Title: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 10, No. 274, September 22, 1827
Author: Various
Language: English
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THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.

VOL. X, NO. 274.] SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1827. [PRICE 2d.



ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATIONS.

No. II.


[Illustration: THE TEMPLE CHURCH.]


The Temple Church,[1] London, was erected in the twelfth century; but
among antiquarians considerable difference of opinion at various times
prevailed as to who were the original builders of these round churches,
which form the most striking and beautiful specimens of the architectural
skill of our Anglo-Norman ancestors. In England there are four examples of
round churches, almost in perfect preservation, namely, the church of St.
Mary, Temple; St. Sepulchre, Northampton; St. Mary, Cambridge; and that of
Little Maplestead, Essex. It was long thought that they were of Jewish
origin; but through the ingenious and learned essays of Mr. Essex and of
Mr. Britton, this erroneous notion has been entirely removed. Mr. Essex, in
his Essay, observes, in support of his opinion, that "their Temple at
Jerusalem was not of a circular form, neither was the Tabernacle of Moses;
nor do we find the modern Jews affect that figure in building their
synagogues. It has, however, been generally supposed that the round church
at Cambridge, that at Northampton, and some others, were built for
synagogues by the Jews while they were permitted to dwell in those places.
But as no probable reason can be assigned for this supposition, and I think
it is very certain that the Jews who were settled in Cambridge had their
synagogue, and probably dwelled together in a part of the town now called
the Jewry, so we may reasonably conclude the round churches we find in
other parts of this kingdom were not built by the Jews for synagogues,
whatever the places may be called in which they stand."--It has been
generally allowed by these and other writers on archaeology, that the
primitive church of this form was that of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem,
and that the Temple Church at London was built by the Knights' Templars,
whose occupation was the protection of Christian pilgrims against the
Saracens. It has been further urged by a correspondent (Charles Clarke,
Esq. F.S.A.) in the first volume of Britton's "Architectural Antiquities,"
that two of the before-mentioned round churches, namely, Northampton and
Cambridge, were in fact built by "affluent crusaders, in imitation of that
of the Holy Sepulchre;" and in support of his opinion he cites several
historical notices.

    [1] The circular part.

The late perfect restoration of the Temple Church ought to be proudly
recorded in our architectural annals. The excellence of the workmanship,
and the native purity of the detail, evince not only scientific skill, but
also a laudable motive of preserving this antique specimen of pure
Anglo-Norman architecture from the ravages of time. Let the architect's
attention be directed to the western doorway, and also to the interior of
the church; and here, in good preservation, he will see excellent specimens
of their mode of ornamenting the moldings by the cable, the lozenge, the
cheveron, the nail-head, the billet, &c. &c., ornaments peculiar to the
_round style_. The circular-headed windows, with their slender columns,
also show, that in the restoration the style has not been tampered with;
but substantial authorities have been quoted to perfect this praiseworthy
attempt of the architect. That part of the church which has been added at a
later date than the circular part, and for the convenience of divine
worship, is lighted by the beautiful proportioned triple lancet-shaped
windows, so justly admired. A writer in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for May,
1827, after making some judicious remarks, seems to think the crosses on
the ends of the building, "as not in character with the building." Now as
to architectural propriety in the decorations of a Christian church, no
ornament could be better devised; and if we proceed to the antiquity of
such ornament, I would observe, that the adoption would be equally correct,
that being the insignia of the banner under which the Knights' Templars
originally fought.

C. DAVY.

       *       *       *       *       *


BRIDGET TROT AND TIMOTHY GREEN.

(_For the Mirror_.)

    "'Tis a common tale,
    An ordinary sorrow of man's life;
    A tale of silent sufferings, hardly clothed
    In bodily form."

WORDSWORTH.


  Miss Bridget _Trot_, a "_wo_"-man was,
    Of excellent repute,
  Who _kept a stand_ in Leadenhall,
    And there disposed of fruit.

  And though in features rather _dark_,
    No _fairer_ could be found;
  For what she sold, like _ringing_ gold,
    When _peeled_, was always _sound_!

  She had moreover notions _high_,
    And thought herself above
  The very _low_-ly common way
    Of _falling_ into love.

  And therefore when to her his _suit_
    A _Snip_ did often press
  With vows of love, she _cut_ him _short_
    At _length_, without _re-dress_.

  Yet nothing odd was there in this
    One case, it must be said;
  For who that wish'd a _perfect_ man
    Could with a _ninth part_ wed?

  Not she for one, whatever he
    Might do to make him _smart_,
  And howsoe'er her saying "Nay"
    Might add it to his heart.

  'Tis very strange, (yet so it is,)
    That vows should go for naught.
  But she who _strove_ to 'scape love's _toils_
    Quite unawares was caught!

  For though so _hard_ to Snip _at first_,
    _At last_ it chanced that she
  A sort of soft emotion felt
    Towards one Timothy,

  A butcher--_Green_ by name, but _red_
    In face, as was his cap,
  And though he seldom tasted _wine_,
    A _port_-ly sort of chap.

  This man one day in passing by,
    In taste for what she'd got,
  Saw Biddy's stall--and 'twas her _fate_
    To sell to him a _lot!_

  She thought his manners very sweet,
    He gave so fond a gaze;
  (But dashing _blades_ of such like trades
    Have ever _killing_ ways!)

  And whilst he paid the _coppers_ down,
    He had the _brass_ to say
  Her _fruit_ was sweet, but sweeter still
    The _apple_ of her eye.

  Besides all this, he looked so neat
    Whilst shouldering his tray;
  So what with _steel, et cetera,_
    Her heart was _stole_ away!

  Lo! _shortly after_ both agreed,
    They fixed the wedding day,
  But _long before_ that day arriv'd
    He took to stop away!

  From that same time her peace of mind
    And comfort were at _steak_--
  She did so _lean_ to Mr. Green,
    Her heart was like to break!

  At last she went one morn to see
    What he could be about,
  And hoped, alone, to find him _in_,
    But he had just popt _out_.

  She ax'd, "Is Mr. Green at home?"
    Of one who, with a laugh,
  Replied, "He's not! but if you please
    I'll fetch _his better half_."

  "His what?" scarce _uttered_ Bridget out,
    With _utter_most dismay;
  And _there_ she stopt, she could no more,
    And nearly swoon'd _away!_

  But when at length she was herself,
    And saw her faithless clown.
  She straightway went to blow him _up_,
    But got a good set _down_!

  "Oh, cold and faithless Tim," quoth she,
    "You vowed you couldn't _smother_
  Your _burning_ love for me, but now
    You're married to another!"

  "Is this the way you treat me, sir?
    Too _cheaply_ was I bought!
  I loved you _dearly_, but it seems
    That that _all went for naught_."

  She sighed, and gave one parting look,
    Then tore herself away
  From her false swain and Mrs. Green,
    For ever and a day!

  And _very_ soon got _very_ ill,
    And _very_ quick did die,
  And _very_ truly _veri_fied
    Her love for Timothy!

W.R.H.

       *       *       *       *       *



GREAT BELL OF GLASGOW.

(_For the Mirror_.)


In the steeple of Glasgow is a great bell, which is twelve feet one inch in
circumference, and has a grave and deep tone. In 1789, it was accidentally
cracked by some persons who got admission to the steeple. It was,
therefore, sent to London, and cast anew. On the outside of it is the
following inscription:--

    In the year of grace
    1594,
    Marcus Knox,
    a merchant of Glasgow,
    zealous for the interests of the reformed religion,
    caused me to be fabricated in Holland
    for the use of his fellow citizens in Glasgow,
    and placed me with solemnity
    in the tower of their cathedral.
    My function
    was to announce, by the impress on my bosom,
    (Me audito venias doctrinam sanctam ut discas;[2])
    and
    I was taught to proclaim the hours of unheeded time.
    195 years had I sounded these awful warnings,
    when I was broken
    by the hands of inconsiderate and
    unskilful men.
    In the year 1790,
    I was cast into the furnace,
    refounded at London,
    and returned to my sacred vocation.
    Reader,
    thou also shall know a resurrection,
    may it be to eternal life.

MALVINA.

    [2] Come, that ye may learn holy doctrine.


       *       *       *       *       *

 FANCY.

(_For the Mirror_.)


  _Me_, oft hath Fancy, in her fitful dream,
  Seated within a far sequestered dell,
  What time upon the noiseless waters fell,
  Mingled with length'ning leafy shade, a gleam
  Of the departing sun's environ'd beam;
  While all was hush'd, save that the lone death-bell
  Would seem to beat, and pensive smite mine ear
  Like spirit's wail, now distant far, now near:
  Then the night-breeze would seem to chill my cheek,
  And viewless beings flitting round, to _speak!_
  And then, a throng of mournful thoughts would press
  On this, my wild-ideal loneliness.

  Me, oft hath Fancy too, in musing hour
  Seated (what time the blithesome summer-day
  Was burning 'neath the fierce meridian ray)
  Within that self-same lonely woodland bow'r
  So sultry and still; but _then_, the tower,
  The hamlet tow'r, sent forth a roundelay;
  I seem'd to hear, till feelings o'er me stole
  Faintly and sweet, enwrapping all my soul,
  Joy, grief, were strangely blended in the sound.
  The light, warm sigh of summer, was around,
  But ne'er may speech, _such_ thoughts, _such_ visions tell,
  Then, perfect most, when _indescribable!_

M.L.B.


       *       *       *       *       *



FINE ARTS

       *       *       *       *       *


THE PROGRESS OF PAINTING IN FRANCE.

(_For the Mirror_.)


Whether the French were first indebted to the Roman school for their
knowledge of the art of painting is a matter of some doubt; indeed, several
celebrated French writers affirm, that they first had recourse to the
Florentine and Lombard schools; while others very strenuously declare, on
the other hand, that the Venetian artists were alone resorted to, on
account of the remarkable splendour of their colouring. A late author,
however, observes, that the French do not appear to have imitated any
school whatever, but to have adopted a style peculiar to themselves, which
though perhaps not a noble one, is nevertheless pleasing. Though it is
acknowledged that the French have a particular style, (i.e. a style of
their own,) yet their progress in the arts has been exceedingly fluctuating
and uncertain, so that it is actually impossible to ascertain who was the
first reputable artist amongst them. Cousin was a painter on glass, and
certainly obtained a good reputation amongst his countrymen. But he in fact
possessed very little merit, and his name would not doubtless have been
known to posterity had he not lived in a barbarous age, when the people
knew not how to discriminate his errors and defects. He was supposed to be
the best artist of his day, and consequently gained a reputation as such,
though his works are far beneath mediocrity.

Francis I. was a great encourager of the fine arts, and the artists
themselves were liberally paid for their productions, until that king was
unfortunately taken prisoner at the battle of Pavia, in the year 1525.
After the death of Francis, the kingdom was distracted with civil wars, so
that painting was entirely neglected by his immediate successors. In the
year 1610, however, Louis XIII. recovered the arts from their languid
state. In his reign, Jaques Blanchard was the most flourishing painter;
although Francis Perier, Simon Voüet, C.A. Du Fresnoy, and Peter Mignard,
were equally gifted.

Of Charles Alphonse Du Fresnoy, author of a Latin poem, entitled _De Arte
Graphica_, I shall attempt a little account. This painter was born at Paris
in the year 1611. His father, intending him for the profession of physic,
sent him to the university of Paris, where he made great progress in his
studies, and obtained several prizes in poetry. He had a great inclination
for painting as well as for poetry, and, though much against his father's
desire, resolved to leave off the study of physic, and commence that of
drawing. The force of his inclination subduing every measure adopted to
suppress it, he took every opportunity of cultivating his favourite study.
Leaving college, he placed himself under Francis Perier, from whom he
learned the art of designing. He afterwards thought fit to travel into
Italy, where he arrived in 1633. Being abandoned by his parents, who were
highly incensed at his having rejected the study of physic, he was reduced
to the utmost distress on his arrival at Rome, and was compelled to paint
trifling pieces for his daily subsistence. After two years of extreme toil
and difficulty, he was relieved by the arrival of Mignard, the artist, who
had formerly been the companion of his studies. Mignard evinced the warmest
regard for his friend, and they were afterwards known in Rome by the name
of the _inseparables_, for they lived in the same house, worked together,
and united the produce of their labours. They were employed to copy all the
best pictures in the Farnese Palace, and every evening attended an academy
of drawing. Mignard was superior in practice, while Fresnoy was perfect
master of the rules, history, and theory of his profession. They
communicated their sentiments to each other, Fresnoy furnishing his friend
with noble ideas, and the latter instructing the former to paint with more
ease and dispatch. Fresnoy painted several fine pictures in Rome, and, in
1653, he left that city, in company with his friend, travelled to Venice,
and then to Lombardy. Here the two friends parted,[3] Mignard returning to
Rome, and Fresnoy to his native city. After his arrival in Paris, he
painted some beautiful historical pictures, which established his
reputation. He perfectly understood architecture, and drew designs for many
elegant mansions in Paris. During his travels in Italy, he planned and
composed his _De Arte Graphica_, an excellent poem, full of valuable
information, and containing unerring rules for the painter. This poem was
twenty years in hand, and was not published until three years[4] after the
author's death, which took place in 1665. It has been observed, that
Fresnoy possessed the genius requisite for forming a great master; and had
he applied himself more strictly to painting, and educated pupils, he would
doubtless have proved one of the greatest painters France ever produced.
But, possessing high literary talents, he chose to lay down _precepts_ for
his countrymen, rather than to present them with _examples_ of his art. He
adhered too closely to the theory of painting, neglecting the more
essential part--practice.

   [3] When Mignard returned to Paris in 1658, he again went to reside
       with his friend.

   [4] It appeared at Paris, in 12mo., with a French translation by
       Mons. Du Piles, 1668.

In the reign of Louis XIV., Nicholas Poussin distinguished himself as a
painter, by displaying exquisite knowledge and great skill in composition.
He generally painted ancient ruins, landscapes, and historical figures. He
was likewise well acquainted with the manners and customs of the ancients;
and, though he educated no pupils, and never had any imitators, his
pictures are universally admired in every European country. Charles le
Brun[5] established the French school,--an undertaking which Voüet had
previously attempted. Le Brun drew well, had a ready conception, and a
fertile imagination. His compositions are vast, but, in various instances,
they may justly be termed _outre_. He possessed the animation, but not the
inspiration of Raphael; and his design is not so pure as that of
Domenichino, nor so lively as that of Annibale Caracci. Eustache le Seur,
Le Brun's rival, possessed remarkable dignity, and wonderful correctness of
style. Indeed, by some he has been called the Raphael of France. Had he
lived longer, (for he died at the age of thirty-eight,) the French school,
under his direction, would most probably have adopted a manner which might
have been imitated, and which might have established the arts on an
eminence to vie with even imperial Rome. But, by the concurrence of
extraordinary circumstances, Le Brun was the fashionable painter of the
time, and it therefore became necessary to imitate _his_ manner, rather
than the more simple and more refined one of his rival. As Le Brun's
imitators wanted his genius, his faults not only became current, but more
glaring and deformed.

    [5] Le Brun was the pupil of Simon Voüet, and afterwards of Poussin.

After Le Brun's death, which took place in 1690, the French artists
degenerated greatly, their productions being decorated in a gaudy and
theatrical way, without due regard to taste or decorum. Their school, some
years ago, altered its principles, under the auspices of the spirited Count
de Caylus, who possessed considerable merit as an artist. The count, by his
high rank and fortune, had the means of encouraging the imitators of the
ancients, and of procuring the best models in Italy for study. He, in
conjunction with Monsieur Vien, first formed the design of restoring a pure
taste in France; and if his countrymen had followed the path thus marked
out for them, they would now have been equal to the greatest of the Greek
painters. But it appears that they are incapable of rising to any very
extraordinary height in the arts, for, with the exception of Le Seur, and
one or two others, they have ever wanted that elevation of mind which so
eminently distinguished the Romans. Though De Caylus greatly purified
painting in his time, yet his precepts and examples had little or no weight
after his death, for the art again retrograded into its original state--a
state from which the French professors, as before observed, seem incapable
of rising.

In our own days some few French artists have distinguished themselves,
particularly Lefevre, who was the chief painter to Napoleon. A full-length
portrait of the emperor in his coronation robes, for which Lefevre received
the sum of five thousand Napoleons, and which I have lately had the
pleasure of seeing, is very correct in drawing, and extremely rich and
harmonious in colour; but it wants freedom and boldness of execution.

To conclude--the French are acknowledged to do pretty well within the
precincts of their own country, though few of their pictures will stand in
competition with those of the Italians, or with those produced in our own
school.

G.W.N.

       *       *       *       *       *



MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

No. XIII.

       *       *       *       *       *


SINGULAR JEWISH CUSTOM.


Burckhardt, in his "Travels through Syria," &c. informs us, that at
Tiberias, one of the four holy cities of the Talmud, the Jews observe a
singular custom in praying. While the rabbin recites the Psalms of David,
or the prayers extracted from them, the congregation frequently imitate, by
their voice or gestures, the meaning of some remarkable passages; for
example, when the rabbin pronounces the words, "Praise the Lord with the
sound of the trumpet," they imitate the sound of the trumpet through their
closed fists. When "a horrible tempest" occurs, they puff and blow to
represent a storm; or should he mention "the cries of the righteous in
distress," they all set up a loud screaming; and it not unfrequently
happens, that while some are still blowing the storm, others have already
begun the cries of the righteous, thus forming a concert which it is
difficult for any but a zealous Hebrew to hear with gravity.


CHARACTER OF THE KARPIANS, (ARABS.)


They are such consummate thieves and rogues, that, according to an ancient
tradition still current among them, they once tricked the devil himself.
The story is as follows:--The devil had acquired a right to their fields,
on which they agreed with him, that when their crops were ripe, they should
retain the upper part and the devil should have the lower. They sowed all
their lands with wheat, and the devil of course had nothing but the straw
for his share. Next year the old gentleman, fully determined not to be
again so bamboozled, stipulated that the upper part should belong to him
and the lower to the Karpians; but then they sowed all their grounds with
beet, turnips, and other esculent roots, and so the devil got nothing but
the green tops for his portion.

_Memoirs of Artemi._


THE MODERN WELSH.


The people of the principality are clean and industrious; there is,
however, in the nature of a Welshman such a hurriness of manner and want of
method, that he does nothing well; for his mind is over anxious, diverted
from one labour to another, and hence every thing is incomplete, and leaves
the appearance of confusion and negligence. The common exercises of the
Welsh are running, leaping, swimming, wrestling, throwing the bar,
dancing, hunting, fishing, and playing at fives against the church or
tower; and they constitute the joy of youth, and the admiration of old age.
The convivial amusements are singing and versification. In these favourite
exercises the performers are of humble merit; the singing is mere roar and
squeak; and the poetical effusions are nonsense, vested in the rags of
language; and always slanderous, because the mind of the bard is not
fertile in the production of topics. The Welsh character is the echo of
natural feeling, and acts from instantaneous motives. The fine arts are
strangers to the principality; and the Welshman seldom professes the
buskin, or the use of the mallet, the graver, or the chisel; but although
deficient in taste, he excels in duties and in intellect.

_Jones's History of Wales._


ITALIAN WOMEN.


Italy and England are undoubtedly possessed of a greater share of female
beauty than any other country in Europe. But the English and Italian
beauties, although both interesting, are very different from one another.
The former are unrivalled for the delicacy and bloom of their complexions,
the smoothness and mild expression of their features, their modest
carriage, and the cleanliness of their persons and dress; these are
qualities which strike every foreigner at his landing. On my first arrival
in England, I was asked by a friend how I liked the English women; to which
I replied that I thought them all handsome. This is the first impression
they produce. There is an air of calmness and pensiveness about them, which
surprises and interests particularly a native of the south. They seem to
look, if I may apply to them the fine lines of one of their living poets--

  "With eyes so pure, that from the ray
  Dark vice would turn abash'd away;

       *       *       *       *       *

  Yet fill'd with all youth's sweet desires,
  Mingling the meek and vestal fires
  Of other worlds, with all the bliss
  The fond weak tenderness of this."

The Italian beauties are of a different kind. Their features are more
regular, more animated; their complexions bear the marks of a warmer sun,
and their eyes seem to participate of its fires; their carriage is graceful
and noble; they have generally good figures; they are not indeed angelic
forms, but they are earthly Venuses. It has been supposed by some, that the
habitual view of those models of ideal beauty, the Greek statues, with
which Italy abounds, may be an indirect cause conducing to the general
beauty of the sex; be that as it may, I think the fine features and
beautiful forms of the Italian fair have a great influence upon the minds
of young artists, and this is perhaps one of the principal reasons why
Italy has so long excelled in figure painters. A handsome female
countenance, animated by the expression of the soul, is among the finest
works of nature; the sight of it elevates the mind, and kindles the sparks
of genius. Raphael took the models of his charming Madonnas from nature.
Titian, Guido, Caracci, and others, derived their ideas of female beauty
from the exquisite countenances so frequent in their native country.

_Italy in the Nineteenth Century._

       *       *       *       *       *



MY COMMON-PLACE BOOK.

No. XXII.

       *       *       *       *       *


A LINNET AT SEA.


It has been often observed, that birds, in the course of their flight from
one country to another, will frequently resort to the rigging of a ship, as
a resting-place in their transit across the wide ocean. Mr. Gray, in his
"Letters on Canada," gives the following instance:--Among the extraordinary
things, he observes, one meets with at sea, it is not one of the least
surprising to observe small _land birds_ several hundred miles from land. I
was sitting on deck, when, to my great surprise, my attention was arrested
by the warbling of a bird. I looked up, and saw a _linnet_ perched on the
rigging, and whistling with as much ardour as if on a bush in a green
meadow. It is not a little astonishing how these little birds should be
able to continue on the wing so long as is necessary to fly several
hundreds of miles, particularly when the usual shortness of their flight is
considered. They continue sometimes with a vessel several days, and are
frequently caught by the sailors; but it is remarked that they seldom live,
though every care is taken to give them proper food. When the vessel rolls
much, they find it difficult to retain their footing on the rigging, and
you see them forced, as it were, to resume their flight in search of a
better resting-place.


THE ADVANTAGES OF AFFLICTION.


    Behold this vine,
  I found it a wild tree, whose wanton strength
  Had swollen into irregular twigs
  And bold excrescences,
  And spent itself in leaves and little rings;
  So in the flourish of its outwardness
  Wasting the sap and strength
  That should have given forth fruit;
  But when I pruned the tree,
  Then it grew temperate in its vain expanse
  Of useless leaves, and knotted, as thou seest,
  Into these full, clear clusters, to repay
  The hand that wisely wounded it.
  Repine not, O my son!
  In wisdom and in mercy heaven indicts,
  Like a wise leech, its painful remedies.

SOUTHEY.


WEATHERCOCKS.


Weathercocks do not always show the real direction of a very gentle wind.
The strange figures of them, usually the productions of capricious fancy,
is one cause of their imperfection as vanes to indicate the wind. Griffins,
half-moons, foxes, or figures of St. Margaret and the dragon, are not good
shapes for weathercocks, which ought to be plain fans, the large surface of
one side being counterbalanced against the weight of the other.


THE VALUE OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS.


A general, though superficial acquaintance with such subjects as
well-educated men and women talk about in mixed society is absolutely
necessary. A practised eye will easily distinguish the silence of modest
attention from the mute weariness of ignorance. The most inveterate talker,
if he be not quite a fool, desires to be listened to as well as heard; and
a "yes" or a "no" may be placed and accented so as to show intelligence, or
betray stupidity. Grace in action and deportment is so essential, that it
may almost be said to make all that is beautiful in beauty. We do not mean
that a lady should, in dancing, walking, or sitting, display attitudes
worthy of a painter's model. In walking we, however, recommend something
between the listless saunter of a she-dandy, and the bustling gait of a
notable body, who perhaps saves three minutes out of four-and-twenty hours,
by doing every thing throughout the day with a jerk and a toss.--Dancing,
unless it be done quietly and gracefully, without the fatal results of a
shining face, and red neck and arms, it is far better to forbear
altogether, it being a very superfluous quality in a gentlewoman; whereas
_to please_ by all honest means is her proper calling and occupation. A
high degree of _positive_ grace is very rare, especially in northern
climates, where the form is degraded and spoiled by ligatures and by cold;
but every woman may attain to _negative_ grace, by avoiding awkward and
unmeaning habits. The incessant twirling of a reticule, the assiduous
pulling of the fingers of a glove, opening and shutting a book, swinging a
bell-rope, &c. betray either impatience and weariness of the conversation,
disrespect of the speakers, or a want of ease and self-possession by no
means inseparably connected with modesty and humility; those persons who
are most awkward and shy among their superiors in rank or information being
generally most over-bearing and peremptory with their equals or inferiors.
We are almost ashamed, in the nineteenth century, to say any thing
concerning personal neatness; but cannot forbear hinting, that clean gloves
and neat shoes aid the captivating powers of a lady much more certainly
than pearl ear-rings or gold chains--that clean muslin is more bewitching
than dirty _blond lace_--and that a pocket-handkerchief should be like a
basilisk, a thing heard of, but never seen; we mean in the capacity in
which our cold-catching, rheum-exciting climate calls it into action.

       *       *       *       *       *



SELECT BIOGRAPHY.

No. LVII.

       *       *       *       *       *


KARL THEODORE KORNER.


Korner is one of the poets of whom modern Germany is justly proud. His was
not the mere theoretic heroism which contents itself with celebrating the
deeds of others. His own conduct embodied the most noble conceptions of his
imagination, and his life and death exhibited a splendid example of the
patriotism which breathed throughout his verse. He was born at Dresden in
1791. His education was of the most careful kind. He was not only
instructed in various branches of learning, but the elegant accomplishments
of the fine arts were added, and the exercises of the body were not less
attended to than those of the mind. Called upon to choose some occupation,
he determined to apply himself to mining, and took up his residence at
Vienna, where he enjoyed the advantage of a familiar intercourse with
William Von Humboldt, the Prussian ambassador, Frederic Schlegel, and other
eminent literary and scientific men. Here, within the short space of
fifteen months, he produced a rapid succession of dramas, operas, and
farces, as well as several small poems. The success of his works obtained
him the appointment of poet to the court. He was now in the enjoyment of
all that could render life happy--competence, distinction, esteem,
friendship and love; but he resolved to sacrifice them all "for that
greatest mortal blessing, his country's freedom."

"Could I," says he, in a letter to his father, "could I, think you, stand
aloof, contented to celebrate with weak inspiration the success of my
conquering brethren? I am aware that you will suffer much anxiety,--My
mother too will weep--may God be her comfort!--I cannot spare you this
trial. That I simply offer my life is of little import; but that I offer
it, crowned as it is with all the flowery wreaths of love, of friendship,
and of joy,--that I cast away the sweet sensations which lived in the
conviction that I have caused you no inquietude, no anguish,--this indeed
is a sacrifice which can only be opposed to such a prize!"

He left Vienna in March 1813, and joined the free corps which Major Von
Lutzow was then forming. This was a voluntary association, and the corps
was remarkable throughout the war for its valour and enterprise. In the
midst of the most active campaigns, Korner continued to pour forth his
verses. Other poets have written of battles in the retirement of the
closet, but he sang his song of war on the tented field, and amid the din
of conflict. Nor was this all: he collected too the strains of other poets,
and adapted them to appropriate airs, to animate the ardour of his
companions in arms. We cannot follow him through his career, brief as it
was; but the subjoined incident is too striking to be omitted, and is
especially adapted to our purpose, as it affords an opportunity of giving a
passage of his unpremeditated verse in a moment of pain and danger.

On the 28th of May, Major Von Lutzow had determined on setting out on an
expedition towards Thuringia, with four squadrons of his cavalry, and fifty
cossacks. Korner earnestly entreated permission to accompany him, and his
desire was fulfilled by his being appointed adjutant by Major Von Lutzow,
who highly esteemed him, and wished to have him near his person.

The expedition passed in ten days through Halberstadt, Eisleben, Buttstadt,
and Schlaitz, to Plauen, though not without encountering great danger from
the enemy, who were dispersed throughout these districts, but, also, not
without effecting some important results. Intelligence and information were
procured, ammunition was captured and seized, and couriers on missions of
importance were taken prisoners. The gallant troop acquired considerable
renown, and harassed the enemy much, especially by cutting off his
communications. A plan was in consequence laid by the French emperor for
the extirpation of the corps, that, as a deterring example, no man should
be left alive. The armistice, concluded at this moment, afforded an
opportunity for putting it in practice. (The Duke of Padua, it is
observable, particularly profited by this armistice; for being shut up in
Leipzig by Generals Woronzow and Czernichef, with the co-operation of two
battalions of the Lutzow infantry, he was only saved by this cessation of
hostilities.)

Major Von Lutzow had received official information of the armistice at
Plauen. Without expecting to meet with any opposition, he chose the
shortest route to rejoin the infantry of his corps, having received the
most confidential assurances of safety from the enemy's commanding
officers, and proceeded along the high road, without interruption, to
Kitzen, a village in the neighbourhood of Leipzig; but here he found
himself surrounded and menaced by a very superior force. Theodore Korner
was despatched to demand an explanation; but, instead of replying, the
commander of the enemy struck at him with his sword; and it being now
twilight, a general attack was made on the three squadrons of the Lutzow
cavalry before they had drawn a sabre. Several were wounded and taken, and
others dispersed in the surrounding country; but Major Von Lutzow himself
was saved by the assistance of a squadron of Uhlans, who being in advance
with the Cossacks, formed the van-guard, and consequently were not assailed
at the same moment. He reached, with a considerable body of his troops, the
right bank of the Elbe, where the infantry of his corps, and a squadron of
its cavalry, were already collected.

Korner received the first blow, which he was not prepared to parry, as he
approached close to the enemy's commanding officer to deliver his message
without drawing his sabre, and was thus severely wounded in the head: the
second blow only inflicted a slight injury. He fell back, but speedily
recovered himself, and his spirited steed bore him in safety to a
neighbouring wood. He was here occupied, at the first moment, with the
assistance of a comrade, in binding up his wounds, when he perceived a
troop of the enemy, who were in pursuit, riding towards him. His presence
of mind did not forsake him, but turning towards the wood, he called with a
loud voice, "Fourth squadron,--Advance!"--His stratagem succeeded--the
enemy were appalled, drew back, and thus afforded him time to conceal
himself deeper in the wood. It had now become dark, and he found a place in
the thicket where he could remain undiscovered.

The pain of the deeper wound became very severe, his strength was
exhausted, and his last hope was gone. It was in this extremity that he
composed the beautiful sonnet, of which the following is a translation:--

FAREWELL TO LIFE.

[Written in the night of the 17th and 18th of June, as I lay, severely
wounded and helpless in a wood, expecting to die.]

  "My deep wound burns;--my pale lips quake in death,--
  I feel my fainting heart resign its strife,
  And reaching now the limit of my life,
  Lord, to thy will I yield my parting breath!

  Yet many a dream hath charm'd my youthful eye;
  And must life's fairy visions all depart;
  Oh surely no! for all that fired my heart
  To rapture here, shall live with me on high.

  And that fair form that won my earliest vow,
  That my young spirit prized all else above,
  And now adored as freedom, now as love,
  Stands in seraphic guise, before me now.

  And as my fading senses fade away,
  It beckons me, on high, to realms of endless day!"

During the night he heard the enemy searching the wood near him, but
afterwards fell asleep, and was saved in the morning by two peasants. He
was conveyed secretly into Leipsic, which was then under the French yoke,
and where the concealment of any of the Lutzow free corps was prohibited,
under severe punishment. He subsequently travelled in safety to Berlin, and
having recovered from his wound, rejoined the corps of Lutzow on the right
bank of the Elbe. Hostilities recommenced on the 17th of August; and on the
28th an engagement took place near Rosenberg, in which Korner fell. He was
in pursuit of a body of the enemy, when the riflemen, who had found a
rallying-place in some under-wood, sent forth a shower of balls upon their
pursuers. By one of these Korner was wounded in the abdomen, the liver and
spine were injured, and he was immediately deprived of speech and
consciousness. He was carried to a neighbouring wood, but all medical aid
was vain. He was buried under an oak in the village of Wobbelin, about a
mile from Ludwigslust. A tomb has since been placed over his remains, and
enclosed by a wall. He died at the early age of twenty-two.

_From a Critical Notice of The Life of Korner, New Monthly Mag._


       *       *       *       *       *


Cannot he that wisely declines walking upon the ice for fear of falling,
though possibly it might carry him sooner to his journey's end, as wisely
forbear drinking more wine than is necessary, for fear of being drunk and
the ill-consequences thereof?--_Lord Clarendon._

       *       *       *       *       *



THE NOVELIST.

No. CX.

       *       *       *       *       *


THE RESCUE.

_By Miss Roberts._

    "King Stephen was a worthy peer."


The hall was lofty, sculptured round with armorial devices, and hung with
gaily-embroidered banners, which waved in the wind streaming from the
crannies in windows which had suffered some dilapidation from the hand of
time. Minstrel harps rang throughout the wide apartment, and at a board
well covered with smoking viands--haunches of the red deer, bustards,
cranes, quarters of mutton, pasties, the grinning heads of wild boars,--and
flanked with flagons of wine, and tankards of foaming ale, sat King
Stephen, surrounded by the flower of the Norman nobles, whose voices had
placed him on the English throne. In the midst of the feast, the jovial
glee of the wassailers was interrupted by the entrance of a page, who,
forcing his way through the yeomen and lacqueys crowding at the door, flew
with breathless haste to the feet of the king, and falling down on his
knees, in faltering accents delivered the message with which he had been
intrusted. "Up, gallants," exclaimed the martial monarch, "don your
harness, and ride as lightly as you may to the relief of the Countess of
Clare, she lies in peril of her life and honour, beleaguered by a rabble of
unnurtured Welsh savages, who, lacking respect for beauty, have directed
their arms against a woman. Swollen with vain pride at their late victory,
(the fiend hang the coward loons who fled before them,) they have sworn to
make this noble lady serve them barefoot in their camp. By St. Dennis and
my good sword, were I not hampered by this pestilent invasion of the Scots,
I would desire no better pastime than to drive the ill-conditioned serfs
howling from the walls. Say, who amongst you will undertake the
enterprise?--What, all silent? are ye knights? are ye men? do I reign over
christian warriors, valiant captains who have been sworn to protect beauty
in distress; or are ye like the graceless dogs of Mahomed, insensible to
female honour?" "My ranks are wonderous scant," returned Milo Fitzwalter,
"I may not reckon twenty men at arms in the whole train, and varlets have I
none; but it boots not to number spears when danger presses; so to horse
and away. Beshrew me, were it the termagant Queen Maude herself, I'd do my
best to rescue her in this extremity."--"Thou art a true knight,
Fitzwalter," replied the king, "and wilt prosper: the Saint's benizon be
with thee, for thou must speed on this errand with such tall men as thou
canst muster of thine own proper followers: the Scots, whom the devil
confound, leave me too much work, to spare a single lance from mine own
array. We will drink to thy success, and to the health of the fair
countess, in a flask of the right Bourdeaux: and tell the lady that thy
monarch grudges thee this glorious deed; for by my Halidom, an thou winnest
her unscathed from the hands of these Welsh churls, thou wilt merit a niche
beside the most renowned of Charlemagne's paladins." Fitzwalter made no
answer, but he armed in haste, and, leaping into his saddle, gave the spur
to his gallant steed, and followed by his esquires and men at arms, rested
not either night or day, until he reached the marches of Wales. The lions
of England still proudly flying over the castle walls, assured him that the
countess had been enabled to hold out against the savage horde, who
surrounded it on all sides. The besiegers set up a furious yell as the
knight and his party approached their encampment. Half naked, their eyes
glaring wildly from beneath a mass of yellow hair, and scantily armed with
the rudest species of offensive and defensive weapons, their numbers alone
made them terrible; and had the castle been manned and victualled, it might
have long defied their utmost strength. Drawing their falchions, the knight
and his party keeping closely together, and thus forming an impenetrable
wedge, cut their desperate path through the fierce swarm of opposing foes,
who, like incarnate demons, rushed to the onslaught, and fell in heaps
before the biting steel of these experienced soldiers. Pressing forward
with unyielding bravery, Fitzwalter won the castle walls; whence, with the
assistance of such frail aid as the living spectres on the battlements
could give, he beat back the Welsh host, and in another quarter of an hour,
having dispersed the enemy with frightful loss, gained free entrance to the
castle. Feeble was the shout of triumph which welcomed Fitzwalter and his
brave companions; the corpses of the unburied dead lay strewed upon the
pavement; the heroic countess, and her attendant damsels, clad in the
armour of the slain, weakened by famine, and hopeless of succour, yet still
striving to deceive the besiegers by the display of living warriors, by
this stratagem retarded the assault which they could not repel. Fitzwalter
took advantage of the darkness of the night, and the panic of the
Welshmen, to withdraw from a fortress which was destitute of all the
implements of war; and with the rescued ladies mounted behind them, the
brave band returned to the court of King Stephen; and the charms of the
fair one, and the valour of her chivalric defender, formed the theme of the
minstrel in every knightly hall and lady's bower throughout Christendom.

       *       *       *       *       *



SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

       *       *       *       *       *


THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH NOVEL READER.


How shall I describe the emotions with which I read the first novel I ever
perused! A school-fellow had secretly brought with him from home after the
holidays, the novel of Peregrine Pickle, which he carefully concealed in
his trunk. He at first lent it to some of the elder boys, who read it, and
enlarging on some of the most despicable incidents to be found, disgusted
my meek spirit of it, by their report. It seemed to violate all my
cherished ideas of beauty and soft luxury. I was then about fourteen years
of age, and my companions persuaded me to a perusal. I took it up
listlessly, expecting but little pleasure, but what language can paint the
manner in which I was entranced by it? I read it over and over with
increased delight, my entire soul and frame of mind and passions seemed to
be suddenly changed and remodelled. I forgot Ariadne and Telemachus, and
Tom Pipes and Hatchway became my idols, the undivided objects of my
admiration.

I had hitherto been a remarkably quiet and inoffensive boy; Telemachus I
considered never took delight in robbing orchards. I had the confidence of
my teachers from my uniform rejection of any participation in the rude
affrays, the catastrophe of which dramas was in general an almost universal
flogging match. My admiration naturally led to its probable result, a
desire to imitate--I firmly resolved to become a Peregrine. I soon promoted
myself to be the leader of every mad prank that the wit of a spirit
suddenly excited to activity could devise. In the first fortnight I got
flogged for tying a huge mass of brown paper to the tail of the favourite
cat of the master's lady, with which she rushed with an insane and
terrifying distraction into the drawing-room. We owed a spite to a
neighbouring milkman for tale-bearing, and we rendered his pump, the great
source of profit, useless, by filling it with soot and mire. The old woman
who served the school with tarts, and who, in her endeavours to please all
palates, brought some varieties heated over a charcoal fire, had her
apparatus blown to atoms by an ounce of gunpowder, insinuated with so much
art, that although done before her face, she could attach no one with the
offence. All became riot, waste, and destruction under the guidance of my
beloved Peregrine.

But, ah! the poor Count--amiable, patient, and long-suffering Gaul! He was
an unhappy refugee, who had sought a home, by becoming the reviled,
insulted teacher of his native tongue to a mob of heartless ruffians. How
well do I remember his neat but thread-bare coat and pigtail; his stooping
gait, not the decrepitude of age, but as though it sprang from the
abasement of his fortune; his endurance of injury to a certain point, when
patience suddenly forsook him, and his, to us, irresistibly comic rage and
exasperation! What would that generous seaman Pipes have thought a
defenceless Frenchman fit for, but as the object of spirited and
well-conducted pranks? Nothing cruel or revengeful, but only to show our
own superior wit and address in concerted and premeditated annoyance.

I had gained with a most surprising rapidity upon the confidence of the
most conspicuous rioters in the school. There was something so noble and
daring in all my designs, that they seemed to yield willingly to so
superior a spirit. The sudden alteration in my manners had been noticed
with secret wonder by the masters, and they, thinking to check my fatal
tendencies at the outset, had inflicted on me several severe and
well-merited chastisements. I converted even these into means of extending
my influence. I had borne them like a hero, a very Peregrine. No groan--no
sigh--no bellowing promise of amendment, had lessened my dignity. Under the
torture, I was sullen and silent. The stoutest heart in the school envied
my manhood and composure.

The poor French teacher had been the hereditary object of annoyance for
several generations of boys. The meekest and most chicken-hearted scrubs in
the school tried their apprenticeship to mischief upon him, and were
tutored to more noble game by beginning with the Count. They split and cut
his pens into a thousand fantastic shapes during a momentary absence; they
filled his snuff with the most odious pulverulents. They placed on his desk
rude, but expressive designs of a guillotine, with a meagre fellow in
ruffles and no shirt, running in the extremity of speed from the spot.
These, and a thousand exhibitions of budding genius, and original sin, were
our daily subjects of merriment and applause. I taught them nobler arts, or
rather the spirit of Pickle which spake within me. It was nothing to annoy
on such a petty and momentary scale; let the art and forethought of
Hatchway be exhibited.

The amiable Frenchman was a zealous Catholic, and upon certain festivals
always received from a Catholic gentleman of rank and fortune in the
neighbourhood, an invitation to visit him. On these occasions his dress was
the most ludicrous imaginable, being compounded of remnants of pristine
finery, such as his wardrobe could afford, without attention to uniformity,
or consistency of colour. Above all, he possessed a pair of light pea-green
small clothes, on which he much prided himself, and I swore by old Trunnion
to be their murderer. His custom on the aforesaid visits was to dress
early, and then hastily to dismiss his lessons, and proceed immediately.

Having gained intelligence of an approaching field day, we prepared a
strong solution of gum, with which we varnished the bottom of a leather
chair upon which he sat in the school. The morning came, his green _media_
and white silk stockings were hailed with the most extravagant but secret
exultation. He seated himself, and let us run as we pleased through our
tasks, with an unusual portion of smiles and pleasantries, and then looking
at his watch, he attempted hastily to rise! in vain--there seemed an
indissoluble bond of union between him and the chair; the most grotesque
series of strugglings ensued, and by one desperate effort he was erect, a
thin coating of the black leather which he had torn off, firmly adhering to
his dress! Nothing abated my delight at my success, but the thought that my
magnus Apollo, Pickle, was not there to enjoy it; to see the poor Count
stand mute with a mixed passion of rage and distress for several seconds,
and then to witness his fruitless attempts to view the full extent of the
injury, which, notwithstanding the surprising flexibility of his vertebrae,
he was unable to compass. Tom Pipes I felt certain would have died on the
spot, he must have split.

_The Inspector_.

       *       *       *       *       *


CONTRAST OF CLIMATE.


Suppose yourself to have spent the first half of a foggy, sleety, chill,
moist, melancholy, English winter at some miserable country village in
Kent. Suppose about the first of February, while the whole landscape around
is still floating in mud, buried in snow, or fast bound by frost, and the
atmosphere so thick with fog, that one can scarcely point at mid-day to the
spot where the sun stands in the heavens,--that your catarrh grows so
alarming, that in a fit of despondency you trundle yourself aboard a ship
in the Downs getting under way for a warmer climate. Suppose, that after a
smacking run of about eight days before a fresh gale, (during the whole of
which you are of course too sick and qualmy to leave your cot,) you awake
one morning, and find yourself snugly at anchor in the bay of Funchal; and
the romantic, sun-bright mountains of Madeira, gorgeously crested with a
mass of brilliant clouds, looking in at your cabin-window. It seems
downright enchantment! You leap up as if there was a new soul in your body.
You hurry ashore in the first boat. Your cough, lassitude, and qualmishness
have altogether left you. Your step is elastic, and your spirits as buoyant
as a lark in spring. You luxuriate amidst beautiful gardens glowing with
roses, jessamines, honey-suckles, and a thousand other odoriferous shrubs
and flowers in full bloom. You wander through a boundless maze of rising
vineries curling their budding tendrils around the trellis-work, and
terrace above terrace up the declivities of the mountains. You recline
among orange-groves bending under the load of ripe golden fruit; and as you
stretch yourself at ease by some clear, gurgling rill, in the midst of all
this loveliness, you ask yourself, is this a dream--or are these indeed the
gardens of the Hesperides? Reader, if you have the blue devils at
Christmas, you may realize all this, and reach Madeira, as I have done, in
eight days from the Downs.

_London Weekly Review._

       *       *       *       *       *



THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF _NEW WORKS_.

       *       *       *       *       *


ANECDOTES OF THE FACULTY.


_Quacks._


We are not without plenty of ignorant and impudent pretenders at the
present day; but the celebrated Mrs. Mapp, the bone-setter of Epsom,
surpasses them all. She was the daughter of a man named Wallis, a
bone-setter at Hindon, in Wiltshire, and sister to the celebrated "Polly
Peachem," who married the Duke of Bolton. Upon some _family quarrel_,
Sally Wallis left her professional parent, and wandered up and down the
country in a miserable manner, calling herself "Crazy Sally," and pursuing,
in her perambulations, a course that fairly justified the title. Arriving
at last at Epsom, she succeeded in humbugging the worthy bumpkins of that
place, so decidedly, that a subscription was set on foot to keep her among
them; but her fame extending to the metropolis, the dupes of London, a
numerous class then as well as now, thought it no trouble to go ten miles
to see the conjuror, till at length, she was pleased to bless the afflicted
of London with her presence, and once a week drove to the Grecian
Coffee-house, in a coach and six with out-riders! and all the appearance of
nobility. It was in one of these journeys, passing through Kent-street, in
the Borough, that being taken for a certain woman of quality from the
Electorate in Germany, a great mob followed, and bestowed on her many
bitter reproaches, till madame, perceiving some mistake, looked out of the
window, and accosted them in this gentle manner, "D----n your bloods, don't
you know me? I am Mrs. Mapp, the _bone-setter!_" Upon which, they instantly
changed their revilings into loud huzzas.

_Wadd's Mems., Maxims, and Memoirs._


_Dr. Radcliffe._


Among the many singularities related of Radcliffe, it has been noticed,
that when he was in a convivial party, he was unwilling to leave it, even
though sent for by persons of the highest distinction. Whilst he was thus
deeply engaged at a tavern, he was called on by a grenadier, who desired
his immediate attendance on his _colonel_; but no entreaties could prevail
on the disciple of Esculapius to postpone his sacrifice to Bacchus. "Sir,"
quoth the soldier, "_my orders are to bring you._" And being a very
powerful man, he took him up in his arms, and carried him off per force.
After traversing some dirty lanes, the doctor and his escort arrived at a
narrow alley--"What the D----l is all this," said Radcliffe, "your colonel
don't live here?"--"No," said his military friend,--"no, my _colonel_ does
not live here--but my _comrade_ does, and he's worth _two_ of the
_colonel_,--so, by G----d, doctor, if you don't do your _best_ for _him_,
it will be the _worst_ for _you!_"


_Duels._


Many medical duels have been prevented by the difficulty of arranging the
"methodus pugnandi." In the instance of Dr. Brocklesby, the number of
paces could not be agreed upon; and in the affair between Akenside and
Ballow, one had determined never to fight in the morning, and the other
that he would never fight in the afternoon. John Wilkes, who did not stand
upon ceremony in these little affairs, when asked by Lord Talbot, "How many
times they were to fire?" replied, "just as often as your Lordship pleases;
I have brought _a bag of bullets and a flask of gunpowder_."


_William Hunter._


Dr. William Hunter used to relate the following anecdote:--During the
American war, he was consulted by the daughter of a peer, who confessed
herself pregnant, and requested his assistance; he advised her to retire
for a time to the house of some confidential friend; she said that was
impossible, as her father would not suffer her to be absent from him a
single day. Some of the servants were, therefore, let into the secret, and
the doctor made his arrangement with the treasurer of the Foundling
Hospital for the reception of the child, for which he was to pay
190l.--The lady was desired to weigh well if she could bear pain without
alarming the family by her cries; she said "Yes,"--and she kept her word.
At the usual period she was delivered, not of one child only, but of twins.
The doctor, bearing the two children, was conducted by a French servant
through the kitchen, and left to ascend the area steps into the street.
Luckily the lady's maid recollected that the door of the area might perhaps
be locked; and she followed the doctor just in time to prevent his being
detained at the gate. He deposited the children at the Foundling Hospital,
and paid for each 100l. The father of the children was a colonel of the
army, who went with his regiment to America, and died there. The mother
afterwards married a person of her own rank.


_John Hunter._


Hunter was a philosopher in more senses than one; he had philosophy enough
to bear prosperity, as well as adversity, and with a rough exterior was a
very kind man. The poor could command his services more than the rich. He
would see an industrious tradesman before a duke, when his house was full
of grandees, "you have no time to spare," he would say, "you live by it;
most of these can wait, they have nothing to do when they go home." No man
cared less for the profits of the profession, or more for the honour of
it. He cared not for money himself, and wished the Doctor [his brother
William] to estimate it by the same scale, when he sent a poor man with
this laconic note:--

    "Dear Brother,--The bearer wants your advice. I do not know the
    nature of the case. He has no money, and you have plenty, so you are
    well met."

    "Yours, J. HUNTER."

He was applied to once to perform a serious operation on a tradesman's
wife; the fee agreed upon was twenty guineas. He heard no more of the case
for two months; at the end of which time he was called upon to perform it.
In the course of his attendance, he found out that the cause of the delay
had been the difficulty under which the patient's husband had laboured to
raise the money; and that they were worthy people, who had been
unfortunate, and were by no means able to support the expense of such an
affliction. "I sent back to the husband nineteen guineas, and kept the
twentieth," said he, "that they might not be hurt with an idea of too great
obligation. It somewhat more than paid me for the expense I had been at in
the business."

       *       *       *       *       *


BURMESE BOATS.


The Burman war-boat is formed of the trunk of the magnificent teak tree,
first roughly shaped, and then expanded by means of fire, until it attains
sufficient width to admit two people, sitting abreast. On this a gunwale,
rising a foot above the water, is fixed, and the stem and stern taper to a
point, the latter being much higher than the other, and ornamented with
fret-work and gilding. On the bow is placed a gun, sometimes of a
nine-pounder calibre, but generally smaller, and the centre of the boat is
occupied by the rowers, varying in number from twenty to a hundred, who in
the large boats use the oar, and in the small ones the paddle. A war-boat
in motion is a very pleasing object. The rapidity with which it moves, its
lightness, and small surface above the water, the uniform pulling of the
oar falling in cadence with the songs of the boatmen, who, taking the lead
from one of their number, join in chorus, and keep time with the dip of
their oars; the rich gilding which adorns the boat, and the neat, uniform
dress of the crew, place it, to the eye of a stranger, in a curious and
interesting point of view: and in regard to appearance, induces him, when
contrasting it with an English boat, to give the former the preference. In
point of swiftness, our best men-of-war boats could not compete with them;
and of this superiority they generally availed themselves when an action
was impending.

The boats we had captured at Rangoon, and were cutting down for the
transport of the army, were totally of a different nature. These, built on
the same plan as ours are, but with flat bottoms, belonged to traders, and
were solely adapted to the transport of merchandise. The stern, fancifully
ornamented, rises two or three stages above the deck, and is the seat of
the helmsman. The inside of the boat is filled with goods, and thatched
over, leaving sufficient room underneath to accommodate two or three
families--men, women, and children--who promiscuously take up their abode
there.

This description of boat is not propelled by oars, but by long poles, the
ends of which being placed against the shoulders of the boatmen, they run
the whole length of the boat, and push her forward with considerable
velocity. The space on which they act is formed by strong outriggers on
either side of the boat, which answer the twofold purpose of preventing her
upsetting, which she otherwise would do from the excess of top-weight, and
of increasing her width and accommodation.

The third class of boat is that used throughout the country, and which, to
those who inhabit the banks of rivers, becomes a necessary appendage, and
to many a home. It is a mere canoe, decked with split bamboo, and partly
covered in with mats, so as to afford shelter from the sun by day, and the
dews by night. One man steers, and two others either row or paddle; but,
when the wind is favourable, they use a sail. This is generally made at the
moment, with the scarfs they wear over their shoulders, tied together. Two
bamboos constitute the mast and yard, the sail being fastened between them;
yet, with this fragile rigging, and with the gunwale of the boat almost
under water with every puff of wind, they stem the most rapid currents at
all seasons of the year, and, such is their skill in steering, seldom meet
with an accident. It was in these boats that the majority of the
inhabitants of Rangoon, and the adjacent villages, fled upon our approach;
and these formed their only habitation during the many months they kept
aloof from us.

_Two Years in Ava_.

       *       *       *       *       *



MISCELLANIES.

       *       *       *       *       *


SONNET.


ON A YOUTH WHO DIED OF EXCESSIVE FRUIT-PIE.


  Currants have check'd the current of my blood,
    And berries brought me to be buried here;
  Pears have pared off my body's hardihood,
    And plums and plumbers spare not one so spare.
  Fain would I feign my fall, so fair a fare
    Lessens not hate, yet 'tis a lesson good:
  Gilt will not long hide guilt; such thin wash'd ware
    Wears quickly, and its rude touch soon is rued.
  Grave on my grave some sentence grave and terse,
    That lies not as it lies upon my clay,
  But, in a gentle strain of unstrained verse,
    Prays all to pity a poor patty's prey--
  Rehearses I was fruitful to my hearse,
    Tell that my days are told, and soon I'm toll'd away!


THE VEIL OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.


Maria Stuart has been canonized, and placed among the martyrs by the
Jesuits. Of course there are relics of hers. Her prayer-book was long shown
in France; and her apologist published in an English journal a sonnet which
she was said to have composed, and to have written with her own hand in
this book. A celebrated German actress, Mrs. Hendel-Schutz, who excited
admiration by her attitudes, and also performed Schiller's "Maria" with
great applause in several cities of Germany, affirmed that a cross which
she wore on her neck was the very same that once belonged to the
unfortunate queen. Relics of this description have never yet been subjected
to the proof of their authenticity. But if there is anything which may be
reasonably believed to have been once the property of the queen, _it is the
veil with which she covered her head on the scaffold, after the
executioner_, whether from awkwardness or confusion is uncertain, _had
wounded the unfortunate victim in the shoulder by a false blow_. This veil
still exists, and is in the possession of Sir J.C. Hippisley, who claims to
be descended from the Stuart's by the mother's side. He had an engraving
made from it by Matteo Diottavi, in Rome, 1818, and gave copies to his
friends.

The veil is embroidered with gold spangles by (as is said) the queen's own
hand, in regular rows crossing each other, so as to form small squares, and
edged with a gold border, to which another border has been subsequently
joined, in which the following words are embroidered in letters of gold:--

    "Velum Serenissimae Mariae, Scotiae et Galliae Reginae Martyris, quo
    induebatur dum ab Heretica ad mortem iniustissimam condemnata fuit.
    Anno Sal. MDLXXXVI. a nobilissima matrona Anglicana diu conservatum
    et tandem, donationis ergo Deo, et Societati Jesu consecratum."

On the plate there is an inscription, with a double certificate of its
authenticity, which states, that this veil, a family treasure of the
expelled house of Stuart, was finally in possession of the last branch of
that family, the cardinal of York, who preserved it for many years in his
private chapel, among the most precious relics, and at his death bequeathed
it to Sir J. Hippisley, together with a valuable Plutarch, and a Codex with
painted (illuminated) letters, and a gold coin struck in Scotland in the
reign of queen Mary; and it was specially consecrated by Pope Pius VII. in
his palace on the Quirinal, April 29, 1818. Sir John Hippisley, during a
former residence at Rome, had been very intimate with the cardinal of York,
and was instrumental in obtaining for him, when he with the other cardinals
emigrated to Venice in 1798, a pension of £4,000. a-year from the Prince of
Wales, now King George IV.; but for which, the fugitive cardinal, all whose
revenues were seized by the French, would have been exposed to the greatest
distress. The cardinal desired to requite this service by the bequest of
what he considered so valuable. According to a note on the plate, the veil
is eighty-nine English inches long, and forty-three broad, so that it seems
to have been rather a kind of shawl or scarf than a veil. If we remember
rightly, Melville in his Memoirs, which Schiller had read, speaks of a
handkerchief belonging to the queen, which she gave away before her death,
and Schiller founds upon this anecdote the well-known words of the farewell
scene, addressed to Hannah Kennedy.

    "Accept this handkerchief! with my own hand
    For thee I've work'd it in my hours of sadness
    And interwoven with my scalding tears:
    With this thou'lt bind my eyes."


DREAMS.


  Oh! there is a dream of early youth,
    And it never comes again;
  'Tis a vision of light, of life, and truth,
    That flits across the brain:
  And love is the theme of that early dream.
    So wild, so warm, so new,
  That in all our after years I deem,
    That early dream we rue.

  Oh! there is a dream of maturer years,
    More turbulent by far;
  'Tis a vision of blood, and of woman's tears,
    For the theme of that dream is war:
  And we toil in the field of danger and death,
    And shout in the battle array,
  Till we find that fame is a bodyless breath,
    That vanisheth away.

  Oh! there is a dream of hoary age,
    'Tis a vision of gold in store--
  Of sums noted down on the figured page,
    To be counted o'er and o'er:
  And we fondly trust in our glittering dust,
    As a refuge from grief and pain,
  Till our limbs are laid on that last dark bed,
    Where the wealth of the world is vain.

  And is it thus, from man's birth to his grave--
    In the path which all are treading?
  Is there naught in that long career to save
    From remorse and self-upbraiding?
  O yes, there's a dream so pure, so bright,
    That the being to whom it is given,
  Hath bathed in a sea of living light--
    And the theme of that dream is Heaven.

       *       *       *       *       *



THE LECTURER

       *       *       *       *       *


AN EXCERP FROM ABERNETHY'S LECTURES.


When I was speaking of the cure of the digestive organs, I spoke of
stomachic irritation, and said it was occasioned by some morbid
peculiarity. It is difficult to find out the exigents; it must be done by
experiment. We give a medicine, it answers. The digestive organs have such
a sympathy with contiguous organs, that no wonder if such contiguous organs
are affected. The liver, for instance, cannot perform its office aright if
the bowels are uncomfortable. Violent drastics are wrong, they do not do
good; you cannot go on giving physic every day, this will teaze the bowels
and not tranquilize them, The cure is to repeat the excitement of
progressive action. People in general will not find out that what may be an
adequate excitement one day, may not be an adequate excitement on another
day. As to these things, they are easily managed, and you should attend to
them. Every person advanced in life knows this, and attends to it. Doctor
Curry, whom I used to call the poetical doctor, says, very justly, "It is
in medicine as it is in morals, you must break bad habits, and establish
good ones."

Where the liver is primarily affected, small doses of quicksilver act in a
wonderful and a prodigious manner. How the stomach, when wrong, disturbs
the head, is apparent to every one. How a faulty action of the liver
disturbs the head is also well known; but the liver, in an especial manner,
disturbs the head.

A Yorkshireman came three hundred miles, as he told me, on purpose to see
me, and he said he was going back again by the mail the same night. I asked
him what could induce him to come so far. His reply was, "Why you once set
up a friend of mine, and I thought you could set me up too."

I would have you keep your eyes open to this, that we are perpetually
putting wrong our digestive organs by our absurdities in diet. These
organs, if long wrong, will affect the spinal chord, producing lumbar
numbness. Now, then, I have surveyed the influence of local maladies in
disturbing the nervous energies, and now I say there is a reflected action
in them, and they become a fruitful source of a numerous and dissimilar
progeny of local diseases.

People are disposed to say I am apt to exaggerate too much; but I merely
relate what I have seen in my time, and you will all have numerous
instances by and by of making the same observations, and I think at last
you will come to the same conclusions.

I now speak of local diseases; and, first, of phlegmonous inflammation. I
do not much like the term phlegmonous inflammation, because phlegmon alone
is inflammation. That the vessels, particularly the arteries, of inflamed
parts are disposed to receive more blood, is manifest. Mr. Hunter froze the
ears of rabbits, and the arteries inflamed and were filled with blood,
throbbing, and pain. When there is great disturbance of the arterious
system, with throbbing, there is always acute pain. In common whitlow of
the finger, how the arteries of the arm, the brachial in particular, throb,
is well known. In proportion as arteries are excited to vehement action,
some difficulty occurs to the transmission of the blood into the veins. Dr.
Phillips found that inflamed blood is slower in cooling than common blood.

       *       *       *       *       *



THE GATHERER.

    "I am but a _Gatherer_ and disposer of other men's
    stuff."--_Wotton_.

       *       *       *       *       *

Sir Boyle Roche, was arguing for the Habeas Corpus Suspension Bill, in
Ireland:--"It would surely be better, Mr. Speaker," said he, "to give up
not only a _part_, but, if necessary, even the _whole_, of our
constitution, to preserve _the remainder!_"

_Barrington's Sketches_.

       *       *       *       *       *


A short time since the manager of Sadler's Wells, wishing to make an
alteration in his bills, sent an old one with the corrections made in the
margin, to the printer. In a few days a proof was forwarded to Mr. T.
Dibdin, when it read thus--"Under the patronage of his Royal Highness the
Duke of Clarence, Lord High _Patron of England and Admiral of this
Theatre_."

       *       *       *       *       *


A WELSH INVITATION.


Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys' compliments to Mr.
Charles Morgan, Mrs. Charles Morgan, Miss Charles Morgan, and the governess
whose name Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys do not
recollect, and Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys
request the favour of the company of Mr. Charles Morgan, Mrs. Charles
Morgan, and Miss Charles Morgan, and the governess whose name Mr. Walter
Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys do not recollect, to dinner on
Monday week next. Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys
beg to inform Mr. Charles Morgan, Mrs. Charles Morgan, and Miss Charles
Morgan, and the governess whose name Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton,
and Miss Sandys do not recollect, that Mr. Walter Norton, Mrs. Walter
Norton, and Miss Sandys can accommodate Mr. Charles Morgan, Mrs. Charles
Morgan, and Miss Charles Morgan, and the governess whose name Mr. Walter
Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys do not recollect, with beds, if
remaining the night is agreeable to Mr. Charles Morgan, Mrs. Charles
Morgan, Miss Charles Morgan, and the governess whose name Mr. Walter
Norton, Mrs. Walter Norton, and Miss Sandys do not recollect.

Llandillon Castle.

       *       *       *       *       *


  Bob sick--thought life was drawing to its end,
    His cheek grew pale, his tongue began to falter,
  Justly alarmed, he begg'd a rev'rend friend
    Would send him "_a companion to the altar._"
  His friend forgot, Bob grew from worse to worse,
    (A state to which he's always sure to alter,)
  When he received a _night-cap_ from his nurse,
    Who thought it a _companion to the halter_!

       *       *       *       *       *


An Irish paper, in noticing a coroner's inquest on a young woman who had
drowned herself, says, the jury, after an hour's deliberation, brought in a
verdict of _wilful murder against herself_.





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 10, No. 274, September 22, 1827" ***

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