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diff --git a/old/7m26510.txt b/old/7m26510.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3105cc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7m26510.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1782 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827 +by Various + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9918] +[This file was first posted on October 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 8m26510h.zip in our etext06 directory + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06/8m26510h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 265.] SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH CASTLE. + +[Illustration] + +Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town in Leicestershire, pleasantly +situated in a fertile vale, on the skirts of the adjoining county of +Derbyshire, on the banks of a small liver called the Gilwiskaw, over +which is a handsome stone bridge. The original name of this town was +simply Ashby, but it acquired the addition of De-la-Zouch, to +distinguish it from other Ashbys, from the Zouches, who were formerly +lords of this manor, which after the extinction of the male line of that +family, in the first year of the reign of Henry IV. came to Sir Hugh +Burnel, knight of the garter, by his marriage with Joice, the heiress of +the Zouches. From him it devolved to James Butler, earl of Ormond and +Wiltshire; who being attainted on account of his adherence to the party +of Henry VI. it escheated to the crown, and was, in the first year of +Edward IV. granted by that king to Sir William Hastings, in +consideration of his great services; he was also created a baron, +chamberlain of the household; captain of Calais, and knight of the +garter, and had license to make a park and cranellate, or fortify +several of his houses, amongst which was one at this place, which was of +great extent, strength, and importance, and where he and his descendants +resided for about two hundred years. It was situated on the south side +of the town, on a rising ground, and was chiefly composed of brick and +stone; the rooms were spacious and magnificent, attached to which was a +costly private chapel. The building had two lofty towers of immense +size, one of them containing a large hall, great chambers, bedchambers, +kitchen, cellars, and all other offices. The other was called the +kitchen tower. Parts of the wall of the hall, chapel, and kitchen, are +still remaining, which display a grand and interesting mass of ruins; +the mutilated walls being richly decorated with doorways, +chimney-pieces, windows, coats of arms, and other devices. In this, +castle, the unfortunate and persecuted Mary queen of Scots, who has +given celebrity to so many castles and old mansions, by her melancholy +imprisonment beneath their lofty turrets, was for some time confined, +while in the custody of the earl of Huntingdon. In the year 1603, Anne, +consort of James I. and her son, prince Henry, were entertained by the +earl of Huntingdon at this castle, which was at that time the seat of +much hospitality. It was afterwards honoured by a visit from that +monarch, who remained here for several days, during which time dinner +was always served up by thirty poor knights, with gold chains and velvet +gowns. In the civil wars between king Charles and his parliament, this +castle was deeply involved, being garrisoned for the king; it was +besieged by the parliamentary forces, and although it was never actually +conquered, (from whence the garrison obtained the name of Maiden,) it +was evacuated and dismantled by capitulation in the year 1648. + +For the spirited engraving of the ruins of this famous castle, we +acknowledge ourselves indebted to our obliging friend _S.I.B._ who +supplied us with an original drawing. + + * * * * * + + +THE AUTHOR OF "LACON." + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + + +SIR,--The following additional particulars respecting the celebrated +author of "Lacon," may not be unacceptable to your readers, as a sequel +to the interesting account of that eccentric individual inserted at p. +431, in your recently completed volume. + +It will be in the recollection of many, that about the period of the +murder of Weare, by Thurtel, Mr. Colton suddenly disappeared from among +his friends, and no trace of him, notwithstanding the most vigilant +inquiry, could be discovered. As Weare's murder produced an +unprecedented sensation in the public mind, it gave rise to a variety of +reports against the perpetrators of that horrible crime, imputing to +them other atrocities of a similar kind. It is needless now to say that +most of these suspicions were wholly without foundation. + +It was at length ascertained, that Mr. C., finding himself embarrassed +with his creditors, had taken his departure for America, where he +remained about two years, travelling over the greater part of the United +States; and it is much to be desired that he would favour the public +with the result of his observations during his residence in that +country; as probably no person living is qualified to execute such a +task with more shrewdness, judgment, or ability. + +He is now residing at Paris, where he has been about two years and a +half, and where I had frequently the pleasure of meeting him during the +last winter, and of enjoying the raciness of his conversation, which +abounds in wit, anecdote, and an universality of knowledge. It is too +well known that he is not unaddicted to the allurements of the gaming +table, and it is understood among his immediate friends, that he has +been--what few are--successful adventurer, having repaired in the +saloons of Paris, in a great degree, the loss he sustained by the +forfeiture of his church livings. His singular coolness, calculation, +and self-mastery, give him an advantage in this respect over, perhaps, +every other votary of the gaming table. + +Mr. Colton has an excellent taste for the fine arts, and has expended +considerable sums in forming a picture gallery. Every nook of his +apartment is literally covered with the treasures of art, including many +of the _chefs d'oeuvres_ of the great masters, and many valuable +paintings are placed on the floor for want of room to suspend them +against the wainscot. I may here observe, that his present domicile does +not exactly correspond with that described as his former "castle" in +London, inasmuch as it is part of a royal residence, it being on the +second floor, on one side of the quadrangle of the Palais Royal, +overlooking the large area of that building, and opposite to the _jet +d'eau_ in the centre. But his habits and mode of dress appear to be +unchanged. He has only one room; he keeps no servant, (unless a boy to +take care of his horse and cabriolet); he lights his own fire, and, I +believe, performs all his other domestic offices himself. But, +notwithstanding these whimsicalities, he is generous, hospitable and +friendly. He still, when a friend "drops in," produces a bottle or two +of the finest wines and a case of the best cigars, of which he is a +determined smoker. + +I will only add, that he continues to employ himself in literary +composition. Among other pieces not published in England, he has written +an ode on the death of Lord Byron, a copy of which he presented me, but +which I unfortunately lent--and lost. A small edition was printed at +Paris for private circulation. He has also written an unpublished poem +in the form of a letter from Lord Castlereagh in the shades, to Mr. +Canning on earth, the caustic severity of which, in the opinion of those +who have heard it read, is equal to that of any satire in the English +language. I remember only the two first lines-- + + "Dear George, from these _Shades_, where no wine's to be had. + But where rivers of flame run like rivers run mad." + +And the following, in allusion to the instrument with which Lord C. +severed the carotid artery, and which was the means of producing such a +change in the destiny of the present prime minister, who was then on the +eve of going out to India as governor-general,-- + + "Have you pensioned the Jew boy that sold me the knife?" + +It is to be lamented that such a man should be an exile from his native +country.--But I draw a veil over the rest, and sincerely hope that his +absence from England will not be perpetual. + +* * * + + * * * * * + + +THE DEAD TRUMPETER. + +TO ILLUSTRATE A CELEBRATED FRENCH PICTURE. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + 'Tis evening! the red rayless sun + Glares fiercely on the battle plain;-- + _Morn_ saw the deadly fray begun, + Morn heard _thy_ bugle wake a strain, + Poor soldier! and its warning breath + Call'd _thee_, and myriads to death! + + _Thou_ wert thy mother's darling, thou, + Light to thy father's failing eyes; + Thou wert thy sisters' _dearest!_ now + What _art_ thou? something to despise + Yet tremble at; to hide, and be + _Forgot,_ but by _their_ misery! + + Thou _wert_ the beautiful! the brave! + Thou wert all joy, and love, and light; + But oh! thy grace was for the _grave,_ + Thy dawning day, for mornless night! + And thou, so loving, so carest + Hast sunk--unpitied--unblest! + + Yes, warrior! and the life-stream flows + _Yet_ from thee, in thy foe-man's land, + Welling before the gate of those + Who _should_ stretch forth a kindly hand + To save th' unhonour'd, _friendless_ dead + From rushing legion's scouring tread. + + _Friendless_ poor soldier?--nay thy steed + Stands gazing on thee, with an eye + _Too_ piteous: he _felt_ thee bleed,-- + He _saw_ thee, dropping from him,--_die!_ + And in thine helpless, lorn estate, + _He_ cannot leave thee, desolate. + + Nor thy poor _dog_, whose anxious gaze, + On helm and bugle's lowly place, + Speaks his deep sorrow and amaze! + _He_, watching yet, thine icy face + Licks thy pale forehead with a moan + To tell thee--_Thou art not alone!_ + +M. L. B. + + * * * * * + + + +ORIGINS AND INVENTIONS. + +No. XXVIII. + + + * * * * * + + +THE SPHYNX. + + +The Sphynx is supposed to have been engendered by Typhon, and sent by +Juno to be revenged on the Thebans. It is represented with the head and +breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a lion, and the +rest of the body like a dog or lion. Its office they say, was to propose +dark enigmatical questions to all passers by; and, if they did not give +the explication of them,--to devour them. It made horrible ravages, as +the story goes, on a mountain near Thebes. Apollo told Creon that she +could not be vanquished, till some one had expounded her riddle. The +riddle was--_"What creature is that, which has four legs in the morning, +two at noon, and three at night?"_ Oedipus expounded it, telling her it +was a man,--who when a child, creepeth on all fours; in his middle age, +walketh on two legs, and in his old age, two and a staff. This put the +Sphynx into a great rage, who, finding her riddle solved, threw herself +down and broke her neck. Among the Egyptians, the Sphynx was the symbol +of religion, by reason of the obscurity of its mysteries. And, on the +same account, the Romans placed a Sphynx in the pronaos, or porch, of +their temples. Sphynxes were used by the Egyptians, to show the +beginning of the water's rising in the Nile; with this view, as it had +the head of a woman and body of a lion, it signified that the Nile began +to swell in the months of July and August, when the sun passes through +the signs of Leo and Virgo; accordingly it was a hieroglyphic, which +taught the people the period of the most important event in the year, as +the swelling and overflowing of the Nile gave fertility to Egypt. +Accordingly they were multiplied without end, so that they were to be +seen before all their remarkable monuments. + +P. T. W. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +NO. XLII. + + + * * * * * + + +WHITSUN-EVE. + +_By Miss Mitford._ + + +The pride of my heart and the delight of my eyes is my garden. Our +house, which is in dimensions very much like a bird-cage, and might, +with almost equal convenience, be laid on a shelf, or hung up in a tree, +would be utterly unbearable in warm weather, were it not that we have a +retreat out of doors,--and a very pleasant retreat it is. To make my +readers fully comprehend it, I must describe our whole territories. + +Fancy a small plot of ground, with a pretty low irregular cottage at one +end; a large granary, divided from the dwelling by a little court +running along one side; and a long thatched shed open towards the +garden, and supported by wooden pillars on the other. The bottom is +bounded, half by an old wall, and half by an old paling, over which we +see a pretty distance of woody hills. The house, granary, wall, and +paling, are covered with vines, cherry-trees, roses, honey-suckles, and +jessamines, with great clusters of tall hollyhocks running up between +them; a large elder overhanging the little gate, and a magnificent +bay-tree, such a tree as shall scarcely be matched in these parts, +breaking with its beautiful conical form the horizontal lines of the +buildings. This is my garden; and the long pillared shed, the sort of +rustic arcade which runs along one side, parted from the flower-beds by +a row of rich geraniums, is our out-of-door drawing-room. + +I know nothing so pleasant as to sit there on a summer afternoon, with +the western sun flickering through the great elder-tree, and lighting up +our gay parterres, where flowers and flowering shrubs are set as thick +as grass in a field, a wilderness of blossom, interwoven, intertwined, +wreathy, garlandy, profuse beyond all profusion, where we may guess that +there is such a thing as mould, but never see it. I know nothing so +pleasant as to sit in the shade of that dark bower, with the eye resting +on that bright piece of colour, lighted so gloriously by the evening +sun, now catching a glimpse of the little birds as they fly rapidly in +and out of their nests--for there are always two or three birds' nests +in the thick tapestry of cherry-trees, honey-suckles, and China roses, +which cover our walls--now tracing the gay gambols of the common +butterflies as they sport around the dahlias; now watching that rarer +moth, which the country people, fertile in pretty names, call the +bee-bird;[1] that bird-like insect, which flutters in the hottest days +over the sweetest flowers, inserting its long proboscis into the small +tube of the jessamine, and hovering over the scarlet blossoms of the +geranium, whose bright colour seems reflected on its own feathery +breast; that insect which seems so thoroughly a creature of the air, +never at rest; always, even when feeding, self-poised, and +self-supported, and whose wings in their ceaseless motion, have a sound +so deep, so full, so lulling, so musical. Nothing so pleasant as to sit +amid that mixture of the flower and the leaf, watching the bee-bird! +Nothing so pretty to look at as my garden! It is quite a picture; only +unluckily it resembles a picture in more qualities than one,--it is fit +for nothing but to look at. One might as well think of walking in a bit +of framed canvass. There are walks to be sure--tiny paths of smooth +gravel, by courtesy called such--but--they are so overhung by roses and +lilies, and such gay encroachers--so over-run by convolvolus, and +heart's-ease, and mignonette, and other sweet stragglers, that, except +to edge through them occasionally, for the purpose of planting, or +weeding, or watering, there might as well be no paths at all. Nobody +thinks of walking in my garden. Even May glides along with a delicate +and trackless step, like a swan through the wafer; and we, its +two-footed denizens, are fain to treat it as if it were really a saloon, +and go out for a walk towards sun-set, just as if we had not been +sitting in the open air all day. + + [1] Sphinx ligustri, privet hank-moth. + +What a contrast from the quiet garden to the lively street! Saturday +night is always a time of stir and bustle in our village, and this is +Whitsun Eve, the pleasantest Saturday of all the year, when London +journeymen and servant lads and lasses snatch a short holiday to visit +their families. A short and precious holiday, the happiest and liveliest +of any; for even the gambols and merrymakings of Christmas offer but a +poor enjoyment, compared with the rural diversions, the Mayings, revels, +and cricket-matches of Whitsuntide. + +We ourselves are to have a cricket-match on Monday, not played by the +men, who, since their misadventure with the Beech-hillers, are, I am +sorry to say, rather chap-fallen, but by the boys, who, zealous for the +honours of their parish, and headed by their bold leader, Ben Kirby, +marched in a body to our antagonist's ground the Sunday after our +melancholy defeat, challenged the boys of that proud hamlet, and beat +them out and out on the spot. Never was a more signal victory. Our boys +enjoyed this triumph with so little moderation, that it had like to have +produced a very tragical catastrophe. The captain of the Beech-hill +youngsters, a capital bowler, by name Amos Stokes, enraged past all +bearing by the crowing of his adversaries, flung the ball at Ben Kirby +with so true an aim, that if that sagacious leader had not warily ducked +his head when he saw it coming, there would probably have been a +coroner's inquest on the case, and Amos Stokes would have been tried for +manslaughter. He let fly with such vengeance, that the cricket-ball was +found embedded in a bank of clay five hundred yards off, as if it had +been a cannon shot. Tom Coper and Farmer Thackum, the umpires, both say +that they never saw so tremendous a ball. If Amos Stokes live to be a +man (I mean to say if he be not hanged first), he'll be a pretty player. +He is coming here on Monday with his party to play the return match, the +umpires having respectively engaged Farmer Thackum that Amos shall keep +the peace, Tom Coper that Ben shall give no unnecessary or wanton +provocation--a nicely-worded and lawyer-like clause, and one that proves +that Tom Coper hath his doubts of the young gentleman's discretion; and, +of a truth, so have I. I would not be Ben Kirby's surety, cautiously as +the security is worded,--no! not for a white double dahlia, the present +object of my ambition. + +This village of our's is swarming to-night like a hive of bees, and all +the church bells round are pouring out their merriest peals, as if to +call them together. I must try to give some notion of the +various figures. + +First, there is a groupe suited to Teniers, a cluster of out-of-door +customers of the Rose, old benchers of the inn, who sit round a table +smoking and drinking in high solemnity to the sound of Timothy's fiddle. +Next, a mass of eager boys, the combatants of Monday, who are +surrounding the shoemaker's shop, where an invisible hole in their ball +is mending by Master Keep himself, under the joint superintendence of +Ben Kirby and Tom Coper, Ben showing much verbal respect and outward +deference for his umpire's judgment and experience, but managing to get +the ball done his own way after all; whilst outside the shop, the rest +of the eleven, the less-trusted commons, are shouting and bawling round +Joel Brent, who is twisting the waxed twine round the handles of +bats--the poor bats, which please nobody, which the taller youths are +despising as too little and too light, and the smaller are abusing as +too heavy and two large. Happy critics! winning their match can hardly +be a greater delight--even if to win it they be doomed! Farther down the +street is the pretty black-eyed girl, Sally Wheeler, come home for a +day's holiday from B., escorted by a tall footman in a dashing livery, +whom she is trying to curtesy off before her deaf grandmother sees him. +I wonder whether she will succeed! + +Ascending the hill are two couples of different description, Daniel Tubb +and Sally North, walking boldly along like licensed lovers; they have +been asked twice in church, and are to be married on Tuesday; and +closely following that happy pair, near each other, but not together, +come Jem Tanner and Susan Green, the poor culprits of the wheat-hoeing. +Ah! the little clerk hath not relented! The course of true love doth not +yet run smooth in that quarter. Jem dodges along, whistling "Cherry +Ripe," pretending to walk by himself, and to be thinking of nobody; but +every now and then he pauses in his negligent saunter, and turns round +outright to steal a glance at Susan, who, on her part, is making believe +to walk with poor Olive Hathaway, the lame mantua-maker, and even +affecting to talk and to listen to that gentle humble creature as she +points to the wild flowers on the common, and the lambs and children +disporting amongst the gorse, but whose thoughts and eyes are evidently +fixed on Jem Tanner, as she meets his backward glance with a blushing +smile, and half springs forward to meet him; whilst Olive has broken off +the conversation as soon as she perceived the preoccupation of her +companion, and began humming, perhaps unconsciously, two or three lines +of Burns, whose "Whistle and I'll come to thee, my love," and "Gi'e me a +glance of thy bonny black ee," were never better exemplified than in the +couple before her. Really it is curious to watch them, and to see how +gradually the attraction of this tantalizing vicinity becomes +irresistible, and the rustic lover rushes to his pretty mistress like +the needle to the magnet. On they go, trusting to the deepening +twilight, to the little clerk's absence, to the good humour of the happy +lads and lasses, who are passing and re-passing on all sides--or rather, +perhaps, in a happy oblivion of the cross uncle, the kind villagers, the +squinting lover, and the whole world. On they trip, linked arm-in-arm, +he trying to catch a glimpse of her glowing face under her bonnet, and +she hanging down her head and avoiding his gaze with a mixture of +modesty and coquetry, which well becomes the rural beauty. On they go, +with a reality and intensity of affection, which must overcome all +obstacles; and poor Olive follows with art evident sympathy in their +happiness, which makes her almost as enviable as they; and we pursue our +walk amidst the moonshine and the nightingales, with Jacob Frost's cart +looming in the distance, and the merry sounds of Whitsuntide, the shout, +the laugh, and the song echoing all around us, like "noises of the +air."--_Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +THE LETTER-WRITER. + + +Fortune surely shifted me from my birth, or first looked on me in a mood +as splenetic as that of nature, when she produced that most sombre and +unpleasing of trees, the olive; to pursue the simile; I may have +conduced to the comfort of others, nay, even to their convenience and +luxury, but it never availed aught to my own appearance or +circumstances; I went on, like that unhappy-looking tree, decaying in +the trunk and blighting in the branches, and yielding up the produce of +a liberal education and an active nature to the public, but reaping for +my own portion only misfortune and disappointment; I had sprung up in +the wilderness of the world, and I was left to grow or wither as I +might; every one was ready to profit by me when a fruitful season +rendered me available to them, but none cared to toil to give me space +for growth, or to enrich the perishing earth at my unlucky root! + +I was educated for the church, but my father died while I was at +college, and I lost the curacy, which was in the gift of my uncle, +through the pretty face of a city merchant's daughter, who wrote a +sonnet to my worthy relative on his recovery from a fit of the gout, and +obtained the curacy for her brother in exchange for her effusion. What +was to be done? I offered myself as tutor to a young gentleman who was +to study the classics until he was of age, and then to turn fox-hunter +to supply the place of his deceased father; but I was considered by his +relations to be too good-looking to be domesticated in the house of a +rich widow under fifty, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the vacant +seat in the family coach filled by an old, sandy-haired M.A., with bow +legs and a squint--handsome or ugly, it availed not; a face had twice +ruined my prospects; I was at my wit's end! I could not turn fine +gentleman, for I had not brass enough to make my veracity a pander to my +voracity; I could not turn tradesman, for I had not gold enough even to +purchase a yard measure, or to lay in a stock of tapes. My heart bounded +at the idea of the army; but I thought of it like a novice--of wounds +and gallant deeds; of fame and laurels; I was obliged to look closer--my +relations were neither noblemen nor bankers, and I found that even the +Colonial corps were becoming aristocratical and profuse; the navy--I +walked from London to Chatham on speculation; saw the second son of an +earl covered with tar, out at elbows and at heels, and I returned to +town, fully satisfied that here I certainly had no chance. I offered +myself as clerk to a wealthy brewer, and, at length, I was accepted-- +this was an opening! I registered malt, hops, ale, and small-beer, till +I began to feel as though the world was one vast brewhouse; and +calculated, added, and subtracted pounds, shillings, and pence, until +all other lore appeared "stale, flat, and unprofitable." I was in this +counting-house four years, and was, finally, discharged by my prudent +principal as an unthrifty servant, for having, during a day of unusual +business, cut up two entire quills, and overturned the inkstand on a new +ledger! Again "the world was all before me where to choose"--but enough +of this; suffice it that my choice availed me nothing, and after years +of struggling and striving, I found myself, as free as air, in a small +market town in England, with five shillings in my pocket, and sundry +grey hairs on my head. From mere dearth of occupation, I took my station +at the window of a small stationer's shop, and commenced a survey of the +volumes and pamphlets which were attractively opened at the title-pages +to display their highly coloured frontispieces. The first which I +noticed was, "The Young Gentleman's Multiplication Table, or Two and Two +make Four"--I sighed as I remembered how little this promising study had +availed _me_! Then came "Little Tom Tucker, he sang for his Supper"--I +would have danced for one. "Young's Night Thoughts," with a well dressed +gentleman in mourning, looking at the moon. "How to Grow Rich, or a +Penny Saved is a Penny Got;" I would have bought the book, and learned +the secret, though I had but five shillings left in the world, had not +the second part of the title intimated to me that I ought to keep my +money. "The Castle of St. Altobrand," where a gentleman in pea-green +might be seen communing with a lady in sky-blue. "Raising the Wind"--I +turned away with a shudder; I had played a part in this drama for years, +and I well knew it was no farce. "The Polite Letter-Writer, or"--I did +not stop to read more; an idea flashed through my mind, and in two +minutes more I was beside the counter of the stationer; we soon became +acquainted; I left two and sixpence in his shop, and quitted it with +renewed hope; the promise of a recommendation, two quires of letter +paper, twelve good quills, and some ink in a small phial. I rejoiced at +having made a friend, even of the stationer, for my pride and my +property had long been travelling companions, and were seldom at home. +On the following day, a placard was pasted to a window on the ground +floor of a neat house, in the best street, announcing that "within, +letters were written on all subjects, for all persons, with precision +and secrecy;" I shall never forget the tremor with which I awaited the +arrival of a customer! I had sunk half of my slender capital, and +encumbered myself with a lodging; I did not dare to think, so I sat down +and began, resolutely, to sharpen my penknife on the sole of my +fearfully dilapidated shoe; then, I spread my paper before me; divided +the quires; looked carefully through a sheet of it at the light; laid it +down again; began to grow melancholy; shook off reflection as I would +have done a serpent, and again betook myself most zealously to the +sharpening of my penknife. A single, well articulated stroke on the door +of my apartment, roused me at once to action, and I shouted, "come in," +with nervous eagerness; it opened, and gave egress to a staid matron, of +high stature, and sharp countenance; I would have pledged my existence +on her shrewishness from the first moment I beheld her. When I had +placed a chair for her, and reseated myself, this prelude to my +prosperity commenced business at once. + +"You're a letter-writer, Mr. What-d'ye-call-'em." + +I bowed assent. + +"Silent--" + +"As the grave, madam." + +This sufficed; the lady took a pinch of snuff--told me that she had been +recommended to employ me by Mr. Quireandquill; and I prepared for action. +She had a daughter young, beautiful, and innocent--but gay, +affectionate, and thoughtless; she had given her heart in keeping to one +who, though rich in love, lacked all other possessions; and, finally, +she had bestowed her hand where affection prompted. But the chilled +heart feels not like that which is warm with youth--its pulses beat not +to the same measure--its impulses impel not to the same arts; the mother +felt as a guardian and a parent--the daughter as a woman and a fond one; +the one had been imprudent--the other was inexorable; my first task was +to be the unwrenching of the holy bonds which united a child and her +parent,--the announcement of an abandonment utter and irrevocable; I +wrote the letter, and if I softened down a few harsh expressions, and +omitted some sentences of heart-breaking severity, surely it was no +breach of faith, or if, indeed, it were, it was one for which, even at +this time, I do not blush. + +The old lady saw her letter sealed and addressed, and departed; and I +hastily partook of a scanty breakfast, the produce of my first +episolatory speculation. I need not have been so precipitate in +dispatching my repast, for some dreary hours intervened ere the arrival +of another visiter. One, however, came at length; a tremulous, almost +inaudible, stroke upon the door, and a nervous clasp of the latch, again +spoke hope to my sinking spirits; and, with a swift step, I rose and +gave admittance to a young and timid girl, blushing, and trembling, and +wondering, as it seemed, at the extent of her own daring. This business +was not so readily despatched as that of the angry matron. There were a +thousand promises of secrecy to be given; a thousand tremors to +be overcome. + +"I am a poor girl, Sir," she said at length, "but I am an honest one; +therefore, before I take up your time, I must know whether I can afford +to pay for it." + +"That," said I, and even amid my poverty I could not suppress a feeling +of amusement, "that depends wholly on the subject of your epistle; +business requires few words, and less ingenuity, and is fairly paid for +by a couple of shillings; but a love letter is cheap at three and +sixpence, for it requires an infinity of each." + +"Then I may as well wish you good day at once, Sir, for I have but +half-a-crown in the world that I can call my own, and I cannot run into +debt, even to write to Charles." There was a tear in her eye as she rose +to go, and it was a beautiful blue eye, better fitted to smiles than +tears; this was enough, and, even poor as I was, I would not have missed +the opportunity of writing this letter, though I had been a loser by the +task. Happy Charles! I wrote from her dictation, and it is wonderful how +well the heart prompts to eloquence, even among the uneducated and +obscure. In all honesty, though I had but jested with my pretty +employer, this genuine love-letter was well worth the three and +sixpence--it was written, and crossed, and rewritten at right angles, +and covered on the folds and under the wafer, and, finally, unsealed to +insert a few "more last words." It was a very history of the heart!--of +a heart untainted by error--unsophisticated by fashion--unfettered by +the world's ways: a little catalogue of woman's best, and tenderest, and +holiest feelings, warm from the spirit's core, and welling out like the +pure waters of a ground spring. How the eye fell, and the voice sunk, as +she recorded some little doubt, some fond self-created fear; how the +tones gladdened, and the blue eyes laughed out in joy, as she spoke of +hopes and prospects, to which she clung trustingly, as woman ever does +to her first affection. What would I not have given to have been the +receiver of such a letter?--What to have been the idol of such a heart? +And, as she eagerly bent over me to watch the progress of her epistle, +her hand resting on my arm, and her warm breath playing over my brow, +while at intervals a fond sigh escaped her, she from time to time +reminded me of the promises I had made never to betray her secret-- +beautiful innocent! I would have died first. She was with me nearly two +hours, and left me with a flushed cheek, her letter in one hand and her +half-crown in the other--had I robbed her of it, I should have merited +the pillory. + +My third customer was a stiff, tall, bony man, of about fifty-five, and +for this worthy I wrote an advertisement for a wife. He was thin, and +shy, and emaciated--a breathing skeleton, in the receipt of some hundred +and twenty pounds a-year; a martyr to the rheumatism, and a radical. He +required but little; a moderate fortune; tolerable person; good +education; perfect housewifery; implicit obedience; and, finally, wound +up the list of requisites from mere lack of breath, and modestly +intimated that youth would not be considered an objection, provided that +great prudence and rigid economy accompanied it. He was the veriest +antidote to matrimony I ever beheld! + +My calling prospered. I wrote letters of condolence and of +congratulation; made out bills, and composed valentines; became the +friend of every pretty girl and fine youth in the parish; and never +breathed one of their mighty secrets in the wrong quarter. In the midst +of this success, a new ambition fired me--I had been an author for +months; but though I had found my finances more flourishing, the bays +bloomed not upon my brow; and I was just about to turn author in good +earnest, when a distant relation died, and bequeathed to me an annuity +of four hundred pounds a-year; and I have been so much engaged ever +since in receiving the visits of some hitherto unknown relatives and +connexions, that I have only been able to compose the title-page, and to +send this hint to destitute young gentlemen who may have an epistolatory +turn; and to such I offer the assurance, that there is pleasure in being +the depositary of a pretty girl's secrets. "There are worse occupations +in the world, _Yorick_, than feeling a woman's pulse."--_The Inspector_. + + * * * * * + + +SUNRISE AT MOUNT ETNA. + + +Of a sunrise at Mount Etna, an acute traveller remarks, no imagination +can form an idea of this glorious and magnificent scene. Neither is +there on the surface of this globe any one point that unites so many +awful and sublime objects:--the immense elevation from the surface of +the earth, drawn as it were to a single apex, without any neighbouring +mountain for the senses and imagination to rest upon, and recover from +their astonishment in their way down to the world--and this point, or +pinnacle raised on the brink of a bottomless gulf, often discharging +rivers of fire, and throwing out burning rocks, with a noise that shakes +the whole island. Add to this, the unbounded extent of the prospect, +comprehending the greatest diversity, and the most beautiful scenery in +nature; with the rising sun advancing in the east to illuminate the +wondrous scene. The whole atmosphere by degrees kindled up, and showed +dimly and faintly the boundless prospect around. Both sea and land +looked dark and confused, as if only emerging from their original chaos; +and light and darkness seemed still undivided, till the morning by +degrees advancing, completed the separation. The stars are extinguished, +and the shades disappear. The forests, which but now seemed black and +bottomless gulfs, from whence no ray was reflected to show their form or +colours, appear a new creation rising to the sight, catching life and +beauty from every increasing beam. The scene still enlarges, and the +horizon seems to widen and expand itself on all sides; till the sun +appears in the east, and with his plastic ray completes the mighty +scene. All appears enchantment; and it is with difficulty we can believe +we are still on earth. The senses, unaccustomed to such objects, are +bewildered and confounded; and it is not till after some time that they +are capable of separating and judging of them. The body of the sun is +seen rising from the ocean, immense tracks both of sea and land +intervening; various islands appear under your feet; and you look down +on the whole of Sicily as on a map, and can trace every river through +all its windings, from its source to its mouth. The view is absolutely +boundless on every side; nor is there any one object within the circle +of vision to interrupt it; so that the sight is every where lost in the +immensity; and there is little doubt, that were it not for the +imperfection of our organs, the coasts of Africa, and even of Greece, +would be discovered, as they are certainly above the horizon.--_Time's +Telescope_. + + * * * * * + + + +GARRICK'S MULBERRY CUP. + +[Illustration] + + +In the garden attached to New Place, flourished a mulberry-tree, which +Shakspeare had planted with his own hands; and in 1742, when Garrick and +Macklin visited Stratford, they were regaled beneath its venerable +branches by Sir Hugh Clopton, who, instead of pulling down New Place +according to Malone's assertion, repaired it, and did every thing in his +power for its preservation. The Rev. Francis Gastrell purchased the +building from Sir Hugh Clopton's heir, and being disgusted with the +trouble of showing the mulberry-tree to so many visitors, he caused this +interesting and beautiful memorial of Shakspeare to be cut down, to the +great mortification of his neighbours, who were so enraged at his +conduct, that they soon rendered the place, out of revenge, too +disagreeable for him to remain in it. He therefore was obliged to quit +it; and the tree, being purchased by a carpenter, was retailed and cut +out in various relics. + +The catalogue of the property of the late David Garrick, Esq. sold on +the 5th of May, 1825, describes the cup as follows:--"Lot 170. The +original cup carved from Shakspeare's mulberry-tree, which was presented +to David Garrick by the Mayor and Corporation at the time of the Jubilee +at Stratford-on-Avon, lined with silver gilt, with a cover, surmounted +by a bunch of mulberry leaves and fruit, also of silver gilt." + +This relic acquires additional value from the circumstance of its never +having changed possessors from the time it was presented to Garrick in +September, 1769, to 1825, a period of nearly three score years, and +during the greater part of which time it has been virtually locked up +from public view. The tree was cut down about the year 1756, and could +not have been less than 140 years old. It is said the mulberry was first +planted in England about 1609. It is not a little singular, that at the +time Garrick received this relic of the immortal bard, he resided in +Southampton-street, as appears by his letter to the Mayor and +Corporation of Stratford, returning thanks for having elected him a +burgess of Stratford-on-Avon; and the residence of its second possessor, +Mr. J. Johnson, (who bought it for 127l. 1s.,) after a lapse of nearly +sixty years, is in the same street. + +The cup itself is of a very chaste and handsome form; plain, but in good +taste, and the wood prettily marked. The mulberry cup has also been +recorded in the celebrated ballad, beginning, "Behold this fair goblet," +&c. sung by Garrick at the Jubilee, holding the cup in his hand. + +G.W. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +NO. X. + + * * * * * + + +THE GREEKS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The delightful country of Greece, once the finest in the world, is +inhabited by a bold and intelligent race of men, whose noble struggles +to rescue themselves from an odious servitude has rendered them objects +of our esteem and admiration. For more than five years has this +unfortunate land been the scene of continual warfare and desolation; and +though the attempts of the Turks have been many and great, they have +notwithstanding entirely failed in their design,--that of exterminating +the Greeks. + +The Greeks are of the same religion as the Russians, and, like that +nation, have monks and nuns. Great decorum is visible in their churches, +the females being excluded from the sight of the males by means of +lattices. Their bishops lead a life of great simplicity, as will be seen +from the following account of a dinner given by the bishop of Salona to +Mr. Dodwell:--"There was nothing to eat except rice and bad cheese; the +wine was execrable, and so impregnated with resin, that it almost took +the skin from our lips. Before sitting down to dinner, as well as +afterwards, we had to perform the ceremony of the _cheironiptron_, or +washing of the hands. We dined at a round table of copper tinned, +supported upon one leg, and sat on cushions placed on the floor. The +bishop insisted upon my Greek servant sitting at table with us; and on +my observing that it was contrary to our custom, he answered, that he +could not bear such ridiculous distinctions in his house. It was with +difficulty I obtained the privilege of drinking out of my own glass, +instead of out of the large goblet, which served for the whole party. +The Greeks seldom drink till they have dined. After dinner, strong thick +coffee, without sugar, was handed round."--The strictest frugality is +observable in all the meals of these people. The higher orders live +principally on fish and rice, and the common people on olives, honey, +and onions. The food of the Levantine sailors, according to the Hon. Mr. +Douglas, consists entirely of salted olives, called by the Greeks +_columbades_. They dress mutton in a singular manner, it being stewed +with honey. In a very rare work, published in 1686, entitled, "The +Present State of the Morea," is the following account of their manner of +thrashing corn:--"They have no barns, but thrashing-floors, which are +situated on high grounds, and open to the winds. Here they tread it out +with horses, which are made fast to a post, round which the corn is put; +the horses trampling upon it make great despatch: they then cleanse it +with the wind, and send it home." + +The houses of the Greeks are generally built of brick, made of clay and +chopped straw; those at Napoli di Romania are considered among the best, +and are spacious and convenient. The stranger, on entering, is struck +with the singular appearance they present, the lower story being set +apart for the _horses_, while not a bell is visible in any part of the +building. When the attendance of a servant is required, it is signified +by the master clapping his hands. Most of the houses in the villages +have very pretty gardens, with walks round them covered with vines. The +Greeks are remarkable for their love of dancing, particularly the +_Romaika_, which is thus described by the Hon. Mr. Douglas:--"I never +shall forget the first time I saw this dance: I had landed on a fine +Sunday evening in the island of Scio, after three months spent amidst +Turkish despotism, and I found most of the poorer inhabitants of the +town strolling upon the shore, and the rich absent at their farms; but +in riding three miles along the coast, I saw above thirty parties +engaged in dancing the Romaika upon the sand; in some of these groups, +the girl who led them chased the retreating wave, and it was in vain +that her followers hurried their steps; some of them were generally +caught by the returning sea, and all would court the laugh rather than +break the indissoluble chain. Near each party was seated a group of +parents and elder friends, who rekindled the last spark of their +expiring gaiety and vigour in the happiness they saw around them." + +Though the Greeks are an oppressed nation, yet, as Sir William Gell +testifies, they cannot be called uncleanly in their habits. The bath is +in constant use among them, and a Greek peasant would on no account +retire to rest without having previously washed his feet. The females, +generally speaking, are kept very secluded from society, and it is +seldom that their marriages are founded on mutual love or attachment. +The conduct of the married women in Greece is deserving of our highest +praise, both for their great virtue and goodness of heart, while +instances of divorce are extremely rare. + +The burial-places of the Greeks are situated without the walls of their +towns, and round the tombs are a variety of plants, (principally +parsley,) which they take great care to keep alive. Numerous ceremonies +are observed at their funerals; but the most interesting scene is the +last. "Before the body is covered with earth, the relations approach in +turn, and lifting the corpse in their arms, indulge in the full pleasure +of their grief, while they call in vain on the friend they have lost, or +curse the fate by which that loss has been occasioned." The Greeks, when +occasion requires it, make use of flowers to express their thoughts. +Thus for instance, if a lover wishes to convey any private intelligence +to his mistress, he has only to make a selection of certain flowers, the +signification of which is perfectly understood if once seen by the +object of his love. The manners of the Greeks in many cases bear a +striking resemblance to those of the Turks. Like that nation, they smoke +with long pipes, and write with the left hand. The inhabitants of Napoli +di Romania have still further imitated their oppressors by wearing the +turban trimmed with white, together with the red _papouches_, or +slippers. The costume of the Greek soldiers is thus described by the +author of "Letters from the East:"--"The costume of these soldiers was +light and graceful; a thin vest, sash, and a loose pantaloon, which fell +just below the knee. The head was covered with a small and ugly cap. +They had most of them pistols and muskets, to which many added sabres or +ataghans." The dress of the females is very elegant; over the head is +worn a veil, called _macrama_, and between the eyelid and the pupil is +inserted a black powder, named _surme_, which, according to the Hon. Mr. +Douglas, gives a pleasing expression to the countenance. On their hair +(generally of a beautiful auburn) they bestow great pains, adorning it +with a variety of ornaments, and suffering it to hang down in long +tresses or ringlets, which present a most graceful appearance. In +stature the men are tall and well made; but their countenances, though +expressive, have generally an air of dejection, which no change of time +or circumstances have power to remove. The Greek women are very +beautiful, and remarkable for vivacity and intelligence of mind. + +The character of the Greeks consists of a singular mixture of good and +bad qualities. They are vain, fickle, treacherous, and turbulent; but, +on the other hand, are industrious, bold, polite, moderate in their +living, with a lively and ingenious disposition. If it be asserted that +they are in some cases too much given to wine, it may be replied to in +the words of Cicero, _Necessitatis crimen est, non voluntatis_. When we +consider that from the earliest age they are accustomed to witness among +the Turks the most disgusting scenes of profligacy and villany, that, +like wandering pilgrims, they have no fixed abode, and are continually +subject to all the miseries attendant on war and poverty, can it be +wondered if in their character we find something worthy of reprehension? + +W. C--Y + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +PERSONAL CHARACTER OF BONAPARTE. + + +Sir Walter Scott observes, on closing the history of Napoleon Bonaparte, +that the reader may be disposed to pause a moment to reflect on the +character of that wonderful person, on whom fortune showered so many +favours in the beginning and through the middle of his career, to +overwhelm its close with such deep and unwonted afflictions. + +The external appearance of Napoleon was not imposing at the first +glance, his stature being only five feet six inches English. His person, +thin in youth, and somewhat corpulent in age, was rather delicate than +robust in outward appearance, but cast in the mould most capable of +enduring privation and fatigue. He rode ungracefully, and without the +command of his horse which distinguishes a perfect cavalier; so that he +showed to disadvantage when riding beside such a horseman as Murat. But +he was fearless, sat firm in his seat, rode with rapidity, and was +capable of enduring the exercise for a longer time than most men. We +have already mentioned his indifference to the quality of his food, and +his power of enduring abstinence. A morsel of food, and a flask of wine +hung at his saddle-bow, used, in his earlier campaigns, to support him +for days. In his latter wars, he more frequently used a carriage; not, +as has been surmised, from any particular illness, but from feeling in a +frame so constantly in exercise the premature effects of age. + +The countenance of Napoleon is familiar to almost every one from +description, and the portraits which are found everywhere. The +dark-brown hair bore little marks of the attentions of the toilet. The +shape of the countenance approached more than is usual in the human race +to a square. His eyes were grey, and full of expression, the pupils +rather large, and the eye-brows not very strongly marked. The brow and +upper part of the countenance was rather of a stern character. His nose +and mouth were beautifully formed. The upper lip was very short. The +teeth were indifferent, but were little shown in speaking.[2] His smile +possessed uncommon sweetness, and is stated to have been irresistible. +The complexion was a clear olive, otherwise in general colourless. The +prevailing character of his countenance was grave, even to melancholy, +but without any signs of severity or violence. After death, the +placidity and dignity of expression which continued to occupy the +features, rendered them eminently beautiful, and the admiration of all +who looked on them. + + [2] When at St. Helena, he was much troubled with toothache and + scurvy in the gums. + +Such was Napoleon's exterior. His personal and private character was +decidedly amiable, excepting in one particular. His temper, when he +received, or thought he received, provocation, especially if of a +personal character, was warm and vindictive. He was, however, placable +in the case even of his enemies, providing that they submitted to his +mercy; but he had not that species of generosity which respects the +sincerity of a manly and fair opponent. On the other hand, no one was a +more liberal rewarder of the attachment of his friends. He was an +excellent husband, a kind relation, and, unless when state policy +intervened, a most affectionate brother. General Gourgaud, whose +communications were not in every case to Napoleon's advantage, states +him to have been the best of masters, labouring to assist all his +domestics wherever it lay in his power, giving them the highest credit +for such talents as they actually possessed, and imputing, in some +instances, good qualities to such as had them not. + +There was gentleness, and even softness, in his character. He was +affected when he rode over the fields of battle, which his ambition had +strewed with the dead and the dying, and seemed not only desirous to +relieve the victims,--issuing for that purpose directions, which too +often were not, and could not be, obeyed,--but showed himself subject +to the influence of that more acute and imaginative species of sympathy +which is termed sensibility. He mentions a circumstance which indicates +a deep sense of feeling. As he passed over a field of battle in Italy, +with some of his generals, he saw a houseless dog lying on the body of +his slain master. The creature came towards them, then returned to the +dead body, moaned over it pitifully, and seemed to ask their assistance. +"Whether it were the feeling of the moment," continued Napoleon, "the +scene, the hour, or the circumstance itself, I was never so deeply +affected by any thing which I have seen upon a field of battle. That +man, I thought, has perhaps had a house, friends, comrades, and here he +lies deserted by every one but his dog. How mysterious are the +impressions to which we are subject! I was in the habit, without +emotion, of ordering battles which must decide the fate of a campaign, +and could look with a dry eye on the execution of manoeuvres which must +be attended with much loss, and here I was moved--nay, painfully +affected--by the cries and the grief of a dog. It is certain that at +that moment I should have been more accessible to a suppliant enemy, and +could better understand the conduct of Achilles in restoring the body of +Hector to the tears of Priam."[3] The anecdote at once shows that +Napoleon possessed a heart amenable to humane feelings, and that they +were usually in total subjection to the stern precepts of military +stoicism. It was his common and expressive phrase, that the heart of a +politician should be in his head; but his feelings sometimes surprised +him in a gentler mood. + + [3] Las Cases, Vol. I partie 2de, p. 5. + +A calculator by nature and by habit, Napoleon was fond of order, and a +friend to that moral conduct in which order is best exemplified. The +libels of the day have made some scandalous averments to the contrary, +but without adequate foundation. Napoleon respected himself too much, +and understood the value of public opinion too well, to have plunged +into general or vague debauchery.--_Scott's Life of Napoleon._ + + * * * * * + + +THE FESTIVAL OF THE MOON AT MEMPHIS. + + +The rising of the moon, slow and majestic, as if conscious of the +honours that awaited her upon earth, was welcomed with a loud acclaim +from every eminence, where multitudes stood watching for her first +light. And seldom had she risen upon a scene more beautiful. +Memphis,--still grand, though no longer the unrivalled Memphis, that had +borne away from Thebes the crown of supremacy, and worn it undisputed +through so many centuries,--now, softened by the moonlight that +harmonised with her decline, shone forth among her lakes, her pyramids, +and her shrines, like a dream of glory that was soon to pass away. Ruin, +even now, was but too visible around her. The sands of the Libyan desert +gained upon her like a sea; and, among solitary columns and sphynxes, +already half sunk from sight, Time seemed to stand waiting, till all +that now flourished around, should fall beneath his desolating hand, +like the rest. + +On the waters all was life and gaiety. As far as eye could reach, the +lights of innumerable boats were seen, studding, like rubies, the +surface of the stream. Vessels of all kinds,--from the light coracle, +built for shooting down the cataracts, to the large yacht that glides to +the sound of flutes,--all were afloat for this sacred festival, filled +with crowds of the young and the gay, not only from Memphis and Babylon, +but from cities still farther removed from the scene. + +As I approached the island, could see, glittering through the trees on +the bank, the lamps of the pilgrims hastening to the ceremony. Landing +in the direction which those lights pointed out, I soon joined the +crowd; and passing through a long alley of sphynxes, whose spangling +marble shone out from the dark sycamores around them, in a short time +reached the grand vestibule of the temple, where I found the ceremonies +of the evening already commenced. + +In this vast hall, which was surrounded by a double range of columns, +and lay open over-head to the stars of heaven, I saw a group of young +maidens, moving, in a sort of measured step, between walk and dance, +round a small shrine, upon which stood one of those sacred birds, that, +on account of the variegated colour of their wings, are dedicated to the +moon. The vestibule was dimly lighted,--there being but one lamp of +naphta on each of the great pillars that encircled it. But, having taken +my station beside one of those pillars, I had a distinct view of the +young dancers, as in succession they passed me. + +Their long, graceful drapery was as white as snow; and each wore +loosely, beneath the rounded bosom, a dark-blue zone, or bandelet, +studded, like the skies at midnight, with little silver stars. Through +their dark locks was wreathed the white lily of the Nile,--that flower +being accounted as welcome to the moon, as the golden blossoms of the +bean-flower are to the sun. As they passed under the lamp, a gleam of +light flashed from their bosoms, which, I could perceive, was the +reflection of a small mirror, that, in the manner of the women of the +East, each wore beneath her left shoulder. + +There was no music to regulate their steps; but as they gracefully went +round the bird on the shrine, some, by the beat of the Castanet, some, +by the shrill ring of the sistrum,--which they held uplifted in the +attitude of their own divine Isis,--harmoniously timed the cadence of +their feet; while others, at every step, shook a small chain of silver, +whose sound, mingling with those of the castanets and sistrums, produced +a wild, but not an unpleasing harmony. + +They seemed all lovely; but there was one--whose face the light had not +yet reached, so downcast she held it,--who attracted, and at length +rivetted all my attention--_The Epicurean, by Thomas Moore, Esq._ + + * * * * * + + +MATERIALS OF ANCIENT BOOKS. + + +No material for books has, perhaps, a higher claim to antiquity than the +skin of the calf or goat tanned soft, and usually dyed red or yellow: +the skins were generally connected in lengths, sometimes of a hundred +feet, sufficient to contain an entire book, which then formed one roll +or _volume_. These soft skins seem to have been more in use among the +Jews and other Asiatics than among the people of Europe. The copies of +the law found in the synagogues are often of this kind: the most ancient +manuscripts extant are some copies of the Pentateuch on rolls +of leather. + +Parchment--Pergamena, so called long after the time of its first use, +from Pergamus, a city of Mysia, where the manufacture was improved and +carried on to a great extent, is mentioned by Herodotus and Ctesias as a +material which had been from time immemorial used for books: it has +proved to be of all others, except that abovementioned, the most +durable. The greater part of all manuscripts that are of higher +antiquity than the sixth century are on parchment; as well as, +generally, all carefully written and curiously decorated manuscripts of +later ages. The palimpsests are usually parchments: "It often happened," +says Montfaucon, "that from the scarcity of parchment, the copyists, +having erased the writing of ancient books, wrote upon them anew: these +rewritten parchments were called palimpsests--scraped a second time, and +often the ancient work was one of far greater value than that to which +it gave place: this we have on many occasions had opportunity to observe +in the MSS. of the king's library, and in those of Italy. In some of +these rescripts, the first writing is so much obliterated as to be +scarcely perceptible; while in others, though not without much labour, +it may still be read." + +The practice, still followed in the east, of writing upon the leaves of +trees, was common in the remotest ages. The leaves of the mallow or of +the palm were most used for this purpose: they were sometimes wrought +together into larger surfaces; but it is probable that this fragile and +inconvenient material was only employed for ordinary purposes of +business, letter-writing, or the instruction of children. + +The inner bark of the linden or teil tree, and perhaps of some others, +railed by the Romans _liber_, by the Greeks _biblos,_[4] was so +generally used as a material for writing as to have given its name to a +book in both languages. Tables of solid wood called _codices_, whence +the term _codex_ for a manuscript on any material, has passed into +common use, were also employed, but chiefly for legal documents, on +which account a system of laws came to be called a code. Leaves or +tablets of lead or ivory are frequently mentioned by ancient authors as +in common use for writing. But no material or preparation seems to have +been so frequently employed on ordinary occasions as tablets covered +with a thin coat of coloured wax, which was readily removed by an iron +needle, called a _style_; and from which the writing was as readily +effaced by the blunt end of the same instrument. + + [4] The word biblos or byblos, was afterwards almost + appropriated to books written upon the paper of Egypt. + +But during many ages the article most in use, and of which the +consumption was so great as to form a principal branch of the commerce +of the Mediterranean, was that manufactured from the papyrus of Egypt. +Many manuscripts written upon this kind of paper in the sixth, and some +even so early as the fourth century, are still extant. It formed the +material of by far the larger proportion of all books from very early +times till about the seventh or eighth century, when it gradually gave +place to a still more convenient manufacture. + +The papyrus, or Egyptian reed, grew in vast quantities in the stagnant +pools formed by the inundations of the Nile. The plant consists of a +single stem, rising sometimes to the height of ten cubits; this stem, +gradually tapering from the root, supports a spreading tuft at its +summit. The substance of the stem is fibrous, and the pith contains a +sweet juice. Every part of this plant was put to some use by the +Egyptians. The harder and lower part they formed into cups and other +utensils; the upper part into staves, or the ribs of boats; the sweet +pith was a common article of food; while the fibrous part of the stem +was manufactured into cloth, sails for ships, ropes, strings, shoes, +baskets, wicks for lamps, and, especially, into paper. For this purpose +the fibrous coats of the plant were peeled off, the whole length of the +stem. One layer of fibres was then laid across another upon a block, and +being moistened, the glutinous juice of the plant formed a cement, +sufficiently strong to give coherence to the fibres; when greater +solidity was required, a size made from bread or glue was employed. The +two films being thus connected, were pressed, dried in the sun, beaten +with a broad mallet, and then polished with a shell. This texture was +cut into various sizes, according to the use for which it was intended, +varying from thirteen to four fingers' breadth, and of proportionate +length. + +By progressive improvements, especially in the hands of the Roman +artists, this Egyptian paper was brought to a high degree of perfection. +In later ages it was manufactured of considerable thickness, perfect +whiteness, and an entire continuity and smoothness of surface. It was, +however, at the best, so friable that when durability was required the +copyists inserted a page of parchment between every five or six pages of +the papyrus. Thus the firmness of the one substance defended the +brittleness of the other; and great numbers of books so constituted have +resisted the accidents and decays of twelve centuries. + +Three hundred years before the Christian era the commerce in this +article had extended over most parts of the civilized world; and long +afterwards it continued to be a principal source of wealth to the +Egyptians. But at length the invention of another manufacture, and the +interruption of commerce occasioned by the possession of Egypt by the +Saracens, banished the paper of Egypt from common use. Comparatively few +manuscripts on this material are found of later date than the eighth or +ninth century; though it continued to be occasionally used long +afterwards. + +The charta bombycina or cotton paper, often improperly called _silk_ +paper, was unquestionably manufactured in the east as early as the ninth +century, possibly much earlier; and in the tenth it came into general +use throughout Europe. This invention, not long afterwards, became still +more available for general purposes by the substitution of old linen or +cotton rags for the raw material; by which means both the price of the +article was reduced, and the quality improved. The cotton paper +manufactured in the ancient mode is still used in the east, and is a +beautiful fabric. + +From this brief account of the materials successively employed for +books, it will be obvious, that a knowledge of the changes which these +several manufactures underwent will often serve, especially when +employed in subservience to other evidence, to ascertain the age of +manuscripts; or at least to furnish the means of detecting fabricated +documents. + +The preservation of books, framed as they are of materials so +destructible, through a period of twelve, or even fifteen hundred years, +is a fact which might seem almost incredible; especially as the decay of +apparently more durable substances within a much shorter period, is +continually presented to our notice. The massive walls of the +monasteries of the middle ages are often seen prostrate, and fast +mingling with the soil; while manuscripts penned within them, or perhaps +when their stones were yet in the quarry, are still fair and perfect, +glittering with their gold and silver, their cerulean and cinnabar. + +But the materials of books, though destructible, are so far from being +in themselves perishable that, while defended from positive injuries, +they appear to suffer scarcely at all from any intrinsic principle of +decay, or to be liable to any perceptible process of decomposition. "No +one," says Father Mabillon,[5] "unless totally unacquainted with what +relates to antiquity, can call in question the great durability of +parchments; since there are extant innumerable books, written on that +material, in the seventh and sixth centuries; and some of a still more +remote antiquity, by which all doubt on that subject might be removed. +It may suffice here to mention the Virgil of the Vatican Library, which +appears to be of more ancient date than the fourth century; and another +in the King's Library little less ancient; also the Prudentius, in the +same library, of equal age; to which you may add several, already +mentioned, as the Psalter of S. Germanus, the book of the councils, and +others, which are all of parchment. Many other instances I might name if +it were proper to dwell upon a matter so well known to every one who is +acquainted with antiquity. + + [5] De Re Diplomatica. + +"The paper of Egypt, being more frail and brittle, may seem to be open +to greater doubt; yet there are not wanting books of great antiquity, by +which its durability may be established. To go no further, there is in +the Royal Library a very old codex written upon the philyra (or bark of +the linden tree) containing the homilies of Avitus, I mean the copy from +which the celebrated Jac. Sirmundus prepared his edition; we have also +seen two other codices of the same material in the Petavian Library, +containing some sermons of S. Augustine, which, in the opinion of the +learned, are about 1100 years old. Of the same kind is that rare and +very ancient codex in the Ambrosian Library, mutilated indeed, but +consisting of many leaves of Egyptian paper, which contain some portions +of the Jewish history of Josephus. These examples are sufficient to +demonstrate the durability of the Egyptian paper in ancient books." The +author then goes on to mention several instances of deeds and chartas +written upon the paper of Egypt, still extant, though executed in the +fourth and fifth centuries. + +Books have owed their conservation, not merely to the durability of the +material of which they were formed, but to the peculiarity of their +being at once precious, and yet not (in periods of general ignorance) +marketable articles; of inestimable value to a few, and absolutely +worthless in the opinion of the multitude. They were also often indebted +for their preservation in periods of disorder and violence to the +sacredness of the roofs under which they were lodged.--_Taylor's History +of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times._ + + * * * * * + + +A PERSIAN'S DESCRIPTION OF AN ENGLISH THEATRE. + + +In Europe the manner in which plays are acted, and balls and musical +parties conducted, is (entirely) different from that of Hindoostan. The +people of this country (India) send for the singers to their own houses, +where they view the entertainments, and squander away a large sum of +money for one night's (amusement.) In Europe it is usual for a few +individuals to enter into partnership, (or) as it is called in English, +a company. They fit up a house in which dancing girls, skilful +musicians, singers, and actors, are engaged to perform. The audience +consists of from three to four thousand people. The lower orders, who +sit above all, give one shilling, equal in value to half a rupee; the +middle classes, who sit lowest off all, a rupee and a half; and the +great folks and noblemen, who sit (round) the middle of the house, give +two rupees and a half. Separate rooms (boxes) are allotted for them. The +place where the king sits is in front of the dancers. His majesty sits +there along with one or two of the princes, and these give each an +ashrufee. Now it is to be understood, that a poor man for eight anas, +and a rich individual for two rupees and a half, see a spectacle which +is fit for royalty itself, and which the people of this country have not +even seen in their dreams. In one night the dancers and musicians +collect five or six thousand rupees, which cover the expenses, and the +audience is sufficiently amused. + +It is the aim of this _caste_ to accomplish great undertakings at little +expense. In Hindoostan, luxurious young men, for seeing a nautch +[dance,] squander away, in one night, one or two hundred rupees; and +lakhs of rupees of patrimony, which they may succeed to, in a short time +take wing. + +How can I describe the dances, the melodious sound of violins and +guitars, and the interesting stories which I heard, and (all the things) +which I saw? My pen lacks ability to write even a short panegyric. + +From amongst all the spectacles, that of the curtains of seven colours +(the scenes) is exceedingly wonderful, for every instant a new painting +is exhibited. Then people, disguised like angels and fairies, the one +moment come upon the stage and dance, and the next vanish from the +sight. There is also a man with a black face, who is a kind of devil, +and called harlequin; at one time he appears, and at another time hides +himself, and sometimes attaches himself to the others, and taking the +hands of the dancing girls, he dances with them; he then scampers off, +and taking a leap, he jumps through a window. At seeing this sport I +laughed very heartily. In a word, the (whole) entertainment is excellent +and wonderful. + +Talking is not permitted in the theatre, although the crowd is great, +yet there is neither noise nor clamour. When a pleasing storey or +adventure is heard or witnessed, and they wish to express their +approbation, instead of saying _shabash!_ [excellent] or _wah! wah!_ +[bravo! bravo!] they beat the floor with their feet, or they clap their +hands, by which they signify their approval.--_Travels of Mirza Itesa +Modeen in Great Britain and France._ + + * * * * * + + + +MISCELLANIES. + + * * * * * + + +LANDING IN INDIA. + + +Nothing can be more ludicrous than a young Englishman's first landing in +Calcutta. The shore is thronged with the swarthy natives, eagerly +awaiting his arrival. Innumerable palanquins are brought down to the +boat, and the bearers, like the Paddington stagecoach men, are all +violently struggling to procure a passenger. The bewildered stranger is +puzzled which to choose; and when he has made up his mind, he finds it +no easy matter to jostle through the countless rival conveyances which +completely surround him. He is also sure to make some laughable mistake +in entering the palanquin. It requires a certain tact to steady the +vehicle as you throw yourself into it, or it is apt to turn over, like a +tailor's swinging cot. Another ridiculous error which a stranger is +liable to, is his endeavouring to seat himself on the little drawer +inside, supposing it to be intended for that purpose. But he soon finds, +after having doubled himself up, like people passing on a coach top +under a low gateway, that it would be utterly impossible to remain long +in that position, unless the human back were as pliable as a piece of +whalebone. After all, perhaps, the bearers are compelled to rest the +palanquin on the ground, and the abashed stranger, creeping hastily in, +is glad to escape from the ill suppressed smiles of the surrounding +multitude. + +_London Weekly Review._ + + +INCUBATION AND AGE OF BIRDS. + + +The full period of incubation by the hen in this country, is well known +to be twenty-one days. In warmer climates it is said to be a day or two +less. The periods of incubation vary much in different species of birds. +We introduce the following table, which has been compiled from different +authors by Count Morozzo, in a letter from him to Lacepepe, to show the +periods of incubation compared with those of the life of certain birds. + + Names of | Periods | Duration | + Birds. | of Incu- | of | Authority + | bation | Life. | + ------------+----------+-------------+-------------------------- + | Days. | Years. | + ------------+----------+-------------+-------------------------- + Swan | 42 | About 200 | Aldrovande + Parrot | 40 | About 100 | Wulmaer + Goose | 30 | 80 or more | Willoughby + Eagle | 30 } | Period of | + Bustard | 30 } | life not | + Duck | 30 } | known. | + Turkey | 30 } | | + Peacock | 26 to 27 | 25 to 28 | Aristot. & Pliny + Pheasant | 20 to 25 | 18 to 20 | A Treatise on Pheasants + Crow | 20 | 100 or more | Hesiod + Nightingale | 19 to 20 | 17 to 18 | Buffon + Hen | 18 to 19 | 16 to 18 | Buffon + Pigeon | 17 or 18 | 16 to 17 | Several observations + Linnet | 14 | 13 to 14 | Willoughby + Canary | 13 to 14 | 13 to 14 | A Treatise on these birds + Goldfinch | 13 to 14 | 18 to 20 | Buffon + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER + + "I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's + stuff."--_Wotton._ + + * * * * * + + +One of the band of Covent-Garden, who played the French horn, was +telling some anecdote of Garrick's generosity. Macklin, who heard him at +the lower end of the table, and who always fired at the praises of +Garrick, called out, "Sir, I believe you are a _trumpeter._"--"Well, +sir," said the poor man, quite confounded, "and if I am, what +then?"--"Nothing more, sir, than being a trumpeter, you are a dealer in +_puffs_ by profession." + + * * * * * + +An Irish dignitary of the church (not remarkable for veracity) +complaining that a tradesman of his parish had called him a _liar_, +Macklin asked him what reply he made him. "I told him," says he, "that a +lie was amongst the things I _dared_ not commit."--"And why, doctor," +replied Macklin, "did you give the rascal _so mean an opinion of your +courage?_" + + * * * * * + +In the neighbourhood of Yeovil are now living, in the same house, and at +the same board, a man and his wife, two sons, three daughters, two +grandsons, one grand-daughter, one grandfather, two fathers, two +mothers, one father-in-law, one son-in-law, three brothers, three +sisters, two brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, two uncles, two aunts, +two nephews, three nieces, three first cousins, one great uncle, two +great nephews, and one great niece; the whole consisting of seven +individuals only. + + * * * * * + + + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near +Somerset-House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 7m26510.txt or 7m26510.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7m26511.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7m26510a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9918] +[This file was first posted on October 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + + + + +E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg Distributed +Proofreaders + + + + + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 8m26510h.zip in our etext06 directory + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06/8m26510h.zip) + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 265.] SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + +ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH CASTLE. + +[Illustration] + +Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town in Leicestershire, pleasantly +situated in a fertile vale, on the skirts of the adjoining county of +Derbyshire, on the banks of a small liver called the Gilwiskaw, over +which is a handsome stone bridge. The original name of this town was +simply Ashby, but it acquired the addition of De-la-Zouch, to +distinguish it from other Ashbys, from the Zouches, who were formerly +lords of this manor, which after the extinction of the male line of that +family, in the first year of the reign of Henry IV. came to Sir Hugh +Burnel, knight of the garter, by his marriage with Joice, the heiress of +the Zouches. From him it devolved to James Butler, earl of Ormond and +Wiltshire; who being attainted on account of his adherence to the party +of Henry VI. it escheated to the crown, and was, in the first year of +Edward IV. granted by that king to Sir William Hastings, in +consideration of his great services; he was also created a baron, +chamberlain of the household; captain of Calais, and knight of the +garter, and had license to make a park and cranellate, or fortify +several of his houses, amongst which was one at this place, which was of +great extent, strength, and importance, and where he and his descendants +resided for about two hundred years. It was situated on the south side +of the town, on a rising ground, and was chiefly composed of brick and +stone; the rooms were spacious and magnificent, attached to which was a +costly private chapel. The building had two lofty towers of immense +size, one of them containing a large hall, great chambers, bedchambers, +kitchen, cellars, and all other offices. The other was called the +kitchen tower. Parts of the wall of the hall, chapel, and kitchen, are +still remaining, which display a grand and interesting mass of ruins; +the mutilated walls being richly decorated with doorways, +chimney-pieces, windows, coats of arms, and other devices. In this, +castle, the unfortunate and persecuted Mary queen of Scots, who has +given celebrity to so many castles and old mansions, by her melancholy +imprisonment beneath their lofty turrets, was for some time confined, +while in the custody of the earl of Huntingdon. In the year 1603, Anne, +consort of James I. and her son, prince Henry, were entertained by the +earl of Huntingdon at this castle, which was at that time the seat of +much hospitality. It was afterwards honoured by a visit from that +monarch, who remained here for several days, during which time dinner +was always served up by thirty poor knights, with gold chains and velvet +gowns. In the civil wars between king Charles and his parliament, this +castle was deeply involved, being garrisoned for the king; it was +besieged by the parliamentary forces, and although it was never actually +conquered, (from whence the garrison obtained the name of Maiden,) it +was evacuated and dismantled by capitulation in the year 1648. + +For the spirited engraving of the ruins of this famous castle, we +acknowledge ourselves indebted to our obliging friend _S.I.B._ who +supplied us with an original drawing. + + * * * * * + + +THE AUTHOR OF "LACON." + +_(To the Editor of the Mirror.)_ + + +SIR,--The following additional particulars respecting the celebrated +author of "Lacon," may not be unacceptable to your readers, as a sequel +to the interesting account of that eccentric individual inserted at p. +431, in your recently completed volume. + +It will be in the recollection of many, that about the period of the +murder of Weare, by Thurtel, Mr. Colton suddenly disappeared from among +his friends, and no trace of him, notwithstanding the most vigilant +inquiry, could be discovered. As Weare's murder produced an +unprecedented sensation in the public mind, it gave rise to a variety of +reports against the perpetrators of that horrible crime, imputing to +them other atrocities of a similar kind. It is needless now to say that +most of these suspicions were wholly without foundation. + +It was at length ascertained, that Mr. C., finding himself embarrassed +with his creditors, had taken his departure for America, where he +remained about two years, travelling over the greater part of the United +States; and it is much to be desired that he would favour the public +with the result of his observations during his residence in that +country; as probably no person living is qualified to execute such a +task with more shrewdness, judgment, or ability. + +He is now residing at Paris, where he has been about two years and a +half, and where I had frequently the pleasure of meeting him during the +last winter, and of enjoying the raciness of his conversation, which +abounds in wit, anecdote, and an universality of knowledge. It is too +well known that he is not unaddicted to the allurements of the gaming +table, and it is understood among his immediate friends, that he has +been--what few are--successful adventurer, having repaired in the +saloons of Paris, in a great degree, the loss he sustained by the +forfeiture of his church livings. His singular coolness, calculation, +and self-mastery, give him an advantage in this respect over, perhaps, +every other votary of the gaming table. + +Mr. Colton has an excellent taste for the fine arts, and has expended +considerable sums in forming a picture gallery. Every nook of his +apartment is literally covered with the treasures of art, including many +of the _chefs d'oeuvres_ of the great masters, and many valuable +paintings are placed on the floor for want of room to suspend them +against the wainscot. I may here observe, that his present domicile does +not exactly correspond with that described as his former "castle" in +London, inasmuch as it is part of a royal residence, it being on the +second floor, on one side of the quadrangle of the Palais Royal, +overlooking the large area of that building, and opposite to the _jet +d'eau_ in the centre. But his habits and mode of dress appear to be +unchanged. He has only one room; he keeps no servant, (unless a boy to +take care of his horse and cabriolet); he lights his own fire, and, I +believe, performs all his other domestic offices himself. But, +notwithstanding these whimsicalities, he is generous, hospitable and +friendly. He still, when a friend "drops in," produces a bottle or two +of the finest wines and a case of the best cigars, of which he is a +determined smoker. + +I will only add, that he continues to employ himself in literary +composition. Among other pieces not published in England, he has written +an ode on the death of Lord Byron, a copy of which he presented me, but +which I unfortunately lent--and lost. A small edition was printed at +Paris for private circulation. He has also written an unpublished poem +in the form of a letter from Lord Castlereagh in the shades, to Mr. +Canning on earth, the caustic severity of which, in the opinion of those +who have heard it read, is equal to that of any satire in the English +language. I remember only the two first lines-- + + "Dear George, from these _Shades_, where no wine's to be had. + But where rivers of flame run like rivers run mad." + +And the following, in allusion to the instrument with which Lord C. +severed the carotid artery, and which was the means of producing such a +change in the destiny of the present prime minister, who was then on the +eve of going out to India as governor-general,-- + + "Have you pensioned the Jew boy that sold me the knife?" + +It is to be lamented that such a man should be an exile from his native +country.--But I draw a veil over the rest, and sincerely hope that his +absence from England will not be perpetual. + +* * * + + * * * * * + + +THE DEAD TRUMPETER. + +TO ILLUSTRATE A CELEBRATED FRENCH PICTURE. + +_(For the Mirror.)_ + + + 'Tis evening! the red rayless sun + Glares fiercely on the battle plain;-- + _Morn_ saw the deadly fray begun, + Morn heard _thy_ bugle wake a strain, + Poor soldier! and its warning breath + Call'd _thee_, and myriads to death! + + _Thou_ wert thy mother's darling, thou, + Light to thy father's failing eyes; + Thou wert thy sisters' _dearest!_ now + What _art_ thou? something to despise + Yet tremble at; to hide, and be + _Forgot,_ but by _their_ misery! + + Thou _wert_ the beautiful! the brave! + Thou wert all joy, and love, and light; + But oh! thy grace was for the _grave,_ + Thy dawning day, for mornless night! + And thou, so loving, so carest + Hast sunk--unpitied--unblest! + + Yes, warrior! and the life-stream flows + _Yet_ from thee, in thy foe-man's land, + Welling before the gate of those + Who _should_ stretch forth a kindly hand + To save th' unhonour'd, _friendless_ dead + From rushing legion's scouring tread. + + _Friendless_ poor soldier?--nay thy steed + Stands gazing on thee, with an eye + _Too_ piteous: he _felt_ thee bleed,-- + He _saw_ thee, dropping from him,--_die!_ + And in thine helpless, lorn estate, + _He_ cannot leave thee, desolate. + + Nor thy poor _dog_, whose anxious gaze, + On helm and bugle's lowly place, + Speaks his deep sorrow and amaze! + _He_, watching yet, thine icy face + Licks thy pale forehead with a moan + To tell thee--_Thou art not alone!_ + +M. L. B. + + * * * * * + + + +ORIGINS AND INVENTIONS. + +No. XXVIII. + + + * * * * * + + +THE SPHYNX. + + +The Sphynx is supposed to have been engendered by Typhon, and sent by +Juno to be revenged on the Thebans. It is represented with the head and +breasts of a woman, the wings of a bird, the claws of a lion, and the +rest of the body like a dog or lion. Its office they say, was to propose +dark enigmatical questions to all passers by; and, if they did not give +the explication of them,--to devour them. It made horrible ravages, as +the story goes, on a mountain near Thebes. Apollo told Creon that she +could not be vanquished, till some one had expounded her riddle. The +riddle was--_"What creature is that, which has four legs in the morning, +two at noon, and three at night?"_ Oedipus expounded it, telling her it +was a man,--who when a child, creepeth on all fours; in his middle age, +walketh on two legs, and in his old age, two and a staff. This put the +Sphynx into a great rage, who, finding her riddle solved, threw herself +down and broke her neck. Among the Egyptians, the Sphynx was the symbol +of religion, by reason of the obscurity of its mysteries. And, on the +same account, the Romans placed a Sphynx in the pronaos, or porch, of +their temples. Sphynxes were used by the Egyptians, to show the +beginning of the water's rising in the Nile; with this view, as it had +the head of a woman and body of a lion, it signified that the Nile began +to swell in the months of July and August, when the sun passes through +the signs of Leo and Virgo; accordingly it was a hieroglyphic, which +taught the people the period of the most important event in the year, as +the swelling and overflowing of the Nile gave fertility to Egypt. +Accordingly they were multiplied without end, so that they were to be +seen before all their remarkable monuments. + +P. T. W. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SKETCH-BOOK. + +NO. XLII. + + + * * * * * + + +WHITSUN-EVE. + +_By Miss Mitford._ + + +The pride of my heart and the delight of my eyes is my garden. Our +house, which is in dimensions very much like a bird-cage, and might, +with almost equal convenience, be laid on a shelf, or hung up in a tree, +would be utterly unbearable in warm weather, were it not that we have a +retreat out of doors,--and a very pleasant retreat it is. To make my +readers fully comprehend it, I must describe our whole territories. + +Fancy a small plot of ground, with a pretty low irregular cottage at one +end; a large granary, divided from the dwelling by a little court +running along one side; and a long thatched shed open towards the +garden, and supported by wooden pillars on the other. The bottom is +bounded, half by an old wall, and half by an old paling, over which we +see a pretty distance of woody hills. The house, granary, wall, and +paling, are covered with vines, cherry-trees, roses, honey-suckles, and +jessamines, with great clusters of tall hollyhocks running up between +them; a large elder overhanging the little gate, and a magnificent +bay-tree, such a tree as shall scarcely be matched in these parts, +breaking with its beautiful conical form the horizontal lines of the +buildings. This is my garden; and the long pillared shed, the sort of +rustic arcade which runs along one side, parted from the flower-beds by +a row of rich geraniums, is our out-of-door drawing-room. + +I know nothing so pleasant as to sit there on a summer afternoon, with +the western sun flickering through the great elder-tree, and lighting up +our gay parterres, where flowers and flowering shrubs are set as thick +as grass in a field, a wilderness of blossom, interwoven, intertwined, +wreathy, garlandy, profuse beyond all profusion, where we may guess that +there is such a thing as mould, but never see it. I know nothing so +pleasant as to sit in the shade of that dark bower, with the eye resting +on that bright piece of colour, lighted so gloriously by the evening +sun, now catching a glimpse of the little birds as they fly rapidly in +and out of their nests--for there are always two or three birds' nests +in the thick tapestry of cherry-trees, honey-suckles, and China roses, +which cover our walls--now tracing the gay gambols of the common +butterflies as they sport around the dahlias; now watching that rarer +moth, which the country people, fertile in pretty names, call the +bee-bird;[1] that bird-like insect, which flutters in the hottest days +over the sweetest flowers, inserting its long proboscis into the small +tube of the jessamine, and hovering over the scarlet blossoms of the +geranium, whose bright colour seems reflected on its own feathery +breast; that insect which seems so thoroughly a creature of the air, +never at rest; always, even when feeding, self-poised, and +self-supported, and whose wings in their ceaseless motion, have a sound +so deep, so full, so lulling, so musical. Nothing so pleasant as to sit +amid that mixture of the flower and the leaf, watching the bee-bird! +Nothing so pretty to look at as my garden! It is quite a picture; only +unluckily it resembles a picture in more qualities than one,--it is fit +for nothing but to look at. One might as well think of walking in a bit +of framed canvass. There are walks to be sure--tiny paths of smooth +gravel, by courtesy called such--but--they are so overhung by roses and +lilies, and such gay encroachers--so over-run by convolvolus, and +heart's-ease, and mignonette, and other sweet stragglers, that, except +to edge through them occasionally, for the purpose of planting, or +weeding, or watering, there might as well be no paths at all. Nobody +thinks of walking in my garden. Even May glides along with a delicate +and trackless step, like a swan through the wafer; and we, its +two-footed denizens, are fain to treat it as if it were really a saloon, +and go out for a walk towards sun-set, just as if we had not been +sitting in the open air all day. + + [1] Sphinx ligustri, privet hank-moth. + +What a contrast from the quiet garden to the lively street! Saturday +night is always a time of stir and bustle in our village, and this is +Whitsun Eve, the pleasantest Saturday of all the year, when London +journeymen and servant lads and lasses snatch a short holiday to visit +their families. A short and precious holiday, the happiest and liveliest +of any; for even the gambols and merrymakings of Christmas offer but a +poor enjoyment, compared with the rural diversions, the Mayings, revels, +and cricket-matches of Whitsuntide. + +We ourselves are to have a cricket-match on Monday, not played by the +men, who, since their misadventure with the Beech-hillers, are, I am +sorry to say, rather chap-fallen, but by the boys, who, zealous for the +honours of their parish, and headed by their bold leader, Ben Kirby, +marched in a body to our antagonist's ground the Sunday after our +melancholy defeat, challenged the boys of that proud hamlet, and beat +them out and out on the spot. Never was a more signal victory. Our boys +enjoyed this triumph with so little moderation, that it had like to have +produced a very tragical catastrophe. The captain of the Beech-hill +youngsters, a capital bowler, by name Amos Stokes, enraged past all +bearing by the crowing of his adversaries, flung the ball at Ben Kirby +with so true an aim, that if that sagacious leader had not warily ducked +his head when he saw it coming, there would probably have been a +coroner's inquest on the case, and Amos Stokes would have been tried for +manslaughter. He let fly with such vengeance, that the cricket-ball was +found embedded in a bank of clay five hundred yards off, as if it had +been a cannon shot. Tom Coper and Farmer Thackum, the umpires, both say +that they never saw so tremendous a ball. If Amos Stokes live to be a +man (I mean to say if he be not hanged first), he'll be a pretty player. +He is coming here on Monday with his party to play the return match, the +umpires having respectively engaged Farmer Thackum that Amos shall keep +the peace, Tom Coper that Ben shall give no unnecessary or wanton +provocation--a nicely-worded and lawyer-like clause, and one that proves +that Tom Coper hath his doubts of the young gentleman's discretion; and, +of a truth, so have I. I would not be Ben Kirby's surety, cautiously as +the security is worded,--no! not for a white double dahlia, the present +object of my ambition. + +This village of our's is swarming to-night like a hive of bees, and all +the church bells round are pouring out their merriest peals, as if to +call them together. I must try to give some notion of the +various figures. + +First, there is a groupe suited to Teniers, a cluster of out-of-door +customers of the Rose, old benchers of the inn, who sit round a table +smoking and drinking in high solemnity to the sound of Timothy's fiddle. +Next, a mass of eager boys, the combatants of Monday, who are +surrounding the shoemaker's shop, where an invisible hole in their ball +is mending by Master Keep himself, under the joint superintendence of +Ben Kirby and Tom Coper, Ben showing much verbal respect and outward +deference for his umpire's judgment and experience, but managing to get +the ball done his own way after all; whilst outside the shop, the rest +of the eleven, the less-trusted commons, are shouting and bawling round +Joel Brent, who is twisting the waxed twine round the handles of +bats--the poor bats, which please nobody, which the taller youths are +despising as too little and too light, and the smaller are abusing as +too heavy and two large. Happy critics! winning their match can hardly +be a greater delight--even if to win it they be doomed! Farther down the +street is the pretty black-eyed girl, Sally Wheeler, come home for a +day's holiday from B., escorted by a tall footman in a dashing livery, +whom she is trying to curtesy off before her deaf grandmother sees him. +I wonder whether she will succeed! + +Ascending the hill are two couples of different description, Daniel Tubb +and Sally North, walking boldly along like licensed lovers; they have +been asked twice in church, and are to be married on Tuesday; and +closely following that happy pair, near each other, but not together, +come Jem Tanner and Susan Green, the poor culprits of the wheat-hoeing. +Ah! the little clerk hath not relented! The course of true love doth not +yet run smooth in that quarter. Jem dodges along, whistling "Cherry +Ripe," pretending to walk by himself, and to be thinking of nobody; but +every now and then he pauses in his negligent saunter, and turns round +outright to steal a glance at Susan, who, on her part, is making believe +to walk with poor Olive Hathaway, the lame mantua-maker, and even +affecting to talk and to listen to that gentle humble creature as she +points to the wild flowers on the common, and the lambs and children +disporting amongst the gorse, but whose thoughts and eyes are evidently +fixed on Jem Tanner, as she meets his backward glance with a blushing +smile, and half springs forward to meet him; whilst Olive has broken off +the conversation as soon as she perceived the preoccupation of her +companion, and began humming, perhaps unconsciously, two or three lines +of Burns, whose "Whistle and I'll come to thee, my love," and "Gi'e me a +glance of thy bonny black ee," were never better exemplified than in the +couple before her. Really it is curious to watch them, and to see how +gradually the attraction of this tantalizing vicinity becomes +irresistible, and the rustic lover rushes to his pretty mistress like +the needle to the magnet. On they go, trusting to the deepening +twilight, to the little clerk's absence, to the good humour of the happy +lads and lasses, who are passing and re-passing on all sides--or rather, +perhaps, in a happy oblivion of the cross uncle, the kind villagers, the +squinting lover, and the whole world. On they trip, linked arm-in-arm, +he trying to catch a glimpse of her glowing face under her bonnet, and +she hanging down her head and avoiding his gaze with a mixture of +modesty and coquetry, which well becomes the rural beauty. On they go, +with a reality and intensity of affection, which must overcome all +obstacles; and poor Olive follows with art evident sympathy in their +happiness, which makes her almost as enviable as they; and we pursue our +walk amidst the moonshine and the nightingales, with Jacob Frost's cart +looming in the distance, and the merry sounds of Whitsuntide, the shout, +the laugh, and the song echoing all around us, like "noises of the +air."--_Monthly Magazine._ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + +THE LETTER-WRITER. + + +Fortune surely shifted me from my birth, or first looked on me in a mood +as splenetic as that of nature, when she produced that most sombre and +unpleasing of trees, the olive; to pursue the simile; I may have +conduced to the comfort of others, nay, even to their convenience and +luxury, but it never availed aught to my own appearance or +circumstances; I went on, like that unhappy-looking tree, decaying in +the trunk and blighting in the branches, and yielding up the produce of +a liberal education and an active nature to the public, but reaping for +my own portion only misfortune and disappointment; I had sprung up in +the wilderness of the world, and I was left to grow or wither as I +might; every one was ready to profit by me when a fruitful season +rendered me available to them, but none cared to toil to give me space +for growth, or to enrich the perishing earth at my unlucky root! + +I was educated for the church, but my father died while I was at +college, and I lost the curacy, which was in the gift of my uncle, +through the pretty face of a city merchant's daughter, who wrote a +sonnet to my worthy relative on his recovery from a fit of the gout, and +obtained the curacy for her brother in exchange for her effusion. What +was to be done? I offered myself as tutor to a young gentleman who was +to study the classics until he was of age, and then to turn fox-hunter +to supply the place of his deceased father; but I was considered by his +relations to be too good-looking to be domesticated in the house of a +rich widow under fifty, and I had the satisfaction of seeing the vacant +seat in the family coach filled by an old, sandy-haired M.A., with bow +legs and a squint--handsome or ugly, it availed not; a face had twice +ruined my prospects; I was at my wit's end! I could not turn fine +gentleman, for I had not brass enough to make my veracity a pander to my +voracity; I could not turn tradesman, for I had not gold enough even to +purchase a yard measure, or to lay in a stock of tapes. My heart bounded +at the idea of the army; but I thought of it like a novice--of wounds +and gallant deeds; of fame and laurels; I was obliged to look closer--my +relations were neither noblemen nor bankers, and I found that even the +Colonial corps were becoming aristocratical and profuse; the navy--I +walked from London to Chatham on speculation; saw the second son of an +earl covered with tar, out at elbows and at heels, and I returned to +town, fully satisfied that here I certainly had no chance. I offered +myself as clerk to a wealthy brewer, and, at length, I was accepted-- +this was an opening! I registered malt, hops, ale, and small-beer, till +I began to feel as though the world was one vast brewhouse; and +calculated, added, and subtracted pounds, shillings, and pence, until +all other lore appeared "stale, flat, and unprofitable." I was in this +counting-house four years, and was, finally, discharged by my prudent +principal as an unthrifty servant, for having, during a day of unusual +business, cut up two entire quills, and overturned the inkstand on a new +ledger! Again "the world was all before me where to choose"--but enough +of this; suffice it that my choice availed me nothing, and after years +of struggling and striving, I found myself, as free as air, in a small +market town in England, with five shillings in my pocket, and sundry +grey hairs on my head. From mere dearth of occupation, I took my station +at the window of a small stationer's shop, and commenced a survey of the +volumes and pamphlets which were attractively opened at the title-pages +to display their highly coloured frontispieces. The first which I +noticed was, "The Young Gentleman's Multiplication Table, or Two and Two +make Four"--I sighed as I remembered how little this promising study had +availed _me_! Then came "Little Tom Tucker, he sang for his Supper"--I +would have danced for one. "Young's Night Thoughts," with a well dressed +gentleman in mourning, looking at the moon. "How to Grow Rich, or a +Penny Saved is a Penny Got;" I would have bought the book, and learned +the secret, though I had but five shillings left in the world, had not +the second part of the title intimated to me that I ought to keep my +money. "The Castle of St. Altobrand," where a gentleman in pea-green +might be seen communing with a lady in sky-blue. "Raising the Wind"--I +turned away with a shudder; I had played a part in this drama for years, +and I well knew it was no farce. "The Polite Letter-Writer, or"--I did +not stop to read more; an idea flashed through my mind, and in two +minutes more I was beside the counter of the stationer; we soon became +acquainted; I left two and sixpence in his shop, and quitted it with +renewed hope; the promise of a recommendation, two quires of letter +paper, twelve good quills, and some ink in a small phial. I rejoiced at +having made a friend, even of the stationer, for my pride and my +property had long been travelling companions, and were seldom at home. +On the following day, a placard was pasted to a window on the ground +floor of a neat house, in the best street, announcing that "within, +letters were written on all subjects, for all persons, with precision +and secrecy;" I shall never forget the tremor with which I awaited the +arrival of a customer! I had sunk half of my slender capital, and +encumbered myself with a lodging; I did not dare to think, so I sat down +and began, resolutely, to sharpen my penknife on the sole of my +fearfully dilapidated shoe; then, I spread my paper before me; divided +the quires; looked carefully through a sheet of it at the light; laid it +down again; began to grow melancholy; shook off reflection as I would +have done a serpent, and again betook myself most zealously to the +sharpening of my penknife. A single, well articulated stroke on the door +of my apartment, roused me at once to action, and I shouted, "come in," +with nervous eagerness; it opened, and gave egress to a staid matron, of +high stature, and sharp countenance; I would have pledged my existence +on her shrewishness from the first moment I beheld her. When I had +placed a chair for her, and reseated myself, this prelude to my +prosperity commenced business at once. + +"You're a letter-writer, Mr. What-d'ye-call-'em." + +I bowed assent. + +"Silent--" + +"As the grave, madam." + +This sufficed; the lady took a pinch of snuff--told me that she had been +recommended to employ me by Mr. Quireandquill; and I prepared for action. +She had a daughter young, beautiful, and innocent--but gay, +affectionate, and thoughtless; she had given her heart in keeping to one +who, though rich in love, lacked all other possessions; and, finally, +she had bestowed her hand where affection prompted. But the chilled +heart feels not like that which is warm with youth--its pulses beat not +to the same measure--its impulses impel not to the same arts; the mother +felt as a guardian and a parent--the daughter as a woman and a fond one; +the one had been imprudent--the other was inexorable; my first task was +to be the unwrenching of the holy bonds which united a child and her +parent,--the announcement of an abandonment utter and irrevocable; I +wrote the letter, and if I softened down a few harsh expressions, and +omitted some sentences of heart-breaking severity, surely it was no +breach of faith, or if, indeed, it were, it was one for which, even at +this time, I do not blush. + +The old lady saw her letter sealed and addressed, and departed; and I +hastily partook of a scanty breakfast, the produce of my first +episolatory speculation. I need not have been so precipitate in +dispatching my repast, for some dreary hours intervened ere the arrival +of another visiter. One, however, came at length; a tremulous, almost +inaudible, stroke upon the door, and a nervous clasp of the latch, again +spoke hope to my sinking spirits; and, with a swift step, I rose and +gave admittance to a young and timid girl, blushing, and trembling, and +wondering, as it seemed, at the extent of her own daring. This business +was not so readily despatched as that of the angry matron. There were a +thousand promises of secrecy to be given; a thousand tremors to +be overcome. + +"I am a poor girl, Sir," she said at length, "but I am an honest one; +therefore, before I take up your time, I must know whether I can afford +to pay for it." + +"That," said I, and even amid my poverty I could not suppress a feeling +of amusement, "that depends wholly on the subject of your epistle; +business requires few words, and less ingenuity, and is fairly paid for +by a couple of shillings; but a love letter is cheap at three and +sixpence, for it requires an infinity of each." + +"Then I may as well wish you good day at once, Sir, for I have but +half-a-crown in the world that I can call my own, and I cannot run into +debt, even to write to Charles." There was a tear in her eye as she rose +to go, and it was a beautiful blue eye, better fitted to smiles than +tears; this was enough, and, even poor as I was, I would not have missed +the opportunity of writing this letter, though I had been a loser by the +task. Happy Charles! I wrote from her dictation, and it is wonderful how +well the heart prompts to eloquence, even among the uneducated and +obscure. In all honesty, though I had but jested with my pretty +employer, this genuine love-letter was well worth the three and +sixpence--it was written, and crossed, and rewritten at right angles, +and covered on the folds and under the wafer, and, finally, unsealed to +insert a few "more last words." It was a very history of the heart!--of +a heart untainted by error--unsophisticated by fashion--unfettered by +the world's ways: a little catalogue of woman's best, and tenderest, and +holiest feelings, warm from the spirit's core, and welling out like the +pure waters of a ground spring. How the eye fell, and the voice sunk, as +she recorded some little doubt, some fond self-created fear; how the +tones gladdened, and the blue eyes laughed out in joy, as she spoke of +hopes and prospects, to which she clung trustingly, as woman ever does +to her first affection. What would I not have given to have been the +receiver of such a letter?--What to have been the idol of such a heart? +And, as she eagerly bent over me to watch the progress of her epistle, +her hand resting on my arm, and her warm breath playing over my brow, +while at intervals a fond sigh escaped her, she from time to time +reminded me of the promises I had made never to betray her secret-- +beautiful innocent! I would have died first. She was with me nearly two +hours, and left me with a flushed cheek, her letter in one hand and her +half-crown in the other--had I robbed her of it, I should have merited +the pillory. + +My third customer was a stiff, tall, bony man, of about fifty-five, and +for this worthy I wrote an advertisement for a wife. He was thin, and +shy, and emaciated--a breathing skeleton, in the receipt of some hundred +and twenty pounds a-year; a martyr to the rheumatism, and a radical. He +required but little; a moderate fortune; tolerable person; good +education; perfect housewifery; implicit obedience; and, finally, wound +up the list of requisites from mere lack of breath, and modestly +intimated that youth would not be considered an objection, provided that +great prudence and rigid economy accompanied it. He was the veriest +antidote to matrimony I ever beheld! + +My calling prospered. I wrote letters of condolence and of +congratulation; made out bills, and composed valentines; became the +friend of every pretty girl and fine youth in the parish; and never +breathed one of their mighty secrets in the wrong quarter. In the midst +of this success, a new ambition fired me--I had been an author for +months; but though I had found my finances more flourishing, the bays +bloomed not upon my brow; and I was just about to turn author in good +earnest, when a distant relation died, and bequeathed to me an annuity +of four hundred pounds a-year; and I have been so much engaged ever +since in receiving the visits of some hitherto unknown relatives and +connexions, that I have only been able to compose the title-page, and to +send this hint to destitute young gentlemen who may have an epistolatory +turn; and to such I offer the assurance, that there is pleasure in being +the depositary of a pretty girl's secrets. "There are worse occupations +in the world, _Yorick_, than feeling a woman's pulse."--_The Inspector_. + + * * * * * + + +SUNRISE AT MOUNT ETNA. + + +Of a sunrise at Mount Etna, an acute traveller remarks, no imagination +can form an idea of this glorious and magnificent scene. Neither is +there on the surface of this globe any one point that unites so many +awful and sublime objects:--the immense elevation from the surface of +the earth, drawn as it were to a single apex, without any neighbouring +mountain for the senses and imagination to rest upon, and recover from +their astonishment in their way down to the world--and this point, or +pinnacle raised on the brink of a bottomless gulf, often discharging +rivers of fire, and throwing out burning rocks, with a noise that shakes +the whole island. Add to this, the unbounded extent of the prospect, +comprehending the greatest diversity, and the most beautiful scenery in +nature; with the rising sun advancing in the east to illuminate the +wondrous scene. The whole atmosphere by degrees kindled up, and showed +dimly and faintly the boundless prospect around. Both sea and land +looked dark and confused, as if only emerging from their original chaos; +and light and darkness seemed still undivided, till the morning by +degrees advancing, completed the separation. The stars are extinguished, +and the shades disappear. The forests, which but now seemed black and +bottomless gulfs, from whence no ray was reflected to show their form or +colours, appear a new creation rising to the sight, catching life and +beauty from every increasing beam. The scene still enlarges, and the +horizon seems to widen and expand itself on all sides; till the sun +appears in the east, and with his plastic ray completes the mighty +scene. All appears enchantment; and it is with difficulty we can believe +we are still on earth. The senses, unaccustomed to such objects, are +bewildered and confounded; and it is not till after some time that they +are capable of separating and judging of them. The body of the sun is +seen rising from the ocean, immense tracks both of sea and land +intervening; various islands appear under your feet; and you look down +on the whole of Sicily as on a map, and can trace every river through +all its windings, from its source to its mouth. The view is absolutely +boundless on every side; nor is there any one object within the circle +of vision to interrupt it; so that the sight is every where lost in the +immensity; and there is little doubt, that were it not for the +imperfection of our organs, the coasts of Africa, and even of Greece, +would be discovered, as they are certainly above the horizon.--_Time's +Telescope_. + + * * * * * + + + +GARRICK'S MULBERRY CUP. + +[Illustration] + + +In the garden attached to New Place, flourished a mulberry-tree, which +Shakspeare had planted with his own hands; and in 1742, when Garrick and +Macklin visited Stratford, they were regaled beneath its venerable +branches by Sir Hugh Clopton, who, instead of pulling down New Place +according to Malone's assertion, repaired it, and did every thing in his +power for its preservation. The Rev. Francis Gastrell purchased the +building from Sir Hugh Clopton's heir, and being disgusted with the +trouble of showing the mulberry-tree to so many visitors, he caused this +interesting and beautiful memorial of Shakspeare to be cut down, to the +great mortification of his neighbours, who were so enraged at his +conduct, that they soon rendered the place, out of revenge, too +disagreeable for him to remain in it. He therefore was obliged to quit +it; and the tree, being purchased by a carpenter, was retailed and cut +out in various relics. + +The catalogue of the property of the late David Garrick, Esq. sold on +the 5th of May, 1825, describes the cup as follows:--"Lot 170. The +original cup carved from Shakspeare's mulberry-tree, which was presented +to David Garrick by the Mayor and Corporation at the time of the Jubilee +at Stratford-on-Avon, lined with silver gilt, with a cover, surmounted +by a bunch of mulberry leaves and fruit, also of silver gilt." + +This relic acquires additional value from the circumstance of its never +having changed possessors from the time it was presented to Garrick in +September, 1769, to 1825, a period of nearly three score years, and +during the greater part of which time it has been virtually locked up +from public view. The tree was cut down about the year 1756, and could +not have been less than 140 years old. It is said the mulberry was first +planted in England about 1609. It is not a little singular, that at the +time Garrick received this relic of the immortal bard, he resided in +Southampton-street, as appears by his letter to the Mayor and +Corporation of Stratford, returning thanks for having elected him a +burgess of Stratford-on-Avon; and the residence of its second possessor, +Mr. J. Johnson, (who bought it for 127l. 1s.,) after a lapse of nearly +sixty years, is in the same street. + +The cup itself is of a very chaste and handsome form; plain, but in good +taste, and the wood prettily marked. The mulberry cup has also been +recorded in the celebrated ballad, beginning, "Behold this fair goblet," +&c. sung by Garrick at the Jubilee, holding the cup in his hand. + +G.W. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +NO. X. + + * * * * * + + +THE GREEKS. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +The delightful country of Greece, once the finest in the world, is +inhabited by a bold and intelligent race of men, whose noble struggles +to rescue themselves from an odious servitude has rendered them objects +of our esteem and admiration. For more than five years has this +unfortunate land been the scene of continual warfare and desolation; and +though the attempts of the Turks have been many and great, they have +notwithstanding entirely failed in their design,--that of exterminating +the Greeks. + +The Greeks are of the same religion as the Russians, and, like that +nation, have monks and nuns. Great decorum is visible in their churches, +the females being excluded from the sight of the males by means of +lattices. Their bishops lead a life of great simplicity, as will be seen +from the following account of a dinner given by the bishop of Salona to +Mr. Dodwell:--"There was nothing to eat except rice and bad cheese; the +wine was execrable, and so impregnated with resin, that it almost took +the skin from our lips. Before sitting down to dinner, as well as +afterwards, we had to perform the ceremony of the _cheironiptron_, or +washing of the hands. We dined at a round table of copper tinned, +supported upon one leg, and sat on cushions placed on the floor. The +bishop insisted upon my Greek servant sitting at table with us; and on +my observing that it was contrary to our custom, he answered, that he +could not bear such ridiculous distinctions in his house. It was with +difficulty I obtained the privilege of drinking out of my own glass, +instead of out of the large goblet, which served for the whole party. +The Greeks seldom drink till they have dined. After dinner, strong thick +coffee, without sugar, was handed round."--The strictest frugality is +observable in all the meals of these people. The higher orders live +principally on fish and rice, and the common people on olives, honey, +and onions. The food of the Levantine sailors, according to the Hon. Mr. +Douglas, consists entirely of salted olives, called by the Greeks +_columbades_. They dress mutton in a singular manner, it being stewed +with honey. In a very rare work, published in 1686, entitled, "The +Present State of the Morea," is the following account of their manner of +thrashing corn:--"They have no barns, but thrashing-floors, which are +situated on high grounds, and open to the winds. Here they tread it out +with horses, which are made fast to a post, round which the corn is put; +the horses trampling upon it make great despatch: they then cleanse it +with the wind, and send it home." + +The houses of the Greeks are generally built of brick, made of clay and +chopped straw; those at Napoli di Romania are considered among the best, +and are spacious and convenient. The stranger, on entering, is struck +with the singular appearance they present, the lower story being set +apart for the _horses_, while not a bell is visible in any part of the +building. When the attendance of a servant is required, it is signified +by the master clapping his hands. Most of the houses in the villages +have very pretty gardens, with walks round them covered with vines. The +Greeks are remarkable for their love of dancing, particularly the +_Romaika_, which is thus described by the Hon. Mr. Douglas:--"I never +shall forget the first time I saw this dance: I had landed on a fine +Sunday evening in the island of Scio, after three months spent amidst +Turkish despotism, and I found most of the poorer inhabitants of the +town strolling upon the shore, and the rich absent at their farms; but +in riding three miles along the coast, I saw above thirty parties +engaged in dancing the Romaika upon the sand; in some of these groups, +the girl who led them chased the retreating wave, and it was in vain +that her followers hurried their steps; some of them were generally +caught by the returning sea, and all would court the laugh rather than +break the indissoluble chain. Near each party was seated a group of +parents and elder friends, who rekindled the last spark of their +expiring gaiety and vigour in the happiness they saw around them." + +Though the Greeks are an oppressed nation, yet, as Sir William Gell +testifies, they cannot be called uncleanly in their habits. The bath is +in constant use among them, and a Greek peasant would on no account +retire to rest without having previously washed his feet. The females, +generally speaking, are kept very secluded from society, and it is +seldom that their marriages are founded on mutual love or attachment. +The conduct of the married women in Greece is deserving of our highest +praise, both for their great virtue and goodness of heart, while +instances of divorce are extremely rare. + +The burial-places of the Greeks are situated without the walls of their +towns, and round the tombs are a variety of plants, (principally +parsley,) which they take great care to keep alive. Numerous ceremonies +are observed at their funerals; but the most interesting scene is the +last. "Before the body is covered with earth, the relations approach in +turn, and lifting the corpse in their arms, indulge in the full pleasure +of their grief, while they call in vain on the friend they have lost, or +curse the fate by which that loss has been occasioned." The Greeks, when +occasion requires it, make use of flowers to express their thoughts. +Thus for instance, if a lover wishes to convey any private intelligence +to his mistress, he has only to make a selection of certain flowers, the +signification of which is perfectly understood if once seen by the +object of his love. The manners of the Greeks in many cases bear a +striking resemblance to those of the Turks. Like that nation, they smoke +with long pipes, and write with the left hand. The inhabitants of Napoli +di Romania have still further imitated their oppressors by wearing the +turban trimmed with white, together with the red _papouches_, or +slippers. The costume of the Greek soldiers is thus described by the +author of "Letters from the East:"--"The costume of these soldiers was +light and graceful; a thin vest, sash, and a loose pantaloon, which fell +just below the knee. The head was covered with a small and ugly cap. +They had most of them pistols and muskets, to which many added sabres or +ataghans." The dress of the females is very elegant; over the head is +worn a veil, called _macrama_, and between the eyelid and the pupil is +inserted a black powder, named _surme_, which, according to the Hon. Mr. +Douglas, gives a pleasing expression to the countenance. On their hair +(generally of a beautiful auburn) they bestow great pains, adorning it +with a variety of ornaments, and suffering it to hang down in long +tresses or ringlets, which present a most graceful appearance. In +stature the men are tall and well made; but their countenances, though +expressive, have generally an air of dejection, which no change of time +or circumstances have power to remove. The Greek women are very +beautiful, and remarkable for vivacity and intelligence of mind. + +The character of the Greeks consists of a singular mixture of good and +bad qualities. They are vain, fickle, treacherous, and turbulent; but, +on the other hand, are industrious, bold, polite, moderate in their +living, with a lively and ingenious disposition. If it be asserted that +they are in some cases too much given to wine, it may be replied to in +the words of Cicero, _Necessitatis crimen est, non voluntatis_. When we +consider that from the earliest age they are accustomed to witness among +the Turks the most disgusting scenes of profligacy and villany, that, +like wandering pilgrims, they have no fixed abode, and are continually +subject to all the miseries attendant on war and poverty, can it be +wondered if in their character we find something worthy of reprehension? + +W. C--Y + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +PERSONAL CHARACTER OF BONAPARTE. + + +Sir Walter Scott observes, on closing the history of Napoleon Bonaparte, +that the reader may be disposed to pause a moment to reflect on the +character of that wonderful person, on whom fortune showered so many +favours in the beginning and through the middle of his career, to +overwhelm its close with such deep and unwonted afflictions. + +The external appearance of Napoleon was not imposing at the first +glance, his stature being only five feet six inches English. His person, +thin in youth, and somewhat corpulent in age, was rather delicate than +robust in outward appearance, but cast in the mould most capable of +enduring privation and fatigue. He rode ungracefully, and without the +command of his horse which distinguishes a perfect cavalier; so that he +showed to disadvantage when riding beside such a horseman as Murat. But +he was fearless, sat firm in his seat, rode with rapidity, and was +capable of enduring the exercise for a longer time than most men. We +have already mentioned his indifference to the quality of his food, and +his power of enduring abstinence. A morsel of food, and a flask of wine +hung at his saddle-bow, used, in his earlier campaigns, to support him +for days. In his latter wars, he more frequently used a carriage; not, +as has been surmised, from any particular illness, but from feeling in a +frame so constantly in exercise the premature effects of age. + +The countenance of Napoleon is familiar to almost every one from +description, and the portraits which are found everywhere. The +dark-brown hair bore little marks of the attentions of the toilet. The +shape of the countenance approached more than is usual in the human race +to a square. His eyes were grey, and full of expression, the pupils +rather large, and the eye-brows not very strongly marked. The brow and +upper part of the countenance was rather of a stern character. His nose +and mouth were beautifully formed. The upper lip was very short. The +teeth were indifferent, but were little shown in speaking.[2] His smile +possessed uncommon sweetness, and is stated to have been irresistible. +The complexion was a clear olive, otherwise in general colourless. The +prevailing character of his countenance was grave, even to melancholy, +but without any signs of severity or violence. After death, the +placidity and dignity of expression which continued to occupy the +features, rendered them eminently beautiful, and the admiration of all +who looked on them. + + [2] When at St. Helena, he was much troubled with toothache and + scurvy in the gums. + +Such was Napoleon's exterior. His personal and private character was +decidedly amiable, excepting in one particular. His temper, when he +received, or thought he received, provocation, especially if of a +personal character, was warm and vindictive. He was, however, placable +in the case even of his enemies, providing that they submitted to his +mercy; but he had not that species of generosity which respects the +sincerity of a manly and fair opponent. On the other hand, no one was a +more liberal rewarder of the attachment of his friends. He was an +excellent husband, a kind relation, and, unless when state policy +intervened, a most affectionate brother. General Gourgaud, whose +communications were not in every case to Napoleon's advantage, states +him to have been the best of masters, labouring to assist all his +domestics wherever it lay in his power, giving them the highest credit +for such talents as they actually possessed, and imputing, in some +instances, good qualities to such as had them not. + +There was gentleness, and even softness, in his character. He was +affected when he rode over the fields of battle, which his ambition had +strewed with the dead and the dying, and seemed not only desirous to +relieve the victims,--issuing for that purpose directions, which too +often were not, and could not be, obeyed,--but showed himself subject +to the influence of that more acute and imaginative species of sympathy +which is termed sensibility. He mentions a circumstance which indicates +a deep sense of feeling. As he passed over a field of battle in Italy, +with some of his generals, he saw a houseless dog lying on the body of +his slain master. The creature came towards them, then returned to the +dead body, moaned over it pitifully, and seemed to ask their assistance. +"Whether it were the feeling of the moment," continued Napoleon, "the +scene, the hour, or the circumstance itself, I was never so deeply +affected by any thing which I have seen upon a field of battle. That +man, I thought, has perhaps had a house, friends, comrades, and here he +lies deserted by every one but his dog. How mysterious are the +impressions to which we are subject! I was in the habit, without +emotion, of ordering battles which must decide the fate of a campaign, +and could look with a dry eye on the execution of manoeuvres which must +be attended with much loss, and here I was moved--nay, painfully +affected--by the cries and the grief of a dog. It is certain that at +that moment I should have been more accessible to a suppliant enemy, and +could better understand the conduct of Achilles in restoring the body of +Hector to the tears of Priam."[3] The anecdote at once shows that +Napoleon possessed a heart amenable to humane feelings, and that they +were usually in total subjection to the stern precepts of military +stoicism. It was his common and expressive phrase, that the heart of a +politician should be in his head; but his feelings sometimes surprised +him in a gentler mood. + + [3] Las Cases, Vol. I partie 2de, p. 5. + +A calculator by nature and by habit, Napoleon was fond of order, and a +friend to that moral conduct in which order is best exemplified. The +libels of the day have made some scandalous averments to the contrary, +but without adequate foundation. Napoleon respected himself too much, +and understood the value of public opinion too well, to have plunged +into general or vague debauchery.--_Scott's Life of Napoleon._ + + * * * * * + + +THE FESTIVAL OF THE MOON AT MEMPHIS. + + +The rising of the moon, slow and majestic, as if conscious of the +honours that awaited her upon earth, was welcomed with a loud acclaim +from every eminence, where multitudes stood watching for her first +light. And seldom had she risen upon a scene more beautiful. +Memphis,--still grand, though no longer the unrivalled Memphis, that had +borne away from Thebes the crown of supremacy, and worn it undisputed +through so many centuries,--now, softened by the moonlight that +harmonised with her decline, shone forth among her lakes, her pyramids, +and her shrines, like a dream of glory that was soon to pass away. Ruin, +even now, was but too visible around her. The sands of the Libyan desert +gained upon her like a sea; and, among solitary columns and sphynxes, +already half sunk from sight, Time seemed to stand waiting, till all +that now flourished around, should fall beneath his desolating hand, +like the rest. + +On the waters all was life and gaiety. As far as eye could reach, the +lights of innumerable boats were seen, studding, like rubies, the +surface of the stream. Vessels of all kinds,--from the light coracle, +built for shooting down the cataracts, to the large yacht that glides to +the sound of flutes,--all were afloat for this sacred festival, filled +with crowds of the young and the gay, not only from Memphis and Babylon, +but from cities still farther removed from the scene. + +As I approached the island, could see, glittering through the trees on +the bank, the lamps of the pilgrims hastening to the ceremony. Landing +in the direction which those lights pointed out, I soon joined the +crowd; and passing through a long alley of sphynxes, whose spangling +marble shone out from the dark sycamores around them, in a short time +reached the grand vestibule of the temple, where I found the ceremonies +of the evening already commenced. + +In this vast hall, which was surrounded by a double range of columns, +and lay open over-head to the stars of heaven, I saw a group of young +maidens, moving, in a sort of measured step, between walk and dance, +round a small shrine, upon which stood one of those sacred birds, that, +on account of the variegated colour of their wings, are dedicated to the +moon. The vestibule was dimly lighted,--there being but one lamp of +naphta on each of the great pillars that encircled it. But, having taken +my station beside one of those pillars, I had a distinct view of the +young dancers, as in succession they passed me. + +Their long, graceful drapery was as white as snow; and each wore +loosely, beneath the rounded bosom, a dark-blue zone, or bandelet, +studded, like the skies at midnight, with little silver stars. Through +their dark locks was wreathed the white lily of the Nile,--that flower +being accounted as welcome to the moon, as the golden blossoms of the +bean-flower are to the sun. As they passed under the lamp, a gleam of +light flashed from their bosoms, which, I could perceive, was the +reflection of a small mirror, that, in the manner of the women of the +East, each wore beneath her left shoulder. + +There was no music to regulate their steps; but as they gracefully went +round the bird on the shrine, some, by the beat of the Castanet, some, +by the shrill ring of the sistrum,--which they held uplifted in the +attitude of their own divine Isis,--harmoniously timed the cadence of +their feet; while others, at every step, shook a small chain of silver, +whose sound, mingling with those of the castanets and sistrums, produced +a wild, but not an unpleasing harmony. + +They seemed all lovely; but there was one--whose face the light had not +yet reached, so downcast she held it,--who attracted, and at length +rivetted all my attention--_The Epicurean, by Thomas Moore, Esq._ + + * * * * * + + +MATERIALS OF ANCIENT BOOKS. + + +No material for books has, perhaps, a higher claim to antiquity than the +skin of the calf or goat tanned soft, and usually dyed red or yellow: +the skins were generally connected in lengths, sometimes of a hundred +feet, sufficient to contain an entire book, which then formed one roll +or _volume_. These soft skins seem to have been more in use among the +Jews and other Asiatics than among the people of Europe. The copies of +the law found in the synagogues are often of this kind: the most ancient +manuscripts extant are some copies of the Pentateuch on rolls +of leather. + +Parchment--Pergamena, so called long after the time of its first use, +from Pergamus, a city of Mysia, where the manufacture was improved and +carried on to a great extent, is mentioned by Herodotus and Ctesias as a +material which had been from time immemorial used for books: it has +proved to be of all others, except that abovementioned, the most +durable. The greater part of all manuscripts that are of higher +antiquity than the sixth century are on parchment; as well as, +generally, all carefully written and curiously decorated manuscripts of +later ages. The palimpsests are usually parchments: "It often happened," +says Montfauçon, "that from the scarcity of parchment, the copyists, +having erased the writing of ancient books, wrote upon them anew: these +rewritten parchments were called palimpsests--scraped a second time, and +often the ancient work was one of far greater value than that to which +it gave place: this we have on many occasions had opportunity to observe +in the MSS. of the king's library, and in those of Italy. In some of +these rescripts, the first writing is so much obliterated as to be +scarcely perceptible; while in others, though not without much labour, +it may still be read." + +The practice, still followed in the east, of writing upon the leaves of +trees, was common in the remotest ages. The leaves of the mallow or of +the palm were most used for this purpose: they were sometimes wrought +together into larger surfaces; but it is probable that this fragile and +inconvenient material was only employed for ordinary purposes of +business, letter-writing, or the instruction of children. + +The inner bark of the linden or teil tree, and perhaps of some others, +railed by the Romans _liber_, by the Greeks _biblos,_[4] was so +generally used as a material for writing as to have given its name to a +book in both languages. Tables of solid wood called _codices_, whence +the term _codex_ for a manuscript on any material, has passed into +common use, were also employed, but chiefly for legal documents, on +which account a system of laws came to be called a code. Leaves or +tablets of lead or ivory are frequently mentioned by ancient authors as +in common use for writing. But no material or preparation seems to have +been so frequently employed on ordinary occasions as tablets covered +with a thin coat of coloured wax, which was readily removed by an iron +needle, called a _style_; and from which the writing was as readily +effaced by the blunt end of the same instrument. + + [4] The word biblos or byblos, was afterwards almost + appropriated to books written upon the paper of Egypt. + +But during many ages the article most in use, and of which the +consumption was so great as to form a principal branch of the commerce +of the Mediterranean, was that manufactured from the papyrus of Egypt. +Many manuscripts written upon this kind of paper in the sixth, and some +even so early as the fourth century, are still extant. It formed the +material of by far the larger proportion of all books from very early +times till about the seventh or eighth century, when it gradually gave +place to a still more convenient manufacture. + +The papyrus, or Egyptian reed, grew in vast quantities in the stagnant +pools formed by the inundations of the Nile. The plant consists of a +single stem, rising sometimes to the height of ten cubits; this stem, +gradually tapering from the root, supports a spreading tuft at its +summit. The substance of the stem is fibrous, and the pith contains a +sweet juice. Every part of this plant was put to some use by the +Egyptians. The harder and lower part they formed into cups and other +utensils; the upper part into staves, or the ribs of boats; the sweet +pith was a common article of food; while the fibrous part of the stem +was manufactured into cloth, sails for ships, ropes, strings, shoes, +baskets, wicks for lamps, and, especially, into paper. For this purpose +the fibrous coats of the plant were peeled off, the whole length of the +stem. One layer of fibres was then laid across another upon a block, and +being moistened, the glutinous juice of the plant formed a cement, +sufficiently strong to give coherence to the fibres; when greater +solidity was required, a size made from bread or glue was employed. The +two films being thus connected, were pressed, dried in the sun, beaten +with a broad mallet, and then polished with a shell. This texture was +cut into various sizes, according to the use for which it was intended, +varying from thirteen to four fingers' breadth, and of proportionate +length. + +By progressive improvements, especially in the hands of the Roman +artists, this Egyptian paper was brought to a high degree of perfection. +In later ages it was manufactured of considerable thickness, perfect +whiteness, and an entire continuity and smoothness of surface. It was, +however, at the best, so friable that when durability was required the +copyists inserted a page of parchment between every five or six pages of +the papyrus. Thus the firmness of the one substance defended the +brittleness of the other; and great numbers of books so constituted have +resisted the accidents and decays of twelve centuries. + +Three hundred years before the Christian era the commerce in this +article had extended over most parts of the civilized world; and long +afterwards it continued to be a principal source of wealth to the +Egyptians. But at length the invention of another manufacture, and the +interruption of commerce occasioned by the possession of Egypt by the +Saracens, banished the paper of Egypt from common use. Comparatively few +manuscripts on this material are found of later date than the eighth or +ninth century; though it continued to be occasionally used long +afterwards. + +The charta bombycina or cotton paper, often improperly called _silk_ +paper, was unquestionably manufactured in the east as early as the ninth +century, possibly much earlier; and in the tenth it came into general +use throughout Europe. This invention, not long afterwards, became still +more available for general purposes by the substitution of old linen or +cotton rags for the raw material; by which means both the price of the +article was reduced, and the quality improved. The cotton paper +manufactured in the ancient mode is still used in the east, and is a +beautiful fabric. + +From this brief account of the materials successively employed for +books, it will be obvious, that a knowledge of the changes which these +several manufactures underwent will often serve, especially when +employed in subservience to other evidence, to ascertain the age of +manuscripts; or at least to furnish the means of detecting fabricated +documents. + +The preservation of books, framed as they are of materials so +destructible, through a period of twelve, or even fifteen hundred years, +is a fact which might seem almost incredible; especially as the decay of +apparently more durable substances within a much shorter period, is +continually presented to our notice. The massive walls of the +monasteries of the middle ages are often seen prostrate, and fast +mingling with the soil; while manuscripts penned within them, or perhaps +when their stones were yet in the quarry, are still fair and perfect, +glittering with their gold and silver, their cerulean and cinnabar. + +But the materials of books, though destructible, are so far from being +in themselves perishable that, while defended from positive injuries, +they appear to suffer scarcely at all from any intrinsic principle of +decay, or to be liable to any perceptible process of decomposition. "No +one," says Father Mabillon,[5] "unless totally unacquainted with what +relates to antiquity, can call in question the great durability of +parchments; since there are extant innumerable books, written on that +material, in the seventh and sixth centuries; and some of a still more +remote antiquity, by which all doubt on that subject might be removed. +It may suffice here to mention the Virgil of the Vatican Library, which +appears to be of more ancient date than the fourth century; and another +in the King's Library little less ancient; also the Prudentius, in the +same library, of equal age; to which you may add several, already +mentioned, as the Psalter of S. Germanus, the book of the councils, and +others, which are all of parchment. Many other instances I might name if +it were proper to dwell upon a matter so well known to every one who is +acquainted with antiquity. + + [5] De Re Diplomatica. + +"The paper of Egypt, being more frail and brittle, may seem to be open +to greater doubt; yet there are not wanting books of great antiquity, by +which its durability may be established. To go no further, there is in +the Royal Library a very old codex written upon the philyra (or bark of +the linden tree) containing the homilies of Avitus, I mean the copy from +which the celebrated Jac. Sirmundus prepared his edition; we have also +seen two other codices of the same material in the Petavian Library, +containing some sermons of S. Augustine, which, in the opinion of the +learned, are about 1100 years old. Of the same kind is that rare and +very ancient codex in the Ambrosian Library, mutilated indeed, but +consisting of many leaves of Egyptian paper, which contain some portions +of the Jewish history of Josephus. These examples are sufficient to +demonstrate the durability of the Egyptian paper in ancient books." The +author then goes on to mention several instances of deeds and chartas +written upon the paper of Egypt, still extant, though executed in the +fourth and fifth centuries. + +Books have owed their conservation, not merely to the durability of the +material of which they were formed, but to the peculiarity of their +being at once precious, and yet not (in periods of general ignorance) +marketable articles; of inestimable value to a few, and absolutely +worthless in the opinion of the multitude. They were also often indebted +for their preservation in periods of disorder and violence to the +sacredness of the roofs under which they were lodged.--_Taylor's History +of the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times._ + + * * * * * + + +A PERSIAN'S DESCRIPTION OF AN ENGLISH THEATRE. + + +In Europe the manner in which plays are acted, and balls and musical +parties conducted, is (entirely) different from that of Hindoostan. The +people of this country (India) send for the singers to their own houses, +where they view the entertainments, and squander away a large sum of +money for one night's (amusement.) In Europe it is usual for a few +individuals to enter into partnership, (or) as it is called in English, +a company. They fit up a house in which dancing girls, skilful +musicians, singers, and actors, are engaged to perform. The audience +consists of from three to four thousand people. The lower orders, who +sit above all, give one shilling, equal in value to half a rupee; the +middle classes, who sit lowest off all, a rupee and a half; and the +great folks and noblemen, who sit (round) the middle of the house, give +two rupees and a half. Separate rooms (boxes) are allotted for them. The +place where the king sits is in front of the dancers. His majesty sits +there along with one or two of the princes, and these give each an +ashrufee. Now it is to be understood, that a poor man for eight anas, +and a rich individual for two rupees and a half, see a spectacle which +is fit for royalty itself, and which the people of this country have not +even seen in their dreams. In one night the dancers and musicians +collect five or six thousand rupees, which cover the expenses, and the +audience is sufficiently amused. + +It is the aim of this _caste_ to accomplish great undertakings at little +expense. In Hindoostan, luxurious young men, for seeing a nautch +[dance,] squander away, in one night, one or two hundred rupees; and +lakhs of rupees of patrimony, which they may succeed to, in a short time +take wing. + +How can I describe the dances, the melodious sound of violins and +guitars, and the interesting stories which I heard, and (all the things) +which I saw? My pen lacks ability to write even a short panegyric. + +From amongst all the spectacles, that of the curtains of seven colours +(the scenes) is exceedingly wonderful, for every instant a new painting +is exhibited. Then people, disguised like angels and fairies, the one +moment come upon the stage and dance, and the next vanish from the +sight. There is also a man with a black face, who is a kind of devil, +and called harlequin; at one time he appears, and at another time hides +himself, and sometimes attaches himself to the others, and taking the +hands of the dancing girls, he dances with them; he then scampers off, +and taking a leap, he jumps through a window. At seeing this sport I +laughed very heartily. In a word, the (whole) entertainment is excellent +and wonderful. + +Talking is not permitted in the theatre, although the crowd is great, +yet there is neither noise nor clamour. When a pleasing storey or +adventure is heard or witnessed, and they wish to express their +approbation, instead of saying _shabash!_ [excellent] or _wah! wah!_ +[bravo! bravo!] they beat the floor with their feet, or they clap their +hands, by which they signify their approval.--_Travels of Mirza Itesa +Modeen in Great Britain and France._ + + * * * * * + + + +MISCELLANIES. + + * * * * * + + +LANDING IN INDIA. + + +Nothing can be more ludicrous than a young Englishman's first landing in +Calcutta. The shore is thronged with the swarthy natives, eagerly +awaiting his arrival. Innumerable palanquins are brought down to the +boat, and the bearers, like the Paddington stagecoach men, are all +violently struggling to procure a passenger. The bewildered stranger is +puzzled which to choose; and when he has made up his mind, he finds it +no easy matter to jostle through the countless rival conveyances which +completely surround him. He is also sure to make some laughable mistake +in entering the palanquin. It requires a certain tact to steady the +vehicle as you throw yourself into it, or it is apt to turn over, like a +tailor's swinging cot. Another ridiculous error which a stranger is +liable to, is his endeavouring to seat himself on the little drawer +inside, supposing it to be intended for that purpose. But he soon finds, +after having doubled himself up, like people passing on a coach top +under a low gateway, that it would be utterly impossible to remain long +in that position, unless the human back were as pliable as a piece of +whalebone. After all, perhaps, the bearers are compelled to rest the +palanquin on the ground, and the abashed stranger, creeping hastily in, +is glad to escape from the ill suppressed smiles of the surrounding +multitude. + +_London Weekly Review._ + + +INCUBATION AND AGE OF BIRDS. + + +The full period of incubation by the hen in this country, is well known +to be twenty-one days. In warmer climates it is said to be a day or two +less. The periods of incubation vary much in different species of birds. +We introduce the following table, which has been compiled from different +authors by Count Morozzo, in a letter from him to Lacépépe, to show the +periods of incubation compared with those of the life of certain birds. + + Names of | Periods | Duration | + Birds. | of Incu- | of | Authority + | bation | Life. | + ------------+----------+-------------+-------------------------- + | Days. | Years. | + ------------+----------+-------------+-------------------------- + Swan | 42 | About 200 | Aldrovande + Parrot | 40 | About 100 | Wulmaer + Goose | 30 | 80 or more | Willoughby + Eagle | 30 } | Period of | + Bustard | 30 } | life not | + Duck | 30 } | known. | + Turkey | 30 } | | + Peacock | 26 to 27 | 25 to 28 | Aristot. & Pliny + Pheasant | 20 to 25 | 18 to 20 | A Treatise on Pheasants + Crow | 20 | 100 or more | Hesiod + Nightingale | 19 to 20 | 17 to 18 | Buffon + Hen | 18 to 19 | 16 to 18 | Buffon + Pigeon | 17 or 18 | 16 to 17 | Several observations + Linnet | 14 | 13 to 14 | Willoughby + Canary | 13 to 14 | 13 to 14 | A Treatise on these birds + Goldfinch | 13 to 14 | 18 to 20 | Buffon + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER + + "I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's + stuff."--_Wotton._ + + * * * * * + + +One of the band of Covent-Garden, who played the French horn, was +telling some anecdote of Garrick's generosity. Macklin, who heard him at +the lower end of the table, and who always fired at the praises of +Garrick, called out, "Sir, I believe you are a _trumpeter._"--"Well, +sir," said the poor man, quite confounded, "and if I am, what +then?"--"Nothing more, sir, than being a trumpeter, you are a dealer in +_puffs_ by profession." + + * * * * * + +An Irish dignitary of the church (not remarkable for veracity) +complaining that a tradesman of his parish had called him a _liar_, +Macklin asked him what reply he made him. "I told him," says he, "that a +lie was amongst the things I _dared_ not commit."--"And why, doctor," +replied Macklin, "did you give the rascal _so mean an opinion of your +courage?_" + + * * * * * + +In the neighbourhood of Yeovil are now living, in the same house, and at +the same board, a man and his wife, two sons, three daughters, two +grandsons, one grand-daughter, one grandfather, two fathers, two +mothers, one father-in-law, one son-in-law, three brothers, three +sisters, two brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, two uncles, two aunts, +two nephews, three nieces, three first cousins, one great uncle, two +great nephews, and one great niece; the whole consisting of seven +individuals only. + + * * * * * + + + +_Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near +Somerset-House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 8m26510.txt or 8m26510.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8m26511.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8m26510a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8m26510.zip b/old/8m26510.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1250a14 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8m26510.zip diff --git a/old/8m26510h.htm b/old/8m26510h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..afdaa28 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8m26510h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1655 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827, by Various</title> + <style type="text/css"> +<!-- + body + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p + {text-align: justify;} + blockquote + {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 + {text-align: center;} + hr + {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr + {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full + {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full + {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + pre + {font-size: 0.7em; background-color: #F0F0F0;} + .poetry + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 0%; + text-align: left;} + .footnote + {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em;} + .figure + {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; + text-align: center; font-size: 0.8em;} + .figure img + {border: none;} + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; + font-size: 0.7em;} + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + +--> + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827, by Various</h1> + +<pre> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 265, July 21, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9918] +[This file was first posted on October 31, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + + + +</pre> + <h3> + Note: The zipped version of this HTML file includes the original illustrations. + See <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06/8m26510h.zip">http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06/8m26510h.zip</a> + </h3> + <br /> +<br /> + <h3>E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram<br /> + and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</h3> + <br /> + <br /> + <hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span> + <!-- Mirror of Literature header --> + <h1>THE MIRROR<br /> + OF<br /> + LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.</h1> + <hr class="full" /> + <table width="100%"> + <tr> + <td align="left"><b>Vol. 10, No. 265.]</b></td> + <td align="center"><b>SATURDAY, JULY 21, 1827.</b></td> + <td align="right"><b>[PRICE 2d.</b></td> + </tr> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> + <!-- end of header --> + <h2>ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH CASTLE.</h2> + <p class="figure"><a href="images/265-1.png"><img width="100%" src="images/265-1.png" + alt="" /></a><br /> + </p> + <p>Ashby-de-la-Zouch is a small market town in Leicestershire, pleasantly situated in + a fertile vale, on the skirts of the adjoining county of Derbyshire, on the banks of + a small liver called the Gilwiskaw, over which is a handsome stone bridge. The + original name of this town was simply Ashby, but it acquired the addition of + De-la-Zouch, to distinguish it from other Ashbys, from the Zouches, who were formerly + lords of this manor, which after the extinction of the male line of that family, in + the first year of the reign of Henry IV. came to Sir Hugh Burnel, knight of the + garter, by his marriage with Joice, the heiress of the Zouches. From him it devolved + to James Butler, earl of Ormond and Wiltshire; who being attainted on account of his + adherence to the party of Henry VI. it escheated to the crown, and was, in the first + year of Edward IV. granted by that king to Sir William Hastings, in consideration of + his great services; he was also created a baron, chamberlain of the household; + captain of Calais, and knight of the garter, and had license to make a park and + cranellate, or fortify several of his houses, amongst which was one at this place, + which was of great extent, strength, and importance, and where he and his descendants + resided for about two hundred years. It was situated on the south side of the town, + on a rising ground, and was chiefly composed of brick and stone; the rooms were + spacious and magnificent, attached to which was a costly private chapel. The building + had two lofty towers of immense size, one of them containing a large hall, great + chambers, bedchambers, kitchen, cellars, and all other offices. The other was called + the kitchen tower. Parts of the wall of the hall, chapel, and kitchen, are still + remaining, which display a grand and interesting mass of ruins; the mutilated walls + being richly decorated with doorways, chimney-pieces, windows, coats of arms, and + other devices. In this, castle, the unfortunate and persecuted Mary queen of Scots, + who has given celebrity to so many castles and old mansions, by her melancholy + imprisonment beneath their lofty turrets, was for some time confined, while in the + custody of the earl of Huntingdon. In the year 1603, Anne, consort of James I. and + her son, prince Henry, were entertained by the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" + name="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> earl of Huntingdon at this castle, which was at that + time the seat of much hospitality. It was afterwards honoured by a visit from that + monarch, who remained here for several days, during which time dinner was always + served up by thirty poor knights, with gold chains and velvet gowns. In the civil + wars between king Charles and his parliament, this castle was deeply involved, being + garrisoned for the king; it was besieged by the parliamentary forces, and although it + was never actually conquered, (from whence the garrison obtained the name of Maiden,) + it was evacuated and dismantled by capitulation in the year 1648.</p> + <p>For the spirited engraving of the ruins of this famous castle, we acknowledge + ourselves indebted to our obliging friend <i>S.I.B.</i> who supplied us with an + original drawing.</p> + <hr /> + <h3>THE AUTHOR OF "LACON."</h3> + <h4><i>(To the Editor of the Mirror.)</i></h4> + <p>SIR,—The following additional particulars respecting the celebrated author + of "Lacon," may not be unacceptable to your readers, as a sequel to the interesting + account of that eccentric individual inserted at p. 431, in your recently completed + volume.</p> + <p>It will be in the recollection of many, that about the period of the murder of + Weare, by Thurtel, Mr. Colton suddenly disappeared from among his friends, and no + trace of him, notwithstanding the most vigilant inquiry, could be discovered. As + Weare's murder produced an unprecedented sensation in the public mind, it gave rise + to a variety of reports against the perpetrators of that horrible crime, imputing to + them other atrocities of a similar kind. It is needless now to say that most of these + suspicions were wholly without foundation.</p> + <p>It was at length ascertained, that Mr. C., finding himself embarrassed with his + creditors, had taken his departure for America, where he remained about two years, + travelling over the greater part of the United States; and it is much to be desired + that he would favour the public with the result of his observations during his + residence in that country; as probably no person living is qualified to execute such + a task with more shrewdness, judgment, or ability.</p> + <p>He is now residing at Paris, where he has been about two years and a half, and + where I had frequently the pleasure of meeting him during the last winter, and of + enjoying the raciness of his conversation, which abounds in wit, anecdote, and an + universality of knowledge. It is too well known that he is not unaddicted to the + allurements of the gaming table, and it is understood among his immediate friends, + that he has been—what few are—successful adventurer, having repaired in + the saloons of Paris, in a great degree, the loss he sustained by the forfeiture of + his church livings. His singular coolness, calculation, and self-mastery, give him an + advantage in this respect over, perhaps, every other votary of the gaming table.</p> + <p>Mr. Colton has an excellent taste for the fine arts, and has expended considerable + sums in forming a picture gallery. Every nook of his apartment is literally covered + with the treasures of art, including many of the <i>chefs d'oeuvres</i> of the great + masters, and many valuable paintings are placed on the floor for want of room to + suspend them against the wainscot. I may here observe, that his present domicile does + not exactly correspond with that described as his former "castle" in London, inasmuch + as it is part of a royal residence, it being on the second floor, on one side of the + quadrangle of the Palais Royal, overlooking the large area of that building, and + opposite to the <i>jet d'eau</i> in the centre. But his habits and mode of dress + appear to be unchanged. He has only one room; he keeps no servant, (unless a boy to + take care of his horse and cabriolet); he lights his own fire, and, I believe, + performs all his other domestic offices himself. But, notwithstanding these + whimsicalities, he is generous, hospitable and friendly. He still, when a friend + "drops in," produces a bottle or two of the finest wines and a case of the best + cigars, of which he is a determined smoker.</p> + <p>I will only add, that he continues to employ himself in literary composition. + Among other pieces not published in England, he has written an ode on the death of + Lord Byron, a copy of which he presented me, but which I unfortunately lent—and + lost. A small edition was printed at Paris for private circulation. He has also + written an unpublished poem in the form of a letter from Lord Castlereagh in the + shades, to Mr. Canning on earth, the caustic severity of which, in the opinion of + those who have heard it read, is equal to that of any satire in the English language. + I remember only the two first lines—</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + "Dear George, from these <i>Shades</i>, where no wine's to be had.<br /> + But where rivers of flame run like rivers run mad."<br /> + </blockquote> + <p>And the following, in allusion to the instrument with which Lord C. severed the + carotid artery, and which was the means of producing such a change in the destiny + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span> of the present + prime minister, who was then on the eve of going out to India as + governor-general,—</p> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + "Have you pensioned the Jew boy that sold me the knife?"<br /> + </blockquote> + <p>It is to be lamented that such a man should be an exile from his native + country.—But I draw a veil over the rest, and sincerely hope that his absence + from England will not be perpetual.</p> + <p>* * *</p> + <hr /> + <h3>THE DEAD TRUMPETER.</h3> + <h4>TO ILLUSTRATE A CELEBRATED FRENCH PICTURE.</h4> + <h4><i>(For the Mirror.)</i></h4> + <blockquote class="poetry"> + 'Tis evening! the red rayless sun<br /> + Glares fiercely on the battle plain;—<br /> + <i>Morn</i> saw the deadly fray begun,<br /> + Morn heard <i>thy</i> bugle wake a strain,<br /> + Poor soldier! and its warning breath<br /> + Call'd <i>thee</i>, and myriads to death!<br /> + <br /> + <i>Thou</i> wert thy mother's darling, thou,<br /> + Light to thy father's failing eyes;<br /> + Thou wert thy sisters' <i>dearest!</i> now<br /> + What <i>art</i> thou? something to despise<br /> + Yet tremble at; to hide, and be<br /> + <i>Forgot,</i> but by <i>their</i> misery!<br /> + <br /> + Thou <i>wert</i> the beautiful! the brave!<br /> + Thou wert all joy, and love, and light;<br /> + But oh! thy grace was for the <i>grave,</i><br /> + Thy dawning day, for mornless night!<br /> + And thou, so loving, so carest<br /> + Hast sunk—unpitied—unblest!<br /> + <br /> + Yes, warrior! and the life-stream flows<br /> + <i>Yet</i> from thee, in thy foe-man's land,<br /> + Welling before the gate of those<br /> + Who <i>should</i> stretch forth a kindly hand<br /> + To save th' unhonour'd, <i>friendless</i> dead<br /> + From rushing legion's scouring tread.<br /> + <br /> + <i>Friendless</i> poor soldier?—nay thy steed<br /> + Stands gazing on thee, with an eye<br /> + <i>Too</i> piteous: he <i>felt</i> thee bleed,—<br /> + He <i>saw</i> thee, dropping from him,—<i>die!</i><br /> + And in thine helpless, lorn estate,<br /> + <i>He</i> cannot leave thee, desolate.<br /> + <br /> + Nor thy poor <i>dog</i>, whose anxious gaze,<br /> + On helm and bugle's lowly place,<br /> + Speaks his deep sorrow and amaze!<br /> + <i>He</i>, watching yet, thine icy face<br /> + Licks thy pale forehead with a moan<br /> + To tell thee—<i>Thou art not alone!</i><br /> + </blockquote> + <p>M. L. B.</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>ORIGINS AND INVENTIONS.</h2> + <h4>No. XXVIII.</h4> + <hr /> + <h3>THE SPHYNX.</h3> + <br /> + + <p>The Sphynx is supposed to have been engendered by Typhon, and sent by Juno to be + revenged on the Thebans. It is represented with the head and breasts of a woman, the + wings of a bird, the claws of a lion, and the rest of the body like a dog or lion. + Its office they say, was to propose dark enigmatical questions to all passers by; + and, if they did not give the explication of them,—to devour them. It made + horrible ravages, as the story goes, on a mountain near Thebes. Apollo told Creon + that she could not be vanquished, till some one had expounded her riddle. The riddle + was—<i>"What creature is that, which has four legs in the morning, two at noon, + and three at night?"</i> Oedipus expounded it, telling her it was a man,—who + when a child, creepeth on all fours; in his middle age, walketh on two legs, and in + his old age, two and a staff. This put the Sphynx into a great rage, who, finding her + riddle solved, threw herself down and broke her neck. Among the Egyptians, the Sphynx + was the symbol of religion, by reason of the obscurity of its mysteries. And, on the + same account, the Romans placed a Sphynx in the pronaos, or porch, of their temples. + Sphynxes were used by the Egyptians, to show the beginning of the water's rising in + the Nile; with this view, as it had the head of a woman and body of a lion, it + signified that the Nile began to swell in the months of July and August, when the sun + passes through the signs of Leo and Virgo; accordingly it was a hieroglyphic, which + taught the people the period of the most important event in the year, as the swelling + and overflowing of the Nile gave fertility to Egypt. Accordingly they were multiplied + without end, so that they were to be seen before all their remarkable monuments.</p> + <p>P. T. W.</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>THE SKETCH-BOOK.</h2> + <h4>NO. XLII.</h4> + <hr /> + <h3>WHITSUN-EVE.</h3> + <h4><i>By Miss Mitford.</i></h4> + <p>The pride of my heart and the delight of my eyes is my garden. Our house, which is + in dimensions very much like a bird-cage, and might, with almost equal convenience, + be laid on a shelf, or hung up in a tree, would be utterly unbearable in warm + weather, were it not that we have a retreat out of doors,—and a very pleasant + retreat it is. To make my readers fully comprehend it, I must describe our whole + territories.</p> + <p>Fancy a small plot of ground, with a pretty low irregular cottage at one end; a + large granary, divided from the dwelling by a little court running along one side; + and a long thatched shed open towards the garden, and supported by wooden pillars on + the other. The bottom is bounded, half by an old wall, and half <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> by an old paling, + over which we see a pretty distance of woody hills. The house, granary, wall, and + paling, are covered with vines, cherry-trees, roses, honey-suckles, and jessamines, + with great clusters of tall hollyhocks running up between them; a large elder + overhanging the little gate, and a magnificent bay-tree, such a tree as shall + scarcely be matched in these parts, breaking with its beautiful conical form the + horizontal lines of the buildings. This is my garden; and the long pillared shed, the + sort of rustic arcade which runs along one side, parted from the flower-beds by a row + of rich geraniums, is our out-of-door drawing-room.</p> + <p>I know nothing so pleasant as to sit there on a summer afternoon, with the western + sun flickering through the great elder-tree, and lighting up our gay parterres, where + flowers and flowering shrubs are set as thick as grass in a field, a wilderness of + blossom, interwoven, intertwined, wreathy, garlandy, profuse beyond all profusion, + where we may guess that there is such a thing as mould, but never see it. I know + nothing so pleasant as to sit in the shade of that dark bower, with the eye resting + on that bright piece of colour, lighted so gloriously by the evening sun, now + catching a glimpse of the little birds as they fly rapidly in and out of their + nests—for there are always two or three birds' nests in the thick tapestry of + cherry-trees, honey-suckles, and China roses, which cover our walls—now tracing + the gay gambols of the common butterflies as they sport around the dahlias; now + watching that rarer moth, which the country people, fertile in pretty names, call the + bee-bird;<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a + href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> that bird-like insect, which flutters in the + hottest days over the sweetest flowers, inserting its long proboscis into the small + tube of the jessamine, and hovering over the scarlet blossoms of the geranium, whose + bright colour seems reflected on its own feathery breast; that insect which seems so + thoroughly a creature of the air, never at rest; always, even when feeding, + self-poised, and self-supported, and whose wings in their ceaseless motion, have a + sound so deep, so full, so lulling, so musical. Nothing so pleasant as to sit amid + that mixture of the flower and the leaf, watching the bee-bird! Nothing so pretty to + look at as my garden! It is quite a picture; only unluckily it resembles a picture in + more qualities than one,—it is fit for nothing but to look at. One might as + well think of walking in a bit of framed canvass. There are walks to be + sure—tiny paths of smooth gravel, by courtesy called such—but—they + are so overhung by roses and lilies, and such gay encroachers—so over-run by + convolvolus, and heart's-ease, and mignonette, and other sweet stragglers, that, + except to edge through them occasionally, for the purpose of planting, or weeding, or + watering, there might as well be no paths at all. Nobody thinks of walking in my + garden. Even May glides along with a delicate and trackless step, like a swan through + the wafer; and we, its two-footed denizens, are fain to treat it as if it were really + a saloon, and go out for a walk towards sun-set, just as if we had not been sitting + in the open air all day.</p> + <p>What a contrast from the quiet garden to the lively street! Saturday night is + always a time of stir and bustle in our village, and this is Whitsun Eve, the + pleasantest Saturday of all the year, when London journeymen and servant lads and + lasses snatch a short holiday to visit their families. A short and precious holiday, + the happiest and liveliest of any; for even the gambols and merrymakings of Christmas + offer but a poor enjoyment, compared with the rural diversions, the Mayings, revels, + and cricket-matches of Whitsuntide.</p> + <p>We ourselves are to have a cricket-match on Monday, not played by the men, who, + since their misadventure with the Beech-hillers, are, I am sorry to say, rather + chap-fallen, but by the boys, who, zealous for the honours of their parish, and + headed by their bold leader, Ben Kirby, marched in a body to our antagonist's ground + the Sunday after our melancholy defeat, challenged the boys of that proud hamlet, and + beat them out and out on the spot. Never was a more signal victory. Our boys enjoyed + this triumph with so little moderation, that it had like to have produced a very + tragical catastrophe. The captain of the Beech-hill youngsters, a capital bowler, by + name Amos Stokes, enraged past all bearing by the crowing of his adversaries, flung + the ball at Ben Kirby with so true an aim, that if that sagacious leader had not + warily ducked his head when he saw it coming, there would probably have been a + coroner's inquest on the case, and Amos Stokes would have been tried for + manslaughter. He let fly with such vengeance, that the cricket-ball was found + embedded in a bank of clay five hundred yards off, as if it had been a cannon shot. + Tom Coper and Farmer Thackum, the umpires, both say that they never saw so tremendous + a ball. If Amos Stokes live to be a man (I mean to say if he be not hanged first), + he'll be a pretty player. He is coming here on Monday with his <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> party to play the + return match, the umpires having respectively engaged Farmer Thackum that Amos shall + keep the peace, Tom Coper that Ben shall give no unnecessary or wanton + provocation—a nicely-worded and lawyer-like clause, and one that proves that + Tom Coper hath his doubts of the young gentleman's discretion; and, of a truth, so + have I. I would not be Ben Kirby's surety, cautiously as the security is + worded,—no! not for a white double dahlia, the present object of my + ambition.</p> + <p>This village of our's is swarming to-night like a hive of bees, and all the church + bells round are pouring out their merriest peals, as if to call them together. I must + try to give some notion of the various figures.</p> + <p>First, there is a groupe suited to Teniers, a cluster of out-of-door customers of + the Rose, old benchers of the inn, who sit round a table smoking and drinking in high + solemnity to the sound of Timothy's fiddle. Next, a mass of eager boys, the + combatants of Monday, who are surrounding the shoemaker's shop, where an invisible + hole in their ball is mending by Master Keep himself, under the joint superintendence + of Ben Kirby and Tom Coper, Ben showing much verbal respect and outward deference for + his umpire's judgment and experience, but managing to get the ball done his own way + after all; whilst outside the shop, the rest of the eleven, the less-trusted commons, + are shouting and bawling round Joel Brent, who is twisting the waxed twine round the + handles of bats—the poor bats, which please nobody, which the taller youths are + despising as too little and too light, and the smaller are abusing as too heavy and + two large. Happy critics! winning their match can hardly be a greater + delight—even if to win it they be doomed! Farther down the street is the pretty + black-eyed girl, Sally Wheeler, come home for a day's holiday from B., escorted by a + tall footman in a dashing livery, whom she is trying to curtesy off before her deaf + grandmother sees him. I wonder whether she will succeed!</p> + <p>Ascending the hill are two couples of different description, Daniel Tubb and Sally + North, walking boldly along like licensed lovers; they have been asked twice in + church, and are to be married on Tuesday; and closely following that happy pair, near + each other, but not together, come Jem Tanner and Susan Green, the poor culprits of + the wheat-hoeing. Ah! the little clerk hath not relented! The course of true love + doth not yet run smooth in that quarter. Jem dodges along, whistling "Cherry Ripe," + pretending to walk by himself, and to be thinking of nobody; but every now and then + he pauses in his negligent saunter, and turns round outright to steal a glance at + Susan, who, on her part, is making believe to walk with poor Olive Hathaway, the lame + mantua-maker, and even affecting to talk and to listen to that gentle humble creature + as she points to the wild flowers on the common, and the lambs and children + disporting amongst the gorse, but whose thoughts and eyes are evidently fixed on Jem + Tanner, as she meets his backward glance with a blushing smile, and half springs + forward to meet him; whilst Olive has broken off the conversation as soon as she + perceived the preoccupation of her companion, and began humming, perhaps + unconsciously, two or three lines of Burns, whose "Whistle and I'll come to thee, my + love," and "Gi'e me a glance of thy bonny black ee," were never better exemplified + than in the couple before her. Really it is curious to watch them, and to see how + gradually the attraction of this tantalizing vicinity becomes irresistible, and the + rustic lover rushes to his pretty mistress like the needle to the magnet. On they go, + trusting to the deepening twilight, to the little clerk's absence, to the good humour + of the happy lads and lasses, who are passing and re-passing on all sides—or + rather, perhaps, in a happy oblivion of the cross uncle, the kind villagers, the + squinting lover, and the whole world. On they trip, linked arm-in-arm, he trying to + catch a glimpse of her glowing face under her bonnet, and she hanging down her head + and avoiding his gaze with a mixture of modesty and coquetry, which well becomes the + rural beauty. On they go, with a reality and intensity of affection, which must + overcome all obstacles; and poor Olive follows with art evident sympathy in their + happiness, which makes her almost as enviable as they; and we pursue our walk amidst + the moonshine and the nightingales, with Jacob Frost's cart looming in the distance, + and the merry sounds of Whitsuntide, the shout, the laugh, and the song echoing all + around us, like "noises of the air."—<i>Monthly Magazine.</i></p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.</h2> + <hr /> + <h3>THE LETTER-WRITER.</h3> + <p>Fortune surely shifted me from my birth, or first looked on me in a mood as + splenetic as that of nature, when she produced that most sombre and unpleasing <span + class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> of trees, the olive; + to pursue the simile; I may have conduced to the comfort of others, nay, even to + their convenience and luxury, but it never availed aught to my own appearance or + circumstances; I went on, like that unhappy-looking tree, decaying in the trunk and + blighting in the branches, and yielding up the produce of a liberal education and an + active nature to the public, but reaping for my own portion only misfortune and + disappointment; I had sprung up in the wilderness of the world, and I was left to + grow or wither as I might; every one was ready to profit by me when a fruitful season + rendered me available to them, but none cared to toil to give me space for growth, or + to enrich the perishing earth at my unlucky root!</p> + <p>I was educated for the church, but my father died while I was at college, and I + lost the curacy, which was in the gift of my uncle, through the pretty face of a city + merchant's daughter, who wrote a sonnet to my worthy relative on his recovery from a + fit of the gout, and obtained the curacy for her brother in exchange for her + effusion. What was to be done? I offered myself as tutor to a young gentleman who was + to study the classics until he was of age, and then to turn fox-hunter to supply the + place of his deceased father; but I was considered by his relations to be too + good-looking to be domesticated in the house of a rich widow under fifty, and I had + the satisfaction of seeing the vacant seat in the family coach filled by an old, + sandy-haired M.A., with bow legs and a squint—handsome or ugly, it availed not; + a face had twice ruined my prospects; I was at my wit's end! I could not turn fine + gentleman, for I had not brass enough to make my veracity a pander to my voracity; I + could not turn tradesman, for I had not gold enough even to purchase a yard measure, + or to lay in a stock of tapes. My heart bounded at the idea of the army; but I + thought of it like a novice—of wounds and gallant deeds; of fame and laurels; I + was obliged to look closer—my relations were neither noblemen nor bankers, and + I found that even the Colonial corps were becoming aristocratical and profuse; the + navy—I walked from London to Chatham on speculation; saw the second son of an + earl covered with tar, out at elbows and at heels, and I returned to town, fully + satisfied that here I certainly had no chance. I offered myself as clerk to a wealthy + brewer, and, at length, I was accepted—this was an opening! I registered malt, + hops, ale, and small-beer, till I began to feel as though the world was one vast + brewhouse; and calculated, added, and subtracted pounds, shillings, and pence, until + all other lore appeared "stale, flat, and unprofitable." I was in this counting-house + four years, and was, finally, discharged by my prudent principal as an unthrifty + servant, for having, during a day of unusual business, cut up two entire quills, and + overturned the inkstand on a new ledger! Again "the world was all before me where to + choose"—but enough of this; suffice it that my choice availed me nothing, and + after years of struggling and striving, I found myself, as free as air, in a small + market town in England, with five shillings in my pocket, and sundry grey hairs on my + head. From mere dearth of occupation, I took my station at the window of a small + stationer's shop, and commenced a survey of the volumes and pamphlets which were + attractively opened at the title-pages to display their highly coloured + frontispieces. The first which I noticed was, "The Young Gentleman's Multiplication + Table, or Two and Two make Four"—I sighed as I remembered how little this + promising study had availed <i>me</i>! Then came "Little Tom Tucker, he sang for his + Supper"—I would have danced for one. "Young's Night Thoughts," with a well + dressed gentleman in mourning, looking at the moon. "How to Grow Rich, or a Penny + Saved is a Penny Got;" I would have bought the book, and learned the secret, though I + had but five shillings left in the world, had not the second part of the title + intimated to me that I ought to keep my money. "The Castle of St. Altobrand," where a + gentleman in pea-green might be seen communing with a lady in sky-blue. "Raising the + Wind"—I turned away with a shudder; I had played a part in this drama for + years, and I well knew it was no farce. "The Polite Letter-Writer, or"—I did + not stop to read more; an idea flashed through my mind, and in two minutes more I was + beside the counter of the stationer; we soon became acquainted; I left two and + sixpence in his shop, and quitted it with renewed hope; the promise of a + recommendation, two quires of letter paper, twelve good quills, and some ink in a + small phial. I rejoiced at having made a friend, even of the stationer, for my pride + and my property had long been travelling companions, and were seldom at home. On the + following day, a placard was pasted to a window on the ground floor of a neat house, + in the best street, announcing that "within, letters were written on all subjects, + for all persons, with precision and secrecy;" I shall never forget the tremor with + which I awaited the arrival of a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" + name="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> customer! I had sunk half of my slender capital, and + encumbered myself with a lodging; I did not dare to think, so I sat down and began, + resolutely, to sharpen my penknife on the sole of my fearfully dilapidated shoe; + then, I spread my paper before me; divided the quires; looked carefully through a + sheet of it at the light; laid it down again; began to grow melancholy; shook off + reflection as I would have done a serpent, and again betook myself most zealously to + the sharpening of my penknife. A single, well articulated stroke on the door of my + apartment, roused me at once to action, and I shouted, "come in," with nervous + eagerness; it opened, and gave egress to a staid matron, of high stature, and sharp + countenance; I would have pledged my existence on her shrewishness from the first + moment I beheld her. When I had placed a chair for her, and reseated myself, this + prelude to my prosperity commenced business at once.</p> + <p>"You're a letter-writer, Mr. What-d'ye-call-'em."</p> + <p>I bowed assent.</p> + <p>"Silent—"</p> + <p>"As the grave, madam."</p> + <p>This sufficed; the lady took a pinch of snuff—told me that she had been + recommended to employ me by Mr. Quireandquill; and I prepared for action. She had a + daughter young, beautiful, and innocent—but gay, affectionate, and thoughtless; + she had given her heart in keeping to one who, though rich in love, lacked all other + possessions; and, finally, she had bestowed her hand where affection prompted. But + the chilled heart feels not like that which is warm with youth—its pulses beat + not to the same measure—its impulses impel not to the same arts; the mother + felt as a guardian and a parent—the daughter as a woman and a fond one; the one + had been imprudent—the other was inexorable; my first task was to be the + unwrenching of the holy bonds which united a child and her parent,—the + announcement of an abandonment utter and irrevocable; I wrote the letter, and if I + softened down a few harsh expressions, and omitted some sentences of heart-breaking + severity, surely it was no breach of faith, or if, indeed, it were, it was one for + which, even at this time, I do not blush.</p> + <p>The old lady saw her letter sealed and addressed, and departed; and I hastily + partook of a scanty breakfast, the produce of my first episolatory speculation. I + need not have been so precipitate in dispatching my repast, for some dreary hours + intervened ere the arrival of another visiter. One, however, came at length; a + tremulous, almost inaudible, stroke upon the door, and a nervous clasp of the latch, + again spoke hope to my sinking spirits; and, with a swift step, I rose and gave + admittance to a young and timid girl, blushing, and trembling, and wondering, as it + seemed, at the extent of her own daring. This business was not so readily despatched + as that of the angry matron. There were a thousand promises of secrecy to be given; a + thousand tremors to be overcome.</p> + <p>"I am a poor girl, Sir," she said at length, "but I am an honest one; therefore, + before I take up your time, I must know whether I can afford to pay for it."</p> + <p>"That," said I, and even amid my poverty I could not suppress a feeling of + amusement, "that depends wholly on the subject of your epistle; business requires few + words, and less ingenuity, and is fairly paid for by a couple of shillings; but a + love letter is cheap at three and sixpence, for it requires an infinity of each."</p> + <p>"Then I may as well wish you good day at once, Sir, for I have but half-a-crown in + the world that I can call my own, and I cannot run into debt, even to write to + Charles." There was a tear in her eye as she rose to go, and it was a beautiful blue + eye, better fitted to smiles than tears; this was enough, and, even poor as I was, I + would not have missed the opportunity of writing this letter, though I had been a + loser by the task. Happy Charles! I wrote from her dictation, and it is wonderful how + well the heart prompts to eloquence, even among the uneducated and obscure. In all + honesty, though I had but jested with my pretty employer, this genuine love-letter + was well worth the three and sixpence—it was written, and crossed, and + rewritten at right angles, and covered on the folds and under the wafer, and, + finally, unsealed to insert a few "more last words." It was a very history of the + heart!—of a heart untainted by error—unsophisticated by + fashion—unfettered by the world's ways: a little catalogue of woman's best, and + tenderest, and holiest feelings, warm from the spirit's core, and welling out like + the pure waters of a ground spring. How the eye fell, and the voice sunk, as she + recorded some little doubt, some fond self-created fear; how the tones gladdened, and + the blue eyes laughed out in joy, as she spoke of hopes and prospects, to which she + clung trustingly, as woman ever does to her first affection. What would I not have + given to have been the receiver of such a letter?—What to have been the idol of + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> such a heart? + And, as she eagerly bent over me to watch the progress of her epistle, her hand + resting on my arm, and her warm breath playing over my brow, while at intervals a + fond sigh escaped her, she from time to time reminded me of the promises I had made + never to betray her secret—beautiful innocent! I would have died first. She was + with me nearly two hours, and left me with a flushed cheek, her letter in one hand + and her half-crown in the other—had I robbed her of it, I should have merited + the pillory.</p> + <p>My third customer was a stiff, tall, bony man, of about fifty-five, and for this + worthy I wrote an advertisement for a wife. He was thin, and shy, and + emaciated—a breathing skeleton, in the receipt of some hundred and twenty + pounds a-year; a martyr to the rheumatism, and a radical. He required but little; a + moderate fortune; tolerable person; good education; perfect housewifery; implicit + obedience; and, finally, wound up the list of requisites from mere lack of breath, + and modestly intimated that youth would not be considered an objection, provided that + great prudence and rigid economy accompanied it. He was the veriest antidote to + matrimony I ever beheld!</p> + <p>My calling prospered. I wrote letters of condolence and of congratulation; made + out bills, and composed valentines; became the friend of every pretty girl and fine + youth in the parish; and never breathed one of their mighty secrets in the wrong + quarter. In the midst of this success, a new ambition fired me—I had been an + author for months; but though I had found my finances more flourishing, the bays + bloomed not upon my brow; and I was just about to turn author in good earnest, when a + distant relation died, and bequeathed to me an annuity of four hundred pounds a-year; + and I have been so much engaged ever since in receiving the visits of some hitherto + unknown relatives and connexions, that I have only been able to compose the + title-page, and to send this hint to destitute young gentlemen who may have an + epistolatory turn; and to such I offer the assurance, that there is pleasure in being + the depositary of a pretty girl's secrets. "There are worse occupations in the world, + <i>Yorick</i>, than feeling a woman's pulse."—<i>The Inspector</i>.</p> + <hr /> + <h3>SUNRISE AT MOUNT ETNA.</h3> + <p>Of a sunrise at Mount Etna, an acute traveller remarks, no imagination can form an + idea of this glorious and magnificent scene. Neither is there on the surface of this + globe any one point that unites so many awful and sublime objects:—the immense + elevation from the surface of the earth, drawn as it were to a single apex, without + any neighbouring mountain for the senses and imagination to rest upon, and recover + from their astonishment in their way down to the world—and this point, or + pinnacle raised on the brink of a bottomless gulf, often discharging rivers of fire, + and throwing out burning rocks, with a noise that shakes the whole island. Add to + this, the unbounded extent of the prospect, comprehending the greatest diversity, and + the most beautiful scenery in nature; with the rising sun advancing in the east to + illuminate the wondrous scene. The whole atmosphere by degrees kindled up, and showed + dimly and faintly the boundless prospect around. Both sea and land looked dark and + confused, as if only emerging from their original chaos; and light and darkness + seemed still undivided, till the morning by degrees advancing, completed the + separation. The stars are extinguished, and the shades disappear. The forests, which + but now seemed black and bottomless gulfs, from whence no ray was reflected to show + their form or colours, appear a new creation rising to the sight, catching life and + beauty from every increasing beam. The scene still enlarges, and the horizon seems to + widen and expand itself on all sides; till the sun appears in the east, and with his + plastic ray completes the mighty scene. All appears enchantment; and it is with + difficulty we can believe we are still on earth. The senses, unaccustomed to such + objects, are bewildered and confounded; and it is not till after some time that they + are capable of separating and judging of them. The body of the sun is seen rising + from the ocean, immense tracks both of sea and land intervening; various islands + appear under your feet; and you look down on the whole of Sicily as on a map, and can + trace every river through all its windings, from its source to its mouth. The view is + absolutely boundless on every side; nor is there any one object within the circle of + vision to interrupt it; so that the sight is every where lost in the immensity; and + there is little doubt, that were it not for the imperfection of our organs, the + coasts of Africa, and even of Greece, would be discovered, as they are certainly + above the horizon.—<i>Time's Telescope</i>.</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span> + <h2>GARRICK'S MULBERRY CUP.</h2> + <p class="figure"><a href="images/265-2.png"><img width="50%" src="images/265-2.png" + alt="" /></a><br /> + </p> + <p>In the garden attached to New Place, flourished a mulberry-tree, which Shakspeare + had planted with his own hands; and in 1742, when Garrick and Macklin visited + Stratford, they were regaled beneath its venerable branches by Sir Hugh Clopton, who, + instead of pulling down New Place according to Malone's assertion, repaired it, and + did every thing in his power for its preservation. The Rev. Francis Gastrell + purchased the building from Sir Hugh Clopton's heir, and being disgusted with the + trouble of showing the mulberry-tree to so many visitors, he caused this interesting + and beautiful memorial of Shakspeare to be cut down, to the great mortification of + his neighbours, who were so enraged at his conduct, that they soon rendered the + place, out of revenge, too disagreeable for him to remain in it. He therefore was + obliged to quit it; and the tree, being purchased by a carpenter, was retailed and + cut out in various relics.</p> + <p>The catalogue of the property of the late David Garrick, Esq. sold on the 5th of + May, 1825, describes the cup as follows:—"Lot 170. The original cup carved from + Shakspeare's mulberry-tree, which was presented to David Garrick by the Mayor and + Corporation at the time of the Jubilee at Stratford-on-Avon, lined with silver gilt, + with a cover, surmounted by a bunch of mulberry leaves and fruit, also of silver + gilt."</p> + <p>This relic acquires additional value from the circumstance of its never having + changed possessors from the time it was presented to Garrick in September, 1769, to + 1825, a period of nearly three score years, and during the greater part of which time + it has been virtually locked up from public view. The tree was cut down about the + year 1756, and could not have been less than 140 years old. It is said the mulberry + was first planted in England about 1609. It is not a little singular, that at the + time Garrick received this relic of the immortal bard, he resided in + Southampton-street, as appears by his letter to the Mayor and Corporation of + Stratford, returning thanks for having elected him a burgess of Stratford-on-Avon; + and the residence of its second possessor, Mr. J. Johnson, (who bought it for 127l. + 1s.,) after a lapse of nearly sixty years, is in the same street.</p> + <p>The cup itself is of a very chaste and handsome form; plain, but in good taste, + and the wood prettily marked. The mulberry cup has also been recorded in the + celebrated ballad, beginning, "Behold this fair goblet," &c. sung by Garrick at + the Jubilee, holding the cup in his hand.</p> + <p>G.W.</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.</h2> + <h4>NO. X.</h4> + <hr /> + <h3>THE GREEKS.</h3> + <h4>(<i>For the Mirror</i>.)</h4> + <p>The delightful country of Greece, once the finest in the world, is inhabited by a + bold and intelligent race of men, whose noble struggles to rescue themselves from an + odious servitude has rendered them objects of our esteem and admiration. For more + than five years has this unfortunate land been the scene of continual warfare and + desolation; and though the attempts of the Turks have been many and great, they have + notwithstanding entirely failed in their design,—that of exterminating the + Greeks.</p> + <p>The Greeks are of the same religion as the Russians, and, like that nation, have + monks and nuns. Great decorum is visible in their churches, the females being + excluded from the sight of the males by means of lattices. Their bishops lead a life + of great simplicity, as will be seen from the following account of a dinner given by + the bishop of Salona to Mr. Dodwell:—"There was nothing to eat except rice and + bad cheese; the wine was execrable, and so impregnated with resin, that it almost + took the skin from our lips. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" + name="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> Before sitting down to dinner, as well as + afterwards, we had to perform the ceremony of the <i>cheironiptron</i>, or washing of + the hands. We dined at a round table of copper tinned, supported upon one leg, and + sat on cushions placed on the floor. The bishop insisted upon my Greek servant + sitting at table with us; and on my observing that it was contrary to our custom, he + answered, that he could not bear such ridiculous distinctions in his house. It was + with difficulty I obtained the privilege of drinking out of my own glass, instead of + out of the large goblet, which served for the whole party. The Greeks seldom drink + till they have dined. After dinner, strong thick coffee, without sugar, was handed + round."—The strictest frugality is observable in all the meals of these people. + The higher orders live principally on fish and rice, and the common people on olives, + honey, and onions. The food of the Levantine sailors, according to the Hon. Mr. + Douglas, consists entirely of salted olives, called by the Greeks <i>columbades</i>. + They dress mutton in a singular manner, it being stewed with honey. In a very rare + work, published in 1686, entitled, "The Present State of the Morea," is the following + account of their manner of thrashing corn:—"They have no barns, but + thrashing-floors, which are situated on high grounds, and open to the winds. Here + they tread it out with horses, which are made fast to a post, round which the corn is + put; the horses trampling upon it make great despatch: they then cleanse it with the + wind, and send it home."</p> + <p>The houses of the Greeks are generally built of brick, made of clay and chopped + straw; those at Napoli di Romania are considered among the best, and are spacious and + convenient. The stranger, on entering, is struck with the singular appearance they + present, the lower story being set apart for the <i>horses</i>, while not a bell is + visible in any part of the building. When the attendance of a servant is required, it + is signified by the master clapping his hands. Most of the houses in the villages + have very pretty gardens, with walks round them covered with vines. The Greeks are + remarkable for their love of dancing, particularly the <i>Romaika</i>, which is thus + described by the Hon. Mr. Douglas:—"I never shall forget the first time I saw + this dance: I had landed on a fine Sunday evening in the island of Scio, after three + months spent amidst Turkish despotism, and I found most of the poorer inhabitants of + the town strolling upon the shore, and the rich absent at their farms; but in riding + three miles along the coast, I saw above thirty parties engaged in dancing the + Romaika upon the sand; in some of these groups, the girl who led them chased the + retreating wave, and it was in vain that her followers hurried their steps; some of + them were generally caught by the returning sea, and all would court the laugh rather + than break the indissoluble chain. Near each party was seated a group of parents and + elder friends, who rekindled the last spark of their expiring gaiety and vigour in + the happiness they saw around them."</p> + <p>Though the Greeks are an oppressed nation, yet, as Sir William Gell testifies, + they cannot be called uncleanly in their habits. The bath is in constant use among + them, and a Greek peasant would on no account retire to rest without having + previously washed his feet. The females, generally speaking, are kept very secluded + from society, and it is seldom that their marriages are founded on mutual love or + attachment. The conduct of the married women in Greece is deserving of our highest + praise, both for their great virtue and goodness of heart, while instances of divorce + are extremely rare.</p> + <p>The burial-places of the Greeks are situated without the walls of their towns, and + round the tombs are a variety of plants, (principally parsley,) which they take great + care to keep alive. Numerous ceremonies are observed at their funerals; but the most + interesting scene is the last. "Before the body is covered with earth, the relations + approach in turn, and lifting the corpse in their arms, indulge in the full pleasure + of their grief, while they call in vain on the friend they have lost, or curse the + fate by which that loss has been occasioned." The Greeks, when occasion requires it, + make use of flowers to express their thoughts. Thus for instance, if a lover wishes + to convey any private intelligence to his mistress, he has only to make a selection + of certain flowers, the signification of which is perfectly understood if once seen + by the object of his love. The manners of the Greeks in many cases bear a striking + resemblance to those of the Turks. Like that nation, they smoke with long pipes, and + write with the left hand. The inhabitants of Napoli di Romania have still further + imitated their oppressors by wearing the turban trimmed with white, together with the + red <i>papouches</i>, or slippers. The costume of the Greek soldiers is thus + described by the author of "Letters from the East:"—"The costume of these + soldiers was light and graceful; a thin vest, sash, and a loose pantaloon, which fell + just below the knee. The head was covered with a small and ugly cap. They had most of + them pistols and muskets, to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" + name="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> which many added sabres or ataghans." The dress of + the females is very elegant; over the head is worn a veil, called <i>macrama</i>, and + between the eyelid and the pupil is inserted a black powder, named <i>surme</i>, + which, according to the Hon. Mr. Douglas, gives a pleasing expression to the + countenance. On their hair (generally of a beautiful auburn) they bestow great pains, + adorning it with a variety of ornaments, and suffering it to hang down in long + tresses or ringlets, which present a most graceful appearance. In stature the men are + tall and well made; but their countenances, though expressive, have generally an air + of dejection, which no change of time or circumstances have power to remove. The + Greek women are very beautiful, and remarkable for vivacity and intelligence of + mind.</p> + <p>The character of the Greeks consists of a singular mixture of good and bad + qualities. They are vain, fickle, treacherous, and turbulent; but, on the other hand, + are industrious, bold, polite, moderate in their living, with a lively and ingenious + disposition. If it be asserted that they are in some cases too much given to wine, it + may be replied to in the words of Cicero, <i>Necessitatis crimen est, non + voluntatis</i>. When we consider that from the earliest age they are accustomed to + witness among the Turks the most disgusting scenes of profligacy and villany, that, + like wandering pilgrims, they have no fixed abode, and are continually subject to all + the miseries attendant on war and poverty, can it be wondered if in their character + we find something worthy of reprehension?</p> + <p>W. C—Y</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>THE SELECTOR;<br /> + AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS.</h2> + <hr /> + <h3>PERSONAL CHARACTER OF BONAPARTE.</h3> + <p>Sir Walter Scott observes, on closing the history of Napoleon Bonaparte, that the + reader may be disposed to pause a moment to reflect on the character of that + wonderful person, on whom fortune showered so many favours in the beginning and + through the middle of his career, to overwhelm its close with such deep and unwonted + afflictions.</p> + <p>The external appearance of Napoleon was not imposing at the first glance, his + stature being only five feet six inches English. His person, thin in youth, and + somewhat corpulent in age, was rather delicate than robust in outward appearance, but + cast in the mould most capable of enduring privation and fatigue. He rode + ungracefully, and without the command of his horse which distinguishes a perfect + cavalier; so that he showed to disadvantage when riding beside such a horseman as + Murat. But he was fearless, sat firm in his seat, rode with rapidity, and was capable + of enduring the exercise for a longer time than most men. We have already mentioned + his indifference to the quality of his food, and his power of enduring abstinence. A + morsel of food, and a flask of wine hung at his saddle-bow, used, in his earlier + campaigns, to support him for days. In his latter wars, he more frequently used a + carriage; not, as has been surmised, from any particular illness, but from feeling in + a frame so constantly in exercise the premature effects of age.</p> + <p>The countenance of Napoleon is familiar to almost every one from description, and + the portraits which are found everywhere. The dark-brown hair bore little marks of + the attentions of the toilet. The shape of the countenance approached more than is + usual in the human race to a square. His eyes were grey, and full of expression, the + pupils rather large, and the eye-brows not very strongly marked. The brow and upper + part of the countenance was rather of a stern character. His nose and mouth were + beautifully formed. The upper lip was very short. The teeth were indifferent, but + were little shown in speaking.<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a + href="#footnote2"><sup>2</sup></a> His smile possessed uncommon sweetness, and is + stated to have been irresistible. The complexion was a clear olive, otherwise in + general colourless. The prevailing character of his countenance was grave, even to + melancholy, but without any signs of severity or violence. After death, the placidity + and dignity of expression which continued to occupy the features, rendered them + eminently beautiful, and the admiration of all who looked on them.</p> + <p>Such was Napoleon's exterior. His personal and private character was decidedly + amiable, excepting in one particular. His temper, when he received, or thought he + received, provocation, especially if of a personal character, was warm and + vindictive. He was, however, placable in the case even of his enemies, providing that + they submitted to his mercy; but he had not that species of generosity which respects + the sincerity of a manly and fair opponent. On the other hand, no one was a more + liberal rewarder of the attachment of his friends. He was an excellent husband, a + kind relation, and, unless when state policy intervened, a most affectionate brother. + General Gourgaud, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>[pg + 60]</span> whose communications were not in every case to Napoleon's advantage, + states him to have been the best of masters, labouring to assist all his domestics + wherever it lay in his power, giving them the highest credit for such talents as they + actually possessed, and imputing, in some instances, good qualities to such as had + them not.</p> + <p>There was gentleness, and even softness, in his character. He was affected when he + rode over the fields of battle, which his ambition had strewed with the dead and the + dying, and seemed not only desirous to relieve the victims,—issuing for that + purpose directions, which too often were not, and could not be, obeyed,—but + showed himself subject to the influence of that more acute and imaginative species of + sympathy which is termed sensibility. He mentions a circumstance which indicates a + deep sense of feeling. As he passed over a field of battle in Italy, with some of his + generals, he saw a houseless dog lying on the body of his slain master. The creature + came towards them, then returned to the dead body, moaned over it pitifully, and + seemed to ask their assistance. "Whether it were the feeling of the moment," + continued Napoleon, "the scene, the hour, or the circumstance itself, I was never so + deeply affected by any thing which I have seen upon a field of battle. That man, I + thought, has perhaps had a house, friends, comrades, and here he lies deserted by + every one but his dog. How mysterious are the impressions to which we are subject! I + was in the habit, without emotion, of ordering battles which must decide the fate of + a campaign, and could look with a dry eye on the execution of manoeuvres which must + be attended with much loss, and here I was moved—nay, painfully + affected—by the cries and the grief of a dog. It is certain that at that moment + I should have been more accessible to a suppliant enemy, and could better understand + the conduct of Achilles in restoring the body of Hector to the tears of Priam."<a + id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3"><sup>3</sup></a> The + anecdote at once shows that Napoleon possessed a heart amenable to humane feelings, + and that they were usually in total subjection to the stern precepts of military + stoicism. It was his common and expressive phrase, that the heart of a politician + should be in his head; but his feelings sometimes surprised him in a gentler + mood.</p> + <p>A calculator by nature and by habit, Napoleon was fond of order, and a friend to + that moral conduct in which order is best exemplified. The libels of the day have + made some scandalous averments to the contrary, but without adequate foundation. + Napoleon respected himself too much, and understood the value of public opinion too + well, to have plunged into general or vague debauchery.—<i>Scott's Life of + Napoleon.</i></p> + <hr /> + <h3>THE FESTIVAL OF THE MOON AT MEMPHIS.</h3> + <p>The rising of the moon, slow and majestic, as if conscious of the honours that + awaited her upon earth, was welcomed with a loud acclaim from every eminence, where + multitudes stood watching for her first light. And seldom had she risen upon a scene + more beautiful. Memphis,—still grand, though no longer the unrivalled Memphis, + that had borne away from Thebes the crown of supremacy, and worn it undisputed + through so many centuries,—now, softened by the moonlight that harmonised with + her decline, shone forth among her lakes, her pyramids, and her shrines, like a dream + of glory that was soon to pass away. Ruin, even now, was but too visible around her. + The sands of the Libyan desert gained upon her like a sea; and, among solitary + columns and sphynxes, already half sunk from sight, Time seemed to stand waiting, + till all that now flourished around, should fall beneath his desolating hand, like + the rest.</p> + <p>On the waters all was life and gaiety. As far as eye could reach, the lights of + innumerable boats were seen, studding, like rubies, the surface of the stream. + Vessels of all kinds,—from the light coracle, built for shooting down the + cataracts, to the large yacht that glides to the sound of flutes,—all were + afloat for this sacred festival, filled with crowds of the young and the gay, not + only from Memphis and Babylon, but from cities still farther removed from the + scene.</p> + <p>As I approached the island, could see, glittering through the trees on the bank, + the lamps of the pilgrims hastening to the ceremony. Landing in the direction which + those lights pointed out, I soon joined the crowd; and passing through a long alley + of sphynxes, whose spangling marble shone out from the dark sycamores around them, in + a short time reached the grand vestibule of the temple, where I found the ceremonies + of the evening already commenced.</p> + <p>In this vast hall, which was surrounded by a double range of columns, and lay open + over-head to the stars of heaven, I saw a group of young maidens, moving, in a sort + of measured step, between walk and dance, round a small shrine, upon which stood one + of those sacred birds, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>[pg + 61]</span> that, on account of the variegated colour of their wings, are dedicated to + the moon. The vestibule was dimly lighted,—there being but one lamp of naphta + on each of the great pillars that encircled it. But, having taken my station beside + one of those pillars, I had a distinct view of the young dancers, as in succession + they passed me.</p> + <p>Their long, graceful drapery was as white as snow; and each wore loosely, beneath + the rounded bosom, a dark-blue zone, or bandelet, studded, like the skies at + midnight, with little silver stars. Through their dark locks was wreathed the white + lily of the Nile,—that flower being accounted as welcome to the moon, as the + golden blossoms of the bean-flower are to the sun. As they passed under the lamp, a + gleam of light flashed from their bosoms, which, I could perceive, was the reflection + of a small mirror, that, in the manner of the women of the East, each wore beneath + her left shoulder.</p> + <p>There was no music to regulate their steps; but as they gracefully went round the + bird on the shrine, some, by the beat of the Castanet, some, by the shrill ring of + the sistrum,—which they held uplifted in the attitude of their own divine + Isis,—harmoniously timed the cadence of their feet; while others, at every + step, shook a small chain of silver, whose sound, mingling with those of the + castanets and sistrums, produced a wild, but not an unpleasing harmony.</p> + <p>They seemed all lovely; but there was one—whose face the light had not yet + reached, so downcast she held it,—who attracted, and at length rivetted all my + attention—<i>The Epicurean, by Thomas Moore, Esq.</i></p> + <hr /> + <h3>MATERIALS OF ANCIENT BOOKS.</h3> + <p>No material for books has, perhaps, a higher claim to antiquity than the skin of + the calf or goat tanned soft, and usually dyed red or yellow: the skins were + generally connected in lengths, sometimes of a hundred feet, sufficient to contain an + entire book, which then formed one roll or <i>volume</i>. These soft skins seem to + have been more in use among the Jews and other Asiatics than among the people of + Europe. The copies of the law found in the synagogues are often of this kind: the + most ancient manuscripts extant are some copies of the Pentateuch on rolls of + leather.</p> + <p>Parchment—Pergamena, so called long after the time of its first use, from + Pergamus, a city of Mysia, where the manufacture was improved and carried on to a + great extent, is mentioned by Herodotus and Ctesias as a material which had been from + time immemorial used for books: it has proved to be of all others, except that + abovementioned, the most durable. The greater part of all manuscripts that are of + higher antiquity than the sixth century are on parchment; as well as, generally, all + carefully written and curiously decorated manuscripts of later ages. The palimpsests + are usually parchments: "It often happened," says Montfauçon, "that from the + scarcity of parchment, the copyists, having erased the writing of ancient books, + wrote upon them anew: these rewritten parchments were called + palimpsests—scraped a second time, and often the ancient work was one of far + greater value than that to which it gave place: this we have on many occasions had + opportunity to observe in the MSS. of the king's library, and in those of Italy. In + some of these rescripts, the first writing is so much obliterated as to be scarcely + perceptible; while in others, though not without much labour, it may still be + read."</p> + <p>The practice, still followed in the east, of writing upon the leaves of trees, was + common in the remotest ages. The leaves of the mallow or of the palm were most used + for this purpose: they were sometimes wrought together into larger surfaces; but it + is probable that this fragile and inconvenient material was only employed for + ordinary purposes of business, letter-writing, or the instruction of children.</p> + <p>The inner bark of the linden or teil tree, and perhaps of some others, railed by + the Romans <i>liber</i>, by the Greeks <i>biblos,</i><a id="footnotetag4" + name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4"><sup>4</sup></a> was so generally used + as a material for writing as to have given its name to a book in both languages. + Tables of solid wood called <i>codices</i>, whence the term <i>codex</i> for a + manuscript on any material, has passed into common use, were also employed, but + chiefly for legal documents, on which account a system of laws came to be called a + code. Leaves or tablets of lead or ivory are frequently mentioned by ancient authors + as in common use for writing. But no material or preparation seems to have been so + frequently employed on ordinary occasions as tablets covered with a thin coat of + coloured wax, which was readily removed by an iron needle, called a <i>style</i>; and + from which the writing was as readily effaced by the blunt end of the same + instrument.</p> + <p>But during many ages the article most in use, and of which the consumption was so + great as to form a principal branch <span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" + name="page62"></a>[pg 62]</span> of the commerce of the Mediterranean, was that + manufactured from the papyrus of Egypt. Many manuscripts written upon this kind of + paper in the sixth, and some even so early as the fourth century, are still extant. + It formed the material of by far the larger proportion of all books from very early + times till about the seventh or eighth century, when it gradually gave place to a + still more convenient manufacture.</p> + <p>The papyrus, or Egyptian reed, grew in vast quantities in the stagnant pools + formed by the inundations of the Nile. The plant consists of a single stem, rising + sometimes to the height of ten cubits; this stem, gradually tapering from the root, + supports a spreading tuft at its summit. The substance of the stem is fibrous, and + the pith contains a sweet juice. Every part of this plant was put to some use by the + Egyptians. The harder and lower part they formed into cups and other utensils; the + upper part into staves, or the ribs of boats; the sweet pith was a common article of + food; while the fibrous part of the stem was manufactured into cloth, sails for + ships, ropes, strings, shoes, baskets, wicks for lamps, and, especially, into paper. + For this purpose the fibrous coats of the plant were peeled off, the whole length of + the stem. One layer of fibres was then laid across another upon a block, and being + moistened, the glutinous juice of the plant formed a cement, sufficiently strong to + give coherence to the fibres; when greater solidity was required, a size made from + bread or glue was employed. The two films being thus connected, were pressed, dried + in the sun, beaten with a broad mallet, and then polished with a shell. This texture + was cut into various sizes, according to the use for which it was intended, varying + from thirteen to four fingers' breadth, and of proportionate length.</p> + <p>By progressive improvements, especially in the hands of the Roman artists, this + Egyptian paper was brought to a high degree of perfection. In later ages it was + manufactured of considerable thickness, perfect whiteness, and an entire continuity + and smoothness of surface. It was, however, at the best, so friable that when + durability was required the copyists inserted a page of parchment between every five + or six pages of the papyrus. Thus the firmness of the one substance defended the + brittleness of the other; and great numbers of books so constituted have resisted the + accidents and decays of twelve centuries.</p> + <p>Three hundred years before the Christian era the commerce in this article had + extended over most parts of the civilized world; and long afterwards it continued to + be a principal source of wealth to the Egyptians. But at length the invention of + another manufacture, and the interruption of commerce occasioned by the possession of + Egypt by the Saracens, banished the paper of Egypt from common use. Comparatively few + manuscripts on this material are found of later date than the eighth or ninth + century; though it continued to be occasionally used long afterwards.</p> + <p>The charta bombycina or cotton paper, often improperly called <i>silk</i> paper, + was unquestionably manufactured in the east as early as the ninth century, possibly + much earlier; and in the tenth it came into general use throughout Europe. This + invention, not long afterwards, became still more available for general purposes by + the substitution of old linen or cotton rags for the raw material; by which means + both the price of the article was reduced, and the quality improved. The cotton paper + manufactured in the ancient mode is still used in the east, and is a beautiful + fabric.</p> + <p>From this brief account of the materials successively employed for books, it will + be obvious, that a knowledge of the changes which these several manufactures + underwent will often serve, especially when employed in subservience to other + evidence, to ascertain the age of manuscripts; or at least to furnish the means of + detecting fabricated documents.</p> + <p>The preservation of books, framed as they are of materials so destructible, + through a period of twelve, or even fifteen hundred years, is a fact which might seem + almost incredible; especially as the decay of apparently more durable substances + within a much shorter period, is continually presented to our notice. The massive + walls of the monasteries of the middle ages are often seen prostrate, and fast + mingling with the soil; while manuscripts penned within them, or perhaps when their + stones were yet in the quarry, are still fair and perfect, glittering with their gold + and silver, their cerulean and cinnabar.</p> + <p>But the materials of books, though destructible, are so far from being in + themselves perishable that, while defended from positive injuries, they appear to + suffer scarcely at all from any intrinsic principle of decay, or to be liable to any + perceptible process of decomposition. "No one," says Father Mabillon,<a + id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5"><sup>5</sup></a> + "unless totally unacquainted with what relates to antiquity, can call in question the + great durability of parchments; since there are <span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" + name="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> extant innumerable books, written on that material, + in the seventh and sixth centuries; and some of a still more remote antiquity, by + which all doubt on that subject might be removed. It may suffice here to mention the + Virgil of the Vatican Library, which appears to be of more ancient date than the + fourth century; and another in the King's Library little less ancient; also the + Prudentius, in the same library, of equal age; to which you may add several, already + mentioned, as the Psalter of S. Germanus, the book of the councils, and others, which + are all of parchment. Many other instances I might name if it were proper to dwell + upon a matter so well known to every one who is acquainted with antiquity.</p> + <p>"The paper of Egypt, being more frail and brittle, may seem to be open to greater + doubt; yet there are not wanting books of great antiquity, by which its durability + may be established. To go no further, there is in the Royal Library a very old codex + written upon the philyra (or bark of the linden tree) containing the homilies of + Avitus, I mean the copy from which the celebrated Jac. Sirmundus prepared his + edition; we have also seen two other codices of the same material in the Petavian + Library, containing some sermons of S. Augustine, which, in the opinion of the + learned, are about 1100 years old. Of the same kind is that rare and very ancient + codex in the Ambrosian Library, mutilated indeed, but consisting of many leaves of + Egyptian paper, which contain some portions of the Jewish history of Josephus. These + examples are sufficient to demonstrate the durability of the Egyptian paper in + ancient books." The author then goes on to mention several instances of deeds and + chartas written upon the paper of Egypt, still extant, though executed in the fourth + and fifth centuries.</p> + <p>Books have owed their conservation, not merely to the durability of the material + of which they were formed, but to the peculiarity of their being at once precious, + and yet not (in periods of general ignorance) marketable articles; of inestimable + value to a few, and absolutely worthless in the opinion of the multitude. They were + also often indebted for their preservation in periods of disorder and violence to the + sacredness of the roofs under which they were lodged.—<i>Taylor's History of + the Transmission of Ancient Books to Modern Times.</i></p> + <hr /> + <h3>A PERSIAN'S DESCRIPTION OF AN ENGLISH THEATRE.</h3> + <p>In Europe the manner in which plays are acted, and balls and musical parties + conducted, is (entirely) different from that of Hindoostan. The people of this + country (India) send for the singers to their own houses, where they view the + entertainments, and squander away a large sum of money for one night's (amusement.) + In Europe it is usual for a few individuals to enter into partnership, (or) as it is + called in English, a company. They fit up a house in which dancing girls, skilful + musicians, singers, and actors, are engaged to perform. The audience consists of from + three to four thousand people. The lower orders, who sit above all, give one + shilling, equal in value to half a rupee; the middle classes, who sit lowest off all, + a rupee and a half; and the great folks and noblemen, who sit (round) the middle of + the house, give two rupees and a half. Separate rooms (boxes) are allotted for them. + The place where the king sits is in front of the dancers. His majesty sits there + along with one or two of the princes, and these give each an ashrufee. Now it is to + be understood, that a poor man for eight anas, and a rich individual for two rupees + and a half, see a spectacle which is fit for royalty itself, and which the people of + this country have not even seen in their dreams. In one night the dancers and + musicians collect five or six thousand rupees, which cover the expenses, and the + audience is sufficiently amused.</p> + <p>It is the aim of this <i>caste</i> to accomplish great undertakings at little + expense. In Hindoostan, luxurious young men, for seeing a nautch [dance,] squander + away, in one night, one or two hundred rupees; and lakhs of rupees of patrimony, + which they may succeed to, in a short time take wing.</p> + <p>How can I describe the dances, the melodious sound of violins and guitars, and the + interesting stories which I heard, and (all the things) which I saw? My pen lacks + ability to write even a short panegyric.</p> + <p>From amongst all the spectacles, that of the curtains of seven colours (the + scenes) is exceedingly wonderful, for every instant a new painting is exhibited. Then + people, disguised like angels and fairies, the one moment come upon the stage and + dance, and the next vanish from the sight. There is also a man with a black face, who + is a kind of devil, and called harlequin; at one time he appears, and at another time + hides himself, and sometimes attaches himself to the others, and taking the hands of + the dancing girls, he dances with them; he then scampers off, and taking a leap, he + jumps through a window. At seeing this sport <span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" + name="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> I laughed very heartily. In a word, the (whole) + entertainment is excellent and wonderful.</p> + <p>Talking is not permitted in the theatre, although the crowd is great, yet there is + neither noise nor clamour. When a pleasing storey or adventure is heard or witnessed, + and they wish to express their approbation, instead of saying <i>shabash!</i> + [excellent] or <i>wah! wah!</i> [bravo! bravo!] they beat the floor with their feet, + or they clap their hands, by which they signify their approval.—<i>Travels of + Mirza Itesa Modeen in Great Britain and France.</i></p> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>MISCELLANIES.</h2> + <hr /> + <h3>LANDING IN INDIA.</h3> + <p>Nothing can be more ludicrous than a young Englishman's first landing in Calcutta. + The shore is thronged with the swarthy natives, eagerly awaiting his arrival. + Innumerable palanquins are brought down to the boat, and the bearers, like the + Paddington stagecoach men, are all violently struggling to procure a passenger. The + bewildered stranger is puzzled which to choose; and when he has made up his mind, he + finds it no easy matter to jostle through the countless rival conveyances which + completely surround him. He is also sure to make some laughable mistake in entering + the palanquin. It requires a certain tact to steady the vehicle as you throw yourself + into it, or it is apt to turn over, like a tailor's swinging cot. Another ridiculous + error which a stranger is liable to, is his endeavouring to seat himself on the + little drawer inside, supposing it to be intended for that purpose. But he soon + finds, after having doubled himself up, like people passing on a coach top under a + low gateway, that it would be utterly impossible to remain long in that position, + unless the human back were as pliable as a piece of whalebone. After all, perhaps, + the bearers are compelled to rest the palanquin on the ground, and the abashed + stranger, creeping hastily in, is glad to escape from the ill suppressed smiles of + the surrounding multitude.</p> + <p><i>London Weekly Review.</i></p> + <h3>INCUBATION AND AGE OF BIRDS.</h3> + <p>The full period of incubation by the hen in this country, is well known to be + twenty-one days. In warmer climates it is said to be a day or two less. The periods + of incubation vary much in different species of birds. We introduce the following + table, which has been compiled from different authors by Count Morozzo, in a letter + from him to Lacépépe, to show the periods of incubation compared with + those of the life of certain birds.</p> + <table width="100%" rules="groups"> + <colgroup> + <col /> + </colgroup> + <colgroup> + <col align="center" /> + </colgroup> + <colgroup> + <col align="center" /> + </colgroup> + <colgroup> + <col /> + </colgroup> + <thead> + <tr> + <th>Names of Birds</th> + <th>Periods of Incubation<br /> + (Days)</th> + <th>Duration of Life<br /> + (Years)</th> + <th>Authority</th> + </tr> + </thead> + <tbody> + <tr> + <td>Swan</td> + <td>42</td> + <td>About 200</td> + <td>Aldrovande</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Parrot</td> + <td>40</td> + <td>About 100</td> + <td>Wulmaer</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Goose</td> + <td>30</td> + <td>80 or more</td> + <td>Willoughby</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Eagle</td> + <td>30</td> + <td rowspan="4">Period of<br /> + life<br /> + not known.</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Bustard</td> + <td>30</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Duck</td> + <td>30</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Turkey</td> + <td>30</td> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Peacock</td> + <td>26 to 27</td> + <td>25 to 28</td> + <td>Aristot. & Pliny</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Pheasant</td> + <td>20 to 25</td> + <td>18 to 20</td> + <td>A Treatise on Pheasants</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Crow</td> + <td>20</td> + <td>100 or more</td> + <td>Hesiod</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Nightingale</td> + <td>19 to 20</td> + <td>17 to 18</td> + <td>Buffon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Hen</td> + <td>18 to 19</td> + <td>16 to 18</td> + <td>Buffon</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Pigeon</td> + <td>17 or 18</td> + <td>16 to 17</td> + <td>Several observations</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Linnet</td> + <td>14</td> + <td>13 to 14</td> + <td>Willoughby</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Canary</td> + <td>13 to 14</td> + <td>13 to 14</td> + <td>A Treatise on these birds</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Goldfinch</td> + <td>13 to 14</td> + <td>18 to 20</td> + <td>Buffon</td> + </tr> + </tbody> + </table> + <hr class="full" /> + <h2>THE GATHERER</h2> + <blockquote> + "I am but a <i>Gatherer</i> and disposer of other men's + stuff."—<i>Wotton.</i> + </blockquote> + <hr /> + <p>One of the band of Covent-Garden, who played the French horn, was telling some + anecdote of Garrick's generosity. Macklin, who heard him at the lower end of the + table, and who always fired at the praises of Garrick, called out, "Sir, I believe + you are a <i>trumpeter.</i>"—"Well, sir," said the poor man, quite confounded, + "and if I am, what then?"—"Nothing more, sir, than being a trumpeter, you are a + dealer in <i>puffs</i> by profession."</p> + <hr /> + <p>An Irish dignitary of the church (not remarkable for veracity) complaining that a + tradesman of his parish had called him a <i>liar</i>, Macklin asked him what reply he + made him. "I told him," says he, "that a lie was amongst the things I <i>dared</i> + not commit."—"And why, doctor," replied Macklin, "did you give the rascal <i>so + mean an opinion of your courage?</i>"</p> + <hr /> + <p>In the neighbourhood of Yeovil are now living, in the same house, and at the same + board, a man and his wife, two sons, three daughters, two grandsons, one + grand-daughter, one grandfather, two fathers, two mothers, one father-in-law, one + son-in-law, three brothers, three sisters, two brothers-in-law, two sisters-in-law, + two uncles, two aunts, two nephews, three nieces, three first cousins, one great + uncle, two great nephews, and one great niece; the whole consisting of seven + individuals only.</p> + <hr class="full" /> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> <b>Footnote 1</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag1">(return)</a> + <p>Sphinx ligustri, privet hank-moth.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> <b>Footnote 2</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag2">(return)</a> + <p>When at St. Helena, he was much troubled with toothache and scurvy in the + gums.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> <b>Footnote 3</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag3">(return)</a> + <p>Las Cases, Vol. I partie 2de, p. 5.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> <b>Footnote 4</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag4">(return)</a> + <p>The word biblos or byblos, was afterwards almost appropriated to books written + upon the paper of Egypt.</p> + </blockquote> + <blockquote class="footnote"> + <a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> <b>Footnote 5</b>: <a + href="#footnotetag5">(return)</a> + <p>De Re Diplomatica.</p> + </blockquote> + <hr class="full" /> + <i>Printed and Published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset-House,) and sold + by all Newsmen and Booksellers.</i> + <hr class="full" /> +<pre> + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, VOL. 10, ISSUE 265, JULY 21, 1827 *** + +This file should be named 8m26510h.htm or 8m26510h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8m26511h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8m26510ah.htm + + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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