initial commit of ebook 6674HEADmain

1 files changed, 2170 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/6674-8.txt b/6674-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c6809d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/6674-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2170 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Umbrellas and their History, by William Sangster
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Umbrellas and their History
+
+Author: William Sangster
+
+
+Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6674]
+This file was first posted on January 12, 2003
+Last Updated: June 29, 2013
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Avinash Kothare, Steve Schulze, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file
+was produced from images generously made available by the
+CWRU Preservation Department Digital Library
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY
+
+By William Sangster
+
+
+"Munimen ad imbres."
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE UMBRELLA
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE UMBRELLA IN ENGLAND
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE STORY OF THE PARACHUTE
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+UMBRELLA STORIES
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE REGENERATION OF THE UMBRELLA
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+Can it be possibly believed, by the present eminently practical
+generation, that a busy people like the English, whose diversified
+occupations so continually expose them to the chances and changes of
+a proverbially fickle sky, had ever been ignorant of the blessings
+bestowed on them by that dearest and truest friend in need and in
+deed, the UMBRELLA? Can you, gentle reader, for instance, realise to
+yourself the idea of a man not possessing such a convenience for
+rainy weather?
+
+Why so much unmerited ridicule should be poured upon the head (or
+handle) of the devoted Umbrella, it is hard to say. What is there
+comic in an Umbrella? Plain, useful, and unpretending, if any of
+man's inventions ever deserved sincere regard, the Umbrella is, we
+maintain, that invention. Only a few years back those who carried
+Umbrellas were held to be legitimate butts. They were old fogies,
+careful of their health, and so on; but now-a-days we are wiser.
+Everybody has his Umbrella. It is both cheaper and better made than
+of old; who, then, so poor he cannot afford one? To see a man going
+out in the rain umbrella-less excites as much mirth as ever did the
+sight of those who first--wiser than their generation--availed
+themselves of this now universal shelter. Yet still a touch of the
+amusing clings to the "Gamp," as it is sarcastically called. 'What
+says Douglas Jerrold on the subject? "There are three things that no
+man but a fool lends, or, having lent, is not in the most helpless
+state of mental crassitude if he ever hopes to get back again. These
+three things, my son, are--BOOKS, UMBRELLAS, and MONEY! I believe a
+certain fiction of the law assumes a remedy to the borrower; but I
+know of no case in which any man, being sufficiently dastard to
+gibbet his reputation as plaintiff in such a suit, ever fairly
+succeeded against the wholesome prejudices of society. Umbrellas may
+be 'hedged about' by cobweb statutes; I will not swear it is not so;
+there may exist laws that make such things property; but sure I am
+that the hissing contempt, the loud-mouthed indignation of all
+civilised society, 'would sibilate and roar at the bloodless poltroon
+who should engage law on his side to obtain for him the restitution
+of a--lent Umbrella!"
+
+Strange to say, it is a fact, melancholy enough, but for all that
+too true, that our forefathers, scarce seventy years agone, meekly
+endured the pelting of the pitiless storm without that protection
+vouchsafed to their descendants by a kind fate and talented
+inventors. The fact is, the Umbrella forms one of the numerous
+conveniences of life which seem indispensable to the present
+generation, because just so long a time has passed since their
+introduction, that the contrivances which, in some certain degree,
+previously supplied their place, have passed into oblivion.
+
+We feel the convenience we possess, without being always aware of
+the gradations which intervened between it and the complete
+inconvenience of being continually unsheltered from the rain, without
+any kind friend from whom to seek the protection so ardently desired.
+
+Fortunately a very simple process will enable the reader to realise
+the fact in its full extent; he need only walk about in a pelting
+shower for some hours without an Umbrella, or when the weight of a
+cloak would be insupportable, and at the same time remember that
+seventy years ago a luxury he can now purchase in almost every street,
+was within the reach of but very few, while omnibuses and cabs were
+unknown.
+
+But, apart from considerations of comfort, we may safely claim very
+much higher qualities as appertaining to the Umbrella. We may even
+reckon it among the causes that have contributed to lengthen the
+average of human life, and hold it a most effective agent in the
+great increase which took place in the population of England between
+the years 1750 and 1850 as compared with the previous century. The
+Registrar-General, in his census-report, forgot to mention this fact,
+but there appears to us not the slightest doubt that the introduction
+of the Umbrella at the latter part of the former, and commencement of
+the present century, must have greatly conduced to the improvement of
+the public health, by preserving the bearer from the various and
+numerous diseases superinduced by exposure to rain.
+
+But perhaps we are a little harsh on our worthy ancestors; they may
+have possessed some species of protection from the rain on which they
+prided themselves as much as we do on our Umbrellas, and regarded the
+new-fangled invention (as they no doubt termed it) as something
+exceedingly absurd, coxcombical, and unnecessary; while we, who are
+in possession of so many life-comforts of which those of the good old
+times were supremely ignorant--among these we give the Umbrella
+brevet rank--can afford to smile at such ebullitions as we have come
+across in those books of the day we have consulted, and to which we
+shall presently have an opportunity of referring.
+
+We can happily estimate the value of such a friend as the Umbrella,
+the silent companion of our walks abroad, a companion incomparably
+superior to those slimy waterproof abominations so urgently
+recommended to us, for, at the least, the Umbrella cannot be accused
+of injuring, the health as _they_ have been, as it appears, with
+very good reason. In fact, so long as the climate of England remains
+as it is, so long will Umbrellas hold their ground in public esteem,
+and we do not believe that the clerk of the weather will allow
+himself to be bribed into any alteration, at least for trade
+considerations.
+
+Another remarkable proof of the utility of the Umbrella may be found
+in the universality of its use. It has asserted its sway from Indus
+to the Pole, and is to be met with in every possible variety, from
+the Napoleon blue silk of the London exquisite, to the coarse red or
+green cotton of the Turkish rayah. Throughout the Continent it forms
+the peaceful armament of the peasant, and no more curious sight can
+be imagined than the wide, uncovered market-place of some quaint old
+German town during a heavy shower, when every industrial covers
+himself or herself with the aegis of a portable tent, and a bright
+array of brass ferrules and canopies of all conceivable hues which
+cotton can be made to assume, without losing its one quality of "fast
+colour," flash on the spectator's vision.
+
+The advantages of the Umbrella being thus recognised, it must be
+confessed that it has hitherto been treated in a most ungrateful and
+step-motherly fashion. We fly to the Umbrella when the sky is
+overcast--it affords us shelter in the hour of need--and the service
+is forgotten as soon as the necessity is relieved. We make abominable
+jokes upon the Umbrella; we borrow it without compunction from any
+confiding friend, though with the full intention of never returning
+it--in fact, it has often been a matter of surprise to us that any
+one ever does buy an Umbrella, for where can the old Umbrellas go to?
+Although that question has often been asked concerning the fate of
+pins, the fact as regards the former, looking at their size, is more
+curious--and yet, for all that, we treat it with shameful neglect, as
+if ashamed of a crime we have committed and anxious to conceal the
+evidences of our guilt.
+
+Let us then strive to afford such reparation as in our power lies,
+by giving a slight description of THE UMBRELLA AND ITS HISTORY,
+making up for any deficiencies of our pen by the assistance of the
+artist's pencil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE UMBRELLA.
+
+
+The Umbrella is derived from a stately family, that of the Parasol,
+the legitimate use of the Umbrella, though sufficiently obvious,
+being almost ignored in those countries whence it derives its being,
+since it was as a protection against the scorching heat of the sun
+that it was first used. The Parasol, then, or Umbrella--since for all
+practical purposes the two are really identical--dates from the
+earliest ages, some commentators on the Bible fancying they can
+discover it in places where a shade protecting from the sun is
+mentioned. This is not unlikely, but it is certain that the Parasol
+has been in use from a very early period.
+
+Chinese history goes a very long way back, inasmuch as it places the
+invention of these elegant machines many thousand years anterior to
+the Mosaic date of the world's creation. Their antiquity among the
+Hindoos is more satisfactorily proved by the following passage from
+the dramatic poem of _S'akuntâla_, the date of which is supposed
+to be the 6th century of the Christian era:--
+
+("The cares of supporting the nation harass the sovereign, while he
+is cheered with a view of the people's welfare, as a huge Umbrella,
+of which a man bears the staff in his own hand, fatigues while it
+shades him. The sovereign, like a branching tree, bears on his head
+the scorching sunbeams, while the broad shade allays the fever of
+those who seek shelter under him.")
+
+The origin of the Parasol is wrapped in considerable obscurity. Some
+profound investigators have supposed that large leaves tied to the
+branching extremities of a bough suggested the first idea of the
+invention. Others assert that the idea was probably derived from the
+tent, which remains in form unaltered to the present day. Dr.
+Morrison, _however_, tells us that the tradition existing in
+China is, that the _San_, which signifies a shade for sun and
+rain, originated in standards and banners waving in the air. As this
+is a case in which we may quote the line--"Who shall decide when
+doctors disagree?"--we may with safety assume that all are in the
+right, and that the Parasol owed its origin to all or any of the
+above-mentioned fortuitous circumstances.
+
+In the Ninevite sculptures the Umbrella or Parasol appears
+frequently. Layard gives a picture of a bas-relief representing a
+king in his chariot, with an attendant holding an Umbrella over his
+head. It has a curtain hanging down behind, but is otherwise exactly
+like those in use at the present time, the stretchers and sliding
+runner being plainly represented. To quote the words of that
+indefatigable traveller:--
+
+"The Umbrella or Parasol, the emblem of royalty so universally
+accepted by eastern nations, was generally carried over the king in
+time of peace, and sometimes even in time of war. In shape it
+resembled, very closely, those in common use; but it is always open
+in the sculptures. It was edged with tassels, and was usually
+ornamented at the top by a flower or some other ornament. On the
+later bas-reliefs, a long piece of embroidered linen or silk falling
+from one side like a curtain, appears to screen the king completely
+from the sun. The parasol was reserved exclusively for the monarch,
+and is never represented as borne over any other person."
+
+In Egypt again, the Parasol is found in various shapes. In some
+instances it is depicted as a _flabellum_, a fan of palm-leaves
+or coloured feathers fixed on a long handle, resembling those now
+carried behind the Pope in processions. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in his
+work on Egypt, has, an engraving of an Ethiopian princess travelling
+through Upper Egypt in a chariot; a kind of Umbrella fastened to a
+stout pole rises in the centre, bearing a close affinity to what are
+now termed chaise Umbrellas. To judge from Wilkinson's account, the
+Umbrella was generally used throughout Egypt, partly as a mark of
+distinction, but more on account of its useful than its ornamental
+qualities.
+
+The same author is rather doubtful whether, in the picture given by
+him of a military chief in his chariot, the frame which an attendant
+holds up behind the rider is a shield or a screen, but the latter is
+the more probable supposition, as it has all the appearance of an
+Umbrella without the usual handle. In some paintings on a temple
+wall, an Umbrella is held over the figure of a god carried in
+procession, and altogether we may, perhaps, consider it decided,
+beyond dispute, that the Umbrella in its modern shape was used in
+Egypt. [Footnote: To silence captious critics, who may find fault with
+the designs of our artist, we may once for all remark that an idealised
+conception of the figures only is given. The style of the ancient
+draughtsmen was by no means so perfect that we, who live in a more
+civilised age, should be entirely fettered by their conceptions, and
+the records of ancient life are not nearly full enough to justify any
+one who may Assert that the pictures in our pages are not as accurate
+as those in the British Museum. Anyhow, what they ought to have been,
+rather than what the ancient were, our artist has striven to
+delineate.]
+
+In Persia the Parasol is repeatedly found in the carved work of
+Persepolis, and Sir John Malcolm has an article on the subject in his
+"History of Persia." In some sculptures--of a very Egyptian
+character, by the way--the figure of a king appears attended by a
+slave, who carries over his head an Umbrella, with stretchers and
+runner complete. In other sculptures on the rock at Takht-i-Bostan,
+supposed to be not less than twelve centuries old, a deer-hunt is
+represented, at which a king looks on, seated on a horse, and having
+an Umbrella borne over his head by an attendant.
+
+This combination of business and comfort forcibly reminds us of a
+certain wet day in Carlsruhe, where we witnessed from the window of
+the Hôtel d'Angleterre a stout, martial-looking national guardsman
+marching to the exercising-ground with an Umbrella over his head, and
+a maid-servant diligently tramping through the mud behind him,
+bearing his musket.
+
+As in Assyria, so in most other Eastern countries, this use of the
+Parasol carried with it a peculiar and honourable significance. The
+tradition relating to its origin in China has been already alluded
+to, and we can trace notices of its use a very long way back indeed.
+
+According to Dr. Morrison, Umbrellas and Parasols are referred to in
+books printed about A.D. 300, but their use has been traced still
+further back than this. A very ancient book of Chinese ceremonies,
+called "Tcheou-Li, or The Rites of Tcheou," directs that upon the
+imperial cars the dais should be placed. "The figure of this dais
+contained in the Chinese edition of Tcheou-Li, and the particular
+description of it given in the explanatory commentary of Lin-hi-ye,
+both identify it with an Umbrella. The latter describes the dais to
+be composed of 28 arcs, which are equivalent to the whalebone ribs of
+the modern instrument, and the staff supporting the covering to
+consist of two parts, the upper being a rod 3/18ths of a Chinese foot
+in circumference, and the lower a tube 6/10ths in circumference, into
+which the upper half is capable of sliding."
+
+In the second Tartar invasion of China the emperor's son was taken
+prisoner by the Tartar chief, and made to carry his Umbrella when he
+went out hunting.
+
+Starting from the royal significance attached to the Umbrella, came
+a feeling of veneration for it, very different from the contempt with
+which we are now-a-days too apt to regard it. It was represented by
+many ancient nations as shading their gods. In the Hindoo mythology
+Vishnu is said to have paid a visit to the infernal regions with his
+Umbrella over his head. One would think that in few places could an
+Umbrella have been less appropriate, but doubtless Vishnu knew what
+he was about, and had his own reasons for carrying his _Parapluie_
+under his arm. Perhaps like Mrs. Gamp he could not be separated from
+it. So much for the ancient history of our subject in the East. We may
+now go on to countries about which we know a little more than of ancient
+China and Assyria.
+
+In Greece, as Becker tells us in his "Charicles," the Parasol was an
+indispensable adjunct to a lady of fashion. It had also its religious
+signification. In the Scirophoria, the feast of Athene Sciras, a
+white Parasol was borne by the priestesses of the goddess from the
+Acropolis to the Phalerus. In the feasts of Dionysius (in that at
+Alea in Arcadia, where he was exposed under an Umbrella, and
+elsewhere) the Umbrella was used, and in an old has-relief the same
+god is represented as descending ad _inferos_ with a small
+Umbrella in his hand, like Vishnu before mentioned.
+
+There was also another festival in which they appeared, though
+without any mystical signification. In the Panathenæa, the daughters
+of the Metceci, or foreign residents, carried Parasols over the heads
+of Athenian women as a mark of inferiority,
+
+  "tas parthenons ton metoikon skiadaephorein en tais rompais
+  aenankazon."
+  --_OElian, V. H._, vi. 1.
+[Footnote: "They compelled the maidens of the Metceci to act as
+umbrella-bearers in the processions."]
+
+Its use seems to have been confined to women. In Pausanias there is
+a description of a tomb near Pharæ, a Greek city. On the tomb was the
+figure of a woman--
+
+  "themapaina de autae prosestaeke skiadeion pherousa."
+--_Pausanias_, lib. vii., cap. 22, Section 6.
+[Footnote: "And by her stood a female slave, bearing a parasol."]
+
+Aristophanes seems to mention it among the common articles of female
+use--
+
+  "aemin men gar son eti kai nun  tantion, o kanon, oi kalathiokoi,
+      to skiadeion."
+--_Aristophanes, Thesmoph._, 821.
+[Footnote: "For now our loom is safe, our weaving-beam, our baskets
+and umbrella."]
+
+It occurs frequently on vases, and is in shape like that now used.
+It could be put up and down.
+
+  "ta d' ota g'an son, nae AL', exepetannuto  osper skiadeion, kai
+      palin xunaegeto."
+--_Arist. Eq._, 1347.
+[Footnote: "But your ears, by Jove, are stretched out like a
+parasol, and now again shut up."]
+
+Which the Scholiast explains, _ekteinetai de kai systelletai pros
+ton katepeigonta kairon._ [Footnote: "Are opened and shut as need
+requires."] For a man to carry one was considered a mark of
+effeminacy, as appears from the following fragment of Anacreon:--
+
+  "_skiadiskaen elephantinaen phorei gunaixin autos._"
+  _Athenaeus_, lib. xii., cap. 46,  Section 534.
+[Footnote: "He carries an ivory parasol, as women do."]
+
+Plutarch makes Aristides speak of Xerxes as sitting under a canopy
+or Umbrella looking at the sea-fight--
+
+  "_kathaeenos hupd skiadi chrysae._"
+  _Plut. Therm., c. 16_ (p. 120),
+[Footnote: "Sitting under a golden canopy."]
+
+and of Cleopatra in like manner--
+
+  "_upo skiadi chrysopasto._"
+  _Plut. Anton., c. 26_ (p. 927).
+[Footnote: "Under a gold-wrought canopy."]
+
+From Greece it is probable that the use of the Parasol passed to
+Rome, where it seems to have been commonly used by women, while it
+was the custom even for effeminate men to defend themselves from the
+heat by means of the _Umbraculum_, formed of skin or leather,
+and capable of being lowered at will. We find frequent reference to
+the Umbrella in the Roman Classics, and it appears that it was, not
+unlikely, a post of honour among maid-servants to bear it over their
+mistresses. Allusions to it are tolerably frequent in the poets.
+Virgil's "Munimen ad imbres" [Footnote: "A shelter for the shower."]
+probably has nothing to do with Umbrellas, but more definite mention
+of them is not wanting. Ovid speaks of Hercules carrying the Parasol
+of Omphale:--
+
+  "Aurea pellebant rapidos umbracula soles,
+  Quæ tamen Herculeæ sustinuere manus."
+--_Ov. Fast._, lib. ii., 1. 31 I.
+[Footnote: "A golden umbrella warded off the keen sun, which even
+the hands of Hercules have borne."]
+
+Martial speaks of a servant carrying the Parasol:--
+
+  "Umbellam lusca, Lygde feras Dominæ."
+--_Mart._, lib. xi., ch. 73.
+[Footnote: "Mayst thou, Lygde, be parasol-carrier for a publind
+mistress."]
+
+Juvenal mentions an Umbrella as a present:--
+
+  "En cui tu viridem umbellam cui succina mittas"
+--_Juv._, ix., 50.
+[Footnote: "See to whom it is sent a green umbrella and amber
+ornaments"]
+
+Ovid advises a lover to make himself agreeable
+by holding his mistress's Parasol:--
+
+  "Ipse tene distenta suis umbracula virgis"
+_Ov. Ars._ Am., ii., 209.
+[Footnote: "Yourself hold up the umbrella spread out by its rods"]
+
+This shows that the Umbrella was of much the same construction as
+ours.
+
+A very common use for it was in the theatre, whenever, from wind or
+other cause, the _velarium_ or huge awning stretched over the
+building (always open to the air) could not be put up:--
+
+  "Accipe quæ nimios vincant umbracula soles,
+   Sit licet, et ventus, te tua vela tegont."
+--_Mart.,_ lib. xiv., Ep. 28.
+[Footnote: "Take this, which may shield you from the sun's excessive
+rays. So may your own sail shield you, even should the breeze blow."]
+
+By _tua vela_ is to be understood "your own Umbrella." And
+elsewhere the same writer gives the advice:--
+
+  "Ingrediare viam coelo licet usque sereno
+   Ad subitas nunquam scortea desit aquas."
+--Man'., lib. xiv. Ep. 130.
+[Footnote: "Though with a bright sky you begin your journey, let
+this cloak ever be at hand in case of unexpected showers."]
+
+
+It will be noticed from the above extracts that the Umbrella does
+not appear to have been used among the Romans as a defence from rain;
+and this is curious enough, for we know that the theatres were
+protected by the _velarium_ or awning, which was drawn across
+the arena whenever a sudden shower came on; strange that this
+self-evident application of the Umbrella should not have occurred to a
+nation generally so ingenious in the invention of every possible
+luxury. Possibly the expense bestowed in the decoration of the
+_umbraculum_ was a reason for its not being applied to what we
+cannot but regard as its legitimate use.
+
+After the founding of Constantinople, the custom of great people
+carrying an Umbrella seems to have arisen, but in Rome it appears
+only to have been used as a luxury, never as a mark of distinction,
+Pliny speaks of Umbrellas made of palm-leaves, but from other sources
+we may gather that the Romans--at all events in the days of the
+empire--lavished as much splendour on their Umbrella as on all the
+articles of their dress. Ovid (as above quoted) speaks of an Umbrella
+inwrought with gold, and Claudian in the same way has:--
+
+  "Neu defensura calorem
+   Aurea submoveant rapidos umbracula soles."
+--_Claud._, lib. viii., De. iv. cons. Honorii, 1. 340.
+[Footnote: "Nor to protect you from the heat, let the golden
+umbrella ward off the keen sun's rays."]
+
+From this we may conclude that the carrying an Umbrella was in some
+sort a mark of effeminacy. In another place carrying the Umbrella is
+alluded to as one of the duties of a slave:--
+
+  "Jam non umbracula tollunt
+   Virginibus," etc.
+[Footnote: "_Now_ they do not carry girls' parasols."]
+
+Gorius says that the Umbrella came to Rome from the Etruscans, and
+certainly it appears not infrequently on Etruscan vases, as also on
+later gems. One gem, figured by Pacudius, shows an Umbrella with a
+bent handle, sloping backwards. Strabo describes a sort of screen or
+Umbrella worn by Spanish women, but this is not like a modern
+Umbrella.
+
+Very many curious facts are connected with the use of the Umbrella
+throughout the East, where it was nearly everywhere one of the
+insignia of royalty, or at least of high rank.
+
+M. de la Loubère, who was Envoy Extraordinary from the French King
+to the King of Siam in 1687 and 1688, wrote an account entitled a
+"New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam," which was
+translated in 1693 into English. According to his account the use of
+the Umbrella was granted to some only of the subjects by the king. An
+Umbrella with several circles, as if two or three umbrellas were
+fastened on the same stick, was permitted to the king alone, the
+nobles carried a single Umbrella with painted cloths hanging from it.
+The Talapoins (who seem to have been a sort of Siamese monks) had
+Umbrellas made of a palm-leaf cut and folded, so that the stem formed
+a handle. The same writer describes the audience-chamber of the King
+of Siam. In his quaint old French, he says:--"Pour tout meuble il n'y
+a que trois para-sol, un devant la fenêtre, a neuf ronds, & deux à
+sept ronds aux deux côtéz de la fenêtre. Le para-sol est en ce Pais-la,
+ce que le Dais est en celui-ci."
+
+Tavernier, in his "Voyage to the East," says that on each side of
+the Mogul's throne were two Umbrellas, and also describes the hall of
+the King of Ava as decorated with an Umbrella. The Mahratta princes,
+who reigned at Poonah and Sattara, had the title of Ch'hatra-pati,
+"Lord of the Umbrella." Ch'hatra or cháta has been suggested as the
+derivation of _satrapaes_ (_exatrapaes_ in Theopompus), and
+it seems a probable derivation enough. The cháta of the Indian and
+Burmese princes is large and heavy, and requires a special attendant,
+who has a regular position in the royal household. In Ava it seems to
+have been part of the king's title, that he was "King of the white
+elephant, and Lord of the twenty-four Umbrellas." Persons of rank in
+the Mahratta court, who were not permitted the right of carrying an
+Umbrella, used a screen, a flat vertical disc called AA'-ab-gir,
+carried by an attendant. Even now the Umbrella has not lost its
+emblematic meaning. In 1855 the King of Burmah directed a letter to
+the Marquis of Dalhousie in which he styles himself "His great,
+glorious, and most excellent Majesty, who reigns over the kingdoms of
+Thunaparanta, Tampadipa, and all the great Umbrella-wearing chiefs of
+the Eastern countries," &c.
+
+Thus we see that the same signification which was attached to the
+Umbrella by the ancient people of Nineveh, still remains connected
+with it even in our own time.
+
+In the Great Exhibition of 1851 was the splendid Umbrella belonging
+to his Highness the Maharajah of Najpoor. The ribs and stretchers,
+sixteen in number, divided the Umbrella into as many segments,
+covered with silk, exquisitely embroidered with gold and silver
+ornaments. The upper part of the design was complete in each
+department, but at the lower, it was formed into a graceful running
+border, to which a fringe was attached. The handle was hollow and
+formed of thick silver plates.
+
+In Bengal it appears that no distinction is attached to the
+Umbrella, since the poorer classes there use a cháta or small
+Umbrella, made of leaves of the _Licerata peltata_. These are of
+conical form and have numerous ribs and stretchers. The higher class
+in Assam use a similar Umbrella.
+
+In China the use of the Umbrella does not appear to have been
+confined, as in India and Persia, to royalty; but it was always, as
+it is now, a mark of high rank, though not exclusively so. There
+seems to have been no particular rule about it, but it carried with
+it some peculiar distinction; for, on one occasion at least, we hear
+of twenty-four Umbrellas being carried before the Emperor when he
+went out hunting. Here it is, what it appears to be in no other
+Eastern country, a defence against rain rather than sun, and while
+the richer people do not go out much while it is wet, the poorer
+classes wear a dress that protects them from the weather. In the
+rainy season, for instance, a Chinese boatman wears a coat of straw,
+and a hat of straw and bamboo. Such a dress, of course, renders an
+Umbrella superfluous, and it matters little to the wearer how hard
+the rain may pelt. Nevertheless great numbers of Umbrellas are
+exported from China to India, the Indian Archipelago, and even South
+America. In the 1851 Exhibition two only were shown. Of them the
+report says, "They present nothing remarkable beyond the great number
+of ribs, which amount to forty-two. The ribs are formed of wood; and
+instead of being embraced by the fork of the stretcher, as in the
+case of European Umbrellas, they have a groove cut out in the middle
+of their lengths, into which the stretcher is secured by a stud of
+wood. The head of each rib fits into a notch formed in the ring of
+wood, which is fastened on to the top of the stick, there being a
+separate, notch for each rib. The slide is of wood, and has forty-two
+notches, namely, one for each stretcher, which like the ribs, is
+formed of wood. The covering of the Umbrellas exhibited is of oiled
+paper coarsely painted."
+
+But the use of the Umbrella travelled westward, and with it the
+custom of regarding it as a mark of dignity.
+
+Amongst the Arabs the Umbrella was a mark of distinction. Niebuhr,
+who travelled in Southern Arabia, describes a procession of the Iman
+of Sanah. In it the Iman and each of the princes of his numerous
+family, caused a _madalla,_ or large Umbrella, to be carried by
+his side; and it is a privilege which, in this country, is
+appropriated to princes of the blood, just as the Sultan of
+Constantinople permits none but his vizier to have his caique, or
+gondola, covered behind, to keep him from the heat of the sun. The
+same writer goes on to say that many independent chiefs of Yemen
+carried _madallas_ as a mark of their independence.
+
+In Morocco, according to a passage quoted by a writer in the
+_Penny Magazine_ from the Travels of Ali Bey, the emperor alone
+and his family are allowed to use it. "The retinue of the Sultan was
+composed of a troop of from fifteen to twenty men on horseback. About
+a hundred steps behind them came the Sultan, who was mounted on a
+mule with an officer bearing his Umbrella, who rode by his side also
+on a mule. The Umbrella is a distinguishing sign of the sovereign of
+Morocco. Nobody but himself, his sons, or his brothers dare to make
+use of it." In Turkey the Umbrella is common. A vestige of the
+reverence once attached to it remains in the custom of compelling
+everybody who passes the palace where the Sultan is residing to lower
+his Umbrella as a mark of respect. And--at all events some years
+back, before the Crimean war had introduced so many Europeans to
+Constantinople--any one neglecting to pay the required reverence,
+stood in considerable danger of a lively reminder from the sentry on
+duty.
+
+Before concluding this chapter, it may not be out of place to make a
+few remarks as to the origin of the word Umbrella, as we have done
+regarding the thing itself. The English name is borrowed from the
+Italian _Ombrella_. The Latin term _Umbella_ is applied by
+botanists to those blossoms which are clustered at the extremities of
+several spokes, radiating from the common stem like the metallic
+props of the Umbrella. The name, as is seen, does not give the
+slightest idea of the use of the article designated, as is often the
+case with words we practical folk employ; and we might well take a
+lesson from our cousins German or French, who have invented distinct
+names for the weapon used to ward off the rays of the sun, and that
+employed against rain, namely,--Regenschirm, _parapluie;_
+Sonnenschirm, _parasol._ These are better than our names, even
+though both the French words labour under the disadvantage of being
+hybrids, half Greek and half Latin.
+
+Such, then, is the ancient history of the Umbrella, as far as our
+research has enabled us to trace it, and, indeed, we are now not a
+little surprised at the result of those labours which have enabled us
+to discover so much.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE UMBRELLA IN ENGLAND.
+
+
+As a canopy of state, Umbrellas were generally used in the south of
+Europe; they are found in the ceremonies of the Byzantine Church;
+they were borne over the Host in procession, and formed part of the
+Pontifical regalia.
+
+A mediæval gem represents a bishop, attended by a cross-bearer, and
+a servant who carries behind him an Umbrella.
+
+In the Basilican churches of Rome is suspended a large Umbrella, and
+the cardinal who took his title from the church has the privilege of
+having an Umbrella carried over his head on solemn processions. It is
+not, altogether impossible that the cardinal's hat may be derived
+from this Umbrella. The origin of this custom of hanging an Umbrella
+in the Basilican churches is plain enough. The judge sitting in the
+basilica would have it as part of his insignia of office. On the
+judgment hall being turned into a church, the Umbrella remained, and
+in fact occupied the place of the canopy over thrones and the like in
+our own country. Beatiano, an Italian herald, says that "a vermilion
+Umbrella in a field argent symbolises dominion."
+
+References crop up now and then throughout the middle age records,
+to Umbrellas; but the extreme paucity of such allusions goes to show
+that they were not in common use. In an old romance, "The Blonde of
+Oxford," a jester makes fun of a nobleman for being out in the rain
+without his cloak. "Were I a rich man," says he, "I would bear my
+house about with me." By this very valiant joke he meant, as he
+afterwards explained, that the nobleman should wear a cloak, not that
+he ought not to forget his Umbrella So it is clear, we find, that our
+forefathers depended on their cloaks, not on their Umbrellas, for
+protection against storms.
+
+Careful research has enabled us to light on a solitary instance of
+an ancient English Umbrella, for Wright, in his "Domestic Manners of
+the English," gives a drawing from the Harleian MS., No. 603, which
+represents an Anglo-Saxon gentleman walking out attended by his
+servant, the servant carrying an Umbrella with a handle that slopes
+backwards, so as to bring the Umbrella over the head of the person in
+front. It probably, therefore, could not be shut up, but otherwise it
+looks like an ordinary Umbrella, and the ribs are represented
+distinctly.
+
+Whether this earliest Jonas Hanway (the reputed first importer of
+the Umbrella, of whom more hereafter) was peculiarly sybaritic in his
+notions, or whether, like the mammoth of Siberia, he is the one
+remaining instance of a former "umbrelliferous" race, must, at least
+for the present, remain undecided. The general use of the Parasol in
+France and England was adopted, probably from China, about the middle
+of the seventeenth century. At that period, pictorial representations
+of it are frequently found, some of which exhibit the peculiar broad
+and deep canopy belonging to the large Parasol of the Chinese
+Government officials, borne by native attendants.
+
+John Evelyn, in his Diary for the 22nd June, 1664, mentions a
+collection of rarities shown him by one Thompson, a Catholic priest,
+sent by the Jesuits of Japan and China to France. Among the
+curiosities were "fans like those our ladies use, but much larger,
+and with long handles, strangely carved and filled with Chinese
+characters," which is evidently a description of the Parasol.
+
+In the title-page of Evelyn's "Kalendarium Hortense," also published
+in the same year, we find a black page represented, bearing a closed
+Umbrella or Sunshade. It is again evident that the Parasol was more
+an article of curiosity than use at this period, from the fact that
+it is mentioned as such in the catalogue of the "_Museum
+Tradescantium_, or Collection of Rarities, preserved at South
+Lambeth, by London, by John Tradescant."
+
+In Coryat's "Crudities," a very rare and highly interesting work,
+published in 1611, about a century and a half prior to the general
+introduction of the Umbrella into England, we find the following
+curious passage:--
+
+After talking of fans he goes on to say, "And many of them doe carry
+other fine things of a far greater price, that will cost at the least
+a duckat, which they commonly call in the Italian tongue umbrellas,
+that is, things which minister shadow veto them for shelter against
+the scorching heate of the sunne. These are made of leather,
+something answerable to the forme of a little cannopy, & hooped in
+the inside with divers little wooden hoopes that extend the umbrella
+in a pretty large cornpasse. They are used especially by horsemen,
+who carry them in their hands when they ride, fastening the end of
+the handle upon one of their thighs, and they impart so large a
+shadow unto them, that it keepeth the heate of the sunne from the
+upper parts of their bodies."
+
+Reference to the same custom, of riders in Italy using umbrellas, is
+made in Florio's "Worlde of Wordes" (1598), where we find "Ombrella,
+a fan, a canopie, also a festoon or cloth of State for a prince, also
+a kind of round fan or shadowing that they use to ride with in sommer
+in Italy, a little shade."
+
+In Cotgrave's "Dictionary of the French and English Tongues," the
+French Ombrelle is translated, "An umbrello; a (fashion of) round and
+broad fanne, wherewith the Indians (and from them our great ones)
+preserve themselves from the heat of a scorching sunne; and hence any
+little shadow, fanne, or thing, wherewith women hide their faces fro
+the sunne."
+
+In Fynes Moryson's "Itinerary" (1617) we find a similar allusion to
+the habit of carrying Umbrellas in hot countries "to auoide the
+beames of the sunne." Their employment, says the author, is
+dangerous, "because they gather the heate into a pyramidall point,
+and thence cast it down perpendicularly upon the head, except they
+know how to carry them for auoyding that danger." This is certainly a
+fact not generally known to those who use Parasols too recklessly.
+
+"Poesis Rediviva," by John Collop, M.D. (1656), mentions Umbrellas.
+Michael Drayton, writing about 1620, speaks of a pair of doves, which
+are to watch over the person addressed in his verses:--
+
+  "Of doves I have a dainty pair,
+  Which, when you please to take the air,
+  About your head shall gently hover,
+  Your clear brow from the sun to cover;
+  And with their nimble wings shall fan you,
+  That neither cold nor heat shall tan you;
+  And, like umbrellas, with their feathers
+  Shall shield you in all sorts of weathers."
+
+Beaumont and Fletcher have an allusion to the umbrella (1640);--
+
+  "Now are you glad, now is your mind at ease,
+  Now you have got a shadow, an umbrella,
+  To keep the 'scorching world's opinion
+  From your fair credit."
+--_Rule a Wife and Have a Wife_, Act iii, sc. I.
+
+Ben Jonson, too, once mentions it (date 1616), speaking of a mishap
+which befel a lady at the Spanish Court:--
+
+  "And there she lay, flat spread as an umbrella."
+--_The Devil is an Ass_, Act iv., SC. I.
+
+Of the fact that Umbrellas' were known and used in Italy long prior
+to their introduction into France, we find a confirmation in old
+Montaigne, who observes, _lib_. iii. _cap_. ix. :--"Les
+Ombrelles, de quoy depuis les anciens Remains l'Italie se sert,
+chargent plus le bras, qu'ils ne deschargent la teste."
+
+Kersey's Dictionary (1708) describes an Umbrella as a "screen
+commonly used by women to keep off rain."
+
+The absence of almost all allusion to the Umbrella by the wits of
+the seventeenth century, while the muff, fan, &c., receive so large a
+share of attention, is a further proof that it was far from being
+recognised as an article of convenient luxury at that day. The
+clumsy shape, probably, prevented its being generally used. In one of
+Dryden's plays we find the line:--
+
+  "I can carry your umbrella and fan, your Ladyship."
+
+Gay, addressing a gentleman, in his "Trivia, or the Art of Walking
+the Streets of London" (1712), says:--
+
+ "Be thou for every season justly dress'd,
+  Nor brave the piercing frost with open breast:
+  And when the bursting clouds a deluge pour.
+  Let thy surtout defend the gaping shower."
+
+And again:--
+
+ "That garment best the winter's rage defends
+  Whose shapeless form in ample plaits depends;
+  By various names in various countries known,
+  Yet held in all the true surtout alone.
+  Be thine of kersey tine, though small the cost,
+  Then brave, unwet, the rain, unchilled, the frost."
+
+These passages lead us to the belief that the Umbrella was not used
+by gentlemen for a long time after its merits had been recognised by
+the fair sex.
+
+The following lines from the same author have often been quoted:--
+
+  "Good housewives all the winter's rage despise
+  Defended by the riding-hood's disguise:
+  Or underneath the umbrella's oily shed
+  Safe through the wet on clinking pattens tread.
+  Let Persian dames th' umbrellas rich display,
+  To guard their beauties from the sunny ray,
+  Or sweating slaves support the shady load,
+  When Eastern monarchs show their state abroad,
+  Britain in winter only knows its aid
+  To guard from chilly showers the walking maid."
+--_Trivia_, B. 1.
+
+
+Dean Swift, also, in the _Tatler_, No. 228, in describing a
+City shower, thus alludes to the common use of the Umbrella by
+women:--
+
+  "Now in contiguous drops the floods come down,
+  Threatening with deluge the devoted town:
+  To shops in crowds the draggled females fly,
+  Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy:
+  The Templar spruce, while every spout's abroach,
+  Stays till 'tis fair, yet seems to call a coach:
+  The tucked-up sempstress walks with hasty strides,
+  While streams run down her oiled umbrella's sides."
+
+About this time the custom obtained of keeping an Umbrella in the
+halls of great houses, to be used in passing from the door to the
+carriage. At coffee-houses, too, the same was done.
+
+That the use of the Umbrella was considered far too effeminate for
+man, is seen from the following advertisement from the _Female
+Tatler_ for December 12th, 1709:--"The young gentleman borrowing
+the Umbrella belonging to Wills' Coffee-house, in Cornhill, of the
+mistress, is hereby advertised, that to be dry from head to foot on
+the like occasion, he shall be welcome to the maid's pattens."
+
+Defoe's description of Robinson Crusoe's Umbrella is, of course,
+familiar to all our readers. He makes his hero say that he had seen
+Umbrellas used in Brazil, where they were found very useful in the
+great heats that were there, and that he constructed his own
+instrument in imitation of them, "I covered it with skins," he adds,
+"the hair outwards, so that it cast off the rain like a pent-house,
+and kept off the sun so effectually, that I could walk out in the
+hottest of the weather with greater advantage than I could before in
+the coolest." We may also add, that from this description the
+original heavy Umbrellas obtained the name of "Robinson," which they
+retained for many years, both here and in France.
+
+In the "Memoir of Ambrose Barnes," published for the Surtees
+Society, under date 1718, appears an entry, "Umbrella for the
+Church's use, 25s." A similar entry is also found in the
+churchwarden's accounts for the parochial chapelry of Burnley,
+Surrey, for A.D. 1760, "Paid for Umbrella 2_l_. 10_s_.
+6_d_." Both these Umbrellas were in all likelihood intended for
+the use of clergymen at funerals in the churchyard, as was that
+alluded to in Hone's _Year-Book_ (1826) which was kept for the
+same purpose in a country church. This last had "an awning of green
+oiled canvas, such as common Umbrellas were made of, forty years ago."
+
+Bailey's _Encyclopædia_ (1736) has "Umbrello, a sort of wooden
+frame, covered with cloth, put over a window to keep out the sun;
+also a screen carried over the head to defend from sun or rain." Also
+"Parasol, a little umbrella to keep off sun."
+
+There is at Woburn Abbey a picture, painted about 1730, of the
+Duchess of Bedford, with a black servant behind her, who holds an
+Umbrella over her, and a sketch of the same period attached to a song
+called "The Generous Repulse," shows a lady seated on a flowery bank
+holding a Parasol with a long handle over her head, while she gently
+checks the ardour of her swain, and consoles him by the following
+touching strain:--
+
+  "Thy vain pursuit, fond youth, give o'er,
+   What more, alas! can Flavia do?
+  Thy worth I own, thy fate deplore,
+   All are not happy that are true."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "But if revenge can ease thy pain,
+   I'll soothe the ills I cannot cure,
+  Tell thee I drag a hopeless chain,
+   And all that I inflict endure!"
+
+Rather cold consolation, but an unexceptionable and moral sentiment.
+
+The idea, therefore, that the Duchess of Rutland devised Parasols in
+1826 for the first time is obviously incorrect, whatever her grace
+may have done towards rendering them fashionable. Captain Cook, in
+one of his voyages, saw some of the natives of the South Pacific
+Islands, with Umbrellas made of palm-leaves.
+
+We have thus seen that the use both of the Umbrella and Parasol was
+not unknown in England during the earlier half of the eighteenth
+century. That it was not very common, is evident from the fact that
+General (then Lieut.-Colonel) Wolfe, writing from Paris in 1752,
+speaks of the people there using Umbrellas for the sun and rain, and
+wonders that a similar practice does not obtain in England.
+
+Just about the same time they do seem to have come into general use,
+and that pretty rapidly, as people found their value, and got over
+the shyness natural to a first introduction. Jonas Hanway, the
+founder of the Magdalen Hospital, has the credit of being the first
+man who had the courage to carry one habitually in London, since it
+is recorded in the life of that venerable philanthropist, the friend
+of chimney-sweeps and sworn foe to tea, that he was the first man who
+ventured to dare public reproach and ridicule by carrying an
+Umbrella. He probably felt the benefit of one during his travels in
+Persia, where they were in constant use as a protection against the
+sun, and it is also said that he was in ill health when he first made
+use of it. It was more than likely, however, that Jonas Hanway's
+neatness in dress and delicate complexion led him, on his return from
+abroad, to appreciate a luxury hitherto only confined to the ladies.
+Mr. Pugh, who wrote his life, gives the following description of his
+personal appearance, which may be regarded as a gem in its way:--
+
+"In his dress, as far as was consistent with his ideas of health and
+ease, he accommodated himself to the prevailing fashion. As it was
+frequently necessary for him to appear in polite circles on
+unexpected occasions, he usually wore dress clothes with a large
+French bag. His hat, ornamented with a gold button, was of a size and
+fashion to be worn as well under the arm as on the head. When it
+rained, a small _parapluie_ defended his face and wig."
+
+As Hanway died in 1786, and he is said to have carried an Umbrella
+for thirty years, the date of its first use by him may be set down at
+about 1750. For some time Umbrellas were objects of derision,
+especially from the hackney coachmen, who saw in their use an
+invasion on the vested rights of the fraternity; just as hackney
+coaches had once been looked upon by the watermen, who thought people
+should travel by river, not by road. John Macdonald, perhaps the only
+footman (always excepting the great Mr. James Yellowplush) who ever
+wrote a memoir of himself, relates that in 1770, he used to be
+greeted with the shout, "Frenchman, Frenchman! why don't you call a
+coach?" whenever he went out with his "fine silk umbrella, newly
+brought from Spain." Records of the Umbrella's first appearance in
+other English works have also been preserved. In Glasgow (according to
+the narrative in Cleland's "Statistical Account of Glasgow ") "the
+late Mr. John Jamieson, surgeon, returning from Paris, brought an
+Umbrella with him, which was the first seen in this city. The doctor,
+who was a man of great humour, took pleasure in relating to me how he
+was stared at with his Umbrella." In Edinburgh Dr. Spens is said to
+have been the first to carry one. In Bristol a red Leghorn Umbrella
+appeared about 1780, according to a writer in _Notes and
+Queries_, and created there no small sensation. The trade between
+Bristol and Leghorn may account for this. Some five-and-thirty years
+ago it is said that an old lady was living in Taunton who recollected
+when there were only two Umbrellas in the town, one of which belonged
+to the clergyman. When he went to church, he used to hang the
+Umbrella up in the porch, to the edification and delight of his
+parishioners.
+
+Horace Walpole tells how Dr. Shebbeare (who was prosecuted for
+seditious writings in 1758) "stood in the pillory, having a footman
+holding an umbrella to keep off the rain." For permitting this
+indulgence to a malefactor, Beardman, the under-sheriff, was punished.
+
+It is difficult to conceive how the Umbrella could come into general
+use, owing to the state in which the streets of London were up to a
+comparatively recent period. The same amusing author to whom we owe
+the description of Jonas Hanway, gives the following account of them
+at the time his work was published:--
+
+"It is not easy to convey to a person who has not seen the streets
+of London before they were uniformly paved, a tolerable idea of their
+inconvenience and uncleanliness; the signs extending on both sides of
+the way into the streets, at unequal distances from the houses, that
+they might not intercept each other, greatly obstructed the view;
+and, what is of more consequence in a crowded city, prevented the
+free circulation of the air. The footpaths were universally
+incommoded--even when they were so narrow as only to admit one person
+passing at a time--by a row of posts set on edge next the carriage-way.
+He whose urgent business would not permit of his keeping pace
+with the gentleman of leisure before him, turned out between the two
+posts before the door of some large house into the carriage-way. When
+he perceived danger moving toward him, he wished to return within the
+protection of the row of posts; but there was commonly a rail
+continued from the top of one post to that of another, sometimes for
+several houses together, in which case he was obliged to run back to
+the first inlet, or climb over, or creep under the railing, in
+attempting which, he might be fortunate if he escaped with no other
+injury than what proceeded from dirt; if, intimidated by the danger
+he escaped, he afterwards kept within the boundary of the posts and
+railing, he was obliged to put aside the travellers before him, whose
+haste was less urgent than his, and, these resisting, made his
+journey truly a warfare.
+
+"The French are reproached, even to a proverb, for the neglect of the
+convenience of foot-passengers in their metropolis, by not providing
+a separate path for them; but, great as is the exposure to dirt in Paris,
+for want of a footpath, which their many _porte-cochères_
+seem likely for ever to prevent, in the more important article of
+danger, the City of London was, at this period, at least on a par.
+How comfortless must be the sensations of an unfortunate female,
+stopped in the street on a windy day under a large old sign loaded with
+lead and iron in full swing over, her head? and perhaps a torrent of
+rain and dirty water falling near from a projecting spout, ornamented
+with the mouth and teeth of a dragon. These dangers and distresses
+are now at an end; and we may think of them as a sailor does of a
+storm, which has subsided, but the advantages derived from the
+present uniformity and cleanliness can be known only in their
+full extent by comparing them with the former inconveniences."
+
+When to this description is added the fact that the hoop petticoat
+and another article of dress monopolised the whalebone, it will be
+seen how much had to be got over before an Umbrella could be carried
+out by the citizens of London, as a walking-staff, with satisfactory
+assurance of protection in case of a shower. The earliest English
+Umbrellas, we must also remember, were made of oiled silk, very
+clumsy and difficult to open when wet; the stick and furniture were
+heavy and inconvenient, and the article very expensive.
+
+At the end of the century allusions to the Umbrella are not
+infrequent. Cowper, in his "Task" (1780), twice mentions it, but
+seems to mean a Parasol:--
+
+  "We bear our shades about us; self-deprived
+  Of other screen, the thin umbrella spread,
+  And range an Indian waste without a tree."
+--B. i.
+
+And again:--
+
+  "Expect her soon, with footboy at her heels,
+  No longer blushing for her awkward load,
+  Her train and her umbrella all her care."
+--B. iv,
+
+The Rev. G. C. Renouard, writing in 1850 to Notes and Queries, says:--
+
+"In the hall of my father's house, at Stamford, in Lincolnshire,
+there was, when I was a child, the wreck of a large green silk
+umbrella, apparently of Chinese manufacture, brought by my father
+from Scotland, somewhere between 1770 and 1780, and, as I have often
+heard, the first umbrella seen at Stamford. I well remember, also, an
+amusing description given by the late Mr. Warry, so many years consul
+at Smyrna, of the astonishment and envy of his mother's neighbours,
+at Sawbridgeworth, in Hants, where his father had a country house,
+when he ran home and came back with an umbrella, which he had just
+brought from Leghorn, to shelter them from a pelting shower which
+detained them in the church porch, after the service, on one summer
+Sunday. From Mr. Warry's age at the time he mentioned this, and other
+circumstances in his history, I conjecture that it occurred not later
+than 1775 or 1776. As Sawbridgeworth is so near London, it is evident
+that even then umbrellas were at that time almost unknown."
+
+Since this date, however, the Umbrella has come into general use,
+and in consequence numerous improvements have been effected in it.
+The transition to the present portable form is due, partly to the
+substitution of silk and gingham for the heavy and troublesome oiled
+silk, which admitted of the ribs and frames being made much lighter,
+and also to the many ingenious mechanical improvements in the
+framework, chiefly by French and English manufacturers, many of which
+were patented, and to which we purpose presently to allude.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE STORY OF THE PARACHUTE.
+
+
+In giving an account of the Umbrella, it would not be right to omit
+mentioning another, and far from legitimate use in which it has been
+employed by notoriety-hunting _artistes_--we allude to the
+Parachute; and a short narration of its origin and progress may not
+be uninteresting to our readers.
+
+The Parachute commonly in use is nothing more or less than a huge
+Umbrella, presenting a surface of sufficient dimension to experience
+from the air a resistance equal to the weight of descent, in moving
+through the fluid at a velocity not exceeding that of the shock which
+a person can sustain without danger or injury. It is made of silk or
+cotton. To the outer edge cords are fastened, of about the same
+length as the diameter of the machine (24 to 28 feet). A centre cord
+is attached to the apex and meets the cords from the margin, acting,
+in fact, as the stick of the Umbrella. The machine is thus kept
+expanded during descent. The car is fastened to the centre cord, and
+the whole attached to the balloon in such a manner that it may be
+readily and quickly detached, either by cutting a string, or pulling
+a trigger. Consequently, in the East, where the Umbrella has been
+from the earliest ages in familiar use, it appears to have been
+occasionally employed by vaulters, to enable them to jump safely from
+great heights. Father Loubère, in his curious account of Siam,
+relates, that a person famous in that country for his dexterity, used
+to divert the King and Court by the extraordinary leaps he took,
+having two Umbrellas with long slender handles, fastened to his
+girdle. In 1783 M. le Normand demonstrated the utility of the
+Parachute; by lifting himself down from the windows of a high house
+at Lyons. His idea was that it might be made a sort of fire-escape.
+
+Blanchard was the first person who constructed a Parachute to act as
+a safety-guard to the aeronaut in case of any accident. During an
+excursion he made from Lille, in 1785, when he traversed, without
+stopping, a distance of 300 miles, he let down a Parachute with a
+basket fastened to it containing a dog. This he suffered to fall from
+a great height, and it reached the ground in safety.
+
+The first Parachute descent from a balloon, however, was made by
+Jacques Garnerin, on the 22nd of October, 1797, in the Park of
+Monceau. De la Lande, the celebrated astronomer, has furnished a
+detailed and highly interesting account of this foolish experiment.
+
+Garnerin resided in London during the short peace of 1802, and made
+two ascents with his balloon, in the second of which he let himself
+fall, at an amazing height, with a Parachute of 23 feet diameter. He
+started from an enclosure near North Audley Street, and descended
+after having been seven or eight minutes in the air. After cutting
+himself away, he floated over Marylebone and Somers Town, and fell in
+a field near St. Pancras Old Church. The oscillation was so great,
+that he was thrown out of the Parachute, and narrowly escaped death.
+He seemed a good deal frightened, and said that the peril was too
+great for endurance. One of the stays of the machine having given
+way, his danger was increased. The next person who tried this
+dangerous experiment was his niece, Eliza Garnerin, who descended
+several times in safety. Her Parachute had a large orifice in the
+top, in order to check the oscillation, and this appears to have been
+tolerably successful.
+
+The next experimentalist was a person of the name of Cocking, who
+ended his days in a manner unworthy his talents, through a series of
+lamentable mistakes. His Parachute was constructed on the opposite
+principle, of a wedge-like form, and was intended to cleave through
+the air, instead of offering a resistance to it. It has not yet been
+proved that the principle was wrong, but the defect lay in the
+weakness of the materials employed in the formation of the Parachute.
+
+On the 29th July, 1837, Mr. Cocking ascended in his new Parachute,
+attached to the Great Nassau Balloon. Mr. Cocking liberated himself
+from the balloon, the Parachute collapsed and fell, at a frightful
+rate, into a field near Lea, where poor Cocking was found with an
+awful wound on his right temple. He never spoke, but died almost
+immediately afterwards. It is much to be regretted that the descent
+was ever allowed to take place. The aeronauts themselves were for
+some time in a state of imminent peril. Immediately the Parachute was
+cut away, the balloon ascended with frightful velocity, owing to the
+ascending power it necessarily gained by being freed from a weight of
+nearly 500 pounds; and had it not been that its occupants applied
+their mouths to the air-bags previously provided, they must have been
+suffocated by the escaping gas. When the re-action took place, the
+balloon had lost its buoyancy, and fell, rather than descended, to
+the ground.
+
+Mr. Hampton was the next person who attempted the experiment, and
+made three descents in a Parachute in succession without injury.
+Undeterred by the awful fate of his predecessor, this gentleman
+determined on making a Parachute descent which should prove the
+correctness of the theory, and the Montpellier Gardens at Cheltenham
+were selected as the scene of the exploit. Owing to the censure which
+was attached to the proprietors of the Vauxhall Gardens, for
+permitting docking's ascent, the owners of the Gardens at Cheltenham
+would not suffer the experiment to be made, and Mr. Hampton was
+obliged to have recourse to stratagem. As he was permitted to display
+his Parachute in the manner he intended to use it, the idea suddenly
+flashed across his mind that, he could carry out his long-nursed
+wishes. He suddenly cut the rope which kept him down, and went off,
+to the astonishment of the spectators: the last cheering sound that
+reached him being--"He will be killed to a dead certainty!"
+
+After attaining an altitude of nearly two miles, Mr. Hampton
+proceeded to cut the rope that held him attached to the balloon. He
+paused for a second or two, as he remembered that it would soon be
+life or death with him, but at length drew his knife across the rope.
+The first feelings he experienced were both unpleasant and alarming;
+his eyes and the top of his head appeared to be forced upwards, but
+this passed off in a few seconds, and his feelings subsequently
+became pleasant, rather than disagreeable.
+
+So steady and slow was the descent that the Parachute appeared to be
+stationary. Mr. Hampton remembered that a bag of ballast was fastened
+beneath the car, he stooped over and upset the sand, he also noted by
+his watch the time he occupied in descending. The earth seemed coming
+up to him rapidly; the Parachute indicated its approach to _terra,
+firma_ by a slight oscillation, and he presently struck the ground
+in the centre of a field, where he was first welcomed by a sheep,
+which stared at this visitor from the clouds in utter amazement. Mr.
+Hampton repeated the experiment twice in London, though on both
+occasions with considerable danger to himself, the first time falling
+on a tree in Kensington Gardens, the second on a house, which threw
+him out of the basket.
+
+After this experiment there was a lull in the Parachute folly until
+some twenty years ago, when Madame Poitevin startled the Metropolis
+from its propriety by her perilous escapes both in life and limb.
+Although considerable ingenuity was displayed in the plan of
+expanding the Parachute by the sudden discharge of gas from the
+balloon; still the very fact of a woman being exposed to such danger
+by her husband, will, we trust, hereafter prevent Englishmen from
+countenancing such an exhibition by their presence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+UMBRELLA STORIES.
+
+
+Who could for a moment suppose that so important an article as the
+Umbrella would be without its lighter as well as its more serious
+history? Umbrellas are still, we regret to say, regarded rather in a
+comic than a serious light; so, if any of the following anecdotes
+seem to treat of Umbrellas in too mocking or frivolous a vein, it is
+the fault of the bad taste of the British public, not ours, who have
+merely compiled. However, we may commence with a very neat little
+French riddle.
+
+"Quel est l'objet que l'on recherche le plus quand on s'en dégoûte?"
+
+A mysterious inquiry, and all sorts of horrible but needful
+abominations occur to the mind in answer. But the answer is not so
+bad after all. Change the spelling without altering the
+pronunciation, and you get _quand on sent des gouties,_ and, lo!
+you have it at once--le Parapluie--the faithful friend whose presence
+we most desire when we wish least for the necessity of it; the burden
+of our fine days, the shelter of our wet ones.
+
+Or again, would you like a verse or two on the same subject?
+
+  "Pour étrenne, on veut à l'envie
+  Du frais et du neuf et du beau,
+  Je dis que c'est un parapluie,
+  Que l'on doit donner en _cas d'eau._"
+
+The author of these two _jeux de mots_ unhappily we do not
+know, or we would thank him for them. The English poet of the
+Umbrella has yet to be born.
+
+The next story relates to the early history of the Umbrella in
+Scotland, and may probably be referred to the time when good Dr.
+Jamieson was walking about Glasgow with his new-fangled sheltering
+apparatus, which he had brought with him on his return from Paris. As
+it was the first ever seen in that city, it attracted universal
+attention, and a vast amount of impudence from the "horrid boys." The
+following anecdote, then, which we borrow from a Scotch paper, most
+probably refers to the same period, or thereabouts :--
+
+"When Umbrellas were first marched into Blairgowrie, they were
+sported only by the minister and the laird, and were looked upon by
+the common class of people as a perfect phenomenon. One day Daniel M--
+went to Colonel McPherson, at Blairgowrie House; when about to
+return, a shower came on, and the colonel politely offered him the
+loan of an Umbrella, which he gladly accepted, and Daniel, with his
+head two or three inches higher than usual, marched off. Not long
+after he had left, however, the colonel again saw Daniel posting
+towards him with all possible haste, still o'ertopped by his cotton
+canopy (silk Umbrellas were out of the question in those days), which
+he held out, saluting him with--' Hae, hae, Kornil, this'll never do!
+there's nae a door in all my house that'll tak it in; my very
+barn-door winna' tak it in.'"
+
+In the veracious "History of Sandford and Merton," if our memory
+serves us aright, there is an instance quoted of remarkable presence
+of mind relating to an Umbrella and its owner. The members of a
+comfortable pic-nic party were cosily assembled in some part of
+India, when an unbidden and most unwelcome guest made his appearance,
+in the shape of a huge Bengal tiger. Most persons would, naturally,
+have sought safety in flight, and not stayed to hob-and-nob with this
+denizen of the jungle; not so, however, thought a lady of the party,
+who, inspired by her innate courage, or the fear of losing her dinner
+--perhaps by both combined seized her Umbrella, and opened it suddenly
+in the face of the tiger as he stood wistfully gazing upon brown
+curry and foaming Allsop. The astonished brute turned tail and fled,
+and the lady saved her dinner. Not many years ago the Umbrella was
+employed in an equally curious manner, though not so successfully as
+in the former instance. In the campaign of 1793, General
+Bournonville, who was sent with four commissioners by the National
+Convention to the camp of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, was detained as
+a prisoner with his companions, and confined in the fortress of
+Olmütz. In this situation he made a desperate attempt to regain his
+liberty. Having procured an Umbrella, he leaped with it from a window
+forty feet above the ground, but being a very heavy man, it did not
+prove sufficient to let him down in safety. He struck against an
+opposite wall, fell into a ditch and broke his leg, and, worse than
+all, was carried back to his prison.
+
+One of the most remarkable instances on record, in which the
+Umbrella was the agency of a man's life being saved, occurred,
+according to his own statement, to our old friend Colonel Longbow. Of
+course our kind readers know him as well as we do, for not to do so
+"would be to argue yourselves unknown." At any Continental watering
+place, Longbow, or one of his family--for it is a large one--can be
+met with. He is, indeed, a wonderful man--on intimate terms with all
+the crowned heads of Europe, and proves his intimacy by always
+speaking of them by their Christian names.
+
+He is at once the "guide, philosopher, and friend" of every stranger
+who happens to form his acquaintance--a very easy task, be it
+remarked--and, though so great a man, is not above dining at your
+expense, and charming you by the terms of easy familiarity with which
+he imbibes your champagne or your porter, for all is alike to him, so
+long as he has not to pay for it: he can take any given quantity.
+
+Well, the other day we happened to meet the Colonel, and he speedily
+contrived to discover that we were on the point of going to dine, and
+so invited him to share our humble meal, as a graceful way of making
+a virtue of necessity, for had we not done so, he would have had no
+hesitation in inviting himself. During dinner, conversation, of
+course, turned upon one all-engrossing subject, the war, and the
+Colonel proceeded to give us his experiences of former wars,
+including his adventures in the Crimea, and the miraculous escape he
+owed to an Umbrella.
+
+It appeared that he had gone out with his friend, Lord Levant, on a
+yachting excursion in the Mediterranean, and they eventually found
+their way into the Black Sea. Stress of weather compelled them to put
+into the little port of Yalta, on the north coast, where they went on
+shore. The Colonel, on the Lucretian principle of "Suave mari magno,"
+&c., proceeded the next morning to the verge of the precipice to
+observe the magnificent prospect of a sea running mountains high. As
+it was raining at the time, he put up a huge gingham Umbrella he
+happened to find in the hotel. Suddenly, however, a furious blast of
+wind drove across the cliff, and lifted the Colonel bodily in the
+air. Away he flew far out to sea, the Umbrella acting as a Parachute
+to let him fall easy.
+
+Now to most men this would only have been a choice of evils, a
+progress from Scylla to Charybdis: not so to our Colonel. On coming
+up to the surface after his first dip, he found that swimming would
+not save him; so he quietly emptied out the water contained in the
+Umbrella, seated himself upon it, and sailed triumphantly into the
+harbour, like Arion on his dolphin.
+
+Our face, on hearing this anecdote, must have betrayed the
+scepticism we felt, for the Colonel proceeded to a corner of the
+room, and produced the identical Umbrella. Of course, such a proof
+was irresistible, and we were compelled to do penance for our
+unbelief by lending the gallant Colonel a sovereign, for "the Bank
+was closed." We thought the anecdote cheap at the price.
+
+There is a story told of one of our City bankers, that he owed an
+excellent wife to the interposition of an Umbrella. It appears that
+on returning home one day in a heavy shower of rain, he found a young
+lady standing in his doorway. Politeness induced him to invite her to
+take shelter under his roof, and eventually to offer her the loan of
+an Umbrella. Of course, the gallant banker called for it the next
+day, and the acquaintance thus accidentally made, soon ripened into
+mutual affection. This species of Umbrella courtship has been
+immortalised in more than one song, none of which, however, are quite
+worth quoting.
+
+A worthy little Frenchman of our acquaintance was ordered by his
+medical man to take a course of shower-baths. Such things being
+unknown to him in his fatherland, he of course found the first essay
+remarkably unpleasant, but with native ingenuity he soon discovered a
+remedy. On our asking him how he liked the hydropathic system, he
+replied, "Oh, mais c'est charmant, mon ami; I always take my
+parapluie wid me into de bath."
+
+Douglas Jerrold, in his well-known "Punch's Letters to his Son,"
+gives an anecdote of which we can only say, si non _è vero, è ben
+trovato_. It at all events illustrates the frightful morality that
+exists with regard to borrowing Umbrellas.
+
+"Hopkins once lent Simpson, his next-door neighbour, an Umbrella. You
+will judge of the intellect of Hopkins, not so much from the act of
+lending an Umbrella, but from his insane endeavour to get it back again.
+
+"It poured in torrents, Hopkins had an urgent call. Hopkins knocked
+at Simpson's door. 'I want my Umbrella.' Now Simpson had also a call
+in a directly opposite way to Hopkins; and with the borrowed Umbrella
+in his hand, was advancing to the threshold. 'I tell you,' roared
+Hopkins, 'I want my Umbrella.' 'Can't have it,' said Simpson. 'Why, I
+want to go to the East-end; it rains in torrents; what'--screamed
+Hopkins--'what am I to do for an Umbrella?'
+
+"'Do!' answered Simpson, darting from the door, 'do as I did--BORROW
+ONE.'"
+
+The Umbrella has been most successfully introduced on the stage.
+What, for instance, would Paul Pry have been without that valuable
+implement for which to inquire with his stereotyped "Hope I don't
+intrude?" Or his French successor, the nobleman in "The Grand
+Duchess," who inquires, in plaintive accents, for "Le parapluie de ma
+mere," just after Schneider has been declaiming about her father's
+sabre? Merely to bring a big Umbrella on the stage is an acknowledged
+way of raising a laugh. Mrs. Gamp again, with her receptacle for
+unconsidered trifles, cannot be realised apart from her Umbrella. And
+then, those hired waiters who come into our houses with an Umbrella
+of graceful proportions, and emerge towards the small hours with a
+most plethoric parapluie, which looks as if it had been regaling on
+the good things as well as its master! It used to appear to us a
+comical sight, years back, in the old city of Paris, to see the
+National Guard going to exercise with a musket in one hand and an
+Umbrella in the other, and we dare say it was a very sensible plan
+after all, and might have been imitated with success before
+Sebastopol. A stout steel Umbrella would offer no contemptible
+shelter to a rifleman. This circumstance, too, may throw a light on a
+hitherto obscure passage in "Macbeth," where Birnam Wood moves to
+Dunsinane--for it is just possible that the soldiers cut down the
+branches to serve them as a protection from the rain. We throw out
+this as a hint to any enterprising manager.
+
+In Germany, on the other hand, a soldier is--or used to be--strictly
+forbidden from carrying an open Umbrella, unless he is accompanied by
+a civilian or a lady. A worthy corporal, on one occasion, was sent to
+fetch an Umbrella his Major's lady had left at a friend's house, and
+at the same time took her lapdog for an airing. On the road home a
+violent shower came on, and, to avoid committing a breach of the
+regulations, under his arm he tucked the dog, which was contained,
+according to his ideas, in both the above categories, put up the
+Umbrella, and marched very comfortably to barracks.
+
+With one more characteristic anecdote we will close our budget. One
+evening, while Rowland Hill was preaching, a shower came on, and his
+chapel was speedily filled with devotees. With that peculiar
+sarcastic intonation which none could assume so successfully as
+himself, he quietly remarked, "My brethren, I have often heard that
+religion can be made a _cloak_, but this is the first occasion
+on which I ever knew it could be converted into an _Umbrella_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE REGENERATION OF THE UMBRELLA.
+
+
+Our task is now nearly completed: we have described the history of
+the Parasol, and its near relation the Umbrella, as far as our space
+permits us to treat of this interesting subject.
+
+All that remains for us to do is to give an account of the principal
+improvements effected in the Umbrella during later years.
+
+It is certain that France was some way ahead of us with regard to
+the use of Umbrellas, for they were comparatively common there before
+they were at all known _l'autre côté 'de la Manche_. This was
+but natural, considering that they were, as we have seen, used in
+Italy, and consequently the folk of southern France would not be
+likely to be far behind their neighbours in availing themselves of
+the protection from the sun, whether or no they had sufficient genius
+to shelter themselves from the rain by the aid of an Umbrella.
+
+In France Parasols and Umbrellas used to be amongst the articles
+made by the corporate body of Boursiers. M. Natalis Rondot quotes
+from the _Journal du Citoyen_, of 1754, the price of Parasols.
+It ranged from 7s. 3_d_. to 17s. 6_d_., according to the
+construction, and to whether they were made to fold up or not. In
+Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédic, is figured an Umbrella, which
+is described as follows, in the excellent introduction to the
+"Abridgements of Specifications relating to Umbrellas," lately
+published by the Commissioners of Patents:--
+
+"The ribs bear about the same proportion (as in modern umbrellas) as
+regards length, to the stick, but the stretchers are much shorter,
+being less than a quarter of the length of the ribs. They are double,
+each rib having a pair joined, one on each side of the rib, at the
+same point. The ribs are joined at the top by being strung on a ring,
+as in old English umbrellas, but the runner is made of precisely
+similar construction to the modern runner, and seems almost identical
+with that described in Caney's Specification (patent No. 5761, A.D.
+1829). Ribs and sticks are jointed, the latter in two places. There
+is no catch to hold the umbrella closed, but this upper catch is the
+ordinary bent wire one. The upper joint of the stick is made with a
+screw, the lower of a hinge with a slide, as in a modern parasol. The
+slide has a catch, resembling the ordinary runner catch. At the top
+is a ring for carrying or suspending the umbrella."
+
+Such was the old French Umbrella, and that used in England was of
+much the same sort. The old French folding Parasol is thus described
+in the "Report of the Jurors for the Exhibition of 1851:"--
+
+"The folding parasol was constructed with jointed ribs so as to fold
+back, and was likewise self-opening. The rod was a metallic tube, and
+contained a spiral spring which acted upon and pressed upwards an
+inner rod. To this inner rod were jointed the stretchers, which in
+this construction were placed above the ribs instead of below, as in
+the ordinary form, beside which they were much shorter, so as to
+admit of their being concealed by the covering. By the elasticity of
+the spiral spring contained in the hollow stem, the inner rod was
+pressed outwards and lifted the stretchers, and by their means raised
+the ribs also, so that in its ordinary or natural state the umbrella
+was always open, and would continue so unless constrained to remain
+closed by a catch. On releasing the catch it consequently sprang
+open. In order that it might be easily closed, four cords were
+attached to four of the ribs and passed to the handle; and a loop
+embracing these cords passed down by the side of the handle, and
+enabled the possessor to close his umbrella without difficulty. From
+the authority already quoted, we learn that whalebone was employed
+for the ribs, and that their number varied with their length; for
+example, when 24 inches long the number employed was 8; when 25
+inches, 9; and when 26, 28 and 30 inches, 10 were used. Calico was
+employed to cover umbrellas, and silk to cover parasols. The use of
+parasols was common in Lyons at that period (1786); they were carried
+by men as well as women; they were rose-coloured, white, and of
+other colours, and were so light as to be carried without
+inconvenience."
+
+The "Encyclopedic Méthodique" gives some interesting particulars as
+to the manufacture of Parasols and Umbrellas at the end of the
+eighteenth century. From it, it appears that the ribs were
+occasionally made of metal. "On étend cette couverture portative par
+le moyen de quelques brins de baleine, ou de fils de cuivre ou de fer
+qui la soutiennent." This is interesting, as showing that metal ribs
+are not a very modern invention.
+
+The following statement of the comparative weights and sizes of
+Umbrellas was prepared by M. Farge for the French Exposition of
+1849:--
+
+  Umbrellas     Length of ribs.      Weight,
+    of               inches.         Lb.  oz.
+
+   1645               31 1/2          3    8 1/2
+   1740               29              1   13
+   1780               28 3/4          1    8 1/2
+   1840               27 1/2          0   13 1/4
+   1849               27              0    8 3/4
+
+
+From 1808 to 1848, eighty patents were taken out in France for
+inventions, three of importation, and forty-one for improvements in
+Umbrellas.
+
+In England, after their first introduction, the manufacture of
+Umbrellas increased rapidly. The first patent is dated 1780, and was
+taken up by Mark Bull for "A machine for supporting an Umbrella,
+which may be fixt to any saddle or wheel'd carriage, being far more
+compleat than any hitherto invented." The invention is described in
+the following words :--
+
+"There is a ball and socket of steel or iron, or any other metal or
+composition. The ball moves in any direction, and is fixed by one,
+two, three, or more points, which are forced against it either by a
+screw or spring, The ball is made with small cavities to receive the
+points which press against it. In order to secure it the more
+effectually in the ball, there is a hole which receives the one end
+of the staff of the umbrella, which is secured in it either by a
+spring or screw, or a sliding or a spring bolt. The umbrella may be
+taken away from the staff; and either put under the seat of the
+saddle, or fix'd before the rider. The staff may be made whole or in
+two pieces, the one to slide within the other, in order to raise or
+lower the umbrella, and be fix'd either by a spring or screw. They
+are fix'd in the head of the saddle and cover'd by a top, without
+making the saddle appear in the least different to what they are now
+made."
+
+The next is of the date of 1786, and was taken out by John Beale for
+"An umbrella with joints, flat springs, and stops, worm springs and
+bolts, slip bolts, screws, slip rivet, and cross stop and square
+slips, and the manner in which the same are performed is particularly
+described in the several plans, figures, or drawings annexed." The
+drawings referred to are not easily intelligible, from the briefness
+of the explanation attached, but show an Umbrella with a jointed
+handle, opening by a spring.
+
+In the next year (1787) we find an advertisement put out by Thomas
+Folgham, of Cheapside, stating that he has "a great assortment of his
+much-approved pocket and portable umbrellas, which for lightness,
+elegance, and strength, far exceed anything of the kind ever imported
+or manufactured in this kingdom. All kinds of common umbrellas
+prepared in a particular way, that will never stick together."
+
+A description of the Umbrellas which, in all probability, Mr. Thomas
+Folgham made, we extract from the source mentioned above.
+
+"The early Umbrellas were made of oiled silk, or glazed cotton
+cloth, and were very cumbrous and inconvenient. To judge from a
+picture of Hanway, and from the other old pictures mentioned above,
+they were small, with a very long handle. They were not used for
+walking, and consequently instead of the ferrule had a ring at the
+top, by which they were hung up. The stretchers were of cane, and the
+ribs of cane or whalebone. Instead of the present top-notch and
+runner, both ribs and stretchers were simply strung on a ring of
+wire, and the inequality of the friction and the weakness of such an
+arrangement cause the Umbrella to be always getting out of order. The
+ribs and stretchers were jointed together very roughly, by a pin
+passing through the rib, on which the forked end of the stretcher
+hinged. The first improvement in this respect was by Caney (patent
+No. 5761, A.D. 1829), who invented a top-notch and runner in which
+each rib or stretcher has a separate hinge. The top-notch was made of
+a notched wheel or disc, into each slot of which an axis fixed on the
+top of the stretchers worked. The runner was made on a similar
+principle. At the point of the rib where the stretcher joined it,
+Caney fixed a middle bit, consisting of a small fork, in which the
+end of the stretcher was hinged. This construction was much stronger,
+and the forked ends of the stretchers were thus prevented from
+wearing out the cover, as before. With modifications, more or less
+important, this construction is the same as that now in general use."
+
+The principal object of all those who have devoted their attention
+to the task has been to reduce the weight of the Umbrella without, at
+the same time, diminishing its strength. In its primitive form the
+ribs were formed of whalebone, which possessed very grave
+inconveniences; in the first place, it was cumbersome to a degree,
+lost its elasticity after any continuous exposure to rain, and if
+dried without very great care, was extremely liable to crack. In the
+next place, the price was very high, and, consequently, the masses
+remained unrepresented in the Umbrella market. The most important
+improvement dates from the introduction of steel instead of
+whalebone, which took place about thirty years ago, for although a
+few Umbrellas were occasionally made and used of this material prior
+to that time, it had not come into general use. Amongst other
+improvements have been the following:--
+
+The tips are now made in one piece with the rib, instead of being
+made of bone, japanned metal or other material, and then fastened on.
+The long six-inch runners have given way to the short one two inches
+long, and the ferrules are also much shorter than formerly. To keep
+the Umbrella closed the old-fashioned plan was a ring fastened by a
+string. A tape and cotton superseded this, and in its turn gave way
+to the elastic now in use. Sliding caps to fit over the ends of the
+ribs and hold the Umbrella closed, have been invented, but until
+quite recently do not seem to have come much into use.
+
+Simple as the construction of an Umbrella may appear, there have
+been altogether upwards of three hundred patents taken out for
+various improvements in their manufacture, in addition to numerous
+alterations which have been registered according to the Act, Vic. 6
+& 7, Cap. 65. With very few exceptions the inventors have not been
+repaid the cost of their patents. This has arisen, partly from the
+delicacy of their mechanical construction, unfitted for the rough
+usage to which Umbrellas are exposed; but chiefly in consequence of
+the increased cost of manufacture not being compensated by the
+improvements effected.
+
+The introduction of steel vice whalebone, was opposed by the trade
+and the public in general, like many other great improvements; and it
+required several years in order to convince purchasers that steel
+would not only last much longer than whalebone, but would not be so
+liable to break, provided it was properly made and tempered. The
+misfortune was that, at the outset, a great number of inferior
+articles were introduced, and consequently the public naturally lost
+confidence, and it demanded great exertions on the part of the more
+respectable members of the trade, ere the merits of the new invention
+were recognised. At present, it is generally allowed that a good
+steel-rib Umbrella can be as easily procured as a carefully tempered
+razor or sword.
+
+A Swiss watch-spring maker, named Sanguinede, had discovered a
+secret of tempering steel which gave it great strength, and he had
+made some, very light umbrellas, but they were immensely dear. On his
+death the secret died with him, and Mr. Fox set to work to discover a
+method which should combine strength and lightness.
+
+Mr. Fox's Paragon frame, simple in its construction, half the weight
+of whalebone, but equally strong, is admitted to be the greatest
+improvement yet introduced in the manufacture of an Umbrella. The
+ribs are made in the form of a trough with flat sides, by which shape
+the greatest amount of strength is obtained. The same principle, as
+is well known, has been successfully applied in the construction of
+the Great Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, from which Mr. Fox
+took the idea.
+
+The weight of the Umbrella having been thus reduced, the next
+question was, whether some amendment could not be made in the
+covering material. For a long time, Umbrellas were only covered with
+two materials--silk and cotton, and the want of some substance, which
+would resist the greater friction and consequent wear than an
+Umbrella invariably undergoes, formed a subject of anxious attention
+to the writer of this little book. Several materials were tried
+without success, until a fabric called Alpaca, made of the wool of
+the Chilian and Peruvian sheep, presented itself, and for this a
+patent was immediately taken out. Of its merits it becomes us not to
+speak, but we may be permitted to quote the following remarks from
+the Grand Jury Report of the Great Exhibition of 1851:--
+
+"SANGSTER, WILLIAM AND JOHN. Prize Medal for Silk Parasols and
+Umbrellas of excellent quality, 'and for their application of Alpaca
+cloth to the coverings of Parasols and Umbrellas."
+
+To the above flattering testimonial the following remarks were
+appended:--
+
+"Alpaca cloth is made of undyed wool of the Peruvian and Chili
+sheep, and it is therefore is not liable to fade, nor is it acted
+upon by salt water; hence Alpaca Parasols and Umbrellas are much used
+at watering-places.
+
+"The demand for the Paragon Umbrella is so great, that the patentee
+is able to supply them at a price not much exceeding the ordinary
+sorts. The frames are guaranteed for two years, but in consequence of
+the superior quality of the article, the number found to require
+repair is much less than the average of other kinds. In the course of
+the two years succeeding their introduction, upwards of 50,000
+Paragon Umbrellas mere sold.
+
+"Nor was the progress of the Alpaca Umbrella less cheering. Though
+the material is in some respects inferior to silk, it has been found
+to wear so much longer, and to cost so much less, that its use is now
+becoming general among that numerous class with whom economy and an
+Umbrella are equally indispensable. The sale of Alpaca Umbrellas, in
+the year 1854, amounted to upwards of 45,000."
+
+Since this time W. & J. S. have sold, under their patent, Umbrellas
+to the number of nearly four millions.
+
+These facts we will leave to our readers to draw their own inference
+from; but the very kind reception which the Alpaca Umbrellas have
+hitherto received, justifies us in asserting, that no material has
+yet been brought forward which has so thoroughly fulfilled the
+required conditions. The weight of the Umbrella has also been
+diminished, and, last not least, the price has decreased in a
+corresponding ratio. This latter fact is of the very greatest
+importance, when we remember the immense quantity of Parasols and
+Umbrellas manufactured during the year in London, and estimated at
+the enormous value of 500,000 Pounds. In addition, a very great
+number are made in Manchester and Birmingham.
+
+To those who wish to keep their Umbrellas safe and sound, we may
+commend the following extract from Cassell's _Household Guide_:--
+
+"Umbrellas are articles which generally suffer more from careless
+treatment than from legitimate wear and tear; an Umbrella, when
+properly treated, will last twice as long as one that is not so used.
+When wet, an Umbrella should neither be distended to dry, which will
+strain the ribs and covering, and prevent its ever afterwards folding
+up neatly, nor at once rolled and tied up, which would tend to rust
+the frame and rot the textile fabric; neither should it, if of silk,
+be carelessly thrust into an Umbrella-stand, nor allowed to rest
+against a wall, which would probably discolour, and certainly crease
+the silk injuriously. It should be shut, but not tied up, and hung
+from the handle, with the point downwards, till it is nearly, but not
+quite dry. It should then be neatly and carefully rolled up and tied.
+In walking with an Umbrella, the hands should be confined to the
+handle, and not allowed to grasp the silk; otherwise that portion
+which is held will become greased and discoloured, and the material
+will be frayed out round the tips, which are points where there is
+always much stress, and where if will always have a tendency to give
+way. When not in use, the Umbrella should be protected from dust and
+injury of any kind by its silk or oilcloth case. When dirty, alpaca
+umbrellas are best cleaned with a clothes-brush; but brushing is
+useless for those of silk. Ordinary dirt may be removed from a silk
+umbrella by means of a clean sponge and cold water, or if the soil
+should be so tenacious that this will not remove it, a piece of linen
+rag, dipped in spirits of wine or unsweetened gin, will generally
+effect the desired end."
+
+Having thus given our readers all the information on the subject in
+our power; even down to the last quoted paragraph, which may teach
+them how to preserve their Umbrellas, we may wish them a hearty
+farewell, hoping they may--long live to use these promoters of
+comfort and of health, and that they may always be as well shielded
+by fate from the metaphorical tempests of life, as they are from its
+physical storms by a good modern Umbrella.
+
+
+FINIS
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Umbrellas and their History, by William Sangster
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 6674-8.txt or 6674-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/7/6674/
+
+Produced by Avinash Kothare, Steve Schulze, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file
+was produced from images generously made available by the
+CWRU Preservation Department Digital Library
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+  www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at 809
+North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887.  Email
+contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the
+Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit:  www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For forty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+