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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. 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