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diff --git a/9919.txt b/9919.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfee0a5 --- /dev/null +++ b/9919.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1887 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and +Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 266, July 28, 1827, by Various + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 266, July 28, 1827 + +Author: Various + +Posting Date: December 6, 2011 [EBook #9919] +Release Date: February, 2006 +First Posted: October 31, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, JULY 28, 1827 *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's note: In "A Churchyard Scene" the word "iugrate" occurs in + the original text. This was probably a typographical + error, and the correct word was likely "ingrate." + + + + + +THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION. + +VOL. 10, No. 266.] SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1827. [PRICE 2d. + + + + * * * * * + + + + +CROYDON PALACE. + +[Illustration] + + +The palace of Croydon is a building of great antiquity, and was for +several centuries the magnificent abode of the haughty dignitaries of +Canterbury. At the period of the Conquest, Lanfranc resided here, and +most of the decrees and audits of his successors were issued from, and +held at, this palace. It was here that Archbishop Parker entertained his +queen, Elizabeth and her august court, with great splendour and +festivity; as also did the celebrated Whitgift, who refused to accept of +the high office of lord chancellor. Courtney received his pall here with +great solemnity and pomp in the presence of the chief nobility of the +realm; and Chichley, Stafford, Laud, Juxon, Wake, and Herring, made it +their frequent residence, and were liberal contributors to its +architectural beauties. The remains of this interesting fabric are, with +the exception of the hall, composed entirely of brick, occupying a +considerable space on the south-west side of Croydon church, and are in +some points peculiarly striking in local appearance; but on account of +their unconnected state, with the intervening screens of garden walls, +&c. the view is confined and partial. + +The grand hall is a lofty imposing structure, and at a casual +computation appears to contain an area of eight hundred square yards; +between which and the cornice, at the height of about fifteen feet, a +moulding or frieze is carried over the surface of each wall, from +whence, resting their bases on angels bearing, shields variously +blazoned, issue in the alternate spaces of twelve feet, five ligneous +pillars, supporting immense beams traversing the intervening distances +of the confronting sides. The roof is formed of large solid pieces of +timber, running diagonally to a point; the upper compartment of which +(springing from perpendicular posts), is ribbed so as to make it have +the appearance of a polygonal ellipsis. + +On the right of the southern entrance an escutcheon, surmounted by a +canopy, is fixed at a considerable height from the pavement, and must +have had formerly a splendid appearance, as faint traces even now of its +original pomp are discernible in the faint glittering of the gilding, +and the exquisite symmetry of its execution. The bearings appeared to me +as--party per pall,--dexter division.--Sapphire a cross gules ensigned +with fleur de lis between six martlets topaz.--Sinister--quarterly +sapphire and ruby, first and third, three fleur de lis; topaz, second +and fourth, three lions passant gardant of the same, supported by two +angels, and surmounted by a coronet; the whole resting on an angel +bearing a scroll with a motto in old English text, but illegible.[1] + + [1] I should feel highly obliged if any of your valuable + correspondents would favour me, through the medium of the + MIRROR, with the name of the noble to whom the above arms + appertained. + +This hall is now occupied by a carpenter, and is almost filled with old +furniture and timber; other parts of the building are appropriated for +charity-schools, and the trade of bleaching is practised in its +precincts. + +SAGITTARIUS. + + * * * * * + + + +FINE ARTS + + * * * * * + + +ENGLISH ACADEMIES FOR PAINTING ANTERIOR TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE +ROYAL ACADEMY IN LONDON. + + +The first attempt to form an academy for the encouragement of the fine +arts in this country was made in Great Queen-street, in the year 1697. +The laudable design was undertaken by Sir Godfrey Kneller, and by the +most respectable artists of the day, who endeavoured to imitate the +French Academy founded by Lewis XIV. Their undertaking, however, was +wholly without success; jealousies arose among the members, and they +were ultimately compelled to relinquish the project as fruitless. Sir +James Thornhill, a few years afterwards, commenced an academy in a room +he had built for the purpose at the back of his own residence, near +Covent-garden theatre; but his attempt, likewise, proved abortive. +Notwithstanding these failures, Mr. Vanderbank, a Dutchman, headed a +body of artists, and converted an old Presbyterian meeting-house into an +academy. Besides plaster figures, Mr. Vanderbank and his associates +procured a living female figure for study, which circumstance tended to +gain a few subscribers; but, in a very short space of time, for want of +money sufficient to defray the necessary expenses, all the effects +belonging to the establishment were seized for rent, and the members, in +disgust, accordingly separated. + +On the demise of Sir James Thornhill, in 1734, the celebrated William +Hogarth became possessed of part of his property.[2] Although much +averse to the principles on which academies were generally founded, Mr. +Hogarth considered that one conducted wisely would probably be of great +advantage to the public, as well as to the artists in general. He, +therefore, proposed, that a body of artists should enter into a +subscription for the purchase of a house sufficiently large and +capacious to admit thirty or forty persons to draw from a naked figure. +This proposition being unanimously agreed to, a place was forthwith +taken in St. Martin's-lane; and Hogarth, to forward the undertaking as +far as he could, lent them the furniture, &c. formerly belonging to Sir +James Thornhill's academy. + + [2] The remaining part was left to Lady Thornhill, who lived + several years with her son-in-law after the death of Sir James. + +The failure of all preceding attempts to form an academy was attributed +by Mr. Hogarth to the principal members assuming too much authority over +their brother artists; he, therefore, proposed, that every member should +contribute an equal sum of money to the establishment, and should have +an equal right to vote on every question relative to the society. He +considered electing presidents, directors, and professors, to be a +ridiculous imitation of the forms of the French Academy, and liable to +create jealousies.[3] Under Hogarth's guidance, the Academy continued +for thirty years, with little alteration, to the high satisfaction of +its several members, and the public in general. + + [3] Our Royal Academy is _now_ governed precisely on the same + principles as is the French Academy. What would Hogarth have + said, had he lived at the present day? + +On ascending the British throne, George III. evinced so much interest +for the arts, that most of the members of the academy (though contrary +to the wishes of their leader, who possessed a most independent spirit,) +solicited the royal patronage to a plan they had in view of establishing +an academy for _painting, sculpture_, and _architecture_. The success of +this appeal is too well known to English readers to need much comment. +His majesty was pleased to appropriate those very splendid apartments in +Somerset-house for the use of artists, who shortly formed a _new_ +society, over which, by his majesty's special command, the great Sir +Joshua Reynolds presided. + +G.W.N. + + * * * * * + + +VOLCANOES. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + +To describe the awful grandeur and terrific phenomena of volcanic +eruptions in an adequate manner, is perhaps beyond the power of +language. The number of volcanoes now known is about four hundred; +nearly all of them are situated a small distance from the sea, and many +appear to have been burning from time immemorial. + +A certain mixture of sulphur, steel-filings and water, buried a short +depth from the ground, will exhibit a kind of miniature volcano; and +hence some philosophers have concluded, that in the bowels of burning +mountains there are various sorts of bodies which probably ferment by +moisture, and being thus expanded, at last produce eruptions and +explosions. The mouth or chimney of a burning mountain is, in many +instances, upwards of a mile across! from which, in an eruption, are +emitted torrents of smoke and flame, rivers of lava, (consisting chiefly +of bitumen and melted metal,) and clouds of cinders, stones, &c. to an +immense distance. The wonderful quantity of these materials thrown out +from the orifice almost exceeds belief; the lava rushes like a fiery +torrent at a very rapid pace,--ravages the labours of agriculture, +overthrows houses, and in a few seconds utterly destroys the hopes of +hundreds of families--the toils of hundreds of years. Nothing impedes +its awful course; when interrupted by stone walls, or even rocks, it +collects in a few moments to the height of eight or ten feet; its +immense heat and violent pressure quickly batter down the obstacle, +which is literally made rotten by the fire, and the whole mass seems to +melt together into the lava, which again continues its progress until +exhausted by the distance of its destructive march. + +An English traveller, who was at Naples during the eruption of Mount +Vesuvius, on the 10th of September, 1810, thus describes the scene:-- + +"Curious to witness the volcano as near as possible, I set out for +Portici, where I arrived at eight in the evening; from thence to the +summit of the mountain the road is long and difficult; having procured a +guide about the middle of the distance, we had to climb a mountain of +cinders, every step nearly knee-deep; this made it near midnight when we +reached the crater, which we approached as near as the heat would +permit. The fire of the mountain served us for a beacon, and we set +light to our sticks in the lava, which slowly ran through the hollows of +the crater. The surface of the inflamed matter nearly resembles metal in +a state of fusion, but as it flows it carries a kind of scum, which +gradually hardens into scoria and rolls like fire-balls to the bottom of +the mountain. We thought ourselves pretty secure in this spot, and had +no wish to retire; but shortly a most terrific explosion which launched +to an inconceivable height in the air, immense fragments of burning +rocks, &c. reminded us of our dangerous situation. We lost not a moment +in retreating, and driven on by fear almost with miraculous speed, +cleared in about five minutes, a space we had taken two hours to climb; +we had hardly gained this spot when a second explosion more terrible, if +possible, than the former was heard. The volcano in all its fury vomited +forth some thousands of cart-loads of stones and burning lava. As the +projection was nearly vertical, the greater part fell back again into +the mouth of the mountain and this was again vomited forth as before. On +the 11th and 12th, the fury somewhat abated, but on the 13th a fresh +eruption commenced, and burning matter flowed down all the sides of the +volcano;--all Vesuvius itself seemed on fire,--not a vestige of property +for miles could be discovered, and thousands of families were ruined." + +JACOBUS. + + * * * * * + + +A CHURCHYARD SCENE. + + + How sweet and solemn, all alone, + With reverend steps, from stone to stone, + In a small village churchyard lying, + O'er intervening flowers to move! + And as we read the names unknown + Of young and old to judgment gone, + And hear in the calm air above + Time onwards softly flying, + To meditate, in Christian love, + Upon the dead and dying! + Across the silence seem to go + With dream-like motion, wavery, slow, + And shrouded in their folds of snow, + The friends we loved long, long ago! + Gliding across the sad retreat, + How beautiful their phantom feet! + What tenderness is in their eyes, + Turned where the poor survivor lies + 'Mid monitory sanctities! + What years of vanished joy are fanned + From one uplifting of that hand + In its white stillness! when the shade + Doth glimmeringly in sunshine fade + From our embrace, how dim appears + This world's life through a mist of tears! + Vain hopes! blind sorrows! needless fears! + + Such is the scene around me now: + A little churchyard on the brow + Of a green pastoral hill; + Its sylvan village sleeps below, + And faintly here is heard the flow + Of Woodburn's summer rill; + A place where all things mournful meet, + And yet the sweetest of the sweet, + The stillest of the still! + With what a pensive beauty fall + Across the mossy, mouldering wall + That rose-tree's clustered arches! See + The robin-redbreast warily, + Bright through the blossoms, leaves his nest: + Sweet iugrate! through the winter blest + At the firesides of men--but shy + Through all the sunny summer-hours, + He hides himself among the flowers + In his own wild festivity. + What lulling sound, and shadow cool + Hangs half the darkened churchyard o'er, + From thy green depths so beautiful + Thou gorgeous sycamore! + Oft hath the holy wine and bread + Been blest beneath thy murmuring tent, + Where many a bright and hoary head + Bowed at that awful sacrament. + Now all beneath the turf are laid + On which they sat, and sang, and prayed. + Above that consecrated tree + Ascends the tapering spire, that seems + To lift the soul up silently + To heaven with all its dreams, + While in the belfry, deep and low, + From his heaved bosom's purple gleams + The dove's continuous murmurs flow, + A dirge-like song, half bliss, half woe, + The voice so lonely seems! + + * * * * * + + + +ANECDOTES AND RECOLLECTIONS + + Notings, selections, + Anecdote and joke: + Our recollections; + With gravities for graver folk. + + * * * * * + + +SHERIDAN. + + +It was at the strongly contested election for Westminster, when Sheridan +was opposed by Sir Francis Burdett and Lord Cochrane, that the latter, +in allusion to the orator's desire of ameliorating his situation on the +poll by endeavouring to blend his cause with that of the baronet, +characteristically observed, "that the right honourable gentleman sought +to have his _little skiff_ taken _in tow_ by the _line of battle ship_ +of Sir Francis." Sheridan, in whom the metaphor had awakened the +remembrance of the remarkable and successful influence of his speech in +the House of Commons on the occasion of the mutiny at the Nore, in +calming the irritation of the rebels and reducing them to obedience, in +reply to his lordship, bade him "to recollect that it was that _little +skiff_ which once brought the whole navy of England safely into port." + +The election drew towards its termination, but all the efforts of his +friends had proved unavailing to secure Sheridan's return, although his +minority was any thing but formidable. The interest that attended the +contest had, at its close, become intense; and every spot, whence the +candidates might be seen or heard, was crowded in the extreme. A sailor, +anxious to acquire a view of the scene of action, after all his exertion +to push his way through the crowd had proved fruitless, resorted to the +nautical expedient of climbing one of the poles which supported a booth +directly in front of the hustings, from the very top of which Jack was +enabled to contemplate all that occurred below. As the orator commenced +his speech, his eye fell on the elevated mariner, whom he had no sooner +observed than he rendered his situation applicable to his own, by +stating that "had he but other five hundred voters as _upright_ as the +_perpendicular_ gentleman before him, they would yet place him where +_he_ was--_at the head of the pole_." + +Often were his addresses to his constituents interrupted by the tumult +that arose from the anxiety of the public to get within hearing of him. +A person, mounted on horseback, had penetrated to the very centre of the +crowd, with more regard for himself than consideration towards others, +as the animal he rode, affrighted by the noise, became equally annoying +and dangerous to those by whom he was surrounded. The outcry was +excessive, and, while some strove to appease the clamour, others urged +Sheridan to proceed. "Gentlemen," replied he to the latter, "when the +_chorus of the horse and his rider_ is finished, I shall commence." + +His good humour was at no time disturbed during the election, although +the observations of his noble Caledonian opponent manifested no amicable +disposition towards the orator. As it terminated, a mutual friend of the +rival candidates expressed a hope that, with the contest, all animosity +should cease; and that the gallant officer should drown the memory of +differences in a friendly bottle. "With all my heart," said Sheridan, +"and will thank his lordship to make it _a Scotch pint_." + +His treatment of Coleridge, the poet, who had submitted a tragedy to his +managerial decision, was wholly unmerited by the author, the success of +whose piece subsequently so well justified the better claims it had on +Sheridan's attention. In the cavern scene, where the silence of the +place is presumed to be only broken by the slow dropping of the water +from its vault, Sheridan, in reading it to his friends, repeated the +words of one of the characters, in a solemn tone, "Drip! drip! drip!" +adding, "Why, here's nothing but _dripping_:" but the story is told by +Coleridge himself, in the preface to his tragedy, with that good humour +and frankness becoming one sensible of his powers, and conscious that +the witty use of an unfortunate expression (were it such) could but +little affect the real and numerous beauties of the production. + +An author, whose comedies, when returned upon his hands, were generally +reduced, by the critical amputation of managers, from the fair +proportion of five acts to two, or even one, with the ordinary +suggestion of "_necessary alteration_," &c. complained in wrath and +bitterness to Sheridan, who, it is said, attempted to console him, by +saying, "Why, my good fellow, what I would advise you is, to present a +comedy of a _score_ of acts, and the devil will be in it if _five_ be +not saved." + +I have heard it said, that, at the first performance of _The Critic_, +Sheridan had adopted, as the representative of Lord Burleigh, an actor +whose "looks profound" accorded with his "ignorance;" but who, until +then, had only aspired to the livery of the theatre--the placing of +chairs, or the presentation of a letter; yet who, in this humble display +of histrionic art, generally contrived to commit some egregious blunder. +He was remonstrated with, on his choice, by one of the performers, who +demonstrated the excessive dulness of apprehension of _the would-be +Minister of State_; and, like other and recent instances in that +capacity, his singular aptitude to error, however simple the part he had +to enact, or clear and concise the instructions with which it might be +accompanied. As Sheridan had planned the character, the face was every +thing, and the lengthened, dull, and inexpressive visage of the subject +was too _strictly ministerial_ to be lost; and the author would, as he +said, "defy him to go wrong," Still his friend was sceptical; nor were +his doubts removed by Sheridan's assuring him that the representative of +Lord Burleigh "would have only to look wise, shake his head, and hold +his tongue;" and he so far persisted as to lay a bet with the author +that some capital blunder would nevertheless occur. The wager was +accepted, and, in the fulness of his confidence, Sheridan insisted that +the actor should not even rehearse the part, and yet that he should get +through with it satisfactorily to the public and himself on the night of +the first performance. It came. The arbiter of hopes and fears appeared +in all the "bearded majesty" of the age of Elizabeth; and, flattered by +the preference of the great author, had carefully conned over the +following instructions:--"Mr. ----, as Lord Burleigh, will advance from +the prompter's side;--proceed to the front of the stage;--fall back to +where Mr. G---- stands as Sir Christopher Hatton,--shake his head and +exit." The important moment came. With "stately step and slow," Lord +Burleigh advanced in face of the audience. "Capital!" exclaimed the +gratified author;--with equal correctness he retreated to the side of +Sir Christopher, without _literally falling back_, which Sheridan had +for a moment doubted might be the case. "Good! a lucky escape though." +half faltered the anxious poet. "Now! now!" he continued, with eager +delight at having got so far so well; but, what was his horror, when his +unlucky pupil, instead of shaking his _own_ blundering head, in strict +but unfortunate interpretation of his orders, took _that_ of Sir +Christopher within his hands, shook it long and manfully, and then +walked off with a look of exultation at having so exactly complied with +his lesson.--_New Monthly Magazine_. + + +WONDERFUL PECULIARITY IN THE ENGLISH CHARACTER! + + +The French, however wretched may be their condition, are attached to +life, while the English frequently detest life in the midst of affluence +and splendour. English criminals are not dragged, but run to the place +of execution, where they laugh, sing, cut jokes, insult the spectators; +_and if no hangman happens to be present, frequently hang +themselves_.--_Memoirs of Lewis Holberg_. + + * * * * * + + +STANZAS. + +BY THE AUTHOR OF "FIELD FLOWERS," &C. + +(_For the Mirror_.) + + + I smiled, for not a cloud was seen o'er the blue heaven's expanse, + As summer's myriad insect tribe led on the winged dance; + The gaudy butterfly was there ranging from flower to flower, + And by its side the wild bee humm'd amid the woodbine bower. + + I sighed, for when I looked again the sky was overcast, + The summer insect's winged dance was o'er, yet on I past, + The gaudy butterfly was gone, the bee away had fled, + While on each fairest, brightest flower the wasteful locust fed. + + Yet e'en this simple scene to youth a moral shall convey, + Since thus full oft misfortune's clouds obscure life's summer ray; + To-day we smile, for beauty smiles in all her spring-tide bloom-- + To-morrow sigh, for beauty's bower has now become her tomb! + +H. B. + + * * * * * + + + +SELECT BIOGRAPHY. + +No. LVI. + + * * * * * + + +GILBERT BURNS. + + +Gilbert Burns was born about the year 1760. He was eighteen months +younger than his brother Robert, Scotland's most gifted bard. With him +he was early inured to toil, and rendered familiar with the hardships of +the peasant's lot; like him, too, he was much subject to occasional +depression of spirits, and from whatever cause, he had contracted a +similar bend or stoop in the shoulders; his frame, like that of Robert, +was cast in a manly and symmetrical mould. The profile of his +countenance resembled that of his brother, and their phrenological +developments are said to have been not dissimilar; the principal +disparity lay in the form and expression of the eye, which in Gilbert +was fixed, sagacious, and steady--in Robert, almost "in a fine +frenzy rolling." + +Gibert Burns was the archetype of his father, a very remarkable man; his +piety was equally warm and sincere; and, in all the private relations of +life, as an elder of the church, a husband, a father, a master, and a +friend, he was preeminent. His writings want that variety, originality, +and ease, which shine so conspicuously even in the prose works of the +poet; but they have many redeeming points about them. His taste was as +pure as his judgment was masculine. He has been heard to say, that the +two most pleasurable moments of his life were--first, when he read +Mackenzie's story of La Roche, and secondly, when Robert took him apart, +at the breakfast or dinner hour, during harvest, and read to him, while +seated on a barley sheaf, his MS. copy of the far-famed Cotter's +"Saturday Night." + +When Robert Burns was invited by Dr. Blacklock to visit Edinburgh, +Gilbert was struggling in the unthrifty farm of Mosgiel, and toiling +late and early to keep a house over the heads of his aged mother and +unprotected sisters. The poet's success was the first thing that stemmed +the ebbing tide of his fortunes. On settling with Mr. Creech, in +February, 1788, he received, as the profits of his second publication, +about 500l.; and, with that generosity which formed a part of his +nature, he immediately presented Gilbert with nearly half of his whole +wealth. Thus succoured, Gilbert married a Miss Breconridge, and removed +to a better farm at Dinning, in Dumfriesshire. While there, he was +recommended to Lady Blantyre, whose estates in East Lothian he +subsequently managed for nearly a quarter of a century. He died at +Grant's Braes, in the neighbourhood of Haddington, on one of the +Blantyre farms, on the 8th of April. He had no fixed complaint; but, for +several months preceding his dissolution, a gradual decay of nature had +been apparent. It is probable that his death was accelerated by severe +domestic afflictions; as, on the 4th of January, he lost a daughter, who +had long been the pride of his family hearth; and, on the 26th of +February following, his youngest son, a youth of great promise, died at +Edinburgh, of typhus fever, on the eve of his being licensed for the +ministry. Mrs. Burns, who brought him a family of six sons and five +daughters, of whom five sons and one daughter are living, survivors. + +It ought to be mentioned that the two hundred pounds which Robert Burns +lent to his brother, in the year 1788, was not repaid till 1820. Gilbert +was far from affluent; in early life he had to struggle even for +existence; and, therefore, to know that his aged mother and one or two +sisters, were properly supported, was, in the poet's eyes, a full +acquittance of all claims. The children of Robert viewed the subject in +the same light. In 1819, Gilbert Burns was invited by Messrs. Cadell and +Davies, to revise a new edition of his brother's works; to supply +whatever he found wanting, and correct whatever he thought amiss. He +accepted the invitation; and, by appending much valuable matter to the +late Dr. Currie's biography, he at once vindicated his brother's memory +from many aspersions which had been cast upon it, and established his +own credit as an author. On receiving payment for his labour, the first +thing he did was, to balance accounts, to the uttermost farthing, with +the widow and family of his deceased brother. The letter which +accompanied the remittance of the money was, in the highest degree, +creditable to his feelings. + +_Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS. + +No. XI. + + * * * * * + + +SPORTS OF THE BURMESE. + + +Shortly after our arrival at Prome we had an opportunity of witnessing +some boxing and wrestling matches, exercises which the Burmahs are very +fond of, and which they pride themselves much on excelling in. The +challenge is given by stepping to the front, and with the right hand +slapping the left shoulder, at the same time taunting the opponent in +order to excite him; the struggle does not last long, and when ended, no +animosity remains between the parties. + +Another amusement of the Burman youth deserves mentioning on account of +its singularity. This is a game at ball, played by six or eight young +men, formed in a circle; the ball is hollow, and made of wicker work; +and the art of the game consists in striking this upwards with the foot, +or the leg below the knee. As may be conceived, no little skill is +required to keep the ball constantly in motion; and I have often been +much entertained in watching the efforts made by the players to send the +ball high in the air, so that it should fall within the limits of the +ring, when it is again tossed by the foot of another. The natives of +Hindostan are not acquainted with this game, but it is said to be common +amongst the Chinese, Japanese, and other nations east of the Ganges. But +by far the most favourite amusements of the Burmahs are acting and +dancing, accompanied by music, which to my ear appeared very discordant, +although occasionally a few rather pleasing notes might be +distinguished. The principal instrument used in the Burman bands of +music is the kiezoop, which is formed of a number of small gongs, +graduated in size and tone on the principle of the harmonica, and +suspended in a circular frame about four feet high and five feet wide; +within which the performer stands, and extracts a succession of soft +tones, by striking on the gongs with two small sticks. Another circular +instrument (the boundah) serves as a bass; it contains an equal number +of different-sized drums, on which the musician strikes with violence, +with a view perhaps to weaken the shrill, discordant notes of a very +rude species of flageolet, and of an equally imperfect kind of trumpet, +which are usually played with a total disregard of time, tune, or +harmony. Two or three other instruments, similar in principle to the +violin, complete the orchestra. To Europeans, there was not much to +admire in the sounds produced by these instruments; neither did our +music appear to have many charms for the Burmahs, whom I have seen +present at the performance of some of Rossini's most beautiful airs, and +of different martial pieces, by one of our best regimental bands, +without expressing, either by their words or gestures, the least +satisfaction at what they heard. + +In condemning, however, the Bunnaa instrumental music generally, I would +observe, that some of the vocal airs have a very pleasing effect when +accompanied by the Patola. This is an instrument made in the fantastic +shape of an alligator; the body of it is hollow, with openings at the +back, and three strings only are used, which are supported by a bridge, +as in a violin. + +I chanced one day to meet with a young Burman who had been stone blind +from his birth, but who, gifted with great talent for music, used to +console himself for his misfortune by playing on this species of guitar, +and accompanying his voice. When I expressed a wish to hear him perform, +he immediately struck out a most brilliant prelude, and then commenced a +song, in a bold tone, the subject of which was a prophecy that had been +current at Rangoon before we arrived. It predicted the appearance of +numerous strangers at that place, and that two-masted ships would sail +up the Irrawaddy, when all trouble and sorrow would cease! Animated by +his subject, his voice gradually became bolder and more spirited, as +well as his performance, and without any hesitation he sung with much +facility two or three stanzas composed extempore. + +Changing suddenly from the enthusiastic tone, he commenced a soft +plaintive love-song, and then, after striking the chords for some time +in a wild but masterly manner, retired. I confess I felt much interested +in this poor fellow's performance, he seemed so deeply to feel every +note he uttered, particularly at one time, when he touched upon his own +misfortune, that it appeared Providence, in ordaining he should never +see, had endowed him with this "soul-speaking" talent in some measure to +indemnify him. + +The Burmahs, generally speaking, are fond of singing, and, in some +instances, I have heard many very good songs. The war-boat song, for +example, is remarkably striking. The recitative of the leading songster, +and then the swell of voices when the boatmen join in chorus, keeping +time with their oars, seemed very beautiful when wafted down the +Irrawaddy by the breeze; and the approach of a war-boat might always be +known by the sound of the well-known air. + +I have sometimes heard a trio sung in parts by three young girls, with a +correctness of ear and voice which would do credit to others than the +self-taught Burmahs. Many little songs, amongst others that commencing +"Tekien, Tekien," were composed and sung by the Burman fair in +compliment to their new and welcome visiters, the white strangers; but +these, of course, are long since consigned to oblivion, unless they +recollect with pleasure + + --"The grateful breath of song, + That once was heard in happier hours;" + +for it is very certain that the Bunnahs considered themselves quite +happy, when enjoying the transient glimpse of liberty, and the +advantages of a just government which were offered them during the short +stay of the British army at Prome. + +The Burman plays do not appear to be remarkable for the number of their +_dramatis personae_. In most there is a prince, a confidant, a buffoon or +two, and a due proportion of female characters, represented by boys +dressed in female attire. The dresses are handsome; and in one which I +attended, the dialogue appeared to be lively and well supported, as far +as I can judge from the roars of laughter which resounded from the +Burman part of the audience. One sentimental scene, in which the loving +prince takes leave of his mistress, and another where, after much +weeping and flirtation, she throws herself into his arms, were +sufficiently intelligible to us; but some, in which the jokes of the +clown formed the leading feature, were quite lost upon those who did not +understand the language. The place chosen for the representation was a +spot of ground outside of our houses, the heat being very great; and +here a circle was formed of carpets and chairs, lighted by torches +dipped in petroleum, which threw a brilliant flare around, though +accompanied by a most unpleasant odour. + +Dancing succeeded, and one or two young women were the performers; like +the Hindostanee Nautch, it merely consisted in throwing the body and +arms into numerous graceful and rather voluptuous postures; at the same +time advancing slowly, with a short steady step, and occasionally +changing it for a more lively figure. + +All this time the drums, cymbals, and clarionets were unceasing in their +discordant sounds, and, before long, fairly drove me from the field. + +_Two Years in Ava._ + + * * * * * + + + +THE NOVELIST. + +No. CVI. + + * * * * * + + +ROSALIE BERTON. + + +While passing some time in the south of France, I spent a few days at +S----, a town on the banks of the Loire, situated in that province, +which, from its fertility and beauty, is usually designated the garden +of France. + +S----, I had been informed, was a place famed alike for its vineyards +and its pretty girls, a coincidence certainly natural, since it fairly +may be supposed, that the sun which ripens the richest fruit in nature, +should alike mature its sweetest flowers, and perfect the beauties and +the charms of that sex, which is literally "like the fair flower in its +lustre." As the friend, by whom I was accompanied, was well known in the +place, we were soon introduced to a circle of respectable families; and +among others, to that of Berton, consisting of the father, mother, +and daughter. + +Rosalie Berton was the _belle_ of S----, or to borrow the far prettier +French phrase, she was "_la perle de ville_." And a sweet and lovely +girl she was, as ever the eye of affection hailed with delight. Her +charms had something of a peculiar style and character; for, with the +bright black eyes, and fine dark hair of the south, were united the fair +complexion and delicately tinted cheek of a northern beauty. Her face +was of a somewhat more pensive turn than usual, and her meek, mild +features, and soft dark eyes, bore traces of tender feeling and of +gentle thought; while so expressive was her countenance, that it +responded, at will, to her feelings, and the eye and the cheek which +were one moment impressed with melancholy, beamed forth the next with +all the warmth of intelligence, affection, or delight. Her +accomplishments were really of a superior kind; she walked with more +than the usual elegance of her country-women, and danced with equal +animation and grace. But her most attractive charm consisted in her +voice, which, though not particularly powerful, had a sweetness and a +melody which were perfectly delightful; so that never methinks have I +heard a softer strain, than when that fair girl was wont to sing to her +guitar the simple ballads and sweet romances of her native land. And her +musical talents were enhanced by her gentle, complying disposition, and +by the readiness with which she obeyed every call on her exertions. From +her music-master, who was a native of Italy, she also learnt Italian, +which she spoke with more fluency and correctness than is usual among +the French; she drew, moreover, with considerable taste. So affectionate +and so amiable was she, that she deserved all the encomiums of her +friends and even their hyperbolical compliments were scarcely +extravagant when applied to her. She was literally "_douce comme un +ange, jolie comme les amours;_" and, as the _ne plus ultra_ of merit in +France, she was "_tout a fait gentille_." She possessed also, +considerable dramatic skill and tact, and would, I think, have proved a +delightful acquisition to the stage, from the skill she displayed in +those little playful scenes, with which the French delight to +embellish life. + +We were favoured with a specimen of her talents in this way, on the +evening of our arrival. It was the fete day of madame, the mother of +Louise, and we were invited to be present. After some time passed in +taking refreshments, varied by dancing, conversation, &c., the little +ceremony of the evening commenced; the door opened, and a small but gay +procession entered the room. It consisted of several young persons, all +friends of the family, headed by Louise, who was charmingly dressed, and +looked altogether most lovely. She bore her guitar across her bosom, and +the instrument was encircled with a wreath of flowers. Each individual +carried some little offering, such as bottles of wine and liqueurs, +conserves and sweetmeats, flowers and fruit, &c. &c.; and these were +placed on the table, the whole group forming a circle round Rosalie, who +advanced to her mother, and sang to the guitar the well-known verses +consecrated to such occasions. + + Madame c'est aujourdhui votre fete, + C'est aussi celle de nos coeurs; + A vous chanter chacun s'apprete! + Et veut vous courouner de fleurs! + +The lovely girl then loosed the garland from her lyre, placed it with +light hand on the brow of her mother, and sank in a graceful bending +attitude to receive her parent's blessing. She was instantly raised, +fondly embraced by both her admiring parents, and with a repetition of +the song, the whole party left the room. The scene is long past, but I +have often recalled it since; and in many an hour of fancy and of +thought, have again beheld that fair girl kneeling to her mother, again +beheld her clasped to that mother's heart. Nor was the above the only +instance of her skill, every day presented some fresh instance of her +feeling and of taste. + +A _plaisanterie_, which proved very successful, was arranged as +follows:--We were sitting one evening up stairs, when we were attracted +by the performance of three musicians, who were singing in the _cour_. +The party consisted of two young men, and a female, who wore a veil; +they accompanied their songs by playing on the guitar; their performance +was evidently of a superior character; the music and the words were +Italian, and the voice of the female performer was eminently sweet and +touching. After listening some time with great delight-- + +"Go," said I to one of the party, "find Rosalie, and tell her to come +and listen to a better singer than herself, who will give her a _lecon +de chant_." + +This was said in the hearing of the foreign songstress, for whom it was +intended as a compliment, while, at the same time, some silver was +thrown upon the ground. But what was our surprise, when the lovely girl +threw aside her veil, exclaiming-- + +"He! bien messieurs et dames! vous ne connaissez donc plus votre pauvre +Rosalie!" + +Such was one of many pleasantries by which we were diverted and amused. +Idle fancies these indeed, and such as sterner judgments may deem +trifling or absurd, yet not uninteresting, since many of them evidently +afford vestiges of classic times and manners, transmitted through the +course of ages; nor unuseful, since they tend to smooth and adorn the +rugged way of life, and to strew its flinty path with flowers. + +With the charms and accomplishments which I have described, (and the +sketch can convey but a faint idea of those which she actually +possessed,) it cannot be supposed that Rosalie was destitute of +admirers. She had, indeed, had several, but their suits were all +unsuccessful. She had been addressed in turn by the _medecin_ of the +place--by the son of the President of the Tribunal du Commerce--and by a +nephew to a Monsieur de V----, the seigneur who resided at a +neighbouring chateau. But they were all, more or less, improper +characters; the _medecin_ was a gamester; the president's son a +drunkard, a character utterly despised in these parts; while the nephew +to the seigneur, was actually a _mauvais sujet_! What the French +precisely understand by a _mauvais sujet_, I never could exactly make +out; for, when impelled by curiosity to inquire, my queries were always +met by such a volley of vituperation, as left one altogether in the dark +with regard to the real nature of the charge. On the whole, I presume, +we are to consider a _mauvais sujet_ as a culprit, compared with whose +transgressions, the several enormities of gaming, drinking, and the +like, sink into mere peccadilloes. + +The parents of Rosalie (the parents settle all these matters in France), +on learning the character of their intended sons-in-law, dismissed them +one after the other; and Rosalie acquiesced in their determination with +a readiness and a decision, which did equal honour to her affection and +her judgment. + +So interesting a girl, however, was not likely to remain long without a +suitable admirer, and she speedily had another _affaire du coeur_. A +young and handsome _militaire_, a sous-lieutenant in the royal guard, +aspired to gain her hand, and to replace the vacancy in her affections. + +Henri Vaucouleurs was a fine, tall, dark, martial-looking young man (the +French make fine-looking soldiers), and, with his luxuriant mustachios +and the eager glance of his keen black eye, seemed the very _beau ideal_ +of a modern hero. Born at Mezieres, in the department of Ardennes, he +was cradled in the very lap of war, and was yet a mere boy; when, in the +summer of 1813, he joined the corps called the _garde d'honneur_. He +made the campaign of Germany, and was present in the battles of Leipzig +and of Hanau, in the last of which he received a ball in the right arm. +He shortly, however, resumed his post with the army assembled for the +defence of France, and at the battle of Laon received a severe _coup de +sabre_ on his forehead, the scar of which added much to the martial +aspect of his countenance. At the peace he joined the royal guard, in +which corps he still continued. He was really a very estimable and +engaging young man; and possessed more candour, intelligence, and good +sense, than I think I ever witnessed in a military man among the French. +His account of his campaigns was exceedingly modest, unaffected, and +intelligent, and his whole conversation and manner were of a superior +character. I remember, he spoke with great forbearance of the three +principal nations among the allies, the Russians, Prussians, and +Austrians; but inveighed, bitterly, against several of the auxiliaries, +who, he said, having received only benefits of the French emperor, +embraced the first opportunity offered by a reverse of fortune, to +desert and betray him. Of Napoleon, he spoke with enthusiasm as a +soldier; but with detestation, as an intoxicated and deluded tyrant, a +rash and desperate gamester, who sent forth his attached and devoted +soldiers, to be devoured by the destroying elements, without provision, +or scarcely a thought for their natural and indispensable wants. + +Such were the character and pretensions of him who was destined to gain +the affections of Rosalie. At first, he seemed to have but little chance +of success. Old people commonly entertain a prejudice against the +character and profession of military men, and are seldom ambitious of +such an alliance for a daughter. The parents of Rosalie were +prepossessed against Henri on account of his calling; and, though +Rosalie herself early entertained an interest in his favour, yet she was +too good and too _sage_ to cherish in herself, or to encourage in her +lover, an attachment which her parents might disapprove. Henri was, +however, admitted as a visiter at the house, and by degrees his amiable +manners and correct deportment won, first on the old lady, and then on +the father, till their scruples vanished, and, indeed, they wondered +they could ever have entertained any against so estimable a young man +and an officer. He was thus speedily received as the lover of Rosalie, +and about the time of my visit was installed in all the privileges of a +_bon ami_. He was equally accomplished with herself; spoke German +fluently, Italian passably well, and was an excellent performer on the +flute and the guitar; so that he was a fit companion for his charming +intended, and was able to assist in those refined and elegant +recreations, in which she also excelled. + +_(To be concluded in our next.)_ + + * * * * * + + + +SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS + + * * * * * + + +DOZING. + +"Dozing very much delights." + + +Our corporeal machinery requires an occasional relaxation, as much as +the steam engine does the application of oil to its divers springs; and, +after a _bona fide_ slumber, we rise with a freshness equal to that of +flowers in the best regulated flower-pots. But dozing must not be +confounded with legitimate sleep, though frequently tending to the same +purpose; it may be termed an embryo slumber, that entertaineth the body +with the most quiescent gentleness, acting on our senses as a sort of +mental warm bath; till, finally, the "material man" himself luxuriates +in tepidity. + +Nothing can be more ungodly than to enter the church with an express +purpose of dozing there. Arm-chairs, sofas, and beds are the legitimate +places for dozers. But there is no accounting for that conquering spirit +of all-besetting drowsiness that attacks us at sundry times and places. +It is in vain that we lengthen our limbs into an awakening stretch--that +we yawn with the expressive suavity of yawning no more--that we +dislocate our knuckle bones, and ruffle the symmetry of our visage, with +a manual application; like the cleft blaze of a candle, drowsiness +returns again. Well, then, what manner of reader is he that hath never +sinned by drowsing in church time? Let him read on; and I'll realize by +description what he has realized by endurance. + +It is after the embodying of a good dinner with ourselves, that doziness +is most tempting. You have dined at four o'clock to-day. Well, that's a +decent Sabbatical hour. After due potations of wine, coffee, &c. your +gratitude is awakened; and, like a good Christian, you arrange your +beaver, and walk off steadily to church. Now, remember, I give you full +credit for your wish to exhibit your external holiness--that you are +indeed conscious of the reverence that should accompany all your +engagements in the fane of the Deity; and yet I prognosticate that if +the Rev. Nabob Narcotic happen to preach this evening, you will, of a +surety, doze--infallibly doze--in the midst of his sermon! + +'Tis a summer month, and the very church windows seem labouring with a +fit perspiration. Horribly boring--isn't it? How your hat clings to your +moistened forehead, and the warm gloves droop from your fingers, like +roasting chicken! Get as much room as possible; tenderly pass little +miss there, and her unbreeched brother, over to their smiling mamma. Now +you have the balmy corner to yourself! "Psalms," first lesson--second +ditto--prayers--thanksgivings--all reverently attended to; there is a +little dreaminess settling on your lids--your lips begin to close with +languor; but you have not dozed. Let's hear the sermon. You are seated +with tolerable erectness; and, judging from the steady determination of +your eyebrows, one would imagine that your eyes would be open for the +whole of the discourse. But, alas! 'tis Mr. Narcotic, whose spectacled +nose is just verging above the crimson horizon of his pulpit.--"Awake, +thou that sleepest!" Why, the text is quite opposed to DOZINESS! But +what of this, if the preacher be addicted to drawling, the weather +unobligingly sultry, and you yourself have gradually been dwindling from +an uncongenial state of wakefulness into a sleepy calm? 'Tis too much +for beldame Nature, believe me! + +I perceive that you have rubbed the bridge of your nose several +times--that you have tried to swell forth your eyes with a full round +stare at the parson; but your stoicism "profiteth nothing." The sermon +is irreligiously long; and you are nodding--in a doze! Whether there be +much pleasure in a church doze, I am not presuming enough to determine. +For myself, I have found nothing more tantalizing than the endeavour to +restrain from an occasioned doze during church time. After a certain +period, I have perceived the parson diminishing, like a phantasmagoric +image--all the ladies' black bonnets sinking away, like a cluster of +clouds--and (shame on the confession!) I have performed head worship to +the front of my seat, instead of keeping an immovable post-like +position, before his reverence. However, a church doze is seldom admired +by the wakeful. Should an embryo snore escape from one's nose (and this +is possible,) some old grandam, or an upright piece of masculine +sanctity, is sure to rouse you; the former will either _hem_ you into +awakening shame, or drop her prayer-book on the floor; the latter will +most likely thump the same with the imperative tip of his boot. How +horridly stupid one seems after being aroused! The woman eyes you with +the most piquant, self-justifying sneer possible; while all her little +IMMACULATES, if she have any, look at you like so many hissing young +turkey cocks; and as for the man--bless his holiness!--he'd frown you +down to Hades at once. + +"My heart leaps up" when I behold a stage coach--that snug, panel +painted, comfortable wheel-whirling "thing of life." O ye days of +juvenilian sensibilities--ye eye-feeding, heart-rising scenes of +remembered felicity!--how glorious was the coach at the school door! The +whip--Ajax _Mastigoferos_ never had such a powerful one as the modern +Jehu! The spokes of the wheels--they were handled with admiring fingers! +That Jupiter-like throne, the coach-box--who would not have risked his +neck to have been seated on it? When all was "right," how eloquent the +lip-music of coachee! how fine the introductory frisks of the horses' +tails, and the arching plunge of the fore-foot--no rainbow-curve ever +was so beauteous! "Oh, happy days! who would not be a boy again?" But +away with my puerilities. I intend the reader to take a doze in that +comfortable repository for the person--the inside of a coach. + +With all the reckless simplicity of boyhood, I maintain that travelling +by coach is by no means the least of our sublunary pleasures. Man is a +_wheelable_ animal as well as walking one. Winter is the time for a nice +inside jaunt. What divine evaporations from the coachman's muzzle! What +a joyous creak in the down-flying steps!--and, oh! that comfortable +alertness with which we deposit ourselves in the padded corner, and fold +our coatflaps over our knees, glance at the frosty steam of the window; +and then, quite _a la Tityre_, repose our recumbent bodies at our ease! +Such moments as these are snatches of indefinable bliss. It would appear +probable, that a coach was a very inconvenient place for a doze; the +attendant bustle, the whip-smacks, bickering wheels, and +untranquillizing jolts-- + + "Like angels' visits, few and far between,"-- + +are not calculated for sleepiness. Notwithstanding these correlative +interruptions, a doze in the coach is by no means uncommon, even in the +daytime. Let us examine this a little more intellectually. + +Suppose a man is returning to his friends, with a mind composed, and +"all his business settled." (By-the-by, how vastly comprehensive this +speech is!) Suppose he has entered the coach about four in the +afternoon, and, by rare luck, finds he is, for the present, the only +inside passenger. Such a man, I say, will be likely to doze before +twenty miles have run under the coach-wheels--speaking _Hibernice_. For +the last half-hour, he will be thinking of himself--how many commissions +he has performed--how many he has left undone--and how many he intends +to do. The next, he will probably give to his home attractions--his +anxious wife, sat musingly round the tea-table--his favourite son George +(so like his father)--and all the nine hundred and ninety-nine pretty +nothings we hear of, after a brief absence. These will send his heart a +long way from the coach, and therefore keep him in the full enjoyment of +wakefulness. But this train of delectable musing is by no means +exhaustless. The roll of the wheels gradually becomes naturalized to the +ear, and the body moves in sympathy with the coach; the road gets very +monotonously barren; the lounge in the corner--how suitable then to this +solitary languor! Lulled here, the traveller for awhile admires the +leathern trappings of the coach, hums a tune perhaps, and affects a +dubious whistle. Meantime the operations of _doziness_ have been gently +applying themselves. His eye is sated with the road and the coach; his +hands become stationary on his lap; his feet supinely rested on the +opposite seat; his head instinctively motions to the corner--and he +dozes! A doze in the coach is the flower of dozes, when you are alone. +There, you may twist your person into any shape you please, without the +fear of discomposing a silken dress, or a nursemaid's petticoats. No +boisterous arguments from snuff-taking sexagenarians: all is placid +--Eden-like--just as a dozer's _sanctorum_ ought to be! The only thing +attendant on the doze of an inside passenger, is the great chance of +being suddenly aroused by the entrance of company. O tell me, ye of the +fine nerve, what is more vexing than to be startled from your nest by +the creaking slam of the steps, the bleak winter gales galloping along +your face, and a whole bundle of human beings pushing themselves into +your retreat! There is no rose without its thorn, as myriads have said +before me:-- + + ----"O beate Sexti, + Vitae summa brevis SPEM nos vetat inchoare LONGAM!" + +Not all the morose sarcasms of Johnson, on the pleasures of rural life, +have ever weakened my capability for enjoying it at convenient +intervals. His antipathy to the country resembled his contempt for +blank-verse--_he_ could not enjoy it. I have now moped away a +considerable number of months in this city of all things--this--this +London. "Well?" Pray restrain yourself, reader; I am coming to the point +in due season. During my metropolitan existence--although I am neither a +tailor, nor any trade, nor anything exactly--I have never beheld a +downright intellectual-looking blade of grass. I mean much by an +intellectual blade of grass. The Londoners--poor conceited +creatures!--have denominated sundry portions of their Babylon "fields." +But--I ask it in all the honest pride of sheer ignorance--is there the +ghost even of a bit of grass to be seen in many of them? I cannot easily +forget my vexation, when, after a tedious walk to one of those +misnomered "fields," I found nothing but a weather-beaten, muggy, smoky +assemblage of houses of all sizes, circumscribed by appropriate filth +and abundant cabbage-stumps. Innocent of London quackeries, I strolled +forth with the full hope of laying me down on a velvet carpet of +grass--the birds carolling around me--and, perchance, a flock of +lambkins, tunefully baying to their mammas!! "Said I to myself," when I +reached these fields, "what a fool I am!" I had contemplated a doze on +the grass. + +But leaving all thoughts of disappointment, who will not allow that +there is something exceedingly delightful in dozing calmly beneath the +shade of an o'er-arching tree? + + ----"recubans sub tegmine fagi." + +Of course, the weather should be fine, to admit of this luxurious +idleness. Let the blue-bosomed clouds be sailing along, like Peter +Bell's boat; let the sunbeams be gilding the face of nature, and tinging +the landscape with multiform hues; let the breezes be gentle, the spot +retired, and the heart at ease. Now, go and stretch yourself on the +grassy couch, while the branches of an aged tree shadow forth the imaged +leaves around you. What a congenial situation for philosophy--under an +old tree, on a sunny summer day! How much more becoming than the +immortal tub of the sour-minded Diogenes? Who will be able to refrain +from philosophizing. I repeat it, beneath such an old tree? 'Tis at such +times that the heart spontaneously unbends itself--that the fancy +tranquillizes its thoughts--and that memory awakens her + + ----"treasured pictures of a thousand scenes." + +Place the palms of your hands beneath your pole, and survey the +skies!--calm, beautifully unconscious! By-gone times, and by-gone +friends--the thousand commingling scenes of varied life--how they all +recur to you now! You fancy you could lie beneath the tree for +eternity--so soothing is the employment of doing nothing--or field +philosophy! Yet, to speak correctly, you are doing a great deal; your +imagination is flying in all directions--from the death of Caesar to the +last cup of Congou that you took with a regretted friend. What a mystery +your existence is! The world turns round as gently as ever; the flowers +bud into life; and the winter nips them. Man lives, thinks, and dies. +All very wondrous truisms. Well, after a half-hour--or perchance +more--you will be gradually relapsing into a state of soporific +nothing-at-all-ness (the best word I can find to express my meaning.) +May there be some clear little stream just behind you, laughing along +its idle way;--some chirping birds, singing their roundelay--some +buzzing flies--you will then be lulled into doziness. However, with or +without the purling murmur of the brook--the joyous warbling of the +birds--the busy bustling flies--you will not be able to resist the +dozing temptations that will steal over you. Your eyes will close gently +as flower-leaflets--your thoughts die away in a heavenly confusion--and +then you doze!--neither sleeping nor waking, but absolved in delicious +dreaminess! O, for such a doze!--_Monthly Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE SELECTOR, +AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS. + + * * * * * + + +THE CHINESE ALMANAC. + + +Notwithstanding the aversion of the Chinese to the profession of the +Roman Catholic religion, which has been shown, first by persecuting, and +then by expelling the Jesuits from the empire, the Chinese government +is, however, obliged to keep at least some missionaries at Pekin to +compile the almanac. While astrology has led in other nations to the +study of astronomy, the Chinese, though they have studied astrology for +some thousand years, have made no progress in the real knowledge of the +stars. Their ancient boasted observations, and the instruments which +they make use of, were brought by the learned men, whom Koubilai, the +grandson of Gingis Khan, had invited from Balk and Samarcand. The +government, at present, considers the publication of an annual calendar +of the first importance and utility. It must do every thing in its +power, not only to point out to its numerous subjects the distribution +of the seasons, the knowledge of which is essentially necessary to them, +to arrange the manner of gaining their livelihood, and distributing +their labour; but on account of the general superstition, it must mark +in the almanac, the lucky and unlucky days, the best days for being +married, for undertaking a journey, for making their dresses, for +buying, or building, for presenting petitions to the emperor, and for +many other cases of ordinary life. By this means, the government keeps +the people within the limits of humble obedience; it is for this reason +that the emperors of China established the academy of astronomy, but we +must not expect to find men really acquainted with that science. When +this illustrious body, composed of Mantchoos, and in which Europeans, +though subordinate, are the most active, condescended to look at the +planetarium, which was among the presents which the king of England sent +to the emperor of China by lord Macartney, Mr. Barrow was not able to +make the president of this learned society understand the real merit of +that instrument. Besides, how should a people be able to comprehend +astronomy, to know the position of the heavenly bodies, and determine +the orbits of the planets, while it is ignorant of the elements of +mathematics, and makes its calculations by the help of vertical +arithmetical tables, like those used by the shop-keepers in Russia, and +who are ignorant both of analysis and geometry?--_Timkowski's Mission +to China_. + + * * * * * + + +COMPARISON OF THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH. + + +The following are points of comparison which may be remarked in the +characters of the French and English. The French are great talkers, the +English great thinkers; the former excel in vivacity, the latter in +solidity of intellect. The French dress with splendour, the English with +neatness; the French live almost exclusively on bread, the English on +meat. Both are passionate; but it is the blood which rouses the passion +of a Frenchman, and the bile which exasperates an Englishman. The anger +of a Frenchman is more violent, that of an Englishman more pertinacious. +A Frenchman spends his money on his clothes, an Englishman on his belly. +A Frenchman follows the stream, an Englishman delights in struggling +against it. The friendships of the French are quickly formed, and as +quickly dissolved; those of the English are formed slowly, and as slowly +relinquished. The French respect their superiors, the English respect +themselves; the former are better citizens, the latter better men. The +mental endowments of the French are of a more refined, those of the +English of a loftier, character. The French practise virtue for the sake +of reputation, and seek the reward of meritorious actions in popular +applause; the English practise it for its own sake, and seek no reward +but that which springs from the consciousness of rectitude. There is the +same relative difference in their vices as in their virtues. Both commit +crimes; the French from the love of gain, the desire of vengeance or +similar motives; but the English are often criminal for the mere sake of +committing crime. The French, like the people of other countries, often +commit crimes in the hope of escaping punishment, but the English +frequently commit crimes because they know they cannot escape +unpunished; so that the very severity of the law, which deters others +from crime, often operates as an additional stimulus on the English for +the commission of offences, "I would commit this offence," exclaims the +Frenchman, "if the law permitted it." "I would not commit this offence, +if it were not prohibited by law," is frequently the language of the +Englishman.--_Memoirs of Lewis Holberg_. + + * * * * * + + +LEAVES AND FLOWERS, OR THE LOVER'S WREATH. + + + With tender vine-leaves wreathe thy brow, + And I shall fancy that I see, + In the bright eye that laughs below, + The dark grape on its parent tree. + 'Tis but a whim--but, oh! entwine + Thy brow with this green wreath of mine. + + Weave of the clover-leaves a wreath, + Fresh sparkling with a summer-shower, + And I shall, in my fair one's breath, + Find the soft fragrance of the flower. + 'Tis but a whim--but, oh! do thou + Twine the dark leaves around thy brow. + + Oh, let sweet-leaved geranium be + Entwined amidst thy clustering hair, + Whilst thy red lips shall paint to me, + How bright its scarlet blossoms are. + 'Tis but a whim--but, oh! do thou + Crown with my wreath thy blushing brow. + + Oh, twine young rose-leaves round thy head, + And I shall deem the flowers are there,-- + The red rose on thy rich cheek spread, + The white upon thy forehead fair. + 'Tis but a whim--but, oh! entwine + My wreath round that dear brow of thine. + +_The Draught of Immortality, &c._ + + * * * * * + + + +ARTS AND SCIENCE + + * * * * * + + +FLATTENING OF THE EARTH. + + +At the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a memoir was read by Captain +Duperrey, on the experiments made with the invariable pendulum, during +the voyage of the _Coquille_ round the world. He states that various +experiments confirmed the fact of the flattening of the terrestrial +globe, conjectured by several travellers, who had remarked that the +number of oscillations which the pendulum made at certain places, +differed from what had been observed in the extent of the same parallel. +The principal anomalies observed by Captain Duperrey were at the Isle of +France, Mons, Guam, and the Island of Ascension. At the Isle of France, +the invariable pendulum (as had been remarked by M. Freycinet) made in +one day, upon an average, thirteen or fourteen oscillations more than it +ought, supposing the depression to be 1.305, according to the lunar +theory. At Ascension, the acceleration, as noticed by Captain Sabine, +was five or six oscillations, even supposing the depression to be 1.228. +At other stations the difference was almost nothing; and in some, the +motion of the pendulum was retarded. Such differences, Captain Duperry +remarks, between the results of experiment and those given by theory, +cannot be attributed to errors of observation. He is disposed to refer +the cause of the phenomena, with Captain Sabine, to the want of +homogeneousness in the earth, considered as a mass, or to the mere +variations of density in the superficial strata. What tends to confirm +this hypothesis, he says, is, that all observations show that an +acceleration of the pendulum generally takes place on volcanic ground +and a retardation on such as is sandy and argillaceous. A very important +question to ascertain is, whether the flattening is exactly the same in +both hemispheres. From the observations of Captains Duperrey and +Freycinet, it appears that in the southern hemisphere it is 1.291, and +in the northern 1.288; that is to say, it is sensibly the same, or +1.290 in both. + + * * * * * + + +HABITS OF PLANTS. + + +The following curious observations on the habits of plants, were made by +General Walker, in his address to the Agricultural Society of St. +Helena, in February last:--"The functions of plants, as well as of +animals, depend upon the air in which they live. I have observed that +those of St. Helena, which have been brought from another hemisphere, +are very irregular in their annual progress; many of them, in the +development of their foliage, have adopted the law of nature peculiar to +the country into which they have been transplanted. Others, more +obstinate, remain faithful to their own habits, and continue to follow +the stated changes to which they had been accustomed. They all appear to +maintain a struggle either before they adopt the habits which belong to +the seasons of their new country, or decide on retaining their relations +with the old. In yielding to external circumstances, they appear to have +different tempers. This appearance of contention is often observed in +plants of the same species; they seem to hesitate and deliberate, ere +they adopt the mode of performing the functions of life. At length when +the decision is made, apparently not without pain and effort, we are at +a loss to discover an adequate cause. An oak, for instance, which loses +its leaves in a St. Helena winter of 68 degrees, scarcely experiences +the difference of temperature, which, reasoning by analogy, could cause +that change. It would have continued to maintain inflexibility, in its +original climate, its old habits, though exposed to far greater +irregularity and severity of climate. But though the law is obeyed by +many plants, it does not determine the periodical changes of the whole, +nor do they all submit to it with equal readiness and regularity. It +would add, I conceive, to the natural history of vegetation, and improve +our knowledge of the geography of plants, were the facts concerning +their habits and changes, under different temperatures, carefully +collected." + + * * * * * + + + +MISCELLANIES. + + * * * * * + + +HUMAN CREDULITY. + + +The wonderful miracles wrought by Bridget Bostock, of Cheshire, who +healed all diseases by prayer, faith, and an embrocation of fasting +spittle, induced multitudes to resort to her from all parts of the +country, and kept her salival glands in full employ. Sir John Pryce, +with a high spirit of enthusiasm, wrote to this woman to make him a +visit at Newton Hall, in order to restore to him his third, a favourite, +wife. His letter will best tell the foundation on which he built his +strange hope, and every uncommon request. + + _To Mrs. Bridget Bostock._ + + Madam,--Having received information, by repeated advices, both + public and private, that you have of late performed many + wonderful cures, even where the best physicians have failed; + and that the means used appear to be very inadequate to the + effect produced; I cannot but look upon you as an extraordinary + and highly favoured person. And why may not the same most + merciful God, who enables you to restore sight to the blind, + hearing to the deaf, and strength to the same, also enable you + to raise the dead to life? Now, having lately lost a wife, whom + I most tenderly loved, my children a most excellent + step-mother, and our acquaintances a most dear and valuable + friend, you will lay us all under the highest obligations; and + I earnestly entreat you, for God Almighty's sake, that you will + put up your petitions to the Throne of Grace on our behalf, + that the deceased may be restored to us, and the late dame + Eleanor Pryce be raised from the dead. If your personal + attendance appears to you to be necessary, I will send my coach + and six, with proper servants to wait on you hither, whenever + you please to appoint. Recompense of any kind that you may + please to propose would be made with the utmost gratitude; but + I wish the bare mention of it is not offensive to both God + and you. + + I am, madam, + + Your most obedient, and very much afflicted, humble servant, + + JOHN PRYCE. + + +THEOLOGICAL WIT. + + +The late Rev. Thomas Toller, an eminent dissenting minister, (joint +preacher with the celebrated Dr. James Fordyce, at Monkwell-street,) +resided many years in the Lower-street, Islington. One day, when he got +into the stage to come to London, he met with two ladies of his +acquaintance, and a loquacious young Irishman, who was very obtrusive +with his "would-be wit" to the females. The coachman soon stopped to +take up another passenger, who, Dutchman-like, was "_slow to make +haste_." A young dog, being confined in the neighbourhood, bewailed its +loss of liberty, by making an hideous noise; which all the party agreed +was very disagreeable. The Hibernian, desirous to display his wit, and +to _quiz_ the parson, said, "The animal was so unpleasantly noisy, it +must be a presbyterian _dog_." Mr. Toller calmly, but with much apparent +confidence, said, "I am sure it is an Irish dog."--"How do you know +that?" exclaimed the astonished young man with eagerness.--"I know it, +sir," (replied the divine,) "by its impudence and its howl." This +seasonable retort cured the garrulity of the patient, and gave him a +locked-jaw till the stage arrived at the Royal Exchange. + + +RAMSDEN THE OPTICIAN. + + +It was his custom, to retire in the evening to what he considered the +most comfortable corner in the house, and take his seat close, to the +kitchen fireside, in order to draw some plan for the forming a new +instrument, or scheme for the improvement of one already made. There, +with his drawing implements on the table before him, a cat sitting on +the one side, and a certain portion of bread, butter, and a small mug of +porter placed on the other side, while four or five apprentices commonly +made up the circle, he amused himself with either whistling the +favourite air, or sometimes singing the old ballad of + + "If she is not so true to me, + What care I to whom she be? + What care I, what care I, to whom she be!" + +and appeared, in this domestic group, contentedly happy. When he +occasionally sent for a workman, to give him necessary directions +concerning what he wished to have done, he first showed the recent +finished plan, then explained the different parts of it, and generally +concluded by saying, with the greatest good humour, "Now see, man, let +us try to find fault with it;" and thus, by putting two heads together, +to scrutinize his own performance, some alteration was probably made for +the better. But, whatever expense an instrument had cost in forming, if +it did not fully answer the intended design, he would immediately say, +after a little examination of the work, "Bobs, man! this won't do, we +must have at it again;" and then the whole of that was put aside, and a +new instrument, begun. By means of such perseverance, he succeeded in +bringing various mathematical, philosophical, and astronomical +instruments to perfection. The large theodolite for terrestrial +measurements, and the equal altitude instrument for astronomy, will +always be monuments of his fertile, penetrating, arduous, superior +genius! There cannot be a lover (especially of this more difficult part) +of philosophy, in any quarter of the globe, but must admire the +abilities, and respect the memory, of Jesse Ramsden--_Practical +Observations on Telescopes_. + + * * * * * + + + +THE GATHERER. + +"I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's stuff."--_Wotton_. + + * * * * * + + +Mr. Kelly, in his "Reminiscences," relates, that in 1792 he was walking +in the Place Vendome with two Irish gentlemen, a Colonel Stark Macarthy +and a Captain Fagan, the latter possessing "a vast portion of the ready +wit of his country." Coming to the celebrated statue of Victory holding +the laurel crown over the head of Louis XIV., a French officer was +enumerating the splendid achievements of that heroic king, and +particularly desired us to observe the attitude of the figure of +Victory. "Pray, sir," said Fagan, "may I take the liberty of asking the +question--Is Victory putting the laurel on his majesty's head, or taking +it off?" The question puzzled the Frenchman, and made us +laugh heartily. + + * * * * * + + +Parr carried his compassion towards the inferior tribes so far, that two +or three hares found a secure asylum for nearly two years in his garden +at Hatton. He said that they were his clients, for they had placed +themselves under his protection. He gave strict orders that they should +not be shot. "It would be a gross violation," he said, "of a tacit +covenant of hospitality." + + * * * * * + + +A few months since, a noble marquis bespoke a play at a country +theatre, the representation of which Mr. Canning, prime minister, +honoured with his presence. The boxes and other parts of the house were +crammed, with the exception of the pit, which looked beggarly; on which +an actor observed to a brother of the sock, "We've no _pit_ +to-night."--"No _Pitt_!" rejoined the other, "and none we want while we +have a _Canning!_" + + * * * * * + + + +_Printed and published by J. LIMBIRD, 143, Strand, (near Somerset +House,) and sold by all Newsmen and Booksellers._ + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, +and Instruction, Vol. 10, Issue 266, July 28, 1827, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MIRROR OF LITERATURE, JULY 28, 1827 *** + +***** This file should be named 9919.txt or 9919.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/9/9/1/9919/ + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram and Project Gutenberg +Distributed Proofreaders + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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