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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #63031 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63031)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature,
-Science, and Art, No. 745, April 6, 1878, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 745, April 6, 1878
-
-Author: Various
-
-Editor: William Chambers
- Robert Chambers
-
-Release Date: August 24, 2020 [EBook #63031]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
-
-OF
-
-POPULAR
-
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
-
-Fourth Series
-
-CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS.
-
-NO. 745. SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1878. PRICE 1½_d._]
-
-
-
-
-BORLUM.
-
-
-Long ago—you may say in 1808—when I was a boy at Peebles, the
-school-children, as a variety in their boisterous amusements,
-occasionally bombarded with stones a grievously defaced effigy built
-into the walls of a ruinous old church in the neighbourhood. With
-savage significance, the unfortunate piece of sculpture was called
-Borlum, and as Borlum it had been pelted by several successive
-generations. From the dearth of historical knowledge at the spot,
-no one could explain who or what was meant by Borlum; and not till
-some years afterwards, in the course of reading, did I find out that
-by Borlum was meant Brigadier Mackintosh of Borlum, who commanded a
-resolute party of Highlanders in Mar’s rebellion of 1715, and who,
-by their masterly audacity in marching towards the Border, threw the
-southern counties of Scotland into a state of indescribable alarm. To
-Borlum, as he was familiarly termed, was thus assigned the character of
-a bugbear along the whole course of the Tweed; and long after he had
-passed away, and when the political events in which he was concerned
-were forgotten, the original terror of his name survived in the
-vengefully destructive recreations of school-children. In a vicarious
-capacity, a harmless piece of sculpture, which had nothing at all to do
-with Borlum, was doomed to suffer for a popular scare nearly a hundred
-years previously.
-
-In the history of that miserably managed affair, Mar’s Jacobite
-rebellion, Mackintosh of Borlum—or more properly _younger_ of Borlum,
-for his father was still living—stands conspicuously out as a military
-hero, who threw into the shade many of higher title and pretensions.
-How with five hundred of his clan, with banners flying, he marched
-to Inverness, and seized that important post. How he hastened on to
-the Lowlands, eluded the troops designed to intercept him; crossed
-the Firth of Forth with a large force in open boats, and captured
-Leith. How, carrying everything before him, he marched onwards to
-the Border, in order to join the rebel forces of General Forster
-in Northumberland—are all facts belonging to history. His sagacity,
-foresight, intrepidity, and daring courage were worthy of a better
-cause. Getting into England, and mixed up with half-hearted movements,
-Borlum is very much lost sight of. The enterprise, owing to Mar’s
-indiscretion, had been shockingly ill considered. The English Jacobites
-failed to rise in a body, as they were justified in doing, for the
-auxiliaries which had been expected from France never made their
-appearance; and the whole thing collapsed, as is well known, by the
-humiliating capture of the insurgents by General Carpenter at Preston,
-in Lancashire. Surrendering at discretion, the whole were conducted
-as prisoners to London—Borlum among the rest. A dreadful downcome to
-the proud Highland chief, but not more so than to Lords Derwentwater,
-Winton, Nithsdale, Kenmure, Carnwath, Widdrington, and other Jacobite
-noblemen.
-
-It is not altogether agreeable to look back on the dynastic struggles
-which took place in England in the first half of the eighteenth
-century; for with some redeeming traits of character, they give a very
-mean view of human nature. The subject has been suggested to us by the
-appearance of a work which many will appreciate for its lively account
-of scenes and circumstances hitherto imbedded in the dry records of
-history. We mean _London in the Jacobite Times_, by Dr Doran, F.S.A. (2
-vols. Bentley and Son). The writer, it is sorrowful to learn, passed
-away before the work at which he had long patiently laboured had well
-been published; and we regret that he has not survived to hear the
-praises bestowed on his endeavours to produce a picture of past times
-such as is rarely presented. The way the subject is treated is quite
-unique. Instead of going into regular historical details, which would
-be alike tedious and tiresome, the author writes in a sketchy and
-anecdotic style without pause from beginning to end, and we have before
-us a drama of unflagging interest, extending over the greater part of
-a century. We do not think, however, that the book would have been the
-worse of a few preliminary remarks on the strange circumstances by
-which the Stuarts forfeited the crown, and placed themselves in the
-grotesquely unhappy condition of kings retired from business.
-
-The flight of James II. from England, and practically his abdication of
-authority, December 22, 1688, finished the house of Stuart. When a king
-runs away from his subjects, and stupidly flings down a magnificent
-inheritance, he has a bad chance of being called back again,
-particularly when by a course of exasperating and illegal conduct he
-has forfeited general esteem. Yet, from the date of that fatal flight
-there were successive plots by Jacobite adherents to bring back the
-Stuarts to the throne. Throughout the reign of William III. and of
-Queen Anne, the plottings were of a comparatively obscure character.
-On the death of Anne in 1714, and the installation of George I. under
-a parliamentary Act of Settlement, came the crisis. The rebellion of
-1715 broke out, and being quenched at Preston, the fierce dissensions
-of Jacobites and Whigs arose. Dr Doran commences his narrative with the
-death of Anne, but scarcely awakes to his subject till the droves of
-rebels from Preston enter London and are dispersed through the various
-prisons, the more noble of them being conducted to the Tower.
-
-While preserving the forms of law, the government did not put off time
-in the examination and trials of the captured rebels. The pulpits rang
-with sermons condemnatory of their crimes. Joseph Addison, in his
-paper the _Freeholder_, railed upon them with indecent subserviency.
-There was no want of evidence to convict the leading spirits in
-the insurrection; but matters were considerably simplified by the
-voluntarily proffered testimony of the Rev. Robert Patten, who had
-been formerly a curate at Preston, and acted as chaplain to the rebel
-forces. Clapped into prison with his associates, Patten pondered on the
-best means of escaping the gallows; and the longer he thought of it,
-he became the more firmly convinced that his best plan was to become
-king’s evidence. His testimony was accepted; and at the cost of being
-branded throughout all time as a rascal, he daily stood up in court
-and told every particular requisite to convict the unhappy noblemen
-and gentlemen with whom he had been associated, and whose bread he had
-eaten. Very much through the testimony of this wretch, the prisons were
-gradually cleared by the exit of batches of convicts on hurdles to
-Tyburn. The Tower was similarly relieved of two of its noble inmates,
-Derwentwater and Kenmure, who perished on the scaffold; and there would
-have been more of them, but for the escape of the Earl of Nithsdale
-disguised in his wife’s clothes, and for the fortunate reprieve of
-the Lords Widdrington, Nairn, and Carnwath. On the evening of the
-day on which the Earl of Derwentwater was beheaded (24th February
-1716), London was thrown into a state of commotion by the appearance
-in the sky of an extraordinary Aurora, in which there were fancied
-resemblances of armies, flaming swords, and fire-breathing dragons—the
-Jacobites accepting the phenomenon as a token of the indignation of
-Heaven at the cruel murders on Tower Hill, and prognosticating the rise
-of the sun of Stuart! On the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, this
-famed aurora was called the ‘Earl of Derwentwater’s Lights;’ and it is
-said that an aurora is still so named in the vicinity of Dilston.
-
-The government of George I. had some difficulty in dealing with the
-Earl of Wintoun, who contrived to get his trial put off as long as
-possible, on the plea that he was not yet prepared with his evidence.
-The truth is, the earl was a somewhat eccentric being. In his youth
-he had run away from his home at Seton House, went to France, and
-hired himself to work as a blacksmith. Returning at the death of his
-father, when everybody had given him up for lost, he assumed the
-title, George fifth Earl of Wintoun, and was living quietly at Seton
-when the rebellion broke out. He had no wish to connect himself with
-it; but stung by some outrageous proceedings of the authorities, he
-joined the insurrection, and so got himself into trouble. When brought
-to the bar of the House of Lords, there was some surprise at the
-oddity of his behaviour. Whether from cunning or affectation, he did
-not seem to understand why his trial should be hurried on, though in
-reality he might have complained of the delay. All the earl’s shifts
-did not greatly serve him. Patten, on being questioned, said that he
-had seen the Earl of Wintoun on several occasions with a drawn sword
-in his hand when the Pretender was proclaimed. After this, of course
-Wintoun was found guilty, and condemned to be beheaded. Not a pleasant
-drive from Westminster Hall to the Tower, accompanied by the Gentleman
-Gaoler, ceremoniously carrying an axe with its edge turned towards
-the condemned earl. One feels a degree of satisfaction in knowing
-that after all the Earl of Wintoun escaped his doom. Confined to an
-apartment in the Tower preparatory to the morning of execution, he
-brought his knowledge as a blacksmith into play by cutting through the
-iron bars of his window by files supplied by his servant, and dropping
-to the ground got clear off. He died at Rome in 1749, his title and
-estates being meanwhile forfeited. The title has been latterly revived
-in favour of the Earls of Eglintoun. But with the disappearance of the
-last of the Setons in the direct line, an ancient and honourable family
-was blotted from the Scottish peerage.
-
-Mackintosh of Borlum—called by mistake Borland by Dr Doran—was confined
-along with General Forster and a host of others in Newgate. Borlum and
-Forster are stated to have often quarrelled regarding the military
-conduct of the insurrection, their angry debates often furnishing
-amusement in the corridors, court-yard, and common room in the prison,
-to which visitors were admitted without hinderance, as to a tavern,
-for the more eating and drinking there were the better it was for Mr
-Pitt, the governor. Pitt, himself, was never disinclined to lend his
-assistance in eating a dinner, or in finishing a bowl of punch. So
-countenanced, the revelries in Newgate were boundless. Dr Doran affords
-a glimpse of this state of things. Visitors and sympathisers supplied
-the prisoners with money. ‘While it was difficult to change a guinea
-almost at any house in the street, nothing was more easy than to have
-silver for gold in any quantity, and gold for silver, in the prison;
-those of the fair sex, from persons of the first rank to tradesmen’s
-wives and daughters, making a sacrifice of their husbands’ and parents’
-rings and other precious movables for the use of the prisoners. The aid
-was so reckless, that forty shillings for a dish of early peas and
-beans, and thirty shillings for a dish of fish, with the best French
-wine, was an ordinary regale!’
-
-Forster was to be tried on the 18th April, but a week previously the
-town was startled with the intelligence that he had broken bounds;
-he was off. ‘His escape,’ says Doran, ‘was well planned and happily
-executed. His sharp servant found means to obtain an impression of
-Pitt’s master-key, from which another key was made and conveyed to
-Forster, without difficulty. Pitt loved wine, and Forster seems to have
-had a cellar full of it. He often invited the governor to get drunk
-on its contents. One night, Pitt got more drunk than usual, finished
-the wine, and roared for more. Forster bade his servant to fetch up
-another bottle. This was the critical moment. The fellow was long,
-and Forster declared he would go and see what the rascal was at. On
-going, he locked the unconscious Pitt in the room; and the way being
-prepared by his servant, and turnkeys, as it would seem, subdued by
-the “oil of palms,” master and servant walked into the street, where
-friends awaited them. Pitt sounded the alarm, but everything had been
-well calculated. A smack lay at Holly Haven, on the Thames, which had
-often been employed by the Jacobites in running between England and
-France.’ By this means, Forster effected his escape, and ‘the joy of
-the Jacobites was incontrollable.’ The government shut up Pitt in one
-of his own dungeons, and offered a thousand pounds for the recovery of
-‘General Forster;’ but pursuit was useless. The general was safe in
-France.
-
-Borlum, who knew that his trial would speedily take place, meditated
-on plans for emulating the success of Forster. Strange to say,
-notwithstanding a knowledge of the irregularities that were carried on
-in Newgate, the public authorities made no change in the administration
-of affairs. Wine flowed, punch was sent round, and the prisoners
-suffered scarcely any stint in their indulgences. Things were indeed
-rather worse than better—all which was favourable to a plan concocted
-by Borlum and his fellow-captives. ‘The prisoners,’ says Dr Doran,
-‘might cool themselves after their drink, by walking and talking,
-singing and planning, in the court-yard, till within an hour of
-midnight. Evil came of it. On the night of the 4th [May] the feast
-being over, nearly five dozen of the prisoners were walking about the
-press-yard. Suddenly, the whole body of them made an ugly rush at the
-keeper with the keys. He was knocked down, the doors were opened, and
-the prisoners swept forth to freedom. All, however, did not succeed in
-gaining liberty. As the attempt was being made, soldiers and turnkeys
-were alarmed. The fugitives were then driven in different directions.
-Brigadier Mackintosh, his son, and seven others overcame all
-opposition. They reached the street, and they were so well befriended,
-or were so lucky, as to disappear at once, and to evade all pursuit.
-They fled in various directions.’ Some others less fortunate were
-secured, ‘and were not only heavily ironed and thrust into loathsome
-holes, but treated with exceptional brutality.’ What a picture of a
-metropolitan prison in the reign of George I.!
-
-The escape of Borlum from Newgate with certain other convicts produced
-an immense sensation. For decency’s sake, if for nothing else, the Lord
-Mayor and Aldermen came down to the prison, and solemnly gathered some
-evidence on the subject. The least thing in the way of amends was to
-offer a reward for the capture of ‘William Mackintosh, commonly called
-Brigadier Mackintosh.’ Placards were profusely posted up describing the
-appearance of Borlum. ‘A tall, raw-boned man, about sixty years of age,
-fair complexioned, beetle-browed, gray-eyed, speaks broad Scotch.’ The
-reward for capturing him was two hundred pounds, to which sum, however,
-were added a thousand pounds by the government. Every effort failed
-to secure the old Highland chief. He and his son succeeded in getting
-on board a vessel in the Thames, by which they reached the coast of
-France, and there for the present we must leave him.
-
-These furtive escapes did not slacken operations at Tyburn, to which
-doomed men from Newgate were carried in half-dozens, as if for a public
-entertainment. We can hardly in the present day realise the brutality
-of these exhibitions, to which, however, ladies of quality regularly
-adjourned to see the show. Hanging formed a holiday amusement of
-the fashionable society of London. Such was the disregard of humane
-feeling that officers of the law were not ashamed to practise cruel
-deceptions on convicts at the very scaffold. Dr Doran describes a case
-of this kind. It was that of a person named David Lindsay, convicted
-of traitorous visits to France, who was sentenced to die, and carted
-to Tyburn in spite of an amnesty. ‘When his neck was in the noose, the
-sheriff tested David’s courage, by telling him he might yet save his
-life on condition of revealing the names of alleged traitors. David,
-however sorely tempted, declined to save his neck on such terms.
-Thereupon, the sheriff ordered the cart to drive on; but even this move
-towards leaving Lindsay suspended did not shake his stout spirit. All
-this time the sheriff had a reprieve for the unnecessarily tortured
-fellow in his pocket. Before the cart was fairly from under Lindsay’s
-feet, it was stopped, or he would have been murdered.’ Taken back alive
-to Newgate, a very unusual spectacle, Lindsay, after being nearly
-starved in a loathsome dungeon, was sent into perpetual banishment;
-ultimately he died of hunger and exposure in Holland.
-
-As the hanging of some thousands of rebels would have shocked ordinary
-decency, vast numbers were condemned to be banished, as an act of
-grace, to the Plantations, or were ‘made over as presents to trading
-courtiers,’ who might pardon them for ‘a consideration.’ Think of lords
-and ladies at court being presented with groups of convicts on whom
-money could be made by selling pardons! The fact throws a new light on
-this period of English history. As regards transportation, Dr Doran
-gives some not uninteresting and little known particulars concerning
-Rob Roy. Twelve years after the rebellion of 1715, Rob was taken to
-London in connection with the Disarmament Act, and sentenced with many
-others to be transported to Barbadoes. Handcuffed to Lord Ogilvie, he
-was marched from Newgate through the streets of London to a barge at
-Blackfriars, and thence to Gravesend. ‘This,’ says Dr Doran, ‘is an
-incident which has escaped the notice of Walter Scott and of all Rob’s
-biographers.’ Before quitting England, the barge-load of convicts were
-pardoned and allowed to return home.
-
-Matters had considerably calmed down, when the country was startled
-with the rebellion which broke out in 1745, headed by the young
-Chevalier, Charles Edward, grandson of James II. It was a daring and
-romantic adventure, but as badly conceived and supported as that of
-thirty years previously. No promised auxiliaries were supplied from
-France; and that the attempt to upset a powerful and settled government
-by a handful of adventurous Highlanders and the adherents of a few
-discontented noblemen and gentry should have ended disastrously, as it
-finally did on the field of Culloden, is not at all surprising. This
-fresh outbreak in the reign of George II. affords new material for the
-graphic pen of Dr Doran; and to his second volume we must refer for
-many painful though curious details concerning the treatment of the
-unfortunate prisoners. The manners of the more fashionable classes in
-the metropolis do not seem to have improved. We are told that ‘people
-of fashion went to the Tower to see the prisoners as persons of lower
-quality went there to see the lions. Within the Tower, the spectator
-was lucky who saw Murray [of Broughton], Charles Ratcliffe, Lord
-Traquair, Lord Cromarty and his son, and the Lord Provost, at their
-respective windows. Lady Townshend, who had fallen in love with Lord
-Kilmarnock, at the first sight of “his falling shoulders,” when he
-appeared to plead at the bar of the Lords, was to be seen under his
-window at the Tower.’ The Lord Provost, here alluded to, was Archibald
-Stewart, who, known to be of Jacobite proclivities, was charged with
-culpable neglect of duty, in having allowed a party of Highlanders
-to rush in and take possession of Edinburgh. Stewart was tried and
-acquitted. Lord Cromarty’s life was spared; but Lords Kilmarnock,
-Balmerino, and Lovat perished by beheading on Tower Hill. Lovat had
-expressed a passionate desire to be buried with his head in his own
-country in Scotland. The wish was gratified. His head was sewed on
-again by the undertaker before the body was despatched northwards! Lord
-Traquair was liberated.
-
-The case of Charles Ratcliffe was peculiar. He was a younger brother
-of Lord Derwentwater who was executed in 1716, and he had himself only
-evaded the same fate at that time by being one of the prisoners who
-escaped from Newgate and took refuge in France. Assuming the title of
-Earl of Derwentwater, he was made prisoner in 1745, on board a French
-vessel on its way to Scotland with supplies for Prince Charles. The
-sentence of death which had been passed on him thirty years before
-was now raked up. He was condemned to be executed; and giving him the
-benefit of his assumed title of nobility, he was beheaded on Tower
-Hill, his manly courage and proud bearing not deserting him at the last
-dreadful scene.
-
-Like Patten, in the former rebellion, Murray of Broughton, who had
-acted as secretary to Charles Edward, was saved by basely turning
-king’s evidence, and sending many better men than himself to the
-scaffold. He retreated into private life under a deserved load of
-infamy. Years afterwards, as we learn from Lockhart, Murray, several
-times in disguise, visited Mr Scott, father of Sir Walter, for the
-sake of professional advice. On one of these occasions, Mrs Scott,
-from curiosity, intruded with the offer of a cup of tea, which Murray
-accepted. When he withdrew, Mr Scott lifted the window-sash, and threw
-the empty cup into the street. The lady exclaimed for her china, but
-was silenced by the remark: ‘I may admit into my house, on a piece of
-business, persons wholly unworthy to be treated as guests by my wife.
-Neither lip of me nor of mine comes after Mr Murray of Broughton.’ As a
-memento of this curious incident, Sir Walter made prize of the saucer,
-which he preserved.
-
-The executions of the untitled prisoners were conducted in a wholesale
-manner on Kennington Common, to which crowds flocked to see the hideous
-show. Drawers attended to supply wine to the culprits while the ropes
-were put round their necks, for the Jacobites drank treasonous toasts
-till the last. At one of these tragic ceremonials, ‘Captain Wood, after
-the halter was loosely hung for him round his neck, called for wine,
-which was supplied with alacrity by the prison drawers. When it was
-served round, the captain drank to the health of the rightful king,
-James III.’ The slight delay so caused was lucky for another culprit,
-Captain Lindsay, who was coming up with a second batch. ‘While the wine
-was being drunk, Lindsay was “haltering,” as the reporters called it.
-He was nice about the look of the rope, but just as he was courteously
-invited to get in and be hanged, a reprieve came for him, which saved
-his life.’ At this period, London could not be deemed a pleasant place
-of residence for any one with delicate feelings. The entrances to the
-town were lined with decaying bodies hanging in chains. At length the
-sights became so offensive as to cause public remonstrance.
-
-Dr Doran winds up his dramatic narrative with some graceful remarks
-on the altered state of feeling towards the Jacobites in the reign of
-George III. By the decease of Charles Edward in 1788, after having sunk
-to the character of a sot, the Jacobite fanaticism was considerably
-abated, and only lingered as an expiring sentiment till the death of
-Charles’s brother, Henry, Cardinal York, 1807, when the house of Stuart
-was extinct.
-
-It is pleasant to know that the royal family always spoke with sympathy
-of the Stuarts. Charles Edward, as is well known, was unhappy in
-his marriage with Louise, Countess of Albany, daughter of Count von
-Stolberg. She left him for a convent in 1780, and subsequently to his
-death became the wife of the Italian poet, Vittorio Alfieri. By a
-strange turn in the wheel of fortune, she sought an asylum in England,
-on the outbreak of the French Revolution, and was well received at the
-court in St James’s Palace, the king and queen vying to do her honour.
-She went to see the king in the House of Lords with the crown on his
-head, when proroguing parliament, 1791. Hannah More speaks of seeing
-the Countess of Albany on that occasion seated among ladies ‘just at
-the foot of the throne which she might once have expected to have
-mounted.’ Finding London dull, with ‘crowds but no society,’ and that
-the climate of England did not suit her, she returned to the continent.
-
-In his latter years Cardinal York was supported by a pension of four
-thousand pounds a year from George III.; an act of kindness which was
-handsomely responded to by the Cardinal giving up to the king the crown
-diamonds which James II. had carried away with him to France. On the
-death of the Cardinal, the Countess of Albany became the recipient of
-an annuity from the king. This she enjoyed till her decease as plain
-Madame Fabre at Montpelier, in France, in 1824. Such was the sorrowful
-ending of the broken-down and much-tried widow of Charles Edward Stuart.
-
-We feel that our desultory sketch would be incomplete without some
-account of Borlum subsequent to his escape to France in 1716. For any
-such account, however, there are very slender materials in history. To
-a writer in the _Celtic Magazine_ (Inverness, 1877) we are indebted for
-some of the following particulars. Borlum remained in France only one
-or two years, during which his father died, whereupon he became the
-chief of his house. On what terms, if any, he was allowed to return
-to his own country there is no statement. At all events, he was again
-in Scotland in 1719, for in that year he took part in the mad attempt
-at insurrection by the aid of Spanish soldiers, which was immediately
-stamped out. That Mackintosh of Borlum should have engaged in so wild
-an adventure, is an evidence of his Jacobite fervour and indiscretion.
-He was once more a fugitive, but for a time contrived to elude
-detection. At length, he was apprehended in the wilds of Caithness, and
-was conveyed as a state prisoner to Edinburgh Castle.
-
-Few, perhaps, among the gay crowds who throng Princes Street, and
-cast a glance at the buildings of the castle perched on the summit of
-rugged cliffs, are aware that in one of these buildings, long used as
-a state prison, poor Mackintosh of Borlum was confined for the last
-years of his life. Certainly, a hard fate for the old Jacobite! Cribbed
-and confined in his airy but miserable den, Borlum did not spend his
-time uselessly. Before being involved in political troubles he had
-devoted himself to the improvement and planting of lands. He is said to
-have planted a row of trees which still ornament the public road near
-Kingussie. Now that he was locked up, he wrote an Essay on the best
-means of inclosing and improving lands, which was printed in Edinburgh
-in 1729. Our authority adds: ‘On the 7th January 1743, after a rough
-earthly pilgrimage of eighty years, the gallant old soldier passed to
-his rest, true to the last to the principles which had influenced his
-whole life. One of his last acts, it is said, was to dedicate one of
-his teeth to the service of his exiled master, by writing with it on
-the wall of his room an invocation of God’s blessing on King James!’
-
-How long Borlum was immured in that dismal prison on the castle rock,
-is not clearly ascertained. The obituary in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_
-speaks of his having been confined in the castle ‘fifteen years.’ By
-the authority above quoted, he is said to have been imprisoned ‘for
-nearly a quarter of a century.’ Truth may lie somewhere between—from
-twenty to twenty-one years. The _Caledonian-Mercury_, in noticing his
-decease at the age of ‘about eighty-five,’ gives him a high character
-as ‘a complete gentleman, friendly, agreeable, and courteous;’ and for
-what he had written as regards the improvement of land, he is to be
-lastingly esteemed as ‘a lover of his country.’ Nowhere is a word said
-of the cruelty of confining so aged and accomplished a person in the
-worst species of prison till he was released by death. For the seeming
-harshness of this prolonged imprisonment, an excuse may perhaps be
-found in the political apprehensions of the period; but this scarcely
-lessens our compassion for the sufferings of a man in so many respects
-estimable. With all his faults, Borlum must be admitted to have
-possessed that quality of earnestness of purpose which in the ordinary
-concerns of life is now so feebly demonstrated. It could be wished
-that some one had done full justice to his biography; for Borlum was
-undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary men of his time.
-
- W. C.
-
-
-
-
-HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.—FIRE!
-
-‘There is nothing so hard, nothing so difficult as to get a governess
-nowadays,’ said the Countess of Wolverhampton, quite unaware that she
-was but echoing the complaint of many ladies of a lesser degree, to the
-effect that it is next to impossible to procure pattern cooks, prize
-housemaids, exemplary seamstresses, or model kitchen-maids, in these
-degenerate times. ‘I mean a really satisfactory governess of course,’
-added the noble mistress of High Tor. Lady Wolverhampton and her two
-elder daughters were the sole occupants of the smallest of the suite of
-drawing-rooms, the windows of which were yet open to admit the balmy
-air of the hot evening. Dinner was but just over, and the flush of the
-sinking sun was faintly visible on the heathy ridges and pine-groves to
-the west.
-
-‘It is very tiresome, mamma,’ said sympathetic Lady Maud.
-
-‘It is more than tiresome,’ rejoined the Countess. ‘It makes me, on
-your sister’s account, very anxious. If I had known, when Miss Grainger
-left us, how very long it would take to replace her, and that dear
-Alice would be for months at a stand-still so far as her education
-went, I should not have parted with her so readily.’
-
-‘But she left us because she was going to be married,’ said Lady Gladys
-smiling; ‘and we could not, I suppose, have forbidden the banns on
-account of the scarcity of good governesses. I wonder, by the way, how
-the scarcity can exist, when we are so perpetually informed that the
-governess market—a phrase which I don’t like, suggesting as it does
-white slavery, involuntary servitude, and the auctioneer’s hammer—is
-overstocked.’
-
-‘That sounds clever, Gladys,’ answered Lady Wolverhampton in her plain
-way; ‘but I am afraid that, like most clever-sounding things, it proves
-nothing. I could get a highly certificated instructress, a person
-primed with information on particular subjects, warranted to be worth a
-handsome salary, a’——
-
-‘A teaching-machine, in fact,’ suggested bright Lady Gladys, seeing
-that her mother hesitated for the lack of a word.
-
-‘Precisely. A teaching-machine,’ resumed the Countess. ‘But I don’t
-want one. I wish Alice’s governess, whoever she may be, to be a good
-sensible young woman, such as Miss Grainger was; and instead of that,
-all my correspondents write to me of the degrees and diplomas that have
-been taken out by those they recommend. I suppose I am an old-fashioned
-person, but I do wish’——
-
-But before the Countess of Wolverhampton could complete her discourse
-on the governess topic, the door was jerked open, and the old butler,
-who had permitted himself to turn the handle for once with such
-unconventional vivacity, stood gasping in the doorway with a face as
-white as his cravat.
-
-‘Why, Bugles!’ began the Countess, rising in alarm; for that an ox
-should talk, as Livy tells us that a Roman representative of the bovine
-genus actually did, is scarcely more calculated to disturb the nerves
-than that a well-trained servant should crack the ice of his artificial
-decorum. The Earl, who was, like his wife, a partisan of old fashions,
-was lingering over his wine in the dining-room, and might of course be
-ill. Apoplexy was the first thought that rose, like a sheeted spectre,
-before the Countess’s mind.
-
-‘Fire, my lady! Fire at High Tor; broke out sudden; and all the village
-is in flames!’ panted out Bugles the butler, who was fat and short of
-breath. And without were to be vaguely heard other voices and the sound
-of running feet, and the cry, alarming above all others, of ‘Fire!
-fire!’ as grooms and gardeners forgot their usual respectful reticence
-in the first flush of the anticipated struggle with the direst foe of
-man and his works.
-
-‘There really is a fire, and I’m afraid a great one, to judge by the
-smoke and the sparks,’ said Lord Harrogate, who at this juncture
-entered. ‘My father has had his horse saddled already, and has started
-by this time for the village, and I am going too of course. I only came
-first to see if’——
-
-‘If we were ready to come too?’ cried Lady Maud. ‘To be sure we will,
-the moment we can get our hats, Gladys and I. Alice will stay with
-mamma. We can’t work at putting out the fire, but we may be of use
-somehow.’
-
-And in an incredibly short space of time the Ladies De Vere and their
-brother were hurrying down the steep road that led to the scene of
-the disaster. High Tor House, isolated and on a lofty spot of rising
-ground, was in no sort of peril from the fire raging beneath; but the
-indwellers of the great mansion were not disposed, like the divinities
-of the Pagan Olympus, serenely to contemplate the woes of the
-inhabitants of earth, and without waiting for orders, nearly every boy
-and man in the Earl’s employ had hastened down to fight the common foe.
-
-‘The dry weather—unusually dry for this moist district, where the last
-thing we generally have to complain of is the want of rain—must help
-the fire sadly,’ said Lord Harrogate, as the lodge-gates were left
-behind, and the lurid light of the conflagration became more and more
-distinctly visible through gaps in the high hedges that bordered the
-road. As they drew nearer, the eddying clouds of smoke, mingled with
-fiery dots here and there, the dull crimson glow, and the smothered
-sound of voices mingling with the roar of the flames and the clang of
-labour, gave unpleasant tokens of the mischief that was going on.
-
-‘I hoped at the first that the report was an exaggerated one, as most
-reports are,’ said Lord Harrogate, as they came in sight of the burning
-houses. ‘But this is an ugly business. It is on one side of the street
-only, by good luck, that the fire is raging, and if we can keep it from
-spreading’——
-
-The crash of a cottage roof tumbling in, and followed by a shower of
-sparks and small fragments of flaming wood, drowned the rest of the
-sentence. Matters were evidently bad enough, though not quite so bad
-as might have been augured from the first announcement of that herald
-of misfortune, Bugles the butler. The whole southern side of the long
-straggling street was more or less in flames; and to keep the fire from
-communicating itself to the houses on the opposite side of the road
-was a work which in itself taxed the strength of the whole adult male
-population to the utmost.
-
-The noise, the smoke, the falling sparks, and the occasional plumping
-down into the dust of the road of some half-consumed scrap of woodwork,
-made Lord Harrogate’s sisters, who were physically no braver than the
-average of their sex, shrink back aghast.
-
-‘Here, Maud!’ cried her brother impatiently. ‘We must not—or I must
-not—be drones in the hive. You know most of these good people—Mrs
-Prosser, for instance.—Mrs Prosser, my sisters will stay with you while
-I go forward to bear a hand in getting the fire under.—Where’s my
-father? Ah, there he is, in the thick of the smoke!’
-
-And there, sure enough, was dimly to be seen the well-known figure
-of the old Earl giving orders to such as were cool enough to hearken
-to them, whilst his frightened horse, held by a groom, stood at some
-distance. Darting through the clouds of suffocating vapour, which were
-dense enough to suggest the idea of a battle, Lord Harrogate reached
-the place where his father was standing.
-
-‘I don’t see any fire-engines!’ exclaimed the young man, looking with a
-sort of dismay at the chain of buckets passed from hand to hand. ‘What,
-in the name of all that’s wonderful, are the people dreaming of?’
-
-‘We have sent to Pebworth for help,’ said the Earl, shaking his gray
-head; ‘but before any arrives, if the wind freshens the houses will be
-mere cinder-heaps. As for the parish engine, Stickles here has got the
-same story to tell that is only too common among us in England here.’
-
-And Stickles, who was the clerk, rubbed his hands apologetically
-together as he faltered out, in reply to Lord Harrogate’s impatient
-question, the excuses which he had previously addressed to the Earl.
-The engine of which he was official custodian had been long out of
-repair, and was to have been ‘seen to,’ and should have been ‘seen
-to’ after harvest-time, had not the unfortunate outbreak of a very
-real and practical fire tested the unreadiness of the precautions for
-putting it out. As it was, the only available means of doing battle
-with the conflagration was the rude and simple one of flinging water
-on the flames, and at this task the inhabitants were busy enough. They
-were busier, however, before long, as, under the direction of Lord
-Harrogate, whom they respected, they began to tear down some portions
-of the burning buildings, in the hope of preventing the fire from
-spreading. A strange sight it was which the village street presented,
-encumbered as it was by chests and bedding and the poor furniture which
-had been hastily dragged out from the doors of cottages now blazing,
-and the wailing of frightened children, and the shrill voices of the
-women, blended with the hoarse deep roar of the triumphant flames.
-
-‘’Tis a mercy, my lord, it broke out when it did,’ said Charley Joyce,
-best bowler in the local cricket club and best woodman in the Earl’s
-employment, and in both of these capacities well known to the Earl’s
-heir. ‘There’d ha’ been a lot of us burned in our beds, if it had
-tarried till after midnight. All came,’ he added, ‘of that blessed
-rock-oil from Ameriky.’
-
-Such indeed was the reported origin of the disaster. A girl, for
-milking purposes, had taken a tin lamp with her into a cowshed; the cow
-had kicked over the lamp, and the burning petroleum had set fire to
-the straw litter, whence the flames had mounted to the thatched roof.
-Thatched roofs, picturesque to look upon, were only too numerous for
-safety in that West-country village. The fire had crawled and darted,
-lithe as a serpent, from gable to porch and from paling to stable.
-
-‘There! Look at the school-house now!’ cried a score of voices; and
-indeed the flames were pouring outwards through the shattered windows
-and licking the blackened walls, and withering to charred sticks the
-pretty hedge where the fragrant woodbine had clung so lovingly to the
-quickset, and scorching the very flowers in the garden.
-
-‘The fire began near about there,’ remarked Joyce; but Lord Harrogate
-was already out of earshot, since his keen eye had caught a glimpse of
-a pale beautiful face, in the midst of the confusion of the crowded
-street. He pushed his way through the excited throng.
-
-‘You are not hurt, Miss Gray, I hope and trust?’ he said with an
-eagerness that surprised himself.
-
-‘No; but my house is burning,’ said Ethel in reply; ‘and I am a
-stranger, and—— But pray, my lord, do not trouble yourself to’—— For
-the young man had drawn her arm gently but firmly through his.
-
-‘You must let me choose for you,’ he said. ‘My sisters are here, close
-by, at Mrs Prosser’s, who keeps the village shop—a kind motherly old
-soul. I must leave you with them.’
-
-Thus Ethel allowed herself to be led to the place where, amidst a knot
-of women, whose awe-stricken faces told how great was their interest in
-the spectacle, the Ladies De Vere stood watching the progress of the
-fire. Lord Harrogate did not linger for an instant, but went back to
-put heart into the men still battling with the encroaching flames.
-
-It was no trifle, this hand-to-hand combat, as it were, with the
-fire; the fierce heat driving back the volunteers who ventured very
-near to the tottering walls to fling water upon the blazing timbers,
-while the blinding smoke rushed volleying out to blear the eyes and
-clog the lungs of the workers, and ever and anon some tall chimney or
-breached roof would fall with a crash, sending showers of bricks and
-half-consumed wood into the midst of the crowd; and hairbreadth escapes
-were many and bruises numerous.
-
-At last, however, the two engines from Pebworth came clattering into
-the street, and water being in that region of streams ready to hand,
-and the wind happily abating, the fire was fairly conquered, and all
-further danger at an end. There was no loss of life; but some were
-singed and many bruised; while thirty humble homes had been turned to
-heaps of smouldering ruin, and household gear and clothing, snatched
-from the flames, formed piles here and there in the wet road.
-Gradually the hospitality of this or that neighbour afforded temporary
-shelter to the crying children, the lamenting women, and the exhausted
-men; while a flying squadron of boys chased and led back captive the
-cows and pigs, the fowls and donkeys of those whose yards and sheds had
-been made desolate by the conflagration.
-
-But what was Ethel to do? The old dame who served her had been readily
-received into the dwelling of a neighbour; and indeed nearly all of
-those so suddenly evicted had kindred, and all had friends to harbour
-them at this pinch. The young school-mistress looked forlorn indeed, as
-she stood alone in the midst of so many groups of voluble talkers.
-
-‘You must come home with us, Miss Gray,’ said Lady Maud kindly; ‘must
-come up to High Tor House, I mean,’ she added, seeing that Ethel did
-not at first appear to comprehend her words, ‘and stay with us until
-something can be done. It is the least we can do for you, burned out of
-house and home in this dreadful way, as you have been.’
-
-Lady Gladys heartily seconded the invitation; but Ethel still hesitated
-until the Earl drew near.
-
-‘I have been telling Miss Gray here, papa, that we will take care of
-her at the House for a few days till she can look about her,’ said Lady
-Maud.
-
-‘Quite right, my dear,’ answered the Earl with his fatherly smile; and
-thus the matter was settled.
-
-
-
-
-CHINA AND MAJOLICA.
-
-
-The love of china-ware still continues to be a mania amongst certain
-classes in this country. In the houses chiefly of the ‘upper ten,’ we
-see scattered in lavish profusion little Dresden figures, shepherds and
-shepherdesses, sweet, fresh, smiling, fantastic little loves, leaning
-on impossible crooks, or ogling us from under trees whose bowery
-greenery embodies all that is idyllic in crockery. Wonderful little
-old tea-cups, without handles, transparent as an egg-shell, with no
-colouring to speak of, faded, washed-out looking, are proudly pointed
-to as almost priceless. From these our great-great-grandmothers, in
-all the glories of hoops and furbelows, are said to have drunk their
-hyson and bohea in their great wainscoted and tapestried rooms,
-discoursing as they sipped the fragrant nectar, much as we their
-great-great-granddaughters do still, over our afternoon tea; for the
-world changes, but the human heart does not. All manner of vanities go
-the round; trivialities of dress or gossip; much tattling about the
-mote in our neighbour’s eye, and a careful avoiding, with commendable
-modesty, any reference even the most remote to the beam in our own.
-These pale transparent cups going their oft-repeated rounds may have
-sown in their day the seeds of many a pathetic commonplace tragedy or
-comedy, disseminating, as they circulated around the board, harmony and
-peace, or dissension and distrust.
-
-Your true china collector has undoubtedly in him something of the
-antiquarian Dryasdust spirit, which loves to excavate and unearth the
-buried treasures of the past; in his case, however, it is gracefully
-blended with and overlaid by an instinctive fondness for the tender,
-lovely, fragile object of his regard. He knows, for he has often
-anxiously weighed it, how frail it is. Every time he looks at it he
-remembers the tumult of conflicting emotions with which, once secured,
-he packed it up with his own hands, and the fears for its ultimate
-safety which tempered the ecstatic pride of his triumph in the bargain
-which he had just struck.
-
-To the china-hunter, every object in his cabinet or on his brackets is
-a trophy. That quaint old enamelled _tazza_ of Lucca della Robbia’s,
-he bought in Rome; and as he gazes at it he thinks not so much of
-the astute Jew dealer, for whom, as he flatters himself, his own
-knowingness was fully a match, but of a long-forgotten holiday, with
-its bright days of sunshine, and the lengthening purple shadows of
-night deepening over the skies, and the grapes in ripe clusters on the
-wall. How well he remembers their flavour still, and the hand that
-plucked them for the stranger, and the eyes that looked into his! What
-was her name? He has forgotten it. What her fate? He has never known.
-A most prosaic ending, truly, to a vanished romance. But her charming
-grace and beauty unforgotten, blend still in his memory like a sweet
-rhythmical chant, and beautify with a glory not altogether its own this
-rare old cup of Lucca della Robbia’s.
-
-With a sigh he turns from it to contemplate this old plate of
-mezza-majolica. Opal-hued, iridescent, it darts at him as he gazes upon
-it subtle flashes of blue and yellow and ruby-hued flame, rejoicing
-his soul with a deep unalterable conviction that it at least is real.
-He acquired it in Urbino, many, many years after he became the happy
-possessor of the Lucca della Robbia cup. He paid a full price for it
-too; but although a close man, he does not, and has never regretted the
-imprudence. At the sight of that beautiful plate, which he is pleased
-to call unique, his charmed heart melts away into softness, and his
-purse-strings begin to relax of their own accord. It moves his spleen
-to see careless visitors pass it by, as they sometimes do, to gaze at
-the soft beauty of that bright yellow-robed maiden, with dove upon her
-hand, who hovers self-forgetful upon the very verge of a pea-green
-china sea. The poor old quaint plate of mezza-majolica, gleaming there
-like a veritable jewel, is a treasure he jealously guards, and of its
-history we would say a few words.
-
-The Italian enamelled earthenware which became famous under the name of
-Majolica, was first produced in 1300 in a town in the duchy of Urbino,
-which was under the feudal sway of the Malatestas, who were lords of
-Pesaro. Vessels of red clay such as had been long in use were covered
-with a thin coating of white earth obtained from the neighbourhood of
-Siena, and upon this ground different coloured patterns were traced.
-The vessels were then partly baked and covered with lead-glaze, after
-which they received a final firing. This delineation of coloured
-patterns upon an opaque white substance was the humble germ out of
-which the splendid many-hued majolica ware grew.
-
-The colours employed were usually yellow, green, blue, and black; and
-the soft lead glaze, which was easily affected by external influences,
-imparted to the pottery that metallic iridescent lustre which is the
-special characteristic of majolica. To the Spanish Moors, this art
-was also well known; and some of their beautiful masterpieces finding
-their way into Italy, acted as a fillip to the infant art, which long
-remained swathed in rude and ungraceful swaddling-bands. While it was
-in this transition state, a new tin glaze was discovered, and applied
-to terra-cotta bas-reliefs by the famous Lucca della Robbia, and the
-lordship of Pesaro was sold to the house of Sforza. The new feudal
-superiors took an extreme interest in the potteries, and granted such
-special privileges to the manufacturers, that in a short time they
-succeeded in making Pesaro famous for the production of majolica.
-Early specimens of the ware manufactured here are generally adorned
-with Moorish arabesques and coats of arms. Heads of saints are also a
-favourite study, and so are heathen goddesses; while heads of the popes
-and Dukes of Urbino abound, the name being affixed, to prevent all
-mistake as to the portrait.
-
-In the pottery of the Pesaro manufactory, the outlines of the subjects
-are traced in black or blue, and are in general correctly drawn; but
-the figures are flat and hard, without a vestige of the breadth and
-freedom which give such admirable life and vigour to the etchings on
-the Greek vases; all faults in design or execution being atoned for
-by the marvellous beauty and finish of the glaze, whose iridescent
-splendour has been equalled but never surpassed by later artists. The
-most beautiful specimens of this ware are due to the genius of an
-obscure artist, whose very name has been forgotten, who flourished in
-Pesaro about 1480. The dishes he made were large and thick, and were
-intended not so much for use as for display; as is shewn by holes in
-a projection behind, through which strings were passed in order to
-suspend them from the wall. The colours he used were blue and yellow,
-and they shone with a rare and matchless mother-of-pearl splendour.
-
-At the end of the fifteenth century tin enamel had come into general
-use, and the potteries of the duchy of Urbino had begun to manufacture
-a finer majolica ware. The art may be said to have reached its most
-palmy period. The finest qualities of the old mezza-majolica were
-retained in the new manufacture, and far greater artistic skill was
-displayed in the painting and ornamentation. The town of Gubbio
-acquired a world-wide fame by the beauty of its lustrous majolica;
-and in the year 1485, Georgio Andreoli, a gentleman of Pavia, was
-attracted to it. He was a painter and sculptor by profession; and
-his majolica plates, glowing like jewels with the richest and most
-brilliant colours, are still famous. He excelled in the use of ruby
-red and golden yellow, and his ware is generally encircled by a
-brilliant flame-coloured border. He delights also in the picturesque
-effect produced by gold arabesques on a ground of vivid blue. His
-period of greatest activity was from 1486 to 1537. To china-fanciers
-he is known as the famous Maestro Georgio of Gubbio, and his works
-now command almost incredible prices. He is charged with having made
-a secret of his metallic lustre, and with having travelled about the
-country selling his recipes to the highest bidder; but for this charge
-there is no good ground. His brothers and his son worked along with
-him, and they had many assistants, to whom all the processes of the
-manufacture were known. In the city of Urbino, where Raphael was born,
-the manufacture of majolica ware was carried on with great spirit and
-success. Among the foremost of the ceramic artists of Urbino was a
-certain Orazio Fontana. His designs, which are characterised by great
-freedom and breadth of style, and truth and fidelity of drawing,
-are likewise brilliantly coloured and admirably glazed. One of his
-masterpieces, a magnificent cup, in the possession of Baron Rothschild,
-has his name inscribed upon it; a frequent practice with the great
-Italian potters.
-
-All over the duchy of Urbino, potteries of this ware flourished at
-Gubbio, at Pesaro, at Urbino, and at Castel Durante. From these
-workshops potters travelled with their secrets to other parts of
-Italy and also to Flanders. The majolica of Castel Durante is very
-beautifully finished; and one of its principal manufacturers, Piccolo
-Passo, wrote a treatise upon the art of making and decorating majolica.
-
-Faenza, which has given its name in France to all soft pottery, also
-produced much beautiful majolica ware. The Faenza majolica has, like
-that of Urbino, a rich marzacotta glaze, and some of the more ancient
-specimens are enamelled in berettino, a pale-blue tint. The later
-Faenza majolica is in style very like that of Urbino; decorative and
-embossed embellishments are laid aside, and pictorial designs are
-generally used.
-
-Such is a brief sketch of an art for which Raphael and Marc Antonio did
-not disdain to furnish compositions, and whose masterpieces not only
-found ready access into palaces, but were presented to churches and
-hung up in cathedrals during the middle ages as votive offerings to
-saints.
-
-
-
-
-MR ASLATT’S WARD.
-
-
-IN FOUR CHAPTERS.—CHAPTER I.
-
-Some years ago I was brought by reverse of fortune to form one of that
-vast number of women in search of employment, the thought of whom
-makes one’s heart ache as one looks at their numerous applications
-for situations in the columns of our daily papers. I had long been an
-orphan, but not a penniless one, till a great bank-failure, such as
-have from time to time brought so much misery and embarrassment upon
-the middle classes of society, swept away my little all, and left me
-entirely dependent upon my own exertions for future maintenance.
-
-As the shock conveyed by the news of my loss passed away, I was not in
-utter despair. I had been well educated, was a tolerable musician, and
-had travelled much; so it seemed to me that I should have no difficulty
-in finding a situation as companion or governess; and I strove hard to
-conquer my natural shrinking from the irksomeness of such a life, and
-to become reconciled to my altered position. Friends promised to help
-me, and for a time I depended upon their promises. But finding that
-no situation was forthcoming through their efforts, I determined to
-try the effect of an advertisement in the _Times_. I composed it with
-care, endeavouring to set my qualifications in their best light, and
-felt sanguine as to the result. I expected to have at least a dozen
-responses, and was disappointed at receiving only two. The first letter
-I opened was in a woman’s handwriting, and consisted of a string of
-impertinent queries, linked to a statement of the writer’s requirements
-in the governess she engaged for her daughters—requirements which I
-felt sure I could never fulfil; winding up with a request that if I
-felt equal to the demands of the situation, I would call at a certain
-address in the neighbourhood of Regent’s Park. Such a letter checked
-my expectations, and with some impatience I destroyed it. The next was
-very different. It was a courteously worded note from a gentleman,
-informing me that he was seeking a governess, or rather companion, for
-his ward, a girl of eighteen; and would be glad to have an interview
-with me, if I would kindly make such arrangements for one as would suit
-my convenience. The tone of his letter pleased me, and as he gave the
-address of an hotel not far from the part of London where I was then
-residing, I immediately wrote a reply, naming an hour at which on the
-following day I would call upon him.
-
-It was with not a little trepidation that I set out the next morning
-to fulfil my engagement. I had the vaguest ideas of what I ought to do
-or say in the new position in which I found myself, and for which my
-previous experience had ill prepared me. My heart sank within me as I
-inquired for Mr Aslatt, and was conducted by a waiter to his private
-room. Would the stranger be a very formidable personage? I wondered.
-The first glance at him was reassuring. A more benevolent countenance
-I have never seen; and his tall stately figure and genial though
-dignified manner, enhanced the pleasing impression it created. He was
-not a young man; but so bright was the lustre of his steel-blue eyes,
-so full of life and energy their glance, and his words and actions so
-quick and lively, that no one would have thought of calling him old,
-although his black hair was streaked with gray, and his brow somewhat
-lined by the cares and sorrows which come to all as the years pass on.
-My fears vanished at his kind reception, and I at once felt at my ease.
-
-‘I do not know whether the services I require will be to your mind,
-Miss Bygrave,’ he said; ‘but your duties will be very light. I wish
-to obtain a sympathetic companion rather than governess for my ward,
-Rose Sinclair, a young lady of most lovable disposition, though
-high-spirited and, I fear I must add, rather wilful. The fact is she
-has lived with me ever since she was a little child, and perhaps
-has been made too much of—spoiled a little, you know. But she is so
-engaging, so artless, so affectionate, no one could bear to deny
-her anything. She has had masters and governesses in abundance, but
-they have seldom known how to manage her. She requires very careful
-treatment; she may be led and guided, but she will not be ruled. She
-has very good abilities, but is averse to application. I have released
-her from regular study; but I should be glad if you could persuade her
-to read with you, and practise her music and painting, for both of
-which she has rare talent. Her position is a lonely one; she has no one
-to depend on but me; and I am most anxious to find for her a companion
-who might prove a friend also. If you will excuse such a remark from a
-stranger, I will add that your appearance encourages me to hope that
-you would prove such a one, if you were willing to try.’
-
-Although Mr Aslatt offered me a far larger salary than I could have
-expected, and assured me of his desire that everything should be
-done to make me comfortable and at home in his house, I hesitated
-for some time before I accepted the situation, for I rather doubted
-my ability to control a high-spirited spoiled girl of eighteen. Her
-guardian’s partiality for her evidently led him to think lightly of the
-difficulties of the post he offered me.
-
-‘I think you cannot fail to be pleased with my ward,’ he continued;
-‘she is of such a noble disposition, so generous and gracious; but
-as I have said before, she needs to be gently checked, and prevented
-from following all the impulses of her young and ardent nature. I do
-not think you would find much difficulty in managing her, if you once
-succeeded in gaining her affection.’
-
-‘But if I were not so fortunate?’ I said inquiringly.
-
-Mr Aslatt smiled, and slightly shrugged his shoulders. ‘I do not think
-we need fear that alternative,’ he replied pleasantly. ‘But should my
-hopes be disappointed, and the position prove distasteful to you, you
-will be perfectly at liberty to resign it whenever you please.’
-
-I thanked him, and after a little more discussion agreed to undertake
-the office of companion to his ward.
-
-Early in the following week I quitted London, and proceeded to Westwood
-Hall, as Mr Aslatt’s residence was named, a large country house,
-situated in a neighbourhood not many miles from the metropolis. I found
-a carriage waiting for me at the quiet little station where I alighted
-from the train. After a pleasant drive through pretty country lanes,
-where the trees often met overhead, we passed through some large iron
-gates, beside which stood a picturesque lodge, and drove through an
-avenue of elms to an old-fashioned mansion in red brick. The building
-formed three sides of a square, and in the space thus inclosed were
-flower-beds of various shapes, brilliant with many-hued flowers; and in
-the centre stood an antique sun-dial upon a carved stone base, round
-which, as I afterwards noted, ran in distinct letters the motto, ‘Time
-is short; Death is nought; Love is all.’ I had scarcely time to notice
-the general surroundings of the place, before the carriage stopped at
-the large oaken door.
-
-Mr Aslatt had apparently been on the look-out for it, for he met me
-with a cordial greeting before I crossed the threshold, and led me into
-a large oak-panelled hall which formed the centre of the house. It
-was a curious apartment. The floor, ceiling, tables, chairs, settee,
-were all of oak, and most elaborately carved. The walls were decorated
-with banners, shields, swords, helmets, and various old family relics.
-Everything was old; and I felt for a moment as if I had been suddenly
-transported from the nineteenth century, and carried back into the
-middle ages. But though the oaken furniture was dark with age, the hall
-did not strike me as gloomy, perhaps because immediately on entering,
-my eyes rested on the one bright object it contained. A girl was seated
-upon the settee, whose bright golden hair and dress of pale blue made
-a delightful spot of colour amidst the prevailing sombreness. A large
-black dog, of rather forbidding aspect, crouched at her feet, but
-sprang up as I entered, and began to bark furiously. ‘Quiet, Nero;
-quiet, sir!’ said the young lady, without rising, while regarding me
-with an intentness which made me flush.
-
-‘Rose, this is Miss Bygrave,’ said her guardian; and at his word she
-rose and moved slowly across the polished floor to meet me, still
-surveying me calmly and coolly with her large blue eyes, as if anxious
-to arrive at a correct estimate of my character and qualifications.
-She was tall and womanly in figure, but wore her long golden hair in
-a cloud over her neck and shoulders, merely confined by a ribbon,
-as a child’s might have been. Though a beautiful girl, she appeared
-unconscious of the fact. Her regular clear-cut features were expressive
-of self-reliance and determination, without being in the least harsh
-or unfeminine. Her manner was perfectly self-possessed, and her
-bearing slightly haughty; but it was not long before I discovered that
-underneath that appearance of womanly dignity there was the simplicity
-and waywardness of a very child.
-
-‘How do you do, Miss Bygrave?’ she said somewhat coldly, giving me her
-hand, and scanning my face with a deliberation which I should have
-resented from any one else, but to which I now submitted humbly, as if
-it had been the right of the proud young beauty who stood before me.
-Then as if the result of her scrutiny were satisfactory, she added more
-graciously: ‘I daresay you are tired with your long drive; come, and I
-will shew you to your room.’
-
-I followed her up the wide staircase and along a corridor to a room
-overlooking the extensive garden which lay at the back of the house.
-I was much pleased with the appearance of my bedroom. From what I
-had seen down-stairs I was prepared for an oaken chamber hung with
-tapestry, with gloomy recesses, hearse-like bed, and ancient furniture.
-Nothing of the kind, however, met my view. Here everything was modern,
-and even luxurious, and in such style as would have suited the most
-fastidious taste.
-
-‘I hope you will be comfortable here,’ said Miss Sinclair.
-
-‘It will be my own fault if I am not,’ I replied, as I advanced to the
-window opening on to a small veranda, from which steps led down into
-the garden. ‘How pretty the garden looks!’ I remarked. ‘I shall often
-feel inclined to walk there, I fancy.’
-
-‘You must not think of going there after sunset,’ said Miss Sinclair
-decidedly.
-
-‘Why not?’ I asked in surprise.
-
-‘Because—— Well, perhaps I ought not to mention it, for my guardian
-does not like it talked about; and yet you would be sure to hear of it
-some time or other, so I may as well tell you at once. The truth is
-the house is haunted; not this part, but the left corridor, where the
-rooms are very, very old. And the ghost has been seen coming out of the
-window of the Blue Chamber—which communicates with the garden, as this
-does—and going down the steps.’
-
-I was astonished at the gravity with which she made this statement.
-
-‘You do not surely believe in ghosts, Miss Sinclair?’ I asked. ‘You
-cannot really credit such stories?’
-
-She turned from me impatiently, saying: ‘It is easy for you to doubt
-their existence; perhaps if you had seen what I have, you would think
-differently.’
-
-‘What have you seen?’ I inquired.
-
-But offended by my scepticism on the subject, the young lady did not
-choose to reply. She drew herself up proudly, and after inquiring if
-there was anything I needed, left me to make my toilet.
-
-Vexed with myself for having so soon given offence to my charge, I
-strove for the rest of the day to ingratiate myself with her; nor were
-my efforts unsuccessful.
-
-‘I think I shall like you,’ she said frankly; ‘that is, if you do not
-interfere with me too much. I was dreadfully put out when Cousin told
-me you were coming, for I like to be sole mistress here. By the way,
-how do you like my guardian? I always call him Cousin, although I do
-not at all understand how we are related to each other. I know nothing
-of my parents, except that they died when I was a very little child.
-Cousin has promised to tell me about them some day; but he looks so
-grave whenever I refer to them, that I fancy there must be something
-painful for me to learn concerning my parentage, and therefore I do not
-intend to ask any more questions. But you have not told me how you like
-Mr Aslatt.’
-
-I was amused at her eager curiosity, and told her that although I had
-had so little opportunity of judging, I had received a most favourable
-impression of her guardian’s character and disposition.
-
-She seemed pleased with my reply. ‘You can have no idea how good he
-is,’ she said. ‘But he is a man of strong prejudices, and it is hard to
-move him when he has once made up his mind with regard to any person
-or thing. Not that I mean to find fault with him, for as far as I am
-concerned I have not the least cause of complaint. I cannot tell you
-how kind he is to me, or how much I owe him. He is the best old darling
-in the world!’
-
-‘He is surely not so very old,’ I remarked, smiling at her enthusiasm.
-
-‘Don’t you think so?’ returned she. ‘He seems quite old to me; but of
-course you are much older than I am, and therefore judge differently of
-age. Would you mind telling me how old you are? I know it is very rude
-of me to ask, but I always seem to do what I ought not.’
-
-I laughed, and informed her that I was in my twenty-eighth year.
-
-‘Nearly ten years older than I am,’ she remarked, ‘and fourteen years
-younger than Mr Aslatt; so you see he really is old.’
-
-‘Not old for a man,’ I ventured to say.
-
-‘Yes; he is,’ contradicted my companion impatiently, shaking back her
-golden hair.
-
-At this moment Mr Aslatt entered the room in which we were sitting. ‘I
-have just been thinking, Rose,’ he said, ‘that if it is fine to-morrow,
-we might ride over to Ashdene. I daresay Miss Bygrave would like to see
-the old Priory there.—Are you fond of riding?’ he added, addressing me.
-
-It was long since I had been in the saddle; but in earlier years I had
-exceedingly enjoyed the exercise, and I told him so.
-
-‘Then I hope you will enjoy a ride to-morrow,’ he said. ‘I think I have
-a horse that you will like, and Rose will lend you a riding-habit.’
-
-I thanked him heartily; but Rose said decidedly: ‘I cannot go to
-Ashdene to-morrow; you forget that it is my day for visiting the
-school.’
-
-Mr Aslatt’s face changed, and a look passed across it, which I should
-have called a look of pain had not the cause been so trivial. ‘Surely
-you need not go to the school to-morrow, Rose,’ he said gently; ‘your
-visit is not of so much importance, but that Mr Hammond can manage
-without you for once.’
-
-Rose’s face crimsoned and her lip pouted, but she made no reply; and
-Mr Aslatt hastily introduced another subject of conversation. But her
-brightness was gone for the rest of the evening; she replied shortly
-and coldly to her guardian’s remarks, and flatly refused to sing
-when he asked her to do so. It was evident that her conduct grieved
-him, for the look of pain was more clearly visible; but he shewed no
-sign of resentment, and the tone in which he bade her good-night was
-as affectionate as if her behaviour had been all that he could have
-desired.
-
-‘This is the way to the haunted rooms,’ said Rose as we went up to
-bed together, opening as she spoke a door at the top of the draughty
-staircase. She raised her lamp, so that its light rendered visible the
-gloom of the dreary corridor. The air which met us had a close musty
-smell; and the grotesque figures carved on the oak panels, with the
-sculptures in the distance casting dim shadows on the opposite wall,
-had rather a weird appearance in the uncertain light. Suddenly a door
-creaked on its hinges, and Rose sprang back, uttering a faint cry, and
-hastily closed the door which communicated with this passage. ‘Did you
-hear that?’ she asked in an awe-struck whisper.
-
-‘Why, you silly girl,’ I said laughingly, ‘what you heard was only the
-effect of the wind!’
-
-She shook her head unbelievingly, and replied: ‘Well, remember, I warn
-you to shun that part of the house, especially when night is coming on.’
-
-The next morning, at an early hour, the horses were brought to the
-door, and Mr Aslatt, Rose, and I started for Ashdene. Rose had made
-no further opposition to the expedition, and there was no trace of
-vexation on her lovely face as we rode off. She looked remarkably
-well in her riding costume. The close-fitting habit of dark-blue
-cloth shewed to advantage the exquisite symmetry of her figure; and
-the little velvet hat, whose sole ornament was a heron’s plume, was
-very becoming to the fair face. She was an accomplished rider, and
-controlled admirably, without the least appearance of effort, the
-spirited movements of the beautiful animal she rode. It was a bright
-May morning, and the ride was most enjoyable. About noon we reached
-the little town of Ashdene, where we dismounted; and after partaking
-of some luncheon at the hotel, proceeded to view the ruins of the old
-Priory. Here we found so much to interest us that the afternoon was far
-advanced before we were ready to return. As we were walking our horses
-up a hill not very far from home, I saw a young man coming towards us
-dressed in a gray tweed suit. As he came into view, Mr Aslatt urged his
-horse into a canter; but Rose checked hers as it quickened its pace,
-and said reproachfully: ‘The horses are tired, cousin; we must not
-hurry them up this hill.’
-
-As the young man drew near, he raised his hat. ‘Good afternoon,
-Hammond,’ said Mr Aslatt, rather stiffly I thought.
-
-How it happened I don’t know, but just then Rose dropped her
-riding-whip, and it fell within a few feet of Mr Hammond. He picked it
-up in a moment, and handed it to the young lady, who thanked him most
-graciously, and even bent down from her saddle to shake hands with him.
-‘I was so sorry to be absent from my post to-day, Mr Hammond,’ she
-said; ‘but we were tempted to take advantage of this fine day for a
-ride to Ashdene.’
-
-‘It was a great disappointment to the scholars not to see you,’ he
-replied; ‘but they have no cause to complain, for it is so seldom you
-are absent. I think you are if possible too devoted to their welfare.’
-
-‘That is my opinion too, Mr Hammond,’ interrupted my employer; ‘and you
-must not be surprised if for the future you do not see Miss Sinclair so
-frequently at the school.’
-
-‘I trust that will not be the case,’ exclaimed Rose indignantly. ‘I see
-no necessity for changing my habits.’ She looked quite angry as she
-spoke, and I felt sorry for Mr Aslatt, he seemed so agitated.
-
-Mr Hammond smiled complacently at Rose’s remark, and there was
-something almost supercilious in his manner as he bade Mr Aslatt ‘Good
-afternoon;’ but the bow and parting glance he bestowed upon his ward
-were most deferential in their admiring homage. As we pursued our way
-in silence, the expression of Rose’s face plainly shewed that she
-considered herself injured.
-
-Mr Hammond was a good-looking young man, apparently about thirty,
-though he might have been older. Good-looking though he was, his
-countenance did not impress me favourably. His dark eyes had a hard
-look, in spite of their fine shape and lustrous hue, and there were
-faint indications of self-indulgence in the curves of his mobile mouth.
-His manner was easy and suggestive of conceit; in short, his appearance
-inspired me with distrust. Perhaps the want of cordiality which Mr
-Aslatt’s manner betrayed, contrasting so vividly with Rose’s gracious
-greeting, may have given rise to this feeling on my part.
-
-Rose kept up an appearance of offended dignity during dinner-time
-and as long as she remained in Mr Aslatt’s presence. But as we were
-strolling in the garden after dinner, she suddenly asked me what I
-thought of Mr Hammond. Guessing that she had a great liking for that
-individual, I was guarded in my reply to her query, merely reminding
-her how impossible it was to form a just estimate of anybody in such a
-brief interview.
-
-‘Did you notice how rudely Mr Aslatt spoke to him?’ she next inquired.
-
-‘I observed that he seemed impatient of the interruption,’ I replied;
-‘but I do not think his words were rude.’
-
-‘I believe he hates Mr Hammond,’ she said quickly. ‘You cannot
-think how unjust he is to him. You know Mr Hammond is the village
-schoolmaster. There was no school in the village many years ago, when
-Mr Aslatt came to reside here, so he built a very nice school-house at
-his own expense (I must take you to see it to-morrow), and promised
-always to make up the master’s salary to a certain sum. For years I
-have been accustomed to go in and out the school whenever I like;
-and when I asked to be allowed to give the children a weekly singing
-lesson, Mr Aslatt made no objection, indeed he seemed pleased for me
-to do so. But since old Mr Green died, and Mr Hammond succeeded him,
-he has changed his mind on the subject, and can’t bear me to go to the
-school-house. At first he seemed to like Mr Hammond so much; but lately
-he has taken a decided dislike to him; though what poor Mr Hammond
-has done to call forth such a feeling, I cannot imagine. Cousin has
-tried to persuade me to give up my visits to the school; but that I am
-resolved not to do, and I have told him so. He also tried to get my
-consent to our removing to London for the season; but I would not agree
-to that. So then he could not rest till he had got a companion for me.
-I made no opposition to that plan, although I did not like the idea,
-for I saw he had set his mind upon it, and I could not bear to vex
-him. He is so good to me, and I am not altogether ungrateful, though
-I do behave so naughtily. I know you thought my conduct very bad at
-dinner-time, for you looked so dreadfully grave.’
-
-She glanced up at me as she spoke with such a pretty air of
-deprecation, so like a petted child, that I could not find heart to
-scold her. Indeed her captivating ways so fascinated me, that although
-I saw much to disapprove, I was disposed to be very lenient towards her
-faults.
-
-
-
-
-SELLS.
-
-
-It would puzzle a philologer to give an exact definition of the
-‘sell.’ Nearly related to the hoax, it differs from it in being more
-innocent in its inception and less mischievous in its consequences.
-Some little ingenuity is required to concoct a happy ‘sell;’ but any
-one may perpetrate a hoax who is equal to ‘lending a lie the confidence
-of truth.’ The latter is a deliberately planned deception, oftenest
-attaining its end by personation or forgery or something closely akin
-to it; whereas a sell needs no such playing with edged tools, and may
-not only be unpremeditated, but even unintentional.
-
-The Irishman who undertook to shew an exciseman a private still, and
-introduced him to his brother, who had been twelve years in the army
-and was a private still, sold the guardian of the revenue very neatly;
-although it is possible the victim of the joke did not see the fun
-of the thing, any more than the official of the North London Railway
-Company did, when, overhearing a third-class passenger aver that any
-one could travel from Broad Street to Dalston Junction without a
-ticket, as he had done only the day before, he interviewed him when he
-alighted. The traveller not proving communicative, the zealous railway
-servant conveyed a coin into his hand, and then asked: ‘How did you
-go from Broad Street to Dalston Junction yesterday without a ticket?’
-‘Oh,’ was the unwelcome reply, ‘I walked!’
-
-As readily trapped was the amateur musician who responded to the
-advertisement: ‘Wanted, a trombone-player for Barnum’s Balcony Band,’
-by waiting upon the famous showman without delay.
-
-‘You want a trombone-player?’ inquired he.
-
-‘Yes,’ said Mr Barnum.
-
-‘What is the place worth?’ asked the applicant.
-
-‘Oh, about twenty-five dollars a week, I suppose.’
-
-‘Very well, I should like it.’
-
-‘All right,’ said Mr Barnum; and the trombone did frightful execution
-through the week. Saturday came, and with it Mr Green for his salary,
-instead of drawing which, he received a paper on which was written: ‘Mr
-Green to Mr P. T. Barnum.—To playing the trombone on his Balcony one
-week, twenty-five dollars.’ The recipient smiled.
-
-‘It’s all right, isn’t it?’ asked Mr Barnum.
-
-‘Why,’ said the musician, ‘you’ve made an odd mistake: you’ve made me
-the debtor instead of you.’
-
-‘No mistake at all,’ said Barnum. ‘You see, this is how it is. There
-are a good many gentlemen in this city fond of practising on brass
-instruments; but they cannot do so at home because of their neighbours’
-objections. So I find them room on my Balcony during so many hours a
-day, where the street is so noisy that it does no harm; and they give
-me so much a week for my trouble in keeping the organisation complete.
-You don’t think me such a fool as to pay such a wretched lot of players
-surely? However, as you seem to have been honestly mistaken, you can
-pay me ten dollars this week; but hereafter I can make no reduction.’
-There was a vacancy in the Balcony Band the following Monday.
-
-We take it that the shrewd showman was not quite so much astonished
-at the way his advertisement was misconstrued, as one A. B., who,
-recognising a long-lost friend in the stalls of the theatre, but
-unable to catch his eye, notified in the ‘agony’ column of the
-_Times_: ‘If the gentleman who was in the stalls at the —— Theatre
-on the evening of the 5th inst. will write to the following address,
-he will hear from the Box above;’ and received nearly a score of
-replies. The first he opened, ran: ‘MY DEAR MADAM—I cannot express
-to you how delighted I felt this morning on taking up the _Times_
-and reading your advertisement. How exceedingly kind and thoughtful
-of you to communicate with me in this way. Pray, let me know as
-quickly as possible when and where I may see you. I am burning with
-impatience to speak to you. Can we meet this evening? Do send me a
-note, or better still, a telegram, here, on receipt of this.—Yours
-Most Affectionately.’ The second letter, commencing ‘Mia Carissima,’
-suggested a meeting at the Duke of York’s Column, and ended: ‘Good-bye,
-pet. Yours ever and a day—The Gentleman in the Stalls.’ A third
-deluded mortal declared he had not slept a wink after seeing A. B.
-at the theatre. ‘You know Who’ informed the ‘Dearest Being,’ whose
-himage he still saw before him, that his passion was much too much for
-ordinary words to tell; that after wandering all his life, mixing in
-revolutions, &c., he should like to stop at last, and finished somewhat
-prosaically with: ‘It’s just four o’clock. All are in bed and fast
-asleap. Good-night. I’m not married.’ And so on with a batch of other
-aspirants, who evidently deemed the anonymous occupant of the Box
-nothing short of an heiress.
-
-Many an unpremeditated sell has been perpetrated from inability to
-resist sudden temptation. One of the judges of the Supreme Court of New
-York state, visiting the Centennial Exhibition, sat down in a quiet
-corner apart from the others, to listen to a great cornet-player, and
-as was his wont in court, drew his gray coat about his head and ears
-as a protection against possible draughts. His motionless figure soon
-attracted attention; and the whisper ran that it was the statue of some
-wonderful character. The judge’s sister wickedly told those near her
-that they were gazing at the effigy of an Aztec priest from Mexico. The
-information passed from mouth to mouth, and some hundreds of people
-were drawn to the spot, to disperse somewhat sheepishly when the object
-of their curiosity, having had enough of the cornet, readjusted his
-coat and rose to go.
-
-A good story is told of one Boggs, whose impertinent curiosity
-was proverbial throughout the country that owned him. He was on
-one occasion travelling on the Little Miami Railroad alongside a
-solemn-looking man, who persisted in looking out of window and took
-no heed of Boggs’ endeavours to enliven the journey with a little
-conversation. At last the brakeman or guard came round with some water,
-and the unsociable traveller turned round to take a drink. Seizing the
-chance, Boggs asked: ‘Going as far east as New York?’
-
-‘No,’ grunted the man.
-
-‘Ah!’ said Boggs, ‘New York is dull this time of year; mebbee you’re
-striking for Philadelphia?’
-
-The surly one shook his head.
-
-‘P’raps Cleveland’s your destination?’ insinuated Mr Boggs. ‘No? Can’t
-be going this roundabout way to Chicago?’
-
-No reply was vouchsafed.
-
-‘Well,’ cried Boggs despairingly, ‘I s’pose you’ve no objection to
-telling where you _are_ going?’
-
-‘Well sir,’ exclaimed the man, ‘I’m going for seven years!’
-
-Then the deputy-sheriff said he would rather not have folks talking to
-his prisoners, and Boggs gave in.
-
-This puts us in mind of Mark Twain’s anecdote of Artemus Ward and a
-travelling bore, between whom the following amusing colloquy took
-place: ‘Did you hear that last thing of Horace Greeley’s?’
-
-‘Greeley, Greeley, Horace Greeley; who is he?’ said Artemus.
-
-Five minutes elapsed, then came: ‘George Francis Train is making a good
-deal of disturbance over in England; do you think they will put him in
-prison?’
-
-‘Train, Train, George Francis Train,’ said Artemus solemnly; ‘I never
-heard of him.’
-
-The tormentor tried another tack; he said: ‘What do you think about
-Grant’s chance for the Presidency?’
-
-‘Grant, Grant?—Why man!’ said Artemus, ‘you seem to know more strangers
-than any one I ever saw.’
-
-The man took a walk up the car; coming back, he said: ‘Well, you
-ignoramus, did you ever hear of Adam?’
-
-The humorist looked up and said: ‘Adam? What was his other name?’
-
-The journey henceforth was made in peace.
-
-Very nicely sold were a couple of tramps who waylaid a wealthy
-farmer in Louisa County, Iowa, and demanded his money or his life.
-Disinclined to part with either, he took to his heels. They chased
-him half a mile down the roughest of lanes, dashed after him through
-a brier-hedge, and went panting across an old corn-field. Then the
-chased one struck for the woods, and went wheezing up a steep hill; his
-pursuers pressing closely behind with blood-shot eyes and shortened
-breath. The farmer dashed across a forty-acre stubble-field, across a
-frozen creek, through a blackberry patch, down a ravine, over another
-hill, across a stump-field, to be run down on the road by the tramps.
-They overhauled him thoroughly, searched him from top to toe, to
-find he had not a solitary cent wherewith to reward them for their
-perseverance.
-
-Our concluding example relates to an affecting romance told by the
-_Detroit Free Press_. It was the second time that the hero of the story
-had accompanied the young lady home from one of those little social
-parties which are got up to bring fond hearts a step nearer to each
-other. When they reached the gate, she asked him if he wouldn’t come
-in. He said he would. Sarah took his hat, told him to sit down, and
-left the room to remove her things. She was hardly gone before her
-mother came in, smiled sweetly, and, dropping down beside the young
-man, said: ‘I always did say that if a poor but respectable young man
-fell in love with Sarah, he should have my consent. Some mothers would
-sacrifice their daughters’ happiness for riches, but I am not of that
-sort.’
-
-The young man started with alarm; he didn’t know whether he liked Sarah
-or not; he hadn’t dreamed of marriage.
-
-‘She has acknowledged to me that she loves you,’ continued the mother;
-‘and whatever is for her happiness is for mine.’
-
-The young man stammered out: ‘I—I haven’t’——
-
-‘Oh, never mind! Make no apology. I know you haven’t much money, but of
-course you’ll live with me. We’ll take in boarders, and I’ll be bound
-that we’ll get along all right.’
-
-It was a bad situation. He hadn’t even looked love at Sarah. ‘I had no
-idea of’—— he began; when she held up her hands saying: ‘I know you
-hadn’t; but it’s all right. With your wages and what the boarders bring
-in, we shall get along as snug as possible. All I ask is that you be
-good to her; Sarah has a tender heart, and if you should be cross and
-ugly, it would break her down in a week.’
-
-The young man’s eyes stood out like cocoa-nuts in a shop-window, and he
-rose up and tried to say something.
-
-‘Never mind about the thanks,’ she cried; ‘I don’t believe in long
-courtships. The eleventh of January is my birthday, and it would be
-nice for you to be married on that day.’
-
-‘But—but—but’—— he gasped.
-
-‘There, there! I don’t expect any speech in reply,’ she laughed. ‘You
-and Sarah settle it to-night, and I’ll advertise for twelve boarders
-straight away, I’ll try to be a model mother-in-law. I believe I’m
-good-tempered and kind-hearted, though I did once follow a young man
-two hundred miles and shoot off the top of his head for agreeing to
-marry my daughter and then quitting the county.’ She patted him on the
-head and sailed out. And now the young man wants advice. He wants to
-know whether he had better get in the way of a locomotive or slide off
-the wharf. If ever a young bachelor was ‘sold,’ Sarah’s young man was
-in that predicament.
-
-
-
-
-ELEPHANT GOSSIP FROM RANGOON.
-
-
-We have much pleasure in laying before our readers the following
-interesting particulars regarding the elephant, and the way in which
-the physical strength of that sagacious animal is turned to account
-in the timber-trade of Rangoon. The notes are contained in a letter
-from a resident in that town to his brother in England, who has kindly
-placed it at our disposal. After describing some phases of every-day
-social life, the writer thus proceeds: ‘The elephants I go daily to
-see are beauties, fine powerful well-trained animals, and strange to
-say, the _mahout_ (driver) of one of them is an old servant of my own.
-It is both interesting and amusing to watch them working the timber.
-The government have nine elephants employed at the depôt, and there
-are other animals belonging to natives at work there also. I often
-take my seat on a teak-log, picking out the cleanest and softest for
-the purpose, light a cheroot, and watch the performance. Elephants
-are pretty much like men; I don’t mean in personal appearance, but in
-character. I can pick out “characters I have met” quite easily among
-the group of sixteen or eighteen all working there together sometimes.
-There are willing workers, and there are skulkers; there are gentle
-tempers, and there are others “as dour as a door-nail.” Some of them
-will drag a log two tons in weight without a groan; while others,
-equally powerful but less willing, will make a dreadful fuss over a
-stick that is, comparatively speaking, nothing.
-
-‘There are a good many female elephants employed. Some belong to the
-government; but most of them are owned by Karens, who bring them in
-from the jungle when work is obtainable. They are not so powerful as
-the males; and the want of tusks is rather against them, because they
-have to do the pushing or “ounging” part of the work, as the natives
-call it, with their trunks. These they roll up in a coil, and just at
-the place where the trunk and the head unite, they press against the
-log and roll it over.
-
-‘I saw the legs very nearly knocked from under a man two days ago
-by a lively female who was rolling over a log in this way. She had
-discovered by experience that it was easier to move a heavy log by
-a violent jerk than by slow steady pushing; and when the man on her
-neck called out “Oung!” and pushed her ear forward with his foot—the
-equivalents in elephant-driving for “Go along, old lady!”—she stood
-for a moment motionless, then in an instant up coiled the trunk, down
-went the head, and away rolled the log, one end of it coming round with
-a sweep which all but made an “Aunt Sally” of the innocent spectator.
-He sprang from the ground as if he had received an electric shock,
-and saved himself; after which he received the congratulations of the
-by-standers for being an ass to stand in the way of an elephant like
-that.
-
-‘I think the females do a little flirting sometimes when they see a
-handsome stately _tusker_ working near them. A little one came in
-from the jungle the other day, and was working away with admirable
-diligence near the place where my largest elephant was engaged
-dragging logs. He is really a noble-looking animal, with immense
-tusks that almost touch the ground when his head is in repose. There
-is a dignified air about all his movements too which must be very
-captivating with the other sex. Sometimes the two passed very near
-each other, and I noticed when this happened that the little lady from
-the jungle gave utterance to certain peculiar sounds. The only good
-imitation of them which I can think of at the moment is that strange
-medley of incoherences which a cornopean is sometimes made to produce
-when beginners get up steam. Such sounds, for instance, as I have
-heard proceeding from the house of a neighbour of yours, when I have
-been enjoying a pipe in the garden on a summer afternoon. At first I
-thought they were the promptings of fear; but an elephant under these
-circumstances generally becomes impatient with the driver, thumps
-its trunk upon the ground and “trumpets.” It was simply a little
-flirtation, a tender long-drawn-out elephantine kiss thrown at my noble
-friend.
-
-‘The highly trained male elephants with tusks manage the “ounging” part
-of their work very skilfully. The trunk is used as a pad or buffer
-between the ivory and the wood, and the pushing is done steadily. An
-average log weighs about a ton and a half. When it has to be pushed
-into the river, the elephant feels the end of it with his trunk, and
-having ascertained where he can place his tusks with most advantage,
-he adjusts the buffer, and starts off pushing the log steadily before
-him. Should it happen to be an extra-heavy one, he stops occasionally
-to take breath; and as it slides down the muddy bank towards the water,
-he gives it a finishing slap, as if to say: “There, you’re afloat at
-last!” Sometimes the logs are awkwardly jammed up together, so that the
-ends have to be raised in order to get the dragging-chains fastened.
-This he does by putting his tusks underneath; and passing his trunk
-over the log to keep it steady, lifts it up to the required height.
-When it is a very heavy lift, he will go down on his knees to get a
-better purchase. He stacks the timber most skilfully also by lifting
-the end of the log as much as nine or ten feet in this manner, places
-it on the top of the pile, then goes to the other end and pushes it
-forward till he gets it quite flush with the rest. In all this he is of
-course directed by his rider the _mahout_, who uses certain words which
-the elephant has been accustomed to hear; and signs, the meaning of
-which he knows perfectly. A push of the foot behind the right or left
-ear makes him answer the driver’s wish as a boat answers the rudder,
-and a nudge behind the neck means “Straight ahead.”
-
-‘A highly trained elephant, however, will work among timber by _verbal_
-directions as intelligently almost as a collie will among sheep.
-The finest and best-trained animals are reserved for employment in
-the saw-mills, where they work amongst the machinery with sagacity
-and precision. Strangers have sometimes been so much impressed with
-their admirable qualities in this respect that they have carried away
-slightly exaggerated impressions on the subject. One case I remember in
-which a spectator was so profoundly overcome by the careful manner in
-which he saw the elephant laying planks and slabs on the travelling
-benches to be cut, that he gravely reported the circumstance in an
-Indian newspaper, remarking that the animal shut one eye when it looked
-along the bench, to make sure the timber was laid on for the saw
-accurately!
-
-‘Some male elephants have no tusks. These are called _hines_ by the
-Burmese. The most powerful animal I ever had was one of them. He
-was very tall, and in strength a perfect Samson among elephants. An
-incident in his history is worth relating here, as I am on the subject.
-In the month of January male elephants sometimes give trouble. Samson
-had fallen into a capricious mood, under the influence of a little
-siren belonging to the herd, and in a fit of jealousy he frightened
-all the others so thoroughly one night that they broke their fetters
-and made a bolt of it out of the timber-yard, with Samson in pursuit.
-One unfortunate member who was on the sick-list at the time and had an
-impediment in his walk, was bowled over and trampled on several times,
-and was never fit for anything but the hospital afterwards. The others
-took to the jungle, and it cost some money to recover them. Samson
-remained in possession of the timber-yard for three whole days, no
-living thing daring to venture near him.
-
-‘I have watched a fowl that had thoughtlessly gone to scrape for its
-morning meal on the accustomed spot in the rear of the elephant-shed,
-run for its bare life, with Samson after it at full speed, trunk and
-tail extended! Crowds of people used to collect daily, most of them at
-a highly respectful distance however, to witness the giant keeping the
-world at bay. Sometimes an adventurous native, out of pure mischief
-would approach within thirty yards or so of him spear in hand, when
-Samson would thump his trunk upon the ground and rush at the intruder,
-who soon disappeared under the nearest verandah. The poor animal was
-helpless against such tactics. They were to him what the deprivation of
-sight was to his prototype; but the desire for revenge was there still,
-and he tried his strength upon the posts of the building, attempting
-to push them down. When he had failed in this, he deliberately set
-about unroofing it with his trunk; whereupon the tormentor pricked his
-legs from underneath the house with his spear, and made him desist.
-After carrying on this game till he got tired, he walked off with his
-companion one night to the jungle, and selected a spot for his future
-residence close to a mud-pool.
-
-‘For some days he made raids upon the adjoining gardens, eating up the
-fruit-trees without compunction; and in revenge for some opposition
-he met with from a market-gardener who did not appreciate his new
-neighbour’s high-handed way of doing things, levelled his hut to the
-ground. Things were beginning to get serious. Claims for damages became
-unpleasantly frequent, and it was absolutely necessary to put a stop
-to his depredations. Accordingly, I sent out a deputation of elephants
-to wait upon him, with picked men as drivers and attendants, for the
-purpose of bringing him to reason. There were ten elephants altogether,
-the senior member being a very patriarchal-looking animal with an
-immense pair of tusks—the one, in fact, who was always employed to
-settle difficulties among the juniors; and in this capacity he had been
-uniformly successful. When the deputation arrived at the spot, Samson
-was enjoying his morning bath in the mud, and they surrounded him. The
-patriarch, with the chief _mahout_ driving, and another good man and
-true behind him, for the purpose of supplying any lack of moral courage
-that might manifest itself under trying circumstances, was taken
-nearest to the renegade. His sweetheart was quietly browsing among the
-bamboos close by. The moment Samson realised the situation, he made a
-rush from the bath at the patriarch, who forgetting his wonted dignity
-of manner, turned tail and bolted. The hook and the spear with which
-the drivers were armed alike failed to restore courage to the leader.
-On he went, tearing through the jungle, the branches of trees and
-thorny creepers making sad havoc with the persons of the men on his
-back. His bad example demoralised the whole force; they fled for their
-lives every one of them. At last it came to be a race between Samson
-and the patriarch, the other elephants having made lateral tracks for
-themselves and got clear of danger. When it came to close quarters
-between the two, the _mahout_ thinking discretion the better part of
-valour, laid hold of the branch of a tree as he passed and held on,
-leaving the other man to his fate. In a very short time he too was
-unseated, but in an involuntary manner; the elephant shot under the
-branch of a tree which did not afford space for the man to pass under
-as well, and he was swept to the ground. He was able, however, to elude
-the pursuer, who was so eager to get at the four-footed fugitive that
-he took no notice of the fallen rider as he crawled along into the
-thick jungle.
-
-‘Fortunately no life was lost in this most exciting adventure. Even
-the patriarch got off scot-free. When tired of the pursuit, Samson
-returned to his rural retreat. The deputation got home in the evening,
-more frightened than hurt. I administered chlorodyne with much success
-to those whose bruises and lacerations bespoke a sleepless night; and
-it has since been regarded as a specific for patients suffering from
-cutaneous diseases and nervous excitement.
-
-‘But I have not done with Samson yet. He was a valuable elephant, and
-I was most anxious to recover him. I offered a reward of two hundred
-rupees (twenty pounds) to any one who would bring him in; and a few
-days afterwards he came marching into the timber-yard as gentle as a
-lamb, with a young lad astride on his neck. This youth was the son of
-the man from whom I had purchased him, and the boy had been familiar
-with the animal from his childhood. Hearing of the reward that was
-offered for the apprehension of his old pet, he set off in quest of
-him. When he found him, he made use of the terms with which Samson had
-formerly been familiar. There was no longer any difficulty. The youth
-took him by the ear, told him to give him a leg up—the usual way for
-_mahouts_ to mount their steeds—and immediately Samson was himself
-again. Next day he was on duty, looking as if nothing had happened,
-and his little friend was the possessor of a reward which to him was a
-small fortune. Such is the affinity between God’s creatures which the
-law of kindness establishes. The little fellow had really more power in
-the tones of his voice over the huge animal than a phalanx of its own
-species under the direction of a score of men!
-
-‘There are elephants that have naturally one tusk only. These are
-called _tays_ by the natives here. When the single tusk happens to be
-on the right side of the head, literally as well as metaphorically,
-and the animal otherwise is large and well proportioned, he is greatly
-prized by the native princes of India. They seem to regard him with
-veneration, as the Burmese do the so-called white elephant. There is
-one of these _tays_ at the depôt at present. He is the largest and most
-powerful animal in the government herd; but age is telling upon him,
-and now he is chiefly occupied in doing “the heavy-father” amongst the
-youngsters. When they have tried their best and given up in despair
-some log which none of them can drag, the _tay_ is brought to the
-front, his chain is fastened to it, and as he walks off, apparently
-without inconvenience to himself, be it ever so heavy, his eye really
-seems to have “Bless you, my children!” &c. in it. I have watched
-him often, and I think my interpretation of his feelings is pretty
-nearly correct. I was told by the superintendent of the depôt that
-native princes had sent messengers from India to try and purchase this
-elephant for state purposes, offering as much as five thousand rupees
-for him; but he has a value where he is which does not consist in a
-superstitious veneration for his single tusk, but in the virtue which
-lies in a friend in need.’
-
-
-
-
-TO A LITTLE CHILD,
-
-Who, soon after going to his first school, wrote home to his mother: ‘I
-am afraid I am spoiling your photograph by dropping my tears on it. I
-take it to bed with me every night.’
-
-
- Couched within thy little nest,
- Now the lessons all are done,
- Clasp her Picture to thy breast,
- Fondly clasp thy dearest one.
-
- Freely let the tear-drops flow,
- Tears of love, like showers of Spring;
- In thy heart Love’s flowers shall grow,
- And shall sweetest comfort bring.
-
- Fear not, if _those_ features fade,
- If thy tears _their_ form shall dim;
- Prayers ascend, while thou art laid
- Murmuring soft thy Evening Hymn.
-
- _Living_ lips, no _artist_ made,
- Nor the _sun-ray’s_ magic might,
- In thy Mother’s home have prayed
- To thy God for thee to-night.
-
- Angels fly from her to thee;
- Thee and her good Angels tend;
- So your Father bids, and He
- Will your dear ones all defend.
-
- Press her Picture to thy heart;
- Smile upon it through thy tears;
- Never let that love depart
- Through the changing, coming years.
-
- Sacred is the Mother’s love,
- Dear to God the loving son;
- Thou shalt be with her above,
- When the work of life is done.
-
- T. S. P.
-
- ST BARTHOLOMEW’S HOSPITAL,
- _Feb. 17, 1878._
-
- * * * * *
-
-Printed and Published by W. & R. CHAMBERS, 47 Paternoster Row, LONDON,
-and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH.
-
- * * * * *
-
-_All Rights Reserved._
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular
-Literature, Science, and Art,, by Various
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature,
-Science, and Art, No. 745, April 6, 1878, by Various
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 745, April 6, 1878
-
-Author: Various
-
-Editor: William Chambers
- Robert Chambers
-
-Release Date: August 24, 2020 [EBook #63031]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>{209}</span></p>
-
-<h1>CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL<br />
-OF<br />
-POPULAR<br />
-LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.</h1>
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" >CONTENTS</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='center'>
-
-<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. -->
-
-<a href="#BORLUM">BORLUM.</a><br />
-<a href="#HELENA_LADY_HARROGATE">HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.</a><br />
-<a href="#CHINA_AND_MAJOLICA">CHINA AND MAJOLICA.</a><br />
-<a href="#MR_ASLATTS_WARD">MR ASLATT’S WARD.</a><br />
-<a href="#SELLS">SELLS.</a><br />
-<a href="#ELEPHANT_GOSSIP_FROM_RANGOON">ELEPHANT GOSSIP FROM RANGOON.</a><br />
-<a href="#TO_A_LITTLE_CHILD">TO A LITTLE CHILD,</a><br />
-
-<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. -->
-
-</p>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<div class="figcenter illowp100" id="header" style="max-width: 37.5em;">
- <img class="w100" src="images/header.png" alt="Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science,
-and Art. Fourth Series. Conducted by William and Robert Chambers." />
-</div>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-<div class="center">
-<div class="header">
-<p class="floatl"><span class="smcap">No. 745.</span></p>
-<p class="floatr"><span class="smcap">Price</span> 1½<em>d.</em></p>
-<p class="floatc">SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 1878.</p>
-</div></div></div>
-
-<hr class="full" />
-
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="BORLUM">BORLUM.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Long</span> ago—you may say in 1808—when I was a
-boy at Peebles, the school-children, as a variety
-in their boisterous amusements, occasionally bombarded
-with stones a grievously defaced effigy
-built into the walls of a ruinous old church in the
-neighbourhood. With savage significance, the unfortunate
-piece of sculpture was called Borlum,
-and as Borlum it had been pelted by several successive
-generations. From the dearth of historical
-knowledge at the spot, no one could explain who
-or what was meant by Borlum; and not till some
-years afterwards, in the course of reading, did I
-find out that by Borlum was meant Brigadier
-Mackintosh of Borlum, who commanded a resolute
-party of Highlanders in Mar’s rebellion of 1715,
-and who, by their masterly audacity in marching
-towards the Border, threw the southern counties
-of Scotland into a state of indescribable alarm.
-To Borlum, as he was familiarly termed, was thus
-assigned the character of a bugbear along the
-whole course of the Tweed; and long after he had
-passed away, and when the political events in
-which he was concerned were forgotten, the original
-terror of his name survived in the vengefully
-destructive recreations of school-children. In a
-vicarious capacity, a harmless piece of sculpture,
-which had nothing at all to do with Borlum, was
-doomed to suffer for a popular scare nearly a
-hundred years previously.</p>
-
-<p>In the history of that miserably managed affair,
-Mar’s Jacobite rebellion, Mackintosh of Borlum—or
-more properly <i>younger</i> of Borlum, for his father
-was still living—stands conspicuously out as a
-military hero, who threw into the shade many
-of higher title and pretensions. How with five
-hundred of his clan, with banners flying, he
-marched to Inverness, and seized that important
-post. How he hastened on to the Lowlands,
-eluded the troops designed to intercept him;
-crossed the Firth of Forth with a large force in
-open boats, and captured Leith. How, carrying
-everything before him, he marched onwards to
-the Border, in order to join the rebel forces of
-General Forster in Northumberland—are all facts
-belonging to history. His sagacity, foresight, intrepidity,
-and daring courage were worthy of a better
-cause. Getting into England, and mixed up with
-half-hearted movements, Borlum is very much lost
-sight of. The enterprise, owing to Mar’s indiscretion,
-had been shockingly ill considered. The
-English Jacobites failed to rise in a body, as they
-were justified in doing, for the auxiliaries which
-had been expected from France never made their
-appearance; and the whole thing collapsed, as is
-well known, by the humiliating capture of the
-insurgents by General Carpenter at Preston, in
-Lancashire. Surrendering at discretion, the whole
-were conducted as prisoners to London—Borlum
-among the rest. A dreadful downcome to the
-proud Highland chief, but not more so than to
-Lords Derwentwater, Winton, Nithsdale, Kenmure,
-Carnwath, Widdrington, and other Jacobite
-noblemen.</p>
-
-<p>It is not altogether agreeable to look back on
-the dynastic struggles which took place in England
-in the first half of the eighteenth century; for
-with some redeeming traits of character, they give
-a very mean view of human nature. The subject
-has been suggested to us by the appearance of a
-work which many will appreciate for its lively
-account of scenes and circumstances hitherto imbedded
-in the dry records of history. We mean
-<i>London in the Jacobite Times</i>, by Dr Doran, F.S.A.
-(2 vols. Bentley and Son). The writer, it is
-sorrowful to learn, passed away before the work
-at which he had long patiently laboured had
-well been published; and we regret that he has
-not survived to hear the praises bestowed on his
-endeavours to produce a picture of past times such
-as is rarely presented. The way the subject is
-treated is quite unique. Instead of going into
-regular historical details, which would be alike
-tedious and tiresome, the author writes in a sketchy
-and anecdotic style without pause from beginning
-to end, and we have before us a drama of unflagging
-interest, extending over the greater part of
-a century. We do not think, however, that the
-book would have been the worse of a few preliminary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>{210}</span>
-remarks on the strange circumstances
-by which the Stuarts forfeited the crown, and
-placed themselves in the grotesquely unhappy
-condition of kings retired from business.</p>
-
-<p>The flight of James II. from England, and
-practically his abdication of authority, December
-22, 1688, finished the house of Stuart. When
-a king runs away from his subjects, and stupidly
-flings down a magnificent inheritance, he has a
-bad chance of being called back again, particularly
-when by a course of exasperating and illegal
-conduct he has forfeited general esteem. Yet,
-from the date of that fatal flight there were successive
-plots by Jacobite adherents to bring
-back the Stuarts to the throne. Throughout the
-reign of William III. and of Queen Anne, the
-plottings were of a comparatively obscure character.
-On the death of Anne in 1714, and
-the installation of George I. under a parliamentary
-Act of Settlement, came the crisis. The
-rebellion of 1715 broke out, and being quenched
-at Preston, the fierce dissensions of Jacobites and
-Whigs arose. Dr Doran commences his narrative
-with the death of Anne, but scarcely awakes to
-his subject till the droves of rebels from Preston
-enter London and are dispersed through the
-various prisons, the more noble of them being
-conducted to the Tower.</p>
-
-<p>While preserving the forms of law, the government
-did not put off time in the examination and
-trials of the captured rebels. The pulpits rang
-with sermons condemnatory of their crimes. Joseph
-Addison, in his paper the <i>Freeholder</i>, railed upon
-them with indecent subserviency. There was no
-want of evidence to convict the leading spirits
-in the insurrection; but matters were considerably
-simplified by the voluntarily proffered testimony
-of the Rev. Robert Patten, who had been formerly
-a curate at Preston, and acted as chaplain to the
-rebel forces. Clapped into prison with his associates,
-Patten pondered on the best means of escaping
-the gallows; and the longer he thought of it, he
-became the more firmly convinced that his best
-plan was to become king’s evidence. His testimony
-was accepted; and at the cost of being
-branded throughout all time as a rascal, he daily
-stood up in court and told every particular requisite
-to convict the unhappy noblemen and gentlemen
-with whom he had been associated, and
-whose bread he had eaten. Very much through
-the testimony of this wretch, the prisons were gradually
-cleared by the exit of batches of convicts
-on hurdles to Tyburn. The Tower was similarly
-relieved of two of its noble inmates, Derwentwater
-and Kenmure, who perished on the scaffold; and
-there would have been more of them, but for
-the escape of the Earl of Nithsdale disguised in
-his wife’s clothes, and for the fortunate reprieve
-of the Lords Widdrington, Nairn, and Carnwath.
-On the evening of the day on which
-the Earl of Derwentwater was beheaded (24th
-February 1716), London was thrown into a state
-of commotion by the appearance in the sky of
-an extraordinary Aurora, in which there were
-fancied resemblances of armies, flaming swords,
-and fire-breathing dragons—the Jacobites accepting
-the phenomenon as a token of the indignation
-of Heaven at the cruel murders on Tower Hill,
-and prognosticating the rise of the sun of Stuart!
-On the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, this
-famed aurora was called the ‘Earl of Derwentwater’s
-Lights;’ and it is said that an aurora is
-still so named in the vicinity of Dilston.</p>
-
-<p>The government of George I. had some difficulty
-in dealing with the Earl of Wintoun, who contrived
-to get his trial put off as long as possible, on the
-plea that he was not yet prepared with his evidence.
-The truth is, the earl was a somewhat
-eccentric being. In his youth he had run away
-from his home at Seton House, went to France,
-and hired himself to work as a blacksmith. Returning
-at the death of his father, when everybody
-had given him up for lost, he assumed the title,
-George fifth Earl of Wintoun, and was living
-quietly at Seton when the rebellion broke out. He
-had no wish to connect himself with it; but stung
-by some outrageous proceedings of the authorities,
-he joined the insurrection, and so got himself into
-trouble. When brought to the bar of the House
-of Lords, there was some surprise at the oddity of
-his behaviour. Whether from cunning or affectation,
-he did not seem to understand why his trial
-should be hurried on, though in reality he might
-have complained of the delay. All the earl’s
-shifts did not greatly serve him. Patten, on being
-questioned, said that he had seen the Earl of
-Wintoun on several occasions with a drawn sword
-in his hand when the Pretender was proclaimed.
-After this, of course Wintoun was found guilty, and
-condemned to be beheaded. Not a pleasant drive
-from Westminster Hall to the Tower, accompanied
-by the Gentleman Gaoler, ceremoniously carrying
-an axe with its edge turned towards the condemned
-earl. One feels a degree of satisfaction in
-knowing that after all the Earl of Wintoun escaped
-his doom. Confined to an apartment in the Tower
-preparatory to the morning of execution, he brought
-his knowledge as a blacksmith into play by cutting
-through the iron bars of his window by files
-supplied by his servant, and dropping to the ground
-got clear off. He died at Rome in 1749, his title
-and estates being meanwhile forfeited. The title
-has been latterly revived in favour of the Earls of
-Eglintoun. But with the disappearance of the last
-of the Setons in the direct line, an ancient and
-honourable family was blotted from the Scottish
-peerage.</p>
-
-<p>Mackintosh of Borlum—called by mistake Borland
-by Dr Doran—was confined along with General
-Forster and a host of others in Newgate. Borlum
-and Forster are stated to have often quarrelled
-regarding the military conduct of the insurrection,
-their angry debates often furnishing amusement in
-the corridors, court-yard, and common room in the
-prison, to which visitors were admitted without
-hinderance, as to a tavern, for the more eating and
-drinking there were the better it was for Mr Pitt,
-the governor. Pitt, himself, was never disinclined to
-lend his assistance in eating a dinner, or in finishing
-a bowl of punch. So countenanced, the revelries
-in Newgate were boundless. Dr Doran affords
-a glimpse of this state of things. Visitors and
-sympathisers supplied the prisoners with money.
-‘While it was difficult to change a guinea almost
-at any house in the street, nothing was more easy
-than to have silver for gold in any quantity, and
-gold for silver, in the prison; those of the fair sex,
-from persons of the first rank to tradesmen’s wives
-and daughters, making a sacrifice of their husbands’
-and parents’ rings and other precious movables for
-the use of the prisoners. The aid was so reckless,
-that forty shillings for a dish of early peas and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>{211}</span>
-beans, and thirty shillings for a dish of fish, with
-the best French wine, was an ordinary regale!’</p>
-
-<p>Forster was to be tried on the 18th April, but a
-week previously the town was startled with the
-intelligence that he had broken bounds; he was off.
-‘His escape,’ says Doran, ‘was well planned and
-happily executed. His sharp servant found means
-to obtain an impression of Pitt’s master-key, from
-which another key was made and conveyed to
-Forster, without difficulty. Pitt loved wine, and
-Forster seems to have had a cellar full of it. He
-often invited the governor to get drunk on its
-contents. One night, Pitt got more drunk than
-usual, finished the wine, and roared for more.
-Forster bade his servant to fetch up another bottle.
-This was the critical moment. The fellow was
-long, and Forster declared he would go and see
-what the rascal was at. On going, he locked the
-unconscious Pitt in the room; and the way being
-prepared by his servant, and turnkeys, as it would
-seem, subdued by the “oil of palms,” master and
-servant walked into the street, where friends
-awaited them. Pitt sounded the alarm, but everything
-had been well calculated. A smack lay at
-Holly Haven, on the Thames, which had often
-been employed by the Jacobites in running between
-England and France.’ By this means,
-Forster effected his escape, and ‘the joy of the
-Jacobites was incontrollable.’ The government
-shut up Pitt in one of his own dungeons, and
-offered a thousand pounds for the recovery of
-‘General Forster;’ but pursuit was useless. The
-general was safe in France.</p>
-
-<p>Borlum, who knew that his trial would speedily
-take place, meditated on plans for emulating
-the success of Forster. Strange to say, notwithstanding
-a knowledge of the irregularities that
-were carried on in Newgate, the public authorities
-made no change in the administration of affairs.
-Wine flowed, punch was sent round, and the
-prisoners suffered scarcely any stint in their
-indulgences. Things were indeed rather worse
-than better—all which was favourable to a plan
-concocted by Borlum and his fellow-captives.
-‘The prisoners,’ says Dr Doran, ‘might cool themselves
-after their drink, by walking and talking,
-singing and planning, in the court-yard, till within
-an hour of midnight. Evil came of it. On the
-night of the 4th [May] the feast being over, nearly
-five dozen of the prisoners were walking about the
-press-yard. Suddenly, the whole body of them
-made an ugly rush at the keeper with the keys.
-He was knocked down, the doors were opened,
-and the prisoners swept forth to freedom. All,
-however, did not succeed in gaining liberty. As
-the attempt was being made, soldiers and turnkeys
-were alarmed. The fugitives were then driven in
-different directions. Brigadier Mackintosh, his son,
-and seven others overcame all opposition. They
-reached the street, and they were so well befriended,
-or were so lucky, as to disappear at once, and to
-evade all pursuit. They fled in various directions.’
-Some others less fortunate were secured, ‘and were
-not only heavily ironed and thrust into loathsome
-holes, but treated with exceptional brutality.’
-What a picture of a metropolitan prison in the
-reign of George I.!</p>
-
-<p>The escape of Borlum from Newgate with certain
-other convicts produced an immense sensation.
-For decency’s sake, if for nothing else, the Lord
-Mayor and Aldermen came down to the prison,
-and solemnly gathered some evidence on the subject.
-The least thing in the way of amends was
-to offer a reward for the capture of ‘William Mackintosh,
-commonly called Brigadier Mackintosh.’
-Placards were profusely posted up describing the
-appearance of Borlum. ‘A tall, raw-boned man,
-about sixty years of age, fair complexioned, beetle-browed,
-gray-eyed, speaks broad Scotch.’ The
-reward for capturing him was two hundred pounds,
-to which sum, however, were added a thousand
-pounds by the government. Every effort failed to
-secure the old Highland chief. He and his son
-succeeded in getting on board a vessel in the
-Thames, by which they reached the coast of France,
-and there for the present we must leave him.</p>
-
-<p>These furtive escapes did not slacken operations
-at Tyburn, to which doomed men from Newgate
-were carried in half-dozens, as if for a public entertainment.
-We can hardly in the present day
-realise the brutality of these exhibitions, to which,
-however, ladies of quality regularly adjourned to
-see the show. Hanging formed a holiday amusement
-of the fashionable society of London. Such
-was the disregard of humane feeling that officers of
-the law were not ashamed to practise cruel deceptions
-on convicts at the very scaffold. Dr Doran
-describes a case of this kind. It was that of a
-person named David Lindsay, convicted of traitorous
-visits to France, who was sentenced to die, and
-carted to Tyburn in spite of an amnesty. ‘When
-his neck was in the noose, the sheriff tested
-David’s courage, by telling him he might yet
-save his life on condition of revealing the names of
-alleged traitors. David, however sorely tempted,
-declined to save his neck on such terms. Thereupon,
-the sheriff ordered the cart to drive on; but
-even this move towards leaving Lindsay suspended
-did not shake his stout spirit. All this time the
-sheriff had a reprieve for the unnecessarily tortured
-fellow in his pocket. Before the cart was fairly
-from under Lindsay’s feet, it was stopped, or he
-would have been murdered.’ Taken back alive to
-Newgate, a very unusual spectacle, Lindsay, after
-being nearly starved in a loathsome dungeon, was
-sent into perpetual banishment; ultimately he died
-of hunger and exposure in Holland.</p>
-
-<p>As the hanging of some thousands of rebels
-would have shocked ordinary decency, vast numbers
-were condemned to be banished, as an act of
-grace, to the Plantations, or were ‘made over as
-presents to trading courtiers,’ who might pardon
-them for ‘a consideration.’ Think of lords and
-ladies at court being presented with groups of
-convicts on whom money could be made by
-selling pardons! The fact throws a new light on
-this period of English history. As regards transportation,
-Dr Doran gives some not uninteresting
-and little known particulars concerning Rob Roy.
-Twelve years after the rebellion of 1715, Rob was
-taken to London in connection with the Disarmament
-Act, and sentenced with many others to be
-transported to Barbadoes. Handcuffed to Lord
-Ogilvie, he was marched from Newgate through
-the streets of London to a barge at Blackfriars, and
-thence to Gravesend. ‘This,’ says Dr Doran, ‘is
-an incident which has escaped the notice of
-Walter Scott and of all Rob’s biographers.’ Before
-quitting England, the barge-load of convicts were
-pardoned and allowed to return home.</p>
-
-<p>Matters had considerably calmed down, when
-the country was startled with the rebellion which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>{212}</span>
-broke out in 1745, headed by the young Chevalier,
-Charles Edward, grandson of James II. It was
-a daring and romantic adventure, but as badly
-conceived and supported as that of thirty years
-previously. No promised auxiliaries were supplied
-from France; and that the attempt to upset
-a powerful and settled government by a handful
-of adventurous Highlanders and the adherents of
-a few discontented noblemen and gentry should
-have ended disastrously, as it finally did on the
-field of Culloden, is not at all surprising. This
-fresh outbreak in the reign of George II. affords
-new material for the graphic pen of Dr Doran;
-and to his second volume we must refer for many
-painful though curious details concerning the
-treatment of the unfortunate prisoners. The
-manners of the more fashionable classes in the
-metropolis do not seem to have improved. We
-are told that ‘people of fashion went to the Tower
-to see the prisoners as persons of lower quality
-went there to see the lions. Within the Tower, the
-spectator was lucky who saw Murray [of Broughton],
-Charles Ratcliffe, Lord Traquair, Lord Cromarty
-and his son, and the Lord Provost, at their
-respective windows. Lady Townshend, who had
-fallen in love with Lord Kilmarnock, at the first
-sight of “his falling shoulders,” when he appeared
-to plead at the bar of the Lords, was to be seen
-under his window at the Tower.’ The Lord
-Provost, here alluded to, was Archibald Stewart,
-who, known to be of Jacobite proclivities, was
-charged with culpable neglect of duty, in having
-allowed a party of Highlanders to rush in and
-take possession of Edinburgh. Stewart was tried
-and acquitted. Lord Cromarty’s life was spared;
-but Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino, and Lovat
-perished by beheading on Tower Hill. Lovat had
-expressed a passionate desire to be buried with
-his head in his own country in Scotland. The
-wish was gratified. His head was sewed on again
-by the undertaker before the body was despatched
-northwards! Lord Traquair was liberated.</p>
-
-<p>The case of Charles Ratcliffe was peculiar. He
-was a younger brother of Lord Derwentwater
-who was executed in 1716, and he had himself
-only evaded the same fate at that time by being
-one of the prisoners who escaped from Newgate
-and took refuge in France. Assuming the title
-of Earl of Derwentwater, he was made prisoner
-in 1745, on board a French vessel on its way to
-Scotland with supplies for Prince Charles. The
-sentence of death which had been passed on him
-thirty years before was now raked up. He was
-condemned to be executed; and giving him the
-benefit of his assumed title of nobility, he was
-beheaded on Tower Hill, his manly courage and
-proud bearing not deserting him at the last
-dreadful scene.</p>
-
-<p>Like Patten, in the former rebellion, Murray of
-Broughton, who had acted as secretary to Charles
-Edward, was saved by basely turning king’s
-evidence, and sending many better men than himself
-to the scaffold. He retreated into private
-life under a deserved load of infamy. Years afterwards,
-as we learn from Lockhart, Murray, several
-times in disguise, visited Mr Scott, father of Sir
-Walter, for the sake of professional advice. On
-one of these occasions, Mrs Scott, from curiosity,
-intruded with the offer of a cup of tea, which
-Murray accepted. When he withdrew, Mr Scott
-lifted the window-sash, and threw the empty cup
-into the street. The lady exclaimed for her china,
-but was silenced by the remark: ‘I may admit
-into my house, on a piece of business, persons
-wholly unworthy to be treated as guests by my
-wife. Neither lip of me nor of mine comes after
-Mr Murray of Broughton.’ As a memento of this
-curious incident, Sir Walter made prize of the
-saucer, which he preserved.</p>
-
-<p>The executions of the untitled prisoners were
-conducted in a wholesale manner on Kennington
-Common, to which crowds flocked to see the
-hideous show. Drawers attended to supply wine
-to the culprits while the ropes were put round
-their necks, for the Jacobites drank treasonous
-toasts till the last. At one of these tragic ceremonials,
-‘Captain Wood, after the halter was
-loosely hung for him round his neck, called for
-wine, which was supplied with alacrity by the
-prison drawers. When it was served round, the
-captain drank to the health of the rightful king,
-James III.’ The slight delay so caused was lucky
-for another culprit, Captain Lindsay, who was
-coming up with a second batch. ‘While the wine
-was being drunk, Lindsay was “haltering,” as the
-reporters called it. He was nice about the look
-of the rope, but just as he was courteously invited
-to get in and be hanged, a reprieve came for him,
-which saved his life.’ At this period, London
-could not be deemed a pleasant place of residence
-for any one with delicate feelings. The entrances
-to the town were lined with decaying bodies
-hanging in chains. At length the sights became
-so offensive as to cause public remonstrance.</p>
-
-<p>Dr Doran winds up his dramatic narrative with
-some graceful remarks on the altered state of
-feeling towards the Jacobites in the reign of
-George III. By the decease of Charles Edward in
-1788, after having sunk to the character of a sot,
-the Jacobite fanaticism was considerably abated,
-and only lingered as an expiring sentiment till
-the death of Charles’s brother, Henry, Cardinal
-York, 1807, when the house of Stuart was extinct.</p>
-
-<p>It is pleasant to know that the royal family
-always spoke with sympathy of the Stuarts.
-Charles Edward, as is well known, was unhappy
-in his marriage with Louise, Countess of Albany,
-daughter of Count von Stolberg. She left him
-for a convent in 1780, and subsequently to his
-death became the wife of the Italian poet, Vittorio
-Alfieri. By a strange turn in the wheel of fortune,
-she sought an asylum in England, on the outbreak
-of the French Revolution, and was well received
-at the court in St James’s Palace, the king and
-queen vying to do her honour. She went to see
-the king in the House of Lords with the crown
-on his head, when proroguing parliament, 1791.
-Hannah More speaks of seeing the Countess of
-Albany on that occasion seated among ladies ‘just
-at the foot of the throne which she might once
-have expected to have mounted.’ Finding London
-dull, with ‘crowds but no society,’ and that the
-climate of England did not suit her, she returned
-to the continent.</p>
-
-<p>In his latter years Cardinal York was supported
-by a pension of four thousand pounds a
-year from George III.; an act of kindness which
-was handsomely responded to by the Cardinal
-giving up to the king the crown diamonds
-which James II. had carried away with him
-to France. On the death of the Cardinal, the
-Countess of Albany became the recipient of an<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>{213}</span>
-annuity from the king. This she enjoyed till her
-decease as plain Madame Fabre at Montpelier, in
-France, in 1824. Such was the sorrowful ending
-of the broken-down and much-tried widow of
-Charles Edward Stuart.</p>
-
-<p>We feel that our desultory sketch would be
-incomplete without some account of Borlum subsequent
-to his escape to France in 1716. For
-any such account, however, there are very slender
-materials in history. To a writer in the <i>Celtic
-Magazine</i> (Inverness, 1877) we are indebted for
-some of the following particulars. Borlum remained
-in France only one or two years, during
-which his father died, whereupon he became the
-chief of his house. On what terms, if any, he was
-allowed to return to his own country there is no
-statement. At all events, he was again in Scotland
-in 1719, for in that year he took part in the
-mad attempt at insurrection by the aid of Spanish
-soldiers, which was immediately stamped out.
-That Mackintosh of Borlum should have engaged
-in so wild an adventure, is an evidence of his
-Jacobite fervour and indiscretion. He was once
-more a fugitive, but for a time contrived to elude
-detection. At length, he was apprehended in the
-wilds of Caithness, and was conveyed as a state
-prisoner to Edinburgh Castle.</p>
-
-<p>Few, perhaps, among the gay crowds who throng
-Princes Street, and cast a glance at the buildings
-of the castle perched on the summit of rugged
-cliffs, are aware that in one of these buildings, long
-used as a state prison, poor Mackintosh of Borlum
-was confined for the last years of his life. Certainly,
-a hard fate for the old Jacobite! Cribbed
-and confined in his airy but miserable den,
-Borlum did not spend his time uselessly. Before
-being involved in political troubles he had devoted
-himself to the improvement and planting of lands.
-He is said to have planted a row of trees which
-still ornament the public road near Kingussie.
-Now that he was locked up, he wrote an Essay on
-the best means of inclosing and improving lands,
-which was printed in Edinburgh in 1729. Our
-authority adds: ‘On the 7th January 1743, after
-a rough earthly pilgrimage of eighty years, the
-gallant old soldier passed to his rest, true to the
-last to the principles which had influenced his
-whole life. One of his last acts, it is said, was to
-dedicate one of his teeth to the service of his
-exiled master, by writing with it on the wall of
-his room an invocation of God’s blessing on King
-James!’</p>
-
-<p>How long Borlum was immured in that dismal
-prison on the castle rock, is not clearly ascertained.
-The obituary in the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i>
-speaks of his having been confined in the castle
-‘fifteen years.’ By the authority above quoted, he
-is said to have been imprisoned ‘for nearly a
-quarter of a century.’ Truth may lie somewhere
-between—from twenty to twenty-one years. The
-<i>Caledonian-Mercury</i>, in noticing his decease at the
-age of ‘about eighty-five,’ gives him a high character
-as ‘a complete gentleman, friendly, agreeable,
-and courteous;’ and for what he had written as
-regards the improvement of land, he is to be
-lastingly esteemed as ‘a lover of his country.’
-Nowhere is a word said of the cruelty of
-confining so aged and accomplished a person in
-the worst species of prison till he was released
-by death. For the seeming harshness of this
-prolonged imprisonment, an excuse may perhaps
-be found in the political apprehensions of the
-period; but this scarcely lessens our compassion
-for the sufferings of a man in so many respects
-estimable. With all his faults, Borlum must be
-admitted to have possessed that quality of earnestness
-of purpose which in the ordinary concerns
-of life is now so feebly demonstrated. It could
-be wished that some one had done full justice to
-his biography; for Borlum was undoubtedly one
-of the most extraordinary men of his time.</p>
-
-<p class="right">
-W. C.
-</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="HELENA_LADY_HARROGATE">HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3>CHAPTER XIX.—FIRE!</h3>
-
-<p>‘<span class="smcap">There</span> is nothing so hard, nothing so difficult
-as to get a governess nowadays,’ said the Countess
-of Wolverhampton, quite unaware that she was
-but echoing the complaint of many ladies of a
-lesser degree, to the effect that it is next to impossible
-to procure pattern cooks, prize housemaids,
-exemplary seamstresses, or model kitchen-maids,
-in these degenerate times. ‘I mean a really satisfactory
-governess of course,’ added the noble
-mistress of High Tor. Lady Wolverhampton and
-her two elder daughters were the sole occupants
-of the smallest of the suite of drawing-rooms, the
-windows of which were yet open to admit the
-balmy air of the hot evening. Dinner was but
-just over, and the flush of the sinking sun was
-faintly visible on the heathy ridges and pine-groves
-to the west.</p>
-
-<p>‘It is very tiresome, mamma,’ said sympathetic
-Lady Maud.</p>
-
-<p>‘It is more than tiresome,’ rejoined the Countess.
-‘It makes me, on your sister’s account, very
-anxious. If I had known, when Miss Grainger
-left us, how very long it would take to replace
-her, and that dear Alice would be for months
-at a stand-still so far as her education went, I
-should not have parted with her so readily.’</p>
-
-<p>‘But she left us because she was going to be
-married,’ said Lady Gladys smiling; ‘and we
-could not, I suppose, have forbidden the banns on
-account of the scarcity of good governesses. I
-wonder, by the way, how the scarcity can exist,
-when we are so perpetually informed that the
-governess market—a phrase which I don’t like,
-suggesting as it does white slavery, involuntary
-servitude, and the auctioneer’s hammer—is overstocked.’</p>
-
-<p>‘That sounds clever, Gladys,’ answered Lady
-Wolverhampton in her plain way; ‘but I am
-afraid that, like most clever-sounding things, it
-proves nothing. I could get a highly certificated
-instructress, a person primed with information
-on particular subjects, warranted to be worth a
-handsome salary, a’——</p>
-
-<p>‘A teaching-machine, in fact,’ suggested bright
-Lady Gladys, seeing that her mother hesitated
-for the lack of a word.</p>
-
-<p>‘Precisely. A teaching-machine,’ resumed the
-Countess. ‘But I don’t want one. I wish Alice’s
-governess, whoever she may be, to be a good
-sensible young woman, such as Miss Grainger was;
-and instead of that, all my correspondents write
-to me of the degrees and diplomas that have been
-taken out by those they recommend. I suppose
-I am an old-fashioned person, but I do wish’——</p>
-
-<p>But before the Countess of Wolverhampton<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>{214}</span>
-could complete her discourse on the governess
-topic, the door was jerked open, and the old
-butler, who had permitted himself to turn the
-handle for once with such unconventional vivacity,
-stood gasping in the doorway with a face as white
-as his cravat.</p>
-
-<p>‘Why, Bugles!’ began the Countess, rising in
-alarm; for that an ox should talk, as Livy tells
-us that a Roman representative of the bovine
-genus actually did, is scarcely more calculated to
-disturb the nerves than that a well-trained servant
-should crack the ice of his artificial decorum.
-The Earl, who was, like his wife, a partisan of
-old fashions, was lingering over his wine in the
-dining-room, and might of course be ill. Apoplexy
-was the first thought that rose, like a
-sheeted spectre, before the Countess’s mind.</p>
-
-<p>‘Fire, my lady! Fire at High Tor; broke out
-sudden; and all the village is in flames!’ panted
-out Bugles the butler, who was fat and short of
-breath. And without were to be vaguely heard
-other voices and the sound of running feet, and
-the cry, alarming above all others, of ‘Fire! fire!’
-as grooms and gardeners forgot their usual respectful
-reticence in the first flush of the anticipated
-struggle with the direst foe of man and his
-works.</p>
-
-<p>‘There really is a fire, and I’m afraid a great
-one, to judge by the smoke and the sparks,’ said
-Lord Harrogate, who at this juncture entered.
-‘My father has had his horse saddled already,
-and has started by this time for the village, and
-I am going too of course. I only came first to
-see if’——</p>
-
-<p>‘If we were ready to come too?’ cried Lady
-Maud. ‘To be sure we will, the moment we
-can get our hats, Gladys and I. Alice will stay
-with mamma. We can’t work at putting out the
-fire, but we may be of use somehow.’</p>
-
-<p>And in an incredibly short space of time the
-Ladies De Vere and their brother were hurrying
-down the steep road that led to the scene of
-the disaster. High Tor House, isolated and on a
-lofty spot of rising ground, was in no sort of peril
-from the fire raging beneath; but the indwellers of
-the great mansion were not disposed, like the
-divinities of the Pagan Olympus, serenely to contemplate
-the woes of the inhabitants of earth, and
-without waiting for orders, nearly every boy and
-man in the Earl’s employ had hastened down to
-fight the common foe.</p>
-
-<p>‘The dry weather—unusually dry for this moist
-district, where the last thing we generally have
-to complain of is the want of rain—must help the
-fire sadly,’ said Lord Harrogate, as the lodge-gates
-were left behind, and the lurid light of the conflagration
-became more and more distinctly visible
-through gaps in the high hedges that bordered the
-road. As they drew nearer, the eddying clouds of
-smoke, mingled with fiery dots here and there, the
-dull crimson glow, and the smothered sound of
-voices mingling with the roar of the flames and
-the clang of labour, gave unpleasant tokens of the
-mischief that was going on.</p>
-
-<p>‘I hoped at the first that the report was an
-exaggerated one, as most reports are,’ said Lord
-Harrogate, as they came in sight of the burning
-houses. ‘But this is an ugly business. It is on
-one side of the street only, by good luck, that
-the fire is raging, and if we can keep it from
-spreading’——</p>
-
-<p>The crash of a cottage roof tumbling in, and
-followed by a shower of sparks and small fragments
-of flaming wood, drowned the rest of the
-sentence. Matters were evidently bad enough,
-though not quite so bad as might have been
-augured from the first announcement of that
-herald of misfortune, Bugles the butler. The
-whole southern side of the long straggling street
-was more or less in flames; and to keep the fire
-from communicating itself to the houses on the
-opposite side of the road was a work which in
-itself taxed the strength of the whole adult male
-population to the utmost.</p>
-
-<p>The noise, the smoke, the falling sparks, and
-the occasional plumping down into the dust of the
-road of some half-consumed scrap of woodwork,
-made Lord Harrogate’s sisters, who were physically
-no braver than the average of their sex, shrink
-back aghast.</p>
-
-<p>‘Here, Maud!’ cried her brother impatiently.
-‘We must not—or I must not—be drones in the
-hive. You know most of these good people—Mrs
-Prosser, for instance.—Mrs Prosser, my sisters will
-stay with you while I go forward to bear a hand
-in getting the fire under.—Where’s my father?
-Ah, there he is, in the thick of the smoke!’</p>
-
-<p>And there, sure enough, was dimly to be seen
-the well-known figure of the old Earl giving orders
-to such as were cool enough to hearken to them,
-whilst his frightened horse, held by a groom, stood
-at some distance. Darting through the clouds
-of suffocating vapour, which were dense enough
-to suggest the idea of a battle, Lord Harrogate
-reached the place where his father was standing.</p>
-
-<p>‘I don’t see any fire-engines!’ exclaimed the
-young man, looking with a sort of dismay at the
-chain of buckets passed from hand to hand.
-‘What, in the name of all that’s wonderful, are
-the people dreaming of?’</p>
-
-<p>‘We have sent to Pebworth for help,’ said the
-Earl, shaking his gray head; ‘but before any
-arrives, if the wind freshens the houses will be
-mere cinder-heaps. As for the parish engine,
-Stickles here has got the same story to tell that is
-only too common among us in England here.’</p>
-
-<p>And Stickles, who was the clerk, rubbed his
-hands apologetically together as he faltered out,
-in reply to Lord Harrogate’s impatient question,
-the excuses which he had previously addressed to
-the Earl. The engine of which he was official
-custodian had been long out of repair, and was
-to have been ‘seen to,’ and should have been
-‘seen to’ after harvest-time, had not the unfortunate
-outbreak of a very real and practical fire
-tested the unreadiness of the precautions for putting
-it out. As it was, the only available means
-of doing battle with the conflagration was the rude
-and simple one of flinging water on the flames,
-and at this task the inhabitants were busy enough.
-They were busier, however, before long, as, under
-the direction of Lord Harrogate, whom they
-respected, they began to tear down some portions
-of the burning buildings, in the hope of preventing
-the fire from spreading. A strange sight it was
-which the village street presented, encumbered as
-it was by chests and bedding and the poor furniture
-which had been hastily dragged out from the
-doors of cottages now blazing, and the wailing of
-frightened children, and the shrill voices of the
-women, blended with the hoarse deep roar of the
-triumphant flames.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>{215}</span></p>
-
-<p>‘’Tis a mercy, my lord, it broke out when it
-did,’ said Charley Joyce, best bowler in the local
-cricket club and best woodman in the Earl’s employment,
-and in both of these capacities well
-known to the Earl’s heir. ‘There’d ha’ been a
-lot of us burned in our beds, if it had tarried
-till after midnight. All came,’ he added, ‘of that
-blessed rock-oil from Ameriky.’</p>
-
-<p>Such indeed was the reported origin of the
-disaster. A girl, for milking purposes, had taken
-a tin lamp with her into a cowshed; the cow had
-kicked over the lamp, and the burning petroleum
-had set fire to the straw litter, whence the flames
-had mounted to the thatched roof. Thatched
-roofs, picturesque to look upon, were only too
-numerous for safety in that West-country village.
-The fire had crawled and darted, lithe as a serpent,
-from gable to porch and from paling to stable.</p>
-
-<p>‘There! Look at the school-house now!’ cried
-a score of voices; and indeed the flames were
-pouring outwards through the shattered windows
-and licking the blackened walls, and withering to
-charred sticks the pretty hedge where the fragrant
-woodbine had clung so lovingly to the quickset,
-and scorching the very flowers in the garden.</p>
-
-<p>‘The fire began near about there,’ remarked
-Joyce; but Lord Harrogate was already out of earshot,
-since his keen eye had caught a glimpse of
-a pale beautiful face, in the midst of the confusion
-of the crowded street. He pushed his way through
-the excited throng.</p>
-
-<p>‘You are not hurt, Miss Gray, I hope and
-trust?’ he said with an eagerness that surprised
-himself.</p>
-
-<p>‘No; but my house is burning,’ said Ethel in
-reply; ‘and I am a stranger, and—— But pray,
-my lord, do not trouble yourself to’—— For the
-young man had drawn her arm gently but firmly
-through his.</p>
-
-<p>‘You must let me choose for you,’ he said. ‘My
-sisters are here, close by, at Mrs Prosser’s, who
-keeps the village shop—a kind motherly old soul.
-I must leave you with them.’</p>
-
-<p>Thus Ethel allowed herself to be led to the
-place where, amidst a knot of women, whose awe-stricken
-faces told how great was their interest
-in the spectacle, the Ladies De Vere stood watching
-the progress of the fire. Lord Harrogate did
-not linger for an instant, but went back to put
-heart into the men still battling with the encroaching
-flames.</p>
-
-<p>It was no trifle, this hand-to-hand combat, as
-it were, with the fire; the fierce heat driving back
-the volunteers who ventured very near to the
-tottering walls to fling water upon the blazing
-timbers, while the blinding smoke rushed volleying
-out to blear the eyes and clog the lungs of the
-workers, and ever and anon some tall chimney
-or breached roof would fall with a crash, sending
-showers of bricks and half-consumed wood into
-the midst of the crowd; and hairbreadth escapes
-were many and bruises numerous.</p>
-
-<p>At last, however, the two engines from Pebworth
-came clattering into the street, and water
-being in that region of streams ready to hand,
-and the wind happily abating, the fire was fairly
-conquered, and all further danger at an end.
-There was no loss of life; but some were singed
-and many bruised; while thirty humble homes
-had been turned to heaps of smouldering ruin,
-and household gear and clothing, snatched from
-the flames, formed piles here and there in the
-wet road. Gradually the hospitality of this or
-that neighbour afforded temporary shelter to the
-crying children, the lamenting women, and the
-exhausted men; while a flying squadron of boys
-chased and led back captive the cows and pigs,
-the fowls and donkeys of those whose yards and
-sheds had been made desolate by the conflagration.</p>
-
-<p>But what was Ethel to do? The old dame who
-served her had been readily received into the
-dwelling of a neighbour; and indeed nearly all of
-those so suddenly evicted had kindred, and all
-had friends to harbour them at this pinch. The
-young school-mistress looked forlorn indeed, as
-she stood alone in the midst of so many groups
-of voluble talkers.</p>
-
-<p>‘You must come home with us, Miss Gray,’ said
-Lady Maud kindly; ‘must come up to High Tor
-House, I mean,’ she added, seeing that Ethel did
-not at first appear to comprehend her words, ‘and
-stay with us until something can be done. It is
-the least we can do for you, burned out of house
-and home in this dreadful way, as you have been.’</p>
-
-<p>Lady Gladys heartily seconded the invitation;
-but Ethel still hesitated until the Earl drew near.</p>
-
-<p>‘I have been telling Miss Gray here, papa,
-that we will take care of her at the House for
-a few days till she can look about her,’ said Lady
-Maud.</p>
-
-<p>‘Quite right, my dear,’ answered the Earl with
-his fatherly smile; and thus the matter was settled.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHINA_AND_MAJOLICA">CHINA AND MAJOLICA.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">The</span> love of china-ware still continues to be a
-mania amongst certain classes in this country. In
-the houses chiefly of the ‘upper ten,’ we see scattered
-in lavish profusion little Dresden figures,
-shepherds and shepherdesses, sweet, fresh, smiling,
-fantastic little loves, leaning on impossible crooks,
-or ogling us from under trees whose bowery
-greenery embodies all that is idyllic in crockery.
-Wonderful little old tea-cups, without handles,
-transparent as an egg-shell, with no colouring to
-speak of, faded, washed-out looking, are proudly
-pointed to as almost priceless. From these our
-great-great-grandmothers, in all the glories of
-hoops and furbelows, are said to have drunk their
-hyson and bohea in their great wainscoted and
-tapestried rooms, discoursing as they sipped the
-fragrant nectar, much as we their great-great-granddaughters
-do still, over our afternoon tea; for the
-world changes, but the human heart does not. All
-manner of vanities go the round; trivialities of
-dress or gossip; much tattling about the mote in
-our neighbour’s eye, and a careful avoiding, with
-commendable modesty, any reference even the
-most remote to the beam in our own. These pale
-transparent cups going their oft-repeated rounds
-may have sown in their day the seeds of many a
-pathetic commonplace tragedy or comedy, disseminating,
-as they circulated around the board,
-harmony and peace, or dissension and distrust.</p>
-
-<p>Your true china collector has undoubtedly in
-him something of the antiquarian Dryasdust spirit,
-which loves to excavate and unearth the buried
-treasures of the past; in his case, however, it is
-gracefully blended with and overlaid by an instinctive
-fondness for the tender, lovely, fragile
-object of his regard. He knows, for he has often
-anxiously weighed it, how frail it is. Every time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>{216}</span>
-he looks at it he remembers the tumult of conflicting
-emotions with which, once secured, he
-packed it up with his own hands, and the fears
-for its ultimate safety which tempered the ecstatic
-pride of his triumph in the bargain which he had
-just struck.</p>
-
-<p>To the china-hunter, every object in his cabinet
-or on his brackets is a trophy. That quaint old
-enamelled <i>tazza</i> of Lucca della Robbia’s, he bought
-in Rome; and as he gazes at it he thinks not so
-much of the astute Jew dealer, for whom, as he
-flatters himself, his own knowingness was fully a
-match, but of a long-forgotten holiday, with its
-bright days of sunshine, and the lengthening
-purple shadows of night deepening over the
-skies, and the grapes in ripe clusters on the
-wall. How well he remembers their flavour still,
-and the hand that plucked them for the stranger,
-and the eyes that looked into his! What was her
-name? He has forgotten it. What her fate? He
-has never known. A most prosaic ending, truly,
-to a vanished romance. But her charming grace
-and beauty unforgotten, blend still in his memory
-like a sweet rhythmical chant, and beautify with
-a glory not altogether its own this rare old cup
-of Lucca della Robbia’s.</p>
-
-<p>With a sigh he turns from it to contemplate this
-old plate of mezza-majolica. Opal-hued, iridescent,
-it darts at him as he gazes upon it subtle flashes of
-blue and yellow and ruby-hued flame, rejoicing his
-soul with a deep unalterable conviction that it at
-least is real. He acquired it in Urbino, many, many
-years after he became the happy possessor of the
-Lucca della Robbia cup. He paid a full price for it
-too; but although a close man, he does not, and has
-never regretted the imprudence. At the sight of
-that beautiful plate, which he is pleased to call
-unique, his charmed heart melts away into softness,
-and his purse-strings begin to relax of their
-own accord. It moves his spleen to see careless
-visitors pass it by, as they sometimes do, to gaze
-at the soft beauty of that bright yellow-robed
-maiden, with dove upon her hand, who hovers
-self-forgetful upon the very verge of a pea-green
-china sea. The poor old quaint plate of mezza-majolica,
-gleaming there like a veritable jewel,
-is a treasure he jealously guards, and of its history
-we would say a few words.</p>
-
-<p>The Italian enamelled earthenware which became
-famous under the name of Majolica, was first
-produced in 1300 in a town in the duchy of
-Urbino, which was under the feudal sway of the
-Malatestas, who were lords of Pesaro. Vessels of
-red clay such as had been long in use were
-covered with a thin coating of white earth obtained
-from the neighbourhood of Siena, and upon this
-ground different coloured patterns were traced.
-The vessels were then partly baked and covered
-with lead-glaze, after which they received a final
-firing. This delineation of coloured patterns upon
-an opaque white substance was the humble germ
-out of which the splendid many-hued majolica
-ware grew.</p>
-
-<p>The colours employed were usually yellow,
-green, blue, and black; and the soft lead glaze,
-which was easily affected by external influences,
-imparted to the pottery that metallic iridescent
-lustre which is the special characteristic of majolica.
-To the Spanish Moors, this art was
-also well known; and some of their beautiful
-masterpieces finding their way into Italy, acted
-as a fillip to the infant art, which long remained
-swathed in rude and ungraceful swaddling-bands.
-While it was in this transition state,
-a new tin glaze was discovered, and applied to
-terra-cotta bas-reliefs by the famous Lucca della
-Robbia, and the lordship of Pesaro was sold to
-the house of Sforza. The new feudal superiors
-took an extreme interest in the potteries, and
-granted such special privileges to the manufacturers,
-that in a short time they succeeded in
-making Pesaro famous for the production of majolica.
-Early specimens of the ware manufactured
-here are generally adorned with Moorish arabesques
-and coats of arms. Heads of saints are
-also a favourite study, and so are heathen goddesses;
-while heads of the popes and Dukes of
-Urbino abound, the name being affixed, to prevent
-all mistake as to the portrait.</p>
-
-<p>In the pottery of the Pesaro manufactory, the
-outlines of the subjects are traced in black or blue,
-and are in general correctly drawn; but the figures
-are flat and hard, without a vestige of the breadth
-and freedom which give such admirable life and
-vigour to the etchings on the Greek vases; all
-faults in design or execution being atoned for by
-the marvellous beauty and finish of the glaze,
-whose iridescent splendour has been equalled but
-never surpassed by later artists. The most beautiful
-specimens of this ware are due to the genius of
-an obscure artist, whose very name has been forgotten,
-who flourished in Pesaro about 1480. The
-dishes he made were large and thick, and were
-intended not so much for use as for display; as is
-shewn by holes in a projection behind, through
-which strings were passed in order to suspend
-them from the wall. The colours he used were
-blue and yellow, and they shone with a rare and
-matchless mother-of-pearl splendour.</p>
-
-<p>At the end of the fifteenth century tin enamel
-had come into general use, and the potteries of the
-duchy of Urbino had begun to manufacture a
-finer majolica ware. The art may be said to have
-reached its most palmy period. The finest qualities
-of the old mezza-majolica were retained in the new
-manufacture, and far greater artistic skill was displayed
-in the painting and ornamentation. The
-town of Gubbio acquired a world-wide fame by the
-beauty of its lustrous majolica; and in the year
-1485, Georgio Andreoli, a gentleman of Pavia, was
-attracted to it. He was a painter and sculptor by
-profession; and his majolica plates, glowing like
-jewels with the richest and most brilliant colours,
-are still famous. He excelled in the use of ruby
-red and golden yellow, and his ware is generally
-encircled by a brilliant flame-coloured border. He
-delights also in the picturesque effect produced by
-gold arabesques on a ground of vivid blue. His
-period of greatest activity was from 1486 to 1537.
-To china-fanciers he is known as the famous
-Maestro Georgio of Gubbio, and his works now
-command almost incredible prices. He is charged
-with having made a secret of his metallic lustre,
-and with having travelled about the country selling
-his recipes to the highest bidder; but for this
-charge there is no good ground. His brothers
-and his son worked along with him, and they
-had many assistants, to whom all the processes
-of the manufacture were known. In the city
-of Urbino, where Raphael was born, the manufacture
-of majolica ware was carried on with great
-spirit and success. Among the foremost of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>{217}</span>
-ceramic artists of Urbino was a certain Orazio
-Fontana. His designs, which are characterised
-by great freedom and breadth of style, and
-truth and fidelity of drawing, are likewise brilliantly
-coloured and admirably glazed. One of
-his masterpieces, a magnificent cup, in the possession
-of Baron Rothschild, has his name inscribed
-upon it; a frequent practice with the great Italian
-potters.</p>
-
-<p>All over the duchy of Urbino, potteries of this
-ware flourished at Gubbio, at Pesaro, at Urbino,
-and at Castel Durante. From these workshops
-potters travelled with their secrets to other parts
-of Italy and also to Flanders. The majolica of
-Castel Durante is very beautifully finished; and
-one of its principal manufacturers, Piccolo Passo,
-wrote a treatise upon the art of making and
-decorating majolica.</p>
-
-<p>Faenza, which has given its name in France to
-all soft pottery, also produced much beautiful
-majolica ware. The Faenza majolica has, like
-that of Urbino, a rich marzacotta glaze, and some
-of the more ancient specimens are enamelled in
-berettino, a pale-blue tint. The later Faenza
-majolica is in style very like that of Urbino;
-decorative and embossed embellishments are laid
-aside, and pictorial designs are generally used.</p>
-
-<p>Such is a brief sketch of an art for which
-Raphael and Marc Antonio did not disdain to furnish
-compositions, and whose masterpieces not
-only found ready access into palaces, but were presented
-to churches and hung up in cathedrals
-during the middle ages as votive offerings to
-saints.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="MR_ASLATTS_WARD">MR ASLATT’S WARD.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<h3 title="CHAPTER I.">IN FOUR CHAPTERS.—CHAPTER I.</h3>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Some</span> years ago I was brought by reverse of
-fortune to form one of that vast number of women
-in search of employment, the thought of whom
-makes one’s heart ache as one looks at their numerous
-applications for situations in the columns of
-our daily papers. I had long been an orphan, but
-not a penniless one, till a great bank-failure, such
-as have from time to time brought so much misery
-and embarrassment upon the middle classes of
-society, swept away my little all, and left me
-entirely dependent upon my own exertions for
-future maintenance.</p>
-
-<p>As the shock conveyed by the news of my
-loss passed away, I was not in utter despair.
-I had been well educated, was a tolerable musician,
-and had travelled much; so it seemed to
-me that I should have no difficulty in finding
-a situation as companion or governess; and I
-strove hard to conquer my natural shrinking
-from the irksomeness of such a life, and to become
-reconciled to my altered position. Friends
-promised to help me, and for a time I depended
-upon their promises. But finding that no situation
-was forthcoming through their efforts, I
-determined to try the effect of an advertisement
-in the <i>Times</i>. I composed it with care, endeavouring
-to set my qualifications in their best light,
-and felt sanguine as to the result. I expected to
-have at least a dozen responses, and was disappointed
-at receiving only two. The first letter
-I opened was in a woman’s handwriting, and consisted
-of a string of impertinent queries, linked to
-a statement of the writer’s requirements in the
-governess she engaged for her daughters—requirements
-which I felt sure I could never fulfil; winding
-up with a request that if I felt equal to the
-demands of the situation, I would call at a certain
-address in the neighbourhood of Regent’s Park.
-Such a letter checked my expectations, and with
-some impatience I destroyed it. The next was
-very different. It was a courteously worded note
-from a gentleman, informing me that he was
-seeking a governess, or rather companion, for
-his ward, a girl of eighteen; and would be glad
-to have an interview with me, if I would kindly
-make such arrangements for one as would suit my
-convenience. The tone of his letter pleased me,
-and as he gave the address of an hotel not far
-from the part of London where I was then residing,
-I immediately wrote a reply, naming an hour
-at which on the following day I would call upon
-him.</p>
-
-<p>It was with not a little trepidation that I set out
-the next morning to fulfil my engagement. I had
-the vaguest ideas of what I ought to do or say in
-the new position in which I found myself, and
-for which my previous experience had ill prepared
-me. My heart sank within me as I inquired for
-Mr Aslatt, and was conducted by a waiter to his
-private room. Would the stranger be a very formidable
-personage? I wondered. The first glance
-at him was reassuring. A more benevolent countenance
-I have never seen; and his tall stately
-figure and genial though dignified manner, enhanced
-the pleasing impression it created. He
-was not a young man; but so bright was the
-lustre of his steel-blue eyes, so full of life and
-energy their glance, and his words and actions so
-quick and lively, that no one would have thought
-of calling him old, although his black hair was
-streaked with gray, and his brow somewhat lined
-by the cares and sorrows which come to all as the
-years pass on. My fears vanished at his kind
-reception, and I at once felt at my ease.</p>
-
-<p>‘I do not know whether the services I require
-will be to your mind, Miss Bygrave,’ he said;
-‘but your duties will be very light. I wish to
-obtain a sympathetic companion rather than
-governess for my ward, Rose Sinclair, a young
-lady of most lovable disposition, though high-spirited
-and, I fear I must add, rather wilful. The
-fact is she has lived with me ever since she was a
-little child, and perhaps has been made too much
-of—spoiled a little, you know. But she is so engaging,
-so artless, so affectionate, no one could bear to
-deny her anything. She has had masters and
-governesses in abundance, but they have seldom
-known how to manage her. She requires very
-careful treatment; she may be led and guided, but
-she will not be ruled. She has very good abilities,
-but is averse to application. I have released her
-from regular study; but I should be glad if you
-could persuade her to read with you, and practise
-her music and painting, for both of which she has
-rare talent. Her position is a lonely one; she has
-no one to depend on but me; and I am most
-anxious to find for her a companion who might
-prove a friend also. If you will excuse such a
-remark from a stranger, I will add that your
-appearance encourages me to hope that you would
-prove such a one, if you were willing to try.’</p>
-
-<p>Although Mr Aslatt offered me a far larger<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>{218}</span>
-salary than I could have expected, and assured me
-of his desire that everything should be done to
-make me comfortable and at home in his house,
-I hesitated for some time before I accepted the
-situation, for I rather doubted my ability to control
-a high-spirited spoiled girl of eighteen. Her
-guardian’s partiality for her evidently led him to
-think lightly of the difficulties of the post he
-offered me.</p>
-
-<p>‘I think you cannot fail to be pleased with my
-ward,’ he continued; ‘she is of such a noble disposition,
-so generous and gracious; but as I have
-said before, she needs to be gently checked, and
-prevented from following all the impulses of her
-young and ardent nature. I do not think you
-would find much difficulty in managing her, if
-you once succeeded in gaining her affection.’</p>
-
-<p>‘But if I were not so fortunate?’ I said inquiringly.</p>
-
-<p>Mr Aslatt smiled, and slightly shrugged his
-shoulders. ‘I do not think we need fear that
-alternative,’ he replied pleasantly. ‘But should my
-hopes be disappointed, and the position prove distasteful
-to you, you will be perfectly at liberty to
-resign it whenever you please.’</p>
-
-<p>I thanked him, and after a little more discussion
-agreed to undertake the office of companion to his
-ward.</p>
-
-<p>Early in the following week I quitted London,
-and proceeded to Westwood Hall, as Mr Aslatt’s
-residence was named, a large country house,
-situated in a neighbourhood not many miles from
-the metropolis. I found a carriage waiting for me
-at the quiet little station where I alighted from
-the train. After a pleasant drive through pretty
-country lanes, where the trees often met overhead,
-we passed through some large iron gates,
-beside which stood a picturesque lodge, and drove
-through an avenue of elms to an old-fashioned
-mansion in red brick. The building formed three
-sides of a square, and in the space thus inclosed
-were flower-beds of various shapes, brilliant with
-many-hued flowers; and in the centre stood an
-antique sun-dial upon a carved stone base, round
-which, as I afterwards noted, ran in distinct letters
-the motto, ‘Time is short; Death is nought;
-Love is all.’ I had scarcely time to notice the
-general surroundings of the place, before the
-carriage stopped at the large oaken door.</p>
-
-<p>Mr Aslatt had apparently been on the look-out
-for it, for he met me with a cordial greeting before
-I crossed the threshold, and led me into a large
-oak-panelled hall which formed the centre of the
-house. It was a curious apartment. The floor,
-ceiling, tables, chairs, settee, were all of oak, and
-most elaborately carved. The walls were decorated
-with banners, shields, swords, helmets, and
-various old family relics. Everything was old;
-and I felt for a moment as if I had been suddenly
-transported from the nineteenth century,
-and carried back into the middle ages. But
-though the oaken furniture was dark with age,
-the hall did not strike me as gloomy, perhaps
-because immediately on entering, my eyes rested
-on the one bright object it contained. A girl was
-seated upon the settee, whose bright golden hair
-and dress of pale blue made a delightful spot of
-colour amidst the prevailing sombreness. A large
-black dog, of rather forbidding aspect, crouched at
-her feet, but sprang up as I entered, and began
-to bark furiously. ‘Quiet, Nero; quiet, sir!’ said
-the young lady, without rising, while regarding
-me with an intentness which made me flush.</p>
-
-<p>‘Rose, this is Miss Bygrave,’ said her guardian;
-and at his word she rose and moved slowly across
-the polished floor to meet me, still surveying me
-calmly and coolly with her large blue eyes, as if
-anxious to arrive at a correct estimate of my character
-and qualifications. She was tall and womanly
-in figure, but wore her long golden hair in a cloud
-over her neck and shoulders, merely confined by
-a ribbon, as a child’s might have been. Though
-a beautiful girl, she appeared unconscious of the
-fact. Her regular clear-cut features were expressive
-of self-reliance and determination, without
-being in the least harsh or unfeminine. Her
-manner was perfectly self-possessed, and her bearing
-slightly haughty; but it was not long before
-I discovered that underneath that appearance of
-womanly dignity there was the simplicity and
-waywardness of a very child.</p>
-
-<p>‘How do you do, Miss Bygrave?’ she said
-somewhat coldly, giving me her hand, and scanning
-my face with a deliberation which I should
-have resented from any one else, but to which I
-now submitted humbly, as if it had been the right
-of the proud young beauty who stood before me.
-Then as if the result of her scrutiny were satisfactory,
-she added more graciously: ‘I daresay you
-are tired with your long drive; come, and I will
-shew you to your room.’</p>
-
-<p>I followed her up the wide staircase and along
-a corridor to a room overlooking the extensive
-garden which lay at the back of the house. I
-was much pleased with the appearance of my bedroom.
-From what I had seen down-stairs I was
-prepared for an oaken chamber hung with tapestry,
-with gloomy recesses, hearse-like bed, and ancient
-furniture. Nothing of the kind, however, met my
-view. Here everything was modern, and even
-luxurious, and in such style as would have suited
-the most fastidious taste.</p>
-
-<p>‘I hope you will be comfortable here,’ said
-Miss Sinclair.</p>
-
-<p>‘It will be my own fault if I am not,’ I replied,
-as I advanced to the window opening on to a
-small veranda, from which steps led down into
-the garden. ‘How pretty the garden looks!’ I
-remarked. ‘I shall often feel inclined to walk
-there, I fancy.’</p>
-
-<p>‘You must not think of going there after sunset,’
-said Miss Sinclair decidedly.</p>
-
-<p>‘Why not?’ I asked in surprise.</p>
-
-<p>‘Because—— Well, perhaps I ought not to
-mention it, for my guardian does not like it talked
-about; and yet you would be sure to hear of it some
-time or other, so I may as well tell you at once.
-The truth is the house is haunted; not this part,
-but the left corridor, where the rooms are very,
-very old. And the ghost has been seen coming
-out of the window of the Blue Chamber—which
-communicates with the garden, as this does—and
-going down the steps.’</p>
-
-<p>I was astonished at the gravity with which she
-made this statement.</p>
-
-<p>‘You do not surely believe in ghosts, Miss
-Sinclair?’ I asked. ‘You cannot really credit such
-stories?’</p>
-
-<p>She turned from me impatiently, saying: ‘It
-is easy for you to doubt their existence; perhaps
-if you had seen what I have, you would think
-differently.’</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>{219}</span></p>
-
-<p>‘What have you seen?’ I inquired.</p>
-
-<p>But offended by my scepticism on the subject,
-the young lady did not choose to reply. She drew
-herself up proudly, and after inquiring if there
-was anything I needed, left me to make my toilet.</p>
-
-<p>Vexed with myself for having so soon given
-offence to my charge, I strove for the rest of the
-day to ingratiate myself with her; nor were my
-efforts unsuccessful.</p>
-
-<p>‘I think I shall like you,’ she said frankly;
-‘that is, if you do not interfere with me too much.
-I was dreadfully put out when Cousin told me
-you were coming, for I like to be sole mistress
-here. By the way, how do you like my guardian?
-I always call him Cousin, although I do not at
-all understand how we are related to each other.
-I know nothing of my parents, except that they
-died when I was a very little child. Cousin has
-promised to tell me about them some day; but
-he looks so grave whenever I refer to them, that
-I fancy there must be something painful for me
-to learn concerning my parentage, and therefore
-I do not intend to ask any more questions. But
-you have not told me how you like Mr Aslatt.’</p>
-
-<p>I was amused at her eager curiosity, and told
-her that although I had had so little opportunity
-of judging, I had received a most favourable
-impression of her guardian’s character and disposition.</p>
-
-<p>She seemed pleased with my reply. ‘You can
-have no idea how good he is,’ she said. ‘But he
-is a man of strong prejudices, and it is hard to
-move him when he has once made up his mind
-with regard to any person or thing. Not that I
-mean to find fault with him, for as far as I am
-concerned I have not the least cause of complaint.
-I cannot tell you how kind he is to me, or how
-much I owe him. He is the best old darling
-in the world!’</p>
-
-<p>‘He is surely not so very old,’ I remarked,
-smiling at her enthusiasm.</p>
-
-<p>‘Don’t you think so?’ returned she. ‘He seems
-quite old to me; but of course you are much
-older than I am, and therefore judge differently
-of age. Would you mind telling me how old
-you are? I know it is very rude of me to ask,
-but I always seem to do what I ought not.’</p>
-
-<p>I laughed, and informed her that I was in my
-twenty-eighth year.</p>
-
-<p>‘Nearly ten years older than I am,’ she remarked,
-‘and fourteen years younger than Mr Aslatt; so
-you see he really is old.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Not old for a man,’ I ventured to say.</p>
-
-<p>‘Yes; he is,’ contradicted my companion impatiently,
-shaking back her golden hair.</p>
-
-<p>At this moment Mr Aslatt entered the room
-in which we were sitting. ‘I have just been
-thinking, Rose,’ he said, ‘that if it is fine to-morrow,
-we might ride over to Ashdene. I daresay
-Miss Bygrave would like to see the old Priory
-there.—Are you fond of riding?’ he added, addressing
-me.</p>
-
-<p>It was long since I had been in the saddle; but
-in earlier years I had exceedingly enjoyed the
-exercise, and I told him so.</p>
-
-<p>‘Then I hope you will enjoy a ride to-morrow,’ he
-said. ‘I think I have a horse that you will like,
-and Rose will lend you a riding-habit.’</p>
-
-<p>I thanked him heartily; but Rose said decidedly:
-‘I cannot go to Ashdene to-morrow; you
-forget that it is my day for visiting the school.’</p>
-
-<p>Mr Aslatt’s face changed, and a look passed
-across it, which I should have called a look of pain
-had not the cause been so trivial. ‘Surely you
-need not go to the school to-morrow, Rose,’ he
-said gently; ‘your visit is not of so much importance,
-but that Mr Hammond can manage without
-you for once.’</p>
-
-<p>Rose’s face crimsoned and her lip pouted, but
-she made no reply; and Mr Aslatt hastily introduced
-another subject of conversation. But her
-brightness was gone for the rest of the evening;
-she replied shortly and coldly to her guardian’s
-remarks, and flatly refused to sing when he asked
-her to do so. It was evident that her conduct
-grieved him, for the look of pain was more clearly
-visible; but he shewed no sign of resentment, and
-the tone in which he bade her good-night was as
-affectionate as if her behaviour had been all that
-he could have desired.</p>
-
-<p>‘This is the way to the haunted rooms,’ said
-Rose as we went up to bed together, opening as
-she spoke a door at the top of the draughty staircase.
-She raised her lamp, so that its light
-rendered visible the gloom of the dreary corridor.
-The air which met us had a close musty smell;
-and the grotesque figures carved on the oak
-panels, with the sculptures in the distance casting
-dim shadows on the opposite wall, had rather a
-weird appearance in the uncertain light. Suddenly
-a door creaked on its hinges, and Rose
-sprang back, uttering a faint cry, and hastily
-closed the door which communicated with this
-passage. ‘Did you hear that?’ she asked in an
-awe-struck whisper.</p>
-
-<p>‘Why, you silly girl,’ I said laughingly, ‘what
-you heard was only the effect of the wind!’</p>
-
-<p>She shook her head unbelievingly, and replied:
-‘Well, remember, I warn you to shun that part of
-the house, especially when night is coming on.’</p>
-
-<p>The next morning, at an early hour, the horses
-were brought to the door, and Mr Aslatt, Rose, and
-I started for Ashdene. Rose had made no further
-opposition to the expedition, and there was no
-trace of vexation on her lovely face as we rode off.
-She looked remarkably well in her riding costume.
-The close-fitting habit of dark-blue cloth shewed
-to advantage the exquisite symmetry of her figure;
-and the little velvet hat, whose sole ornament
-was a heron’s plume, was very becoming to the
-fair face. She was an accomplished rider, and
-controlled admirably, without the least appearance
-of effort, the spirited movements of the beautiful
-animal she rode. It was a bright May morning,
-and the ride was most enjoyable. About noon we
-reached the little town of Ashdene, where we dismounted;
-and after partaking of some luncheon at
-the hotel, proceeded to view the ruins of the old
-Priory. Here we found so much to interest us
-that the afternoon was far advanced before we
-were ready to return. As we were walking our
-horses up a hill not very far from home, I saw a
-young man coming towards us dressed in a gray
-tweed suit. As he came into view, Mr Aslatt
-urged his horse into a canter; but Rose checked
-hers as it quickened its pace, and said reproachfully:
-‘The horses are tired, cousin; we must not
-hurry them up this hill.’</p>
-
-<p>As the young man drew near, he raised his hat.
-‘Good afternoon, Hammond,’ said Mr Aslatt,
-rather stiffly I thought.</p>
-
-<p>How it happened I don’t know, but just then<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>{220}</span>
-Rose dropped her riding-whip, and it fell within
-a few feet of Mr Hammond. He picked it up in
-a moment, and handed it to the young lady, who
-thanked him most graciously, and even bent down
-from her saddle to shake hands with him. ‘I was
-so sorry to be absent from my post to-day, Mr
-Hammond,’ she said; ‘but we were tempted to
-take advantage of this fine day for a ride to
-Ashdene.’</p>
-
-<p>‘It was a great disappointment to the scholars
-not to see you,’ he replied; ‘but they have no
-cause to complain, for it is so seldom you are
-absent. I think you are if possible too devoted
-to their welfare.’</p>
-
-<p>‘That is my opinion too, Mr Hammond,’ interrupted
-my employer; ‘and you must not be
-surprised if for the future you do not see Miss
-Sinclair so frequently at the school.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I trust that will not be the case,’ exclaimed
-Rose indignantly. ‘I see no necessity for changing
-my habits.’ She looked quite angry as she
-spoke, and I felt sorry for Mr Aslatt, he seemed
-so agitated.</p>
-
-<p>Mr Hammond smiled complacently at Rose’s
-remark, and there was something almost supercilious
-in his manner as he bade Mr Aslatt ‘Good
-afternoon;’ but the bow and parting glance he
-bestowed upon his ward were most deferential in
-their admiring homage. As we pursued our way
-in silence, the expression of Rose’s face plainly
-shewed that she considered herself injured.</p>
-
-<p>Mr Hammond was a good-looking young man,
-apparently about thirty, though he might have
-been older. Good-looking though he was, his
-countenance did not impress me favourably. His
-dark eyes had a hard look, in spite of their fine
-shape and lustrous hue, and there were faint indications
-of self-indulgence in the curves of his
-mobile mouth. His manner was easy and suggestive
-of conceit; in short, his appearance inspired
-me with distrust. Perhaps the want of
-cordiality which Mr Aslatt’s manner betrayed,
-contrasting so vividly with Rose’s gracious greeting,
-may have given rise to this feeling on my part.</p>
-
-<p>Rose kept up an appearance of offended dignity
-during dinner-time and as long as she remained
-in Mr Aslatt’s presence. But as we were strolling
-in the garden after dinner, she suddenly asked me
-what I thought of Mr Hammond. Guessing that
-she had a great liking for that individual, I was
-guarded in my reply to her query, merely reminding
-her how impossible it was to form a just
-estimate of anybody in such a brief interview.</p>
-
-<p>‘Did you notice how rudely Mr Aslatt spoke to
-him?’ she next inquired.</p>
-
-<p>‘I observed that he seemed impatient of the
-interruption,’ I replied; ‘but I do not think his
-words were rude.’</p>
-
-<p>‘I believe he hates Mr Hammond,’ she said
-quickly. ‘You cannot think how unjust he is to
-him. You know Mr Hammond is the village
-schoolmaster. There was no school in the village
-many years ago, when Mr Aslatt came to reside
-here, so he built a very nice school-house at his
-own expense (I must take you to see it to-morrow),
-and promised always to make up the master’s
-salary to a certain sum. For years I have been
-accustomed to go in and out the school whenever I
-like; and when I asked to be allowed to give the
-children a weekly singing lesson, Mr Aslatt made
-no objection, indeed he seemed pleased for me to
-do so. But since old Mr Green died, and Mr
-Hammond succeeded him, he has changed his
-mind on the subject, and can’t bear me to go to
-the school-house. At first he seemed to like Mr
-Hammond so much; but lately he has taken a
-decided dislike to him; though what poor Mr
-Hammond has done to call forth such a feeling, I
-cannot imagine. Cousin has tried to persuade me
-to give up my visits to the school; but that I
-am resolved not to do, and I have told him so.
-He also tried to get my consent to our removing to
-London for the season; but I would not agree to
-that. So then he could not rest till he had got a
-companion for me. I made no opposition to that
-plan, although I did not like the idea, for I saw
-he had set his mind upon it, and I could not bear
-to vex him. He is so good to me, and I am
-not altogether ungrateful, though I do behave so
-naughtily. I know you thought my conduct very
-bad at dinner-time, for you looked so dreadfully
-grave.’</p>
-
-<p>She glanced up at me as she spoke with such a
-pretty air of deprecation, so like a petted child,
-that I could not find heart to scold her. Indeed
-her captivating ways so fascinated me, that
-although I saw much to disapprove, I was disposed
-to be very lenient towards her faults.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="SELLS">SELLS.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">It</span> would puzzle a philologer to give an exact
-definition of the ‘sell.’ Nearly related to the
-hoax, it differs from it in being more innocent in
-its inception and less mischievous in its consequences.
-Some little ingenuity is required to concoct
-a happy ‘sell;’ but any one may perpetrate a
-hoax who is equal to ‘lending a lie the confidence
-of truth.’ The latter is a deliberately
-planned deception, oftenest attaining its end by
-personation or forgery or something closely akin
-to it; whereas a sell needs no such playing with
-edged tools, and may not only be unpremeditated,
-but even unintentional.</p>
-
-<p>The Irishman who undertook to shew an exciseman
-a private still, and introduced him to his
-brother, who had been twelve years in the army
-and was a private still, sold the guardian of the
-revenue very neatly; although it is possible the
-victim of the joke did not see the fun of the thing,
-any more than the official of the North London
-Railway Company did, when, overhearing a third-class
-passenger aver that any one could travel from
-Broad Street to Dalston Junction without a ticket,
-as he had done only the day before, he interviewed
-him when he alighted. The traveller not proving
-communicative, the zealous railway servant conveyed
-a coin into his hand, and then asked: ‘How
-did you go from Broad Street to Dalston Junction
-yesterday without a ticket?’ ‘Oh,’ was the
-unwelcome reply, ‘I walked!’</p>
-
-<p>As readily trapped was the amateur musician
-who responded to the advertisement: ‘Wanted,
-a trombone-player for Barnum’s Balcony Band,’
-by waiting upon the famous showman without
-delay.</p>
-
-<p>‘You want a trombone-player?’ inquired he.</p>
-
-<p>‘Yes,’ said Mr Barnum.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>{221}</span></p>
-
-<p>‘What is the place worth?’ asked the applicant.</p>
-
-<p>‘Oh, about twenty-five dollars a week, I
-suppose.’</p>
-
-<p>‘Very well, I should like it.’</p>
-
-<p>‘All right,’ said Mr Barnum; and the trombone
-did frightful execution through the week.
-Saturday came, and with it Mr Green for his salary,
-instead of drawing which, he received a paper
-on which was written: ‘Mr Green to Mr P. T.
-Barnum.—To playing the trombone on his Balcony
-one week, twenty-five dollars.’ The recipient
-smiled.</p>
-
-<p>‘It’s all right, isn’t it?’ asked Mr Barnum.</p>
-
-<p>‘Why,’ said the musician, ‘you’ve made an odd
-mistake: you’ve made me the debtor instead of
-you.’</p>
-
-<p>‘No mistake at all,’ said Barnum. ‘You see,
-this is how it is. There are a good many gentlemen
-in this city fond of practising on brass instruments;
-but they cannot do so at home because of
-their neighbours’ objections. So I find them room
-on my Balcony during so many hours a day, where
-the street is so noisy that it does no harm; and
-they give me so much a week for my trouble in
-keeping the organisation complete. You don’t
-think me such a fool as to pay such a wretched
-lot of players surely? However, as you seem to
-have been honestly mistaken, you can pay me ten
-dollars this week; but hereafter I can make no
-reduction.’ There was a vacancy in the Balcony
-Band the following Monday.</p>
-
-<p>We take it that the shrewd showman was not
-quite so much astonished at the way his advertisement
-was misconstrued, as one A. B., who, recognising
-a long-lost friend in the stalls of the
-theatre, but unable to catch his eye, notified in
-the ‘agony’ column of the <i>Times</i>: ‘If the gentleman
-who was in the stalls at the —— Theatre on
-the evening of the 5th inst. will write to the following
-address, he will hear from the Box above;’
-and received nearly a score of replies. The first
-he opened, ran: ‘<span class="smcap">My dear Madam</span>—I cannot
-express to you how delighted I felt this morning
-on taking up the <i>Times</i> and reading your advertisement.
-How exceedingly kind and thoughtful
-of you to communicate with me in this way.
-Pray, let me know as quickly as possible when
-and where I may see you. I am burning with
-impatience to speak to you. Can we meet this
-evening? Do send me a note, or better still, a
-telegram, here, on receipt of this.—Yours Most
-Affectionately.’ The second letter, commencing
-‘Mia Carissima,’ suggested a meeting at the Duke
-of York’s Column, and ended: ‘Good-bye, pet.
-Yours ever and a day—The Gentleman in the
-Stalls.’ A third deluded mortal declared he had
-not slept a wink after seeing A. B. at the theatre.
-‘You know Who’ informed the ‘Dearest Being,’
-whose himage he still saw before him, that his
-passion was much too much for ordinary words to
-tell; that after wandering all his life, mixing in
-revolutions, &amp;c., he should like to stop at last,
-and finished somewhat prosaically with: ‘It’s
-just four o’clock. All are in bed and fast asleap.
-Good-night. I’m not married.’ And so on with
-a batch of other aspirants, who evidently deemed
-the anonymous occupant of the Box nothing short
-of an heiress.</p>
-
-<p>Many an unpremeditated sell has been perpetrated
-from inability to resist sudden temptation.
-One of the judges of the Supreme Court
-of New York state, visiting the Centennial Exhibition,
-sat down in a quiet corner apart from
-the others, to listen to a great cornet-player, and
-as was his wont in court, drew his gray coat
-about his head and ears as a protection against
-possible draughts. His motionless figure soon
-attracted attention; and the whisper ran that it
-was the statue of some wonderful character. The
-judge’s sister wickedly told those near her that
-they were gazing at the effigy of an Aztec priest
-from Mexico. The information passed from mouth
-to mouth, and some hundreds of people were drawn
-to the spot, to disperse somewhat sheepishly when
-the object of their curiosity, having had enough of
-the cornet, readjusted his coat and rose to go.</p>
-
-<p>A good story is told of one Boggs, whose impertinent
-curiosity was proverbial throughout the
-country that owned him. He was on one occasion
-travelling on the Little Miami Railroad alongside
-a solemn-looking man, who persisted in looking
-out of window and took no heed of Boggs’ endeavours
-to enliven the journey with a little conversation.
-At last the brakeman or guard came
-round with some water, and the unsociable
-traveller turned round to take a drink. Seizing
-the chance, Boggs asked: ‘Going as far east as
-New York?’</p>
-
-<p>‘No,’ grunted the man.</p>
-
-<p>‘Ah!’ said Boggs, ‘New York is dull this time
-of year; mebbee you’re striking for Philadelphia?’</p>
-
-<p>The surly one shook his head.</p>
-
-<p>‘P’raps Cleveland’s your destination?’ insinuated
-Mr Boggs. ‘No? Can’t be going this roundabout
-way to Chicago?’</p>
-
-<p>No reply was vouchsafed.</p>
-
-<p>‘Well,’ cried Boggs despairingly, ‘I s’pose you’ve
-no objection to telling where you <i>are</i> going?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Well sir,’ exclaimed the man, ‘I’m going for
-seven years!’</p>
-
-<p>Then the deputy-sheriff said he would rather
-not have folks talking to his prisoners, and Boggs
-gave in.</p>
-
-<p>This puts us in mind of Mark Twain’s anecdote
-of Artemus Ward and a travelling bore, between
-whom the following amusing colloquy took place:
-‘Did you hear that last thing of Horace Greeley’s?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Greeley, Greeley, Horace Greeley; who is he?’
-said Artemus.</p>
-
-<p>Five minutes elapsed, then came: ‘George
-Francis Train is making a good deal of disturbance
-over in England; do you think they will put him
-in prison?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Train, Train, George Francis Train,’ said
-Artemus solemnly; ‘I never heard of him.’</p>
-
-<p>The tormentor tried another tack; he said:
-‘What do you think about Grant’s chance for the
-Presidency?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Grant, Grant?—Why man!’ said Artemus,
-‘you seem to know more strangers than any one
-I ever saw.’</p>
-
-<p>The man took a walk up the car; coming back,
-he said: ‘Well, you ignoramus, did you ever
-hear of Adam?’</p>
-
-<p>The humorist looked up and said: ‘Adam?
-What was his other name?’</p>
-
-<p>The journey henceforth was made in peace.</p>
-
-<p>Very nicely sold were a couple of tramps who
-waylaid a wealthy farmer in Louisa County, Iowa,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>{222}</span>
-and demanded his money or his life. Disinclined
-to part with either, he took to his heels. They
-chased him half a mile down the roughest of lanes,
-dashed after him through a brier-hedge, and went
-panting across an old corn-field. Then the chased
-one struck for the woods, and went wheezing up a
-steep hill; his pursuers pressing closely behind
-with blood-shot eyes and shortened breath. The
-farmer dashed across a forty-acre stubble-field,
-across a frozen creek, through a blackberry patch,
-down a ravine, over another hill, across a stump-field,
-to be run down on the road by the tramps.
-They overhauled him thoroughly, searched him
-from top to toe, to find he had not a solitary cent
-wherewith to reward them for their perseverance.</p>
-
-<p>Our concluding example relates to an affecting
-romance told by the <i>Detroit Free Press</i>. It was
-the second time that the hero of the story had
-accompanied the young lady home from one of
-those little social parties which are got up to bring
-fond hearts a step nearer to each other. When
-they reached the gate, she asked him if he wouldn’t
-come in. He said he would. Sarah took his hat,
-told him to sit down, and left the room to remove
-her things. She was hardly gone before her
-mother came in, smiled sweetly, and, dropping
-down beside the young man, said: ‘I always did
-say that if a poor but respectable young man fell
-in love with Sarah, he should have my consent.
-Some mothers would sacrifice their daughters’
-happiness for riches, but I am not of that sort.’</p>
-
-<p>The young man started with alarm; he didn’t
-know whether he liked Sarah or not; he hadn’t
-dreamed of marriage.</p>
-
-<p>‘She has acknowledged to me that she loves
-you,’ continued the mother; ‘and whatever is for
-her happiness is for mine.’</p>
-
-<p>The young man stammered out: ‘I—I haven’t’——</p>
-
-<p>‘Oh, never mind! Make no apology. I know you
-haven’t much money, but of course you’ll live
-with me. We’ll take in boarders, and I’ll be
-bound that we’ll get along all right.’</p>
-
-<p>It was a bad situation. He hadn’t even looked
-love at Sarah. ‘I had no idea of’—— he began;
-when she held up her hands saying: ‘I know you
-hadn’t; but it’s all right. With your wages and
-what the boarders bring in, we shall get along
-as snug as possible. All I ask is that you be
-good to her; Sarah has a tender heart, and if you
-should be cross and ugly, it would break her down
-in a week.’</p>
-
-<p>The young man’s eyes stood out like cocoa-nuts
-in a shop-window, and he rose up and tried to
-say something.</p>
-
-<p>‘Never mind about the thanks,’ she cried; ‘I
-don’t believe in long courtships. The eleventh of
-January is my birthday, and it would be nice for
-you to be married on that day.’</p>
-
-<p>‘But—but—but’—— he gasped.</p>
-
-<p>‘There, there! I don’t expect any speech in
-reply,’ she laughed. ‘You and Sarah settle it
-to-night, and I’ll advertise for twelve boarders
-straight away, I’ll try to be a model mother-in-law.
-I believe I’m good-tempered and kind-hearted,
-though I did once follow a young man
-two hundred miles and shoot off the top of his
-head for agreeing to marry my daughter and then
-quitting the county.’ She patted him on the
-head and sailed out. And now the young man
-wants advice. He wants to know whether he had
-better get in the way of a locomotive or slide off
-the wharf. If ever a young bachelor was ‘sold,’
-Sarah’s young man was in that predicament.</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="ELEPHANT_GOSSIP_FROM_RANGOON">ELEPHANT GOSSIP FROM RANGOON.</h2>
-</div>
-
-
-<p><span class="smcap">We</span> have much pleasure in laying before our
-readers the following interesting particulars regarding
-the elephant, and the way in which the
-physical strength of that sagacious animal is
-turned to account in the timber-trade of Rangoon.
-The notes are contained in a letter from
-a resident in that town to his brother in England,
-who has kindly placed it at our disposal.
-After describing some phases of every-day social
-life, the writer thus proceeds: ‘The elephants
-I go daily to see are beauties, fine powerful
-well-trained animals, and strange to say, the
-<i>mahout</i> (driver) of one of them is an old servant
-of my own. It is both interesting and amusing
-to watch them working the timber. The government
-have nine elephants employed at the depôt,
-and there are other animals belonging to natives
-at work there also. I often take my seat on a
-teak-log, picking out the cleanest and softest for
-the purpose, light a cheroot, and watch the performance.
-Elephants are pretty much like men;
-I don’t mean in personal appearance, but in
-character. I can pick out “characters I have
-met” quite easily among the group of sixteen or
-eighteen all working there together sometimes.
-There are willing workers, and there are skulkers;
-there are gentle tempers, and there are others
-“as dour as a door-nail.” Some of them will
-drag a log two tons in weight without a groan;
-while others, equally powerful but less willing,
-will make a dreadful fuss over a stick that is,
-comparatively speaking, nothing.</p>
-
-<p>‘There are a good many female elephants employed.
-Some belong to the government; but
-most of them are owned by Karens, who bring
-them in from the jungle when work is obtainable.
-They are not so powerful as the males; and the
-want of tusks is rather against them, because they
-have to do the pushing or “ounging” part of the
-work, as the natives call it, with their trunks.
-These they roll up in a coil, and just at the place
-where the trunk and the head unite, they press
-against the log and roll it over.</p>
-
-<p>‘I saw the legs very nearly knocked from under
-a man two days ago by a lively female who was
-rolling over a log in this way. She had discovered
-by experience that it was easier to move a heavy
-log by a violent jerk than by slow steady pushing;
-and when the man on her neck called out “Oung!”
-and pushed her ear forward with his foot—the
-equivalents in elephant-driving for “Go along, old
-lady!”—she stood for a moment motionless, then
-in an instant up coiled the trunk, down went
-the head, and away rolled the log, one end of it
-coming round with a sweep which all but made
-an “Aunt Sally” of the innocent spectator. He
-sprang from the ground as if he had received an
-electric shock, and saved himself; after which he
-received the congratulations of the by-standers for
-being an ass to stand in the way of an elephant
-like that.</p>
-
-<p>‘I think the females do a little flirting sometimes
-when they see a handsome stately <i>tusker</i> working
-near them. A little one came in from the jungle
-the other day, and was working away with admirable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>{223}</span>
-diligence near the place where my largest
-elephant was engaged dragging logs. He is really
-a noble-looking animal, with immense tusks that
-almost touch the ground when his head is in
-repose. There is a dignified air about all his
-movements too which must be very captivating
-with the other sex. Sometimes the two passed
-very near each other, and I noticed when this
-happened that the little lady from the jungle gave
-utterance to certain peculiar sounds. The only
-good imitation of them which I can think of at
-the moment is that strange medley of incoherences
-which a cornopean is sometimes made to produce
-when beginners get up steam. Such sounds,
-for instance, as I have heard proceeding from the
-house of a neighbour of yours, when I have been
-enjoying a pipe in the garden on a summer
-afternoon. At first I thought they were the
-promptings of fear; but an elephant under these
-circumstances generally becomes impatient with
-the driver, thumps its trunk upon the ground
-and “trumpets.” It was simply a little flirtation,
-a tender long-drawn-out elephantine kiss thrown
-at my noble friend.</p>
-
-<p>‘The highly trained male elephants with tusks
-manage the “ounging” part of their work very
-skilfully. The trunk is used as a pad or buffer
-between the ivory and the wood, and the pushing
-is done steadily. An average log weighs about
-a ton and a half. When it has to be pushed into
-the river, the elephant feels the end of it with his
-trunk, and having ascertained where he can place
-his tusks with most advantage, he adjusts the
-buffer, and starts off pushing the log steadily
-before him. Should it happen to be an extra-heavy
-one, he stops occasionally to take breath;
-and as it slides down the muddy bank towards
-the water, he gives it a finishing slap, as if to say:
-“There, you’re afloat at last!” Sometimes the
-logs are awkwardly jammed up together, so that
-the ends have to be raised in order to get the
-dragging-chains fastened. This he does by putting
-his tusks underneath; and passing his trunk
-over the log to keep it steady, lifts it up to the
-required height. When it is a very heavy lift, he
-will go down on his knees to get a better purchase.
-He stacks the timber most skilfully also by lifting
-the end of the log as much as nine or ten feet in
-this manner, places it on the top of the pile, then
-goes to the other end and pushes it forward
-till he gets it quite flush with the rest. In all
-this he is of course directed by his rider the
-<i>mahout</i>, who uses certain words which the elephant
-has been accustomed to hear; and signs,
-the meaning of which he knows perfectly. A
-push of the foot behind the right or left ear
-makes him answer the driver’s wish as a boat
-answers the rudder, and a nudge behind the
-neck means “Straight ahead.”</p>
-
-<p>‘A highly trained elephant, however, will work
-among timber by <i>verbal</i> directions as intelligently
-almost as a collie will among sheep. The finest and
-best-trained animals are reserved for employment
-in the saw-mills, where they work amongst the
-machinery with sagacity and precision. Strangers
-have sometimes been so much impressed with
-their admirable qualities in this respect that they
-have carried away slightly exaggerated impressions
-on the subject. One case I remember in
-which a spectator was so profoundly overcome by
-the careful manner in which he saw the elephant
-laying planks and slabs on the travelling benches
-to be cut, that he gravely reported the circumstance
-in an Indian newspaper, remarking that the
-animal shut one eye when it looked along the
-bench, to make sure the timber was laid on for
-the saw accurately!</p>
-
-<p>‘Some male elephants have no tusks. These are
-called <i>hines</i> by the Burmese. The most powerful
-animal I ever had was one of them. He was very
-tall, and in strength a perfect Samson among
-elephants. An incident in his history is worth
-relating here, as I am on the subject. In the
-month of January male elephants sometimes give
-trouble. Samson had fallen into a capricious mood,
-under the influence of a little siren belonging
-to the herd, and in a fit of jealousy he frightened
-all the others so thoroughly one night that they
-broke their fetters and made a bolt of it out of
-the timber-yard, with Samson in pursuit. One
-unfortunate member who was on the sick-list at
-the time and had an impediment in his walk, was
-bowled over and trampled on several times, and
-was never fit for anything but the hospital afterwards.
-The others took to the jungle, and it cost
-some money to recover them. Samson remained
-in possession of the timber-yard for three whole
-days, no living thing daring to venture near
-him.</p>
-
-<p>‘I have watched a fowl that had thoughtlessly
-gone to scrape for its morning meal on the accustomed
-spot in the rear of the elephant-shed, run
-for its bare life, with Samson after it at full speed,
-trunk and tail extended! Crowds of people used
-to collect daily, most of them at a highly respectful
-distance however, to witness the giant keeping the
-world at bay. Sometimes an adventurous native,
-out of pure mischief would approach within thirty
-yards or so of him spear in hand, when Samson
-would thump his trunk upon the ground and rush
-at the intruder, who soon disappeared under the
-nearest verandah. The poor animal was helpless
-against such tactics. They were to him what the
-deprivation of sight was to his prototype; but the
-desire for revenge was there still, and he tried his
-strength upon the posts of the building, attempting
-to push them down. When he had failed in this,
-he deliberately set about unroofing it with his
-trunk; whereupon the tormentor pricked his legs
-from underneath the house with his spear, and
-made him desist. After carrying on this game till
-he got tired, he walked off with his companion one
-night to the jungle, and selected a spot for his
-future residence close to a mud-pool.</p>
-
-<p>‘For some days he made raids upon the adjoining
-gardens, eating up the fruit-trees without
-compunction; and in revenge for some opposition
-he met with from a market-gardener who did not
-appreciate his new neighbour’s high-handed way
-of doing things, levelled his hut to the ground.
-Things were beginning to get serious. Claims for
-damages became unpleasantly frequent, and it was
-absolutely necessary to put a stop to his depredations.
-Accordingly, I sent out a deputation of
-elephants to wait upon him, with picked men as
-drivers and attendants, for the purpose of bringing
-him to reason. There were ten elephants altogether,
-the senior member being a very patriarchal-looking
-animal with an immense pair of
-tusks—the one, in fact, who was always employed
-to settle difficulties among the juniors; and in this
-capacity he had been uniformly successful. When<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>{224}</span>
-the deputation arrived at the spot, Samson was
-enjoying his morning bath in the mud, and they
-surrounded him. The patriarch, with the chief
-<i>mahout</i> driving, and another good man and true
-behind him, for the purpose of supplying any
-lack of moral courage that might manifest itself
-under trying circumstances, was taken nearest to the
-renegade. His sweetheart was quietly browsing
-among the bamboos close by. The moment Samson
-realised the situation, he made a rush from the bath
-at the patriarch, who forgetting his wonted dignity
-of manner, turned tail and bolted. The hook
-and the spear with which the drivers were armed
-alike failed to restore courage to the leader. On
-he went, tearing through the jungle, the branches
-of trees and thorny creepers making sad havoc
-with the persons of the men on his back. His
-bad example demoralised the whole force; they
-fled for their lives every one of them. At last it
-came to be a race between Samson and the patriarch,
-the other elephants having made lateral tracks
-for themselves and got clear of danger. When it
-came to close quarters between the two, the <i>mahout</i>
-thinking discretion the better part of valour, laid
-hold of the branch of a tree as he passed and
-held on, leaving the other man to his fate. In
-a very short time he too was unseated, but in
-an involuntary manner; the elephant shot under
-the branch of a tree which did not afford space
-for the man to pass under as well, and he was
-swept to the ground. He was able, however, to
-elude the pursuer, who was so eager to get at
-the four-footed fugitive that he took no notice of
-the fallen rider as he crawled along into the
-thick jungle.</p>
-
-<p>‘Fortunately no life was lost in this most exciting
-adventure. Even the patriarch got off scot-free.
-When tired of the pursuit, Samson returned
-to his rural retreat. The deputation got home in
-the evening, more frightened than hurt. I administered
-chlorodyne with much success to those
-whose bruises and lacerations bespoke a sleepless
-night; and it has since been regarded as a specific
-for patients suffering from cutaneous diseases and
-nervous excitement.</p>
-
-<p>‘But I have not done with Samson yet. He was
-a valuable elephant, and I was most anxious to
-recover him. I offered a reward of two hundred
-rupees (twenty pounds) to any one who would
-bring him in; and a few days afterwards he came
-marching into the timber-yard as gentle as a lamb,
-with a young lad astride on his neck. This youth
-was the son of the man from whom I had purchased
-him, and the boy had been familiar with
-the animal from his childhood. Hearing of the
-reward that was offered for the apprehension of
-his old pet, he set off in quest of him. When he
-found him, he made use of the terms with which
-Samson had formerly been familiar. There was
-no longer any difficulty. The youth took him
-by the ear, told him to give him a leg up—the
-usual way for <i>mahouts</i> to mount their steeds—and
-immediately Samson was himself again. Next
-day he was on duty, looking as if nothing had
-happened, and his little friend was the possessor
-of a reward which to him was a small fortune.
-Such is the affinity between God’s creatures which
-the law of kindness establishes. The little fellow
-had really more power in the tones of his voice
-over the huge animal than a phalanx of its own
-species under the direction of a score of men!</p>
-
-<p>‘There are elephants that have naturally one
-tusk only. These are called <i>tays</i> by the natives
-here. When the single tusk happens to be
-on the right side of the head, literally as well
-as metaphorically, and the animal otherwise is
-large and well proportioned, he is greatly prized
-by the native princes of India. They seem to
-regard him with veneration, as the Burmese do the
-so-called white elephant. There is one of these
-<i>tays</i> at the depôt at present. He is the largest
-and most powerful animal in the government herd;
-but age is telling upon him, and now he is chiefly
-occupied in doing “the heavy-father” amongst the
-youngsters. When they have tried their best
-and given up in despair some log which none
-of them can drag, the <i>tay</i> is brought to the
-front, his chain is fastened to it, and as he walks
-off, apparently without inconvenience to himself,
-be it ever so heavy, his eye really seems to have
-“Bless you, my children!” &amp;c. in it. I have
-watched him often, and I think my interpretation
-of his feelings is pretty nearly correct. I was
-told by the superintendent of the depôt that native
-princes had sent messengers from India to try and
-purchase this elephant for state purposes, offering
-as much as five thousand rupees for him; but he
-has a value where he is which does not consist in
-a superstitious veneration for his single tusk, but
-in the virtue which lies in a friend in need.’</p>
-
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_A_LITTLE_CHILD">TO A LITTLE CHILD,</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Who, soon after going to his first school, wrote home
-to his mother: ‘I am afraid I am spoiling your photograph
-by dropping my tears on it. I take it to bed with
-me every night.’</p>
-
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0"><span class="smcap">Couched</span> within thy little nest,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Now the lessons all are done,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Clasp her Picture to thy breast,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Fondly clasp thy dearest one.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Freely let the tear-drops flow,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Tears of love, like showers of Spring;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In thy heart Love’s flowers shall grow,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And shall sweetest comfort bring.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Fear not, if <i>those</i> features fade,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">If thy tears <i>their</i> form shall dim;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Prayers ascend, while thou art laid</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Murmuring soft thy Evening Hymn.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0"><i>Living</i> lips, no <i>artist</i> made,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Nor the <i>sun-ray’s</i> magic might,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In thy Mother’s home have prayed</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To thy God for thee to-night.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Angels fly from her to thee;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thee and her good Angels tend;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">So your Father bids, and He</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Will your dear ones all defend.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Press her Picture to thy heart;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Smile upon it through thy tears;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Never let that love depart</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Through the changing, coming years.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Sacred is the Mother’s love,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Dear to God the loving son;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou shalt be with her above,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">When the work of life is done.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right">T. S. P.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>
-<span class="smcap">St Bartholomew’s Hospital</span>,<br />
-<span class="ml3"><i>Feb. 17, 1878.</i></span>
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p class="center">Printed and Published by <span class="smcap">W. &amp; R. Chambers</span>, 47 Paternoster
-Row, <span class="smcap">London</span>, and 339 High Street, <span class="smcap">Edinburgh</span>.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap" />
-
-<p class="center"><i>All Rights Reserved.</i></p>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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