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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76875-0.txt b/76875-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..baa6c1c --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1126 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76875 *** + + + + + + Monthly Supplement of + + THE PENNY MAGAZINE + + OF THE + + Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + 16.] May 31 to June 30, 1832 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + THE ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN’S. + + [Illustration: A large, cruciform ecclesiastical building with a + steeple at the center.] + +On the 3d of February last, a part of the wall of the upper battlement +on the south-west side of the Abbey of St. Alban’s fell upon the roof +below, in two masses, at an interval of five minutes between the fall of +each fragment. The concussion was so great, that the inhabitants of the +neighbouring houses describe it as resembling the loudest thunder; and +the detached masses of the wall came down with such force that a large +portion of the roof, consisting of lead and heavy timber, was driven +into the aisle below. The abbey, generally, has been a good deal out of +repair for several years; and it is now estimated that 15,000_l._ will +be required to repair the damage, and to save this venerable fabric from +further injury. + +A public subscription has been opened for this laudable object; and when +we consider the interest which the people of this country so properly +attach to the monuments of our early civilization, we cannot doubt that +the Abbey of St. Alban’s will be rescued, for several more generations, +from the devouring grasp of time. + +St. Alban’s is, in many respects, one of the towns of England most +dignified by historical associations. It was one of the principal places +of the ancient Britons before the Roman conquest; and, within twenty-one +years after the invasion of the island, was raised, by the Romans, to +the rank of a city, under the name of Verulam. Many considerable +fragments of the Roman Verulam still exist, at a short distance from the +present town, particularly a large piece of a wall, constructed of Roman +tile, now called Gorhambury Block. Dr. Stukely, a celebrated antiquarian +writer, has calculated that about a hundred acres were included within +the Roman wall. The greater part of the city, first built by the Romans, +was demolished by the Britons, under Queen Boadicea, in the 61st year +after the birth of Christ; but it was soon rebuilt, and the inhabitants +continued under the protection of the Romans for a long period. In the +persecution of the Christians, under the Roman emperor Dioclesian, in +the year 304, Alban, a native of Verulam, who had been a soldier at +Rome, suffered martyrdom for his faith; and being the first Briton who +had been put to death for his religious opinions, he is called England’s +proto-martyr, or first martyr, as St. Stephen is called the proto-martyr +of Christianity. In 795, Offa, King of the Mercians, founded an abbey at +Holmhurst, close by the ancient Verulam, in honour of St. Alban, and the +place was thenceforward called St. Alban’s. The abbey flourished for +more than seven centuries. Its buildings, erected from time to time, +resembled a town more than a religious house. It had magnificent +apartments, in which the kings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries +were frequently entertained. The annual revenues, during its greatest +prosperity, were valued at 2500_l._--an enormous sum in those days. + +Of this immense establishment, nothing is left but the present +conventual church, a gate-house, and a few scattered walls. The church, +which was principally erected in the reign of William Rufus, is in +magnitude equal to our largest cathedrals. It measures 550 feet from +east to west; if we include a chapel at one end, 606 feet. The extreme +breadth, at the intersection of the transepts, is 217 feet. The exterior +of this great pile is not very beautiful; but the spectator is struck +with its vastness, its simplicity, and its appearance of extreme age. A +large part of the original edifice is composed of materials taken from +the ruins of the ancient Verulam, consisting chiefly of Roman tile. +These portions of the interior are very rude, and form a striking +contrast to other parts which were finished after the elegant Norman +style was adopted in this country. In this manner it occurs that we see +at St. Alban’s a mixture of the round and the pointed arch, in two sides +of the same building, directly opposite each other. It is singular that +as one side of the building fell into decay, the later style of +architecture, that of the pointed arch, should have been used; while the +more ancient round arch was suffered to remain on the opposite side. +This want of uniformity greatly diminishes the beauty of the interior; +but still many of its effects are remarkably striking, particularly that +of the vast length of the church from east to west. Some parts of the +edifice furnish, also, beautiful and perfect specimens of the most +delicate workmanship. + +The Abbey-Church of St. Alban’s contains the monuments of several +illustrious men, particularly that of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, the +brother of Henry V. But St. Alban’s possesses the much higher +distinction of being the burial-place, as it was the abode, of the great +Lord Bacon. The old Church of St. Michael, in this town, contains the +remains of the immortal founder of the inductive philosophy, which +delivered the human mind from the tyranny of opinions established by +prescription and authority, and led the way for every man to think for +himself, and to rely upon the truths of established facts alone as the +materials for his conclusions. The following is a representation of Lord +Bacon’s monument. + + [Illustration: A statue of a man seated on a chair, his head resting on + one hand, with the legend: FRANCISCVS BACON.] + + + --------------------- + + + MACHINERY AND MANUFACTURES. + + [‘The Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. By Charles Babbage, Esq., + A.M., Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the University of + Cambridge.’ 8vo. London, C. Knight, 1832.] + +Here is a work of no common interest. Its object, as stated by the +author in his introductory paragraph, is “to point out the effects and +the advantages which arise from the use of tools and machines;--to +endeavour to classify their modes of action;--and to trace both the +causes and the consequences of applying machinery to supersede the skill +and power of the human arm.” It professes to embrace, therefore, both a +very important branch of the science of political economy, and the whole +domain of the mechanical arts. + +The word _manufacture_, which means fabrication by the _hand_, has +become singularly inapplicable to the thing which it is used to denote. +The human hand now performs but a comparatively small part in most of +those processes to which the name of manufactures is given; and in some +of the most stupendous and wonderful of them its aid is hardly at all +employed. Where the steam-engine plies its mighty energies, man has in +many cases little more to do than to look on. If the expression, a +manufacturing country, were to be taken in its literal sense, as meaning +a country where articles were generally made by the hand, it would be +much more truly applicable to Spain, or Russia, or Poland, or Hindostan, +or indeed to any other country of the earth, than to ours. We are, of +all others, the people who do least by the hand. + +When we say, therefore, that England is a manufacturing country and that +Poland is not, we mean merely that great numbers of articles of use and +of luxury are fabricated in the former country, without any necessary +reference to the mode in which they are fabricated. But it so happens +that such articles cannot be fabricated in great abundance except by +means of machinery; and therefore we often use the term manufacturing as +nearly synonymous with mechanical, or at least as implying the extensive +agency of machinery. It should be borne in mind, however, that +agriculture is also a manufacture; and that whether a country produces +iron or corn, each branch of industry involves mechanical aid, however +we may choose to distinguish between a manufacturing and an agricultural +country. + +The book upon the subject of manufactures which Mr. Babbage has now +given to the world, consists chiefly of a very large and multifarious +collection of the mechanical expedients employed in the different +branches of our national industry, arranged according to the general +principle, of which each is an exemplification. The author has in this +way furnished a work which is not less interesting to the mere general +reader than it is likely to prove valuable to the student of mechanics. +Surrounded as we are in this country by the wonders of mechanical +invention, he among us must be singularly destitute of enlightened +curiosity who feels no desire to understand the operation of those +beautiful and most effective contrivances which he everywhere sees or +hears in motion; or to trace through the various stages of their +fabrication those numberless articles of use and of ornament of which +every one of our shops, and it may almost be said of our houses, is +full. The history of some of the most apparently trivial or +insignificant of these productions, of a pin or a needle for instance, +is often a rich succession of the most exquisite efforts of +ingenuity--of the most important results obtained by the simplest means, +and of a velocity and at the same time perfection of operation which to +the unaccustomed observer would seem little short of miraculous. The +wonders of our manufactures are not less deserving of our examination, +because they are performed in the very midst of us, and may be made +perfectly intelligible to all who care to understand them. + +But it is to those who are actually engaged in mechanical invention that +this volume is doubtless fitted to render the most important service. +Let the particular department upon which a person so employed is +exercising his thoughts be what it may, his success is likely to depend +in no small degree upon his general familiarity with mechanical +contrivances. It has not unfrequently happened that for want of this +diversified knowledge the inventors and improvers of machines or of +processes have devoted their solitary efforts for a long time in vain, +in attempting merely to accomplish what had already been completely +achieved in some other department of mechanical skill with which they +happened to have no acquaintance. In other cases, a contrivance +applicable to many different branches, although introduced in one of the +number, has remained unknown to the cultivators of all the others for +many years. Thus, for example, the valuable contrivance of the +fly-shuttle, although introduced into the woollen manufactory about the +year 1738, was not employed in the weaving of cottons, where it was +equally applicable, till more than twenty years afterwards. So also, as +Mr. Babbage notices, the expedient of placing the workman employed in +beating out the blades of scythes in a seat suspended by ropes from the +ceiling, to give him sufficient freedom and rapidity of motion to bring +the different parts of the iron upon the anvil in quick succession, +although introduced in the manufacture of scythes long ago, has only +been recently applied to that of anchors; “an art in which,” as he +remarks, “the contrivance is of still greater importance.” Now such a +work as the one before us is admirably calculated to prevent all this +waste of inventive labour, and to ensure the communication of any new or +valuable contrivance to all descriptions of manufactures in which it is +fitted to be available. An inventor, who has made himself completely +master of this work, will have obtained a knowledge both of all the +principal expedients which have hitherto been employed in mechanics, and +of the scientific principles upon which all mechanical devices must +depend; and a man so instructed, it may be fairly inferred, will be +likely not only to waste but little time in re-discovering what has been +already found out, but also to find his efforts in original invention +crowned with far more rapid and more satisfying success than would have +otherwise attended them. + +From the multiplicity of most interesting subjects of which Mr. Babbage +has treated, the mere enumeration of which would far exceed our limits, +we select only two specimens of the entertainment to be found in the +work. The following account of a foreign manufacture would appear +incredible, if we did not know to what singular uses the instincts of +animals may be directed:-- + + +“_Lace made by Caterpillars._--A most extraordinary species of +manufacture, which is in a slight degree connected with copying, has +been contrived by an officer of engineers residing at Munich. It +consists of lace and veils, with open patterns in them, made entirely by +caterpillars. The following is the mode of proceeding adopted:--Having +made a paste of the leaves of the plant, on which the species of +caterpillar he employs feeds, he spreads it thinly over a stone, or +other flat substance, of the required size. He then, with a camel-hair +pencil dipped in olive oil, draws the pattern he wishes the insects to +leave open. This stone is then placed in an inclined position, and a +considerable number of the caterpillars are placed at the bottom. A +peculiar species is chosen, which spins a strong web; and the animals +commence at the bottom, eating and spinning their way up to the top, +carefully avoiding every part touched by the oil, but devouring every +other part of the paste. The extreme lightness of these veils, combined +with some strength, is truly surprising. One of them, measuring +twenty-six and a half inches by seventeen inches, weighed only 1.51 +grains, a degree of lightness which will appear more strongly by +contrast with other fabrics. One square yard of the substance of which +these veils are made weighs four grains and one-third, whilst one square +yard of silk gauze weighs one hundred and thirty-seven grains, and one +square yard of the finest patent net weighs two hundred and sixty-two +grains and a half.” + + +One of the most important manufactures of our own country is that +connected with the Press, in all its various and complicated operations. +The following account of the mode in which a great London newspaper is +prepared, will be read with interest in all parts of the kingdom:-- + + +“Another instance of the just application of machinery, even at an +increased expense, arises where the shortness of time in which the +article can be produced, has an important influence on its value. In the +publication of our daily newspapers, it frequently happens that the +debates in the Houses of Parliament are carried on to three and four +o’clock in the morning, that is, to within a very few hours of the time +for the publication of the newspaper. The speeches must be taken down by +reporters, conveyed by them to the establishment of the newspaper, +perhaps at the distance of one or two miles, transcribed by them in the +office, set up by the compositor, the press corrected, and the papers +printed off and distributed before the public can read them. Some of +these journals have a circulation of from five to ten thousand daily. +Supposing four thousand to be wanted, and that they could be printed +only at the rate of five hundred per hour upon one side of the paper +(which was the greatest number two journeymen and a boy could take off +by the old hand-presses), sixteen hours would be required for printing +the complete edition; and the news conveyed to the purchasers of the +latest portion of the impression, would be out of date before they could +receive it. To obviate this difficulty, it was often necessary to set up +the paper in duplicate, and sometimes, when late, in triplicate: but the +improvements in the printing-machines have been so great, that four +thousand copies are now printed on one side in an hour. + +“The establishment of ‘The Times’ newspaper is an example, on a large +scale, of a manufactory in which the division of labour, both mental and +bodily, is admirably illustrated, and in which also the effect of the +domestic economy is well exemplified. It is scarcely imagined, by the +thousands who read that paper in various quarters of the globe, what a +scene of organized activity the factory presents during the whole night, +or what a quantity of talent and mechanical skill is put in action for +their amusement and information[1]. Nearly a hundred persons are +employed in this establishment; and, during the session of parliament, +at least twelve reporters are constantly attending the Houses of Commons +and Lords; each in his turn, after about an hour’s work, retiring to +translate into ordinary writing, the speech he has just heard and noted +in short-hand. In the mean time fifty compositors are constantly at +work, some of whom have already set up the beginning, whilst others are +committing to type the yet undried manuscript of the continuation of a +speech, whose middle portion is travelling to the office in the pocket +of the hasty reporter, and whose eloquent conclusion is, perhaps, at +that very moment, making the walls of St. Stephen’s vibrate with the +applause of its hearers. These congregated types, as fast as they are +composed, are passed in portions to other hands; till at last the +scattered fragments of the debate, forming, when united with the +ordinary matter, eight-and-forty columns, re-appear in regular order on +the platform of the printing-press. The hand of man is now too slow for +the demands of his curiosity, but the power of steam comes to his +assistance. Ink is rapidly supplied to the moving types by the most +perfect mechanism;--four attendants incessantly introduce the edges of +large sheets of white paper to the junction of two great rollers, which +seem to devour them with unsated appetite;--other rollers convey them to +the type already inked, and having brought them into rapid and +successive contact, re-deliver them to four other assistants, completely +printed by the almost momentary touch. Thus, in one hour, four thousand +sheets of paper are printed on one side; and an impression of twelve +thousand copies, from above three hundred thousand moveable pieces of +metal, is produced for the public in six hours.” + + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + “The Author of these pages, with one of his friends, was recently + induced to visit this most interesting establishment, after midnight, + during the progress of a very important debate. The place was + illuminated with gas, and was light as the day:--there was neither + noise nor bustle;--and the visitors were received with such calm and + polite attention, that they did not, until afterwards, become sensible + of the inconvenience which such intruders, at a moment of the greatest + pressure, must occasion, nor reflect that the tranquillity which they + admired, was the result of intense and regulated occupation. But the + effect of such checks in the current of business will appear on + recollecting that, as four thousand newspapers are printed off on one + side within the hour, every _minute_ is attended with a loss of + sixty-six impressions. The quarter of an hour, therefore, which the + stranger may think it not unreasonable to claim for the gratification + of his curiosity (and to him this time is but a moment), may cause a + failure in the delivery of one thousand copies, and disappoint a + proportionate number of expectant readers, in some of our distant + towns, to which the morning papers are despatched by the earliest and + most rapid conveyances of each day. + + “This note is inserted with the further and more general purpose of + calling the attention of those, especially foreigners, who are + desirous of inspecting our larger manufactories to the chief cause of + the difficulty which frequently attends their introduction. When the + establishment is very extensive, and its departments skilfully + arranged, the exclusion of visitors arises, not from any illiberal + jealousy, nor, generally, from any desire of concealment, which would, + in most cases, be absurd; but from the substantial inconvenience and + loss of time, throughout an entire series of well-combined operations, + which must be occasioned even by short and casual interruptions.” + + + --------------------- + + + ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. + +The last Monthly Report of the proceedings of the Committee of Science +of the Zoological Society, contains several facts of general interest. + +The female _Puma_, in the Society’s Gardens, brought forth two young +ones on the 2d of April. The ground-colour of these is of a paler fawn +than that of either of the parents, and they are deeply spotted. The +eyelids of one of them were partially unclosed on April 9. The mother, +whose temper was always mild, has since become remarkably gentle, +purring when the keeper goes into her den, and allowing her young ones +to be handled and carried about without appearing to be annoyed by such +treatment. The young, on the contrary, were, when first born, extremely +fierce, hissing and scratching with all their might; they have, however, +since become better tempered, though they are still spiteful. The +manners of both the mother and the young are similar to those of the +_domestic cat_ and her kittens, the former carrying the latter about +from place to place in her mouth. For a day or two previously to her +littering she pulled the straw in her inner den into pieces and thus +formed a nest. + +Some curious experiments have been made as to the mode of feeding +quadrupeds of prey, which is best adapted to bringing them into good +condition, and which may therefore be considered the most suited to +their natural habits. On January 11 two _leopards_ were weighed. No. 1. +weighed 91 lbs.: it was fed in the usual manner with 4 lbs. of beef +daily in one meal given in the evening. No. 2. weighed 100½ lbs.: it was +supplied with 2 lbs. of beef at eight o’clock in the morning, and with a +like quantity at the same hour in the evening daily. On Feb. 16 (after +an interval of five weeks) they were again weighed. No. 1. had gained in +weight 1 lb.: No. 2. had diminished in weight ½ lb. No alteration was +observed in the latter animal as regarded his daily exercise; but he +became more ferocious than he had previously been, and was particularly +violent. + + [Illustration: The Puma.] + +On December 23 two _hyænas_ were weighed. No. 1. weighed 86 lbs.: it was +fed as usual with 3 lbs. of beef daily at one meal in the evening. No. +2. weighed 93 lbs.: it was supplied with the same quantity of beef +daily, divided into two equal portions, one of which was given in the +morning and the other in the evening. On February 16 (after an interval +of eight weeks) they were again weighed; and No. 1. was found to have +increased in weight 1 lb., while No. 2. had diminished in weight 1 lb. +The latter animal was observed to take less exercise than he had +previously been accustomed to, and slept more than usual: his temper was +not affected, and he did not exhibit unusual signs of hunger. + +During the continuance of the experiment all the animals were fasted one +day in each week in common with the other carnivorous species kept in +the menagerie. + +From these experiments it appears that carnivorous _mammalia_ fed with +two meals daily, do not continue in equally good condition with those +which have the same quantity of flesh daily in one meal only. It further +appears that in one instance (that of the _leopard_) the temper changed +for the worse, and thus animals of the genus _felis_ might become more +dangerous in a menagerie from the ferocity they would acquire under such +treatment; and that in another instance the habits were altered as +regarded exercise, a diminution of which, in confined animals, must be +injurious to health. The inference deduced is consequently in favour of +the continuance of the accustomed mode of feeding the purely carnivorous +animals with one meal daily. + +The same results were produced by the same experiments upon two of a +species less completely carnivorous--the _Paradoxure gennet_. It may be +inferred from the circumstance, that quadrupeds of prey thrive best with +long intervals between their meals, and that the difficulty which such +animals experience in obtaining food is counterbalanced by their +requiring it not so frequently as animals who feed on vegetables. + + + --------------------- + + + STATUE OF WILLIAM PITT. + + [Illustration: A statue of a man standing in flowing robes, holding a + tablet.] + +A Colossal statue of bronze, of which the above is a representation, was +erected in Hanover-square, at the end of last year, to the memory of +William Pitt. The orator is represented in the act of speaking. This +statue, which in many respects is the finest in London, is the work of +Mr. Chantrey. + + + --------------------- + + + GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY. + +We have occasionally selected a paragraph from a very pretty volume, by +Mr. Jesse, published under the above title. The author lives in the +neighbourhood of Kew; and, like Mr. White of Selborne, who made a small +village in Hampshire one of the most interesting spots to the lover of +nature, by his ample descriptions of the natural objects which he saw +around him, Mr. Jesse has rendered his walks a vehicle for much +instruction and amusement to himself and to others. He principally +confines his attention to zoology--the most generally attractive of the +departments of natural history; and he looks upon the animal world with +so much practical wisdom, being disposed to be happy himself and to see +every creature around him happy, that there are few persons who will not +read his slight sketches with improvement to their hearts and +understandings. + +We copy a passage descriptive of the manner of taking deer for hunting +in the king’s parks:-- + + +“In addition to the herd of fallow-deer, amounting to about one thousand +six hundred, which are kept in Richmond Park, there is generally a stock +of from forty to fifty red deer. Some stags from the latter are selected +every year, and sent to Swinley, in order to be hunted by the king’s +stag hounds. When a stag, which has been hunted for three or four +seasons, is returned to the park, to end his days there, he is generally +more fierce and dangerous than any of the others at a particular season +of the year. At that time it is sometimes not safe to approach him; and +the keepers informed me, that they have been obliged to fire at them +with buck shot, when they have been attacked by them. They account for +this ferocity, by the circumstance of the deer having been much handled, +and consequently rendered more familiar with, and less afraid of, those +whom they would naturally shun. + +“Does are longer lived than bucks. One doe in Richmond Park lived to be +twenty years old; and there are other instances of their having attained +the same age. + +“A curious circumstance lately occurred, respecting the red deer in the +park in question. In the year 1825, not a single calf was dropped by any +of the hinds, though they had bred freely the preceding, and did the +same in the subsequent year. I find an event recorded in the ‘Journal of +a Naturalist,’ as having happened in the same year in regard to cows. It +is there stated that, for many miles round the residence of the author, +scarcely any female calves were born. This diminution of the usual breed +of deer, and the increase of sex in another animal, is not a little +remarkable. + + + [Illustration: Red Deer.] + + +“There is a fine breed of buck-hounds in Richmond Park, and their +sagacity is very extraordinary. In taking the deer, according to annual +custom, either for the royal hunt or for the fattening paddocks, a stag +or a buck, which has been previously fixed upon, is ridden out of the +herd by two or three of the keepers in succession, each of whom is +closely followed by a hound, the young dogs only being kept in slips. As +soon as the deer has been separated from his companions, the dogs have +the requisite signal given to them, and they immediately follow in +pursuit. The scene is then highly interesting. A strong deer will afford +a very long chase, but when he comes to bay, the dogs generally seize +him by the throat or ears; the keepers come up, take him by the horns, +and after having strapped his hind and fore legs together, put him into +a cart which follows for the purpose, and he is then disposed of as he +may be wanted. I have seen an active young keeper throw himself from his +horse upon a deer at bay, which he had come up to at full gallop, and +hold his horns till assistance arrived. Some danger, however, attends +this sport; as, when a deer has been hard pressed, I have seen him, in +more than one instance, suddenly turn upon the horsemen and injure the +horses, and in one case wound the leg of the horseman. The dogs are so +well trained, and are so soon made aware which buck is intended to be +caught, that they seldom make a mistake, even if the deer regains the +herd after having been driven from it, but press him through it, till +they have again separated him from it. It is well known that when a +hard-pressed deer tries to rejoin his companions, they endeavour to +avoid and get away from him as much as possible, or try to drive him +away with their horns. So severe is the chase in Richmond Park in taking +deer, especially when the ground is wet, that three or four good horses +may be tired by a single horseman in one day’s deer-taking, if each deer +is ridden out of the herd, and followed till he is taken. When dogs are +in slips, the man who holds them merely rides as near as he can to the +person who is endeavouring to single out the deer, and awaits his signal +for slipping the dog. These dogs, who are a large, rough sort of +greyhound and very powerful and sagacious, are soon taught not to injure +the deer when they come to them. The cry of ‘hold them,’ made use of by +the keepers in urging them forward, seems to be perfectly understood by +the dogs.” + + + --------------------- + + + THE UNITED STATES. + + [Remarks on the Statistics and Political Institutions of the United + States. By William Gore Ouseley, Esq., Attaché to his Majesty’s + Legation at Washington. 8vo. London, Rodwell, 1832.] + +The book before us is rather a rambling one; and we cannot say that it +appears to us to contain much that is new, or that it has been prepared +with all the care, even in regard to its merely literary qualities, +which ought to have been bestowed on it. But the work is written in a +moderate, fair, and manly spirit, and is calculated to beget a very +favourable opinion of the general liberality and philanthropy of the +author’s views. Although it contains some sensible remarks upon Mrs. +Trollope’s volumes, which we lately noticed, and also upon a variety of +other minor points, the greater portion of it is devoted to an +examination of the financial results of the American system of +government, and a comparison of the burthens which it imposes upon the +people with those which are borne by the inhabitants of England and of +France. The settlement of this question appears to be the principal aim +of the writer; and he has brought together the tables and estimates of +various authorities by whom it has been investigated. + +In looking at these statements, however, it must be borne in mind, that +the two countries are differently situated in many other respects, as +well as in regard to their political institutions; and the difference +between the amount of taxes paid in the one and that paid in the other, +may arise, wholly or in part, from circumstances with which the form of +the government has really nothing whatever to do. + +It is our duty to mention this circumstance to point out that any belief +that the two countries can be brought to the same point of taxation is +somewhat irrational. On the other hand we can have no hesitation in +expressing an opinion, that the nearer they are assimilated, the greater +will be the amount of public happiness in the more highly-taxed country. +A wise government will always strive to reduce taxes to the lowest point +that is compatible with security against foreign violence, the +maintenance of the laws, and the preservation of national credit. + +A great part of Mr. Gore Ouseley’s book is made up of extracts from the +American Almanac, and other recent publications. The following passage, +relating to the gold mines which have been lately opened in some of the +Southern States of the Union, contains some curious and interesting +information, which is also copied from other works, but which is not +generally known:-- + + +“These mines have not been worked to any considerable extent for more +than about five or six years, or probably much less. And yet many of +them are worked upon an extensive scale, and mills for grinding the ore, +propelled by water or by steam, are erected in vast numbers. The company +of Messrs. Bissels, which is one of the most considerable, employs about +600 hands. The whole number of men now employed at the mines in these +southern states is at least 20,000. The weekly value of these mines is +estimated at 100,000 dollars, or more than one million sterling +annually. But a small part of the gold is sent to the United States +Mint. By far the larger part is sent to Europe, particularly to Paris. + +“Of the working miners the greater number are foreigners--Germans, +Swiss, Swedes, Spaniards, English, Welsh, Scotch, &c. There are no less +than _thirteen_ different languages spoken at the mines in this +State[2]! And men are flocking to the mines from all parts, and find +ready employment. Hundreds of landowners and renters work the mines on +their grounds on a small scale, not being able to encounter the expense +of much machinery. The state of morals among the miners or labourers is +represented to be deplorably bad. This may be attributed to the absence +of any general organization as yet for the police and regulation of the +mines, combined with the usual effects of gold upon the uneducated and +needy classes of men (often not the most favourable specimens of their +various nations) who generally seek employment in the gold districts. +The village of Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, is in the immediate +vicinity of several of the largest mines. It is increasing rapidly. + +“One interesting fact deserves mention:--When speaking of the gold +mines, there are indubitable evidences that these mines were known and +_worked_ by the aboriginal inhabitants, or some other people, at a +remote period. Many pieces of machinery which were used for this purpose +have been found. Among them are several _crucibles_ of earthenware, and +far better than those now in use. Messrs. Bissels had tried three of +them, and found that they lasted twice or three times as long as even +the Hessian crucibles, which are the best now made. It is to be +regretted that some antiquary has not had an opportunity of at least +examining these curious relics; and it is hoped that they will be +preserved in future, notwithstanding the temptation offered by their +superior qualities. + +“These gold mines prove that the whole region in which they abound was +once under the powerful action of fire. And it is a fact, not generally +known, that the miners who have come from the mines in South America and +in Europe pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any +other that has been found on the globe. There is no telling the extent +of these mines; but sufficient is known to prove they are of vast +extent.”--pp. 151-153. + + +----- + +Footnote 2: + + North Carolina. The gold mines commence in Virginia, and extend + south-west through North Carolina, part of South Carolina, Georgia, + and Alabama, and end in Tennessee. The chief mines at present are + those of North Carolina and Georgia. + + + --------------------- + + + THE CALABRIAS. + + [Calabria; during a Military Residence of Three Years, &c. In a Series + of Letters, by a General Officer of the French Army, from the + original MS. London, Effingham Wilson, 1832.] + +The Calabrias, which are divided into two provinces, citra and ultra, +occupy the extremity of the South of Italy, forming a peninsula one +hundred and seventy miles in length, and varying in breadth from seventy +to thirty-five miles. The beautiful Mediterranean sea flows round this +peninsula, and a chain of the Apennines intersects it. The summit of +these mountains is a vast platform called La Syla, which is admirable +for pasture, and well provided with farm-houses and villages. The plains +washed by the sea would be everywhere most fertile, but they have been +neglected, and permitted to become swamped and pestilentially unhealthy +in many places. + +A little work has just been published, which contains some instructive +and amusing information with regard to this part of Italy. This work is +the translation of a French volume, entitled ‘Lettres sur les Calabres, +par un Officier Français,’ which was published at Paris some twelve or +thirteen years since. What the Author may have become we know not, but +when he wrote his Letters he was nothing more than a subaltern;--a +clever man, as his little book proves, yet still only a lieutenant of +the line. But the translator, or publisher, appears to consider that the +high-sounding additions of, “A General Officer of the French Army” and +“from the original MS.” are necessary to the success of the book in its +English dress. It is to be regretted that a volume which contains much +to inform and amuse should be introduced to the English reader with the +aid of such useless quackery; for the work is really valuable in itself, +and requires no such arts to recommend it. + +During his three years’ residence, the Author of these Letters, which +were written on the spot, when the scenery and the romantic adventures +he was engaged in were fresh and full in his mind, traversed the +Calabrias several times in their whole extent, and in pursuit of +partisans and brigands climbed mountains and penetrated into wild glens +which for ages had probably never been visited except by the native +robber or huntsman. He saw and described all the great towns, and the +sites of the ancient cities of Magna Græcia; and his account of the +productions and curiosities, manners and customs of these provinces, is +full and most amusing. We subjoin two or three passages, describing the +physical character of the country and the manners of its people:-- + + +“The climate of Calabria varies according to the character and elevation +of the soil, and is consequently favourable to all sorts of produce. In +the plains, sheltered against the north wind, there are found +sugar-canes, aloes, and date-trees; while the pine and birch cover the +tops of the mountains. The great variety and richness of the productions +of Calabria furnish an abundance of all the necessaries of life. It has +grain of every description; wines which might be rendered as good as +those of Spain and Languedoc, if the inhabitants had more intelligence +and industry; and olive oil in such profusion, that it is kept in vast +cisterns dug in the earth, or in the rock. Great quantities of silkworms +(and silkworms of the very best quality) are bred here, which, together +with the growth of cotton, form a considerable article of commerce. The +liquorice root grows without cultivation; and in the forests is found a +sort of manna, which is in great request. Immense droves of horned +cattle pass alternately from the rich grazing grounds of the Syla to the +aromatic pasture of the plains, where they remain during the winter. +Their flocks are as vast as their herds. Their breed of horses is hardy, +active, extremely swift, full of fire, and very numerous. And besides +these the Calabrians have the excellent mule, so necessary for a +mountainous country, and vast droves of the formidable buffalo, which +they tame and employ in labour like an ox. In all parts of Calabria +there is a great quantity of game of every description. The seacoasts +abound with fish: the sword-fish alone supplies food to a part of the +inhabitants during several months of the year, and the tunny forms a +lucrative branch of commerce.... All this ought to produce comfort and +opulence, but hardly any thing is met with but abject misery! Nature has +done every thing for the country, but for many ages the vices of the +government have marred its prosperity. The condition of the peasantry is +most wretched: there is a total want of emulation. The climate and the +soil do all the work. Productions of every kind are the spontaneous +gifts of nature without any aid from art and industry. With the +exception of a few cities, and some towns that are regularly built, all +the other inhabited places present the most miserable and disgusting +appearance: the whole interior of their houses is a mass of revolting +filth: the pigs live familiarly with the inmates.... These people have +no true principle of religion or morals. Like all ignorant masses, they +are superstitious to excess. The most atrocious brigand carries in his +bosom relics and images of saints, which he invokes at the very moment +he is committing the greatest enormities.... The Calabrians are capable +of being made excellent soldiers from their robust constitutions, their +sobriety, activity, and quickness. If these people, isolated as they are +from the rest of Europe, and entrenched behind impassable mountains, +were actuated by a pure spirit of patriotism, political and religious, +they would become invincible; and the country they inhabit might be +rendered a sure and safe asylum against tyranny.” + + + --------------------- + + + POEMS. BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. London. Andrews, 1832. + +Our reasons for noticing and recommending this volume to our readers are +manifold. It is beautiful in itself; it is written by an American; it is +one of the best specimens we have seen of the poetical genius of our +transatlantic brethren; it is edited by Washington Irving, the most +accomplished prose writer of America; and is by him dedicated or rather +addressed to Samuel Rogers, the author of the ‘Pleasures of Memory,’ and +who, at an advanced period of life, preserves all the generous glow of +youth for letters and for arts, and for every thing connected with the +intellectual improvement of mankind. + +The exhibition of actual specimens of American taste and literature will +tend to counteract the mischievous effects of those caricatures of +American life and manners with which some authors have of late amused +the spleen and prejudice of the British public. It is important to +remove the illusion produced by writers of talent, who, professing to +delineate national peculiarities truly, exaggerate and misrepresent +them; regardless, and perhaps unconscious, that by using ridicule and +sarcasm on such subjects they are renewing antipathies which never had a +rational existence, and which years of friendly intercourse had almost +annihilated; and are detaching from us the sympathies of those who by +descent, community of free institutions (though differently modified), +and identity of language, must naturally be well disposed towards us. + +“During an intimacy of some years’ standing,” says Washington Irving to +Samuel Rogers, “I have uniformly remarked a liberal interest on your +part in the rising character and fortunes of my country, and a kind +disposition to promote the success of American talent, whether engaged +in literature or the arts. I am induced, therefore, as a tribute of +gratitude, as well as a general testimonial of respect and friendship, +to lay before you the present volume, in which, for the first time, are +collected together the fugitive productions of one of our living poets, +whose writings are deservedly popular throughout the United States.” + +This is all as it should be, in relation both to Mr. Rogers and his +friend. And we confess we augur most favourably of the taste of a +country, _throughout_ which, poetry so refined in sentiment, and so pure +in execution and ornament, as that contained in the volume before us, +enjoys popularity. + +We began by recommending Mr. Bryant’s Poems. A perusal of the following +specimen, as well as of one or two that we have lately printed +separately, will justify our so doing, and there are many pieces in the +volume of equal originality and beauty. A warm admiration of the works +of nature, strong religious feeling towards the great Author of these +works, a singular happiness of description, and a power of clothing his +descriptions “with moral associations that make them speak to the +heart,” “an independent spirit, and the buoyant aspirations incident to +a youthful, a free, and a rising country[3],” are among the charming +characteristics of this American poet. We will only add, that the whole, +while written in a style elegant enough to please the most fastidious, +is simple and intelligible enough for the commonest reader. + + + TO A WATERFOWL. + + Whither, midst falling dew, + While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, + Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue + Thy solitary way? + + Vainly the fowler’s eye + Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong, + As, darkly painted on the crimson sky, + Thy figure floats along. + + Seek’st thou thy plashy brink + Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide, + Or where the rocking billows rise and sink + On the chafed ocean-side? + + There is a Power whose care + Teaches thy way along that pathless coast-- + The desert and illimitable air-- + Lone wandering, but not lost. + + All day thy wings have fanned, + At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere, + Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land, + Though the dark night is near. + + And soon that toil shall end, + Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest + And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend + Soon o’er thy sheltered nest. + + Thou’rt gone--the abyss of heaven + Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart + Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given, + And shall not soon depart. + + He, who, from zone to zone, + Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, + In the long way that I must tread alone, + Will lead my steps aright. + +----- + +Footnote 3: + + Washington Irving’s dedicatory Letter to Rogers. + + + --------------------- + + + INDIA. + + [Pen and Pencil Sketches. Being the Journal of a Tour in India. By + Captain Mundy, late Aide-de-Camp to Lord Combermere. 2 vols. 8vo.] + +We recommend these two octavo volumes to those of our readers who may be +able to obtain the perusal of them. We think that not only great +amusement may be derived from Captain Mundy’s work, but that it supplies +more information concerning the parts of our dominions in India that he +visited, than may be collected from many ponderous volumes. In his +lively chapters, indeed, amusement and _fun_ (to use a homely word) go +hand in hand with instruction. At the sketch of a human character, +European or Indian, Hindoo or Mussulman, or at the sketch of a scene, +the Captain is equally at home and happy; and in the first class of his +essays he shows so generous and philanthropic a feeling, and in the +second so fine a perception and appreciation of the beauties of nature, +that he captivates both our affection and our taste. What we admire, +too, as much as his talent--and this is perhaps generally the +inseparable companion of intellect of a superior order--is his fine +cheerfulness of spirit. In his daily life he is always disposed to make +the best of things. He is as joyous in his tent, or the equally +comfortless bungalow, as in the palace; palanqueens or the back of an +elephant, Arabians or ragged coolies[4], are all the same to him! +Forward he goes on his journey, only telling you now and then that the +thermometer is nearly at 100°, or that it is raining deluges; and he +looks for, and finds amusement or interest of some kind or other +wherever he moves! At one time we find him hunting the antelope with +leopards, at another bringing down partridges with a “Manton;”--here +seeing a tiger fighting with a rhinoceros, there _himself_ in deadly +conflict with a jungle tiger;--now Mac-adamizing or making roads at +Simla, on the Steppes of the Himalaya mountains, now smoking his hookah +at Calcutta. At his professional duties he is as cheerful as at his +sports, and one cannot help perceiving he is in possession of that +valuable but very attainable secret of making “a pleasure of business.” + +The following piece of practical philosophy, or how to make the best of +a bad lodging, is a lesson for all classes:-- + + +“The elevation of Simla above the sea is seven thousand eight hundred +feet; and, during the month of May, I find the thermometer was never +higher than 73°, or lower than 55°, in my _garret_. This apartment, +occupied by me during our stay in the hills, was pervious both to heat +and cold, being, in fact, of that elevated character, which in England +is usually devoted to cheeses, or apples and onions, and forming the +interval between the ceiling of the dining-room and the wooden pent-roof +of the house, which descending in a slope quite to the floor, only +admitted of my standing upright in the centre. Though this canopy of +planks was lined with white-washed canvas, it by no means excluded the +rains so peremptorily as I, not being an amphibious animal, could have +wished; and, during some of the grand storms, the hailstones rattled +with such stunning effect upon the drum-like roof, that the echo sung in +my ears for a week after. This my exalted dormitory was rendered +accessible by a wooden ladder; but, spite of its sundry désagrémens, I +thanked my stars--in whose near neighbourhood I was--for my luck in +getting any shelter at all, without the trouble of building, in the +present crowded state of Simla. I enjoyed a splendid view from my +windows (I beg pardon, window), and the luxury of privacy, except at +night, when the rats sustained an eternal carnival, keeping me in much +the same state as Whittington during his first week in London. I soon +grew tired of bumping my head against the roof in pursuit of these +four-footed Pindarrees[5], and at length became callous to their +nocturnal orgies--and kept a cat[6].” + + +Even an hair-breadth escape from a midnight robber in no way interrupts +the Captain’s joyous mood:-- + + +“I retired to my tent this evening pretty well knocked up; and during +the night had an adventure, which might have terminated with more loss +to myself, had I slept sounder. My bed, a low canopy, or ‘four feet,’ +was in one corner of the tent, close to a door, and I woke several times +from a feverish doze, fancying I heard something moving in my tent; but +could not discover anything, though a cherang, or little Indian lamp, +was burning on the table. I therefore again wooed the balmy power, and +slept. At length, just as ‘the iron tongue of midnight had told twelve’ +(for I had looked at my watch five minutes before, and replaced it under +my pillow), I was awakened by a rustling sound under my head; and, half +opening my eyes, without changing my position, I saw a hideous black +face within a foot of mine, and the owner of this index of a cut-throat, +or, at least, cut-purse disposition, kneeling on the carpet, with one +hand under my pillow, and the other grasping--not a dagger!--but the +door-post. Still without moving my body, and with half-closed eyes, I +gently stole my right hand to a boar-spear, which at night was always +placed between my bed and the wall; and as soon as I had clutched it, +made a rapid and violent movement, in order to wrench it from its place, +and try the virtue of its point upon the intruder’s body--but I wrenched +in vain. Fortunately for the robber, my bearer, in placing the weapon in +its usual recess, had forced the point into the top of the tent and the +butt into the ground so firmly, that I failed to extract it at the first +effort; and my visitor, alarmed by the movement, started upon his feet +and rushed through the door. I had time to see that he was perfectly +naked, with the exception of a black blanket twisted round his loins, +and that he had already stowed away in his cloth my candlesticks and my +dressing-case, which latter contained letters, keys, money, and other +valuables. I had also leisure, in that brief space, to judge, from the +size of the arm extended to my bed, that the bearer was more formed for +activity than strength; and, by his grizzled beard, that he was rather +old than young. I, _therefore_, sprung from my bed, and darting through +the purdar of the inner door, seized him by the cummerbund just as he +was passing the outer entrance[7]. The cloth, however, being loose, gave +way, and ere I could confirm my grasp, he snatched it from my hand, +tearing away my thumb-nail down to the quick. In his anxiety to escape, +he stumbled through the outer purdar, and the much-esteemed +dressing-case fell out of his loosened zone. I was so close at his +heels, that he could not recover it; and jumping over the +tent-ropes--which, doubtless, the rogue calculated would trip me up--he +ran towards the road. I was in such a fury, that, forgetting my bare +feet, I gave chase, vociferating lustily, ‘Choor! choor!’ (thief! +thief!) but was soon brought up by some sharp stones, just in time to +see my rascal, by the faint light of the room through the thick foliage +overhead, jump upon a horse standing unheld near the road, and dash down +the path at full speed, his black blanket flying in the wind. What would +I have given for my double-barrelled Joe at that moment! As he and his +steed went clattering along the rocky forest road, I thought of the +black huntsman of the Hartz, or the erl-king! Returning to my tent, I +solaced myself by abusing my servants, who were just rubbing their eyes +and stirring themselves, and by threatening the terrified sepoy sentry +with a court-martial. My trunks at night were always placed outside the +tent, under the sentry’s eye; the robber, therefore, must have made his +entry on the opposite side, and he must have been an adept in his +vocation, as four or five servants were sleeping between the khanauts. +The poor devil did not get much booty for his trouble, having only +secured a razor, a pot of pomatum (which will serve to lubricate his +person for his next exploit[8]), and the candlesticks, which on closer +inspection, will prove to him the truth of the axiom, that ‘all is not +gold that glitters,’ nor even silver.... The next morning, on relating +my adventure, I was told that I was fortunate in having escaped cold +steel; and many more comfortable instances were recited, of the robbed +being stabbed in attempting to secure the robber[9].” + + +But it is in his account of Indian hunting with which the volumes +abound, and which are truly excellent, that Captain Mundy gives full way +to his buoyant spirit and hilarity: and as the animal pursued is not the +timid hare or the paltry fox, but generally the cruel, destructive, and +formidable tiger, and as there is both adventure and danger, we can +frequently follow him in these hunts with great interest. The following +account of the sagacity of an elephant in a lion-hunt must conclude our +extracts:-- + + +“A lion had charged my friend’s elephant, and he, having wounded the +lion, was in the act of leaning forward in order to fire another shot, +when the front of the howdah (elephant’s castle) suddenly gave way, and +he was precipitated over the head of the elephant into the very jaws of +the furious beast. The lion, though severely hurt, immediately seized +him, and would doubtless shortly have put a fatal termination to the +conflict, had not the elephant, urged by the mahout (the driver, who +sits on the elephant’s neck), stepped forward, though greatly alarmed, +and grasping in her trunk the top of a young tree, bent it down hard +across the loins of the lion, and thus forced the tortured animal to +quit his hold! My friend’s life was thus preserved, but his arm was +broken in two places, and he was severely clawed on the breast and +shoulders. The lion was afterwards slain by the other sportsmen who came +up.” + + +----- + +Footnote 4: + + A coolie is a rough Indian pony. + +Footnote 5: + + An immense association of robbers that a few years ago devastated + India. They have been suppressed by the British. + +Footnote 6: + + Vol. i. p. 235. + +Footnote 7: + + The tents in India have double flies; the outer khanaut, or wall, + forming a verandah, of some four feet wide, round the interior + pavilion. + +Footnote 8: + + Indian thieves oil their naked bodies to render their seizure + difficult. + +Footnote 9: + + Vol. i. p. 165. + + + --------------------- + + +⁂ For notices to Correspondents, see the Wrapper of the Monthly Part. + + + --------------------- + + + ⁂ The Penny Magazine will, in most cases, be delivered _weekly_ in the + Towns of the United Kingdom, by Booksellers and Newsvenders, to whom + Subscribers should address their Orders. It cannot be sent by Post + as a Newspaper is, being unstamped. For the convenience of those, + who, residing in country places, cannot obtain the Publication at + regular _weekly_ intervals, the Numbers published during each Month + will be stitched together to form a _Monthly Part_. That this Part + may be sold at a convenient and uniform price, a MONTHLY SUPPLEMENT, + consisting chiefly of Notices of such _New Books_ as we think right + to give a place to in ‘the Library,’ will appear with the regular + Number on the last Saturday in the Month. The price of the Part, + whether consisting of five or of six Numbers, will be SIXPENCE; each + Part will be neatly and strongly done up, in a wrapper. Thus, the + _annual_ Expense of Twelve Parts will be Six Shillings, viz.:-- + + _s._ _d._ + 52 Regular Numbers 4 4 + 12 Supplements 1 0 + 12 Wrappers 0 8 + ────── + 6 0 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + LONDON:--CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST. + + _Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following + Booksellers:--_ + + _London_, GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley, Paternoster Row. + _Bath_, SIMMS. + _Birmingham_, DRAKE. + _Bristol_, WESTLEY and Co. + _Carlisle_, THURNAM; and SCOTT. + _Derby_, WILKINS and SON. + _Devonport_, BYERS. + _Doncaster_, BROOKE and Co. + _Exeter_, BALLE. + _Falmouth_, PHILIP. + _Hull_, STEPHENSON. + _Kendal_, HUDSON and NICHOLSON. + _Leeds_, BAINES and NEWSOME. + _Lincoln_, BROOKE and SONS. + _Liverpool_, WILLMER and SMITH. + _Manchester_, ROBINSON; and WEBB and SIMMS. + _Newcastle-upon-Tyne_, CHARNLEY. + _Norwich_, JARROLD and SON. + _Nottingham_, WRIGHT. + _Oxford_, SLATTER. + _Plymouth_, NETTLETON. + _Portsen_, HORSEY, Jun. + _Sheffield_, RIDGE. + _Staffordshire, Lane End_, C. WATTS. + _Worcester_, DEIGHTON. + _Dublin_, WAKEMAN. + _Edinburgh_, OLIVER and BOYD. + _Glasgow_, ATKINSON and Co. + + Printed by WILLIAM CLOWES, Stamford Street. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + +This file uses _underscores_ to indicate italic text. New original cover +art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. Itemized +changes from the original text: + + • p. 131, footnote: Changed single to double closing quote after phrase + “which must be occasioned even by short and casual interruptions.” + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76875 *** diff --git a/76875-h/76875-h.htm b/76875-h/76875-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0dbe8ba --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/76875-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1570 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + <head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title>The Penny Magazine, Monthly Supplement for June, 1832 | Project Gutenberg</title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + body { margin-left: 8%; margin-right: 10%; } + h1 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.4em; } + h2 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; font-size: 1.2em; } + .pageno { right: 1%; font-size: x-small; background-color: inherit; color: silver; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; position: absolute; + border: thin solid silver; padding: .1em .2em; 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background-color: #E3E4FA; border: 1px solid silver; + page-break-before:always;margin-top:4em; } + hr.divider {width:30%;margin-left:35%;margin-right:35%; } + hr.full {width:100%; } + .masthead {text-align:center; display:inline-block; width:100%; } + .masthead-left {float:left;text-align:left; } + .masthead-right {float:right;text-align:right; } + .masthead-left, .masthead-right {width:24%; } + .masthead-centre {margin:auto;width:50% } + .colophon {font-size:75%; } + .colophon-left {float:left; } + .colophon-right {float:right; } + .colophon-left, .colophon-right {width:48%;text-align:left; } + .clear {clear:both; } + .illo-wide {width:100%; } + div.linegroup > :last-child { margin-bottom: 0; } + .shrink {font-size:90%; } + td.sumline {border-top:2px solid black; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76875 ***</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c000'> + <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>Monthly Supplement of</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div> + <h1 class='c001' title='The Penny Magazine, May 31 to June 30 , 1832'>THE PENNY MAGAZINE</h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div><span class='small'>OF THE</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c1'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div><span class='large'>Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class="full"> +<div class="masthead"> +<div class="masthead-right"></div> +<div class="masthead-left">16.]</div> +<div class="masthead-centre"><span class='sc'>May 31 to June 30</span>, 1832</div> +<hr class="full"> +</div> + +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>THE ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN’S.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='illo-wide'> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<a href='images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-full.jpg'><img src='images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-inline.png' alt='A large, cruciform ecclesiastical building with a steeple at the center.' class='ig001'></a> +</div> + +</div> + +<p class='c004'>On the 3d of February last, a part of the wall of the +upper battlement on the south-west side of the Abbey +of St. Alban’s fell upon the roof below, in two masses, +at an interval of five minutes between the fall of each +fragment. The concussion was so great, that the inhabitants +of the neighbouring houses describe it as +resembling the loudest thunder; and the detached +masses of the wall came down with such force that a +large portion of the roof, consisting of lead and heavy +timber, was driven into the aisle below. The abbey, +generally, has been a good deal out of repair for several +years; and it is now estimated that 15,000<i>l.</i> will be +required to repair the damage, and to save this venerable +fabric from further injury.</p> + +<p class='c005'>A public subscription has been opened for this +laudable object; and when we consider the interest +which the people of this country so properly attach to +the monuments of our early civilization, we cannot +doubt that the Abbey of St. Alban’s will be rescued, for +several more generations, from the devouring grasp of +time.</p> + +<p class='c005'>St. Alban’s is, in many respects, one of the towns of +England most dignified by historical associations. It +was one of the principal places of the ancient Britons +before the Roman conquest; and, within twenty-one +years after the invasion of the island, was raised, by the +Romans, to the rank of a city, under the name of +Verulam. Many considerable fragments of the Roman +Verulam still exist, at a short distance from the present +town, particularly a large piece of a wall, constructed of +Roman tile, now called Gorhambury Block. Dr. +Stukely, a celebrated antiquarian writer, has calculated +that about a hundred acres were included within the +Roman wall. The greater part of the city, first built +by the Romans, was demolished by the Britons, under +Queen Boadicea, in the 61st year after the birth of +Christ; but it was soon rebuilt, and the inhabitants +continued under the protection of the Romans for a +long period. In the persecution of the Christians, +under the Roman emperor Dioclesian, in the year +304, Alban, a native of Verulam, who had been a +soldier at Rome, suffered martyrdom for his faith; and +being the first Briton who had been put to death for his +religious opinions, he is called England’s proto-martyr, +or first martyr, as St. Stephen is called the proto-martyr +of Christianity. In 795, Offa, King of the Mercians, +founded an abbey at Holmhurst, close by the ancient +Verulam, in honour of St. Alban, and the place was +thenceforward called St. Alban’s. The abbey flourished +for more than seven centuries. Its buildings, erected +from time to time, resembled a town more than a +religious house. It had magnificent apartments, in +which the kings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries +were frequently entertained. The annual revenues, +during its greatest prosperity, were valued at 2500<i>l.</i>—an +enormous sum in those days.</p> + +<p class='c005'>Of this immense establishment, nothing is left but the +present conventual church, a gate-house, and a few +scattered walls. The church, which was principally +erected in the reign of William Rufus, is in magnitude +equal to our largest cathedrals. It measures 550 feet +from east to west; if we include a chapel at one end, +606 feet. The extreme breadth, at the intersection of +the transepts, is 217 feet. The exterior of this great pile +is not very beautiful; but the spectator is struck with +its vastness, its simplicity, and its appearance of extreme +age. A large part of the original edifice is composed of +materials taken from the ruins of the ancient Verulam, +consisting chiefly of Roman tile. These portions of the +interior are very rude, and form a striking contrast to +other parts which were finished after the elegant Norman +style was adopted in this country. In this manner it +occurs that we see at St. Alban’s a mixture of the round +and the pointed arch, in two sides of the same building, +directly opposite each other. It is singular that as one +side of the building fell into decay, the later style of +architecture, that of the pointed arch, should have been +used; while the more ancient round arch was suffered to +remain on the opposite side. This want of uniformity +greatly diminishes the beauty of the interior; but still +many of its effects are remarkably striking, particularly +that of the vast length of the church from east to west. +Some parts of the edifice furnish, also, beautiful and +perfect specimens of the most delicate workmanship.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The Abbey-Church of St. Alban’s contains the monuments +of several illustrious men, particularly that of Duke +Humphrey of Gloucester, the brother of Henry V. But +St. Alban’s possesses the much higher distinction of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>being the burial-place, as it was the abode, of the great +Lord Bacon. The old Church of St. Michael, in this +town, contains the remains of the immortal founder of +the inductive philosophy, which delivered the human +mind from the tyranny of opinions established by prescription +and authority, and led the way for every man +to think for himself, and to rely upon the truths of established +facts alone as the materials for his conclusions. +The following is a representation of Lord Bacon’s +monument.</p> + +<div class='illo-wide'> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<a href='images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-full.jpg'><img src='images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-inline.png' alt='A statue of a man seated on a chair, his head resting on one hand, with the legend: FRANCISCVS BACON.' class='ig001'></a> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>MACHINERY AND MANUFACTURES.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c007'>[‘The Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. By Charles +Babbage, Esq., A.M., Lucasian Professor of Mathematics in the +University of Cambridge.’ 8vo. London, C. Knight, 1832.]</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c005'>Here is a work of no common interest. Its object, as +stated by the author in his introductory paragraph, is +“to point out the effects and the advantages which arise +from the use of tools and machines;—to endeavour to +classify their modes of action;—and to trace both the +causes and the consequences of applying machinery to +supersede the skill and power of the human arm.” It +professes to embrace, therefore, both a very important +branch of the science of political economy, and the whole +domain of the mechanical arts.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The word <em>manufacture</em>, which means fabrication by +the <em>hand</em>, has become singularly inapplicable to the +thing which it is used to denote. The human hand now +performs but a comparatively small part in most of those +processes to which the name of manufactures is given; +and in some of the most stupendous and wonderful of +them its aid is hardly at all employed. Where the steam-engine +plies its mighty energies, man has in many cases +little more to do than to look on. If the expression, a +manufacturing country, were to be taken in its literal +sense, as meaning a country where articles were generally +made by the hand, it would be much more +truly applicable to Spain, or Russia, or Poland, or Hindostan, +or indeed to any other country of the earth, than +to ours. We are, of all others, the people who do least +by the hand.</p> + +<p class='c005'>When we say, therefore, that England is a manufacturing +country and that Poland is not, we mean +merely that great numbers of articles of use and +of luxury are fabricated in the former country, without +any necessary reference to the mode in which they are +fabricated. But it so happens that such articles cannot +be fabricated in great abundance except by means of +machinery; and therefore we often use the term manufacturing +as nearly synonymous with mechanical, or at +least as implying the extensive agency of machinery. +It should be borne in mind, however, that agriculture is +also a manufacture; and that whether a country produces +iron or corn, each branch of industry involves +mechanical aid, however we may choose to distinguish +between a manufacturing and an agricultural country.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The book upon the subject of manufactures which +Mr. Babbage has now given to the world, consists chiefly +of a very large and multifarious collection of the mechanical +expedients employed in the different branches of +our national industry, arranged according to the general +principle, of which each is an exemplification. The +author has in this way furnished a work which is not +less interesting to the mere general reader than it is +likely to prove valuable to the student of mechanics. +Surrounded as we are in this country by the wonders of +mechanical invention, he among us must be singularly +destitute of enlightened curiosity who feels no desire to +understand the operation of those beautiful and most +effective contrivances which he everywhere sees or hears +in motion; or to trace through the various stages of their +fabrication those numberless articles of use and of ornament +of which every one of our shops, and it may +almost be said of our houses, is full. The history of +some of the most apparently trivial or insignificant of +these productions, of a pin or a needle for instance, is +often a rich succession of the most exquisite efforts of +ingenuity—of the most important results obtained by +the simplest means, and of a velocity and at the same +time perfection of operation which to the unaccustomed +observer would seem little short of miraculous. The +wonders of our manufactures are not less deserving of +our examination, because they are performed in the very +midst of us, and may be made perfectly intelligible to all +who care to understand them.</p> + +<p class='c005'>But it is to those who are actually engaged in mechanical +invention that this volume is doubtless fitted to +render the most important service. Let the particular +department upon which a person so employed is exercising +his thoughts be what it may, his success is likely +to depend in no small degree upon his general familiarity +with mechanical contrivances. It has not unfrequently +happened that for want of this diversified knowledge +the inventors and improvers of machines or of +processes have devoted their solitary efforts for a long time +in vain, in attempting merely to accomplish what had already +been completely achieved in some other department +of mechanical skill with which they happened to have no +acquaintance. In other cases, a contrivance applicable +to many different branches, although introduced in one +of the number, has remained unknown to the cultivators +of all the others for many years. Thus, for example, +the valuable contrivance of the fly-shuttle, although introduced +into the woollen manufactory about the year +1738, was not employed in the weaving of cottons, +where it was equally applicable, till more than twenty +years afterwards. So also, as Mr. Babbage notices, +the expedient of placing the workman employed in +beating out the blades of scythes in a seat suspended +by ropes from the ceiling, to give him sufficient freedom +and rapidity of motion to bring the different parts of +the iron upon the anvil in quick succession, although +introduced in the manufacture of scythes long ago, has +only been recently applied to that of anchors; “an art +in which,” as he remarks, “the contrivance is of still +greater importance.” Now such a work as the one +before us is admirably calculated to prevent all this +waste of inventive labour, and to ensure the communication +of any new or valuable contrivance to all descriptions +<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>of manufactures in which it is fitted to be +available. An inventor, who has made himself completely +master of this work, will have obtained a knowledge +both of all the principal expedients which have +hitherto been employed in mechanics, and of the scientific +principles upon which all mechanical devices must +depend; and a man so instructed, it may be fairly inferred, +will be likely not only to waste but little time in +re-discovering what has been already found out, but also +to find his efforts in original invention crowned with far +more rapid and more satisfying success than would have +otherwise attended them.</p> + +<p class='c005'>From the multiplicity of most interesting subjects of +which Mr. Babbage has treated, the mere enumeration +of which would far exceed our limits, we select only two +specimens of the entertainment to be found in the work. +The following account of a foreign manufacture would +appear incredible, if we did not know to what singular +uses the instincts of animals may be directed:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“<i>Lace made by Caterpillars.</i>—A most extraordinary species +of manufacture, which is in a slight degree connected +with copying, has been contrived by an officer of engineers +residing at Munich. It consists of lace and veils, with open +patterns in them, made entirely by caterpillars. The following +is the mode of proceeding adopted:—Having made a +paste of the leaves of the plant, on which the species of caterpillar +he employs feeds, he spreads it thinly over a stone, +or other flat substance, of the required size. He then, with +a camel-hair pencil dipped in olive oil, draws the pattern he +wishes the insects to leave open. This stone is then placed +in an inclined position, and a considerable number of the +caterpillars are placed at the bottom. A peculiar species is +chosen, which spins a strong web; and the animals commence +at the bottom, eating and spinning their way up to +the top, carefully avoiding every part touched by the oil, +but devouring every other part of the paste. The extreme +lightness of these veils, combined with some strength, is +truly surprising. One of them, measuring twenty-six and +a half inches by seventeen inches, weighed only 1.51 grains, +a degree of lightness which will appear more strongly by +contrast with other fabrics. One square yard of the substance +of which these veils are made weighs four grains and +one-third, whilst one square yard of silk gauze weighs one +hundred and thirty-seven grains, and one square yard of the +finest patent net weighs two hundred and sixty-two grains +and a half.”</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c004'>One of the most important manufactures of our own +country is that connected with the Press, in all its various +and complicated operations. The following account of +the mode in which a great London newspaper is prepared, +will be read with interest in all parts of the kingdom:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“Another instance of the just application of machinery, +even at an increased expense, arises where the shortness of +time in which the article can be produced, has an important +influence on its value. In the publication of our daily newspapers, +it frequently happens that the debates in the Houses +of Parliament are carried on to three and four o’clock in the +morning, that is, to within a very few hours of the time for +the publication of the newspaper. The speeches must be +taken down by reporters, conveyed by them to the establishment +of the newspaper, perhaps at the distance of one or two +miles, transcribed by them in the office, set up by the compositor, +the press corrected, and the papers printed off and +distributed before the public can read them. Some of these +journals have a circulation of from five to ten thousand +daily. Supposing four thousand to be wanted, and that +they could be printed only at the rate of five hundred per +hour upon one side of the paper (which was the greatest +number two journeymen and a boy could take off by the +old hand-presses), sixteen hours would be required for printing +the complete edition; and the news conveyed to the +purchasers of the latest portion of the impression, would be +out of date before they could receive it. To obviate this +difficulty, it was often necessary to set up the paper in duplicate, +and sometimes, when late, in triplicate: but the improvements +in the printing-machines have been so great, +that four thousand copies are now printed on one side in an +hour.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“The establishment of ‘The Times’ newspaper is an example, +on a large scale, of a manufactory in which the division +of labour, both mental and bodily, is admirably illustrated, +and in which also the effect of the domestic economy +is well exemplified. It is scarcely imagined, by the thousands +who read that paper in various quarters of the globe, +what a scene of organized activity the factory presents +during the whole night, or what a quantity of talent and +mechanical skill is put in action for their amusement and +information<a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c008'><sup>[1]</sup></a>. Nearly a hundred persons are employed in +this establishment; and, during the session of parliament, at +least twelve reporters are constantly attending the Houses +of Commons and Lords; each in his turn, after about an +hour’s work, retiring to translate into ordinary writing, the +speech he has just heard and noted in short-hand. In the +mean time fifty compositors are constantly at work, some +of whom have already set up the beginning, whilst others +are committing to type the yet undried manuscript of the +continuation of a speech, whose middle portion is travelling +to the office in the pocket of the hasty reporter, and whose +eloquent conclusion is, perhaps, at that very moment, making +the walls of St. Stephen’s vibrate with the applause of its +hearers. These congregated types, as fast as they are composed, +are passed in portions to other hands; till at last the +scattered fragments of the debate, forming, when united +with the ordinary matter, eight-and-forty columns, re-appear +in regular order on the platform of the printing-press. The +hand of man is now too slow for the demands of his curiosity, +but the power of steam comes to his assistance. Ink is +rapidly supplied to the moving types by the most perfect +mechanism;—four attendants incessantly introduce the +edges of large sheets of white paper to the junction of two +great rollers, which seem to devour them with unsated appetite;—other +rollers convey them to the type already inked, +and having brought them into rapid and successive contact, +re-deliver them to four other assistants, completely printed +by the almost momentary touch. Thus, in one hour, four +thousand sheets of paper are printed on one side; and an +impression of twelve thousand copies, from above three hundred +thousand moveable pieces of metal, is produced for the +public in six hours.”</p> + +</div> + +<hr class='c009'> +<div class='footnote' id='f1'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. “The Author of these pages, with one of his friends, was recently +induced to visit this most interesting establishment, after midnight, +during the progress of a very important debate. The place was illuminated +with gas, and was light as the day:—there was neither +noise nor bustle;—and the visitors were received with such calm and +polite attention, that they did not, until afterwards, become sensible +of the inconvenience which such intruders, at a moment of the +greatest pressure, must occasion, nor reflect that the tranquillity which +they admired, was the result of intense and regulated occupation. +But the effect of such checks in the current of business will appear +on recollecting that, as four thousand newspapers are printed off on +one side within the hour, every <em>minute</em> is attended with a loss of sixty-six +impressions. The quarter of an hour, therefore, which the stranger +may think it not unreasonable to claim for the gratification of his +curiosity (and to him this time is but a moment), may cause a failure +in the delivery of one thousand copies, and disappoint a proportionate +number of expectant readers, in some of our distant towns, to which +the morning papers are despatched by the earliest and most rapid +conveyances of each day.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“This note is inserted with the further and more general purpose +of calling the attention of those, especially foreigners, who are desirous +of inspecting our larger manufactories to the chief cause of +the difficulty which frequently attends their introduction. When the +establishment is very extensive, and its departments skilfully arranged, +the exclusion of visitors arises, not from any illiberal jealousy, +nor, generally, from any desire of concealment, which would, in most +cases, be absurd; but from the substantial inconvenience and loss +of time, throughout an entire series of well-combined operations, +<a id='tn-interruption'></a>which must be occasioned even by short and casual interruptions.”</p> +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>The last Monthly Report of the proceedings of the Committee +of Science of the Zoological Society, contains +several facts of general interest.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The female <i>Puma</i>, in the Society’s Gardens, brought +forth two young ones on the 2d of April. The ground-colour +of these is of a paler fawn than that of either +of the parents, and they are deeply spotted. The +eyelids of one of them were partially unclosed on +April 9. The mother, whose temper was always mild, +has since become remarkably gentle, purring when +the keeper goes into her den, and allowing her young +ones to be handled and carried about without appearing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>to be annoyed by such treatment. The young, on the contrary, +were, when first born, extremely fierce, hissing and +scratching with all their might; they have, however, since +become better tempered, though they are still spiteful. +The manners of both the mother and the young are similar +to those of the <em>domestic cat</em> and her kittens, the former +carrying the latter about from place to place in her +mouth. For a day or two previously to her littering she +pulled the straw in her inner den into pieces and thus +formed a nest.</p> + +<p class='c005'>Some curious experiments have been made as to the +mode of feeding quadrupeds of prey, which is best +adapted to bringing them into good condition, and which +may therefore be considered the most suited to their +natural habits. On January 11 two <i>leopards</i> were +weighed. No. 1. weighed 91 lbs.: it was fed in the +usual manner with 4 lbs. of beef daily in one meal +given in the evening. No. 2. weighed 100½ lbs.: it +was supplied with 2 lbs. of beef at eight o’clock in the +morning, and with a like quantity at the same hour in +the evening daily. On Feb. 16 (after an interval of +five weeks) they were again weighed. No. 1. had gained +in weight 1 lb.: No. 2. had diminished in weight ½ lb. +No alteration was observed in the latter animal as regarded +his daily exercise; but he became more ferocious +than he had previously been, and was particularly violent.</p> + +<div class='illo-wide'> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<a href='images/zoological-society-full.jpg'><img src='images/zoological-society-inline.png' alt='' class='ig001'></a> +<div class='ic002'> +<p>[The Puma.]</p> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +<p class='c005'>On December 23 two <i>hyænas</i> were weighed. No. 1. +weighed 86 lbs.: it was fed as usual with 3 lbs. of beef +daily at one meal in the evening. No. 2. weighed 93 lbs.: +it was supplied with the same quantity of beef daily, +divided into two equal portions, one of which was given +in the morning and the other in the evening. On +February 16 (after an interval of eight weeks) they were +again weighed; and No. 1. was found to have increased +in weight 1 lb., while No. 2. had diminished in weight 1 lb. +The latter animal was observed to take less exercise than +he had previously been accustomed to, and slept more +than usual: his temper was not affected, and he did not +exhibit unusual signs of hunger.</p> + +<p class='c005'>During the continuance of the experiment all the animals +were fasted one day in each week in common with +the other carnivorous species kept in the menagerie.</p> + +<p class='c005'>From these experiments it appears that carnivorous +<span lang="la"><i>mammalia</i></span> fed with two meals daily, do not continue +in equally good condition with those which have the +same quantity of flesh daily in one meal only. It further +appears that in one instance (that of the <i>leopard</i>) +the temper changed for the worse, and thus animals of +the genus <span lang="la"><i>felis</i></span> might become more dangerous in a +menagerie from the ferocity they would acquire under +such treatment; and that in another instance the habits +were altered as regarded exercise, a diminution of which, +in confined animals, must be injurious to health. The +inference deduced is consequently in favour of the continuance +of the accustomed mode of feeding the purely +carnivorous animals with one meal daily.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The same results were produced by the same experiments +upon two of a species less completely carnivorous—the +<span lang="la"><i>Paradoxure gennet</i></span>. It may be inferred from the +circumstance, that quadrupeds of prey thrive best with +long intervals between their meals, and that the difficulty +which such animals experience in obtaining food is counterbalanced +by their requiring it not so frequently as +animals who feed on vegetables.</p> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>STATUE OF WILLIAM PITT.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='illo-wide'> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<a href='images/statue-of-william-pitt-full.jpg'><img src='images/statue-of-william-pitt-inline.png' alt='A statue of a man standing in flowing robes, holding a tablet.' class='ig001'></a> +</div> + +</div> + +<p class='c004'>A Colossal statue of bronze, of which the above is a +representation, was erected in Hanover-square, at the end +of last year, to the memory of William Pitt. The orator +is represented in the act of speaking. This statue, which +in many respects is the finest in London, is the work +of Mr. Chantrey.</p> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>GLEANINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>We have occasionally selected a paragraph from a very +pretty volume, by Mr. Jesse, published under the above +title. The author lives in the neighbourhood of Kew; +and, like Mr. White of Selborne, who made a small village +in Hampshire one of the most interesting spots to +the lover of nature, by his ample descriptions of the +natural objects which he saw around him, Mr. Jesse has +rendered his walks a vehicle for much instruction and +amusement to himself and to others. He principally +confines his attention to zoology—the most generally +attractive of the departments of natural history; and he +looks upon the animal world with so much practical +wisdom, being disposed to be happy himself and to see +every creature around him happy, that there are few +persons who will not read his slight sketches with improvement +to their hearts and understandings.</p> + +<p class='c005'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>We copy a passage descriptive of the manner of +taking deer for hunting in the king’s parks:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“In addition to the herd of fallow-deer, amounting to about +one thousand six hundred, which are kept in Richmond +Park, there is generally a stock of from forty to fifty red +deer. Some stags from the latter are selected every year, +and sent to Swinley, in order to be hunted by the king’s +stag hounds. When a stag, which has been hunted for +three or four seasons, is returned to the park, to end his +days there, he is generally more fierce and dangerous than +any of the others at a particular season of the year. At that +time it is sometimes not safe to approach him; and the +keepers informed me, that they have been obliged to fire at +them with buck shot, when they have been attacked by +them. They account for this ferocity, by the circumstance +of the deer having been much handled, and consequently +rendered more familiar with, and less afraid of, those whom +they would naturally shun.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“Does are longer lived than bucks. One doe in Richmond +Park lived to be twenty years old; and there are +other instances of their having attained the same age.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“A curious circumstance lately occurred, respecting the +red deer in the park in question. In the year 1825, not a +single calf was dropped by any of the hinds, though they +had bred freely the preceding, and did the same in the subsequent +year. I find an event recorded in the ‘Journal of a +Naturalist,’ as having happened in the same year in regard +to cows. It is there stated that, for many miles round the +residence of the author, scarcely any female calves were +born. This diminution of the usual breed of deer, and the +increase of sex in another animal, is not a little remarkable.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='illo-wide'> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<a href='images/gleanings-in-natural-history-full.jpg'><img src='images/gleanings-in-natural-history-inline.png' alt='' class='ig001'></a> +<div class='ic002'> +<p>[Red Deer.]</p> +</div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“There is a fine breed of buck-hounds in Richmond Park, +and their sagacity is very extraordinary. In taking the +deer, according to annual custom, either for the royal hunt +or for the fattening paddocks, a stag or a buck, which has +been previously fixed upon, is ridden out of the herd by two +or three of the keepers in succession, each of whom is +closely followed by a hound, the young dogs only being +kept in slips. As soon as the deer has been separated from +his companions, the dogs have the requisite signal given to +them, and they immediately follow in pursuit. The scene +is then highly interesting. A strong deer will afford a very +long chase, but when he comes to bay, the dogs generally +seize him by the throat or ears; the keepers come up, take +him by the horns, and after having strapped his hind and +fore legs together, put him into a cart which follows for the +purpose, and he is then disposed of as he may be wanted. +I have seen an active young keeper throw himself from +his horse upon a deer at bay, which he had come up to at +full gallop, and hold his horns till assistance arrived. Some +danger, however, attends this sport; as, when a deer has +been hard pressed, I have seen him, in more than one instance, +suddenly turn upon the horsemen and injure the +horses, and in one case wound the leg of the horseman. +The dogs are so well trained, and are so soon made aware +which buck is intended to be caught, that they seldom make +a mistake, even if the deer regains the herd after having +been driven from it, but press him through it, till they have +again separated him from it. It is well known that when a +hard-pressed deer tries to rejoin his companions, they endeavour +to avoid and get away from him as much as possible, +or try to drive him away with their horns. So severe is +the chase in Richmond Park in taking deer, especially when +the ground is wet, that three or four good horses may be +tired by a single horseman in one day’s deer-taking, if each +deer is ridden out of the herd, and followed till he is taken. +When dogs are in slips, the man who holds them merely +rides as near as he can to the person who is endeavouring +to single out the deer, and awaits his signal for slipping the +dog. These dogs, who are a large, rough sort of greyhound +and very powerful and sagacious, are soon taught not to +injure the deer when they come to them. The cry of ‘hold +them,’ made use of by the keepers in urging them forward, +seems to be perfectly understood by the dogs.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>THE UNITED STATES.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c007'>[Remarks on the Statistics and Political Institutions of the United +States. By William Gore Ouseley, Esq., Attaché to his Majesty’s +Legation at Washington. 8vo. London, Rodwell, 1832.]</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c005'>The book before us is rather a rambling one; and +we cannot say that it appears to us to contain much +that is new, or that it has been prepared with all the +care, even in regard to its merely literary qualities, +which ought to have been bestowed on it. But the work +is written in a moderate, fair, and manly spirit, and is +calculated to beget a very favourable opinion of the +general liberality and philanthropy of the author’s views. +Although it contains some sensible remarks upon Mrs. +Trollope’s volumes, which we lately noticed, and also +upon a variety of other minor points, the greater portion +of it is devoted to an examination of the financial +results of the American system of government, and a +comparison of the burthens which it imposes upon the +people with those which are borne by the inhabitants of +England and of France. The settlement of this question +appears to be the principal aim of the writer; and +he has brought together the tables and estimates of +various authorities by whom it has been investigated.</p> + +<p class='c005'>In looking at these statements, however, it must be +borne in mind, that the two countries are differently +situated in many other respects, as well as in regard to +their political institutions; and the difference between +the amount of taxes paid in the one and that paid in the +other, may arise, wholly or in part, from circumstances +with which the form of the government has really +nothing whatever to do.</p> + +<p class='c005'>It is our duty to mention this circumstance to point +out that any belief that the two countries can be brought +to the same point of taxation is somewhat irrational. +On the other hand we can have no hesitation in expressing +an opinion, that the nearer they are assimilated, +the greater will be the amount of public happiness +in the more highly-taxed country. A wise government +will always strive to reduce taxes to the lowest +point that is compatible with security against foreign +violence, the maintenance of the laws, and the preservation +of national credit.</p> + +<p class='c005'>A great part of Mr. Gore Ouseley’s book is made up +of extracts from the American Almanac, and other +recent publications. The following passage, relating to +the gold mines which have been lately opened in some +of the Southern States of the Union, contains some +curious and interesting information, which is also copied +from other works, but which is not generally known:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“These mines have not been worked to any considerable +extent for more than about five or six years, or probably +much less. And yet many of them are worked upon an +extensive scale, and mills for grinding the ore, propelled by +water or by steam, are erected in vast numbers. The company +of Messrs. Bissels, which is one of the most considerable, +employs about 600 hands. The whole number of men +now employed at the mines in these southern states is at least +<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>20,000. The weekly value of these mines is estimated at +100,000 dollars, or more than one million sterling annually. +But a small part of the gold is sent to the United States +Mint. By far the larger part is sent to Europe, particularly +to Paris.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“Of the working miners the greater number are foreigners—Germans, +Swiss, Swedes, Spaniards, English, Welsh, +Scotch, &c. There are no less than <em>thirteen</em> different languages +spoken at the mines in this State<a id='r2'></a><a href='#f2' class='c008'><sup>[2]</sup></a>! And men +are flocking to the mines from all parts, and find ready +employment. Hundreds of landowners and renters work +the mines on their grounds on a small scale, not being able +to encounter the expense of much machinery. The state of +morals among the miners or labourers is represented to be +deplorably bad. This may be attributed to the absence of +any general organization as yet for the police and regulation +of the mines, combined with the usual effects of gold upon the +uneducated and needy classes of men (often not the most +favourable specimens of their various nations) who generally +seek employment in the gold districts. The village of +Charlotte, in Mecklenburg County, is in the immediate +vicinity of several of the largest mines. It is increasing +rapidly.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“One interesting fact deserves mention:—When speaking +of the gold mines, there are indubitable evidences that these +mines were known and <em>worked</em> by the aboriginal inhabitants, +or some other people, at a remote period. Many +pieces of machinery which were used for this purpose have +been found. Among them are several <i>crucibles</i> of earthenware, +and far better than those now in use. Messrs. Bissels +had tried three of them, and found that they lasted +twice or three times as long as even the Hessian crucibles, +which are the best now made. It is to be regretted that +some antiquary has not had an opportunity of at least +examining these curious relics; and it is hoped that they +will be preserved in future, notwithstanding the temptation +offered by their superior qualities.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“These gold mines prove that the whole region in which +they abound was once under the powerful action of fire. +And it is a fact, not generally known, that the miners who +have come from the mines in South America and in Europe +pronounce this region to be more abundant in gold than any +other that has been found on the globe. There is no telling +the extent of these mines; but sufficient is known to prove +they are of vast extent.”—pp. 151-153.</p> + +</div> + +<hr class='c009'> +<div class='footnote' id='f2'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. North Carolina. The gold mines commence in Virginia, and +extend south-west through North Carolina, part of South Carolina, +Georgia, and Alabama, and end in Tennessee. The chief mines at +present are those of North Carolina and Georgia.</p> +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>THE CALABRIAS.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c007'>[Calabria; during a Military Residence of Three Years, &c. +In a Series of Letters, by a General Officer of the French Army, +from the original MS. London, Effingham Wilson, 1832.]</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c005'>The Calabrias, which are divided into two provinces, +citra and ultra, occupy the extremity of the South of +Italy, forming a peninsula one hundred and seventy +miles in length, and varying in breadth from seventy +to thirty-five miles. The beautiful Mediterranean sea +flows round this peninsula, and a chain of the Apennines +intersects it. The summit of these mountains is a vast +platform called La Syla, which is admirable for pasture, +and well provided with farm-houses and villages. The +plains washed by the sea would be everywhere most +fertile, but they have been neglected, and permitted to +become swamped and pestilentially unhealthy in many +places.</p> + +<p class='c005'>A little work has just been published, which contains +some instructive and amusing information with regard +to this part of Italy. This work is the translation of a +French volume, entitled ‘Lettres sur les Calabres, par +un Officier Français,’ which was published at Paris +some twelve or thirteen years since. What the Author +may have become we know not, but when he wrote his +Letters he was nothing more than a subaltern;—a clever +man, as his little book proves, yet still only a lieutenant +of the line. But the translator, or publisher, appears to +consider that the high-sounding additions of, “A General +Officer of the French Army” and “from the original +MS.” are necessary to the success of the book in its +English dress. It is to be regretted that a volume +which contains much to inform and amuse should be +introduced to the English reader with the aid of such +useless quackery; for the work is really valuable in +itself, and requires no such arts to recommend it.</p> + +<p class='c005'>During his three years’ residence, the Author of these +Letters, which were written on the spot, when the +scenery and the romantic adventures he was engaged in +were fresh and full in his mind, traversed the Calabrias +several times in their whole extent, and in pursuit of partisans +and brigands climbed mountains and penetrated +into wild glens which for ages had probably never been +visited except by the native robber or huntsman. He +saw and described all the great towns, and the sites +of the ancient cities of Magna Græcia; and his account +of the productions and curiosities, manners and customs +of these provinces, is full and most amusing. We subjoin +two or three passages, describing the physical character +of the country and the manners of its people:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“The climate of Calabria varies according to the character +and elevation of the soil, and is consequently favourable +to all sorts of produce. In the plains, sheltered against the +north wind, there are found sugar-canes, aloes, and date-trees; +while the pine and birch cover the tops of the mountains. +The great variety and richness of the productions of +Calabria furnish an abundance of all the necessaries of life. +It has grain of every description; wines which might be rendered +as good as those of Spain and Languedoc, if the inhabitants +had more intelligence and industry; and olive oil in +such profusion, that it is kept in vast cisterns dug in the earth, +or in the rock. Great quantities of silkworms (and silkworms +of the very best quality) are bred here, which, together +with the growth of cotton, form a considerable article of commerce. +The liquorice root grows without cultivation; and +in the forests is found a sort of manna, which is in great +request. Immense droves of horned cattle pass alternately +from the rich grazing grounds of the Syla to the aromatic +pasture of the plains, where they remain during the winter. +Their flocks are as vast as their herds. Their breed of +horses is hardy, active, extremely swift, full of fire, and +very numerous. And besides these the Calabrians have the +excellent mule, so necessary for a mountainous country, and +vast droves of the formidable buffalo, which they tame and +employ in labour like an ox. In all parts of Calabria there +is a great quantity of game of every description. The seacoasts +abound with fish: the sword-fish alone supplies food +to a part of the inhabitants during several months of the +year, and the tunny forms a lucrative branch of commerce.… +All this ought to produce comfort and opulence, +but hardly any thing is met with but abject misery! Nature +has done every thing for the country, but for many +ages the vices of the government have marred its prosperity. +The condition of the peasantry is most wretched: +there is a total want of emulation. The climate and the +soil do all the work. Productions of every kind are the +spontaneous gifts of nature without any aid from art and +industry. With the exception of a few cities, and some +towns that are regularly built, all the other inhabited places +present the most miserable and disgusting appearance: the +whole interior of their houses is a mass of revolting filth: +the pigs live familiarly with the inmates.… These +people have no true principle of religion or morals. Like +all ignorant masses, they are superstitious to excess. The +most atrocious brigand carries in his bosom relics and +images of saints, which he invokes at the very moment he is +committing the greatest enormities.… The Calabrians +are capable of being made excellent soldiers from their +robust constitutions, their sobriety, activity, and quickness. +If these people, isolated as they are from the rest of Europe, +and entrenched behind impassable mountains, were actuated +by a pure spirit of patriotism, political and religious, +they would become invincible; and the country they inhabit +might be rendered a sure and safe asylum against +tyranny.”</p> + +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>POEMS. <span class='sc'>By William Cullen Bryant</span>. London. Andrews, 1832.</h2> +</div> + +<p class='c004'>Our reasons for noticing and recommending this +volume to our readers are manifold. It is beautiful in +itself; it is written by an American; it is one of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>best specimens we have seen of the poetical genius of +our transatlantic brethren; it is edited by Washington +Irving, the most accomplished prose writer of America; +and is by him dedicated or rather addressed to Samuel +Rogers, the author of the ‘Pleasures of Memory,’ and +who, at an advanced period of life, preserves all the +generous glow of youth for letters and for arts, and for +every thing connected with the intellectual improvement +of mankind.</p> + +<p class='c005'>The exhibition of actual specimens of American taste +and literature will tend to counteract the mischievous +effects of those caricatures of American life and manners +with which some authors have of late amused the spleen +and prejudice of the British public. It is important to +remove the illusion produced by writers of talent, who, +professing to delineate national peculiarities truly, exaggerate +and misrepresent them; regardless, and perhaps +unconscious, that by using ridicule and sarcasm on +such subjects they are renewing antipathies which never +had a rational existence, and which years of friendly +intercourse had almost annihilated; and are detaching +from us the sympathies of those who by descent, community +of free institutions (though differently modified), +and identity of language, must naturally be well disposed +towards us.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“During an intimacy of some years’ standing,” says +Washington Irving to Samuel Rogers, “I have +uniformly remarked a liberal interest on your part in +the rising character and fortunes of my country, and a +kind disposition to promote the success of American +talent, whether engaged in literature or the arts. I am +induced, therefore, as a tribute of gratitude, as well as a +general testimonial of respect and friendship, to lay +before you the present volume, in which, for the first +time, are collected together the fugitive productions of +one of our living poets, whose writings are deservedly +popular throughout the United States.”</p> + +<p class='c005'>This is all as it should be, in relation both to Mr. +Rogers and his friend. And we confess we augur most +favourably of the taste of a country, <em>throughout</em> which, +poetry so refined in sentiment, and so pure in execution +and ornament, as that contained in the volume before +us, enjoys popularity.</p> + +<p class='c005'>We began by recommending Mr. Bryant’s Poems. +A perusal of the following specimen, as well as of one +or two that we have lately printed separately, will justify +our so doing, and there are many pieces in the volume +of equal originality and beauty. A warm admiration of +the works of nature, strong religious feeling towards +the great Author of these works, a singular happiness +of description, and a power of clothing his descriptions +“with moral associations that make them speak to the +heart,” “an independent spirit, and the buoyant aspirations +incident to a youthful, a free, and a rising country<a id='r3'></a><a href='#f3' class='c008'><sup>[3]</sup></a>,” +are among the charming characteristics of this American +poet. We will only add, that the whole, while written +in a style elegant enough to please the most fastidious, is +simple and intelligible enough for the commonest reader.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c006'> + <div>TO A WATERFOWL.</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Whither, midst falling dew,</div> + <div class='line in2'>While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,</div> + <div class='line'>Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue</div> + <div class='line in2'>Thy solitary way?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Vainly the fowler’s eye</div> + <div class='line in2'>Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,</div> + <div class='line'>As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Thy figure floats along.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Seek’st thou thy plashy brink</div> + <div class='line in2'>Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,</div> + <div class='line'>Or where the rocking billows rise and sink</div> + <div class='line in2'>On the chafed ocean-side?</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>There is a Power whose care</div> + <div class='line in2'>Teaches thy way along that pathless coast—</div> + <div class='line'>The desert and illimitable air—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Lone wandering, but not lost.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>All day thy wings have fanned,</div> + <div class='line in2'>At that far height, the cold, thin atmosphere,</div> + <div class='line'>Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Though the dark night is near.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>And soon that toil shall end,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest</div> + <div class='line'>And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend</div> + <div class='line in2'>Soon o’er thy sheltered nest.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Thou’rt gone—the abyss of heaven</div> + <div class='line in2'>Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart</div> + <div class='line'>Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,</div> + <div class='line in2'>And shall not soon depart.</div> + </div> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>He, who, from zone to zone,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,</div> + <div class='line'>In the long way that I must tread alone,</div> + <div class='line in2'>Will lead my steps aright.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<hr class='c010'> +<div class='footnote' id='f3'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. Washington Irving’s dedicatory Letter to Rogers.</p> +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> +<div> + <h2 class='c003'>INDIA.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c007'>[Pen and Pencil Sketches. Being the Journal of a Tour in India. +By Captain Mundy, late Aide-de-Camp to Lord Combermere. +2 vols. 8vo.]</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c005'>We recommend these two octavo volumes to those of +our readers who may be able to obtain the perusal of +them. We think that not only great amusement may be +derived from Captain Mundy’s work, but that it supplies +more information concerning the parts of our dominions +in India that he visited, than may be collected from +many ponderous volumes. In his lively chapters, +indeed, amusement and <i>fun</i> (to use a homely word) +go hand in hand with instruction. At the sketch of +a human character, European or Indian, Hindoo or +Mussulman, or at the sketch of a scene, the Captain is +equally at home and happy; and in the first class of +his essays he shows so generous and philanthropic a +feeling, and in the second so fine a perception and appreciation +of the beauties of nature, that he captivates both +our affection and our taste. What we admire, too, as +much as his talent—and this is perhaps generally the +inseparable companion of intellect of a superior order—is +his fine cheerfulness of spirit. In his daily life he is +always disposed to make the best of things. He is as +joyous in his tent, or the equally comfortless bungalow, +as in the palace; palanqueens or the back of an elephant, +Arabians or ragged coolies<a id='r4'></a><a href='#f4' class='c008'><sup>[4]</sup></a>, are all the same to him! +Forward he goes on his journey, only telling you now +and then that the thermometer is nearly at 100°, or +that it is raining deluges; and he looks for, and finds +amusement or interest of some kind or other wherever +he moves! At one time we find him hunting the antelope +with leopards, at another bringing down partridges +with a “Manton;”—here seeing a tiger fighting with a +rhinoceros, there <em>himself</em> in deadly conflict with a jungle +tiger;—now Mac-adamizing or making roads at Simla, +on the Steppes of the Himalaya mountains, now smoking +his hookah at Calcutta. At his professional duties he +is as cheerful as at his sports, and one cannot help perceiving +he is in possession of that valuable but very attainable +secret of making “a pleasure of business.”</p> + +<p class='c005'>The following piece of practical philosophy, or how +to make the best of a bad lodging, is a lesson for all +classes:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“The elevation of Simla above the sea is seven thousand +eight hundred feet; and, during the month of May, I find +the thermometer was never higher than 73°, or lower than +55°, in my <i>garret</i>. This apartment, occupied by me during +our stay in the hills, was pervious both to heat and cold, +being, in fact, of that elevated character, which in England +is usually devoted to cheeses, or apples and onions, and +forming the interval between the ceiling of the dining-room +and the wooden pent-roof of the house, which descending +in a slope quite to the floor, only admitted of my standing +upright in the centre. Though this canopy of planks was +lined with white-washed canvas, it by no means excluded +the rains so peremptorily as I, not being an amphibious +animal, could have wished; and, during some of the grand +storms, the hailstones rattled with such stunning effect +upon the drum-like roof, that the echo sung in my ears for +<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>a week after. This my exalted dormitory was rendered accessible +by a wooden ladder; but, spite of its sundry désagrémens, +I thanked my stars—in whose near neighbourhood +I was—for my luck in getting any shelter at all, without the +trouble of building, in the present crowded state of Simla. +I enjoyed a splendid view from my windows (I beg pardon, +window), and the luxury of privacy, except at night, when +the rats sustained an eternal carnival, keeping me in much +the same state as Whittington during his first week in London. +I soon grew tired of bumping my head against the roof +in pursuit of these four-footed Pindarrees<a id='r5'></a><a href='#f5' class='c008'><sup>[5]</sup></a>, and at length +became callous to their nocturnal orgies—and kept a cat<a id='r6'></a><a href='#f6' class='c008'><sup>[6]</sup></a>.”</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c004'>Even an hair-breadth escape from a midnight robber +in no way interrupts the Captain’s joyous mood:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“I retired to my tent this evening pretty well knocked up; +and during the night had an adventure, which might have +terminated with more loss to myself, had I slept sounder. +My bed, a low canopy, or ‘four feet,’ was in one corner of +the tent, close to a door, and I woke several times from a +feverish doze, fancying I heard something moving in my +tent; but could not discover anything, though a cherang, or +little Indian lamp, was burning on the table. I therefore +again wooed the balmy power, and slept. At length, just +as ‘the iron tongue of midnight had told twelve’ (for I had +looked at my watch five minutes before, and replaced it +under my pillow), I was awakened by a rustling sound under +my head; and, half opening my eyes, without changing my +position, I saw a hideous black face within a foot of mine, +and the owner of this index of a cut-throat, or, at least, cut-purse +disposition, kneeling on the carpet, with one hand +under my pillow, and the other grasping—not a dagger!—but +the door-post. Still without moving my body, and with +half-closed eyes, I gently stole my right hand to a boar-spear, +which at night was always placed between my bed +and the wall; and as soon as I had clutched it, made a rapid +and violent movement, in order to wrench it from its place, +and try the virtue of its point upon the intruder’s body—but +I wrenched in vain. Fortunately for the robber, my bearer, +in placing the weapon in its usual recess, had forced the +point into the top of the tent and the butt into the ground so +firmly, that I failed to extract it at the first effort; and my +visitor, alarmed by the movement, started upon his feet and +rushed through the door. I had time to see that he was +perfectly naked, with the exception of a black blanket twisted +round his loins, and that he had already stowed away in his +cloth my candlesticks and my dressing-case, which latter +contained letters, keys, money, and other valuables. I had +also leisure, in that brief space, to judge, from the size of +the arm extended to my bed, that the bearer was more +formed for activity than strength; and, by his grizzled +beard, that he was rather old than young. I, <em>therefore</em>, +sprung from my bed, and darting through the purdar of the +inner door, seized him by the cummerbund just as he was +passing the outer entrance<a id='r7'></a><a href='#f7' class='c008'><sup>[7]</sup></a>. The cloth, however, being +loose, gave way, and ere I could confirm my grasp, he +snatched it from my hand, tearing away my thumb-nail +down to the quick. In his anxiety to escape, he stumbled +through the outer purdar, and the much-esteemed dressing-case +fell out of his loosened zone. I was so close at his +heels, that he could not recover it; and jumping over the +tent-ropes—which, doubtless, the rogue calculated would +trip me up—he ran towards the road. I was in such a fury, +that, forgetting my bare feet, I gave chase, vociferating lustily, +‘Choor! choor!’ (thief! thief!) but was soon brought +up by some sharp stones, just in time to see my rascal, by +the faint light of the room through the thick foliage overhead, +jump upon a horse standing unheld near the road, +and dash down the path at full speed, his black blanket flying +in the wind. What would I have given for my double-barrelled +Joe at that moment! As he and his steed went +clattering along the rocky forest road, I thought of the +black huntsman of the Hartz, or the erl-king! Returning +to my tent, I solaced myself by abusing my servants, who +were just rubbing their eyes and stirring themselves, and by +threatening the terrified sepoy sentry with a court-martial. +My trunks at night were always placed outside the tent, +under the sentry’s eye; the robber, therefore, must have +made his entry on the opposite side, and he must have been +an adept in his vocation, as four or five servants were sleeping +between the khanauts. The poor devil did not get much +booty for his trouble, having only secured a razor, a pot of +pomatum (which will serve to lubricate his person for his +next exploit<a id='r8'></a><a href='#f8' class='c008'><sup>[8]</sup></a>), and the candlesticks, which on closer inspection, +will prove to him the truth of the axiom, that ‘all is +not gold that glitters,’ nor even silver.… The next +morning, on relating my adventure, I was told that I was +fortunate in having escaped cold steel; and many more comfortable +instances were recited, of the robbed being stabbed in +attempting to secure the robber<a id='r9'></a><a href='#f9' class='c008'><sup>[9]</sup></a>.”</p> + +</div> + +<p class='c004'>But it is in his account of Indian hunting with +which the volumes abound, and which are truly excellent, +that Captain Mundy gives full way to his buoyant +spirit and hilarity: and as the animal pursued is not the +timid hare or the paltry fox, but generally the cruel, +destructive, and formidable tiger, and as there is both +adventure and danger, we can frequently follow him in +these hunts with great interest. The following account +of the sagacity of an elephant in a lion-hunt must conclude +our extracts:—</p> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c004'>“A lion had charged my friend’s elephant, and he, having +wounded the lion, was in the act of leaning forward in order +to fire another shot, when the front of the howdah (elephant’s +castle) suddenly gave way, and he was precipitated +over the head of the elephant into the very jaws of the furious +beast. The lion, though severely hurt, immediately seized +him, and would doubtless shortly have put a fatal termination +to the conflict, had not the elephant, urged by the +mahout (the driver, who sits on the elephant’s neck), stepped +forward, though greatly alarmed, and grasping in her +trunk the top of a young tree, bent it down hard across the +loins of the lion, and thus forced the tortured animal to quit +his hold! My friend’s life was thus preserved, but his arm +was broken in two places, and he was severely clawed on +the breast and shoulders. The lion was afterwards slain +by the other sportsmen who came up.”</p> + +</div> + +<hr class='c009'> +<div class='footnote' id='f4'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. A coolie is a rough Indian pony.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f5'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. An immense association of robbers that a few years ago devastated +India. They have been suppressed by the British.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f6'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Vol. i. p. 235.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f7'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. The tents in India have double flies; the outer khanaut, or wall, +forming a verandah, of some four feet wide, round the interior +pavilion.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f8'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. Indian thieves oil their naked bodies to render their seizure +difficult.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f9'> +<p class='c005'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. Vol. i. p. 165.</p> +</div> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> + +<p class='c004'>⁂ For notices to Correspondents, see the Wrapper of the Monthly +Part.</p> + +<div class='c006'></div> +<hr class="divider"> + +<div class='shrink'> + +<p class='c007'>⁂ The Penny Magazine will, in most cases, be delivered <em>weekly</em> +in the Towns of the United Kingdom, by Booksellers and Newsvenders, +to whom Subscribers should address their Orders. It cannot +be sent by Post as a Newspaper is, being unstamped. For the convenience +of those, who, residing in country places, cannot obtain the +Publication at regular <em>weekly</em> intervals, the Numbers published +during each Month will be stitched together to form a <i>Monthly +Part</i>. 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Itemized changes from the original text:</p> + <ul class='ul_1'> + <li><a href='#tn-interruption'>p. 131, footnote</a>: Changed single to double closing quote after + phrase “which must be occasioned even by short and casual interruptions.” + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76875 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-09-15 06:01:21 GMT --> +</html> + diff --git a/76875-h/images/cover.jpg b/76875-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3fed03c --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-full.jpg b/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..07d881b --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-full.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-inline.png b/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-inline.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3dd18d --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/gleanings-in-natural-history-inline.png diff --git a/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-full.jpg b/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a34114c --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-full.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-inline.png b/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-inline.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f6c5e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/statue-of-william-pitt-inline.png diff --git a/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-full.jpg b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c3c3ca --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-full.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-inline.png b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-inline.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..de365f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-1-inline.png diff --git a/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-full.jpg b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ef1de0a --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-full.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-inline.png b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-inline.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d4935d --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/the-abbey-of-st-albans-2-inline.png diff --git a/76875-h/images/zoological-society-full.jpg b/76875-h/images/zoological-society-full.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..05ac003 --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/zoological-society-full.jpg diff --git a/76875-h/images/zoological-society-inline.png b/76875-h/images/zoological-society-inline.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2b0287e --- /dev/null +++ b/76875-h/images/zoological-society-inline.png diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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