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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. V,
+October, 1850, Volume I.
+
+
+
+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 http://www.gutenberg.org/license
+
+
+
+Title: Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. V, October, 1850, Volume I.
+
+
+
+Release Date: August 17, 2010 [Ebook #33452]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, NO. V, OCTOBER, 1850, VOLUME I.***
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 Harper's
+
+                           New Monthly Magazine
+
+                      No. V.--October, 1850.--Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Wordsworth--His Character And Genius.
+Sidney Smith. By George Gilfillan.
+Thomas Carlyle. By George Gilfillan.
+The Gentleman Beggar. An Attorney's Story. (From Dickens's Household
+Words.)
+Singular Proceedings Of The Sand Wasp. (From Howitt's Country Year-Book.)
+What Horses Think Of Men. From The Raven In The Happy Family. (From
+Dickens's Household Words.)
+The Quakers During The American War. (From Howitt's Country Year-Book.)
+A Shilling's Worth Of Science. (From Dickens's Household Words.)
+A Tuscan Vintage.
+How To Make Home Unhealthy. By Harriet Martineau.
+Sorrows And Joys. (From Dickens's Household Words.)
+Maurice Tiernay, The Soldier Of Fortune. (From the Dublin University
+Magazine)
+The Enchanted Rock. (From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.)
+The Force Of Fear. (From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.)
+Lady Alice Daventry; Or, The Night Of Crime. (From the Dublin University
+Magazine.)
+Mirabeau. An Anecdote Of His Private Life. (From Chambers's Edinburgh
+Journal.)
+Terrestrial Magnetism. (From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.)
+Early History Of The Use Of Coal. (From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.)
+Jenny Lind. By Fredrika Bremer.
+My Novel; Or, Varieties In English Life. By Pisistratus Caxton. (From
+Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine.)
+The Two Guides Of The Child. (From Dickens's Household Words.)
+The Laboratory In The Chest. (From Dickens's Household Words.)
+The Steel Pen. An Illustration Of Cheapness. (From Dickens's Household
+Words.)
+Snakes And Serpent Charmers. (From Bentley's Miscellany.)
+The Magic Maze. (From Colburn's Monthly Magazine.)
+The Sun. (From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal.)
+The Household Jewels. (From Dickens's Household Words.)
+The Tea-Plant. (From Hogg's Instructor.)
+Anecdotes Of Dr. Chalmers.
+The Pleasures Of Illness. (From the People's Journal.)
+Obstructions To The Use Of The Telescope.
+Monthly Record Of Current Events.
+Literary Notices.
+Autumn Fashions.
+Footnotes
+
+
+
+
+
+
+WORDSWORTH--HIS CHARACTER AND GENIUS.
+
+
+                       [Illustration: Wordsworth.]
+
+In a late article on Southey, we alluded to the solitary position of
+Wordsworth in that lake country where he once shone the brightest star in
+a large galaxy. Since then, the star of Jove, so beautiful and large, has
+gone out in darkness--the greatest laureate of England has expired--the
+intensest, most unique, and most pure-minded of our poets, with the single
+exceptions of Milton and Cowper, is departed. And it were lesemajesty
+against his mighty shade not to pay it our tribute while yet his memory,
+and the grass of his grave, are green.
+
+It is singular, that only a few months have elapsed since the great
+antagonist of his literary fame--Lord Jeffrey (who, we understand,
+persisted to the last in his ungenerous and unjust estimate), left the
+bench of human, to appear at the bar of Divine justice. Seldom has the
+death of a celebrated man produced a more powerful impression in his own
+city and circle, and a less powerful impression on the wide horizon of the
+world. In truth, he had outlived himself. It had been very different had
+he passed away thirty years ago, when the "Edinburgh Review" was in the
+plenitude of its influence. As it was, he disappeared like a star at
+midnight, whose descent is almost unnoticed while the whole heavens are
+white with glory, not like a sun going down, that night may come over the
+earth. One of the acutest, most accomplished, most warm-hearted, and
+generous of men, Jeffrey wanted that stamp of universality, that highest
+order of genius, that depth of insight, and that simple directness of
+purpose, not to speak of that moral and religious consecration, which
+"give the world assurance of a man." He was the idol of Edinburgh, and the
+pride of Scotland, because he condensed in himself those qualities which
+the modern Athens has long been accustomed to covet and admire--taste and
+talent rather than genius--subtlety of appreciation rather than power of
+origination--the logical understanding rather than the inventive
+insight--and because his name _had_ sounded out to the ends of the earth.
+But nature and man, not Edinburgh Castle, or the Grampian Hills merely,
+might be summoned to mourn in Wordsworth's departure the loss of one of
+their truest high-priests, who had gazed into some of the deepest secrets
+of the one, and echoed some of the loftiest aspirations of the other.
+
+To soften such grief, however, there comes in the reflection, that the
+task of this great poet had been nobly discharged. He _had_ given the
+world assurance, full, and heaped, and running over, of what he meant, and
+of what was meant by him. While the premature departure of a Schiller, a
+Byron, or a Keats, gives us emotions similar to those wherewith we would
+behold the crescent moon, snatched away as by some "insatiate archer," up
+into the Infinite, ere it grew into its full glory--Wordsworth, like Scott,
+Goethe, and Southey, was permitted to fill his full and broad sphere.
+
+What Wordsworth's mission was, may be, perhaps, understood through some
+previous remarks upon his great mistress--Nature, as a poetical personage.
+
+There are three methods of contemplating nature. These are the material,
+the shadowy, and the mediatorial. The materialist looks upon it as the
+great and only reality. It is a vast solid fact, for ever burning and
+rolling around, below and above him. The idealist, on the contrary,
+regards it as a shadow--a mode of mind--the infinite projection of his own
+thought. The man who stands _between_ the two extremes, looks on nature as
+a great, but not ultimate or everlasting scheme of mediation, or
+compromise, between pure and absolute spirit and humanity--adumbrating God
+to man, and bringing man near to God. To the materialist, there is an
+altar, star-lighted heaven-high, but no God. To the idealist, there is a
+God, but no altar. He who holds the theory of mediation, has the Great
+Spirit as his God, and the universe as the altar on which he presents the
+gift of his poetical (we do not speak at present so much of his
+theological) adoration.
+
+It must be obvious, at once, which of those three views of nature is the
+most poetical. It is surely that which keeps the two principles of spirit
+and matter distinct and unconfounded--preserves in their proper
+relations--the soul and the body of things--God within, and without the
+garment by which, in Goethe's grand thought, "we see him by." While one
+party deify, and another destroy matter, the third impregnate, without
+identifying it with the Divine presence.
+
+The notions suggested by this view, which is that of Scripture, are
+exceedingly comprehensive and magnificent. Nature becomes to the poet's
+eye "_a great sheet let down from God out of heaven_," and in which there
+is no object "common or unclean." The purpose and the Being above cast
+such a grandeur over the pettiest or barest objects, as did the fiery
+pillar upon the sand, or the shrubs of the howling desert of its march.
+Every thing becomes valuable when looked upon as a communication from God,
+imperfect only from the nature of the material used. What otherwise might
+have been concluded discords, now appear only stammerings or whisperings
+in the Divine voice; thorns and thistles spring above the primeval curse,
+the "meanest flower that blows" gives
+
+
+    "Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."
+
+
+The creation is neither unduly exalted nor contemptuously trampled
+under-foot, but maintains its dignified position, as an embassador from
+the Divine King. The glory of something far beyond association--that of a
+divine and perpetual presence--is shed over the landscape, and its
+golden-drops are spilled upon the stars. Objects the most diverse--the
+cradle of the child, the wet hole of the centipede, the bed of the corpse,
+and the lair of the earthquake, the nest of the lark, and the crag on
+which sits, half asleep, the dark vulture, digesting blood--are all clothed
+in a light the same in kind, though varying in degree--
+
+
+    "A light which never was on sea or shore."
+
+
+In the poetry of the Hebrews, accordingly, the locusts are God's "great
+army;"--the winds are his messengers, the thunder his voice, the lightning
+a "fiery stream going before him," the moon his witness in the heavens,
+the sun a strong man rejoicing to run his race--all creation is roused and
+startled into life through him--its every beautiful, or dire, or strange
+shape in the earth or the sky, is God's movable tent; the place where, for
+a season, his honor, his beauty, his strength, and his justice dwell--the
+tenant not degraded, and inconceivable dignity being added to the abode.
+
+His mere "tent," however--for while the great and the infinite are thus
+connected with the little and the finite, the subordination of the latter
+to the former is always maintained. The most magnificent objects in nature
+are but the mirrors to God's face--the scaffolding to his future purposes;
+and, like mirrors, are to wax dim; and, like scaffolding, to be removed.
+The great sheet is to be _received up_ again into heaven. The heavens and
+the earth are to pass away, and to be succeeded, if not by a purely mental
+economy, yet by one of a more spiritual materialism, compared to which the
+former shall no more be remembered, neither come into mind. Those
+frightful and fantastic forms of animated life, through which God's glory
+seems to shine with a struggle, and but faintly, shall disappear--nay, the
+worlds which bore, and sheltered them in their rugged dens and eaves,
+shall flee from the face of the regenerator. "A milder day" is to dawn on
+the universe--the refinement of matter is to keep pace with the elevation
+of mind. Evil and sin are to be eternally banished to some Siberia of
+space. The word of the poet is to be fulfilled,
+
+
+    "And one eternal spring encircles all!"
+
+
+The mediatorial purpose of creation, fully subserved, is to be abandoned,
+that we may see "eye to eye," and that God may be "all in all."
+
+That such views of matter--its present ministry--the source of its beauty
+and glory--and its future destiny, transferred from the pages of both
+Testaments to those of our great moral and religious poets, have deepened
+some of their profoundest, and swelled some of their highest strains, is
+unquestionable. Such prospects as were in Milton's eye, when he sung,
+
+
+            "Thy Saviour and thy Lord
+    Last in the clouds from heaven to be revealed,
+    In glory of the Father to dissolve
+    Satan with his perverted world; then raise
+    From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,
+    New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date,"
+
+
+may be found in Thomson, in his closing Hymn to the Seasons, in
+Coleridge's "Religious Musings," (in Shelley's "Prometheus" even, but
+perverted and disguised), in Bailey's "Festus" (cumbered and entangled
+with his religious theory); and more rootedly, although less
+theologically, than in all the rest, in the poetry of Wordsworth.
+
+The secret of Wordsworth's profound and peculiar love for Nature, even in
+her meaner and minuter forms, may lie, perhaps, here. De Quincey seeks for
+it in a peculiar conformation of the eye, as if he actually did see more
+in the object than other men--in the rose a richer red, in the sky a deeper
+azure, in the broom a yellower gold, in the sun a more dazzling ray, in
+the sea a finer foam, and in the star a more sparkling splendor, than even
+Nature's own "sweet and cunning" hand put on; but the critic has not
+sought to explain the rationale of this peculiarity. Mere acuteness of
+vision it can not have been, else the eagle might have _felt_, though not
+written, "The Excursion"--else the fact is not accountable why many of weak
+sight, such as Burke, have been rapturous admirers of Nature; and so, till
+we learn that Mr. De Quincey has looked through Wordsworth's eyes, we must
+call this a mere fancy. Hazlitt again, and others since, have accounted
+for the phenomenon by association--but this fails, we suspect, fully to
+explain the deep, native, and brooding passion in question--a passion
+which, instead of being swelled by the associations of after life, rose to
+lull stature in youth, as "Tintern Abbey" testifies. One word of his own,
+perhaps, better solves the mystery--it is the one word "consecration"--
+
+
+    "The _consecration_ and the poet's dream."
+
+
+His eye had been anointed with eye-salve, and he saw, as his
+poet-predecessors had done, the temple in which he was standing, heard in
+every breeze and ocean billow the sound of a temple-service, and felt that
+the grandeur of the ritual, and of its recipient, threw the shadow of
+their greatness upon every stone in the corners of the edifice, and upon
+every eft crawling along its floors. Reversing the miracle, he saw "trees
+as men walking"--heard the speechless sins, and, in the beautiful thought
+of "the Roman," caught on his ear the fragments of a "divine soliloquy,"
+filling up the pauses in a universal anthem. Hence the tumultuous, yet
+awful joy of his youthful feelings to Nature. Hence his estimation of its
+lowliest features; for does not every bush and tree appear to him a
+"pillar in the temple of his God?" The leaping fish pleases him, because
+its "cheer" in the lonely tarn is of praise. The dropping of the earth on
+the coffin lid, is a slow and solemn psalm, mingling in austere sympathy
+with the raven's croak, and in his "Power of sound" he proceeds
+elaborately to condense all those varied voices, high or low, soft or
+harsh, united or discordant, into one crushing chorus, like the choruses
+of Haydn, or of heaven. Nature undergoes no outward change to his _eye_,
+but undergoes a far deeper transfiguration to his spirit--as she stands up
+in the white robes, and with the sounding psalmodies of her mediatorial
+office, between him and the Infinite I AM.
+
+Never must this feeling be confounded with Pantheism. All does not seem to
+him to be God, nor even (strictly speaking) divine; but all seems to be
+immediately _from_ God--rushing out from him in being, to rush instantly
+back to him in service and praise. Again the natal dew of the first
+morning is seen lying on bud and blade, and the low voice of the first
+evening's song becomes audible again. Although Coleridge in his youth was
+a Spinozist, Wordsworth seems at once, and forever, to have recoiled from
+even his friend's eloquent version of that creedless creed, that baseless
+foundation, that system, through the _phenomenon_ of which look not the
+bright eyes of Supreme Intelligence, but the blind face of irresponsible
+and infinite necessity. Shelley himself--with all the power his critics
+attribute to him of painting night, animating Atheism, and giving strange
+loveliness to annihilation--has failed in redeeming Spinoza's theory from
+the reproach of being as hateful as it is false; and there is no axiom we
+hold more strongly than this--that the theory which can not be rendered
+poetical, can not be true. "Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty," said
+poor Keats, to whom time, however, was not granted to come down from the
+first glowing generalization of his heart, to the particular creeds which
+his ripened intellect would have, according to _it_, rejected or received.
+
+Nor, although Wordsworth is a devoted lover of Nature, down to what many
+consider the very blots--or, at least, dashes and commas in her page, is he
+blind to the fact of her transient character. The power he worships has
+his "dwelling in the light of setting suns," but that dwelling is not his
+everlasting abode. For earth, and the universe, a "_milder day_" (words
+certifying their truth by their simple beauty) is in store when "the
+monuments" of human weakness, folly, and evil, shall "all be over-grown."
+He sees afar off the great spectacle of Nature retiring before God; the
+embassador giving place to the King; the bright toys of this nursery--sun,
+moon, earth, and stars--put away, like childish things; the symbols of the
+Infinite lost in the Infinite itself; and though he could, on the Saturday
+evening, bow before the midnight mountains, and midnight heavens, he could
+also, on the Sabbath morn, in Rydal church, bow as profoundly before the
+apostolic word, "All these things shall be dissolved."
+
+With Wordsworth, as with all great poets, his poetical creed passes into
+his religious. It is the same tune with variations. But we confess that,
+in his case, we do not think the variations equal. The mediation of Nature
+he understands, and has beautifully represented in his poetry; but that
+higher mediation of the Divine Man between man and the Father, does not
+lie fully or conspicuously on his page. A believer in the mystery of
+godliness he unquestionably was; but he seldom preached it. Christopher
+North, many years ago, in "Blackwood," doubted if there were so much as a
+Bible in poor Margaret's cottage (Excursion). We doubt so, too, and have
+not found much of the "true cross" among all his trees. The theologians
+divide prayer into four parts--adoration, thanksgiving, confession, and
+petition. Wordsworth stops at the second. No where do we find more solemn,
+sustained, habitual, and worthy adoration, than in his writings. The tone,
+too, of all his poems, is a calm thanksgiving, like that of a long blue,
+cloudless sky, coloring, at evening, into the hues of more fiery praise.
+But he does not weep like a penitent, nor supplicate like a child. Such
+feelings seem suppressed and folded up as far-off storms, and the traces
+of past tempests are succinctly inclosed in the algebra of the silent
+evening air. And hence, like Milton's, his poetry has rather tended to
+foster the glow of devotion in the loftier spirits of the race--previously
+taught to adore--than like that of Cowper and Montgomery, to send prodigals
+back to their forsaken homes; Davids, to cry, "Against thee only have I
+sinned;" and Peters, to shriek in agony, "Lord, save us, we perish."
+
+To pass from the essential poetic element in a writer of genius, to his
+artistic skill, is a felt, yet necessary descent--like the painter
+compelled, after sketching the man's countenance, to draw his dress. And
+yet, as of some men and women, the very dress, by its simplicity,
+elegance, and unity, seems fitted rather to garb the soul than the
+body--seems the soul made visible--so is it with the style and manner of
+many great poets. Their speech and music without are as inevitable as
+their genius, or as the song forever sounding within their souls. And why?
+The whole ever tends to beget a whole--the large substance to cast its
+deep, yet delicate shadow--the divine to be like itself in the human, on
+which its seal is set. So it is with Wordsworth. That profound
+simplicity--that clear obscurity--that night-like noon--that noon-like
+night--that one atmosphere of overhanging Deity, seen weighing upon ocean
+and pool, mountain and mole-hill, forest and flower--that pellucid
+depth--that entireness of purpose and fullness of power, connected with
+fragmentary, willful, or even weak execution--that humble, yet proud,
+precipitation of himself, Antæus-like, upon the bosom of simple scenes and
+simple sentiments, to regain primeval vigor--that obscure, yet lofty
+isolation, like a tarn, little in size, but elevated in site, with few
+visitors, but with many stars--that Tory-Radicalism, Popish-Protestantism,
+philosophical Christianity, which have rendered him a glorious riddle, and
+made Shelley, in despair of finding it out, exclaim,
+
+
+    "No Deist, and no Christian he,
+    No Whig, no Tory.
+    He got so subtle, that to be
+    _Nothing_ was all his glory,"--
+
+
+all such apparent contradictions, but real unities, in his poetical and
+moral creed and character, are fully expressed in his lowly but aspiring
+language, and the simple, elaborate architecture of his verse--every stone
+of which is lifted up by the strain of strong logic, and yet laid to
+music; and, above all, in the choice of his subjects, which range, with a
+free and easy motion, up from a garden spade and a village drum, to the
+"celestial visages" which darkened at the tidings of man's fall, and to
+the "organ of eternity," which sung pæans over his recovery.
+
+We sum up what we have further to say of Wordsworth, under the items of
+his works, his life and character, his death; and shall close by
+inquiring, Who is worthy to be his successor?
+
+His works, covering a large space, and abounding in every variety of
+excellence and style, assume, after all, a fragmentary aspect. They are
+true, simple, scattered, and strong, as blocks torn from the crags of
+Helvellyn, and lying there "low, but mighty still." Few even of his
+ballads are wholes. They leave too much untold. They are far too
+suggestive to satisfy. From each poem, however rounded, there streams off
+a long train of thought: like the tail of a comet, which, while testifying
+its power, mars its aspect of oneness. The "Excursion," avowedly a
+fragment, seems the splinter of a larger splinter; like a piece of Pallas,
+itself a piece of some split planet. Of all his poems, perhaps, his
+sonnets, his "Laodamia," his "Intimations of Immortality," and his verses
+on the "Eclipse in Italy," are the most complete in execution, as
+certainly they are the most classical in design. Dramatic power he has
+none, nor does he regret the want. "I hate," he was wont to say to
+Hazlitt, "those interlocutions between Caius and Lucius." He sees, as
+"from a tower, the end of all." The waving lights and shadows, the varied
+loopholes of view, the shiftings and fluctuations of feeling, the growing,
+broadening interest of the drama, have no charm for him. His mind, from
+its gigantic size, contracts a gigantic stiffness. It "moveth altogether,
+if it move at all." Hence, some of his smaller poems remind you of the
+dancing of an elephant, or of the "hills leaping like lambs." Many of the
+little poems which he wrote upon a system, are exceedingly tame and
+feeble. Yet often, even in his narrow bleak vales, we find one "meek
+streamlet--only one"--beautifying the desolation; and feel how painful it is
+for him to become poor, and that, when he sinks, it is with "compulsion
+and laborious flight." But, having subtracted such faults, how much
+remains--of truth--of tenderness--of sober, eve-like grandeur--of purged
+beauties, white and clean as the lilies of Eden--of calm, deep reflection,
+contained in lines and sentences which have become proverbs--of mild
+enthusiasm--of minute knowledge of nature--of strong, yet unostentatious
+sympathy with man--and of devout and breathless communion with the Great
+Author of all! Apart altogether from their intellectual pretensions
+Wordsworth's poems possess a moral clearness, beauty, transparency, and
+harmony, which connect them immediately with those of Milton: and beside
+the more popular poetry of the past age--such as Byron's, and Moore's--they
+remind us of that unplanted garden, where the shadow of God united all
+trees of fruitfulness, and all flowers of beauty, into one; where the
+"large river," which watered the whole, "ran south," toward the sun of
+heaven--when compared with the gardens of the Hesperides, where a dragon
+was the presiding deity, or with those of Vauxhall or White Conduit-house,
+where Comus and his rabble rout celebrate their undisguised orgies of
+miscalled and miserable pleasure.
+
+                             [Illustration.]
+
+                    Wordsworth's Home at Rydal Mount.
+
+
+To write a great poem demands years--to write a great undying example,
+demands a lifetime. Such a life, too, becomes a poem--higher far than pen
+can inscribe, or metre make musical. Such a life it was granted to
+Wordsworth to live in severe harmony with his verse--as it lowly, and as it
+aspiring, to live, too, amid opposition, obloquy, and abuse--to live, too,
+amid the glare of that watchful observation, which has become to public
+men far more keen and far more capacious in its powers and opportunities,
+than in Milton's days. It was not, unquestionably, a perfect life, even as
+a man's, far less as a poet's. He did feel and resent, more than beseemed
+a great man, the pursuit and persecution of the hounds, whether "gray" and
+swift-footed, or whether curs of low degree, who dogged his steps. His
+voice from his woods sounded at times rather like the moan of wounded
+weakness, than the bellow of masculine wrath. He should, simply, in reply
+to his opponents, have written on at his poems, and let his prefaces
+alone. "If they receive your first book ill," wrote Thomas Carlyle to a
+new author, "write the second better--so much better as to shame them."
+When will authors learn that to answer an unjust attack, is, merely to
+give it a keener edge, and that all injustice carries the seed of oblivion
+and exposure in itself? To use the language of the masculine spirit just
+quoted, "it is really a truth, one never knows whether praise be really
+good for one--or whether it be not, in very fact, the worst poison that
+could be administered. Blame, or even vituperation, I have always found a
+safer article. In the long run, a man _has_, and _is_, just what he _is_
+and _has_--the world's notion of him has not altered him at all, except,
+indeed, if it have poisoned him with self-conceit, and made a _caput
+mortuum_ of him."
+
+The sensitiveness of authors--were it not such a _sore_ subject--might admit
+of some curious reflections. One would sometimes fancy that Apollo, in an
+angry hour, had done to his sons, what fable records him to have done to
+Marsyas--_flayed_ them alive. Nothing has brought more contempt upon
+authors than this--implying, as it does, a lack of common courage and
+manhood. The true son of genius ought to rush before the public as the
+warrior into battle, resolved to hack and hew his way to eminence and
+power, not to whimper like a schoolboy at every scratch--to acknowledge
+only home thrusts--large, life-letting-out blows--determined either to
+conquer or to die, and, feeling that battles should be lost in the same
+spirit in which they are won. If Wordsworth did not fully answer this
+ideal, others have sunk far more disgracefully and habitually below it.
+
+In private, Wordsworth, we understand, was pure, mild, simple, and
+majestic--perhaps somewhat austere in his judgments of the erring, and,
+perhaps, somewhat narrow in his own economics. In accordance, we suppose,
+with that part of his poetic system, which magnified mole-heaps to
+mountains, _pennies_ assumed the importance of _pounds_. It is ludicrous,
+yet characteristic, to think of the great author of the "Recluse,"
+squabbling with a porter about the price of a parcel, or bidding down an
+old book at a stall. He was one of the few poets who were ever guilty of
+the crime of worldly prudence--that ever could have fulfilled the old
+parodox, "A poet has built a house." In his young days, according to
+Hazlitt, he said little in society--sat generally lost in thought--threw out
+a bold or an indifferent remark occasionally--and relapsed into reverie
+again. In latter years, he became more talkative and oracular. His health
+and habits were always regular, his temperament happy, and his heart sound
+and pure.
+
+We have said that his life, _as a poet_, was far from perfect. Our meaning
+is, that he did not sufficiently, owing to temperament, or position, or
+habits, sympathize with the on-goings of society, the fullness of modern
+life, and the varied passions, unbeliefs, sins, and miseries of modern
+human nature. His soul dwelt apart. He came, like the Baptist, "neither
+eating nor drinking," and men said, "he hath a demon." He saw at morning,
+from London bridge, "all its mighty heart" lying still; but he did not at
+noon plunge artistically into the thick of its throbbing life; far less
+sound the depths of its wild midnight heavings of revel and wretchedness,
+of hopes and fears, of stifled fury and eloquent despair. Nor, although he
+sung the "mighty stream of tendency" of this wondrous age, did he ever
+launch his poetic craft upon it, nor seem to see the _witherward_ of its
+swift and awful stress. He has, on the whole, stood aside from his
+time--not on a peak of the past--not on an anticipated Alp of the future,
+but on his own Cumberland highlands--hearing the tumult and remaining
+still, lifting up his life as a far-seen beacon-fire, studying the manners
+of the humble dwellers in the vales below--"piping a simple song to
+thinking hearts," and striving to waft to brother spirits, the fine
+infection of his own enthusiasm, faith, hope, and devotion. Perhaps, had
+he been less strict and consistent in creed and in character, he might
+have attained greater breadth, blood-warmth, and wide-spread power, have
+presented on his page a fuller reflection of our present state, and drawn
+from his poetry a yet stronger moral, and become the Shakspeare, instead
+of the Milton, of the age. For himself, he did undoubtedly choose the
+"better part;" nor do we mean to insinuate that any man ought to
+contaminate himself for the sake of his art, but that the poet of a period
+will necessarily come so near to its peculiar sins, sufferings, follies,
+and mistakes, as to understand them, and even to feel the force of their
+temptations, and though he should never yield to, yet must have a
+"fellow-feeling" of its prevailing infirmities.
+
+The death of this eminent man took few by surprise. Many anxious eyes have
+for a while been turned toward Rydal mount, where this hermit stream was
+nearly sinking into the ocean of the Infinite. And now, to use his own
+grand word, used at the death of Scott, a "trouble" hangs upon Helvellyn's
+brow, and over the waters of Windermere. The last of the Lakers has
+departed. That glorious country has become a tomb for its more glorious
+children. No more is Southey's tall form seen at his library window,
+confronting Skiddaw--with a port as stately as its own. No more does
+Coleridge's dim eye look down into the dim tarn, heavy laden, too, under
+the advancing thunder-storm. And no more is Wordsworth's pale and lofty
+front shaded into divine twilight, as he plunges at noon-day amidst the
+quiet woods. A stiller, sterner power than poetry has folded into its
+strict, yet tender and yearning embrace, those
+
+
+    "Serene creators of immortal things."
+
+
+Alas! for the pride and the glory even of the purest products of this
+strange world! Sin and science, pleasure and poetry, the lowest vices, and
+the highest aspirations, are equally unable to rescue their votaries from
+the swift ruin which is in chase of us all.
+
+
+    "Golden lads and girls all must
+    Like chimney-sweepers come to dust."
+
+
+But Wordsworth has left for himself an epitaph almost superfluously
+rich--in the memory of his private virtues--of the impulse he gave to our
+declining poetry--of the sympathies he discovered in all his strains with
+the poor, the neglected, and the despised--of the version he furnished of
+Nature, true and beautiful as if it were Nature _describing herself_--of
+his lofty and enacted ideal of his art and the artist--of the "thoughts,
+too deep for tears," he has given to meditative and lonely hearts--and,
+above all, of the support he has lent to the cause of the "primal duties"
+and eldest instincts of man--to his hope of immortality, and his fear of
+God. And now we bid him farewell, in his own words--
+
+
+    "Blessings be with him, and eternal praise,
+    The _poet_, who on earth has made us heirs
+    Of truth and pure delight, by heavenly lays."
+
+
+Although, as already remarked, not the poet of the age--it has, in our
+view, been, on the whole, fortunate for poetry and society, that for seven
+years William Wordsworth has been poet-laureate. We live in a transition
+state in respect to both. The march and the music are both changing--nor
+are they yet fully attuned to each other--and, meanwhile, it was desirable
+that a poet should preside, whose strains formed a fine "musical
+confusion," like that of old in the "wood of Crete"--of the old and the
+new--of the Conservative and the Democratic--of the golden age, supposed by
+many to have existed in the past, and of the millennium, expected by more
+in the future--a compromise of the two poetical styles besides--the one,
+which clung to the hoary tradition of the elders, and the other, which
+accepted innovation because it was new, and boldness because it was
+daring, and mysticism because it was dark--not truth, _though_ new; beauty,
+_though_ bold; and insight, _though_ shadowy and shy. Nay, we heartily
+wish, had it been for nothing else than this, that his reign had lasted
+for many years longer, till, perchance, the discordant elements in our
+creeds and literature, had been somewhat harmonized. As it is, there must
+now be great difficulty in choosing his successor to the laureateship; nor
+is there, we think, a single name in our poetry whose elevation to the
+office would give universal, or even general, satisfaction.
+
+Milman is a fine poet, but not a great one. Croly is, or ought to have
+been, a great poet; but is not sufficiently known, nor _en rapport_ with
+the spirit of the time. Bowles is dead--Moore dying. Lockhart and Macaulay
+have written clever ballads; but no shapely, continuous, and masterly
+poem. John Wilson, _alias_ Christopher North, has more poetry in his eye,
+brow, head, hair, figure, voice, talk, and the prose of his "Noetes," than
+any man living; but his verse, on the whole, is mawkish--and his being a
+Scotchman will be a stumbling-block to many, though not to us; for, had
+Campbell been alive, we should have said at once, let him be laureate--if
+manly grace, classic power, and genuine popularity, form qualifications
+for the office. Tennyson, considering all he has done, has received his
+full meed already. Let him and Leigh Hunt repose under the shadow of their
+pensions. Our gifted friends, Bailey, of "Festus," and Yendys, of the
+"Roman," are yet in blossom--though it is a glorious blossom. Henry Taylor
+is rather in the sere and yellow leaf--nor was his leaf ever, in our
+judgment, very fresh or ample: a masterly builder he is, certainly, but
+the materials he brings are not highly poetical. When Dickens is promoted
+to Scott's wizard throne, let Browning succeed Wordsworth on the forked
+Helvellyn! Landor is a vast monumental name; but, while he has overawed
+the higher intellects of the time, he has never touched the general heart,
+nor _told_ the world much, except his great opinion of himself, the low
+opinion he has of almost every body else, and the very learned reasons and
+sufficient grounds he has for supporting those twin opinions. Never was
+such power so wasted and thrown away. The proposition of a lady laureate
+is simply absurd, without being witty. Why not as soon have proposed the
+Infant Sappho? In short, if we ask again, _Where_ is the poet worthy to
+wear the crown which has dropped from the solemn brow of "old Pan," "sole
+king of rocky Cumberland?"--Echo, from Glaramara, or the Langdale Pikes,
+might well answer, "Where?"
+
+We have, however, a notion of our own, which we mean, as a close to the
+article, to indicate. The laureateship was too long a sop for parasites,
+whose politics and poetry were equally tame. It seems now to have become
+the late reward of veteran merit--the Popedom of poetry. Why not, rather,
+hang it up as a crown, to be won by our rising bards--either as the reward
+of some special poem on an appointed subject, or of general merit? Why not
+delay for a season the bestowal of the laurel, and give thus a national
+importance to its decision?
+
+
+
+
+
+SIDNEY SMITH. BY GEORGE GILFILLAN.
+
+
+                             [Illustration.]
+
+                              Sidney Smith.
+
+
+It is melancholy to observe how speedily, successively, nay, almost
+simultaneously, our literary luminaries are disappearing from the sky.
+Every year another and another member of the bright clusters which arose
+about the close of the last, or at the beginning of this century, is
+fading from our view. Within nineteen years, what havoc, by the "insatiate
+archer," among the ruling spirits of the time! Since 1831, Robert Hall,
+Andrew Thomson, Goethe, Cuvier, Mackintosh, Crabbe, Foster, Coleridge,
+Edward Irving, Sir Walter Scott, Charles Lamb, Southey, Thomas Campbell,
+&c., have entered on the "silent land;" and latterly has dropped down one
+of the wittiest and shrewdest of them all--the projector of the "Edinburgh
+Review"--the author of "Peter Plymley's Letters"--the preacher--the
+politician--the brilliant converser--the "mad-wag"--Sidney Smith.
+
+It was the praise of Dryden that he was the best reasoner in verse who
+ever wrote; let it be the encomium of our departed Sidney that, he was one
+of the best reasoners in wit of whom our country can boast. His
+intellect--strong, sharp, clear, and decided--wrought and moved in a rich
+medium of humor. Each thought, as it came forth from his brain, issued as
+"in dance," and amid a flood of inextinguishable laughter. The march of
+his mind through his subject resembled the procession of Bacchus from the
+conquest of India--joyous, splendid, straggling--to the sound of flutes and
+hautboys--rather a victory than a march--rather a revel than a contest. His
+logic seemed always hurrying into the arms of his wit. Some men argue in
+mathematical formulæ; others, like Burke, in the figures and flights of
+poetry; others in the fire and fury of passion; Sidney Smith in exuberant
+and riotous fun. And yet the matter of his reasoning was solid, and its
+inner spirit earnest and true. But though his steel was strong and sharp,
+his hand steady, and his aim clear, the management of the motions of his
+weapon was always fantastic. He piled, indeed, like a Titan, his Pelion on
+Ossa, but at the oddest of angles; he lifted and carried his load bravely,
+and like a man, but laughed as he did so; and so carried it that beholders
+forgot the strength of the arm in the strangeness of the attitude. He thus
+sometimes disarmed anger; for his adversaries could scarcely believe that
+they had received a deadly wound while their foe was roaring in their
+face. He thus did far greater execution; for the flourishes of his weapon
+might distract his opponents, but never himself, from the direct and
+terrible line of the blow. His laughter sometimes stunned, like the
+cachination of the Cyclops, shaking the sides of his cave. In this
+mood--and it was his common one--what scorn was he wont to pour upon the
+opponents of Catholic emancipation--upon the enemies of all change in
+legislation--upon any individual or party who sought to obstruct measures
+which, in his judgment, were likely to benefit the country. Under such, he
+could at any moment spring a mine of laughter; and what neither the fierce
+invective of Brougham, nor the light and subtle raillery of Jeffrey could
+do, his contemptuous explosion effected, and, himself crying with mirth,
+saw them hoisted toward heaven in ten thousand comical splinters.
+Comparing him with other humorists of a similar class, we might say, that
+while Swift's ridicule resembles something between a sneer and a spasm
+(half a sneer of mirth, half a spasm of misery)--while Cobbett's is a
+grin--Fonblanque's a light but deep and most significant smile--Jeffrey's a
+sneer, just perceptible on his fastidious lip--Wilson's a strong, healthy,
+hearty laugh--Carlyle's a wild unearthly sound, like the neighing of a
+homeless steed--Sidney Smith's is a genuine guffaw, given forth with his
+whole heart, and soul, and mind, and strength. Apart from his matchless
+humor, strong, rough, instinctive, and knotty sense was the leading
+feature of his mind. Every thing like mystification, sophistry, and
+humbug, fled before the first glance of his piercing eye; every thing in
+the shape of affectation excited in him a disgust "as implacable" as even
+a Cowper could feel. If possible, with still deeper aversion did his manly
+nature regard cant in its various forms and disguises; and his motto in
+reference to it was, "spare no arrows." But the mean, the low, the paltry,
+the dishonorable, in nations or in individuals, moved all the fountains of
+his bile, and awakened all the energy of his invective. Always lively,
+generally witty, he is never eloquent, except when emptying out his vials
+of indignation upon baseness in all its shapes. His is the ire of a
+genuine "English gentleman, all of the olden time." It was in this spirit
+that he recently explained, in his own way, the old distinctions of Meum
+and Tuum to Brother Jonathan, when the latter was lamentably inclined to
+forget them. It was the same sting of generous indignation which, in the
+midst of his character of Mackintosh, prompted the memorable picture of
+that extraordinary being who, by his transcendent talents and his tortuous
+movements--his head of gold, and his feet of miry clay--has become the
+glory, the riddle, and the regret of his country, his age, and his
+species.
+
+As a writer, Smith is little more than a very clever, witty, and ingenious
+pamphleteer. He has effected no permanent _chef d'oeuvre_; he has founded
+no school; he has left little behind him that the "world will not
+willingly let die;" he has never drawn a tear from a human eye, nor
+excited a thrill of grandeur in a human bosom. His reviews are not
+preserved by the salt of original genius, nor are they pregnant with
+profound and comprehensive principle; they have no resemblance to the
+sibylline leaves which Burke tore out from the vast volume of his mind,
+and scattered with imperial indifference among the nations; they are not
+the illuminated indices of universal history, like the papers of Macaulay;
+they are not specimens of pure and perfect English, set with modest but
+magnificent ornaments, like the criticism of Jeffrey or of Hall; nor are
+they the excerpts, rugged and rent away by violence, from the dark and
+iron tablet of an obscure and original mind, like the reviews of Foster;
+but they are exquisite _jeux d'esprit_, admirable occasional pamphlets,
+which, though now they look to us like spent arrows, yet assuredly have
+done execution, and have not been spent in vain. And as, after the lapse
+of a century and more, we can still read with pleasure Addison's "Old Whig
+and Freeholder," for the sake of the exquisite humor and inimitable style
+in which forgotten feuds and dead logomachies are embalmed, so may it be,
+a century still, with the articles on Bentham's Fallacies and on the Game
+Laws, and with the letters of the witty and ingenious Peter Plymley. There
+is much at least in those singular productions--in their clear and manly
+sense--in their broad native fun--in their rapid, careless, energetic
+style--and in their bold, honest, liberal, and thoroughly English spirit--to
+interest several succeeding generations, if not to secure the "rare and
+regal" palm of immortality.
+
+Sidney Smith was a writer of sermons as well as of political squibs. Is
+not their memory eternized in one of John Foster's most ponderous pieces
+of sarcasm? In an evil hour the dexterous and witty critic came forth from
+behind the fastnesses of the Edinburgh Review, whence, in perfect security
+he had shot his quick glancing shafts at Methodists and Missions, at
+Christian Observers and Eclectic Reviews, at Owens and Styles, and (what
+the more wary Jeffrey, in the day of his power, always avoided) became
+himself an author, and, _mirabile dictu_, an author of sermons. It was as
+if he wished to give his opponents their revenge, and no sooner did his
+head peep forth from beneath the protection of its shell than the
+elephantine foot of Foster was prepared to crush it in the dust. It was
+the precise position of Saladin with the Knight of the Leopard, in their
+memorable contest near the Diamond of the Desert. In the skirmish Smith
+had it all his own way; but when it came to close quarters, and when the
+heavy and mailed hand of the sturdy Baptist had confirmed its grasp on his
+opponent, the disparity was prodigious, and the discomfiture of the light
+horseman complete. But why recall the memory of an obsolete quarrel and a
+forgotten field? The sermons--the _causa belli_--clever but dry, destitute
+of earnestness and unction--are long since dead and buried; and their
+review remains their only monument.
+
+Even when, within his own stronghold, our author intermeddled with
+theological topics, it was seldom with felicity or credit to himself. His
+onset on missions was a sad mistake; and in attacking the Methodists, and
+poor, pompous John Styles, he becomes as filthy and foul-mouthed as Swift
+himself. His wit forsakes him, and a rabid invective ill supplies its
+place; instead of laughing, he raves and foams at the mouth. Indeed,
+although an eloquent and popular preacher, and in many respects an
+ornament to his cloth, there was one radical evil about Smith; _he had
+mistaken his profession_. He was intended for a barrister, or a literary
+man, or a member of parliament, or some occupation into which he could
+have flung his whole soul and strength. As it was, but half his heart was
+in a profession which, of all others, would require the whole. He became
+consequently a rather awkward medley of buffoon, politician, preacher,
+literateur, divine, and diner-out. Let us grant, however, that the ordeal
+was severe, and that, if a very few have weathered it better, many more
+have ignominiously broken down. No one coincides more fully than we do
+with Coleridge in thinking that every literary man should have a
+profession; but in the name of common sense let it be one fitted for him,
+and for which he is fitted--one suited to his tastes as well as to his
+talents--to his habits as well as to his powers--to his heart as well as to
+his head.
+
+As a conversationist, Sidney Smith stood high among the highest--a Saul
+among a tribe of Titans. His jokes were not rare and refined, like those
+of Rogers and Jekyll; they wanted the slyness of Theodore Hook's
+inimitable equivoque; they were not poured forth with the prodigal
+profusion of Hood's breathless and bickering puns; they were rich, fat,
+unctuous, always bordering on farce, but always avoiding it by a
+hair's-breadth. No finer cream, certes, ever mantled at the feasts of
+Holland House than his fertile brain supplied; and, to quote himself, it
+would require a "forty-parson power" of lungs and language to do justice
+to his convivial merits. An acquaintance of ours sometimes met him in the
+company of Jeffrey and Macaulay--a fine concord of first-rate performers,
+content, generally, to keep each within his own part, except when, now and
+then, the author of the "Lays" burst out irresistibly, and changed the
+concert into a fine solo.
+
+Altogether "we could have better spared a better man." Did not his death
+"eclipse the gayety of nations?" Did not a Fourth Estate of Fun expire
+from the midst of us? Did not even Brother Jonathan drop a tear when he
+thought that the scourge that so mercilessly lashed him was broken? And
+shall not now all his admirers unite with us in inscribing upon his
+grave--"Alas! poor Yorick!"
+
+
+
+
+
+THOMAS CARLYLE. BY GEORGE GILFILLAN.
+
+
+                             [Illustration.]
+
+                             Thomas Carlyle.
+
+
+Thomas Carlyle was born at Ecclefechan, Annandale. His parents were "good
+farmer people," his father an elder in the Secession church there, and a
+man of strong native sense, whose words were said to "nail a subject to
+the wall." His excellent mother still lives, and we had the pleasure of
+meeting her lately in the company of her illustrious son; and beautiful it
+was to see his profound and tender regard, and her motherly and yearning
+reverence--to hear her fine old covenanting accents, concerting with his
+transcendental tones. He studied in Edinburgh. Previous to this, he had
+become intimate with Edward Irving, an intimacy which continued unimpaired
+to the close of the latter's eccentric career. Like most Scottish
+students, he had many struggles to encounter in the course of his
+education; and had, we believe, to support himself by private tuition,
+translations for the booksellers, &c. The day star of German literature
+arose early in his soul, and has been his guide and genius ever since. He
+entered into a correspondence with Goethe, which lasted, at intervals,
+till the latter's death. Yet he has never, we understand, visited Germany.
+He was, originally, destined for the church. At one period he taught an
+academy in Dysart, at the same time that Irving was teaching in Kirkaldy.
+After his marriage, he resided partly at Comely Bank, Edinburgh; and, for
+a year or two in Craigenputtock, a wild and solitary farm-house in the
+upper part of Dumfriesshire. Here, however, far from society, save that,
+of the "great dumb monsters of mountains," he wearied out his very heart.
+A ludicrous story is told of Lord Jeffrey visiting him in this
+out-of-the-way region, when they were unapprized of his coming--had nothing
+in the house fit for the palate of the critic, and had, in dire haste and
+pother, to send off for the wherewithal to a market town about fifteen
+miles off. Here, too, as we may see hereafter, Emerson, on his way home
+from Italy, dropped in like a spirit, spent precisely twenty-four hours,
+and then "forth uprose that lone, wayfaring man," to return to his native
+woods. He has, for several years of late, resided in Chelsea, London,
+where he lives in a plain, simple fashion; occasionally, but seldom,
+appearing at the splendid soirées of Lady Blessington, but listened to,
+when he goes, as an oracle; receiving, at his tea-table, visitors from
+every part of the world; forming an amicable centre for men of the most
+opposite opinions and professions, Poets and Preachers, Pantheists and
+Puritans, Tennysons and Scotts, Cavanaighs and Erskines, Sterlings and
+Robertsons, smoking his perpetual pipe, and pouring out, in copious
+stream, his rich and quaint philosophy. His appearance is fine, without
+being ostentatiously singular--his hair dark--his brow marked, though
+neither very broad nor very lofty--his cheek tinged with a healthy red--his
+eye, the truest index of his genius, flashing out, at times, a wild and
+mystic fire from its dark and quiet surface. He is above the middle size,
+stoops slightly, dresses carefully, but without any approach to foppery.
+His address, somewhat high and distant at first, softens into simplicity
+and cordial kindness. His conversation is abundant, inartificial, flowing
+on, and warbling as it flows, more practical than you would expect from
+the cast of his writings--picturesque and graphic in a high measure--full of
+the results of extensive and minute observation--often terribly direct and
+strong, garnished with French and German phrase, rendered racy by the
+accompaniment of the purest Annandale accent, and coming to its climaxes,
+ever and anon, in long, deep, chest-shaking bursts of laughter.
+
+Altogether, in an age of singularities, Thomas Carlyle stands peculiarly
+alone. Generally known, and warmly appreciated, he has of late
+become--popular, in the strict sense, he is not, and may never be. His
+works may never climb the family library, nor his name become a household
+word; but while the Thomsons and the Campbells shed their gentle genius,
+like light, into the hall and the hovel--the shop of the artisan and the
+sheiling of the shepherd, Carlyle, like the Landors and Lambs of this age,
+and the Brownes and Burtons of a past, will exert a more limited but
+profounder power--cast a dimmer but more gorgeous radiance--attract fewer
+but more devoted admirers, and obtain an equal, and perhaps more enviable
+immortality.
+
+To the foregoing sketch of CARLYLE, which is from the eloquent critical
+description of Gilfillan, we append the following, which is from a letter
+recently published in the Dumfries and Galloway Courier. The writer, after
+remarking at some length upon the "Latter Day Pamphlets," which are
+Carlyle's latest productions, proceeds to give this graphic and
+interesting sketch of his personal appearance and conversation:
+
+"Passing from the political phase of these productions (the 'Latter Day
+Pamphlets'), which is not my vocation to discuss, I found for myself one
+very peculiar charm in the perusal of them--they seemed such perfect
+transcripts of the conversation of Thomas Carlyle. With something more of
+set continuity--of composition--but essentially the same thing, the Latter
+Day Pamphlets' are in their own way a 'Boswell's Life' of Carlyle. As I
+read and read, I was gradually transported from my club-room, with its
+newspaper-clad tables, and my dozing fellow-loungers, only kept half awake
+by periodical titillations of snuff, and carried in spirit to the grave
+and quiet sanctum in Chelsea, where Carlyle dispenses wisdom and
+hospitality with equally unstinted hand. The long, tall, spare figure is
+before me--wiry, though, and elastic, and quite capable of taking a long,
+tough spell through the moors of Ecclefechan, or elsewhere--stretched at
+careless, homely ease in his elbow-chair, yet ever with strong natural
+motions and starts, as the inward spirit stirs. The face, too, is before
+me--long and thin, with a certain tinge of paleness, but no sickness or
+attenuation, form muscular and vigorously marked, and not wanting some
+glow of former rustic color--pensive, almost solemn, yet open, and cordial,
+and tender, very tender. The eye, as generally happens, is the chief
+outward index of the soul--an eye is not easy to describe, but _felt_ ever
+after one has looked thereon and therein. It is dark and full, shadowed
+over by a compact, prominent forehead. But the depth, the expression, the
+far inner play of it--who could transfer that even to the eloquent canvas,
+far less to this very _in_-eloquent paper? It is not brightness, it is not
+flash, it is not power even--something beyond all these. The expression is,
+so to speak, heavy laden--as if be-tokening untold burdens of thought, and
+long, long fiery struggles, resolutely endured--endured until they had been
+in some practical manner overcome; to adopt his own fond epithet, and it
+comes nearest to the thing, his is the heroic eye, but of a hero who has
+done hard battle against Paynim hosts. This is no dream of mine--I have
+often heard this peculiarity remarked. The whole form and expression of
+the face remind me of Dante--it wants the classic element, and the mature
+and matchless harmony which distinguish the countenance of the great
+Florentine; but something in the cast and in the look, especially the
+heavy laden, but dauntless eye, is very much alike. But he speaks to me.
+The tongue has the _sough_ of Annandale--an echo of the Solway, with its
+compliments to old Father Thames. A keen, sharp, ringing voice, in the
+genuine Border key, but tranquil and sedate withal--neighborly and frank,
+and always in unison with what is uttered. Thus does the presence of
+Thomas Carlyle rise before me--a 'true man' in all his bearings and in all
+his sayings. And in this same guise do I seem to hear from him all those
+'Latter Day Pamphlets.' Even such in his conversation--he sees the very
+thing he speaks of; it breathes and moves palpable to him, and hence his
+words form a picture. When you come from him, the impression is like
+having seen a great brilliant panorama; every thing had been made visible
+and naked to your sight. But more and better far than that; you bear home
+with you an indelible feeling of love for the man--deep at the heart, long
+as life. No man has ever inspired more of this personal affection. Not to
+love Carlyle when you know him is something unnatural, as if one should
+say they did not love the breeze that fans their cheek, or the vine-tree
+which has refreshed them both with its leafy shade and its exuberant
+juices. He abounds, himself, in love and in good works. His life, not only
+as a 'writer of books,' but as a man among his fellows, has been a
+continued shower of benefits. The young men, more especially, to whom he
+has been the good Samaritan, pouring oil upon their wounds, and binding up
+their bruised limbs, and putting them on the way of recovery of health and
+useful energy--the number of such can scarcely be told, and will never be
+known till the great day of accounts. One of these, who in his orisons
+will ever remember him, has just read to me, with tears of grateful
+attachment in his eyes, portions of a letter of counsel and encouragement
+which he received from him in the hour of darkness, and which was but the
+prelude to a thousand acts of substantial kindness and of graceful
+attention. As the letter contains no secret, and may fall as a fructifying
+seed into some youthful bosom that may be entering upon its trials and
+struggles, a quotation from it will form an appropriate _finale_ at this
+time. He thus writes: 'It will be good news, in all times coming, to learn
+that such a life as yours unfolds itself according to its promise, and
+_becomes_ in some tolerable degree what it is capable of being. The
+problem is your own, to make or to mar--a great problem for you, as the
+like is for every man born into this world. You have my entire sympathy in
+your denunciation of the "explosive" character. It is frequent in these
+times, and deplorable wherever met with. Explosions are ever wasteful,
+woeful; central fire should not explode itself, but lie silent, far down
+at the centre; and make all good fruits _grow_! We can not too often
+repeat to ourselves, "Strength is seen, not in spasms, but in stout
+bearing of burdens." You can take comfort in the meanwhile, if you need
+it, by the experience of all wise men, that a right heavy burden is
+precisely the thing wanted for a young strong man. Grievous to be borne;
+but bear it well, you will find it one day to have been verily blessed. "I
+would not, for any money," says the brave Jean Paul, in his quaint way. "I
+would not, for any money, have had money in my youth!" He speaks a truth
+there, singular as it may seem to many. These young obscure years ought to
+be incessantly employed in gaining knowledge of things worth knowing,
+especially of heroic human souls worth knowing. And you may believe me,
+the obscurer such years are, it is apt to be the better. Books are
+needful; but yet not many books; a few well read. An open, true, patient,
+and valiant soul is needed; that is the one thing needful.' "
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GENTLEMAN BEGGAR. AN ATTORNEY'S STORY. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD
+WORDS.)
+
+
+One morning, about five years ago, I called by appointment on Mr. John
+Balance, the fashionable pawnbroker, to accompany him to Liverpool, in
+pursuit for a Levanting customer--for Balance, in addition to pawning, does
+a little business in the sixty per cent. line. It rained in torrents when
+the cab stopped at the passage which leads past the pawning boxes to his
+private door. The cabman rang twice, and at length Balance appeared,
+looming through the mist and rain in the entry, illuminated by his
+perpetual cigar. As I eyed him rather impatiently, remembering that trains
+wait for no man, something like a hairy dog, or a bundle of rags, rose up
+at his feet, and barred his passage for a moment. Then Balance cried out
+with an exclamation, in answer apparently to a something I could not hear,
+"What, man alive!--slept in the passage!--there, take that, and get some
+breakfast, for Heaven's sake!" So saying, he jumped into the "Hansom," and
+we bowled away at ten miles an hour, just catching the Express as the
+doors of the station were closing. My curiosity was full set--for although
+Balance can be free with his money, it is not exactly to beggars that his
+generosity is usually displayed; so when comfortably ensconced in a
+_coupé_, I finished with--
+
+"You are liberal with your money this morning: pray, how often do you give
+silver to street cadgers?--because I shall know now what walk to take when
+flats and sharps leave off buying law."
+
+Balance, who would have made an excellent parson if he had not been bred
+to a case-hardening trade, and has still a soft bit left in his heart that
+is always fighting with his hard head, did not smile at all, but looked as
+grim as if squeezing a lemon into his Saturday night's punch. He answered
+slowly, "A cadger--yes; a beggar--a miserable wretch, he is now; but let me
+tell you, Master David, that that miserable bundle of rags was born and
+bred a gentleman; the son of a nobleman, the husband of an heiress, and
+has sat and dined at tables where you and I, Master David, are only
+allowed to view the plate by favor of the butler. I have lent him
+thousands, and been well paid. The last thing I had from him was his court
+suit; and I hold now his bill for one hundred pounds that will be paid, I
+expect, when he dies."
+
+"Why, what nonsense you are talking! you must be dreaming this morning.
+However, we are alone, I'll light a weed, in defiance of Railway law, you
+shall spin that yarn; for, true or untrue, it will fill up the time to
+Liverpool."
+
+"As for yarn," replied Balance, "the whole story is short enough; and as
+for truth, that you may easily find out if you like to take the trouble. I
+thought the poor wretch was dead, and I own it put me out meeting him this
+morning, for I had a curious dream last night."
+
+"Oh, hang your dreams! Tell us about this gentleman beggar that bleeds you
+of half-crowns--that melts the heart even of a pawnbroker!"
+
+"Well, then, that beggar is the illegitimate son of the late Marquis of
+Hoopborough by a Spanish lady of rank. He received a first-rate education,
+and was brought up in his father's house. At a very early age he obtained
+an appointment in a public office, was presented by the marquis at court,
+and received into the first society, where his handsome person and
+agreeable manners made him a great favorite. Soon after coming of age, he
+married the daughter of Sir E. Bumper, who brought him a very handsome
+fortune, which was strictly settled on herself. They lived in splendid
+style, kept several carriages, a house in town, and a place in the
+country. For some reason or other, idleness, or to please his lady's
+pride, he resigned his appointment. His father died and left him nothing;
+indeed, he seemed at that time very handsomely provided for.
+
+"Very soon Mr. and Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy began to disagree. She was cold,
+correct--he was hot and random. He was quite dependent on her, and she made
+him feel it. When he began to get into debt, he came to me. At length some
+shocking quarrel occurred; some case of jealousy on the wife's side, not
+without reason, I believe; and the end of it was, Mr. Fitz-Roy was turned
+out of doors. The house was his wife's, the furniture was his wife's, and
+the fortune was his wife's--he was, in fact, her pensioner. He left with a
+few hundred pounds ready money, and some personal jewelry, and went to an
+hotel. On these and credit he lived. Being illegitimate, he had no
+relations; being a fool, when he spent his money he lost his friends. The
+world took his wife's part, when they found she had the fortune, and the
+only parties who interfered were her relatives, who did their best to make
+the quarrel incurable. To crown all, one night he was run over by a cab,
+was carried to a hospital, and lay there for months, and was during
+several weeks of the time unconscious. A message to the wife, by the hands
+of one of his debauched companions, sent by a humane surgeon, obtained an
+intimation that 'if he died, Mr. Croak, the undertaker to the family, had
+orders to see to the funeral,' and that Mrs. Molinos was on the point of
+starting for the Continent, not to return for some years. When Fitz-Roy
+was discharged, he came to me limping on two sticks, to pawn his court
+suit, and told me his story. I was really sorry for the fellow, such a
+handsome, thoroughbred-looking man. He was going then into the west
+somewhere, to try to hunt out a friend. 'What to do, Balance,' he said, 'I
+don't know. I can't dig, and unless somebody will make me their
+gamekeeper, I must starve, or beg, as my Jezebel bade me when we parted!'
+
+"I lost sight of Molinos for a long time, and when I next came upon him it
+was in the Rookery of Westminster, in a low lodging-house, where I was
+searching with an officer for stolen goods. He was pointed out to me as
+the 'gentleman cadger,' because he was so free with his money when 'in
+luck.' He recognized me, but turned away then. I have since seen him, and
+relieved him more than once, although he never asks for any thing. How he
+lives, Heaven knows. Without money, without friends, without useful
+education of any kind, he tramps the country, as you saw him, perhaps
+doing a little hop-picking or hay-making, in season, only happy when he
+obtains the means to get drunk. I have heard through the kitchen whispers,
+that you know come to me, that he is entitled to some property; and I
+expect if he were to die his wife would pay the hundred pound bill I hold;
+at any rate, what I have told you I know to be true, and the bundle of
+rags I relieved just now is known in every thieves' lodging in England as
+the 'gentleman cadger.' "
+
+This story produced an impression on me--I am fond of speculation, and like
+the excitement of a legal hunt as much as some do a fox-chase: A gentleman
+a beggar, a wife rolling in wealth, rumors of unknown property due to the
+husband: it seemed as if there were pickings for me amidst this carrion of
+pauperism.
+
+Before returning from Liverpool, I had purchased the gentleman beggar's
+acceptance from Balance. I then inserted in the "Times" the following
+advertisement: "_Horatio Molinos Fitz-Roy_.--If this gentleman will apply
+to David Discount, Esq., Solicitor, St. James's, he will hear of something
+to his advantage. Any person furnishing Mr. F.'s correct address, shall
+receive 1£. 1_s._ reward. He was last seen," &c. Within twenty-four hours
+I had ample proof of the wide circulation of the "Times." My office was
+besieged with beggars of every degree, men and women, lame and blind,
+Irish, Scotch, and English, some on crutches, some in bowls, some in
+go-carts. They all knew him as the "gentleman," and I must do the regular
+fraternity of tramps the justice to say, that not one would answer a
+question until he made certain that I meant the "gentleman" no harm.
+
+One evening, about three weeks after the appearance of the advertisement,
+my clerk announced "another beggar." There came in an old man leaning upon
+a staff, clad in a soldier's great coat all patched and torn, with a
+battered hat, from under which a mass of tangled hair fell over his
+shoulders and half concealed his face. The beggar, in a weak, wheezy,
+hesitating tone, said, "You have advertised for Molinos Fitz-Roy. I hope
+you don't mean him any harm; he is sunk, I think, too low for enmity now;
+and surely no one would sport with such misery as his." These last words
+were uttered in a sort of piteous whisper.
+
+I answered quickly, "Heaven forbid I should sport with misery: I mean and
+hope to do him good, as well as myself."
+
+"Then, sir, I am Molinos Fitz-Roy!"
+
+While we were conversing candles had been brought in. I have not very
+tender nerves--my head would not agree with them--but I own I started and
+shuddered when I saw and knew that the wretched creature before me was
+under thirty years of age and once a gentleman. Sharp, aquiline features,
+reduced to literal skin and bone, were begrimed and covered with dry fair
+hair; the white teeth of the half-open mouth shattered with eagerness, and
+made more hideous the foul pallor of the rest of the countenance. As he
+stood leaning on a staff half bent, his long, yellow bony fingers clasped
+over the crutch-head of his stick, he was indeed a picture of misery,
+famine, squalor, and premature age, too horrible to dwell upon. I made him
+sit down, and sent for some refreshment which he devoured like a ghoul,
+and set to work to unravel his story. It was difficult to keep him to the
+point; but with pains I learned what convinced me that he was entitled to
+some property, whether great or small there was no evidence. On parting, I
+said, "Now, Mr. F., you must stay in town while I make proper inquiries.
+What allowance will be enough to keep you comfortably?"
+
+He answered humbly, after much pressing, "Would you think ten shillings
+too much?"
+
+I don't like, if I do those things at all, to do them shabbily, so I said,
+"Come every Saturday and you shall have a pound." He was profuse in
+thanks, of course, as all such men are as long as distress lasts.
+
+I had previously learned that my ragged client's wife was in England,
+living in a splendid house in Hyde Park Gardens, under her maiden name. On
+the following day the Earl of Owing called upon me, wanting five thousand
+pounds by five o'clock the same evening. It was a case of life or death
+with him, so I made my terms, and took advantage of his pressure to
+execute a _coup de main_. I proposed that he should drive me home to
+receive the money, calling at Mrs. Molinos in Hyde Park Gardens, on our
+way. I knew that the coronet and liveries of his father, the marquis,
+would insure me an audience with Mrs. Molinos Fitz-Roy.
+
+My scheme answered. I was introduced into the lady's presence. She was,
+and probably is, a very stately, handsome woman, with a pale complexion,
+high solid forehead, regular features, thin, pinched, self-satisfied
+mouth. My interview was very short, I plunged into the middle of the
+affair, but had scarcely mentioned the word husband, when she interrupted
+me with, "I presume you have lent this profligate person money, and want
+me to pay you." She paused, and then said, "He shall not have a farthing."
+As she spoke, her white face became scarlet.
+
+"But, madam, the man is starving. I have strong reasons for believing he
+is entitled to property, and if you refuse any assistance, I must take
+other measures." She rang the bell, wrote something rapidly on a card;
+and, as the footman appeared, pushed it toward me across the table, with
+the air of touching a toad, saying, "There, sir, is the address of my
+solicitors; apply to them if you think you have any claim. Robert, show
+the person out, and take care he is not admitted again."
+
+So far I had effected nothing; and, to tell the truth, felt rather
+crest-fallen under the influence of that grand manner peculiar to certain
+great ladies and to all great actresses.
+
+My next visit was to the attorneys, Messrs. Leasem and Fashun, of
+Lincoln's Inn Square, and there I was at home. I had had dealings with the
+firm before. They are agents for half the aristocracy, who always run in
+crowds like sheep after the same wine-merchants, the same architects, the
+same horse-dealers, and the same law-agents. It may be doubted whether the
+quality of law and land management they get on this principle is quite
+equal to their wine and horses. At any rate, my friends of Lincoln's Inn,
+like others of the same class, are distinguished by their courteous
+manners, deliberate proceedings, innocence of legal technicalities, long
+credit, and heavy charges. Leasem, the elder partner, wears powder and a
+huge bunch of seals, lives in Queen-square, drives a brougham, gives the
+dinners and does the cordial department. He is so strict in performing the
+latter duty, that he once addressed a poacher who had shot a duke's
+keeper, as "my dear creature," although he afterward hung him.
+
+Fashun has chambers in St. James-street, drives a cab, wears a tip, and
+does the grand haha style.
+
+My business lay with Leasem. The interviews and letters passing were
+numerous. However, it came at last to the following dialogue:
+
+"Well, my dear Mr. Discount," began Mr. Leasem, who hates me like poison.
+"I'm really very sorry for that poor dear Molinos--knew his father well; a
+great man, a perfect gentleman; but you know what women are, eh, Mr.
+Discount? My client won't advance a shilling; she knows it would only be
+wasted in low dissipation. Now, don't you think (this was said very
+insinuatingly)--don't you think he had better be sent to the workhouse;
+very comfortable accommodations there, I can assure you--meat twice a week,
+and excellent soup; and then, Mr. D., we might consider about allowing you
+something for that bill."
+
+"Mr. Leasem, can you reconcile it to your conscience to make such an
+arrangement? Here's a wife rolling in luxury, and a husband starving!"
+
+"No, Mr. Discount, not starving; there is the workhouse, as I observed
+before; besides, allow me to suggest that these appeals to feeling are
+quite unprofessional--quite unprofessional."
+
+"But, Mr. Leasem, touching this property which the poor man is entitled
+to."
+
+"Why, there again, Mr. D., you must excuse me; you really must. I don't
+say he is; I don't say he is not. If you know he is entitled to property,
+I am sure you know how to proceed; the law is open to you, Mr.
+Discount--the law is open; and a man of your talent will know how to use
+it."
+
+"Then, Mr. Leasem, you mean that I must, in order to right this starving
+man, file a bill of discovery, to extract from you the particulars of his
+rights. You have the marriage settlement, and all the information, and you
+decline to allow a pension, or afford any information; the man is to
+starve, or go to the workhouse."
+
+"Why, Mr. D., you are so quick and violent, it really is not professional;
+but you see (here a subdued smile of triumph), it has been decided that a
+solicitor is not bound to afford such information as you ask, to the
+injury of his client."
+
+"Then you mean that this poor Molinos may rot and starve, while you keep
+secret from him, at his wife's request, his title to an income, and that
+the Court of Chancery will back you in this iniquity?"
+
+I kept repeating the word "starve," because I saw it made my respectable
+opponent wince.
+
+"Well, then, just listen to me. I know that in the happy state of your
+equity law, chancery can't help my client; but I have another plan: I
+shall go hence to my office, issue a writ, and take your client's husband
+in execution--as soon as he is lodged in jail, I shall file his schedule in
+the Insolvent Court, and when he comes up for his discharge, I shall put
+you in the witness-box, and examine you on oath, 'touching any property of
+which you know the insolvent to be possessed,' and where will be your
+privileged communications then?"
+
+The respectable Leasem's face lengthened in a twinkling, his comfortable
+confident air vanished, he ceased twiddling his gold chain, and, at
+length, he muttered,
+
+"Suppose we pay the debt?"
+
+"Why, then, I'll arrest him the day after for another."
+
+"But, my dear Mr. Discount, surely such conduct would not be quite
+respectable."
+
+"That's my business; my client has been wronged, I am determined to right
+him, and when the aristocratic firm, of Leasem and Fashun takes refuge
+according to the custom of respectable repudiators, in the cool arbors of
+the Court of Chancery, why, a mere bill-discounting attorney like David
+Discount need not hesitate about cutting a bludgeon out of the Insolvent
+Court."
+
+"Well, well, Mr. D., you are so warm--so fiery; we must deliberate--we must
+consult. You will give me until the day after to-morrow, and then we'll
+write you our final determination; in the meantime, send us a copy of your
+authority to act for Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy."
+
+Of course, I lost no time in getting the gentleman beggar to sign a proper
+letter.
+
+On the appointed day came a communication with the L. and F. seal, which I
+opened, not without unprofessional eagerness. It was as follows:
+
+"_In re Molinos Fitz-Roy and Another._
+
+"Sir--In answer to your application on behalf of Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy, we
+beg to inform you that under the administration of a paternal aunt who
+died intestate, your client is entitled to two thousand five hundred
+pounds eight shillings and sixpence, Three per Cents.; one thousand five
+hundred pounds nineteen shillings and fourpence, Three per Cents. Reduced;
+one thousand pounds, Long Annuities; five hundred pounds, Bank Stock;
+three thousand five hundred pounds, India Stock; besides other securities,
+making up about ten thousand pounds, which we are prepared to transfer
+over to Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy's direction forthwith."
+
+Here was a windfall! It quite took away my breath.
+
+At dusk came my gentleman beggar, and what puzzled me was, how to break
+the news to him. Being very much overwhelmed with business that day, I had
+not much time for consideration. He came in rather better dressed than
+when I first saw him, with only a week's beard on his chin; but, as usual,
+not quite sober. Six weeks had elapsed since our first interview. He was
+still the humble, trembling, low-voiced creature, I first knew him.
+
+After a prelude, I said, "I find, Mr. F., you are entitled to something;
+pray, what do you mean to give me in addition to my bill, for obtaining
+it?" He answered rapidly, "Oh, take half; if there is one hundred pounds,
+take half; if there is five hundred pounds, take half."
+
+"No, no; Mr. F., I don't do business in that way, I shall be satisfied
+with ten per cent."
+
+It was so settled. I then led him out into the street, impelled to tell
+him the news, yet dreading the effect; not daring to make the revelation
+in my office, for fear of a scene.
+
+I began hesitatingly, "Mr. Fitz-Roy, I am happy to say, that I find you
+are entitled to .....ten thousand pounds!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds!" he echoed. "Ten thousand pounds!" he shrieked. "Ten
+thousand pounds!" he yelled, seizing my arm violently. "You are a brick.
+Here, cab! cab!" Several drove up--the shout might have been heard a mile
+off. He jumped in the first.
+
+"Where to?" said the driver.
+
+"To a tailor's, you rascal!"
+
+"Ten thousand pounds! ha, ha, ha!" he repeated hysterically, when in the
+cab; and every moment grasping my arm. Presently he subsided, looked me
+straight in the face, and muttered with agonizing fervor,
+
+"What a jolly brick you are!"
+
+The tailor, the hosier, the bootmaker, the hair-dresser, were in turn
+visited by this poor pagan of externals. As, by degrees, under their
+hands, he emerged from the beggar to the gentleman, his spirits rose; his
+eyes brightened; he walked erect, but always nervously grasping my arm;
+fearing, apparently, to lose sight of me for a moment, lest his fortune
+should vanish with me. The impatient pride with which he gave his orders
+to the astonished tradesmen for the finest and best of every thing, and
+the amazed air of the fashionable hairdresser when he presented his matted
+locks and stubble chin, to be "cut and shaved," may be _acted_--it can not
+be described.
+
+By the time the external transformation was complete, and I sat down in a
+_Café_ in the Haymarket, opposite a haggard but handsome,
+thoroughbred-looking man, whose air, with the exception of the wild eyes
+and deeply browned face, did not differ from the stereotyped men about
+town sitting around us, Mr. Molinos Fitz-Roy had already almost forgotten
+the past; he bullied the waiter, and criticised the wine, as if he had
+done nothing else but dine and drink and scold there all the days of his
+life.
+
+Once he wished to drink my health, and would have proclaimed his whole
+story to the coffee-room assembly, in a raving style. When I left he
+almost wept in terror at the idea of losing sight of me. But, allowing for
+these ebullitions--the natural result of such a whirl of events--he was
+wonderfully calm and self-possessed.
+
+The next day, his first care was to distribute fifty pounds among his
+friends the cadgers, at a house of call in Westminster, and formally to
+dissolve his connection with them; those present undertaking for the
+"fraternity," that, for the future, he should never be noticed by them in
+public or private.
+
+I can not follow his career much further. Adversity had taught him
+nothing. He was soon again surrounded by the well-bred vampires who had
+forgotten him when penniless; but they amused him, and that was enough.
+The ten thousand pounds were rapidly melting when he invited me to a grand
+dinner at Richmond, which included a dozen of the most agreeable,
+good-looking, well-dressed dandies of London, interspersed with a display
+of pretty butterfly bonnets. We dined deliciously, and drank as men do of
+iced wines in the dog-days--looking down from Richmond Hill.
+
+One of the pink bonnets crowned Fitz-Roy with a wreath of flowers; he
+looked--less the intellect--as handsome as Alcibiades. Intensely excited and
+flushed, he rose with a champagne glass in his hand to propose my health.
+
+The oratorical powers of his father had not descended on him. Jerking out
+sentences by spasms, at length he said, "I was a beggar--I am a
+gentleman--thanks to this--"
+
+Here he leaned on my shoulder heavily a moment, and then fell back. We
+raised him, loosened his neckcloth--
+
+"Fainted!" said the ladies.
+
+"Drunk!" said the gentlemen.
+
+He was _dead!_
+
+
+
+
+
+SINGULAR PROCEEDINGS OF THE SAND WASP. (FROM HOWITT'S COUNTRY YEAR-BOOK.)
+
+
+In all my observations of the habits of living things, I have never seen
+any thing more curious than the doings of one species of these
+ammophilæ--lovers of sand. I have watched them day after day, and hour
+after hour, in my garden, and also on the sandy banks on the wastes about
+Esher, in Surrey, and always with unabated wonder. They are about an inch
+long, with orange-colored bodies, and black heads and wings. They are
+slender and most active. You see them on the warm borders of your garden,
+or on warm, dry banks, in summer, when the sun shines hotly. They are
+incessantly and most actively hunting about. They are in pursuit of a
+particular gray spider with a large abdomen. For these they pursue their
+chase with a fiery quickness and avidity. The spiders are on the watch to
+seize flies; but here we have the tables turned, and these are flies on
+the watch to discover and kill the spiders. These singular insects seem
+all velocity and fire. They come flying at a most rapid rate, light down
+on the dry soil, and commence an active search. The spiders lie under the
+leaves of plants, and in little dens under the dry little clods. Into all
+these places the sand-wasp pops his head. He bustles along here and there,
+flirting his wings, and his whole body all life and fire. And now he moves
+off to a distance, hunts about there, then back to his first place, beats
+the old ground carefully over, as a pointer beats a field. He searches
+carefully round every little knob of earth, and pops his head into every
+crevice. Ever and anon, he crouches close among the little clods as a
+tiger would crouch for his prey. He seems to be listening, or smelling
+down into the earth, as if to discover his prey by every sense which he
+possesses, He goes round every stalk, and descends into every hollow about
+them. When he finds the spider, he dispatches him in a moment, and seizing
+him by the centre of his chest, commences dragging him off backward.
+
+He conveys his prey to a place of safety. Frequently he carries it up some
+inches into a plant, and lodges it among the green leaves. Seeing him do
+this, I poked his spider down with a stick after he had left it; but he
+speedily returned, and finding it fallen down, he immediately carried it
+up again to the same place.
+
+Having thus secured his spider, he selects a particular spot of earth, the
+most sunny and warm, and begins to dig a pit. He works with all his might,
+digging up the earth with his formidable mandibles, and throwing it out
+with his feet, as a dog throws out the earth when scratching after a
+rabbit. Every few seconds he ascends, tail first, out of his hole, clears
+away the earth about its mouth with his legs, and spreads it to a distance
+on the surface. When he has dug the hole, perhaps two inches deep, he
+comes forth eagerly, goes off for his spider, drags it down from its
+lodgment, and brings it to the mouth of his hole. He now lets himself down
+the hole, tail first, and then, putting forth his head, takes the spider,
+and turns it into the most suitable position for dragging it in.
+
+It must be observed that this hole is made carefully of only about the
+width of his body, and therefore the spider can not be got into it except
+lengthwise, and then by stout pulling. Well, he turns it lengthwise, and
+seizing it, commences dragging it in. At first, you would imagine this
+impossible; but the sand-wasp is strong, and the body of the spider is
+pliable. You soon see it disappear. Down into the cylindrical hole it
+goes, and anon you perceive the sand-wasp pushing up its black head beside
+it; and having made his way out he again sets to work, and pushes the
+spider with all his force to the bottom of the den.
+
+And what is all this for? Is the spider laid up in his larder for himself?
+No; it is food for his children? It is their birth-place, and their supply
+of provision while they are in the larva state.
+
+We have been all along calling this creature he, for it has a most
+masculine look; but it is in reality a she; it is the female sand-wasp,
+and all this preparation is for the purpose of laying her eggs. For this
+she has sought and killed the spider, and buried it here. She has done it
+all wittingly. She has chosen one particular spider, and that only, for
+that is the one peculiarly adapted to nourish her young.
+
+So here it is safely stored away in her den; and she now descends, tail
+first, and piercing the pulpy abdomen of the spider, she deposits her egg
+or eggs. That being done, she carefully begins filling in the hole with
+earth. She rakes it up with her legs and mandibles, and fills in the hole,
+every now and then turning round and going backward into the hole to stamp
+down the earth with her feet, and to ram it down with her body as a
+rammer. When the hole is filled, it is curious to observe with what care
+she levels the surface, and removes the surrounding lumps of earth, laying
+some first over the tomb of the spider, and others about, so as to make
+that place look as much as possible like the surface all round. And before
+she has done with it--and she works often for ten minutes at this leveling
+and disguising before she is perfectly satisfied--she makes the place so
+exactly like all the rest of the surface, that it will require good eyes
+and close observation to recognize it.
+
+She has now done her part, and Nature must do the rest. She has deposited
+her eggs in the body of the spider, and laid that body in the earth in the
+most sunny spot she can find. She has laid it so near the surface that the
+sun will act on it powerfully, yet deep enough to conceal it from view.
+She has, with great art and anxiety, destroyed all traces of the hole, and
+the effect will soon commence. The heat of the sun will hatch the egg. The
+larva, or young grub of the sand-wasp, will become alive, and begin to
+feed on the pulpy body of the spider in which it is enveloped. This food
+will suffice it till it is ready to emerge to daylight, and pass through
+the different stages of its existence. Like the ostrich, the sand-wasp
+thus leaves her egg in the sand till the sun hatches it, and having once
+buried it, most probably never knows herself where it is deposited. It is
+left to Nature and Providence
+
+
+
+
+
+WHAT HORSES THINK OF MEN. FROM THE RAVEN IN THE HAPPY FAMILY. (FROM
+DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+I suppose you thought I was dead? No such thing. Don't flatter yourselves
+that I haven't got my eye upon you. I am wide awake, and you give me
+plenty to look at.
+
+I have begun my great work about you, I have been collecting materials
+from the Horse, to begin with. You are glad to hear it, ain't you? Very
+likely. Oh, he gives you a nice character! He makes you out a charming set
+of fellows.
+
+He informs me by-the-by, that he is a distant relation of the pony that
+was taken up in a balloon a few weeks ago; and that the pony's account of
+your going to see him at Vauxhall Gardens, is an amazing thing. The pony
+says that when he looked round on the assembled crowd, come to see the
+realization of the wood-cut in the bill, he found it impossible to
+discover which was the real Mister Green--there were so many Mister
+Greens--and they were all so very green!
+
+But that's the way with you. You know it is. Don't tell me! You'd go to
+see any thing that other people went to see. And don't flatter yourselves
+that I am referring to "the vulgar curiosity," as you choose to call it,
+when you mean some curiosity in which you don't participate yourselves.
+The polite curiosity in this country is as vulgar as any curiosity in the
+world.
+
+Of course you'll tell me, no it isn't; but I say, yes it is. What have you
+got to say for yourselves about the Nepaulese princes, I should like to
+know? Why, there has been more crowding, and pressing, and pushing, and
+jostling, and struggling, and striving, in genteel houses this last
+season, on account of those Nepaulese princes, than would have taken place
+in vulgar Cremorne Gardens and Greenwich Park, at Easter time and
+Whitsuntide! And what for? Do you know any thing about 'em? Have you any
+idea why they came here? Can you put your finger on their country in the
+map? Have you ever asked yourselves a dozen common questions about its
+climate, natural history, government, productions, customs, religion,
+manners? Not you! Here are a couple of swarthy princes very much out of
+their element, walking about in wide muslin trowsers, and sprinkled all
+over with gems (like the clockwork figure on the old round platform in the
+street, grown-up), and they're fashionable outlandish monsters, and it's a
+new excitement for you to get a stare at 'em. As to asking 'em to dinner,
+and seeing 'em sit at table without eating in your company (unclean
+animals as you are!), you fall into raptures at that. Quite delicious,
+isn't it? Ugh, you dunder-headed boobies!
+
+I wonder what there is, new and strange, that you _wouldn't_ lionize, as
+you call it. Can you suggest any thing! It's not a hippopotamus, I
+suppose. I hear from my brother-in-law in the Zoological Gardens, that you
+are always pelting away into the Regent's Park, by thousands, to see the
+hippopotamus. Oh, you're very fond of hippopotami, ain't you? You study
+one attentively, when you _do_ see one, don't you? You come away so much
+wiser than when you went, reflecting so profoundly on the wonders of the
+creation--eh?
+
+Bah! You follow one another like wild geese; but you are not so good to
+eat!
+
+These, however, are not the observations of my friend the Horse. _He_
+takes you, in another point of view. Would you like to read his
+contribution to my Natural History of you? No? You shall then.
+
+He is a cab-horse now. He wasn't always, but he is now, and his usual
+stand is close to our proprietor's usual stand. That's the way we have
+come into communication, we "dumb animals." Ha, ha! Dumb, too! Oh, the
+conceit of you men, because you can bother the community out of their five
+wits, by making speeches!
+
+Well. I mentioned to this Horse that I should be glad to have his opinions
+and experiences of you. Here they are:
+
+"At the request of my honorable friend the Raven, I proceed to offer a few
+remarks in reference to the animal called Man. I have had varied
+experience of this strange creature for fifteen years, and am now driven
+by a Man, in the hackney cabriolet, number twelve thousand four hundred
+and fifty-two.
+
+"The sense Man entertains of his own inferiority to the nobler animals--and
+I am now more particularly referring to the Horse--has impressed me
+forcibly, in the course of my career. If a man knows a horse well, he is
+prouder of it than of any knowledge of himself, within the range of his
+limited capacity. He regards it as the sum of all human acquisition. If he
+is learned in a horse, he has nothing else to learn. And the same remark
+applies, with some little abatement, to his acquaintance with dogs. I have
+seen a good deal of man in my time, but I think I have never met a man who
+didn't feel it necessary to his reputation to pretend, on occasion, that
+he knew something of horses and dogs, though he really knew nothing. As to
+making us a subject of conversation, my opinion is that we are more talked
+about than history, philosophy, literature, art, and science, all put
+together. I have encountered innumerable gentlemen in the country, who
+were totally incapable of interest in any thing but horses and dogs--except
+cattle. And I have always been given to understand that they were the
+flower of the civilized world.
+
+"It is very doubtful to me, whether there is, upon the whole, any thing
+man is so ambitious to imitate as an ostler, jockey, a stage coachman, a
+horse-dealer, or dog-fancier. There may be some other character which I do
+not immediately remember, that fires him with emulation; but if there be,
+I am sure it is connected with horses or dogs, or both. This is an
+unconscious compliment, on the part of the tyrant, to the nobler animals,
+which I consider to be very remarkable. I have known lords and baronets,
+and members of parliament, out of number, who have deserted every other
+calling to become but indifferent stablemen or kennelmen, and be cheated
+on all hands, by the real aristocracy of those pursuits who were regularly
+born to the business.
+
+"All this, I say, is a tribute to our superiority, which I consider to be
+very remarkable. Yet, still I can't quite understand it. Man can hardly
+devote himself to us, in admiration of our virtues, because he never
+imitates them. We horses are as honest, though I say it, as animals can
+be. If, under the pressure of circumstances, we submit to act at a circus,
+for instance, we always show that we are acting. We never deceive any
+body. We would scorn to do it. If we are called upon to do any thing in
+earnest, we do our best. If we are required to run a race falsely, and to
+lose when we could win, we are not to be relied upon to commit a fraud;
+man must come in at that point, and force us to it. And the extraordinary
+circumstance to me is, that man (whom I take to be a powerful species of
+monkey) is always making us nobler animals the instruments of his meanness
+and cupidity. The very name of our kind has become a byword for all sorts
+of trickery and cheating. We are as innocent as counters at a game--and yet
+this creature WILL play falsely with us!
+
+"Man's opinion, good or bad, is not worth much, as any rational horse
+knows. But justice is justice; and what I complain of is, that mankind
+talks of us as if we had something to do with all this. They say that such
+a man was 'ruined by horses.' Ruined by horses! They can't be open, even
+in that, and say he was ruined by men; but they lay it at _our_
+stable-door! As if we ever ruined any body, or were ever doing any thing
+but being ruined ourselves, in our generous desire to fulfill the useful
+purposes of our existence!
+
+"In the same way, we get a bad name, as if we were profligate company. 'So
+and so got among horses, and it was all up with him.' Why, _we_ would have
+reclaimed him--_we_ would have made him temperate, industrious, punctual,
+steady, sensible--what harm would he ever have got from _us_, I should wish
+to ask?
+
+"Upon the whole, speaking of him as I have found him, I should describe
+man as an unmeaning and conceited creature, very seldom to be trusted, and
+not likely to make advances toward the honesty of the nobler animals. I
+should say that his power of warping the nobler animals to bad purposes,
+and damaging their reputation by his companionship, is, next to the art of
+growing oats, hay, carrots, and clover, one of his principal attributes.
+He is very unintelligible in his caprices; seldom expressing with
+distinctness what he wants of us; and relying greatly on our better
+judgment to find out. He is cruel, and fond of blood--particularly at a
+steeple-chase--and is very ungrateful.
+
+"And yet, so far as I can understand, he worships us, too. He sets up
+images of us (not particularly like, but meant to be) in the streets and
+calls upon his fellows to admire them, and believe in them. As well as I
+can make out, it is not of the least importance what images of men are put
+astride upon these images of horses, for I don't find any famous personage
+among them--except one, and _his_ image seems to have been contracted for
+by the gross. The jockeys who ride our statues are very queer jockeys, it
+appears to me, but it is something to find man even posthumously sensible
+of what he owes to us. I believe that when he has done any great wrong to
+any very distinguished horse, deceased, he gets up a subscription to have
+an awkward likeness of him made, and erects it in a public place, to be
+generally venerated. I can find no other reason for the statues of us that
+abound.
+
+"It must be regarded as a part of the inconsistency of man, that he erects
+no statues to the donkeys--who, though far inferior animals to ourselves,
+have great claims upon him. I should think a donkey opposite the horse at
+Hyde Park, another in Trafalgar-square, and a group of donkeys, in brass,
+outside the Guild-hall of the city of London (for I believe the
+common-council chamber is inside that building) would be pleasant and
+appropriate memorials.
+
+"I am not aware that I can suggest any thing more to my honorable friend
+the Raven, which will not already have occurred to his fine intellect.
+Like myself, he is the victim of brute force, and must bear it until the
+present state of things is changed--as it possibly may be in the good time
+which I understand is coming, if I wait a little longer."
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+There! How do you like that? That's the Horse! You shall have another
+animal's sentiments, soon. I have communicated with plenty of 'em, and
+they are all down upon you. It's not I alone who have found you out. You
+are generally detected, I am happy to say, and shall be covered with
+confusion.
+
+Talking about the horse, are you going to set up any more horses? Eh?
+Think a bit. Come! You haven't got horses enough yet, surely? Couldn't you
+put somebody else on horseback, and stick him up, at the cost of a few
+thousands? You have already statues to most of the "benefactors of
+mankind" (SEE ADVERTISEMENT) in your principal cities. You walk through
+groves of great inventors, instructors, discoverers, assuagers of pain,
+preventers of disease, suggesters of purifying thoughts, doers of noble
+deeds. Finish the list. Come!
+
+Whom will you hoist into the saddle? Let's have a cardinal virtue! Shall
+it be Faith? Hope? Charity? Ay, Charity's the virtue to ride on horseback!
+Let's have Charity!
+
+How shall we represent it? Eh? What do you think? Royal? Certainly. Duke?
+Of course. Charity always was typified in that way, from the time of a
+certain widow downward. And there's nothing less left to put up; all the
+commoners who were "benefactors of mankind" having had their statues in
+the public places, long ago.
+
+How shall we dress it? Rags? Low. Drapery? Commonplace. Field-Marshal's
+uniform? The very thing! Charity in a Field-Marshal's uniform (none the
+worse for wear) with thirty thousand pounds a year, public money, in its
+pocket, and fifteen thousand more, public money, up behind, will be a
+piece of plain, uncompromising truth in the highways, and an honor to the
+country and the time.
+
+Ha, ha, ha! You can't leave the memory of an unassuming, honest,
+good-natured, amiable old duke alone, without bespattering it with your
+flunkeyism, can't you? That's right--and like you! Here are three brass
+buttons in my crop. I'll subscribe 'em all. One, to the statue of Charity;
+one, to a statue of Hope; one, to a statue of Faith. For Faith, we'll have
+the Nepaulese Embassador on horseback--being a prince. And for Hope, we'll
+put the Hippopotamus on horseback, and so make a group.
+
+Let's have a meeting about it!
+
+
+
+
+
+THE QUAKERS DURING THE AMERICAN WAR. (FROM HOWITT'S COUNTRY YEAR-BOOK.)
+
+
+George Dilwyn was an American, a remarkable preacher among the Quakers.
+About fifty years ago he came over to this country, on what we have
+already said is termed a "Religious Visit," and being in Cornwall, when I
+was there, and at George Fox's, in Falmouth--our aged relative still
+narrates--soon became an object of great attraction, not only from his
+powerful preaching, but from his extraordinary gift in conversation, which
+he made singularly interesting from the introduction of curious passages
+in his own life and experience.
+
+His company was so much sought after, that a general invitation was given,
+by his hospitable and wealthy entertainer, to all the Friends of the town
+and neighborhood to come, and hear, and see him; and evening by evening,
+their rooms were crowded by visitors, who sat on seats, side by side, as
+in a public lecture-room.
+
+Among other things, he related, that during the time of the revolutionary
+war, one of the armies passing through a district in which a great number
+of Friends resided, food was demanded from the inhabitants, which was
+given to them. The following day the adverse army came up in pursuit, and
+stripped them of every kind of provision that remained; and so great was
+the strait to which they were reduced, that absolute famine was before
+them. Their sufferings were extreme, as day after day went on, and no
+prospect of relief was afforded them. Death seemed to stare them in the
+face, and many a one was ready to despair. The forests around them were in
+possession of the soldiers, and the game, which otherwise might have
+yielded them subsistence, was killed or driven away.
+
+After several days of great distress, they retired at night, still without
+hope or prospect of succor. How great, then, was their surprise and cause
+of thankfulness when, on the following morning, immense herds of wild deer
+were seen standing around their inclosures, as if driven there for their
+benefit! From whence they came none could tell, nor the cause of their
+coming, but they suffered themselves to be taken without resistance; and
+thus the whole people were saved, and had great store of provisions laid
+up for many weeks.
+
+Again, a similar circumstance occurred near the sea-shore, when the flying
+and pursuing armies had stripped the inhabitants, and when, apparently to
+add to their distress, the wind set in with such unusual violence, and the
+sea drove the tide so far inland, that the people near the shore were
+obliged to abandon their houses, and those in the town retreat to their
+upper rooms. This also being during the night, greatly added to their
+distress; and, like the others, they were ready to despair. Next morning,
+however, they found that God had not been unmindful of them; for the tide
+had brought up with it a most extraordinary shoal of mackerel, so that
+every place was filled with them, where they remained ready taken, without
+net or skill of man--a bountiful provision for the wants of the people,
+till other relief could be obtained.
+
+Another incident he related, which occurred in one of the back
+settlements, when the Indians had been employed to burn the dwellings of
+the settlers, and cruelly to murder the people. One of these solitary
+habitations was in the possession of a Friend's family. They lived in such
+secure simplicity, that they had hitherto had no apprehension of danger,
+and used neither bar nor bolt to their door, having no other means of
+securing their dwelling from intrusion than by drawing in the leathern
+thong by which the wooden latch inside was lifted from without.
+
+The Indians had committed frightful ravages all around, burning and
+murdering without mercy. Every evening brought forth tidings of horror,
+and every night the unhappy settlers surrounded themselves with such
+defenses as they could muster--even then, for dread, scarcely being able to
+sleep. The Friend and his family, who had hitherto put no trust in the arm
+of flesh, but had left all in the keeping of God, believing that man often
+ran in his own strength to his own injury, had used so little precaution,
+that they slept without even withdrawing the string, and were as yet
+uninjured. Alarmed, however, at length, by the fears of others, and by the
+dreadful rumors that surrounded them, they yielded to their fears on one
+particular night, and, before retiring to rest, drew in the string, and
+thus secured themselves as well as they were able.
+
+In the dead of the night, the Friend, who had not been able to sleep,
+asked his wife if she slept; and she replied that she could not, for her
+mind was uneasy. Upon this, he confessed that the same was his case, and
+that he believed it would be the safest for him to rise and put out the
+string of the latch as usual. On her approving of this, it was done, and
+the two lay down again, commending themselves to the keeping of God.
+
+This had not occurred above ten minutes, when the dismal sound of the
+war-whoop echoed through the forest, filling every heart with dread, and
+almost immediately afterward, they counted the footsteps of seven men pass
+the window of their chamber, which was on the ground-floor, and the next
+moment the door-string was pulled, the latch lifted, and the door opened.
+A debate of a few minutes took place, the purport of which, as it was
+spoken in the Indian language, was unintelligible to the inhabitants; but
+that it was favorable to them was proved by the door being again closed,
+and the Indians retiring without having crossed the threshold.
+
+The next morning they saw the smoke rising from burning habitations all
+around them; parents were weeping for their children who were carried off,
+and children lamenting over their parents who had been cruelly slain.
+
+Some years afterward, when peace was restored, and the colonists had
+occasion to hold conferences with the Indians, this Friend was appointed
+as one for that purpose, and speaking in favor of the Indians, he related
+the above incident; in reply to which, an Indian observed, that, by the
+simple circumstance of putting out the latch-string, which proved
+confidence rather than fear, their lives and their property had been
+saved; for that he himself was one of that marauding party, and that, on
+finding the door open, it was said--"These people shall live; they will do
+us no harm, for they put their trust in the GREAT SPIRIT."
+
+During the whole American revolution, indeed, the Indians, though incited
+by the whites to kill and scalp the enemy, never molested the Friends, as
+the people of Father Onas, or William Penn, and as the avowed opponents of
+all violence. Through the whole war, there were but two instances to the
+contrary, and they were occasioned by the two Friends themselves. The one
+was a young man, a tanner, who went to his tan-yard and back daily
+unmolested, while devastation spread on all sides; but at length,
+thoughtlessly carrying a gun to shoot some birds, the Indians, in ambush,
+believed that he had deserted his principles, and shot him. The other was
+a woman, who, when the dwellings of her neighbors were nightly fired, and
+the people themselves murdered, was importuned by the officers of a
+neighboring fort to take refuge there till the danger was over. For some
+time she refused, and remained unharmed amid general destruction; but, at
+length, letting in fear, she went for one night to the fort, but was so
+uneasy, that the next morning she quitted it to return to her home. The
+Indians, however, believed that she too had abandoned her principles, and
+joined the fighting part of the community, and before she reached home she
+was shot by them.
+
+
+
+
+
+A SHILLING'S WORTH OF SCIENCE. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+Dr. Paris has already shown, in a charming little book treating
+scientifically of children's toys, how easy even "philosophy in sport can
+be made science in earnest." An earlier genius cut out the whole alphabet
+into the figures of uncouth animals, and inclosed them in a toy-box
+representing Noah's Ark, for the purpose of teaching children their
+letters. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, have been decimated; "yea, the
+great globe itself," has been parceled into little wooden sections, that
+their readjustment into a continuous map might teach the infant conqueror
+of the world the relative positions of distant countries. Archimedes might
+have discovered the principle of the lever and the fundamental principles
+of gravity upon a rocking-horse. In like manner he might have ascertained
+the laws of hydrostatics, by observing the impetus of many natural and
+artificial fountains, which must occasionally have come beneath his eye.
+So also the principles of acoustics might even now be taught by the aid of
+a penny whistle, and there is no knowing how much children's nursery games
+may yet be rendered subservient to the advancement of science. The famous
+Dr. Cornelius Scriblerus had excellent notions on these subjects. He
+determined that his son Martinus should be the most learned and
+universally well-informed man of his age, and had recourse to all sorts of
+devices in order to inspire him even unthinkingly with knowledge. He
+determined that every thing should contribute to the improvement of his
+mind--even his very dress. He therefore, his biographer informs us,
+invented for him a geographical suit of clothes, which might give him some
+hints of that science, and also of the commerce of different nations. His
+son's disposition to mathematics--for he was a remarkable child--was
+discovered very early by his drawing parallel lines on his bread and
+butter, and intersecting them at equal angles, so as to form the whole
+superficies into squares. His father also wisely resolved that he should
+acquire the learned languages, especially Greek--and remarking, curiously
+enough, that young Martinus Scriblerus was remarkably fond of gingerbread,
+the happy idea came into his parental head that his pieces of gingerbread
+should be stamped with the letters of the Greek alphabet; and such was the
+child's avidity for knowledge, that the very first day he eat down to
+_iota_.
+
+When Sir Isaac Newton changed his residence and went to live in
+Leicester-place, his next door neighbor was a widow lady, who was much
+puzzled by the little she observed of the habits of the philosopher. One
+of the Fellows of the Royal Society called upon her one day, when, among
+other domestic news, she mentioned that some one had come to reside in the
+adjoining house, who she felt certain was a poor mad gentleman. "And why
+so?" asked her friend. "Because," said she, "he diverts himself in the
+oddest way imaginable. Every morning when the sun shines so brightly that
+we are obliged to draw down the window-blinds, he takes his seat on a
+little stool before a tub of soap-suds, and occupies himself for hours
+blowing soap-bubbles through a common clay-pipe, which he intently watches
+floating about until they burst. He is doubtless," she added, "now at his
+favorite diversion, for it is a fine day; do come and look at him." The
+gentleman smiled; and they went up-stairs, when after looking through the
+stair-case window into the adjoining court-yard, he turned round and said,
+"My dear lady, the person whom you suppose to be a poor lunatic, is no
+other than the great Sir Isaac Newton studying the refraction of light
+upon thin plates, a phenomenon which is beautifully exhibited upon the
+surface of a common soap-bubble."
+
+The principle, illustrated by the examples we have given, has been
+efficiently followed by the Directors of the Royal Polytechnic Institution
+in Regent-street, London. Even the simplest models and objects they
+exhibit in their extensive halls and galleries, expound--like Sir Isaac
+Newton's soap-bubble--some important principle of Science or Art.
+
+On entering the Hall of Manufactures (as we did the other day) it was
+impossible not to be impressed with the conviction that we are in an
+utilitarian age in which the science of Mechanics advances with marvelous
+rapidity. Here we observed steam-engines, hand-looms, and machines in
+active operation, surrounding us with that peculiar din which makes the
+air
+
+
+    "Murmur, as with the sound of summer-flies."
+
+
+Passing into the "Gallery in the Great Hall," we did not fail to derive a
+momentary amusement, from observing the very different objects which
+seemed most to excite the attention, and interest of the different
+sight-seers. Here, stood obviously a country farmer examining the model of
+a steam-plow; there, a Manchester or Birmingham manufacturer looking into
+a curious and complicated weaving machine; here, we noticed a group of
+ladies admiring specimens of elaborate carving in ivory, and personal
+ornaments esteemed highly fashionable at the antipodes; and there, the
+smiling faces of youth watching with eager eyes the little boats and
+steamers paddling along the Water Reservoir in the central counter. But we
+had scarcely looked around us, when a bell rang to announce a lecture on
+Voltaic Electricity by Dr. Bachhoffner; and moving with a stream of people
+up a short stair-case, we soon found ourselves in a very commodious and
+well-arranged theatre. There are many universities and public institutions
+that have not better lecture rooms than this theatre in the Royal
+Polytechnic Institution. The lecture was elementary and exceedingly
+instructive, pointing out and showing by experiments, the identity between
+Magnetism and Electricity--light and heat; but notwithstanding the extreme
+perspicuity of the Professor, it was our fate to sit next two old ladies
+who seemed to be very incredulous about the whole business.
+
+"If heat and light are the same thing," asked one, "why don't a flame come
+out at the spout of a boiling tea-kettle?"
+
+"The steam," answered the other, "may account for that."
+
+"Hush!" cried somebody behind them; and the ladies were silent: but it was
+plain they thought Voltaic Electricity had something to do with conjuring,
+and that the lecturer might be a professor of Magic. The lecture over, we
+returned to the Gallery, where we found the Diving Bell just about to be
+put in operation. It is made of cast iron, and weighs three tons; the
+interior being provided with seats, and lighted by openings in the crown,
+upon which a plate of thick glass is secured. The weighty instrument
+suspended by a massive chain to a large swing crane, was soon in motion,
+when we observed our skeptical lady-friends join a party and enter, in
+order, we presume, to make themselves more sure of the truth of the
+diving-bell than they could do of the identity between light and heat. The
+bell was soon swung round and lowered into a tank, which holds nearly ten
+thousand gallons of water; but we confess our fears for the safety of its
+inmates were greatly appeased, when we learned that the whole of this
+reservoir of water could be emptied in less than one minute. Slowly and
+steadily was the bell drawn up again, and we had the satisfaction of
+seeing the enterprising ladies and their companions alight on _terra
+firma_, nothing injured excepting that they were greatly flushed in the
+face. A man, clad in a water-tight dress and surmounted with a
+diving-helmet, next performed a variety of sub-aqueous feats, much to the
+amusement and astonishment of the younger part of the audience, one of
+whom shouted as he came up above the surface of the water, "Oh! ma'a!
+Don't he look like an Ogre!" and certainly the shining brass helmet and
+staring large plate-glass eyes fairly warranted such a suggestion. The
+principles of the diving-bell and of the diving-helmet are too well known
+to require explanation: but the practical utility of these machines is
+daily proved. Even while we now write, it has been ascertained that the
+foundations of Blackfriars Bridge are giving way. The bed of the river,
+owing to the constant ebb and flow of its waters, has sunk some six or
+seven feet below its level since the bridge was built, thus undermining
+its foundation; and this effect, it is presumed, has been greatly
+augmented by the removal of the old London Bridge, the works surrounding
+which operated as a dam in checking the force of the current. These
+machines, also, are constantly used in repairing the bottom of docks,
+landing-piers, and in the construction of breakwater works, such as those
+which are at present being raised at Dover Harbor.
+
+Among other remarkable objects in the museum of natural history we
+recognized, swimming upon his shingly bed under a glass case, our old
+friend the Gymnotus Electricus, or Electrical Eel. Truly, he is a
+marvelous fish. The power which animals of every description possess in
+adapting themselves to external and adventitious circumstances, is here
+marvelously illustrated, for, notwithstanding this creature is surrounded
+by the greatest possible amount of artificial circumstances, inasmuch as
+instead of sporting in his own pellucid and sparkling waters of the river
+Amazon, he is here confined in a glass prison, in water artificially
+heated; instead of his natural food, he is here supplied with fish not
+indigenous to his native country, and denied access to fresh air, with
+sunlight sparkling upon the surface of the waves--he is here surrounded by
+an impure and obscure atmosphere, with crowds of people constantly moving
+to and fro and gazing upon him; yet, notwithstanding all these
+disadvantageous circumstances, he has continued to thrive; nay, since we
+saw him ten years ago, he has increased in size and is apparently very
+healthy, notwithstanding that he is obviously quite blind.
+
+This specimen of the Gymnotus Electricus was caught in the river Amazon,
+and was brought over to this country by Mr. Potter, where it arrived on
+the 12th of August, 1838, when he displayed it to the proprietors of the
+Adelaide Gallery. In the first instance, there was some difficulty in
+keeping him alive, for, whether from sickness, or sulkiness, he refused
+food of every description, and is said to have eaten nothing from the day
+he was taken, in March, 1838, to the 19th of the following October. He was
+confided upon his arrival to the care of Mr. Bradley, who placed him in an
+apartment the temperature of which could be maintained at about
+seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit, and acting upon the suggestions of Baron
+Humboldt, he endeavored to feed him with bits of boiled meat, worms,
+frogs, fish, and bread, which were all tried in succession. But the animal
+would not touch these. The plan adopted by the London fishmongers for
+fattening the common eel was then had recourse to; a quantity of bullock's
+blood was put into the water, care being taken that it should be changed
+daily, and this was attended with some beneficial effects, as the animal
+gradually improved in health. In the month of October it occurred to Mr.
+Bradley to tempt him with some small fish, and the first gudgeon thrown
+into the water he darted at and swallowed with avidity. From that period
+the same diet has been continued, and he is now fed three times a day, and
+upon each occasion is given two or three carp, or perch, or gudgeon, each
+weighing from two to three ounces. In watching his movements we observed,
+that in swimming about he seems to delight in rubbing himself against the
+gravel which forms the bed above which he floats, and the water
+immediately becomes clouded with the mucus from which he thus relieves the
+surface of his body.
+
+When this species of fish was first discovered, marvelous accounts
+respecting them were transmitted to the Royal Society: it was even said
+that in the river Surinam, in the western province of Guiana, some existed
+twenty feet long. The present specimen is forty inches in length; and
+measures eighteen inches round the body; and his physiognomy justifies the
+description given by one of the early narrators, who remarked, that the
+Gymnotus "resembles one of our common eels, except that its head is flat,
+and its mouth wide, like that of a cat-fish, without teeth." It is
+certainly ugly enough. On its first arrival in England, the proprietors
+offered Professor Faraday (to whom this country may possibly discover,
+within the next five hundred years, that it owes something) the privilege
+of experimenting upon him for scientific purposes, and the result of a
+great number of experiments, ingeniously devised, and executed with great
+nicety, clearly proved the identity between the electricity of the fish
+and the common electricity. The shock, the circuit, the spark, were
+distinctly obtained: the galvanometer was sensibly affected; chemical
+decompositions were obtained; an annealed steel needle became magnetic,
+and the direction of its polarity indicated a current from the anterior to
+the posterior parts of the fish, through the conductors used. The force
+with which the electric discharge is made is also very considerable, for
+this philosopher tells us we may conclude that a single medium discharge
+of the fish is at least equal to the electricity of a Leyden Battery of
+fifteen jars, containing three thousand five hundred square inches of
+glass, coated upon both sides, charged to its highest degree. But great as
+is the force of a single discharge, the Gymnotus will sometimes give a
+double, and even a triple shock, with scarcely any interval. Nor is this
+all. The instinctive action it has recourse to in order to augment the
+force of the shock, is very remarkable.
+
+The professor one day dropped a live fish, five inches long, into the tub;
+upon which the Gymnotus turned round in such a manner as to form a coil
+inclosing the fish, the latter representing a diameter across it, and the
+fish was struck motionless, as if lightning had passed through the water.
+The Gymnotus then made a turn to look for his prey, which having found, he
+bolted it, and then went about seeking for more. A second smaller fish was
+then given him, which being hurt, showed little signs of life; and this he
+swallowed apparently without "shocking it." We are informed by Dr.
+Williamson, in a paper he communicated some years ago to the Royal
+Society, that a fish already struck motionless gave signs of returning
+animation, which the Gymnotus observing, he instantly discharged another
+shock, which killed it. Another curious circumstance was observed by
+Professor Faraday--the Gymnotus appeared conscious of the difference of
+giving a shock to an animate and an inanimate body, and would not be
+provoked to discharge its powers upon the latter. When tormented by a
+glass rod, the creature in the first instance threw out a shock, but as if
+he perceived his mistake, he could not be stimulated afterward to repeat
+it, although the moment the professor touched him with his hands, he
+discharged shock after shock. He refused, in like manner, to gratify the
+curiosity of the philosophers, when they touched him with metallic
+conductors, which he permitted them to do with indifference. It is worthy
+of observation, that this is the only specimen of the Gymnotus Electricus
+ever brought over alive into this country. The great secret of preserving
+his life would appear to consist in keeping the water at an even
+temperature--summer and winter--of seventy-five degrees of Fahrenheit. After
+having been subjected to a great variety of experiments, the creature is
+now permitted to enjoy the remainder of its days in honorable peace, and
+the only occasion upon which he is now disturbed, is when it is found
+necessary to take him out of his shallow reservoir to have it cleaned,
+when he discharges angrily enough shock after shock, which the attendants
+describe to be very smart, even though he be held in several thick and
+well wetted cloths, for they do not at all relish the job.
+
+The Gymnotus Electricus is not the only animal endowed with this very
+singular power; there are other fish, especially the Torpedo and Silurus,
+which are equally remarkable, and equally well known. The peculiar
+structure which enters into the formation of their electrical organs, was
+first examined by the eminent anatomist John Hunter, in the Torpedo; and,
+very recently, Rudolphi has described their structure with great exactness
+in the Gymnotus Electricus.
+
+Without entering into minute details, the peculiarity of the organic
+apparatus of the Electrical Eel seems to consist in this, that it is
+composed of numerous _laminæ_ or thin tendinous partitions, between which
+exists an infinite number of small cells filled with a thickish gelatinous
+fluid. These strata and cells are supplied with nerves of unusual size,
+and the intensity of the electrical power is presumed to depend on the
+amount of nervous energy accumulated in these cells, whence it can be
+voluntarily discharged, just as a muscle may be voluntarily contracted.
+Furthermore, there are, it would appear, good reasons to believe that
+nervous power (in whatever it may consist) and electricity are identical.
+The progress of science has already shown the identity between heat,
+electricity, and magnetism; that heat may be concentrated into
+electricity, and this electricity reconverted into heat; that electric
+force may be converted into magnetic force, and Professor Faraday himself
+discovered how, by reacting back again, the magnetic force can be
+reconverted into the electric force, and _vice versâ_; and should the
+identity between electricity and nervous power be as clearly established,
+one of the most important and interesting problems in physiology will be
+solved.
+
+Every new discovery in science, and all improvements in industrial art,
+the principles of which are capable of being rendered in the least degree
+interesting, are in this Exhibition forthwith popularized, and become, as
+it were, public property. Every individual of the great public can at the
+very small cost of one shilling, claim his or her share in the property
+thus attractively collected, and a small amount of previous knowledge or
+natural intelligence will put the visitor in actual possession of
+treasures which previously "he wot not of," in so amusing a manner that
+they will be beguiled rather than bored into his mind.
+
+
+
+
+
+A TUSCAN VINTAGE.
+
+
+All Tuscany had been busy with the vintage. The vintage! Is there a word
+more rich to the untraveled Englishman in picturesque significance and
+poetical associations? All that the bright south has of glowing coloring,
+harmonious forms, teeming abundance, and Saturnian facility, mixed up in
+the imagination with certain vague visions of bright black eyes and
+bewitching ankles--all this, and more, goes to the making up of the
+Englishman's notion of the vintage. Alas! that it should be needful to
+dissipate such charming illusions. And yet it is well to warn those who
+cherish these _couleur-de-rose_ imaginings, and who would fain shun a
+disagreeable _désenchantement_, that they will do wisely in continuing to
+receive their impressions of Italian ruralities from the presentations of
+our theatres, and the description of Mrs. Radcliffe. To those inquirers,
+however, of sterner mould, who would find truth, be it ever so
+disagreeable when found, it must be told that a Devonshire harvesting is
+twice as pretty, and a Kentish hop-picking thrice as pretty a scene as any
+"vindemia" that the vineyards of Italy can show. The vine, indeed, as
+grown in Italy--especially when the fruit is ripe, and the leaves begin to
+be tinted with crimson and yellow--is an exceedingly pretty object, rich in
+coloring, and elegant in its forms. Nothing but the most obsolete and
+backward agriculture, however, preserves these beauties. If good wine and
+not pretty crops be the object in view, the vine should be grown as in
+France--a low dwarf plant closely pruned, and raised only two or three feet
+from the ground; and than such a vineyard nothing can be more ugly.
+Classic Italy, however, still cultivates her vines as she did when the
+Georgics were written; "marries" them most becomingly and picturesquely to
+elms or mulberries, &c, and makes of them lovely festoons and very acrid
+wine. Again, it must be admitted that a yoke of huge dove-colored oxen,
+with their heavy unwieldy tumbril, is a more picturesque object than an
+English wagon and a team of horses. Occasionally, too, may be seen bearing
+not ungracefully a blushing burden of huge bunches, a figure, male or
+female, who might have sat for a model to Leopold Robert. But despite all
+this, the process of gathering the vintage is any thing but a pleasing
+sight. In one of the heavy tumbrils I have mentioned, are placed some
+twelve or fifteen large pails, some three feet deep, and a foot or so in
+diameter. Into these are thrown pell-mell the bunches of fruit, ripe and
+unripe, clean and dirty, stalks and all, white and red indiscriminately.
+The cart thus laden, the fifteen pails of unsightly, dirty-looking slush,
+are driven to the "fattoria," there to be emptied into vats, which appear,
+both to nose and eye, never to have been cleansed since they were made. In
+performing this operation much is of course spilt over the men employed,
+over the cart, over the ground; and nothing can look less agreeable than
+the effect thus produced. Sometimes one large tub occupies the whole
+tumbril, the contents of which, on reaching the "fattoria," have to be
+ladled out with buckets. Often the contents of the vat, trodden in one
+place--a most unsightly process--have to be transported in huge barrels,
+like water-carts, to another place to undergo fermentation. And then the
+thick muddy stream, laden with filth and impurities of all sorts, which is
+seen when these barrels discharge their cargo, is as little calculated to
+give one a pleasing idea of the "ruby wine" which is to be the result of
+all this filthy squash, as can well be imagined. Add to this an
+exceedingly unpleasant smell in and about all the buildings in which any
+part of the wine-making process takes place, and the constant recurrence
+of rotting heaps of the refuse matter of the pressed grape under every
+wall and hedge in the neighborhood of each "fattoria"--and the notions
+connected with the so be-poetized vintage, will be easily understood to be
+none of the pleasantest in the minds of those acquainted with its sights
+and smells.--_Trollope's Impressions of a Wanderer._
+
+
+
+
+
+HOW TO MAKE HOME UNHEALTHY. BY HARRIET MARTINEAU.
+
+
+Emperor Yao (very many years B.C.) established a certain custom, which was
+followed, we are told, by his successors on the throne of China. The
+custom was this. Outside the hall-door of his palace, he suspended a
+tablet and a gong; and if one among his subjects felt himself able to
+suggest a good idea to his ruler, or wished to admonish him of any error
+in his ways, the critic paid a visit to the palace, wrote what he had to
+say upon the tablet, battered at the gong, and ran away. The Emperor came
+out; and then, unless it happened that some scapegrace of a schoolboy had
+annoyed him by superadding a fly-away knock to a contemptuous
+hieroglyphic, he gravely profited by any hint the tablets might convey.
+Not unlike honest, patriarchal Yao is our British Public. It is summoned
+out to read inscriptions at its door, left there by all who have advice to
+give or faults to deprecate. The successors of Yao, finding upon their
+score so many conflicting tales, soon substituted for the gong five
+instruments of music. It was required, then, that the monitor should
+distinguish, by the instrument upon which he performed his summons, what
+particular department of imperial duties it might be to which he desired
+to call attention. Now not five but fifty voices summon _our_ royal
+public. One man courts attention with a dulcet strain, one brays, one
+harps upon a string, another drums. And among those who have of late been
+busiest in pointing errors out, and drumming at the public's door to have
+them rectified, are they who profess concern about the Public Health.
+
+For the writer who now proposes to address to you, O excellent Public,
+through these pages, a Series of Practical Hints as to How to make Home
+Unhealthy, we would not have you think that he means to be in any respect
+so troublesome as those Sanitary Instructors. The lion on your knocker
+gives him confidence; he will leave no disconcerting messages; he will
+seek to come into your parlor as a friend. A friend he is; for, with a
+polite sincerity, he will maintain in all his arguments that what you do
+is what ought always to be done. He knows well that you are not foolish,
+and perceives, therefore, what end you have in view. He sees that you are
+impressed deeply with a conviction of the vanity of life; that you desire,
+accordingly, to prove your wisdom by exhibiting contempt for that which
+philosopher after philosopher forbids a thoughtful man to cherish. You
+would be proud to have Unhealthy Homes. Lusty carcases, they are for
+coarse folk and for the heathen; civilization forbids us to promote animal
+development. How can a man look spiritual, if he be not sickly? How can a
+woman--Is not Paris the mode? Go, weigh an elegant Parisienne against a
+peasant girl from Normandy. It is here proposed, therefore, to honor your
+discretion by demonstrating publicly how right you are. Some of the many
+methods by which one may succeed in making Home Unhealthy will be here
+detailed to you, in order that, as we go on, you may congratulate yourself
+on feeling how extremely clever you already are in your arrangements. Here
+is a plain purpose. If any citizen, listening to such lessons, think
+himself wise, and yet is one who, like good M. Jourdain in the comedy,
+_n'applaudit qu'à contresens_--to such a citizen it is enough to say. May
+much good come of his perversity!
+
+
+
+
+I. Hints To Hang Up In The Nursery.
+
+
+In laying a foundation of ill health, it is a great point to be able to
+begin at the beginning. You have the future man at excellent advantage
+when he is between your fingers as a baby. One of Hoffman's heroines, a
+clever housewife, discarded and abhorred her lover from the moment of his
+cutting a yeast dumpling. There are some little enormities of that kind
+which really can not be forgiven, and one such is, to miss the opportunity
+of physicking a baby. Now I will tell you how to treat the future
+pale-face at his first entrance into life.
+
+A little while before the birth of any child, have a little something
+ready in a spoon; and, after birth, be ready at the first opportunity, to
+thrust this down his throat. Let his first gift from his fellow-creatures
+be a dose of physic--honey and calomel, or something of that kind: but you
+had better ask the nurse for a prescription. Have ready also, before
+birth, an abundant stock of pins; for it is a great point, in putting the
+first dress upon the little naked body, to contrive that it shall contain
+as many pins as possible. The prick of a sly pin is excellent for making
+children cry; and since it may lead nurses, mothers, now and then even
+doctors, to administer physic for the cure of imaginary gripings in the
+bowels, it may be twice blessed. Sanitary enthusiasts are apt to say that
+strings, not pins, are the right fastening for infants' clothes. Be not
+misled. Is not the pincushion an ancient institution? What is to say,
+"Welcome, little stranger," if pins cease to do so? Resist this
+innovation. It is the small end of the wedge. The next thing that a child
+would do, if let alone, would be to sleep. I would not suffer that. The
+poor thing must want feeding; therefore waken it and make it eat a sop,
+for that will be a pleasant joke at the expense of nature. It will be like
+wakening a gentleman after midnight to put into his mouth some pickled
+herring; only the baby can not thank you for your kindness as the
+gentleman might do.
+
+This is a golden rule concerning babies: to procure sickly growth, let the
+child always suckle. Attempt no regularity in nursing. It is true that if
+an infant be fed at the breast every four hours, it will fall into the
+habit of desiring food only so often, and will sleep very tranquilly
+during the interval. This may save trouble, but it is a device for rearing
+healthy children: we discard it. Our infants shall be nursed in no
+new-fangled way. As for the child's crying, quiet costs eighteen-pence a
+bottle; so that argument is very soon disposed of.
+
+Never be without a flask of Godfrey's Cordial, or Daffy, in the nursery;
+but the fact is, that you ought to keep a medicine-chest. A good deal of
+curious information may be obtained by watching the effects of various
+medicines upon your children.
+
+Never be guided by the child's teeth in weaning it. Wean it before the
+first teeth are cut, or after they have learned to bite. Wean all at once,
+with bitter aloes or some similar devices; and change the diet suddenly.
+It is a foolish thing to ask a medical attendant how to regulate the food
+of children; he is sure to be over-run with bookish prejudices; but nurses
+are practical women, who understand thoroughly matters of this kind.
+
+Do not use a cot for infants, or presume beyond the time-honored
+institution of the cradle. Active rocking sends a child to sleep by
+causing giddiness. Giddiness is a disturbance of the blood's usual way of
+circulation; obviously, therefore, it is a thing to aim at in our
+nurseries. For elder children, swinging is an excellent amusement, if they
+become giddy on the swing.
+
+In your nursery, a maid and two or three children may conveniently be
+quartered for the night, by all means carefully secured from draughts.
+Never omit to use at night a chimney board. The nursery window ought not
+to be much opened; and the door should be kept always shut, in order that
+the clamor of the children may not annoy others in your house.
+
+When the children walk out for an airing, of course they are to be little
+ladies and gentlemen. They are not to scamper to and fro; a little gentle
+amble with a hoop ought to be their severest exercise. In sending them to
+walk abroad, it is a good thing to let their legs be bare. The gentleman
+papa, probably, would find bare legs rather cold walking in the streets of
+London; but the gentleman son, of course, has quite another constitution.
+Besides, how can a boy, not predisposed that way, hope to grow up
+consumptive, if some pains are not taken with him in his childhood?
+
+It is said that of old time children in the Balearic Islands were not
+allowed to eat their dinner, until, by adroitness in the shooting of
+stones out of a sling, they had dislodged it from a rafter in the house.
+Children in the British Islands should be better treated. Let them not
+only have their meals unfailingly, but let them be at all other times
+tempted and bribed to eat. Cakes and sweetmeats of alluring shape and
+color, fruits, and palatable messes, should, without any regularity, be
+added to the diet of a child. The stomach, we know, requires three or four
+hours to digest a meal, expects a moderate routine of tasks, and between
+each task looks for a little period of rest. Now, as we hope to create a
+weak digestion, what is more obvious than that we must use artifice to
+circumvent the stomach? In one hour we must come upon it unexpectedly with
+a dose of fruit and sugar; then, if the regular dinner have been taken,
+astonish the digestion, while at work upon it, with the appearance of an
+extra lump of cake, and presently some gooseberries. In this way we soon
+triumph over Nature, who, to speak truth, does not permit to us an easy
+victory, and does try to accommodate her working to our whims. We triumph,
+and obtain our reward in children pale and polite, children with appetites
+already formed, that will become our good allies against their health in
+after life.
+
+_Principiis obsta._ Let us subdue mere nature at her first start, and make
+her civilized in her beginnings. Let us wipe the rose-tint out of the
+child's cheek, in good hope that the man will not be able to recover it.
+White, yellow, and purple--let us make them to be his future tricolor.
+
+
+
+
+II. The Londoner's Garden.
+
+
+Brick walls do not secrete air. It comes in through your doors and
+windows, from the streets and alleys in your neighborhood; it comes in
+without scraping its feet, and goes down your throat, unwashed, with small
+respect for your gentility. You must look abroad, therefore, for some
+elements of an unwholesome home: and when, sitting at home, you do so, it
+is a good thing if you can see a burial-ground--one of "God's gardens,"
+which our city cherishes.
+
+Now, do not look up with a dolorous face, saying, "Alas! these gardens are
+to be taken from us!" Let agitators write and let Commissioners report,
+let Government nod its good-will, and although all the world may think
+that our London burial-grounds are about to be incontinently jacketed in
+asphalte, and that we ourselves, when dead, are to be steamed off to
+Erith--we are content: at present this is only gossip.(1) On one of the
+lowest terraces of hell, says Dante, he found a Cordelier, who had been
+dragged thither by a logical demon, in defiance of the expostulations of
+St. Francis. The sin of that monk was a sentence of advice for which
+absolution had been received before he gave it: "Promise much, and perform
+little." In the hair of any Minister's head, and of every Commissioner's
+head, we know not what "black cherubim" may have entwined their claws.
+There is hope, while there is life, for the old cause. But if those who
+have authority to do so really have determined to abolish intramural
+burial, let us call upon them solemnly to reconsider their verdict. Let
+them ponder what follows.
+
+Two or three years ago, a book, promulgating notions upon spiritual life,
+was published in London by the Chancellor of a certain place across the
+Channel. It was a clever book; and, among other matter, broached a theory.
+"_Our souls,_" the Rev. Chancellor informed us, "_consist of the essence,
+extract, or gas contained in the human body_;" and, that he might not be
+vague, he made special application to a chemist, who "added some important
+observations of his own respecting the corpse after death." But we must
+decorate a great speculation with the ornamental words of its propounder.
+
+"The gases into which the animal body is resolved by putrefaction are
+ammonia, carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, cyanogen, and sulphureted,
+phosphureted, and carbureted hydrogen. The first, and the two last-named
+gases, are most abundant." We omit here some details as to the time a body
+takes in rotting. "From which it appears, that these noble elements and
+rich essences of humanity are too subtle and volatile to continue long
+with the corpse; but soon disengage themselves, and escape from it. After
+which nothing remains but the foul refuse in the vat; the mere _caput
+mortuum_ in the crucible; the vile dust and ashes of the tomb. Nor does
+inhumation, however deep in the ground, nor drowning in the lowest depths
+and darkest caverns of the fathomless abyss, prevent those subtle
+essences, rare attenuate spirits, or gases, from escaping; or chain down
+to dust those better, nobler elements of the human body. No bars can
+imprison them; no vessels detain them from their kindred element, confine
+them from their native home."
+
+We are all of us familiar with the more noticeable of these "essences," by
+smell, if not by name. Metaphysicians tell us that perceptions and ideas
+_will_ follow in a train: perhaps that may account for the sudden
+recollection of an old-fashioned story--may the moderns pardon it. A young
+Cambridge student, airing his wisdom at a dinner-party, was ingenious upon
+the Theory of Winds. He was most eloquent concerning heat and cold;
+radiation, rarefaction; polar and equatorial currents; he had brought his
+peroration to a close, when he turned round upon a grave Professor of his
+College, saying, "And what, sir, do you believe to be the cause of wind?"
+The learned man replied, "Pea-soup--pea-soup!" In the group of friends
+around a social soup-tureen, must we in future recognize
+
+
+    "The feast of reason, and--the flow of soul!"
+
+
+How gladly shall we fight the fight of life, hoping that, after death, we
+shall meet in a world of sulphureted hydrogen and other gases! And where
+do the Sanitary Reformers suppose that, after death, _their_ gases will
+go--they who, in life, with asphalte and paving-stones, would have
+restrained the souls of their own fathers from ascending into upper air?
+
+Against us let there be no such reproach. Freely let us breathe into our
+bosoms some portion of the spirit of the dead. If we live near no
+church-yard, let us visit one--Mesmerically, if you please. Now we are on
+the way. We see narrow streets and many people; most of the faces that we
+meet are pale. Here is a walking funeral; we follow with it to the
+church-yard. A corner is turned, and there is another funeral to be
+perceived at no great distance in advance. Our walkers trot. The other
+party, finding itself almost overtaken, sets off with a decent run. Our
+party runs. There is a race for prior attention when they reach the
+ground. We become interested. We perceive that one undertaker wears
+gaiters, and the other straps. We trot behind them, betting with each
+other, you on Gaiters, I on Straps. I win; a _Deus ex machinâ_ saves me,
+or I should have lost. An over-goaded ox rushes bewildered round a corner,
+charges and overthrows the foremost coffin; it is broken, and the body is
+exposed--its white shroud flaps upon the mud. This has occurred once, I
+know; and how much oftener, I know not. So Gaiters pioneers his party to
+the nearest undertaker for repairs, and we follow the triumphant
+procession to the church-yard. The minister there meets it, holding his
+white handkerchief most closely to his nose: the mourners imitate him,
+sick and sorrowful. Your toe sticks in a bit of carrion, as we pass near
+the grave and seek the sexton. He is a pimpled man, who moralizes much;
+but his morality is maudlin. He is drunk. He is accustomed to antagonize
+the "spirits" of the dead with spirits from the "Pig and Whistle." Here
+let the _séance_ end.
+
+At home again, let us remark upon a striking fact. Those poor creatures
+whom we saw in sorrow by the grave, believed that they were sowing flesh
+to immortality--and so they were. They did not know that they were also
+sowing coffee. By a trustworthy informant, I am taught that of the old
+coffin-wood dug up out of the crowded church-yards, a large quantity that
+is not burned, is dried and ground; and that ground coffee is therewith
+adulterated in a wholesale manner. It communicates to cheap coffee a good
+color; and puts Body into it, there can be no doubt of that. It will be a
+severe blow to the trade in British coffees if intramural interment be
+forbidden. We shall be driven to depend upon distant planters for what now
+can be produced in any quantity at home.
+
+Remember the largeness of the interests involved. Within the last thirty
+years, a million and a half of corpses have been hidden under ground, in
+patches, here and there, among the streets of London. This pasturage we
+have enjoyed from our youth up, and it is threatened now to put us off our
+feed.
+
+I say no more, for better arguments than these can not be urged on behalf
+of the maintenance of City grave-yards. Possibly these may not prevail.
+Yet never droop. Nevertheless, without despairing, take a house in the
+vicinity of such a garden of the dead. If our lawgivers should fear the
+becoming neighborly with Dante's Cordelier, and therefore absolutely
+interdict more burials in London, still you are safe. They shall not
+trample on the graves that are. We can agitate, and we will agitate
+successfully against their asphalte. Let the City be mindful of its old
+renown; let Vestries rally round Sir Peter Laurie, and there may be yet
+secured to you, for seven years to come, an atmosphere which shall assist
+in making Home Unhealthy.
+
+
+
+
+III. Spending A Very Pleasant Evening.
+
+
+By the consent of antiquity, it is determined that Pain shall be
+doorkeeper to the house of Pleasure. In Europe Purgatory led to Paradise;
+and, had St. Symeon lived among us now, he would have earned heaven, if
+the police permitted, by praying for it, during thirty years, upon the
+summit of a lamp-post. In India the Fakir was beatified by standing on his
+head, under a hot sun, beset with roasting bonfires. In Greenland the soul
+expected to reach bliss by sliding for five days down a rugged rock,
+wounding itself, and shivering with cold. The American Indians sought
+happiness through castigation, and considered vomits the most expeditious
+mode of enforcing self-denial on the stomach. Some tribes of Africans
+believe, that on the way to heaven every man's head is knocked against a
+wall. By consent of mankind, therefore, it is granted that we must pass
+Pain on the way to Pleasure.
+
+What Pleasure is, when reached, none but the dogmatical can venture to
+determine. To Greenlanders, a spacious fish-kettle, forever simmering, in
+which boiled seals forever swim, is the delight of heaven. And remember
+that, in the opinion of M. Bailly, Adam and Eve gardened in Nova Zembla.
+
+You will not be surprised, therefore, if I call upon you to prepare for
+your domestic pleasures with a little suffering; nor, when I tell you what
+such pleasures are, must you exclaim against them as absurd. Having the
+sanction of our forefathers, they are what is fashionable now, and
+consequently they are what is fit.
+
+I propose, then, that you should give, for the entertainment of your
+friends, an Evening Party; and as this is a scene in which young ladies
+prominently figure, I will, if you please, on this occasion, pay
+particular attention to your daughter.
+
+O mystery of preparation!--Pardon, sir. You err if you suppose me to
+insinuate that ladies are more careful over personal adornment than the
+gentlemen. When men made a display of manhood, wearing beards, it is
+recorded that they packed them, when they went to bed, in pasteboard
+cases, lest they might be tumbled in the night. Man at his grimmest is as
+vain as woman, even when he stalks about bearded and battle-axed. This is
+the mystery of preparation in your daughter's case: How does she breathe?
+You have prepared her from childhood for the part she is to play to-night,
+by training her form into the only shape which can be looked at with
+complacency in any ball-room. A machine, called stays, introduced long
+since into England by the Normans, has had her in its grip from early
+girlhood. She has become pale, and--only the least bit--liable to be blue
+about the nose and fingers.
+
+Stays are an excellent contrivance; they give a material support to the
+old cause, Unhealthiness at Home. This is the secret of their excellence.
+A woman's ribs are narrow at the top, and as they approach the waist they
+widen, to allow room for the lungs to play within them. If you can prevent
+the ribs from widening, you can prevent the lungs from playing, which they
+have no right to do, and make them work. This you accomplish by the agency
+of stays. It fortunately happens that these lungs have work to do--the
+putting of the breath of life into the blood--which they are unable to do
+properly when cramped for space; it becomes about as difficult to them as
+it would be to you to play the trombone in a china closet. By this
+compression of the chest, ladies are made nervous, and become unfit for
+much exertion; they do not, however, allow us to suppose that they have
+lost flesh. There is a fiction of attire which would induce, in a
+speculative critic, the belief that some internal flame had caused their
+waists to gutter, and that the ribs had all run down into a lump which
+protrudes behind under the waistband. This appearance is, I think, a
+fiction; and for my opinion I have newspaper authority. In the papers it
+was written, one day last year, that the hump alluded to was tested with a
+pin, upon the person of a lady, coming from the Isle of Man, and it was
+found not to be sensitive. Brandy exuded from the wound; for in that case
+the projection was a bladder, in which the prudent housewife was smuggling
+comfort in a quiet way. The touch of a pin changed all into discomfort,
+when she found that she was converted into a peripatetic
+watering-can--brandying-can, I should have said.
+
+Your daughter comes down stairs dressed, with a bouquet, at a time when
+the dull seeker of Health and Strength would have her to go up stairs with
+a bed-candlestick. Your guests arrive. Young ladies, thinly clad and
+packed in carriages, emerge, half-stifled; put a cold foot, protected by a
+filmy shoe, upon the pavement, and run, shivering, into your house. Well,
+sir, we'll warm them presently. But suffer me to leave you now, while you
+receive your guests.
+
+I know a Phyllis, fresh from the country, who gets up at six and goes to
+bed at ten; who knows no perfume but a flower-garden, and has worn no
+bandage to her waist except a sash. She is now in London, and desires to
+do as others do. She is invited to your party, but is not yet come; it may
+be well for me to call upon her. Why, in the name of Newgate, what is
+going on? She is shrieking "Murder!" on the second floor. Up to the
+rescue! A judicious maid directs me to the drawing-room: "It's only miss
+a-trying on her stays."
+
+Here we are, sir; Phyllis and I. You find the room oppressive--'tis with
+perfume, Phyllis. With foul air? ah, your nice country nose detects it;
+yes, there is foul air: not nasty, of course, my dear, mixed, as it here
+is, with eau-de-Cologne and patchouli. Pills are not nasty, sugared. A
+grain or two of arsenic in each might be not quite exactly neutralized by
+sugar, but there is nothing like faith in a good digestion. Why do the
+gentlemen cuddle the ladies, and spin about the room with them, like
+tee-totums? Oh, Phyllis! Phyllis! let me waltz with you. There, do you not
+see how it is? Faint, are you--giddy--will you fall? An ice will refresh
+you. Spasms next! Phyllis, let me take you home.
+
+Now then, sir, Phyllis has been put to bed; allow me to dance a polka with
+your daughter. Frail, elegant creature that she is! A glass of wine--a
+macaroon: good. Sontag, yes; and that dear novel. That was a delightful
+dance; now let us promenade. The room is close; a glass of wine, an ice,
+and let us get to the delicious draught in the conservatory, or by that
+door. Is it not beautiful? The next quadrille--I look slily at my watch,
+and Auber's grim chorus rumbles within me, "_Voici minuit! voici minuit_!"
+Another dance. How fond she seems to be of macaroons! Supper. My dear sir,
+I will take good care of your daughter. One sandwich. Champagne.
+Blanc-mange. Tipsey-cake. Brandy cherries. Glass of wine. A macaroon.
+Trifle. Jelly. Champagne. Custard. Macaroon. The ladies are being taken
+care of--Yes, now in their absence we will drink their health, and wink at
+each other: their and our Bad Healths. This is the happiest moment of our
+lives; at two in the morning, with a dose of indigestion in the stomach,
+and three hours more to come before we get to bed. You, my dear sir, hope
+that on many occasions like the present you may see your friends around
+you, looking as glassy-eyed as you have made them to look now. We will
+rejoin the ladies.
+
+Nothing but Champagne could have enabled us to keep up the evening so
+well. We were getting weary before supper--but we have had some wine, have
+dug the spur into our sides, and on we go again. At length, even the
+bottle stimulates our worn-out company no more; and then we separate.
+Good-night, dear sir; we have spent a Very Pleasant Evening under your
+roof.
+
+To-morrow, when you depart from a late breakfast, having seen your
+daughter's face, and her boiled-mackerel eye, knowing that your wife is
+bilious, and that your son has just gone out for soda-water, you will feel
+yourself to be a Briton who has done his duty, a man who has paid
+something on account of his great debt to civilized society.
+
+
+
+
+IV. The Light Nuisance.
+
+
+Tieck tells us, in his "History of the Schildbürger," that the town
+council of that spirited community was very wise. It had been noticed that
+many worthy aldermen and common-councilors were in the habit of looking
+out of window when they ought to be attending to their duties. A vote was
+therefore, on one occasion, passed by a large majority, to this effect,
+namely--Whereas the windows of the Town-hall are a great impediment to the
+dispatch of public business, it is ordered that before the next day of
+meeting they be all bricked up. When the next day of meeting came, the
+worthy representatives of Schildbürg were surprised to find themselves
+assembling in the dark. Presently, accepting the unlooked-for fact, they
+settled down into an edifying discussion of the question, whether darkness
+was not more convenient for their purposes than daylight. Had you and I
+been there, my friend, our votes in the division would have been, like the
+vote in our own House of Commons a few days ago, for keeping out the Light
+Nuisance as much as possible. Darkness is better than daylight, certainly.
+
+Now this admits of proof. For, let me ask, where do you find the best part
+of a lettuce?--not in the outside leaves. Which are the choice parts of
+celery?--of course, the white shoots in the middle. Why, sir? Because light
+has never come to them. They become white and luxurious by tying up, by
+earthing up, by any contrivance which has kept the sun at bay. It is the
+same with man: while we obstruct the light by putting brick and board
+where glass suggests itself, and mock the light by picturing impracticable
+windows on our outside walls--so that our houses stare about like blind men
+with glass eyes--while this is done, we sit at home and blanch, we become
+in our dim apartments pale and delicate, we grow to look refined, as
+gentlemen and ladies ought to look. Let the sanitary doctor, at whose head
+we have thrown lettuces, go to the botanist and ask him, How, is this? Let
+him come back and tell us, Oh, gentlemen, in these vegetables the natural
+juices are not formed when you exclude the light. The natural juices in
+the lettuce or in celery are flavored much more strongly than our tastes
+would relish, and therefore we induce in these plants an imperfect
+development, in order to make them eatable. Very well. The natural juices
+in a man are stronger than good taste can tolerate. Man requires
+horticulture to be fit to come to table. To rear the finer sorts of human
+kind, one great operation necessary is to banish light as much as
+possible.
+
+Ladies know that. To keep their faces pale, they pull the blinds down in
+their drawing-rooms, they put a vail between their countenances and the
+sun when they go out, and carry, like good soldiers, a great shield on
+high, by name a Parasol, to ward his darts off. They know better than to
+let the old god kiss them into color, as he does the peaches. They choose
+to remain green fruit: and we all know that to be a delicacy.
+
+Yet there are men among us daring to propose that there shall no longer be
+protection against light; men who would tax a house by its capaciousness,
+and let the sun shine into it unhindered. The so-called sanitary people
+really seem to look upon their fellow-creatures as so many cucumbers. But
+we have not yet fallen so far back in our development. Disease is a
+privilege. Those only who know the tender touch of a wife's hand, the
+quiet kiss, the soothing whisper, can appreciate its worth. All who are
+not dead to the tenderest emotions will lament the day when light is
+turned on without limit in our houses. We have no wish to be blazed upon.
+Frequently pestilence itself avoids the sunny side of any street, and
+prefers walking in the shade. Nay, even in one building, as in the case of
+a great barrack at St. Petersburg, there will be three calls made by
+disease upon the shady side of the establishment for every one visit that
+it pays to the side brightened by the sun; and this is known to happen
+uniformly, for a series of years. Let us be warned, then. There must be no
+increase of windows in our houses; let us curtain those we have, and keep
+our blinds well down. Let morning sun or afternoon sun fire no volleys in
+upon us. Faded curtains, faded carpets, all ye blinds forbid! But faded
+faces are desirable. It is a cheering spectacle on summer afternoons to
+see the bright rays beating on a row of windows, all the way down a
+street, and failing to find entrance any where. Who wants more windows? Is
+it not obvious that, when daylight really comes, every window we possess
+is counted one too many? If we could send up a large balloon into the sky,
+with Mr. Braidwood and a fire-engine, to get the flames of the sun under,
+just a little bit, that would be something rational. More light, indeed!
+More water next, no doubt! As if it were not perfectly notorious that in
+the articles of light, water, and air, Nature outran the constable. We
+have to keep out light with blinds and vails, and various machinery, as we
+would keep out cockroaches with wafers; we keep out air with pads and
+curtains; and still there are impertinent reformers clamoring to increase
+our difficulty, by giving us more windows to protect against the inroads
+of those household nuisances.
+
+I call upon consistent Englishmen to make a stand against these
+innovators. There is need of all our vigor. In 1848, the repeal of the
+window-tax was scouted from the Commons by a sensible majority of
+ninety-four. In 1850, the good cause has triumphed only by a precarious
+majority of three. The exertions of right-thinking men will not be
+wanting, when the value and importance of a little energetic labor is once
+clearly perceived.
+
+What is it that the sanitary agitators want? To tan and freckle all their
+countrywomen, and to make Britons apple-faced? The Persian hero, Rustum,
+when a baby, exhausted seven nurses, and was weaned upon seven sheep a
+day, when he was of age for spoon-meat. Are English babies to be Rustums?
+When Rustum's mother, Roubadah, from a high tower first saw and admired
+her future husband Zal, she let her ringlets fall, and they were long, and
+reached unto the ground; and Zal climbed up by them, and knelt down at her
+feet, and asked to marry her. Are British ladies to be strengthened into
+Roubadahs, with hair like a ship's cable, up which husbands may clamber?
+In the present state of the mania for public health, it is quite time that
+every patriotic man should put these questions seriously to his
+conscience.
+
+One topic more. Let it clearly be understood, that against artificial
+light we can make no objection. Between sun and candle there are more
+contrasts than the mere difference in brilliancy. The light which comes
+down from the sky not only eats no air out of our mouths, but it comes
+charged with mysterious and subtle principles which have a purifying,
+vivifying power. It is a powerful ally of health, and we make war against
+it. But artificial light contains no sanitary marvels. When the gas
+streams through half a dozen jets into your room, and burns there and
+gives light; when candles become shorter and shorter, until they are
+"burnt out" and seen no more; you know what happens. Nothing in Nature
+ceases to exist. Your camphine has left the lamp, but it has not vanished
+out of being. Nor has it been converted into light. Light is a visible
+action; and candles are no more converted into light when they are
+burning, than breath is converted into speech when you are talking. The
+breath, having produced speech, mixes with the atmosphere; gas, camphine,
+candles, having produced light, do the same. If you saw fifty wax-lights
+shrink to their sockets last week in an unventilated ball-room, yet,
+though invisible, they had not left you; for their elements were in the
+room, and you were breathing them. Their light had been a sign that they
+were combining chemically with the air; in so combining they were changed,
+but they became a poison. Every artificial light is, of necessity, a
+little workshop for the conversion of gas, oil, spirit, or candle into
+respirable poison. Let no sanitary tongue persuade you that the more we
+have of such a process, the more need we have of ventilation. Ventilation
+is a catchword for the use of agitators, in which it does not become any
+person of refinement to exhibit interest.
+
+The following hint will be received thankfully by gentlemen who would be
+glad to merit spectacles. To make your eyes weak, use a fluctuating light;
+nothing can be better adapted for your purpose than what are called
+"mould" candles. The joke of them consists in this, they begin with giving
+you sufficient light; but, as the wick grows, the radiance lessens, and
+your eye gradually accommodates itself to the decrease: suddenly they are
+snuffed, and your eye leaps back to its original adjustment, there begins
+another slide, and then leaps back again. Much practice of this kind
+serves very well as a familiar introduction to the use of glasses.
+
+
+
+
+V. Passing The Bottle.
+
+
+A brass button from the coat of Saint Peter, was at one time shown to
+visitors among the treasures of a certain church in Nassau; possibly some
+traveler of more experience may have met with a false collar from the
+wardrobe of Saint Paul. The intellect displayed of old by holy saints and
+martyrs, we may reasonably believe to have surpassed the measure of a
+bishop's understanding in the present day; for we have the authority of
+eyesight and tradition in asserting that the meanest of those ancient
+worthies possessed not less than three skulls, and that a great saint must
+have had so very many heads, that it would have built the fortune of a man
+to be his hatter. Perhaps some of these relics are fictitious;
+nevertheless, they are the boast of their possessors; they are exhibited
+as genuine, and thoroughly believed to be so. Sir, did your stomach never
+suggest to you that doctored elder-berry of a recent brew had been
+uncorked with veneration at some dinner-table as a bottle of old port?
+Have you experience of any festive friend, who can commit himself to doubt
+about the age and genuineness of his wine? The cellar is the social
+relic-chamber; every bin rejoices in a most veracious legend; and, whether
+it be over wine or over relics that we wonder, equal difficulties start up
+to obstruct our faith.
+
+Our prejudices, for example, run so much in favor of one-headed men, that
+we can scarcely entertain the notion of a saint who had six night-caps to
+put on when he went to bed, and when he got up in the morning had six
+beards to shave. Knowing that the Russians, by themselves, drink more
+Champagne than France exports, and that it must rain grapes at Hockheim
+before that place can yield all the wine we English label Hock, and
+haunted as we are by the same difficulty when we look to other kinds of
+foreign wine, we feel a justified suspicion that the same glass of
+"genuine old port" can not be indulged in simultaneously by ten people. If
+only one man of the number drinks it, what is that eidolon which delights
+the other nine?
+
+When George the Fourth was Regent, he possessed a small store of the
+choicest wine, and never called for it. There were some gentlemen in his
+establishment acquainted with its merits; these took upon themselves to
+rescue it from undeserved neglect. Then the prince talked about his
+treasure--when little remained thereof except the bottles; and it was to be
+produced at a forthcoming dinner-party. The gentlemen, who knew its
+flavor, visited the vaults of an extensive wine-merchant, and there they
+vainly sought to look upon its like again. "In those dim solitudes and
+awful cells" they, groaning in spirit, made a confessor of the merchant,
+who, for a fee, engaged to save them from the wrath to come. As an artist
+in wine, having obtained a sample of the stuff required, this dealer
+undertook to furnish a successful imitation. So he did; for, having filled
+those bottles with a wondrous compound, he sent them to the palace just
+before the fateful dinner-hour, exhorting the conspirators to take heed
+how they suffered any to be left. The compound would become a tell-tale
+after twelve hours' keeping. The prince that evening enjoyed his wine.
+
+The ordinary manufacture of choice wine for people who are not princes,
+requires the following ingredients: for the original fluid, cider, or
+Common cape, raisin, grape, parsnip, or elder wine; a wine made of rhubarb
+(for Champagne); to these may be added water. A fit stock having been
+chosen, strength, color, and flavor may be grafted on it. Use is made of
+these materials: for color-burnt sugar, logwood, cochineal, red sanders
+wood, or elder-berries. Plain spirit or brandy for strength. For nutty
+flavor, bitter almonds. For fruitiness, Dantzic spruce. For fullness or
+smoothness, honey. For port-wine flavor, tincture of the seeds of raisins.
+For bouquet, orris root or ambergris. For roughness or dryness, alum, oak
+sawdust, rhatany or kino. It is not necessary that an imitation should
+contain one drop of the wine whose name it bears; but a skillful
+combination of the true and false is desirable, if price permit. Every
+pint of the pure wine thus added to a mixture is, of course, so much
+abstracted from the stock of unadulterated juice.
+
+You will perceive, therefore, that a free use of wine, not highly priced,
+is likely to assist us very much in our endeavors to establish an
+unhealthy home. Fill your cellar with bargains; be a genuine John Bull;
+invite your friends, and pass the bottle.
+
+There is hope for us also in the recollection, that if chance force upon
+us a small stock of wine that has not been, in England, under the doctor's
+hands, we know not what may have been done to it abroad. The botanist,
+Robert Fortune, was in China when the Americans deluged the Chinese market
+with their orders for Young Hyson tea. The Chinese very promptly met the
+whole demand; and Fortune in his "Wanderings" has told us how. He found
+his way to a Young Hyson manufactory, where coarse old Congou leaves were
+being chopped, and carefully manipulated by those ingenious merchants the
+Chinese. But it is in human nature for other folks than the Chinese to be
+ingenious in such matters. We may, therefore, make up our minds that,
+since the demand for wine from certain celebrated vineyards, largely
+exceeds all possibility of genuine supply, since, also, every man who asks
+is satisfied, it is inevitable that the great majority of wine-drinkers
+are satisfied with a factitious article. The chances are against our very
+often meeting with a glass of port that has not taken physic. So, let us
+never drink dear wine, nor ask a chemist what is in our bottles. Enough
+that they contain for us delightful poison.
+
+That name for wine, "delightful poison," is not new. It is as old as the
+foundation of Persepolis. Jemsheed was fond of grapes, Ferdusi tells, and
+once, when grapes went out of season, stored up for himself some jars of
+grape-juice. After a while he went to seek for a refreshing draught; then
+fermentation was in progress; and he found his juice abominably nasty. A
+severe stomach-ache induced him to believe that the liquor had acquired,
+in some way, dangerous qualities, and, therefore, to avoid accidents, he
+labeled each jar, "Poison." More time elapsed, and then one of his wives,
+in trouble of soul, weary of life, resolved to put an end to her
+existence. Poison was handy: but a draught transformed her trouble into
+joy; more of it stupefied, but did not kill her. That woman kept a secret:
+she alone exhausted all the jars. Jemsheed then found them to be empty.
+Explanations followed. The experiment was tried once more, and wine, being
+so discovered, was thereafter entitled "the delightful poison." What
+Jemsheed would have said to a bottle of port out of our friend Hoggin's
+cellar--but I tread on sacred ground.
+
+Of good wine health requires none, though it will tolerate a little. Our
+prospect, therefore, when the bottle passes briskly, is encouraging. Is
+the wine good, we may expect some indigestion; is it bad, who can tell
+what disorders we may not expect? Hoggins, I know, drinks more than a
+quart without disordering his stomach. He has long been a supporter of the
+cause we are now advocating, and therein finds one of his rewards. It is
+not safe to pinch a tiger's tail; yet, when the animal is sick, perhaps he
+will not bite although you tread upon it heavily. Healthy men and healthy
+stomachs tolerate no oppression.
+
+London is full now; elsewhere country folks come out of doors, invited by
+fine weather. Walk where you will, in country or in town, and look at all
+the faces that you meet. Traverse the Strand, and Regent-street, and
+Holborn, and Cheapside; get into a boat at London bridge, steam to
+Gravesend, and look at your fellow-passengers: examine where you will, the
+stamp of our civilization, sickliness, is upon nine people in any ten.
+There are good reasons why this should be so, and so let it continue. We
+have excluded sanitary calculations from our social life; we have had
+hitherto unhealthy homes, and we will keep them. Bede tells of a Mercian
+noble on his death-bed, to whom a ghost exhibited a scrap of paper, upon
+which were written his good deeds; then the door opened, and an
+interminable file of ghosts brought in a mile or two of scroll, whereon
+his misdeeds were all registered, and made him read them. Our wars against
+brute health are glorious, and we rejoice to feel that of such sins we
+have no scanty catalogue; we are content with our few items of mere
+sanitary virtue. As for sanitary reformers, they are a company of Danaids;
+they may get some of us into their sieve, but we shall soon slip out
+again. When a traveler proposed, at Ghadames in the Sahara, to put up a
+lantern here and there of nights among the pitch-dark streets, the people
+said his notion might be good, but that, as such things never had been
+tried before, it would be presumptuous to make the trial of them now. The
+traveler, a Briton, must have felt quite at home when he heard that
+objection. Amen, then; with the Ghadamese, we say, Let us have no New
+Lights.
+
+
+
+
+VI. Art Against Appetite.
+
+
+The object of food is, to support the body in its natural development that
+it may reach a reasonable age without becoming too robust. Civilization
+can instruct us so to manage, that a gentle dissolution tread upon the
+heels of growth, that, as Metastasio hath it,
+
+
+                    --"dalle fasce,
+    Si comincia a morir quando si nasce."(2)
+
+
+An infant's appetite is all for milk; but art suggests a few additions to
+that lamentably simple diet. A lady not long since complacently informed
+her medical attendant that, for the use of a baby, then about eight months
+old she had spent nine pounds in "Infant's Preservative." Of this, or of
+some like preparation, the advertisements tells us that it compels Nature
+to be orderly, and that all infants take it with greediness. So we have
+even justice to the child. Pet drinks Preservative; papa drinks Port.
+
+Then there is "farinaceous food." Here, for a purpose, we must interpolate
+a bit of science. There is a division of food into two great classes,
+nourishment and fuel. Nourishment is said to exist chiefly in animal flesh
+and blood, and in vegetable compounds which exactly correspond thereto,
+called vegetable fibrine, albumen, and caseine. Fuel exists in whatever
+contains much carbon: fat and starchy vegetables, potatoes, gum, sugar,
+alcoholic liquors. If a person take more nourishment than he wants, it is
+said to be wasted; if he take more fuel than he wants, part of it is
+wasted, and part of it the body stacks away as fat. These men of science
+furthermore assert, that the correct diet of a healthy man must contain
+eight parts of fuel food to one of nourishment. This preserves
+equilibrium, they say--suits, therefore, an adult; the child which has to
+become bigger as it lives has use for an excess of nourishment. And so one
+of the doctors, Dr. R.D. Thomson, gives this table; it has been often
+copied. The proportion of nourishment to fuel is in
+
+Milk (food for a       1 to 2.
+growing animal)
+Beans                  1 to
+                       2-1/2.
+Oatmeal                1 to 5.
+Barley                 1 to 7.
+Wheat flour (food      1 to 8.
+for an animal at
+rest)
+Potatoes               1 to 9.
+Rice                   1 to 10.
+Turnips                1 to 11.
+Arrow-root, tapioca,   1 to 26.
+sago
+Starch                 1 to 40.
+
+Very well, gentlemen, we take your facts. As ægritudinary men, we know
+what use to make of them. We will give infants farinaceous food;
+arrow-root, tapioca, and the like; quite ready to be taught by you that so
+we give one particle of nourishment in twenty-six. Tell us, this diet is
+like putting leeches on a child. We are content. Leeches give a delicate
+whiteness that we are thankful to be able to obtain with out the biting or
+the bloodshed.
+
+Sanitary people will allow a child, up to its seventh year, nothing beyond
+bread, milk, water, sugar, light meat broth, without fat, and fresh meat
+for its dinner--when it is old enough to bite it--with a little well-cooked
+vegetable. They confine a child, poor creature, to this miserable fare;
+permitting, in due season, only a pittance of the ripest fruit.
+
+They would give children, while they are growing, oatmeal and milk for
+breakfast, made into a porridge. They would deny them beer. You know how
+strengthening that is, and yet these people say that there is not an ounce
+of meat in a whole bucketful. They would deny them comfits, cakes, wine,
+pastry, and grudge them nuts; but our boys shall rebel against all this.
+We will teach them to regard cake as bliss, and wine as glory; we will
+educate them to a love of tarts. Once let our art secure over the stomach
+its ascendency, and the civilized organ acquires new desires. Vitiated
+cravings, let the sanitary doctors call them; let them say that children
+will eat garbage, as young women will eat chalk and coals, not because it
+is their nature so to do, but because it is a symptom of disordered
+function. We know nothing about function. Art against Appetite has won the
+day, and the pale face of civilization is established.
+
+Plain sugar, it is a good thing to forbid our children; there is something
+healthy in their love of it. Suppose we tell them that it spoils the
+teeth. They know no better; we do. We know that the negroes, who in a
+great measure live upon sugar, are quite famous for their sound white
+teeth; and Mr. Richardson tells us of tribes among the Arabs of Sahara,
+whose beautiful teeth he lauds, that they are in the habit of keeping
+about them a stick of sugar in a leathern case, which they bring out from
+time to time for a suck, as we bring out the snuff-box for a pinch. But we
+will tell our children that plain sugar spoils the teeth; sugar mixed with
+chalk or verdigris, or any other mess--that is to say, civilized sugar--they
+are welcome to.
+
+And for ourselves, we will eat any thing. The more our cooks, with spice,
+with druggery and pastry, raise our wonder up, the more we will approve
+their handicraft. We will excite the stomach with a peppered soup; we will
+make fish indigestible with melted butter, and correct the butter with
+cayenne. We will take sauces, we will drink wine, we will drink beer, we
+will eat pie-crust, we will eat indescribable productions--we will take
+celery, and cheese, and ale--we will take liqueur--we will take wine and
+olives and more wine, and oranges and almonds, and any thing else that may
+present itself, and we will call all that our dinner, and for such the
+stomach shall accept it. We will eat more than we need, but will compel an
+appetite. Art against Appetite forever.
+
+Sanitary people bear ill-will to pie-crust; they teach that butter, after
+being baked therein, becomes a compound hateful to the stomach. We will
+eat pies, we will eat pastry, we will eat--we would eat M. Soyer himself in
+a tart, if it were possible.
+
+We will uphold London milk. Mr. Rugg says that it is apt to contain chalk,
+the brains of sheep, oxen, and cows, flour, starch, treacle, whiting,
+sugar of lead, arnotto, size, etc. Who cares for Mr. Rugg? London milk is
+better than country milk, for London cows are town cows. They live in a
+city, in close sheds, in our own dear alleys--are consumptive--they are
+delightful cows; only their milk is too strong, it requires watering and
+doctoring, and then it is delicious milk.
+
+Tea we are not quite sure about. Some people say that because tea took so
+sudden a hold upon the human appetite, because it spread so widely in so
+short a time, that therefore it supplies a want: its use is natural.
+Liebig suggests that it supplies a constituent of bile. I think rather
+that its use has become general because it causes innocent intoxication.
+Few men are not glad to be made cheerful harmlessly. For this reason I
+think it is that the use of tea and coffee has become popular; and since
+whatever sustains cheerfulness advances health--the body working with good
+will under a pleasant master--tea does our service little good. In excess,
+no doubt, it can be rendered hurtful (so can bread and butter); but the
+best way of pressing it into employment, as an ægritudinary aid, is by the
+practice of taking it extremely hot. A few observations upon the
+temperature at which food is refused by all the lower animals, will soon
+convince you that in man--not as regards tea only, but in a great many
+respects--Art has established her own rule, and that the Appetite of Nature
+has been conquered.
+
+We have a great respect for alcoholic liquors. It has been seen that the
+excess of these makes fat; they, therefore, who have least need of fat,
+according to our rules, are those who have most need of wine and beer.
+
+Of ordinary meats there is not much to say, We have read of Dr. Beaumont's
+servant, who had an open musket-hole leading into his stomach, through
+which the doctor made experiments. Many experiments were made, and tables
+drawn of no great value on the digestibility of divers kinds of meat.
+Climate and habit are, on such points, paramount. Pig is pollution to the
+children of the Sun, the Jew, and Mussulman; but children of winter, the
+Scandinavians, could not imagine Paradise complete without it. Schrimner,
+the sacred hog, cut up daily and eaten by the tenants of Walhalla,
+collected his fragments in the night, and was in his sty again ready for
+slaughter the next morning. These things concern us little, for it is not
+with plain meat that we have here to do, but with the noble art of
+Cookery. That art, which once obeyed and now commands our appetite, which
+is become the teacher where it was the taught, we duly reverence. When
+ægritudinary science shall obtain its college, and when each Unhealthy
+Course shall have its eminent professor to teach Theory and Practice--then
+we shall have a Court of Aldermen for Patrons, a Gravedigger for
+Principal, and a Cook shall be Dean of Faculty.
+
+
+
+
+VII. The Water Party.
+
+
+Water rains from heaven, and leaps out of the earth; it rolls about the
+land in rivers, it accumulates in lakes; three-fourths of the whole
+surface of the globe is water; yet there are men unable to be clean. "God
+loveth the clean," said Mahomet. He was a sanitary reformer; he was a
+notorious impostor; and it is our duty to resist any insidious attempt to
+introduce his doctrines.
+
+There are in London districts of filth which speak to us--through the
+nose--in an emphatic manner. Their foul air is an atmosphere of charity;
+for we pass through it pitying the poor. Burke said of a certain miser to
+whom an estate was left, "that now, it was to be hoped, he would set up a
+pocket-handkerchief." We hope, of the miserable, that when they come into
+their property they may be able to afford themselves a little lavender and
+musk. We might be willing to subscribe for the correction now and then,
+with aromatic cachou, of the town's bad breath; but water is a vulgar sort
+of thing, and of vulgarity the less we have the better.
+
+In truth, we have not much of it. We are told that in a great city Water
+is maid of all work; has to assist our manufactures, to supply daily our
+saucepans and our tea-kettles; has to cleanse our clothes, our persons,
+and our houses; to provide baths, to wash our streets, and to flood away
+the daily refuse of the people, with their slaughter-houses, markets,
+hospitals, &c. Our dozen reservoirs in London yield a supply daily
+averaging thirty gallons to each head--which goes partly to make swamps,
+partly to waste, partly to rot, as it is used in tubs or cisterns. Rome in
+her pride used once to supply water at the rate of more than three hundred
+gallons daily to each citizen. That was excess. In London half a million
+of people get no water at all into their houses; but as those people live
+in the back settlements, and keep out of our sight, their dirt is no great
+matter of concern. We, for our own parts, have enough to cook with, have
+whereof to drink, wherewith to wash our feet sometimes, to wet our fingers
+and the corner of a towel--we inquire no further. Drainage and all such
+topics involve details positively nasty, and we blush for any of our
+fellow-citizens who take delight in chattering about them.
+
+We are told to regard the habits of an infant world. London, the brain of
+a vast empire, is advised now to forget her civilization, and to go back
+some thousand years. We are to look at Persian aqueducts, attributed to
+Noah's great-grandson--at Carthaginians, Etruscans, Mexicans--at what Rome
+did. It frets us when we are thus driven to an obvious reply. Man in an
+unripe and half-civilized condition, has not found out the vulgarity of
+water; for his brutish instinct is not overcome. All savages believe that
+water is essential to their life and desire it in unlimited abundance.
+Cultivation teaches us another life, in which our animal existence neither
+gets nor merits much attention. As for the Romans, so perpetually quoted,
+it was a freak of theirs to do things massively. While they were yet
+almost barbarians, they built that Cloaca through which afterward Agrippa
+sailed down to the Tiber in a boat. Who wishes to see His Worship the Lord
+Mayor of London emerging in his state barge from a London sewer?
+
+Now here is inconsistency. Thirty million gallons of corruption are added
+daily by our London sewers to the Thames: that is one object of complaint,
+good in itself, because we drink Thames water. But in the next breath it
+is complained that a good many million gallons more should be poured out;
+that there are three hundred thousand cesspools more to be washed up; that
+as much filth as would make a lake six feet in depth, a mile long, and a
+thousand feet across, lies under London stagnant; and they would wish this
+also to be swept into the river. I heard lately of a gentleman who is
+tormented with the constant fancy that he has a scorpion down his back. He
+asks every neighbor to put in his hand and fetch it out, but no amount of
+fetching out ever relieves him. That is a national delusion. Our
+enlightened public is much troubled with such scorpions. Sanitary writers
+are infested with them.
+
+They also say, That in one-half of London people drink Thames water; and
+in the other half, get water from the Chadwell spring and River Lea. That
+the River Lea, for twenty miles, flows through a densely-peopled district.
+and is, in its passage, drenched with refuse matter from the population on
+its banks. That there is added to Thames water the waste of two hundred
+and twenty cities, towns, and villages; and that between Richmond and
+Waterloo-bridge more than two hundred sewers discharge into it their fetid
+matter. That the washing to and fro of tide secures the arrival of a large
+portion of filth from below Westminster, at Hammersmith; effects a perfect
+mixture, which is still farther facilitated by the splashing of the
+steamboats. Mr. Hassal has published engravings of the microscopic aspect
+of water taken from companies which suck the river up at widely-separated
+stages of its course through town--so tested, one drop differs little from
+another in the degree of its impurity. They tell us that two companies--the
+Lambeth and West Middlesex--supply Thames Mixture to subscribers as it
+comes to them; but that others filter more or less. They say that
+filtering can expurge nothing but mechanical impurities, while the
+dissolved pollution which no filter can extract is that part which
+communicates disease. We know this; well, and what then? There are
+absurdities so lifted above ridicule, that Momus himself would spoil part
+of the fun if he attempted to trangress beyond a naked statement of them.
+What do the members of this Water Party want? I'll tell you what I verily
+believe they are insane enough to look for.
+
+They would, if possible, forsake Thames water, calling it dirty, saying it
+is hard. So hard they say it is, that it requires three spoonfuls of tea
+instead of two in every man's pot, two pounds of soap for one in every
+man's kitchen. So they would fetch soft water from a Gathering Ground in
+Surrey, adopting an example set in Lancashire; from rain-fall on the
+heaths between Bagshot and Farnham, and from tributaries of the River Wey,
+they would collect water in covered reservoirs, and bring it by A COVERED
+AQUEDUCT to London. In London, they would totally abolish cisterns, and
+all intermittence of supply. Water in London they would have to be, as at
+Nottingham, accessible in all rooms at all times. They would have water,
+at high pressure, climbing about every house in every court and alley.
+They would place water, so to speak, at the finger's end, limiting no
+household as to quantity. They would enable every man to bathe. They would
+revolutionize the sewer-system, and have the town washed daily, like a
+good Mahometan, clean to the finger-nails. They hint that all this might
+not even be expensive; that the cost of disease and degradation is so much
+greater than the cost of health and self-respect, as to pay back,
+possibly, our outlay, and then yield a profit to the nation. They say
+that, even if it were a money loss, it would be moral gain; and they ask
+whether we have not spent millions, ere now, upon less harmless
+commodities than water?
+
+An ingenious fellow had a fiddle--all, he said, made out of his own head;
+and wood enough was left to make another. He must have been a sanitary
+man; his fiddle was a crotchet. Still farther to illustrate their own
+capacity of fiddle-making, these good but misguided people have been
+rooting up some horrible statistics of the filth and wretchedness which
+our back-windows overlook, with strange facts anent fever, pestilence, and
+the communication of disease. All this I purposely suppress; it is
+peculiarly disagreeable. Delicate health we like, and will learn gladly
+how to obtain it; but results we are content with, and can spare the
+details, when those details bring us into contact, even upon paper, with
+the squalid classes.
+
+If these outcries of the Water Party move the public to a thirst for
+change, it would be prudent for us ægritudinary men not rashly to swim
+against the current. Let us adopt a middle course, a patronizing tone. It
+is in our favor that a large number of the facts which these our foes have
+to produce, are, by a great deal too startling to get easy credit. A
+single Pooh! has in it more semblance of reason than a page of facts, when
+revelations of neglected hygiene are on the carpet. If the case of the
+Sanitary Reformers had been only half as well made out, it would be twice
+as well supported.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. Filling The Grave.
+
+
+M. Boutigny has published an account of some experiments which go to prove
+that we may dip our fingers into liquid metal with impunity. Professor
+Plücker, of Bonn, has amply confirmed Boutigny's results, and in his
+report hints a conclusion that henceforth "certain minor operations in
+surgery may be performed with least pain by placing the foot in a bath of
+red-hot iron." Would you not like to see Professor Plücker, with his
+trowsers duly tucked up, washing his feet in a pailful of this very
+soothing fluid? And would it not be a fit martyrdom for sanitary doctors,
+if we could compel them also to sacrifice their legs in a cause, kin to
+their own, of theory and innovation? As Alderman Lawrence shrewdly
+remarked the other day, from his place in the Guildhall, the sanitary
+reform cry is "got up." That is the reason why, in his case, it does not
+go down. He, for his own part, did not disapprove the flavor of a
+church-yard, and appeared to see no reason why it should be cheated of its
+due. The sanitary partisans, he said, were paid for making certain
+statements. It would be well if we could cut off their supply of
+halfpence, and so silence them. Liwang, an ancient Emperor of China,
+fearing insurrection, forbade all conversation, even whispering, in his
+dominions. It would be well for us if Liwang lived now as our Secretary
+for the Home Department. There is too much talking--is there not, Mr.
+Carlyle? We want Liwang among us. However, as matters stand, it is bad
+enough for the sanitary reformers. "They drop their arms and tremble when
+they hear," they are despised by Alderman Lawrence.(3)
+
+Let us uphold our city grave-yards; on that point we have already spoken
+out. Let us not cheat them of their pasturage; if any man fall sick, when,
+so to speak, his grave is dug, let us not lift him out of it by
+misdirected care. That topic now engages our attention.
+
+There is a report among the hear-say stories of Herodotus, touching some
+tribe of Scythians, that when one of them gets out of health, or passes
+forty years of age, his friends proceed to slaughter him, lest he become
+diseased, tough, or unfit for table. These people took their ancestors
+into their stomachs, we take ours into our lungs--and herein we adopt the
+better plan, because it is the more unwholesome. We are content, also, now
+and then to let our friends grow old, although we may repress the tendency
+to age as much as possible. We do not absolutely kill our neighbors when
+they sicken; yet by judicious nursing we may frequently keep down a too
+great buoyancy of health, and check recovery. How to produce this last
+effect I will now tell you. Gentle mourners, do not chide me as
+irreverent--
+
+
+    "Auch ich war in Arkadien geboren,"
+
+
+bear with me, then, and let me give my hints concerning ægritudinary
+sick-room discipline.
+
+Of the professional nurse I will say nothing. You, of course, have put
+down Mrs. Gamp's address.
+
+A sick-room should, in the first place, be made dark. Light, I have said
+before, is, in most cases, curative. It is a direct swindling of the
+doctor when we allow blinds to be pulled up, and so admit into the
+patient's room medicine for which nobody (except the tax-gatherer) is
+paid.
+
+A sick-room should, in the next place, be made sad, obtrusively sad. A
+smile upon the landing must become a sigh when it has passed the patient's
+door. Our hope is to depress, to dispirit invalids. Cheerful words and
+gentle laughter, more especially where there is admitted sunshine also,
+are a moral food much too nutritious for the sick.
+
+The sick-room, in its furniture as well, must have an ominous appearance.
+The drawers, or a table should be decked with physic bottles. Some have a
+way of thrusting all the medicine into a cupboard, out of sight, leaving a
+glass of gayly-colored flowers for the wearied eyes to rest upon: this has
+arisen obviously from a sanitary crotchet, and is, on no account, to be
+adopted.
+
+Then we must have the sick-room to be hot, and keep it close. A scentless
+air, at summer temperature, sanitary people want; a hot, close atmosphere
+is better suited to our view. Slops and all messes are to be left standing
+in the room--only put out of sight--and cleared away occasionally; they are
+not to be removed at once. The chamber also is to be made tidy once a day,
+and once a week well cleaned: it is not to be kept in order by incessant
+care, by hourly tidiness, permitting no dirt to collect.
+
+There is an absurd sanitary dictum, which I will but name. It is, that a
+patient ought to have, if possible, two beds, one for the day, and one for
+night use; or else two sets of sheets, that, each set being used one day
+and aired the next, the bed may be kept fresh and wholesome. Suppose our
+friend were to catch cold in consequence of all this freshness!
+
+No, we do better to avoid fresh air; nor should we vex our patient with
+much washing. We will not learn to feed the sick, but send their food away
+when they are unable to understand our clumsiness.
+
+Yet, while we follow our own humor in this code of chamber practice, we
+will pay tithes of mint and cummin to the men of science. We will ask
+Monsieur Purgon how many grains of salt go to an egg; and if our patient
+require twelve turns up and down the room, we will inquire with Argan,
+whether they are to be measured by its length or breadth.
+
+When we have added to our course some doses of religious horror, we shall
+have done as much as conscience can demand of us toward filling the grave.
+
+I may append here the remark, that if ever we do resolve to eat our
+ancestors, there is the plan of a distinguished horticulturist apt for our
+purpose. Mr. Loudon, I believe it was, who proposed, some years ago, the
+conversion of the dead into rotation crops--that our grandfathers and
+grandmothers should be converted into corn and mangel-wurzel. His
+suggestion was to combine burial with farming operations. A field was to
+be, during forty years, a place of interment: then the field adjacent was
+to be taken for that purpose; and so on with others in rotation. A due
+time having been allowed for the manure in each field to rot, the dead
+were to be well worked up and gradually disinterred in the form of wheat,
+or carrots, or potatoes.
+
+Nothing appears odd to which we are accustomed. We look abroad and wonder,
+but we look at home and are content. The Esquimaux believe that men dying
+in windy weather are unfortunate, because their souls, as they escape,
+risk being blown away. Some Negroes do not bury in the rainy season, for
+they believe that then the gods, being all busy up above, can not attend
+to any ceremonies. Dr. Hooker writes home from the Himalaya mountains,
+that about Lake Yarou the Lamas' bodies are exposed, and kites are
+summoned to devour them by the sound of a gong and of a trumpet made out
+of a human thigh-bone. Such notions from abroad arrest our notice, but we
+see nothing when we look at home. We might see how we fill our sick-rooms
+with a fatal gloom, and keep our dead five or six days within our houses,
+to bury them, side by side and one over another, thousands together, in
+the middle of our cities. However, when we do succeed in getting at a view
+of our own life _ab extra_, it is a pleasant thing to find that sanitary
+heresies at any rate have not struck deep root in the British soil. In an
+old book of emblems there is a picture of Cupid whipping a tortoise, to
+the motto that Love hates delay. If lovers of reform in sanitary matters
+hate delay, it is a pity; for our good old tortoise has a famous shell,
+and is not stimulated easily.
+
+
+
+
+IX. The Fire And The Dressing-Room.
+
+
+Against the weather all men are Protectionists--all men account it matter
+of offense. What say the people of the north? A Highland preacher, one
+December Sunday, in the fourth hour of his sermon--For be it known to
+Englishmen who nod at church, that in the Highlands, after four good hours
+of prayer and psalm, there follow four good hours of sermon. And, _nota
+bene_, may it not be that the shade of our King Henry I. does penance
+among Highland chapels now, for having, in his lifetime, made one Roger a
+bishop because he was expert in scrambling through the services?--A
+Highland pastor saw his congregation shivering. "Ah!" he shouted, "maybe
+ye think this a cauld place; but, let me tell ye, hell's far caulder!" An
+English hearer afterward reproached this minister for his perversion of
+the current faith. "Hout, man," said he, "ye dinna ken the Hielanders. If
+I were to tell them hell was a hot place, they'd all be laboring to go
+there." And that was true philosophy. Mythologies invented in the north,
+imagined their own climate into future torture. Above, in the northern
+lights, they saw a chase of miserable souls, half starved, and hunted to
+and fro by ravens; below, they imagined Nastrond with its frosts and
+serpents. Warmth is delightful, certainly. No doubt but sunburnt nations
+picture future punishment as fire. Yes, naturally, for it is in the middle
+region only that we are not wearied with extremes. What region shall we
+take? Our own? When is it not too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet, or too
+uncertain? Italy? There the sun breeds idle maggots. As for the poet's
+paradise, Cashmere, botanists tell us that, although, no doubt, fruits
+grow luxuriantly there, they are extremely flavourless. Then it is obvious
+that to abuse, antagonise, defy the weather, is one of the established
+rights of man. Upon our method of defying it, our health, in some measure,
+depends. How is our right to be maintained unhealthily?
+
+Not by blind obedience to nature. We are correcting her, and must not let
+her guide us. Nature considers all men savages--and savages they would be,
+if they followed her. What is barbarism? Man in a state of nature. Nature,
+I say, treats us almost as if we were unable to light fires, or stich for
+ourselves breeches. Nature places near the hand of man in each climate a
+certain food, and tyrannizes over his stomach with a certain craving.
+Whales and seals delight the Esquimaux; he eats his blubber and defies the
+frost. So fed, the Esquimaux woman can stand out of doors, suckling her
+infant at an open breast, with the thermometer 40° below zero. As we go
+south, we pass the lands of bread and beef, to reach the sultry region
+wherein nature provides dates, and so forth. Even in our own range of the
+seasons, nature seeks to bind us to her own routine; in winter gives an
+appetite for flesh and fat, in summer takes a part of it away. We are not
+puppets, and we will not be dictated to; so we stimulate the stomach, and
+allow no brute instinct to tamper with our social dietary. We do here, on
+a small scale, what is done, on a large scale, by our friends in India,
+who pepper themselves into appetite, that they may eat, and drink, and
+die. We drink exciting beverage in summer, because we are hot; we drink it
+in winter, because we are cold. The fact is, we are driven to such
+practices; for if we did not interfere to take the guidance of our diet
+out of nature's hands, she would make food do a large portion of the
+service which civilization asks of fire and clothing. We should walk about
+warm in the winter, cool in the summer, having the warmth and coolness in
+ourselves. Now, it is obvious that this would never do. We must be
+civilized, or we must not. Is Mr. Sangster to sell tomahawks instead of
+canes? Clearly, he is not. We must so manage our homes as to create
+unhealthy bodies. If we do not, society is ruined; if we do--and in
+proportion as we do so--we become more and more unfit to meet vicissitudes
+of weather. Then we acquire a social craving after fires, and coats, and
+cloaks, and wrappers, and umbrellas, and cork soles, and muffetees, and
+patent hareskins, and all the blessings of this life, upon which our
+preservation must depend. These prove that we have stepped beyond the
+brute. You never saw a lion with cork soles and muffetees. The tiger never
+comes out, of nights, in a great coat. The eagle never soars up from his
+nest with an umbrella. Man alone comprehends these luxuries; and it is
+when he is least healthy that he loves them best.
+
+In winter, then, it is not diet, and it is not exercise, that shall excite
+in us a vital warmth. We will depend on artificial means; we will be
+warmed, not from within, but from without. We will set ourselves about a
+fire, like pies, and bake; heating the outside first. Where the fire
+fails, we will depend upon the dressing-room.
+
+If we have healthy chests, we will encase ourselves in flannel; but if we
+happen to have chest complaint, we will use nothing of the sort. When we
+go out, we will empanoply our persons, so that we may warm ourselves by
+shutting in all exhalation from our bodies, and by husbanding what little
+heat we permit nature to provide for us.
+
+In summer we will eat rich dinners and drink wine, will cast off
+three-fourths of the thickness of our winter clothing, and still be
+oppressed by heat. Iced drinks shall take the place of fire.
+
+Civilized people can not endure being much wetted. Contact of water,
+during exercise, will do no harm to healthy bodies, but will spoil good
+clothes. We will get damp only when we walk out in bad weather; then, when
+we come home, we need no change. Evaporation from damp clothes--the act of
+drying--while the body cools down, resting, and perhaps fatigued, that is
+what damages the health; against that we have no objection.
+
+Hem! No doubt it is taking a great liberty with a Briton to look over his
+wardrobe. I will not trespass so far, but, my dear sir, your Hat! If we
+are to have a column on our heads, let it be one in which we can feel
+pride; a miniature monument; and we might put a statue on the top. Hats,
+as they are now worn, would not fitly support more than a bust. Is not
+this mean? On ægritudinary grounds we will uphold a hat. To keep the
+edifice from taking flight before a puff of wind, it must be fitted pretty
+tightly round the head, must press over the forehead and the occiput. How
+much it presses, a red ring upon our flesh will often testify. Heads are
+not made of putty; pressure implies impediment to certain processes
+within; one of these processes is called the circulation of the blood. The
+brain lies underneath our hats. Well, that is as it should be. Ladies do
+not wear hats, and never will, the bonnet is so artful a contrivance for
+encompassing the face with ornament; roses and lilies and
+daffidowndillies, which would have sent Flora into fits, and killed her
+long ago, had such a goddess ever been.
+
+I said that there was brain under the hat; this is not always obvious, but
+there is generally hair. Once upon a time, not very long ago, hair was
+constructed with great labor into a huge tower upon every lady's head,
+pomatum being used by way of mortar, and this tower was repaired every
+three weeks. The British matron then looked like a "mop-headed Papuan."
+The two were much alike, except in this, that while our countrywoman
+triumphed in her art, the Papuan was discontented with his nature. The
+ladies here, whose hair was naturally made to fall around the shoulders,
+reared it up on end; but in New Guinea, fashionables born with hair that
+grew of its own will into an upright bush, preferred to cut it off, and
+re-arrange it in a wig directed downwards. Sometimes they do no more than
+crop it close; and then, since it is characteristic of the hair in this
+race to grow, not in an expanse, but in tufts, the head is said by sailors
+to remind them of a worn-out shoe-brush. So, at the Antipodes as well as
+here, Art is an enemy to Nature. Hair upon the head was meant originally
+to preserve in all seasons an equable temperature above the brain.
+Emptying grease-pots into it, and matting it together, we convert it into
+an unwholesome skull-cap.
+
+The neck? Here sanitary people say, How satisfactory it is that Englishmen
+keep their necks covered with a close cravat, and do not Byronize in
+opposition to the climate. That is very good; but English women, who
+account themselves more delicate, don't cover their necks, indeed they do
+not at all times cover their shoulders. So traveling from top to toe, if
+Englishmen wear thick shoes to protect the feet, our English women scorn
+the weakness, and go, except a little fancy covering, bare-footed.
+
+From this point I digress, to note of other garments that the English
+dress, as now established, does on the whole fair credit to society. To
+the good gentlemen who poetize concerning grace and the antique, who sigh
+for togas, stolas, and paludaments, I say, Go to. The drapery you sigh for
+was the baby-linen of the human race. Now we are out of long-clothes. The
+present European dress is that which offers least impediment to action. It
+shows what a Man is like, and that is more than any stranger from another
+world could have detected under the upholstery to which our sculptors
+cling. The merest hint of a man--shaped as God shaped him--is better than
+ten miles of folded blanket. Artists cry down our costume; forgetting that
+if they have not folds of drapery to paint, that is because they have in
+each man every limb to which they may assign its posture. If they can put
+no mind into a statue by the mastery of attitude, all the sheets in Guy's
+Hospital will not twist into a fold that shall be worth their chiseling.
+
+With women it is different. They have both moral and æsthetic right to
+drapery; and for the fashion of it, we must leave that to themselves. They
+are all licensed to deal in stuffs, colors, frippery, and flounce. And to
+wear rings in their ears. If ladies have good taste they can not vex us;
+and that any of them can have bad taste, who shall hint? Their stays they
+will abide by, as they love hysterics; them I have mentioned. I have
+before also gone out of my way to speak of certain humps carried by women
+on their backs, which are not healthy or unhealthy--who shall say what they
+are? Are these humps allegorical? Our wives and daughters perhaps wish to
+hint that they resemble camels in their patience; camels who bear their
+burden through a desert world, which we, poor folk, should find it quite
+impossible to travel through without them.
+
+
+
+
+X. Fresh Air.
+
+
+Philosophers tell us that the breath of man is poisonous; that when
+collected in a jar it will kill mice, but when accumulated in a room it
+will kill men. Of this there are a thousand and one tales. I decline
+alluding to the Black Hole of Calcutta, but will take a specimen dug up by
+some sanitary gardener from Horace Walpole's letters. In 1742 a set of
+jolly Dogberries, virtuous in their cups, resolved that every woman out
+after dark ought to be locked up in the round-house. They captured
+twenty-six unfortunates, and shut them in with doors and windows fastened.
+The prisoners exhausted breath in screaming. One poor girl said she was
+worth eighteenpence, and cried that she would give it gladly for a cup of
+water. Dogberry was deaf. In the morning four were brought out dead, two
+dying, and twelve in a dangerous condition. This is an argument in favor
+of the new police. I don't believe in ventilation; and will undertake
+here, in a few paragraphs, to prove it nonsense.
+
+At the very outset, let us take the ventilation-mongers on their own
+ground. People of this class are always referring us to nature. Very well,
+we will be natural. Do you believe, sir, that the words of that dear lady,
+when she said she loved you everlastingly, were poisonous air rendered
+sonorous by the action of a larynx, tongue, teeth, palate, and lips? No,
+indeed; ladies, at any rate, although they claim a double share of what
+the cherubs want--and, possibly, these humps, now three times spoken of,
+are the concealed and missing portions of the cherubim torn from them by
+the fair sex in some ancient struggle. There, now, I am again shipwrecked
+on the wondrous mountains. I was about to say, that ladies, who, in some
+things, surpass the cherubs, equal them in others; like them, are vocal
+with ethereal tones; their breath is "the sweet south, stealing across a
+bed of violets," and that's not poisonous, I fancy. Well, I believe the
+chemists have, as yet, not detected any difference between a man's breath,
+and a woman's; therefore, neither of them can be hurtful. But let us grant
+the whole position. Breath is poisonous, but nature made it so; nature
+intended it to be so. Nature made man a social animal, and, therefore,
+designed that many breaths should be commingled. Why do you, lovers of the
+natural, object to that arrangement?
+
+Now let us glance at the means adopted to get rid of this our breath, this
+breath of which our words are made, libeled as poisonous. Ventilation is
+of two kinds, mechanical and physical. I will say something about each.
+
+Mechanical ventilation is that which machinery produces. One of the first
+recorded ventilators of this kind, was not much more extravagant in its
+charges upon house-room, than some of which we hear in 1850. In 1663, H.
+Schmitz published the scheme of a great fanner, which, descending through
+the ceiling, moved to and fro pendulum-wise, within a mighty slit. The
+movement of the fanner was established by a piece of clockwork more simple
+than compact: it occupied a complete chamber overhead, and was set in
+noisy motion by a heavy weight. The weight ran slowly down, pulling its
+rope until it reached the parlor floor; so that a gentleman incautiously
+falling asleep under it after his dinner, might awake to find himself a
+pancake. Since that time we have had no lack of ingenuity at work on
+forcing pumps, and sucking-pumps, and screws. The screws are admirable, on
+account of the unusually startling nature, now and then, of their results.
+Not long ago, a couple of fine screws were adapted to a public building;
+one was to take air out, the other was to turn air in. The first screw,
+unexpectedly perverse, wheeled its air inward; so did the second, but
+instead of directing its draught upward, it blew down with a great gust of
+contempt upon the horrified experimentalist. There is something of a screw
+principle in those queer little wheels fastened occasionally in our
+windows, and on footmen's hats--query, are those the ventilating hats?--the
+rooms are as much ventilated by these little tins as they would be by an
+air from "Don Giovanni." I will say nothing about pumps; nor, indeed, need
+we devote more space to mechanical contrivances, since it is from other
+modes of ventilation that our cause has most to fear. Only one quaint
+speculation may be mentioned. It is quite certain that in the heats of
+India, air is not cooled by fanning, nor is it cooled judiciously by
+damping it. Professor Piazzi Smyth last year suggested this idea: Compress
+air by a forcing-pump into a close vessel, by so doing you increase its
+heat, then suddenly allow it to escape into a room, it will expand so much
+as to be cold, and, mixing with the other air in the apartment, cool the
+whole mass. This is the last new theory, which has not yet, I think, been
+tried in practice.
+
+Now, physical ventilation--that which affects to imitate the processes of
+nature--is a more dangerously specious business. Its chief agent is heat.
+In nature, it is said, the sun is Lord High Ventilator. He rarefies the
+air in one place by his heat, elsewhere permits cold, and lets the air be
+dense; the thin air rises, and the dense air rushes to supply its place;
+so we have endless winds and currents--nature's ventilating works. It is
+incredible that sane men should have thought this system fit for
+imitation. It is a failure. Look at the hot department, where a traveler
+sometimes has to record that he lay gasping for two hours upon his back,
+until some one could find some water for him somewhere. Let us call that
+Africa, and who can say that he enjoys the squalls of wind rushing toward
+the desert? Let us think of the Persian and the Punic wars, when fleets
+which had not learned to play bo-peep with ventilating processes, strewed
+Mediterranean sands with wrecks and corpses. Some day we shall have these
+mimics of Dame Nature content with nothing smaller than a drawing-room
+typhoon to carry off the foul air of an evening party; dowagers' caps,
+young ladies' scarfs, cards, pocket-handkerchiefs, will whirl upon their
+blast, and then they will be happy. Now their demands are modest, but they
+mean hurricanes rely upon it; we must not let ourselves be lulled into a
+false security.
+
+A fire, they say, is in English houses necessary during a large part of
+the year, is constant during that season when we are most closely shut up
+in our rooms. The fire, they say, is our most handy and most efficacious
+ventilator. Oh, yes, we know something about that: we know too well that
+the fire makes an ascending current, and that the cold air rushes from our
+doors and windows to the chimney, as from surrounding countries to the
+burning desert. We know that very well, because every such current is a
+draught; one cuts into our legs, one gnaws about our necks, and all our
+backs are cold. We are in the condition of a pious man in Fox's "Martyrs,"
+about whom I used to read with childish reverence: that after a great deal
+of frying, during which he had not been turned by the Inquisition-Soyer,
+he lifted up his voice in verse:
+
+
+    "This side enough is toasted;
+      Then turn me, tyrant, and eat,
+    And see whether raw or roasted
+      I make the better meat."
+
+
+We, all of us, over our Christmas fires, present this choice of raw or
+roast, and we don't thank your principles of ventilation for it. Then say
+these pertinacious people, that they also disapprove of draughts; but they
+don't seem to mind boring holes in a gentleman's floor, or knocking
+through the sacred walls of home. This is their plan. They say, that you
+should have, if possible, a pipe connected with the air without, passing
+behind the cheeks of your stove, and opening under your fire, about, on,
+or close before your hearth. They say, that from this source the fire will
+be supplied so well, that it will no longer suck in draughts over your
+shoulders, and between your legs, from remote corners of the room. They
+say, moreover, that if this aperture be large enough, it will supply all
+the fresh air needed in your room, to replace that which has ascended and
+passed out, through a hole which you are to make in your chimney near the
+ceiling. They say, that an up-draught will clear this air away so quietly
+that you will not need even a valve; though you may have one fitted and
+made ornamental at a trifling cost. They would recommend you to make
+another hole in the wall opposite your chimney, near the ceiling also, to
+establish a more effectual current in the upper air. Then, they say, you
+will have a fresh air, and no draughts. Fresh air, yes, at the expense of
+a hole in the floor, and two holes in the wall. We might get fresh air,
+gentlemen, on a much larger scale by pulling the house down. They say, you
+should not mind the holes. Windows are not architectural beauties, yet we
+like them for admitting light; and some day it may strike us that the want
+of ventilators is a neighbor folly to the want of windows.
+
+This they suggest as the best method of adapting our old houses to their
+new ideas. New houses they would have so built as to include this system
+of ventilation in their first construction, and so include it as to make
+it more effectual. But really, if people want to know how to build what
+are called well-ventilated houses, they must not expect me to tell them;
+let them buy Mr. Hosking's book on "The proper Regulation of Buildings in
+Towns."
+
+Up to this date, as I am glad to know, few architects have heard of
+ventilation. Under church galleries we doze through the most lively
+sermons, in public meetings we pant after air, but we have architecture;
+perhaps an airy style sometimes attempts to comfort us. These
+circumstances are, possibly, unpleasant at the time, but they assist the
+cause of general unhealthiness. Long may our architects believe that human
+lungs are instruments of brass; and let us hope that, when they get a
+ventilating fit, they will prefer strange machines, pumping, screwing,
+steaming apparatus. May they dispense then, doctored air, in draughts and
+mixtures.(4)
+
+Fresh air in certain favored places--as in Smithfield, for example--is
+undoubtedly an object of desire. It is exceedingly to be regretted, if the
+rumors be correct, that the result of a Commission of Inquiry threatens,
+by removing Smithfield, to destroy the only sound lung this metropolis
+possesses. The wholesome nature of the smell of cows is quite notorious.
+Humboldt tells of a sailor who was dying of fever in the close hold of a
+ship. His end being in sight, some comrades brought him out to die. What
+Humboldt calls "the fresh air" fell upon him, and, instead of dying, he
+revived, eventually getting well. I have no doubt that there was a cow on
+board, and the man smelt her. Now, if so great an effect was produced by
+the proximity of one cow, how great must be the advantage to the sick in
+London of a central crowded cattle-market!
+
+
+
+
+XI. Exercise.
+
+
+There is a little tell-tale muscle in the inner corner of the eye, which,
+if you question it, will deliver a report into your looking-glass touching
+the state of the whole muscular system which lies elsewhere hidden in your
+body. When it is pale, it praises you. Muscular development is, by all
+means, to be kept down. Some means of holding it in check we have already
+dwelt upon. Muscular power, like all other power, will increase with
+exercise. We desire to hold the flesh in strict subjection to the spirit.
+Bodily exercise, therefore, must be added to the number of those forces
+which, by strengthening the animal, do damage to the spiritual man.
+
+We must take great pains to choke the energy of children. Their active
+little limbs must be tied down by a well-woven system of politeness. They
+run, they jump, turn heels over head, they climb up trees, if they attempt
+stillness they are ever on the move, because nature demands that while the
+body grows, it shall be freely worked in all its parts, in order that it
+may develop into a frame-work vigorous and well proportioned. Nature
+really is more obstinate than usual on this point. So restless a delight
+in bodily exertion is implanted in the child, that our patience is
+considerably tried when we attempt to keep it still. Children, however,
+can be tamed and civilized. By sending them unhealthy from the nursery, we
+can deliver many of them spiritless at school, there to be properly
+subdued. The most unwholesome plan is to send boys to one school, girls to
+another; both physically and morally, this method gives good hope of
+sickliness. Nature, who never is on our side, will allow children of each
+sex to be born into one family, to play together, and be educated at one
+mother's knee. There ought to be--if nature had the slightest sense of
+decency--girls only born in one house, boys only in another. However, we
+can sort the children at an early age, and send them off to school--girls
+east, boys west.
+
+A girl should be allowed, on no account, to climb a tree, or be
+unladylike. She shall regard a boy as a strange, curious monster; be
+forced into flirtation; and prefer the solace of a darling friend to any
+thing that verges on a scamper. She shall learn English grammar: that is
+to mean, Lindley Murray's notion of it; geography, or the names of capital
+towns, rivers, and mountain ranges; French enough for a lady; music,
+ornamental needlework, and the "use of the globes." By-the-by, what a
+marvel it is that every lady has learned in her girlhood the use of the
+globes, and yet you never see a lady using them. All these subjects she
+shall study from a female point of view. Her greatest bodily fatigue shall
+be the learning of a polka, or the Indian sceptre exercise. Now and then,
+she shall have an iron down her back, and put her feet in stocks. The
+young lady shall return from school, able to cover ottomans with worsted
+birds; and to stitch a purse for the expected lover about whom she has
+been thinking for the last five years. She is quite aware that St.
+Petersburg is the capital of Ireland, and that a noun is a
+verb-substantive, which signifies to be, to do, to suffer.
+
+The boy children shall be sent to school, where they may sit during three
+hours consecutively, and during eight or nine hours in the day, forcing
+their bodies to be tranquil. They shall entertain their minds by
+stuttering the eloquence of Cicero, which would be dull work to them in
+English, and is not enlivened by the Latin. They shall get much into their
+mouths of what they can not comprehend, and little or nothing into their
+hearts, out of the wide stores of information for which children really
+thirst. They shall be taught little or nothing of the world they live in,
+and shall know its Maker only as an answer to some question in a
+catechism. They shall talk of girls as beings of another nature; and shall
+come home from their school-life, pale, subdued, having unwholesome
+thoughts, awkward in using limbs, which they have not been suffered freely
+to develop; and shamefaced in the society from which, during their
+schoolboy life, they have been banished.
+
+The older girl shall ape the lady, and the older boy shall ape the
+gentleman; so we may speak next of adults.
+
+No lady ought to walk when she can ride. The carriages of many kinds which
+throng our streets, all prove us civilized; prove us, and make us weak.
+The lady should be tired after a four-mile walk; her walk ought to be, in
+the utmost possible degree, weeded of energy. It should be slow; and when
+her legs are moved, her arms must be restrained from that synchronous
+movement which perverse Nature calls upon them to perform. Ladies do well
+to walk out with their arms quite still, and with their hands folded
+before them. Thus they prevent their delicacy from being preyed upon by a
+too wholesome exercise, and, what is to us more pleasant, they betray
+their great humility. They dare only to walk among us lords of the
+creation with their arms folded before them, that by such humble guise
+they may acknowledge the inferiority of their position. An Australian
+native, visiting London, might almost be tempted, in sheer pride of heart,
+to knock some of our ladies two or three times about the head with that
+small instrument which he employs for such correction of his women, that
+so he might derive the more enjoyment from their manifest submissiveness.
+
+The well-bred gentleman ought to be weary after six miles of walking, and
+haughtily stare down the man who talks about sixteen. The saddle, the gig,
+the carriage, or the cab, and omnibus, must protect at once his delicacy
+and his shoes. The student should confine himself to study, grudging time;
+believing nobody who tells him that the time he gives to wholesome
+exercise, he may receive back in the shape of increased value for his
+hours of thought--that even his life of study may be lengthened by it. Let
+the tradesman be well-rooted in his shop if he desire to flourish. Let the
+mechanic sit at labor on the week-days, and on Sundays let him sit at
+church, or else stop decently at home. Let us have no Sunday recreations.
+It is quite shocking to hear sanitary people lecture on this topic.
+Profanely they profess to wonder why the weary, toiling family of
+Christians should not be carried from the town, and from that hum of
+society which is not to them very refreshing on the day of rest. Why they
+should not go out and wander in the woods, and ask their hearts who taught
+the dragon-fly his dancing; who made the blue-bells cluster lovingly
+together, looking so modest; and ask from whose Opera the birds are
+singing their delicious music? Why should not the rugged man's face
+soften, and the care-worn woman's face be melted into tenderness, and man
+and wife and children cluster as closely as the blue-bells in the peaceful
+wood? What if they there become so very conscious of their mutual love,
+and of the love of God, as to feel glad that they are not in any other
+"place of worship," where they may hear Roman Catholics denounced, or
+Churchmen scorned, or the Dissenters pounded? What if they then come home
+refreshed in mind and body, and begin the week with larger, gentler
+thoughts of God and man? By such means may they not easily be led, if they
+were at any unwilling, to give praise to God, and learn to join--not as a
+superstitious rite, but as a humble duty--in His public worship? So talk
+the sanitary men--here, as in all their doctrines, showing themselves
+little better than materialists. The negro notion of a Sabbath is, that
+nobody may fish: our notion is, that nobody may stay away from church.
+
+In these remarks on exercise among adults, I have confined myself to the
+plain exercise of walking. It may be taken for granted that no grown-up
+person will be so childish as to leap, to row, to swim. A few Young
+Englanders may put on, now and then, their white kid gloves to patronize a
+cricket-match; but we can laugh at them. In a gentleman it is undignified
+to run; and even walking, at the best, is vulgar.
+
+Indeed there is an obvious vulgarity in the whole doctrine which would
+call upon us to assist our brute development by the mere exercising of
+ourselves as animals. Such counsel offers to degrade us to the low
+position of the race-horse who is trotted to and fro, the poodle who is
+sent out for an airing. As spiritual people, we look down with much
+contempt upon the man who would in any thing compare us with the lower
+animals. His mind is mean, and must be quite beneath our indignation. I
+will say no more. Why thrash a pickpocket with thunder?
+
+
+
+
+XII. A Bedroom Paper.
+
+
+If you wish to have a thoroughly unhealthy bedroom, these are the
+precautions you should take.
+
+Fasten a chimney-board against the fireplace, so as to prevent foul air
+from escaping in the night. You will, of course, have no hole through the
+wall into the chimney; and no sane man, in the night season, would have a
+door or window open. Use no perforated zinc in paneling; especially avoid
+it in small bedrooms. So you will get a room full of bad air. But in the
+same room there is bad, worse, and worst: your object is to have the worst
+air possible. Suffocating machines are made by every upholsterer; attach
+one to your bed; it is an apparatus of poles, rings, and curtains. By
+drawing your curtains around you before you sleep, you insure to yourself
+a condensed body of foul air over your person. This poison vapor-bath you
+will find to be most efficient when it is made of any thick material.
+
+There being transpiration through the skin, it would not be a bad idea to
+see whether this can not be in some way hindered. The popular method will
+do very well: smother the flesh as much as possible in feathers. A
+wandering princess, in some fairy tale, came to a king's house. The king's
+wife, with the curiosity and acuteness proper to her sex, desired to know
+whether their guest was truly born a princess, and discovered how to solve
+the question. She put three peas on the young lady's paillasse, and over
+them a large feather-bed, and then another, then another--in fact, fifteen
+feather-beds. Next morning the princess looked pale, and, in answer to
+inquiries how she had passed the night, said that she had been unable to
+sleep at all, because the bed had lumps in it. The king's wife knew then
+that their guest showed her good breeding. Take this high-born lady for a
+model. The feathers retain all heat about your body, and stifle the skin
+so far effectually, that you awake in the morning pervaded by a sense of
+languor, which must be very agreeable to a person who has it in his mind
+to be unhealthy. In order to keep a check upon exhalation about your head
+(which otherwise might have too much the way of Nature), put on a stout,
+closely-woven night-cap. People who are at the height of cleverness in
+this respect sleep with their heads under the bed-clothes. Take no rest on
+a hair-mattress; it is elastic and pleasant, certainly, but it does not
+encase the body; and therefore you run a risk of not awaking languid.
+
+Never wash when you go to bed; you are not going to see any body, and
+therefore there can be no use in washing. In the morning, wet no more skin
+than you absolutely must--that is to say, no more than your neighbors will
+see during the day--the face and hands. So much you may do with a tolerably
+good will, since it is the other part of the surface of the body, more
+covered and more impeded in the full discharge of its functions, which has
+rather the more need of ablution; it is therefore fortunate that you can
+leave that other part unwashed. Five minutes of sponging and rubbing over
+the whole body in the morning would tend to invigorate the system, and
+would send you with a cheerful glow to the day's business or pleasure.
+Avoid it by all means, if you desire to be unhealthy. Let me note here,
+that in speaking of the poor, we should abstain from ceding to them an
+exclusive title, as "the Great Unwashed." Will you, Mr. N. or M., retire
+into your room and strip? Examine your body; is it clean--was it sponged
+this morning--is there no dirt upon it any where? If it be not clean, if it
+was not sponged, if water would look rather black after you had enjoyed a
+thorough scrub in it, then is it not obvious that you yourself take rank
+among the Great Unwashed? By way of preserving a distinction between them
+and us, I even think it would be no bad thing were we to advocate the
+washing of the poor.
+
+Do not forget that, although you must unfortunately apply water to your
+face you can find warrant in custom to excuse you from annoying it with
+soap; and for the water again, you are at liberty to take vengeance by
+obtaining compensation damages out of that part of your head which the
+hair covers. Never wash it; soil it; clog it with oil or lard--either of
+which will answer your purpose, as either will keep out air as well as
+water, and promote the growth of a thick morion of scurf. Lard in the
+bedroom is called bear's grease. In connection with its virtues in
+promoting growth of hair, there is a tale which I believe to be no
+fiction; not the old and profane jest of the man who rubbed a deal box
+with it over-night, and found a hair-trunk in the morning. It is said that
+the first adventurer who advertised bear's grease for sale, appended to
+the laudation of its efficacy a Nota Bene, that gentlemen, after applying
+it, should wash the palms of their hands, otherwise the hair would sprout
+thence also. I admire that speculator, grimly satiric at the expense both
+of himself and of his customers. He jested at his own pretensions; and
+declared, by an oblique hint, that he did not look for friends among the
+scrupulously clean.
+
+Tooth-powder is necessary in the bedroom. Healthy stomachs will make
+healthy teeth, and then a tooth-brush and a little water may suffice to
+keep them clean. But healthy stomachs also make coarse constitutions. It
+is vexatious that our teeth rot when we vitiate the fluid that surrounds
+them. As gentlemen and ladies we desire good teeth; they must be scoured
+and hearth-stoned.
+
+Of course, as you do not cleanse your body daily, so you will not show
+favor to your feet. Keep up a due distinction between the upper and lower
+members. When a German prince was told confidentially that he had dirty
+hands, he replied, with the liveliness of conscious triumph,
+
+"Ach, do you call dat dirty? You should see my toes!"
+
+Some people wash them once in every month; that will do very well; or once
+a year, it matters little which. In what washing you find yourself unable
+to omit, use only the finest towels, those which inflict least friction on
+the skin.
+
+Having made these arrangements for yourself, take care that they are
+adhered to, as far is may be convenient, throughout your household.
+
+Here and there, put numerous sleepers into a single room; this is a good
+thing for children, if you require to blanch them. By a little
+perseverance, also, in this way, when you have too large a family, you can
+reduce it easily. By all means, let a baby have foul air, not only by the
+use of suffocative apparatus, but by causing it to sleep where there are
+four or five others in a well-closed room. So much is due to the
+maintenance of our orthodox rate of infant mortality.
+
+Let us admire, lastly, the economy of time in great men who have allowed
+themselves only four, five, or six hours, for sleep. It may be true that
+they would have lived longer had they always paid themselves a fair
+night's quiet for a fair day's work; they would have lived longer, but
+they would not have lived so fast. It is essential to live fast in this
+busy world. Moreover, there is a superstitious reverence for early rising,
+as a virtue by itself, which we shall do well to acquire. Let sanitary men
+say, "Roost with the lark, if you propose to rise with her." Nonsense. No
+civilized man can go to bed much earlier than midnight; but every man of
+business must be up betimes. Idle, happy people, on the other hand, they
+to whom life is useless, prudently remain for nine, ten, or a dozen hours
+in bed. Snug in their corner, they are in the way of nobody, except the
+housemaid.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+
+    "Now wotte we nat, ne can na see
+    What manir ende that there shall be."
+
+
+Birth, sickness, burial. Eating, drinking, clothing, sleeping. Exercise,
+and social pleasure. Air, water, and light. These are the topics upon
+which we have already touched. A finished painting of good ægritudinary
+discipline was not designed upon the present canvas: no man who knows the
+great extent and varied surface of the scene which such a picture should
+embrace, will think that there is here even an outline finished.
+
+We might have recommended early marriages; and marriage with first
+cousins. We might have urged all men with heritable maladies to shun
+celibacy. We might have praised tobacco, which, by acting on the mucous
+membrane of the mouth, acts on the same membrane in the stomach also
+(precisely as disorder of the stomach will communicate disorder to the
+mouth), and so helps in establishing a civilized digestion and a pallid
+face.
+
+
+    "But we woll stint of this matere
+    For it is wondir long to here."
+
+
+It is inherent in man to be perverse. A drawing-room critic, in one of
+Gait's novels, takes up a picture of a cow, holds it inverted, and enjoys
+it as a castellated mansion with four corner towers. And so, since "all
+that moveth doth mutation love," after a like fashion, many people, it
+appears, have looked upon these papers. There is a story to the point in
+Lucian. Passus received commission from a connoisseur to draw a horse with
+his legs upward. He drew it in the usual way. His customer came
+unannounced, saw what had been done, and grumbled fearfully. Passus,
+however, turned his picture up-side down, and then the connoisseur was
+satisfied. These papers have been treated like the horse of Passus.
+
+"Stimatissimo Signor Boswell" says, in his book on Corsica, that he rode
+out one day on Paoli's charger, gay with gold and scarlet, and surrounded
+by the chieftain's officers. For a while, he says, he thought he was a
+hero. Thus, like a goose on horseback, has our present writer visited some
+few of the chief ægritudinary outposts. Why not so? They say there is no
+way impossible. Wherefore an old emblem-book has represented Cupid
+crossing a stream which parts him from an altar, seated at ease upon his
+quiver, for a boat, and rowing with a pair of arrows. So has the writer
+floated over on a barrel of his folly, and possibly may touch, O reader,
+at the Altar of your Household Gods.
+
+
+
+
+
+SORROWS AND JOYS. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+    Bury thy sorrows, and they shall rise
+    As souls to the immortal skies,
+    And then look down like mothers' eyes.
+    But let thy joys be fresh as flowers,
+    That suck the honey of the showers,
+    And bloom alike on huts and towers.
+    So shall thy days be sweet and bright--
+    Solemn and sweet thy starry night--
+    Conscious of love each change of light.
+    The stars will watch the flowers asleep,
+    The flowers will feel the soft stars weep,
+    And both will mix sensations deep.
+    With these below, with those above,
+    Sits evermore the brooding Dove,
+    Uniting both in bonds of love.
+    Children of Earth are these; and those
+    The spirits of intense repose--
+    Death radiant o'er all human woes.
+    For both by nature are akin;
+    Sorrow, the ashen fruit of sin,
+    And joy, the juice of life within.
+    O, make thy sorrows holy--wise--
+    So shall their buried memories rise,
+    Celestial, e'en in mortal skies.
+    O, think what then had been their doom,
+    If all unshriven--without a tomb--
+    They had been left to haunt the gloom!
+    O, think again what they will be
+    Beneath God's bright serenity,
+    When thou art in eternity!
+    For they, in their salvation, know
+    No vestige of their former woe,
+    While thro' them all the Heavens do flow.
+    Thus art thou wedded to the skies,
+    And watched by ever-loving eyes,
+    And warned by yearning sympathies.
+
+
+
+
+
+MAURICE TIERNAY, THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. (FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY
+MAGAZINE)
+
+
+(_Continued from Page_ 499.)
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XII. "A Glance At Staff-Duty."
+
+
+Although the passage of the Rhine was but the prelude to the attack on the
+fortress, that exploit being accomplished, Kehl was carried at the point
+of the bayonet, the French troops entering the outworks pell-mell with the
+retreating enemy, and in less than two hours after the landing of our
+first detachments, the "tri-color" waved over the walls of the fortress.
+
+Lost amid the greater and more important successes which since that time
+have immortalized the glory of the French arms, it is almost impossible to
+credit the celebrity attached at that time to this brilliant achievement,
+whose highest merits probably were rapidity and resolution. Moreau had
+long been jealous of the fame of his great rival, Bonaparte, whose
+tactics, rejecting the colder dictates of prudent strategy, and the slow
+progress of scientific manoeuvres, seemed to place all his confidence in
+the sudden inspirations of his genius, and the indomitable bravery of his
+troops. It was necessary, then, to raise the _morale_ of the army of the
+Rhine, to accomplish some great feat similar in boldness and heroism to
+the wonderful achievements of the Italian army. Such was the passage of
+the Rhine at Strasbourg, effected in the face of a great enemy,
+advantageously posted, and supported by one of the strongest of all the
+frontier fortresses.
+
+The morning broke upon us in all the exultation of our triumph, and as our
+cheers rose high over the field of the late struggle, each heart beat
+proudly with the thought of how that news would be received in Paris.
+
+"You'll see how the bulletin will spoil all," said a young officer of the
+army of Italy, as he was getting his wound dressed on the field. "There
+will be such a long narrative of irrelevant matter--such details of this,
+that, and t'other--that the public will scarce know whether the placard
+announces a defeat or a victory."
+
+"Parbleu!" replied an old veteran of the Rhine army, "what would you have?
+You'd not desire to omit the military facts of such an exploit?"
+
+"To be sure I would," rejoined the other. "Give me one of our young
+general's bulletins, short, stirring, and effective--'Soldiers! you have
+crossed the Rhine against an army double your own in numbers and munitions
+of war. You have carried a fortress, believed impregnable, at the bayonet.
+Already the great flag of our nation waves over the citadel you have won.
+Forward, then, and cease not till it float over the cities of conquered
+Germany, and let the name of France be that of Empire over the continent
+of Europe.' "
+
+"Ha! I like that," cried I, enthusiastically; "that's the bulletin to my
+fancy. Repeat it once more, mon lieutenant, that I may write it in my
+note-book."
+
+"What! hast thou a note-book?" cried an old staff-officer, who was
+preparing to mount his horse; "let's see it, lad."
+
+With a burning cheek and trembling hand, I drew my little journal from the
+breast of my jacket, and gave it to him.
+
+"Sacre bleu!" exclaimed he, in a burst of laughter, "what have we here?
+Why, this is a portrait of old General Morieier, and, although a
+caricature, a perfect likeness. And here comes a plan for 'manoeuvring a
+squadron by threes from the left.' This is better--it is a receipt for an
+'Omelette à la Hussard;' and here we have a love-song, and a
+mustache-paste, with some hints about devotion, and diseased frog in
+horses. Most versatile genius, certainly!" And so he went on, occasionally
+laughing at my rude sketches, and ruder remarks, till he came to a page
+headed "Equitation, as practiced by Officers of the Staff," and followed
+by a series of caricatures of bad riding, in all its moods and tenses. The
+flush of anger which instantly colored his face, soon attracted the notice
+of those about him, and one of the bystanders quickly snatched the book
+from his fingers, and, in the midst of a group all convulsed with
+laughter, proceeded to expatiate upon my illustrations. To be sure, they
+were absurd enough. Some were represented sketching on horseback, under
+shelter of an umbrella; others were "taking the depth of a stream" by a
+"header" from their own saddles; some, again, were "exploring ground for
+an attack in line," by a measurement of the rider's own length over the
+head of his horse. Then there were ridiculous situations, such as "sitting
+down before a fortress," "taking an angle of incidence," and so on. Sorry
+jests, all of them, but sufficient to amuse those with whose daily
+associations they chimed in, and to whom certain traits of portraiture
+gave all the zest of a personality.
+
+My shame at the exposure, and my terror for its consequences, gradually
+yielded to a feeling of flattered vanity at the success of my
+lucubrations; and I never remarked that the staff-officer had ridden away
+from the group, till I saw him galloping back at the top of his speed.
+
+"Is your name Tiernay, my good fellow?" cried he, riding close up to my
+side, and with an expression on his features I did not half like.
+
+"Yes, sir," replied I.
+
+"Hussar of the Ninth, I believe?" repeated he, reading from a paper in his
+hand.
+
+"The same, sir."
+
+"Well, your talents as a draughtsman have procured you promotion, my
+friend; I have obtained your discharge from your regiment, and you are now
+my orderly--orderly on the staff, do you mind? so mount, sir, and follow
+me."
+
+I saluted him respectfully, and prepared to obey his orders. Already I
+foresaw the downfall of all the hopes I had been cherishing, and
+anticipated the life of tyranny and oppression that lay before me. It was
+clear to me, that my discharge had been obtained solely as a means of
+punishing me, and that Captain Discau, as the officer was called, had
+destined me to a pleasant expiation of my note-book. The savage exultation
+with which he watched me, as I made up my kit and saddled my horse--the
+cool malice with which he handed me back the accursed journal, the cause
+of all my disasters--gave me a dark foreboding of what was to follow; and
+as I mounted my saddle, my woeful face, and miserable look, brought forth
+a perfect shout of laughter from the bystanders.
+
+Captain Discau's duty was to visit the banks of the Rhine, and the Eslar
+island, to take certain measurements of distances, and obtain accurate
+information on various minute points respecting the late engagement, for,
+while a brief announcement of the victory would suffice for the bulletin,
+a detailed narrative of the event, in all its bearings, must be drawn up
+for the minister of war, and for this latter purpose various
+staff-officers were then employed in different parts of the field.
+
+As we issued from the fortress, and took our way over the plain, we struck
+out into a sharp gallop; but, as we drew near the river, our passage
+became so obstructed by lines of baggage-wagons, tumbrils, and
+ammunition-carts, that we were obliged to dismount and proceed on foot;
+and now I was to see, for the first time, that dreadful picture, which, on
+the day after a battle, forms the reverse of the great medal of glory.
+Huge litters of wounded men on their way back to Strasbourg, were drawn by
+six or eight horses, their jolting motion increasing the agony of
+sufferings that found their vent in terrific cries and screams; oaths,
+yells, and blasphemies, the ravings of madness, and the wild shouts of
+infuriated suffering, filled the air on every side. As if to give the
+force of contrast to this uproar of misery, two regiments of Swabian
+infantry marched past as prisoners. Silent, crest-fallen, and
+wretched-looking, they never raised their eyes from the ground, but moved,
+or halted, wheeled, or stood at ease, as though by some impulse of
+mechanism; a cord coupled the wrists of the outer files, one with another,
+which struck me less as a measure of security against escape, than as a
+mark of indignity.
+
+Carts and charettes with wounded officers, in which often-times the
+uniform of the enemy appeared side by side with our own, followed in long
+procession; and thus were these two great currents--the one hurrying
+forward, ardent, high-hearted, and enthusiastic; the other returning
+maimed, shattered, and dying!
+
+It was an affecting scene to see the hurried gestures, and hear the few
+words of adieu, as they passed each other. Old comrades who were never to
+meet again, parted with a little motion of the hand; sometimes a mere look
+was all their leave-taking: save when, now and then, a halt would for a
+few seconds bring the two lines together, and then many a bronzed and
+rugged cheek was pressed upon the faces of the dying, and many a tear fell
+from eyes bloodshot with the fury of the battle! Wending our way on foot
+slowly along, we at last reached the river side, and having secured a
+small skiff, made for the Eslar island; our first business being to
+ascertain some details respecting the intrenchments there, and the depth
+and strength of the stream between it and the left bank. Discau, who was a
+distinguished officer, rapidly possessed himself of the principal facts he
+wanted, and then, having given me his portfolio, he seated himself under
+the shelter of a broken wagon, and opening a napkin, began his breakfast
+off a portion of a chicken and some bread--viands which, I own, more than
+once made my lips water as I watched him.
+
+"You've eaten nothing to-day, Tiernay?" asked he, as he wiped his lips,
+with the air of a man that feels satisfied.
+
+"Nothing, mon capitaine," replied I.
+
+"That's bad," said he, shaking his head; "a soldier can not do his duty,
+if his rations be neglected. I have always maintained the principle: Look
+to the men's necessaries--take care of their food and clothing. Is there
+any thing on that bone there?"
+
+"Nothing, mon capitaine."
+
+"I'm sorry for it; I meant it for you; put up that bread, and the
+remainder of that flask of wine. Bourdeaux is not to be had every day. We
+shall want it for supper, Tiernay."
+
+I did as I was bid, wondering not a little why he said "_we_," seeing how
+little a share I occupied in the co-partnery.
+
+"Always be careful of the morrow on a campaign, Tiernay--no squandering, no
+waste; that's one of my principles," said he, gravely, as he watched me
+while I tied up the bread and wine in the napkin. "You'll soon see the
+advantage of serving under an old soldier."
+
+I confess the great benefit had not already struck me, but I held my peace
+and waited; meanwhile he continued--
+
+"I have studied my profession from my boyhood, and one thing I have
+acquired, that all experience has confirmed, the knowledge, that men must
+neither be taxed beyond their ability nor their endurance; a French
+soldier, after all, is human; eh, is't not so?"
+
+"I feel it most profoundly, mon capitaine," replied I, with my hand on my
+empty stomach.
+
+"Just so," rejoined he; "every man of sense and discretion must confess
+it. Happily for you, too, I know it; ay, Tiernay, I know it, and practice
+it. When a young fellow has acquitted himself to my satisfaction during
+the day--not that I mean to say that the performance has not its fair share
+of activity and zeal--when evening comes and stable duty finished, arms
+burnished, and accoutrements cleaned, what do you think I say to him?--eh,
+Tiernay, just guess now?"
+
+"Probably, sir, you tell him he is free to spend an hour at the canteen,
+or take his sweetheart to the theatre."
+
+"What! more fatigue! more exhaustion to an already tired and worn-out
+nature!"
+
+"I ask pardon, sir, I see I was wrong; but I had forgotten how thoroughly
+the poor fellow was done up. I now see that you told him to go to bed."
+
+"To bed! to bed! Is it that he might writhe in the nightmare, or suffer
+agony from cramps? To bed after fatigue like this! No, no, Tiernay, that
+was not the school in which _I_ was brought up; _we_ were taught to think
+of the men under our command; to remember that they had wants, sympathies,
+hopes, fears, and emotions like our own. I tell him to seat himself at the
+table, and with pen, ink, and paper before him, to write up the blanks. I
+see you don't quite understand me, Tiernay, as to the meaning of the
+phrase, but I'll let you into the secret. You have been kind enough to
+give me a peep at your note-book, and you shall in return have a look at
+mine. Open that volume, and tell me what you find in it."
+
+I obeyed the direction, and read at the top of a page, the words
+"Skeleton, 5th Prairial," in large characters, followed by several
+isolated words, denoting the strength of a brigade, the number of guns in
+a battery, the depth of a fosse, the height of a parapet, and such like.
+These were usually followed by a flourish of the pen, or sometimes by the
+word "Bom." which singular monosyllable always occurred at the foot of the
+pages.
+
+"Well, have you caught the key to the cipher?" said he, after a pause.
+
+"Not quite, sir," said I, pondering; "I can perceive that the chief facts
+stand prominently forward, in a fair, round hand; I can also guess that
+the flourishes may be spaces left for detail; but this word 'Bom.' puzzles
+me completely."
+
+"Quite correct, as to the first part," said he, approvingly; "and as to
+the mysterious monosyllable, it is nothing more than an abbreviation for
+'Bombaste,' which is always to be done to the taste of each particular
+commanding officer."
+
+"I perceive, sir," said I, quickly; "like the wadding of a gun, which may
+increase the loudness, but never affect the strength of the shot."
+
+"Precisely, Tiernay; you have hit it exactly. Now I hope that, with a
+little practice, you may be able to acquit yourself respectably in this
+walk; and now to begin our skeleton. Turn over to a fresh page, and write
+as I dictate to you."
+
+So saying, he filled his pipe and lighted it, and disposing his limbs in
+an attitude of perfect ease, he began:
+
+"8th Thermidor, midnight--twelve battalions, and two batteries of
+field--boats and rafts--Eslar island--stockades--eight guns--Swabian
+infantry--sharp firing, and a flourish--strong current--flourish--detachment
+of the 28th carried down--'Bom.' Let me see it now--all right--nothing could
+be better--proceed. The 10th, 45th, and 48th landing together--more
+firing--flourish--first gun captured--Bom.--bayonet charges--Bom. Bom.--three
+guns taken--Bom. Bom. Bom.--Swabs in retreat--flourish. The bridge eighty
+toises in length--flanking fire--heavy loss--flourish."
+
+"You go a little too fast, mon capitaine," said I, for a sudden bright
+thought just flashed across me.
+
+"Very well," said he, shaking the ashes of his pipe out upon the rock,
+"I'll take my doze, and you may awaken me when you've filled in those
+details--it will be a very fair exercise for you;" and with this he threw
+his handkerchief over his face, and without any other preparation was soon
+fast asleep.
+
+I own that, if I had not been a spectator of the action, it would have
+been very difficult, if not impossible, for me to draw up any thing like a
+narrative of it, from the meagre details of the captain's note-book. My
+personal observations, however, assisted by an easy imagination, suggested
+quite enough to make at least a plausible story, and I wrote away without
+impediment and halt till I came to that part of the action in which the
+retreat over the bridge commenced. There I stopped. Was I to remain
+satisfied with such a crude and one-sided explanation as the note-book
+afforded, and merely say that the retreating forces were harassed by a
+strong flank fire from our batteries? Was I to omit the whole of the great
+incident, the occupation of the "Fels Insel," and the damaging discharges
+of grape and round shot which plunged through the crowded ranks, and
+ultimately destroyed the bridge? Could I--to use the phrase so
+popular--could I, in the "interests of truth," forget the brilliant
+achievement of a gallant band of heroes who, led on by a young hussar of
+the 9th, threw themselves into the "Fels Insel," routed the garrison,
+captured the artillery, and directing its fire upon the retiring enemy,
+contributed most essentially to the victory. Ought I, in a word, to suffer
+a name so associated with a glorious action to sink into oblivion? Should
+Maurice Tiernay be lost to fame out of any neglect or false shame on my
+part? Forbid it all truth and justice, cried I, as I set myself down to
+relate the whole adventure most circumstantially. Looking up from time to
+time at my officer, who slept soundly, I suffered myself to dilate upon a
+theme in which somehow, I felt a more than ordinary degree of interest.
+The more I dwelt upon the incident, the more brilliant and striking did it
+seem. Like the appetite, which the proverb tells us comes by eating, my
+enthusiasm grew under indulgence, so that, had a little more time been
+granted me, I verily believe I should have forgotten Moreau altogether,
+and coupled only Maurice Tiernay with the passage of the Rhine, and the
+capture of the fortress of Kehl. Fortunately Captain Discau awoke, and cut
+short my historic recollections, by asking me how much I had done, and
+telling me to read it aloud to him.
+
+I accordingly began to read my narrative slowly and deliberately, thereby
+giving myself time to think what I should best do when I came to that part
+which became purely personal. To omit it altogether would have been
+dangerous, as the slightest glance at the mass of writing would have shown
+the deception. There was, then, nothing left, but to invent at the moment
+another version, in which Maurice Tiernay never occurred, and the incident
+of the Fels Insel should figure as unobtrusively as possible. I was always
+a better improvisatore than amanuensis; so that without a moment's loss of
+time I fashioned a new and very different narrative, and detailing the
+battle tolerably accurately, _minus_ the share my own heroism had taken in
+it. The captain made a few, a very few corrections of my style, in which
+the "flourish" and "bom," figured, perhaps, too conspicuously; and then
+told me frankly, that once upon a time he had been fool enough to give
+himself great trouble in framing these kind of reports, but that having
+served for a short period in the "bureau" of the minister of war, he had
+learned better. "In fact," said he, "a district report is never read! Some
+hundreds of them reach the office of the minister every day, and are
+safely deposited in the 'archives' of the department. They have all,
+besides, such a family resemblance, that with a few changes in the name of
+the commanding officer, any battle in the Netherlands would do equally
+well for one fought beyond the Alps! Since I became acquainted with this
+fact, Tiernay, I have bestowed less pains upon the matter, and usually
+deputed the task to some smart orderly of the staff."
+
+So thought I, I have been writing history for nothing; and Maurice
+Tiernay, the real hero of the passage of the Rhine, will be unrecorded and
+unremembered, just for want of one honest and impartial scribe to transmit
+his name to posterity. The reflection was not a very encouraging one; nor
+did it serve to lighten the toil in which I passed many weary hours,
+copying out my own precious manuscript. Again and again during that night
+did I wonder at my own diffuseness--again and again did I curse the prolix
+accuracy of a description that cost such labor to reiterate. It was like a
+species of poetical justice on me for my own amplifications; and when the
+day broke, and I still sat at my table writing on, at the third copy of
+this precious document, I vowed a vow of brevity, should I ever survive to
+indite similar compositions.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIII. A Farewell Letter.
+
+
+It was in something less than a week after, that I entered upon my new
+career as orderly in the staff, when I began to believe myself the most
+miserable of all human beings. On the saddle at sunrise, I never
+dismounted, except to carry a measuring-chain, "to step distances," mark
+out intrenchments, and then write away, for hours, long enormous reports,
+that were to be models of calligraphy, neatness, and elegance--and never to
+be read. Nothing could be less like soldiering than the life I led; and
+were it not for the clanking sabre I wore at my side, and the jingling
+spurs that decorated my heels, I might have fancied myself a notary's
+clerk. It was part of General Moreau's plan to strengthen the defenses of
+Kehl before he advanced further into Germany; and to this end repairs were
+begun upon a line of earth-works, about two leagues to the northward of
+the fortress, at a small village called "Ekheim." In this miserable little
+hole, one of the dreariest spots imaginable, we were quartered, with two
+companies of "sapeurs" and some of the wagon-train, trenching, digging,
+carting earth, sinking wells, and in fact engaged in every kind of labor
+save that which seemed to be characteristic of a soldier.
+
+I used to think that Nancy and the riding-school were the most dreary and
+tiresome of all destinies, but they were enjoyments and delight compared
+with this. Now it very often happens in life, that when a man grows
+discontented and dissatisfied with mere monotony, when he chafes at the
+sameness of a tiresome and unexciting existence, he is rapidly approaching
+to some critical or eventful point, where actual peril and real danger
+assail him, and from which he would willingly buy his escape by falling
+back upon that wearisome and plodding life he had so often deplored
+before. This case was my own. Just as I had convinced myself that I was
+exceedingly wretched and miserable, I was to know there are worse things
+in this world than a life of mere uniform stupidity. I was waiting outside
+my captain's door for orders one morning, when at the tinkle of his little
+hand-bell I entered the room where he sat at breakfast, with an open
+dispatch before him.
+
+"Tiernay," said he, in his usual quiet tone, "here is an order from the
+adjutant-general to send you back under an escort to head-quarters. Are
+you aware of any reason for it, or is there any charge against you which
+warrants this?"
+
+"Not to my knowledge, mon capitaine," said I, trembling with fright, for I
+well knew with what severity discipline was exercised in that army, and
+how any, even the slightest, infractions met the heaviest penalties.
+
+"I have never known you to pillage," continued he; "have never seen you
+drink, nor have you been disobedient while under my command; yet this
+order could not be issued on light grounds; there must be some grave
+accusation against you, and in any case you must go; therefore arrange all
+my papers, put every thing in due order, and be ready to return with the
+orderly."
+
+"You'll give me a good character, mon capitaine," said I, trembling more
+than ever--"you'll say what you can for me, I'm sure."
+
+"Willingly, if the general or chief were here," replied he; "but that's
+not so. General Moreau is at Strasbourg. It is General Regnier is in
+command of the army; and unless specially applied to, I could not venture
+upon the liberty of obtruding my opinion upon him."
+
+"Is he so severe, sir?" asked I, timidly.
+
+"The general is a good disciplinarian," said he, cautiously, while he
+motioned with his hand toward the door, and accepting the hint, I retired.
+
+It was evening when I re-entered Kehl, under an escort of two of my own
+regiment, and was conducted to the "Salle de Police." At the door stood my
+old corporal, whose malicious grin as I alighted revealed the whole story
+of my arrest; and I now knew the charge that would be preferred against
+me--a heavier there could not be made--was, "disobedience in the field." I
+slept very little that night, and when I did close my eyes, it was to
+awake with a sudden start, and believe myself in presence of the
+court-martial, or listening to my sentence, as read out by the president.
+Toward day, however, I sunk into a heavy, deep slumber, from which I was
+aroused by the reveillée of the barracks.
+
+I had barely time to dress when I was summoned before the "Tribunale
+Militaire"--a sort of permanent court-martial, whose sittings were held in
+one of the churches of the town. Not even all the terror of my own
+precarious position could overcome the effect of old prejudices in my
+mind, as I saw myself led up the dim aisle of the church toward the altar
+rails, within which, around a large table, were seated a number of
+officers, whose manner and bearing evinced but little reverence for the
+sacred character of the spot.
+
+Stationed in a group of poor wretches whose wan looks and anxious glances
+told that they were prisoners like myself, I had time to see what was
+going forward around me. The president, who alone wore his hat, read from
+a sort of list before him the name of a prisoner and that of the witnesses
+in the cause. In an instant they were all drawn up and sworn. A few
+questions followed, rapidly put, and almost as rapidly replied to. The
+prisoner was called on then for his defense: if this occupied many
+minutes, he was sure to be interrupted by an order to be brief. Then came
+the command to "stand by;" and after a few seconds consultation together,
+in which many times a burst of laughter might be heard, the court agreed
+upon the sentence, recorded and signed it, and then proceeded with the
+next case.
+
+If nothing in the procedure imposed reverence or respect, there was that
+in the dispatch which suggested terror, for it was plain to see that the
+court thought more of the cost of their own precious minutes than of the
+years of those on whose fate they were deciding. I was sufficiently near
+to hear the charges of those who were arraigned, and, for the greater
+number, they were all alike. Pillage, in one form or another, was the
+universal offending; and from the burning of a peasant's cottage, to the
+theft of his dog or his "poulet," all came under this head. At last came
+number 82--"Maurice Tiernay, hussar of the Ninth." I stepped forward to the
+rails.
+
+"Maurice Tiernay," read the president, hurriedly, "accused by Louis
+Gaussin, corporal of the same regiment, 'of willfully deserting his post
+while on duty in the field, and in the face of direct orders to the
+contrary; inducing others to a similar breach of discipline.' Make the
+change, Gaussin."
+
+The corporal stepped forward, and began,
+
+"We were stationed in detachment on the bank of the Rhine, on the evening
+of the 23d--"
+
+"The court has too many duties to lose its time for nothing," interrupted
+I. "It is all true. I did desert my post; I did disobey orders; and,
+seeing a weak point in the enemy's line, attacked and carried it with
+success. The charge is, therefore, admitted by me, and it only remains for
+the court to decide how far a soldier's zeal for his country may be
+deserving of punishment. Whatever the result, one thing is perfectly
+clear, Corporal Gaussin will never be indicted for a similar misdemeanor."
+
+A murmur of voices and suppressed laughter followed this impertinent and
+not over discreet sally of mine; and the president calling out, "Proven by
+acknowledgment," told me to "stand by." I now fell back to my former
+place, to be interrogated by my comrades on the result of my examination,
+and hear their exclamations of surprise and terror at the rashness of my
+conduct. A little reflection over the circumstances would probably have
+brought me over to their opinion, and shown me that I had gratuitously
+thrown away an opportunity of self-defense; but my temper could not brook
+the indignity of listening to the tiresome accusation and the stupid
+malevolence of the corporal, whose hatred was excited by the influence I
+wielded over my comrades.
+
+It was long past noon ere the proceedings terminated, for the list was a
+full one, and at length the court rose, apparently not sorry to exchange
+their tiresome duties for the pleasant offices of the dinner-table. No
+sentences had been pronounced, but one very striking incident seemed to
+shadow forth a gloomy future. Three, of whom I was one, were marched off,
+doubly guarded, before the rest, and confined in separate cells of the
+"Salle," where every precaution against escape too plainly showed the
+importance attached to our safe keeping.
+
+At about eight o'clock, as I was sitting on my bed--if that inclined plane
+of wood, worn by the form of many a former prisoner, could deserve the
+name--a sergeant entered with the prison allowance of bread and water. He
+placed it beside me without speaking, and stood for a few seconds gazing
+at me.
+
+"What age art thou, lad?" said he, in a voice of compassionate interest.
+
+"Something over fifteen, I believe," replied I.
+
+"Hast father and mother?"
+
+"Both are dead!"
+
+"Uncles or aunts living?"
+
+"Neither."
+
+"Hast any friends who could help thee?"
+
+"That might depend upon what the occasion for help should prove, for I
+have one friend in the world."
+
+"Who is he?"
+
+"Colonel Mahon, of the Curaissiers."
+
+"I never heard of him--is he here?"
+
+"No; I left him at Nancy; but I could write to him."
+
+"It would be too late, much too late."
+
+"How do you mean--too late?" asked I, tremblingly.
+
+"Because it is fixed for to-morrow evening," replied he, in a low,
+hesitating voice.
+
+"What? the--the--" I could not say the word, but merely imitated the motion
+of presenting and firing. He nodded gravely in acquiescence.
+
+"What hour is it to take place?" asked I.
+
+"After evening parade. The sentence must be signed by General Berthier,
+and he will not be here before that time."
+
+"It would be too late, then, sergeant," said I, musing, "far too late.
+Still I should like to write the letter; I would like to thank him for his
+kindness in the past, and show him, too, that I have not been either
+unworthy or ungrateful. Could you let me have paper and pen, sergeant?"
+
+"I can venture so far, lad; but I can not let thee have a light; it is
+against orders; and during the day thou'lt be too strictly watched."
+
+"No matter let me have the paper and I'll try to scratch a few lines in
+the dark; and thou'lt post it for me, sergeant? I ask thee as a last favor
+to do this."
+
+"I promise it," said he, laying his hand on my shoulder. After standing
+for a few minutes thus in silence, he started suddenly and left the cell.
+
+I now tried to eat my supper; but although resolved on behaving with a
+stout and unflinching courage throughout the whole sad event, I could not
+swallow a mouthful. A sense of choking stopped me at every attempt, and
+even the water I could only get down by gulps. The efforts I made to bear
+up seemed to have caused a species of hysterical excitement that actually
+rose to the height of intoxication, for I talked away loudly to myself,
+laughed, and sung. I even jested and mocked myself on this sudden
+termination of a career that I used to anticipate as stored with future
+fame and rewards. At intervals, I have no doubt that my mind wandered far
+beyond the control of reason, but as constantly came back again to a full
+consciousness of my melancholy position, and the fate that awaited me. The
+noise of the key in the door silenced my ravings, and I sat still and
+motionless as the sergeant entered with the pen, ink, and paper, which he
+laid down upon the bed, and then as silently withdrew.
+
+A long interval of stupor, a state of dreary half consciousness, now came
+over me, from which I aroused myself with great difficulty to write the
+few lines I destined for Colonel Mahon. I remember even now, long as has
+been the space of years since that event, full as it has been of stirring
+and strange incidents, I remember perfectly the thought which flashed
+across me as I sat, pen in hand, before the paper. It was the notion of a
+certain resemblance between our actions in this world with the characters
+I was about to inscribe upon that paper. Written in darkness and in doubt,
+thought I, how shall they appear when brought to the light! Perhaps those
+I have deemed the best and fairest shall seem but to be the weakest or the
+worst! What need of kindness to forgive the errors, and of patience to
+endure the ignorance! At last I began: "Mon Colonel--Forgive, I pray you,
+the errors of these lines, penned in the darkness of my cell, and the
+night before my death. They are written to thank you ere I go hence, and
+to tell you that the poor heart whose beating will soon be still throbbed
+gratefully toward you to the last! I have been sentenced to death for a
+breach of discipline of which I was guilty. Had I failed in the
+achievement of my enterprise by the bullet of an enemy, they would have
+named me with honor; but I have had the misfortune of success, and
+tomorrow am I to pay its penalty. I have the satisfaction, however, of
+knowing that my share in that great day can neither be denied nor evaded;
+it is already on record, and the time may yet come when my memory will be
+vindicated. I know not if these lines be legible, nor if I have crossed or
+recrossed them. If they are blotted they are not my tears have done it,
+for I have a firm heart and a good courage; and when the moment comes--";
+here my hand trembled so much, and my brain grew so dizzy, that I lost the
+thread of my meaning, and merely jotted down at random a few words, vague,
+unconnected, and unintelligible, after which, and by an effort that cost
+all my strength, I wrote "MAURICE TIERNEY, late Hussar of the 9th
+Regiment."
+
+A hearty burst of tears followed the conclusion of this letter; all the
+pent-up emotion with which my heart was charged broke out at last, and I
+cried bitterly. Intense passions are, happily, never of long duration, and
+better still, they are always the precursors of calm. Thus, tranquil, the
+dawn of morn broke upon me, when the sergeant came to take my letter, and
+apprize me that the adjutant would appear in a few moments to read my
+sentence, and inform me when it was to be executed.
+
+"Thou'lt bear up well, lad; I know thou wilt," said the poor fellow, with
+tears in his eyes. "Thou hast no mother, and thou'lt not have to grieve
+for _her_."
+
+"Don't be afraid, sergeant; I'll not disgrace the old 9th. Tell my
+comrades I said so."
+
+"I will. I will tell them all! Is this thy jacket, lad?"
+
+"Yes; what do you want it for?"
+
+"I must take it away with me. Thou art not to wear it more!"
+
+"Not wear it, nor die in it; and why not?"
+
+"That is the sentence, lad; I can not help it. It's very hard, very cruel;
+but so it is."
+
+"Then I am to die dishonored, sergeant; is that the sentence?"
+
+He dropped his head, and I could see that he moved his sleeve across his
+eyes; and then, taking up my jacket, he came toward me.
+
+"Remember, lad, a stout heart; no flinching. Adieu--God bless thee." He
+kissed me on either cheek, and went out.
+
+He had not been gone many minutes, when the tramp of marching outside
+apprized me of the coming of the adjutant, and the door of my cell being
+thrown open, I was ordered to walk forth into the court of the prison. Two
+squadrons of my own regiment, all who were not on duty, were drawn up,
+dismounted, and without arms; beside them stood a company of grenadiers,
+and a half battalion of the line, the corps to which the other two
+prisoners belonged, and who now came forward, in shirt-sleeves like
+myself, into the middle of the court.
+
+One of my fellow-sufferers was a very old soldier, whose hair and beard
+were white as snow; the other was a middle-aged man, of a dark and
+forbidding aspect, who scowled at me angrily as I came up to his side, and
+seemed as if he scorned the companionship. I returned a glance, haughty
+and as full of defiance as his own, and never noticed him after.
+
+The drum beat a roll, and the word was given for silence in the ranks--an
+order so strictly obeyed, that even the clash of a weapon was unheard, and
+stepping in front of the line, the Auditeur Militaire read out the
+sentences. As for me, I heard but the words "Peine afflictive et
+infamante;" all the rest became confusion, shame, and terror co-mingled;
+nor did I know that the ceremonial was over, when the troops began to
+defile, and we were marched back again to our prison quarters.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XIV. A Surprise And An Escape.
+
+
+It is a very common subject of remark in newspapers, and as invariably
+repeated with astonishment by the readers, how well and soundly such a
+criminal slept on the night before his execution. It reads like a
+wonderful evidence of composure, or some not less surprising proof of
+apathy or indifference. I really believe it has as little relation to one
+feeling as to the other, and is simply the natural consequence of
+faculties over-strained, and a brain surcharged with blood; sleep being
+induced by causes purely physical in their nature. For myself, I can say
+that I was by no means indifferent to life, nor had I any contempt for the
+form of death that awaited me. As localities, which have failed to inspire
+a strong attachment, become endowed with a certain degree of interest when
+we are about to part from them forever, I never held life so desirable as
+now that I was going to leave it; and yet, with all this, I fell into a
+sleep so heavy and profound, that I never awoke till late in the evening.
+Twice was I shaken by the shoulder ere I could throw off the heavy weight
+of slumber; and even when I looked up, and saw the armed figures around
+me, I could have laid down once more, and composed myself to another
+sleep.
+
+The first thing which thoroughly aroused me, and at once brightened up my
+slumbering senses, was missing my jacket, for which I searched every
+corner of my cell, forgetting that it had been taken away, as the nature
+of my sentence was declared "infamante." The next shock was still greater,
+when two sapeurs came forward to tie my wrists together behind my back; I
+neither spoke nor resisted, but in silent submission complied with each
+order given me.
+
+All preliminaries being completed, I was led forward, preceded by a
+pioneer, and guarded on either side by two sapeurs of "the guard;" a
+muffled drum, ten paces in advance, keeping up a low monotonous rumble as
+we went.
+
+Our way led along the ramparts, beside which ran a row of little gardens,
+in which the children of the officers were at play. They ceased their
+childish gambols as we drew near, and came closer up to watch us. I could
+mark the terror and pity in their little faces as they gazed at me; I
+could see the traits of compassion with which they pointed me out to each
+other, and my heart swelled with gratitude for even so slight a sympathy.
+It was with difficulty I could restrain the emotion of that moment, but
+with a great effort I did subdue it, and marched on, to all seeming,
+unmoved. A little further on, as we turned the angle of the wall, I looked
+back to catch one last look at them. Would that I had never done so! They
+had quitted the railings, and were now standing in a group, in the act of
+performing a mimic execution. One, without his jacket, was kneeling on the
+grass. But I could not bear the sight, and in scornful anger I closed my
+eyes, and saw no more.
+
+A low whispering conversation was kept up by the soldiers around me. They
+were grumbling at the long distance they had to march, as the "affair"
+might just as well have taken place on the glacis as two miles away. How
+different were _my_ feelings--how dear to me was now every minute, every
+second of existence; how my heart leaped at each turn of the way, as I
+still saw a space to traverse, and some little interval longer to live.
+
+"And, mayhap, after all," muttered one dark-faced fellow, "we shall have
+come all this way for nothing. There can be no 'fusillade' without the
+general's signature, so I heard the adjutant say; and who's to promise
+that he'll be at his quarters?"
+
+"Very true," said another; "he may be absent, or at table."
+
+"At table!" cried two or three together; "and what if he were?"
+
+"If he be," rejoined the former speaker, "we may go back again for our
+pains! I ought to know him well; I was his orderly for eight months, when
+I served in the 'Legers,' and can tell you, my lads, I wouldn't be the
+officer who would bring him a report, or a return to sign, once he had
+opened out his napkin on his knee; and it's not very far from his
+dinner-hour now."
+
+What a sudden thrill of hope ran through me! Perhaps I should be spared
+for another day.
+
+"No, no, we're all in time," exclaimed the sergeant; "I can see the
+general's tent from this; and there he stands, with all his staff around
+him."
+
+"Yes; and there go the other escorts--they will be up before us if we don't
+make haste; quick-time, lads. Come along, mon cher," said he, addressing
+me; "thou'rt not tired, I hope."
+
+"Not tired!" replied I; "but remember, sergeant, what a long journey I
+have before me."
+
+"_Pardieu!_ I don't believe all that rhodomontade about another world,"
+said he gruffly; "the republic settled that question."
+
+I made no reply. For such words, at such a moment, were the most terrible
+of tortures to me. And now we moved on at a brisker pace, and crossing a
+little wooden bridge, entered a kind of esplanade of closely-shaven turf,
+at one corner of which stood the capacious tent of the commander-in-chief,
+for such, in Moreau's absence, was General Berthier. Numbers of
+staff-officers were riding about on duty, and a large traveling-carriage,
+from which the horses seemed recently detached, stood before the tent.
+
+We halted as we crossed the bridge, while the adjutant advanced to obtain
+the signature to the sentence. My eyes followed him till they swam with
+rising tears, and I could not wipe them away, as my hands were fettered.
+How rapidly did my thoughts travel during those few moments. The good old
+Père Michel came back to me in memory, and I tried to think of the
+consolation his presence would have afforded me; but I could do no more
+than think of them.
+
+"Which is the prisoner Tiernay?" cried a young aid-de-camp, cantering up
+to where I was standing.
+
+"Here, sir," replied the sergeant, pushing me forward.
+
+"So," rejoined the officer, angrily, "this fellow has been writing
+letters, it would seem, reflecting upon the justice of his sentence, and
+arraigning the conduct of his judges. Your epistolary tastes are like to
+cost you dearly, my lad; it had been better for you if writing had been
+omitted in your education. Reconduct the others, sergeant, they are
+respited; this fellow alone is to undergo his sentence."
+
+The other two prisoners gave a short and simultaneous cry of joy as they
+fell back, and I stood alone in front of the escort.
+
+"Parbleu! he has forgotten the signature," said the adjutant, casting his
+eye over the paper: "he was chattering and laughing all the time, with the
+pen in his hand, and I suppose fancied that he had signed it."
+
+"Nathalie was there, perhaps," said the aid-de-camp, significantly.
+
+"She was, and I never saw her looking better. It's something like eight
+years since I saw her last; and I vow she seems not only handsomer, but
+fresher and more youthful to-day than then."
+
+"Where is she going; have you heard?"
+
+"Who can tell? Her passport is like a firman; she may travel where she
+pleases. The rumor of the day says Italy."
+
+"I thought she looked provoked at Moreau's absence; it seemed like want of
+attention on his part, a lack of courtesy she's not used to."
+
+"Very true; and her reception of Berthier was any thing but gracious,
+although he certainly displayed all his civilities in her behalf."
+
+"Strange days we live in!" sighed the other, "when a man's promotion hangs
+upon the favorable word of a--"
+
+"Hush! take care! be cautious!" whispered the other. "Let us not forget
+this poor fellow's business. How are you to settle it? Is the signature of
+any consequence? The whole sentence all is right and regular."
+
+"I shouldn't like to omit the signature," said the other, cautiously; "it
+looks like carelessness, and might involve us in trouble hereafter."
+
+"Then we must wait some time, for I see they are gone to dinner."
+
+"So I perceive," replied the former, as he lighted his cigar, and seated
+himself on a bank. "You may let the prisoner sit down, sergeant, and leave
+his hands free; he looks wearied and exhausted."
+
+I was too weak to speak, but I looked my gratitude; and sitting down upon
+the grass, covered my face, and wept heartily.
+
+Although quite close to where the officers sat together chatting and
+jesting, I heard little or nothing of what they said. Already the things
+of life had ceased to have any hold upon me; and I could have heard of the
+greatest victory, or listened to a story of the most fatal defeat, without
+the slightest interest or emotion. An occasional word or a name would
+strike upon my ear, but leave no impression nor any memory behind it.
+
+The military band was performing various marches and opera airs before the
+tent where the general dined, and in the melody, softened by distance, I
+felt a kind of calm and sleepy repose that lulled me into a species of
+ecstasy.
+
+At last the music ceased to play, and the adjutant, starting hurriedly up,
+called on the sergeant to move forward.
+
+"By Jove!" cried he, "they seem preparing for a promenade, and we shall
+get into a scrape if Berthier sees us here. Keep your party yonder,
+sergeant, out of sight, till I obtain the signature."
+
+And so saying, away he went toward the tent at a sharp gallop.
+
+A few seconds, and I watched him crossing the esplanade; he dismounted and
+disappeared. A terrible choking sensation was over me, and I scarcely was
+conscious that they were again tying my hands. The adjutant came out
+again, and made a sign with his sword.
+
+"We are to move on!" said the sergeant, half in doubt.
+
+"Not at all," broke in the aid-de-camp; "he is making a sign for you to
+bring up the prisoner! There, he is repeating the signal; lead him
+forward."
+
+I knew very little of how--less still of why--but we moved on in the
+direction of the tent, and in a few minutes stood before it. The sounds of
+revelry and laughter, the crash of voices, and the clink of glasses,
+together with the hoarse bray of the brass band, which again struck up,
+all were co-mingled in my brain, as, taking me by the arm, I was led
+forward within the tent, and found myself at the foot of a table covered
+with all the gorgeousness of silver plate, and glowing with bouquets of
+flowers and fruits. In the one hasty glance I gave, before my lids fell
+over my swimming eyes, I could see the splendid uniforms of the guests as
+they sat around the board, and the magnificent costume of a lady in the
+place of honor next the head.
+
+Several of those who sat at the lower end of the table drew back their
+seats as I came forward, and seemed as if desirous to give the general a
+better view of me.
+
+Overwhelmed by the misery of my fate, as I stood awaiting my death, I felt
+as though a mere word, a look, would have crushed me but one moment back;
+but now, as I stood there, before that group of gazers, whose eyes scanned
+me with looks of insolent disdain, or still more insulting curiosity, a
+sense of proud defiance seized me, to confront and dare them with glances
+haughty and scornful as their own. It seemed to me so base and unworthy a
+part to summon a poor wretch before them, as if to whet their new appetite
+for enjoyment by the aspect of his misery, that an indignant anger took
+possession of me, and I drew myself up to my full height, and stared at
+them calm and steadily.
+
+"So, then!" cried a deep soldier-like voice from the far-end of the table,
+which I at once recognized as the general-in-chief's; "so, then,
+gentlemen, we have now the honor of seeing among us the hero of the Rhine!
+This is the distinguished individual by whose prowess the passage of the
+river was effected, and the Swabian infantry cut off in their retreat! Is
+it not true, sir?" said he, addressing me with a savage scowl.
+
+"I have had my share in the achievement!" said I, with a cool air of
+defiance.
+
+"Parbleu! you are modest, sir. So had every drummer-boy that beat his
+tattoo! But yours was the part of a great leader, if I err not?"
+
+I made no answer, but stood firm and unmoved.
+
+"How do you call the island which you have immortalized by your valor?"
+
+"The Fels Insel, sir."
+
+"Gentlemen, let us drink to the hero of the Fels Insel," said he, holding
+up his glass for the servant to fill it. "A bumper--a full, a flowing
+bumper! And let him also pledge a toast, in which his interest must be so
+brief. Give him a glass, Contard."
+
+"His hands are tied, mon general."
+
+"Then free them at once."
+
+The order was obeyed in a second; and I, summoning up all my courage to
+seem as easy and indifferent as they were, lifted the glass to my lips,
+and drained it off.
+
+"Another glass, now, to the health of this fair lady, through whose
+intercession we owe the pleasure of your company," said the general.
+
+"Willingly," said I; "and may one so beautiful seldom find herself in a
+society so unworthy of her!"
+
+A perfect roar of laughter succeeded the insolence of this speech; amid
+which I was half pushed, half dragged, up to the end of the table, where
+the general sat.
+
+"How so, Coquin, do you dare to insult a French general, at the head of
+his own staff!"
+
+"If I did, sir, it were quite as brave as to mock a poor criminal on the
+way to his execution!"
+
+"That is the boy! I know him now! the very same lad!" cried the lady, as,
+stooping behind Berthier's chair, she stretched out her hand toward me.
+"Come here; are you not Colonel Mahon's godson?"
+
+I looked her full in the face; and whether her own thoughts gave the
+impulse, or that something in my stare suggested it, she blushed till her
+cheek grew crimson.
+
+"Poor Charles was so fond of him!" whispered she in Berthier's ear; and,
+as she spoke, the expression of her face at once recalled where I had seen
+her, and I now perceived that she was the same person I had seen at table
+with Colonel Mahon, and whom I believed to be his wife.
+
+A low whispering conversation now ensued between the general and her, at
+the close of which, he turned to me and said,
+
+"Madame Merlancourt has deigned to take an interest in you--you are
+pardoned. Remember, sir, to whom you owe your life, and be grateful to her
+for it."
+
+I took the hand she extended toward me, and pressed it to my lips.
+
+"Madame," said I, "there is but one favor more I would ask in this world,
+and with it I could think myself happy."
+
+"But can I grant it, mon cher," said she, smiling.
+
+"If I am to judge from the influence I have seen you wield, madame, here
+and elsewhere, this petition will easily be accorded."
+
+A slight flush colored the lady's cheek, while that of the general became
+dyed red with anger. I saw that I had committed some terrible blunder, but
+how, or in what, I knew not.
+
+"Well, sir," said Madame Merlancourt, addressing me with a stately
+coldness of manner very different from her former tone, "Let us hear what
+you ask, for we are already taking up a vast deal of time that our host
+would prefer devoting to his friends, what is it you wish?"
+
+"My discharge from a service, madame, where zeal and enthusiasm are
+rewarded with infamy and disgrace; my freedom to be any thing but a French
+soldier."
+
+"You are resolved, sir, that I am not to be proud of my protégé," said
+she, haughtily; "what words are these to speak in presence of a general
+and his officers?"
+
+"I am bold, madame, as you say, but I am wronged."
+
+"How so, sir--in what have you been injured?" cried the general, hastily,
+"except in the excessive condescension which has stimulated your
+presumption. But we are really too indulgent in this long parley. Madame,
+permit me to offer you some coffee under the trees. Contardo, tell the
+band to follow us. Gentlemen, we expect the pleasure of your society."
+
+And so saying, Berthier presented his arm to the lady, who swept proudly
+past without deigning to notice me. In a few minutes the tent was cleared
+of all, except the servants occupied in removing the remains of the
+dessert, and I fell back unremarked and unobserved, to take my way
+homeward to the barracks, more indifferent to life than ever I had been
+afraid of death.
+
+As I am not likely to recur at any length to the somewhat famous person to
+whom I owed my life, I may as well state that her name has since occupied
+no inconsiderable share of attention in France, and her history, under the
+title of "Mémoires d'une Contemporaine," excited a degree of interest and
+anxiety in quarters which one might have fancied far above the reach of
+her revelations. At the time I speak of, I little knew the character of
+the age in which such influences were all powerful, nor how destinies very
+different from mine hung upon the favoritism of "La belle Nathalie." Had I
+known these things, and still more, had I known the sad fate to which she
+brought my poor friend, Colonel Mahon, I might have scrupled to accept my
+life at such hands, or involved myself in a debt of gratitude to one for
+whom I was subsequently to feel nothing but hatred and aversion. It was
+indeed a terrible period, and in nothing more so than the fact, that acts
+of benevolence and charity were blended up with features of falsehood,
+treachery, and baseness, which made one despair of humanity, and think the
+very worst of their species.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter XV. Scraps Of History.
+
+
+Nothing displays more powerfully the force of egotism than the simple
+truth that, when any man sets himself down to write the events of his
+life, the really momentous occurrences in which he may have borne a part
+occupy a conspicuously small place, when each petty incident of a merely
+personal nature, is dilated and extended beyond all bounds. In one sense,
+the reader benefits by this, since there are few impertinences less
+forgivable than the obtrusion of some insignificant name into the
+narrative of facts that are meet for history. I have made these remarks in
+a spirit of apology to my reader; not alone for the accuracy of my late
+detail, but also, if I should seem in future to dwell but passingly on the
+truly important facts of a great campaign, in which my own part was so
+humble.
+
+I was a soldier in that glorious army which Moreau led into the heart of
+Germany, and whose victorious career would only have ceased when they
+entered the capital of the Empire, had it not been for the unhappy
+mistakes of Jourdan, who commanded the auxiliary forces in the north. For
+nigh three months we advanced steadily and successfully, superior in every
+engagement; we only waited for the moment of junction with Jourdan's army,
+to declare the empire our own; when at last came the terrible tidings that
+he had been beaten, and that Latour was advancing from Ulm to turn our
+left flank, and cut off our communications with France.
+
+Two hundred miles from our own frontiers--separated from the Rhine by that
+terrible Black Forest whose defiles are mere gorges between vast
+mountains--with an army fifty thousand strong on one flank, and the
+Archduke Charles commanding a force of nigh thirty thousand on the
+other--such were the dreadful combinations which now threatened us with a
+defeat not less signal than Jourdan's own. Our strength, however, lay in a
+superb army of seventy thousand unbeaten men, led on by one whose name
+alone was victory.
+
+On the 24th of September, the order for retreat was given; the army began
+to retire by slow marches, prepared to contest every inch of ground, and
+make every available spot a battle-field. The baggage and ammunition were
+sent on in front, and two days' march in advance. Behind, a formidable
+rear-guard was ready to repulse every attack of the enemy. Before,
+however, entering those close defiles by which his retreat lay, Moreau
+determined to give one terrible lesson to his enemy. Like the hunted tiger
+turning upon his pursuers, he suddenly halted at Biberach, and ere Latour,
+who commanded the Austrians, was aware of his purpose, assailed the
+imperial forces with an attack on right, centre, and left together. Four
+thousand prisoners and eighteen pieces of cannon were trophies of the
+victory.
+
+The day after this decisive battle our march was resumed, and the
+advanced-guard entered that narrow and dismal defile which goes by the
+name of the "Valley of Hell," when our left and right flanks, stationed at
+the entrance of the pass, effectually secured the retreat against
+molestation. The voltigeurs of St. Cyr crowning the heights as we went,
+swept away the light troops which were scattered along the rocky
+eminences, and in less than a fortnight our army debouched by Fribourg and
+Oppenheim into the valley of the Rhine, not a gun having been lost, not a
+caisson deserted, during that perilous movement.
+
+The Archduke, however, having ascertained the direction of Moreau's
+retreat, advanced by a parallel pass through the Kinzigthal, and attacked
+St. Cyr at Nauendorf, and defeated him. Our right flank, severely handled
+at Emmendingen, the whole force was obliged to retreat on Huningen, and
+once more we found ourselves upon the banks of the Rhine, no longer an
+advancing army, high in hope, and flushed with victory, but beaten,
+harassed, and retreating!
+
+The last few days of that retreat presented a scene of disaster such as I
+can never forget. To avoid the furious charges of the Austrian cavalry,
+against which our own could no longer make resistance, we had fallen back
+upon a line of country cut up into rocky cliffs and precipices, and
+covered by a dense pine forest. Here, necessarily broken up into small
+parties, we were assailed by the light troops of the enemy, led on through
+the various passes by the peasantry, whose animosity our own severity had
+excited. It was, therefore, a continual hand-to-hand struggle, in which,
+opposed as we were to over numbers, well acquainted with every advantage
+of the ground, our loss was terrific. It is said that nigh seven thousand
+men fell--an immense number, when no general action had occurred. Whatever
+the actual loss, such were the circumstances of our army, that Moreau
+hastened to propose an armistice, on the condition of the Rhine being the
+boundary between the two armies, while Kehl was still to be held by the
+French.
+
+The proposal was rejected by the Austrians, who at once commenced
+preparations for a siege of the fortress with forty thousand troops, under
+Latour's command. The earlier months of winter now passed in the labors of
+the siege, and on the morning of New Year's Day the first attack was made;
+the second line was carried a few days after, and, after a glorious
+defense by Desaix, the garrison capitulated, and evacuated the fortress on
+the 9th of the month. Thus, in the space of six short months, had we
+advanced with a conquering army into the very heart of the Empire, and now
+we were back again within our own frontier; not one single trophy of all
+our victories remaining, two-thirds of our army dead or wounded, more than
+all, the prestige of our superiority fatally injured, and that of the
+enemy's valor and prowess as signally elevated.
+
+The short annals of a successful soldier are often comprised in the few
+words which state how he was made lieutenant at such a date, promoted to
+his company here, obtained his majority there, succeeded to the command of
+his regiment at such a place, and so on. Now my exploits may even be more
+briefly written as regards this campaign, for whether at Kehl at
+Nauendorf, on the Etz, or at Huningen, I ended as I begun--a simple soldier
+of the ranks. A few slight wounds, a few still more insignificant words of
+praise, were all that I brought back with me; but if my trophies were
+small, I had gained considerably both in habits of discipline and
+obedience. I had learned to endure, ably and without complaining, the
+inevitable hardships of a campaign, and better still, to see, that the
+irrepressible impulses of the soldier, however prompted by zeal or
+heroism, may oftener mar than promote the more mature plans of his
+general. Scarcely had my feet once more touched French ground, than I was
+seized with the ague, then raging as an epidemic among the troops, and
+sent forward with a large detachment of sick to the Military Hospital of
+Strasbourg.
+
+Here I bethought me of my patron, Colonel Mahon, and determined to write
+to him. For this purpose I addressed a question to the Adjutant-general's
+office to ascertain the colonel's address. The reply was a brief and
+stunning one--he had been dismissed the service. No personal calamity could
+have thrown me into deeper affliction; nor had I even the sad consolation
+of learning any of the circumstances of this misfortune. His death, even
+though thereby I should have lost my only friend, would have been a
+lighter evil than this disgrace; and coming as did the tidings when I was
+already broken by sickness and defeat, more than ever disgusted me with a
+soldier's life. It was then with a feeling of total indifference that I
+heard a rumor which at another moment would have filled me with
+enthusiasm--the order for all invalids sufficiently well to be removed, to
+be drafted into regiments serving in Italy. The fame of Bonaparte, who
+commanded that army, had now surpassed that of all the other generals; his
+victories paled the glory of their successes, and it was already a mark of
+distinction to have served under his command.
+
+The walls of the hospital were scrawled over with the names of his
+victories; rude sketches of Alpine passes, terrible ravines, or snow-clad
+peaks met the eye every where; and the one magical name, "Bonaparte,"
+written beneath, seemed the key to all their meaning. With him war seemed
+to assume all the charms of romance. Each action was illustrated by feats
+of valor or heroism, and a halo of glory seemed to shine over all the
+achievements of his genius.
+
+It was a clear, bright morning of March, when a light frost sharpened the
+air, and a fair, blue sky overhead showed a cloudless elastic atmosphere,
+that the "Invalides," as we were all called, were drawn up in the great
+square of the hospital for inspection. Two superior officers of the staff,
+attended by several surgeons and an adjutant, sat at a table in front of
+us, on which lay the regimental books and conduct-rolls of the different
+corps. Such of the sick as had received severe wounds, incapacitating them
+for further service, were presented with some slight reward--a few francs
+in money, a greatcoat, or a pair of shoes, and obtained their freedom.
+Others, whose injuries were less important, received their promotion, or
+some slight increase of pay, these favors being all measured by the
+character the individual bore in his regiment, and the opinion certified
+of him by his commanding officer. When my turn came and I stood forward, I
+felt a kind of shame to think how little claim I could prefer either to
+honor or advancement.
+
+"Maurice Tiernay, slightly wounded by a sabre at Nauendorf--flesh-wound at
+Biberach--enterprising and active, but presumptuous and overbearing with
+his comrades," read out the adjutant, while he added a few words I could
+not hear, but at which the superior laughed heartily.
+
+"What says the doctor?" asked he, after a pause.
+
+"This has been a bad case of ague, and I doubt if the young fellow will
+ever be fit for active service--certainly not at present."
+
+"Is there a vacancy at Saumur?" asked the general. "I see he has been
+employed in the school at Nancy."
+
+"Yes, sir; for the third class there is one."
+
+"Let him have it, then. Tiernay, you are appointed as aspirant of the
+third class at the College of Saumur. Take care that the report of your
+conduct be more creditable than what is written here. Your opportunities
+will now be considerable, and if well employed, may lead to further honor
+and distinction; if neglected or abused, your chances are forfeited
+forever."
+
+I bowed and retired, as little satisfied with the admonition as elated
+with the prospect which converted me from a soldier into a scholar, and,
+in the first verge of manhood, threw me back once more into the condition
+of a mere boy.
+
+Eighteen months of my life--not the least happy, perhaps, since in the
+peaceful portion I can trace so little to be sorry for--glided over beside
+the banks of the beautiful Loire, the intervals in the hours of study
+being spent either in the riding-school, or the river, where, in addition
+to swimming and diving, we were instructed in pontooning and rafting, the
+modes of transporting ammunition and artillery, and the attacks of
+infantry by cavalry pickets.
+
+I also learned to speak and write English and German with great ease and
+fluency, besides acquiring some skill in military drawing and engineering.
+
+It is true that the imprisonment chafed sorely against us, as we read of
+the great achievements of our armies in various parts of the world; of the
+great battles of Cairo and the Pyramids, of Acre and Mount Thabor; and of
+which a holiday and a fête were to be our only share.
+
+The terrible storms which shook Europe from end to end, only reached us in
+the bulletins of new victories; and we panted for the time when we, too,
+should be actors in the glorious exploits of France.
+
+It is already known to the reader that of the country from which my family
+came I myself knew nothing. The very little I had ever learned of it from
+my father was also a mere tradition; still was I known among my comrades
+only as "the Irishman," and by that name was I recognized, even in the
+record of the school, where I was inscribed thus: "Maurice Tiernay, dit
+l'Irlandais." It was on this very simple and seemingly-unimportant fact my
+whole fate in life was to turn; and in this wise--But the explanation
+deserves a chapter of its own, and shall have it.
+
+_(To be continued.)_
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ENCHANTED ROCK. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)
+
+
+About four miles west-northwest of Cape Clear Island and lighthouse, on
+the south-west coast of Ireland, a singularly-shaped rock, called the
+Fastnett, rises abruptly and perpendicularly a height of ninety feet above
+the sea level in the Atlantic Ocean. It is about nine miles from the
+mainland, and the country-people say it is _nine miles_ from _every part_
+of the coast.
+
+The Fastnett for ages has been in the undisturbed possession of the
+cormorant, sea-gull, and various other tribes of sea-fowl, and was also a
+noted place for large conger eels, bream, and pollock; but from a
+superstitious dread of the place, the fishermen seldom fished near it.
+During foggy weather, and when the rock is partially enveloped in mist, it
+has very much the appearance of a large vessel under sail--hence no doubt
+the origin of all the wonderful tales and traditions respecting the
+Fastnett being enchanted, and its celebrated feats. The old people all
+along the sea-coast are under the impression that the Fastnett hoists
+sails before sunrise on the 1st of May in every year, and takes a cruise
+toward the Dursey Islands, at the north entrance of Bantry Bay, a distance
+of some forty miles; and that, after dancing several times round the rocks
+known to mariners as the Bull, Cow, and Calf, it then shapes its homeward
+course, drops anchor at the spot from whence it sailed, and remains
+stationary during the remainder of the year.
+
+The Fastnett, however, it appears, is not the only enchanted spot in that
+locality; for at the head of Schull Harbor, about nine miles north of the
+rock, on the top of Mount Gabriel--about 1400 feet above the sea-level--is a
+celebrated lake, which the people say is so deep, that the longest line
+ever made would not reach its bottom. It is also stoutly asserted that a
+gentleman once dropped his walking-stick into the lake, and that it was
+afterward found by a fisherman near the Fastnett. On another occasion, a
+female wishing to get some water from the lake to perform a miraculous
+cure on one of her friends, accidentally let fall the jug into the water,
+and after several months, the identical jug--it could not be mistaken, part
+of the lip being broken off--was also picked up near the Fastnett. For such
+reasons the people imagine that there is some mysterious connection
+between the rock and the lake, and that they have a subterranean passage
+or means of communication. Captain Wolfe, indeed, during his survey of the
+coast in 1848, sounded the mysterious pool, and found the bottom with a
+line _seven feet long_; but the people shake their heads at the idea, and
+say it was all _freemasonry_ on the part of the captain, and ask how he
+accounts for the affair of the stick and jug? It will be some time, I
+presume, before this puzzling question can be solved to the satisfaction
+of all parties; and the traditions of the stick and jug, and many other
+extraordinary occurrences, are likely to be handed down to succeeding
+generations. The lake, or bog-hole, must therefore be left alone in its
+glory; but, alas! not so with the Fastnett.
+
+No more will it hoist sail for its Walpurgie trip, and cruise to the
+Durseys, for it is now _firmly moored_; and in the hands of man the
+wonderful Fastnett is reduced to a simple isolated rock in the Atlantic
+Ocean. During the awful shipwrecks in the winters of 1846 and 1847, but
+little assistance was derived from the Cape Clear light, which is too
+elevated, and is often totally obscured by fog, and this drew attention to
+the Fastnett Rock as a more eligible site for a pharos, being in the
+immediate route of all outward and homeward-bound vessels: but the great
+difficulty was to effect a landing, and make the necessary surveys; its
+sides being almost perpendicular, and continually lashed by a heavy surge
+or surf. After many attempts. Captain Wolfe did effect a landing; and
+having made the necessary survey, and reported favorably as to its
+advantages, it was determined by the Ballast Board to erect on it a
+lighthouse forthwith. Operations were commenced in the summer of 1847, by
+sinking or excavating a circular shaft about twelve feet deep in the solid
+rock; holes were then drilled, in which were fixed strong iron shafts for
+the framework of the house; and then the masons began to rear the edifice.
+The workmen found it pleasant enough during the summer and autumn of 1847,
+and lived in tents on the summit of the rock, and looked over the mainland
+with the aid of a glass, like so many of their predecessors--the
+cormorants.
+
+In the spring of 1848, however, when operations were resumed, after a
+cessation of the works for the winter, the scene changed. It began to blow
+very hard from the northwest; and the men secured their building, which
+was now several feet above the rocks, as well as they could, and covered
+it over with strong and heavy beams of timber, leaving a small aperture
+for ingress and egress, and then awaited in silence the result. During the
+night the wind increased, and the sea broke with such fury over the whole
+rock, that the men imagined every succeeding wave to be commissioned to
+sweep them into the abyss. It only extinguished their fire, however, and
+carried off most of their provisions, together with sundry heavy pieces of
+cast-iron, a large blacksmith's anvil, and the crane with which the
+building materials were lifted on the rock. The storm lasted upward of a
+week, during which time no vessel or boat could approach; and the crew of
+this island-ship remained drenched with water, and nearly perished with
+cold in a dark hole, with nothing to relieve their hunger but water-soaked
+biscuit. But the wind at length suddenly shifted, the sea moderated, and
+they were enabled eventually to crawl out of their hole more dead than
+alive. In a few days a boat approached as near as possible, and by the aid
+of ropes fastened round their waists, they were drawn one by one from the
+rock through the boiling surf. The men speedily recovered, and have since
+raised the building some twenty feet above the ground: the extreme height
+is to be sixty feet. This is the last adventure of the Enchanted Rock; but
+we trust a brilliant history is before it, in which, instead of expending
+its energies in idle cruises, it will act the part of the beneficent
+preserver of life and property.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE FORCE OF FEAR. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)
+
+
+At the close of the winter of 1825-6, about dusk in the afternoon, just as
+the wealthy dealers in the Palais Royal at Paris were about lighting their
+lamps and putting up their shutters (the practice of the major part of
+them at nightfall), a well-known money-changer sat behind his counter
+alone, surrounded by massive heaps of silver and gold, the glittering and
+sterling currency of all the kingdoms of Europe. He had well-nigh closed
+his operations for the day, and was enjoying in anticipation the prospect
+of a good dinner. Between the easy-chair upon which he reclined in perfect
+satisfaction, and the door which opened into the north side of the immense
+quadrangle of which the splendid edifice above-mentioned is composed,
+arose a stout wire partition, reaching nearly to the ceiling, and resting
+upon the counter, which traversed the whole length of the room. Thus he
+was effectually cut off from all possibility of unfriendly contact from
+any of his occasional visitors; while a small sliding-board that ran in
+and out under the wire partition served as the medium of his peculiar
+commerce. Upon this he received every coin, note, or draft presented for
+change; and having first carefully examined it, returned its value by the
+same conveyance, in the coin of France, or indeed of any country required.
+Behind him was a door communicating with his domestic chambers, and in the
+middle of the counter was another, the upper part of which formed a
+portion of the wire partition above described.
+
+The denizen of this little chamber had already closed his outer shutters,
+and was just on the point of locking up his doors, and retiring to his
+repast, when two young men entered. They were evidently Italians, from
+their costume and peculiar dialect. Had it been earlier in the day, when
+there would have been sufficient light to have discerned their features
+and expression, it is probable that our merchant would have defeated their
+plans, for he was well skilled in detecting the tokens of fraud or design
+in the human countenance. But they had chosen their time too
+appropriately. One of them, advancing toward the counter, demanded change
+in French coin for an English sovereign, which he laid upon the sliding
+board, and passed through the wire partition. The moneychanger rose
+immediately, and having ascertained that the coin was genuine, returned
+its proper equivalent by the customary mode of transfer. The Italians
+turned as if to leave the apartment, when he who had received the money
+suddenly dropped the silver, as though accidentally, upon the floor. As it
+was now nearly dark, it was scarcely to be expected that they could find
+the whole of the pieces without the assistance of a light. This the
+unconscious merchant hastened to supply; and unlocking, without suspicion,
+the door of the partition between them, stooped with a candle over the
+floor in search of the lost coin. In this position the unfortunate man was
+immediately assailed with repeated stabs from a poniard, and he at length
+fell, after a few feeble and ineffectual struggles, senseless, and
+apparently lifeless, at the feet of his assassins.
+
+A considerable time elapsed ere, by the fortuitous entrance of a stranger,
+he was discovered in this dreadful situation; when it was found that the
+assassins, having first helped themselves to an almost incredible amount
+of money, had fled, without any thing being left by which a clew might
+have been obtained to their retreat.
+
+The unfortunate victim of their rapacity and cruelty was, however, not
+dead. Strange as it may appear, although he had received upward of twenty
+wounds, several of which plainly showed that the dagger had been driven to
+the very hilt, he survived; and in a few months after the event, was again
+to be seen in his long-accustomed place at the changer's board. In vain
+had the most diligent search been made by the military police of Paris for
+the perpetrators of this detestable deed. The villains had eluded all
+inquiry and investigation, and would in all probability have escaped
+undiscovered with their booty but for a mutually-cherished distrust of
+each other. Upon the first and complete success of their plan, the
+question arose, how to dispose of their enormous plunder, amounting to
+more than a hundred thousand pounds. Fearful of the researches of the
+police, they dared not retain it at their lodgings. To trust a third party
+with their secret was not to be thought of. At length, after long and
+anxious deliberation, they agreed to conceal the money outside the
+barriers of Paris until they should have concocted some safe plan for
+transporting it to their own country. This they accordingly did, burying
+the treasure under a tree about a mile from the Barrière d'Enfer. But they
+were still as far as ever from a mutual understanding. When they
+separated, on any pretense, each returned to the spot which contained the
+stolen treasure, where of course he was sure to find the other. Suspicion
+thus formed and fed soon grew into dislike and hatred, until at length,
+each loathing the sight of the other, they agreed finally to divide the
+booty, and then eternally to separate, each to the pursuit of his own
+gratification. It then became necessary to carry the whole of the money
+home to their lodgings in Paris, in order that it might, according to
+their notions, be equitably divided.
+
+The reader must here be reminded that there exists in Paris a law relative
+to wines and spirituous liquors which allows them to be retailed at a much
+lower price without the barriers than that at which they are sold within
+the walls of the city. This law has given rise, among the lower orders of
+people, to frequent attempts at smuggling liquors in bladders concealed
+about their persons, often in their hats. The penalty for the offense was
+so high, that it was very rarely enforced, and practically it was very
+seldom, indeed, that the actual loss incurred by the offending party was
+any thing more than the paltry venture, which he was generally permitted
+to abandon, making the best use of his heels to escape any further
+punishment. The gensdarmes planted at the different barriers generally
+made a prey of the potables which they captured, and were consequently
+interested in keeping a good look-out for offenders. It was this vigilance
+that led to the discovery of the robbers; for, not being able to devise
+any better plan for the removal of the money than that of secreting it
+about their persons, they attempted thus to carry out their object. But as
+one of them, heavily encumbered with the golden spoils, was passing
+through the Barrière d'Enfer, one of the soldier-police who was on duty as
+sentinel, suspecting, from his appearance and hesitating gait, that he
+carried smuggled liquors in his hat, suddenly stepped behind him and
+struck it from his head with his halberd. What was his astonishment to
+behold, instead of the expected bladder of wine or spirits, several small
+bags of gold and rolls of English bank-notes! The confusion and
+prevarication of the wretch, who made vain and frantic attempts to recover
+the property, betrayed his guilt, and he was immediately taken into
+custody, together with his companion, who, following at a very short
+distance, was unhesitatingly pointed out by his cowardly and bewildered
+confederate as the owner of the money. No time was lost in conveying
+intelligence of their capture to their unfortunate victim, who immediately
+identified the notes as his own property, and at the first view of the
+assassins swore distinctly to the persons of both--to the elder, as having
+repeatedly stabbed him; and to the younger, as his companion and
+coadjutor.
+
+The criminals were in due course of time tried, fully convicted, and, as
+was to be expected, sentenced to death by the guillotine; but, owing to
+some technical informality in the proceedings, the doom of the law could
+not be carried into execution until the sentence of the court had been
+confirmed upon appeal. This delay afforded time and opportunity for some
+meddling or interested individual--either moved by the desire of making a
+cruel experiment, or else by the hope of obtaining a reversal of the
+capital sentence against the prisoners--to work upon the feelings of the
+unfortunate money-changer. A few days after the sentence of death had been
+pronounced, the unhappy victim received a letter from an unknown hand,
+mysteriously worded, and setting forth, in expressions that seemed to him
+fearfully prophetic, that the thread of his own destiny was indissolubly
+united with that of his condemned assassins. It was evidently out of their
+power to take away _his_ life; and it was equally out of his power to
+survive _them_, die by the sentence of the law, or how or when they might;
+it became clear--so argued this intermeddler--that the same moment which saw
+the termination of their lives, would inevitably be the last of his own.
+To fortify his arguments, the letter-writer referred to certain mystic
+symbols in the heavens. Now though the poor man could understand nothing
+of the trumpery diagrams which were set forth as illustrating the truth of
+the fatal warning thus conveyed to him, and though his friends universally
+laughed at the trick as a barefaced attempt of some anonymous impostor to
+rob justice of her due, it nevertheless made a deep impression upon his
+mind. Ignorant of every thing but what related immediately to his own
+money-getting profession, he had a blind and undefined awe of what he
+termed the supernatural sciences, and he inwardly thanked the kind monitor
+who had given him at least a chance of redeeming his days.
+
+He immediately set about making application to the judges, in order to get
+the decree of death changed into a sentence to the galleys for life. He
+was equally surprised and distressed to find that they treated his
+petition with contempt, and ridiculed his fears. So far from granting his
+request, after repeated solicitations, they commanded him in a peremptory
+manner to appear no more before them. Driven almost to despair, he
+resolved upon petitioning the king; and after much expense and toil, he at
+length succeeded in obtaining an audience of Charles X. All was in vain. A
+crime so enormous, committed with such cool deliberation, left no opening
+for the plea of mercy: every effort he made only served to strengthen the
+resolution of the authorities to execute judgment. Finding all his efforts
+in vain, he appeared to resign himself despairingly to his fate. Deprived
+of all relish even for gain, he took to his bed, and languished in
+hopeless misery, and as the time for the execution of the criminals
+approached, lapsed more and more into terror and dismay.
+
+It was on a sultry afternoon, in the beginning of June, 1826, that the
+writer of this brief narrative--then a not too thoughtful lad, in search of
+employment in Paris--hurried, together with a party of sight-seeing English
+workmen, to the Place de Grève to witness the execution of the two
+assassins of the money-changer. Under the rays of an almost insupportable
+sun, an immense crowd had congregated around the guillotine; and it was
+not without considerable exertion, and a bribe of some small amount, that
+standing-places were at length obtained within a few paces of the deathful
+instrument, upon the flat top of the low wall which divides the ample area
+of the Place de Grève from the river Seine.
+
+Precisely at four o'clock the sombre cavalcade approached. Seated upon a
+bench in a long cart, between two priests, sat the wretched victims of
+retributive justice. The crucifix was incessantly exhibited to their view,
+and presented to their lips to be kissed, by their ghostly attendants.
+After a few minutes of silent and horrible preparation, the elder advanced
+upon the platform of the guillotine. With livid aspect and quivering lips,
+he gazed around in unutterable agony upon the sea of human faces; then
+lifting his haggard eyes to heaven, he demanded pardon of God and the
+people for the violation of the great prerogative of the former and the
+social rights of the latter, and besought most earnestly the mercy of the
+Judge into whose presence he was about to enter. In less than two minutes
+both he and his companion were headless corpses, and in a quarter of an
+hour no vestige, save a few remains of sawdust, was left of the terrible
+drama that had been enacted. Soon, however, a confused murmur pervaded the
+crowd--a report that the victim of cruelty and avarice had realized the
+dread presentiment of his own mind, and justified the prediction contained
+in the anonymous letter he had received. On inquiry, this was found to be
+true. As the signal rung out for execution, the unhappy man, whom
+twenty-two stabs of the dagger had failed to kill, expired in a paroxysm
+of terror--adding one more to the many examples already upon record of the
+fatal force of fear upon an excited imagination.
+
+
+
+
+
+LADY ALICE DAVENTRY; OR, THE NIGHT OF CRIME. (FROM THE DUBLIN UNIVERSITY
+MAGAZINE.)
+
+
+Daventry Hall, near the little village of the same name in Cumberland, is
+the almost regal residence of the Cliffords; yet it does not bear their
+name, nor, till within the last quarter of a century, had it come into
+their possession. The tragical event which consigned it to the hands of a
+distant branch of the Daventry family is now almost forgotten by its
+occupants, but still lingers in the memory of some of humbler rank, who,
+in days gone by, were tenants under Sir John Daventry, the last of a long
+line of baronets of that name. Few men have entered life under happier
+auspices: one of the oldest baronets in the kingdom, in one sense, but
+just of age, in the other, possessed of an unencumbered rent roll of
+£20,000 per annum, he might probably have selected his bride from the
+fairest of the English aristocracy; but when he was twenty-three he
+married the beautiful and poor daughter of an officer residing in his
+vicinity. It was a love-match on his side--one partly of love, parly of
+ambition, on hers; their union was not very long, neither was it very
+happy, and when Lady Daventry died, leaving an infant daughter to his
+care, at the expiration of his year of mourning he chose as his second
+wife the wealthy and high-born widow of the county member. This was a
+_marriage de convenance_, and might have perhaps proved a fortunate one,
+as it secured to Sir John a wife suited to uphold his dignity and the
+style of his establishment, at the same time conferring on the little
+Clara the care of a mother, and the society of a playmate in the person of
+Charles Mardyn, Lady Daventry's son by her first marriage. But the
+marriage of convenience did not end more felicitously than the marriage of
+love--at the end of six months Sir John found himself a second time a
+widower. His position was now a somewhat unusual one--at twenty-seven he
+had lost two wives, and was left the sole guardian of two children,
+neither past the age of infancy; Clara Daventry was but two years old,
+Charles Mardyn three years her senior. Of these circumstances Sir John
+made what he conceived the best, provided attendants and governesses for
+the children, consigned them to the seclusion of the Hall, while he
+repaired to London, procured a superb establishment, was famed for the
+skill of his cooks, and the goodness of his wines, and for the following
+eighteen years was an _habitué_ of the clubs, and courted by the élite of
+London society; and this, perhaps, being a perfectly blameless course, and
+inflicting as little of any sort of trouble or annoyance as possible, it
+must needs excite our surprise if we do not find it producing
+corresponding fruits. Eighteen years make some changes every where. During
+these, Clara Daventry had become a woman, and Charles Mardyn, having
+passed through Eton and Cambridge, had for the last two years emulated his
+stepfather's style of London life. Mr. Mardyn had left his fortune at the
+disposal of his widow, whom he had foolishly loved, and Lady Daventry, at
+her death, divided the Mardyn estates between her husband and son--an
+unfair distribution, and one Charles was not disposed to pardon. He was
+that combination so often seen--the union of talent to depravity; of such
+talent as the union admits--talent which is never first-rate, though to the
+many it appears so; it is only unscrupulous, and consequently, has at its
+command, engines which virtue dares not use. Selfish and profligate, he
+was that mixture of strong passions and indomitable will, with a certain
+strength of intellect, a winning manner, and noble appearance. Clara
+possessed none of these external gifts. Low and insignificant looking, her
+small, pale features, narrow forehead, and cunning gray eyes, harmonized
+with a disposition singularly weak, paltry, and manoeuvring. Eighteen
+years had altered Sir John Daventry's appearance less than his mind; he
+had grown more corpulent, and his features wore a look of sensual
+indulgence, mingled with the air of authority of one whose will, even in
+trifles, has never been disputed. But in the indolent voluptuary of
+forty-five little remained of the good-humored, careless man of
+twenty-seven. Selfishness is an ill-weed, that grows apace; Sir John
+Daventry, handsome, gifted with _l'air distingué_ and thoroughly _répandu_
+in society, was a singularly heartless and selfish sensualist. Such
+changes eighteen years had wrought, when Clara was surprised by a visit
+from her father. It was more than two years since he had been at the Hall,
+and the news he brought was little welcome to her. He was about to marry a
+third time--his destined bride was Lady Alice Mortimer, the daughter of a
+poor though noble house, and of whose beauty, though now past the first
+bloom of youth, report had reached even Clara's ears. From Mardyn, too,
+she had heard of Lady Alice, and had fancied that he was one of her many
+suitors. Her congratulations on the event were coldly uttered; in truth,
+Clara had long been accustomed to regard herself as the heiress, and
+eventually, the mistress of that princely estate where she had passed her
+childhood; this was the one imaginative dream in a cold, worldly mind. She
+did not desire riches to gratify her vanity, or to indulge in pleasures.
+Clara Daventry's temperament was too passionless to covet it for these
+purposes; but she had accustomed herself to look on these possessions as
+her right, and to picture the day when, through their far extent, its
+tenants should own her rule. Besides, Mardyn had awoke, if not a feeling
+of affection, in Clara Daventry's breast, at least a wish to possess him--a
+wish in which all the sensuous part of her nature (and in that cold
+character there was a good deal that was sensuous) joined. She had
+perception to know her own want of attractions, and to see that her only
+hope of winning this gay and brilliant man of fashion was the value her
+wealth might be of in repairing a fortune his present mode of living was
+likely to scatter--a hope which, should her father marry, and have a male
+heir, would fall to the ground. In due time the papers announced the
+marriage of Sir John Daventry to the Lady Alice Mortimer. They were to
+spend their honeymoon at Daventry. The evening before the marriage,
+Charles Mardyn arrived at the Hall; it was some time since he had last
+been there; it was a singular day to select for leaving London, and Clara
+noticed a strange alteration in his appearance, a negligence of dress, and
+perturbation of manner unlike his ordinary self-possession, that made her
+think that, perhaps, he had really loved her destined step-mother. Still,
+if so, it was strange his coming to the Hall. The following evening
+brought Sir John and Lady Alice Daventry to their bridal home. The Hall
+had been newly decorated for the occasion, and, in the general confusion
+and interest, Clara found herself degraded from the consideration she had
+before received. Now the Hall was to receive a new mistress, one graced
+with title, and the stamp of fashion. These are offenses little minds can
+hardly be thought to overlook; and as Clara Daventry stood in the spacious
+hall to welcome her stepmother to her home, and she who was hence-forward
+to take the first place there, the Lady Alice, in her rich traveling
+costume, stood before her, the contrast was striking--the unattractive,
+ugly girl, beside the brilliant London beauty--the bitter feelings of envy
+and resentment, that then passed through Clara's mind cast their shade on
+her after destiny. During the progress of dinner, Clara noticed the
+extreme singularity of Mardyn's manner; noticed also the sudden flush of
+crimson that dyed Lady Alice's cheek on first beholding him, which was
+followed by an increased and continued paleness. There was at their
+meeting, however, no embarrassment on his part--nothing but the well-bred
+ease of the man of the world was observable in his congratulations; but
+during dinner Charles Mardyn's eyes were fixed on Lady Alice with the
+quiet stealthiness of one calmly seeking to penetrate through a mystery;
+and, despite her efforts to appear unconcerned, it was evident she felt
+distressed by his scrutiny. The dinner was soon dispatched; Lady Alice
+complained of fatigue, and Clara conducted her to the boudoir designed for
+her private apartment. As she was returning she met Mardyn.
+
+"Is Lady Alice in the boudoir?" he asked.
+
+"Yes," she replied, "you do not want her?"
+
+Without answering, he passed on, and, opening the door, Charles Mardyn
+stood before the Lady Alice Daventry, his stepfather's wife.
+
+She was sitting on a low stool, and in a deep reverie, her cheek resting
+on one of her fairy-like hands. She was indeed a beautiful woman. No
+longer very young--she was about thirty, but still very lovely, and
+something almost infantine in the arch innocence of expression that
+lighted a countenance cast in the most delicate mould--she looked, in every
+feature, the child of rank and fashion; so delicate, so fragile, with
+those _petites_ features, and that soft pink flesh, and pouting coral
+lips; and, in her very essence, she had all those qualities that belong to
+a spoiled child of fashion--wayward, violent in temper, capricious, and
+volatile. She started from her reverie: she had not expected to see
+Mardyn, and betrayed much emotion at his abrupt entrance; for, as though
+in an agony of shame, she buried her face in her hands, and turned away
+her head, yet her attitude was very feminine and attractive, with the
+glossy ringlets of rich brown hair falling in a shower over the fair soft
+arms, and the whole so graceful in its defenselessness, and the
+forbearance it seemed to ask. Yet, whatever Mardyn's purpose might be, it
+did not seem to turn him from it; the sternness on his countenance
+increased as he drew a chair, and, sitting down close beside her, waited
+in silence, gazing at his companion till she should uncover her face. At
+length the hands were dropped, and, with an effort at calmness, Lady Alice
+looked up, but again averted her gaze as she met his.
+
+"When we last met, Lady Alice, it was under different circumstances," he
+said, sarcastically. She bowed her head, but made no answer.
+
+"I fear," he continued, in the same tone, "my congratulations may not have
+seemed warm enough on the happy change in your prospects; they were
+unfeigned, I assure you." Lady Alice colored.
+
+"These taunts are uncalled for, Mardyn," she replied, faintly.
+
+"No; that would be unfair, indeed," he continued, in the same bitter tone,
+"to Lady Alice Daventry, who has always displayed such consideration for
+all my feelings."
+
+"You never seemed to care," she rejoined, and the woman's pique betrayed
+itself in the tone--"You never tried to prevent it."
+
+"Prevent what?"
+
+She hesitated, and did not reply.
+
+"Fool!" he exclaimed, violently, "did you think that if one word of mine
+could have stopped your marriage, that word would have been said? Listen,
+Lady Alice: I loved you once, and the proof that I did is the hate I now
+bear you. If I had not loved you, I should now feel only contempt. For a
+time I believed that you had for me the love you professed. You chose
+differently; but though that is over, do not think that all is. I have
+sworn to make you feel some of the misery you caused me. Lady Alice
+Daventry, do you doubt that that oath shall be kept?"
+
+His violence had terrified her--she was deadly pale, and seemed ready to
+faint; but a burst of tears relieved her.
+
+"I do not deserve this," she said; "I did love you--I swore it to you, and
+you doubted me."
+
+"Had I no reason?" he asked.
+
+"None that you did not cause yourself; your unfounded jealousy, your
+determination to humble me, drove me to the step I took."
+
+The expression of his countenance somewhat changed; he had averted his
+face so that she could not read its meaning, and over it passed no sign of
+relenting, but a look more wholly triumphant than it had yet worn. When he
+turned to Lady Alice it was changed to one of mildness and sorrow.
+
+"You will drive me mad, Alice," he uttered, in a low, deep voice. "May
+heaven forgive me if I have mistaken you; you told me you loved me."
+
+"I told you the truth," she rejoined, quickly.
+
+"But how soon that love changed," he said, in a half-doubting tone, as if
+willing to be convinced.
+
+"It never changed!" she replied, vehemently. "You doubted--you were
+jealous, and left me. I never ceased to love you."
+
+"You do not love me now?" he asked.
+
+She was silent; but a low sob sounded through the room, and Charles Mardyn
+was again at her feet; and, while the marriage-vows had scarce died from
+her lips, Lady Alice Daventry was exchanging forgiveness with, and
+listening to protestations of love from the son of the man to whom, a few
+hours before, she had sworn a wife's fidelity.
+
+It is a scene which needs some explanation; best heard, however, from
+Mardyn's lips. A step was heard along the passage, and Mardyn, passing
+through a side-door, repaired to Clara's apartment. He found her engaged
+on a book. Laying it down, she bestowed on him a look of inquiry as he
+entered.
+
+"I want to speak to you, Clara," he said.
+
+Fixing her cold gray eyes on his face, she awaited his questions.
+
+"Has not this sudden step of Sir John's surprised you?"
+
+"It has," she said, quietly.
+
+"Your prospects are not so sure as they were?"
+
+"No, they are changed," she said, in the same quiet tone, and impassive
+countenance.
+
+"And you feel no great love to your new stepmother?"
+
+"I have only seen Lady Alice once," she replied, fidgeting on her seat.
+
+"Well, you will see her oftener now," he observed. "I hope she will make
+the Hall pleasant to you."
+
+"You have some motive in this conversation," said Clara, calmly. "You may
+trust me, I do not love Lady Alice sufficiently to betray you."
+
+And now her voice had a tone of bitterness surpassing Mardyn's; he looked
+steadily at her; she met and returned his gaze, and that interchange of
+looks seemed to satisfy both, Mardyn at once began:
+
+"Neither of us have much cause to like Sir John's new bride; she may strip
+you of a splendid inheritance, and I have still more reason to detest her.
+Shortly after my arrival in London, I met Lady Alice Mortimer. I had heard
+much of her beauty--it seemed to me to surpass all I had heard. I loved
+her; she seemed all playful simplicity and innocence; but I discovered she
+had come to the age of calculation, and that though many followed, and
+praised her wit and beauty, I was almost the only one who was serious in
+wishing to marry Lord Mortimer's poor and somewhat _passée_ daughter. She
+loved me, I believe, as well as she could love any one. That was not the
+love I gave, or asked in return. In brief, I saw through her sheer
+heartlessness, the first moment I saw her waver between the wealth of an
+old sensualist, and my love. I left her, but with an oath of vengeance; in
+the pursuit of that revenge it will be your interest to assist. Will you
+aid me?"
+
+"How can I?" she asked.
+
+"It is not difficult," he replied. "Lady Alice and I have met to-night;
+she prefers me still. Let her gallant bridegroom only know this, and we
+have not much to fear."
+
+Clara Daventry paused, and, with clenched hands, and knit brow, ruminated
+on his words--familiar with the labyrinthine paths of the plotter, she was
+not long silent.
+
+"I think I see what you mean," she said. "And I suppose you have provided
+means to accomplish your scheme?"
+
+"They are provided for us. Where could we find materials more made to our
+hands?--a few insinuations, a conversation overheard, a note conveyed
+opportunely--these are trifles, but trifles are the levers of human
+action."
+
+There was no more said then; each saw partly through the insincerity and
+falsehood of the other, yet each knew they agreed in a common object.
+These were strange scenes to await a bride, on the first eve in her new
+home.
+
+Two or three months have passed since these conversations. Sir John
+Daventry's manner has changed to his bride: he is no longer the lover, but
+the severe, exacting husband. It may be that he is annoyed at all his
+long-confirmed bachelor habits being broken in upon, and that, in time, he
+will become used to the change, and settle down contentedly in his new
+capacity; but yet something more than this seems to be at the bottom of
+his discontent. Since a confidential conversation, held over their wine
+between him and Charles Mardyn, his manner had been unusually captious.
+Mardyn had, after submitting some time, taken umbrage at a marked insult,
+and set off for London. On Lady Alice, in especial, her husband spent his
+fits of ill-humor. With Clara he was more than ever friendly; her position
+was now the most enviable in that house. But she strove to alleviate her
+stepmother's discomforts by every attention a daughter could be supposed
+to show, and these proofs of amiable feeling seemed to touch Sir John, and
+as the alienation between him and his wife increased, to cement an
+attachment between Clara and her father.
+
+Lady Alice had lately imparted to her husband a secret that might be
+supposed calculated to fill him with joyous expectations, and raise hopes
+of an heir to his vast possessions; but the communication had been
+received in sullen silence, and seemed almost to increase his savage
+sternness--treatment which stung Lady Alice to the quick; and when she
+retired to her room, and wept long and bitterly over this unkind reception
+of news she had hoped would have restored his fondness, in those tears
+mingled a feeling of hate and loathing to the author of her grief. Long
+and dreary did the next four months appear to the beautiful Lady of
+Daventry, who, accustomed to the flattery and adulation of the London
+world, could ill-endure the seclusion and harsh treatment of the Hall.
+
+At the end of that time, Charles Mardyn again made his appearance; the
+welcome he received from Sir John was hardly courteous. Clara's manner,
+too, seemed constrained; but his presence appeared to remove a weight from
+Lady Alice's mind, and restore her a portion of her former spirits. From
+the moment of Mardyn's arrival, Sir John Daventry's manner changed to his
+wife: he abandoned the use of sarcastic language, and avoided all occasion
+of dispute with her, but assumed an icy calmness of demeanor, the more
+dangerous, because the more clear-sighted. He now confided his doubts to
+Clara; he had heard from Mardyn that his wife had, before her marriage,
+professed an attachment to him. In this, though jestingly alluded to,
+there was much to work on a jealous and exacting husband. The contrast in
+age, in manner, and appearance, was too marked, not to allow of the
+suspicion that his superiority in wealth and position had turned the scale
+in his favor--a suspicion which, cherished, had grown to be the demon that
+allowed him no peace of mind, and built up a fabric fraught with
+wretchedness on this slight foundation. All this period Lady Alice's
+demeanor to Mardyn was but too well calculated to deepen these suspicions.
+Now, too, had come the time to strike a decisive blow. In this Clara was
+thought a fitting instrument.
+
+"You are indeed unjust," she said, with a skillful assumption of
+earnestness; "Lady Alice considers she should be a mother to Charles--they
+meet often; it is that she may advise him, She thinks he is
+extravagant--that he spends too much time in London, and wishes to make the
+country more agreeable to him."
+
+"Yes, Clary, I know she does; she would be glad to keep the fellow always
+near her."
+
+"You mistake, sir, I assure you; I have been with them when they were
+together; their language has been affectionate, but as far as the
+relationship authorizes."
+
+"Our opinions on that head differ, Clary; she deceived me, and by ---- she
+shall suffer for it. She never told me she had known him; the fellow
+insulted me by informing me when it was too late. He did not wish to
+interfere--it was over now--he told me with a sneer."
+
+"He was wounded by her treatment; so wounded, that, except as your wife,
+and to show you respect, I know he would never have spoken to her. But if
+your doubts can not be hushed, they may be satisfactorily dispelled."
+
+"How--tell me?"
+
+"Lady Alice and Charles sit every morning in the library; there are
+curtained recesses there, in any of which you may conceal yourself, and
+hear what passes."
+
+"Good--good; but if you hint or breathe to them--"
+
+"I merely point it out," she interrupted, "as a proof of my perfect belief
+in Charles's principle and Lady Alice's affection for you. If a word
+passes that militates against that belief, I will renounce it."
+
+A sneer distorted Sir John's features. When not blinded by passion, he saw
+clearly through character and motives. He had by this discerned Clara's
+dislike to Lady Alice, and now felt convinced she suggested the scheme as
+she guessed he would have his suspicions confirmed. He saw thus far, but
+he did not see through a far darker plot--he did not see that, in the deep
+game they played against him, Charles and Clara were confederates.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+That was a pleasant room; without, through bayed windows, lay a wide and
+fertile prospect of sunny landscape; within, it was handsomely and
+luxuriously furnished. There were books in gorgeous bindings; a range of
+marble pillars swept its length; stands of flowers, vases of agate and
+alabaster, were scattered on every side; and after breakfast Mardyn and
+Lady Alice made it their sitting-room. The morning after the scheme
+suggested by Clara, they were sitting in earnest converse, Lady Alice,
+looking pale and care-worn, was weeping convulsively.
+
+"You tell me you must go," she said; "and were it a few months later, I
+would forsake all and accompany you. But for the sake of my unborn infant,
+you must leave me. At another time return, and you may claim me."
+
+"Dear Alice," he whispered softly, "dear, dear Alice, why did you not know
+me sooner? Why did you not love me more, and you would now have been my
+own, my wife?"
+
+"I was mad," she replied, sadly; "but I have paid the penalty of my sin
+against you. The last year has been one of utter misery to me. If there is
+a being on earth I loathe, it is the man I must call my husband; my hatred
+to him is alone inferior to my love for you. When I think what I
+sacrificed for him," she continued, passionately, "the bliss of being your
+wife, resigned to unite myself to a vapid sensualist, a man who was a
+spendthrift of his passions in youth, and yet asks to be loved, as if the
+woman most lost to herself could feel love for him."
+
+It was what he wished. Lady Alice had spoken with all the extravagance of
+woman's exaggeration; her companion smiled; she understood its meaning.
+
+"You despise, me," she said, "that I could marry the man of whom I speak
+thus."
+
+"No," he replied; "but perhaps you judge Sir John harshly. We must own he
+has some cause for jealousy."
+
+Despite his guarded accent, something smote on Lady Alice's ear in that
+last sentence. She turned deadly pale--was she deceived? But in a moment
+the sense of her utter helplessness rushed upon her. If he were false,
+nothing but destruction lay before her--she desperately closed her eyes on
+her danger.
+
+"You are too generous," she replied. "If I had known what I sacrificed--"
+
+Poor, wretched woman, what fear was in her heart as she strove to utter
+words of confidence. He saw her apprehensions, and drawing her toward him,
+whispered loving words, and showered burning kisses on her brow. She leant
+her head on his breast, and her long hair fell over his arm as she lay
+like a child in his embrace.
+
+A few minutes later the library was empty, when the curtains that shrouded
+a recess near where the lovers had sat were drawn back, and Sir John
+Daventry emerged from his concealment. His countenance betrayed little of
+what passed within; every other feeling was swallowed up in a thirst for
+revenge--a thirst that would have risked life itself to accomplish its
+object--for his suspicions had gone beyond the truth, black, dreadful as
+was that truth to a husband's ears, and he fancied that his unborn infant
+owed its origin to Charles Mardyn; when, for that infant's sake, where no
+other consideration could have restrained her, Lady Alice had endured her
+woman's wrong, and while confessing her love for Mardyn, refused to listen
+to his solicitations, or to fly with him; and the reference she had made
+to this, and which he had overheard, appeared to him but a base design to
+palm the offspring of her love to Mardyn as the heir to the wealth and
+name of Daventry.
+
+It wanted now but a month of Lady Alice's confinement, and even Mardyn and
+Clara were perplexed and indecisive as to the effect their stratagem had
+upon Sir John. No word or sign escaped him to betray what passed within--he
+seemed stricken with sudden age, so stern and hard had his countenance
+become, so fixed his icy calmness. They knew not the volcanoes that burned
+beneath their undisturbed surface. A sudden fear fell upon them; they were
+but wicked--they were not great in wickedness. Much of what they had done
+appeared to them clumsy and ill-contrived; yet their very fears lest they
+might be seen through urged on another attempt, contrived to give
+confirmation to Sir John's suspicions, should his mind waver. So great at
+this time was Mardyn's dread of detection that he suddenly left the Hall.
+He know Sir John's vengeance, if once roused, would be desperate, and
+feared some attempts on his life. In truth his position was a perilous
+one, and this lull of fierce elements seemed to forerun some terrible
+explosion--where the storm might spend its fury was as yet hid in darkness.
+Happy was it for the Lady Alice Daventry that she knew none of these
+things, or hers would have been a position of unparalleled wretchedness,
+as over the plotters, the deceived, and the foredoomed ones, glided on the
+rapid moments that brought them nearer and nearer, till they stood on the
+threshold of crime and death.
+
+And now, through the dark channels of fraud and jealousy, we have come to
+the eve of that strange and wild page in our story, which long attached a
+tragic interest to the hails of Daventry, and swept all but the name of
+that ancient race into obscurity.
+
+On the fifteenth of December, Lady Alice Daventry was confined of a son.
+All the usual demonstrations of joy were forbidden by Sir John, on the
+plea of Lady Alice's precarious situation. Her health, weakened by the
+events of the past year, had nearly proved unequal to this trial of her
+married life, and the fifth morning after her illness was the first on
+which the physician held out confident hopes of her having strength to
+carry her through. Up to that time the survival of the infant had been a
+matter of doubt; but on that morning, as though the one slender thread had
+bound both to existence, fear was laid aside, and calmness reigned through
+the mansion of Daventry. On that morning, too, arrived a letter directed
+to "The Lady Alice Daventry." A dark shade flitted over Sir John's face as
+he read the direction; then placing it among his other letters reserved
+for private perusal, he left the room.
+
+The day wore on, each hour giving increasing strength to the Lady Alice
+and her boy-heir. During its progress, it was noticed, even by the
+servants, that their master seemed unusually discomposed, and that his
+countenance wore an expression of ghastly paleness. As he sat alone, after
+dinner, he drank glass after glass of wine, but they brought no flush to
+his cheek--wrought no change in his appearance; some mightier spirit seemed
+to bid defiance to the effects of drink. At a late hour he retired to his
+room. The physician had previously paid his last visit to the chamber of
+his patient; she was in a calm sleep, and the last doubt as to her
+condition faded from his mind, as, in a confident tone, he reiterated his
+assurance to the nurse-tender "that she might lie down and take some
+rest--that nothing more was to be feared."
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+The gloom of a December's night had closed, dark and dreary, around the
+Hall, while, through the darkness, the wind drove the heavy rain against
+the easements; but, undisturbed by the rain and winds, the Lady Alice and
+her infant lay in a tranquil sleep; doubt and danger had passed from them;
+the grave had seemed to yawn toward the mother and child, but the clear
+color on the transparent cheek, the soft and regular breathing caught
+through the stillness of the chamber, when the wind had died in the
+distance, gave assurance to the nurse that all danger was past; and,
+wearied with the watching of the last four nights, she retired to a closet
+opening from Lady Alice's apartment, and was soon buried in the heavy
+slumber of exhaustion.
+
+That profound sleep was rudely broken through by wild, loud cries,
+reaching over the rage of the elements, which had now risen to a storm.
+The terrified woman staggered to the bedroom, to witness there a fearful
+change--sudden, not to be accounted for. A night-lamp shed its dim light
+through the apartment on a scene of horror and mystery. All was silence
+now--and the Lady Alice stood erect on the floor, half shrouded in the
+heavy curtains of the bed, and clasping her infant in her arms. By this
+time the attendants, roused from sleep, had reached the apartment, and
+assisted in taking the child from its mother's stiff embrace; it had
+uttered no cry, and when they brought it to the light, the blaze fell on
+features swollen and lifeless--it was dead in its helplessness--dead by
+violence, for on its throat were the marks of strong and sudden pressure;
+but how, by whom, was a horrid mystery. They laid the mother on the bed,
+and as they did so, a letter fell from her grasp--a wild fit of delirium
+succeeded, followed by a heavy swoon, from which the physician failed in
+awaking her--before the night had passed, Lady Alice Daventry had been
+summoned to her rest. The sole clew to the events of that night was the
+letter which had fallen from Lady Alice; it the physician had picked up
+and read, but positively refused to reveal its contents, more than to hint
+that they betrayed guilt that rendered his wife and child's removal more a
+blessing than a misfortune to Sir John Daventry. Yet somehow rumors were
+heard that the letter was in Charles Mardyn's hand; that it had fallen in
+Sir John's way, and revealed to him a guilty attachment between Mardyn and
+his wife; but how it came into her hands, or how productive of such a
+catastrophe as the destruction of her infant, her frenzy, and death,
+remained unknown: but one further gleam of light was ever thrown on that
+dark tragedy. The nurse-tender, who had first come to her mistress's
+assistance, declared that, as she entered the room, she had heard steps in
+quick retreat along the gallery leading from Lady Alice's room, and a few
+surmised that, in the dead of night, her husband had placed that letter in
+her hand, and told her he knew her guilt. This was but conjecture--a wild
+and improbable one, perhaps.
+
+Charles Mardyn came not again to the Hall. What he and Clara Daventry
+thought of what had passed, was known only to themselves. A year went on,
+and Clara and her father lived alone--a year of terror to the former, for
+from that terrible night her father had become subject to bursts of savage
+passion that filled her with alarm for her own safety: these, followed by
+long fits of moody silence, rendered her life, for a year, harassed and
+wretched; but then settling into confirmed insanity, released her from his
+violence. Sir John Daventry was removed to an asylum, and Clara was
+mistress of the Hall. Another year passed, and she became the wife of
+Charles Mardyn. It was now the harvest of their labors, and reaped as such
+harvests must be. The pleasures and amusements of a London life had grown
+distasteful to Mardyn--they palled on his senses, and he sought change in a
+residence at the Hall; but here greater discontent awaited him. The force
+of conscience allowed them not happiness in a place peopled with such
+associations: they were childless, they lived in solitary state, unvisited
+by those of their own rank, who were deterred from making overtures of
+intimacy by the stories that were whispered affixing discredit to his
+name; his pride and violent temper were ill fitted to brook this neglect;
+in disgust, they left Daventry, and went to Mardyn Park, an old seat left
+him by his mother, on the coast of Dorsetshire. It was wildly situated,
+and had been long uninhabited; and in this lonely residence the cup of
+Clara's wretchedness was filled to overflowing. In Mardyn there was now no
+trace left of the man who had once captivated her fancy; prematurely old,
+soured in temper, he had become brutal and overbearing; for Clara he had
+cast off every semblance of decency, and indifference was now usurped by
+hate and violence; their childless condition was made a constant, source
+of bitter reproach from her husband. Time brought no alleviation to this
+state of wretchedness, but rather increased their evil passions and mutual
+abhorrence. They had long and bitterly disputed one day, after dinner, and
+each reminded the other of their sins with a vehemence of reproach that,
+from the lips of any other, must have, overwhelmed the guilty pair with
+shame and terror. Driven from the room by Mardyn's unmanly violence and
+coarse epithets, Clara reached the drawing-room, and spent some hours
+struggling with the stings of conscience aroused by Mardyn's taunts. They
+had heard that morning of Sir John Daventry's death, and the removal of
+the only being who lived to suffer for their sin had seemed but to add a
+deeper gloom to their miserable existence--the time was past when any thing
+could bid them hope. Her past career passed through the guilty woman's
+mind, and filled her with dread, and a fearful looking out for judgment.
+She had not noticed how time had fled, till she saw it was long past
+Mardyn's hour for retiring, and that he had not come up stairs yet.
+Another hour passed, and then a vague fear seized upon her mind--she felt
+frightened at being alone, and descended to the parlor. She had brought no
+light with her, and when she reached the door she paused; all in the house
+seemed so still she trembled, and turning the lock, entered the room. The
+candles had burnt out, and the faint red glare of the fire alone shone
+through the darkness; by the dim light she saw that Mardyn was sitting,
+his arms folded on the table, and his head reclined as if in sleep. She
+touched him, he stirred not, and her hand, slipping from his shoulder,
+fell upon the table and was wet; she saw that a decanter had been
+overturned, and fancied Mardyn had been drinking, and fallen asleep; she
+hastened from the room for a candle. As she seized a light burning in the
+passage, she saw that the hand she had extended was crimsoned with blood.
+Almost delirious with terror, she regained the room. The light from her
+hand fell on the table--it was covered with a pool of blood, that was
+falling slowly to the floor. With a wild effort she raised her husband--his
+head fell on her arm--the throat was severed from ear to ear--the
+countenance set, and distorted in death.
+
+In that moment the curse of an offended God worked its final vengeance on
+guilt--Clara Mardyn was a lunatic.
+
+
+
+
+
+MIRABEAU. AN ANECDOTE OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH
+JOURNAL.)
+
+
+The public life as well as the private character of Mirabeau are
+universally known, but the following anecdote has not, we believe, been
+recorded in any of the biographies. The particulars were included in the
+brief furnished to M. de Galitzane, advocate-general in the parliament of
+Provence, when he was retained for the defense of Madame Mirabeau in her
+husband's process against her. M. de Galitzane afterward followed the
+Bourbons into exile, and returned with them in 1814; and it is on his
+authority that the story is given as fact.
+
+Mirabeau had just been released from the dungeon of the castle of
+Vincennes near Paris. He had been confined there for three years and a
+half, by virtue of that most odious mandate, a _lettre-de-cachet_. His
+imprisonment had been of a most painful nature; and it was prolonged at
+the instance of his father, the Marquis de Mirabeau. On his being
+reconciled to his father, the confinement terminated, in the year 1780,
+when Mirabeau was thirty-one years of age.
+
+One of his father's conditions was, that Mirabeau should reside for some
+time at a distance from Paris; and it was settled that he should go on a
+visit to his brother-in-law, Count du Saillant, whose estate was situated
+a few leagues from the city of Limoges, the capital of the Limousin.
+Accordingly, the count went to Vincennes to receive Mirabeau on the day of
+his liberation, and they pursued their journey at once with all speed.
+
+The arrival of Mirabeau at the ancient manorial château created a great
+sensation in that remote part of France. The country gentlemen residing in
+the neighborhood had often heard him spoken of as a remarkable man, not
+only on account of his brilliant talents, but also for his violent
+passions; and they hastened to the château to contemplate a being who had
+excited their curiosity to an extraordinary pitch. The greater portion of
+these country squires were mere sportsmen, whose knowledge did not extend
+much beyond the names and qualities of their dogs and horses, and in whose
+houses it would have been almost in vain to seek for any other book than
+the local almanac, containing the list of the fairs and markets, to which
+they repaired with the utmost punctuality, to loiter away their time, talk
+about their rural affairs, dine abundantly, and wash down their food with
+strong Auvergne wine.
+
+Count du Saillant was quite of a different stamp from his neighbors. He
+had seen the world, he commanded a regiment, and at that period his
+château was perhaps the most civilized country residence in the Limousin.
+People came from a considerable distance to visit its hospitable owner;
+and among the guests there was a curious mixture of provincial oddities,
+clad in their quaint costumes. At that epoch, indeed, the young Lismousin
+noblemen, when they joined their regiments, to don their sword and
+epaulets for the first time, were very slightly to be distinguished,
+either by their manners or appearance, from their rustic retainers.
+
+It will easily be imagined, then, that Mirabeau, who was gifted with
+brilliant natural qualities, cultivated and polished by education--a man,
+moreover, who had seen much of the world, and had been engaged in several
+strange and perilous adventures--occupied the most conspicuous post in this
+society, many of the component members whereof seemed to have barely
+reached the first degrees in the scale of civilization. His vigorous
+frame; his enormous head, augmented in bulk by a lofty frizzled
+_coiffure_; his huge face, indented with scars, and furrowed with seams,
+from the effect of small-pox injudiciously treated in his childhood; his
+piercing eyes, the reflection of the tumultuous passions at war within
+him; his mouth, whose expression indicated in turn irony, disdain,
+indignation, and benevolence; his dress, always carefully attended to, but
+in an exaggerated style, giving him somewhat the air of a traveling
+charlatan decked out with embroidery, large frill, and ruffles; in short,
+this extraordinary-looking individual astonished the country-folks even
+before he opened his mouth. But when his sonorous voice was heard, and his
+imagination, heated by some interesting subject of conversation, imparted
+a high degree of energy to his eloquence, some of the worthy rustic
+hearers felt as though they were in the presence of a saint, others in
+that of a devil; and according to their several impressions, they were
+tempted either to fall down at his feet, or to exorcise him by making the
+sign of the cross, and uttering a prayer.
+
+Seated in a large antique arm-chair, with his feet stretched out on the
+floor, Mirabeau often contemplated, with a smile playing on his lips,
+those men who seemed to belong to the primitive ages; so simple, frank,
+and at the same time clownish, were they in their manners. He listened to
+their conversations, which generally turned upon the chase, the exploits
+of their dogs, or the excellence of their horses, of whose breed and
+qualifications they were very proud. Mirabeau entered freely into their
+notions; took an interest in the success of their sporting projects;
+talked, too, about crops; chestnuts, of which large quantities are
+produced in the Limousin; live and dead stock; ameliorations in husbandry;
+and so forth; and he quite won the hearts of the company by his
+familiarity with the topics in which they felt the most interest, and by
+his good nature.
+
+This monotonous life was, however, frequently wearisome to Mirabeau; and
+in order to vary it, and for the sake of exercise, after being occupied
+for several hours in writing, he was in the habit of taking a
+fowling-piece, according to the custom of the country, and putting a book
+into his game-bag, he would frequently make long excursions on foot in
+every direction. He admired the noble forests of chestnut-trees which
+abound in the Limousin; the vast meadows, where numerous herds of cattle
+of a superior breed are reared; and the running streams by which that
+picturesque country is intersected. He generally returned to the château
+long after sunset, saying that night scenery was peculiarly attractive to
+him.
+
+It was during and after supper that those conversations took place for
+which Mirabeau supplied the principal and the most interesting materials.
+He possessed the knack of provoking objections to what he might advance,
+in order to combat them, as he did with great force of logic and in
+energetic language; and thus he gave himself lessons in argument, caring
+little about his auditory, his sole aim being to exercise his mental
+ingenuity and to cultivate eloquence. Above all, he was fond of discussing
+religious matters with the curé of the parish. Without displaying much
+latitudinarianism, he disputed several points of doctrine and certain
+pretensions of the church so acutely, that the pastor could say but little
+in reply. This astonished the Limousin gentry, who, up to that time, had
+listened to nothing but the drowsy discourses of their curés, or the
+sermons of some obscure mendicant friars, and who placed implicit faith in
+the dogmas of the church. The faith of a few was shaken, but the greater
+number of his hearers were very much tempted to look upon the visitor as
+an emissary of Satan sent to the château to destroy them. The curé,
+however, did not despair of eventually converting Mirabeau.
+
+At this period several robberies had taken place at no great distance from
+the château: four or five farmers had been stopped shortly after nightfall
+on their return from the market-towns, and robbed of their purses. Not one
+of these persons had offered any resistance, for each preferred to make a
+sacrifice rather than run the risk of a struggle in a country full of
+ravines, and covered with a rank vegetation very favorable to the exploits
+of brigands, who might be lying in wait to massacre any individual who
+might resist the one detached from the band to demand the traveler's money
+or his life. These outrages ceased for a short time, but they soon
+recommenced, and the robbers remained undiscovered.
+
+One evening, about an hour after sunset, a guest arrived at the château.
+He was one of Count du Saillant's most intimate friends, and was on his
+way home from a neighboring fair. This gentleman appeared to be very
+thoughtful, and spoke but little, which surprised every body, inasmuch as
+he was usually a merry companion. His gasconades had frequently roused
+Mirabeau from his reveries, and of this he was not a little proud. He had
+not the reputation of being particularly courageous, however, though he
+often told glowing tales about his own exploits; and it must be admitted
+that he took the roars of laughter with which they were usually received
+very good-humoredly.
+
+Count du Saillant being much surprised at this sudden change in his
+friend's manner, took him aside after supper, and begged that he would
+accompany him to another room. When they were there alone, he tried in
+vain for a long time to obtain a satisfactory answer to his anxious
+inquiries as to the cause of his friend's unwonted melancholy and
+taciturnity. At length the visitor said--"Nay, nay; you would never believe
+it. You would declare that I was telling you one of my fables, as you are
+pleased to call them; and perhaps _this_ time we might fall out."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Count de Saillant; "this seems to be a serious
+affair. Am _I_, then, connected with your presentiments?"
+
+"Not exactly _you_; but--"
+
+"What does this _but_ mean? Has it any thing to do with my wife? Explain
+yourself."
+
+"Not the least in the world. Madame du Saillant is in nowise concerned in
+the matter: but--"
+
+"_But!_--_but!_ you tire me out with your _buts_. Are you resolved still to
+worry me with your mysteries? Tell me at once what has occurred--what has
+happened to you?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--nothing at all. No doubt I was frightened."
+
+"Frightened!--and at what? By whom? For God's sake, my dear friend, do not
+prolong this painful state of uncertainty."
+
+"Do you really wish me to speak out?"
+
+"Not only so, but I demand this of you as an act of friendship."
+
+"Well, I was stopped to-night at about the distance of half a league from
+your château."
+
+"Stopped! In what way? By whom?"
+
+"Why, stopped as people are stopped by footpads. A gun was leveled at me;
+I was peremptorily ordered to deliver up my purse; I threw it down on the
+ground, and galloped off. Do not ask me any more questions."
+
+"Why not? I wish to know all. Should you know the robber again? Did you
+notice his figure and general appearance?"
+
+"It being dark, I could not exactly discover: I can not positively say.
+However, it seems to me--"
+
+"_What_ seems to you? What or whom do you think you saw?"
+
+"I never can tell _you_."
+
+"Speak--speak; you can not surely wish to screen a malefactor from
+justice?"
+
+"No; but if the said malefactor should be--"
+
+"If he were my own son, I should insist upon your telling me."
+
+"Well, then, it appeared to me that the robber was your brother-in-law,
+MIRABEAU! But I might be mistaken; and, as I said before, fear--"
+
+"Impossible: no, it can not be. Mirabeau a footpad! No, no. You _are_
+mistaken, my good friend."
+
+"Certainly--certainly."
+
+"Let us not speak any more of this," said Count du Saillant. "We will
+return to the drawing-room, and I hope you will be as gay as usual; if
+not, I shall set you down as a mad-man. I will so manage that our absence
+shall not be thought any thing of." And the gentlemen re-entered the
+drawing room, one a short time before the other.
+
+The visitor succeeded in resuming his accustomed manner; but the count
+fell into a gloomy reverie, in spite of all his efforts. He could not
+banish from his mind the extraordinary story he had heard: it haunted him;
+and at last, worn out with the most painful conjectures, he again took his
+friend aside, questioned him afresh, and the result was, that a plan was
+agreed upon for solving the mystery. It was arranged that M. De ---- should
+in the course of the evening mention casually, as it were, that he was
+engaged on a certain day to meet a party at a friend's house to dinner,
+and that he purposed coming afterward to take a bed at the château, where
+he hoped to arrive at about nine in the evening. The announcement was
+accordingly made in the course of conversation, when all the guests were
+present--good care being taken that it should be heard by Mirabeau, who at
+the time was playing a game of chess with the curé.
+
+A week passed away, in the course of which a farmer was stopped and robbed
+of his purse; and at length the critical night arrived.
+
+Count du Saillant was upon the rack the whole evening; and his anxiety
+became almost unbearable when the hour for his friend's promised arrival
+had passed without his having made his appearance. Neither had Mirabeau
+returned from his nocturnal promenade. Presently a storm of lightning,
+thunder, and heavy rain came on; in the midst of it the bell at the gate
+of the court-yard rang loudly. The count rushed out of the room into the
+court-yard, heedless of the contending elements; and before the groom
+could arrive to take his friend's horse, the anxious host was at his side.
+His guest was in the act of dismounting.
+
+"Well," said M. De ----, "I have been stopped. It is really he. I recognized
+him perfectly."
+
+Not a word more was spoken then; but as soon as the groom had led the
+horse to the stables, M. De ---- rapidly told the count that, during the
+storm, and as he was riding along, a man, who was half-concealed behind a
+very large tree, ordered him to throw down his purse. At that moment a
+flash of lightning enabled him to discover a portion of the robber's
+person, and M. De ---- rode at him; but the robber retreated a few paces,
+and then leveling his gun at the horseman, cried with a powerful voice,
+which it was impossible to mistake, "Pass on, or you are a dead man!"
+Another flash of lightning showed the whole of the robber's figure: it was
+Mirabeau, whose voice had already betrayed him! The wayfarer, having no
+inclination to be shot, put spurs to his horse, and soon reached the
+château.
+
+The count enjoined strict silence, and begged of his friend to avoid
+displaying any change in his usual demeanor when in company with the other
+guests; he then ordered his valet to come again to him as soon as Mirabeau
+should return. Half an hour afterward Mirabeau arrived. He was wet to the
+skin, and hastened to his own room; he told the servant to inform the
+count that he could not join the company at the evening meal, and begged
+that his supper might be brought to his room; and he went to bed as soon
+as he had supped.
+
+All went on as usual with the party assembled below, excepting that the
+gentleman who had had so unpleasant an adventure on the road appeared more
+gay than usual.
+
+When his guests had all departed, the master of the house repaired alone
+to his brother-in-law's apartment. He found him fast asleep, and was
+obliged to shake him rather violently before he could rouse him.
+
+"What's the matter? Who's there? What do you want with me?" cried
+Mirabeau, staring at his brother-in-law, whose eyes were flashing with
+rage and disgust.
+
+"What do I want? I want, to tell you that you are a wretch!"
+
+"A fine compliment, truly!" replied Mirabeau, with the greatest coolness.
+"It was scarcely worth while to awaken me only to abuse me: go away, and
+let me sleep."
+
+"_Can_ you sleep after having committed so bad an action? Tell me--where
+did you pass the evening? Why did you not join us at the supper-table?"
+
+"I was wet through--tired--harassed: I had been overtaken by the storm. Are
+you satisfied now? Go, and let me get some sleep: do you want to keep me
+chattering all night?"
+
+"I insist upon an explanation of your strange conduct. You stopped
+Monsieur De ---- on his way hither this evening: this is the second time you
+have attacked that gentleman, for he recognized you as the same man who
+robbed him a week ago. You have turned highwayman, then!"
+
+"Would it not have been all in good time to tell me this to-morrow
+morning?" said Mirabeau, with inimitable _sang-froid_. "Supposing that I
+_did_ stop your friend, what of that?"
+
+"That you are a wretch!"
+
+"And that you are a fool, my dear Du Saillant. Do you imagine that it was
+for the sake of his money that I stopped this poor country squire? I
+wished to put him to the proof, and to put myself to the proof. I wished
+to ascertain what degree of resolution was necessary in order to place
+one's self in formal opposition to the most sacred laws of society: the
+trial was a dangerous one; but I have made it several times. I am
+satisfied with myself--but your friend is a coward." He then felt in the
+pocket of his waistcoat, which lay on a chair by his bedside, and drawing
+a key from it, said, "Take this key, open my _scrutoire_, and bring me the
+second drawer on the left hand."
+
+The count, astounded at so much coolness, and carried away by an
+irresistible impulse--for Mirabeau spoke with the greatest
+firmness--unlocked the cabinet, and brought the drawer to Mirabeau. It
+contained nine purses; some made of leather, others of silk; each purse
+was encircled by a label on which was written a date--it was that of the
+day on which the owner had been stopped and robbed; the sum contained in
+the purse was also written down.
+
+"You see," said Mirabeau, "that I did not wish to reap any pecuniary
+benefit from my proceedings. A timid person, my dear friend, could never
+become a highwayman; a soldier who fights in the ranks does not require
+half so much courage as a footpad. _You_ are not the kind of man to
+understand me, therefore I will not attempt to make myself more
+intelligible. You would talk to me about honor--about religion; but these
+have never stood in the way of a well-considered and a firm resolve. Tell
+me, Du Saillant, when you lead your regiment into the heat of battle, to
+conquer a province to which he whom you call your master has no right
+whatever, do you consider that you are performing a better action than
+mine, in stopping your friend on the king's highway, and demanding his
+purse?"
+
+"I obey without reasoning," replied the count.
+
+"And I reason without obeying, when obedience appears to me to be contrary
+to reason," rejoined Mirabeau. "I study all kinds of social positions, in
+order to appreciate them justly. I do not neglect even those positions or
+cases which are in decided opposition to the established order of things;
+for established order is merely conventional, and may be changed when it
+is generally admitted to be faulty. Such a study is a dangerous, but it is
+a necessary one for him who wishes to gain a perfect knowledge of men and
+things. You are living within the boundary of the law, whether it be for
+good or evil. I study the law, and I endeavor to acquire strength enough
+to combat it if it be bad when the proper time shall arrive."
+
+"You wish for a convulsion then?" cried the count.
+
+"I neither wish to bring it about nor do I desire to witness it; but
+should it come to pass through the force of public opinion, I would second
+it to the full extent of my power. In such a case you will hear me spoken
+of. Adieu. I shall depart to-morrow; but pray leave me now, and let me
+have a little sleep."
+
+Count du Saillant left the room without saying another word. Very early on
+the following morning Mirabeau was on his way to Paris.
+
+
+
+
+
+TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)
+
+
+It is proposed in the following article to give the reader some idea of
+one of the greatest and most extensive scientific works going on at the
+present time in this country--namely, the examination of the phenomenon of
+the earth's magnetism; but before doing so, it will be necessary to make a
+few prefatory observations respecting magnetism generally.
+
+The attractive power of the natural magnet or loadstone over fragments of
+iron seems to have been known from the remotest antiquity. It is
+distinctly referred to by ancient writers, and Pliny mentions a chain of
+iron rings suspended from one another, the first being upheld by a
+loadstone. It is singular that although the common properties of the
+loadstone were known, and even studied, during the dark ages, its
+directive power, or that of a needle touched or rubbed by it, seems to be
+the discovery of modern times, notwithstanding the claims of the Chinese
+and Arabians to an early acquaintance with this peculiarity.
+
+There is no doubt that the mariner's compass was known in the twelfth
+century, for several authors of that period make special allusion to it;
+but centuries elapsed before its variation from pointing precisely to the
+poles became noticed. If a magnet be suspended by a thread, in such a
+manner as to enable it to move freely, it will, when all other magnetic
+bodies are entirely removed from it, settle in a fixed position, which, in
+this country, is about 25° to the west of north; this deviation of the
+needle from the north is called its variation. Again, if, in place of
+suspending a magnetized needle, making it move horizontally on a pivot, we
+balance it upon a horizontal axis, as the beam of a pair of scales, we
+shall find that it no longer remains horizontal, but that one end will
+incline downward, or, as it is called, _dip_, and this dip or inclination
+from a horizontal line is about 70° in this country.
+
+Thus we are presented with two distinct magnetical phenomena: 1. The
+variation or declination of the needle; 2. Its dip or inclination; and to
+these we may add the intensity or force which draws the needle from
+pointing to the north, and which varies in different latitudes. These
+phenomena constitute what has been called terrestrial magnetism.
+
+Recent writers, and among them the great philosopher Humboldt, have shown
+that in all probability the declination or variation of the magnet was
+known as early as the twelfth century; but this important discovery has
+been generally ascribed to Columbus. His son Ferdinand states that on the
+14th September 1492, his father, when about 200 leagues from the island of
+Ferro, noticed for the first time the variation of the needle. "A
+phenomenon," says Washington Irving, "that had never before been
+remarked." "He perceived," adds this author, "about nightfall that the
+needle, instead of pointing to the north star, varied half a point, or
+between five and six degrees, to the northwest, and still more on the
+following morning. Struck with this circumstance, he observed it
+attentively for three days, and found that the variation increased as he
+advanced. He at first made no mention of this phenomenon, knowing how
+ready his people were to take alarm; but it soon attracted the attention
+of the pilots, and filled them with consternation. It seemed as if the
+laws of nature were changing as they advanced, and that they were entering
+another world, subject to unknown influences. They apprehended that the
+compass was about to lose its mysterious virtues; and without this guide,
+what was to become of them in a vast and trackless ocean? Columbus tasked
+his science and ingenuity for reasons with which to allay their terrors.
+He told them that the direction of the needle was not the polar star, but
+to some fixed and invisible point: the variation was not caused by any
+failing in the compass, but because this point, like the heavenly bodies,
+had its changes and revolutions, and every day described a circle round
+the pole. The high opinion that the pilots entertained of Columbus as a
+profound astronomer gave weight to his theory, and their alarm subsided."
+
+Thus, although it is possible that the variation of the needle had been
+noticed before the time of Columbus, it is evident that he had discovered
+the amount of the variation, and that it varied in different latitudes.
+The great philosopher Humboldt observes on this point, that "Columbus has
+not only the incontestible merit of having first discovered a line without
+magnetic variation, but also of having, by his considerations on the
+progressive increase of westerly declination in receding from that line,
+given the first impulse to the study of terrestrial magnetism in Europe."
+
+With respect to the dip or inclination of the magnetic needle, which must
+be regarded as the other element of magnetic direction, there is little
+doubt that it was known long before the period usually assigned as the
+date of its discovery--namely, in 1576; for it is difficult to conceive how
+the variation of the needle should be observed and noted, and not its
+deviation from a horizontal line. In the above year a person of the name
+of Robert Norman, who styled himself "hydrographer," published a book
+containing an account of this phenomenon. The title of this work is
+sufficiently curious to be quoted. It runs: "The New Attractive;
+containing a short Discourse of the Magnes or Loadstone, and amongst
+others his Virtues, of a neue discovered Secret and Subtill Propertie,
+concerning the Declination of the Needle touched therewith under the
+Plaine of the Horizon, now first found out by Robert Norman,
+Hydrographer." In the third chapter we are told "by what meanes the rare
+and straunge declyning of the needle from the plaine of the horison was
+first found."
+
+"Having made many and diuers compasses, and using always to finish and end
+them before I touched the needle, I found continually that after I had
+touched the yrons with the stone, that presently the north point thereof
+would bend or declyne downwards under the horison in some quantity,
+insomuch that I was constrained to putt some small piece of waxe in the
+south parts thereof, to counterpoise this declyning, and to make it equal
+againe. Which effecte hauing many times passed my hands without any greate
+regarde thereunto, as ignorant of any such properties in the stone, and
+not before hauing heard or read of any such matter, it chanced at length
+that there came to my handes an instrument to be made with a needle of
+sixe inches long, which needle, after I had polished, cutt off at full
+length, and made it to stand leuel upon the pinn, so that nothing rested
+but only the touching of it with the stone. When I hadde touched the same,
+presently the north part thereof declyned down in such sort, that being
+constrained to cut away some of that part to make it equall againe in the
+end, I cut it too short, and so spoiled the needle wherein I had taken so
+much paines.
+
+"Hereby being straken into some cholar, I applyed myself to seek farther
+into this effecte; and making certain learned and expert men, my friends,
+acquainted in this matter, they advised me to frame some instrument to
+make some exact triall how much the needle touched with the stone would
+declyne, or what greatest angle it would make with the plaine of the
+horison."
+
+The author then proceeds to give a number of experiments which he made
+with his instrument, and which may be regarded as the dipping-needle in
+its first and rudest form. By it he found the inclination or dip to be 71°
+50'.
+
+It is remarkable, that until within the last seventy years, it appears to
+have been the received opinion that the intensity of terrestrial magnetism
+was the same at all parts of the earth's surface; or, in other words, that
+in all countries the needle was similarly affected. And yet few things are
+more inconstant; for, not only is the magnetic force widely different in
+various parts of our globe, but the magnetic condition itself is one of
+swift and ceaseless change.
+
+The first person who attempted to collect and generalize observations on
+the variation of the needle, was Robert Halley, who constructed a chart,
+showing a series of lines drawn through the points or places where the
+needle exhibited the same variation. This chart was published in 1700, and
+was preceded by some exceedingly curious papers, communicated to the Royal
+Society, in which he expresses his belief that he has put it past doubt
+that the globe of the earth is one great magnet, having four magnetic
+poles or points of attraction, two near each pole of the equator; and that
+in those parts of the world which lie adjacent to any one of those
+magnetical poles, the needle is chiefly governed thereby, the nearest pole
+being always predominant over the more remote.
+
+The great importance of collecting as much information as possible
+respecting the laws of magnetism, with a view to the proper understanding
+of its effects, was fully understood by Halley, as the following passage,
+taken from one of his papers, read before the Royal Society in 1692,
+singularly attests: "The nice determination of the variation, and several
+other particulars in the magnetic system, is reserved for a remote
+posterity. All that we can hope to do is, to leave behind us observations
+that may be confided in, and to propose hypotheses which after-ages may
+examine, amend, or refute; only here I must take leave to recommend to all
+masters of ships, and all others, lovers of natural truths, that they use
+their utmost diligence to make, or procure to be made, observations of
+these variations in all parts of the world, as well in the north as south
+latitude, after the laudable custom of our East India commanders; and that
+they please to communicate them to the Royal Society, in order to leave as
+complete a history as may be to those that are hereafter to compare all
+together, and to complete and perfect this abstruse theory."
+
+Halley's theory, or rather hypothesis, which regarded our globe as a great
+piece of clockwork, by which the poles of an internal magnet were carried
+round in a cycle of determinate but unknown period, was so far confirmed,
+that his variation chart had been hardly forty years completed, when, by
+the effect of these changes, it had already become obsolete; and to
+satisfy the requirements of navigation, it became necessary to reconstruct
+it. This was performed by the aid of various observations furnished by the
+Commissioners of the Navy, and the East India, Africa, and Hudson's Bay
+Companies. But the chart was far from satisfactory, and, in consequence of
+the discordant nature of the observations, no dependence could be placed
+on it.
+
+No further steps were taken to ascertain the magnetism of the earth until
+the close of the last century, when the French government undertook the
+first comprehensive experimental inquiry on the subject. When the
+exploring expedition of La Pérouse was organized, the French Academy of
+Sciences prepared instructions for the expedition, containing a
+recommendation that observations with the dipping-needle should be made at
+stations widely remote, as a test of the equality or difference of the
+magnetic intensity; suggesting also, with a sagacity anticipating the
+result, that such observations should particularly be made at those parts
+of the earth where the dip was greatest, and where it was least. The
+experiments, whatever their results may have been, which, in compliance
+with this recommendation, were made in the expedition of La Pérouse,
+perished in its general catastrophe, neither ships nor navigators having
+ever been heard of; but the instructions survived.
+
+Our knowledge of the laws of magnetism was not increased until 1811, when,
+on the occasion of a prize proposed by the Royal Danish Academy, M.
+Hansteen, whose attention had for many years been turned to magnetic
+phenomena, undertook its re-examination. With indefatigable labor M.
+Hansteen traced back the history of the subject, and filled up the
+interval from Halley's time, and even from an earlier epoch (1600). The
+results appeared in his very remarkable and celebrated work, published in
+1819, entitled, "Upon the Magnetism of the Earth;" in which he clearly
+demonstrates, by a great number of facts, the fluctuation which the
+magnetical element has undergone during the last two centuries, confirming
+in great detail the position of Halley--that the whole magnetical system is
+in motion; that the moving force is very great, extending its effects from
+pole to pole; and its that motion is not sudden, but gradual and regular.
+
+In the magnetic atlas which accompanies M. Hansteen's work there is a
+variation chart for 1787, showing the magnetic force at that period. In
+this chart the western line of no variation, or that which passes through
+all places on the globe when the needle points to the true north, begins
+in latitude 60° to the west of Hudson's Bay; proceeds in a southeast
+direction through the North American Lakes, passes the Antilles and Cape
+St. Roque, till it reaches the South Atlantic Ocean, when it cuts the
+meridian of Greenwich in about 65° of south latitude. This line of no
+variation is extremely regular, being almost straight, till it bends round
+the eastern part of South America, a little south of the equator. The
+eastern line of no variation is exceedingly irregular, being full of
+curves and contortions of the most extraordinary kind, indicating plainly
+the action of local magnetic forces. It begins in latitude 60° south,
+below New Holland; crosses that island through its centre; extends through
+the Indian Archipelago with a double sinuosity, so as to cross the equator
+three times--first passing north of it to the east of Borneo, then
+returning to it, and passing south between Sumatra and Borneo, and then
+crossing it again south of Ceylon, from which it passes to the east
+through the Yellow Sea. It then stretches along the coast of China, making
+a semicircular sweep to the west, till it reaches the latitude of 71°,
+when it descends again to the south, and returns northwards with a great
+semicircular bend, which terminates in the White Sea. Thus it is
+demonstrated that in the northern hemisphere the general motion of the
+variation lines is from west to east, in the southern hemisphere from east
+to west.
+
+A great impetus was given to the study of terrestrial magnetism by the
+publication of M. Hansteen's labors; and the various arctic expeditions
+sent out by the country did much toward making us acquainted with the laws
+of magnetism in the northern regions. One of these expeditions led to the
+discovery of the north magnetic pole, or that point where the
+dipping-needle assumes a vertical position. The discovery was made by
+Captain Sir James Ross, who sailed with his uncle Sir John Ross, in a
+voyage undertaken in search of a northwest passage. He left his uncle's
+ship with a party for the sole purpose of reaching this interesting
+magnetical point, which a series of observations assured him could not be
+very far distant. The following extract from his journal communicating his
+discovery will be read with interest. Under the date of the 31st of May
+1831, he writes: "We were now within fourteen miles of the calculated
+position of the magnetic pole, and my anxiety, therefore, did not permit
+me to do or endure any thing which might delay my arrival at the long
+wished-for spot. I resolved, therefore, to leave behind the greater part
+of our baggage and provisions, and to take onward nothing more than was
+strictly necessary, lest bad weather or other accidents should be added to
+delay, or lest unforeseen circumstances, still more untoward, should
+deprive me entirely of the high gratification which I could not but look
+to in accomplishing this most-desired object. We commenced, therefore, a
+most rapid march, comparatively disencumbered as we now were; and
+persevering with all our might, we reached the calculated place at eight
+in the morning of the 1st of June. The amount of the dip, as indicated by
+my dipping-needle, was 89° 59', being thus within one minute of the
+vertical; while the proximity at least of this magnetic pole, if not its
+actual existence where we stood, was further confirmed by the total
+inaction of the several horizontal needles then in my possession. These
+were suspended in the most delicate manner possible, but there was not one
+which showed the slightest effort to move from the position in which it
+was placed--a fact which even the most moderately-informed of readers must
+know to be one which proves that the centre of attraction lies at a very
+small horizontal distance, if at any. The land at this place is very low
+near the coast, but it rises into ridges of fifty or sixty feet high about
+a mile inland. We could have wished that a place so important had
+possessed more of mark or note. But nature had here erected no monument to
+denote the spot that she had chosen as the centre of one of her great and
+dark powers. We had abundance of materials for building in the fragments
+of limestone that covered the beach, and we therefore erected a cairn of
+some magnitude, under which we buried a canister containing a record of
+the interesting fact, only regretting that we had not the means of
+constructing a pyramid of more importance, and of strength sufficient to
+stand the assaults of time and of the Esquimaux." The latitude of this
+spot is 70° 5' 17", and its longitude 96° 46' 45" west. The reader may
+remember that during his late arctic voyage in search of Sir John
+Franklin, Sir James Ross was extremely anxious to revisit this interesting
+locality, which he was at one time not very distant from; but which, as
+the places of magnetic intensity are continually changing, he would no
+longer have found representing the north magnetic pole. It is not a little
+remarkable that during Sir John Ross's voyage, Mr. Barlow, who had been
+long engaged investigating the laws of magnetism, had constructed a
+magnetical map, in which he laid down a point which he described as that
+where, in all probability, the dipping-needle would be perpendicular, and
+which is the very spot where Sir James Ross ascertained the north magnetic
+pole to exist.
+
+But valuable and interesting as were the observations made by navigators
+in different parts if the globe, yet philosophers began to perceive that,
+without some definite plan of proceeding, the mere multiplication of
+random observations made here and there at irregular periods was not the
+course most likely to lead to desired results, and to make us acquainted
+with the mysterious laws of magnetism. The establishment of national
+observatories for the registration of magnetical observations became
+absolutely necessary; and the illustrious Humboldt, to whom every branch
+of science owes so much, gave the first impulse to this great undertaking.
+During the course of his memorable voyages and travels in various parts of
+the globe, the observation of the magnetic phenomena in all their
+particulars occupied a large portion of his attention; and as the
+commencement of any great work is always an epoch of rare and lasting
+interest, we shall give the philosopher's own words on the subject: "When
+the first proposal to establish a system of observatories forming a
+network of stations, all provided with similar instruments, was made by
+myself, I could hardly entertain the hope that I should actually live to
+see the time when, thanks to the united activity of excellent physicists
+and astronomers, and especially to the munificent and persevering support
+of two governments--the Russian and the British, both hemispheres should be
+covered with magnetic observatories. In 1806 and 1807 my friend M.
+Altmanns and myself frequently observed the march of the declination
+needle at Berlin for five or six days and nights consecutively, from hour
+to hour, and often from half hour to half hour, particularly at the
+equinoxes and solstices. I was persuaded that continuous uninterrupted
+observations during several days and nights were preferable to detached
+observations continued during an interval of many months."
+
+Political disturbances, always ruinous to the calm researches of the man
+of science, for many years prevented Humboldt carrying his wishes into
+effect; and it was not until 1828 that he was enabled to erect a small
+observatory at Berlin, whose more immediate object was to institute a
+series of simultaneous observations at concerted hours at Berlin, Paris,
+and Freiburg. In 1829 magnetic stations were established throughout
+Northern Asia, in connection with an expedition to that country which
+emanated from the Russian government; and in 1832 M. Gauss, the
+illustrious founder of a general theory of terrestrial magnetism,
+established a magnetic observatory at Göttingen, which was completed in
+1834, and furnished with his ingenious instruments.
+
+In 1836 Baron Humboldt addressed a long and highly-interesting letter to
+the Duke of Sussex, then president of the Royal Society, urging the
+establishment of regular magnetical stations in the British possessions in
+North America, Australia, the Cape of Good Hope, and between the tropics,
+not only for the observation of the momentary perturbations of the needle,
+but also for that of its periodical and secular movements. This appeal was
+nobly responded to.
+
+The Royal Society, in conjunction with the British Association, called on
+government to advance the necessary funds to establish magnetical
+observatories at Greenwich, and in various parts of the British
+possessions; and in 1839-40 magnetical establishments were in activity at
+St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, Canada, and Van Diemen's Land. The
+munificence of the directors of the East India Company founded and
+furnished, at the request of the Royal Society, magnetic observatories at
+Simla, Madras, Bombay, and Singapore, and the observations will be
+published in a similar form to those of the British observatories. We will
+now briefly describe the scheme of observations, and the manner of making
+them in the different observatories.
+
+Each observatory is supplied with three magnetometers, or bars of
+magnetized steel, delicately suspended by threads of raw silk, which
+measure the magnetical declination, horizontal intensity, and vertical
+force--and such astronomical apparatus as is required for ascertaining the
+time and the true meridian. To these have also been added in each case a
+most complete and perfect set of meteorological instruments, carefully
+compared with the standards in possession of the Royal Society, not only
+for the purpose of affording the necessary corrections of the magnetic
+observations, but also with a view to obtaining at each station, at very
+little additional cost and trouble, a complete series of meteorological
+observations. In order that the observations may be made at the same
+periods of time, it was resolved that the mean time at Göttingen should be
+employed at all the stations, without any regard to the apparent times of
+day at the stations themselves. Each day is supposed to be divided into
+twelve equal portions of two hours each, commencing at all the stations at
+the same instants of absolute time, which are called the magnetic hours.
+At the commencement of each period of two hours throughout the day and
+night, with the exception of Sundays, the magnetometers are observed, and
+the meteorological instruments read off. Independently of these
+observations, others are made at stated periodical intervals every two
+minutes and a half during twenty-four hours. These are known by the name
+of "turn-day observations." Printed forms for registering the observations
+have been prepared with great care, in order that a complete form of
+registry may be preserved--a point of great importance, when it is
+remembered that all the observations made at the different stations must
+eventually be reduced and analyzed. A singularly felicitous adaptation of
+photography has been carried into effect with the magnetometers. By means
+of mirrors attached to their arms, reflected light is cast on
+highly-sensitive photographic paper wound round a cylinder moved by
+clockwork, and the slightest variation of the magnets is registered with
+the greatest accuracy.
+
+The period has not yet arrived for reaping the fruits of all the labor
+carried on in the magnetic observatories at home and abroad, but already
+certain results have been deduced from the observations which are highly
+interesting. It appears that if the globe be divided into an eastern and a
+western hemisphere by a plane coinciding with the meridians of 100° and
+280°, the western hemisphere, or that comprising the Americas and the
+Pacific Ocean, has a much higher magnetic intensity distributed generally
+over its surface than the eastern hemisphere, containing Europe and
+Africa, and the adjacent part of the Atlantic Ocean. The distribution of
+the magnetic intensity in the intertropical regions of the globe affords
+evidence of two governing magnetic centres in each hemisphere. The highest
+magnetic intensity which has been observed is more than twice as great as
+the lowest. It had long been known that in Europe the north end of a
+magnet suspended horizontally (meaning by the north end that which is
+directed toward the north) moves to the east from the night until between
+seven and eight o'clock in the morning, when an opposite movement
+commences, and the north end of the magnet moves to the west. Recent
+observations have shown that a similar movement takes place at the same
+hours of local time in North America, and that it is general in the middle
+latitudes of the northern hemisphere; but to show the capricious nature of
+magnetism, it may be mentioned, that although in the southern portion of
+the globe the movement of the magnet in the contrary direction is constant
+throughout the year, yet at St. Helena the peculiar feature of the diurnal
+is, that during one half of the year the movement of the north end of the
+magnet corresponds in direction with the movement which is taking place in
+the northern hemisphere, while in the other half of the year the direction
+corresponds with that which is taking place in the southern hemisphere.
+
+Another striking result of these investigations is the estimate of the
+total magnetic power of the earth as compared with a steel bar magnetized
+one pound in weight. This proportion is calculated as
+8,464,000,000,000,000,000,000 to 1, which, supposing the magnetic force
+uniformly distributed, will be found to amount to about six such bars to
+every cubic yard of the earth's surface.
+
+Thus measured, it will be seen how tremendously mysterious is the power of
+magnetism, and how potent an influence it must possess over animate and
+inanimate nature! And not one of its least wonderful mysteries is its
+singular exception to the character of stability and permanence. The
+configuration of our globe, the distribution of temperature in its
+interior, the tides and currents of the ocean, the general course of
+winds, and the affections of climate--all these are appreciably constant.
+But magnetism, that subtle, undefinable fluid, is perpetually undergoing a
+change, and of so rapid a nature, that it becomes necessary to assume
+epochs, which ought not to be more than ten years apart, to which every
+observation should be reduced. The extreme importance of knowing the exact
+amount of magnetic variation can scarcely be overrated for maritime
+purposes; and the establishment of a complete magnetical theory, based on
+an extensive series of observations, must be regarded as a desideratum by
+the first nautical country.
+
+The numerous magnetical surveys that have been made by our government,
+taken in conjunction with those in progress on the continent of Europe,
+and particularly in the Austrian dominions, give a full promise of the
+speedy realization of M. Humboldt's wish, so earnestly expressed, that the
+materials of the first general magnetic map of the globe should be
+assembled; and even permit the anticipation, that the first normal epoch
+of such a map will be but little removed from the present year.
+
+
+
+
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE USE OF COAL. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)
+
+
+Bituminous matter, if not the carboniferous system itself, exists
+abundantly on the banks of the Euphrates. In the basin of the Nile coal
+has been recently detected. It occurs sparingly in some of the states of
+Greece; and Theophrastus, in his "History of Stones," refers to mineral
+coal (_lithanthrax_) being found in Liguria and in Elis, and used by the
+smiths; the stones are earthy, he adds, but kindle and burn like wood
+coals (the _anthrax_). But by none of the Oriental nations does it appear
+that the vast latent powers and virtues of the mineral were thus early
+discovered, so as to render it an object of commerce or of geological
+research. What the Romans termed _lapis ampelites_, is generally
+understood to mean our cannel coal, which they used not as fuel, but in
+making toys, bracelets, and other ornaments; while their _carbo_, which
+Pliny describes as _vehementer perlucet_, was simply the petroleum or
+naphtha, which issues so abundantly from all the tertiary deposits. Coal
+is found in Syria, and the term frequently occurs in the Sacred Writings.
+But there is no reference any where in the inspired record as to digging
+or boring for the mineral--no directions for its use--no instructions as to
+its constituting a portion of the promised treasures of the land. In their
+burnt-offerings, wood appears uniformly to have been employed; in
+Leviticus, the term is used as synonymous with fire, where it is said that
+"the priests shall lay the parts in order upon the wood"--that is, on the
+fire which is upon the altar. And in the same manner for all domestic
+purposes, wood and charcoal were invariably made use of. Doubtless the
+ancient Hebrews would be acquainted with _natural_ coal, as in the
+mountains of Lebanon, whither they continually resorted for their timber,
+seams of coal near Beirout were seen to protrude through the
+superincumbent strata in various directions. Still there are no traces of
+pits or excavations into the rock to show that they duly appreciated the
+extent and uses of the article.... For many reasons it would seem that,
+among modern nations, the primitive Britons were the first to avail
+themselves of the valuable combustible. The word by which it is designated
+is not of Saxon, but of British extraction, and is still employed to this
+day by the Irish, in their form of _o-gual_, and in that of _kolan_ by the
+Cornish. In Yorkshire, stone hammers and hatchets have been found in old
+mines, showing that the early Britons worked coals before the invasion of
+the Romans. Manchester, which has risen upon the very ashes of the
+mineral, and grown to all its wealth and greatness under the influence of
+its heat and light, next claims the merit of the discovery. Portions of
+coal have been found under, or imbedded in the sand of a Roman way,
+excavated some years ago for the construction of a house, and which at the
+time were ingeniously conjectured by the local antiquaries to have been
+collected for the use of the garrison stationed on the route of these
+warlike invaders at Mancenion, or the Place of Tents. Certain it is that
+fragments of coal are being constantly, in the district, washed out and
+brought down by the Medlock and other streams, which break from the
+mountains through the coal strata. The attention of the inhabitants would
+in this way be the more early and readily attracted by the glistening
+substance. Nevertheless, for long after, coal was but little valued or
+appreciated, turf and wood being the common articles of consumption
+throughout the country. About the middle of the ninth century, a grant of
+land was made by the Abbey of Peterborough, under the restriction of
+certain payments in kind to the monastery, among which are specified sixty
+carts of wood, and as showing their comparative worth, only twelve carts
+of pit coal. Toward the end of the thirteenth century, Newcastle is said
+to have traded in the article, and by a charter of Henry III., of date
+1284, a license is granted to the burgesses to dig for the mineral. About
+this period, coals for the first time began to be imported into London,
+but were made use of only by smiths, brewers, dyers, and other artisans,
+when, in consequence of the smoke being regarded as very injurious to the
+public health, parliament petitioned the king, Edward I., to prohibit the
+burning of coal, on the ground of being an intolerable nuisance. A
+proclamation was granted, conformable to the prayer of the petition; and
+the most severe inquisitorial measures were adopted to restrict or
+altogether abolish the use of the combustible, by fine, imprisonment, and
+destruction of the furnaces and workshops! They were again brought into
+common use in the time of Charles I., and have continued to increase
+steadily with the extension of the arts and manufactures, and the
+advancing tide of population, till now, in the metropolis and suburbs,
+coals are annually consumed to the amount of about three million of tons.
+The use of coal in Scotland seems to be connected with the rise of the
+monasteries.... Under the regime of domestic rule at Dunfermline, coals
+were worked in the year 1291--at Dysart and other places along the Fife
+coast, about half a century later--and generally in the fourteenth and
+fifteenth centuries the inhabitants were assessed in coals to the churches
+and chapels, which, after the Reformation, have still continued to be paid
+in many parishes. Boethius records that in his time the inhabitants of
+Fife and the Lothians dug "a black stone," which, when kindled, gave out a
+heat sufficient to melt iron.--_Rev. Dr. Anderson's Course of Creation._
+
+
+
+
+
+JENNY LIND. BY FREDRIKA BREMER.
+
+
+There was once a poor and plain little girl dwelling in a little room in
+Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. She was a poor little girl indeed, then;
+she was lonely and neglected, and would have been very unhappy, deprived
+of the kindness and care so necessary to a child, if it had not been for a
+peculiar gift. The little girl had a fine voice, and in her loneliness, in
+trouble or in sorrow, she consoled herself by singing. In fact she sang to
+all she did; at her work, at her play, running or resting, she always
+sang.
+
+The woman who had her in care went out to work during the day, and used to
+lock in the little girl, who had nothing to enliven her solitude but the
+company of a cat. The little girl played with her cat and sang. Once she
+sat by the open window and stroked her cat and sang, when a lady passed
+by. She heard the voice and looked up and saw the little singer. She asked
+the child several questions, went away, and came back several days later,
+followed by an old music master, whose name was Crelius. He tried the
+little girl's musical ear and voice, and was astonished. He took her to
+the director of the Royal Opera of Stockholm, then a Count Puhe, whose
+truly generous and kind heart was concealed by rough speech and a morbid
+temper. Crelius introduced his little pupil to the count, and asked him to
+engage her as "_élève_ for the opera." "You ask a foolish thing!" said the
+count, gruffly, looking disdainfully down on the poor little girl. "What
+shall we do with that ugly thing? see what feet she has? And then her
+face? She will never be presentable. No, we can not take her. Away with
+her!"
+
+The music master insisted, almost indignantly. "Well," exclaimed he at
+last, "if you will not take her, poor as I am, I will take her myself, and
+have her educated for the scene; such another ear as she has for music is
+not to be found in the world!"
+
+The count relented. The little girl was at last admitted into the school
+for _élèves_, at the Opera, and with some difficulty a simple gown of
+black bombazine was procured for her. The care of her musical education
+was left to an able master, Mr. Albert Breg, director of the song school
+of the Opera.
+
+Some years later, at a comedy given by the _élèves_ of the theatre,
+several persons were struck by the spirit and life with which a very young
+_élève_ acted the part of a beggar-girl in the play. Lovers of genial
+nature were charmed, pedants almost frightened. It was our poor little
+girl, who had made her first appearance, now about fourteen years of age,
+frolicksome and full of fun as a child.
+
+A few years still later, a young debutante was to sing for the first time
+before the public in Weber's Freischutz. At the rehearsal preceding the
+representation of the evening, she sang in a manner which made the members
+of the orchestra at once lay down their instruments to clap their hands in
+rapturous applause. It was our poor, plain little girl here again, who now
+had grown up and was to appear before the public in the role of Agatha. I
+saw her at the evening representation. She was then in the prime of youth,
+fresh, bright, and serene as a morning in May--perfect in form--her hands
+and her arms peculiarly graceful--and lovely in her whole appearance,
+through the expression of her countenance, and the noble simplicity and
+calmness of her manners. In fact she was charming. We saw not an actress,
+but a young girl full of natural geniality and grace. She seemed to move,
+speak, and sing without effort or art. All was nature and harmony. Her
+song was distinguished especially by its purity, and the power of soul
+which seemed to swell in her tones. Her "mezzo voice" was delightful. In
+the night scene where Agatha, seeing her lover come, breathes out her joy
+in rapturous song, our young singer on turning from the window, at the
+back of the theatre, to the spectators again, was pale for joy. And in
+that pale joyousness she sang with a burst of outflowing love and life
+that called forth, not the mirth, but the tears of the auditors.
+
+From this time she was the declared favorite of the Swedish public, whose
+musical tastes and knowledge are said not to be surpassed. And, year after
+year, she continued so, though, after a time, her voice, being
+overstrained, lost somewhat of its freshness, and the public being
+satiated, no more crowded the house when she was singing. Still, at that
+time, she could be heard singing and playing more delightfully than ever
+in Pamina (in Zauberflote) or in Anna Bolena, though the opera was almost
+deserted. She evidently sang for the pleasure of the song.
+
+By that time she went to take lessons of Garcia, in Paris, and so give the
+finishing touch to her musical education. There she acquired that warble
+in which she is said to have been equalled by no singer, and which could
+be compared only to that of the soaring and warbling lark, if the lark had
+a soul.
+
+And then the young girl went abroad and sang on foreign shores and to
+foreign people. She charmed Denmark, she charmed Germany, she charmed
+England. She was caressed and courted every where, even to adulation. At
+the courts of kings, the houses of the great and noble, she was feasted as
+one of the grandees of nature and art. She was covered with laurels and
+jewels. But friends wrote of her, "In the midst of these splendors she
+only thinks of her Sweden, and yearns for her friends and her people."
+
+One dusky October night, crowds of people (the most part, by their dress,
+seemed to belong to the upper classes of society) thronged on the shore of
+the Baltic harbor at Stockholm. All looked toward the sea. There was a
+rumor of expectance and pleasure. Hours passed away, and the crowds still
+gathered, and waited and looked out eagerly toward the sea. At length a
+brilliant rocket rose joyfully, far out at the entrance of the harbor, and
+was greeted with a general buzz on the shore.
+
+"There she comes! there she is!" A large steamer now came whelming on its
+triumphant way through the flocks of ships and boats lying in the harbor,
+toward the shore of the "Skeppsbero." Flashing rockets marked its way in
+the dark as it advanced. The crowds on the shore pressed forward as if to
+meet it. Now the leviathan of the waters was heard thundering nearer and
+nearer; now it relented, now again pushed on, foaming and splashing; now
+it lay still. And, there on the front of the deck, was seen by the light
+of lamps and rockets, a pale, graceful young woman, her eyes brilliant
+with tears, and lips radiant with smiles, waving her handkerchief to her
+friends and countrymen on shore.
+
+It was she again--our poor, plain, neglected little girl of former days--who
+now came back in triumph to her fatherland. But no more poor, no more
+plain, no more neglected. She had become rich; she had in her slender
+person the power to charm and inspire multitudes.
+
+Some days later, we read in the papers of Stockholm, an address to the
+public written by the beloved singer, stating, with noble simplicity, that
+"as she once more had the happiness to be in her native land, she would be
+glad to sing again to her countrymen, and that the income of the operas in
+which she was this season to appear, would be devoted to raise a fund for
+a school where _élèves_ for the theatre would be educated to virtue and
+knowledge." The intelligence was received as it deserved, and of course
+the Opera was crowded every night the beloved singer sang there. The first
+time she again appeared in Somnambula (one of her favorite roles), the
+public, after the curtain was dropped, called her back with great
+enthusiasm, and received her, when she appeared, with a roar of hurrahs.
+In the midst of the burst of applause a clear and melodious warbling was
+heard. The hurrahs were hushed instantly. And we saw the lovely singer
+standing with her arms slightly extended, somewhat bowing forward,
+graceful as a bird on its branch warbling, warbling as no bird ever did,
+from note to note--and on every one a clear, strong, soaring warble--until
+she fell into the retournelle of her last song, and again sang that joyful
+and touching strain,
+
+
+    "No thought can conceive how I feel at my heart."
+
+
+
+
+
+MY NOVEL; OR, VARIETIES IN ENGLISH LIFE. BY PISISTRATUS CAXTON. (FROM
+BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE.)
+
+
+
+
+Book I.--Initial Chapter: Showing How My Novel Came To Be Written.
+
+
+SCENE, _the Hall in Uncle Roland's Tower_; TIME, _night_; SEASON,
+_winter_.
+
+Mr. Caxton is seated before a great geographical globe, which he is
+turning round leisurely, and "for his own recreation," as, according to
+Sir Thomas Browne, a philosopher should turn round the orb, of which that
+globe professes to be the representation and effigies. My mother having
+just adorned a very small frock with a very smart braid, is holding it out
+at arm's length, the more to admire the effect. Blanche, though leaning
+both hands on my mother's shoulder, is not regarding the frock, but
+glances toward PISISTRATUS, who, seated near the fire leaning back in his
+chair, and his head bent over his breast, seems in a very bad humor. Uncle
+Roland, who has become a great novel reader, is deep in the mysteries of
+some fascinating Third Volume. Mr. Squills has brought _The Times_ in his
+pocket for his own special profit and delectation, and is now bending his
+brows over "the state of the money market" in great doubt whether railway
+shares can possibly fall lower. For Mr. Squills, happy man! has large
+savings, and does not know what to do with his money; or, to use his own
+phrase, "how to buy in at the cheapest, in order to sell out at the
+dearest."
+
+Mr. Caxton, musingly.--"It must have been a monstrous long journey. It
+would be somewhere hereabouts, I take it, that they would split off."
+
+My Mother, mechanically, and in order to show Austin that she paid him the
+compliment of attending to his remarks.--"Who split off, my dear?"
+
+"Bless me, Kitty," said my father, in great admiration, "you ask just the
+question which it is most difficult to answer. An ingenious speculator on
+races contends that the Danes, whose descendants make the chief part of
+our northern population (and, indeed, if his hypothesis could be correct,
+we must suppose all the ancient worshipers of Odin), are of the same
+origin as the Etrurians. And why, Kitty? I just ask you, why?"
+
+My mother shook her head thoughtfully, and turned the frock to the other
+side of the light.
+
+"Because, forsooth," cried my father, exploding--"because the Etrurians
+called their gods 'the Æsar,' and the Scandinavians called theirs the
+Æsir, or Aser! And where do you think he puts their cradle?"
+
+"Cradle!" said my mother, dreamily; "it must be in the nursery."
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"Exactly--in the nursery of the human race--just here," and my
+father pointed to the globe; "bounded, you see, by the River Helys, and in
+that region which, taking its name from Ees, or As (a word designating
+light or fire), has been immemorially called _Asia_. Now, Kitty, from Ees
+or As, our ethnological speculator would derive not only Asia, the land,
+but Æser or Aser, its primitive inhabitants. Hence, he supposes the origin
+of the Etrurians, and the Scandinavians. But, if we give him so much, we
+must give him more, and deduce from the same origin the Es of the Celt,
+and the Ized of the Persian, and--what will be of more use to him, I dare
+say, poor man, than all the rest put together--the Æs of the Romans, that
+is, the God of Copper-Money--a very powerful household god he is to this
+day!"
+
+My mother looked musingly at her frock, as if she were taking my father's
+proposition into serious consideration.
+
+"So, perhaps," resumed my father, "and not unconformably with sacred
+records, from one great parent horde came all these various tribes,
+carrying with them the name of their beloved Asia; and whether they
+wandered north, south, or west, exalting their own emphatic designation of
+'Children of the Land of Light' into the title of gods. And to think
+(added Mr. Caxton pathetically, gazing upon that speck in the globe on
+which his forefinger rested), to think how little they changed for the
+better when they got to the Don, or entangled their rafts amidst the
+icebergs of the Baltic--so comfortably off as they were here, if they could
+but have staid quiet!"
+
+"And why the deuce could not they?" asked Mr. Squills.
+
+"Pressure of population, and not enough to live upon, I suppose," said my
+father.
+
+PISISTRATUS, sulkily.--"More probably they did away with the Corn Laws,
+sir."
+
+"Papæ!" quoth my father, "that throws a new light on the subject."
+
+PISISTRATUS, full of his grievances, and not caring three straws about the
+origin of the Scandinavians--"I know that if we are to lose £500 every year
+on a farm which we hold rent-free, and which the best judges allow to be a
+perfect model for the whole country, we had better make haste, and turn
+Æsar, or Aser, or whatever you call them, and fix a settlement on the
+property of other nations, otherwise, I suspect, our probable settlement
+will be on the parish."
+
+MR. SQUILLS, who, it must be remembered, is an enthusiastic
+free-trader--"You have only got to put more capital on the land."
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"Well, Mr. Squills, as you think so well of that investment,
+put _your_ capital on it. I promise that you shall have every shilling of
+profit."
+
+MR. SQUILLS, hastily retreating behind _The Times_--"I don't think the
+Great Western can fall any lower: though it _is_ hazardous--I can but
+venture a few hundreds--"
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"On our land, Squills? Thank you."
+
+MR. SQUILLS.--"No, no--any thing but that--on the Great Western."
+
+Pisistratus relapses into gloom. Blanche steals up coaxingly, and gets
+snubbed for her pains.
+
+A pause.
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"There are two golden rules of life: one relates to the mind,
+and the other to the pockets. The first is--If our thoughts get into a low,
+nervous, aguish condition, we should make them change the air; the second
+is comprised in the proverb, 'it is good to have two strings to one's
+bow.' Therefore, Pisistratus, I tell you what you must do--write a book!"
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"Write a book!--Against the abolition of the Corn Laws? Faith,
+sir, the mischief's done. It takes a much better pen than mine to write
+down an act of Parliament."
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"I only said, 'Write a book.' All the rest is the addition of
+your own headlong imagination."
+
+PISISTRATUS, with the recollection of the great book rising before
+him--"Indeed, sir, I should think that that would just finish us!"
+
+MR. CAXTON, not seeming to heed the interruption--"A book that will sell! A
+book that will prop up the fall of prices! A book that will distract your
+mind from its dismal apprehensions, and restore your affection to your
+species, and your hopes in the ultimate triumph of sound principles--by the
+sight of a favorable balance at the end of the yearly accounts. It is
+astonishing what a difference that little circumstance makes in our views
+of things in general. I remember when the bank, in which Squills had
+incautiously left £1000, broke; one remarkably healthy year, that he
+became a great alarmist, and said that the country was on the verge of
+ruin; whereas, you see now, when, thanks to a long succession of sickly
+seasons, he has a surplus capital to risk in the Great Western--he is
+firmly persuaded that England was never in so prosperous a condition."
+
+MR. SQUILLS, rather sullenly.--"Pooh, pooh."
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"Write a book, my son--write a book. Need I tell you that Money
+or Moneta, according to Hyginus, was the mother of the Muses? Write a
+book."
+
+BLANCHE and my MOTHER, in full chorus.--"yes, Sisty--a book--a book! you must
+write a book!"
+
+"I am sure," quoth my Uncle Roland, slamming down the volume he had just
+concluded, "he could write a devilish deal better book than this; and how
+I come to read such trash, night after night, is more than I could
+possibly explain to the satisfaction of any intelligent jury, if I were
+put into a witness-box, and examined in the mildest manner by my own
+counsel."
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"You see that Roland tells us exactly what sort of a book it
+shall be."
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"Trash, sir?"
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"No--that is not necessarily trash--but a book of that class
+which, whether trash or not, people can't help reading. Novels have become
+a necessity of the age. You must write a novel."
+
+PISISTRATUS, flattered, but dubious.--"A novel! But every subject on which
+novels can be written is preoccupied. There are novels on low life, novels
+of high life, military novels, naval novels, novels philosophical, novels
+religious, novels historical, novels descriptive of India, the Colonies,
+Ancient Rome, and the Egyptian Pyramids. From what bird, wild eagle, or
+barn-door fowl, can I
+
+
+    'Pluck one unwearied plume from Fancy's wing?' "
+
+
+MR. CAXTON, after a little thought.--"You remember the story which
+Trevanion (I beg his pardon, Lord Ulswater) told us the other night. That
+gives you something of the romance of real life for your plot--puts you
+chiefly among scenes with which you are familiar, and furnishes you with
+characters which have been very sparingly dealt with since the time of
+Fielding. You can give us the country squire, as you remember him in your
+youth: it is a specimen of a race worth preserving--the old idiosyncrasies
+of which are rapidly dying off, as the railways bring Norfolk and
+Yorkshire within easy reach of the manners of London. You can give us the
+old-fashioned parson, as in all essentials he may yet be found--but before
+you had to drag him out of the great Puseyite sectarian bog; and, for the
+rest, I really think that while, as I am told, many popular writers are
+doing their best, especially in France, and perhaps a little in England,
+to set class against class, and pick up every stone in the kennel to shy
+at a gentleman with a good coat on his back, something useful might be
+done by a few good humored sketches of those innocent criminals a little
+better off than their neighbors, whom, however we dislike them, I take it
+for granted we shall have to endure, in one shape or another, as long as
+civilization exists; and they seem, on the whole, as good in their present
+shape, as we are likely to get, shake the dice-box of society how we
+will."
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"Very well said, sir; but this rural country gentleman life
+is not so new as you think. There's Washington Irving--"
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"Charming--but rather the manners of the last century than
+this. You may as well cite Addison and Sir Roger de Coverley."
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"_Tremaine_ and _De Vere_."
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"Nothing can be more graceful, nor more unlike what I mean.
+The Pales and Terminus I wish you to put up in the fields are familiar
+images, that you may cut out of in oak tree--not beautiful marble statues,
+on porphyry pedestals twenty feet high."
+
+PISISTRATUS.--"Miss Austin; Mrs. Gore in her masterpiece of _Mrs.
+Armytage;_ Mrs. Marsh, too; and then (for Scottish manners) Miss Ferrier!"
+
+MR. CAXTON, growing cross.--"Oh, if you can not treat on bucolics but what
+you must hear some Virgil or other cry 'Stop thief!' you deserve to be
+tossed by one of your own 'short-horns.' (Still more contemptuously)--I am
+sure I don't know why we spend so much money on sending our sons to school
+to learn Latin, when that Anachronism of yours, Mrs. Caxton, can't even
+construe a line and a half of Phædrus. Phædrus, Mrs. Caxton--a book which
+is in Latin what Goody Two Shoes is in the vernacular!"
+
+MRS. CAXTON, alarmed and indignant.--"Fie, Austin! I am sure you can
+construe Phædras, dear!"
+
+Pisistratus prudently preserves silence.
+
+MR. CAXTON.--"I'll try him--
+
+
+    "Sua cuique quum sit animi cogitatio
+    Colorque proprius."
+
+
+What does that mean?"
+
+PISISTRATUS, smiling.--"That every man has some coloring matter within him,
+to give his own tinge to--"
+
+"His own novel," interrupted my father! "_Contentus peragis_."
+
+During the latter part of this dialogue, Blanche had sewn together three
+quires of the best Bath paper, and she now placed them on a little table
+before me, with her own inkstand and steel pen.
+
+My mother put her finger to her lip, and said, "Hush!" my father returned
+to the cradle of the Æsar; Captain Roland leant his cheek on his hand, and
+gazed abstractedly on the fire; Mr. Squills fell into a placid doze; and,
+after three sighs that would have melted a heart of stone, I rushed
+into--MY NOVEL.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II.
+
+
+"There has never been occasion to use them since I've been in the parish,"
+said Parson Dale.
+
+"What does that prove?" quoth the Squire, sharply, and looking the Parson
+full in the face.
+
+"Prove!" repeated Mr. Dale--with a smile of benign, yet too conscious
+superiority--"What does experience prove?"
+
+"That your forefathers were great blockheads, and that their descendant is
+not a whit the wiser."
+
+"Squire," replied the Parson, "although that is a melancholy conclusion,
+yet if you mean it to apply universally, and not to the family of the
+Dales in particular, it is not one which my candor as a reasoner, and my
+humility as a mortal, will permit me to challenge."
+
+"I defy you." said Mr. Hazeldean, triumphantly. "But to stick to the
+subject, which it is monstrous hard to do when one talks with a parson, I
+only just ask you to look yonder, and tell me on your conscience--I don't
+even say as a parson, but as a parishioner--whether you ever saw a more
+disreputable spectacle?"
+
+While he spoke, the Squire, leaning heavily on the Parson's left shoulder,
+extended his cane in a line parallel with the right eye of that
+disputatious ecclesiastic, so that he might guide the organ of sight to
+the object he had thus unflatteringly described.
+
+"I confess," said the Parson, "that, regarded by the eye of the senses, it
+is a thing that in its best day had small pretensions to beauty, and is
+not elevated into the picturesque even by neglect and decay. But, my
+friend, regarded by the eye of the inner man--of the rural philosopher and
+parochial legislator--I say it is by neglect and decay that it is rendered
+a very pleasing feature in what I may call 'the moral topography of a
+parish.' "
+
+The Squire looked at the Parson as if he could have beaten him; and
+indeed, regarding the object in dispute not only with the eye of the outer
+man, but the eye of law and order, the eye of a country gentleman and a
+justice of the peace, the spectacle _was_ scandalously disreputable. It
+was moss-grown; it was worm-eaten; it was broken right in the middle;
+through its four socketless eyes, neighbored by the nettle, peered the
+thistle:--the thistle!--a forest of thistles!--and, to complete the
+degradation of the whole, those thistles had attracted the donkey of an
+itinerant tinker; and the irreverent animal was in the very act of taking
+his luncheon out of the eyes and jaws of--THE PARISH STOCKS.
+
+The Squire looked as if he could have beaten the Parson; but as he was not
+without some slight command of temper, and a substitute was luckily at
+hand, he gulped down his resentment and made a rush--at the donkey!
+
+Now the donkey was hampered by a rope to its forefeet, to the which was
+attached a billet of wood called technically "a clog," so that it had no
+fair chance of escape from the assault its sacrilegious luncheon had
+justly provoked. But, the ass turning round with unusual nimbleness at the
+first stroke of the cane, the Squire caught his foot in the rope, and went
+head over heels among the thistles. The donkey gravely bent down, and
+thrice smelt or sniffed its prostrate foe; then, having convinced itself
+that it had nothing farther to apprehend for the present, and very willing
+to make the best of the reprieve, according to the poetical admonition,
+"Gather your rosebuds while you may," it cropped a thistle in full bloom,
+close to the ear of the Squire; so close indeed, that the Parson thought
+the ear was gone; and with the more probability, inasmuch as the Squire,
+feeling the warm breath of the creature, bellowed out with all the force
+of lungs accustomed to give a View-hallo!
+
+"Bless me, is it gone?" said the Parson, thrusting his person between the
+ass and the squire.
+
+"Zounds and the devil!" cried the Squire, rubbing himself as he rose to
+his feet.
+
+"Hush," said the parson gently "What a horrible oath!"
+
+"Horrible oath! If you had my nankeens on," said the Squire, still rubbing
+himself, "and had fallen into a thicket of thistles with a donkey's teeth
+within an inch of your ear!"
+
+"It is not gone--then?" interrupted the Parson.
+
+"No--that is, I think not," said the Squire dubiously; and he clapped his
+hand to the organ in question. "No! it is not gone!"
+
+"Thank Heaven!" said the good Clergyman kindly.
+
+"Hum," growled the Squire, who was now once more engaged in rubbing
+himself. "Thank Heaven indeed, when I am as full of thorns as a porcupine!
+I should just like to know what use thistles are in the world."
+
+"For donkeys to eat, if you will let them, Squire," answered the Parson.
+
+"Ugh, you beast!" cried Mr. Hazeldean, all his wrath reawakened, whether
+by the reference to the donkey species, or his inability to reply to the
+Parson, or perhaps by some sudden prick too sharp for humanity--especially
+humanity in nankeens--to endure without kicking; "Ugh, you beast!" he
+exclaimed, shaking his cane at the donkey, who, at the interposition of
+the Parson, had respectfully recoiled a few paces, and now stood switching
+its thin tail, and trying vainly to lift one of its fore legs--for the
+flies teased it.
+
+"Poor thing!" said the Parson pityingly. "See, it has a raw place on the
+shoulder, and the flies have found out the sore."
+
+"I am devilish glad to hear it," said the Squire vindictively.
+
+"Fie, fie!"
+
+"It is very well to say 'Fie, fie.' It was not you who fell among the
+thistles. What's the man about now, I wonder?"
+
+The Parson had walked toward a chestnut tree that stood on the village
+green--he broke off a bough--returned to the donkey--whisked away the flies,
+and then tenderly placed the broad leaves over the sore, as a protection
+from the swarms. The donkey turned round its head, and looked at him with
+mild wonder.
+
+"I would bet a shilling," said the Parson, softly, "that this is the first
+act of kindness thou hast met with this many a day. And slight enough it
+is, Heaven knows."
+
+With that the Parson put his hand into his pocket, and drew out an apple.
+It was a fine large rose-cheeked apple: one of the last winter's store,
+from the celebrated tree in the parsonage garden, and he was taking it as
+a present to a little boy in the village who had notably distinguished
+himself in the Sunday school. "Nay, in common justice, Lenny Fairfield
+should have the preference," muttered the Parson. The ass pricked up one
+of its ears, and advanced its head timidly. "But Lenny Fairfield would be
+as much pleased with twopence: and what could twopence do to thee?" The
+ass's nose now touched the apple. "Take it in the name of Charity," quoth
+the Parson, "Justice is accustomed to be served last." And the ass took
+the apple. "How had you the heart?" said the Parson, pointing to the
+Squire's cane.
+
+The ass stopped munching, and looked askant at the Squire.
+
+"Pooh! eat on; he'll not beat thee now!"
+
+"No," said the Squire apologetically. "But, after all, he is not an Ass of
+the Parish; he is a vagrant, and he ought to be pounded. But the pound is
+in as bad a state as the stocks, thanks to your new-fashioned doctrines."
+
+"New-fashioned!" cried the Parson almost indignantly, for he had a great
+disdain of new fashions. "They are as old as Christianity; nay, as old as
+Paradise, which you will observe is derived from a Greek, or rather a
+Persian word, and means something more than 'garden,' corresponding
+(pursued the Parson rather pedantically) with the Latin _vivarium_--viz.
+grove or park full of innocent dumb creatures. Depend on it, donkeys were
+allowed to eat thistles there."
+
+"Very possibly," said the Squire drily. "But Hazeldean, though a very
+pretty village, is not Paradise. The stocks shall be mended to-morrow--ay,
+and the pound too--and the next donkey found trespassing shall go into it,
+as sure as my name's Hazeldean."
+
+"Then," said the Parson gravely, "I can only hope that the next parish may
+not follow your example; or that you and I may never be caught straying!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III.
+
+
+Parson Dale and Squire Hazeldean parted company; the latter to inspect his
+sheep, the former to visit some of his parishioners, including Lenny
+Fairfield, whom the donkey had defrauded of his apple.
+
+Lenny Fairfield was sure to be in the way, for his mother rented a few
+acres of grass land from the Squire, and it was now hay-time. And Leonard,
+commonly called Lenny, was an only son, and his mother a widow. The
+cottage stood apart, and somewhat remote, in one of the many nooks of the
+long green village lane. And a thoroughly English cottage it was--three
+centuries old at least; with walls of rubble let into oak frames, and duly
+whitewashed every summer, a thatched roof, small panes of glass, and an
+old doorway raised from the ground by two steps. There was about this
+little dwelling all the homely rustic elegance which peasant life admits
+of: a honeysuckle was trained over the door; a few flower-pots were placed
+on the window-sills; the small plot of ground in front of the house was
+kept with great neatness, and even taste; some large rough stones on
+either side the little path having been formed into a sort of rockwork,
+with creepers that were now in flower; and the potato-ground was screened
+from the eye by sweet peas and lupine. Simple elegance all this, it is
+true; but how well it speaks for peasant and landlord, when you see that
+the peasant is fond of his home, and has some spare time and heart to
+bestow upon mere embellishment. Such a peasant is sure to be a bad
+customer to the ale-house, and a safe neighbor to the Squire's preserves.
+All honor and praise to him, except a small tax upon both, which is due to
+the landlord!
+
+Such sights were as pleasant to the Parson as the most beautiful
+landscapes of Italy can be to the dilettante. He paused a moment at the
+wicket to look around him, and distended his nostrils voluptuously to
+inhale the smell of the sweet peas, mixed with that of the new-mown hay in
+the fields behind, which a slight breeze bore to him. He then moved on,
+carefully scraped his shoes, clean and well polished as they were--for Mr.
+Dale was rather a beau in his own clerical way--on the scraper without the
+door, and lifted the latch.
+
+Your virtuoso looks with artistical delight on the figure of some nymph
+painted on an Etruscan vase, engaged in pouring out the juice of the grape
+from her classic urn. And the Parson felt as harmless, if not as elegant a
+pleasure, in contemplating Widow Fairfield brimming high a glittering can,
+which she designed for the refreshment of the thirsty hay-makers.
+
+Mrs. Fairfield was a middle-aged, tidy woman, with that alert precision of
+movement which seems to come from an active orderly mind; and as she now
+turned her head briskly at the sound of the Parson's footsteps, she showed
+a countenance prepossessing, though not handsome--a countenance from which
+a pleasant hearty smile, breaking forth at that moment effaced some lines
+that, in repose, spoke "of sorrows, but of sorrows past;" and her cheek,
+paler than is common to the complexions even of the fair sex, when born
+and bred amidst a rural population, might have favored the guess that the
+earlier part of her life had been spent in the languid air and
+"within-doors" occupation of a town.
+
+"Never mind me," said the Parson, as Mrs. Fairfield dropped her quick
+courtesy, and smoothed her apron; "if you are going into the hayfield, I
+will go with you; I have something to say to Lenny--an excellent boy."
+
+WIDOW.--"Well, sir, and you are kind to say to it--but he is."
+
+PARSON.--"He reads uncommonly well, he writes tolerably; he is the best lad
+in the whole school at his catechism and in the Bible lessons; and I
+assure you, when I see his face at church, looking up so attentively, I
+fancy that I shall read my sermon all the better for such a listener!"
+
+WIDOW, wiping her eyes with the corner of her apron.--"'Deed, sir, when my
+poor Mark died, I never thought I could have lived on as I have done. But
+that boy is so kind and good, that when I look at him sitting there in
+dear Mark's chair, and remember how Mark loved him, and all he used to say
+to me about him, I feel somehow or other as if my goodman smiled on me,
+and would rather I was not with him yet, till the lad had grown up, and
+did not want me any more."
+
+PARSON, looking away, and after a pause.--"You never hear any thing of the
+old folks at Lansmere?"
+
+"'Deed, sir, sin' poor Mark died, they han't noticed me, nor the boy;
+but," added the widow, with all a peasant's pride, "it isn't that I wants
+their money; only it's hard to feel strange like to one's own father and
+mother!"
+
+PARSON.--"You must excuse them. Your father, Mr. Avenel, was never quite
+the same man after that sad event--but you are weeping, my friend, pardon
+me:--your mother is a little proud; but so are you, though in another way."
+
+WIDOW.--"I proud! Lord love ye, sir, I have not a bit of pride in me! and
+that's the reason they always looked down on me."
+
+PARSON.--"Your parents must be well off, and I shall apply to them in a
+year or two on behalf of Lenny, for they promised me to provide for him
+when he grew up, as they ought."
+
+WIDOW, with flashing eyes.--"I am sure, sir, I hope you will do no such
+thing; for I would not have Lenny beholden to them as has never given him
+a kind word sin' he was born!"
+
+The Parson smiled gravely and shook his head at poor Mrs. Fairfield's
+hasty confutation of her own self-acquittal from the charge of pride, but
+he saw that it was not the time or moment for effectual peace-making in
+the most irritable of all rancors, viz., that nourished against one's
+nearest relations. He therefore dropped that subject, and said, "Well,
+time enough to think of Lenny's future prospects: meanwhile we are
+forgetting the hay-makers. Come."
+
+The widow opened the back door, which led across a little apple orchard
+into the fields.
+
+PARSON.--"You have a pleasant place here, and I see that my friend Lenny
+should be in no want of apples. I had brought him one, but I have given it
+away on the road."
+
+WIDOW.--"Oh, sir, it is not the deed--it is the will; as I felt when the
+Squire, God bless him! took two pounds off the rent the year he--that is,
+Mark--died."
+
+PARSON.--"If Lenny continues to be such a help to you, it will not be long
+before the Squire may put the two pounds on again."
+
+"Yes, sir," said the widow simply; "I hope he will."
+
+"Silly woman!" muttered the Parson. "That's not exactly what the
+schoolmistress would have said. You don't read nor write, Mrs. Fairfield;
+yet you express yourself with great propriety."
+
+"You know Mark was a schollard, sir, like my poor, poor, sister; and
+though I was a sad stupid girl afore I married, I tried to take after him
+when we came together."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV.
+
+
+They were now in the hayfield, and a boy of about sixteen, but like most
+country lads, to appearance much younger than he was, looked up from his
+rake, with lively blue eyes, beaming forth under a profusion of brown
+curly hair.
+
+Leonard Fairfield was indeed a very handsome boy--not so stout nor so ruddy
+as one would choose for the ideal of rustic beauty; nor yet so delicate in
+limb and keen in expression as are those children of cities, in whom the
+mind is cultivated at the expense of the body; but still he had the health
+of the country in his cheeks, and was not without the grace of the city in
+his compact figure and easy movements. There was in his physiognomy
+something interesting from its peculiar character of innocence and
+simplicity. You could see that he had been brought up by a woman, and much
+apart from familiar contact with other children; and such intelligence as
+was yet developed in him, was not ripened by the jokes and cuffs of his
+coevals, but fostered by decorous lecturings from his elders, and good
+little boy maxims in good little boy books.
+
+PARSON.--"Come hither, Lenny. You know the benefit of school, I see: it can
+teach you nothing better than to be a support to your mother."
+
+LENNY, looking down sheepishly, and with a heightened glow over his
+face.--"Please, sir, that may come one of these days."
+
+PARSON--"That's right Lenny. Let me see! why, you must be nearly a man. How
+old are you?"
+
+Lenny looks up inquiringly at his mother.
+
+PARSON.--"You ought to know, Lenny; speak for yourself. Hold your tongue,
+Mrs. Fairfield."
+
+LENNY, twirling his hat, and in great perplexity.--"Well, and there is
+Flop, neighbor Dutton's old sheep-dog. He be very old now."
+
+PARSON.--"I am not asking Flop's age, but your own."
+
+"'Deed, sir, I have heard say as how Flop and I were pups together. That
+is, I--I--"
+
+For the Parson is laughing, and so is Mrs. Fairfield; and the haymakers,
+who have stood still to listen, are laughing too. And poor Lenny has quite
+lost his head, and looks as if he would like to cry.
+
+PARSON, patting the curly locks, encouragingly.--"Never mind; it is not so
+badly answered after all. And how old is Flop?"
+
+LENNY.--"Why, he must be fifteen year and more."
+
+PARSON.--"How old, then, are you?"
+
+LENNY, looking up with a beam of intelligence.--"Fifteen year and more!"
+
+Widow sighs and nods her head.
+
+"That's what we call putting two and two together," said the Parson. "Or,
+in other words," and here he raised his eyes majestically toward the
+haymakers--"in other words--thanks to his love for his book--simple as he
+stands here, Lenny Fairfield has shown himself capable of INDUCTIVE
+RATIOCINATION."
+
+At those words, delivered _ore rotundo_, the haymakers ceased laughing.
+For even in lay matters they held the Parson to be an oracle, and words so
+long must have a great deal in them.
+
+Lenny drew up his head proudly.
+
+"You are very fond of Flop, I suppose?"
+
+"'Deed he is," said the widow, "and of all poor dumb creatures."
+
+"Very good. Suppose, my lad, that you had a fine apple, and that you met a
+friend who wanted it more than you; what would you do with it?"
+
+"Please you, sir, I would give him half of it."
+
+The Parson's face fell. "Not the whole, Lenny?"
+
+Lenny considered. "If he was a friend, sir, he would not like me to give
+him all!"
+
+"Upon my word, Master Leonard, you speak so well, that I must e'en tell
+the truth. I brought you an apple, as a prize for good conduct in school.
+But I met by the way a poor donkey, and some one beat him for eating a
+thistle; so I thought I would make it up by giving him the apple. Ought I
+only to have given him the half?"
+
+Lenny's innocent face became all smile; his interest was aroused. "And did
+the donkey like the apple?"
+
+"Very much," said the Parson, fumbling in his pocket, but thinking of
+Leonard Fairfield's years and understanding; and moreover, observing, in
+the pride of his heart, that there were many spectators to his deed, he
+thought the meditated twopence not sufficient, and he generously produced
+a silver sixpence.
+
+"There, my man, that will pay for the half apple which you would have kept
+for yourself." The Parson again patted the curly locks, and, after a
+hearty word or two with the other haymakers, and a friendly "Good-day" to
+Mrs. Fairfield, struck into a path that led toward his own glebe.
+
+He had just crossed the stile, when he heard hasty but timorous feet
+behind him. He turned, and saw his friend Lenny.
+
+LENNY, half crying, and holding out the sixpence.--"Indeed, sir, I would
+rather not. I would have given all to the Neddy."
+
+PARSON.--"Why, then, my man, you have a still greater right to the
+sixpence."
+
+LENNY.--"No, sir; 'cause you only gave it to make up for the half apple.
+And if I had given the whole, as I ought to have done, why, I should have
+had no right to the sixpence. Please, sir, don't be offended; do take it
+back, will you?"
+
+The Parson hesitated. And the boy thrust the sixpence into his hand, as
+the ass had poked his nose there before in quest of the apple.
+
+"I see," said Parson Dale, soliloquizing, "that if one don't give Justice
+the first place at the table, all the other Virtues eat up her share."
+
+Indeed, the case was perplexing. Charity, like a forward impudent baggage
+as she is, always thrusting herself in the way, and taking other people's
+apples to make her own little pie, had defrauded Lenny of his due; and now
+Susceptibility, who looks like a shy, blush-faced, awkward Virtue in her
+teens--but who, nevertheless, is always engaged in picking the pockets of
+her sisters, tried to filch from him his lawful recompense. The case was
+perplexing; for the Parson held Susceptibility in great honor, despite her
+hypocritical tricks, and did not like to give her a slap in the face,
+which might frighten her away forever. So Mr. Dale stood irresolute,
+glancing from the sixpence to Lenny, and from Lenny to the sixpence.
+
+"_Buon giorno_--good-day to you," said a voice behind, in an accent
+slightly but unmistakably foreign, and a strange-looking figure presented
+itself at the stile.
+
+Imagine a tall and exceedingly meagre man, dressed in a rusty suit of
+black--the pantaloons tight at the calf and ankle, and there forming a
+loose gaiter over thick shoes buckled high at the instep; an old cloak,
+lined with red, was thrown over one shoulder, though the day was sultry; a
+quaint, red, outlandish umbrella, with a carved brass handle, was thrust
+under one arm, though the sky was cloudless; a profusion of raven hair, in
+waving curls that seemed as fine as silk, escaped from the sides of a
+straw-hat of prodigious brim; a complexion sallow and swarthy, and
+features which, though not without considerable beauty to the eye of the
+artist, were not only unlike what we fair, well-fed, neat-faced Englishmen
+are wont to consider comely, but exceedingly like what we are disposed to
+regard as awful and Satanic--to wit, a long hooked nose, sunken cheeks,
+black eyes, whose piercing brilliancy took something wizard-like and
+mystical from the large spectacles through which they shone; a mouth round
+which played an ironical smile, and in which a physiognomist would have
+remarked singular shrewdness and some closeness, complete the picture:
+imagine this figure, grotesque, peregrinate, and to the eye of a peasant
+certainly diabolical, then perch it on the stile in the midst of those
+green English fields, and in sight of that primitive English village;
+there let it sit straddling, its long legs dangling down, a short German
+pipe emitting clouds from one corner of those sardonic lips, its dark eyes
+glaring through the spectacles full upon the Parson, yet askant upon Lenny
+Fairfield. Lenny Fairfield looked exceedingly frightened.
+
+"Upon my word, Dr. Riccabocca," said Mr. Dale, smiling, "you come in good
+time to solve a very nice question in casuistry;" and herewith the Parson
+explained the case, and put the question--"Ought Lenny Fairfield to have
+the sixpence, or ought he not?"
+
+"_Cospetto_!" said the doctor. "If the hen would but hold her tongue,
+nobody would know that she had laid an egg."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter V.
+
+
+"Granted," said the Parson; "but what follows? The saying is good, but I
+don't see the application."
+
+"A thousand pardons!" replied Dr. Riccabocca, with all the urbanity of an
+Italian; "but it seems to me, that if you had given the sixpence to the
+_fanciullo_--that is, to this good little boy--without telling him the story
+about the donkey, you would never have put him and yourself into this
+awkward dilemma."
+
+"But, my dear sir," whispered the Parson, mildly, as he inclined his lips
+to the Doctor's ear, "I should then have lost the opportunity of
+inculcating a moral lesson--you understand."
+
+Dr. Riccabocca shrugged his shoulders, restored his pipe to his mouth, and
+took a long whiff. It was a whiff eloquent, though cynical--a whiff
+peculiar to your philosophical smoker--a whiff that implied the most
+absolute but the most placid incredulity as to the effect of the Parson's
+moral lesson.
+
+"Still you have not given us your decision," said the Parson, after a
+pause.
+
+The doctor withdrew the pipe. "_Cospetto!_" said he. "He who scrubs the
+head of an ass wastes his soap."
+
+"If you scrubbed mine fifty times over with those enigmatical proverbs of
+yours," said the Parson, testily, "you would not make it any the wiser."
+
+"My good sir," said the Doctor, bowing low from his perch on the stile, "I
+never presumed to say that there were more asses than one in the story;
+but I thought that I could not better explain my meaning, which is simply
+this--you scrubbed the ass's head, and therefore you must lose the soap.
+Let the _fanciullo_ have the sixpence; and a great sum it is, too, for a
+little boy, who may spend it all upon pocket-money!"
+
+"There, Lenny--you hear?" said the Parson, stretching out the sixpence. But
+Lenny retreated, and cast on the umpire a look of great aversion and
+disgust.
+
+"Please, Master Dale," said he, obstinately, "I'd rather not."
+
+"It is a matter of feeling, you see," said the Parson, turning to the
+umpire; "and I believe the boy is right."
+
+"If it is a matter of feeling," replied Dr. Riccabocca, "there is no more
+to be said on it. When Feeling comes in at the door, Reason has nothing to
+do but to jump out of the window."
+
+"Go, my good boy," said the Parson, pocketing the coin; "but stop! give me
+your hand first. _There_--I understand you--good-by!"
+
+Lenny's eyes glistened as the Parson shook him by the hand, and, not
+trusting himself to speak, he walked off sturdily. The Parson wiped his
+forehead, and sat himself down on the stile beside the Italian. The view
+before them was lovely, and both enjoyed it (though not equally) enough to
+be silent for some moments. On the other side the lane, seen between gaps
+in the old oaks and chestnuts that hung over the moss-grown pales of
+Hazeldean Park, rose gentle verdant slopes, dotted with sheep and herds of
+deer; a stately avenue stretched far away to the left, and ended at the
+right hand, within a few yards of a ha-ha that divided the park from a
+level sward of table-land gay with shrubs and flower-plots, relieved by
+the shade of two mighty cedars. And on this platform, only seen in part,
+stood the squire's old-fashioned house, red brick, with stone mullions,
+gable-ends, and quaint chimney-pots. On this side the road, immediately
+facing the two gentlemen, cottage after cottage whitely emerged from the
+curves in the lane, while, beyond, the ground declining gave an extensive
+prospect of woods and cornfields, spires and farms. Behind, from a belt of
+lilacs and evergreens, you caught a peep of the parsonage-house, backed by
+woodlands, and a little noisy rill running in front. The birds were still
+in the hedgerows, only as if from the very heart of the most distant
+woods, there came now and then the mellow note of the cuckoo.
+
+"Verily," said Mr. Dale softly, "my lot has fallen on a goodly heritage."
+
+The Italian twitched his cloak over him, and sighed almost inaudibly.
+Perhaps he thought of his own Summer Land, and felt that amidst all that
+fresh verdure of the North, there was no heritage for the stranger.
+
+However, before the Parson could notice the sigh or conjecture the cause,
+Dr. Riccabocca's thin lips took an expression almost malignant.
+
+"_Per Bacco!_" said he; "in every country I find that the rooks settle
+where the trees are the finest. I am sure that, when Noah first landed on
+Ararat, he must have found some gentleman in black already settled in the
+pleasantest part of the mountain, and waiting for his tenth of the cattle
+as they came out of the ark."
+
+The Parson turned his meek eyes to the philosopher, and there was in them
+something so deprecating rather than reproachful, that Dr. Riccabocca
+turned away his face, and refilled his pipe. Dr. Riccabocca abhorred
+priests; but though Parson Dale was emphatically a parson, he seemed at
+that moment so little of what Dr. Riccabocca understood by a priest, that
+the Italian's heart smote him for his irreverent jest on the cloth.
+Luckily at this moment there was a diversion to that untoward commencement
+of conversation, in the appearance of no less a personage than the donkey
+himself--I mean the donkey who ate the apple.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VI.
+
+
+The Tinker was a stout swarthy fellow, jovial and musical withal, for he
+was singing a stave as he flourished his staff, and at the end of each
+_refrain_ down came the staff on the quarters of the donkey. The tinker
+went behind and sung, the donkey went before and was thwacked.
+
+"Yours is a droll country," quoth Dr. Riccabocca; "in mine it is not the
+ass that walks first in the procession, who gets the blows."
+
+The Parson jumped from the stile, and, looking over the hedge that divided
+the field from the road--"Gently, gently," said he; "the sound of the stick
+spoils the singing! O Mr. Sprott, Mr. Sprott! a good man is merciful to
+his beast."
+
+The donkey seemed to recognize the voice of its friend, for it stopped
+short, pricked one ear wistfully, and looked up.
+
+The Tinker touched his hat, and looked up too. "Lord bless your reverence!
+he does not mind it, he likes it. I vould not hurt thee; vould I, Neddy?"
+
+The donkey shook his head and shivered; perhaps a fly had settled on the
+sore, which the chestnut leaves no longer protected.
+
+"I am sure you did not mean to hurt him, Sprott," said the Parson, more
+politely, I fear, than honesty--for he had seen enough of that
+cross-grained thing called the human heart, even in the little world of a
+country parish, to know that it requires management, and coaxing, and
+flattering, to interfere successfully between a man and his own donkey--"I
+am sure you did not mean to hurt him; but he has already got a sore on his
+shoulder as big as my hand, poor thing!"
+
+"Lord love 'un! yes; that vas done a playing with the manger, the day I
+gave 'un oats!" said the Tinker.
+
+Dr. Riccabocca adjusted his spectacles, and surveyed the ass. The ass
+pricked up his other ear, and surveyed Dr. Riccabocca. In that mutual
+survey of physical qualifications, each being regarded according to the
+average symmetry of its species, it may be doubted whether the advantage
+was on the side of the philosopher.
+
+The Parson had a great notion of the wisdom of his friend, in all matters
+not immediately ecclesiastical.
+
+"Say a good word for the donkey!" whispered he.
+
+"Sir," said the Doctor, addressing Mr. Sprott, with a respectful
+salutation, "there's a great kettle at my house--the Casino--which wants
+soldering: can you recommend me a Tinker?"
+
+"Why, that's all in my line," said Sprott, "and there ben't a Tinker in
+the country that I vould recommend like myself, thof I say it."
+
+"You jest, good sir," said the Doctor, smiling pleasantly. "A man who
+can't mend a hole in his own donkey, can never demean himself by patching
+up my great kettle."
+
+"Lord, sir!" said the Tinker, archly, "if I had known that poor Neddy had
+had two sitch friends in court, I'd have seen he was a gintleman, and
+treated him as sitch."
+
+"_Corpo di Bacco_." quoth the Doctor, "though that jest's not new, I think
+the Tinker comes very well out of it."
+
+"True; but the donkey!" said the Parson, "I've a great mind to buy it."
+
+"Permit me to tell you an anecdote in point," said Dr. Riccabocca.
+
+"Well?" said the Parson, interrogatively.
+
+"Once in a time," pursued Riccabocca, "the Emperor Adrian, going to the
+public baths, saw an old soldier, who had served under him, rubbing his
+back against the marble wall. The emperor, who was a wise, and therefore a
+curious, inquisitive man, sent for the soldier, and asked him why he
+resorted to that sort of friction. 'Because,' answered the veteran, 'I am
+too poor to have slaves to rub me down.' The emperor was touched, and gave
+him slaves and money. The next day, when Adrian went to the baths, all the
+old men in the city were to be seen rubbing themselves against the marble
+as hard as they could. The emperor sent for them, and asked them the same
+question which he had put to the soldier; the cunning old rogues, of
+course, made the same answer. 'Friends,' said Adrian, 'since there are so
+many of you, you will just rub one another!' Mr. Dale, if you don't want
+to have all the donkeys in the county with holes in their shoulders, you
+had better not buy the Tinker's!"
+
+"It is the hardest thing in the world to do the least bit of good,"
+groaned the Parson, as he broke a twig off the hedge nervously, snapped it
+in two, and flung the fragments on the road--one of them hit the donkey on
+the nose. If the ass could have spoken Latin, he would have said, "_Et tu,
+Brute!_" As it was, he hung down his ears, and walked on.
+
+"Gee hup," said the Tinker, and he followed the ass. Then stopping, he
+looked over his shoulder, and seeing that the Parson's eyes were gazing
+mournfully on his _protégé_, "Never fear, your reverence," cried the
+Tinker kindly; "I'll not spite 'un."
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VII.
+
+
+"Four o'clock," cried the Parson, looking at his watch; "half-an-hour
+after dinner-time, and Mrs. Dale particularly begged me to be punctual,
+because of the fine trout the Squire sent us. Will you venture on what our
+homely language calls 'pot luck,' Doctor?"
+
+Now Riccabocca, like most wise men, especially if Italians, was by no
+means inclined to the credulous view of human nature. Indeed, he was in
+the habit of detecting self-interest in the simplest actions of his
+fellow-creatures. And when the Parson thus invited him to pot luck, he
+smiled with a kind of lofty complacency; for Mrs. Dale enjoyed the
+reputation of having what her friends styled "her little tempers." And, as
+well-bred ladies rarely indulge "little tempers" in the presence of a
+third person, not of the family, so Dr. Riccabocca instantly concluded
+that he was invited to stand between the pot and the luck! Nevertheless--as
+he was fond of trout, and a much more good-natured man than he ought to
+have been according to his principles--he accepted the hospitality; but he
+did so with a sly look from over his spectacles, which brought a blush
+into the guilty cheeks of the Parson. Certainly Riccabocca had for once
+guessed right in his estimate of human motives.
+
+The two walked on, crossed a little bridge that spanned the rill, and
+entered the parsonage lawn. Two dogs, that seemed to have sate on watch
+for their master, sprung toward him barking; and the sound drew the notice
+of Mrs. Dale, who, with parasol in hand, sallied out from the sash window
+which opened on the lawn. Now, O reader! I know that in thy secret heart,
+thou art chuckling over the want of knowledge in the sacred arcana of the
+domestic hearth, betrayed by the author; thou art saying to thyself, "A
+pretty way to conciliate little tempers indeed, to add to the offense of
+spoiling the fish the crime of bringing an unexpected friend to eat it.
+Pot luck, quotha, when the pot's boiled over this half hour!"
+
+But, to thy utter shame and confusion, O reader, learn that both the
+author and Parson Dale knew very well what they were about.
+
+Dr. Riccabocca was the special favorite of Mrs. Dale, and the only person
+in the whole country who never put her out, by dropping in. In fact,
+strange though it may seem at first glance, Dr. Riccabocca had that
+mysterious something about him which we of his own sex can so little
+comprehend, but which always propitiates the other. He owed this, in part,
+to his own profound but hypocritical policy; for he looked upon woman as
+the natural enemy to man--against whom it was necessary to be always on the
+guard; whom it was prudent to disarm by every species of fawning servility
+and abject complaisance. He owed it also, in part, to the compassionate
+and heavenly nature of the angels whom his thoughts thus villainously
+traduced--for women like one whom they can pity without despising; and
+there was something in Signor Riccabocca's poverty, in his loneliness, in
+his exile, whether voluntary or compelled, that excited pity; while,
+despite the threadbare coat, the red umbrella, and the wild hair, he had,
+especially when addressing ladies, that air of gentleman and cavalier
+which is or was more innate in an educated Italian, of whatever rank, than
+perhaps in the highest aristocracy of another country in Europe. For,
+though I grant that nothing is more exquisite than the politeness of your
+French marquis of the old _régime_--nothing more frankly gracious than the
+cordial address of a highbred English gentleman--nothing more kindly
+prepossessing than the genial good-nature of some patriarchal German, who
+will condescend to forget his sixteen quarterings in the pleasure of doing
+you a favor--yet these specimens of the suavity of their several nations
+are rare; whereas blandness and polish are common attributes with your
+Italian. They seem to have been immemorially handed down to him, from
+ancestors emulating the urbanity of Cæsar, and refined by the grace of
+Horace.
+
+"Dr. Riccabocca consents to dine with us," cried the Parson, hastily.
+
+"If madame permit?" said the Italian, bowing over the hand extended to
+him, which, however, he forebore to take, seeing it was already full of
+the watch.
+
+"I am only sorry that the trout must be quite spoiled," began Mrs. Dale,
+plaintively.
+
+"It is not the trout one thinks of when one dines with Mrs. Dale," said
+the infamous dissimulator.
+
+"But I see James coming to say that dinner is ready?" observed the Parson.
+
+"He said _that_ three quarters of an hour ago, Charles dear," retorted
+Mrs. Dale, taking the arm of Dr. Riccabocca.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter VIII.
+
+
+While the Parson and his wife are entertaining their guest, I propose to
+regale the reader with a small treatise apropos of that "Charles dear,"
+murmured by Mrs. Dale;--a treatise expressly written for the benefit of THE
+DOMESTIC CIRCLE.
+
+It is an old jest that there is not a word in the language that conveys so
+little endearment as the word "dear." But though the saying itself, like
+most truths, be trite and hackneyed, no little novelty remains to the
+search of the inquirer into the varieties of inimical import comprehended
+in that malign monosyllable. For instance, I submit to the experienced
+that the degree of hostility it betrays is in much proportioned to its
+collocation in the sentence. When, gliding indirectly through the rest of
+the period, it takes its stand at the close, as in that "Charles dear" of
+Mrs. Dale--it has spilt so much of its natural bitterness by the way that
+it assumes even a smile, "amara lento temperet risu." Sometimes the smile
+is plaintive, sometimes arch. _Ex. gr._
+
+(_Plaintive_.)
+
+"I know very well that whatever I do is wrong, Charles dear."
+
+"Nay, I am only glad you amused yourself so much without me, Charles
+dear."
+
+"Not quite so loud! If you had, but my poor head, Charles dear," &c.
+
+(_Arch_.)
+
+"If you _could_ spill the ink any where but on the best table-cloth,
+Charles dear!"
+
+"But though you must always have your own way, you are not _quite
+faultless_, own, Charles dear," &c.
+
+In this collocation occur many dears, parental as well as conjugal;
+as--"Hold up your head and don't look quite so cross, dear."
+
+"Be a good boy for once in your life--that's a dear," &c.
+
+When the enemy stops in the middle of the sentence, its venom is naturally
+less exhausted. _Ex. gr._
+
+"Really, I must say, Charles dear, that you are the most fidgety person,"
+&c.
+
+"And if the house bills were so high last week, Charles dear, I should
+just like to know whose fault it was--that's all."
+
+"Do you think, Charles dear, that you could put your feet any where except
+upon the chintz sofa?"
+
+"But you know, Charles dear, that you care no more for me and the children
+than," &c.
+
+But if the fatal word spring up, in its primitive freshness, at the head
+of the sentence, bow your head to the storm. It then assumes the majesty
+of "my" before it; is generally more than simple objurgation--it prefaces a
+sermon. My candor obliges me to confess that this is the mode in which the
+hateful monosyllable is more usually employed by the marital part of the
+one flesh; and has something about it of the odious assumption of the
+Petruchian _pater-familias_--the head of the family--boding, not perhaps
+"peace, and love, and quiet life," but certainly "awful rule and right
+supremacy." _Ex. gr._
+
+"My dear Jane--I wish you would just put by that everlasting tent-stitch,
+and listen to me for a few moments," &c.
+
+"My dear Jane--I wish you would understand me for once--don't think I am
+angry--no, but I am hurt. You must consider," &c.
+
+"My dear Jane--I don't know if it is your intention to ruin me; but I only
+wish you would do as all other women do who care three straws for their
+husbands' property," &c.
+
+"My dear Jane--I wish you to understand that I am the last person in the
+world to be jealous; but I'll be d--d if that puppy, Captain Prettyman,"
+&c.
+
+Now, if that same "dear" could be thoroughly raked and hoed out of the
+connubial garden, I don't think that the remaining nettles would signify a
+button. But even as it was, Parson Dale, good man, would have prized his
+garden beyond all the bowers which Spenser and Tasso have sung so
+musically, though there had not been a single specimen of "dear," whether
+the dear _humilis_, or the dear _superba_, the dear _pallida_, _rubra_, or
+_nigra_; the dear _umbrosa_, _florens_, _spicata_; the dear _savis_, or
+the dear _horrida_; no, not a single dear in the whole horticulture of
+matrimony which Mrs. Dale had not brought to perfection; but this,
+fortunately, was far from being the case. The _dears_ of Mrs. Dale were
+only wild flowers, after all.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IX.
+
+
+In the cool of the evening, Dr. Riccabocca walked home across the fields.
+Mr. and Mrs. Dale had accompanied him half way; and as they now turned
+back to the Parsonage, they looked behind, to catch a glimpse of the tall,
+outlandish figure, winding slowly through the path amidst the waves of the
+green corn.
+
+"Poor man!" said Mrs. Dale, feelingly; "and the button was off his
+wristband! What a pity he has nobody to take care of him! He seems very
+domestic. Don't you think, Charles, it would be a great blessing if we
+could get him a good wife?"
+
+"Um," said the Parson; "I doubt if he values the married state as he
+ought."
+
+"What do you mean, Charles? I never saw a man more polite to ladies in my
+life."
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"But what? You are always so mysterious, Charles dear."
+
+"Mysterious! No, Carry; but if you could hear what the Doctor says of the
+ladies sometimes."
+
+"Ay, when you men get together, my dear. I know what that means--pretty
+things you say of us. But you are all alike; you know you are, love!"
+
+"I am sure," said the Parson, simply, "that I have good cause to speak
+well of the sex--when I think of you, and my poor mother."
+
+Mrs. Dale, who, with all her "tempers," was an excellent woman, and loved
+her husband with the whole of her quick little heart, was touched. She
+pressed his hand, and did not call him _dear_ all the way home.
+
+Meanwhile the Italian passed the fields, and came upon the high-road about
+two miles from Hazeldean. On one side stood an old-fashioned solitary inn,
+such as English inns used to be before they became railway hotels--square,
+solid, old-fashioned, looking so hospitable and comfortable, with their
+great signs swinging from some elm tree in front, and the long row of
+stables standing a little back, with a chaise or two in the yard, and the
+jolly landlord talking of the crops to some stout farmer, who has stopped
+his rough pony at the well-known door. Opposite this inn, on the other
+side the road, stood the habitation of Dr. Riccabocca.
+
+A few years before the date of these annals, the stage-coach, on its way
+to London, from a seaport town, stopped at the inn, as was its wont, for a
+good hour, that its passengers might dine like Christian Englishmen--not
+gulp down a basin of scalding soup, like everlasting heathen Yankees, with
+that cursed railway whistle shrieking like a fiend in their ears! It was
+the best dining-place on the whole road, for the trout in the neighboring
+rill were famous, and so was the mutton which came from Hazeldean Park.
+
+From the outside of the coach had descended two passengers who, alone,
+insensible to the attractions of mutton and trout, refused to dine--two
+melancholy-looking foreigners, of whom one was Signor Riccabocca, much the
+same as we see him now, only that the black suit, was less threadbare, the
+tall form less meagre, and he did not then wear spectacles; and the other
+was his servant. They would walk about while the coach stopped. Now the
+Italian's eye had been caught by a mouldering dismantled house on the
+other side the road, which nevertheless was well situated; half-way up a
+green hill, with its aspect due south, a little cascade falling down
+artificial rock-work, and a terrace with a balustrade, and a few broken
+urns and statues before its Ionic portico; while on the roadside stood a
+board, with characters already half effaced, implying that the house was
+to be "Let unfurnished, with or without land."
+
+The abode that looked so cheerless, and which had so evidently hung long
+on hand, was the property of Squire Hazeldean. It had been built by his
+grandfather on the female side--a country gentleman who had actually been
+in Italy (a journey rare enough to boast of in those days), and who, on
+his return home, had attempted a miniature imitation of an Italian villa.
+He left an only daughter and sole heiress, who married Squire Hazeldean's
+father; and since that time, the house, abandoned by its proprietors for
+the larger residence of the Hazeldeans, had been uninhabited and
+neglected. Several tenants, indeed, had offered themselves: but your
+Squire is slow in admitting upon his own property a rival neighbor. Some
+wanted shooting. "That," said the Hazeldeans, who were great sportsmen and
+strict preservers, "was quite out of the question." Others were fine folks
+from London. "London servants," said the Hazeldeans, who were moral and
+prudent people, "would corrupt their own, and bring London prices."
+Others, again, were retired manufacturers, at whom the Hazeldeans turned
+up their agricultural noses. In short, some were too grand, and others too
+vulgar. Some were refused because they were known so well: "Friends are
+best at a distance," said the Hazeldeans. Others because they were not
+known at all: "No good comes of strangers," said the Hazeldeans. And
+finally, as the house fell more and more into decay, no one would take it
+unless it was put into thorough repair: "As if one was made of money!"
+said the Hazeldeans. In short, there stood the house unoccupied and
+ruinous; and there, on its terrace, stood the two forlorn Italians,
+surveying it with a smile at each other, as, for the first time since they
+set foot in England, they recognized, in dilapidated pilasters and broken
+statues, in a weed-grown terrace and the remains of an orangery, something
+that reminded them of the land they had left behind.
+
+On returning to the inn, Dr. Riccabocca took the occasion of learning from
+the innkeeper (who was indeed a tenant of the Squire's) such particulars
+as he could collect; and a few days afterward Mr. Hazeldean received a
+letter from a solicitor of repute in London, stating that a very
+respectable foreign gentleman had commissioned him to treat for Clump
+Lodge, otherwise called the "Casino;" that the said gentleman did not
+shoot--lived in great seclusion--and, having no family, did not care about
+the repairs of the place, provided only it were made weather-proof--if the
+omission of more expensive reparations could render the rent suitable to
+his finances, which were very limited. The offer came at a fortunate
+moment--when the steward had just been representing to the Squire the
+necessity of doing something to keep the Casino from falling into positive
+ruin, and the Squire was cursing the fates which had put the Casino into
+an entail--so that he could not pull it down for the building materials.
+Mr. Hazeldean therefore caught at the proposal even as a fair lady, who
+has refused the best offers in the kingdom, catches at last at some
+battered old captain on half-pay, and replied that, as for rent, if the
+solicitor's client was a quiet respectable man, he did not care for that.
+But that the gentleman might have it for the first year rent free, on
+condition of paying the taxes and putting the place a little in order. If
+they suited each other, they could then come to terms. Ten days
+subsequently to this gracious reply, Signor Riccabocca and his servant
+arrived; and, before the year's end, the Squire was so contented with his
+tenant that he gave him a running lease of seven, fourteen, or twenty-one
+years, at a rent nearly nominal, on condition that Signor Riccabocca would
+put and maintain the place in repair, barring the roof and fences, which
+the Squire generously renewed at his own expense. It was astonishing, by
+little and little, what a pretty place the Italian had made of it, and
+what is more astonishing, how little it had cost him. He had indeed
+painted the walls of the hall, staircase, and the rooms appropriated to
+himself, with his own hands. His servant had done the greater part of the
+upholstery. The two between them had got the garden into order. The
+Italians seemed to have taken a joint love to the place, and to deck it as
+they would have done some favorite chapel to their Madonna.
+
+It was long before the natives reconciled themselves to the odd ways of
+the foreign settlers--the first thing that offended them was the exceeding
+smallness of the household bills. Three days out of the seven, indeed,
+both man and master dined on nothing else but the vegetables in the
+garden, and the fishes in the neighboring rill; when no trout could be
+caught they fried the minnows (and certainly, even in the best streams,
+minnows are more frequently caught than trouts). The next thing which
+angered the natives quite as much, especially the female part of the
+neighborhood, was the very sparing employment the two he creatures gave to
+the sex usually deemed so indispensable in household matters. At first
+indeed, they had no woman servant at all. But this created such horror
+that Parson Dale ventured a hint upon the matter, which Riccabocca took in
+very good part, and an old woman was forthwith engaged, after some
+bargaining--at three shillings a week--to wash and scrub as much as she
+liked during the daytime. She always returned to her own cottage to sleep.
+The man-servant, who was styled in the neighborhood "Jackeymo," did all
+else for his master--smoothed his room, dusted his papers, prepared his
+coffee, cooked his dinner, brushed his clothes, and cleaned his pipes, of
+which Riccabocca had a large collection. But, however close a man's
+character, it generally creeps out in driblets; and on many little
+occasions the Italian had shown acts of kindness, and, on some more rare
+occasions, even of generosity, which had served to silence his
+calumniators, and by degrees he had established a very fair
+reputation--suspected, it is true, of being a little inclined to the Black
+Art, and of a strange inclination to starve Jackeymo and himself--in other
+respects harmless enough.
+
+Signor Riccabocca had become very intimate, as we have seen, at the
+Parsonage. But not so at the Hall. For though the Squire was inclined to
+be very friendly to all his neighbors--he was, like most country gentlemen,
+rather easily _huffed_. Riccabocca had, if with great politeness, still
+with great obstinacy, refused Mr. Hazeldean's earlier invitations to
+dinner, and when the Squire found, that the Italian rarely declined to
+dine at the Parsonage, he was offended in one of his weak points, viz.,
+his regard for the honor of the hospitality of Hazeldean Hall--and he
+ceased altogether invitations so churlishly rejected. Nevertheless, as it
+was impossible for the Squire, however huffed, to bear malice, he now and
+then reminded Riccabocca of his existence by presents of game, and would
+have called on him more often than he did, but that Riccabocca received
+him with such excessive politeness that the blunt country gentleman felt
+shy and put out, and used to say that "to call on Riccabocca was as bad as
+going to court."
+
+But I left Dr. Riccabocca on the high-road. By this time he has ascended a
+narrow path that winds by the side of the cascade, he has passed a
+trellis-work covered with vines, from the which Jackeymo has positively
+succeeded in making what he calls _wine_--a liquid, indeed, that, if the
+cholera had been popularly known in those days, would have soured the
+mildest member of the Board of Health; for Squire Hazeldean, though a
+robust man who daily carried off his bottle of port with impunity, having
+once rashly tasted it, did not recover the effect till he had had a bill
+from the apothecary as long as his own arm. Passing this trellis, Dr.
+Riccabocca entered upon the terrace, with its stone pavement smoothed and
+trim as hands could make it. Here, on neat stands, all his favorite
+flowers were arranged. Here four orange trees were in full blossom; here a
+kind of summer-house or Belvidere, built by Jackeymo and himself, made his
+chosen morning room from May till October; and from this Belvidere there
+was as beautiful an expanse of prospect as if our English Nature had
+hospitably spread on her green board all that she had to offer as a
+banquet to the exile.
+
+A man without his coat, which was thrown over the balustrade, was employed
+in watering the flowers; a man with movements so mechanical--with a face so
+rigidly grave in its tawny hues--that he seemed like an automaton made out
+of mahogany.
+
+"Giacomo," said Dr. Riccabocca, softly.
+
+The automaton stopped its hand, and turned its head.
+
+"Put by the watering-pot, and come here," continued Riccabocca in Italian;
+and, moving toward the balustrade, he leaned over it. Mr. Mitford, the
+historian, calls Jean Jacques "_John James_." Following that illustrious
+example, Giacomo shall be Anglified into Jackeymo. Jackeymo came to the
+balustrade also, and stood a little behind his master.
+
+"Friend," said Riccabocca, "enterprises have not always succeeded with us.
+Don't you think, after all, it is tempting our evil star to rent those
+fields from the landlord?" Jackeymo crossed himself, and made some strange
+movement with a little coral charm which he wore set in a ring on his
+finger.
+
+"If the Madonna send us luck, and we could hire a lad cheap?" said
+Jackeymo, doubtfully.
+
+"_Piu vale un presente che due futuri_," said Riccabocca. "A bird in the
+hand is worth two in the bush."
+
+"_Chi non fa quondo può, non può fare quondo vuole_"--("He who will not
+when he may, when he will it shall have nay")--answered Jackeymo, as
+sententiously as his master. "And the Padrone should think in time that he
+must lay by for the dower of the poor signorina"--(young lady).
+
+Riccabocca sighed, and made no reply.
+
+"She must be _that_ high now!" said Jackeymo, putting his hand on some
+imaginary line a little above the balustrade. Riccabocca's eyes, raised
+over the spectacles, followed the hand.
+
+"If the Padrone could but see her here--"
+
+"I thought I did!" muttered the Italian.
+
+"He would never let her go from his side till she went to a husband's,"
+continued Jackeymo.
+
+"But this climate--she could never stand it," said Riccabocca, drawing his
+cloak round him, as a north wind took him in the rear.
+
+"The orange trees blossom even here with care," said Jackeymo, turning
+back to draw down an awning where the orange trees faced the north. "See!"
+he added, as he returned with a sprig in full bud.
+
+Dr. Riccabocca bent over the blossom, and then placed it in his bosom.
+
+"The _other_ one should be there, too," said Jackeymo.
+
+"To die--as this does already!" answered Riccabocca. "Say no more."
+
+Jackeymo shrugged his shoulders; and then, glancing at his master, drew
+his hand over his eyes.
+
+There was a pause. Jackeymo was the first to break it.
+
+"But, whether here or there, beauty without money is the orange tree
+without shelter. If a lad could be got cheap, I would hire the land, and
+trust for the crop to the Madonna."
+
+"I think I know of such a lad," said Riccabocca, recovering himself, and
+with his sardonic smile once more lurking about the corner of his mouth--"a
+lad made for us!"
+
+"Diavolo!"
+
+"No, not the Diavolo! Friend, I have this day seen a boy who--refused
+sixpence!"
+
+"_Cosa stupenda!_"--(Stupendous thing!) exclaimed Jackeymo, opening his
+eyes, and letting fall the water-pot.
+
+"It is true, my friend."
+
+"Take him, Padrone, in Heaven's name, and the fields will grow gold."
+
+"I will think of it, for it must require management to catch such a boy,"
+said Riccabocca. "Meanwhile, light a candle in the parlor, and bring from
+my bedroom--that great folio of Machiavelli."
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TWO GUIDES OF THE CHILD. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+A spirit near me said, "Look forth upon the Land of Life. What do you
+see?"
+
+"Steep mountains, covered by a mighty plain, a table-land of many-colored
+beauty. Beauty, nay, it seems all beautiful at first, but now I see that
+there are some parts barren."
+
+"Are they quite barren?--look more closely still!"
+
+"No, in the wildest deserts, now, I see some gum-dropping acacias, and the
+crimson blossom of the cactus. But there are regions that rejoice
+abundantly in flower and fruit; and now, O Spirit, I see men and women
+moving to and fro."
+
+"Observe them, mortal."
+
+"I behold a world of love; the men have women's arms entwined about them;
+some upon the verge of precipices--friends are running to the rescue. There
+are many wandering like strangers, who know not their road, and they look
+upward. Spirit, how many, many eyes are looking up as if to God! Ah, now I
+see some strike their neighbors down into the dust; I see some wallowing
+like swine; I see that there are men and women brutal."
+
+"Are they quite brutal--look more closely still."
+
+"No, I see prickly sorrow growing out of crime, and penitence awakened by
+a look of love. I see good gifts bestowed out of the hand of murder, and
+see truth issue out of lying lips. But in this plain, O Spirit, I see
+regions--wide, bright regions--yielding fruit and flower, while others seem
+perpetually vailed with fogs, and in them no fruit ripens. I see pleasant
+regions where the rock is full of clefts, and people fall into them. The
+men who dwell beneath the fog deal lovingly, and yet they have small
+enjoyment in the world around them, which they scarcely see. But whither
+are these women going?"
+
+"Follow them."
+
+"I have followed down the mountains to a haven in the vale below. All that
+is lovely in the world of flowers makes a fragrant bed for the dear
+children; birds singing, they breathe upon the pleasant air; the
+butterflies play with them. Their limbs shine white among the blossoms,
+and their mothers come down full of joy to share their innocent delight.
+They pelt each other with the lilies of the valley. They call up at will
+fantastic masks, grim giants play to make them merry, a thousand grotesque
+loving phantoms kiss them; to each the mother is the one thing real, the
+highest bliss--the next bliss is the dream of all the world beside. Some
+that are motherless, all mother's love. Every gesture, every look, every
+odor, every song, adds to the charm of love which fills the valley. Some
+little figures fall and die, and on the valley's soil they crumble into
+violets and lilies, with love-tears to hang in them like dew.
+
+"Who dares to come down with a frown into this happy valley? A severe man
+seizes an unhappy, shrieking child, and leads it to the roughest ascent of
+the mountain. He will lead it over steep rocks to the plain of the mature.
+On ugly needle-points he makes the child sit down, and teaches it its duty
+in the world above."
+
+"Its duty, mortal! Do you listen to the teacher?"
+
+"Spirit, I hear now. The child is informed about two languages spoken by
+nations extinct centuries ago, and something also, O Spirit, about the
+base of an hypothenuse."
+
+"Does the child attend?"
+
+"Not much; but it is beaten silly, and its knees are bruised against the
+rocks, till it is hauled up, woe-begone and weary, to the upper plain. It
+looks about bewildered; all is strange--it knows not how to act. Fogs crown
+the barren mountain paths. Spirit, I am unhappy; there are many children
+thus hauled up, and as young men upon the plain; they walk in fog, or
+among brambles; some fall into pits; and many, getting into flower-paths,
+lie down and learn. Some become active, seeking right, but ignorant of
+what right is; they wander among men out of their fog-land, preaching
+folly. Let me go back among the children."
+
+"Have they no better guide?"
+
+"Yes, now there comes one with a smiling face, and rolls upon the flowers
+with the little ones, and they are drawn to him. And he has magic spells
+to conjure up glorious spectacles of fairy land. He frolics with them, and
+might be first cousin to the butterflies. He wreathes their little heads
+with flower garlands, and with his fairy land upon his lips he walks
+toward the mountains; eagerly they follow. He seeks the smoothest upward
+path, and that is but a rough one, yet they run up merrily, guide and
+children, butterflies pursuing still the flowers as they nod over a host
+of laughing faces. They talk of the delightful fairy world, and resting in
+the shady places learn of the yet more delightful world of God. They learn
+to love the Maker of the Flowers, to know how great the Father of the
+Stars must be, how good must be the Father of the Beetle. They listen to
+the story of the race they go to labor with upon the plain, and love it
+for the labor it has done. They learn old languages of men, to understand
+the past--more eagerly they learn the voices of the men of their own day,
+that they may take part with the present. And in their study when they
+flag, they fall back upon thoughts of the Child Valley they are leaving.
+Sports and fancies are the rod and spur that bring them with new vigor to
+the lessons. When they reach the plain they cry, 'We know you, men and
+women; we know to what you have aspired for centuries; we know the love
+there is in you; we know the love there is in God; we come prepared to
+labor with you, dear, good friends. We will not call you clumsy when we
+see you tumble, we will try to pick you up; when we fall, you shall pick
+us up. We have been trained to love, and therefore we can aid you
+heartily, for love is labor!' "
+
+The Spirit whispered, "You have seen and you have heard. Go now, and speak
+unto your fellow-men: ask justice for the child."
+
+To-day should love To-morrow, for it is a thing of hope; let the young
+Future not be nursed by Care. God gave not fancy to the child that men
+should stamp its blossoms down into the loose soil of intellect. The
+child's heart was not made full to the brim of love, that men should pour
+its love away, and bruise instead of kiss the trusting innocent. Love and
+fancy are the stems on which we may graft knowledge readily. What is
+called by some dry folks a solid foundation may be a thing not desirable.
+To cut down all the trees, and root up all the flowers in a garden, to
+cover walks and flower-beds alike with a hard crust of well-rolled gravel,
+that would be to lay down your solid foundation after a plan which some
+think good in a child's mind, though not quite worth adopting in a garden.
+O, teacher, love the child and learn of it; so let it love and learn of
+you.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE LABORATORY IN THE CHEST. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+The mind of Mr. Bagges was decidedly affected--beneficially--by the lecture
+on the Chemistry of a Candle, which, as set forth in a previous number of
+this journal, had been delivered to him by his youthful nephew. That
+learned discourse inspired him with a new feeling; an interest in matters
+of science. He began to frequent the Polytechnic Institution, nearly as
+much as his club. He also took to lounging at the British Museum; where he
+was often to be seen, with his left arm under his coat-tails, examining
+the wonderful works of nature and antiquity, through his eye-glass.
+Moreover, he procured himself to be elected a member of the Royal
+Institution, which became a regular house of call to him, so that in a
+short time he grew to be one of the ordinary phenomena of the place.
+
+Mr. Bagges likewise adopted a custom of giving _conversaziones,_ which,
+however, were always very private and select--generally confined to his
+sister's family. Three courses were first discussed; then dessert; after
+which, surrounded by an apparatus of glasses and decanters, Master Harry
+Wilkinson was called upon, as a sort of juvenile Davy, to amuse his uncle
+by the elucidation of some chemical or other physical mystery. Master
+Wilkinson had now attained to the ability of making experiments; most of
+which, involving combustion, were strongly deprecated by the young
+gentleman's mamma; but her opposition was overruled by Mr. Bagges, who
+argued that it was much better that a young dog should burn phosphorus
+before your face than let off gunpowder behind your back, to say nothing
+of occasionally pinning a cracker to your skirts. He maintained that
+playing with fire and water, throwing stones, and such like boys' tricks,
+as they are commonly called, are the first expressions of a scientific
+tendency--endeavors and efforts of the infant mind to acquaint itself with
+the powers of Nature.
+
+His own favorite toys, he remembered, were squibs, suckers, squirts, and
+slings; and he was persuaded that, by his having been denied them at
+school, a natural philosopher had been nipped in the bud.
+
+Blowing bubbles was an example--by-the-by, a rather notable one--by which
+Mr. Bagges, on one of his scientific evenings, was instancing the affinity
+of child's play to philosophical experiments, when he bethought him Harry
+had said on a former occasion that the human breath consists chiefly of
+carbonic acid, which is heavier than common air. How then, it occurred to
+his inquiring, though elderly mind, was it that soap-bladders, blown from
+a tobacco-pipe, rose instead of sinking? He asked his nephew this.
+
+"Oh, uncle!" answered Harry, "in the first place, the air you blow bubbles
+with mostly comes in at the nose and goes out at the mouth, without having
+been breathed at all. Then it is warmed by the mouth, and warmth, you
+know, makes a measure of air get larger, and so lighter in proportion. A
+soap-bubble rises for the same reason that a fire-balloon rises--that is,
+because the air inside of it has been heated, and weighs less than the
+same sized bubbleful of cold air."
+
+"What, hot breath does!" said Mr. Bagges. "Well, now, it's a curious
+thing, when you come to think of it, that the breath should be hot--indeed,
+the warmth of the body generally seems a puzzle. It is wonderful, too, how
+the bodily heat can be kept up so long as it is. Here, now, is this
+tumbler of hot grog--a mixture of boiling water, and what d'ye call it, you
+scientific geniuses?"
+
+"Alcohol, uncle."
+
+"Alcohol--well--or, as we used to say, brandy. Now, if I leave this tumbler
+of brandy-and-water alone--"
+
+"_If_ you do, uncle," interposed his nephew, archly.
+
+"Get along, you idle rogue! If I let that tumbler stand there, in a few
+minutes the brandy-and-water--eh?--I beg pardon--the alcohol-and-water--gets
+cold. Now, why--why the deuce--if the brand--the alcohol-and-water cools;
+why--how--how is it we don't cool in the same way, I want to know? eh?"
+demanded Mr. Bagges, with the air of a man who feels satisfied that he has
+propounded a "regular poser."
+
+"Why," replied Harry, "for the same reason that the room keeps warm so
+long as there is a fire in the grate."
+
+"You don't mean to say that I have a fire in my body?"
+
+"I do, though."
+
+"Eh, now? That's good," said Mr. Bagges. "That reminds me of the man in
+love crying, 'Fire! fire!' and the lady said, 'Where, where?' And he
+called out, 'Here! here!' with his hand upon his heart. Eh?--but now I
+think of it--you said, the other day, that breathing was a sort of burning.
+Do you mean to tell me that I--eh?--have fire, fire, as the lover said,
+here, here--in short, that my chest is a grate or an Arnott's stove?"
+
+"Not exactly so, uncle. But I do mean to tell you that you have a sort of
+fire burning partly in your chest; but also, more or less, throughout your
+whole body."
+
+"Oh, Henry!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson, "How can you say such horrid
+things!"
+
+"Because they're quite true, mamma--but you needn't be frightened. The fire
+of one's body is not hotter than from ninety degrees to one hundred and
+four degrees or so. Still it is fire, and will burn some things, as you
+would find, uncle, if, in using phosphorus, you were to let a little bit
+of it get under your nail."
+
+"I'll take your word for the fact, my boy," said Mr. Bagges. "But, if I
+have a fire burning throughout my person--which I was not aware of, the
+only inflammation I am ever troubled with being in the great toe--I say, if
+my body is burning continually--how is it I don't smoke--eh? Come, now?"
+
+"Perhaps you consume your own smoke," suggested Mr. Wilkinson, senior,
+"like every well-regulated furnace."
+
+"You smoke nothing but your pipe, uncle, because you burn all your
+carbon," said Harry. "But, if your body doesn't smoke, it steams. Breathe
+against a looking-glass, or look at your breath on a cold morning. Observe
+how a horse reeks when it perspires. Besides--as you just now said you
+recollected my telling you the other day--you breathe out carbonic acid,
+and that, and the steam of the breath together, are exactly the same
+things, you know, that a candle turns into in burning."
+
+"But if I burn like a candle--why don't I burn _out_ like a candle?"
+demanded Mr. Bagges. "How do you get over that?"
+
+"Because," replied Harry, "your fuel is renewed as fast as burnt. So
+perhaps you resemble a lamp rather than a candle. A lamp requires to be
+fed; so does the body--as, possibly, uncle, you may be aware."
+
+"Eh?--well--I have always entertained an idea of that sort," answered Mr.
+Bagges, helping himself to some biscuits. "But the lamp feeds on
+train-oil."
+
+"So does the Laplander. And you couldn't feed the lamp on turtle or
+mulligatawny, of course, uncle. But mulligatawny or turtle can be changed
+into fat--they are so, sometimes, I think--when they are eaten in large
+quantities, and fat will burn fast enough. And most of what you eat turns
+into something which burns at last, and is consumed in the fire that warms
+you all over."
+
+"Wonderful, to be sure," exclaimed Mr. Bagges. "Well, now, and how does
+this extraordinary process take place?"
+
+"First, you know, uncle, your food is digested--"
+
+"Not always, I am sorry to say, my boy," Mr. Bagges observed, "but go on."
+
+"Well; when it _is_ digested, it becomes a sort of fluid, and mixes
+gradually with the blood, and turns into blood, and so goes over the whole
+body, to nourish it. Now, if the body is always being nourished, why
+doesn't it keep getting bigger and bigger, like the ghost in the Castle of
+Otranto?"
+
+"Eh? Why, because it loses as well as gains, I suppose. By
+perspiration--eh--for instance?"
+
+"Yes, and by breathing; in short, by the burning I mentioned just now.
+Respiration, or breathing, uncle, is a perpetual combustion."
+
+"But if my system," said Mr. Bagges, "is burning throughout, what keeps up
+the fire in my little finger--putting gout out of the question?"
+
+"You burn all over, because you breathe all over, to the very tips of your
+fingers' ends," replied Harry.
+
+"Oh, don't talk nonsense to your uncle!" exclaimed Mrs. Wilkinson.
+
+"It isn't nonsense," said Harry. "The air that you draw into the lungs
+goes more or less over all the body, and penetrates into every fibre of
+it, which is breathing. Perhaps you would like to hear a little more about
+the chemistry of breathing, or respiration, uncle?"
+
+"I should, certainly."
+
+"Well, then; first you ought to have some idea of the breathing apparatus.
+The laboratory that contains this is the chest, you know. The chest, you
+also know, has in it the heart and lungs, which, with other things in it,
+fill it quite out, so as to leave no hollow space between themselves and
+it. The lungs are a sort of air-sponges, and when you enlarge your chest
+to draw breath, they swell out with it, and suck the air in. On the other
+hand, you narrow your chest, and squeeze the lungs, and press the air from
+them;--that is breathing out. The lungs are made up of a lot of little
+cells. A small pipe--a little branch of the windpipe--opens into each cell.
+Two blood-vessels, a little tiny artery, and a vein to match, run into it
+also. The arteries bring into the little cells dark-colored blood, which
+_has been_ all over the body. The veins carry out of the little cells
+bright scarlet-colored blood, which _is to go_ all over the body. So all
+the blood passes through the lungs, and in so doing, is changed from dark
+to bright scarlet."
+
+"Black blood, didn't you say, in the arteries, and scarlet in the veins? I
+thought it was just the reverse," interrupted Mr. Bagges.
+
+"So it is," replied Harry, "with all the other arteries and veins, except
+those that circulate the blood through the lung-cells. The heart has two
+sides, with a partition between them that keeps the blood on the right
+side separate from the blood on the left; both sides being hollow, mind.
+The blood on the right side of the heart comes there from all over the
+body, by a couple of large veins, dark, before it goes to the lungs. From
+the right side of the heart, it goes on to the lungs, dark still, through
+an artery. It comes back to the left side of the heart from the lungs,
+bright scarlet, through four veins. Then it goes all over the rest of the
+body from the left side of the heart, through an artery that branches into
+smaller arteries, all carrying bright scarlet blood. So the arteries and
+veins of the lungs on one hand, and of the rest of the body on the other,
+do exactly opposite work, you understand."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Now," continued Harry, "it requires a strong magnifying glass to see the
+lung-cells plainly, they are so small. But you can fancy them as big as
+you please. Picture any one of them to yourself of the size of an orange,
+say, for convenience in thinking about it; that one cell, with whatever
+takes place in it, will be a specimen of the rest. Then you have to
+imagine an artery carrying blood of one color into it, and a vein taking
+away blood of another color from it, and the blood changing its color in
+the cell."
+
+"Ay, but what makes the blood change its color?"
+
+"Recollect, uncle, you have a little branch from the windpipe opening into
+the cell which lets in the air. Then the blood and the air are brought
+together, and the blood alters in color. The reason, I suppose you would
+guess, is that it is somehow altered by the air."
+
+"No very unreasonable conjecture, I should think," said Mr. Bagges.
+
+"Well; if the air alters the blood, most likely, we should think, it gives
+something to the blood. So first let us see what is the difference between
+the air we breathe _in_, and the air we breathe _out_. You know that
+neither we nor animals can keep breathing the same air over and over
+again. You don't want me to remind you of the Black Hole of Calcutta, to
+convince you of that; and I dare say you will believe what I tell you,
+without waiting till I can catch a mouse and shut it up in an air-tight
+jar, and show you how soon the unlucky creature will get uncomfortable,
+and began to gasp, and that it will by-and-by die. But if we were to try
+this experiment--not having the fear of the Society for the Prevention of
+Cruelty to Animals, nor the fear of doing wrong, before our eyes--we should
+find that the poor mouse, before he died, had changed the air of his
+prison considerably. But it would be just as satisfactory, and much more
+humane, if you or I were to breathe in and out of a silk bag or a bladder
+till we could stand it no longer, and then collect the air which we had
+been breathing in and out. We should find that a jar of such air would put
+out a candle. If we shook some lime-water up with it, the lime-water would
+turn milky. In short, uncle, we should find that a great part of the air
+was carbonic acid, and the rest mostly nitrogen. The air we inhale is
+nitrogen and oxygen; the air we exhale has lost most of its oxygen, and
+consists of little more than nitrogen and carbonic acid. Together with
+this, we breathe out the vapor of water, as I said before. Therefore in
+breathing, we give off exactly what a candle does in burning, only not so
+fast, after the rate. The carbonic acid we breathe out, shows that carbon
+is consumed within our bodies. The watery vapor of the breath is a proof
+that hydrogen is so, too. We take in oxygen with the air, and the oxygen
+unites with carbon, and makes carbonic acid, and with hydrogen, forms
+water."
+
+"Then don't the hydrogen and carbon combine with the oxygen--that is,
+burn--in the lungs, and isn't the chest the fire-place, after all?" asked
+Mr. Bagges.
+
+"Not altogether, according to those who are supposed to know better. They
+are of opinion, that some of the oxygen unites with the carbon and
+hydrogen of the blood in the lungs: but that most of it is merely absorbed
+by the blood, and dissolved in it in the first instance."
+
+"Oxygen, absorbed by the blood? That seems odd," remarked Mr. Bagges. "How
+can that be?"
+
+"We only know the fact that there are some things that will absorb
+gases--suck them in--make them disappear. Charcoal will, for instance. It is
+thought that the iron which the blood contains gives it the curious
+property of absorbing oxygen. Well; the oxygen going into the blood makes
+it change from dark to bright scarlet; and then this blood containing
+oxygen is conveyed all over the system by the arteries, and yields up the
+oxygen to combine with hydrogen and carbon as it goes along. The carbon
+and hydrogen are part of the substance of the body. The bright scarlet
+blood mixes oxygen with them, which burns them, in fact; that is, makes
+them into carbonic acid and water. Of course, the body would soon be
+consumed if this were all that the blood does. But while it mixes oxygen
+with the old substance of the body, to burn it up, it lays down fresh
+material to replace the loss. So our bodies are continually changing
+throughout, though they seem to us always the same; but then, you know, a
+river appears the same from year's end to year's end, although the water
+in it is different every day."
+
+"Eh, then," said Mr. Bagges, "if the body is always on the change in this
+way, we must have had several bodies in the course of our lives, by the
+time we are old."
+
+"Yes, uncle; therefore, how foolish it is to spend money upon funerals.
+What becomes of all the bodies we use up during our life-times? If we are
+none the worse for their flying away in carbonic acid and other things
+without ceremony, what good can we expect from having a fuss made about
+the body we leave behind us, which is put into the earth? However, you are
+wanting to know what becomes of the water and carbonic acid which have
+been made by the oxygen of the blood burning up the old materials of our
+frame. The dark blood of the veins absorbs this carbonic acid and water,
+as the blood of the arteries does oxygen--only, they say, it does so by
+means of a salt in it, called phosphate of soda. Then the dark blood goes
+back to the lungs, and in them it parts with its carbonic acid and water,
+which escapes as breath. As fast as we breathe out, carbonic acid and
+water leave the blood; as fast as we breathe in, oxygen enters it. The
+oxygen is sent out in the arteries to make the rubbish of the body into
+gas and vapor, so that the veins may bring it back and get rid of it. The
+burning of rubbish by oxygen throughout our frames is the fire by which
+our animal heat, is kept up. At least this is what most philosophers
+think; though doctors differ a little on this point, as on most others, I
+hear. Professor Liebig says, that our carbon is mostly prepared for
+burning by being first extracted from the blood sent to it--(which contains
+much of the rubbish of the system dissolved)--in the form of bile, and is
+then re-absorbed into the blood, and burnt. He reckons that a grown-up man
+consumes about fourteen ounces of carbon a day. Fourteen ounces of
+charcoal a day, or eight pounds two ounces a week, would keep up a
+tolerable fire."
+
+"I had no idea we were such extensive charcoal-burners," said Mr. Bagges.
+"They say we each eat our peck of dirt before we die--but we must burn
+bushels of charcoal."
+
+"And so," continued Harry, "the professor calculates that we burn quite
+enough fuel to account for our heat. I should rather think, myself, it had
+something to do with it--shouldn't you?"
+
+"Eh?" said Mr. Bagges; "it makes one rather nervous to think that one is
+burning all over--throughout one's very blood--in this kind of way."
+
+"It is very awful!" said Mrs. Wilkinson.
+
+"If true. But in that case, shouldn't we be liable to inflame
+occasionally?" objected her husband.
+
+"It is said," answered Harry, "that spontaneous combustion does happen
+sometimes; particularly in great spirit drinkers. I don't see why it
+should not, if the system were to become too inflammable. Drinking alcohol
+would be likely to load the constitution with carbon, which would be fuel
+for the fire, at any rate."
+
+"The deuce!" exclaimed Mr. Bagges, pushing his brandy-and-water from him.
+"We had better take care how we indulge in combustibles."
+
+"At all events," said Harry, "it must be bad to have too much fuel in us.
+It must choke the fire, I should think, if it did not cause inflammation;
+which Dr. Truepenny says it does, meaning, by inflammation, gout, and so
+on, you know, uncle."
+
+"Ahem!" coughed Mr. Bagges.
+
+"Taking in too much fuel, I dare say, you know, uncle, means eating and
+drinking to excess," continued Harry. "The best remedy, the doctor says,
+for overstuffing is exercise. A person who uses great bodily exertion, can
+eat and drink more without suffering from it than one who leads an
+inactive life; a fox-hunter, for instance, in comparison with an alderman.
+Want of exercise and too much nourishment must make a man either fat or
+ill. If the extra hydrogen and carbon are not burnt out, or otherwise got
+rid of, they turn to blubber, or cause some disturbance in the system,
+intended by Nature to throw them off, which is called a disease. Walking,
+riding, running, increase the breathing--as well as the perspiration--and
+make us burn away our carbon and hydrogen in proportion. Dr. Truepenny
+declares that if people would only take in as much fuel as is requisite to
+keep up a good fire, his profession would be ruined."
+
+"The good old advice--Baillie's, eh?--or Abernethy's--live upon sixpence a
+day, and earn it," Mr. Bagges observed.
+
+"Well, and then, uncle, in hot weather the appetite is naturally weaker
+than it is in cold--less heat is required, and therefore less food. So in
+hot climates; and the chief reason, says the doctor, why people ruin their
+health in India is their spurring and goading their stomachs to crave what
+is not good for them, by spices and the like. Fruits and vegetables are
+the proper things to eat in such countries, because they contain little
+carbon compared to flesh, and they are the diet of the natives of those
+parts of the world. Whereas food with much carbon in it, meat, or even
+mere fat or oil, which is hardly any thing else than carbon and hydrogen,
+are proper in very cold regions, where heat from within is required to
+supply the want of it without. That is why the Laplander is able, as I
+said he does, to devour train-oil. And Dr. Truepenny says that it may be
+all very well for Mr. M'Gregor to drink raw whisky at deer-stalking in the
+Highlands, but if Major Campbell combines that beverage with the diversion
+of tiger-hunting in the East Indies, habitually, the chances are that the
+major will come home with a diseased liver."
+
+"Upon my word, sir, the whole art of preserving health appears to consist
+in keeping up a moderate fire within us," observed Mr. Bagges.
+
+"Just so, uncle, according to my friend the doctor. 'Adjust the fuel,' he
+says, 'to the draught'--he means the oxygen; 'keep the bellows properly at
+work, by exercise, and your fire will seldom want poking.' The doctor's
+pokers, you know, are pills, mixtures, leeches, blisters, lancets, and
+things of that sort."
+
+"Indeed? Well, then, my heart-burn, I suppose, depends upon bad management
+of my fire?" surmised Mr. Bagges.
+
+"I should say that was more than probable, uncle. Well, now, I think you
+see that animal heat can be accounted for, in very great part at least, by
+the combustion of the body. And then there are several facts that--as I
+remember Shakspeare says--
+
+
+      " 'Help to thicken other proofs,
+    That do demonstrate thinly."
+
+
+"Birds that breathe a great deal are very hot creatures; snakes and
+lizards, and frogs and fishes, that breathe but little, are so cold that
+they are called cold-blooded animals. Bears and dormice, that sleep all
+the winter, are cold during their sleep, while their breathing and
+circulation almost entirely stop. We increase our heat by walking fast,
+running, jumping, or working hard; which sets us breathing faster, and
+then we get warmer. By these means, we blow up our own fire, if we have no
+other, to warm ourselves on a cold day. And how is it that we don't go on
+continually getting hotter and hotter?"
+
+"Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Bagges, "I suppose that is one of Nature's mysteries."
+
+"Why, what happens, uncle, when we take violent exercise? We break out
+into a perspiration; as you complain you always do, if you only run a few
+yards. Perspiration is mostly water, and the extra heat of the body goes
+into the water, and flies away with it in steam. Just for the same reason,
+you can't boil water so as to make it hotter than two hundred and twelve
+degrees; because all the heat that passes into it beyond that, unites with
+some of it and becomes steam, and so escapes. Hot weather causes you to
+perspire even when you sit still; and so your heat is cooled in summer. If
+you were to heat a man in an oven, the heat of his body generally wouldn't
+increase very much till he became exhausted and died. Stories are told of
+mountebanks sitting in ovens, and meat being cooked by the side of them.
+Philosophers have done much the same thing--Dr. Fordyce and others, who
+found they could bear a heat of two hundred and sixty degrees.
+Perspiration is our animal fire-escape. Heat goes out from the lungs, as
+well as the skin, in water; so the lungs are concerned in cooling us as
+well as heating us, like a sort of regulating furnace. Ah, uncle, the body
+is a wonderful factory, and I wish I were man enough to take you over it.
+I have only tried to show you something of the contrivances for warming
+it, and I hope you understand a little about that!"
+
+"Well," said Mr. Bagges, "breathing, I understand you to say, is the chief
+source of animal heat, by occasioning the combination of carbon and
+hydrogen with oxygen, in a sort of gentle combustion, throughout our
+frame. The lungs and heart are an apparatus for generating heat, and
+distributing it over the body by means of a kind of warming pipes, called
+blood-vessels. Eh?--and the carbon and hydrogen we have in our systems we
+get from our food. Now, you see, here is a slice of cake, and there is a
+glass of wine--Eh?--now see whether you can get any carbon and oxygen out of
+that."
+
+The young philosopher, having finished his lecture, applied himself
+immediately to the performance of the proposed experiment, which he
+performed with cleverness and dispatch.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STEEL PEN. AN ILLUSTRATION OF CHEAPNESS. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD
+WORDS.)
+
+
+We remember (early remembrances are more durable than recent) an epithet
+employed by Mary Wolstonecroft, which then seemed as happy as it was
+original--"The _iron_ pen of Time." Had the vindicatress of the "Rights of
+Women" lived in these days (fifty years later), when the iron pen is the
+almost universal instrument of writing, she would have bestowed upon Time
+a less common material for recording his doings.
+
+While we are remembering, let us look back for a moment upon our earliest
+school-days--the days of large text and round hand. Twenty urchins sit at a
+long desk, each intent upon making his _copy_. A nicely mended pen has
+been given to each. Our own labor goes on successfully, till, in
+school-boy phrase, the pen begins to splutter. A bold effort must be made.
+We leave the form, and timidly address the writing-master with--"Please,
+sir, mend my pen." A slight frown subsides as he sees that the quill is
+very bad--too soft or too hard--used to the stump. He dashes it away, and
+snatching a feather from a bundle--a poor thin feather, such as green geese
+drop on a common--shapes it into a pen. This mending and making process
+occupies all his leisure--occupies, indeed, many of the minutes that ought
+to be devoted to instruction. He has a perpetual battle to wage with his
+bad quills. They are the meanest produce of the plucked goose.
+
+And is this process still going on in the many thousand schools of our
+land, where with all drawbacks of imperfect education, both as to numbers
+educated and gifts imparted, there are about two millions and a half of
+children under daily instruction? In remote rural districts probably; in
+the towns certainly not. The steam-engine is now the pen-maker. Hecatombs
+of geese are consumed at Michaelmas and Christmas; but not all the geese
+in the world would meet the demand of England for pens. The supply of
+_patés de foie gras_ will be kept up--that of quills, whether known as
+_primes_, _seconds_, or _pinions,_ must be wholly inadequate to the wants
+of a _writing_ people. Wherever geese are bred in these islands, so
+assuredly, in each succeeding March, will every full-fledged victim be
+robbed of his quills; and then turned forth on the common, a very waddling
+and impotent goose, quite unworthy of the name of bird. The country
+schoolmaster, at the same spring-time, will continue to buy the smallest
+quills, at a low price, clarify them after his own rude fashion, make them
+into pens, and sorely spite the boy who splits them up too rapidly. The
+better quills will still be collected, and find their way to the quill
+dealer, who will exercise his empirical arts before they pass to the
+stationer. He will plunge them into heated sand, to make the external skin
+peel off, and the external membrane shrivel up; or he will saturate them
+with water, and alternately contract and swell them before a charcoal
+fire; or he will dip them in nitric acid, and make them of a gaudy
+brilliancy but a treacherous endurance. They will be sorted according to
+the quality of the barrels, with the utmost nicety. The experienced buyer
+will know their value by looking at their feathery ends, tapering to a
+point; the uninitiated will regard only the quill portion. There is no
+article of commerce in which the market value is so difficult to be
+determined with exactness. For the finest and largest quills no price
+seems unreasonable; for those of the second quality too exorbitant a
+charge is often made. The foreign supply is large, and probably exceeds
+the home supply of the superior article. What the exact amount is we know
+not. There is no duty now on quills. The tariff of 1845--one of the most
+lasting monuments of the wisdom of our great commercial minister--abolished
+the duty of half-a-crown a thousand. In 1832 the duty amounted to four
+thousand two hundred pounds, which would show an annual importation of
+thirty-three millions one hundred thousand quills; enough, perhaps, for
+the commercial clerks of England, together with the quills of home
+growth--but how to serve a letter-writing population?
+
+The ancient reign of the quill-pen was first seriously disturbed about
+twenty-five years ago. An abortive imitation of the _form_ of a pen was
+produced before that time; a clumsy, inelastic, metal tube fastened in a
+bone or ivory handle, and sold for half-a-crown. A man might make his mark
+with one--but as to writing, it was a mere delusion. In due course came
+more carefully finished inventions for the luxurious, under the tempting
+names of ruby pen, or diamond pen--with the plain gold pen, and the rhodium
+pen, for those who were skeptical as to the jewelry of the inkstand. The
+economical use of the quill received also the attention of science. A
+machine was invented to divide the barrel lengthwise into two halves; and,
+by the same mechanical means, these halves were subdivided into small
+pieces, cut pen-shape, slit, and nibbed. But the pressure upon the quill
+supply grew more and more intense. A new power had risen up in our world--a
+new seed sown--the source of all good, or the dragon's teeth of Cadmus. In
+1818 there were only one hundred and sixty-five thousand scholars in the
+monitorial schools--the new schools, which were being established under the
+auspices of the National Society, and the British and Foreign School
+Society. Fifteen years afterward, in 1833, there were three hundred and
+ninety thousand. Ten years later, the numbers exceeded a million. Even a
+quarter of a century ago two-thirds of the male population of England, and
+one-half of the female, were learning to write; for in the Report of the
+Registrar-General for 1846, we find this passage--"Persons when they are
+married are required to sign the marriage register; if they can not write
+their names, they sign with a mark: the result has hitherto been, that
+nearly one man in three, and one woman in two, married, sign with marks."
+This remark applies to the period between 1839 and 1845. Taking the
+average age of men at marriage as twenty-seven years, and the average age
+of boys during their education as ten years, the marriage-register is an
+educational test of male instruction for the years 1824-28. But the gross
+number of the population of England and Wales was rapidly advancing. In
+1821 it was twelve millions; in 1831, fourteen millions; in 1841, sixteen
+millions; in 1851, taking the rate of increase at fourteen per cent., it
+will be eighteen millions and a half. The extension of education was
+proceeding in a much quicker ratio; and we may therefore fairly assume
+that the proportion of those who make their marks in the marriage-register
+has greatly diminished since 1844.
+
+But, during the last ten years, the natural desire to learn to write, of
+that part of the youthful population which education can reach, has
+received a great moral impulse by a wondrous development of the most
+useful and pleasurable exercise of that power. The uniform penny postage
+has been established. In the year 1838, the whole number of letters
+delivered in the United Kingdom was seventy-six millions; in this year
+that annual delivery has reached the prodigious number of three hundred
+and thirty-seven millions. In 1838, a Committee of the House of Commons
+thus denounced, among the great commercial evils of the high rates of
+postage, their injurious effects upon the great bulk of the people. They
+either act as a grievous tax on the poor, causing them to sacrifice their
+little earnings to the pleasure and advantage of corresponding with their
+distant friends, or compel them to forego such intercourse altogether;
+thus subtracting from the small amount of their enjoyments, and
+obstructing the growth and maintenance of their best affections. Honored
+be the man who broke down these barriers! Praised be the Government that,
+_for once_, stepping out of its fiscal tram-way, dared boldly to legislate
+for the domestic happiness, the educational progress, and the moral
+elevation of the masses! The steel pen, sold at the rate of a penny a
+dozen, is the creation, in a considerable degree, of the Penny Postage
+stamp; as the Penny Postage stamp was a representative, if not a creation,
+of the new educational power. Without the steel pen, it may reasonably be
+doubted whether there were mechanical means within the reach of the great
+bulk of the population for writing the three hundred and thirty-seven
+millions of letters that now annually pass through the Post Office.
+
+Othello's sword had "the ice-brook's temper;" but not all the real or
+imaginary virtues of the stream that gave its value to the true Spanish
+blade could create the elasticity of a steel pen. Flexible, indeed, is the
+Toledo. If thrust against a wall, it will bend into an arc that describes
+three-fourths of a circle. The problem to be solved in the steel-pen, is
+to convert the iron of Dannemora into a substance as thin as the quill of
+a dove's pinion, but as strong as the proudest feather of an eagle's wing.
+The furnaces and hammers of the old armorers could never have solved this
+problem. The steel pen belongs to our age of mighty machinery. It could
+not have existed in any other age. The demand for the instrument, and the
+means of supplying it, came together.
+
+The commercial importance of the steel pen was first manifested to our
+senses a year or two ago at Sheffield. We had witnessed all the curious
+processes of _converting_ iron into steel, by saturating it with carbon in
+the converting furnace; of _tilting_ the bars so converted into a harder
+substance, under the thousand hammers that shake the waters of the Sheaf
+and the Don: of _casting_ the steel thus converted and tilted into ingots
+of higher purity; and, finally, of _milling_, by which the most perfect
+development of the material is acquired, under enormous rollers. About two
+miles from the metropolis of steel, over whose head hangs a canopy of
+smoke through which the broad moors of the distance sometimes reveal
+themselves, there is a solitary mill where the tilting and rolling
+processes are carried to great perfection. The din of the large tilts is
+heard half a mile off. Our ears tingle, our legs tremble, when we stand
+close to their operation of beating bars of steel into the greatest
+possible density; for the whole building vibrates as the workmen swing
+before them in suspended baskets, and shift the bar at every movement of
+these hammers of the Titans. We pass onward to the more quiet _rolling_
+department. The bar that has been tilted into the most perfect
+compactness, has now to acquire the utmost possible tenuity. A large area
+is occupied by furnaces and rollers. The bar of steel is dragged out of
+the furnace at almost a white heat. There are two men at each roller. It
+is passed through the first pair, and its squareness is instantly
+elongated and widened into flatness; rapidly through a second pair, and a
+third, and a fourth, and a fifth. The bar is becoming a sheet of steel.
+Thinner and thinner it becomes, until it would seem that the workmen can
+scarcely manage the fragile substance. It has spread out like a morsel of
+gold under the beater's hammer, into an enormous leaf. The least
+attenuated sheet is only the hundredth part of an inch in thickness; some
+sheets are made as thin as the two-hundredth part of an inch. And for what
+purpose is this result of the labors of so many workmen, of such vast and
+complicated machinery, destined?--what the final application of a material
+employing so much capital in every step, from the Swedish mine to its
+transport by railroad to some other seat of British industry? _The whole
+is prepared for one steel-pen manufactory at Birmingham._
+
+There is nothing very remarkable in a steel-pen manufactory, as regards
+ingenuity of contrivance or factory organization. Upon a large scale of
+production, the extent of labor engaged in producing so minute an article,
+is necessarily striking. But the process is just as curious and
+interesting, if conducted in a small shop as in a large. The pure steel,
+as it comes from the rolling-mill, is cut up into strips about two inches
+and a half in width. These are further cut into the proper size for the
+pen. The pieces are then annealed and cleansed. The maker's name is neatly
+impressed on the metal; and a cutting-tool forms the slit, although
+imperfectly in this stage. The pen shape is given by a convex punch
+pressing the plate into a concave die. The pen is formed when the slit is
+perfected. It has now to be hardened, and, finally, cleansed and polished,
+by the simple agency of friction in a cylinder. All the varieties of form
+of the steel pen are produced by the punch; all the contrivances of slits
+and apertures above the nib, by the cutting-tool. Every improvement has
+had for its object to overcome the rigidity of the steel--to imitate the
+elasticity of the quill, while bestowing upon the pen a superior
+durability.
+
+The perfection that may reasonably be demanded in a steel pen has yet to
+be reached. But the improvement in the manufacture is most decided. Twenty
+years ago, to one who might choose, regardless of expense, between the
+quill pen and the steel, the best Birmingham and London production was an
+abomination. But we can trace the gradual acquiescence of most men in the
+writing implement of the multitude. Few of us, in an age when the small
+economies are carefully observed, and even paraded, desire to use quill
+pens at ten or twelve shillings a hundred, as Treasury Clerks once
+luxuriated in their use--an hour's work, and then a new one. To mend a pen,
+is troublesome to the old, and even the middle-aged man who once acquired
+the art; the young, for the most part, have not learned it. The most
+painstaking and penurious author would never dream of imitating the
+wondrous man who translated Pliny with "one gray goose quill." Steel pens
+are so cheap, that if one scratches or splutters, it may be thrown away,
+and another may be tried. But when a really good one is found, we cling to
+it, as worldly men cling to their friends: we use it till it breaks down,
+or grows rusty. We can do no more; we handle it as Izaak Walton handled
+the frog upon his hook, "as if we loved him." We could almost fancy some
+analogy between the gradual and decided improvement of the steel pen--one
+of the new instruments of education--and the effects of education itself
+upon the mass of the people. An instructed nation ought to present the
+same gradually perfecting combination of strength with elasticity. The
+favorites of fortune are like the quill, ready made for social purposes,
+with a little scraping and polishing. The bulk of the community have to be
+formed out of ruder and tougher materials--to be converted, welded, and
+tempered into pliancy. The _manners_ of the great British family have
+decidedly improved under culture--"_emollit mores_:" may the sturdy
+self-respect of the race never be impaired!
+
+
+
+
+
+SNAKES AND SERPENT CHARMERS. (FROM BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY.)
+
+
+At the present time there are at the London Zoological Gardens two Arabs,
+who are eminently skilled in what is termed "Snake-Charming." In this
+country, happily for ourselves, we have but little practical acquaintance
+with venomous serpents, and there is no scope for the development of
+native skill in the art referred to; the visit, therefore, of these
+strangers is interesting, as affording an opportunity of beholding feats
+which have hitherto been known to us only by description. We propose,
+therefore, to give some account of their proceedings.
+
+Visitors to the Zoological Gardens will remark, on the right hand side,
+after they have passed through the tunnel, and ascended the slope beyond,
+a neat wooden building in the Swiss style. This is the reptile-house, and
+while our readers are bending their steps toward it, we will describe the
+performance of the Serpent Charmers.
+
+The names of these are Jubar-Abou-Haijab, and Mohammed-Abou-Merwan. The
+former is an old man, much distinguished in his native country for his
+skill. When the French occupied Egypt, he collected serpents for their
+naturalists, and was sent for to Cairo to perform before General
+Bonaparte. He described to us the general, as a middle-sized man, very
+pale, with handsome features, and a most keen eye. Napoleon watched his
+proceedings with great interest, made many inquiries, and dismissed him
+with a handsome "backsheesh." Jubar is usually dressed in a coarse loose
+bernoose of brown serge, with a red cap on his head.
+
+The gift, or craft, of serpent-charming, descends in certain families from
+generation to generation; and Mohammed, a smart active lad, is the old
+man's son-in-law, although not numbering sixteen years. He is quite an
+Adonis as to dress, wearing a smart, richly embroidered dark-green jacket,
+carried--hussar fashion--over his right shoulder, a white loose vest, full
+white trowsers, tied at the knee, scarlet stockings and slippers, and a
+fez or red cap, with a blue tassel of extra proportions on his head. In
+his right ear is a ring, so large that it might pass for a curtain ring.
+
+Precisely as the clock strikes four, one of the keepers places on a
+platform a wooden box containing the serpents, and the lad Mohammed
+proceeds to tuck his ample sleeves as far up as possible, to leave the
+arms bare. He then takes off his cloth jacket, and, opening the box, draws
+out a large Cobra de Capello, of a dark copper color: this he holds at
+arm's length by the tail, and after allowing it to writhe about in the air
+for some time, he places the serpent on the floor, still holding it as
+described. By this time the cobra had raised his hood, very indignant at
+the treatment he is receiving. Mohammed then pinches and teases him in
+every way; at each pinch the cobra strikes at him, but, with great
+activity, the blow is avoided. Having thus teased the snake for some time,
+Mohammed rises, and placing his foot upon the tail, irritates him with a
+stick. The cobra writhes, and strikes sometimes at the stick, sometimes at
+his tormentor's legs, and again at his hands, all which is avoided with
+the utmost nonchalance. After the lapse of about ten minutes, Mohammed
+coils the cobra on the floor, and leaves him while he goes to the box, and
+draws out another far fiercer cobra. While holding this by the tail,
+Mohammed buffets him on the head with his open hand, and the serpent,
+quite furious, frequently seizes him by the forearm. The lad merely wipes
+the spot, and proceeds to tie the serpent like a necklace around his neck.
+Then the tail is tied into a knot around the reptile's head, and again
+head and tail into a double knot. After amusing himself in this way for
+some time, the serpent is told to lie quiet, and stretched on his back,
+the neck and chin being gently stroked. Whether any sort of mesmeric
+influence is produced we know not, but the snake remains on its back,
+perfectly still, as if dead. During this time the first cobra has remained
+coiled up, with head erect, apparently watching the proceedings of the
+Arab. After a pause, the lad takes up the second cobra, and carrying it to
+the first, pinches and irritates both, to make them fight; the fiercer
+snake seizes the other by the throat, and coiling round him, they roll
+struggling across the stage. Mohammed then leaves these serpents in charge
+of Jubar and draws a third snake out of the box. This he first ties in a
+variety of apparently impossible knots, and then holding him at a little
+distance from his face, allows the snake to strike at it, just dodging
+back each time sufficiently far to avoid the blow. The serpent is then
+placed in his bosom next his skin, and left there, but it is not so easy
+after a time to draw it out of its warm resting-place. The tail is pulled;
+but, no! the serpent is round the lad's body, and will not come. After
+several unsuccessful efforts, Mohammed rubs the tail briskly between his
+two hands, a process which--judging from the writhings of the serpent,
+which are plainly visible--is the reverse of agreeable. At last Mohammed
+pulls him hand-over-hand--as the sailors say--and, just, as the head flies
+out, the cobra makes a parting snap at his tormentor's face, for which he
+receives a smart cuff on the head, and is then with the others replaced in
+the box.
+
+Dr. John Davy, in his valuable work on Ceylon, denies that the fangs are
+extracted from the serpents which are thus exhibited; and says that the
+only charm employed is that of courage and confidence--the natives avoiding
+the stroke of the serpent with wonderful agility; adding, that they will
+play their tricks with any hooded snake, but with no other poisonous
+serpent.
+
+In order that we might get at the truth, we sought it from the
+fountain-head, and our questions were thus most freely answered by
+Jubar-Abou-Haijab, Hamet acting as interpreter:
+
+_Q._ How are the serpents caught in the first instance?
+
+_A._ I take this adze (holding up a sort of geological hammer mounted on a
+long handle) and as soon as I have found a hole containing a cobra, I
+knock away the earth till he comes out or can be got at; I then take a
+stick in my right hand, and seizing the snake by the tail with the left,
+hold it at arm's length. He keeps trying to bite, but I push his head away
+with the stick. After doing this some time I throw him straight on the
+ground, still holding him by the tail; I allow him to raise his head and
+try to bite, for some time, in order that he may learn how to attack,
+still keeping him off with the stick. When this has been done long enough,
+I slide the stick up to his head and fix it firmly on the ground; then
+taking the adze, and forcing open the mouth, I break off the fangs with
+it, carefully removing every portion, and especially squeezing out all the
+poison and blood, which I wipe away as long as it continues to flow; when
+this is done the snake is harmless and ready for use.
+
+_Q._ Do the ordinary jugglers, or only the hereditary snake charmers catch
+the cobras?
+
+_A._ We are the only persons who dare to catch them, and when the jugglers
+want snakes they come to us for them; with that adze (pointing to the
+hammer) I have caught and taken out the fangs of many thousands.
+
+_Q._ Do you use any other snakes besides the cobras for your exhibitions?
+
+_A._ No; because the cobra is the only one that will fight well. The cobra
+is always ready to give battle, but the other snakes are sluggish, only
+bite, and can't be taught for our exhibitions.
+
+_Q._ What do the Arabs do if they happen to be bitten by a poisonous
+snake?
+
+_A._ They immediately tie a cord tight round the arm above the wound, and
+cut out the bitten part as soon as possible--some burn it; they then
+squeeze the arm downward, so as to press out the poison, but they don't
+suck it, because it is bad for the mouth; however, in spite of all this,
+they sometimes die.
+
+_Q._ Do you think it possible that cobras could be exhibited without the
+fangs being removed?
+
+_A._ Certainly not, for the least scratch of their deadly teeth would
+cause death, and there is not a day that we exhibit that we are not bitten
+and no skill in the world would prevent it.
+
+Such were the particulars given us by a most distinguished professor in
+the art of snake-charming, and, therefore, they may be relied on as
+correct; the matter-of-fact way in which he _acted_, as well as related
+the snake-catching, bore the impress of truth, and there certainly would
+appear to be far less mystery about the craft than has generally been
+supposed. The way in which vipers are caught in this country is much less
+artistic than the Arab mode. The viper-catcher provides himself with a
+cleftstick, and stealing up to the reptile when basking, pins his head to
+the ground with the cleft, and seizing the tail, throws the reptile into a
+bag. As they do not destroy the fangs, these men are frequently bitten in
+the pursuit of their business, but their remedy is either the fat of
+vipers, or salad oil, which they take inwardly, and apply externally,
+after squeezing the wound. We are not aware of any well-authenticated
+fatal case in man from a viper bite, but it fell to our lot some years ago
+to see a valuable pointer killed by one. We were beating for game in a
+dry, stony district, when suddenly the dog, who was running beneath a
+hedgerow, gave a yelp and bound, and immediately came limping up to us
+with a countenance most expressive of pain; a large adder was seen to
+glide into the hedgerow. Two small spots of blood on the inner side of the
+left foreleg, close to the body of the dog marked the seat of the wound;
+and we did our best to squeeze out the poison. The limb speedily began to
+swell, and the dog laid down, moaning and unable to walk. With some
+difficulty we managed to carry the poor animal to the nearest cottage, but
+it was too late. In spite of oil and other remedies the body swelled more
+and more, and he died in convulsions some two hours after the receipt of
+the injury.
+
+The Reptile-house is fitted up with much attention to security and
+elegance of design; arranged along the left side are roomy cages painted
+to imitate mahogany and fronted with plate-glass. They are ventilated by
+perforated plates of zinc above, and warmed by hot water pipes below. The
+bottoms of the cages are strewed with sand and gravel, and in those which
+contain the larger serpents strong branches of trees are fixed. The
+advantage of the plate-glass fronts is obvious, for every movement of the
+reptiles is distinctly seen, while its great strength confines them in
+perfect safety. Each cage is, moreover, provided with a pan of water.
+
+Except when roused by hunger, the Serpents are generally in a state of
+torpor during the day, but as night draws on, they, in common with other
+wild denizens of the forest, are roused into activity. In their native
+state the Boas then lie in wait, coiled round the branches of trees, ready
+to spring upon the antelopes and other prey as they pass through the leafy
+glades; and the smaller serpents silently glide from branch to branch in
+quest of birds on which to feed. As we have had the opportunity of seeing
+the Reptile-house by night, we will describe the strange scene.
+
+About ten o'clock one evening during the last spring, in company with two
+naturalists of eminence, we entered that apartment. A small lantern was
+our only light, and the faint illumination of this, imparted a ghastly
+character to the scene before us. The clear plate-glass which faces the
+cages was invisible, and it was difficult to believe that the monsters
+were in confinement and the spectators secure. Those who have only seen
+the Boas and Pythons, the Rattlesnakes and Cobras, lazily hanging in
+festoons from the forks of the trees in the dens, or sluggishly coiled up,
+can form no conception of the appearance and actions of the same creatures
+at night. The huge Boas and Pythons were chasing each other in every
+direction, whisking about the dens with the rapidity of lightning,
+sometimes clinging in huge coils round the branches, anon entwining each
+other in massive folds, then separating they would rush over and under the
+branches, hissing and lashing their tails in hideous sport. Ever and anon,
+thirsty with their exertions, they would approach the pans containing
+water and drink eagerly, lapping it with their forked tongues. As our eyes
+became accustomed to the darkness, we perceived objects better, and on the
+uppermost branch of the tree in the den of the biggest serpent, we
+perceived a pigeon quietly roosting, apparently indifferent alike to the
+turmoil which was going on around, and the vicinity of the monster whose
+meal it was soon to form. In the den of one of the smaller serpents was a
+little mouse, whose panting sides and fast-beating heart showed that it,
+at least, disliked its company. Misery is said to make us acquainted with
+strange bed-fellows, but evil must be the star of that mouse or pigeon
+whose lot it is to be the comrade and prey of a serpent!
+
+A singular circumstance occurred not long since at the Gardens, showing
+that the mouse at times has the best of it. A litter of rattlesnakes was
+born in the Gardens--curious little active things without rattles--hiding
+under stones, or coiling together in complicated knots, with their
+clustering heads resembling Medusa's locks. It came to pass that a mouse
+was put into the cage for the breakfast of the mamma, but she not being
+hungry, took no notice. The poor mouse gradually became accustomed to its
+strange companions, and would appear to have been pressed by hunger, for
+it actually nibbled away great part of the jaw of one of the little
+rattlesnakes, so that it died! perhaps the first instance of such a
+turning of the tables. An interesting fact was proved by this, namely,
+that these reptiles when young are quite defenseless, and do not acquire
+either the power of injuring others, or of using their rattles until their
+adolescence.
+
+During the time we were looking at these creatures, all sorts of odd
+noises were heard; a strange scratching against the glass would be
+audible; 'twas the Carnivorous Lizard endeavoring to inform us that it was
+a fast-day with him, entirely contrary to his inclination. A sharp hiss
+would startle us from another quarter, and we stepped back involuntarily
+as the lantern revealed the inflated hood and threatening action of an
+angry cobra. Then a rattlesnake would take umbrage, and, sounding an
+alarm, would make a stroke against the glass, intended for our person. The
+fixed gaze, too, from the brilliant eyes of the huge Pythons, was more
+fascinating than pleasant, and the scene, taking it all together, more
+exciting than agreeable. Each of the spectators involuntarily stooped to
+make sure that his trowsers were well strapped down; and, as if our nerves
+were jesting, a strange sensation would every now and then be felt,
+resembling the twining of a small snake about the legs. Just before
+leaving the house, a great dor beetle which had flown in, attracted by the
+light, struck with some force against our right ear; startled indeed we
+were, for at the moment our impression was that it was some member of the
+Happy Family around us who had favored us with a mark of his attention.
+
+In feeding the larger serpents, the Boas and Pythons, some care is
+necessary lest such an accident should occur as that which befell Mr.
+Cops, of the Lion Office in the Tower, some years ago. Mr. Cops was
+holding a fowl to the head of the largest of the five snakes which were
+then there kept; the snake was changing its skin, consequently, being
+nearly blind (for the skin of the eye is changed with the rest), it darted
+at the fowl but missed it, and seized the keeper by the left thumb,
+coiling round his arm and neck in a moment, and fixing itself by its tail
+to one of the posts of its cage, thus giving itself greater power. Mr.
+Cops, who was alone, did not lose his presence of mind, and immediately
+attempted to relieve himself from the powerful constriction by getting at
+the serpent's head; but the serpent had so knotted itself upon its own
+head, that Mr. Cops could not reach it, and had thrown himself upon the
+floor in order to grapple, with greater success, with his formidable
+opponent, when fortunately, two other keepers came in and rushed to the
+rescue. The struggle even then was severe, but at length they succeeded in
+breaking the teeth of the serpent, and relieving Mr. Cops from his
+perilous situation; two broken teeth were extracted from the thumb; the
+wounds soon healed, and no further inconvenience followed. Still more
+severe was the contest which took place between a negro herdsman,
+belonging to Mr. Abson, for many years Governor at Fort William, on the
+coast of Africa. This man was seized by a huge Python while passing
+through a wood. The serpent fixed his fangs in his thigh, but in
+attempting to throw himself round his body, fortunately became entangled
+with a tree, and the man being thus preserved from a state of compression
+which would have instantly rendered him powerless, had presence of mind
+enough to cut with a large knife which he carried about with him, deep
+gashes in the neck and throat of his antagonist, thereby killing him, and
+disengaging himself from his frightful situation. He never afterward,
+however, recovered the use of the limb, which had sustained considerable
+injury from the fangs and mere force of the jaws, and for many years
+limped about the fort, a living example of the prowess of these fearful
+serpents.
+
+The true _Boas_, it is to be observed, are restricted to America, the name
+_Python_ being given to the large serpents of Africa and India. It is
+related by Pliny that the army of Regulus was alarmed by a huge serpent
+one hundred and twenty-three feet in length. This account is doubtful; but
+there is a well-authenticated instance of the destruction of a snake above
+sixty-two feet long, while in the act of coiling itself round the body of
+a man. The snakes at the gardens will generally be found coiled and twined
+together in large clusters, probably for the sake of warmth. Dr. Carpenter
+knew an instance in which no less than _thirteen hundred_ of our English
+harmless snakes were found in an old lime kiln! The _battûe_ which ensued
+can better be imagined than described.
+
+The cobras, the puff-adders, and some of the other highly-venomous
+serpents are principally found in rocky and sandy places, and very
+dangerous they are. Mr. Gould, the eminent ornithologist, had a most
+narrow escape of his life when in the interior of Australia: there is a
+serpent found in those arid wastes, whose bite is fatal in an incredibly
+short time, and it springs at an object with great force. Mr. Gould was a
+little in advance of his party, when suddenly a native who was with him
+screamed out, "Oh, massa! dere big snake!" Mr. Gould started, and putting
+his foot in a hole, nearly fell to the ground. At that instant the snake
+made its spring, and had it not been for his stumble, would have struck
+him in the face; as it was, it passed over his head, and was shot before
+it could do any further mischief. It was a large snake, of the most
+venomous sort, and the natives gathered round the sportsman anxiously
+inquiring if it had bitten him? Finding it had not, all said they thought
+he was "good for dead," when they saw the reptile spring.
+
+The expression "sting," used repeatedly by Shakspeare, as applied to
+snakes, is altogether incorrect; the tongue has nothing to do with the
+infliction of injury. Serpents bite, and the difference between the
+harmless and venomous serpents generally is simply this: the mouths of the
+harmless snakes and the whole tribe of boas are provided with sharp teeth,
+but no fangs; their bite, therefore, is innocuous; the poisonous serpents
+on the other hand, have two poison-fangs attached to the upper jaw which
+lie flat upon the roof of the mouth when not in use, and are concealed by
+a fold of the skin. In each fang is a tube which opens near the point of
+the tooth by a fissure; when the creature is irritated the fangs are at
+once erected. The poison bag is placed beneath the muscles which act on
+the lower jaw, so that when the fangs are struck into the victim the
+poison is injected with much force to the very bottom of the wound.
+
+But how do Boa Constrictors swallow goats and antelopes, and other large
+animals whole? The process is very simple; the lower jaw is not united to
+the upper, but is hung to a long stalk-shaped bone, on which it is
+movable, and this bone is only attached to the skull by ligaments,
+susceptible of extraordinary extension. The process by which these
+serpents take and swallow their prey has been so graphically described in
+the second volume of the "Zoological Journal," by that very able
+naturalist and graceful writer, W. J. Broderip, Esq., F.R.S., that we
+shall transcribe it, being able, from frequent ocular demonstrations, to
+vouch for its correctness. A large buck rabbit was introduced into the
+cage of a Boa Constrictor of great size: "The snake was down and
+motionless in a moment. There he lay like a log without one symptom of
+life, save that which glared in the small bright eye twinkling in his
+depressed head. The rabbit appeared to take no notice of him, but
+presently began to walk about the cage. The snake suddenly, but almost
+imperceptibly, turned his head according to the rabbit's movements, as if
+to keep the object within the range of his eye. At length the rabbit,
+totally unconscious of his situation, approached the ambushed head. The
+snake dashed at him like lightning. There was a blow--a scream--and
+instantly the victim was locked in the coils of the serpent. This was done
+almost too rapidly for the eye to follow; at one instant the snake was
+motionless--the next he was one congeries of coils round his prey. He had
+seized the rabbit by the neck just under the ear, and was evidently
+exerting the strongest pressure round the thorax of the quadruped; thereby
+preventing the expansion of the chest, and at the same time depriving the
+anterior extremities of motion. The rabbit never cried after the first
+seizure; he lay with his hind legs stretched out, still breathing with
+difficulty, as could be seen by the motion of his flanks. Presently he
+made one desperate struggle with his hind legs; but the snake cautiously
+applied another coil with such dexterity as completely to manacle the
+lower extremities, and in about eight minutes the rabbit was quite dead.
+The snake then gradually and carefully uncoiled himself, and finding that
+his victim moved not, opened his mouth, let go his hold, and placed his
+head opposite the fore-part of the rabbit. The boa, generally, I have
+observed, begins with the head; but in this instance, the serpent having
+begun with the fore-legs was longer in gorging his prey than usual, and in
+consequence of the difficulty presented by the awkward position of the
+rabbit, the dilatation and secretion of lubricating mucus were excessive.
+The serpent first got the fore-legs into his mouth; he then coiled himself
+round the rabbit, and appeared to draw out the dead body through his
+folds; he then began to dilate his jaws, and holding the rabbit firmly in
+a coil, as a point of resistance, appeared to exercise at intervals the
+whole of his anterior muscles in protruding his stretched jaws and
+lubricated mouth and throat, at first against, and soon after gradually
+upon and over his prey. When the prey was completely engulfed the serpent
+lay for a few moments with his dislocated jaws still dropping with the
+mucus which had lubricated the parts, and at this time he looked quite
+sufficiently disgusting. He then stretched out his neck, and at the same
+moment the muscles seemed to push the prey further downward. After a few
+efforts to replace the parts, the jaws appeared much the same as they did
+previous to the monstrous repast."
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MAGIC MAZE. (FROM COLBURN'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE.)
+
+
+The Germans are said to be a philosophical and sagacious people, with a
+strong _penchant_ for metaphysics and mysticism. They are certainly a
+_leichtgläubiges Volk_, but, notwithstanding, painstaking and persevering
+in their search after truth. I know not whence it arises--whether from
+temperament, climate, or association--but it is very evident that a large
+portion of their studies is recondite and unsatisfactory, and incapable of
+being turned to any practical or beneficial account. They meditate on
+things which do not concern them; they attempt to penetrate into mysteries
+which lie without the pale of human knowledge. It has been ordained, by an
+inscrutable decree of Providence, that there are things which man shall
+not know; but they have endeavored to draw aside the vail which He has
+interposed as a safeguard to those secrets, and have perplexed mankind
+with a relation of their discoveries and speculations. They have pretended
+to a knowledge of the invisible world, and have assumed a position
+scarcely tenable by the weight of argument adduced in its defense. What
+has puzzled the minds of the most erudite and persevering men, I do not
+presume to decide. Instances of the re-appearance of persons after their
+decease, may or may not have occurred; there may, for aught I know, be
+good grounds for the belief in omens, warnings, wraiths, second-sight,
+with many other descriptions of supernatural phenomena. I attempt not to
+dispute the point. The human mind is strongly tinctured with superstition;
+it is a feeling common to all nations and ages. We find it existing among
+savages, as well as among people of refinement; we read of it in times of
+antiquity, as well as in modern and more enlightened periods. This
+universality betokens the feeling to be instinctive, and is an argument in
+favor of the phenomena which many accredit, and vouch to have witnessed.
+
+I inherit many of the peculiarities of my countrymen. I, too, have felt
+that deep and absorbing interest in every thing appertaining to the
+supernatural. This passion was implanted in my breast at a very early age,
+by an old woman, who lived with us as nurse. I shall remember her as long
+as I live, for to her may be attributed a very great portion of my
+sufferings. She was an excellent story-teller. I do not know whether she
+invented them herself, but she had always a plentiful supply. My family
+resided at that time in Berlin, where, indeed, I was born. This old woman,
+when she took me and my sister to bed of an evening, kept us awake for
+hours and hours, by relating to us tales which were always interesting,
+and sometimes very frightful. Our parents were not aware of this, or they
+never would have suffered her to relate them to us. In the long winter
+nights, when it grew quite dark at four o'clock, she would draw her chair
+to the stove, and we would cluster round her, and listen to her marvelous
+stories. Many a time did my limbs shake, many a time did I turn as pale as
+death, and cling closely to her from fear, as I sat listening with greedy
+ear to her narratives. So powerful an effect did they produce, that I
+dared not remain alone. Even in the broad day-light, and when the sun was
+brightly shining into every chamber, I was afraid to go upstairs by
+myself; and so timid did I become, that the least noise instantly alarmed
+me. That old woman brought misery and desolation into our house; she
+blasted the fondest hopes, and threw a dark and dismal shadow over the
+brightest and most cheerful places. Often and often have I wished that she
+had been sooner removed; but, alas! it was ordered otherwise. She
+pretended to be very fond of us, and our parents never dreamed of any
+danger in permitting her to remain under their roof. We were so delighted
+and captivated with her narratives, that we implicitly obeyed her in every
+respect; but she laid strong injunctions upon us, that we were not to
+inform either our father or mother of the nature of them. If we were
+alarmed at any time, we always attributed it to some other than the true
+cause; hence the injury she was inflicting upon the family was
+unperceived. I have sometimes thought that she was actuated by a spirit of
+revenge, for some supposed injury inflicted upon her, and that she had
+long contemplated the misfortune into which she eventually plunged my
+unhappy parents, and which hurried them both to a premature grave.
+
+I will briefly state the cause of the grievous change in our domestic
+happiness. My sister was a year or two younger than myself, and, at the
+time of which I speak, about seven years of age. She had always been a
+gay, romping child, till this old woman was introduced into the family,
+and then she became grave, timid, and reserved; she lost all that buoyancy
+of disposition, that joyousness of heart, which were common to her before.
+Methinks I now see her as she was then--a rosy-cheeked, fair-haired little
+creature, with soft, blue eyes, that sparkled with animation, a mouth
+pursed into the pleasantest smile, and a nose and chin exquisitely formed.
+My sister, as I have already stated, altered much after the old woman had
+become an inmate of the family. She lost the freshness of her complexion,
+the bright lustre of her eye, and was often dejected and thoughtful. One
+night (I shudder even now when I think of it), the wicked old beldame told
+us, as usual, one of her frightful stories, which had alarmed us
+exceedingly. It related to our own house, which she declared had at one
+time been haunted, and that the apparition had been seen by several
+persons still living. It appeared as a lady, habited in a green silk
+dress, black velvet bonnet, with black feathers. After she had concluded
+her narrative, under some pretense or other, she left the room, though we
+both strenuously implored her to remain; for we were greatly afraid, and
+trembling in every limb. She, however, did not heed our solicitation, but
+said she would return in a few minutes. There was a candle upon the table,
+but it was already in the socket, and fast expiring. Some ten or fifteen
+minutes elapsed, and the chamber-door was quietly thrown open. My hand
+shakes, and my flesh seems to creep upon my bones, as I recall that horrid
+moment of my past existence. The door was opened, and a figure glided into
+the room. It seemed to move upon the air, for we heard not its footsteps.
+By the feeble and sickly light of the expiring taper, we closely examined
+the appearance of our extraordinary visitor. She had on a green dress,
+black bonnet and feathers, and, in a word, precisely corresponded with the
+appearance of the apparition described by the wicked old nurse. My sister
+screamed hysterically, and I fell into a swoon. The household was
+disturbed, and in a few minutes the servants and our parents were by the
+bed-side. The old woman was among them. I described, as well as I was
+able, what had occurred; and my parents, without a moment's hesitation,
+laid the mysterious visitation to the charge of the old woman; but she
+stoutly denied it. My belief, however, to this day, is, that she was
+concerned in it. My beloved sister became a confirmed idiot, and died
+about two years after that dreadful night.
+
+My subsequent wretchedness may be traced to this female, for she had
+already instilled into my mind a love for the marvelous and supernatural.
+I was not satisfied unless I was reading books that treated of these
+subjects; and I desired, like the astrologers of old, to read the stars,
+and to be endowed with the power of casting the horoscopes of my
+fellow-creatures.
+
+When directed by my guardians to select a profession, I chose that of
+medicine, as being most congenial to my taste. I was accordingly placed
+with a respectable practitioner, and in due time sent to college, to
+perfect myself in my profession. I found my studies dry and wearisome, and
+was glad to relieve myself with books more capable of interesting me than
+those relating to medical subjects.
+
+I had always attached great importance to dreams, and to the various
+coincidences which so frequently occur to us in life. I shall mention a
+circumstance or two which occurred about this time, and which made a very
+forcible impression upon me. I dreamed one night that an intimate friend
+of mine, then residing in India, had been killed by being thrown from his
+horse. Not many weeks elapsed, before I received intelligence of his
+death, which occurred in the very way I have described. I was so struck
+with the coincidence, that I instituted further inquiry, and ascertained
+that he had died on the same night, and about the same hour on which I had
+dreamed that the unfortunate event took place. I reflected a good deal
+upon this occurrence. Was it possible, I asked myself, that his
+disinthralled spirit had the power of communicating with other spirits,
+though thousands of miles intervened? An event so strange I could not
+attribute to mere chance. I felt convinced that the information had been
+conveyed by design, although the manner of its accomplishment I could not
+comprehend.
+
+A circumstance scarcely less remarkable happened to me only a few days
+subsequently. I had wandered a few miles into the country, and at length
+found myself upon a rising eminence, commanding a view of a picturesque
+little village in the distance. Although I had at no period of my life
+been in this part of the country, the scene was not novel to me. I had
+seen it before. Every object was perfectly familiar. The mill, with its
+revolving wheel--the neat cottages, with small gardens in front--and the
+little stream of water that gently trickled past.
+
+These matters gave a stronger impulse to my reading, and I devoured, with
+the greatest voracity, all books appertaining to my favorite subjects.
+Indeed, I became so engrossed in my employment, that I neglected my proper
+studies, avoided all society, all exercise, and out-door occupation. For
+weeks and weeks I shut my self up in my chamber, and refused to see
+anybody. I would sit for hours of a night, gazing upon the stars, and
+wondering if they exercised any control over the destinies of mankind. So
+nervous did this constant study and seclusion render me, that if a door
+were blown open by a sudden blast of wind, I trembled, and became as pale
+as death; if a withered bough fell from a neighboring tree, I was
+agitated, and unable for some seconds to speak; if a sudden footstep was
+heard on the stairs, I anticipated that my chamber-door would be
+immediately thrown open, and ere many seconds elapsed to be in the
+presence of a visitor from the dark and invisible world of shadows. I
+became pale and feverish, my appetite failed me, and I felt a strong
+disinclination to perform the ordinary duties of life.
+
+My friends observed, with anxiety and disquietude, my altered appearance;
+and I was recommended to change my residence, and to withdraw myself
+entirely from books. A favorable locality, combining the advantages of
+pure air, magnificent scenery, and retirement, was accordingly chosen for
+me, in which it was determined I should remain during the winter months.
+It was now the latter end of September.
+
+My future residence lay at the distance of about ten German miles from
+Berlin. It was a fine autumnal day, that I proceeded, in the company of a
+friend, to take possession of my new abode. Toward the close of the day we
+found ourselves upon an elevated ground, commanding an extensive and
+beautiful view of the country for miles around. From this spot we beheld
+the house, or rather castle (for it had once assumed this character,
+although it was now dismantled, and a portion only of the eastern wing was
+inhabitable), that I was to occupy. It stood in an extensive valley,
+through which a broad and deep stream held its devious course--now flowing
+smoothly and placidly along, amid dark, overhanging trees--now dashing
+rapidly and furiously over the rocks, foaming and roaring as it fell in
+the most beautiful cascades. The building stood on the margin of the
+stream, and in the midst of thick and almost impenetrable woods, that
+rendered the situation in the highest degree romantic and captivating. The
+scene presented itself to us under the most favorable aspect. The sun was
+just setting behind the distant hills, and his rays were tinging with a
+soft, mellow light, the foliage of the trees, of a thousand variegated
+colors. Here and there, through the interstices of the trees, they fell
+upon the surface of the water, thus relieving the dark and sombre
+appearance of the stream. The road we now traversed led, by a circuitous
+route, into the valley. As we journeyed on, I was more than ever struck
+with the beauty of the scene. Dried leaves in many places lay scattered
+upon the ground; but the trees were still well laden with foliage,
+although I foresaw they would be entirely stripped in a short time. The
+evening was soft and mild; but occasionally a gentle breeze would spring
+up, and cause, for a moment, a slight rustling among the trees, and then
+gradually die away. The sky above our heads was serene and placid,
+presenting one vast expanse of blue, relieved, here and there, by a few
+light fleecy clouds. As we got deeper into the valley, the road became bad
+and uneven, and it was with much difficulty we prevented our horses from
+stumbling. In one or two instances we had to dismount and lead them, the
+road in many places being dangerous and precipitous. At length we gained
+the bottom of the valley. A rude stone bridge was thrown over the stream
+above described, over which we led our steeds. Arrived at the other side,
+we entered a long avenue of trees, sufficient to admit of two horsemen
+riding abreast. When we had gained the extremity of the avenue, the road
+diverged to the left, and became tortuous and intricate in its windings.
+It was in a bad state of repair, for the building had not been inhabited
+by any body but an old woman for a great number of years. We at length
+arrived in front of the entrance. As I gazed upon the dilapidated
+structure, I did not for a moment dream of the suffering and misery I was
+to undergo beneath its roof. We dismounted and gave our horses into the
+charge of a man who worked about the grounds during the day-time. We were
+no sooner admitted into this peculiar-looking place, than a circumstance
+occurred which plunged me into the greatest distress of mind, and aroused
+a host of the most painful and agonizing reminiscences. I conceived the
+event to be ominous of disaster; and so it proved. I recognized, in the
+woman who admitted us, that execrable being who had already so deeply
+injured my family, and to whose infernal machinations I unhesitatingly
+ascribed the idiocy and death of my dearly beloved sister. She gazed
+earnestly upon me, and seemed to recognize me. This discovery caused me
+the greatest uneasiness. I hated the sight of the woman; I loathed her; I
+shuddered when I was in her presence; and a vague, undefinable feeling
+took possession of me, which seemed to suggest that she was something more
+than mortal. I know not what evils I anticipated from this discovery. I
+predicted, however, nothing so awful, nothing so horrible, as what
+actually befell me.
+
+I took the earliest opportunity of speaking alone with this woman.
+
+"My good woman," I said to her, "I shall not suffer you to remain here at
+night."
+
+"Why not, sir?" she asked.
+
+"There are certain insuperable objections, the nature of which you may
+probably surmise."
+
+"Indeed, I do not."
+
+"Then your memory is short."
+
+"I do not understand you, sir."
+
+"It is not of any consequence."
+
+After some further altercation, she consented to submit to the terms
+dictated to her.
+
+On the following day, my friend Hoffmeister returned to Berlin, where he
+had some business to transact, on which depended much of his future
+happiness. He promised to pay me another visit in the course of a week or
+ten days.
+
+I spent the first three or four days very comfortably, though I was still
+very nervous, and in a weak state of health. On the morning of the fifth
+day, the old woman (who had by some means discovered my profession) asked
+me if I required a subject for the purpose of dissection. This was what I
+had long been seeking for, but my efforts to obtain one had hitherto been
+fruitless. I asked the sex, and she informed me it was a male. I was
+delighted with the offer, and at once acquiesced in the terms. Toward
+nightfall it was arranged that the corpse should be conveyed to the
+castle.
+
+I know not from what cause, but, during the whole of the day, I was in a
+very abstracted and desponding state of mind, and began to regret that I
+had agreed to take the body through the mediation of the old woman, whom I
+almost conceived to be in league with Beelzebub himself.
+
+The day had been exceedingly sultry, and toward evening the sky became
+overcast with huge masses of dark clouds. The wind, at intervals, moaned
+fitfully, and as it swept through the long corridors of the building,
+strongly resembled the mournful and pitiful tones of a human being in
+distress. The trees that stood in front of the house ever and anon yielded
+to the intermitting gusts of wind, and bowed their heads as though in
+submission to a superior power. There was no human being to be seen out of
+doors, and the cattle, shortly before grazing upon some distant hills, had
+already been removed. The river flowed sluggishly past, its brawling
+breaking occasionally upon the ear when the wind was inaudible. Suddenly
+the wind ceased, and large drops of rain began to fall; presently
+afterward, it came down in torrents. It was a fearful night. Frequent
+peals of thunder smote upon the ear; now it seemed to be at a distance,
+now immediately overhead. Vivid flashes of lightning were at intervals
+seen in the distant horizon, illumining for a moment, with supernatural
+brilliancy, the most minute and insignificant objects. In the midst of the
+tempest, I fancied I heard a rumbling noise at a distance. It grew more
+distinct; the cause of it was rapidly approaching. I looked earnestly out
+of the window, and I thought I could discern a moving object between the
+interstices of the trees. I was not mistaken. It was the vehicle conveying
+the dead body. It came along at a rapid pace. It was just in the act of
+turning an angle of the road, when a tree, of gigantic proportions, was
+struck by the electric fluid to the ground. The horse shied, and the car
+narrowly escaped being crushed beneath its ponderous weight. The men drove
+up to the entrance, and speedily took the box containing the body from the
+car, and placed it in a room which I showed them into. I directed them to
+take the body out of the box, and place it upon a deal board, which I had
+laid horizontally upon a couple of trestles. The corpse was accordingly
+taken out. It was that of a finely-grown young man. I laid my hand upon
+it; it was still warm, and I fancied I felt a slight pulsation about the
+region of the heart. Anxious to dismiss the men as soon as possible, and
+fearing that the old woman might be imposing upon me, I asked the price.
+
+"_Siebzig Thaler, mein Herr_," said the man.
+
+"_Danke, danke--tausendmal_," said he, as I counted the money into his
+hand.
+
+At this instant a vivid flash of lightning illumined, for a second or two,
+the livid and ghastly corpse of the man, rendering the object horrible to
+gaze upon.
+
+"_Gott im Himmel! was für ein schrecklicker Stürm!_" exclaimed the man to
+whom I had paid the money.
+
+In a few minutes the men departed, and I stood at the window watching
+them, as they drove furiously away. At length they disappeared altogether
+from my view.
+
+I was now alone in the house. The storm was as furious as ever. I had
+never before felt so wretched. I was restless and uneasy, and a thousand
+dark thoughts flitted across my distracted brain as I wandered from room
+to room. It was already quite dark, and I was at least a couple of miles
+distant from any living soul. The frequent flashes of lightning, the loud
+peals of thunder, the dead body of the man, and my own nervous and
+superstitious temperament, constituted a multitude of anxieties, fears,
+and apprehensions, that might have caused the stoutest heart to quail
+beneath their influence. I seated myself in the sitting-room that had been
+provided for me, and took up my _meerschaum_, and endeavored to compose
+myself. It was, however, in vain. I was exceedingly restless, and I know
+not what vague and indefinable apprehensions entered my imagination.
+Whenever I have felt a presentiment of evil, it has invariably been
+followed by some danger or difficulty. It was so in the present instance.
+I drew the curtains in front of the windows, for I could not bear to look
+upon the storm that was raging with unabated vehemence out of doors, and I
+drew my chair closer to the fire, and sat for a considerable time. At
+length, between ten and eleven o'clock, I took from a small cabinet a
+bottle containing some excellent French brandy. I poured a portion of it
+into a tumbler, and diluted it with warm water. I took two or three
+copious draughts, which I thought imparted new life to my frame.
+
+I was in this way occupied, when a sudden noise in a corner of the room
+caused a feeling of horror to thrill through my whole system. I sprang
+upon my legs in a moment; my eyes stared wildly, and every limb in my body
+shook as though with convulsions. For a moment, I stood still, steadfastly
+fixing my eyes upon the place from whence the noise proceeded. All was
+quiet. I heard nothing save the beating of the rain against the windows,
+and low peals of distant thunder. I walked across the room, and I
+discovered that a riding-whip had fallen from the nail from which it had
+been suspended. Satisfied that there was no occasion for alarm, I resumed
+my seat, and indulged in fresh draughts of brandy-and-water. A few minutes
+elapsed, and a noise similar to the last filled me with new apprehensions.
+I sprang again from my seat. The pulses of my heart beat quickly. I gazed
+wildly about me. I could see nothing--hear nothing. I walked a few paces,
+and found an empty powder-flask upon the floor; it had fallen from a shelf
+upon which I had placed it in the morning. I was much alarmed; I reeled
+like a drunken man, and my mind was filled with the most horrible
+forebodings. I drank the diluted spirit more freely than usual, and stood
+awaiting the issue. Another article in a few minutes fell from the wall. I
+now knew what to expect. I had frequently read of this species of
+disturbance before. It was what, is called in Germany the _Poltergeist_.
+In a few minutes, the greatest uproar manifested itself. The pictures fell
+from the walls, the ornaments from the shelves; the jugs, glasses, and
+bottles leaped from the table; the chairs, &c., by some unseen and
+infernal agency, were overturned. I ran about like one beside himself; I
+tore my hair with agony; I groaned with mental affliction; and my heart
+cursed the devil incarnate that had brought all this misery to pass. It
+was the woman; I was convinced of it. She, she alone, could conceive and
+hatch such monstrous and nefarious stratagems. I knew not what to
+do--whither to fly. The uproar continued. In my distraction, I ran from
+place to place. I entered the room where the corpse lay. Merciful God! I
+discovered, by the glimmering light from the other chamber, that it had
+changed its position. I had laid it upon its back. Its face was now turned
+downward! My cup was full--my misery complete. I returned to the room I had
+just quitted. The disturbance had in some measure abated. I was thankful
+that it was so, and I proceeded to place the tables, chairs, &c., in their
+usual position. While I was thus engaged, the tumult commenced afresh. No
+sooner had I placed a chair in an upright direction, than it was
+immediately overturned; no sooner had I suspended a picture from the wall,
+than it was again upon the floor. What was I to do? How was I to escape
+the horrible spells with which the archfiend had encompassed me? I could
+not leave the place on account of the storm; and even if I had done so, it
+was not possible that I could gain admittance into any habitation at that
+late hour of the night. Wretch that I was! What crime had I committed,
+wherein had I erred, that I should be visited with so unaccountable and
+terrible a calamity? My presence seemed to arouse the malignity of the
+_Poltergeist_, and I deemed it expedient to leave the room. I was afraid
+to enter that in which the dead (?) man lay, lest I should be exposed to
+further causes for alarm. There was certainly a room in the higher part of
+the building in which I had been accustomed to sleep; but I dared not
+venture there in my present state of mind. I entered an adjourning
+corridor, and paced up and down for a few minutes, but the air was chilly,
+and I was in total darkness. The disturbance ceased as soon as I had
+quitted the room. I could not remain where I was, so I re-entered it, but
+my return was only the signal for fresh disasters. The uproar was resumed
+with tenfold energy. However much my heart might revolt from it, there was
+no other course open than to go into the room where the dead body lay. In
+the condition of one who is driven to the last stage of desperation, I
+walked, with as much fortitude as I could command, into that chamber. God
+of Heaven! I had no sooner reached the threshold than I started back with
+affright. I will not dwell upon that horrible scene; I will not minutely
+detail the agony I endured. The corpse sat upright! I drew the
+chamber-door quickly after me and staggered into the next apartment.
+Powerless and overcome, I fell to the ground.
+
+When I recovered, it was day. The light was streaming into the chamber,
+and the storm had subsided. Fresh marvels were to be revealed. I was no
+longer in the room in which I had been on the preceding night. I was in
+bed, in the chamber where I had hitherto slept! How came I hither? I knew
+not. I pressed my hand to my brow, and strove to collect my scattered
+senses. I was bewildered and confused, and could only account for the
+marvelous transition to which I had been exposed, by some remarkable
+agency, altogether intangible to my senses, and utterly beyond the power
+of my understanding to comprehend.
+
+I descended, as soon as I was dressed, to breakfast, of which I sparingly
+partook. I was pale and agitated. My sitting-room was in its usual state
+of order. I did not venture into the other apartment, neither did I speak
+to the woman touching the spectacles I had witnessed.
+
+Hoffmeister returned in the evening, some days sooner than he expected. He
+observed my altered appearance, and said--
+
+"_Was fehlt dir? Du bist krank, nicht wahr?_"
+
+"_Nein; ich bin recht wohl, Gott sei dank_."
+
+I could not, however, convince Hoffmeister that nothing had happened. I
+was not disposed to reveal to him what I had witnessed, for I knew he
+would treat the matter with unbecoming levity. His opinions were very
+different from mine upon these subjects.
+
+Hoffmeister appeared much depressed in spirits himself. I inquired the
+cause, but he evaded the question. I concluded that his journey to Berlin
+had not been attended with satisfactory results, for I could conjecture no
+other cause for his unhappiness. We retired to rest early, for Hoffmeister
+appeared fatigued. I proposed that we should sleep together, which my
+friend gladly assented to.
+
+I was much surprised, when I awoke on the following morning, to find
+myself alone. What had become of Hoffmeister? Had he, too, been under the
+domination of some evil power? I knew he was not an early riser, and his
+absence, therefore, astonished and agitated me. I dressed myself hastily,
+and immediately went in search of him. I wandered about the adjacent
+grounds, but he was not there. I could not rest till I had found him. I
+had known him for many years, and had always loved and esteemed him. He
+was, till lately, my constant companion--my bosom-friend--in a word, my
+_alter ego_.
+
+I resolved to extend my search. I swiftly passed through the avenue of
+trees, crossed the bridge, and it was not long before I had gained the
+summit of the road that led into the valley. I stood for a while gazing
+around me. I gazed earnestly at the dilapidated and time-worn walls of the
+old castle, in which I had witnessed so many marvelous and horrible
+sights. I shuddered when I reflected upon them. I resumed my journey, and
+at length reached a village a few miles distant from my former abode. I
+walked quickly forward, and on my way met several persons who saluted me,
+whom I did not remember to have seen before. What could they mean by
+taking such unwarrantable liberties with me? They did not appear to be
+drunk, nor to have any intention of insulting me. It was
+odd--unaccountable. I hurried on. My head began to swim; my eyes were
+burning hot, and ready to start from their sockets. I was wild--frantic.
+
+I reached the shop of an apothecary, and stepped in to ask for water, to
+quench my thirst. The man smirked, and asked me how I was. I told him, I
+did not know him; but he persisted in saying he had been in my company
+only a night or two before. I was confounded. I seized the glass of water
+he held in his hand, and took a hearty draught, and precipitately
+departed. I traveled on. I was bewildered--in a maze, from which I found it
+impossible to extricate myself. I made inquiries about my friend, but the
+people stared and laughed, as though there was something extraordinary
+about me. I wandered about till nightfall, and at last found shelter in a
+cottage by the road-side, which was inhabited by an infirm old woman.
+
+The next day I returned to the village. I called upon a gentleman with
+whom I was intimately acquainted. I thought he might be able to give me
+some tidings of my friend. When I was ushered into his presence he did not
+know me. I was incredulous. Was I no longer myself? Had I changed my
+identity? Whence this mystery? I was unable to fathom it. I handed my card
+to him; he looked at it, and returned it, saying he did not know Mr.
+Hoffmeister. The card was that of my friend. How it had come into my
+possession I knew not. I apologized for the error, and informed him that
+my name was not Hoffmeister, but Heinrich Gottlieb Langström. My surprise
+may be conceived, when he informed me Langström--in fact, that I myself was
+dead, and that my body had been found in the stream that flowed past the
+village the day previously! I was ready to sink through the floor, and
+could not find language to reply to the monstrous falsehood. I rushed from
+his presence, feeling assured that some conspiracy was afoot to drive me
+mad. I must have become so, or I never would have been exposed to the
+extraordinary delusion to which I afterward became a victim.
+
+I entered a house of public entertainment, and determined to solve this
+dreadful enigma. I was, unfortunately, acquainted with the doctrines of
+Pythagoras, and, at the time to which I refer, no doubt insane.
+
+I requested to be shown into a room, where I could arrange my dress. I was
+conducted into a chamber, in which all things necessary for that purpose
+were provided. My object, however, was of greater consequence than this. I
+wished to unravel the strange mystery that surrounded me--to discover, in a
+word, whether I were really myself, or some other person. There was no way
+of freeing myself from this horrible suspense and uncertainty than by
+examining my features in the looking-glass. There was one placed upon a
+dressing-table, but I shrank from it as though it had been a demon. I
+dreaded to approach it; I feared to look into it, lest it should confirm
+all the vague and monstrous misgivings that agitated my mind. I regarded
+it as the arbiter of my destiny. It possessed the power either to
+transport me with happiness, or to plunge me into utter, irretrievable
+misery. In that brief moment I endured an age of agony and suspense. With
+a faltering step, with a whirling brain, I advanced toward the glass. I
+stood opposite to it; I looked into it. Distraction! horror of horrors! It
+was not my own face I beheld! I swooned--fell backward.
+
+When I recovered, I found myself in the arms of a man, who bathed my
+temples with water. I quickly made my escape from the house. I was pale
+and haggard, like one stricken with some sudden and grievous calamity. I
+fancied, as I passed along, that the passengers whom I met stared at me,
+laughed in my face, and seemed to consider my misfortune a fit subject for
+their mirth and ridicule. Every hubbub in the street, every screeching
+voice that assailed my ear, I conceived to be attributable to my horrible
+transformation. I was afraid to look around; I dared not arrest my
+progress for a moment, lest any of the mocking fiends should make sport of
+my unhappy situation, and drive me to some act of desperation. On, on, I
+hurried. I gained the fields. Thank Heaven! the village lay at a distance
+behind me. The haunts of men were no place for me. I was something more
+than mortal. I had undergone a change, of which I had never conceived
+myself susceptible. I sped forward; naught could impede my course. My only
+relief was in action. Any thing to dissipate the thoughts that flitted
+across my distracted brain. Bodily pain might be endured--fatigue, hunger,
+any corporeal suffering; but to think, was death--destruction. Oh! could I
+have evaded thought for one moment, what joy, what transport! I fled
+onward; there was no time to pause--to consider. The sun had already sunk
+behind the hills, and night was about to spread her mantle o'er the earth,
+when I threw myself down, exhausted and overpowered. Slumber sealed my
+eyes, and I lay upon the ground, an outcast of men, an isolated and
+wretched being, to whom the common lot of humanity had been denied.
+
+I will hurry this painful narrative to a close. I have but a vague idea of
+the events that occurred during the next few weeks. I remember being told,
+as I lay in bed, by a young woman who attended me, that I had been found
+by some workpeople, on the night above referred to, in the vicinity of my
+former residence, and conveyed thither, and that I had been attacked by
+the brain fever, and that my life had been despaired of by my medical
+attendant.
+
+The body which had been found in the stream, and which was supposed to be
+mine, was that of my dear friend, Hoffmeister. In his agitation,
+previously to his committing the dreadful act of suicide, he had
+inadvertently mistaken my garments for his own.
+
+When I became convalescent, I determined upon leaving, as soon as
+possible, the scene of my recent suffering. Before doing so, I proceeded
+to the village which I had previously visited. I called upon the gentleman
+who had not recognized me on a former occasion; but, strange to say, he
+now remembered me perfectly, and received me very kindly indeed. I
+referred to the circumstance of our late interview, but he had no
+recollection of it. While we were thus conversing, a third person entered
+the room, the very image of my friend, and who, it appeared was his
+brother. An explanation at once ensued.
+
+These matters I have thought it necessary to explain. There are, however,
+occurrences in the narrative, of which I can give no solution, though I
+may premise, that my conviction is, that those which took place in the
+village, arose from natural causes, with which I am nevertheless
+unacquainted. The body of the man, who, I have reason to believe, was not
+quite dead when he was brought to me, I conveyed with me to Berlin. The
+old woman I never again beheld.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE SUN. (FROM CHAMBERS'S EDINBURGH JOURNAL.)
+
+
+Of all the links in the stupendous chain of the cosmos, the sun, next to
+our own planet, is that which we are most concerned in knowing well, while
+it is precisely that which we know the least. This glorious orb has always
+been involved in the deepest mystery. All that had been revealed to us
+concerning it, till very recently, was derived from the observations and
+deductions of the elder Herschel. His discovery of a double luminous
+envelopment, at times partially withdrawn from various portions of the
+sun's surface, afforded, on the whole, a satisfactory explanation of the
+numerous spots that are always seen on his disk. This glimpse merely of
+the external changes which happen on his surface made up the sum of our
+knowledge of that great luminary on which the animation of our planetary
+system depends! One main cause of this utter ignorance on the subject,
+besides its own intrinsic difficulty, lay in the comparatively slight
+attention it had always received from astronomers generally. No individual
+observer ever thought of devoting himself to the solar phenomena alone,
+while the public observatories confined themselves to merely observing the
+sun's culmination at noon, or to ascertaining the exact duration of its
+eclipses.
+
+We knew, from the observations of Cassini and Herschel, that the spots on
+the sun's disk are not alike numerous every year; and Kunowsky
+particularly drew the attention of astronomers to the fact, that while in
+the years 1818 and 1819 very large and numerous ones appeared, some
+visible even to the naked eye, very few, on the contrary, and those of but
+trifling size, were seen in the years 1822-1824. But it was reserved for
+the indefatigable Schwabe of Dessau, who has devoted himself for a long
+series of years to this one single object, to establish the fact of these
+spots observing a certain periodicity. Among the results of his labors--for
+as yet we have only his brief announcements to the scientific world in the
+"Astronomical Notices"--are the following: 1. That the recurrence of the
+solar spots has a period of about ten years; 2. That the number of the
+single groups of one year varies at the minimum time from twenty-five to
+thirty, while in the maximum years they sometimes rise to above three
+hundred; 3. That with their greater abundance is combined also a greater
+local extension and blackness of the spots; 4. That at the maximum time,
+the sun, for some years together, is never seen without very considerable
+spots. The last maximum appears to have been of a peculiarly rich
+character, as, from February, 1837, till December, 1840, solar spots were
+visible on every day of observation; while the number of groups in the
+former of those years amounted to 333.
+
+But if a single individual, by observations continued unbroken for entire
+decenniums, has thus revealed to us the most important fact hitherto known
+relating to the sun, there are other questions not less important which
+can only find their solution in the careful observation of a
+rarely-occurring interval of perhaps one or two minutes. The splendor of
+the sun is so amazingly great, as to preclude us entirely from perceiving
+any object in his immediate proximity unless projected before his disk as
+a darkening object. At ten, or fifteen degrees even from the sun, when
+this luminary is above the horizon, all the fixed stars vanish from the
+most powerful telescopes. We are therefore in utter ignorance whether the
+space between him and Mercury is occupied or not by some other denizen of
+the planetary system. To enable us to explore the sun's immediate
+proximity, we require a body that shall exclude his rays from our
+atmosphere, and yet leave the space round the sun open to our view. Such
+an object can of course be neither a cloud nor any terrestrial object,
+natural or artificial, since parts of the atmosphere will exist behind it
+which will be impinged on by the sun's rays. Only during a total eclipse
+can these conditions be fulfilled, and even then but for a very brief
+interval, which may still be lost to the observer through unfavorable
+weather or from too low a position of the sun.
+
+Notwithstanding that this rare and precarious opportunity is the only
+possible one we possess of becoming better acquainted with the physical
+nature of the great luminary of day, astronomers never availed themselves
+of it for any other purpose than the admeasurement of the earth, which
+might have been done as well, if not better, during any planetary eclipse.
+This error or indifference, whichever it may have been, can not, however,
+be laid to the charge of our living astronomers. The 8th of July, 1842--the
+day on which the last total eclipse of the sun took place--witnessed the
+most distinguished of these assembled for the purpose of making, for the
+first time, observations calculated to afford us some insight into this
+greatest mystery of the celestial world. This eclipse was total on a zone
+which traversed the north of Spain, the south of France, the region of the
+Alps and Styria, and a portion of Austria, Central Russia and Siberia,
+terminating in China; so that the observatories of Marseilles, Milan,
+Venice, Padua, Vienna, and Ofen, all supplied with excellent telescopes,
+and in full activity, came within its range; while many astronomers, at
+whose observatories the eclipse was not visible, set out for places
+situated within the zone just described. Thus Arago and two of his
+colleagues repaired to Perpignan, Airy to Turin, Schumacker to Vienna,
+Struve and Sehidloffsky to Lipezk, and Stubendorff to Koerakow. Most of
+them were favored by the weather. Let us now see what the combined
+endeavors of these practiced and well-furnished observers have made us
+acquainted with.
+
+First, as regards the obscurity, it was so great, that five, seven, and in
+some cases as many as ten stars were visible to the naked eye. A reddish
+light was seen to proceed from the horizon--that is, from those regions
+where the darkness was not total--and by this light print of a moderate
+size could, with a little difficulty, be read. Such plants as usually
+close their petals at night were seen in most places to close them also
+during the eclipse. The thermometer fell from 2 to 3 degrees of Reaumur,
+and in the fields about Perpignan a heavy dew fell. A change in the color
+of the light, and consequently of the enlightened objects, was noticed by
+many, although they were not agreed in their description of it. But this
+diversity may have been caused by the nature of the air at different
+places being probably different, and the degree of obscurity very unequal.
+At Lipezk, where the eclipse lasted the longest, being 3 minutes and 3
+seconds, a darkness similar to that of night set in, and there the eclipse
+began exactly at noon.
+
+The effect of the eclipse on the animal creation was similar to what had
+been observed before in the like circumstances: they ceased eating;
+draught animals suddenly stood still; domestic birds fled to the stables,
+or sought other places of shelter; owls and bats flew abroad, as if night
+had come on. Of three lively linnets, kept in a cage, one dropped down
+dead. The insect world too was greatly affected; ants stopped in the midst
+of their labors, and only resumed their course after the reappearance of
+the sun; and bees retreated suddenly to their hives. A general
+restlessness pervaded the animal world; and only those places which were
+situated more on the boundary of the zone, and where the obscurity was
+consequently less complete, formed an exception.
+
+During the total eclipse, the dark moon which covered the sun's disk
+appeared surrounded with a brilliant crown of light or halo. This halo
+consisted of two concentric belts, of which the inner one was the
+lightest, and the external less brilliant, and gradually fading. In the
+direction of the line which connected the point of the commencement of the
+total eclipse with that of its termination, two parabolic pencils of
+light--some observers say several--appeared on the halo. Within it also
+light intervolved veins were observable. The breadth of the inner halo was
+from 2 to 3 minutes; that of the external one from 10 to 15 minutes; the
+pencils of light, on the other hand, extended as far as from 1 to 1œ
+degree; by some they were traced even to 3 degrees. The color of the halo
+was of a silvery white, and exhibited a violent undulating or trembling
+motion, its general appearance varying in the briefest space. The light of
+the halo was intensest near the covered solar rim. Its brilliance at
+Lipezk was so great, that the naked eye could hardly look on it, and some
+of the observers almost doubted whether the sun had really altogether
+disappeared. At Vienna, Milan, and Perpignan, on the contrary, the
+observers found the light of the halo resembling that of the moon toward
+its full. Bell, at Verona, who found time to estimate its intensity,
+ascertained it to be one-seventh of that of the full moon. Its first
+traces were noticed from 3 to 5 seconds before the entrance of the entire
+eclipse; in like manner, its last vestiges disappeared only some seconds
+after the eclipse was over. Vivid, however, as its light was, the halo
+cast but an extremely faint shadow. Some, indeed, who particularly
+directed their attention to it, could not detect any. But this might have
+been owing to those places on which the shadows would have fallen being
+faintly illumined by the reddish light of the horizon before mentioned. In
+other respects, during the progress of the eclipse, before and after its
+maximum, not the least change was observable in the uncovered part of the
+sun's disk. The cusps were as sharp and distinctly-marked as possible, the
+lunar mountains were projected on the sun's surface with the most
+beautiful distinctness and precision, and the color and brilliance of his
+disk, in the proximity of the moon's rim, were in no way diminished or
+altered. In short, nothing was seen which could be referred in the
+smallest degree to a lunar atmosphere.
+
+All these phenomena, striking as they were, were such as the assembled
+observers were prepared for; for they were such as had already been
+noticed during previous eclipses of the sun. But there was one of quite a
+different character, as mysterious as it was novel to them. This was the
+appearance of large reddish projections within the halo on the dark rim.
+The different observers characterized it by the expressions--"red clouds,
+volcanoes, flames, fire-sheaves," &c.; terms intended of course merely to
+indicate the phenomenon, and not in any way to explain it. The observers
+differed in their reports both with respect to the number of these "red
+clouds," as well as to their apparent heights. Arago stated that he
+observed two rose-colored projections which seemed to be unchangeable, and
+a minute high. His two colleagues also saw them, but to them they seemed
+somewhat larger. A fourth observer saw one of the projections some minutes
+even after the eclipse was over, while others perceived it with the naked
+eye. Petit, at Montpellier remarked _three_ protections, and even found
+time to measure one of them. It was 1-3/4 minute high. Littrow, at Vienna,
+considered them to be as high again as this; and stated "that the streaks
+were visible before they became colored, and remained visible also after
+their color had vanished." The light of these projections was soft and
+quiet, the projections themselves sharp, and their form unchanging till
+the moment of their extinction. Schidloffsky, at Lipezk, thought he
+perceived a rose-colored border on the moon in places where these red
+clouds did not reach; but could not be certain of the fact, on account of
+the shortness of the time.
+
+These projections or red clouds, mysterious and unexpected as they were to
+men who directed their attention for the first time to the purely physical
+phenomena concerned, were in fact, after all, nothing altogether new. The
+descriptions given by astronomers of earlier eclipses of the sun had been
+forgotten or overlooked. Stannyan, for instance, in his relation of that
+of the 20th May, 1706, says, "The egress of the sun from the moon's disk
+was preceded on its left rim, during an interval of six or seven seconds,
+by the appearance of a bloodred streak;" and Nassenius, during a total
+eclipse of the sun observed on the 13th of May, 1733, mentions having seen
+"several red spots, three or four in number, without the periphery of the
+moon's disk, one of them being larger than the others, and consisting, as
+it were, of three parallel parts inclining toward the moon's disk." It is
+clear, therefore, that earlier observers had witnessed the same
+phenomenon, although they were unable to offer any explanation of it. It
+seems, however, no unreasonable conclusion to come to, that these
+projections or red clouds, as well as the halo with its pencils of light
+before spoken of, are something without the proper solar photosphere, but
+not forming, as this does, one connected mass of light. What further can
+be known concerning this _something_ must be left to future ages to
+discover.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE HOUSEHOLD JEWELS. (FROM DICKENS'S HOUSEHOLD WORDS.)
+
+
+    A traveler, from journeying
+        In countries far away,
+    Repassed his threshold at the close
+        Of one calm Sabbath day;
+    A voice of love, a comely face,
+        A kiss of chaste delight,
+    Were the first things to welcome him
+        On that blessed Sabbath night.
+
+    He stretched his limbs upon the hearth,
+        Before its friendly blaze,
+    And conjured up mixed memories
+        Of gay and gloomy days;
+    And felt that none of gentle soul,
+        However far he roam,
+    Can e'er forego, can e'er forget,
+        The quiet joys of home.
+
+    "Bring me my children!" cried the sire,
+        With eager, earnest tone;
+    "I long to press them, and to mark
+        How lovely they have grown;
+    Twelve weary months have passed away
+        Since I went o'er the sea,
+    To feel how sad and lone I was
+        Without my babes and thee."
+
+    "Refresh thee, as 'tis needful," said
+        The fair and faithful wife,
+    The while her pensive features paled,
+        And stirred with inward strife;
+    "Refresh thee, husband of my heart,
+        I ask it as a boon;
+    Our children are reposing, love;
+        Thou shalt behold them soon."
+
+    She spread the meal, she filled the cup,
+        She pressed him to partake;
+    He sat down blithely at the board,
+        And all for her sweet sake;
+    But when the frugal feast was done,
+        The thankful prayer preferred,
+    Again affection's fountain flowed;
+        Again its voice was heard.
+
+    "Bring me my children, darling wife
+        I'm in an ardent mood;
+    My soul lacks purer aliment,
+        I long for other food;
+    Bring forth my children to my gaze,
+        Or ere I rage or weep,
+    I yearn to kiss their happy eyes
+        Before the hour of sleep."
+
+    "I have a question yet to ask;
+        Be patient, husband dear.
+    A stranger, one auspicious morn,
+        Did send some jewels here;
+    Until to take them from my care,
+        But yesterday he came,
+    And I restored them with a sigh:
+        --Dost thou approve or blame?"
+
+    "I marvel much, sweet wife, that thou
+        Shouldst breathe such words to me;
+    Restore to man, resign to God,
+        Whate'er is lent to thee;
+    Restore it with a willing heart,
+        Be grateful for the trust;
+    Whate'er may tempt or try us, wife,
+        Let us be ever just."
+
+    She took him by the passive hand.
+        And up the moonlit stair,
+    She led him to their bridal bed,
+        With mute and mournful air;
+    She turned the cover down, and there,
+        In grave-like garments dressed,
+    Lay the twin children of their love,
+        In death's serenest rest.
+
+    "These were the jewels lent to me,
+        Which God has deigned to own;
+    The precious caskets still remain,
+        But, ah, the _gems_ are flown;
+    But thou didst teach me to resign
+        What God alone can claim;
+    He giveth and he takes away,
+        Blest be His holy name!"
+
+    The father gazed upon his babes,
+        The mother drooped apart,
+    While all the woman's sorrow gushed
+        From her o'erburdened heart;
+    And with the striving of her grief,
+        Which wrung the tears she shed.
+    Were mingled low and loving words
+        To the unconscious dead.
+
+    When the sad sire had looked his fill,
+        He vailed each breathless face,
+    And down in self-abasement bowed,
+        For comfort and for grace;
+    With the deep eloquence of woe,
+        Poured forth his secret soul,
+    Rose up, and stood erect and calm,
+        In spirit healed and whole.
+
+    "Restrain thy tears, poor wife," he said,
+        "I learn this lesson still,
+    God gives, and God can take away,
+        Blest be His holy will!
+    Blest are my children, for they _live_
+        From sin and sorrow free,
+    And I am not all joyless, wife,
+        With faith, hope, love, and thee."
+
+
+
+
+
+THE TEA-PLANT. (FROM HOGG'S INSTRUCTOR.)
+
+
+Hid behind the monster wall that screens in the land of the Celestials
+from the prying eye of the "barbarian," the Tea-plant, in common with many
+things peculiar to those regions, remained long unknown to Europeans, and
+the snatches of information brought home by early travelers concerning it,
+were, in too many cases, of that questionable and contradictory kind, so
+characteristic, even in the present day, of the writings of those who
+travel in Eastern lands. Tea has now become a general article of domestic
+consumption in every household of our country having any pretension to
+social comfort, as well as in that of every other civilized nation, and,
+indeed, the _tea-table_ has no mean influence in refining the manners and
+promoting the social intercourse of a people. Important, however, as this
+universal beverage has become as an essential requisite to the social and
+physical comfort of all classes and conditions of civilized society, yet
+our knowledge of the plant from which it is produced is still very
+imperfect; and this, notwithstanding the fact that we have had tea-plants
+growing in our hothouses since the year 1768. Speaking of the introduction
+of the plant to this country, Hooker says--"It was not till after tea had
+been used as a beverage for upwards of a century in England, that the
+shrub which produces it was brought alive to this country. More than one
+botanist had embarked for the voyage to China--till lately a protracted and
+formidable undertaking--mainly in the hope of introducing a growing
+tea-tree to our greenhouses. No passage across the desert, no
+Waghorn-facilities, no steam-ship assisted the traveler in those days. The
+distance to and from China, with the necessary time spent in that country,
+generally consumed nearly three years! Once had the tea-tree been procured
+by Osbeck, a pupil of Linnæus, in spite of the jealous care with which the
+Chinese forbade its exportation; and when near the coast of England, a
+storm ensued, which destroyed the precious shrubs. Then the plan of
+obtaining berries was adopted, and frustrated by the heat of the tropics,
+which spoiled the oily seeds, and prevented their germination. The captain
+of a Swedish vessel hit upon a good scheme: having secured fresh berries,
+he sowed these on board ship, and often stinted himself of his daily
+allowance of water for the sake of the young plants; but, just as the ship
+entered the English Channel, an unlucky rat attacked his cherished charge
+and devoured them all!" So much, then, for the early attempts to introduce
+the tea-shrub to Europe: often, indeed, is the truth exemplified that
+
+
+    "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
+          Gang aft a-gee."
+
+
+The Chinese tea-plants are neat-growing shrubs, with bright glossy green
+leaves, not unlike those of the bay; or a more exact similitude will be
+found in the garden camellia, with the _leaves_ of which, however, many of
+our readers may not have acquaintance, although the _flowers_ are well
+known, being extensively used in decorating the female dress for the
+ball-room in the winter season. The tea-plants are nearly allied to the
+camellia, and belong to the same natural order: indeed, one species of the
+latter--the _Camellia sasanqua_ of botanists--is cultivated in the
+tea-grounds of China, on account of its beautiful flowers, which are said
+to impart fragrance and flavor to other teas.
+
+Comparatively few scientific naturalists have had sufficient opportunities
+of studying the tea-producing plants in their native _habitats_, or even
+in the cultivated grounds of China, and consequently a great difference of
+opinion has all along existed, as to whether tea is obtained from one,
+two, or more distinct species of _Thea_. This question is getting day by
+day more involved as new facts come to light; and, indeed, cultivation
+seems to have altered the original character of some forms of the plant so
+much, that the subject bids fair to remain an open question among European
+botanists for ages to come. The two tea-plants which have been long grown
+in British gardens, and universally supposed, until within the last few
+years, to be the only kinds in existence, are the _Thea bohea_ and the
+_Thea viridis_. The former was, until recently, very generally believed to
+produce the black tea of commerce, and the latter the green tea; but
+recent travelers have clearly shown that both _black_ and _green_ tea may
+be, and are, obtained from the same plant. The difference is caused by the
+mode of preparation; but it will be afterward seen that very important
+discrepancies occur between the accounts of this operation given by
+different observers. Certain it is, that the extreme caution with which
+the Chinese attempt to conceal a knowledge of their peculiar arts and
+manufactures from European visitors--and in none is their anxiety to do so
+more strikingly evinced than in the case of the culture and preparation of
+tea--tends greatly to frustrate the endeavors of the scientific traveler to
+acquire accurate information on this point.
+
+In the present state of our knowledge, it is quite impossible to say how
+many species or varieties of the tea-plant are grown in China. They are
+now believed to be numerous, although the two kinds to which we have
+referred are those most extensively cultivated. They have long been
+allowed to rank as distinct species in botanical books, and grown as such
+in our greenhouses; but some acute botanists have, at various times,
+suggested that they might be merely varieties of one plant. Such was the
+opinion of the editor of the "Botanical Magazine," when he figured and
+described the Bohea variety (t. 998). Professor Balfour ("Manual of
+Botany," § 793) enumerates three species--the two already mentioned, and
+one called _Thea Assamica_, being the one chiefly cultivated at the
+tea-grounds of Assam. Most of our readers may be aware that the
+cultivation and manufacture of tea has been successfully introduced to
+Northern India. A "Report on the Government Tea Plantations in Kumaon and
+Gurwahl, by W. Jameson, Esq., the superintendent of the Botanical Gardens
+in the North-Western Provinces,"(5) has just reached us. In that report--to
+which we will have occasion afterward to refer--there are "two species, and
+two well marked varieties" described. Some of these do not appear to have
+been at all noticed by other writers, although, from specimens of the
+plants, which we have examined, from the tea-grounds, they appear
+sufficiently distinct to warrant their being ranked as separate species;
+and there are, indeed, some botanists who would at once set them down as
+such.
+
+Having disposed of the question of _species_ in such manner as the
+unsatisfactory state of botanical knowledge on this point will admit, we
+shall now proceed to communicate some information respecting the culture
+of the tea-plant, and the manner in which its leaves are made available
+for the production of the beverage of which the female portion of the
+community, and more particularly _old wives_ (of both sexes), are believed
+to be so remarkably fond.
+
+The tea-plants are grown in beds conveniently formed for the purpose of
+irrigating in dry weather, and for plucking the leaves when required. The
+Chinese sow the seed thus: "Several seeds are dropped into holes four or
+five inches deep, and three or four feet apart, shortly after they ripen,
+or in November and December; the plants rise up in a cluster when the
+rains come on. They are seldom transplanted, but, sometimes, four to six
+are put quite close, to form a fine bush." In the government plantations
+of Kumaon and Gurwahl, more care seems to be bestowed in the raising of
+the plants, whereby the needless expenditure of seeds in the above method
+is saved. The seeds ripen in September or October, and in elevated
+districts, sometimes so late as November. In his report, Mr. Jameson
+mentions that, when ripe, the seeds are sown in drills, eight to ten
+inches apart from each other, the ground having been previously prepared
+by trenching and manuring. If the plants germinate in November, they are
+protected from the cold by a "_chupper_," made of bamboo and grass--a small
+kind of bamboo, called the ringal, being found in great abundance on the
+hills, at an elevation of 6000 to 7000 feet, and well adapted for the
+purpose; these _chuppers_ are removed throughout the day, and replaced at
+night. In April and May, they are used for protecting the young plants
+from the heat of the sun, until the rains commence. When the plants have
+attained a sufficient size they are transplanted with great care, a ball
+of earth being attached to their roots. They require frequent waterings,
+if the weather be dry. During the rains grass springs up around them with
+great rapidity, so as to render it impossible, with the usual number of
+hands, to keep the grounds clean. The practice, therefore, is merely to
+make a "_golah_" or clear space round each plant, these being connected
+with small water channels, in order to render irrigation easy in times of
+drought. The plants do not require to be pruned until the fifth year, the
+plucking of leaves generally tending to make them assume the basket shape,
+the form most to be desired to procure the greatest quantity of leaves.
+Irrigation seems absolutely essential for the profitable cultivation of
+the tea-plant, although, on the other hand, land liable to be flooded
+during the rains, and upon which water lies for any length of time, is
+quite unsuitable for its growth. The plant seems to thrive in a great
+variety of soils, but requires the situation to be at a considerable
+altitude above the sea level.
+
+According to Mr. Jameson, the season for picking the leaves commences in
+April and continues until October, the number of gatherings varying,
+according to the nature of the season, from four to seven. So soon as the
+new and young leaves have appeared in April, the first plucking takes
+place. "A certain division of the plantation is marked off, and to each
+man a small basket is given, with instructions to proceed to a certain
+point, so that no plant may be passed over. On the small basket being
+filled, the leaves are emptied into another large one, which is put in
+some shady place, and in which, when filled, they are conveyed to the
+manufactory. The leaves are generally plucked with the thumb and
+forefinger. Sometimes the terminal part, of a branch having four or five
+young leaves attached, is plucked off." The old leaves, being too hard to
+curl, are rejected as of no use; but all new and fresh leaves are
+indiscriminately collected.
+
+The _manufacture_ of the different varieties of tea has been the subject
+of much difference of opinion. It has been supposed by some writers, as we
+have already mentioned, that _green_ tea was solely obtained from the Thea
+viridis, and _black_ tea from the Thea bohea, while others have asserted,
+that the different kinds of the manufactured article are equally produced
+by both plants. Facts seem now to be quite in favor of the latter opinion,
+and, indeed, Mr. Fortune, while on his first botanical mission on account
+of the Horticultural Society of London, ascertained, by visiting the
+different parts of the coast of China, that the _Bohea_ plant was
+converted into both black and green tea in the south of China, but that in
+all the northern provinces he found only _Thea viridis_ grown, and equally
+converted into both kinds of tea. Mr. Ball (the late inspector of teas to
+the East India Company in China), in a work entitled "An Account of the
+Cultivation and Manufacture of Tea in China," fully confirms the fact that
+both the green and black teas are prepared from the same plant, and that
+the differences depend entirely on the processes of manufacture. It is, of
+course, possible that particular varieties of the same plant, grown in
+certain soils and situations, may be preferred by the Chinese
+manufacturers for the preparation of the black and green teas, and the
+various kinds of both known in commerce. It has been stated by some that
+the _young leaves_ are taken for green tea, and the older ones for the
+black varieties; this is the popular notion on the subject, but probably
+it has no foundation.
+
+Although it _now_ seems somewhat generally agreed that both green and
+black teas are made from the leaves of the same plant, yet the various
+writers on the subject are at considerable variance as to the mode in
+which the difference of appearance is brought about. Some assert that the
+_black_ being the natural colored tea, the beautiful green tinge is given
+to the _green_ tea by means of substances used for the purpose of dyeing
+it; while others hold that the green hue depends entirely on the method of
+roasting.
+
+Among the formers Mr. Fortune, whose account of the "Chinese Method of
+Coloring Green Tea," as observed by him, is published in a former number
+of the INSTRUCTOR (NO. 240, page 91). From that account, it would appear
+that the coloring substances used are gypsum, indigo, and Prussian blue,
+and "for every hundred pounds of green tea which are consumed in England
+or America, the consumer really eats more than half a pound" of these
+substances. We hope now to present our tea-drinking readers with a more
+pleasing picture than this; to show that indeed there is not "death in the
+cup," nor aught else to be feared. We therefore proceed to explain the
+modes of manufacture, as detailed by Mr. Ball. And, firstly, the
+_manufacture_ of _black_ tea. The leaves, on being gathered, are exposed
+to the air, until they wither and "become soft and flaccid." In this state
+they soon begin to emit a slight degree of fragrance, when they are
+sifted, and then tossed about with the hands in large trays. They are then
+collected into a heap, and covered with a cloth, being now "watched with
+the utmost care, until they become spotted and tinged with red, when they
+also increase in fragrance, and must be instantly roasted, or the tea
+would be injured." In the first roasting, the fire, which is prepared with
+dry wood, is kept exceedingly brisk; but "any heat may suffice which
+produces the crackling of the leaves described by Kæmpfer." The roasting
+is continued till the leaves give out a fragrant smell, and become quite
+flaccid, when they are in a fit state to be rolled. The roasting and
+rolling are often a third, and sometimes even a fourth time repeated, and,
+indeed, the process of rolling is continued until the juices can no longer
+be freely expressed. The leaves are then finally dried in sieves placed in
+drying-tubs, over a charcoal fire in a common chafing-dish. The heat
+dissipates much of the moisture, and the leaves begin to assume their
+black appearance. Smoke is prevented, and the heat moderated, by the ash
+of charcoal or burnt "paddy-husk" being thrown on the fire. "The leaves
+are then twisted, and again undergo the process of drying, twisting, and
+turning as before; which is repeated once or twice more, until they become
+quite black, well-twisted, and perfectly dry and crisp."
+
+According to Dr. Royle, there are only two gatherings of the leaves of
+_green_ tea in the year; the first beginning about the 20th of April, and
+the second at the summer solstice. "The green tea factors universally
+agree that the sooner the leaves of green tea are roasted after gathering
+the better; and that exposure to the air is unnecessary, and to the sun
+injurious." The iron vessel in which the green tea is roasted is called a
+_kuo_. It is thin, about sixteen inches in diameter, and set horizontally
+(that for Twankey obliquely) in a stove of brickwork, so as to have a
+depth of about fifteen inches. The fire is prepared with dry wood, and
+kept very brisk; the heat becomes intolerable, and the bottom of the kuo
+even red-hot, though this is not essential. About half a pound of leaves
+are put in at one time, a crackling noise is produced, much steam is
+evolved from the leaves, which are quickly stirred about; at the end of
+every turn they are raised about six inches above the surface of the
+stove, and shaken on the palm of the hand, so as to separate them, or to
+disperse the steam. They are then suddenly collected into a heap, and
+passed to another man, who stands in readiness with a basket to receive
+them. The process of rolling is much the same as that employed in the
+rolling of black tea, the leaves taking the form of a ball. After the
+balls are shaken to pieces, the leaves are also rolled between the palms
+of the hands, so that they may be twisted regularly, and in the same
+direction. They are then spread out in sieves, and placed on stands in a
+cool room.
+
+For the second roasting the fire is considerably diminished, and charcoal
+used instead of wood, and the leaves constantly fanned by a boy who stands
+near. When the leaves have lost so much of their aqueous and viscous
+qualities as to produce no sensible steam, they no longer adhere together,
+but, by the simple action of the fire, separate and curl of themselves.
+When taken from the kuo, they appear of a dark olive color, almost black;
+and after being sifted, they are placed on stands as before.
+
+For the third roasting, which is in fact the final drying, the heat is not
+greater than what the hand can bear for some seconds without much
+inconvenience. "The fanning and the mode of roasting were the same as in
+the final part of the second roasting. It was now curious to observe the
+change of color which gradually took place in the leaves, for it was in
+this roasting that they began to assume that bluish tint, resembling the
+bloom on fruit, which distinguishes this tea, and renders its appearance
+so agreeable."
+
+The foregoing being the general mode of manufacturing green or Hyson tea,
+it is then separated into different varieties, as Hyson, Hyson-skin, young
+Hyson, and gunpowder, by sifting, winnowing, and fanning, and some
+varieties by further roasting.
+
+This account of the preparation of green tea is directly opposed to that
+given by Mr. Fortune, before referred to, wherein it is mentioned that the
+coloring of green tea is effected by the admixture of indigo, gypsum, &c.
+It would appear that both modes are practiced in China; and, with the
+editor of the "Botanical Gazette," we may ask, Is it not possible that
+_genuine_ green tea is free from artificial coloring matter, and that the
+Chinese, with their usual _imitative_ propensity (exercised, as travelers
+tell us, in the manufacture of wooden hams, &c, for exportation), may
+prepare an artificial green tea, since this fetches a higher price than
+the black? If this be not the case, then we have a difficulty in
+accounting for the _origin_ of the green teas; "there must have been green
+teas for the foreigners to become acquainted with and acquire a preference
+for, or there could not have been a demand for it." We think Mr. Jameson
+throws some additional light on the subject when he remarks, in the course
+of his observations on the manufacture of green tea, "To make the bad or
+light-colored leaves marketable, they undergo an artificial process of
+coloring; but this I have prohibited, in compliance with the orders of the
+Court of Directors, and therefore do not consider this tea at present fit
+for the market." In a foot-note he adds, "In China, this process,
+according to the statement of the tea-manufacturers, is carried on to a
+great extent." Whether the process of coloring is confined solely to the
+light-colored leaves of green tea, or extended to other inferior sorts, we
+have no means of judging, amid such a variety of discordant statements.
+
+After the tea is thoroughly dried, in the manner above detailed, it is
+carefully hand-picked, all the old or badly curled, and also light-colored
+leaves being removed, as well as any leaves of different varieties that
+may have got intermixed with it. Being now quite dry, it is ready to be
+packed, which is done in a very careful manner. The woods used for making
+the boxes in Northern India (according to Mr. Jameson) are toon, walnut,
+and saul (_Shorea robusta_), all coniferous (pine) woods being unfit for
+the purpose, on account of their pitchy odor. The tea is firmly packed in
+a leaden box, and soldered down, being covered with paper, to prevent the
+action of air through any unobserved holes that might exist in the lead;
+this leaden box is contained in the wooden one, which it is made exactly
+to fit. The tea being now ready to go into the hands of the merchant, we
+need carry our observations no farther, as every housewife will know
+better than we can tell her how to manage her own tea-pot. We will,
+therefore, conclude our remarks by submitting the following statistical
+note of the imports of tea into the United Kingdom in the year 1846, with
+the view of showing its commercial importance--
+
+Black tea, about            43,000,000 lbs.
+Green tea, about            13,000,000 lbs.
+Total                       56,000,000 lbs.
+
+
+
+
+
+ANECDOTES OF DR. CHALMERS.
+
+
+Some curious Anecdotes of Dr. Chalmers are given in the new volume of his
+life, now on the point of publication. Immediately upon his translation to
+Glasgow a most enthusiastic attachment sprung up between Chalmers, who was
+then some thirty-five years of age, and Thomas Smith, the son of his
+publisher, a young man still in his minority. It was more like a first
+love than friendship. The friends met regularly by appointment, or in case
+of absence, daily letters were interchanged. The young man died in the
+course of a few months. A ring containing his hair was given to Chalmers;
+and it is noted as a singular fact, showing the intense and lasting nature
+of his attachment, that the ring, after having been long laid aside, was
+resumed and worn by him a few months before his death, a period of more
+than thirty years....
+
+His keen practical talents did not altogether shield him from attempts at
+imposition. "On one occasion," he writes, "a porter half-drunk came up to
+me, and stated that two men were wanting to see me. He carried me to a
+tavern, where it turned out that there was a wager between these two men
+whether this said porter was correct in his knowledge of me. I was so
+revolted at his impertinency, that I made the ears of all who were in the
+house ring with a reproof well said and strong; and so left them a little
+astounded, I have no doubt.".... On another occasion, while busily engaged
+one forenoon in his study, he was interrupted by the entrance of a
+visitor. The doctor began to look grave at the interruption; but was
+propitiated by his visitor telling him that he called under great distress
+of mind. "Sit down, sir; be good enough to be seated," said the doctor,
+looking up eagerly, and turning full of interest from his writing table.
+The visitor explained to him that he was troubled with doubts about the
+Divine origin of the Christian religion; and being kindly questioned as to
+what these were, he gave among others what is said in the Bible about
+Melchisedec being without father and without mother, &c. Patiently and
+anxiously Dr. Chalmers sought to clear away each successive difficulty as
+it was stated. Expressing himself as if greatly relieved in mind, and
+imagining that he had gained his end--"Doctor," said the visitor, "I am in
+great want of a little money at present, and perhaps you could help me in
+that way" At once the object of his visit was seen. A perfect tornado of
+indignation burst upon the deceiver, driving him in very quick retreat
+from the study to the street door, these words escaping among others--"Not
+a penny, sir! not a penny! It's too bad! it's too bad! and to haul in your
+hypocrisy upon the shoulders of Melchisedek!...." A discussion arose among
+the superintendents of his Sabbath-schools whether punishment should ever
+be resorted to. One of them related an instance of a boy whom he had found
+so restless, idle, and mischievous, that he was on the point of expelling
+him, when the thought occurred to him to give the boy an office. The
+candles used in the school-room were accordingly put under care of the
+boy; and from that hour he became a diligent scholar. Another
+superintendent then related his experience. He had been requested to take
+charge of a school that had become so unruly and unmanageable that it had
+beaten off every teacher that had gone to it. "I went," said the teacher,
+"and told the boys, whom I found all assembled, that I had heard a very
+bad account of them, that I had come out for the purpose of doing them
+good, that I must have peace and attention, that I would submit to no
+disturbance, and that, in the first place, we must begin with prayer. They
+all stood up, and I commenced, and certainly did not forget the
+injunction--Watch and pray. I had not proceeded two sentences, when one
+little fellow gave his neighbor a tremendous _dig_ in the side; I
+instantly stepped forward and gave _him_ a sound cuff on the side of his
+head. I never spoke a word, but stepped back, concluded the prayer, taught
+for a month, and never had a more orderly school." Dr. Chalmers enjoyed
+the discussion exceedingly; and decided that the question as to punishment
+and non-punishment stood just where it was before, "inasmuch as it had
+been found that the judicious appointment of candle-snuffer-general and a
+good cuff on the _lug_ had been about equally efficacious.".... Among the
+most ardent admirers of the doctor's eloquence, was Mr. Young, professor
+of Greek. Upon one occasion, he was so electrified that he leaped up from
+his seat upon the bench near the pulpit, and stood, breathless and
+motionless, gazing at the preacher till the burst was over, the tears all
+the while came rolling down his cheeks. Upon another occasion, forgetful
+of time and place--fancying himself perhaps in the theatre--he rose and made
+a loud clapping of his hands in an ecstasy of admiration and delight....
+He was no exception to the saying that a prophet is not without honor save
+among his own countrymen. When he preached in London his own brother James
+never went to hear him. One day, at the coffee-house which he frequented,
+the brother was asked by some one who was ignorant of the relationship, if
+he had heard this wonderful countryman and namesake of his, "Yes," said
+James, somewhat drily, "I have heard him." "And what did you think of
+him?" "Very little indeed," was the reply. "Dear me," exclaimed the
+inquirer, "When did you hear him?" "About half an hour after he was born,"
+was the cool answer of the brother.... When he preached at his native
+place, so strong was the feeling of his father against attending any but
+his own parish church, or so feeble was his desire to hear his son, that,
+although the churches of the two parishes of Eastern and Western
+Anstruther stood but a few hundred yards apart, the old man would not
+cross the separating _burn_ in order to hear him.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE PLEASURES OF ILLNESS. (FROM THE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL.)
+
+
+Every body knows the pleasures of health; but there are very few, if any,
+who can appreciate those of illness. Doubtless many people will feel
+inclined to laugh at the suggestion, but we beg that we may not be
+prejudged. There is positive pleasure to be derived even from every
+variety--and there is a choice--of sickness, if we would only put faith in
+the idea, and then strive to realize it. You may smile, but we are very
+serious, recollecting especially that the subject is rather a painful one,
+for which reason it behoves us to begin by treating it philosophically.
+
+The best thing that people can do when they are suffering pain, either
+acute or otherwise, is--if they can not readily overcome it--to endeavor to
+forget it; simply because the mere effort, earnestly made and persevered
+in, will materially assist whatever more direct and efficient means may be
+adopted to get rid of it. Brooding over any bodily suffering only gives it
+encouragement, inasmuch as the mind is then actively assisting the ailment
+of the body; but let us make the most of a temporary cessation from the
+infliction, and there is a probability of its being dispelled altogether.
+Now the pleasure of getting rid of pain is undeniable, and, having
+achieved that, the best thing we can do to render the cessation permanent
+is to enjoy a sound sleep, which, though a very simple and ordinary
+gratification at other times, then becomes an extreme luxury, such,
+indeed, as we never should have known except through the instrumentality
+of the suffering that preceded it. The same may be said of many of the
+remedies that are used for the alleviation of pain: a hot bath, local
+applications of an exceedingly cold nature, or a delicious draught for
+cooling fever and quenching thirst--a draught like that of hock and
+soda-water--a draught "worthy of Xerxes, the great king," and not to be
+equaled by sherbet "sublimed with snow;" but then you must (oh, what a
+pleasure for a king!) "get very drunk," says Byron, in order thoroughly to
+enjoy it. You see our author so highly appreciated the pleasures of
+illness that he actually advises us to make ourselves ill; and that, too,
+in a most vulgar and degrading manner, in order that we may unreservedly
+revel in them. But, perhaps, the poet only meant to satirize the excessive
+proneness of all human beings--and kings have been noted for this quite as
+much as any--to bring pain upon themselves by some wanton or provoked
+indiscretion.
+
+No pleasure can compensate for acute and long-endured suffering; but in
+all eases of illness unattended by pain, the pleasure to be derived is
+considerably greater than might be imagined. In fact, no one ever thinks
+of being able to enjoy an illness, for which reason we shall endeavor to
+show our readers not only the practicability of the idea, but how they are
+to set about realizing it. Let us take the most common kind of malady
+there is unattended by actual pain, a cold; a cold all over you, as
+violent as you please--such, in fact, as is "not to be sneezed at," one
+that will confine you to your bed, compel you to take medicine, and
+restrict you to broth and barley-water. There you are, then, ill; happy
+fellow! very ill! you have not the least conception how much you are to be
+envied. The mere fact of being in such a condition, renders you an object
+of anxiety and interest. Every body in the house is ready to wait upon
+you, and all you have to do is to lie still and enjoy your bed, while
+other people are bustling about the house, or out of doors all day,
+undergoing the fatigue and irksomeness of their ordinary avocations. You
+are ill--you are to do nothing--not even to get up to breakfast, but to have
+it brought to you in bed; a luxury which it is probable you may have often
+been tempted to enjoy in the winter, though your philosophy enabled you to
+overcome it. Now you are not only compelled to indulge in it, but are made
+an object of sympathy on that account; it is so very lamentable to see you
+propped up with pillows, and cosily encased in flannel around the throat
+and shoulders. You are not to be hurried over your breakfast, there is no
+office to go to; nothing to be thought of but the enjoyment of your tea
+and toast, which you may sip and munch as leisurely as you please, while
+reading a magazine or newspaper. At length breakfast is over, and you have
+become tired of reading; down go the pillows to their usual position, and
+after some gentle hand has smoothed and placed them comfortably, you sink
+back upon them, overwhelmed by a most delightful sense of mental and
+bodily indolence. What a blessing it is to have escaped the ordeal of
+shaving, even for one morning! only think of that; and remember also how
+the warmth of the bed will encourage the growth of your beard, compelling
+you of course to send for the barber when you have got well enough to
+leave your room again. Hark! there's a knock at the door--somebody you
+don't want to see, probably; "Master's very poorly, and obliged to keep
+his bed." Ha! ha! Keep his bed, eh?--no such thing; it's the bed that keeps
+him--snug and warm, and in a blessed state of exemption from all
+annoyances, and you must not be subjected to any such infliction; no, you
+are very ill. You abandon yourself to the idea, nestle your head
+luxuriously in the pillow, pull the bed clothes over your chin, and fall
+into a delightful dose. You awake feverish, perhaps, and thirsty. Well,
+there is some barley-water at your bedside, delicately flavored with a
+little lemon juice and sugar; a sort of primitive punch, pleasant to the
+palate, and not at all likely to prove provocative of headache. You raise
+a tumblerful to your lips, and drink with intense _gusto_. What a pleasure
+it is! well worth coming into the world to enjoy, if one was to die the
+next minute; but you are not going to die yet, don't suppose it--you are
+only being favored with an opportunity of enjoying the pleasures of
+illness. But you are so feverish, you say; so much the better. Now, just
+endeavor to recall to mind the wildest fiction, either in prose or poetry
+that you have ever read, something very pleasing and highly imaginative--a
+fairy tale will be as good as any. Go to sleep thinking of it, and you
+will dream--dream, said we? we were wrong, for the fiction will become a
+glorious reality; and so it does! but, alas! you awake, once more return
+to the vulgar commonplaces of mundane existence. A sharp rap at the
+bedroom door makes you farther conscious that you have only been reveling
+in what is termed a delusion; but never mind, here comes some one to
+console you--another corporeality like yourself, intent on feeding you with
+chicken-broth, and batter-pudding; much more substantial fare than the
+fairies would have given you, and extremely enjoyable now that you are
+ill, though at any other time you would have turned up your nose at it.
+Oh, it's a fine thing is illness for teaching people not to let the palate
+become irritated by luxurious living! "Very nice," eh, "but you would have
+liked a basin of mulligatawny better, and some wine-sauce with the
+pudding?" Shocking depravity! the pleasures of illness are simple, and you
+must learn to enjoy _them_ as well as those of health; it's all habit.
+Many medicines would be found extremely palatable if we were not
+prejudiced against them. Now, black draughts, you "can't bear them;" and
+yet they are much nicer than castor-oil. Why, what's the matter? you've
+upset all the broth over that beautifully white counterpane! Delicate
+stomach, yours, very. Come, try the pudding; and don't let your
+imagination combine any medicinal sauce with it. You have eaten it all;
+that's right. Now, allow us to suggest that a little very ripe fruit will
+not hurt you--an orange, or some strawberries if in season. But you must
+not lie there and allow your mind to get either into a wearisome state of
+vacuity or unpleasant reflection. Send for a book from the library--some
+novel that you have never read; and if it is too much trouble to read it
+yourself, get some one to read it to you. It is a capital plan always to
+endeavor to forget an illness by means of some quiet and absorbing
+enjoyment. You are fond of music, for instance; and if you hear any good
+band strike up in the street we recommend you by all means to detain them.
+You will get up, perhaps, in the evening, and prepare yourself for a
+refreshing night's rest by having your bed made; should a friend drop in
+who can give you a game of chess or cribbage be sure to avail yourself of
+the opportunity, if you feel inclined for such recreation. Do not sit up
+late, or get into any exciting conversation; but go calmly and quietly to
+bed, take your basin of gruel, swallow your pills, lay your head on the
+pillow, and go to sleep. To-morrow it is most probable that you will be
+well, or only sufficiently indisposed to render it prudent that you should
+stop at home, when you will indulge in a stronger and more relishing diet;
+pass the day in a dreamy state of inactivity, or enjoy yourself
+vivaciously in any reasonable manner you may think proper.
+
+Perhaps, gentle reader, you may have endured prolonged and severe attacks
+of bodily suffering--perhaps you will tell us that we have not been
+depicting illness at all, but merely indisposition. You would have had us
+pick out from the pages of the "Lancet" a thrilling account of torture
+under the knife, and then made us rack our ingenuity to discover, if
+possible, some pleasure contingent upon that. You might as well expect us
+to write an article on the pleasure of being hanged. We will, however, say
+this much as regards every degree of illness: that there is scarcely any
+that does not admit of some mitigating gratification. The mere
+circumstance of being watched and most carefully tended by those we love,
+the kindness with which they bear our peevishness, and the desire they
+display to do every thing they can either to alleviate our pain or to
+conduce to our convalescence, are pleasures such as illness alone can
+afford, and must ever merit the highest appreciation, not only because we
+either are or ought to be duly impressed with them at the time, but for
+the farther and more substantial reason that they become delightful
+reminiscences and bonds of affection forever after. It is an excellent
+thing, morally and socially, is illness, and only requires that we
+endeavor to make the best instead of the worst of it; and therein lies the
+whole serious purport of this paper, which we have thought fit to write in
+as light a style as possible, knowing that the subject, though interesting
+to all, is very far from being generally palatable.
+
+
+
+
+
+OBSTRUCTIONS TO THE USE OF THE TELESCOPE.
+
+
+It has been long known, both from theory and in practice, that the
+imperfect transparency of the earth's atmosphere, and the unequal
+refraction which arises from differences of temperature, combine to set a
+limit to the use of high magnifying powers in our telescopes. Hitherto,
+however, the application of such high powers was checked by the
+imperfections of the instruments themselves; and it is only since the
+construction of Lord Rosse's telescope that astronomers have found that,
+in our damp and variable climate, it is only during a few days of the year
+that telescopes of such magnitude can use successfully the high magnifying
+powers which they are capable of bearing. Even in a cloudless sky, when
+the stars are sparkling in the firmament, the astronomer is baffled by
+influences which are invisible, and while new planets and new satellites
+are being discovered by instruments comparatively small, the gigantic
+Polyphemus lies slumbering in his cave, blinded by thermal currents, more
+irresistible than the firebrand of Ulysses. As the astronomer, however,
+can not command a tempest to clear his atmosphere, nor a thunder storm to
+purify it, his only alternative is to remove his telescope to some
+southern climate, where no clouds disturb the serenity of the firmament,
+and no changes of temperature distract the emanations of the stars. A fact
+has been recently mentioned, which entitles us to anticipate great results
+from such a measure. The Marquis of Ormonde is said to have seen from
+Mount Etna, with his naked eye, the satellites of Jupiter. If this be
+true, what discoveries may we not expect, even in Europe, from a large
+reflector working above the grosser strata of our atmosphere. This noble
+experiment of sending a large reflector to a southern climate has been but
+once made in the history of science. Sir John Herschel transported his
+telescopes and his family to the south of Africa, and during a voluntary
+exile of four years' duration he enriched astronomy with many splendid
+discoveries.--_Sir David Brewster_.
+
+
+
+
+
+MONTHLY RECORD OF CURRENT EVENTS.
+
+
+The Political Incidents of the past month have been interesting and
+important. Congress, after spending eight or nine months in most animated
+discussion of the principles, results, and relations of various subjects
+growing out of Slavery in the Southern States, has enacted several
+provisions of very great importance to the whole country. The debates upon
+these topics, especially in the Senate, have been exceedingly able, and
+have engrossed public attention to an unusual degree. The excitement which
+animated the members of Congress gradually extended to those whom they
+represented, and a state of feeling had arisen which was regarded, by many
+judicious and experienced men, as full of danger to the harmony and
+well-being, if not to the permanent existence, of the American Union. The
+action of Congress during the month just closed, concludes the controversy
+upon these questions, and for the time, at least, prevents vigorous and
+effective agitation of the principles which they involved. What that
+action has been we shall state with as much detail and precision as our
+readers will desire.
+
+In the last number of the NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, we chronicled the action
+of the Senate upon several of the bills now referred to. They were sent of
+course to the House of Representatives, and that body first took up the
+bill establishing the boundary of Texas, and giving her ten millions of
+dollars in payment of her claim to the portion of New Mexico which the
+bill requires her to relinquish. Mr. BOYD, of Kentucky, moved as an
+amendment, to attach to it the bills for the government of Utah and New
+Mexico, substantially as they had passed the Senate, both being without
+any anti-slavery proviso. He subsequently withdrew that portion of the
+amendment relating to Utah; and an effort was made by Mr. ASHMUN to cut
+off the remainder of the amendment by the previous question, but the House
+refused by a vote of 74 ayes to 107 nays. The subject was discussed with a
+good deal of animation for several days. On the 4th of September, a motion
+to lay the bill on the table was defeated--ayes 30, nays 169. A motion to
+refer the bill to the Committee of the Whole, which was considered
+equivalent to its rejection, was then carried--ayes 109, nays 99;--but a
+motion to reconsider that vote was immediately passed--ayes 104, nays
+98;--and the House then refused to refer the bill to the Committee of the
+Whole by a vote of 101 ayes and 103 nays. Mr. CLINGMAN, of North Carolina,
+moved an amendment to divide California, and erect the southern part of it
+into the territory of Colorado;--but this was rejected--ayes 69, nays 130.
+The question was then taken on the amendment, organizing a territorial
+government for New Mexico, and was lost--ayes 98, nays 106. The question
+then came up on ordering the Texas Boundary bill to a third reading, and
+the House refused to do so by a vote of 80 ayes and 126 nays. Mr. BOYD
+immediately moved to reconsider that vote, and on the 5th that motion
+passed--ayes 131, nays 75. Mr. GRINELL, of Massachusetts then moved to
+reconsider the vote by which Mr. BOYD'S amendment had been rejected, and
+this was carried by a vote of 106 to 99. An amendment, offered by Mr.
+FEATHERSTON, of Virginia, to strike out all after the enacting clause, and
+to make the Rio Grande, from its mouth to its source, the boundary of
+Texas, was rejected by a vote of 71 in favor to 128 against it. The
+amendment of Mr. BOYD was then passed by a vote of 106 ayes and 99 noes;
+and the question was then taken on ordering the bill, as amended, to a
+third reading. It was lost by a vote of 99 ayes to 107 noes. Mr. HOWARD,
+of Texas, who had voted against the bill, immediately moved a
+reconsideration of the vote. The Speaker decided that the motion was not
+in order, inasmuch as a reconsideration had once been had. Mr. HOWARD
+appealed from the decision, and contended that the former vote was simply
+to reconsider the vote on the original bill, whereas this was to
+reconsider the vote on the bill as amended by Mr. BOYD.--On the fifth, the
+House reversed the Speaker's decision, 123 to 83,--thus bringing up again
+the proposition to order the bill to a third reading. Mr. HOWARD moved the
+previous question, and his motion was sustained, 103 to 91;--and the bill
+was then ordered to a third reading by a vote of 108 to 98. The bill was
+then read a third time, and finally passed by a vote of 108 ayes to 98
+nays.--As this bill is one of marked importance, we add, as a matter of
+record, the following analysis of the vote upon it:--the names of Democrats
+are in Roman letter, Whigs in italics, and members of the Free Soil party
+in small capitals:--
+
+AYES.--INDIANA, Albertson, W.J. Brown, Dunham, Fitch, Gorman, McDonald,
+Robinson.--ALABAMA, _Alston_, W.R.W. Cobb, _Hilliard_.--TENNESSEE,
+_Anderson_, Ewing, _Gentry_, I.G. Harris, A. Johnson, Jones, Savage, F.P.
+Stanton, Thomas, _Watkins, Williams_.--NEW YORK, _Anrews, Bokee, Briggs,
+Brooks, Duer, McKissock, Nelson, Phænix, Rose, Schermerhorn, Thurman,
+Underhill, White_--IOWA, Leffler.--RHODE-ISLAND, _Geo. G. King_.--MISSOURI,
+Bay, Bowlin, Green, Hall.--VIRGINIA, Bayly, Beale, Edmunson, _Haymond_,
+McDowell, McMullen, _Martin_, Parker.--KENTUCKY, Boyd, _Breck_, G.A.
+Caldwell, _J.L. Johnson, Marshall_, Mason, _McLean, Morehead_, R.H.
+Stanton, _John B. Thompson_.--MARYLAND, _Bowie_, Hammond, _Kerr_,
+McLane.--MICHIGAN, Buel.--FLORIDA, _E.C. Cabell_.--DELAWARE, _J.W.
+Houston_.--PENNSYLVANIA, _Chester Butler, Casey, Chandler_, Dimmick,
+Gilmore, _Levin_, Job Mann, McLanahan, _Pitman_, Robbins, Ross, Strong,
+James Thompson.--NORTH CAROLINA, _R.C. Caldwell_, _Deherry_, _Outlaw_,
+_Shepperd_, _Stanly_.--Ohio, Disney, Hoagland, Potter, _Taylor_,
+Whittlesey.--MASSACHUSETTS, _Duncan_, _Eliot_, _Grinnell_.--MAINE, Fuller,
+Gerry, Littlefield.--ILLINOIS, Thomas L. Harris, McClernand, Richardson,
+Young.--NEW-HAMPSHIRE, Hibbard, Peaslee, _Wilson_.--TEXAS, Howard,
+Kaufman.--GEORGIA, _Owen_, _Toombs_, Welborn.--NEW JERSEY, Wildrick.
+
+NAYS.--NEW YORK, _Alexander_, _Bennett_, _Burrows_, _Clark_, _Conger_,
+_Gott_, _Holloway_, _W.T. Jackson_, _John A. King_, PRESTON KING,
+_Matteson_, _Putnam_, _Reynolds_, _Ramsey_, _Sackett_, _Schoolcraft_,
+_Silvester_.--MASSACHUSETTS, ALLEN, _Fowler_, _Horace Mann_,
+_Rockwell_.--NORTH CAROLINA, _Clingman_, Daniel, Venable.--VIRGINIA,
+Averett, Holiday, Mead, Millson, Powell, Seddon.--ILLINOIS, _Baker_,
+Wentworth.--MICHIGAN, Bingham, SPRAGUE.--ALABAMA, Bowdon, S.W. Harris,
+Hubbard, Inge.--MISSISSIPPI, A.G. Brown, Featherston, McWillie, Jacob
+Thompson.--SOUTH CAROLINA, Burt, Colcock, Holmes, Orr, Wallace, Woodward,
+McQueen.--CONNECTICUT, _Thomas B. Butler_, Waldo, BOOTH.--OHIO, Cable,
+_Campbell_, Cartter, _Corwin_, _Crowell_, _Nathan Evans_, GIDDINGS,
+_Hunter_, Morris, Olds, ROOT, _Schenck_, Sweetzer, _Vinton_.--PENNSYLVANIA,
+_Calvin_, _Dickey_, HOWE, _Moore_, _Ogle_, _Reed_, _Thaddeus
+Stevens_.--WISCONSIN, _Cole_, Doty, DURKEE.--RHODE ISLAND, _Dìxon_.--GEORGIA,
+Haralson, Jos. W. Jackson.--INDIANA, Harlan, JULIAN, _McGaughey_.--VERMONT,
+_Hebard_, _Henry_, _Meacham_, Peck.--ARKANSAS, Robert W. Johnson.--NEW
+JERSEY, _James G. King_, _Newell_, _Van Dyke_.--LOUISIANA, La Sere,
+Morse.--MAINE, _Otis_, Sawtelle, Stetson.--MISSOURI, Phelps.--NEW HAMPSHIRE,
+TUCK.
+
+This analysis shows that there voted
+
+For The Bill:
+Northern Whigs: 24
+Southern Whigs: 25-49
+Northern Democrats: 32
+Southern Democrats: 27-59
+Total: 108.
+
+Against The Bill:
+Northern Whigs: 44
+Southern Whigs: 1-45
+Northern Democrats: 13
+Southern Democrats: 30-43
+Total: 98.
+
+The bill thus passed in the House was sent to the Senate; and on the 9th
+that body, by a vote of 31 to 10, concurred in the amendment which the
+House had made to it; and it became, by the signature of the President,
+the law of the land.
+
+On Saturday the 7th, the House took up the bill from the Senate admitting
+California into the Union. Mr. THOMPSON, of Mississippi, moved an
+amendment, making the parallel of 36° 30' the southern boundary of
+California, which was rejected--yeas 71, nays 134. The main question was
+then taken, and the bill, admitting California, passed--yeas 150, nays
+56.--On the same day the bill from the Senate organizing a territorial
+government for Utah was taken up, and Mr. WENTWORTH, of Illinois, moved to
+amend it by inserting a clause prohibiting the existence of slavery within
+the territory. This was lost--ayes 69, nays 78. Mr. FITCH, of Indiana,
+moved an amendment, declaring that the Mexican law prohibiting slavery,
+should remain in full force in the territory: after some discussion this
+was rejected--ayes 51, nays 85. Several other amendments were introduced
+and lost, and the bill finally passed by a vote of 97 ayes and 85 nays.
+
+The bill to facilitate the recovery of Fugitive slaves was taken up in the
+Senate on the 20th of August. Mr. DAYTON submitted an amendment providing
+for a trial by jury of the question, whether the person who may be
+claimed, is or is not a fugitive slave. After some debate, the amendment
+was rejected by a vote of ayes 11, nays 27, as follows:
+
+AYES--Messrs. Chase, Davis of Massachusetts, Dayton, Dodge of Wisconsin,
+Greene, Hamlin, Phelps, Smith, Upham, Walker, Winthrop--11.
+
+NAYS.--Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Barnwell, Benton, Berrien, Butler, Cass,
+Davis of Mississippi, Dawson, Dodge of Iowa, Downs, Houston, Jones, King,
+Mangum, Mason, Morton, Pratt, Rusk, Sebastian, Soulé, Sturgeon, Turney,
+Underwood, Wales, and Yulee--27.
+
+On the 22d, Mr. PRATT, of Maryland, submitted an amendment, the effect of
+which would have been to make the United States responsible in damages for
+fugitive slaves that might not be recovered. This was rejected by a vote
+of 10 to 27. Mr. DAVIS, of Massachusetts, offered an amendment extending
+the right of _habeas corpus_ to free colored citizens arriving in vessels
+at Southern ports, who may be imprisoned there without any alleged offense
+against the law. This amendment, after debate, was rejected--ayes 13, nays
+25. The original bill was then ordered to a third reading by a vote of 27
+ayes to 12 nays, as follows:
+
+AYES.--Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Barnwell, Bell, Berrien, Butler, Davis of
+Mississippi, Dawson, Dodge of Iowa, Downs, Foote, Houston, Hunter, Jones,
+King, Mangum, Mason, Pearce, Rusk, Sebastian, Soulé, Spruance, Sturgeon,
+Turney, Underwood, Wales, and Yulee--27.
+
+NAYS.--Messrs. Baldwin, Bradbury, Chase, Cooper, Davis of Massachusetts,
+Dayton, Dodge of Wisconsin, Greene, Smith, Upham, Walker, and Winthrop--12.
+
+On the 26th the bill had its third reading and was finally passed. On the
+12th of September the House of Representatives took up the bill, and after
+some slight debate, passed it, under the operation of the previous
+question, by a vote of 109 ayes to 75 nays.
+
+On the 3d of September the Senate proceeded to the consideration of the
+bill abolishing the Slave-trade in the District of Columbia. Mr FOOTE of
+Mississippi offered a substitute placing the control of the whole matter
+in the hands of the Corporate Authorities of Washington and Georgetown. To
+this Mr. PEARCE of Maryland, in committee of the whole, moved an amendment
+punishing by fine and imprisonment any person who shall induce or attempt
+to induce slaves to run away, and giving the corporate authorities power
+to remove free negroes from the District. The first portion of the
+amendment was passed, ayes 26, nays 15, and the second ayes 24, nays 18.
+Mr. FOOTE then withdrew his substitute.--On the 10th the consideration of
+the bill was resumed. Mr. SEWARD moved to substitute a bill abolishing
+Slavery in the District of Columbia and appropriating $200,000 to
+indemnify the owners of slaves who might thus be enfranchised--the claims
+to be audited and adjusted by the Secretary of the Interior: and
+submitting the law to the people of the District. The amendment gave rise
+to a warm debate and on the 12th was rejected, ayes 5, nays 46. The
+amendments offered by Mr. PEARCE, and passed in committee of the whole,
+were non-concurred in by the Senate on the 14th, and the bill on the same
+day was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, by a vote of 32 to
+19. On the 16th it was read a third time and finally passed, ayes 33, nays
+19, as follows:
+
+AYES.--Messrs. Baldwin, Benton, Bright, Cass, Chase, Clarke, Clay, Cooper,
+Davis of Mass., Dayton, Dickinson, Dodge of Wisconsin, Dodge of Iowa,
+Douglas, Ewing, Felch, Frémont, Greene, Gwin, Hale, Hamlin, Houston,
+Jones, Norris, Seward, Shields, Spruance, Sturgeon, Underwood, Wales,
+Walker, Whitcomb, and Winthrop--33.
+
+NAYS.--Messrs. Atchison, Badger, Barnwell, Bell, Berrien, Butler, Davis of
+Mississippi, Dawson, Downs, Hunter, King, Mangum, Mason, Morton, Pratt,
+Sebastian, Soulé, Turney, and Yulee--19.
+
+It was taken up in the House of Representatives on the 15th and passed by
+a vote of 124 to 47.
+
+By the action of Congress during the past month, therefore, bills have
+been passed upon all the topics which have agitated the country during the
+year. The bill in regard to the Texas boundary provides that the northern
+line shall run on the line of 36° 30' from the meridian of 100° to 103° of
+west longitude--thence it shall run south to the 32d parallel of latitude,
+and on that parallel to the Rio del Norte, and in the channel of that
+river thence to its mouth. The State of Texas is to cede to the United
+States all claims to the territory north of that line, and to relinquish
+all claim for liability for her debts, &c., and is to receive from the
+United States as a consideration the sum of ten millions of dollars. The
+law will, of course, have no validity unless assented to by the State of
+Texas. No action upon this subject has been taken by her authorities.
+Previous to the passage of the bill, the Legislature of the State met in
+special session called by Governor BELL, and received from him a long and
+elaborate message in regard to the attempt made, under his direction, to
+extend the laws and jurisdiction of Texas over the Santa Fé district of
+New Mexico, and to the resistance which he had met from the authorities of
+the Federal Government. After narrating the circumstances of the case, he
+urges the necessity of asserting, promptly and by force, the claim of
+Texas to the territory in question. He recommends the enactment of laws
+authorizing the Executive to raise and maintain two regiments of mounted
+volunteers for the Expedition. A bill was introduced in conformity with
+this recommendation; but of its fate no reliable intelligence has yet been
+received.--A resolution was introduced into the Texas Legislature calling
+upon the governor for copies of any correspondence he might have had with
+other states of the Confederacy, but it was not passed. A letter has been
+published from General QUITMAN, Governor of Mississippi, stating that in
+case of a collision between the authorities of Texas and those of the
+United States, he should deem it his duty to aid the former.--Hon. THOS. J.
+RUSK, whose term as U.S. Senator expires with the present session, has
+been re-elected by the Legislature of Texas receiving 56 out of 64 votes.
+He voted in favor of the bill of adjustment, and his re-election by so
+large a majority is looked upon as indicating a disposition on the part of
+the authorities to accept the terms proposed.--Both Houses of Congress have
+agreed to adjourn on the 30th of September.
+
+Intelligence from the Mexican Boundary Commission has been received to the
+31st of August, on which day they were at Indianola, Texas. There was some
+sickness among the members of the corps, but every thing looked
+promising.--Hon. WILLIAM DUER, member of Congress from the Oswego District,
+New York, has declined a re-election, in a letter in which he vindicates
+the bills passed by Congress, and earnestly urges his constituents not to
+encourage or permit any further agitation among them of questions
+connected with slavery. Hon. E.G. SPAULDING, from the Erie District, and
+Hon. GEORGE ASHMUN, of Massachusetts, also decline a re-election.--Captain
+AMMIN BEY, of the Turkish Navy, arrived at New York on the 13th, in the
+United States ship Erie, being sent out by his Government as special
+Commissioner to collect information and make personal observations of the
+character, resources, and condition of the United States. He is a
+gentleman of ability, education, and experience and has been employed by
+his Government on various confidential missions. He was the secret agent
+of Turkey on the frontiers of Hungary during the recent struggle of that
+gallant people with Austria and Russia. He has been warmly received here,
+and enjoys every facility for prosecuting the objects of his mission.
+Congress has appropriated $10,000 toward defraying the expenses of his
+mission.--Hon. A.H.H. STUART, of Virginia, has been appointed Secretary of
+the Interior, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr.
+M'KENNAN. He has accepted the appointment and entered upon the duties of
+the office. Mr. M'KENNAN resigned on finding, from an experience of a day,
+that his health was not adequate to the performance of the duties of the
+place. Mr. STUART has been a member of Congress, where he was universally
+recognized as a man of ability, assiduity, and character.--Mr. CONRAD, of
+Louisiana, on accepting the office of Secretary of War, addressed a letter
+to his constituents, explaining and justifying the course he had taken in
+Congress. He said that opinions on the subject of the extension of slavery
+might be classified as follows: 1. There are those who seek, through the
+direct agency of the Federal Government, to introduce slavery into this
+territory. 2. Those who wish, by the same means, to prevent this
+introduction. 3. Those who resist any interference with the question by
+the Federal Government, and would leave to the inhabitants of the country
+the exclusive right to decide it. He claims to belong to the latter class.
+The Union, he says, is too great a blessing to be staked upon any game of
+hazard, and the prolongation of the controversy upon the subject of
+slavery, he deems in itself a calamity "It alarms the South and agitates
+the North; it alienates each from the other, and augments the number and
+influence of those who wage an endless war against slavery, and whom this
+discussion has raised to a political importance which, without it, they
+never could have attained."--Dr. HENRY NES, member of Congress from the
+Fifteenth District of Pennsylvania, died at his residence in York on the
+10th.--Several American citizens residing in Paris, having observed in the
+London papers an account of a gross insult said to have been offered to
+Hon. Mr. BARRINGER, United States Minister at Madrid, by General NARVAEZ
+at Naples, wrote to him, assuring him of the cordial response upon which
+he might count to such measures of redress as he should choose to adopt.
+Mr. BARRINGER replied by declaring the whole story to be false in every
+particular. In all his personal and official intercourse with him, he
+says, General NARVAEZ had been most courteous and respectful.--An election
+for state officers was held in Vermont on the first Tuesday of September,
+which resulted in the choice of CHARLES R. WILLIAMS (Whig) for Governor,
+and the re-election of Hon. Messrs. HEBARD and MEACHAM to Congress, from
+the Second and Third Districts. THOMAS BARTLETT, jun., Democrat, was
+elected in the Fourth District, and no choice was effected in the
+First.--Professor J.W. WEBSTER was executed at Boston on the 30th of
+August, pursuant to his sentence, for the murder of Dr. PARKMAN. He died
+with great firmness and composure, professing and evincing the most
+heartfelt penitence for his crime.--Intelligence has been received of the
+death of the Reverend ADONIRAM JUDSON, D.D., who is known to all the world
+as the oldest and one of the most laborious missionaries in foreign lands.
+He left the United States for Calcutta in 1812, and has devoted the whole
+of his life since that time to making Christianity known in Burmah. He
+translated the Bible into the language of the country, besides compiling a
+Dictionary of it, and performing an immense amount of other literary labor
+in addition to the regular preaching of the gospel and the discharge of
+other pastoral duties. He returned to this country in 1847, and married
+Miss Emily Chubbuck, with whom he soon returned to his field of labor. His
+health for the past few months has been gradually declining, and during
+the last spring it had become so seriously impaired that a sea voyage was
+deemed essential to its restoration. He accordingly embarked on board the
+French bark, Aristide Marie, for the Isle of Bourbon, on the 3d of April;
+but his disease made rapid advances, and after several days of intense
+agony, he died on the 12th, and his body was committed to the deep on the
+next day. Dr. JUDSON was attached to the Baptist Church, but his memory
+will be held in the profoundest veneration, as his labors have been
+cheered and sustained, by Christians of all denominations. He was a man of
+ability, of learning, and of intense devotion to the welfare of his
+fellow-men.--Bishop H.B. BASCOM, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South,
+died at Louisville, Ky., on the 8th of September, after an illness of some
+months' continuance. He was in many respects one of the most influential
+and distinguished members of the large denomination to which he belonged.
+He enjoyed a very wide reputation for eloquence and was universally
+regarded, by all who ever heard him, as one of the most brilliant and
+effective of American orators. His person was large and commanding, his
+voice sonorous and musical, and his manner exceedingly impressive. His
+style was exceedingly florid, and elaborate, and his discourses abounded
+in the most adventurous flights of fancy and imagination. He shared the
+merits and the faults of what is generally and pretty correctly known as
+the Southern and Western style of eloquence, and always spoke with great
+effect. His labors in the service of the church have been long, arduous,
+and successful. He has exerted a wide influence and has exerted it in
+behalf of the noblest and most important of all interests. His death
+occasions profound and universal regret.--JOHN INMAN, Esq., favorably known
+to the country as a literary man, and as editor of the New York
+_Commercial Advertiser_, died at his residence in New York, on the 30th of
+August, after a lingering illness of several months. Mr. Inman was
+educated for the bar, and practiced law for some years in New York; but
+left the profession for the more congenial labors of literature. He was
+engaged for some years upon the New York Mirror, and soon after became
+associated with Colonel STONE, in the editorial conduct of the Commercial.
+Upon the death of that gentleman in 1847, Mr. Inman became the principal
+editor, and held that post, discharging its duties with ability, skill,
+and unwearied assiduity, until failing health compelled him to relinquish
+it during the last spring. He wrote frequently for the reviews and
+magazines, and sustained confidential relations, as critic and literary
+adviser, to the house of Harper and Brothers. He was a man of decided
+talent, of extensive information, great industry and of unblemished
+character. He died at the age of 47.
+
+The most exciting event of the month has been the arrival of the
+celebrated Swedish vocalist, JENNY LIND. She reached New York in the
+Steamer _Atlantic_ on the 1st of September, and was received by a
+demonstration of popular enthusiasm which has seldom been equaled in this
+country. More than twenty thousand people gathered upon the wharf where
+she landed, and crowded the streets through which she passed. She gave her
+first concert at Castle Garden, in New York, on the evening of the 12th,
+and this was rapidly followed by five others at the same place. The number
+of persons present on each occasion could not have been less then seven
+thousand. The receipts on the first night were about thirty thousand
+dollars, and JENNY LIND immediately bestowed ten thousand upon several of
+the worthiest charities of New York City. The enthusiasm which she excites
+seems fully justified not more by her superiority as an artist than by her
+personal qualities and character. Of her life a brief but spirited sketch,
+from the graceful pen of her distinguished countrywoman, Miss BREMER, will
+be found in another part of this Magazine. Her charities are already well
+known and honored wherever there are hearts to glow at deeds of
+enlightened benevolence. A young woman, who has not yet seen thirty years,
+she has already bestowed upon benevolent objects half a million of
+dollars, not inherited or won at a throw, but the fruit of a life of
+severe and disheartening toil, and has appropriated to the benefit of her
+native country the profits which she will reap from the willing soil of
+America. As an artist she has powers which are met with but once or twice
+in a generation. Her voice is in itself a wonder, and unlike most wonders
+is beautiful to a degree which causes those who come under its influence
+to forget surprise in pleasure. It is compared to all things beautiful
+under the sun by those whose grateful task it is to set its attractions
+forth in detail: to the flood of melody from the nightingale's throat, to
+light, to water which flows from a pure and inexhaustible spring. We shall
+be content to say that it appears to us almost the ideal of a beautiful
+sound. It would puzzle the nicest epicure of the ear, we think, to say in
+what respect he would have its glorious quality modified. He might object
+possibly at first to the slightest shade of huskiness which appears
+sometimes in its lower tones, or to an equally slight sharpness in the
+very highest, but if he listened long he would surely forget to object.
+The purely musical quality of JENNY LIND'S voice is its crowning charm and
+excellence, in comparison with which its great extent, brilliance, and
+acquired flexibility are of but secondary worth. Its lowest tone can be
+felt at a distance and above, or rather through, all noisy obstacles and
+surroundings, whether they be vocal or instrumental. Another of its chief
+charms is its seeming inexhaustibility. It pours forth in a pellucid flood
+of sound, and always produces the impression that there is more yet, amply
+more, to meet all the demands of the singer.
+
+M'lle LIND'S vocalization is to the ordinary ear beyond criticism. Her
+intended effects are so completely attained, and attained with such
+apparent ease and consciousness of power, that the hearer does not think
+of questioning whether they could be better in themselves or better
+performed, but gives himself up to this unalloyed enjoyment. Her intervals
+are taken with a certainty and firmness which can not be attained by an
+instrument, so nicely, so rigidly accurate is her ear, and so absolute is
+her power over her organ. Her abilities have been best displayed in the
+first _aria_ sung by the Queen of Night in MOZART'S _Zauberflöte_, and by
+a taking Swedish Herdsman's Song. In the former she vocalizes freely above
+the lines for many bars, and in one passage takes the astonishing note F
+_in alt_. with perfect intonation. In the latter, which contains some very
+difficult and unmelodic intervals, her performance is marked with the same
+ease and accuracy which appear in her simplest ballad, and the effect of
+echo which she produces is to be equaled only by Nature herself. M'lle
+LIND'S shake is probably the most equal and brilliant ever heard. There
+are some critics and amateurs who object to her manner of delivering her
+voice and to her unimpassioned style; but although these objections seem
+to have no little weight, their consideration would involve a deeper
+investigation of questions of pure Art than we are at present prepared
+for, and are content to offer our homage, with that of the rest of the
+world, to the Genius and Benevolence which are united in her fascinating,
+though, we must say, not beautiful person.
+
+The Gallery of the AMERICAN ART-UNION was re-opened for the season in New
+York on the 4th of September, JENNY LIND honoring the occasion by her
+presence. The collection is unusually large and excellent. It already
+numbers over 300 pictures, several of which are among the best productions
+of their authors. The number and variety of works of art to be distributed
+among the members at the coming anniversary will be greater than ever
+before. The rapid and wonderful growth of this institution is in the
+highest degree honorable to the country, and affords marked evidence of
+the energy and spirit with which its affairs have been conducted. We
+understand that the subscription list is already larger by some thousands
+than ever before at the same time.
+
+The LITERARY INTELLIGENCE of the month is devoid of any features of
+startling interest. G.P.R. JAMES, ESQ. has commenced in Boston a series of
+six Lectures upon the History of Civilization, and will probably repeat
+them in New York and other American cities. The subject is one with which
+Mr. JAMES has made himself familiar in the ordinary course of his studies
+for his historical novels; and he will undoubtedly bring to its methodical
+discussion a clear and sound judgment, liberal views, and his
+characteristic felicity and picturesqueness of description and narrative.
+The lectures are new, and are delivered for the first time in this
+country.--All who are interested in Classical Education will welcome the
+appearance of the edition of FREUND'S Lexicon of the Latin Language, upon
+which Professor ANDREWS has been engaged for several years. The original
+work consists of four octavo volumes, averaging about 1100 pages each,
+which were eleven years in passing through the press, viz., from 1834 to
+1845. By the adoption of various typographical expedients, such as adding
+another column to the page, and using smaller type, the whole will be
+comprised in a single volume, an improvement which, while it diminishes
+the cost, adds greatly to the convenience with which it may be used. This
+Lexicon is intended to give an account of all the Latin words found in the
+writings of the Romans from the earliest times to the fall of the Western
+Empire, as well as those from the Greek and other languages. The
+grammatical inflexions, both regular and irregular, of each word, are
+accurately pointed out; and the etymologies are made to embrace the
+results of modern scholarship in that department as specifically
+applicable to the Latin language, without invading the proper province of
+comparative philology. To the definitions, as the most important
+department of lexicography, particular attention has been given; and the
+primary, the transferred, the tropical, and the proverbial uses of words
+are carefully arranged in the order of their development; the shades of
+difference in the meanings and uses of synonymous terms are pointed out.
+Special attention has been given to the chronology of words, _i.e._, to
+the time when they were in use, and they are designated accordingly as
+belonging to all periods of the language, or as "ante-classic," "quite
+classic," "Ciceronian," "Augustan," "post-Augustan," "post-classic," or
+"late Latin," as the case may be. The student is also informed whether a
+word is used in prose or poetry, or in both, whether it is of common or
+rare occurrence, &c, &c.; and each of its uses is illustrated by a copious
+selection of examples, with a reference in every instance to the chapter,
+section, and verse where found. To those familiar with the subject, this
+brief description of the work will suffice to show its vast superiority
+over every dictionary of the Latin language at present in use among us,
+and how much may be expected in aid of the cause of sound learning from
+its introduction into our seminaries and colleges. It will appear from the
+press of the Harpers very soon.--"The History of the United States of
+America, from the adoption of the Federal Constitution to the end of the
+Sixteenth Congress, in three volumes," is the title of a new work by Mr.
+HILDRETH, whose three volumes, bringing down the history of the United
+States to the adoption of the Federal Constitution are already favorably
+known to the public. The present volumes, the first of which is already in
+press, are intended to embrace a fully authentic and impartial history of
+the two great parties of Federalists and Republicans, or Democrats, as
+they were sometimes called, by which the country was divided and agitated
+for the first thirty years and upward subsequent to the adoption of the
+Federal Constitution. The volume now in press is devoted to the
+administration of Washington, a subject of great interest and importance,
+since, during that period, not only were all the germs of the subsequent
+party distinctions fully developed, but because the real character and
+operation of the Federal Government, from that day to this, was mainly
+determined by the impress given to it while Washington remained at the
+head of affairs. This subject, treated with the candor, discrimination,
+industry, and ability which Mr. Hildreth's volumes already published give
+us a right to expect, can hardly fail to attract and reward a large share
+of public attention.--An Astronomical Expedition has been sent out by the
+United States Government to Santiago, Chili, for the purpose of making
+astronomical observations. It is under the charge of Lieut. J.M. GILLIS,
+of the Navy, one of the ablest astronomers of his age now living. The
+Chilian Government has received the expedition with great cordiality, and
+has availed itself of the liberal offer of the United States Government to
+admit several young men to instruction in the Observatory, by designating
+three persons for that object. Letters from Lieut. G. show that he is
+prosecuting his labors with unwearied zeal and assiduity--having, up to the
+1st of June, catalogued nearly five thousand stars. HUMBOLDT, in a letter
+to a friend, which has been published, expresses a high opinion of Lieut.
+GILLIS, and of the expedition in which he is engaged. In the same letter
+he speaks in warm terms of the great ability and merit, in their several
+departments, of TICKNOR, PRESCOTT, FREMONT, EMORY, GOULD, and other
+literary and scientific Americans.
+
+From CALIFORNIA our intelligence is to the 15th of August, brought by the
+steamer _Ohio_, which reached New York on the 22d ult. The most important
+item relates to a deplorable collision which has occurred between persons
+claiming lands under titles derived from Capt. SUTTER, and others who had
+taken possession of them and refused to leave. Capt. Sutter held them
+under his Spanish grant, the validity of which, so far as the territory in
+question is concerned, is disputed. Attempts to eject the squatters, in
+accordance with the decision of the courts, were forcibly resisted at
+Sacramento City on the 14th of August, and a riot was the result, in which
+several persons on both sides were killed, and others severely wounded.
+Several hundred were engaged in the fight. As this occurred just upon the
+eve of the steamer's departure, the issue of the contest is unknown. There
+is reason to fear that the difficulties to which it gives rise may not be
+very soon or very easily settled. Among those killed were Mr. Bigelow,
+Mayor of Sacramento City, Mr. Woodland, an auctioneer, and Dr. Robinson,
+the President of the Squatter Association.--The news from the mines
+continues to be encouraging. In the southern mines the dry season had so
+far advanced that the Stanislaus and Tuolumne rivers were in good working
+condition, and yielded good returns. Details are given from the various
+localities showing that the gold has been by no means exhausted. From the
+northern mines similar accounts are received.--The total amount received
+for duties by the Collector at San Francisco from November 12, 1849, to
+June 30, 1850, was $889,542.--During the passage of the steamer Panama from
+San Francisco to Panama the cholera broke out, and seventeen of the
+passengers died. It was induced by excessive indulgence in fruit at
+Acupulco.--Rev. HORATIO SOUTHGATE D.D., formerly Missionary Bishop at
+Constantinople, has been chosen Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church
+for the Diocese of California.--In Sonora the difficulties which had broken
+out in consequence of the tax on foreign miners had been obviated, and
+order was restored.--Mining operations are prosecuted with the greatest
+vigor and energy, and were yielding a good return. Companies were formed
+for carrying on operations more thoroughly than has been usual, and new
+locations have been discovered which promise to be very fertile.
+
+From OREGON there is no news of interest, though our intelligence comes
+down to the 25th of July. Business was prosperous. Gold is said to have
+been discovered on Rogue's river, and companies had been formed to profit
+by the discovery. A treaty of peace has been negotiated with the Indians
+by Gov. LANE.
+
+From JAMAICA we hear of the death of Gen. Herard, ex-President of Hayti,
+who has been residing in Jamaica for several years. The season has been
+favorable for the crops, and the harvests of fruit were very abundant.
+There had been several very severe thunderstorms, and several lives had
+been lost from lightning. Efforts are made to promote the culture of
+cotton upon the island.
+
+From NEW MEXICO Major R.H. WEIGHTMAN arrived at St. Louis, Aug. 22d,
+having been elected U.S. Senator by the state Legislature. He was on his
+way to Washington where he has since arrived. His colleague was Hon. F.A.
+CUNNINGHAM. In the popular canvass the friends of a state government
+carried every county except one, over those who desired a territorial
+organization. A conflict of authority had occurred between the newly
+elected state officers and the Civil and Military Governor, the latter
+refusing to transfer the authority to the former until New Mexico should
+be admitted as a state. A voluminous correspondence upon the subject
+between the two governors has been published.--The Indians at the latest
+dates were still committing the grossest outrages in all parts of the
+country. The crops were fine and promising.
+
+In ENGLAND the month has been signalized by no event of special interest
+or importance. The incident which has attracted most attention grew out of
+the visit to England of General HAYNAU, the commander of the Austrian
+armies during the war with Hungary, who acquired for himself a lasting and
+infamous notoriety by the horrible cruelty which characterized his
+campaigns and his treatment of prisoners who fell into his hands. His
+proclamations, threatening butchery and extermination to every village any
+of whose inhabitants should furnish aid or countenance to the Hungarians,
+and the inhuman barbarity with which they were put in execution, must be
+fresh in the public memory, as it certainly was in that of the people of
+London. It seems that, during his stay in London, General HAYNAU visited
+the great brewery establishment of Messrs. Barclay & Co. On presenting
+himself, accompanied by two friends, at the door, they were required, as
+was customary, to register their names. On looking at the books, the
+clerks discovered the name and rank of their visitor, and his presence and
+identity were soon known throughout the establishment. The workmen began
+to shout after him, and finally to follow and assail him with
+denunciations and dirt; and before he had crossed the yard he found
+himself completely beset by a mob of coal-heavers, draymen, brewers' men,
+and others, who shouted "Down with the Austrian butcher!" and hustled him
+about with a good deal of violence and considerable injury to his person.
+Fully realizing the peril of his position, he ran from the mob, and took
+refuge in a hotel, concealing himself in a secluded room from his
+pursuers, who ransacked the whole house, until the arrival of a strong
+police force put an end to the mob and the General's peril. The leading
+papers, especially those in the Tory interest, speak of this event in the
+most emphatic terms of denunciation. The Liberal journals exult in the
+popular spirit which it evinced, while they regret the disregard of law
+and order which attended it.
+
+Parliament was prorogued on the 15th of August by the Queen in person, to
+the 25th of October. The ceremonial was unusually splendid. The Queen
+tendered her thanks for the assiduity and care which had marked the
+business of the session, and expressed her satisfaction with the various
+measures which had been consummated. In approving of the Colonial
+Government Act, she said it would always be gratifying to her to extend
+the advantages of republican institutions to colonies inhabited by men who
+are capable of exercising, with benefit to themselves, the privileges of
+freedom: she looks for the most beneficial consequences, also, from the
+act extending the elective franchise in Ireland.--Previous to the
+prorogation, Parliament transacted very little business of much interest
+to our readers. Marlborough House was set apart for the residence of the
+Prince of Wales when he shall need it, and meantime it is to be used for
+the exhibition of the Vernon pictures. Lord BROUGHAM created something of
+a sensation in the House of Lords on the 2d, by complaining that all
+savings in the Civil List should accrue to the nation, and not to the
+royal privy purse,--as the spirit of the constitution required the
+Sovereign to have no private means, but to be dependent wholly on the
+nation. His movement excited a good deal of feeling, and was very warmly
+censured by all the Lords who spoke upon it, as betraying an eagerness to
+pry into the petty details of private expenditures unworthy of the House,
+and indelicate toward the Sovereign. Lord BROUGHAM resented these censures
+with bitterness, and reproached the Whigs with having changed their
+sentiments and their conduct since they had tasted the sweets of office.
+This course, he said, showed most painfully that absolute prostration of
+the understanding which takes place, even in the minds of the bravest,
+when the word "prince" is mentioned in England.--We mentioned in our last
+number the presentation of a petition concerning the Liverpool waterworks,
+many of the signatures to which were found to be forgeries. The case was
+investigated by the Lords, and the presenters of the petition, Mr. C.
+Cream and Mr. M.A. Gage, were declared to have been guilty of a breach of
+privilege, and sent to Newgate for a fort-night.--Lord CAMPBELL, on the
+14th, expressed the opinion, "as one of the judges of the land," that the
+new regulations forbidding the delivery or transit of letters on Sunday,
+had a tendency, so far as the administration of justice was concerned, to
+obstruct works of necessity and mercy. The regulations have been
+essentially modified.--The bill concerning parliamentary voters in Ireland,
+after passing the House of Lords with the rate requisite for franchise at
+£15, was amended in the Commons by substituting £12;--the amendment was
+concurred in by the Lords, and in that form the bill became a law. The
+effect of it will be to add some two hundred thousand to the number of
+voters in the kingdom.--Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in reply to a question from Mr.
+HUME, explained the nature of the British claims on Tuscany for injuries
+sustained by British subjects after the revolt of Leghorn, and the
+occupation of that city by an Austrian corps acting as auxiliaries to the
+Grand Duke. After all resistance was over, it seems, that corps plundered
+a number of houses, and among them houses belonging to British residents,
+and conspicuously marked as such by the British consul. The amount claimed
+was £1530.--Complaint was made in the Commons by Mr. BERNAL, of the
+defective state of the regulations for the immigration of Africans into
+the West Indies. He said that contracts were now limited to one year,
+which often caused serious loss to the employer. He thought the evil might
+be remedied by making the contract for three years. He was told in reply
+that Lord Grey had already sanctioned contracts for three years in British
+Guiana and Trinidad, and would, of course, be quite prepared to do so in
+Jamaica. The immigration of free labor from Africa had proved a failure;
+but this was not the case with the immigration of Coolies. Many requests
+had been made to renew it, and arrangements had been made to comply with
+those requests. Arrangements had also been made, in consequence of
+communications with Dr. Gutzlaff, for introducing free Chinese immigrants
+into Trinidad. The Tenant-right conference of Ireland held its session on
+the 6th in Dublin. The attendance of delegates was large. Resolutions were
+adopted declaring that a fair valuation of rent between landlord and
+tenant was indispensable, that the tenant should not be disturbed so long
+as he pays the rent fixed; that no further rent shall be recoverable by
+process of law; and that an equitable valuation for rent should divide
+between landlord and tenant the net profits of cultivation. A tenant
+league is to be formed.--A dinner was given by the Fishmongers' Company of
+London to the Ministers on the 1st. Lord BROUGHAM was present, and excited
+attention and mirth by his way of testing the sentiments of the Company on
+matters of public reform. If they applauded what he was about to say, they
+were reformers, as of old: if not, it would show that they had been
+corrupted. He was made a Fishmonger in 1820, and he hoped the Company were
+not ashamed of what they did in favor of an oppressed queen against an
+aggressive king and his minions of ministers. The remark was not
+applauded, whereupon Lord B. drew his fore gone conclusion:--"Ah, I
+see;--you are far from having the same feeling you had in 1820. Honors
+corrupt manners--being in power is a dangerous thing to public virtue."--The
+report of the Railway Commissioners for 1849 states that in course of the
+year the Board had sanctioned the opening of 869 miles of new railway--630
+in England, 108 in Scotland, and 131 in Ireland--making the total extent of
+railway communication at the end of the year, 5996 miles, of which 4656
+are in England, 846 in Scotland, and 494 in Ireland.--The Queen left on the
+22d for a short visit to the King of the Belgians at Ostend. She was
+received with great enthusiasm, and returned the next day--Prince Albert
+completed his thirty-first year on the 26th of August. The Queen left town
+on the 27th for Scotland.--Sir George Anderson has been appointed Governor
+of Ceylon, in place of Lord Torrington, who has been recalled.--The
+American steamer _Pacific_ arrived at New York at half-past six P.M., on
+Saturday, the 21st ult., having left Liverpool at two P.M. on the 11th.
+She thus made the passage in _ten days, four and a half hours:_ this is by
+several hours the quickest voyage ever made between the two ports.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+From FRANCE the only news of general interest relates to the tour of the
+President through the provinces. The Assembly had previously broken up,
+there not being a quorum present on the 9th. It was to re-assemble on the
+11th of November. A Committee of _Surveillance_ was to sit during the
+recess. On the 12th, the President started on his tour. He had given
+several military banquets, which, from their imperial aspect, and the
+political spirit manifested by the guests, created a great sensation. On
+one of these occasions, a dinner was given to the officers of a portion of
+the garrison of Paris; it is told, that after the company left the table,
+they adjourned into the garden to smoke their cigars; and there Louis
+Napoleon seeing a musket, took it up, and went through the manual exercise
+with great dexterity, to the great delight of the sergeants and corporals,
+who shouted "Vive le petit Corporal!" (the Emperor's pet-name among the
+soldiers) with great enthusiasm. During his tour, which was unattended by
+any very noticeable incident, he made very liberal distribution of crosses
+of honor, sometimes accompanied by gratuities to old officers and soldiers
+of the imperial army. He had a most brilliant reception at Lyons, where he
+spent a day, and was entertained at a grand dinner by the Chamber of
+Commerce. At Besançon he had a less gracious reception: at a ball given to
+him in the evening a mob broke into the room, shouting "Vive la
+Republique," and creating great confusion. The President left the room,
+which was cleared by General Castellane at the point of the bayonet. At
+several other places demonstrations were made of a similar character, but
+much less violent.
+
+LOUIS PHILLIPE, late King of France, died on the 26th of August, at
+Claremont, England, where he has resided since he became an exile. His
+health had gradually failed since he first left France, but it was not
+until the 24th, that he became fully sensible of the gravity of his
+disease. On that day he was carried out into the open air, and was present
+at dinner with his family, although he ate nothing. During the night he
+was restless, and was informed by the queen that his medical attendants
+despaired of his recovery. The next morning, the doctor, on being asked
+his opinion, hesitated. "I understand," says the king, "you bring me
+notice to quit." To Col. Dumas he dictated a last page of his memoirs,
+which terminated a recital in which he had been engaged for the last four
+months. The king then sent for his chaplain, with whom he had a long
+interview. He repeatedly expressed his readiness for death, which came
+upon him at eight o'clock on the morning of Monday, the 26th. Louis
+PHILLIPE was born in Paris, Oct. 6, 1773, and was the eldest son of
+Phillipe Joseph, Duke of Orleans, known to the world by the _sobriquet_ of
+Phillipe Egalité. His education was intrusted to Madame de Genlis, under
+whose direction he made himself familiar with the English, German, and
+Italian languages, and with the ordinary branches of scientific knowledge.
+In 1792, being then Duke de Chartres, he made his first campaign against
+the Austrians, fighting at Valmy and Jemappes. His father was executed
+January 21, 1793, and he was summoned with Gen. Dumouriez, before the
+Committee of Public Safety, seven months after. Both, however, fled, and
+escaped to Austria. Retiring to private life, and refusing the offer of
+Austria, he was joined by his sister Adelaide and their former
+preceptress, and repaired to Zurich, whence, however, he was soon
+compelled to make his escape. He became greatly straitened for means, and,
+finally, found protection in the house of M. de Montesquion, at
+Baumgarten, where he remained until the end of 1794, when he quitted the
+place, and resolved to go to the United States. He was compelled to
+abandon this project from lack of funds, and traveled on foot through
+Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Negotiations were now opened on the part of
+the Directory, who had in vain attempted to discover the place of his
+exile, to induce him to go to the United States, promising, in the event
+of his compliance, that the condition of the Duchess D'Orleans should be
+ameliorated, and that his younger brothers should be permitted to join
+him. Through the agency of M. Westford, of Hamburg, this letter was
+conveyed to the duke, who at once accepted the terms offered, and sailed
+from the mouth of the Elbe in the American, taking with him his servant
+Baudoin. He departed on the 24th of September, 1796, and arrived in
+Philadelphia after a passage of twenty-seven days. In the November
+following, the young prince was joined by his two brothers, after a stormy
+passage from Marseilles; and the three brothers remained at Philadelphia
+during the winter. They afterward visited Mount Vernon, where they became
+intimate with General Washington; and they soon afterward traveled through
+the western country, and after a long and fatiguing journey they returned
+to Philadelphia; proceeding afterward to New Orleans, and, subsequently,
+by an English ship, to Havanna. The disrespect of the Spanish authorities
+at the Havanna, soon compelled them to depart, and they proceeded to the
+Bahama Islands, where they were treated with much kindness by the Duke of
+Kent, who, however, did not feel authorized to give them a passage to
+England in a British frigate. They, accordingly, embarked for New York,
+and thence sailed to England in a private vessel, arriving at Falmouth in
+February, 1800. After proceeding to London they took up their residence at
+Twickenham, where for some time they enjoyed comparative quiet, being
+treated with distinction by all classes of society. Their time was now
+principally spent in study, and no event of any importance disturbed their
+retreat, until the death of the Duke de Montpensier, on the 18th of May,
+1807. The Count Beaujolais soon afterward proceeded to Malta, where he
+died in 1808. The Duke of Orleans now quitted Malta, and went to Messina,
+in Sicily, accepting an invitation from King Ferdinand. During his
+residence at Palermo he gained the affections of the Princess Amelia, and
+was married to her in 1809. No event of any material importance marked the
+life of the young couple until the year 1814, when it was announced in
+Palermo that Napoleon had abdicated the throne, and that the restoration
+of the Bourbon family was about to take place. The duke sailed
+immediately, and arrived in Paris on the 18th of May, where, in a short
+time, he was in the enjoyment of the honors to which he was so well
+entitled. The return of Napoleon in 1815, soon disturbed his tranquillity;
+and, having sent his family to England, he proceeded, in obedience to the
+command of Louis XVIII., to take the command of the army of the north. He
+remained in this situation until the 24th of March, 1815, when he resigned
+his command to the Duke de Treviso and retired to Twickenham. On the
+return of Louis, after the hundred days--in obedience to the ordinance
+issued, requiring all the princes of the blood to take their seats in the
+Chamber of Peers--the duke returned to France in 1815; and, by his liberal
+sentiments, rendered himself so little agreeable to the administration,
+that he returned to England, where he remained until 1817. In that year he
+returned to France, continuing now in a private capacity, as he was not a
+second time summoned to sit in the Chamber of Peers. For some years after
+this period the education of his family deeply engaged his attention; and
+while the Duke of Orleans was thus pursuing a career apart from the court,
+a new and unexpected scene was opened in the drama of his singularly
+eventful and changeful life. In 1830 that revolution occurred in France
+which eventuated in the elevation of the Duke of Orleans to the throne.
+The cause of the elder branch of the Bourbons having been pronounced
+hopeless, the king in effect being discrowned, and the throne rendered
+vacant, the Provisional Government which had risen out of the struggle,
+and in which Laffitte, Lafayette, Thiers, and other politicians, had taken
+the lead, turned toward the Duke of Orleans, whom it was proposed, in the
+first instance, to invite to Paris, to become Lieutenant-general of the
+kingdom, and afterward, in a more regular manner, to become King. The Duke
+of Orleans, during the insurrection, had been residing in seclusion at his
+country seat, and, if watching the course of events, apparently taking no
+active part in dethroning his kinsman. M. Thiers and M. Scheffer were
+appointed to conduct the negotiation with the duke, and visited Neuilly
+for the purpose. The duke, however, was absent, and the interview took
+place with the duchess and Princess Adelaide, to whom they represented the
+danger with which the nation was menaced, and that anarchy could only be
+averted by the prompt decision of the duke to place himself at the head of
+the new constitutional monarchy. M. Thiers expressed his conviction "that
+nothing was left the Duke of Orleans but a choice of dangers; and that, in
+the existing state of things, to recoil from the possible perils of
+royalty was to run full upon the republic and its inevitable violences."
+The substance of the communication having been made known to the duke, on
+a day's consideration he acceded to the request, and at noon on the 31st
+came to Paris to accept the office which had been assigned to him. On the
+2d of August the abdication of Charles X. and his son was placed in the
+hands of the Lieutenant-general, the abdication, however, being in favor
+of the Duke of Bordeaux. On the 7th the Chamber of Deputies declared the
+throne vacant; and on the 8th the Chamber went in a body to the Duke of
+Orleans, and offered him the Crown on the terms of a revised charter. His
+formal acceptance of the offer took place on the 9th. From the accession
+of Louis Philippe as King of the French, in 1830, his life is universally
+known. His reign was marked by sagacity and upright intentions. He
+committed the unpardonable error, however, of leaving the people entirely
+out of his account, and endeavored to fortify himself by allying his
+children to the reigning families of Europe. He married his eldest son
+Ferdinand, Duke of Orleans (born 1810) to the Princess Helen of
+Mecklenburg-Schwerin; his daughter Louisa (born 1812) to Leopold, King of
+the Belgians; his son Louis, Duke of Nemours (born 1814) to the Princess
+Victoria of Saxe Coburg Gotha; his daughter Clementina (born 1817) to
+Prince Augustus of Saxe Coburg Gotha; his son Francis, Prince of Joinville
+(born 1818) to the Princess Frances Caroline, of Brazil; his son the Duke
+of Aumale (born 1822) to the Princess Caroline, of Salerno, and his son
+Antony, Duke of Montpensier (born 1824) to Louisa, sister and heir
+presumptive of the reigning Queen of Spain. But these royal alliances
+served him not in the day of his distress. The fatal 24th of February
+came, and swept away the throne he had taken so much pains to consolidate,
+and he signed his act of abdication, accepting the regency of the Duchess
+of Orleans. His subsequent fate is familiar to all. His flight from Paris
+to the sea-shore; his escape in disguise to England; his kind reception in
+that country, are well known. Claremont was given him as an abode, and
+there, with the exception of occasional visits to Richmond and St.
+Leonard's, Louis Philippe continued to reside. There, too, he breathed his
+last on Monday morning, the 26th of August, in the 77th year of his age.
+His death excited general comment, but was universally regarded as an
+event of no political importance.--A very imposing review of the French
+fleet at the harbor of Cherbourg, took place on the 7th inst. A great
+number of the English nobility and gentlemen were present by special
+invitation, and a magnificent display was made of British yachts. An
+immense concourse of people was in attendance, and the President, Prince
+LOUIS NAPOLEON, was received with distinguished honors. The parting salute
+at sunset, when over two thousand pieces of ordnance crashed forth with a
+simultaneous roar, was highly effective.--The trade of Paris is said to be
+unusually brisk this season. Wheat is abundant and all the harvests yield
+good returns, though fears are entertained that the quality of the vintage
+may be inferior.--The proceedings of the General Councils of sixty-four of
+the eighty-five departments of France are now known.--Forty-seven have
+pronounced in favor of the revision of the actual constitution. Seven have
+rejected resolutions recommending the revision, and ten have declined the
+expression of an opinion upon the subject. Only three have declared
+themselves in favor of an extension and continuance of the power now
+confided to LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. Nearly all have expressly desired
+that the revision should be effected in the mode and time prescribed by
+the constitution itself.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+The LITERARY INTELLIGENCE from abroad lacks special interest. The
+Magazines for September contain nothing worthy of mention, which will not
+be found in the foregoing pages of this number. BULWER commences a new
+novel in Blackwood, the opening chapters of which are here reprinted. It
+is in continuation of "The Caxtons," and promises to be exceedingly
+interesting. It will, of course, be given to our readers as rapidly as it
+appears. Our opening paper this month is a spirited and eloquent notice of
+WORDSWORTH, evidently from the popular and effective pen of GILFILLAN, who
+is a constant contributor to the London Eclectic Review from which it is
+taken. "David Copperfield" by DICKENS, and "Pendennis" by THACKERAY, draw
+toward their end, and our readers may therefore anticipate new productions
+from their pens ere long.--The question whether an American can hold a
+copyright in England comes up before the English Courts in a suit brought
+by Murray for interference with his rights by a publisher who has issued
+an edition of Washington Irving. It is stated that Irving has received
+from the Murrays the sum of £9767 for the English copyrights of his
+various works.--The Gallery of Paintings of the King of Holland has been
+sold at auction and the returns are stated at $450,000. The Emperor of
+Russia, and the Marquis of Hertford in England, were extensive purchasers.
+Two portraits of Vandyke were bought by the latter at 63,000
+florins.--LAMARTINE writes to the _Debats_ from Marseilles, denying, so far
+as he is concerned, the truth of statements contained in Mr. CROKER'S
+article in the London Quarterly upon the flight of Louis Phillipe. He has
+commenced the publication of a new volume of "Confidences" in the
+_feuilleton_ of the _Presse_.--The Household Narrative in its summary of
+English Literary Intelligence, notices the appearance of an elaborate work
+on _Tubular Bridges_ by Mr. Edwin Clark, with a striking folio of
+illustrative drawings and lithographs. Also of an Essay in two goodly
+octavos on _Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs_, by Mr. Kenrick, full of
+learning, yet full of interest, because grafting on the ascertained old
+history all the modern elucidations of travelers and artists, critics and
+interpreters. It appears to be but a portion of a contemplated work
+comprehending a complete history of those countries of the East whose
+civilization preceded and influenced that of Greece; and to our proper
+understanding of which, the discovery of the hieroglyphic character, and
+such researches as those of Mr. Layard, have lately contributed an entire
+new world of information. Another book remarkable for the precision and
+completeness of its knowledge, is Doctor Latham's _Natural History of the
+Varieties of Man_, a very important contribution to the literature of
+ethnology; and with this is connected in subject, though not in any other
+kind of merit, an eccentric fragment on the _Races of Man_, by Dr. Robert
+Knox.--Mrs. Jameson has published a second series of her _Poetry of Sacred
+and Legendary Art_, in a volume of _Legends of the Monastic Orders_,
+similarly illustrated; and nothing can be more graceful than this lady's
+treatment of a subject which has not much that is graceful in itself.--To
+biography, a new volume of the _Life of Chalmers_ has been the most
+interesting addition. A _Life of Ebenezer Elliott_, by his son-in-law,
+possesses also some interest; and, with a little less of the biographer
+and more of the biography, would have been yet more successful. In English
+fiction, a semi-chartist novel called _Alton Locke_, full of error and
+earnestness, and evidently by a University man of the so-called Christian
+Socialist school, is the most noticeable work of the kind that has lately
+appeared. The other romances of the month have been translations from the
+German and French. The _Two Brothers_ is somewhat in the school of Miss
+Bremer; and _Stella and Vanessa_ is a novel by a graceful French writer,
+very agreeably translated by Lady Duff Gordon, of which the drift is to
+excuse Swift for his conduct to Mrs. Johnson and Miss Vanhomrigh. The
+subject is curious, and the treatment (for a Frenchman) not less so.
+Nothing painful or revolting is dwelt upon, and if it does not satisfy it
+fails to offend.--The London _Morning Chronicle_ has an extended and
+elaborate review of Mr. TICKNOR'S great "History of Spanish Literature,"
+in which it pays the highest possible compliments to the accomplished
+author. "The masterly sweep of his general grasp," it says, "and the
+elaborated finish of his constituent sketches, silence the caviller at the
+very outset, and enforce him to respectful study, while the unaffected
+ease of the style, lively but not flippant, charms the attention, and not
+seldom disguises the amount of research and indigation which has been
+bestowed upon each stage of the history." It closes its review with this
+emphatic praise: "this History will at once take its position as the
+standard book of reference upon Spanish literature, but it will not take
+the cold honors of the shelf usually accorded to such volumes, for it will
+not only be consulted but read. We cordially congratulate our American
+friends upon possessing a compatriot who is able to make such a
+contribution to English literature--we are not aware that we are equally
+fortunate."--The third series of SOUTHEY'S Common-Place Book has just
+appeared. Unlike the former series, which consisted of selections of rare
+and striking passages, and so possessed a general and independent value,
+the present volume consists mainly of brief notes or references to
+important passages in a great variety of works, bearing upon the subjects
+of Civil and Ecclesiastical History, Biography, and Literature in general.
+The references are so brief, and the works referred to so rare, that the
+book will prove of little service except to those who have access to large
+public libraries. Probably not one book in ten of those referred to is to
+be found in any library in this country. The volume, however, furnishes
+evidence still stronger than the others, of the wonderful extent, variety,
+and accuracy of Southey's reading; it shows that he was a sort of living
+library, a walking study; he read almost every thing that appeared, and
+methodized, and laid up in his mind all that was worth preserving, of what
+he read, and thus gained a super-eminence of information which has rarely
+been surpassed. The third volume of his Common-Place Book is not
+altogether destitute of those quaint and singular selections which gave so
+rare a charm to those that preceded.--The North British Review for the
+current quarter, from which we gave some extracts in our September number,
+has an article upon the disputed claims of Messrs. Stephenson & Fairbairn
+to the credit of having invented the Tubular bridge. If the facts upon
+which the reasonings of the reviewer are based, are correctly stated,
+there can be no doubt that a large, perhaps the larger share of the credit
+due to this greatest triumph of modern engineering, belongs to WILLIAM
+FAIRBAIRN, of Manchester, by whom all the experiments were undertaken that
+demonstrated the practicability of the undertaking, and proved that a
+square form was much stronger than the elliptical one, which was
+originally proposed. Mr. Fairbairn, it is stated, showed conclusively by
+actual experiment, in opposition to the opinion of Mr. Stephenson, that
+suspension chains, as an additional means of support, were not needed,
+thus avoiding an outlay of some £200,000. Successful as the experiment has
+been in a scientific point of view, the railroad of which this bridge
+forms a link, has been most unfortunate in a pecuniary aspect. The stock
+consists of two kinds, the original, and preferential. In July, 1850, the
+former was selling at a loss of £72 10s., and the latter at a loss of £33
+6s. 8d. on every £100, involving a total loss to the stockholders of
+£1,764,000.--The _Barbarigo Gallery_ at Venice, celebrated for ages for its
+rich collection, especially of the works of Titian, has been purchased by
+the court of Russia for 560,000 francs, or £22,400 sterling. A new singer,
+Madame Fiorentini, has appeared at Her Majesty's Theatre in London, who
+attracts considerable attention. She is a native of Seville, and married
+to Mr. Jennings, an English officer. She received her musical education in
+London, and made her first public appearance at Berlin only twelve months
+since.--The telegraphic wires between Dover and Calais, or rather Cape
+Grinez, have been laid and got into operation. Dispatches have been
+received in this country which were sent from Paris to London by this
+means. Thirty miles of wire, incased in a strong coating of gutta percha,
+have been imbedded, as far as this could possibly be done, in the bottom
+of the channel, by means of leaden weights. It remains now to be seen
+whether the precautions taken are sufficient to protect the wire from the
+ravages of the ocean's denizens, the assaults of ships' anchors, and the
+shifting sands which are known to underlie the Straits of Dover.--A duel
+took place at Perigueux between MM. CHAVOIX and DUPONT, in which the
+latter was killed. The latter was editor of a paper called _Echo de
+Vesone_, and had offended M. Chavoix, a wealthy proprietor, by severe
+strictures on his conduct. Both were members of the Assembly. They fought
+with pistols at twenty-five paces. M. Chavoix won the throw for the choice
+of position, and M. Dupont for first fire. Dupont fired and missed.
+Chavoix, declaring that he could not see clearly, waited till the smoke of
+his adversary's discharge passed, and fired at an interval of some
+seconds. His ball struck the forehead of Dupont, who fell stark dead upon
+the plain without uttering a cry or a groan.--The distinguished French
+Novelist M. BALZAC died at Paris on the 18th of August, aged 51. He was in
+many important respects, the foremost of French writers. He was originally
+a journeyman printer at Tours, his native place. His earlier works
+obtained a fair measure of success, but it was not until after many years'
+apprenticeship, either anonymously or under assumed cognomens, that he
+ventured to communicate his name to the public. And no sooner was the name
+given than it became popular--and in a little while famous--famous not in
+France alone, but all over Europe. His success was almost as brilliant as
+that of Walter Scott himself. In addition to his romances, Balzac wrote
+some theatrical pieces, and for a while edited and contributed a good deal
+to the _Revue Parisienne_. Since the revolution Balzac published nothing,
+but was engaged in visiting the battle-fields of Germany and Russia, and
+in piling up materials for a series of volumes, to be entitled _Scenes de
+la Vie Militaire._ He leaves behind several MS. works, partially or wholly
+completed. His design was to make all his romances form one great work,
+under the title of the _Comedíe Humaine_,--the whole being a minute
+dissection of the different classes of French society. Only a little while
+before his death, he stated that, in what he had done, he had but half
+accomplished his task. Next to his great celebrity, the most remarkable
+feature in his career is a strong passion which he formed for a Russian
+countess, and which, after years of patient suffering, he had the
+satisfaction of having rewarded by the gift of the lady's hand. Shortly
+after his marriage--which took place some two years ago--he was attacked
+with a disease of the heart, and that carried him off. He and his wife had
+only been a few months in Paris when this sad event took place. His
+funeral was celebrated with a good deal of ceremony, and an eloquent
+funeral oration was pronounced by M. VICTOR HUGO.--Sir MARTIN ARCHER SHEE,
+President of the Royal Academy, died at Brighton on the 19th, in his 80th
+year. He was elected to the above office in 1830, on the death of Sir
+Thomas Lawrence, when he received the honor of knighthood. He retired in
+1845 from the active duties of the office, which have been since performed
+by Mr. Turner.--The late Sir ROBERT PEEL has left directions in his will
+for the early publication of his political memoirs, and has ordered that
+the profits arising from the publication shall be given to some public
+institution for the education of the working classes. He has confided the
+task of preparing these memoirs to Lord Mahon and Mr. Cardwell.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+In the settlement of GERMAN affairs little progress has yet been made by
+the Congress at Frankfort. At a meeting on the 8th of August, at which
+Count Thun, the Austrian plenipotentiary, presided, it was decided that
+Austria should formally invite all the members of the Bund to assemble at
+Frankfort on the 1st of September next. A circular note of the 18th of
+August, in which the Minister-President reiterates the assurances so
+solemnly given in the circular of the 19th July, that it is the earnest
+wish of Austria to make such reforms in the Act of Confederation as may be
+required by the recent change of circumstances in Germany, and may conduce
+to the unity of the common fatherland, was accordingly dispatched with the
+Frankfort summons to the different courts on the 15th. It remains to be
+seen whether Prussia and the League will accept this proposal.--The third
+meeting of the General Peace Congress commenced at Frankfort on the 22d of
+August. There were some two thousand delegates in attendance, mostly from
+England, France, the United States, and Germany. Gen. Haynau was present
+for a time. Resolutions were submitted, discussed, and adopted,
+deprecating a resort to arms, and urging the propriety and expediency of
+settling all international differences by arbitration. Dr. JAUP presided,
+and speeches were made by delegates from every nation. Among the most
+prominent representatives from the United States were Elihu Burritt,
+Professor Cleaveland, Dr. Hitchcock, and George Copway, an Indian chief;
+Mr. Cobden, of England, and Cormenin and Girardin, of France were also in
+attendance. The session lasted three days.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+In PIEDMONT a great sensation has been produced by a collision with the
+papal power. The Sardinian Minister of Finance, the Cavalière Santa Rosa,
+who had supported the ministry in passing the law which rendered the
+clergy amenable to the civil courts, being on his death-bed, was refused
+the sacrament by the monks, under the direction of Franzoni the Archbishop
+of Turin. At his funeral such excitement was manifested by the people,
+that to avoid an actual outbreak, the monks were ordered to leave the
+city, and the possessions of their order were sequestered. In the search
+through their house, documents were found which inculpated the Archbishop
+Franzoni himself, and he was consequently arrested and imprisoned in the
+fortress of Fenestrelles. Both Austria and France, however, have
+interfered; and, in consequence, the editor of _L'Opinione_, a liberal
+journal, has been banished from the Sardinian States. It is stated that
+Lord Palmerston has addressed to the Court of the Vatican a most energetic
+note, in which he cautions it against adopting violent measures toward
+Sardinia, and persevering in the system hitherto pursued by the Pope with
+regard to that Government.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+A letter from Rome, of the 20th, in the _Constitutionnel_, states that
+several persons have been arrested there for a supposed conspiracy to
+assassinate the Pope, on Assumption day, by throwing crystal balls filled
+with explosive substances into his carriage when on his way to church to
+pronounce the benediction. The discovery of the plot prevented all danger.
+There was some agitation on the following Sunday, as it was supposed that
+there had been a plot against the Austrian Ambassador, on the anniversary
+of the birth of the Emperor. A strong armed force was placed near his
+palace to protect it, and in the evening some arrests were made.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+A continuance of heavy rain in BELGIUM on the 15th, 16th, and 17th has
+produced disastrous inundations in various parts of that country. At
+Antwerp there was a tremendous storm of rain, wind, and thunder. The
+lightning struck several buildings; many of the streets were under water,
+and large trees were uprooted in the neighboring country. At Ghent a large
+sugar manufactory was destroyed by lightning, and people were killed by it
+in different places. A great part of the city of Brussels and the
+neighboring villages were under water for nearly two days; and many houses
+were so much damaged that they fell, and a number of persons perished.
+Near Charleroi all the fields were submerged, and the injury done to the
+crops was immense. At Valenciennes the Scheldt overflowed, inundating the
+neighboring country, and causing vast devastation. The damage done to the
+crops has produced a rise in the price of flour. Many bridges have been
+swept away, and the injury done to the railways has been immense.
+
+                  -------------------------------------
+
+From SCHLESWIG HOLSTEIN, we learn that the continued rains have prevented
+all renewal of operations in the field. The Danes have established a
+permanent camp near Ramstedt, and the marshes in that vicinity have been
+completely flooded. The Emperor of Russia has created General KROGH, the
+Danish Commander-in-Chief, Knight of the Order of St. Anne of the first
+class, for the distinguished bravery and prudence which he displayed in
+the engagements of the 24th and 25th of July, at Idstedt.
+
+
+
+
+
+LITERARY NOTICES.
+
+
+_Rural Hours,_ by A LADY, published by G.P. Putnam, is an admirable
+volume, the effect of which is like a personal visit to the charming
+scenes which the writer portrays with such a genuine passion for nature,
+and so much vivacity and truthfulness of description. Without the faintest
+trace of affectation, or even the desire to present the favorite
+surroundings of her daily life in overdone pictures, she quietly jots down
+the sights and sounds, and odorous blossomings of the seasons as they
+pass, and by this intellectual honesty and simplicity, has given a
+peculiar charm to her work, which a more ambitious style of composition
+would never have been able to command. Her eye for nature is as accurate
+as her enthusiasm is sincere. She dwells on the minute phenomena of daily
+occurrence in their season with a just discrimination, content with
+clothing them in their own beauty, and never seeking to increase their
+brilliancy by any artificial gloss. Whoever has a love for communing with
+nature in the "sweet hour of prime," or in the "still twilight," for
+watching the varied glories of the revolving year, will be grateful to the
+writer of this picturesque volume for such a fragrant record of rural
+experience. The author is stated to be a daughter of Cooper, the
+distinguished American novelist, and she certainly exhibits an acuteness
+of observation, and a vigor of description, not unworthy of her eminent
+parentage.
+
+A new edition of the _Greek and English Lexicon_, by Professor EDWARD
+ROBINSON (Harper and Brothers) will be received with lively satisfaction
+by the large number of Biblical students in this country and in England
+who are under such deep obligations to the previous labors of Dr. ROBINSON
+in this department of philology. The work exhibits abundant evidence of
+the profound and discriminating research, the even more than German
+patience of labor, the rigid impartiality, and the rare critical acumen
+for which the name of the author is proverbial wherever the New-Testament
+Lexicography is made the object of earnest study. Since the publication of
+the first edition, fourteen years since, which was speedily followed by
+three rival editions in Great Britain, and two abridgments, the science of
+Biblical philology has made great progress; new views have been developed
+by the learned labors of Wahl, Bretschneider, Winer, and others; the
+experience of the author in his official duties for the space of ten
+years, had corrected and enlarged his own knowledge; he had made a
+personal exploration of many portions of the Holy Land; and under these
+circumstances, when he came to the revision of the work, he found that a
+large part of it must be re-written, and the remainder submitted to such
+alterations, corrections, and improvements, as were almost as laborious as
+the composition of a new Lexicon. The plan of the work in its present
+enlarged form, embraces the etymology of each word given--the logical
+deduction of all its significations, which occur in the New Testament--the
+various combinations of verbs and adjectives--the different forms and
+inflections of words--the interpretation of difficult passages--and a
+reference to every passage of the New Testament in which the word is
+found. No scholar can examine the volume, without a full conviction of the
+eminent success with which this comprehensive plan has been executed, and
+of the value of the memorial here presented to the accuracy and
+thoroughness of American scholarship. The practical use of the work will
+be greatly facilitated by the clearness and beauty of the Greek type on
+which it is printed, being an admirable specimen of the Porson style.
+
+_The Berber, or Mountaineer of the Atlas,_ by WILLIAM S. MAYO, M.D.,
+published by G.P. Putnam, is toned down to a very considerable degree from
+the high-colored pictures which produced such a dazzling effect in
+_Kaloolah_, the work by which the author first became known to the public.
+The scene is laid in Morocco, affording the writer an occasion for the use
+of a great deal of geographical and historical lore, which is introduced
+to decided advantage as a substantial back-ground to the story, which, in
+itself, possesses a sustained and powerful interest. Dr. Mayo displays a
+rare talent in individualizing character: his groups consist of distinct
+persons, without any confused blundering or repetition; he is not only a
+painter of manners, but an amateur of passion; and hence his admirable
+descriptions are combined with rapid and effective touches, which betray
+no ordinary insight into the subtle philosophy of the heart. The illusion
+of the story is sometimes impaired by the introduction of the novelist in
+the first person, a blemish which we should hardly have looked for in a
+writer who is so obviously well acquainted with the resources of artistic
+composition as the author of this volume.
+
+Harper and Brothers have issued the Fifth Part of _The Life and
+Correspondence of_ ROBERT SOUTHEY, which brings the biography down to the
+fifty-fifth year of his age, and to the close of the year 1828. The next
+number will complete the work, which has sustained a uniform interest from
+the commencement, presenting a charming picture of the domestic habits,
+literary enterprises, and characteristic moral features of its eminent
+subject. Mr. Southey's connection with the progress of English literature
+during the early part of the present century, his strong political
+predilections, the extent and variety of his productions, and his singular
+devotion to a purely intellectual life, make his biography one of the most
+entertaining and instructive records that have recently been published in
+this department of letters. His son, Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey, by
+whom the work is edited, has acquitted himself of his task with admirable
+judgment and modesty, never obtruding himself on the notice of the reader,
+and leaving the correspondence, which, in fact, forms a continuous
+narrative, to make its natural impression, without weakening its force by
+superfluous comment. The present number contains several letters to our
+distinguished countryman, GEORGE TICKNOR, Esq., of Boston, which will be
+read with peculiar interest on account of their free remarks on certain
+American celebrities, and their criticisms on some of the popular
+productions of American literature.
+
+Among the late valuable theological publications, is _The Works of Joseph
+Bellamy, D.D., with a Memoir of his Life and Character_, by TRYON EDWARDS,
+issued by the Doctrinal Tract and Book Society, Boston, in two volumes. As
+models of forcible reasoning, and of ingenious and subtle analysis, the
+theological disquisitions of Dr. Bellamy have seldom been surpassed, and
+their reproduction in the present form will be grateful to many readers
+who have not been seduced by the excitements of the age from their love of
+profound and acute speculation. The memoir prefixed to these volumes gives
+an interesting view of the life of a New England clergyman of the olden
+time.
+
+_Adelaide Lindsay_, from the prolific and vigorous pen of Mrs. MARSH, the
+author of "Two Old Men's Tales," "The Wilmingtons," &c, forms the one
+hundred and forty--seventh number of Harper and Brothers' "Library of
+Select Novels."
+
+_Popular Education; for the Use of Parents and Teachers_ (Harper and
+Brothers), is the title of a volume by IRA MAYHEW, prepared in accordance
+with a resolution of the Legislature of Michigan, and discussing the
+subject, in its multifarious aspects and relations, with a thoroughness,
+discrimination, and ability, which can not fail to make it a work of
+standard authority in the department to which it is devoted. The author
+has been Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Michigan;
+his official position has put him in possession of a great amount of facts
+and statistics in relation to the subject; he is inspired with a noble
+zeal in the cause of education; and in the production of this volume, has
+given a commendable proof of his industry, good sense, and thorough
+acquaintance with an interest on which he rightly judges that the future
+prosperity of the American Republic essentially depends.
+
+C.S. Francis and Co. have published _The Poems of Elizabeth Barrett
+Browning_ in a beautiful edition of two volumes, including "The Seraphim,
+with other Poems," as first published in England in 1838, and the contents
+of the previous American edition. This edition is introduced with a
+Critical Essay, by H.T. TUCKERMAN, taken from his "Thoughts on the Poets,"
+presenting in refined and tasteful language, a discriminating view of Mrs.
+BROWNING'S position among the living poets of England. Mr. Tuckerman makes
+use of no extravagant encomium in his estimate of her powers; his remarks
+are less enthusiastic than critical; and, indeed, the more ardent admirers
+of Mrs. Browning would deem them of too subdued a tone, and deficient in
+an adequate appreciation of her peculiar boldness, originality, and
+beauty. The edition now presented to the public will be thankfully
+accepted by the wide circle which has learned to venerate Mrs. Browning's
+genius, and will serve to extend the healthful interest cherished by
+American readers in the most remarkable poetess of modern times.
+
+_The Companion; After Dinner Table Talk_, by CHETWOOD EVELYN, Esq. (New
+York: G.P. Putnam), is the title of a popular compilation from favorite
+English authors, prepared with a good deal of tact and discrimination, and
+forming an appropriate counterpart to _The Lift for the Lazy_, published
+some time since by the same house.
+
+George P. Putnam has just issued _The Deer Slayer_, by J. FENIMORE COOPER,
+being the first volume of the author's revised edition of _The Leather
+Stocking Tales_.
+
+Among the swarm of Discourses and Funeral Orations, occasioned by the
+death of the late President Taylor, we have seen none of a more striking
+character than _The Sermon delivered at the Masonic Hall_, Cincinnati, by
+T.H. STOCKTON. It presents a series of glowing and impressive pictures of
+public life in Washington, of the tombs of the departed Presidents, of
+eminent American statesmen now no more, of the progress of discovery in
+this country, and of the march of improvement in modern times. The too
+florid character of some portions of the Discourse is amply redeemed by
+the spirit of wise patriotism and elevated religion with which it is
+imbued, while it has the rare merit of being entirely free from the
+commonplaces of the pulpit. In a note to this discourse, it is stated that
+the author is desirous of forming a collection of Sermons, Orations,
+Addresses, &c., on the death of General Taylor, and that editors and
+speakers will confer a favor on him by forwarding him a copy of their
+several publications.
+
+_The Relations of the American Scholar to his Country and his Times_
+(Baker and Scribner), is the title of an Address delivered by HENRY J.
+RAYMOND, before the Associate Alumni of the University of Vermont,
+maintaining the doctrine that educated men, instead of retiring from the
+active interests and contending passions of the world, to some fancied
+region of serene contemplation, are bound to share in the struggle, the
+competition, the warfare of society. This is argued, with a variety of
+illustrations, from the character of the education of the scholar, as
+combining theory and practice, and from the peculiar tendencies of
+American society, now in a state of rapid fermentation and development.
+Mr. Raymond endeavors to do justice both to the Conservative and Radical
+elements, which are found in our institutions and national character, and
+to discuss those difficult problems in a spirit of moderation, and without
+passion. Of the literary character of this production, the writer of the
+present notice can speak with more propriety in another place.
+
+_The Recent Progress of Astronomy_, by ELIAS LOOMIS (Harper and Brothers),
+exhibits the most important astronomical discoveries made within the last
+ten years, with special reference to the condition of the science in the
+United States. Among the topics treated in detail, are the discovery of
+the planet Neptune, the addition to our knowledge of comets, with a full
+account of Miss Mitchell's comet, the new stars and nebulae, the
+determination of longitude by the electric telegraph, the manufacture of
+telescopes in the United States, and others of equal interest both to men
+of science and the intelligent reader in general. Professor LOOMIS
+displays a singularly happy talent in bringing the results of scientific
+investigation to the level of the common mind, and we predict a hearty
+welcome to his little volume, as a lucid and delightful compendium of
+valuable knowledge. The author states in the Preface, that "he has
+endeavored to award equal and exact justice to all American astronomers;
+and if any individual should feel that his labors in this department have
+not been fairly represented, he is requested to furnish in writing a
+minute account of the same," and he shall receive amends in a second
+edition of the work.
+
+Professor LOOMIS'S _Mathematical Course_ has met with signal favor at the
+hands of the best instructors in our higher institutions of learning. New
+editions of his _Algebra_ and the _Geometry_ have recently been issued;
+and a new volume on _Analytical Geometry_, and the _Calculus_, completing
+the course, will soon appear.
+
+_Truth and Poetry, from my own Life, or the Autobiography of Goethe_,
+edited by PARKE GODWIN, is issued in a second edition by George P. Putnam,
+with a preface, showing the plagiarisms which have been committed on it in
+a pretended English translation from the original, by one John Oxenford.
+This enterprising person has made a bold appropriation of the American
+version, with only such changes as might serve the purpose of concealing
+the fraud. In addition to this felonious proceeding, he charges the
+translation to which he has helped himself so freely, with various
+inaccuracies, not only stealing the property, but giving it a bad name.
+The work of the American editor has thus found a singular, but effectual
+guarantee for its value, and is virtually pronounced to be a translation
+incapable of essential improvement. With the resources possessed by Mr.
+GODWIN, in his own admirable command both of the German and of the English
+language, and the aid of the rare scholarship in this department of
+letters of Mr. CHARLES A. DANA and Mr. JOHN S. DWIGHT, to whom a portion
+of the work was intrusted, he could not fail to produce a version which
+would leave little to be desired by the most fastidious critic. It is
+unnecessary to speak of the merits of the original, which is familiar to
+all who have the slightest tincture of German literature. As a history of
+the progress of literary culture in Germany, as well as of the rich
+development of Goethe's own mind, it is one of the most instructive, and
+at the same time, the most entertaining biographies in any language.
+
+Daniel Adee has republished, in a cheap form, the twenty-first part of
+_Braithwaite's Retrospect of Practical Medicine and Surgery_, a work
+richly entitled to a place in every physician's library.
+
+_Domestic History of the Revolution_, by Mrs. ELLET (Baker and Scribner),
+follows the thread of the Revolutionary drama, unfolding many agreeable
+and often touching incidents, which have not been brought to light before,
+and illustrating the manners and society of that day, in connection with
+the great struggle for national life. The researches of the author in
+collecting materials for "The Women of the Revolution," have put her in
+possession of a variety of domestic details and anecdotes, illustrative of
+the state of the country at different intervals, which she has used with
+excellent effect in the composition of this volume. Without indulging in
+fanciful embellishment, she has confined herself to the simple facts of
+history, rejecting all traditional matter, which is not sustained by
+undoubted authority. The events of the war in the upper districts of South
+Carolina, are described at length, as, in the opinion of Mrs. Ellet, no
+history has ever yet done justice to that portion of the country, nor to
+the chivalrous actors who there signalized themselves in the Revolutionary
+contest.
+
+D. Appleton and Company have published an interesting volume of American
+biography, entitled _Lives of Eminent Literary and Scientific Men_, by
+JAMES WYNNE, M.D., comprising memoirs of Franklin, President Edwards,
+Fulton, Chief Justice Marshall, Rittenhouse, and Eli Whitney. They are
+composed in a tone of great discrimination and reserve, and scarcely in a
+single estimate come up to the popular estimation of the character
+described. Doctor Franklin and President Edwards, especially, are handled
+in a manner adapted to chill all enthusiasm which may have been connected
+with their names. Nor does the scientific fame of Robert Fulton gather any
+new brightness under the author's hands. This cool dissection of the dead
+may not be in accordance with the public taste, but in justice to the
+author, it should be borne in mind that he is a surgeon by profession.
+
+The same house has issued an edition of _Cicero's Select Orations_, with
+Notes, by Professor E.A. JOHNSON, in which liberal use has been made of
+the most recent views of eminent German philologists. The volume is highly
+creditable to the industry and critical acumen of the Editor, and will
+prove a valuable aid to the student of the classics.
+
+_Lady Willoughby's Diary_ is reprinted by A.S. Barnes and Co., New
+York--the first American edition of a volume unrivaled for its sweetness
+and genuine pathos.
+
+_The Young Woman's Book of Health_, by Dr. WILLIAM A. ALCOTT, published by
+Tappan, Whittemore, and Co., Boston, is an original summary of excellent
+physiological precepts, expressed with the simplicity and distinctness for
+which the author is celebrated.
+
+_Songs of Labor and Other Poems_ is the title of a new volume by JOHN G.
+WHITTIER, published by Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, Boston, containing the
+spirited lyrics which have already gained a large share of favor in the
+public journals.
+
+_Poems of the Heart_, by GEORGE W. NICHOLSON, (G. S. Appleton,
+Philadelphia), is the "last production of the author's boyhood," and
+exhibits the most decided marks of its origin.
+
+_The Mariner's Vision_ is the title of a Poem by T.L. DONNELLY,
+Philadelphia, evidently written with little preparation, but showing some
+traces of poetic talent, which may ripen into excellence at a future day.
+
+A beautiful reprint of _Æsop's Fables_, edited by Rev. THOMAS GARNES, with
+more than Fifty Illustrations from TENNIAL'S designs has been issued by
+Robert B. Collins, New York, in a style of superb typography, which can
+not fail to command the admiration of the amateur.
+
+The volume before us awakens recollections of "by-gone days," in the
+Publishers of this Magazine, upon which we love to dwell. Æsop's Fables
+was among the first books which passed through our press. Some thirty
+years since, we printed an edition of it for the late EVERT DUYCKINCK,
+Esq. (father of the present accomplished editors of the _Literary World_),
+one of the leading booksellers and publishers of his day, and, in every
+sense, "a good man and true," as well as one of our earliest and best
+friends. His memory to us is precious--his early kindness will ever live in
+our recollection.
+
+The name of COLLINS (publisher of the present edition), has been so long
+and closely associated with the book trade in this country, that we
+apprehend the public may feel some interest in a short sketch of the rise
+and progress of this most respectable publishing firm. ISAAC COLLINS, a
+member of the Society of Friends, was the founder of the house. He
+originally came from Virginia, and commenced the printing and bookselling
+business in the city of Trenton, New Jersey, about the close of the
+Revolutionary War, where he printed the first quarto Bible published in
+America. This Bible was so highly esteemed for its correctness, that the
+American Bible Society was at some pains to obtain a copy, from which to
+print their excellent editions of the Scriptures. It would take too much
+space to follow the various changes in the firm, under the names of Isaac
+Collins, Isaac Collins & Son, Collins, Perkins & Co., Collins & Co., down
+to the establishment of the house of Collins & Hannay, about the close of
+the last war. This concern was composed of BENJAMIN S. COLLINS (the son of
+Isaac), and SAMUEL HANNAY, who had been educated for the business by the
+old house of Collins & Co. The enterprise, liberality, and industry of
+this firm soon placed them at the head of the book trade in the city of
+New York, where they are still remembered with respect and esteem by the
+thousands of customers scattered all over our immense country, and with
+affection and gratitude by many whose fortunes were aided, and whose
+credit was established, by their generous confidence and timely aid. Mr.
+BENJAMIN S. COLLINS is now living in dignified retirement, on his farm in
+Westchester County. Several other members of the family, formerly
+connected with the bookselling business, have also retired with a
+competency, and are now usefully devoting their time and attention to the
+promotion of the various charitable institutions of the country. Mr.
+HANNAY died about a year since--and here we may be permitted to record our
+grateful memory of one of the best men, and one of the most enterprising
+booksellers ever known in our country. His exceeding modesty prevented his
+marked and excellent qualities from being much known out of the small
+circle of his immediate friends--but by them he is remembered with feelings
+of love and veneration. The house of Collins & Hannay became subsequently
+B. & S. Collins; Collins, Keese, & Co.; Collins, Brother, & Co.; and
+Collins & Brother; now at last ROBERT B. COLLINS, the publisher of the
+work under notice. We trust he may pursue the path to fortune with the
+same honorable purposes, by the same honorable means, and with the same
+gratifying result, which signalized the efforts of his worthy
+predecessors. Nor are the names of the printer and stereotyper of the
+present volume without a fraternal interest. The printer, Mr. VAN NORDEN,
+one of our early and highly esteemed associates, may now be termed a
+typographer of the old school. The quality of his work is good evidence
+that he is entitled to the reputation, which has been long accorded to
+him, of being one of the best printers in the country. The stereotyper of
+this work, our old friend SMITH, is by no means a novice in his
+department. We are glad to see that he, too, so ably maintains his
+long-established reputation. May the publisher, the printer, and the
+stereotyper of this edition of Æsop, ever rejoice in the sunshine of
+prosperity, and may their shadows never be less!
+
+Geo. P. Putnam has published a work entitled _New Elements of Geometry_,
+by SEBA SMITH, which can not fail to attract the notice of the curious
+reader, on account of the good faith and evident ability with which it
+sustains what must be regarded by all orthodox science as a system of
+enormous mathematical paradoxes. The treatise is divided into three parts,
+namely, The Philosophy of Geometry, Demonstrations in Geometry, and
+Harmonies of Geometry. In opposition to the ancient geometers, by whom the
+definitions and axioms of the science were fixed, Mr. SMITH contends that
+the usual division of magnitudes into lines, surfaces, and solids is
+without foundation, that every mathematical line has a breadth, as
+definite, as measurable, and as clearly demonstrable as its length, and
+that every mathematical surface has a thickness, as definite, as
+measurable, and as clearly demonstrable as its length or breadth. The
+neglect of this fact has hitherto prevented a perfect understanding of the
+true relation between numbers, magnitudes, and forms. Hence, the
+barrenness of modern analytical speculation, which has been complained of
+by high authorities, the mathematical sciences having run into a luxuriant
+growth of foliage, with comparatively small quantities of fruit. This evil
+Mr. SMITH supposes will be avoided by adopting the principle, that as the
+measurement of extension is the object of geometry, lines without breadth,
+and surfaces without thickness, are imaginary things, of which this rigid
+and exact science can take no cognizance. Every thing which comes within
+the reach of geometry must have extension, must have magnitude, must
+occupy a portion of space, and accordingly must have extension in every
+direction from its centre. Hence, as there is but one kind of quantity in
+geometry, lines, surfaces, and solids must have identically the same unit
+of comparison, and must be always perfect measures of each other. The unit
+may be infinitely varied in size--it being the name or representative of
+any assumed magnitude to which it is applied--but it always represents a
+magnitude of a definite form, and hence a magnitude which has an extension
+in every direction from its centre, and consequently represents not only
+one in length, but also one in breadth, and one in thickness. One inch,
+for example, in pure geometry, is always one cubic inch, but when used to
+measure a line, or extension in one direction, we take only one dimension
+of the unit, namely, the linear edge of the cube, and thus the operation
+not demanding either the breadth or the thickness of the unit, geometers
+have fallen into the error of supposing that a line is length without any
+breadth. These are the leading principles on which Mr. SMITH attempts the
+audacious task of rearing a new fabric of geometrical science, without
+regard to the wisdom of antiquity or the universal traditions of the
+schools. To us outside barbarians in the mysteries of mathematics, we
+confess that the work has the air of an ingenious paradox; but we must
+leave it to the professors to decide upon its claims to be a substitute
+for Euclid, Playfair, and Legendre. Every one who has a fondness for
+dipping into these recondite subjects will perceive in Mr. SMITH'S volume
+the marks of profound research, of acute and subtle powers of reasoning,
+and of genuine scientific enthusiasm, combined with a noble freedom of
+thought, and a rare intellectual honesty. For these qualities, it is
+certainly entitled to a respectful mention among the curiosities of
+literature, whatever verdict may be pronounced on the scientific claims of
+the author by a jury of his peers.
+
+Little and Brown, Boston, have issued an interesting work by the Nestor of
+the New England press, JOSEPH T. BUCKINGHAM, entitled _Specimens of
+Newspaper Literature, with Personal Memoirs, Anecdotes and Reminiscences_,
+which comes with a peculiar propriety from his veteran pen. The personal
+experience of the author, in connection with the press, extends over a
+period of more than fifty years, during a very considerable portion of
+which time he has been at the head of a leading journal in Boston, and in
+the enjoyment of a wide reputation, both as a bold and vigorous thinker,
+and a pointed, epigrammatic, and highly effective writer. In this last
+respect, indeed, few men in any department of literature can boast of a
+more familiar acquaintance with the idiomatic niceties of our language, or
+a more skillful mastery of its various resources, than the author of the
+present volumes. His influence has been sensibly felt, even among the
+purists of the American Athens, and under the very droppings of the Muses'
+sanctuary at Cambridge, in preserving the "wells of English undefiled"
+from the corruptions of rash innovators on the wholesome, recognized
+canons of language. His sarcastic pen has always been a terror to evil
+doers in this region of crime. In the work before us, we should have been
+glad of a larger proportion from the author himself, instead of the
+copious extracts from the newspapers of old times, which, to be sure, have
+a curious antiquarian interest, but which are of too remote a date to
+command the attention of this "fast" generation. The sketches which are
+given of several New England celebrities of a past age are so natural and
+spicy, as to make us wish that we had more of them. Materials for a third
+volume, embracing matters of a more recent date, we are told by the
+author, are not wanting; we sincerely hope that he will permit them to see
+the light; and especially that the call for this publication may not be
+defeated by an event, as he intimates, "to which all are subject--an event
+which may happen to-morrow, and must happen soon."
+
+A new edition of EDWARD EVERETT'S _Orations and Speeches_, in two large
+and elegant octavos, has been published by Little and Brown, including in
+the first volume the contents of the former edition, and in the second
+volume, the addresses delivered on various occasions, since the year 1836.
+In an admirably-written Preface to the present edition, Mr. Everett gives
+a slight, autobiographical description of the circumstances in which his
+earlier compositions had their origin, and in almost too deprecatory a
+tone, apologizes for the exuberance of style and excess of national
+feeling with which they have sometimes been charged. In our opinion, this
+appeal is uncalled for, as we can nowhere find productions of this class
+more distinguished for a virginal purity of expression, and grave dignity
+of thought. As a graceful, polished, and impressive rhetorician, it would
+be difficult to name the superior of Mr. Everett, and had he not been too
+much trammeled by the scruples of a fastidious taste, with his singular
+powers of fascination, he would have filled a still broader sphere than
+that which he has nobly won in the literature of his country. We
+gratefully welcome the announcement with which the preface concludes, and
+trust that it will be carried into effect at an early date. "It is still
+my purpose, should my health permit, to offer to the public indulgence a
+selection from a large number of articles contributed by me to the North
+American Review, and from the speeches, reports, and official
+correspondence, prepared in the discharge of the several official stations
+which I have had the honor to fill at home and abroad. Nor am I wholly
+without hope that I shall be able to execute the more arduous project to
+which I have devoted a good deal of time for many years, and toward which
+I have collected ample materials--that of a systematic treatise on the
+modern law of nations, more especially in reference to those questions
+which have been discussed between the governments of the United States and
+Europe since the peace of 1783."
+
+_Echoes of the Universe_ is the title of a work by HENRY CHRISTMAS,
+reprinted by A. Hart, Philadelphia, containing a curious store of
+speculation and research in regard to the more mystical aspects of
+religion, with a strong tendency to pass the line which divides the sphere
+of legends and fictions from the field of well-established truth. The
+author is a man of learning and various accomplishments; he writes in a
+style of unusual sweetness and simplicity; his pages are pervaded with
+reverence for the wonders of creation; and with a singular freedom from
+the skeptical, destructive spirit of the day, he is startled by no mystery
+of revelation, however difficult of comprehension by the understanding.
+The substance of this volume was originally delivered in the form of
+letters to an Episcopal Missionary Society in England. It is now published
+in a greatly enlarged shape, with the intention of presenting the truths
+of religion in an interesting aspect to minds that are imbued with the
+spirit of modern cultivation. Among the Echoes that proceed from the world
+of matter, the author includes those that are uttered by the solar system,
+the starry heavens, the laws of imponderable fluids, the discoveries of
+geology, and the natural history of Scripture. To these, he supposes, that
+parallel Echoes may be found from the world of Spirit, such as the
+appearance of a Divine Person, recorded in Sacred History, the visitations
+of angels and spirits of an order now higher than man, the apparitions of
+the departed spirits of saints, the cases recorded of demoniacal
+possession, and the manner in which these narratives are supported and
+explained by reason and experience. The seen and the unseen, the physical
+and the immaterial, according to the author, will thus be shown to
+coincide, and the Unity of the Voice proved by the Unity of the Echo. This
+is the lofty problem of the volume, and if it is not solved to the
+satisfaction of every reader, it will not be for the want of a genial
+enthusiasm and an adamantine faith on the part of the author.
+
+The same house has published a neat edition of Miss BENGER'S popular
+_Memoir of Anne Boleyn_.
+
+A new work by W. GILMORE SIMMS, entitled _The Lily and Totem_, (Baker and
+Scribner, New York) consists of the romantic legends connected with the
+establishment of the Huguenots in Florida, embroidered upon a substantial
+fabric of historical truth, with great ingenuity and artistic effect. The
+basis of the work is laid in authentic history; facts are not superseded
+by the romance; all the vital details of the events in question are
+embodied in the narrative but when the original record is found to be
+deficient in interest, the author has introduced such creations of his own
+as he judged in keeping with the subject, and adapted to picturesque
+impression. It was his first intention to have made the experiment of
+Coligny in the colonization of Florida, the subject of a poem; but
+dreading the want of sympathy in the mass of readers, he decided on the
+present form, as more adapted to the popular taste, though perhaps less in
+accordance with the character of the theme. With his power of graphic
+description, and the mild poetical coloring which he has thrown around the
+whole narrative, Mr. SIMMS will delight the imaginative reader, while his
+faithful adherence to the spirit of the history renders him an instructive
+guide through the dusky and faded memorials of the past. One of the
+longest stories in the volume is the "Legend of Guernache," a record of
+love and sorrow, scarcely surpassed in sweetness and beauty by any thing
+in the romance of Indian history.
+
+_Reminiscences of Congress_, by CHARLES W. MARCH, (Baker and Scribner, New
+York), is principally devoted to the personal and political history of
+DANIEL WEBSTER, of whom it relates a variety of piquant anecdotes, and at
+the same time giving an analysis of his most important speeches on the
+floor of Congress. The leading statesmen of the United States, without
+reference to party, are made to sit for their portraits, and are certainly
+sketched with great boldness of delineation, though, in some cases, the
+free touches of the artist might be accused of caricature. Among the
+distinguished public men who are introduced into this gallery are John Q.
+Adams, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, Jackson, and Van Buren, whose features can
+not fail to be recognized at sight, however twisted, in some respects,
+they may be supposed to be by their respective admirers. Mr. MARCH has had
+ample opportunities for gaining a familiar acquaintance with the subjects
+he treats; his observing powers are nimble and acute; without any
+remarkable habits of reflection, he usually rises to the level of his
+theme; and with a command of fluent and often graceful language, his
+style, for the most part, is not only readable but eminently attractive.
+
+A new and greatly enlarged edition of _Mental Hygeine_, by WILLIAM
+SWEETSER, has been published by Geo. P. Putnam--a volume which discusses
+the reciprocal influence of the mental and physical conditions, with
+clearness, animation, and good sense. It is well adapted for popular
+reading, no less than for professional use.
+
+
+
+
+
+AUTUMN FASHIONS.
+
+
+                             [Illustration.]
+
+                         Fig. 1. Evening Costume.
+
+
+Evening Dresses. White is generally adopted for the evening toilet.
+Muslin, _tulle_, and _barege_ form elegant and very beautiful textures for
+this description of dress. They are decorated with festooned flounces, cut
+in deep square vandykes; the muslins are richly embroidered. A _barege_,
+trimmed with narrow _ruches_ of white silk ribbon, placed upon the edge,
+has the appearance of being pinked at the edge. Those of white _barege_
+covered with bouquets of flowers, are extremely elegant, trimmed with
+three deep flounces, finished at the edge with a _chicoree_ of green
+ribbon forming a wave; the same description of _chicoree_ may be placed
+upon the top of the flounces. Corsage _a la_ Louis XV., trimmed with
+_ruches_ to match. For dresses of _tulle_, those with double skirts are
+most in vogue. Those composed of Brussels _tulle_ with five skirts, each
+skirt being finished with a broad hem, through which passes a pink ribbon,
+are extremely pretty. The skirts are all raised at the sides with a large
+moss rose encircled with its buds, the roses diminishing in size toward
+the upper part. These skirts are worn over a petticoat of a lively pink
+silk, so that the color shows through the upper fifth skirt. As to the
+corsage, they all resemble each other; the Louis XV. and Pompadour being
+those only at present in fashion.
+
+                             [Illustration.]
+
+                         Fig. 2. Morning Costume.
+
+
+A very beautiful evening dress is represented by fig. 1, which shows a
+front and back view. It is a pale lavender dress of striped satin; the
+body plaited diagonally, both back and front, the plaits meeting in the
+centre. It has a small _jacquette_, pointed at the back as well as the
+front; plain sleeve reaching nearly to the elbow, finished by a lace
+ruffle, or frill of the same. The skirt is long and full, and has a rich
+lace flounce at the bottom. The breadths of satin are put together so that
+the stripes meet in points at the seams. Head dress, with lace lappets.
+
+Fig. 2 represents an elegant style of body, worn over a skirt of light
+lavender silk, with three flounces, each edged with a double _rûche_,
+trimmed with narrow ribbon. The body is of embroidered muslin, the small
+skirt of which is trimmed with two rows of lace; the sleeves are wide;
+they are three-quarter length and are trimmed with three rows of lace and
+rosettes of pink satin ribbon. This is for a morning costume.
+
+Another elegant style of morning home dress, is composed of Valenciennes
+cambric; the corsage plaited or fulled, so as to form a series of crossway
+fullings, which entirely cover the back and front of the bust, the centre
+of which is ornamented with a _petit décolletté_ in the shape of a
+lengthened heart; the same description of centre-piece is placed at the
+back, where it is closed by means of buttons and strings, ingeniously
+hidden by the fullings. The lower part of the body forms but a slight
+point, and is round and stiffened, from which descends a _châtelaine_,
+formed by a wreath of _plumetis_, descending to the edge of the dress, and
+bordered on each side with a large inlet, gradually widening toward the
+lower part of the skirt.
+
+Fashionable Colors. It is almost impossible to state which colors most
+prevail, all are so beautifully blended and intermixed; those, however,
+which seem most in demand are maroon, sea-green, blue, _pensée,_ &c.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+    1 Now it is fate. _July_, 1850.
+
+    2 ----From swaddling-clothes,
+      Dying begins at birth.
+
+    3 The honest and uncompromising spirit in which these papers oppose
+      the sanitary movement, has led some people to imagine that there is
+      satire meant in them. The best way to answer this suspicion, is to
+      print here so much as we can find space for of the speech of
+      Alderman Lawrence, reported in the "Times" one Saturday. It will be
+      seen that the tone of his eloquence, and that of ours, differ but
+      little; and that the present writer resembles the learned Alderman
+      (who has succeeded, however, on a far larger scale) in his attempt
+      _miscere stultitiam consiliis brevem_. The noble city lord remarked:
+      "The fact was, that the sanitary schemes were got up; talk was made
+      about cholera, and people became alarmed. Now, it was said that
+      burial-grounds were highly injurious to health, and a great cry had
+      been raised against them. He did not know such to be the fact, that
+      they were injurious to health. He did not believe one word about it.
+      There were many persons who lived by raising up bugbears of this
+      description in the present day, and those persons were always
+      raising up some new crotchet or another." After giving his view of
+      the new interments bill, he asked, "Was it likely that the public
+      would put up with the idea even of thus having the remains of their
+      friends carried about the country? Was it likely that the Government
+      would be permitted thus to spread perhaps pestilence and fever?"
+      There! If you want satire, could you have a finer touch than that
+      last sentence? There is a bone to pick, and marrow in it too.
+
+    4 In the ventilation of large buildings destined to admit a throng, it
+      may be also advantageous to the ægritudinary cause if heat be at all
+      times considered a sufficient agent.
+
+    5 Calcutta, 1848. This report is also published in the "Journal of the
+      Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India," vol. vi. part 2.
+
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE, NO. V, OCTOBER, 1850, VOLUME I.***
+
+
+
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