-legs +nearly upright, beating the air with his fore-feet, his mouth open, +his upper lip curled, his under one drawn down, his large white teeth +glancing like ivory in the moonlight. As soon as he saw me upon my +feet, he gave a yell such as I had never heard from a horse before, +save once, and which I believe is never elicited from that animal, +except when under the domination of frantic rage or fear. + +This unearthly cry roused every living thing within hearing. An army +of rooks, startled from their encampment in the wood, circled and +wheeled between us and the moon, shading her light, and filling the +midnight air with their discordant screams. This attracted the +attention of Satan, and, bringing his fore-feet to the ground, he +pricked up his ears, and listened. I sprang forward, seized him by the +mane, and vaulted upon his back. As I stooped forward to gather up the +reins, which were dangling from his head, he caught me by the cuff of +the jacket--luckily it was but the cuff!--and tore it up to the +shoulder. Instantly he seized me again; but this time he succeeded +rather better, having a small portion of the skin and flesh of my +thigh between his teeth. The intense pain occasioned by the bite, or +rather bruise, of a horse's mouth, can only be properly judged of by +those who have felt it. I was the madder of the two now; and of all +animals, an enraged man is the most dangerous and the most fearless. I +gave him a blow between the ears with the end of the whip; and he went +down at once, stunned and senseless, with his legs doubled up under +him, and his nose buried in the ground. I drew his fore-legs from +under him, that he might rise the more readily, and then lashed him +into life. He turned his head slowly round, and looked at me, and then +I saw that the savage glare of his eye was nearly quenched, and that, +if I could follow up the advantage I had gained, I should ultimately +be the conqueror. I now assisted him to rise, mounted him, and struck +at once with whip and spur. He gave a few bounds forward, a stagger or +two, and then fell heavily upon his side. I was nearly under him; +however, I did save my distance, although that was all. I now began to +feel sorry for him; his wonderful speed had won my respect; and as I +was far from being naturally cruel, whip or spur I never used except +in cases of necessity: so I thought I would allow him to lie for a few +minutes, if he did not incline to get up of himself. However, as I had +no faith in the creature, I sat down upon him, and watched him +intently. He lay motionless, with his eyes shut; and had it not been +for the firm and fast beat of his heart, I should have considered him +dying from the effects of the blow; but the strong pulsation told me +that there was plenty of life in him; and I suspected that he was +lying quiet, meditating mischief. I was right. Every muscle began +presently to quiver with suppressed rage. He opened his eyes, and gave +me a look, in which fear and fury were strangely blended. I am not +without superstition, and for an instant I quailed under that look, as +the thought struck me, that the black, unshapely brute before me might +actually be the spirit indicated by his name. With a muttered growl at +my folly, I threw the idea from me--leaped up--seized the reins--with +a lash and a cry made him spring to his feet--mounted him as he rose, +and struck the spurs into his sides. He reared and wheeled; but +finding that he could not get rid of me, and being unable to stand the +torture of the spurs, which I used freely (it was no time for mercy!) +he gave two or three plunges, and then bounded away at that dreadful +leaping gallop--that pace which seemed peculiarly his own. I tried to +moderate his speed with the bridle; but found, to my surprise, that I +had no command over him. I knew at once that something was wrong, as, +with the bit I had in his mouth, I ought to have had the power to have +broken his jawbone. I stooped forward to ascertain the cause; the +loose curb dangling at the side of his head gave a satisfactory +explanation. + +He had it all his own way now; he was fairly off with me; and all I +could do was to bear his head as well up as I could, to prevent him +from stumbling. However, as it would have been bad policy to let him +know how much he was master, I gave him an occasional touch with the +spur, as if wishing him to accelerate his pace; and when he made an +extra bound, I patted him on the neck, as if pleased with his +performance. + +A watery cloud was passing over the face of the moon, which rendered +everything dim and indistinct, as we tore away down a grassy slope; +the view terminating in a grove of tall trees, situated upon a +rising-ground. Beyond the dark outline of the trees, I saw nothing. + +As we neared the grove, Satan slackened his speed; this I thought he +did with a view to crush me against the trunks of the trees. To +prevent him from having time to do this, I struck him with the spurs, +and away again he went like fury. As he burst through the trees, I +flung my head forward upon his neck, to prevent myself from being +swept off by the lower branches. In doing this, the spurs accidentally +came in contact with his sides. He gave one tremendous leap +forward--the ground sank under his feet--the horse was thrown over his +own head--I was jerked into the air--and, amid an avalanche of earth +and stones, we were hurled down a perpendicular bank into the brown, +swollen waters of the Clyde. + +Owing to a bend in the river, the force of the current was directed +against this particular spot, and had undermined it; and although +strong enough to bear a man or a horse, under ordinary circumstances, +yet down at once it thundered under the desperate leap of Satan. +However, it did not signify, as nothing could have prevented us from +surging into the water at the next bound. + +A large quantity of rain had fallen in the upper part of the shire; +and, in consequence, the river was full from bank to brae. I was +nearly a stranger to the place; indeed, so much so, that I had +supposed we were running from the river. This, combined with the +suddenness of the shock, and the appearance of a turbid, rapid +river--sweeping down trees, brushwood, branches, hay, corn, and straw +before it, with resistless force--was so foreign to my idea of the +calm, peaceful Clyde, that when I rose to the surface, I was quite +bewildered, and had very serious doubts as to my own identity. + +I was roused from this state of bewilderment by the snorting and +splashing of the horse: he was making a bold attempt to scale the +perpendicular bank. Had I been thrown into the body of the stream, I +should have been swept away, and the animal must have perished; but in +all heavy rapid runs of water, salt or fresh, there is what is termed +an eddy stream, running close inshore, in a contrary direction to the +main body of the water. I have seen Highlanders in their boats +catching fish in the eddy stream of the Gulf of Corrievrekin, within a +short distance of the main tide, which, had it but got the slightest +hold on their boat, would have swept them with fearful velocity into +the jaws of the roaring gulf. I was caught by this eddy, which kept me +stationary, and enabled me, by a few strokes, to reach the horse's +side. To cross the river, or to land here, was alike impossible; so I +took the reins in my right hand, wheeled the horse from the bank, and +dashed at once with him into the strength of the current. Away we +went, Satan and I, in capital spirits both; not a doubt of our +effecting a safe landing ever crossing my mind. And the horse evinced +his certainty upon that subject, by snatching a bite out of a heap of +hay that floated at his side, and eating it as composedly as if he had +been in the stable. + +We soon swept round the high bank that had caused our misfortune, and +came to a level part of the country, which was flooded far up into the +fields. I then struck strongly out in a slanting direction for the +shore, and soon had the satisfaction of finding myself once more upon +the green turf. Satan shook himself, pricked up his ears, and gave a +low neigh. I then stroked him, and spoke kindly to him. He returned +the caress by licking my hand. Poor fellow! he had contracted a +friendship for me in the water--a friendship which terminated only +with his life; and which was rendered the more valuable, by his never +extending it to another living thing. + + + + +THE GOLD-FEVER IN AUSTRALIA. + + +The discovery of gold in the new continent has thrown the country into +a state which well merits examination. The same circumstance in +California was no interruption to progress of any kind. It merely +peopled a desert, and opened a trade where there was none before; +while in Australia it finds an established form of civilisation, and a +commerce flowing in recognised channels. It is an interesting task, +therefore, to trace the nature of the influence exercised in the +latter country over old pursuits by the new direction of industry; and +it is with some curiosity we open a mercantile circular, dated Sydney, +1st November 1851. This, we admit, is a somewhat forbidding document +to mere literary readers; but we shall divest its contents of their +technical form, and endeavour, by their aid, to arrive at some general +idea of the real state and prospects of the colony. + +Up to the middle of last May, the colonial heart beat high with hope. +Trade was good; the pastoral interests were flourishing; the country +properties, as a matter of course, were improving; and the +introduction of the alpaca, the extended culture of the vine, and the +growth of cotton, appeared to present new and rich sources of wealth. +At that moment came the discovery of the Gold Fields; and a shock was +communicated to the whole industrial system, which to some people +seemed to threaten almost annihilation. The idea was, that +gold-digging would swallow up all other pursuits, and the flocks +perish in the wilderness from the want of shepherds. Nor was this +altogether without foundation; for the stockholders have actually been +considerable sufferers: all the industrial projects mentioned have +been stopped short; and the gold-diggings still continue to attract to +themselves, as if by a spell, the labour of the country. The panic, +however, has now subsided. It is seen that the result is not so bad as +was anticipated, and hopes are entertained that the evil will go no +further. A stream of population, it is thought, will be directed to +Australia from abroad, and the labour not demanded by gold may suffice +for other pursuits. Up to the date of the circular, the value of gold +shipped for England from New South Wales had been L. 217,000, and it +was supposed that about L. 130,000 more remained at Sydney and in the +hands of the miners: 10,000 persons were actually engaged in mining, +and 5000 more concerned otherwise in the business; and as the result +of the exertions of that multitude, the amount of gold fixed +arbitrarily for exportation during the next twelve months, is L. +2,000,000. + +But, on the other hand, in the Sydney district alone, the trade in +wool has already fallen off to the extent of several thousand bales--a +deficiency, however, not as yet attributed to the diminished number of +the sheep. It is supposed that the high rates of labour will operate +chiefly in disinclining the farmers to extend their operations; and if +this at the same time affords them leisure and motive to attend better +to the state of their clips, it will ultimately have an effect rather +beneficial than otherwise. Australian wool has hitherto been +attainable by foreigners only in the English market; but it is a +favourable symptom that two cargoes left Sydney last year direct for +Hamburg. To shew the falling off in trade during the gold year, it may +be mentioned that the exports of wool in the two previous years were +about 52,000 bales; and in 1850-1, about 48,000. There was likewise a +deficiency of about 6000 casks of tallow, and 3000 hides. + +It is interesting to notice, that preserved meats are sent from New +South Wales to the neighbouring colonies and to England in +considerable quantities. Timber for shipbuilding is rising in +estimation in the English market. Australian wines are said to be +fully equal to Rhenish; and a Vineyard Association has been formed for +the purpose of improvement. Wool, however, is at present the great +staple; and the Circular seems to derive some consolation from the +idea, that if the crop should continue deficient, prices in England +will probably be maintained. 'To anticipate the future prices for our +staples,' it says, 'in a market open to so many influences as that of +Great Britain, is almost impossible; but it may be well to point out +the causes which are likely to affect their value--we allude more +especially to wool. We have stated that the production thereof, in New +South Wales, is likely to be checked by the attraction of the +gold-diggings; and still further, by the gradual abandonment of +indifferent or limited runs, which formerly supported a large number +of sheep, but which will not pay to work at present prices of wool and +labour. Therefore, if we bear in mind that Australia has furnished +half of the entire quantity of the wools imported into Great Britain, +and that the English buyers have hitherto been purchasing in +anticipation of a large annual increase from hence, which for the +present, at anyrate, will not be forthcoming, we think we need be +under no apprehension of lower prices than the present.' + +It will be remarked, that this somewhat unfavourable report is made at +the end of the first six months of the gold-fever. That kind of +gold-seeking, however, which unsettles the habits of a population, and +represses the other pursuits of industry, is not likely to endure very +long in any country. It must give way in time to scientific mining, +which is as legitimate a business as any other, and which, by the +wealth it circulates, will tempt men into new avenues of industry, and +recruit, to any extent that may be desirable, the supply of labour. +Hitherto that supply has come in inadequate quantities, or from +polluted sources; but we have now precisely what the colony wanted--a +stream of voluntary emigration, which, in the process of time, when +skilled labour only can be employed, will flood the diggings, and its +superfluous portions find their level in the other employments +afforded by the country. That this will take place without the +inconvenience of a transition period, is not to be expected; but, upon +the whole, we look upon the present depression of the legitimate trade +of the colony as merely a temporary evil, arising out of circumstances +that are destined to work well for its eventual prosperity. + +The same process, it should be observed, has already been gone through +in California. The lawless adventurers who rushed to the gold-fields +from all parts of the world subsided gradually into order from mere +motives of self-preservation; and as the precious metal disappeared +from the surface, multitudes were driven by necessity or policy into +employments more remunerative than digging. The large mining +population--the producers of gold--became the consumers of goods; +markets of all kinds were opened for their supply; emporia of trade +rose along the coast; and a country that so recently was almost a +desert, now promises to become one of the great marts of the commerce +of the world. If this has been the case in California, the process +will be much easier in Australia, where the rudiments of various +businesses already exist, and where the staple articles of produce are +such as can hardly be pushed to a superfluous extent. + +The true calamity, however, under which the fixed colonists, the +producers of the staples, suppose themselves to suffer, is the change +occasioned in the price of labour by the golden prospects of the +diggings. On this question there is always considered to be two +antagonistical interests--that of the employers, and that of the +employed; the former contending for the minimum, and the latter for +the maximum rate. But this is a fallacy. The interest of the two is +identical; and for these obvious reasons, that if wages be too high, +the capitalist must cease to produce and to employ; and if too low, +the working population must sink to the position of unskilled +labourers at home, and eventually bring about that very state of +society from which emigration is sought as an escape. In supposing +their interests to be antagonistical, the one party reasons as badly +as the other; but, somehow, there always attaches to the bad reasoning +of the employed a stigma of criminality, from which that of the other +is free. This is unjust enough in England, but in Australia it is +ridiculous. A capitalist goes out, provided with a sum so small as to +be altogether useless at home as a means of permanent support, but +which, in the colony, he expects, with proper management, to place him +for the rest of his life in a position of almost fabulous prosperity. +These cheering views, however, he confines to his own class. The +measure of his happiness will not be full unless he can find cheap +labour, as well as magnificent returns. For this desideratum he will +make any sacrifice. He will take your paupers, your felons--your +rattlesnakes; anything in the shape of a drudge, who will toil for +mere subsistence, and without one of the social compensations which +render toil in England almost endurable. + +We are never sorry to hear of the high price of labour in countries +where the employers live in ease and independence; and we join +heartily in the counsel to the higher class of working-men in this +country given by Mr Burton in his _Emigrants Manual_--'never to +confound a large labour-market with good sources of employment.' It +does not appear to us to be one of the least of the benefits that will +accrue after convalescence from the gold-fever in Australia, the +higher value the employed will set upon their labour. We cannot reason +from the English standard, which has not been deliberately fixed, but +forced upon us by competition, excessive population, public burdens, +and the necessities of social position. In a new country, however, +where all these circumstances are absent, and whither employers and +employed resort alike for the purpose of bettering their condition, we +should like to see traditions cast aside, and the fabric of society +erected on a new basis. + + + + +BURGOMASTER LAW IN PRUSSIA. + + +On turning out, and then turning over, a mass of old papers which had +lain packed up in a heavy mail-trunk for a period of more than forty +years, I came the other day upon a little bundle of documents in legal +German manuscript, the sight of which set me, old as I am, a laughing +involuntarily, and brought back in full force to my memory the +circumstances which I am about briefly to relate. A strange thing is +this memory, by the way, and strangely moved by trifles to the +exercise of its marvellous power. For more than thirty years--for the +average period that suffices to change the generation of man upon +earth--had this preposterous adventure, and everything connected with +it, lain dormant in some sealed-up cavity of my brain, when the bare +sight of the little bundle of small-sized German foolscap, with its +ragged edges and blotted official pages, has set the whole paltry +drama, with all its dignified performers, in motion before the retina +of my mind's eye with all the reality of the actual occurrence. + +It was in the spring or early summer of the year 1806, that, in the +capacity of companion and interpreter to a young nobleman who was +making the tour of Germany, I was travelling on the high-road from +Magdeburg to Berlin. We rolled along in a stout English carriage drawn +by German post-horses, and having left Magdeburg after an early +breakfast, stopped at a small neat town, some eighteen or twenty miles +on our route--my patron intending to remain there for an hour or two, +in the hope of being rejoined by a friend who had promised to overtake +us. He ordered refreshment, and sat down and partook of it, while I, +not choosing to participate, seated myself in the recess of +an old-fashioned window, and kept my eyes fixed upon our +travelling-carriage, from which the wearied horses had been removed, +and which stood but a few paces from where I sat. At the end of an +hour, my patron having satisfied his appetite, declined to wait any +longer, and proposed that we should proceed on our journey. It was my +office to discharge all accounts, and of course to check any attempt +at peculation which might be made. I summoned the innkeeper, whose +just demand was soon paid, and ordered the horses to be put to. This +was done in a few minutes, and the stable-man, as we walked out to the +carriage, came forward and presented his little bill. As I ran it +hastily over before paying it, I saw that the rascal had charged for +services which he had not rendered. With the design of making the most +of a chance-customer, he had put down in his account a charge for +greasing the wheels of the carriage. Now, as I had never taken my eyes +from the carriage during the whole period of our stay, I could not be +deceived in the conviction that this was a fraud. True, it was the +merest trifle in the world; but the fellow who wanted to exact it was +the model of an ugly, impudent, and barefaced rogue, and therefore I +resolved not to pay him. Throwing him the money, minus the attempted +imposition, I told him to consider himself fortunate that he had got +that, which was more than such a rogue-_schurke_ was the word I +used--deserved. + +'Do you call me a rogue?' said he. + +'Certainly; a rogue is your right name,' I replied, and sprang into +the carriage. + +'Ho! ho!' said he; 'that is against the law. Hans Felder,' he bawled +to the postilion, 'I charge you not to move; the horses may be led +back to the stable: the gracious gentleman has called me a rogue. +Stiefel, run for the police: the gracious gentleman says I am a rogue. +I will cite him before the council.' + +It was in vain that I put my head out of the window, and bawled to the +postilion to proceed. He was evidently afraid to move. In a few +minutes a crowd began to collect around us, and in less than a quarter +of an hour half the inhabitants of the place had assembled in front of +the inn. The noise of a perfect Babel succeeded in an instant to the +dull silence of the quiet town. I soon gathered from the vehement +disputes that arose on all sides, that the populace were about equally +divided into two parties. The more reasonable portion were for +allowing us to proceed on our journey, and this would perhaps have +been permitted, had not my companion, on understanding what was the +matter, burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, and repeated the +offensive word, accompanying it with a declaration in French, which +many of the bystanders understood, that he considered it generally +applicable. The landlord of the inn now came forth, and after a not +very energetic attempt to conciliate the ostler, who refused to forego +his determination to obtain legal redress, invited us to alight and +resume our quarters in the inn. This we were compelled to do, to +escape the annoyance of the crowd; and the carriage being housed under +a shed, the horses returned to the stable. We had not been three +minutes in the inn before the police appeared to take me into custody, +and march me off to durance vile. By this time I began to see that the +charge, and the dilemma into which it had led us, was no joke. I might +perhaps have bribed the scoundrel who preferred it, and have sent away +the police with a gratuity; but I felt as little disposed to do that +as to go to prison. I refused to leave the inn, protested against the +jurisdiction of their absurd laws over strangers, and at length, with +the assistance of my companion, and a good deal of threatening talk, +succeeded in ejecting the two police functionaries from the room. They +kept watch, however, at the door, and planted sentinels at the +windows, to prevent an ignominious flight that way. + +In the meanwhile, the whole town was in commotion, and everybody was +hurrying towards the _rathhaus_, or town-hall, where it was plain +enough that preparations were making for putting me immediately upon +my trial. I saw the old _burgermeister_ go waddling by in his robe of +office, accompanied by a crowd of nondescript officials, with one of +whom my villainous-looking adversary was in close confabulation. In a +short space of time, a band of very scurvy-looking police, plainly +vamped up for the occasion, made its appearance; and one of the band +entering the room without ceremony, presented me with a summons, +couched in legal diction, citing me to appear instantly before the +commission then sitting, to answer an indictment preferred against me +by Karl Gurtler, Supernumerary Deputy Road Inspector of the district, +whose honourable character I had unjustly and wantonly assailed and +deteriorated by the application of the scandalous and defamatory term, +schurke. There was nothing for it but to obey the mandate; and +accordingly, requesting the bearer to convey my compliments to the +assembled council, and to say that I would have the honour of +attending them in a few minutes, I dismissed him, evidently soothed +with my courteous reception. I did this with a view of getting rid of +the _posse comitatus_, in whose company I did not much relish the idea +of being escorted as a prisoner. My politeness, however, had not the +anticipated effect, as, upon emerging from the inn, we found the whole +squad waiting at the door as a sort of body-guard, to make sure of our +attendance. + +On arriving at the rathhaus, which was crammed to overflowing with all +the inhabitants of the place who could possibly wedge themselves into +it, way was cleared for us through the crowd to the seats which had +been considerately allotted for us, in front of the tribunal. A more +extraordinary bench of justice was perhaps never convened. It was +plain that the little village was steeped in poverty to the lips, and +that I, having been entrapped, through an unconscious expression, in +the meshes of some antiquated law, was doomed to administer in some +measure to their need by the payment of a penalty and costs. The fat +old fellow who presided as judge, and beneath whose robe of office an +unctuous leathery surtout was all too visible, peered in vain through +a pair of massive horn-spectacles into a huge timber-swathed volume in +search of the act, the provisions of which I had violated. At length, +the schoolmaster--a meagre, pensive-looking scarecrow, industriously +patched all over--came to his assistance, turned over the ponderous +code by which the little community were governed, and having rummaged +out the law, and the clause under the provisions of which I had been +so summarily arrested, handed it to the clerk, who I shrewdly +suspected to be nothing more or less than the village barber. He, at +the command of the judge, read it aloud for the information of all +present, and for my especial admonition. From the contents, it +appeared to have been decreed, how long ago I had no means of judging, +that, for the better sustentation of good morals and good-breeding, +and for the prevention of quarrelling, or unseemly and abusive +conversation, any person who should call or designate any other person +in the said town by the name of thief, villain, rascal, rogue +(schurke), cheat, charlatan, impostor, wretch, coward, sneak, +suborner, slanderer, tattler, and sundry other titles of ill-repute, +which I cannot recollect now, and could not render into English were I +to recall them, should, upon complaint of the person aggrieved, and +upon proof of the offence by the evidence of worthy and truth-speaking +witnesses, be amerced in such penalty, not exceeding a certain sum, as +in the estimation of the presiding magistrate should be held to be a +proper compensation for the injury to his reputation suffered by the +plaintiff. When the clerk drew breath at the end of the long-winded +clause, I inquired if the law in question made no counter-provision +for cases which might occur where, the abusive term being richly +deserved, it could be no crime to apply it. The schoolmaster, who, +despite his patched habiliments, was a clever fellow, at once answered +my question in the negative, and justified the omission of any such +provision by contraverting the position I had advanced upon moral +grounds. This he did in a speech of some length, and with remarkable +ingenuity and good sense; proving--to the satisfaction of his +fellow-townsmen at least--that to taunt a malefactor openly with his +misdeeds, was not the way to reform him, while it was a sure mode of +producing a contrary result; and winding up with an assurance, that +the law was a good law, and perfect in all its parts; and that if I +had suffered wrong, I might obtain at their hands redress as readily +and with as much facility as my antagonist. + +I had nothing to reply to this, and the proceedings went on in due +form. Without being sworn, the plaintiff was called upon to state his +case, which he did with an elaborate circumlocution altogether without +a parallel in my experience. He detailed the whole history of his +life--from his birth, in Wolfenbüttel, up to his seven years' service +in the army; then followed his whole military career; and after that, +his service under the _weg_-inspector, which was rewarded at length by +the gratification of his honest ambition, in his appointment as +supernumerary deputy road inspector of the district. He enlarged upon +the service he had rendered to, and the honours he had received from, +his country; and then put it to his judges to decide whether, as a +public officer, a soldier, and a man of honour, he could submit to be +stigmatised as a schurke, without appealing to the laws of his +Fatherland to vindicate his character. Of course it was not to be +thought of. He then detailed the circumstances of the assault I had +made upon his character, forgetting to mention, however, the +provocation he had given by the fraudulent charge for greasing. Having +finished his peroration, he proceeded to call witnesses to the fact of +the abuse, and cited Hans Felder, our postilion, to be first examined. +Hans, who had heard every syllable that passed, was not, however, so +manageable a subject as the plaintiff expected to find him. Whether, +like Toby Allspice in the play, he 'made it a rule never to disoblige +a customer;' or whether, which was not unlikely, he owed Karl Gurtler +a grudge, either for stopping him on his route, or for some previous +disagreement with that conscientious public functionary; or whether, +which was likeliest of all, he feared to compromise his claim for +_trinkgeld_ from the highborn, gracious gentlemen he had the honour of +driving, I cannot pretend to determine. Certain it is, that when +brought to the bar, he had heard nothing, and seen nothing, and knew +nothing, and could recollect nothing, and say nothing, about the +business in hand; and nothing but nothing could be got out of him by a +single member of the bench, though all took him in hand by turns. He +was finally sent down. By this time, so dilatory had been the +proceedings, the sun was sinking in the west. My companion, weary of +the prosecutor's long story, had withdrawn to the inn to order dinner. +As the second witness was about to give his testimony, a note was +handed to the old burgermeister, who, having given it a glance, +immediately adjourned the court till the next morning at nine o'clock. +The assembly broke up, and, returning to the inn, I found that the +proceedings had been stopped by the landlord, to save the reputation +of his cookery, which would have been endangered had the dinner waited +much longer. Having first consulted my fellow-traveller, he had +despatched directions to the judge to adjourn the case till the +morrow, who, like a good and obliging neighbour, had accordingly done +so. + +The little town was unusually alive and excited that evening. Karl +Gurtler was the centre of an admiring circle, who soon enveloped him +in the incense of their meerschaums. He held a large levée in the +common room of the inn, where a succession of very terrific +battle-songs kept us up to a late hour, as it was of no use to think +of slumber during their explosion. The next morning, at the appointed +hour, the proceedings recommenced, and the remainder of the witnesses +were examined at full length. It was in vain that I offered to plead +guilty, and pay the penalty, whatever it might be, so that we might be +allowed to proceed on our journey. I was solemnly reminded, that it +was not for me to interrupt the course of justice, but to await its +decision with patience. I saw they were determined to prevent our +departure as long as possible; and, judging that the only way to +assist in the completion of the unlucky business, was to interpose no +obstacle to its natural course, I henceforth held my peace, conjuring +my companion on no account to give directions for dinner. After a +sitting of nearly seven hours on the second day, when everything that +could be lugged into connection with the silly affair had been said +and reiterated ten times over, the notary in attendance read over his +condensed report of the whole, and I was called upon for my defence. I +told them plainly that I did not choose to make any; that I was sick +of the company of fools; that since it was a crime to speak the truth +in their good town, I was willing to pay the penalty for so doing, for +the privilege of leaving it; that I was astonished and disgusted at +the spectacle of a company of grave men siding with such a beggarly +_räuber_ (I believed that term was not proscribed in their precious +statute) as Karl Gurtler was, and taking advantage of the law, of +which a stranger must necessarily be ignorant, to obstruct him on his +journey, and levy a contribution on his purse; and I added, finally, +for I had talked myself into an angry mood, that if the farce were not +immediately brought to a conclusion, I should despatch my friend +forthwith to Berlin, and lay a report of their proceedings before the +British ambassador. I could perceive something like consternation in +the broad visage of the burgermeister as I concluded my harangue; but +without attempting to answer it, the Solons on the bench laid their +heads together, and after a muttering of a few minutes' duration, the +schoolmaster pronounced the sentence of the court, which was, that I +should indemnify the plaintiff to the amount of one dollar, and pay +the costs of the proceedings, which amounted to three more. I could +scarce forbear laughing at the mention of a sum so ludicrous. Fifteen +shillings for penalty and costs of a trial which had lasted nearly two +days! I threw down the money, and was hastening from the court, when +the notary called upon me to stop for one moment, while he concluded +his report of the case, to which, it appeared, their laws gave me a +valid claim. I took the papers, and crammed them into my valise, in +the hasty packing which took place so soon as I got back to my +companion. In a quarter of an hour, we were on our road towards +Berlin, having been taught a lesson of politeness, even towards +rogues, at the expense of a stoppage of more than thirty hours on our +route. I have no recollection how the papers found their way into the +old trunk from which they were lately unkennelled. They are now before +me, and consist of nearly fifty sides of small foolscap, written in a +bold legal hand, affording a unique specimen of the cheapness of law +amongst a community who, it is to be supposed, had but little demand +for it. + +A few short months after this event, and the little town where it took +place had something else to think of. The ill-advised step of the +Prussian government, who, relying upon the aid of Russia, declared war +against Napoleon, brought the devastating hordes of republican France +among them. The battle of Jena placed the whole kingdom at the foot of +the conqueror; and few towns suffered more, comparatively, than the +little burgh which, by the decree of a very doubtful sort of justice, +had mulcted me in penalties for calling a very ill-favoured rogue by +his right name. + + + + +TRACES OF THE DANES AND NORWEGIANS IN ENGLAND. + + +Mr J. J. A. Worsaae, a conspicuous member of that brilliant corps of +northern antiquaries who have of late given a new wing to history, +travelled through the United Kingdom in 1846-7, on a commission from +his sovereign the king of Denmark, to make inquiry respecting the +monuments and memorials of the Danes and Norwegians, which might still +be extant in these islands. The result of his investigations appeared +in a concise volume, which has been translated into English, and +published by Mr Murray in a handsome style, being illustrated by +numerous wood-cuts.[4] It is a work which we would recommend to the +attention of all who feel any interest in our early history, as +calculated to afford them a great gratification. One is surprised to +find in how great a degree the Northmen affected Britain; what an +infusion of Scandinavian blood there is in our population; how many +traces of their predominancy survive in names of places and in more +tangible monuments. Mr Worsaae writes with a warm feeling towards his +country and her historical reminiscences, but without allowing it to +carry him into any extravagances. He is everywhere clear and +simple--sometimes rises into eloquence; and always displays a close +and searching knowledge of his subject. + +From the end of the eighth century till the time of the Norman +Conquest, the restless chiefs of Denmark and Norway were continually +in the practice of making piratical expeditions to our shores. They +committed terrible devastations, and made many settlements, almost +exclusively on the eastern coast. Finally, as is well known, we had a +brief succession of Danish kings in England, including the magnanimous +Canute. When we look at the quiet people now inhabiting Denmark and +Norway, we are at a loss to understand whence came or where resided +that spirit of reckless daring which inspired such a system of +conquest, or how it came so completely to die out; but the explanation +is, that the Northmen of those days were heathens, animated by a +religion which made them utterly indifferent to danger. Whenever they +became Christianised, they began to appreciate life like other men, +and ceased, of course, to be the troublers they had once been. Mr +Worsaae draws a line from London to Chester--the line of the great +Roman road (Watling Street)--to the north of which the infusion of +Scandinavian population is strong, and their monuments abundant. A +vast number of names of places in that part of the island are of +Danish origin--all ending in _by_, which in Danish signifies a town, +as Whitby (the White Town), Derby (Deoraby, the town of Deer), Kirby +(the church town), &c.--all ending in _thwaite_, which signifies an +isolated piece of land--all ending in _thorpe_ (Old Northern, a +collection of houses separated from some principal estate)--all ending +in _næs_, a promontory, and _ey_ or _öe_, an island. _Toft_, a field; +_with_, a forest; _beck_, a streamlet; _tarn_, a mountain-lake; +_force_, a waterfall; _garth_, a large farm; _dale_, a valley; and +_fell_, a mountain, are all of them common elements of names of places +in England, north of the line above indicated, and all are +Scandinavian terms. The terminations _by_, _thwaite_, and _thorpe_, +are still common in Denmark. + +Mr Worsaae found many memorials of the Northmen in London: for +example, the church of St Clement's Danes, where this people had their +burial-place; the name _Southwark_, which is 'unmistakably of Danish +or Norwegian origin;' St Olave's Church there, and even Tooley Street, +which is a corruption of the name of that celebrated Norsk saint; but, +above all, in the fact that 'the highest tribunal in the city has +retained in our day its pure old northern name "Husting."' The fact +is, that about the time of Canute, the Danes predominated over the +rest of the population of London. Mr Worsaae was not able to trace the +Danish face or form as a distinct element in the modern population. In +going northward, however, he soon began to find that the prevailing +physiognomy was of a northern character: 'The form of the face is +broader, the cheek-bones project a little, the nose is somewhat +flatter, and at times turned a little upwards; the eyes and hair are +of a lighter colour, and even deep-red hair is far from being +uncommon. The people are not very tall in stature, but usually more +compact and strongly built than their countrymen towards the south. +The Englishman himself seems to acknowledge that a difference is to be +found in the appearance of the inhabitants of the northern and +southern counties; at least, one constantly hears in England, when +red-haired, compact-built men with broad faces are spoken of: "They +must certainly be from Yorkshire;" a sort of admission that light +hair, and the broad peculiar form of the face, belong mostly to the +north of England people.... In the midland, and especially in the +northern part of England, I saw every moment, and particularly in the +rural districts, faces exactly resembling those at home. Had I met the +same persons in Denmark or Norway, it would never have entered my mind +that they were foreigners. Now and then I also met with some whose +taller growth and sharper features reminded me of the inhabitants of +South Jutland, or Sleswick, and particularly of Angeln; districts of +Denmark which first sent colonists to England. It is not easy to +describe peculiarities which can be appreciated in all their details +only by the eye; nor dare I implicitly conclude that in the +above-named cases I have really met with persons descended in a +direct line from the old Northmen. I adduce it only as a striking +fact, which will not escape the attention of at least any observant +Scandinavian traveller, that the inhabitants of the north of England +bear, on the whole, more than those of any other part of that country, +an unmistakable personal resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians.' + +Scandinavian words abound in the popular language of those districts. +'On entering a house there, one will find the housewife sitting with +her _rock_ (Dan., _Rok_; Eng., a distaff) and _spoele_ (Dan., _Spole_; +Eng., spool, a small wheel on the spindle); or else she has set both +her _rock_ and her _garnwindle_ (Dan., _Garnvinde_; Eng., reel or +yarn-winder) aside, whilst standing by her _back-bword_ (Dan., +_Bagebord_; Eng., baking-board) she is about to knead dough (Dan., +_Deig_), in order to make the oaten-bread commonly used in these +parts, at times, also, barley-bread; for _clap-bread_ (Dan., +_Klappebröd_, or thin cakes beaten out with the hand), she lays the +dough on the _clap-board_ (Dan., _Klappebord_.) One will also find the +_bord-claith_ spread (Dan., _Bordklæde_; Eng. table-cloth); the people +of the house then sit on the _bank_ or _bink_ (Dan., _Bænk_; Eng., +bench), and eat _Aandorn_ (Eng., afternoon's repast), or, as it is +called in Jutland and Fünen, _Onden_ (dinner.) The chimney (_lovver_) +stands in the room; which name may perhaps be connected with the +Scandinavian _lyre_ (Icelandic, _ljóri_)--namely, the smoke-hole in +the roof or thatch (_thack_), out of which, in olden times, before +houses had regular chimneys and "_lofts_" (Dan., _Loft_; Eng., roof, +an upper room), the smoke (_reek_ or _reik_, Dan., _Rög_) left the +dark (_mirk_ or _murk_, Dan., _Mörk_) room. Within is the _bower_ or +_boor_ (Eng., bed-chamber), in Danish, _Buur_; as, for instance, in +the old Danish word _Jomfrubuur_ (the maiden's chamber), and in the +modern word _Fadebuur_ (the pantry.)' + +Mr Worsaae only speaks the truth when he remarks how the name of the +Danes has been impressed on the English mind. 'Legends about the Danes +are,' he says, 'very much disseminated among the people, even in the +south of England. There is scarce a parish that has not in some way or +another preserved the remembrance of them. Sometimes, they are +recorded to have burned churches and castles, and to have destroyed +towns, whose inhabitants were put to the sword; sometimes, they are +said to have burned or cut down forests; here are shewn the remains of +large earthen mounds and fortifications which they erected; there, +again, places are pointed out where bloody battles were fought with +them. To this must be added the names of places--as, the +_Danes-walls_, the _Danish forts_, the _Dane-field_, the +_Dane-forest_, the _Danes-banks_, and many others of the like kind. +Traces of Danish castles and ramparts are not only found in the +southern and south-eastern parts of England, but also quite in the +south-west, in Devonshire and Cornwall, where, under the name of +_Castelton Danis_, they are particularly found on the sea-coast. In +the chalk-cliffs, near Uffington, in Berkshire, is carved an enormous +figure of a horse, more than 300 feet in length; which, the common +people say, was executed in commemoration of a victory that King +Alfred gained over the Danes in that neighbourhood. On the heights, +near Eddington, were shewn not long since the intrenchments, which, it +was asserted, the Danes had thrown up in the battle with Alfred. On +the plain near Ashdon, in Essex, where it was formerly thought that +the battle of Ashingdon had taken place, are to be seen some large +Danish barrows which were long, but erroneously, said to contain the +bones of the Danes who had fallen in it. The so-called dwarf-alder +(_Sambucus ebulus_), which has red buds, and bears red berries, is +said in England to have germinated from the blood of the fallen Danes, +and is therefore also called _Daneblood_ and _Danewort_. It flourishes +principally in the neighbourhood of Warwick; where it is said to have +sprung from, and been dyed by, the blood shed there, when Canute the +Great took and destroyed the town. + +'Monuments, the origin of which is in reality unknown, are, in the +popular traditions, almost constantly attributed to the Danes. If the +spade or the plough brings ancient arms and pieces of armour to light, +it is rare that the labourer does not suppose them to have belonged to +that people. But particularly if bones or joints of unusual size are +found, they are at once concluded to be the remains of the gigantic +Danes, whose immense bodily strength and never-failing courage had so +often inspired their forefathers with terror. For though the +Englishman has stories about the cruelties of the ancient Danes, their +barbarousness, their love of drinking, and other vices, he has still +preserved no slight degree of respect for Danish bravery and Danish +achievements. "As brave as a Dane," is said to have been an old phrase +in England; just as "to strike like a Dane" was, not long since, a +proverb at Rome. Even in our days, Englishmen readily acknowledge that +the Danes are the "best sailors on the continent;" nay, even that, +themselves of course excepted, they are "the best and bravest sailors +in all the world." It is, therefore, doubly natural that English +legends should dwell with singular partiality on the memorials of the +Danes' overthrow. Even the popular ballads revived and glorified the +victories of the English. Down to the very latest times was heard in +Holmesdale, in Surrey, on the borders of Kent, a song about a battle +which the Danes had lost there in the tenth century.' + +In our own northern land, the Northmen committed as many devastations, +and made nearly as many settlements, as in England. The Orcadian +Islands formed, indeed, a Norwegian kingdom, which was not entirely at +an end till the thirteenth century. In that group, and on the adjacent +coasts of Caithness and Sutherlandshires, the appearance of the +people, the names of places, and the tangible monuments, speak +strongly of a Scandinavian infusion into the population. Sometimes, +between the early Celtic people still speaking their own language, and +the descendants of the Norwegians, a surprisingly definite line can be +drawn. The island of Harris is possessed for the most part by a set of +Celts, 'small, dark-haired, and in general very ugly;' but at the +northern point, called 'the Ness,' we meet with people of an entirely +different appearance. 'Both the men and women have, in general, +lighter hair, taller figures, and far handsomer features. I visited +several of their cabins, and found myself surrounded by physiognomies +so Norwegian, that I could have fancied myself in Scandinavia itself, +if the Gaelic language now spoken by the people, and their wretched +dwellings, had not reminded me that I was in one of those poor +districts in the north-west of Europe where the Gaels or Celts are +still allowed a scanty existence. The houses, as in Shetland, and +partly in Orkney, are built of turf and unhewn stones, with a wretched +straw or heather roof, held together by ropes laid across the ridge of +the house, and fastened with stones at the ends. The houses are so +low, that one may often see the children lie playing on the side of +the roof. The family and the cattle dwell in the same apartment, and +the fire, burning freely on the floor, fills the house with a thick +smoke, which slowly finds its way out of the hole in the roof. The +sleeping-places are, as usual, holes in the side-walls. + +'It is but a little while ago that the inhabitants of the Ness, who +are said to have preserved faint traditions of their origin from +Lochlin--called also in Ireland, Lochlan--or the North, regarded +themselves as being of better descent than their neighbours the Gaels. +The descendants of the Norwegians seldom or never contracted marriage +with natives of a more southern part of the island, but formed among +themselves a separate community, distinguished even by a peculiar +costume, entirely different from the Highland Scotch dress. Although +the inhabitants of Ness are now, for the most part, clothed like the +rest of the people of Lewis, I was fortunate enough to see the dress +of an old man of that district, which had been preserved as a +curiosity. It was of thick, coarse woollen stuff, of a brown colour, +and consisted of a close-fitting jacket, sewn in one piece, with a +pair of short trousers, reaching only a little below the knees. It was +formerly customary with them not to cover the head at all.' + +The people of the Ness are described as good fishermen--a striking +trait of their original national character, for nothing could +distinguish them more from their neighbours, the ordinary Highlanders +being everywhere remarkable for their inaptitude to a sea-life. + +Tradition speaks loudly all over Scotland of the ancient doings of the +Danes. So much, indeed, is this the case, that every antiquity which +cannot be ascribed to the Romans, is popularly thought to be Danish, +an idea which has been implicitly adopted by a great number of the +Scotch clergy in the Statistical Account of their respective parishes. +In the Highlands, Mr Worsaae found the people retaining a very fresh +recollection of the terrors of the Northmen, and ready to believe that +their incursions might yet be renewed. 'Having employed myself,' he +says, 'in examining, among other things, the many so-called "Danish" +or Pictish towers on the west and north-west coast of Sutherland, the +common people were led to believe, that the Danes wished to regain +possession of the country, and with that view intended to rebuild the +ruined castles on the coasts. The report spread very rapidly, and was +soon magnified into the news, that the Danish fleet was lying outside +the sunken rocks near the shore, and that I was merely sent beforehand +to survey the country round about; nay, that I was actually the Danish +king's son himself, and had secretly landed. This report, which +preceded me very rapidly, had, among other effects, that of making the +poorer classes avoid, with the greatest care, mentioning any +traditions connected with defeats of the Danes, and especially with +the killing of any Dane in the district, lest they should occasion a +sanguinary vengeance when the Danish army landed. Their fears were +carried so far, that my guide was often stopped by the natives, who +earnestly requested him, in Gaelic, not to lend a helping-hand to the +enemies of the country by shewing them the way; nor would they let him +go, till he distinctly assured them that I was in possession of maps +correctly indicating old castles in the district which he himself had +not previously known. This, of course, did not contribute to allay +their fears; and it is literally true, that in several of the Gaelic +villages, particularly near the firths of Loch Inver and Kyle-Sku, we +saw on our departure old folks wring their hands in despair at the +thought of the terrible misfortunes which the Danes would now bring on +their hitherto peaceful country.' + +We have here been obliged wholly to overlook Mr Worsaae's curious +chapters about Ireland and the Isle of Man, and to give what we cannot +but feel to be a very superficial view of the contents of his book +generally; but our readers have seen enough to inspire them with an +interest in it, and we trust that this will lead many of them to its +entire perusal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] _An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and +Ireland._ By J. J. A. Worsaae, For. F. S. A., London; Author of +_Primæval Antiquities of Denmark._ London: Murray. 1852. + + + + +CHILDREN OF PRISONS. + + +When I was in Berlin, I went into the public prison, and visited every +part of the establishment. At last I was introduced to a very large +hall, which was full of children, with their books and teachers, and +having the appearance of a Prussian school-room. 'What!' said I, 'is +it possible that all these children are imprisoned here for crime?' 'O +no,' said my conductor, smiling at my simplicity; 'but if a parent is +imprisoned for crime, and on that account his children are left +destitute of the means of education, and are liable to grow up in +ignorance and crime, the government places them here, and maintains +and educates them for useful employment.' This was a new idea to me. I +know not that it has ever been suggested in the United States; but +surely it is the duty of government, as well as its highest interest, +when a man is paying the penalties of his crime in a public prison, to +see that his unoffending children are not left to suffer and inherit +their father's vices. Surely it would be better for the child, and +cheaper as well as better for the state. Let it not be supposed that a +man will go to prison for the sake of having his children taken care +of; for those who go to prison, usually have little regard for their +children. If they had, _discipline_ like that of the Berlin prison +would soon sicken them of such a bargain.--_Professor Stowe_. + + + + +JUPITER, AN EVENING STAR. + + + Ruler and hero, shining in the west + With great bright eye, + Rain down thy luminous arrows in this breast + With influence calm and high, + And speak to me of many things gone by. + + Rememberest thou--'tis years since, wandering star-- + Those eves in June, + When thou hung'st quivering o'er the tree-tops far, + Where, with discordant tune, + Many-tongued rooks hailed the red-rising moon? + + Some watched thee then with human eyes like mine, + Whose boundless gaze + May now pierce on from orb to orb divine + Up to the Triune blaze + Of glory--nor be dazzled by its rays. + + All things they know, whose wisdom seemed obscure; + They, sometime blamed, + Hold our best purities as things impure: + Their star-glance downward aimed, + Makes our most lamp-like deeds grow pale and shamed. + + Their star-glance?--What if through those rays there gleam + Immortal eyes + Down to this dark? What if these thoughts, that seem + Unbidden to arise, + Be souls with my soul talking from the skies? + + I know not. Yet awhile, and I shall know!-- + Thou, to thy place + Slow journeying back, there startlingly to shew + Thy orb in liquid space, + Like a familiar death-lost angel face-- + + O planet! thou hast blotted out whole years + Of life's dull round; + The Abel-voice of heart's-blood and of tears + Sinks dumb into the ground, + And the green grass waves on with lulling sound. + + + + +GRATUITOUS SERVICES. + + +Never let people work for you _gratis_. Two years ago, a man carried a +bundle for us to Boston, and we have been lending him two shillings a +week ever since.--_American paper_. + + * * * * * + +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. 435, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 18775-8.txt or 18775-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/7/18775/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + diff --git a/18775-8.zip b/18775-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d48868 --- /dev/null +++ b/18775-8.zip diff --git a/18775-h.zip b/18775-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec8698c --- /dev/null +++ b/18775-h.zip diff --git a/18775-h/18775-h.htm b/18775-h/18775-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b911042 --- /dev/null +++ b/18775-h/18775-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2553 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers' Edinburgh Journal No. 435. May 1, 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;} + .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:20%; 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 span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /*]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 435, 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. 435 + Volume 17, New Series, May 1, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers + William Chambers + +Release Date: July 7, 2006 [EBook #18775] + +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 at http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + +</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="#FORCED_BENEFITS"><b>FORCED BENEFITS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#MONSIEUR_JEROME_AND_THE_RUSSIAN_PRINCESS"><b>MONSIEUR JEROME AND THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#MEMOIRS_OF_LORD_JEFFREY"><b>MEMOIRS OF LORD JEFFREY.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#THE_MOONLIGHT_RIDE"><b>THE MOONLIGHT RIDE.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#THE_GOLD-FEVER_IN_AUSTRALIA"><b>THE GOLD-FEVER IN AUSTRALIA.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#BURGOMASTER_LAW_IN_PRUSSIA"><b>BURGOMASTER LAW IN PRUSSIA.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#TRACES_OF_THE_DANES_AND_NORWEGIANS_IN_ENGLAND"><b>TRACES OF THE DANES AND NORWEGIANS IN ENGLAND.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#CHILDREN_OF_PRISONS"><b>CHILDREN OF PRISONS.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#JUPITER_AN_EVENING_STAR"><b>JUPITER, AN EVENING STAR.</b></a><br /> +<a href="#GRATUITOUS_SERVICES"><b>GRATUITOUS SERVICES.</b></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[pg 273]</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> 435. <span class="sc">New Series.</span></b></td> +<td align="left"><b>SATURDAY, MAY 1, 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="FORCED_BENEFITS" id="FORCED_BENEFITS"></a>FORCED BENEFITS.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>The maxim, that men may safely be left to seek their own interest, and +are sure to find it, appears to require some slight qualification, for +nothing can be more certain, than that men are often the better of +things which have been forced upon them. Those who advocate the idea +in its rigour, forget that there are such things as ignorance and +prejudice in the world, and that most men only become or continue +actively industrious under the pressure of necessity. The vast +advantages derived from railway communication afford a ready instance +of people being benefited against their will. At the bare proposal to +run a line through their lands, many proprietors were thrown into a +frenzy of antagonism; and whole towns petitioned that they might not +be contaminated with the odious thing. In spite of remonstrances, and +at a vast cost, railways were made; and we should like to know where +opponents are now to be found. Demented land-proprietors are come to +their senses; and even recalcitrant Oxford is glad of a line to +itself.</p> + +<p>Cases of this kind suggest the curious consideration, that many +remarkable benefits now experienced were never sought for or +contemplated by the persons enjoying them, but came from another +quarter, and were at first only grudgingly submitted to. A singular +example happens to call our attention. There is a distillery in the +west of Scotland, where it has been found convenient to establish a +dairy upon a large scale, for the purpose of consuming the refuse of +the grain. Seven hundred cows are kept there; and a profitable market +is found for their milk in the city of Glasgow. That the refuse of the +cow-houses might be applied to a profitable purpose, a large farm was +added to the concern, though of such land as an amateur agriculturist +would never have selected for his experiments. Thus there was a +complete system of economy at this distillery: a dairy to convert the +draff into milk, and a farm to insure that the soil from the cows +might be used upon the spot. But, as is so generally seen in this +country, the liquid part of the refuse from the cow-houses was +neglected. It was allowed to run into a neighbouring canal; and the +proprietors would have been contented to see it so disposed of for +ever, if that could have been permitted. It was found, however, to be +a nuisance, the very fishes being poisoned by it. The proprietors of +the canal threatened an action for the protection of their property, +and the conductors of the dairy were forced to bethink them of some +plan by which they should be enabled to dispose of the noxious matter +without injury to their neighbours. They could at first hit upon no +other than that of carting away the liquid to the fields, and there +spreading it out as manure. No doubt, they expected some benefit from +this procedure; and, had they expected much, they might never have +given the canal company any trouble. But the fact is, they expected so +little benefit, that they would never have willingly taken the trouble +of employing their carts for any such purpose. To their surprise, the +benefit was such as to make their lean land superior in productiveness +to any in the country. They were speedily encouraged to make +arrangements at some expense for allowing the manure in a diluted form +to flow by a regular system of irrigation over their fields. The +original production has thus been <i>increased fourfold</i>. The company, +finding no other manure necessary, now dispose of the solid kind +arising from the dairy, among the neighbouring farmers who still +follow the old arrangements in the management of their cows. The sum +of L.600 is thus yearly gained by the company, being not much less +than the rent of the farm. If to this we add the value of the extra +produce arising from the land, we shall have some idea of the +advantage derived by this company from having been put under a little +compulsion.</p> + +<p>An instance, perhaps even more striking, was supplied a few years ago +by certain chemical works which vented fumes noxious to a whole +neighbourhood. Being prosecuted for the nuisance, the proprietors were +forced to make flues of great length, through which the fumes might be +conducted to a considerable distance. The consequence was surprising. +A new kind of deposit was formed in the interior of the flues, and +from this a large profit was derived. The sweeping of a chimney would +sometimes produce several thousand pounds. At the same time, nothing +can be more certain than that this material, but for the threat of +prosecution, would have been allowed to continue poisoning the +neighbourhood, and, consequently, not yielding one penny to the +proprietors of the works.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<p>It has pleased Providence to order that from all the forms of organic +life there shall arise a refuse which is offensive to our senses, and +injurious to health, but calculated, under certain circumstances, to +prove highly beneficial to us. The offensiveness and noxiousness look +very much like a direct command from the Author of Nature, to do that +which shall turn the refuse to a good account—namely, to bury it in +the earth. Yet, from sloth and negligence, it is often allowed to +cumber the surface, and there do its evil work instead. An<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[pg 274]</a></span> important +principle is thus instanced—the essential identity of Nuisance and +Waste. Nearly all the physical annoyances we are subjected to, and +nearly all the influences that are operating actively for our hurt, +are simply the exponents of some chemical solecism, which we are, +through ignorance or indifference, committing or permitting. There is +here a double evil—a positive and a negative. When the Londoner +groans at the smokiness of his streets, and the particles of soot he +finds spread over his shirt, his toilet-table, and every nice article +of furniture he possesses, he has the additional vexation of knowing, +that the smoke and soot should have been serving a useful purpose as +fuel. When he passes by a railway over the tops of the houses in some +mean suburb, and looks down with horror and disgust on the pools and +heaps of filth which are allowed to encumber the yards, courts, and +narrow streets of these localities, to the destruction of the health +of the inhabitants, he has a second consideration before him, that all +these matters ought to be in the care of some easy-acting system, by +which, removed to the fields, they should be helping to create the +means of life, instead of death. We never can look upon a great +factory chimney pouring forth its thick column of smoke, without a +twin grief—for the disgust it creates, and the good that is lost by +it. Properly, that volatile fuel should be doing duty in the furnace, +and effecting a saving to the manufacturer, instead of rendering him +and his concerns a nuisance to all within five miles.</p> + +<p>Troublesome as these nuisances are, there is such an inaptitude to new +plans, that they might go on for ever, if an interference should not +come in from some external quarter. It matters little whence the +interference comes, so that the end be effected. We cannot, however, +view the proceedings of a Board of Health in ordering cleanly +arrangements, or those of a municipal council putting down factory +smoke, without great interest, for we think we there see part, and an +important one too, of the great battle of Civilisation against +Barbarism. And this interest is deepened when we observe the benefits +which Barbarism usually derives from its own defeats. The +factory-owner, for instance, will find that, in applying an apparatus +by which smoke may be prevented, he will not merely be sparing his +neighbours a great annoyance, but economising fuel to an extent which +must more than repay the outlay. By repressing nuisance, he will be in +the same measure repressing waste.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Were there, in like manner, a +general measure for enforcing the removal of refuse from the +neighbourhood of human habitations, the rate-payers would in due time +see blessed effects from the compulsion to which they had been +subjected. Their groans would be succeeded by gladness, and they would +thank the legislators who had slighted their remonstrances. When the +cholera approached in 1849, our British Board of Health ordered a +general cleaning out of stables, and a daily persistence in the +practice. It was complained of as a great hardship; but the Board +ascertained that owners of valuable race-horses cause their stables to +be thoroughly cleaned daily, as a practice necessary for the health of +the animals; the Board, therefore, very properly insisted on forcing +this benefit upon the proprietors of horses generally. Can we doubt +that a similar policy might be followed with the like good +consequences at all times, and with regard to the habitations of men +as well as horses?</p> + +<p>It would thus appear, that men may really be allowed a too undisturbed +repose in their views and maxims, and, if always left to seek their +own interests, would often fail to find the way. If, indeed, it were +true that men are sure to find out their own interest, no country +should be behind another in any of the processes or arts necessary for +the sustenance and comfort of the people; whereas we know the contrary +to be the case. If it were true, there should be no class in our own +country willing to sit down with the dubious benefits of monopoly, +instead of pushing on for the certain results of enlightened +competition. It could only be true at the expense of the old proverb, +that necessity is the mother of invention; for do we not every day see +men submitting idly and languidly to evils which can just be borne? +whereas, if these were a little greater, and therefore insupportable, +they would at once be remedied. An impulse <i>ab extra</i> seems in a vast +number of instances to be necessary, to promote the good of both +nations and individuals. Now, whether this shall come in the ordinary +course of things, and be recognised as necessity, or from an +enlightened power having a certain end, generally beneficial, in view, +does not appear to be of much consequence, provided only we can be +tolerably well assured against the abuses to which all power is +liable. It may be well worthy of consideration, whether, in this +country, we have not carried the principle of <i>Laissez faire</i>, or +<i>leave us alone</i>, a little too far in certain matters, where some +gentle coercion would have been more likely to benefit all concerned.</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 idea of this article, and the above facts, are +derived from a valuable memoir just published by the Board of Health, +with reference to the practical application of sewage water and town +manures to agricultural production.</p></div> + +<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> We understand that this has been the case with +factory-owners at Manchester who have applied the smoke-preventing +apparatus. The saving from such an apparatus in the office where this +sheet is printed, appears to be about 5 per cent.; an ample equivalent +for the outlay.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="MONSIEUR_JEROME_AND_THE_RUSSIAN_PRINCESS" id="MONSIEUR_JEROME_AND_THE_RUSSIAN_PRINCESS"></a>MONSIEUR JEROME AND THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>On arriving at Blois, I went to the Hôtel de la Tête Noire—a massive, +respectable-looking building, situated on the quay nearly opposite a +bridge that crosses the river to the suburb of St Etienne. The comfort +of the rooms, and the excellence of the dinners that succeeded one +another day by day, induced me to stay longer than I had intended, and +rendered me spectator and part-actor in an adventure not uncommon in +French-land. My apartment was numbered 48—by the way, who ever saw +No. 1 in a hotel, or upon a watch?—and next door—that is, at No. +49—dwelt a very dignified-looking gentleman, always addressed as M. +Jerome. I often take occasion to say, that I pique myself on being +something of a physiognomist; and as I have been several times right +in my judgment of character and position from inspection of the +countenance, the occasions in which I have been mistaken may be set +down as exceptions. M. Jerome at once interested me; and as I was idly +in search of health, and had taken care to have nothing whatever to do +but to kill time, the observation of this gentleman's appearance and +manners naturally formed a chief part of my occupation.</p> + +<p>I began by ascertaining exactly the colour of his eyes and +hair—nearly black; the shape of his nose—straight, and rather too +long; and would have been glad to examine the form of his mouth, but a +huge moustache hanging over his lips in the French military style—see +the portrait of General Cavaignac—prevented me from ascertaining the +precise contour of what one of my old philosophers calls the Port +Esquiline of Derision. M. Jerome was, upon the whole, a handsome man, +with a romantically bilious complexion; and the expression of his +large dark eyes was really profound and striking. His costume was +always fashionable, without being showy; and there was nothing to +object to but a diamond ring, somewhat too ostentatiously displayed on +the little finger, which, in all his manual operations, at dinner or +elsewhere, always cocked up with an impertinent 'look-at-me air,' that +I did not like. When, indeed, this dandy walked slowly out of the +dining-room to the door-step, and lighted his cigar, the said little +finger became positively obnoxious; and I used to think whether it +were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[pg 275]</a></span> possible that that human being had been created purposely as a +scaffolding whereon to exhibit a flashing little stone, set in twenty +shillings worth of gold.</p> + +<p>M. Jerome, though not, strictly speaking, a silent man, was +sufficiently reserved at table. The early courses were by him always +allowed to pass without any further remark than what politeness +requires—as: 'Shall I send you some more of this <i>blanquette</i>?' or, +'With pleasure, sir;' and so forth. When dessert-time approached, +however, he generally began to unbend, to take part in the general +conversation, and throw in here and there a piquant anecdote. He did +this with so much grace, that had it not been for the diamond ring, I +should have been disposed to consider him as a man of large experience +in the best society. The other people who generally attended at +table—travellers, commercial and otherwise, with one or two smart +folks from the town, on the look-out for Parisian gossip, to retail to +the less adventurous members of their circle—were all delighted with +M. Jerome: it was M. Jerome here, and M. Jerome there; and if M. +Jerome happened to dine out, every one seemed to feel uneasy, and look +upon him as guilty of a great dereliction of duty. They could almost +as well have done without their <i>demi-tasse</i>.</p> + +<p>Although I am an inquisitive, I am not a very impertinent man. I like +to pry into other people's affairs only in so far as I can do so +without hurting their feelings, or putting my own self-love in danger +of a check. If, therefore, I gave the reins to my curiosity, and +devoted myself to studying the more apparent movements of this M. +Jerome, I shrank from putting any direct questions to the <i>garçon</i>, +who might probably at once have given me a very prosaic account of +him. On one occasion, I threw in casually a remark, to the effect that +the gentleman at No. 49 seemed a great favourite with the fair sex; +but the only reply was a smile, and an acknowledgment that, in +general, people of fascinating exterior—here the <i>garçon</i> glanced at +the mirror he was dusting—<i>were</i> great favourites with the fairer +portion of the creation. 'We Frenchmen,' it was added, 'know the way +to the female heart better than most men.' The waiter had paused with +his duster in his hand. I felt that he was going to give me his Art of +Love; and opportunely remembering that I had a letter to put into the +post, I escaped the infliction for the time.</p> + +<p>I had, indeed, observed that if the public generally admitted the +valuable qualities of M. Jerome as a companion, his reputation was +based principally on the approval of the ladies. All these excellent +judges agreed that he was a nice, quiet, agreeable person; and 'so +handsome!' At least the seven members of an English family, who had +come to visit Chambord, and lingered at the hotel a week—five of them +were daughters—all expressed this opinion of M. Jerome; and even a +supercilious French lady, with a particle attached to her name, +admitted that he was 'very well.'</p> + +<p>One day, a new face appeared at table to interest me; and as the +mysterious gentleman and his diamond ring had puzzled me for a +fortnight, during which I had made no progress towards ascertaining +his real position and character, I was not sorry to have my attention +a little diverted by a mysterious lady. Madame de Mourairef—a Russian +name, thought I—was a very agreeable person to look at; much more so +to me than M. Jerome. She was not much past twenty years of age; +small, slight, elegant in shape, if not completely so in manners; and +with one of those charming little faces which you can analyse into +ugliness, but which in their synthesis, to speak as moderns should, +are admirable, adorable, fascinating. I should have thought that such +a <i>minois</i> could belong only to Paris—the city, by the way, of ugly +women, whom art makes charming. However, there it was above the +shoulders, high of course—swan-necked women are only found in +England—above the shoulders of a Russian marchioness, princess, +czarina, or what you will, who called for her cigarettes after dinner, +was attended by a little <i>soubrette</i>, named Penelope, and looked for +all the world as if she had just been whirled off the boards of the +Opera Comique.</p> + +<p>I at first believed that this was a mere <i>mascarade</i>; but when a +letter in a formidable envelope, with the seal of the Russian embassy, +arrived, and was exhibited in the absence of the lady herself, to +every one of the lodgers, in proof of the aristocratic character of +the customer of the Tête Noire, I began to doubt my own perspicacity, +and to imagine that I had now a far more interesting object of study +than M. Jerome and his diamond ring. Madame de Mourairef was an +exceedingly affable person; and the English family aforesaid, whom I +have reason to believe were Cockney tradesfolks, pronounced her to be +very high-bred—without a fault, indeed, if it had not been for that +horrid habit of smoking, which, as they judiciously observed, however, +was a peculiar characteristic of the Russians. I am afraid, they would +have set her down as a vulgar wretch, had they not been forewarned +that she was aristocratic. The French lady seemed to look upon the +foreign one as an intruder, and scarcely deigned to turn her eyes in +that direction. Probably this was because she was so charming, and +monopolised so much of the attention of us gentlemen.</p> + +<p>'They no sooner looked than they loved,' says Rosalind. This was not, +perhaps, quite the case with M. Jerome and the Russian princess, who +took care to let it be known that she was a widow; but in a very few +days what is called 'a secret sympathy' evidently sprang into +existence. The former, of course, made the first advances. His +diplomatic and seductive arts were not, however, put to a great test, +for in three days the lady manifestly felt uneasy until he presented +himself at dinner; and in a week, I met them walking arm in arm on the +bridge. It was easy to see that he was on his good behaviour; and from +some fragments of conversations I overheard between them when they met +in the passage opposite my door, I learned that he was 'doing the +melancholy dodge,' as in the vernacular we would express it; and had +many harrowing revelations to make as to the manner in which his heart +had been trifled with by unfeeling beauties.</p> + +<p>'There is a tide in the affairs of an hôtel:' I am in a mood for +quoting from my favourite authors; and whereas we had at one time sat +down nearly twenty to table, we suddenly found ourselves to be only +three—M. Jerome, the princess, and myself. A kind of intimacy was the +natural result. We made ourselves mutually agreeable; and I was not at +all surprised, when one evening Madame de Mourairef invited us two +gentlemen to take tea with her in her little sitting-room. Both +accepted joyfully; and though I am persuaded that M. Jerome would have +preferred a tête-à-tête, he accepted my companionship with tolerable +grace. We strolled together, indeed, on the quay for half an hour. It +was raining slightly, and I had a cough; but I have too good an +opinion of human nature to imagine that my new acquaintance kept me +out by his fascinating conversation, in order to make me catch a +desperate cold, that would send me wheezing to bed.</p> + +<p>The tea was served, as I suppose it is served in Russia, very weak, +with a plentiful admixture of milk and accompaniment of <i>biscuits +glacés</i>. Madame de Mourairef did the honours in an inexpressibly +graceful manner; and I observed that there was a delightful intimacy +between her and her maid Penelope, that quite upset my ideas of +northern serfdom. I think they even once exchanged a wink, but of this +I am not sure. There is nothing like experience to expand one's ideas, +and I made up my mind to re-examine the whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[pg 276]</a></span> of my notions of +Muscovite vassalage. M. Jerome seemed less struck by these +circumstances than myself—being probably too much absorbed in +contemplation of our hostess—but even he could not avoid exclaiming, +'that if that were the way in which serfs were treated, he should like +to be a serf—of such a mistress!'</p> + +<p>'You Frenchmen are <i>so</i> gallant!' was the reply.</p> + +<p>A little while afterwards, somebody proposed a game of whist. There +was an objection to 'dead-man,' and Penelope, with a semi-oriental +salaam, offered to 'take a hand.' Madame de Mourairef was graciously +pleased to order her to do so. We shuffled, cut, and played; and when +midnight came, and it was necessary to retire, I felt almost afraid to +examine into my own heart, lest I might find that the soubrette +appeared to me at least as high-bred as the mistress.</p> + +<p>We spent some delightful evenings in this manner, and perhaps still +more delightful days, for by degrees we became inseparable, and all +our walks and drives were made in common. The garçon often looked +maliciously at me, even offered once or twice to develop his Art of +Love; but I did not choose to be interrupted in my physiognomical +studies, and gave him no opportunity.</p> + +<p>A picnic was proposed, and agreed upon. We intended at first to go to +Chambord; but there was danger of a crowd; and a valley on the road to +Vendôme was pitched upon. A <i>calèche</i> took us to the place, and set us +down in a delightful meadow, enamelled with flowers, as all meadows +are in poetry. A few great trees, forming almost a grove, shaded a +slope near the banks of a sluggish stream that crept along between an +avenue of poplars. Here the cloth was laid at once for breakfast; and +whilst M. Jerome and the princess strolled away to talk of blighted +hopes, Russia, serfdom, wedlock, and the conflagration of the Kremlin, +Penelope made the necessary preparation; and I, in my character of a +fidgety old gentleman, first advised and then assisted her. I am +afraid the young damsel had designs upon my heart, for she put several +questions to me on the state of vassalage in England; and when I +developed succinctly the principles and advantages of our free +constitution, and said some eloquent things that formed a French +edition of 'Britons never shall be slaves,' she became quite +enthusiastic; her cheeks flushed, her eyes brightened; and with a sort +of Thervigne-de-Mericourt gesture, she cried: 'Vive la République!' +This was scarcely the natural product of what I had said; but so +lively a little creature, in her dainty lace-cap and flying pink +ribbons, neat silk <i>caraco</i>, plaid-patterned gown, with pagoda +sleeves, as she called them, and milk-white <i>manchettes</i>—her +<i>bottines</i> from the Rue Vivienne, and her face from Paradise—could +reconcile many a harder heart than mine to greater incongruities. Our +arrangements being made, therefore, I sat down on a camp-stool, whilst +Penelope reclined on the grass; and I endeavoured to explain to her +the great advantages of a moderate constitutional government, with +checks, balances, and so forth. Although she yawned, I am sure it was +not from ennui, but in order to shew me her pretty pearly teeth.</p> + +<p>M. Jerome and the princess came streaming back over the meadow—even +affected to scold me for having remained behind. They were evidently +on the best possible terms, and I took great satisfaction in +contemplating their happiness. Either my perspicacity was at fault, +however, or both had some secret cause of uneasiness that pressed upon +their minds as the day advanced. Had they been only betrayed into a +declaration and a plighting of their troth in a hurry? Did they +already repent? Did Madame de Mourairef regret the barbarous splendour +of her native land? Did M. Jerome begin to mourn over the delights of +bachelorship? These were the questions I put to myself without being +able to invent any satisfactory answer. The day passed, however, +pleasantly enough; and the calèche came in due time to take us back to +Blois.</p> + +<p>Next morning, M. Jerome entered my room with a graceful bow, to +announce his departure for Paris, whither it was necessary for him to +go to obtain the necessary papers for his marriage, and Madame de +Mourairef, he added, accompanied him. I uttered the necessary +congratulations, and gave my address in Paris, that he might call upon +me as soon as he was settled in the hôtel he proposed to take.</p> + +<p>'I take two persons with me,' he said, smiling; 'but one of them +leaves her heart behind, I am afraid.'</p> + +<p>This alluded to Penelope; but I was determined not to understand. I +went to say adieu to Madame de Mourairef, who seemed rather excited +and anxious. Penelope almost succeeded in wringing forth a tear; but I +did not think it was decreed that at my age I should really make love +to a Russian serf, however charming. So off they went to the railway +station, leaving me in a very dull, stupid, melancholy mood.</p> + +<p>'What a fortunate man M. Jerome is!' said the garçon, as he came into +my room a few minutes afterwards.</p> + +<p>'Yes,' I replied; 'Madame de Mourairef seems in every way worthy of +him.'</p> + +<p>'I should think so,' quoth he. 'It is not every waiter, however +fascinating, that falls in with a Russian princess.'</p> + +<p>'Waiter! M. Jerome!'</p> + +<p>'Of course,' replied my informant. 'You seem surprised; but M. Jerome +is really a waiter at the Café ——, on the Boulevard des Italiens; +came down for his health. We were comrades once, and I promised to +keep the secret, for he thought it extremely probable that he might +meet a wealthy English lady here, who might fall in love with +him—your countrywomen are so eccentric. He has found a Russian +princess, which is better. I suppose we must now call him +Monseigneur?'</p> + +<p>Although, like the rest of my species, disposed to laugh at the +misfortunes of my fellow-creatures, I confess that I pitied Madame de +Mourairef; for I felt persuaded that M. Jerome had passed himself off +as a very distinguished personage. However, there was no remedy, and I +had no right to interfere in the matter. The lady, indeed, had been in +an unpardonable hurry to be won, and must take the consequences.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, there was a great bustle in the hôtel, and +half-a-dozen voices were heard doing the work of fifty. I went out +into the passage, and caught the first fragments of an explanation +that soon became complete. M. Alphonse, courier to M. de Mourairef, +had arrived, and was indignantly maintaining that Sophie and Penelope, +the two waiting-maids of the princess, had arrived at the Tête Noire, +to take a suite of rooms for their mistress; whilst the landlord and +his coadjutors, slow to comprehend, averred that the great lady had +herself been there, and departed. The truth at length came out—that +these two smart Parisian lasses, having a fortnight before them, had +determined to give up their places, and play the mascarade which I +have described. When M. and Madame de Mourairef, two respectable, +middle-aged people, arrived, they were dismally made acquainted with +the sacrilege that had been committed; but as no debts had been +contracted in their name, and their letters came in a parcel by the +post from Orleans, they laughed heartily at the joke, and enjoyed the +idea that Sophie had been taken in.</p> + +<p>The following winter, I went into a café newly established in the Rue +Poissonière, and was agreeably surprised to see Sophie, the +pseudo-princess, sitting behind the counter in magnificent toilette, +receiving the bows and the money of the customers as they passed +before her, whilst M. Jerome—exactly in appearance as before, except +that prosperity had begun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[pg 277]</a></span> to round him—was leaning against a pillar +in rather a melodramatic attitude, a white napkin gracefully depending +from his hand. They started on seeing me, and were a little confused, +but soon laughed over their adventure; called Penelope to take her +turn at the counter—the little serf whispered to me as she passed, +that I was 'a traitor, a barbarian,' and insisted on treating me to my +coffee and my <i>petit verre</i>, free, gratis, for nothing.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="MEMOIRS_OF_LORD_JEFFREY" id="MEMOIRS_OF_LORD_JEFFREY"></a>MEMOIRS OF LORD JEFFREY.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>In the crisis of the French Revolution, British society was paralysed +with conservative alarms, and all tendency to liberal opinions, or +even to an advocacy of the most simple and needful reforms, was met +with a ruthless intolerance. In Scotland, there was not a public +meeting for five-and-twenty years. In that night of unreflecting +Toryism, a small band of men, chiefly connected with the law in +Edinburgh, stood out in a profession of Whiggism, to the forfeiture of +all chance of government patronage, and even of much of the confidence +and esteem of society. Three or four young barristers were +particularly prominent, all men of uncommon talents. The chief was +Francis Jeffrey, who died in 1850, in the seventy-seventh year of his +age, after having passed through a most brilliant career as a +practising lawyer and judge, and one still more brilliant, as the +conductor, for twenty-seven years, of the celebrated <i>Edinburgh +Review</i>. Another was Henry Cockburn, who has now become the biographer +of his great associate. It was verily a remarkable knot of men in many +respects, but we think in none more than a heroic probity towards +their principles, which were, after all, of no extravagant character, +as was testified by their being permitted to triumph harmlessly in +1831-2. These men anticipated by forty years changes which were +ultimately patronised by the great majority of the nation. They all +throve professionally, but purely by the force of their talents and +high character. As there was not any precisely equivalent group of men +at any other bar in the United Kingdom, we think Scotland is entitled +to take some credit to herself for her Jeffreys, her Cranstons, her +Murrays, and her Cockburns: at least, she will not soon forget their +names.</p> + +<p>Lord Jeffrey—his judicial designation in advanced life—was of +respectable, but not exalted parentage. After a careful education at +Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford, he entered at the bar in 1793, when +not yet much more than twenty years of age. His father, being himself +a Tory, desired the young lawyer to be so too, seeing that it would be +favourable to his prospects; but he could not yield in this point to +paternal counsel. The consequence was, that this able man practised +for ten years without gaining more than L. 100 per annum. All this +time, he cultivated his mind diligently, and was silently training +himself for that literary career which he subsequently entered upon. +His talents were at that time known only to a few intimates: there +were peculiarities about him, which prevented him from being generally +appreciated up to his deserts. His figure, to begin with, was almost +ludicrously small. Then, in his anxiety to get rid of the Scottish +accent, he had contracted an elocution intended to be English, but +which struck every one as most affected and offensive. His manners +were marked by levity, and his conversation to many seemed flippant. +His literary musings also acted unfavourably on the solicitors, the +leading patrons of young counsellors. Reduced by dearth of business +almost to despair, he had at one time serious thoughts of flinging +himself upon the London press for a subsistence. The first smile of +fortune beamed upon him in 1802, when the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> was +started—a work of which he quickly assumed the management. That it +brought him income and literary renown, we gather from Lord Cockburn's +pages; but we do not readily find it explained how. While more +declaredly a literary man than ever, he now advanced rapidly at the +bar, and quickly became a man of wealth and professional dignity. We +suspect that, after all that is said of the effect of literary +pursuits on business prospects, the one success was a consequence in +great measure of the other.</p> + +<p>The value of this work rests, in our opinion, on the illustration +which it presents of the possibility of a man of sound though +unpopular opinions passing through life, not merely without suffering +greatly from the wrath of society, but in the enjoyment of some of its +highest honours. After reading this book, one could almost suppose it +to be a delusion that the world judges hardly of any man's speculative +opinions, while his life remains pure, and his heart manifestly is +alive to all the social charities. The heroic consistency of Jeffrey +is the more remarkable, when it now appears that he was a gentle and +rather timid man, keenly alive to the sympathies of friends and +neighbours—indeed, of <i>womanish</i> character altogether. As is well +known, his time arrived at last, when, on the coming of the Whigs into +power in 1830, he was raised to the dignified situation of Lord +Advocate for Scotland, and was called upon to take the lead, +officially, in making those political changes which he had all along +advocated. It is curious, however, and somewhat startling, to learn +how little gratification he professed to feel in what appeared so +great a triumph. While his rivals looked with envy on his exaltation, +and mobs deemed it little enough that he should be entirely at their +beck in requital for the support they gave him, Mr Jeffrey was sighing +for the quiet of private life, groaning at his banishment from a happy +country-home, and not a little disturbed by the troubled aspect of +public affairs. Mr Macaulay has somewhere remarked on the general +mistake as to the 'sweets of office.' We are assured by Lord Cockburn, +that Jeffrey would have avoided the advocateship if he could. He +accepted it only from a feeling of duty to his party. He writes to a +female relation of the 'good reason I have for being sincerely sick +and sorry at an elevation for which so many people are envying, and +thinking me the luckiest and most elevated of mortals for having +attained.' And this subject is still further illustrated by an account +he gives of the conduct of honest Lord Althorpe during the short +interval in May 1832, when the Whigs were <i>out</i>. 'Lord Althorpe,' he +says, 'has gone through all this with his characteristic cheerfulness +and courage. The day after the resignation, he spent in a great +sale-garden, choosing and buying flowers, and came home with five +great packages in his carriage, devoting the evening to studying where +they should be planted in his garden at Althorpe, and writing +directions and drawing plans for their arrangement. And when they came +to summon him to a council on the Duke's giving in, he was found in a +closet with a groom, busy oiling the locks of his fowlingpieces, and +lamenting the decay into which they had fallen during his ministry.'</p> + +<p>In some respects, the book will create surprise, particularly as to +the private life and character of the great Aristarch. While the +<i>Edinburgh Review</i> was in progress under the care of Mr Jeffrey, it +was a most unrelenting tribunal for literary culprits, as well as a +determined assertor of its own political maxims. The common idea +regarding its chief conductor represented him as a man of +extraordinary sharpness, alternating between epigrammatic flippancy +and democratic rigour. Gentle and refined feeling would certainly +never have been attributed to him. It will now be found that he was at +all times of his life a man of genial spirit towards the entire circle +of his fellow-creatures—that his leading tastes were for poetry and +the beautiful in external nature, particularly fine scenery—that he +revelled in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[pg 278]</a></span> the home affections, and was continually saying the +softest and kindest things to all about him—a lamb, in short, while +thought a lion. The local circle in which he lived was somewhat +limited and exclusive, partly, perhaps, in consequence of having been +early shut in upon itself by its dissent from the mass of society on +most public questions; but in this circle Jeffrey was adored by men, +women, and children alike, on account of his extreme kindliness of +disposition. He was almost, to a ridiculous degree, dependent on the +love of his friends; and the terms in which he addresses some of them, +particularly ladies, sound odd in this commonsense world. Thus, the +wife of one of his friends is, 'My sweet, gentle, and long-suffering +Sophia.' He pours out his very heart to his correspondents, and with +an effect which would reconcile to him the most irascible author he +ever scarified. Thus, to his daughter, who had just left him with her +husband:—'I happened to go up stairs, and passing into our room, saw +the door open of that little one where <i>you</i> used to sleep, and the +very bed waiting there for you, so silent and desolate, that all the +love, and the <i>miss</i> of you, which fell so sadly on my heart the first +night of your desertion, came back upon it so heavily and darkly, that +I was obliged to shut myself in, and cry over the recollection, as if +all the interval had been annihilated, and that loss and sorrow were +still fresh and unsubdued before me; and though the fit went off +before long, I feel still that I must vent my heart by telling you of +it, and therefore sit down now to write all this to you, and get rid +of my feelings, that would otherwise be more likely to haunt my vigils +of the night.' Thus, on the death of a sister in his early days:—'A +very heavy blow upon us all, and much more so on me than I had +believed possible. The habit of seeing her almost every day, and of +living together intimately since our infancy, had wound so many +threads of affection round my heart, that when they were burst at +once, the shock was almost overwhelming. Then, the unequalled +gentleness of her disposition, the unaffected worth of her affections, +and miraculous simplicity of character and manners, which made her +always appear as pure and innocent as an infant, took so firm, though +gentle a hold on the heart of every one who approached her, that even +those who have been comparatively strangers to her worth, have been +greatly affected by her loss.... During the whole of her illness, she +looked beautiful; and when I gazed upon her the moment after she had +breathed her last, as she lay still, still, and calm, with her bright +eyes half closed, and her red lips half open, I thought I had never +seen a countenance so lovely. A statuary might have taken her for a +model. Poor, dear love! I kissed her cold lips, and pressed her cold, +wan, lifeless hand, and would willingly at that moment have put off my +own life too, and followed her. When I came here, the sun was rising, +and the birds were singing gaily, as I sobbed along the empty +streets.'</p> + +<p>The sensibility of Jeffrey to all fine expression that comes to us +through the medium of literature was intense, most so in his latter +days, when his whole character seems to have undergone a mellowing +process. While pining under his greatness as Lord Advocate, and an +authority in parliament (1833), he says: 'If it were not for my love +of beautiful nature and poetry, my heart would have died within me +long ago. I never felt before what immeasurable benefactors these same +poets are to their kind, and how large a measure, both of actual +happiness and prevention of misery, they have imparted to the race. I +would willingly give up half my fortune, and some little fragments of +health and bodily enjoyment that yet remain to me, rather than that +Shakspeare should not have lived before me.' Who that had only read +his lively, acute articles in the formal Review, could have believed +him to be so deeply sympathetic with an unfortunate poet, as he shews +in the following fine passage in one of his letters (1837)? 'In the +last week, I have read all Burns's Life and Works—not without many +tears, for the life especially. What touches me most, is the pitiable +poverty in which that gifted being (and his noble-minded father) +passed his early days—the painful frugality to which their innocence +was doomed, and the thought how small a share of the useless luxuries +in which we (such comparatively poor creatures) indulge, would have +sufficed to shed joy and cheerfulness in their dwellings, and perhaps +to have saved that glorious spirit from the trials and temptations +under which he fell so prematurely. Oh! my dear Empson, there must be +something <i>terribly</i> wrong in the present arrangements of the +universe, when those things can happen, and be thought natural. I +could lie down in the dirt, and cry and grovel there, I think, for a +century, to save such a soul as Burns from the suffering, and the +contamination, and the <i>degradation</i>, which these same arrangements +imposed upon him; and I fancy that, if I could but have known him, in +my present state of wealth and influence, I might have saved, and +reclaimed, and preserved him, even to the present day. He would not +have been so old as my brother-judge, Lord Glenlee, or Lord Lynedoch, +or a dozen others that one meets daily in society. And what a +creature, not only in genius, but in nobleness of character, +potentially at least, if right models had been put <i>gently</i> before +him!'</p> + +<p>The narrative of Lord Cockburn occupies only one volume, the other +being filled with a selection from Lord Jeffrey's letters. It is a +brief chronicle of the subject; many will feel it to be +unsatisfactorily slight. The author seems to have been afraid of +becoming tedious. It is, however, a manly and faithful narration, with +the rare merit of going little, if at all, beyond bounds in its +appreciation of the hero or his associates, or the importance of the +circumstances in which he moved. The sketches of some of Jeffrey's +contemporaries, as John Clerk, Sir Harry Moncreiff, and Henry Erskine, +are vigorous pieces of painting, which will suggest to many a desire +that the author should favour the public with a wider view of the men +and things of Scotland in the age just past. With a natural partiality +as a friend and as a biographer, he seems to us to set too high an +estimate on Jeffrey when he ranks him as one of a quartett, including +Dugald Stewart, Sir Walter Scott, and Dr Chalmers, 'each of whom in +literature, philosophy, or policy, caused great changes,' and 'left +upon his age the impression of the mind that produced them.' Few of +his countrymen would claim this rank for either Jeffrey or Stewart. +Jeffrey, no doubt, raised a department of our literature from a low to +a high level; he was a Great Voice in his day. But he produced nothing +which can permanently affect us; he gave no great turn to the +sentiments or opinions of mankind. His only original effort of any +mark, is his exposition of the association theory of beauty, which +rests on a simple mistake of what is pleasing for what is beautiful, +and is already nothing. We suspect that no man with his degree of +timidity will ever be very great, either as a philosopher or as a man +of deeds. He was a brilliant <i>writer</i>—the most brilliant, and, with +one exception, the most versatile in his age; but to this we would +limit his panegyric, apart from the glory of his long and consistent +career as a politician, which we think can scarcely be overestimated.</p> + +<p>So many of the most remarkable passages of the work have been already +hackneyed through the medium of the newspapers, that we feel somewhat +at a loss to present any which may have a chance of being new to our +readers. So early as his twentieth year, we find Mr Jeffrey thus +sensibly expressing himself on an important subject:—</p> + +<p>'There is nothing in the world I detest so much as companions and +acquaintances, as they are called. Where intimacy has gone so far as +to banish reserve,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[pg 279]</a></span> to disclose character, and to communicate the +reality of serious opinions, the connection may be the source of much +pleasure—it may ripen into friendship, or subside into esteem. But to +know half a hundred fellows just so far as to speak, and walk, and +lounge with them; to be acquainted with a multitude of people, for all +of whom together you do not care one farthing; in whose company you +speak without any meaning, and laugh without any enjoyment; whom you +leave without any regret, and rejoin without any satisfaction; from +whom you learn nothing, and in whom you love nothing—to have such a +set for your society, is worse than to live in absolute solitude; and +is a thousand times more pernicious to the faculties of social +enjoyment, by circulating in its channels a stream so insipid.'</p> + +<p>At the peace of Amiens, Jeffrey wrote thus to his friend Morehead, 7th +October 1801: 'It is the only public event in my recollection that has +given me any lively sensation of pleasure, and I have rejoiced at it +as heartily as it is possible for a private man, and one whose own +condition is not immediately affected by it, to do. How many parents +and children, and sisters and brothers, would that news make happy? +How many pairs of bright eyes would weep over that gazette, and wet +its brown pages with tears of gratitude and rapture? How many weary +wretches will it deliver from camps and hospitals, and restore once +more to the comforts of a peaceful and industrious life? What are +victories to rejoice at, compared with an event like this? Your +bonfires and illuminations are dimmed with blood and with tears, and +battle is in itself a great evil, and a subject of general grief and +lamentation. The victors are only the least unfortunate, and suffering +and death have, in general, brought us no nearer to tranquillity and +happiness.' It may be well thus to bring the value of a peace before +the public mind. Let those who only know of war from history, reflect +how great must be the evils of a state the cessation of which gives +such a feeling of relief.</p> + +<p>Here is a curious passage about the society of Liverpool in 1813, and +his love of his native country. We must receive the statement +respecting the Quakers with something more than doubt, at least as to +the extent to which it is true:—'I have been dining out every day for +this last week with Unitarians, and Whigs, and Americans, and brokers, +and bankers, and small fanciers of pictures and paints, and the Quaker +aristocracy, and the fashionable vulgar, of the place. But I do not +like Liverpool much better, and could not live here with any comfort. +Indeed, I believe I could not live anywhere out of Scotland. All my +recollections are Scottish, and consequently all my imaginations; and +though I thank God that I have as few fixed opinions as any man of my +standing, yet all the elements out of which they are made have a +certain national cast also. In short, I will not live anywhere else if +I can help it; nor die either; and all old Esky's<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> eloquence would +have been thrown away in an attempt to persuade me that <i>banishment +furth the kingdom</i> might be patiently endured. I take more to Roscoe, +however: he is thoroughly good-hearted, and has a sincere, though +foolish concern for the country. I have also found out a Highland +woman with much of the mountain accent, and sometimes get a little +girl to talk to. But with all these resources, and the aid of the +Botanical Garden, the time passes rather heavily; and I am in some +danger of dying of ennui, with the apparent symptoms of extreme +vivacity. Did you ever hear that most of the Quakers die of +stupidity—actually and literally? I was assured of the fact the other +day by a very intelligent physician, who practised twenty years among +them, and informs me that few of the richer sort live to be fifty, but +die of a sort of atrophy, their cold blood just stagnating by degrees +among their flabby fat. They eat too much, he says; take little +exercise; and, above all, have no nervous excitement. The affection is +known in this part of the country by the name of <i>the Quaker's +disease</i>, and more than one-half of them go out so. I think this +curious, though not worth coming to Liverpool to hear, or writing from +Liverpool, &c.'</p> + +<p>He was at this time about to sail for America, in order to marry a +lady of that country. In a letter to Morehead, he recalls his +old-fashioned country residence of Hatton, in West Lothian, and Mr +Morehead's family now resident there. Tuckey was a nickname for one of +Mr Morehead's daughters; Margaret was another. Till the last, he had +pet names for all his own descendants and relatives, having no doubt +felt how much they contribute to the promotion of family affection. 'I +am almost ashamed of the degree of sorrow I feel at leaving all the +early and long-prized objects of my affection; and though I am +persuaded I do right in the step which I am taking, I cannot help +wishing that it had not been quite so wide and laborious a one. You +cannot think how beautiful Hatton appears at this moment in my +imagination, nor with what strong emotion I fancy I hear Tuckey +telling a story on my knee, and see Margaret poring upon her French +before me. It is in your family that my taste for domestic society and +domestic enjoyments has been nurtured and preserved. Such a child as +Tuckey I shall never see again in this world. Heaven bless her, and +she will be a blessing both to her mother and to you.' After touching +upon a volume of poems which Mr Morehead had published—'If I were +you, however, I would live more with Tuckey, and be satisfied with my +gardening and pruning—with my preaching—a good deal of walking and +comfortable talking. What more has life? and how full of vexation are +all ambitious fancies and perplexing pursuits! Well, God bless you! +Perhaps I shall not have an opportunity to inculcate my innocent +epicurism upon you for a long time again. It will do you no harm.'</p> + +<p>It will be a new fact to most of the admirers of Jeffrey, that he had +in early life devoted himself to the writing of poetry. Of what he +wrote between 1791 and 1796, the greater part has disappeared from his +repositories. 'But,' says his biographer, 'enough survives to attest +his industry, and to enable us to appreciate his powers. There are +some loose leaves and fragments of small poems, mostly on the usual +subjects of love and scenery, and in the form of odes, sonnets, +elegies, &c.; all serious, none personal or satirical. And besides +these slight things, there is a completed poem on Dreaming, in blank +verse, about 1800 lines long. The first page is dated Edinburgh, May +4, 1791, the last Edinburgh, 25th June 1791; from which I presume that +we are to hold it to have been all written in these fifty-three +days—a fact which accounts for the absence of high poetry, though +there be a number of poetical conceptions and flowing sentences. Then +there is a translation into blank verse of the third book of the +<i>Argonauticon</i> of Apollonius Rhodius. The other books are lost, but he +translated the whole poem, extending to about 6000 lines.... And I may +mention here, though it happens to be in prose, that of two plays, +one, a tragedy, survives. It has no title, but is complete in all its +other parts.... He was fond of parodying the <i>Odes</i> of Horace, with +applications to modern incidents and people, and did it very +successfully. The <i>Otium Divos</i> was long remembered. Notwithstanding +this perseverance, and a decided poetical ambition, he was never +without misgivings as to his success. I have been informed, that he +once went so far as to leave a poem with a bookseller, to be +published, and fled to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[pg 280]</a></span> country; and that, finding some obstacle +had occurred, he returned, recovered the manuscript, rejoicing that he +had been saved, and never renewed so perilous an experiment.</p> + +<p>'There may be some who would like to see these compositions, or +specimens of them, both on their own account, and that the friends of +the many poets his criticism has offended might have an opportunity of +retaliation, and of shewing, by the critic's own productions, how +little, in their opinion, he was worthy to sit in judgment on others. +But I cannot indulge them. Since Jeffrey, though fond of playing with +verses privately, never delivered himself up to the public as the +author of any, I cannot think that it would be right in any one else +to exhibit him in this capacity. I may acknowledge, however, that, so +far as I can judge, the publication of such of his poetical attempts +as remain, though it might shew his industry and ambition, would not +give him the poetical wreath, and of course would not raise his +reputation. Not that there are not tons of worse verse published, and +bought, and even read, every year, but that their publication would +not elevate Jeffrey. His poetry is less poetical than his prose. +Viewed as mere literary practice, it is rather respectable. It evinces +a general acquaintance, and a strong sympathy, with moral emotion, +great command of language, correct taste, and a copious possession of +the poetical commonplaces, both of words and of sentiment. But all +this may be without good poetry.'</p> + +<p>Having given little of Lord Cockburn in our extracts, we shall +conclude with a passage of his narration which stands out distinctly, +and has a historical value. It refers to Edinburgh in the second +decade of the present century, but takes in a few names of deceased +celebrities:—'The society of Edinburgh was not that of a provincial +town, and cannot be judged of by any such standard. It was +metropolitan. Trade or manufactures have, fortunately, never marked +this city for their own; but it is honoured by the presence of a +college famous throughout the world, and from which the world has been +supplied with many of the distinguished men who have shone in it. It +is the seat of the supreme courts of justice, and of the annual +convocation of the Church, formerly no small matter; and of almost all +the government offices and influence. At the period I am referring to, +this combination of quiet with aristocracy made it the resort, to a +far greater extent than it is now, of the families of the gentry, who +used to leave their country residences and enjoy the gaiety and the +fashion which their presence tended to promote. Many of the curious +characters and habits of the receding age—the last purely Scotch age +that Scotland was destined to see—still lingered among us. Several +were then to be met with who had seen the Pretender, with his court +and his wild followers, in the Palace of Holyrood. Almost the whole +official state, as settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the +capital, unconscious of the economical scythe which has since mowed it +down. All our nobility had not then fled. A few had sense not to feel +degraded by being happy at home. The Old Town was not quite deserted. +Many of our principal people still dignified its picturesque recesses +and historical mansions, and were dignified by them. The closing of +the continent sent many excellent English families and youths among +us, for education and for pleasure. The war brightened us with +uniforms, and strangers, and shows.</p> + +<p>'Over all this, there was diffused the influence of a greater number +of persons attached to literature and science, some as their calling, +and some for pleasure, than could be found, in proportion to the +population, in any other city in the empire. Within a few years, +including the period I am speaking of, the College contained Principal +Robertson, Joseph Black, his successor Hope, the second Munro, James +Gregory, John Robison, John Playfair, and Dugald Stewart; none of them +confined monastically to their books, but all—except Robison, who was +in bad health—partaking of the enjoyments of the world. Episcopacy +gave us the Rev. Archibald Alison; and in Blair, Henry, John Home, Sir +Harry Moncreiff, and others, Presbytery made an excellent +contribution, the more to be admired that it came from a church which +eschews rank, and boasts of poverty. The law, to which Edinburgh has +always been so largely indebted, sent its copious supplies; who, +instead of disturbing good company by professional matter—an offence +with which the lawyers of every place are charged—were remarkably +free of this vulgarity; and being trained to take difference of +opinion easily, and to conduct discussions with forbearance, were, +without undue obtrusion, the most cheerful people that were to be met +with. Lords Monboddo, Hailes, Glenlee, Meadowbank, and Woodhouselee, +all literary judges, and Robert Blair, Henry Erskine, and Henry +Mackenzie, senior, were at the earlier end of this file; Scott and +Jeffrey at the later—but including a variety of valuable persons +between these extremities. Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hall, and Mr +Clerk of Eldin, represented a class of country gentlemen cultivating +learning on its account. And there were several, who, like the founder +of the Huttonian theory, selected this city for their residence solely +from the consideration in which science and letters were here held, +and the facilities, or rather the temptations, presented for their +prosecution. Philosophy had become indigenous in the place, and all +classes, even in their gayest hours, were proud of the presence of its +cultivators. Thus learning was improved by society, and society by +learning. And unless when party-spirit interfered—which, at one time, +however, it did frequently and bitterly—perfect harmony, and, indeed, +lively cordiality, prevailed.</p> + +<p>'And all this was still a Scotch scene. The whole country had not +begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London. There were still little +great places—places with attractions quite sufficient to retain men +of talent or learning in their comfortable and respectable provincial +positions, and which were dignified by the tastes and institutions +which learning and talent naturally rear. The operation of the +commercial principle which tempts all superiority to try its fortune +in the greatest accessible market, is perhaps irresistible; but +anything is surely to be lamented which annihilates local intellect, +and degrades the provincial spheres which intellect and its +consequences can alone adorn. According to the modern rate of +travelling, the capitals of Scotland and of England were then about +2400 miles asunder. Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and +habits. It had then its own independent tastes, and ideas, and +pursuits. Enough of the generation that was retiring survived to cast +an antiquarian air over the city, and the generation that was +advancing was still a Scotch production. Its character may be +estimated by the names I have mentioned, and by the fact, that the +genius of Scott and of Jeffrey had made it the seat at once of the +most popular poetry and the most brilliant criticism that then +existed. This city has advantages, including its being the capital of +Scotland, its old reputation, and its external beauties, which have +enabled it, in a certain degree, to resist the centralising tendency, +and have hitherto always supplied it with a succession of eminent men. +But now that London is at our door, how precarious is our hold of +them, and how many have we lost!'</p> + +<p>We would just add one remark which occurs to us after reviewing the +career of this eminent patriot and writer, and it may be of service to +young men now entering upon the various paths of ambition. It is the +fortune of many to be led by whim, prejudice, and other reasons, into +certain tracks of opinion, which, as they do not lead to the public +good, so neither do they conduce to any ultimate benefit for those +treading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[pg 281]</a></span> them. How striking the contrast between the retrospect of a +literary man, who has spent, perhaps, brilliant abilities in +supporting every bad cause and every condemned error of his time, and +necessarily found all barren at last, and the reflections of one like +Francis Jeffrey, who, having embraced just views at first, continued +temperately to advocate them until he saw them adopted as necessary +for the good of his country, and had the glory of being almost +universally thanked for his share in bringing about their triumph! Let +young literary men particularly take this duly to heart, for it may +save them from many a bitter pang in their latter days.</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> 'Lord Eskgrove, a judge, who consoled a friend he was +obliged to banish, by assuring him that there really were places in +the world, such as England, for example, where a man, though out of +Scotland, might live with some little comfort.'</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="THE_MOONLIGHT_RIDE" id="THE_MOONLIGHT_RIDE"></a>THE MOONLIGHT RIDE.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>A number of years ago, a gentleman in Clydesdale offered me a +situation as head-groom, which I accepted. He had one horse which was +kept in a stable by himself, and was, without exception, the ugliest +and most savage animal of his kind I had ever seen. There was not a +single point of a strong or a fast horse about him. He was as black as +charcoal; he was named Satan, and richly did he deserve the name. He +would fly at you, like a dog, with his teeth; attempt to beat you down +with his fore-feet; and strike round a corner at you with his hind +ones. He had beaten off all the rough-riders, grooms, and jockeys in +that part of the country.</p> + +<p>After being in the place for a few days, I was asked by the gentleman, +if I thought I could make anything of Satan. I replied, that if he +beat me, he would be the only horse which had ever done so; but still +I considered him to be by far the most savage I had ever seen. 'Try +him to-morrow at one o'clock,' said he, as he turned to go away: 'I +will have a few friends with me to see how you succeed.'</p> + +<p>I determined, however, to try him that night, and without any witness +to see whether I succeeded or not. My room was over the stables, and +as the moon did not rise till eleven o'clock, I threw myself upon the +bedclothes, and, contrary to my intention, fell asleep. When I awoke, +it was twelve, the moon was shining brightly, and rendering everything +as visible as if it were day.</p> + +<p>I went down to the stable with a bridle prepared for the purpose, and +a heavily-loaded whip in my hand. I knew that it would be impossible +to saddle him; and, indeed, I should be safer on his bare back, in the +event of his throwing himself down. I opened the stable-door gently, +and there he was prone on his side, his legs and neck stretched out, +as I have often seen horses lying after sore fatigue. I clapped my +knee upon his head, loosed the collar that bound him, slipped the bit +into his mouth, buckled the throat-band, raised him to his feet, +backed him out, and leaped upon his back before he had time to get his +eyes right opened. But open them now he did, and that with a +vengeance; he pawed, and struck the walls with his fore-feet, till the +fire flashed from the stones; and then he reared till he fell right +back upon the pavement. I was prepared for this, and slipped off him +as he went down, and then leaped on him again as he rose. I had not as +yet touched him with whip, bridle, or spur; but now I gave him the +curb and the spurs at the same instant. He gave one mad bound, and +then went off at a rate that completely eclipsed the speed of the +fleetest horse I had ever ridden. He could not trot, but his gallop +was unapproachable, and consisted in a succession of leaps, performed +with a precision, velocity, and strength, absolutely bewildering.</p> + +<p>He fairly overturned all my preconceived notions of a fast horse. On +he thundered, till we came under the shadow of a fir-wood, and then, +whether out of mischief or dread of the darkness, he halted +instantaneously, his fore-feet so close together that you might have +put them into a bucket. Owing to the depression of his shoulders—for +he had no more withers than an ass—the way that he jerked down his +head, and the suddenness of the stop, a monkey, although he had been +holding on with his teeth, must have been unseated. For me, I was +pitched a long way over his head, but alighted upon a spot so soft and +mossy, that it looked as if some kind hand had purposely prepared it +for me. Had I been in the slightest degree stunned, or unable to +regain my feet, that instant he would have torn me to pieces with his +teeth, and beaten my mangled body into the earth with his hoofs. But I +at once sprang to my feet, and faced him. I could have escaped by +leaping into the wood; but my blood was up, my brain clear, and my +heart gave not one extra pulsation. There he stood upon his hind-legs +nearly upright, beating the air with his fore-feet, his mouth open, +his upper lip curled, his under one drawn down, his large white teeth +glancing like ivory in the moonlight. As soon as he saw me upon my +feet, he gave a yell such as I had never heard from a horse before, +save once, and which I believe is never elicited from that animal, +except when under the domination of frantic rage or fear.</p> + +<p>This unearthly cry roused every living thing within hearing. An army +of rooks, startled from their encampment in the wood, circled and +wheeled between us and the moon, shading her light, and filling the +midnight air with their discordant screams. This attracted the +attention of Satan, and, bringing his fore-feet to the ground, he +pricked up his ears, and listened. I sprang forward, seized him by the +mane, and vaulted upon his back. As I stooped forward to gather up the +reins, which were dangling from his head, he caught me by the cuff of +the jacket—luckily it was but the cuff!—and tore it up to the +shoulder. Instantly he seized me again; but this time he succeeded +rather better, having a small portion of the skin and flesh of my +thigh between his teeth. The intense pain occasioned by the bite, or +rather bruise, of a horse's mouth, can only be properly judged of by +those who have felt it. I was the madder of the two now; and of all +animals, an enraged man is the most dangerous and the most fearless. I +gave him a blow between the ears with the end of the whip; and he went +down at once, stunned and senseless, with his legs doubled up under +him, and his nose buried in the ground. I drew his fore-legs from +under him, that he might rise the more readily, and then lashed him +into life. He turned his head slowly round, and looked at me, and then +I saw that the savage glare of his eye was nearly quenched, and that, +if I could follow up the advantage I had gained, I should ultimately +be the conqueror. I now assisted him to rise, mounted him, and struck +at once with whip and spur. He gave a few bounds forward, a stagger or +two, and then fell heavily upon his side. I was nearly under him; +however, I did save my distance, although that was all. I now began to +feel sorry for him; his wonderful speed had won my respect; and as I +was far from being naturally cruel, whip or spur I never used except +in cases of necessity: so I thought I would allow him to lie for a few +minutes, if he did not incline to get up of himself. However, as I had +no faith in the creature, I sat down upon him, and watched him +intently. He lay motionless, with his eyes shut; and had it not been +for the firm and fast beat of his heart, I should have considered him +dying from the effects of the blow; but the strong pulsation told me +that there was plenty of life in him; and I suspected that he was +lying quiet, meditating mischief. I was right. Every muscle began +presently to quiver with suppressed rage. He opened his eyes, and gave +me a look, in which fear and fury were strangely blended. I am not +without superstition, and for an instant I quailed under that look, as +the thought struck me, that the black, unshapely brute before me might +actually be the spirit indicated by his name. With a muttered growl at +my folly, I threw the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[pg 282]</a></span> idea from me—leaped up—seized the reins—with +a lash and a cry made him spring to his feet—mounted him as he rose, +and struck the spurs into his sides. He reared and wheeled; but +finding that he could not get rid of me, and being unable to stand the +torture of the spurs, which I used freely (it was no time for mercy!) +he gave two or three plunges, and then bounded away at that dreadful +leaping gallop—that pace which seemed peculiarly his own. I tried to +moderate his speed with the bridle; but found, to my surprise, that I +had no command over him. I knew at once that something was wrong, as, +with the bit I had in his mouth, I ought to have had the power to have +broken his jawbone. I stooped forward to ascertain the cause; the +loose curb dangling at the side of his head gave a satisfactory +explanation.</p> + +<p>He had it all his own way now; he was fairly off with me; and all I +could do was to bear his head as well up as I could, to prevent him +from stumbling. However, as it would have been bad policy to let him +know how much he was master, I gave him an occasional touch with the +spur, as if wishing him to accelerate his pace; and when he made an +extra bound, I patted him on the neck, as if pleased with his +performance.</p> + +<p>A watery cloud was passing over the face of the moon, which rendered +everything dim and indistinct, as we tore away down a grassy slope; +the view terminating in a grove of tall trees, situated upon a +rising-ground. Beyond the dark outline of the trees, I saw nothing.</p> + +<p>As we neared the grove, Satan slackened his speed; this I thought he +did with a view to crush me against the trunks of the trees. To +prevent him from having time to do this, I struck him with the spurs, +and away again he went like fury. As he burst through the trees, I +flung my head forward upon his neck, to prevent myself from being +swept off by the lower branches. In doing this, the spurs accidentally +came in contact with his sides. He gave one tremendous leap +forward—the ground sank under his feet—the horse was thrown over his +own head—I was jerked into the air—and, amid an avalanche of earth +and stones, we were hurled down a perpendicular bank into the brown, +swollen waters of the Clyde.</p> + +<p>Owing to a bend in the river, the force of the current was directed +against this particular spot, and had undermined it; and although +strong enough to bear a man or a horse, under ordinary circumstances, +yet down at once it thundered under the desperate leap of Satan. +However, it did not signify, as nothing could have prevented us from +surging into the water at the next bound.</p> + +<p>A large quantity of rain had fallen in the upper part of the shire; +and, in consequence, the river was full from bank to brae. I was +nearly a stranger to the place; indeed, so much so, that I had +supposed we were running from the river. This, combined with the +suddenness of the shock, and the appearance of a turbid, rapid +river—sweeping down trees, brushwood, branches, hay, corn, and straw +before it, with resistless force—was so foreign to my idea of the +calm, peaceful Clyde, that when I rose to the surface, I was quite +bewildered, and had very serious doubts as to my own identity.</p> + +<p>I was roused from this state of bewilderment by the snorting and +splashing of the horse: he was making a bold attempt to scale the +perpendicular bank. Had I been thrown into the body of the stream, I +should have been swept away, and the animal must have perished; but in +all heavy rapid runs of water, salt or fresh, there is what is termed +an eddy stream, running close inshore, in a contrary direction to the +main body of the water. I have seen Highlanders in their boats +catching fish in the eddy stream of the Gulf of Corrievrekin, within a +short distance of the main tide, which, had it but got the slightest +hold on their boat, would have swept them with fearful velocity into +the jaws of the roaring gulf. I was caught by this eddy, which kept me +stationary, and enabled me, by a few strokes, to reach the horse's +side. To cross the river, or to land here, was alike impossible; so I +took the reins in my right hand, wheeled the horse from the bank, and +dashed at once with him into the strength of the current. Away we +went, Satan and I, in capital spirits both; not a doubt of our +effecting a safe landing ever crossing my mind. And the horse evinced +his certainty upon that subject, by snatching a bite out of a heap of +hay that floated at his side, and eating it as composedly as if he had +been in the stable.</p> + +<p>We soon swept round the high bank that had caused our misfortune, and +came to a level part of the country, which was flooded far up into the +fields. I then struck strongly out in a slanting direction for the +shore, and soon had the satisfaction of finding myself once more upon +the green turf. Satan shook himself, pricked up his ears, and gave a +low neigh. I then stroked him, and spoke kindly to him. He returned +the caress by licking my hand. Poor fellow! he had contracted a +friendship for me in the water—a friendship which terminated only +with his life; and which was rendered the more valuable, by his never +extending it to another living thing.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="THE_GOLD-FEVER_IN_AUSTRALIA" id="THE_GOLD-FEVER_IN_AUSTRALIA"></a>THE GOLD-FEVER IN AUSTRALIA.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>The discovery of gold in the new continent has thrown the country into +a state which well merits examination. The same circumstance in +California was no interruption to progress of any kind. It merely +peopled a desert, and opened a trade where there was none before; +while in Australia it finds an established form of civilisation, and a +commerce flowing in recognised channels. It is an interesting task, +therefore, to trace the nature of the influence exercised in the +latter country over old pursuits by the new direction of industry; and +it is with some curiosity we open a mercantile circular, dated Sydney, +1st November 1851. This, we admit, is a somewhat forbidding document +to mere literary readers; but we shall divest its contents of their +technical form, and endeavour, by their aid, to arrive at some general +idea of the real state and prospects of the colony.</p> + +<p>Up to the middle of last May, the colonial heart beat high with hope. +Trade was good; the pastoral interests were flourishing; the country +properties, as a matter of course, were improving; and the +introduction of the alpaca, the extended culture of the vine, and the +growth of cotton, appeared to present new and rich sources of wealth. +At that moment came the discovery of the Gold Fields; and a shock was +communicated to the whole industrial system, which to some people +seemed to threaten almost annihilation. The idea was, that +gold-digging would swallow up all other pursuits, and the flocks +perish in the wilderness from the want of shepherds. Nor was this +altogether without foundation; for the stockholders have actually been +considerable sufferers: all the industrial projects mentioned have +been stopped short; and the gold-diggings still continue to attract to +themselves, as if by a spell, the labour of the country. The panic, +however, has now subsided. It is seen that the result is not so bad as +was anticipated, and hopes are entertained that the evil will go no +further. A stream of population, it is thought, will be directed to +Australia from abroad, and the labour not demanded by gold may suffice +for other pursuits. Up to the date of the circular, the value of gold +shipped for England<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[pg 283]</a></span> from New South Wales had been L. 217,000, and it +was supposed that about L. 130,000 more remained at Sydney and in the +hands of the miners: 10,000 persons were actually engaged in mining, +and 5000 more concerned otherwise in the business; and as the result +of the exertions of that multitude, the amount of gold fixed +arbitrarily for exportation during the next twelve months, is L. +2,000,000.</p> + +<p>But, on the other hand, in the Sydney district alone, the trade in +wool has already fallen off to the extent of several thousand bales—a +deficiency, however, not as yet attributed to the diminished number of +the sheep. It is supposed that the high rates of labour will operate +chiefly in disinclining the farmers to extend their operations; and if +this at the same time affords them leisure and motive to attend better +to the state of their clips, it will ultimately have an effect rather +beneficial than otherwise. Australian wool has hitherto been +attainable by foreigners only in the English market; but it is a +favourable symptom that two cargoes left Sydney last year direct for +Hamburg. To shew the falling off in trade during the gold year, it may +be mentioned that the exports of wool in the two previous years were +about 52,000 bales; and in 1850-1, about 48,000. There was likewise a +deficiency of about 6000 casks of tallow, and 3000 hides.</p> + +<p>It is interesting to notice, that preserved meats are sent from New +South Wales to the neighbouring colonies and to England in +considerable quantities. Timber for shipbuilding is rising in +estimation in the English market. Australian wines are said to be +fully equal to Rhenish; and a Vineyard Association has been formed for +the purpose of improvement. Wool, however, is at present the great +staple; and the Circular seems to derive some consolation from the +idea, that if the crop should continue deficient, prices in England +will probably be maintained. 'To anticipate the future prices for our +staples,' it says, 'in a market open to so many influences as that of +Great Britain, is almost impossible; but it may be well to point out +the causes which are likely to affect their value—we allude more +especially to wool. We have stated that the production thereof, in New +South Wales, is likely to be checked by the attraction of the +gold-diggings; and still further, by the gradual abandonment of +indifferent or limited runs, which formerly supported a large number +of sheep, but which will not pay to work at present prices of wool and +labour. Therefore, if we bear in mind that Australia has furnished +half of the entire quantity of the wools imported into Great Britain, +and that the English buyers have hitherto been purchasing in +anticipation of a large annual increase from hence, which for the +present, at anyrate, will not be forthcoming, we think we need be +under no apprehension of lower prices than the present.'</p> + +<p>It will be remarked, that this somewhat unfavourable report is made at +the end of the first six months of the gold-fever. That kind of +gold-seeking, however, which unsettles the habits of a population, and +represses the other pursuits of industry, is not likely to endure very +long in any country. It must give way in time to scientific mining, +which is as legitimate a business as any other, and which, by the +wealth it circulates, will tempt men into new avenues of industry, and +recruit, to any extent that may be desirable, the supply of labour. +Hitherto that supply has come in inadequate quantities, or from +polluted sources; but we have now precisely what the colony wanted—a +stream of voluntary emigration, which, in the process of time, when +skilled labour only can be employed, will flood the diggings, and its +superfluous portions find their level in the other employments +afforded by the country. That this will take place without the +inconvenience of a transition period, is not to be expected; but, upon +the whole, we look upon the present depression of the legitimate trade +of the colony as merely a temporary evil, arising out of circumstances +that are destined to work well for its eventual prosperity.</p> + +<p>The same process, it should be observed, has already been gone through +in California. The lawless adventurers who rushed to the gold-fields +from all parts of the world subsided gradually into order from mere +motives of self-preservation; and as the precious metal disappeared +from the surface, multitudes were driven by necessity or policy into +employments more remunerative than digging. The large mining +population—the producers of gold—became the consumers of goods; +markets of all kinds were opened for their supply; emporia of trade +rose along the coast; and a country that so recently was almost a +desert, now promises to become one of the great marts of the commerce +of the world. If this has been the case in California, the process +will be much easier in Australia, where the rudiments of various +businesses already exist, and where the staple articles of produce are +such as can hardly be pushed to a superfluous extent.</p> + +<p>The true calamity, however, under which the fixed colonists, the +producers of the staples, suppose themselves to suffer, is the change +occasioned in the price of labour by the golden prospects of the +diggings. On this question there is always considered to be two +antagonistical interests—that of the employers, and that of the +employed; the former contending for the minimum, and the latter for +the maximum rate. But this is a fallacy. The interest of the two is +identical; and for these obvious reasons, that if wages be too high, +the capitalist must cease to produce and to employ; and if too low, +the working population must sink to the position of unskilled +labourers at home, and eventually bring about that very state of +society from which emigration is sought as an escape. In supposing +their interests to be antagonistical, the one party reasons as badly +as the other; but, somehow, there always attaches to the bad reasoning +of the employed a stigma of criminality, from which that of the other +is free. This is unjust enough in England, but in Australia it is +ridiculous. A capitalist goes out, provided with a sum so small as to +be altogether useless at home as a means of permanent support, but +which, in the colony, he expects, with proper management, to place him +for the rest of his life in a position of almost fabulous prosperity. +These cheering views, however, he confines to his own class. The +measure of his happiness will not be full unless he can find cheap +labour, as well as magnificent returns. For this desideratum he will +make any sacrifice. He will take your paupers, your felons—your +rattlesnakes; anything in the shape of a drudge, who will toil for +mere subsistence, and without one of the social compensations which +render toil in England almost endurable.</p> + +<p>We are never sorry to hear of the high price of labour in countries +where the employers live in ease and independence; and we join +heartily in the counsel to the higher class of working-men in this +country given by Mr Burton in his <i>Emigrants Manual</i>—'never to +confound a large labour-market with good sources of employment.' It +does not appear to us to be one of the least of the benefits that will +accrue after convalescence from the gold-fever in Australia, the +higher value the employed will set upon their labour. We cannot reason +from the English standard, which has not been deliberately fixed, but +forced upon us by competition, excessive population, public burdens, +and the necessities of social position. In a new country, however, +where all these circumstances are absent, and whither<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[pg 284]</a></span> employers and +employed resort alike for the purpose of bettering their condition, we +should like to see traditions cast aside, and the fabric of society +erected on a new basis.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="BURGOMASTER_LAW_IN_PRUSSIA" id="BURGOMASTER_LAW_IN_PRUSSIA"></a>BURGOMASTER LAW IN PRUSSIA.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>On turning out, and then turning over, a mass of old papers which had +lain packed up in a heavy mail-trunk for a period of more than forty +years, I came the other day upon a little bundle of documents in legal +German manuscript, the sight of which set me, old as I am, a laughing +involuntarily, and brought back in full force to my memory the +circumstances which I am about briefly to relate. A strange thing is +this memory, by the way, and strangely moved by trifles to the +exercise of its marvellous power. For more than thirty years—for the +average period that suffices to change the generation of man upon +earth—had this preposterous adventure, and everything connected with +it, lain dormant in some sealed-up cavity of my brain, when the bare +sight of the little bundle of small-sized German foolscap, with its +ragged edges and blotted official pages, has set the whole paltry +drama, with all its dignified performers, in motion before the retina +of my mind's eye with all the reality of the actual occurrence.</p> + +<p>It was in the spring or early summer of the year 1806, that, in the +capacity of companion and interpreter to a young nobleman who was +making the tour of Germany, I was travelling on the high-road from +Magdeburg to Berlin. We rolled along in a stout English carriage drawn +by German post-horses, and having left Magdeburg after an early +breakfast, stopped at a small neat town, some eighteen or twenty miles +on our route—my patron intending to remain there for an hour or two, +in the hope of being rejoined by a friend who had promised to overtake +us. He ordered refreshment, and sat down and partook of it, while I, +not choosing to participate, seated myself in the recess of +an old-fashioned window, and kept my eyes fixed upon our +travelling-carriage, from which the wearied horses had been removed, +and which stood but a few paces from where I sat. At the end of an +hour, my patron having satisfied his appetite, declined to wait any +longer, and proposed that we should proceed on our journey. It was my +office to discharge all accounts, and of course to check any attempt +at peculation which might be made. I summoned the innkeeper, whose +just demand was soon paid, and ordered the horses to be put to. This +was done in a few minutes, and the stable-man, as we walked out to the +carriage, came forward and presented his little bill. As I ran it +hastily over before paying it, I saw that the rascal had charged for +services which he had not rendered. With the design of making the most +of a chance-customer, he had put down in his account a charge for +greasing the wheels of the carriage. Now, as I had never taken my eyes +from the carriage during the whole period of our stay, I could not be +deceived in the conviction that this was a fraud. True, it was the +merest trifle in the world; but the fellow who wanted to exact it was +the model of an ugly, impudent, and barefaced rogue, and therefore I +resolved not to pay him. Throwing him the money, minus the attempted +imposition, I told him to consider himself fortunate that he had got +that, which was more than such a rogue-<i>schurke</i> was the word I +used—deserved.</p> + +<p>'Do you call me a rogue?' said he.</p> + +<p>'Certainly; a rogue is your right name,' I replied, and sprang into +the carriage.</p> + +<p>'Ho! ho!' said he; 'that is against the law. Hans Felder,' he bawled +to the postilion, 'I charge you not to move; the horses may be led +back to the stable: the gracious gentleman has called me a rogue. +Stiefel, run for the police: the gracious gentleman says I am a rogue. +I will cite him before the council.'</p> + +<p>It was in vain that I put my head out of the window, and bawled to the +postilion to proceed. He was evidently afraid to move. In a few +minutes a crowd began to collect around us, and in less than a quarter +of an hour half the inhabitants of the place had assembled in front of +the inn. The noise of a perfect Babel succeeded in an instant to the +dull silence of the quiet town. I soon gathered from the vehement +disputes that arose on all sides, that the populace were about equally +divided into two parties. The more reasonable portion were for +allowing us to proceed on our journey, and this would perhaps have +been permitted, had not my companion, on understanding what was the +matter, burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, and repeated the +offensive word, accompanying it with a declaration in French, which +many of the bystanders understood, that he considered it generally +applicable. The landlord of the inn now came forth, and after a not +very energetic attempt to conciliate the ostler, who refused to forego +his determination to obtain legal redress, invited us to alight and +resume our quarters in the inn. This we were compelled to do, to +escape the annoyance of the crowd; and the carriage being housed under +a shed, the horses returned to the stable. We had not been three +minutes in the inn before the police appeared to take me into custody, +and march me off to durance vile. By this time I began to see that the +charge, and the dilemma into which it had led us, was no joke. I might +perhaps have bribed the scoundrel who preferred it, and have sent away +the police with a gratuity; but I felt as little disposed to do that +as to go to prison. I refused to leave the inn, protested against the +jurisdiction of their absurd laws over strangers, and at length, with +the assistance of my companion, and a good deal of threatening talk, +succeeded in ejecting the two police functionaries from the room. They +kept watch, however, at the door, and planted sentinels at the +windows, to prevent an ignominious flight that way.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, the whole town was in commotion, and everybody was +hurrying towards the <i>rathhaus</i>, or town-hall, where it was plain +enough that preparations were making for putting me immediately upon +my trial. I saw the old <i>burgermeister</i> go waddling by in his robe of +office, accompanied by a crowd of nondescript officials, with one of +whom my villainous-looking adversary was in close confabulation. In a +short space of time, a band of very scurvy-looking police, plainly +vamped up for the occasion, made its appearance; and one of the band +entering the room without ceremony, presented me with a summons, +couched in legal diction, citing me to appear instantly before the +commission then sitting, to answer an indictment preferred against me +by Karl Gurtler, Supernumerary Deputy Road Inspector of the district, +whose honourable character I had unjustly and wantonly assailed and +deteriorated by the application of the scandalous and defamatory term, +schurke. There was nothing for it but to obey the mandate; and +accordingly, requesting the bearer to convey my compliments to the +assembled council, and to say that I would have the honour of +attending them in a few minutes, I dismissed him, evidently soothed +with my courteous reception. I did this with a view of getting rid of +the <i>posse comitatus</i>, in whose company I did not much relish the idea +of being escorted as a prisoner. My politeness, however, had not the +anticipated effect, as, upon emerging from the inn, we found the whole +squad waiting at the door as a sort of body-guard, to make sure of our +attendance.</p> + +<p>On arriving at the rathhaus, which was crammed to overflowing with all +the inhabitants of the place who could possibly wedge themselves into +it, way was cleared for us through the crowd to the seats which had +been considerately allotted for us, in front of the tribunal. A more +extraordinary bench of justice was perhaps never convened. It was +plain that the little village was steeped in poverty to the lips, and +that I, having been entrapped, through an unconscious expression,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[pg 285]</a></span> in +the meshes of some antiquated law, was doomed to administer in some +measure to their need by the payment of a penalty and costs. The fat +old fellow who presided as judge, and beneath whose robe of office an +unctuous leathery surtout was all too visible, peered in vain through +a pair of massive horn-spectacles into a huge timber-swathed volume in +search of the act, the provisions of which I had violated. At length, +the schoolmaster—a meagre, pensive-looking scarecrow, industriously +patched all over—came to his assistance, turned over the ponderous +code by which the little community were governed, and having rummaged +out the law, and the clause under the provisions of which I had been +so summarily arrested, handed it to the clerk, who I shrewdly +suspected to be nothing more or less than the village barber. He, at +the command of the judge, read it aloud for the information of all +present, and for my especial admonition. From the contents, it +appeared to have been decreed, how long ago I had no means of judging, +that, for the better sustentation of good morals and good-breeding, +and for the prevention of quarrelling, or unseemly and abusive +conversation, any person who should call or designate any other person +in the said town by the name of thief, villain, rascal, rogue +(schurke), cheat, charlatan, impostor, wretch, coward, sneak, +suborner, slanderer, tattler, and sundry other titles of ill-repute, +which I cannot recollect now, and could not render into English were I +to recall them, should, upon complaint of the person aggrieved, and +upon proof of the offence by the evidence of worthy and truth-speaking +witnesses, be amerced in such penalty, not exceeding a certain sum, as +in the estimation of the presiding magistrate should be held to be a +proper compensation for the injury to his reputation suffered by the +plaintiff. When the clerk drew breath at the end of the long-winded +clause, I inquired if the law in question made no counter-provision +for cases which might occur where, the abusive term being richly +deserved, it could be no crime to apply it. The schoolmaster, who, +despite his patched habiliments, was a clever fellow, at once answered +my question in the negative, and justified the omission of any such +provision by contraverting the position I had advanced upon moral +grounds. This he did in a speech of some length, and with remarkable +ingenuity and good sense; proving—to the satisfaction of his +fellow-townsmen at least—that to taunt a malefactor openly with his +misdeeds, was not the way to reform him, while it was a sure mode of +producing a contrary result; and winding up with an assurance, that +the law was a good law, and perfect in all its parts; and that if I +had suffered wrong, I might obtain at their hands redress as readily +and with as much facility as my antagonist.</p> + +<p>I had nothing to reply to this, and the proceedings went on in due +form. Without being sworn, the plaintiff was called upon to state his +case, which he did with an elaborate circumlocution altogether without +a parallel in my experience. He detailed the whole history of his +life—from his birth, in Wolfenbüttel, up to his seven years' service +in the army; then followed his whole military career; and after that, +his service under the <i>weg</i>-inspector, which was rewarded at length by +the gratification of his honest ambition, in his appointment as +supernumerary deputy road inspector of the district. He enlarged upon +the service he had rendered to, and the honours he had received from, +his country; and then put it to his judges to decide whether, as a +public officer, a soldier, and a man of honour, he could submit to be +stigmatised as a schurke, without appealing to the laws of his +Fatherland to vindicate his character. Of course it was not to be +thought of. He then detailed the circumstances of the assault I had +made upon his character, forgetting to mention, however, the +provocation he had given by the fraudulent charge for greasing. Having +finished his peroration, he proceeded to call witnesses to the fact of +the abuse, and cited Hans Felder, our postilion, to be first examined. +Hans, who had heard every syllable that passed, was not, however, so +manageable a subject as the plaintiff expected to find him. Whether, +like Toby Allspice in the play, he 'made it a rule never to disoblige +a customer;' or whether, which was not unlikely, he owed Karl Gurtler +a grudge, either for stopping him on his route, or for some previous +disagreement with that conscientious public functionary; or whether, +which was likeliest of all, he feared to compromise his claim for +<i>trinkgeld</i> from the highborn, gracious gentlemen he had the honour of +driving, I cannot pretend to determine. Certain it is, that when +brought to the bar, he had heard nothing, and seen nothing, and knew +nothing, and could recollect nothing, and say nothing, about the +business in hand; and nothing but nothing could be got out of him by a +single member of the bench, though all took him in hand by turns. He +was finally sent down. By this time, so dilatory had been the +proceedings, the sun was sinking in the west. My companion, weary of +the prosecutor's long story, had withdrawn to the inn to order dinner. +As the second witness was about to give his testimony, a note was +handed to the old burgermeister, who, having given it a glance, +immediately adjourned the court till the next morning at nine o'clock. +The assembly broke up, and, returning to the inn, I found that the +proceedings had been stopped by the landlord, to save the reputation +of his cookery, which would have been endangered had the dinner waited +much longer. Having first consulted my fellow-traveller, he had +despatched directions to the judge to adjourn the case till the +morrow, who, like a good and obliging neighbour, had accordingly done +so.</p> + +<p>The little town was unusually alive and excited that evening. Karl +Gurtler was the centre of an admiring circle, who soon enveloped him +in the incense of their meerschaums. He held a large levée in the +common room of the inn, where a succession of very terrific +battle-songs kept us up to a late hour, as it was of no use to think +of slumber during their explosion. The next morning, at the appointed +hour, the proceedings recommenced, and the remainder of the witnesses +were examined at full length. It was in vain that I offered to plead +guilty, and pay the penalty, whatever it might be, so that we might be +allowed to proceed on our journey. I was solemnly reminded, that it +was not for me to interrupt the course of justice, but to await its +decision with patience. I saw they were determined to prevent our +departure as long as possible; and, judging that the only way to +assist in the completion of the unlucky business, was to interpose no +obstacle to its natural course, I henceforth held my peace, conjuring +my companion on no account to give directions for dinner. After a +sitting of nearly seven hours on the second day, when everything that +could be lugged into connection with the silly affair had been said +and reiterated ten times over, the notary in attendance read over his +condensed report of the whole, and I was called upon for my defence. I +told them plainly that I did not choose to make any; that I was sick +of the company of fools; that since it was a crime to speak the truth +in their good town, I was willing to pay the penalty for so doing, for +the privilege of leaving it; that I was astonished and disgusted at +the spectacle of a company of grave men siding with such a beggarly +<i>räuber</i> (I believed that term was not proscribed in their precious +statute) as Karl Gurtler was, and taking advantage of the law, of +which a stranger must necessarily be ignorant, to obstruct him on his +journey, and levy a contribution on his purse; and I added, finally, +for I had talked myself into an angry mood, that if the farce were not +immediately brought to a conclusion, I should despatch my friend +forthwith to Berlin, and lay a report of their proceedings before the +British ambassador. I could perceive something like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[pg 286]</a></span> consternation in +the broad visage of the burgermeister as I concluded my harangue; but +without attempting to answer it, the Solons on the bench laid their +heads together, and after a muttering of a few minutes' duration, the +schoolmaster pronounced the sentence of the court, which was, that I +should indemnify the plaintiff to the amount of one dollar, and pay +the costs of the proceedings, which amounted to three more. I could +scarce forbear laughing at the mention of a sum so ludicrous. Fifteen +shillings for penalty and costs of a trial which had lasted nearly two +days! I threw down the money, and was hastening from the court, when +the notary called upon me to stop for one moment, while he concluded +his report of the case, to which, it appeared, their laws gave me a +valid claim. I took the papers, and crammed them into my valise, in +the hasty packing which took place so soon as I got back to my +companion. In a quarter of an hour, we were on our road towards +Berlin, having been taught a lesson of politeness, even towards +rogues, at the expense of a stoppage of more than thirty hours on our +route. I have no recollection how the papers found their way into the +old trunk from which they were lately unkennelled. They are now before +me, and consist of nearly fifty sides of small foolscap, written in a +bold legal hand, affording a unique specimen of the cheapness of law +amongst a community who, it is to be supposed, had but little demand +for it.</p> + +<p>A few short months after this event, and the little town where it took +place had something else to think of. The ill-advised step of the +Prussian government, who, relying upon the aid of Russia, declared war +against Napoleon, brought the devastating hordes of republican France +among them. The battle of Jena placed the whole kingdom at the foot of +the conqueror; and few towns suffered more, comparatively, than the +little burgh which, by the decree of a very doubtful sort of justice, +had mulcted me in penalties for calling a very ill-favoured rogue by +his right name.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="TRACES_OF_THE_DANES_AND_NORWEGIANS_IN_ENGLAND" id="TRACES_OF_THE_DANES_AND_NORWEGIANS_IN_ENGLAND"></a>TRACES OF THE DANES AND NORWEGIANS IN ENGLAND.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Mr J. J. A. Worsaae, a conspicuous member of that brilliant corps of +northern antiquaries who have of late given a new wing to history, +travelled through the United Kingdom in 1846-7, on a commission from +his sovereign the king of Denmark, to make inquiry respecting the +monuments and memorials of the Danes and Norwegians, which might still +be extant in these islands. The result of his investigations appeared +in a concise volume, which has been translated into English, and +published by Mr Murray in a handsome style, being illustrated by +numerous wood-cuts.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> It is a work which we would recommend to the +attention of all who feel any interest in our early history, as +calculated to afford them a great gratification. One is surprised to +find in how great a degree the Northmen affected Britain; what an +infusion of Scandinavian blood there is in our population; how many +traces of their predominancy survive in names of places and in more +tangible monuments. Mr Worsaae writes with a warm feeling towards his +country and her historical reminiscences, but without allowing it to +carry him into any extravagances. He is everywhere clear and +simple—sometimes rises into eloquence; and always displays a close +and searching knowledge of his subject.</p> + +<p>From the end of the eighth century till the time of the Norman +Conquest, the restless chiefs of Denmark and Norway were continually +in the practice of making piratical expeditions to our shores. They +committed terrible devastations, and made many settlements, almost +exclusively on the eastern coast. Finally, as is well known, we had a +brief succession of Danish kings in England, including the magnanimous +Canute. When we look at the quiet people now inhabiting Denmark and +Norway, we are at a loss to understand whence came or where resided +that spirit of reckless daring which inspired such a system of +conquest, or how it came so completely to die out; but the explanation +is, that the Northmen of those days were heathens, animated by a +religion which made them utterly indifferent to danger. Whenever they +became Christianised, they began to appreciate life like other men, +and ceased, of course, to be the troublers they had once been. Mr +Worsaae draws a line from London to Chester—the line of the great +Roman road (Watling Street)—to the north of which the infusion of +Scandinavian population is strong, and their monuments abundant. A +vast number of names of places in that part of the island are of +Danish origin—all ending in <i>by</i>, which in Danish signifies a town, +as Whitby (the White Town), Derby (Deoraby, the town of Deer), Kirby +(the church town), &c.—all ending in <i>thwaite</i>, which signifies an +isolated piece of land—all ending in <i>thorpe</i> (Old Northern, a +collection of houses separated from some principal estate)—all ending +in <i>næs</i>, a promontory, and <i>ey</i> or <i>öe</i>, an island. <i>Toft</i>, a field; +<i>with</i>, a forest; <i>beck</i>, a streamlet; <i>tarn</i>, a mountain-lake; +<i>force</i>, a waterfall; <i>garth</i>, a large farm; <i>dale</i>, a valley; and +<i>fell</i>, a mountain, are all of them common elements of names of places +in England, north of the line above indicated, and all are +Scandinavian terms. The terminations <i>by</i>, <i>thwaite</i>, and <i>thorpe</i>, +are still common in Denmark.</p> + +<p>Mr Worsaae found many memorials of the Northmen in London: for +example, the church of St Clement's Danes, where this people had their +burial-place; the name <i>Southwark</i>, which is 'unmistakably of Danish +or Norwegian origin;' St Olave's Church there, and even Tooley Street, +which is a corruption of the name of that celebrated Norsk saint; but, +above all, in the fact that 'the highest tribunal in the city has +retained in our day its pure old northern name "Husting."' The fact +is, that about the time of Canute, the Danes predominated over the +rest of the population of London. Mr Worsaae was not able to trace the +Danish face or form as a distinct element in the modern population. In +going northward, however, he soon began to find that the prevailing +physiognomy was of a northern character: 'The form of the face is +broader, the cheek-bones project a little, the nose is somewhat +flatter, and at times turned a little upwards; the eyes and hair are +of a lighter colour, and even deep-red hair is far from being +uncommon. The people are not very tall in stature, but usually more +compact and strongly built than their countrymen towards the south. +The Englishman himself seems to acknowledge that a difference is to be +found in the appearance of the inhabitants of the northern and +southern counties; at least, one constantly hears in England, when +red-haired, compact-built men with broad faces are spoken of: "They +must certainly be from Yorkshire;" a sort of admission that light +hair, and the broad peculiar form of the face, belong mostly to the +north of England people.... In the midland, and especially in the +northern part of England, I saw every moment, and particularly in the +rural districts, faces exactly resembling those at home. Had I met the +same persons in Denmark or Norway, it would never have entered my mind +that they were foreigners. Now and then I also met with some whose +taller growth and sharper features reminded me of the inhabitants of +South Jutland, or Sleswick, and particularly of Angeln; districts of +Denmark which first sent colonists to England. It is not easy to +describe peculiarities which can be appreciated in all their details +only by the eye; nor dare I implicitly conclude that in the +above-named cases I have really<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[pg 287]</a></span> met with persons descended in a +direct line from the old Northmen. I adduce it only as a striking +fact, which will not escape the attention of at least any observant +Scandinavian traveller, that the inhabitants of the north of England +bear, on the whole, more than those of any other part of that country, +an unmistakable personal resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians.'</p> + +<p>Scandinavian words abound in the popular language of those districts. +'On entering a house there, one will find the housewife sitting with +her <i>rock</i> (Dan., <i>Rok</i>; Eng., a distaff) and <i>spoele</i> (Dan., <i>Spole</i>; +Eng., spool, a small wheel on the spindle); or else she has set both +her <i>rock</i> and her <i>garnwindle</i> (Dan., <i>Garnvinde</i>; Eng., reel or +yarn-winder) aside, whilst standing by her <i>back-bword</i> (Dan., +<i>Bagebord</i>; Eng., baking-board) she is about to knead dough (Dan., +<i>Deig</i>), in order to make the oaten-bread commonly used in these +parts, at times, also, barley-bread; for <i>clap-bread</i> (Dan., +<i>Klappebröd</i>, or thin cakes beaten out with the hand), she lays the +dough on the <i>clap-board</i> (Dan., <i>Klappebord</i>.) One will also find the +<i>bord-claith</i> spread (Dan., <i>Bordklæde</i>; Eng. table-cloth); the people +of the house then sit on the <i>bank</i> or <i>bink</i> (Dan., <i>Bænk</i>; Eng., +bench), and eat <i>Aandorn</i> (Eng., afternoon's repast), or, as it is +called in Jutland and Fünen, <i>Onden</i> (dinner.) The chimney (<i>lovver</i>) +stands in the room; which name may perhaps be connected with the +Scandinavian <i>lyre</i> (Icelandic, <i>ljóri</i>)—namely, the smoke-hole in +the roof or thatch (<i>thack</i>), out of which, in olden times, before +houses had regular chimneys and "<i>lofts</i>" (Dan., <i>Loft</i>; Eng., roof, +an upper room), the smoke (<i>reek</i> or <i>reik</i>, Dan., <i>Rög</i>) left the +dark (<i>mirk</i> or <i>murk</i>, Dan., <i>Mörk</i>) room. Within is the <i>bower</i> or +<i>boor</i> (Eng., bed-chamber), in Danish, <i>Buur</i>; as, for instance, in +the old Danish word <i>Jomfrubuur</i> (the maiden's chamber), and in the +modern word <i>Fadebuur</i> (the pantry.)'</p> + +<p>Mr Worsaae only speaks the truth when he remarks how the name of the +Danes has been impressed on the English mind. 'Legends about the Danes +are,' he says, 'very much disseminated among the people, even in the +south of England. There is scarce a parish that has not in some way or +another preserved the remembrance of them. Sometimes, they are +recorded to have burned churches and castles, and to have destroyed +towns, whose inhabitants were put to the sword; sometimes, they are +said to have burned or cut down forests; here are shewn the remains of +large earthen mounds and fortifications which they erected; there, +again, places are pointed out where bloody battles were fought +with them. To this must be added the names of places—as, +the <i>Danes-walls</i>, the <i>Danish forts</i>, the <i>Dane-field</i>, the +<i>Dane-forest</i>, the <i>Danes-banks</i>, and many others of the like kind. +Traces of Danish castles and ramparts are not only found in the +southern and south-eastern parts of England, but also quite in the +south-west, in Devonshire and Cornwall, where, under the name of +<i>Castelton Danis</i>, they are particularly found on the sea-coast. In +the chalk-cliffs, near Uffington, in Berkshire, is carved an enormous +figure of a horse, more than 300 feet in length; which, the common +people say, was executed in commemoration of a victory that King +Alfred gained over the Danes in that neighbourhood. On the heights, +near Eddington, were shewn not long since the intrenchments, which, it +was asserted, the Danes had thrown up in the battle with Alfred. On +the plain near Ashdon, in Essex, where it was formerly thought that +the battle of Ashingdon had taken place, are to be seen some large +Danish barrows which were long, but erroneously, said to contain the +bones of the Danes who had fallen in it. The so-called dwarf-alder +(<i>Sambucus ebulus</i>), which has red buds, and bears red berries, is +said in England to have germinated from the blood of the fallen Danes, +and is therefore also called <i>Daneblood</i> and <i>Danewort</i>. It flourishes +principally in the neighbourhood of Warwick; where it is said to have +sprung from, and been dyed by, the blood shed there, when Canute the +Great took and destroyed the town.</p> + +<p>'Monuments, the origin of which is in reality unknown, are, in the +popular traditions, almost constantly attributed to the Danes. If the +spade or the plough brings ancient arms and pieces of armour to light, +it is rare that the labourer does not suppose them to have belonged to +that people. But particularly if bones or joints of unusual size are +found, they are at once concluded to be the remains of the gigantic +Danes, whose immense bodily strength and never-failing courage had so +often inspired their forefathers with terror. For though the +Englishman has stories about the cruelties of the ancient Danes, their +barbarousness, their love of drinking, and other vices, he has still +preserved no slight degree of respect for Danish bravery and Danish +achievements. "As brave as a Dane," is said to have been an old phrase +in England; just as "to strike like a Dane" was, not long since, a +proverb at Rome. Even in our days, Englishmen readily acknowledge that +the Danes are the "best sailors on the continent;" nay, even that, +themselves of course excepted, they are "the best and bravest sailors +in all the world." It is, therefore, doubly natural that English +legends should dwell with singular partiality on the memorials of the +Danes' overthrow. Even the popular ballads revived and glorified the +victories of the English. Down to the very latest times was heard in +Holmesdale, in Surrey, on the borders of Kent, a song about a battle +which the Danes had lost there in the tenth century.'</p> + +<p>In our own northern land, the Northmen committed as many devastations, +and made nearly as many settlements, as in England. The Orcadian +Islands formed, indeed, a Norwegian kingdom, which was not entirely at +an end till the thirteenth century. In that group, and on the adjacent +coasts of Caithness and Sutherlandshires, the appearance of the +people, the names of places, and the tangible monuments, speak +strongly of a Scandinavian infusion into the population. Sometimes, +between the early Celtic people still speaking their own language, and +the descendants of the Norwegians, a surprisingly definite line can be +drawn. The island of Harris is possessed for the most part by a set of +Celts, 'small, dark-haired, and in general very ugly;' but at the +northern point, called 'the Ness,' we meet with people of an entirely +different appearance. 'Both the men and women have, in general, +lighter hair, taller figures, and far handsomer features. I visited +several of their cabins, and found myself surrounded by physiognomies +so Norwegian, that I could have fancied myself in Scandinavia itself, +if the Gaelic language now spoken by the people, and their wretched +dwellings, had not reminded me that I was in one of those poor +districts in the north-west of Europe where the Gaels or Celts are +still allowed a scanty existence. The houses, as in Shetland, and +partly in Orkney, are built of turf and unhewn stones, with a wretched +straw or heather roof, held together by ropes laid across the ridge of +the house, and fastened with stones at the ends. The houses are so +low, that one may often see the children lie playing on the side of +the roof. The family and the cattle dwell in the same apartment, and +the fire, burning freely on the floor, fills the house with a thick +smoke, which slowly finds its way out of the hole in the roof. The +sleeping-places are, as usual, holes in the side-walls.</p> + +<p>'It is but a little while ago that the inhabitants of the Ness, who +are said to have preserved faint traditions of their origin from +Lochlin—called also in Ireland, Lochlan—or the North, regarded +themselves as being of better descent than their neighbours the Gaels. +The descendants of the Norwegians seldom or never contracted marriage +with natives of a more southern part of the island, but formed among +themselves a separate community, distinguished even by a peculiar +costume, entirely different from the Highland<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[pg 288]</a></span> Scotch dress. Although +the inhabitants of Ness are now, for the most part, clothed like the +rest of the people of Lewis, I was fortunate enough to see the dress +of an old man of that district, which had been preserved as a +curiosity. It was of thick, coarse woollen stuff, of a brown colour, +and consisted of a close-fitting jacket, sewn in one piece, with a +pair of short trousers, reaching only a little below the knees. It was +formerly customary with them not to cover the head at all.'</p> + +<p>The people of the Ness are described as good fishermen—a striking +trait of their original national character, for nothing could +distinguish them more from their neighbours, the ordinary Highlanders +being everywhere remarkable for their inaptitude to a sea-life.</p> + +<p>Tradition speaks loudly all over Scotland of the ancient doings of the +Danes. So much, indeed, is this the case, that every antiquity which +cannot be ascribed to the Romans, is popularly thought to be Danish, +an idea which has been implicitly adopted by a great number of the +Scotch clergy in the Statistical Account of their respective parishes. +In the Highlands, Mr Worsaae found the people retaining a very fresh +recollection of the terrors of the Northmen, and ready to believe that +their incursions might yet be renewed. 'Having employed myself,' he +says, 'in examining, among other things, the many so-called "Danish" +or Pictish towers on the west and north-west coast of Sutherland, the +common people were led to believe, that the Danes wished to regain +possession of the country, and with that view intended to rebuild the +ruined castles on the coasts. The report spread very rapidly, and was +soon magnified into the news, that the Danish fleet was lying outside +the sunken rocks near the shore, and that I was merely sent beforehand +to survey the country round about; nay, that I was actually the Danish +king's son himself, and had secretly landed. This report, which +preceded me very rapidly, had, among other effects, that of making the +poorer classes avoid, with the greatest care, mentioning any +traditions connected with defeats of the Danes, and especially with +the killing of any Dane in the district, lest they should occasion a +sanguinary vengeance when the Danish army landed. Their fears were +carried so far, that my guide was often stopped by the natives, who +earnestly requested him, in Gaelic, not to lend a helping-hand to the +enemies of the country by shewing them the way; nor would they let him +go, till he distinctly assured them that I was in possession of maps +correctly indicating old castles in the district which he himself had +not previously known. This, of course, did not contribute to allay +their fears; and it is literally true, that in several of the Gaelic +villages, particularly near the firths of Loch Inver and Kyle-Sku, we +saw on our departure old folks wring their hands in despair at the +thought of the terrible misfortunes which the Danes would now bring on +their hitherto peaceful country.'</p> + +<p>We have here been obliged wholly to overlook Mr Worsaae's curious +chapters about Ireland and the Isle of Man, and to give what we cannot +but feel to be a very superficial view of the contents of his book +generally; but our readers have seen enough to inspire them with an +interest in it, and we trust that this will lead many of them to its +entire perusal.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<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>An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, +Scotland, and Ireland.</i> By J. J. A. Worsaae, For. F. S. A., London; +Author of <i>Primæval Antiquities of Denmark.</i> London: Murray. 1852.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CHILDREN_OF_PRISONS" id="CHILDREN_OF_PRISONS"></a>CHILDREN OF PRISONS.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>When I was in Berlin, I went into the public prison, and visited every +part of the establishment. At last I was introduced to a very large +hall, which was full of children, with their books and teachers, and +having the appearance of a Prussian school-room. 'What!' said I, 'is +it possible that all these children are imprisoned here for crime?' 'O +no,' said my conductor, smiling at my simplicity; 'but if a parent is +imprisoned for crime, and on that account his children are left +destitute of the means of education, and are liable to grow up in +ignorance and crime, the government places them here, and maintains +and educates them for useful employment.' This was a new idea to me. I +know not that it has ever been suggested in the United States; but +surely it is the duty of government, as well as its highest interest, +when a man is paying the penalties of his crime in a public prison, to +see that his unoffending children are not left to suffer and inherit +their father's vices. Surely it would be better for the child, and +cheaper as well as better for the state. Let it not be supposed that a +man will go to prison for the sake of having his children taken care +of; for those who go to prison, usually have little regard for their +children. If they had, <i>discipline</i> like that of the Berlin prison +would soon sicken them of such a bargain.—<i>Professor Stowe</i>.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="JUPITER_AN_EVENING_STAR" id="JUPITER_AN_EVENING_STAR"></a>JUPITER, AN EVENING STAR.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ruler and hero, shining in the west<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With great bright eye,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rain down thy luminous arrows in this breast<br /></span> +<span class="i2">With influence calm and high,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And speak to me of many things gone by.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Rememberest thou—'tis years since, wandering star—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Those eves in June,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When thou hung'st quivering o'er the tree-tops far,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Where, with discordant tune,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Many-tongued rooks hailed the red-rising moon?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Some watched thee then with human eyes like mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Whose boundless gaze<br /></span> +<span class="i0">May now pierce on from orb to orb divine<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Up to the Triune blaze<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of glory—nor be dazzled by its rays.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">All things they know, whose wisdom seemed obscure;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">They, sometime blamed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hold our best purities as things impure:<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Their star-glance downward aimed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Makes our most lamp-like deeds grow pale and shamed.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Their star-glance?—What if through those rays there gleam<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Immortal eyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Down to this dark? What if these thoughts, that seem<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Unbidden to arise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be souls with my soul talking from the skies?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I know not. Yet awhile, and I shall know!—<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thou, to thy place<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Slow journeying back, there startlingly to shew<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Thy orb in liquid space,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a familiar death-lost angel face—<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O planet! thou hast blotted out whole years<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of life's dull round;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Abel-voice of heart's-blood and of tears<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Sinks dumb into the ground,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the green grass waves on with lulling sound.<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="GRATUITOUS_SERVICES" id="GRATUITOUS_SERVICES"></a>GRATUITOUS SERVICES.</h2> + +<p class="returnTOC"><a href="#Contents">Return to Table of + Contents</a></p> + +<p>Never let people work for you <i>gratis</i>. Two years ago, a man carried a +bundle for us to Boston, and we have been lending him two shillings a +week ever since.—<i>American paper</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 J. <span class="smcap">M'Glashan</span>, 50 Upper Sackville Street, +Dublin.—Advertisements for Monthly Parts are requested to be sent to +<span class="smcap">Maxwell</span> & <span class="smcap">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. 435, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 18775-h.htm or 18775-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/7/18775/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/18775-h/images/banner.png b/18775-h/images/banner.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f9f0a0 --- /dev/null +++ b/18775-h/images/banner.png diff --git a/18775.txt b/18775.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba6908a --- /dev/null +++ b/18775.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2428 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 435, 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. 435 + Volume 17, New Series, May 1, 1852 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Robert Chambers + William Chambers + +Release Date: July 7, 2006 [EBook #18775] + +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 at http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + + + + + + + CHAMBERS' EDINBURGH JOURNAL + + CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, EDITORS OF 'CHAMBERS'S + INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE,' 'CHAMBERS'S EDUCATIONAL COURSE,' &c. + + + No. 435. NEW SERIES. SATURDAY, MAY 1, 1852. PRICE 1-1/2_d._ + + + + +FORCED BENEFITS. + + +The maxim, that men may safely be left to seek their own interest, and +are sure to find it, appears to require some slight qualification, for +nothing can be more certain, than that men are often the better of +things which have been forced upon them. Those who advocate the idea +in its rigour, forget that there are such things as ignorance and +prejudice in the world, and that most men only become or continue +actively industrious under the pressure of necessity. The vast +advantages derived from railway communication afford a ready instance +of people being benefited against their will. At the bare proposal to +run a line through their lands, many proprietors were thrown into a +frenzy of antagonism; and whole towns petitioned that they might not +be contaminated with the odious thing. In spite of remonstrances, and +at a vast cost, railways were made; and we should like to know where +opponents are now to be found. Demented land-proprietors are come to +their senses; and even recalcitrant Oxford is glad of a line to +itself. + +Cases of this kind suggest the curious consideration, that many +remarkable benefits now experienced were never sought for or +contemplated by the persons enjoying them, but came from another +quarter, and were at first only grudgingly submitted to. A singular +example happens to call our attention. There is a distillery in the +west of Scotland, where it has been found convenient to establish a +dairy upon a large scale, for the purpose of consuming the refuse of +the grain. Seven hundred cows are kept there; and a profitable market +is found for their milk in the city of Glasgow. That the refuse of the +cow-houses might be applied to a profitable purpose, a large farm was +added to the concern, though of such land as an amateur agriculturist +would never have selected for his experiments. Thus there was a +complete system of economy at this distillery: a dairy to convert the +draff into milk, and a farm to insure that the soil from the cows +might be used upon the spot. But, as is so generally seen in this +country, the liquid part of the refuse from the cow-houses was +neglected. It was allowed to run into a neighbouring canal; and the +proprietors would have been contented to see it so disposed of for +ever, if that could have been permitted. It was found, however, to be +a nuisance, the very fishes being poisoned by it. The proprietors of +the canal threatened an action for the protection of their property, +and the conductors of the dairy were forced to bethink them of some +plan by which they should be enabled to dispose of the noxious matter +without injury to their neighbours. They could at first hit upon no +other than that of carting away the liquid to the fields, and there +spreading it out as manure. No doubt, they expected some benefit from +this procedure; and, had they expected much, they might never have +given the canal company any trouble. But the fact is, they expected so +little benefit, that they would never have willingly taken the trouble +of employing their carts for any such purpose. To their surprise, the +benefit was such as to make their lean land superior in productiveness +to any in the country. They were speedily encouraged to make +arrangements at some expense for allowing the manure in a diluted form +to flow by a regular system of irrigation over their fields. The +original production has thus been _increased fourfold_. The company, +finding no other manure necessary, now dispose of the solid kind +arising from the dairy, among the neighbouring farmers who still +follow the old arrangements in the management of their cows. The sum +of L.600 is thus yearly gained by the company, being not much less +than the rent of the farm. If to this we add the value of the extra +produce arising from the land, we shall have some idea of the +advantage derived by this company from having been put under a little +compulsion. + +An instance, perhaps even more striking, was supplied a few years ago +by certain chemical works which vented fumes noxious to a whole +neighbourhood. Being prosecuted for the nuisance, the proprietors were +forced to make flues of great length, through which the fumes might be +conducted to a considerable distance. The consequence was surprising. +A new kind of deposit was formed in the interior of the flues, and +from this a large profit was derived. The sweeping of a chimney would +sometimes produce several thousand pounds. At the same time, nothing +can be more certain than that this material, but for the threat of +prosecution, would have been allowed to continue poisoning the +neighbourhood, and, consequently, not yielding one penny to the +proprietors of the works.[1] + +It has pleased Providence to order that from all the forms of organic +life there shall arise a refuse which is offensive to our senses, and +injurious to health, but calculated, under certain circumstances, to +prove highly beneficial to us. The offensiveness and noxiousness look +very much like a direct command from the Author of Nature, to do that +which shall turn the refuse to a good account--namely, to bury it in +the earth. Yet, from sloth and negligence, it is often allowed to +cumber the surface, and there do its evil work instead. An important +principle is thus instanced--the essential identity of Nuisance and +Waste. Nearly all the physical annoyances we are subjected to, and +nearly all the influences that are operating actively for our hurt, +are simply the exponents of some chemical solecism, which we are, +through ignorance or indifference, committing or permitting. There is +here a double evil--a positive and a negative. When the Londoner +groans at the smokiness of his streets, and the particles of soot he +finds spread over his shirt, his toilet-table, and every nice article +of furniture he possesses, he has the additional vexation of knowing, +that the smoke and soot should have been serving a useful purpose as +fuel. When he passes by a railway over the tops of the houses in some +mean suburb, and looks down with horror and disgust on the pools and +heaps of filth which are allowed to encumber the yards, courts, and +narrow streets of these localities, to the destruction of the health +of the inhabitants, he has a second consideration before him, that all +these matters ought to be in the care of some easy-acting system, by +which, removed to the fields, they should be helping to create the +means of life, instead of death. We never can look upon a great +factory chimney pouring forth its thick column of smoke, without a +twin grief--for the disgust it creates, and the good that is lost by +it. Properly, that volatile fuel should be doing duty in the furnace, +and effecting a saving to the manufacturer, instead of rendering him +and his concerns a nuisance to all within five miles. + +Troublesome as these nuisances are, there is such an inaptitude to new +plans, that they might go on for ever, if an interference should not +come in from some external quarter. It matters little whence the +interference comes, so that the end be effected. We cannot, however, +view the proceedings of a Board of Health in ordering cleanly +arrangements, or those of a municipal council putting down factory +smoke, without great interest, for we think we there see part, and an +important one too, of the great battle of Civilisation against +Barbarism. And this interest is deepened when we observe the benefits +which Barbarism usually derives from its own defeats. The +factory-owner, for instance, will find that, in applying an apparatus +by which smoke may be prevented, he will not merely be sparing his +neighbours a great annoyance, but economising fuel to an extent which +must more than repay the outlay. By repressing nuisance, he will be in +the same measure repressing waste.[2] Were there, in like manner, a +general measure for enforcing the removal of refuse from the +neighbourhood of human habitations, the rate-payers would in due time +see blessed effects from the compulsion to which they had been +subjected. Their groans would be succeeded by gladness, and they would +thank the legislators who had slighted their remonstrances. When the +cholera approached in 1849, our British Board of Health ordered a +general cleaning out of stables, and a daily persistence in the +practice. It was complained of as a great hardship; but the Board +ascertained that owners of valuable race-horses cause their stables to +be thoroughly cleaned daily, as a practice necessary for the health of +the animals; the Board, therefore, very properly insisted on forcing +this benefit upon the proprietors of horses generally. Can we doubt +that a similar policy might be followed with the like good +consequences at all times, and with regard to the habitations of men +as well as horses? + +It would thus appear, that men may really be allowed a too undisturbed +repose in their views and maxims, and, if always left to seek their +own interests, would often fail to find the way. If, indeed, it were +true that men are sure to find out their own interest, no country +should be behind another in any of the processes or arts necessary for +the sustenance and comfort of the people; whereas we know the contrary +to be the case. If it were true, there should be no class in our own +country willing to sit down with the dubious benefits of monopoly, +instead of pushing on for the certain results of enlightened +competition. It could only be true at the expense of the old proverb, +that necessity is the mother of invention; for do we not every day see +men submitting idly and languidly to evils which can just be borne? +whereas, if these were a little greater, and therefore insupportable, +they would at once be remedied. An impulse _ab extra_ seems in a vast +number of instances to be necessary, to promote the good of both +nations and individuals. Now, whether this shall come in the ordinary +course of things, and be recognised as necessity, or from an +enlightened power having a certain end, generally beneficial, in view, +does not appear to be of much consequence, provided only we can be +tolerably well assured against the abuses to which all power is +liable. It may be well worthy of consideration, whether, in this +country, we have not carried the principle of _Laissez faire_, or +_leave us alone_, a little too far in certain matters, where some +gentle coercion would have been more likely to benefit all concerned. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The idea of this article, and the above facts, are derived from a +valuable memoir just published by the Board of Health, with reference +to the practical application of sewage water and town manures to +agricultural production. + +[2] We understand that this has been the case with factory-owners at +Manchester who have applied the smoke-preventing apparatus. The saving +from such an apparatus in the office where this sheet is printed, +appears to be about 5 per cent.; an ample equivalent for the outlay. + + + + +MONSIEUR JEROME AND THE RUSSIAN PRINCESS. + + +On arriving at Blois, I went to the Hotel de la Tete Noire--a massive, +respectable-looking building, situated on the quay nearly opposite a +bridge that crosses the river to the suburb of St Etienne. The comfort +of the rooms, and the excellence of the dinners that succeeded one +another day by day, induced me to stay longer than I had intended, and +rendered me spectator and part-actor in an adventure not uncommon in +French-land. My apartment was numbered 48--by the way, who ever saw +No. 1 in a hotel, or upon a watch?--and next door--that is, at No. +49--dwelt a very dignified-looking gentleman, always addressed as M. +Jerome. I often take occasion to say, that I pique myself on being +something of a physiognomist; and as I have been several times right +in my judgment of character and position from inspection of the +countenance, the occasions in which I have been mistaken may be set +down as exceptions. M. Jerome at once interested me; and as I was idly +in search of health, and had taken care to have nothing whatever to do +but to kill time, the observation of this gentleman's appearance and +manners naturally formed a chief part of my occupation. + +I began by ascertaining exactly the colour of his eyes and +hair--nearly black; the shape of his nose--straight, and rather too +long; and would have been glad to examine the form of his mouth, but a +huge moustache hanging over his lips in the French military style--see +the portrait of General Cavaignac--prevented me from ascertaining the +precise contour of what one of my old philosophers calls the Port +Esquiline of Derision. M. Jerome was, upon the whole, a handsome man, +with a romantically bilious complexion; and the expression of his +large dark eyes was really profound and striking. His costume was +always fashionable, without being showy; and there was nothing to +object to but a diamond ring, somewhat too ostentatiously displayed on +the little finger, which, in all his manual operations, at dinner or +elsewhere, always cocked up with an impertinent 'look-at-me air,' that +I did not like. When, indeed, this dandy walked slowly out of the +dining-room to the door-step, and lighted his cigar, the said little +finger became positively obnoxious; and I used to think whether it +were possible that that human being had been created purposely as a +scaffolding whereon to exhibit a flashing little stone, set in twenty +shillings worth of gold. + +M. Jerome, though not, strictly speaking, a silent man, was +sufficiently reserved at table. The early courses were by him always +allowed to pass without any further remark than what politeness +requires--as: 'Shall I send you some more of this _blanquette_?' or, +'With pleasure, sir;' and so forth. When dessert-time approached, +however, he generally began to unbend, to take part in the general +conversation, and throw in here and there a piquant anecdote. He did +this with so much grace, that had it not been for the diamond ring, I +should have been disposed to consider him as a man of large experience +in the best society. The other people who generally attended at +table--travellers, commercial and otherwise, with one or two smart +folks from the town, on the look-out for Parisian gossip, to retail to +the less adventurous members of their circle--were all delighted with +M. Jerome: it was M. Jerome here, and M. Jerome there; and if M. +Jerome happened to dine out, every one seemed to feel uneasy, and look +upon him as guilty of a great dereliction of duty. They could almost +as well have done without their _demi-tasse_. + +Although I am an inquisitive, I am not a very impertinent man. I like +to pry into other people's affairs only in so far as I can do so +without hurting their feelings, or putting my own self-love in danger +of a check. If, therefore, I gave the reins to my curiosity, and +devoted myself to studying the more apparent movements of this M. +Jerome, I shrank from putting any direct questions to the _garcon_, +who might probably at once have given me a very prosaic account of +him. On one occasion, I threw in casually a remark, to the effect that +the gentleman at No. 49 seemed a great favourite with the fair sex; +but the only reply was a smile, and an acknowledgment that, in +general, people of fascinating exterior--here the _garcon_ glanced at +the mirror he was dusting--_were_ great favourites with the fairer +portion of the creation. 'We Frenchmen,' it was added, 'know the way +to the female heart better than most men.' The waiter had paused with +his duster in his hand. I felt that he was going to give me his Art of +Love; and opportunely remembering that I had a letter to put into the +post, I escaped the infliction for the time. + +I had, indeed, observed that if the public generally admitted the +valuable qualities of M. Jerome as a companion, his reputation was +based principally on the approval of the ladies. All these excellent +judges agreed that he was a nice, quiet, agreeable person; and 'so +handsome!' At least the seven members of an English family, who had +come to visit Chambord, and lingered at the hotel a week--five of them +were daughters--all expressed this opinion of M. Jerome; and even a +supercilious French lady, with a particle attached to her name, +admitted that he was 'very well.' + +One day, a new face appeared at table to interest me; and as the +mysterious gentleman and his diamond ring had puzzled me for a +fortnight, during which I had made no progress towards ascertaining +his real position and character, I was not sorry to have my attention +a little diverted by a mysterious lady. Madame de Mourairef--a Russian +name, thought I--was a very agreeable person to look at; much more so +to me than M. Jerome. She was not much past twenty years of age; +small, slight, elegant in shape, if not completely so in manners; and +with one of those charming little faces which you can analyse into +ugliness, but which in their synthesis, to speak as moderns should, +are admirable, adorable, fascinating. I should have thought that such +a _minois_ could belong only to Paris--the city, by the way, of ugly +women, whom art makes charming. However, there it was above the +shoulders, high of course--swan-necked women are only found in +England--above the shoulders of a Russian marchioness, princess, +czarina, or what you will, who called for her cigarettes after dinner, +was attended by a little _soubrette_, named Penelope, and looked for +all the world as if she had just been whirled off the boards of the +Opera Comique. + +I at first believed that this was a mere _mascarade_; but when a +letter in a formidable envelope, with the seal of the Russian embassy, +arrived, and was exhibited in the absence of the lady herself, to +every one of the lodgers, in proof of the aristocratic character of +the customer of the Tete Noire, I began to doubt my own perspicacity, +and to imagine that I had now a far more interesting object of study +than M. Jerome and his diamond ring. Madame de Mourairef was an +exceedingly affable person; and the English family aforesaid, whom I +have reason to believe were Cockney tradesfolks, pronounced her to be +very high-bred--without a fault, indeed, if it had not been for that +horrid habit of smoking, which, as they judiciously observed, however, +was a peculiar characteristic of the Russians. I am afraid, they would +have set her down as a vulgar wretch, had they not been forewarned +that she was aristocratic. The French lady seemed to look upon the +foreign one as an intruder, and scarcely deigned to turn her eyes in +that direction. Probably this was because she was so charming, and +monopolised so much of the attention of us gentlemen. + +'They no sooner looked than they loved,' says Rosalind. This was not, +perhaps, quite the case with M. Jerome and the Russian princess, who +took care to let it be known that she was a widow; but in a very few +days what is called 'a secret sympathy' evidently sprang into +existence. The former, of course, made the first advances. His +diplomatic and seductive arts were not, however, put to a great test, +for in three days the lady manifestly felt uneasy until he presented +himself at dinner; and in a week, I met them walking arm in arm on the +bridge. It was easy to see that he was on his good behaviour; and from +some fragments of conversations I overheard between them when they met +in the passage opposite my door, I learned that he was 'doing the +melancholy dodge,' as in the vernacular we would express it; and had +many harrowing revelations to make as to the manner in which his heart +had been trifled with by unfeeling beauties. + +'There is a tide in the affairs of an hotel:' I am in a mood for +quoting from my favourite authors; and whereas we had at one time sat +down nearly twenty to table, we suddenly found ourselves to be only +three--M. Jerome, the princess, and myself. A kind of intimacy was the +natural result. We made ourselves mutually agreeable; and I was not at +all surprised, when one evening Madame de Mourairef invited us two +gentlemen to take tea with her in her little sitting-room. Both +accepted joyfully; and though I am persuaded that M. Jerome would have +preferred a tete-a-tete, he accepted my companionship with tolerable +grace. We strolled together, indeed, on the quay for half an hour. It +was raining slightly, and I had a cough; but I have too good an +opinion of human nature to imagine that my new acquaintance kept me +out by his fascinating conversation, in order to make me catch a +desperate cold, that would send me wheezing to bed. + +The tea was served, as I suppose it is served in Russia, very weak, +with a plentiful admixture of milk and accompaniment of _biscuits +glaces_. Madame de Mourairef did the honours in an inexpressibly +graceful manner; and I observed that there was a delightful intimacy +between her and her maid Penelope, that quite upset my ideas of +northern serfdom. I think they even once exchanged a wink, but of this +I am not sure. There is nothing like experience to expand one's ideas, +and I made up my mind to re-examine the whole of my notions of +Muscovite vassalage. M. Jerome seemed less struck by these +circumstances than myself--being probably too much absorbed in +contemplation of our hostess--but even he could not avoid exclaiming, +'that if that were the way in which serfs were treated, he should like +to be a serf--of such a mistress!' + +'You Frenchmen are _so_ gallant!' was the reply. + +A little while afterwards, somebody proposed a game of whist. There +was an objection to 'dead-man,' and Penelope, with a semi-oriental +salaam, offered to 'take a hand.' Madame de Mourairef was graciously +pleased to order her to do so. We shuffled, cut, and played; and when +midnight came, and it was necessary to retire, I felt almost afraid to +examine into my own heart, lest I might find that the soubrette +appeared to me at least as high-bred as the mistress. + +We spent some delightful evenings in this manner, and perhaps still +more delightful days, for by degrees we became inseparable, and all +our walks and drives were made in common. The garcon often looked +maliciously at me, even offered once or twice to develop his Art of +Love; but I did not choose to be interrupted in my physiognomical +studies, and gave him no opportunity. + +A picnic was proposed, and agreed upon. We intended at first to go to +Chambord; but there was danger of a crowd; and a valley on the road to +Vendome was pitched upon. A _caleche_ took us to the place, and set us +down in a delightful meadow, enamelled with flowers, as all meadows +are in poetry. A few great trees, forming almost a grove, shaded a +slope near the banks of a sluggish stream that crept along between an +avenue of poplars. Here the cloth was laid at once for breakfast; and +whilst M. Jerome and the princess strolled away to talk of blighted +hopes, Russia, serfdom, wedlock, and the conflagration of the Kremlin, +Penelope made the necessary preparation; and I, in my character of a +fidgety old gentleman, first advised and then assisted her. I am +afraid the young damsel had designs upon my heart, for she put several +questions to me on the state of vassalage in England; and when I +developed succinctly the principles and advantages of our free +constitution, and said some eloquent things that formed a French +edition of 'Britons never shall be slaves,' she became quite +enthusiastic; her cheeks flushed, her eyes brightened; and with a sort +of Thervigne-de-Mericourt gesture, she cried: 'Vive la Republique!' +This was scarcely the natural product of what I had said; but so +lively a little creature, in her dainty lace-cap and flying pink +ribbons, neat silk _caraco_, plaid-patterned gown, with pagoda +sleeves, as she called them, and milk-white _manchettes_--her +_bottines_ from the Rue Vivienne, and her face from Paradise--could +reconcile many a harder heart than mine to greater incongruities. Our +arrangements being made, therefore, I sat down on a camp-stool, whilst +Penelope reclined on the grass; and I endeavoured to explain to her +the great advantages of a moderate constitutional government, with +checks, balances, and so forth. Although she yawned, I am sure it was +not from ennui, but in order to shew me her pretty pearly teeth. + +M. Jerome and the princess came streaming back over the meadow--even +affected to scold me for having remained behind. They were evidently +on the best possible terms, and I took great satisfaction in +contemplating their happiness. Either my perspicacity was at fault, +however, or both had some secret cause of uneasiness that pressed upon +their minds as the day advanced. Had they been only betrayed into a +declaration and a plighting of their troth in a hurry? Did they +already repent? Did Madame de Mourairef regret the barbarous splendour +of her native land? Did M. Jerome begin to mourn over the delights of +bachelorship? These were the questions I put to myself without being +able to invent any satisfactory answer. The day passed, however, +pleasantly enough; and the caleche came in due time to take us back to +Blois. + +Next morning, M. Jerome entered my room with a graceful bow, to +announce his departure for Paris, whither it was necessary for him to +go to obtain the necessary papers for his marriage, and Madame de +Mourairef, he added, accompanied him. I uttered the necessary +congratulations, and gave my address in Paris, that he might call upon +me as soon as he was settled in the hotel he proposed to take. + +'I take two persons with me,' he said, smiling; 'but one of them +leaves her heart behind, I am afraid.' + +This alluded to Penelope; but I was determined not to understand. I +went to say adieu to Madame de Mourairef, who seemed rather excited +and anxious. Penelope almost succeeded in wringing forth a tear; but I +did not think it was decreed that at my age I should really make love +to a Russian serf, however charming. So off they went to the railway +station, leaving me in a very dull, stupid, melancholy mood. + +'What a fortunate man M. Jerome is!' said the garcon, as he came into +my room a few minutes afterwards. + +'Yes,' I replied; 'Madame de Mourairef seems in every way worthy of +him.' + +'I should think so,' quoth he. 'It is not every waiter, however +fascinating, that falls in with a Russian princess.' + +'Waiter! M. Jerome!' + +'Of course,' replied my informant. 'You seem surprised; but M. Jerome +is really a waiter at the Cafe ----, on the Boulevard des Italiens; +came down for his health. We were comrades once, and I promised to +keep the secret, for he thought it extremely probable that he might +meet a wealthy English lady here, who might fall in love with +him--your countrywomen are so eccentric. He has found a Russian +princess, which is better. I suppose we must now call him +Monseigneur?' + +Although, like the rest of my species, disposed to laugh at the +misfortunes of my fellow-creatures, I confess that I pitied Madame de +Mourairef; for I felt persuaded that M. Jerome had passed himself off +as a very distinguished personage. However, there was no remedy, and I +had no right to interfere in the matter. The lady, indeed, had been in +an unpardonable hurry to be won, and must take the consequences. + +In the afternoon, there was a great bustle in the hotel, and +half-a-dozen voices were heard doing the work of fifty. I went out +into the passage, and caught the first fragments of an explanation +that soon became complete. M. Alphonse, courier to M. de Mourairef, +had arrived, and was indignantly maintaining that Sophie and Penelope, +the two waiting-maids of the princess, had arrived at the Tete Noire, +to take a suite of rooms for their mistress; whilst the landlord and +his coadjutors, slow to comprehend, averred that the great lady had +herself been there, and departed. The truth at length came out--that +these two smart Parisian lasses, having a fortnight before them, had +determined to give up their places, and play the mascarade which I +have described. When M. and Madame de Mourairef, two respectable, +middle-aged people, arrived, they were dismally made acquainted with +the sacrilege that had been committed; but as no debts had been +contracted in their name, and their letters came in a parcel by the +post from Orleans, they laughed heartily at the joke, and enjoyed the +idea that Sophie had been taken in. + +The following winter, I went into a cafe newly established in the Rue +Poissoniere, and was agreeably surprised to see Sophie, the +pseudo-princess, sitting behind the counter in magnificent toilette, +receiving the bows and the money of the customers as they passed +before her, whilst M. Jerome--exactly in appearance as before, except +that prosperity had begun to round him--was leaning against a pillar +in rather a melodramatic attitude, a white napkin gracefully depending +from his hand. They started on seeing me, and were a little confused, +but soon laughed over their adventure; called Penelope to take her +turn at the counter--the little serf whispered to me as she passed, +that I was 'a traitor, a barbarian,' and insisted on treating me to my +coffee and my _petit verre_, free, gratis, for nothing. + + + + +MEMOIRS OF LORD JEFFREY. + + +In the crisis of the French Revolution, British society was paralysed +with conservative alarms, and all tendency to liberal opinions, or +even to an advocacy of the most simple and needful reforms, was met +with a ruthless intolerance. In Scotland, there was not a public +meeting for five-and-twenty years. In that night of unreflecting +Toryism, a small band of men, chiefly connected with the law in +Edinburgh, stood out in a profession of Whiggism, to the forfeiture of +all chance of government patronage, and even of much of the confidence +and esteem of society. Three or four young barristers were +particularly prominent, all men of uncommon talents. The chief was +Francis Jeffrey, who died in 1850, in the seventy-seventh year of his +age, after having passed through a most brilliant career as a +practising lawyer and judge, and one still more brilliant, as the +conductor, for twenty-seven years, of the celebrated _Edinburgh +Review_. Another was Henry Cockburn, who has now become the biographer +of his great associate. It was verily a remarkable knot of men in many +respects, but we think in none more than a heroic probity towards +their principles, which were, after all, of no extravagant character, +as was testified by their being permitted to triumph harmlessly in +1831-2. These men anticipated by forty years changes which were +ultimately patronised by the great majority of the nation. They all +throve professionally, but purely by the force of their talents and +high character. As there was not any precisely equivalent group of men +at any other bar in the United Kingdom, we think Scotland is entitled +to take some credit to herself for her Jeffreys, her Cranstons, her +Murrays, and her Cockburns: at least, she will not soon forget their +names. + +Lord Jeffrey--his judicial designation in advanced life--was of +respectable, but not exalted parentage. After a careful education at +Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Oxford, he entered at the bar in 1793, when +not yet much more than twenty years of age. His father, being himself +a Tory, desired the young lawyer to be so too, seeing that it would be +favourable to his prospects; but he could not yield in this point to +paternal counsel. The consequence was, that this able man practised +for ten years without gaining more than L. 100 per annum. All this +time, he cultivated his mind diligently, and was silently training +himself for that literary career which he subsequently entered upon. +His talents were at that time known only to a few intimates: there +were peculiarities about him, which prevented him from being generally +appreciated up to his deserts. His figure, to begin with, was almost +ludicrously small. Then, in his anxiety to get rid of the Scottish +accent, he had contracted an elocution intended to be English, but +which struck every one as most affected and offensive. His manners +were marked by levity, and his conversation to many seemed flippant. +His literary musings also acted unfavourably on the solicitors, the +leading patrons of young counsellors. Reduced by dearth of business +almost to despair, he had at one time serious thoughts of flinging +himself upon the London press for a subsistence. The first smile of +fortune beamed upon him in 1802, when the _Edinburgh Review_ was +started--a work of which he quickly assumed the management. That it +brought him income and literary renown, we gather from Lord Cockburn's +pages; but we do not readily find it explained how. While more +declaredly a literary man than ever, he now advanced rapidly at the +bar, and quickly became a man of wealth and professional dignity. We +suspect that, after all that is said of the effect of literary +pursuits on business prospects, the one success was a consequence in +great measure of the other. + +The value of this work rests, in our opinion, on the illustration +which it presents of the possibility of a man of sound though +unpopular opinions passing through life, not merely without suffering +greatly from the wrath of society, but in the enjoyment of some of its +highest honours. After reading this book, one could almost suppose it +to be a delusion that the world judges hardly of any man's speculative +opinions, while his life remains pure, and his heart manifestly is +alive to all the social charities. The heroic consistency of Jeffrey +is the more remarkable, when it now appears that he was a gentle and +rather timid man, keenly alive to the sympathies of friends and +neighbours--indeed, of _womanish_ character altogether. As is well +known, his time arrived at last, when, on the coming of the Whigs into +power in 1830, he was raised to the dignified situation of Lord +Advocate for Scotland, and was called upon to take the lead, +officially, in making those political changes which he had all along +advocated. It is curious, however, and somewhat startling, to learn +how little gratification he professed to feel in what appeared so +great a triumph. While his rivals looked with envy on his exaltation, +and mobs deemed it little enough that he should be entirely at their +beck in requital for the support they gave him, Mr Jeffrey was sighing +for the quiet of private life, groaning at his banishment from a happy +country-home, and not a little disturbed by the troubled aspect of +public affairs. Mr Macaulay has somewhere remarked on the general +mistake as to the 'sweets of office.' We are assured by Lord Cockburn, +that Jeffrey would have avoided the advocateship if he could. He +accepted it only from a feeling of duty to his party. He writes to a +female relation of the 'good reason I have for being sincerely sick +and sorry at an elevation for which so many people are envying, and +thinking me the luckiest and most elevated of mortals for having +attained.' And this subject is still further illustrated by an account +he gives of the conduct of honest Lord Althorpe during the short +interval in May 1832, when the Whigs were _out_. 'Lord Althorpe,' he +says, 'has gone through all this with his characteristic cheerfulness +and courage. The day after the resignation, he spent in a great +sale-garden, choosing and buying flowers, and came home with five +great packages in his carriage, devoting the evening to studying where +they should be planted in his garden at Althorpe, and writing +directions and drawing plans for their arrangement. And when they came +to summon him to a council on the Duke's giving in, he was found in a +closet with a groom, busy oiling the locks of his fowlingpieces, and +lamenting the decay into which they had fallen during his ministry.' + +In some respects, the book will create surprise, particularly as to +the private life and character of the great Aristarch. While the +_Edinburgh Review_ was in progress under the care of Mr Jeffrey, it +was a most unrelenting tribunal for literary culprits, as well as a +determined assertor of its own political maxims. The common idea +regarding its chief conductor represented him as a man of +extraordinary sharpness, alternating between epigrammatic flippancy +and democratic rigour. Gentle and refined feeling would certainly +never have been attributed to him. It will now be found that he was at +all times of his life a man of genial spirit towards the entire circle +of his fellow-creatures--that his leading tastes were for poetry and +the beautiful in external nature, particularly fine scenery--that he +revelled in the home affections, and was continually saying the +softest and kindest things to all about him--a lamb, in short, while +thought a lion. The local circle in which he lived was somewhat +limited and exclusive, partly, perhaps, in consequence of having been +early shut in upon itself by its dissent from the mass of society on +most public questions; but in this circle Jeffrey was adored by men, +women, and children alike, on account of his extreme kindliness of +disposition. He was almost, to a ridiculous degree, dependent on the +love of his friends; and the terms in which he addresses some of them, +particularly ladies, sound odd in this commonsense world. Thus, the +wife of one of his friends is, 'My sweet, gentle, and long-suffering +Sophia.' He pours out his very heart to his correspondents, and with +an effect which would reconcile to him the most irascible author he +ever scarified. Thus, to his daughter, who had just left him with her +husband:--'I happened to go up stairs, and passing into our room, saw +the door open of that little one where _you_ used to sleep, and the +very bed waiting there for you, so silent and desolate, that all the +love, and the _miss_ of you, which fell so sadly on my heart the first +night of your desertion, came back upon it so heavily and darkly, that +I was obliged to shut myself in, and cry over the recollection, as if +all the interval had been annihilated, and that loss and sorrow were +still fresh and unsubdued before me; and though the fit went off +before long, I feel still that I must vent my heart by telling you of +it, and therefore sit down now to write all this to you, and get rid +of my feelings, that would otherwise be more likely to haunt my vigils +of the night.' Thus, on the death of a sister in his early days:--'A +very heavy blow upon us all, and much more so on me than I had +believed possible. The habit of seeing her almost every day, and of +living together intimately since our infancy, had wound so many +threads of affection round my heart, that when they were burst at +once, the shock was almost overwhelming. Then, the unequalled +gentleness of her disposition, the unaffected worth of her affections, +and miraculous simplicity of character and manners, which made her +always appear as pure and innocent as an infant, took so firm, though +gentle a hold on the heart of every one who approached her, that even +those who have been comparatively strangers to her worth, have been +greatly affected by her loss.... During the whole of her illness, she +looked beautiful; and when I gazed upon her the moment after she had +breathed her last, as she lay still, still, and calm, with her bright +eyes half closed, and her red lips half open, I thought I had never +seen a countenance so lovely. A statuary might have taken her for a +model. Poor, dear love! I kissed her cold lips, and pressed her cold, +wan, lifeless hand, and would willingly at that moment have put off my +own life too, and followed her. When I came here, the sun was rising, +and the birds were singing gaily, as I sobbed along the empty +streets.' + +The sensibility of Jeffrey to all fine expression that comes to us +through the medium of literature was intense, most so in his latter +days, when his whole character seems to have undergone a mellowing +process. While pining under his greatness as Lord Advocate, and an +authority in parliament (1833), he says: 'If it were not for my love +of beautiful nature and poetry, my heart would have died within me +long ago. I never felt before what immeasurable benefactors these same +poets are to their kind, and how large a measure, both of actual +happiness and prevention of misery, they have imparted to the race. I +would willingly give up half my fortune, and some little fragments of +health and bodily enjoyment that yet remain to me, rather than that +Shakspeare should not have lived before me.' Who that had only read +his lively, acute articles in the formal Review, could have believed +him to be so deeply sympathetic with an unfortunate poet, as he shews +in the following fine passage in one of his letters (1837)? 'In the +last week, I have read all Burns's Life and Works--not without many +tears, for the life especially. What touches me most, is the pitiable +poverty in which that gifted being (and his noble-minded father) +passed his early days--the painful frugality to which their innocence +was doomed, and the thought how small a share of the useless luxuries +in which we (such comparatively poor creatures) indulge, would have +sufficed to shed joy and cheerfulness in their dwellings, and perhaps +to have saved that glorious spirit from the trials and temptations +under which he fell so prematurely. Oh! my dear Empson, there must be +something _terribly_ wrong in the present arrangements of the +universe, when those things can happen, and be thought natural. I +could lie down in the dirt, and cry and grovel there, I think, for a +century, to save such a soul as Burns from the suffering, and the +contamination, and the _degradation_, which these same arrangements +imposed upon him; and I fancy that, if I could but have known him, in +my present state of wealth and influence, I might have saved, and +reclaimed, and preserved him, even to the present day. He would not +have been so old as my brother-judge, Lord Glenlee, or Lord Lynedoch, +or a dozen others that one meets daily in society. And what a +creature, not only in genius, but in nobleness of character, +potentially at least, if right models had been put _gently_ before +him!' + +The narrative of Lord Cockburn occupies only one volume, the other +being filled with a selection from Lord Jeffrey's letters. It is a +brief chronicle of the subject; many will feel it to be +unsatisfactorily slight. The author seems to have been afraid of +becoming tedious. It is, however, a manly and faithful narration, with +the rare merit of going little, if at all, beyond bounds in its +appreciation of the hero or his associates, or the importance of the +circumstances in which he moved. The sketches of some of Jeffrey's +contemporaries, as John Clerk, Sir Harry Moncreiff, and Henry Erskine, +are vigorous pieces of painting, which will suggest to many a desire +that the author should favour the public with a wider view of the men +and things of Scotland in the age just past. With a natural partiality +as a friend and as a biographer, he seems to us to set too high an +estimate on Jeffrey when he ranks him as one of a quartett, including +Dugald Stewart, Sir Walter Scott, and Dr Chalmers, 'each of whom in +literature, philosophy, or policy, caused great changes,' and 'left +upon his age the impression of the mind that produced them.' Few of +his countrymen would claim this rank for either Jeffrey or Stewart. +Jeffrey, no doubt, raised a department of our literature from a low to +a high level; he was a Great Voice in his day. But he produced nothing +which can permanently affect us; he gave no great turn to the +sentiments or opinions of mankind. His only original effort of any +mark, is his exposition of the association theory of beauty, which +rests on a simple mistake of what is pleasing for what is beautiful, +and is already nothing. We suspect that no man with his degree of +timidity will ever be very great, either as a philosopher or as a man +of deeds. He was a brilliant _writer_--the most brilliant, and, with +one exception, the most versatile in his age; but to this we would +limit his panegyric, apart from the glory of his long and consistent +career as a politician, which we think can scarcely be overestimated. + +So many of the most remarkable passages of the work have been already +hackneyed through the medium of the newspapers, that we feel somewhat +at a loss to present any which may have a chance of being new to our +readers. So early as his twentieth year, we find Mr Jeffrey thus +sensibly expressing himself on an important subject:-- + +'There is nothing in the world I detest so much as companions and +acquaintances, as they are called. Where intimacy has gone so far as +to banish reserve, to disclose character, and to communicate the +reality of serious opinions, the connection may be the source of much +pleasure--it may ripen into friendship, or subside into esteem. But to +know half a hundred fellows just so far as to speak, and walk, and +lounge with them; to be acquainted with a multitude of people, for all +of whom together you do not care one farthing; in whose company you +speak without any meaning, and laugh without any enjoyment; whom you +leave without any regret, and rejoin without any satisfaction; from +whom you learn nothing, and in whom you love nothing--to have such a +set for your society, is worse than to live in absolute solitude; and +is a thousand times more pernicious to the faculties of social +enjoyment, by circulating in its channels a stream so insipid.' + +At the peace of Amiens, Jeffrey wrote thus to his friend Morehead, 7th +October 1801: 'It is the only public event in my recollection that has +given me any lively sensation of pleasure, and I have rejoiced at it +as heartily as it is possible for a private man, and one whose own +condition is not immediately affected by it, to do. How many parents +and children, and sisters and brothers, would that news make happy? +How many pairs of bright eyes would weep over that gazette, and wet +its brown pages with tears of gratitude and rapture? How many weary +wretches will it deliver from camps and hospitals, and restore once +more to the comforts of a peaceful and industrious life? What are +victories to rejoice at, compared with an event like this? Your +bonfires and illuminations are dimmed with blood and with tears, and +battle is in itself a great evil, and a subject of general grief and +lamentation. The victors are only the least unfortunate, and suffering +and death have, in general, brought us no nearer to tranquillity and +happiness.' It may be well thus to bring the value of a peace before +the public mind. Let those who only know of war from history, reflect +how great must be the evils of a state the cessation of which gives +such a feeling of relief. + +Here is a curious passage about the society of Liverpool in 1813, and +his love of his native country. We must receive the statement +respecting the Quakers with something more than doubt, at least as to +the extent to which it is true:--'I have been dining out every day for +this last week with Unitarians, and Whigs, and Americans, and brokers, +and bankers, and small fanciers of pictures and paints, and the Quaker +aristocracy, and the fashionable vulgar, of the place. But I do not +like Liverpool much better, and could not live here with any comfort. +Indeed, I believe I could not live anywhere out of Scotland. All my +recollections are Scottish, and consequently all my imaginations; and +though I thank God that I have as few fixed opinions as any man of my +standing, yet all the elements out of which they are made have a +certain national cast also. In short, I will not live anywhere else if +I can help it; nor die either; and all old Esky's[3] eloquence would +have been thrown away in an attempt to persuade me that _banishment +furth the kingdom_ might be patiently endured. I take more to Roscoe, +however: he is thoroughly good-hearted, and has a sincere, though +foolish concern for the country. I have also found out a Highland +woman with much of the mountain accent, and sometimes get a little +girl to talk to. But with all these resources, and the aid of the +Botanical Garden, the time passes rather heavily; and I am in some +danger of dying of ennui, with the apparent symptoms of extreme +vivacity. Did you ever hear that most of the Quakers die of +stupidity--actually and literally? I was assured of the fact the other +day by a very intelligent physician, who practised twenty years among +them, and informs me that few of the richer sort live to be fifty, but +die of a sort of atrophy, their cold blood just stagnating by degrees +among their flabby fat. They eat too much, he says; take little +exercise; and, above all, have no nervous excitement. The affection is +known in this part of the country by the name of _the Quaker's +disease_, and more than one-half of them go out so. I think this +curious, though not worth coming to Liverpool to hear, or writing from +Liverpool, &c.' + +He was at this time about to sail for America, in order to marry a +lady of that country. In a letter to Morehead, he recalls his +old-fashioned country residence of Hatton, in West Lothian, and Mr +Morehead's family now resident there. Tuckey was a nickname for one of +Mr Morehead's daughters; Margaret was another. Till the last, he had +pet names for all his own descendants and relatives, having no doubt +felt how much they contribute to the promotion of family affection. 'I +am almost ashamed of the degree of sorrow I feel at leaving all the +early and long-prized objects of my affection; and though I am +persuaded I do right in the step which I am taking, I cannot help +wishing that it had not been quite so wide and laborious a one. You +cannot think how beautiful Hatton appears at this moment in my +imagination, nor with what strong emotion I fancy I hear Tuckey +telling a story on my knee, and see Margaret poring upon her French +before me. It is in your family that my taste for domestic society and +domestic enjoyments has been nurtured and preserved. Such a child as +Tuckey I shall never see again in this world. Heaven bless her, and +she will be a blessing both to her mother and to you.' After touching +upon a volume of poems which Mr Morehead had published--'If I were +you, however, I would live more with Tuckey, and be satisfied with my +gardening and pruning--with my preaching--a good deal of walking and +comfortable talking. What more has life? and how full of vexation are +all ambitious fancies and perplexing pursuits! Well, God bless you! +Perhaps I shall not have an opportunity to inculcate my innocent +epicurism upon you for a long time again. It will do you no harm.' + +It will be a new fact to most of the admirers of Jeffrey, that he had +in early life devoted himself to the writing of poetry. Of what he +wrote between 1791 and 1796, the greater part has disappeared from his +repositories. 'But,' says his biographer, 'enough survives to attest +his industry, and to enable us to appreciate his powers. There are +some loose leaves and fragments of small poems, mostly on the usual +subjects of love and scenery, and in the form of odes, sonnets, +elegies, &c.; all serious, none personal or satirical. And besides +these slight things, there is a completed poem on Dreaming, in blank +verse, about 1800 lines long. The first page is dated Edinburgh, May +4, 1791, the last Edinburgh, 25th June 1791; from which I presume that +we are to hold it to have been all written in these fifty-three +days--a fact which accounts for the absence of high poetry, though +there be a number of poetical conceptions and flowing sentences. Then +there is a translation into blank verse of the third book of the +_Argonauticon_ of Apollonius Rhodius. The other books are lost, but he +translated the whole poem, extending to about 6000 lines.... And I may +mention here, though it happens to be in prose, that of two plays, +one, a tragedy, survives. It has no title, but is complete in all its +other parts.... He was fond of parodying the _Odes_ of Horace, with +applications to modern incidents and people, and did it very +successfully. The _Otium Divos_ was long remembered. Notwithstanding +this perseverance, and a decided poetical ambition, he was never +without misgivings as to his success. I have been informed, that he +once went so far as to leave a poem with a bookseller, to be +published, and fled to the country; and that, finding some obstacle +had occurred, he returned, recovered the manuscript, rejoicing that he +had been saved, and never renewed so perilous an experiment. + +'There may be some who would like to see these compositions, or +specimens of them, both on their own account, and that the friends of +the many poets his criticism has offended might have an opportunity of +retaliation, and of shewing, by the critic's own productions, how +little, in their opinion, he was worthy to sit in judgment on others. +But I cannot indulge them. Since Jeffrey, though fond of playing with +verses privately, never delivered himself up to the public as the +author of any, I cannot think that it would be right in any one else +to exhibit him in this capacity. I may acknowledge, however, that, so +far as I can judge, the publication of such of his poetical attempts +as remain, though it might shew his industry and ambition, would not +give him the poetical wreath, and of course would not raise his +reputation. Not that there are not tons of worse verse published, and +bought, and even read, every year, but that their publication would +not elevate Jeffrey. His poetry is less poetical than his prose. +Viewed as mere literary practice, it is rather respectable. It evinces +a general acquaintance, and a strong sympathy, with moral emotion, +great command of language, correct taste, and a copious possession of +the poetical commonplaces, both of words and of sentiment. But all +this may be without good poetry.' + +Having given little of Lord Cockburn in our extracts, we shall +conclude with a passage of his narration which stands out distinctly, +and has a historical value. It refers to Edinburgh in the second +decade of the present century, but takes in a few names of deceased +celebrities:--'The society of Edinburgh was not that of a provincial +town, and cannot be judged of by any such standard. It was +metropolitan. Trade or manufactures have, fortunately, never marked +this city for their own; but it is honoured by the presence of a +college famous throughout the world, and from which the world has been +supplied with many of the distinguished men who have shone in it. It +is the seat of the supreme courts of justice, and of the annual +convocation of the Church, formerly no small matter; and of almost all +the government offices and influence. At the period I am referring to, +this combination of quiet with aristocracy made it the resort, to a +far greater extent than it is now, of the families of the gentry, who +used to leave their country residences and enjoy the gaiety and the +fashion which their presence tended to promote. Many of the curious +characters and habits of the receding age--the last purely Scotch age +that Scotland was destined to see--still lingered among us. Several +were then to be met with who had seen the Pretender, with his court +and his wild followers, in the Palace of Holyrood. Almost the whole +official state, as settled at the Union, survived; and all graced the +capital, unconscious of the economical scythe which has since mowed it +down. All our nobility had not then fled. A few had sense not to feel +degraded by being happy at home. The Old Town was not quite deserted. +Many of our principal people still dignified its picturesque recesses +and historical mansions, and were dignified by them. The closing of +the continent sent many excellent English families and youths among +us, for education and for pleasure. The war brightened us with +uniforms, and strangers, and shows. + +'Over all this, there was diffused the influence of a greater number +of persons attached to literature and science, some as their calling, +and some for pleasure, than could be found, in proportion to the +population, in any other city in the empire. Within a few years, +including the period I am speaking of, the College contained Principal +Robertson, Joseph Black, his successor Hope, the second Munro, James +Gregory, John Robison, John Playfair, and Dugald Stewart; none of them +confined monastically to their books, but all--except Robison, who was +in bad health--partaking of the enjoyments of the world. Episcopacy +gave us the Rev. Archibald Alison; and in Blair, Henry, John Home, Sir +Harry Moncreiff, and others, Presbytery made an excellent +contribution, the more to be admired that it came from a church which +eschews rank, and boasts of poverty. The law, to which Edinburgh has +always been so largely indebted, sent its copious supplies; who, +instead of disturbing good company by professional matter--an offence +with which the lawyers of every place are charged--were remarkably +free of this vulgarity; and being trained to take difference of +opinion easily, and to conduct discussions with forbearance, were, +without undue obtrusion, the most cheerful people that were to be met +with. Lords Monboddo, Hailes, Glenlee, Meadowbank, and Woodhouselee, +all literary judges, and Robert Blair, Henry Erskine, and Henry +Mackenzie, senior, were at the earlier end of this file; Scott and +Jeffrey at the later--but including a variety of valuable persons +between these extremities. Sir William Forbes, Sir James Hall, and Mr +Clerk of Eldin, represented a class of country gentlemen cultivating +learning on its account. And there were several, who, like the founder +of the Huttonian theory, selected this city for their residence solely +from the consideration in which science and letters were here held, +and the facilities, or rather the temptations, presented for their +prosecution. Philosophy had become indigenous in the place, and all +classes, even in their gayest hours, were proud of the presence of its +cultivators. Thus learning was improved by society, and society by +learning. And unless when party-spirit interfered--which, at one time, +however, it did frequently and bitterly--perfect harmony, and, indeed, +lively cordiality, prevailed. + +'And all this was still a Scotch scene. The whole country had not +begun to be absorbed in the ocean of London. There were still little +great places--places with attractions quite sufficient to retain men +of talent or learning in their comfortable and respectable provincial +positions, and which were dignified by the tastes and institutions +which learning and talent naturally rear. The operation of the +commercial principle which tempts all superiority to try its fortune +in the greatest accessible market, is perhaps irresistible; but +anything is surely to be lamented which annihilates local intellect, +and degrades the provincial spheres which intellect and its +consequences can alone adorn. According to the modern rate of +travelling, the capitals of Scotland and of England were then about +2400 miles asunder. Edinburgh was still more distant in its style and +habits. It had then its own independent tastes, and ideas, and +pursuits. Enough of the generation that was retiring survived to cast +an antiquarian air over the city, and the generation that was +advancing was still a Scotch production. Its character may be +estimated by the names I have mentioned, and by the fact, that the +genius of Scott and of Jeffrey had made it the seat at once of the +most popular poetry and the most brilliant criticism that then +existed. This city has advantages, including its being the capital of +Scotland, its old reputation, and its external beauties, which have +enabled it, in a certain degree, to resist the centralising tendency, +and have hitherto always supplied it with a succession of eminent men. +But now that London is at our door, how precarious is our hold of +them, and how many have we lost!' + +We would just add one remark which occurs to us after reviewing the +career of this eminent patriot and writer, and it may be of service to +young men now entering upon the various paths of ambition. It is the +fortune of many to be led by whim, prejudice, and other reasons, into +certain tracks of opinion, which, as they do not lead to the public +good, so neither do they conduce to any ultimate benefit for those +treading them. How striking the contrast between the retrospect of a +literary man, who has spent, perhaps, brilliant abilities in +supporting every bad cause and every condemned error of his time, and +necessarily found all barren at last, and the reflections of one like +Francis Jeffrey, who, having embraced just views at first, continued +temperately to advocate them until he saw them adopted as necessary +for the good of his country, and had the glory of being almost +universally thanked for his share in bringing about their triumph! Let +young literary men particularly take this duly to heart, for it may +save them from many a bitter pang in their latter days. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] 'Lord Eskgrove, a judge, who consoled a friend he was obliged to +banish, by assuring him that there really were places in the world, +such as England, for example, where a man, though out of Scotland, +might live with some little comfort.' + + + + +THE MOONLIGHT RIDE. + + +A number of years ago, a gentleman in Clydesdale offered me a +situation as head-groom, which I accepted. He had one horse which was +kept in a stable by himself, and was, without exception, the ugliest +and most savage animal of his kind I had ever seen. There was not a +single point of a strong or a fast horse about him. He was as black as +charcoal; he was named Satan, and richly did he deserve the name. He +would fly at you, like a dog, with his teeth; attempt to beat you down +with his fore-feet; and strike round a corner at you with his hind +ones. He had beaten off all the rough-riders, grooms, and jockeys in +that part of the country. + +After being in the place for a few days, I was asked by the gentleman, +if I thought I could make anything of Satan. I replied, that if he +beat me, he would be the only horse which had ever done so; but still +I considered him to be by far the most savage I had ever seen. 'Try +him to-morrow at one o'clock,' said he, as he turned to go away: 'I +will have a few friends with me to see how you succeed.' + +I determined, however, to try him that night, and without any witness +to see whether I succeeded or not. My room was over the stables, and +as the moon did not rise till eleven o'clock, I threw myself upon the +bedclothes, and, contrary to my intention, fell asleep. When I awoke, +it was twelve, the moon was shining brightly, and rendering everything +as visible as if it were day. + +I went down to the stable with a bridle prepared for the purpose, and +a heavily-loaded whip in my hand. I knew that it would be impossible +to saddle him; and, indeed, I should be safer on his bare back, in the +event of his throwing himself down. I opened the stable-door gently, +and there he was prone on his side, his legs and neck stretched out, +as I have often seen horses lying after sore fatigue. I clapped my +knee upon his head, loosed the collar that bound him, slipped the bit +into his mouth, buckled the throat-band, raised him to his feet, +backed him out, and leaped upon his back before he had time to get his +eyes right opened. But open them now he did, and that with a +vengeance; he pawed, and struck the walls with his fore-feet, till the +fire flashed from the stones; and then he reared till he fell right +back upon the pavement. I was prepared for this, and slipped off him +as he went down, and then leaped on him again as he rose. I had not as +yet touched him with whip, bridle, or spur; but now I gave him the +curb and the spurs at the same instant. He gave one mad bound, and +then went off at a rate that completely eclipsed the speed of the +fleetest horse I had ever ridden. He could not trot, but his gallop +was unapproachable, and consisted in a succession of leaps, performed +with a precision, velocity, and strength, absolutely bewildering. + +He fairly overturned all my preconceived notions of a fast horse. On +he thundered, till we came under the shadow of a fir-wood, and then, +whether out of mischief or dread of the darkness, he halted +instantaneously, his fore-feet so close together that you might have +put them into a bucket. Owing to the depression of his shoulders--for +he had no more withers than an ass--the way that he jerked down his +head, and the suddenness of the stop, a monkey, although he had been +holding on with his teeth, must have been unseated. For me, I was +pitched a long way over his head, but alighted upon a spot so soft and +mossy, that it looked as if some kind hand had purposely prepared it +for me. Had I been in the slightest degree stunned, or unable to +regain my feet, that instant he would have torn me to pieces with his +teeth, and beaten my mangled body into the earth with his hoofs. But I +at once sprang to my feet, and faced him. I could have escaped by +leaping into the wood; but my blood was up, my brain clear, and my +heart gave not one extra pulsation. There he stood upon his hind-legs +nearly upright, beating the air with his fore-feet, his mouth open, +his upper lip curled, his under one drawn down, his large white teeth +glancing like ivory in the moonlight. As soon as he saw me upon my +feet, he gave a yell such as I had never heard from a horse before, +save once, and which I believe is never elicited from that animal, +except when under the domination of frantic rage or fear. + +This unearthly cry roused every living thing within hearing. An army +of rooks, startled from their encampment in the wood, circled and +wheeled between us and the moon, shading her light, and filling the +midnight air with their discordant screams. This attracted the +attention of Satan, and, bringing his fore-feet to the ground, he +pricked up his ears, and listened. I sprang forward, seized him by the +mane, and vaulted upon his back. As I stooped forward to gather up the +reins, which were dangling from his head, he caught me by the cuff of +the jacket--luckily it was but the cuff!--and tore it up to the +shoulder. Instantly he seized me again; but this time he succeeded +rather better, having a small portion of the skin and flesh of my +thigh between his teeth. The intense pain occasioned by the bite, or +rather bruise, of a horse's mouth, can only be properly judged of by +those who have felt it. I was the madder of the two now; and of all +animals, an enraged man is the most dangerous and the most fearless. I +gave him a blow between the ears with the end of the whip; and he went +down at once, stunned and senseless, with his legs doubled up under +him, and his nose buried in the ground. I drew his fore-legs from +under him, that he might rise the more readily, and then lashed him +into life. He turned his head slowly round, and looked at me, and then +I saw that the savage glare of his eye was nearly quenched, and that, +if I could follow up the advantage I had gained, I should ultimately +be the conqueror. I now assisted him to rise, mounted him, and struck +at once with whip and spur. He gave a few bounds forward, a stagger or +two, and then fell heavily upon his side. I was nearly under him; +however, I did save my distance, although that was all. I now began to +feel sorry for him; his wonderful speed had won my respect; and as I +was far from being naturally cruel, whip or spur I never used except +in cases of necessity: so I thought I would allow him to lie for a few +minutes, if he did not incline to get up of himself. However, as I had +no faith in the creature, I sat down upon him, and watched him +intently. He lay motionless, with his eyes shut; and had it not been +for the firm and fast beat of his heart, I should have considered him +dying from the effects of the blow; but the strong pulsation told me +that there was plenty of life in him; and I suspected that he was +lying quiet, meditating mischief. I was right. Every muscle began +presently to quiver with suppressed rage. He opened his eyes, and gave +me a look, in which fear and fury were strangely blended. I am not +without superstition, and for an instant I quailed under that look, as +the thought struck me, that the black, unshapely brute before me might +actually be the spirit indicated by his name. With a muttered growl at +my folly, I threw the idea from me--leaped up--seized the reins--with +a lash and a cry made him spring to his feet--mounted him as he rose, +and struck the spurs into his sides. He reared and wheeled; but +finding that he could not get rid of me, and being unable to stand the +torture of the spurs, which I used freely (it was no time for mercy!) +he gave two or three plunges, and then bounded away at that dreadful +leaping gallop--that pace which seemed peculiarly his own. I tried to +moderate his speed with the bridle; but found, to my surprise, that I +had no command over him. I knew at once that something was wrong, as, +with the bit I had in his mouth, I ought to have had the power to have +broken his jawbone. I stooped forward to ascertain the cause; the +loose curb dangling at the side of his head gave a satisfactory +explanation. + +He had it all his own way now; he was fairly off with me; and all I +could do was to bear his head as well up as I could, to prevent him +from stumbling. However, as it would have been bad policy to let him +know how much he was master, I gave him an occasional touch with the +spur, as if wishing him to accelerate his pace; and when he made an +extra bound, I patted him on the neck, as if pleased with his +performance. + +A watery cloud was passing over the face of the moon, which rendered +everything dim and indistinct, as we tore away down a grassy slope; +the view terminating in a grove of tall trees, situated upon a +rising-ground. Beyond the dark outline of the trees, I saw nothing. + +As we neared the grove, Satan slackened his speed; this I thought he +did with a view to crush me against the trunks of the trees. To +prevent him from having time to do this, I struck him with the spurs, +and away again he went like fury. As he burst through the trees, I +flung my head forward upon his neck, to prevent myself from being +swept off by the lower branches. In doing this, the spurs accidentally +came in contact with his sides. He gave one tremendous leap +forward--the ground sank under his feet--the horse was thrown over his +own head--I was jerked into the air--and, amid an avalanche of earth +and stones, we were hurled down a perpendicular bank into the brown, +swollen waters of the Clyde. + +Owing to a bend in the river, the force of the current was directed +against this particular spot, and had undermined it; and although +strong enough to bear a man or a horse, under ordinary circumstances, +yet down at once it thundered under the desperate leap of Satan. +However, it did not signify, as nothing could have prevented us from +surging into the water at the next bound. + +A large quantity of rain had fallen in the upper part of the shire; +and, in consequence, the river was full from bank to brae. I was +nearly a stranger to the place; indeed, so much so, that I had +supposed we were running from the river. This, combined with the +suddenness of the shock, and the appearance of a turbid, rapid +river--sweeping down trees, brushwood, branches, hay, corn, and straw +before it, with resistless force--was so foreign to my idea of the +calm, peaceful Clyde, that when I rose to the surface, I was quite +bewildered, and had very serious doubts as to my own identity. + +I was roused from this state of bewilderment by the snorting and +splashing of the horse: he was making a bold attempt to scale the +perpendicular bank. Had I been thrown into the body of the stream, I +should have been swept away, and the animal must have perished; but in +all heavy rapid runs of water, salt or fresh, there is what is termed +an eddy stream, running close inshore, in a contrary direction to the +main body of the water. I have seen Highlanders in their boats +catching fish in the eddy stream of the Gulf of Corrievrekin, within a +short distance of the main tide, which, had it but got the slightest +hold on their boat, would have swept them with fearful velocity into +the jaws of the roaring gulf. I was caught by this eddy, which kept me +stationary, and enabled me, by a few strokes, to reach the horse's +side. To cross the river, or to land here, was alike impossible; so I +took the reins in my right hand, wheeled the horse from the bank, and +dashed at once with him into the strength of the current. Away we +went, Satan and I, in capital spirits both; not a doubt of our +effecting a safe landing ever crossing my mind. And the horse evinced +his certainty upon that subject, by snatching a bite out of a heap of +hay that floated at his side, and eating it as composedly as if he had +been in the stable. + +We soon swept round the high bank that had caused our misfortune, and +came to a level part of the country, which was flooded far up into the +fields. I then struck strongly out in a slanting direction for the +shore, and soon had the satisfaction of finding myself once more upon +the green turf. Satan shook himself, pricked up his ears, and gave a +low neigh. I then stroked him, and spoke kindly to him. He returned +the caress by licking my hand. Poor fellow! he had contracted a +friendship for me in the water--a friendship which terminated only +with his life; and which was rendered the more valuable, by his never +extending it to another living thing. + + + + +THE GOLD-FEVER IN AUSTRALIA. + + +The discovery of gold in the new continent has thrown the country into +a state which well merits examination. The same circumstance in +California was no interruption to progress of any kind. It merely +peopled a desert, and opened a trade where there was none before; +while in Australia it finds an established form of civilisation, and a +commerce flowing in recognised channels. It is an interesting task, +therefore, to trace the nature of the influence exercised in the +latter country over old pursuits by the new direction of industry; and +it is with some curiosity we open a mercantile circular, dated Sydney, +1st November 1851. This, we admit, is a somewhat forbidding document +to mere literary readers; but we shall divest its contents of their +technical form, and endeavour, by their aid, to arrive at some general +idea of the real state and prospects of the colony. + +Up to the middle of last May, the colonial heart beat high with hope. +Trade was good; the pastoral interests were flourishing; the country +properties, as a matter of course, were improving; and the +introduction of the alpaca, the extended culture of the vine, and the +growth of cotton, appeared to present new and rich sources of wealth. +At that moment came the discovery of the Gold Fields; and a shock was +communicated to the whole industrial system, which to some people +seemed to threaten almost annihilation. The idea was, that +gold-digging would swallow up all other pursuits, and the flocks +perish in the wilderness from the want of shepherds. Nor was this +altogether without foundation; for the stockholders have actually been +considerable sufferers: all the industrial projects mentioned have +been stopped short; and the gold-diggings still continue to attract to +themselves, as if by a spell, the labour of the country. The panic, +however, has now subsided. It is seen that the result is not so bad as +was anticipated, and hopes are entertained that the evil will go no +further. A stream of population, it is thought, will be directed to +Australia from abroad, and the labour not demanded by gold may suffice +for other pursuits. Up to the date of the circular, the value of gold +shipped for England from New South Wales had been L. 217,000, and it +was supposed that about L. 130,000 more remained at Sydney and in the +hands of the miners: 10,000 persons were actually engaged in mining, +and 5000 more concerned otherwise in the business; and as the result +of the exertions of that multitude, the amount of gold fixed +arbitrarily for exportation during the next twelve months, is L. +2,000,000. + +But, on the other hand, in the Sydney district alone, the trade in +wool has already fallen off to the extent of several thousand bales--a +deficiency, however, not as yet attributed to the diminished number of +the sheep. It is supposed that the high rates of labour will operate +chiefly in disinclining the farmers to extend their operations; and if +this at the same time affords them leisure and motive to attend better +to the state of their clips, it will ultimately have an effect rather +beneficial than otherwise. Australian wool has hitherto been +attainable by foreigners only in the English market; but it is a +favourable symptom that two cargoes left Sydney last year direct for +Hamburg. To shew the falling off in trade during the gold year, it may +be mentioned that the exports of wool in the two previous years were +about 52,000 bales; and in 1850-1, about 48,000. There was likewise a +deficiency of about 6000 casks of tallow, and 3000 hides. + +It is interesting to notice, that preserved meats are sent from New +South Wales to the neighbouring colonies and to England in +considerable quantities. Timber for shipbuilding is rising in +estimation in the English market. Australian wines are said to be +fully equal to Rhenish; and a Vineyard Association has been formed for +the purpose of improvement. Wool, however, is at present the great +staple; and the Circular seems to derive some consolation from the +idea, that if the crop should continue deficient, prices in England +will probably be maintained. 'To anticipate the future prices for our +staples,' it says, 'in a market open to so many influences as that of +Great Britain, is almost impossible; but it may be well to point out +the causes which are likely to affect their value--we allude more +especially to wool. We have stated that the production thereof, in New +South Wales, is likely to be checked by the attraction of the +gold-diggings; and still further, by the gradual abandonment of +indifferent or limited runs, which formerly supported a large number +of sheep, but which will not pay to work at present prices of wool and +labour. Therefore, if we bear in mind that Australia has furnished +half of the entire quantity of the wools imported into Great Britain, +and that the English buyers have hitherto been purchasing in +anticipation of a large annual increase from hence, which for the +present, at anyrate, will not be forthcoming, we think we need be +under no apprehension of lower prices than the present.' + +It will be remarked, that this somewhat unfavourable report is made at +the end of the first six months of the gold-fever. That kind of +gold-seeking, however, which unsettles the habits of a population, and +represses the other pursuits of industry, is not likely to endure very +long in any country. It must give way in time to scientific mining, +which is as legitimate a business as any other, and which, by the +wealth it circulates, will tempt men into new avenues of industry, and +recruit, to any extent that may be desirable, the supply of labour. +Hitherto that supply has come in inadequate quantities, or from +polluted sources; but we have now precisely what the colony wanted--a +stream of voluntary emigration, which, in the process of time, when +skilled labour only can be employed, will flood the diggings, and its +superfluous portions find their level in the other employments +afforded by the country. That this will take place without the +inconvenience of a transition period, is not to be expected; but, upon +the whole, we look upon the present depression of the legitimate trade +of the colony as merely a temporary evil, arising out of circumstances +that are destined to work well for its eventual prosperity. + +The same process, it should be observed, has already been gone through +in California. The lawless adventurers who rushed to the gold-fields +from all parts of the world subsided gradually into order from mere +motives of self-preservation; and as the precious metal disappeared +from the surface, multitudes were driven by necessity or policy into +employments more remunerative than digging. The large mining +population--the producers of gold--became the consumers of goods; +markets of all kinds were opened for their supply; emporia of trade +rose along the coast; and a country that so recently was almost a +desert, now promises to become one of the great marts of the commerce +of the world. If this has been the case in California, the process +will be much easier in Australia, where the rudiments of various +businesses already exist, and where the staple articles of produce are +such as can hardly be pushed to a superfluous extent. + +The true calamity, however, under which the fixed colonists, the +producers of the staples, suppose themselves to suffer, is the change +occasioned in the price of labour by the golden prospects of the +diggings. On this question there is always considered to be two +antagonistical interests--that of the employers, and that of the +employed; the former contending for the minimum, and the latter for +the maximum rate. But this is a fallacy. The interest of the two is +identical; and for these obvious reasons, that if wages be too high, +the capitalist must cease to produce and to employ; and if too low, +the working population must sink to the position of unskilled +labourers at home, and eventually bring about that very state of +society from which emigration is sought as an escape. In supposing +their interests to be antagonistical, the one party reasons as badly +as the other; but, somehow, there always attaches to the bad reasoning +of the employed a stigma of criminality, from which that of the other +is free. This is unjust enough in England, but in Australia it is +ridiculous. A capitalist goes out, provided with a sum so small as to +be altogether useless at home as a means of permanent support, but +which, in the colony, he expects, with proper management, to place him +for the rest of his life in a position of almost fabulous prosperity. +These cheering views, however, he confines to his own class. The +measure of his happiness will not be full unless he can find cheap +labour, as well as magnificent returns. For this desideratum he will +make any sacrifice. He will take your paupers, your felons--your +rattlesnakes; anything in the shape of a drudge, who will toil for +mere subsistence, and without one of the social compensations which +render toil in England almost endurable. + +We are never sorry to hear of the high price of labour in countries +where the employers live in ease and independence; and we join +heartily in the counsel to the higher class of working-men in this +country given by Mr Burton in his _Emigrants Manual_--'never to +confound a large labour-market with good sources of employment.' It +does not appear to us to be one of the least of the benefits that will +accrue after convalescence from the gold-fever in Australia, the +higher value the employed will set upon their labour. We cannot reason +from the English standard, which has not been deliberately fixed, but +forced upon us by competition, excessive population, public burdens, +and the necessities of social position. In a new country, however, +where all these circumstances are absent, and whither employers and +employed resort alike for the purpose of bettering their condition, we +should like to see traditions cast aside, and the fabric of society +erected on a new basis. + + + + +BURGOMASTER LAW IN PRUSSIA. + + +On turning out, and then turning over, a mass of old papers which had +lain packed up in a heavy mail-trunk for a period of more than forty +years, I came the other day upon a little bundle of documents in legal +German manuscript, the sight of which set me, old as I am, a laughing +involuntarily, and brought back in full force to my memory the +circumstances which I am about briefly to relate. A strange thing is +this memory, by the way, and strangely moved by trifles to the +exercise of its marvellous power. For more than thirty years--for the +average period that suffices to change the generation of man upon +earth--had this preposterous adventure, and everything connected with +it, lain dormant in some sealed-up cavity of my brain, when the bare +sight of the little bundle of small-sized German foolscap, with its +ragged edges and blotted official pages, has set the whole paltry +drama, with all its dignified performers, in motion before the retina +of my mind's eye with all the reality of the actual occurrence. + +It was in the spring or early summer of the year 1806, that, in the +capacity of companion and interpreter to a young nobleman who was +making the tour of Germany, I was travelling on the high-road from +Magdeburg to Berlin. We rolled along in a stout English carriage drawn +by German post-horses, and having left Magdeburg after an early +breakfast, stopped at a small neat town, some eighteen or twenty miles +on our route--my patron intending to remain there for an hour or two, +in the hope of being rejoined by a friend who had promised to overtake +us. He ordered refreshment, and sat down and partook of it, while I, +not choosing to participate, seated myself in the recess of +an old-fashioned window, and kept my eyes fixed upon our +travelling-carriage, from which the wearied horses had been removed, +and which stood but a few paces from where I sat. At the end of an +hour, my patron having satisfied his appetite, declined to wait any +longer, and proposed that we should proceed on our journey. It was my +office to discharge all accounts, and of course to check any attempt +at peculation which might be made. I summoned the innkeeper, whose +just demand was soon paid, and ordered the horses to be put to. This +was done in a few minutes, and the stable-man, as we walked out to the +carriage, came forward and presented his little bill. As I ran it +hastily over before paying it, I saw that the rascal had charged for +services which he had not rendered. With the design of making the most +of a chance-customer, he had put down in his account a charge for +greasing the wheels of the carriage. Now, as I had never taken my eyes +from the carriage during the whole period of our stay, I could not be +deceived in the conviction that this was a fraud. True, it was the +merest trifle in the world; but the fellow who wanted to exact it was +the model of an ugly, impudent, and barefaced rogue, and therefore I +resolved not to pay him. Throwing him the money, minus the attempted +imposition, I told him to consider himself fortunate that he had got +that, which was more than such a rogue-_schurke_ was the word I +used--deserved. + +'Do you call me a rogue?' said he. + +'Certainly; a rogue is your right name,' I replied, and sprang into +the carriage. + +'Ho! ho!' said he; 'that is against the law. Hans Felder,' he bawled +to the postilion, 'I charge you not to move; the horses may be led +back to the stable: the gracious gentleman has called me a rogue. +Stiefel, run for the police: the gracious gentleman says I am a rogue. +I will cite him before the council.' + +It was in vain that I put my head out of the window, and bawled to the +postilion to proceed. He was evidently afraid to move. In a few +minutes a crowd began to collect around us, and in less than a quarter +of an hour half the inhabitants of the place had assembled in front of +the inn. The noise of a perfect Babel succeeded in an instant to the +dull silence of the quiet town. I soon gathered from the vehement +disputes that arose on all sides, that the populace were about equally +divided into two parties. The more reasonable portion were for +allowing us to proceed on our journey, and this would perhaps have +been permitted, had not my companion, on understanding what was the +matter, burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, and repeated the +offensive word, accompanying it with a declaration in French, which +many of the bystanders understood, that he considered it generally +applicable. The landlord of the inn now came forth, and after a not +very energetic attempt to conciliate the ostler, who refused to forego +his determination to obtain legal redress, invited us to alight and +resume our quarters in the inn. This we were compelled to do, to +escape the annoyance of the crowd; and the carriage being housed under +a shed, the horses returned to the stable. We had not been three +minutes in the inn before the police appeared to take me into custody, +and march me off to durance vile. By this time I began to see that the +charge, and the dilemma into which it had led us, was no joke. I might +perhaps have bribed the scoundrel who preferred it, and have sent away +the police with a gratuity; but I felt as little disposed to do that +as to go to prison. I refused to leave the inn, protested against the +jurisdiction of their absurd laws over strangers, and at length, with +the assistance of my companion, and a good deal of threatening talk, +succeeded in ejecting the two police functionaries from the room. They +kept watch, however, at the door, and planted sentinels at the +windows, to prevent an ignominious flight that way. + +In the meanwhile, the whole town was in commotion, and everybody was +hurrying towards the _rathhaus_, or town-hall, where it was plain +enough that preparations were making for putting me immediately upon +my trial. I saw the old _burgermeister_ go waddling by in his robe of +office, accompanied by a crowd of nondescript officials, with one of +whom my villainous-looking adversary was in close confabulation. In a +short space of time, a band of very scurvy-looking police, plainly +vamped up for the occasion, made its appearance; and one of the band +entering the room without ceremony, presented me with a summons, +couched in legal diction, citing me to appear instantly before the +commission then sitting, to answer an indictment preferred against me +by Karl Gurtler, Supernumerary Deputy Road Inspector of the district, +whose honourable character I had unjustly and wantonly assailed and +deteriorated by the application of the scandalous and defamatory term, +schurke. There was nothing for it but to obey the mandate; and +accordingly, requesting the bearer to convey my compliments to the +assembled council, and to say that I would have the honour of +attending them in a few minutes, I dismissed him, evidently soothed +with my courteous reception. I did this with a view of getting rid of +the _posse comitatus_, in whose company I did not much relish the idea +of being escorted as a prisoner. My politeness, however, had not the +anticipated effect, as, upon emerging from the inn, we found the whole +squad waiting at the door as a sort of body-guard, to make sure of our +attendance. + +On arriving at the rathhaus, which was crammed to overflowing with all +the inhabitants of the place who could possibly wedge themselves into +it, way was cleared for us through the crowd to the seats which had +been considerately allotted for us, in front of the tribunal. A more +extraordinary bench of justice was perhaps never convened. It was +plain that the little village was steeped in poverty to the lips, and +that I, having been entrapped, through an unconscious expression, in +the meshes of some antiquated law, was doomed to administer in some +measure to their need by the payment of a penalty and costs. The fat +old fellow who presided as judge, and beneath whose robe of office an +unctuous leathery surtout was all too visible, peered in vain through +a pair of massive horn-spectacles into a huge timber-swathed volume in +search of the act, the provisions of which I had violated. At length, +the schoolmaster--a meagre, pensive-looking scarecrow, industriously +patched all over--came to his assistance, turned over the ponderous +code by which the little community were governed, and having rummaged +out the law, and the clause under the provisions of which I had been +so summarily arrested, handed it to the clerk, who I shrewdly +suspected to be nothing more or less than the village barber. He, at +the command of the judge, read it aloud for the information of all +present, and for my especial admonition. From the contents, it +appeared to have been decreed, how long ago I had no means of judging, +that, for the better sustentation of good morals and good-breeding, +and for the prevention of quarrelling, or unseemly and abusive +conversation, any person who should call or designate any other person +in the said town by the name of thief, villain, rascal, rogue +(schurke), cheat, charlatan, impostor, wretch, coward, sneak, +suborner, slanderer, tattler, and sundry other titles of ill-repute, +which I cannot recollect now, and could not render into English were I +to recall them, should, upon complaint of the person aggrieved, and +upon proof of the offence by the evidence of worthy and truth-speaking +witnesses, be amerced in such penalty, not exceeding a certain sum, as +in the estimation of the presiding magistrate should be held to be a +proper compensation for the injury to his reputation suffered by the +plaintiff. When the clerk drew breath at the end of the long-winded +clause, I inquired if the law in question made no counter-provision +for cases which might occur where, the abusive term being richly +deserved, it could be no crime to apply it. The schoolmaster, who, +despite his patched habiliments, was a clever fellow, at once answered +my question in the negative, and justified the omission of any such +provision by contraverting the position I had advanced upon moral +grounds. This he did in a speech of some length, and with remarkable +ingenuity and good sense; proving--to the satisfaction of his +fellow-townsmen at least--that to taunt a malefactor openly with his +misdeeds, was not the way to reform him, while it was a sure mode of +producing a contrary result; and winding up with an assurance, that +the law was a good law, and perfect in all its parts; and that if I +had suffered wrong, I might obtain at their hands redress as readily +and with as much facility as my antagonist. + +I had nothing to reply to this, and the proceedings went on in due +form. Without being sworn, the plaintiff was called upon to state his +case, which he did with an elaborate circumlocution altogether without +a parallel in my experience. He detailed the whole history of his +life--from his birth, in Wolfenbuettel, up to his seven years' service +in the army; then followed his whole military career; and after that, +his service under the _weg_-inspector, which was rewarded at length by +the gratification of his honest ambition, in his appointment as +supernumerary deputy road inspector of the district. He enlarged upon +the service he had rendered to, and the honours he had received from, +his country; and then put it to his judges to decide whether, as a +public officer, a soldier, and a man of honour, he could submit to be +stigmatised as a schurke, without appealing to the laws of his +Fatherland to vindicate his character. Of course it was not to be +thought of. He then detailed the circumstances of the assault I had +made upon his character, forgetting to mention, however, the +provocation he had given by the fraudulent charge for greasing. Having +finished his peroration, he proceeded to call witnesses to the fact of +the abuse, and cited Hans Felder, our postilion, to be first examined. +Hans, who had heard every syllable that passed, was not, however, so +manageable a subject as the plaintiff expected to find him. Whether, +like Toby Allspice in the play, he 'made it a rule never to disoblige +a customer;' or whether, which was not unlikely, he owed Karl Gurtler +a grudge, either for stopping him on his route, or for some previous +disagreement with that conscientious public functionary; or whether, +which was likeliest of all, he feared to compromise his claim for +_trinkgeld_ from the highborn, gracious gentlemen he had the honour of +driving, I cannot pretend to determine. Certain it is, that when +brought to the bar, he had heard nothing, and seen nothing, and knew +nothing, and could recollect nothing, and say nothing, about the +business in hand; and nothing but nothing could be got out of him by a +single member of the bench, though all took him in hand by turns. He +was finally sent down. By this time, so dilatory had been the +proceedings, the sun was sinking in the west. My companion, weary of +the prosecutor's long story, had withdrawn to the inn to order dinner. +As the second witness was about to give his testimony, a note was +handed to the old burgermeister, who, having given it a glance, +immediately adjourned the court till the next morning at nine o'clock. +The assembly broke up, and, returning to the inn, I found that the +proceedings had been stopped by the landlord, to save the reputation +of his cookery, which would have been endangered had the dinner waited +much longer. Having first consulted my fellow-traveller, he had +despatched directions to the judge to adjourn the case till the +morrow, who, like a good and obliging neighbour, had accordingly done +so. + +The little town was unusually alive and excited that evening. Karl +Gurtler was the centre of an admiring circle, who soon enveloped him +in the incense of their meerschaums. He held a large levee in the +common room of the inn, where a succession of very terrific +battle-songs kept us up to a late hour, as it was of no use to think +of slumber during their explosion. The next morning, at the appointed +hour, the proceedings recommenced, and the remainder of the witnesses +were examined at full length. It was in vain that I offered to plead +guilty, and pay the penalty, whatever it might be, so that we might be +allowed to proceed on our journey. I was solemnly reminded, that it +was not for me to interrupt the course of justice, but to await its +decision with patience. I saw they were determined to prevent our +departure as long as possible; and, judging that the only way to +assist in the completion of the unlucky business, was to interpose no +obstacle to its natural course, I henceforth held my peace, conjuring +my companion on no account to give directions for dinner. After a +sitting of nearly seven hours on the second day, when everything that +could be lugged into connection with the silly affair had been said +and reiterated ten times over, the notary in attendance read over his +condensed report of the whole, and I was called upon for my defence. I +told them plainly that I did not choose to make any; that I was sick +of the company of fools; that since it was a crime to speak the truth +in their good town, I was willing to pay the penalty for so doing, for +the privilege of leaving it; that I was astonished and disgusted at +the spectacle of a company of grave men siding with such a beggarly +_raeuber_ (I believed that term was not proscribed in their precious +statute) as Karl Gurtler was, and taking advantage of the law, of +which a stranger must necessarily be ignorant, to obstruct him on his +journey, and levy a contribution on his purse; and I added, finally, +for I had talked myself into an angry mood, that if the farce were not +immediately brought to a conclusion, I should despatch my friend +forthwith to Berlin, and lay a report of their proceedings before the +British ambassador. I could perceive something like consternation in +the broad visage of the burgermeister as I concluded my harangue; but +without attempting to answer it, the Solons on the bench laid their +heads together, and after a muttering of a few minutes' duration, the +schoolmaster pronounced the sentence of the court, which was, that I +should indemnify the plaintiff to the amount of one dollar, and pay +the costs of the proceedings, which amounted to three more. I could +scarce forbear laughing at the mention of a sum so ludicrous. Fifteen +shillings for penalty and costs of a trial which had lasted nearly two +days! I threw down the money, and was hastening from the court, when +the notary called upon me to stop for one moment, while he concluded +his report of the case, to which, it appeared, their laws gave me a +valid claim. I took the papers, and crammed them into my valise, in +the hasty packing which took place so soon as I got back to my +companion. In a quarter of an hour, we were on our road towards +Berlin, having been taught a lesson of politeness, even towards +rogues, at the expense of a stoppage of more than thirty hours on our +route. I have no recollection how the papers found their way into the +old trunk from which they were lately unkennelled. They are now before +me, and consist of nearly fifty sides of small foolscap, written in a +bold legal hand, affording a unique specimen of the cheapness of law +amongst a community who, it is to be supposed, had but little demand +for it. + +A few short months after this event, and the little town where it took +place had something else to think of. The ill-advised step of the +Prussian government, who, relying upon the aid of Russia, declared war +against Napoleon, brought the devastating hordes of republican France +among them. The battle of Jena placed the whole kingdom at the foot of +the conqueror; and few towns suffered more, comparatively, than the +little burgh which, by the decree of a very doubtful sort of justice, +had mulcted me in penalties for calling a very ill-favoured rogue by +his right name. + + + + +TRACES OF THE DANES AND NORWEGIANS IN ENGLAND. + + +Mr J. J. A. Worsaae, a conspicuous member of that brilliant corps of +northern antiquaries who have of late given a new wing to history, +travelled through the United Kingdom in 1846-7, on a commission from +his sovereign the king of Denmark, to make inquiry respecting the +monuments and memorials of the Danes and Norwegians, which might still +be extant in these islands. The result of his investigations appeared +in a concise volume, which has been translated into English, and +published by Mr Murray in a handsome style, being illustrated by +numerous wood-cuts.[4] It is a work which we would recommend to the +attention of all who feel any interest in our early history, as +calculated to afford them a great gratification. One is surprised to +find in how great a degree the Northmen affected Britain; what an +infusion of Scandinavian blood there is in our population; how many +traces of their predominancy survive in names of places and in more +tangible monuments. Mr Worsaae writes with a warm feeling towards his +country and her historical reminiscences, but without allowing it to +carry him into any extravagances. He is everywhere clear and +simple--sometimes rises into eloquence; and always displays a close +and searching knowledge of his subject. + +From the end of the eighth century till the time of the Norman +Conquest, the restless chiefs of Denmark and Norway were continually +in the practice of making piratical expeditions to our shores. They +committed terrible devastations, and made many settlements, almost +exclusively on the eastern coast. Finally, as is well known, we had a +brief succession of Danish kings in England, including the magnanimous +Canute. When we look at the quiet people now inhabiting Denmark and +Norway, we are at a loss to understand whence came or where resided +that spirit of reckless daring which inspired such a system of +conquest, or how it came so completely to die out; but the explanation +is, that the Northmen of those days were heathens, animated by a +religion which made them utterly indifferent to danger. Whenever they +became Christianised, they began to appreciate life like other men, +and ceased, of course, to be the troublers they had once been. Mr +Worsaae draws a line from London to Chester--the line of the great +Roman road (Watling Street)--to the north of which the infusion of +Scandinavian population is strong, and their monuments abundant. A +vast number of names of places in that part of the island are of +Danish origin--all ending in _by_, which in Danish signifies a town, +as Whitby (the White Town), Derby (Deoraby, the town of Deer), Kirby +(the church town), &c.--all ending in _thwaite_, which signifies an +isolated piece of land--all ending in _thorpe_ (Old Northern, a +collection of houses separated from some principal estate)--all ending +in _naes_, a promontory, and _ey_ or _oee_, an island. _Toft_, a field; +_with_, a forest; _beck_, a streamlet; _tarn_, a mountain-lake; +_force_, a waterfall; _garth_, a large farm; _dale_, a valley; and +_fell_, a mountain, are all of them common elements of names of places +in England, north of the line above indicated, and all are +Scandinavian terms. The terminations _by_, _thwaite_, and _thorpe_, +are still common in Denmark. + +Mr Worsaae found many memorials of the Northmen in London: for +example, the church of St Clement's Danes, where this people had their +burial-place; the name _Southwark_, which is 'unmistakably of Danish +or Norwegian origin;' St Olave's Church there, and even Tooley Street, +which is a corruption of the name of that celebrated Norsk saint; but, +above all, in the fact that 'the highest tribunal in the city has +retained in our day its pure old northern name "Husting."' The fact +is, that about the time of Canute, the Danes predominated over the +rest of the population of London. Mr Worsaae was not able to trace the +Danish face or form as a distinct element in the modern population. In +going northward, however, he soon began to find that the prevailing +physiognomy was of a northern character: 'The form of the face is +broader, the cheek-bones project a little, the nose is somewhat +flatter, and at times turned a little upwards; the eyes and hair are +of a lighter colour, and even deep-red hair is far from being +uncommon. The people are not very tall in stature, but usually more +compact and strongly built than their countrymen towards the south. +The Englishman himself seems to acknowledge that a difference is to be +found in the appearance of the inhabitants of the northern and +southern counties; at least, one constantly hears in England, when +red-haired, compact-built men with broad faces are spoken of: "They +must certainly be from Yorkshire;" a sort of admission that light +hair, and the broad peculiar form of the face, belong mostly to the +north of England people.... In the midland, and especially in the +northern part of England, I saw every moment, and particularly in the +rural districts, faces exactly resembling those at home. Had I met the +same persons in Denmark or Norway, it would never have entered my mind +that they were foreigners. Now and then I also met with some whose +taller growth and sharper features reminded me of the inhabitants of +South Jutland, or Sleswick, and particularly of Angeln; districts of +Denmark which first sent colonists to England. It is not easy to +describe peculiarities which can be appreciated in all their details +only by the eye; nor dare I implicitly conclude that in the +above-named cases I have really met with persons descended in a +direct line from the old Northmen. I adduce it only as a striking +fact, which will not escape the attention of at least any observant +Scandinavian traveller, that the inhabitants of the north of England +bear, on the whole, more than those of any other part of that country, +an unmistakable personal resemblance to the Danes and Norwegians.' + +Scandinavian words abound in the popular language of those districts. +'On entering a house there, one will find the housewife sitting with +her _rock_ (Dan., _Rok_; Eng., a distaff) and _spoele_ (Dan., _Spole_; +Eng., spool, a small wheel on the spindle); or else she has set both +her _rock_ and her _garnwindle_ (Dan., _Garnvinde_; Eng., reel or +yarn-winder) aside, whilst standing by her _back-bword_ (Dan., +_Bagebord_; Eng., baking-board) she is about to knead dough (Dan., +_Deig_), in order to make the oaten-bread commonly used in these +parts, at times, also, barley-bread; for _clap-bread_ (Dan., +_Klappebroed_, or thin cakes beaten out with the hand), she lays the +dough on the _clap-board_ (Dan., _Klappebord_.) One will also find the +_bord-claith_ spread (Dan., _Bordklaede_; Eng. table-cloth); the people +of the house then sit on the _bank_ or _bink_ (Dan., _Baenk_; Eng., +bench), and eat _Aandorn_ (Eng., afternoon's repast), or, as it is +called in Jutland and Fuenen, _Onden_ (dinner.) The chimney (_lovver_) +stands in the room; which name may perhaps be connected with the +Scandinavian _lyre_ (Icelandic, _ljori_)--namely, the smoke-hole in +the roof or thatch (_thack_), out of which, in olden times, before +houses had regular chimneys and "_lofts_" (Dan., _Loft_; Eng., roof, +an upper room), the smoke (_reek_ or _reik_, Dan., _Roeg_) left the +dark (_mirk_ or _murk_, Dan., _Moerk_) room. Within is the _bower_ or +_boor_ (Eng., bed-chamber), in Danish, _Buur_; as, for instance, in +the old Danish word _Jomfrubuur_ (the maiden's chamber), and in the +modern word _Fadebuur_ (the pantry.)' + +Mr Worsaae only speaks the truth when he remarks how the name of the +Danes has been impressed on the English mind. 'Legends about the Danes +are,' he says, 'very much disseminated among the people, even in the +south of England. There is scarce a parish that has not in some way or +another preserved the remembrance of them. Sometimes, they are +recorded to have burned churches and castles, and to have destroyed +towns, whose inhabitants were put to the sword; sometimes, they are +said to have burned or cut down forests; here are shewn the remains of +large earthen mounds and fortifications which they erected; there, +again, places are pointed out where bloody battles were fought with +them. To this must be added the names of places--as, the +_Danes-walls_, the _Danish forts_, the _Dane-field_, the +_Dane-forest_, the _Danes-banks_, and many others of the like kind. +Traces of Danish castles and ramparts are not only found in the +southern and south-eastern parts of England, but also quite in the +south-west, in Devonshire and Cornwall, where, under the name of +_Castelton Danis_, they are particularly found on the sea-coast. In +the chalk-cliffs, near Uffington, in Berkshire, is carved an enormous +figure of a horse, more than 300 feet in length; which, the common +people say, was executed in commemoration of a victory that King +Alfred gained over the Danes in that neighbourhood. On the heights, +near Eddington, were shewn not long since the intrenchments, which, it +was asserted, the Danes had thrown up in the battle with Alfred. On +the plain near Ashdon, in Essex, where it was formerly thought that +the battle of Ashingdon had taken place, are to be seen some large +Danish barrows which were long, but erroneously, said to contain the +bones of the Danes who had fallen in it. The so-called dwarf-alder +(_Sambucus ebulus_), which has red buds, and bears red berries, is +said in England to have germinated from the blood of the fallen Danes, +and is therefore also called _Daneblood_ and _Danewort_. It flourishes +principally in the neighbourhood of Warwick; where it is said to have +sprung from, and been dyed by, the blood shed there, when Canute the +Great took and destroyed the town. + +'Monuments, the origin of which is in reality unknown, are, in the +popular traditions, almost constantly attributed to the Danes. If the +spade or the plough brings ancient arms and pieces of armour to light, +it is rare that the labourer does not suppose them to have belonged to +that people. But particularly if bones or joints of unusual size are +found, they are at once concluded to be the remains of the gigantic +Danes, whose immense bodily strength and never-failing courage had so +often inspired their forefathers with terror. For though the +Englishman has stories about the cruelties of the ancient Danes, their +barbarousness, their love of drinking, and other vices, he has still +preserved no slight degree of respect for Danish bravery and Danish +achievements. "As brave as a Dane," is said to have been an old phrase +in England; just as "to strike like a Dane" was, not long since, a +proverb at Rome. Even in our days, Englishmen readily acknowledge that +the Danes are the "best sailors on the continent;" nay, even that, +themselves of course excepted, they are "the best and bravest sailors +in all the world." It is, therefore, doubly natural that English +legends should dwell with singular partiality on the memorials of the +Danes' overthrow. Even the popular ballads revived and glorified the +victories of the English. Down to the very latest times was heard in +Holmesdale, in Surrey, on the borders of Kent, a song about a battle +which the Danes had lost there in the tenth century.' + +In our own northern land, the Northmen committed as many devastations, +and made nearly as many settlements, as in England. The Orcadian +Islands formed, indeed, a Norwegian kingdom, which was not entirely at +an end till the thirteenth century. In that group, and on the adjacent +coasts of Caithness and Sutherlandshires, the appearance of the +people, the names of places, and the tangible monuments, speak +strongly of a Scandinavian infusion into the population. Sometimes, +between the early Celtic people still speaking their own language, and +the descendants of the Norwegians, a surprisingly definite line can be +drawn. The island of Harris is possessed for the most part by a set of +Celts, 'small, dark-haired, and in general very ugly;' but at the +northern point, called 'the Ness,' we meet with people of an entirely +different appearance. 'Both the men and women have, in general, +lighter hair, taller figures, and far handsomer features. I visited +several of their cabins, and found myself surrounded by physiognomies +so Norwegian, that I could have fancied myself in Scandinavia itself, +if the Gaelic language now spoken by the people, and their wretched +dwellings, had not reminded me that I was in one of those poor +districts in the north-west of Europe where the Gaels or Celts are +still allowed a scanty existence. The houses, as in Shetland, and +partly in Orkney, are built of turf and unhewn stones, with a wretched +straw or heather roof, held together by ropes laid across the ridge of +the house, and fastened with stones at the ends. The houses are so +low, that one may often see the children lie playing on the side of +the roof. The family and the cattle dwell in the same apartment, and +the fire, burning freely on the floor, fills the house with a thick +smoke, which slowly finds its way out of the hole in the roof. The +sleeping-places are, as usual, holes in the side-walls. + +'It is but a little while ago that the inhabitants of the Ness, who +are said to have preserved faint traditions of their origin from +Lochlin--called also in Ireland, Lochlan--or the North, regarded +themselves as being of better descent than their neighbours the Gaels. +The descendants of the Norwegians seldom or never contracted marriage +with natives of a more southern part of the island, but formed among +themselves a separate community, distinguished even by a peculiar +costume, entirely different from the Highland Scotch dress. Although +the inhabitants of Ness are now, for the most part, clothed like the +rest of the people of Lewis, I was fortunate enough to see the dress +of an old man of that district, which had been preserved as a +curiosity. It was of thick, coarse woollen stuff, of a brown colour, +and consisted of a close-fitting jacket, sewn in one piece, with a +pair of short trousers, reaching only a little below the knees. It was +formerly customary with them not to cover the head at all.' + +The people of the Ness are described as good fishermen--a striking +trait of their original national character, for nothing could +distinguish them more from their neighbours, the ordinary Highlanders +being everywhere remarkable for their inaptitude to a sea-life. + +Tradition speaks loudly all over Scotland of the ancient doings of the +Danes. So much, indeed, is this the case, that every antiquity which +cannot be ascribed to the Romans, is popularly thought to be Danish, +an idea which has been implicitly adopted by a great number of the +Scotch clergy in the Statistical Account of their respective parishes. +In the Highlands, Mr Worsaae found the people retaining a very fresh +recollection of the terrors of the Northmen, and ready to believe that +their incursions might yet be renewed. 'Having employed myself,' he +says, 'in examining, among other things, the many so-called "Danish" +or Pictish towers on the west and north-west coast of Sutherland, the +common people were led to believe, that the Danes wished to regain +possession of the country, and with that view intended to rebuild the +ruined castles on the coasts. The report spread very rapidly, and was +soon magnified into the news, that the Danish fleet was lying outside +the sunken rocks near the shore, and that I was merely sent beforehand +to survey the country round about; nay, that I was actually the Danish +king's son himself, and had secretly landed. This report, which +preceded me very rapidly, had, among other effects, that of making the +poorer classes avoid, with the greatest care, mentioning any +traditions connected with defeats of the Danes, and especially with +the killing of any Dane in the district, lest they should occasion a +sanguinary vengeance when the Danish army landed. Their fears were +carried so far, that my guide was often stopped by the natives, who +earnestly requested him, in Gaelic, not to lend a helping-hand to the +enemies of the country by shewing them the way; nor would they let him +go, till he distinctly assured them that I was in possession of maps +correctly indicating old castles in the district which he himself had +not previously known. This, of course, did not contribute to allay +their fears; and it is literally true, that in several of the Gaelic +villages, particularly near the firths of Loch Inver and Kyle-Sku, we +saw on our departure old folks wring their hands in despair at the +thought of the terrible misfortunes which the Danes would now bring on +their hitherto peaceful country.' + +We have here been obliged wholly to overlook Mr Worsaae's curious +chapters about Ireland and the Isle of Man, and to give what we cannot +but feel to be a very superficial view of the contents of his book +generally; but our readers have seen enough to inspire them with an +interest in it, and we trust that this will lead many of them to its +entire perusal. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] _An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and +Ireland._ By J. J. A. Worsaae, For. F. S. A., London; Author of +_Primaeval Antiquities of Denmark._ London: Murray. 1852. + + + + +CHILDREN OF PRISONS. + + +When I was in Berlin, I went into the public prison, and visited every +part of the establishment. At last I was introduced to a very large +hall, which was full of children, with their books and teachers, and +having the appearance of a Prussian school-room. 'What!' said I, 'is +it possible that all these children are imprisoned here for crime?' 'O +no,' said my conductor, smiling at my simplicity; 'but if a parent is +imprisoned for crime, and on that account his children are left +destitute of the means of education, and are liable to grow up in +ignorance and crime, the government places them here, and maintains +and educates them for useful employment.' This was a new idea to me. I +know not that it has ever been suggested in the United States; but +surely it is the duty of government, as well as its highest interest, +when a man is paying the penalties of his crime in a public prison, to +see that his unoffending children are not left to suffer and inherit +their father's vices. Surely it would be better for the child, and +cheaper as well as better for the state. Let it not be supposed that a +man will go to prison for the sake of having his children taken care +of; for those who go to prison, usually have little regard for their +children. If they had, _discipline_ like that of the Berlin prison +would soon sicken them of such a bargain.--_Professor Stowe_. + + + + +JUPITER, AN EVENING STAR. + + + Ruler and hero, shining in the west + With great bright eye, + Rain down thy luminous arrows in this breast + With influence calm and high, + And speak to me of many things gone by. + + Rememberest thou--'tis years since, wandering star-- + Those eves in June, + When thou hung'st quivering o'er the tree-tops far, + Where, with discordant tune, + Many-tongued rooks hailed the red-rising moon? + + Some watched thee then with human eyes like mine, + Whose boundless gaze + May now pierce on from orb to orb divine + Up to the Triune blaze + Of glory--nor be dazzled by its rays. + + All things they know, whose wisdom seemed obscure; + They, sometime blamed, + Hold our best purities as things impure: + Their star-glance downward aimed, + Makes our most lamp-like deeds grow pale and shamed. + + Their star-glance?--What if through those rays there gleam + Immortal eyes + Down to this dark? What if these thoughts, that seem + Unbidden to arise, + Be souls with my soul talking from the skies? + + I know not. Yet awhile, and I shall know!-- + Thou, to thy place + Slow journeying back, there startlingly to shew + Thy orb in liquid space, + Like a familiar death-lost angel face-- + + O planet! thou hast blotted out whole years + Of life's dull round; + The Abel-voice of heart's-blood and of tears + Sinks dumb into the ground, + And the green grass waves on with lulling sound. + + + + +GRATUITOUS SERVICES. + + +Never let people work for you _gratis_. Two years ago, a man carried a +bundle for us to Boston, and we have been lending him two shillings a +week ever since.--_American paper_. + + * * * * * + +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. 435, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH *** + +***** This file should be named 18775.txt or 18775.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/7/7/18775/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Richard J. Shiffer and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** + diff --git a/18775.zip b/18775.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffd3455 --- /dev/null +++ b/18775.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b08167c --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #18775 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18775) |
