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diff --git a/old/66097-0.txt b/old/66097-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ca1af17..0000000 --- a/old/66097-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2097 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Chambers's Journal of Popular -Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 33, Vol. I, August 16, -1884, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth - Series, No. 33, Vol. I, August 16, 1884 - -Author: Various - -Release Date: August 21, 2021 [eBook #66097] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Susan Skinner, Eric Hutton and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL OF POPULAR -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART, FIFTH SERIES, NO. 33, VOL. I, AUGUST 16, -1884 *** - - - - -[Illustration: - -CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL - -OF - -POPULAR - -LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART - -Fifth Series - -ESTABLISHED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS, 1832 - -CONDUCTED BY R. CHAMBERS (SECUNDUS) - -NO. 33.—VOL. I. SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1884. PRICE 1½_d._] - - - - -CAVE-CHAPELS. - - -In the biographies of the saints of the early Celtic Church it is -frequently recorded that towards the close of their lives they left -their monasteries and sought the seclusion of some lonely island or -mountain solitude, in order to pass the evening of their days in -undisturbed devotion and freedom from worldly cares. Joceline in his -_Life of St Kentigern_ also records that it was his custom to retire -to a cave during Lent, so that, ‘removed from the strife of tongues -and the tumults of this world, he might hide himself in God.’ Such -retreats, whether they were used for periodical and temporary seclusion -or for permanent retirement, were called in the ecclesiastical language -of the day _Deserta_; and the frequent occurrence of this term in -the topography of Scotland and Ireland—in its modern form of Dysart -or Disert—shows how common the custom must once have been. Sometimes -the recluse erected a habitation for himself of stones and turf, as -St Cuthbert did in the island of Farne; but frequently he chose the -shelter of a natural cavern or crevice in the rocks, as St Cuthbert -is also said to have done at Weem in Perthshire. As the veneration -for the memory of the saint increased with lapse of time, the sites -of such hermitages naturally became places of pilgrimage, and troops -of devotees were drawn to visit them by rumours of special benefits -accruing to pilgrims of weak health, or peace of mind procured by -the performance of special vows. In consequence of the peculiar -prevalence of this mode of retirement in the primitive Celtic Church, -cave-hermitages must have been exceedingly numerous in Scotland. But -the thoroughness of the breach which the Church of the Reformation made -with the traditions and especially with the superstitious practices of -the past, has obliterated most of the traces of this early devotion; -and it is only in a few isolated and exceptional cases that any of its -associations have survived to our day. - -St Ninian’s Cave, near Physgill, in the parish of Glasserton, -Wigtownshire, is situated a little to the west of the wooded valley -which terminates in the creek known as Portcastle. It is simply a -triangular fissure in the rock, some ten or twelve feet wide at the -entrance, and about fifteen feet in height, narrowing inwards until, -at a distance of about twenty-five feet from the entrance, the sides -of the fissure come gradually together. A rudely-built wall has been -constructed across the mouth of the cave, of which the lower part -still remains. On the occasion of a visit to the cave by the late -Dean Stanley of Westminster, a small cross was discovered carved on a -projecting part of the rock, and three others were subsequently made -visible by the partial removal of the debris from the face of the -rock. The form of these crosses is peculiar. They are equal-limbed -crosses, formed by four arcs of circles intersecting the circumference -of a circumscribing circle. Similar equal-limbed crosses, but bearing -the hook-like curve at the right-hand corner of the upper limb, which -constitutes the _chrisma_ or monogram—the combined _Chi_ and _rho_ of -the Greek word _Christos_—are found upon early Christian monuments -at Kirkmadrine and Whithorn in the same county, but nowhere else in -Scotland. These monuments bear inscriptions commemorative of certain -‘holy and distinguished priests’—Viventius, Mavorius, and Florentius. -Their names are so different from those of the priesthood of the -Columban Church, that they may be regarded as followers if not as -contemporaries of St Ninian. But none of the crosses in Ninian’s Cave -present this peculiarly ancient characteristic of the _chrisma_, and -these crosses may therefore be of a much later date than Ninian’s time. -They are not confined to the rock-face, but have also been carved upon -several of the loose stones found on the floor of the cave. - -In the month of June last the cave was thoroughly explored for the -Ayrshire and Wigtownshire Archæological Association, under the -superintendence of Sir Herbert Maxwell, M.P., and Mr Cochran-Patrick, -M.P., Secretary of the Association and of the Society of Antiquaries -of Scotland. They found that the whole floor of the cave had been -regularly paved; and close to the entrance, but outside the external -wall which converted the cave into a chapel, there was a large stone -basin placed under a natural drip from the rock, which may have -served as a holy-water vessel. A number of additional crosses were -also discovered. On a stone which had been placed as one of the steps -leading down to the paved floor there were four crosses in a line. -On one of the stones of the pavement was an inscription in Roman -letters, of which the word SANCTI could only be deciphered. Underneath -the pavement and throughout the debris of the cave-floor there was a -considerable accumulation of shells, consisting chiefly of limpets and -periwinkles, mingled with splintered bones, evidently the refuse of the -food of some earlier occupants. At a considerable depth immediately -outside the wall of the chapel, the decayed remnants of a human -skeleton were disentombed. Whether these were the bones of a hermit of -the chapel who had chosen to be buried in the spot where he had ended -his solitary life, or the remains of some victim of violence placed -there for concealment, will probably remain unknown. - -St Ninian, to whom the cave was dedicated, was the first who preached -Christianity among the southern Picts. His life and labours are briefly -related by the Venerable Bede, and more fully by Ailred, a Cistercian -monk of Rievaux, in Yorkshire. Ailred, whose _Life of St Ninian_ was -written in the second half of the twelfth century, states that he -derived his materials from a certain barbarously written manuscript, -presumably of much earlier date. He informs us that Ninian was born -at Whithorn—then called Rosnat—and that he was the son of a Christian -Prince. Having received his education under the care of St Martin -of Tours, he subsequently went to Rome, where he remained till he -was made a bishop and sent to evangelise the people of his native -province. From St Martin he obtained masons to build a stone church in -Galloway after the Roman fashion. As this was the first stone church -erected in Scotland, the fame of Ninian’s _Candida Casa_ or White -House has been perpetuated in the Saxon form of Whitherne or Whithorn. -The date of its erection is fixed by the fact that St Martin died in -397 A.D.; and St Ninian, having heard of his death while the church -was being built, resolved to dedicate the finished edifice to his -memory. Ninian himself, after a life full of labours, was buried in -the church of St Martin which he had built; and Ailred mentions the -stone sarcophagus which contained his remains as still existing in his -day, and much venerated in consequence of the many miraculous cures -said to be wrought upon those who devoutly frequented it. Pilgrimages -continued to be made to the shrine of St Ninian down to the period of -the Reformation. In a letter of King James V. of Scotland to the Pope, -the king states that pilgrims from England, Ireland, the Isles, and -adjoining countries came yearly in flocks to St Ninian’s shrine at -Whithorn. That notable pilgrim King James IV. made special pilgrimages -to this famous shrine, and his Treasurer has preserved an account -of his disbursements on these occasions. From it we learn that the -king made offerings in money ‘at the Rude Altar; at the fertir (or -shrine) in the outer kirk; at the reliques at the Hie Altair; at the -Lady Altar; and in the chapel on the hill—at ilk place xiiis. 4d.’ -And in 1505 he offered also ‘ane relique of the king’s awn silver’ of -considerable weight and value. - -The number of dedications to St Ninian, scattered over the whole -country from the remotest Northern and Western Isles to the Mull of -Galloway, bear testimony to the widespread devotion to his memory which -once pervaded the Scottish Church. The removal of a portion of the wall -of the choir of the old church of St Congan at Turriff in 1861 brought -to light a fresco-painting of St Ninian, robed as a bishop, with mitre -and pastoral staff—the only relic of pre-Reformation work of the kind -that has been discovered in Scotland. Neither in his _Life_ nor in any -ancient document has any reference been found to the occupation of -the cave at Physgill by St Ninian; but Sulpicius Severus, who wrote a -Life of St Martin of Tours, mentions that he had a little cell in the -rock at Marmoutier to which he was accustomed to retire for prayer -and meditation, and that many of his disciples also dug cells in the -rock and took up their abodes in them. St Ninian being a disciple of -St Martin, there is reason to conclude that in this respect he would -follow the example of his master. But apart from this consideration, -it is certain that from a very early period this cave has been -traditionally associated with his name, and that this association was -the reason for converting it into a chapel, where services would be -held on the saint’s anniversaries, pilgrimages performed, vows paid, -and offerings presented. It is not unlikely that in its earlier days -the chapel may have been ministered to by a resident recluse, as was -often the custom in similar circumstances. For instance, we are told by -Bower, the continuator of Fordun’s _Chronicle_, that in crossing the -Firth of Forth in the year 1123, King Alexander I. was driven by stress -of weather to land on the island of Inchcolm, ‘where at that time lived -an island hermit, who, belonging to the service of St Columba, devoted -himself sedulously to his duties at a little chapel there, content -with such poor food as the milk of one cow, and the shells and small -sea-fishes he could collect.’ It is suggestive, too, that one of the -copies of the _Scotichronicon_—that which belonged to the Abbey of -Coupar-Angus—connects the island of Inchcolm with St Columba by saying -that he lived in it for a certain time during his ministry among the -Picts and Scots, just as the cave at Physgill is connected with St -Ninian. - -There is another cave-chapel on the Wigtownshire coast, which had a -reputation scarcely less famous than that of St Ninian. St Medan’s -Cave, still locally known as ‘The Chapel Co’,’ is an irregular rent -in the cliff between Maryport and East Tarbert, about four miles from -Drumore. In front of it are the remains of a wall about four feet -thick, of rough stones and lime, still showing traces of the doorway, -and one deeply splayed window. About twelve feet farther in is the -back wall of the chapel, reaching to the roof of the cave, but giving -access, by a square-headed doorway four feet high and two and a half -feet wide, to the small natural cell in which the cave terminates. Near -the external entrance there are three pools or rock basins, within the -tide-mark, and usually full of sea-water. The largest, which is about -four feet in diameter, is known as ‘the Body Pool,’ and was used for -the cure of internal and wasting disorders, being specially efficacious -in cases of ‘back-gane bairns’. The second pool, of an irregularly -triangular shape, and about two feet long, was known as ‘the Knee -Pool,’ and was considered effectual for the cure of diseases of the -lower limbs. The third pool, a circular basin about six inches diameter -and the same in depth, was used for sore eyes. The cave and its pools -were largely frequented for curative purposes down almost to the -commencement of the present century, and continued to be occasionally -visited to a much later period. There are persons yet living who -remember large gatherings at St Medan’s Chapel, especially on the -first Sunday of May, old style. St Medan, who is commemorated in the -dedication of the church of Kirkmaiden, was one of the ‘devout women’ -of the early Celtic Church of whom there is no distinct biographic -record. The _Breviary of Aberdeen_ states that she came from Ireland -to Galloway, and ended her days near the blessed St Ninian. Mr Skene -identifies her with Modwena, whose original name was Darerca, a convert -of St Patrick, who died on St Columba’s birthday, July 6, 519 A.D. - -St Kieran’s Cave is situated in the precipitous cliffs of Achinhoan -Head, about three miles south of the site of the church dedicated to -him at Kilkerran, in Kintyre, Argyllshire. It is one of many fissures -occurring in the limestone rock on this coast, irregularly triangular -in shape, spacious and lofty. A substantially built wall three feet -thick has been constructed across the entrance. Immediately within the -entrance is a rough boulder with an oval basin scooped in its upper -surface, which is placed beneath a drip of water from the roof of the -cave, and thus forms a reservoir, which may have answered the purposes -of a hermit’s well, a holy-water vessel for the pilgrims’ chapel, and a -curative or holy well for the superstitious uses of later times. Close -by it is another boulder about two feet in diameter, the upper surface -of which is prettily carved with a circular border of fretwork, such -as is frequently seen on the early sculptured monuments of Scotland -and Ireland, inclosing a hexafoil with its points connected by arcs of -circles. A writer in the old _Statistical Account of Scotland_ also -speaks of the cross which St Kieran had cut upon the rock; but this -is no longer visible. Kieran Macantsaor, or the ‘carpenter’s son,’ -was Abbot of Clonmacnois. In his youth he was a disciple of St Finan -of Clonard; and in proof of the sanctity of his life, it is told of -him that ‘he never looked upon a woman, and never told a lie.’ He was -held in great esteem by St Columba, who is said to have written a hymn -in praise of Kieran. He died at the age of thirty-three, and ‘was -likened to Christ, both on account of his age and that his father was a -carpenter like Joseph Muire.’ - -A cave on the western shore of Loch Caolisport, also in Argyllshire, -is associated with the name of the great evangelist of Scotland, St -Columba. Like most other cave-chapels, it has the remains of a wall, -with a doorway, constructed across the entrance. On a kind of rocky -shelf close by the doorway is a rude circular basin, which probably -served as the holy-water vessel of the chapel. Against the rock forming -the east side of the cave is the altar platform, roughly but solidly -built, and still standing—or at least till quite recently—to nearly -its full height. On the smooth face of the rock above the centre of -the altar platform is a cross carved in relief, of the Latin form, but -with its arms and summit slightly expanding towards the extremities. -This cross is placed a little to one side of the centre; but more -nearly in a central position over the altar there are discernible -the almost obliterated outlines of a much older cross which has been -incised in the rock. At a little distance from the cave are the ruins -of an ancient chapel dedicated to St Columba. It is a small plain -edifice about forty feet by twenty-two, with one east window, and the -remains of a window in each of the side-walls near the eastern end. -The tradition is that St Columba, landing here on his way to Iona, -established the chapel in the cave, which was ever afterwards held -sacred to his memory, and that the chapel near it was subsequently -founded in his honour. The cave was cleared out about two years ago -by the proprietor; but no record of what might have been a most -interesting scientific investigation appears to have been preserved. -It is said that a great many burials were found in the floor of the -cave—as many as sixteen or eighteen different skeletons are supposed -to have been found—and underneath them the traces of a more ancient -occupation of the cavern, probably in pagan times. - -The cave of St Molio in the Island of Lamlash, or Holy Island, on the -east side of Arran, is a natural cavity in the sandstone rock, about -twenty-five feet above the present tide-mark. Traces of a rudely-built -wall across its entrance are still visible. A shelf of rock within -the cave is known as ‘the Saint’s Bed;’ a large flat-topped rock -close by with several step-like recesses cut in its circumference is -called ‘the Saint’s Chair;’ and a fine spring of pure water, which is -known as ‘the Saint’s Well,’ was formerly much resorted to for the -healing virtues of its water. The Island of Lamlash appears in ancient -documents as Helant-in-laysche or Almeslach, and this form of the name -identifies it with St Molaissi or Laisren of Leighlin, a nephew of St -Blane of Kingarth in Bute. His mother was a daughter of Aedhan, king of -the Scots of Dalriada; and it is told of him, that in order to avoid -being made king, he retired to an island in the sea between Alban and -Britain—between the country of the Scots and that of the Britons of -Strathclyde. This answers precisely to the situation of the Holy Island -which is still associated with his name. There was a relic either of -St Molaissi or of St Moluag of Lismore preserved in Arran down to the -time of Martin’s visit to the island in the beginning of the last -century. This was the _Baul Muluy_, a ‘green stone, like a globe in -figure, about the bigness of a goose-egg,’ which was much used by the -islanders for curing diseases and ‘for swearing decisive oaths upon -it.’ It seems to have been in the hereditary custody of a family of -Mackintoshes, and had also the reputation of having been anciently a -_vexillum_ or battle-ensign of the Macdonalds of the Isles, carried -with their host in their conflicts, in the belief that its presence -would secure to them victory over their enemies. The cave of St Molio -has several Runic inscriptions cut upon its interior—mere _graffiti_ -of occasional visitors at the time when the galleys of the Northmen -frequented the western seas. Amudar, Ontur, and Sea-elk, who have left -their names there, may have been pagans; but Nicolas of Haen, who -carved the longest inscription, bears a good Christian name. - -St Serf’s Cave at Dysart, in Fife, derived its sanctity—as the town -of Dysart has derived its name—from its having been the _desertum_ -or place of retirement of the saint during his seasons of meditation -and prayer. The _Aberdeen Breviary_ states that ‘once upon a time the -devil tempted the blessed St Serf with divers questions in the cave at -Dysart; but confounded by the divine virtue, he went away; and from -that day the said demon has appeared to no one in that cave, although -the place is still held famous in honour of St Serf.’ Andrew of -Wyntoun, prior of St Serf’s monastery in Lochleven, as in duty bound, -gives, in his _Cronykill of Scotland_, a circumstantial account of this -disputation with the Evil One: - - Quhill Saynt Serf in till a stede - Lay eftir Maytynis in hys bede, - The devil came in full intent - For til fand him with argument; - -proposing to the saint many of the questions of high theological -speculation which presented themselves to the cultivated minds of -the fifteenth century, and receiving orthodox, and consequently -unanswerable replies to them all: - - Thane sawe the devil that he coud nocht, - With all the wylis that he socht, - Ourecum Saynt Serf; he sayd than - He kend hym for a wys man; - -and the saint becoming impatient of his flattery, commanded him to -begone from his cave, and never more to annoy any one in it. This -prohibition apparently obtained for the cave a reputation as of a place -for ever freed from the temptations of the Evil One, and it continued -in consequence to be used as a chapel, and largely frequented by -pilgrims down almost to the Reformation. - -St Adrian’s Cave at Caiplie, also on the north shore of the Firth of -Forth, consists of a cluster of contiguous cavities formed by the sea -washing out the softer parts of the rock. The principal cavity bears -obvious marks of artificial adaptation. It is somewhat irregular in -shape, but large and lofty; and the foundation courses of a wall -constructed across its entrance are still visible. Near the mouth -of the cave, a kind of platform or seat is shaped in the rock, and -a door cut through the rock communicates with a smaller cell on the -south side. On the west side, a series of steps led up to a smaller -cell, in the inner part of which was a kind of bench cut in the -rock, which is said to have been the hermit’s bed. In front of the -cave, five human skeletons were found, four of which were regularly -buried east and west, the heads to the west, but without coffins. A -considerable quantity of bones of oxen, sheep, and swine, and portions -of deer-horns, were found mixed with the debris in front of the cave, -evidently the refuse of the food of its occupants at some remote -period. On the interior of the rocky walls of the cave, many pilgrim -crosses are carved, some of the equal-armed form and surrounded with a -border, but mostly of the Latin form. St Adrian, whose true name was -probably Odran, is represented as having settled and laboured among the -Pictish people of the east parts of Scotland. His settlement in the -Firth of Forth is thus described by Wyntoun: - - Adriane wyth hys cumpany - Togydder cam tyl Caplawchy, - Thare sum in to the Ile off May - Chesyd to byde to thare enday. - And some off thame chesyd be northe - In steddis sere the Wattyr off Forth. - -At Pittenweem, St Monance, and other places along the coast as far -as Fifeness, there are several caves which have pilgrim crosses and -other symbols of archaic character carved upon their rocky walls. All -of these seem at one time to have been occupied as places of retreat -and devotion by saints or recluses of the early Celtic Church, and -doubtless are the _steddis sere_ (that is, the ‘several places’) -referred to in Wyntoun’s narrative. At Fifeness is the cave of -Constantine, king of the Scots, who, after a reign of forty years, -exchanged the sceptre for the pilgrim’s staff, and ‘died in the house -of the Apostle;’ that is, of St Andrew. At St Andrews itself is the -cave of St Rule, or rather what remains of it, for it has been much -destroyed within the last half-century. Sir Walter Scott describes the -palmer in _Marmion_ as bound to fair St Andrews: - - Within the ocean cave to pray, - Where good St Rule his holy lay, - From midnight to the dawn of day, - Sang to the billows’ sound; - -and mentions that on one side of the cave there still remained a sort -of stone altar. The _Aberdeen Breviary_ states that St Gernadius, who -settled at Kennedor, in Moray, lived in a cell partly natural, but -artificially adapted for a habitation, in which he was wont to repose -his wearied limbs on a bed of stone. His cave in the neighbourhood of -Lossiemouth is distinguished by the holy well close beside it, which -had a local reputation until quite recently, and is still known as St -Gerardine’s Well. St Baldred of the Bass, who sat upon the rock in -Aldhame Bay, and caused it to transport itself out of the fairway, had -his cave also in the cliff opposite this rock; and traces have been -found both upon the rock itself and in the cave of a long-continued -occupation at a remote period. - -Although the materials for the illustration of this long-forgotten -phase of ecclesiastical life are so few and fragmentary, they suffice -to reveal the presence in these early ages of a passionate fervour -of devotion and a child-like simplicity of faith to which we are -altogether strangers in these times. The systems and institutions by -which they were created and fostered ‘are productions of old ages, -not to be repeated in the new: they presuppose a certain rudeness of -conception, which the progress of mere scientific knowledge puts an end -to.’ - - - - -BY MEAD AND STREAM. - - -CHAPTER XLII.—A LAND SHIPWRECK. - -To be unhappy and alone at night in chambers is to have an opportunity -of realising the sense of desolation in its bitterest degree. The -double doors and double windows which secure the stillness that is -of so much importance for working purposes, seem now to shut you off -doubly from the world; from help if you are dying, and from sympathy if -you live. The rumble of the heaviest wagon reaches the ears as a faint -sound from afar off; no footstep is heard at all; and the adjacent -chambers are silent as the tenements of the dead. You welcome the plash -of rain against the window-panes—dull as that is—as if it were a friend -come to speak to you in your solitude. - -That is the time for thoughts of suicide to haunt a man if his mind is -disturbed; and that is the time for cynical broodings on the vanity -of life, the falsehood of friendship, and the fickleness of love. He -sees in what miserable failure his most earnest efforts have resulted; -he misinterprets the most trivial word and look of his friend, and he -loses grip altogether of that faith which in healthier state enables -him to find consolation in love. He recalls all the bitter things that -have been written about women, and for the time-being believes them. - -How was it, Philip asked himself, that he had fallen into this -desperate position? He had laboured with all his might for others -rather than for himself; his object was a noble one, and quite -feasible, he was still convinced. Yet the social revolution he -had dreamed of was as far off as ever, and he suddenly found that -he was face to face with absolute ruin. Evidently his blunder lay -in his miscalculation of the power of his capital. There had been -disappointments with his fellow-workers, who, shrewdly counting the -cost of material and the market value of the manufactured article, -saw that the latter would barely realise enough to give them a fair -ordinary wage in the best of times, to say nothing of the share of -profits promised them. The cost of material was too high; and it was -natural that they should conclude the cost was so fixed by arrangement -with their chief in order to deprive them of what they now called their -rights. - -Philip saw the force of their argument, and began to inquire about the -items of expenditure. Hitherto, he had been so deeply occupied in the -organisation of his scheme, that he had left financial matters almost -entirely in Wrentham’s hands. Hints were given him that the prices he -was charged were not the prices paid for materials, but that a large -proportion went in secret commissions. As soon as he began to look -into the question closely, he was met by the astounding fact, that he -had reached the end of his capital, and had heavy liabilities to meet -almost immediately, as well as heavy current expenses to provide for. -How to do this without applying to Mr Shield, he had been trying for -weeks to find out; and the more harassed he became, the more impossible -it appeared to work through the mess without assistance. - -Then had come the last humiliation: he must submit to the immediate -and entire overthrow of all he had been working for, and in which he -had sunk the considerable fortune placed at his disposal, or he must -seek the help which only a short time ago had appeared to him as an -impossible necessity. He was bewildered, and could not understand how -it came about. It should not have been so. He yielded to the necessity, -however; but determined that when his course became clear again, his -first task should be to institute a thorough investigation into the -causes of his failure. - -Through all this agitated survey of his position, how was it that the -figure of Beecham continually obtruded itself? What could Wrentham -have had in his head, when he urged him so strongly to find out from -Madge all that she knew of the man’s history and possible friendship -with Mr Shield? He had not felt very keenly impressed by the suggestion -during Wrentham’s presence; but now, in the silence and alone with -his chagrin, he became infected with Wrentham’s suspicion. It had not -occurred to him until now that there was something most incongruous -and altogether incomprehensible in a girl consenting to accept from -an acquaintance of only a few weeks a confidence which she could not -disclose to her guardians or the man who was soon to be her husband. - -If Beecham had been a younger man than he was, there would have been -a ready and most bitter explanation of the mystery; but it was not -available in the present case. And yet (so outrageously morbid had he -become that he was capable of the thought!) women were such strange -creatures, that there was no telling who might win their favour or by -what charm it might be done. - -Pah!—What madness was this? - -He went to the front room and opened a window overlooking Gray’s Inn -Road. The stillness of the chambers had become intolerable. This was -better; much better. There was more air; he could hear the rattle of -cabs, and catch glimpses of hurrying foot-passengers on the opposite -side of the way. - -Why should he remain indoors, to be haunted by these horrible phantoms -of doubt and suspicion? He knew they were phantoms, and yet he could -not drive them from his brain. Sleep was impossible, and he was afraid -to take more drugs, for he was conscious that they had already impaired -his power of self-control. When would the morning come? The active -duties he had to discharge would relieve him. He looked at his watch. -Very little past midnight. Why, it seemed as if two nights had passed -since Wrentham went away! - -Well, he would try Dr Joy’s specific, and endeavour to work, or walk -off this nervous frenzy. First he tried the work. There was much need -that he should master the accounts and compare prices paid with prices -quoted in the markets. But the figures performed such strange antics -before his eyes, that after an hour of vain endeavour to master their -meaning, he impatiently closed the book and rose no wiser, or rather -less wise, than he had been before he sat down. - -He took himself to task. It was of the utmost importance that in the -morning he should be cool and clear-headed; but he could not hope to be -so unless he obtained sleep. Well, he would try the second remedy. - -He put on his hat and overcoat and went out. It was not of any -consequence to him in which direction he should walk, his sole object -being to exhaust himself by the physical exercise, in order to induce -healthy sleep. To distract his mind from its troublous ruminations, he -turned instinctively towards those quarters where he was most likely to -encounter signs of life. - -He strode along Oxford Street and down Regent Street. But he was -walking in a dream. The lights of the lamps were dim in his eyes, the -figures which flitted by him were like shadows, and he could not have -told whether they were men or women. The voices of those who passed -him seemed to be muffled, and he scarcely distinguished any sounds. A -hansom cab came rattling at full speed towards him: the horse slipped, -staggered, fell. There was a commotion, and although, a minute before, -the street seemed to be deserted, figures sprang out of the darkness, -and there was a crowd at the scene of disaster. - -He passed on, with that insensibility to the fate of others which -characterises people when in dreamland. His feelings were numbed as -his eyes were dimmed. The sense of humiliation at the utter failure of -what he had believed to be so certain of success produced the one pain -of which he was conscious, and which no drugs, fatigue, or reason had -power to subdue. - -If the money had been his own, he could have borne with comparative -calmness the overthrow of his hopes and the ridicule of those who had -from the first called his project folly. - -But despite the assurances of Mr Shield and of Mr Shield’s solicitors, -Philip had never regarded the money otherwise than as held in trust; -and the loss of it was as bitter as the destruction of the beautiful -palace he had built in air. - -The only bit of ballast left him was the dogged conviction that the -principle which he had endeavoured to carry into practical effect was -a right one, and would be turned to good account by some one more -fortunate or more careful than he had been. - -He set his teeth together and marched on. He began to realise how -strangely numbed his sensations were, and how vague everything appeared -to him. The rain had ceased, and the tiny pools in the roadway -glistening in the lamplight seemed like great white eyes staring at -him in pity. He passed down the Haymarket, nor did he slacken his pace -until he reached the Embankment. There he halted and leaned over the -parapet. He was not fatigued: the rapid walk seemed to have instilled -new strength into him and had partially cleared the cobwebs from his -brain. He was attracted by the lights gleaming in the dark fast-flowing -river. Out there, were black islets of barges, and on the opposite -shore the fantastic outlines of buildings, showing like irregular -ramparts against the dull gray sky. He was thinking of Madge, and the -pain she would suffer on his account, when the worst was made known to -her in the morning, perhaps, or next day. - -‘Got a copper to spare a poor cove as hasn’t had a crust for two days?’ -said a husky voice close to him. - -Philip started up. He was aware of the evil reputation of the -Embankment and the character of the roughs who infest it after -nightfall. A lamp close by showed him a miserable-looking wretch, -ragged and hungry-eyed. He did seem to need help, poor fellow. Philip -gave him a shilling, and was about to pass on. But a huge hulk of a -fellow stood in his way. - -‘We want som’at more nor that, guv’nor. So tip us’—— - -The man went down as if he had been shot. Philip was in the mood for -mischief, and he had not forgotten his practice with the gloves. So -the first words of the ruffian plainly intimating his purpose, a -well-delivered blow straight from the shoulder finished the sentence -for him. Philip knew that it would have been madness to have given -the man time to attack him, and as it was, the other man was already -attempting to rifle his pockets. This one belonged to the sneak tribe, -and finding his throat suddenly gripped by fingers that seemed to -possess the strength of a vice, his hands went up to loosen them. -He was hurled aside; and Philip hurried away with a sort of savage -pleasure in having punished the brace of scoundrels, as well as -disappointed them of their expected prize. - -Near Blackfriars Bridge he met a policeman, to whom he briefly reported -the incident. The man listened with stolid indifference. - -‘They are a bad lot about here, at nights, sir,’ he said composedly; -‘and it ain’t a place for decent people at this hour.’ - -The constable’s idea evidently was that decent people should keep out -of the way of the roughs, not that it was his duty to keep the roughs -from molesting the decent people who might be compelled to use the -thoroughfare. - -Philip entered his dreary chambers again. He felt better, but still he -could not sleep. - - - - -LONDON HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES. - - -From the day when Rahere the troubador, in the year 1123 A.D., founded -the hospital of St Bartholomew, the number of hospitals, dispensaries, -infirmaries, and other institutions for the cure and medical treatment -of the sick poor, has gone on increasing, till now it stands at -considerably over one hundred and fifty for London and its district -alone. This is altogether exclusive of the workhouse infirmaries. -Besides hospitals and dispensaries, there are included in the above -number institutions for the supply of surgical instruments, &c., -either free, or at such reduced prices as bring them within the reach -even of the very poor. Twelve of the London hospitals have medical -schools attached to them, amongst which is one for the education of -lady-doctors. Differences of opinion of course exist as to the medical -woman, some no doubt regarding her as a great acquisition, and one of -the glories of the nineteenth century; whilst others would speak of her -as an institution naturally to be expected in the dark ages, but quite -an anomaly in a civilised age. Which of the views may be the correct -one, we will not pretend to say. However this may be, in Henrietta -Street stands the medical school for women, which is in connection with -the Royal Free Hospital, Gray’s Inn Road. - -The hospitals with medical schools attached undertake the treatment of -almost every form of disease both surgical and medical. Still, there -are some diseases which it is necessary should be treated apart in -special hospitals, and the chief of these is that terrible scourge of -past times, smallpox. Not only smallpox but scarlet fever and other -infectious diseases have to be excluded from some of the hospitals -of which we are speaking, inasmuch as they are not all provided with -wards set apart for infectious cases. To get an idea, however, of -the great variety of work undertaken by the largest hospitals, it -may be well to glance at the various departments of medicine and -surgery represented at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the oldest of -these London institutions. In addition to the out-patients’ rooms, -and wards devoted to the treatment of ordinary medical and surgical -diseases and accidents, there are the following special departments: A -department for skin diseases; for diseases of the eye, ear, and throat; -an orthopædic department; a dental department; a department for the -special diseases of women; a maternity department; and lastly, in the -case of this hospital, a ward for the treatment of cases of infectious -disease. The average number of in-patients is estimated at over six -thousand annually, and the out-patients at more than one hundred and -fifty thousand. It will readily be believed that the work of the -physicians and surgeons, both visiting and resident, connected with -such an institution is by no means light. There are many other general -hospitals in various parts of London, besides those having medical -schools attached to them, but we cannot speak of them here. The nature -of their work is much the same as that of the others, though of course -the extent of it is more limited. - -Coming next to the dispensaries—their name is legion. Almost every -parish in London has one or more, and they are very abundant in the -immediate suburbs also. Some of these dispensaries are free, others are -to a greater or less extent self-supporting. It is, we hope, needless -to say that the public dispensaries of which we are speaking are not -to be confounded with the private dispensaries set up by medical -men, quite legitimately, for their own benefit, but which are not -unfrequently conducted upon the lowest of commercial principles. The -public dispensaries of London, with their committees of management -and staffs of physicians and surgeons—who in the case of the free -dispensaries are almost invariably honorary—do excellent work, and are -worthy of all, and more than all, the support which they obtain. Unlike -the majority of hospitals, they undertake the treatment of disease -at the patients’ own homes; and by calling in the aid of the nursing -institutions, they are able to supply not only medical attendance and -medicine, but also trained nurses. Recently, an effort has been made -to increase the number of provident dispensaries; and this indeed -appears to be one of the best ways of meeting the difficulty of -supplying good medical treatment to the poor cheaply, without demanding -of medical men more unpaid work. It has been estimated that the -medical profession does more work without payment than the rest of the -professions put together. - -We will now say a few words concerning the special hospitals and -dispensaries. And first, it is to be remembered that all are not of the -same merit. Many of them may be said to be above praise; but some, it -is to be feared, are almost beneath contempt. Indeed, the opinion of -those in the medical profession best able to judge of the matter is, we -believe, strongly opposed to the multiplication of special hospitals, -except of course for those diseases which cannot be advantageously -treated in the general hospitals. Enumerating now the special hospitals -and dispensaries in their alphabetical order, first of all come those -for the treatment of cancer, of which there are two. Then there are -eight hospitals for children. A visit to the hospital in Great Ormond -Street is calculated to make most persons enthusiastic on the subject -of well-managed children’s hospitals; and many readers will remember -the glowing description given by Charles Dickens of the East London -Hospital for Children. Of hospitals for diseases of the chest there are -five. The physicians of the general hospitals do not, if they can avoid -it, admit patients suffering from consumption. The air of a hospital in -which wounds and diseases of almost every kind are being treated is ill -fitted to give any good chance of recovery to a case of consumption, -which requires almost more than anything else fresh air and plenty of -it; and if such a patient gets no good, he only occupies uselessly -the place of some one who might benefit greatly by admission. Chest -diseases require, too, arrangements for the securing of appropriate -temperature, and this it would not be easy to do in a general hospital. -It is well, therefore, that there should be special hospitals for -diseases of the chest, and it is to be regretted the number is at -present quite insufficient. Still, these chest hospitals contrive to -treat a very large number of patients in the course of the year, the -average being estimated at considerably over thirty-two thousand. - -There are six hospitals and infirmaries for the throat and ear; and -three for diseases of the nervous system. Next we come to the fever -hospitals—four in number. It is almost impossible to overrate the value -of these hospitals. They not only tend to prevent the occurrence of -epidemics, by removing the fever-stricken from the healthy, but they -also save many from the untimely death that might have befallen them in -their own ill-ventilated homes, and with the intermittent nursing which -alone they could have secured. And further; even when the danger of -death is past, the continuous care which can be given to patients in a -hospital may restore many more to sound health, who in their own homes -would only have escaped death to remain for the rest of their days -miserable invalids. - -The hospitals to be next mentioned are one for fistula and one for -diseases of the hip. Then there are three buildings for the reception -of cases of incurable disease; two hospitals for lunatics; six -lying-in hospitals; six for diseases of the eye; three orthopædic -hospitals; one specially for accidents; six for skin diseases; four for -smallpox—to which the remarks made on the fever hospitals of course -apply; one for stone; three for women; and four for women and children. - -We have said nothing concerning the convalescent hospitals. Most of -them are of course situated in the country; but those anywhere near -London are largely supplied with patients from the metropolis. Their -value is immense, for they restore many patients to complete health, -who, had they gone back to their work immediately after severe illness, -and the bad hygienic conditions pertaining to their homes, might have -sunk into a state of permanent ill-health. - -There are a few other hospitals which may be alluded to, for, though -they are not special as regards the diseases treated in them, yet they -are special in other ways. Thus, there is the hospital at Greenwich for -seamen; the French hospital for all foreigners who speak the French -language; and the German hospital ‘for natives of Germany, others -speaking the German language and English, in cases of accident;’ and -lastly, there are a temperance hospital, a medical mission hospital, -and one medical mission dispensary. - -And now it might perhaps seem that London has hospitals enough; but -those who have had some experience of the matter are not wont to say -so. They freely admit that numbers of persons seek and obtain the help -of hospitals who have from their circumstances no right to it, and -these they would gladly see excluded; but they cannot admit that even -then there would be hospital accommodation enough for the legitimate -claimants. Nay, they may go further, and declare that there is, through -the length and breadth of that ‘great province of houses’ which men -call London, an urgent and increasing demand for more. An attempt to -meet this demand so far was made a few years ago, when Pay-hospitals -were opened in Fitzroy Square and elsewhere (as described in this -_Journal_ for October 13, 1880). This class of institutions might well -be extended, as there are many patients both able and willing to pay -for the treatment they require; and the still further development of -such hospitals would greatly relieve the pressure presently felt by the -purely charitable institutions. - - - - -IN A FLASH. - - -When first I remember my aunt Barbara, she was over forty years of -age; but she could never have been accounted a handsome woman. She was -very tall and very angular, with a long thin face, the most remarkable -feature of which was a Roman nose of commanding proportions. But as she -had one of the kindest hearts in the world, her paucity of good looks -seemed a matter of trifling moment to those who had the privilege of -knowing her well. It was at my request that, some two or three years -before her death, she wrote out the following narrative of an actual -occurrence in her early life. I put the manuscript away at the time, -and did not come across it again till the other day. On looking over -it once more, it seemed to me not unworthy of being transcribed for a -wider circle of readers than that comprised by the writer’s immediate -friends and acquaintances. - - * * * * * - -You ask me to go back in memory (begins my aunt) to what seems to me -now like a period of remote antiquity, when I, Barbara Waldron, was -twenty-four years of age, and my sister Bessie five years younger, and -endeavour to put down in writing the little story I told you by word of -mouth a few days ago. - -You must know, then, that in those far-off days, my sister and I -were keeping house for our brother John, who at that time filled the -position of steward and land-agent to Lord Dorrington. The house we -lived in was a pleasant but somewhat lonely residence, about half a -mile from the little country town of Levensfield. The house suited us -for several reasons. In the first place, the rent was low; in the next, -a large walled garden was attached to it, in which Bessie and I spent -many happy hours; and in the third place, there was a side-entrance -to Dorrington Park, by which my brother could take a short-cut to -the Hall whenever he had business with his lordship, or his lordship -had business with him. Our household was a small one, and besides -ourselves, comprised only Mary Gibbs, a middle-aged woman, and her -niece, a girl of sixteen. John’s horse and gig were looked after by -a young man named Reuben Gates, who did not, however, sleep on the -premises. An important part of John’s duties was to receive and pay -into the Levensfield bank the rents due from the farmers and other -tenants of property held under Lord Dorrington. One such tenant was a -certain Mr Shillito, a corn and seed merchant, who was noted for his -eccentricities. It was only in keeping with Mr Shillito’s aggravating -way of doing business that he should never pay his rent at the time -other people paid theirs; that he should always pay it in gold and -notes, instead of giving a cheque for the amount, as he was quite in -a position to have done; and that he should make a point of bringing -it himself, instead of naming a time when my brother might have called -upon him; and finally, that he seldom arrived with the money till after -banking-hours. - -We come now to a certain autumn evening. Kitty had just brought in the -tea-tray. It was growing dusk, almost too dusk to see clearly without -the lamp; but Bessie and I liked to economise the daylight as much as -possible, especially now that the long winter nights were so close upon -us. John had come in for a cup of tea. This evening, he was going to -drive over to Nethercroft, some ten miles away, dine there with some -friends, and stay all night. After dinner, there was to be a dance; -and I was not without my suspicions as to the nature of the attraction -which was taking him so far from home, although he laughingly -pooh-poohed the soft impeachment, when I challenged him with it. John -was in the act of putting down his cup and saucer, when we heard a -noise of wheels outside, which presently came to a stand opposite the -house. He crossed the room and peered through the window. - -‘It’s old Shillito, come to pay his rent,’ he remarked a moment later. -‘Two hours after banking-time, as usual. What a nuisance he is!’ He -went down-stairs; and about ten minutes later we heard Mr Shillito’s -trap start off. Presently John came back. ‘Ninety pounds, all in gold -and notes,’ he said. ‘I’ve had to lock it up in my desk till morning.’ - -I may here remark that iron safes for the custody of money and other -valuables were by no means so common in those days, especially in -out-of-the-way country-places, as they appear to have since become. - -‘But the money will be quite safe in your desk, won’t it, John?’ asked -Bessie. - -‘Safe enough without a doubt, seeing that no one but ourselves knows -of its presence there. Only, as a matter of business, I should prefer -to have had it in the coffers of the bank.’ Presently he added: ‘The -old fellow was half-seas over, as he generally is; and I have no doubt, -with so many houses of call by the way, that he will be soaked through -and through before he reaches home. I wonder whether he goes to bed -sober a night in his life?’ - -A few minutes later, John kissed us and bade us good-night. Bessie and -I went to the window to see him start; but by this time it was nearly -dark. He waved his whip at us as soon as he had settled himself in -his seat, then he gave the reins a little shake. Black Beryl’s heels -struck fire from the stones as she sprang forward, the gravel scrunched -beneath the wheels, and a moment later the shadows of evening had -swallowed up horse and gig and driver. My sister and I pulled down the -blinds and drew the curtains and rang for Kitty to bring in the lamp. - -The evening passed after our usual quiet fashion. We worked a little -and read a little and played some half-dozen duets, and chatted -between times, till the clock pointed to half-past ten, at which hour -we generally retired for the night. My last duty every evening was -to go the round of the house and satisfy myself that all lights were -out, that the fires were safe, and that all the doors and windows were -properly secured. When this duty had been duly accomplished to-night, -the drawing-room lamp was extinguished, and then Bessie and I took our -bed candles and marched up-stairs, leaving darkness and solitude behind -us. Mary Gibbs and Kitty had retired long ago. - -My sister’s room and mine adjoined each other, with a door of -communication between, which generally stood partly open at night, for -the sake of companionship. The windows of both rooms looked into the -garden, which ran in a wide strip along that side of the house, and -was shut in by a wall some seven or eight feet high, beyond which were -three or four meadows, and then the boundary-wall of Dorrington Park. - -It was close on one o’clock—as I found out afterwards—when I woke -suddenly from a sound sleep. The instant I opened my eyes the room -was illumined by a vivid flash of lightning, and in all probability -it was a peal of thunder that had broken my slumbers. Another flash -followed after a brief interval, succeeded again by the deafening -accompaniment. My sleep was effectually broken. I arose, flung a shawl -over my shoulders, and crossing to the window, drew back the blind and -peered out. As long ago as I can remember, lightning has always had a -singular fascination for me. As a child, I loved to gaze upon its vivid -splendours, and in this respect at least years have left me unchanged. -A board creaked as I crossed the floor. - -‘Is that you, Barbara?’ asked my sister from the other room. - -‘Yes, dear. I am going to look out for a few minutes. Is not the -lightning beautiful?’ - -‘Very beautiful; only I wish it were anywhere rather than here,’ -answered Bessie, who at such times was just as nervous as I was the -reverse. - -The flashes followed each other at intervals of about a minute. I -had witnessed three or four when suddenly I gave a start, and an -exclamation broke involuntarily from my lips. The last flash had -revealed to me the figures of two men in the act of climbing over the -garden-wall. One of the men was a stranger to me; but in the other, -instantaneous as was the revelation, I recognised the somewhat peculiar -face and figure of a man named Dethel, whom my brother had employed -temporarily during the last week or two in the garden, our regular -man being laid up at the time with rheumatism. There was something in -the looks of the man in question which had set me against him from -the first; but if we were all to be judged by our looks alone, what -would become of us! For aught I knew to the contrary, Dethel might be -an honest, hard-working fellow, with a wife and children dependent on -him; but for all that, on the days he was working for us I carefully -refrained from going into the garden. - -And now, here was this man, and another with him, effecting a -surreptitious entry of the premises at one o’clock in the morning! Such -a proceeding could have but one end in view. Two questions at once -put themselves to me. Firstly, were these men aware that my brother -was from home for the night, and that only three helpless women and a -girl were left in the house? Secondly, had they by some means become -cognisant of the fact that a few hours previously Mr Shillito had paid -my brother a considerable sum of money, which must necessarily still -be somewhere on the premises? In my mind there was little doubt that -both these facts were fully known to the men. My brother’s movements -were as open as the day, and Dethel had doubtless ascertained from -Reuben the groom that his master would be from home on this particular -night; while as for Mr Shillito, everybody knew how he talked in his -loud-voiced way about his most private affairs when he had taken more -to drink than was good for him. At the bar of more than one tavern that -evening, every one who might chance to be within hearing would not -fail to be informed that Mr Shillito had just paid John Waldron his -half-year’s rent. - -These thoughts flashed through my mind almost as quickly as that flash -which revealed so much. Breathlessly I waited for the next flash. It -came, shattering the darkness for an instant, and then it, too, was -swallowed up. The men were no longer visible. Between the two flashes -they had had time to drop on the inner side of the wall, where the -thick clumps of evergreens which clothed that part of the grounds -would effectually screen them from view. At that very moment they were -doubtless making their way stealthily towards the house. What was to -be done? Never had I realised so fully as at that moment how helpless -a creature a woman is. Drawing my shawl more closely round me and -putting on a pair of list slippers which I wore about the house in -cold weather, I crept noiselessly out of the room. At the top of the -stairs I halted and listened; but all was silence the most profound. -The corridor out of which the bedroom opened was lighted at the -opposite end by a high narrow window which looked into the garden. To -this window I now made my way, and there, with one ear pressed to the -cold glass, I stood and listened. Presently I heard the faint sound -of footsteps, and then the subdued voices of two people talking to -each other. Directly under the place where I was standing was the back -drawing-room, which opened on the garden by means of a French-window; -and although this window was secured at night by shutters, I had an -idea that the security in question was more fancied than real, and -was of a kind that would be laughed to scorn by any burglar who was -acquainted with his business. If the men had made up their minds -to break into the house—and with what other object could they be -there?—the probability was that they would make the attempt by way of -the French-window. Even while this thought was passing through my mind, -the voices of the men sank to a whisper, and a low peculiar grating -sound made itself heard. Evidently they had already begun to force the -fastenings of the window. I crept back to my room, feeling utterly -dazed and helpless. - -‘Is that you, Barbara? Where have you been?’ asked my sister. - -Going into her room, I sat down on the side of the bed and told her -everything in as few words as possible. She was of a somewhat timid and -nervous disposition, and my news visibly affected her. She sat up in -bed, trembling and clinging to my arm. - -‘Perhaps,’ she whispered, ‘if we lock our bedroom doors and keep very -quiet, they will go away without coming near us.’ - -‘Why, you goose, it’s not us they have come after, but Mr Shillito’s -ninety pounds,’ I answered. - -‘And there’s poor mamma’s silver tea-service down-stairs; I hope they -won’t find that,’ said Bessie. - -I hoped so too; but there was no judging how much Dethel had contrived -to ascertain respecting us and our affairs. I went to the corridor -window again and listened. The noise made by the men was now plainly -distinguishable. It seemed as if they were trying to file or cut their -way through some obstruction. After listening for a few moments, I went -back to my room and began almost mechanically to put on a few articles -of clothing, asking myself again and again as I did so whether it was -not possible to do something—though what that something ought to be I -knew no more than the man in the moon. The nearest house was a quarter -of a mile away; and even if I could have stolen out unnoticed by way -of the front-door, before I could have reached the farm and brought -back help, the burglars would have effected their purpose and decamped. -Our pecuniary means at that time were very straitened. For some time -back John had been paying off some old family debts; and the loss of -the ninety pounds—which, as a matter of course, he would feel bound to -make good—would be a great blow to him. If I could only have got at the -money, and have hidden it where the burglars would not be likely to -find it, I felt that I should have accomplished something. But the bag -was locked up in John’s strong mahogany desk, and was as utterly beyond -my reach as if it had been in the coffers of the Bank of England, while -yet it could hardly have been placed more conveniently ready to the -hands of the thieves. To them the strong mahogany desk would seem a -trifling obstacle indeed. - -All this time, metaphorically speaking, I was wringing my hands, -knowing full well how precious were the fast-fleeting moments, but only -feeling my helplessness the more, the more I strove to discern some -loophole of escape. Oh, the wretchedness of such a feeling! I hope -never to experience it again in the same degree as I experienced it -that night. - -The lightning, if not quite so vivid as it had been a little while -previously, still came in as frequent flashes, and by its light my -sister and I made a hurried toilet. Our house stood a little way back -from the high-road, from which it was divided by a tiny lawn and a low -screen of evergreens. Once or twice in the course of the night one of -the mounted constabulary would ride slowly past as he went his rounds; -but I was without any knowledge as to the particular time when he might -be expected, or whether, in fact, the time at which he might be looked -for at any specified point did not vary from night to night. Still, -there was just a possibility that he might put in an appearance at any -moment; so I stationed Bessie at the window to keep a lookout for him, -and be in readiness to raise an alarm the moment she heard the tramp of -his horse’s hoofs. For once in a way the lightning was something to be -thankful for; each flash lighted up the high-road for a considerable -distance on both sides of the house. - -When this was done, it seemed as if everything possible had been done; -and yet it was next to nothing. With both hands pressed to my eyes, I -stood thinking as I seemed never to have thought before. Then it was -that—as sudden, swift, and startling as one of those flashes which -were momently illumining the outer world—an idea shot through my brain, -which for an instant or two seemed to cause my heart to stand still. -And yet at the first blush it was an idea that had about it something -so preposterous, so ludicrous, even, that had the need been at all less -imminent, I should have discarded it at once as little better than the -inspiration of a mad woman. But preposterous as the idea might seem, -for the life of me I could think of no other, and every minute now was -invaluable. There was no time for hesitation. I must discard it or -adopt it, and that without a moment’s delay. ‘I will try it; it can but -fail,’ I said to myself with an inward groan. - -On the toilet-table was a jar of white tooth-powder, which had been -replenished the previous day. I shook out a quantity of this powder, -shut my eyes, and proceeded to rub it thickly over my face, arms, and -hands. That done, I drew the white coverlet off the bed, and draped -myself with it loosely from head to foot; then I unbound my hair, which -in those days was ebon black and reached below my waist, and shook it -round my face and over my shoulders in ‘most admired disorder.’ I was -now ready for the rôle I had made up my mind to enact. - -Bessie has told me since that she thought I had taken leave of my -senses. Just at the moment my toilet was completed, and as I turned -and advanced towards her, another long, quivering flash lighted up the -room. A low shriek burst involuntarily from my sister’s lips, and she -shrank away from me as though I were something altogether uncanny. - -‘O Barbara, dear, what is the matter?’ she cried. ‘Why do you frighten -me so?’ - -‘It is not you I want to frighten, but the men down-stairs,’ I replied. -Then, in a few hurried words, I told her my plan. - -She would have tried to dissuade me; but there was no time to listen. -Leaving her there watching by the window, ready to raise an alarm in -case the mounted constable should pass on his round, I stole swiftly -and noiselessly down the carpeted staircase, and only paused when I -reached the corridor below. I could hear a subdued murmur of voices, -and a moment later I was startled by a noise of falling glass. The -burglars had succeeded in effecting an entrance. They and I were -separated only by the drawing-room door, which, although locked, was -an obstacle that very few minutes would suffice to overcome. With an -indrawing of my breath I sped quickly past the door along the length -of the corridor until I reached the opposite end, where there were two -more doors, one of them being that of my brother’s office, which also -was locked, and from the lock of which I now withdrew the key. I have -omitted to state that the window of John’s office was secured by two -stout bars, which was probably one reason why the thieves had chosen to -effect an entrance at a point more readily adapted for their purpose. -The second door at the end of the corridor shut off a short passage -leading to the kitchen. This door I succeeded in opening without noise. -I had decided to take my stand a little way on the inner side of it, -and there await the course of events. By this time the men were busily -at work forcing the lock of the drawing-room door. A thin thread of -light which shone from under showed that although the lightning was -still as frequent as before, they did not find it sufficient for their -purpose. - -Scarcely breathing, I waited. I was too excited, too wrought up, the -tension of my nerves was too extreme, to allow of any personal fear. -It was all terribly real, yet with a strange, vague sense of unreality -underlying it. I felt as if I should not have been surprised had I woke -up and found the whole affair resolve itself into a dream; while yet -fully assured in my mind that it was nothing of the kind. Suddenly the -noise at the door ceased; the lock had been forced. The thread of light -disappeared; for a few moments all was silence the most profound. Then -a faint creaking, which at any other time would have been inaudible, -told me that the drawing-room door was being opened and that the -crucial moment had come. I pressed one hand over my heart, and for a -few brief seconds an almost overpowering longing seized me to get back -to my room at any cost and lock myself within. But it was too late; by -this time the men were in the corridor. I knew it, although I could not -see them. - -‘Where’s the door we want?’ I heard one whisper to the other. - -‘On the right—the first door we come to.’ - -As they advanced a step, I did the same. - -‘What noise was that?’ asked one of them quickly. - -‘Don’t be a fool. There was no noise.’ - -‘I tell you there was.—Where’s the glim?’ - -But the lightning was quicker than the bull’s-eye. It came, smiting the -darkness, and flooding the corridor with the blinding intensity of its -glare. Then I saw the men, and the men saw me, but darkness had hidden -us from each other again before they had time to make sure that their -eyes had not deceived them. - -One of them gave a gasp and whispered to his mate: ‘What was that tall, -white thing at the end of the passage? Seemed to me like a ghost.’ - -‘Ghost be dashed! There ain’t no such things.—Here’s the glim. We’ll -soon see what it is.’ As he spoke, the light of his bull’s-eye lantern -was turned full upon me. - -I advanced a couple of paces, and the men fell back in speechless -surprise and terror. I have often tried since to picture to myself the -appearance I must have presented when seen at such a moment and by that -uncertain light, with my ghastly, death-like face, my dilated eyes, -my black, snake-like locks, my tall figure all in white, and with one -extended arm and finger pointed direct at the men. I cannot wonder at -their fright. - -At this juncture came another flash, and a terrible peal of thunder -startled the air and shook the house. At the very instant, impelled -thereto by something within me that I was powerless to control, I burst -into a wild peal of maniacal, blood-curdling laughter. One step nearer -I advanced; but that was enough. With a loud yell of terror, the men -turned and fled by the way they had come. I heard a crash of shattered -glass; and after that, I remember nothing more till I came to my -senses, to find Bessie supporting my head on her lap and pressing her -smelling-salts to my nose. - -But John’s ninety pounds were saved, and it is hardly necessary to add -that Dethel the ex-gardener was never seen in those parts again. - - - - -SPIDER-SILK. - - -It may not be inopportune to recall to the minds of our readers a -somewhat neglected silk-source, which may perhaps at some future -period form a profitable commercial undertaking. It is unnecessary to -expatiate upon the beauty of the gossamer spun by the _Aranea diadema_, -or common Garden spider, as the fairy-like tracery must be familiar to -every one who has wandered through the woods in autumn, when the gauzy -films festooned between and over the bushes were rendered prominent -through saturation with dew or a sprinkling of hoar-frost. The thread -produced by this little creature is estimated to be many times finer -than the most attenuated filament of the well-known silkworm of Europe, -the _Bombyx mori_; consequently, as may be imagined, the difficulty -of obtaining such silk is so great that, except for land-surveying -purposes, the web of spiders as a class has not been permanently -utilised. For the latter object, the plan adopted by our surveying -instrument makers[1] in order to secure small supplies of spider’s -line, is remarkably simple, and affords an illustration of how -closely instinct in the lower creation sometimes approaches reasoning -intelligence in the higher. Having caught the selected spider, it is -immediately tossed backwards and forwards from hand to hand of the -operator, until the impulse of self-preservation induces the emission -of its thread. Meanwhile, a wire, bent double like a hairpin—the -distance between the prongs being slightly greater than the diameter of -the telescope to be fitted—is at hand to receive the silk. As soon as -the filament appears, the end is attached to the wire and the spider -dropped, when it immediately emits its thread with great rapidity, in -the hope of reaching the ground and escaping. This is frustrated by -a dexterous revolution of the extemporised reel, which winds up the -line as fast as it is produced, until the spider’s store of silk is -exhausted. It is then allowed its liberty; and a touch of gum on each -prong secures the silk in convenient lengths for future use. - -Rather more than fifty years ago, it seemed as if a new and important -trade was about to be inaugurated by the rearing of spiders for their -silk, which the Society of Arts marked with their approval by awarding -a medal to a Mr Rolt for his success in obtaining an appreciable -quantity from the Garden spider. This gentleman accomplished his -purpose by connecting a reel with a steam-engine, setting it revolving -at the rate of one hundred and fifty feet per minute; when, after two -hours’ patience, he wound off eighteen thousand feet of beautiful -white line of a metallic lustre from twenty-four spiders. Subsequent -examination proved this thread to be only the thirty-thousandth part of -an inch in diameter, so that a single pound-weight was estimated to be -sufficient to encircle the globe. Although this gentleman appears not -to have pushed his interesting experiments much further, a Frenchman of -Languedoc afterwards established a factory for producing and weaving -spider-silk into articles of utility. He manufactured gloves and -stockings which were much admired; but the difficulty of rearing a -sufficiently numerous family of spinners within a reasonable space, on -account of their extreme pugnacity, soon interfered with this budding -industry, and led to its abandonment. No difficulty was experienced -by M. Reaumur in collecting some five thousand spiders and immuring -them in fifty separate cells; but unfortunately, on one occasion there -occurred a scarcity of flies; a food-panic ensued, and the hungry -and infuriated prisoners, escaping during the night, fell upon one -another with such deadly ferocity, that when the anxious proprietor -paid his usual morning visit, only a few gorged and bloated specimens -survived. It seemed, indeed, so vain to expect European spiders to -exist peacefully within sight and reach of each other without their -usual employment conducted after their own fashion, that the hope of -rendering them useful for commercial purposes gradually died away, and -has for many years been almost wholly relinquished. - -Certain species of foreign spiders, however, when examined with a view -to their silk, offer a field of very considerable encouragement. In the -island of Ceylon there is one described by Sir Samuel Baker as being -two inches long, with a large yellow spot upon its back, which spins a -beautiful yellow web two and a half feet in diameter, so strong that an -ordinary walking-stick thrown in is entangled, and retained among the -meshes. As might be expected, the filament, which is said to exhibit a -more silky appearance than common spider’s web, is easily wound by hand -on a card, without any special care being exercised in the operation. -A spider of even more formidable dimensions is alluded to in the -fascinating work, _The Gardens of the Sun_, by Mr F. W. Burbidge. It is -a large, black, yellow-spotted creature, measuring six or eight inches -across its extended legs, and it spins a web strained on lines as stout -as fine sewing-cotton. - -The prince of the species, however, seems to be the _Aranea maculata_ -of Brazil, vouched for by Dr Walsh as having been seen and examined by -him during his travels in that country. In this huge, ungainly, yet -harmless and domesticated creature, we evidently possess a treasure -of a silk-spinner, with which the non-nervous and practical among our -colonial ladies, situated in moderately warm localities like Northern -New Zealand, Queensland, and the Cape of Good Hope, might spend many -a profitable hour when they became mutually acquainted. It is not -only free from the vices of the European spider in not devouring its -kind, but it actually exists in little harmonious communities of -over one hundred individuals of different ages and sizes occupying -the same web. Like the last-mentioned spider, this one is of similar -colossal dimensions, and it spins a beautiful yellow network ten or -twelve feet in diameter quite as strong as the silk of commerce. -Regarding the toughness of this filament, the doctor says: ‘In passing -through an opening between some trees, I felt my head entangled in -some obstruction, and on withdrawing it, my light straw-hat remained -behind. When I looked up, I saw it suspended in the air, entangled in -the meshes of an immense cobweb, which was drawn like a veil of thick -gauze across the opening, and was expanded from branch to branch of the -opposite trees as large as a sheet, ten or twelve feet in diameter.’ -Another traveller, Lieutenant Herndon of the United States navy, -confirms Dr Walsh’s account of this enormous spider, with the addition -that he saw a single web which nearly covered a lemon tree; and he -estimated its diameter at ten yards! - -Probably the latest addition to our knowledge of spider-silk has -recently come from the Paris ‘Ecole pratique d’Acclimation,’ a member -of which has discovered an African species which spins a strong -yellow web, so like the product of the silkworm as to be scarcely -distinguishable from it. So promising a material as a fibre of commerce -does this seem to be, that, after close investigation, a syndicate of -Lyons silk-merchants has reported in its favour; the more so as there -is said to be no difficulty in acclimatising the spider in France. - -In those gigantic spiders there is evidently the nucleus of an -important industry of the future, which colonists might perhaps easily -ingraft upon their ordinary sericultural or other occupations. If -the period has scarcely yet arrived for the profitable utilisation -of ordinary spider’s web, surely something might be evolved from the -less attenuated filaments just alluded to, which are strong enough to -whisk a man’s hat from his head and retain his walking-stick dangling -in the air. There are countless difficulties to be surmounted, such -as the feeling of repulsion, or even disgust, at being brought into -proximity with monstrous spiders like Dr Walsh’s pets; but as this -species, unlike the _Lycosa tarantula_ and other poisonous and dreaded -kinds, is harmless to human beings, and as their silk would evidently -become a valuable addition to the resources of the loom as well as the -boudoir, any such feelings and other obstacles would probably soon be -overcome. The French—always in the van in such matters, notwithstanding -their comparatively limited colonial opportunities—are not likely to -allow this curious and interesting occupation to go begging for want of -experiment and patience. But Britain—with her numerous dependencies and -myriads of active, scheming, inventive brains scattered all over the -globe—occupies a peculiarly favourable position to test and localise -such an industry. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] In theodolites and other similar instruments for taking -observations, lines of spider-silk cross the centre of the glass at -right angles for certain purposes of observation. - - - - -THIEVES AND THIEVING. - - -The days when Border moss-troopers made a raid on the well-stocked -farmyards of Northumberland, or when Highland caterans swooped down -from Rob Roy’s country to levy ‘blackmail’ or ‘toom a fauld’ in the -Lennox or in the Carse of Stirling, and departed, leaving burning byres -or weeping widows behind, are for ever gone. Gone, too, are those later -days when bold highwaymen of the Dick Turpin type—all well mounted -and equipped, if we are to credit the legends that have come down -to us—stopped the mailcoach or the travelling postchaise, and made -the terrified passengers hand over their valuables. The traveller of -to-day, whether cyclist or pedestrian, may roam from John o’ Groat’s -to Land’s End without interruption from highwayman or footpad. The -thieving profession has changed its character; and as now unfolded in -courts of justice, it appears vulgar, prosaic, and mean. Indeed, we are -doubtful if it was not always so. The pen of the novelist has thrown -a glamour of romance around that as well as other features of former -times, which we love to read about, but should not care to experience. -But while this is so, the study of thieves as a class is far from being -uninteresting. It has been our lot to see much of them and to learn -more, from sources whose reliability is unquestionable. - -There are many grades of intellect and ability among these -Ishmaelites—from the low type of thief that lies in wait in our -large towns for children going messages, and, beguiling them into a -dark close, strips them of clothing and money—to the well-dressed, -well-bred man of the world, who floats a swindling Company, has his -office in a good locality, moves for a time in the best circles, and -then decamps, carrying with him the capital of the elderly annuitant, -or the hard-earned savings of the struggling tradesman. To her shame -be it said, the child-stripper is generally a woman. Far more to his -shame, the high-class swindler is generally a well-educated man, who -occupies a good position in society, and has often only his own folly -to blame for his having fallen to be a needy adventurer. They differ in -degree, but not in kind; and though the law may call their offences by -different names, the essence of the crime is the same in both cases. - -It is sad to see mere children, charged with daring acts of -pocket-picking or purse-snatching, brought before a court; but -such is often their only chance of salvation from a life of crime. -Smutty-faced, ragged little urchins many of them are, dressed in -clothes and shoes a world too big for them; and yet, when the dirt is -washed from their faces, there is the glance of keen intelligence, -and often comely features, underneath. Brought up in the murky closes -that yet occupy the older parts of most of our cities, surrounded by -influences such as may be inhaled from drunken, swearing men, and -tawdry, coarse, and unkempt women, how could they grow up other than -they do? Perchance they are reared in low lodging-houses, where a -clever theft or an artful dodge is extolled as worthy of the highest -admiration, or where some old hand is assiduous in giving them training -lessons in crime. Industrial and Reformatory Schools are worthy of -all support, checking as they do the career of these young prodigals -while yet there is some hope. Apart altogether from considerations -of a higher nature, it is surely to the interest of the public that -children should be trained into useful wealth-producing members of -the community, instead of growing up to prey upon society when out of -prison, and burden the ratepayers when in. - -A large number of thieves are merely skirmishers or auxiliaries, as -it were, on the flanks of the regular army. These auxiliaries do -not live wholly by crime, but have some ostensible occupation which -they follow. At the same time, they never lose a good opportunity of -stealing. In all large towns, the cinder-gatherer may be seen. Late -at night and early in the morning she goes through the streets and -lanes, probing with a long knife the depths and shallows of every -dust-heap, and rescuing therefrom every scrap that will sell. Papers, -rags, bones, cinders, and old boots are transferred with marvellous -celerity into the depths of the capacious bag which she carries. -Should a stray door-mat be lying handy, or an unsecured back-door -give access to a green where clothes lie bleaching, her ideas of -_meum_ and _tuum_ become straightway rather hazy, and the chances -are that a theft is reported next morning. A large number of thefts -of umbrellas and greatcoats from lobbies are the work of pedlars, -beggars, or old-clothesmen, who loaf around and watch their chance. A -smart ‘professional’ of our acquaintance, who is at present in penal -servitude, was an adept at stealing greatcoats. He had a piece of wire -with a sort of hook on one end, with which he could snatch them from -lobby-pegs without making his own appearance. Each ‘professional’ -has his own particular style of thieving in which he has graduated. -These soon become known to the detectives, who, on learning the _modus -operandi_ of a theft, are often able to pounce on the person wanted, -even when no description can be supplied. - -One class of theft was very prevalent in Glasgow and neighbourhood -some time ago. A man dressed like a tradesman called at a number of -houses where the owners happened to be absent. (Of course the operator -satisfied himself on that point first.) He represented that he had been -sent by some well-known firm of upholsterers to measure a room for a -new carpet, or by a joiner to repair the windows. In various instances, -he got into houses, and generally found an opportunity to steal. -Another thief well known in Dundee does the ‘pigeon’ trick. His method -is to look out for an open window, ring the bell, and say that a pigeon -has just flown away from him on the street and fluttered in at the -window. Would they kindly search for it, or permit him to do so? Once -in, ten to one but the clever thief manages to commit a theft before he -goes out lamenting the loss of his bird, which, of course, cannot be -found. - -A decrepit youth used to go about the city in which the writer lives. -This lad’s legs were useless, so he had flat boards fastened with -straps below his knees, and, assisted by short crutches, he crept along -the pavement. He was a dexterous thief. If a lady stopped to look in -at a shop-window, he could just reach her handbag or pocket; and if -she was unwary, she was minus her purse in a few seconds, while the -insignificant appearance of the thief disarmed suspicion. - -Thieves sometimes quarrel in their cups, and if a detective happens -to meet them before the heat of anger has passed off, spitefulness -often induces them to give him valuable information. Criminals are -almost always prodigal in spending their ill-gotten gains, and the -old proverb, ‘Lightly come, lightly go,’ seems specially applicable -to them. If in funds, they share freely with their needy brethren, -probably with an eye to receiving similar help when out at the knees -and elbows themselves. - -Stolen property is often stowed away in very curious hiding-places. A -lame man was convicted at Leeds assizes last year of passing base coin. -When apprehended, it was found he had a receptacle in his wooden leg, -in which a considerable stock of the bad money was cunningly secreted. -We have sometimes seen a considerable pile of coins unearthed from the -voluminous folds of a ragged coat, trousers, or vest. Banknotes, for -obvious reasons, are capable of being stowed away in little space; and -thieves often hide them in the cracked joints of a dilapidated old -table, chair, or bed. Underneath a picture, or between the portrait -and the back, appears to be a favourite place of concealment. Articles -are often ‘planked’ in the chimney behind the grate; and a watch has -even been tossed into a glowing coal-fire, when pursuit was close, -although in at least one instance the latter device was unavailing. -Two detectives were once searching the house of a well-known thief -for some stolen jewellery. The scent was keen, and the examination -searching. High and low they rummaged, but without success. From the -air of the thief, the officers were satisfied the stolen property was -concealed in or about the room. One of them observed that the interest -of the ‘suspect’ got always most intense as they approached the window. -Taking this as his cue, the officer narrowly examined the shutters, and -even tore off the straps that kept in the window-sashes; but without -result. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and lifting the lower sash, he -scanned the outside of the wall closely. About three or four feet below -the window-sill he saw a stone in the wall that appeared to be loose. -Calling his comrade to hold him by the legs, he reached down, pulled -out a small square stone, thrust in his hand, and found a nice little -‘hide,’ containing not only the articles he was in search of, but also -other stolen property sufficient to connect the thief with several -‘jobs,’ and to procure him a long term of quiet contemplation. - -A smart female thief once very nearly outwitted an officer by wrapping -a crumpled and dirty five-pound note round a candle, and stuffing -it into a candlestick, which she then obligingly handed to him. He -searched a considerable time before discovering that he had the object -of his search in his hand. Another detective, after in vain searching a -house for some trussed poultry that had been stolen, cast one parting -glance around, when his eye chanced to alight on a cradle in which a -woman was vainly trying to hush a squalling baby. A thought struck him. -He asked her to lift the child. The woman made some excuse, but the -officer insisted, and was immediately rewarded by finding a couple of -the stolen fowls. - -A slight clue, sometimes discovered by the merest accident, often helps -to unravel not only one, but a whole series of thefts. A peculiar -button, a footmark, or a portion of dress, will spring a mine under -the feet of a rascal who thought he was off scot-free. Of late years, -thefts of money by young clerks or salesmen from their employers -have become increasingly common. There are several causes for this. -Beyond doubt the tastes and habits of the young men of to-day are -more expensive than those of their fathers. With small means, or no -means at all, they dress up as ‘mashers,’ and smoke choice cigars, -attend theatres, concerts, balls, and race-meetings. If often indulged -in, these are rather expensive luxuries; and as the supply of youths -anxious for genteel employment is always in excess of the demand, -the salaries given are in many cases low. Then firms are sometimes -very lax in the oversight of young men who have large sums of money -daily passing through their hands. It seems so easy to take the loan -of a small sum, which, of course, is to be put back again. After the -first false step, the descent is rapid; and many a young man fills a -felon’s cell, or has to fly the country, under circumstances due to his -master’s carelessness as well as his own folly. - -The plea of kleptomania is now put forward in defence of thieves -much oftener than it used to be. Of course there are some cases in -which kleptomania is indisputable, as, for instance, when we hear -of a nobleman having to be watched by his valet to prevent him from -pocketing his own silver spoons. We know a respectable bookseller -who had for a considerable time, at intervals, been missing books -from his shop. He was satisfied some of his customers were helping -themselves, but he could not say which. At last his suspicions rested -on a reverend gentleman of great abilities, but rather eccentric -character. He watched him narrowly, and one day caught him in the act -of surreptitiously carrying off a volume. The divine tried to explain -it away; but the bookseller, after listening gravely, called a cab, and -insisted on accompanying him home and examining his library. He hinted -that otherwise he would be under the painful necessity of calling in -the police. The clergyman made no further objection. They went to his -house; and the bookseller brought back a number of valuable books, some -of which he had not before missed, and said no more about the matter. -The thief was a wealthy man, and had a large library; but he was a -bibliomaniac. - -Some thefts, however, are of a different character, and in these the -plea of kleptomania, like that of insanity in cases of murder, is -sometimes pushed rather far. Without attempting to argue the matter on -scientific principles, it seems rather strange that kleptomania appears -only to affect those who are rich enough to pay an able advocate, and -that the morbid desire to steal something—instead of moving them to -carry it off openly—appears to be accompanied by an equally morbid -desire to secrete the article stolen. - -We shall conclude this paper by one or two instances which show that -thieving has also its comic side. - -A fire was raging fiercely in a grocery store, and the owner, -accompanied by an active staff of assistants, was trying to rescue some -of the goods by removing them to one side. Immense cheeses and hams -were lying about in tempting profusion. A keen-eyed thief had just -secured a large Gouda, and was marching off with it, when he found -himself face to face with a policeman. The rogue grasped the situation -instantly. ‘Here, policeman!’ cried he, planting the cheese in X’s arms -before that officer knew what he was about; ‘you had better take charge -of that, or somebody’ll be carrying it off;’ and in an instant the -nimble rascal disappeared in the crowd. - -One morning, a merchant who had come by rail from his country residence -was hurrying along the street to his counting-house in a pouring rain. -He had forgotten his umbrella; but spying, as he thought, a friend with -a large one a little before him, he hastened up, and seizing the handle -of the umbrella, jocularly observed: ‘Hillo! is this mine you’ve got?’ -He had just had time to observe that the man was a complete stranger to -him, and was about to apologise in some embarrassment, when the unknown -saved him the trouble, by saying coolly: ‘Oh, it’s yours, is it? -Pardon me; I did not know.’ And he hurried off, leaving the astonished -merchant in full possession. - -About two years ago, a constable in a business part of London found -a horse and van, about midnight, standing at the door of a grocer’s -shop. He approached, and saw several men in aprons, apparently carrying -chests of tea into the shop. Remarking that they were late at work, -one of the men replied: ‘O yes; we’re preparing for Christmas;’ and -the constable, thinking all was right, walked on. Next morning it was -found the shop had been entered by thieves, who had carried off what -they evidently took to be twenty-two half-chests of tea, most of which -had been standing in the shop-window. The rogues had gone leisurely -to work, and being caught by the constable, had employed themselves -in carrying _in_ some of the boxes, till he should pass. The reader -may judge the surprise and disgust of the thieves, when they found -that only one of the chests contained tea, and a second tea-dust, the -remaining twenty boxes being merely ‘dummies’ filled with sawdust, with -a sprinkling of tea on the top! - -Nothing tends more to root out and lessen the number of nests of -thieves than the exercise of the power vested in corporations to pull -down old houses, which, densely populated with the poorer classes, -become at last the abodes of filth, disease, and crime. The former -inmates cannot stand the new sanitary and social atmosphere introduced -by wider streets and purer air. They gradually betake themselves to -other and more honest modes of employment, or seek for ‘fresh woods and -pastures new.’ On the other hand, the exercise of a little prudence and -common-sense by the general public would prevent an opportunity being -given for the commission of a large number of petty but often very -annoying thefts. - - - - -ST JOHN’S GATE. - - -A short distance from the very heart of London, stands—for it has not -yet been swept away by the builder’s hand—one of the finest remaining -relics of the ancient city. It is a heavy fortified gate, built of -large blocks of freestone, and flanked by bastions. It has a fine -groined Norman arch; and though it is now old and decayed, it is still -strong, and shows us what its strength and stability have been in days -gone by. It was built by, and belonged to, at one time, that famous -order of chivalry, ‘The Knights Hospitallers,’ or ‘Knights of St John -of Jerusalem,’ the great rivals of the Templars, and who did such -good service in the Holy Land in the time of the crusades; and when -Palestine was hopelessly lost, kept up their incessant war against the -Infidel in Rhodes, and when driven from that island by the Turks—in -Malta. - -This order had at one time many religious houses scattered over Europe; -and their London priory, that of St John of Clerkenwell, has quite -a history of its own to tell. It was founded in the year 1100 by a -devout baron named Jordan Briset, this being the time that the first -crusade, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, was going on. For a considerable -time after this, we know little of the priory, save that the knights -were growing in riches and arrogance, and thus were making themselves -obnoxious to the people, although some of the old chroniclers tell us -that ‘they tended the sick and the needy.’ In fact, they got to be so -disliked by the common people, that in the riots which took place in -the reign of Richard II.—in which Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball -took so prominent a part, the last-named being a clergyman, who, in his -harangues to the multitude, took for his text the rhyme, - - When Adam delved and Eve span, - Who was then a gentleman? - -and made the people think that all the property of the rich was really -theirs—the rebels made the Priory of St John a special mark of their -fury, and after destroying houses and much property belonging to the -knights, they attacked the place itself and burnt it to the ground; and -capturing the prior soon after, they executed him upon the spot. - -For many years after, the knights were engaged in building a new -priory; but the work went slowly on, owing to the troubled state of the -order at what was then their great stronghold, Rhodes, and the large -numbers of men and sums of money required there to assist in keeping -back the conquering Turks, who were fighting with great zeal under the -victorious Sultan Solyman. Gradually, a fine church, whose bell is -related to have had an exceedingly fine tone, was added to the priory; -and soon after the church was finished, Thomas Dockwra, who was then -prior, built the gate; this being in or about the year 1504, in the -latter part of the reign of Henry VII., the first of the famous dynasty -of Tudor sovereigns. - -About the year 1540, Henry VIII. suppressed all the larger monasteries -and private religious houses in England, and the venerable priory -fell with the others. This was a severe blow to the prosperity of the -order, and is said to have broken the heart of the valiant old L’isle -Adam, the grandmaster, who held Rhodes till he could hold it no longer, -and then, obtaining honourable terms from the Sultan Solyman, removed -to the island of Malta, where the knights continued to be a powerful -enemy to the Turks until 1798, when, ‘through the treachery of the -Maltese, and the cowardice of D’Hompesch the grandmaster, the island -was surrendered to the French;’ and soon after this, most of the -property still belonging to the order in many parts of Europe was -confiscated by the various governments. Since then, the order, which -had been gradually degenerating, has not had any political importance. - -The priory, however, was not destroyed, like most of its kindred -buildings, at the Reformation, for even the bluff, matter-of-fact -King Henry had some respect for the venerable old building; and so, -instead of destroying it, we are told that he used it for a military -storehouse. In Edward VI.’s reign, however, a more ruthless and -sweeping hand came to deal with it. The proud and ambitious Seymour, -Duke of Somerset, at that time Lord Protector, had no kindly feeling -for such places; and the church and all the rest of the priory, with -the exception of the gate, were blown up with gunpowder. The large -blocks of stone were used to build Somerset’s palace in the Strand in -1549. It remained till the year 1776, when it gave place to the present -one, a building erected after the Palladian style, from the designs of -Sir William Chambers. - -We hear nothing more of the gate till the reign of James I., when -that monarch bestowed the building on Sir Roger Wilbraham, who lived -there for many years. Long after this, Cave the printer rented the old -gate for a small sum, and here was first printed and published the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_. This was one of the first places to which Dr -Johnson, then poor, and almost unknown, came, when he settled in the -great city. Here he made his first literary efforts by helping Cave -in his publication. Here also Garrick the actor first played, some of -Cave’s interested workmen taking the other parts of the pieces. - -The old gate is now turned into a tavern, called _Old Jerusalem -Tavern_, and inside may still be seen some interesting relics of -the former days of the gate, when it was the chief entrance to the -priory of one of the most powerful religious bodies in Europe. Who -can look upon such a relic without being reminded of the great spirit -of chivalry, that strange compound of barbarity and courtesy; of the -crusades, and the great changes which have taken place since the time -of the prosperous days of the old priory? and we cannot but feel -thankful that we live in a happier, less troubled, and more enlightened -age; and as we gaze upon the grim old gate, think of the words of -Shakspeare: ‘To what base uses may we return.’ - - - - -’TWIXT DAYBREAK AND DAYLIGHT. - - - The glint and glimmer of the daybreak shows - In the fast-reddening east; the sable clouds - With roseate streaks and golden threads are lined; - And the first early cock, awakening, rings - His shrill clear challenge on the breaking morn! - - A voiceless stir of many murmurings, - From woodland, hill, and dale, and meadow, tells - The flight of slumber: now the cricket chirps - Amid the barley, and the skylark plumes - His wing for early rising; passes by - The milkmaid to the pasture; and the farm - Grows noisy with the many-varied sounds - Of rustic labour, telling that hath fled - The drowsy sweet forgetfulness of night! - - Shadows of dreamland pass from earth away - Into the mystic world of things unseen; - The stern necessities of daily life - Again their round commence, as, one by one, - Toilers awaken to the coming day! - - * * * * * - -Printed and Published by W. & R. 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