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diff --git a/76897-0.txt b/76897-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec4e26b --- /dev/null +++ b/76897-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1072 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76897 *** + + + + + + THE PENNY MAGAZINE + + OF THE + + Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + 17.] PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY. [July 7, 1832 + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + THE CAPE BUFFALO--BOS CAFFER. + + [From a Correspondent.] + + [Illustration: Cape Buffalo.] + +Of the South African buffalo I had not many opportunities for personal +observation during my residence in that part of the Cape Colony of which +this animal is still an inhabitant; but, living among people by whom he +is frequently and eagerly hunted, I heard a good deal of his character +and habits, which may be comprised in the following sketch. + +The Boors and Hottentots describe the buffalo to be, what his aspect +strongly indicates, an animal of a fierce, treacherous, and cruel +disposition. Even when not provoked by wounds or driven to extremity in +the chase, they say he will attack, with the utmost ferocity, his great +enemy man, if he happens to intrude incautiously upon his haunts; and +what renders him the more dangerous is his habit of skulking in the +jungle, when he observes travellers approaching, and then suddenly +rushing out upon them. It has been remarked, too, (and this observation +has been corroborated by the Swedish traveller Sparrman,) that if he +succeeds in killing a man by goring and tossing him with his formidable +horns, he will stand over his victim afterwards for a long time, +trampling upon him with his hoofs, crushing him with his knees, mangling +the body with his horns, and stripping off the skin with his rough and +prickly tongue. This he does not do all at once, but at intervals, going +away and again returning, as if more fully to glut his vengeance. + +Although I have no reason to question the truth of this description, it +ought to be qualified by stating that though the buffalo will not +unfrequently thus attack man, and even animals, without any obvious +provocation, yet this malignant disposition will be found, if accurately +inquired into, the exception rather than the rule of the animal’s +ordinary habits. + +The _bos caffer_ is no more a beast of prey than the domestic ox, and +though much fiercer as well as more powerful than the ox, and bold +enough sometimes to stand stoutly on self defence even against the lion, +it is, I apprehend, nevertheless his natural instinct to retire from the +face of man, if undisturbed, rather than to provoke his hostility. The +proofs that are adduced of his vicious and wanton malignity arise +chiefly from the following cause. The males of a herd, especially at +certain seasons of the year, contend furiously for the mastery; and +after many conflicts the unsuccessful competitors are driven off, at +least for a season, by their stronger rivals. The exiles, like some +other species of animals under similar circumstances[1], are peculiarly +mischievous; and it is while skulking solitarily about the thickets, in +this state of sulky irritation, that they most usually exhibit the +dangerous disposition generally ascribed to the species. + +It is, nevertheless, very true that the Cape buffalo is, at all times, a +dangerous animal to hunt; as, when wounded, or closely pressed, he will +not unfrequently turn and run down his pursuer, whose only chance of +escape in that case is the swiftness of his steed, if the huntsman be a +Colonist or European. The Hottentot, who is light and agile, and +dexterous in plunging like an antelope through the intricacies of an +entangled forest, generally prefers following this game on foot. Like +all pursuits, when the spirit of enterprise is highly excited by some +admixture of perilous adventure, buffalo hunting is passionately +followed by those who once devote themselves to it; nor do the perilous +accidents that occasionally occur appear to make any deep impression on +those that witness them. The consequence is, that the buffalo is now +nearly extirpated throughout every part of the Cape Colony, except in +the large forests or jungles in the eastern districts, where, together +with the elephant, he still finds a precarious shelter. + +It was in this quarter that the following incident in buffalo hunting, +which may serve as a specimen of this rough pastime, was related to me +by a Dutch-African farmer, who had been an eye-witness of the scene some +fifteen years before. A party of Boors had gone out to hunt a troop of +buffaloes, which were grazing in a piece of marshy ground, interspersed +with groves of yellow wood and mimosa trees, on the very spot where the +village of Somerset is now built. As they could not conveniently get +within shot of the game without crossing part of the _valei_ or marsh, +which did not afford a safe passage for horses, they agreed to leave +their steeds in charge of their Hottentot servants and to advance on +foot, thinking that if any of the buffaloes should turn upon them, it +would be easy to escape by retreating across the quagmire, which, though +passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy quadruped. +They advanced accordingly, and, under cover of the bushes, approached +the game with such advantage that the first volley brought down three of +the fattest of the herd, and so severely wounded the great bull leader +that he dropped on his knees, bellowing with pain. Thinking him mortally +wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, and began +reloading his musket as he advanced to give him a finishing shot. But no +sooner did the infuriated animal see his foe in front of him, than he +sprang up and rushed headlong upon him. The man, throwing down his empty +gun, fled towards the quagmire; but the savage beast was so close upon +him that he despaired of escaping in that direction, and turning +suddenly round a clump of copsewood, began to climb an old mimosa tree +which stood at the one side of it. The raging beast, however, was too +quick for him. Bounding forward with a roar, which my informant (who was +of the party) described as being one of the most frightful sounds he +ever heard, he caught the unfortunate man with his horns, just as he had +nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him in the air with such force that +the body fell, dreadfully mangled, into a lofty cleft of the tree. The +buffalo ran round the tree once or twice apparently looking for the man, +until weakened with loss of blood he again sunk on his knees. The rest +of the party then, recovering from their confusion, came up and +despatched him, though too late to save their comrade, whose body was +hanging in the tree quite dead. + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + The elephant, for instance. See Menageries, vol. ii. p. 71. + + + --------------------- + + +ON THE IMPORTANCE OF A PUBLIC DECLARATION OF THE REASONS OF DECISIONS IN + COURTS OF JUSTICE. + +While a cause is pending I admit that all publications, and all the +little arts of popularity, tending to raise the prejudices or to inflame +the passions, are highly improper, and ought not to be permitted. But, +after the decision of a cause, the freedom of inquiry into the conduct +and opinions of the judges is one of the noblest and best securities +that human invention can contrive for the faithful administration of +justice. + +It is for this very purpose that it has been established in this +country, that judges shall give their opinions and decisions +publicly,--an admirable institution, which does honour to Britain, and +gives it a superiority in this respect over most of the other countries +in Europe. + +Laws may recommend or enforce the due administration of justice; but +these laws are of little avail, when compared with the superior efficacy +of the restraint which arises from the judgment of the public, exercised +upon the conduct and opinions of the judges. + +It would be extremely fatal to the liberties of this nation, and to that +inestimable blessing, the faithful distribution of justice if this +restraint upon judges were removed or improperly checked. + +The public has a right, and ought to be satisfied with regard to the +conduct, ability, and integrity of their judges. It is from these +sources alone that genuine respect and authority can be derived; and an +endeavour to make these the appendages of office, independent of the +personal character and conduct of the judge, is an attempt which, in +this free and enlightened country, most probably never will succeed. + +This freedom of inquiry is not only essential to the interests of the +community, but every judge, conscious of intending and acting +honourably, ought to promote and rejoice in the exercise of it. It is a +poor spirit indeed that can rest satisfied with authority and external +regard derived from office alone. The judge who is possessed of proper +elevation of mind will, both for his own sake and that of his country, +rejoice that his fellow-citizens have an opportunity of satisfying +themselves with regard to his conduct, and of distinguishing judges who +deserve well of the public, from those who are unworthy. He will adopt +the sentiment of the old Roman, who, conscious of no thoughts or actions +unfit for public view, expressed a wish for windows in his breast, that +all mankind might perceive what was passing there. + +If these considerations are of any force for establishing the justness +of the principle, the only objection I can foresee against this freedom +of inquiry is, that it may happen sometimes to be improperly exercised. + +This is an objection equally applicable to some of the greatest +blessings enjoyed by mankind, whether from nature or from civil +institutions. It is no real objection to health or civil liberty, that +both of them often have been, and are, extremely liable to be abused. + +When the freedom of inquiry now contended for happens to be improperly +used, it will be found that the mischief carries along with it its own +remedy. The most valuable part of mankind are soon disgusted with +unmerited or indecent attacks made either upon judges or individuals; +the person capable of such unworthy conduct loses his aim; the unjust or +illiberal invective returns upon himself, to his own disgrace; and the +judge whose conduct has been misrepresented, instead of suffering in the +public opinion, will acquire additional credit from the palpable +injustice of the attack made upon him. + + ⁂ From ‘Letters to Lord Mansfield, by Andrew Stuart, Esq.’ + + + --------------------- + + + ON THE HOT WIND OF AFRICA CALLED THE CAMSIN. + +“On my route from Suez to Cairo,” says Rüppel, “I had an opportunity of +observing a meteorological phenomenon of a very curious nature, which +possibly may lead to some interesting results. In the year 1822, May the +21st, being seven hours distant from Cairo, and in the desert, we were +overtaken by one of those violent winds from the south, about which many +travellers have told us such wonderful and incredible stories. During +the night there had been a light breeze from the north-east; but a short +time after sun-rise it began to blow fresh from the S.S.E., and the wind +gradually increased till it blew a violent storm. Clouds of dust filled +the whole atmosphere, so that it was impossible to distinguish any +object clearly as far off as fifty paces; even a camel could not be +recognised at this distance. In the mean time, we heard all along the +surface of the ground a kind of rustling or crackling sound, which I +supposed to proceed from the rolling sand that was dashed about with +such fury by the wind. Those parts of our bodies which were turned +towards the wind were heated to an unusual degree, and we experienced a +strange sensation of smarting, which might be compared with the pricking +of fine needles. This was also accompanied by a peculiar kind of sound. +At first I thought this smarting was occasioned by the small particles +of sand being driven by the storm against the parts of the body that +were exposed. In order to judge of the size of the particles, I +attempted to catch some in a cap; but how great was my surprise when I +found I could not succeed in securing a single specimen of these +supposed little particles. This led me to conceive that the smarting +sensation did not proceed from the small stones or the sand striking the +body, but that it must be the effect of some invisible force, which I +could only compare with a current of electric fluid. After forming this +conjecture, I began to pay closer attention to the phenomena which +surrounded me. I observed that the hair of all our party bristled up a +little, and that the sensation of pricking was felt most in the +extremities and joints, just as if a man were electrified on an +insulated stool. To convince myself that the painful sensation did not +proceed from small particles of stone or sand, I held a piece of paper +stretched up against the wind, so that even the finest portion of dust +must have been detected, either by the eye or the ear; yet nothing of +the kind took place. The surface of the paper remained perfectly unmoved +and free from noise. I stretched my arms out, and immediately the +pricking pain in the ends of my fingers increased. This led me to +conjecture that the violent wind, called in Egypt Camsin, is either +attended by strong electrical phenomena, or else the electricity is +caused by the motion of the dry sand of the desert. Hence we may account +for the heavy masses of dust, formed of particles of sand, which, for +several days, darken the cloudless sky. Perhaps we may also go so far as +to conjecture that the Camsin may have destroyed caravans by its +electrical properties, since some travellers assure us that caravans +have occasionally perished in the desert; though I must remark that in +all the regions I have travelled through, I never could hear the least +account of such an occurrence. At all events, to suppose that such +calamities have been caused by the sand overwhelming the caravans, is +the most ludicrous idea that can be imagined. + +“The Camsin generally blows in Egypt for two or three days successively, +but with much less violence during the night than the day. It only +occurs in the period between the middle of April and the beginning of +June, and hence its Arabic name, which signifies, ‘the wind of fifty +days.’” + + + --------------------- + + + FORKS. + + [From a Correspondent.] + +The interesting extract in your Magazine of the 26th May, on forks, +induces me to send you a few scraps on the history of forks. + +The word fork occurs only once or twice in the Bible; once in the +Pentateuch, where mention is made of “flesh forks,” evidently invented +to take the meat out of the pot; the other instance is in an account of +the riches of Solomon’s temple, where, singularly enough, the Vulgate +has the word _furca_, which the English translation renders by spoon. +Athenæus mentions also the word fork; but it does not appear whether it +was a _bident_ (with two prongs), or a _trident_ (with three prongs), +and it is quite certain that the Greeks were ignorant of the use of +forks in eating. At that time even Lucullus was not acquainted with that +luxury; a two-branched instrument or two were found at Herculaneum, but +it seems clear that they were not used at table in any period of the +Roman history. The first instance that history records of the use of +forks was at the table of John the good Duke of Burgundy, and he had +only two. + +At that period the loaves were made round; they were cut in slices which +were piled by the side of the carver, or _Ecuyer Tranchant_ (Cutting +Squire). He had a pointed carving-knife, and a skewer of drawn silver or +gold, which he stuck into the joint; having cut off a slice, he took it +on the point of the knife, and placed it on a slice of bread, which was +served to the guest. This ancient custom of serving the meat on the +point of the carver is still general throughout the continent of Europe. +A leg or a haunch of mutton had always a piece of paper wrapped round +the shank, which the carver took hold of with the left hand when he +carved the joint, and such is still the custom in Lower Germany and +Italy. We, who always imitate, and often without knowing why, have +imported the custom of ornamenting the shank, but the _penetration_ of +the fork is a decided improvement. Pointed knives are still general on +the Continent, it being so difficult to leave off old customs, even +after the occasion that gave them birth has ceased. It is only since the +peace, when every thing English became fashionable, that round-topped +knives have been adopted at Paris. + +Before the revolution in France it was customary, when a gentleman was +invited to dinner, for him to send his servant with his knife, fork, and +spoon; or if he had no servant, he carried them with him in his +breeches-pocket, as a carpenter carries his rule. A few of the ancient +regime still follow the good old custom, because it is old. The +peasantry of the Tyrol, and of parts of Germany and Switzerland, +generally carry a case in their pockets, containing a knife and fork, +and a spoon. + +Few use a fork so gracefully as an English lady. The Germans grasp it +with a clenched fist. + + + --------------------- + + + THE WEAVER’S SONG. + + [From ‘English Songs, and other Poems, by Barry Cornwall.’] + + Weave, brothers, weave!--Swiftly throw + The shuttle athwart the loom, + And show us how brightly your flowers grow, + That have beauty but no perfume! + Come, show us the rose, with a hundred dyes, + The lily, that hath no spot; + The violet, deep as your true love’s eyes, + And the little forget-me-not! + Sing,--sing, brothers! weave and sing! + ’Tis good both to sing, and to weave + ’Tis better to work than live idle. + ’Tis better to sing than grieve. + + Weave, brothers, weave!--Weave, and bid + The colours of sunset glow! + Let grace in each gliding thread be hid! + Let beauty about ye blow! + Let your skein be long, and your silk be fine, + And your hands both firm and sure, + And time nor chance shall your work untwine; + But all,--like a truth,--endure!-- + So,--sing, brothers, &c. + + Weave, brothers, weave!--Toil is ours; + But toil is the lot of men: + One gathers the fruit, one gathers the flowers, + One soweth the seed again: + There is not a creature, from England’s King, + To the peasant that delves the soil, + That knows half the pleasures the seasons bring, + If he have not his share of toil! + So,--sing, brothers, &c. + + + --------------------- + + +_Dances: the Tarantula._--“The Peccorara and Tarantella are the dances +of Calabria: the latter is generally adopted throughout the kingdom of +Naples. The music accompanying it is extravagant and without melody: it +consists of some notes, the movement of which is always increasing, till +it ends in producing a convulsive effort. Two persons placed opposite to +each other make, like a pair of savages, wild contortions and indecent +gestures, which terminate in a sort of delirium. This dance, originating +in the city of Tarentum, has given rise to the fable of the Tarantula, +whose venomous bite, it is pretended, can be cured only by music and +hard dancing. Many respectable persons who have resided for a long time +in the city of Tarentum, have assured me that they never witnessed any +circumstance of the kind, and that it could be only attributed to the +heat and insalubrity of the climate, which produce nervous affections +that are soothed and composed by the charms of music. The Tarantula is a +species of spider that is to be found all over the South of Italy. The +Calabrians do not fear it, and I have often seen our soldiers hold it in +their hands without any bad effects ensuing.”--_Calabria, during a +Military Residence_ + + + --------------------- + + +_Property._--The advantages of the acquisition of property are two-fold; +they are not merely to be estimated by the pecuniary profit produced, +but by the superior tone of industry and economy which the possessor +unconsciously acquires. When a man is able to call _his own_ that which +he has obtained by his own well-directed exertion, this power at once +causes him to feel raised in the scale of being, and endows him with the +capability of enlarging the stock of his possessions. A cottager having +a garden, a cow, or even a pig, is much more likely to be an industrious +member of society than one who has nothing in which he can take an +interest during his hours of relaxation, and who feels he is of no +consequence because he has nothing which he can call _his own_. The +impressions which have been produced upon the minds of the peasantry, by +affording them the means of acquiring property and of possessing objects +of care and industry, are great, unqualified, and unvaried. In every +instance the cottager has been rendered more industrious, the wife more +active and managing, the children better educated, and more fitted for +their station in life. + + + --------------------- + + +_A Golden Rule._--Industry will make a man a purse, and frugality will +find him strings for it. Neither the purse nor the strings will cost him +anything. He who has it should only draw the strings as frugality +directs, and he will be sure always to find a useful penny at the bottom +of it. The servants of industry are known by their livery; it is always +_whole_ and _wholesome_. Idleness travels very leisurely, and poverty +soon overtakes him. Look at the _ragged slaves_ of _idleness_, and judge +which is the best master to serve--INDUSTRY or IDLENESS. + + + --------------------- + + + WESTMINSTER ABBEY. + + [Illustration: Western Entrance.] + +This magnificent and venerable pile, the second architectural glory of +our metropolis, is, like St. Paul’s, the last of several successive +structures which have occupied the same spot. The ground on which +Westminster Abbey stands was anciently part of a small island, called +Thorney Island, or the Isle of Thorns, formed by a branch of the Thames. +This branch, leaving the main course of the river near the end of +Abingdon Street, ran in a westerly direction along the line of the +present College Street, and the south side of Dean’s Yard. It then +turned northwardly, skirting the western side of Dean’s Yard, and, +crossing Tothill Street, continued its course along Prince’s Street +(then Long Ditch). From thence it ran in an eastern direction along +Gardener’s Lane, crossing King Street, Parliament Street, and Cannon Row +(formerly Channel Row), and rejoined the river near the southern +termination of Privy Gardens. The hollow bed of this water-course is +still mostly preserved, forming part of the sewers; and in the twelfth +century, and probably for a long time afterwards, the open stream was +crossed by a bridge at the place where it passed through King Street. +Originally, as was indeed the case with the borders of the Thames along +nearly the whole of its course to the sea, the ground beyond this hollow +was probably to a considerable distance a mere marsh. There is reason to +conclude that this was the case almost as far as the present Chelsea +Water-Works in one direction, and to the north side of St. James’s Park +in another. The island itself may be supposed to have been nearly in the +same state. It is said to have derived its name of Thorney from the +quantity of thorns with which it was covered. As our old legends have +placed a temple of Diana on the site of the present Cathedral of St. +Paul’s, so they have conceived it necessary to maintain the equal honour +of the Abbey Church by making it the successor of a temple to Apollo; of +the existence of which, however, no traces ever have been found. Thorney +Island, nevertheless, is generally considered to have had its Christian +church as early as its rival in sanctity, the mount on which St. Paul’s +is built. The account which has been commonly received is, that Sebert, +King of Essex, having been baptized about the year 605, immediately +afterwards, to give proof of the sincerity of his conversion, built a +church here and dedicated it to St. Peter. It is certain that Sebert was +in old times universally regarded as the original founder of the Abbey; +no better evidence of which can be desired than the care which is known +to have been taken on more than one occasion to preserve his remains and +those of his queen Ethelgotha on the repair or reconstruction of the +building, and to re-deposit them in the most honourable place within it. +Some writers, however, have contended that this church could not really +have had any existence till more than a century after the time of +Sebert. According to other accounts, again, Sebert was not only the +founder of Westminster Abbey, but also of St. Paul’s Cathedral. So +imperfect, obscure, and perplexing are the notices that have come down +to us of those times. + +A fable of no ordinary audacity was invented by the monks in regard to +the first consecration of this Abbey. It was pretended that the ceremony +had been actually performed by St. Peter in person. We need not repeat +the circumstantial details of the story; suffice it to mention, that +towards the middle of the thirteenth century the brethren of the +monastery actually sued the minister of Rotherhithe for the tithe of the +salmon caught in his parish, on the plea, as Fleta informs us, that St. +Peter had given them this right at the time when he consecrated their +church. After the death of Sebert, his subjects relapsed into paganism, +and the church fell into decay. It was restored by the celebrated Offa, +King of Mercia, but was again almost entirely destroyed in the course of +the Danish invasions. King Edgar, instigated by St. Dunstan, in the year +969, once more repaired the establishment, and endowed it both with +lands and privileges. But it was Edward the Confessor who, nearly a +century after this, first raised it to the consequence which it has ever +since maintained. This monarch, having fixed upon the Abbey for his +burial-place, resolved to rebuild it from the foundation, and spared no +cost in his endeavour to render the structure the most magnificent that +had ever been erected in his dominions. He devoted to the work, we are +told, “a tenth part of his entire substance, as well in gold, silver, +and cattle, as in all his other possessions.” It was completed in the +year 1065, and the 28th of December, the day of the Holy Innocents, was +appointed for its dedication. The King, however, was seized on +Christmas-day with the illness which proved fatal on the 4th or 5th of +January following; and he was not, therefore, present at the ceremony. +On the 12th of January his body was interred with great pomp before the +high altar; and the Abbey has since received the remains of many of his +royal successors. Here also, on Christmas-day the year following, was +performed the coronation of William the Conqueror; and in the same place +has been crowned (with the single exception, we believe, of Edward V.) +every prince who has reigned in England during the nearly eight +centuries that have since elapsed. + +The structure raised by the Confessor (which was built in the form of a +cross, and is supposed to have been the first English church built in +that form) remained without receiving any repairs or additions till the +reign of Henry III. That king, finding the eastern portion of the +edifice much wasted by time, took it down, and began to rebuild it in a +style of still greater magnificence than before. Edward I. and +succeeding monarchs continued the work which had been thus commenced; +but, owing probably in great part to the distracted state of the +kingdom, it proceeded so slowly that it was still incomplete when Henry +VII. came to the throne, towards the close of the fifteenth century. +Henry added the chapel dedicated to the Virgin, which is commonly known +by his name, and which, admirably restored as it has recently been, may +challenge competition, not certainly in magnitude or grandeur, but in +elegance and richness of ornament, and in what we may almost call +gem-like beauty and perfection, with any specimen of architecture which +the world has elsewhere to show. The principal repairs or alterations +that have been made since the time of Henry VII., are those executed by +Sir Christopher Wren, under whose superintendence the western towers, +which had been till then of unequal heights, were raised to the same +elevation, and the whole building was strengthened and renovated. These, +it must be confessed, are not in the best taste. Sir Christopher, who +despised Gothic architecture, was not the most fit person to be employed +in restoring such a structure. + +The following wood-cut is a view of the Abbey, from St. James’s Park, +before the alterations of Wren. It is copied from a very rare print. + + [Illustration: Westminster Abbey and Hall.] + +It is impossible for us, within our narrow limits, to attempt either an +enumeration of the various curiosities and objects of interest which +this Abbey contains, or even any description of the form and +architectural character of the building. What is properly the church is +in the form of a cross; but its eastern end is surrounded by chapels, +varying both in their shape and dimensions. Of these there were formerly +fourteen; there are still twelve; and although that called Henry VII.’s +stands out from the rest in richness and beauty, several of the others +also display considerable luxury of decoration. Here, as probably all +our readers are aware, is preserved the famous stone which was brought +from Scone in Scotland, by Edward I. in 1296, and upon which our kings +have since been crowned. But the principal attraction of Westminster +Abbey to the generality of its visitors, arises from the numerous tombs +which it contains, some of which are monumental erections of great +splendour. Here, all around us, and under our feet, are the mouldering +remains of kings, queens, nobles, statesmen, warriors, orators, +poets--of those who have been most illustrious during the successive +centuries of our history, for rank, power, beauty, or genius. This is +surely a field of graves that cannot be trodden by any without emotion, +or without many of those thoughts that make us both wiser and better. “I +know,” says Addison, in a paper on this subject, “that entertainments of +this nature are apt to raise dark and dismal thoughts in timorous minds +and gloomy imaginations; but, for my own part, though I am always +serious, I do not know what it is to be melancholy; and can therefore +take a view of nature in her deep and solemn scenes, with the same +pleasure as in her most gay and delightful ones. By this means I can +improve myself with those objects which others consider with terror. +When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in +me; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire +goes out; when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my +heart melts with compassion; when I see the tomb of the parents +themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must +quickly follow; when I see kings lying by those who deposed them, when I +consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided +the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and +astonishment on the bitter competitions, factions, and debates of +mankind. When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died +yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day +when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance +together.” + + + --------------------- + + +_Perseverance._--King Robert Bruce, the restorer of the Scottish +monarchy, being out one day reconnoitring the enemy, lay at night in a +barn belonging to a loyal cottager. In the morning, still reclining his +head on the pillow of straw, he beheld a spider climbing up a beam of +the roof. The insect fell to the ground, but immediately made a second +essay to ascend. This attracted the notice of the hero, who, with +regret, saw the spider fall a second time from the same eminence, It +made a third unsuccessful attempt. Not without a mixture of concern and +curiosity, the monarch twelve times beheld the insect baffled in its +aim; but the thirteenth essay was crowned with success: it gained the +summit of the barn; when the King, starting from his couch, exclaimed, +“This despicable insect has taught me perseverance: I will follow its +example. Have I not been twelve times defeated by the enemy’s force? on +one fight more hangs the independence of my country.” In a few days his +anticipations were fully realized by the glorious result to Scotland of +the battle of Bannockburn. + + + --------------------- + + + THE WEEK. + + [Illustration: John Hunter.] + +July 14.--On this day, in the year 1728, was born at Kilbride, in the +county of Lanark, Scotland, the celebrated JOHN HUNTER, one of the +greatest anatomists of modern times. The early life of this remarkable +man formed a strange introduction to the scientific eminence to which he +eventually attained. His father having died when he was about ten years +old, he seems scarcely, after this, to have received any further school +education; but was allowed to spend his time as he liked, till at last +he was bound apprentice to a cabinet-maker in Glasgow, whom one of his +sisters had married. After some time, however, this person failed--an +event which was probably regarded at the moment as a severe family +misfortune; but it turned out a blessing in disguise. Hunter’s brother, +William, who was ten years older than himself, had, after overcoming the +difficulties arising from the expenses of a medical education at the +University of Edinburgh, shortly before this settled in London, and was +already fast bringing himself into notice. To him John applied when he +found himself thrown out of any means of obtaining a living. He +requested his brother, who was then delivering a course of lectures on +anatomy, to take him as an assistant in his dissecting-room--and +intimated that if this proposal should not be accepted he would enlist +as a soldier. His brother, in reply, invited him to come to London. This +was in September, 1748, when he was in his twenty-first year. Never, +perhaps, did any learner make a more rapid progress than John Hunter now +made in his new study. Even his first attempt in the art of dissection +indicated a genius for the pursuit; and such was the success which +rewarded his ardent and persevering efforts to improve himself, that +after about a year he was considered by his brother fully competent to +take the management of a class of his own. His subsequent rise entirely +corresponded to this promising commencement. It was not long before he +took his place in the front rank of his profession, and had at his +command its highest honours and emoluments. The science of anatomy, +however, continued to be his favourite study; and in this he acquired +his greatest glory. Not only the chief portion of his time, but nearly +the whole of his professional gains, were devoted to the cultivation of +this branch of knowledge. One of the principal methods to which he had +recourse in order to throw light upon the structure of the human frame, +was to compare it with those of the various inferior animals. Of these +he had formed a large collection at his villa at Earl’s Court, Brompton; +“and it was to him,” says Sir Everard Home, “a favourite amusement in +his walks to attend to their actions and their habits, and to make them +familiar with him. The fiercer animals were those to which he was most +partial, and he had several of the bull kind from different parts of the +world. Among these was a beautiful small bull he had received from the +Queen, with which he used to wrestle in play, and entertain himself with +its exertions in its own defence. In one of these conflicts the bull +overpowered him, and got him down; and had not one of the servants +accidentally come by, and frightened the animal away, this frolic would +probably have cost him his life.” The same writer relates that on +another occasion “two leopards that were kept chained in an outhouse, +had broken from their confinement, and got into the yard among some +dogs, which they immediately attacked. The howling this produced alarmed +the whole neighbourhood. Mr. Hunter ran into the yard to see what was +the matter, and found one of them getting up the wall to make his +escape, the other surrounded by the dogs. He immediately laid hold of +them both, and carried them back to their den; but as soon as they were +secured, and he had time to reflect upon the risk of his own situation, +he was so much affected that he was in danger of fainting.” Mr. Hunter’s +valuable museum of anatomical preparations was purchased by Parliament +after his death for £15,000; and it is now deposited in the hall +belonging to the Royal College of Surgeons, in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, +where the public are admitted to view it on the order of any member of +the society. This distinguished person died suddenly on the 16th of +October, 1793, in the sixty-sixth year of his age. + + + --------------------- + + + THE LABOURERS OF EUROPE.--No. 1. + + [ITALY.] + +The condition of the Italian labourers varies in the different states. +The following accounts are from the best authorities:-- + +“The labourers in Lombardy (the most fruitful region in Italy) have +remained, throughout all the changes of government, what they were +before 1796, the servants of those whose lands they work; none have +become proprietors. Before the revolution of 1796 the greater part of +the land was in the hands of the high nobility and the clergy. Now it is +partly in the possession of a small number of shrewd speculators who +have known how to take advantages of political changes to enrich +themselves. But the peasants have not been benefited by the change. They +are still, not by law but by necessity, bound to the soil, in a state of +degradation, all their food consisting of a sort of bread made of Indian +corn flour, of beans and weak sour wine; they seldom taste meat. Those +who are employed on the rice-grounds are still more wretched. They are +obliged to remain for hours with their legs in marshy water, and this +engenders a cutaneous disease known by the name of _pellagra_, which +they generally neglect until they lose the use of their limbs and are +obliged at last to go to the hospital where many of them die[2].” + +In the ‘Letters from the North of Italy,’ by Mr. S. Rose, the writer +describes the following scene of misery,--one out of a thousand:--“A few +days ago I saw a poor infant lying under a sack in the convulsions of an +ague fit, and the next morning meeting another child whom I knew to be +his brother, I asked him ‘How does your brother do?’ to which he +answered; ‘Which brother, sir?’--‘Your brother that has the +fever.’--‘There are five of us with the fever, sir.’--‘Where do you +sleep?’--‘In an empty stable, sir.’--‘Where are your father and +mother?’--‘Our mother is dead, and our father begs or does such little +chance jobs as offer in the hotel.’--‘And what do you do?’--‘I get up +the trees here and pick vine leaves for the waiters to stop the +decanters with, and they give us our panada.’ This is bread boiled in +water with an infusion of oil or butter. Had my pecuniary means been +adequate to my desire to diminish this mass of misery, how was the thing +to be accomplished? I do not believe that I could have found a family +that would have boarded these melancholy little mendicants, and am quite +sure that no one would have had the patience to bear with the +waywardness of sickly childhood. In England the parish workhouse, or +some neighbouring hospital, would have offered a ready resource. There +are hospitals indeed here, but these are so thinly scattered (except +those in the Roman States which are both numerous and magnificent), and +are administered on such narrow principles, exclusive of particular +diseases and particular ages, and always turning upon some miserable +question of habitancy, within very confined limits, that they are +usually insufficient to the purposes I have mentioned.” This was written +from the Venetian States some twelve years ago, since which time +workhouses have been introduced into some of the principal towns. + +In Tuscany the peasantry are much better off. Labourers’ wages are there +between ninepence and a shilling a day, which, considering the low price +of provisions, and the mildness of the climate, is comparatively a good +remuneration. The women earn money by plaiting straw, out of which the +Leghorn hats are made. The farmers are either small proprietors +themselves, or, if tenants, share the produce with their landlord, who +stocks the farm and provides half the seeds and implements. This mode of +holding land by persons not possessing capital is very ancient;--and is +now called by writers on political economy, “Metayer Rent.” + +Of the peasantry of the provinces of Bologna and Romagna, commonly +called the Legations, and placed under the sovereignty of the Pope, we +have the following interesting account in Simond’s Travels in +Italy:--“The peasants are not proprietors and have not even a lease of +their farms, but hold them from father to son by a tacit understanding +most faithfully observed. The same roof often contains thirty or forty +persons,--different branches of the same family, with one common +interest, and governed by a chief who is chosen by themselves and is the +sole person responsible to the landlord. He directs all without doors +and his wife all within; one or two other women take care of all the +children that the fathers and mothers may go to work. _We have lost a +child during the night_, said one of them who was not herself a mother. +There reigns in general a most perfect harmony in this patriarchal +family. When the chief becomes too old, or otherwise incapable, another +is chosen who succeeds alike to the engagements and power of his +predecessor. He gives half the produce to the landlord, and pays half +the taxes. The landlord seldom takes the trouble to inspect the +divisions; he chooses only between the heaps laid out by the tenant, and +the grain is carried home. The same plan is observed with the hemp, +which is not divided till it is pounded and put up into packets. As to +the grapes, they are picked into large barrels, and an equal number sent +to the farm-house and to the landlord, an operation generally intrusted +wholly to the farmer. There are few villages, each farm-house being on +the farm. These family associations live much at their ease, but have +little money; they consume much of their own produce and buy and sell +very little. They have a great deal of poultry for home consumption. The +women spin and plait and can even dye. The country diversions go little +beyond the game of bowls: they have no dances and no merry-meetings, but +in lieu they have fine processions with music, discharge of cannon, and +sometimes horse-races. Though wine is very plentiful, a drunken man is a +rarity; there are few bloody quarrels, and few thefts, at least domestic +ones. The roads are safer here than in the Milanese, notwithstanding the +Austrian police of the latter, for there the farms are large and the +work is done by poor labourers who have no tie; while here the tenants +work for themselves, are at ease, and have no temptation. The education +of the people is intrusted to the priests, who give themselves little +trouble, and very few peasants can read or write. Each large family +generally consecrates a son to the Church; they call him priest Don +Peter, Augustin, &c., and he becomes the oracle of the family, but all +intimate ties with him are broken and he is called ‘brother’ no more.” + +The hardy natives of the Genoese coast, hemmed in between the mountains +and the sea, resort mostly to maritime occupations, in order to better +their fortunes. Their voyages are generally short, being chiefly +confined to the Mediterranean. By strict economy and frugality they save +the best part of their earnings which they bring home to their families; +who, during their absence, are employed in cultivating their gardens and +lemon-trees, or in fishing. By these joint exertions, a numerous +population is thriving on a barren soil; and the whole line of the +Riviera, or shore, for hundreds of miles, presents a succession of +handsome bustling towns and villages, inhabited by a cheerful, healthy, +and active race. + +Of the peasantry of Southern Italy and their condition we shall speak on +a future occasion. + +----- + +Footnote 2: + + Amministrazione del regno d’Italia. + + + --------------------- + + + ART OF SWIMMING. + + [Written by Dr. Franklin to a Friend.] + +“Choose a place where the water deepens gradually, walk coolly into it +till it is up to your breast, then turn round, your face to the shore, +and throw an egg into the water between you and the shore. It will sink +to the bottom, and be easily seen there, if your water is clear. It must +lie in water so deep as that you cannot reach it up but by diving for +it. To encourage yourself in order to do this, reflect that your +progress will be from deeper to shallower water, and that at any time +you may by bringing your legs under you and standing on the bottom, +raise your head far above the water. Then plunge under it with your eyes +open, throwing yourself towards the egg, and endeavouring by the actions +of your hands and feet against the water to get forward till within +reach of it. In the attempt you will find, that the water buoys you up +against your inclination; that it is not so easy a thing to sink as you +had imagined; that you cannot but by active force get down to the egg. +Thus you feel the power of the water to support you, and learn to +confide in that power; while your endeavours to overcome it, and reach +the egg, teach you the manner of acting on the water with your feet and +hands, which action is afterwards used in swimming to support your head +higher above water or to go forward through it. I would the more +earnestly press you to the trial of this method, because though I think +I satisfied you that your body is lighter than water, and that you might +float in it a long time with your mouth free for breathing, if you put +yourself in a proper posture and would be still and forbear struggling; +yet till you have obtained this experimental confidence in the water, I +cannot depend on your having the necessary presence of mind to recollect +that posture and the directions I gave you relating to it. The surprise +may put all out of your mind. For though we value ourselves on being +reasonable creatures, reason and knowledge seem on such occasions to be +of little use to us; and the brutes, to whom we allow scarce a +glimmering of either, appear to have the advantage of us. I will, +however, take this opportunity of repeating those particulars to you, +which I mentioned in our last conversation, as, by perusing them at your +leisure, you may possibly imprint them so in your memory as on occasions +to be of some use to you. 1st. That though the legs, being solid parts, +are specifically something heavier than fresh-water, yet the trunk, +particularly the upper part, from its hollowness, is so much lighter +than water, as that the whole of the body taken together is too light to +sink wholly under water, but some part will remain above, until the +lungs become filled with water, which happens from drawing water into +them instead of air, when a person in the fright attempts breathing +while the mouth and nostrils are under water. 2ndly. That the legs and +arms are specifically lighter than salt-water, and will be supported by +it, so that a human body would not sink in salt-water, though the lungs +were filled as above, but from the greater specific gravity of the head. +3rdly. That therefore a person throwing himself on his back in +salt-water, and extending his arms, may easily lie so as to keep his +mouth and nostrils free for breathing; and by a small motion of his +hands may prevent turning, if he should perceive any tendency to it. +4thly. That in fresh-water, if a man throws himself on his back near the +surface, he cannot long continue in that situation, but by proper action +of his hands on the water. If he uses no such action, the legs and lower +part of the body will gradually sink till he comes into an upright +position, in which he will continue suspended, the hollow of the breast +keeping the head uppermost. 5thly. But if, in this erect position, the +head is kept upright above the shoulders, as when we stand on the +ground, the immersion will, by the weight of that part of the head that +is out of water, reach above the mouth and nostrils, perhaps a little +above the eyes, so that a man cannot long remain suspended in water with +his head in that position. 6thly. The body continuing suspended as +before, and upright, if the head be leaned quite back, so that the face +looks upwards, all the back part of the head being then under water, and +its weight consequently in a great measure supported by it, the face +will remain above water quite free for breathing, will rise an inch +higher every inspiration, and sink as much every expiration, but never +so low as that the water may come over the mouth. 7thly. If therefore a +person unacquainted with swimming, and falling accidentally into the +water, could have presence of mind sufficient to avoid struggling and +plunging, and to let the body take this natural position, he might +continue long safe from drowning till perhaps help would come. For as to +the clothes, their additional weight while immersed is very +inconsiderable, the water supporting it, though when he comes out of the +water, he would find them very heavy indeed. But, as I said before, I +would not advise you or any one to depend on having the presence of mind +on such an occasion, but learn fairly to swim, as I wish all men were +taught to do in their youth; they would, on many occurrences, be the +safer for having that skill, and on many more the happier, as freer from +painful apprehensions of danger, to say nothing of the enjoyment in so +delightful and wholesome an exercise. Soldiers particularly should, +methinks, all be taught to swim; it might be of frequent service either +in surprising an enemy, or saving themselves. And if I had now boys to +educate, I should prefer those schools (other things being equal) where +an opportunity was afforded for acquiring so advantageous an art, which, +once learned, is never forgotten.” + + + --------------------- + + + THE STORMY PETREL. + + [Illustration: A petrel flying over the sea.] + + [From ‘English Song and other Poems, by Barry Cornwall.’] + + A thousand miles from land are we, + Tossing about on the roaring sea; + From billow to bounding billow cast, + Like fleecy snow on the stormy blast: + The sails are scattered abroad, like weeds, + The strong masts shake, like quivering reeds, + The mighty cables, and iron chains, + The hull, which all earthly strength disdains, + They strain and they crack, and hearts like stone + Their natural hard proud strength disown. + + Up and down! up and down! + From the base of the wave to the billow’s crown, + And amidst the flashing and feathery foam + The Stormy Petrel finds a home,-- + A home, if such a place may be, + For her who lives on the wide wide sea, + On the craggy ice, in the frozen air, + And only seeketh her rocky lair + To warm her young, and to teach them spring + At once o’er the waves on their stormy wing! + + O’er the deep! O’er the deep! + Where the whale, and the shark, and the sword-fish sleep, + Outflying the blast and the driving rain, + The Petrel telleth her tale--in vain; + For the mariner curseth the warning bird + Who bringeth him news of the storms unheard! + Ah! thus does the prophet, of good or ill, + Meet hate from the creatures he serveth still: + Yet he ne’er falters:--So, Petrel! spring + Once more o’er the waves on thy stormy wing! + + + --------------------- + + + GOOD OLD TIMES. + + [From ‘Combe’s Constitution of Man.’] + +A gentleman who was subject to the excise laws fifty years ago described +to me the condition of his trade at that time. The excise officers, he +said, regarded it as an understood matter that at least one half of the +goods manufactured were to be smuggled without being charged with duty; +but then, said he, “they made us pay a moral and pecuniary penalty that +was at once galling and debasing. We were required to ask them to our +table at all meals, and place them at the head of it in our holiday +parties; when they fell into debt, we were obliged to help them out of +it; when they moved from one house to another, our servants and carts +were in requisition to perform this office, and by way of keeping up +discipline upon us, and also to make a show of duty, they chose every +now and then to step in and detect us in a fraud and get us fined; if we +submitted quietly, they told us that they would make us amends by +winking at another fraud, and generally did so; but if our indignation +rendered passive obedience impossible, and we spoke our mind of their +character and conduct, they enforced the law on us, while they relaxed +it on our neighbours, and these being rivals in trade undersold us in +the market, carried away our customers, and ruined our business. Nor did +the bondage end here. We could not smuggle without the aid of our +servants, and as they could, on occasion of any offence given to +themselves, carry information to the head-quarters of excise, we were +slaves to them also, and were obliged tamely to submit to a degree of +drunkenness and insolence that appears to me now perfectly intolerable. +Farther, this evasion and oppression did us no good, for all the trade +were alike, and we just sold our goods so much cheaper the more duty we +evaded, so that our individual success did not depend upon superior +skill and superior morality in making an excellent article at a moderate +price, but upon superior capacity for fraud, meanness, sycophancy, and +every possible baseness. Our lives were anything but enviable. +Conscience, although greatly blunted by practices that were universal +and viewed as inevitable, still whispered that they were wrong; our +sentiments of self-respect very frequently revolted at the insults to +which we were exposed, and there was a constant feeling of insecurity +from the great extent to which we were dependent upon wretches whom we +internally despised. When the government took a higher tone and more +principle, and greater strictness in the collection of the duties were +enforced, we thought ourselves ruined; but the reverse has been the +case. The duties, no doubt, are now excessively burdensome from their +amount, but that is their least evil. If it was possible to collect them +from every trader with perfect equality, our independence would be +complete, and our competition would be confined to superiority in +morality and skill. Matters are much nearer this point now than they +were fifty years ago, but still they would admit of considerable +improvement.” + + + --------------------- + + +_Arab Account of Debtor and Creditor._--Corporal punishments are unknown +among the Arabs. Pecuniary fines are awarded, whatever may be the nature +of the crime of which a man is accused. Every offence has its fine +ascertained in the court of justice, and the nature and amount of those +graduated fines are well known to the Arabs. All insulting expressions, +all acts of violence, a blow however slight, (and a blow may differ in +its degree of insult according to the part struck,) and the infliction +of a wound, from which even a single drop of blood flows, all have their +respective fines fixed. The judge’s sentence is sometimes to this +effect:--(Bokhyt and Djolan are two Arabs who have quarrelled and +fought.) + +Bokhyt called Djolan “a dog.” Djolan returned the insult by a blow upon +Bokhyt’s arm; then Bokhyt cut Djolan’s shoulder with a knife. Bokhyt +therefore owes to Djolan-- + + For the insulting expression 1 sheep + For wounding him in the shoulder 3 camels + +Djolan owes to Bokhyt-- + + For the blow upon his arm 1 camel + Remain due to Djolan, 2 camels and 1 sheep. + + _Burckhardt’s Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys._ + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + ⁂ The Office of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge is at + 59, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. + + LONDON:--CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL-MALL EAST. + + _Shopkeepers and Hawkers may be supplied Wholesale by the following + Booksellers, of whom, also, any of the previous Numbers may be had:--_ + + _London_, GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley. + _Bath_, SIMMS. + _Birmingham_, DRAKE. + _Bristol_, WESTLEY and Co. + _Carlisle_, THURNAM; and SCOTT. + _Derby_, WILKINS and SON. + _Falmouth_, PHILIP. + _Hull_, STEPHENSON. + _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. + _Sheffield_, RIDGE. + _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. 139: Added period after heading “A Golden Rule.” + • p. 139: Added period after phrase “which is the best master to + serve--INDUSTRY or IDLENESS.” + • p. 142: Replaced closing single quotation mark with closing double + quotation mark after phrase “Metayer Rent.” + • p. 143: Added closing double quotation mark after phrase “all + intimate ties with him are broken and he is called ‘brother’ no + more.” + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76897 *** |